Transformers : Book 3 :
The Devil's Gambit
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Death's Head - I do not own Transformers. Takara, Marvel, Marvel UK, Sunbow Entertainment, DW Comics and all the rest own them. I only own a couple of the figures. Also, I do not own the Freelance Peacekeeping Agent, Death's Head. Marvel UK does.
The following are my own creations. I made them, they're mine. If you'd like to use them in one of your stories, just send me an email asking for permission to use them, as I'll most likely say you can. I just want to know which story they're going to be placed in.
The New Autobots I created : Outlaw, Valkyrie and Seraphim. The New Decepticons I created : Alpha Destroyer, Acousia, Tremble, Carnage, Blaze, Thraka, Tempest, Darkshayde, Hydrina, Vette and Roadkill.
** ** - Indicates the character's thought.
***********************************************
On Cybertron :
Inside the med bay of Iacon, Optimus Prime lay on one of the repair beds, numerous repair drones working on him. The micromaster medic, Fixit, hard at work. Ultra Magnus stood near the observation window, arms folded across his chest as he watched the medic work. Emirate Xaaron walked up to the white Autobot.
"How's it going Ultra Magnus?"
Ultra Magnus sighed.
"According to Fixit, the damage to Optimus is severe. He really needed that shipment of Nucleon, to effect permanent repairs. As it stands...."
Xaaron nodded. The transport was destroyed, no survivors and the Nucleon destroyed as well. At least, that's what he hoped. If the Decepticons were involved...
"I'm sure fixit will be able to repair him. If not, we can always have his Powermaster body and his Nebulon partner, Hi-Q, brought here from Earth and..."
A voice interrupted them.
"Already thought of that Xaaron. I even have Brainstorm and the other Nebulon partnered Autobots aboard my shuttle, when we encountered the Decepticons near the mausoleum shuttle."
Ultra Magnus and Emirate Xaaron turned and faced the young leader of the Autobot army, Rodimus Prime. Ultra Magnus smirked, sourly, behind his facemask.
"So that's why you had them brought along? I thought waiting for Death's Head's signal to attack was the reason you brought along our most strongest warriors?"
Rodimus shrugged as he looked through the observation window.
"He's pretty bad, isn't he?"
Ultra Magnus nodded.
"Fixit is doing his best, but..."
Rodimus pressed a button on his wrist.
"Brainstorm, Highbrow, bring Optimus's powermaster body to med bay 12. Have Hi-Q with you."
Brainstorm's response was prompt.
"Of course Rodimus, no sweat. I've even completed the adjustments to the old body as well. When old Optimus is back in this, he'll feel like he just came off the assembly line!"
Rodimus chuckled as he switched off the comm.
"Brainstorm is a little crazy, but most of his ideas work... most of the time."
Before his companions could say anything, Mainframe entered the room.
"Sirs! We've just picked up an extremely old Autobot shuttle on approach. We're... picking up a transmission from the ship, I think one of you will want to take."
Xaaron nodded.
"Patch it through." he looked at Rodimus "Well, you're the senior ranking officer..."
Rodimus sighed as he walked over to the comm station.
"I'm honoured." he pressed some buttons and waited for the screen to come to life. When the screen revealed who was on the approaching shuttle, he smiled. "Well, I never thought I'd see you again Outlaw. How did your quest go?"
The image on the screen shrugged.
"Alright I guess Hot Rod. Jetfire and myself succeeded in finding our target. We're bringing the shuttle into land now, because if we don't, it'll fall right down on your heads. Meet us in landing bay 14."
Rodimus blinked as the screen went dead.
"My, he's gotten a lot more... hostile towards authority."
Xaaron chuckled.
"That's Outlaw for you Rodimus. As it stands, only Optimus and Death's Head managed to keep him from killing Impactor, just after Megatron and Galvatron left Cybertron a while ago." the yellow Autobot sighed "Even when he was Raiden, he thumbed his nose up at authority. Still, one can't argue with the fact he always succeeds in his missions. Even if he does do them his own, personal way."
Ultra Magnus nodded.
"That's true. In any event, I think we should go and meet him."
Rodimus looked at Ultra Magnus.
"Where's Seraphim and Grimlock?"
At the mention of those two names, Ultra Magnus and Xaaron paled. They knew what Rodimus was getting at. Mainframe, standing still, spoke up.
"I'll contact them and have them meet you at landing bay 14."
Rodimus nodded at the Autobot, then led Xaaron and Ultra Magnus away. Mainframe shuddered as he activated the comm console.
"Mainframe to Seraphim, Mainframe to Seraphim. Do you read?"
