Title: Shattered Reality
'Verse: Car Robots/Robots in Disguise
Characters: Ensemble.
Rating: PG-13 for swearing in English, Japanese, and Cybertronian-English overall; this chapter in particular is PG for references of violence
Warnings: Will turn dark. AU of pre-existing completed series. Foul language as listed above, applicable throughout the whole story.
Disclaimer: I own none of these characters, only the plot of the story as adapted below. The original plot is not my property.
Summary: There are some worlds where things happen somewhat . . . differently. One side takes a scientist into protective custody; the other takes his son hostage in retaliation. AU.
Chapter One: Rules of Engagement
Activating internal logging systems . . . Active. Systems ready to accept transmitted data.
By the local time, it is currently May 23 of the year 2000 A.D., early in what the local inhabitants term "morning" on this side of the planet.
So far, it's a miracle that nothing has happened yet.
I'm currently maintaining the hologram which hides me from view, and I've just rechecked to make sure that my energy signature will blend in next to the generators on the roof that I've chosen for my current position. The organic creatures below us – humans, as they have designated themselves – are holding an important conference on energy today. The mission we're on right now is reconnaissance as much as it is a stakeout. My team needs as much energy as we can get, and every byte of information that we can get counts.
Our enemies – the enemies of the organic planet that we are currently residing on – will stop at nothing to ensure that we will not be able to defend all of the humans on this planet.
There is the day's main presenter, Dr. Onishi. He has a family – a wife and a son, both currently under watch by my most trusted second-in-command halfway across this world. (At present, he is in hiding – his natural form unfortunately does not lend itself particularly well to concealment in the local environment, and his appearance would most likely lead to panic and draw the attention of our enemies to him, which is precisely what we do not need right now). Every single one of my companions volunteered to aid me in today's mission, but, in fearing the enemy's team of main melee fighters, I have been forced to prevent my own triumvirate from taking watch, instead keeping them in backup. Two of them are currently hidden on the streets below him; the third lies in wait on a different rooftop, so that we have a more complete view of the event below and can provide cover for our companions below should they need it.
The transmissions that we have found state that Dr. Onishi is the planet's foremost expert on energy. That is both good and bad. Good because we have a chance of finding more energy . . .
Bad because our enemies will stop at nothing to prevent us from getting more energy. They claim it for themselves where they can, and destroy the rest. I know this all too well – they have done it many times before, to other planets, committing genocide without a second thought.
Ah. The enemy has made his move. That is their leader approaching now – his subordinates are nowhere in sight at the moment. I will move to take him on myself, and instruct my companions – no, my friends – to wait for the enemy's trio to appear. Hopefully, I will be able to avoid too much collateral damage.
(Too much collateral damage. Oh, gods of the universe, when will I be able to state "avoid any collateral damage" and have it be true?)
*****
Today's battle was success and failure.
Success because the only collateral damage done was to the surrounding structures – my friends were immensely creative, and remotely triggered the fire alarms while I was lost in contemplation to remove the humans from the buildings, and blocked the transmission of the alarm to the nearby fire stations, so that unneeded attention would not be drawn to the evacuation and alert our enemy to the plan.
Failure because we failed to protect the son of Dr. Onishi.
As expected, our enemy brought his own soldiers to the battle. What was unexpected was the noticeable absence of one of his main battlers – the one who has taken on the form of a local law enforcement vehicle. By the time our guard's transmission reached us, it was too late. The residence of Dr. Onishi had been destroyed, Dr. Onishi's wife wounded, and Dr. Onishi's son, Koji, taken. I am glad to be able to say that the one responsible did not escape unscathed – though occasionally somewhat idiotic, my second is a formidable fighter, and managed to injure his attacker before being forced to withdraw to defend Dr. Onishi's wife.
Admittedly, the battle did not go as well as it could have on our side. My triad was forced to withdraw to avoid an early deactivation, and I only barely managed to withdraw after preventing the enemy from taking Dr. Onishi. I fear for the repercussions of today's battle – the offspring of this world are often precious to their creators, and it appears that the relationship between Dr. Onishi and his son is no different. By threatening the well-being of Koji Onishi, our enemy may well be able to force Dr. Onishi to bow to their demands.
I sincerely hope that this will not be the case.
It is time to retire for the moment. I hope that my next log entry will bear happier news.
As according to the name I have taken on to better relate to the inhabitants of the planet Earth (my true designation is unpronounceable by organic vocalizers), this is Megatron, signing off for the cycle.
Edit made 4/7/2010 to fix a minor grammar error.