Welcome to Adobe GoLive 5

Graysteel

Cybertron: Iacon

You stood at the doors of the Council chambers. It was another day of the Cybertronian Council's wrangling over what to... or more correctly what NOT to do about the raids.

You look over at the other guard, a thick red bot named Heliopede.

The two of you were Special Ops agents for the Predacons.

At the moment, all that meant was that you played body guard for Predacon officials.

You were by the Predacon's private entry gantry. Inside sat, or would normally sit, the Tripredicus council as well as the other members of the Cybertronan Councils, as they decided how best Cybertron should be run.

Of course, today was especially dull, as the Tripredicus council had left a few weeks ago on a private mission. Now, their chosen delegates were in there. Two pompous bots name Skyshadow and Aquasting.

You sigh.

And then are thrown to the floor.

A segment later, the shattering sound of the explosion reverbrated in your ears.

You scramble to your feet, shaking off the shockwave. Heliopede was already up, his armor being thicker, and had thrown open the doors.

Aquasting and Skyshadow were staggering through the doorway in a hail of smoke and rubble.

You grab them and pull them through as another explosion reverbrated, disjointing everything around you. A wave of heat washes over you and you can see a white hot blast of light from the chambers themselves.

You began to stuff the ambassadors down into the emergency pod. It would send them far underground, away from whatever was happening here.

You held the hatch open as Heliopede followed them.

As he slid down, another blast hit you, and knocked you to the ground, there was the sound of the escape tunnel engaging, flushing the Predacons to safety.

Leaving you here.

"Grah! Graysteel, BEAST MODE!" you transform and leap toward the nearest windows area.

You were a few stories up, but your shocks should be able to handle the drop. You jump through the protective crystal...

...dropping ankle deep into a hot quagmire of molten lead.

Screaching you push off and jump up to a high point in the ground.

Around you were hot streams of molten metal, streaming through the streets around you.

You looked around to see white hot lances of energy blasting down with shattering force from the skies. Everywhere they hit, a building turned liquid, shattering or exploding in titanic fury.

You began to run, leaping from rubble, fountains, vehicles, anything that was above the white hot metal below. Your feet pulsated with pain, and the flesh that had been on them was gone, melted in that brief submergence in the slag, revealing the mechanical struts beneath.

You leap off a shuttle car, when suddenly everything went white.

--sy... syst... eeemmmz..... on line.--

"It looks like he might be operational!"

--Where am I...?--

You realize your vocals were not operating...

"Hrm..." a different voie from the first, "pull him out. He looks like he's still got a viable spark... if nothing else."

You tried to push yourself up... but you didn't seem to be moving no matter how hard you push up.

A cracked, static filled optic opened with a crunching noise. Light filtered through, showing vague shapes above you.

"So what do we do?" the first voice, "He's missing both arms and legs, and about twenty percent of his torso!"

"We've got the scrap. Take him to the CR's for repair."

"You sure, Mirage? After all he's a..." you hear a clicking noise... a gun.

"You were about to say something about him being a Pred? I might remind you that his city was destroyed to. If we don't trust each other, then we're dead. You start a chain of doubt, and you'll be the first."

"Ok, Ok! Just give me a hand then..."

You fade off again.

--Systems online.--

You open your eyes to the greenish swirl of CR gases. There is a popping noise and a hiss as the gasses drop down, flushing out through the chamber's hatch. It slowly rose, and you stepped clear of the small repair station.

You look down to see a new shine of metal. You flex your hand, remembering the words, 'He's missing both arms and legs...'

"So," you jump, startled at the new voice, "I see your up and operational."

You look up to see a white and red robot with a med pad.

"Who are..." you notice something about him... and insignia.

An Autobot insignia?

Cybertron: ???

You stare at the Autobot in disbelief.

That faction of throwbacks had been disbanded centuries past! Was this some kind of mutated relic from the past?!

--Or perhaps the ones who attacked the council!--

You throw yourself back against a wall, pulling out a weapon from your thigh holster with a snapping click.

"Where am I?!" you growl menacingly.

"Whoa! Take it easy wolf-man... I'm not here to hurt you. You think a guy would be a little more accepting after being pulled out and rebuilt from that scrappile!"