Seraphim's response was curt.
"Yes Mainframe?"
"Outlaw and Jetfire have returned. They're landing at landing bay 14. Rodimus would like..."
A fierce and angry voice echoed over the comm.
"Me Grimlock not care what crappy Rodimus want! Me go, where me WANT to go!"
Other similar sounding comments echoed Grimlock's own. Mainframe sighed. Obviously the other Dinobots had joined Grimlock and Seraphim.
Seraphim's voice sounded weary, as she spoke.
"Fine. We'll be there. Seraphim out."
Mainframe sighed as he deactivated the console.
"I should've stayed in my recharge bay today, I really should've...."
***********************************************
In Landing bay 14 :
Silverbolt watched the battered hulk land, and whistled as the shuttle engine's shut down.
"Man, now THAT'S a ship."
Air Raid nodded.
"Amazing it can still fly. Outlaw and Jetfire must've refitted it's engines with whatever spare parts they had onboard." he paused "Or got lucky."
Bumblebee, inside his pretender shell, smiled.
"Outlaw and Jetfire are two resourceful mechs. I bet they could even get the Ark spacebourne again."
Silverbolt looked at the pretender.
"They may just do it. Heh, anyway, let's lock the docking clamps and make sure it's safe."
The three Autobots made their way towards the shuttle, just as Rodimus, Ultra Magnus and Emirate Xaaron entered the bay. Xaaron looked at the shuttle before him.
"An old TJR Z7R transport shuttle. They don't make them like that anymore."
Ultra Magnus smiled.
"True. Those babies where built to last. Almost as reliable as the Ark."
Rodimus looked at Ultra Magnus.
"The Ark was the only one of it's class, wasn't it?"
Xaaron nodded.
"Unfortunately we didn't have enough parts at the time to build more than one. That's why we built the TJR's."
Before Rodimus could respond, the hatch of the shuttle opened and Outlaw and Jetfire stepped out. Rodimus noted the look, the scowl on Outlaw's face and sighed inwardly. He had a feeling Outlaw was going to go a little... crazy.
The dark Autobot strode down the ramp, a scowl upon his face. Jetfire followed as did the shuttle's occupants. Xaaron blinked twice as he saw them.
"I... I don't believe my optics..."
Rodimus and Ultra Magnus both nodded as Outlaw and the mechs with him, approached the command group. Outlaw stopped in front of Rodimus, the dark Autobot towering over the young leader.
"Mission accomplished Hot Rod. Jetfire and myself, found the lost femmes." he leaned down so he was staring Rodimus in the optics "Now, where is Seraphim, Valkyrie and the others who were with Jetfire and myself?"
Rodimus nodded slowly.
"Seraphim and Grimlock are on their way here as we speak and..."
Just then, Seraphim, Grimlock and their 'escort' entered. Jetfire looked at the powerful Dinobots as they looked over the landing bay, Grimlock nodding his head in acknowledgement towards Outlaw. Outlaw returned the gesture.
"Alright Hot Rod. I take it you know who these mechs are? If not, I'm sure Xaaron or Magnus can inform you as to their identities." He paused "Also, I think you had better get some medics and whatever scientists are left from Wheeljack and Brainstorm's little 'club' down here as well. There are some femmes left aboard the shuttle which need repairs."
One of the femmes, Moonracer, spoke in an angry tone.
"One of our companions needs extensive work done on her, after HE ripped her chest chassis off, and forcibly removed an integral part from her!"
Outlaw stared coldly at her, until she backed down and turned her head away.
"If I didn't do it Moonracer, instead of FIVE survivors, there would have been only FOUR. Tell me something Moonracer, what would YOU of done?"
Moonracer paused.
"Uhh... I'd.... ummm...."
Outlaw nodded.
"Just as I thought. Jetfire, meet me at my lab in one cycle."
Jetfire sighed.
"Ok boss. Meet you there."
Outlaw turned and walked towards the hanger door.
"Where's Death's Head?"
Seraphim spoke.
"At your lab. He went straight there after the fiasco with the Decepticons and when Valkyrie...."
Outlaw stopped, and slowly turned around and faced his sister.
"What happened."
Grimlock looked at Seraphim, who nodded.
"Valkyrie gone. Celestine back."
Outlaw's optics narrowed dangerously.
"I see. Grimlock, Seraphim and Jetfire, at my lab."
With that said he turned and faced the exit of the hanger and transformed into his vehicle form, a black semi trailer, and drove off. Elita-1 spoke to Xaaron.
"He still has some problems with his OS doesn't he?"
