Revelations
A Transformers: Armada Story
By William Rendfeld
"We have a lock," Scattorshot reported via comm.-line. "Receiving transmission from Velocitron."
"Patch it through, Scattorshot," Jetfire ordered as he took a seat in front of the monitor.
After several long mega-cycles of trying, a communications line had at last been established between Cybertron and Velocitron, one of its colonies. The familiar visage of a gold-faced female Autobot appeared on the monitor as a familiar voice said, "Long time no chat, Jetfire. Sorry this took so long."
"Exercising again, Override?" Jetfire asked.
"Girl's gotta keep in shape somehow," Override retorted. "So, what's the big crisis this time?"
Jetfire shook his head, and said almost to himself, "Where to begin?"
Elsewhere, Diana Masters stood within the Ark's medical bay, leaning against the window to the isolation room as Red Alert continued his work on the prone forms of Hot Shot and Smokescreen. It was a lot like surgery on Earth; fascinatingly morbid. She'd already been told that a Transformer's spark, their soul, needed to be contained in a vessel to maintain its current identity. Yet she never imagined such a vessel would be something so...nondescript.
"Touching that you're so worried about them, Miss Masters," a familiar, deep voice boomed above her.
Diana turned and looked upwards to find the familiar visage of Scavenger. "You guys are turning into family, Scavenger. Not sure how that works out on Cybertron, but 'round here we tend to worry way too much about family." She looked back at the slightly grotesque display before them and said, "And you don't have to be so formal. You teach in your way, I taught in mine."
"Fine then," Scavenger replied. "Diana." He looked to Red Alert and continued, "I take it you aren't too fond of this."
"Not too long ago on Earth, there was a massive war," Diana began. "World War II. The other side was led mostly by a country called Germany; before and during the war, they encouraged a lot of actions in the name of science that the vast majority of people considered abhorrent, even then. A lot of knowledge was gained, but at the cost of millions of lives."
"And the spark extraction reminds you of that?" Scavenger asked.
"Vaguely," Diana replied.
Her gaze focused on a pair of silver cylinders near Hot Shot's bed; both glowed a light blue, even in the heavy light of the isolation room.
"He wasn't too thrilled about doing it," Scavenger noted. "If there were another way, Red would've taken it. He's been around long enough to value life in whatever form it wears. And he's never been one to take risks."
"I hope to God they make it," Diana replied. "I honestly do."
Northern Alaska in mid-autumn was dark, almost as dark as the blackness of space. Even with headlights blazing and additional power routed into his engine thanks to the five Mini-Cons linked up with him, Optimus Prime was still making little headway against the night.
It hadn't been too long since they'd received the call; five hours, six at most. Their new ally of sorts in the United States military, Colonel Franklin, had contacted them; another Mini-Con pod had been recovered in Alaska. Being buried in the Arctic ice, combined with the unusual properties towards the Earth's northern magnetic pole, had kept it from coming up on their scanners. Hopefully, it had done the same with the Decepticons.
"Something on your mind, Blurr?" Optimus asked.
The younger Autobot remained silent for a few short minutes, then said, "It's nothing sir."
"I know concern and doubt when I hear it," Optimus noted. "I also know that it's a bad idea to keep things bottled up."
Blurr remained quiet for a few short seconds, then said, "Hot Shot and I have been training together for years, Optimus. We've watched one another's backs since we started training under Scavenger. I feel like I should be back there keeping an eye on him."
"He's in the best of hands, Blurr," Optimus assured his subordinate. "Red Alert's one of the best, if not the best, medical minds on Cybertron. Hot Shot will be fine."
"Since we're all worrying over things which may or may not be a major concern in a few hours, I'd like to point out that we've got an unknown civilian running around," Dirt Boss noted from his position Powerlinked to Blurr. "I, personally, would be a little more concerned over that particular detail."
"Dirt Boss, Optimus is not an idiot," Mirage noted. "He is very much aware of that particular detail."
"And if Sideways is indeed sincere in his claims, and he does have a ship out here, then he'll be able to find it and relocate it back to the Ark," Optimus noted. "If he's not, then as they say here on Earth, we're screwed."
"Always the optimism," Dirt Boss sighed aloud.
Elsewhere, a purple and yellow motorcycle skidded to a stop in the Alaskan wilderness, scaring off a few wolves in the process. Sideways transformed to robot mode, and looked towards the makeshift military base in the distance. He smiled lightly.
"Time to make things a little more interesting," he noted as his blue optic bar turned deep red.
"Smokescreen? Smokescreen, can you hear me?"
Optics slowly came alive as processors fired. Systems, subsystems, all came to life as he took in his surroundings.
"Smokescreen, can you hear me?"
He smiled. "Loud and clear, Red."
He sat up, and Red Alert came into view, a smile on his face. "It worked. How do you feel?"
