Author's Note: For new readers who're just starting to read my stories, the part in the previous chapter about Jennifer Murdoch is a reference to another of my stories, titled Burning Skies. You'll have to read it to understand the reference, but if you have a weak stomach or a low tolerance for violence, read Burning Skies with caution. Those of you who've read that story already know what I'm talking about.
Disclaimer: See previous chapters.
Encounters of the Weird Kind
Chapter 7: Under Siege
In the hidden shelter, humans and aliens clung to each other as the ground shook as if in an earthquake. The overhead lights flickered, threatening to go out at any second. Cries of fear echoed off the walls. A child cried loudly, clinging to its mother.
"What was that?!" Sandoval demanded.
Spike looked upward. "That was Ultra Rodimus discharging all of his launchers and heavy laser cannons at once. He's not limited to one alternate mode, like most of the other Autobots are. He has eight alternate modes that we know of, and probably a few we don't. All of them are maxed out for firepower."
"Sounds like overkill to me," Sandoval growled.
"You don't know what kinds of enemies he has to face. Sometimes even his entire arsenal isn't enough. Especially if the Decepticons bring Trypticon with them."
"Trypticon?" Liam repeated. "Who's that?"
"You've noticed that not all Transformers are the same size, right?"
"Ye-es..."
"There are some Transformers who are... different. There are three teams of Autobots who can combine into a gestalt, a huge Transformer. And then there are the cities. The city of Fortress Maximus is a huge Transformer, so huge he makes a gestalt look small. And Metroplex is even bigger. Trypticon is a Decepticon city-bot. He transforms into a giant purple and black dinosaur. Only Metroplex is a match for Trypticon. The only reason Trypticon hasn't been turned loose on Ultra Rodimus is because he's too slow to catch him."
Metal groaned somewhere nearby. Overhead, the sounds of fighting escalated. The crowd clumped together even more, as close as they could get to each other.
Liam turned slightly and looked at Spike. "Tell me, why do the Autobots hate the Quintessons so much? Other than the obvious reasons, I mean."
"The Quintessons are only interested in their own welfare, and in how much profit they can make. Kup once told me about what happened to one world the Quints visited. It was populated by a rather primitive race, primitive by Transformer standards, just about to invent the computer. The Quints sold them highly advanced technology. Within a few years the natives had eradicated themselves fighting over that technology and using it on each other. I read in Iacon's library that the planet is still highly radioactive. The Quints just watched and laughed. And that's not all. They capture sentient life-forms and use them in experiments, cutting them up while they're still alive, creating horrible bio-mechanical monsters, and much more, most of which I really don't want to know about. Ask Ultra Rodimus. He's seen their cruelty first-hand."
Sandoval looked sick. "I don't think I want to know any more."
"I don't blame you."
The ground heaved and shook like a terrified animal. The roar of the explosions drowned out the screams of the Sharkticons and the whine of ship engines. A flying Autobot flipped end-over-end into the remains of a ruined building, reappearing a moment later, crawling out of the rubble. The red glow of the newly ignited fires turned his armor black and purple.
When the noise and light died down, the Autobots began to emerge from cover. They looked around, surveying the scene.
There was a huge, smoking hole where most of the Sharkticons had been. But they weren't beaten. More Quint ships had landed, and their loads of Sharkticons were pouring out to join the ranks. The army was swelling in size again. And this time there were new beasts in the mix.
During his brief stay on Quintessa when he'd been Hot Rod, Ultra Rodimus had seen robots that transformed into crocodilian beasts, used as guard dogs. There were many of those croc-bots coming out of the ships. With them were monsters that looked like crosses between bears and dinosaurs, half machine and half organic. A group of Quints were herding creatures that looked like giant centipedes with teeth out of another ship.
"Those leggy things are borers," Ultra Rodimus warned. "They can chew right through metal. Don't let them get to the ground!"
Laser fire stabbed out from the Autobot lines. Several of the borers fell, blown apart, but the rest scuttled out of range. Flying Autobots took off to deal with them, but found themselves swarmed by vicious little beasts that resembled wasps crossed with snakes. They were forced to the ground, where other Autobots began to pick off the wasp-snakes. Ultra Rodimus bellowed in fury when the first borer began chewing a hole in the metal ground, using a combination of lasers and a rotating drill bit. Within minutes, it was underground, and the rest were following.
The Sharkticons began advancing, circling the still-smoking crater and charging toward the Autobots. A hail of laser fire met them. Sharkticons began to fall, but there were still too many.
"Prepare for assault!" Ultra Rodimus roared.
A rallying cry answered him. Some Autobots dropped their overheating guns and took up new weapons, laser swords and steel blades, even maces. Ultra Rodimus brought out his huge battleaxe and snapped down the visor of his battle helmet. Brandishing his axe, he exploded out of cover, howling his war cry at the top of his lungs. It was echoed by over three hundred other Autobots as they followed in his wake, charging fill-tilt at the Sharkticons.
The two lines met with a thunderous crash. Then the carnage began.
"Do you hear that?" Liam asked suddenly.
"Hear what?" another human asked.
"Sshh!" Spike hissed.
Complete silence fell. Then everyone heard it.
The sound was of a drill boring through metal, and the skitter of something with many legs moving through a tunnel. Nervous muttering began as the crowd began to edge away from the walls, trying to get away. Liam touched the wall, trying to pinpoint the direction the sound was coming from.
The wall shuddered under his hand. His eyes widened, and he backed away. "It's coming from over here!"
The shuddering intensified. The wall began to vibrate visibly, rattling loudly. Then the tip of a drill broke through, and the wall crumbled. A huge monster reared out of the tunnel.
It looked like a centipede with metal armor, with a mouth like a hagfish. It was circular and lined with six rows of sharp metal teeth. Its body was nearly as big around as one of Iacon's corridors, and every leg ended in a needle-sharp point. It had several upper limbs, not legs, each one ending in a drill. Bulging red optics circled the creature's mouth. A much smaller set of upper limbs, these ones ending in lasers, extended. Pinpoints of red light, laser sights, swept over the crowd. Then it noticed the single man backing away from it, and it swerved to follow. All of its lasers took direct aim.
Liam took another step back. A cluster of red dots had gathered on his chest. He could tell that the creature was preparing to attack. Then he saw its "arms" tense, and he scrambled back another few steps. But it was too late.
A dozen beams of red light stabbed out from its lasers. Liam cried out, instinctively throwing up his arms in an attempt to protect himself. A strange feeling passed through him. Then the world exploded in light.
To be continued...
I think I'm getting better at this. And here's another chapter. I'll see what I can do about another chapter of Cyber Stargate, for those of you who are also reading that story. Now for the reviewer responses:
Gromia: Yes, the Quints built the Transformers. The Autobots were built as consumer goods robots, and the Decepticons as military hardware. Thousands were sold. Others were tortured for amusement, or forced to fight in huge arenas, killing each other for entertainment. You can see why the Transformers got fed up with it. I don't blame them.
Fenestrae: Quints are bio-mech squids who "improved" themselves to the point where they lost the ability to reproduce. I hate them. They're only useful when I need a villain to wind up stomped into the ground, but to each her own, I guess. Is this a fast enough update for you?
Hear from you again next chapter!