A/N: First of I want to apologise for not continuing with my other fanfics at the moment. As much as I love them, and as much as I love writing, I have no inspiration for writing them at the moment, so please forgive me for leaving you hanging there (I realised I was in trouble when I was watching AvP2 the other day, and got zero inspiration for APS... ). Maybe while writing this, I'll gain some more inspiration in that department too *keeps fingers crossed*
I'm fairly confident that I can bring you updates for this one reasonably fast. This fanfic will also contain a bunch of characters that me and a friend made up, and have roleplayed for years. I once started something similar, but that really wasn't all that good, and now I'm actually going to follow the same storyline we had in our rp, and will not limit myself to putting only one of my own chars in there. Of course, it will be written out as a story instead of an rp, so will be longer than the rp ever was (as I really don't need to watch the amount of text I put in here, lol).
Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy it, and if there's anything unclear or you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me ))
"Hull breach in sector 7.. Guidance system, -failing-."
"We're going down.."
Those were the last words recorded on her harddisk before all went dark. Hyperwing grimaces as she sits up, scrubbing a hand over her face to try and get her bearings. Her neon blue and black plating is damaged from the crash, but being a lot sturdier than most bots - and capable of sustaining a lot more damage at that and surviving - it's not much more than a few dents and she can safely ignore it. The colouring is just for show, she could change it to any colour she likes, but she has found that having bright colouring makes bots underestimate her for some reason. Due to the strength of her body and systems, she's likely to be the first one awake as well, despite not being strapped down like the rest of the crew likely was, or at least, should have been.
She forces herself up and looks around, glad to see several of the cargo bay's crates smashed, debris everywhere. She allows herself a brief smile. With so much damage everywhere, she's fairly certain no one will notice the fact that some cargopods are not accounted for and thus one of the many secrets she carries will remain a secret. Having taken the responsibility of ejecting the ship's stasispods into safe orbit, she's glad none of the other Maximals followed her to help, meaning she had the opportunity to eject those three special extra pods, which are now also floating safely in space. She had hoped that she would be able to activate them wherever they would end up, away from the Maximal High Command, but when Sharp was suddenly assigned to this mission as well and they were forced to pursue Megatron and his cronies to boot, she was forced to rethink the plan. And now they seem to be in a totally different place than they had aimed for. So much for a nice and relaxing sciencemission from which she could escape with those she values by her side.
Now it will be a challenge to keep anyone from learning about the extra pods she ejected, or her supposed mission, and especially to keep Sharp at bay. Hopefully she can settle something with the other Agent of the Maximal High Command before any of them land. Though, maybe... She flicks on her comlink.
"Hyperwing to anyone, does anyone read?" she asks through the comlink, hoping more crewmembers have survived the crash, though she could do without Sharp. That would make being a double Agent a whole lot easier. And then she might be able to tell the rest of the crew and convince them to join her spark's mission to bring the Maximal High Command down.
Optimus Primal comes to with a start and a gasp, his body jerking and causing him pain.
"D-damage report..." he says, though that causes him more pain. He looks at the source of the pain and sees a girder piercing his midsection just to the left of his sparkchamber. It's pinning him to the floor on his back, but a quick touch of the floor shows he isn't leaking too much energon or mechfluid. At least he won't be dying today, it seems. Assuming of course that he's not the only one that has survived. The thought makes his spark constrict. His ship was filled with his friends, whether they were on the bridge with him, or in stasis, waiting until they arrived at wherever their mission of science would end up taking them. But they didn't even get close to the sector in space they were heading for. Instead, they were ordered to follow a Predacon spacecraft, and that, aside from completely throwing them off course, seems to have destroyed his ship and who knows how many of his friends. From what he can see, the ship must have rolled when it crash-landed, meaning more damage overall.
"Working on restoring power," Rhinox states from his chair at a console. "The backup systems don't power the chairs - and this one's not moving."
Squirming in his seat, he tries to get out, but his body being big and cumbersome, it doesn't work at all. This wasn't exactly the way he thought this mission was going to begin. He was looking forwards to discovering new species of both flora and fauna on distant worlds.
"Anyone got th' FoF-number off'a that planet..?" a voice comes from the other side of the bridge. "'Cause I think it was a 'foe'..."
