Lightslayer
Cybertron: a hospital
The world explodes.
Heat, light, power infuses your circuits. Your frame bends and moans as
it shifts and alters. Your mind ...minds? race
as it... they assimilate logs of data and
knowledge.
Assassin, Hero.
Warrior, Leader.
Conflicting images swirled
and coalesced into a see of chaos within...
Within your spark?
A steady pulsing throbs
through your frame.
A slow rhythm, that grows
stronger, louder.
You are alive!
Your optics shut on, and the room around you resolves
into light and movement. Your audio receptors activate, and a flood of
noise and
chaos fills them...
"Whatever it was, the pulse shut off the computers as
well." a sharp, cold voice resonated in your optics.
"Indeed, and the body is completely altered. The
energy readings are quite impressive."
The room resolved into an impressive display of scientific
equipment. Monitors, probes, wires, all seemingly hooked up to your body.
"Still, he is not as powerful as he was."
"But far more powerful than the body could have
maintained before the fireworks."
You moved to sit up, but found yourself restrained.
The movement seems to catch the attention of the speakers. They move
around and into
your field of vision.
One is large, red and white. The other is gray and
purple in color, smaller and with a flesh covering on parts of his cybernetic
body..
The red and white one spoke. You recognize it as the
second voice.
"How do you feel?"
"Confused..."
"We know that! How are your systems
operating!" snapped the other.
"Mindwipe back off! He's been to the Inferno and
back!"
"Ok, FirstAid. We'll do it the 'Maximal'
way." the other retorted.
The eyes of the first narrowed. He looked down at you,
"Do you remember anything?"
You think for a second, but it all seems to be meaningless
jumble, "No."
"Great." muttered Mindwipe ,"The
Predacon council only agreed to this to..."
"Stow it!" a low rumbling voice spoke from the
doorway.
The two turned to the new entrant. First Aid saluted
him and stepped to the side. A golden brown Transformer covered in fur
and with
shaggy brown wings stepped up.
"Greetings, my name is Prowl."
You look up into the robots orange eyes. A look of age
seemed to surround this one.
"Greetings. Where am I?"
"You're at the Maximal Combat Hospital Facilities on
Cybertron."
"Combat...?"
FirstAid stepped forward, "We've fallen into a war it
looks like. And the outpost where you... where your former self was
located fell."
"Are you sure you don't remember?" pushes Prowl.
"Everything's a jumble...."
"Bah, we sit here and waste time with experiments and
to what end!" snapped Mindwipe, "We still don't even know WHO
attacked those
outposts."
"What?"
Prowl held a hand up toward Mindwipe, "We should start
from the beginning. We have been at peace for three centuries here on
Cybertron. But last week, a number of outposts were suddenly and
systematically destroyed. Little was left in the way of clues, but the
destruction looked Cybertronian in nature."
You heard FirstAid mumble, "Probably Preds..."
Mindwipe snatched at the larger robot, "You slag
suckin'!!"
"Enough!" growled Prowl, and the two
robots backed down, "There were Predacon outposts attacked as well as
Maximal. Even the
Cybertron and Destron outposts were hit."
The names registered vaguely on your processors. "Who
am I?"
The group turns back toward you and Prowl speaks, "Who
you are is for you to decide. Who you were... well, without the memories
it is no
consequence."
The bonds that held you down release. You sit up and
look at your arms, and your legs. unlike the others, who had smooth
transitions
between flesh and robotics. You had shaggy clumps of black fur, and
glittering purple and black plating that seemed to criss cross your entire
body. Who were you, what were you. The leader's word seemed to bring
with them a release from some of these questions.
A resolve built inside of you.
You were who you were, and no ghosts would control you.
A name formed in your spark...
"I am Lightslayer, and I am a Maximal."
Cybertron: The Maximal Combat Hospital Facilities
An explosion rocks the medical center, knocking the
gathered bots off their feet.
"It seems the battle has been brought here, to
us." Prowl says as he stands up
"Indeed. Maybe this time we can figure out who it is."
FirstAid adds as Prowl helps him up.
You pick yourself up off of the ground, "OK I'm not
100% sure what is going on, but I know what I want to do about it.."
With that you pulls the two energon blades from your back,
and head towards the door.
"WAIT!!" Prowl hollers after LightSlayer but it's
of no use, another set of explosions drowns out his cry.
You duck out the door, only to run head first into a large,
gray mass.
"WHOA! Wher'dya think you're goin'"
comes the heavily accent southern drawl.
You look up to see yourself standing in front of a huge gray
Maximal. A red, slicked back head with green eyes and a mouth full of
white, glistening fangs peered back at you.
"Stand aside."
"You're to stay put, we'll handle the mess
downstairs."
You decide that to stay and argue is pointless, you try
ducking past him.
The larger Maximal might have been slow, but he made
up for it in tactics. He moved quickly to intercept you, and when you
switched maneuvers, he matched you move for move.
"Let me GO!"
The door behind you slid open.
"Yes, Ironhide, let him go."
The larger robot looked down at Prowl, "You sure?"
"No time like the present to test him out."
You had already ducked under Ironhide's arm and were running
down the hallway. You heard heavy footsteps behind you.
"Silverbolt's already down there." came Ironhide's
voice.
"Prowl, BEAST MODE!"
Suddenly, a golden lion leapt past you and ran down the
hallway.
You decided to try.
"Lightslayer, BEAST MODE!"
You found yourself in the form of a robotic panther, but
unlike the smooth curves and flesh covered normality of Prowl's body, you were
hunched and mutated. Metallic parts gleamed from amidst patches of dark
black fur. Scythlike claws glittered and clacked on the hallway as you
broke into a fast paced run.
You and Prowl made it into the elevator. The doors
shut with Ironhide still halfway down the hall.
"Watch yourself, Lightslayer. We don't need to
loose a warrior twice, and we're still not sure how operational you are."
Your eyes only glittered in anticipation.
The elevator doors opened onto a scene of chaos.
The hangar area where it led was filled with fire and smoke,
and the sounds of blaster fire could be heard.
"Silverbolt! What's the situation?" you
heard Prowl cough.
You lept into the gray smoke, disappearing in seconds as you
moved in silence.
Something let loose a volley of blasts up ahead, you moved to
see what it was.
Out of the smoke, a multisegmented robotic insect skittered
out. Several gun ports were discharging in random patterns as it moved along
with ease over any obstacle.
"Lightslayer, MAXIMIZE!!!" you growled as you
leapt and transformed, pulling your ninja-to from their sheaths.
The pill bug robot let loose a chaotic blast of fire, and
only your instinct enabled you to dodge and weave your way to get close.
You moved as if in a trance, your swords reflecting shots that would
have hit any normal robot.
Then with a glittering arc of your blades, the robot fell
into several pieces.
Once again you disappeared into the shadow.
This continued for several minutes, you killed three
others before most of the firing quieted down. Around you, the noise of
fire extinguishers, and air converters sounded.
As the smoke was cleared, you saw Prowl and Ironhide
standing with another maximal. This one was brown and white, with long
feathery wings and an eagles headdress on.
You moved to join the three.
Cybertron: The Maximal Combat Hospital Facilities
With mech liquid's dripping from your swords, you walk up
to the three bots who are talking amongst themselves.
"That was.......Fun." you say with a menacing tone
in your voice.
Not bad for a rookie!" replies the brown and
white Silverbolt.
"Yah, you could make a regular Pred stompin'
machine!" chuckled Ironhide.
Silverbolt coughed, "Uhm, Ironhide, those weren't
Preds..."
"I wouldn't be so sure." Prowl grimaced.
The three of you turn to look at the lion Maximal.
He points up at a huge pile of scrap metal that resides in
the center of the hangar bay. It looked like it was once a ship, but the
attack had
shattered it to useless garbage. But the rear compartment of the ship was
still relatively untouched.
Except for the large whole blown through it.
From the inside.
"That's the Pred's ship!" guffawed Ironhide.
"Yes, and those little beasties poured out of that rear
bulkhead."
"Where's that..."
"MY SHIP!!!" came a yell from the lift unit
behind you. You turned to see Mindwipe looking in horror at the burned
out hull of his vehicle.
Silverbolt moved quickly behind the Pred, almost too quick
for you to catch. The Predacon found his arm twisted behind him and was
brought to his knees.
"What!! What's the meaning!!!"
"You're under arrest Mindwipe." responded
Silverbolt.
"Arrest?!?! This is an outrage! The
Predacon council will not stand for this!"
Silverbolt pushes him into the hands of two security bots
and turns back towards the others.
Prowl seems deep in thought.
"I can't believe the Pred's would try somethin' like
this at a time when so much is in danger!" pondered Ironhide.
"I'm not so sure..."mused Prowl, but he seems to
push the thought away as he turns his attention to you.
"Lightslayer, you handled yourself well in
combat. Better than I suspected."
"Yeah, not bad for such a little guy." chimed in
Ironhide.
"That's nice Prowl, but when do I get to shred some
more Predacons?"
"I have a feeling all to soon LightSlayer," Prowl
answered, a shadow crossing his face, " all to soon. But first lets
get these remains to the lab,
to see if we can find out who or what they are."
Soon you were back in the lab, and hooked to several
diagnostic machines.
FirstAid finishes the hook ups, almost nervously, apparently
shaken by the thought that Mindwipe may have been an assassin. He turns
to
Prowl as he finishes, "Prowl, we need
to talk to you, now. Privately?" he finishes severely, glancing back at
you.
"Sure, let's go to my office. We'll be back in a few
minute Lightslayer. Just relax and let the machines take some
readings."
You nod and relax, wondering at the med tech's odd
attitude. you shut your primary systems down, going into a sleep mode.
-- Still blasts
were raining down from the ship. Without warning you had been nearly
wiped out in a few minutes. You had rallied
the remaining bots and counterattacked, the last
thing the ship expected. Surprise was turned back against them. But you
had taken
severe damage. Glitches scrolled across
your optics. You were becoming desperate. If you fell, the rest of the Maximals
here would
soon follow. An explosion beside you
causes you to spin. You turned to see one of the attackers landing next
to you. --
You shut on as the machine beeped an annoying note.
Firstaid entered the room and hit a switch, "Well, you seem
operational. And all
systems are running at top condition." He begins to unplug you from
the machine.
Prowl stands in the doorway, his arms crossed, giving you a
contemplative look.
"So what now?" you ask, standing and
flexing.
"I think I have a mission for you. Recon."
--Not battle, but maybe a chance to test this new body.--
"Ok, what's the gig?"
"I want you to go with a small party to the ruins of
the base where your spark was retrieved."
Now he had your attention.
"I want to see if you can find any clue as to who or
what the attackers were."
"Why do you think i'll succeed where the previous
search parties have failed?"
"Call it... instinct. Let's see what you can
scrounge up out there."
"Affirmative. When do I leave?"
"Immediately, there will be two others with you.
You can meet them in the hangar."
You turn to leave and Prowl adds, "Be careful."
"They already left the outpost, why should there be any
danger?"
"Perhaps the most dangerous enemies are but ghosts of
the past."
You turn and consider Prowl for a second before
spinning and striding from the room.
Cybertron: The Maximal Combat Hospital Facilities
You walk down the hall contemplating Prowls words. Stopping
in the middle of the hall you look around see the large panels of windows on
either side of you. Turning, you move up to a window, and stare at the horizon.
"What............what did I........see?"
The sun hits you and shines your reflection against the
window.
The reflection of something, not quite robot, but not quite
animal...
"ggggGGGGRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAA, WHO AM I?!?!?" you
scream and slam your fists into the window.
The window shakes with the force of you blow, but it's construction
was solid, made for repelling heavy artillery, and it stays in place without a
scratch.
You're anger roils in your spark, but the sudden outburst
relieved enough of it for you to continue. You transform and give off a
growl that shakes the windows again as you leap down the hallways at a full
tilt run.
You skid out into the hangar bay area, nearly bowling
over a reddish chrome robot that stood near a ship's ramp, doing some repair
work.
"Whoa there kittycat!"
You turn and glare at the robot. He was about your
size, obviously a vehicle of some kind. His skin was made of the same
amour plating that glimmered through your fur.
"Who are you?" you growled in a rough, bestial
voice.
""Name's Hubcap! And you, at a guess would
be Lightslayer."
"This is our ship?"
"Yep, she's a hyper standard mulitcrew
starhopper. Named her the Deathmonger."
"Deathmonger?"
"Well, I figured if you can't scare anyone with your
looks, might as well give them a name that'll make them stop and think!"
You find yourself smiling at the Cybertronian. You
notice that the sigil on his arm was not the same as yours.
"What? Oh this?" he answered seeing your
inquisitive look, "It's a Cybertron symbol. After my stint with the
Autobot's I joined on to the Cybertronian police forces."
The names sounded familiar to you, thoughts of old friends
seemed to float happily through your mind.
"Well, we'd best get on board. Flatline is inside
waitin'"
"Flatline?'
"Oh, you'll love him, he's a barrel of laughs."
With that, you follow the Cybertron up the ramp.
The cockpit of the small ship was lit with a dark purple
lighting that glinted off of your metals and turned your fur a strange inky
darkness.
At the fore of the ship sat a thick bot. His body was
inky black, and neon green highlights shone brightly in the dark black light.
"Hey, Flatline! Here's Lightslayer!"
The robot didn't even seem to move an inch as it sat there.
It's head turned slightly in your direction, and a deep, rich, heavily accented
voice spoke, "You break dis shit, it's your skin. Copy cat?"
The head turned back, and the door behind you closed.
"Like I said," stated Hubcap as he moved toward his
seat, "Alway's a laugh."
Cybertron
The ship tilts as it tears through the starry sky over
Cybertron. You glance out the windows as the planet races by below
you. Faint tinges of
memory flash in the back of your head, but they seem to vary. Part of you
feels a kinship and a longing for the planet., seeing the silver globe as
your home. Another part is shocking in its voracity. It wants to
control that land, to purge it of everything that would harm it.
You are disturbed by this strain of thought. It
conflicts entirely with the feelings of nurturing that you feel deep inside…
As the ship clears the planet's gravity, it joins into a seemingly chaotic
jumble of traffic that surrounds the silver planet. You stare out
at ships of
all shapes and designs, from the familiar echoes of what must be Cybertronian
design, to ships that were obviously inferior, or completely alien
in style.
You nearly jump out of your seat as a low thudding
reverberates through the hull of the ship. You're battle internal battle
computers flash on
and you spin towards the nearest control panel.
Hubcap notices your reaction and grabs your shoulder,
"Whoa, calm down. It's only Flatline’s ‘music’."
You notice that the thudding has continued and is now
keeping a regular beat. The music sets in seconds later, jarring your
core with a low
lazy rhythm.
You settle back into your seat and stare at a pair of
odd fuzzy dice that dangled from the forward view screen.
The ship soon breaks free of the last of the orbiting
satellites, each one’s name registering in your mind as you cruise by
them. A small light
flashes green on the control console in front of Flatline. One heavy,
dark hand moves slightly as the hyperdrive is engaged. The starfield
blurs
into motion, and you stare in awe. Flatline still seems to give no
reaction.
"Is he…?"
"He’s ok, that’s just him. Nothing gets
through that black exterior of his. Just don'’ scratch the ship, or you
won'’ live to see Cybertron
again.""
"Charming."
Hubcap lowers his voice, "He’s really not all
that bad. Oh, he’s tough, but he’s really got a golden spark."
The ship cruises through hyperspace with the bass of
the music booming through it’s exterior. You stare out into the
starfield, vainly trying to
remember your past.
"Don’t tell me you’re gonna be as quiet as he
is?" Hubcap interrupts your thoughts.
"Eh? Oh, I was just thinking."
"About?"
"About the past…"
"Any memories?"
"Nope, what about you?"
"Me, I’m old. I served in the Autobot
armies under Optimus Prime a few centuries back. Worked against the
Deceptiocns. Joined the
Cybertron’s after the Autobots disbanded."
"Disbanded?"
"Yeah, it was part of the Pax Cybertronia.
In exchange for a Peace between the factions, the two elitist groups of
warriors disbanded. The
Autobots by choice, and the Decepticons by force."
"Force?"
"Yeah, they were hunted down if they didn't
choose to change allegiances and fore swear the Decepticon name forever."
"So, they became Destrons and Predacons."
"Yeah Destrons if they wanted their vehicle
modes, and Pred if they kept beast forms. At least, that was for the most
part. There’s still a
few Destron’s with beast modes and so forth. Of course, there wer also
Con’s that became Maxi’s and Cybertrons as well!"
"Really? They were allowed?"
"There was some ‘discomfort’, but mos of us put
aside our problems in the name of peace. It’s lasted three
centuries."
"Until now."
"Yup."
--Decepticons. The name rings a dark bell in the bowels of
your memories.—
You ponder on this for a while, and play a hand of cards
with the smaller robot.
Soon, the green light begins to flash on Flatline’s console.
The starfield settled down and a large yellow planet loomed
below the ship. The music switched off as Flatline brought the ship into
a low
orbit.
"We’re here." Came the low thick voice.
Hubcap looks over at you, " Well, it’s your game,
now."
Deathmonger : Orbit around Karil
"My game!?" you say, sounding a bit confused.
"Yeah," answers Hubcap, "It's your history,
your past, this was YOUR station. That means you get to lead the
parade!"
"Greaaat. Ok, let's get off this ship and head
out."
You and Hubcap exit the ship, Flatline stays behind for a brief time then joins you.
"Ok Hubcap, which way do we go?"
"Your asking me..... oh, yeah I forgot. Ok it's North
West of our current location, about 10 clicks."
"Why didn't we land closer?"
"No ship is allowed to get with in 10 clicks of the
ruins."
"Why?"
"Don't ask me bot, I don't know."
"Roll." Flatline states to no one in particular.
He transforms into a long, black hover car. Strange
lights run along the bottom. They seem to shift and swirl colors
constantly.
"Yeah, right no problem Flatline." Hubcap laughs
as he transforms to his car mode, "Hop in LS, I'll give you a lift."
"I got it covered.......LightSlayer Roll Out!"
LightSlayer transforms to a Cybertronian sports car.
"Scweeet, guess you do!" chuckles Hubcap.
The air near the outpost was hot and scorched, as if the
destruction here had blemished the planet forever. Angry clouds flashed
lightning
above you, and a hot wind blew across your transmetal skin as the three of you
get near.
It was trashed. A burned crater with the
remnants of the buildings that were once standing.
The sounds of death echo through your mind...
--The warrior that
now attacked you was quick, and fierce. He gave no quarter, hammering you
back with every strike.
You're energy levels
were dangerously depleted.
The opponent reared
back and charged you, ready to rip you in two with his bear hands, but you rip
a strut free from the wreckage
of one of the buildings, duck down low and
plunge the strut into his circuitry.
He staggers back in pain, but
not before ripping free a clutch full of your internals. Sparks and
lubricants pour over the ground
from your fatal wounds.
Time seemed to slow
down.
And you could finally
make out the insignia of your attacker...--
You shake your head. Slag! You almost saw
something! But something worries you more. As you saw... or almost
saw... the insignia on
the attacker, you felt a surging sense of... pride? And even with that
pride, you felt the dark cloak of loathing writhe inside your spark.
A light spattering of a brownish rain started to spatter
down through the scalding skies. It hissed and popped as it hit the
heated grounds.
Steam rose across the ground and a dank smell of hot metal filled the air.
"Oh great! This'll ruin our finishes!"
chided Hubcap, "Hey, Lightslayer. I don't suppose you remember which
hall was the chow hall?"
You smile and turn back towards your new comrades.
Karil : The Ruins
You lead the other bots around the ruins, staying out of
the rain as much as possible, searching for any signs of the mysterious
attackers.
"Come on its been 3 hours, I think its time we get out
of this rain and head back to the ship," Hubcap whined, his paint job
ruined.
"Ok you 2 go back. I'll continue here, the rain doesn't
affect me," You mutter as you lift up some rubble.
"Doesn't effect you?" Hubcap chuckles, "You
smell like a wet dog."
You make a certain gesture at Hubcap and continue your
search.
"Well then Flatline I guess we can go. Radio if you
find anything LS."
"Uh, sure Hubcap," but you are distracted by the
remains of a bot that looked familiar somehow....
--You stood looking out
over the outpost from your window. The moons set over the horizon, and
were sending a shimmering
cascade of colors across the sky.
But tonight you were
contemplating something else. You see yourself in the window. Red
and white armoring cleaned and polished,
reflecting the colors of the sky.
The outpost was established
as a training post for new bot's. Both Cybertronians and Maximals had
come here for years, learning
from several scholars that were gathered under
these walls.
And more and more, your job
seemed to be phased out.
Guardian, tactician,
consultant, teacher.
But the tactical lessons you
taught were practices in ancient history. No longer were the Decepticons
a threat, and the Pax
Cybertronia had kept the allegiances in check
for centuries.
It left you nearly void of
purpose.
The door chimed behind you.
"Enter."
In walked an old friend, an
older enemy.
"What troubles you
tonight?" growled the quiet voice of a transformer who was once one of the
fiercest in the Decepticon armada.
"We're relics,
Rampage."
"Perhaps. There
are always battles to fight." Quietly continued the orange and red
Destron.
"Not for us, we're
anachronisms. We're trainers of warriors for wars that don't exist. The
newer bot's look at us like we're ancient
old men. They treat us as if they are
indulging an ancient in his memories and ramblings."
"The time will come when
we are called again to the great hunts."-
You look down at the orange claw, all that is left here
of your ally. There was more..., but you still weren't sure what.
You roar in frustration, a roar that is accentuated by the
crack of thunder overhead.
Karil : Ruined Maximal School
As the thunder quiets you catch your breath, mind
boiling at the memories that half floated to the surface.
Another spear of lightning strikes the ground not too
far, and it’s tidal wave of thunder washes over you immediately.
As it ends, a voice behind you speaks, "Hoo hah!
How ya be?"
You spin to see a black and red Cybertron, with flames
painted on the door wings on his back, standing in the downpour. His face
is an odd
conglomeration of bone and horn set in a frightening countenance.
"Who… What are you?"
"Zabgoth, mad bastard at your service." He
answers almost giddily.
"What do you wish here?"
"Perhaps a picnic on this beautiful piss yellow
rainy day." He announces with a flourish of his arms.
"What is your business." You snap, irritated
at being interrupted from your thoughts.
"My business is that same of yours. For you
see, your beautiful pelt has drawn the attention of great minds from far and
wide. You’re an
enigma, a mystery, a chaotic element in the collective arse of the
universe!"
"And?"
"Well, creatures of light and darkness dance in
our heads and play with our toes. The destiny of the Great Steel World
seems to lie to in
thoughts and intuitions of a mutant cat with make-believe memories…"
"Stop talking in riddles!" his personality
was beginning to grate on you.
"Ah, but what are riddles but more puzzles to
solve?"
"I tire of this conversation."
You turn to go back to the ship, but he slides in
front of you, skidding in the mud to block your passage.
He leers down at you, "Then mysteries to unravel
aren’t your forte?"
You reach up and grab his chest plate, tossing him to
the side, he slides and lands in the mud, "No."
"Then perhaps your past is not your
interest."
You stop as you walk away, turning…
--What does HE know about me? What COULD he know about
me?--
"What do you know of me?"
"Perhaps a past that is as vaporous as the storm
clouds? A past that leaks through? A past that is…
fabricated?"
"Move." Time to leave this game.
"Perhaps then a dance?" He pulls a
hammer around and smashes it into your ribs with a wet thunk.
You let loose a growl of anger and smack him with a
powerful backhand.
The larger robot lands in a pile of debris.
You pull your blades free of their sheaths, the sharp ring
of metal incongruous in the spattering downpour.
Rain drips down your fur and beads off of your shiny new
metal skin as you turn you head towards the prone robot.
"Dare you dance on the edge of my blade?"
You pounce.
Zabgoth jumps free and brings his hammer to bear.
Soon, the battle is obviously against him. Numerous
cuts and scratches marred his skin, and he had fallen into a loosing battle of
defense.
You had taken two hits, but were happy to find that they had deflected easily
off of your new armoring.
Then, a sudden explosion rips up the ground beneath you,
tossing both of you apart.
You turn to see a dark shape transform and land with a thud.
You see the shadowy form pull two guns and start firing as
Zabgoth ducks behind a wall and you transform to cat mode and jump clear of the
spray of death.
