Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers: just my OC's & the plot.
THE DOMINOES FALL
Chapter 1: Hostile Takeover
NEST Base, 1 hour later:
Things had somewhat settled down: now that the fight was behind them and Lawrence was on his way back to Washington, everyone could finally concentrate on getting the base back into shape. That being said, it was proving to be a more challenging task than before...
The Black Solstus remained stationary as it silently hovered over the canyon, while down below, a couple of teams of Autobots were busy running auxiliary power cables from the generators in the dam to the manual power conductors near the entrance to the open-air hanger, in an attempt to try and restore power to the base. At the same time, up in the power station that overlooked the canyon: getting the power back on was not going to be so simple...
: Report: what's the progress?: Prowl ordered,
: Not much: Portia sighed in disappointment as she flew over the base in her altmode : Not only is our mystery sniper long gone, it appears he's covered his trail: the whole dam is covered in ionized aluminum. The power station is too; it seems that while we were fighting the Broadsword cons, someone took the liberty of sneaking back and destroying what was left of the main breakers: she said as she forwarded a data-burst of what she saw below; indeed the breakers Jolt had tried to funnel electricity through had been completely wreaked and pulled apart,
: So we know they're a cybertronian: the tactician thought aloud as he frowned, :... But was he one of the brainwashed cons? One that broke away from the main group and infiltrated the base before the rest of his unit showed up. Or was he one that managed to escape Broadsword's radar?:
: I'll leave it to you to figure out sir: but honestly? If it was one of the non-brainwashed cons, I'd be surprised why they'd want to try their luck now...Anyway; I've got to get back to the open-air hanger and get a start on setting those cables in place. Portia out:
The cogs in Prowl's mind began to work overtime, as he tried to make sense of these developments, 'it makes no sense' he thought, 'unless...something else is going on'.
Inside the command center:
While everyone in the command center continued to work through analogue means of keeping the base afloat: inside Bishop's office, Jeanie, Roxy and Chelsea were filling the Colonel in on what happened while they were MIA: as well as Max, filling in her end of what happened during the President's visit to the base...
", So after we said good bye, we came straight back here..." Jeanie finished, pausing to take a breath, "And that's-, pretty much it"
"...Unreal..." the Colonel breathed in astonishment, staring off into space, before turning to Jeanie, "She actually faked her own death?"
"Well? It wasn't like she saw Optimus's and Megatron's smack-down coming?" Chelsea shrugged, "She just-, saw an opportunity to get away from her old man, and took it"
"And she didn't tell you what was on that USB?" the colonel pressed her in a moderate tone,
"She just said it was 'a starting point': but my guess is, if it warranted her faking her death and going underground for over two years, then it's gotta be something pretty big" Jeanie surmised,
"Undoubtedly..." Bishop concurred, as he turned to Max with a critical eye, "And I understand you ran some 'back-ground checks' on the president and his immediate family? ... Hacking into confidential police files and county records? As well as one or two other 'guarded' online sites?"
Max stood there feeling rather cornered: she should have known Glen would've picked up Darren's server activity and relayed it to Bishop. Any other time she would just lock down and refuse to talk, but she had to remind herself this wasn't a police interrogation, and Bishop was not out to get her. Taking a deep breath, she explained uneasily: "Hailey asked for a favor and I obliged: but come on! Can you honestly say it wasn't warranted? A guy (the president of the USA of all people) behaving like that? In a place like this? Don't tell me you wouldn't want to know who or what you were dealing with; if that kinda shit was gonna go down?"
Thinking about it, Bishop knew she had a point: "...I agree with you there. I've learnt the hard way over the years that tact and diplomacy don't go smoothly, unless you know who you're dealing with. And suffice to say, the president was certainly not who I was expecting; at least, not in the professional capacity" he explained frankly, "Given the circumstances, and the nature of what transpired here today: you made a good call Miss Ainsley...Though, I'm surprised you've been holding out like this...There's nothing in your records that even hints at you being a hacker"
Max couldn't think of anything to offer, other than, "We all have our secrets sir: it just-, made sense to keep an ace up my sleeve; you never know when you might need the element of surprise, right?"
"Indeed..." he studied her for a moment, before getting back to the subject at hand: "...And speaking of surprises: I've got one for all of you...Would the four of you be interested in, 'interning' with us here at NEST?"
"What?" the four girls stared at him in astonishment: of all the things they were expecting to transpire from this meeting, they were not expecting that.
