Ladies and Gentlemen, I have returned. Given that I have a few other story projects on my plate (not least of which is a proposed tale of Transformers: Prime set in Victorian times and written in the style of Arthur Conan Doyle...not an easy task, actually) I am considering going as far as the end of the Darkness Rising miniseries and marking it complete there. That way, my attention is not spread quite so thin as it is at present, and I can leave the tale to your imaginations!
On another note, due to the encouragement of Foxbear, I submitted my first-ever short story to an online magazine for a contest. (O_O - queen of butterflies, right here.) So I have no idea how I would find out if they liked it or disliked it, but just the fact that I finally did something like that has me in a bit of a tizzy. So if you ever see a short story called "My Amaranth" by someone called Aspen Williams, that'll be me, who may or may not end up being horrifically embarrassed by it someday. :)
Right, anyway...Darkness Rising Part 4! (part 1 of 2)
The ground cracked and split apart with a tortured groan as servos long rusted broke through the surface. Perhaps in the long-ago, it had been a hale warrior, a mech of health. Perhaps even an ally, but who could say now? Discolored armor hung loosely on the emaciated frames of the revenants, and their jaws hung slack. The unholy glow of the dark energon was all that lit their degraded systems, and wordless moans filled the air as they began to drag themselves towards Megatron and Knock Out.
"Foul deeds will rise," Megatron whispered—a half remembered piece of prose or prophecy, Knock Out was not sure.
The medic shuddered, armor clamping tight to his frame as he pressed himself back against the ledge. "Prime has desecrated the resting place of both our fallen ancestors and his own!" he whispered, horrified.
In Megatron's optics there was an expected outrage tinged with a deep, lingering sorrow. "Not even the dead are free from his warmongering," he said gravely.
High above them, the false Prime tipped his helm back and watched the growing spectacle with narrowed optics.
"At last," he hissed, "Symbiosis! I can feel it: I have complete control over my army!" With a sudden sweep of his arm, he held his hand out over the masses.
"Destroy them." he ordered coldly.
Helms askew, arms barely held on with bits of wire, the dishonored dead shambled forward bent double, like old beggars under sacks, knock-kneed, coughing like hags* with trembling servos outstretched. The nearest collapsed with a sickening crunch as a laser shattered its helm.
Megatron fired rapidly into the horde, never once pausing to let his cannon rest. Still, they advanced like a plague, and for every Terrorcon that fell, another crawled over its body to take its place. Knock Out slipped down from the ledge and stood ready to protect his leader's back, ill-equipped though he was.
"Megatron, if our opponents are already deceased, how are we supposed to fight them?!" he groaned.
The Decepticon's faceplates tightened as the dead swarmed over each other, barely feeling his cannon fire. "Knock Out, retreat. Bridge yourself back to the Nemesis." he commanded.
Adamantly, the medic shook his helm. "Out of the question! I'm staying here, Lord Megatron. You said you might need a medic, didn't you?" Megatron met him with the barest of nods, and Knock Out transformed his arm into a long, spiraling drill, then charged into the fray.
"Let's see what the diagnosis is, eh?" he growled, deftly removing a Terrorcon from its head. He watched with interest as the helm flopped helplessly about before going dark. An idea occurred to him and he grinned. "I recommend dissection," he advised, almost casually, "The smaller the pieces, the better!"
For a moment, he lost sight of Megatron in the crowd. When he reappeared, it was not as the benevolent leader of the Decepticons, but the young warrior of the arena. "Sound advice, my friend," a paradoxically somber eagerness was in his voice, and he drew his blade with a ringing rasp, using the deactivated body of one of the fallen as a makeshift shield.
Those revenants foolish or hungry enough to pursue the fracas to its final stupidity quickly met their end at the servos of one of Kaon's finest gladiators, and their limbs were scattered across the canyon floor. Many others chose what they deemed to be easier prey and attempted to surround Knock Out. He gave as good as he got, and left most of them with missing arms and holes in their chassis.
Observing them, Optimus did not yet worry. "I have mastered dark energon," he boasted, "When you fall, Megatron, you will join my legions." he paused for a moment, thoughtfully. "As it always should have been."
Megatron's faceplate betrayed no emotion whatsoever, but he bisected the nearest Terrorcon and began to force his way clear of the mess, prepared to fly up and meet Optimus head-on.
