Memories...
--A slow breeze presses the sheets of rain across the
green forest floor.
Each drop a micron of width
splatter on your armor.
Each one registered, and was scanned
for temperature variance, molecular composition, microscopic life, and then
recorded in your
data banks in a record file for temporary
storage.
To you, it just
registers as a tiny pinprick of cold in this swelteringly humid jungle.
You slowly cock the
blaster cannon as a flight of blue-gray carrion birds flies overhead.
From somewhere, the roll of
thunder can be heard
The undergrowth parts and a
stampeding wild creature burst through, startled from it’s resting spot by
something moving through
the underbrush.
Out stalks a massive
feline. It’s purple and gray metallic surface dribbling with water that
rolls off it’s long, razor sharp tusks.
And on it’s legs
hindquarters, the symbol of your enemies, the Autobots.
The forest erupts to war.—
You walk purposely up the steps leading to the ancient
temple, the Hall of the Lost. You had just returned from a mission, such
as missions
were these days.
Three hundred years of peace left little room for many mercenaries
on your home planet.
Luckily, other cultures always needed hired guns.
The light, reflected off the glittering map of the
stars, sparkles on the front of the temple. It’s massive columns
etched all the way to the top
with pictures of the last Great War, and of those that fought it.
--The battle was
fierce. There were two others of the Monsterbot squad in the jungle that
day. But beside you stood Racer. She
was your oldest friend and closest
companion. The two of you had fought the Decepticon cause for millennia
now.
You knew each others
thoughts, attack patterns, and more. Together you could become an
instrument of death.
One of the Monsterbots, a
two-headed, gray and black dragon, lay crumpled at Racer’s feet. Smoke
pouring from the wounds in his
side.
Your mind wanders back to
conversation from earlier…
"Why bother fighting any more? This insane bastard has lost against
the Autobots. We’re just prolonging an already decided
outcome!" Racer paced back and forth
on your shuttle.
"Why? Why not? It’s been millennia, why bow down to the wishes
of some Treaty that the Decepticon Empire…"
"The Decepticon Empire!?" she laughs, "It’s been decades
since we could even consider ourselves a well outfitted army!"
"Yea, I know, but old habits die hard. And besides, who wants to be
a Destron. They’ve bowed will to those Maximal go-bots!"
"Why do we have to? Let’s just leave. Disavow any
allegiance…."
An explosion and a scream snatches your attention to the moment…--
Incense thickens the air as you step into the silent
halls. A faint stream of vocal chanting, fills the air. A wordless
hymn that brings a settling of
peace down on the temples hallowed grounds.
Light streams in from great windows that line the
walls, sending curtains of light across the myriad of monuments that
stood arrayed in a spiral
pattern across the floor.
You moved slowly through the pattern, letting it draw you
inward, focusing your thoughts and feelings…
--Most of her torso was
gone, her spark exposed. On leg was ripped in two, and one arm cracked
open, revealing the circuitry
underneath the metallic skin.
"No…" you muttered
under your breath.
"Told ya we should
quit." She smiles and reaches up toward your face.
"It’ll be…"
"I’m done for.
We’re warriors. We know the cost."
"But…"
"No, my spark now fades,
and with it I join the heroes of the Empire. But this war is over
Skyjammer."
"…"
"We’ve fought for
nothing, for promises of nothing, our honor is embedded in political power
plays we never truly understood."
"Don’t…"
"Listen to me!" she
grabs your torso plate and hauls you closer, "We’ve been used our entire
lives, now we die for a madbot’s
failing vengeance! Promise me!
Promise me you will fight for them no more!" Her grip releases as
her energy drains, "Promise me to
die without a side." She slumps back,
the purple and green tones of her skin turning ashen gray…--
A column of white fire rises from the center of the
pattern. You stand before it, staring deep into it’s center.
As you do so, tongues of flame
sweep out and lick your frame. No heat comes from them, but as they touch
you, you feel your senses expand thousand fold.
You feel the whole of Cybertron.
Your spark joins the mass for a brief connection with
infinity.
The flames turn a deep purple, and you can feel your chest
panels shifting. Your chassis opens to reveal your own spark. For a
brief second
you feel the very life force that makes this planet. And for that second,
it can see into your soul.
You open your eyes, and before you is the image of
Racer. Behind her scrolls the dates of her battles. Below her is
the date of her
deactivation.
From beneath your chest plate you pull out a scrap of
metal. A remnant of the battle you just fought. On it was sketched
an alien writing, an
insignia of a corrupt government on some backwoods planet. Nothing big,
just another token that you had not forgotten.
You toss the metal scrap into the fire, and it is consumed
in segments. Your chest panel closes and the column returns to white.
You stand for a few segments, regarding the flames, then
turn on your heel and stride from the temple.
It had been a solar cycle since you’ve returned to your
home planet. Just scrounging the missions to keep you active was a chore
in itself,
much less trying to stay on a planet that was ruled by a council
bent on peace.
There was nothing illegal per say about your status as
mercenary. It was just frowned upon by the Cybertronian Councils, and
most of the
general populace. But it kept your systems active, even though most wars
were little more that spitting disputes between throwback tribes of
carbon-based life.
But your decision to return was based on the rumors that you
had been hearing. And, as you open the door to your quarters, the gleam
of a
deep purple disk confirmed your suspicions.
There was nothing out of the ordinary about the disk.
Besides it being in a locked room that had been sealed since you left.
You picked it up
and twirled it in your hand.
The rumors that abounded surrounding your home world
involved a series of mass slayings on unarmed scientific outposts. The
outposts
belonged to every faction currently on Cybertron… The Maximals, the Predacons,
the Destrons, the Cybertrons… all had been attacked. The
various councils wanted to point fingers at each other, but the dispersion of
attacks, and the lack of any witnesses, kept the collective Council in
turmoil.
No one knew the identity of the attackers.
But you had your suspicions.
You sat down, "Computer, secure room. Safety
protocol 9a."
--Computer locked and
shielded. Sound scrambling active at a radius of ten meters. All
incoming lines broken.—
You reach up and put the disk into your computer unit.
As you watch the short message, you feel turmoil boil within
you. Ancient pride, longing, and a lust for battle, wage war on promises
of the
spirit, and a deep loathing for the symbol that was displayed in the
background.
The speaker was Clench. An old compatriot under the
Decepticon cause. The sigil in the background was the sharp, angular
pattern of the
Decepticons. The message asked for your attendance at a secret meeting.
The meeting had already passed. But you had a feeling
you knew what it was for.
You ejected the disk. Held it up and looked at it for
a second, the light swirling on it’s incandescent surface.
The Decepticons were reborn.
You crush the disk with hatred burning in your eyes…
Cybertron: You're place
You walk back outside your housing complex, to the
rooftop, leaving your rooms sealed again… with a few, ‘new’ precautions in
place.
The Cybertronian night was cool and still. Stars
glittered in an endless array across the sky, the lights of the city did
nothing to diminish their
brilliance. You ponder on them and on your course of action for a
second. The meeting had passed, but was your only link to the
Decepticon’s
and these attacks. It was slated to be on Charr, a planet in the T-24
cluster. It was a packing house for the Universe’s fecal matter. A
spaceport made out of the husk of a dead planet, now riddled with spaceports
and smuggling dens. You weren’t sure if it was a step up or
down from the days that Galvatron ruled the Decepticon Empire from it’s burnt
out mountains.
Galvatron had been insane, and had nearly taken the
Empire to ruin, but Megatron had eventually returned to claim what was
rightfully his.
But that was legend now. Centuries lost and
gone, filled with war and power, struggles which you had promised never to
return to…
You stepped to the edge of the tall building, looking
out over the edge, down into the twisting and crisscrossing depths of the
Cybertronian
surface. The drop was miles down before you would hit the ground.
You stepped out, feeling the vertigo as you dived free from the building.
The wind whipped around you as you dropped, and you were surrounded by freedom.
For nanocycles you relaxed, falling to oblivion with
no restraint, "Skyjammer, flight mode."
Your form shifted and folded, the whirring of joints
and gears signaling your shift into a sleek, advanced jet fighter.
Engines blasted into control shifting your fall
laterally, pushing you out and up into the dark starry night.
You land with a thud, the shock absorbers in your
legs cushioning your short drop. The Cybertronian spaceport was busy with
activity and
hustle. Cybertron, after all, was a popular place in the galaxy, boasting
the most powerful computers ever imagined… The ports were strictly
safeguarded, and the visitors regulated with careful laws and bylaws.
That managed to keep, most, things fairly peaceful.
You move into a stream of visitors heading into the
hustling port.
You’re ship was in bay JW-0329, one of the lower
levels. It kept it fairly low profile… after all there were a few other
mercenaries on
Cybertron, and competition kept you all at each other’s throats.
You move down through the complex, the crowd thinning
out all the way. Soon you find yourself in the depths of the port, the
tall hallways
quiet and still. Your footsteps ring out through the passage as you make
your way toward the right bay.
As you lift your keycard to the security panel, a noise
catches your attention.
You turn to see a maintenance bot scurrying down the
corridor.
Something felt wrong…
You turn back toward the door, inserting the card. The
machine processed it in clicks, giving a soft whirring noise as the door
unbolted from
the inside.
Then something was in your face. A flapping fluttering
that startled you and drove you backwards.
You duck down and roll away, to see a small, half flesh,
half robotic purple bat flapping in the hallway above you.
You knew the danger immediately, you spun again and put your
back to the wall, pulling a blaster free from it’s holding place in your leg.
"Bravo, Skyjammer." A chiding voice accompanying a
solitary clap, "Brilliant moves, as always."
"Doubledealer." Doubledealer, an ancient
mercenary. One of the series of ‘Powermasters’ from the Great Wars.
A robot that surrendered
part of itself to be linked to a second entity, a flesh entity, to boost it’s
abilities. The link gave them the ability to shell off programming
sequences to the second entity, freeing up other processes for quicker and
cleaner control.
He leaned against the far wall, still in the same colors he
had born for years, blue, gray, and purple, but nowadays, his purple wings bore
the
feathers of a real bird, and several places in his armor were changed into
scaled flesh.
You shifted you weight and moved to see both him and his
Powermaster, the purple and yellow bat that had originally attacked you.
"What do you want, Doubledealer?"
"Oh, just wondering where a certain mercenary buddy of
mine might be heading, with his eyes burning with more emotions that I’ve seen
in
centuries? Even more that when I shot you from behind on Kerilt-12."
"We were working for the same guys…"
"Yes, but it’s so much easier to have only yourself to
divvy the cash to." He gives you a broad smile.
"What do you want." You restate.
"I’ve been hearing of some sweet deals that the high
Councils have been offering recently. I don’t suppose you’ve forsaken
your little
promise to that sweet little Racer soooo many years ago and jumped on a
bandwagon for cash?"
"What do you know of the attacks."
"Oh, so it’s off to investigate is it? Working
for the Destrons? The Cybertrons? Or one of those little beasty
groups… Oh, I don’t think
Racer would have approved."
Anger welled up inside of you, your hand shook with the
blaster that you gripped, "Beat it, and take your vermin with
you." You’re voice
was cold and dispassionate as your finger slowly inched back into the trigger.
"Oh, I don’t want a fight, after all, that would revoke
BOTH our access priveledges to the spaceport, and I respect your abilities
enough to
know that neither of us would accomplish much more than to rough up the
other."
"I’m in just the mood to try." You growled through
gritted teeth.
"Ok, ok. I’m leaving. I just thought you
might need help wi…"
"I don’t need help from you. Not now, not
EVER!"
Doubledealer shrugs, " Beast mode." He
shifts and transfoms into a monstrous bird, the Powermaster converting into an
engine that
resembled a collection of spine and rib bones that protruded from the birds
back as he attached himself.
"Careful, Skyjammer. Sometimes it’s the ones that
you can’t trust that you should keep closest to you…" with that he
launched into the air,
massive purple wings pulling upward, and a short, gray thruster engine igniting
to jet him off down the hallway.
You turn and go through the open doorway and into your
hangar.
One of the advantages of being a mercenary… you keep up
with battle technology.
You ship was low-set and curved. Two sharp runner
blades stretched forward from the short, smooth nose. It was black and
sleek, and
packed with technology.
You moved to the hatchway and opened it, heading toward the
forward cockpit to set it for lift off.
The procedure take a few minutes, accompanied by some
griping about the laziness of the refueler droids. You had to
detach the heavy
hoses manually outside the ship because the systems for refuel seemed to be
offline.
You checked your gauges and everything looked good, the
tanks were ready, and the engines were well on their way to being
prepped. You
moved back through the shielded cockpit and into the shallow belly of the
ship. It was set up to be a combination of room and locker area.
You checked through your array of weapons and gadgets, which was a rather
extensive task. You had collected hundreds of weapons from
systems gathered across the stars, and there were several holding shelves
devoted to specialized tools for nearly every occasion.
If anyone was set to put a kink in the Con’s plan
alone… it was you.
The next day found you in low orbit around
Charr. You selected a dingy port near to the underground caverns where
the meeting had
occurred, and landed your ship. After grabbing a few scanning devices and
an extra shoulder lock of rockets, you lock down the ship and enter
into the city on Charr.
The cities here mainly kept to the underground,
especially since the surface tended to stay near one-hundred and thirty degrees
Celsius.
Hence the name, Charr.
Huge columns supported caverns that stretched miles in some
areas. The ceilings were hundreds of meters in the air, and the grounds
were
packed with buildings that criss-crossed in a haphazard fashion. Roads
and byways seemed to careen at crazy heights and angles all across the
city. A constant red haze of dust hung in the air, from the dry, chalky
grounds around you.
Even down miles below the surface, the air was hot and
dry. Great humidifiers worked in the city and massive air conditioning
vents churned
the air constantly, making it bearable for the inhabitants of the planet.
You hated the place. It was stifling and
cramped. Too many dark alleys to be safe. Too much noise and
confusion to keep on-guard.
You made your ways through the streets, meandering
around in a wide pattern that would end up centralizing on the building where
the
Decepticons were to meet.
The building was destroyed.
"Typical." You mutter as you moved
across the dusty street, dodging a ground vehicle that seemed oblivious of your
presence in his path.
You stepped up to the ruined building, it looked like
flames had caused a collapse from within. The door was covered with some welded
panels across the gaping hole that had been blasted through. You noted
that it exploded from the inside.
You reach up and pry a few panels free, enough to slip
inside, into the stale, ashy darkness.
I-beams lay melted and twisted on the ground.
