Disclaimer: Well, I don't own anything except my OCs. Anyone takes them without asking or prior consent and I will bring the fury of Unicron upon them.
Chala: Gosh, Authoress is in a touchy mood.
Toxica: Um, that's not a good thing.
Sunblast: When is someone in a touchy mood ever a good thing?
Playback: What Toxica means is that Authoress must have something big happening here to leave such a scary message like she did above.
Ch. 20: The Domino Falls
Toxica felt like she was in a panic. It wasn't because there was a problem with their plans, no that was going well. There wasn't anywhere that she was supposed to be at the moment and Playback wasn't ready to start his mission to Praxus. No, she was panicking for a very different reason.
"Caliber where is it?" Toxica yelled as she ran around the house that Lockdown let the four of them borrow.
Caliber peeked out of his room. "Does it look like I know?"
Toxica sighed. This was not the best start to a day, no, solar cycle. Frag it she still got them mixed up. Thankfully, it had only been in her helm so far. "I know that news data pad is around here and either you or Flintlock had it last!" She wanted to see the news on the Alliance. It was a lot more interesting then just waiting for Playback to send for them. Before he had left for the solar cycle, Playback had said that he was going to send all of them who knew about their want to take Praxus out on patrol near the city to try and find the best place to attack. But, that had been four cycles ago.
"Yo, Flintlock, where is the news data pad at?" She heard Caliber yell to Flintlock, who was currently in the kitchen.
There was thirty nano-clicks of silence before Flintlock answered back. "Check under the couch!"
Toxica shook her helm before checking under the couch. "It's not here! I swear that I will shoot you both if it is lost again!" And she meant it. This was already the third one that they had lost before she got to read it. She was also now convinced that they were doing it on purpose. It was very infuriating.
"I swear that you two do this on purpose." Toxica muttered when she couldn't find it. This was going to take forever as it was. This was like trying to find the remote for the T.V.
"Toxica, come in."
Toxica jumped when she heard Playback's voice come through her comm. link. "I'm here, what is it?"
"I need you three to meet me at these coordinates quickly. I have sent for the others and they should be here soon." Playback answered before cutting the line.
Toxica sighed. Finally, she could do something that would be helpful, instead of just looking around for that news data pad. "Caliber, Flintlock; Playback called!"
The two mechs were in there so fast that Toxica would have sworn that they thought that she said that it was time to eat.
"Ready and able. Where is he?" Flintlock asked.
"Just follow me and don't lose me." Toxica answered before running out the door. She knew that time was of an essence for Playback and they could keep him waiting. Hopefully, they would be doing something exciting for once. Like maybe kick some Viron tailpipe. Yeah, that would be great.
"What do you mean you have to go?" Lockdown demanded. Playback had just received a call from Slipknot saying that he and Gearstar were going on a mission. Lockdown was not pleased. Their group was supposed to go on a scouting mission to Praxus to see what possible point of entries there were for their upcoming mission to Praxus. He had canceled his normal talk with Swindle just to come to this and now Playback was telling him that he had to go.
"You will lead the mission in my stead Lockdown. Remember, we have to keep up appearances in the rebel lineup as well. That means, that our missions might be changed when they call. Now, I have to go and meet up with Gearstar."
Lockdown shook his helm. This would be their luck. Right as they are about to scout for their mission, the head of their group has to go on a mission. Why couldn't something just go along without being interrupted? Was it fate?
"What is this mission that Slipknot just had to send you on?" Lockdown demanded. He knew that it must be something big but what was still unclear.
"It is just a reconnaissance mission."
Ok, even with the monotone voice, Lockdown could tell that there was more to the mission then that. "And where is this supposed to be located?"
It was strange seeing Playback squirm like a sparkling who was caught with their servo in the goodie jar. "Vos."
"VOS! Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?" Lockdown couldn't believe that Slipknot was going to send his bots to Vos. That city was heavily protected and they would see intruders coming before they got close.
"Of course I do, that is why I am going in the first place. Slipknot doesn't even know that I am going. He was just keen on sending Gearstar alone. When Gearstar called me up to tell me that he couldn't help with the reconnaissance because of it, I offered to come with so he wouldn't be going alone."