"It's unorthodox I know, and given the fact you've been on the base such a short time, I wouldn't usually be this hasty...But, I have to confess; I find myself, re-evaluating my previous opinions about you..." he explained frankly, and without reserve, "...When you first came here, you were the most unruly, selfish, and stubborn-headed delinquents I ever had the displeasure of meeting. You not only caused trouble for us, but you were so caught up in your own selfish whims, that you failed to see your actions had placed members of your own family in danger..."
The girls all dropped their gaze in shame and regret, as the memories of that day, and night up in the Tranquility national forest came back to mind...
"But..." he paused, changing his tone, "Given what's happened since then, and given how these last weeks have transpired; I cannot deny you have all grown and matured, in a way I didn't anticipate, or believe to be possible. And for that, you have my sincerest apologies...You may not have moved mountains or saved the day, but you four were there for us, in a time of need and necessity. Maybe not in a big way: but in a way that counted for much. And in the end, it's the little things like that, that mean the difference between winning and losing a battle...That's what makes NEST work: and it's why I believe, with enough time and experience, you would make good assets to this unit"
"Really?" Chelsea gasped, "You really mean it?" Roxy blinked in surprise.
"I wouldn't be asking if I wasn't serious" Bishop regarded her with a serious look, "Obviously, with Broadsword in the picture at this current time, and Galloway being the bureaucrat he is, sorting out the paperwork alone is going to be a nightmare; so, once we have this whole issue resolved and the dust dies down...Would you like to enroll on a temporary basis?"
The girls all looked at one another, as their eyes lit up with excitement, "...Yes" they all nodded eagerly. "I swear, we won't let you down sir" Jeanie assured him,
"Indeed" he bowed his head discreetly in acknowledgement, "Now go, you're dismissed". And without another word, the girls were out the door like a shot: eager to go and find the rest of their sisters/cousins, to tell them the good news.
Getting up from his desk, and stepping out into the command center, Bishop made his way to the edge of the broken walkway: being careful not to get too close to the torn metal, in case the support brackets in the walls were too damaged to hold his weight.
"Progress report" Bishop ordered in a not-too-sharp tone, "Any change?"
"Not a lot" Prowl frowned in frustration: "The power station's main breakers have been completely fried, probably while we were fighting the cons. The initial emergency repairs are going to take up to three days at the least"
Hearing that, an idea suddenly came to Bishop's mind: "What about the emergency back-up's in the computer hub? I know the static output would have tripped their breakers to go into energy-saver mode, but if we got them linked up to the main system, we might be able to get, at least twenty four hours worth of power before they shut down again...It'll be enough to tie us over until the auxiliary power cables are hooked up to the dam"
"It's a good idea, and with the girl now gone we don't have to worry about frying the breakers" Red Alert explained, "But, those generators are under encrypted lock and key: we'd need Optimus, Elita and Prowl's pass-keys to open the hub, and transfer the generators to emergency-power mode"
Carefully climbing down the wreckage of the walk-ways and platforms to the ground, Bishop strode out of the room,
"Where're you going?" Red Alert called after him,
"The rec-room, Prime said he'd swing by there when he left. We can't keep the base in the dark for much longer; we've already had one crisis to deal with today, I'd prefer to counter the next one with the lights on" Bishop called over his shoulder as he disappeared into the dark corridor.
Meanwhile, in the med-bay:
"Looks like we took a real beating" Tom thought aloud as he watched the steady flow of Autobots come and go: many of them were the ones that fought the Broadsword cons outside, the one's that got clipped by stray bullets, that received shrapnel wounds, and didn't get out of the way fast enough when punched, kicked or swiped by the enemy. Most of the injuries looked ugly and quite bad: but fortunately, many of them were just 'flesh wounds' that looked worse than they actually were, and no one was required to be hooked up to life support, or have part of their chassis replaced. For Ratchet, Mikaela, Que and Wheeljack, it was patch jobs, wire-mesh dressings, spot-welds, rewiring, and replacing burnt out circuits; all in all, a hard fight, but nothing they couldn't handle.
"They did well; no one's in critical condition" Danny sighed with relief, taking his favorite bandanna off to retie it, and place it back on his head again.
"Yeah? But- ..." Soundwave hesitated, "They were not the ones to end it"
As the bots passed by the window of the isolation unit, many couldn't help but glance at the unconscious form of Ashley, still passed out on the bot-sized berth with an IV distributing fast-acting carbohydrates into his bloodstream...
