Charr : the city Deadend
You
look around the dark basement room. Gathered here is a collection of the
meanest, nastiest, most conniving of all the once proud Decepticon Empire...
"Wusses,"
you mutter to yourself.
But
you don't feel so great about yourself either. After all, the meeting here was
in secret. You're allegiance now lies with the Destron Empire. You, along with
all these others, forsook your oaths to the Decepticon Empire nearly four
centuries ago.
Megatron
had died though, and the Pax Cybertronia set Autobot, Cybertron, Destron, AND
Predacon against what was left of his armies. It was change or be scrapped. At
the time, you and the others were dispirited, depressed and without leadership.
So, you chose to live to fight another day. Always with the hope that a new
leader would rise and overthrow the Cybertronian councils.
Now,
you sit and wait to see what this meeting was about. If it was that quack
Starscream again...
At
the head of the long room, a form was lit from some unknown spotlight.
You
recognize Clench. Large, black with red arms and upper legs. The front half of
a semi is split to make his shoulders. He looks around the room with green,
cold eyes.
In
the presence of this one, the room quickly fades into a breathless silence. If
Clench was here... Hope begins to flicker in your spark for the first time in
centuries.
"Decepticons,
I have called you here. Not to listen to Starscream's empty promises, but
rather to call you to aid. A new war is brewing, and at the head, I see our
ancient leader... Megatron!"
The
room erupts in muttering, questions, hushed whispers, even laughs.
Another
light flickers on in the center of the room, and a Decepticon you do not
recognize stands.
He
has an immense missile over his shoulder, and a radar dish on the other. He was
silver and red camouflaged. His face black with cold blue eyes sparkling.
The
congregation quiets again. Whoever this one was, you could feel power radiating
from him, almost as if he stood ten stories tall.
Clench
introduces him, "I know you might not believe what I have said, therefore
logic dictated that I bring my source. You have all heard of Soundwave before I
believe?"
A
few gasp echoed in the hall as the massive robot looked around. No longer a
tape player, he must have rebuilt himself into some kind of missile truck.
Impressive.
The
cold, monotone voice of the Decepticon Communications master reaches the far
corners of the room, "I have long been working with the Combaticons to
re-animate our fallen leader..."
You
see the large form of Krok, one of the foot soldiers, lean forward,
"Megatron was scrapped centuries ago. He's dead, you think we're dumb
enough to follow you just cuz'..."
Soundwave
turns toward the black and purple 'Con. Krok falters and grabs his head.
"EEEAAAAAGGGGGGGGHH!"
"I
was not finished."
Krok
falls off his seat, but stops screaming.
"As
I was saying... The Combaticons recently left for Earth to recover the body of
our commander. My operatives on the planet have search for clues to his
whereabouts, and have come upon what they believe to be the shadow of a cruiser
in a trench on the ocean floors. Most ships can not reach the depth that the
ship was at, and it appeared that it may be jamming sensors. It's discovery was
by mere accident. The Combaticons, with the help of the Constructicons, have
built a ship capable of not only reaching the possible ship, but also serving
as a new and powerful
body
for our Lord.
And
now, I sense... across the stars of this universe, a new life has been given to
the mighty Megatron. Therefore, it is our time to rise and retake the planet
that was once ours to rule."
Charr : Deadend
You
stand up, looking at the shock and surprised faces of the Decepticon elite who
now sit in stunned silence.
"I
am SURE that I speak for all who are present when I say... we'll be more than
happy to go to this 'Earth' and slag some bot!"
The
assembled look at each other, approval in some of their faces, fear in others.
You
belt out in a gruff voice, "ALL HAIL THE MIGHTY LORD MEGATRON!!!"
The
surrounding bots pick up your chant, "ALL HAIL MEGATRON... ALL HAIL
MEGATRON...
ALL HAIL MEG..."
You
look around, proud to spark the forces that will lead to the downfall of the
Maximals, Predacons, Destrons, AND Cybertrons. Even Krok staggered back to his
feet to join the chant.
Soon
Cybertron would return into the hands of it's former rulers, and the councils
will be crushed under foot.
It's
good to be a Decepticon...
Charr : Deadend
The
tumultuous chant seems to shake the building. You yell over the loudness,
"Soundwave, when do we go to 'Earth' and what do we expect to find!"
You
can't be sure if he hears you or not, but as the conglomerated voices of the
Decepticons dies down, Clench steps forward to address the crowd again.
"We
are not sure of Megatron's situation on Earth, nor is there much information on
the planet. It has not been visited for several centuries, since the end of the
Great Wars.
This
must be our logical course at this juncture... The Combaticons, under
Onslaught's lead have traveled to Earth, and should have reached the planet
sometime yesterday. We must wait on word from them before mounting a rescue
party for Megatron. They are more than capable of
dealing
with any problems that might arise.
Meanwhile,
I propose that we begin to make the Decepticon presence felt once more on this
side of the galaxy."
A
large screen lowers from the ceiling behind him. It lights up showing a map of the
surrounding systems, and their relative outposts. Several dark purple
Decepticon symbols are lit near certain systems.
"These
outposts are fairly undermanned and easy targets that could allow us a foothold
on this section of space. There are already battalion class ships in orbit at
these areas. The ships are currently unmanned and cloaked. The cloaking device
used will draw too much power for movement and attack, however, the ships have
achieved there appropriate attack positions and are set to pounce. We shall be
sending out several shuttles per ship, with about ten Decepticons per shuttle.
Once aboard, you are to shut the systems on and begin the attack on my
signal."
Clench
continues, laying out strategies and setting down teams. Your on a team heading
toward the star system Alatride.
Apparently,
Fearswoop will be your team leader, and there will be fifteen of you on the
cruiser.
You
feel anticipation build as the meeting ends and you ready yourself for your
assault on the pitiful Predacon Outpost.
Charr : Deadend
And
chaos broke loose. Suddenly, the room seems to explode around you, burning
sheets of metal dropping down from above. There is a roar of fire and waves of
heat sweep over your frame.
Through
a huge hole in the roof drops a charred looking 'bot. Cybertron sigil
emblazoned on his chest. He cackles madly for a half a second, until he notices
that he landed in nearly a hundred Decepticons.
Lucky
for him, the flames and the confusion give him a chance to correct the
situation, he transforms and wings his way back up through the smoke.
You
and several others send streams of ammunition bolting after him, but you doubt
that you were quick enough to hit him. You could hear Clench bellowing orders,
and fire extinguishers were spraying around the room.
You
see one Decepticon, his name is Fearswoop you think, jump into the sky and fly
after the slagging Cyber'.
Clench
begins to order you all to the shuttles, no time must be wasted now. If the
Cybertron is allowed to report, they may find more resistance than bargained
for.
Charr : Deadend
The
building was quickly and silently left to burn to the ground, and within a few
minutes, Fearswoop rejoined the Decepticons in a set of tunnels below the
streets. The groups had broken up, and you now found yourself with several
different Decepticons.
You
look around, you don't recognize most of the others. But there is Chop Shop, a
renowned thief, and Apeface, a renowned bad smell.
Great,
you'll smell for weeks after being in a shuttle with him.
You
address Fearswoop, "Once we get to this planet, are we gonna blast it to
rubble, or is the battle ship just for cover until we land?"
"The
ship will be used in tactical offense patterns to trash any air assault while
we take out the ground defenses. It will also guard our six as we attack,
making sure that no one will come up and attack us while we aren't paying
attention."
"I
assume that once we land we can go ballistic on any non-believers that we come
across?"
"Patience,
total destruction is never the key to total victory. We must leave the robots
at the base operational, both in hopes that they may see the 'wisdom' of
joining our side, and also to glean any information about the station's
operations... by any means necessary.. Isn't that so Arachnae?"
A
metallic bot whose obvious transformation is that of a spider grins
maliciously.
"Now,
we must be off to load the shuttle, before any more unexpected surprises pop
up."
"What
is the latest from Starscream? Will he cause any problems to our plans?"
Fearswoop
eyes you for a second before answering, "Starscream is of no importance,
he has few loyal followers."
"Then
where is he?"
"Unknown."
Fearswoop was obviously displeased with the topic, so you switched tracks.
"How
did tracking that gatecrasher go?"
At
this the Con smiled, "Let's just say that he'll be doubting his own optics
for a while. And he'll never be able to prove that we were anywhere near Charr
in a few hours."
You
ponder over what you had learned. Starscream's whereabouts unknown. That WAS
troublesome, for despite the Decepticon's brave words, Starscream had clout
with a small army of spies, and if he had moved to stop Megatron, even the
Combaticons would be in trouble.
Charr: Deadend : Under the city : The Warrens
You
find yourself still pondering what Fearswoop could've done to the Cybertron,
"Well, I'm glad to hear that Cybertron piece of sauter won't be causing
any more trouble for us."
Fearswoop
looks back, a bit startled, "Huh? Oh, uhm, yeah. Like I said earlier he'll
be tied up in knots for a while."
"What's
our ETA to the ship?"
"The
shuttle is just up ahead, the main ship will take us two megacycles to
reach."
"How
soon after that will the attack take place."
"We
await Clench's signal."
You
walk over to Arachne, the purple and brown spider looks questioningly at you.
"So,
you're the interragator of the group."
"Yes."
"You
slag many bot's before?"
"I
have been an interrigator for Galvatron's secret police in the Great Wars for
ten years."
"Hmm,
sounds like fun."
"Nothing
better than to hear the cries of pain from those that... 'annoy' me with their
blathering."
"Oh,
yeah, well. I was just wonderin'... if it's no problem, how about lettin' me
lend a tread? It'd help cool off after a long..."
"I
prefer to do my work alone."
"Oh,
uhm.... ok."
The
group reaches the destination and boards a low swept, flat shaped ship residing
in a hangar bay. It was colored dark purple and had some neon green highlights
and markings on it. Fearsoop begins to give the orders.
"Overkill
and Vulcan. Hold the perimeter while we begin launching prep. Make sure that no
one enters this hangar. Auquablast and Apeface, tun the maintenance checks on
the engines and repulsor systems. Chop Shop and Arachne, prepare the nav com
and bring the ships power systems on-line. Reflector, I want the ships scanners
on full, I want to be sure that no one is following us or is watching us."
You
set off to do your specific duties while the ship begins to hum and hiss in
preparation for take-off.
Charr : Deadend: a hangar bay
You
and Overkill look at each other. He's a grey and blue robot. He has two large missile
launchers on his shoulders, and it looks like some kind of animal head spilt
behind his head. it's long teeth flaring out to either side of the head. His
face itself resembled a skull of some
kind
of lizard, with mechanical wires running about it, and glowing golden eyes
buried in the sockets.
"You
take right ,I'll walk 'round the left." mutters the throaty voiced
Decepticon.
You
nod and split away from him as the two of you walk out of the doors.
You
begin to walk along, keeping your eyes open for any trouble.
The
preparation seems to take forever, and the you find yourself pacing along the
under warren street. Walking a good block or two away and then back. Scum of
the planet stagger around in the dimly lit streets. A few hovercraft float by,
most leaving a nasty smoke trail of chemical exhaust.
Then
you notice one car sitting still. Something about it is strange, but at first
you're not sure what. It was red and blue. A large cockpit-like window in the
center, and a v shaped sports fin on the back hood. It isn't that close to the
hangar, but it hasn't moved for a while.
--It's
clean.--
The
thought jumps into your head, and you realize what it was that's bothering you
about it. Everything else down here is covered with a layer of cave dust. This
thing is nearly spotless.
You
try not to be too obvious as you approach it. Glancing sideways as you pass it.
No one inside. Who would be stupid enough to leave a car like this unattended
down here. Unless it wasn't unattended at all. Unless it was...
Charr: Deadend
...
A BOMB!!!
The
thought leaps irrationally into your head.
You
grab the red and blue car and prepare to throw it when you hear it
go,"HEY! Put me down you freak!"
The
car shifts in your grasp and transforms into a red and blue robot.
At
that moment, a window in the building above you shatters out and a air ski flew
out into the sky above you. A mad cackling could be heard, "THANKS FOR THE
DISTRACTION BUDDY!!! HAHAHAHHAHA," followed by the crack of a blaster
firing off several times. Flashes of gunfire streak down around you from the
retreating skiff, several hitting you.
The
transformer in your hands yells, "POINTBLANK, VEHICLE MODE!" and
shifts back into his car mode as you drop him. He tears off after the air ski.
You
glance down at the smoking holes in your armor.
That
hurt.
"VULCAN
ATTACK MODE!"
You
transform and land on the dusty street with a THUD, your treads already pushing
you forward in pursuit.
You
lock on with visuals and see that there is some kind of fleshy on the skiff.
He's about two meters tall, with tentacles over his mouth, and four arms. Two
are occupied controlling the vehicle. Two are flailing with two hand guns and
taking pot shots at you and Pointblank.
You
could hear Pointblank, "Yeah, some bruiser freaked out for no reason, but
I still got the Karon thug on visuals. Requesting backup!"
Two
shiny disks fire out from above Pointblank's spoiler. They explode dangerously
close to the agile ski.
You
begin to fire off rounds as you begin to drop behind. The Gatling guns tear up
the sky, but it's hard to get a lock on the small punk.
Then,
one of your guns hit. Just a clip, but enough to send the ship spiraling
sideways.
About
that moment you hear, "I'll nail 'im for ya Vulcan!" from somewhere
behind, and you see a rocket go spinning overhead.
You
hear a crash as the ski sled slams into a transit bus, knocking it toward the
ground.
"NO!"
Pointblank yells as he transforms and spins, pulling off a rather remarkable
shot. He nails the rocket nano segments before it joined the air sled and bus.
There is a thunderous explosion sending shockwaves rolling across the cavern.
Any
hope the bus had of staying in the sky was shot.
Charr: Deadend
You
quickly radio to Overkill, "Keep that bot busy for a few segments."
The
bus had begun to tilt badly as it lowered toward the ground. It's stabilizers
were keeping it's movement slow, but it wasn't going to stay up. You roll
toward it's crashing zone and wait as it sets down with a creaking thud.
Sparks
and gouts of flame and smoke fly from the huge dent in the side where the air
ski had slammed into it. You could hear the alarm klaxons blaring into the
street, and the hiss of the fire systems spraying the flames down.
You
walk over to the transit bus, already, creatures were pouring out allover the
place. running and screaming in terror from the crash zone.
--Idiots,
as if this thing were going to take any more damage.--
You
lean over the crater to take a look at the remains of the air ski. Half of a
charred upper torso clung tenaciously onto a steering column in the dark ash.
Not much else there. Overkill radios you an alert. You click onto your radio,
"What happened?"
"It's
that Cybertron cop from the basement, I just saw him and a friend, they ducked
into an alleyway."
"I'm
on my way."
Charr : Deadend
You
try to gather what's left of the alien, but it proves too charred to pick up.
The ashes sift back down to the ground in a cloud of nothingness. A quick scan
provides no further info on the skiff. As you finally turn to go to the alley
way Overkill mentioned, a message hits your comm-link.
"Return
to the ship."
You
curse, and turn toward the hangar. Overkill grimaces at you and mutters,
"Thanks for the backup in the alleyway..."
"What
happened?"
"Lost
'em."
"Great,
can't wait to hear it from Fearswoop."
"I
ain't tellin' him."
"Agreed."
You
step into the ship, joining the others in the main compartment as you hear the
engines roar into life.
Space : a shuttle
You
sit down at your station. And wait as the ship lifts into the upper atmosphere.
A small alarm goes off at one of the stations, and Apeface gets up and marches
down to the engine room.
You
sit back and wait.
After
a few minutes, Apeface returned, still grumbling and complaining, using every
word in the Cybertronian book of slander. The ship was now in orbit and ready to
break away. So far, no one had contested their leaving. A good sign, that
Cybertron probably hadn't had time to report back, or if he did, he never knew
what ship you were on.
As
the ship set into space, you turned your attentions back to the alien you
chased. For some unknown reason you seemed to be fixated on him...
You
recall Pointblank calling him a Karon thug, so you type it into the shuttles
database. Immediately, a profile of the species Karon is printed on the screen.
It shows the small fleshy race as being approximately 2 meters tall, four arms,
two legs, excellent eyesight and dexterity, and commonly employed as scouts,
smugglers, spies... etc.
It
give some biological information, and such, but not much else. Their home
planet is in the Totarus sector of space. There were several planets containing
life orbiting a small star. The home world is mainly Jungle and humid, and
their government was tribal based.
It
also contained a list of commonly known smugglers. You typed in a query on
recently deceased on Charr, and found the name Lilipitarikon on the list. It
was linked to a police report. Apparently, he was a smuggler that was being
followed closely by the Charr Police force. He was doing some tech trading to
outer worlds. He died in a shootout today... yup that's the
one.
Great,
now you know... Why you know, you're not sure. What good it will do you...
probably none. You think about sending an 'I'm sorry I blasted your child to
ashes' card to his parents, but quickly discard the ideal as silly.
You
sit for a while pondering the strange four armed fleshy and his mission as you
stare out the ships window at the stars streaking past in hyperspace...
Space: nearing a planet in the Oberidan sector
As
the ship slows from hyperspace, klaxon alarms begin to flash.
Arachnid
looks up from his control panel, "Fearswoop, there is a small collection
of ships heading toward us, they are armed and in an attack pattern."
Fearswoop
looked unimpressed, "What are the attackers designations?"
"None
sir."
--pirates--
"Overkill..?"
"Weapons
armed." smirked the silver and blue Decepticon.
You
flipped on your half of the offensive grid to take a look at the incoming. They
probably figured that a shuttle designation wouldn't have much armaments, and
your ship didn't. But that hardly made you easy pickings.
The
first salvo hits the shuttle, shaking it as hissing smoke shoots out from one
of the access panels. No serious damage incurred, but they meant to disarm, not
destroy... You're ship had no such shortcomings.
The
shuttle spun in space opening with a set of blast form forward gun banks. Two
of the small attackers were destroyed, but the other four wouldn't be hit so
easily. They banked and came around for another swoop. The blasts this time
were more accurate. Some of the computer banks began shutdown.
Fearswoop
merely smirked and flipped a small switch.
From
behind a nearby moon, a warship floated casually into view.
"Vulcan,
take control of the Darksky's weapons array by remote."
You
spun back to your computer's display and tapped in a few controls, the contol
configuration shifted to match that of the Darksky's weapon's banks.
"Done
sir."
"Fire."
The
rest of the pirates never stood a chance. They went spinning into a fiery
oblivion in seconds.
The
shuttle docked piggy back to the large warship, joining the two systems in
power.
Fearswoop
began the transfer of your group onto their new battleship.
The Oberidan sector : Darksky
You
throw your junk into a cabin on Darksky and make your way to the bridge.
Fearswoop
was already there. Checking the comm panels and reinstating the stealth screens
on the ship.
You
plopped down at a science station and bring up ship descriptions on your attackers.
They appeared to be sub-light vessels of the Ter'pton class. Fast and armed,
quick attack vessels. They'd typically find something, attack it and radio in
the kill bringing a cargo ship to offload any 'valuables' into. You started
scanning for know pirate groups in this sector and came up with about four.
None of them you were familiar with.
You
turn to Fearswoop and tell him about the the 'incident' on Char.
He
wasn't happy, "YOU DID WHAT!!!"
"No
one saw anything!"
"YOU
WERE SUPPOSED TO KEEP A LOW PROFILE AND WATCH IN CASE OF ANY PROBLEMS! YOU WERE
THEN SUPPOSED TO SIGNAL ME TO LET ME KNOW of ANY POSSIBLE PROBLEMS!! "
"Well...
I just.. I thought..."
"YOU
ARE A WARRIOR. YOU ARE NOT A LEADER HERE. YOU HAVE NO RESPONSIBILITY TO MAKE
DESCISIONS!!!"
"Yes
sir."