Karil : Ruined Maximal School
You transform and leap away from the spray of death
in beast mode as Zabgoth jumps for cover. The dark shape continues to
fire at
Zabgoth, going for the slower, and easier target. The gun fire sends showers of
shrapnel and sparks up to burn Zabgoth as he dives away.
You turn to go help, but find your path blocked as a
dark, shadowy feline shape moves into your path, "Not so fast kitty."
A flash of lightning lights the dark form for an
instant. You can see thick, gray, skeletal bones covering a translucent
under skin of a cat form
that bore a silvery steel skull of a saber-toothed cat.
As the lightning fades, two cold blue eyes continue to
glare at you.
"You want a fight…", you growl and hunch
down menacingly.
"Now, now," purrs another voice behind you.
You see a reddish glow grow over the darkness, you
spin to see another cat, identical, but in red with gold bones, and a fiery
glow
emanating from beneath his translucent skin. He is prowling atop a large
outstretched strut of metal protruding from the ground.
"So, this is the new kitty on the block."
The red cat jumped down from his perch, and landed nose to nose with you.
The fur on your back bristled as he sniffed the air
around you.
The other one was prowling out to the side,
"Unimpressive."
"Indeed." The golden sabre-skull leers at
you.
"You and your friends are about to become scrap,
fang boy!" you rumble.
"Oh! That sounded like a threat! What
do you think Shadowtooth?"
"Eliminate hostile threats."
You dodged as the red cat pounces at you, but the
shadow cat is ready and on top of you. His claws dig into you and you
feel a numbing
drain come from the cuts.
You bring your tail around with a snap. It’s barbs jab
into the cats side and you rip it off of your back. The red cat had
pounced again, but
you were ready this time, your claws flashed in his face, sending him sprawling
backwards.
You duck under the other ones attack and burst out
into the open.
Zabgoth appears to be throwing his hammer at the
Cybertronian that originally attacked, you can now make out the form to be that
of a
greenish warrior, skeletal, like the others, but with outstretched wings made
of an orangish membrane. He was in a robotic mode and held a
gun in one hand and a boomerang like weapon in the other.
Zabgoth had definitely hit him, his forearm looked
damaged, but did not seem to impede his trigger finger.
You bound across the short distance and jump onto the
creatures back, your acid-etched claws diging into his armor like warm butter.
Suddenly, you realize that the monster had climbed about
three hundred extra meters.
"Not very nice to hitch a ride kitty. Pterra, BEAST
MODE!" He tansforms, the force of his shifting joints knocking you
free.
You shift your weight to land with a thud on your
feet. Your servos absorbed some of the shock, but it still left you with
your head ringing.
You shake it off and see that the two cats had tackled
Zabgoth.
They clung to him biting deep into him with their teeth.
You transform and prepare to shoot, but are hit from behind
with a blast of energy. You roll over and see the boomerang spinning back
to
Pterra’s clawed hand.
You fire your plasma cannon at the ground, knocking the
assailant backward.
Things were going badly.
Zabgoth had managed to throw the red cat off of him, but the
fiery feline transformed and had pulled a weapon. It was aimed at you,
you
turned to jump and found Pterra also targeting you.
Then there was an explosion under the red cat.
You looked up to see Flatline standing on top of a tall pile
of rubble, a huge gun in either hand. He lowered the other and blasted at
Pterra.
You took the moment to leap at the other cat clinging to
Zabgoth. You knock it off and onto it’s back.
Seeing the opening, Zabgoth brings his hammer down in a
mighty sweep, splintering the metal skeleton of the cat.
"Let’s go." Commands Flatline, and behind him, the
shuttle rose up with a sweep of engine wash.
He disappears over the hill, and you turn and look at
Zabgoth, "C’mon, while we still have a clear chance."
Zabgoth shrugs and laughs, transforming into a rather
decrepit looking wheeled vehicle. He shifts shape slightly again,
extending wings and his
hood. He takes to the sky in the direction of the ship.
You transform to your vehicle mode and leave the site as
well.
In orbit around Karil : The Deathmonger
Back on board the ship, "So, Zabgoth, this is Hubcap
and Flatline."
Zabgoth gives a flourish of a bow, "Zabgoth, mad
bastard at your convenience."
Hubcap chuckles, "Welcome aboard, Zabby, watch
your feet, Flatline is a bit touch about his upholstery."
Flatline never even acknowledges him, but rather seems
intent on moving the ship back into orbit.
"So, Zabgoth, What exactly do you know about
me?"
"Well, you see… there’s a story to be told.
I, being bored for the past few decades, decided to take an offer from the
Destron General’s
themselves. But… apparently that offer wasn’t a good one, since they seem
to have sent a cluster of assassins after us. Maybe they just
decided to eliminate you and take me out in the process. After all, who
wants a loose end like me running about telling of their malignant
planning?"
"So why were you sent?"
"To find the truth? Or maybe to proliferate
a lie… Not too sure what is where. Told you were a little Frankenstein
that had some
manufactured memories. Something about a beasty plot to put blame out for
these attacks."
"What?" blurts Hubcap, "That’s
crazy! Why would the Cybertron council be responsible to watch over
Lightslayer if that were true!"
"Hey, I don’t know. I just take the orders
and the pay. But from what they say, the Predacon’s and the Maxi’s were
responsible for the
creation process, and the Cyber’s and the Destron’s had no part in it."
"Well, I don’t like all this talking about me as
property…" you rumble.
"Heh, get used to it, kitty. They’ll always
use who and what they need, until you learn the truth, you’re no more than a
shaggy pawn on the
chess board of Primus. And that reminds me, you haven't spilled your
guts, what’s your true story at any rate? What’s locked up in that
silent,
brooding, slicing, dicing mutant body of yours?"
--The attack was
brutal, bodies littered everywhere. There had been no warning, and now
you knew why. You had been betrayed.
Locked in mortal combat with one of the most
cunning of adversaries you had ever known, and one of the greatest friends,
"WHY!!"
You gasp.
Rampage pushes free,
his arm ripping loose from it’s socket, "I told you, tried to warn
you. I will NOT lie down and be an
anachronism of an ancient times. WE have
risen again, and this time we SHALL take over the galaxy!" He transforms
to cat mode
and jumps at you, slashing and biting.—
You think for a moment, "All I know is that I’m
supposed to have the spark of some great warrior that died in that
outpost. But they didn’t
tell me who… They just want me to magically remember what happened here!!"
"And do you."
You look over at him for a few seconds,
"No."
"hmmph, then it seems that until we can rid
ourselves of Destron entanglement… There is always safety in numbers!"
"Then tomorrow, we return to the site and see
what we can discover about our attackers." You sigh.
"Then might I avail you gentlemen to point me to
the nearest CR?"
Hubcap points down the short hatchway, " Down the
hall and to the right…"
In orbit around Karil : The Deathmonger
Zagboth finds you late that night, "So, kitty cat,
what’s your plan?"
You sigh, "Don’t really know. I’m not so
sure I want to know."
The devil robot giggles with glee, "Oh, but the
game’s a foot, and that foot has been shot right up your exhaust!"
You grimace at the dark bot, "And just what would
YOU do?"
With that, Zabgoth plops down in a chair next to you,
and lifts his feet up to plop them down on a control panel, "Well, you’d
best know what’s going on, and better learn who’s who
around you."
"For example?"
"Take, me. You know exactly where I
stand. I’m nuts, I’m crazy, and you can’t trust a thing I say. And,
I’m the only person you can be certain of."
"Hmmph."
"No, seriously, what do you really know about the
others? Flatline? Yeah, I’m sure he’s discussed his whole life
history to you… And Hubcap? Nice guy… a little too nice.
Can’t
trust types like that."
"And why trust you again?"
"Because you know you CAN’T trust me. I’m
the only safe bet, everyone else is swimming in the toady pool of
ambiguity. Can you trust them? Can you fear them? Who knows.
Ask me, we’re all out to get you." With that Zabplops his feet back
down and gets up, "Night, sweet dreams." He saunters out of the
room.
You’re brain hurts.
The next day the Deathmonger returns to the surface of
the planet.
You, Zabgoth, and Hubcap return to the ruins. Flatline
remains aboard the Deathmonger, and continues to circle the ruins.
Your attackers left little behind except a few fragments of
the fallen one’s armor, and shell cassings.
As the three of you search, you find a building that seems
to bring back haunting memories. It’s shelled out, down to a basement
level. As you peer over the side, you see drifts of
ash, where several Cybertronian bodies had once ceased activation.
The far wall is nearly collapsed, and dark shadow stretch
across it.
As you peer down, a chill wind blows through the ruins with
a eerie moaning effect. It ruffles your fur as your mind feels echoes of what
once was.
"Something’s wrong. There......there used to be a
door there." You points to the pile of rubble below, "Lets move
this wreckage." You jump down with a light spring, and start to
move the ashen rubble aside. Hubcap helps, and Zab just sits back and
supervises.
As the pile is cleared away an armored door can be seen,
still standing strong. "Where does this go?" Hubcap asks.
"I have no idea....I remember the door but I cant
remember where it goes........DAMN! I hate this slag!!" You pound a
fist on the door.
"Calm down buddy, you'll get it back." Hubcap says
as he puts his hand on
your shoulder.
You shrug off Hubcap’s hand, "That’s just it, I DONT
WANT IT BACK!! I hate
having somebody elses memories. I am LightSlayer! Not some great
commander."
"I'm sorry," Interrupts Zabgoth, "but
right now it doesn’t matter, you can’t change it, so let’s get this door
open." He moves over to the control panel and inspects it.
"Damnable, its slagged."
"Thats ok I have the key right here," Hubcap hefts
a blaster gun.
"No.." you interrupt.
"But...."
"I have a better way," you pull out a shaped
charge.
"I like your style, pal," Hubcap grins.
"Indeed, bwahaha." Laughs Zabgoth merrily,
"We best duck before your charge goes goose." he motions with a
flourish towards a large pile of debris.
The explosion shakes the ground, knocking ash across your
group.
Zab is the first on his feet, jumping over the scattered
chunks of metal and down into the darkness.
"Wow…" he states, "The door’s still standing."
"What!?" You jump down next to him.
The door WAS standing. However, part of the wall
around it was gone.
"Good door." Commented Zabgoth as he commented as
he prys enough of the wall away on one side to slide into the darkness beyond.
The tunnel was cold and dark. It ad a shallow
incline, and stretched for several hundred meters, out away from the base.
Hubcap had transformed and was using his headlights to show
the way down. The smell of smoke was still heavy here. The vents had
apparently shut of with the power, probably
when the base was attacked.
The hazy air shifted lazily through Hubcap’s headlights as
his wheels softly grinded along the floor.
"Where the pit is this leading us?" Hubcap’s voice
trails off into echoes.
--"This was a great
danger to the entire race. As you can imagine, a surge of such energy
would cause all of Cybertron to shut down. Luckily, there were no
warships
with the power enough to operate the
cannon." The old museum was a curiosity among the students,
but little else. Your tours were more a look at a macabre past that
they would never witness when a lesson in what
they should fear.
"What’s that hunk
of junk?" asked a black, chitinous Predacon. He stood in front of a
massive piece of machinery, part of a horn…--
"It’s a museum." You surprise
yourself.
"A museum! I hope they have a gift
stand!" guffaws Zabgoth, "I could use some of those damnable little
rubber froggies!"
Hubcap interrupts, " Yeah, I remember something
about an old museum here. It used to hold weapons or something. The
new bot’s from the school here could see some remnants
of the Great Wars!"
His headlights shift up as you near a large doorway
with heavy blast shielding on it.
Zabgoth walks up and looks at the panel next to it.
"Needs power."
You walk up and look down, your finger flit across the
panel, tapping in a registry code. The lights shift on, and the soft hum
of the ventilation systems fills the silent tunnels.
The door gives a heavy shifting noise, and it rolls
back the shielding. A highly ornate door sits behind it. Half of
the door bears the ancient symbol of the Autobots, and half of it has
the Decepticon’s.
Zabgoth steps up to the door, they shift noiselessly
apart.
"Bruhaa! Who’s got the polaroid?!"
The museum was lit brightly, wisp of smoke fall into
the room and dissapate into the open space.
The museum floor was littered with collections of
weapons from all ages.
Immediately it was obvious that two large areas were
empty…
Karil: The Maximal School
As the unlikely trio walks into the room filled with
weapons of the past, you notice the 2 empty areas.
Zabgoth lets out a shrill whistle. Hubcap startled at the
sudden noise gives Zab a menacing look.
"What?" questioned Zab.
"Nothing," snapped the usually good natured
Hubcap.
You walk over to the empty areas, moving slowly. You
instinctively shift to beast mode, and start to sniff around the area.
"Um, kitty if you have to go, go back up to that
litter box of a dessert," Zabgoth jokes. you simply ignore the comment and
keeps sniffing around the open areas.
"What is it LS?" asks Hubcap, as he moves over
towards him.
"I'm not sure......something I've smelt
before....I....I...think.......DAMN, I cant remember."
"Right now I think the really important question
is, what were in those two empty areas?" Zab asks as he points to the open
areas.
You revert to your robot mode, "I'm not positive but I
think it was a weapon, a big weapon."
"Great!! And now the 10,000 credit question,
whare is it?" Zabgoth adds.
"If we knew that, we’d know who attacked
here." Snaps Hubcap.
Both of you turn toward him.
"So," starts in Zabgoth, "How come
little buddy is in such a grumpy mood?"
"Cuz’ I have an idea of what was
taken."
"Ooo, the red bot with the shiny butt has
knowledge!!" Zab jumps up onto a large dissection of an older shuttlecraft
engine, he crawls out on a strut and hangs upside down in
Hubcaps face, not unlike a monkey. "Pleeeaase, share you knowledge and
wisdom with us oh wise sage of the great lost planet!"
Hubcap fixes him with a withering glare, one that
seems to have no effect on Zabgoth.
"One of the things that was shipped here
centuries ago was part of what was left of an artifact that had at one time
orbitted Cybertron?"
"ooooooOOOO! Artifacts mean POWER. I
like power!" Zabgoth giggles with maniacal laughter.
"You won’t want this. No one wants
this. It was one of Unicron’s horns."
Zabgoth went stiff and dropped to the ground in a
pile…
--"Why here?"
roars the white and red robot. Smoke poured from his joints, and oil coursed
down his body in fiery streams.
You smirked, "You know
why." you purr. A damaged panel falls off. Pain washed up from where your
arm had been ripped off.
"The horn!?!? Are you
all MAD!!"
"Don’t worry, it’s only a
trophy. It will adorn our new flagship. It will lead us into the
ranks of Cybertronian and strike fear and chaos into the hearts of those that
believe us defeated." You feel the pride and
glory of your lost Empire swell within you.
Disorientation swirls through
your mind. You close your eyes for a brief second.
You look up at the robot in
front of you the orange and red Cybertronian grasped at his missing arm.
You flexxed your hands. Energy levels were dangerously low.
"You don’t
understand." You start in, "He was the Chaos bringer. You mount
that to something that it can use, and you’re inviting him back into our
universe!"
"Fables and nonsence."
Rampage gave a soft purring chuckle. "That monster cannon is the other
goal. Besides, who’s to say that we’ll be alive to see it.
With that he leapt,
"Decepticon’s FOREVER!!!"—
Karil: The Maximal School's Museum
Hubcap and Zab shake you out of your dream.
"What the hell happened?" Zabgoth asks
"I..I had another vision......I saw who took it, I know
who it was!"
"Great, I’m right…tell me I’m right! It was a
cult right?" Zabgoth shook you.
"No! It was…"
The explosion muffled your reply.
The ceiling started to cave in with an onrush of the tons of
dirt that were above it.
"Save it!" Zabgoth yells, "Chicken little was
right! Everybody abandon the room, the sky is fallin’ in!!"
Everyone transforms and with a roar take off back up the
hallway you came through. Hubcap was the first through, and as his wheels
hit the soil an explosion knocked him up and
forward.
"Hubcap!" you roar as you leap through the
entryway.
Fire was everywhere. And the sound of a titanic roar
caused you to spin around.
A massive beast, a combination of prehistoric bird and
reptile, meshed with massive cybernetic parts, reared up above the
outpost. It was as large as the shuttle you came here on!
It roared again, and as it did, you could make out a symbol
on its chest. A Decepticon symbol.
Karil: the ruins of the Maximal School
As the group stares at the massive Decepticon, you
hear Zabgoth behind you fly out of the tunnel and into the smoking skies.
"GET TO THE SHUTTLE, I'LL TRY TO HOLD IT
OFF!!" you yell as the giant
Decpticon raises its slathering jaws and unleashes another
wash of fiery energy at the party.
Zabgoth, however, was already in the air.
"YEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAWWWWW!!!!"
BAM
The car-jet slammed headlong into the thick plates of
the creature’s chest.
And stuck there, smoke pouring out of the crumpled
hood.
The creature jerked back at the impact, obviously
unhappy, but another creature darts out of the smoke and grasps roughly onto
Zabgoth’s car mode.
This one was smaller, still alost twice your size, but
smaller. It had a combination of feathers and scales, and a sharp beak
onto of it’s twisted head.
"Slag, GO!!" You yell again, "I’ll take
care of them.
"The hell you will!!" Hubcap replys as he gets up.
"DO IT NOW HUBCAP!! I have a better chance of holding
this thing off."
"Yeah and what about the other two!?"
"The other…?" you turn to see another beast
behind you, yet a third dinosaur-like monster. This one was in between
the sizes of the other two.
"I'll be right behind you, now GO!!!" you turn
and loose a barrage of missiles at
the giant.
The missiles impact its chest, shattering into the dent that
Zabgoth had made. You transform as you see the bird creature drop Zab
from a dangerous height.
"Roll out!" you yell as the wheels of your vehicle
mode peel into the dust and dirt of the decimated school grounds.
You streak toward the falling form, transforming as you near
him. You leap in your cat mode and smash into him, breaking his
downward momentum. You hit the ground in a tangle
as Zabgoth transforms.
"What a ride!" he gasps jubilantly.
The sound of explosions draws your attention away.
"They’re attacking the shuttle."
"Well, its name IS Deathmonger. It’s got to have
SOME kind of weapon systems."
"Not really, not anything that will hold up for long
against these…"
A blast of heat singes the rubble above your heads.
You look to see the winged creature flapping it’s wings not
too far from where you landed. It stopped and gave an odd squawking
noise, "Well, well what DO we have here, a
Maximal and a Destron cuddling from the flames!"
Zabgoth gives a grin, "I’ll take care of this chicky,
you go help out the shuttle."
"Right, roadie mode!" You transform and zoom
under the bird monster as a flush of flame licks at your tailpipes. You
hear a squawk as Zabgoth lands on the bird from behind.
--‘Luck nutcase.—
You smile to yourself as you make tracks towards the shuttle.
Both the larger monsters were attacking the shuttle full on,
the largest had a hold of the ship and had pulled it to the ground. He
blasts the hull with a wave of fire, "That’s why they call
me, CINDERSAUR!" he bellows as the shields buckle and fade.
The other creature sat and watched, and for a few precious
segments, you could get a clear view of the area.
Everything became crystal clear, as if frozen for a moment
in time. A large tower became outlined as structural information scrolled
across you optics. At the same moment a wire
outline of the tunnels, the ones that led to the museum, appeared superimposed
on the ground.
You transformed to Beast mode and quickly moved around
to the tower. Timing was everything. You transformed and called
out, "Hey, fat boy!"
The two monsters looked back at you. You leapt
from where you were, transforming and pulling your swords with a snap.
The blades sang through the tower at a structural
weak-point, sending the tower toppling toward the smaller creature.
At the same moment, you fired three shots into points
along the ground in between the two creatures. The tower hid with a
ground-shaking thud, and was rapidly followed with the
sound of rock grating against rock as the very ground began to cave in.
The cumbersome monsters lost their footing and began
to topple over, and Cindersaur released his grasp on the shuttle.
The shuttle’s engines flared into life, and it began
to lift up and out of the monster’s reach.
"Well, that’s taken care of."
Of course, the monsters were still active, but at
least two were damaged, and hopefully neither could fly.
"Sparkstalker, robot mode!"
The smaller of the two transformed with a roar,
pulling out a blaster gun and firing rounds at the shuttle.
"Lightslayer to Flatline. Get that shuttle
clear. Go park it, we’ll meet up with you."
The shuttle’s engines again flared as it pulled up and
away into the cloudy sky.
Sparkstalker turned his impotent anger towards you
with a volley of blaster fire, but you transformed and moved out of the way.
Cindersaur at least seemed content to lie there. The
damage that he had taken from earlier combined with the shuttle’s blasts and
the fall seemed enough to at least keep him still.
You moved into the shadows with as much speed as your
feet could muster. All the while, explosions tore up the shabby buildings
and walls behind you.
As you ran around, you carefully began to spiral
inward, cutting the distance between you and the Decepticon.
You hear a fortuitous click as his weapon supply ran
short, with a skid and a pounce, you altered your course to jump and slash with
your blade-like claws.
The Decepticon howls in pain, but manages to bring a
heavy punch around, smacking you to the side.
You wince as you jump up, several circuit boards along
your left side sparking with the damage.
"Lightslayer, MAXIMIZE!" you roar as you
shift into robotic mode.
"Sparkstalker, BEAST MODE!" the Decepticon
shifts into his monster mode with a flash of flame.
He opens his mouth to throw a ball of flame, but you
react quickly. Two blasts from your shoulder cannons sink down the
creature’s throat.
With a gurgle of pain, light poured out through the
scaly skin of the creatures skull as an explosion rips through the weaker
points.
Sparkstalker falls in a smoking pile.
"Lightslayer!" a voice booms behind you, you
turn to see Cindersaur trudging up from the ground, "You WILL be
terminated! CINDERSAUR, ROBOT MODE!"
The monster transforms and sends a fist smashing
downward toward you.
Again, everything seemed to hold still for a brief
moment, you could see a crack near the side of the Decepticon’s head, near his
visor. A trail appeared across your visor that led up
the path that his arm would soon lay out. Also, several points and the
needed spring to reach them appeared with the appropriate information to set
the tension needed for your legs.
You moved in a flash, jumping straight up as his fist
smashed down, then, in a series of bounces, you leapt up his arm, pulling both
your swords. You felt energy build up as you
prepared for the instant of contact. With a shattering explosion you felt
yourself thrown off as your blades dug deep into the side of the monster’s
head.
You transform as you fly, landing with a heavy spring,
but on your feet.
"Two down, now where’s Zabgoth?"You turn
back toward the center of the school, and hear a ferocious roar, one that
didn’t sound like a bird, but a cat.
"Aw crap." You spring back towards where you
left the Destron.
Karil: The Ruins of the Maximal School
--Suddenly, you found
yourself surrounded with fire and the wounds of battle searing deep into your
core.
"Then all that
matters now is this… All it comes down to is death, Rampage."
"It is the only
choice, the only outcome for warriors such as ourselves."
"Then I truly am
sorry."
"Sorry, what is there
to be sorry for, we die with honor…"
"Honor…" you
spit the word out, "To use the horn even as a mantle piece is madness, not
honor… to resurrect the past is not honor! We made the mistake of letting
ourselves become anachronisms. We didn’t just
get old, we WORKED at growing outdated. The world grew up, why didn’t
we?"
"Bah! Useless,
Autobot morose, Sabre. We are just the cogs in the making of
Primus. Now, join the smelter!!"
He leaps at you, claws
ripping through your sidepanels and sending searing pain shooting up your side,
but you had been expecting him, and as he tore through your side,
you had brought a sword up,
slicing into his chest, severing him nearly in half.
You vision blurrs, and you
see the ground rising toward you, a feeling of loosness in your lower
torso. As you hit you tumble and see the red-orange of your lower parts
flying freely across the ground. The old
Cybertron stood with his back toward you, his sword again reformed and in the
position where he had cut through you.
Static started covering
your optics as you felt your spark begin to slow.
--NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!—
At the last second,
desperation overcame you. A feeling that it could not end with this, it could
not end with one survivor and not the other.
You lept up, smashing
yourself into the body of the Cybertronian. You saw circuitry surround you, and felt as it began to
intertwine you, grasping you and trapping you
inside of the other’s chest.
Your consciousness spread,
as if flowing out from its core like water, filling every joint and gear, every
circuit board and fuel pump that was your rival.
