Cybertron:
The Burning Axle (a bar)
Smoke
and exhaust curls around you as you step down into this slimey hole of a bar.
Cybertron irks you, and you've recently taken to drowning it's noises and
smells in dives like this. As you look around, a large purple robot stumbles
out past you, smoke curling from his body. You see an orange and red robot you
met last week here sitting down at a table. He motions for you to join him.
As
you sit down across the way from him, a service bot takes your order, "An
Inferrrrno's pit." You rumble and she walks away.
The
robot... Hooligan? Begins in without much preamble.
"I
think I have an 'offer' you might be interested in. Last time we met you said
that you were interested in getting off this trash heap of a planet." He
twirls one of his mustache'.
"Yeah,
what offf it."
He
leans forward and scratches his goatee. "Well, I've just purchased a small
craft. It's not much, but at least it might let us do some star hopping 'till
we find some action."
Action's
not what you seek, but he needs not know that. You let your silence speak for
you.
He
clears his throat, "I need a helping hand to man the ship. You need a ride
outta here. It's that simple, what say you?"
Cybertron: The Burning Axle
You
grab at the edge of the table and glare across at your acquaintance menacingly.
"Will
there be any otherrr passengers?" You ask suspiciously.
"Just
you and me, buddy." he answers with a grin.
You
think about it, and then glare up at him, "So be it. Let us be off then,
to this, Starrrrship of your's."
With
that the two of you stand and you follow Hooligan out the bar doors.
Cybertron: The streets
The
two of you begin to traipse down the streets of Cybertron. The lights and
silver buildings around you seem to shimmer and say goodbye. Anticipation
builds up inside of you as you make your way toward the hangar bay.
Then,
you hear a chopping, whirling noise ahead of you. From behind a large pile of
scrap metals, a attack helicopter rises up, Dark green, black and purple. As it
rises up you hear another propeller behind you approaching, and as you turn you
see an ancient designed airplane fly
in.
"Ransack,
TRANSFORM!!!" Roars the plane, and with lightning speed, the robot that
you saw earlier lands on the ground in front of you. The two have you
surrounded, but it's two to two. A fair fight.
"Nice
trick you pulled back there," challenged the purple one, Ransack,
"But me and my friend thought we'd have a nice little chat with you about
gaming ethics." With that he pulled a weapon. A steel shimmering dances
around the spinning blade that is in his hand. You challenge him with a
snarling roar as Hooligan dives for cover. you see sparks as the first of the spinning
blades catches Hooligan across the side.
Cybertron: The streets
You
grab up a strip of metal scrap that lies near your feet, and with a snarling
roar, run at Ransack. You jam the metal into the rotor weapon, but to your
dismay, find that the rotor cuts through it as if it weren't even there.
Realizing
your mistake, you duck and dodge with lightning speed. Your skill enables you
to blunt the deadly force of the whirling rotor, but sparks fly as your arm is
severed from your body.
Stunned,
you stagger while your adversary raises his weapon for a death stroke, but a
splattering of gunfire gives you the second you need to bring your claws into
his torso.
You
register numerous hits as the area is filled with fiery ammunition. The sounds
of at least two Gatling guns fills the streets.
"Icefang,
BEAST MODE!!" You growl and change into a fleet footed snow cat. Your
silver skin glinting and metallic whiskers flying in a flurry of movement to
dodge any more damage. You look around and see that Hooligan has started up the
Gatling gun on his arm, and the helicopter that was hovering is now dodging and
taking pot-shots with it's two Gatling guns.
You
bound toward Hooligans cover.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!!
Eat slag you tin-plated hotchopper!!!" cackles the red-orange Hooligan.
Suddenly the cover you sought explodes in a fiery shot. The ground erupts and
sends you both spinning.
"Powerdive,
Transform!!" you hear the green attack copter yell. He lands with a thud
and pulls a sharp spinning rotor weapon of his own. Both you and hooligan look
at each other.
"Time
to GO!" Hooligan shouts as he jumps up and transforms into a bike. He
knocks you into his sidecar and spins out with a scattering of axle grease and
smoke vapors. A rotor slams into the ground near you as you escape.
Cybertron: the streets
You
look at your sparking stump of an arm, " Computerrrr, fuse connections on
right forearrrm and only give sustaining power to joints. Effect repairs,
reroute weapon powerrr into repairs. Scanners on full alert for two previous
sparrrks encountered in region 786 section 3."
You
turn to look at Hooligan and growl to yourself, thinking, --One day your head
shall decorate the ground about my feet.--
Hooligan
speeds down the shimmering streets of Cybertron. You hear him say, "Keep
your scanners on full, I'm not too sure those guys are done yet."
