"Nineteen fifty-eight?" the question was almost incredulous, but there was a hint of genuine curiosity.
"Nineteen goddamn fifty-eight," came the confirmation, accompanied by a curt nod.
"Why in the Pit have you stayed so long?" Blackout demanded, shifting his blades as he adjusted his posture.
"It was a rough start," Motormaster grunted. The two of them were still outside the warehouse, the Stunticon commander leaning against it with one elbow. Frenzy sat on the pavement between them, twitching from the effort it took to keep his questions to himself. "It wasn't until Lamborghini started competing with Ferrari that we decided to stick around."
Blackout stared at him, and Motormaster realized the Black Hawk had no idea what he was talking about. Hadn't he learned anything about Earth while looking for the Cube?
"We landed in Europe," Motormaster continued. "Once the automotive industry took off, we decided to stick around, and then we just kept moving. Besides, we were pretty damn sure the Allspark was on this dirtball, we just never found it."
"Were you really trying?" Blackout pressed, not liking the dismissive attitude the other 'Con had. Motormaster leveled a flat glare at him, lower jaw grinding for a moment before he answered.
"What was the hurry?" he finally growled. "If we'd shown up on Cybertron with the Cube, would things have turned out any better?"
"You mean anything besides Starscream killing Megatron and taking the Allspark?" Blackout snarled, hands curling into fists. Motormaster considered that.
"Well, can't say I was expecting Megatron to be sitting right next to the Allspark," he said, optics darkening. Blackout wondered if Megatron's presence would have affected his actions, considering the tyrant might have rewarded them with instant death. The only one that knew the particulars of their exile was Megatron himself, after all. "We figured it was on the bottom of the ocean somewhere, since so much of that is unexplored."
"You seem to know a lot about what's happened in the past few days," Blackout decided to continue grilling the Stunticon, knowing Motormaster wasn't going to tell him everything in one sitting. He might come off as a thick headed brute, but he knew first hand that the semi was keener than that.
"We've got the internet, too, you know," Motormaster shrugged. "Not to mention how easy it is to pick out Cybertronian messages from human ones. Some of you guys were broadcasting pretty damn loudly. Your hack job in Qatar gave Breakdown absolute fits –"
"How long?" Blackout interrupted him, not caring to relive the scene in Qatar. He might have overseen Intel operations at one point, but that didn't mean he was the master of quietly hacking alien systems. "How long have you known that we were here?"
And never said anything, was the unspoken end to that question. Blackout still saw little reason to trust the Stunticon, even if there was nothing personal between them. The circumstances of their exile had been largely unknown, but Blackout believed Megatron would have had sound reason. He would pry it out of the semi sooner or later, but he was focusing on the present, as well as the future, for now.
"Which one of you stepped on the Mars Rover?" Motormaster answered the Black Hawk with a sarcastic question of his own. "That was pretty fucking stupid."
"Funny," Blackout growled. Whatever else he might have to say was interrupted by the sound of engines, approaching fast.
"About goddamn time," Motormaster rumbled, pushing away from the warehouse to stand up straight. Headlights danced around the decrepit gates, announcing the arrival of four sports cars. One black and white Mustang, one white Lamborghini, one red Porsche, and one grey Ferrari. Blackout's scans flagged the significance of the Lamborghini and the Ferrari in terms of their previous conversation. All four of them looked like they could use a good wash.
"Fifteen years?" Barricade's agitated voice carried across the compound as the four cars drove closer. The interceptor was having a similar conversation with the other Stunticons, it seemed. "Fifteen years?"
"We've spent most of it in Michigan," the white Lamborghini explained. "But we kinda hauled aft once we realized what was going down out here."
"Your timing couldn't be worse," Barricade sneered. As they came closer, it was obvious that the interceptor had been roughed up. Thankfully, it was nothing more serious than dents, scratches, and a wounded pride.
"We never said it was perfect," the red Porsche said flatly. "And it's been forty-nine years. Only fifteen in America."
