TRANSFORMERS ARCHIVES

CHAPTER 2: A NEW ARRIVAL PART 2

BY WADE2501 / JACOB COTHREN

"Shut it one eye, you'll not get any info from me!" Hot Rod shouts at his captor, Shockwave.

"Perhaps. You might not squeal, but I'll find one of you who will." Shockwave turns from Hot Rod and walks a few steps away before turning back around and with a swift motion, aims and fires his weaponized "hand" at Hot Rod, hitting him in the chest. Hot Rod falls backwards and to the ground, chest smoking.

"This is what will happen to every one of you if you don't open up about the whereabouts of your commander, Ultra Magnus." Shockwave eyes the other Autobots locked in the cell, as two of the Reflector trio, Spectro and Spyglass, drag the unconscious Hot Rod back into the cell.

"Well, I guess you'll have to blow us all away if you want answers." speaks up Kup.

"As you wish." Shockwave turns back around and heads towards the elevator that leads up to his control room. He stops before entering the elevator and turns to the third of the Reflector trio, their leader Viewfinder, "Bring me Elita-1." "With pleasure" replies Viewfinder as Shockwave then proceeds to enter the elevator and head up to his control room.

At Autobot Headquarters on Earth, Teletraan 1's incoming message system lights up and beeps as Jazz approaches and presses the receive button. "What?" questions Jazz as Shockwave appears on screen giving him a shock for the day.

"Let me speak with Optimus Prime. I have something here that will interest him."

Jazz raises his right arm as a little communicator pops out of his forearm. "Prime, I need you here. Shockwave's on the Teletraan."

Optimus Prime makes it there in record time as speaks as he approaches. "Shockwave, what do you want?"

"Just the whereabouts of one Ultra Magnus. As I wait for you to think of an answer, I'll also let you know that an Autobot cruiser attempted to leave Cybertron. It was promptly dealt with by my Guardians, and I now have seven of your Autobots captured including this one…" Shockwave trails off as he brings Elita-1 to the screen.

Optimus looks on in awe, "Elita. No."

"I'm sorry, Optimus." responds Elita-1, "I..I.."

"Don't worry, Elita, I will…." Optimus tries to calm her down when suddenly he witnesses Elita-1's head explode as her brain module and circuits hit the screen. Her limp body promptly falls from view. "No!" shouts Optimus Prime. "Shockwave, you'll regret this."

Shockwave reappears on screen, "I doubt that. I already got Elita-1 to talk on the whereabouts of Ultra Magnus, but I couldn't resist this much fun." The screen goes black as Shockwave cuts the signal from Cybertron.

"Prime, I'm… I'm sorry." says Jazz. Jazz reaches out and puts a hand on Prime's upper arm. "Want me to round up the troops and Omega Supreme for a trip to Cybertron?"

"No." responds Prime. "I'm sure Shockwave has a trap set. I fear it's too late for Elita and possibly for the others. We must not rush in to this fueled by emotions. Give me time to think." Optimus somberly walks away, heading to his recharging chamber.

Back on Cybertron, Shockwave walks out to meet the incoming Astrotrain. Astrotrain rolls in and comes to a stop as Starscream, Skywarp, Thundercracker, Dirge, Ramjet, and Thrust exit from his rear loading door. Astrotrain then transforms and joins up with the group.

"I've gotten the female Autobot, Elita-1, to tell me the last known coordinates of Ultra Magnus."

Starscream looks at Shockwave with disdain. "You can brief me on the way to your prisoner holding area."

Inside the prisoner holding area where Kup, Pipes, Blurr, Arcee, Hubcap and the injured Hot Rod are being held, Spyglass and Spectro come walking by, each holding a leg of the now deceased Elita-1, dragging her lifeless body in front the cell for the other Autobots to see. "To the smelting pools with this one!" Spectro says to the captives with an evil sneer. "Yeah, this job's a real drag" quips Spyglass.

Once they're by and through another door, Shockwave and Starscream enter and head towards the captive Autobots.

"Megatron must be desperate if he sent you in for this job, Star-whiner." says Kup at a now angered Starscream.

"Don't worry old fool, you'll be dead soon and melted down into reusable metals like your former cohort, Elita-1. Now on to other matters, Ultra Magnus, where is he?"

"As I told Shockwave, you'll just have to blast us all. We're not telling you slag." said an angered Kup.

"That's okay, Elita-1 spilled it all for Shockwave earlier. I was just seeing if any of you would talk now since you've seen what will happen to you. If you talked, I might have spared you. But now, you'll be trapped here and used for whatever experiments Shockwave has for you."

Starscream and Shockwave turn around and begin to walk out of the room. "I'll take my soldiers to this location that Elita-1 told you and see if we can find Ultra Magnus or anything else useful. I'll keep in touch."

Starscream leaves Shockwave at the door as he continues to walk, heading toward the waiting Skywarp. "Skywarp! Round up our army, we're going hunting." Skywarp nods and replies "Yes, Starscream" as he turns around and teleports inside the recharging room to gather Astrotrain, Thundercracker, Dirge, Ramjet, and Thrust for their mission.

This is my mission and I will prove my effectiveness as a leader and show Megatron that he's not the only one who can accomplish things, Starscream thinks to himself while stroking his chin. He raises his head a bit and sees his comrades approaching. "Decepticons! Transform and follow me!"

While approaching the former Autobot HQ that Elita-1 described to Shockwave, Starscream orders his troops to land. They glance around and see nothing as Starscream gives the order to enter the building.

Thundercracker nervously looks around, walking slowly, "I don't like this one bit."

"Why? Do you think they still have a defense system in place?" asks Ramjet.

Dirge is first to enter when suddenly an alarm sounds.

"I told you!" shouts Thundercracker.

"Thrust. Astrotrain. Take to the skies and take out any artillery that may spring up!" orders Starscream. "Dirge, continue inside, we're right behind you."

"They're coming! Omnibots, get ready!" yells Overdrive, the red sports car leader of the Autobot Security Force, to his partners Downshift and Camshaft.

Back on Earth at the Autobot Ark HQ, Teletraan's perimeter alarm sounds alerting the Autobots. Optimus Prime comes running towards the entrance and then he stops, surprised at what he's seeing.

"Ultra Magnus! You're alive."

An injured and wobbly Ultra Magnus is slowly walking inside as he then collapses to the floor and replies, "Prime."