A Fracture In Time

by Shadow Master

This is a Transformers/Gargoyles crossover. What would have happened in the Gargoyles universe when the Predacon Leader Megatron assasinated Optimus Prime in 'Agenda Part 3'?

7. Simple on paper, harder in reality

"A Fracture In Time" by Shadow Master aka Ryley Breen

email: rybreen@theberries.ns.ca

**************************************************************************************

Femme Fatale HQ, Elita-1's Office, Twenty cycles Later

The door to the office slid aside and Chromia walked in with as neutral a face as she ever had on but in her optics there was a slight twinkle of emotion that no one but her sisters would be able to identify accurately. She walked up to the desk and waited for Elita to finish reading over a report that she had been looking at when the other femme walked in. After a few moments had passed Elita put down the data pad and looked up at her second in command while scrutinizing her appearance.

"Is our little guest away?" Elita asked in a professional manner.

"She left five cycles ago." Chromia replied.

For a few moments Elita simply looked at her longtime friend and then she said "You think I should've interrogated her harder don't you?"

"Yes. There were far too many conveniently unconfirmable facts in her story for it to be completely true." , Chromia replied in as non-offensive a manner as possible, "In fact I was surprised that you let her off so easily, you're usually a lot more thorough."

"Yes well we have better things to do than sit in a room asking a mysterious femme questions which she obviously had no intention of answering." , Elita stated as he got up from her desk and started moving towards the door, "After all there is no sense wasting time in an endeavor that will produce nothing in the end."

For a moment Chromia seemed surprised at her leader's casual attitude to a possible spy but then all of a sudden a look of understanding appeared on her face. With nothing more to be said she followed her pink commander out the door leaving behind her an empty office.

**************************************************************************************

Two and a Half Mega-Cycles Later, Just outside Iacon City

Not bad, I managed to make it to Iacon without any further complications and only a few slight detours. Nightshade thought to herself as she scanned the tops of the giant walls that protected Iacon city from Decepticon forces.

It had taken all her skill and precision to make it to Iacon but she managed to do it without wasting too much time trying to remain undetected so in her opinion things were definitely looking up. Still when she got in there she would have to move quite a bit faster and elmininate all unnecessary parts of the mission in order to make it aboard the Ark before it took off. It would be rough given what she would have to do but there was no way in the Inferno that she was going to settle for anything less than total success in her assigned mission. Quietly she scanned the top of the turrets to get a feel for how many were up there and how many she would have to avoid to get to where she had to go in order to proceed with her assignment. It looked like there was roughly one guard for every three hundred yards and only three fusion cannons that would stand a chance of hitting her with any sort of accuracy. As she switched her optics to infra-red she saw the reason for what she saw as being rather lax security given that the Autobots were currently living in wartimes. Between her and the wall was a pattern of heat signatures that were arranged in the classic energon minefield layout with a few high yield explosives thrown in to make things even more interesting. For the average operative getting across this without being detected would be nothing short of impossible but fortunately for her she had an ace up her sleeve.

"Computer bring up file Kup-1 and activate." she whispered as she watched the various symbols dance across her field of vision.

For a few moments she was about ready to curse Kup for his incompetence but when she saw the infra-red signatures fade from positions before her she took back every bad thing she had ever said about him. Once all the mines that she could see had vanished she returned her attention to the Autobots on the wall and waited for her opportunity to advance. She had to be very careful not to get spotted or she would be lucky if they even waited until she had been positively identified before they vaped her sorry tin can butt. Fortunately lady luck seemed to be smiling on her because only a few minutes later she saw all the guards that within her area of approach head towards the main towers where the stairs probably were positioned. For a moment she was puzzled by the timing of the action but then decided that it was probably nothing more than a changing of the guard. According to the limited files she had on the time period the guards changed every six hours and if she was right about how those shifts were arranged then those bots were leaving their posts right on schedule. Taking one last look around the top of the wall she then bolted for her destination knowing that it would only be a few more seconds before the next shift got to their posts. For a moment she thought she wasn't going to make it but when she finally arrived at the shadows that were draped over the corners she was able to breath a sigh of relief. Looking straight up she could see the barrel of the Autobot's blaster just peek out from the top of the wall but like the gearhead he was he didn't bother to look down along the wall. Not that she could really blame him for not checking, after all what were the chances that a transformer could approach the wall much less get to it with them on guard and a minefield laying in wait for an incompetent soldier to step into.

I can barely believe that Ironhide and the others were ever this sloppy! , Nightshade thought to herself as she shook her head in disappointment, They continuously pounded into my hard-drive the necessity of being careful but they themselves weren't much better at it than a first year rookie!

For a moment she thought about rubbing that little fact into them when she got back but then she remembered that the transformers she knew were gone for good. Her head dropped to her chest as the pain of loss welled up within her but with a shake of her head she willed it away and focused on the task at hand. Turning to face the wall she began to run her hands over the metal surface in search of the key panel she had been told was hidden in this exact spot. It wasn't easy to find with all the scrap pieces of metal that were nailed to damaged areas but eventually she found it and opened it up. With a few quick taps of the buttons and a forged authorization card the light on the panel glowed green and wall before her rippled slightly. Closing the panel she pushed through the phased wall and moved as fast as she could to get to the other side before the wall returned to its normal condition. She was slightly impressed at this arrangement, a hidden passage protected by its own phase disruption generator that would only remain activated for the minimum amount of time necessary to get to the other side. According to the file she had been given back in her own time it had been constructed as an emergency escape tunnel in case Iacon ever fell to the Decepticons. The fact that the phase disrupter was still experimental technology in this time period made it clear that while in some areas they may be incompetent the Autobots were practical in others.

