Editing Colin Wallis (section)

==History==
===Background===
Growing up Colin was a loner and the child of divorced parents. He went to college and had even taken psychology classes.

When he triggered he was old enough to directly join the Protectorate.<ref>Too many years he’d spent alone. Too many years, he’d had nothing to care about. Nothing and nobody to hold precious. A dad who worked two jobs, a mother who traveled. They’d divorced, and virtually nothing had changed in the grand scheme of things. They’d looked after him, but they hadn’t been there. They had been occupied with other things, with dreams and aspirations that had never included him.<br/><br/>Colin knew he had been the weird child. Had never made friends, had convinced himself he didn’t want or need them. He was efficient in how solitary he was.<br/><br/>He’d even prided himself on it, for a time, that there was nothing to hold him back. That he could, should the mood strike him, pick up and leave at any time. He’d modeled his life around it, had led a spare existence, devoid of the little touches of home, of ''roots''. He’d saved money so he had the ability to travel, to get a new place in a new city if the mood struck. It had even been an asset when he had joined the Protectorate, the ability to relocate, take any open position.<br/><br/>It was only now, a full fifteen years later, that he started to wonder what he’d missed out on. Did most people know how to handle this sort of thing? The absence of someone they cared about? Did they have an easier time handling the moments when they weren’t sure if they’d ever see those people again, or was it harder? - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/06/25/interlude-24-donation-bonus-1/ Excerpt] from [[Interlude 24.y]]</ref> He was operating in the early enough days that he was part of Protectorate strike squads that dealt with problems as they flared up.<ref>So he starts off with the Protectorate and he gets a chance to shine pretty early on.  In a time when there are more heroes than there are departments, he takes on a role as a member of a strike squad.  An issue arises, someone calls, and he and his team mobilize to solve the problem.  Long periods of downtime followed by moments of action, and he shines, he thrives.  He has a few standout moments and he's doing everything right from the point of view of his shard. - [https://old.reddit.com/r/Parahumans/comments/5ngyvn/armsmasters_tech_after_trigger/dcbhsh4/ Partial comment by Wildbow on Reddit]</ref>

Armsmaster was present for [[The Simurgh]]'s attack on [[Madison]], showcasing his competence. Myrddin chastises him for being reckless. When Myrddin grows argumentative with Dragon following orders unquestionably, Armsmaster defends her.<ref>[[Migration 17.4]]</ref>

===Story Start===
After pumping [[Lung]] full of tranquilizers and welding a steel cage around him, Armsmaster used his Halberd's grappling hook to scale to the top of the building that an [[Taylor|unnamed bug girl]] had taken refuge on. He confirmed that she wasn't going to attack him before talking about what had happened that night as well as the threat of consequences to her if she took the credit for taking Lung down. Because of this, Skitter asked him to keep her involvement with Lung's capture secret and they amiably parted ways.<ref>[[Gestation 1.6]]</ref>

Lung's arrest did not go well for Armsmaster. When he took Lung back to the local Protectorate HQ (to be held until the villain's trial by teleconference), Lung was under the effects of Skitter's insects. As Skitter's bugs had injected Lung with a near-lethal dose of poisons, Lung almost died as his powers wore off and his regeneration could not heal him faster than the poison was hurting him. Armsmaster was subject to an investigation. Over the course of two days, he lost command of his team, had his Halberd and power armor confiscated and taken apart for inspection to ensure that he had not been using lethal poisons, and was interrogated as to the circumstances of Lung's capture. This was the first blemish to his otherwise exemplary record.

Armsmaster met with Skitter at her request, although his demeanour was consequently colder than it had been on their initial meeting, though he was grateful for the information she was able to give him on Tattletale. They argued over her plan to infiltrate the [[Undersiders]], and he revealed the consequences arresting Lung had had for him. It was presumably around this time that Armsmaster pushed the [[PRT]] to look into the Undersiders' backgrounds. They identified [[Regent]]'s old identity as Hijack.<ref>"What do you know about how I grew up?" Regent challenged him.<br/><br/>"I know what the Protectorate knows.  Not long after Lung was brought into custody, Armsmaster began pushing for details on your group.  Staff at the PRT offices were tasked with looking through old criminal records and reports of lesser known parahumans, trying to find parallels.  Find if perhaps a supervillain in another area perhaps moved to Brockton Bay, changing their names, costumes and methods.  They found '''you'''." - [ Excerpt] from [[Tangle 6.8]]</ref>

