Now when I hear Seismicwave, I imagine PotC's Davy Jones' accent with the bass of Mr. Scroop from Treasure Planet. He speaks slow, too, and only tlaks faster when he's angry. He's a bit playful too, so use that imagination to how he speaks.
Chapter XXI
Captain
The Black Solus was indeed big for a pirate ship. It had the necessary components that made it suitable for long-term space travel, such as large stellar panels. Before Cybertron found ways to refine energon as a fuel for space ships, they constructed a mesh that soaked in light and thermal energy from the stars and comets and other celestial auroras, and converted it to power the ship. The Black Solus had such sails. It also had an upper deck lined with a barrier so no fool, drunk or sober, would go stumbling outside its gravitational field. Its navigation system was also on deck. It must have been an ancient mold: Ships back then were built with the system below deck with a monitor hooked to see the bow's direction. The Black Solus' was above the deck, an upper third level, the second level holding two large doors (which was to be assumed was the captain's quarters) and from each side of this second and third level were stairs leading to the main deck. A human would say it was just like a pirate ship from the movies... except bigger and robotic with a pink and blue star on each side.
The ship's engines slowly died, lowering it onto a flat slab of rock ten miles from the Hive. The pirates all gathered around to examine their surroundings and were quite disappointed.
"Just a big hunk of nothin'!" one complained.
"Megatron was going to conquer this worthless ball of dust?"
"Wasteful star energy is all we got. Where's Leader-1? I'll kill 'er for convincing us to get here!"
The doors of the second deck opened. A black mech stood forth, one clawed hand gripping the banister and the other arm, which had a gun in place of a hand, resting on it. He had one piercing left optic, his right covered by a fiber-glass patch. Thin black cables with pink glowing rings hung from his mouth and head. Both audio receptors stuck back like elvish ears. A pink and blue star fitted to his chest. He wore metallic clothes, like the rest of his crew; a black hat and black coat, both lined with lavender light. He was the most feared of all galactic pirates, Cybertronian or otherwise; the noble pirate, the one-eyed demon, the mad nebulan predator:
Captain Seismicwave.
"What's all this noise, then?" he growled. His voice was as deep as an abyss with the accent of an Earth Irishman. "Like you thievin' little ingrates haven't seen a worse planet before? Look around ye! The red dirt glitters, the sky's blue as the Eplic Aurora, the closest star can make ye overheat in an hour. What's wrong, pray tell?" The crew did not answer. "'Sides, this is just one sector. Plenty more to see, plenty more to pillage." He walked down the stairs, large pedes thudding. "Tie 'er down and make 'er blend with the sand. Primus forbid a damned organic tries to vandalize Solus' hide."
The navigator shut down the ship. Two pirates jumped off either side and jabbed rugged spikes deep into the ground to hold the ship's balance. One drone, the only drone aboard the ship, went to the lowest deck and turned a knob. Within seconds the Black Solus disappeared from normal view. The Star Burners gathered on the ground and awaited orders. The drone, a faceless thing with a wheel as a leg, met up to the captain.
"Coordinates, sir," it beeped, and sent the information straight to Seismicwave's CPU. The brutish captain patted the side of his gun on its shoulder.
"Thank ye, Ace," he muttered, then louder. "Mechs! Follow me! We'll give that wretch Leader-1 a talkin' to once we get there!"
It took them forty minutes to get across to the Grand Canyon. Most of the crew started to overheat but did not complain. The captain was right; they had gone through far worse. Skywarp was perhaps the only one of them whining.
"TC, I'm hot!" he cried.
"Then think of something cold."
"I can't. The sun hurts. And sand's getting in the most uncomfortable places."
"Just shut up and walk."
"But TC-eeeeeee!"
"'Ey!" A skinny mech with unfortunate looking denta smacked him. "Quit yer whining! Before I shove one of those rocks down your throat."
"Geez, calm down, Packrat."
The drone Ace wheeled over to them, facing the three and moving in reverse.
"Captain Seismicwave wishes you to be silent," it whirred. "He has heard sounds of large creatures nearby."
"Ha!" Thundercracker barked. "What could be dangerous around here? A flea?"
It was not a flea that attacked them, but rather a metallic mosquito. It went for Packrat, jabbing its thin tube into his back from behind. Skywarp shot him off then tackled the bug. Two other mechs shot at the Insecticons and pulled the Seeker away. The mosquito screeched under the gunfire.
"Hold ya fires, mates!" Seismicwave shouted, pushing through the small crowd. The two stopped shooting and let him pass. The bug tried to stand, with two broken limbs and a shattered wing. The captain stood over him.
"Don't kill me," it buzzed helplessly.
"Hadn't seen an Insecticons since I been to Cybertron last," he muttered. He kneeled down and pressed the barrel of his gun to the bug's head. "Where did you come from, then?"
"Born here, like the rest. I'm just a child, please!"
"A child?" That sparked Seismicwave's interest and whatever had his interest had his attention. "Then there's a nest, full of you little beasts. Just when I thought I had seen the last of ol' Shockwave's abominations."
"The Hive. There's hundreds of us. Well, there were… We were massacred. By Autobots! And-And Autobot creatures!"
"Autobots are still here?" He chuckled and warmed up the gun. The bug squirmed to get away, feeling the heat radiating off of it. "The war's either won by them or still going."
