Well, it's been about half a year I guess since I last updated this one... Not entirely uncommon I'm afraid, for many months to go by without a new chapter. Thank you to those who have been patiently waiting!
A/N: This chapter was co-written by my brother, Blaster 2.0, so thanks to him for writing scenes in this one along with many revisions and readings.
Hope you enjoy!
Chapter 11
Whirr quickly strode into the throne room and knelt; his helm low.
Astrokliks ticked by as the tyrant Prime stared him down, purposely making the scientist wait to see what he would do.
Just as he often did to his underlings.
Finally, the Prime grumbled, "Rise. And tell me what you have created."
The helicopter straightened from his kneeling crouch, meeting the other mech's optics.
Leaning forward in his seat, Optimus' faceplate split in an ugly sneer as he spoke again.
"I do hope it is impressive, Scientist Whirr. I don't like disappointments."
Behind him, Whirr could hear the twins snickering to each other from their posts by the door.
"Well, I don't like to boast," replied the scientist calmly, pressing down his nervousness. "But I do believe you will be impressed."
Pressing three buttons on the controls of his gauntlet that was attached to his left servo, he called out three names.
"Sixgun! Cog! Aragon!"
Sets of stomping pedes met the present mecha's audios.
Prowl, Ultra Magnus, and Smokescreen glanced from the Prime to the scientist, and then back at the three figures entering the throne room from where they had been waiting outside in the corridor.
Jazz and Ricochet gave them wary looks from under their visors, hands on the pistols at their sides.
Optimus Prime watched, gaze unwavering from the trio that came to a halt in a neat line behind their creator.
The first one was large, about average height and build for a Cybertronian. The second one that had entered the room, was shorter, more towards Whirr's height and build, but still bigger than him. And the third one was, simply put, massive, rivaled in height only by Magnus.
"These are the Cyberbots," said Whirr, a hint of pride in his tone. He folded his servos behind his back and stood a little straighter. "I created them from my own design, they function very similar to we Cybertronians, but take more effort to subdue in a fight. Also, they do not consume energon, but a serum based on energon that is easily produced.
"I believe they will be excellent additions to your army, my Lord."
Whirr bowed at the waist, then straightened, awaiting the warlord's response.
The Prime sat forward, his elbows resting on the armrests of his throne, digits steepled in front of him. His optics were narrowed as he examined the three Cyberbots.
The two Praxians observing from the side of the room flicked their doorwings while Magnus stared down the new trio with a death glare.
"Tell me more about your creations, Whirr," said Optimus coolly.
"Okay. They can become armour and form around most mecha, like this." The scientist pressed a button on his left servo guard.
Sixgun came apart into pieces, which formed around Whirr.
"The Cyberbots are hollow which makes it easy to form the shape of whoever they magnetize to, and their brain and few internal parts make up the small box on my back." He turned to the side to show the prime.
Sixgun detached himself from Whirr, his pieces formed back the way that they were before, leaving Whirr where he was as well.
"Also, the Cyberbots also have an ability to heal their injuries very quickly, and if they explode, they can reform their body back together perfectly," Whirr said as he looked at the Prime.
"Demonstrate!" ordered Optimus, flicking a hand impatiently.
"Gladly," Whirr said as he clicked two buttons on his left servo guard. This action turned off Cog and Sixgun, their feet magnetized to the floor. They stood straight and motionless. The light from their visors dimmed but did not go out.
Whirr then detached his blaster from his right hip guard. He turned around and shot Aragon's upper left servo, just below his shoulder.
As quick as you could say, "Cyberbot!" Aragon drew his gun off his right hip holster, but was stopped by Whirr who had clicked another button on his left servo gauntlet.
"Why did he stop?" the Prime asked, surprise in his tone.
Whirr turned around to face the Autobot leader, a slight look of betrayal on his faceplate. "Because I don't fancy getting a headshot from an angry Cyberbot."
Optimus sat back in his throne. "Fair enough, continue."
The scientist continued. "Watch Aragon's servo heal."
The shot that had penetrated the black and red Cyberbot's armour was now almost healed.
"Impressive, most impressive," Optimus said with a wicked smirk.
"Thank you, but I think you will enjoy this most of all," said Whirr, clicking a few keys on his servo guard.
The three Cyberbots were now all turned on, and had shifted almost every piece of armour to reveal every kind of explosive imaginable.
"You see, they have everything, even this," said Whirr as he opened their chest armour to reveal a huge bomb. "As you can see, they each have one, and between that bomb and the rest of the explosives and firepower, the Cyberbots could obliterate the entire ranks of the Decepticons."
Optimus was now standing up in amazement. "And all this, at my fingertips. We could destroy the Decepticons, easily, so easily." The prime slowly sat back down in his throne, his optics never looking away from the Cyberbots that stood before him.
"Well, Whirr you have just assured me of where your loyalties truly are for you could end me now with the click of a button," the prime said, testing the scientist. His optics slid towards his present officers momentarily. "And with me, half of my close command."
