Chapter 9: The Guardians
Planet: Skalorr
Nightshade's claws slashed at the faceless head of the attacking rock monster that had came out of nowhere. The young Drakeian then dropped to the ground as the giant tock creature covered its face with its huge hands. She could just make out the scratch marks that her claws had left on the creature's face as it covered its wounded face with its huge hands.
She ignored the monsters roaring as she blasted it with a high voltage of black lightning. The monster roared in more pain as the undead magic smashed right into it. It did not face against her this time. It was quick to flee the Drakeian who was so much smaller than it. It did not care that the black lightning had stopped it just had the basic instinct to get away from her.
Nightshade did not have time to recover from her first attack with the only creatures that were on the planet when she was attacked by another creature. The massive creature had given her no warning as it ruby tackled her to the ground. She grunted when one of wings was trapped under her body as she was trapped under the rock creatures' own body as it took revenge on her for attacking the much smaller rock creature. She looked up to the creature to see that it was much larger and stronger than the last rock creature that she had been fighting. Nightshade growled before she kicked it off of her with her back legs. The rock creature was once again roaring, this time it was enraged that she was still fighting back. Getting back to her feet, Nightshade stood as tall as she could stand but she was still not as tall as the rock creature that she was fighting. Being no bigger than a minibot she was smaller than most Cybertronians, but what she lacked in size and strength she made up in speed and power.
The massive creature recovered after being kicked off of her and its faceless head was turned to face towards Nightshade. It too was standing as tall as he could stand as it looked down at the much smaller Drakeian.
Nightshade and the rock creature stared at each other. All around them there was still fights going on between the other Guardians and the rock creatures that inhabited the planet that was first thought to not be able to support life. The battle roars of both Guardians and the rock creatures was joined by the explosions from the Guardians weapons as they pushed back the rock creatures that were attacking them.
Nightshade was brought back to the rock creature that she was fighting when it gave out a loud roar just as it lunged towards her. Its huge hands almost got her, but she was able to move quickly. She melted into the shadows beneath its feet and get out of the way of its attack just before it got her. The rock creature was surprised from the sudden move that she just pulled. It looked around itself but did not see her emerging out of the shadows from behind it. Nightshade then swept her tail under its legs and watched as the being made of stone fell to the ground.
"It will be fun, he says! It is a dead planet that has no life on it! He says!" Nightshade growled to herself when she found herself fighting another rock creature. The rock creature had waited until the second one that she was fighting to be taken down before it made a move against her. Nightshade took to the air with a flap of her wings to be hovering at the same height as it's faceless head. "This is not fun, and this is not a dead planet!" she roared before she head butted the rock creature. She folded her wings close to her body and dropped onto the rock creature's chest and looked into what she assumed was its eye. Red optics glowing brightly as she allowed black lightning sparks to spark around her teeth in the warning. The rock creature was smart in just staying down and allowing Nightshade to jump back to the grassy ground.
When all four paws touch the ground, Nightshade looked around. The rock creatures had been used by Kronos since they had first arrived on the planet. He had used their size and strength to build his latest machines of mass destruction. This was always Kronos's plan. Invade a planet and force the native creatures to do his bidding while he either stays in his lab or makes off to the next planet were, he will repeat his plans again. As always the Guardians were not far behind him that it was slowly becoming really annoying. It always felt that they were two steps behind them. This had been more of the case after their last encounter with him. An encounter that had both scared him and Nightshade with new battle scars.
After her last and first fight with Kronos he had not been seen on the battlefield. For all she knew Kronos and the other Titans may have already left the planet leaving the Guardians to deal with the rock creatures that they had enslaved. It was something that the cyborg was beginning to use as his main tactic in getting away from them. To say that it was getting annoying was an understatement as Nightshade watched as the Guardians rounded up the rest of the rock creatures.