Status displays appeared in his optics. "Joints feel a little stiff. What kind of new body did you stick me with?"
"One that hopefully you won't have too many problems with," Red Alert replied. "I salvaged as much of your old construction as I could, but it's mostly new. Care to take a look?"
He got to his feet, and walked to a nearby mirrored surface. What he saw wasn't all that disagreeable. "I'm taller."
"Different alternative mode as well," Red Alert explained. "It's already scanned in and prepped."
He looked to one arm, and flexed his fingers, a Powerlinx port mounted in his palm. He looked to the other; a long, vicious-looking instrument like a construction scoop. He lifted one leg, then another.
"Not bad," he noted. "How's Hot Shot holding up?"
"I'm still working on his new body," Red Alert explained. "But considering how you've turned out, I think he'll be okay."
"Glad to hear it," he said. "By the way, Red? No offense, but I don't quite feel like 'Smokescreen' anymore. It's still me in here, but it's a new body and a new lease on life." He turned to the medic and said, "Besides, 'Smokescreen' was a poor name given my Earth-based alternate mode anyway."
"Alright...I suppose," Red Alert noted. "So, what would you like to be called?"
He stretched out his new right arm, and declared, "Hoist."
"Giant robots," an Air Force major noted.
"Only two groups qualify as 'giant', Major Sheppard," Colonel Franklin noted. "The third group is small, about our size. That pod contains six of them, protected and preserved for around four million years. A faction of one group, the Decepticons, wants to capture these things and use them for their own purposes; power boosts, additional firepower, you name it."
"Doesn't sound like a lot of fun," the major noted.
"The Mini-Cons agreed with you," Franklin continued. "They modified an old ship and left their home world. Somehow, they ended up here. A few kids over in Portland, Oregon found a pod in a cave in a dormant volcano, Mt. Saint Hilary, and activated it. In the process, they accidentally activated a distress call. The Decepticon faction appeared in minutes, followed by a group of Autobots. They're universally behind the Mini-Cons right to self-determination and came here to protect them."
"And they are the ones who we're trying to get a treaty with," the major reasoned.
"Exactly," Franklin replied. "It's thanks to two of them that lives were saved in Indianapolis not long ago. They aren't a threat to us, and I'd rather have them as allies than enemies."
"Which is why this thing was dug out," the major again reasoned. "So why hasn't anyone opened this thing up yet?"
"The last time someone opened one of these things without knowing what they were doing, they were nearly fried by a megalomaniacal alien robot with a weapon that makes a ten-inch gun look like a pee-shooter," Franklin noted. "When we crack the egg, I want someone familiar with the technology here to do it right. The less attention, the better."
"Colonel Franklin, we have incoming," a voice piped up from Franklin's radio. "Two units inbound from the southeast; one red semi trailer, another gray-colored aerial transport."
Franklin quickly grabbed his radio and replied, "That's them, gentlemen. Roll out the red carpet."
Elsewhere on the Nemesis, Starscream was lost in thought. A fact that he hadn't quite recognized in previous battles had been springing into his mind, incessantly attracting his attention. Vector Prime was on Earth.
Why?
Vector Prime was perhaps among the most ancient Transformers in existence, if not the most ancient. He had been there long before anyone else, and was in fact the one who explained things to the first of the 'Second Generation' following their 'birth'. Starscream knew that all too well; he himself was there.
But why was he on Earth? It wasn't his normal routine to be out and about. Something about this didn't make sense.
Alarm klaxons sounded. Starscream sighed; he'd worry about this later.
"So, you're sure you're alright?" Scavenger asked.
"That's the third time you've asked that in the last twenty minutes," Hoist noted. "Yes, Scavenger, I'm fine. Does everyone have to ask me that?"
"Sorry, Smokes...Hoist," Scavenger replied. "I still don't get that name change thing."
"It feels more like me now," Hoist explained.
"I wouldn't bother arguing, Scavenger," Refute noted from their feet, walking alongside Liftor and Rollbar. As they entered the Ark's command center, he continued, "There's an Earth expression about looking gift horses in the mouth; just be grateful that he's back and in proper shape."
"Valid words have rarely been spoken," Vector Prime noted as they approached. "Welcome back to us, Hoist. Is there any word concerning Hot Shot?"
"Red's still working on him," Hoist replied. "Something about an upgrade that he figured the kid might enjoy. What about Prime and Blurr?"
"They are still en route to the facility in Alaska," Vector Prime explained. "By these estimates, they should arrive shortly. Our guest, meanwhile, has went off to retrieve his ship."
"I still don't think that was a wise idea," Scavenger noted.
"He helped to save me and Hot Shot, didn't he?" Hoist asked. "Maybe we should give him the benefit of the doubt."
