Transformers: Armada - Day of Reckoning
Chapter 1 - Discovery
A lonely stretch of desert highway, on a moonlit night. A single solitary vehicle moved down the road, seemingly with no set destination. You might say that the vehicle's rider was a drifter, moving from one place to another with no desire other than to continue.
But he was no drifter. Nor was he any ordinary rider. One could say the rider and his vehicle were ... one and the same.
Suddenly, the motorcycle took a sharp turn off of the road. It tore across the sandy desert landscape, throwing dust up in its wake. And as it did so, three bright streams of light descended from the sky.
The three points of light sped towards the ground. They impacted, throwing up a bright flash of light. The vehicle came to a sudden stop, and then suddenly seemed to pick itself up, and shift around, forming a robotic body. The rider leapt off, split in two, and transformed as well, forming a head that attached itself to the body.
The bright light faded, revealing a crater. The robot walked forward, and peered into it. Lying inside were three panels, each of them marked with an M on the center.
Minicon panels.
However, these were differant from the... normal variety. Rather than a simple, smooth diamond shape, these panels had serrated metal edges. What's more, the "M" marking glowed red and firey.
The robot chuckled to himself, and walked forward. As soon as he did so, energy erupted from the panels, creating a pillar of light emenating from each of them. Then, a tiny figure began to emerge from each panel. They coalesced, and stared up at Sideways. Two of them were green, while the other was purple and black.
"Top Gear," the Transformer stated, "Midshift, Tailslide... you've come at last."
The three Minicons beeped in response.
Sideways chuckled. Now, at last, it could begin...
------------------------------------------
THE DECEPTICON BASE, THE MOON
"What is your report, Thrust?"
The cone-headed Decepticon stepped towards the throne of his leader, Megatron. "Well sir, after an extensive examination of the Requiem Blaster Minicons, I can honestly say..." he sighed, "... that there are no lingering effects on them from the phenomenon we witnessed in Mars' orbit."
Megatron scowled. "I am disappointed, Thrust," he said. "There is power to be had from understanding the nature of these Minicons' abilities... power I desire. I will not stand to be denied it!"
"Of course, my lord!" replied Thrust, "But perhaps we would be more successful if we could attain the Star Saber and Skyboom Shield..."
Megatron glared. "In case you've foregotten, Thrust, the Minicons that form those weapons are under the protection of the Autobots! And I am not about to assault their base when they not only have possession of those weapons, but also all of those Minicons!"
"But Megatron!" said Thrust, "The Autobots are far more reluctant to use them than we are! They're more focused on protecting them! If we went in Powerlinked with all of our individual partners AND the Requiem Blaster, we-"
"Silence!" cried Megatron. "Even I did go for this idea of yours, I wouldn't dare go in without a plan! And I've lost faith in your plans, Thrust... Now, go and get the Requiem Blaster, immediately!"
"... Yes, my lord." replied Thrust.
Thrust walked out of the throne room, rage bubbling up from his spark's very core. Megatron, of all people, doubting him?! Of course, he had made some mistakes recently, but he was still more valuable than those bumbling oafs Demolishor and Cyclonus. And at least he wasn't a traitor like that wretched Starscream.
He had to do something, before the Decepticons were met with defeat. That was why, for all it was worth, he had Cyclonus, Demolishor and Wheeljack searching for Minicons on Earth...
------------------------------------------
PLANET EARTH - SOMEWHERE IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST
"Hey, detected anything yet, Cyclonus?" Demolishor said into his comm device.
came the reply.
Demolishor sighed as he switched off his comm, knowing it would be futile to try and tell his psychotic comrade to quit fooling around and get to work. "Any luck, Wheeljack?" he said as he turned around.
The dark-colored Decepticon, who was running the scanning device over the ground, stood up. "Sorry Demolishor, but no," he said. "Thrust's device isn't picking up anything."
Demolishor grunted. "I told that eraser-headed numbskull that he couldn't rig a device that just detected Minicons! You can't find them until they transmit a signal! But nooo! He never listens to me!"
"Maybe it has something to do with you ambushing him and then trying to throw him out of the base that one time," Wheeljack said as he tried boosting the scanner's range.
Demolishor's jaw dropped. "H-how do you know about that?!" he demanded. "That happened before you got here!"