Ashes lay all around, and the rubble from the ceiling sat in huge piles on the
floor.
In the center of the room, there was a large
hole. You looked at it. Unsurprisingly, the hole had been burned
through and melted at extreme
temperatures. What was odd was that it had been done from above, and in a
circular fashion. It was made by a blast weapon of some sort,
and had been blasted downward.
You lean over and look down. There was a
basement, mostly destroyed at this point, you jump down and land with a quiet
crunch. You
pull out a hand held scanner from your chest and begin to input instructions.
Something barrels into you slamming you against a wall
that shuddered with the impact.
You registered the click and whir of a weapon lock,
and the feeling of a rather large plasma rifle being tucked up under your chin.
You were pinned by a large Transformer, rusty orange
and brown.
You look up and into his eyes, a green visor like
optic unit in a brown faceplated face.
"Greetings, SkyJammer, name’s Roadbuster, head of
Cybertronian Police Forces on Charr. Why don’t you tell me what happened
here,
‘Con? And where’s my missing officer!"
Charr: a burned out building
Roadbuster gives you another nudge with the plasma rifle,
causing you to give a slight gurking noise, "Officer, I have no idea what
happened
here. I haven’t seen any of your officers or anything else. I came
to Charr looking to sabotage the 'Cons."
"And why exactly would an old Decepticon loyalist
want to do that, Skyjammer."
"I'm a merc, not a Con anymore." You growl,
"There was a meeting that was held between some Con's the other night but
that's all I know."
"A lot of people are mercs these days! Why the
supposed animosity toward the Con’s?"
"That’s my own business."
He gives another threatening shove of the cannon, "If
you’re on MY planet, then it’s MY business."
"Look, I told you all I know…"
Theres an odd beep, like a communication signal. Roadbuster
backs off and activates something… a comlink?
He steps to the side, looking up as he does so, "Why
don’t you tell your friend to come out of the shadows." He growls.
"Friend…?"
Suddenly, something near the edge of the gaping hole above
you lurches and moves down in a swooping fashion. You hear the flapping
of
wings… bat wings, and catch a glimpse of purple flesh.
There’s a bright flash and an explosion and you hear
shooting.
You pull your blaster and fire off a couple of shots
overhead, but your vision is still blurred.
Everthing quickly calms down, and your eyesight returns to
normal. You hear Roadbuster barking commands into the commlink, "No,
follow
him. Get me a data log on whoever he is, and try to catch him…
alive."
Smoke is wafting off of the large Cybertronian’s armor, but
he seems unperturbed.
You stand up and check yourself, no damage. You knew
what it was, Doubledealers little binary partner!
But if so, how did it follow you to Charr?
Roadbuster turns back toward you, "Well, how did you
know about this… meeting? And who exactly was THAT?"
Charr: A ruined building
You take a deep breath, "I found the meeting recording
on a disk and it fueld my anger to come to Charr to find the 'cons. And
that thing that was just in here is a partner for a
merc named Doubledealer."
"Tell me you didn’t bring a merc war to my
planet."
"No, I’m not too sure why he’s following me. He
thinks I’ve got some gig he can mooch in on."
"Great. Now, about this disk… where is it."
"I… well, destroyed it."
"You destroyed it."
"Well, it’s not like owning ‘Con property is the best
way to make freinds. After all, if you found the disk on me, wouldn’t you
shoot first and ask questions later."
The old bot chuckled, "I always shoot first.
Keeps the traffic down."
"At any rate, they aren’t here I guess. Looks
like someone gave them a quick burn down…"
"Yeah, that’d be Backdraft. I didn’t believe him
when he came back talking about Decepticons. Put him on suspension for
burning half the town. The next day he turned up
missing… Since then I’ve found there’s just too many ‘coincidences’ to bolster
his story. Piece things together and it starts looking like he was
right."
You pull out your scanner, but he chuckles again, "Had
my boys already to a clean sweep in here, there isn’t an atom to tell where
they went."
You put the scanner down and think for a minute. "Where
are the exits?"
"There’s an exit to the sewer, and of course the hole
up there, that pretty much runs through the top of the wharehouse. Then
front and rear doorways. The front is kinda slagged too.
We checked them all. Nothing unusual."
"Yeah, but if I know the Con’s, someone was watching
you, making sure you didn’t find anything."
"Hmmph, and what if they were. They’d be
long gone by now, and we still didn’t find any traces of them."
"Well… where was the last place you saw your
officer?"
"There was a disturbance down near one of the local
ports. Someone disturbed a bust by accident. It lead to a crash
into a bus train. Seems Backdraft was on that plane. He
jumped out and tossed a load of liquid fuel onto another officer by
accident. Luckily, he didn’t light it."
"You said someone disrupted the bust?"
"Yeah, a big Destron guy. Goes by the name
Vulcan."
You recognized the name. He had been a Decepticon
murderer. Full of power, and little brains, the perfect soldier
do-boy. He had also been notoriously loyal to the Decepticon
banner.
"What happened to Vulcan?"
"He left in a shuttle, not long after."
"And you don’t see anything… weird about that?"
"The planets full of Destrons. Can’t go pointing
the finger at every one of them, but, yeah, I ran a check on the shuttle.
It was clean as far as we could tell, just a low suborbital shuttle
from the shipyard records."
You think for a second, "What about the video
recordings?"
"The security cams? Why…"
"The shipyard recs can be fixed. Done it
before. It just takes a little cash in the right hands."
"True. Pointblank," Roadbuster raises an arm
and activates his commlink again, "How goes things."
"Badly, that little bat was slippery. He’s
dissappeared but good. Maybe if I was still linked to Peackeeper."
"Understood. Me and the merc are going to go
check out something at the shipyards. I need some info on the mercenary
named Doubledealer."
"Gotcha, I’ll have the office send it to the port’s
computers."
"Roadbuster out."
The tall, dusty robot looks over at you, "Let’s
go."
"Skyjammer, flight mode!" you shift into jet
form. The larger Cybertron jumps up through the hole in the roof with a
thud, and through the front door. He transforms into a low, wide
armored vehicle. His wheels spin up a cloud of dust as he moves to
follow you.
Charr: a burned out building
"I’ll meet you there, Roadbuster." You yell as
you roar out over the buildings, through the hazy dust of the underground city.
You see the dusty jeep dodge down a side alley and disappear
into the winding mazes of Charr.
Within a minute you were transforming outside the landing
docks where Roadbuster had previously indicated. You did a quick scan for
Doubledealer, but, not surprisingly, didn’t get
anything.
You moved past a few random alien species and into the large
bay-like doors leading to the docking bays themselves.
Someone clears their throat from off to the right,
"What took you so long." You spin to see Roadbuster leaning up
against the wall.
"What!? No way are you that fast."
"Listen, what I lack in speed, I can make up for
in shortcuts. Remember, this is MY planet."
You shake your head in disbelief.
"I had a chance to run a scan on the port
records. There’s no ship registered to Doubledealer, but there is one
that bears an odd semblance to a flying birdie, and from some pics of
your buddy, I believe he has a bird transformation?"
"Yeah, a big blue-green bird with purple
wings."
"Yep, fits. It’s in docking bay 33.
Problem is, it’s already slated for takeoff, and being lifted up and out of
here. I’ll have some patrol ships try to stop him, but we’re kinda
under-budgeted. If your friends a merc worth anything, he’ll slip past
our boys."
"My ship can catch him."
"Not by the time you prep it and we take
off. Besides, I thought you wanted a look at that hangar those Destron’s
used."
"Yeah, and the camera recordings from that
day."
"Follow me…" he looks back over his shoulder
with a glint in his eye, "if you can keep up."
The camera showed several Destrons. You
recognized a few, Apeface, Vulcan, and the leader…. He was a long time
‘Con loyalist, Fearswoop.
"I’m tellin’ you, if anyone was starting a Con
bash, it’d be him."
"Maybe, but that still doesn’t give us
much."
Different meters flashed around the recording giving
readouts on the status of the ship and the hangar. One noticeably dropped
off suddenly, a fuel pressure reading. It caught your
eye.
"What was that?"
"What?"
"Back it up ten segments…. There." You point
to the meter as it drops off again.
The tech below looked up, "Oh, it’s just a
pressure reading it drops whenever the fuel pipe is detached. Nothin’
big."
Roadbuster pointed to the back of the shuttle,
"but the pipes are still attached."
The tech leans up and forward, "Oh, well, in that
case it’s kind of odd."
Roadbuster glares down at him, "Get me a vid
angle and a scanner reading of those pipes."
Sure enough, the recordings showed two
Cybertronians slipping into the fuel intakes for the shuttlecraft. The
sigil matchings coordinated with Backdraft, and another Cybertronian
that Roadbuster called Retrohopper.
"Bad juju then. As soon as those engines
lit, they’d be roasted." You comment.
"Not likely, the little one, maybe, but Backdraft
is something of a fire expert. If anyone could survive a blazing inferno,
he could."
"What then?"
Just then, another Cybertronian approached, he was a
ground vehicle as well, but considerably shinier than Roadbuster was. He
was red and blue, with a white face in a black
helmet. Roadbuster greeted him, "Pointblank, what’d you find?"
"The ship got past the blockades, no surprises
there, but Sparky was on one."
Roadbuster looked amused, "So how many hits he
score?"
"Two, and one to an exhaust port."
Roadbuster looks up at that, "And?"
"Cybertron, best guess."
You shake your head wondering what in the world they
were talking about. Roadbuster looks back at you for a second, then
pushes himself off the wall he’d been leaning on,
"Pointblank, you’re in charge here till I return."
"Gotcha."
"Return?" you interjected, "Where are
you going?"
"Don’t pay attention do you. We’re takin’ a
flight to Cybertron, see what your buddy bird is up to."
"What?!?!?"
"It’s the only lead we got, right now, so let’s
get moving."
He turns and heads toward the ship where you’re
docked. You stand there gaping for a second.
"Better hurry up," comments Pointblank,
"He doesn’t like to be slowed down."
Charr: the Spaceport
You opens the airlock to his ship. "Go into
the back and see if you need any of the gadgets or weapons I got back there, if
ya want one i might just let you have it."
You slide into the pilot seat and begin to prep the ship for
takeoff.
The ship roars out of hyperspace and into the crowded
space lanes of Cybertron. Landing access immediately scrolls across your
screen as you pass by the first of the far orbiting
satellites.
"What’s that?" Roadbuster is looking out one of the
side screens. You look out and see a rather large ship, a battle ship,
and with some carbon scoring along it’s side.
There are several smaller ships alond side of it, police
ships. Roadbuster leans over you and activates your commstation, "
This is Roadbuster, Commander of the Cybertron Police
forces on Char."
--Accessing data files. Voice mapping... check.—
"What’s going on over there?"
"Yeah, Roadbuster. How’s it going?"
"Hey Kup. They got you up here on guard duty
today?"
"Yeah, a little far outta your jurisdiction?"
"I’m on a fact finding mission. Lost one of my
boys and think that foul play might be invovled."
"Hmph, wouldn’t be named Backdraft would he?"
"What? How’d you know?"
"That big cruiser over there is his. He’s saying
some kind of slag about Decepticons."
"Can I get clearance to land on that ship?"
"Uh, let’s see.
"Uh, let’s see. The ship your on is cleared for
three levels of security, that should do."
Roadbuster gives you a withering look, you chuckle and
shrug, "It pays to do jobs for the upper management, they tend to owe you
a few favors. I cashed in and got some lower
levels of security clearance."
"Remind me to bust you later."
You bring the ship aside the large warship. There were
no markings on the battle cruiser, no signification for allegiance. You
find a docking port and lock in…
Cybertronian airspace: Your ship.
"Okay Roadbuster, on the control panel over
there hit the button that says BM SCAN. It will scan for any biomass on
the whole ship. Next hit the button that says MR SCAN, it
will scan for things like explosives and such. Then grab a gun and be
ready for anything."
You move the ship onto an airlock on the opposite side
from the spaceport shuttle that was attached to the large destroyer.
"Looks like there’s three Cybertronians, two
Predacons, and two Maximals in a meeting on this deck. Down below there’s
some kind of weird jamming though."
"No problem," you shift over to look at his
screens, "Here, hit this and this. It’s only a broad band
scan. Not a smart scan, we can break through it without any
problem."
The scan clears and a Maximal is shown down
below. "Those energy spikes are rough. He’s damaged."
Roadbuster taps something into the panel, "It’s a
trap area. He’s got some razor cord strapped around him. Let’s get
out there and see if they need us to help!"
The airlock shifts and snaps into place. As
the door opens, the hiss of air leaks out and a small gush of steam rolls
across the floor.
You step out with Roadbuster behind you. A collection
of bots was standing, turned toward you, on the other side of the small landing
bay. They stood looking at you in surprise.
The largest is a big, rust colored and charred looking
Cybertronian. With him is a small, reptilian looking brownish Predacon
and a small gold-chromed Cybertronian.
The other grouping consist of a blue-grey
Cybertronian, a yellow and black insectoid Predacon, and two dog-like Maximals.
"Can we lend a hand Backdraft?" Roadbuster
announces.
The rusty orange Cyber gawks in surprise for half a
micron before he gets control again, "Good to see you Commander.
We’ve got a bot lost down below. The place is riddled with
traps, and scanners can’t penetrate to it!"
You give a derisive snort, "Your scanners can’t
cut through it. Mine can cut through it without any problem!"
"Who are you?" asks Backdraft.
"Name’s Skyjammer. Hear you’re on a Con
hunt. Thought I’d see if you found any."
"Later, right now the Maximal below…"
"He’s alive," Roadbuster interrupts,
"But he is in a trap, and he is injured. The hull has a low
level jammer field, but Skyjammer’s got a couple tricks in his ship that helped
us to cut
through it. We know exactly where to get to him."
"Ok," Backdraft turns to the blue-gray
Cyber, "Thunderfist, can you help us?"
"Yeah, take K-9 and Wolfang with you. I’ll
go with Buzzsaw and your two crew members to the bridge and see if we can find
out where the power generator for the lower decks
are."
"Right, let’s move bot’s!" Backdraft
orders.
Within a few minutes you found yourself,
Roadbuster, Backdraft, K-9, and Wolfang down below.
"This is it." You announce as you reach the
position of the Maximal, "But we’ll have to be careful, the trap is still
active."
"What is it?" Backdraft asks as he moves to
inspect the door.
"The room is filled with high tensile razor
cord. It’s designed to curve in the direction of whatever force causes it
to snap. It’s nasty stuff, and will cut through your arm like
butter."