"For now, that seems to be our best option," Vector Prime replied. "In any event, Optimus has asked me to be ready to open a portal allowing for quick transit with minimal detection. Should something happen, we are to head to their position." He turned to Hoist and added, "That is, assuming you feel up to the task."
"You kidding?" Hoist asked. "I want to be put through my paces. Count me in."
Without much fanfare, Optimus Prime and Blurr slowly entered the prefabricated complex and transformed, their accompanying Mini-Cons disconnecting from them as they did so.
"Optimus Prime, Blurr, welcome," Colonel Franklin noted as the doors behind the two Autobots were closed. "My apologies for the shabby accommodations."
"Not a problem, Colonel," Optimus noted. "The more cover the better."
"Yes, we wouldn't want some sort of catastrophe to strike, would we?" Dirt Boss asked rhetorically. "All right then, step aside and let the experts handle this."
As Dirt Boss all but plowed past the gathered military officials, heading towards the unearthed Mini-Con pod, Sparkplug stepped forward and said, "You'll have to excuse Dirt Boss, Colonel. He has a bit of a superiority complex. Not undeserved."
"Bit arrogant?" Franklin asked.
"Between some natural physical strength and high level understandings of theoretical physics, yeah," Sparkplug noted. "He's brilliant, but he's uncouth."
"Sounds like this one Canadian scientist I know," Franklin noted. "Anything else that we should be aware of?"
"We haven't heard anything since we left the base," Sparkplug explained. "But I wouldn't expect the Decepticons. Nothing's tipped them off."
"And we should trust this information, why?" Megatron asked as Starscream entered the Nemesis command center.
"Do you honestly want to pass up this opportunity?" an unfamiliar voice replied from the other end. "Six Mini-Cons and only two Autobots and a bunch of measly humans in your way. Something like this doesn't happen every vorn."
"Very well," Megatron noted with a grin. "Send coordinates." He turned to his second-in-command and noted, "Ah, Starscream, excellent timing as usual. I just received a transmission from a rather enterprising Transformer; he's delivered some information. It seems Prime has begun efforts towards an alliance with a human government."
"Hardly an unwise move," Starscream noted.
"Hardly," Megatron replied. "At any rate, he reports that the humans have located a Mini-Con pod, and are arranging to release them into Autobot custody. We can't allow that, now can we?" Megatron rose to his feet, and ordered, "Ready the troops. We have a job to do."
"Not a bad setup," Dirt Boss noted as he evaluated the apparatus suspending the Mini-Con pod from the ground. "Rubber-coated steel chains, no obvious means for a stray spark to touch the pod or magnetism to affect it."
"We have quite a few intelligent officials working for us," Franklin noted as he approached, Sparkplug and Over-Run in tow. "It was usually through some form of activity that the pods were activated before, usually from within. We weren't sure if something from the outside could do the same, but we decided against taking the risk."
"I was more concerned about something like that affecting the Mini-Cons within the pod," Dirt Boss explained. "These things work by keeping us in a form of suspended animation. Right now, they're vulnerable; a strong enough electrical charge or magnetic field could disable the systems despite the safeguards. If that happens, their bodies will shut down and their sparks will go offline." Noticing the blank looks of several of the guards, he amended, "They'll die."
"Then our precautions were wise after all," Franklin noted.
"A fact we're more than grateful for," Optimus Prime said from above. He looked towards the pod and said, "I assume we can open it?"
"Yes, as long as someone doesn't touch the wrong control inside," Dirt Boss replied. "That's how this whole mess started. I just need to get in."
Warning sirens quickly sounded off as a lone officer ran in. "Colonel, Eielson just phoned in. We have incoming sir."
"Decepticons, has to be," Blurr noted.
"Agreed," Optimus replied. "We'll head out and keep them occupied. Mirage, Runway, stay here and keep out of trouble."
"Optimus, you'll need us out there," Runway pleaded.
"I'll contact you if your needed," Optimus bluntly said. "Colonel Franklin, this is our fight. I won't risk your officers; we'll handle this."
Franklin remained silent for a moment, then said, "Very well then. But we'll remain on standby just in case."
Optimus nodded, then activated his comm.-link. "Vector Prime, send in Scavenger. We've got company."
"Understood, Optimus," Vector Prime replied. "Smokescreen is back online, and has requested to join in the battle. Red Alert has given him clearance."
"Very well," Optimus replied via comm.-line. "Send them in as soon as you can."
The line clicked off, and Vector Prime turned to the two Autobots and three Mini-Cons. "Are you ready?"
"And willing," Hoist replied, Liftor and Refute linking up to his arms.
"Send us in," Scavenger said, Rollbar linking up with his left arm.
Vector Prime nodded, and withdrew his sword. A greenish gleam formed at its tip as he sliced lightly through the air, forming a gateway. The two Autobots quickly stepped through, and the portal quickly faded. "Red Alert, what is your progress with Hot Shot?"