You
snort, when a warning beep goes off on your sensors. "Hrrrrrrrrr, two
enemies approaching from behind. One is moving considerably faster than we
are."
"Hold
on then, I have an ideal." Hooligan states as he skids sideways to a halt.
His wheels start up again as he shoots down an alleyway.
"They
are within sight range again, " you warn. Perhaps rerouting weapon energy
wasn't the best idea.
"Jump
our catbot." Hooligan pronounces as he skids to a halt. You leap free as
he transforms. He then throws his shoulder into pushing a large refuse
containment vessel. You nuzzle past him and easily push the dumpster out into
the alleyway.
"Here
we go, lift the side of this thing, wouldya?" You look at him
questioningly but with a light push lift the dumpster up off the ground about a
foot.
Hooligan
puts a small box that he gives a quick squeeze to and then motions you to lower
the box.
"Let's
beat it now! Vehicle mode!" Hooligan shouts as he shifts form. you pounce
back into the side car and he lets out another cloud of exhaust as he starts
moving away from the dumpster.
Behind
you, you can hear he roaring of the plane's propeller as it comes down the
narrow alleyway, right behind it you see the chopper.
Suddenly
there's a boom, and a flash of light. The dumpster flies up into the plane, and
you see them both come down in a fiery ball. The helicopter pulls up abruptly
and leaves the alleyway.
"I'd
bet that's the last we'll hear from those two losers." snorts Hooligan
with a maniacal laugh.
Cybertron: a garage
Hooligan's
sputtering exhaust echoes off the walls of the small hangar that he pulls in
to.
As
you receptors adjust to the dim lighting and smoky air, you see what could only
be described as a scrapped out hull of an old generation scout ship.
Two
low fore prongs stretch along the ground, while the main body of the ship was
box-like. The engines covered the aft, and were wider than the main ship. Two
short, stubby side fins held rotor based repulsor lifts. The whole thing looked
as if it were two steps from falling to slag.
You
snort up a nose full of the stinking fumes, and sputter a growl out, "THIS
is your GREAT WAY OFF THIS PLANET!!!"
"Hey!
I said it would get us out of here, and it will. Look, she's as solid as they
come," he knocked with a resounding thud on the hull," Die cast
construction. Built to last. They haven't built things like this since..."
"SINCE
THE FIRST SLAGGIN' GREAT WAR!!!"
"Oh,
come on it's newer than that. And I even installed a CR chamber. What more
could you want? It'll fly, and it'll get us clear of Cybertron."
You
growled low, but he was right... you needed a ride off of this planet, and if
it had a CR chamber, at least it could replace your arm...
"Hey,
we may be limited to shorter jumps, but we did pretty good in that fight. A
little practice and we might become real pirates out there... And after a
couple of raids... New engines, better armaments, maybe we can even secure one
of those new, eh, Transwarp drivey things?"
You
smirked, as soon as possible, you'd dump the slagger, and hitch a faster ride
back to the jungles.
"Ok,
then... Hooligan. Let's see what this thing is made of."
You
both climb aboard to scope out the new ship...
Cybertron: a garage
As
the two of you enter the ship, Hooligan cheerfully remarks, "You look like
you need the CR a little more than I do," he motions down to your sparking
stump. "Go ahead and get started on a repair cycle. I'll work on locking
things down here and get the ship prepped."
You
look down at your arm, your pain receptors had dulled the feeling by now, but
it would be a little awkward trying to run a ship one-handed and better to be
ready in case you needed to rip something in two... like Hooligan's head.
"hrrhrhr...
Very well. Lock the garage doors first. I'll go into light sleep in case of
attack." You trudge off toward the CR.
The
CR was nearly as old as the ship. The doors opened as a bi-valved clam, and a
slew of grasper arms hung limp on the inside. It was operational, but you could
tell that this was going to be a fairly painful procedure.
You
could also tell that light sleep wasn't gonna cut it. This thing would shut you
off. Grumbling, you set it to repair your arm only. The less time the better,
and your internals would repair the blast damage from the Gatling spray.
You
hoist yourself up into the chamber and fasten yourself in securely. The smell
in here was atrocious, like moldy canvas. But, you steel yourself and mutter,
"System repair begin... Sleep mode." You see the double doors slam
shut and feel the graspers raise to life and begin
to
pull and pry... very painfully... at your arm stub as the world fades into an
oblivion of darkness.
Sometime
later you wake up to the beeping of the CR. You feel stiff, and the after smell
of the chamber clung to your sensors. Other than that, you flex your new
hand...It was black... the damn thing didn't color process.
"AAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGG!!!!"
Hooligan
sticks his head around the corner, "WHAT?! Are we under attack?!! Are
their MITES in the damn CR... WHAT?!"
