Life of an interstellar cargo freighter worker isn't an easy job, dealing with all types of cargo; ranging from shipments of machine parts, all the way to security guarded transports of Energon and Shanix. But it was a profitable career, and the dream job of one young con named Cannonball.
Cannonball loved his job, though tiring and annoying at times, he still loved it regardless. He marvelled at all sorts of cargo his crew had transported over the last few years since he joined, even if others found them boring, he was always interested in them and where they were going, sometimes getting into trouble by wondering too much. But he didn't mind, it was his life, and to Cannonball, it was perfect.
But there will always be a time in ones life, when everything they know will change forever in a single instance. And Cannonballs time, had come.
It started as an ordinary day for the team; they were to make six trips to different colony planets and be back for the next lot of cargo. Out of all the deliveries to make, only one stood out; an order of standard Energon had been made, but there was to be no security on this flight. Cannonball thought it a little strange, as most other Energon deliveries always had at least four members of the Decepticon security team to watch over the shipment when they took off.
After strapping down his last container, deciding to see if he was not alone with this question, he walked over to one of the other members of the crew "Hey, don't you find it a bit strange that they didn't assign a security detail to the Energon?" he asked his crew mate as they were still securing their container.
"Maybe they're running low on bodies? I don't know, I just want to get this trip over and done with, I've got a lot on my plate right now, okay kid?" he stated, making Cannonball raise his arms in defence.
"Alright, alright, I'll keep quiet. Sorry to interrupt your work, I'll leave you to it, CounterPunch" he said before walking away, not seeing the evil smirk on the green and blue bots face as he finished 'securing' his container.
Cannonball reported his cargo was secure and grabbed his schedule for the trip to know when his watch shift started before heading to his quarters. The next few hours was peaceful for the white and red con, he was given the night shift, so he had some time to spend before having to do his shift. Turning on his holo-projector; he decided to watch some of the news feeds around Cybertron to see what was happening back home.
Most of the news covered new attacks made by the Autobots on various cities and facilities whilst others talked about the major battlefields raging across the planet, one news feed being cut short after a grenade landed next to the reporter and their camera man. Cannonball sighed and turned off the projector, rubbing his eyes softly 'this needs to stop, even with Megatron leading the Decepticons, it isn't enough' he thought to himself before laying down "I wish...I wish I was able to help out more" he said to himself before powering down.
Beep beep beep beep beep.
Cannonball slowly opened his eyes to the sound of his alarm and sat up, patting it on the button before standing. Walking over to his dispenser, he grabbed a cup and poured himself a warm mug of Energon before exiting his room and made his way to the cargo-hold. As he walked down the hall, he passed his crew-mate that had just finished their shift "Night, CB" she said whilst stretching.
"Night" Cannonball replied with a smile before entering the hold. He grabbed the chair with his name on it from the racking and sat beside the door, turning on his lights to look around. As they were instructed to; the crew weren't allowed to have the lights on in the cargo-hold whilst they were on their 'night time' voyages as it saved Energon, but they were allowed to use any light built into their bodies or flashlights if necessary. It wasn't a good arrangement, but after a while they got use to it.
Cannonball sat on his seat and took a sip of his warm beverage, opening his eyes more and he smiled to the taste. Looking around, the containers in front of him were secured down and nothing seemed amiss. After taking another sip, he stood up from his chair and began doing his rounds, walking around the hold and checking each container to make sure they were secure.
After inspecting his sixth container; there was a whooshing noise, followed by the sound of something spilling. Standing up quickly, he dashed to where he thought he heard the noise from. Making it back to his seat, he saw that his warm Energon had been spilt and his chair had moved. He grabbed a flashlight and shock baton from the racking as he was trained to use it if they had intruders.
Slowly and quietly making his way around the hold again, he kept his pace steady and silent, shining the flashlight between shipments, trying to see who the intruder was. He heard the sounds of something snapping and quietly dashed around a corner, looking around and found some of the straps had been cut. He looked up to see which cargo it was and his eyes widened; it was the Energon they were delivering.
Holding up his arm; Cannonball tried to active his com-link, but all he got was static "Somethings wrong" he said and ran to the door. Just as he made it; there was an all mighty explosion from outside the ship, causing the whole ship to quake, making Cannonball lose his footing and fall over. The ships alarm soon blared as Cannonball tried to get his footing, shakily standing and opened the door, seeing his crew-mates make their way to the assembly deck "We're under-attack! Everyone let move!" yelled one of the crew.