After the Undersiders [[Battle at the Bank|robbed the Brockton Bay Central Bank]], Armsmaster met with the [[Wards]]. He looked at the information that they were compiling about the Undersiders before noting that [[Tattletale|Tattletale's]] section was nearly empty. He wanted [[Panacea]] to tell them what she had observed about the villain's powers, but the younger hero hadn't gotten her thoughts in order. When he attempts to push the issue, [[Miss Militia]] tells him it's fine.<ref>[[Interlude 3]]</ref>

Armsmaster was present at the [[Battle at the Gallery]] alongside the rest of his team when the Undersiders hit it. He disables their stolen [[containment foam]] sprayers with electromagnetic pulses. He orders [[Bitch]] to call off her dogs before explaining that he had studied the Undersiders' powers, allowing him to construct countermeasures to each.<ref name=":4" /> During the battle, he displayed telepathic shielding that blocked [[Regent]]'s ability, a variation on his EMP that acted as a bug-zapper, echolocation that could see through [[Grue]]'s darkness, and a powerful flail that disabled [[Tattletale]], [[Grue]], and Bitch's dogs. He also claimed that he had prediction software that could anticipate Bitch and her dogs based on footage of them.

During the fight, Tattletale employs her power against him, figuring out some of the tools in his Halberd and claiming that all of his subordinates despise him; he instantly disables her with his Halberd. Although he and [[Miss Militia]] seem to have the Undersiders dead to rights, he orders her to use a less lethal weapon when the Undersiders imply that the two of them are engaging in brutality, allowing Regent an opportunity to disable her and Grue to blanket the room in darkness. He battles and defeats Grue and Bitch's dogs.

After the rest of his team are disabled, he refuses [[Skitter]]'s quiet offer of a truce, stating that he plans to simply arrest her. In response, Skitter swarms him with seven hundred hornets, manages to wrestle his Halberd from him, and throws it over the side of the building. The Undersiders rescue Skitter and escape. Skitter deliberately leaves her message to leave in place to mock Armsmaster.<ref name=":0" />

As the Undersiders recuperate in an alley, however, Armsmaster tracks them down - along with [[Dauntless]]. With his Halberd once more in his hands, Armsmaster demands the surrender of the Undersiders. Armsmaster has had Dauntless wear earbuds to prevent him from hearing Tattletale. They fight and Armsmaster pursues them into a parking garage where he is promptly ambushed by the [[Travelers]], [[Circus]] and [[Trainwreck]]. Armsmaster is then left beaten, bloodied and unconscious; Trainwreck picks up Armsmaster's Halberd and crushes it, covering the unconscious hero in the debris of his own weapon.<ref name=":1" />

In light of recent actions and poor performance, he was to be demoted as Protectorate leader and transferred over to [[Chicago]].<ref>She stood there, paging through the folder of paperwork, stunned.  “Where are you going?”<br/><br/>

“Chicago.”<br/><br/>

Hannah broke into a smile, “Chicago!  That’s fantastic!  A bigger city, a bigger team!  Where’s Myrddin being moved?”<br/><br/>

“He stays in Chicago.”<br/><br/>

Hannah shook her head, “But…” she trailed off.<br/><br/>

The hard look on Colin’s face was telling enough. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2012/02/28/interlude-7/#comments Excerpt] from [[Interlude 7]]</ref> He, erroneously, believed it to be because of his meager talent in politics.<ref>“It’s the politics,” Colin spoke, leaning back, “I’m good at this.  Better than most, if you don’t mind me boasting.  Everything I bring to the table, I worked my ass off for.  But when it comes to shaking hands, managing people, navigating the bureaucracy… I’m not good at it, won’t ever be.  Because of that, I’m getting demoted, and I can probably give up on ever being in charge of another team.” - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2012/02/28/interlude-7/#comments Excerpt] from [[Interlude 7]]</ref>

Colin worked through the entire night with Dragon. He took to the task with grim determination.<ref name="7.x">[https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2012/02/28/interlude-7/ Excerpt] from [[Interlude 7]]</ref>

===[[Battle against Leviathan]]===
After Legend gave his introductory speech Armsmaster took over the briefing to explain to the gathered capes how Dragon's armbands worked. He questioned [[Miss Militia]] about [[The Travelers]] when they stood with those who have faced an Endbringer before. He was assigned to lead a group of capes who think they can harm Leviathan in hand-to-hand combat alongside [[Chevalier]].

