The Ghost of Kaon (or) The Ghost in the Training Room – Revised
Genre: Horror
Bio: There's a ghost haunting the rebuilt city of Kolkular, Megatron's original base of operations long ago when the war first started. It continuously tries to get Thundercracker's attention, and the jet begins to go mad. He begins rambling on about the 'energy creature' to his friends, and finally outright attacks them. After putting him down, the Decepticons begin to discover truth to his words, and that this ghost won't rest until the truth behind its death is revealed.
Authors Note: For all legal purposes the Transformers© belong to their appropriate owners, however the characters Twilight Ep'ticon, Thunderstar, and Phage are mine. For those of you thinking I forgot Sky, I didn't, but due to changes with her background story that have evolved over the course of the years since I created them, I can no longer lay claim to her. I won't say anymore about that, as it would become a spoiler!! As for the character Bebop, I cannot also claim total ownership over her since I based her off of the red fembot that is seen in Transformers: The War Within comic series. It's only a single shot, but I took an immediate interest in the character and decided to create Bebop, Jazz's sister.
WARNING I like to write rather detailed, graphic fanfics and stories, and seeing as how this is a horror story with a vengeful ghost with a tale to be told of a ten million year old murder and treachery, I don't doubt that some people of weak-will won't find this pleasing at all. If you are such a person than I advise that you please read something else.
P.S. – While I was revamping Twilight, Thunderstar, and Sky for this revised fanfic, I also came up with their voice actors that I thought would be good for their characters. They are listed below, including which movies they starred in so you can know what voice actors I'm talking about. Phage's voice is my own, so imagine some young, rich-childish tomboyish voice. (I don't know why my voice sounds so young, I'm 18, but I shouldn't ask questions I suppose) :D
Twilight Ep'ticon – voice actor Emma Thompson.
Did the voice acting for Captain Amilia, the feline captain of the ship in 'Treasure Planet.'
Extract from Treasure Planet: Scene: On board the R.L.S. Legacy. First time meeting Captain Amilia.
Captain Amilia: (shaking Gilbert's hand) 'I'm Captain Amilia. Had a few run-ins with the Proton Armada. Nasty business but I won't bore you with my scars. You've met my first officer Mr. Arrow. Sterling, staff, honest, dependable, and true.'
Mr. Arrow: 'Please Captain.'
Captain Amilia: 'Oh shut up Arrow you know I don't mean a word of it.'
Sky – voice actor:
Sorry, I can't tell you what movie and/or series she starred in, otherwise it would be a giveaway to who Sky really is. You'll find out soon though, I promise!! Well, I shouldn't say soon. You won't learn of her identify in THIS fanfic, sorry. (Turn and runaway from angry mob)
Thunderstar – voice actor Catherine Zeta-Jones
She preformed the voice acting for Marina in the animated movie, 'Sinbad-Legend of the Seven Seas.'
Okay, I'm done wasting your time with this nonsense. Onto for what you came for!
'Can't remember my name, can't remember at all
Finding you from past times, I think…
How did we ever fall?'
-Godsmack, Now or Never
Chapter 1, Rebirth of Kolkular
He felt his body lifting into the air, felt the forces around him pop and crackle with energy as gravity began to turn in on itself and breakdown. He was elevated off the ground, crimson optics skyward and a smile of a laugh beginning to twist his silver faceplate.
The final stage of the war was at hand after so many countless battles, so many millions of years…
It had come at last.
The thunderous mechanisms of the spacebridge boomed all around him, deafening his audios and drumming out the furious cries from Optimus Prime and his wild laser fire meant to damage the spacebridge, or at least shoot the mech of the center of his hatred. The silver mechaniod standing within the spacebridge's ringed center relaxed, shutting off his optics for a brief moment as he allowed all the commotion to wash away, Prime's screams and curses to come back, the pounding of his laser fire… he let the monstrous roar of the spacebridge carry it all away like a sweet lullaby into oblivion.
'There's no stopping me this time Prime,' the fearsome tyrant thought distantly, sweetly, 'Cybertron is mine!'
He took one final moment to register the sound of Prime's rifle pounding against the sides of the spacebridge, but it was too late. The spacebridge unleashed its energies and shot its occupants forward into the sky, concentrating on a faraway pinpoint out of visual range. The sunlight beating down onto the Earth twisted and bent, forming a multitude of colors as it arched skyward, then finally solidified into a single, blinding beam of bright starry white light.
