Note: I do not own the Transformers or anything connected to them….well except for a few DVD's. So please don't sue me, this is all done in fun. If you are reading my MK fanfics, don't worry I'm still working on it. Just thought a change in subject would be nice and had this story itching my brains for a while now.
Chapter One:
Angrily, Art Drake threw the newspaper onto his desk. The picture of Dr. Fugiama's Nightbird covered the front page with the headline, Robot Runs Rampant, in bold black letters above it. He leaned forward and pressed the button on his intercom and said, "Get Dr. Magess as soon as he comes in."
"Yes, Mr. Drake, "said his secretary, "He's here right now, do you wish for me to send him on in?"
"Send him in, "said Drake as he rubbed his forehead, through his long red bangs and leaned back into his chair.
Quietly, the door opened and closed. "I see you've heard the news, "said a middle aged man with a humorless smile.
"Do you have any idea what this will mean to Project: Elements?" growled the red head, "What gave Fujiama the bright idea of revealing her before the entire…"
"I think it might have something to do with money, "said Dr. Magess, "You are aware that even we are running over budget with our contribution to the project, and Dr. Fujiama does not have the cushion that Pendrake Industries has to offer."
"Then he should have talked to…Never mine, what's past is past there is nothing we can do about it now, "Art Drake sighed.
"At least we now know that the basic physical design does work, "offered Magess, "Once we get the AI figured out…"
"No."
"Sir?"
Drake looked directly at Magess and said, "The project is to be placed on hold….indefinitely."
(Scene Change)
"Damn it, Racheal, wait up!" yelled Chip Chase, rolling as fast as he could in his wheelchair.
Racheal turned but continued running, now backwards, as she yelled back, "Sorry, Chip, but I gotta catch the bus! Smell ya later!" She then turned and continued to run off.
Chip stopped where he was as he watched the brown haired woman run off with her backpack tightly on. He smiled as he watched his childhood friend jumped onto the bus just before it closed its door. Racheal Magess was a rarity, one of the few people who saw him and not the wheelchair from the get go. It was her that helped him see that he could still do anything he set his mind to and encouraged him to get into computers.
As he watched the bus drive off, he failed to notice a familiar yellow Volkswagen drive up and nearly jumped out of his chair when he heard Bumblebee honk his horn. "You alright, Chip?" the Autobot asked as he opened his door in a way to allow the boy to ride his chair straight in.
"Yeah, just….daydreaming, "answered the boy as he pushed his glasses firmly in place, "So what's up?"
"Repairs, "answered Bumblebee as he drove off, "The never ending list of repairs. Between the Dinobots and the Deceptions they never end, don't forget we still haven't really fixed the damage to Teletran One from when that she-bot, Nightbird, ripped out the energy chip. That's where you come in."
"Cool, "said Chip with a grin, "I always wanted to see the insides of Teletran."
(Scene Change)
Racheal dumped her backpack on the workbench and worriedly looked at the female looking robot in the adjoining workroom through a large window. 'Why wasn't there anyone there working on it? 'she thought, 'Normally there would be at least a few techs checking to see if the nanites were still functioning as predicted.'
"I see you noticed, "said Dr. Magess sadly.
"Uncle Merv, what's going on?" she asked.
"Stormlark and the rest of the project has been put on hold due to the Nightbird disaster," the scientist answered as he sat down on a lab chair, "We were so close too."
"What! All we needed was to set the safe guards and then…."
"You know that isn't true. The basic AI has yet to be configured, "he said, "And don't start that theory of using an existing human personality as a base. That would lead to possible insanity in the unit."
"Not if its done right and the right personality is chosen, "answered Rachael but she then sighed, "Not that it matters anymore. So what's going to happen now?"
Dr. Magess stood up and walked over to the window. "As for her, she's going into cold storage for who knows how long. For me….I'll get another project to work on, so don't worry about that. Pendrake Industries never throws away talent like mine….or yours,"he said sadly, "Talking about talent, how that Chase boy doing. Still hanging around those Autobots?"
"Don't try to change the subject, "countered Racheal, "Can I continue to work on the AI and nanite programs? I was kinda hoping to use the work for my graduate project, but if I start a new one now I won't get it done in time."
Merv Magess sighed but smiled as he said, "I'll see if I can get permission for you to use the lab. Like I said, Pendrake does not throw away talent and your work on both the AI and nanite programs is valuable enough without the Stormlark."
(Scene Change)
High pitched screams rang through the halls of the Decepticon base, which were ignored by the all white transformers as he sat at the computer, tapping his fingers as he watched the monitor. "Blast that Starscream!" Megatron growled, "One of the best warriors our forces have found in centuries and he goes and shoots her in the back due to some sort of misplaced jealousy."
Soundwave entered the room and in his monotone voice said, "I have received word on Nightbird, master Megatron."
Megatron turned in his seat and ordered, "Well get on with it. What have you learned?"
"She has been placed in storage at Fujiama's Laboratories. There is also four other robots of similar design being created as joint venture between multiple companies, "answered the transformer.
