Requiem
"Is... Is this thing working? I hope so. Damn data recorders; never thought I'd use one of these things. But if someone finds this, and can hear my story, then it has done its job much better than I did mine. So here goes... My name is Sunchaser. I'm an Autobot, a soldier, not one of the Cybertronian civvies that live here on Corellon. I've lived here for just over three weeks. And from the looks of things, this is where I'm gonna die..."
Sunchaser stepped through the access hatch of the shuttle craft and onto the boarding ramp, shielding his eyes as he took in his first view of Corellon. After the slightly dimmed lighting of the shuttle, the glare of Corellon Prime and its smaller sibling, Corellon Beta, took a little adjusting to. As his optics came into focus, and he saw his new surroundings, Sunchaser gasped.
The young Autobot had believed that he knew what beauty looked like. He had been wrong. The small spaceport sat in the centre of a wide valley. Purplish-grey mountains encompassed the plain on three sides, snowcapped peaks reaching longingly to the brilliant azure sky. At the open end of the valley, the view opened out onto rolling plains of dark green grass. Above, cloudless skies enveloped the brilliant spheres of the twin suns, completing the picture perfectly. Somehow, the word 'paradise' just didn't seem adequate.
Sunchaser could see why the Cybertronian high council had chosen this place as a retirement colony. It was in an out of the way system, so far off the beaten track that the Decepticons would never have an interest in going there. It had no tactical significance at all. Combined with the idyllic scenery, Corellon was perfect. As Sunchaser handed his transit papers to the spaceport official, a gruff looking Autobot with wide-set features and deep red paintwork, he found himself wishing that he could fly.
As it was, the view from the road was fantastic. Sunchaser had walked the four miles to the end of the valley, watching as anti-grav vehicles carried those transformers without vehicle forms to their various destinations. Feeling the need to stretch his legs, and his wheels, Sunchaser was providing his own method of transportation. As soon as he left the valley, he found the road that led to his destination and began to transform.
With a thought, Sunchaser began the change to his vehicle form, relishing the familiar feeling of coming apart and reforming into something else. Halfway through, his optics cut out as his vision switched to a dedicated sensor feed, and he felt rather than saw the last few moments as his chassis lowered itself to the ground. The whole sequence took less than four seconds.
Sunchaser revved his engine, and began to accelerate along the metacrete road, letting out an audible sigh to himself as he did so. He loved his vehicle mode, an Earth automobile that had been acquired during a brief tour under Optimus Prime himself. He had seen a real version of the car on something the humans had called 'television', just two days after his arrival on the blue planet. Sunchaser had begged to be allowed a new vehicle form, and a short while later had been granted his wish. And now, two years later, a metallic blue Dodge Viper could be seen racing through the green fields of Corellon.
O o O o O
"Well I'll be damned, someone sprung for the full extras package! Welcome to Primus City, son. The name's Barricade, and I'm your new commander."
Sunchaser had been assigned to the planet's defence forces, based at the only major city on Corellon. He had screeched to a halt outside the Autobot headquarters for the planet, having very nearly missed it. Compared to the sweeping, bone-white spires that dominated most of the city, the squat building known lovingly as 'the precinct' was easy to miss. Sunchaser had barely begun to return to his robot form, when a powerfully built Autobot exited the building, calling out to Sunchaser as he descended the ten or so steps to street level.
As his eyes came back on-line, Sunchaser found himself staring squarely into the chest plate of his new commanding officer. Barricade, for want of a better description, was huge, fully half as tall again as Sunchaser. The Autobot emblem emblazoned across the older warrior's chest stood out starkly against the dull white armour that composed most of his form, save for segments of gold or red trim. Deep green optics looked down at the younger 'bot, betraying a kindly demeanour that had mostly escaped the ravages of centuries of war.
"Sunchaser, reporting for duty, sir", the youngster chimed, snapping to a smart salute.
"I know who you are, son", drawled Barricade, a broad smile crossing his features. "And don't call me sir. Come on in, and I'll give you the grand tour!"
Barricade spent the next few hours showing Sunchaser his new home, and introducing him to his new colleagues. The job itself was fairly dull; on a retirement colony, there tends to be precious little to do other than the occasional police duty or training routine. Thankfully, getting to know the locals, especially his new team, kept Sunchaser from getting too bored.