Whirr looked at the button he could press to send everything the Cyberbots have in them at the prime. Then he looked back up at Optimus. "Yes, I guess so."
"But I know you wouldn't dare try it, because you would die trying," Optimus said with a wicked laugh.
The laugh was echoed by the twin Polyhexians by the door. Ricochet flexed his clawed fingers as he grinned darkly.
The red and white helicopter looked down at the floor and bowed at the waist, "I assure you, Prime, you have my full loyalty."
"Good, and now that I know you won't try and use these weapons against me, we can continue," Optimus said to the scientist.
"Yes of course," said Whirr as he clicked the buttons to put the Cyberbots back in their original position.
A comm request to all officers had them pausing.
"What?" growled the warlord.
"Lord Prime," said the mech on monitor duty. "We've picked up multiple Decepticon signals in one place."
The Prime smiled darkly at Sunstreaker's words.
"Very good. Sound the battle alarms."
Cutting off the comm, the Prime stood, looking down at the Cyberbots.
As the alarm claxons began throughout the base, he spoke directly to Whirr.
"Let's see, Scientist, if your Cyberbots are truly ready for their purpose."
Bowing low again, the scientist said, "Yes, Lord Prime." And with that, he left the throne room, the Cyberbots behind him in the order of Aragon, Sixgun, then Cog.
"The Autobots are on their way," Iron Blade said, optics narrowed as he held a hand to his forehelm to shield them against the sun.
Turning to Starscream and Shockwave, he flicked his wings once. "Still think those nets will work?"
Shockwave nodded once. "We set them up properly, so they should. The connection reaches your servo guard still?"
"Yes," Iron Blade replied, tapping a few buttons on the screen embedded in his right servo armour. "It won't work if I get too far from them, but up close, no problem."
"Unfortunately, we cannot change the distance they can reach."
Starscream folded his servos behind his back, a light frown on his faceplate. "You two set up enough nets. I'm certain that one of them at least should yield results."
"Which one do you think we'll actually capture?" Iron Blade asked, wondering what his friends predicted. He had his own suspicions, but wanted to hear theirs.
"Blurr," was all Shockwave said.
"I agree," echoed Starscream thoughtfully. "Both of the brothers use similar tactics, darting in and out of cover when there's opportunities. And to avoid friendly fire. However, Steeldust is much more erratic and slips in between mecha on the battlefield more willingly than Blurr. Blurr seems to prefer the easier maneuverability of less mecha on the outskirts. He sticks to that tactic more I believe we have observed."
"That's what I'm thinking," Iron Blade remarked, glancing back towards the approaching Autobot convoy.
"The thing we need to be concerned about," spoke Shockwave suddenly, "Is if one finds the net before they run into it and warns the other."
"I don't know if they care that much about each other," Iron Blade said with a scoff, crossing his servos. He narrowed his optics as he spotted one very familiar mecha. Or one who he used to know very well.
Not so much anymore.
"We know how Autobots treat their own family."
By this time, the rest of the Decepticons had groundbridged to Iron Blade, Shockwave, and Starscream's position.
Across the valley from them were the Autobots, who had just arrived at the designated battlefield.
They stood almost exactly opposite of each other, out of range of most, if not all, weapons.
Optimus took a few steps forward from his ranks and bellowed across the battlefield.
"Megatron! I want you to choose three of your warriors to fight these three Cyberbots!"
The Cyberbots pushed forward through the crowd of Autobots until they were beside the prime.
Iron Blade stood shocked.
"What is it, Iron Blade?" Ironshadow asked lowly, stealing a glance at his son who stood next to him.
"Those are the weapons Whirr made, and ours isn't ready yet," the knight replied in a whisper.
Starscream had noticed too and glanced over to meet the younger mech's optics, a frown on his faceplate.
Both were wondering if they should have went ahead and made their own as soon as they'd received the blueprints.
Although it wouldn't have done them much good. Even if they had, it wouldn't be ready yet.
Megatron spoke up. "If we do this, then neither side can interfere in the fight among the six warriors we choose?"
From the other side, Optimus yelled back, "That is correct! No interference from either side! When one side yields or loses, that ends the fight!"
"Are we actually going to do this?" asked Ironshadow. He sent the leader a look. "These are the weapons that our scientists told us about."
Megatron looked at Iron Blade and Starscream in turn. "What do you think? Would it be better to have all of us fight, or just three?"
Iron Blade wasted no time in responding to the Decepticon leader, "I believe we should take Optimus up on his offer, this way we can study the skills of the Cyberbots so we can know how to counter them with one of our own, when we finish it."
The second-in-command was slower to answer, thinking for several astrokliks before he spoke. "Iron Blade presents a good point. However, we do not know the skills of the Cyberbots, so we must be careful."
Ironshadow nodded, frowning deeply as he added his opinion. "I agree with them, Megatron. Especially, with the latter part of what Starscream said. "
Megatron nodded, "Very well." He then looked back at the prime in front of the army ahead of them.
