Chapter 7-Sons of Cybertron
Sitting in the gladiator arena was like standing on the very edge of the Sonic Canyons. The rushing wind tunnels that shot out of the canyons was almost matched by the roaring cheers and shouts of the massive crowd that filled the spectator seats to capacity. Of course, such a thing paled in comparison to Cybertron's greatest natural wonder, but that's what it felt like to Orion. It was a blessing that he was sitting with Megatron in the pavilion overlooking the arena and not in the stands themselves. Orion would've gone deaf even if he changed the input on his audio sensors.
But despite sitting apart from the rest of the crowd, Orion could still hear the thunderous cries of nearly a thousand bots, he could feel the rumbling coming from a thousand feet stomping in unison, and he could barely hear himself over the combination of all the chaos.
Down in the arena two creaking mechs-recent out of work miners who just entered the arena circuit-faced off against a swarming army of Minicons. More Minicons than Orion could count littered the steel grounds of the arena, body parts strewn everywhere. The larger mech, who was named Hydrau, was torn and leaking from dozens of tiny wounds. The other mech was in much better shape, and he was slashing away at his opponents with two vibro-weapons that looked like they were put together in a scrapyard.
When one of the Minicons slashed at the circuits in Hydrau's right ankle, Orion looked away with a grimace. His line of work involved him investigating some murder cases, some of them very gruesome, but seeing the brutality itself instead of the aftermath was something that he wasn't fond of. For some reason, seeing these matches in person made it all the more harder for him to really watch entirely.
"I didn't think that seeing bots kill each other like this in person would be so hard." Orion said. "And you people enjoy watching this?"
"Do we look like we're enjoying this?" Megatron asked in response.
"I don't see anyone leaking lubricant."
Hydrau, kneeling on his dead leg, tried sweeping away the Minicons assaulting him, but a few got past his defenses and began severing the connections in his arms and torso. He fell to the ground and the Minicons began hacking away at him.
"Sure it's hard to watch the first time, but overtime it gets easier. For many, this is the only way they can get by in life, like me." Megatron continued. "But others do enjoy the thrill it gives them. They crave recognition, it grants them fame they cannot attain by slaving away at their day jobs. And some feel that it gives them a sense of purpose in life, like they have to fight to feel like living matters."
"Has Elmeth ever fought in the Pits?" Orion asked. He couldn't imagine a sweet thing like Elmeth taking part in this savage sport, but beast formers were known for having an animalistic side to them that sometimes got out of control.
"No. She detests the gladiator matches," Megatron replied. "The only reason she comes here is to see me fight. Though, let me tell you this," He leaned over to his friend. "Her beast mode is nothing to sniff at, even with one wing."
The other gladiator fell to his knees, and a Minicon, a tiny silver mech with a yellow visor, jumped up and slashed his energo-blade across the Bulk's throat. He landed on the ground and showered in his opponent's energon as the larger mech died on his knees. Even Megatron had to wince at how clean that kill was, and like the onlookers, began to clap for the resourceful Minicon. Small in body and in mercy.
Orion sat in his seat, staring at the carnage blindly. He imagined what it would be like living here as a Tarnian-born citizen. He imagined growing up in a land where only the strong survive, and even then it doesn't guarantee your survival, as all Sparks in the Badlands are seen as cheap under the greater authority. He wondered what it would be like to see the gladiator matches for the first time, then the second, third, fourth, and so on. The thrill of seeing two or more Cyberrtonians killing each other would slowly fie out. Sure there would be some deviations, like aerial battling and beast combat, but even the gory affair of gladiators fighting would ultimately become as monotonous as working in a factory.
'Megatron and the rest of these people have seen death so many times that it's desensitized them. They don't even know how alike they are to the bots droning away in the outer cities.' Orion thought. "Megatron, do you know what other races call us?"
"Hmm?" Megatron turned his attention back to his friend. "Come again?"
"Other races call us Autobots," He said. "It's a racial slur they developed for us. They see us as automatons who only do one job without question. They see us no different from the drones that we employ to do our daily tasks. Everything here, our jobs, our lies, It's all just one damn circle going round and around without end until our Spark burns out. Even these gladiator matches are no different." Orion motioned to the fight going on down below. "People fight, the losers die, the victors win, they return home, then crawl out to do it all over again. People go to these blood sports to escape the monotony of their lives, but instead they're still entrapped in this endless cycle, no matter what they do. There's just no escaping it."
Megatron looked at Orion with wide eyes as he processed what he just heard, and realized how accurate that sounded. He did admit that fighting in the Pits had lost its luster after winning every time, but this was certainly a unique way to see it. The Pits were no different from the rest of Cybertron. Like the caste system, it had no end and no beginning, it was just an endless cycle that was basically a violent form of stasis-different from mainstream society-but a form of living stasis nonetheless. The implications were a bit disturbing to the warrior.
Orion noticed Megatron's silence and had mistaken it for offense. "Megatron? What's wrong? Did I say something wrong?"
"No, no, you didn't offend me." Megatron said. "You just made me think of something, that's all…"
He trailed off as he got lost in his thoughts and thought Orion wanted to inquire what he was thinking about, he figured it would be best to leave the revolutionary to his musings. They sat in silence for the rest of the matches, both mechs troubled by their newly realized positions in the grand web that was Cybertron.
XXXXXX
"You're an odd person, Orion Pax." Elmeth commented.
Orion looked at her perplexed. "Um, thank you? I'll take that as a compliment."