Roadbuster rumbles, "If your friends smart, he’ll
stay immobile."
"Great, he’s screwed." Backdraft grabs
the door and pries it open with a great yank.
Inside, a webbing of wires crisscrossed the room there
was a small swath where many had been snapped. The Maximal, Battlestripe,
stood there, covered in blood, oil and smoking.
He had two sharp looking blades pulled and was poised to bring them down in a
sweep…
"NO!!" Backdraft yells.
Too late. The long knives swiped and snapped
through a clutch full of the wires. Immediately they arched in and
ripped at the Maximal. Sparks flew as he drops down to the
ground.
"Great," you comment, "He’s in
stasis. Now we can cut him out of it."
"Tough bot." Added Roadbuster as he pulled a
knife and began to examine the cord closely.
"Wait, I can weaken the wires." Backdraft cocks
a large flame launcher, setting it on a low heat spread.
The two Maximals behind you had been sitting
patiently. The German Shepherd scratched behind his ear and spoke, "You
weaken it, we’ll get him out."
"Right." His flames spread across the
ceiling, causing the wires to glow softly as the metal heated and turned soft.
"K-9, MAXIMIZE!"
"Wolfang…. maximize."
The two transformed into similar robot forms again,
each pulling large body shields from behind. The also pull cannons, and
fit them with wide arched v-shaped missiles.
K-9 looks at Wolfang, "Ready?"
They both fire the projectiles into the webbing.
Halfway across the room, the missiles are stopped as they are caught up in a
not of half melted metal mesh. The two Maximals leap
into the room, under the cover of their shields.
They grab Battlestripe and pull him out safely.
Roadbuster leans over him, "He’s alive.
Just in stasis. Let’s get him to a CR."
Suddenly everything goes black.
"Backdraft, this is Thunderfist. We’ve
found the circuit to the power supply on the lower levels…"
Cybertron: The Darksky
"Great, your timing is impecable." Backdraft
mutters.
"Roadbuster, you all right?" you ask as you
pull out your blaster and turn on the light on the bottom.
"No, I stubbed my toe." Answers Roadbuster
sarcastically.
"K-9 let me see that scanner. If I can adjust it
right I can get a readout of the stucture of the ship and I might be able to
find any traps."
Backdraft preempts you, "The traps were all run on the
local circuit. If they cut the power down here, then we’re safe from
that. It’s just damnably inconvenient."
You mull over this, "Roadbuster, these Cybertronian
ships usually have some kind of generator down here. Take my light and
see if you can find it."
"No." interrupts the shaggy gray Maximal, Wolfang,
"The darkness is my ally. I will search for the generator.
Radio when you have reached the lift and I will turn it on."
"Plus kid," adds in Roadbuster, "You should
watch going around and giving orders. From where I’m standing, it looks
like we’re on Backdraft’s ship. He’s in command here."
"Thanks Roadbuster." nods Backdraft, "Let’s
get this Maximal to a CR chamber up above."
Shortly, you are on the bridge with the others.
You’ve started scanning through the ships stats and registry
records as well as the hyperspace records and vidcameras.
Buzzsaw looks up from the panel that he and Rascal had
dismantled, "Itzzzz no uzzzz. Everything’zzz wiped."
Rascal sits back dropping the panel to the floor with a
solid clunk, "It’s like this ship was clean from the factory!
There’s not even a serial number on the seat cushions to give us any
proof!"
You sit up from where you had been playing with the ships
log, "There’s nothing to signify the Decepticon’s ever had this
ship. It’s a moderate technology, fairly capable warship. It’s
been modified with traps in the lower hull. There’s not even a record of
where this thing entered it’s last hyperjump!"
"Great." Grumbles Backdraft, "Thunderfist,
can we get a secure port to land in?"
"Sure, in fact it’d be recommended until you can get
the proper papers to be running around in a warship."
"Right, what about word from the Cybertronian
Councils?"
"Seems like they are actually willing to listen to your
group… But they want all of you to report."
"Well," you start, "Me and Roady can take a
look down below and see if we can scrounge up any leads while…"
"I said, ALL of you." Restates Thunderfist.
Backdraft nods, "Great, then let’s land this bird and
get over there asap."
Cybertron: orbit
"Okay Backdraft, "You pull the Cybertronian
aside, "do you think me and Roadbuster should sit in the cockpit?
All those Cybertronian ships outside didn't look too friendly. They
might take you as a Con."
"No, Skyjammer. We’re in our homespace now.
I’ll not provoke anyone with suspicious activity. They know we’re coming
down, and they know we’re on stand down. They see
you guys with you hands on the weapon’s consoles, they might not be so nice to
us."
You nod, "Since this is your ship I'll let you make the
calls but I still think it would be best."
"Noted. Take us down, Rascal."
Soon, the group of you, stand outside the massive
bulk of the Darksky, and once again on your ancient home ‘soil’.
"Cybertron." Backdraft sighs as he
scan the skies with pleasure, "It’s been years since I’ve been home."
Rascal plods past along in beast mode, the
Velociraptor’s head swinging unsteadily too and fro, "You’re home, I’ve
never even been here!"
A voice from inside the landing struts to the Darksky
calls out, "Don’t worry, Rascal. I’ve never been here either!"
You turn and see Battlestripe and the two Maximal dogs
exiting the ship.
"It’s good to see your up and running again,
Battlestripe." Backdraft calls out.
"And just in time to see this new world!"
grins Battlestripe.
"It is out homeland and what we protect."
The german shepherd, K-9, speaks as he seems to lap in the starry sky of the
Cybertronian city.
"Gentlemen," Thunderfist steps in front of
the group, "It is time for us to meet the Council."
The group of you is separated. You were each
to go into the council and report what you knew and were witness to on the
trip.
You were last.
The chamber was huge, with crystal windows stretching
up in a glittering dome far above you. The council sat around a large
circular table, and you stood in a recessed area in the
center of the circle. There were groups representing the four
alliances. The Maximals had three representatives, led by the shaggy
looking Cerebrus. The Destrons were representated
by a glowing diamond, that hovered above their position. The Predacon’s had two
representatives that you didn’t recognize, showing that the rumors that the
Tripredicus council were off
on some planet might have some truth to them. The Cybertron’s had two
representatives of the Convoy Council present. Their heads and faceplates
similarly echoing that of the original
Convoy, as well as that of Optimus Prime himself.
The Destron diamond seemed to be in charge for your
session, It rotated to a purple glowing side, "Skyjammer, our records show
you as a mercenary and onetime member of the
Decepticon Empire."
"Yes."
"What do you know of the proceding that we are
discussing."
You start into your story, speaking of the disk that
you found in your room, and then of running into Roadbuster on Charr.
Finally you spoke of what lead you back to Cybertron,
where you saw the Darksky floating in space, and of Roadbuster’s gaining
permission to land.
They listen quietly, prodding you with questions along
the way. Your story was fairly short, and soon, you found yourself back
out in the hallway, where the others had been
regathered, and then taken back before the Council.
"Backdraft, the stories presented by these
Cybertronians has painted a story, although it has some inconsistancies, of
what has happened since you went AWOL. The information is
intriguing and pressing, but we are still afraid that without any solid
proof…"
"SOLID PROOF!!! What do you want?!?" yells
Backdraft.
"WIThout any solid proof, we can NOT justify a
full scale deployment and witch hunt for a phantom group that a eclectic
gathering of renegade robots states is out there."
"What!?! This is ridiculous!"
"BUT, we have decided that you be allowed to keep
command and ownership of the ship Darksky, which is being re-outfitted and
repaired even as we speak. You’re charge now is
to find proof, discretely, of the threat that is now wreaking havoc on our
outposts and resources.
You will not be given permission to press a crew into
service, and it is up to you to find bots to man your ship. Essentially,
you will be operating alone. We can not tie the council’s to
this mission, or else we risk wide scale panic, and uprising of rebel groups
toting faux Decepticon banners."
And so their judgement was passed.
Outside Backdraft gathers the group, "This may be
the last time that we are together." Retrohopper starts to speak,
but Backdraft holds his hands up, "Listen to me. My path will
lead me to the stars, and to a war that I fear has already ignited. There
is no guarantee that I will be able to find anything, but then again, I may
find more than any of us can handle. They
tell me the ship will be ready in one solar cycle. Anyone who wants to
join me, show up at the docking bay tomorrow morning. I want us all to
separate paths now and consider what it
is I’m asking of you. I go to hunt the Decepticon Empire, one of the
oldest and most dangerous of all Cybertronian groups. I don’t expect to
be able to return to this home soil ever
again. I’ve seen what war does, and I know it’s results all to
well. Some of you are too young to know that, others, they know it all
too well. I say farewell now, and know that I will
always consider all of you brave and fierce, but your paths must be your
own. Now, goodbye Transformers."
With that he turns and leaves, transforming and flying
deep into the starry night sky.
The rest of you turn silently away to think on where
your paths will lead you.
Cybertron: Iacon
As the dusty plane flies off you turn to Roadbuster,
"Well Roadbuster, I don't know about you, but I'm gonna be here tomorrow
morning to join Backdraft. It sure would be nice if
you could go also, considering we helped him get here."
"You know, I was thinking…"starts Roadbuster.
"Yeah?"
"You don’t want to leave your ship here, right?"
"No, not really, but that thing doesn’t have the hull
space…"
"No, but it’s a type IV-42 battleship, which means it
has a shuttle hooked to the top."
"Yeah, but it was missing."
"So why not see if we can get them to rig something to
fit your ship up there."
"Hmm, the power share would be helpful..."
"Yeah, you’re tech and the Darksky’s sheer brawn!"
"Let’s do it."
The two of you spend a few hours with the tech finalizing
the plans to convert the attachments and links to fit your ship.
After the plans are made, and the techs are well on their
way to making the arrangements you turn to Roadbuster, "Well, we got a
couple of hours ta slag till morning, see ya when I
see ya," with that you transform and fly off to explore.
A few hours later finds you underneath the newly made
struts between your ship and the Darksky… which had been completely repainted,
red, blue, and silver. You’re black ship
seemed a stark contrast to the hull of the warship. And it kinda looked cool.
You hear something in the hangar and stick your head out to
see Backdraft down below. Most of the others were already inside the ship
and were working on prepping the systems
for take off.
You yell down, "So, you’re a little late!"
"Late?"
"Yeah, the ships set and prepped, we’re ready to hit
it!" you duck back into your ship as it lowers and seals smoothly against
the hull of the warship.
You secure the hatchways and check the links before quickly
heading back down to the Darksky’s main bridge.
You walk back in as Backdraft was looking over the chaos of
the control bridge.
"Status." The large bot commanded.
Rascal sat up in her chair and closed a panel on a tangle of
wires, "We’re ready and set for take off, Captain."
You see another bot, one that Roadbuster had brought in with
him this morning walk up to Backdraft, "Greetings, names Tanglefire.
I met up with Roadbuster last night!"
Roadbuster leans over to Backdraft, "Yeah, he helped
with one of the final fights against the con’s back in the Great War.
Good guy, bad shot."
"Hey! I can hit a energon goody from a mile
away."
"Hmph, and take out the building behind it."
Roadbuster chides.
Backdraft holds his hands up, "Welcome aboard then,
Tanglefire." he clears his throat, "Welcome aboard to all of
you. I’m glad that you’ve made this decision, and with you I think
we may even stand a chance of finding our prey. Though, I must admit, I’m
a little surprised that so many of you are here."
Roadbuster starts, "Well, I figured you needed someone
to cover your back, considering how often you step in the slag pool."
Retro continued, "You knew I wasn’t going to jump outta
this party yet!"
Rascal, "Well, it’s not like I had anywhere ELSE to
go. The Tripredicus council isn’t real happy with me right now."
Battlestripe, "You seem to attact a lot of fights.
Cybertron was a little… quiet for my tastes."
K-9, "Me and Wolfy here believe your story, and think
that we are both called to help in your fight."
Thunderfist, "The council’s wanted someone to go along
who knew something about encryption. So, I kinda volunteered. Still
not sure why."
You smile, "Well, I’m glad to have all of
you. Rascal, send the codes for takeoff."
"This is Darksky…"
"No," Backdraft interrupts her, "This
ship shall now be called, The Soulfire."
Interesting, not a bad name…
"This is… The Soulfire, ready for takeoff
clea…"
All the screens went black.
"Cybertron. We are the Decepticon Empire.
You are now under our control." "
They all clicked off again.
"Slag."
Communications lines were dead, and as the
confusion seemed to mount, Backdraft yelled over the chaos, "Rascal,
Retrohopper, engines on-line, we’re taking off."
"We haven’t gotten clearance!" yells
Rascal.
"We aren’t getting clearance!" he yells
back.
"Wait!" yells Thunderfist, "There’s
someone down there."
"Who is it?"
"One of the Maximal Elders, I think!"
"Let him in. And get those engines up."
A panting Maximal made his was onto the bridge, it WAS
one of the Elders. A shaggy Maximal called Cerebus, "Backdraft, The
Councils are splitting up, the bombardment on the
chambers has already begun."
"And so you’re hear?" Backdraft looks at him
in surprise.
"I’m hear with orders. We are to take off,
and leave Cybertron."
"What!?!"
"Commander, this is your ship, and I do not wish
to take that from you, but conditions have changed. There is an armada in
the airspace of Cybertron. Only about five ships of any
worth are even present to defend Cybertron. Communications are dead, and
they are beginning to build a web to keep anything out, and to keep everything
in!"
"Then we just run?!" spits Backdraft.
"Captain. These are your new orders.
We are to abandon Cybertron, get to a safe distance and warn the other
ships. All Cybertronian vessels are to gather at these coordinates."
He holds up a disk, "At these coordinates we will find one that will lead
us back to Cybertron as a joint armada to take back control of the
planet."
"A leader? Who?"
"Don’t worry about that, let’s just get off the
ground and out of here."
Backdraft shakes his head, "You heard the bot,
engines on-line, grapples free."
Meanwhile, you had been working steadily on a
communications array that linked into your ships code busters. "Backdraft,
my ship’s scanners are punching a hole through the static
up there. Seems like most of the armada is straight above, though they
are beginning to spread out to cover more sky."
Cerebrus growls, "We must get around them."
Roadbuster plops down at a control, "Under
atmosphere engines we won’t be able to beat them out as they’re spreading
around the planet."
Backdraft grimaces, "Then we fight."