She reached the other side of the wall with time to spare and calmly watched as the wall rippled once more before solidifying back into reinforced concrete and steel. Returning her gaze to what lay before her she was pleased that the dark tunnel before her showed no signs of hidden alarms or booby-traps within range of her sensors. It was sloppy in her opinion to leave even a hidden entrance/exit unprotected like this but she reminded herself that the war was at a stalemate at the moment. Both Autobots and Decepticons were low on fuel and were more or less staying behind their respective boarders until such time as one side found a new plentiful fuel supply. Once that was done the war would resume and end with the faction holding the most energon as the victor. Little did they know what would happen in the next few million years and how it would change everything that they knew into something no transformer ever thought possible. Returning her focus to the environment ahead of her she began her long trek into the tunnel ahead of her while still being careful to scan for traps ahead of time. Just because the entrance was not covered with sniper emplacements didn't mean that the rest of the tunnel wasn't guarded and she had a good few kilometers to cover before she reached the street access hatch. From there she would drive through a few blocks of alleyways and back streets until she reached her destination.

I just hope that Wheeljack doesn't forget something back at his lab and come back for it. , Nightshade thought to herself as she carefully began to advance, I would really hate to have to explain my presence to an Autobot for a second time today.

**************************************************************************************

One and a half Mega-Cycles Later, Kilo Sector, Iacon City

*Whew* Man am I glad to be out of there!! Nightshade thought to herself as she closed the hatch to the tunnel and stretched herself back up to her full height.

If he had still been alive she would have slagged the 'bot who had suggested that she enter the city via that tunnel. Oh sure it had started out fine but about halfway into it the tunnel was obstructed by various bits of debris and scrap metal which leaving only a very small gap for her to squeeze through. That as well would have been fine except for the fact that it lasted for the rest of the trip with only minute changes in size and configuration at random points in the tunnel. Looking down at herself she found that she had gotten quite filthy while crawling down there and apparently the slick liquid she had crawled through down there hadn't been water but in fact had been mech-fluid. She could just picture Angelfire and the others laughing at the mess and joking about how she looked great in dark gray. Even though she was usually defensive about her appearance even she had to agree that she looked like she had just crawled through some of the most disgusting gunk in existence and looked it as well. Just then a peculiar sensation flowed through her body, it felt as though the entire area around her had suddenly lit up with an eerie white light with a single tower in the distance glowing particularly brightly. It was strange and unlike anything she had ever felt before in all the years of her existence and for a moment she wondered what it could be and where it was coming from. Suddenly she got the weirdest idea that the tower that was glowing the brightest was looking around as though it were a sentient being. That of course she regarded as being ridiculous but still the idea did not pass and as she waited for the feelings and ideas to pass she felt a chill filter through her metal frame. Looking at the tower she gasped in surprised as she thought she saw a pair of blue optics atop the tower and were looking straight at her. Then without warning the feelings and images disappeared and all was as it was before the light had appeared with the exception that she was still standing there in shock at what had happened.

What the slaggin' heck just happened!?!?! she thought to herself as she stared off into the distance and tried to make sense of what she had just gone through.

Had the Starburst done something to her systems while she had been offline? Her diagnostics had turned up anything unusual and it was a part of her key systems which were protected by high density duranium alloy. That made it highly unlikely that the petite med-femme had managed to cut her way in and tamper with it but it also meant that the results it had given her were accurate and there was nothing wrong with her. It didn't make any sense!! She let out a frustrated growl of irritation as she gripped her head as if in an attempt to force the answer to appear in her data conduits. Eventually she gave up trying to figure out what had happened and tried to rid herself of the questions it had produced so she could focus on her mission. After all that was all that mattered, anything else was just a distraction that could only lead to trouble and most likely failure in an assignment that people had died to ensure it succeeded. Transforming into her vehicular mode she sped off to her next destination to complete phase two of the operation. Keeping her sensors on passive scan she sped along the specified route with only a few modifications on her part for safeties sake. After all she had followed the route through the sewage ditches like it had been recommended and she had lost all of her other team members. She would be damned to the Inferno before she'd trust the plan she had been given word for word again and besides she thought since she was the only surviving team member it was her call to make anyways.

For the most part her alternate routes were sound, they avoided a few Autobot patrols and sensor emplacements, but there were a few close calls that she wished hadn't happened. Fortunately with every alteration the distance between her and Wheeljack's lab decreased more and more until she was right across the street from it. Unfortunately there was something else straight across the street from her and it only took that one thing to make her hide in the shadows and pray that they would leave. Her fear that Wheeljack would come back to check on something was accurate because there he was standing outside his lab talking with a transformer who seemed vaguely familiar to her. She couldn't quite place where she had seen him before but whoever he was he seemed to be talking with Wheeljack about something in particular. Turning the sensitivity of her audio receivers up she tried to listen in on the conversation in the hopes that it would give her some hint as to how long they would be there and when they would leave. Hopefully it would be soon because every cycle counted and she didn't have all that many she could spare to politely allow them to finish their conversation. It took a moment to properly calibrate her audio sensors and filter out all the background noise but within a few tries got the proper settings figured out.

"So do you really think that you and the others can find a new energon supply?" the familiar transformer asked in a voice just as familiar.

"I hope so Kup. Our current fuel reserves won't last much longer than the Decepticons' supply will and it wouldn't be much of a victory if we all fall on our faceplates ten cycles after we beat Megatron." Wheeljack replied as he tried to inject some levity into the grim situation.

"Yeah I remember a time out on the rim of known space when I was leading a platoon into a secret Decepticon R&D installation." , Kup stated as he seemed to think back into the past, "It was a tough mission and one that I thought was particularly risky but when Optimus gives you an order you don't have much of a choice. So we landed there at the designated time and just barely......"

Nighthsade stopped listening in at that point and secretly cursed whatever gods might be looking down upon them at the moment. Of all the kinds of bad luck she could have been given she had to be given what was probably the worst of the bunch. She hadn't recognized the old-but-now-younger Autobot without all the battle damage and scarring on him but the second he started telling one of his old war stories she recognized him right away. She was in a way amused that even as young as he was now as he was now he was still telling people the same old stories over and over again. Back during her time with the resistance it was an old joke that whenever Kup tried to tell one of his stories every Autobot in the room would find a reason to leave. It wasn't that they didn't like the old 'bot but when you've heard about the run on Jovian Prime or Delta Niner three or four times it ceases to be amusing and becomes slow torture. The more elder Autobots humored him and sat through the storytelling but the younger ones like her always had to go to the firing range or had to prepare for their next assignment. She was sure she knew about the affect his storytelling was having on the younger generation but it was a useful tool to get lazy new recruits to get back to work. In this case however the storytelling was doing more harm than good and the only thing stopping her from trying to sneak around them was the fact that against a seasoned tracker like Kup it was impossible. There was only one thing she could do that might get them to move out of her way and she grinned when she remembered what she had originally come up with this program for. Bringing up the program and selecting the appropriate file she waited until Kup reached a point where he had to take in some air to continue his story before activating her com-link.

