Transformers belongs to Hasbro/ Takara
The Dark Horizon
Chapter 10: Stars and Ice
Splash splash splash splash. I looked at the clock I had been given (09:02 pm) before stuffing it back into the small space beneath my slightly protruding chest where, I had found out a few days ago, I could store small objects quite easily. I didn't know how far I had to go until I'd reach the sewage plant since I couldn't see an end to the tunnel, so I tried to run faster. It was very dark down here, but not too dark to see. After approximately 15 minutes, I reached an intersection where three equally big other pipes met with the one I was using. They all led to another, even bigger one. This one even had some kind of raised sidewalk, so I didn't have to run on in the water; it would have been rather difficult anyway since the current was getting pretty strong already.
The environment reminded me of some gritty horror movie, but I quickly tried to wipe that thought from my processor, I was scared enough as it was, I didn't need to think of any monsters lurking behind the corners right now. Still, as I ran past other, smaller pipes merging with this one, I couldn't help but wonder what ghastly creatures could be hiding in the shadows. I ran faster.
Thank God Ratchet had given me the extra energon... I probably wouldn't have lasted this long if he hadn't. 09:35 pm. I thought I heard something behind me, but I didn't pay much attention to it. If it was just a rat or something, it wasn't worth worrying about, if it was an Autobot... then my only chance would be running anyway.
Speaking of Autobots, I wondered what took them so long; usually they would have been hard on my heels already. Maybe Ratchet misled or distracted them...
Ratchet. He had helped me after all. But I wasn't safe yet, it could still have been a trap. No need to praise him before the plan had actually worked out. At 09:41 pm I finally reached the end of the tunnel: the sewage plant. The pipe opened at the top and so I climbed up its side so I wouldn't be washed into the big water strainer ahead, but I remained cautious, lifting my head over the edge just enough so I could see if everything was clear.
There was a human soldier maybe a hundred meters ahead, standing guard and obviously bored out of his mind. I looked up. The room was huge and cavernous, at least 300 meters in diameter and 50 in height, the walls were too smooth to climb. There were the ventilation ducts Ratchet had mentioned at the other side of the hall, large and silver. I looked back at the soldier. He yawned. A human sized door in the wall behind him opened and another guard stepped out. The first soldier turned around and they started chatting. It was probably the end of a shift, clever. There were a few machines across the large room where I'd be hidden from view if I ducked behind them, the ear- shattering roar they were constantly giving off would obscure the noise of my own footsteps.
So, moving swiftly, I dared to climb over the pipe's rim and jump down on the other side before taking cover behind the first machine. I checked for the guards; they didn't seem to have noticed me. There were large circular basins behind me with long metal rotatable arms mixing their dirty contents. I didn't want to know what exactly was in there. I crouched down low and continued. I needed to be on time.
Suddenly, the first guard started walking towards me. If I didn't get away from my current spot, he'd see me! The next good cover was too far away and I couldn't get there without being noticed, I panicked. What to do, what to do! The only way was... oh shit no. The basin behind me. Now that was disgusting. But then I thought back to my nightmare and that it would most likely become reality if I couldn't escape and that was worse than a swimming pool full of feces.
And so, not without feeling very sick about it, I quickly took the clock between my jaws so it wouldn't short out and lowered myself into the liquid until I was in there up to my neck. I'd probably stink terribly for the next weeks. However, my plan worked. Hidden behind the anchorage of the rotatable mixer, I heard the soldier stepping up to the basin, saying "Nah, it's nothing" and returning to his colleague.
When he was out of sight, I scrambled out of there hastily, placing the clock back in its former place and shaking my limbs a little to get the dirt off. I felt like throwing up. But I didn't have time for that now.
After a few more minutes, I had reached the ventilation shaft and after avoiding to be hit by the huge and slow fan's wings at the bottom, I was going upwards over the ladder inside. I had to be on the hill in 25 minutes. The vertical climb was long and exhausting, but I didn't dare to take a break. I couldn't be late. And I wouldn't be. With renewed vigor, I pulled myself up, again and again. After nine minutes of constant and fast climbing, I reached the top. It was dark outside and pretty cold. The duct had a heavy lid of metal mesh, but the gaps between the bars were big enough for me to squeeze through. The stars were the only source of light out here and the moon wasn't visible, but I could see well enough. Ahead, the hill with the rocks. Its side was very steep, the peak was high: it would be another exhausting ascent. But the thought of being free urged me on. The dry stone beneath my feet tended to crumble and I often lost my footing, little rocks were loosened under my weight and clattered down the cliff, but I continued.