"Sorry, I meant you are strangely open-minded for an Iaconian." She said. "Especially for a police officer."
They were walking through the crowded streets of Tarn's industrial sector, where the gladiatorial matches were designated in secret. Here, hidden from the public eye, was an area designated only for gladiators. The warriors who survived their brutal lifestyle come to the undercity to work on their weapons, train, converse, or just relax.
"Not everyone from Iacon is bad," He said. "Many are kind people, like my friends."
"I know. It's just…" he looked back at the stump that used to be her wing. "What happened to me, what I had to go through all those years ago, still rings in my mind. It haunts me whenever I think of Iacon."
Orion looked at her sadly. What it really that horrible for her? He knew that beast formers were treated slightly worse than bots from the disposable castes (which was really the bottom of the barrel), but he never seen anything that might imply that the beasts went through more than just dirty looks and harsh words. At least, not out in the open.
"Would you like to visit Iacon some day?"
"I doubt it. I'd be too afraid to go near that place after the attacks." She said and smiled weakly. "I hear that Iacon is still in an uproar about the recent bombings."
"You could say that."
That was putting it lightly. Somehow, the information that the suspect was a beast former had gotten out (despite it being confidential) and as a result, many bots with beast modes were targeted and treated like terrorists. Orion and Dion had to break up several reported incidents that involved a beast former being attacked on the streets by people who thought they were doing "Primus's work" by beating the poor citizen to the point of fade-out. Many more were brought in on accounts of "suspicious activity" and arrested without warrants. The top brass did nothing about it, Pax's police captain Quickshadow couldn't do much without being scrutinized by the higher authorities, and the Functionists fanned the flames by selling their rhetoric about the lack of beasts in their so-called orderly GCT. He knew it was only going to get worse from there.
"I was very suspicious of you, Orion," Elmeth continued. "When you messaged us, we were afraid that you might be some spy for the senate or, Primus forbid, the Functionists. I didn't want Megatron to answer, but he insisted, saying that he had to set an example or something like that."
"Well, I'm glad he answered." Orion said honestly.
"I am to."
He looked at her and saw her smiling up at him. He felt his Spark pulsate a bit faster and cleared his throat. They walked through the heart of the black pyramid, where most of the spectators were placing their bets on upcoming matches. As they passed through the crowd, Orion spotted someone familiar in the throng of people.
"Jazz?" Orion gaped. His silver armored friend was chatting with two other mechs; one was red and the other was yellow and black.
"DO you know him?" Elmeth asked.
"He's one of my best friends. I never thought I'd see him here." Orion said.
"Tarnians aren't the only ones who enjoy these sports. Neither are the bottom feeders in these castes." She explained. "One of the things about getting free of caste is that you see the world for what it truly is. Sometimes that means seeing things were wish you didn't see."
They left the pyramid and walked into the cold night air, out into Tarn's night life. it was cold down in the sub-levels and very darks. Lights were positioned along the streets to keep people from walking around blind. Orion and Elmeth barely traveled up from the under level before someone called out to them.
"Elmeth, fancy meeting you here!"
Elmeth froze and slowly turned around. "Ember! What a surprise."
Orion saw Elmeth give the fakest smile he ever seen and looked at her supposed "friend". The femme who spoke to them was a deep red with orange along her arms and legs. Her face was grey, with burnt orange eyes and red lips. The smooth crimson wings and the avian components on her body suggested an avian-based beast mode. Looking at her now, Orion could see why Elmeth would feel uneasy around her. Ember looked harmless enough, but there was something about her that set him on edge. She really felt like an animal-beautiful on the outside but capable of killing you in a heartbeat.
"Orion, this is Ember," Elmeth introduced. "She's the person who got me into Tarn after I was exiled form Iacon."
"Pleased to meet you." Ember bowed her head politely.
"Likewise." Orion said smoothly. Ember smirked.
"This is quite a sight to see, Elmeth. You talking with another mech without Megatron around?" She laughed. "What would he say?"
"It's not like that." Elmeth frowned. "I'm just showing Orion around. He's the mech that Megatron was talking about."
"Iacon's very own supercop, here in the underbelly of the Badlands," Ember smiled and patted him on the shoulder. You'd better watch your back. The people here are very hostile to upper caste bots, especially mechs like you who take them in for a living."
"I'll be sure to remember that. Thanks."
"Well, I better be going now." Ember gave Elmeth a hug, which the silver femme returned reluctantly, and waved at them before heading her way.
Ember strutted past them, and for a second-a brief second-Orion's eyes locked with hers. Then she continued on her way as if nothing ever happened. Watching her go, Orion was reminded of why he needed to be on his guard in Tarn. Elmeth grabbed is hand and pulled him along.
"Come on, there's something I want to show you."
XXXXXX
Elmeth led him away from the more populated areas of the city, taking him through a series of back alleys and shortcuts, cutting the travel time to their unknown destination down considerably.
"Who was she anyway?" Orion asked. "Ember. She looks high profile."
Ember is the leader of a religious sect here in the Badlands," Elmeth said. "The Order. They're really hush hush about what their group is about and how they operate."
"The Order?"
"They worship their own set of gods, not Cybertronians ones, but goddesses who were made from stone. Their pantheon is large, but there are three chief deities that they speak to; Jubileus, Sheba and Qoun. Ember told me that they created our world, from Vector Sigma to the people who live on the planet. They created out Sparks, and when we die, our Sparks return to them. We are their children and they are our creators."