"Jazz to Wheeljack, respond." She said into her com-link but when she listen to Wheeljack's com-link talk it was an almost perfect replication of Commander Jazz's voice.

"Wheeljack here, what's up Jazz?" Wheeljack asked with a bit of hidden relief in his voice.

"We need you back at the launch site, the entire sensor grid just took a nose dive." , Nightshade replied in Jazz's voice, "We need every available bot working on it if we're going to make the launch time."

"Alright I be there as soon as I can, Wheeljack out." , Wheeljack replied as he shut off his com-link, "Sorry Kup but I have to get back to the Ark before Jazz thinks breaks anything else that I'll have to fix later."

"No problem. I have to get back to my patrol anyways." , Kup replied as he checked something on his wrist terminal, "A section of the minefield went offline for a little while a few cycles ago and I have to check the area for intruders."

"Kup there are fusion cannons every eight hundred yards and guards there almost all the time." , Wheeljack said condescendedly, "No Decepticon would have been able to make it through the minefield with only a few nano-clicks to spare."

"Maybe but I'm still gonna check it out." Kup replied and with that transformed into his vehicular mode.

"Suit yourself." Wheeljack replied as he too transformed and with nothing more to be said they both drove off in their respective directions.

Nightshade waited a total of ten cycles before she emerged from her hiding spot behind a pile of debris and walked into the middle of the street. Looking back and forth in the directions that the two Autobots had left in she made sure that they were well out of range before walking over to the entrance to Wheeljack's lab. Examining the security mechanisms on the door she was pleased to find that they were almost exactly as described in the mission files that she were stored in her data tracks. This was a spot of good luck considering how the mission had gone so far but she was careful not to let it go to her head. After all she knew better than most that arrogance was the first step towards defeat and becoming overly confident just because of a few lucky breaks was just as bad. Deploying her interface cables she immediately interfaced with the lab's security system and began to disarm the system one step at a time just like she had been taught to do when dealing with particularly difficult security systems. It was made slightly easier since she had in her possession the original schematics and programming blueprints of the system but it was still a difficult task to complete. After all she was not just breaking into the place, she was also trying to do so while leaving as little evidence of her being there as possible. She had to be so good that not even the big brains like Rachet, Perceptor and Wheeljack would be able to find her cyber-prints in the lab's systems. Add to that the ever present possibility that Wheeljack might for some reason return and it was easy to see why she was so eager to get inside and complete phase two ASAP. It took a bit longer than she would have liked but eventually she got inside and near as she could tell she did so without tripping so much as one alarm or leaving a scrap of evidence that would hint at an unauthorized presence in the lab. After closing and re-locking the door she turned around and for a moment stood agape at the montage of machines and devices in the room.

Look at all this archaic stuff! Nightshade thought to herself as she looked at equipment before her incredulously.

She knew that as far as this time period was concerned this equipment was among the best either side could hope for but for her in was way outdated. The devices they had back in her time period were centuries ahead of anything that was in the room and would complete their given tasks in half the time that these could on their best days. Still she and the other transformers of her timeline lived in different conditions where the difference between victory and defeat could be decided simply by who possessed the most advanced doodads. Therefore while these transformers had the luxury of being able to proceed slowly with their R & D the resistance had to move fast and test many of their prototypes on the battlefield. Banishing such thoughts from her mind she looked about the room for the device that she required in order to proceed with the mission. Despite the clutter that was scattered about the room she was able to find it after a short while and immediately began to bring it online. Slowly but surely the lights on the console next to the isolation cylinder blinked on and a soft hum began to drift through the air as the less obvious systems rose to their normal levels. It would take a few minutes to connect all the necessary equipment to the chamber but she was fairly certain that she would be able to do so within the necessary timeframe.

It took awhile to find all the tools that she would need as well as the parts given all the clutter that rested in isolated heaps around the lab but once she did find what she needed the work proceeded rather quickly. The required alterations to the isolation chamber were complex but thankfully only a few systems needed to be changed in order for the procedure to work. Add to that the fact that the directions that were flying past her optics were easy to follow and she didn't foresee any significant problems or delays cropping up before she finished. Still she did hit a few minor delays in trying to identify which tool was a tri-polar laser wielder and what point four nine nanocrons meant but she was pretty sure that she had made the right choices. If she had not, well, she would find out pretty soon after initializing the process and feeling her body flow out of phase with the rest of the space-time continuum. After all she was a soldier, not a mechanic, so she couldn't be blamed if she was unable to follow the directions with complete accuracy. Oh she had been taught basic maintenance and some other skills that would prove useful in her day-to-day life as a member of the resistance but anything like this was way over her head and belonged to the real smart 'bots. She dismissed her few concerns and began to enter the appropriate data into the chamber's console, outlining a program that would slowly alter her quantum frequency to match the objects in this time period. This was the only way she would be able to insure that the changes she made to the timeline would be permanent rather than temporary due to the resulting paradox. After all if she altered the future than chances are she would never become who she was, she might never come into existence at all, and then there would be no one to go back in time to fix everything. Still she was on a rather tight schedule so any further thinking concerning the ramifications of the mission and her overall incompetence as an engineer could wait until after she had saved the universe.

There! That should be the last connection. she thought to herself as she secured the large cable to the back-up energon stash that her files had stated Wheeljack had kept to keep his lab running.

