Disclaimer; I own Slingblade and the plot. That's it.
Warning: Due to language and violence, this series is rated PG.
Ulysses
Chapter 1
Fate Twists and Lives Turn
by Switchblade X
Her earliest memories of this planet were of waking up smack-dab in the middle of a barren wasteland completely alone. That had been almost a week ago. Since then, her luck hadn't gotten much better.
She had wandered through the wasteland for a few days, searching for any life forms. Needless to say, she hadn't found anything. Not even a bug! But, she had found three stasis-pods. Her search of them revealed that one: they were a week old; two: one of the protoforms hadn't survived the crash; three: two protoforms had survived; and four: those protoforms had been found. Unfortunately, the trails were old and following them was useless. However, the stasis-pods might not be useless. Provided their computers still functioned.
Fortunately for her, she remembered all of her previous life on Cybertron, and knew exactly what to do. But, something about remembering her previous life unnerved her; she'd always heard that once you were put into protoform state, your memory of your entire life and your identity were erased completely, meaning you had to start totally over once you awakened. This was one of the reasons why she had signed on to this mission; she wanted to forget her painful past and start again. Being able to remember everything meant that something had gone very wrong when she had been put into the protoform state. It made her wonder about what else might be wrong with her.
She transformed, and began trying to get one of the stasis-pods' computer running. Maybe, just maybe, if she could get it to boot up, she could find out exactly where she was and what had happened that would make four pods fall from orbit at the same time. And, if she was really lucky, she could patch a comm through to the Maximal base. Provided the Maximals were still alive.
With much protesting, the pod's computer activated.
"Bingo." she murmured, as information began to flood the screen. So, a Transwarp explosion had occurred. That explained a lot. How, though? As she searched for an answer, she remembered her own moment of awakening.
She didn't remember the crash, or falling from orbit, but she did remember the pain that had hit her as soon as she had gone online. The pain had been so intense… It was from the impact, it had to have been. After lying in the remains of her pod for quite some time, waiting for the pain to subside, she managed to crawl out and transform before collapsing a few feet away from weakness.
When she had regained consciousness from that, she examined the wreckage of her pod. All of the pod's systems had fizzled out after she had been reformatted and the hull had suffered extensive damage. Her survival was nothing short of a miracle.
And, then, she had begun to wander, looking for intelligent life.
The stasis-pod's computer beeped, jolting her out of her first memories of this world.
The computer had no idea how the explosion had occurred. All it knew was; the explosion had occurred, this pod and three others had fallen, and two of the three pods that had landed in this spot had functioned at least partially properly.
Well, this helps me none. she thought with a sigh, shutting the computer back down. Maybe I should follow one of theses trails. …Ah, but they're a week old! The Maximals could be dead by now! …But…what if they're not? She transformed into her new alternate mode, picked out a trail that smelled Maximal, and began following it. This is just a chance I'll have to take. If the Maximals are alive, then I'm in good shape. If they're not…
She really didn't want to think about what would happen to her if the Maximals weren't alive. Here she was, completely alone on a planet that was, as far as she knew, a barren wasteland.
It was then that she paused and looked back at the pod, contemplating the idea of trying to radio the Maximals. She dismissed this idea as three rather large problems presented themselves: one, the pod's computer couldn't possibly last long enough for her to find a frequency; two, she didn't know what the Maximal frequency was; and three, several of the trails that she had discovered were drenched in the scent of Predacons.
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As she followed the trails, the wasteland gradually gave way to grasslands.
If I were the gambling type, I'd bet my retirement savings that the Transwarp explosion made that entire area into a scorched dust bowl. she thought, watching a pair of doves fly by overhead.
She journeyed on for quite some time, wondering what the Maximals would think of her.
They'll think you're a weak little bitch, just like I do. said a voice in the back of her mind.
A low growl escaped her as the voice spoke. Even after all theses millennia, her creator's ghost still haunted her. Sadistic bastard. she bitterly thought, remembering all of the abuse that she had endured while in his custody.
When she had been a child and adolescent, beating her within inches of her life had become a daily routine for her creator. But, as soon as she had come of age, she had fled her home, hoping to leave her old life behind. It was not to be.