"No good," adds Cerebrus, "We need to
get free. The survival of this ship is of utmost importance at the
moment."
"Then what do you suggest?" Backdraft turns
toward the shaggy Maximal.
"I’ve got something." Thunderfist speaks up,
"We can beat them out if we use the main engines."
Retrohopper looks up, "That’ll slag half the city
around here!"
Thunderfist frowns back, "You don’t think the
Decepticon’s will do that already?"
"We don’t have to help them do it!"
"No," Cerebrus adds, "He’s right.
This area is fairly empty of civilian buildings, and the defensive shields on
the others should protect them from the engine wash. We have to get
clear!"
"Then let’s do it." Backdraft takes command,
"Main engines on line, Retro, steer us a course of minimum civilian
occupation."
"On it."
The roar of the engines reverberates through the hull
of the Soulfire. Landscape begines to streak by as the mighty warship slices
through the atmosphere of Cybertron.
"Begin a lifting course, prepare to break free of
the atmosphere."
You continue to poke holes through the jamming
interference until a small beeping signal starts up on your console, "They
see us, and they’re coming after us. We’ve got two
warships seperating and plotting intercept."
"Will we clear them?" Backdraft asks.
"It’ll be close."
"Battlestripe, warm up the weapons."
"Already did." The silver furred Maximal
growls.
Seconds creep by as the engines shake and push the
ship free of the atmosphere. Then the cities below you move away,
and the skies become filled with explosions and fire as you
enter the shipping lanes. A panel of the screen blink and zooms in on two
warships that were making their way toward you, apparently shooting at anything
along the way.
Suddenly, everything seemed to streak into silver
lines of light.
"We’re free." Cerebrus sighs.
"Then let’s start sending warnings.
Cerebrus, work with Thunderfist and Skyjammer. Retrohopper, plot a course
for those coordinates on that disk. Good job, crew."
Soulfire: Hyperspace
You get up and move to another seat on the large bridge,
"I'll start the sattelite up-link system. You two start loading that data
into the up-link computer. We gotta get that data sent
ASAP!"
Thunderfist takes a position at an input console while
you begin to code the up-link. You select a collection of transit
stations that would net most of the space where exploration
vessels were traveling. You’d guess about eighty percent of Cybertronian
vessels could get the transmission. Hopefully the others would get it
from word of mouth.
You choose a signal jammer and lock into it a scan to
read for Cybertron, Predacon, Maximal, or Destron signatures.
"Data’s loaded." Reported Thunderfist.
Cerebrus walked over to watch as you hit the key to begin
the upload.
Backdraft calls over to you from Battlestripe’s weapons
station, "Skyjammer, does your ship have anything that might look like a
ship dropping out of hyperspace?"
You look over and snort, "You don’t ask much do
you? The largest beacon I have couldn’t fool the Con’s into thinking a
ship left a hyper jump. It would have to be sizeable and
noisy enough to get them to leave before looking to see that someone was still
in the jump tunnels."
"A leap before you look problem, eh?"
"Yeah, even a nano second would be enough to see
that this crate was still in the jump."
He walks back to your chair and plops down in it
heavily, "There’s got to be a way…"
Hyperspace: The Soulfire
You spin around, "I have an idea. Back in the
20th century the humans used cruise missiles that might sound like a ship
slamming out of hyperspace.
"I need to look at all of the audio files that are
available and see if any of the history files have a sound bite of a missile,
but I think I could build a white noise generator and amplify the
sound. If I spool the recording, so that it slowly decreases in volume, it
might sound like a ship slowing out of hyperspace.
"Give me thirty cycles and it should be complete."
Thunderfist interjects, "But we don’t have a speaker
system loud enough to cover the signature of the Soulfire’s continuance in
space!"
Battlestripe speaks up, "We have one source, the static
amplifiers on Skyjammer’s ship. They’re used to shed a jamming field
around it."
You didn’t like the sound of that, it meant ripping out part
of your ship, but…"Yeah, but we’re not stripping out my ship while in
hyperspace! There’s no way to get to it!"
"Well, then there’s one choice." Roadbuster speaks
up, "A few of us go with Skyjammer and drop his ship out of hypserspace,
while the Soulfire continues on toward the rendezvous."
Backdraft thinks for a second, "Skyjammer, do you
think your ship can catch back up?"
"In a heartbeat." Your ship was equipped for speed
and stealth. Not to mention it had a rather… interesting… arrangement of
offensive weaponry.
"Yeah," mutters Rascal, "assuming that
whatever follows us doesn’t try to rip you from tail to nose."
"It’s a risk, but it’s worth it." States
Backdraft, "Skyjammer, take Roadbuster and…"
Battlestripe interjects, "I would like to go with
them."
"Very well, take Roadbuster and Battlestripe.
Drop out of hyperspace with your whitenoise generator on full blast.
Hopefully that will drag anyone out of the loop that’s tailing us.
Loose them, and jump back into hyperjump. Get to the rendezvous
asap."
--Great, I’m taking the newborn Maximal with me to play
pin the tail on the jackass. At least Roadbuster’s going along. He
can play babysitter…--
Twenty cycles later, you were ready to hit it.
"Ok boys," you start, "detaching from the
ship is the hard part. We’ve got to get our engines on an equal harmonic as
the Soulfire’s, or we’re likely to rip it to shreds."
"You’re ship," grumbles Roadbuster, "You make
the drop."
"Ok, Battlestripe, give me a forty-two percent increase
in the hypergenerator fielding unit, and get ready to hit the noise generators
as we drop from hyperspace. Roadbuster, get
ready on those clamps, release on my count."
A small sub screen flickered into being on you HUD
display. Power levels began building on the subscreen as you watched the
smear of light go by outside of your viwscreen. You
grab the control, using breaking thrusters to gently nudge the ship as far out
on its moorings as was possible without shifting the Soulfire’s course.
You watch as the levels build on the
monitor…
"Five, four, three, two, one, count!!" There
was a slight shudder and a jolt as the Soulfire seemed to displace itself, you
increased thrust immediately to overtake it in the hyper tunnel.
Battlestripe reports, "Slight damage to forward
shields, but everything seems stabilized now."
"Good, get ready on the noise generator.
One more time, boys, hit the generator on count of one. Five, four,
three, two… the bridge filled with a loud hissing noise that shaked the
bolts solidly as it began to build, one!!"
The ship dropped out of hyperspace with a roar that
suddenly silenced into the vacuum of real space. On board, the walls
shook with a fierce rumbling.
"SHUT OF THE NOISE GENERATORS!!" you yell
over the din.
Silence settled over the scene.
A silence that was short lived.
Just as your ship winged out into the dark velvet of
the peaceful silence of space, the fabric of space around it snapped with a
pop, and a flurry of small fighters swarmed out of
nowhere.
"It worked!" roared Roadbuster as the first
shots slapped against your shields.
"Fifty units of small size. They are lightly
shielded but heavily armed." Battlestripe announced.
Small size meant about equivalent to your ship.
Which probably mean they were maneuverable.
You set your teeth for a fight…
???: In Skyjammer's ship...
The ship bucks and rocks as the swarm of attack
ships begins to fire at you, "Battlestripe, go to the shield console over
there and keep me informed on our shield
status every 20 nano-cycles."
Battlestripe slides over and starts tapping in new
commands at the direct access station for the shielding units.
"Roadbuster, I want you to go to the weapons console
and activate all heavy space missiles and argon lasers. Not just any lasers,
the argon lasers! Also, deploy a
full spread of countermeasures in a three-mile radius so that initial attack
will be deflected until our shields are completely recharged."
You look out, luckily, a large part of the ships had flown
past you on the first run as they sped out of hyperspace, but now, they began
to turn back toward your
ship.
"I will be in the main gunner pod on the top
bridge!"
Roadbuster yells, "And who’s gonna fly this
thing!?!"
"Attack pattern Omega-triad split four!"
The computer bleeps in recognition of the command and the
ship begins to spin away quickly from the incoming fighters.
You spin and race off to the gunner pod and begin to warm up
the system.
--The autopilot’s only so good, I’ll have to subcontrol from
in here.—
You tap some extra commands, you were used to it. The ship
was mainly set to run with one pilot, and this wasn’t the first time you had to
hop in the forward gun
bays for a better shot at something…
Battlestripe’s voice crackles in as you jack into the
controls, "Shields are at sixty-two percent. These things don’t seem
to be very good shots, seems like they are
a bit confused too."
You look at the HUD as it pops up in front of you.
Battlestripe was right, as the spread of countermeasures started flashing
outside of the ship, there seemed to
be a great deal of chaos happening among the ships.
Some of them seemed to be sitting still, as if expecting
something else, apparently, these troops weren’t trained real well on
improvisational tactics. They must
have been awfully shocked to find that there wasn’t a big red and blue ship at
the end of the tunnel!
The computer gives a chime as the argon lasers activated,
you grab the controls and shifted them back, swinging the guns out for a heavy
blast on the closest ship.
A nice, stagnant target made the quickest choice. A
fiery ball of flame engulfed it as the powerful lasers ripped through its
shields.
Roadbuster’s voice came across, "One micro-cycle till
laser recharge."
You pull the weapon around and begin to lay down a
suppressing fire with the blaster cannons.
Bolts splattered around and across the enemy fighter
ships. It would take a number of hits with these to punch through, but
you couldn’t fire missiles with their
ships so close.
Something struck you as odd as you waited for the main guns
to recharge. As you watched the ships outside, there was something wrong
about their attack
patterns. They seemed to attack without regard for themselves. They
had not fanned out, they just swarmed, and their blasts seemed to go wide on a
consistent
basis.
Everything about it signified stupidity.
Again the weapon chimes. You swing the weapon around
and blast another ship that was barreling toward you with its weapons blasting.
The ship crumpled as your blasts ripped through it.
--This is insane, they aren’t moving out far enough to
even get a solid shot without hitting each other!—
You hit another ship with the turret’s blasters, this time
tearing through it’s shield. The ship swings wide from the impact and
smashes into two others.
"Skyjammer," Roadbuster’s calls, "You
watchin’ this, kid?"
"Yeah, somethings wacky out there. They can’t be
this stupid!"
"I’ve seen this kind of attack confusion before.
They’re drones."
--Drones! He’s right, a drone fleet would be
programmed to attack their target, their target being a very large warship. —
With that in mind you began to filter out the ships attack
patterns, pushing them back to a point where the Soulfire’s hull would be
set. Sure enough, a visualization
of a swarm attack that was very well defined and probably very lethal formed in
your processors.
"Watch this." You turned the controls on and
shifted the ship down quickly, as the spot you expected appears you fired a
volley of missiles out of the swarm.
"Great shot." Growled Battlestripe.
"Wait for it…"
The missiles spread out and began to arc back, toward the
swarm as the mass of fighters shifted again to surround your ship on their
preprogrammed course.
Orange balls of fire appear and as quickly are snuffed out
in the vacuum of space as your missiles slam into surrounding fighters.
There is a slight shudder as the
shock waves buffet your ship, but as the light dies down, only about half of
the ships remained.
"Nice," rumbles Battlestripe’s voice,
"but shields are at twenty percent and dropping now, and there’s still
about twenty of them left."
"And…" adds Roadbuster, "They’ve got
more room to move. The attack pattern’s shifting."
Space: In Skyjammer's ship
"Battlestripe, I want you to revert all
non-essential systems to the shields. Leave all of the gunner pods
operational and decrease life support by 40%. I'll try to
get another run with a missile bundle."
You switch the commsystem to Roadbuster.
"Roadbuster, I need you to arm all available large and small
warheads. Send them out in a bi-layer Delta pattern. It
should create a sort of homing minefield that will fly straight towards the
drones."
You flip the gun off and start tapping commands into it
furiously. The shields began to rock as blasts spattered into them.
The air temperature began to drop as
the air in the ship was no longer circulated.
You fired off a couple more blasts as the guns began to
charge. They were spreading out. Apparently their programming
allowed for some learning factors.
A spread of missiles went out as you jerked the ship ahead
of the swarm, explosions claimed several of the ships, but there was still a
large group left.
You fired another charged blast from the main weapon.
A ship shattered into sparks as you lanced through its hull.
"Shields down to fifteen percent. Engines are
super heating from the radiation." Battlestripe reports.
Roadbuster’s voice crackles, "We’re down to twelve of
them, but we’re not hitting any other’s with missiles."
"Great, scan the area. Whatta we got?"
Battlestripe growls, "There’s not much here.
Closest system is a good five minutes on drive. Wait, there’s something metal
scanning on far sensors."
"What is it?"
"Don’t know, it’s too far away, but it’s better
than being out in the open. Shields are at ten percent."
"Then let’s do it, head towards it at full speed,
drop a decoy, maybe it’ll keep a few off of our tail."
Roadbuster acknowledges, "On it."
The ship streaked toward the metal structure at
full speed. The life support had to be dropped completely to increase the
rad dampers on the engines. Now they
had picked up an odd whine that you didn’t like at all, but at least they were
proving faster than the swarmers. You had outpaced them by about a fifty
kilometers.
It gave you breathing room, but your engines couldn’t keep it up for long.
You were back on the bridge at the controls with the
others. Ahead, a dark hazy cloud covered the area where the metallic
readings were registering.
Flashes of light lit the cloud’s interior as you near
it.
"I do not like the looks of this." Grumbles
Roadbuster.
"Scanners are not penetrating the cloud very
well. It’s charged with some weird tachion particles. They’re
fluctuating at a high resonance and scrambling any in
depth probing." Battlestripe reported.
" Is it safe?" you query.
"Our shields have recharged to fifteen
percent. As long as we don’t go shooting out weapons in there we should
be pretty safe."
"Let’s go then."
You wing the ship into the cloud on low speed.
There would only be maybe ten minutes to recoop before the swarmers were on
you. Not long to find a miracle.
The dark clouds billow around you, the flashes of
light resolving into streaks of electrical lightning that silently caress the
hull of your ship.
"Shields holding steady." Battlestripe
purrs, "In fact, the absorption generators appear to be able to draw some
of the energy off of the storm."
"How much?"
"Not much, we haven’t even increased a percent
yet."
You switch on the outer lights, piercing the darkness
with tight beams that rotated around, searching for the metal signature.
"It’s dead ahead, a quarter of a kilometer
off." Roadbuster reports.
The ship silently swims deeper into the cloud, searching
for some kind of haven. The electrical storms increase as you fly deeper,
flinging eerie flashes of light that
seemed to reflect off of… debris of some sort that floated deep within the
cloud.