He
then stops, and obviously suppresses a snicker as he sees your arm.
"Oh,
uhm, I guess the color sync must be off-line. Well, I'll take a look at it as
soon as we get outta here. The engines are prepped were-a-ready to go!"
You
undo your harnesses and step free of the infernal machine. Then follow Hooligan
into the bridge area and sit down at the comm.
"Warrrming
up engines, openning up intake valves." You riddle your hands across the
tarnished control board dodging stray wires that spark when they contact the
die cast plating.
"Hooligan,
open the blast doors of the garrrrage and I'll prep the ship for
take-off."
Hooligan
leans up and taps a few controls on the panel. The large bay doors above you
groan as they strain to pull open.
"Let's
hit it. Thrusters activated rotors in spin. Lifting up and outta here."
You
glare at him as the ship begins to shudder, "You're rrright about this
ship, it's solid as hell, except of courrrse for the way it rattles itself
apart beforrre take-off!"
You
motion to the bolts coming out from under his chair.
As
you lift off the hull groans and your only thought is --Why couldn't I have
'befriended' a space cruiser, or at least someone with half a CPU--
The
ship shakes as if it hasn't moved in millennia as it lifts out of the small
garage unit. She stays in one piece though, and you soon find yourself leaving
the atmosphere of the metallic planet.
"Shutting
off rrrotorrs and rrrepulsors." you mutter.
"Deep
space drives activating. Pull that thrust module over there and lets see if we
can get past light."
You
reach up to the thrust lever and pull it back all the way, but as you reach the
bottom a new set of sparks erupts at the base. To your surprise, a new panel
slides open, and a continuation of the thrust control, along with some rather
impressive looking lights and doohickeys are displayed. By accident, and out of
shock, you pull the thrust all the way back.
A
small blinking red light suddenly turns green, and a low modulated male voice
informs you,"Warpdrive accelerator activated, prototype engine set for
test. Preset coordinates locked and destination to be achieved in 30
cycles."
The
star field turns to a blur of white...
a ship: warp space
You
rattle your black fingers across the board, "You know, this is a pretty
impressive engine you've got here, don't find many of 'em lying
around......ESPECIALLY PROTOYPES!!!!!!"
You
give a sudden snarl as you leap from your chair. In a nanocycle, you find have
him pinned to the floor.
"I'm
only gonna ask you once 'buddy', who've you pissed off to get this ship and its
propulsion system?! " you grind your claws/cestus into his wrists, "I
wanna know how a lowlife gamer like you got this ship and who you swindled it
from?!"
A ship : in warp space
Hooligan
gives off a grunt and a snicker.
"He
He. Funny you should bring this up. I was gonna' tell ya sooner But I wasn't
sure I could trust you. Perhaps you could let me up and we could discuss this
like normal, adult, insane, lunatics?"
You
snarl, "Primary weapons on full." and glare down at the larger robot,
"I know how many it takes to run this ship, I can find a pilot when we
arrive somewhere, trust me, your spare parts should buy me one. I wouldn't try
to call my bluff if I were you!"
"Your
arm doesn't look too healthy there. That's not just enamel disparity. There was
a sub-nanite virus loaded in the 'CR' chamber after I bought it, set to release
into the first user. It's a rare form too. It places its victim in permanent
stasis lock in 24 mega cycles, if not properly treated with the correct
algorithm. Sure you could kill me, But you'd never make it to Quintessa to roam
free with the other kittys..."
Anger
shoots through your body, but you loosen pressure, unable to be sure if he's
telling the truth. You have an inner debate over whether it would be more
gratifying to rip his head from his shoulders now, or wait until you reach a
place where you can be sure of medical attention just in case.
You
release pressure, but pull your weapon as you step off of the machine-bot.
"Remove
the virus, or I'll blast you into scrap so far, you'll never even be
remembered."
"Well,
you are a good fighter. You've proven that. But Your allegiance has yet to be
revealed. I thought you were a loner, but you seem a little jumpy not to have
some secret agenda. Personally, I don't know what Your cause is. I mean I'm
sure its much nobler then any thing
I've
fought for. Ah, those were the days..."
"WHAt
are you babbling about!"
"Well,
you seem like a bot searching for that clear blue sky, and maybe the occasional
throat to crunch between you fearsome fangs. I think perhaps with a little
cooperation and understanding, we could find you something great and
magnificent. Perhaps a vengeance against those who have oppressed you! Surely,
you've spent some time of your life learning the law of the jungle, and you can
understand the need for protection, such as my little virus. After all, I'd be
scrap right now if not for it."
You
give a low growl.
"Sure,
you've spent time being forced into wars across the stars, blindly rushing into
the fray. Oil lust in your eyes. Your foe leaking energon profusely. Where does
the time go. Eh? What were we talking about."