"Almost done," Red Alert replied. "I just hope they can last without us."
"I don't like this," Starscream noted. "We're too close to the local military bases. If the Autobots and humans are forging an alliance, there's very little stopping them from attacking."
"Except for us," Megatron said at last. "These humans cannot begin to match us in military might, and I'd laugh if they even made an attempt." He turned to his troops and said, "Cyclonus, Thrust, head towards the facility and make certain that it is wiped off the map. Wheeljack, if there are any Autobots in the area, make certain they are permanently dealt with this time. Skywarp-!"
A loud explosion caught Megatron's attention, and he turned towards a nearby hill. A familiar voice taunted, "Sorry to disappoint, Megatron, but they're under our protection."
"Prime!" Megatron bellowed.
"Consider that a warning shot," Optimus declared, Blurr at his side with both of his guns primed. "Leave now."
"Not until I'm finished, no," Megatron noted, priming his cannon and opening fire. As Optimus and Blurr dodged, he ordered, "Decepticons, go!"
"You got it boss!" Cyclonus cried as he transformed into vehicle mode, Thrust and Wheeljack following suit. "Oh man, this'll be fun!"
Just as the trio began to get out of the main battlefield, an off-white and orange construction unit roared into the field and shifted into a robot form, his right arm reaching out and taking hold of Cyclonus's propeller. Within seconds, the Decepticon warrior was slammed into the ground.
"Sorry, you've been grounded," Hoist declared.
"What the-?" Wheeljack called as he transformed to robot mode.
Taking no notice of Wheeljack, Hoist jumped off of his quarry as Cyclonus transformed to robot mode. "Who the Pit are you?" Cyclonus asked.
"Someone with a score to settle," Hoist noted.
That voice... Wheeljack realized.
"Lucky...shot..."
It was him, the Autobot who came to aid Hot Shot. He'd gotten better. A lot better.
Without a moment's hesitation, Wheeljack transformed back to vehicle mode and drove away at top speed.
Noticing from the distance, Starscream transformed to vehicle mode and followed, narrowly avoiding the crossfire from both his associates and the Autobot forces.
"Starscream's making a run for it," Blurr reported.
"Leave him," Optimus ordered. "Concentrate your fire on Megatron." He activated his comm.-line and asked, "Scavenger, where are you?"
"On the other side of the hills," Scavenger reported. "Just scoping out the area. Aside from Starscream and the one that just left, we've still got all the Decepticons gathered. Hoist's dealing with Cyclonus and Thrust, but that still leaves five more."
"Megatron included," Optimus realized. "And we don't have a proper idea of what Starscream's been up to, no idea if he's made any allies."
"We'll keep Megatron occupied then," Scavenger declared.
Watching the battle from the distance, Sideways smiled with glee; things were going exactly to plan. The only loose wrinkle was that pair of wayward Decepticons.
"I suppose it's time to finish what I started," he noted.
Twin bits of equipment detached from his arms as he transformed to vehicle mode, combining into a humanoid form. It climbed on, and Sideways rolled off into the night.
Something was wrong. Vector Prime could feel it in his spark; something was very wrong indeed. If only he could put his finger on it.
Footsteps sounded from nearby. "Vector Prime? We're ready."
"We?" Vector Prime asked. "Ah. I see."
"Okay, vehicle modes scanned, protoforms formatted..." Dirt Boss noted, the rest of the Race Team waiting for him to finish. "They should start waking up about...now."
The first of six pods opened, and a lone green and brown Mini-Con exited, stumbling slightly as he did so. Downshift caught him and said, "Easy there, Ransack. You're okay."
"Downshift?" Ransack asked. "What's happened? Why...?"
"Long story," Downshift replied. "Runway can fill you in, c'mon."
Atop a nearby ice shelf, Wheeljack transformed, then collapsed to his knees. This was his fault; if the other had survived, then chances were good that Hot Shot would as well. He'd practically signed his own death warrant.
Perhaps he'd deserved it; he'd betrayed them, after all. Turned his back on the Autobot cause and everything. Maybe this was the fate that he richly deserved.
"What have I done?" he asked rhetorically.
"Aside from run from battle, ruining your image with Megatron even further?" Starscream asked as he landed and transformed. "I don't think that's what's troubling you, however."
Wheeljack slowly rose to his feet and said, "I betrayed him, Starscream. My own brother. And if what happened with that other Autobot happened with Hot Shot, then I may as well..."
"What, give up?" Starscream asked. "That isn't something an Autobot or Decepticon does. We don't surrender lightly, and we don't run away from our problems." He crossed his arms, and said, "But, if you're planning on throwing what's left of your life away, you should know two things. One, Hot Shot did try to save you."
"What?" Wheeljack asked.