"Answer me!" your eyes trail again to the flashing chrome of the red sigil on his arm.

The robot looks down, following your eyes, "Oh, yes, you see some things have changed... You've been offline for about a month now."

"A month!?" you're jaw tries to drop to the floor in surprise.

"Yes, my name is First Aid. And you are in the camp of an Autobot resistance force. There are other Predacons here, as well as Maximals, Destrons, and Cybertrons. A few of us have taken up the sigil of the ancient Autobots in response to the Decepticon threat."

You shake your head, confused, "Decepticon threat!?" The Decepticons had long since been hunted down and eliminated. This couldn't be happening!

"Yes, let me explain... You were in the middle of Iacon when a battleship called the Warworld appeared in Cybertronian airspace and proceeded to attack the city. It destroyed pretty much everything, cauterizing the Inner city of Iacon.

Something slid into place in your mind, the confusion of the previous day... of a month ago falling into clarity, "Cauterizing the government." you softly mutter.

"Yes, they assumed control, and to this time have retained it."

You look back, raising your weapon to show him you had not let up as of yet, "What about the Cybertronian Armadas? The Predacon Hunters... the Maximal Defenders?"

"Gone, no word... we hope that they are amassing for a new attack, but we just don't know."

"And the other cities? How are they reacting? What is the state of the war?!"

"Unfortunately, things have returned mostly to normal. The world keeps going, most of Cybertron has picked up and moved on. They don't care whether the Cybertronian Council or the Decepticons rule. As long as they can keep living and working..."

You snort, "Who is your leader."

"This group is small, there's only about fifteen of us, and right now Mirage is our leader. He was one of the original Autobots they say.... " he carefully raises a small scanner to you, you respond with a cautioning growl, but he didn't seem to be threatening. He pressed a button and there was a small whir as the hand held device took a quick reading, "You're systems check out, you are free to go as you please."

You still hadn't lowered the weapon, "What of other Predacons?"

"There's a few around, not many stick around for long, most give up and return topside to start a new life. A few still fight with us, they are either around in the base, or they're off on patrol."

"How do I find them?"

"You can check with the office on duty, he may be able to point you in the right direction. Just go out there and down the hallway, there's really not much to this place, you shouldn't have any problems.... but I would suggest putting the gun up while you walk around?"

You look down at the weapon, and decide grudgingly to holster it.

"If I find any Predacon's captive..."

"Hey... you can go talk to the boss... I'm just an old med-bot."

With that the Autobot turned back to another set of CR chambers, taking some readings and making some notes.

You moved carefully from the wall, heading toward the door.

Past the door was a shambles of a hallway. Metal scrap littered the floor, in small heaps and piles. Amidst the rubble you noticed extra limbs, gun parts, and even a few heads. All seemed to be of similar or even identical build. All were very heavy.

--No doubt parts used to rebuild others.--

Your mind was still awash with questions, and in the background, playing through your CPU like a thunderous cannon, there rang the need for a leader.

You felt lost and directionless. There had to be a higher ranking Predacon somewhere. The thought that the council existed no more turned your insides hollow with despair.

There was a ramshackle door at the end, it slid open noisily, sounding like a tin garage door. Beyond it was a jury rigged command center of sorts. Tables held monitors and computer consoles that were pieced together with thick bundles of wires running into a power conduit in the wall. A tall black Autobot stood over the shoulder of another bot, a reddish orange Maximal of some sort.

"So send those groups up through the outer tunnel, make sure that the drone party didn't discover the entry. If they have collapse the tunnel itself."

The orange Maximal turned to look at him, a grouping of tentacles over his shoulder twitching in annoyance, "Mirage, if we keep collapsing every tunnel, we'll end up burying ourselves alive!"

"Look, Claw Jaw..." the tall black and gold robot noticed you, "Hello?"

You look at the two mistrustingly, "Your name is Mirage?"
The robot stood and turned to you, "Yes... your one of the Predacon's we pulled from Iacon last week, aren't you?"

Cybertron: An Autobot Base?

"I am, " you reply.

"Then welcome back to the land of the living. I assume the med chief gave you a brief synopsis of what has happened."