Looking at the mishmash of wires, cables and other technical equipment she almost came to believe that it wouldn't work, that all that would happen is that she be vaped in two nano-clicks flat. Despite this opinion of the mess she stepped inside the isolation chamber and sealed the door shut once she was inside. Now that she was in a pressurized environment all that was left was to flip the proverbial switch and hope for the best. Looking over to the button which had activated the intercom she experienced a moment of hesitation since she knew that it was now wired to activate the program she had installed in the chamber's mainframe. This was a big step and for the first time since she had seen Jazz's charred and almost completely scrapped body she was beginning to question whether or not she should go through with the mission. It had all seemed so far away when she was trying to get to this point and there had been enough things to do that she was able to keep her mind off most of it's implications. Now however she was just a step away from separating herself from the time that she knew and being forced to proceed with the mission she had signed on to finish. In a very real way she would become a stranger, alone in a world where no one knew her and where people that had once been her closest friends would not even recognize her. If she did nothing but instead just found some place to hide until she caught up with her time she could see everyone again and with the knowledge of who the traitor was she could save the resistance. Even as she thought this though she knew that she would not choose to do that, she knew what the future held if she didn't go through with this and the fact that it was just as she remembered it meant that she hadn't strayed from the mission. Taking a deep breath Nightshade reached over to the intercom button and pressed it before any more doubts or rationalized solutions sprang into her processor. She now had ten nano-clicks to go into repair mode before the process would begin and according to the file she had been following it had been highly recommended that she not be conscious for what was to come.

"Computer, repair mode." Nightshade stated and within seconds of the speaking those words her world faded to black.

**************************************************************************************

Half a Mega-Cycle Later, Autobot Command Center

"The final modifications ta the hyper-drive have been completed Optimus" , Ironhide said to the commander of the Autobot forces, "We should be ready ta leave within five mega-cycles."

For a minute the tall red Autobot said nothing but then as if his attention had suddenly been wrenched back to reality he turned to Ironhide and said "Good we can't afford to waste any time with energon levels as low as they are."

"Is somethin' the matter Prime? Ya've seemed distracted the last day or so." Ironhide asked out of concern for his leader's well being.

"Heh, you know me too well old friend." , Prime replied as he conceded to his comrade's observation, "For the past stellar cycle I've felt a strange presence on Cybertron, a presence that has caused a strange vibration within the matrix."

This was somewhat surprising given that the matrix of leadership was regarded with in an almost holy manner and was seen as the one thing that would forever endure. To discover that something was affecting it enough to cause Prime to become distracted from the mission ahead meant that it had to be serious. The Autobots had been planning this expedition for galactic cycles and it was not regarded as the last hope that they had to hold their ground against the Decepticon advance. Add to this the fact that the timing for this venture was ideal with Decepticon activity at an ebb and there could be no other time for such a mission. Still if Prime was concerned about something that was reason enough to be concerned as well and take it seriously even given the current situation.

"Any idea what it is?" Ironhide asked with curiosity in his voice.

"Unfortunately no, the presence is weak and I have only been able to pick it up a few times before it disappears again." , Prime replied as he shook his head in puzzlement, "Whatever it is though we cannot allow it to distract us from the mission at hand. Ask the engineering crews to give all systems one final review and if everything checks out we'll start the pre-ignition sequence."

Just then the com-unit on Optimus' arm beeped in a peculiar way, indicating perhaps and important call that was trying to get through. Bringing up his arm to the appropriate position she activated his com-unit and waited for the person on the other end to explain what was so important.

"Optimus here." Prime stated with mild curiosity.

"Commander you are needed down in your office, sir." , the voice on the other end said, "I was told to tell you that it is urgent that you come immediately."

That seemed to puzzle Optimus for a moment but after a moment of silent contemplation he seemed to have come to a decision.

"I'll be down in a few moments, Prime out." , Optimus stated before shutting off his com-unit, "Looks like you'll have to supervise things for awhile old friend."

"Don't worry Prime, from here on in everythings pretty much routine." Ironhide replied with a reassuring grin.

With that the red and blue giant that was the leader of the Autobot forces left the room leaving Ironhide to deal with the few last minute preparations that would need to be completed before they could launch. Turning around he walked over to a operations station and began to review the status reports as they came in but he found himself having a bit of difficulty concentrating on the words in front of him. He knew that he was just trying to reassure Prime that everything was going to be alright but at the same time he too was beginning to feel a bit on edge. This was a massive undertaking they were attempting to perform and because of that everyone had expected something to go wrong long before now but had thanked Primus when nothing happened. Still it would be just the kind of luck they seemed to be getting lately if something did go wrong just mega-cycles before launch and perhaps force them to scrub the mission. Despite the nagging feeling he was hopeful that they would be able to deal with the problem quickly and quietly before they launched or all their hard work would be for nothing.

**************************************************************************************

Half a Mega-Cycle Later, Wheeljack's Lab

Ohhhh, man do I feel funky! Nightshade thought to herself as she stepped out of the isolation chamber with one hand on the door frame to steady herself.

She had woken up only a few minutes ago and had immediately considered killing the person who had come up with this procedure but became disappointed when she remembered that he had been erased from existence. Bringing her diagnostic systems online she did a quick review of her systems and found that despite a few areas working at minimally acceptable levels everything was up and running. According to the file that detailed the procedure the effects would only last three mega-cycles and that it was recommended that she wait until the effects had passed before proceeding with the mission. Unfortunately that was not something she could afford to do with all the time she wasted being repaired at Femme Fatale HQ and the subsequent interrogation by Elita-1. Thus with little more than a shake of the head to clear the cobwebs she walked to the door of the lab and mimicked the process she used to get past the security measures the first time around. It wasn't as easy though with most of her systems working just barely within acceptable parameters but she was fairly confident that she hadn't made any mistakes or left a trail for someone to follow. Once outside she did a quick check of the immediate area, looking for any witnesses to her presence, before transforming into her cybertronian alternate form and heading for the launch pad where the Ark was being completed.