Her creator had created another child after she left, a male. Her little brother. A friend of hers had alerted her when the cycle of violence and abuse began again. So, unable to stand the thought of her creator putting another child through the same hell that he had put her through, she returned to her home, bent on stopping this madness.
She smiled at the memory of her creator's face as she killed him slowly. In those agonizing last moments, he had experienced a small fraction of the pain that he had inflicted upon her. And, she had loved every last minute of it.
She had left her baby brother with a friend of hers who was incapable of creating children. She had never seen the child again. It was a pity; he would have made a fine warrior-
A new scent hit her, jolting her out of her memories. This scent was fresh, maybe a half-hour old. And, most importantly of all, it was a Maximal scent.
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This new scent led her to a forest. A forest that was not only on fire, but had the sounds of battle coming from it.
Fearing her unknown comrade was in trouble, she rushed into the inferno, struggling to keep track of his scent through all of the smoke, forest smells, and scents of other Transformers; Predacons.
Voices began to drift above the roar of the flames. She followed the voices to a small clearing, and hid herself in the bushes, hoping to identify somebody.
There were two of them, both male, both wounded. One of them, the one who was hurt the worst, lay on the ground surrounded by shards of something golden. The other one loomed ominously above him, saying something that she couldn't make out. He looked familiar…
Megatron. She'd recognize that arrogant bastard anywhere. Looking around, she spotted what remained of his minions; this Maximal had taken them all on by himself! And it looked as though Megatron was going to finish him off. She couldn't allow that to happen.
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Megatron's head snapped to the side when a reptilian roar split the air. Before he had a chance to react, a black velociraptor with silver stripes burst out of a nearby bush. The raptor tackled him, burying its claws deep into his already damaged body. Quickly, he slapped the dinosaur away before he hit the ground.
The raptor landed easily on its feet and hissed at him as he staggered back up.
"Who are you?" the Predacon leader demanded.
"One would think that you would remember me, Megatron." She spat his name out like it was a curse.
Instantly, he remembered her. "Slingblade, you conniving little bitch! You're supposed to be dead!"
She transformed, brandishing her sword, "Now, where would be the fun in that?"
He looked at her primary weapon, trying to think of a way to either escape or kill her. Her sword looked more like an early razor blade than a sword, but it got the job done. They didn't call her Slingblade for nothing.
"What's the matter, Megsy? Afraid you'll get your ass kicked?"
He snorted, "By you? Hardly!"
"Liar."
Quickly, he reviewed his options. Slingblade was obviously pissed, as well as being in perfect condition. He was equally pissed, but was far from being in perfect condition. If he chose to engage her, he would lose in a matter of moments. So, choosing to fight another day, he transformed and activated his jets. "Until another time, my old friend, yess." he said, flying off.
"Coward!" she yelled after him. Her attention immediately turned to the Maximal that lay at her feet. Sheathing her sword, she dropped to her knees beside him and looked over his battered body. "Dear Primus…" she murmured, "I don't know if I can do much for you, but I'll try."
He coughed and looked at her weakly, "No. …I am…already…too far gone… There is…nothing…you can do."
"Yes, there is. There has to be!"
"There…isn't. …Leave me…I cannot…be…salvaged…"
"No!" The determination in her voice startled even her. "No! I am not just going to sit around and do nothing while another comrade is taken from me!" A compartment popped open in her left forearm, and she pulled a small cord from within it. Carefully, she attached it to his neck.
"What…are you doing?"
"Energy transfer. You should be able to go into stasis as soon as I start sharing my energy with you."
Weakly, he shook his head, and coughed again. "Won't work. …I'm not…going to…make it…"
"No, damnit! I've fought too many battles, lost too many friends! I'm not going to lose another soul to theses Primus-damn wars!" She activated the energy transfer, knowing that she was going to have to put him into stasis herself. Quickly, she pulled another wire from her forearm and plugged it into his neck; this should give her access to his internal computer. Yet again, she found herself thanking Primus himself for her experience as a battlefield medic.
"No… I'm-" Before he could finish his sentence, he was overcome with a violent fit of coughing.
Those few milliseconds that it took for her computer to link to his seemed like an eternity. Primus, he's weak… she thought, pumping her own energy into his dieing body. There! The link activated, and she ordered his computer to put him into stasis immediately.