You blink as you look down
to see hands that were not your own, a body that was not your own…
You look behind you to see
your carcass, shattered and still, where it had fallen nanos before.
From somewhere inside
there was a jerk, and you felt yourself slipping, felt control being pulled out
of your hands.
One of your comrades
landed in front of you… You try to speak, but the other force kept you from doing
anything other that stare gape mouthed at the Decepticon. He
raised his weapon…
An explosion ended it
all…--
The desperation and anger from the dream fills your
very being. You transform down into beast mode and leap toward where
Zabgoth and the Destrons would be fighting.
With a heavy spring, you leap up onto a strut of
metal. Fire flickers behind you from where the two Decepticon’s lay, you
twitch your tail in anger as you look down to see the three
Destrons, the two cats and the bird, in front of Zabgoth. They were all
in robot mode, and the two cats had Zabgoth’s arms caught in razor bladed
whips.
You give off a ferocious roar, anger searing your
vision as you stared down at the Destrons.
All four of them look up, but Zabgoth for only a
second. You stare at the three enemies with a cold, hateful stare.
Then, a crackling noise could be heard. Zabgoth’s hammer was
coated in an ichorous green energy that seemed to drip off of it in a sizzling
smoke.
The three Destron’s jerked their heads back as they
realized what was going on, but it was too late.
With a burst of power Zabgoth leaps up, jerking the
two cats off the ground with him. Green energy flickers down his arms and into
the whips as he flies up and comes down with a
thunderous smash into the green and peach bird Destron.
Sparks fly as he takes the hit full on. Part of
his chestplate rips free, sending circuitry scattering across the ground.
The two cat-bots hit the ground with heavy thuds as
you growl, "LIGHTSLAYER, MAXIMIZE!!" You shifted into robot mode and
fired off a series of powerful shots from your
shoulder cannons.
The red and gold cat was hit head on with the blasts
aimed at him. The ground underneath him exploded, and he flew back in a cloud
of fire and dust.
But the black cat seemed to disappear, ducking off
into the shadows.
You see Zabgoth stare dumbly at the spot where the
dark cat had been. He was swaying and about to fall, both arms hanging
limply at his sides.
You skid down and steady him with a hand as he nearly
topples over.
"You ok?"
"Not dead yet, want to go for a walk." he
says in a high, strained British accent.
"We’d best get out of here, neither of us are in
good shape, and there’s no telling where that last Destron went, or if there
are any other Decepticon’s around."
Zabgoth staggers over to the critically damaged
pterodactyl Destron, "Hold on…"
He drops down to his knees, and pulls out a small
energy siphon unit. He hooks its leads to himself and the Destron and
activates it.
"Ahh… much better. I can at least
walk, if not fly… use heavy weaponry… recite Shakespere…"
"Shakewho?" you query.
"Never mind. Look, Lightslayer, here’s how the
old Zab see’s things. We’ve got some common nutbots chasing us around.
So, we help the other fulfill their goals. You help me frag
the Destron high counsel, and I help him track down the horn."
"Yeah, sure, makes sense to me. I’m not too
thrilled about the games they’re playing with me, but where on Primus would we
start?"
"Hmm, let’s see", he looks around. Off
to the side, the crumpled body of the Decepticon bird monster lay in a heap.
He kneels over the body and pulls a wire out, plugging
it into the Decepticon’s head to access the fallen bot’s memories.
A few seconds later he shakes his head, "Whoa,
real bad trip."
"What’d you find out?" you walk over to him.
"I think the course we should set is
Cybertron. According to the birdies memory banks, there’s something big
going down with these Decepticons. I didn’t see the horn, but then, I
didn’t have enough energy to probe very deep, just on the subconscious
levels."
"So, then it’s back to the shuttle, and off this
rock." You mutter, happy to leave this place.
Zabgoth looks at you oddly, "What about
you? What about your memories?"
You turn away, bitterness surging in your spark,
"I’ve ‘remembered’ enough. The past is dead, it’s time to carve a new
course for myself."
"Ahh… That’s what I always said." He stands
up and starts walking toward the hills in the distance, "Why worry about
who you killed yesterday. What’s more important is who you’ll drive nuts
tomorrow…."
Karil: the hills
The two of you stagger and hike the distance back
to the ship. Rain slicks down from the skies, making the journey dreary
and gray. The mountains rise up and
the hills soon surround you with their rocky pathways, to make the journey even
more difficult.
As you continue, Zabgoth talks about your plans,
"You see, there’s this old ‘Con I think might have something to do with
all this." His foot slips and he slides
back a few feet.
"What makes you say that." You spring up
past him, your sharp claws digging deep into the muddy rock.
"Well, just a hunch really. Something I
pulled from that dino-bot’s data tracks. But if what I did see there was
right, then we’re gonna need some more help."
"Like who?"
"I dunno, there’s some fringe groups that might
be willing. Old mercs that owe me a favor or two."
You look down over a ledge and see the Deathmonger
sitting in a shallow, not too far away. It sits like a huddled bug,
trying to keep warm in the damp rain.
You pounce down the rocks toward the ship, "Well
then. I guess our first step is to make our way back to Cybertron."
Zabgoth jumps into a smooth ravine leading downward,
and slides with a great swoosh toward the ship…
Water drips off, making yellowish puddles on the
floor of the Deathmonger.
Hubcap suppresses a snicker as Flatline glares at the
two of you.
"Suppose you two HAD to roll in the mud?"
You shrug, "We didn’t actually ROLL in the mud,
it’s just been a long walk."
"Yeah," Zabgoth waves a hand, sending a clot
of dirt flying across the bridge, "It was rainy, the grounds were muddy,
and we had only our well honed climbing
talents to bring us safe to our home away from home."
Flatline turns back to the controls, tapping furiously
as the engines began to warm up.
Hubcap stands up and gets a drying unit, "Well,
at any rate. At least you got past those bastards. Where to
now?"
You take the hand-held unit and begin to heat the
water out of your fur, "Cybertron. We’re done here."
"You remember who you were?"
"I remember who I am. It’s time to return
to Cybertron, something dark is on the horizon."
Hubcap grimaces, "There might be a slight problem
with that."
Zabgoth plops down into a chair, making a rather
squishy wet noise, "And what could be wrong with our grand return to the
home that spawned our very
illustrious skidplates?"
The small, chrome red bot flips a switch, "This
started coming in about a half hour ago…"
"Repeat, do NOT go
near Cybertron. It is under full siege by an armada of Decepticon
Warships led by the Warworld. All Maximal, Predacon, Destron, and
Cybertron ships are to reroute to the coordinates encoded in this
transmission. This is the final order of the Cybertronian Councils.
We are at war, do not return to Cybertron. Repeat…"
Hubcap flips off the transmission.
"Bastards." mutters Zabgoth.
The Deathmonger: leaving Karil
You shake your head as the ground outside the view screen
drops away, "Then that’s it. We go to the coordinates. See
what’s there and then we’ll return to
Cybertron."
"And where do the coordinates lead?" Zabgoth
scrapes off another hunk of mud from his chassis.
"Not listed." Mutters Flatline.
Zabgoth looks at the dark robot, "What do you
mean, ‘not listed’?"
No answer.
Hubcap answers instead, "He means that it’s
nothing. Not on the charts. It’s as if whatever it is has been
deleted from the databanks."
"Sooooo," The Destron starts, "we
travel across the galaxy and into the dark void until we reach… nothing.
Sounds great! Let’s book it."
You plop down into a seat as the starry sky springs
into vibrant life beyond the viewport.
The ship shudders heavily.
"We’re under attack!!" you yell, almost
before you realize it yourself.
Zabgoth lurches up and looks out of a rear viewscreen,
"What’s this crate got for guns?"
Hubcap grimaces, "A little peashooter of a
blaster cannon."
"Well, you probably need something bigger.
That’s a Destron scout ship behind us."
"What?"
"Yeah, I recognize it’s design. That little
kitty bastard musta made his way back and into his little cruiser. "
You growl, "Can we loose it?"
"Not likely." Mutters Hubcap as he taps into
the scanners, "They’re just as lightweight, but with a lot more
armament."
Suddenly, the noise of the bridge dropped into
nothingness. An overlay of the ship’s controls imprinted itself into your
mind. Several controls and their purposes
highlighted in sequence as technical information scrolled passed your optics.
Then, everything seemed to coalesce into a
pattern. With a strong edge in your voice you began to bark out orders
you only half understood, but you knew were
necessary, "Flatline, bring the ship around to course three seven,
aptitude fourty five degrees. Hubcap turn the blasters at a twenty two
degree angle and get ready
to fire on my mark. Zabgoth, get ready to vent the thermal exhaust from the
hyper-core. I’ve rotated the exhaust vents to fire out in front."
Everyone jumped to your orders, aligning the ship’s
controls to the necessary settings.
The ship banked over and under and began to burn back
into the atmosphere, straight toward the other ship.
An internal six-sense measured the distance,
"Vent the core… NOW! Hubcap, fire the blasters!"
There was a blinding light, just as the ships passed
each other, and the sound of rending metal.
"Bring us around on a one-eighty, fire the
blasters with all the backup energy we have. Flatline, heat up the
hyperspace engines."
The ship arced around again, and the report of the
blaster cannons rang through the hull. As the Destron ship came back into
view, you could see that energy
was crackling along its hull. That, and it seemed to be listing to the side, as
if the engines were dead.
The blaster fire cracked across the other ship’s hull,
charring carbon blast holes and denting the ships armor. It tilted back
with the force of the cannon’s impact,
falling away from the Deathmonger as it flew past. Suddenly, the
stars blurred into a white sheen.
"It worked." Hubcap turned around in
disbelief. Even the enigmatic Flatline tilted his head in your direction.
Suddenly what happened all made perfect sense to you,
"Well," you started, piecing together what had transpired as you go,
"the blaster fire ignited and charged
the exhaust, which in turn reacted with their shields harmonics. It kind
of reversed the shield, turning it into a blast of energy that would knock the
engines off-line.
The vented exhaust also cooled our own engines, helping us to jump into
hyperspace before he could recover."
Hubcap only shook his head, "Well, at least we’re
off."
You sat back in you chair, noticing that Zabgoth was
eyeing you oddly, but he gets up and heads back to the CR chambers.
You think about where you are headed, and wonder what
you’ll find when you get there…
Hyperspace: The Deathmonger
Sometime later, you step onto the small bridge, and into
the middle of a conversation…
Hubcap turns toward Zabgoth, who is standing above
Flatline near the main controls, "Seriously? You think your friend
can outfit this crate with some
weaponry?"
You jump in, "If he can, then it’s worth the
detour. I’m tired of being a sitting duck when something wants to take
pot shots at us."
Zabgoth bows with a flourish, "Then let us detour
to the Cirrus Nebula. For there shall we find armaments, drink, and good
torture to be enjoyed by all!"
The planet that Zabgoth took you to was a dust
ball. A lifeless hulk of nothingness that sat near the center of a giant
dust cloud.
The Deathmonger sat down at the coordinates he
supplied, and the two of you went to find Zabgoth’s ‘friend’, while
Flatline and Hubcap kept the engines
warm… just in case.
You look around as the dusty wind ruffles your fur,
"Where to now? This place is as dead as a tomb!"
Zabgoth walks up to an outcropping of rocks,
"Why, just follow the rabbit into the hole!" With that, he
jumps directly into the rocks, disappearing.
You walk up to the wall and reach through. The wall
was an illusion! You step through cautiosly.
A tunnel behind led down in a long spiral, leading
deep into the planetoid’s center. Zabgoth was already walking downward.
A minute into walking, the tunnel smoothed out, as you
came around the final spiral of the tunnel, you met face to face with a thick
armored dusty, lime colored
robot. He held a missile launcher-arm up level with your face.
Zabgoth threw up his arms, "Roadblock, you still
hang out in this dead end place with this looser?"
"What do you want, Zabgoth?" The
robot’s orange optic visor glints dangerously above his black face mask.
"I need you bossman. Need him to repay a
favor…"
"Favor!?!? Last time he saw you, you nearly
blew up this asteroid!!"
"Oh, come on now, it was just a little
experiment, oh, and did I mention that I left some of those explosive bunnies
in a closet down here?"
Roadblock gives a low growl, bringing another arm up
with a spinning sawblade.
Zabgoth merely smiles and crosses his arms,
"Boing, boing, boing… here comes mister hare!!"
"AAAARRRGGHHH!!!" the large
transformer spins and begins to roll down the hallway on his heavy treaded
legs.
You look at Zabgoth, "Explosive bunnies?"
"Yeah, it had to do with a shipment he tried to
stiff me on."
The tunnel led to a large hanger area inside the
planetoid. There were a few ships scrapped down and stripped lying around
the hangar, and even a few small
scout ships that were whole and ready for flight.
A few worker droids floated around and worked on some
of the wrecks, sautering and carrying parts. As you looked around, a
crane-like vehicle separated
itself from the work it was doing and rolled over to where you stood.
"Scavenger, robot mode!" roared the
crane as it transformed into another thickly armored robot, this one was orange
and dark green, with silver claws and
strapped with weapons around it’s sunken in head.
"Ah, Scavenger! New body?" greeted
Zabgoth cheerfully.
"What do you want, Zabgoth?" grumbled the
large robot, less cheerfully.
"How come it’s never, ‘Hi Zabgoth, it’s good to
see you!’ or ‘Gee, it’s been a long time, it’s golly swell to see you Zabby!’…
It’s always, wattyawant…"
"Enough! Why are you hear, and WHAT is
that!" he waves a claw at you.
"My name is Lightslayer." You growl.
"That’s one answer, now, what do you want…"
"Well, Scavenger old buddy old pal, I’m in need
of some upgrades for a little ship of ours."
"UPGRADES!!! What kind of moron do you take
me for?!?!? I don’t just go handing out freebies for insane
lunatics!!"
"You worked for Megatron, AND
Galvatron!" Zabgoth chuckles.
"That was different. They were our
leaders." He grumbles.
"Oh… different. Yeah, two of the most
unstable robots in the Universe and you were the Devastator lacky squad for
them!!"
"Ok, ok, where’s this ship?"
"Open the bays doors and it’ll fly right
in." Zab smiles.
Scavenger waves toward a drone who floats over to a
control panel and activates a switch. There is heavy grinding as doors on
the ceiling swing open, revealing
a long tunnel through the rock, the colorful sky of the nebulae can be seen far
up the tunnel.
You signal the ship, "Ok, Hubcap, bring her
in."
The Deathmonger floats casually down the rock entry tunnel.
"That!?!?" Scavenger snorts, "It’s a
snub shuttle, there can’t be more than a five gigawatt energy supply!"
"So," Zabgoth shrugs, "give it a new
supply, all we want is some defensive shielding, a few missile banks, a heavy
cannon set…."
Scavenger laughs incredulously, "I’d have to
double it’s size, or triple it!!!"
You step forward, before Zabgoth really ticked the
robot off, "Look, we don’t expect miracles, we just want a little bit of
an advantage in space. See what you
can do and we would be greatly appreciative."
Zabgoth chuckles, "Or we can set loose the
floppsies of war!!"
A gatling gun to the side of Scavenger’s head spins in
irritation, "We’ll see what we can do."
An asteroid base: Scavenger's layers
As the work begins on the shuttle you find a place to
rest, a nice, quite corner of the hangar deck. Hubcap was watching the
systems inside the ship, and Zabgoth
and Flatline were watching Scavenger and his drones work.
You lie back against the wall and go in to sleep mode.
--Cybertron was displayed
below you, a beautiful and pristine world of metal and energy. Life
teemed across its streets. You find yourself floating over
a room with huge crystalline windows.
Inside, you see robots around a large round circular table, its center a
hollowed out depression that seems to
display images on a three-dimensional
holo-vid. They were discussing something as you watched them.
A few you recognized as
friends from a past time, from a past life. Then a wave of flame and
energy washes over you. You can hear screams as you
spin around looking at the room. The
windows were cracked and melting into bubbling streams. Explosions could
be heard all around.
You float up above the
screams of those you once new and are hurled out into the coldness of space.
You reach back, trying to
help those that screamed below you, but to no avail.
You can see yourself,
helpless and floating in the darkness, flames from Cybertron lighting you with
a red glow. Your arms outstretched to try to help
those below.
But a dark shadow rises up
behind you, you make out the silohette of massive wire frames wings stretching
out from a robotic body, and a single,
solitary horn…--
Something kicks you, hard.
You go for your swords, but suddenly realize that it was
just Zabgoth, and that you were in no danger.
"Whoa their fuzzy, you were screaming in your
sleep," Zab explains.
"I was dreaming," you reply.
"What about?"
"I dont know, I can’t remember," you lie.
"Well, I've been watching Scavenger, making sure he
doesn’t screw us. Maybe you should keep away from that tainted energon before
you sleep next time,"
Zabgoth adds with a grin.
"But I......."
"Just kidding, hey. See those floating
basketballs behind me?"
You look to see three of the worker drones floating about
five meters off, "Yeah."
"I was wanting to do a little… exploration, but those
bastards won’t leave me alone. Any ideals on how to ditch them without
lookin’ suspicious?"
"Why would I kno…" your voice trails off as
everything seems to slow down for an instant. Immediately, scans of the
drones appeared on your optic overlays
and showed a fault in their damper systems, as well as estimations on means of
control. Immediately a remote operation is highlighted as the probable
control of the
drones. A scroll of gases went past that could cause a glitch, along with
percentages of likeliness to succeed and approximations on length of glitch.
One of the gases is singled out with a solid rate.
Then, pointers appear on the Deathmonger, showing the dorsal radion exhaust
system.
You start up, "The droids have to be controlled by
something, or someone. They are generating reports and sending them
somewhere. If we can cause a simple
glitch in their systems, we can perhaps overlay the image with a little
programming of our own."
Zabgoth plops down next to you and leans closer, "Ok,
how do we give the drones a ‘hiccup’."
You hit your comm, "Hubcap."
Zab holds up his hand, "Won’t they monitor you?"
"It’s encrypted. Hubcap."
"Yeah Slayer?"
"Can you vent the dorsal radion exhaust system in about
five minutes?"
"Sure. Why?"
"We want to loose a couple of drones." You
deactivate the comm, "You’re specialty is the mind, can you generate a few
sets of images so those bots think we’re
wandering around the hangar doing nothing?"
"Sure, no problem, I can even uplink them in about five
microns."
"Good, let’s take a stroll then."
The two of you get up, you stretching with a crack as you
do, then you make your way around the deck, taking your time, until you find
yourselves near the rear
of the ship.
You look over at Zabgoth giving him a nod. Suddenly
there is a loud hiss as the gas pours out, rolling over and around you and the
group of drones.
Zabgoth looks up, no doubt sending the generated
images to the drones, then he gives you a nod, and the two of you duck off into
the shadows.
Zabgoth finds a doorway that leads off to the main area
of Scavengers base, "It’s been a long time…" he whispers in the
darkened hallways, "But I believe this
should lead us around to his main computers."
The computer was fairly close to the hangar, Scavenger
probably wanting to keep it fairly accessible to his work area.
You and Zabgoth squeeze into the dark room that was
cluttered with machinery and gadgetry. Computers hum as they output
instructions to the drones and move
heavier machinery around the hangar deck. Screens display shots of areas
around the station, and one large screen was split into many smaller segments,
each were
showing a different view.
"Those are the worker droids optics… and
look! There ‘we’ are!" Zabgoth laughs with glee. The
mini-screens showed you and he walking along nonchalantly
around the deck.
You notice something… odd, "Hey! I do NOT have a tail
with a pink bow!!"
"But it was sooo, cute!" he snickers.
Zabgoth hooks into the computer banks, "Let’s see
what ol’ Scavy’s been up to recently."
You start messing with the controls, finding a volume
switch for the mini-screens. You select one of the ones you were on and
turn up the sound…
"You start away and lend no ear unto my purposes. Those
prisoners you shall keep."
"Nay, I will; that's flat. He said he would not
ransom Mortimer, But i will find him when he..."
"What the slag are we saying?" You ask.
"Shakespere, kitt… whoa!"
"What is it?" you ask.
"Look at this." He hits a button on the console as
his input wires roll back away from the computer.
A Decepticon sigil appeared centered on the screen.
You look at it skeptically. Both Zabgoth and
Scavenger had once been Decepticon, "A leftover from the Great Wars?"
"No, the files are recent, and there was a lot in
them. I got some basics, and planted a few… surprises… for later.
C’mon I’ll tell you while we head
downstairs. I want to check something."
He leads you out of the room and down the
hallway. While you move, he explains what he had seen, "Apparently,
Scav’s workin’ for the Con’s. He rebuilt and
reoutfitted the Warworld, and is working on some kind of super-drone
program. They plan to build a set of heavy armored, transformer-like
drones. They’ll use the
drones to control Cybertron!" with that, he stops in front of a doorway.
"Where’s this?"
"This is where the setup to build the drone armor
is …"
A repair Asteroid: Scavenger's hideout
You look at the locked door in front of you, "So,
your telling me that Scavenger is helping with the takeover of Cybertron?"
"Simply put.....yes.....," Zab replies. "Can
you get us buy these security systems like you did the droids?"
"I'll try." You stand still for a few seconds,
feeling time slow as your mind races ahead of itself. The layout of the
keypad becomes prominent, the various codes
that are necessary are unknown though. A scroll of possibility rolls
through, but it quickly becomes obvious that a keycode and a password would be
needed. Then
another scroll of answers seems to come across, a new tactic to try…
"OK, we have triple security. Key pad, voice
code, and password. "
"Ok, so what’s the password and codes?"
"I don’t know…"
Zabgoth mutters, "So it’s only tactical…" under
his breath.
"What?"
"Nothing, then any ideas how to get through?"
"Actually, yes. First we need a good hacker,
someone to dissect this keypad."
You both look at each other and say in unison,
"Hubcap."
Twenty cycles later, the THREE of you stood at the door.
"You guys are crazy." Hubcap states
sarcastically as he carefully removes the keypad cover, "Even if I can get
the right code for this thing, no WAY can I touch
the voice pattern without triggering every alarm this system has!"
You shake your head, "No, we’ll take care of that
part."
Zabgoth looks over at you, "Sure no problem, I'm sure
if we ask real nicely he'll come and help us."
"You may not be far off.."
"Are you loco kitty??"
"Just hear me out. You can trick the droids in to
seeing and hearing us right. So why cant you trick the security computer to
hear Scavengers voice?"
"That just might work. OK I'll give it a try, what's
his password and voice code?"
Hubcap snorts, "I’m workin’ here!"
Zabgoth gives an exaggerated sigh of impatience, "Ok,
ok, little red, just hurry up."
Hubcap gives Zabgoth a dirty look and turns back to his
work.
"So, kitty-cat, I was thinkin’. I can dupe
Scavenger’s voice, but there’s a forty percent chance the filters will
recognize that it’s a dupe. These lockdowns are a
little harder than those dippy drones."
"Hmm, that’s not so good. Maybe there’s another
way…"
"Like what?"
"Well, let’s just ask. "
Zabgoth snickers, "Oh, yeah, Scavenger is dumb enough
to fall for that one!!"
"Scavenger isn’t… but Roadblock might be."
An evil grin of comprehension spreads slowly across the
skull-like visage of Zabgoth.
Hubcap stands up, "You wont believe this, his password
is cheesefairies."
You both turn and blink.
Zabgoth starts rolling on the floor in a fit of laughter.
You shake you head again, "What about the
keycode?"
"It’s a octadecimal set, nothing too complicated
actually, guess they figure noone would really be dumb enough to sneak down
here and try something THIS
ludicrous!"
"Ok, thanks Hubcap." You turn to Zabgoth
while Hubcap replaces the security pad’s cover, "Ready for this?"
"One celebrity impersonation ready to transmit. Hey,
Hubby, do me a favor?"
"Sure, what the slag."
"Go to the deck and keep an eye on Roadblock,
tell me when he’s out of site of Scavenger."
"Ok, whatever, I’ll go to the Deathmonger and resume
watching the progress on the ship meanwhile."
Roadblock pushed the panel aside and rummaged
through the garbage underneath. He knew there was a lock kit somewhere in
the storage room. If he could
just remember where…
His comm unit bleeped, "Yeah, Roadblock here
whattya want?"
Scavenger’s voice burst out across the line, "I
know it’s you, dolt, I called you!"