For everyone that witnessed what happened in the closing moments of the fight: the feeling of surprise and incredibility was still lingering: like a raw thread of energy, still live and pulsing, refusing to leave them and be forgotten. But how could anyone forget, something as incredible as that? Sure, they'd known about Ashley's unique abilities since he and the others returned from the other universe: it wasn't a big secret; but this ability to transform into-, that creature, it got most of them concerned. If he had the power to transform into more than one form, what else was he capable of? ...Or more to the point, what else could he turn into?
These thoughts and more were bubbling all around the fringes of Soundwave's mind like a cauldron; confusion and uncertainty mixed in. But no fear: for now; he knew when fear began to set in things could get out of hand. As Tom and Danny watched the bots outside the window, and met their morbidly curious gazes, many of them turned their heads away, so as not to meet their concerned gaze.
"So what if they weren't? The important thing is Ashley stopped them, right?" Danny glanced up at the communications officer.
Soundwave was about to try and offer his perspective on the matter, when a strange feeling made him stop. Expanding his mind outwards to telepathically scan the base, a feeling of unease and tension could be felt: from where and who was difficult to determine, but it was definitely there, and something in the back of his mind told his 'gut' instincts this wasn't right... Sensing this 'disturbance in the force' (so to speak) through their bond, the drones gazed up at him in confusion.
"Creator?" Ravage tilted his head to one side, with one ear pressed flat against his head,
"...Did you feel that?" Soundwave anxiously asked,
"Something- ..." Crystalwing frowned in confusion, "I thought I picked up just now?"
"What?" Tom frowned, sensing something was up,
"I don't know?" Soundwave frowned. "I'm going to go and check it out: are you two going to be okay for ten minutes?" he asked the boys, "I'll be right back, I promise"
"Take your time, we're not going anywhere" Danny shrugged, and without another word, Soundwave's drones leapt up, folded themselves up into their protoform modes, and filed into his chest compartment.
"I better go too" Crystalwing sighed as she got off her berth, and made her way to the door, "I sense they could use an extra set of hands in the command center; and I'm feeling fine now anyway"
"No don't!-" Sparklestar panicked as she ran to the door to stop her, "Something's not right: where's Shadowstar?!"
"Probably hiding somewhere?" Acidwing shrugged nonchalantly, "Or trying to grab some energon or whatever: I wouldn't worry about her 'Sparkle"
"No! Can't you sense that? ..." the little pink and white sphinx pleaded; attuning into her specific telepathic 'frequency', her siblings and mother all looked at one another in anxious bemusement. Something indeed wasn't right: Shadowstar kept her end of the bond closed off because of her anger issues towards them, but now, there was fear laced in that anger, and a sense of distance. As if Shadowstar was straining to keep her end of the bond as far away from them as possible, only this time, it felt as if there was a pressing and dire reason for doing so...
Unsure what to make of it, no one could explain what was going on, and in the pit of her pump, Crystalwing's maternal instincts were telling her something was wrong...
"All of you stay here..." she told her children in her typical motherly 'don't argue with me' tone: no one protested, as she reinforced the order down the bond. "Make yourselves useful and help Ratchet out: I'll go and find Shadowstar" and with that, she left the room, with Soundwave following her behind...
'Are you okay? I can sense something's up' Soundwave's voice echoed through her mind,
'I don't know, but something's off. I'll call you if I need help, okay?' she replied confidently,
'Okay' Soundwave figuratively shrugged, and walked off in the direction of the open-air hanger.
"Yo Ratchet!" Jazz caught the medical officer's attention with his usual infectious smile, as he walked into the med-bay with Cliffjumper leaning on him for support, while Miles sat on his left shoulder, holding a large rag over a bleeding wound on his arm, "Our number's up yet?"
"Take a seat and wait for Mikaela, I'm still busy with Hound and Springer!" he grumbled, not even looking up from his work as he patched up a bullet hole in Springer's right side engine.
Meanwhile, in the rec-room:
Between the various tasks involved for trying to get the power back on, cleaning up the mess outside the entrance to the base, plus the lull in adrenaline from the fight: exhaustion was setting in fast. With all the action of this morning and the tension that came with it, everyone's energy levels were dwindling, and if the humans and bots carried on the way they did right through until nightfall, everyone would soon start to crash. Ergo, Bishop had ordered everyone to catch a break, on a rotation of fifteen minute shifts. Much needed energon, food, coffee and water were passed around, albeit the food was mostly from the vending machines and pantry in the form of canned goods: with no power to cook with, they had to make do with what was available: but no one complained, they were just happy to sate the sharp hunger in their bellies and pumps.
