Chapter 7
Inside the main student hall at the War Academy, Hot Rod had his feet up on the table, seated in one of the chairs. He held the levitating energy sphere from the agility challenge in one hand, throwing it up in the air and then balancing it on the back of his hand as it floated back down towards him. Distracted with his thoughts, he didn't hear a small group of his class mates enter the hall.
"Hey, wake up!" A voice suddenly broke his reverie, and he glanced up to see Blaster. Magnus, Sureshot and Skids accompanied him.
Hot Rod kicked his feet off the table, gave them his full attention. "What do you freak shows want?"
Blaster took a seat opposite him, ignoring his remark. "You look lonely. Thought you might appreciate a little company," he said, rather nonchalantly. Then he leaned forward slightly, mild concern in his optics. "Oh, by the way, you haven't seen Scrounge anywhere, have you?"
Hot Rod looked amused. "Oh, you mean that little twerp? Why do you care?" Blaster simply shrugged, half expecting such a response, but then Hot Rod seemed to reconsider the thought. "Last I heard, his mini-pals all did a number on him… left him overcharged in some bar. Maybe he's still there?"
Blaster shook his head. "Nah… he's been gone too long." When Hot Rod made no further comment, Blaster changed the focus of their conversation. "So, what's up with you?"
Hot Rod looked at him in confusion. "Nothing's up with me."
"Hey, I got ears. So, spill it." When the orange and red Autobot cadet neither confirmed nor denied that he had anything on his mind, Blaster probed a little deeper. "It's Optronix, isn't it?"
"Yeah, what about him?" Hot Rod replied, trying to make it seem as if it were no big deal. But they could all see through his thinly disguised pretence.
"Come on… you're not the only one who's worried about him, you know."
"Oh, geez…" Hot Rod started, but then gave in to his true sentiments. He shook his head in frustration. "You know what? To slag with the rules. We should have gone with him on that mission." For once, none of them disagreed with him, and he felt a strong sense of support and encouragement from his class mates that he thought had been previously lacking. He stood up determinedly. "Come on, let's go–" he decided, grabbing Blaster by the arm, but the cassette-bot guardian held back.
"Whoa, whoa… now hold on just an astro-second, hot shot. Where do you think you're going?"
"There's no use hanging around here. You're right, he needs our help. So let's go," Hot Rod pushed, rather impatiently. "Come on… who's with me?" he asked the others.
"Hey, I never said anything about going anywhere," Blaster defended. "You know Optronix can take care of himself. Besides, he's got the best warriors on his team–"
"Pfft. They may be the best warriors, alright, but they don't know Optronix like we do."
"Look–" Blaster began, but then one of the others spoke up in support of Hot Rod.
"Hot Rod is right." It was Magnus. Though he spoke in a low, calm voice, the conviction he carried forth was undeniable, and quite unexpected, and they all looked to him for guidance. "We should help him," was all he said.
"I'm in!" Sureshot exclaimed, standing beside Magnus, while Skids said nothing though he made no protest. Blaster looked at them all in turn, and then back at Hot Rod, who was grinning, the sullen mood he had been in earlier now completely gone.
"If we get caught we'll be booted out of the Academy–" Blaster warned them, stating what they all already knew.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. So we'll all end up being forced to clean out Sentinel's waste extraction facility every day for the rest of our existence, and our lives will essentially be over," Hot Rod replied, not helping to reassure him at all. "But, it'll be worth it."
Blaster shook his head in dismay, but couldn't help smiling in spite of himself. "You're one crazy son-of-a-glitch."
Soundwave knew his way through the labyrinth of tunnels and passageways that made up Darkmount fortress better than anyone, moving cautiously yet swiftly and with a quiet confidence that his fellow Decepticons found reassuring. Without him, they would have been lost.
So far, they had managed to avoid being seen. After several breems had passed, Soundwave finally stopped outside an open doorway and turned to face his team. "Deluge's laboratory," he said simply, and then waited for Starscream to step inside.
The Air Commander peered inside the laboratory, and immediately noticed the bench in the center of the room. He glanced uncertainly back down along the passageway. "Where is everyone?" he asked, but Soundwave had no answer for him. Then he shrugged it off and stepped inside the lab, followed by the other Decepticons.
Forming a semi-circle around the bench, they all looked down at the hapless victim whose lifeless frame was still secured to the bench. There was a gaping hole in his chest where his spark chamber used to be.
In the deathly silence of the lab, no one dared speak too loudly. "This place is giving me the creeps," Skywarp said at last and, for once, Dirge agreed with him.
"Poor fragger," said the conehead, and looked over at Astrotrain. "Almost feel sorry for him."
"Considering what we've just seen, he's probably better off," responded the triple changer.
"He's very small, though," Thundercracker chimed in, and the others looked back at him expectantly, so he clarified. "You know, even for an Autobot."