When I reached a narrow ledge, I looked at the clock again. 10:12 pm. I tucked it away again. I had to hurry. But suddenly, there was a spotlight directed at me and I could hear shouts from afar. Cold fear clenched around my spark. I had been spotted. Down by the foot of the hill I could see a few human soldiers with their army vehicles, one of them mounted with a huge searchlight, standing beside them was Bumblebee in his bipedal mode.
I decided to climb on. If I was lucky and they didn't have an aircraft at hand, they wouldn't be able to catch me before I reached the top. I didn't think about what would happen even if I reached the crest before them and on time. My processor was too occupied with the situation I was being faced with right now. I heard the sound of moving metal and rumbling rocks below and a glance over my shoulder revealed Bumblebee had started coming after me, gaining space quickly. I pulled at a few loose boulders to my right and ducked to the left, climbing on while they tumbled into the depths. I didn't have time to look whether they had hit their target, I only heard the yellow scout yelp.
At last, I reached the top, panting and- nothing. There was nothing here. I jumped up onto one of the flat rocks, still nothing. What was this, a joke?! Had I climbed up here for the nice view?! There was no one here! Around me, I could see the endless desert at one side and more mountains at the other.
Miles away, the lights of the base were illuminating the darkness, if only those of the hangar and a few guard posts above the ground. Looking over the edge, I spotted Bumblebee still climbing upwards. For a moment, I cursed that damn medic. Then, I heard a thunderous sound from the distance, but I couldn't identify its source. It seemed to close in on me, but I still couldn't see a thing, only the stars above.
A few hundred yards ahead, the sky flickered, I squinted my optics to see what was going on. Whatever it was, it was big. Huge, actually. And suddenly, it appeared just out of nowhere. A ship; about the size of a jumbo jet, dark silver and massive. Its tip was pointy and merged into a blade- shaped fuselage with two big side extensions near the back, two rows of white lights stretched along its side. It slowed down considerably and a hatch at its flank opened, a short ramp was extended. It didn't touch the ground though, merely hovering a few feet above the other flat rock.
I felt paralyzed. A spaceship! Ratchet had organized a spaceship that would take me off the planet! It scared me a bit and I found myself unable to move for a few seconds. If I went aboard, I would most likely never see my home again. But with it, the Autobots. When Bumblebee peeked over the cliff's edge however, his face dented and his armor scratched, it didn't take long for me to decide.
I ran over to the alien spacecraft and jumped onto the ramp. We took off immediately, leaving a fuming scout behind who tried to shoot at the vessel, but some invisible force field prevented the ship from being hit. The ramp closed smoothly, I kept staring at it, sitting on the cold floor.
The engines of the ship powered up, sending strong vibrations through its body along with a loud hum. Another noise behind me caught my attention and I turned around. I twitched. There was... something... standing in the dim light of the ship's interior. It didn't look humanoid.
All I could make out were long, spidery legs though. It said something with a rather deep and raspy voice, but I didn't understand what it was. It had sounded like Cybertronian, but with a very strange accent. The alien stepped forward into the light, I crawled back. It cocked its head, eying me up curiously. The creature itself looked rather scary.
It seemed to be organic, just a little taller than me with dark gray, leathery skin and big sharp teeth. The legs I had seen before (four legs, to be exact) protruded from its abdomen, which turned into a muscular torso, clad with sparse metal clothing. Its four arms (actually three and a half) looked thin and wiry and the sturdy neck ended in an edgy head with a long snout full of pointy yellowish teeth. The eyes were dark. So the friend Ratchet had been talking about was another alien. Figured.
Again, it said something. And again, I didn't understand. I shrugged helplessly. It extended its clawed hand slowly, cooing slightly. I didn't comply right away. After all, I didn't even know what that thing was. Then again, despite its outer appearance, it didn't seem to intend to harm me and so I extended my own hand carefully. It felt like an electric shock when our fingers touched and I tried to pull back, but it had already grasped my hand firmly.
Don't worry, I'm here to help you. I heard its voice in my head. I'm a male, not an 'it'. I blushed mentally. Obviously, he could read my thoughts. With an elegant turn of his neck, he motioned along a narrow gangway leading deeper into the ship. Follow me. He let go of my hand and walked ahead, his sharp feet making little clicking noises on the metal floor. I looked around. I had traveled in an airplane before, but this was entirely different. It was kind of dark and the walls were lined with thick cables and pipes, unlike the conventional human aircraft.