"Megatron told me," Wheeljack stated simply. "It's nothing to be ashamed of, Demolishor. That Sideways guy tricked you, didn't he?"
"Uhm, well, yeah..." replied a somewhat surprised Demolishor. "Gee, you're a pretty understanding guy, Wheeljack.:
"Well, we're all comrades here, aren't we?" said Wheeljack. "Petty infighting will get us nowhere. So... this Sideways guy, what was he like?"
"Eh, he was a jerk," answered Demolishor. "But always seemed like he was one of us... I don't really know what his deal was. I still don't know how he did that thing where Megatron sliced him up and he-"
"AHA!" Wheeljack suddenly exclaimed.
"Huh? What is it?" asked Demolishor.
"The scanner's picked up something!" Wheeljack exclaimed. "About a half a mile from here! Looks like this thing is pretty useful after all!"
"Uh, all right! I'll just radio Cyclonus, and-" Demolishor started to say.
"I'll meet you there!" interrupted Wheeljack. "TRANSFORM!" he shouted, tearing off in vehicle mode. Demolishor just sighed as he put a hand to his forehead.
Several minutes later, Wheeljack was nearing the location indicated by the scanner. He found himself traveling along a mountainside. The black Decepticon continued on, and finally stopped at the mouth of a cave. He pulled out the scanner.
"Hmm... no doubt about it... the scanner indicates that the Minicons are in there..."
Cautiously, Wheeljack stepped into the cavern, leaning down so his head would not bump the ceiling. He held the scanner out in front of him, hoping for some kind of blip that indicate he was getting closer. He had gone some ways into the cave, when-
His head snapped back. He'd heard something... rocks moving, and footsteps...
"Demolishor?" he said aloud. "Cyclonus? Is that you guys?"
Bump.
Something... something had bumped into his leg! He looked around, but he could not find it in the darkness. It had been small, so it had to have been...
"A Minicon!"
Wheeljack's optic units widened as he saw the miniature robot standing before him. It had green legs, black arms, and a blue head with a yellow faceplate. Its shoulders seemed to consist of its vehicle mode wheels.
Wheeljack grinned. "Come here you!" he said, reaching for it.
But then, with surprising speed, the Minicon transformed into a sort of race car. "Hey!" Wheeljack shouted as he ran after it, "Come back here!"
Of course, the Minicon did not appear to listen to him. Wheeljack sneered... he knew if he could assume his car mode, he could catch up to it. But now, the cavern was too wide for something his size.
Suddenly, the Minicon stopped, and transformed back into robot mode. Wheeljack grinned as he charged forward. "I have you now you little-"
-FLASH!-
"AHHH!" Wheeljack cried as he reached up to shield his eyes. "What was that?!" he said, looking out from behind his arm. Then his optics widened again, and he gasped.
Imbedded in the cavern wall... were at over half a dozen Minicon panels, glowing brightly as if they'd suddenly come on-line. He counted... there were at least eight! Wheeljack grinned, and looked back down at where the first Minicon he'd seen was.
... But it was gone.
"What the-?!" Wheeljack said, confused. It had been there one minute, and then it was gone! The Decepticon looked around, trying to find it. But it had vanished into thin air...
Hmm. So what? He had lost one, but he now had six Minicons ripe for collecting. Wheeljack smiled to himself, and walked forward to examine the panels. They were all the standard variety, except...
What was this? Three of the Minicon panels, which were grouped together, were not the usual green and blue. They were purple and black. He'd never seen anything like that before...
Wheeljack reached forward, grabbing the edge of one of the normal panels. He pulled on it, trying to free it from the rock, when suddenly the panel let out a hum. Wheeljack let go and stumbled back as the panel began to glow brighter than all of the others. In a matter of moments, a Minicon appeared.
The Minicon was black, yellow, and red. Its chest looked as though it formed the front-end of a jet, and his lower arms resembled engine thrusters. The Minicon looked up, and beeped in Minicon binary code.
This surprised Wheeljack. He could... understand it? It must have had something to do with him touching the panel when it came on-line. Wheeljack kneeled down, and spoke to the Minicon.
"Your name is Wind Sheer, eh?" he said. "Hmm... well, the others have their own Minicons, so I guess you're my partner. How about it?"