Megatron felt all sense of gravity forsake the area within the spacebridge and at last achieve weightlessness. Something not even their innate flight ability could do. He could no longer feel the weight of his own body as the primitive forces of the spacebridge propelled him, Starscream, Soundwave and his other chosen Decepticons into the air along the path of light back to their home world, their beloved home world.
Cybertron.
As he and his Decepticons, along with the hoard of energon they had managed to steal, were sent spinning through the air and space itself, they were quickly gaining speed towards the distant endpoint of their destination. As the farther and farther away they got from Earth, the less and less Megatron could hear Prime's last words. He was screaming out his name in utter frustration and rage.
This time Megatron did laugh.
It took all his concentration to stay on the path of light through space as he flew by at unbelievable speeds. Stars, time, even his own self became a blur. Things, places, names began to drift into the mists of time, but through his own renowned determination, that same strength of mind that had gotten him where he was now, he maintained himself and his path, kept hold of his body as it seemed to stretch and bend in ways it should never be bent.
Then, just as it seemed that his body had been stretched as far as it could go, just when he thought it would snap halfway between Cybertron and Earth, his body began to condense; he began to feel a twinge of the forces of gravity. Looking down he saw Cybertron in his view and it quickly expanded, growing larger and closer with ever nanosecond. He was falling down out from outer space – if that were possible – crashing down, breaking orbit, fire and weight exploding across his entire metallic structure. Pain lashed out and attacked every servo in his body, then –
--nothing.
All physical pain drained away from his titan frame as he felt his feet touch down on solid metal ground, only a minor electrical surge was left skipping willy-nilly throughout his system. Megatron blinked against the sudden darkness that engulfed his vision, finding it a strain compared to the blinding bright Earth light he had just left behind, but quickly dismissed it as a pair of doors opened up before him and permitted in another light. Electrical light.
The lights beyond flickered as the door opened.
Poor, dim electrical lighting.
"Ah, Lord Megatron, I take it that the mission was a success?"
Megatron stepped quickly out of the contained spacebridge landing and stepped out into the opened space of the old and very familiar command room. It had been the very one of which he had plotted and slowly planned out the entire beginning to his war. He stepped out into the Cradle, painstakingly repaired over the last decade, and into the old fortress of Kolkular in Kaon.
Stepping out of the dark, cylinder spacebridge receiver that Shockwave had added to the command room and into the light of his old command room, his roots, he held his bulky, strong arms out, deactivated his optics, and breathed in the new metal smell. With a sigh – and a smile – he chuckled.
Slowly he reactivated his fiery, crimson optics as he heard a grumbling from Starscream behind him, along with the footsteps of Soundwave, Skywarp, and Thundercracker as they stepped out from the spacebridge. He didn't even pay them any attention as he addressed Shockwave's question.
"Success?! Feast your optic unit on these energon cubes! Enough fuel to get this fortress back up and running at peak efficacy and still have enough left over to reactivate a couple of our fellow Decepticons you have locked away in status, Shockwave! The end of the Autobots rule on Cybertron is at hand. Soon they shall lay crushed beneath our very feet!"
The large purple Decepticons' single golden optic fell on the hover carts that Skywarp, Thundercracker, Starscream and Soundwave rolled into the room. And it glowed with hunger. On each hover cart was a small mountain of energy in itself. More than he had seen in millions of years.
"Impressive, Lord Megatron. These stacks will surely be enough to begin our operations, but what about when we run low? There will be more coming I presume?"
"Tch," Megatron grumbled as he stretched out his arm and snatched an energon cube off from Starscream's pile, much to the Seeker's annoyance. The mighty leader of the Decepticons examined the inner light that seemed to emanate out from the pinkish liquid. In his haste to grab it the contents spilt out and splattered his black hand, illuminating it softly much as the inner light from the cube reflected off his silver arm and face, casting strange shadows upon him. The lighting in the Cradle had yet to reach full operational status and it was considerably dim, only further helping to cast the intimidating Decepticon into eerie shadows. The shadows themselves played all the more deeply across his stern, chiseled features, on them, casting shadows here and there all about. And Megatron's visage, as his fellow Decepticons gazed upon his awesome frame, was all the more intimidating by it. He seemed, almost, like a ghost with his silver paint scheme.
Untouchable, undefeatable.
"If the Constructicon's and my other Decepticons on Earth can manage to hold off Prime and the rest of his do-goody Autobots from the siphoning zone, then yes."