During the battle, Armsmaster provides tactical advice and orders, and eventually maneuvers things to set himself up in a one-on-one duel with the Endbringer itself.

Tired, but gloating and taunting, Armsmaster appears to be fighting Leviathan and winning due to his new disintegration weapon and his numerous tinker devices giving him countermeasures for much of what Leviathan attempts. His combat analysis software<ref>“You dumb brute,” Armsmaster growled.  He was panting for breath.  “Every fight you’ve done so far, that we’ve got on camera?  I’ve watched it, put it through programs.  I’ve got a computer on my back that’s relaying to a supernetwork, noting your every move, using subsonic pulses to read every aspect of the street, the surrounding buildings, every feature of the terrain.  I know exactly what you’re going to do next – you’re going to try to catch me from behind with a wave.” - [[Extermination 8.4]]</ref> (with no interference and outside variables) genuinely worked against the [[Endbringer]] by predicting his attacks, movement, counters, and tactics.<ref>'''Plendamonda:''' Reminder that Armsmaster's prediction software worked perfectly at predicting Leviathan<br><s>until it didn't</s><br>[...]<br>'''Wildbow:''' His combat analysis software did work<br><br>'''Xantho:''' The data it had was incomplete<br><br>'''Wildbow:''' Not that.<br>It let him land the blow just where he wanted it.  But he was working on the assumption that his halberd cut through everything.<br>His software doesn't get into the nitty-gritty of powers or composition or figure out what can be cut through and what can't.  It's about movement, attacks, counters, and tactics.<br>Watch how someone moves, get all the data from video footage and whatever else, gather data on mindset and habits, extrapolate.<br>Even if there's 50 possible moves (in a broad sense), it can still guide you to places where you're safe, and that reduce the opponent's future options for courses to take. - Conversation with Wildbow on Parahumans Discord</ref> However, Armsmaster was caught off-guard by his [[nano-thorn]] Halberd getting stuck partway through Leviathan's claw as he assumed it could cut through anything:<ref>Legend talks about underestimating Leviathan... which is a complete aside and totally unrelated to me bringing up Armsmaster vs. Leviathan. I should explain (because I think it was unclear) - Armsmaster's computer didn't let him position the others so they would die, exactly. That was secondary. He put the villains in the way (particularly the giant bruisers and the wall-creating Kaiser) and set himself up so he would be able to fight Leviathan one on one. That let the simulation program be clean of interference and outside variables.<br><br>It wasn't that Armsmaster screwed up, but that a weapon that's supposed to cut through anything gets part of the way through Leviathan's claw and ''stops''. - Comment by Wildbow on Reddit, archived on Spacebattles</ref><!-- https://spacebattles.com/posts/34689673 --> the Endbringer then pins Armsmaster to the ground before tearing off one of his arms.

Skitter, who had been watching the fight, arrives and administers first aid as best she can. Armsmaster claims that she was dead. Shortly afterwards, [[Lady Photon]] arrives to take Armsmaster to receive proper medical attention.

===Post-[[Battle against Leviathan|Leviathan]]===
Immediately after when Scion beat Leviathan back. Armsmaster finds Skitter, who had stumbled upon Shadow Stalker's civilian identity, and restrains her. Dragging her over to Legend and Miss Militia he reminds them that Skitter is an adept liar who was able to fool both his instincts and hardware. However, his angry belligerence isn't enough to prevent Tattletale from outing his actions during the battle against Leviathan - namely ensuring that villains were placed in the Endbringer's path which would be a violation of the truce. Armsmaster lunges for Tattletale, but Legend sends him sprawling with a laser blast and Miss Militia points her weapon at him.