Keeping to the alternate route that she had come up with upon her arrival in Iacon she began to review the means by which she would sneak into the Ark without being seen. It wouldn't be easy but according to the mission profile there was a scheduled time about two mega-cycles before launch when the last of the engineers and other workers would leave their posts for a quick energon meal. There would still of course be a guard detail around the perimeter and sensors placed at strategic points throughout the compound but it was the most ideal time to make the insertion. Once past the perimeter security she would have to make it across open ground the base of the craft and enter through a maintenance hatch near one of the main thrusters. That would lead her to a storage bay where she could locate an empty crate and hide inside. According to the mission logs and reports that were written down afterward no one went anywhere near that area until they regained consciousness after the crash. She just hoped that this wasn't another little mistake that the top brass back in her timeline had made to make the mission more interesting. From here on in she wanted things to go as smooth as polished silver and as quickly as Blurr could finish a single sentence but doubted that she could ever be that lucky. No, more than likely she would have to talk her way past a few 'bots and maybe knock a few unconscious before things would finally calm down enough for her to let her guard even halfway down. Still there was always the possibility that things would go well and she wouldn't have to revise the mission profile any more than she already had. One thing though that she could not even consider doing would be to permanently harm any Autobot that became more than a casual nuisance. She had no idea what importance each of them might have at present nor what importance they might have in the future but she was not about to tempt fate by blasting an arm off.

Within a two mega-cycles she arrived at an alley across from the compound and immediately transformed into her warrior mode before crouching down behind a scrap metal container. Raising her optics just above the top of the container she examined her target and looked for any signs against or in favor of the profile's recommended method of entry. According to her internal chronometer she had a few cycles before the guards would change and she would have her window of entry into the complex. She didn't recognize the two 'bots that were on guard but that probably just meant that they had been slagged before the 'awakening' and were not very worthy of note. Turning her gaze to the wall that they were standing in front of she began to do visual and passive sensor scans to determine what kind of security systems she would have to deal with. As her scan progressed in seemed to be just your rudimentary motion and energy sensors tied into the main security grid with a few automated laser emplacements just in case. To her it seemed as though a great deal would change in the next four million years and apparently the level of security was definitely one of them. It didn't seem as though they took security all that seriously around here or if they did they relied more on the soldiers than the equipment. Not an entirely foolish way of looking at things but it was rather risky with an enemy as ruthless as the Decepticons waiting to turn everyone into slag. When this mission was over with she was going to have to leave them a few helpful suggestions on how to improve the tightness of their security.

The cycles seemed to take forever to tick by but eventually she saw the guards giving the area one last look before they began to gather their things. Getting ready to sprint across the street she watched the two guards with extraordinary focus, waiting for them to move into just the right position. She had to time this just right or she would blow everything and would have to feed these guys a second serving of slag today. The two unknown bots seemed to be moving in slow motion as she watched them head into the small door built into the large metal gate. Her body was tense with every circuit and servo almost humming with pent up energy as she waited for her moment to arrive. When the last Autobot finally moved into the correct position she shot across the street at the maximum speed for her robot mode and when she came within seventy yards of the wall leapt up and over without making a sound. Not taking a moment to take satisfaction on her success she ducked behind some crates that were stacked along the wall and scanned the area to see if anyone had detected her. From her audio receivers she listened in on the conversation that the two guards were having as they headed towards the main complex and apparently they had heard nothing out of the ordinary. As for the information her visual scanners had gathered so far it seemed that she had tripped no alarms either since she could see no discernible difference in the behavior or pace of the other transformers scattered around the base.

So far so good Nightshade ol' gal! , she thought to herself as she maintained her alert status despite the lack of detection, Now if you can just get to the Ark and jump inside without getting spotted you might just be able to pull this little mission off.

Looking at her chronometer built into her right wrist she discerned that she had roughly another five minutes before the immediate area would be clear enough of engineers for her to make an attempt at the Ark. It would be a pain to have to wait thirty cycles for the engineers to leave on their lunch break but the last thing she could afford would be to be spotted with her objective within arm's reach. Withdrawing into the shadows that her hiding place provided she decided to run a few more diagnostics on her primary systems as well as review what she would have to do after the crash. According to the mission file she would be unable to avoid going into emergency stasis with the others when they first crashed but thankfully due to the stasis inhibitor she would wake up five mega-cycles before the boss-bots believed Optimus would be assassinated. That would give her just enough time for her to set up a few surprises for the ambitious 'Con as well as get teletron-1 up and running so she could bring some of the heavy artillery into play. Once that was done she would be ready to blast the creator of her nightmarish world into so much molten slag and hopefully secure a more pleasant future for everyone. She of course wouldn't stay online the entire four million years between the crash and the 'great awakening' but thanks to teletron-1 she wouldn't have to be awake all that time. Once she got the big computer up and running she could just program it to wake her anytime anything of sufficient technological advancement got close to the Ark and was judged a threat. The rest of the time she would just be offline in some out of the way part of the ship until she was needed.

That still leaves the question of what will happen to me once all the other transformers come out of emergency stasis. Nightshade thought to herself and for a moment she felt profoundly alone.

Fortunately a change in Autobot activity around the Ark caught her attention and allowed her to push that disturbing thought deep into the dark corners of her spark. Looking up she was slightly puzzled to see that the engineers were apparently leaving their assigned posts and heading towards the main complex. Glancing at her chronometer her concern grew when it showed that they should have been working for an additional fifteen cycles before leaving for their break. For a moment she feared that she had been somehow detected and that the second the last of the engineers were gone she would be apprehended. Scanning immediate area as closely as she could without giving herself away on purpose she found no change in the compound's alert status and the guards at the front gate were still chatting casually as though nothing had happened. Despite the lack of evidence Nightshade was still concerned about this sudden deviation from established history and wondered what had gone wrong. Reviewing the mission files one more time she tried to find some reason for the discrepancy and soon found one possible answer. According to the mission files the engineers were only *scheduled* to break for their energon fifteen cycles from now and this information was acquired from official records of the time. She knew all too well that only the most disciplined of transformers ever adhered strictly enough to official duty rosters and then there was the possibility that the engineers had finished early which was certainly plausible enough to be true. Still a bit concerned about the change Nightshade decided to proceed with the mission and hope that her concern wasn't well founded.

