DISCLAIMER:
Transformers is the property of Hasbro, and GW is the property of Sunrise.
This work is purely for entertainment and no monetary profit is being made
by it.
A/N: Well, I'm glad to see that my last update was received so warmly, so I hope to hear your feedback on this one as well. Also, I'm throwing a bit of a bombshell at you, to build up to the next epic battle.
Now then, while tallying the awakened transformers, I made a few mistakes. One, there is no Stunticon called Road Block. However, there is one called Wildrider, and it is he who leaves with Onslaught's rebels, along with Drag Strip and Breakdown, leaving behind Dead End and their leader Motormaster.
Also, there is a decepticon sub-group not mentioned in the roll call in the last chapter. These are the Reflector clones. They are present however, and I give a summary at the bottom naming them.
Now read on and enjoy!
PS. This chapter would not have been updated so soon if not for my school secretary, Ms. Liz Sargeant, who gave me the key to the computer room so I could work on this at lunch-break. Thanks, Miss.
CHAPTER 10. FIRST STRIKE
"Ms. Dorlain. I'm not used to talking to organics let alone negotiating with them, but I'm sure that several questions are passing through your mind."
Relena nodded.
"Yes Commander Megatron. Given the fact that you are leader of a military force I am sure you appreciate the value of reliable information but this is one case in which I have no experience."
Prime chuckled slightly.
"I'm sure negotiating with sentient robots from beyond your galaxy is not something taught at the St. Gabrielle's academy in Asia," she looked at him, eyebrow raised, "an compacted biography of your life is included in the Encyclopaedia Brittanica. Very informative."
Relena chuckled self-consciously. Prime grinned slightly (not that anyone could see behind his mask) and spoke up.
"However, I must thank you for your generous offer of asylum. I'm sure all the transformers return that feeling."
Quatre stood and faced Optimus Prime.
"Optimus Prime sir. I take it that during this time the transformers will need a lot of material resources to build a society. As CEO of the Winner Corporation I offer you any material, construction and technological aids you require from us."
If Prime were human, he would most likely be crying from the show of kindness.
*
Megatron's electronic brain idly ticked over as he contemplated the small human in front of him. Despite never actually meeting her, what he had learned from the human data tracks had instilled a grudging respect for this 'Lady Une', a reputed military genius. He spoke up.
"If your world's policy is 'total pacifism', how come you condoned the rebuilding of these Gundams after they were destroyed in 197?"
Une turned, a querying look in her eyes, which hardened into a cold determination.
"Because we lost hope in mankind." Une sighed and sat down on Megatron's outurned palm.
"None of us really subscribe to total pacifism anymore, not even Relena...We believe in peace, but we've had to accept that weapons are necessary to hold that peace, that the sword could also be a shield." She sank back into silence.
"I hate to say it, but the fact that we possess weapons like the Gundams has probably caused more good than evil." Relena's voice cut into the conversation. The two leaders of armies turned to her. "I lost faith in my father's ideals the day my country fell despite our peaceful nature. If we had not had assistance from a small army of mobile suits, casualties would have run into the thousands." She turned to view the silent, brooding mechs.
"The Gundams have a mystique about them, near legend. That myth has held this peace together, because no-one wants to challenge the indestructible Gundams and their immortal pilots." She chuckled slightly. "Don't tell Duo I said that immortal bit, or it'll send him on an even bigger ego trip than the one he's riding now."
Megatron had been nodding silently to Relena's comments.
"The Decepticons were originally Cybertron's guardians, set up to protect the planet from hostile worlds and itself. It was my own greed and avarice that..."
A sudden high-pitched whining echoed silently within Megatron's cranium. Simultaneously he and Prime pressed a hand to their temples. Each transformer in the hall followed suit as a short coded message passed between them.
FROM: ONS@BRUTE.CON TO: OPEN BROADCAST
HEAR, ME TRANSFORMERS, SEE MY WRATH, AND FEEL THE FEAR OF YOUR IMPENDING DOOM.
The flow of data ceased and Prime and Megatron stood up, facing each other.
"What is it?"
The uneasy silence was broken as each transformer reached for their weapons. Prime knelt down in front of the three humans.
"It's started."
*
Hilde thought she was in hell.
The massive explosion from the mysterious jet's bomb had thrown her off her bike. She had landed on the side of the interstate and crawled under a massive overturned tanker. Other than that mean sanctuary she had nowhere else to go. She was trapped on a flyover with a sheer drop on either side, while havoc raged around here.
As soon as she had dragged herself under she had seen a sight she had considered impossible.
A railroad engine was driving up the interstate!
Flying a white banner of steam from it's smokestack and spewing fire and smoke like a devil from some cursed realm, the massive purple machine tore along the centre lane of traffic, ploughing through cars and vehicles with reckless abandon, crunching the tarmac beneath it's cast iron wheels, skewering vehicles on it's wicked cowcatcher and throwing their passengers aside, it's whistle blowing a chilling note that was like a scream from hell, bringing death and destruction.
Beside the massive beast three cars sped recklessly, slamming and sideswiped oncoming cars that swerved to avoid, throwing them aside with ease. As Hilde watched in horror a yellow Formula 1. car broke loose of the pack, drove up the ramp of an empty vehicle transporter flew out into open air! Wheels spinning, it came down on top of an overturned camper van
BOOM!
With a squeal of rubber the viper-like machine tore out of the flaming wreckage. As it peeled past Hilde she blinked in disbelief...
...the car was unmanned, and completely undented!
A sudden scream of metal drew her attention back to the locomotive, and she watched in horror as the cowcatcher picked up a yellow school bus before the massive machine's wake cast it aside, the bus flying through the air before landing on it's bonnet, crumpling and rolling into a ball of twisted steel. Children's hands stuck through the shattered windows, waving, screaming for help. She looked back down the interstate, and her eyes widened in fear.
Not a quarter of a mile the road a trio of military vehicles was proceeding slowly in the wake of the massive locomotive, firing off shots at cars that had managed to escape, crushing them beneath their massive wheels or treads. Their random shots were not killing many, but the terror the spread more than compensated. In their wake, a gigantic purple helicopter hovered, it's mighty propeller blades creating a swirling vortex that sucked cars into the air before dropping them beside the roadside...
...the bus of kids was right in their path!
Hilde steeled herself and hobbled towards the yellow bus, as others ran over and began hauling screaming children from the broken windows, herding them towards the edge of the interstate, lowering them over or dropping them into the river beneath..
Hilde pulled aside twisted scraps of metal before she came to the door, jammed shut. After pulling on it for a few seconds, she grabbed her backpack and ferreted through it, before finding a small metal rod, which she drew out into a long handle. She briefly contemplated the switch on the grip.//Duo would kill me if he knew I used this//. Flicking the switch, her face was lit up by the eerie green glow of the portable beam weapon he had asked she bring with her. Twirling the handheld beam scythe in her fingers for a second, she brought it down on the door with a resounding CRACK!
As she began to cut streams of molten metal dribbled down the door's surface as the plasma contained within the beam field sparked and gleamed. Suddenly, the door crumpled and folded downwards as it collapsed from it's frame.
Inside the dead body of the bus' driver lay on the wheel, a massive shard of glass piercing his forehead. Children lay in the aisle, none dead, but many injured, all screaming. Some were trapped underneath or behind twisted chairs. Hilde set to cutting them loose as others fled in to help pull the injured free.
*
Brawl the tracked tank slowly rotated his turret, hunting for fresh prey, and smirked. Directly ahead lay a large yellow earthen vehicle, many organics streaming around it. He chuckled in maniacal glee. Perfect.
All of the kids had been pulled to safety. Hilde was about to duck out of the bus herself, the roar of the attacking weapon's engines had built to an almost deafening pitch. She turned to go.
"Help."
A thin cry echoed from the back of the bus. She turned. A small face peered from behind a pile of chairs that had collected at the rear of the bus. Hilde turned to look at the door, then to the small face.
"Oh the Heck with it!"
Quickly she ran to the rear of the bus and pulled the young girl free. Through the shattered rear window she could se a green tank with a trio of menacing guns mounted on it take aim.
"Crap!"
"Heheheh!" Brawl made a quick decision, such a weak target was not worth wasting an artillery shell on. With that, his sonic impulse cannons rose up out of his turret, whining alarmingly. Slowly, he began turning the pitch of the waves up, to high for a human to perceive, but sweet music to his audios.
Hilde grabbed the girl in her arms and darted for the door as around her, the intact window panes began to vibrate, before shattering into crystalline shards. Suddenly, the metal walls began to crunch and contract like a metal hand was grabbing them, as Brawl's megapitch waves tore apart their very molecules.