"You
were about to remove this virus," you cock your gun threateningly.
"You
woulda killed me already if you were seriously thinking about doing that, now
wouldn't you kitty?"
You
shoot his leg. Blue ice arcs up and cracks the surface of his leg. Not enough
to slag the leg, but enough to hurt. He howls in pain and falls over, but
recovers quickly.
"FACE
IT CAT-BOT! YOU NEED ME TO EVEN LAND THIS SHIP!" He gasps for
breath
and pulls himself up again. "I can remove the Nanites, but only me. I
didn't want to use them, but you forced me to!"
You
snarl, but he's right. You click your gun off-line, and put it away.
"That's
better. Now, I can't say I'm sure about where we're headin', but I can say that
we better figure it out, and get control over this ship. We've got about
twenty-five cycles to get our heads together and make sure we don't end up back
on Cybertron."
"Agreed,
but from now on -I- give the commands."
"Hey,
ok by me, your the bot with the claws!"
"Then
I'll sit down and bring up navigation computers, see if they can locate our
path. You seem to be so smart, you get under the panel and find where the hell
that engine is, and what exactly it's capable of doing!"
The
two of you set to work...
a ship: warped space
The
Destron muttered something about 'owners manual' and began to remove some bolts
from a maintenance hatch on the floor.
It
flips over with a thunderous klang that you can feel through the sparse padding
of your chair.
You
look over and give your best smile, "Careful, I don't think this rattrap
of yours will take any more sudden bangs..."
You
hear him mutter something under his breath as he lowers himself into the hatch.
Then
you turn and mutter, "Sensor scan on full target arm enameling."
"Arm
enameling uncomplete."
"Scan
skin and energon flows surrounding arm."
"Flows
normal."
You
grumble to yourself. Even if there was a virus, there was a good chance that
you couldn't locate it. You don't even know what the hell to look for. What was
a nanonite at any rate?
Best
set mind to something else for the moment.
You
turn toward the Nav computer and tap on some controls. After a few minutes you
find yourself thoroughly annoyed. The computer is more or less locked down, but
you finally coax it into giving you a starchart and a plot of the current
course.
Strange.
The ship is going to a planet in the Sol system. Third off of the star floating
there. Some place called Earth.
Stranger
still. There are exact landing coordinates for the planet. It seems to be in a
water area, perhaps on a landing dock of some sort.
But
usually, a test pattern for such an engine would choose a boomerang tour, and
it would tend not to go to a common point, in case of problems. Earth doesn't
even sound familiar.
You
look at the chronometer, about ten cycles 'till the ship drops out of warp.
Reaching
over, you flip a comm switch for the ship,"Hooligan, what's taking soo
long?"
The
static response comes across, "I'm... uhm... on my way back up now. We got
a real zoomer on our hands, but no way to shut it off from down here."
"I
too have found our destination. Come up and we will discuss it."
"Whatever
you say, cat."
You
click off the commlink, "The name's Icefang you dolt." You wait for
your shipmate to come topdeck.
a ship : warp space
"So,
where's this thing headed friend?" Hooligan asks eagerly as he exits the
maintenance hatch.
"You
mean you don't know?" you purr.
"Well,
no. Not exactly... I mean..."
"Does
the name 'Earth' ring any bells?"
He
seems to pause for a second.
"Uhm...
no." he answers kind of lamely.
"Well
then, that's just great. I suppose you know nothing about this planet then...
What lives there, what can we expect, will there be an armed armada ready to
blow our brains out?"
"Well,
not exactly. I mean, after all, it's just a test run. There's a small outpost
there. I've heard that we could pick up some fuel and set ourselves for another
jump... of course, after looking at that engine, I don't think we need to
refuel."
"What
do you mean?"
"Never
seen the likes. It looks all pretty and innocent, but that bad boy's runnin'
rotations faster than any engine I've seen. The kicker is that it's hardly
using a drop of fuel, and I filled this things tanks to the brim before we took
off!"
"So,
let me get this right... You don't know where we are heading, you don't know
anything about your ship, and now we just have to sit back and hope for the
best?"
"Ehh...
Uhm... yup."
"Prime."
"Warp
engines disengaged. Preparing auto descent into planetary waters. Jamming
capabilities activated."
Hooligan
whistle, "Man, this pile of scrap's got all the bells and whistles!"
However,
your attention is arrested by the massive stretch of blue that is approaching
your ship. Water, you hate water.
The
red heat was building up around the hull, and the ship groaned in protest.
Speed was dropping as the afterburners pushed against the gravity, but the
surface was getting dangerously near.
You
growl ferociously, "I hope you can swim slagbot!"
