The White Flame
On a planet like Cybertron, where corruption lurked in almost every crevice of the government, sanitation was hardly a thing, people were being driven from their homes, those same homes were literal shacks made out of whatever people could find, and the closest thing to proper law enforcement was the CCP (Which was only operating thanks to Prowl's anti-corruption policies), the Vehicon hordes, or Lockdown's private army of mercenaries, there were few places where bots could just set aside their worries and fears, and just let their frustrations out. At least, in a safe manner.
The White Flame was one of those places. Thanks to Maccadam's Old Oil House becoming a high end meet up place in the Great Dome, reserved exclusively for the elitists who live in the Celestial Spires, and also Sentinel Prime and his associates when they visit Iacon from their Metroplex base in Rodion, the White Flame has become a place of great importance to the people of Iacon. Though it was generally a clumsily put together shack of spare parts, nuts and bolts, to many, it felt like home. Owned by Artfire, Stepper, and the two Cyberdroids Nightstick and Fracas, the bar was essentially a large room, made of mismatching plates of metal, held up by several thin metal columns, with several sets of tables and chairs scattered across the large room, and a sitting area at the front of the building. On the opposite side of the large room was the bar, where the best quality drinks in Iacon sat (they were all cheap knockoffs of the real thing, but at this point, no one could be bothered to tell the difference), and at the bar side, there were several stools for people who were too lazy to find an actual seat. Today, however, these seats were taken by a certain group of five individuals...
"-And then I said to him," exclaimed Swerve in a loud and exited tone, as he sloshed his drink around, causing some of the purple liquid to splash onto Bumblebee, "Buddy, if you think I'm gonna move anymore of this weird anime crap for you, ya got another thing coming for ya!"
"No you didn't", said Bumblebee, grabbing a napkin and trying to wipe the Engel off, though it only commingled his yellow paint and the purple engex together.
"Lickety-Split is intensely protective of her anime collection", said Orion, his tone neutral, "That crazy Otaku would have flip-kicked you in the jaw if you said that to her. And you aren't missing your jaw, so...yeah", it was true. Lickety-Split once kept blabbering on about how she was a Crystal City resident at heart, and when Orion had jokingly mocked the crazy weeb about it, he ended up pressing charges of assault. That was a weird day in the courtroom.
"What, no", protested Swerve, "I totally did say that."
"Did you?" sarcastically asked Bumblebee.
"Yeah."
"Did you really?"
"...No."
"Didn't think so."
"Jeez Bee", sighed Swerve, "What's your problem? I just wanted to talk."
"That's my problem! You talking all the time! Every minute, you're yammering on about something either fake, dumb, or completely over exaggerated! Hell, why do you think no employer in their sane mind wants to hire you for any job that has the slight bit of socialisation!"
"Not even call centres want you", muttered Chromedome, as he retracted his faceplate to take a sip of his drink, "Or suicide hotlines, thank Primus."
"Oi, no need to go on a diatribe against me Bee-Bee-"
"Only. My. Girlfriend. Gets. To call. Me that", stated Bumblebee.
"...Alright then...anyway", Swerve exclaimed as he threw his hands in the air, "Lets just forget about our problems and just enjoy the night while we still ca-"
{SMASH}
It took Swerve 2 seconds to realise that he had had his drink in his hand. It took him another few seconds to realise that it had flown out of his hand, and onto a bot.
"Hey, who did that! I'll have you know that I have my Communicom with me, and I'm not afraid to tweet this on the Big Conversation!"
"We get it, Fireball, you have a new phone, and you can do stuff on it. Now shut up about it already!"
"But Skram, it's new and stuff..."
Swerve then slammed his head on the table, as Bumblebee, Orion, Chromedome, Rewind, and the current bartender Stepper looked at him with still faces.
"You know that's going on your tab, right?" Asked Stepper, casually wiping down a wet glass with a cloth.