As Hilde pulled herself from the door, a massive explosion lifted her off her feet as the bus's fuel tank ruptured. Screaming, she shielded the young girl as the blast threw them both over the rim of the interstate, tumbling towards the river below.
"Oh Shit!"
*
1 WEEK LATER.
BLIP!.BLIP!.BLIP!
'Why'd you have to be a hero again Hilde, you fool.'
Hilde's face was calm and placid as she lay unconscious in the hospital ward. Beside her, an IV drip fed nutrients into her arm and a monitor recorded her slow, but constant heartbeat.
Duo had maintained a silent vigil at Hilde's bedside in the Washington State Hospital in Seattle for the past week, rushing to her side as soon as a doctor had called the only stored name in the mobile phone of the young woman who'd been found at the ruined interstate.
Outside Trowa and Quatre maintained an equally dedicated vigil. Quatre was of the opinion that had they not been here to remind him to eat, sleep and drink he would have been in one of the wards himself.
Trowa looked up from 'War and Peace', which he was still working on and made silent eye contact with Quatre.
'Why's he doing this?'
Quatre got the gist of what Trowa was implying.
"Hilde's the one thing Duo cared for more than Deathscythe. He's still smarting over the loss of his Gundam. If he lost Hilde now..." He left the sentence hanging
A tall lanky doctor stepped into the reception and approached the two.
"He still in there?"
The pair nodded quietly. Quatre spoke up.
"Do you have the results of the tests Dr. Hildreth?"
Hildreth nodded slowly. He seemed hesitant.
"Well?"
The three looked up. Duo was leaning in the doorway. Hildreth cleared his throat.
"Well, Ms. Schbeiker seems to have struck her head on a rock after falling from the flyover into the river. This has not produced any cranial damage but it has caused a fluid build up inside her head which is exerting pressure on the brain, the result of which is this coma. This explains why she did not pass out until some minutes after she had dragged herself and the young girl she saved from the water."
"So what does this mean?" Duo was being disturbingly calm.
"There is a surgical procedure we can implement to release the pressure on the brain. It will involve removing part of her skull to remove the fluid sac. It should be quite simple but there's...a complication," he sighed. "The build-up is in very close proximity to one of her major arteries. If that burst during the operation it would be almost certainly fatal."
Duo slowly examined his fingernails.
"What's the odds of that happening?"
"She has a 50/50 chance of surviving."
Duo clenched his fist.
"If there's a chance she'll live, I want you to take it."
With that, Duo strode off down the corridor away from them, an odd determination in his stride. Quatre and Trowa shared a glance, before setting aside their books and following him.
*
Onslaught slowly scanned the terrain using the zoom function on his optic circuits. He smiled. Few recognised the technical skills he and his team possessed. It had been a simple task to obtain the components they needed to build a satellite intercept device to tap these human's primitive communications systems. From there, it had been even simpler to locate a suitable source of the warriors he needed to boost his small forces. He spotted the target.
"Excellent! Astrotrain. Prepare to strike."
*
Duo strode out of the hospital ignoring the other two pilots following them. He approached a massive red tractor trailer parked on the opposite side of the parking lot and swung himself into the cab. Trowa and Quatre scrambled in after him.
Without Duo even touching the controls, the mighty diesel engine roared into action and the truck pulled out of the hospital onto the highway, gliding along in the pre-dawn light.
*
The train thundered across the Californian plains towards Sacramento, a massive convoy of mobile suits due for scrapping. Despite the loss of faith in total pacifism, the ESUN government understood the need to cut down on as many weapons as possible. In the giant locomotive cab the engineer turned to his fireman.
"How long to go now?"
The fireman tapped a railway map.
"We passed Hill Valley ten minutes ago, so about an hour to cover the seventy miles to Sacramento, and then not long to the New Edwards base" he leant back in his seat. "God I need sleep. We've been driving since yesterday, all the way from Montana. We're practically living off coffee."
"What's the point?"
"Pardon?"
"What's the point of taking newly built mobile suits for scrapping. They've never even had their reactors fired up, except for those four..."
He trailed off. There was no need to elaborate further. Both knew that among their cargo were the four most deadly, and unique mobile suits the former OZ had ever built.
As dawn broke over the Sierra Nevada mountain range, the train flicked past a single red light mounted upon a signal post.
"Shit! We just passed a red light!"
The engineer pulled back on the throttle levers and the train gradually slowed, coming to a halt in the middle of the desert with a great sigh of escaping air. As the first rays of dawn shone into the locomotive, the crew were temporarily blinded.
They never saw what hit them.
*
As the red truck rolled along the highway Duo stared expressionlessly at the dashboard. A noble voice that the pilots had grown very accustomed to in the recent weeks rumbled through the cab.
"Are your vocalisers malfunctioning?"
Duo chuckled mirthlessly.
"No Prime, we're fine. Just thinking."
The Autobot commander's reply was innocent in the extreme.
"Thinking about what?"
Duo settled back, arms folded, face sinisterly lit in the half-light.
"About what I'm going to do to Onslaught when I catch up to him."
*
Onslaught's appearance had a great deal of showmanship to it. Striding through the flaming pools of diesel fuel, Astrotrain in his wake, he appeared like a demon outcast from hell, Lucifer fallen from heaven's grace.
A single volley of lasers had reduced the locomotive to scrap metal, distorted like some bizarre art sculpture. A twisted chassis still adorned the rails, wheels squeaking as it rolled slowly downhill, unhampered by brakes. Onslaught booted it off the track with a single contemptuous kick.
"Astrotrain, take the strain."
Astrotrain switched to his steam engine mode within seconds. As he linked up to the convoy of mobile suit carriers, his whistle echoed off the encroaching mountains that surrounded the plains.
Onslaught watched with a touch of pride as the train began to pull ahead of him. The last four wagons were distinctly larger than the others and as they drew level to him, he jumped on. Ripping the folding roofs from their frames with a flex of his metal muscles, he surveyed the real prize.
Four large mechs that, upright would have stood as high as him lay down in the wagons. Two gleamed scarlet, one sprouting a fearful design that inspired fear in even the powerful Combatacon, the other bearing a collection of strange spherical energy shields. One blue and white machine rested against the floor, elegantly designed head glinting in the light. The final mobile suit was imposing, if ugly, it's navy hands clutching a mighty weapon which would have made Onslaught drool were he organic. He chuckled to himself.
"Megatron's era is past. It's time for a new Decepticon leader to assume command. One who will restore us to our former glory. Me."
As Astrotrain sped faster and faster towards the horizon, Onslaught's laughter rang into the new dawn.
*
Optimus Prime pulled off the highway onto a narrow dirt tack which wound up into the hills. After passing numerous signs warning them that they were entering a restricted area they pulled into the St. Hillary mine complex. Much had changed. It was a hive of activity.
Sally, Noin and Zechs were overseeing the loading of equipment and machinery onto trains for transhipment. Prime pulled up beside them and after the three pilots had jumped from him, transformed.
"No matter how many times I see that, it never fails to impress me." Quatre muttered to Trowa as the three preventers strode over to them. Optimus Prime nodded and moved off towards a group of Autobots by the entry to the Ark.
"How is she?" Sally's face showed concern as she approached Duo, who looked moody and sulky.
"The doctors are going to operate on her."
Sally nodded slowly. Trowa turned to Zechs.
"Where's the others?"
"Howard, Chris and their crew are down in the maintenance bay helping Ratchet and the Constructicons. Une's in her office. Heero's probably tinkering with Wing Zero, and Relena's AWOL..."
"And Wufei?"
"Last I saw he was with Skywarp in the woods."
"Pardon?"
"Duelling."
*
Une rubbed her eyes and slugged down another cup of coffee. She winced in disgust at the cold, bitter taste, and turned back to the notes she had scribbled up. -------------------------------------------- DECEPTICONS
Megatron,(1) Soundwave and cassettes (6) Seekers (3) Constructicons (5) Stunticons (2) Others (4)
Total:-21
What to do with them? -------------------------------------------------------------------
"Damn it."
"You allright?"
"Huh!"
Une looked up to see Trowa leaning against the door to her office inside the ark. She grinned wearily.
"Yeah, just trying to work out how the transformers can help us."
"Your more concerned about the decepticons aren't you?"
"Pretty much. The Autobots are willing to lay down their arms, but the decepticons actually are weapons. They could pose a threat to our peace."
"Have you considered incorporating them into the Preventers."
"Pardon."
"You were concerned that the preventers don't possess enough weapons to hold off a second rebellion like the Barton invasion. Some of the decepticons, like Starscream and his brothers, could help in that regard."