Orion waited for her to elaborate, but she didn't. Ember probably only told her as much as she could give. He never heard of this Order before, and he's heard of most of Cybertron's religious and revolutionary groups; the Triple M, Cybertropians, the Razors. All of them were high profile groups that spawned from religious or anti-government movements. These Order people were mysterious and that made them a bit unsettling. Ember seemed even more so. Like she was the type to watch the world burn and have a smile on her face.
"Here we are."
They stood in front of a small building sitting between some abandoned smelting factories. It was small and looked like its construction was a rushed job, sporting mix-matched parts from different parts taken from other buildings. Despite looking a bit rundown, Orion noted that it had a bit of an ornate feel to it, made to be a bit fancier than the other buildings.
Elmeth led him inside, pushing past the old, creaky doors to enter the surprisingly beautiful interior. The inside of the building was illuminated y a chandelier made of stained glass, bathing the area in a multicolored hue. There were six rows of benches on both sides of the room and at the front was a tall statue made of carbonized metal and onyx. Orion recognized it as a statue of Mortilus of the Guiding Hand.
'Is this a church?' Orion thought.
"Megatron told me that you asked him if he believed in gods." Elmeth said. "I assume that he said no?"
He nodded. "Megatron said that he doesn't put stock in things he can't hear or see, much less mythical beings like the Thirteen Primes and the Guiding Hand."
"Yes, he would say something like that." She smiled. "Negatron likes to be realistic. He doesn't believe in old myths like the Thirteen or Primus because he thinks it blinds him to what is in front of him. He wants to see the world for what it is, not through the lens of gods or Primes."
Orion could relate to that. There was nothing wrong with religion, many found comfort in believing that there was a higher power somewhere watching over them. But sometimes, people let that blind them to reality, and let their beliefs cloud their thinking. He thought of the Triple M, how they tore out their own T-cogs in open rebellion of Adaptus, another god of the Guiding Hand. Then there were others who used the word of gods to commit heinous acts against others. Religion was a source of hope and peace for many, but for others, it only caused pain and suffering.
"But that is not true," She continued. "We do worship our own god. One who shadows the Badlands, watching over every smelter, every miner, every gladiator. You call him Mortilus, but we call him Death."
"You worship death?" He asked puzzled. Elmeth looked up at the statue.
"When you live in the lower castes, no matter what occupation, you always worry about death. Death by falling into a smelting pool, death by leaking energy conduits, death by liquid nitrogen, death by faulty equipment," She placed her hand on the gleaming monolith. "Death by the Pits. It matters not, for when we die, our Sparks belong to Mortilus-he who birthed death."
"That's a rather…interesting way of looking at things."
She giggled. "You don't have to pretend to like it, Orion. I understand that it's a rather grim way to view our lives, but that's how it is in Tarn. And Kaon. And Styx. Do you believe in gods, Orion?"
"I...don't know." He shrugged. "I just live in the moment. My life is a bit too hectic to really care about religion."
"But that is precisely why you should care." Elmeth walked up to him until she was only a few inches apart from him. "Having something to believe in, be it a god or a role model, or even a cause. That is what gives many people a reason to live. It's what keeps Megatron going, what draws so many people to him. What drew you to him. Because you wanted to live in a world where you could truly be alive, instead of just living. But I know you are not just a follower, you're a leader to. So what do you want in life?"
Orion looked down at the femme who made him beyond speechless. Here in the shadow of Mortilus, under the myriad colors of the sparkling glass above, she looked like some mythical Predacon from ancient times. Orion knew at that moment why Megatron held so close to him with such high regard-she was beautiful. Not just in body but in mind as well. Where did she come from to have such purity in this god forsaken world?
"I…" He tried to speak, but she placed a finger on his lips.
"No, I want you to think about this. It's something you can decide on a whim." Elmeth smile, ruby eyes shining. "But when you do find something worth fighting for, you will know. And when that time comes, only then will you be truly alive."
XXXXXX
The sons and daughters of Cybertron. That was what Nightshade called their group. They weren't some rag tag army or complex organization, they were just a network of like minded bots with nothing to lose. The fabled Sons of Cybertron were divided into separate teams, each with their own method of rebelling against the corruption that consumed Cybertron's society. With their small numbers, they couldn't deal significant damage to the senate, or rally a fighting force of revolutionaries, but Nightshade utilized her group as a strike team of sorts that could hit hard and fast. Shadowkat was no one special save for her powers, but she felt like someone who mattered when Nightshade addressed her, along with everyone else, as the people who will liberate Cybertron.
They made their base of operations in a repurposed pumping station inside the transportation tube that ran under the abandoned town they inhabited. Thanks to one of their members, Forge, they managed to bring in modern consoles and power supplies to help coordinate their efforts.
Right now, Nightshade had them all assemble for their next operation-one that she said was going to be dangerous. The room was bathed in the neon glow of infographics and strip-lighting.
"This is our target."
Nightshade gestured to a blue-green schematic projected onto one of the cracked walls. The diagram showed a large round sphere with a large white circle in the middle. The sphere was rigid and bumpy, looking more like a golden spherical jig-saw puzzle. Shadowkat realized that this thing looked like a giant T-cog.
"This is the Cog."
Shadowkat looked around at her six companions and waited a moment to see if anyone would say what needed to be said. "T-the Cog?"
"Yes. The Functionist's base of operations. Here the Functionist council makes their laws and send out their lap dogs to enforce them. Here, we will strike and bring them down."
Shadowkat, Blackbeetle and even the Stunticons were shocked speechless at the news. Obviously Nightshade hadn't told them the whole plan only that their target was going to be something big. But they didn't think that they were going to hit such a major target.