He went limp and his optics darkened as he was forced into stasis.
Slingblade sighed in relief, disconnected herself from him, and returned her cords to their proper place. She had no idea if reinforcements were on the way or not. All she knew was that she had just run off her oldest rival and had just saved the life of a 'bot that she didn't know from Adam (metaphorically speaking). Damn…what a day…
A startled gasp from behind her had her on her feet and unsheathing her sword in a blur. A short 'bot stood behind her, mouth agape. He was soon surrounded by four others.
"Who are you?" the tallest one asked, as the others surrounded the 'bot that she had just put into stasis.
She relaxed a bit, noting that they had Maximal scents. "My name is Slingblade. I'm assuming you're all Maximals."
He nodded, "My name is Optimus Primal."
She sighed in relief, and sheathed her sword, "Oh, good. I was afraid you were all scrap."
"Is Dinobot…dead?" asked one of the Maximals. He was kneeling beside the fallen warrior with the short one.
Oh, Primus. she thought. He's just a kid! He shouldn't be seeing stuff like this! "No. Not yet, anyway." So, his name was Dinobot. Odd; that wasn't a Maximal name. Then again, neither was Slingblade.
"Rhinox, get Dinobot. Cheetor, you help him." Optimus said. "We need to get him back to the base ASAP."
Quickly, a stout-looking Maximal and the child picked up Dinobot's body. Optimus transformed into what Slingblade assumed was some type of primate, and the stout one climbed onto him with Dinobot in tow. The young one transformed into some type of feline, the short one into a rodent, and one that she hadn't paid much attention to transformed into a canine with wings.
"Silverbolt, take Slingblade. Maximals, move out!" Optimus commanded before lifting off with the stout one and young one. The rat sped off, leaving her alone with the remaining Maximal.
She recognized his scent; he had been in the stasis-pod that she had used to gather information.
"Ma'am." he said, bowing slightly and motioning to his back.
Uncertainly, she climbed on, and then, they were off.
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"What's wrong?" Silverbolt asked, as Slingblade tightened her arms around his neck and buried her face deeper into his fur, whimpering slightly.
"I hate flying." she answered. "Heights I don't mind, but flying..."
He smiled, "Fear not; I won't let you fall."
"Please don't."
"We're almost there."
"Good."
"I don't mean to pry, but where did you come from?"
"My pod crashed when yours did. Unfortunately, I wasn't found, and have spent the last week wandering through the middle of nowhere, following the trail of anything that had a Maximal scent. I'll explain everything later."
He nodded, "All right. We're here anyway."
"Good."
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After Dinobot had been put into a CR chamber and the introductions were made, Slingblade told her story from the moment she awakened to the moment that they had found her with Dinobot.
"I've heard of you." Cheetor said. "You were a really high-ranking general during the Great War. A Decepticon general. But, several hundred years after the war, you swore allegiance to the Autobots for, as you put it, personal reasons. Your relationship with the Autobots was a bit on the rocky side, but it worked out. Then, when the Autobots began dieing out, you were reformatted as a Maximal." A smile appeared on his face, "This is so cool! We're in the presence of one of the greatest warriors in history!"
Embarrassed, Slingblade smiled. "I'm not a 'great warrior', Cheetor. I was just an average 'bot doin' her job."
"Whatever!"
"What made you join this mission, Slingblade?" Optimus asked.
She shrugged, "Cybertron was boring, and I couldn't go back to Destron. I needed fresh air." And, I needed to escape my past, but it doesn't look like that's gonna happen any time soon.
"What made you save Chopperface?" Rattrap asked, beginning to come out of his shock at almost losing Dinobot.
"I used to double as a medic during the War." Slingblade explained, "Part of it was instinct and part of it was because I don't like to see 'bots suffer regardless of what side they're on."
"But, you're a Decepticon! Since when did dey not like ta see others suffer?"
"Rattrap, my reasons are far too personal and painful for me to explain them right now. …But, I will say this; I have gone through some things in my life that others should never have to go through. I refuse to let others suffer when there's something that I can do for them. Even if it's something as small as comforting them in their last moments."
"Why were you a medic? Why would a general of your rank want ta double as a medic?"