"What about the others?"
"Each specialise in different functions. Soundwave and his cassettes are like Duo, they excel in stealth and espionage. Could even possibly teach those skills to new recruits. The constructicons aren't even warriors by design, they're builders. Skills like theirs in design and execution of advanced plans could really boost construction of colonies like X18999 and aid post-war redevelopment on Earth." He paused. "Newport city in Relena's Sanc Kingdom is still in ruins because we can't get a coherent plan together to rebuild it. It's the same with Brussels, and the spaceports in Dover and Singapore to name a few."
"And Megatron?"
"I suspect Megatron's just as tired of war as we are. I believe he would lay down the reigns of command and play the role of an ambassador to the transformers while leaving the actual leadership of the militia to Starscream."
Une grinned.
"Thanks Trowa."
*
At this point the decepticon in question was in his own quarters, pouring over a large-scale map of the Pacific that was being projected onto the bulkhead.. A sudden chime from behind him caught his attention. Not turning, he called out for the guest he was expecting to enter. The door slid open silently, and a forbidding figure entered. Megatron finally turned and nodded.
"Soundwave."
"Commander Megatron."
Chuckling, Megatron threw back his head.
"Soundwave, we've been friends long enough to drop the titles. I don't address you as communications officer each time I see you."
Soundwave made no reply, but his ruby visor glowed brightly for a microsecond, which Megatron interpreted as a laugh. Not even those Gundam pilots were as expressionless and seemingly unemotional as Soundwave. Megatron's voice suddenly lost any trace of laughter and turned serious.
"Have you located it?"
"Negative."
"Curse the pit!"
Megatron slammed his fist down on the table in rage, and the metal surface buckled under the assault. Silently, Soundwave moved to his flank and they considered the chart in detail. Megatron picked up a small laser pointer and gestured at the wall.
"We're located here, Mt. St. Hillary," his pointer circled an area in northern Oregon, before shifting north slightly. "Since the attack on the humans, we've had no contact whatsoever with Onslaught, so he must be working from a hidden base. There are no locations within 200 kilometres from here that are suitable for a transformer army to work from, nor have there been any sightings of those traitors.
Soundwave's monotone voice spoke up and the small cannon on his right shoulder projected a beam similar to Megatron's pointer.
"Given that during our battle in space only yourself, myself, the seekers and the camera drones boarded the ark, then the remainder of our forces, held in statis within our vessel must have landed on Earth in a position suitable for Adam Rook to retrieve them. Calculation reveals that their trajectory after the two ships parted would have placed them in an area of approximately 100,000 square kilometres due east of this location." Soundwave's projector highlighted the area. It formed a square 100 kilometres a side, some fifty kilometres east of the ark.
"Can you refine that location further."
"Negative. Rook could have homed in on the location using the residual energy from the ion drive as a beacon and the equipment he stipped out of the ark as a tracer. Onslaught followed the beacon the ship puts out on the Deceptcion frequency and deactivated it as soon as he arrived. Neither option is available to us."
Megatron leant back in his recharge couch.
"Would it be possible for him to reactivate our flagship?"
"Energon reserves would be drained, but even with extensive damage to the exostucture the ion drive core should be intact and functional."
"The weapons."
"If an energy source could be located, they should function at 100% power."
Megatron nodded thoughtfully.
"Ideally Soundwave I'd like you and your cassettes to survey this area and pin down Onslaught's location. Not yet though. As my advisor you're priceless during this period. Give it an astrocycle, then I can let you go."
"As you command Megatron."
*
Trowa stepped out of Une's office, actually a Portacabin and shielded his eyes against the glare of the golden metal the ark was cast from.
Since the preventers were planning to spend a massive amount of time at the ark, some of the Autobot's had helped drag a few portacabins in fitted with a few human essentials, along with one or two luxuries. Currently the chamber had a few caravans fitted with beds, two portacabin offices, and a third set out as a gymnasium. Unable to break from their strict wartime regime, several of the Gundam boys insisted on a regular period of exercise a day. Trowa wandered into this impromptu facility, expecting to see Wufei or Heero lifting some weights. His one visible eyebrow arched in surprise.
There was someone lifting weights inside the small cabin, but it wasn't one of the boys.
"Relena?"
Relena paused from her weightlifting and sat up. Pulling a towel from a rack she wiped some sweat from her forehead. Trowa noticed in surprise that for the first time since he had met her she was not wearing formal attire. She was wearing a pair of track suit bottoms and a tank top over a sports bra. She took a few deep breaths.
"Trowa."
"I didn't know you did weights."
"Not many do. After the Barton rebellion I started working out when I found I couldn't even hold up Heero when he collapsed in my arms, and you boys are so thin and light I should have. Since then I've been trying to get at least twenty minutes a day on some kind of physical exercise."
Trowa looked at her and noticed with surprise that her thin arms showed some signs of tightly packed muscle. A faint six-pack was also beginning to appear on her abdomen. He nodded in approval.
"What kind of exercise do you do?"
"Weightlifting, jogging. I've even started a bit of boxing on a dumbbell."
Trowa gave her his usual slight smirk.
"Boxing. Doesn't that go a bit against your beliefs of 'total pacifism'."
She shrugged.
"It helps. I'm such a public figure lately that I've become a target for several organisations. I need to know how to defend myself. And you know as well as I do now that total pacifism can't work"
He held up his right hand, palm out, fingers together.
"Hit me."
"Pardon?"
"Punch my hand. Show me how good you are."
Relena looked surprised but balled up her fist and rammed it into Trowa's upraised palm as hard as she could. To her utter amazement, he winced. Clutching his wrist he groaned and nodded.
"Not bad...ow!"
Slightly embarrassed she grinned a bit and shrugged.
"Sorry."
*
Deep inside the Ark was an awe-inspiring sight. The maintenance bay that the transformers were found in, where Adam Rook's engineers had obviously left them three centuries ago, was being stripped down and rebuilt. Equipment designed for maintaining and construction mobile suits was being brought in off the Genesis and reassembled underground.
The basic concept was that while the Autobot's and Decepticons were constructing themselves a new home, a base would be needed where necessary equipment could be manufactured and taken care of. The Ark was perfect for this purpose.
Two Autobot engineers, Wheeljack and Ratchet, were preparing detailed plans for modifying the human equipment to maintain transformer bodies and manufacture cybertronian materials and technologies. Helping them in actually carrying out these modifications were the Decepticon Constructicons. These select group were all experts in some form of engineering as together it was rumoured could built almost anything out of almost nothing. Along with them on the construction floor was the engineers from the Genesis, currently berthed in the naval shipyard at Puget in Seattle.
The Constructicons, leaded by the bulldozer Scrapper were currently heaving and carrying plant around, while human engineers clambered over the machines, tinkering, explaining their function to the transformers. Elsewhere, sparks flew as transformer machinery was augmented by mankind's technology. It was like the mobile suit bay of the Genesis, on an even grander scale.
Lording over this realm was Howard on a high gantry, welding sparks reflecting of his sunglasses, a wry grin on his face. As Latta walked up to him, he gestured widely.
"It's a whole new world!"
* 1 WEEK LATER
Elsewhere, Onslaught was lording over a similar view. He stood on dais in the centre of a room which formed a perfect circle, his eyes gleaming with anticipation.
The room was dully lit, but in the half-dark he could make out the important details. From his dais ten massive tables, tilted like in a operating theatre, spread out like spokes from a hub. Further tables lined the outer wall of the chamber, radiating inwards. Above each table a complex piece of machinery hung from the roof. Each unit consisted of a central processor and hydraulics unit, from which four mechanical arms spread out, each studded with motors and cooling plant. On the tip of each arm was mounted a multi-purpose tool set, which along with standard cutting and welding tools, screwdrivers, spanners and soldering irons, boasted recharge sockets, computer uplinks and devices a human mechanic could only begin to guess at. Each of the complex units were interlinked with massive cables and tubing. Beneath the main unit where the arms could reach a conveyor belt sat, running from holes in the wall to each set of arms. Each conveyor was loaded with components Onslaught had stolen from the humans or had Swindle barter for over the past few weeks.
Despite the advanced loom of the room, it was in some disarray. The walls gleamed a dull red, giving the chamber a slightly hellish appearance. Wires were corroded or hung in bundles from the bulkheads and roof, burst pipes had been inexpertly botched back together. A massive strut that supported the roof had collapsed across the central dais, crushing two tables. Despite the wear and tear, the room was mainly sound. The tables were cleaned, the machine arms hummed and glowed faintly, primed and waiting for action. Beside each table, small computer terminals glowed faint blue, programming flickering across the screens. Onslaught rubbed his hands together.