You nod, "What is this place though... what kind of forces do you have... What are you trying to do to free Cybertron from these... Decepticons?"

"That's a mouthful of questions... Let me start by saying that we really don't have much. That's why we've taken to pulling corpses like yours from the ruins of Iacon, on the hopes that those who were at ground zero during the attack might be willing to help stop them."

"What other Predacons are here?"

"We only have two Predacons with us at the moment. Buzzsaw and Lazorbeak. Both are out on surveillance patrol at the moment, but I can inform them that you've come online."

You nod, you don't recognize either of the names, so it's doubtful they were in the hierarchy of the Predacon empire.

"Where are we." you try to see the monitors that the two were looking at.

"We're below Iacon about two levels. Sector Nova. This is more or less a launching place for our search for forces. So far, we haven't been extremely successful."

"Have there been other Predacons?"

"That haven't joined us? Yes, unfortunately. Most of your kind are not exactly 'team players.' More have left than have stayed to help."

You snort, "And what of other forces here... you are their... leader?"

"I am." Mirage crosses his arms, "I'm not asking anyone to stay who isn't ready to help. I'm running a guerrilla war, and I'm still not sure to what end. What I do know is that the bots who have taken on the name 'Decepticon' have issued an insult to all life."

"What do you mean?"

Mirage looks down at the other bot, "Main Holoprojector, show the Warworld."

Another desk sparked a bit, and a glitching image appeared in the air above it. A spherical planetoid appeared. It was some kind of ship, but that wasn't what grabbed your immediate attention. Vaguely you hear Mirage state that this 'Warworld' was the Decepticon's battle moon. But your mind was spinning from the massive object that crowned the Warworld. It was a horn. And in the deepest, most entrenched areas of your subconscious, you knew where that horn originated.

It was Unicron's horn...

"You obviously recognize that which put the entire system into a fear filled paralysis."

"The horn of Unicron."

"Yes, the Decepticons have used it as a mastiff for their new Empire, and it is this which we oppose."

"Has it displayed any signs of sentience?"

"The Warworld? None that we've seen... but to make matters worse, there is some kind of drone army that is now in place, thanks tot the Decepticons, that is policing Cybertropolis as a military state."

"Drone army?"

"Yes, both jets and a ground force." the holo image altered, displaying two different body formats, one was a huge, thickly armored robot with treads for feet, and a massive rotary cannon on it's shoulder. The other was a sleeker jet robot, without legs, hovering over a spire. It's jet wings are swept forward in a 'V' design' "There armor is thicker than anything we've seen before. They act in unison, and without any morality. Destruction similar to that caused in Iacon is what keeps the planet running now."

You can not help but stifle a growl.

"So you see... we fight to end that ships existence, to free Cybertron from the Decepticons mindless enslavement."

"Why have you not assaulted the Warworld itself then? What Decepticons have you interrogated."

"It's not that easy. We lack the forces for that kind of work. There are supposedly other pockets of resistance, but we can't get close enough to contact them. best we can figure is that the largest may be somewhere in Kappa. Even they don't come out in the open though..."

"Then you must hunt them down." you state crossly.

"We can barely manage to keep our own chassis from being eliminated."

You grimace, "Then you should leave it to the hunters. I have a proposal for you, Mirage, leader of the Autobots."

He faces you, "And that is?"

"Allow me and the other two Predacons to form a task force. Let us seek out these other rebels. Let us hunt for them, along the way we may be able to form a larger pack with other Predacons. We do not like hiding in the shadows, but we do enjoy stalking in them."

At that moment, a small alarm bleeped annoyingly on the console in front of the Maximal, Clawjaw.

"Mirage, one of our patrols is reporting problems. A drone group is locked onto them. They need backup."

The black and gold leader turned, "Who is it... Burnout and Snarl? Get Buzzsaw and Lazorbeak to meet me there." Turning back to you the black and gold robot's optics flashed, "Before you go volunteering, perhaps you should see the face of your enemy?"

You nod, "Lead on then, Mirage."

He transformed, down into a black and golden dragster of some sort. You transform as well, your wolven form flexing as Mirage's wheels were spinning.

This would give you an excellent chance to flex your rebuilt body, as well as gauge both the enemy as well as this 'Mirage.'