Of course Playback had a good reason. Though, why Slipknot had sent Gearstar alone on such a dangerous mission was beyond his knowledge. It would have been a suicide mission without Playback. "Fine. I guess we can handle the scouting on our own." Lockdown stated with a sigh. "Just come back in one piece...ok?"
Playback nodded his helm. "Deal." He then jumped before transforming and flying off.
Lockdown shook his helm as he watched Playback fly off. That mech tried to be in too many places at once. It was like he was trying to make up for the time that his other side was off of Cybertron.
"Hey, where's Playback?"
Lockdown turned when he heard Toxica's voice. Caliber, Flintlock, and the already mention femme were walking up to him. "Great, thanks for leaving me now Playback." Lockdown grumbled before turning to the group. They weren't going to like this one bit.
Gearstar sighed in relief when he finally caught site of Playback. The mech was about fifteen clicks late and Gearstar was afraid that he would have to do the mission without the mech. When he had received the call from Slipknot, he had been surprised when the leader of the rebels said that he was the only one assigned to the mission. It made no sense, especially since he was to go to Vos of all places. That place was swarming with Virons and there would have been no hope at all if he went alone. Thankfully, when he told Playback about the mission, the mech had offered to come with him. There was no way that he was refusing.
"Took you long enough. I thought that I was going to have to go on this mission alone." Gearstar stated with a smirk.
Playback shook his helm. "I would never abandon you. One for all, and all for one."
Gearstar smiled before nodding and leading the way. Right at this click, they were about thirty clicks from Vos and this was the area where interaction with the Virons was possible. That meant that the two of them had to be on their guard the entire time, or risk being ambushed. Gearstar honestly did not want to offline this solar cycle. The Alliance was so close to picking itself up that he didn't want to miss it.
Some movement on his right caused him to freeze. "Playback, movement to the right."
When he didn't get an answer, Gearstar turned and was surprised to see that Playback had vanished. Had the mech gotten lost? Gearstar wanted to turn and look for the faceless mech but he had a mission to complete so he continued to walk down the path.
Movement to his right, again, caused Gearstar to take out his sword and turn to the movement. "What the frag?" Gearstar yelped as he dodged a bot flying out of the shadows. The only reason that Gearstar didn't attack the bot was because the bot had already been offlined.
"Saw him following us a few clicks ago." Playback stated as he walked out of the shadows.
Gearstar shook his helm. "You know, a little warning helps sometimes."
"Yes, and it would have alerted him that I knew that he was watching."
Ok, Playback had a point. If the faceless mech had tried to warn him, the Viron would have known and might have fled before they could silence him. Now he was glad that Playback had come with him. If he hadn't, well, the scout might have offlined him and he wouldn't have been able to stop the Viron.
"Ok, you got me. Now, let's keep moving. If he was here, then there must be more nearby." Gearstar stated before walking forward.
Something didn't feel right. Gearstar could feel it in his circuits. The air around them seemed to have shifted and Gearstar felt extremely tense. It was like a Viron was going to pop out at any click and attack them. But, he didn't have to worry, as long as there wasn't anything that Playback couldn't handle. If that happened, then they were scrapped.
Playback didn't like the feeling that somebot was watching him. It usually lead to trouble. When he had seen that bot, Playback knew that he had already called in reinforcements. It was now only a matter of time before more Virons showed up.
Movement from his left had Playback taking out his blaster and aiming it up. "Gearstar helms up!" Playback yelled before firing. The bot came down.
But, now the two of them were surrounded by Virons. Playback growled as he took out his blade and got into a defensive position. This wasn't what he was hoping for. He had hoped that they could have gotten out of this without a major fight with the Virons. But, it looked like one was coming anyways.
"Now we get some fun." Gearstar stated as he stood next to him, sword out.
Playback shook his helm. "You would think this is fun."
"And you don't?" Gearstar shot back.
Playback knew that he was right. "Touche." But, the time for small talk was now over as the Virons all charged the two of them. This was going to be fun.