'It's time to begin.'
On each of the twenty three working tables lay a human mobile suit. Onslaught ran his hands over the superstructure of the nearest one, a Leo. It was simple, blocky and laughably primitive, if surprisingly powerful. With a little modification, they would be excellent troops for his new army. He slowly looked round the room, ticking off the mobile suits with the list in his head. Twenty three drones about to be prepared, twenty- seven waiting. Fifteen Leos, fifteen Aires. These would form his central corps.
After these came the elite units he was going to reserve for harder battles. The ten Taurus suits and remaining five Virgos and five Serpents would form a spectacular strike force. Those foolish Autobots and the traitors would never know what hit them. He slowly caressed the massive shoulder of a Virgo lying beside him, the planetary shields tingling slightly under his metal paw.
These machines would be an equal match for most transformer, they were almost as powerful as these 'Gundams' the organics piloted. What's more, the conversion would be easy. All of these machines had the ability to run independently of pilots, and these powerful Virgos had no cockpit. All they needed was transformer intelligence, not the foolishly weak AI programmes the humans had developed. He was not going to install laser sparks in these fifty suits though. The most loyal army is an emotionless one. His new army of Deceptidrones would be intelligent, powerful, but lifeless drones, incapable of independent thought.
'However,' he looked towards the final four tables, each occupied by one of the massive suits he had found in the rear of the train. These, he felt, would be an exception. The other drones were cannon fodder and pretty easy to replace, but machines this unique could not be wasted. He would bring these ones to life, and had already devised suitable designs for their laser cores, which would shape their new personalities, based on the brain scans of the elite humans who had piloted them, still stored in the primitive memory banks. All they needed was some modification, and his new army, would have the perfect commanders.
"Very well."
He leant forward to the central console on his dais, and pressed a single red button. With a hum, the machinery came to life, and the process of converting the human mobile suits began.
"Lord, what fools these mortals be. The most powerful weapons of their age, destroyed in what they called 'the final battle', and they rebuild them, only to send them for scrapping, and then they deliver them, RIGHT INTO MY HANDS! AHAHAHAHAHA!"
As sparks flew and robotic arms danced with electrical fire, Onslaught began to cackle maniacally, a harsh guttural sound that echoed throughout the corridors of his new base, chilling to the core the few Decepticons who were loyal to him.
For no-one could escape from the most powerful Decepticon warship in history, the vessel which had shot down the ark itself. No-one could escape...
...from the Nemesis.
To be continued...
A/N SO! WHAT DO YOU THINK? Creative? Inspired? A hallmark in fanfic? Or the drunk ramblings of a pissed teenager? (most likely)
Well I promised to Gundam Wing fans that I'd give a rundown on the various decepticon sub groups. Here you are:-
SEEKERS: The air force of the Decepticon military. All based around a similar design with many numbers (most likely thousands, all configured for flight and air to air/ground combat). There are actually two main seeker squadrons.
Starscream, Thundercracker and Skywarp compromise the cream of the Seekers, possessing the same F-15E transform but with varied colour schemes and customised abilities. Starscream possesses his 'null ray', Thundercracker can generate massive sonic booms at will and Skywarp can teleport up to a range of 2.5 miles.
Below them, are the 'coneheads', Dirge, Thrust and Ramjet. These all have more unconventional designs, with the basic F-15E blueprint modified to incorporate delta wings (Ramjet), Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) engines (Thrust) and solid fuel boosters (Dirge). Not as skilled as Starscream and his brothers, these are still very powerful Decepticons.
CONSTRUCTICONS: As one fansite put it, the closest thing the decepticons have to a workers union. Skilled labourers and powerful warriors, the constructicons were once autobot architects who designed and built many cities on cybertron. However, they were captured by Megatron who reprogrammed them to serve him. Loyal beyond belief to their new commander, the constructicons served as technical advisors and built many weapons.
The constructicons have a final secret. The individual bodies of Scrapper, Hook, Longhaul, Bonecrusher, Mixmaster and Scavenger can combine to form a single massive robot-DEVASTATOR. Though slower and not as intelligent as his components, by sheer brute strength devastator can turn the course of a battle.
STUNTICONS: Built by Megatron to 'rule the roads', the five stunticons all have vehicle modes. Motormaster is a 16 ton truck, Drag Strip is a race car, and their comrades, Dead End, Wildrider and Breakdown are high-performance sports cars.
Like the constructicons, the Stunticons have a 'gestalt' form-Menasor. Though physically more powerful than Devastator, the two are equal in abilities because Menasor is unhinged. His five components bicker and argue, causing his mind to often become a confused mess.
COMBATACONS: Scheming and backstabbing, the Combatacons were designed to form a strike force capable of attacking on both land and air. Onslaught, Brawn and Swindle wage war on the land, with their alternate forms of missile truck, tank and jeep while Blast Off the space shuttle and Vortex the helicopter decimate the skies.
Rather predictably by now, they too have a gestalt. Bruticus is 'the perfect soldier' (though I bet that Heero would dispute this claim) according to Megatron. Capable of following orders to the letter, powerful and relatively intelligent, Bruticus can be summed up in Megatron's own words- "I like him, I wish I had a whole army of Bruticuses." Thank God he didn't.
REFLECTOR Triplets are described as individual souls born into identical bodies. Reflector is the opposite-three bodies housing one soul-I'm not kidding! These guys are creepy-they always speak in unison, are identical clones of each other and only have a single transform between the three of them, a camera! This can vary in size from human proportions to that of a transformer, and it can only produce polariods!
Perhaps useful for spying, the Reflector drones seem to be nothing other than cannon fodder, as there are dozens of robots identical to them back on Cybertron.
TRIPLE CHANGERS
The Triple Changers were an Elite group of transformers, but currently only two are represented in my story.
Blitzwing has the alternate modes of both a tiger tank and a MiG fighter jet, hence the name. Only robot to have ever used football tactics as battle strategies, and make them work! Most memorable moment was in the Transformers movie when he was beat up by Kup, the Autobot's version of an OAP!
Astrotrain is both a space shuttle and Japanese style steam engine (should suit the GW boys just fine). Although only a regular sized transformer, in both vehicle modes he is apparently big enough on the inside for the entire decepticon army to fit inside, and for Devastator to stand up in! Big, powerful, and judging by his behaviour in the movie, dumb as well.
On ordered to transport the decepticons away from a battlefield, he goes from robot to train, allows the cons to board him, then takes off and transforms to a space-shuttle. Since this requires a barrel-roll, it's probably the reason many healthy decepticons were suddenly damaged next time we saw them, damaged sufficiently to be 'thrown overboard.'
Then, after leaving earth's gravity, he complains his cargo's too heavy for him to make it home. In space, weight does not affect range. i.e. give it a shove and it'll go for ever until it runs into a planet. Seems to have been used for the decepticons to commute here, there and everywhere.
DINOBOTS Prime decided the Autobots needed some brute force, so they came up with the Dinobots, who would have made the Incredible Hulk wet his pants. Bigger than any other conventional transformer and strong to boot, the designer of Grimlock, Slag, Swoop, Snarl and Sludge deserved to pat himself on the back- except he put in brains that were equal in size to actual dinosaurs i.e. walnuts! Probably not even that big.
Hence Grimlock as leader often gave orders like this; "me Grimlock kick butt!" "me Grimlock want to munch metal" and "me Grimlock not nice dino, me bash brains". Yes, of course you do. Unfortunately, he was the most intelligent of the lot!
Unlike other teams, the Dinobots didn't have a gestalt, but their effectiveness on the battlefield made up for that, other than Prime having to keep them turned off and locked in a cell at other times until their aggression levels were turned down!
Oddest moment was when Grimlock took orders from a teenage human girl, and in the movie, due to Snarl the stegosaur's conspicuous absence for the whole time they were on screen for! Where was he? Reading a book? (As if!) On the potty (Selenium Salami not go good with Beryllium Baloney), or munching on the cast of Jurassic Park.
AIRIELBOTS Created at the same time as the Stunticons to give the Autobot's air supremacy, this group of powerful aircraft are still young and inexperienced, despite being on par with the seekers regarding firepower. They also have a deep admiration for the decepticon jet's skills. Finally, their leader, a concord called Silverbolt (maybe he should be retired with the rest of them, he, he, he) has a few demons of his own, mainly a fear of heights (!).
Their gestalt Superion is physically the weakest combiner, but his higher intelligence puts him on par with Devastator, though not Menasor and Bruticus.
END TRANSMISSION.