She shrugged, "Hey, if those guys were willing to follow orders that might get them hurt or worse, the least I could do is try to patch them up as best I could. …Doubling as a medic changes your mentality some; you see exactly how fragile life can be."
"I'm glad you got to Dinobot when you did, Slingblade." Rhinox said, looking over some readouts of Dinobot's vitals. "He would've been too far gone by the time we got there."
She shrugged, "Just doin' my job."
"Sorry we didn't find you." Optimus said. "The Transwarp explosion scrambled our scanners for a while."
"Ah, don't worry about it. I needed the walk. …By the way, where the heck are we?"
"I think when would be more appropriate." Optimus sighed, before launching into the long story of how the Beast Wars got started.
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Several hours later, Slingblade was flipping through some files on the Earth's geography while casting small glances at Silverbolt, who was sitting beside her, pointing out important locations starting with those closest to the Axalon and going out. The Fuzor had taken to her immediately, which was a bit strange to her; she wasn't used to making friends this fast. Usually, her Decepticon history slowed that process down quite a bit. But, Silverbolt didn't seem to mind that.
He's got this air of innocence around him. she thought, studying his face out of the corner of one optic as he pointed out the location of a popular Predacon hangout. However, it's just that: an air. I see much darkness in him. Darkness that someone like him should never have. …Hmmm… I wonder where it came from…
"Right about here is where your pod should've landed." he said, pointing to a spot on the map. "Wow. You were actually in Predacon territory."
"Oh, goody." she replied.
"They might be able to salvage your pod."
"I doubt it. That hunka junk isn't even suitable for scrap metal now. I hit pretty hard."
He nodded, "Ah. Well, that's slightly reassuring."
She grinned.
"Here's the Predacon base."
Her smile vanished, and she growled low in her throat. "So, that's where Megatron hides."
Silverbolt looked at her warily, "Do you…um…have a dispute with Megatron? Other than the obvious?"
"I've known that little prick since he was born. We've been rivals since he joined the Predacon military, which formed before I defected."
"I see."
Again, she growled, "He doesn't deserve his name. He's already disgraced not only that name, but the Decepticon name as well just by living. …Hell, I deserve the name of 'Megatron' more than he does, and I defected after the War!"
"I see. Uh, perhaps it would be better if we moved to another less volatile subject?"
She was about to reply when the rest of the team came into the command center. "What's goin' on?"
"Dinobot should be restored by now." Rhinox answered. "We want to know how he is."
"Oh. Duh, Slingblade." She stood, followed by Silverbolt.
The CR chamber hissed and opened. Slowly, the warrior within emerged into the light.
Dinobot was looking himself over, "No. No! This isn't right!"
"What's not right?" Optimus asked.
The raptor looked at him, "I'm not supposed to be here! I'm supposed to be dead!"
"You would be if Slingblade hadn't have gotten to you when she did."
"Who?"
The Maximal leader pointed to the newest recruit, who stepped forward.
"How could you do this?!" Dinobot demanded.
"What?" Slingblade asked. "I don't understand."
"This!" He pointed to himself, "I'm not supposed to be like this! I'm supposed to be dead!"
"But…I couldn't just let you die-"
"Why not? I wasn't supposed to live through that battle! I was supposed to die! It's not supposed to be like this! How could you do this to me?!" And with that, he spun around and stormed down the hallway.
"I…I don't understand." Slingblade said, her voice breaking slightly. "I…I was just trying to help..."
Gently, Optimus put one hand on her shoulder, "You did help, Slingblade. Dinobot's just not very appreciative of other people's efforts sometimes."
She shook her head, and looked at the floor, darkening her green optics. For some reason, Dinobot's outburst had hurt her worse than her stasis-pod's crash had. Why it hurt so much, she didn't know; she hadn't known him a full day yet. It wasn't like they had known each other for several years. ...She had only wanted to help him…
Silverbolt took her trembling hands in his and gave them a gentle squeeze.
"I just wanted to help." she whispered.
Author's Note; And so ends the first chapter of my second series. Hope you liked it. The inspiration for this series' title came from the poem Ulysses by Lord Alfred Tennyson. Beautiful poem. If you haven't read it, you should. If things work out, I'll try to put it in the last chapter. Anyway, enough of my mindless babble. More to come!