The Minicon beeped, voicing his approval. Wheeljack wondered if it was because most Minicons were naturally submissive, or because Wind Shear didn't realize the significance of his slashed Autobot symbol.
Suddenly, they were both interrupted by the voice of Wheeljack's comrades, which were coming from further back in the cave.
"Hey, Wheeljack you in here?!" he heard Demolishor's voice say.
"If he's not, can I fire off a few rounds? I wanna see if I can cause a cave-in!" said a voice that undoubtedly belonged to Cyclonus.
Wheeljack grinned, scooping Wind Sheer up into his palm. "I'm down here guys! You won't believe what I've found!"
------------------------------------------
THE DECEPTICON BASE
Thrust could barely contain himself as he tore through the base, heading towards Megatron's throne room. Demolishor, Wheeljack, and Cyclonus had just reported in. Six new Minicons! Not exactly a lot compared to the original amount that they had imprisoned, but it was certainly not a bad thing. Besides, if he was the one to report it, perhaps it would help him get back in Megatron's good graces.
"Megatron!" Thrust cried as he ran into the throne room. "Good news! I-"
-SHHIIIIINK!-
Thrust suddenly paused as the blade of a sword was suddenly imbedded in the wall right beside him. His optics widened as the owner of the blade's own optics fell on him. He found himself staring into the burning red eyes of a purple and black Decepticon with a faceplate.
"Sk-Skywarp?!" Thrust cried.
The other Transformer stared at him for a moment, and sighed. "Oh, it's only you, Thrust," he said, quickly withdrew his blade.
"Ah, Thrust," Megatron said, sitting in his chair. "I see you've met our new arrival... but then again, I believe you and Skywarp are already familiar with each other, yes?"
"Megatron!" Thrust exclaimed. "How could you allow this... this rogue to come into our base?!"
Megatron frowned. "That is no way to speak of a new colleague, Thrust," said the Decepticon leader. "Besides, I have called Skywarp here to help us take care of a very irritating problem."
"Problem?! What problem?!" Thrust demanded.
"Oh, trust me," Skywarp said. "You'll be very pleased with the objective of my mission... you see, Megatron here has summoned me to deal with a dear old friend of mine. Namely, a certain turncoat by the name of Starscream..."
NEXT: THE AUTOBOTS
A lonely stretch of desert highway, on a moonlit night. A single solitary vehicle moved down the road, seemingly with no set destination. You might say that the vehicle's rider was a drifter, moving from one place to another with no desire other than to continue.
But he was no drifter. Nor was he any ordinary rider. One could say the rider and his vehicle were ... one and the same.
Suddenly, the motorcycle took a sharp turn off of the road. It tore across the sandy desert landscape, throwing dust up in its wake. And as it did so, three bright streams of light descended from the sky.
The three points of light sped towards the ground. They impacted, throwing up a bright flash of light. The vehicle came to a sudden stop, and then suddenly seemed to pick itself up, and shift around, forming a robotic body. The rider leapt off, split in two, and transformed as well, forming a head that attached itself to the body.
The bright light faded, revealing a crater. The robot walked forward, and peered into it. Lying inside were three panels, each of them marked with an M on the center.
Minicon panels.
However, these were differant from the... normal variety. Rather than a simple, smooth diamond shape, these panels had serrated metal edges. What's more, the "M" marking glowed red and firey.
The robot chuckled to himself, and walked forward. As soon as he did so, energy erupted from the panels, creating a pillar of light emenating from each of them. Then, a tiny figure began to emerge from each panel. They coalesced, and stared up at Sideways. Two of them were green, while the other was purple and black.
"Top Gear," the Transformer stated, "Midshift, Tailslide... you've come at last."
The three Minicons beeped in response.
Sideways chuckled. Now, at last, it could begin...
------------------------------------------
THE DECEPTICON BASE, THE MOON
"What is your report, Thrust?"
The cone-headed Decepticon stepped towards the throne of his leader, Megatron. "Well sir, after an extensive examination of the Requiem Blaster Minicons, I can honestly say..." he sighed, "... that there are no lingering effects on them from the phenomenon we witnessed in Mars' orbit."
Megatron scowled. "I am disappointed, Thrust," he said. "There is power to be had from understanding the nature of these Minicons' abilities... power I desire. I will not stand to be denied it!"
"Of course, my lord!" replied Thrust, "But perhaps we would be more successful if we could attain the Star Saber and Skyboom Shield..."