Hope these little notes made you laugh, and in the words of the new governor of California,
"I'LL BE BACK!"
A/N: Well, I'm glad to see that my last update was received so warmly, so I hope to hear your feedback on this one as well. Also, I'm throwing a bit of a bombshell at you, to build up to the next epic battle.
Now then, while tallying the awakened transformers, I made a few mistakes. One, there is no Stunticon called Road Block. However, there is one called Wildrider, and it is he who leaves with Onslaught's rebels, along with Drag Strip and Breakdown, leaving behind Dead End and their leader Motormaster.
Also, there is a decepticon sub-group not mentioned in the roll call in the last chapter. These are the Reflector clones. They are present however, and I give a summary at the bottom naming them.
Now read on and enjoy!
PS. This chapter would not have been updated so soon if not for my school secretary, Ms. Liz Sargeant, who gave me the key to the computer room so I could work on this at lunch-break. Thanks, Miss.
CHAPTER 10. FIRST STRIKE
"Ms. Dorlain. I'm not used to talking to organics let alone negotiating with them, but I'm sure that several questions are passing through your mind."
Relena nodded.
"Yes Commander Megatron. Given the fact that you are leader of a military force I am sure you appreciate the value of reliable information but this is one case in which I have no experience."
Prime chuckled slightly.
"I'm sure negotiating with sentient robots from beyond your galaxy is not something taught at the St. Gabrielle's academy in Asia," she looked at him, eyebrow raised, "an compacted biography of your life is included in the Encyclopaedia Brittanica. Very informative."
Relena chuckled self-consciously. Prime grinned slightly (not that anyone could see behind his mask) and spoke up.
"However, I must thank you for your generous offer of asylum. I'm sure all the transformers return that feeling."
Quatre stood and faced Optimus Prime.
"Optimus Prime sir. I take it that during this time the transformers will need a lot of material resources to build a society. As CEO of the Winner Corporation I offer you any material, construction and technological aids you require from us."
If Prime were human, he would most likely be crying from the show of kindness.
*
Megatron's electronic brain idly ticked over as he contemplated the small human in front of him. Despite never actually meeting her, what he had learned from the human data tracks had instilled a grudging respect for this 'Lady Une', a reputed military genius. He spoke up.
"If your world's policy is 'total pacifism', how come you condoned the rebuilding of these Gundams after they were destroyed in 197?"
Une turned, a querying look in her eyes, which hardened into a cold determination.
"Because we lost hope in mankind." Une sighed and sat down on Megatron's outurned palm.
"None of us really subscribe to total pacifism anymore, not even Relena...We believe in peace, but we've had to accept that weapons are necessary to hold that peace, that the sword could also be a shield." She sank back into silence.
"I hate to say it, but the fact that we possess weapons like the Gundams has probably caused more good than evil." Relena's voice cut into the conversation. The two leaders of armies turned to her. "I lost faith in my father's ideals the day my country fell despite our peaceful nature. If we had not had assistance from a small army of mobile suits, casualties would have run into the thousands." She turned to view the silent, brooding mechs.
"The Gundams have a mystique about them, near legend. That myth has held this peace together, because no-one wants to challenge the indestructible Gundams and their immortal pilots." She chuckled slightly. "Don't tell Duo I said that immortal bit, or it'll send him on an even bigger ego trip than the one he's riding now."
Megatron had been nodding silently to Relena's comments.
"The Decepticons were originally Cybertron's guardians, set up to protect the planet from hostile worlds and itself. It was my own greed and avarice that..."
A sudden high-pitched whining echoed silently within Megatron's cranium. Simultaneously he and Prime pressed a hand to their temples. Each transformer in the hall followed suit as a short coded message passed between them.
FROM: ONS@BRUTE.CON TO: OPEN BROADCAST
HEAR, ME TRANSFORMERS, SEE MY WRATH, AND FEEL THE FEAR OF YOUR IMPENDING DOOM.
The flow of data ceased and Prime and Megatron stood up, facing each other.
"What is it?"
The uneasy silence was broken as each transformer reached for their weapons. Prime knelt down in front of the three humans.
"It's started."
*
Hilde thought she was in hell.
The massive explosion from the mysterious jet's bomb had thrown her off her bike. She had landed on the side of the interstate and crawled under a massive overturned tanker. Other than that mean sanctuary she had nowhere else to go. She was trapped on a flyover with a sheer drop on either side, while havoc raged around here.
As soon as she had dragged herself under she had seen a sight she had considered impossible.
A railroad engine was driving up the interstate!
Flying a white banner of steam from it's smokestack and spewing fire and smoke like a devil from some cursed realm, the massive purple machine tore along the centre lane of traffic, ploughing through cars and vehicles with reckless abandon, crunching the tarmac beneath it's cast iron wheels, skewering vehicles on it's wicked cowcatcher and throwing their passengers aside, it's whistle blowing a chilling note that was like a scream from hell, bringing death and destruction.
Beside the massive beast three cars sped recklessly, slamming and sideswiped oncoming cars that swerved to avoid, throwing them aside with ease. As Hilde watched in horror a yellow Formula 1. car broke loose of the pack, drove up the ramp of an empty vehicle transporter flew out into open air! Wheels spinning, it came down on top of an overturned camper van
BOOM!
With a squeal of rubber the viper-like machine tore out of the flaming wreckage. As it peeled past Hilde she blinked in disbelief...
...the car was unmanned, and completely undented!
A sudden scream of metal drew her attention back to the locomotive, and she watched in horror as the cowcatcher picked up a yellow school bus before the massive machine's wake cast it aside, the bus flying through the air before landing on it's bonnet, crumpling and rolling into a ball of twisted steel. Children's hands stuck through the shattered windows, waving, screaming for help. She looked back down the interstate, and her eyes widened in fear.
Not a quarter of a mile the road a trio of military vehicles was proceeding slowly in the wake of the massive locomotive, firing off shots at cars that had managed to escape, crushing them beneath their massive wheels or treads. Their random shots were not killing many, but the terror the spread more than compensated. In their wake, a gigantic purple helicopter hovered, it's mighty propeller blades creating a swirling vortex that sucked cars into the air before dropping them beside the roadside...
...the bus of kids was right in their path!
Hilde steeled herself and hobbled towards the yellow bus, as others ran over and began hauling screaming children from the broken windows, herding them towards the edge of the interstate, lowering them over or dropping them into the river beneath..
Hilde pulled aside twisted scraps of metal before she came to the door, jammed shut. After pulling on it for a few seconds, she grabbed her backpack and ferreted through it, before finding a small metal rod, which she drew out into a long handle. She briefly contemplated the switch on the grip.//Duo would kill me if he knew I used this//. Flicking the switch, her face was lit up by the eerie green glow of the portable beam weapon he had asked she bring with her. Twirling the handheld beam scythe in her fingers for a second, she brought it down on the door with a resounding CRACK!
As she began to cut streams of molten metal dribbled down the door's surface as the plasma contained within the beam field sparked and gleamed. Suddenly, the door crumpled and folded downwards as it collapsed from it's frame.
Inside the dead body of the bus' driver lay on the wheel, a massive shard of glass piercing his forehead. Children lay in the aisle, none dead, but many injured, all screaming. Some were trapped underneath or behind twisted chairs. Hilde set to cutting them loose as others fled in to help pull the injured free.
*
Brawl the tracked tank slowly rotated his turret, hunting for fresh prey, and smirked. Directly ahead lay a large yellow earthen vehicle, many organics streaming around it. He chuckled in maniacal glee. Perfect.
All of the kids had been pulled to safety. Hilde was about to duck out of the bus herself, the roar of the attacking weapon's engines had built to an almost deafening pitch. She turned to go.
"Help."
A thin cry echoed from the back of the bus. She turned. A small face peered from behind a pile of chairs that had collected at the rear of the bus. Hilde turned to look at the door, then to the small face.
"Oh the Heck with it!"
Quickly she ran to the rear of the bus and pulled the young girl free. Through the shattered rear window she could se a green tank with a trio of menacing guns mounted on it take aim.
"Crap!"
"Heheheh!" Brawl made a quick decision, such a weak target was not worth wasting an artillery shell on. With that, his sonic impulse cannons rose up out of his turret, whining alarmingly. Slowly, he began turning the pitch of the waves up, to high for a human to perceive, but sweet music to his audios.
Hilde grabbed the girl in her arms and darted for the door as around her, the intact window panes began to vibrate, before shattering into crystalline shards. Suddenly, the metal walls began to crunch and contract like a metal hand was grabbing them, as Brawl's megapitch waves tore apart their very molecules.