"You've got to be kidding me," Barricade said, his engine nearly stalling in shock. The four of them came to a stop near Blackout and Motormaster, transforming quickly and spreading out. The interceptor kept close to the Black Hawk, but the Stunticons seemed unconcerned with standing on one side or the other. Typical, Barricade thought. They might have been loyal to Megatron a long time ago, but centuries of freedom would have turned them wilder than they already were.
"I still have no reason to trust any of you," Blackout filled the silence, noticing which mechs tensed, and which ones remained unimpressed. Their names came to him quicker than he thought: Dead End was the Porsche, Breakdown the Lamborghini, and Wildrider the Ferrari. There was one missing, and the Black Hawk wondered if he had perished since their exile from Cybertron. "Stalking us, blocking our transmissions, and attacking Barricade? Was all of that really necessary?"
"Given our history," Dead End said, turning to address the Mustang. "Would you have listened to us if we hadn't rolled you into a ditch?"
"No," Barricade didn't even think about it. "Then again, you I'd be willing to hear out, but if it had been Dragstrip –"
"Where is that slagheap, anyways?" Motormaster cut in, and Blackout had the answer as to whether or not there were still five Stunticons. "He was supposed to radio in hours ago."
"On his way," Breakdown piped up. "He said he ditched Bumblebee in some backwater town in Nevada."
"So he's the reason the scout suddenly turned around and sped off in the opposite direction?" Barricade asked, tilting his head. He had thought it was strange when the Autobot ceased his pursuit. "How did he manage that?"
"You don't want to know," Wildrider said, at the same time Dead End spoke: "You'll find out."
The two Stunticons looked at one another, but neither one of them went into any more detail than that. Barricade gave them an irritated glare, but didn't have the chance to say anything about it.
"Well, my crew's accounted for," Motormaster turned to Blackout. "What about yours?"
"If you're talking about my original crew, from back on Cybertron, they're all dead," Blackout said simply. There was not an ounce of remorse in his tone, but he still felt that pang of fury towards the reason behind their termination. He was also aware of how Motormaster had directed the conversation away from the loyalty issue. "At the moment, I have only Barricade, Frenzy, Scorponok and –"
Blackout stopped himself, but it automatically brought the peculiar case of the Constructicon to light. All optics instantly fell on the warehouse.
"You scanned him!" Frenzy suddenly burst out, pointing an accusing finger up at Breakdown, who jumped. "You scanned him and he spooked you!"
The white Lamborghini looked spooked again when Blackout and Barricade turned to stare at him, waiting for an explanation. Breakdown had the most sensitive scanners out of all of them, and Blackout did not doubt he would have been the one that detected the Allspark's energy on this planet. He couldn't help but notice that all of the other Stunticons were looking anywhere but at Breakdown. Irritated, Blackout focused his optics back on the prone form of Bonecrusher, waiting for Barricade to do the same. The interceptor seemed to enjoy making the white Stunticon squirm under his gaze, but eventually he dropped his four optics to look at Frenzy instead.
"There's definitely something wrong with him," Breakdown started. Wildrider opened his mouth, but Motormaster shot him a look that made him shut up. "His energy signature is stable, but it's being masked by a stronger signal. He's most likely not healing because his systems aren't recognizing the signal, going so far as to think its not even there."
"What's the second signal?" Blackout asked, shifting to the side as Motormaster stood in front of the garage door, his fog lights coming to life once again. The interior of the warehouse lit up, Bonecrusher's twisted form visible to all.
"Well…" Breakdown hesitated, looking sidelong at Dead End. The Porsche took that as his cue, stepping forward even as the white 'Con tried to shuffle out of view.
"Watch," the Porsche said simply, lifting his arm and creating a small holographic display. There were three charts before them, looking to be the equivalent of a human ECG. "The one on the left is a normal Cybertronian spark signature. The one in the middle is the signature that the Allspark emits. The one on the right is Bonecrusher's."