"From
now on you will report DIRECTLY and IMMEDIATELY to me. AM I
UNDERSTOOD?!!!"
"Yes
sir."
"Return
to your quarters. I will summon you when the attack is near preparation. One
more mistake and you will not return from this mission. Am I clear?!?!"
"Yes
sir."
"Arachnae,
ChopShop, scan the interior and exterior of the shuttle, physically if you have
to make sure that there's no bugs on there that Vulcan's little expidition may
have caused."
You
dismally stand up and leave the bridge. Great... maybe you shoulda listened to
Overkill about keeping your mouth shut. Maybe you shoulda left the alien
smuggler alone with. Oh well, now you just have to sit around and wait till the
attack begins.
Oberidan moon orbit: The DarkSky
You
out the window of your room and onto the dark surface of the moon below you.
--Slaggin' Fearswoop. Thinks he's so important...--
Then,
a sparkling line catches your optics.
--What
in Primus?--
You
automatically zoom in, two forms were streaking around the moon...
The
two Cybertrons from Charr!!!
Oberidan moon orbit : Darksky
You
slam a thick fisted hand into the alarm panel by the door, "This is
Vulcan! Prepare for attack! Intruders in sector twelve seventy one!!"
You
don't bother to wait for an answer as you bolt out of you quarters and pound
down the hallways of the Darksky.
You
bust through the doorway of the main bridge and jump into your seat bringing
the ships main batteries on line and arming the defenses...
Nothing
happens.
You
pound on the controls again, but the access codes for armament control have not
been activated. You spin in your chair to find Fearswoop, Overkill, and
ChopShop staring at you.
"WHY
AREN'T THE WEAPONS ON-LINE!!!" you bellow beligerantly.
Overkill
turns back to his computer, and ChopShop smacks his forehead and groans.
Fearswoop
fixes you with a detached stare, "Well, since arming the main weapons and
guns would most assuredly give away our position and the stability of our orbit.
I believe it would be more prudent to keep them off-line. Especially since we
are NOT under attack."
"But
I saw..."
"Yes,
the two Cybertronians. Chop Shop and Arachnae had spotted them from the hull as
they jumped OFF of Darksky. Perhaps if you had plotted a trajectory or looked a
little closer you would have noticed they were arching AWAY from Darksky and
towards the planets surface. "
"Then..."
"Then
they may well try to contact the Predicon outpost. I think they may be greeted
with less than open arms, but to make sure, I'm afraid we will have to attack
quickly, with or without Megatron's orders. Therefore I am sending you down to
the planets surface, along with ChopShop. Since this is a mess of YOUR doing,
it is up to you to begin to straighten it out. ChopShop will go along to keep
you out of trouble, plus his 'expertise' may serve you well."
You
salute," Yes Fearswoop, the outpost will be annihilated quickly and
efficiently!"
"Don't
be foolish, we can not take the chance that any one of the bots that are now on
that planet might slip through with only two attackers.
Your
mission is reconnaissance. you will assess the number of the enemy as well as
the armaments. We have set up a jamming field already, but we must make sure
that this kill is swift and thorough. As soon as you have radioed the data, the
attack will begin. You WILL NOT attack until the Darksky is in low orbit and
striking position around Oberidan. DO YOU UNDERSTAND!!"
"Yes
sir."
"Then
go quickly, take the landing pod on the far deck. It is already set for a short
term cloak, but it will drain most of it's power to do so. It will not be able
to lift off again after landing. We will pick you up with the rest of the squad
AFTER the attack."
You
turn as ChopShop joins you. At least you won't be stuck in your room any
longer...
Oberidan: a landing pod
You
look over at ChopShop as the small rounded landing pod falls through Oberidan's
orbit. The brownish insecticon had obviously been holding in an
attack
of the laughter ever since the bridge. You glare at him as his optics flash
towards you.
He
looses it.
You
grimace, "Very funny."
"Funny?
You shoulda seen Fearswoop staring at you as you pounded on his shiny new
control consol!!! I thought you were scrap!" he chortles out
between
gasps of laughter.
The
cockpit was uncomfortably warm as the ship fell through the atmospheric layers.
The thrusters were off until the last possible moment to prevent
discovery.
There
was a kick as they shut on and slowed the descent. The stealth fields were
working perfectly, but, just as Fearswoop had warned, the energy packs
were
already nearly drained of energy.
There
was a moment of vertigo as the ship slowed mere meters from the ground. It set
down as gentle as a feather.
"Let's
go." you grumble.
The
two of you step quietly out of the landing pod. It had landed on the shore of a
large river, about twenty miles from the Predacon base. You look at
the
shiny landing pod on the shore.
"That's
gotta go." You mutter as you raise your foot and give the pod a push.
It
splashes into the rivers waters, sinking to the bottom as the cockpit fills
with water.
"You
know, " ChopShop queried, "Fearswoop probably wanted that pod back
afterwards."
"Fearswoop
can go glitch himself."
"Fearswoop's
gonna glitch us..." ChopShop mutters under his breath.
"I
ain't scared of that spook of a Con!"
"I
am."
"You
would be. Now, let's get headed toward this base. You have you jamming field
ready?"
ChopShop
pulls a small contraption from his side. It shifts to reveal a small rotating
dish and a camera lense. "This will cover us from sight AND
sensor."
He activates the device and a shimmering field surrounds the Insecticon. He
fades from sight.
"Great,
but we need to cover both of us."
The
field shuts off with a snap, "Nope, I need to cover you. I'm still a thief
by trade, and I have a few left overs from the wars that help my 'trade'. Now,
hold
still and I'll install this."
In
a matter of seconds you had the dish mounted on your shoulder and activated.
"Vulcan,
tank mode."
"ChopShop
Beast mode."
You
both transformed, you into your thick treaded tank form, and ChopShop into a
rather nasty looking beetle. Then, to your surprise, ChopShop shrank
till
he was less than a quarter meter large.
"Impressive.
Size morpher."
"Like
I said, a holdover from our energon guzzling days, but I've rigged it to be a
little more efficient."
He
crawl onto your back as your tank form disappears from sight.
Shortly,
the two of you were outside of the pitiful Predacon outpost. ChopShop was
crouched on the ground behind a outcropping of rock. You stood
invisible
beside him, looking over the rock at the base. Through the warm late afternoon
sun, you could make out the forms of that Cybertron Backdraft
and
his new little friend. They were talking to some Predacon female. She was small
and brownish, with the head of some lizard for her chest plate.
The
outpost itself was nothing. A lone tower against a cliff side. Two auto-guns
graced it's walls. The only obvious line of defense.
ChopShop
was listening carefully.
"What
are they saying," you whisper.
ChopShop
fixes you with a glare, "I'd be able to tell if you'd shut up! They were
talking about the defenses. Seems they've got a holoproj to cover
themselves
up, and a light deflector screen."
"Hmm...
they'll be easy pickings. I think..."
There
is a bussing noise and a whining as the energy field that is keeping you
concealed flickers and died.
For
a heart stopping moment you are standing as clear as day.
You
see Backdraft's head whip in your direction as you feel ChopShop gives a sharp
blow to the stealth pack. It starts up again as you drop to the
ground.
It
had only been .003 nanocycles, but it felt like hours. You looked at ChopShop,
"WHat the inferno happend!!!" you whisper harshly.
"The
planet is dustier than I expected. The gears musta got jammed up. Did they see
you?"
You
look back around in time to see the small group entering the base at a rushed
pace.
"Yup."
"Better
call Fearswoop."
Oberidan: a Predacon Outpost
"Since
we've been spotted, how about to do your little shrinking trick and see if you
can foul up as much of their equipment as possible. While you're doing that
I'll let them see me again and then run off like am about to go get some more
help. Got it?"
ChopShop
nodded and transformed to his beetle mode.
"Oh,
and the next time you give me a defective toy I'll add your face plate to my
collection." You transform and raise a cloud of dust as your treads bite
into the ground.
Within
minutes you detect a signature up ahead. You had already called the Darksky
down and told FearSwoop that ChopShop's little invention failed. Now, it looked
like some Predacon was trying to 'stop' you.
BOOM!!
Dirt
and rocks shattered up from the ground in front of you.
--Impressive--
You
rolled from the impact and transformed, your Gattling guns whirling in
anticipation.
Another
two blasts hit fairly close as you opened fire.
Your
target was a rock outcropping about 100 meters distant. You could make out a
rather large Predacon taking shelter behind it as your gun sent showers of
sharp pebbles cascading away from their blasts.
He
spins to the side and scores a direct hit on your chest plate.
You
fall back as you hear him roar, "BEAST MODE." You roll and bring you
guns to bear on the rock as you see a large reddish lizard come down on top of
you!
--That
was a hundred slaggin' meters!!!--
THUD!!
He's
heavy, nearly as large as you are, and it hurts!
Then
his back legs give a powerful kick. Sparks fly as a chunk of your armor is torn
off. You grab him by the horn and toss him against another outcropping of rock.
He
hits hard, and blood can be seen smearing down the cliff as he falls. He
transforms to robot and pulls his gun, but you were already drilling him with
yours.
He
falls down smoking.
You
wince in pain as you stagger over to his body.
You
reach down and pry his head up. He was still awake, and too late you notice the
gun rising up.
BAMMM......
SCREECH!!!!!!
The
body falls back as you kick it. Still holding the robots head in your grasp.
You were damaged bad though, that final shot hit you in the leg and left
another rip in your armoring.
It's
been a long time since you've fought.
And
it still felt good to win.
You
look up and see the Darksky lowering through the clouds in the distance.
Oberidan : The Southern Plains
You
clip the Predacon's head onto your leg and stagger over to his carcass.
--Maybe
I can find something to fix myself up...--
You
look at the pile of circuitry and wiring, and realize that you have all the
technical know how of a rhino...
However,
you do know how to weld, and you rip off some of the exoarmor of the Predacon
and seld it into place over the gaping holes in your own.
--Not
great, but it'll keep sand from getting in--
You
transform and turn on ChopShop's toy. A shimmering field surrounds you and you
wink out of sight.
The
Predacon Outpost
The
huge ship is steadily lowering itself toward the base as you approach. So far,
nothing has launched from it, and your attempts to communicate with ChopShop
have been met with static.
However,
huge smoking craters could be seen as you near the base, and the echo of plasma
discharge rings off of the cliffs behind the base.
The
attack was beginning.
You
see the doors to the Darksky open, and out swoops a Purple and gray ship with a
spider on it's back. It's closely followed by the falling form of Overkill.
Another shot blasts the scientific outpost in half. It's tower slides to the
ground with a shuddering boom.
The
slaughter was beginning.
Oberidan : The ruins
You look grimly at the other Decepticons, "As all of you should know, my
leader is Megatron, not Fearswoop. So, if you're planning a takeover, you
can count me in."
The others nodded and grinned wickedly as
you added, "Hey, ChopShop, you have and special, 'toys' that might help us
in our endeavor?"
ChopShop looked up, "I can get us
onboard. And past all the traps Fearswoop had me set up."
"Good. Arachnae?"
"Yes?" The insect was
leaning against a boulder looking down at the gibbering mass of Iguanus.
"Can you take over Fearswoop's
mind."
"No, I'm an interrogation
specialist. I can get him to tell all of his dirty secrets, but nothing
else."
Apeface grunts, "Yeah, you slaggin
crusty tank. We can just beat the plane-bot thrice within his Unicron
lovin' crankcase!"
Overkill roars his approval.
Arachnae smacks his head in disgust,
"Look you crank heads! Fearswoop's no idiot. And first things are
first. We have to get on board that ship."
ChopShop interrupts, "And our shuttle
isn't charged up."
Everyone turned toward ChopShop.
"Oh, uhm, I guess he didn't tell you
about that. The batteries are nearly dead. We have to get that
energon down there..."
You grunt, "to power our ride
back. Nice way to make sure he knows we're coming. It's pretty hard
to stealth a ship loaded with energon. Not to mention he's got time to deal
with those Maximals and still get ready 'just in case'."
Arachnae shrugs, "He didn't get where
he is in the Decepticon ranks by being an idiot."
"Then we'd best get digging for
energon." With that, the work begins...
Oberidan: the ruins
"We don't have to take him now, we could wait..." You ponder as the
work progresses.
"Yeah, " grunts Apeface, "But the
slaggin' glory hound is blastin oil cases up there, and that means that he may
be takin' some busted gaskets in return from those toaster ovens up
there!"
"Apeface is right, "adds Arachnae,
"There were at least four Cybertronians that went up to that ship, and if
they're worth their oil at all, they
have to do a little damage to Fearswoop before they...."
An alarm sounds loudly from the direction of
the shuttle.
You and the others gather in the shuttle's
bridge. Chopshop and Arachnae take places at the controls.
"It's a signal from
Darksky!" reports Chopshop.
You plop down by the shuttle's weapon
control and smash a button, shutting off the blaring klaxon, "What does it
mean?!?!?"
Arachnae turns toward you, "It means
that Fearswoop bit off more than he can process. It's a dead switch he
encoded in himself in case of
emergency."
"What d'you mean?" you query.
Apeface laughed, "It means that
crankshaft got snapped!"
"Indeed, " added Chopshop,
"It would seem that Fearswoop has fallen, but despite the gleeful notions
of our dear ape, I''m afraid that also
means that the ship is now in the hands of those
Predacons!"
"And the Cybertrons." you add as
you glance down at the power levels, "Warming up gun batteries!"
"NO!" howled Arachnae, "we
don't have the power!"
You look at the power meter. It had
been roughly thirty minutes, and there was only a small amount of fuel poured
into the system.
"Slag!"
"We can lift off, and maybe attach to
the ship!" offered Chopshop.
"Engines online!" Roared Apeface.
The shuttle shuddered as it lifted from the
ground.
"The ship is powering up as well!"
reported Arachnae.
"We're pushing the engines as much as
possible!" yells Apeface.
You weren't going to make it, already the
Darksky was moving free of orbit. Once it was free, there'd be no
limiting it's engine.
"I can get off a blast!" you yell,
reaching for the gun controls.
No one stops you as you power up a photon
cannon on the underside of t he ship.
You zero in on the Darksky. It was nearly
free. One shot.
BOOM!
It hit, but not badly enough. Smoke
poured from the hole in Darksky's engines. Gas poured free, but the
Darksky continues it's assent.
The shuttle shudders and darkens for a
moment.
"Closing off all power routes!
"yells Apeface, " Re-routing all energy to stabilizers. It's
going to be a raw landing boys!"
You activate internal magnets to anchor you
as the internal systems shut down across the shuttle. All power was
rerouted from life support,
gravity generation, and equalization generators. The
shuttle seemed to suddenly shift and lilt as if out of control.
You shut your sensors and crossed your fingers.
In seconds the shuttle landed. Safely.
You and the others stood and stalked free of
the ship. No damage had been sustained, but your quarry had escaped.
"At least we can get home."
muttered Arachnae.
"Maybe more." you stated with
a low chuckle.
"What?"
"The hit caused a burst in the engines
forward coolant system. It won't cripple them, too many backups, but it
is traceable."
"And if we hurry, "added Chopshop,
"I can pick it up and follow them into a rough estimation of
hyperspace!"
"Rough estimation?" asked
Arachnae.
"Well, with a little luck..."
"Great, slaggin luck!" Roared
Apeface, "Well, today's as good a day as any for some pirate 'Con's to
rampage through space!!"
With that the mining resumed at a more
fevered pace.
Oberidan: the ex-Predacon Outpost
You look up from your work, "Hey, Chopshop. While the rest of us are
mining how about you check out the base to see if you can pick up some
supplies for the shuttle, or better yet see if they have a shuttle that
we could steal. also see if you can break in to there computer banks and
fiend out who was stationed on this dead rock or any other useful
info."
Chopshop looks up from where he was sulking,
"You mean the base that we smashed to rubble? There's nothing left
of it but a pile of girders, and seeing as we don't need any dead
weight..."
"Besides, " Arachnae interrupted,
"I've already found out most of that stuff at any rate."
"What?"
"I interrogated this lump of bot,
"he informed you with a shove of his toe against the body of
Iguanas," He informed me that they were a Predacon outpost, nothing big,
just what we had already known. Science outpost, sent to watch the
planets life and record, but the one thing that made them different...."
"Yeah?"
"Well, they were, A) sitting on a large
pile of RAW energon that seemed to be growing naturally in a crystalline
form. and B) They were assigned to work on a way to protect a robot
from the harmful radiation that raw energon gave off!"
"Why would the
Predacon's want to have that?"
"Who knows. Public safety
perhaps? Or maybe they've got an energon based weapon. One large
enough to shut down all of Cybertron?"
"Bah," Apeface looked up from the
energon pump, "That's just speculation! You ain't got no slaggin'
proof of anythin' like that!"
"True, but if it was true, then that
discovery could mean life or death for the group that found it."
"So what good's that do us?"
You ask.
"Well, I know where the prototype was
stored. BUT, it's a little tricky to get to it. You see, the chamber was
underground, over there." He points to the dilapidated Predacon outpost.
"Slag that oil! We should just
suck this grease pan clean of all it's slaggin' energon and hit the starry
skyways! Back to Cybertron's where I'm headin!" grumbled
Apeface.
"I think we should go after the
device." states Arachnae.
Chopshop snickered, "Ahh the device's a
prot, it probably wouldn't even work yet. But, hell, I don't care.
one way or the other sounds like a royal bitch to me! You guys
decide." With that he tromped off.
"That's it, Vulcan. One to
one. You wanna go for the unit? Or go home?"
Oberidan: The ex-Predacon Outpost...
"Well, look at it this way. If we find this energon gadget, and make
it work, we'd at least have something to use as leverage and an advantage over
Cybertron. We could bring glory to the decepticon Empire!"
"Yeehaw... That's just
peachy." snorts Arachnae," glory and whatever. Then it's
decided. We find the energon shielding and put it to good use. That
just leaves us the question of how to get to it."
"I.... i can get you there."
Everyone looks down at the pile of scaled
scrap that had been sniveling for hours now.
"What? Slaggin' Pred, what the
Primus humpin' oil cans of burn all do you think you're talkin 'bout
here?" roars Apeface.
"I know these caverns here, " The
Predacon drags himself to his feet, "I built them, me and
Fractyl. I know them like my own processors. I can take you
to the energon seeds."
You walk over tothe diminutive Predacon,
"Why would you help us?"
"You're now the only way off this rock,
and I'm the only one who can get you safely to what you seek! Besides, the
energon seeds are only an impressive advantage if you know what they were going
to be used to guard against."
"And you do?"
"No, but I could find out. "
You ponder, not convinced, but what he says
may be true. If he can get you to this shielding experiment.... AND you
could find out what the experiment was for....
Oberidan : underground
You glower over the smaller Predacon, "Ok then, let's go for it. Chop
Shop, oversee the Pred, and make sure that he doesn't double cross us.
Iguanus, I hope you're not that stupid, but if you are, ChopShop and Arachnae
will have fun ripping you into shreds.
Then, I'll add your face plate to my new
collection. Got it? Good, let's get to work."
Before long, you find yourself deep in
the caverns below the Predacon outpost. The cavern walls and passageways
are treacherous, and several time, you find yourselves setting up new braces
after blasting larger holes into the walls for your larger bodies to fit
in. Iguanus merely slipped and slid through the holes, Chopshop had very
little problems either.
The walls here are dry and dusty, and
a cold draft come up from below. You're lights flicker off the walls as
you walk down deeper into the ground. The darkness is cold and oppressive and
the only sound is the grinding of your footsteps.
After about an hour of travel, Iguanus turns
and transforms, "Something is following us."
"What do you mean?"
"My scanners are set to scan for
more biological sources, and are attuned directly to this planet's indigenous
life, and something IS following us."
"So, some fleshy creature is no
match."
"Never said it was
fleshy..."
With that, a loud searing noise
sounded from directly behind the group, and a cloud of thick dust filled the
cavern.