Cannonball followed his crew to the deck "Helm, what are we dealing with?" asked the ships captain.
"It's an Autobot fighter, sir!" came the reply, the captain looked to his crew.
"Is everyone here?"
"No sir, CounterPunch is missing!" said the female member.
Before anyone could say anything else; another missile hit the ship, knocking most of the crew down. "WE HAVE A HULL BREACH!" Helm cried out.
The crew knew what they had to do. Grabbing the emergency weapons they had stored, they split up; heading to the hull breach and the cargo-hold. Cannonball went with the team to the hold with a spare blaster for CounterPunch for when he found him. His group soon arrived at the cargo-hold and took their positions, Cannonball still trying to find the missing crew-mate.
Suddenly; a large explosion engulfed the door to the hold, knocking down two crew members and killing a third. The rest of the crew aimed their weapons at the now smoking doorway, ready for the fight of their lives. They waited, no one moving an inch, each trying to predict the attackers movements. But nothing happened...
"GAAAHHHH!" yelled a crew member as they were cut in half before collapsing.
"Hurrgh!" cried another as a deep stab wound could be seen through their chest.
One by one, each member of the crew was swiftly dispatched, leaving only Cannonball. The young decepticon shook violently, trying his hardest to hold his ground "W-who ever you are...y-you are under s-ship arrest" he stuttered, trying to sound brave.
"Cannonball?!" cried a familiar voice. It was CounterPunch.
"C-cargo-hold!" he responded. Walking through the smoking doorway was the green and blue crew member, looking around at the mass of corpses that were once their team.
"What happened?! Are you injured?!" he approached the shaking con and helped keep him standing.
"N-no, I-I'm fine" Cannonball replied, feeling weak as he tried his hardest to stop himself from collapsing.
"Good..." said CounterPunch, slowly turning away as he guided his young crew-mate to the door.
"W-we have to get to the escape pods-" Cannonball soon stopped dead, he felt his left hand go numb for a few seconds before a scolding sensation engulfed it "AAAAAHHHHH!" he screamed as he grasped at the now gushing wound from where his hand once was.
"It's nothing personal kid," CounterPunch stated coldly, a sword in his hand with fresh Energon on the blade...Cannonballs Energon "It's just the life of a double spy" he finished before his body shifted, revealing a new green and purple body...punch.
"P-p-punch..." Cannonball clenched out behind gritted teeth. Punch only looked to him evilly before flipping his sword and jamming it straight into the young cons left eye. Cannonball felt even more weak, his vision slowly blurring as his body began feeling light 'So...this is it...the day i die...' he thought to himself before his body collapsed, going lifeless.
"Hmmp, I take it back," Punch said, leaning down to his audio receptor "It was personal" he finished before pulling away and laughing like a mad man.
Cannonball didn't know how long it had been since he felt so at peace, the feeling of weightlessness and ease was so calming. He couldn't remember what he was doing before ending up in this unknown place, but he felt like he needed to be here. "It's...so peaceful here, so calm, quiet" he said to himself as he looked around.
Around him was a strange green organic plant, it was short and slightly damp, but it felt calming to him. He looked up to see a rich blue sky with white clouds dotted around the atmosphere, a bright sun beaming down around the area. Cannonball sat down onto the green organic plant, brushing his fingers over it smoothly "I wouldn't mind staying here" he smiled to the thought as he laid down to stare up to the clouds.
He slowly felt his eyes begin to close as the feeling of tiredness rushed over him "Maybe...I should rest for a bit..." he said for a final time before fully closing both eyes as he felt the suns rays against his body.
But soon...Cannonball no longer felt the sun against his body, causing him to open his eyes again. He looked to where the sun was, seeing it being blocked by a strange red shape. Cannonball soon felt a new sensation, one he hadn't felt in a long time...a need. A need to get up and make something of himself, a need to be someone in this vast universe. Standing up; he looked carefully around the red shape descending towards him, Cannonball couldn't see what it was clearly, but one major detail stuck out to him.
At the very top of the shape, on the tip of a long pole; was a flag. A black flag with the Decepticon insignia being crossed underneath by two silver swords.
Cannonball slowly awoken, feeling very dizzy as he found himself staring up to a dim ceiling light and slowly sitting up. Cannonball held his head with his right hand "Ugh...my aching processor..." he grunted as he went to turn, but stopped when he felt something different. He pulled up his left arm, seeing a newly attached sling from his elbow to his hand.