Megatron took one last look at the cube containing the precious liquid that their species needed to survive and then downed it with gusto. The energon tasted different from the Cybertron energon he used to drink long ago when it was abundant and they didn't need to synthesize it, - which was admittedly terrible. This had a different taste to it, not like the old stuff that had a zing and a kick, but this was more… thick but smooth, tangy. There was just this extra boost to it that was additive, nourishing, but intoxicating. He couldn't quite place it, but as the Decepticons had come to call the Earth energon, they referred to it and its different taste as 'Mother' energon. Or when they were more knocked off their rockers, M-gon.
As the first of the Earth energon touched his lips the lights in the Cradle suddenly flickered overhead and an eerie groan echoed up from deep beneath their feet, rising quickly to the higher levels of the fortress. It sounded like the metal frame of the rebuilt stronghold was settling all at once, or preparing to fall apart. That or that it had breathed in and growled in frustration, blowing hot air up through its empty pipes from the planet's depleted core.
Everyone froze in the room as the eerie moan of the building began low as soon as the lights began to flicker, then quickly grew in intensity, as if the source of the settling was within that very room. Megatron lifted the energon cube away from his lips and narrowed his crimson optics, staring suspiciously around the room as his audios tuned in too the howling within the walls.
Starscream and the jets stepped away from the carts and closer together in a circle, backs to each other; ready to blast off it the fort began to crumble down around them as they looked about worriedly. Soundwave, as usual, was unreadable, but his stance suggested his own uneasiness as he gazed up to the lights and then slowly around the room. Shockwave gave little to no emotion at all. It seemed that he was almost…used to such a thing.
As soon as it had come the noise stopped, running off further into the pipes into the upper levels of the fortress above. The lights returned to normal function, or as close to optimum as they could get, and the settling of the room quieted until everything returned to normal. The quiet solitude silence of the humming of the machinery of the fort was audible again, grinding and turning away as if nothing had happened.
Megatron tore his optics away from the lights and narrowed them on Shockwave. "I thought you said that the foundation was substantially solid."
"I did, Lord Megatron. My drones have fixed up most of this place since you requested its reconstruction. It has been doing that of late ever since I rerouted the electrical lines and returned minimum power to Kolkular."
"Then why don't you have the drones fix it? It doesn't sound at all stable." The silver tyrant languished with irritation as if he thought that Shockwave was an idiot for not having checked it out sooner.
Shockwave wisely stepped back a pace from Megatron, even though he was already far out of reach, and straightened, folding his arms behind his back and grasping his hands together as he reported, "My maintenance drones have been down to the power room and found nothing amiss. I believe that a steam pipe might have cracked somewhere along the framework of the fort and that my diagnostics have yet to locate the fissure. Either that or the fault lies somewhere in the cities power plant, which is also a logical assumption. The plant has not been visited in years."
"Well," Megatron ground out in his gravel-tone voice, his words taking on a sharp edge to them to announce his agitated state. "It would seem that the problem lies in the circuitry of your drones! Soundwave, I want you to discover the damaged pipeline and repair it at once! Last thing we need is the entire place crumbling down around our heads because your drones Shockwave, couldn't detect a simple crack in a pipeline!"
"Yes Lord Megatron." Both Soundwave and Shockwave intoned at once in their own impassive ways, and then sharply looked across the length of the Cradle at one another. Both Soundwave's golden optical band and Shockwave's single glowing optic flashed with a burst of bitter rivalry that dated back countless millennia.
Megatron hardly paid any attention to the two as he whipped around on Starscream and the jets and commanded, "Skywarp, Thundercracker, Starscream…place those energon cubes into storage. Afterward, I want you three to go down to the power plant and inspect the area there. If you find any fault there, report back to me at once."
"Yes Megatron." Skywarp and Thundercracker resounded together and began pushing their own appropriate hover carts out of the room. Soundwave followed suit with his own, while Starscream sounded off with his usual sarcastic "Yes Lord Megatron." And left as well.
Megatron rolled his optics as he watched them leave. Once again he brought the energon cube to his mouth, in need of something to alleviate the headache he felt coming on, and began finishing it off. As he was he began to turn about to Shockwave as Soundwave was stepping out of the room, but stopped instantly and snapped his head back over his shoulder, lowering the cube from his mouth.
He was just in time to spy the back of Soundwave's body just as the automatic doors slid shut on him. Megatron blinked. Had he just seen a body move in the shadows after them?
"Something wrong, Megatron?" Echoed Shockwave's toneless voice from what seemed to be a long distance off.
Megatron surmised it to be the poor lighting in the room and thought nothing more about it. "No. Nothing. Shockwave, I'd like to examine the current schematics for Kolkular and field reports of Autobot activity."
"As you command."
"Why do I get stuck on repair duty? I should be up there planning marvelous strategies or blowing apart Autobots!"