I looked at the alien in front of me. His tail was seesawing up and down as he walked and now that I was watching him more closely, I could see something resembling ears on top of his head, pulled back tensely, and some sort of weapon attached to his back. So... he had read my thoughts, but only when he'd touched me- and I had heard him. How was that possible? Sure he wasn't human, maybe that was just the way his kind communicated, but... I still wondered how it worked.
We reached some kind of bridge where another, slightly smaller alien was seated in front of what seemed to be some sort of command console behind a large front window through which the stars and the black sky could be seen. It (or also he?) didn't turn around when we entered, completely occupied with steering the ship. I was invited to sit down on a strangely shaped chair fastened to the wall at the right side of the room. The two aliens talked in their native tongue briefly before the bigger one sat down beside me and offered his hand again. I concentrated on thinking nothing impolite or even hostile before accepting his proposal, putting my hand into his gently, even though I wasn't absolutely sure if I should really trust him.
Your name is Alpha, right? Ratchet told me about you. He stated mentally. I nodded slowly.
"Who are you?" I asked in my not exactly perfect Cybertronian. Thankfully, he seemed to understand me.
My name is Nwym. This is my apprentice, Rokin. I'm a medic, like Ratchet. A long time ago, we were fighting the Decepticons at our home system and he saved my life. I lost my arm, though. He mentioned, raising his crippled limb. I owe him. I hadn't heard from him for quite a while, that was until, a short time ago, I received an encoded request to do him a favor. I frowned.
"So... what now?" He made a strange sound, it could have been interpreted as a sigh.
We need to take you to our home planet. You'll be safe there, I hope. Although it won't be easy. Ratchet must really care for you, considering he asked me to protect you at all costs. He leaned a little closer, I could see a vivid glint in his black eyes as he inspected me further. With his sharp fangs so close to my face, I felt the urgent need to distance myself a little, but that would have been pretty rude.
There's no need to be afraid. I promised you wouldn't be harmed and I always keep my promises. A faint feeling of care and protection came over me, but it must have been coming from him. Still, it helped me feel a little safer in his presence. His slender nostrils opened a little further and he sniffed the air around me. What is that smell?
"You don't want to know."
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I woke up feeling warm, cozy and clean. Where was I? Felt like home but... no, it couldn't be. Like so often, I had woken up just to be disappointed in my belief of waking up back home at my parents' house again. But this time, it was different.
True, I wasn't back home. But I felt safe; I wasn't with the Autobots anymore. I stretched languorously. A few hours ago, Nwym had kindly showed me where I could clean myself before leading me to the small cabin I had now been recharging in. The bed made a slightly sizzling noise whenever I moved, but it was comfortable. I looked out of the small round window behind me.
The stars, which I had never before seen so brilliantly, seemed to be passing by incredibly slowly and yet I knew we must have been moving at very high speed. The aliens, despite their terrifying outer appearance, had been very friendly; the elder medic had even showed some kind of fatherly attitude towards me. I smiled. I was safe. Safe from further humiliation, safe from torture, imprisonment and rape. Safe from Prime. Sitting up, I rubbed my optics and sighed while reveling in the imaginations of my now much brighter future. I would go to another planet where I'd be far away from oppression and war; true, I would probably have to hide for the rest of my life, but if that was the price for a life in freedom, it would absolutely be worth it.
I felt like I had been granted unimaginable luxury when I opened the cabin's door by myself and stepped out into the gangway, feeling rested and happier than in the past thirteen months. As expected, Nwym and Rokin were at the command bridge, watching the ship's gauges and radars silently.
Although I had been very quiet, Rokin seemed to have heard me entering and turned around, his ears twitching upwards attentively. He licked his front teeth swiftly, which, Nwym had explained earlier, was their way of smiling. I nodded politely and went to sit down near them, curiously watching the blinking controls and monitors. After the warm welcome before, I did feel strangely at ease in their company, even if I didn't know them very well. After typing some commands into the console in front of him, Nwym turned around in his chair and put one of his three hands to the underside of my jaw gently.
Do you feel better now? He asked amiably. I nodded, not even trying to pull away from him to my own surprise. We talked a little. He told me we had just passed the orbit of Neptune and would be able to risk a warp as soon as we had left the solar system and that it would still take a while until we'd reach our destination.
He also asked me how I had actually gotten into the predicament of having been detained by the Autobots and so I told him about my life as a human, about my stupid greenness and how I had learned what life with them really meant for me. Sometimes I did have trouble spelling it out because my Cybertronian was just too bad and aside from that, I didn't seem to be able to communicate just like he did.