Xaaron nodded.
"Yes. Even in his new form, the damage is getting worse. If only Optimus was functioning..."
At the mention of Optimus, Elita stared coldy at the former leader of the Autobot Cybertron resistance.
"What about Optimus?"
Xaaron sighed, and looked at Ultra Magnus and Rodimus Prime.
"Ahh, Elita, perhaps we should just show you."
Xaaron turned and headed towards one of the other exits to the hangar, Ultra Magnus, Chromia and the other femmes following. As Rodimus turned to follow, Elita stopped him. He looked at her.
"Uhh, yes Elita?"
The femme stared at him.
"How bad is Optimus?"
Rodimus sighed.
"He took numerous blasts from Megatron, aboard the Decepticon mausoleum shuttle. If Ultra Magnus hadn't of intervened when he did...."
Elita nodded, her CPU assimilating the information.
"What's his chances?"
Rodimus shook his head, sadly.
"I don't know. It's not looking good."
Elita sighed and walked towards the exit the others had gone through. Rodimus looked back over the old shuttle.
"Why do I have a feeling, this is all foreshadowing something else, something big and evil." the young leader sighed again "I haven't felt like this since even before Unicron. I just hope this... 'feeling' I have is wrong."
Rodimus turned and exited the hanger. However, unknown to the Autobots, a small Decepticon spy cassette had recorded everything which had occurred within the bay. It flexed it's bat like wings and flew off towards the old cybertronian city of Kaon, the birthplace of the most fearsome Decepticon leader ever, Megatron
***********************************************
Death's Head - Sorry about the rather extreme lateness of this update people. Been busy with other projects and... other... personal matters. Also, before some people say it in reviews, I'll explain why Outlaw is the way he is, towards Rodimus. When he was created in Vector Sigma, there was a severe problem with his OS and other main programs. Therefore, he was linked to Valkyrie, and had part of her OS and main programs uploaded into him, to compliment his existing system. However, due to this link he has with Valkyrie, when she fell back into her subverted programming and once again became the Decepticon femme, Celestine, Outlaw felt the change only subtly. Therefore his own system is responding to the change, therefore he has little or no respect for authority. It is also 'documented' in the previous chapter, in more detail.
In any event, I'll try and update again before Christmas, if not, before New Year. I hope so anyway, :). R&R please.
The Devil's Gambit
***********************************************
Death's Head - I do not own Transformers. Takara, Marvel, Marvel UK, Sunbow Entertainment, DW Comics and all the rest own them. I only own a couple of the figures. Also, I do not own the Freelance Peacekeeping Agent, Death's Head. Marvel UK does.
The following are my own creations. I made them, they're mine. If you'd like to use them in one of your stories, just send me an email asking for permission to use them, as I'll most likely say you can. I just want to know which story they're going to be placed in.
The New Autobots I created : Outlaw, Valkyrie and Seraphim. The New Decepticons I created : Alpha Destroyer, Acousia, Tremble, Carnage, Blaze, Thraka, Tempest, Darkshayde, Hydrina, Vette and Roadkill.
** ** - Indicates the character's thought.
***********************************************
On Cybertron :
Inside the med bay of Iacon, Optimus Prime lay on one of the repair beds, numerous repair drones working on him. The micromaster medic, Fixit, hard at work. Ultra Magnus stood near the observation window, arms folded across his chest as he watched the medic work. Emirate Xaaron walked up to the white Autobot.
"How's it going Ultra Magnus?"
Ultra Magnus sighed.
"According to Fixit, the damage to Optimus is severe. He really needed that shipment of Nucleon, to effect permanent repairs. As it stands...."
Xaaron nodded. The transport was destroyed, no survivors and the Nucleon destroyed as well. At least, that's what he hoped. If the Decepticons were involved...
"I'm sure fixit will be able to repair him. If not, we can always have his Powermaster body and his Nebulon partner, Hi-Q, brought here from Earth and..."
A voice interrupted them.
"Already thought of that Xaaron. I even have Brainstorm and the other Nebulon partnered Autobots aboard my shuttle, when we encountered the Decepticons near the mausoleum shuttle."
Ultra Magnus and Emirate Xaaron turned and faced the young leader of the Autobot army, Rodimus Prime. Ultra Magnus smirked, sourly, behind his facemask.
"So that's why you had them brought along? I thought waiting for Death's Head's signal to attack was the reason you brought along our most strongest warriors?"
Rodimus shrugged as he looked through the observation window.
"He's pretty bad, isn't he?"
Ultra Magnus nodded.
"Fixit is doing his best, but..."