A mass of red and black lumbered out, a
screeching noise emanating from several hundred mouths filled the tunnel.
You grimace at the strange, smoking creature
and bring your Gattling guns to bear.
The report of gunfire signals the
Decepticon attack on the molten rock creature.
As the smoke clears, you see the holes
torn into the creature ooze a hot red flow of lava. The lava expands and
cools, forming an even larger creature.
"That doesn't work." Mutters
Iguanus as the creature begins to roll toward you.
"What does then?!"
"Don't know, we always just
ran."
Oberidan: Underground
"Ok, here's what we'll do. Iguanus, do you know of any lakes or water
sources near by?"
"Hmm, there's a small lake three
chambers downward, we can get there, but it will take some foot work."
"Chopshop, can you erect some
kind of force barrier?"
"Possibly, but it would take
time."
The monstrous shape begins to lurch
toward you.
"Then we slow him down as best we
can, missiles active. Sensor scan, structural integrity."
Instantly an overlay appeared on your
optics, pointing out the structural strong points that could take a blast, you zero
in and blast off a volley of missiles. The cavern ceiling crumbles and
falls directly on top of the creature.
"Now, move!" you shove
Chopshop directly at the rubble pile, and begin to motion the others to fall
back down the tunnel that Iguanus signifies.
Chopshop pulls out components from his
carapace and begins to set them together with a frantic pace.
"Overkill, cover him and make
sure he has enough time, keep falling back until you get the system set
up!"
The rubble sizzles as the molten blob
begins to eat it's way through.
Chopshop jerks his head up as the rock
begins to glow red, and the creature spills out.
"Fall back!" Roars overkill,
and Choshop is quick to oblige. A volley of missiles from the gray bot's
shoulder packs quickly collapses the room entirely. The two back up down
the tunnel after your group, Chopshop still frantically piecing electronics
together as they move.
You, Apeface, and Arachnae blindly follow
the Predacon through the dark tunnels. Suddenly, a loud hissing in front
of you draws the group up short.
"It's another one!"
hisses Iguanus.
"How far until the puddle?!"
"It's directly below us, but it
will take time to reach it."
Apeface grunted, "Time we don't
got you slag suckin' piece of fleshy larvae." With that, he
transformed from Ape to robot and pointed his gun straight down.
"Wait, what are...."
BOOOM
You plummet down, smashing through
another floor of rock and suddenly splashing into a cold deluge of water.
As you drift down, you hear a larger
splash from above you. Then, a high pitched whining noise fills the
water.
You feel the ground under your feet
and push up, only to smack against something hard, and extremely hot above
you. Bubbles boil away around the surface of the huge boulder, and you
realize that it's one of the creatures. The steam it's creating whines
and hisses as it floats to the bottom, pushing you downward.
You bring your Gattling cannons to
bear and tear into the rock creature. Chunks explode and hot magma pours
into the waters and cools as the waters hit it. Streams flow around you,
trapping you like cement tentacles as they harden, and charring your metallic
skin where they touch. You quickly snap through them and push your way to
the surface.
The others were their, Apeface was
hovering in jet mode with Arachnae standing on top of him, Overkill hovered
above the water with his jet packs, and you and Iguanus were treading water.
Chopshop hovered near you in beetle mode,
his mandibles clicking in irritation, "Well, I
trapped the other one with a force shield up there."
"Great." You ejected a spot
of water from your face grate.
Suddenly there was a hissing and a loud crashing as another one
of the behemoths fell through the ceiling. This one landed on the short
strip of shore near a large entryway to the cavern.
"Oops," clicks Chopshop,
"Guess I forgot to shield the bottom."
"Arrrrgghhh!" A panel opens
on your chest and a salvo of acid darts shoots toward the creature.
There's a hissing noise as the acid eats away at the molten rock. Arachnae
scuttles a bit on Apeface's back to get a better shot, "Let someone who
knows the benefits of acids take a shot."
The two gun-arms of the mechanical
spider shoot forth silver capsules which streak toward the creature. They
explode in a cloud of gas. Rock melts and falls away from the creature as
it retreats down the tunnel. You snatch Iguanus by the scruff and swim back to
the beach. The ground there hissed with the acidic gases that are
settling to the ground.
"How far?" you ask Iguanus
as you drop him on the smoothed beach surface.
"We just took a two level shortcut. So,
not far."
He turns as the others land on the beach,
Apeface transforming to ape mode.
You follow after the small Predacon.
Oberidan : Underground
The chamber glows with a bluish radiance from the crystals of energon that
cover the walls, floor, and ceiling. Your circuitry immediately
reads a buildup of energon.
"The levels of energon are too
high here. We're going into stasis." You grumble.
Iguanus looks back, "Oh yes, you
do not have the advantage of Beast forms, forms made of flesh covering.
The energy is supercharging
your structure and will shut you down permanently."
"You tricked us!"
"Indeed, no more a betrayal than
you yourself have provided. I just applaud you for walking into it.
Truthfully, it does not benefit me for you
to fall to this. I need you. Just as you now need
me."
"What?" you drop to your
knees, and hear the others falling as well.
"I need you to be free of this
planet, to be free of this lab. I can provide you with the power you need
for your conquest, but I want it on my
own terms. I will retrieve the energon shield from here,
then I will happily bring it back and restart your systems, but only on the
provision that
you will work WITH me. You see, the plans you have for
rebellion and conquest interest me, for always is war a great motivator for
invention,
and I AM a scientist. So, what I propose is this. I
will help you with your little war, and you will provide me with the materials
for unlimited
'scientific' invention. Agreed?"
You're systems are locking up,
glitches scroll across your screen. Overkill and Chopshop are already
off-line, and Apeface is struggling to
stand.
"You are the last one able to
answer, Vulcan, what will it be?"
Oberidan : Underground
You look up at the predacon above you, "Yes, we'll work with you but not
for you. Now go get the bloody thing." You give a final shudder
and go into stasis lock.
Your sensors blink and spark, seeming uncertain if they should turn on.
-Systems shielding absorbing 85%
of Energon radiation.-
-Energon at safety level.-
You push yourself up to one arm, your
circuits still spinning from the effort, "What happened?"
You here movement next to you, "You’re
covered with the energon shield. I woke you first, as you are the one who
made the deal on behalf
of your cohorts."
You notice a faint glow in the cave.
Iguanus is standing near you, his scaly skin seems to swirl with energon
radiance. You lift your own hand
and look at it. The metallic surface has a similar
crackling array of energy playing over it.
Iguanus holds an odd looking silver white
crystal.
"What’s that?" you grunt.
"It’s the shielding device. All
it takes is several seconds contact for it to sync to your system."
"What’s it do?"
"It sends out nanites to coat the
surface and absorb and deflect the radiation."
He bends over the others and begins to
reactivate them.
Soon after, the group finds themselves back on the surface of the planet, and
with little effort, the shuttle is repaired and refueled.
Now the only question is to where you will
go…
Oberidan : the shuttle
You board the shuttle, everyone sitting into their positions. Iguanus
takes over a science console to the rear. As you walk past you lean
over, "Iguanas how long does the shielding effect last
for?"
"I… don’t really know."
"What do you mean you don’t
know?"
"This was a prototype
shielding. The nanites are self replicating, but they take damage with
friction of all kinds. Kind of like the wearing
away of rock from too many people touching it. They can
absorb energy blasts, but flame, concussion, or just being smacked real hard
will
destroy them. The self replication is slow, and will not
replace large gaps in the shielding. As far as sheer lasting power, it is
indefinite as far as I
know, but as I said there were only two prototypes in
existence."
"Two."
"Two."
"Where is the other one?"
"It was gone when I got
there. I remember seeing Packrat and Fractyl heading down toward
the energon chambers. They were going to
seal the tunnel so that you couldn’t reach the energon.
The energon damper field was damaged during your attack, and to reach the
detonator
controls, they would have had to use the energon
shielding. At least, that is what makes logical sense."
You turn and plop down in your
weaponry controls, "Chop Shop, since I don't
think that we'll be able to track Fearswoop I say that we go
back to Char and see how the war is going."
"Actually, the damage that was
inflicted on the Darksky has caused a trail of ionized gas leading into warped
space. I can reconfigure the
settings to follow the trail in to warp and it should lead us right
to him."
"Yeah, but…"
"But nothin’" interrupted
Apeface, "That slag suckin’ Fearswoop might be a rusted piece of robotic
afterbirth, but he’s still on my slaggin’
ship! And I want that warship BACK!"
"But…."
"Yeah," adds Overkill,
"What the slag good are we if we don’t have a battleship at least.
If we go back to the Decepticon’s now, we’se got
little bargaining posture."
"Yeah…"
Arachne chimes in, "Do you really
think that Clench and Soundwave are just gonna let us happily keep the energon
shielding? We need
some firepower and defensive capability to return with.
THEN, we’ll be able to join the upper echelon of the new Decepticon
Empire."
It was painfully obvious you were out
voted on the decision. And since you weren't the captain, or even the
highest ranking next…
Chopshop began programming on the new
sensor settings.
Soon, the shuttle was dropping from hyperspace above a planet designated only
by the number IA-12.
Iguanus frowns, "There’s nothing
here. The sensors must have been wrong. Let’s return to Charr
or Cybertron, or wherever you believe
we should go."
Chop Shop spins, "My sensors are
NOT wrong. The trail still exists here. There must be SOMETHING on
the surface."
"Nope nothing….."
IA-12 : Orbit
The group decides to go down, with only Iguanus in dissention. As the
final pronouncement is made, the scale covered Cybertronian
seemed to visibly blanch.
You turn toward the computer banks and
tap up the name of the planet, to see if there was anything worthwhile to know
about the planet.
It wasn’t listed as anything but an
empty planet. Bio class M3, nothing spectacular, and no intelligent
species as of yet listed.
You look over at Iguanus who drummed
his clawed hand testily on his shin, as if waiting for something to happen.
Arachnae was the first to speak,
"There’s something down there, all right."
"What is it?" you get
up and move over to his scanners.
"There’s a lot of smoke and fire
at the moment, but there, in the center. It’s a base."
You turn and look again at Iguanus,
who was making a show of looking anywhere but at anyone…
"Scan it, any signatures."
"None, but there are a lot of
spider drones outside. Attack drones."
Chopshop moves over and peers at the
console as well, "Lemme see."
"Aha, there a fairly advanced
model. Havn’t seen them before. Definitely Cybertronian in
nature. The only things I know that are anything
like them…" he paused and looked back where Iguanus
was squirming, "Is the Predacon model F10.OOA."
The Darksky : Entering IA-12's atmoshpere
You turn toward the Predacon, "What's the deal Iguanas? why are you
squirming?"
"Look, we shouldn’t be here."
"And why not."
"It’s a Predacon outpost. A
dangerous one."
"There’s no outposts on this
planet."
"Yes, there are. I don’t
suppose that the Destron’s ever kept any outposts secret?"
You swing back, "Chop shop can
you scan the droids and ascertain what their capabilities are?"
"Well, I could, if they weren’t
mostly scrap! Wait, there are several that are still
functional." The brown beetle bot gave a low whistle,
"Wow, these babies are generations ahead of the models
I’ve seen!"
"And."
"In… laymen’s terms…We do not
want to mess with them."
You scratch your chin.
Arachnae seizes the moment and walks
over to Iguanus, "Why don’t you do us a favor, partner. Why don’t
you get us clearance to land…
NOW!"
"I think not. We land down
there, and we are dead bots, all of us."
Apeface looks over from the
engineering console, "Slag em. We can takem. Besides if
they’re this slow getting their rubbers bruning to us,
then they can’t be all that great. We’re as visible as a
bare plated chicky-bot."
Iguanus looks concerned, "He’s
right. They should have blasted us out of the sky minutes ago." He
pauses and turns back towards the
computer panel, tapping in a series of codes.
"Ok, here’s the deal," he
turns to address the crew, "We go in, but we go in on my terms. This
station may hold some items that are…
usefull to us, but remember, I am still a Predacon. If
there are problems, we help them. If there are wounded, we make sure
they’re safe.
Understood?"
There wasn’t much room for
argument. Now it only remained to be seen what was still down on the
planet, and what caused so much
damage to the grounds around it.
IA-12: The shuttle
You grunt unhappily, "That's fine by us but don't even think of trying to
back stab us. Got it?"
Something akin to deep humor passed over
Iguanus’ face, "Of course, no treachery!" He raises his hands
placatingly.
The ship came to ground next to the Predacon base without so much as a lens
turned in it’s direction. Robots seemed to be busy picking up pieces of
other charred droids, and
putting out the smoldering fires that surrounded the base.
The group of get up, and Overkill elects to
stay onboard the shuttle, in case the Predacon’s tried something desperate.
You stepped out onto the charred plains
around the base. Large spider droids cleared the grounds as flyer droids
dropped loads of flame retardant on the fields that still burned. The
air was heavy with smoke. And out of the haze, walked a thick
shelled brownish Predacon. If it was surprised to see a group of
Decepticons, it was not apparent.
"Welcome." A deep, female
voice announced, "It seems you are out second visitors this week. I
trust you’ll understand if we stay a bit…guarded with you. Not that there
is much left
here to worry about."
"I am Iguanus, and these Decepticon’s
are here with me. What happened here?"
"A group of Transformers landed here in
a warship, with what I would presume would be their," she points at you,
"commander. We put them up, but they betrayed and attacked us.
Stealing our experiments and destroying out base. Fractyl
is still here, he is overseeing the cleanup operations through the remote
consoles."
"So, Fractyl didn’t leave with
them?"
"No, it seems that it was the youth,
Rascal, that betrayed us and joined the Maximals in their rampant
destruction."
"How bad is the damage."
"Mostly superficial, none of the base
systems are damaged, and only ten percent of our droids were available at the
moment, so most of them are still quite functional, and have been
pulled back to our base to effect the cleanup. I assure
you we are quite safe."
"Then what of the ones that left
here?"
"They are in a shuttle. According
to our tracking, they’re heading toward Cybertron."
"Tracking?"
"We’ve planted a tracking device on
board their ship. We’d be willing to give you the frequency, but only
for… a favor."
IA-12: Predacon Outpost
You quickly speak up for the group, "We would be most glad to take on this
challenge, but what is it that you would require from us?"
"The Tripredicus council can see
the possible use of an alignment with our ancestors. Together we may be
able to rid ourselves of those creatures that infest our planet. The
Maximals and the Cybertronians."
"I don’t have the ability…"
"Of course not, but you can take
an envoy of ours to your leaders. Have them stop their raids on the
Predacon outposts, and we will be willing to share our technologies with
you!"
"Seems feasible. We may be
interested in such an alliance, but what technologies are there that you can
share with us?"
"First things first. I will have
my droids refuel your ship and program in the proper codes for the
beacon."
You nod, "Arachnae, Apeface. Keep
an eye on them and make sure they don’t try anything funny."
She continues, "Now, if you will follow
me, I will take you to some a break room so you may relax while the work is
done. I have something that I require Iguanus’ help with, and then
I have a few things to share with you."
You nod, "Oh by the way what is your
name?"
"Hardshell."
You lean over to Iguanus, "See if you
find out what kind of trinkets the Maximals got away with and any other useful
info."
A few cycles later, Hardshell walks into the lounge where you, Chopshop, and
Overkill had been enjoying a few energon drinks. You had to admit, these
Pred’s had a nice layout
here.
"Fellow Cybertronians," begins the
dark shelled Predacon, "I would like to first show you an example of the
technology that we may share with the Decepticon Empire were we to
form an allegiance.
You and the others stand expectantly.
In crawls a large monstrous lizard.
His scales were blue green and overlapped with robotic units and metal
plating. His neck was surrounded with a frill of large, chromed bladed
plates. They shimmered unlike any armoring that you had
seen before. His features were frightening, and quick scans showed
impressive power outputs.
Then, to your surprise, a familiar voice
issued forth, "Iguanus, TERRORIZE!!"
He shifted shape into a new robotic
form. Flexing large, clawed hands, he looks up at you and grinns a sharp
toothed grin, "Transmetal technoloty."
"No," corrected Hardshell,
"Transmetal TWO technology."
You look over at Chopshop. He
nods, "Yeah, that new armor plating of his is tuff. It’s energon
resistant and lightweight. VERY impressive."
Hardshell adds, "We only had
enough material generated here to create one last body, so, Iguanus, as our
envoy was the natural choice. You’ve seen the spider droids that guard
this
base, and these are just a few of the advances that we’ve made
on this base."
"Nice, what else you got to show
us?"
"Technology wise? I think
that’s quite enough for a taster. But I do have one other thing that may
interest you."
In a lab, several floors below, the five of you stood staring up at the tank of
liquid. In it floated the remainder of Fearswoop. His body had been
charred and battered almost beyond
recognition.
"We have not rebuilt him, but if
you wish I can do so. He’s quite safe in stasis as well. I would be
happy to turn him over to you…?"
You look up. Fearswoop was powerful,
and would undoubtedly be a good resource if you were to return with the
technologies in hand. And he knew the Darksky better than any
one else. But would he be willing to go along with your
plans? And did you really want him usurping control again…?
IA-12: The Predacon Labs
"For now I think we should leave Fearswoop in your capable hands. We
don't want him to put a wrinkle in our possible alliance now do we? Well, I
think we should be off now and
show the Deception leaders that it is time for an alliance with
our younger brothers. If you don't mind Iguanus, I would like Chop Shop to give
you a full scan so that we can see how far
you have advanced."
Soon, the tracker in place, you find yourself heading directly on a path toward
Cybertron.
The scans on Iguanus had been rather
impressive. The transmetal two technology was powerful. He was
still no physical threat to you, but his power levels had been increased and
his fuel consumption was unique. Even the nanites were
still active on the new armor. They seemed to be mutated to a more permanent
facet of his biochemistry. They converted power
and fed it directly past the robot’s systems and bled off any
extra power into a form of explosive shielding!
The shuttle was in full repair, and three
spider droids had been passed along as a ‘gift’ of goodwill from the
Predacons. They also assured you that the base would soon be gone from
this planet, and that searching for them would be futile.
An alliance with their leaders would be the only way to get your hands on the
powerful technology.
You left Fearswoop with them, and with a
request not to reactivate the powerful Decepticon. You wanted this job to
be yours. No creepy flyer was going to take the credit for the
energon shield AND the Predacon technology.
The tracer had pointed directly to
Cybertron, your home planet. It had been a while since you had returned
there. It would be good to get home, and even better to rip out the
optics
of that Cybertron piece of slag that stole your ship!
"We’re dropping out of
hyperspace." Reported Overkill.
The skies of Cybertron were busy and crowded
as always.
Your ship slipped in unnoticed, and the proper
codes for a harmless class two shuttle were transmitted to port control.
You moved the shuttle in to a low orbit and prepared
yourselves for the next step.
Cybertron: Orbit
"Well guys, as of right now it looks like we made it back safely. Oh,
before we dock let me just say this if any one should ask about Fearswoop. Just
tell 'em that he was in no
condition to travel and stayed with the Preds."
"I’m sending dock…"starts
ChopShop, but in midsentence is cut off when a flash of light precedes the
appearance of a massive war ship.
You recognize it immediately, although you
have not seen it for centuries. It was the Warworld. Bludgeon’s old
flagship, and a warship the size of a small moon. Around it appeared
the rest of the Decepticon fleet.
You stared gape mouthed with the others at
what adorned the crest of the Warworld.
Unicron’s horn stood as a symbol of
dominance and chaos.
The scanners flashed, and a shadowy form
appeared, "We are the Decepticon Empire. Cybertron is now under our
control." Then flashed off in a storm of static.
"Your friends are here."
Mutters Iguanus.
"Arachnae, set in a coarse for
the Warworld, and hail Clench."
Cybertron: orbit
"Boys it looks like its going to be a hot time in the old town to
night." You chuckle.