As Hilde pulled herself from the door, a massive explosion lifted her off her feet as the bus's fuel tank ruptured. Screaming, she shielded the young girl as the blast threw them both over the rim of the interstate, tumbling towards the river below.
"Oh Shit!"
*
1 WEEK LATER.
BLIP!.BLIP!.BLIP!
'Why'd you have to be a hero again Hilde, you fool.'
Hilde's face was calm and placid as she lay unconscious in the hospital ward. Beside her, an IV drip fed nutrients into her arm and a monitor recorded her slow, but constant heartbeat.
Duo had maintained a silent vigil at Hilde's bedside in the Washington State Hospital in Seattle for the past week, rushing to her side as soon as a doctor had called the only stored name in the mobile phone of the young woman who'd been found at the ruined interstate.
Outside Trowa and Quatre maintained an equally dedicated vigil. Quatre was of the opinion that had they not been here to remind him to eat, sleep and drink he would have been in one of the wards himself.
Trowa looked up from 'War and Peace', which he was still working on and made silent eye contact with Quatre.
'Why's he doing this?'
Quatre got the gist of what Trowa was implying.
"Hilde's the one thing Duo cared for more than Deathscythe. He's still smarting over the loss of his Gundam. If he lost Hilde now..." He left the sentence hanging
A tall lanky doctor stepped into the reception and approached the two.
"He still in there?"
The pair nodded quietly. Quatre spoke up.
"Do you have the results of the tests Dr. Hildreth?"
Hildreth nodded slowly. He seemed hesitant.
"Well?"
The three looked up. Duo was leaning in the doorway. Hildreth cleared his throat.
"Well, Ms. Schbeiker seems to have struck her head on a rock after falling from the flyover into the river. This has not produced any cranial damage but it has caused a fluid build up inside her head which is exerting pressure on the brain, the result of which is this coma. This explains why she did not pass out until some minutes after she had dragged herself and the young girl she saved from the water."
"So what does this mean?" Duo was being disturbingly calm.
"There is a surgical procedure we can implement to release the pressure on the brain. It will involve removing part of her skull to remove the fluid sac. It should be quite simple but there's...a complication," he sighed. "The build-up is in very close proximity to one of her major arteries. If that burst during the operation it would be almost certainly fatal."
Duo slowly examined his fingernails.
"What's the odds of that happening?"
"She has a 50/50 chance of surviving."
Duo clenched his fist.
"If there's a chance she'll live, I want you to take it."
With that, Duo strode off down the corridor away from them, an odd determination in his stride. Quatre and Trowa shared a glance, before setting aside their books and following him.
*
Onslaught slowly scanned the terrain using the zoom function on his optic circuits. He smiled. Few recognised the technical skills he and his team possessed. It had been a simple task to obtain the components they needed to build a satellite intercept device to tap these human's primitive communications systems. From there, it had been even simpler to locate a suitable source of the warriors he needed to boost his small forces. He spotted the target.
"Excellent! Astrotrain. Prepare to strike."
*
Duo strode out of the hospital ignoring the other two pilots following them. He approached a massive red tractor trailer parked on the opposite side of the parking lot and swung himself into the cab. Trowa and Quatre scrambled in after him.
Without Duo even touching the controls, the mighty diesel engine roared into action and the truck pulled out of the hospital onto the highway, gliding along in the pre-dawn light.
*
The train thundered across the Californian plains towards Sacramento, a massive convoy of mobile suits due for scrapping. Despite the loss of faith in total pacifism, the ESUN government understood the need to cut down on as many weapons as possible. In the giant locomotive cab the engineer turned to his fireman.
"How long to go now?"
The fireman tapped a railway map.
"We passed Hill Valley ten minutes ago, so about an hour to cover the seventy miles to Sacramento, and then not long to the New Edwards base" he leant back in his seat. "God I need sleep. We've been driving since yesterday, all the way from Montana. We're practically living off coffee."
"What's the point?"
"Pardon?"
"What's the point of taking newly built mobile suits for scrapping. They've never even had their reactors fired up, except for those four..."
He trailed off. There was no need to elaborate further. Both knew that among their cargo were the four most deadly, and unique mobile suits the former OZ had ever built.
As dawn broke over the Sierra Nevada mountain range, the train flicked past a single red light mounted upon a signal post.
"Shit! We just passed a red light!"
The engineer pulled back on the throttle levers and the train gradually slowed, coming to a halt in the middle of the desert with a great sigh of escaping air. As the first rays of dawn shone into the locomotive, the crew were temporarily blinded.
They never saw what hit them.
*
As the red truck rolled along the highway Duo stared expressionlessly at the dashboard. A noble voice that the pilots had grown very accustomed to in the recent weeks rumbled through the cab.
"Are your vocalisers malfunctioning?"
Duo chuckled mirthlessly.
"No Prime, we're fine. Just thinking."
The Autobot commander's reply was innocent in the extreme.
"Thinking about what?"
Duo settled back, arms folded, face sinisterly lit in the half-light.
"About what I'm going to do to Onslaught when I catch up to him."
*
Onslaught's appearance had a great deal of showmanship to it. Striding through the flaming pools of diesel fuel, Astrotrain in his wake, he appeared like a demon outcast from hell, Lucifer fallen from heaven's grace.
A single volley of lasers had reduced the locomotive to scrap metal, distorted like some bizarre art sculpture. A twisted chassis still adorned the rails, wheels squeaking as it rolled slowly downhill, unhampered by brakes. Onslaught booted it off the track with a single contemptuous kick.
"Astrotrain, take the strain."
Astrotrain switched to his steam engine mode within seconds. As he linked up to the convoy of mobile suit carriers, his whistle echoed off the encroaching mountains that surrounded the plains.
Onslaught watched with a touch of pride as the train began to pull ahead of him. The last four wagons were distinctly larger than the others and as they drew level to him, he jumped on. Ripping the folding roofs from their frames with a flex of his metal muscles, he surveyed the real prize.
Four large mechs that, upright would have stood as high as him lay down in the wagons. Two gleamed scarlet, one sprouting a fearful design that inspired fear in even the powerful Combatacon, the other bearing a collection of strange spherical energy shields. One blue and white machine rested against the floor, elegantly designed head glinting in the light. The final mobile suit was imposing, if ugly, it's navy hands clutching a mighty weapon which would have made Onslaught drool were he organic. He chuckled to himself.
"Megatron's era is past. It's time for a new Decepticon leader to assume command. One who will restore us to our former glory. Me."
As Astrotrain sped faster and faster towards the horizon, Onslaught's laughter rang into the new dawn.
*
Optimus Prime pulled off the highway onto a narrow dirt tack which wound up into the hills. After passing numerous signs warning them that they were entering a restricted area they pulled into the St. Hillary mine complex. Much had changed. It was a hive of activity.
Sally, Noin and Zechs were overseeing the loading of equipment and machinery onto trains for transhipment. Prime pulled up beside them and after the three pilots had jumped from him, transformed.
"No matter how many times I see that, it never fails to impress me." Quatre muttered to Trowa as the three preventers strode over to them. Optimus Prime nodded and moved off towards a group of Autobots by the entry to the Ark.
"How is she?" Sally's face showed concern as she approached Duo, who looked moody and sulky.
"The doctors are going to operate on her."
Sally nodded slowly. Trowa turned to Zechs.
"Where's the others?"
"Howard, Chris and their crew are down in the maintenance bay helping Ratchet and the Constructicons. Une's in her office. Heero's probably tinkering with Wing Zero, and Relena's AWOL..."
"And Wufei?"
"Last I saw he was with Skywarp in the woods."
"Pardon?"
"Duelling."
*
Une rubbed her eyes and slugged down another cup of coffee. She winced in disgust at the cold, bitter taste, and turned back to the notes she had scribbled up. -------------------------------------------- DECEPTICONS
Megatron,(1) Soundwave and cassettes (6) Seekers (3) Constructicons (5) Stunticons (2) Others (4)
Total:-21
What to do with them? -------------------------------------------------------------------
"Damn it."
"You allright?"
"Huh!"
Une looked up to see Trowa leaning against the door to her office inside the ark. She grinned wearily.
"Yeah, just trying to work out how the transformers can help us."
"Your more concerned about the decepticons aren't you?"
"Pretty much. The Autobots are willing to lay down their arms, but the decepticons actually are weapons. They could pose a threat to our peace."
"Have you considered incorporating them into the Preventers."
"Pardon."
"You were concerned that the preventers don't possess enough weapons to hold off a second rebellion like the Barton invasion. Some of the decepticons, like Starscream and his brothers, could help in that regard."
"What about the others?"