Jack and Sierra had jumped out of the Ground Bridge, straight into a war zone.
Quickly, Jack whipped the rifle off his back and pulled Sierra down behind a boulder with him. The turrets at the top of the mesa fired down at them, having caught the light of the Bridge. Jack took aim, looked through the scope, then cursed.
"It's out of my range," he growled.
Beside him, Sierra looked about and caught sight of a familiar bone-white paint scheme. "Over there!" she pointed to where Soundwave was motioning to them frantically.
Sierra sized up the situation as quickly as she could. "Those guns are firing in bursts of threes," she noticed, "In between, d'you think we'd have enough time to get over to Soundwave?"
Once more, Jack slung the rifle over his back. "I don't know, but it's worth a shot." he said grimly.
With a sudden burst of speed, the teenagers left their hiding place and made for the corner of a towering spire of rock. The hail of fire intensified, catching movement. Soundwave watched helplessly as the concussive blast from a shot that came a little too close knocked the pair to the ground.
Sierra yelped and covered her head, curling into a ball to present a smaller target. Jack crouched over her protectively, firing back at the mesa. Abruptly, the guns changed direction. Laserbeak flew daringly past the face of the fortress, taunting the Autobot gunners. It worked, and the cannons were soon pointing every which way in an attempt to bring the nimble flyer down. Jack and Sierra took the opportunity to scramble to Soundwave's side.
"Pax-What are you-doing here?!" even the radio clips the spy used sounded outraged. He pointed at the mesa behind them and played another clip. "Extremely dangerous. Keep out of reach of children."
The boy glared up at him. "We came for Miko, we know you brought her here by accident." Soundwave tapped his chestplates twice. They opened and a thoroughly frazzled little girl peeked out.
"Miko! We were worried sick about you!" Sierra scolded. Beside her, Jack frowned.
"What were you doing in there in the first place?"
Sheepishly, Miko signed, I was tired, okay? I just needed a place to take a nap and Frenzy said I could use Soundwave's scout chamber. I guess he forgot I was in here. She shrugged.
Soundwave extracted the girl and placed her on the ground with Jack and Sierra. He held up a hand, signalling them to wait there, and transformed.
The MQ9 Reaper shot towards the top of the mesa, firing rapidly to distract the Autotroopers.
He missed the ones that were already on the ground.
Three drones crept up on the humans, more curious than anything else. Miko saw them first, and her panicked expression alerted the others. Swiftly, Jack whirled and shot out the lead drone's optic band in a practiced motion. With a pained shriek it collapsed, shaking the ground. The other two snatched the humans up before Jack had time to fire again.
"Take them to the lab," one advised the other, "That's where Cliffjumper is keeping the other human."
A secret door opened in the base of the mesa and they were carried into the gloom. The door swished shut behind them, effectively cutting off all light.
Outside, Soundwave's ruined voice box made a horrific sound as he realized what had happened. He had failed! Enraged, the young spy mercilessly destroyed the cannons on the roof and blasted a hole through the roof.
I'm coming, Miko, I'm coming!
The Autotroopers turned a corner in the corridors and stopped.
"Did you hear something?" the one holding Sierra asked.
There was the sound of an engine, coming closer, like the screech of a thunderbird. They had no time to react as Starscream transformed in midair and brought one drone down with a flying kick. Airachnid webbed the second to the wall and stabbed him quickly. Then she saw the children.
"Jackson Pax Darby!" she cried, "What in the moons of Cybertron are you doing here? Gùzhí, bù tīnghuà...You just wait until your grandfather hears about this!"
Miko shuffled closer to Sierra, eyes wide with concern. Airachnid was throwing words from other languages into the conversation again. That was a bad thing, she knew. When Jack's gramma started using words Miko didn't know, it meant she was really really mad.
To his credit, Jack remained fairly calm through the duration of the twenty-second firestorm masquerading as a scolding.
Starscream crouched on the deck and nudged Sierra lightly. "Thanks for clearing out the front door, kid," he joked half-heartedly, "But that wasn't on today's activity list."
The girl made a face and wrapped an arm around Miko's shoulders. "Tell me about it," she sighed.
The two Decepticons motioned the kids to follow them and crept carefully down the hall. Starscream held a servo to his lips and jumped out at the corner, rockets at the ready. Soundwave's blasters pointed at his face were a relief, oddly enough. The Seeker leaned down and scooped up Miko, presenting her to his friend.