"Ahem, Nightshade," Motormaster said cordially. "May I inquire as to why we are attacking the Functionists' headquarters?"
"You may," She said coolly. "To put it simply-something big is going down. My contacts in the provisional government tell me that there has been a lot of friction between the Functionists and the senate. I don't know what's going on, but you can bet you tailpipe that it's going to happen soon."
"So that's why they were splitting up their forces. They want to protect their ground facilities from any acts of supposed sabotage by the senate's lap dogs." Blackbeelte observed. "This is why you're striking now. That's a sound strategy, but we still have to fight through the forces on board the Cog and that won't be easy."
"I've already planned for that." Nightshade notioned to Dead End. "Once we get inside, Dead End, our resident arsonist, will plant plasma density charges along the interior of the Cog's inner halls and cargo hold. Preferably in key areas where the large battalions need to travel through in order to mobilize."
"I can do all of that in less than a Spark pulse." Dead End grinned.
"Plasma density charges." Shadowkat muttered. "How did-"
"Swindle," Blackbeetle answered. "He's a glitchead, but the guy knows where his priorities lie and has been supplying us since day one. He's even given us a discount on the weapons we're using for the mission. "Then she jerked her head at Forge. "With a few modifications from Forge."
Nightshade looked at her assembled team. The bots she had chosen to go into hell itself for the good of the free world. "I won't lie; this is probably the most dangerous mission we've ever had. We will be fighting an army and if we do succeed in assassinating the council, there is no chance that we will get out alive. I thank you all for putting your lives on the line to bring down the regime, whether your reasons were noble or not. But if you want to back out, now is the time. No one will blame you if you run."
They glanced at each other as silent confirmation that they wanted to stay. Blackbeetle looked down at Shadowkat, who looked terrified, but didn't back out. She clasped her hand into the smaller femme's and the beast former calmed down somewhat. Seeing that everyone was in, Nightshade nodded in silent appreciation at their dedication to the cause.
"We move out at dawn. That is all."
XXXXXX
The Cog presided over the landscape of Kalis for miles around. The spherical base was mobile, always hanging above the planet and slowly drifting through the air like an ever present shadow of death. It never landed-probably due to the Functionists' need to remain above those lower beings, even the senate and the Prime-held aloft by some seemingly infinite power source. But just because it flew, doesn't mean that it didn't require supplies.
Nightshade and the rest of the team sat inside the armored convoy they stole from the Enforcers they slaughtered. Soundwave was controlling the vehicle via remote control. As instructed, all members were keeping their sensory apparatus and energon signatures as low as possible. Forge's specially designed jamming devices masked their signals but it paid to be careful.
The Cog had stopped just a few miles outside of Kalis, where a line of transportation vehicles were slowly approaching the floating facility. This was how the Cog got its daily supplies, convoys carrying containers with bare essentials would sit under the base's tractor beam, which would only lift up the containers.
Shadowkat was praying to Primus and the rest of the Guiding Hand, along with the Primes as she tried to stop herself from shaking. Blackbeetle had her hand, which she was clutching tightly.
The cargon was lifted up into the storage area at the bottom of the Cog, where they stored the containers. Once inside, the tractor beam cut off and the hatch closed shut. When it was fully sealed, and the cargo bay was only illuminated by a dim light, Soundwave did a quick audio scan of the area.
"I hear no one. We are clear." Soundwave said.
Shadowkat took his arm and they phased through the metal crate. Soundwave's chest compartment opened up and out flew a data slug that transformed into a red and black Minicon.
"Laserbeak, disable the surveillance monitors." The mech ordered.
Laserbeak took to the air and stealthily disabled any security cameras and jammed hidden scanning equipment. Once that was done, Shadowkat phased the rest of the crew out of the crate and Nightshade initiated phase 2 of their plan.
"We split up into two groups. I will lead Team A to the center of the Cog once Soundwave has located the Councilors," She said. "Shadowkat, Forge, Blackbeetle, you're with me."
"Oh joy." Forge, a lanky green mech who acted as the team's tech head, grunted. Blackbeetle slugged him in the shoulder.
"Motormaster, we're counting on your Stunticons to cause as much noise as possible. Get their attention and lay it into them."
Motomaster grinned. "We can do that, Nightshade."
She turned to Dead End. "I'm loathed to say this, but if things go south, detonate any phase charges you've planted and bring this place down. We'll need an immediate exfil once the deed is done."
"Yes ma'am." Dead End nodded.
"You've all got your own exit plans to fall back on if things don't go as planned. Stay close and stay strong." Nightshade said and cocked her assault rifle. "Now let's go tear down the walls of paradise."
XXXXXX
And so they split up. In comparison to Team A, the Stunticons had the easier job of catching the attention of the militia protecting the Cog in the bottom and middle levels. As soon as they exited the cargo bay, Motormaster opened fire on a poor security guard just two days away from leave. When Dead End tossed a shock grenade and torched three other soldiers, things heated up and the whole facility knew they were there.
A platoon of Enforcers came running down the halls as the alarms rang out, their black armor contrasting sharply against the stark white walls of the Cog. Motormaster grinned savagely and fashioned his sword as the Enforcers were gunned down by ballistics and energy fire as soon as they turned the corner. The fools weren't even smart enough to take a peek around the corner before charging in. they were so relaxed in the safety of their Cog that they forgot the basic rules of combat. Oh well, it certainly made his job easier.