Between refueling and resting, everyone was helping the less-injured bots patch up their dents, dings and scrapes: saving Ratchet precious time and resources. Ironhide, Jetfire, Ultra Magnas, Hot Rod, Elita, Kup, Warpath, Arcee and the Lambo twins in particular had all taken the heaviest hits, but were otherwise okay. Will and his wife Sarah also stayed to help with the patch-jobs, with Jay-jay, Annabelle and Violet all staying out of trouble by helping to carry the tool boxes and wire-mesh dressings to the mechanics and other NEST troops in the room. After he had his fill of coffee and a mars bar, Epps and few others got to work, and even John and a few of his royal marine buddies stuck around to chip in: while Bishop made himself useful in patching up some bullet holes in Warpath's side, while waiting for Prime to return.
At the same time, inside the computer hub:
"How much longer?" Longrange huffed impatiently,
"Patience... Just putting in the last script as we speak..." Blackshot replied coolly, as she typed away on the terminal, not even looking up from the keyboard, until a red warning window popped up on the monitor, "Okay, the domination's activation codes are in place: once their tripped there's no going back; even I won't be able to stop them..." she turned to face the younger sniper.
Standing a few paces behind them, Coldbore and Shadowstar waited patiently, as Blackshot stepped away from the terminal, and regarded them with a serious look: "You all have your stasis-repel collars?"
They all pointed to the small stasis collars around their necks: she nodded in satisfaction: "Good. Once we get started, we have to be sure no one can move around, and all our weak-points are covered. Coldbore, I want you to remain here and guard the terminal, check all security feeds and comm links: make sure there are no liabilities that could present any problems. If there are, that's what you'll take care of" she glanced at Longrange, "Anyone who doesn't get caught by the stasis fields, kill them"
A smile crept across Longrange's lip plates, as Blackshot turned her attention to Shadowstar, "You'll stay with me, I need someone to cover me while I see to the domination's progress"
"Acknowledged" the sphinx bowed her head,
"Once the stasis fields are activated, we'll work from the terminals in the command center: for the sake of efficiency we have to be swift and forceful: act quickly, before anyone realizes what's up" she told them, "you all have your assignments, so let's get started"
"What about him?" Shadowstar gestured to the door. Stepping outside into the gloom, and being greeted by a pair of glowing red optics, Blackshot frowned skeptically; "Oh yes, nearly forgot about you"
"Oh don't worry about me," the stranger smirked menacingly, "I'm well prepared for what's coming next: and suffice to say, I'm so looking forward to it" he purred as he licked his thick metal lips.
"Overkill is not the aim here: you just need to keep your teammates busy so they can't provide reinforcements" Blackshot frowned,
"On the contrary: overkill is exactly what I want" the stranger growled with disturbing excitement, "I've been very patient in waiting for this day to arrive, I don't intend to let anything come between me and them. By all means, don't wait up for me, you go and have a good time. I know I will"
"Just remember: once the device has detonated, and the planet's surface has been Terra-formed: our 'agreement' is over. You won't have anything left to bargain with" she told him sternly,
"Hey, I got what I wanted: once this is over, I'm gone. You'll never see me again" the stranger turned to leave, "Still, It's been nice working with you..." he waved his tail good-bye...
'...More than you'll ever know...' the stranger thought to himself with an amused grin,
Elsewhere on the base:
Optimus and Majestrix strode down the corridor side by side, each with determination in their optics, not stopping for anyone or anything.
: Are you sure about this? : Majestrix asked him over his encrypted privet comm line, : usually, it's me that comes up with the crazy ideas:
: If what everything you told me is true, we can't take any chances: Prime stated firmly, :...Not with her:
: True, but I've known her far longer than you:
: Do you? : Prime glanced sideways at her with a critical look, : If you didn't see this coming, what else don't you know about her? :
Majestrix's scowl grew bitter, but she didn't look at him, : I don't care, I just want to stop her: she growled.
Before long they reached the command center, striding in and taking everyone by surprise,
"Optimus? Majestrix?" Prowl could tell right away something was wrong,
"Prowl, order everyone across the base to stop what they're doing and put the base back on code red" Optimus ordered,
"What? Why?" Bumblebee frowned in alarm,
"We have a cyber-invasion incursion; Teletran has been hacked!" Majestrix stated in a grave tone.
A cyber-invasion incursion: the very mention of those three words was nothing to take lightly. Without missing a beat, Prowl was already on the open comm frequency, and issuing the necessary orders, : Attention all personnel: this is a code red, we have incurred a cyber-invasion incursion. Teletran-1 has been hacked, I repeat, Teletran-1 has been hacked; all techs and analysts report to your stations and await further orders everyone else, remain on stand-by:
Across the base, everyone jumped into action, though this time they weren't sure what they'd be reacting to specifically. ..