"Excellent, "Megatron leaned back in the chair and steepled his fingers as he said, "Find out what you can about the security around Nightbird and find out about the other robots as well. With some modification, they will most likely make fine Decepticons. They can't be any worse than that fool, Starscream."
Another high pitched, pain fill scream rang out.
(Scene Change)
Late that night, Rachael stretched as she looked at the clock. "Crap!" she said when she saw the time was well past mid-night, "Guess I'm sleeping here tonight." She reached over and picked up the phone to call home, so that her Uncle wouldn't worry. A few rings and the answering machine picked up, as the monologue of leaving a message started a slight crash was heard. "What the…."said Rachael as she walked off to investigate, leaving the phone lying on the desk. From the phone, a slight 'beep' could be heard. She turned on the bright overhead lights just in time to see a large robotic bird heading right to her. Rachael dived to the ground and crawled under one of the heavy worktables. Laserbreak screamed as he tried to get to the human. The bird fired one of his lasers knocking the heavy table away. Rachael rolled and then ran to door that wasn't blocked.
Running down stairs, she covered her head in a vain attempt to protect herself from the shattering glass as Laserbeak crashed through the large window. She fell over the railing and was saved by a pile of empty, cardboard boxes. Racheal ran to hide behind one of the lifts as she complained silently to herself, 'Why haven't those damn alarms gone off?'
Laserbeak now ignored the human as it flew towards the same as complete robot, being held up by a framework of clamps. Seeing this, the girl realized that it was the Stormlark it was interested in. Rachael ran to one of the mobile lifts' controls. Turning it on, once again claiming the cassettes' attention. The robotic bird turned, to find itself being slammed along side the head by one of the lifts and then thrown into one of the walls. Right when it crashed the labs alarms went off. "Now they go off, "the girl hissed as she fought the controls to try again to slam Laserbead as he rose into the air.
"Arrrrrk!" Laserbeak sounded as human guards ran into the lab and started firing their energy rifles. He turned to face the wall and fired off one of his missiles and as the wall started to collapse, he flew off into the night through the opening.
About thirty minutes later in a company break room, Rachael sat on a couch nursing a aching arm and back.
"What were you thinking?" demanded Dr. Magess, "You could have been killed and for what? A closed project!"
Rachael just sat back into the break room's couch and let her uncle's voice roll over her. This wasn't the first time he reprimanded her for a dangerous stunt but this time there was a legitimate reason for her actions. And it seems, Mr. Drake agreed with her thinking.
"Dr. Magess, "came his deep, calm voice as he handed the girl a cola, "It's not like she had much of a choice. She was here working on her school project and it was the creature that struck first. All she did was fight back, something I hope anyone in my employ would do." Turning his full attention to the tired Rachael he asked, "Are you certain it was interested only in the Stormlark?"
"That's what it looked like to me, "she answered after taking a sip, "Although I can't be absolutely sure. Shouldn't someone be contacting the Autobots?"
Arthur tapped on of his fingers on a table as he thought and then answered, "No. We'll move the Stormlark to cold storage sooner than planned and nothing more will be said of it."
The girl frowned, obviously not agreeing to his decision but resigned to follow it. "At least I'm almost done with the programs."
(Scene Change)
From out of the ocean's depths a metallic tower rose as the winged spy flew towards it. A door opened allowing its entry, before the tower began it descent back into the dark depths.
Flying though a maze of hallways, elevators and stairs Laserbeak eventually found Soundwave. In mid-flight, it transformed into its cassette form and landed in the waiting Soundwave's chest. "Megatron, "Soundwave said, "Laserbeak has returned."
Not turning away from the large, wall size monitor showing a human news report Megatron said, "Report."
After a brief lightening of his eye band, Soundwave then walked over to a keyboard and inserted a wire from his wrist. The monitor flickered and the image of a female shaped robot replaced the news. "This is one of Nightbird's sister units. It is called Stormlark and is almost complete. However, it has been decided to end the project and place the unit in storage….indefinitely."
"Any word on the other units?" asked Megatron.
"Negative, "answered Soundwave.
"Prepare a strike team, "ordered Megatron, "We start our 'recruitment' program come sunrise."
(Scene Change)'I can't believe I forgot the disc in the lab's computer, 'thought Racheal as the bus dropped her off in front of Pendrake Industries. She ran through the front gate, flashing her badge at the security guard there. Rushing up the stairs to the second floor lab, she glanced at her watch. She had ten minutes before the next bus was to arrive and she had to be on it otherwise she was going to be late for class. Once again she cursed herself for not having a car. After this semester was done, she was going car shopping no matter how much money she needed to save for classes.
Dr. Mages raised an eyebrow as his niece ran into the lab and headed straight to the computer. "Let me guess, "he said with a smirk, "you forgot your class project…again."
Rachael was about to respond when the first explosion shook the ground and the alarms went off. A voice rang out over the speakers, "Decepticons attacking! Everyone to your stations! This is not a drill!"
"Damn it!" said Dr. Magess as he ran to start erasing the computer's files. Backups were made nightly and send to underground safes for such occurrences.
