Chapter one
Wrong or Right?
The early morning sun peaked over the horizon when the alarm buzzer began its annoying tones. It wasn't even light outside, but the drive to work in traffic would be twice as bad if he had slept in any longer. With a heavy sigh and a stretch it was time to get out of bed and managed some breakfast and clothes. Maybe not in that order. He cracked the egg on the side of the pan and opened it over it to a loud sizzle. It was hard to surpass the smell of bacon and eggs with a few slices of toast once it hit the air, clothes would wait just a little longer. It wasn't as if he weren't wearing anything, but it was hardly proper to be walking around in boxers while it was only fifty degrees in the house. Andrew turned on the fan above the stove, and it caused his skin to ripple, and most of the hair on his body to stand on end due to the cold.
Today would be the day that marked a year at his company. A small scientific branch of power production looking into ways to increase output of present day generators. Since his time there Andrew had come up with several different things that allowed him to progress relatively easily. Of course that is exactly why he was hired. The difference was he was young fresh out of college and ready to go with while dreams of changing the world.
He ran his hand through the brown hair that gently seemed to just lay on his head and put his plate in the sink, he shivered again as the cold water splashed up just a little. It was defiantly time to dress. Doing so was made easy by the requirements of the lab. Simple white clothes and lab coat. Done.
His car, which was given to him by his parents, a small blue 4-door sedan, in the drive beeped as the alarm turned off and he opened the door. The sun now finally starting to light the area giving everything a rather luminous glow due to the due that accumulated over didn't even register in his mind as he absently got in and turned the key. The old Chevrolet cranked over with a squeal, that made his skin crawl. He growled lowly and shifted the car into reverse. It wasn't that he didn't have the money to get the infernal machine fixed, he didn't want to wait. He stopped in the street adjusting the visor to shield his eyes from the sun and thrust the car into drive then headed to the company.
Andrew always referred to work as "The Company." It was a privately funded institution, and its projects were secretive; though they dealt a lot with various government establishments. His particular department worked with power while others sometime dealt with weapons and a whole list of other things that Andrew knew happened but wasn't a part of. For that matter he was glad he wasn't, there were a lot of others that had got the boot for speaking about things and leaking information. Something else that bothered him was the way the superiors acted. On occasion they would cut everything that was going on and dismiss everyone for the day with pay. Not that he minded that part, he and a few of the others would just go down to the local pizza joined get a pie and a pitcher of beer. Sometimes they would wonder what it was that was happening at the company. Not many places any of them knew of that would just close the doors on the day without notice. Some suspected it had to deal with some of the research that it might be toxic or something else along those lines. Andrew didn't know really what to think, sometimes there was damages done to the facilities when they came to work the next day. He was smart enough to realize that the damage didn't come from the inside of the building, but there was a don't ask don't tell policy regarding things like that.
He turned the corner of his street and headed up the hill to the highway. He pushed the accelerator down merged into traffic, just as he figured it was still early enough to avoid the grid lock that was down town. Reaching the interchange he bared around to the right, the smaller duel lane high way that lead to the outskirts of town where the lab was. Only a few minutes later he pulled into his assigned parking and got out of the car with another stretch. Several of his coworkers were doing the same, some with their coffee cup sitting on the tops of their cars.
"Andy!" An older man called from a few spots down. "You're earlier than usual."
"Small breakfast today, I didn't feel like whipping up the pancakes." Andrew got his coat out of the backseat and put it around his shoulders; uniform complete. "And Jimmy, don't call me Andy."
"Oh, sorry." Jimmy answered. For him it was second nature to respond to a nick name.
"It's alright, there are a lot of Andy's and not as many Andrew's that's all."
"Yeah, true enough. Hey made any progress?" Jimmy was one of those guys that separated work from real life. He never even bothered to come to any functions with coworkers, or talk about his family while at work. All business.
"Actually I was wondering if you would come have a look at the small generator I've been working on."
"Really? Sure, I can do that. What's it doing?"
"I've used several different wire casings instead the usual copper, and the power changed. Broke the meter on it." Andrew explained.
"Broke the meter?" That surprised Jimmy. "We haven't had anything do that."