"Oh, Scavenger! I was just…"
"Listen up, I’m having problems with the voice
recognition program on the lower CR chamber!"
"Problems?"
"Yeah, you didn’t change the code or anything
like that, did you?"
"Uh, no… Not that I know…"
"Well, come down here and take a look at
it. I don’t have the time to be bothered with it right now! Just
tell me what happened after we get this garbage scow
off our deck!"
"Right sir, right away. Roadblock
out." He hits his com off, "Old bastard, thinks I’m some kind of
lacky do-boy…" with that he turns and rolls out of the storage
shed, heading down to take a look at the door.
Off in a side room, Zabgoth smiles, "So how was that for a performance." Scavenger’s voice rumbles out of his vocals.
The large, bright green Decepticon rolled up to the
doorway and carefully tapped in the correct command code to enter.
Looking carefully over his shoulder he leaned closer,
"Cheesfairies."
The door slid open smoothly on its hinges.
"Dumbcrank, probably forgot the code.
Stupid bastard." He closes the door and relocks the systems, then turns
and heads off down the hallway.
Zabgoth looks over with a wide, toothy grin.
You look back, "Got it?"
He hits the button on a small recording device.
**Cheesefairies.**
** Dumbcrank, probably forgot the code. Stupid
bastard.**
You give a nod, "Then let’s pick up the recorder
mike and take a look at your magic CR chambers!"
The passcode works perfectly, and the computer
takes the voice recording without the slightest pause.
The two of you shuffle into the darkened lab. A
great deal of wires and computer links stretched across the ceiling in a
massive web, all culminating down to link
into a large CR chamber.
Zabgoth gives a low whistle, "Check this place
out!"
You look around and find a control console.
Tapping into it, you get a quick look at the possible components that were
available for re-creation.
"The tech on this stuff is advanced, it’s on par…
if not better than what was used on me!"
"So whattya think kitty? Time for a quick
rebuild?"
"No thanks, I think I’ll stay the way I am right
now…"
"Not me, keep an eye out for trouble, I’m gonna
see what this bad boy can do!"
"I can only set it on limited restructure, not
complete rebuild, we don’t have time for anything else. Slag, that’ll
take at least a megacycle at any rate!!"
"We’ve got time, just wake me when it’s
over."
Zabgoth steps up to the CR chamber, which swings open
with a hiss. Neon purple lights pulse as if in hungry anticipation as he
steps in and locks himself into
place.
"Here goes nothing…" you flip the lockdown
switch and the CR door swings down with a soft click. Energy starts
pumping into the chamber, and you sit back to
wait.
A megacycle passes, and still the chamber hummed furiously. The glow from it filled the room and was the only break in the silence around you.
Then the alarm went off.
“Slag, time to wake up Zabgoth!” You pound on some controls.
“Unit Zabgoth in critical rebuild of influx engines. Aborting process will risk life termination.” The computer’s voice chirped merrily.
“Flame!” You spin, and head for the door, jumping through into the dark corridors behind. You spin and lock the door, good thing you had spent a few minutes changing the access codes!
Quickly, you transform into beast mode and leap down the hallway.
You carefully nudge your way through the doors and out onto the work bay area. An explosion and a wave of heat washes over you as you see Flatline go flying down, Roadbuster’s missiles driving into his chest.
There were several char marks on the ship, but it looked like there were shields up at least.
Scavenger’s missiles fired again at the large vehicle.
--Much more of that, and the shields will fail!—
You leap out with a roar, attacking Scavenger from behind.
Your claws clatter against his armor plating, and screech along the heavy metal. He spins, snatching at you with a heavy claw, but you prove too fast.
As you slip away, you hear a hissing noise, as two missiles streak at you and slam into the ground where you land.
You’re tossed up and over, landing on your backside.
A heavy set of clamps grasps you and lifts you up, squeezing down with a heavy, steady pressure.
You are trapped…
Scavenger activates his commlink, and the loud speakers come on, “Zabgoth… I know you’re out here. Really didn’t you think I’d notice a cluster of drones doing odd circles around the bay?” Scavenger’s voice leered, “We’ve got your friends, AND your ship, but I’m sure we can come to an equitable agreement.” A short pause, “We WILL find you, and when I do, your head is mine!”
You shake your head.
--Fools, he’s locked in the CR down below--
You can see that three worker drone-spheres had picked up Flatline and held him in restraint.
“Roadblock, the shields.” Scavenger nodded towards the large green robot.
Roadblock’s saw blade began to spin as he slammed his fist into the Deathmonger’s shields. Sparks flew as it drained the power circuits from the ship.
“Won’t take long,” grumbled the bright green bot, “The ship’s only got backup batteries powering it.”
Scavenger nodded and turned toward where the massive work claw held you pinned and suspended above the deck.
“So, you and your friend thought to fool me? Well, I didn’t survive all these millennia without knowing how to protect myself.”
“You’ll be scrap in segments, Decepticon! As soon as Zab…”
“Oh yes, Zabgoth, now where might he be? If I were him, I’d be looking for more weapons… or possible a personal upgrade?”
A low growl builds in your throat.
“Computer. Terminate all work on CR chamber 7-13”
“Unit Zabgoth in critical rebuild of influx engines. Aborting process will risk life termination.”
“Override and terminate.”
“Termination of life support. Spark offline.”
You howl in dismay.
“It is over. Now all that is required is to crack the shell of this, then maybe your’s and your friends Transmetal technology may be investigated and used to improve the Decepticon Legions!”
With that, the Deathmonger’s shields fall.
A buzzing noise can be heard, and suddenly the Deathmonger’s doors drop. Out comes flying the little red vehicle mode of Hubcap.
The shiny red car flew out at ramming speed toward Scavenger, but the Decepticon stretched out a hand and clamped down on the hood of the oncoming car. He stepped back from the force of the impact, but Hobcap took the brunt of the damage. The silver claw-hand of Scavenger compacted the hood like it was tin-foil.
The small red car was tossed to the side, but the resilient Cybertron transformed and pulled a gun, firing on Scavenger with a ferocity that was learned through centuries of war.
Scavenger stepped back, several smoldering spots on his armor, but Roadblock fired a missile dead at the small Autobot, once again sending him flying like a charred bird.
This time he didn’t move.
There was a clunk and a screech, and you turned to see Flatline crunching one of the drones into the ground and pulling the other two around to smash into each other.
The drones exploded in a shower of sparks.
Scavenger stepped forward, the gattling gun on his head already spinning as a deadly barrage of gunfire ripped through the drones and through Flatline.
The black robot fell back, smoking.
“And then there was one…” Scavenger turned back toward you.
“…” you were speechless, the claw held you tight and your friends were slagged.
Then there was a noise like a thunderclap that shook the landing bay.
Suddenly vertigo seemed to assault you, until you realized that you were falling, spinning around to see the claw that held you crumpled into next to nothingness.
You twisted again, landing on your feet, “Lightslayer, MAXIMIZE!!!!!”
A green spark seemed to be spinning around the hangar, until it.. --a hammer??-- alighted in it’s owners hand…
“ZAGBOTH!??!??!?”
Propped against the door that leads into the base was a robot, black and brimstone with an engine that sparked chrome with colored highlights. Two long and narrow wings stretch out behind him, and his face was almost like a robotic skull, with two long outstretched horns.
The newcomer smiled, smoke and steam coming out of his engine with a reddish glow, “Time to play boys.”
Scavenger didn’t hesitate, but rather turned to unleash a volley of missiles at Zabgoth.
Your shoulder mounted cannons blasted into his back though, knocking him off kilter.
Zabgoth leaps up, a greenish and purple crackle of energy surrounding him in a corona of maddening energy. With all his might he comes down on Scavenger, his hammer giving a deafening crack of energy as it smashed into the Decepticon.
The Decepticon falls to the ground, sparks flying.
Roadblock fires a set of missiles, but you spin and fire countermeasure blasts in the air, smashing the missiles to nothing.
Scavenger transforms and rolls at Zabgoth, smashing into him with the massive claw-grasper of his crane mode.
You move to intercept, but Roadblock has already moved to engage you, his sawblade spinning in a deadly and powerful arc.
Your swords come up to match, his strength driving you back across the smooth metal floor.
You parry and duck, his savage blows nearly ripping the swords from your grasp.
Across the way you hear, “DRONES!! Take them!!!”
And Zagboth’s answer, “Drones, LAMBADA!!!!!”
From the corner of your eye, you see the spherical drones start doing to rather odd… and strangely provocative gyrations with each other.
You duck another sweep from Roadblock’s saw, when suddenly, several drones stepped in between the two of you and started doing whatever it was that they were doing with Roadblock.
He savagely chopped through the two of them, but the distraction was enough for you to fire two solid blasts into the larger robot’s chest. He flies back smoking.
You turn to see Scavenger lying in a pile at Zabgoth’s feet.
The newly rebuilt robot smiles a wide grin, “Well, so much for our refits. The computer said that the ship was finished, and the drones can complete the power hookups for the weapons and the engines. I think it’d be best to get out of here as soon as possible.
“These guys are taken care of, what’s the rush?”
“Station defenses.”
“What?”
“Scavenger’s no slouch, he’s got safety protocols in case he goes offline. We’ve only got about ten cycles until they shut on!”
“Then let’s hit it, grab Flatline, I’ll get Hubcap.”
With that you board the ship, the drones finishing the repairs to the power links.
You turn to see Zabgoth dragging Scavenger into the ship.
“What are you doing?!?”
“I figure he’s our best bet at safety leaving this place. Not to mention, maybe we can learn something from him, and I don’t really think we should leave him back there with his gadgets to create anything else to help the Con’s.!”
“Right, Hubcap’s in the CR, Flatline’ll be next. Let’s get outta here.”
With that the Deathmonger’s engines burned into vivid life, lifting it up and out of the asteroid’s center.
Hyperspace: The Deathmonger
A few days pass, and Hubcap and Flatline take the time to check the ship as
thoroughly as possible. The circuits all look good, and everything should
work fine… they think.
Beyond that, you spent some time sparring with Zabgoth. He was faster than before, and a little stronger. He was almost a challenge for you. But not quite. Even his new body was hard pressed to keep up with your swordwork. Both he and Hubcap said that they had never seen anyone be able to fight with a sword like that…
Zabgoth rigged it so all that Scavenger could do was talk. His body sat like a useless lump in the corner of the Deathmonger.
You quizzed him on what he knew, and Zabgoth even tried to access his databases
once or twice. But he was smart, and kept anything important away from
his probes.
Finally, the ship dropped from hyperspace. Outside, a set of stars were denoted with red circles, marking off the set of planets that formed a small solar system. In the center was a star, but from this distance, it was no more than a bright light.
An asteroid belt spanned below you, spinning in a giant circle around the star.
“Well, here we are.” Mutters Hubcap, “Wherever ‘here’ is!”
You shrug, “I guess we’ll just have to move in and see what’s out there.”
“I’m reading a ship not far from here. It’s moving in on a parallel course.” Zabgoth informs you from the comm panel he sat at.
“What’s it’s designation?”
“It’s some of my Destron buddies… Designation, Draco, it’s a defense cruiser. Big nasty warship they retooled for ‘Defensive’ operations.”
“Great.”
“They don’t seem to care that we’re here, and their just making their way inward, to the… third planet.”
“Follow that ship.”
Earth : The Deathmonger
As your shuttle nears, a hail clicks on from the planet.
“This is Backdraft, Captain of the Maximal Ship Soulfire. Welcome to
Earth… Deathmonger?”
You flip on the comm, “Greetings Earth. What is the situation here?”
Backdraft’s picture appears across the screen. He was a rust colored robot, with a dusty, charred exterior, as if he’d been in a fire recently, “Situation is we’re amassing a return force to take back our homeplanet. All the allegiances are representated here, Maximal, Predacon, Destron, Cybertron, even Autobot’s and Decepticons.”
Zabgoth jumps up and pushes you out of the way, “Decepticons?!? Are ye DAFT charbaby!?!?”
Backdraft looks surprised at the outburst, but he seems to have expected it, “This is a different grouping than that on Cybertron. This group is lead by Megatron, and had been trying to live on this planet in peace. They have agreed to return and help us to stop the other Decepticons.”
He shakes his head, “Great, they are daft!”
You shove him out of the way again, “Sorry, we understand. We have something that may interest you at the same time. We’ve… collected a Decepticon Scientist that was working on some new armoring for the Decepticon’s on Cybertron. He and my friend here are both modeled with the same armoring. It more advanced than even the Transmetal II technology that was used on me. Also, I think the Decepticons may have taken an artifact from a Maximal School on Karil. The artifact was a piece of Unicron. I don’t know if they are truly mad enough to use it…”
Backdraft interrupts suddenly, “Interesting. Tell you what. Bring your ship down to the cities and land on Earth. Most of the fleet we’re having stays out at the satellite stations, but I think we’ll make an exception in your case. I’ll transmit the coordinates. Backdraft out.”
Zabgoth shakes his head, “I don’t like it.”
Hubcap snickers, “Oh, c’mon, you don’t trust anyone… do you?”
“No, but this is different. Why’d he look like he just got through wrestling an inferno? And Decepticons? Didn’t we just have a couple run ins with them that went bad?”
You shake your head, “Yeah, but we’ve also had a bad run in with Destron’s, but you’ve proven good to have around.”
Zab grins, “Booyah, but I’m a special kid!”
Hubcap grins back, “I think the cat’s got a point though. Let’s give these guys a chance. We don’t know what the situation here is. Let’s not make any snap judgements.”
“Ok, but… hey, those the cities?” Zabgoth is looking out the windows. Outside you can see a glittering blue ocean, with a tiny speck floating out in the middle of it’s surface.
“Those are the coordinates.” Hubcap answered.
“Hey Flatline, do me a favor… fly over top of them before landing. I’ve
gotta do something…”
A few minutes later, you here a door open in the back, you unstrap yourself from the seat and go back to see what the noise is. When you get there, Zabgoth is closing the door.
“What are you doing?”
“Just dumpin’ the trash…”
Earth: Metroplex
You enter
the room and look down, outside the window at where several emergency drones
were looking to a scrap metal pile down below.
“You threw him out… didn’t you?” you groan.
“We played a game. He lost. Don’t worry, just means he’ll have a
stint in the CR chamber. They’da thrown him in one for analyzation at any
rate.”
Within a few cycles, you and the others were making your way down the Deathmonger’s gangplank. Outside, the sun shone down warm and comforting in the breezy ocean air. There was a great deal of hussel on deck as te Deathmonger’s engines were being cooled off and a few engineer bots, as well as some worker drones that had been brought on the various ships, worked to make sure that the shuttle was safe and sound.
Flatline and Hubcap were in the lead, with the former donning a thick black leather trenchcoat. Unusual for a bot, but not unknown.
Hubcap strecthed and had a large smile as he breathed in the ocean spray.
You had never been near an ocean, and the sound of the waves and the vast endless waters were quite and impressive site.
You hear a voice from across the shiny chrome deck, “Lightslayer!”
It was the large robot, Backdraft, from the commlink. You were maybe half his size, actually a little less.
“Lightslayer, greetings.” He called again as he got near. His armoring was definitely charred, giving him a sharp contrast to the spotless… except for the Scavenger parts… deck of Metroplex’ landing pad.
You look up at the Cybertron, “Greetings Captain. I believe you’ve met Zabgoth?” you jerk a thumb in his direction, “And these two are known as Flatline, and Hubcap.”
Backdraft nods at each of you in turn and then starts in, “Welcome to Earth. I’ve asked that some rooms be set aside for you here, and feel free to explore as you wish while here. We would ask that you help with the preparations to return to Cybertron, but you can take a day or so to settle yourselves.”
“Bwah, how generous.” Zabgoth guffaws.
You jump in, “Thank you, Captain, but you’ll have to excuse us. We truly know little about why we are here, and what is truly going on.”
The large robot sighs, “Well, the short and simple is that a group of Decepticons has banded together and managed to construct a monster war station. They’ve taken control of Cybertron with the station and a small fleet of other warships, using bluff and bluster as their primary weapons. We have our reasons to believe, however, that they don’t have the sheer numbers to withstand a solid counterattack.”
You mind retraces the asteroid base and the drone forces that Scavenger had. Also the plans for the armoring and what Zabgoth had said about a larger drone control unit implemented on a warstation…
Zabgoth snorts, “Yeah, well, they may have BEEN shorthanded, but I think you may have a few surprises to deal with when you get back home.”
You shake your head in resignation, “Perhaps we should sit down somewhere and speak in more detail.”
The large robot catches himself, remembering that he WAS the host, “Of course, of course. Take a while to settle down and meet me in the forward observation deck a-3 in building four. Ask Metroplex for directions if you need them. Oh, and what about your prisoner?”
The group looks at Zabgoth, and he struggles to suppress a giggle.
“Uhm… He’s over there. Seems he got out a minute early.” He snickers.
He points to a hovercart that was steadily following around a robot who was scooping up the remaining Scavenger pieces from the deck. He bent over opportunely at that moment and scooped up a large, silver claw from the ground.
Backdraft jerked his head back towards him, “What in the…???”
“Ah, he’ll be fine. Just be sure you don’t activate his weapon systems when you toss that refuse into a CR. Now, about those rooms…”
Earth : Metroplex
Sometime later, you and the others sat around a large table. Backdraft as well as another robot you didn’t recognize sat across the way from you. The other robot was in grays, reds, khakis, blues, and whites. He had two blue-crystal windshield-wings stretching from his back, and an Autobot symbol surrounded by two wings on his chest. His face was covered in a faceplate and his eyes sparkled with a blue youthfulness.
As you sat down, Backdraft started in, “Lightslayer, Zabgoth, Flatline, Hubcap, I’d like you to meet Optimus Prime.”
With that Zabgoth lets out a whoop that shakes the table, “Now I KNOW you’ve lost your minds! Optimus Prime died centuries ago, if he ever even truly lived!!”
The other robot shook his head, “I’m afraid it’s true, I am Optimus Prime. I did not die after the wars. Rather, with the signing of the Pax Cybertronia, myself and several others who did not want to abandon the sigil of the Autobot’s came here to Earth, to stay and live in peace. The Council’s decided to allow us this freedom for ‘services rendered.’ However, the Earth Defense Force would only allow it on the addition that all contact to Cybertron was restricted or lost. The location and significance of the planet was deleted from the core computer on Cybertron, and after two or three centuries, only remains a vague memory to most of those who did not live here.”
You shake your head, “Then how, or why was Earth chosen as the rendezvous point?”
Backdraft answered, “My ship, the Soulfire started the signal after a Council
member sought refuge onboard our ship before we left Cybertron. He had
the coordinates, and knew that here we would find Optimus Prime, who still held
the Matrix of Leadership.”
“Hah!” Zabgoth cries, “More Autobot mythology! What good is a Matrix
going to do us?! Even if it does exist, it has to be on Cybertron, robots
have been created over and over again in the past three centuries! If the
myth was true, then the Matrix was the only thing that could build a new bot!”
“You’re right,” Prime answered, “The Matrix was the only thing that could create new life, but I used the Matrix to create a place to hold sparks and create new bodies to house them. The chamber used the Matrix power outlays and copied them, in effect, it was a downloaded copy on a much larger scale. It took some doing, but eventually, the Vat was created.”
“Oh great!” Zab exclaims, “More fairy tales! No one has ever seen the Vat!”
“Not likely. The vat was created near the end of the Great Wars. It was made to process a new race of warriors, and then it would test out those warriors.”
“Test out?” You question.
“In fire… The new warriors would have to fight their way to reach the surface of Cybertron. Many did not make it, but those that did became most of what we now know as the Maximals and the Predicons. After a while, the Wars ended, and before we left, we used the chamber for one final use. We mass created sparks, enough to last for millennia. These were removed and taken to the Council’s new chambers where they were, and still are, used for the protoforms on Exploration and Defense crews.”
Zabgoth sits back again, “Ok, nice history lesson, but what does it have to do with us now?”
“Perhaps everything. If the Decepticon’s have taken over the Council chambers, then they may have the means to access those new sparks. If that is the case, then they may have the means to create a new army from scrap metal!”
“Oh, that’s bad.” Zabgoth mutters.
“That brings all of you here up to speed on why our situation is so critical. We have to know everything we can about the Decepticon’s and be able to use it to our best advantage!”
You sit back, “Ok where do we start?”
You started at your beginning, how you were created, even including the energy wave that formed your Transmetal armor. From there you talked about the mission to Karil, and what you hoped to find.
Zabgoth jumped in and described how he came to be there. The Destron Generals had hired him to keep an eye on you and make sure that your memories weren’t artificially created, and that there wasn’t any funny play involved.
However, the intervention of the three assassins had pushed you into an alliance.
The you talked about the museum and the horn, and about the Decepticons who showed up to try to pound you into the ground.
Zabgoth spoke on a split second timing and an uncanny strategic ability he believed you now possessed. He also spoke about your skill with the swords you have, and how he had never seen anyone that was that good.
This all came as a shock… well the bit about the swords didn’t, but the part about the strategies and the timing… He described it as if you became imbued with a supernatural power…
The secret workstation came up and you spoke on how you had found the document files linking Scavenger to the Decepticons, as well as the plans for a master control unit that could possible control hundreds of heavily armed and armored drones, perhaps even thousands!
After that was over, Backdraft told of how he had come to be here. He had been a member of the Cybertronian Security Forces on the planet Charr when he had ‘fallen’ into a Decepticon planning meeting. In attempting to get away, he had managed to loose all the proof and set a large portion of the area on fire, subsequently getting put on leave from the Force.
He didn’t let go that easily, and with the aid of a robot named Retrohopper, went and found the Decepticons again, going even so far as to sneak onboard a shuttle through its fuel tanks cycles before it took off!
The shuttle linked up to a larger destroyer by the name of the Darksky who attacked a small Predacon scientific outpost. Backdraft and Retrohopper managed to forewarn the station’s residents and with their help took control of the Darksky, leaving the shuttle of Decepticon’s on the planet. They then returned to Cybertron via an unfortunate meeting with another Predicon outpost. There they picked up another transformer with the same style of armoring as Lightslayer.
He had been a Predacon experiment with the Transmetal technology, and had been built as a super warrior. Only the interference of another Predacon made it possible for him to choose his own path and become a Maximal.
After finally reaching Cybertron, they met up with a Destron mercenary named Skyjammer. He too was looking for the Decepticons, and decided that Backdraft was destined to find them one way or another. However, after taking the story to the Councils, they were all but ignored. The council refused to prepare for anything, but did allow the Darksky to be rebuilt into the Soulfire, the ship that sat outside the two massive cities here on Earth. Skyjammer’s ship was added to the ship, in place of the shuttle that had been left with the Decepticons. The Soulfire’s mission was to find proof of the Decepticon’s in the galaxy.
Right before they took off on this mission, proof found them. The Warworld, a massive Decepticon battle station, showed up in Cybertron orbit with a collection of other Destroyers in tow. The collective ships of the Cybertron armada had been scattered to the ends of the galaxy in an attempt to cover their outposts from the random attacks that had been staged over the past few months.
The Warwold took over Cybertron with little effort, and the Soulfire was barely able to escape. Before it took off, however, just as the attack was starting, a member of the council boarded, Cerebrus. It was he that gave the orders for a retreat, and for the emergency signal to be sent out, gathering the remaining ships here, on Earth.
Now, the Cybertronian Armada grew in size. It was a collection of
Autobot, Decepticon, Cybertron, Destron, Predacon, and Maximals.
Backdraft had been signified as the admiral of the conglomeration, and was
overseeing the refitting of the Soulfire as a link between the two cities,
Metroplex and Trypticon, to enable them to be used for space travel.
Zabgoth shakes himself, “Bwah… that’s a lotta stuff. But one thing still is unanswered.”
“What’s that?” asks Backdraft.
You finish his thought, knowing exactly what he was getting at, “Megatron. Megatron and his Decepticons here on Earth.”
Optimus sighs, “Three hundred years ago, Megatron went down with his warship here on Earth. He sank into the ocean, and was thought lost. However, a few months ago, an Autobot named Flood found that ship and the carcass of a robot at the command. He did not know who or what he had found, but he did know that somehow, after hundreds of years, there was still an active spark inside the skeleton that lay there. He removed it and brought it to SeaBase. There he placed it in a CR chamber that rebuilt the spark a new body. The robot called himself Megaplex and was critical in the fight against a mad Predacon that was here on Earth.
