Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers.
Desperate Measures
Chapter Four: A New Beat
The gentle hum of the bases' generator did nothing to comfort Ultra Magnus as he made his way down the corridor, heading for the infirmary. A quick looked around him confirmed what he already knew:
He was lost.
He wasn't too familiar with Uraya, and he feared that it was all too obvious to the soldiers under his command. A leader needed to seem infallible, as if no situation was unexpected or unsurpassable.
Of course, the only Autobot who had mastered that was Optimus Prime, and even he would sometimes snap in exasperation at nervous young Autobots or let his shoulders sag in exhaustion from time to time.
However, now was not one of the times when he could be allowed to show weakness in front of those who would be following him into battle.
Perhaps sooner than they think, Magnus mused bitterly.
A blue Autobot hurriedly made his way past, glancing up and down at the pad in front of him at such a speed that Magnus wondered how his head didn't snap off his neck component. The City Commander resisted the temptation to ask for directions, resolving to pretend like he knew which way he was going.
"UltraMagnus?"
He stopped at the speedy mention of his name and turned to face the Autobot.
"Yes?"
The blue Autobot smiled, obviously relieved. "I'mgladIfoundyoubecauseIdidn'tknowwhatyoulookedlikeandwhenIaskedKuphejustsaidtolookforsomeonewholookedlikeOptimusPrimeand-"
Ultra Magnus grimaced and put up a hand. "One word at a time, soldier."
"OhsorryIguessI'mjustalittlehighstrungafterthenewsofthebattleatPolyhexbecauseitsoundedlikeitwasbadyouknow?"
Magnus waited for a moment, making sure the stressed Autobot was in fact finished before he responded.
"…yes. I can see why you would feel that way."
The blue Autobot sighed, and he let his shoulders slump slightly in relaxation. He lifted a datapad. "AnywayIwastoldtogiveyouthisbyKupbecausewhenheaskedforsomeonefastIsaidthatnoonegetsitdonefasterthanmenobodynobodynobody!"
Magnus took a moment to process what had just been said. "…and you are…?"
He laughed. "OhI'msorryIdidn'tintroducemyself." He extended a hand. "I'mBlurr."
Ultra Magnus nodded slowly and took his hand. "Good to meet you. Tell me, do you always-?"
Blurr tilted his head curiously, looking as naïve as a newborn spark.
The City Commander sighed. "-never mind. What is it?"
Blurr shrugged as he handed over the datapad. "Idon'tknowKupsaiditwasimportantthoughandhehadthatangrylookhesometimesgetswhensomethingbadhappenssotosumupwhatIjustsaidIguessIdon'tknow."
"…uh huh…" Magnus replied, slowly taking the datapad. He looked it over before returning his gaze to Blurr and smiling politely. "Thank you, Blurr."
The speedy Autobot gave him a salute. "Noproblematallit'swhatI'mbestatsorememberifyouneedanythingtogetsomewherefastyoujustcallupBlurrandI'llgetwhateveritistowhereveryouwantfasterthanyoucansee!"
He shot off down the corridor at speeds that Magnus was sure were hazardous to everyone's health. The City Commander sighed and shook his head as he turned back to his navigation of the corridors of Uraya.
He silently hoped that Prime would take Blurr with him on the mission. Magnus wasn't sure how much of the fast talking Autobot he could take.
To occupy his irritated processor, Magnus began reading the datapad. There had been a communiqué from one of their spies on the movements of the Decepticons. He cocked an optic ridge at that news that they were moving at all. Every time Megatron had channelled a black hole previously, he had been incapacitated for quite some time. And he certainly wouldn't have let someone lead any kind of assault force in his absence… with the exception of Shockwave.
But Shockwave was in Vos… Cosmos confirmed as much every ten thousand astroseconds.
Magnus frowned. That was another thing that was troubling him. Megatron was going through a lot of difficulty for the excavation of the now destroyed city. There wasn't anything of value there, so why would Megatron even bother with it?
He took another look around the corridor. He still had little to no idea where he was.
Of course, just because he and Prime didn't know about it, it didn't mean that there wasn't something important in Vos. The Autobot Council weren't too keen on sharing all of their information with anyone, even those who were fighting to protect them.
It made his circuits sizzle just thinking about it.
Something on the datapad caught his eye. That was unusual. The spy was actually delivering the information in person. Such a thing was unheard of usually, except in the cases where the information was exceedingly sensitive.
Ultra Magnus hoped it was nothing but a false alarm.