The cloud shifts and parts, and with it, a piece of
the debris hits the viewscreen.
The gaping mouth of a decimated robot screamed in mute
silence in the frozen cold of space. He hit the outside of the ship and
then slid past as you moved out
and pulled along side the large structure that was registering on the scanners.
"It’s some kind of station… or was."
Roadbuster mutters under his breath.
"It’s slag now. What’s that up
there?" you point as you move the ship along the tangle of struts
and bared wires that composed the ruined ring of a space
station. A large, cylindrical object intersected the station.
You slide the ship nearer to it and shined the lights
up. It was some kind of rocket ship. And on the side was a symbol.
An ancient symbol, one you barely recognized. It
was the Autobot symbol.
Skyjammer's ship (still without name...) : a derelict space station
You pull the ship closer to the station, hoping
that the hunk of dead metal would cover your signature, "Battlestripe, set
up a comm-link with that station and see if
any of the Autobots are still functional. Roadbuster, I need you to pull
our ship near that rocket in case we need to use it."
You think about the rocket for a second, "We might be
able to absorb some power from it but we’ll need to shut down weapons and
shields." You get up and
begin to alter the control configuration on the energy cells to use them as
intakes.
Battlestripe reports, "There is no reply from the
station, but I am getting some rather odd energy signatures."
You look up, "Like what?"
"I’m… not sure. The clouds are keeping us from
scanning anything really clearly, even from here. There seems to be
some kind of odd energy infused into the
structure of the station itself. I’m running a more thorough analysis
now."
There’s a slight clunking noise that reverberates through
the hull of the ship.
"Sorry, bit too close." Mutters Roadbuster.
"Don’t scratch my ship." You complain as you
finish the re-calibration of the intakes.
"There," you switch on the energy dampers and
begin to siphon energy from the rocket.
"Wait!" roars Battlestripe.
"What!?!"
"Don’t siphon that energy!"
"It’s a bit late, we already started. It seems to
be running fine, what the slag is your problem."
Battlestripe looks out the viewscreen at the massive rocket
that your ship now sat locked to, "Two problems, one, the energy that’s
infused into that rocket
appears to be temporal in nature. In fact all those flashes of energy are
some kind of time ripples of sorts."
"You mean we’re in some kind of Time Warp?"
"Time warp, time hole, time void, it’s impossible to
tell inside of here, but I do know that it seems like the whole slaggin’
station appears to be in different times."
"You’ve got to be kidding."
Roadbuster pulls some of the outside lights together on the
station, "No, he’s right, look at it, one second a spot will look almost
new, the next there’s a rust hole
the size of this ship!"
"Great, and what’s the second problem?"
"Well," Battlestripe pauses as if unsure,
"The energy scan’s on that rocket read two separate energy forces."
"A generator and the time displacement?"
"No, two BESIDES the time displacement. One is a
generator, but the other has a signature!"
"An energy signature?"
"No, an aliegance signature!"
"What?!??!"
Roadbuster stands up and looks over the scanners, "It’s
a spark, an AUTOBOT spark!"
"Where? In the rocket?"
Roadbuster taps a few controls, "No, it IS the
rocket."
A nebulae: In space
"Roadbuster, I'm open to suggestions
here." You run the sparks' energy signature through a database of
Cybertronians.
--Spark signature not on active
registered list.—
"The signature doesn't match anything in the database,
Battlestripe, can you think of ANY information that might help us." you
move to a chair in the middle of the
room and sit down.
Battlestripe shrugs, "The energy patterns outside seem
to be meshing with out shields. And as far as that rocket… Slag, I was
only built a couple of weeks ago!"
Roadbuster looks over and suggests, "Why don’t you run
the rocket design through the ship’s databanks."
"Good thought, computers, correlate rocket
design."
--Rocket seems to match with old
Guardian design.—
"What the slag is a Guardian?" Battlestripe
growls.
Roadbuster looks up, "The Guardian robots were assigned
to each of the greatest cities on Cybertron back during the Golden Era of
Cybertron! They were all
destroyed or lost during the Second Great War! All except for one that I
know of."
"Who was that?"
"There was an old Autobot on Earth I heard about… I
think his name was Omega Supreme. But he hasn’t been heard from for some
time."
You start to wonder what he slag is going on here.
Soon, you get back up and speak again, "Okay, everybody get back to your
stations. Were going to attempt
to leave this cloud. Shields up and weapons on standby. Roadbuster,
I want you to turn the ship 180 degrees right and put her in hyperdrive"
Roadbuster taps in a few controls, and there is a squealing
noise.
Battlestripe looks over, "What was that?!?"
You grimace, "Outside scanners, status."
Information begins to roll past the viewscreen up
ahead. Battlestripe grumbles as he reads it, "Looks like only part
of the ship tried to move. It’s the temporal
displacement. Seems like it’s leaked onto the hull of our ship.
Part of it in the present tried to move, and part of it in the past didn’t."
"Great, then we’re stuck."
Roadbuster looks over the data again, "It’s worse than
that. If I’m right, we stay here, and we’ll eventually go into a temporal
lock just like the Guardian rocket
and the station!"
"Oh, great, any ideals?"
Battlestripe stands, "Nothing can be gained by sitting
here. I suggest that we take the battle to it’s source!"
You look at him as if he had lost his mind,
"What?"
Roadbuster spins, "No, he’s right. If we can find
the source behind this displacement maybe we can stop it!"
"That means…"
"Leaving the ship, going into the station, and finding
the source of the temporal radiation." Battlestripe growls.
The only other option is trying to reconfigure the shields
and seeing if you can force the displacement harmonics to spit you out, but
that would take time. And
looking out at the Guardian rocket, you weren’t sure how much time you truly
had.
A nebulae: a Space Station
"Okay, Battlestripe, Roadbuster, go to the bay doors
and get ready to connect the tunnel to that ship. I'll stay here and put
the locks on so that we will have some
time to get back here before the displacement shoots us out."
"What about you?" grunts Roadbuster as he gets up.
"I'll be there right behind you. If you need any
electronics then go look in the back storage room."
The two scramble out to the back of the ship as you begin to
extend the locking clamps and the tunnel toward the station.
You get up and move toward the back of the ship, into
the small prep room by the airlocks. Battlestripe had a few gadgets
strapped to him hastily, and was
finishing the clamps on the tunnel itself.
There is a heavy hiss of air as the light atmosphere
of the shuttle’s airlock is dumped out into space. Then a groan and a whine as
the locks burned their way
through the other ship’s hull.
You see Battlestripe’s fur ruffle with distaste as he
experiences a lack of atmosphere for the first time.
The hull slab falls forward with a thunderous clang.
"Anybody home?" you ask as you step
cautiously into the dimly lit hallways.
The walls were blackened in places from some kind of
fire, and only pale blue emergency lights lit the corridors. Your voice
echoes hollowly off the walls,
answering itself from the empty sounds.
"I do not like this place." Wheezes
Battlestripe, still unused to the lack of air.
Roadbuster reaches over and snags a piece of equipment
from the Tiger-bot’s array and begins to punch in codes to the small scanner.
"It’ll be down these hallways, toward the center
of the ship." He points down left of the entry hole.
"Then let’s make this quick." You
begin to move off into the darkness.
As the three of you walk down the dim blue corridor,
the station creaks and groans as if strained and pulled in different
directions.
"What’s that!?" Battlestripe
growls, his fur bristling on his shoulders.
Down the hallway, a light was building, becoming
brighter, or moving towards you!
"It’s an anomaly!" announces Roadbuster.
You see a crackling charge like blacklit electricity
arcing down the hallway in front of you, heading directly toward you.
"What do we do!?!?!?" you yell as the
crackling started to turn into a loud, rolling thunder!
"Brace ourselves!"
The surge of energy rolled over you, sending a
tingling sensation through your frame.
As it washes past you, you close your eyes for an
instant. The roaring sound fades and you open your eyes.
"What the…??"
The hallways were spotless, and the lighting was
running on a normal setting. Voices could be heard from down the hallway,
"… and when the testing
commences we will be able to open a portal that will separate the very fabric
of time."
You and the others slowly move forward, peering around
a corner, where the voices were coming from. Two Cybertronians stood
there.
"Yes, but this new trans-dimensional gate… how
can your scientist be sure that it can be opened with solid stability?"
"We have opened and tested on a micro scale,
transmitting minute sensors back and forward in time for differing amounts,
minutes, hours, even two weeks!!" The
first robot was obviously excited.
"And this will be the first to generate a hole
large enough for a ship to pass through?"
"A small one, one large enough for one robot and
some generation…"
The wave of energy swept through like a hurricane this
time. In an instant, the hallways were devoid of life and energy, once
again burned, with hole showing the
multi-colored clouds outside, through the station’s hull.
About fifteen meters down the hallway, you could see
the shattered corpse of one of the two Cybertronians, his mouth permanently
gaping open in a look of
shock and horror.
At first you thought he was alone, until the clanking
of something hitting the hull outside drew your attention. You move
closer, and look out of a large blast hole.
Outside, half a torso was caught in the wiring. It was slowly floating
back and forth, hitting the outside of the station in an endless dance.
"What the slag happened here?" you
mutter under your breath.
Battlestripe growled, "They were messing with
time and blew themselves up?"
Roadbuster shook his head, "No, these blast holes
were made from the outside. That one came from the other side, and must
have gone straight through the
‘bot, knocking him out the other side."
You nodd, seeing the large hole on the opposite wall,
"Something attacked them."
"Or someone." Roadbuster nodded.
Roadbuster starts down the hallway, "Let’s find
the center of this problem and take care of it."
The hallways were occasionally littered with more
dead bodies, but they were rare. Small waves of energy showed newer, and
sometimes, older patches of
hallways as you walked along, but apparently, waves the size of the one that
hit you were very rare.
You move toward the center of the station, with
Roadbuster in the lead.
Soon, you find yourself moving past security doors,
more often then not with a solid blast from a gun to create an entrance.
Finally, you reach the dead center of the station, an
huge chamber like a crystal sphere. You open the door and step in.
Instantly you are assaulted by a mirage of images that
seemed to blur together, and freeze at the same time. A chaotic collage
of occurences swirled around you,
the deafening roar of an explosion, the humming of machinery, screams, silence,
all seemed to be occurring at the same time.
You scream.
Then the solid thrum of an alarm klaxon hummed in your
audio circuits.
You open your eyes, to find a world moving in slow
motion.
Cybertronian scientists moved frantically around,
pointing upward with expressions of terror.
You look up, out of the crystal globe at the velvet
darkness of star filled space. Out in the dark skies you can see the
explosions of a battle burning through the
stars.
Suddenly, everything slams into normal time.
You hear commands being yelled and feel the shudder of
the station as it is hit from blasts outside. Your processors burn to get a
grasp of what is going on.
"The Decepticon renegades have been engaged by
Syntax’ group!" a voice yells.
"Blast them! The wars are over, why can’t
they leave well enough alone!" another voice…
"By Primus, it’s Omega Supreme!! He’s
attacking Deathspire’s flagship!"
You look outside again and see a massive transformer
attacking a sleek warship.
"Shut down the generators, if they hit us…
by the Matrix!!!!!"
You see the warship fire a powerful blast at the
orange and red guardian robot, who dodges the blast. Unfortunately the
blast is right in line with the very globe
that you stand in. You watch as everything begins to slow down
again. Robots scream and dive for cover as the blast makes it’s way
toward you. You find
yourself locked, your arms move sluggishly and your legs seem frozen to the
ground.
You raise your arm to shield yourself… as if it would
help… as you hear the crystal begin to shatter inward with a slow crunching
noise.
The room seems to fill with light and heat.
Then everything is cold, and silent.
You open your eyes and see around you the crystal sphere,
dark and strewn with charred circuitry and bodies, but silent.
"What…" you say dazedly.
"I’ve stabilized the anomalies." You
hear Roadbuster pant.
You see Battlestripe shaking his head and transforming
back to robot mode…
--When did he transform?—
You look over at where Roadbuster stood, he had rigged
some machinery to a cracked ring that sat in the center of the huge
chamber. It seemed to be pumping
some kind of energy into the ring, stabilizing the massive structure.
"The technology was old. They didn’t know
how to re-stabilize a hole that had been made without a huge amount of
equipment. It really only takes a certain
wave length to stabilize the rip."
"How the hell did you know how!?"
"I had about two hours to read up on it while you
two disappeared. Next time watch where you step."
"So the time distortion is gone?"
"Yep, problem being, those drones are probably
already on their way."
"Then let’s get back to the ship!"
On the way, you relate your story to them,
Battlestripe growls, "I saw the before and after of what you saw.
Some lone warrior called Syntax apparently showed
up, chasing after Deathspire who was a leader of a renegade group of
Decepticons. Then, next thing I know I was in a burning sphere, the waves
from the blast
were flowing out toward the battle. Ships scrambled everywhere, and I
picked up a call for retreat, but the Guardian transformed and headed
here. Apparently, he
was trying to save any survivors."
"That still doesn’t explain how he ended up
through the hull." Roadbuster adds.
"Who cares, I just want outta here as fast as
possible!" You transform and jet down the hallway.
As you land in the entry tube you can hear the sounds
of wheels screeching around the corner. You transform and enter the ship,
the car-vehicle forms of both
Battlestripe and Roadbuster careening toward you.
You threw yourself into the command chair, just as the
first blast slammed into your hull.
The ship shook violently, "Battlestripe, get the
shields back up!"
Roadbuster yelled, "Weapons are charging, we’re
back at full power, but that hit didn’t do us any good!"
"And there’s still too many of them," you
add. "Detach the ship from the station."
Two more hits shook the ship violently.
"Slag," Battlestripe roars, "Those
blasts took out the shields before I even got to bring them up!"
"We are so toast." You sit back, your
mind racing, but your alternatives were limited.
Suddenly, a wash of plasma raked across the drone
ships, annihilating three quarters of their numbers.
"WHAT IN THE PIT WAS THAT!!!???!!!???!!!"
The viewscreens switched to a rear view, the rocket no
longer sat impaled through the station, rather, A huge orange, red, gray, and
yellow robot sat crouched,
one clawed arm extended and heat waves still pouring out of it.
Roadbuster chuckled, "Anyone want to meet a
guardian robot?"
A Nebulae: a space station
"Roadbuster, is there any chance that the guardian
could attack us? ‘Cause if so let's get the slag outta here!"
"Naw, look it’s annihilating those drone ships.