"We will choose three warriors to fight your Cyberbots!"
Optimus Prime smiled wickedly, "Good choice. The winner gets a Cybertronian relic for their prize!"
"Megatron, a relic?" asked Shockwave, "If we lose, we will lose one of the relics."
Megatron said, "I know, but if we win..."
"We get one of theirs," interrupted Iron Blade, finishing the Decepticon leader's sentence.
"Do they have any?" Ironshadow asked with a flick of his wings. He frowned. "Do we?"
"Well, Megatron. What say you?!" asked the Prime.
Megatron waited a few astrokliks before answering.
"We accept!"
"Excellent!" the Prime said with a wicked smile. "Send out your champions!"
"I will step forward," Iron Blade said, already moving forward before he'd finished speaking.
His sire flinched, but made no move to stop him.
"Me too," said Starscream.
"Very well, but we need one more to step forward." said Megatron.
"I will if no one else is willing," Ironshadow said quickly, tone serious. "However, in the event that this goes badly, I'd like to be able to fetch or assist the three that do go out if I can."
"Then, stay here. I will be the third," said Motormaster from close by as he pushed through to the front line.
The combiner and Armada leaders caught up with Iron Blade who had paused to wait for them. Then, the three stepped forward to challenge the Cyberbots.
Leaning closer to speak in the Decepticon leader's audio, Ironshadow lowly muttered, "I don't like this, my friend. I have a feeling that this may go badly."
"It will be alright, Ironshadow," Megatron replied. He then sobered further. "What else can we do? We risk only three instead of the whole army this way."
"I know. But just be on guard. This isn't like Optimus prime."
"I know."
On the other side of the valley, Optimus turned to Whirr who was beside him, "Send them out. Prove to me that they are worth my time."
"Yes, my Lord," Whirr said. He then turned to his creations. "Cyberbots, defeat the three Decepticons that have stepped forward. Do not kill them."
"Consider it done," said Aragon.
"We'll end them for you, Optimus," said Sixgun, deploying the swords attached to his forearms.
The three Cyberbots stepped forward to challenge the three Decepticons.
Cog stood opposite of Motormaster, Aragon stood opposite of Starscream, and Sixgun, in the middle with Cog on his right and Aragon on his left, was opposite of Iron Blade.
Cog spoke for the first time, and by no surprise was it a question, "Umm, who says go?"
Iron Blade deployed his face guard and visor. Igniting the sword in his hand, he spun it and yelled, "I do!" Then, he charged Sixgun.
Sixgun got ready for his smaller opponent to get closer. When he did, Sixgun sliced at him with his swords.
Iron Blade spun to dodge the attack. As he did this, he pulled the shield off his back and smashed the red and grey Cyberbot in the knee, sending him to the ground.
Meanwhile, he also slashed the back of Cog's knee, knocking him down on all fours.
"Hey, that one was mine!" yelled Motormaster as he pulled the huge sword off his back.
Iron Blade thrusted his flaming sword into the huge navy-blue and black Cyberbot, sending him to his face.
"Ha! Beat that!" the white, black, and silver mech said.
Motormaster ran at Sixgun who tried to avoid the huge sword, but couldn't move his right leg. He was sent flying in the air, and landed rolling until he was stopped by a huge boulder, which cracked three of his left ribs.
"Beat that, Iron Blade!" Motormaster yelled.
"Stop, bickering, my friends! We have things to do," Starscream said as he shot Aragon with his arm blasters.
Aragon, with two holes in his chest, revealed to Starscream that he was mostly hollow inside.
Starscream frowned in puzzlement when he could see the black and red Cyberbot's few organs.
Aragon drew his guns from his holsters on his hips and aimed them at Starscream. His two injuries already healed.
Starscream's optics widened, astonished at how fast his opponent had healed.
Aragon rapid fired his blasters at the air commander, who transformed and took to the sky in jet form. He flew around until his nose was pointed right at Aragon. Starscream shot two missiles at the Cyberbots and transformed, landing in the middle of the scattered pieces of Aragon. He turned to face the other two Decepticon champions.
"Beat that," he said with a smirk.
Optimus was furious. He slapped Whirr with the back of his hand, sending the scientist to the ground behind him.
"You idiot! Do you know what this means! You have wasted this battle! You will die!" As he spoke, he walked over to the red and white helicopter, then raising his right pede to crush Whirr.
The other Decepticons who'd been distracted from the fight by this, looked on in mostly non-caring manners.
"Wait!" the scientist pleaded.
The prime lowered his pede back to the ground beside his other one.
"The Cyberbots will use their magnets and serum to fix themselves," Whirr hastily explained.
Optimus reached down and picked up Whirr by the throat. "They had better, or I'll snap your neck."
Suddenly, the hole in Cog's back sealed and his knee was repaired. He stood to his pedes.