"Will you put a screw in it Starscream? The action's bound to pick up soon enough!"
"Yeah." Thundercracker concurred with Skywarp as the elevator door slid open. The three Seekers pilled off, taking their loads of energon cubes with them. Soundwave, regretfully, followed after to deposit his own.
The usually quiet Decepticon stepped off of the elevator and hastily entered into the storage room, more than a little annoyed with the Seekers constant arguing and wanting to get away from them as quickly as possible. Starscream, Skywarp, and Thundercracker didn't even notice as Soundwave cut away from them, placing his at a separate pile from there's.
"Action?" Starscream whined in his high-pitched voice that reminded Soundwave of nails on a chalkboard, or so the Earth saying went. "What action? I bet we won't see a lick of it. Chances are once we arrive at the Autobots HQ they'll surrender right on the spot!"
As soon as he could Soundwave turned around and practically ran back to the elevator, but upon reaching it he hesitated, realizing that Starscream and his gang were practically already at the door themselves. And their latest argument was far from over.
Joy for him.
He allowed them to board and waited, rather annoyed, against the corner as the elevator took them back up where the Seekers would be getting off.
"No way, Starscream!" Skywarp shot back. "Autobots never surrender! You know that! They'll fight to the bitter end even when they know they never stood a chance. Heheh, that's what makes my job so much fun!"
"Don't be ridiculous, Skywarp! Ultra Magnus and that pathetic Autobot Council know that they're outmatched in every field! When we spring our final attack they'll have no choice but to surrender or flee!"
One floor went by.
"Have you got a screw loose? Ultra Magnus would never back down from a fight. He'll be gunning to take a few of us down with him!"
"No they won't!" Starscream bit back.
Soundwave watched as another floor ticked by.
"Yeah they–"
The lights flickered overhead.
Ting! There went another floor. Only four more –
Soundwave's blood red visor glowed in befuddlement as he snapped out his hands to steady himself as the elevator came to a sudden jerk. Starscream, Skywarp, and Thundercracker were thrown off balance for a moment, but the three quickly regained it and looked around them and then up at the level number in confusion, their argument temporarily stalled.
"What in the Pitts was that?" Skywarp complained.
He had barely gotten the words out of his vocalizer when the door slid open to reveal the Rec Room for the Barracks level. Starscream, Skywarp and Thundercracker took one look at the Rec Room and then back up at the level the sign above the door indicated. Starscream was the first to put it together.
"Hey!" He snapped. "What gives? This isn't even the right floor!"
"Maybe Shockwave didn't wire the cables right. Try pressing six, section three to get us to the hanger bay."
"Such a brilliant idea, Thundercracker. Why don't you press it yourself?"
Thundercracker glared icily back at Starscream and was just opening his mouth to make a retort when Skywarp's purple and black arm snapped itself up in Thundercracker's face. "Look!"
Starscream, Thundercracker, and Soundwave's attention was drawn off into the direction that Skywarp was pointing. The lights in the Rec Room flashed on and off ominously then stopped just as suddenly. It was only a nanosecond after that that the door opposite them drew open and the hallway lights flickered beyond.
Not a single one of them moved from the elevator.
In fact, Thundercracker stepped further back into the elevator. His stuttering tongue gave away his impending fear. "I-I'm sure that's just a coincidence, right Starscream?"
"Uh…right." Starscream said as he busied himself with trying to get the elevator to move again, but no matter how many times he pressed level six, sector three, or level fourteen for command, he got no response.
Growing impatient, Skywarp whipped around on Starscream and snapped out angrily, "What's taking so long?"
"The controls aren't responding!" Starscream whined in his high pitched voice as he frantically began hitting all the buttons.
"Let me see them!" Skywarp growled out as he shoved Starscream aside to the back of the elevator and began hitting the buttons himself. Still nothing happened. "I don't get it! What's wrong with this stupid thing? Soundwave, you're the technical 'bot. Help me!"
"Affirmative."
Soundwave pushed pass Thundercracker to get at the control panel. It was plain, though his harmonic voice did not portray it, that he was just as anxious as the rest of them. Skywarp stepped aside as Soundwave knelt before the panel. Already the Transformer tape deck had transformed his pointer finger into a screw driver and was busying himself with getting the bolts off of the panel. All the while he worked he kept scanning the area over nervously with his telepathic powers, trying to detect any other mental wavelengths besides there own. He didn't do it because he actually believed there was somebody there messing with them, but out of habit. When he typically got nervous or anxious, especially out on the battlefield or before battle, he'd activate his powers.