Suddenly
Hooligan begins frantically scrambling around
"What
are you doing!?" You snarl.
"I
just remembered something."
"Fine
time to need a post-it!"
"Hold
on, I found it, " Hooligan began flipping some switches on a small consol
panel.
"Brace
yourself, we're goin' in!" He flips a switch, and your body registers a
mass of pressure fluctuations as the cabin goes through a series of environment
control processing.
SPLASH!!!!!
The
ship hits a little too hard, but you have your claws dug into the con. The
lights on the ship flicker and shut off as a power flow is halted.
Then,
the lights shut on again, and a new humming takes over the ship. You feel the
ship right itself and push forward. Outside, murky blue waters bubbled around
you as the ship pushes itself free from their clouds.
A
depth and pressure gauge appear on the screens, indicating that all was
equalizing and normal.
You
can still feel the strange pressure pushing against your metallic skin, but it
was beginning to fade, as the ship took a more gradual sloping path.
You
turned from his chair and looks down at Hooligan who was lying on the floor,
"I told you to brace yourself."
He
gives you a weak smile as he hoists himself back into his chair.
"I
thought you said that we were heading to a small outpost." you ask.
"I
uhh.. OK, maybe not."
"Any
thing else you wish to come clean about?" you snarl, showing your sharp
teeth.
"Uhm...
no." he groans and leans back in his seat.
"Target
navigation point reached, final descent beginning."
"WHAT
is our final target!"
"Look,
I don't know... I just 'bought' this ship, and I have no clue where it's taking
us."
You
snarl again, but then stop. No time for letting this idiot get to you,
"Then let us see what trap you have taken us into, Destron."
With
that you reach over and flip a switch. The viewscreen alters to a down view,
only, it is total darkness below the ship. You flip the runner lights on.
Resting
only meters away from you is a immense ship, covered in barnacles and mineral
deposits. It looks as though it has been there for centuries, or even longer.
The small scout ship begins to glide along the side of the ship, you can barely
make out any detail, until it reaches a spot that appears to have been recently
disturbed. The barnacles here are sizeably thinner, and a large area has been
scraped completely clear. A dull purple hull can be seen through the murky
water.
KLANG,
CACHANG, VVVIIIRRRR
The
ship stops.
Silence.
"I
guess this is our target destination?" Hooligan questions.
"So
it would seem."
"What
now?"
"Explore."
Earth : ashipbyaship
You
rumble, "Begin airlock proceedures, secure umbilical cord." and hear
the computer whiz to comply.
Hooligan
however seems preoccupied with scans of the ship. You listen to the computers
report. It can't penetrate the mineral shell that was built around the ship,
and it can't link to the computers.
"Slag!"
Hooligan suddenly mutters.
"What
is it?"
"The
pressure readings are off the scale, this ship should be a sardine can, whoever
was comin' here must of know 'bout it though, they installed some serious
pressure devices in it."
"The
umbilical cord is set, are you ready to go yet?" you purr.
"Yeah.
Hey, I have a weird feeling... You ever heard of the Decepticons?"
"Yes,
treacherous beings that are banned or enslaved wherever their cowardly hides
can find them."
"Yea,
I uh... well I think we should be careful."
"Why
do you ask, Destrrron?" Icefangs eyes narrow.
"Something
about the name Earth. I know it has to do with the Autobots and Decepticons,
but I'm not sure what. I just think we should be careful."
"Agreed.
Well, age before beauty," You stand from your chair and motion with your
blackened arm.
"Yeah,
great. Computer, code security defenses. Arm system. Keyless entry for voice
code Hooligan and Icefang only. "
"Compliance."
the low voice of the computer replies.
"How
did you know it had a security system?" you snarl.
"Heh!
I didn't really, but there was this weird looking bunch of wires..."
The
heavy doors opened with a thud. Water still dripped from the slick walls and
ceiling. Your path is clear though, and the two of you make your way forward.
The
ship has running lights all down the hallway, and sensors automatically adjust
to your presence and light your path.
Your
footsteps echo with an odd, hollow thud as you walk down the corridor. Your
internal scanners now sense the ship in full. A surprising amount of the ship
is still dry, but there are areas that contain water. Power is running normally
and the air is breathable by biological standards. The design is ancient,
millions of years ancient, but it was definitely a Cybertronian ship.
The
two of you move soundlessly, scanners on full, and you make your way toward the
bridge.
The
door of the bridge is damaged and hanging limp. you step through into the
low-lit room. One chair sits in front of the massive computer consoles.
The
chair is occupied.
"So,
a Destron and a Predacon." the grating voice greeted you, "Not
exactly who I expected, tell me... why would you come here?"
You
look down at Hooligan. He merely shrugs.