Motormaster was surprised. "What? How?"
Cog dove at Motormaster knocking him down, Cog on top of him.
Motormaster kicked him over his head, rolled over, and stood up. He pulled his huge sword off his back again and raised it to strike Cog. He then, thrusted it downwards, but it stopped in Cog's hands.
The huge Cyberbot stood up slowly the end of Motormaster's sword still in his grasp. With his immense strength he lifted the Stunticon leader in the air using the sword. He held his opponent straight up in the air, then with all his might, he flung the sword to the ground.
When Motormaster hit the ground, he let go of the sword.
Cog switched his hold on the weapon to the handle of it. He walked towards Motormaster and put the tip of the sword to his neck cables.
Iron Blade ran to help, but was tackled by Sixgun, who then pinned the knight, shoving his faceplate into the grass and dirt beneath them.
Sixgun looked as if he had just joined the fight. "Gotcha!" he said as he put his gun to the back of Iron Blade's helm.
Starscream, meanwhile, looked around himself as the pieces of Aragon were coming together again.
Aragon reformed in front of the surprised Starscream.
"Hey pal," Aragon said. Then, he pulled his servo back in a fist and pounded his opponent in the faceplate.
The seeker fell backwards.
Starscream tried to get to his feet, but was punched again in the faceplate by Aragon.
Aragon put his pede on Starscream's chest and readied the missile in his pede. It was aimed right at Starscream's spark.
Starscream looked at Aragon in fear of what he was about to do. But then, the look in his optics grew defiant, his faceplate turned from shock to determination.
He would die. But he'd die knowing he died protecting and serving with his fellow Decepticons.
"Well, Megatron, what do you think of the Cyberbots!?" the Prime asked from across the battlefield.
Megatron said nothing. Beside him, Ironshadow and Shockwave also said nothing, waiting for their leader's command.
Optimus grinned wickedly, "Do you yield!?"
The Decepticon leader then spoke, "I yield! Let my mecha return to me!"
With that, Aragon removed his pede from off Starscream's chest, then he used his jet boots to fly back to the Autobot lines.
Sixgun got of Iron Blade's back by transforming into his jet form and flying away, reaching the other Autobot's first.
Cog dropped Motormaster's sword, transformed into his tank form, and joined the other two.
A groundbridge appeared behind the Autobots and they started to flood into it.
"I trust you will keep your word and bring me that relic, Megatron!" the prime yelled.
"Oh, you will get your relic!" yelled the Decepticon leader as the three defeated Decepticons came to stand behind him. He opened a comm to Soundwave.
"Soundwave, send us a groundbridge, and a relic for the Autobots."
"Sure thing, boss." Soundwave replied glumly, already having heard the battle's result from one of the other officers.
"And you know which relic I mean?" asked Megatron.
"Oh yes, the prime will just love this one," replied Soundwave brightly with a scheming grin.
Kliks later a groundbridge appeared beside Optimus, Soundwave stepped through it.
Optimus was now alone, waiting for his Cybertronian relic.
"Here you are, your lordship," said Soundwave as he bowed mockingly with his outstretched servo with the relic in it.
The prime snatched it from Soundwave and looked at it. "This is no relic! It's pieces of metal welded together that say 'Cybertronian relic!' Is this a joke!?"
"Yeah, that's pretty much all it is," replied Soundwave with a shrug, and with that he jumped back into the groundbridge and turned it off.
Astrokliks later another groundbridge appeared behind the Decepticons.
Soundwave's head poked out, "Alright, show's over let's go!"
As the Decepticons left the battlefield, Optimus screamed across the valley. "You won't get away with this! You hear me?!"
"Oh, we hear you, but we're leaving!" Soundwave yelled back as the last few Decepticons went through the groundbridge. "Goodbye, Prime! Smell ya later!"
Optimus was left alone on the battlefield. Filled with rage, he crushed the piece of metal in his hand and stomped through his own groundbridge.
It turned out that neither of the speedster brothers had come to the battle. Though it turned out that they had even bigger worries than the pair.
Optimus Prime had three new faceplates among his ranks and they were definitely not friendly.
"Next time," Starscream assured the other two as they limped towards the medbay. "We'll try the nets again. They will work, we must be patient."
Well, Shockwave didn't limp as he was uninjured. But was still accompanying the other two on his way to the science lab.
"I find it strange neither were present," the cyclops said. "It would be worth it to check in with the miners. But I agree. We will eventually catch them."
"And how many more die in the meantime," Iron Blade wondered, though he didn't speak his worry aloud.
Another thing that bothered him, was how many of the new "weapons" Optimus had.
Whirr had not told him that he'd made three.
Iron Blade was a little put off by that, but he figured Whirr had had his reasons. And that that was especially why he had urged him to take the blueprints and make their own.
Still.
The young mech frowned as he also recalled seeing Whirr on the battlefield. The scientist wasn't called to battle often, the Autobot officers deeming him much more useful in his lab, but sometimes he was.
