Hello there all you Transformer fanfic readers! Sorry for the year-long hiatus. Here's a dainty little tidbit I plan to split up into 3 parts. There's a mystery hero character in the story, let's see if you can figure out who he is! I'd also like to take this moment to thank all of you who during my hiatus have added me as a favorite, added me as a favorite story, and as a favorite author or under author alerts. This story's for you guys. Thanks so much for your support!
A Fool's Errand
Cybertron's moons watched helplessly as the planet's inhabitants continued to wage their endless war below. It was pretty obvious the planet Cybertron had seen better days. But since the falling out of its species and the declaration of war, the planet slowly began to fall more and more into a decrepit state. One city in particular, Praxus, the last stronghold of the Autobots faced ongoing ravage and destruction, but held steadfast despite the increasing number of Decepticon attacks. It was clear that Megatron, the self-proclaimed leader of the Deceptions, wanted to take down this last city-state hard and fast. It was just a matter of time before his determination would again get him what he desired, the whole planet of Cybertron at his knees.
Prowl, the second-in-command to the renowned Autobot leader Optimus Prime, was chosen to lead the last line of defense, should the Decepticons breach their final barrier. Little did they know, it would happen. Today.
A small cadre of defenders, lay hidden along the outskirts of the city, amongst the ruins and rubble from the last battle. Waiting, listening. Rumors spoke of an upcoming Decepticon raid, in the not too distant future. This had Optimus and his army on edge. To not believe it, would be too crucial a mistake to make, especially with their defenses so low. So the group was sent out, as a precaution. After about 30,000 astro-seconds, a young femme with black and white body armor who was positioned to guard Prowl's right flank, impatiently stood up from her hiding place and instinctively brushed her forehead, as a human would do if a lock of hair was in their face.
"Guess those rumors were bogus." She said as she put her blaster away and let out a huff.
"NIERA! Get down!" Prowl started to shout, but then toned it down to a whisper. "Stay out of sight, you don't know what's out there."
"And you do?" She snapped.
"Look, you're still young, and your ability to detect other Cybertronian signatures hasn't fully matured yet. It's dangerous for you to even be out here, but we're short-handed as it is, and need all the help we can get. Besides, we-"
Prowl froze mid sentence when the detection of 20 Decepticon signatures approaching passed through his systems, dwarfing his cadre of 8. A lone laser shot blew between the two, narrowly missing Niera's face by inches, causing her to lose her balance and fall backwards.
"They're close! All fire!" Prowl shouted.
The doomed cadre gave it their all, but as Megatron had anticipated, their numbers dwindled quickly, till only two remained.
Megatron then emerged from the back ranks and confidently approached the front lines. The other Decepticons stepped aside as he walked past.
"Hold your fire." He commanded.
A stray laser was fired, after he had said this. He turned his head swiftly towards the mech holding the only smoking blaster. It was Frenzy, one of Soundwave's pint-size creations.
"I said hold your fire!" He roared, then reached down to grab the little mech. "How dare you disobey my orders!"
Soundwave, who was present, felt a twinge of apprehension upon seeing this, but chose to ignore it, as it was his leader's right to punish his troops. Frenzy would hopefully learn from his mistake.
"Wait Megatron! Don't kill me yet. Look! At least I shot their last guy!" Frenzy pleaded and frantically pointed towards the rubble.
And sure enough, there was Prowl, on the ground and grunting in pain. The laser had passed completely through his right leg, rendering him immobile and helpless.
As the Decepticons slowly approached him, He turned his head and spoke quietly to Niera, as she was now the only un-injured survivor.
"Niera…stay hidden, hide your heat signature till their gone. When they are, go back to base and tell Optimus what happened. But whatever you do, DO NOT FOLLOW. Understand?"
She reluctantly nodded through teary optics, then crawled back into her hiding place and reduced her heat levels so she wouldn't be detected.
Prowl attempted to push himself up with his arms, but a heavy foot came down on his back, pinning him there.
"Well if it isn't Optimus Prime's second-in-command. I never expected him to send his right-hand mech to the front lines. He really must be desperate." Megatron laughed.