As he got the first undone he began to move to the second screw, and it was on that one that Soundwave inwardly paused and tried to calm his raging emotions. Why exactly was he even feeling frightened? There was obviously just some faulty line down in the power room like Shockwave had said. That was all. That was it.
He got the second done and moved to the next.
It was all just really bad timing that the elevator would fritz on this floor, and that the door on the other side of the lounge would fritz as well and open. Probably the whole level was on the blink. That's probably what was wrong.
That one came out and he moved to the final screw. The Seekers hovered behind, as far away from the door as possible, with Starscream at the very back where he had been tossed awhile ago.
Calming down through his own logic, Soundwave stopped scanning the minds of the Transformers around him. He was only detecting Starscream, Skywarp, and Thundercracker behind him and Megatron and Shockwave further up, not to mention some droids hovering about on different floors doing their own menial tasks. The Seekers were trying to calm their own selves down through their own personal pep talks while Megatron and Shockwave up above were simply going over the strengths and weaknesses of the base.
…the base isn't at full power.
Of course not, Megatron. Cybertron has been dry of energon for years. Its bare optimal status is simply through the energon that you've managed to send my way over the years.
I've noticed that you have mechanisms running that don't need to be. If we divert its power we could support more of Kolkular's immediate functions that we need now and save on our energon supplies.
Of course. We'll do that now.
Soundwave silenced his telekinetic powers, and with it – his worries. He had already stripped the control panel of its cover and sat kneeling before it, staring into the series of wires and bare buttons beneath. He took a deep breath, chasing away the scattered remains of the rest of his unduly fears and began to replace the covering.
"What are you doing Soundwave? You haven't even analyzed it yet." Skywarp cracked out.
"There is no need." The large blue Decepticon answered as he began screwing back in the first bolt. "We've simply overacted, most likely due to the fact that we've just come out of battle and are still a little jumpy. Megatron and Shockwave are rerouting power now. Perhaps that'll help the power systems on this level."
"How do you know – oh!" Starscream began but was interrupted as the elevator jerked as if preparing to go up, but it didn't. For a brief second in time the lights in the Rec Room came on full power they used to back eons ago before the base had been destroyed by the Autobots. The lights in the corridor as well stopped flickering and came on full power just before the door, both doors, slid shut. Only once they were safe inside the elevator with the door securely locked did the metal box jerk once more and began along its course.
The weight that was lifted from their shoulders was dully noticeable. To each of the 'Con's own degrees they took in their own breath of relief, glad for the relative safety, if not boring, presence of the elevators four walls. They never realized how safe they'd felt before within its reaches until then.
The ride over to level ten, sector one was deathly quiet. The four Decepticons stood silent for once within the elevator as it came to the tenth level, came to a slow, steady stop, and then proceeded sideways, pushed along by its magnetic railings and hover power. Another twenty seconds passed by at the pace of a thousand years to each second, and then the elevator came to a stop once more. For one spark pounding moment that seemed to encompass an eternity, the automatic door slid open once again and revealed to them, not the Rec Room, but the hanger bay. Starscream, Skywarp, and Thundercracker departed off the lift with a mixed aura of caution and speed. Once they were sure they'd come to the correct room this time they started more quickly across the empty hanger towards the missing wall at the end where the dark night sky shined down upon them. The stars Soundwave noted, were once again changed from last he saw them.
They were always changing. There were always different constellations in the night sky, ever since the day millions of years ago when Megatron activated Cybertron's ancient thrusters and rocked the planet from its orbit.
A bark of laughter broke him from his reverie and the faceless Decepticon snapped his attention over to the source of the laughter. He identified the Destroyer of Silence for none other than Skywarp, who quickly ceased in his guffawing and went on to say loudly, "We are such idiots! Can you imagine, us getting frightened over a bunch of flickering lights? Man, Soundwave was right, we must have still been on edge after the battle. We are such losers."
"Speak for yourself!" Starscream's voice as heard to say.
By then the three Seekers had reached near the end of the hanger. They all took a running start and jumped simultaneously, transforming in mid-flight to their jet modes and blasting off out of the hanger. Still, over the boom of their thrusters Soundwave could still hear them, and Starscream's continued reply.
"Now pay attention, Skywarp! There could be Autobots nosing about in this sector."
"Yeah well I wish there was, because I gotta round of laser waiting for 'em!"
The conversation faded away and Soundwave stood transfixed to his spot, hoping now in his moment of peace and silence to hear their annoying arguments and conversations, but he couldn't pick them up anymore with his normal audio receptors, only the sound of their roaring thrusters touched his audios, and even that was getting dim.