It would nailed us already if he wanted to!"
You stare at the guardian and finally decide to help him.
"I will be down in the gunner pod helping take out the
other ships. I want you two to get this ship working again."
With that you run down to the gunner pod and
boot up the system.
Most of the ships were gone, now, a few were doing their best to evade blasts
from the guardian. He had switched arms and was not firing with an arm
that
apparently was the nose of the rocket form. Plasma bolts flew out in
concentrated bursts, hitting the drone ships as they tried to dodge.
You powered up the blasters and started to fire on
them. Your blasts penetrate their already damaged shielding, and in a few
cycles, all the drone ships were
termintated.
As you unhook yourself, you call down to Roadbuster,
"Open up a comm channel to the big bot. I want to see if he’s truly
conscious!"
"Ok, Hailing channels open!"
"This is Skyjammer, I’m the captain of this ship.
Thanks for the hand!"
A thundering low reply boomed across the channel,
"Drone ships were Decepticon make. Therefore they were sent back to
the abyss. Query, what has
happened here?"
"Looks like you’ve been caught in a time trap for a few
centuries at least. We didn’t even realize you were still active, but we
too got trapped and were forced to
stabilize the time waves."
There is a pause, "What of the Decepticons?"
"Well, there’s a long story… see, there’s been peace
for several centuries on Cybertron, but recently, the Decepticons have started
causing trouble again."
"Decepticons inferior. Omega Supreme
superior." The massive robot stands and raises his two huge arms.
"Yeah, well, there’s no doubting your power…"
"I shall return to Cybertron. It’s streets will
be scoured clean of the filth that riddles it’s bowels. Once again shall
our world sparkle with the power of the Golden
Age."
"Yeah, well big guy. I’m afraid if you head back
alone, a nice big ship called the Warworld will turn you to scrap."
At the mention of the Warworld, his head snaps down and
toward your ship, "Then the darkness that clogs this Universe was not
dealt with. Once again, the
seeds of destruction were allowed to grow into the choking vine…"
"Yeah, well, look… We’re heading to a rendezvous with
most of the rest of what’s left of Cybertron’s space fleets. Hopefully,
there, we can come up with some
kind of plan to take back Cybertron. Interested?"
"Affirmative." The massive robot shifts
form, which actually consisted of over ninety percent of his body disappearing,
and the two arm units linking together to
form the rocket.
"Can you achieve hyperspace?"
"Affirmative. Omega Supreme was updated prior to
final mission with a hyperspace generator."
Roadbuster voice crackles over the comm, "He’s
outfitted, but it’s an old engine. We’ll have to go slow."
"Ok, we’re transmitting coordinates now. You lead
and we’ll match speed… Omega Supreme."
"Affirmative."
The rocket plowed past you, filling your vision with its
enormity as it dwarfs your small ship. You feel the ship pull around to
follow, and then both of you blur into
hyperspace.
Hyperspace
The lights around you blur back into normality as you drop the ship out of
hyperspace.
In front of you, across the splay of stars, a system hung floating around a enormous sun. Of course, the only way you knew it was a system was from the green circles surrounding the orbiting sattlites. Except for the nearest one, they were no more than dots, small white blurs, and the sun appeared as large as a thumbprint on the screen.
The nearby planet was a chunk of ice, the outermost planet of the system. It was no larger that the sun was, even though it was billions of times closer.
Right beside you, you could see the nosecone of the massive Omega Supreme. Rust spots still dotted the hull, showing the age and need of repair of the great robot.
“Ok, Omega, everything still running smoothly?”
“Affirmative, all operations within nominal rate of management.”
“Good, Battlestripe?”
“We are up and go.”
You look out, “Ok, we have no idea what is out in this system.”
“System designation, Sol.” Rumbles Omega’s voice.
You blinked at the comm, “What?”
“System, Sol, viable planets, one. Name Earth. Inhabitants, human.”
“How do you know all that
You blinked at the comm, “What?”
“System, Sol, viable planets, one. Name Earth. Inhabitants, human.”
“How do you know all that!?!?”
“I stayed on Earth for a short time, about a hundred years before the accident.”
“Is it any danger?”
“Negative, none known. "
That was enough for you. You kicked the ship’s thruster units into gear, and the small black craft jetted past the first of the systems planets.
Sol System: Skyjammer's shuttle
“Battlestripe,
I want you to put up the shields when we get closer to the planet Earth.”
You start tapping in flight commands to bring you inward when a small light
begins flashing.
“Whoa! There’s a Destron Defender ship sitting out there!!”
Apparently, your scanners had a small lag that had kept you from catching the
ship’s presence before.
The ship’s specs come up on the screen. It was an old warship that was retooled for ‘Defensive missions’. Heavily armed and armored. The giant ship seemed to be taking no interest in you, rather it was making it’s slow, plodding way inward toward the same destination as you.
“Holy Primus, looks like that little signal Backdraft had us send out worked!”
Omega Supremes voice ground over the comm, “Target, Destron ship. Enemy or allie?”
“Allie, Omega. At least, I hope. I don’t think you’re in any shape to tangle with that monster.”
The ship’s name was registered as ‘Minotaur’. You’ve heard of it, but you couldn’t remember who the Captain was.
“Roadbuster, get prepped and make sure all your systems are go. As soon as we touch ground we may have to do some recon to make sure…”
Then the comm starts blinking, “Incoming message.” Reports Battlestripe.
Backdraft’s face appears on the screen, “Hail shuttle. This is Captain Backdraft, welcome to the Sol system, over."
“Backdraft?” you hit the comm, “It’s good to hear from you guys again. You won’t believe what we’ve been through!”
"Am I to understand you have brought aide with you as well?" Backdraft’s voice seemed light, almost giddy.
“Yeah, well it seems that we may have found something that might be useful. After nearly having our tails blasted by the fifty or so ships that were chasing YOU we ended up in this little nebulae that was infected with a time warp. Found this guardian robot name of Omega Supreme there. Say hi to the kids, Omega.”
“Greetings Captain.” Omega Supremes voice rolls, low and heavy through the speaker system.
Backdraft answers back, "Welcome to Earth, and the Cybertronian armada, Omega Supreme."
Another voice comes through the speakers, apparently from Earth, “Omega Supreme! It’s been a long time old friend.”
“Greetings Prime. It is good to return to this place, but I am afraid that it seems that once again war follows on our tails and the chase for freedom must begin anew.”
--Prime? There hasn’t been a Prime for centuries!!!--
They send the landing coordinates and repeat how good it was to have you along.
Shortly, you find yourself moving toward a silvery and purple city floating on the deep blue oceans of the little planet. Omega Supreme had been instructed to land on a satellite planet that rotated around this one, but your ship was small enough to easily come on down.
The city resolved to two distinct sets of building, and the Soulfire was in between the two, and partially dismantled.
“What the slag are they doing here?” you wonder aloud.
Roadbuster answers, “I’m not too sure, but I do know that our sensors register the white and silver chromed city as an Autobot and the chrome Purple one… as a Decepticon.”
“They’re transformers!?” Battlestripe gaped.
“Yeah, registry as Metroplex and Trypticon. I’ve heard about them both, they were cities on Earth during the Great War.”
“Yeah,” you note, “but they don’t look too ancient to me. That’s Transmetal armoring if I’m not mistaken.”
The cities were covered with a silver sheen that seemed almost alive, reflecting the ripple light as it shone off the calm waters in the noontime sun.
You brought your ship to land on one of Metroplex’ massive landing pads. As you dismount, a voice called out to you.
“Cap’n Skyjammer?”
You turn to see a brownish robot coming out to you. A silver face with a broad grin greeted you as he approached, “G’day Cap. Name’s Outback. Backdraft asked me ta’ show ya round and fill you in.”
You nod, “How are things here on Earth?”
“Seems like we’ve got a temporary truce among factions. Destron, Autobot, Cybertron, Predacon, Maximal… and Decepticon.”
“Yeah, we noticed the city… I thought the Decepticon’s were the badguys?”
“That’s what Backdraft wanted me to fill you in on. See, here on Earth, there’s another faction of Decepticons. They’re leaded by the original Megatron.”
“Megatron!?!?” The name held both dark and light connotations to you. He was almost myth now, and you had thought he was long since dead. You had served under him many centuries ago, during the Great War. He had been the supreme commander of the Decepticon Legion.
But if Megatron was here, and was leading things… The future of Cybertron might be in greater danger than ever…
Earth: Metroplex
As you make
your way inside, you turn to the brown and silver robot, "Outback, what do
you know about Megatron?”
“Well, gotta say he’s been a real bastard f’ centuries. Prime’s trustin’
him an all, but I just don’t know. But that’s what I get for bein’ an
Autobot for nearly fifteen hundred years.”
“So you stayed here on Earth when they were disbanded.”
“Eyah, Kinda got use ta the terrain. Never could get used to the idea that I’d become a Cybertron or one of those fleshy buggers.” He looked over at Battlestripe, “No offense.”
Battlestripe was too preoccupied looking around to notice.
“Megatron was found here on Earth, by an Autobot, and was thrown in a CR. He was rebuilt and went by the name Megaplex for a short while before we figured out who he was. He actually ‘s been pretty helpful in the past few months. “
“Helpful?”
“Yeah, he helped stop a mad Predacon named Terrorsaur. The Pred’n been locked up in lava for a few hunred millenia and flipped out a bit. He had that nifty Transmetal armor too, and somehow also had the power to control the Earth’s core.”
“It’s core?”
“Yeah, much longer and he’d a been able ta destroy the planet!”
“And Megatron stopped him?”
“No, a couple Maximal’s stopped him, but Meg’s was crucial to the finish.”
“I see.”
“Then the Tripredicus council showed up. They got wind of him and wanted him dead. Prime stepped in between them and we had ourselves a bit of a scrap trying to keep things from getting too far out of hand. The Autobot’s and Decepticon’s worked together though, and we defeated the council. Then Backdraft showed up with the news about Cybertron. Megatron was the first to volunteer to help, so who knows. Maybe he’s turned a new chip…”
“You still sound doubtful…”
“Well, I don’t like the fact that now he’s linked to Starscream as well. Happened during the fight with the Predacons. They were both linked to a shuttle that became their new bodies. I may even accept that Megatron would help us, but Starscream? That’s one conniving little bastard I’ll never trust.”
Starscream, a renegade that had lead a force of Decepticon’s ever since the Pax Cybertronia was signed. There were stories of his betrayal of a leader by the name of Deathspire to take control of the small group of pirates. There were even more speculations that he had served under the original Megatron and had often betrayed him as well.
“Outback, do you think I can arrange a meeting with him. Not in person, but maybe over a vid-conference?”
“Sure, I don’t see why not. Just go over to Decepticon central.” He points at the massive purple city that was anchored next to the gleaming silver one. Atop one of it’s towers, the Decepticon sigil gleamed dangerously in the sun. That city too was made of Transmetal technology.
“Y’can just give them a ring on the com or go over for a visit in person. They’ll have a better idea of Megatron’s schedule.”
Outback led you, Battlestripe, and Roadbuster to your rooms.
The room was great.
The room was near the top of one of the taller towers. A large desk sat near floor to wall windows that overlooked the city itself and then out into the waters beyond. A recharge unit sat in one corner and you had a nice holo-proj and oil pool. You sat now at the desk, tapping up the comm unit and opening a channel to Backdraft.
“Hey Backdraft!”
“Skyjammer, I hope you like the rooms?”
“Nice, I’ll have to save your butt more often.”
“Yeah, well, it’s also one of the perks of only have about thirty of us stationed on a city made for around a thousand or so.”
“Gee, and I felt special. Hey, If there’s anything you need me to do, let me know.”
“Right. For now just put your feet up and enjoy not being in total peril. I’ll let you know if anything pops up.”
“Thanks.”
You kill the connection and look back out of the window. The sun was getting lower, and would probably be setting soon. You thought about Megatron and his Decepticons.
--Here I am, in the middle of a fight, and next to both forces that cost my love her life.—
But you don’t feel sure who you should blame. Megatron was the ancient leader of the Decepticons, but it was so long ago… Now there were the new Decepticons that had taken your very homeplanet into slavery.
Her voice echoes in your mind, “Never take sides…”
But you weren’t, this force had no side. They were a grouping of every political faction Cybertron had to offer, and then some!
You activate the comm again, “This is Skyjammer to Trypticon. I want to talk to Megatron.”
Earth : Metroplex
The line clicks open and a deep voice grumbles across the line, “This is
SpaceCase, whattya want?”
“I want to talk to Megatron.”
“Uhm, he’s busy, what is it about.”
“He’s busy… right. Tell him its Captain Skyjammer.”
“Ok, he’s still busy.”
“You didn’t even tell him.”
“Oh, ok hold on.”
All of two segments pass…
“He’s busy.”
“Look, I’m a Destron Captain and I used to serve under Megatron’s command…”
“Ooooo, so did I, and him, and him, and that bot over there, why, I bet there were thousands of us!!”
--This is going nowhere.—
“Ok, look, I’m supposed to… deliver… a message from Optimus Prime.”
The robot stares at the screen blankly for a few seconds, as if lost as to what to do.
“He’ll be really ticked if he doesn’t get it.”
“Uhm… You don’t really have a message from Prime…?”
“You bet, top priority.”
“Uhm… well… that is…. Slag.”
The screen blanks out for a segment, and at first you think the Decepticon cut you off. Then, a Decepticon insignia appears on the screen and soft, slightly annoying music starts to play in the background.
“Bastard put me on hold…”
There you sat for about three cycles, until suddenly Megatron appeared on the screen.
“Captain Skyjammer I believe? Since my underlings seem incapable of screening calls directly to me, I decided I would see what you needed.”
“Megatron, how are you doing?”
“How am I doing? Captain, I appreciate your concern for my well being, but if this is just a social call, I really have other matters pressing…”
“No, not a social call, not really, but rather a call to ask a question of you.”
“And that question is?”
“Since when did YOU, try to help anybody?"
Megatron stares at the screen for a segment, and then rears back with laughter,
“YOU question MY motives?!? My dear Captain Skyjammer, I have accessed
the databanks that were downloaded from the Soulfire which come from Iacon’s
main computer banks. You, it seems, are an illustious MERCENARY who only
hires himself out for blood money. I have to ask since when did YOU help
anybody for FREE???!!??? Really, such an odd reaction for an ex
Decepticon turned butcher.”
“I…”
“I will be sure to ask Captain Backdraft to keep you more occupied if all you have to do is harass me while I work. Now, if you will excuse me…”
The transmission cuts.