"Codes accepted, and hail is being
returned."
The monitor flickers into life, you
don’t recognize the bot on the screen, he was a whitish color, some kind of jet.
"This is Skywarp. Who’s in
command there?"
"I…" you start and several others
turned toward you with menacing looks in their optics, "…m afraid that our
commander has been, dismantled, through his own incompetence. This is
Vulcan, speaking for the rest of his crew."
"We read a Predacon presence
onboard. Explain."
"He is an emissary, bearing an offering
of some rather… interesting technology. He wishes to treaty with
Clench."
Skywarp stares blankly at the monitor for a
second, as if listening to something, then gives the ship permission to land.
"Do you have the mission goal with
you?"
--Mission goal?—
Skywarp must notice your confusion, and that
of your crew, "The technology from your attack point that you were to
acquire."
--Technology? *The Nannites*--
"Uhm, we were unaware of the full
paramters of our mission."
"Very well, you will be debriefed
immediately on arrival."
With that the transmission ended.
Cybertron: The Warworld
"Well, that was short and sweet. I guess it was a good job we didn't scrap
you on that planet Iguanus or else we wouldn't have found out about those
nanites."
"Yes, now if you just make sure your,
friends, are just as cautious."
"Oh, they won’t scrap a sweet deal like
this. If there’s anything a good Decepticon hungers for its power. And
that Transmetal hide of yours IS power!"
The soft click of the landing gears
interrupts your boast.
Quickly and quietly you were escorted through the lifts in the massive
Warworld. Your footsteps echo noisily off the empty hallway as you are lead by
a thin, gray Decepticon.
The massive, ornate doors to the main
control room stood in front of you, retooled from their former status to once
again display the Decepticon sigil proudly in a shimmering silver
etching.
Excitement swelled in your mind, and it made
you want to blast down anything that moved for kicks! This was it, the
Decepticon empire was reborn, and now you would lay scourge
to all the lands!!
As you enter the main control room, you are
awed by the site of your home planet floating beyond the great crystal windows
that stretched all around. A thick, heavy network of
wiring, almost like a strange column of web, crowded the middle
of the room, and in the midst of the wiring was a solitary chair.
Clench was sprawled on the chair, deep in
the shadows caused by the overhand of the wires.
"Greetings, Apeface, Arachnae,
Chopshop, Overkill, Vulcan, and Predacon. So, you return with this
instead of your illustrious leader, Fearswoop."
You step forward, "The Predacon has
come bearing greetings and a rather interesting offer from his empire."
"His empire is grated under our
collective foot, what could we possibly want from him."
Iguanus speaks up, "Power, and the
Predacon’s are far from defeated. The Tripredicus council isn’t even on
Cybertron, as you well know."
Clench’s eyes narrow, "Then what do you
have to offer us, Predacon?"
"What I have to offer stands in front
of you. The technology used to build my structure…"
"Transmetal Technology, we have already
been working on its structures…"
"It’s structures, but the Predacon’s
are the only ones to surpass its boundaries. Take a closer look at my power
outlays. I was built with Transmetal TWO technologies. By power
outlays are stronger, my relays faster! I can intake more
energy and live off of it ten times as long! This is what the Predacon’s
have to offer you."
A low chuckle emits from Clench, "And
what’s to keep me from slagging you where you stand!!" He jumps up
with a mad look in his optics, a rifle pulled and aimed at Iguanus’ head.
"I will RIP the SECRETS of your TECHNOLOGY FROM YOUR CORPSE!!"
His voice echoes in your very spark, and you
find yourself activating weapons systems to join him in the denial of the
Predacon’s offer.
To Iguanus’ credit, he didn’t even flinch,
"Because, the process can not be dug from the structure. Only
through the quantum readings we took of the original transmetal waves can
you recreate the technology. I do not have the knowledge
to recreate the process, I only serve as a demonstration of its
abilities."
You notice that everyone seemed to have
drawn their weapons at Clench’s words.
A wave of amusement passed through you at
the Predacon’s bravado. A chuckle seemed to pass around the room, ending in a
roar of laughter from Clench.
The amusement passes, and no longer did you
feel the urge to rip out the Predacon’s processors. Only the knowledge
remained that there was something to be learned from the
transmetal technology, and a lingering taste of… confusion?
"Very well, Iguanus. Let your
masters know that a deal has been struck. The Predacon’s will be allowed
to treaty with the Decepticon Empire, but only will I deal with your masters.
Bring them to me, and we will finish our bargain."
With that, Iguanus is escorted from the
room. Clench sits back upon the command chair. You looked up at the
network of wires, and had the sickening feeling that they seemed to
shudder as the Predacon left the room.
As the door shut behind you, questions began
to fill your mind, "How goes the progress of our empire, Clench."
"We have won. But still, our
grasp is tenuous until the factories can be built."
"Factories?"
"Yes, our numbers are low, only by
threat and bravado have we fooled the planet below into believing that we are a
fleet to be feared. Our strikes have caused mystery to surround
our descent upon the hapless fools, and the symbol of our new
empire has struck panic deep into the heart of our homelands."
"That still doesn’t answer…"
"The factories will be used to create
soldiers. Soldiers to bolster our forces, and to keep an iron grip on the
surface of the planet."
A schematic appears on the screen of several
body styles that will be used.
"Fascinating."
"Yes, we shall build ourselves the army
that will control this planet."
Once again you can feel the pride and the
power of knowledge that soon the planet below will be yours to command.
"What then?" asks Chopshop.
"Then we shall spread like wildfire
again, stripping every planet we cross bare of it’s resources. My
comrades, I have had a vision. A vision of a new plague that shall sweep
across
the planets, sucking them dry and replacing them again with the
cold perfection of our home. Megatron’s failure of the past will not be
repeated. He has learned from it, and so shall we
grow into our rightful role as the sole source of power in the
Universe!"
He got up from the chair and led your group
around as he spoke, his words burning with a fervor that ignited flames in your
spark.
"Jhiaxus was right so many years
ago. His only mistake had been to underestimate his enemies."
He was taking you to around the opposite
side of the throne, as he spoke lights lit inside the webbing illuminating it’s
interior.
"We shall create a weapon with the
power we shall gain from the Predacons. He shall lead us across the void
of space and he shall spread our plague!!"
The lights swung to illuminate a vague shape
that was slowly forming in the interior.
A skeletal, robotic shape.
"And his name shall be
Scourge!!!"
Cybertron: The Warworld
"Scourge, eh?" you look at the robot in building and can feel the
very power surrounding the new body, "How much longer until he is
complete?"
"Still some time." Clench
looks away from the creation and back at you and the others, "Plus, now
that we have a chance at getting the Transmetal II
technology… We wish to imbue him with every advantage
possible."
"Will there be just one?"
"Just one. A leader for our
forces, a… Guide to lead our forces into the night."
"You said something about the best of
technology. I may have something that can be used to bolster his
powers."
Clench’s head jerks in your direction,
"What is that?"
"We have been fortunate to find
nanotech shielding in the outpost that we were ordered to eradicate."
Clench’s eyes widen, "With this shielding he won’t have to
worry about stasis lock or any other of those annoying little
glitches."
The robot clasped you by the shoulders,
"You HAVE the energon shielding?!?!?"
"You know of it?"
He cackled almost hysterically, "Why,
Vulcan, THAT was the point behind the selection of your groups target!
Fearswoop may have not trusted you with the
details behind the overall mission, but it seems you have
surpassed his instructions and risen to the occasion!"
"You mean…"
Chop Shop interrupts, "THAT’s why he
wanted us diggin’ with that drill. It wasn’t to find the energon, it was
to find the shielding unit."
Apeface snorts, "Why that two-bit
go-bot!! We coulda just ripped out the info from that little Pred’s brain
and never had to go through all that slag suckin’
ball-bearing busting work!!"
"Yes," continues Clench, "You
will all receive my commendations. You have done a good job. Your team
is now dissolved, and you will each receive new
orders. As a reward, you shall be allowed to select in
what direction those orders may take you."
The others salute and turn to leave, but you
stay behind for a moment, "There is still more. On board we have
several fairly advanced prototype battle droids.
The scientists here may wish to have a look at them to see if
the technology can be used or reproduced."
"Excellent, I will have them unloaded
from the Darksky’s shuttle."
You stand still for a second, as if waiting.
"Is there something else?"
"As a humble servant of the Decepticon
Empire I would take great pleasure in helping the new creation with his
job."
"Your success in this mission has
afforded you that option. You and the others have proven yourselves as
firestormers. But for now, the battle is here."
"I thought Cybertron was secure?"
"It is, but there was one ship that
escaped. Unfortunately it has made it to a point where it can signal the
other ships that comprise Cybertron’s fleet. We could
not afford to send any manned ships after it, but we could send
about fifty swarm fighters. They will shred the large ships hull before
it can ever even flinch."
"This ship, what was its
destination?"
"Unknown. The swarmers only
followed it because they caught the tail end of the hyper tunnel that the ship
made."
"Then…"
"Then we must crush all resistance
below. Quickly, before they can cause us any damage. Iacon has
been… liquidated. And several members of the
Cybertronian council have been captured. The others are
assumed terminated in the attack. The only worry’s there is the complete
lack of representatives from the
Destron council. The ancient Destron’s have always kept
their identities a secret, and communicated with the Council itself via
communication droid."
"Would the Destron’s really be a
threat? After all, we were their elite. We had the same goals
in mind."
"Once, yes, but they proved their
jealousy of us with the Pax Cybertronia. They betrayed their ‘kin’ and
for such can not be trusted."
"How long until Megatron returns to
Cybertron?"
Clench is silent for a moment, as if
listening to something, "He has made no plans as of yet to return to
Cybertron. He is dealing with a group of Predacon’s on the
planet that he is on at the moment."
"What? Is that more important
than our conquest?"
"Apparently. The group is lead by
the Tripredicus Council themselves. But out operations go on with his
blessings.
"So, Vulcan, what are your plans
now? There are still rebellions to be quelched below, technologies to be
uncovered, the armada above needs crew members,
and the factories that we are building below will need
protection. Where might your path lead you now?"
Where indeed? One thing was certain, inside
of you burned a tumultuous joy at the prospect of destroying anything that you
come across, of no longer having any
limitations, and of forcing the universe to your will…
Cybertron: The Warworld
"I
think I’ll return to the planet’s surface. It’s been a while since I’ve
added a faceplate to my collection."
"Excellent, then report to one of the cargo
ships. They will transport you down to the factory area. There,
patrol the streets, keeping an eye on everything. If it
moves and it’s not Decepticon, slag it."
The streets of Cybertropolis were quiet. The attack had ceased mega
cycles before you had landed. Still, the hazy glow of the inner city,
Iacon, still lit the
skyline. One other Decepticon was in the same
general area as you, but there was little reason to step on each other’s
toes. Besides, there was more likely hood
that one of you would find a straggler, than if both of you
paraded down the street.
You ground over the streets with your
heavy treads, scanning every building and alley, the urge to pound something
burning in your spark.
Those that hadn’t fled the nearby
destruction of Iacon had run at the sight of the Decpticon cargoships as they
descended on the warehouse district.
Smoke still curled lazily across the
street, giving a deadly feeling to the air.
You’re scanners give a bleep. A
Maximal signature was not too far from you. You lock onto it and move
forward.
--Finally, a chance to slag some bot!—
You’re huge gattling guns began to
spin in anticipation. You’re speed picks up as you slam around the
corner. The alley was silent, but the signal was strong.
You wheel into the alley.
"Come out, come out, Maximal!"
you let loose with a powerful volley, ripping up the ground in the alleyway.
A orange furred shape leaps out with a
ferocious growl as it dodges the power of your attack.
It stops for a second in your lights, the
head of a baboon snarling at you from a deformed monstrosity of a
transformer. One leg looked like a cats, and a striped
rear and tail twitched like a tigers.
"Whoa, what ARE you?!"
"BANTOR, MAXIMIZE!! He roars as
he leaps toward you.
"TRANSFORM!!" you yell in
return.
The robot smashes into you with
respectable force, making you slide back as you brace yourself with the
impact. He brings a bladed weapon down into your
arm as you block him, it’s bite sinking deep into your weapon.
You punch him and he flies back into
the alley.
Raising your other arm, you take aim
as he gets back up, "Time to die, mutate!"
"NOW!" you hear from above
you.
A barrage of missiles flies out,
knocking you backward from the detonation.
System damage information begins to
scroll across the screen. You had been hit hard, pieces of charred metal
exploding outward from the multiple hits.
"Hah! Got him!" you
hear.
The damage was enough that you should
be inoperable and shifting into stasis lock, but as you watch the damage
control lights steady and begin to shut down.
You wait as you hear footsteps approach.
"I told you we could slag
‘em. It just takes a solid hit."
"Yeah, but I noticed you almost
got nailed in the process."
"Ah, bite my kitty butt
B’boom," the voice was right above you, "I knew what I was…"
You sat up, bringing your cannon up
under the Maximal’s throat.
"… slag … "
His head flew off as your gun shredded
the metal and flesh that held him together.
"Retreat!" you hear an edge
of terror in the other robot’s voice. You spin around, spraying the alley
with gunfire.
As they move off into the darkness,
you hear the noise of the other Decepticon coming up behind you.
"Whoa, you look like slag!"
there’s a thud as he lands, "You turn, surprised that you are still
active. A shiny metal building catches your optic. You see your
reflection and stare at it, awed by what is revealed.
Most of your torso is missing, bared
wires hold one arm into place. Your faceplate is cracked and revealed the
leering cybernetic skull underneath, circuit lights
blinking in the recesses. A steady stream of liquids
leaked down, emptying into a large pool beneath you, and a slow pulse lights
your innards, as your spark throbs
in the smoky air.
"By the pit!" is all
you manage to mutter.
The other Con snorts, "It’s a
lucky thing you’re tough. Better get back to a ship and hitch a ride up
to the Warworld. A few cycles in their CR might do you
some good. I’ll track those Maximals and call in
Skyburn to lend a hand."
With that, the tan and purple robot
transformed and streaked off after the Maximals.
You bend over and pick up the
faceplate of the Maximal, shaking some of the oil and blood off of it. As
you stare at it, your mind slowly churns.
--I’m tough, but not THAT tough.—
By now you should be far into stasis, but
instead, you felt like tearing down a building.
--What in the Inferno is happening?!?—
Cybertron: Iacon
You run a full diagnostic. It will take a few cycles, so you look around,
shoving the faceplate onto the hook on your leg where Thunderkick’s face still
hung.
You walk toward the nearest cargo
shuttle, one thing was sure. He was right. You needed a CR. Even if
you weren’t feeling the pain from the wounds, it still
couldn’t be healthy to leave the wires bared.
--Diagnostic complete.
Critically damaged systems include the following: Energy maintenance, Spark
housing, Scanners, Vocals, Optics, Weaponry, Movement…
"ok, ok, I get the point, I’m
slagged, what about the nannites."
--Surface Nannites are no longer
active. Deactivation occurred at five percent of damage sustained.—
"Five percent? Then I
doubt it’s the nannites that were keeping me active, even if they were, they’da
quit working by now, and I’d be scrap."
You walked on, reaching your intended
ship.
Boarding the boxy cargo vessel, you watch
the drones finish loading their cargo. They busily heft and tow the large
crates into and out from the warehouses,
replacing the equipment there with the equipment to build the
drones and taking from them the equipment that could be used on the Warworld
itself.
As you watched, you found a strange
symmetry in the way that they moved. A relaxing pattern that seemed to
make perfect sense.
You shake your head.
--must be loosing too much
energon…--
You plop down in a corner to wait for
the ship to take off.
Sometime later, on board the mighty Warworld, you settled into a CR
chamber. It’s warming waves washing over you and beginning to repair your
body.
--Legion.--
Coldness sweeps over
you, rushing through every joint in your body. You see the Decepticon
banner proudly emblazoned in the sky.
The sound of marching
feet can be heard, and your attention is drawn back… back down?
You see below you the
streets of Cybertron, pristine, spotless. Smooth and metallic without
flaw. And through the streets, rows and rows of soldiers
marched proudly, they’re shells identical, and on
their chests emblazoned the proud, purple insignia that was the Decepticon
sigil.
At the head of the
legion marched a separate warrior, a true Decepticon, someone who embodied
power and strength.
Pride filled you as they
marched across the surface, and you felt yourself float outward, out until
Cybertron was seen as a whole. Across its surface
was a massive Decepticon sigil, lit in the very
lights of the cities that sparkled on it’s surface.
As you watched, a flame
seemed to sear across the surface, and the sigil itself changed…
Changed into a
skull.--
Cybertron orbit: The Warworld
The doors on the CR chamber hiss open. You quickly scan your memory banks
for the image you had seen in the… dream?
Nothing comes up. No files exist
on the odd sigil-like skull that had become emblazoned on the skies.
The CR next to you opens, and a white
jet-bot stepped out.
A monitor across the way flickers to
life, "Skywarp, Vulcan. We have intruders on the Warworld.
Meet me outside the access doors to the main computer
core."
Clench’s visage blinked out again.
Outside the doors to the computer core, Clench and Soundwave waited for you.
Clench looked back as you approach,
"Skywarp, go and join Thundercracker in the lower entry hatch."
The white jet transformed and roared
off down the hallways.
The large grey and purple camoflauged
Soundwave addressed you, "There are five Cybertronians inside the
chamber. They bear the sigil markings of Autobots.
No doubt some delusional renegades. Inside the chamber
awaits about twenty worker drones that have guns temporarily strapped to
them. They will provide our
firepower. The computer unit will be shielded so as to
keep us from damaging it."
Clench steps forward, "We will
give them a chance to surrender, after all, live parts are better than
pre-scrapped metals. One of their number has been trying to
access the computer core. He is being fed data streams at
the moment to keep him busy, but I have a lock enabled that will trap him into
the computer banks while
we deal with his comrades."
You nod and transform into tank mode.
The doors shift open, revealing a
wide, squat chamber with a thick computer column in the center. A long
pathway leads out to the center, where a wide
platform encircles the computer core itself.
On the platform, four robots stood, staring
at the shimmering shield that just clicked on over the computer core.
Clench’s voice boomed out as you
rolled forward, "THAT WILL BE QUITE ENOUGH!"
The Autobot’s spun in surprise, as the
two jets hovered up and transformed to either side of the platform, flanked
with a number of worker drones.
"Game over, Autobots," he
sneers, "throw down your weapons and surrender."
The Warworld: The computer core
Seconds passed silently as you waited for the usual never surrender statement.
You itched for a chance to lay waste to these fools. Then, one of the Maximals
jumped forward, "BITE ME!!!"
He pulls his weapon and fires a quick blast
at your group on the walkway.
With glee, you respond with your powerful
Gattling cannons. The Maximal never stood a chance. He fell smoking
to the ground.
The others began to move, but a large, black
and gold one in the fore, quickly yelled, "STOP!!"
The others looked at him expectantly.
After long deliberation he release an
exasperated sigh, "A cursory evaluation of our situation would indicate a
marginal numerical deficiency."
After a short pause he adds, "in other
words... we're out numbered."
He drops his multi-rifles and raises his
hands in surrender.
The others look at each other, and for a
segment you hope that they would act on the impulse to attack.
You readied to send the whole group into the
Pitt.
But then, they each in turn drop their
weapons.
--Losers!!--
Clench walks forward, "Wise
choice. Drones!" The floating orbs flit in and snatch up the
collection of rifles and blasters from the floor.
"Who’s in charge here?" the
black and gold robot mutters.
"I am." Growls Clench as he comes
to stand in front of him. "Autobots? Ha! Pitiful
renegades that dare think you ever stood a chance…
"Vulcan, Skywarp, Thundercracker.
Escort our prisoners to the holding area. I will decide what to do with
them later."
You transform and wave one of your cannons
menacingly.