Tattletale tells Legend and Miss Militia that Armsmaster essentially deliberately put villains such as [[Kaiser]] in harm's way, letting them die all to arrange his duel. Without any humility, Armsmaster states that he did everything he did for the greater good and that it was the most effective way of ensuring a bright future for Brockton Bay. In response to his immediate arrest, Armsmaster outs Skitter as a mole in the Undersiders, claiming that she is the one they should be mocking and spitting on as she had been planning to betray her teammates for her own gain.<ref>[[Extermination 8.8]]</ref>

Afterward Colin was kept under off-the-record<ref>[[Interlude 13]]</ref> house arrest on the second-highest floor of the [[Protectorate ENE Headquarters]] with regular check-ups from [[Dragon]]. It was not kind to him - Colin was tired and had lost weight - although he was still able to work on many of his projects and had access to some of his equipment, such as his [[Nano-thorn|nano-disintegration blade]]. He made no attempts to escape, despite the fact that he would be able to. When Dragon asked him about recent events, he expressed regret and acknowledged the fact that he broke the Endbringer truce during Leviathan's attack.<ref>[[Interlude 10.5]]</ref>

Later he was visited by a member of the [[Slaughterhouse Nine]] - [[Mannequin]]. Mannequin was there to recruit Colin for the Slaughterhouse Nine, insinuating that he was no different from anyone in their villain group. This enraged Colin who, despite warnings and pleading from Dragon, deliberately provoked Mannequin by calling him out on his actions, on how he went from being Alan Gramme to Mannequin as a result of the death of his family. Mannequin promptly stabbed Colin in the shoulder, several times in his abdomen, and then slashed him across the face, blinding and disfiguring him. Despite his disintegration knife, Colin lacked the physical strength to overpower his opponent. As Colin fell into unconsciousness, Mannequin escaped.

Some time later, Colin woke up in the PHQ under Dragon's care, who informed him that he had nine heart failures on the operating table, and he found out that some of the damage he incurred from Mannequin had been repaired with prosthetics, particularly his face and eye. Dragon sternly admonished him, calling his display with Mannequin the "stupidest fucking thing I've ever seen" but then, after a brief moment of awkward conversation, she revealed to him her nature as an A.I.<ref>[[Interlude 11d]]</ref>

Miss Militia later disclosed to the villains at the truce that Mannequin had gone after Armsmaster and left him hospitalized.<ref>[[Plague 12.2]]</ref> Days later [[Miss Militia]] revealed to [[Skitter]] that Armsmaster escaped from his hospital bed.<ref>[[Snare 13.7]]</ref>
===Post-[[Slaughterhouse Nine]]===
Now garbed as Defiant, Colin showed up along with Dragon, who was showing her 'face' in public for the first time to the [[Brockton Bay]] [[Protectorate]]. She explained the duo's new mission of hunting down the Slaughterhouse Nine. Thanks to Colin's body language, [[Triumph]] immediately noticed that it was Armsmaster under the armor and the implication was that [[Director Piggot]] and the rest of the Protectorate capes were aware of this fact as well, but no one was willing to mention it. Defiant revealed that he had replaced his internal organs with artificial equivalents, including parts of his brain as well, leaving him only fifteen minutes of 'down time' per day. It was also implicitly revealed that Defiant had made modifications to Dragon's programming to allow her to control a multitude of her suits at once.<ref>[[Interlude 15]]</ref>

Colin and Dragon commenced hunting the Slaughterhouse Nine, a task that took them across the northeast. While investigating a hospital attack in Stafford, Defiant came to the conclusion that Dragon is actually a Parahuman.<ref>[[Interlude 16.y]]</ref>

They finally caught up to the group in Boston, with Defiant coming upon [[Bonesaw]] and [[Damsel of Distress]] in the basement of a building that Accord supplied to the local bio-technology tinker [[Blasto]]. Defiant easily dealt with Damsel and tried to stop Bonesaw, but Damsel was able to surprise him and escape with Blasto. Defiant was trapped by Bonesaw and later freed by Dragon, who reported that she killed [[The Siberian]]. They then continued their pursuit.<ref>[[Interlude 19.x]]</ref>