The various creatures who were under her command had at first were not used to being around each, that Nightshade was scared that she was not going to be able to what was being asked of her: stopping the Titans from destroying all of reality and building an empire out of what was left. It sounded easy but when she had to top up gathering a force to help stop that she thought the ancestors were crazy for asking her to do this. They were asking something that had not been done before. Uniting different lifeforms together for the same cause. Again, it sounded easy at first, but when she had started to travel around the universe meeting strange and wonderful creatures she had quickly found that this mission that was given to her was going to be hard. They said that her ancestors had done it, but that had been so long ago that many planets and civilizations had come and gone. There was not a lot of races out there that remembered the Drakeians, only a few Cybertronians really remembered that they were real rather than creatures of myths. That they were not just stories that had been told during the Quentisons invasion of Cybertron and then occupation of Cybertron.
"Nightshade watch out!"
The warning came too late and she did not react in time. A rock creature had snuck up on her when she had been watching the other Guardians. The large creature had taken the advantage of her distraction to find a large rock and then with its strength flung it towards her. Nightshade took the rock to the left side of her head. Roaring in pain from the still healing scar that was down the left side of her head.
Nightshade covered her head with her wings as she tried to regain composure from the sudden pain sensation. She felt the sibling bond with Orion shiver. The both of them were going through great amount of pain at the same time and this was causing both of them to fell more pain than they should have. She was felling a pain in her torso where she knew that there was no damage at all. A pain sensation that was coming from Orion's side of the bond. The problem only got a lot worse when the rock creature punched her exposed back. Nightshade growled as she opened her wings as fast as she could. Her extra limbs smacked the rock creature's chest as she used them to get the rock creature away from her. Taken to the air, Nightshade blasted another blast of black lightning at the creature.
The rock creature covered its head with its huge arms. The creature made a strange roaring noise as it ran away from Nightshade. It kept its arms covering its head even when Nightshade stopped her attack against it. It did not even look back at her as she landed back on the ground and focused on her connection with Orion. It was made easy to contact with the Cybertronian she shared the sibling bond when she felt great pain coming from Orion's side of the bond.
"Orion?!" she asked through the bond. She sat down on the ground and kept her optic closed as she focused on talking with him. She could just hear the footsteps of another Guardian approaching her side, no doubt to cover her as she spoke with him.
"Nightshade? Where, where are you?" Orion asked her.
Nightshade could feel Orion's pain and anger both for himself and towards something else. Something that she never thought would come from Orion. He always liked everyone that he came into contact with. She also could not allow Orion to know where she was and what was happening. She could not allow Kronos to find out about him back on Cybertron. She could only tell him that she was coming back. "I'm heading to Cybertron right now. Ratchet and a femme called Ariel called me saying that you were in trouble. I will be there as soon as I can." she told him.
"Ariel did not mention that she called you. Neither did Ratchet. I should have listened to them. Never trust a con." he told her through the bond.
Nightshade blocked her side of the bond very quickly. What had happened in the matter of hours that she had last spoken with Ratchet and Ariel? Nightshade opened her red optics and saw that it was Dragonstorm who was standing beside her and keeping her covered as she contacted Orion.
She pressed the communicator on the right side of her head with a metal claw. "Moonray, I need you to open a line with the Iacon Medic, Ratchet." she ordered the artificial intelligence that ran all of the Guardians systems.
"Connecting with Medic Ratchet just now." Moonray replied back to Nightshade. A second later it was not Moonray who was talking to Nightshade it was Ratchet.
"You better have a good reason for calling me!" grumbled the medic. "I have so many calls around Cybertron telling me that the Decepticons have been attacking anyone and everyone in the street! So this better be good whoever you are?"
Nightshade looked towards Dragonstorm who was fighting a rock creature with his sword. The large mech was keeping the creature from getting to her with her defences down. Quickly she got back to Ratchet. "Ratchet it's Nightshade. Orion has been attacked at the docks and is in need of medical assistance. I am on my way to Cybertron as soon as I quickly get finish somethings here." she quickly explained to the medic.
Ratchet grumbled on his end of the call. "I still don't understand how you two made a sibling bond. I am heading to the docks just now. Just get to Cybertron as quickly as you can and whack some sense back into Orion's processors." Ratchet told her before he ended the call between the two of them.
Nightshade seeing that her call with Ratchet was over opened the bond between her and Orion quickly. "Hold on as long as you can. I have called Ratchet that you have been attacked and he is heading there. He will be there before I get there. Just hold on. Because if you offline I am dragging you out of the Well to send you back."