--Know thy packmates as you would know thy prey.--

Cybertron: The Autobot secret base

You bunch your muscles together, pounding through the hallways and out into the cool Cybertronian undergrounds. Mirage was fast, but you managed to keep up, your legs bounding with intense power.

As you leapt along the silvery tunnels, you ponder on what weaknesses or tactics might prevail. Tanks were generally weak in the treads, and slow. These could be used to your advantage. The jet's, however, were more of a weak point for you. Regardless, if these drones truly are 'drones' then they should prove less sophisticated in attack patterns. Perhaps using subterfuge would be the right way to go...

Just then you pass a wall section that had a crystalline coating on it, turning it into a mirror.

You skid to a halt, staring.

The reflection did not show a lean beast body, covered with syntheflesh and hair...

You were all metal.

The beast hide that you were used to had been replaced with that of a smooth, shimmery black metal. Your eyes still glistened blue, and there were metallic blue highlights throughout your hide. But metal you were, nonetheless!

You hear Mirage's engine fading in the distance.

--No time to gawk now... this new body seems strong enough...--

And as you turn to run, a quick diagnostic reveals that it may be far more efficient of a body than your previous!

You speed off, moving quickly to catch up with Mirage.

The sounds of explosions greeted you as Mirage pushed aside the grate leading to the street.

"They're already in combat. My sensors show that Buzzsaw and Lazorbeak aren't here yet."

Another explosion, frighteningly nearby.

"Then let's do it." you growl.

Mirage holds you back, "Wait, before you rush in there. These aren't normal drones... don't expect them to be slow or without tactics. They use grid iron unity as a strong point rather than a weakness."

With that, the black and gold robot shimmers and disappears!

Shaking your head, you hear a faint voice say, "That's why they call me Mirage."

You leap out, crouching down on your fours to see the situation.

There was heavy looking orange bot landing with a heavy thud. Already, he had a gaping hole in his side. He immediately let off a round, from the snub nosed gattling gun on his shoulder, at the heavy tank that was bearing down on him.

The bullets pranced off the tank drone's armor as if they were nothing.

The drone was big. It's treads had some solid coverings on them, but you may still be able to get to them from the side.

There is a sudden glimmer as Mirage appears on top of the tank, firing repeatedly at the head-like turret with his rifle.

Off to the side, you could see another robot, a Maximal, scrambling as two aerodrones were closing in on him. They were sleek, blue without legs. Shoulder cannons ripped up the ground behind him.

--Slag, didn't want the flyers, but here goes!--

You leap out, in the path of the flyers with a snarl.

"Greysteel, TERRORIZE!!!"

The transformation was smooth and neat, and as you folded up, you automatically pulled out your rifle and squeezed off a few shots.

You hit dead on, but the blast seems to do little to the Aerodrone.

The drones immediately reform tactics for the new prey. One transforms to jet and roars past, still following the Maximal, the other pushes up and away, firing his own arm blasters at you in a steady hail.

You dodge, moving clear of his fire path. As you do so, you fire a few mini rockets, which shatter in the air around him.

You duck behind a corner, firing out into the street.

--Slag! If I could just reach him...--

Suddenly you feel yourself transform down to beast mode! Your front legs then proceed to curl up, and your rear legs push off... You feel a sliding on your back as small metal struts roll out, and a shimmering energy field 'wing' fills in to your body! Two thrusters appear from your thighs and fire off!

With a sudden howl and a confused exhilaration you realize... you were flying!

--When the hunting cry sounds......Decepticons, beware--

Cybertropolis: Iacon

--Whoa! I can fly?!--

Indeed, you were moving out from your cover toward the Aerodrone. Baring down you leap past him in the air. Your flight was a surprise to you, but you were betting it wasn't to him.

You spin around, attempting to get a bite on the drone's back, but he was already out of range, and you find that the sudden shift in direction left you in something of a stall.

His shoulder blasts streaked past you as you struggled with a sudden uncertainty.

Your com clicks on, "Predacon, move down 2 meters at a 60 degree angle... NOW!"

You duck that way as a missile stinger shoots past you from behind. It slams into the drone, knocking him back a bit, and on it's heels you hear a buzzing sound.