"Each specialise in different functions. Soundwave and his cassettes are like Duo, they excel in stealth and espionage. Could even possibly teach those skills to new recruits. The constructicons aren't even warriors by design, they're builders. Skills like theirs in design and execution of advanced plans could really boost construction of colonies like X18999 and aid post-war redevelopment on Earth." He paused. "Newport city in Relena's Sanc Kingdom is still in ruins because we can't get a coherent plan together to rebuild it. It's the same with Brussels, and the spaceports in Dover and Singapore to name a few."
"And Megatron?"
"I suspect Megatron's just as tired of war as we are. I believe he would lay down the reigns of command and play the role of an ambassador to the transformers while leaving the actual leadership of the militia to Starscream."
Une grinned.
"Thanks Trowa."
*
At this point the decepticon in question was in his own quarters, pouring over a large-scale map of the Pacific that was being projected onto the bulkhead.. A sudden chime from behind him caught his attention. Not turning, he called out for the guest he was expecting to enter. The door slid open silently, and a forbidding figure entered. Megatron finally turned and nodded.
"Soundwave."
"Commander Megatron."
Chuckling, Megatron threw back his head.
"Soundwave, we've been friends long enough to drop the titles. I don't address you as communications officer each time I see you."
Soundwave made no reply, but his ruby visor glowed brightly for a microsecond, which Megatron interpreted as a laugh. Not even those Gundam pilots were as expressionless and seemingly unemotional as Soundwave. Megatron's voice suddenly lost any trace of laughter and turned serious.
"Have you located it?"
"Negative."
"Curse the pit!"
Megatron slammed his fist down on the table in rage, and the metal surface buckled under the assault. Silently, Soundwave moved to his flank and they considered the chart in detail. Megatron picked up a small laser pointer and gestured at the wall.
"We're located here, Mt. St. Hillary," his pointer circled an area in northern Oregon, before shifting north slightly. "Since the attack on the humans, we've had no contact whatsoever with Onslaught, so he must be working from a hidden base. There are no locations within 200 kilometres from here that are suitable for a transformer army to work from, nor have there been any sightings of those traitors.
Soundwave's monotone voice spoke up and the small cannon on his right shoulder projected a beam similar to Megatron's pointer.
"Given that during our battle in space only yourself, myself, the seekers and the camera drones boarded the ark, then the remainder of our forces, held in statis within our vessel must have landed on Earth in a position suitable for Adam Rook to retrieve them. Calculation reveals that their trajectory after the two ships parted would have placed them in an area of approximately 100,000 square kilometres due east of this location." Soundwave's projector highlighted the area. It formed a square 100 kilometres a side, some fifty kilometres east of the ark.
"Can you refine that location further."
"Negative. Rook could have homed in on the location using the residual energy from the ion drive as a beacon and the equipment he stipped out of the ark as a tracer. Onslaught followed the beacon the ship puts out on the Deceptcion frequency and deactivated it as soon as he arrived. Neither option is available to us."
Megatron leant back in his recharge couch.
"Would it be possible for him to reactivate our flagship?"
"Energon reserves would be drained, but even with extensive damage to the exostucture the ion drive core should be intact and functional."
"The weapons."
"If an energy source could be located, they should function at 100% power."
Megatron nodded thoughtfully.
"Ideally Soundwave I'd like you and your cassettes to survey this area and pin down Onslaught's location. Not yet though. As my advisor you're priceless during this period. Give it an astrocycle, then I can let you go."
"As you command Megatron."
*
Trowa stepped out of Une's office, actually a Portacabin and shielded his eyes against the glare of the golden metal the ark was cast from.
Since the preventers were planning to spend a massive amount of time at the ark, some of the Autobot's had helped drag a few portacabins in fitted with a few human essentials, along with one or two luxuries. Currently the chamber had a few caravans fitted with beds, two portacabin offices, and a third set out as a gymnasium. Unable to break from their strict wartime regime, several of the Gundam boys insisted on a regular period of exercise a day. Trowa wandered into this impromptu facility, expecting to see Wufei or Heero lifting some weights. His one visible eyebrow arched in surprise.
There was someone lifting weights inside the small cabin, but it wasn't one of the boys.
"Relena?"
Relena paused from her weightlifting and sat up. Pulling a towel from a rack she wiped some sweat from her forehead. Trowa noticed in surprise that for the first time since he had met her she was not wearing formal attire. She was wearing a pair of track suit bottoms and a tank top over a sports bra. She took a few deep breaths.
"Trowa."
"I didn't know you did weights."
"Not many do. After the Barton rebellion I started working out when I found I couldn't even hold up Heero when he collapsed in my arms, and you boys are so thin and light I should have. Since then I've been trying to get at least twenty minutes a day on some kind of physical exercise."
Trowa looked at her and noticed with surprise that her thin arms showed some signs of tightly packed muscle. A faint six-pack was also beginning to appear on her abdomen. He nodded in approval.
"What kind of exercise do you do?"
"Weightlifting, jogging. I've even started a bit of boxing on a dumbbell."
Trowa gave her his usual slight smirk.
"Boxing. Doesn't that go a bit against your beliefs of 'total pacifism'."
She shrugged.
"It helps. I'm such a public figure lately that I've become a target for several organisations. I need to know how to defend myself. And you know as well as I do now that total pacifism can't work"
He held up his right hand, palm out, fingers together.
"Hit me."
"Pardon?"
"Punch my hand. Show me how good you are."
Relena looked surprised but balled up her fist and rammed it into Trowa's upraised palm as hard as she could. To her utter amazement, he winced. Clutching his wrist he groaned and nodded.
"Not bad...ow!"
Slightly embarrassed she grinned a bit and shrugged.
"Sorry."
*
Deep inside the Ark was an awe-inspiring sight. The maintenance bay that the transformers were found in, where Adam Rook's engineers had obviously left them three centuries ago, was being stripped down and rebuilt. Equipment designed for maintaining and construction mobile suits was being brought in off the Genesis and reassembled underground.
The basic concept was that while the Autobot's and Decepticons were constructing themselves a new home, a base would be needed where necessary equipment could be manufactured and taken care of. The Ark was perfect for this purpose.
Two Autobot engineers, Wheeljack and Ratchet, were preparing detailed plans for modifying the human equipment to maintain transformer bodies and manufacture cybertronian materials and technologies. Helping them in actually carrying out these modifications were the Decepticon Constructicons. These select group were all experts in some form of engineering as together it was rumoured could built almost anything out of almost nothing. Along with them on the construction floor was the engineers from the Genesis, currently berthed in the naval shipyard at Puget in Seattle.
The Constructicons, leaded by the bulldozer Scrapper were currently heaving and carrying plant around, while human engineers clambered over the machines, tinkering, explaining their function to the transformers. Elsewhere, sparks flew as transformer machinery was augmented by mankind's technology. It was like the mobile suit bay of the Genesis, on an even grander scale.
Lording over this realm was Howard on a high gantry, welding sparks reflecting of his sunglasses, a wry grin on his face. As Latta walked up to him, he gestured widely.
"It's a whole new world!"
* 1 WEEK LATER
Elsewhere, Onslaught was lording over a similar view. He stood on dais in the centre of a room which formed a perfect circle, his eyes gleaming with anticipation.
The room was dully lit, but in the half-dark he could make out the important details. From his dais ten massive tables, tilted like in a operating theatre, spread out like spokes from a hub. Further tables lined the outer wall of the chamber, radiating inwards. Above each table a complex piece of machinery hung from the roof. Each unit consisted of a central processor and hydraulics unit, from which four mechanical arms spread out, each studded with motors and cooling plant. On the tip of each arm was mounted a multi-purpose tool set, which along with standard cutting and welding tools, screwdrivers, spanners and soldering irons, boasted recharge sockets, computer uplinks and devices a human mechanic could only begin to guess at. Each of the complex units were interlinked with massive cables and tubing. Beneath the main unit where the arms could reach a conveyor belt sat, running from holes in the wall to each set of arms. Each conveyor was loaded with components Onslaught had stolen from the humans or had Swindle barter for over the past few weeks.
Despite the advanced loom of the room, it was in some disarray. The walls gleamed a dull red, giving the chamber a slightly hellish appearance. Wires were corroded or hung in bundles from the bulkheads and roof, burst pipes had been inexpertly botched back together. A massive strut that supported the roof had collapsed across the central dais, crushing two tables. Despite the wear and tear, the room was mainly sound. The tables were cleaned, the machine arms hummed and glowed faintly, primed and waiting for action. Beside each table, small computer terminals glowed faint blue, programming flickering across the screens. Onslaught rubbed his hands together.