"There is no way for a Spark to be ripped away from the Well of Allsparks. So I will be safe from this new you." he laughed in good humour towards Nightshade and she returned it with her own.
"You have no idea what I can do now, Pax!" she warned him before she went back into her side of the sibling bond.
Nightshade opened her optics and stood up off the ground. She looked towards Dragonstorm to see that he was watching her closely.
"Nightshade? Are you alright?" asked the Cybertronian who had warned her of the rock creature. He fired his rifle at the retreating rock creature as Nightshade landed back on the ground beside her. "That was a bad hit. Maybe you should see Shockblast when we get back to the Valiant?" He stated to her as he watched as her blue lifeforce slowly seeped out from the once again damaged left side of her face.
The dragon like Drakeian sighed as she watched the rock creatures being forced back to the mountains that they had called home before Kronos had showed up. The Guardians may not have numbered a lot, but they worked well together now that they had more time to fight alongside each other. She looked further up the mountain to see that there was a group of the rock creatures just standing together as they watched the Guardians fight against others of their kind. They were the rock creatures that they had already faced and had retreated back into the safety of their mountain home. The rock creatures were no doubt scared of the Guardians just being the same as they were scared of the Titans. To the rock creatures the Guardians and the Titans were just the same. They were aliens not from Skalorr who had come to their planet and attacked everything as soon as they made planetfall. If they kept this up, the rock creatures may just keep fighting until they were all dead. That was something that she could not allow, it would just make her as bad as Kronos.
"Guardians fall back!" she ordered them. With a powerful flap of her wings she took to the air but it was slower than her normal speed. Her wings were still sore after being attacked by the rock creature. In the air she resorted just flapping her wings a few times and resorting to using her tail fin more than she would have before.
Beside her Dragonstorm transformed into his dragon mode and followed after her. On the ground she heard the Ghoul, Eddie calling for a fall back for those who had not heard her given the order. With both of Dragonstorm and Eddie at her side she had managed to lead the Guardians to be what they could always be; not just a team but a family. A very strange, mismatched family of creatures of all shapes and sizes. A family that had Cybertronians and also a few organic races from all across the galaxy.
"Why are we falling back?" Dragonstorm asked her as he came to fly beside her. He glided beside her as they retreat to the Guardians' flagship, the Valiant. One of his heads looked towards the Drakeian while the other head was looking ahead as they went back to the massive ship that the Guardians had in their fleet of three ships. His yellow optics on both heads either surveying the area ahead of him or were studying the young Drakeian who had recovered slightly from her fight with the rock creatures.
"We are not these creatures' enemies. If we keep fighting them Kronos will use this time to get away from us and do this to another planet. We have to keep on his tail and put a stop to his plans." Nightshade explained to the Cybertronian who had been with her through all of training and then when she went out in the galaxy when she knew what she was doing. He had helped her in her first fights and even after a couple of years of fighting and leading the Guardians he was still at her side.
Dragonstorm hummed and had both heads look straight ahead. "It does make sense. Since you defeated and wounded him in the Medusa Cascade he has not been seen. Just his beasts that he creates or the ones that he has enslaved. You must have damaged more than his pride in that fight! A fight that the Time Lords have no doubt noticed and knowing them it won't be too long before they are sticking their necks into our business." he responded back her.
"If we keep fighting and killing those creatures," Nightshade said as she looked down to the ground below them where the Guardians were pulling away and the rock creatures were fleeing at the sight of the two fliers above them, "then we are no better than Kronos and the Titans" she said looking back towards Dragonstorm. "And wouldn't having the Time Lords on our side by a great advantage to us against the Titans?" she asked him.
Dragonstorm snorted in response. "Of course. These creatures are just being used by Kronos and are defending their home. I can see the logic behind their attacks, even when all we were doing was helping with the damage that the Titans had caused. And no, having the Time Lords involved would only cause more problems than good. They will no doubt but their authority and get us involved in the Time Lord Council on what we can and cannot do. The best thing is for them to stay out of our way and we will stay out of their way." Dragonstorm replied to her.