Apparently, he'd been there to witness the weapons' first fight.
Iron Blade had seen him almost die at the hand of the false prime when it appeared that the Cyberbots were defeated.
It almost made him glad that they'd actually ended up defeating he and his two comrades. For Whirr's sake anyways.
Otherwise, he wasn't pleased with their defeat. At all.
Still.
Iron Blade hoped that the warlord was now satisfied and also, that Whirr's presence also meant that no one had found him out. That made him relax a little.
He always felt a bit worried after he and the helicopter met again after a trade of information or supplies. Until he seen or heard from him that he was fine.
For some reason, this time the young mech had had a bad feeling about it that he couldn't push away as easily. Maybe it was because the last time they'd met, for only an astroklik or two, the knight had thought he'd felt someone watching from the forest around them.
He'd looked and there was no one. No one except a spooked rabbit that ran away.
Obviously, the rabbit wouldn't have gotten Whirr caught.
While Iron Blade had been lost in thought, Slipstream had caught up to them.
Shockwave glanced over his shoulder at the smaller knight as she began arguing with Starscream.
"You could have been killed!"
"Well, as second-in-command and air commander, it was my duty to volunteer."
"I know. But why is it always about honour with you two," Slipstream grumbled, casting a pointed look back at Iron Blade as she put a servo around her courted to help him along. "You're both idiots."
Iron Blade frowned at the femme. Starscream twitched a wing and smiled at her.
"Thank you, dearest."
Iron Blade rolled his optics at them as Shockwave made his escape to the lab.
"MIRAGE!"
The head ops looked up from his datapad at the faint angry bellowing of his name. With a roll of his optics, he got to his pedes and left his office, closing and locking the door behind him.
Walking swiftly to the throne room, he rose an optic ridge at the two bodyguards that already had the door open for him. Moving several steps inward, Mirage dropped elegantly to one knee and bowed. He noted as he did, that Prowl was also in the room, likely been previously going over some matter with the warlord.
"His presence all the better," thought Mirage. "You called for me, my Lord?"
Optimus Prime sat in his throne, hands clenching the ends of the armrests as he scowled darkly down at the mech before him.
"Why were your mecha not all on the battlefield, Mirage?" he said with a growl. "Only Hound and Skyshadow were there.
"Not that they were needed."
Mirage lifted his helm and rose to his pedes. "I have a worthy explanation if you wish to hear it, my liege?"
The warlord settled back in his throne, still scowling. "Proceed."
Bowing at the waist quickly, Mirage did so.
"My Lord, I sent Agent Blurr to investigate an unknown energon signal that the mecha on monitor watch had observed. He has not returned yet, but I expect him to give me a report on his findings soon. And unfortunately, Goldbug is in need of rescue from a pit, along with two others. Seeing as we just returned not long ago, the rescue team has not had time to locate and return them yet."
"Very well," nodded the Prime, his faceplate lessening in its dark look. "Prowl did inform me that he sent the Cyberbots out looking for them."
"As for Agent Steeldust," Mirage continued, the corners of his mouth turning downwards as he narrowed his optics. "It seems that Magnus has taken him and placed him in the brig. I would have informed you sooner, had not the Cyberbots' debut and the battle been of more importance."
"WHAT?"
Mirage withheld his smirk, keeping his faceplate showing his displeasure instead. "I do not know the reasons for his punishment, but I had assumed, my Lord, that you deemed them worth keeping him there while we went to meet the Decepticons."
"I did no such thing," growled Optimus, slamming a fist on the arm of his throne. "And why did Magnus put him there?"
"I am uncertain," Mirage replied with disdain. "After all, Steeldust is under my direct command, not Magnus' and therefore, I should have been at the very least alerted to his misbehaviour or misconduct."
The ops paused and then continued. "And it seems like he did not inform or bring the issue to you either, my Lord. Which is of course, more at fault here."
By this point, the warlord was nearly livid.
"MAGNUS!"
Prowl, who had been standing off to the warlord's right in silence, met the optics of the shrewd head ops. The pair shared a small grin as the Prime again yelled for the lieutenant.
Mirage knew he'd just made the tactician's day.
He and the current second-in-command were usually on fairly good terms. This was one of the reasons.
Both shared in their dislike of Ultra Magnus and knew they both had an ally against him.
The spy moved to the side of the room in preparation to give the floor to their shared enemy.
Shortly, Magnus stalked into the throne room and bowed before the Prime.
"You called, my Lord."
"I hear that you put a certain someone in the brig earlier," Optimus said evenly, leaning forward and steepling his digits together. "Someone not under your direct command."
Mirage and Prowl watched from off to the side as the lieutenant tried to hide his surprise.
Obviously, he hadn't figured he'd be caught for this.
Mirage found it entertaining that his underling had tricked Magnus in the first place, but the fact that he watched Magnus' ego getting punched because of it was even more so.