Megatron glared. "In case you've foregotten, Thrust, the Minicons that form those weapons are under the protection of the Autobots! And I am not about to assault their base when they not only have possession of those weapons, but also all of those Minicons!"
"But Megatron!" said Thrust, "The Autobots are far more reluctant to use them than we are! They're more focused on protecting them! If we went in Powerlinked with all of our individual partners AND the Requiem Blaster, we-"
"Silence!" cried Megatron. "Even I did go for this idea of yours, I wouldn't dare go in without a plan! And I've lost faith in your plans, Thrust... Now, go and get the Requiem Blaster, immediately!"
"... Yes, my lord." replied Thrust.
Thrust walked out of the throne room, rage bubbling up from his spark's very core. Megatron, of all people, doubting him?! Of course, he had made some mistakes recently, but he was still more valuable than those bumbling oafs Demolishor and Cyclonus. And at least he wasn't a traitor like that wretched Starscream.
He had to do something, before the Decepticons were met with defeat. That was why, for all it was worth, he had Cyclonus, Demolishor and Wheeljack searching for Minicons on Earth...
------------------------------------------
PLANET EARTH - SOMEWHERE IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST
"Hey, detected anything yet, Cyclonus?" Demolishor said into his comm device.
came the reply.
Demolishor sighed as he switched off his comm, knowing it would be futile to try and tell his psychotic comrade to quit fooling around and get to work. "Any luck, Wheeljack?" he said as he turned around.
The dark-colored Decepticon, who was running the scanning device over the ground, stood up. "Sorry Demolishor, but no," he said. "Thrust's device isn't picking up anything."
Demolishor grunted. "I told that eraser-headed numbskull that he couldn't rig a device that just detected Minicons! You can't find them until they transmit a signal! But nooo! He never listens to me!"
"Maybe it has something to do with you ambushing him and then trying to throw him out of the base that one time," Wheeljack said as he tried boosting the scanner's range.
Demolishor's jaw dropped. "H-how do you know about that?!" he demanded. "That happened before you got here!"
"Megatron told me," Wheeljack stated simply. "It's nothing to be ashamed of, Demolishor. That Sideways guy tricked you, didn't he?"
"Uhm, well, yeah..." replied a somewhat surprised Demolishor. "Gee, you're a pretty understanding guy, Wheeljack.:
"Well, we're all comrades here, aren't we?" said Wheeljack. "Petty infighting will get us nowhere. So... this Sideways guy, what was he like?"
"Eh, he was a jerk," answered Demolishor. "But always seemed like he was one of us... I don't really know what his deal was. I still don't know how he did that thing where Megatron sliced him up and he-"
"AHA!" Wheeljack suddenly exclaimed.
"Huh? What is it?" asked Demolishor.
"The scanner's picked up something!" Wheeljack exclaimed. "About a half a mile from here! Looks like this thing is pretty useful after all!"
"Uh, all right! I'll just radio Cyclonus, and-" Demolishor started to say.
"I'll meet you there!" interrupted Wheeljack. "TRANSFORM!" he shouted, tearing off in vehicle mode. Demolishor just sighed as he put a hand to his forehead.
Several minutes later, Wheeljack was nearing the location indicated by the scanner. He found himself traveling along a mountainside. The black Decepticon continued on, and finally stopped at the mouth of a cave. He pulled out the scanner.
"Hmm... no doubt about it... the scanner indicates that the Minicons are in there..."
Cautiously, Wheeljack stepped into the cavern, leaning down so his head would not bump the ceiling. He held the scanner out in front of him, hoping for some kind of blip that indicate he was getting closer. He had gone some ways into the cave, when-
His head snapped back. He'd heard something... rocks moving, and footsteps...
"Demolishor?" he said aloud. "Cyclonus? Is that you guys?"
Bump.
Something... something had bumped into his leg! He looked around, but he could not find it in the darkness. It had been small, so it had to have been...
"A Minicon!"
Wheeljack's optic units widened as he saw the miniature robot standing before him. It had green legs, black arms, and a blue head with a yellow faceplate. Its shoulders seemed to consist of its vehicle mode wheels.
Wheeljack grinned. "Come here you!" he said, reaching for it.