Dead End watched as everyone's heads turned in time with each chart, settling on the last one with varying degrees of confusion. To prove his point, the Porsche reached up and collapsed the other two graphs, merging them into one. Next to Bonecrusher's, it was almost an exact match.
"Bonecrusher's spark is being overwritten with Allspark energy," Dead End concluded, sounding entirely uninterested with that development.
"That can't be good," Barricade decided. "I mean, even if we can fix him, will it still be Bonecrusher?"
"Who knows?" Motormaster grunted, resting both his hands on the overhang of the door, leaning against it. He glanced back at Blackout, who was eyeing the prone Constructicon warily. "Starscream used the Cube on him, didn't he?"
"We don't know for certain," Blackout replied, not sure what to do with the information they'd just learned. "But considering the nature of his injuries, we weren't ruling it out. We also discovered that his spark doesn't take to being tampered with directly."
Motormaster chewed on that for a moment, dropping one arm so he could see the Black Hawk better.
"You tried to off him," the Stunticon said flatly. "And he bit back."
"In a matter of speaking," Barricade said darkly. His hands didn't hurt anymore, but they still felt numb from being burned. "So how do we get his systems to start a self repair? No offense, but we don't have a true medic among us."
None of the Stunticons looked sorry about their lack of medical training. Dead End had been assigned that position a long time ago, but they'd always managed to fend for themselves. Bonecrusher was clearly beyond basic field repairs, and it was obvious that that was as far as Blackout had gotten on him.
"I don't think his systems are going to believe he's not dead unless they're completely repaired," Motormaster said, pushing away from the warehouse and dimming his lights once again.
"We don't have the equipment," Blackout said, shaking his head. "We don't have that kind of time either."
"He just needs a jump start," Dead End said, as if that would solve the entire situation.
"And I left my jumper cables on Mars," Barricade growled, sneering at the red Porsche. "The Cube is the only thing that could heal him that quickly, and we have no idea how to tap into whatever energy is currently merged with his spark –"
"The isotopes," Blackout interrupted, and Barricade looked up at him, confused. "When we first arrived, the humans tried to lead us into a trap by using isotopes they created from Allspark's energy."
"Oh, you too?" Breakdown asked innocently, cringing as Wildrider raised his arm to shut him up. Blackout filed that away for future reference. Fifty years was a long time to spend on this planet without being detected. Humans were far more clever than they appeared at first glance.
"The energy wasn't genuine, though," Barricade said, looking down at Frenzy in an unspoken command to start filtering through the files he'd stolen. The hacker was already mumbling nonsense to himself as he did so. "But that was several years ago, and humans improve their technology quickly…"
"It's a shot in the dark," Blackout said. "I'm more than ready to get off of this planet, but if Bonecrusher's carrying a part of the Allspark, leaving him is out of the question. Without a medic, this is our best bet."
"March 14th, 2005!" Frenzy suddenly announced, small frame shaking with excitement. "Humans report containment of Allspark energy! Humans store it in safe place! Hoover Dam!"
"Goddammit," Motormaster growled, even as Frenzy's glee deflated when he realized what that meant. "That place has got be crawling with the military by now. Not to mention the possibility that they might move what wasn't destroyed down there."
It still bothered Blackout just how much the Stunticon knew, but now was not the time to press the subject. "What else can we do? We're not going anywhere without Bonecrusher."
Motormaster jerked, looking at Blackout sharply. Barricade tensed, his claws flexing somewhat. Frenzy looked between them, inching behind Barricade's legs just in case something started. The Mustang had been waiting for some sort of power struggle between the two commanders, though the Stunticons were surprisingly relaxed. Were they confident that Motormaster would ultimately lead all of them, or was he missing something?
"So what do you suggest?" Motormaster finally broke the tension with a tactful deflection. That diffused the situation Barricade had been dreading. He did not look forward to defending himself against the Stunticons when he chose the Black Hawk over Motormaster. Blackout did not respond immediately, instead spreading his rotors and letting Scorponok detach. The scorpion scurried around to his other side, keeping its distance from the Stunticons. It looked up at its master, claws whirring in curiosity.