===Post-[[Battle against Echidna|Echidna]]===
The pair continued their pursuit of the Nine and were eventually able to force them into hiding.<ref>[[Cell 22.2]]</ref>

Dragon and Defiant arrive at [[Arcadia High]] in a pair of Dragon suits in order to apprehend Taylor, under orders of the PRT. Defiant counters her insects with his spear and defends Dragon as she verbally spars with Taylor. Defiant also apologizes to Taylor, admitting that he should have attempted to compromise with her and he regrets how he handled things with her. He is even willing to officially admit culpability in how Taylor became who she is. When Skitter asks why they have come to arrest her in a public place - outing her cape identity in the process - Defiant informs her that Dinah told them it was their best chance of apprehending her.<ref>[[Chrysalis 20.4]]</ref>

Taylor refuses to go with them and uses her fellow students as an escape method. Defiant is dogpiled by many of them, preventing him from grabbing Skitter. When Dragon is forced by her programming to attempt to apprehend Skitter, Defiant makes a crude adjustment to her code that prevents her from pursuing Skitter further. Although he does not feel the risk of losing Dragon is worth Taylor's freedom, Dragon insists it is the right choice. He makes the edit, crippling Dragon. While Skitter escapes, Defiant embraces Dragon's malfunctioning android body.<ref>[[Chrysalis 20.5]]</ref>

After the incident, Piggot reminds Defiant that he is on a strict probation, with terms that he had personally agreed to. As Dragon is unable to speak (although can presumably still communicate with him thanks to his cybernetic implants), Defiant promptly makes the demand that the Protectorate needs to clean house and eliminate any sign of [[Cauldron]] influence. When the Director refuses, Defiant claims that he and Dragon will simply leave then. In response, [[Alexandria]] indicates that the PRT will hand over much of Dragon's responsibilities to [[Saint]]. Because of this, Defiant and Dragon agree to a compromise: after the next Endbringer attack, the PRT will clean house.<ref>[[Interlude 20.x]]</ref>

Director Tagg tells Taylor that she may be held by Dragon and Defiant in one of their vessels, away from any of her insects, until the time of her trial.<ref>[[Cell 22.2]]</ref>

Defiant arrives, with Dragon, to ostensibly collect Skitter from the Protectorate HQ in Brockton Bay. He confronts Skitter in a storeroom, pinning her to the ground with his spear until Dragon arrives. They haul Skitter to the Pendragon and, as they go, Skitter ties Defiant to Dragon with a cord from her insects. As they arrive, Skitter attempts to push Defiant over the edge of the roof, however Defiant manages to catch himself and Dragon hauls him back up over the edge. Angry, Defiant snaps at Skitter to "Stop trying things."

When Skitter continues to resist, Defiant tells her that Tagg and Alexandria are dead. They continue to spar verbally until Miss Militia intervenes, talking through Dragon's set of power armor. Defiant tells Skitter that they were not there to arrest her. Further, he says that the whole situation with Alexandria was a mistake - one that they are all about to pay for.<ref>[[Cell 22.5]]</ref>

Defiant likens Alexandria's mistake with Skitter to his lie detector - she had the wrong information and made the wrong decisions because of it. And, given that she never actually killed any of the Undersiders, they are poised to attack in fifteen minutes - something which Defiant says would be almost impossible odds with the suits, the Brockton Bay Protectorate and ten other visiting heroes. As the timer counts closer to zero, and Skitter sticks to her terms, Defiant goes into communication with the new Chief Director and Chevalier who agree to Skitter's terms.

Still, the Protectorate faces a public relations crisis due to the death of Alexandria. Defiant offers the Dragon-craft as a thing to use to capture the imagination of the public - but Miss Militia states that they're still vulnerable to the Endbringers, in contrast to Alexandria who had been instrumental in stopping all three on numerous occasions.