"Come at me!" Motormaster roared, charging forward and swinging his sword, cutting three mechs in half with a single swing. He punched another Enforcer in the head, crushing his skull and cut another length wise in half. "Show me that so-called power you people hold in such high regard!"
Drag Strip groaned as he shot a mech in the head and beheaded another one with his axe. "Boss, seriously that heroic barbarian thing is getting old. Lose it!"
"Never! These savages shall taste the blade of justice!" Motormaster laughed and mowed down the Enforcer in his way. They shot at him with blaster rifles and rocket launchers, but they did little damage to his dense armor, which had been molecularly enhanced over the last few months by Forge.
"True justice?" A deep voice snorted. "What a joke."
Motormaster was hit by an orange beam that sent him flying forward into a group of Enforcers. He hit his head on the wall at the end of the corridor, and growled angrily. The blast only did superficial damage, but his pride was hurt as he glared at his attacker.
"Who dares strike me from behind like a coward?" He snarled, yellow eyes flashing.
He got his answer as the mech who shot him stood at the front of the assault team. He was tall, as tall as Motormaster, and just as bulky. He was black and orange, with broad shoulders and heavily armored legs, with glowing tangerine power lines running up his torso and arms, curing around his forearms and legs like some kind of obscene tattoo. But his most unsettling feature was his face-he had no facial features, no eyes, mouth, nose, nothing. Just a smooth metal plate that was blacker than Motormaster's heart.
"I am Obliteration of the Functionist Council," The faceless mech announced, his body emitting an orange glow. "And in the name of Primus, I will fight all who dare go against the Divine Plan. Prepare to die like the animal you are!"
XXXXXX
Nightshade's team ran through the corridor on the Cog's third level. Nightshade and Soundwave took the lead, with Blackbeetle in the rear and Forge and Shadowkat in the middle. They made short work of any guards in their way, not even stopping as they gunned their enemies down and ran over their mangled, smoking bodies. Thanks to Soundwave's downloaded schematics of the facility, they knew where to go.
The Cog was divided into four levels; the first is the cargo and storage vault where supplies were stored, the second is the barracks and training area, the third is the security level and the fourth was the atrium where the Functionist Council assembled. Soundwave was their guard, and if anything happened to him, they would be running blind in a den of wolves.
'We're so close,' Nightshade thought. 'All we need to do is follow the plan and we might deal a blow to the tyrants destroying our world.'
"Nightshade, com in!" Wildrider's voice shouted from the comm.
"Wildrider, I'm here. Did Dead End and Breakdown plant the charges?" She asked.
"We're still working on that. But we've run into a problem."
'Please, not now.' She thought. "What kind of problem?"
"We just got attacked by this guy named Obliteration. He says he's a member of the Functionist Council!" Wildrider said. "And this guy's an outlier!"
Nightshade stopped in her tracks, making Shadowkat phase through her by accident. "What did you say?"
"He's an outlier. The guy is shooting plasma beams everywhere and he's fighting Motormaster. I don't know what this guy is on, but every time we shoot at him, it's like he's getting stronger!"
That was impossible. The Functionists lead witch hunts on outliers without mercy. They started the whole tradition of outlawing outliers on the condition that they went against the natural order of the world, against Primus' Grand Plan. So why the hell was one not only living on this ship but also a member of the council? Something didn't add up here.
"Nightshade?"
Nightshade turned to her team. Shadowkat stared at her, fear evident in her eyes. "What should we do?"
"We keep going." Nightshade said without hesitation. She wasn't going to give up the mission now, not when they were close to taking out the bastards that ruined her life. "As long as we stay on course, nothing will go wrong."
Forge looked behind them and sucked in a breath. "Um, did anyone tell that guy that?"
He pointed down the hall where they just came from. A mech stood at the end of the hall, blocking their only way back. He was tall and skinny, and his body was slender with black armor and wire thin limbs. Like Obliteration, he had no face, just a blank screen that had no facial features.
Blackbeetle pointed her cannons at the newcomer. "Who the hell are you?"
The mech stared at them for a minute before speaking in a gravely, low voice. "Nightwielder, the eyes and ears of the master race. And your executioner."
The team aside from Nightshade and Soundwave jumped when two black tendrils shot up from Nightwielder's shadow and stabbed into the ceiling, destroying the lights. Black smoke started to leak from his form and he slowly walked towards the intruders, and another light went dark in front of him. Nightshade immediately caught on to what he was doing and knew they had to leave.
"Move it!" She shouted.
Nightwielder let out a chilling cry and the hall started to come apart, panels torn from the walls and floor by shadows and ran down the hallway. The lights died as he ran, and more shadows followed after him like some ghoulish parade, snaking closer and closer to the rebels. Once they reached the end of the hall, they made a hard left, but not before the outlier threw a javelin made of shadows at them. Blackbeetle was nearly stabbed by the lance had Soundwave not pulled her back, but Forge wasn't so lucky.
"Guh!" Forge gargled as the javelin stabbed through the back of his neck and out his vocal synthesizer as it tore through his body and impaled the wall. He fell to his knees in pain and was left at the mercy of the rabid outlier.
"Forge!" Shadowkat cried out and screamed as she saw his body get torn to pieces in a gory shower of energon as the shadows decapitated him.
"Keep running!" Blackbeetle yelled.
They made it to the elevator and ran inside. Soundwave hacked the doors and closed them shut just as Nightwielder came around the corner. When they knew they were safe for the moment, Shadowkat leaned against the wall and shook her head.
"What was that?" She whimpered.