Cannonball thought back to what led to this moment, his fuzzy mind slowly returning to normal. He remembered the cargo coming undone, the attack...CounterPunch...no, Punch!
Cannonball clenched his fist tightly "Punch...that traitor" he said, trying his hardest not to punch the wall beside him. Cannonball went to stand, but his legs buckled under him, causing him to fall on one knee. As he tried to stand back up; the door to his room opened and a nurse walked in "Hey!" she cried out, running over to Cannonball and helped him back up and sit onto the bed.
"Sir, you really should be resting" she said, picking up her data pad again and displaying his stats. Cannonball looked to his injured arm before looking to the nurse.
"How bad is it?" he asked. The nurse sighed as she pulled up his first scans, displaying a holo-graphic image of Cannonballs body, with several parts to his body being red.
"When they found you, you had suffered severe internal and external trauma. Your body was left a drift in space as you were leaking, causing several wounds to freeze over. And I'm afraid the damage was to much, they couldn't save your hand or eye" she finished. Cannonball lifted his one good hand and touched his face; feeling a piece of metal on his visor, covering where his left eye use to be.
"So, I've lost my hand and my eye" he stated, earning a sympathetic nod from the nurse. Cannonball turned and laid back down onto his bed, staring up to the ceiling again.
"I'm so, so sorry this happened to you, I'll give you some time to yourself" the nurse said before standing up and leaving the room. Cannonball turned his attention to the window beside his bed, seeing a stormy sky as lightning crashed across them, causing light to enter the room. As the light entered the room; Cannonball saw his reflection, the extent of his injuries...and remembered the one who did this to him.
Cannonball clenched his fist again as he looked directly into his one eye "They are going to pay for what they did to me and my crew...I'm going to bring the fight back to them. I'm going to fight...," he looked at the patch again covering his lost eye, thinking deeply before nodding contently "Fight them back, the pirate way".
It had been a few days since then, the day Cannonball declared himself as a pirate. After being discharged from the medical facility, located on the colony planet of Antilla; Cannonball managed to find a small place to stay and, using what every Shanix he had left, bought himself a custom made cutlass and small pistol. During his time on Antilla; Cannonball trained himself, if he was going to be a pirate, he would have to fight like one.
Using what ever he could find or what others had thrown away, built himself a training ground, allowing him to get faster and stronger with each new day. Ropes to wing from ledge to ledge, practice dummies for sword practice, even a target of the Autobot insignia. Day after day, week after week, Cannonball got faster and tougher with each passing hour.
After weeks of intense training, he was ready. Making his way to the nearby port, Cannonball looked around to see if there was a ship to take him back to Cybertron, but no luck for the young pirate. After many hours of searching for an available ship, Cannonball considered stealing a small cruiser to get back to Cybertron, but his spark kept refusing to do it, to only be a pirate to those who deserve it.
Just as luck seemed to run out for the young pirate; "Hey! You old piece of scrap, wake up!" came a voice. Cannonball heard the ruckus from behind a wall marked with no trespassing signs and decided to investigate. Using a small anchor attached to a chain he made; Cannonball threw the anchor over the wall and it snagged on a ledge. He pulled himself up the wall and dropped back down the other side as softly as he could before rolling behind some containers.
Peering from his hiding spot, the young pirate looked to see the one thing he had been waiting for; Autobots. A gang of Autobots loading containers filled with Energon onto an old rusty freighter ship. He watched as one Autobot pounded on the side of the ship with a hammer "Oi! Tidal-wave, get your engines going, you hunk of junk! We're shipping off!" he yelled at the ship.
Cannonball was confused until a hologram of a floating head appeared in front of the bot "I-I'm going as fast as I can, a-all I need is some new parts-"
"Scrap off, you old wreck! Unless you get your engines fired up right now, I'll personally climb into your spark chamber and turn you into a 'REAL' ship!" the Autobot yelled again, slamming the hammer into the ship again, denting it deeply as the head grunted.
Cannonball soon realised that the ship was a Cybertronian, just like them, but from the way his vehicle-mode looked, it was obvious that the Autobots only considered him as a transport instead of a living being. He continued to watch as slowly the ships engines began to power on, one at a time.