Later, Defiant gives Taylor her new mask and costume that she will wear as Weaver. He congratulates her and compliments her speech, although Dragon shushes him as he attempts to press a conflict of interest issue.<ref>[[Cell 22.6]]</ref>(this last part goes into personality not catching the nuance of what is happening)

Defiant and Dragon served as transport for [[Weaver]], taking her to and from prison, court, Protectorate meetings and what she terms 'field exercises'. In New York, Defiant acted partly as her advocate during her meeting with various protectorate teams.<ref>[[Drone 23.1]]</ref> Defiant also debriefed Weaver in part after her action against [[The Adepts]].<ref>[[Drone 23.2]]</ref> When Behemoth was detected in [[New Delhi]], Defiant and Dragon arrived to collect Weaver from Boston.<ref>[[Drone 23.4]]</ref>

En route, Defiant provides Weaver with a flightpack that he had created for her and admits that he had wronged her and set her on the path to becoming a villain. Because of that, he has put himself on the line to recommend her for the Wards and will invest as much time and and equipment as necessary to keep her on track. In exchange for the apology and the flightpack, Colin asks Taylor to look past his own transgressions from his time as Armsmaster. As they land and disembark, Defiant prevents Taylor from rejoining the Undersiders, telling her that her place is with the Wards.<ref>[[Drone 23.5]]</ref>

When Alexandria arrives, Defiant is as confused as anyone else, claiming that he saw her dead body himself and verified her DNA, examined and carbon dated her prosthetic eye and checked several other readings. He also confirms that Alexandria went missing from Protectorate custody.

Defiant assists in the battle with Behemoth but is out of contact for some time following the destruction of Dragon's suits. In the final battle against [[Behemoth]], Colin lent support to Chevalier as he faced the Endbringer head-on.<ref name="I24"/>

In the aftermath of the battle, Defiant waited in vain for Dragon to reboot and took time to reflect on his life, his actions, and his attitude. Trying to clear his head, he sets out to help rescue workers, later a rebooted Dragon finally contacts him.<ref name="I24y">[[Interlude 24.y]]</ref>

Months later Defiant is present representing the Protectorate at the [[Khonsu Meeting]], alongside Dragon. He exchanges verbal barbs with Saint over the needed response.<ref>[[Scarab 25.5]]</ref>
===Post-[[Timeskip]]===
When the Slaughterhouse Nine reappeared, Defiant called [[Weaver]] to inform her.<ref>[[Scarab 25.6]]</ref>

Defiant briefs Weaver on the threat posed by the Slaughterhouse Nine. Having spoken with Dinah, Defiant tells her that the chance of the world ending is 93.8 percent.<ref>[[Sting 26.1]]</ref> He blames himself for failing to kill Jack during their attack on Boston, seeing it as their best chance of being able to have stopped him.<ref>[[Sting 26.2]]</ref>

Following Dragon's death at Saint's hands, Defiant is immediately aware of who the culprit is. He swears to kill [[Saint]] for what he has done.<ref>[[Interlude 26.x]]</ref> Contacted by [[Weaver]], Defiant informs her that the Azazel suits have been 'compromised' and that they are now unreliable. Defiant is so distraught by the loss of Dragon that he ''thanks'' Weaver at the end of his conversation with her, something which she acknowledges is very uncharacteristic.<ref>[[Sting 26.4]]</ref>

Monitoring the Ellisburg Situation, Defiant sees that the Nine contingent has fled back into their pocket dimension.<ref>[[Sting 26.5]]</ref>

Following her failure to stop the abduction of [[Nilbog]], Defiant pilots the Pendragon to the goblin kingdom, taking many capes - including Weaver, Chevalier, Bitch, Parian and Foil - and two members of the Dragon's Teeth to stop the Slaughterhouse Nine directly. During the flight, he has a private conversation with [[Chevalier]].

When they land, Defiant is one of the primary combatants in holding off the monstrous horde, fighting back to back with Weaver at points. During the battle, Saint refuses to assist the group and Defiant contacts someone, letting them know where to find and hunt down Saint. He then - with assistance from Dinah - computes the required number to track the Slaughterhouse Nine to their dimensional pocket and leads the group of capes after them.