The black and gold one turns, "And what
is to become of us?"
Clench smiles, "Scrap parts for our
forces. Autobot fool."
The Warworld
You cart the Autobots down the hallway, their shoulders hanging in a dejected
slump.
One of them mutters, "Thanks."
Sarcastically at the lead robot.
"Shut up! No talking!" you
bellow.
A minute later you start in, "Man, you
Autobots sure became some real certifiable losers! Back in the old days I
can remember when Autobots fought to the last
man for one stupid cause or another."
You opened a turbo-lift and shuffled them
into it.
"So, what's the matter? Has time
turned you in to a bunch of scraplets? Humph, at least with Decepticons
in charge things will be a lot less soft."
You step in with the two Jets and hit the
controls.
"Oh, by the way your buddy makes a fine
addition to my face plate collection. What was its name by the way?"
There was a sharp hand gesture from
the leader, and the turbo-lift erupts into chaos. The orange and yellow
bot slams Skywarp to the wall as the tall blue one
does the same to Thundercracker. The remaining Maximal leaps up
and catches a panel on the ceiling as they pin the two jets.
The leader slams into you.
You roar in rage and turn to engage the
foolish Autobot, but as you do so, there is a flash, and you feel your optics
shatter.
You scream in rage.
"Quikly now!" you hear the
Autobot.
You let loose blindly with a set of wild
shots from your gattling cannons, ripping up the interior of the ship.
"Always, search your foe for
weapons!"
You continue firing, but soon become away
that they must be moving away, you transform, rerouting your optic sensors into
your tank mode.
You can see that the inside of the car was
slagged, and Skywarp and Thundercracker looked like they were used as
shields. They were still getting up, the
enhanced power that you shared propelling them despite their
wounds.
Suddenly there is a thunderous boom from
above and a sudden feeling of weightlessness.
The elevator fell down the shaft, throwing
you upward into the air until it hits the bottom with a thunderous boom.
You shake yourself and stand from the
wreckage. Your optics were repaired!
"Vulcan to Clench, the Autobots are
making their escape!" you report through gritted teeth.
"Excellent." Came the response.
"What?!?"
"The situation is under control, follow
them and harry them, but do NOT stop them. Let them find their way out, and
lead us right to the whole den of them.
Clench out.
You smirk and begin to climb up the walls of
the shaft.
The Warworld: in the bottom of a turbo lift shaft
As you hoist yourself up rung rung by rung, "Well that shouldn't be to
hard to do."
--Hmm, Clench said just to harass them he
didn't anything about not scrapping at least one of them. Well Mr. Bigshot
Autobot… think you can push me around? Well boy, your face plate is
going to be added to my collection very soon.--
Behind you the whine of engine thrusters
climbs in the air.
"OK Decepticons let’s go and get em.
Skywarp, Thundercraker, use the lift shafts and locate these goody goodies once
you give me their location I'll try and do a
flanking maneuver on them."
The two jets roared up into the air, as you
watched you were stunned at the amount of damage they had taken. Granted,
you fell fifty or so levels before crashing,
and they were used as shields against your assault. Well,
the damage was understandable, but how in Primus can they still fly!?!?
You speed your climb, moving quickly up the
shaft.
Within a few cycles, the two jets reported. Apparently the fools were
using the shafts to travel through the Warworld!
The two jets had heard them long before they
would have been noticed, and were transformed and crawling quietly behind
them. The noise from the turbo lifts
was enough to cover their clunking.
You plotted a parallel course to flank out
on the Autobots.
"Vulcan," Clench’s voice crackled
over the comm.
You stop and hit your comm, "Vulcan
here."
"I need you to route the Autobot’s near
to bock J-2-401."
"Near the holding cells?"
"Yes, I need to stage another… escape.
You are not to shoot at or hit the bird that will be joining the Autobot’s
there. He is quite under our control. Make sure
that at the least the large black and gold one and the bird are
allowed to escape, the others are irrelevant."
"Affirmative." You grimace, that
meant you couldn’t add the slagger’s faceplate to your collection, but still,
there were three others, and he would have his day
soon enough…
You grimace again, “Ok boys, we’ve got our orders,
let’s hit it!”
Transforming
you shift into maximum overdrive, your treads squealing on the smooth metal of
the turbo lift shaft.
You
move out to find a good flanking position.
Soon
you find yourself a good vantage-point. You transform and wait for
the fleeing Autobots to wander into your line of fire.
And
time passes…
And
more time passes…
“Thundercracker,
Skywarp, where are they!”
“They
just made a turn, right before we reached you! They are now heading…
down?”
“Down!?
Where to?”
“To
the prison…” static rolled across the line.
--Prison
level, eh? Then I’d best get down there and show them what it’s like to
be incarcerated!—
You
transform and move out toward the lower levels.
Your
scanners read the signatures of the Autobot fools, and you switched to a VR
setting to give you a solid view of the room’s contents.
You
could make out the different robot’s from their general shapes, the huge
leader, the lanky blue helicopter, the average sized car-bot, and the Maximal…
--One
Maxi, Two Maxi…--
You
lined up on the Maximal and let loose a hailstorm of firepower that tore down
the door and slammed into the unsuspecting Maximal bird.
He
flew apart in a shower of limbs and sparks as the other Cybertronians scattered
for cover.
You
hear the large leader yell, “Slag! Tell me you know how to get outta
here, Squawktalk!”
The small blue green bird, which you were careful not to hit yelled back, “Back
and left, follow me!” He flew back into the corridor behind the others.
“Fall
back!” ordered the large one, while he fired a volley of missiles which hit you
nearly dead on.
You
flinched from the powerful blast, one of your gattling guns going offline and
falling to the floor with a clunk. You also register massive damage, but in
a matter of seconds your circuits seem imbued with a new power, and the
connections are reestablished.
You
flinched from the powerful blast, one of your gattling guns going offline and
falling to the floor with a clunk. You also register massive damage, but
in a matter of seconds your circuits seem imbued with a new power, and the
connections are reestablished.
The
Autobots are already gone, and you transform and begin to roll after them.
The Warworld
“Thundercracker! Skywarp! Where are you!” you shout into your
comm unit. But only silence answered. You stoop with a grumble and
snatch up your arm cannon. Reattaching it to your arm, you reached across
and picked up the head of the Maximal that you had just scrapped. With a
quick snatch, you pried off the faceplate. You take a bundle of wire and
tie it and the other faceplate over you shoulder.
You then transform and hurry after the others… Knowing exactly where their next
stop would be.
The
chase was fun. You would take shortcut after shortcut and nearly catch up
to them, harrying them with your cannons until they had to turn and fire back
with their missiles.
You
took a great deal of damage, but just shrugged it off.
Finally,
you registered them dumping out into the docking bay.
You
transform, finding now that your arm was totally limp. The cannon again
slid off of it, and you had to pick it up and tie it onto the cord that held
the faceplates. You fired a few shots into the ceiling, just as a warning
to your presence, then began to stomp menacingly out into the bay.
Another
set of explosions sent fire leaping around you, but you didn’t even care.
All you cared about was the feeling of exhileration you felt, knowing that they
feared you… knowing that they scurried and ran at the sound of you…knowing that
your game caused complete mayhem in their ranks.
You
stomped out, to see that most of them had already borded a ship. One was
left, looking at you, the gold and black leader.
You
make sure that the facemasks swing in clear view of the Autobot. He roars
and fires a missile. It slams into you, knocking several armor plates off
with a smoky thud. But you just moved forward, raising your one good arm
and firing.
He
scurried out of the way like a rabbit.
The
engines to the shuttle were firing up , and it quickly lifted off the deck.
Part of you toyed with the idea of firing a controlled blast right into the
ships fuel tanks, but you held back. Knowing that you would get a better
chance to kill them. A chance to watch as they squirmed in fear. A
chance to see the looks in their faces before they met their Primus…
The Warworld
“This is
Vulcan to my back up.” You snap sarcastically into your comm, “No need to
come to way point, the eagle has left the building. Oh, and thanks for being
there when I needed you.” You add extra sarcasm to your modulators as you
spit the last and snap off the commlink.
You turn back and begin to walk back to the turbo shaft, it was time to head
over for some repair work in a CR… again.
The doors to the Turbo shaft open, but the elevator isn’t present.
Rather, two strange Cybertronians flew out and landed on the docking bay in
front of you.
One was a huge and silver snake-like reptile. His scales glisten with the
sparkle of chrome as he coiled onto the deck with a fearsome grace.
The other was smaller, probably about half your size. He was in robot
mode, with huge grey-green wings stretched behind him. His body was
intermixed with patches of flesh and technology molded together in an extremely
unusual way.
The smaller one was the first to speak, “What did you do with the Autobot’s,
Decepticon.”
You snarl, “What are you!” and try to activate your comm.
The large one transformed, compacting itself into a robot with an almost zipper
like conversion, “I believe he asked you first.”
The comm was jammed.
“I scrapped them, SCRAPPED THEM ALL!!!”
You bring your gun to bear, but in a flash, the giant silver robot had snatched
your arm back, keeping your gun easily pinned away from pointing at either of
them.
His grip was like steel, there was no way you could break it in the state you
were in. The metal joints in your arm groaned in protest as the metal was
bent out of shape.
“I do believe we’ll have no foolish heroics. Answer the question and we
may just flush you into space instead of melting you into slag.”
“I did answer!” you could get a reading from him. He was Destron,
the other robot though, he showed no sigil markings, and his energy signature
felt… wrong. Almost as if he was emitting a cancerous energy wave.
It made your circuits churn in an odd form of revulsion. As if the
revulsion didn’t truly belong to you…
“I meant answer truthfully. There is signs of a fight, but I do not see
any sign of their carcasses.”
“I flushed them into space!”
“In your condition, hardly.”
The other was leaning over the spot where the shuttle had sat, “They’ve
left. The deck is still warm, they musta stolen a shuttle.”
“So much for your ‘Autobot help’.” spits the large one.
“Still…
I have a feeling…” the other says wistfully.
He walks back toward you, as he nears, you swear from somewhere you can hear a
howl of rage.
“That leaves us with what to do with him…”
The Warworld
“Well,” you
start out, “there's no need to get rough, since it looks like we're after the
same thing. Hmm, time, I assume, is of the essence so why don't you just go and
find your self a nice little shuttle and take off after them? There's no
need to waste it by trying to destroy me.”
--missile spread ready.—
--missile
banks empty.—
--acid
pellets ready!—
--Acid
pellets empty.—
You
had apparently spent a little too much ammo while chasing after the
Autobots. All your banks were empty, even your remaining Gattling gun was
ammo-free.
Then
a though occurs to you.
The
heavy silver robot shakes you with a rattle that jars several bolts free.
The other robot looks on in disgust, “I know what I need to know. I know
where Phil is. Do what you want with him.”
--Check
invisibility module.—
--Invisibility
module is 68% operable—
Not
great, but it was something.
The
silver robot grimaces as he drops you to the ground. The arm that was the
dragon head raises toward you, and you can feel the heat dripping out of the
mouth as if it were some kind of nauseous wave smelling of your death.
Then
another voice calls from across the Warworld’s landing bay, “I think that will
be quite enough, Gigano.”
--Clench!!—
The
tall silver robot turns, but keeps the dragon head lowered on you.
“Clench.”
He rumbles in a low, dangerous voice.
The
other robot looks back and forth between the two. Unsure of what to do.
The
tall black Decepticon leader stepped down from an entry platform on the far
wall. Around him floated five drones equipped with blaster pistols.
“You
know him?” the smaller Cybertronian asks.
Clench
continues to step down the short staircase, his cannon was in hand, and an evil
glint sparkled in his optics, “Oh, yes, he knows me. You see, I’ve been
around for many centuries, enough to watch as he rose to power… and that is
what you did, wasn’t it Gigano. Rose to power over the forgotten sparks
of those ‘elite’ that you and yours sacrificed.”
Gigano
turned from you at this, heat radiating from him like a palpable cloak of
anger, “What we did was regain our place in this world, Megatron had led your ‘Elite’
forces astray. No longer was the political conquest an alternative,
rather he had pushed us back into a full fledge war of genocidal proportions!”
“What
he did, was free us from the chains of the political morass that you and your
council found yourselves in…”
The
other robot looked more and more confused, “Councils?”
Clench looked over, “Oh, didn’t he tell you who he was, what he stood
for. Stupid robot, before you stands Gigano! One of the mysterious
Destron Generals! One of the bastard robots that signed the very Pax
Cybertronia that sent the Decepticons, his elite army, scrambling away from the
combined forces of it’s enemies and their parental branch of Cybertronian
hierarchy.”
“You had gone too far!!” roars Gigano, “Look at yourself, look at this
place!!! What have you done here Clench!?!?! What sickness infests
your warriors?? Why do they bear the markings of some other form of
technology! Why do they walk and fight like the living dead!!!???!!???”
Silence, than a low chuckle that echoes eerily off of the hangar walls.
“I have brought us back to glory, back to our rightful place. We control
Cybertron, We control Iacon. Even as we speak, people are returning to
their city, returning to their homes. They have meekly excepted their
place in our new order. WE HAVE BROUGHT PEACE ON OUR OWN TERMS!!!!!
You and the Councils signed a piece of paper, we have forged the iron bonds of
conquest.”
“And by what means… The horn, the technology, the animated
warriors… What are you up to? What are you planning? You
can’t rule a planet on sheer bluff. You don’t have the forces to hold it
for long!”
“That is where you are wrong.” Clenchs voice was low, a harsh whisper that
seemed tinged with… insanity? “I have built our army, I have created our forces
from the refuse of the planet. Scrap metal, blank circuits. I have
created a force that will follow my every command, a force that will be
controlled by the elite!!!”
“A drone army?” Gigano guffaws, “You can’t tell me your little sphere workers
can hold a planet?!? You’ve gone mad!!!”
“No, not the workers. Meet the first examples of my air forces…”
With that, a humming noise can be heard from just outside the hangar force
field. You turn with Gigano and the other robot to look out at three blue
and silver robots.
All of them were identical.
They
hovered on a jutting winglike leg, and arms ending thick claws hung loosely at
their sides. Their eyes glittered red, but something in them seemed empty
and distant.
Gigano
gasped, “A drone army…” he looks back at the other robot, and something
seems to pass between them…
“Go
little one, find your friend and leave this station. I will deal with
Clench.”
“What…?
You…”
“GO!
He’s far more powerful than you realize. If you want to help, get those
drones to follow you!!! NOW MOVE!!!!”
With
that he transformed and lunged toward Clench in a fluid movement, the black
robot missed the chance to shoot, and was caught in his coils, but you could
see as sparks flew from where Clench’s powerful hands ripped into Gigano’s
armor.
The
other robot fired a single, taunting shot at the three robots outside, then
transformed and flew out of the hangar, back in to the ship itself.
Clench’s
voice grates as he yells, “Aerodrones, dismantle that robot!!!”
He
frees himself from Gigano’s coils, and the battle is joined…
The Warworld
You dump all
available power into your invisibility module, and then drag yourself clear of
the titanic battle that was occuring in the bay.
Clench and
Gigano sent earth shattering blows against each other. Metal flew, and
the landing bay burned. The worker drones had started in on dousing
unnecessary fires and making sure in general that the bay did not explode.
You watched as the two traded licks, frantically working on your arm cannon to
get it operable in case…
But it soon was unnecessary.
You looked up to see Gigano bearing down on Clench with a sharp bladed
club. Clench stood gripping the larger robot’s arms and a lock. The
two struggled to gain supremecy.
Suddenly, it felt as if a hot wave rushed past you, a hot wave that settled
over the two battling Cybertronians. Clench gives off a primal roar, and
wrenches Gigano’s arms around, forcing the larger robot to drive the bladed
club deep into his own arm. There is a shower of sparks, and a wreching
noise as Clench rips the dragon head appendage free from it’s place and kicks
Gigano to the ground.
The silver robot struggled to stand on the deck of the landing bay. Hot
liquids poured out in a steaming pool from his ruined arm. Smoke poured
from numerous breaks and burned out joints all across his body.
Clench
stood on the side opposite of the nearby bay entry. The vast depths of
space glittered behind Gigano as he stuggled to look at his attacker.
Clench pulled our one of the huge turbine-like weapons that he had and leveled
it at Gigano.
“The
era of Destron oppresion is over. The Decepticon’s stand on their
own, and now Cybertron shall be ruled as it was always meant to be. With
one mind!”
With
that the cannon fired, blasting Gigano out of the bay entry and into the vast
coldness of the space beyond.
Clench
turns toward you, “Vulcan, return to the CR Chambers. Thundercracker and
Skywarp should already be being returned there. I want the three of you
to be ready for an assault on wherever these new Autobot’s call home.”
You
stand, “What about the other Cybertronian?”
Clench’s
eyes sparkle, “Let him seek out his friend, I’m afraid he will be sorely
disappointed by what he finds there. Besides, my Aerodrones will
take care of him. Now go!”
“Yes,
Clench.”
You
shuffle off to the turbolift to reach the medlab on board the Warworld.
The Warworld
You turn as
you begin to stagger, glitchingly, off, “Before I go milord a question and a
suggestion if I may? Before the battle the Destron stated that we were living
dead... What did he mean by that? If in fact we're dead then how are we still
functioning?”
Clench
snorts, “Who knows, the Destron was no doubt referring to a state he wished us
to be in, not one that exists. The Generals were always deluding
themselves as such. Regardless it matters not.”
You consider this a moment, and then continue, “Also, might a humble warrior
suggest that we send a team to recover his body and rebuild him. After we learn
all of his info in his memory banks, we could reprogram him and have him work
for us. Now that would be a true twist of fate.”
Clench
grimaces, “You underestimate him greatly. He was a powerful transformer,
and is best left to rot in the void or burn up in Cybertron’s atmosphere.
Even if we had the forces to safely recover his carcass, we do not have the
time or energy needed to extract the information from someone like he.
Reprogramming would not be an option, he is not simpleton, and such tactics
would not work for long.”
You
nod, still not happy with the answers you were given. Something about
Gigano bothered you. Why make up a story? Confusion maybe, but
something in his nature led you to believe otherwise.
As
you entered the medlab, you could see the two chambers that held the remnants
of Thundercracker and Skywarp. Both could have only been in for a few
cycle. In fact, as you peered through the foggy windows, you couldn’t
even see what was left of them. The few pieces of scrap must lie too low
to get a decent angle in the small window to see. The only true sign that
they were there was in the humming of the chamber itself.
You
shrugged and began to move over to your own CR chamber when there was a loud
thudding boom through the Warworld.
For
a second the lights shut off, and immediately the CR chambers popped open,
spilling their contents onto the ground. Emergency lights shut on,
filling the room with a swirling red light that was soon followed by an
emergency klaxon.
“Computer,
what happened?!”
“Main
core damaged. Repairs commencing, power will be rerouted in five cycles.”
“What
damaged it.”
“Local
plasma blast from unknown signature. Damage minor, Aerodrone forces
responding.”
You
sigh, not much you could do. You turn to the floor, waving away the steam
from the CR’s and look at Skywarp and Thundercracker’s parts.
--Best
pick them back up…--
The
steam clears, revealing one robot that was no more that nuts and bolts, with a
bit of his torso that housed the spark left.
The
other was charred and melted, and the panel for his spark had been
removed. The blue spark pulsed silently, still living despite it’s
reduced housing conditions.
--They
should be off-line, permanently! –
You
lean over for a closer look and notice something that makes your spark
churn. On the exposed spark, a metal… bar… for lack of a better term… was
attached to the pulsing blue orb of energy. You might have let that pass,
but there was something…wrong about it. It wasn’t Cybertronian, it pulsed
and shifted as if it were alive. It was made out of a black, viscous
material and had pulsing veins of orange energy that threaded their way out
from it.
The
veins spread from the spark to all parts of the body, writhing with an obscene
form of energon that seemed to pump into every piece.