"I was there, remember?" Starscream replied. "I saw him return not long after the battle, alone, just as Megatron was pulling you out of the building and it started to collapse. I was half-tempted to tell him, to point out that you were very much alive and safe, but that would have meant exposing myself, and ruining any chance I had towards my own agenda."
"Agenda?" Wheeljack asked.
"That's the second thing," Starscream continued. "Megatron didn't save you out of the goodness of his spark. He only did it because he saw another potential pawn, a berserker which he could throw at the Autobots when they least expected him. Had I known for certain, I would have interceded, done something. Unfortunately, he didn't trust me then as much as now."
"But what are you talking about with this 'agenda'?" Wheeljack asked.
Before Starscream could explain further, a blast ripped through the air, impacting directly with his side and the ground before him. He collapsed to the ground as Wheeljack turned to find the blast's source.
"Oh dear, two little Decepticons left all alone," Sideways noted from a distance, both his gunbarrels putting out fumes. "Just the perfect chance to make this an even bigger brawl."
Wheeljack helped Starscream to get to his feet, and the elder Transformer noted, "Who are you? Why attack us?"
"My name is Sideways," the lone Transformer noted. "As for why, well...you're the enemy. Is there anything more natural?"
"Enemy?" Starscream asked. "I don't see a faction marker."
"Faction?" Sideways asked as his rider drone walked forward.
As the two Transformers watched, the rider separated into two Mini-Con like forms. One jumped into the air and shifted around, forming something that, to them, looked like some sort of head. It quickly latched onto Sideways's body, replacing his own head. As the corresponding faction symbol appeared on his chest, he asked, "Autobot?"
The first 'head' separated from Sideways, clearing space for the second one. The other faction symbol appeared on his chest as he asked, "Decepticon?"
One head. "Autobot?"
Other head. "Decepticon?"
One head. "Both."
Other head. "Neither."
Both heads then recombined back into their rider form, then seemed to shift and meld, merging into one seemingly complete piece. Its color shifted into pure black with highlights of silver, bright green and deep gold. Then, Sideways himself seemed to change; his armor cracked all along his body, dark-colored energy issuing forth from within. The armor along one arm shattered, revealing a black and bright red limb underneath. Other limbs followed suit, until at last only his torso remained. In a bright flash of red light, his torso and head seemed to shatter.
As Starscream and Wheeljack looked on in shock, the flash from Sideways's transformation died down. The form that emerged was sleek and angular, black as sackcloth with an air of darkness wrapped around him. His face had no features, beyond twin points like horns and a red faceplate. As his former rider attached to his left arm, fusing with it, he noted in a differently-pitched voice, "Ah, much better."
"Give it up, Megatron!" Optimus called. "There's nothing for you here!"
"There's incentive to stay, Prime," Megatron retorted. "Your recycling! Leader-1, Powerlink!"
Leader-1 emerged from Megatron's leg cavity, connecting directly to his cannon, as it flipped into Megatron's secondary combat mode.
"Fine then," Optimus declared. "Super Mode!"
Optimus leapt into the air and began his secondary transformation; his head sank into his body, his arms shifting position, his legs changing form into arms. Meanwhile, his trailer, stationed nearby, unfolded into a base unit, then folded again, taking form as a massive pair of legs and lower torso. The two separate units combined, and a new head flipped into position, Prime's optics briefly flashing bright yellow.
"Sparkplug, Over-Run, Powerlink!"
The two Mini-Cons quickly transformed, leaping into the air and connecting to their partner's shoulders. Prime then took out his cannon, now looking much smaller given his larger size, and leveled it.
"Shortsighted fool!" Megatron bellowed. "That's nothing!" He fired, a massive burst of focused energy blasting out of his cannon and racing towards Optimus Prime's body.
Suddenly, without warning, the blast seemed to instead of directly hit Optimus Prime, wrap around his body, and plow into the surrounding landscape. From nearby, Blurr looked in surprise towards his commanding officer. As the dust settled, he remembered the last time something like this happened, and chuckled appreciatively.
"No!" Megatron bellowed.
"Yes," Optimus noted, the Skyboom Shield held firmly in his hand.
"Now that's more like it!" Hoist said appreciatively, Cyclonus's head firmly clamped in his right 'hand', the Decepticon all but screaming for his release.
A blast hit him from one side, sending him earthward. As Cyclonus regained his bearings, Thrust walked forward and noted, "New packaging, same product; loser, just like every other Autobot."
"Care to rephrase that?" a voice asked.
Thrust turned in time to see Red Alert, brandishing far more weapons than he normally did, open fire. The smaller Decepticon was blasted to the ground in the onslaught.
Megatron looked towards his troops and growled. "You have nothing, Prime! Nothing!"
A trio of streaks caused him to dodge to one side.
"Sorry to disappoint," Runway noted.
"But it's time you shipped out!" Jetstorm declared.
"We're ready Prime!" Sonar called.