Rattrap unstraps himself from his chair and takes a few seconds to steady himself on his feet. He seems to be undamaged. So those seatbelts are actually there for a reason, it turns out. Then he sees Optimus.
"Ah scrap - Rhinox, can't you see the Boss-bot?" he asks as he rushes over to Optimus. Looking at Rhinox, he sees that the taller bot can indeed not see their leader, stuck in his chair as he is. He probably doesn't see the other bots sprawled around the command centre either...
Rhinox struggles with his chair as he tries to move it and stop it from pinning him against the console. His optics catch a glimpse of his friend and he doubles his efforts, resulting in the bottom of the chair tearing away from the floor fixture. Though it allows him to move, he still feels guilty over the fact that the action resulted in damaging the Axalon further. He knows how much Optimus cares about the ship...
Sharp groans, coming around as Hyperwing enters the bridge. Hyperwing holds back a sigh of relief. If Sharp knew what she's been doing... And Sharp didn't become the High Command's best Agent by not seeing what's going on under her nose. Unless of course, she was unconscious like just now. She crosses over to Rhinox, taking hold of the dented backrest of the seat which is still stuck to his body, if not attached to the ship anymore, and breaking it off so he can move freely once more. The brown and green coloured bot thanks her briefly, before getting a medikit from one of the compartments and joining Rattrap at Optimus' side to assess his damage, while Hyperwing heads to one of the consoles, making a few scans to better understand their current situation.
"The pods are all in orbit, so safe, for the time being," she reports, taking care to keep her face neutral and her voice cold as she speaks.
"Then, at least they'll be alright," Optimus says, breathing a sigh of relief. However this turns out, his friends will be kept safe, and hopefully they will be able to pick them up again as they leave this planet and return to Cybertron.
Hyperwing's optics widen momentarily at the readings she gets from the scanners. She knows they're hardly working, but the data they do get isn't what she had expected.
"The planet indicates mass storages of energon..." She pauses a moment to let that sink in. "Far too much for our bodies to handle. We will need to find something to keep it from destroying us. Scanners are mostly down and I advice strongly that those be made a priority. We don't know what the Predacons are up to, so we will need them as a warning system for their proximity."
"Did we lose anyone?" Optimus asks, worry flashing in his optics when he sees Sharp limp after scrambling up.
Sharp keeps from smiling, making a show of the limb hurting a lot as she moves over to Optimus, acting all caring and worried. That's her role in this whole affair - gain their trust, then kill them when X activates. It only helps that Hyperwing is there. Since they know Hyperwing is an Agent, they automatically dislike and distrust her. And it means they won't consider the possibility of a second Agent on board at all. Especially since she's behaving so differently from Hyperwing. At first she wasn't sure if it was a good idea for Hyperwing to be involved in this mission. After all, it would be her first team-mission, and she had recently failed to bring in experiments Twelve and Thirteen. The High Command didn't see that as an excuse to terminate Hyperwing though. Sharp can understand why, since the fembot has been molded to be their perfect soldier, but it does make her uneasy. Failure means death. So what caused them to reconsider killing Hyperwing when she returned empty handed? It's definitely something to investigate. The fellow Agent is bound to know more about the reasons.
Hyperwing performs a brief scan of the base itself, using her own scanners to verify the data, and gets up from the console. She turns, lefting some debris and revealing their small medic - out cold, but apparently intact. She leaves the small bot uncovered, going to the other location the scans indicated. She could help Rhinox fix Optimus, but with him, Rattrap and Sharp hovering over him, one more bot would likely only crowd him. That, and it would seem out of character for her. The twisted mess of a bot she finds at the other location leaves no questions or doubts though. She keeps a sigh inside. As a warrior, she is used to seeing death around her, but these are scientists, and unused to the black side of life. As much as she would like to show she cares about the fact that the news she now has to bring will hurt the crewmembers, she knows she can't show it.
"We lost Cheetor," she reports through the comlink, her face not as neutral as her voice sounds. She sets about moving the corpse, knowing it will be difficult enough for them to face without seeing the twisted mess with an impaled head and sparkchamber.
"Your sparkchamber is fully functional," Rhinox states with a nod, trying to keep everyone's minds on the things they -can- change. "So let's get you off of this thing and patched up."