You
backed off, something about the way it shifted randomly, almost angrily
repulsed you. You reached down and snatched the body back into the CR,
doing the same with the other.
As
you leaned back, the lights came back on and the chambers closed over their
macabre inhabitants.
You
reach up to your head to nurse the throbbing pains that shot through it,
but stopped in midair to look at your own, ruined appendage.
Pulsing
orange veins ran across like flickering lightning underneath the ruined
armoring on your hand and arm.
You
look down to see it everywhere. Barely visible, only noticeable if you
knew what to look for. Then you notice the cannon that had been
detached. It alone was free of the energy veins.
--What
is this, that does it mean?!?—
One
thing was for sure, you weren’t about to find out in the condition you were in.
--And
if I’m going to be on my own to find out, perhaps an upgrade might not be a bad
idea…--
You
step up to the CR and tap in a few commands, accessing the rebuild module.
The
damage done to your frame was severe enough that a total rebuild would be
possible, and as you thumbed through the menu, you found some new technology
that had been brought here with the Warworld. Advanced armor, faster
systems. Apparently Scavenger, a Decepticon engineer, created it.
--That’ll
do…--
You
begin to tap in some form changes and implementations, and when ready, step
into the CR…
The Warworld: the repair labs
You become
aware of the dull pulse of the CR Chamber’s lights. Their slow throb an
echo to your own spark’s beat. There is a heavy clang and a slow hiss as
steam rolls down and away from your optics.
The heavy latch in front of you swings open slowly on its hydraulic
pumps. You stretchout, reaching forward and clamping your heavy claws
together.
--Claws?—
You bring one arm up to find that your hand was replaced with a rather viscous
looking vice-like clamp. It had sharp teeth lining it’s inside, and you
could feel a considerable amount of strength in its grip.
You steped out and moved to a shiny bulkhead to take a look.
You were completely altered.
Now, there was only one Gattling cannon that hung over your shoulder.
Your legs and arms were thicker, with heavy armoring. Your face had one
optic visor that had a pulsing red light sliding back and forth across
it. Even the face grill had been pushed out and squared off in
front. You were a gray and black color with red striping across your
body.
Quickly you run a full scan on your new body.
It was powerful, and had a third mode, a heavy attach heli-mode. You’re
arms were equipped with powerful saw blades, and you also registered that your
missile banks had been incorporated into your chest in robot mode.
The cloaking unit that Chopshop had left with you was operational, with
slightly better energy relays. It was still an energy hog, and couldn’t
be used in conjunction with weapons, or stay on for extended periods, but it
would still be useful in a pinch.
You then run a scan to see if the orange matter was still present, however
nothing seems to show.
You think about it for a moment, then reach down to pry open a panel on your
arm.
Sure enough, the orange veins pulsed madly beneath the surface.
You reach down and scratch at one, it snaps, like a vein, and a sudden dullness
seems to cover your arm.
Orange goo spreads across the panel inside your arm, but within segments the
vein reconnects to its former piece.
You take a drop of the orange stuff and stare at it absently.
“May I assist you, sir?” asks a voice behind you.
You turn to see an advanced drone unit. He was round, with a single optic
and two arms. Two short wings jutted straight back from the main bulb,
and he held some kind of diagnostic pad.
“What are you?”
“Diagnostic Drone unit Zero. I am afraid I am the first and last of an
advanced group of diagnostic drones that Clench was working on building.”
“O… K… Can you tell me what this is?”
The drone looks at the orange goo and reaches out, sampling a bit from your
claw end.
He then hovers over to a large machine and placed the drop on a small crystal
plate.
The machine whirs as the drone taps in commands into his pad.
It appears to be some odd compound of energy and… organic material?”
“Organic?”
“Organic. Where did you get such an odd liquid.”
“From my arm. In fact, it seems to be in all our bodies.”
“Odd, why doesn’t the CR chamber correct the infection?”
“I don’t know, but according to all my sensors, it doesn’t even exist.”
“Indeed, perhaps its organic nature is protecting it from scan?”
“How come you can see it then?”
“This machine analyses the compound, not scans it. Your sensors are based
on a wavelength…”
“Ok, ok, never mind, just tell me how to get rid of it, or at least where it
comes from.”
“I don’t know. It will take more time to analyze the sample.”
“Then do it. If you need fresh samples, just grab a bot and open a
panel.”
“By your command.”
The Warworld
You leave
the drone to it’s work and head toward the Warworld’s command center.
Clench was
there, as you had expected. He looks up from a computer readout that
stretch down from the column of wires around his throne. You notice
that there is a new attachment, however.
His shoulders bore a heave contraption, almost like a mantle of sorts.
Wires reached down from the column and were plugged into the mantle, they
twitched and shifted as data was sent through them. Near the mantle, the
hookups almost looked like the keys on an ancient styled keypad, or like
mini-hydraulics that pumped up and down.
“Vulcan?”
You are startled out of your obvservation of the new contraption, “Yes…”
“I see you have incorporated the new Vehicon armoring. How is it
functioning with a thinking spark?”
“Uhm, excellently. It’s increased several of my current systems to a far
higher level of capability.”
“Good, I may have several of the others rebuilt as well.”
“Sir, I was wondering if there was any word on the Autobot that escaped.”
“Ah yes. You seem to be developing quite a dislike for the black and gold
robot.”
Your optic narrowed and pulsed heatedly at the thought of the robot.
“You will get your chance, but I’m afraid he has not returned yet to his
home. However, our… spy has reported something that is of great interest
to us. The Autobot’s have met up with a few Predacons. Two of the
Predacon’s are escapees from the original attack. Their names are
Skyshadow and Aquasting. They were operating as representatives to the
Cybertronian Councils while the Tripredicus Council was away. We
attempted to take all the members of the councils, but we met with limited
success. I want these two brought to me. Alive if possible.”
“And I’m to do it?”
“Not alone. They are heading towards a stockpile of weapons, so we must
act quickly. These weapons are guarded by an ancient group of Autobot
Firestormers called the Dinobots.”
--Dinobots!—
Even you had heard of them. They were legends from the Great War.
“Remember. These, ‘Dinobots’ are relics by this point in time, and should
prove no match for you and say, ten tank drones. In fact, just to drive
the point home, I will send three of the remaining Aerodrones as well.
You will be their commander.”
“Yes, Lord Clench.”
“Remember, the large Autobot and the bird must escape, and the two Predacon’s
should be brought to me. All the others are scrap metal if you so
desire.”
“Affirmative. And may I ask of the progress on Scourge?”
“I am quite complete.” Comes a voice from behind the column of wires.
Out of the shadowy darkness therein steps a lanky monster of a robot.
Shiny chromed metal overlapped chitinous plates of an insectoid body.
Large, multicolored wings hung down behind him, and sharp talon like claws
extended as hands.
“A Transmetal Beast??!!??” you couldn’t stop the exclamation.
“No, a Transmetal TWO beast. The Warworld incorporated some of the
analgomous energy wave that has hit Cybertron into my structure, as well as
adding in several of the systems that Scavenger designed for your own Vehicon
armor.”
“Yes,” added clench, “While I would have opted for a vehicle warrior, it seems
that something in the alien technology that Iguanus was… so gracious as to give
us needed DNA from a biological creature. I must say that the result is…
frightening.”
The insects wings flitted for a segment, “I too wish to accompany the raid, as
an observer.”
Clench looked surprised, “But what of your work here?”
“It can wait. It will be most beneficial to see Cybertron itself, and I
wish to… test this new body I have.”
You look at the creature. Something about it gave you the creeps.
The way it moved. The dispassionate look in its eyes, or the plain
monstrosity of it’s body. You weren’t sure, but one thing was for
sure, he was a creature that was not to be underestimated.
“Very well. Then the both of you go to Cybertron, and for fun, bring me
back the heads of the Dinobots.”
The Warworld
As
you pace down the Warworld’s hallways, you turn to your new ‘ally’ to find some
details out, “So, Scourge… How did you come on line? Are you a creation of Clenches or did he find your spark
somewhere and build a new body for it?”
The insect regards you with several pairs of eyes for a second, “’Clench’ couldn’t build a spark and you know it, Vulcan. As for my origins, worry less about them and more about your duties to your… master.”
You glare at him for a second, your red optic pulsing back and forth in anger. You bring your voice back under control and continue, “I was merely wondering because of the form that you have. It’s impressive, and I was wondering of its capabilities on the field?”
“Once again, I can take care of myself. The Warworld has built a rather impressive array of weapons into this Transmetal body. The meld of technologies it achieved was quite seemless.”
“So you’re Tranmetal and Vehicon armored?”
“And much more. I will leave most of the fighting to your group. I merely wish to observe the planet, and it’s people.”
“Observe? To what ends?”
“Data collection.” With that he moved ahead of you and on towards the hangar.
The whole time you had been attempting to scan him, to see if he had traces of the orange veins… But again, your scanners proved useless. Nothing showed, except a weird conglomeration of beast technology and advanced armoring.
As he moves ahead, you drop back, activating your commlink, “Diagnostic Drone.”
“Yes, Vulcan?”
“What have you found on that orange goo?”
“Well, let’s see… it’s been all of fifteen cycles so I would have to say that I haven’t had time to do ANYTHING with it as of yet.”
“Just get busy on it!”
“Yes, it’s not like I have other duties pressing…”
“Just DO it!”
You
cut the commlink in frustration, and trudge off after Scourge.
The three aerodrones were waiting in the hangar. You and Scourge joined them and boarded a small shuttle bound for the surface of the planet. There, you picked up the ten tank drones and moved out.
The sector you head for is a run down, and rather dangerous part of Cybertron. Not only was the surface dangerous, but you were headed several layers down into the interior of Cybertron.
Bot’s went down there and were never heard from again…
But you didn’t have much fear. The three blue aerodrones flanked you, floating like personal bodyguards for the march down, and behind you, ten heavily armored tanks. They were impressive, you had to admit, their vehicle mode looked similar toyour own, but with a spinning rail gun instead of the massive Vulcan gattling you bore. The robot modes were considerably different, though they too bore resemblance to your own form.
Their lights lit the cavernous tunnels like beacons as they followed you down. There was something terrible and proud in the noise of their treads as they ground over the scrapmetal that lay on the tunnel floors.
A glitter of copper metal up ahead and the flutter of green and red wings announces the presence of the Insect bot, Scourge.
“I am reading several transformers ahead. Might I suggest you kill your loyal drones lights?”
You transform and wave an arm, the tank drones shut their lights off in response, and transform as well.
“How many?”
“There are nine Autobots and three Predacon signals.”
“Three Predacons?”
“Yes, two of them no doubt are Auquasting and Skyshadow, the third is probably a bodyguard. As for the Autobots, there are the three renagades, and our bird spy. That leaves five signals unaccounted for.”
“The five Dinobots.”
“Yes, it appears that they are active.”
“Then let’s get things rockin’…”
You reach a small ledge over looking a massive gateway. Down below you, you can see the Autobot Dreadnought and his group, as well as the three Predacons, all standing just outside of the massive gateway.
They were speaking to something just beyond the entryway, "We need the weapons to destroy the Decepticons."
Another, higher pitched, voice spoke up from somewhere beyond the gate, “The Decepticons were defeated a few hundred years ago according to my watch.”
Another voice from beyond joined it, “Yeah, and the two there are marked as Preadcon.”
A deep rumbling voice took over from the shadowy entryway, “Don’t know what is going on. You say you Autobots, and you bear symbols, but Prime leave, not return. He return he come wake us…”
The form steps free of the shadow, revealing a massive robot, thick and heavy with silver plating and a golden chest. His optic visor flahses red, “…he come wake me, Grimlock.”
“Optimus Prime is dead, and there has been peace on Cybertron for three centuries. The Predacons, the Maximals, the Destrons, and the Cybertrons have all been living in peace, but now the Decepticons have shown up.”
“First, Prime not dead, he just left for a while. Second, me know the terms of the Pax, me there when it was signed. What you mean the Decepticons show back up?”
--That’s
our queue…---
“He means, we have returned to power, relic! Decepticons, ATTACK!!!!”
With that the aerodrones shot out over the ledge and began to fire on the surprised Autobots below. Your tank drones jumped down with heavy thuds and began to fire powerful blasts as well.
You open fire with your vulcan cannon, aiming first for the Dinobots themselves…
Cybertron: The Armory
Over
your comm, you yell orders, “Aerodrones, take the flying bird. Tankdrones, wedge formation and move
forward. All units target the Dinobots first!”
You see the robot Dreadwing fire a volley at you, but it only catches the Aerodrones, whose armor isn’t even scratched.
You arch back and lock onto the leader of the Dinobots… Grimlock.
He was yelling orders, and his troops were reacting immediately.
“Cut the head and the body will die!” you chuckle.
Below you there was a loud crash, and you see one of the other Dinobots pound the ground with such force that a huge trench is formed between him and the tankdrones. You see another prepare to breath flame, but your tank drones were on top of it. Four blasts raked the three-horned Dinobot before he could fill the trench with fire!
Your missiles lock and you fire.
Acid splatters across the leader of the Dinobots, hissing and searing his heavy armor. Sparks fly and circuits are quickly exposed.
You look up and fire a volley of gattling blasts into the ceiling. It was far more powerful than you had thought, but it achieved your wishes. A huge chunk of the ceiling came crashing down, filling the newly made trench. The tankdrones continued to move across.
You had lost sight of Dreadnought and one of the Predacons, but the other was easy to find. He was launching fairly ineffective stingers out at the approaching tank line. Beside him was a thick plated multi-segmented Predacon of some form.
You jump forward, with enough force to clear the rocky trench, and land with a thud near them.
“Heliopede!” yells the Predacon ambassador.
His thug moves forward, two shoulder pads opening and releasing a cloud of gas around you.
At first nothing happened. Then, in a loud roar, the cloud ignited into a fiery ball of flame. It was impressive, and likely would’ve weakend a Maximal, but you merely stepped forward and grabbed the Predacon by the throat.
“Nice try redbug.” You’re vice grip hissed down with a metal-crunching force. He struggled and managed to free himself, but not before loosing a large chunk of his throat and face.
You tossed the scrap metal aside. He came up with a heavy kick to your chest. It knocked you back, leaving a dent. You shook it off and lurched forward. He ducked under and came up with a spray of fire liquid that seared across your back.
--That’s
it, playtime’s over!—
You spin and with a flick of your wrist pop out spinning sawblades with it you lurch forward and grasp him up, the blades digging into his hardened exoskeleton. Sparks fly and smoke pours out as you drop him to the ground. To his benefit, he had been tough. A weak bot would’ve been ripped in two.
You spin to see Aquasting with a confused and fearful look on his face.
“You’re coming with me, bug!” you growl.
An explosion in your side turned your attention away from the Predacon.
A charred and burned Grimlock stood with a blaster aimed at you.
“You lay off. I teach Decepticon meanin’ of pain.” He growled.
“Archaic warrior. Go back to your slumber, FOR ALL ETERNITY!!!”
Your shoulder cannon lets loose with a pounding roar of emmunition…
Cybertron : The Armory
You leap forward, firing your gattling gun at the taller silver robot. He takes the blasts head on and returns with his own.
You feel blast marks burn across your chest and face as the powerful artillery smashes into you. It hurt, but you kept coming, and bring your claw arm around to grasp his hand as he pulls a glittering red sword out.
Your vice like grip crunched down into the older robot’s armor plating, but his strength was fantastic! You felt your feet slide backwards, making ruts in the metallic floor.
You quickly radio a nearby tank drone to fire at the massive robot’s back.
There is a flash, and you see the bot drop to his knees.
You wrench his arm sideways, ripping it free from its connections with a squeal. The sword clattered noisily to the side and you dropped the arm to the ground.
“Aerodrone, the councilor.” One of the Aerodrones swooped down and grabbed up the gaudy Aquasting.
From your arm, you slung out the saw blades and swept down, hacking the Autobot’s head free from its shoulders even as it struggled to gain it’s feet.
“NOOOO!!!!!” you hear from the entryway to the armory.
Dreadnought and two of his Autobot’s stood there, immediately the Autobot transformed into two different jets.
He darted past the advancing line of warriors chewing up craft with rifle fire and dropping grenades and bombs upon the ground forces. Slamming together he hurled several flash-bangs into the opposing forces before finally turning his attention back to you.
He hovered, his optics glittering dangerously in the darkness
of the underground, "You loathsome Unicron SPAWN! DIE!!"
You
hear over your radio Scourges’ voice, “Aerodrones, cover, forces withdraw, we
have what we came for.”
You transform into tank mode, “We’ll finish this yet, Autobot.”
He lunged toward you, but one of the Aerodrones hit him from the side with a powerful blast.
You roll off, down a different tunnel that was on ground level and made your way to a pre-decided rendezvous.
At the rendezvous you gathered for a count. Six tank drones had been lost, and all the Aerodrones that had stayed behind. Including the one that had been holding the Predacon ambassador.
Scourge also appeared, completely unscathed from the fight, and carrying the prone body of the other ambassador.
“What happened to Aquasting?”
You transformed, “They must have stopped the other Aerodrone before he escaped.
“Then you will have to return…”
You transform, “Maybe we wouldn’t have had to if you’d have helped FIGHT a bit.”
“Believe me, if it’s a fight you want…”
You look back at the tank drones, “We can’t return.”
“Why not?”
As if to answer, a piece of side panelling fell off of one of the remaining drones, and another had a small electrical fire break out.
Scourge’s eyes narrowed, “I see. Well at least we have this one, and apparently you were successful in your quest for the Dinobot’s heads.”
Sure enough, the Tank Drones that remained were dragging the other Dinobot’s heads.
“And we still have our, spy with them.” you remind him, “We’ll know exactly where they are at all times. I will return with a new retinue of…”
“We’ll let Clench decide that, what do you say. For now, return to the Warworld with this pile of slag.”
“What of you?”
“I still wish to remain for a time.”
“What happened to ‘let Clench decide’?”
“Tell him that I will return when I have collected enough data.” With that the Predacon transformed and flitted off into the darkness.
“Slaggin’ bugbot.” You mutter.
You transform and head back to the shuttle for your return trip.
Cybertron: returning to the Warworld
Once
onboard the shuttle, you proceed to take the heads from the other tank drones
and remove the face plates.
“HA! Quite impressive!” you say rather
loudly, “At least THESE faces have a story behind them! Not like the last ones
I had…”
Only
silence and the slow swish of their red optics came from the tank drones.
“Hmmph,
well, at least I still have room for Mr. Untouchable. It’s a slagpit shame you guys are just drones, and will
never know the little pleasures in life…”
Still
just the blank looks.
“Oh
well, tin heads. Let’s get back to
home and report. “
--I hope the next group is a little bit more
talkative…--
You
proudly marched in with two tank drones and the Predacon Skyshadow in tow. After giving your… heroic… account, you
stood, awaiting appraisal.
“Hmm…”
Clench was hooked to the massive machine again, “Your report is a bit…
embellished, but none the less, your actions were adequate. And it was a fairly successful test of
the new drone control system.
Although, you did miss one of your targets.”
“Only
after Scourge…”
“Yes,
I know, only after the bug gave orders for a retreat. And where is our insectoid general now?”
“Er…
well…”
“Yes,
decided to stay on Cybertron.
Vulcan, you will go repair yourself, then accompany a group back down to
the surface for re-acquisition of supplies. While you are there, I want you to find that insect and
bring him back here.”
“By
force?”
“If
necessary, but he is NOT to be harmed… however, he IS to know that it is under
my DIRECT orders that he return here to his work!”
You
salute Lord Clench, “Yessir. Who
will I be in command of.”
“No
one, Soundwave will be in command on this mission.”
“Soundwave?!”
“Yes,
his expertise is required for the materials acquisition. Your primary responsibility however
will be Scourge. Understood?”
“Yes,
Lord Clench.” You bow and turn away, heading for the Repair bay.