"I know", muttered Swerve, not moving from his position on the table.
"This is why we can't do nice things", muttered Rewind.
"At least we still have the TV to watch, otherwise we would have to listen to you babble on all day", said Orion as he watched the TV at the top of the bar. He had honestly gotten a little sloshed himself, though he was good at keeping it under wraps.
"Sod off", murmured Swerve as he sat back up, "Why do I still fraternise with you guys?"
"I dunno", said Bumblebee as he watched the TV, "But I'm beginning to wonder..."
Meanwhile, all the way in the abandoned streets of Kaon, where criminals and thugs of all walks of life hide away from the prying eyes of the government, agents of a rising insurgency were running for their lives, hunted by those who hide in the shadows. This was Spinster, and his Cyberdroid partners Singe and Hairsplitter, spies for the Exiled, a rebel faction of mercenaries, outcasts, and individuals banished from society, and right now, their cover had been blown.
"I'm picking up more Vehicons heading our way!" Exclaimed Singe, with fear in his voice.
"From which direction?" Asked Hairsplitter.
"Every direction!"
As they ran through the street, a Vehicon starfighter swooped down from the sky, and flew down the derelict street, spraying blue laser fire at them. One energy blast hit Singe, causing the Cyberdroid to detonate into millions of pieces. Spinster quickly pulled his sniper rifle from his back, and fired a purple blast of energy directly into the cockpit of the fighter, killing its Vehicon pilot, and causing the ship to smash into a derelict old building next to them.
"Singe!" cried out Hairsplitter.
"There's nothing we can do for him now", said Spinster, as he ran towards the crashed Starfighter, opened up it's cockpit, pulled it's dead pilot out, and began to hotwire the controls.
"Except make sure that his death wasn't in vain", frustratingly said Hairsplitter.
"No clichés, Hairsplitter, please. We're surrounded by a horde of emotionless machines who would want nothing more to kill us. Violently. And painfully. So I would like it if you didn't start quoting off movie clichés."
"Right, yeah, sorry", apologised Hairsplitter as the tiny Cyberdroid ran up to Spinster, and sat atop the downed ship, "What are you even doing?"
"I figured", began Spinster as he began to hotwire the controls of the ship, "That if I link the communications relay on this ship to, well, what's left of my satellite phone, I can boost the signal to the EHC, and transmit what I've found to them."
"What?" frustratingly asked Hairsplitter, "That's stupid. One, our satellite phones were destroyed by Mindset and his Vehicons when we broke out of that facility. Two, those relays on a Starfighter have terrible range, so the signal will never get off world-"
"Then we'll just contact another agent on the planet. I'm pretty sure Switchblade is still on Cybertron. we can boost the signal to him, then he can send the data to the EHC."
"And if he isn't on Cybertron?"
"Well, lets just hope he is."
As the sound of marching began to boom all around them, Spinster continued to hotwire the ship, hoping that if they died, then at least it not be in vain.
"-Another military convoy in the Expansion Zone, this time near the Outer Orion Cluster, was attacked by a group of terrorists known as the Exiled", stated Blaster- Sentinel's primary propaganda artist- on the TV, it's glow lighting up the dimly lit bar, " This group of extremists has been disrupting military actions in recently rebellious zones in the edges of the expansion zone for 300 years now, and now it has delayed the main military arm, Butcher Division, from bringing back order to the Outer Colonies. Our glorious leader, Sentinel Prime the first, has now redirected Butcher Division to deal with these traitors. In other news, a Cybertronian Civil Police unit known as the Jet corps, consisting of Dark Jet of Rodion, Shadow Jet of Kaon, Moon Jet of Nyon, and Flare Jet of Polyhex, has officially been reported missing. They were last seen near a nightclub in the town of Yuss as of 2 days ago, at 9:37PM Iacon standard time. If you have any information on their whereabouts, please contact your local CCP station, and report your findi-"
A glass of pink liquid then smashed against the screen, surprising everyone at the bar. They then looked behind them to see a large green, white and black bot leaning against one of the metal columns, clearly drunk. Next to him was another bot, pulling on his arm, indicating that it was time for them to go.