Taking one more visual scan across compound she began to stealthily make her way across the open area towards the Ark, trying to make it look as though she belonged there. She had considered simply running across but that would have attracted to much attention should any cursed Autobot happen to look out a window at an inopportune time. The slow pace and the constant alertness were almost intolerable as she proceeded towards the Ark but she forced herself to remain in control and to give no outward sign that she was under pressure. One of the first things she had learned when she had started out with the resistance was to control her outward appearance completely no matter what situation she was in. It was a useful ability when on some of her more covert missions and it helped maintain the image of a cool headed warrior in the minds of her comrades. It was better that they thought of her that way rather than see what lay within the metal frame that was her transformer body because if they did all their respect for her would vanish. Forcing her mind in another direction she looked up to see what progress she had made towards reaching the Ark without being noticed by the Autobots. She was more than three quarters of the way there and would probably reach the base of the launching platform in five cycles at her current pace. She allowed herself a small grin of satisfaction as she drew closer and closer to her destination and thought that despite the few drawbacks that the mission had suffered since she had arrived here it had gone reasonably well.

Now if I can just get inside the Ark and find a place to hide until it crashes then everything will be just perfect. Nightshade thought to herself as she continued taking steps towards the Ark.

Just then she heard the all too familiar sound of a blaster being charged and unfortunately unless her audio receivers were malfunctioning it was coming from behind her. Stopping her in her tracks she knew that she had a split second to make a decision before the choice would be made for her and right now the possibilities were not encouraging. For the most part she had two options, she could attempt to render this Autobot unconscious and then stash him somewhere where he wouldn't be found until after the launch or try to come up with some farfetched story that would be believed. Neither seemed very encouraging since in all likelihood both would end up with the alarms being raised and about a half dozen bots with blasters coming after her but they were the only two courses of action that she thought stood a chance of succeeding. Considering both for a brief moment she turned around casually to look at the bot who had so perfectly screwed up her mission. She was somewhat surprised to find a yellow Autobot standing behind her who was not much taller than she was pointing a blaster at her. It took her only a moment to discover who he was once she scrolled through the various files about the Autobots involved with the Ark project.

"Hey Bumblebee! What's processing?" Nightshade asked in such a manner as she would an old comrade.

This seemed to take the young Autobot completely off guard but to his credit he didn't let his aim waver and asked "Who are you?"

Deciding that truth would work better than lies she replied "The name is Nightshade Autobud. Now that we have the introductions out of the way how about you point that blaster someplace else, might make a femme feel like she's unwanted."

Putting a little charm into her movements she tried to move like she'd seen Angelfire do with some of the other male Autobots back at HQ when she wanted to flirt with them. Of course all the guy 'bot's at the base knew that she was only kidding and wasn't serious about her intentions but more than a few bots had been reduced to stuttering messes by the time she was done. Hopefully those same tactics would confuse and fluster Bumblebee enough that she could get closer and put the finishing touches on this little maneuver. As she slowly advanced on his position she could tell that her initial mental blow was working like a charm but she would need to deliver another before she could do what she needed to do in order to proceed. Raising up her right hand she slowly began to stroke the bottom of his jaw with her fingers and looked at him in one of the steamiest ways she had seen Angelfire employ ever. This was definitely having the desired effect on the young Autobot who obviously didn't have a lot of experience with members of the fairer model of transformer. Already the blaster was beginning to falter and his gaze never left her faceplate the entire time she was proceeding towards him.

Now for the crowning touch. she thought to herself with only a little bit of guilt at what she was about to do to the unsuspecting 'bot.

"You know something, you're kinda cute." , Nightshade stated in a sultry voice, "Maybe we should go somewhere and talk some more, what do you say?"

Leaning over like she was about to kiss him she deftly reached around behind him with her right arm and before he knew what was happening she attached a slave module on top of the spot where his primary motor functions were routed to in his back. It was something that the science bots had come up with to counter the advantage that the cerebro shells gave the Decepticon Bombshell in battle. With just one of those little capsules the Insecticon leader had managed to lead more than a few platoons of resistance warriors to their deaths. It had become even more serious when the Decepticons had found a way to adapt them so that they worked on humans as well as transformers. With humans enslaved as well there was little concern among the Decpticons about mass rebellion since those implanted had no more will than an animal. Add to that the fact that it was extremely difficult to remove one without doing significant damage to the human brain and it was easy to understand why most were just put out of their misery. It had been with great reluctance that the Autobots had developed their own version of the cerebro shells but in the end they had proved a great help in the many battles against the Decepticon army.

Returning her attention to the present she looked around for a place to stash him and smiled when she spotted what looked like a storage shed only a little ways away from the launch pad. This worked in her favor since there would be less chance that anyone would notice the small Autobot's jerky movements and those that did might simply dismiss them as the result of her femme wiles. Making all the appropriate gestures and teases she brought him over to the shed and lured him inside apparently without drawing too much attention to herself. Once inside she opened up his chest plate and disabled his primary servo motivators from the inside causing him to slump to the floor. Laying him carefully across some boxes she placed the parts she had removed on a nearby work bench so that when he was discovered they wouldn't have any problem getting him back online. She would have to wait a few cycles before she could leave the storage shed without attracting attention to herself but from her experience back at resistance cell Phoenix things of this nature didn't take long. She wasn't exactly clue less about what went on between transformers between closed doors but she had never had the time or the inclination to investigate the matter further. She was always on a mission or busy with other duties around the base and that left little time for casual research on such touchy topics. She had caught happened upon an incident between Angelfire and one of the Autobots but all she had gleaned from that incident was that was that her sister was loud, rough and could do it in ten cycles. After that her sister had simply exited the storage closet, made sure all her accessible compartments were securely fastened and then proceeded to where ever she had to be at that point in time. Of the two of them Angelfire was definitely the more daring in matters of a non-combative nature which made them a perfect match since she was the most daring in combat situations. Just then she caught the mistake in tenses she had made and immediately felt a stab of pain in her spark as the ramifications of her mission once more came into her mind.