“To help cut down the story, let’s jump ahead and say that he found Trypticon, and was joined by the Combaticons as well as a few other Decepticon’s that came her with Starscream. The Tripredicus Council somehow knew he was here, and decided that he had to be taken back to Cybertron, in chains. They came and tried to take him by force, and the short war that followed led to their failure and Megatron’s even newer body, that is linked to Starscream now.”
“He has decided to assist us in the re-conquering of Cybertron.”
“And we trust that?” Zabgoth arches an eyeridge.
“We trust that.” Backdraft states, simply and plainly. “We’re all separated by political differences, but now, we have to put those behind us. We can not allow the Decepticons to overtake our homeworld and control it through a vice like grip of drones!”
“Pretty speech, but I wonder how practical it truly is?” Zabgoth regards the charred robot and the ancient leader with an amused look.
“Regardless, we will work with the Decepticons here on Earth. Zabgoth, if you wouldn’t mind, we’d like to run some tests on your armor. “
He shrugs, “As long as there are lots of needles and drills!”
“Right… the rest of you take some time to relax. We have a long road ahead
of us…”
The first thing you did was go to look outside at this strange new world. Standing atop one of the great towers of the glittering city, Metroplex, you stare out across the vast blueness of the water filled oceans. A warm breeze blew over you, ruffling the patches of dark fur that spotted your hide.
The sun was setting over the deep blue of the waters, turning the ripples into a glittering golden sheet.
“Lightslayer.” A deep, rich voice greets you.
You turn to see Optimus Prime stepping out onto the wide balcony.
“Optimus Prime.”
The larger robot comes and stands beside you, surveying the vastness of the oceans, “I wanted to ask you more about he spark that was used to rebuild you.”
Quickly you look back out into the ocean, your spark churning within you.
He takes your silence as acquiescence, “You never said if you remembered anything from your past.”
“A little.” You state noncommittally.
Prime looks at you sideways, “When Zabgoth mentioned your abilities… the strategies, the sword fighting… Did they ever tell you the name of the bot whose spark you were given?”
Your eyes narrow bitterly, “No, I was left to try to discover that on my own.”
“And what did you discover?”
“That the past was best left forgotten.”
If this surprised Prime, he didn’t show it, “I knew someone who taught at that school, a valiant warrior whose skills were unmatched with his weapon of choice, the sword. He was renowned as a master tactician and a wise general. I’m sorry to hear that he exists no longer.”
You turn, the curiosity of your feline side overcoming your bitterness, “What weapon was his?”
“The sword. He was a master swordsman, with moves that no other robot could duplicate, ever.”
You feel a shiver pass over you, you turn back out to the ocean, “And what was his name?” you ask in a small voice.
“Victory Sabre.”
A certainty and recognition passes over you, as well as the memory of a name muttered by your Rampage side… ‘Sabre’.
Prime continues, “We could certainly use someone like him in the upcoming battle…”
He pushes off of the railing and heads toward the door.
“He’s gone…” you mutter under your breath, “So is Rampage. But maybe I can use what they’ve given me…”
For the first time since your creation, you felt a weight lifted off of your shoulders. For the first time, you knew where you had come from, and for the first time, it didn’t matter.
Earth : Metroplex
You stand
unmoving, staring out at the ocean for a long time, with old memories rising to
the surface. Eventually, you move and go to find Zab.
He’s deep down in Metroplex, and you find him as he is coming out of a small
chamber which Metroplex informed you was the interrogation room for
Scavenger. A broad skull-grin covered his face making you shudder as you
move over to him.
As you get nearer, you can see the blast marks and holes that criss-cross his new armor, as if he’d been in a fight just now…
You hail him, "Zabgoth, we need to work out a plan."
"Yeah, for what? All we have to do is follow these guys here and were all set. We'll let them take care of all of the major battle's while we site back and drink energon."
Your eyes widen in alarm, "You can’t mean that! These bots are gonna head in to a major offence against a very powerful force..."
Zabgoth cuts you off, "That’s my point. These guys are gonna commit suicide, oh don’t get me wrong, I'm sure they'll win but at a great cost. And I don’t plan on loosing my shinny new butt just to get back on Cybertron."
Shock covers your frame like an electrical storm and you feel yourself begin to quiver in anger, "WHAT THE PITT DO YOU MEAN COMMIT SUICIDE, THIS IS A BATTLE FOR OUR VERY SURVIVAL!!!!!"
Zab laughs and gives you a big grin, "Calm down buddy, I was only messin’ with ya, Now lets go and find Hubcap and Flatline and make a plan of action." He turns and walks off down the hall.
You just stare after him, shock still racing through your circuits, your hands were shaking with a need to pound something.
You turn and slam your fist into the wall, putting a small dent in it.
You stomp off angrily after Zab.
The two of you find Hubcap and Flatline both in their quarters. You talk for a while about your options at this moment. Flatline makes no comments, movements, or sounds during the proceedings. Hubcap, however seemed more than happy to talk the subject over.
Zab tells you about the ‘interrogation’ session and that Scavenger’s new armor had a much better regeneration ability than you thought. In fact, the Decepticon came to life while on the table and started shooting the room up. He and a Predacon named Hornet managed to get the Con back under control though.
The data that they had extracted before his rampage had included specs on the new armor that both Scavenger and Zabgoth have. Apparently, it also included the plans to make a new legion of drone warriors with which they could control all of Cybertron with.
“Yeah, that fits in with some things that Backdraft was thinking.” Comments Hubcap, “He said that it didn’t seem like the Decepticons truly had enough forces to hold Cybertron, and he was wondering if it had all been a large bluff on their behalf.”
You nod, “Sure, it’s easy. They used the Warworld and the Horn of Unicron to scare us into retreat, then while we’re gone, they build up an army of these transformable drones to solidify their grasp on the planet.”
Zabgoth leans back, “Which means, the longer we wait, the harder things get.”
“So, while we’re here waiting for the armada to assemble, he’s actually filling his defenses into a solid fighting force.” Hubcap adds.
“More than that,” you counter, “Not only is he adding to it. If it’s a drone army, and he’s controlling it through one master control, that means that the force will be coordinated down to deadly precision. Imagine it, with the master control, he might be processing the data instantaneously, then giving correcting commands at the same rate. He would be able to strategize a war from one point with an almost godlike knowledge!”
Zab sits forward, “Impossible, no bot could process that much data and stay active.”
“With the technology changes we’ve seen? Can you really rely on what we know? And what if he was almost in a shutdown mode, rerouting all his energy and resources to the control of the army? It’s a stretch, but then, I’ve seen some weird things in the past month…”
“So then, ”asks Hubcap, “What are the options?”
“How many ships are here, anyone know?” You ask.
Hubcap starts ticking them off, “The Soulfire, The Draco, The Minotaur, Carnivor, Claw, Cavalier, and Thunderhead are the main cruisers. There’s also apparently and Autobot Guardian Robot that goes by the name Omega Supreme.”
“Guardian robot?”
“Yeah, big fortress bot. Lots of firepower, and he’s spaceworthy in vehicle mode. So that’s two Cybertron Defenders, two Destron Defenders, a Predacon Defender and a Hunter, and a Maximal Defender.”
“Seven ships and a Guardian.” You restate.
“Yeah, and the Deathmonger and another shuttle owned by some merc named Skyjammer… and the two cities.”
Zab snorts, “Can they fly?”
“Actually, that’s what they’re working on. They’re using the Soulfire as a link between the cities in their hovering fortress modes, and they think that they’ll be able to take them as one massive war fortress out into space.”
“Bwah…”
“Backdraft also told me that there were at least ten ships in the Decepticon’s armada.”
“So we’re still badly outgunned.” You finish for the small red bot.
Zab shrugs, “So we wait?”
All of the sudden, Flatline spoke, “Or we split the armada.”
The three of you turned toward the black robot in surprise.
“You mean take a force back…?” You question.
Flatline doesn’t move a circuit, but Zabgoth answered, “Whoa, that’s nuts! If we split the force, and we’re WRONG, then we get annihilated and the rest of the armada is that much weaker!”
“And if we wait, we may be giving the Decepticon’s the chance they need!” You throw back at him.
Hubcap shrugs, “Whatever we decide, don’t forget, we’ll have to get passed by Backdraft, Optimus, AND Megatron.”
“Or we could go alone, “you ponder.
“That might not accomplish squat.” Hubcap shakes his head, “If we go back, that’s four of us in a crappy shuttle against ten plus ships!”
Any direction holds danger, but at the same time, each had its positive aspects as well. The decision would be difficult, and you had a feeling it was one that you would have to make…
Earth : Metroplex
You start again, "But if only one or two of us goes back, sneak's in and destroys the Bot in command of all of the drones. We will stop all of this before it gets WAY out of hand."
"Yeah and let me guess, you want me and you to go, huh?" Zabgoth questions with a shrug.
"Well yeah, that was my plan. We get some small, fast little ship cloak it and sneak in right under their noses.”
He looks at you like your crazy.
“You ARE a Deception after all Zab, it shouldn’t be that hard to fool them. And I can change my activation codes to Pred codes and that might also work to convince them that I want to be on their side."
“I WAS a Decepticon, and that was a couple centuries ago. Who said these nut balls are even related to me?!”
Hubcap snickers, “Well, you are all kinda loopy.”
Zabgoth clacks his teeth at him and then shrugs in resignation, “I don’t
like the plan, but I don’t have any other ideas, and there’s nothing much going
on here… But I think we should pass it by Backdraft first and see what he
thinks. After all he is the ‘great Admiral’ around here."
Hubcap stands, well… I wish you guys luck, and if there’s anything I can do…”
“We’ll let you know, thanks Hubcap.” You shake the small bot’s hand.
Flatline doesn’t move.
You and Zabgoth are informed by Metroplex that Backdraft was in a meeting and couldn’t be disturbed, so the two of you decided to split and regroup in about one megacycle.
He mutters something about getting a drink, but you decide to go up top and take a closer look at this world.
The sun was up again, and its early morning heat was broken by the strong breezes coming off the salty ocean waters.
The expanse of buildings and alleys that made up Metroplex glittered warmly in the light. You ran about the city for a while, clearing your head with sheer exercise. It was one of the first times you had truly been able to stretch your cat legs at any rate, and it was rather fun.
As you silently slipped through the streets, the noise of the work being done to link the Soulfire to the two cities echoes throughout the morning air.
Then something catches your attention, from off to the side, you hear a deafening roar. A cat roar.
Curious, you leap off in the direction of the roar to investigate.
Blast noises can be heard as you near, and silently you move to where you could see a massive battle cat facing off with several heavily armed drones.
The cat was blue and white, and had the same style of Transmetal mutation that you had. His fur bristled, and straight, metal wings sparkled with their chrome colors. He was larger than your were, a tiger according to your data banks. He growled and lept, ripping one of the two drones into pieces.
The other one flew up and fired a volley at him, which he easily defeated.
He transformed into robot mode and fired a snub missile with shattered the drone into pieces.
A Maximal sigil was emblazoned on his chest.
An odd clapping seemed to fill the area and you see a figure step out into the opening. It was a small human fleshy with a group following him.
You moved out for a closer look, the large cat noticing you with a nod and a hand raised to indicate that everything was ok.
“Excellent Battlestripe.” Started the lead fleshy, “You’re reflexes are perfect. Those were the toughest drones we could muster.”
The large cat purred, “They still are no comparison to the ones the Predacon’s trained me on. Their reaction times were segments slower than the labs.”
“Still, it helped us to gather information on the technology they used to build you. I…” the doctor broke off noticing you.
You transformed and moved completely out into the open.
“Ah… you must be the other one, Lightslayer!” The doctor started eagerly, “We’ve heard interesting things about you, but have been quite busy testing Battlestripe here.”
You look down at him, “Testing?”
“Yes, you see, your Transmetal II technology is quite rare. Battlestripe here was ‘volunteered’ for some testing of his limits. So far, we’re having trouble finding them.”
Battlestripe reaches to shake your hand, “Well met, Lightslayer.”
“Well met.” You return the greeting.
The doctor looks at you both, “Hey… perhaps we could set up a better test, a sparring match between the two of you! The training rooms below can be used to create a controlled environment, and can register the impact of decreased blast hits, measuring them to tell us the full extent of your abilities!”
Battlestripe shrugs, “I’m up for it. What about you Lightslayer?”
You check the time, “I can’t right now, there’s something I have to take care of… but maybe this afternoon I could, we’ll see.”
“Well, just ask Metro, he’ll point you to me.” nods the large robot. He
turns and is escorted by the chattering scientist panel off into one of the
buildings.
You go and find Zabgoth. Metroplex informs you that Backdraft is alone on one of the lower struts near the water below. The two of you are led to an access hatch, and climb out and down to find the large, rusty robot dangling his feet over the edge into the Atlantic waters.
“Metroplex told us you’d be down here.” You explain with an apologetic shrug.
“What’s up?” He turns to look back at the two of you.
“Well, we were talking…”
Zabgoth interrupts with a snort, “The cat wants to return to Cybertron to kill himself.”
“Not to kill myself! But from what Zabgoth told me, I think I see what the Decepticons have in plan. If they make a drone army with that new armor… Well, we can’t just wait until all of Cybertron can gather here. I think I can lead a small advance group that can harry the Decepticons, maybe even take out their leader. Anything that will slow them down.”
“So you want to split the armada?”
“No, but we’re low on choices. If we don’t hurry up and do something to slow them down… And maybe I can find some more forces to rally on Cybertron itself. After all, if they really have made a new force, we’re going to need all the help we can get.”
Backdraft turns back to the water to consider your proposition…
Earth: Metroplex
Backdraft nods his head, “I want no more talk of this without secure conditions, understood?” You both nod your heads.
“I’ll arrange a meeting this evening, outside even of Metroplex, where we can finish planning.”
Zabgoth opens his mouth to say something, but you forestall him, “Ah, no
more. Consider your proposal accepted, but I want to make sure it is
absolutely secret. Now, I have some things to see to…”
You decide that now would be a good time to face off with Battlestripe for a few rounds of practice. Suddenly you were imbued with a nervous energy and excitement that you had to expel. And the middle of the Atlantic, there just wasn’t much to do to burn off energy.
As you were heading down to the sim rooms, you’re stopped by Battlestripe, “Oh, were you headed down?”
“Yeah, where are you going?”
“Some slaggin dolt managed to short out the whole deck down below. The training sessions that were scheduled have been moved over to Trypticon’s training bays. I was on my way over, race you!”
The larger tiger bot transforms into his Beast mode and bounds off down the hallway.
“Hey, no fair! Lightslayer, vehicle mode!!”
Your wheels spin out for a second before catching and turning you into a blur after him. As you pass by him with ease…
“Oh, and I was cheating with a five segment head start! Battlestripe, Vehicle mode!!!!!”
He transforms into an odd looking vehicle. It’s nose was long and had two small wheels up front, the rear of the car had huge wheels and a heavy engine. There was another peeling out squeal as he began to catch up on you…
The two of you race through Metroplex’ hallways and out into the streets. He was fast, but your head start was allowing you to keep the advantage on the funny looking car. As you near the edge of Metroplex, you both jump and transform into cat modes, leaping across the gulf between the two cities. Once on solid ground again, you use the momentum to pound your ways across the glittering purple streets.
The two of you end up panting at the doorway to the sim chamber, “Well, you’re a little faster.” Admits Battlestripe, “but my specialty was always fighting.”
The two of you stepped inside.
“Computer,” you call out, “Random sim, one on one sparring match.”
The room was quickly replaced with a hazy jungle floor.
“How apropo…” mutters Battlestripe as he moves across the clearing and turns to face you.
A pulsing red orb hung between the two of you, waiting to signify the match beginning.
“Here.” Battlestripe tosses a small circuit board to you, “Install this and turn it to frequency 3.00a.”
You look at the small board, “What is it?”
“It’ll send your vitals to the scientists over at Metro, so they can see how we measure up.”
“Ok.” You shove the board into a panel that swivels open on your side.
The orb pulses once more, and then turns green.
Battlestripe wastes no time. He transforms into cat mode and launches himself in a fury of claws and teeth at you.
You opt for car mode, and zoom underneath of his leap, transforming and firing your shoulder pulse cannons at him.
The blasts hit and he transforms firing a volley of missiles from wrist launchers.
He pulls a heavy gun as he ducks behind a decrepit building to dodge your next set of blasts.
You move, feeling the wave of heat from the blast point behind you. A tree is vaporized as the large Transmetal Maximal’s gun blasts it.
You transform again into cat mode and jump off into a cluster of shadowy bushes to sneak up behind him.
He transforms as well, and sniffs the air. Spinning, he neatly deflects your pounce and transforms, bringing the cestus like claws on his forearms to play.
You transform and respond in like with your swords.
Blades flash, but your swordplay easily outmatches him, and he soon is forced to release a blast of missiles at close range. The blast knocks the both of you back, giving him some distance to work with.
He transforms and leaps off into the bushes with you close on his tail.
Soon the jungle is a mess of flame. You had lost track of the blue and silver tiger, and were now crouched atop a building attempting to get a better look.
Movement catches your eyes, and you fire a few blasts toward it.
You see that it isn’t your prey, but rather, a squadron of heavily armed mech drones that were taking aim at you.
You fired off a few more blasts and jumped away, just before the building is vaporized. You here a set of heavy blasts, and see one drone knock another away from the heavy blasts of Battlestripes cannons.
--This was one on one. Where’d these guys come from?!?—
“Computer, end simulation.”
Suddenly, something stuck out in your mind. The shots that you fired at Battlestripe, and the shots he fired at you.
They were at full power. What happened to the safety protocols on the room. It should have seemed real, but your diagnostics would be reading normal with simulated wounds. The cuts and dents in your frame were REAL!
“Computer, answer!”
Only static and the sound of marching feet approaching…
Earth: Trypticon’s training rooms
Both you and Battlestripe exchanged nods and jumped to the fray of the advancing mech drones. The battle that ensued was fast and heavy pitched. As you fought it, you noticed that another set of holo-mechs had appeared on the battlefield. These mechs appeared to be a conglomeration of both you and Battlestripe, and were fighting against the first set of battle drones.
After a few cycles of destruction and flame the battlefield was nearly emptied of sound. Your energy levels were dangerously low, but most of the mechs were lying about in pieces. One mech saw you standing there and reached down to pull a heavy mace-like weapon from one of the conglomo-mech’s torso.
It gripped the heavy hafted weapon and eyes you fiercely.
--Just one of them, no reason to waste energy.—
You pulled one of your swords and stepped forward into the open, daring the other to charge.
And charge it did, it came on madly swinging the weapon in great arcs around it’s body. The sheer ferocity of its attack was unlike anything that had previously been on the field, and it caught you by surprise.
You started to fall back, barely parrying the savage swings from the oncoming mech. Quickly you recover, and almost by instinct find yourself parrying without thinking, placing your sword where you knew the blows would come from. It was almost like you had been in this fight before.
Quickly you had the mech on the defense, your blade flashing in a deadly firestorm of death. It hummed and rang off the maces haft, pushing your opponent farther and farther back.
--I have seen this fight before…--
You jump at instinct and lunge forward, going for a disarming maneuver that catches the mech along the shaft of his weapon. One of his hands is knocked free.
Before he can recover you repeat the move, knocking the mace to the ground with a thud.
The mech looked up to find your sword point at his throat…
Earth: Trypticon’s training
rooms
The mech reached up and grabbed your blade as you began to push it home.
There is a humming whine as green electrical fire arced up across the steel blade. A shattering explosion tosses both you and the mech across the jungle floor. Hot metal shards rip into your face and chest, leaving smoking scars embedded in your already damaged armor. Your arm is split from the force, shattering into scrap and hanging wires as you tumble across the ground.
You struggle to your feet, just in time to see the mech turn toward you as well
--Enough of this!!!—
You’re shoulder cannon spins out and level itself at the mech.
Suddenly, the room glitched.
There was an explosion and everything went dark for an instant. Red lights filled the smokey interior, and you find yourself looking at Zabgoth, who was injured and sprawling not ten meters from you. A look of surprise was on his face, and hot shards from your sword’s explosion smoked in his severely damaged armor.
Across the smoke filled room, you could make out the shape of a severely damaged robot… an Earth mech. Battlestripe had ripped it’s arm free, and had his claw-cestus buried into the mech’s head.
There was also a light filtering in from the doorway, and there stood several silhouetted forms.
“STOP!!” Yelled a familiar voice. It was Backdraft, and you could see his large form move into the room behind the shape that already stood turned toward the now shattered control panel.
“What the slag?!?” Zabgoth shook his head in disbelief as he struggled up to his feet.
White lights flickered on, revealing the four combatants, you, the Earth mech, Battlestripe, and Zabgoth, all in very damaged form, and alone in an otherwise bare walled, empty room. Backdraft, and a couple of Decepticons were rushing into the room, and Megatron stood where he had apparently blasted the control panel for Trypticon’s sim room.
Backdraft rushed over to help extract Battlestripes claws carefully from the Earth mech, “There was a hidden security protocol in Trypticon’s circuits. It was activated when a non-Decepticon tried to use the chamber.”
--Oops…--
“Security protocol?!?” Zabgoth asked
“Yes.” Megatron turned toward your group, “Apparently it locks down the room and overlays holograms until it managed to confuse its prisoners into destroying themselves.
You grasp at the charred remnants of his arm, “Works pretty well.”
Zabgoth smacks his forehead as he looked at you, “Shoulda guessed… no Mech fights like that!”
You shake your head in annoyance, “I should have known also. I was wondering why a mech was throwing a mace and then the whole charged weapon thing…”
Backdraft pries open the command module of the EDF mech. A human bearing the markings of an EDF Lieutenant staggers out, a little bruised and beat up, but relatively undamaged. “You mean we almost got scrapped because HIS people didn’t find a SECURITY BREACH!?!?”
Megatron glared over at him, “Be glad we got here before you were terminated.”
“Be GLAD?!?! I’ve got over a billion in damages to this mech!”
Backdraft stepped in, “We’ll take care of the damages. It was an accident, you can’t expect us to be sure…”
“I don’t expect YOU to be sure of anything on this scrap, I expect HIM to be sure. It is HIS city. Why should…”
Megatron seems bored with the conversation, “Take his mech and repair it.” He motions to Blastoff and then trudges out of the room.
“I’m supposed to repair THAT piece of insignificant technology?” The Transmetal Combaticon complains.
Backdraft shakes his head, “Just do it. I’ll have someone from Metroplex help you in the labs. Maybe you could even work on a few upgrades just for kicks.”
“Yee… haw…” droles the insolent Decepticon, “Spacecase, give me a hand with this thing.”
“I believe I will help oversee the repairs?” The Lieutenant asks.
“You know anything about tech?” Blast-Off looks down at the human.
“I am fully versed in the standard technology of your race, as well as in heavy armaments and explosives.” He turns back, “I quite enjoyed our match, Zabgoth. Perhaps sometime we can do it again?”
Later that evening, you and Zabgoth meet Backdraft and one other bot on a far away cliff. The ocean below roars with the incoming tide.
“Lightslayer, Zabgoth, I’d like you to meet the captain of the ship that will be taking you to Cybertron, Skyjammer.”
“Hoohaw, a man without a sigil.” Zabgoth grins. You peer through the night and notice what he was talking about. The robot had no insignia anywhere on him that you could see.
“Greetings, Skyjammer.”
Skyjammer nods at the two of you in turn.
“Ok,” Backdraft starts in, “We’ve got the three of you. I also want to send two more. One will be an espionage agent and the other I was thinking of an expert in demolitions.”
“Any ideals?” Skyjammer asks.
“Yes, I think I’m going to send one of the Decepticons with you. His name is Bladewing and he was responsible for wrecking the Tripredicus’ plans in the earlier battles here last month. As for the demolitions, I did some checking after the problems on Trypticon earlier. That human that you were sparring with, Zabgoth, he’s certified in a rather impressive amount of demolitions expertise as well as four or five technical fields of study. He better matches the bill than any Cybertronian that is currently on Earth.”
Zabgoth shrugs, “Well, with that mech of his, he can take care of himself, that’s for sure.”
“Then it’s decided. You have twenty four hours until you leave. Your mission, return to Cybertron and slow down any production of drones, and any activity of the Decepticons possible until the fleet returns to reclaim Cybertron.”
