Queen of Spades
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A Little Backstory on the Headmasters Series (Canon):
About the time Optimus Prime led his group aboard the Ark in search of new sources of energy, a large group of diminutive Cybertronians fled Cybertron as well to escape the war. Led by Fortress (Cerebros), the refugees ended up settling on the inhospitable planet of Master. To help with this difficult undertaking, they developed the use of transtectors—large armored suits with a bi-pedal mode and either a vehicular or animal alt-mode. The Masterian owner became the pilot or driver of the transtector when in its vehicular/animal form and the head component of the bi-pedal form. Though the Masterians had no natural alt-mode, those chosen for transtectors were reformatted with one for this purpose. Masterians with transtectors were called 'Headmasters'. (Yes, the system is a bit awkward and takes a while to figure out what's what, especially since the Masterian looks nothing like his transtector, but after a while you get used to it and it makes sense.)
But there were defections from Fortress' Headmaster program. Zarak (Scorponok) and his followers rebelled and left Planet Master, eventually allying themselves with the Decepticons.
The Headmasters series begins when Fortress brings his battleship, the Maximus, and four of his Headmaster warriors to Cybertron in 2011 to assist the Autobot cause. This is fortuitous timing as the Decepticons, relatively quiet since the events of 2006, had begun a new assault on Cybertron hoping to gain control of Vector Sigma.
Author Note:
This story takes place between the end of the final season of G1 and the beginning of the Headmasters series. Please ignore "The Rebirth". The Headmasters series essentially did. For those of you unfamiliar with Mindwipe, he is one of Zarak's followers and a Decepticon bat-former. His special skill is hypnosis which he can use in battle to turn opponents against each other, to paralyze them, or put them to sleep.
For the sake of the sake of this story, transtectors are custom built for a Masterian using the Masterian's own coding, much of it latent or vestigial as the Masterian population possessed no natural alt-modes.
The concept of 'surging' is my own, and I first used it in my story "Some Lucky Decepticon." Carriers are plentiful; sires less so, and they are only able to bestow life when surging. When a sire begins surging, his spark swells with procreative energy and he is courted by carriers hoping to conceive. A sire will likely spark multiple carriers during the short surging period. Whether the sire performs any parental duties beyond that is up to the parties involved.
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Chapter One: An Unexpected Offer
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When Mindwipe began surging, he'd not expected to attract much if any attention. He and his brother Masterians were newcomers to the Decepticon ranks—status-less grunts at this point. And for that matter he was a Masterian—small and weak by Cybertronian standards. He wasn't exactly what a carrier would be looking for in a sire for potential offspring. Of course chances were that few of the Decepticons here on Charr would even notice the attractant spark pulses he'd begun putting out.
Perhaps if he were handsome, or perhaps if his alt-mode and transtector had been built with a little more attention to aesthetics, he could find a carrier or two to spark up. But he was neither handsome nor sexy. It had been with some disappointment that he'd realized some time ago that his transtector's faceplate was lacking in the looks department. Someone had given it strange planes and angles where none should have been. And as far as he knew he didn't even have an attractive personality or any charisma to make up for his shortcomings in beauty. And despite Skullcruncher's suggestion, he wasn't about to hypnotize a carrier into opening for him. The idea of such was just as abhorrent to him as it would be to anyone else. If he was going to breed, he wanted it to be with a willing carrier who wouldn't abort his offspring on coming back around.
Not that he was really interested in breeding. Yes, as a concept for some distant, unknown future he was. But in the short term it seemed nigh impossible. There were sporadic oil and fuel shortages on Chaar. Cybertonium depletion had become the problem no one wanted to talk about. Yes, raising a sparkling was possible and there were a handful of Decepticons with children around to prove it in practice. But the effort required to bring one from conception to adulthood seemed a near-insurmountable hurdle and he wasn't sure how many Decepticons would be up to it or even stable enough to do so.
Maybe someday when things were better, he'd find a mate and build a belfry. Perhaps he'd find a planet where Decepticons and their allies were welcome. He certainly wouldn't be welcome on Master again, not after all the bridges Zarak had burned. But there were other places—places where the war would be forgotten and he could concentrate on getting down to the business of having a life and a family.
And as for the burning urges fired up by the surging, Weirdwolf and Skullcruncher had offered to help him through the peak of his cycle. They were both sires themselves and understood. And thankfully Masterian cycles lasted only an a orn or so, half of what their normal sized cousins had to endure. Life as a Decepticon flunkie would return to normal soon enough. And as for the usual gifts and attention a surging sire usually received, he knew he'd miss them. Back on Master, during his other two incidences, he'd found himself with more energon goodies and polishing cream and high-grade than he'd need in a meta-cycle.
So when Weirdwolf answered the knock at the door of their quarters, they were all quite surprised to see one of Soundwave's cassetticons standing there with a golden gift case under one arm. "Hey, is Mindwipe home?" asked the small mech—slightly larger than their natural forms. Had he come courting?
Mindwipe came to the door, a smile growing on his face. Someone had actually noticed his surging?