"Steeldust was being disrespectful as usual," Magnus said in explanation, raising himself to his full height. "And he had been eavesdropping on the officers' meeting!"
Prowl flicked a doorwing and rose an optic ridge a fraction.
"Apparently that information is new," thought Mirage.
He'd known that Steeldust was there. He was almost surprised that the Praxian had missed him.
"Do not blame that turbofox for your own actions!" yelled the Prime. "You did not consult me on his punishment, or his direct commander!"
As Optimus Prime continued to yell at his lieutenant, the other two officers in the room shared a look.
This was the most entertaining and satisfying thing that had happened all week.
Goldbug, Cliffjumper, and Arcee silenced their bickering when they heard several sets of pedesteps approaching.
They met each other's optics before each deploying a weapon as quietly as they could.
Presently, three unfamiliar faceplates looked down at them from the edges of the hole.
"Look," said the biggest of the three, a hulking brute of a mech. "There they are."
Seeing the Autobot insignias on the three mechs, Cliffjumper asked gruffly, "Who are you three?"
"We are the Cyberbots," replied the average-sized middle one. "I'm Aragon, that's Cog, and that's Sixgun."
Three sets of optics followed along where Aragon was pointing to as he introduced them.
"What's a Cyberbot?" Goldbug asked irritatedly. "And why haven't we seen you three before?"
"We're Cyberbots," said the smallest one, who was apparently Sixgun, cheekily sneered down at them. "And you haven't seen us before because you're stuck in this pit."
"Tell us something we don't know," Arcee snapped as Sixgun laughed out loud.
"We were sent to come and find you after you missed the battle," Aragon explained.
"Well, now that you've found us, help us out," the femme demanded.
"Bossy," grumbled Cog.
"EXCUSE ME?"
The smallest Cyberbot chuckled. "Loud too. So much volume from a tiny two-wheeler."
"Are you going to help us out or just stand there?" growled Arcee, glaring daggers at them. "If not, I'll have your helms."
The trio looked at each other, then began to lower a rope that they'd brought.
Just as the last Autobot, Cliffjumper, was out of the pit, the Autobots spotted an approaching dust cloud.
"Here comes company," said the horned Autobot, lifting a hand to shield his optics.
"It's the Stunticons!" Goldbug exclaimed as the group got close enough to hear. And see.
Cog smashed his fists together. "Can we fight them?"
Aragon, seemingly the leader of the three, nodded. "I believe that is what Lord Prime and Whirr would want us to do."
"Yes!" Sixgun said, already drawing a rifle from his backplates.
As the Stunticons neared within shooting range, they suddenly stopped and transformed, staring in dismay at the six Autobots.
"Aww, not these guys again!" said Offroad in dismay.
Motormaster frowned deeply as he met Cog's visored gaze.
"I'm guessing that you didn't all fall in, right?" Wildrider called, cupping his hands to his mouth.
"No, you idiot!" Arcee yelled back, blaster ready in hand.
Dead End visibly sagged in place, his helm tilting back. "Did any of you fall in?"
"Three of us." Cliffjumper glanced at the pit, then at the Decepticons. "Wait, did you dig this?"
"Yeah. We did," Drag Strip said, folding his servos over his chest. "To catch you, Autoscum."
"Well, it didn't work, did it?" challenged Goldbug angrily. "You're all idiots!"
Motormaster tilted his helm and narrowed his optics. "But it did work. Three of you fell in."
"Why don't you come and see how you like it in there!"
"We'd rather not," replied Offroad quickly. "I'll save it for you, six."
The Stunticons then stopped yelling and seemed to be conferring amongst themselves on what to do next.
The Autobots weren't so patient.
"This isn't fighting," Cog said grouchily. "It's just talking!"
Sixgun grinned darkly. "Then let's go give them a fight!"
With that, the three Cyberbots charged.
"Well, I'm going home," said Goldbug with a huff, turning and stalking away.
"Me too. Come on, Cliffjumper, let the new mechs get clobbered for all I care," Arcee added sourly, brushing sand and dirt off as she followed the doorwinger.
Taking one last look over his shoulder, Cliffjumper followed them.
Cog had just picked up and thrown Motormaster several yards seemingly without effort.
"Somehow I doubt they'll be the ones clobbered," the horned Autobot muttered.
However, even he was too sick of being there to care about fighting the 'Cons.
"Hey, whoever's on monitor duty. You wanna send us a groundbridge?"
"Look what we found!"
Gears turned on his stool towards the triumphant Cog, suppressing a shiver at the mech's tone.
The minibot's optics widened a little when he noticed the three Cyberbots he'd just bridged back were dragging someone with them.
One of the Stunticons.
Reaching towards the lever on the console, Gears then shut down the bridge. As he did, he asked, "Where was he?"
"In the wrong place at the wrong time," snickered Sixgun.
"Where should we take him to rough him up some more?" Cog asked, looking down at the already injured 'Con.
"The training rooms?" Aragon supplied.