I couldn't really talk to him mentally, not well at least, maybe my thoughts were too tumultuous for that. I guess he knew what I was thinking and wanted to say anyway, but reading one's thoughts just wasn't comparable with a respectful conversation. And so, he proved to be a patient listener, even if my grammar and pronunciation weren't always perfect.
That was until a half snarling, half whining sound came from Rokin, who suddenly seemed very tense and agitated. Nwym let go of me immediately and turned to his apprentice while frantically checking the readings on the monitors and typing commands. They started talking with an urgent tone, making me nervous. What was going on?
A few buttons were pushed and I could see two huge guns extending from below the bridge, each with multiple barrels and each bigger than my whole body. Similar sounds from other areas of the ship told of more built in weapons being readied for battle, loud bangs, groans and clicks echoing through the metallic insides while the engines were being powered up to full capacity- still, we seemed to be slowing down. I moved to stand up, but Nwym pushed me back down into my seat quickly, telling me to hold on to something hastily and so I did, starting to get really scared. The two of them buckled up and Rokin pulled a big switch which showed its effect immediately: the artificial gravity had been turned off, the unfamiliar feeling making me feel sick and want to cling to the thick metal reinforcement beside me.
"What's going on?" No one answered my question, since no one had time to do so right now. But the suddenly so fast- paced situation soon explained itself when the previously black screen above the front window buzzed to life, showing the face of a very angry looking Autobot commander. I gulped, the energon in my veins seemed to run cold.
"This is Optimus Prime speaking. We have you surrounded and your kinetic drive has been taken out of operation. Surrender the female and you shall remain unharmed." he rumbled threateningly and decisively as three smaller ships appeared in front of us. While Rokin looked pretty frightened now, Nwym seemed unimpressed, staring down the intimidating mech and answering calmly. Just like before, I didn't understand him due to his accent. However, Prime seemed to understand just fine and he didn't look very happy about what the other alien had said.
"I will not commit myself to your little games, Corulans. Hand her over or we will retrieve her with force. You've got one breem." While I was frantically praying they wouldn't comply to his demand, Nwym answered as calmly as before while reaching beneath the command console and pulling an additional little, flat console out of its bulk, a big red button at its center. Then, without any real warning, he shut down the communication link to the blue and red Autobot before slamming one of his fists down on the button.
I yelped as the ship suddenly lurched forward and down, spinning wildly- obviously for a reason. Bright projectiles flew past us, missing the ship only narrowly and disappearing in the depths of space. By now, Rokin had put on some kind of helmet which covered his eyes completely while his hands had found their way to four flexible control sticks. The guns mounted on our ship went off, steered and triggered by the younger alien.
I held on to the support beam for dear life as the ship roared into a small group of ice- covered asteroids, probably to shake off the attackers, barrel- rolling and maneuvering rapidly. Nwym altered the course almost brutally so we raced around one of the bigger pieces of icy travelers completely and were now behind our persecutors and that was the first time I saw the Autobot's mother ship.
It was more than double the size of the one we were sitting in, large, tan colored and broad, powered by five huge rocket engines at its back and mounted with multiple massive turrets. Rokin fired at it from behind, the heavy weaponry making the whole ship vibrate even more as shot after shot left the enormous barrels. But while the big ship in front of us was too heavy and therefore too cumbrous to escape the fast attack, the smaller ones I had seen before certainly weren't and so we had to dodge their attacks with more daredevil maneuvers.
Their number had risen to five instead of three and all of them were now chasing after us while the mother ship had to fly a wide arc to turn around and follow. As we raced ahead, I could see another planet, small with gray, rusty red and yellowish spots, revolved by a gray and reddish moon, to our left. Was that Pluto, the dwarf planet with its moon, Charon?
We wouldn't have crossed its orbit if we could have maintained our current course, but when a big explosion at the back rocked the ship, causing it to spin out of control, our vessel neared the planet's moon faster than I thought was healthy. Nwym growled angrily, trying to stabilize our flight, but as we had obviously lost at least one engine, that proved difficult.
I thought we were all going to die as the moon's surface came closer and closer while the ship even seemed to gain momentum. I screamed and held on to the ship's metal interior tighter, wanting to close my optics so I didn't have to witness the impact, but found myself unable to look away. Somehow, the elder alien managed to force the vessel into a flat course above the rugged moon surface, but we were still descending too quickly. I knew an impact was now unavoidable and so I held on tightly enough to leave dents, ducking my head and finally squeezing my optics shut. I was almost ripped off my seat when we crashed into the surface hard, sliding along for miles with the sickening sound of snapping and screeching metal all around us.