But somehow he knew better.
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Ironhide knew better than to question Trailbreaker's ideas, since they almost always bore fruit, but this was pushing it. When he had been called away by the Autobot Council to help Prime, he had hoped that he would never see this place again.
The Dead End. From orbit it looked like a section of the planet was missing, as though ripped away by some incredible force. Ironhide had no idea how the strange land mass (or lack of, technically) came about, but it wasn't a particularly pleasant place to be posted. And while Ironhide wasn't one to shirk the tough jobs, he wasn't going to lament leaving them either, and he certainly didn't when he was transferred away.
There was little natural light, and whatever did get through distorted the ground with monstrous shadows. The artificial lights only added to the eerie effect, giving it a very pale greenish tint, as though the whole area had contracted some kind of disease and was slowly rotting away. He had been assigned to the Dead End when rumours had begun circulating of the Decepticons using it as a staging ground. Ironhide had never been happier to find a rumour false in all his life.
And besides the point, Ironhide had never met anyone here who would fit the description of 'saboteur'.
He looked over at the black Autobot, who seemed to know exactly where he was going.
"Say, Trailbreaker… ah don't mean to step on your foot components or nuthin', but are you sure the 'Bot we're lookin' for is here?"
Trailbreaker smiled. "Trust me, Ironhide. He's here."
The elder Autobot frowned and looked over at Optimus, who was occupying his time taking in the… scenery, if one could call it that.
"Enjoyin' the view, Optimus?"
Prime gave him a quick glance before returning his gaze to the twisting 'architecture'.
"It's always fascinated me. How did… all this," he said, gesturing to the warped metal, "come to be? It obviously wasn't during the war, since we would have records of it."
Ironhide shrugged. "There was a lot of historythat ain't recorded before the wars. Maybe it happened then."
Optimus was silent for a moment. "Perhaps."
"You don't agree?"
The Autobot leader took a breath through his intake valve. "I don't know, Ironhide. I feel as though there is something… ancient here."
"Is this you talkin', or the Matrix?"
He looked as though he were about to answer, but seemed to think better of it. "Good question."
Trailbreaker looked over his shoulder at the two. "We're here."
The two red Autobots looked around, both feeling as though they were missing something. There was nothing there. No door, no building, nothing. They were standing on one of the few patches of the Dead End that wasn't covered in debris and dried Energon from Transformers passed.
Optimus looked at the black Autobot. "Trailbreaker-"
He was cut off as the ground seemed to give way beneath them. Alarmed, Ironhide let out a yelp of surprise and back up slightly. As he looked down, he realised they were descending down some kind of elevator shaft, the bare patch of ground they were stood on in fact a platform for transportation. He looked up and saw the hole slowly being closed up by another sheet of metal.
Ironhide looked over at Optimus, who looked more curious than surprised at this turn of events. Then again, with the incredibly dim lighting, it wasdifficult to tell.
The elevator reached its' destination and came to a halt with a clang and a hiss of hidden hydraulic arms. Doors slid open in front of them, revealing a corridor lit only by dim orange lights.
"Black Ops…" Optimus said quietly, and Trailbreaker nodded as he entered the corridor.
Ironhide looked over at Optimus. "You know what this is?"
"I've only heard rumours. Very few Autobots are privy to this kind of thing in detail, and even fewer are well known themselves."
Trailbreaker looked over his shoulder. "Chances are you've met quite a few mechs and femmes that work for this place and never knew they did."
The elder Autobots' optics widened. "You?"
"Once or twice. 'Course, once is enough for them to own you forever."
"Does that include me an' Prime now, too?"
"No. You've just got to promise to keep it quiet once we're gone. And believe me, they'll keep a close eye on you while you're on Cybertron."
Ironhide grinned. "Good thing I'm leavin' then, huh?"
Trailbreaker didn't respond, and Ironhide's grin promptly faded.
They reached the end of the corridor, and after a brief pause, laser scanners bleeped to life and filled the corridor, scanning the three from head to foot. After another pause, the doors slid open, revealing a large room with the same dim orange colour scheme as the corridor and an Autobot symbol engraved into the wall.
"Hell of a reception committee," Ironhide muttered.
"Sorry, but we're not exactly used to guests."
Ironhide turned to the source of the voice to see the orange and red form of Firestar, the erstwhile bond mate of the Autobot Inferno.
"Firestar! How are you, you old-"
"Old?"