He couldn't say for how long he stood there, staring out the opened elevators doors, but if asked he could have answered that he had stood there long enough to watch Starscream, Thundercracker, and Skywarp disappear upon the horizon into their own stars, and then into nothingness from that. He could have said that he stood there long after that, staring out into the black night sky filled with stars, thinking about nothing really and yet…everything. Finally, almost as if in a trance, he lifted his large metallic finger up to press in the level and sector he wanted to go to and then stopped. He snatched his attention away from the tantalizing, quiet heavens and to the control panel. Behind his visor he squinted hard at it, almost as if he expected it to be plotting some new ominous trick against him. Not that that was possible.
Soundwave turned his gaze away from the panel and back out to the hanger, then to the panel again and his finger hovering just above the button labeled 'power room.' He made up his mind and stepped off of the elevator into the hanger. He turned a sharp corner and came up short to the wall next to it, where another sliding door and a panel rested. Soundwave amply laid his hand on the panel, allowing it to scan his hand print, and then entered onto the stairway that the door slid back to reveal.
If the power went on the fritz again he wanted to be able to reach whatever level he desired, and not be trapped again. At least he could blast down any doors along the stairway if the power did give out.
Kup dropped the binoculars from his optics and simply went to watching the three Seekers fly off across the ruined landscape of Kaon, also referred to as the Wastelands. A disgruntled look crossed over his aging face as he watched them go. Quietly he whispered, "Starscream, Thundercracker, and Skywarp. Great."
He began to fade back into the shadows of the apartment building they were using for cover, and as he went he tapped the shoulder strut of the young fiery red, yellow, and orange 'bot next to him and signaled for him to follow him back into the crumbling building.
Feeling the tap on his shoulder, Hotrod lowered his own binoculars, which he had trained on the disappearing jets, and glanced back over his shoulder to his mentor, Kup. Noticing that the old sea grey Autobot was retreating back into the safety of the room of the crumbling skyscraper they had taken refuge in for their mission, Hotrod followed.
Once out of range of view from outside Kup grumbled audibly and headed for the two-way communicator sitting on the floor of the apartment. For some long time the crumbling apartment skyscraper had been the base of many Autobot spy missions on Shockwave's activities in Kaon, now, after watching for nearly a decade, wondering why in the name of Cybertron he was rebuilding Kolkular, things were starting to make a bit of sense.
At least, Hotrod thought they were beginning to make a bit of sense.
"Blasted Decepticons." Kup mumbled as he began tinkering with the device trying to get it to work.
"What?" Hotrod supplied, stepping over to his kneeling comrade and peering over his shoulder as he struggled to get the old outdated machine to work.
"That was Starscream and his buddies Thundercracker and Skywarp." Kup grunted.
"Who?"
Kup tossed the young 'bot a glance before he returned it back to his work. "Some 'Cons you don't know but should have at least learned about in history. They were part of Megatron's elite that went missing and reappeared when we got back in touch with Prime. Starscream's supposed to be second in command of the entire Decepticon army, and for good reason too. If you ever cross him lad, never take your optics off him for a second, and don't listen to a word he says either. Lying, cheatin' rusted bucket of bolts."
Hotrod looked less than impressed by the mention of the Decepticon names and simply shrugged his shoulders to show for the lack of effect this had on him. He had been created some short time after the great Optimus Prime and his elite Autobots, including Megatron his elite Decepticons, had left Cybertron five million years ago. The name Megatron didn't strike the fear that it did in him as it did in the older Autobots, nor did anything pertaining too him. Those Transformers, only recently found on Earth, were mere legends to him.
Even now with them for sure being alive just didn't do for him what it did for his older weary Autobot comrades. He didn't feel that spark of hope like Ultra Magnus, Emirate Xxoran, Kup, the Council, and the rest of the Autobots now showed. Yes, they were alive but so what? Had they come back to Cybertron after finding it? No. They had returned back to the planet Earth to protect it when Cybertron still needed them. Why did Ultra Magnus and everyone else now bend and take orders from some leader they hadn't seen or obeyed in five million years? That was millions of light years away? Why?
Why should he care about legends?
…About Autobots and Decepticons he had never even met, in person or on battle.
Hotrod began to look around the crumbling room, bored out of his mind as Kup went about trying to establish a secure connection. Part of the floor over in the north-west corner had fallen through, revealing the level below. The door to the room stood open a foot from the hole, revealing the dark, grey hallway beyond. A Transformer sized sofa was against the east wall and next to it, further south, was another door leading into the side-bedroom. What had once been a rather extravagant balcony and window wall was now gone, the large pummeled wall that they often peeked through to spy on Kolkular now took its place.