Angelfire had been created along with her in response to the need for more transformers in the resistance but if she succeeded in saving Optimus Prime then the future might turn out completely different. In the new future she would create there might be no need for new transformers, at least none of her type, and thus Angelfire would never be constructed. Oh she could probably convince Ratchet or Wheeljack at some later point in time after the awakening to construct a perfect replica of her but the part that counted, the spark, wouldn't be there at all. With that thought she almost let out a sob of grief but held it in spite of how much she wanted to release the emotions she kept inside of her. The others had sacrificed their lives so that she would succeed in carrying out their mission and she would not permit herself to jeopardize the future just because of something as trivial and transitory as pain or grief. Locking her feelings away in some lost corner she checked her chronometer and found that while she had been pondering her emotions almost twelve cycles has passed since she had entered the storage shed with Bumblebee. Preparing for her exit she undid a few of her access ports and clamps for her armor plating while mentally trying to mimic the look her sister had used at the end of her encounter. Once she was satisfied that she was ready she stepped outside of the shed and looking flustered and a bit tipsy she refastened everything and calmly walked away. Taking a calm glance around the immediate area she could tell that her plan seemed to be working, any transformers that were in a position to see her had apparently fallen for her deception and were joking about their friend's luck.

Unfortunately for you motor heads the joke is on you this time. Nightshade thought to herself as she proceeded towards her original destination.

Hopefully she would be able to make it the rest of the way there without further interruption because aside from that one tactic she had no idea how she'd deal with another obstacle short of blasting them and running for dear life. For what seemed like the fiftieth time in as many cycles she cursed the top 'bots back in her time for not doing more extensive planning, for forcing her to make things up as she went along. She was a fighter not a planner, her job was to blow things up and steal things right from underneath the Decepticon's noses and while that did require some creative thinking it was never as complex as this was turning out to be for her. Deciding that berating transformers who would soon never exist was a waste of time she looked ahead and grinned in satisfaction as she was only ten steps from her point of entry. Unfortunately her grin soon turned to a frown as she came to think that if the universe was planning any nasty surprises for her it would happen in the next few cycles. After all wouldn't it be the ultimate cosmic joke on her to be thwarted right on the verge of completing her mission? She privately hoped that the universe would buzz off and find some other hopeless schmuck to torment, preferably a certain bucket-headed Decepticon. However given how this mission had been going so far it was unlikely that Primus would be cutting her any breaks anytime soon so she would have to rely on her own skill and winning charm.

It didn't take much to circumvent the locking mechanism on the hatch and within a few nano-clicks she was crawling through the maintenance tunnels towards her destination. It was not fun by any stretch of the word, more like a pain in the skidplate with all of the cables and wires she had to avoid or squeeze by without incident. Seeing all the junk that was crowded around here she was glad that her mission didn't include sabotage of some kind because she would be clue less as to what to cut or which device to smash. Technology had never been her strong suit as it was often long and boring which caused her mind to wander into some rather unpleasant thoughts and discussions that she would rather avoid outright. No she was much happier causing mass destruction and confusion among the Decepticon army then rewiring their mainframes to crash at the flip of a switch. After all that was what she did best and she had to admit that in some bizarre and twisted way she actually enjoyed her work and the mess she made by the time she was done. Some might say that such feelings made her no better than the Decepticons but she didn't really care. The pain and sorrow she had experienced during her time with the resistance had caused her to cease to care about such things as maintaining the moral high ground. Against the 'Cons she would use and do anything to send them straight to the Inferno and if someone had a problem with that then too bad for them. Carefully moving her foot over some power cords Nightshade looked ahead and saw the access hatch to the cargo bay where she would hide for the duration of the mission. Feeling a sense of accomplishment in getting this far Nightshade casually opened the access hatch and crawled through into the cargo bay.

"That's far enough lass." a voice said as she heard four distinct whines which were undoubtably coming from four distinct blasters.

Looking up into the barrels of Kup, Bluestreak, Prowl and Ultra Magnus there was only one thing Nightshade could think to say in return "Oh slag!"

This brought smiles to their faces as they no doubt assumed that this was a declaration of her defeat and their easy victory but they couldn't be farther from the truth. While they were so busy patting themselves on the backs she jumped into action by pulling four vibro-blades from subspece and directly into the palm of her hands. With a motion that was almost a blur she threw the blades at the gun hands of all four Autobots forcing them to drop them to the ground as they howled in pain. Not waiting for them to refocus on her with the intention of kicking her skidplate all over the cargo bay she decided to attack first. Charging them head-on she first delivered a flying side-kick to Kup's face and then using his head as a push off point did a reverse spin-kick which managed to knock another one to the floor. With only two left to deal with before she could stop and think about how she would be able to accomplish her mission despite this screw-up. Grabbing Kup's blaster off the floor she adjusted the dial to a lower setting and blasted Brawn in the chest sending him staggering backwards into a pile of containers. That left only her and a very large Ultra Magnus standing in the room and he by far was the biggest challenge of the four she had been forced to deal with. He had since recovered from the vibro-blade but surprisingly instead of going for his blaster he was turning towards her as if he wanted to take her on hand-to-hand instead. This was somewhat strange because for the most part the Transformer race only knew the most basic hand-to-hand combat skills and thus relied on their blaster weaponry instead. There were a few who opted to learn more about how to defend themselves without convenient weapons at hand but most of them felt more comfortable with a blaster in their hands. However Ultra Magnus' choice suited her just fine since she had been among the best hand-to-hand fighters in her resistance cell and had only ever lost once.