As the trio kept walking across the communications room, Gears suppressed another shiver. The Cyberbots were new, but he was already certain that he didn't like them.
He almost pitied Offroad.
Sixgun, leading the way while Cog dragged their prize by the arm, paused at the exit when a smaller form stepped into his way.
"Well, look what the Cyberbots dragged in," drawled the petite femme, glancing down at the Stunticon as she leaned against the doorway.
"It's Offroad," said Cog brightly. "He's a Stunticon."
"I know who he is," Skyshadow said neutrally. She then narrowed her optics at the big mech who towered over them all. "What I don't know is what you think you're going to do with him."
"Oh, just play with him a little, Sweetspark," answered Sixgun with a grin.
Gears snapped his helm back to the computer screens, covering his mouth with a hand to stifle the snicker that almost escaped. The new guys didn't know any better yet.
Skyshadow flashed the mech a dark smile, showing her sharp canine denta. "Really?"
She straightened and took a few steps forward, putting herself directly in front of Sixgun.
"Unfortunately, I cannot let you do that, Sixgun," she said sweetly, folding her servos behind her back.
Sixgun frowned. "Let me?"
"And why's that?" demanded Aragon, arching an optic ridge.
"Yeah!" Cog added loudly. "We caught him!"
The half-Vosian gave a low chuckle. "Sorry, boys. But rules are rules. Any Decepticon brought back here goes to interrogation. Maybe when that's finished you can finish him off. But not now."
Cog growled while the other two's frowns just deepened.
"Where's interrogation?" Aragon asked with a sigh.
"Aragon!" protested Cog. "We caught him!"
"It's at the other end of the basement from Whirr's lab," said Skyshadow coolly. "Past the brig cells."
She paused and then looked upwards in thought for an astroklik before continuing.
"You can put him in room number two. As far as I know, one hasn't been cleaned from the last time I interrogated someone," she said casually. She then looked down and met Offroad's optics with a dark grin on her faceplate.
"And I'd rather start fresh."
"What!" sputtered Sixgun with rage. "You're going to interrogate him?"
"Yes," replied Skyshadow, flicking her wings outwards. "Is that a problem? It is part of my job."
Without waiting for any of them to answer, she spun on her heel and walked down the hall.
"If you don't like it, take it up with lord Prime."
Cog turned and punched the nearby wall, leaving a large fist sized hole in it. Sixgun glared at the retreating form and Aragon glared down at their prisoner.
Offroad just tried to lie still, hoping to not aggravate his captors or his injuries.
"I guess she knows the rules," Aragon muttered. "We better do what she says."
"Well, if I find out she's lying after this..." replied Sixgun darkly.
Cog was now dragging the Decepticon in the direction the femme had gone.
Gears rose an optic ridge and said nothing.
He figured that wouldn't go well.
Sure, the Cyberbots so far were some of Lord Prime's new favourites.
But Skyshadow had been one of his favourites for longer. Like, five vorns or something?
Maybe longer.
She was, after all, his personal assassin.
The minibot wasn't sure who would remain in favour if the Cyberbots caused trouble.
"Probably not Whirr," he thought.
Offroad was thrown onto a table in the interrogation room and handcuffed wrist and ankles to it.
After that, the Cyberbots left with a few more threats and dark looks, Cog slamming the door behind them so hard, he thought it might come out of its fastenings.
Then, he was alone.
Alone except for two mecha sitting in a brig cell down the hall.
With a wide-open doorway oddly enough.
But the Stunticon wasn't about to question the strangeness of Autobots. Especially not the Speed Demon and the hulking Insectibot out of all of them.
As he laid there, leaking and in pain, he heard the interrogation room's outer door open and close. Momentarily, the inner door opened and the femme assassin walked into his view.
The Reaper, some Decepticons called her.
"Well, well, well," Skyshadow purred as she approached his table. "Seems you got into some trouble didn't you, Offroad."
Offroad didn't reply, only glaring up at her out of his good optic.
The other one was swollen almost shut from a particularly nasty punch he'd received.
"Not a talker, huh?" asked the black and purple with a hum. "Too bad. Talkers survive better."
Offroad's optics widened a fraction at her words.
"You know, it wouldn't take much to get you out of here," Skyshadow continued casually, walking around the table slowly.
"Like a shark circles it's prey in a boat," Offroad thought.
"Just a few pieces of information. Wouldn't hurt you to give them, would it?"
"I'll never talk," spat the Stunticon. "And you'll never make me."
A sharp smile formed on Skyshadow's faceplate. "I wouldn't count on that, Offroad."
For some reason that Steeldust could not fathom, Bug was still sitting in his cell.
The Insectibot had remained almost motionless since he'd sat down, not even leaving when the call to battle had sounded its alarm. He'd merely looked out the door, tilted his helm, sniffed the air, and then went back to staring straight ahead.
It didn't make logical sense to the speedster.