"Uh… that is…"
She smiled. "I'm joking, you old warhorse."
Ironhide rubbed his head sheepishly. "Heh…" he frowned as the seriousness of the situation dawned on him. "Wait… you're with this… Black Ops group? Does Inferno know?"
"All right, first of all, yes, I'm with the Autobots Black Operations group. And no, Inferno doesn't know. And third, you're not going to tell him. Understood?"
"I-"
Optimus, Trailbreaker and Firestar shot him a combined glare.
He crossed his arms in front of his large chest huffily. "Fine."
Firestar nodded. "All right then. Now," she said, turning to Optimus. "You're heading into space to search for Energon, is that right?"
The Autobot leader looked surprised for the briefest of moments, but then simply decided to nod in agreement. "We need someone to act as a saboteur in case the Decepticons somehow get wind of the plan."
Ironhide nodded. "Someone who'll do it quickly and efficiently. In, out, Decepticons go boom, that kinda thing."
Trailbreaker and Firestar exchanged a knowing smile.
"I take it you're thinking what I'm thinking," she asked.
"He has wanted to get out of this line of work for a while."
"But I wouldn't say 'quickly and efficiently ' are exactly his strong suits. Do you remember what he said once? 'Do it with style-"
"-or don't bother doing it', yes, I remember." He smiled. "He'll learn, Firestar. You just don't want to lose him because he's one of the best you have."
Optimus frowned worriedly. "I don't want to take away your best operative. After all, you'll be needing all you can get once-" he caught the words in his vocal processor, and then made a face as he realised he didn't have to keep such things secret.
Firestar nodded. "…once our Energon supplies are low. But I also don't want my best operative getting CFS."
Ironhide cocked a curious optic ridge.
"'Combat Fatigue Syndrome'," Trailbreaker elaborated, and Ironhide nodded. He didn't really need any more expansion on the subject; by 'fatigue' they meant 'going crazy'.
She nodded, having seemingly resolved the matter. "All right. If he wants to go, you've got him. I think he's in the training course at the moment, so you'll have to wait."
Optimus looked at her. "Is there any way we could watch?"
She grinned. "An audience? I don't think anything would make him happier."
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The datapad clattered lightly as Ultra Magnus tossed it on to the conference table, his gaze held firmly on the orange and blue Autobot in front of him. He sighed and rubbed dimmed optics with his thumb and forefinger.
"And you're sure of this?"
Punch nodded. "Starscream seems to have decided that he likes the taste of power while Megatron's out of the way."
Elita One leant forward, her hands intertwined as they rested on the table.
"But why now? He's never shown any interest before, has he?"
"No sir. But he has now, and he seems particularly intent on moving on to Uraya without Megatron or Shockwave's approval. He's also taken a more… paranoid approach to monitoring communiqués, which made it impossible to transmit anything using the usual turbopiggyback methods."
Magnus leaned back in his chair and nodded. "Thank you, Punch. Report to Kup after the meeting for further reassignment."
Punch saluted. "Yes sir." He turned on his heel and left.
Silence filled the conference room, and Ultra Magnus looked at the Autobots assembled before him. He was sat at the head of the table, with Elita One sat on his right, and Prowl on hers. Kup was sat on Magnus' left, with Smokescreen sat next to him.
"We're going to need backup," Prowl said, the usual confidence in his voice.
Kup frowned. "I don't know… the Decepticons took some heavy casualties during the battle too."
Elita shook her head. "We don't have any way of knowing how low their numbers are. And with Punch saying he's lost contact with two other operatives… I don't like it. We need reinforcements."
"From where? As far as I know we're all stretched pretty thin at the moment, and in case you hadn't noticed, Vector Sigma doesn't seem to be popping out too many Autobots nowadays."
"The amount of troops isn't the problem," Smokescreen interjected, "it's the fact that we haven't had a solid victory against the Decepticons for a few Astrocycles at best. We need something – or someone – to lift their sparks."
Elita sighed and rubbed her weary optics. "I wouldn't mind something to make me feel a little better."
Prowl looked from Elita to Smokescreen. "What did you have in mind?"
"If Prime was the one to help, it'd be a big boost for morale," Smokescreen replied bluntly.
Kup's frown deepened into a scowl. "And just why on Cybertron isn't Optimus here? Who knows how differently that battle could have gone if he was there?"
"You know I can't discuss it, Kup," Magnus said, his sober expression hiding his own frustration with the situation.