You
turn and snarl, "And who are you to question us?"
The
chair turns slowly and deliberately, and a large, grey and black transformer
stands from it. His faceplate is white and two cold blue eyes shine in the
darkness above it. For a helmet, a silver crown-like ridge, such as a Prime
would wear, sits on his head.
And
proudly displayed on his chest is a symbol that, for all your brave talk, sends
a chill down your spine as your sensors recognize it.
It
is a symbol that has been banned for centuries.
A
symbol of war.
The
Decepticon symbol.
"I
am Lord Starscream, high commander of the Decepticon forces."
Earth : an ocean in a ship
Immediately,
Hooligan drops to one knee and bows his head, "Lord Starscream. I never
thought, by the moons of Cybertron that you were alive."
"What??"
is the only thing you manage.
"I
wish permission to meet your gaze."
"Granted."
Hooligan
rises, "The oracles of the Hub spoke true when they said that you're spark
was everlasting. This humble Decepticon is at your service."
You've
had enough, you step one foot forward, " I am Icefang, stalkerrrrr of the
forests of Quintessa and descendent of the ancient Decepticons. I am on a quest
to rrrreturn to my homeland, where I may be free of this conflict. Why were we
brought to this place?"
"You
are a strange and demanding little Predacon." The huge black and grey
Decepticon looks down at you, "If you must know, I think your friend here
might with to explain it to the both of us."
"Well,
" Hooligan begins slowly, "I bought this ship from some Destron
named... Swidler or something."
Starscream
laughs at this, "Yes, that would be Swindle, one of my 'loyal'
Combaticons." He seems to spit the word. "They built this shuttle to
find that which was lost to them a long time ago. But tell me kitty, you say
you seek freedom..."
"He
was forced into slavitude by the Predacon traitors." Hooligan spits out.
"WHATTTT!"
You roar, "HOW do YOU know that!!!"
Hooligan
steps back with arms upraised, "Heh, uhm... lucky guess? you more or less
told me that the first time we met in the bar, you know a few days ago!"
You
flex your claws and take a threatening step forward, but Starscream speaks up,
"Regardless, I am more interested in what you plan to do now, Predacon.
You're friend here has proclaimed loyalty to me, what do you plan to do?"
You
give a low growl, you seem trapped between a rock and a hard place, "I
have no reason to join you."
"Oh,
but you have the best reason of all. Vengeance. You see, my spy network has
informed me of the arrival of the Predacon council here on Earth. I have reason
to believe that they were after the same thing that Swindle and his bunch of
miscreants were searching for. But my
reports
seem to lead them to Autobot City."
"What
do you want me to do?"
"I
want your help to destroy the Tripredicus Council, reclaim the artifact in
question and destroy it as well. Agreed?"
"What
is this arrrtifact?"
"Agreed?"
You
growl again, the chance to take vengeance on the council burns in your heart,
you can not refuse.
"Agreed."
"Then
my friends, our target is the spark of Megatron."
Earth : a ship
You
whisper too low for Starscream to hear, " Even IF you do manage to survive
this battle you will not live to recieve any table scraps from your master,
trust me. "
You
then walk to the great transformer, nod your head and speak, "My ally,
Lord Starscream, I believe, let us be off to destroy my oppressors and your
enemies. May the great smelter have the sparks of the council in their hands by
the end of this day. "
"hehehhehehheeheh"
a low giggle comes from behind you.
You
spin and look at Hooligan, "What is it hooligan?"
"Just
ready to slag some 'bot! Heee ehehehehehhee."
Starscream
interrupts, "It's always good to see such enthusiasm, I'm sure, but I need
information about this ship that brought you here. My spy network has shown a
great deal of time and energy spent by the Combaticons in designing the
shuttle. I'm curious as to just why so
much
was spent to bring the shuttle here. Surely a regular starhopper could have
provided the needed transportation?"
"Not
sure. Heehe. Like I said, I.. he...just bought it off of Swindle. We didn't
even know about those engines till tigger here started them up."
You
growl, "Just what kind of engines were they, motorbreath."
"Weird,
lots of wiring that wasn't used, a couple power uplinks and converters, and a
nifty powerhorse engine that was as good at energy consumption as... "
"As
what? Hooligan?"
Hooligan
seems lost in thought for a second.
"Asss...
a lawnmower."
Starscream's
eyes seem to narrow, "Indeed. Then our first priority is to get to the
Autobot city here. A full assault may not be wise without more firepower... The
Tripredicus council has arrived to take the spark into custody... I do not
believe the Autobots know what they have
found.
There are only a few at Autobot city. However, the threat of Metroplex himself
is too great."
"Metroplex?"
You ask.