Aside from Barricade, there were thirteen Autobots stationed on Corellon. Of those, five were stationed at the precinct. There were the twins, Backwash and Highwind, a fighter jet and a helicopter, respectively; Landscape, a gentle giant who was equally as imposing in both his robot and bulldozer forms; Throwback, a loner who preferred tearing up the countryside as a dirt bike to actual work; and finally Freeway, another sports car, who was as tough as she was pretty (to Sunchaser, anyway). Sunchaser and Barricade made seven.
In just a few days, Sunchaser had settled into the job, quickly getting used to his new routine. At one point, Barricade had taken him to one side and explained the reason for his posting on Corellon. He had explained to Sunchaser that Optimus Prime had suggested the transfer, hoping that the youngster would learn some temperance, and eventually learn to curb the more enthusiastic parts of his personality. Sunchaser had figured that there could be very few places in the galaxy better for learning patience.
O o O o O
Three weeks later, and paradise had been lost. Without warning, the Decepticons had descended upon Corellon, intent on destroying everything in sight. Barricade had rallied the Autobot forces, and seen to it that all Cybertronians willing to fight were given weapons. Everyone else had been moved to emergency shelters. A distress call had been sent, but nobody held out much hope for the colony; they were outnumbered, outmanoeuvred, and heavily out gunned.
That didn't mean that they were going to give up without a fight. Sunchaser sat on top of the defensive wall that surrounded Primus City, with his back resting against the upper battlements. A few metres away, Freeway sat in a similar position. She looked over to Sunchaser, giving him a smile and a sly wink, before raising herself just far enough to reach over the top of the wall and fire a few shots from her rifle. A faint scream reached their ears, and Sunchaser matched his friend's grin. She'd hit one.
The scream was quickly followed by a hail of return fire, each blast pockmarking the outer face of the wall or flying harmlessly overhead. This had been going on for nearly two days. For all Sunchaser knew, it could have been much longer. The perfect blue skies of Corellon had been stained black by the smoke rising from the city. Multiple rocket strikes had reduced many of the gleaming towers to scarred shells. The Decepticons were going to take the city apart around them. It was just a matter of how long it took.
Above the heads of the beleaguered defenders, the battle was much more intense. Backwash and Highwind were busily taking the fight to the enemy, spending as much time as possible performing strafing runs against the Decepticon lines. They had been joined by Cloudstrike, another Autobot jet, and the three of them had been attempting to lure a few of the enemy fliers into the city. The idea was to use Backwash's agility to pull the Decepticons into an ambush. So far it was working, but their luck couldn't hold out much longer.
A nearby explosion caught Sunchaser's attention, and he looked over toward the main city gates in time to see a group of Decepticons charging toward them. The gates had been hit badly, one of the massive doors hanging loosely on its supports, and the enemy hoped that a massed charge could breach the city defences. Fifteen warriors of assorted sizes ran toward the gates, firing at the Autobot defenders as they went. If they got to the gates, the Autobots would be in deep trouble. But Landscape had other ideas.
With a bellow, the massive Autobot jumped from the upper wall, throwing himself into a roll as he landed. He ran to the gate, transforming as he went, and by the time the Decepticons reached the gate it was being held closed by Landscape's bulldozer form. More of the enemy piled toward the gate, hoping to turn the tide and push Landscape back. Sunchaser and Freeway opened fire from their vantage point, but they weren't going to do enough damage to really help.
Then Barricade arrived, running up the steps to the section of wall overlooking the gate. He roared an order to anyone that could hear to direct their fire toward the Decepticon lines, to cut off any more reinforcements from reaching the gate. And then he transformed. For three weeks, Sunchaser had wondered what the older 'bot could change into. Looking down the sights of his pulse rifle, Sunchaser squeezed off a few rounds at the enemy, all the while itching to look back and find out.
A high pitched scream gave Sunchaser his answer. He recognized the sound immediately, even before he turned round. But he turned anyway. Standing astride the gate, Barricade had taken the form of a massive, twin barrelled plasma cannon. Another piercing scream issued from the weapon, and Barricade fired, bathing the Decepticons in liquid fire. Sunchaser turned toward Freeway, formulating a question.