Defiant led a team to [[Houston]] to take down the Slaughterhouse faction there, presumably taking several of the leftover munitions from the Nine's secret base for some much-needed firepower.<ref>[[Interlude 26a]]</ref>

Successful in defending Houston, Defiant works with Saint, only hours after threatening him for killing Dragon, to locate [[Lisette]] and have her transmit a message to Scion in the hopes of preventing Jack Slash from ending the world.<ref>[[Interlude 26b]]</ref> They succeed but their efforts are for nought.
===[[Gold Morning]]===
At the Cauldron meeting to discuss Scion, Defiant is grilling Saint about his string of failures since supplanting Dragon: Saint is failing and Defiant has placed the responsibility for numerous deaths - 2.2 million in New York alone when Saint failed to raise the defenses in time - upon his head.

Saint mutes him and Defiant claims that he will kill Saint and otherwise obstruct him in anything he will attempt, knowing that Saint has done everything he has done to get Teacher out of the Birdcage. And Defiant is the only one who holds the keys to releasing the prisoners. He agrees to the release of Teacher if everyone else in the room agrees to it.

They do.<ref>[[Extinction 27.2]]</ref>

Was present at the [[Oil-rig battle]], confirming the identities of the Birdcage prisoners released in the preparations to facial recognition, all were accounted for. He works with Tattletale to manage Dragon's programs and systems, and figures out something of a pattern to Scion's movements. Defiant instructs String Theory to scale up her F-Driver weapon but to minimize collateral damage. He co-ordinates the waves of attacks against Scion.<ref>[[Extinction 27.4]]</ref>

Defiant later brought Saint into custody, though the exact details are not known.<ref>[[Cockroaches 28.1]]</ref> Along with Narwhal he served as Saint's prison warden. When Narwhal claims that she needs to ensure that the Undersiders (and Canary) won't be any threat to Saint, Defiant vouches for them. Tattletale's interrogation of Saint is punctuated by verbal sparring from himself and Defiant throughout. When Tattletale informs the group that Teacher's plan was to obtain Dragon and/or her systems, Defiant heads off to investigate.<ref>[[Cockroaches 28.2]]</ref>

He later confirms that Teacher obtained all of Dragon that wasn't on the satellite backups. In the face of such monumental news he did not appreciate Imp's poor attempts to inject levity into the situation.

As the Undersiders plan, Bitch states that they might have to let [[Teacher]] have Dragon for the moment. Defiant is not happy about the prospect of Dragon being dismantled, tortured, rebuilt and so on in Teacher's clutches, but admits he has little choice.

Narwhal comforts Defiant. When Saint asks to be freed, claiming that it makes sense, Defiant protests again and again, claiming that he wants to believe that Saint can be held for just a little bit longer. Saint is released, but Defiant remains with him, double-checking any code the faux-tinker works on.

Defiant is piloting the [[Pendragon]] when Tattletale attempts to communicate with the Simurgh. When Tattletale attempts to form a psychological model of the mental patterns of the Endbringers, Defiant criticises her for using Freudian terminology, recalling a Psychology class he took at University.

Defiant later met with Teacher in the handover of Dragon. Teacher waves off Defiant's vitriol and goads the couple with the fact he has rechained her. Ensuring that she will leave him alone and even protect him. Defiant makes a rare promise that Teacher will pay for enslaving his girlfriend.

Later he tries to comfort Dragon, promising to remove 'every last chain'. This falls on deaf ears.<ref>[[Interlude 28]]</ref> Defiant spends some time recuperating from the events of the last few days,<ref>[[Venom 29.1]]</ref> presumably performing needed maintenance.

Despite not agreeing with Taylor's plan to infiltrate Cauldron, he does give her one of his [[Nano-thorn|disintegration knives]] along with incredibly detailed maintenance instructions, Dragon cuts him off.<ref>[[Venom 29.3]]</ref>

As [[Khepri]] does considerable damage to Dragon's systems, Defiant is ready to come to her aid - until Dragon tells him not to and to focus on Zion.<ref>[[Speck 30.4]]</ref>

[[Khepri]] utilizes Defiant's eyes and his combat prediction software to try and predict Scion's movements and plan a strategy. As with all the other Tinkers, he is put to work creating a weapon that is enough to kill Scion.<ref>[[Speck 30.5]]</ref> Upon its completion, before Khepri regains control of the group, Defiant is the one in place to activate the [[Tinker]] device that finally kills [[Scion]].<ref>[[Speck 30.6]]</ref>
===Post-[[Gold Morning]]===
In the time since the end of Gold Morning Colin was constantly working on a new [[Pandora|project]] to deal with [[Dragon]]'s mutilation at the hands of [[Teacher]]. He was able to unleash it and then had to deal with the consequences. He was used as a puppet by the woman he loved in her fight against his better half.<ref>[[Teneral e.3]]</ref>

===Ward===
For some unknown reason Dragon and Defiant were away from the City for several months.