Earth: Metroplex
As you head back to the city, you ponder in silence the journey that was ahead. As you near the city, you realize that you needed time alone to spend in mediation. You also realize that breaking off from Zabgoth might not be that easy. So as you neared the city, you simply stepped off into the shadows, disappearing as discreetly as possible.
--Zab will get over
it.—
Changing to cat mode, you prowl off across the streetways of Metroplex, searching for a quiet spot to sit down in.
There were actually vehicles moving through the city now. The night had just begun, and with the influx of ships, most of which were docked on the Moon Base, the city was actually starting to look alive!
Unfortunately, this did nothing toward your quest of finding a quiet spot.
Eventually, you managed to make it to the top of a gun tower. It was doubtful that the weapons would get used, and it kept you out in the open air.
You settled down, transforming and sitting yourself on the small platform that overlooked the city.
The sky was dark, even for nighttime. Clouds had rolled in, and it appeared an angry storm had begun to brew.
Rain and wind meant little to you, though. And so you closed your eyes and relaxed your mind.
You momentarily wondered about the meditation. After all, you were never shown how to do it. You did know that it was a warrior’s meditation, and it seemed to be as old as the stars. Something inside of you knew it instinctively, and reveled in the return to the calm at the center of ‘all’.
The roaring thunder across the sky seemed to reverberate through your frame, suffusing you with a power and a stillness that reached deep into your core consciousness.
Your mind soars far above this world, deep in the vastness of space and time. Images flash before you, battles long forgotten, wars that were now nothing more than fragments of history.
Through space you hurtled as a mighty ship, Decepticons flew about you dying in blazing balls of light.
Wars were fought, and peace you strive for, but always-another battle stood before you. Until one day all the enemies were dead. One day you were no longer needed.
Through the jungles you prowled, hunting your prey.
Your prey…
Great metallic creatures rose up before you, monstrosities in Cybertronian form, burning, destroying. Standing as impenetrable, unbeatable enemies.
But you were not alone. You become one with many, together you sweep down vengeance on those who would oppose you.
Together, not separate…
Then one by one you feel parts of you die.
And you become again alone.
You become old, useless, relic…
Two pulses remained, both old and weary, both past their time, both… alone.
Several hours had passed.
You opened your eyes to find yourself drenched. The patches of fur on your body were soaked with cold rain, and still more fell from the sky. Around you a dazzling array of lightning crackled and clashed into the high towers of the Autobot city.
You transformed, back to cat mode and shook the water violently from your coat. The visions you had were confusing, shadows of a past that has been laid to rest, but something about them tied to your future, some lesson that you didn’t quite grasp.
--Maybe I’m just cold
and wet.—
The night was dark now, and the city below had emptied from traffic. You leap down and prowl through the streets, back to your room.
Once there, you dry off, and sit down at the computer terminal.
--If I’m going back
into space, best see whom I’m traveling with…--
--Zagboth
Destron
Psychological Warfare
Currently assigned: Metroplex.
You tap past his records, you pretty much know his story.
--Skyjammer
Non-aligned
Mercenary Warrior
Currently assigned: Captain
Apparently, Skyjammer had once been Decepticon, but renounced all allegiances after an altercation postdating the signing of the Pas Cybertronia.
Since then he had hired himself out as a mercenary soldier to whoever wanted to pay enough. This has kept him fairly well stocked with technology and knowledgeable on strategies and tactics. That could definitely be a plus in the near future. It appears that he hooked up with Admiral Backdraft just before the Soulfire left Cybertron for Earth, and ran a daring mission to draw fire away from the Soulfire using his ship as the target. During this mission he found an ancient Guardian style Robot by the name of Omega Supreme which he reactivated and brought back with him to Earth.
--Bladewing
Decepticon
Espionage
Currently assigned: Trypticon
Bladewing was a spy. Previously he had been hired by the Destrons to investigate and disrupt Predacon activity on Earth. He did so quite successfully. Apparently he was responsible for crashing their flagship, and was onboard a second shuttle that they had used for attacking Trypticon. That shuttle he had cleared of personnel, and was ready to crash it when it activated a safety and merged with Megatron, making a new body for the Decepticon leader. That part you didn’t quite understand, but the only bad mark against him was that he managed to break Metroplex’ training sim chambers yesterday while practicing. Apparently overloaded the system and drove his swords past the gravity and shielding safteys. Blacked out a whole deck…
His swords… you read that he apparently is a Laser Rod. A Decepticon that was created on the Warworld on it’s first appearance many centuries ago. This was definitely an interesting note, and you download the file for later perusal.
--Lieutenant Phillip Haysworth
Earth Defense Force
Specialties: Technician, First Class
Demolitions, First Class
Mech Pilot, First Class
Currently assigned: Metroplex
Zabgoth’s sparring partner was fairly accomplished. He apparently was the son of a small country Vizier. His country considered it a duty to serve in the army, and he elected the EDF directly. He was highly intelligent and held several degrees. Also his personal tank mech was upgraded through his own personal spending and work. The power specs were pretty high on the thing, no wonder Zabgoth was getting pummeled by him.
So, that was it, you were the only Maximal in the bunch. You hoped Backdraft knew what he was doing when he selected this crew. Regardless, a few new toys wouldn’t hurt to carry along… after all, wasn’t everyone allowed one carry on bag?
Metroplex’ armory wasn’t great.
In fact, it pretty much sucked.
Apparently, since the city had been on Earth, at peace for a few centuries, it’s remaining Autobot staff had dismantled a good deal of the heavy weaponry to use for parts elsewhere. There were a few things in there, some of which came from Maximal and Cybertron ships that had ‘donated’ them to the main armory. Things that were relics or practical contraband on exploration vessels or things that were primarily for defense purposes.
You hefted up some plasma grenades, a bandoleer of ten that might come in handy if destruction was their plan.
Then you find a thick rifle. Not really your style, but you could get use to it. Finally, you find an interesting little shielding device. It would only make a small shield, maybe a meter and a half in diameter. But it had a pretty high power rating. You clasped the small bracelet onto your wrist and left the armory.
The next morning found you outside in the pre-dawn. Misty fog covered the silvery decks in the dim light, and there was a muted sound to the world.
The others gathered near the ship, you, Zabgoth, Skyjammer, and the human Lieutenant. The Lieutenant had already had his mech loaded on board the ship, and now looked diminutively small around the rest of you.
Bladewing was last, he was a lanky black Decepticon. His silver wings stretched up and glinted sharply as the mists dripped off of them.
No one uttered a word. No one needed to.
You boarded the ship silently, each taking your positions in the small bridge. There were four seats on the forward computer stations, and a raised central chair that had a huge amount of computer controls around it.
--Apparently the ship
is rigged to run with one person…--
The
human had boarded his mech, making seating him a little easier. For a few minutes the group of you sat
in silence, the multicolored lights of the controls the only real light around
you. Skyjammer worked on the controls, finishing the prep of the engines. Then without warning, the engines
shifted quietly and there was a sense of vertigo as the Earth slid away from
below the small warship.
Hyperspace: Skyjammer’s (still un-named!!) ship
As the stars outside smeared into a blur of light, Zabgoth popped his seat back and threw his legs up on the controls.
“So, now that we’ve had our cheery beginnings into the realm of espionagggggay, guess it’s time that we figure out who we all are….”
Skyjammer’s control area lowered a bit , giving him a better view of you all. The gray green robot smirked at Zabgoth, “Your ideal, why don’t you start the class off… tell us your name and what you did last summer.”
“Harumph,” Zab snort, “Very well… I… amtheillustriousmadbastardwhatcalledthescourgeofspaceandthementalpathwaysofthecerebrallyweakminded… Zabgoth.” He smiles, spinning his chair around as he talked.
“I, was one of the two who brain-mastered this daring adventure!”
You shake your head in amusement, “I guess I would be the other one, Lightslayer. My story is pretty simple, while investigating the ruins of a Maximal school that had fallen victim to the raiders… I met up with our Mad Bastard and a contingent of Decepticons that we had to dispatch. From there we made a stop off at a Decepticon hideout, stole some secrets… that led to this mission… and made our way to Earth.”
The dark Bladewing looked up from his seat where he had been brooding, his optic glared red in annoyance as he snapped, “And I don’t suppose anyone would be willing to queue me in on WHAT our mission is?!”
Skyjammer looks over at him, “You don’t know?”
The black and silver robot stood up and began to pace in the fairly limited room, “NO, I do NOT know. All I know is that commander Shaftdraft told me to be on that deck early in the slaggin’ morning! I don’t even know anything about you people!!”
“Well, my name’s Skyjammer, I’m captain of this ship. You apparently have been drafted for your espionage capabilities to return to Cybertron on a mission of seek, determine, and delay.”
“Can you be a little more cryptic, my processors haven’t had their daily oil cup this morning…”
“Yes,” adds the human, “I only have the vague notion of what’s going on… Why don’t we all share what we know.”
“Ok, boys,” Zabgoth start, “Here’s the scoop. Me and Lightslayer there stole some plans that, when pieced together with other information, led to the theory that back at Cybertron, Clench is building an army to prepare for our return.”
Bladewing shrugs, “So he’s recruiting… big deal.”
“No, not recruiting, ‘building.’ He’s got a setup that is rigged to mass produce an army of drones.”
“Oooo, drones,” sneers the Lieutenant, “Our Admiral’s afraid of a bunch of mindless go-bots?”
You shake your head, “No, he’s afraid of thousands of transformable, heavy armored weapons that are controlled under a single sentience and armed with weapons of unparalleled destructive power!”
Bladewing folds his arms, “What do you mean?”
The Lieutenant answered, “The Vehicon armoring, like what Zabgoth boasts.”
Zab grins at Bladewing as the Lieutenant continues, “The drones will be built with that armor… but what do you mean about ‘a single sentience?’”
You finish, “Clench has built a control harness… we think… that can control all of the drones at one time.”
Skyjammer shakes his head, “Not possible. The processing power…”
“Is amplified by the harness. It would take most of his concentration, but the scientists think that it IS possible.”
Bladewing plops back down in a chair, “So what are WE supposed to do about it?”
Skyjammer answers, “I fly you in, find out if it’s true, if so, destroy the manufacturing plants.”
“So we ARE returning home.” Bladewing mutters.
“Yep, that’s write!” you slap Bladewing on the shoulder, “Neon lights, energon bars, wide steel covered streets… Y’know it’ll be nice visiting the ol’ shack!”
Lieutenant Haysworth looks up, “What about planetary defenses. Won’t we get shot down as soon as we show in Cybertron’s orbit?”
“In it’s system is more like it,” answers Skyjammer, “The moons that orbit are all armed and populated, and if the Warworld…” he trails off for a second before picking up, “If the Warworld has control of those defenses, we may have a bumpy ride.”
You look over at Bladewing, “That’s where you come in…”
Skyjammer nodds his head, “Backdraft left us several logs of old codes for the Cybertron defense net, plus I have a few in the ships databanks. He even managed to pull a few old Decepticon codes from Tyrpticon’s memory.”
The black robot shook his head in disbelief, “You mean I’ve got some archaic codes from a few centuries back, and a handful of codes that any sane conqueror would have erased as soon as assuming power, and you want me to glide us on in, without any problems!??!?! This is a SUICIDE mission!!”
Zabgoth leans back a little farther in his chair, “I prefer to think of it as having a prolonged continuance deficiency…”
The Lieutenant shakes his head, “Don’t you think you can handle it?”
Bladewing looks affronted, “Of COURSE I can handle it, fleshling!”
“You just sounded a little doubtful… or scared.”
“WHAT?!?”
“I mean, if you don’t think you can do your job, I can always…”
Bladewing stands up, his optic glaring red, Zabgoth jumps between the two, “Hey, hey, no fighting on the bridge, after all, I’ve seen what his rail gun can do, and I really don’t feel like free floating back home!”
Bladewing sits back down, glaring at the Earth mech, “I will do my job, just fine.”
Zabgoth shakes his head, “Now back to introductions…”
The lanky black robot looks around, “Name’s Bladewing.”
Zabgoth continues after it’s obvious that was the extent of Bladewing’s introduction, “Oooookayyy, and what about our good Earth man?”
“Names Lieutenant Phillip Haysworth. Technician, First Class, Demolitions, First Class, Mech Pilot, First Class. I’ve worked on upgrading my ride until it’s more than a match for any Cybertronian.”
“You’re dreaming! I had you!” Zab laughs.
The Lieutenant gives him a shove and shares in the laughter.
Off and on, the rest of you go to explore what little there was of the ship. There was the command bridge, barely big enough for the five of you, then a central room with energon facilities, prepping tables, and a CR chamber crammed together, a weapons locker that was rather impressive, and a small bay with a couple of small personal sleds for travel. All in all, the ship was built for one person to crew.
Most interesting was the weapons cabinet, which made Metroplex’ weapons storage look like a Great War relic room that had already been robbed of its best treasures! You spent quite some time looking through the weapons, bombes, shields, detonators, scanners, and a multitude of other weaponry that you couldn’t even fathom! While you were looking, Zabgoth joined you, obviously excited about something…
“Hey Lighty, did I find some dirt on you!”
“What?” you turn from the blaster you had been carefully examining.
“Looks
like your Maximal Elders and Cybertronian Council fibbed a bit when they told
you your past.”
--Fibbed
more than a bit…--
“Aaaand…?”
“And, it seems that they didn’t have a CLUE as to who you are.”
“What? They had a clue…” That part confused you, they had known exactly who they THOUGHT you were…
“No, they had a hope. Apparently, your spark was mutated beyond recognition. It was found inside of the body of an old soldier, but it was two sparks molded into one! And there’s more…”
This got your attention.
--How the slag did Zab…--
“Seems that ol’ Flattline was sent along to kill you if you’re dark side took control.”
You turn back to the guns, not wanting him to see the wariness in your eyes, “My dark side?”
“Yeah, they knew that your spark had a good side and an eeeevil side. They were afraid that you would figure it all out, and if so he was to kill you!”
--He
knows enough, might as well finish it out…--
“I did figure it out.” You put the weapon down.
“That’s what Flattline thought.”
“Then why…”
--...didn’t he kill
me?!?--
“I don’t know, something about a ‘vision’ he had.”
This left you at a loss, what vision, what could be so important that would stray someone like Flattline from his mission?
Zabgoth pushed a little more, “So, what did you find out?”
“I am Lightslayer.” You state firmly.
“But who WERE you?”
You had delayed long enough might as well plunge ahead, he deserved to know after all this time, “Their names were Star Saber and Rampage.”
“STAR SABER!?!?” Zabgoth’s jaw dropped open.
“Yes, Optimus Prime knew… I think. I’m not sure how, whether he just guessed or what, but I think he knew.”
“Wow.”
“The other was an even older spark, one of the ancient Decepticons. He was also teaching at the school, and he was responsible…”
You hesitated, that was a little more than you had meant to say.
“Responsible?”
--Oh well, too late to stop now.--
“He betrayed the others in the school. He brought the Decepticons in without warning. It was because of that half that all of them died.”
“Wow. Hey look, don’t blame…”
Your eyes pop open, anger at being thought of with pity.
--Don’t put that on me, don’t ever think I’m them!!—burns through your mind…
“I don’t. I wasn’t there. I am not the two of them, rather the composite of their beings. I am Lightslayer, and that is all there is now.”
Zabgoth nods, at a loss for words…
Hyperspace: The Crusader-1
Three
days passed uneventfully. You take
up residence in the lower hold, using it as a private meditation chamber. It is small, but you find yourself
falling into a strangely familiar pattern of meditation and exercise that can
be done in the limited space. For the most part you avoid contact with the
others, reflecting on the thoughts and memories that are yours.. But aren’t.
You do however join them from time to time, and during some of these meetings you and the rest of the crew talk over several scenarios and things that could be done upon reaching Cybertron. Zabgoth even suggested stopping at other planets, more places where he had ‘friends’ that may be able to help.
However, the voting majority decided that it would be best to get to Cybertron as quickly as possible to assess the situation from there.
The group did finally decide to pay a visit to some of Zabgoth’s friends on the surface of the planet… provided they were still there. It gave you a starting point at least. Everyone agreed that to run in with guns blazing would probably be one of the dumber things to do…
The ship was cramped too, that urged everyone on to wanting to make landfall as quickly as possible. So, on the third day, spirits were tense, but hopeful as the ship dropped out of hyperspace, just beyond the arc of Cybertron.
“Dead Space Jammers on.” Zabgoth reports. The ship would now be surrounded in a bubble of ‘dead’ space with only a small window open for transmission purposes.
“Shields off, and stealth skin active.” You add.
Skyjammer nods, most of his attention on piloting the ship. The Lieutenant was manning a gun pod, just in case. Bladewing was already working feverishly on the sensors, trying to realign them and shelling out encryption codes in a vein attempt to pass the security codes on Cybertron’s defense net.
A cluster of asteroids floats past the ship as Skyjammer dodges deftly toward the outer rings.
Zabgoth looks down, “We’re nearing the outer defense satellites now. I hope you boys put on clean your filters this morning.”
Off in the darkness of space, a twinkle appears. At first it could be thought of as an illusion, but then the twinkle picks up a definite pattern.
“That’s one of them.” you mutter.
It would be a small satellite, not one of the main weapons. In fact, they were more decoys than anything else. The really deadly things wouldn’t be seen so easily.
Pulse-less seconds floated by as the blinking light became clearer, and as Skyjammer veered to the side to avoid the satellite’s visuals.
The satellite dropped behind without mishap.
“Does that mean we made it?” Zabgoth chuckled.
Just then, one of Cybertron’s moons came into view. It rapidly grew in size on the monitor until it was clearly visible. Cybertron itself was still lost in the darkness of space, but the moon twinkled with life. Skyjammer kept the ship pointed dead at the moon, planning on using it’s atmosphere to cruise through and slingshot you into Cybertron’s orbit.
“Do we have a lock on the Warworld yet?” Skyjammer asks quietly.
You tap a command in and a small section changes on the forward screens. On it, you can see Cybertron, and a large red moon in close orbit. You can also make the expanded ring of moons which you were now entering.
The black surface of the moon below you veered away as Skyjammer pulled the Crusader-1 alongside and around the sparkled surface.
You could make out low-lying lights that crawled along the dark surface… vehicles that moved or transformers that flew through the chilled darkness of the moon.
Still, Bladewing worked rapidly and desperately, trying to draw away the attention of a million different electronic eyes.
The moon shot out from below you and over the horizon appeared the great mass of Cybertron, far, far away from you.
The planet should be dark, being near no direct light at this time, but instead it was spotted with an incalculable amount of lighting, enabling the silvery orb to sparkle in full detail. Unlike the moon, it was never dark on Cybertron. Lights moved and swept the planet’s surface. Always, it was a breathtaking sight.
Two more moons were in orbit, considerably closer to the planet, one enormous, almost a third of Cybertron’s size, the other much smaller. Smaller than the one you just passed. Both were arrayed off to the sides from the approach pattern that Skyjammer had chosen.
An approach pattern that put the Warworld on the opposite side of Cybertron…
Already, you had been in Cybertron space for most of a megacycle, the Crusader-1’s engines burning steadily, driving you home with a swift wing.
Time crawls by as each of you stays alert and wary.
Then, as if it were nothing, you were entering Cybertron’s atmosphere.
Skyjammer moved the ship across the surface, staying low , but not low enough to attract undo attention. Most of Cybertron still had regular air traffic, and keeping to those traffic lanes seemed to work fine.
Zabgoth pointed him to a city called Prosiphony. It was on this side of the planet, meaning there would be some travel involved in returning to Iacon, but it would be easier to do from the ground than in the warship.
A few kilometers outside of the city sat a Cyber-plain. Flat expanses of metallic ground, dotted with the occasional housing station, or vast smelting pool. It was out in these areas that stores of raw materials were created, and it was here where you hoped your friend still stayed.
“He’s a bit of a loner.” Zabgoth says as you step down from the Crusader-1’s gangplank.
You were in cat mode, sniffing the unfamiliar Cybertronian air, “This isn’t anything like your last… ‘friend’ is it?” you give Zabgoth a sharp look.
“Who was his last friend?” the silent Bladewing seemed to appear in the shadows below the ship.
Skyjammer turned at the entryway as the Lietenant’s tank hovered out and started locking the hatch, “The Decepticon they brought back in pieces. Apparently he tried to hijack and kill them.”
The tank’s hatch opens and the Lieutenant’s head pokes up, “Oh, great. Aren’t we here to look for help?”
“It’s cool, he’s nothing like that… This one is a real friend. He had me run a lot of shipments for him…”
“So, where is he? It’s not like he could miss a ship landing in his backyard.” Bladewing scanned around nervously.
“Over there!” You called, you had walked out from under the wings of the Crusader and were looking out at a low-lying factory about a kilometer away.
“Yeah, that’s his place alright.”
“Then let’s go…” Skyjammer transforms and hovers for a second, while the rest of you change as well…
Cybertron: The Ranch
Skyjammer looks around, “I’ll go ahead and scout around. Zabgoth I want you to come with me to contact your friend. The rest of you stay here with the ship.”
You grunt, “Wouldn’t it be better to stay together?”
Zabgoth shrugs, “Why put all our necks on the line? Whazza matter kitty, you gonna miss my purty face?”
You hang your tongue in disgust, “Now that you mention it, maybe a little lone time would be welcome…”
“Ok then, Zabgoth?” Skyjammer transforms into your V winged jet mode. Zabgoth followed in his flight mode.
As they streaked away you turned back to the Lieutenant who was staring strangely at the sky, “So, I guess that just leaves us to sit and wait…”
“Huh? Oh, yeah.” He slides back down into the tank and turns it to head back up the ramp.
You look around for Bladewing, but he’s nowhere to be seen…
Cybertron: the Plains
You turn up the ramp of the ship, when out of the corner of your optic, you see something move in the wide expanse. The movement was not too far off, behind an outcropping of metal struts.
You leap off of the ramp with the quiet grace of a cat. you slink quietly into the shadows around base of the ship.
There, you watched as the object slowly moves out and toward the ramp.
Suddenly, the shape freezes, and you can make out a small, gray-brown, rabbit-like creature. He was staring up, above the ship. His source of alarm became quickly apparent as you see a white jet of some kind swoop out and away from the ship. It's wings spread out like skeletal fingers of a bat of some kind... an energy field shimmering slightly between the struts. In fact, it's armoring appears bonelike, white and non-metallic... Red archaic writing stretches across it's lower area.
--What the... I've seen that bot, he was on Earth!--
The transformer speeds out, following the path that Zabgoth and Skyjammer took cycles before.
--Gotta warn...--
Then the small creature was on the move, in a frantic scurry across the open metal surface toward the underbowels of the ship. You leap at it, tackling it and flashing your fangs.
He give's out a squeal of surprise, "Please!! Please don't harm me!!" He was only about half your size, and from the sound of it rather young.
"I... I'm Springback, a Maximal like you... I was just curious as to what an unmarked ship was doing out here in the wastes!"
You let up, "I won't hurt you, like you said, we're both Maximals."
"Yeah, but those others weren't!"
"Don't worry, their... friends." you redirect your attention to your comlink, "Lieutenant, we have company. A Maximal, I'm bringing him in."
"Roger that Lightslayer, but keep your eye on him."
You turn back to the rabbit, "Come with me Springback, and no 'funny stuff'."
You motion with your thumb. The smaller rabbit shrugs, "Um... ooooooo-k..."
Inside the ship, the small rabbit tranformed into a robot with light green and yellow metal beneath the fur.
"You know, landing out in the waste is likely to attract attentention from those Decepticreeps over in Cybertroplis."
"We made pains to stay unnoticed."
"Yeah, but a ground bound kid with a pair of binoc's spotted you without delay."
You glare at him as he walks past you into the small control room.
"Cozy... all five of you crowd together in here?"
The lietenant was in his tank, and transformed to the bi-ped mech mode, "So, this is the Maximal? He's just a kid."
"Yeah, well he was a kid that spotted us without any problems..."
"Good point."
You notice that Springback stuck his tongue out at the last, but jerked it back in as you turned to glare down at him.
The Lieutenant looks up from the robot, "He even saw Bladewing... perhaps he's a a little smarter than he looks."
"No... I don't think he saw him... I think he saw someone else."