'It's time to begin.'
On each of the twenty three working tables lay a human mobile suit. Onslaught ran his hands over the superstructure of the nearest one, a Leo. It was simple, blocky and laughably primitive, if surprisingly powerful. With a little modification, they would be excellent troops for his new army. He slowly looked round the room, ticking off the mobile suits with the list in his head. Twenty three drones about to be prepared, twenty- seven waiting. Fifteen Leos, fifteen Aires. These would form his central corps.
After these came the elite units he was going to reserve for harder battles. The ten Taurus suits and remaining five Virgos and five Serpents would form a spectacular strike force. Those foolish Autobots and the traitors would never know what hit them. He slowly caressed the massive shoulder of a Virgo lying beside him, the planetary shields tingling slightly under his metal paw.
These machines would be an equal match for most transformer, they were almost as powerful as these 'Gundams' the organics piloted. What's more, the conversion would be easy. All of these machines had the ability to run independently of pilots, and these powerful Virgos had no cockpit. All they needed was transformer intelligence, not the foolishly weak AI programmes the humans had developed. He was not going to install laser sparks in these fifty suits though. The most loyal army is an emotionless one. His new army of Deceptidrones would be intelligent, powerful, but lifeless drones, incapable of independent thought.
'However,' he looked towards the final four tables, each occupied by one of the massive suits he had found in the rear of the train. These, he felt, would be an exception. The other drones were cannon fodder and pretty easy to replace, but machines this unique could not be wasted. He would bring these ones to life, and had already devised suitable designs for their laser cores, which would shape their new personalities, based on the brain scans of the elite humans who had piloted them, still stored in the primitive memory banks. All they needed was some modification, and his new army, would have the perfect commanders.
"Very well."
He leant forward to the central console on his dais, and pressed a single red button. With a hum, the machinery came to life, and the process of converting the human mobile suits began.
"Lord, what fools these mortals be. The most powerful weapons of their age, destroyed in what they called 'the final battle', and they rebuild them, only to send them for scrapping, and then they deliver them, RIGHT INTO MY HANDS! AHAHAHAHAHA!"
As sparks flew and robotic arms danced with electrical fire, Onslaught began to cackle maniacally, a harsh guttural sound that echoed throughout the corridors of his new base, chilling to the core the few Decepticons who were loyal to him.
For no-one could escape from the most powerful Decepticon warship in history, the vessel which had shot down the ark itself. No-one could escape...
...from the Nemesis.
To be continued...
A/N SO! WHAT DO YOU THINK? Creative? Inspired? A hallmark in fanfic? Or the drunk ramblings of a pissed teenager? (most likely)
Well I promised to Gundam Wing fans that I'd give a rundown on the various decepticon sub groups. Here you are:-
SEEKERS: The air force of the Decepticon military. All based around a similar design with many numbers (most likely thousands, all configured for flight and air to air/ground combat). There are actually two main seeker squadrons.
Starscream, Thundercracker and Skywarp compromise the cream of the Seekers, possessing the same F-15E transform but with varied colour schemes and customised abilities. Starscream possesses his 'null ray', Thundercracker can generate massive sonic booms at will and Skywarp can teleport up to a range of 2.5 miles.
Below them, are the 'coneheads', Dirge, Thrust and Ramjet. These all have more unconventional designs, with the basic F-15E blueprint modified to incorporate delta wings (Ramjet), Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) engines (Thrust) and solid fuel boosters (Dirge). Not as skilled as Starscream and his brothers, these are still very powerful Decepticons.
CONSTRUCTICONS: As one fansite put it, the closest thing the decepticons have to a workers union. Skilled labourers and powerful warriors, the constructicons were once autobot architects who designed and built many cities on cybertron. However, they were captured by Megatron who reprogrammed them to serve him. Loyal beyond belief to their new commander, the constructicons served as technical advisors and built many weapons.
The constructicons have a final secret. The individual bodies of Scrapper, Hook, Longhaul, Bonecrusher, Mixmaster and Scavenger can combine to form a single massive robot-DEVASTATOR. Though slower and not as intelligent as his components, by sheer brute strength devastator can turn the course of a battle.
STUNTICONS: Built by Megatron to 'rule the roads', the five stunticons all have vehicle modes. Motormaster is a 16 ton truck, Drag Strip is a race car, and their comrades, Dead End, Wildrider and Breakdown are high-performance sports cars.
Like the constructicons, the Stunticons have a 'gestalt' form-Menasor. Though physically more powerful than Devastator, the two are equal in abilities because Menasor is unhinged. His five components bicker and argue, causing his mind to often become a confused mess.
COMBATACONS: Scheming and backstabbing, the Combatacons were designed to form a strike force capable of attacking on both land and air. Onslaught, Brawn and Swindle wage war on the land, with their alternate forms of missile truck, tank and jeep while Blast Off the space shuttle and Vortex the helicopter decimate the skies.
Rather predictably by now, they too have a gestalt. Bruticus is 'the perfect soldier' (though I bet that Heero would dispute this claim) according to Megatron. Capable of following orders to the letter, powerful and relatively intelligent, Bruticus can be summed up in Megatron's own words- "I like him, I wish I had a whole army of Bruticuses." Thank God he didn't.
REFLECTOR Triplets are described as individual souls born into identical bodies. Reflector is the opposite-three bodies housing one soul-I'm not kidding! These guys are creepy-they always speak in unison, are identical clones of each other and only have a single transform between the three of them, a camera! This can vary in size from human proportions to that of a transformer, and it can only produce polariods!
Perhaps useful for spying, the Reflector drones seem to be nothing other than cannon fodder, as there are dozens of robots identical to them back on Cybertron.
TRIPLE CHANGERS
The Triple Changers were an Elite group of transformers, but currently only two are represented in my story.
Blitzwing has the alternate modes of both a tiger tank and a MiG fighter jet, hence the name. Only robot to have ever used football tactics as battle strategies, and make them work! Most memorable moment was in the Transformers movie when he was beat up by Kup, the Autobot's version of an OAP!
Astrotrain is both a space shuttle and Japanese style steam engine (should suit the GW boys just fine). Although only a regular sized transformer, in both vehicle modes he is apparently big enough on the inside for the entire decepticon army to fit inside, and for Devastator to stand up in! Big, powerful, and judging by his behaviour in the movie, dumb as well.
On ordered to transport the decepticons away from a battlefield, he goes from robot to train, allows the cons to board him, then takes off and transforms to a space-shuttle. Since this requires a barrel-roll, it's probably the reason many healthy decepticons were suddenly damaged next time we saw them, damaged sufficiently to be 'thrown overboard.'
Then, after leaving earth's gravity, he complains his cargo's too heavy for him to make it home. In space, weight does not affect range. i.e. give it a shove and it'll go for ever until it runs into a planet. Seems to have been used for the decepticons to commute here, there and everywhere.
DINOBOTS Prime decided the Autobots needed some brute force, so they came up with the Dinobots, who would have made the Incredible Hulk wet his pants. Bigger than any other conventional transformer and strong to boot, the designer of Grimlock, Slag, Swoop, Snarl and Sludge deserved to pat himself on the back- except he put in brains that were equal in size to actual dinosaurs i.e. walnuts! Probably not even that big.
Hence Grimlock as leader often gave orders like this; "me Grimlock kick butt!" "me Grimlock want to munch metal" and "me Grimlock not nice dino, me bash brains". Yes, of course you do. Unfortunately, he was the most intelligent of the lot!
Unlike other teams, the Dinobots didn't have a gestalt, but their effectiveness on the battlefield made up for that, other than Prime having to keep them turned off and locked in a cell at other times until their aggression levels were turned down!
Oddest moment was when Grimlock took orders from a teenage human girl, and in the movie, due to Snarl the stegosaur's conspicuous absence for the whole time they were on screen for! Where was he? Reading a book? (As if!) On the potty (Selenium Salami not go good with Beryllium Baloney), or munching on the cast of Jurassic Park.
AIRIELBOTS Created at the same time as the Stunticons to give the Autobot's air supremacy, this group of powerful aircraft are still young and inexperienced, despite being on par with the seekers regarding firepower. They also have a deep admiration for the decepticon jet's skills. Finally, their leader, a concord called Silverbolt (maybe he should be retired with the rest of them, he, he, he) has a few demons of his own, mainly a fear of heights (!).
Their gestalt Superion is physically the weakest combiner, but his higher intelligence puts him on par with Devastator, though not Menasor and Bruticus.
END TRANSMISSION.
Hope these little notes made you laugh, and in the words of the new governor of California,
"I'LL BE BACK!"