Optimus quickly stored his cannon, then reached out his hand. Sonar transformed into the hilt of a sword and landed soundly in Prime's hand, Prime taking firm hold of the transformed Mini-Con. Jetstorm and Runway connected, forming a blade, then interlocked with Sonar. The combined jets took on a brilliant blue glow, and the Star Saber emerged.
"Leave now, Megatron," Optimus warned.
"Never!" Megatron bellowed before he opened fire.
A massive burst of fire emerged from Megatron's cannon, tearing through the air. Instead of using the Skyboom Shield, Optimus instead swiped at the cannon burst with the Star Saber, unleashing a blue blade of energy and sending it rocketing towards Megatron. The blast overwhelmed Megatron's own attack, and sent the Decepticon leader rocketing backwards, then crashing into the ground.
"Uh, orders?" Demolishor asked, feigning fear.
Megatron struggled to his feet, and growled. "Decepticons...retreat."
Megatron quickly faded out of sight, the other Decepticons following suit. With a salute to Scavenger, Skywarp noted, "Always a pleasure, old friend," then faded away.
Prime separated back into his normal robot form, the Star Saber separating into its individual components. "Glad that's over," he noted. "Smokescreen?"
"Hoist now, actually," Hoist amended his commander. "It's still me in here, Prime, just a few new tricks is all."
"We're lucky we were able to manage it," Red Alert noted as he stepped forward. "But Hot Shot and Smokes...Hoist, are both in perfect health."
"Speaking of, where is Hot Shot?" Blurr asked.
"Taking care of unfinished business," Red Alert explained.
"You know, I almost regretted coming here," Sideways taunted from his perch. "Figured it was a bad idea, didn't like the concept of running errands. Then I saw just what was going on. Say what you will about your Autobot friends, they're excellent at keeping records."
"What are you?" Starscream asked, groaning due to his injury.
"A herald," Sideways explained. "A vanguard of the darkest fears you possess. Only those blinded by power and ego, or the foolish, can't see me for what I am."
"Unicron..." Starscream groaned, with a surprised look from Wheeljack complementing his comment. "He created you."
"He heard their call, same as you did," Sideways explained. "He sent me ahead, to make inquiries, see what all could be seen about you. So far, I'm not impressed. You have no idea the powers your ancestors possessed, no idea of your full potential. The chaos you've unleashed upon yourselves in this war will consume you when my master comes." An orange aura of energy forming around his body, he added, "But no point tipping anyone off, is there?"
Suddenly, clouds formed in the skies above them. Sideways's aura shot forth from his body into the clouds, only to streak back into him, heading directly towards a slot in his shield. As the energy touched the slot, he cried out, "Cyber Key, LOCK!" For a brief second, a blast of silver and orange energy, shaped like a key with the Decepticon symbol just barely visible within, flashed around him. His shield deployed four prongs, and he pointed the end directly at the two Decepticons. The prongs glowed a brilliant orange, a ball of energy forming at the shield's tip, then firing outwards.
The blast connected with the ice at their feet, shattering it. The two Decepticons began to fall, Starscream taking hold of Wheeljack and scrambling for a grip on the collapsing ice...
...Only to have something far more stable take hold of his own hand.
"What the...?" Sideways said in surprise.
The robot that had saved them from falling had armor of medium yellow, black, and pale medium blue, with twin wing-like protrusions extending from his shoulder blades. As the robot struggled to maintain his grip, Wheeljack suddenly recognized his apparent savior.
"Hot Shot?"
"Surprise," Hot Shot said with a grin, carefully helping both of them to regain their footing.
"Well, that's disappointing," Sideways noted from the air. He readied his weapon again and said, "Oh well. Second time's the charm."
A blast hit the ebon-armored herald from the side, leaving him to turn away from his targets.
"You are unwelcome here, herald," Vector Prime declared, the gun barrel on Safeguard's Powerlinked form giving off light fumes. He drew his sword and said, "Leave this place, or be destroyed."
"I'll go with option three," Sideways taunted as he transformed into vehicle mode and, in a haphazard manner, flew around firing at his opponent.
As Vector Prime deflected his enemy's attacks, Hot Shot eased Starscream and Wheeljack onto stable ground, helping them to stand. "Easy."
"Hot Shot...how...why...?" Wheeljack asked, confused.
"Brothers look after each other, right?" Hot Shot asked in turn, extending his hand.
Wheeljack looked to him in surprise. In an instant, it felt like the anger that he'd felt towards him, his rage, both for what happened to him and for what he nearly did, had faded. Hot Shot was here, alive...and forgiven him. He took his brother's hand and said with a grin, "Right."
"I hate to interrupt this tender moment," Starscream noted, looking skyward, "but we aren't quite out of the smelting pool yet."
Above them, Sideways darted back and forth through the air, dodging fire from Vector Prime and even landing a few attacks of his own.