But then, with surprising speed, the Minicon transformed into a sort of race car. "Hey!" Wheeljack shouted as he ran after it, "Come back here!"
Of course, the Minicon did not appear to listen to him. Wheeljack sneered... he knew if he could assume his car mode, he could catch up to it. But now, the cavern was too wide for something his size.
Suddenly, the Minicon stopped, and transformed back into robot mode. Wheeljack grinned as he charged forward. "I have you now you little-"
-FLASH!-
"AHHH!" Wheeljack cried as he reached up to shield his eyes. "What was that?!" he said, looking out from behind his arm. Then his optics widened again, and he gasped.
Imbedded in the cavern wall... were at over half a dozen Minicon panels, glowing brightly as if they'd suddenly come on-line. He counted... there were at least eight! Wheeljack grinned, and looked back down at where the first Minicon he'd seen was.
... But it was gone.
"What the-?!" Wheeljack said, confused. It had been there one minute, and then it was gone! The Decepticon looked around, trying to find it. But it had vanished into thin air...
Hmm. So what? He had lost one, but he now had six Minicons ripe for collecting. Wheeljack smiled to himself, and walked forward to examine the panels. They were all the standard variety, except...
What was this? Three of the Minicon panels, which were grouped together, were not the usual green and blue. They were purple and black. He'd never seen anything like that before...
Wheeljack reached forward, grabbing the edge of one of the normal panels. He pulled on it, trying to free it from the rock, when suddenly the panel let out a hum. Wheeljack let go and stumbled back as the panel began to glow brighter than all of the others. In a matter of moments, a Minicon appeared.
The Minicon was black, yellow, and red. Its chest looked as though it formed the front-end of a jet, and his lower arms resembled engine thrusters. The Minicon looked up, and beeped in Minicon binary code.
This surprised Wheeljack. He could... understand it? It must have had something to do with him touching the panel when it came on-line. Wheeljack kneeled down, and spoke to the Minicon.
"Your name is Wind Sheer, eh?" he said. "Hmm... well, the others have their own Minicons, so I guess you're my partner. How about it?"
The Minicon beeped, voicing his approval. Wheeljack wondered if it was because most Minicons were naturally submissive, or because Wind Shear didn't realize the significance of his slashed Autobot symbol.
Suddenly, they were both interrupted by the voice of Wheeljack's comrades, which were coming from further back in the cave.
"Hey, Wheeljack you in here?!" he heard Demolishor's voice say.
"If he's not, can I fire off a few rounds? I wanna see if I can cause a cave-in!" said a voice that undoubtedly belonged to Cyclonus.
Wheeljack grinned, scooping Wind Sheer up into his palm. "I'm down here guys! You won't believe what I've found!"
------------------------------------------
THE DECEPTICON BASE
Thrust could barely contain himself as he tore through the base, heading towards Megatron's throne room. Demolishor, Wheeljack, and Cyclonus had just reported in. Six new Minicons! Not exactly a lot compared to the original amount that they had imprisoned, but it was certainly not a bad thing. Besides, if he was the one to report it, perhaps it would help him get back in Megatron's good graces.
"Megatron!" Thrust cried as he ran into the throne room. "Good news! I-"
-SHHIIIIINK!-
Thrust suddenly paused as the blade of a sword was suddenly imbedded in the wall right beside him. His optics widened as the owner of the blade's own optics fell on him. He found himself staring into the burning red eyes of a purple and black Decepticon with a faceplate.
"Sk-Skywarp?!" Thrust cried.
The other Transformer stared at him for a moment, and sighed. "Oh, it's only you, Thrust," he said, quickly withdrew his blade.
"Ah, Thrust," Megatron said, sitting in his chair. "I see you've met our new arrival... but then again, I believe you and Skywarp are already familiar with each other, yes?"
"Megatron!" Thrust exclaimed. "How could you allow this... this rogue to come into our base?!"
Megatron frowned. "That is no way to speak of a new colleague, Thrust," said the Decepticon leader. "Besides, I have called Skywarp here to help us take care of a very irritating problem."
"Problem?! What problem?!" Thrust demanded.
"Oh, trust me," Skywarp said. "You'll be very pleased with the objective of my mission... you see, Megatron here has summoned me to deal with a dear old friend of mine. Namely, a certain turncoat by the name of Starscream..."
NEXT: THE AUTOBOTS