The aerodrone immediately re-aligns its attack vectors to include this new threat.

You don't take the time to add it in, hoping that it was one of the other Predacons. Rather, you jump forward, at the Aerodrone again, ducking below it now and letting your momentum carry you as you spin behind him.

You fire your thrusters in a short burst, and flip successfully this time, latching onto his back as you hear another missile explode on his front.

--A wolf with wings only means the sky is no longer a haven.--

With a howl, you reach down and around, to where the missile has left a tear in his armor. Energy crackles down your fangs as they expand to twice their length and you bit into the hole.

Waves of Electromagnetic energy shoots through the Aerodrone's body, making it quake as it's systems struggled to survive.

Suddenly, the both of you were falling!

You let go, but find your foot caught in one of the Aerodrone's claws as he pulled you rapidly toward the ground.

With an alarmed yelp you began to struggle, but to no avail! Then, a thin red laser sliced neatly through the drones arm, and you are snagged by a purple flying blur.

"Good work." a quiet, whispery voice commented. Your savior was definitely a Predacon, Purplish with red striping. He had reptilian wings folded up behind him, and was in robot mode.

He sets you down as another Predacon joins you. This one was yellow with black striping and an obviously insectoid transformation. The head of a large wasp-like creature was on his chest, and the pearlescent wings of the creature flickered as he looked at you.

Both had humanoid faces, but the reptilian one had small sharp teeth in his eyes.

The Insectoid one nods, "I take it you're not used to flying?" he comments in a deep voice.

You nod, "Name's Greysteel. Seems I had a recent reformatting."

"Buzzsaw. And this is Lazorbeak." he motions toward the reptilian one, "Now, we'd best see to the others..."

It only took segments for the three of you to surround the jet and take him out. One would swoop in and hit, as he faded back, another would hit him from another side.... The wolf pack tactic worked well, and soon the jet was a pile of rubble.

You land on the ground next to the Maximal, who, up close, you could tell must have been hit a couple times. Patches of fur were missing, and as he transformed, some of his armor hung loosely down in front, "Thanks," He pants, trying to catch his breath, "I couldn't keep up running for long, and I've lost most of my energy from the first wave. My names Snarl!"

You nod, "Greetings. But there's still some tanks left." you look over to where Mirage and the orange Autobot had finally taken out one tank drone. but another had wandered around the corner. He was huge, and was now in robot mode. His shoulder cannon was ripping up the ground.

"Let's do it!" the Maximal pulls out a rifle from behind him and fires several pulse blasts at the drone.

You fire off a flurry of minirockets which also smash into him.

You see that Mirage is pulling the orange bot back, but the tank drone moves to stop them. From behind the drone is hit as Buzzsaw and Lasorbeak appear in the skies.

But it was too late, the drone was firing again! Mirage pulled the orange bot behind him, but the blast seared straight through his arm, and into the chest of the orange Autobot. They were both thrown back from the impact.

You roared and transformed to beast mode, leaping forward in a blur, and tackling the robot from the front. You felt two more impacts from behind as the flyers tried to damage him.

"Greysteel, TERRORIZE!" you transform to bot mode, the thin metallic blade of one of your vibro blades popping into your hand as you did so. It sliced downward, toward the drone's neck, where wires and mech fluid sprayed out in a hot shower as you hit.

The drone snagged you with one of it's arms, but the damage was done. Even as it was pulling you away, you see two bolts of energy from Snarl's rifle smash into it, right where you had cut. His head is sheared off and he begins to topple.

Freeing yourself, you land several meters away as he collapses in a heap.

Soon, you were all gathered around Mirage and the orange robot. Mirage was functional, minus one arm, and severely upset. The Autobot at his feet however, would never go back online.

"So the Autobot's wounds were fatal?" you looked at the black and gold Mirage.

"His name was Burnout. He's been fighting before any of us came on line."

"Then he died as he lived. There is no shame."

"No shame," the leader admitted, "But still loss. Let's get his remains back to base. Snarl, you need some downtime in CR too."

As you turned to leave, Mirage stops you, "Well, you've seen them now. Four drones against seven Cybertronians."