--SLAG!!!— You smash your fist into the desk, leaving a miniscule dent.
But he was right, you were a merc, and you had never done anything like this before. Of course, you just came along to find the Decepticons, right?
--Or was it just good to be part of a cause again?—
No, it had to be for vengeance. It could only be about vengeance.
--And maybe about Cybertron’s safety too…--
That was a weird thought. Since when had you cared about Cybertron? You had spent millennia trying to conquer the slaggin’ planet, and then centuries trying to forget it!
--But the tomb is there. Her spark is there.—
Yeah, that had to be it. The memorial, you didn’t want to think about the Decepticons blocking you from it forever.
--For the Decepticons, and her spark—
That was what you fought for, that is why you risked everything…
--But the Decepticons are here!—
Your CPU was burning, you plopped down on the recharge station and shut off for a few cycles.
Sometime the next day you decided to go for a flight. It felt good to be back out in the clear skies of an alien planet. As you roared across the blue expanse of the ocean below and the sky above, it was easy to forget the Decepticons, easy to forget the war…
--Easy to forget the past—
Soon, land began to pass underneath you. This world was marked with green vegetation that basked in the warmth of the star above. You slowed, enjoying the odd sense of life that came from below.
You bank off toward a mass of dark clouds that crackled with energy. Their dark thunderheads rumbled with a wet echo.
Sheets of rain splatter off of you wings as you pass under them and then arc up into the billowing black clouds.
Lightning shatters and crackles with thunderous booms around you as you transform and continue to climb, slowly, in robot mode.
--Decepticons are Decepticons. Never trust them.--
You break through the clouds and out into a brilliant blast of light and heat. You exalt as the sun dries away your armor despite the frigid cold around you.
--Never trust us.—
“Backdraft to Skyjammer.” Your comm barks out.
“Skyjammer here.”
“I have a favor to ask…”
“If it’s about Megatron…”
“No, but it will definitely keep you out of his hair. Come meet me and we’ll talk about it.”
“What is it?”
“Rather not say on open frequency, just meet me at these coordinates.”
“Ok, be there in half a megacycle. Skyjammer out.”
You transform and burn toward the rendezvous.
It was a cliff on the Atlantic shoreline, somewhere near a place they called Maine. The air was cold, and below, the ocean roared as it smashed across the base of the cliffs, churning around on rocky outcroppings below.
Backdraft was already there, staring out at the Ocean. He looked up and waved as you flew towards him. You transformed and landed, skidding, behind him. The wind here was strong, and combined with the ocean below, you had to yell to be heard.
You walked back and sat down beside him, “So, what is it you want me to do?!”
He turned and raised his voice, though not as much as had you, “We’ve uncovered some facts that lead us to believe that waiting so long for the fleet to assemble may be a fatal mistake!”
“And?!”
“Two bots have hatched a plan that may help us slow down whatever the Decepticons may be up to, but they’ll need a ride and a few extra guns!”
“What do you mean?!”
“I mean I want you to take them, and maybe one or two others, back to Cybertron as a covert team with the intent to stop whatever it is that the Con’s are up to!”
“In command?”
“While in space, yes. But once it turns to sheer footwork, it’ll be the Maximal who’s in command!”
“Maximal?”
“Yeah, one of the two who came up with the plan. His name is Lightslayer, and his friend is a Destron named Zabgoth!”
“And who else!”
“I’m not sure yet, but it’ll be someone in espionage, and maybe someone with some demolition experience!”
“I’ve got some knowledge in both!”
“Yeah, but for this mission I want some experts along! Listen, I want you to think about it carefully. The mission may be a suicide run, and you’ve already risked your neck once for me! You’re shuttle, however, has the best chance of surviving a return trip on it’s own, or at least of not being caught in the process!”
“What about the Soulfire and it’s links for my ship?!”
“Well, most of the linkage system is now plugged into Trypticon and Metroplex. You’re shuttle wouldn’t be any help for it anymore!”
With that he stood up.
“Keep the mission top secret, and give me an answer by this evening!” the large robot transformed and flew off toward the ocean.
Earth : Metroplex
You head back to your own quarters.
Thoughts of your own mortality itch in the back of your head.
--Will this be my last mission?—
The thought had some appeal to it. You had been fighting for millenia, but something inside of you still felt the need to go on. Something feared going off-line.
As you sat, watching the sun travel across the skies outside your quarters, you pondered what would come. The Great Wars seemed so clear cut. Us against them, but this war was without sides. No goals could be seen, no lofty ideals…
The Decepticons hold the planet.
--So? They held the planet for ages, no one seemed to care. No one except a small band of rebels. Why should now be so different?—
The Horn.
That’s when things got blurry, when Unicron and Primus became part of the Wars. The rebuilds, the madness, the sheer enormity of destruction that each could promise. That was when the Decepticon Empire had truly begun to fall.
--Now they dare use the horn as an emblem of victory!--
The ferocity of the thought surprised you.
You only vaguely remember the times when Unicron became a threat to Cybertron and Primus. Only as a dream, a memory that should have long since been forgotten… had been forgotten.
Every transformer that was active could still see the monstrous planet entering Cybertron’s orbit, could see it transform into a demon of destruction and tear into the surface of the planet… Ripping up huge chunks and hungrily devouring them and all life that once existed upon them.
You activate the comm, “I accept. Meet me at the ocean with details tomorrow. SkyJammer Out."
You would be there this time. You wouldn’t stand by while madness destroys the Decepticons and Cybertron. You weren’t sure what you had done during the first Unicron wars, but you know that at one time you followed Galvatron, the mad leader created by Unicron.
--Not this time… Never again.—
Her voice seems to float to you again, whispering her dying words asking you to never fight for a side.
--I’m sorry, but this time, I fight for me.—
You spend the rest of the afternoon and night checking up on your ship. The repairs were nearly complete, and most systems checked out at full capacity. You also looked up some info on the ones called Lightslayer and Zabgoth.
Lightslayer was a newly formed Maximal apparently. He was a spark that was rescued from an attacked outspost during the mystery raids of the previous months. The Councils hoped that he could name the attackers.
--Little late for that…--
Apparently for the rebuild, the Maximals and the Predacon’s managed to put some new offshoot technology they had gleaned from the Transmetal energy waves that had been hitting the galaxy over the past half a year. The offshoot was referred to as Transmetal II, and had a basis from the research the Preds had been doing that lead to the creation of Battlestripe.
The other bot, Zabgoth, was a Destron. There wasn’t a lot mentioned on him other than he now bore the new technology that was brought back from a Decepticon lab. Apparently he was coated with a new armoring and his systems had been updated to match even the Transmetal II technology in advancement.
--Interesting. Two lab experiments want to go back to Cybertron…--
You smile to yourself, at least they should be able to protect themselves in a bad situation.
You sit back, noticing that the sun was rising outside.
You decide that maybe it was time to get a little rest before you meet these new bots, tonight.
Earth : Metroplex
You lean back into the recharge station, the links giving off a soft hiss as they connect to your power matrix. One final look around the room and you shut down for the time being.
“Why bother fighting any more?” you weren’t really listening, your mind was wandering to her curves as she lithely paced back and forth in the shuttle, “This insane bastard has lost against the Autobots. We’re just prolonging an already decided outcome!”
Rain splatters on the windows with a noisy clatter as you look up at her, “Why? Why not? It’s been millennia, why bow down to the wishes of some Treaty that the Decepticon Empire…”
“But you PROMISED…”
“Wha…?”
She turns toward you, her eyes black as night, as if suddenly they were drawing all light down into their depths.
“You told me you wouldn’t.”
She took an odd step, less fluid, almost shambling toward you.
“You said you would never take a side!!”
He arm fell off, crumbling to parts on the ground, as she stepped again toward you. You jumped forward to catch her as she fell.
Pieces fell off, clattering to the floor as you felt the cold splatter of rain fall through the jungle trees around you. The noise and cacophony of animal sounds mixes with a crescendo of thunder that rolls across the humid jungle floor.
You look down at her desiccated hull. Rust had formed seemingly instantaneously over her frame, and her metallic face was peeled back to show a rictus grin on her metallic skull.
“You swore to DIE for me!! Die without a side!! Die without a cause!!”
She grasped your torso with a steel grip that you could feel indenting your armor. Hoisting herself up, she glared at you, the unnatural black depths of her eyes seeming to suck you in to their cold depths, “How DARE you live!!”
You pry yourself free, seeing her drop and turn to ash on the sodden grass as another peel of lightning shakes the air.
You see movement throughout the shadowy trees. Living creatures howl and scream at you as the jungle writhes from their skitterings.
You clasp your hands over your ears to block out their noise, but the screams see to be embedded in your very spark, and from their depths rises one unifying note, one horrifying scream that comes from some dark recess. As it rises you become vaguely aware of a familiarity with its pitch, a familiarity with its source…
The scream is yours…
You bolt upright, popping free several of the power connections from their housing.
You reach up to your chest where the phantom Racer had grabbed you…
And you find a shallow dent in your armoring.
Earth: Metroplex
Later that evening, you and Backdraft meet the two others he had on the same 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.” He notes, looking at you and seeing no form of insignia.
“Greetings, Skyjammer.” Lightslayer nods.
You nod at the two of them 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?” You ask.
“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
Two mornings later found you outside in the pre-dawn mists. Zabgoth was here, as was Lightslayer. Shortly, the Lieutenant joined you. His mech had already been loaded in the ship.
Finally, the last member of your group showed. He was a lanky black Decepticon with long sharp silver wings that stretched upward from his back. His solitary optic glittered in the misty air as he stepped past without a sound and boarded the shuttle.
Zabgoth shrugs and steps up the plank way, his feet making hollow clangs as he stepped into the dangerous looking black ship. The last of the morning vapors misted off of you almost immediately as you stepped into the interior. Quickly, silently, your group finds their seats. The Lieutenant boarded his mech to make seating him somewhat easier.
The multicolored lights glittered around the small bridge area. There was just enough in the way of seating for the four of them at the lower computer stations.
You sat in your command chair, which was raised above them, and loaded down with duplicate controls for all the stations. From the collection of computer panels, you could control every inch of the small warship. You work, the multicolored lights on the panels shifting and blinking in the dim morning as you tapped in commands.
Everyone sat in silent anticipation. You gave no warning as you finished the last setting.
The engines softly hummed and there was a feeling of vertigo as the ship lifted from its moorings and made it’s way out into the upper atmosphere.
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….”
Your control area lowered a bit , giving you a better view. You smirked at Zabgoth, “Your ideal, why don’t you start the class off… tell us your name and what you did last summer.”
“Harumph,” he snorts, “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!”
Lightslayer shook his 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?!”
You look 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 starts, “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?”
Lightslayer shakes his 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.”
Zabgoth grins at Bladewing as the Lieutenant continues, “The drones will be built with that armor… but what do you mean about ‘a single sentience?’”
Lightslayer finished, “Clench has built a control harness… we think… that can control all of the drones at one time.”
You shake your 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?”
You answer, “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!” Zabgoth 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,” you answer, “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.”
Lightslayer looks over at Bladewing, “That’s where you come in…”
You nod your 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.”
“Now back to introductions…” Zabgoth continues.
The lanky black robot looks around, “Names Bladewing.”
“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!” Zabgoth laughs.
The Lieutenant shares in the laughter.
For the rest of the day, the others look around the small rooms of the ship, the weapons locker, the main room, and the small bay where you keep your personal sleds…
Hyperspace: The Crusader-1
Three
days passed uneventfully. You and
the rest of the crew talked 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.” Lightslayer adds.
You nod, most of your 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 you dodged 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.” Lightslayer mutters.
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 you 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. You 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?” you ask quietly.
Lightslayer taps 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 you 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 you 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.
You 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.
Lightslayer was in cat mode, sniffing the unfamiliar Cybertronian air, “This isn’t anything like your last… ‘friend’ is it?” he gave Zabgoth a sharp look.
“Who was his last friend?” the silent Bladewing seemed to appear in the shadows below the ship.
You 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.” You had read up on him before taking off. Apparently Zabgoth had lead them to a Decepticon Laboratory, which in turn lead to the ‘discovery’ of the information that had brought you this far.
The tanks 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!” L:ightslayer called, he 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…” you transform and hover for a second, while the rest of them change as well…
Cybertron: The Ranch
You look 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.”
Lightslayer grunts, “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?”
Lightslayer hangs his tongue in disgust, “Now that you mention it, maybe a little lone time would be welcome…”
“Ok then, Zabgoth?” you transform into your V winged jet mode. Zabgoth followed in his flight mode, a form of car with wings…
Within segments you both had arched across the warm metallic plains and reached the outlying building that Lightslayer had seen. Of Zabgoth’s friend there was no sign, but the shuffling of some creatures could be heard from a nearby pen.
You both transformed and landed.
There was a small, rectangular building that sat squat to the ground, surrounding it was a fair amount of imported ‘sand’ that had some odd looking gray scrub brushes growing all over in it and all was enclosed in a thick barricade-like fence.
The shuffling sounds near, but you still didn’t see any sign of life, “What’s that noise?” you felt uneasy.
“Hmmm, Bonecrusher was always a little weird. Not much for an exterior decorator, though.” Zabgoth plucked one of the scraggly looking bushes from the dirt.
A snuffling noise came from around the corner of the building and then a strange bellow.
Thundering toward you there appeared an immense beast. It’s bulk was supported on six thick trunk like legs that all worked in a shuffling unison to propel it angrily in your direction.
“Holy cows Batman!” Zabgoth jumps to the side as it nearly tramples him. It was twice his size, far larger than most flesh beasts.
You quickly pull a blaster and fire at the creature, hitting it’s flank with a shredding charge, but seeming to do little to the armored skin. It turns in range and glares down at both of you.
“That was good, piss it off next time why don’t you!” Zabgoth scrambled back and away from the creature, over to where you were standing.
“Should I shoot it again?” you were unsure due to the lack of damage. The creature began to paw the ground threateningly. It lowered its head, a dangerous looking ‘Y’ shaped nose horn pointed toward the two of you.
“No, let’s just sit here and see if it goes away.” Zabgoth snaps back as it began its charge.
You fire another blast into the creature, shattering it’s horn and sending a spray of dark blood across the ground… but not stopping it from coming.
The two of you ditched to either side.
Two loud shots cracked out as it began to turn. It suddenly looked unsure and began to back off.
“Great! It’s getting the message!” Zabgoth cheered.