"Um, cap'n," a mech said, stepping forward. "Leader-1?"
"Right. You, bug. Seen a little sweetspark of a Minicon around these parts?"
"She stays with Starscream."
"Ha ha ha! Primus and all his children, so many surprises today! And where is the half-wit prince?"
"At the Hive."
"Lead us, little beast, and I promise you a nice sweet I picked up at Neroht."
Thundercracker and Skywarp both were filled with anticipation as the mosquito led them on to the Hive. They had not seen their brother in millennia, and they both knew that once they got there he would be screeching at Megatron. That is, if the ex-gladiator was still alive. The Black Solus had picked up a surge of energy from a broken-down space bridge and it had shut off before they could reach it. Whatever was going on was big. It was calling for Decepticons.
Now, pirates were not necessarily Decepticon or Autobot. They traversed on their own and followed their own code and captain. They were neutral. They had nobody to rely on but themselves. Seismicwave was just curious of what all the fuss was about with the space bridges all lighting up at once, and set a course for the source of the signal. Once they were in close range, he had sent Leader-1 to investigate. She was small and sneaky, also good with persuasion. She usually played the scout and spy.
"Tell me, is ol' Megatron going to appreciate my presence?" Seismicwave asked the bug. "I bet Shockwave's told him so many stories about me."
"There is no Megatron," it hissed. "Only Starscream and Shokaract."
"No Megatron?" he said in surprise. "Well, bust my bolts, he kicked the can, didn't he? I guess that leaves the Howling Starscream in charge."
Starscream felt like he was a savage when he met the pirates. As If he were a part of the Hive and the Star Burners just happened upon him, seeing him snarl and growl and click like the beasts around him. Had he lost his sense of civility? Lost his sense to the insect manners of an ever-starving maggot? He felt small, and he did not like it. What made sizing worse was that he was a head shorter than Seismicwave.
"I see the life of thievery and deceit had treated you well," the Seeker snarled.
"And it has knocked you on your aft," the captain chuckled, joined in by the heated laughs of the other pirates. Before he could counter, Seismicwave continued. "But I'm impressed, seeing as you can hold for so long with these bugs. I feel sorry for them all. Descendants of genetic mutation. What's that look for? You didn't know? The first true Insecticon was a drone built for the gladiator pits and was slain by Megatron. Shockwave liked its features and tortured several to try and recreate it. Obviously succeeded."
Starscream had heard rumors and stories that Seismicwave was mad and liked to babble on about… well, anything. Shockwave said that Seismicwave was insane to the core and that he should have been locked up as a child. Perhaps that was why he left Cybertron before the war truly broke out.
"They serve their purpose," Starscream said, "as a strong army." He looked among the crew for a sign of his long-lost brothers. He saw a few familiar faces of criminals and ex-Decepticons, even some former Autobots. He had to keep in mind they were more of a neutral group than anything. "Thundercracker! Skywarp! I know you buffoons are in there!"
The first to emerge was Skywarp. He shoved his way forward, hitting many on the head with his wings. He lunged into his brother in a hug.
"I thought you had died!" Skywarp faked a sob.
"Likewise. Though I wouldn't have been surprised."
"Don't worry," Thundercracker said as he stepped forward. "I've kept him out of trouble as much as I could."
Starscream took a long look at the both of them and his face twisted.
"What are these?" he asked, tracing a line on Skywarp's wing, causing him to twitch. Both of them had colored lines on their wings; Skywarp's purple and Thundercracker's yellow.
"Racing stripes," Thundercracker said simply. "Yeah, we found Slipstream—remember her?—and after Vos was gone we made a racing team."
"Of all things!"
"Calm down! It didn't last long! Slipstream couldn't hold herself together so we left her. We spent centuries on Krax until the Star Burners raided our sector. Skywarp figured their ship was our last shot off the planet so we asked to join."
"It's fun stealin' stuff!" Skywarp said enthusiastically. Starscream huffed.
"Things haven't changed much, have they?"
The pirates made themselves comfortable in the Hive. They had seen many uglier species before and touched slime far more disgusting than what the bugs drooled. Starscream could not believe it. These were the most feared pirates of Cybertron? Well, they were certainly fearless considering they were well-situated among the Insecticons without trouble.
"Ah, that reminds me," Seismicwave cooed. He turned to the mosquito that was so kind enough to guide them to the caves and took out a small red square striped diagonally with blue. The bug sniffed and ooze poured from its mouth. "Your treat."
The mosquito grabbed it and in an instant it was gone. He looked at the captain and sniffed, moving closer to him.
"No, only one for now," he chuckled and rubbed the bug's head. "Next time, maybe."
"How can you stand these... things?" Starscream rasped after the mosquito left them.
"Because they live. Now, I'd squawk and squeak about my philosophies on respectin' all sorts of life, but I know you'd hate to hear me talk. You hate these bugs. But they serve you and protect you. Show some gratitude for that."
"Philosophies... I didn't know pirates had any intellect for that to begin with."
"That's what makes me fearsome, Starscream." The captain grinned and his optic glowed. I'm strong, physically, spiritually, and mentally. I've been blessed and cursed. And I'm unstoppable."
xXx
O Cap'n my cap'n. ~ I absolutely love Seis.