"What the hell?" was all he managed to ask.
Freeway looked over at him briefly, then toward Barricade. She turned her gaze back toward Sunchaser, a look of realization crossing her features. She smiled, then turned away from the youngster and resumed firing at the Decepticons.
"Its a long story, kid" she said softly. "He's not proud of his form. But he was made during the first great war, one of a few meant specifically for warfare."
"But he's so...so..."
"Peaceful? Gentle? Yeah, he is. Why do you think he never transforms? He's embarrased. But he kept his alternate form because it reminded him that peace comes at a price. Now, if I were you, I'd get back to shooting Decepti-scrap. If we survive, you can talk about it with him."
O o O o O
"Freeway was the first to die. One minute she was standing there, giving the Decepticons hell and looking beautiful to boot, the next she was hit by a missile. One blinding flash, and she was gone. I never even got to tell her how I felt... Not that it matters now. What matters is that her death signalled the beginning of the end.
Throwback was next. I never really knew him; he was a loner, and was rarely at the precinct. I just figured he was lazy. I didn't know until much later that he had held a torch for Freeway. He took her death real bad. A few hours after she died, he just seemed to lose it. He charged straight into the Decepticon lines, guns blazing. He fought like nothing I had ever seen before, but it didn't do him any good.
We fell back into the city shortly after that. It seemed that every couple of hours, another of us fell to enemy fire, and we fell back. I can still see their faces, real as day. Landscape, Backwash, Cloudstrike; I barely knew them, and now I can't forget them, the looks of pain and fear on their faces, in their eyes. And so long as I can see to it, no-one is going to forget their courage.
Especially not Barricade. He fought the longest, and the hardest. For so long, it looked as though nothing would be able to kill him. But the Decepticons had a group of transformers with them that could combine into the largest robot I have ever seen. It called itself Devestator, and it was huge. Nothing we threw at it seemed to do any damage. Except for Barricade. He fought on even as Devestator crushed him into so much scrap. I just hope that, when my time comes, I go out fighting half as hard and with half as much dignity.
I don't have long. I'm the last surviving Autobot, holed up in an emergency shelter with the last few civilians. I have to assume that the townships have fallen, and that we're all that's left. I had one of the others send another distress call, and to listen for a reply. But we haven't heard anything. For all we know, the Decep's are jamming any signals. And even if they're not, help will probably take too long to get here. But, as someone once told me, some hope is better than none at all.
To whoever finds this data-recorder: pass this on to everyone you see. Everyone needs to know about what happened here. These people, my friends, gave their lives for the greatest cause there is: protecting those who cannot protect themselves. They deserve to be remembered. And if this is to be their requiem, then I can only hope that everybody gets to hear it. Primus watch over us all."
O o O o O
Optimus Prime stood amongst the ruins of Primus City, listening to the last moments of Sunchaser's life. He could hear the all-too-familiar sounds of demolition charges destroying the wall of the shelter, followed by the barking reports of heavy weapons fire. The Decepticons had left nothing alive on Corellon. But they hadn't been thorough enough to find the data recorder.
Prime had personally led the response to the distress call. But they had been too late. As he looked at the scenes of carnage around him, Prime wondered why the Decepticons had attacked this place. Looking at the ash filled waste that this beautiful planet had become, the only reason that sprang to mind left the Autobot with an ice-cold sensation beneath his chest plate. Spite. They had done it out of spite.
They had found the data recorder underneath the body of an Autobot, in what had once been an emergency bunker. What was left of the body had been hard to identify, but then Jazz had noted the metallic blue chassis, and everyone who knew Sunchaser had recognized him. They had moved him out into the sunlight, along with the other bodies. It was then that Prime had found the recorder, half buried in the dirt. Now, he held it in his hand, staring at it long and hard. After what seemed to be an eternity, he came to a decision.
"Ironhide, come over here", Prime called to the old veteran, beckoning him to join him. Ironhide looked up from the wreckage he had been rummaging through, and made his way to his commander's side.
"What do you need, Prime", Ironhide said, his usual enthusiasm missing from his voice.
"You need to listen to this, Ironhide", Prime replied, his voice heavy with sadness. "Everybody needs to listen this. And we're going to make sure they do."