Optimus gimaces even more when he hears Hyperwing. He grips Rattrap's and Sharp's hands tightly as they pull him up with permission from Rhinox.
"Easy..." Rhinox warns needlessly, ensuring the girder remains still so it doesn't scrape their leader's sparkchamber. Hyperwing could have waited until Optimus was in the medical bay at least...
Rattrap instantly feels guilty - the last thing he said to Cheetor was an insult. So were most of the things he said to the younger bot...
Hyperwing returns to the bridge, having left the remains of the bot she found there for now. The Maximals will likely want a ceremony once they have the time for it, even if it was the bot's own fault for not strapping himself in when he was told to do so. She looks around, having been noting the state of the ship on her way back. It's sheer luck the CR-chamber is still functional, even if they lack the power needed to make it run at the moment.
"The engines are busted and our canon is gone. There are several hull breaches and our stabiliser has blown. She won't fly again," she reports. She tries to ignore the dejected and defeated look Optimus' gets at the latest piece of bad news, but she can't help but feel rather guilty about it. But more importantly, she dislikes how unprotected this all leaves them. Being a vessel made for science, the Axalon only had the one main cannon, which would only have been used to protect themselves from attackers while making an escape. Going after a Predacon warship isn't exactly something they could have expected it to have to do.
"At least the pods are all safe," Sharp says in a slight effort to make them all feel better, patting Optimus' arm gently as she gives him her most compassionate smile.
Hyperwing heads over to the Maximal commander and those tending to him, putting her hand on Rhinox's shoulder a moment.
"You're the bot with the brains here. Find a way for us to survive the energon-radiation. I can patch him up," she says, taking the medikit from his hands and kneeling down at Optimus' side, keeping the injured bot between herself and Sharp. She could likely find it too, but it's not wise to let everyone know all she can do lest they become suspicious of why she doesn't do those things all the time.
Rhinox gives a slight nod and lets her take over, heading to his console and opening the panel underneath it. He needs the power up before he can run any simulations and find the solution to the problem. Though, hopefully, the Predacons are having the same problem and will also need time to work on a solution.
"I suppose I'll get started on clearin' up..." Rattrap says, as he can't do anything without power either. He starts moving anything badly damaged or destroyed out of the way, to an unused corner of the bridge. Anything not too big for him to move, that is. Sometimes it sucks not being as tall as the rest of the crew - except for their medic, who's even shorter than he is.
Tailbite groans softly, starting to come to slowly. Her head hurts a bit, and she remembers hitting it against the console before everything went black. She blinks, looking around and trying to decide what's happened and if everyone is still alive. She sees Hyperwing fixing Optimus, but the Agent seems to know what she's doing, so she'd best not interfere. The demeanour of fembot often has Tailbite a little scared. It might have something to do with the lack of emotion displayed, or the fact that Hyperwing has a tendency to lean slightly forwards when speaking to her, effectively towering over her completely. It's very unnerving...
Rattrap notices her awake and moves over to her, offering her a hand to help her up.
"Everyone's alright - but we lost Cheetor..." he explains, grimacing at the last bit. "Did ya get hurt?"
The smile that started to form on the little female's lips falters at the news and her shoulders droop. Cheetor was such a bright bot to have around. Always kind, and always willing to play a game. It helped that they were actually very close in age.
"I'm fine," she assures Rattrap, letting out a deep sigh. With a nod and after making sure she is steady on her feet, Rattrap leaves her to return to lugging around debris. She moves over to Sharp where the other Maximal is sitting on the ground, near Optimus, and starts fixing the injury on her leg. It doesn't appear to be a bad injury at all..
"Thanks, Hyperwing," Optimus says with a nod as Hyperwing sets about repairing him, going about it as she does everything else - cold and logical, as if she were fixing just another system, not saving the life of a bot. He doubts the fem will say much in reply. She rarely does.
"Just try not to do it again," Hyperwing says, a ghost of a smile on her face for mere moments before it goes cold and icy again as she works to close the hole in his chest. Having missed the smile, and never having heard her make a joke, he assumes she means it.
"Right..." he mutters, resisting the urge to roll his optics. As if he could avoid a damaged ship from injuring him.
There is a spark and a swear from under the console just as the lights brighten.