"What?"
"Looks like we picked up a hitchhiker."
"Hitchhiker?" the kid interrupts, "He was a DECEPTICON! And you thought they wouldn't know you were here..."
You shake your head, "Different group than the ones in Cybertropolis."
"Eh?"
"Later, at any rate, I reckognized him from Earth." You had sat down and were accessing the Crusader's data-banks, "There, his name is Deathspire."
"Deathspire... yeah, one of the two mystery bot's on Earth."
"Mystery-bots?"
"Yeah, there were two Cybertronians that showed up randomly at the end of the Predacon-Decepticon battles. One was a Maximal named Error, the other a Decepticon named Deathspire. No one knows where they came from or what they were doing..."
"They just jumped in and joined?"
"Yeah, well, it seems there was a lot of confusion in your ranks around then... What with the disposition of the Tripredicus council, the introduction of the Decepticons and Autobots, and the amassing of the remanants of the Armada."
Springback jumps up from where he was spinning around in a oversized chair, "The Armada! You don't mean that their still out there!"
You turn back to him, "Oh there still out there, and they're coming here very soon."
Surprisingly, the Maximal slumps back into the chair, "Oh, GREAT!"
"You don't sound... enthused..."
"Look, no offense, but we're just getting set back up after the first attack on Cybertron... do you have any idea the destruction if someone actually TRIED to fight the Decepticons. Besides, I hear that they've got some new police force on the grounds of Cybertroplis."
"New police force?!" You turn and look at the Lietenant... If that was true, then you may already be to late.
Clench may already have the drone army in operation.
Cybertron: The Crusader-1
The Lieutenant looks at you, and you look back, each knowing what the other was thinking.
"I'll head out and see if I can confirm what Springback says. I can take him with me... He seems to know his way."
"Hey, hey, HEY!!! I never aggreed to..." but Springback is cut off by the Lieutenant.
"Agreed, but keep it quiet. I don't need to have to pull your fuzzy butt out of the fire."
You look back over at Springback, "Can you give us an approximate area of the last place you saw these new 'police' forces?"
"What!? I just said I HEARD that there were some in Cybertropolis! That's half a planet away! It's not like I was THERE or anything!"
You narrowed your eyes, "Strange I wouldn't think a rabbit in the middle of the plains would hear much news about a city if he's never been there."
"I have... sources?"
You and the Lieutenant glare at the small Maximal.
"Ok, oK! I was there. I went back about a week ago when they reopened the city to the public. But there were these hulking clone bots marching around every corner! They just gave me the creeps, I figured there was more freedom out here."
"Then you can give us an approximate area of the last place you saw these new 'police' forces?"
"Yeah, sure , Cybertroplis..."
You glare at him again, "The city is hundreds of kilometers in size... I don't suppose you could get a little more 'exact'?"
He sighs, "ok, I can take you there..."
Just then, Zabgoth's head pokes through the doorway to the small bridge
"Boohaw? Who be this?"
The small Maximal jumped up from the oversized seat and uttered a squeal.
Bladewing and Skyjammer stepped in. The camoflaged captain of the ship
grimaced, "Oh great, another fuzz bot to shed on my seats."
You shrug, "Zabgoth, Skyjammer, Bladewing... this is Springback. We
were just discussing a little recon trip to Cybertropolis. It seems that
the drone army is active and running."
Zabgoth grimaces, "Well, this is Bonecrusher..." as the thick coated
Maximal squeezes into the already overcrowded bridge area, "He's offered
us shelter at his ranch so we can map out a strategy."
Skyjmamer ducks out and reappears in the overhead captains seat, freeing some
floor space, "And Blades there just volunteered to take a trip into
Cybertropolis as well."
"I can handle it alone..." snorts Bladewing, "The others would
only be an impediment."
Springback shudders, "He's creepy, where'd you pick him up, the cutlery
section at Bot-Mart?"
Bladewing's red optic glared violently at the small Maximal.
Bonecrusher holds up his hands, "Y'all need ta jest comn over to the
Ranch, settle down and then decide what to do from there. Won't do much
good to go running around in the dark without a plan!"
Skyjammer nods, "Yeah, I think that's our best bet..."
You hold up your hands, "but what if the drone army IS already
operational..."
The Lietenant shakes his head, "Then it won't make a slag bit of
difference whether we go today or tomorrow... now will it."
The engines
begin to hum outside.
Skyjammer leans over, "Now, where exactly is this ranch?"
Cybertron: The Ranch
Later, the group of you sit around a large table. On it was spread the
mapping consul from the Crusader. Cybertroplis was displayed in minute
detail across it. The massive city rose like a 3D hologram, illuminating
the areas that Springback pointed to.
"Like I said," the small Maximal shrugged, "They're moving from
spot to spot, on patrols and such."
Bonecrusher leaned against the wall, with Armordillo in the shadows behind him,
both watching impassively as your group bickered about what was to be
done. Now, the shaggy bot leaned forward a bit, "Y'know, he's
right. 'dillo here's been on the delivery runs. Sez that you gotta
register and sign a few documents and passports to even get into the
city. Apparently everything is under lock and key by the new
government. It hasn't slowed anyone down really, not now that there's the
chance to get back to business."
"So then, how do we get back inside?" Skyjammer was looking at
the limited access ports. The city was fairly easily defendable, at least
from land assault. Of course, the massive blasts and sheer brutality of
the Warworld's attack was enough to bring it to its knees...
"We don't. I do." spoke the silent
Bladewing from his spot in the darkened corner. You had almost
forgotten about the black and silver Decepticon... or former Decepticon.
You had noted that the Cybertronian had removed his sigil sometime since
leaving Earth.
You stand up, "You can't just go waltzing in there alone.
Springback and I..."
"Can stay here. Where I'm safe!!" snapped Bladewing
with considerable venom in his voice, "You brought me along for just such
work. You are a warrior, a tactician! He... he is a rabbit!
I'll be far safer alone than with you taggin on my heels."
Skyjammer holds his hands up, "Look, I see both of your points, but if we
send one out, then the chances for his being destroyed, and the rest of us never
finding out is multiplied by a thousand."
Zabgoth shrugs, "Yah, well why should any of us sit on our carburetors
then?"
You shake your head, "We'll be most effective in two teams.
You, the Lieutenant , and Skyjammer can be one. Me, Bladewing, and
Springback can be the other."
"Whoa!" The little Maximal rabbit protested, "Why do I get
to go on this party?! I wasn't the one who got volunteered for this
suicide run!!"
You grab him by the scruff, "Because you are a Maximal.
And the peace and health of Cybertron is a load that you must bear!"
Bonecrusher claps his hands, "Bravo, bravo, bravo... Touching and sincere,
but I still think your plan has a problem."
You glare across the room at the hefty Bonecrusher, "And that is?"
"Well, seems to me that you've lost one of your numbers already."
"What?" You glance around, as do you... for the first time
realizing that Bladewing has disappeared.
"HAH!" Zabgoth laughs, "Looks like the old razor head is the
most suicidal of us all!"
The Lieutenant jumps up and heads for the door, "He couldn't be far.
I can catch up to him!"
"You?!?" You grimace.
"Me! You'll have to trust me. I figured a way to trace him,
but I have to stay near to him. My tank will make sure of that!"
Cybertron: The Ranch
Skyjammer quickly radios to the tank as the Lietenant's hoverjets set into
action, "Okay Lieutenant, find him and cover him. The rest of us
will wait for a call from you then decide how we are going to deploy."
You look up to find another smoke trail from Zabgoth, you hear him
cry, "I'm goin' too. The fleshy needs some backup!"
"Wait! Zab..." Skyjammer yells.
You snatch up Springback who gives off a small squeal. Quickly you
transform into car mode, tossing the greenish rabbit onto your hood, "Wait
for me!"
However, you feel Skyjammer reach out and grab you as you tried to pull off,
"NO! Hold your wheels, Lightslayer!"
You transform, anger flashing in your sensors, "What gives! You're
not the commander here! Only on the ship!"
Bonecrusher steps up and puts his hand on your shoulder, "Calm
down. The jet-bots right. if you go now, you risk splitting the
group into three or more segments."
"But Zabgoth...!"
"Zab's never made the best decisions, but he's crazy enough to survive
most of them. He'll be ok." The hefty Maximal looks over at
Skyjammer, "But it might not hurt to catch up with him as soon as
possible."
Skyjammer groans, "So you think we should go after them too?!"
"No, not exactly. You've sent in one team. It's up to them to
survive now. My money bet is you'd best find another way to get in.
I was fixin' tah offer it at any rate."
"Another way?!"
"Yup. Y'see if they hadn't been so all-fired to run off, they'da
found out that I run shipments of beef in every week."
You jump in, seeing where he was heading, "Then we can hop a shipment...
Sneak in!"
"It'll be a little hardern' that."
The small Maximal, done dusting himself off from where you had tossed him
around, gave off a huff, "You could SAY that! I mean they've got
border guards at every port! Why if I didn't know..." he cut off
suddenly.
"Didn't know what?" you scoop the small Maximal up by the scruff of
his neck.
"Nothin' Nothing!"
Skyjammer pulls a large rifle and places it to the small, fuzzy rabbit's
head, "Let me explain something, rabbit. He's a Maximal, just like
you. So chances are he won't scrap you. However... I'm an ex-Con,
and I'd just as soon shove this blaster down your throat on full output as I
would to use it to slowly char every bit of flesh off of that furry Maximal
butt of yours."
Springback gives off a scared
laugh and a shrugg, "I kinda hacked a code to interfere with those tank
drone border guards...?"
Cybertron:
The Ranch
Skyjammer stares at the small Maximal for a second. You swore you could
here circuits blow out from his CPU, "SO WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SOMETHING
EARLIER!?!?!"
The Maximal was at this point obviously shaking, "No one asked...?"
Skyjammer snatches him out of your claw, "Look, rabbit, I want that
code so I can open up a hole for Zab and the Lieutenant.
NOW!!!"
"It doesn't work that well, it only has about a ten meter effectiveness!"
You speak up, "If we can send them a signal, then at least they'd have to
code to use."
Skyjammer looks up, "The equipment on the Crusader can get them a pulse
signal, nothing big, something short that no one should be able to pick
up. Line of sight crap, but we gotta move!"
The next few cycles were a scene of madness, Skyjammer had Springback on a
console, downloading the code into a small databank for upload to the
Crusader. He was busy onboard the ship, booting the systems and priming
the antennae array for safety measures. You didn't want a Decepticon
force to overhear what was said, and you sure didn't want to tip them off to
Zabgoth's and the Lieutenant's positions.
The loudspeaker squealed, "Lightslayer, how's the rabbit doing?"
"It's ready, I'm bringing it up!" you yell as you snatch the data
disk out of the small computer Springback was holding. You transformed to
cat mode and leapt up the rampway with a clatter of claws.
You
tossed a small disk up to Skyjammer's chair, which he deftly snatched and
slammed into the control panel.
"Here goes... This is Skyjammer! Don't reply to the
message, don't risk it, but I hope you do get this. I'm sending the
encoding for a frequency and a signal that will gain you a temporary advantage
over the drones of the city. I hope it helps you. It will only be
effective on close range, and I'm not sure for how long. Apparently
Springback was holding back on us a bit. Good luck guys, Skyjammer
out."
With a sigh, he cut the signal.
You sat panting below, "Well, that's that."
He frowns, "That's that. Either they got it or they
didn't. Either way, it's not likely we'll get in touch with them for
quite some time."
You
transform, "Then what do you think? You, me, Springback.
We hitch a ride on one of Bonecrusher's 'shipments' and into town?"
He sighed again, "I don't like leaving the ship here. But I
doubt I could sneak IT past the border guard."
"We can make it, and the three of us and start to search the city for
whatever is making these drones." You sat down, crossing
your arms.
He
stares around, "Then I guess we'd best load up some gadgetry from the
back..."
Cybertron:
The Crusader-1
Skyjammer looks back and points to the weapons door. He taps a button on his control panel and the door slides open slowly. The fluorescent lights flicker and then turn on. "Grab ANYTHING you need. I'll bring the ECM Jammer and a few Chaff Grenades just for safe measure. Move Out"
The two of you rifle through the weapons collection. Skyjammer pulls a
small ECM module and a string of grenades. You pick up a small personal
shielding unit, an extra heavy rifle, and a bandoleer of grenades,
mini-mines, and explosive throwing shuriken.
"You know half of this stuff is illegal in twelve solar
systems." you comment as you spot some cerebral implants.
Skyjammer shrugs, "Hey, when you fight for someone's army, they very
rarely care how you get the job done."
"Hmph, the business must be good..."
"It keeps me in shape."
Going below, the two of you pick out a pair of hover sleds. They
had some armament capabilities, not to mention storage packs, that would make
things easier to deal with. As you attached the heavy rifle, and
stow the mines and grenades, Skyjammer popped open the rear of the ship to
allow the sleds to glide out. Bonecrusher and Springback were there,
watching the proceedings.
Springback looked at the equipment,"Hey! How come I don't get
anything neat?"
Skyjammer glares at him, "Because you didn't bother to tell us what we
needed."
You shrug, "Don't worry, your job is to get us around, out job is to
handle the trouble. I picked this up to, Skyjammer..." You pull
out a small hand held contraption.
"A signal booster?"
"Yeah. Figured maybe it'll give us a bit of an expanded range for
that drone signal Springback gave us."
"Good thinking." Skyjammer turns to Bonecrusher, "Well?"
The brown shaggy Maximal crossed his arms, "Well, we'll leave in the
morning. I'm delivering a shipment of carcasses to lower
Cybertropolis. Two long hover cargos. They're over 'n the southeast
quadrant of the Ranch, near one of the pens. Gonna go slaughter 'em and
load tonight."
The cargo ships would be long, trainlike cars with small fore ship
controllers.
You begin to think about what would be the best way to head in with them...
Cybertron: The Ranch
The next
morning you went out and surveyed the two cargo ships. They were beat up
and rusty, and the smell of cold, raw meat hung in the air around them.
Skyjammer
sighed, "Bonecrusher will drive one and Springback will drive the
other."
Bonecrusher snorts, "If it's all the same, I'll have my man, Armordillo
drive the other. The fuzzy rabbit can lay low in the back with you
boys."
Springback
nods enthusiastically, "Hiding is good. I can hide real well!"
"Ok," the camouflaged mercenary looked at the two sleds, "The
ECM Jammer will be on the whole time. Lightslayer, you hide in one of the
cargo ships, and I'll take the other. You can keep the rabbit with
you."
The orange
plated Armordillo came over from where he was finishing programming the
refrigeration units, "What if the Border Guard does get a bit antsy?"
he asks in an odd accent.
"Send
them around back. We'll take 'em out and try to sneak in."
You
shake your head, "If we take them out, then it's not likely we'll be
able to just sneak around at that point. But if they do come around back,
and they are drones, we can try to use the signal to make them 'turn a blind
eye' towards us."
"Good
point." Skyjammer agreed, "Hopefully the jammers will be enough,
but if we get into a major battle, I want Springback to return to the ranch and
get everyone else."
Armordillo
helped you load the sleds into the chilled compartments among the racks of
massive slabs of meat.
"It'll be a bit' chilly, but you boy's should be fine."
You and
Springback enter the meat car, the chilly air making your fur bristle.
The smell of the racks of meat was on some level, tantalizing. You
hunkered down on the sled, making yourself as comfortable as possible.
Springback crouched in the darkness, his eyes wide with terror at the macabre
surroundings.
You lean
back and rest your optics for a bit, the ride would take some time...
Several
megacycles later, you became aware of the heavy hover cars sliding to a
halt.
Outside,
you knew that Bonecrusher and Armordillo would be talking to the guards.
You tried
to listen, but couldn't hear a noise. The thick walled
refrigeration units were too well built to allow any noise to enter.
You wait,
Springback cowering in the corner, shivering from fear.
Cycles
went by, and still the cars didn't move.
Then a
screeching noise ripped through your audio circuits, and a sense of vertigo
overcame you as the car toppled sideways. Light poured through
colored black with smoke as you realize that someone was using the car as target
practice.
"Move!"
You grab
Springback and push him towards the rear as you activated the
sled. The small Maximal hurriedly operated the rear doors, throwing
them wide open. You burst out amidst the sounds of battle going on.
You were
surrounded by huge silvery-blue tank-bots, that you assume are the tank
drones. They were hulking monstrosities atop treadlike feet ,
with huge tri-pronged cannons sitting on their shoulders.
Four of
them were standing around the car.
With them
stood a large white Decepticon jet. He immediately disappeared from
sight in a flash of purple energy.
Quickly,
you tossed a few grenades down into the remnants of the car. It exploded
in a flash of blinding light.
Stampy
leaped off of the sled, but was immediately caught up in the grasp of a
blue colored Decepticon of some kind. Looking around, you realized that
there were several others of similar make, floating without legs around the
battlesite. They too must be some kind of drones... aerodrones.
You fired
a blast from your shoulder cannon, but the drone absorbed the blast and bolted
away quickly.
From
directly behind you, there was a strange crackling, and suddenly, two arms were
around you, grappling you tightly.
"Ok,
kittycat! The boss wants to know how you managed to get a control
frequency on his drones, so you're coming back with me... alive!"
You snarl,
"Oh, I'll stay alive! But how about you!" with that you
tossed your weight forward, kicking downward with your powerful legs. The
sled toppled over, throwing you both off, tumbling toward the ground. You
spun, to put the robot between you and impact, and transformed into cat
mode.
Unfortunately, there was another crackle of energy and the robot 'shield' you
had made disappeared.
You hit
the ground with a thud, you legs absorbing a lot of the shock, but you were a
bit stunned.
You begin
to shake it off, when a huge arm comes hurtling through the air towards
you. You leap back as the Tank drone smashes it's goliathan arm into the road.
Leaping up
it, you raked across his face with our sharp claws. They ripped apart the
face visor, and shattered the solitary, red optic, sending the tankbot
staggering backward. You dug in and prepared for the deathblow, when you
heard a humming noise from behind.
You
glanced to look, and saw another tank drone, his cannon glowing with
energy. You leaped, but an instant too late. The tank drone below
you was ripped to shreds in the explosion, and you were tossed back like a
ragdoll.
Your
optics blurred and faded out...
"Transmetal Two..." came the deep voice, "And here we thought
that you're kind was so... rare, Iguanus."
"Apparently, there were Maximal labs that were researching the data as
well, Lord Clench."
You open bleary
optics to a painful world of light. You were held, suspended in the midst
of a mass of wires. The mass of wires was part of a thick column in the
center or, what you assumed, was a round room. The part that you
could see was curved, and had tall windows that looked out... out into space,
and down on Cybertron.
"And
what of the others?"
The
hissing voice of Iguanus answered, "The Maximals were all captured, and
the non-denominational robot was terminated."
"Very
well."
You locked
onto the source of the voices. The deep one was a tall, black
Decepticon. He had highlights on his armor of neon greens. The
other bot was considerably smaller, and a Transmetal II, like you. He was
multicolored and had an odd 'skirt' of metal blades.
The
smaller one... Iguanus? looks up at you, noticing your optics, "Ah, I see
he is awake, Lord Clench."
You force
a scratchy voice to answer, "Where... where am I?"
The tall
one's eyes glint with amusement, "Welcome to the Warworld, Maximal."
The Warworld
Warm darkness surrounded you in a womb of torment.
Constantly, thick tentacles surged and slid across your torn frame, sending
jolts of pain as if they were lashes of energy against your fur.
But the physical pain was irrelevant.
You knew now that there are pains that are far, far worse than any
physical.
For days now, every atom of your mind had turned through an
incendiary torrent as billions and billions of tertrabytes of data constantly
roared through your matrices.
Nothing was left that was your own.
Not even your very spark could possibly still exist within your tormented
carcass.
Now you were one with what you had foolishly thought was simply the Warworld.
--Wargod...--
That was his name. That was who had begun it all... Who even now tugged
at the strings of the planet you had once thought may become your home.
He made the whole of the very Matrix dance like puppets in a twisted play that
would culminate in only one final outcome.
Who was he?
He was that which came to being from what remained of the very gods. And
now, he himself was becoming a god.
This Warworld was his womb, and his body.
You had seen the beginnings... Centuries before when the Matrix had merged
with the Warworld, and with a Decepticon named Starscream. Starscream
gave up the power that could have been his, and the matrix was returned to it's
rightful protector. All had thought the Warworld was returned to a
lifeless hull.
But the seed remained.
Centuries later, a rebuilt Warwold returned to where it had first touched all
that was.
And there, it again was merged with a power that would change it forever.
The massive horn of the Dark god Unicron was mounted, and with it, came the
first glimmering spark of life. The energies of two gods merged and
congealed, and so Wargod was conceived.
Now he grew, now he controlled, an soon he would eradicate your race, ending
that which the gods started eons past.
You stood before the tidal wave of his power, awed and stupefied by your
helplessness... overwhelmed by the cataclysmic power of the new god.
Now, battered and weak, something calls to you.
You twist, grappling with feeds of information that screamed past you in an incomprehensible
babble.
A face emerges, as seen through a hundred eyes. A face that some part of
you recognizes.
--Zabgoth?!--
A lifeless chant of hundreds of toneless, emotionless voices answered your
thought.
--Orders. Terminate.--
--NO!--
--Orders. Terminate.--
Drones. The voices were those of drones, of many drones. And
Zabgoth was their intended target. You struggled, twisting and turning
data as if it were a tangible mass of confusion between your hands.
--Orders. Terminate.--
You could feel the heat from their weapons as they powered up, hear the
clicking of their target locks as they zoned in on the Destron.
--Nononono....--
You grab for something, anything... your mind coalescing for the first
time in days.
--Orders. Terminate.--
--ORDERS CANCEL!--
Everything fades, the pain, the heat, the data....
Faintly you think you hear something as white unconsciousness sets in.
--Orders. Cancelled.--
"You of all people can stop this, you know." the voice, warm
and wise, greeted you as you opened your optics.
Around you stood the school yard. It's towers stretching high into the
yellowish skies of Karil.
The large red and white robot leaned on his heavy sword as he looked down at
you.
Off above the outer walls you could see a few of the new arrivals practice
their flight modes... none too gracefully they were colliding with themselves
and the very wall.
"Hah!" another voice, gravely and harsh, you turn to see a cat of a slightly
larger stature than yourself basking in the warmth of Karil's noontime star,
"He lacks the will."
"Huhn?" was all you manage to say, you couldn't remember what the two
elder teachers had been discussing with you.
The feline Rampage snorted, "He's nothing more than an untrained
kitten."
The tall Star Sabre gave a patient gesture for the other teachers silence,
"That's not true. Lightslayer what do you think? What have
your travels shown you about yourself."
"Shown me?" you vaguely remember the journey, the
discoveries... the discoveries! "They've shown me that I am merely a
composite of separate lives and memories?"
But whose memories, whose lives... you struggled to remember. Why was
everything so hard right now!?
Rampage growled.
"No!" you forestalled his reply, "I've learned that I'm NOT a
composite... that I am what I choose to be!"
An odd bird swooped low, landing on a branch nearby. You looked at it's
blue feathers and purple wings, distracted by it's sudden appearance.
"Then why do you believe that there is a situation that there is no remedy
for? Why do you give up in your fight?" Rampage stood up, stretching
and glaring at the odd bird, the look of hunger in his optics.
"There are powers that even the strongest among us can not fight!"
you defend, dimly aware of some simulation exercise, something that had been
unfair.... something that Prime himself couldn't have one!
This time a sharp rebuke came from Star Sabre, "No! That is where
you fail! There are forces you can not hope to win against, but
there is nothing that you can not fight against!"
"But..." you felt certain that the argument had just been proven
final, but you struggled to see where your point had been shattered.
Rampage looked back from where he watched the bird, "We are all part of
each other. When one of us fights, it must be for the whole, not for the
simplistic needs of personal survival. Where you may die, your sacrifice
may lead others to succeed."
"So I have to sacrifice myself whenever I'm in danger?!"
"Life is full of such sacrifices, but to simply allow and accept death as
a possibility does not make it a piece of your future."
Something in your mind twitched. You jump as you feel a sharp static jolt
across your fur, as if some kind of electrical wire just slid across your side.
Shaking it off, "You look back up at the sky... it had turned red, and the
flyers were no where to be seen."