Both had watched with bored fascination when three unfamiliar Autobots dragged one of the younger Stunticons past the cell towards the interrogation room.
That had been odd too in Steeldust's opinion.
From his understanding, where one Stunticon went, usually the other four followed. They hunted in a pack, except for if one took off alone chasing after him.
And that was usually Drag Strip since he was the only one near quick enough to catch him.
How these new freaks had caught Offroad, Steeldust didn't know. Not that he really cared. It was merely something to puzzle over to keep his processor busy.
Not long after the three new faceplates had left the basement after dropping off the Decepticon, Skyshadow had walked by, raising an optic ridge at the wide open and broken door.
Steeldust had flicked a doorwing towards Bug and shrugged.
So far since then, there had been silence from the interrogation rooms.
"That means she's so far playing good cop or trying to persuade him with words, not knives," Steeldust thought boredly.
He also wondered who the new guys were. He hadn't heard that anyone had landed on Earth. But then, not every bit of news reached him before he found it out for himself. And he assumed he'd meet the trio at some point.
Mirage then made an appearance in the doorway.
The head ops looked around, blinked several times, and then spoke.
"You may come out now. I suggest you behave yourself."
Steeldust stood with a stretch and grinned at his superior. "I'll try."
The purple and grey spy rolled his optics and carried on his way, heading towards interrogation. "Please inform Bulkhead that the door needs repairs."
"Uhh... Sure." The red and black spy glanced around at what was left of the door and grimaced. Then, he glanced up at Bug, who'd also risen to his pedes.
"Maybe you should be the one to tell him."
Bug simply tilted his helm and then lumbered away, heading off to who knew where.
Steeldust also left, slipping into the nearest hidden passage and hurrying towards where he knew the Wreckers could often be found.
He was uncertain where a certain red and black angry twin was, and he wasn't currently keen to find him so quickly after their earlier confrontation.
Unfortunate as it was, Steeldust had no wish to be part of Sunstreaker's little investigation anymore.
Maybe, he'd do some of his own digging. Maybe.
But that would be it.
And it would be for Sides' sake, no favour to his idiotic brother.
"Have you received any results?" came a voice over the room's speakers.
Skyshadow paused from speaking and glanced towards the mirrored glass window.
"Not yet," she replied, turning back to Offroad. "But he'll change his mind soon enough."
Offroad glared up at her. He didn't know what tricks the half-Vosian thought she had up her sleeve, but it wouldn't work on him.
Neither would anything the mech on the other side of the glass would do would work either.
"I'll never talk!" snarled the Stunticon.
"How original," Mirage said dryly from his observation spot. "Try and be more creative, please. At the very least, you could be entertaining us while you waste our time."
Skyshadow snickered lightly. "He has a point though. Haven't you Decepticons ever dreamed up what you'd say if you were ever captured? Or did you and these lame, overused one-liners are all you got?"
"Maybe I don't want to play this game," muttered Offroad.
"Oh, you think this is a game, do you?" questioned Skyshadow smoothly, beginning to circle him again. "A little game of twenty questions?"
Offroad watched her warily, sensing she was taking a different turn in the interrogation now.
Still, there was no weapon in her hand.
"Well, Decepticon, you'd be incorrect. However, if you want to play a game, how about this."
The femme then stopped and leaned over his helm, her faceplate appearing in his vision upside down. Her optics narrowed as she continued darkly.
"We play a game of tell us what we want to know, our we call your beloved brothers and they tell us."
"They'll never tell you either!" Offroad exclaimed defiantly, glaring into her optics. "We'd all die before we betrayed the Decepticons!"
Skyshadow gave his proud statements a little laugh and a smirk that Offroad didn't like.
"Really? How fitting," she purred. "Because if they don't tell us, they hear you die."
Though he expected he would not make it back home online, her words still chilled Offroad to the core.
"You wouldn't want that, would you? You'd die heroically, sure. But what about your brothers? You'd subject them to that horror?"
Offroad kept his mouth closed.
"I see," the femme said. She drew back and walked towards the door. Once she reached it, she paused and turned back to look at him.
"We'll let you choose. Either tell us what we asked, or we'll get in touch with Motormaster. If he doesn't tell us, then he'll listen to you die, knowing he had a hand in your death. Choose carefully, Offroad. Choose whether you want him to bear that guilt."
As the door closed behind her, Offroad shuttered his optics.
He didn't want Motormaster to feel his death was on his helm. Or any of his brothers to.
But he couldn't tell the Autobots what they wanted to know, to betray the Decepticons.
He knew Motormaster wouldn't want to either, but he wasn't sure what his older brother would choose.
He feared his brothers might choose betrayal over his life.
Thanks for reading!
Disclaimer: We do not own Transformers, though that would be neat. Bug, the Cyberbots, Iron Blade, and Whirr belong to Blaster 2.0. Skyshadow and Steeldust belong to me, and we share Ironshadow.
Thanks again to Blaster 2.0 for his contributions!
See you next time.