Rodimus pressed a button on his wrist.
"Brainstorm, Highbrow, bring Optimus's powermaster body to med bay 12. Have Hi-Q with you."
Brainstorm's response was prompt.
"Of course Rodimus, no sweat. I've even completed the adjustments to the old body as well. When old Optimus is back in this, he'll feel like he just came off the assembly line!"
Rodimus chuckled as he switched off the comm.
"Brainstorm is a little crazy, but most of his ideas work... most of the time."
Before his companions could say anything, Mainframe entered the room.
"Sirs! We've just picked up an extremely old Autobot shuttle on approach. We're... picking up a transmission from the ship, I think one of you will want to take."
Xaaron nodded.
"Patch it through." he looked at Rodimus "Well, you're the senior ranking officer..."
Rodimus sighed as he walked over to the comm station.
"I'm honoured." he pressed some buttons and waited for the screen to come to life. When the screen revealed who was on the approaching shuttle, he smiled. "Well, I never thought I'd see you again Outlaw. How did your quest go?"
The image on the screen shrugged.
"Alright I guess Hot Rod. Jetfire and myself succeeded in finding our target. We're bringing the shuttle into land now, because if we don't, it'll fall right down on your heads. Meet us in landing bay 14."
Rodimus blinked as the screen went dead.
"My, he's gotten a lot more... hostile towards authority."
Xaaron chuckled.
"That's Outlaw for you Rodimus. As it stands, only Optimus and Death's Head managed to keep him from killing Impactor, just after Megatron and Galvatron left Cybertron a while ago." the yellow Autobot sighed "Even when he was Raiden, he thumbed his nose up at authority. Still, one can't argue with the fact he always succeeds in his missions. Even if he does do them his own, personal way."
Ultra Magnus nodded.
"That's true. In any event, I think we should go and meet him."
Rodimus looked at Ultra Magnus.
"Where's Seraphim and Grimlock?"
At the mention of those two names, Ultra Magnus and Xaaron paled. They knew what Rodimus was getting at. Mainframe, standing still, spoke up.
"I'll contact them and have them meet you at landing bay 14."
Rodimus nodded at the Autobot, then led Xaaron and Ultra Magnus away. Mainframe shuddered as he activated the comm console.
"Mainframe to Seraphim, Mainframe to Seraphim. Do you read?"
Seraphim's response was curt.
"Yes Mainframe?"
"Outlaw and Jetfire have returned. They're landing at landing bay 14. Rodimus would like..."
A fierce and angry voice echoed over the comm.
"Me Grimlock not care what crappy Rodimus want! Me go, where me WANT to go!"
Other similar sounding comments echoed Grimlock's own. Mainframe sighed. Obviously the other Dinobots had joined Grimlock and Seraphim.
Seraphim's voice sounded weary, as she spoke.
"Fine. We'll be there. Seraphim out."
Mainframe sighed as he deactivated the console.
"I should've stayed in my recharge bay today, I really should've...."
***********************************************
In Landing bay 14 :
Silverbolt watched the battered hulk land, and whistled as the shuttle engine's shut down.
"Man, now THAT'S a ship."
Air Raid nodded.
"Amazing it can still fly. Outlaw and Jetfire must've refitted it's engines with whatever spare parts they had onboard." he paused "Or got lucky."
Bumblebee, inside his pretender shell, smiled.
"Outlaw and Jetfire are two resourceful mechs. I bet they could even get the Ark spacebourne again."
Silverbolt looked at the pretender.
"They may just do it. Heh, anyway, let's lock the docking clamps and make sure it's safe."
The three Autobots made their way towards the shuttle, just as Rodimus, Ultra Magnus and Emirate Xaaron entered the bay. Xaaron looked at the shuttle before him.
"An old TJR Z7R transport shuttle. They don't make them like that anymore."
Ultra Magnus smiled.
"True. Those babies where built to last. Almost as reliable as the Ark."
Rodimus looked at Ultra Magnus.
"The Ark was the only one of it's class, wasn't it?"
Xaaron nodded.
"Unfortunately we didn't have enough parts at the time to build more than one. That's why we built the TJR's."
Before Rodimus could respond, the hatch of the shuttle opened and Outlaw and Jetfire stepped out. Rodimus noted the look, the scowl on Outlaw's face and sighed inwardly. He had a feeling Outlaw was going to go a little... crazy.
The dark Autobot strode down the ramp, a scowl upon his face. Jetfire followed as did the shuttle's occupants. Xaaron blinked twice as he saw them.
"I... I don't believe my optics..."