"Seven?" you briefly counted in your head, only finding six.

"Mirage nodded, I only send ground based patrols in units of three. They lost one before we ever got here. You sure you're ready to go out there on your own?"

He turned and headed after the others. Leaving you to draw your own conclusions as you returned to the base.

Cybertron: Cybertropolis

You and the others collect what scrap you can. Mirage makes sure not to waste anything that may be of use. The Autobot's body, however, was already degrading, turning ashen gray and brittle.

Back at base, you find yourself considering the battle. Now things were clearer. Those drones were powerful, and far from mindless. They formed attack patterns with a deadly precision, not caring who or what was slagged in their onslaught.

Deciding that perhaps Mirage's tactics of hit and fade are perhaps the best way to fight this battle, you approach the two Predacons. A brief, informal meeting showed that they were interested in making a special strikeforce, so you approach Mirage.

"I'm saying that above all, Predacons are cunning." You leaned across the desk that the robot was using. His arm had been repaired, and he had set to work immediately, "and efficient. Let us sniff out where these things are coming from. There has to be a main power base, or a controlling factor."

Mirage leans back, "We already know where both are."

"What? Then why not strike at them? Destroy them?!?"

"It's not that simple. You've seen what just a small patrol of those drones can do..."

"Then perhaps a night strike, and hit and fade to hinder them?"

"Listen... I appreciate what your saying, but with three Predacons? You'll be cut to shreds before you get within a hundred paces of the place."

"And what place is that?"

Mirage activates a small holo-pad on his desk. A map of the city appears, circling and zooming in on a quadrant on the outskirts of Cybertropolis, "Here, the wharehouse district. They converted the old storage areas into massive factories. They crank out hundreds of drones a solar cycle!"

"Are they controlled from there?"

"We don't know. We don't receive any signals that we recognize as transmissions from them. We're not sure where the controlling source is. We do think, however, that it likely is from the Warworld."

"The Warworld... I've heard it mentioned before..."

"The Warworld is the battlestation that orbits above Cybertropolis. It's what turned Iacon into a pool of superheated metals."

"Yes... and we haven't the forces to assault it either?"

"We don't have anyone capable of breaking orbit." Mirage states simply.

"Not even the flyers?"

"The Predacon Beasts weren't often specialized for that kind of strength. You're mostly as fast as the other body forms due to your smaller size."

You nod your head, partially understanding the physics behind it. You square your shoulders, "Then we must get more Predacon's and find a way to bring the control center down to us."

"I don't know..."

"About what? That you can trust us? Some say that Predacon's are evil. In fact, some of us are, but as I said before, we are cunning and we are efficient. Let me take the two Predacon's with me into Cybertropolis, there I will find more Predacons to help. We will find someone who can take down the Warworld."

Mirage sighs, "Ok, then so be it. Take Buzzsaw and Lazorbeak with you. But I want reports on a regular basis. Also, if you find any sign of the other cells of Autobots, find a way to get them in contact with us."

You straighten up and salute him, "Do you have any ideal where the Predacon's that have left may have gone?"

"Try the borders of Iacon. There's a lot of work being done to repair the scars that have been made there. Some 'cunning' Predacon's may be able to slip around the Drones and keep a low profile there."

The next few solar cycles were spent with the flyers doing reconnaissance runs around the perimeter. Lazorbeak proved to be a silent force, whose movements were defined by precise, calculated efficiency. Buzzsaw was slightly more vicious, more in favor of scrap first ask questions later. They had apparently worked together for eons, hinting that they may have even once been Decepticons!

Late one day, you are patrolling a decimated neighborhood that was slightly out of the border areas that were destroyed. It was almost as if a separate explosion had done some damage here, or that one of the blasts from the Warworld had missed it's target zone and accidentally struck a small portion of Cybertropolis itself.

The neighborhood was filled with some garages and a few housings, but all were still in ruin... while workers had already repaired a good half kilometer into Iacon all the way around it's border.

"Perhaps they simply did not see a reason to repair it?" Buzzsaw interjected as you surveyed the run-down and decimated neighborhood, "I don't show anything of any import having been here previously..."

"That building there is the center of the destruction," Lazorbeak points out, a pair of optic overlays sliding back up into his helmet.