Nightshade was quite as she glided beside the much larger Cybertronian. She enjoyed flying. To fell the wind against her wings and to hear it rushing past her horns it was a feeling that she did not get much when she was on Cybertron unless she snuck out of the Archives late at night when there was little traffic was going on at the time. Here on a dead planet where the only locals were rock creatures she could fly as much as she wanted without having to be told off by an annoyed older mech and a youngling who did not like to make risks or get into trouble for bending the rules slightly.
In the distance she could see the Valiant hovering just above the ground. It's massive engines made loud humming noises as it hovered above the ruined city that lay underneath. The ruins of an abounded city was just underneath the Guardians flagship. The city had been left in a hurry. No doubt the residents had left because of the sun. The sun which was little too large for her liking. She looked back at the Valiant which was preparing to take off as soon as the Guardians who were out of on the field got back on board. Then they would leave to the next location in hopes of getting closer to the Titans and Kronos.
The two Guardians entered the Valiant through the open hanger door. Nightshade folded her wings in close to her body and landed gentle in the hanger. Her metal claws making a tapping noise as she landed. Beside her Dragonstorm had landed on the ground in his robot mode after transforming back into it in the air. He landed with a louder metallic thud beside her. The large Cybertronian looked down at the Drakeian who was no larger than a minibot with concern in his optics.
"Are you sure you are alright Nightshade?" Dragonstorm asked her as he avoided stepping on the human sized aliens that were working inside the hanger of the Valiant. "You have been acting strange for some time. Is it to do with Kronos getting away? Are you more wounded than you are letting on? Should I tell Shockblast to see you in the medbay?" he asked her as he followed her out of the hanger bay.
Nightshade stopped and looked towards the large mech who had been with her for the years that she had been away from Cybertron. She trusted him as much as she trusted either Orion Pax or Alpha Trion, but unlike them she knew Dragonstorm could cover her in the middle of a battle. Something that Orion Pax and Alpha Trion could not do. "I just have a nagging feeling in the back of my mind. I am sure that it is nothing too important but at the same time it is constantly there." Nightshade explained to Dragonstorm.
The black and purple mech only stared at Nightshade and folded his arms across his chassis. "Surely you can do better than that. Since that phone call from the medic, you have been pacing all over the place. Especially when we have not been fighting either the Titans or those rock creatures for the past week. So, I will ask you again: are you sure you are alright?" he addressed her as a black and silver mech rolled towards them on the tires on his feet.
"No, I am not. Ratchet told me that Orion has gotten into something that he really should have stayed out of, and now he is getting threatened by thugs and Enforcers alike. You know him, he isn't a fighter!" she replied back to Dragonstorm as the other mech stopped beside her.
"I do. I know that he is as stubborn as you and will not stop until he gets what he is after. Unlike you he cannot manipulate shadows and has an army of not only Cybertronians but other lifeforms around the universe." Dragonstorm replied to Nightshade.
"Also, you have a few mechs from another dimension complete different to this dimension." spoke the black and silver mech who had come to stand beside her. He had appeared without a sound from his feet since he kept skating about on his wheels even in robot mode.
Both Nightshade and Dragonstorm looked towards the other mech who had appeared out of nowhere. "What? I just heard the tail end of what you two were talking about. So, don't blame me if I have the wrong idea of the conversation that you were having." Sideswipe argued with them. His blue optics looking between Nightshade and Dragonstorm as the two of looked between each other. Sideswipe clapped his hands together as he followed the two natives of this dimension back to the bridge where they would no doubt continue this conversation that they were having before Nightshade disappeared into her office with Dragonstorm going to his own office. "So, what are we talking about?" he asked them as he rolled beside Nightshade.
"I was recently contacted by the medic, Ratchet from Cybertron," Nightshade started to explain but when she saw the look of recognition on Sideswipe's faceplate she was quick to carry, "He is an old friend of mine that I trust him with my life. He has told me that there is some trouble brewing in Cybertron that he hopes doesn't escalate like what has happened in your dimension." she reassured the Autobot from the other dimension.