Deciding to be charitable Nightshade decided to let Ultra Magnus make the first move so she could get a feel for where he ranked in terms of fighting skills. His first attack was a straight punch to the face which she dodged easily and countered with four quick jabs to the face before backing off a little. His punch wasn't that bad and it would have clobbered your average Decepticon but it was a touch too slow to connect with someone of her speed. His next move was an attempt to grab her with both arms but she saw that coming and ducked underneath his arms while delivering a hard blow to his mid-section. The air rushed out of his mouth as he staggered backwards while his intake sub-routines reinitialized themselves and it was then that she decided it was time to end this little game. She was losing time and whoever had sent these four here would undoubtabley be waiting for a report soon on their situation. She could use her voice synthesizer to fool the person on the other end but only if she was able to deliver the report before that person got suspicious of the delay. Looking around for something to use she spotted a container that supposedly contained trilodium panels and from the size of the container there had to be a lot. With a half-grin on her face she primed her servo-motors and with all the strength she possessed lifted the container over her head and threw it right at Ultra-Magnus' head. He must have seen it coming because he began to dodge it causing it only to hit the side of his head instead of it hitting him right in the face. Fortunately that was enough to stun him and give her the opportunity to follow up with her initial attack before he could regain his senses. Charging forward she brought back her right arm and with strength that was almost more than her servos could provide she gave him a right hook right to the jaw. This sent him flat on his back with a crash and for the next few moments she waited with her guard ready for any sign that he was going to get back up. It seemed for a moment that he was going to do just that as he tried to sit up but about halfway there he fell back to the floor and remained still.

Ow! That Autobot has a harder jaw than Grimlock's! Nightshade thought to herself as she massaged her metal knuckles.

Removing the pain from her mind she reached down and activated his com-link and connected to the last person whom he had had contact with. Presumably this would be the person whom he was supposed to report into once they had apprehended her. At the same time she went through her files of voice patterns and immediately activated the one for Ultra-Magnus hoping that she could do a fairly good impersonation.

"Optimus here, what's the situation on that intruder Magnus?" spoke the deep voice-of-God voice in what she guessed was a mildly interested tone.

She almost freaked when she heard who it was but replied "She put up a little struggle but we managed to subdue her without much trouble. I'll be taking her back to base for interrogation so we can find out why she was here and who gave her the orders."

She hoped that she had made the right call in saying that Ultra Magnus would be taking the prisoner back to base instead of straight to Optimus. According to accepted procedure it was unnecessary for every matter to be brought before the commander of the entire faction's forces but she had no idea whether this was a special case or not. She could only hope that Prime would let it go so she could start with the problem of stashing these Autobots inside cargo containers along with herself. Unfortunately with the way her luck was running she would wind up having to dodge every Autobot on this ship for the next megacycle before she could safely let down her guard.

"Bring her up to the command deck first." , Optimus ordered in a sort of fatherly way, "I would like to have a few words with her first."

"Are you sure it's wise to give a possible spy such an irresistible opportunity this close to launch?" she asked in the hopes that the urgency of the launch would be enough to get him to reconsider.

"I'm sure we can handle one femme Ultra Magnus." , Optimus stated with an odd tone in his voice, "Unless of course you're unable to do so yourself."

He KNOWS! Nightshade thought to herself as she dropped the arm that Ultra Magnus' com-link was on and stood straight up.

She wasn't sure how he knew but she had heard Jazz speak in a similar tone of voice when he knew she was hiding something big and she doubted it was a coincidence that Prime was talking in the same way. Almost on the verge of panic she drew her twin particle blasters from subspace and prepared to make her way to another part of the ship. She had the ship's schematics on file so she should be able to find a suitable hiding spot for herself until the search teams gave up. The one thing that concerned her greatly was the way that these delays seemed to happen one after another in a weird kind of order. First with Bumblebee and the next with these four warriors who know that she had a chance to look at them were perfect examples of the four types of builds common to the Autobots. It was as if she was being tested but that would be impossible unless they knew that she had been coming and had prepared these surprise quiz in advance. That shouldn't be possible since she was fairly sure that she hadn't tripped any alarms or attracted any unwanted attention since she had entered the city. Shaking her head and reinforcing her focus she kept her mind on what she had to do and where she had to go in order to succeed in her mission. Opening the door she peeked out into the hallway and once she was sure that it was clear of any obstacles she began to stealthily make her way to emergency escape shuttle. With a little luck she could sneak into that craft and stay there for the duration of the trip without being spotted by the crew. According to the mission files on that area it was rarely inspected beyond basic maintenance so it was the next best hiding place for her next to the cargo bay.

It took her about five cycles to get there but when she did she was happy to see that there were no guards outside the room where the shuttle was kept and there had been no alarms sounded since she had left the cargo bay. For all intents and purposes she was free and clear but despite that she could not rid herself of the odd sensation in her mind that was telling her not to go through those doors in front of her. There wasn't exactly an obvious reason not to got since all seemed to be alright and there were no signs that anything was wrong. Despite that it was as if many tiny little voices inside her head were saying to find another place to hide before it was too late to get away. Then it hit her, just like it had outside Wheeljack's lab, the whole area within the range of her seemed to light up with life and the blue optics that she had seen before had returned as well. Now though they were coming from the shuttle bay and their close proximity to her unnerved her even more than before. They hadn't turned towards her yet but she was sure that it was only a matter of time before they did and she would be forced to make a decision. Instead of waiting for it to happen she decided it was high time to take the mechanical bull by the horns and deal with this problem before it became a liability. She was fairly certain at this point that the things she was seeing were simply the afteraffects of her near termination experience out in no 'bots land. She had heard of it before from transformers who had seen other Autobots crack under the pressure of the fight against the Decepticon empire. They had simply lost hope and had come too close to going offline permanently to deal with the strain of the constant warfare. SHE however would not go out like that and just to prove that she still had what it took she was going to walk over to the shuttle bay and step inside. Straightening herself up she walked over to the entrance to the shuttle bay and pressed the button to open the large doors. Standing there while the computer verified her forged authorization code she was supremely confident that she had diagnosed herself accurately. Once she stepped inside this room and found nothing but the shuttle and a few consoles the weird visions would disappear and she could finally get her mind back on the task at hand. The button she had pressed turned green and with a slight whir the doors began to slide open to reveal the contents of the room within. What she found inside though was enough to believe that the God Primus had to hate her circuits to cause her this much trouble. After all how else could you explain the fact that she was staring down the barrel of a very large blaster rifle that was held by a very large Optimus Prime.

Seeing this she decided to do the only thing she could do, take a course of action that was practical, strategically sound and one she was sure that Jazz would approve of if he had survived the explosion.

"I surrender." Nightshade said as she raised her arms above her head.