"An outlier," Nightshade hissed. "Another fragging outlier, here, in a place where they are brought to be killed!"
"So was the senate lying about all that stuff about outliers being evil? I thought they were hunted down and killed on the spot." Blackbeetle said.
"Those morons in the senate couldn't tell their aft from their actuator. This is all the functionists' doing! They're the ones behind this!" Nightshade growled. "We're going to get some answers before we butcher the council, mark my words!"
The elevator reached the top level of the Cog and the doors opened. Nightshade and Soundwave ran out and pointed their weapons into the dark chamber. They were on the Cog's fourth level-the Atrium. It was the smallest level in the Cog, but it was also the fanciest. It looked very similar to the interior of the Citadel's chamber where the senator's meet, with thirteen chairs sitting on a higher level and positioned in a circle.
"Weapons ready, people," Nightshade ordered. "Be on your guard. There's no telling what we might find here."
"How very true my dear," A femme's jovial voice remarked from nowhere. "Life is always full of surprises, but you folly is thinking that you can handle them all."
The floor in the center of the atrium opened up and two figures arose on a platform. They were Cybertronians, both of them femmes and sported ornate sigils on their chests and foreheads-sigils from the ancient language of the Primal Dynasty. The first femme was tall and strong looking and looked like her very form was forged from the sun's rays. She was bright gold with red around the forearms and legs, and had a headpiece around her face that looked like a stylized representation of the sun with her face in the middle. Her partner was smaller, around Shadowkat's height, bright orange and sporting a streamlined form that hinted at a speed-based ground alt-mode. Both femmes had no faces, just like Obliteration and Nightwielder, just a smooth faceplate that reflected the rebels standing before them.
"Let me guess," Nightshade spat. "You're another member of the Functionist council?"
"Why, yes we are! You're very smart for a beast." The golden femme nodded. "I am Steelheart, head of the Functionist council and this is my subordinate Firefight, another member. Welcome to our home away from home, the palace that lies at the boundaries between heaven and Cybertron. How do you like the place?"
"It's nice, very spacious, if a bit ostentatious," Blackbeetle said. "Could've gone without almost getting skewered by that psycho downstairs."
"Nightwielder is the head of security here in the Cog. You'll have to forgive him, he takes his job very seriously, and seeing you all here uninvited has made him a bit cross."
"How's this for cross?" Blackbeetle fired a missile from her horns at Steelheart, who just stood there smiling. The missiles almost reached the femme but exploded against an invisible wall just a foot away from her. When the others looked at her, she shrugged. "I just wanted to make sure."
Nightshade glared up at Steelheart through the smoke. "So you're an outlier to."
"Of course I am, animal. All members of the council and high ranking Enforcers are outliers." Steelheart said pleasantly.
"That is illogical. Functionist creed states that outliers have no place in the GCT. They are lower than beasts and must be killed to ensure the order that Primus has planned." Soundwave said. He tried to probe her mind for her thoughts, but was surprised to find that Steelheart's mind was heavily defended, as is Firefight's.
"That's only one part of our recruitment brochure, the part that the public knows about. Mostly fashioned by the senate." Steelheart's tone grew a bit cold at the mention of the government, and Nightshade realized that her suspicions about the friction between the senate and Functionists were confirmed. "Yes we hunt down outliers under the pretext of maintain the GCT, but it's only to help them find their place in the world. Why do you think that outliers are born with powers like ours, hmm? There is a reason for that." Steelheart spread her arms out wide and stared up at the bright light shining down on her. "We were chosen by Primus to rule over the Grand Cybertronian Taxonomy. We are God's children, the genetically elite, and rivaled by none, not even those point one percenters."
"Good lord," Shadowkat gasped in horror. "You hunt us down so you can enslave us?"
"Enslave is such a broad term. I'm just making sure that you all have your rightful place as the rulers of Cybertron. What else could you want?"
"I can list a few things." Blackbeetle muttered.
"And what happens to the ones who don't want you indentured servitude?" Nightshade asked.
Steelheart discreetly glanced at Firefight, whose screen-face began to glow orange. "I think you can fill in the blanks. But let me show you an example."
Blackbeetle felt a heat coming from her chest and she looked down to see a small point of armor smoking and heating up. "What the-"
Time slowed down for both Shadowkat and Nightshade as Blackbeetle's chest exploded in a plume of flames. She didn't even register what happened as a hole was blown into her chest, destroying her Spark core and killing her instantly. Her lover watched her body fall to the floor in horror.
"Blackbeetle!"
XXXXXX
Motormaster slashed his sword at Obliteration, but the outlier dodged and he ended up cutting a poor soldier in two from head to waist. Obliteration spun around and punched the Stunticon leader in the face, sending him skidding back a few feet. Motormaster spat out some energon and grinned.
"Is that the best you got?" He asked cheekily.
"No."
Obliteration fired a blast of plasma from his hands and hit Motormaster in the middle of his chest. Though he didn't suffer any fatal damage, he was sent flying along the length of the hall and crashing into Breakdown, sending them both through the window of the training area. Breakdown was nearly crushed by Motormaster's weight as his leader hit a stack of training equipment . Obliteration charged through the Stunticon barricade backhanding Drag Strip as he jumped through the window and kicked Breakdown out of the way.
"Slag!" Drag Strip gripped his aching head and got to his knees. He picked up his triple barreled rocket launcher and fired two rockets at a bruiser that was advancing on them. "The boss is in trouble!"