Rachael looked through the still broken glass lined windows. "Crap! They're here for the robot! "she said as she headed to the stairs that led down to the robot.
"Rachael!" yelled Dr. Magess seeing where she was going.
"I'm just going to try to block that hole in the wall with one of the lifts, "she yelled back from the ground, "Then I'll start on uploading the security protocols."
(Scene Change)
"Hurry you fools!" ordered Megatron as he landed, "I want the Stormlark in our possession four hundred astro-seconds ago!"
A large blast nearly knocked Megatron over, and left a small dent in his chest plate. The white Decepticon growled as looked around. This bunch of humans was tougher than normal, he noted, they actually had some decent security. Another blast sent Thundercracker flying after landing in his mid section.
"Autobots approaching, "said Soundwave as he released Lazerbeak, Rumble and Ravage as he ordered to his cassettes, "Operation: Delay."
Down the road Optimus Prime lead a group of Autobots to assist the humans. Bubblebee at the end of the line groused, "I can't believe they haven't called us. What are they thinking?"
Chip answered, "From what I was told, the owner of Pendrake Industries feels that humans should learn how to defend themselves and not depend on the Autobots."
"Nice thought, "said Spike, "But I don't think we're up to the challenge….yet."
"I don't know, "said Hound through their communicator, "from what I'm seeing they seem to be doing a decent job."
A smoking Skywarp flew over backwards in robot mode.
"What the hell, "said Ironhide seeing the tell tale lights in the distance, "I didn't know humans had energy weapons."
"Pendrake Industries is said to be decades ahead of anyone else when it come to technology, "said Chip with a worried tone, "I just hope Rachael isn't there."
"Who?" asked Spike.
"A friend of mine, "answered the boy, "She and her uncle work for Pendrake Industries."
In minutes they arrived at the now destroyed front gate. "Autobots, "ordered Prime, "Transform and prepare for battle!"
(Scene Change)
Rachael fingers flew over the keyboard as the last of three protocols were installed in the Stormlark's motherboard. Now even if the Decepticons reprogrammed the thing, Stormlark wouldn't be more than an oversized action figure unless the protocols were met. And at the moment, she was the only one that even knew what they were.
She heard her uncle's voice ring out, "Racheal move!"
A bright light filled the room and the next thing she knew the lift she had placed to block the hole in the wall was flying across the room. She was also painfully thrown into and over the computer monitor. Holding one arm tightly over her lower ribs, Rachael stood shakily up and saw Megatron enter.
His red eyes flashed as he took in the room and saw the target of the raid. She was not as deadly looking as his beloved Nightbird, but this Stormlark will do nicely for now. The robot dark purple coloring, with lighter blue and gray shades gave her an electric like appearance. For some reason, the humans gave her what appeared to be black decorative bands crossing over her chest, over her shoulders and apparently down her back. Like the Nightbird, she too wore what appeared to be a mask over her pale blue face. A clank turned his attention away from the she-bot to a female human who stood and glared defiantly at him. "Worthless flesh creature, "he said as he lifted up his blast cannon.
"Stop right there, Megatron, "said Optimus Prime holding up his own weapon.
Megatron smirked as he turned to face his long time rival to say, "Really, Prime, you should think of more original greeting."
Rachael limped her way to one of the emergency exits near the Stormlark, knowing there was no way she was going to make it up the now rickety stairs. She only hoped that her uncle got out ok.
"No it can't be… "she heard Prime say and assumed he was talking about the robot. A sudden surge of pain forced the girl to her knees next to the now damaged and exposed cables running from the computers to the Stormlark, nearly falling over it.
"Oh yes it is, "answered Megatron, "Another Nightbird and soon a new addition to the Decepticons." Then a sudden, electric blast knocked the Autobot leader over from behind, Shrapnel entered the room with his weapon raised. "Good work, Shrapnel" said Megatron with a grin and raising his cannon once again, "Now to finish the job."
"Prime!" yelled Sunstreaker as he ran in and tackled Megatron. Sideswipe followed and did the same to Shrapnel. The Insecticon's weapon when flying through the air and crashed into the ground went off, firing directly at the kneeling human. A heart wrenching scream filled the air as the electric blast hit Rachael in the back and she fell over the cable. In seconds she was unconscious, her body twitching from the electric current.
"No, "whispered Prime. He then stood up, his eyes flashing as he turned and this time loudly said, "No."
"Get off of me you fool, "yelled Megatron, knocking Sunstreaker to the side as he stood.
Prime turned and with an angry glare punched Megatron in the face, knocking him out of the room. The Decepticon leader sat up from the ground, and rubbed the side of this mouth with the back of his hand as he took in Prime's uncharacteristic rage. "Decepticons,"he called out, "Retreat for now!"
As everyone watched the Decepticons fly off, no one noticed a brief flash of light in the Stormlark's amber eyes.
The End….Next Time on Flight of the Stormlark….
Rachael's voice rang out from the computer's speakers, "First security protocol met; activation now in progress."