"Hey... what..." you look back down, and stop when you realize that
your teachers had disappeared. As you look around, you realize that the
school was suddenly in shambles. Buildings that seconds before had stood
proud and tall, now lay in a shattered jumble. The only thin that
remained was the tree... and the bird.
"You know, they are right." came an old, wizened voice from the
bird... no wait, there wasn't a bird, there was some odd robot sitting on the
branch. He was blue and purple, with a long mustache and goatee, and a
flowing purple robe.
"Where..."
"Or should I say that you are right? It hardly matters does
it."
"Who...?"
"My name is Alpha Trion, and you Lightslayer are due for a terrible
awakening. You are at the center of a cataclysmic ending to all that we
have striven to create."
"War..."
"Yes, the War to end all wars. He shall come like an angle of death
and sweep aside our people, our planet, and from there... he will spread
out to become as great a threat as Unicron ever was."
"How can I defeat him."
"You can't."
You shake your head, the feelings of despair crowding in from nowhere.
Then, with a snap, their hold was shattered.
Off in the distance a low roar of thunder rolled across the plains of
Karil. Slowly, you raised your head to where the robot had sat. Him
and the tree were gone, but it no longer mattered, "I can't defeat it....
but I can fight it."
Energy rushed over you coating you in a wave of pain that you fought through to
scream...
"ZABGOTH!!!!!!"
The
Warworld
Your mind coalesces. You become aware of Zabgoth... there... out there...
--Where am I?!?--
"Hold on Slayer!" You hear him yell, you see him, through a distorted
haze... you realize that there was some strange barrier in between you.
You see the dark maroon robot pull his hammer, bringing it down with a
resounding ring on the shielding that was there.
But nothing happened... it merely bounced off as if he had hit the shield with
a feather.
You look around, seeing the monstrosity that you were entangled within.
Your head and shoulders hung out of a massive column of writhing cords...
tentacle-like wires that held you fast, and suspended you far above the
Destron.
You felt a surge of power pass through you as his eyes glittered menacingly in
anger at the shield.
Green energy surged around his hammer... and as it did so, you could feel the
anger within him rising...
He roared and smashed the hammer down against the shield again, but still no
effect.... or rather....
You could feel everything that was happening... the hammer hit, and you knew it
cracked the shield, but at the same moment... the power... Zabgoth's
anger! it fed off of it and rebuilt the shield as quickly as it broke!
Your mind raced... something about what had been running through your mind as
you had been trapped.. something about anger... you sensed every scrap of
energy generated from the anger of the Decepticon armies.... the Warworld...
Wargod... felt the anger, fed off of it... and then returned power to those he
chose to tenfold.... That was how the Decepticons were so strong...
You still were receiving feed lines from the Warworld... from them you could
sense all nature of things happening....
Far above, Clench, the leader of the Decepticons had left the harness control
for the drones, and now fought against a group of Destrons. The Wargod
didn't care. You could feel it's amusement as the Cybertronians fought.
You hear a roar from below, and look to see Zabgoth push another Destron down,
his eyes glittered with madness and anger. The Warworld was trying to
take him over... you could feel the threads of his anger, and the power of
Wargod as he reached out to him, entwining the unsuspecting Destron with it's
maddening embrace.
"ZAB! STOP!" You roared.
He stopped in mid swing, heaving with anger.
"LISTEN! YOU HAVE TO FIGHT DOWN THE ANGER! THE WARWORLD IS FEEDING
OFF OF IT!!!!"
You weren't sure if your plea would truly break the maelstrom that surrounded
your friend. Your mind raced looking for other options...
The
Warworld
You struggled feebly against the wiring as it tried to drag you back into the column.
"CLEAR YOUR MIND ZAB!!" you weren't getting through. You could see the sheer anger in his eyes, and could feel the Warworld itself feeding his fires, supercharging it.
The other Transformer that was with him jumped on him, tried to pin him down, but it was no good. Zabgoth only tossed him like he was made of aluminum!
The tall brimstone Destron spun toward the lifeless drones around him. His engine was smoking violently, blue white flames coming from the exhaust pipes! He growled a guttural growl and jumped on the nearest, ripping into it with hammer and hand!
--This isn't working...--
You try transforming, shifting into cat mode and slashing at the wires, but you were too weak.. as you gnawed on the stinging wires, you felt them wrap around your jaw, pulling it apart with a sickening crack. Pain shoots through your head as you feel the lower jaw slacken and separate with a shower of acrid sparks. More tentacles wrapped around, pulling you deeper into the core of the column.
--If I can't fight it this way, maybe I can do something else...--
You allowed yourself to submerge into the electric cold of the column, letting your mind again merge with the maelstrom of chaos.
The thread of madness that fed Zabgoth's anger became apparent. It now looked like a thick cord that convulsed with a hyperspastic energy, twitching and writhing in a dance of delight as it transferred Zabgoths anger.
You stretched out with your consciousness, a small beacon against the terrible storm of chaos, reaching for the line and grabbing hold of it.
The madness seemed to feed into you and around you... strengthening you with a sickening power.
Power that you used to snap the line.
As it receded you sank away, releasing the flailing, dying tendricle of power.
--Now to free myself...--
You could feel the power waning, but perhaps you could do something before it tried to negate your existence completely.
You found the shielding.... but everything was becoming blurry. You lashed out, in desperation shutting all shields off on board the Warworld.
Your mind weakened and faltered, drowning into oblivion...
Then cold air stung your exposed wires as you felt something ripping free around you, "Hold on Slayer! I'ze got you!"
You feel a jerk on your body, "PITTSUCKIN TENTACLES, LET GO!!!" Zabgoth yells.
You hear the sounds of several laser blasts as you pull free and feel a sudden freefall, tumbling over on the ground below in a pile with Zabgoth.
"GaWHRUHAH!" the Destron bellowed, "GOTIM!"
"Just in time, look..." you hear another voice say, "The shields are back up!"
"Bwah! Was gonna get to throw in a few kicks befoe we left... ah well... Whoa, Slayer, you look like pipe cleanings!"
You painfully open a static filled optic, "Don't... feel.. great... either..." you were back in robot mode, though you didn't recall Maximizing...
"Heh... can you walk?"
"Yeah, I think..." you push up on shaky legs, catching a reflection on a computer screen at the base of the massive column.
You did look bad. Most of your face plate was cracked and missing, even in bot mode, your cybernetic skull leering out from beneath it. Your fur was gone, leaving ripped and shredded flesh, the transmetal was scuffed and dented badly, and one arm was missing completely. Wires hung loose from your chest, below the cracked crystal that HAD held your sigil...
The other bot was a thick communications bot of some sort, you could barely see through your optical glitches though.
"Ok... how about we get outta here."
"Hah! First I gotta score to settle!"Zab turns and starts walking across the catwalk that lead out to the center of the large room, "Let's find the bridge of this joint. Me and whoever survived are gonna tussle!"
You began limping after, but halfway across a low, mechanical voice filled the air, "Targets reacquired."
You hear the spinning sound of the tank drones cannons as they powered up...
The Warworld
Zabgoth gave you shove onto Deadcirtuit's back, "Get outta the way, boyz!" he yelled as Deadcircuit transformed and began to rise above the drones.
He charged them, smashing one and ducking as another blasted it's frined, but even as he did it, the fire blasts began to streak past you. Deadcircuit started to evade as best he could, and you slid down, keeping a low profile, and trying, in vein to bring some kind of weapon systems online.
"I'm too weak!"
"We are definitely at a tactical disadvantage. I believe the probability of our escaping this situation is slight."
"Great, any good news?" you leaned over to see the doorway blocked by four tank drones.
Zabgoth was taking another drone out, after transforming to his flight-car mode and firing a volley of missiles, but then, one of the drones hit him, knocking him out of the air.
You couldn't see where he landed, but you did see the drones fire a barrage at him.
"Crap... we..."
Then there was a loud explosion and smoke from the shut doors, a thick, fury foot kicked in the door and you heard the sound of two guns being cocked in unison.
Before the drones by the door could turn, two of them fell forward with smoking holes in thier backs, and another staggered as his head was smashed by a thickly spiked ball.
In the smoke behind them stood Bonecrusher and his ranch-hand, Armordillo.
Bonecrusher's two shotgun-blasters were smoking from the blasts, and Armordillo was pulling his spiked weapon free of the drone's face, and firing with a blaster gun at another.
"You boys need some help!" yelled the thick bodied Maximal.
You hear Zabgoth laugh, "It's hammer time..."
Soon the fight was finished, and nothing but scrap was left of the drones. You took a moment to collect yourselves...
"Slayer... I got these...." Zabgoth pulled out some undamaged powerpacks, and unsling the large rotary cannons he was carrying, "Think you could use them?"
You grin wickedly, "If Deadcircuit can help me install them!"
Deadcircuit looked at the pieces and then around at the other drones, "I believe there is sufficient material around here to properly contruct a weapon suit for you."
"Sufficient mateeriaal?" Armordillo grinned, "Let's just say I got a roll of duct tape and a tool case in my shell... we'll have you fixed up in no time, kid!"
As the two began disasembling the powerpacks and quickly sautering together some outer armor, you sit back... enjoying the fresh infusion of energon. You hear Bonecrusher and Zabgoth talk, "Whoha... you guys turned up in the nick... where'd you come from?" Zabgoth asked.
"Slaggin'st thing." the massive bison-bot scratched a horn, "We were locked up down below, when suddenly, the shielding just blinked out. We didn't bother to waste the time to ask why, we just took off, found our weapons, and figured we'd do some damage before we bolted. Wasn't a bot in the halls, so we figured there must be somethin' tyin' up the drones."
"Bah! The drones were trying to tie US up..."
"I dunno, seems like there should be a lot more drones here..."
"There may be, up top, but now that we got a few extra guns... what say we go and see what damage we can do before we leave?"
Bonecrusher grinned, "Sounds like it's time for a good ol' fashion' bar-be-que..."
The
Warworld
You stand, flexing the massive arm of the exosuit that they had rigged for you.
"It's kinda bulky..."
"You wanna let those slaggers nail your spark to the wall? Remember, you got a exposed core that make a purty target for a drone!" Armordillo slammed a panel shut on the armor.
You smile, your cyberskull leering from the shattered faceplate, "Don't get me wrong, I like it!" you activate the weapons systems, and two heavy cannons lowered down over the back, spinning in readiness.
The suit was a stripped out Tank Drone, with you nestled inside of it's struts, and two cannons and three separate power packs hooked to it. It was also plated with some stripped armor that was still fairly whole after the battle.
You roll forward, it's loud, but solid.
Soon, the group was on the move.
Quickly, you made your way through the hallways of the warworld. Zabgoth stayed at the lead, Bonecrusher at his side. Armordillo and Deadcircuit stayed in the middle, and you took up the rear.
It was impossible to stay quiet, the struts on your suit made sure of that. Besides, it just didn't seem to be in Bonecrusher's or in Armordillo's nature to be quiet.
"So..." the thick, burly Maximal continued talking at full volume, "You're thinkin' we can get a few licks in on Clench, maybe even take down this station while we're here?! You got some chrome ball bearin's you know, Zab?"
"Bah, this place is emp..."
Zabgoth stops walking suddenly, intently listening to something.
"What is it, Zab?" Bonecrusher asked.
"We got problems. The alarms been raised."
"And so are my weapons!" you heard a new voice as a thick robot stepped around the corner On his shoulder spun a huge Gattling weapon, "Now, die!"
The cannon let loose with a firestorm of bullets. At the same moment, panels on his chest opened, firing a barrage of mini-missiles, and acid pellets.
You turn, taking on the first wave of firepower. The exosuit and it's vehicon armoring absorbed some of it, but you still feel the force of it and are knocked back as the destructive wave tears up the walls around you. Armordillo grabs you pulling you back, "Armordillo! BEAST MODE!" The orangish Maximal converts into a thick hided armadillo, throwing himself into the path of the weapons, "Bonecrusher! GET HIM!"
Bonecrusher's two shotguns were in hand with an ominous click. There was a loud blast as they fired in unison. Zabgoth's hammer was already in hand, and even Deadcircuit had a thick pistol out and was firing at the Decepticon warrior.
The hallway filled with explosions and smoke.
As it cleared, you could see the Decepticon tearing off down the hallways.
"Grah!" Zab throws his hammer, sending it roaring after him, but it only slammed into a wall as he turned a corner in a cloud of dust.
"Get him!" roared Zabgoth.
"Wait!" Bonecrusher was leaning over Armordillo, "He's hurt, hurt bad!"
Zab looks questioningly over at you, but you just shake your head, "I'm ok, this armor really is tough!"
You had a few extra scratches and one panel was now loose, but it had absorbed a fantastic amount of punishment!
Deadcircuit looked at Armordillo, "His armor is shredded, and his internals are exposed, without a CR... plus..." the robot stood to look at you, "If we chase after that Decepticon we may not get him to help, or get to the control room before the rest of the Decepticons arrive."
The Warworld
Zabogth looks up from Armordillo's charred body, "Ok, here's what we'll do... Deadcircuit, you take Armordillo back to the Medusae. Me, 'Crusher, and 'Slayer will head after this Vulcan fella..."
Deadcircuit nods and hoists the wounded Maximal over his shoulder.
Bonecrusher snorts, "What'll we do once we hogtie the tank-bot?"
Zabgoth sneers, "He's gotta know something about this place... perhaps even the keys we need to get into Clench's chambers."
You add, "Then let's get going. He's got a few cycles head start to hide out there... and we might want to be cautious... after all, he's got homeground advantage here."
Zab nods in agreement, "No doubt." he moves to the end of the hallway, retrieving his hammer from the wall, "Bonecrusher, you think you can find him?"
The burly Maximal transforms into his Bison mode, sniffing the ground, "I'm no bloodhound, but it looks like at least one of us hit 'im... he's left a bit of a grease smell on the floors.
"Good... let's go then..."
You quickly and silently make your way through the halls. As you sit pressed against a sidewall, waiting for Bonecrusher to scout out another path, Zabgoth turns to you, "So kitty... what happened while you were in there?"
Your mind swims with the memory of pain, and with the enormity of the terror that you had seen, "I...It's a long story.... suffice it to say that we might want to destroy this place if at all possible..."
Bonecrusher motions from the hall, you see that he had transformed and was now pressed against the wall beside a doorway.
With a motion, he pointed at the greasy smear on the ground.
Zabgoth nods in understanding. The Decepticon Vulcan had gone into that room.
As Zab throws himself to the other side of the door, you move out to where he would have a clear shot of the doorway.
Zab looks at you both and nods.
There is the low humming of the rotary cannons on your shoulders as they began to spin. Both fire in unison at the door, jerking you a bit with the recoil, and ripping through the metal doorway with shattering force!
Bonecrusher spins around ready to fire his shotguns, but a hail of bullets fly out of the ruined doorway, slamming the Maximal back against the wall, his chestplate torn apart! He rolled to the side, smoking badly from the wounds.
You quickly fired again, locking onto the source of the firestorm. Your blast flew into the room , but then something rushed out in the aftermath.
In the hazy smoke, it was difficult to see what was happening, but there were several grunts as Zabgoth and the attacker wrestled together. Then with a ripping sound, you see one of them stagger backward. Not sure who was who, you fire a blast in-between, separating them for a moment, and illuminating them in a bright corona.
You could see that Zabgoth had sustained a serious wound to his throat. But one of your blasts had again hit the Decepticon! You see the molten flare of metal on his leg as it is hit!
The Decepticon didn't even pause, but rather unleashed a blind hail of bullets into the hallway toward's Zabgoth's position. You hear the squeal of tires underlying the racket, and see the dark vehicle form of Zabgoth roll out and slam into Vulcan's legs.
The Big Tank-bot didn't even flinch, and both were instantly lost in the haze of smoke!
There is a loud ringing noise... you would guess from Zabgoth's hammer, but still you could only make out vague shapes in the smoke.
You hear the tank bot roar, and quickly there follows Zab's own, "....................AAAAAAAHHHH!!!"
At that moment, you could see the broad back of the Decepticon. He was hoisting Zabgoth into the air, in some kind of bear hug... sparks were flying out from where he had Zabgoth!
You fire.
Two holes igniting in his back, and they both drop to the ground.
Stepping forward, you lean down and grab up the Decepticon in one of the exosuit's large claws, "Got 'im."
"Thanks.." Zabgoth wheezes, "you still owe me a few more though." he stand up, rivers of axle grease dripping down through some jagged rips in his arms. He turns and calls out, "Bonecrusher?"
"I'm functional, but slag that hurt!" you see the massive, shaggy bison shuffle around in the smoke filled hallway, "I might be stuck in beast mode for a few cycles."
You laugh, "This was a tough friggin Decepticon... I've never seen anything like it... look at this, I hit him with five out of the eight shots!"
You look at the smoking con, who was even now twitching with the slow return of consciousness. Indeed, there were massive holes straight through his armor and circuits. Zabgoth snorts, "I hit him with at least two solid blows as well... Barely even slowed him!"
"He's slowed now." Bonecrusher comments, "Best disconnect that gun completely before he wakes up."
You raise the other exo-arm over to pluck a few wires deftly from the Decepticons badly damaged weapon, "That should do it. He may still have missiles though."
Zab looks where he had previously seen missiles launch from. For each panel, he slams his hammer into the bot, denting them enough to jam them without some repair time,"Let's hope that holds him." he grins.
Bonecrusher nods,"Ok, now, the only problem is that the only two tech heads just went back to the ship. How are we gonna get what we need outta him?"
Zabgoth grins, "You forget crusher, my specialty is Psychological Warfare." He pull open a small panel, drawing out a connector wire from it, " Gimme a few minutes and we'll know all we need to..."
The Warworld
After a few segments Zabgoth stands, disgusted. He rolled the connection wire back up from the Decepticon's CPU, "That's it. He knows nothing."
You hoist the body over your shoulder, "We're taking too much damage right now. We have to get back to the ship and regroup before we try and tackle destroying this place."
"Ok, let's go..."
"Zabgoth!" a strange echo reverberates through the hallway as something black drops down in front of you.
Zabgoth transforms to robot mode, skidding to a halt before plowing headlong into whatever it is!
"What the...." he gasps, getting a look at the black armored creature.
His head, wings and arms were made of a skeletal bone, running with wires pumping blue and red liquids! A single red optic sat in the center of his skull, above some impressive fangs...
"Zabgoth, " it repeats, "It's me, Bladewing!"
Stepping forward, you interrupt, "Bladewing?"
Zabgoth shakes his head, "What are you doing here!?"
"I've been trying to find you! Some Destron's in control up here now... his name is... Gigororna or something."
"Gigano!"
"Yes. He has already done our job of displacing the Decepticon leader, but has assumed control with the intent no better than Clench's had been."
You drops the body of the Decepticon to the ground, "Our job?! If your still with us, what happened to the Lieutenant? We sent him after you... as the rest of us came looking as well!"
"I... I am the lieutenant as well... I'm not sure I can explain.. we've been... reformatted into one being." you recognize the echoing voice... it was a mix of Bladewing and the Lieutenant... and something else.
"Then you never really left the team?" Zab asks, confused.
"Left? What the pit are you talking about?! We're here to destroy this ship... right?!"
You smile, "Then welcome back... both of you? We're heading back to the Warworld with this pile of scrap to throw him in stasis and then we're going to do our best to make sure this pit is destroyed."
The black, monster-bot nodded, "Then let's go... this place is none to safe, even with the lack of Decepticons around!"
Soon, you are back in the hangar bay. Drones lay about, slagged and melted, Most likely from these Destron's assault before you landed. You, Zabgoth , Bladewing, and Bonecrusher carefully stepped out, making your way quickly across the bay to where the Medusae sat.
Then, the spotlight hit you.
"Please hold position for identification." a computer generated voice asked pleasantly.
Of course, the pleasantness was lost a bit with the sound of the Medusae's guns swiveling around to lock on you all as targets.
The Warworld: The hangar bay
You squint into the bright lights coming from the Medusae. Quickly you power up your weapons and whisper, "I'll distract them by launching a few rounds... you guys take out the launchers..."
Holding up a forestalling hand Zabgoth quickly mutters, "Wait... let's not do anything rash. After all, that's the ship I was planning on using to get us out of here!"
You look over at him, "Good choice, I don't suppose we could just steal a shuttle?"
Shaking his head violently he address' the ship, "If you're inclined to help me kill some Destrons, then I'm not the kind of guy you want to slag."
There is a pause, then a new voice address your party, a female one, "Zabgoth, eh? I think we do hold a common enemy. Board quickly and I will meet you in the hold."
The lights shut off and the missile launchers power down. Turning Zabgoth shrugs, "See? Violence doesn't solve every problem."
Bonecrusher snorts and trundles past you, "That's rich comin' from the Mad Bastard..."
Inside the hold, you find a Decepticon waiting for your entrance. She was thin and smoothly built, all in black with an obviously jet-build transformation. Her gun was held loosley in her hand as she watched you dispassionately from a featurless face, save for two jet black optics.
"Greetings," she starts in a cool voice, "My name is Spectre."
Zabgoth seems to have heard of her as he adds, "You were the captain of this ship!"
"Indeed. The Destrons took it from me and left me stranded on Earth. I came here through a spacebridge on a mission to eliminate a robot that followed your group on your covert mission."
"What?" Zabgoth gapes, "Followed?! We weren't followed by anyone."
Bladewing chuckles with his eerie echo voice, "No, she's right. We were followed, and by Deathspire. Why exactly were you sent to kill him though?"
"Because he was Unicron Spawn." she states matter of factly, "His position was unknown and therefore he could not be allowed to continue existing."
"You talk in past tense." Zab interjects.
"My mission has been completed. At least in part."
"Part?"
"The next part was to eliminate the horn that is on the Warworld. It is a blemish that can not be allowed to exist."
You nod, "Then I'm all for it. She's right Zabgoth, " You turn towards him, "This 'Warworld' must be stopped. There's something.... unnatural about it. Something that's feeding on the anger generated by others."
"That's what he said." Spectre indicates the deactivated body of Vulcan, "He had found something... and found some way to scan for it. He referred to it as a virus."
Bonecrusher snorted, "Then maybe we'd better bring him back online and see what he kno..."
The ship shuddered.
"What the pit was..." you start.
"Spectre, Zabgoth." It was Deadcircuit's voice on the loudspeakers, "You guys better get up here."
Before you followed the others to the bridge, you leaned the exosuit against the wall, climbing out and transforming to Beast mode.
Surprisingly, a fair amount of the damage was already repaired! Your arm was even partially rebuilt. There was enough to maintain Beast mode, which hopefully would expediate the rest of the repairs. Bonecrusher stopped long enough to throw Vulcan's body in a CR, and set it to stasis mode, before you both went and joined the others on the bridge.
The Decepticon battleships were lining up outside of the Warworld. Still confused as to what was going on, they merely wandered in a defensive formation.
"What are they doing?" Zabgoth looks at the monitors, confused.
Spectre's eyes narrow, "They aren't sure. They were called here because of Vulcan's communication. They think the Warworld's under attack, but they were expecting the Cybertronian Armada to be doing the attacking."
Deadcircuit adds, "They tried to hail the Warworld, and when that wasn't successful they fired a warning shot."
"Why hasn't Gigano attacked them?" you wonder.
"There's too many of them." Zabgoth points out, but you shake your head in the negative. You piece together several things you've learned from your time connected to the Warworld's computers, "Those ships are running on skeleton crews at the best. The Warworld could easily wipe them out. Even with only one person at it's helm!"
Spectre leaned over, you note that her metallic armor wasn't pure black, but rather held a fine tracing of white 'veins' on it's surface, "There must be some reason... Deadcircuit, scan on all frequencies. What are we missing."
The Destron moved to reply, and in seconds an overlay of an energy-prismatic effect was displayed over the surrounding space.
"What the pit..." Bonecrusher started.
"It is the early warning signs of several Warp signatures." Deadcircuit answered.
"The Cybertronian Fleet!" you breath.
Space began to warp into a prismatic vortex as ships begin to appear all around. Maximal Explorers, Destron Destroyers, Cybertronian Crusaders... at the center of the formation appeared a massive complex of a creation, as if two city-sized vehicles were attached to either side of a ship. You recognize them as Trypticon and Metroplex, both attached in the middle through Admiral Backdraft's ship, the Soulfire.
Time had run out.
End of NWNG: General Statement