Rodimus and Ultra Magnus both nodded as Outlaw and the mechs with him, approached the command group. Outlaw stopped in front of Rodimus, the dark Autobot towering over the young leader.
"Mission accomplished Hot Rod. Jetfire and myself, found the lost femmes." he leaned down so he was staring Rodimus in the optics "Now, where is Seraphim, Valkyrie and the others who were with Jetfire and myself?"
Rodimus nodded slowly.
"Seraphim and Grimlock are on their way here as we speak and..."
Just then, Seraphim, Grimlock and their 'escort' entered. Jetfire looked at the powerful Dinobots as they looked over the landing bay, Grimlock nodding his head in acknowledgement towards Outlaw. Outlaw returned the gesture.
"Alright Hot Rod. I take it you know who these mechs are? If not, I'm sure Xaaron or Magnus can inform you as to their identities." He paused "Also, I think you had better get some medics and whatever scientists are left from Wheeljack and Brainstorm's little 'club' down here as well. There are some femmes left aboard the shuttle which need repairs."
One of the femmes, Moonracer, spoke in an angry tone.
"One of our companions needs extensive work done on her, after HE ripped her chest chassis off, and forcibly removed an integral part from her!"
Outlaw stared coldly at her, until she backed down and turned her head away.
"If I didn't do it Moonracer, instead of FIVE survivors, there would have been only FOUR. Tell me something Moonracer, what would YOU of done?"
Moonracer paused.
"Uhh... I'd.... ummm...."
Outlaw nodded.
"Just as I thought. Jetfire, meet me at my lab in one cycle."
Jetfire sighed.
"Ok boss. Meet you there."
Outlaw turned and walked towards the hanger door.
"Where's Death's Head?"
Seraphim spoke.
"At your lab. He went straight there after the fiasco with the Decepticons and when Valkyrie...."
Outlaw stopped, and slowly turned around and faced his sister.
"What happened."
Grimlock looked at Seraphim, who nodded.
"Valkyrie gone. Celestine back."
Outlaw's optics narrowed dangerously.
"I see. Grimlock, Seraphim and Jetfire, at my lab."
With that said he turned and faced the exit of the hanger and transformed into his vehicle form, a black semi trailer, and drove off. Elita-1 spoke to Xaaron.
"He still has some problems with his OS doesn't he?"
Xaaron nodded.
"Yes. Even in his new form, the damage is getting worse. If only Optimus was functioning..."
At the mention of Optimus, Elita stared coldy at the former leader of the Autobot Cybertron resistance.
"What about Optimus?"
Xaaron sighed, and looked at Ultra Magnus and Rodimus Prime.
"Ahh, Elita, perhaps we should just show you."
Xaaron turned and headed towards one of the other exits to the hangar, Ultra Magnus, Chromia and the other femmes following. As Rodimus turned to follow, Elita stopped him. He looked at her.
"Uhh, yes Elita?"
The femme stared at him.
"How bad is Optimus?"
Rodimus sighed.
"He took numerous blasts from Megatron, aboard the Decepticon mausoleum shuttle. If Ultra Magnus hadn't of intervened when he did...."
Elita nodded, her CPU assimilating the information.
"What's his chances?"
Rodimus shook his head, sadly.
"I don't know. It's not looking good."
Elita sighed and walked towards the exit the others had gone through. Rodimus looked back over the old shuttle.
"Why do I have a feeling, this is all foreshadowing something else, something big and evil." the young leader sighed again "I haven't felt like this since even before Unicron. I just hope this... 'feeling' I have is wrong."
Rodimus turned and exited the hanger. However, unknown to the Autobots, a small Decepticon spy cassette had recorded everything which had occurred within the bay. It flexed it's bat like wings and flew off towards the old cybertronian city of Kaon, the birthplace of the most fearsome Decepticon leader ever, Megatron
***********************************************
Death's Head - Sorry about the rather extreme lateness of this update people. Been busy with other projects and... other... personal matters. Also, before some people say it in reviews, I'll explain why Outlaw is the way he is, towards Rodimus. When he was created in Vector Sigma, there was a severe problem with his OS and other main programs. Therefore, he was linked to Valkyrie, and had part of her OS and main programs uploaded into him, to compliment his existing system. However, due to this link he has with Valkyrie, when she fell back into her subverted programming and once again became the Decepticon femme, Celestine, Outlaw felt the change only subtly. Therefore his own system is responding to the change, therefore he has little or no respect for authority. It is also 'documented' in the previous chapter, in more detail.
In any event, I'll try and update again before Christmas, if not, before New Year. I hope so anyway, :). R&R please.