"Power's back on," Rhinox says, coming out from under the console and shaking his hand to get the feeling back in his fingers. He heads over to another system and starts running simulations on what kind of substance they can simulate to protect them from the energon radiation.
"You will still need a healing cycle, but this should keep you going until we know what our situation is," Hyperwing says as she closes up the medikit and rises from her position. She keeps the kit nearby, in case they need it again, and joins Rhinox, looking at the data pouring in.
Sharp smiles at Optimus, as if happy he's repaired and functional again. She gets up when Tailbite is done, stretching her leg carefully as if it might still give her trouble. Maybe she can hook Primal, get her claws into him properly and subtly start to run this whole operation without any of the other Maximals being aware of it. It wouldn't be the first time she's done that, and if they're to be stuck here for some time, she does need some form of entertainment...
"We have the materials aboard to synthesise a pseudo-skin - if we apply it to new alt-modes, then we could explore the area and remain shielded," Rhinox says, voicing his initial opinions. "The local fauna can provide plenty of choices."
Rattrap groans at the prospect of having to change his alt-mode.
"This ain't even gonna be an -upgrade-..." he grumbles.
Hyperwing, though she'd never admit it, is impressed by Rhinox's ingenuity. Dressing themselves as local lifeforms will have many advantages. She activates the console next to Rhinox to scroll through the possible alternative modes. A rare smile shows on her face as she does, recognizing most of them, before she smooths it over. She lights up as she finds a small, brightly coloured frog, before realising what her face is betraying and regaining her composure, glad Sharp can't see her face from her current position.
"Dibs on the poison dart frog," she says. A mode where her very skin is poisonous is just wonderful, especially since it will likely make her immune to any poisons she's not already immune to. But truth be told, she just likes them. Back when she was on Earth, she could watch them for hours, never failing to be entertained by their antics. For their sizes, they are formidable predators. And now she gets to be one. True, with an altmode like that, it will be hard for her to hide, but as the only, known that is, warrior on the ship, she doesn't need hiding as much as she needs brute strength. The dexterity of the frog will only add to her own. Yes, she thinks she'll like this alt-mode very much.
Sharp moves over to Hyperwing's console, frowning over the other fembot's shoulder at the list of possibilities. She's never had an interest in all this scientific stuff, let alone the organic stuff that came along with it. She can pretend to know a lot about it though. It irks her that Hyperwing seems to know more about these creatures than she does, more so because it raises the question again of how much the other Agent knows about their current location.
"I want that," she says, pointing at a creature with a mouth full of teeth. It looks nice and mean. Though she could go for a nice and sweet-looking alt-mode too, she prefers to have something she can defend herself with. After transforming into a tank, everything is a downgrade, but this doesn't seem all too bad. Of course, knowing nothing of Earth's fauna, she doesn't know it's a fish.
"Oh no, please, let me be th' bright blue target..." Rattrap says mockingly as he looks in as well. Only a true idiot would make themselves stand out so much. Then again, that might help them get rid of the Agent and keep the government from sticking their nose into things that are really not their business. He's told Optimus from the start of this mission he didn't like it, didn't trust it. He wouldn't be surprised if it turned out the Agent was responsible for the crash to begin with! But saying that where the Agent might hear would likely end up with him being silenced, and he likes himself too much to get killed.
Rhinox shrugs and flags a rhinoceros for himself and chooses an equally powerful form for their leader - a gorilla. Optimus probably won't want to worry about choosing, having enough on his mind already with their situation and the status of the ship. He instructs the Axalon's subsystems to begin manufacturing enough of the protective material for all of them and feeding it into the CR-chamber. Optimus gains his new alt-mode first - his injuries being repaired along the way, though not completely, as a full cycle would take too long and they need to be ready for the Predacons to attack him. It dawns on Rhinox that they could be in some serious trouble should the Darksyde be able to fly still. But then, if that were the case, wouldn't they be dead already..?
One by one the Maximals gain their new alternative modes, one happier than the other with the prospect of being an organic being as opposed to their vehicle-modes before. Hyperwing is one of the last to gain hers, having been keeping an eye on the systems and scanners. She didn't reply to the now rat's joke, mostly because she didn't want anyone telling her she couldn't have this mode after all - Maximals have a thing against killing. Or at least, -these- Maximals do. When she emerges from the chamber, she's happy to notice her own colour scheme has barely changed, even if this mode means that in her alternative mode she's a lot closer to the ground than she's used to. But, oh, the perks this mode gives her...