"Faster!" the bot yelled again, the hammer tilting up to form a drill before he bored it into the side of the ship. The ship shuddered as a loud grunt could be heard, causing the other Autobots to laugh at the ships reaction as the continued to load him.
Cannonball had enough of this, deciding to take action. Looking around; he saw an old crane with is hook on the ground and carefully made his way round to it. Grabbing the cable; he began climbing up the crane and sat on the arm, looking down at the gang of thugs below him. He watched and waited, hoping one would be too distracted to notice him.
One Autobot had turned his back to open a container; that was the action he needed. Holding the cable tightly, Cannonball swung down from the arm of the crane, pushing the Autobot inside the container before locking him in. He heard muffled yells and bangs from inside before dashing off. Cannonball snuck up behind another as they were dozing off on a barrel before slamming the butt of his cutlass against their head and knocked him out cold.
Cannonball climbed up and crouched down on a a stack of containers as he watched the Autobot abuse the ship more by punching more holes against its side with the drill. Cannonball looked down to see more as they watched and laughed at the pain the ship received; he stood up from his hiding spot and held his arms out before taking a step forwards, dropping down as he pulled out his cutlass and brought it straight down through one Autobots head, killing him instantly.
The other Autobots jumped as they looked to Cannonball as he pulled out his cutlass from the fresh corpse of their former comrade as he kept his gaze down. The gang leader jumped forward "Who the hell are you?!" he said, aiming the drill at the pirate.
Without a word; Cannonball jumped up into the air before dive-kicking the nearest bot in the chest, knocking him to the ground before slashing his head clean off. The other Autobots grabbed their blasters and started to shoot at the pirate as he ducked behind a barrel and switched weapons before firing back. Cannonball fired shot after shot, most of his shots finding their marks; either shooting guns out of their hands or nailing them in the head.
Seeing his chance; he jumped over the barrel and ran at the remaining Autobots with the sword in hand as he started to slash them down, either taking our their knees or deep gashes against their sparks. The leader watched as his men where taken out one by one by the Decepticon's speed, having enough of losing his team, raised his Hammer before bringing it down hard, causing a small tremor and knocking Cannonball to the ground.
The Autobot leader walked over and raised his hammer above Cannonball "You're either reckless or stupid, either way; you're dead" he before bringing the hammer down. Cannonball held his cutlass up, catching the hammer by the handle and tried his hardest to hold it up, but without a second hand for support; he could feel the hammer forcing down him.
Before either knew what happened; the Autobot was blasted away as shrapnel flew off him before exploding against a container. Cannonball turned from the scorched container to see one of the ships cannon's was smoking before it aimed at him; the pirate placed his sword down before raising his arms up to show he didn't want to fight. Just as he fought the ship would blast him like he did to his former tormentors; the cannon retracted as the holo-graphic head appeared in front of him "Who are you?" the head asked.
Cannonball grabbed his cutlass and sheathed it "Just a pirate wanting to take the fight to the Autobots" he responded.
The head bowed to Cannonball "Thank you for freeing me, they have been treating me that way since I was assigned to them as their transport, I owe you big time. The names Tidal-wave, at your service" he head said before smiling, Cannonball couldn't help but smile back.
"Pleased to meet you, Tidal-wave, I'm Cannonball," the pirate looked the ship over "You able to take off?" he asked the titan.
The head nodded "Guess you're my new captain" he chuckled and Cannonball smirked back.
"Well then, lets load what Energon they have then take off, say 50 - 50?" the new captain asked.
The heads eyes widened "5-50? The Autobots only ever gave me 1" he stated. Cannonball only smiled as he walked over to a container and began pushing it into the cargo hold.
"If we're going to be partners, we share everything" he said as he placed it down and secured it into place.
Once all containers were loaded; Tidal-wave guided Cannonball to the bridge, even if it could be called a bridge by how shorty it looked "Well, once we start taking the fight back to the Autobots and taking back what belongs to everyone, we'll save up enough to get you back in ship-shape" the pirate stated before sitting in the captains chair and looked over the consoles as the holo-graphic head watched him.
"All engines to full burn, Tidal-wave" he ordered and the head nodded.
"Aye Aye, Captain!" he smiled before powering on his engines and they soon took off. Cannonball watched them leave the planets atmosphere as the clouds and blue sky soon turned into the deep reach black of space. Cannonball knew this would be the start of an interesting new life, but he was ready for anything to come at him, as he was reborn that day.
From that day on, he was known as; Cannonball, the red pirate captain.