"'Ey Stepper, turn that scrap off", said the large bot, "Everyday, it's the damn same. Some bot goes missin', an' the cops investigate it (its a shitty excuse for a case investigation, can I just say). But the next day, they end up in a ditch somewhere with a bullet hole in their head, and the cops write it off, an' everything just moves on. Then the cycle begins again. Rinse, dry, fuckin' repeat, I tell ya!"
"Sixshot", said the large bot's friend, clearly worried.
"Back off, Ursa Major. I'm fine. Really."
"Hey", called out Chromedome as he got up off his stall, "I think you should pay a little respect to the people who were watching that."
"Chromedome", began Rewind, "I don't think you should-"
"Not now Rewind. I've got this."
"I think you should listen to your little boyfriend, Autobot", said Sixshot, as he pushed himself off the column, and walked up to Chromedome, "Yeah, that's right. I see your badge. You think you can just wear it and think you got power over me."
"Well, I am an officer of the law, so I would assume that you would give me at least a little respect", stated Chromedome, not deterred by the larger bot, "Also the little guy is my Husband, so... yeah."
"You think I'm gonna give you shit because you're a cop. Sorry bucko, the world don't work like that anymore. Everybot's got a transgression against another, and everyone wants ta kill each other over some stupid reason."
"Yeah, well that's what me and my police buddies are for. Stopping the bad guys from killing people."
"Sure, because bein' a cop means so much in this day an' age."
Meanwhile, while Sixshot and Chromedome were arguing, Fracas was calling the cops, and was told that they would be at the White Flame in a few minutes.
"Switchblade, if you are receiving this message, this is Spinster. I'm sending you this message because my partners and I have acquired information on Sentinel that could finally rally the people to our side", recorded Spinster as he quickly typed in Switchblade's transmission codes onto the patchwork computer, "The people are at a breaking point, and the information that I am attaching to this message will finally give them the will to rise up against their yolk of oppression."
"Contact!" shouted Hairsplitter as a Black Ops Vehicon emerged from a building down the street. The BO Vehicon then aimed its built in energy rifle at Hairsplitter, but he quickly fired his plasma revolver, sending a purple blast of plasma through the Vehicon's upper body, causing it to detonate, sending green fluid over the surrounding area.
"I'm afraid to say that this may be my last transmission", sombrely stated Spinster, "But I want you to know, that everything I've done, I've done for Cybertron. For our people. Spinster out."
Spinster then ended the recording, attached the information to the message, and then pressed send, before a Vehicon Rocket Trooper spotted them, and fired a missile at them, destroying the ship, and sending Spinster flying. Spinster then quickly targeted the Rocket Trooper with his sniper, and shot the drone in the head.
"Hairsplitter! The ship's been destroyed, and I don't know if my transmission went through-"
Spinster looked to Hairsplitter, only to see that his Cyberdroid partner had been destroyed in the explosion, with half of his body incinerated in the blast, and the blue shine in his eyes was gone. As his body turned from dark blue, light blue, and white, to a dull grey, Spinster grabbed a thin sheet of metal debris that was lying on the ground, and placed it on top of his deceased partner, bending it so it wouldn't fly off. When he was done memorialising the dead, he found that more Vehicons were emerging from the buildings, all heavily armed, and surrounding him.
"Well then", said Spinster as he charged up his sniper rifle, "I may go down, but I'm sure as hell gonna take you all with me", well, so much for not using cliches.