"Exactly why I want you to look at it. Something isn't right." The younger man shook his head. "Some of the wiring was done with that new compound."
"Oh you mean that new stuff," Jimmy waved his hand about as they began to walk toward the building. "What is it they called it?"
"High test 462."
"That's right. I've studied that stuff a little bit, I can't believe the pliability it has, I have not seen anything like it anywhere. The durability of metal and flexibility of." He waved his hand around again searching for the proper word.
"Skin?" Andrew answered. He was beginning to get annoyed by his coworkers inability to thing a sentence through.
The look on Jimmy's face told Andrew that he had not put that word to what he was thinking, but that was exactly what he needed to describe it. It was true, and Andrew had to admit it, there was nothing else like it he had seen anywhere. He had managed to talk to some of the other scientists that worked with raw materials such as the high test but they seemed to know nothing about it. In fact when he ordered the wire, he had to have direct specifications. He exhaled to himself in thought as he pulled open the door after swiping his name badge to unlock it. There was a lot he didn't want to know. Yet dealing with things that were directly related to his work made him curious. It made working rather hard at times, not knowing what he was working with bogged him down with tests and more tests. Andrew just figured that is what is job was 'tester'.
"That stuff is just like skin, stretches, bends, I have not figured a way to tear it yet. I mean dent it with a hammer and it just goes right back into its position." Jimmy slid his badge and followed Andrew to his lab. "You want me to have a look at it now or later?"
"Go ahead a look at it, I'll get the rest of this warmed up before we turn it on." Andrew got his clip board from the previous night and read though his notes from the previous day; just as he remembered. He flipped a few colored switches to corresponding power grids and prepared to start the generator. The sound of humming filled the room as he next flicked the switch turning on the generator.
To Jimmy's surprise the wiring reacted and spread out some creating leaves of metal giving the generator more surface area to create its charge. "That is an interesting reaction."
Andrew was too busy looking at read outs and other gages to notice the change, "Hmm? What's interesting."
The elder shook his head and pointed, "Look at the high test."
Putting his clipboard down Andrew placed his goggles on and came over to inspect the running generator. "Oh, I see now." He said walking this and that way around it. "I hadn't noticed that happening." He reached over and turned the machine off. "Well I suppose that would be the reason for the output."
"Yeah looks like it And-drew." Jimmy struggled with not using the nick name. "What is that stuff anyway?"
"I don't know. I ordered it specifically for this because that was the forum in the computer, I never expected it to have the properties that it does. I talked to some of the other engineers and they don't know what to make of it either. I'm starting to think that an outside company made it." Andrew rubbed the back of his head even with the gloves on.
Confusion set on his features, Jimmy tried to think. "We don't deal with outsiders."
"That's part of my point, it had to come from somewhere though," after a bit of a pause Andrew continued. "Maybe it was the private funders?"
"You think they would be that interested in something?"
"You have to wonder why the fund it if they weren't interested in it."
"You've got me on that one." Jimmy headed to the door. "Don't find any more out than you have to. You know how that goes around here."
"Yeah I know, I need to find out what other properties this might have though before I go skipping to the bosses saying I found something." Andrew turned the generator on again and watched it this time as it whirred to life.
For a time the entrance to the volcano that the alien robots known as Autobots called home it felt like a media circus. Someone was always stalking about trying to get an interview with Optimus Prime. Of course anyone that came within a set perimeter would alert their super computer Teletran-1's sensors and dispatch an Autobot office to investigate. This time Hound came out to see what was going on. More often than not it was his job to do so being a scout. His green armaments and human style jeep made doing this fairly easy for him. His sensors prepared for a Decepticon but his processor or mechanical brain already told him the likeliness of that was near zero. He stepped out into the sunlight and looked around his optics zooming in on several things that moved within the bit of forest that sporadically covered the mountain grounds. His sensor started to pick up trace heat signals and a sound that seemed like a human heart beat, although it was somewhat irregular.
"Come on out, I know your there." He spoke at a thicket of bushes.
The bush moved this way and that as whatever was in it attempted to free itself from said bush. After what seemed more like a struggle than should be Hound leaned over the bush and looked down into it. The human that was sitting there had managed to get all tangled up in some of the bushes long tendrils of fronds.