"A more indirect approach," Blackout said simply.
Gravel crunched beneath tires as a dusty red Porsche pulled off the road, brakes whining as it came to a stop. There was no traffic out on that particular stretch of back road, far from the beaten path tourists took to see the Hoover Dam. The front passenger door popped open, and a massive metallic scorpion wiggled out. As soon as it hit the dirt it rolled on its back, stretching its multiple legs after being crammed into the sports car for far too long. A small silver 'Con jumped out after it, looking around the area with interest. Dead End slammed his door shut, getting the attention of the drones rather quickly.
"In and out," the Porsche reminded them. "As quickly as possible, and with as little damage as possible. The isotopes are your only objective. In and –"
"We get it!" Frenzy interrupted. Did the Stunticon think they were stupid? The Porsche was silent, apparently having nothing else to add. Satisfied, Frenzy crawled onto Scorponok's back once it was done rolling around. The armor on the scorpions back cracked open, and Frenzy wedged himself inside the small compartment. The sunlight vanished when the other drone closed its armor, but if he wasn't secure, Scorponok would likely lose the stereo underground. Claws grinding to life, Scorponok dove into the rock, vanishing out of the sight in a manner of moments.
Frenzy was accustomed to being wedged into tight spots. It came with his size and his function, and it was the only way he could possibly carry out his tasks. Despite this, the stereo decided being underground was one of the worst places to be. Ever. Scorponok, on the other hand, couldn't have been happier. The drone positively radiated glee while they tunneled through the rock, sliding and undulating through the terrain. Frenzy would have preferred a more direct route inside the chambers hidden behind Hoover Dam, but those were out of the question. According to Dead End's reports, the Dam still wasn't open to the public, the entire area effectively transformed into a military base camp.
Frenzy had the entire layout of the base under Hoover Dam in his memory banks, pinpointing several choice spots for Scorponok to tunnel through. Despite the tough rock, Scorponok moved quickly, mindful of its mission and its uncomfortable passenger. Before long, the drone came to the weak spot it intended to break through, sending Frenzy a message to get ready. They were going to have to move fast to avoid being contained or captured.
The hall they burst into was, unfortunately, occupied by humans. Scorponok ejected Frenzy instantly, flashing its stunted tail and spinning his claws in an attempt to frighten the humans. It worked like a charm; wherever they had wound up was not populated by armed military personnel. The people took off running in all directions, and Scorponok gave them a merry chase out into the main corridors. More than one of them were brave enough to trigger the alarm, and Scorponok knew the countdown to their escape had begun. At the moment, the humans were too busy running from a giant killer robot scorpion to notice Frenzy dash off in the opposite direction.
In no time at all, Scorponok was being bombarded with rifle fire. Several humans sprayed it with a freezing substance, but the drone was far too swift. It was a matter of evading capture while giving Frenzy the time he needed to retrieve the potentially life-saving isotopes. Straying too far from their exit point was proving harder than the drone previously thought, but Frenzy could easily track the drone and they could escape another way. Scorponok was forced down an adjacent corridor in order to escape the blasts of icy cold, and suddenly found itself in a situation that had not been speculated in the least.
It had not been present during the Mission City battle, but Blackout had filled in several details, including when the human had had the gall to drop the Cube. The resulting energy discharge let loose three confused Transformers, but their ultimate fate had been unknown. There was only one human overseeing the caged mechanisms, as they ranked a low threat level. The human was, again, not military and consequently panicked when Scorponok advanced on him. It stopped when Frenzy informed him that he had the isotopes, and was headed back to their entry point.
Dead End had made their mission crystal clear. In and out. As quickly as possible, and with as little damage as possible. The isotopes are the only objective. Desperate, Scorponok relayed what it had found to Frenzy, who was so stunned he could barely sputter out a response. Without the guidance or orders from their respective masters, they were left in a lurch as to how to make a command decision. They were certainly capable of operating independently, and were trusted to act accordingly in unexpected situations. They had what they came for, and coming back would be completely out of the question. Scorponok based its decision on its masters past actions, the simple fact that Blackout never left his drone behind. Never.