"I know, I know… I just wonder what the Autobot Council have stuck up their recharge ports sometimes."
They all fell silent at that. No-one could argue that the Autobot Council had a hefty amount of blame on their shoulders for the losses they had suffered at the hands of the Decepticons.
Ultra Magnus slapped his hands down lightly on the table.
"In any case, there's no point in torturing ourselves over the 'what if's, 'why's and 'wherefore's. We're stuck with this situation, now let's deal with it. I agree that we need reinforcements, and yes, Optimus Prime would be the best choice at this point. Whether the Autobot Council will agree is anybody's guess."
"I'm bettin' on a 'no'," Kup muttered bitterly.
"In the meantime, I think we would all do well to try and keep everyone else's morale up. Who knows, we might end up fooling ourselves."
A small chuckle spread through the group with the exception of Prowl. While the strategist understood humour, he rarely laughed at it or enjoyed it in any form.
Magnus sometimes wondered what Prowl did for fun, or if he did at all.
But then again, were any Autobots having fun at a time like this?
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Ironhide looked over at Optimus from where he stood at the soundproof view port. "Y'know, ah'd swear he was enjoyin' this."
Firestar smiled. "You'd be right. While he's not an Energon-thirsty killer by any definition of the word, he certainly enjoys the other aspects of the job. Specifically… the acrobatics."
As if to accentuate the femme's point, the black and white Autobot sprang forward to avoid several laser shots from the practise drones, and balanced on one finger before propelling himself forward, rolling through the air and landing deftly on his feet. The robot drones continued blindly firing at their target, blasting each other in the process.
A small slot opened on the other side of the room, and several razor sharp discs sprang forth, each the size of Cosmos in his satellite form.
The black and white mech smiled coolly and waited for the right moment before jumping into the air and straightening his body, holding his arms up above him. He whirled in the air, deftly avoiding the discs and letting them lodge themselves in the wall behind him. He landed, looked back at the discs, and lightly brushed is nose with his thumb, smiling the whole time.
A beeping noise then filled the air, getting faster and faster until it was replaced by a single flat line tone. The noise abruptly stopped, and the room was suddenly filled with motion detecting lasers, creating a veritable web of red lines of light.
Ironhide looked over at Firestar questioningly.
"He's got to get to the control panel on the other side of the room, without touching the lasers, or he's 'dead'."
"That's impossible. That room's the length of Omega Supreme lyin' on his back. It'd take him-"
The black and white Autobot put his hand over his visor as though protecting him from the light of the sun. After rotating his shoulder joints a few times, he launched himself forward and, using his hand as a springboard, pushed himself towards the wall on his left. He bounced off it with his feet and landed on his hands, cart wheeling across the room before propelling himself against the wall on the other side. After a few more flips, he landed on his feet in front of the control panel and deactivated the lasers.
Ironhide's mouth stayed open until a smirking Trailbreaker closed it for him.
Firestar pressed the intercom button. "Looked like you almost slipped there, Jazz."
He smiled, his cheerful voice evident through the intercom. "Probably you puttin' grease on the floor again, 'star."
"Maybe it's just the old age getting to you," she teased, a smile on her face the entire time. "Anyway, I've got some Autobots here to see you."
Jazz looked up at the one way view port and waved happily. "Anyone I'd know? I want t' look my best if I'm meetin' a celebrity."
She smiled and shook her head. "Just get up here."
"Aye, aye, cap'n."
Jazz gave a mock salute and deactivated the comm, heading through the doors and leaving the training chamber.
Ironhide looked at Firestar incredulously. "That's what you call on the verge of goin' crazy?"
She shrugged, looking somewhat uncomfortable.
Optimus crossed his arms thoughtfully. "Appearances can be deceiving," the leader mused quietly, almost as though talking to himself.
Ironhide figured Optimus was the authority on keeping up false pretences and appearances, and decided that if anyone could see someone who was hiding something, it was Optimus.
The doors to the observation room opened, and Jazz stepped through. He paused as he took in the identity of his visitors, but just as quickly, the Jazz they had seen happily bantering with Firestar was back.
"Heya! How you all doin'?" He came forward and shook each of their hands in succession, lingering on Optimus a moment more than on the others. "And what can I do for you on this fine Cybertronian day?"
Optimus straightened his back, which meant he was going into 'official Autobot leader business' mode.
"I am Optimus Prime. Under the orders of the Autobot Council, I have been put in command of a mission to leave Cybertron and search for Energon. Although I am sure you already know this."