"Do you need help?" The jeep offered.
Short of screaming her fool head off the woman looked up and blatantly passed out.
Hound shook his metallic head. This had to be the eighth woman to do so in six weeks. He didn't understand it, the men didn't do it, they came and were eager to talk or take those picture things, some though came mad and throwing things at them even had some weapons, but the women; they fainted dead away. Hound cleared her of the foliage, and scooped her up into his hand then carried her inside.
"What'cha got there Hound?" A voice piped up from below. Its owner not metallic obviously informing Hound of its ownership without needed a view.
"Another woman fainted Spike." He shook his head again. "I just don't get it."
"You know how it is, see a tall dark handsome man and they just can't help themselves." Spike was trying to cheer Hound up.
"Maybe I should ask Carly about that." The jeep teased back.
Spike blushed, he had a huge crush on Carly and he didn't even know if she knew he liked her. "Where you taking her?"
"Usual spot, Perceptor and Ratchet will be able to deal with her better than I can. And I can't just leave her in the bushes." Hound's pace didn't slow for Spike, the human had gotten used to keeping up, at least while the Transformer s were walking. Sometimes he wished he had like jet skates still.
"Uh yeah." Spike allowed his pace to slow as he thought about it.
Hound continued through the mass base that had once been a space ship that was meant to carry he and his crew mates to a planet where they could harvest energy and bring it back to Cybertron. Of course when Megatron and the Decepticons came up and began to fire on it in their own ship it caused both ships to steer off course and theirs to hit the side of the Volcano where it was currently not. They hadn't really discovered where the other ship had landed. Most of the Autobots figured since it didn't come up on their sensors that it was buried in rock. Since the awakening though they had managed to get most of the ships systems working, though it was still impossible to remove it from its place, over the years the heated magma had lodged itself into some of the sections and created a grip that would not allow them to move it. They had become stuck on Earth for that reason. Regardless of what the humans thought they could rebuild something to take them home; though Optimus Prime in his infinite wisdom had decided to stay and fight to keep the inhabitance of this little planet called Earth alive.
The door slide open and Hound found a place to put the human on that wouldn't bother the others. "Perceptor?" He glanced around wondering if he had somehow missed the scientist; he was sure he hadn't.
From around the corner and down the hall Perceptor came his head cocked slightly to one side in curiosity. "What is it? I am frightfully busy."
Shaking his head Hound lead Perceptor to where the human had been laid. "She fainted, just like the rest of them. "
"Really Hound, you need to stop jumping out of the shrubbery like that." Though he didn't do it often Preceptor did have a slight sense of humor.
The green jeep looked up, he hadn't expected that kind of comment. His blank stare at the scientists told his surprise and slight confusion.
"Never mind." Preceptor adjusted his vision and zoomed in on the woman. "Did she hurt herself when she lost consciousness?"
"No, at first I thought she was going to scream but it never came." Hound explained.
"I see." With a gentle touch Perceptor managed to take basic life signs, and make sure that there had been no external bleeding, or broken bones. "It would appear that she will recover easily. Once of course she has regained consciousness."
"Alright, I'll head back to my duties then." Hound turned to leave.
"Have you informed Prime of our guest?"
"I will do that on my way." The jeep called back.
The woman stirred she turned over before opening her eyes not realizing that she wasn't at home in her bed. Her dusty brown hair covered her face, and shaded her from the bright lights of the medical facility. A soft moan escaped her throat as she stirred once more, memories coming back to her of her last moments before the proverbial lights went out. Her almost gray eyes popped open, as she stood up rapidly and looked around. Catching sight of Perceptor she immediately screamed.