With a sigh of sheer boredom Hotrod crossed his arms over his chest and lent to one side was he waited for something exciting to happen.
"Stop sighing, lad." Kup whispered hotly up at him as his fingers danced across the device's keypad. "You'll attract attention."
"What attention?" Hotrod groaned as he rolled his optics and held out his arms, as if trying to encompass the entirety of the dark, empty room. "We're the only two here!"
Kup shot him a hard, cold look that shut him up on the spot. He turned his attention back to the communicator and flipped a final switch. Static greeted their audios, and it was a pleasant sound next to the absolute silence that had pervaded them for hours before.
The old sea grey Autobot leaned up close to the mouth piece and spoke into it. "Hello, Alpha A this is unit Deep K. Do you respond?"
There was hardly a moment's pause from the other end of the line.
Deep K this is Alpha A. What is your status? Over.
The barest faint of a smile played upon Kup's lips as he recognized the familiar deep voice of Ultra Magnus. "We report something funny going on down here, Alpha A. We have three Seekers in the air, identified as Starscream, Thundercracker, and Skywarp. Over."
Starscream, Thundercracker, and Skywarp?
"That's correct. There was a spacebridge jump roughly twenty minutes ago. I accounted for five light pulses coming into Kolkular. None going out. Now we have three Seekers in the air heading for what looks like power plant for the city."
There was a long moment of silence from the other end, then finally Ultra Magnus responded, Good work Deep K. I want you to follow those jets. See what their up too. Once you've discovered their intentions report back ASAP. Alpha A over and out.
"Alright you heard the 'bot." Kup said as he shut off the communicator and got to his feet. "Let's hit the road."
"Finally! All that sitting around was causing my servos to rust!"
Megatron turned sharply away from Shockwave and stared long and hard at a screen next to him. A yellow light flashed on and off, detailing each note and pitch of the two voices that he and Soundwave now heard coming over the intercom. The screen recorded the vocal variations of the two 'bots.
Starscream, Thundercracker, and Skywarp?
That's correct. There was a spacebridge jump roughly twenty minutes ago. I accounted for five light pulses coming into Kolkular. None going out. Now we have three Seekers in the air heading for what looks like the power plant for the city.
Good work Deep K. I want you to follow those jets. See what their up too. Once you've discovered their intentions report back ASAP. Alpha A over and out.
A wicked grin spilt across his lined silver face. "Well, well, well. What have we here?"
"It would appear that we have an Autobot infestation." Shockwave lamented, already climbing to his feet. "I apologize for this breech, Lord Megatron. I did not take proper precautions when I began operations in the area. I will eradicate these pests as quickly as possible."
"Belay that." Megatron said, raising his black hand and signaling for Shockwave to sit himself back down. "I have a better use for them than as scrap metal." The Decepticon commander than reached over and activated the secured com.line. "Starscream, come in."
What do you want now? Sneered Starscream's voice over the lines.
"Don't you dare take that tone with me Starscream." Megatron growled into the intercom, his crimson optics flashing for a moment in irritation. "I have some very intriguing information that you and your Seekers might find interesting."
Oh? And what's that?
"You have an Autobot spy trailing you. I want you to bring him to me, alive." To emphasize his last word and the importance of 'alive,' Megatron clenched his large metal hand into a fist. Shockwave only sat there and stared.
An Autobot? Ooh! My day just got a lot better! Starscream over and out!
Megatron reared back from the intercom and turned it off, a gleam in his optics and in his smile. Shockwave knew that smile. Even after being separated from his leader for five million years, he still had four million years of memory in his databanks to recall it.
"Shall I prep the persecution chamber, Lord Megatron?"
Still grinning, Megatron turned to Shockwave, and nodded. "I have a feeling Shockwave, that we'll soon discover the hidden base of the Autobot army still here on Cybertron very, very soon."
"Did you hear that Skywarp? We've got an Autobot spy following us!" Said Starscream.
"Really?" Chortled the black and purple Seeker as he followed in formation after Starscream and Thundercracker over their personal intercoms. "Well, I guess I got my wish after all."
"Hey, if this wish of yours came true maybe next you should wish for energon to fall out of the sky!" Thundercracker cackled over the line, signaling that he didn't believe it would actually happen for a second, but that it was fun just to jest about it anyway. "No! No! Even better! Why don't you wish us up some fembots eh? Wouldn't that be even better?"