"I can see that but we're preoccupied!" Wildrider said, glancing back at his boss. Motormaster and Obliteration were engaged in a fist fight now, and each punch they threw sent a loud clang throughout the area. They looked evenly matched, but it was clear that Obliteration was in much better shape than Motormaster for some reason. "Dead End, are the charges set?"
"Give me a few nano-kliks!" Dead End said. He was busy hooking up a network of plasma density charges, one of the strongest bombs out there, to a remote network that would allow them to be detonated remotely. It was taking longer than he thought seeing as he had to make sure that each charge was placed at the same distance from each other in key areas for maximum damage. "I just need more time."
"We don't have time!" Breakdown shouted. He flinched as he saw Obliteration smashed a hammer over Motormaster's head. "Frag it, someone toss me a grenade!"
Drag strip unclipped two variable grenades and tossed them over to Breakdown, who caught them and ran over to the fighting mechs.
Motormaster felt his body ache as he took punch after bone crushing punch from Obliteration. Each blow was augmented by that energy Obliteration controlled, so they hurt twice as much, but he wasn't known for being resilient for nothing. He grabbed Obliteration's arm and twisted it behind his back, pulling as hard as he could to dislocate the limb. Obliteration grunted at the strain on his arm and started to radiate energy from his body. He built up the energy and then released it in an explosive wave that blasted Motormaster off him and into the wall. He charged at him, but Motormaster rolled away from his oncoming knee and slammed Obliteration's head into the wall.
"Boss!"
Motormaster caught two grenades thrown at him from Breakdown and gave him subordinate a grin as he turned back to Obliteration. The orange mech was pulling his head out of the wall, and as soon as he faced Motormaster, one of the grenades was thrown at him. Obliteration found his entire body frozen in place, and his systems shorting out as the EMP grenade jumbled his internal systems on contact. His movements were jerky and out of control, and this left him open to the lethal grenade that was also tossed at him. Motormaster and Breakdown were relieved to see the powerful outlier engulfed in a large explosion that nearly blew them back.
"Yes! Good show Breakdown!" Motormaster said.
"Thanks boss, now let's-huh?"
They looked at the explosion and saw the flames start to swirl around in the air as it was being absorbed into something. Soon Obliteration's body came into view, completely unharmed, and was sucking the flames into his body. Obliteration had absorbed not only the flames but also the explosive force of the detonation, and his body looked like it was radiating power.
"Damn it all!" Motormaster roared and threw a punch at Obliteration. But he was surprised to see the mech catch his large fist in his hand and squeeze it until the hand was broken. "Gah!"
"Do you understand now?" Obliteration asked, staring down at Motormaster with his blank face. "Fighting against one of the superior race is futile. Surrender or you will face even more pain."
"Go to hell!" Breakdown came at Obliteration from behind, stabbing a vibroblade into his back.
Obliteration let out a pained grunt and let go of Motormaster's broken hand. With the same hand he broke the Stunticon leader's hand he slammed his fist into Breakdown's face, sending the mech into the ground. Motormaster pulled the blade from his back and stabbed it into his shoulder, and Obliteration grabbed him by the neck. Then he started punching Motormaster repeatedly, not letting up even as energon spilled from his face.
"We're out of time!" Wildrider Shouted. "Dead End, please tell me-"
"It's done!" Dead End held up the remote. "All the charges are planted."
"Then blow them up." Drag Strip ordered. Dead End's eyes widened.
"But-"
"Just do it!"
Dead End hesitated but knew that things weren't going their way. He closed his eyes and pressed the button. This was going to be loud.
XXXXXX
Nightshade stared at Blackbeetle's motionless body. Her torso had a hoe blown right through and her eyes were dark, meaning that her Spark had extinguished. Shadowkat stood over her body weeping tears she couldn't shed. Looking at them both now filled Nightshade with a bestial rage she hadn't felt since losing Damus.
"That's our answer to outliers who refuse out generous offer." Steelheart said. "Can't let our secret getting out, can we?"
"Go to hell!"Nightshade formed her bow and fired three arrows at Steelheart.
Steelheart didn't try to move as the arrows hit her barrier, but she wasn't expecting Firefight to be assault by a volley of concussion blasts that hit the platform under them. Soundwave powered up his particle cannon and unleashed a blast at Firefight, forcing her to dodge and deflect the beams with her flames.
Nightshade flew at Steelheart, splitting her bow into swords and tried to gut the femme. Steelheart proved to be more agile than she looked, dodging and weaving through her strikes and even deflecting them with her arms. She kicked away Nightshade's right arm and gave a spin-kick to Nightshade's face, making her stumble back. Steelheart sent a bolt of energy at her that she ducked under and swung her sword, only to have Steelheart catch the blade in her hands.
"You are a stellar-cycle too late to fight me!" Steelheart hissed before she snapped the blade in two and sent an energy encased punch at Nightshade's face. The blow sent her falling back, but Steelheart grabbed her arms and threw her over her shoulder into the floor.
Soundwave continued to lay down suppressive fire at Firefight, but it was clear that his surprise attack was starting to wear off. He fired a few rockets from his rocket launcher, but they exploded half way to their target when they touched Firefight's heat wave. Her face was glowing and the air around her was shimmering from the intense heat waves rolling off her body. Firefight waved her hand and a plume of flames exploded in front of Soundwave, forcing him to jump back. He leapt to the side to avoid a large fireball that was shot at him, but Firefight lunged at him through the flames and grabbed his throat.
"Soundwave!" Nightshade exclaimed.