Blow by blow, strike by strike, Playback countered, dodged, and attacked the bots as they came at him. If any of them escaped, he knew that it would mean the end of their mission. One strike that was particularly close to his helm had him turning to avoid it and he quickly cut the offender down.
It took the two of them maybe ten clicks to take care of the thirty Virons who tried to stop them. But, Playback knew that there would be more coming soon. There was always more.
"Nice job Playback." Gearstar smirked. "Think the next batch will be just as easy?"
"Easy? Seriously?" Playback asked as he checked his systems. While he didn't detect any injuries from the fight, he wanted to double check just to make sure.
"Playback look out!"
Playback wasn't ready for Gearstar suddenly shoving him to the side. But, he wasn't going to dwell on it when he heard Gearstar gasp in pain. Playback had never turned so quickly in his existance when he turned to Gearstar and he let out a gasp of his own. There, in his chestplate, was a dagger.
Playback growled and turned to the area where the dagger came from and open fired with everything he had. A bot came crashing down soon after.
"Gearstar!" Playback yelled as he ran up to the mech and knelt down next to him. The damage was bad and Playback knew that the wound was dangerous. "Hang in there Gearstar. You're going to be fine."
Gearstar glanced up to him with dimming optics. "Don't lie to me Playback. I know that I'm not making it." The bot then let out a couple of coughs. "It seems like this was all pointless after all. Nothing has changed because I joined the rebels. We are all just going to offline like this; painfully. I guess I am lucky that I am going like this. There are much worse ways to offline."
Playback didn't want to hear it but he knew that Gearstar was right. There was no way that a medic would reach them in time, if one from their side would come out here at all. This mission had been suicidal and now Gearstar was paying the price. But, Playback knew that there was one thing that he could do for the bot before he offlined. "Gearstar; you stay online for a few clicks more and I promise I will show you that this has not been in vain.
Gearstar stared at him with confused optics. "I'll, try. But I'm not sure what good it will do."
Playback hadn't been planning on doing this until he was revealed but he would not let Gearstar go offline without knowing that there was always hope. So, he reached up to his disguises helm and undid the clasps.
"That...isn't your face?" Gearstar asked as Playback worked on the last clasp.
"It is not." Playback stated as he undid the last clasp. "Here is who I truly am." He then took off the helmet.
Pandimala smiled a sad smile down at Gearstar as he stared at her in wonder. He shouldn't have to offline but at least she was able to give him some hope to take with. "Pandimala, you are alive." Gearstar forced out in shock.
Pandimala nodded and smiled. "Yes. I wasn't killed by the space bridge exploding. Now, I have come to rid our planet of the Virons. As you can see, there is always hope. I thank you for not forgetting that."
Pandimala didn't stop Gearstar as he reached his servo up to her faceplate and touched her cheek. "It seems like hope has returned. Thank you for showing me Pandimala. Now I can offline knowing that I fought for you to keep hope for Cybertron."
Pandimala smiled and kissed the top of his helm in respect. "Thank you, Gearstar, for helping keep my message alive. It was an honor to fight by you."
Pandimala could see that his time was nearly upon him. "It was an honor for me to fight by you as well...Pandimala." Gearstar whispered.
Pandimala then watched as the mech's optics faded and his coloring turned to an ashen gray. She knelt there for a click in honor of his sacrifice before putting back on her helmet, becoming Playback once more.
"It is time." Playback growled as he picked Gearstar's offline chassis off of the ground and flew into the air. "But not before you are put to rest properly." Playback then flew back toward Kaon. He had to put Gearstar to rest quickly because he was now angry. The time for waiting for the Alliance was over. Now, was the time for him to take charge and take back Cybertron, once and for all. And, he would start with taking control of the rebels from Slipknot.
Authoress: *tears flooding down face* NO! Why did he have to die? *cries more*
Sunblast: Are you alright?
Authoress: *shakes head*No. *dries tears* But I think that I will continue on, for Gearstar.
Zinnia: Well, just sit down now and relax. You have to write more often for him.
Authoress: I know.
AN: *bawls* I didn't want to but I had to! It was a way to get the story to move along like it is supposed to! Next chapter will not be what you think but it will be interesting nonetheless. Until then though, please drop a review. =D