The Vehicons began to fire at him, blue and purple streaks of Plasma lighting up the street from all directions. Spinster quickly jumped behind the burning wreckage of the Starfighter, and shot a BO Vehicon that was coming down the alleyway in the head. Another BO Vehicon quickly jumped up on top of the ship, and aimed its gun at Spinster, but he then shot it through the chest, and straight through its synthetic spark. He then heard the sound of a Vehicon flyer, and looked up to see several Vehicon Wall crawlers perching themselves on the walls on the alleyway. As the Wall Crawlers aimed their sniper sights at Spinster, he quickly jumped onto the top of the burning ship, avoiding their sniper blasts, and fired his own shots at the Wall Crawlers, killing all of them with perfect headshots. Spinster Quickly spun around to blast two approaching BO Vehicons in the head and chests, before looking up to see a Vehicon Mothership hanging in the sky, with Vehicon Gunships and fighters swarming out of its underside fighter compartments.
'Well, there goes the option of flying out of here', thought Spinster, as he grabbed a still-functioning Vehicon Rocket Trooper, and used it as a shield against two other NO Vehicons, then he threw it at one of them, and shot the other Vehicon in the head. He then punched a Vehicon in the head, deactivating it, and grabbed a piece of debris from the ground, and flung it at a Wall Crawler, cutting it's head clean off. He then grabbed a Vehicon from behind, grabbed its arms, and pulled them off, using them as clubs to beat down the hapless Vehicon. He then used his arm-clubs to beat down several other Vehicons, and then jumped up, grabbed on to a Wall Crawler in-flight, ripped its head off, and used its corpse as a way to fly around the area, picking off any Vehicons he could see. He then noticed a Vehicon heavy gunner heading his way, so he pulled out a grenade, steered the flying corpse in the direction of the heavy gunner, stuffed the grenade down the neck of the Walll Crawler, and jumped off, watching as the flying corpse collided with the heavy gunner, and detonated, destroying it and several nearby Vehicon Shotgunners in the process.
Suddenly, Spinster heard loud stomping from behind him, and flipped around to see 2 hulking Vehicon Titans approaching, and standing before them, their commander.
"Mindset", sneered Spinster. He remembered the mindless Autobot from earlier. He was the one who'd found them out. He took great pleasure in explaining this, though Spinster has absolutely no idea what he had said through his completely broken Cybertronian.
Mindset simply smirked, and looked up at the two hulking brutes, "Kill 'im."
The two towering mechs then aimed their gatling guns at Spinster, and opened fire, spraying a shower of Blue Plasma blasts at him. Spinster barely had any time to react before he was riddled with laser holes, the plasma ripping off pieces of his own body, and disintegrating other parts. One of the Titanss even deployed tracking mines, which travelled to Spinster and detonated, scattering what was left of him over a short distance.
The Titans ceased fire, and observed the area where Spinster once stood. All that was left of him, was a few scattered pieces of metal, the smell of burnt steel, and a pool of burning blue innermost energon.
"Oh yeah?" Asked Chromedome, who was beginning to get annoyed with the drunk bot.
"Yeah", stubbornly stated Sixshot, "'Kay, I can give ya a brief summary of the rules of bein' an Autobot these days: One- Act like one of those butt things that fleshies have. Two- Don't give a crap about anyone. Three- Kill anyone with the slightest political or social difference then you or the corrupt as hell government that you 'serve'. There, boom, the 3 golden rules, listed off by yours truly."
"Oh", yelled out one bar patron, "He's calling you out, son! Are you gonna take that?"
"Wipe-Out", said Artfire from behind the bar, "Shut up or get out. You're not helping the situation one iota."
"Sorry."
"You know what", said Chromedome, ignoring the banter, and glaring at Sixshot, staring straight into his optics, "You know nothing about me. You know nothing about me and my job. Hell, we've only just met, and I don't even know your name, so what right do you have to judge me based on what badge I wear on my chest?"
"That it?" asked Sixshot, "I was expecting a higher level of wit from someone who tries so hard ta sound smarter than he is. Because I ain't judging ya on a badge you wear. I'm judging ya on the badge you wear. Being the Autobot badge. Right there. On your chest. And shoulders, surprisingly enough. Besides, I already know enough about bein' an Autobot ta make an assumption."