Water pressure forced the hulking body of the base known as the Nemesis to creek. The metallic skin had been created years ago in the planet it now rested on; Earth. Its reinforced structure created for space travel was not prepared for the crash it took when sabotage crippled it and sent it sprawling into the ocean. Since that time however the inhabitance of the craft had adjusted it forcing it to conform for their usage. While still resembling the ship it once was several modifications were made giving it a small appearance of cityscape in the surrounding area. Surprisingly the hull was not covered with barnacles and plant life like one might think it should be. It was in fact rather clean in appearance, and actually looked smooth. Not that anyone would bother to go and look, the automated defense systems saw that nothing came within proximity of the base, thing included sea life. One added feature that was a must was the elongated tower that rose from the depths of the base to above sea leave to allow those coming and going to remain dry. It was simply more efficient than expending the energy traveling though the water. Consequently that made the base inside rather dark and dank. The lighting that lay sporadic in the corridors as well as main rooms came from recessed lights around the bottoms of the metallic walls. It was this tower that rose now dropping water out of its crevices and workings on its way to greet its occupants. The elongated door opened like a draw bridge, complete with metallic thunder as it completed its opening cycle. The hand full of jets that entered did so without slowing, as there was no need for a landing strip; each one changed form from jet to alien robot as it neared the floor of the entrance. As the last one passed the opening the great pillar closed its invitation and began to sink back into the depths which it came. The seam closed, and with it sealing all the daylight out. The hum of the tower moment was taken for granted by the Decepticons that occupied the entry way. Their own internal fans and systems creating a similar hum on a small scale to them it seemed like a natural sound. As it hit ground there was a deep almost penetrating bass thud.
The leader of this pack stepped forward his optics already switched over into an infrared band giving him the illumination to navigate. His own radar would have done similar but the confines of the structure made it difficult at times. The great door before him engraved with the Decepticon insignia they all wore split down the center and opened automatically, its sensors prepared for their arrival. Turning to his left he took only a few more steps to reach another door similar to the one he had just passed only this lead to the command room where he should find his leader, and be able to give his report. The five that followed him did so in silence, the sound of the steps the only thing betraying their presence. They had long since adopted the solar cycle of Earth's rotation keeping them running on an a semi twenty-four hour scale; it had almost been necessary when they had implicated the space bridge, its alignment needed to be precise. The command room was much brighter than the entry way or all that he had just came from and as the door slid before him he reverted his optics to a standard view to avoid any feedback from the sensitive infrared. Two of the five that accompanied him took places in the command center they knew when it came down to it was best to be away from their Air Commander.
Skywarp exchanged a glance with Thundercracker as they started working at their respective consoles. It was not hard to anticipate what would be going on. The Air Commander Starscream would go into Megatron's office to report their mission results, and of course there would be an altercation that would end with the blast of a fusion cannon. Skywarp's wings shuttered slightly at the thought. He had the sound memorized, not for the fact he himself have been hit with it once or twice but how many times he had been in proximity to it on the battle field. Everyone here knew it, most others back on their home planet of Cybertron knew it. Even the Autobots knew the sound of it. If anything was ever predicable, it was the sound of that cannon after Starscream had entered Megatron's office.
The Air Commander stepped up to the office door and glared at it for a moment. A noise would be heard by the others, something he refused to allow happen. Starscream was not a coward. Starscream did as he was told and if the plan was flawed that was not his responsibility. He knew this was going to happen. His analytical mind went over the plans as a good leader should, though he had enough games attempting to point them out. Did it matter after all to receive the cannon before or after the mission. He forced a growl to silence. It was becoming obvious that he could not do it before hand; while the mission would actually yield results but leave him smoking in the repair bay, and Megatron to lead and reap the rewards of a mission gone right. Not at all what he wanted. So for now he decided to keep his mouth shut. Simple, easy keep his head down do as told. Of course Laserbeak was dispatched to follow and the leader would compare his report with that of the Air Commander so Starscream could not lie. Thus no point in waiting. He stepped to the door, reached over, and pressed the pad that signaled someone's arrival.
Naturally Laserbeak had already been back and Megatron has his report in his ebony hand when the chime came on. Now was the time to debate. Should he allow Starscream in and bother to listen to what he had to say, or leave him standing there for the others to see just how important the leader thought of his report. An evil smirk came to his face, he would make him wait; make him wait just long enough that the others in the command center would know that he knew what the report said, before Starscream could report it. It was a good effect, in fact it kept some of them in line as they never knew what Megatron was having reported back to him. The signal came again and again he ignored it choosing to finish reading Laserbeak's report instead. The mission had failed. The Energon that had been collected and stacked for transportation had exploded when a stray bolt of heated plasma struck and end cube and a chain reaction spread through the life giving energy until nothing was left. There were several things the seeker could have done to prevent it from happening, one being not to leave it in an open area, a second one, subspacing it. Neither was instructed to be done, but with a little common sense one or the other should have been.