The
Warworld
Later,
as you head to the shuttle you think on the new mission.
--All right! A team up with the legend Soundwave! With our team that Transmetal insect, Scourge, should be no problem!!—
You pick up two tank drones, which are to accompany you and inspect the landing shuttle. There were five worker drones already stocked inside, presumably to help with the lifting of whatever equipment Soundwave requires.
Soon, Soundwave appears in the large hangar bay, and with him is the smaller, greenish-gray flesh-bot from earlier… the one with that had traveled with that silver menace, Gigano.
As the two approached, you salute the large gray and purple Soundwave, “Vulcan reporting for escort.”
Soundwave walks past you and up into the ship.
You glare at his companion, but say nothing as he walks past.
Soundwave was silent, eerily so, on the way down, and you were preoccupied with piloting the shuttle.
He had announced the smaller bot as Archeville, and Archeville had asked to be referred to as ‘Doctor’ since he was acting as the Decepticon’s Chief Scientist.
You had heard of him, but didn’t until now realize who they had referred to.
You guided the shuttle down to the surface of Cybertron, into the outer districts of Iacon. Below you, you could see the life that was returning to Cybertron, bots beginning to go about their business in the streets and rebuilding the crushed city below.
Once the announcement was made that they were allowed to return home, they made no waste of moaning over who was the new Lords of Cybertron. Life quickly had returned to normal…
You spoke up, “We have arrived at your Laboratory, Doctor.”
The shuttle settles down on the silver street outside of the ruined building. It looked as if a bomb went off inside of the workshop. As you begin to shut off the engines you turn to Soundwave, “Landing complete.”
Dr Archeville quickly got up, “Fine, fine… this way…”
The group of you disembarks as the ‘Doctor’ begins to bark orders at the small worker drones.
As you survey the ruined workshop, you realize that indeed a bomb HAD gone off. However, the Doctor must have used the Laboratory since then, as it had been straightened and fortified a bit. He unlocked the door and began to select what needed to go.
As you watched, you decide to approach Soundwave.
“So, how has the search for Megatron been goin’?”
Soundwave looks impassively down at you, his blue visor regarding you cooly, “Megatron is coming.”
“Coming? You mean he’s been found?”
“I have been in contact with him for some time.”
“Good, then with him at the lead, we will be unstoppable.”
Soundwave offers no opinion on this.
“Sooo, what else is new with our Decepticon Empire?”
“Factories have output fifty Tank Drones, fifteen Aerealdrones, and five new Biker Drones. In one month we will have one hundred of each.”
--Three hundred new forces, and with the firepower that they’ve shown so far!!—
“Then what about the recovery of Scourge?”
“I believe our new ‘Doctor’ will assist with that.”
About that time, Dr Archeville was pointing to the last piece of equipment in his ruined Laboratory.
The Cybertronian flicked his wings in annoyance at the apparent ineptitude of the worker drones as they almost dropped the large computer module.
“How is he going to help?”
“It is his friends memories that were used as the core database for Scourge…”
Dr Archeville walks back over, “Ok, that’s all, now, let us return…”
“Negative.” Soundwave countermands.
The Doctor looks started, and a bit confused.
“What he means,” you start in, “is that we have another mission while we are here.”
“Another mission?!? What about the Energon Cannon?!”
Soundwave answers, “Its repairs will wait. We must locate one of our numbers.”
“WHAT?!? Dammit Soundwave, I’m a Doctor not a bloodhound!!”
“Nonetheless, we are here, and I believe you may have knowledge of where the Decepticon went.”
“… Why would I have any idea. Who is this Decepticon.”
You shrug, “His name is Scourge. He was newly created, apparently using the knowledge contained in… a friend of yours?”
“Phil.”
Soundwave nodded, “The unit Phil’s archived memories were used as a basis for the new database’s matrices.”
“Ok, then how would I know…”
You point at the smaller robot with a claw, “This ‘Phil’ is your friend, right. I think the boss believes that you might have some ideal of where Phil would go if he were put down here. Or of what Phil might know of that would be of interest to Scourge.”
“That would be of interest… How do I know of what would be of interest…”
He looks from face to face, but finds no sympathy in either.
“Ok, tell me something about this Scourge.”
Soundwave answers, “Scourge, created on
the Warworld to be the new forerunner of the Decepticon army. Technologies included were Vehicon,
Transmetal, and Transmetal II.
Primary function, germ warfare and lethal chemical developement."
You add, “He came down with me and a group of drones to route out a grouping of Autobots. Afterwards, he left, saying that he wanted more time to ‘observe’.”
The Doctor looks perplexed, “His spark, it came from a stasis pod?”
“Negative.” Answers Soundwave.
“Then where.”
“Data classified, and irrelevant.”
“Great,” frowns the Doctor, “Then we only have all of Cybertron to search…”
Cybertron : The Lab
Dr Archeville shrugged, “Well, let’s start looking, then… You said his database matrices are based on Phil’s memories…”
This seemed to be getting nowhere, you stormed in, “Ok, so do we have any idea where around here would be the best observation area? I mean, can this bug plug into the central data net? It seems to me that would be the best place to gather the most data in the shortest amount of time…”
He gives you a dirty look, and continues, “…Sooo, we must ask ourselves where Phil would go if set free on Cybertron.”
“We?…” you spit.
He ignores you, “He would probably go somewhere where there WAS easy access, similar to your central data net idea.”
You fold your arms with a chuckle of satisfaction as he continues, “Then he would probably head to the nearest depositories of scientific information and assimilate them into his neural net…”
Soundwave looked at him impassively, “The Warworld’s computer banks could be used just as effectively. Why would he do such a thing?”
“Classified and irrelevant.” he quips back, “Now, we go to the nearest ‘net’ where Scourge was last seen. From there to the nearest scientific laboratories and libraries or archives, and additionally, since his specialty is germ warfare and chemical weapons, we should concentrate on labs that would specialize in such things.”
You speak up, “Hey, he has to give off some kind of signature, either bio or electrical. Can’t we use some orbiting satellites and some drones to track him down?”
Both of the two Cybertronians glared at you, and Dr Archeville answers, “Yes, that would narrow it down… to every transformer that happens to have a similar signature… there are probably only a few thousand now entering Cybertroplolis again.”
Soundwave adds, “Seven thousand four hundred and seventy three have so far registered for reentry… not including our forces or the drones.”
You shrug, “It was just a thought.”
The group transforms and head back to where you last saw the insect.
“He was here.” Soundwave detached from the computer booth, “It was several mega cycles ago, though.”
“Any indication where he was headed?” you sniff.
“He accessed several database listings for archives.”
“Just as I suspected…” the Doctor ponders, “What files did he drill the farthest down.”
“Unsure, the searches are expired, and the database is too active with people reentering the system. However, I can tell where the greatest activity is.”
“And if we go there?” the squid chinned robot asked.
“I will be able to delineate the overlying traffic thereby processing and tracking his search, as well as the physical search trail he may have left when he went there.”
You shake your head, unconvinced, “But why would he go there? Couldn’t he just find what he needed here?”
Archeville turns, “Unless he doesn’t want to be traced or followed. The city is becoming less and less deserted…”
As if to punctuate his statement, a set of flyers zoomed by to the side, streaking off and down into the lower levels of the cityscape.
“This booth is fairly visible, after all , we are on an overpass…” he waves to the wide open expanses all around you. Buildings with glittering lights shot up from unseen depths in places, and here, you almost reached out of the city line altogether.
The booth wasn’t the first that you had tried, but rather the fifth. It seems that he came straight up from the underground area to alight here and begin his search.
“So he goes to the archives? He’d have to sign in, there are hall cameras… Why all the cloak and dagger?” you press.
Behind you, two tank drones stands impassively. They were brought along, just in case. It seemed that Clench didn’t want to take the chance that his little bug didn’t try to sting you.
“Why indeed…? We won’t know really until we are certain as to what he is researching. “
You and the two tanks folded down, transforming, but then you took it a step further shifting into the heavy, double bladed helicopter mode that you’ve discovered, “Then it’s to the library we go…”
The center was massive, a towering building that glittered from circuit panels that created its very walls. Shiny crystal covered them, but otherwise the electricity, light, energon, and whatever else glittered exposed to the city. No windows shone, and only one large doorway allowed entry to the front of the building. You moved up the doors, which were inscribed in ancient Cybertronia. You had no clue what they said.
The doors swung open as you approached, and a feeble looking, hunchback bot stood in the center. As he saw your sparkling Decepticon sigils, he appeared startled, but immediately waved you past him.
“Excuse me, excuse me… I did not mean to block your paths, sirs. My name is Archangel, and I am at your service.”
The
old bot wore long robes and had drooping mustaches and a pointed beard.
Soundwave turned to the old bot, “There was a Decepticon here earlier.”
“Was there? I do not recall anyone being here…”
“Yes, you do.”
The old robot seemed taken aback at this, “I… No, I…”
Soundwave pulled a gun and hoisted the feeble robot off the ground, “Yes, you do.”
“He… he told me he’d deactivate me if…”
Dr Archeville put his hand on Soundwave’s arm, lowering the old robot down a bit, “Just tell us what he was researching.”
“He had looked into some ancient database, as well as several modern studies.”
You decided to go along with the whole good bot, bad bot game and step forward menacingly, “To what, old fool!”
The old man was terribly flustered, “The modern studies all had to do with energon flow, conductivity calculations, and some capacity measurements for sparks and Cybertronian systems!”
Dr Archeville spoke calmly, “What were the archaic studies on?”
Soundwave had placed Archangel on the floor, deciding that he was shaken enough to get whatever we wanted.
“Here, I can show you the files he was accessing…” He turned, quickly, his golden robes swishing across the steel floor.
Dr Archeville strode past you, waves of annoyance seeming to seethe from him…
Archangel took you to a secluded corner of the library, and tapped up a reference for you. Dr Archeville sat at the proffered stoop and began to scan the archives
As he scanned them, he absent mindedly kept Archangel talking, “What could the modern studies be used for?”
“What could be gleaned from them? I’m not sure, the stresses and makeup of energon… the makeup of a spark… most were based off of studies of adaptation and change…”
You noticed a sudden stiffening in Archeville’s frame. He sat bolt upright for a second…
Archangel kept talking, oblivious, “I suppose perhaps he may have been learning the makeup and limitations of energy and stress on sparks… he seems just the nasty sort of insect that might be interested in such…”
You watched, but Dr Archeville seemed lost in reverie, as if something was just recalled… something terrible.
Cybertron : An archivist library
You place a hand on Archeville's shoulder, "Well, it looks like you've remembered something!"
The flesh-bot looked up startled from his reverie.
"Well, spit it out of great Doctor. Don't keep us wondering!"
He spins on you, "I forgot to turn off my coffee machine."
You snort, "I doubt it... Does it have something to do with Scourge creating new life... or rebuilding and reprogramming old forms? Or perhaps something more insidious than that?"
He shakes his head, "I'm no closer to knowing what the insect's plans are than you are. I am merely able to process the possibilities faster than you."
Soundwave steps closer, "Enough, these findings only tell us that he is still researching, for something. I do not see where he may be going from these findings. I suggest we separate. Dr Archeville, you will continue searching out this line of thinking. Vulcan, you will take several aerodrones and begin a street sweep. I will return to the shuttle, take it into the lower atmosphere and begin blanketing the city with higher level scans."
--Street sweep!? Is he crazy, Cybertropolis covers hundreds of kilometers!--
Still, something in the large bots manner told you that it wasn't a suggestion.
You nod and turn to head for the door.
Doctor Archeville hunched over the monitor, and Soundwave paused for a second before following you out.
As you left the building, and the care of Archangel, Soundwave motioned for you to halt.
"The Doctor is holding something back." The large gray and green camouflaged robot looked back at the door menacingly.
"Gee... you think?" you snap sarcastically, bringing the larger robot's glare to focus back on you.
"Two aerodrones will be joining you shortly. Stay here and find out where he heads. Do not interrupt him, nor allow him to know of your presence. I will go to the ship and pick up monitoring on him from there. I want to know what seems to be so shocking to Archeville."
Cybertron : Cybertroplis
As the tall robot turned away, you spoke up, "Ahh, before you go, Soundwave, do you mind if I run a simple scan on you?"
The robot turned, narrowing his optic visor, "What?"
"A scan... I only ask because I have noticed something odd running through my body, some type of odd, orange, organic material. I have it, and I was wondering if you had it as well."
He turns away, "If you have a disease, then tell it to the Doctor, or the Diagnostic Drone on the Warworld, do not bother me with it."
"Oh, I have reported it, but I was wondering if in might even have something to do with Scourge."
"Why?"
"Well... Look, it just might. So how about it Soundwave, old buddy, old pal?"
The Decepticon turns away in disgust, "Save your scans for the job ahead, fool." and walks off.
You snort, as the humming engines of several aerodrones grows close behind you. You turn back to the Archive, but Dr Archeville had not left as of yet.
--I sure hope you try to screw us over Doctor. I would sure like to add your face place to my ever growing collection of fools...--
You chuckle to yourself as you and the aerodrones withdraw into the shadows of an opposing alley.
After a few cycles, you see the doors slide open. You and the aerodrones pull back into the shadows. You turn to the two blue-gray jet-drones, "I will tail him. You two follow from the air, and center on my signal, unless I tell you otherwise."
The two turn and transform,jetting off down the darkened alley. You turn, "Time to see if that CR got Chopshop's old gizmo installed correctly. Cloaking shield, on.
Your feel your superstructure become charged with energy. While the energon levels in your system drop drastically, you think that you may be able to keep this up for a few cycles. Long enough to dodge in and out of the shadows. Turning to a shiny plate on the wall, you are happy to see that only the vaguest shimmering effect outlines where your reflection should be. The invisibility cloak was working excellently.
Stepping out, you began you trailing the 'good doctor.'
Cybertron: Iacon
Soon, tailing the good Doctor led you and your aerodrones into the still charred out remnants of Iacon. The outskirts that touched Cybertropolis proper were already being worked on, but you quickly had passed into a darker part, where the blast marks from the Warworld's and the other Decepticon warships had torn apart the once beautiful Cybertronian Capital.
--What are we doing here, Doctor?--
As you had passed through the streets of Cybertropolis on the way here, you had scanned those people you passed. Only those few that you saw that were Decepticons bore the orange taint within their systems. The people of the city had seemed untouched by the strange plague.
Now, you were slowed by the lack of clear streets. Dr Archeville had flown all the way, and was unimpeded by the rubble. The other aerodrones, however had no problems. That is until the target flittered his way into a rather narrow tunnel. The drones transformed and continued to follow, but ended up a bit slower than the Doctor was.
You, finally reached the tunnel's end. Their reports had indicated that the tunnel had no branches as of yet. You grunted, and squeezed your way into the narrow entrance.
Soon, the aerodrones reported that the Doctor had come to a stop, and seemed to be speaking to someone. You patched in audio and visual feeds. The drones were around a corner, listening, and there was definitely two voices. One was the Doctor's, the other, you didn't recognize.
You kept pushing your way through the confines as you watched and listened.
The conversation was dulled by the echoes of the tunnel, and for the most part was unintelligible.
Then, just as the conversation was coming to an end. You heard a muffled zap. The aerodrone spun, to see his fellow drone falling to the ground, electricity sparking across his surface. Then, the flutter of greenish insectoid wings could be seen, and the camera shorted out completely.
"Slag!" You step your pace up.
Cybertron: Sector Kappa
You keep moving, cloaked, but making a lot of noise...
You radio to Soundwave, "Soundwave, this is Vulcan. I have found Dr Archeville talking in the tunnels with an as of yet unidentified robot. The only think that I know is that he has green insectoid wings. Also, the two aerialdrones have been taken out. I'm moving in, cloaked, to find out what I can. Also, if I should come under fire from Dr Archeville, do I have permission to return fire?"
"Affirmative, but only in defense. If at all possible, he is to be taken alive." answered the dispassionate voice, "And Scourge is not to be destroyed either."
"Also, and you might think this is trivial, but I scanned some robots around me and they didn't have that orange goo in their systems."
"Keep your virus' to yourself, Vulcan, the mission is where your attention should be."
"I think it has something to do with the mission. I think that it has something to do with Scourge!"
"Negative, Scourge was not online when you say you found your virus. I repeat, keep your optics and CPU on your current mission. Soundwave out."
You clicked off your transmission and pounded another massive pipe out of the way.
--Slaggin' fool! Can't he see the danger!?--
Something churned within you, filling your CPU with anger.
A roar bellowed up from the depths of your spark, and you grabbed another thick bundle of pipes, ripping them into pieces and firing your gattling to clear a path.
--THEY WON'T ESCAPE ME!!! I'LL PROVE WHAT I KNOW TO BE TRUE!!!--
You transformed into tank mode and started ploughing through the tunnels at full speed.
Cybertron: Sector Kappa
The rage within you welled and sent your CPU spinning in a macabre dance of
ecstasy. The small voice of rationality pleaded with you to turn away,
but you were tired of fighting it.
This time, you choose to revel in it.
Your gattlings couple with bouts of missiles, melting you a path through the
cluttered tunnel. You stomped through the hot slag, ignoring the searing
waves of heat around you, or the puddles of liquefied metal that your heavy
feet splashed through.
In a blind rage you reached and snatched wires and pipes out of the way.
Around you, you swear you could hear the roaring of battle, the screams of
death and dying echoing off the narrow confines...
Everything turns to a blur, a blur of darkness, speckled with the flicker of
fire sending dancing shadows off of the torn walls.
Then, with a heavy smash and a primordial roar, a doorway smashed open, and
brightness surrounded you.
In that brightness, you could make out to sketchy forms...
Cybertron: the Vat
Suddenly, in the light, there was a flash of movement. Then a wave of dizziness washed over you like a hurricane.
You staggered back, suddenly becoming aware of two... no, one Decepticon signature directly behind you.
You spin on it, focusing your optics as you did to find a lithe, bone colored Decepticon standing there. You didn't recognize him, but you did recognize the signature of nearly fifty tank drones closing in on your position rapidly.
You grab the 'con by his chestplate, "I..." talking was hard, flashes of burning anger seemed to thrash about you, forcing you to stagger and stutter, "don't... know... where you came from, Decepticon..... but we must stop the two in this room... Lord Clench so orders...."
He stared at you in shock. In anger you shake the robot, forcing his joints to clack as if they were actually made of bone, "For the Decepticons!"
His eyes narrowed, "For the Decepticons!" he echoed, and with that, you thrust back into the room, seeing that Doctor Archeville had made use of the distraction, and was attached to Scourge in some kind of grip... almost like a vampire suckling his prey.
--You.... will.... not! take .... my KILL!!!--
You roared again, firing your gattling gun at the pair.
You could see the other Decepticon dodge in past you, a glittering scythe-like weapon in his hands. He had razor sharp wing bones stretching from his back, adding to his skeletal demeanor.
you roared again and stepped further into the room.
Your vision was spotted with veins of orange that leapt about and sparkled, as if shorting on and off through your circuits.
In the brief flashes of clarity, you could see that indeed the Doctor appeared to be draining Scourge somehow.
--So... mayhap there was no collusion between the two to begin with...--
Your com unit flashed, "Vulcan, this is Clench..." the leader's voice sounded shaky... as if he too suffered from whatever was glitching your sensors, "I have a platoon of drones coming to aid you, Soundwave is with them. I want those two taken ALIVE! Do you understand?!"
"Alive..." you mutter numbly...
Now, a strange sense of vertigo whirled around you, your anger seemed to shift back and forth, focusing at one moment on the Doctor, the next on Scourge. You head swam as you roared in rage.
The other Decepticon had leapt forward, scythe spinning and whirling with bluish light. It came down with a thunderous crash on the two embraced forms.
A wash of energy threw all of you to the floor.
Everything went white...
A segment?