The small mech—either Rumble or Frenzy—the Headmasters still weren't sure which color was attached to which name—proffered the package.
"For me? Why thank you," said Mindwipe, thrilled that someone had actually noticed, and that he'd even brought a gift. "You're very sweet. Would you like to come in?" He would have been cringing inside normally, but somehow the combination of the surging and the need for acceptance into the Decepticon community was making him... pleasant.
"It's not from me. It's from the boss. He got you a little something, and he says to read the note," said the cassetticon.
The three Headmasters, now all at the door, all looked at each other. A courting gift from Soundwave?
No, this had to be a joke and someone had gotten the cassetticon in on it. They'd open the pretty package and find it full of something stupid if not unpleasant. Or else someone was trying to set either Mindwipe or Soundwave up for a huge embarrassment and a future as the laughingstock of Charr. The Headmasters weren't that stupid or gullible. There was no way the Decepticon third in command would have any interest in Mindwipe siring a newspark with him.
Mindwipe tried to handle the situation with grace and tact. There was no sense in burning any of his own bridges yet. "Um... tell your boss thank you. And yes, I shall read the note."
The cassetticon smiled. "Good."
"Give Soundwave my greetings and assure him that he will have my consideration," said Mindwipe further, managing to remember the proper formal acceptance speech when a messenger had been sent with a courting gift.
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"Ooh! Look how fancy it is!" exclaimed Skullcruncher with an envious tone as the package found inside of the gift case was opened to reveal its contents.
"I think this is the real stuff," said Weirdwolf, lifting one of the cubes of high-grade from the pretty box. "Yeah, look at that. There's the company label on the bottom." Inside the package were twelve small cubes of high-grade, each a unique color, each wrapped in iridescent cellophane, each adorned with a ribbon that matched the color of the cube. "Distilled and packaged in the Orgenon Cluster. Well either someone's gone to a lot of expense to fake you out, or it really is Soundwave courting you. He's got the money and pull to obtain something like this."
"Well what's the note say?" asked Skullcruncher.
Mindwipe unfolded the attached note, inked onto real paper as opposed to typed onto a datapad, and read aloud.
I shall not flatter you with pretty words, nor bore you with the reasons I would make an excellent carrier for your children. I only wish to make known my availability and sincere interest as a carrier. I have been seeking a sire with your qualifications for some time now, and you, Mindwipe, meet all of them.
Given my status and situation, I only require sparking without the accompanying parental duties. This option is not negotiable.
Please consider my intent, and I hope that your consideration is favorable. If you wish to meet with me to discuss this matter further, do not hesitate. You will find me amenable to your requirements.
Respectfully,
Soundwave.
"All business. No romance," commented Weirdwolf. "Gotta be him." He returned the green cube he'd taken out to examine to it's nest in the box.
"This is about reproduction. There's usually not much romance involved," huffed Mindwipe. "But still..."
Skullcruncher, studying the bright blue cube he'd removed from the box, snorted mirthfully. "This is Soundwave we're talking about. The creeper probably thinks that's a romantic letter."
"He's not a creeper, Skull. I think this was sweet," defended Mindwipe.
Skullcruncher snorted again "He's the creepiest mech we've met since leaving Planet Master. But I will say that he has good taste in gifts." He waggled the glowing blue cube. "Can I have this? It looks really tasty."
"Sure."
Skullcruncher quickly untied the ribbon and pulled off the cellophane.
"So? Going to consider Sounders?" asked Weirdwolf. "He seems quite interested. And it would just be a one-shot thing."
"I'm not sure. I figured no one would actually want me, so I didn't actually decide what I'd do if someone presented himself."
"And now it seems that someone actually wants you. May I have a cube too?"
"Of course I'll share with you, and Skull."
Weirdwolf unhesitatingly picked out the bright yellow cube. "This one might be sulfur flavored."
Skullcruncher suddenly squealed. "This!" He held up his half-consumed goodie. "This is so good! It's like drinking the blood of Primus himself!" he all but shouted. "This is the best thing I've ever tasted. Even if you don't take Soundwave's offer, tell him that you're considering so that maybe he'll send you another box of these!" The reptile-former threw back the rest of the tiny cube, transformed, and flung himself onto the floor to writhe and thrash in the throes of gastronomical ecstasy.
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"Queen of Spades" continues in Chapter 2: "Preparations"
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Author Notes:
Creepy Soundwave: In the Headmasters series Soundwave, and his reincarnation Soundblaster, has a very strange modulated voice and does a lot of spying/stalking. However he demonstrates a great love and attachment to his six cassetticons.
The Decepticon Headmasters: are pretty much stock characters, working as thugs for Zarak (Scorponok). And while they meet with failure at most turns, Weirdwolf is actually a fairly competent leader. Mindwipe has a strange and somewhat unreliable special power. Skullcruncher's a typical dumb brute. Through the series they're eager to demonstrate their power to the other Decepticons to prove themselves superior, but Zarak often holds them back in order to further his plans.
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Transformers and all related concepts, characters, worlds, and events are property of Hasbro and Takara Tomy. Original characters and story elements are property of E. Potter, writing under the pen name of Miratete.
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