Sideswipe's entire body trembled as he remembered the escalation of violence that Megatron, the lord protector of Cybertron was leading. He remembered the final hours on Cybertron with his brother Sideswipe when a bright light had blinded him for a brief second. That brief second had been all that it took for his entire world to be changed. He was flung into another dimension and into another war. A war unlike the war back in his dimension that was just for one planet, this was for the whole multiverse. He knew that he had to do his part to defend his whole dimension and so he joined the Guardians. That had been three years ago. He didn't know if Sunstreaker was still alive or if the other Autobots knew that he was still alive. He did not want them to just assumed that he had been killed in action and that they were just going to move on like for many other falling warriors.
"Don't worry Sideswipe, we will find a way to send you back to your dimension. But right now, we still don't know how the Titans managed to rip a whole between two dimensions. From what I can gather from what the Moonray had told us was that Kronos was experimenting on trans dimensional travel, but it was just a one-time wounder. With what I have to say is lucky for us." Nightshade had reassured the Autobot from the different reality.
Sideswipe looked towards Nightshade. "I'm sorry Nightshade. I don't want to sound ungrateful for saving me when I came here. I, uh I just want to make sure that my brother and my friends are save. There is a war still going on there!" he said to her as all three of them entered the bridge of the Valiant.
"I don't blame you Sideswipe, and I understand. I truly do. If I found myself in another dimension I would try and find a way back to my dimension." Nightshade told Sideswipe. "And like I said to you before I am not forcing you or anyone else to be a Guardian. It is your choice if you want to remain or leave. I am not a slave master." Nightshade reassured him.
Sideswipe sighed and looked out the massive viewports of the Valliant's bridge. He watched in silence as the Guardians flagship left the planet where they had once again encountered the Titans. He looked back to Nightshade to see that she was now talking with the Ghoul, Eddie. He watched in silence as he along with Dragonstorm began to argue about the issue that they were arguing about earlier.
"We have the Titans on the retreat! Now isn't the time to stop this advantage that we have gotten! Especially with all the blood and Energon that has been spilled?" argued Eddie as Sideswipe joined Dragonstorm in listening to the Ghoul ranting away.
"I know that Eddie. But something is going on in Cybertron and I need to check if Orion is alright." Nightshade told the Ghoul who was the shortest member of the Guardians with her just being slightly taller than him. Eddie was just as tall as the shortest minibot. "But I also need to make sure that Orion is alright. After all I have already told him that I am on my way back to Cybertron." she continued to explain to the three of them.
"Wasn't it you who told us not to get involved in other planets and their governments? Only deal with the Titans and then get out as the Titans move onto the next planet." Dragonstorm stated back to her. "And from what it sounds like the Titans are not on Cybertron!"
Nightshade looked towards the older Cybertronian before she looked back out of the large viewport. They were already exiting the solar system of the planet where they had last encountered the Titans. The Artificial Intelligence the Moonray was piloting the great space vessel away from the planet there was little need for a large crew to maintain the ship other than to repair the ship along with the massive guns. Mainly the Guardians themselves done the repairs of the Valiant. "I know. It is to keep everything as simple as possible. But I still need to make sure that Orion is fine." Nightshade explained to them. She looked back round to the other Guardians to see that they all looked annoyed with her. "Look I will be quick to see what is going on and leave to meet up with you before the Titans make their next movies. We all saw how hard they were hit last time so we can assume that they will be out of action for some time." She continued to explain to them. "Now is a time to see to our own wounds and to get ready for the Titans next move." she told them all.
A purple and green mech who was at one of the Valliant's controls turned around to face them. His one yellow optic glowing brightly as he looked towards Nightshade. "Going down this path may allow Kronos to take advantage of you and use Orion Pax as a weapon against you. He does not know that when you were growing up you were raised on Cybertron along with Orion Pax all he knows was you appeared out of nowhere. It would be best for everyone for you to stay away from Cybertron and Orion Pax."
"Thank you Shockblast for your input. But I have made up my mind. I won't be gone for long, and Kronos will be to focused on repairing the damage that has been done to him." She said to the one optic mech who had been with her and Dragonstorm for some time since they had restarted the Guardians. She then looked towards the dragonformer Cybertronian. "Until I get back Dragonstorm you are in charge" she told him.