"Metroplex
IS Autobot city. One of the huge city transformers made in the great war. He
hold incredible power and intellect. We can not match his firepower in a direct
confrontation... Unless that shuttle is more than it seems."
Hooligan
thinks for a moment, pulling on his mustache, "It may have weapons
systems, but we've only had it for an hour or so. Not long enough to do a full
diagnostic."
"Then
let us return and begin the journey to the city, we will make our plans on the
way."
The
three of you stride from the control room. You lag in back, in the shadows,
away from the others to collect your thoughts.
Your
thoughts are disrupted by the smell of burning oil as Hooligan falls behind
with you.
"So
Icefang, Why is it so important to get back to Junglear? It always sounded
kinda' back-water to me. I mean, is your homeland really that important to
you?"
"If
your rusting carcass held any honor, you would understand what it was like to
be free and to rule the jungles of your home."
"I've
never known a home, and haven't pledged true allegiance in several
centuries."
"No!
You're kidding! All this time I thought you were a proud holder of Cybertronian
patriotism." his sarcasm surprises you... so the cat-bot does have a wit.
"I
don't know that I can call Cybertron my home... There's been to many crimes
committed there against me."
"Oh,
do you want a hug?" but something in you pities him... but just for a
second.
"What's
it like to know where you belong?"
"The
jungles are my home..." You begin to think back to your homeland. The
rolling hills, the dark jungles, the icy mountaintops... "There I roamed
free and did as I please. The law of the jungle was hunt or be hunted, kill or
be killed. The strong survived there. No backstabbing,
no
politics, no factions. Just life and death. It is what I WILL return to."
"Look...
for what it's worth, I reeeally didn't know about all this. I thought we'd jump
a few galaxies, find a few friends and drop you off in your kitty home."
You
almost believe him, "NO, you thought I'd make a good pawn for your
wretched hide to get off of Cybertron."
"Oh,
and I suppose you came along because you thought I was a swell guy?"
You
gives a low, contemplative growl. He's right. You were just as willing to use
him, as he was to use you.
"All
I'm sayin' is that I think we just stepped in it. Big and black up there was
reputed to be one of the most unstable bots in the galaxy. I think we may have
to depend on each other more than either of us would like to admit. I'll be
watching your back. I know that don't mean much. But there it is all the
same."
Yeah,
and if you were foolish enough to believe that, you'd deserve what you got.
But, something in you actually seems to think he is sincere, "We shall
see, oilpit."
You
stride ahead, catching up to Starscream.
The
Destron may be right. You aren't too sure about what's happening. But maybe in
the upcoming fight, you may learn about who is truly loyal to who.
Earth : a ship
As
you pace beside Starscream, you ponder what Hooligan had to say.
Hooligan
suddenly blurts out from behind you, "Blast it all! Lord Starscream, beg
my intrusion but how do you plan to get bast the city's defenses?"
"You
think I've not planned?," the large Transformer sneered back at the
trailing form of Hooligan, "I already have 'someone' on the inside that
will allow us to bypass their security protocol."
"Igneous."
"What
a bumperrr kissser." You growl to yourself.
Earth : a smaller ship
"Sship
. Disssengage security defense authorization code Iccccefang"
All
that registers is a soft, "Compliance." From the ship.
You
all clamor into the ship and head for the comm.
Starscream
forces his way past the two of you to lean over the comm eagerly.
"Hooligen.
Why don't you check the power systems below while WE start the battle
diagnostics." Starscream orders. You and Hooligan share a mistrusting
glance, then turn to your respective work.
"Tactical,
bring up a grid map on supplied data," Starscream orders as he puts a disk
into the computer, "This is Autobot City. It is surrounded by a human city
with little in the way of defenses. However, the center here, " a
collection of buildings with two tall towers is
highlighted
as he touches the screen, "Is Metroplex. He has more than enough firepower
to blast us from the sky. However I have the codes to land us on the pads at Metroplex's
center. They will merely register us as another Earth ship. Our hardest point
is to make it inside without anyone noticing three Cybertronians..."
"You
are to large, but me and Hooligan could do this without much notice."
"Agreed.
I will stay inside the ship and await your signal, then will begin to firebomb
the outer city. This will give you time and distraction to pull away with our
cargo. I will hook back up to the ship as we exit the atmosphere."
The
computer begins to plot vectors for cannon fire. It comes up with a proposed
path of tactical dodges for the ship in escape.
After
a few minutes, Starscream frowns and taps you on the shoulder, "Go down
below and see what is taking Hooligan so long with the engine."
You
snort and step down into the access panel Hooligan had disappeared into.
The
jeffries tube was cramped and haywire. Wires and pipes jutted crazily from
every angle and would make the travel difficult for a larger bot.
You
then find yourself in a small, wire filled room, "What is taking you so
long?"