Finally, the ship came to a brutal halt when it collided with the side of a large crater. A loud crack of breaking glass was heard before the air was pulled out of the ship through the burst front window. Shuddering, I dared to open my optics again when it had stopped moving, hoping I wouldn't be confronted with a second Chelsea- scenario. To my relief, both Nwym and Rokin, who had thrown off his helmet, seemed to be uninjured, but they looked panicked, trying to get out of their seats desperately and reaching for the storage compartments above their heads. The air! They were organic and certainly needed to breathe!
I jumped up and over to them, almost crashing into the shattered window due to the low gravity, but catching my fall, ripping open the flaps they were reaching for. Two objects fell out slowly, looking like breathing masks. Rokin grabbed the one that was descending above his lap hastily and pressed it onto his face, but Nwym seemed to have passed out and so I took the other mask and put it over his snout quickly.
He awoke immediately, gasping for air. Meanwhile, I had started to pry open his seatbelt, fumbling with the complicated catch. Rokin had managed to free himself by now. Pushing me aside when I didn't manage to open his mentor's seatbelt, he freed his older friend quickly and helped him to his feet. I was dragged along to the ship's middle and we entered a small room where Rokin activated something looking like a shower which befogged all three of us with a strange liquid.
When the fog cleared, our bodies were covered by a transparent but protective airy shell. I felt very warm immediately. I knew why they had done that when we went back out of the room and to an emergency exit. The cold pressed every last bit of air out of my vents, immediately penetrating my whole body despite the airy insulation.
Nwym and Rokin seemed to be freezing too, but still they urged me on. There was no sound on the icy luminary and still it felt unbearably loud to me as we hurried away from the ship, and not one second too early: in a ball of fire, it exploded, sending dangerous, huge and sharp shrapnel flying everywhere. Thankfully, none of us was hit and so we moved on.
With almost zero gravity, it was hard to run without flying off into space and because I didn't have any experience with how to move in almost absolute weightlessness, the others often had to stabilize me and pull me back to the ground. But the gravity would turn out to be the least of our problems. Not far away, the big Autobot ship was already preparing to land while the smaller and faster ones were racing towards us. I felt how the low temperatures were wearing on my ability to move. Because there was no atmosphere, there was not a single sound when two of the agile ships landed in front of us and the pilots, Sideswipe and Bumblebee, jumped out.
They obviously didn't have much of a problem with the cold and the gravity, running towards us easily, their weapons drawn. I didn't know what to do. Nwym grasped mine and Rokin's forearms firmly and told us he would hold them off and that we should flee before he let go and positioned himself in front of us protectively, elongating his spider legs until he reached an intimidating height and pulling the weapon he had been carrying from his back.
However, that didn't impress the two approaching Autobots in the slightest; they didn't even slow down. I wanted to protest, wanted to stop him before he got hurt, but Rokin pulled me away forcefully, taking off into the opposite direction. I would never see Nwym again.
We ran as fast as we could under the adverse circumstances, and very soon we reached a deep canyon with tall and sharp- edged crags where we could probably hide. Although I already knew it was hopeless since we didn't even have a ship anymore and therefore couldn't leave this god forsaken rock, I followed Rokin into the canyon swiftly. I thought that dying on the run and in freedom was probably still better than going back to the Autobots. And so, with the only goal of staying on the move, we ran into the labyrinth of stone and ice.
XXXXXXXXXX
Rokin fell to the cold ground beside me, I noticed in torpidity. Moving had become almost impossible, every small step had turned into painful torture. I sank to my knees beside him, clumsily brushing the ice off his gray shoulders and trying to shake him weakly. He looked up at me, his chest heaving in a feeble manner, he was shaking like a leaf.
I knew he didn't have the strength left to continue, nor did I. But with the last reserves I had left, I grabbed him by the arms and dragged him beneath a nearby overhang so the Autobots wouldn't spot us, where I slumped down beside him into the ice powerlessly. The cold had long since stiffened my joints and fogged my processor.
His eyes were growing dull slowly, but I tried to keep him awake, shaking him again and again. I didn't want him to die. Still, his breath got weaker and weaker until it ceased altogether. Not realizing he had passed away, I tried to talk to him, but I was unable to produce a sound. Don't leave me alone... don't...
I could barely move anymore. My fingertips grazed the translucent part of his breathing mask shakily and my mouth opened in a silent plea before I passed out.