"Said colourful target is poisonous to the touch," she tells the rat as she transforms, inspecting her new transformed mode and taking note of where the potentially lethal beastmode skin is. It wouldn't do to poison anyone without her meaning to. She'll have to learn to keep her parts away from the others, or at least learn how to control when she poisons those that touch her. "If it'll draw Predacons like mad because of the colours, then all the better - they will be defeated quickly that way."
Tailbite squeaks softly at that, looking at Hyperwing with big eyes. She hops back and away from Hyperwing, the flying squirrel now even more intimidated by the other fembot. Why on Cybertron would anyone want an alternative mode that could kill on touch..? Rattrap seems to have the same thoughts, stepping back as well, even though he is nowhere close to her. The much taller female keeps from smirking - that would be showing entirely too much emotion - but it is fun to intimidate, even if she isn't even actively trying to do so.
"Right..." he mutters, then looks at Optimus. "I'm gonna go scout th' area."
Optimus nods, currently in his gorilla form. He's glad not to have a hole in him anymore, regardless of how well patched it was. Now he just has to deal with.. well.. everything.
"Remain in beastmode and don't engage the Predacons if you find them," he orders the rat, not wanting one of them to get into any trouble just yet. And with all that needs to be done at the base, he can't spare the troops it would take to be certain trouble wouldn't bother them all that much.
Sharp exits the CR-chamber, smiling smugly as she examines her new and improved transformed body. The line of teeth lining the sides of her body is very promising indeed. She transforms to get a feel of her beastmode, only to find she can't move much - aside from wriggling on the floor and causing even more damage to the ship. But worse; she can't even breathe. She transforms, gasping for air, before growling in anger and frustration and hitting her fists on the nearest console.
"This is -useless-!" she announces to the smashed console, before stalking out of the command centre, unwilling to face any of the Maximals right now. She doesn't want to own up to the fact she really didn't do her research before choosing a beastmode, but at the moment, they must all be aware of the fact that she specifically choose it.
Hyperwing can't keep a straight face as the fish wriggles, but when Sharp erupts and stalks off, she can't hold in it. She barely manages to keep the sound inside while Sharp is still within audioshot, holding a hand in front of her mouth in an effort to hide her mirth, before even that is futile, the noises she males and the movements her body makes clearly show she's laughing.
The other Maximals present manage to contain their laughter, not wanting to insult Sharp and gain her ire - until Hyperwing starts laughing. They instantly forget Sharp's stupidity and look at the fem, quite amazed at the level of emotion she's showing. Especially considering the coldness she's exhibited since they met.
"Are... Y'all right?" Rattrap asks, his look of wonder being replaced by a look of worry. If she's losing it, they need to escape.
Hyperwing feels heat rise to her cheeks, and she breathes in deeply, visibly trying to reign herself in. It takes a moment, but she smoothes her face and drops her hand, appearing as devoid of emotions as before, as if the outburst never happened. She's worried though - not necessarily about them seeing her act so out of the character they assume her to be, but more about the fact that they might tell Sharp about it. That would have the potential to ruin -everything-. She's not sure she could've done anything that would've not made her laugh at what happened, and she can hardly go back in time and prevent it from happening, but it could cause a lot of trouble.
"I am well," she tells the rat, in the same icy tone of voice she always uses. She moves to the elevator, fully committed to the task of just pretending it never happened to begin with. "I will see how the ship's position can be strengthened."
It's more to give her time to collect herself than anything else, but there's no way she can admit to that.
"Good idea," Optimus agrees with a nod. What on Cybertron happened there? He realises that on top of everything else, he will need to keep an eye on the Agent. If she isn't like how she shows herself to be, then what else are they not seeing that they should see..?
"I'll get scoutin'," Rattrap tells them once more, transforming and heading out after Hyperwing. There's more to that fem than meets the optic...
Optimus nods again, waiting for them to be gone before turning to the rest of his troops, few though they are. They will all need to work hard and work together to get the Axalon in an as defendable position as they can.
((Next up: the Preds!))