Starscream ignored the commentary, preferring instead to focus on the main reason for their visit. "Well, what I want to know is, what does Straxus want with his spark… even if he is unusually small." Then he walked around the lab, examining the various assortments of tools and equipment that cluttered the room. Something along the back wall caught his optic, and he stopped to examine it. Held up by cables was what appeared to be one of those zombie-like mechs they had encountered earlier, except this one was completely inert and missing half its limbs. Its optics, in particular, were dark and colorless – a sure sign that it contained no spark of life at all, though its spark chamber remained intact. Upon further examination, Starscream realized that its personality chip had been removed, and he started to piece together a rough picture of what must have happened to it. "Is this Deluge some sort of genius, or a raving mad-mech?" he said to himself, not expecting anyone to give him an answer.
Thundercracker made his way towards his trine leader, followed by the others. "Depends on who you're asking," he said, staring up at the lifeless remains of a former Destron. "They say there's a fine line." Starscream couldn't help but smile at his friend's quirky sense of humour.
"So, what do you think Deluge has done to them?" Astrotrain asked, indicating the dead mech, ever curious.
"I thought it wasn't possible… until now," Starscream replied.
"What wasn't possible?" Thundercracker questioned, wanting to know more.
"As you already know, if our control systems and personality chips are removed, we'd be nothing more than mindless drones ourselves."
Thundercracker looked at him in contemplation. "Well, sure. That's been proven many times before, hasn't it?"
"Yes; however, an internal power source would still be needed… and without some sort of basic consciousness to keep our autonomous systems operational, we'd soon burn out. We'd never last more than a few hours. But those drones…" Starscream shook his head. "Somehow, Deluge has managed to not only find a way to prevent them from burning out, but they seem able to absorb power from external sources as well. That's never been accomplished before."
"So… that's why it wouldn't stay down after you blasted it?" Skywarp said, referring to their brief encounter earlier with the drone mech just outside the fortress.
"Exactly," Starscream replied, and then continued his explanation. "There's a little known theory that says that a solitary spark can be split up an indefinite number of times, and then each piece of the original spark can be used to control an individual drone." Starscream walked slowly back to the spark-less Autobot on the bench, as he continued to formulate a suitable explanation for what he had seen thus far. "The same theory also tells us that each piece of spark could provide just enough of a basic consciousness to keep a drone's control systems functional…"
"But not enough to allow it to think independently?" Thundercracker finished for him.
"Precisely." Starscream looked down at the Autobot's remains, and a sense of fear and foreboding suddenly flooded into his circuitry from seemingly out of nowhere, causing him to waver for a brief moment.
"Starscream?" Thundercracker asked, concerned.
The Decepticon second in command quickly regained his composure. "Yes, as I was saying…" He stepped away from the Autobot and turned back around to face the others. "What I still don't get is where all those drones have come from. Straxus must have sourced them from somewhere…" No one said anything straight away. Starscream had raised a good point, though it seemed that none of them had any answers for him. That is, until Soundwave offered him a possible solution.
"There is a sub-region within Polyhex known as the Dead End. It is populated by a growing number of mechs who have turned against the current systems of command, and have abandoned their home cities," Soundwave explained, gaining everyone's attention.
"Yeah… yeah, that's right," Astrotrain commented, snapping his fingers. "I remember hearing about them. It made the regional broadcast a while back. I think they were nicknamed the 'Empties' or something like that."
"Affirmative, Astrotrain," Soundwave confirmed. "They exist in a constant state of struggle for survival, and would be a particularly easy target for anyone inclined to take advantage of them, including Straxus."
Starscream nodded in understanding. "Well, that would certainly explain some of the drones, at least."
"So you think Deluge took his spark and split it up, like you said before?" Astrotrain queried, indicating toward the bench where the frame of the small mech lay motionless. Starscream's grim expression told him all that he needed to know.
"Think he was an Empty?" Skywarp asked of the Autobot.
"It's possible," Soundwave answered him. "Though, from the general condition of his exterior and Autobot emblem before he was captured, it is unlikely."
Ricochet had had just about enough he could take of the two warriors, Roadbuster and Twin Twist, and the constant competitiveness between them, so when he spotted Optronix and Prowl sprinting back towards them, he held up a hand to curb their rowdiness; they may have been two of Cybertron's best warriors, but to Ricochet they were the world's worst companions. "Guys, guys! Shut the slag up! Optronix is back."
All optical sensors now focused upon their team leader, as he came running up to the small group of Autobots. "There's no time to explain, but… Straxus has created some kind of super drones, and it looks like they're heading straight for Iacon."
"What? Are you sure?" Ricochet said in disbelief.
"Yes, Ricochet. We must try to prevent them from crossing the border, but I fear it may be already too late. They do not seem to respond to firepower, and are unusually strong. We will not be able to stop them on our own; we are going to need backup. Prowl?" Optronix said, glancing over at his advisor.
"Already on it," he said.
Optronix nodded in approval. "In the meantime, let's try to block them off at the main pass. Follow me," he said, and then transformed and sped off down the main road that led back to Iacon.
Ricochet looked over at the others and transformed into his vehicle mode – a small, black hover car. "You heard the mech. Let's go!" he said, and sped off after Optronix as the rest of the team followed right behind.