"Whatever that thing is, he's far too fast for Vector Prime to hit," Starscream noted. "He needs cover fire."
"Got that covered," Hot Shot assured him, pulling out his rifle and activating his comm.-line. "You ready Jolt?"
"Coming in!" the small red Mini-Con replied. "Powerlink!"
Jolt swooped in and turned to one side, linking up with Hot Shot's rifle.
"Not a bad idea," Starscream noted as Swindle popped out of his hiding place. "Swindle..."
"I remember," Swindle replied, leaping into the air and linking up with Starscream. "Powerlink!"
As Swindle locked into place, twin cannons popped into position over the Seeker's shoulders, energy charging at their tips.
Together, the young Autobot and the experienced Decepticon took aim and fired. Sideways jumped right into the path of fire, a burst of laser and a continuous beam of null cannon plowing into his underside.
"Not bad," he noted, transforming to robot mode and casting a glimpse towards his opponents. "But it'll take more than that to hurt me."
"Then perhaps I may be able to finish what they started," Vector Prime noted as a bright green aura of energy surrounded his body. As Sideways looked to him in surprise, the energy burst out of his body, the clouds swirling around the oncoming burst. Within seconds, the energy returned, amplified, and condensed into a key-shaped form as Vector Prime declared, "Cyber Key, LOCK!"
The key slid into his slot, flashing green and deep silver before disappearing, as Sideways unleashed a beam of energy from his weapon. A massive green field of energy appeared in the air between the opposing Transformers, created by Vector Prime and holding the beam in check.
"Give up the fight, old man!" Sideways called.
"Never!" Vector Prime called back, his shield condensing back into the deep red core in his chest, then blasting back out as an almost overwhelming burst of energy. The blast tore through Sideways's own, then slammed him into the ground, disintegrating his right arm in the process.
Exhausted from his attack, Vector Prime floated down to the ground, then collapsed, Starscream quickly moving to support him, "Relax, Vector Prime. You did it."
"No, I did not," Vector Prime noted, his gaze moving towards where the herald fell. "If that abomination is anything like his creator, he will not be disabled for long."
Vector Prime's words were quite founded as Sideways literally rushed him, digging into the ancient Transformer's throat. As Sideways's faceplate glowed a malevolent red, his right arm regenerated itself. He took hold of Starscream's throat as soon as the hand regenerated.
"And just to make sure we aren't interrupted," Sideways added as bursts of electricity formed at the tips of his horns.
Twin lightning bolts burst forth from Sideways's head, arcing towards Hot Shot and Wheeljack. Before either could reach their targets, Wheeljack pulled out his stun batons, catching the electrical bursts before they could hit.
"Blast him!" Wheeljack yelled.
Hot Shot took aim and opened fire, blasting Sideways in directly in the head. The juggernaut Transformer simply turned to them, his faceplate taking on a more maniacal glow.
"You kids want to go first?" Sideways asked. He released his two opponents, then turned to the two younger Transformers. "Fine then. Who's first?"
"You."
As Sideways turned towards the new voice, a full-on cannon blast hit him square in the face.
"Hot Shot, get them out of there, now!" Optimus Prime ordered, the other Autobots flanking him.
Hot Shot nodded, then called to the others, "Come on!" before transforming to vehicle mode. Wheeljack followed suit, and Vector Prime and Starscream took to the air, slowly gaining altitude.
"Optimus, Sideways-!" Vector Prime called.
"We heard everything," Optimus replied. "Red Alert kept a comm.-line open."
Sideways jumped out of the line of fire, then chuckled. "Please. You're all pathetic; nothing you've got can so much as scratch me."
An overwhelming blast of blue light quickly caught his attention.
"Care to test that theory?" Optimus asked as his chest opened, revealing a very familiar artifact.
As Sideways's faceplate darkened, his body was enveloped in a massive blue burst of light, issuing forth from the Matrix of Leadership. Even as his body began to slowly tear itself apart, he began to chuckle. "Nice to see you aren't afraid to fight, Prime, but your artifacts can't hold me back for long. There's more to me than you know, and more heralds where I came from. This isn't the last time..."
The light of the Matrix faded, and Sideways was no more. Prime's chest closed silently as he noted, "Then we'll be ready."
Hot Shot and Wheeljack transformed back to robot mode, and looked upon the where Sideways once stood. Aghast, Wheeljack turned to his brother and said, "Would someone mind explaining what just happened?"
"I could ask the same thing about you," Blurr noted, a gun aimed at Wheeljack's head.
"Blurr!" Hot Shot called in protest.
"Stand down, Blurr," Optimus ordered as he walked towards the three. He turned towards Wheeljack as Blurr lowered his gun, and sternly said, "I'll handle this."
Blurr stepped back as Wheeljack looked towards his former commander, worry plastered on his face.