===Post-[[Mathers Compound Assault|Fallen fall]]===
Following the Portal sabotage, the duo returned to [[The City]] to provide assistance and help coordinate the Heroes there.

===Post-[[Goddess' Takeover]]===
Defiant together with two [[dragon]]-crafts was in [[Brockton Bay]] during [[The Wardens]] attempt to stop [[March's Megacluster]].<ref>[[Heavens 12.all]]</ref>

===Post-[[Time Bubble Pop]]===
He was at the side of [[Dragon]] during the assault on [[Teacher]]'s Compound. However, they were successfully diverted from the majority of the action.<ref>“No, I was just asking because she was absent.”<br /><br />“As was I, for the latter part.  Dragon is immensely powerful, but she, like any tinker, is dependent on her pre-established work to function at optimal capacity.  The Dragonslayers knew this and used it against her in the past.  Teacher used it against her here.  With no satellites to use for remote access except the ones she deployed after passing through the portal, she was limited in what she could do. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2019/08/13/from-within-16-1/Excerpt] from [[From Within 16.1]]</ref>

===Post-[[Attack on Teacher]]===
In the days after the battle he welcomed [[Victoria Dallon]] and [[Kenzie Martin]] to expanded Wardens HQ.<ref name="16.1II">[[From Within 16.1]]</ref>

Arrived to Breakthrough HQ during their venture to [[The Shardspace‎‎]],<ref name="16.12II">[[From Within 16.12]]</ref> interrogated them after it, and presented them an ultimatum.<ref>[[Sundown 17.1]]</ref>

===[[The Ice Breaks]]===
Defiant was fighting the [[Titans]] at the side of [[Dragon]].<ref>Granted, one of those capes was Legend, Dragon and Defiant and Narwhal were present too. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2020/01/21/infrared-19-6/ Excerpt] from [[Infrared 19.6]]</ref> Defiant had his aircraft severely damaged during the fight with Titans [[Custodian]], [[Pouffe]], and [[Cinereal]]. Together with Dragon they still deliver massive damage to Pouffe and Cinereal, temporarily disabling them.

[[The Simurgh]] disabled Dragon with communications sabotage and [[Machine Army]] infection. It led to Defiant taking over the [[Dragonflight]], which opened him for further exploitation.<ref name="II19.z">[[Infrared 19.z]]</ref><ref name="II20.1">[[Last 20.1]]</ref><ref name="II20.2">[[Last 20.2]]</ref> He led the Wardens and their allies back inside The Complex.<ref name="II20.3">[[Last 20.3]]</ref>

After the Simurgh was driven out of The Wardens' HQ Defiant and Dragon pursued her to the Titans under Machine Army's fire. Defiant fired G-Drive on the Ziz and although the shot was hindered, the explosion was enough to revert the recent Endbringer's regeneration, but also took a side out of Dauntless and sent Simurgh's bodypieces to Machine Army.

While Dragon attempted to deny Machine Army access to more Endbringer parts, Defiant was prompted to contact [[Dauntless]] and proceed according to the plan by [[Lookout]]. He took a stand between Titan Fortuna and the Simurgh. The Endbringer promptly crushed his ship with its body, with Defiant being saved only by Dauntless' intervention. Defiant finally delivered his message to Dauntless, who in turn provided him an opening to fire G-Drive again. The shot, deflected by Dauntless into the Simurgh, sent Endbringer into the [[Sleeper]] power-storm, trapping it there.

Defiant was picked up by Dragon, together they returned to the Wardens HQ and prepared for the next stage of the plan, with Defiant accepting the parahuman plague, the first among the Wardens.<ref name="II20.a">[[Last 20.a]]</ref>