Indeed, there was one building that had the earmarks of the destruction coming from within, rather than having it's walls blasted down. The nearby buildings all were at something of a tilting lean away from the building.

"What was it?"

"I show it as a private workshop. Belonging to an off-worlder?" Buzzsaw looks up from the handheld mapping unit he had.

"An off-worlder? I don't hear of them owning much property on Cybertron."

"I don't have any records on him other than he was a synthetic design... an android."

"Hrmm... I..."

Suddenly Lazorbeak transformed and swooped down into the street, snagging at something. You couldn't see what he had swooped down to get, the street seemed fairly featureless to you, but then the Predacon tried to pull up, hard. He was sturggling, and as he did, there was a moan of metal as a tank drone's cannon piece began to rise as if from nowhere!

Lazorbeak hoists up the large cannon and brings it to the roof, transforming as it clunks down beside you.

"What the pit? Where did it come from!" You lean over and examine the piece of metal.

"I saw something... small... that's what I swooped down to investigate, but when I grabbed at it... this came up from nowhere."

Buzzsaw leaned over, "Then was it invisible?"

You look back at the street, "Not invisible, "You pick up a piece of the rooftop and toss it down. About a meter above the ground, it appears to drop into something that ripples like water, and then disappear, "It's covered by a hologram!"

"But what slagged this drone out then?" Buzzsaw pushed on the cannon.

You went back and looked at the weapon, turning it carefully, "Here." you spot some viable damage spots, "These marks... like small claws or teeth."

"Something chewed it apart?" the yellow and black hornet scoffed, "I don't think so..."

"Down! Jammers on!" Lazorbeak warned. Over the past few days, you had learned not to question the silent warrior's instincts.

Below, from the streets flies a brownish bat, winging his way over the rooftops.

Mere segments later, another creature rose from the building. This one too had bat-like wings, but his head was that of some kind of tentacled creature. As they disappear over the rooftops, you relax. "Scan. What is he?"

"Unknown." Lazorbeak reported, "Neither of them gave off an energy signature!"

"And yet they both appeared to be bestial in nature..."

Buzzsaw flicked his wings in annoyance, "That tells us little. Anyone can have a beast mode..."

"But it's still more common for a Maximal or a Predacon."

"True." Lazorbeak nodded, "So do we follow? Or should we investigate their lab?"

"Follow. We don't know what might be waiting for us in that lab."

Lazorbeak nods, "Then we will take the high road and you take the low, you're quieter on the ground. If they seperate I will take the first one, and Buzzsaw will follow the second..."

It wasn't hard to track them. They had both landed on a rooftop a few blocks away. This neighborhood was still whole, though at this moment the streets were abandoned. You had no trouble keeping hidden as you watched them. Tuning your senses you listened to the two bat-creatures.

"What are you doing? We needent attract any undoe..." the second one started as he landed.

"Don't you hear it?" the pure-bat stared off into space.

"Hear...it?"

"Something stirs. Something... out there..."

You turn to follow his eyes, to where a glittering orb hovered high in the night sky. You realize that this small silvery nighttime object must be none other than the Warworld, hovering far above the Cybertropolis skylines.

You see several other moving objects around it. Other ships!

Automatically your optics zoom in, giving you a better view. Indeed there were ships. Other Decepticon warships... but why had they gathered around the Warworld? Unless...

The stars around the ships seemed to bend and twist for a segment... and following that segment the skies became filled with an all-new battlefleet!

"The Cybertronian Armada?!" The tentacled bat muttered.

That was it! You can see the outlines of a massive flagship, one side was festooned in the Autobot sigil, the other in the Decepticon sigil!

"Their hate is palpable. It feeds the one." the regular bat was nearly whispering, as if in a trance.

"The one? The one I sensed when I was connected to the Vat. This... Wargod." the other's wings flapped in distress.

"Perhaps... Yes... But he has not yet come to birth yet. Still he waits... waits for one final push."

You look back at the shapes in the dark skies above Cybertron.

Finally, you hear the tentacled bat say, "And if he feeds off of hate, then those ships may just give him exactly what he needs..."

End of NWNG: General Statement