More humans arrived, these ones well armed and shouting commands at each other, the drone, and the frightened guard. Scorponok acted quickly, tossing the cornered human out of the way, causing the ones chasing him to halt. They didn't want to risk hitting the other human, and that bought the drone precious moments to move. One swift motion with its claws splintered the two cages, and Scorponok seized the mechanisms before they had time to move anywhere else. It briefly registered the lifeless form of the third creature brought to life by the Cube, but there was no time to retrieve the carcass. A bomb went off down the hall, and Frenzy appeared moments later, spouting gibberish as scrambled towards the other drone. He was hauling a case that was easily twice his weight, but it didn't slow his enthusiasm down.
The case was not going to fit into any of Scorponok's storage compartments. This did not stop Frenzy from throwing it up on the scorpions back, clambering up and holding for dear life. Scorponok ran as more gunshots rained down on them, the halls echoing with shouting and weapons discharge. Their escape options were dwindling quickly, considering their ultimate plan had been to burrow in and then back out. There was no doubt whatsoever that they would be facing nothing but pure fury from Blackout and Barricade. A simple hit and run mission had become incredibly complicated, and the extra cargo prevented Scorponok from defending itself properly. With a quick command to Frenzy, it tossed the two rescued mechanism onto its back, where the hacker pulled them close.
There were only so many secret hallways and side passages they could maneuver through, and every second passed meant another exit had shut in their faces. Panic began to drive the drone until, at last, they burst into the sunlight at the bottom of Hoover Dam. Unfortunately, the outside was also crawling with military personnel, and all of them were ready and waiting for the Decepticons. Scorponok's optic shields shuttered briefly before it made a decision that would no doubt make Blackout throw it around by its tail. It fired two missiles directly at the Dam.
Dead End waited with saintly patience for the drones to return, idly flipping through the local radio stations. He was not looking forward to the drive back to Los Angeles, but after this he would no longer have to play at being transport. The thought of that scorpion climbing back inside of him after digging through the dirt sent shudders through his frame. He continued to surf the channels, keeping an audial out for emergency military alerts. One had started not long after the Porsche suspected the drones had broken in, but it failed to reach any sort of critical threat to him. That was up until the moment the radio bands started squawking about an explosion at Hoover Dam, damaging the structure itself. Dead End wondered what the drones took 'with as little damage as possible' to mean.
Not ten minutes after that cacophony had begun, Frenzy sent him a frantic message outlining just how badly things were going. The drones not only required backup, they needed to get out of there now. Uploading their current location to his CPU, Dead End hit the road, tires squealing as he accelerated. The pair had managed to get away from the structure itself, using the panic created by the damage to slip through. They were still being pursued, and would never make it as far away as where Dead End had been waiting. The Porsche assumed the scorpion must have damaged its claws, unable to borrow to safety.
The signal from the drones grew stronger, and the Porsche knew he was going to have to abandon the road to retrieve them. There was traffic out here, most it redirected from the Dam. Already bemoaning the loss of his beautiful paint job, Dead End finally swerved off the pavement and shot headlong into the bushes. He didn't go too deep, needing to be able to make a swift retreat back to the roadway. Moments after he stopped, Scorponok burst out of the bushes, spraying dirt and dust all over the previously spotless Porsche. Knowing there was nothing for it, he popped open his back door and the scorpion crawled in, dragging in even more dirt.
Dead End did not wait, snapping his door shut and reversing through the brittle foliage with ease. A group of humans had been chasing them, but the Stunticon left them behind to deal with the shock of a Porsche running away with a giant scorpion. His tires burned on the pavement as soon as he hit it, ignoring the furious honk from the motorist he had just cut off. Dead End shot off down the street, wanting to put as much distance between himself and the humans as possible. They would most certainly ID a red Porsche, which made him a bright, shiny target. Cursing the stupidity of the drones, he made quick time for the nearest highway, hoping to blend in there. The scorpion was taxed and overheated, all of its vents wide open as it huffed out hot air. Dead End had to crack his windows in order to ventilate the symbiote, but not low enough that people could see inside.