"Look,
Icy. We need to talk. This spark we are retrieving may be our only way outta
all this."
"What
are you talking about."
"Megatron's
hatred for Starscream was legendary, and so was his prowess as a leader. If we
can resurrect him..."
"By
the SMELTER! Have you gone mad? We have no body, and that pile of trash CR
isn't gonna revive an ancient spark..."
"Listen!
This ship... I think it was built for just that, lookit this, " You point
up to the receptacle, "It can hold a spark inside of it, and that clean
burning engine? Well, it's a Cybertronian life generator. An energon based fuel
pump. That's why it runs so much with so little!"
"If
what you say is true..."
"We
have to pounce in like good little drones, trounce the Tripredicus council,
grab the spark, and hightail it to the ship before Starscream realizes what
happened!"
"Hmm..."
"It
still gives you revenge, and a better chance at getting home than Starscream
can give you."
"Agreed,
we will play the patsies for now, and I will be watching both Starscream AND
you for the outcome."
"Agreed."
Earth : a ship
You
walk back up into the bridge and give Starscream a frustrated glance,
"Sometimes that ssslagsucker down there needs some motivation to keep
moving. " You flash your claws in a ray of light in the bridge.
"Now,
Starscream, as tactician and leader of this mission.....what are your present
orders?"
Hooligan
steps out onto the bridge.
Starscream
looks at the two of you.
"We
will go to Metroplex, there I will stay inside of the ship while the two of you
procure Megatron's spark. When you give me the signal, I shall leave the ship,
and attack causing a diversion while the two of you take off with his
spark."
"It
sounds awfully simplistic." Hooligan interrupts, "I mean, what if the
spark isn't just sitting on a golden platter sayin' 'please take me' for
Decepticon's like us!"
"Oh,
the spark is there. It has been activated in a body, but the activation was
improper and has rendered it not only useless to us, but a danger to our
future."
"What
do you mean it's active!" You growl.
"I
mean, it is in a body, calling itself Megaplex and working for the Autobot
forces. Megatron would have NEVER allowed such a disgrace to befall him. We
must put his spark to rest once and for all."
Hooligan
seems in shock at this last statement. You don't know why, Decepticons always
went around killing each other.
"So
you want us to kidnap this one called... Megaplex?"
"No,
I want him destroyed. I WANT HIS SPARK RIPPED FROM HIS DYING
CARCASS!!!!"
You
begin to see what Hooligan meant by unstable.
The
computer chimes and the three of you turn to the view screen.
Below
you, the sunset has etched the Cybertron-like city in a golden orange glow. Two
tall towers stood out in the center. The Autobot sigil emblazoned upon them.
Starscream
leans over the panel, "Authorization codes active. We are going to land in
their very laps, me Decepticons."
Below
you, you see a large landing pad. Already a ship resides upon it. Long, sleek
and black. VERY expensive.
Outside
there is a collection of robots, seven, and a pile of scrap that was
sparking... But none of them seemed to notice it.
"We
appear to be late for the party." Hooligan mutters.
"Then
we will have to alter out plans. I will begin a bombing pattern. When the
Autobots go to investigate. TAKE the one named Megaplex."
You
hear the struts touch ground.
"The
time has come," Starscream begins, "Find the one named Megaplex and
DESTROY him!"
Earth
: Metroplex
You
blink at Starscream. These 'cons are completely looney! You spin toward the
door, and mutter to Hooligan." Now's our chance, we get inside and warn
the Autobots of our 'ally' and help them, I don't believe in this systematic
ripping out of a spark. It's not right. I have no reason to hate this
Megatron!"
Hooligan
blinks at you... Something new is in his eyes. An insane fire and lust for
destruction... "NAY, NAY, The Autobots MUST suffer my WRAAAATH!!!"
--That's
it... That did it... No respect... He dies, Starscream dies, they all die...
Slag you guys... Slag your shuttle... slag your legends... I'm changing
sides!--
You
pull your gun and give Hooligan a solid blast to the stomach. Blue ice forms
across his frame, and a sudden lucidness seems to cover his face. You raise a
foot and kick his icy form out of the shuttle.
Then,
you turn toward the big black Transformer at the controls, "I'm no Decepticon
you sl... "
That's
as far as you get. A missile slams into your chest blowing a rather worrisome
hole through you.
You
stagger back, stunned.
Starscream
raises his cannon for one more shot, you see a red beam flicker across your
vision, "You think this was unexpected? Now, traitor, you will feel the
wrath of Air Commander Starscream!"
You
see the missile as if it were floating toward you in slow motion.
Coming
straight at your head.
You
try to move, but time seems frozen along with your servos...
KATHOO...
THE
END.