Optimus silently placed his cannon in storage and said, "Welcome back, Wheeljack," laying a reassuring hand on the younger Transformer's shoulder.
Relieved, Wheeljack said, "Thank you, sir."
"Optimus, you can't be serious," Blurr said in surprise. "He betrayed us, nearly killed Hot Shot and Smokescreen...Hoist...whichever."
"'Nearly' being the operative word," Red Alert pointed out.
"And many Autobots and Decepticons could say the same about me," Starscream noted. "And for now, they'd be right. Though right now we seem to have greater problems."
"Agreed," Vector Prime noted. "That abomination was a herald of Unicron; this proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Chaos Bringer is indeed moving."
"This is what I was talking about," Starscream explained. "For four million stellar cycles, our people have been divided, and Megatron has been the biggest catalyst of that division. His insane quest for power led to the Mini-Con exodus, and his division of the Decepticons has tarnished us forever. He refuses to see that his mad quest is pointless and that there are much greater stakes involved than simply gaining possession of the Mini-Cons. If he isn't stopped, his delusions could destroy us all."
"But how?" Wheeljack asked. "How stop Megatron? Or even Unicron?"
"We will find a way to deal with Unicron," Vector Prime promised. "For now, we need to make certain that Megatron is dealt with, and kept unaware of our own efforts. Seven artifacts were created with the First Thirteen; two remain in Autobot hands, and the third resides somewhere here on Earth. The seven combined are more than enough to stop Unicron once and for all."
"Which means the more Megatron remains unaware of their existence, the better," Starscream decided. He turned to Wheeljack and said, "I intend to make certain that Megatron is defeated before he can build up too much momentum. And I need all the help I can get."
Wheeljack looked first to Starscream, then to the damaged Autobot symbol on his chest, then to the Decepticon symbol on his arm. "I owe my loyalty to the one who saved my life." He looked to Hot Shot and noted, "But a lot of people have saved my life recently." He then turned to Starscream again and said, "I'm in."
Starscream smiled. "Welcome to the conspiracy." He turned to Optimus and said, "I noticed the Star Saber's glow from the distance. Megatron won't be recovering from that anytime soon; plenty of opportunity to see about getting a communications line going."
"We'll see what we can do from our end," Optimus promised. "In the meantime, you'd better get back to your ship."
"Understood," Starscream noted. "Until next time."
"Take care of yourself, brother," Wheeljack said with a light grin.
"You too," Hot Shot returned. "Brother."
Starscream and Wheeljack both faded out of sight, leaving the Autobots and their various allied Mini-Cons alone.
"I still don't think that was a good idea," Blurr replied. "Even if he is on our side again, we don't know what's waiting for him on the Decepticon ship."
"You didn't notice the other Decepticons with Megatron?" Scavenger asked. "Thundercracker, Skywarp, and Mudflap. We can trust them."
"Speaking of, what happened to the Mini-Cons in the pod?" Hot Shot asked. "Are they...?"
"Safe and sound," Red Alert replied. "All six of them."
It was only then that Hot Shot realized that two unfamiliar Mini-Cons rested in Hoist's remaining Powerlinx ports, a third on one of Scavenger's, and three more on Red Alert. The six disconnected, and transformed into their respective robotic forms.
"Hot Shot, meet Ransack, Dune Runner and Iceberg of the Adventure Team," Optimus noted, the Mini-Cons nodding in turn, "and Kingbolt, Impulsor and Quench of the Hazard Team."
"Impressive display, Hot Shot," Kingbolt noted. "I look forward to working with you further in the future."
"Thanks," Hot Shot noted, somewhat nervously.
"Now that all of this is settled," Vector Prime noted, "Kingbolt, you commanded the ship which the Mini-Cons used to leave Cybertron, correct?"
"Yes," Kingbolt replied. "I'm assuming there's a good reason to look for it."
"There is," Safeguard noted as he disconnected from Vector Prime. "My apologies, old friend. We hid something aboard the ship."
"Aside from the Omega Sentinel that Optimus stowed aboard?" Kingbolt added. "What other surprises do you have?"
"The Omega Lock," Vector Prime explained. "We have the opportunity. We need to find the ship."
"We were the last to leave," Kingbolt reported. "With any luck, we may be able to point out where it landed."
"We'll need maps," Scavenger noted.
"Between Colonel Franklin and Diana, we should be able to manage it," Optimus noted.
Elsewhere, far away from Earth, a form began to emerge from a wall. A body emerged; limbs, torso, head. It gained definition, color, and took shape.
"And they think they've seen the last of me," Sideways noted, his faceplate glowing red. "So long as my master survives, I survive. And soon, very soon, they'll discover that there's nothing they can do about his return."
Spheroids with mounted guns swarmed around him, greeting him and his rebirth. "Much to do, I see."
The End