It took only 45 seconds for Dead End to discover Frenzy and Scorponok had come out with more than a case of radioactive isotopes. Something leapt onto his steering wheel, nearly causing him to swerve off the road as the intruder tried to jack itself into the Porsche. It was violently rebuffed, his mad swerving eventually bucking the thing off. Scorponok squealed as it rocked from side to side within the compact car, Frenzy swearing in multiple languages when he nearly got crushed by the larger drone. The first creature lolled in Dead End's passenger seat, and his winches tightened when a second mechanism looked at it over the head rest.
This was not how they kept a low profile. He could not drive in a straight line if these things were going to be crawling all around inside him. Blackout and Barricade had specific caches for their drones, and the first creature had just tried to link itself to the Porsche. It might have been a steering wheel at one point, but Dead End did not know what it was now. There was a large Cadillac symbol printed on its center, but other than that it was something of a small monstrosity. The other one was more Frenzy's design, though it was white, and clearly less hyperactive.
Dead End gave them one simple, harsh command: "Control them." As far as he was concerned, they'd already made one horrible mistake. It was best to avoid making another one. He finally arrived at the highway, merging with the traffic and skulking in the shadows of semis and SUVs. He was mindful of air support, and let his color darken to pure black when he got the chance. Scorponok held each of the mechanisms in its claws, holding fast even while they squirmed and struggled. Frenzy made himself busy scanning the little monstrosities, quite surprised when the white one mimicked everything that he did.
"Do you have an explanation?" Dead End drawled. "Or should I just let Blackout rip you both to pieces? That might be interesting."
"Scorponok found them!" Frenzy burst out, ignoring the growl the scorpion gave him for finger pointing already.
"Scorponok found them!" the white mech repeated, looking ecstatic that it had done that. Frenzy stared at it curiously, then raised one hand and waved it around. Without missing a beat, the other mechanism copied him. He didn't know if that was amazing, or annoying.
"What, exactly, possessed you to take them with you?" Dead End pressed, already losing interest in the hapless drone. Obviously, it didn't have an ounce of intelligence. "I was quite clear in my instructions."
Frenzy looked at Scorponok, who rotated its shoulders in a shrug. The white unit watched their interaction raptly, but the other one simply whined at being held captive. It was less aware of what was happening that its counterpart, it seemed.
"We couldn't leave them there," Frenzy insisted. "Humans don't need to know any more about us than they already do!"
"We couldn't leave them there," the white mech started up, and Frenzy shot it a nasty look.
"That's getting annoying," Dead End said as the drone finished the second half of Frenzy's declaration. He supposed they did have a point, after all. There was no reason to allow the humans to keep any more of their kind locked up in cages or frozen solid for 'research'.
"Stop it!" Frenzy demanded, jabbing a finger at the mechanism.
"Stop it!" it replied, flailing its arm as best it could within Scorponok's claw.
"Shut up!" Frenzy shouted, instantly regretting it.
Dead End checked a sigh, sliding between two tractor trailers and shifting his color to match the blue logo on both of them. The case containing the isotopes lay forgotten on his floor, but he didn't care so long as it was safe. It would be dark soon, and he would eventually shift his color back to black, and take to the back roads. News of an explosion at the Dam was on every local channel, quickly working its way to the national level. With any luck, panic over that would slow down the military, allowing them a successful escape.
If the drones did not behave themselves, however, Dead End would drive into a brick wall. It was as simple as that.
A/N: I should probably mention that I'll be using elements from Beginnings as well as Reign of Starscream. That's where the Allspark isotopes came from. Thanks to those who've reviewed, and thanks for reading =)