Thrust and Dirge took a step back the second signal was not a good sign, though they had not been dismissed they had the urge to get as far away as possible. Their race was all but immortal, but war takes a toll, if it had not have been for war most of their population would still be here. After all robots can be fixed and upgraded; however once the spark of life has been extinguished it's just an empty shell, like any other inanimate object. Definitely not something they had wanted to become, of course militarily if they had not been dismissed then if he wanted Starscream could have just as easily fired on them as well. Ramjet the third one had not moved. Of the six that had gone on the mission he had taken the most damage, he was on guard as the Autobots had pulled up, he sent word that the enemy had arrived then of course engaged them in battle. In the few moments that he had been alone, he had sustained several direct hits which of course is going to happen when you are the only target. His wingmates had looked him over their readouts telling them that no vital systems had taken any damage and he was able to fly back under his own power, yet the leak of fluid down his left side, the shattered chest that had been a cockpit for his altmode, and several burnt holes in his wings told the story that he was going to be in need of repairs. True the others had some scorch marks here and there but it was all superficial markings on their armor.
Dirge actually took a second to look at the five others two were without markings at all, one he nearly grinned to himself over. Skywarp his name said it all, he was a teleporter and if anything was aimed at him he teleported out. The purple and black jet used it while around the base to wreak havoc with others playing small pranks and tricks. The other however was the Air Commander himself. Starscream had not one spot, scorch mark, or burn on his frame. Somehow that did not sit right with Dirge, he had been taking notice of simple things like that for a while now. He also noted what the red and blue seeker was doing most often during the battle as to figure out why he had not been hit. It did not seem to make sense. A hand on his shoulder caught his attention, Ramjet had used him to steady himself. Dirge's optics darted around as he fought the recoil of contact. The amount of fuel that Ramjet was leaking seemed to increase and was now steadily dripping from the crack between his chest plate and his cockpit.
"Starscream." It was one solitary word, but it seemed to echo through the room and as it did each occupant turned to regard him surprised that he had broke the silence.
Without any motion other than his head he glared at Dirge, flaring his optics bright scarlet in warning. "Can't you see I'm busy."
Dirge simply held his hand that had fuel on it where Starscream could see it as an obvious sign of what needed to be done.
Starscream repressed another growl and placed his finger on the door signaler again, "Get him down to medbay for repairs. Dismissed."
Thrust came up and helped Dirge take Ramjet out of the room, easiest way of escape. Though naturally Decepticons were not particularly fond of one another there was subunit groups that held tight bonds, one would be this triad of seekers. While they didn't have an official leader Dirge had been the one to take point and he had sooner than later became spokes person for them when it came down to it. If one of them was damaged or missing it would leave the other two without a team. That meant they were less likely to be called upon and in return not receive their rations. The three left through the large door.
A exhale that might be considered a sigh hung in the room after the door was closed. Skywarp had a longing to go as well but he had his duties. Thundercracker gave him a sideways glance in an effort to shut him up before anything else happened. Skywarp however did not bother to look he knew the risk he was taking though after several millions of years he also new Starscream well enough to know what he could get away with. His dark wings flicked slightly with the agitation displaying his dislike of the situation.
Gritting his dentals Starscream again reached to press the signal alerting the leader to his presence. He had enough of this, he was not some common troop to be toyed with. His right hand slowly lowered his metallic digits folding in and making a fist that seemed to grind on his palm. He could feel the hydraulic fluid being pushed into his wrist tightening his grip even farther. He raised the blue fist to his optic level the thought of knocking on a door was absolutely ridiculous, and then another thought passed through his cerebro processor. His null ray rifle had come up in his view just past his fist, its white tip already pointed at the door albeit in a diagonal manor. He slid his arm sideways at the pad that contained the signal, coding, and entry buttons and for one instant let the weapon charge. His attention was drawn as the door finally opened permitting him to see his fate out.