"You will be very useful to me indeed. I'm sure you'll tell me all the information I need to know about Praxus' defenses."
"I'm not telling you anything." Prowl spat. "Kill me if you will, but I will NOT betray Optimus."
Megatron frowned. "Your loyalty disgusts me. Decepticons! Bring him to the base."
Skywarp and Thundercracker hoisted Prowl by his arms and started to drag him away. Soundwave, who was bringing up the rear, stopped cold in his tracks and turned his head ever so slowly and looked in the direction of Niera's hiding place. He stood that way for a moment, then turned and continued to follow his comrades.
Once they were out of sight, Niera emerged from her hiding place.
"Prowl's capture was all my fault…" she told herself. "It's a fool's errand, but have to get him back and make things right."
She subspaced her blaster and against her commander's wishes, began to track and follow them.
She kept to the ruins, using the destroyed buildings as cover, doing her best to keep to the rooftops to get a better view of her surroundings. When it seemed like millions of astro-seconds had passed, she noticed a lethargic feeling was overcoming her. It was her energon reserves, she was getting low on energy and was just about to cut her losses and return to base when distant voices broke the silence.
It was them alright. They had stopped for some reason. But who cared what that reason was! This was her chance! To right her wrongs and to save Prowl! But from a 20-mech-strong battalion of Decepticons? That was unlikely. But she had to try.
She was scared, surely anything she'd try would rouse the attention of every Decepticon down there. She was limited on options. She took a moment to decide what to do. Her perch, which was a second story abandoned building with most of its wall blown off, was and ideal place for sniping, so she decided she would try to pick them off one by one. She took a deep breath, and was just about to reveal herself for her first shot when concussion waves destroyed the foundation from beneath her feet.
She landed on the ground floor below, covered in debris. Heavy footsteps announced the arrival of an unwanted visitor. She fearfully looked on as the red optics of a dark blue mouthless mech with a large rectangular chest, holding a concussion blaster stood before her.
"Concealment skills: mediocre." He monotoned to her. She sneered at him. How dare he insult her!
"Soundwave, have you captured the mech whose been tracking us?" Megatron called as he approached.
"Affirmative. Said mech is actually a femme." He responded.
She couldn't believe it. All this time they knew she was following them?
"Excellent!"
When Megatron's optics fell upon the young femme, his stern features became pleasant.
"Ahh…So nice of you to drop in, my dear. And who may I ask are you?"
She held her tongue.
"Not talking eh? Well when I ask for something, I expect to get it. Soundwave, find out who she is."
Not knowing what to expect, a chill ran through her systems as the dark blue mech approached her and forcefully yanked her out of the rubble by one of her arms.
Prowl's optics widened. "No! Let her go!"
As Thundercracker tightened his grip on the Autobot Second-in-command, he could feel the desperation that Prowl was giving off at the sight of this soldier being handled roughly by Soundwave. This puzzled him as he himself had felt that way once before too, but under different circumstances. He pushed his thoughts to the back of his mind, for the moment.
While in the grips of her captor, Niera wanted to fight back, but because of her exhausted energon reserves, it meant she would have to endure whatever torture this mech was about to exact upon her.
With his free hand, Soundwave gently wrapped his fingers around her forehead. At first she felt nothing, then an excruciating pain flooded her systems. She couldn't scream because she didn't have the energy to. After a moment, he released her head and turned to Megatron.
"Identity discovered. Designation: Niera…Prowl's niece."
Thundercracker suddenly slackened his grip.
Megatron's expression changed to a look satisfaction. Then he turned his attention back to his previous captive.
"Well, it seems I will have the information I need from you after all, Prowl. Besides, isn't the life of your niece more important than the measly defense of Praxus?"
Prowl stayed quiet, and bowed his head in defeat as the sound of Megatron's laughter felt crippling to his audio receptors.
"Decepticons!" Megatron announced. "Our time of dominance is almost at hand. Let us return to base and begin our final preparations!"
The Decepticons cheered. Then gathered their hostages and took to the skies.
To be continued...
Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Reviews welcome. Chapter 2 will be posted soon!