Skywarp joined in on the laughter at this point. "Hahaha! Yeah! I wish we had some electrifying fembots to return back to at Kolkular!"
"Knock it off! The both of you! You're being imbecilic!" Starscream snapped over the intercom, then quickly changed the subject. "Land here. We'll take this Autobot by surprise."
The three Seekers descended from the night sky, transforming in mid-flight they landed with expert grace upon the upturned metal roadways that marked the once busy streets of Kaon.
"Man, this place has really gone to the Pitts hasn't it?" Thundercracker said softly as they landed, looking around at all the dark, crumbling buildings and blackened windows. Street lights that once were bright and lit were broken or simply gone. Pot marks, craters, and laser marks marred the roadway and the sides of the towering buildings that still stood. The once crowded streets were empty, devoid of any life once so ever, not even a retro-rat. Rubble was everywhere, just like the shadows were everywhere.
The Seeker jet happened to glance up at one of the few remaining working street lights. He admired the light that it gave to this otherwise dead, ghostly world. It brought a bit of warmth back to him, despite the extreme cold that seemed to wrap itself around him like a suffocating pipe. He felt…hope.
The street light flickered.
"Thundercracker…"
The Decepticon twisted around, catching optics with Skywarp. "You say something?"
The Seeker looked at him as if he was crazy. "No. What's the matter? Yer audios finally giving out after having to put up with your own sonic booms?"
Thundercracker stared back, looking more perplexed now than ever. "But, I heard someone say my name."
"Yeah? And I heard Megatron's looking to retire. What's the matter with you?"
"I said enough of your jabbering dolts!" Broke in Starscream as he stepped between the both of them and began looking them down, both his fists were thrust on his metallic hip plates and looking as if he owned the world. "We have an Autobot to capture, and I'd much rather catch some half-drained Auto-bum than go to some power plant to perform maintenance check. So here's the deal, Skywarp, you take point up there and warn us when he's coming. Thundercracker and I will remain in hiding. When you spot them warp back to us and we'll snag him!"
"Eh," Skywarp said, shrugging his shoulder struts. "Sounds good enough for me." With that he turned and took to the air, heading further up the buildings in search of a potential lookout post. Starscream and Thundercracker looked about and found their own hideouts on either side of the road behind some piles of rubble, hoping to take the Autobot by surprise when he came in a flanking ambush maneuver.
They waited for some long time before the slower Autobot finally caught up with them, except, as Starscream lay crouched behind his fallen debris, he detected not one engine, but two. Curiously he peeked out behind his pile of debris and spied two Cybertronian cars racing towards their location. The one that was in the lead was a red one and the other looked to be some grayish coloration.
A snap and a pop tore the air behind him, and as he whipped around he found himself face to face with a grinning Skywarp. "Hey, Starscream. They're here."
"I've noticed." Starscream languished and rolled his optics back over to the two oncoming Autobots. He dropped a yellow visor over his optics and zoomed in on their position. The red one in front had a flame design emblazed on his hood. The other one, the slower one, was in fact sea-grey. Actually that slower car looked a tad bit familiar. "It seems that Megatron was incorrect in his information. We have two Autobot spies."
"Yeah. I've noticed."
Starscream pulled a face as he retracted the visor from his optics. "Alright. Prepare for the ambush."
Skywarp bunkered down close to Starscream and charged up his lasers, grinning. "This is gonna be good!"
"Hotrod get back here!"
"Ah, lighten up Kup! There's no Deceptions around here!" The flaming red Autobot let out a hoot as he slammed on his gas and jumped a pot hole. Kup served around it.
"Except for Shockwave's sentinels and the three up in the air. So get back here by me, lad. There's safety in numbers."
"Numbers snumbers." Hotrod said over their intercoms. If he was in robot mode Kup could practically envision the youth waving away his words of wisdom as if they were nothing more than smoke from his gun barrel. "Three to two. How tough is that going to be?"
Kup never got a chance to respond, or if he did Hotrod didn't hear him. As he zoomed by the only working street light he heard some high-pitched, metal on metal voice scream out, "ATTACK! DEATH TO THE AUTOBOTS!!"
Explosions and laser fire ripped across both sides of his frame. As the young Autobot went speeding through the gunfire he transformed and landed, skirting across the upturned pavement leaving a red and orange skid mark a mile wide, as well as tearing up his frame even more. The terrible flaming pain that ripped across the entire frame of his body only ended as he plummeted face first into another pot hole. It was only then that he realized he had been screaming in agony, that was just about the time that the darkness engulfed him as his systems went into immediate status lock.