"Domey", said Rewind, who was now at his husband's side, "I really don't think-"
"Rewind, please", said Chromedome as he looked down at the Cassettebot, "I'll be fine. Trust me."
He then looked back at Sixshot, "So, you think you know so much about my job, and what I do?"
"Yeah, I do", sternly said Sixshot, "Ya wanna know how?"
"Sure, why the hell not?"
"'Cause I use to wear that badge."
"Well then... wait, what?"
"W-what?" queried Ursa Major, who was standing behind Sixshot. He then noticed all of the bots looking at the commotion, "Um, ignore him. He seems to have had a bit to much to drink-"
"Ursa, shut it", coldly said Sixshot, as he continued to stare down Chromedome with eyes of deep focus, "Let me ask you something: how old are you?"
"750000 years old", answered Chromedome with a questioning look on his face.
"Just as I thought", replied Sixshot, "You were born into Sentinel's rule, who had taken over from Nominus Prime's 6 million year rule of Corruption. You didn't see what it was like during the rule of Anima Bellator Maximus, or Aequmm Prime, or even during the time of the Thirteenth Primes and the galaxy's crusaders against the worshippers of Unicron."
"The Unicron Wars!" Exclaimed Rewind in surprise, "You were there! But that was 20 million years ago, and no one rumoured to have been around in those times are alive. No one knows if it was even real as its all rumours and fables and that's not your point is it, Mr Drunkbot?"
"There, little bot?" said Sixshot, "I wasn't just there, I was experiencing it! Living it! Fighting it! I was fighting side by side with the likes of Galvatron, Cyclonus, Rhinox, Scourge and his Sweeps,and the Convoy, like Flame Convoy, Galaxy Convoy, and Rhetoric Convoy. Together, we, along with the thirteen, all good Cybertronians, and all living things in our known space, fought against Megatronus, the Leigo Maximo, and the Heralds of Unicron, who threatened to tear away all that was good in the world. Once we were victorious, before she passed into her eternal slumber, Solus Prime dubbed us as 'the Knights of Cybertron', and the defenders of our galaxy as 'the warriors of the heavens'. Then Aequmm Prime lead us into a golden age, and we became 'Autobots: the Cybertronian Knights', while Anima Bellator Maximus united all the living things in the universe as one. Once, the name 'Autobot' used to mean something. But now... now..."
Suddenly, Sixshot backhanded Chromedome across the face so hard, that it sent him flying into the bar side, cracking his yellow visor and his faceplate, and shocking all of the bots around him and Sixshot.
"NOW IT MEANS NOTHING!"
"Domey", asked Rewind to a dazed Chromedome, "Are you okay?"
"Nothing but shame", continued Sixshot.
"Blimey", murmured Swerve.
"Yeah", replied Bumblebee, "That was a bit uncalled for."
"Oh, so you lot are just gonna stand there like a pack of morons", said Chromedome in a daze, as he gestured to Orion, Bumblebee, and Swerve, "10/10 friends you bastards are."
Orion then got between Sixshot and Chromedome, "Okay Mr Drunkatron, I think we've all seen enough, so why don't you go sit down and-"
Sixshot then pushed Orion aside, "Oh go kiss your friend's booboos. The adults are talking."
Sixshot then walked up to Chromedome, and knelt down next to him, "But, after all that happened in the last 7 million years, I choose not to remember it like that, I choose not to remember the ways of the Autobots as they are now."
Sixshot then stood up, and Looked down on Chromedome, towering over most of the Cybertronians in the bar, "I choose to remember the once great Autobots as what they once were: selfless warriors who fought for the freedom of the galaxy, against the forces that would seek to destroy everything. The warriors who fought against the darkness, instead of embracing it, The righteous warriors that the Autobots once were, and not what they have become."