"Worst. Babysitter. Ever." he hissed, playfully smacking the mech upside the helm.
With a sad-sounding crackle of static, Soundwave placed the little girl back into his scout chamber.
Airachnid scowled at the younger soldiers. "We need to find Violet and get these humans out of here!" she growled.
Timidly, Jack raised a hand. "Uh, she's in the lab," he gulped.
Starscream nodded and held two servos to his helm, activating his comm. "Commander Starscream to MECH strike team," he murmured, "She's in the lab. Proceed with extreme caution, we don't know who's waiting for us in there."
Violet may not have been hanging from the ceiling anymore, but she was undoubtedly in as much danger as before. She still sat limply against the cannister on the work table, completely immobile. Her cybernetic arm sparked and twitched uselessly from prolonged stress and lay heavy at her side.
The man who crouched in front of her—the man who had handed her family over to the Autobots when she was a child—wiped blood from her lip. She hadn't even realized she'd been biting it.
"Now take it easy, there," Liaison Darby said, "That'll scar if you're not careful!" The rough, homespun voice would have been warm and comforting in any other circumstance. Blue-grey eyes twinkled out of a weathered face surrounded by a mop of hair that didn't seem to realize that the '80s were over. He leaned forward.
"I understand, this has been a rough day for you, hasn't it? It's alright, I'm a patient man. I'll ask again. At school, did you ever see a fella named Jack Darby? Oh, he's not in trouble or anything, I'm just curious is all."
Violet opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came. After a few seconds of a croaking noise, a rasp escaped her lips. "Don't go to school."
The watchful eyes hardened into ice and a triumphant smirk lit Liaison's face. "Ah-ha! So you do know him, you just don't go to school with him!"
Violet blinked sluggishly. "Wha? I didn't..."
A gloved hand patted her head condescendingly. "It's the eyes, princess. That's your tell."
From the back corner of the laboratory, Ratchet called out, "If you take 'em out, she'll have a better poker face, y'know!d Stick a visor on there, boom! Nobody knows what she's thinking!"
Cliffjumper rolled his optics. "Yes, thanks for the tip, Ratchet!" then, under his breath, "Idiot."
He loomed over the table. "Liaison Darby, I fail to see how this will help us find the Decepticons!" The grizzled man stood and fixed him with a glare to rival Goldbug's.
"Probably because you're stupid." he drawled. "Although, to be fair, I'm really more just looking for one Decepticon in particular. By Optimus Prime's leave, you understand."
Again, the high-ranking Autobots were allowing the human to do as he pleased! Cliffjumper didn't care if he was one of their most loyal supporters. He was still a filthy human! Why should he be allowed to walk about for all the world as if he were one of them?
Darby turned back to Agent Woodlock, who was beginning to slip towards unconsciousness. "Where is the boy?" he asked calmly.
Hearing lasers being fired outside the laboratory gave Violet the courage for one last insult. "Rust in scrap, Autobot!" the girl croaked. The man appeared to consider this for a moment.
"Hm, wrong answer."
Without even a hint of emotion on his face, he wrapped his fingers around her throat and began to apply pressure.
As the edges of her vision began to darken, Violet looked up and saw a face through the grate on the ceiling. Silas? she thought dimly.
Megatron broke through the ranks of the fallen like a battering ram, tearing helms from bodies and throwing down the hungry dead. Still they came, droves of the undead crawling, clutching, tearing at him and at his medic. A roundhouse kick cleared the way of one, and a swift lunge saw the impalement of another. The arm then transformed into a cannon and blasted through two more.
"Lord Megatron!" Knock Out panted, beginning to flag, "This prolonged exposure to dark energon is sapping our strength!"
The Decepticon leader nodded, standing back to back with the smaller mech. "We cannot falter now," he said firmly.
If he could just clear enough of a space, he would be able to transform and fire on the abominations from the air. That would give Knock Out enough time to retreat and recover. Megatron crouched slightly, preparing to spring.
Feeling the urgency of their master, the Terrorcons gibbered and howled, enraged, and charged. Like locusts, they swarmed the two Decepticons, pinning them to the ground. Knock Out cried out in horror as Megatron vanished from sight beneath the pile of half-rusted corpses, before he too fell beneath their weight.
To be continued…
*quote from Wilfred Owens' "Dulce et Decorum Est"