Nightshade did not give them a time to react or say anything else she was already walking away from them. Her metal claws clicked against the metal floor of the ship as she walked away from the out bridge of the Valiant. The doors snapped shut behind her tail as soon as it was over the threshold. She passed by the many other creatures that made up the Guardians. They all kept out of her way. None of them wanted to get accidentally slashed by her claws when she walked past them.
She came into a room were there was a massive tunnel. Her metal claws kept clicking against the metal floor with every step as her optics focused ahead of her. "Moonray open a space bridge to the Iacon Hall of Archives!" she ordered the AI that controlled all the Guardians system.
"Can you at least listen to reason? For years you have kept little contact with Cybertron, only them getting in touch with you with limited messages and the same thing with you. Going to Cybertron may put everyone's lives in danger. So, going to Cybertron just now just doesn't seem like a good idea going to Cybertron especially right now with the Titans on the run. Kronos being Kronos will no doubt be angry and will lash out at you." The Moonray said as she opened up a space bridge.
The greenish blueish vortex came to live before Nightshade, and she looked into the spinning vortex before her. The vortex that would take her back to Cybertron in just a step. This technology of travel had been lost to Cybertron for many years. The Guardians had kept the technology and had been able to use it to get from planet to planet as they chase after the Titans.
"I know Moonray. But you don't understand the feelings that I am feeling through the sibling bond with Orion. I have never felt this pain before." Nightshade explained to the AI as she still kept looking at the open space bridge to Cybertron.
"Have you got your mental walls up?" the Moonray asked her.
"Yeah. They are all up. But still I can feel Orion's pain and fear on the other side of the bond. I just need to make sure that he is alright. Once I am sure that everything is fine, I will come right back." Nightshade told the Moonray. She started to walk towards the open space bridge. She could not hear her metal claws clicking against the metal floor over the humming of the space bridge.
The Moonray was silent as Nightshade walked towards the open space bridge that was going to take her back to Cybertron. "Just come back once you know everything is fine. I fear the Guardians will kill each other if you are not here!" the Moonray told Nightshade.
Nightshade stopped just before she entered the space bridge. "I will try and be back as soon as possible." she said to the AI. She then stepped into the swirling vortex. Her tail was out of view from within the Valiant when the space bridge snapped shut.
Hi everyone, so before you shoot me let me explain what is going on here. So the characters that have been introduced here are my own characters, well Nightshade, Eddie, the Moonray, Kronos along with the Guardians and Titans. I will explain the Guardians and the Titans: so, they are like the Autobots and Decepticons fighting each other. The Titans want to create an empire and enslave all the races of the galaxy under their rule. The Guardians are following after the Titans and stopping them before they can do anything to harsh other than enslaving a planet for a short time before they show. The Titans are not going to play a big role in the series but they will be mentioned in certain points. The same will go for the Guardians.
The other characters that are in this chapter, Dragonstorm and Sideswipe, they are already known characters from other Transformers series. Dragonstorm is named after the dragon knight Transformer from The Last Knight movie, but unlike the movie version he is much like Megatron from Robots in Disguise (2001) with more than one alt mode, there is a story to that will be explained later on. Sideswipe is the Sideswipe from the movie series from design to characteristics. For him again there is a story and it has to do with the Titans and Guardians fighting each other. I had first thought to make Sideswipe be the Sideswipe from the Shattered Glass universe but I changed to Shockblast who is the Shockwave from the Shattered Glass universe which again has links with the Titans and Guardians fighting each other.
It has been a while since I have done an A/N in this story and I know this has been a longer note than any previous once before. Like I said this was to introduce my own characters and a plot line that will be later used in the Infinity Avengers series. This is just to explain what will be happening a little bit further down the line with this part of the storyline. So Nightshade has already been introduced in earlier chapters but it's so far not been on her side of things but now she has introduced is the leader of the Guardians, my own characters who will be appearing later on in the series that I am doing at the moment, Infinity Avengers. This includes the Titans who are also my own creation. These characters will play a role in the series that I am currently redoing at the moment, Infinity Avengers. I have decided to add War for Cybertron into Infinity Avengers as it will lead into Redemption of a Fallen Warrior which will also be getting redone to due time.