A cycle?
A millennia?
You had no clue how long you floated peacefully in oblivion, but as your optics flared again to life, the insane madness had left you.
You could see the others in the room staggering to their feet as well.
You were there first though, raising a thick arm you pointed at Scourge and the Doctor, "Enough of this. Lord Clench has commanded that you be taken into Decepticon custody. Stand down, or be slagged.... I don't care which anymore!"
Your gattling began to spin, time to slag them all out and sort the bodies later!
Cybertron: The Vat
Doctor Archeville's hands immediately shot into the air. Scourge still
seemed a bit confused and dizzy, where he slowly worked on picking himself up
from the ground.
You didn't care.
--Weapons online. Lock targets and fire.--
Your gattling gun blazed and rockets flared out of your chest.
Doctor Archeville was quick, though. Immediately he flew up and away from
your tirade of firepower. The blasts slammed against the floor and far
wall, sending up fragments of fire and dust.
Suddenly something shot you from behind.
It didn't do any damage, but on spinning to see the new assailant, you
found an Autbot. he was tall, silver, and blue in color, and had a
smoking gun aimed at your back.
You're shoulder cannon swiveled and fired.
The Autobot moved like lightning, but you were no slouch. Your gattling
began to tear a path close on his heels as he slid across the floor, firing back
at you but, his blasts were mostly ricocheting off of your armor with little
effect.
That is until one blast shot straight through your abdomen, ripping past your
armor as if through butter.
You staggered back as static scrolled across your optics and pain flared
through your receptors.
But you sensed the swelling of the power within you , as if the orange veins
strained to double in size, pumping the anger ridden power through your being.
You straightened, angrily glaring at the Autobot.
"SLAG!" you hear as you begin firing anew.
You began to chase him with rounds and volleys of rockets as he did his best to
dodge. Your blasts exploded around him, tearing up the walls
and ground as he made his merry way.
You immediately realized he was leading your fire away from the massive glowing
pit.
A quick scan revealed that another Autobot was at the control panels on the
floor near the pit, and Doctor Archeville was with him.
However, by now, the anger inside of you was becoming suffocating. You
wanted this pesky robot dead. He had taken to flying about the room, and
for every dodge, your anger doubled.
Just then, there was a loud explosion from above. The sound of
tearing metal filled the large chamber, and the ceiling above the central pit,
collapsed in a thunderous onslaught.
You duck, covering yourself as fragments of rubble, mixed with energy sparks
from the Vat, flew around the chamber.
As the smoke settled, you find that rubble had collapsed onto
the Vat, partially covering the wide, glowing blue hole in the center of the
room.
Instantly, the rooms lights flickered and died, and emergency klaxons began to
sound. Red emergency lights flashed around the room, and an odd sense of
urgency mixed with a timeless pause of all activity, as if something had
reached into your spark and frozen you to the spot.
You felt your whole frame go cold, your CPU reeling with a sense of vertigo
that tore through you.
The blue energy that shined up from the vat gave an odd shadow wash to the
rubble that was situated above the back half of the pit.
Then, a distinct red glare shown up from the interior of the vat. So intense it
was visible through even the shimmering blue radiance of the energy from below.
Unable to move, you watched as an arm reached up from the pit. It was
bonelike, with shimmering red and blue 'veins' running up the skeletal
structure. Steel claws extended as it slammed down on the lip of the
Vat. Two bone wings appeared, stretching up with a noise not unlike the
cracking of bones. A dark form hoisted itself up with a haunting, echoing
roar. It's head, cyclopean and made of skeletal matter. It's arms
also bone, and bone ran across the thick black armor that covered it's body, shoulder
and legs. A black and red cockpit sat atop it's shoulder, and red and
blue veins seemed to pump a glittering liquid across the whole of it.
You felt the cold of death emanate from the creature as it looked around the
room in the flashing red lights from the sirens. It's one, large red eye
taking in each of the transformers that stood around.
The
Decepticon that you had pressed into service, and then forgotten, took a step
forward. He also looked as though he was made of bone, but his was smooth,
and covered with red, archaic writing. The robot reached forward
hesitantly toward the hideous apparition, recognition flashing in the black
depths of his eyes.
"Bladewing....?"
The skull-bot looked down on his with a crack of his neck, his jaw twisted into
a skeletal grin of hideous aspect as he answered in the same, haunting echo,
"Bladewing has gone to hell. We remain."
Cybertron:
The Vat
Quickly you opened a secure channel, muting your external audio circuits,
"Soundwave! Soundwave! Roger Me, Wilco Me, Anything! Oh slag!
Well, if you can here me, a freakish creature just emerged from some blue pit
here! It's black and covered with bones! Also, some other
Decepticon, and he's also made of some bone crap, has gone up to it and called
it 'Bladewing' whatever that means. I'm not sure what to make of it... I
will try engaging cloaking device and record as much of this as I can.
Vulcan out!"
With that you activated the cloaking device, blending back into the shadows
cast by the flashing red lights to observe.
The silver and blue robot that you had been shooting at turned to the smooth
bones Decepticon, "You! Decepticon! You know this....
thing?"
The
Decepticon's head jerked back to look at the monster, "What has become of
you?"he asks the creature, his vocal circuits still a bit shaky.
"What are you now?!?"
"I am as I always was. Not as the pathetic coward you once knew, but as
the champion I was always destined to be." the echoing voice stayed
cold and contemptuous.
"Champion? Champion of what?" The
Decepticon's fist began to ball up.
A low chuckle... one that seemed to boarder on madness came
from the creature, "The champion of Death. I am what you fear, what all
Cybertronians fear. I am the Reaper of sparks. Stay clear of me herald. Your
time will come soon enough."
The blue and silver Autobot moved toward the other, red and orange one, "I
require use of that machine. You had best find a way to control your
'friend.' "
There is a crackling noise of bones as the dark creature turned to look at him,
his jawbone stretching even further up in his horrible grin.
"Foolish Autobot. Your spark shines with a brilliant light that will
be joyful to extinguish."
With that, the robot reaches back and with a noise, like bone snapping in
half, he pulls forth a thick, short bone. He lunges at him, a blade
stretching up from the bone 'handle' A glittering green arc slashes down
at the Autobot in the blink of an eye.
You see a yellow and orange blur slam into the Autobot, as the other Autobot
knocked him clear. There is a agonizing scream and the splatter of hot
mech fluid.
The bone-bot weapon strike had missed it's target, but had no
less claimed a life. The yellow and orange robot fell into half.
The sliver and blue robot stood, slowly realizing what had happened.
Already the brilliantly colored Autobot was turning to a dull gray.
Suddenly
there was a shuddering thud... and explosion from the central pit. Dr.
Archeville yells, "It's going to go critical in a matter of
cycles!" And dove for the massive swirling blue pit of energy, as if
to carry out the energy held within by hand!
You hear the bone-bot speak to the other Autobot in that eerie double
voice, "He is mine now, Autobot. Soon, you shall all join
him."
The
Autobot leaped at him, the robot was ready, however, and twisted and
threw him to the side.
The
Autobot jump aside as another strike slices into his arm, nearly
severing it!
"AUTOBOT!" you hear Dr Archeville yell. He was near the
edge of the pit, hovering over a small body which he seemed to have
open and was working on.
Another strike severed the Autobot's arm completely.
The Autobot stretched out the remaining arm and yelled,
"Shatterblast! TRANSFORM!"
The small form where Dr Archeville was working leaped up, chest closing, and
transformed into a gold and red raven.
There was a screech as the raven swooped down on the bone-bot,
sending him back in defense.
The, a heavy blast struck the bone bot from behind. He
staggered forward, spinning to keep the original Autobot in his optic
range, as well as taking in his new adversaries.
At the doorway, where the massive tank bot had been... and was no longer...
stood two MORE newcomers. This time an extremely slagged out Autobot in
black and gold stood... or more accurately leaned... next to a tall and
commanding beast-bot of orangish reddish hue. That one's face was black,
faceplated, with a red optic visor, he bore a claw-tail for one arm, and a
dino-head as the other!
"ME think that enough, bonehead." roared this new robot as he
lowered his head-hand-weapon that was still smoking from the blast that had
erupted from it's jaws.
Without even blinking the black and bone robot transformed into a bat creature
with bone wings and a solitary red eye. He silently tore off, up into the
whole in the ceiling.
You see the other bone-Decepticon transform as well, and take pursuit.
You
also notice that Dr Archeville had taken the moment to disappear, presumably in
the same fashion.
You quickly inched behind the two new Autobots. Odds were rapidly
dropping away from your favor. You slipped out the door, to see a small
battle remaining. about five or six tank drones were rapidly being
dispatched by a hoard of Autobots.
--That's it, I'm outta here...--
You transform into the heavy heli-copter mode and flew past them, and out a
joining tunnel.
Cybertron: Iacon
Your energy reserves were being drained massively by the cloak. You knew
you only had a few cycles before you were exposed again, and you knew that
there was no way to catch up to the bone-creatures...
Your
flight mode was a little too heavy. Instead, you decide it was time to
return to the Warworld, recharge and report.
You reached the surface, shifted out of your holo and transformed to tank
mode.
Your energy reserves were at critical by now. You could make it
out, but if you had to fight...
Then a Decepticon signature attracted your attention.
In the skies, far off, you could make out an approaching jet.
"This is Vulcan to unidentified Decepticon, can you read
me?"
The jet sharply changed course in response, sweeping near and low for a better
look.
"This is Spectre." A female's voice answered, "What is your
status."
"Low on energy," you snort, "The parties over... and I suppose
you were Soundwave's idea of backup?"
She transforms from her V winged black jet mode and lands next to you.
Her compact, lithe form was black, but covered with traces of white 'veins'
that criss crossed over her body in a complex patterning. Her wings
spread up in a V on her back, and her face was smooth, with two purple
eyes as the sole markings on it.
"No," she responds directly, "I am here on a mission involving
the one you referred to in your message."
"The monstrosity-bot?"
"No, the other one, the one made with 'the same bone crap?' His name
is Deathspire."
"Whoever he is, he's long gone, went chasing after that Bladewing
bot. I was returning to report to Clench now."
"Why not just recharge at a..." she stops realizing that there were
no recharging stations around that were in any state of repair.
"Exactly." you answer her unspoken realization, "By the time I
can return, there will be little hope of trailing them. But I do know
what course heading they left on."
"Where then?"
You needed something in exchange, "Oh no... first I need two
things."
She sighs, " I don't have time for this..."
"Make time." you bark.
She took a nanosegment, "Ok. What do you want"
"First thing, I want to scan you."
"What?" she blink in non-comprehension.
"Scan you... just a simple scan, won't take a second."
"Oooookaaaay..."
--Scan active...--
Half a micron passed, and the report came back... the visual never changed,
there was nothing...
You look up in surprise, "You're not infected!"
Cybertron: Iacon
"Hrmm... Have you been on Cybertron for long?"
"What do you mean, and what 'infection' are you talking about!?"
"The reason I ask is that, well, I and most, if not all of the
Decepticon's around here seem to have this orange organic stuff on them."
"Stuff? What stuff... I see no stuff... What are you talking
about?"
"You have to scan for it on the right frequency." You pause for
a second and then open an arm panel, displaying a rather thick patch of the
goo, one that was visible without scanning, "There, this is the
'stuff'."
She looks at in in repulsion, "Where did it come from?!"
"I'm not sure, but there's more. Any time I seem to take a lot of
damage, or if this stuff is really thick, I go into a berserker rage.
Anger engulfs me and I start fighting like a madman. I'm not sure it's
related, but it's been happening ever since I've noticed the growth."
"Hasn't anyone else noticed it?"
"Soundwave thinks that this is of no importance, but I'm sure that it's
all related to an insect I'm working on tracking. His name is
Scourge."
"Scourge? Look, what does all of this have to do with me. I've
got a mission to get on with. What's the other thing you want from me!?"
"I want you to keep tabs on that bone monster-bot. He's my best bet
at re-locating Scourge and another robot called Doctor Archeville."
She sighs, "I have to finish my mission first."
"Great, Deathspire and the Bone creature should be together. Kill
one, and keep an eye on the other. I'll be back down within 2 megacycles,
fully recharged and with new reinforcements."
"And you say you don't know how you got the infection?"
"No, only what I've told you... that reminds me," you activate your
commlink, "Diagnostic Drone, what's the word on your research?"
"I've found that the strange material is unlike any I've seen before, and
that it respondes to certain electrical impulses."
You scratch your head.
Spectre speaks up, "Diagnostic Drone, this is Spectre. What kind of
electrical impulses does it react to."
"There are several related frequencies in the beta..."
"What about anger." she overrides the drones statement.
"Anger. Yes, anger may just emit the proper charge to activate the
substance..."
She shuts off her comm, "So all I have to do is keep myself clear of
anger. From the looks of you, anger is probably your middle name."
You snort, "Then you'll keep an eye on the monster-bot for
me?"
She thinks for a second, "Ok, you've shown me a danger here, so I'll do
you this favor, but that's it...
"Good, then I'll be back to find you and this...
Bone-creature." you proceeded to give her the data on where they had
gone too, then you transformed and rolled out, heading for the nearest
shuttle...
When you returned to the shuttle, Soundwave decided it was best for him to
take several drones and scout out Dr Archevilles old lab, while you returned to
the Warworld to recharge and report.
You left the shuttle to autopilot itself in, and headed for the doors, listening for the final touchdown before opening them and jumping out...
The landing bay was a mess. There was a collection of Drones lying about, shattered and destroyed. Blast marks charred the hulls of surrounding ships, and of the landing bay itself!
"Vulcan to Clench..."
Nothing.
"Vulcan to Clench!"
Still nothing.
--This is bad.--
You moved quickly to a power outlet, one of the large ones that are used to pipe energon into the ships. You were undamaged, so you hoped your circuits could handle the massive energy infusion.
Picking up the heavy hose-like unit, you pull a few smaller, but still rather thick, wires out and hooked them into your own intake ports.
Immediately there was in inflush of energon... you staggered back as the energy threatened to short out your systems, pulling away from the hose just in time.
As it fell on the ground, you steadied yourself.
--Energy levels at optimum--
You look around, "Now, let's see what's going on here..."
The
Warworld
You move to the closest door, trying your best to be quiet. It slid aside and you looked beyond. There were no more signs of battle here. No teltale char marks, or littered bodies.
You move in and begin to make your way to the command tower.
--Where are the drones? If there is a problem, why aren't the klaxons blaring?--
Most Decepticons were stationed either below, or on the other warships that were orbitting Cybertron at the moment. Being only seventy or so in your ranks, you were spread much too thin.
Ahead, you hear noise though.
Slowing, you wait, listening to what could be causing the disruption.
You realize that they are behind you, approaching you. Voices of a group.
Maybe five or so Cybertronians heading your way!
--Slag..--
You had hoped not to use the energy draining cloaking shield, but now you thought it best. Pressing into an alcove, you activated the screen, disappearing as it covered you.
You see a group coming down the hallway. It was lead by a black Transmetal with a skul-like face. An extremely shiny engine smoked lightly on his chest, and he carried a huge hammer over his shoulder. With him were two that were definitely Maximals, though he bore the insignia of a Decepticon. There was also a Destron, and finally another, you think Maximal, in what looked like a jury rigged, power-suit of some kind... You recognized that the suit was made of tank drone pieces, including two fo the massive cannons on the smaller Maximal's shoulders.
The leader, the Decepticon, had Vehicon armoring on him, the others were all normal beast bots, or in the Destron's case, a vehicle.
They seemed a dour bunch, and had smoking wounds on them...
The Warworld
Quickly, you open a comm channel, "This is Vulcan on board the Warworld. We are under siege! There are Destron, as well as Maximal boarders. I can not raise Clench's command chambers. Get your tinplated butts over here pronto! I repeat, we are under siege!"
You hear someone in the group ask, "What is it, Zab?"
"We got problems." The Decepticon answered, "The alarm's been raised."
You stepped out, deactivating the cloaking shield, "And so are my weapons!"
You let loose with a full barrage, gattling gun, missiles, acid pellets...
It tore into the Maximal in the heavy exosuit first, knocking him back.
You hear one of them yell, "Armordillo! BEAST MOLD!" and there appeared a thickly hided armadillo in the way, absorbing as much firepower as he could. Chips of orangish armor flew about, "Bonecrusher, GET HIM!" you hear him yell.
That's when the counterstrike started. You transformed as it pelted around you.
--Cloaking shield, Activate!--
--Power levels too low. Cloaking can not engage.--
"Grah!" you kicked your wheels into high gear, spinning off as a hammer slammed into the wall above your head.
Within segments you were certain that they had not followed you.
You transform, stepping into a room and finding a recharge outlet. You plug into it, beginning to refill your supplies again.
--It will take some time for most of the Decepticons to get here. --
You would have to make sure that nothing happened to the Warworld before then.
The recharge was taking some time, you didn't have the intense power feed that the ships bays provided you with...
The
Warworld
Slowly, your weapons recharge, as they do so, you begin to run over options in your head. The internal defenses had to be brought online. Perhaps that could slow them down.
Also, you would need to see if any drones can be brought back online.
You will do anything to stop the invaders, even detonating part of the Warworld if need be!
Just as your weapons were nearly fully charge, there was a noise outside the hallway.
As you spin, an explosion rips through the door.
Anger flares in your circuits as your shoulder cannons begin to fire into the hallway.
You could make out the form of a Maximal as he is nailed head on by your tirade, throwing him back, hard.
Already, another powerful set of blasts lit up the smoke filled room. Waves of pain erupted as two sections of your armor were melted away, vaporized by the powerful plasma blasts.
--Drone weapons?!--
You remember the Maximal in the exo-armor with two of the Drone's cannons on his shoulder.
Quickly you jump out before they can fire again. Your sensors pinpointed the closest enemy, a Decepticon signature to the right of the doorway. As you leap through, you reach out and grab onto the bot's throat with crushing force.
The Decepticon brings up a powerful hammering force into your midsection. You are pushed back, but not without managing to take part of the Con's throat with you.
Before either of you recover, there is the quick hum of the drone weapons. You roll as powerful explosions separates you and your quarry. One of the blasts hits your leg, burning a huge hole through the armor plating!
As you regain your stability, you fire without pause into the thick smoke.
You hear the squealing of tires, and something slams into your legs.
You look down as the attacker transforms into the Decepticon again, swinging the hammer around in a quick strike that sends a jarring shake through your frame. He hit your cannon, denting the barrel badly.
You were seeing red at this point. Static was covering your sensors, and your body was racked with a numbness. Mech fluid drips down and fire burns within your internals, but still you aren't finished. You reach out, wrapping the Decepticon in a crushing bear hug. As you did so, you activate the saw blades on the inside of your arms. Sparks fly from the Con as you spin around, slamming him into the wall and cutting deep into his arms!
Then you feel a scorching blast rip through your chest. The feeling was odd, and you couldn't figure out why. It had almost felt like it was in reverse... then it occurred to you that you had been shot in the back... by the Maximal...
--Stasis lock commencing.--
??
Your optics flutter.
Everything hurts.
--Awaken. Awaken and fight.--
You look around. The enclosed space you were in was like a casket. But there was a soft humming here, and you could feel the lasers working on your midsection. Working.. and repairing.
--A CR chamber!--
--Destroy--
A wave of hatred and loathing washes over you.
Something causes the pod to shudder, knocking you about inside the small CR. The sharp lance of pain as one of the lasers gets knocked momentarily arwy bring you to your senses.
--Hate... hate feeds whatever the plague is. It also feeds our own power systems... But it's never tried to incite me like this...--
--Revenge yourself... revenge the Decepticons.--
--No... it's not wanting vengeance for myself or the Decepticons... it's trying to get me to go berserk again!--
Another wave of pure hatred washes over you as you try to decide whether to resist... or to feed off of it's power...
End of NWNG: General
Statement