Suddenly, a loud marching could be heard, and everyone in the bar turned to the open entrance of the shack, to see 2 police Vehicons walking in through the open entrance, coated in blue and grey paint, and with two lights on their shoulders, one being blue, and another being red. In their hands were plasma rifles, fully charged, and aimed at Sixshot.
"REPORTING TO DISTURBANCE", droned one of the Vehicons.
"Oh thank goodness", said Fracas, "I was afraid that things would escalate unnecessarily. Now, if you could please escort the drunk bot out of the premises-"
"Shut it, Cyberdroid", coldly said Sixshot, "You called the cops on me? Maybe I'll squash you right now."
"Sixshot", nervously said Ursa Major, "I seriously think that it's time to go-"
"Ursa", said Sixshot as he walked towards one of the Vehicons, "Trust me, this will be over in a minute."
"Please", said Chromedome, "Don't agrivate them..."
"Too late."
Sixshot quickly grabbed the plasma rifle from one of the Vehicons, and hit it over the head with it, causing the Vehicon to deactivate. Sixshot then smashed the other Vehicon to the floor, pressed his foot against its chest, aimed his rifle at its head, and pulled the trigger, sending a blue burst of energy through the Vehicon's head, causing green energon analogue and small chunks of metal to go everywhere. Before Sixshot could savour his victory, he heard footsteps behind him, and quickly spun around to see another police droid walking towards him, plasma rifle charged, and aimed at sixshot.
Sixshot's suddenly realised the reality of the situation, "Don't you-"
Now, if Sixshot had reacted quicker, maybe the Vehicon wouldn't have pulled the trigger. Maybe it wouldn't have shoot off two bursts of plasma. Maybe they wouldn't have pierced his head and spark, and maybe he wouldn't have crumpled to the ground, as his soul left his metal body.
But, of course, that's just a maybe.
"Find out where dat data is", ordered Mindset to a Vehicon Commander, who, along with several other BO Vehicons, walked over to the smouldering wreakage of the downed Starfighter, and began to examine the bodies, and the still burning wreak.
"SIR", droned the Vehicon Commander, "THIS SHIP HAS BEEN COMPLETELY DESTROYED. ONE OF OUR UNITS SAW THE SPY USING IT AS A TRANSMITTER. IT IS NOW IMPOSSIBLE TO TRACE WHERE THE SIGNAL WENT-"
"That's because ya Lugnuts somehow calculated that it'da be best ta shoot then aim instead of da otha way 'round!" exasperated Mindset.
As a shuttle landed behind him, Mindset turned around and boarded it, "Sentinel ain't going to be happy about this. Though I will say, there is 'nother way of trackin' it..."
As the shuttle took off, Mindset felt both fear and hope. Fear of what his boss will do to him for this failure, and hope that maybe, if his hunch pays off, he can get back into Sentinel's good books...
As Sixshot's body fell to the ground, leaking energon over the floor, every one was in shock; Fracas was in disbelief, Fireball took a picture (Jerk), Ursa Major had to hold onto a beam for support, and everyone else just stood where they were, too scared to move.
As two more Vehicons showed up, and dragged Sixshot's corpse out of the building, Chromedome looked at the other Vehicon, "You didn't have to kill him."
"HE WAS ARMED."
"But you didn't have to kill him!"
"IRRELEVANT", said the Vehicon as it walked out of the building, "THE TASK IS COMPLETE."
The Vehicon then exited the building, leaving everyone to collect their thoughts and process what has happened, and a large pool of blood on the floor.
Meanwhile, on a building opposite the White Flame, far beyond sight, several individuals were observing the situation, with very keen eyes.
"Do we intervene?" asked one of the individuals, his purple blade glistening in the setting sun, though his body stayed in shadows.
"That won't be necessary, Snaptrap", answered their leader, "Everything is, hehe, already falling into place..."