Jazz shrugged. "Yeah, I jus' don't like to interrupt someone while they're talkin'."
The Autobot leader nodded, impressed. "Refreshing," he said, sending an accusatory glance in Ironhide's direction.
"An' why are you comin' to me with this?"
Optimus took a breath. "Although every security precaution has been taken, there is always the possibility that the Decepticons will learn of our plans and pursue us. And even if they don't, we are unsure of what life forms we may come across on our travels. In short… we need someone with your talents."
The black and white Autobot paused. "…I see."
"Of course, if you don't wish to come along, that is your prerogative."
"Well, that depends. What exactly would we be doin' on this mission?"
"Finding planets that contain sources of Energon, extracting it, and returning to Cybertron."
"So… little to none of… this stuff," he said, gesturing towards the training room.
Optimus sighed. "That would be true, yes," he said, a slightly dejected tone in his voice.
Jazz nodded sombrely. Suddenly, he clapped his hands and rubbed them together eagerly, grinning from audio receptor to audio receptor.
"When's the takeoff?"
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Jazz had decided to tag along with them for the rest of their recruitment mission, and Optimus couldn't be happier with the decision; since Jazz was with the Black Ops, he was privy to a lot of information that even he as a Prime was not, allowing them access to his knowledge of various Autobots and their suitability for the mission.
Optimus stopped just as he was about to enter the transport when he heard his comm beeping for attention. He pushed a button, and a small compartment on his wrist opened up, revealing the face of Ultra Magnus.
"Prime! I've been trying to reach you for a few thousand astroseconds. Where've you been?"
"I can't talk about it."
Magnus paused. "Oh."
Hoping to bypass any awkwardness, Optimus pressed on to the matter at hand. "What's wrong, Magnus? How did the battle at Polyhex go?" His optics glowed with worry. "Is Elita all right?"
Ultra Magnus smiled. "She's fine. Not for lack of trying, of course, but she's fine."
"Is she there? Can I talk to her?"
"I'm sorry Prime, but this is strictly a business call. We lost Polyhex. The Decepticons are moving on to Uraya sooner than we thought, and we need some reinforcements. I've talked to the Autobot Council, and they want you back in Iacon right away to discuss some countermeasures."
"Tell them I can't be in two places at once. Either they want me to assemble this crew, or they want me in battle. They can't have both."
"Prime. We need you, not the Council. Us. Don't let your feelings for them cloud your judgement."
Optimus paused for a moment, and then sighed. "All right. I'll be there as soon as I can with Trailbreaker. Prime, out."
He switched off the comm and turned to Ironhide and Jazz.
"It looks like you'll have you to get the next few crewmembers without me."
Ironhide shrugged. "Fine by me." He looked at Jazz. "You got any objections?"
Jazz smiled. "Right-o, Autobuddy!"
The black and white mech practically whirled on his heel as he made his way to the transport.
Ironhide looked back at Trailbreaker. "'Right-o'?"
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After Ironhide and Jazz bid their farewells to Optimus and Trailbreaker, the pair got on a transport to head to the other side of Iacon, far away from the Autobot Council chambers.
Ironhide looked over at Jazz, who was relaxing into his chair as much as Autobotly possible.
"So, why are we headin' into the nastiest part of Iacon?"
Jazz head lolled over to look at him. "Because, my main mech, Prime said he wanted some 'nasty' for this crew. And to get nasty… you go to the nasty places."
"You got an Autobot in mind, or are we just shoppin'?"
The black and white mech grinned. "Not an Autobot." He held up a pair of digits. "Two."
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(A/N:
I'd like to give a little shout out to MariaShadow for coming up with Jazz being part of a Black Ops group, and for the Combat Fatigue Syndrome thing in general. I hope she doesn't mind my using it. If you do, please don't hesitate to PM me!
For those who may not be up on their Headmaster and Targetmaster characters, Punch is an Autobot that can transform into a Decepticon called Counter-Punch, hence his usefulness as a spy. Unfortunately, that leads to some multiple personality disorders, since one isn't aware of the other… or something like that. It wasn't really talked about in the show – he just had a cheesy-yet-cool voice and got beat up a lot.
And finally, about the 'turbopiggyback' word; I figured that if there could be turbofoxes on Cybertron for Mirage to hunt with his high class friends, there could be turbopigs (of course, it might have something to do with the fact that I couldn't think of a better word for 'piggyback'. But that's a long shot ;)).
Anyway, review!)