You stand up, looking at your weapon, which had not been fired again, “Yeah, but I didn’t fire the shots.”
“Nope.” Came a voice from up above, “An’ I’d appreciate it if’n you didn’t go shootin’ at mah cows.”
A cocking noise sounded from the voice’s source, and as you looked up you saw that the shaggy brown source held two thick double barreled guns each aimed directly at both you and Zabgoth.
He stood on top of the small building. His coat was brown and shaggy, and golden horns were atop his head. The beast mode head of a buffalo made up his torso plate.
“Now, I expect I’m lookin’ for an explanation’ how you two are sitting here shooting up mah cattle?”
“Bonecrusher!” Zabgoth yells out, “You shag brained excuse for a backwoods inbred Maximal! It’s ME! Zabgoth!”
From beneath a mop of fur, the Maximal peered at him for a second before his face split into a wide grin, “ZABGOTH!” His guns were up in a flick, and the thick-bodied Bonecrusher was on the ground, shooing away his ‘cattle’.
As he works to get the creature back in the ‘barn’, he explains that he’s been working on supplying the rather large demand for meats that have become more and more a favorite delicacy for the Beast Warriors on Cybertron. Of course, it wasn’t a necessity, but a great many Preds, and none too few Maximals like to ‘dine’ as sort of an entertainment activity now.
The large creatures supplied a great quantity of meat per, and were fairly cheap to raise. He just had to make a stock pen that could hold them, and vegetation that they liked. Hence, the barricaded fencing and the scrub bushes.
“We’ve got a few others back at the ship, and we’re looking for a place to hole up for a few days.” Zabgoth finally asks.
“Hole up? You in trouble?”
“Well, sortof. You see, we’re just returning to Cybertron now, and we were sent here from the Cybertronian Armada.”
“The Cybertronian Armada!? HAH! That’s a good one!” He slaps you on the shoulder.
“No, really. We’re advanced scouts to see how Cybertron’s holding up.”
“Holding up?”
“After the siege?”
“Oh, you mean that mess over in Cybertropolis?”
“…yeeeeaaahhh…”
“Cost me a pretty penny in shipments. Shut the slaggin’ city down for nearly three weeks! Now, Iacon is nothing but hot slag, but I hear their even allowing that to be rebuilt.”
You butt in, surprised at the news, “You mean that Cybertropolis is open again?”
“Sure, Decepticon’s just wanted control. Nothin’ but a political battle from what I understood.”
“Political battle?!” Zabgoth gapes, “They slagged a city, shut it’s surrounding cities down, killed thousands, and you say it’s just political!?”
“Hey parnter, back up. I’m no soldier, not anymore. What they fight over is their business. So they say they’re in control, big deal. Don’t effect my work none too much. But hey, you want a place to hole up, you got it. Get your friends and we’ll head back the homestead. It’s about five kilometers East of here…”
Cybertron: the Ranch
You and Zabgoth quickly accept Bonecrusher's offer of hospitality. Once
the animals were locked down, the three of you made your way back to the ship.
As you reached the ship, Bladewing greeted you. "I think that after a
short rest, I should be the one to head to Cybertropolis."
"Whoa," you step up to the black and silver robot, "Who said
anything about splitting up?"
"It's what you two just did."
Zabgoth grins, "The bladebot want's to risk his wings, let 'im."
You think about it for a second and shrug, "We'll need some preliminary
mappings at any rate. I guess if any of us couldmake it he could.
C'mon lets go talk to the others."
The four of you board the Crusader-1.
You walked in at the end of a conversation...
An unknown voice was saying, "ok, I can take you there..."
As you entered the bridge, you could see the Lietenant, Lightslayer, and a
small, green and yellow Maximal.
Zabgoth snorted, "Boohaw? Who be this?"
The small Maximal jumped up from the oversized seat and uttered a squeal.
Bladewing and you step in. A grimace on your face, "Oh great,
another fuzz bot to shed on my seats."
Lightslayer shrugs, "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."
You duck out and take the short ladder leading up to 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!"
You nodd, "Yeah, I think that's our best bet..."
Lightslayer holds up his 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." You flip some
controls and the engines begin to hum outside.
You lean 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?" you were 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.
Lightslayer stood 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."
You hold your 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?"
Lighstlayer shook his 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!!"
Lightslayer grabbed 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."
Lightslayer glares across the room at the hefty Bonecrusher, "And that
is?"
"Well, seems to me that you've lost one of your numbers already."
"What?" Lightslayer glances 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?!?" Lightslayer grimaces.
"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
You radio to the tank as his 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, "I'm goin' too. The fleshy needs some backup!"
"Wait! Zab..."
Suddenly, you hear a growl and a transformation, and you see Lightslayer shifting into car mode, and tossing Springback on his hood, "Wait for me!"
You reach out and grab the car as it tries to pull off, "NO! Hold your wheels, Lightslayer!"
The Maximal transforms, anger flashing in his sensors, "What gives! You're not the commander here! Only on the ship!"
Bonecrusher steps up and puts his hand on the smaller Maximal's 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 you, "But it might not hurt to catch up with him as soon as possible."
You groan, "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."
Lightslayer jumps in, "Then we can hop a shipment... Sneak in!"
"It'll be a little hardern' that."
The small Maximal, Springback, done dusting himself off from where Lightslayer 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?" Lightslayer scooped the small Maximal up by the scruff of his neck.
"Nothin' Nothing!"
You pull your rifle and place 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."
The rabbit gave off a scared
laugh and a shrug, "I kinda hacked a code to interfere with those tank
drone border guards...?"
Cybertron:
The Ranch
You stare at the small Maximal for a second, "SO WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY
SOMETHING EARLIER!?!?!"
The Maximal was at this point obviously shaking, "No one asked...?"
You snatch him out of Lights 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!"
Lightslayer speaks up, "If we can send them a signal, then at least they'd
have to code to use."
You look 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, you had Springback on a console,
downloading the code into a small databank for upload to the Crusader.
You were 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.
You quickly locked onto the group, separating out the two visible signatures...
if you hadn't known what direction they had gone in though...
You locked down and yelled out, "Lightslayer, how's the rabbit doing?"
"It's ready, I'm bringing it up!" crackled the comm.
Immediately following was the clatter of the black Transmetal II panther's
claws as he came roaring into the bridge. He tossed a small disk up to
your chair, which you 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, you cut the signal.
Lightslayer sat panting below, "Well, that's that."
You frown, "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."
He
transforms, "Then what do you think? You, me, Springback.
We hitch a ride on one of Bonecrusher's 'shipments' and into town?"
Sighing, "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." The Maximal sat
down, crossing his arms.
You
stare around, "Then I guess we'd best load up some gadgetry from the
back..."
Cybertron:
The Crusader-1
You look back and point to the door. Tapping a button on your
control panel, the door slides open slowly and 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. you pull a small ECM
module and a string of grenades. Lightslayer picks 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." Lightslayer comments as he eyes some cerebral implants.
You shrug, "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. Throwing the grenades and the ECM jammer, you
popped open the rear of your 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?"
You glare at him, "Because you didn't bother to tell us what we
needed."
Lightslayer shrugged, "Don't worry, your job is to get us around, out job
is to handle the trouble. I picked this up to, Skyjammer..." Lightslayer
pulls 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." You turn 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.
You sigh, "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," you look 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."
Lightslayer shakes his 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. 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 look in, the cold shouldn't effect anything, it was only around zero, but
you hoped the same went for the fleshbots in the other car. You give a
sigh and board, watching as the door slides to, shutting you into a cold
darkness.
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 wait, holding your pulses in check, crouched and alert, with gun in
hand.
There was a bleeping noise from the door... It was opening.
You lowered the weapon and cocked it, your comm unit began transmission of
the control signal. The door slid open, and you could see a heavy armored
Cybertronian. He had a solitary red optic that flashed back and forth
across his visor, his arms were huge, thick claws, and on his shoulder sat
a tri-pronged rotary cannon.
He looked around, as you rapidly input directions through the signal
to back away as if nothing was there.
And he did, slowly looking around the cart, his optics never once dwelled on
where you sat. He leaned away, and you could hear, Armordillo, "I
told ya, mate. There's just hangin' meat back there." The door
began to slide shut.
And then stopped.
Something
flashed in front, and you saw a lithe creature peak through the door. It
was multicolored, and had a silvery 'mane' of metal plates stretching back from
it's reptilian neck. You only saw it for a second, and it's appearance
was followed by an explosion.
You hit the hover sleds control, slamming out through the damaged
doorway. You hadn't taken any damage from the explosion, but the car
would go completely in any second.
As you roared out into the air, you paused to identify the attacker.
The reptile sat below, he was a Transmetal 2 version of some kind of
iguana-frilled lizard mix. Next to him stood a rust colored Decepticon,
with high mandible-like shoulder blades arching on his back. He pointed,
"I told you the signal was coming from there, Iguanus!"
A tongue flicked out, "Iguanus, TERRORIZE!!!"
Already, you could see tank drones, led by a large, white Decepticon jet,
surrounding the other car. You heard blast sounds, and saw holes appear
in the cart.
You turned and tended to your own battle.
Three blue-silver clones... what you assumed to be some kind of aerodrones,
hovered out to surround your sled. Several heavy tank drones sat
below, their rotor cannons spinning in anticipation.
You kicked the sled up, and dropped a few grenades amidst the crowd.
The next few cycles were filled with the chaos of battle.
The grenades didn't even phase the heavy drones. Their armor was thicker
than anything you had seen! You tried using the control signal, but
something was jamming you.
The sled was vaped in seconds, barely giving you enough time to grab the inner
box of equipment free from it. Slingin it over your shoulder, you pulled
your rifle and began to fire away. One aerodrone took three or four hits,
but began smoking and fell from the sky. The others however anticipated
your moves and dodges your blasts.
Then, a sharp piercing feeling on your shoulder forced you to cry out.
You looked down to see a minute Decepticon... you realized it must have been
the transformed version of the rust colored one... slice into your
shoulder. He must have a size morpher!
You knocked him off, but already, you felt something odd in your systems.
You dropped to the ground, feeling hazy. Your systems began to purge the virus,
but it was costing you precious segments!
Something hit you, hard. You felt your shoulder dislocate from searing
heat and toppled backward.
Your optics cleared, and you could see the transformed, bison mode,
of Bonecrusher slamming into the tank drone that had hit you.
The drone staggered sideways and backhanded him. You pulled your
non-damaged arm up and fired some missiles, but in that instant, a blue, whip
like tail lashed around your arm.
It jerked your arm back, forcing you to turn around. Iguanus stood there,
pulling at the spikey tail-whip. You pulled back, knocking the Predacon
off balance. He was uninjured, however, and quickly recovered.
You transformed, freeing yourself from the whip.
--Time to make some distance from these bozos!--
You roared up into the sky, clearing yourself of the ground. Your rear
sensors showed the Predacon standing on the ground, glaring at you. Then,
a panel on his chest rotated open. A glittering, purple crystal was
revealed. It glowed with a vibrant life that matched the malicious
glimmer in his eyes, and a shining bolt of purple energy shot out.
It missed you, but hit the tower you were careening around. The tower
began to glitter in the same color, and then, with a deafening thunder, the
tower exploded!
You were sent in a spiral smashing into a wall not too far. Your engines
failed, and you began to fall downward.
You heard the buzzing blast of the weapon again, and everything went dark.
Some time later, you awoke to darkness and the smell of charred metal and rock.
A quick systems scanned revealed that your arm was missing, but the auto-repair
had sealed it from further damage. The virus was gone from your system,
and you had some severe external damage. But you were intact and fully
function... or at least as fully functional as you could be with one arm.
Opening your optics, you only found darkness.
You scanned the surroundings. You were still in the same place, but it
looked like a megacycle had passed, and that you were buried under what was
left of the wall. You're not sure how you HAD survived that, except that
miraculously, you found yourself in a 'pocket' amidst the rubble.
--Damnably lucky...--
You thought for a moment. If you went up through the rubble, you were
probably close enough to everyone to be seen. However, you might be able
to cut your way down underground... it would just take a while. You
shifted, careful as not to upset any of the rocks and considered your options.
Cybertron: Cybertropolis
The musty
darkness of the rubble erupted into brilliant light as you ignited a small
torch that you had stored in your systems. It toned down immediately into
a soft blue glow as you aimed it down to the ground, beginning the arduous task
to cut a hole in the streets of Cybertron.
Two
Megacycles passed as you worked, but finally, you could push down, and the
ground gave way, opening into the dark interior of Cybertron.
Quickly
you pushed a mass of wires out of the way and slid down into that
darkness. Looking up, you realized that they would eventually move the
rubble, and if they found the pocket...
You pull a
small incendiary device and attached it to the piece of street you had
cut. Then, you pulled the circular piece back into place over your head,
and began to crawl. When you were far enough away, you activated the
small bomb.
--That
should keep them from figuring anything conclusive out....--
Some of
you outer plating had begun to rebuild, but overall, you were still in fairly
bad condition, and your arm was still missing.
As you
wriggle through the confines of the wires down here, you thick about where to
go.
This line
of thought was made fairly pointless by the realization that you had no ideal
where you were!
That left
you with two simple choices.
Up or
Down.
Down would
be the underwarrens of Cybertron. Not a safe place, even if you do happen
to be fully functioning. As it is, you are fairly compromised, and any
invitation to fight may best be avoided.
So that
left up. There may be drones there... but then, at least you could
transform and escape them.... you hope.
--Up it
is.--
And so you
worked your way far enough from your battle and then proceeded to scan for an
opening.
Quickly
you found one, and crawled out into a, luckily, deserted street.
You looked
around and up a the tall towers that surrounded you.
--Hrm. Interesting. Looks quiet.--
A loud
crash behind you shatters that opinion.
You spin
to see where something had fallen unceremoniously from a high tower.
You could make out a shape up high on a platform turning away, apparently
not noticing you.
--A
Decepticon!--
You duck
back into the shadows, just to make certain he didn't think to come
investigate.
When you
felt it was safe, you inched out and over to the bin, where the 'con had
apparently dropped something. Something large.
It was a
large scrap bin, but what was dropped was easy to see.
A
brownish, spike covered Maximal lay in a pile inside. His face and
part of his head were almost completely blown off!
You slide
into the scrap pile and wade over to the carcass.
"Looks like you picked the wrong fight too, buddy." you hoist the
body over to see if there was anything useful on it.
A hand
shot out and grabbed your arm as you did so!
He was
alive!