Firefight tightened her grip on Soundwave's neck and increased the temperature in her hand. Soundwave could feel the heat start to rise and knew that if he didn't gain some distance, her hand could become hot enough to melt into his armor and kill him. But neither of them were expecting a pair of hands to take hold of Soundwave and pull him back, phasing him through Firefight's grip.
"What?" Firefight was taken off guard by the sudden escape and that's all Shadowkat needed.
She phased through Soundwave and lunged at Firefight with a save snarl on her petite face. Firefight bathed her body in red hot flames that melted the floor beneath her, but Shadowkat's intangibility kept her from being incinerated. The feline femme punched her hand into Firefight's chest, phasing through the armor so that she could grab hold of her Spark core. Firefight flinched in pain as Shadowkat glared into her face.
"This is for Blackbeetle!"
Shadowkat tore out Firefight's Spark, phasing it out along with her hand in a clean kill and no visible damage on the Functionist council member. Firefight stood in place, her movements slowing down and the intense flames flickering off her body dying out as her screen face went dark. Shadowkat watched her body tumble to the ground lifelessly and tightened her claws around the Spark core in her hand and threw it to the ground.
"Amazing! An outlier with the power of intangibility," Steelheart laughed merrily. "You would've made a lovely addition to my inner circle, but I take it that you're not all that interested."
Shadowkat transformed to beast mode and roared, lunging at Steelheart, teeth bared. To her surprise, Steelheart caught her in the air and held her back. Shadowkat tried to phase out of her grip, but she couldn't use her powers.
"You're not the first one to go intangible on me, you know. I've developed counter-measures against people like you," Steelheart hissed, squeezing her fingers around Shadowkat's neck. "Like using my energy to disrupt your dispersed molecules. Rather clever of myself to think of that solution."
"Go..to..hell…!" Shadowkat snarled. Steelheart tightened her grip on the femme.
"Now that's not nice. First you break into my home, kill one of my soldiers-my crusaders, then you insult me verbally? You know I can't let this slide." Her voice lost its mirth and grew cold. "If you miss your lover so bad then why don't you join her in the Allspark!"
Nightshade grabbed the discarded Spark core and threw it at Steelheart, and Soundwave followed up by shooting a blast from his concussion rifle. It was common knowledge that Sparks were spheres of highly volatile energy. It was said that standing near newborn Sparks when the first flash was highly dangerous, as it caused those near them to suffer from the radiation that would slowly killed them. Shooting an exposed Spark would cause it to explode with enough force to destroy half of a starship.
Steelheart took the full force of this explosion when the Spark close to her was hit by the concussion blast. Shadowkat was released and blasted away when Steelheart was engulfed by the explosion, bathing her in blue flames and destroying almost half of the Atrium. Shadowkat ran over to Blackbeetle's body as Nightshade and Soundwave joined her.
Nightshade wasn't surprised to see Steelheart floating over the hole blown into the chamber, golden energy crackling around her form and her body sporting serious burns along the left side of her body. They couldn't see her face, but they knew she was angry.
"You're a persistent bunch, aren't you?" Steelheart growled and charged up her energy. "But that only thing you've accomplished is giving yourself a quick death!"
Just as Steelheart was about to vaporize them, there was a deafening boom and Steelheart was forced to fly back to avoid the massive pillar of fire that erupted from the floor. Nightshade was happy to see the Stunticons had done their part and detonated the phase charges. She knew that the Cog was going to make a crash landing and she did not want to be here when it did. She looked over at Soundwave, then at Shadowkat, who was standing protectively over Blackbeetle's body.
"You!" Steelheart snarled. "What did you do?"
"I only gave the Cog the disrespect it deserved." Nightshade smirked. "Shadowkat, now!"
Shadowkat used her powers to make the four of them intangible and they phased through the floor. Steelheart lashed out with an energy bolt the destroyed the rest of the chamber but missed them.
"Those hellspawn! How dare they-" Steelheart stopped herself and took a deep breath. "Nevermind, I will hunt them down myself. They can't run forever." She called one of the other council members. "Limelight, what's the situation?"
"Three of the anti-grav generators have been destroyed!" Limelight said. "I can't keep the Cog in the air."
"Initiate a controlled crash, try to avoid as much damage to the Cog as possible."
"But what about Kalis? It's in our flight path."
Steelheart gave an uncaring snort. "Pin it on the terrorists. I have more pressing concerns than the lives of mortals."
XXXXXX
The Cog's descent was fast, but not pretty. Without the power generated by its real source-the outlier Limelight-if fell to the planet like a meteor. It crashed along the outskirts of Kalis, smashing through buildings and tearing up the crowded streets, killing thousands of people. The impact alone was heavy enough to be felt all the way to Altihex. Fortunately the giant sphere skidded to a stop near the city-square. The death toll was incredible.
Miles away from the city, Nightshade watched the Cog crash. She was nursing a cut on her right shoulder, and had a limp, but was otherwise unharmed. She had no idea what happened to the Stunticons, but she hoped that they made it out as well. Still, it didn't change the fact that the mission was a failure and two of their own had died.
"Nightshade," Soundwave walked over to her, sporting some damages from his fight with Firefight. Some of the armor around his hands and armor were warped from her flames. "Are you all right?"
Nightshade didn't answer at once. She looked over at Shadowkat. The small femme was in beast mode, nuzzling Blackbeetle's head in sorrow. When the grief became too much to bare, she let out an anguished howl.
"No Soundwave," Nightshade whispered. "I'm not all right."
Shadowkat continued to howl her sadness into the darkening sky, for all to hear.