Outside in the open-air hanger, the bots setting up the auxiliary cables paused in their work, and looked at one another in confusion: Sam, Darren and Trailbreaker, who been helping them out, decided to take the initiative. Being closer to the Ark, the ship that housed Teletran's AI core system, Darren decided to be the first to go and help.
"I'm going to see what's up with Teletran!" he called to his guardian as he ran for the ship,
"I'll go see what's up in the command center!" Trailbreaker called back as he ran for the door.
Looking back and forth between the two friends as they ran in opposite directions, Sam couldn't help but worry 'what the hell's going on now?!' he thought.
Up near the entrance to the base: the VW sisters and their charges were helping the clean-up team to clear away the dead con's remains (after all the craziness of this morning, no one was complaining about doing something mundane for once), when the warning came over Bluebird's speakers .
"Teletran-1?" Tangostar suddenly remembered the Autobot's main AI-controlled net: "Isn't his core system kept aboard the Ark?"
Running to the edge of the canyon and gazing down at the Autobot's main ship, they spotted Darren disappearing up the Ark's rear loading ramp. "Think he needs help?" Chelsea thought aloud,
"Dude, a cyber-invasion incursion is nothing to back-fire at" Veebee chipped in with real concern in her voice, "It can only mean something's about to go down"
"Guess we better go and ask the dweeb what's up then?" Roxy frowned,
Looking back over at the clean-up team to make sure they hadn't spotted them running off: the four femmes transformed into their altmode's, allowed their charges to get in, and took off for the canyon wall road, the one that allowed the bots to drive from the top of the canyon, all the way to the bottom.
"What are they up to now?" Bluestreak thought aloud with a suspicious frown, as he watched the VW sisters and their charges go down the canyon road,
"Don't know?" Hailey glanced at her sisters, who shared the same concern, "Let's go and find out"
After transforming and letting his charges take their usual seats inside him, Bluestreak followed after the four sisters, being discreet in maintaining a safe distance.
Back in the command center, everyone was confused: wondering, how could anyone detect a cyber-invasion incursion with no power in any of the computers?
Prowl and Red Alert, along with all the other bots and human techs in the room, were in the process of besieging Prime and Majestrix with questions: when suddenly, both of them froze; with fret reflected in their optics. Seeing this, everyone paused and the room grew quiet; realizing they were staring at the door, everyone glanced over to see Blackshot had entered the room...
It's Blackshot? Was the thought on everyone's minds: where had she been all this time? What's going on? And what was up with Optimus and Majestrix?
Suddenly realizing something was very wrong; the older, more seasoned bots played it cool, and didn't do or say anything: they just stood where they were, ready to take their cues from the Prime and Prima. While at the same time, their weapons systems began to cycle up, in readiness for whatever happened next.
Almost as soon as she had spotted Blackshot walk into the room: Majestrix began forwarding a live stream of her optic feed to Eclipse...
At the same time, down on the base's lower level:
She'd been stalking her quarry for hours now: and nothing about her movements made any sense. Something was definitely wrong...
Deciding to the pit with it, Eclipse made her move: blades drawn in the blink of an eye, she moved with such speed that there was no way her quarry could get out of the way in time. As she thrusted her wrist-blades into Blackshot's back: she was even more alarmed to see the femme wasn't putting up much of a fight; it wasn't even a fatal blow, and as she retracted her blades, she turned Blackshot to face her, and was dismayed to see the dead look in her optics...
...But worst still, there was no energon bleeding from the wounds...
Quickly drawing her plasma gun and blowing the femme's head off, Eclipse gasped when she saw hardly any CPU burst forth from the energy-blast's impact: the helm was empty, save for a few circuits and wires.
"A remote-controlled decoy?!" she gasped in horror,
At that moment, a live feed of her mother's optic-vision came streaming in: showing the real Blackshot standing in the entrance of the command center. Realizing what had happened, Eclipse wasted no time in firing up her engines, and dashing back through the labyrinth of corridors at a near-impossible speed for someone on foot. Desperately trying to remember her way back to the command center...
"STUPID!-" she scolded herself angrily, "SHOULD'VE KNOWN SHE'D DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT!"
At the same time, aboard the Black Solstus:
Listening to all the chatter on the open comm frequency, Morri's gut began to go on alert again: as the tone of Prowl's voice made her stand and listen,
"You don't suppose its Broadsword again, do you?" she worried,
Deathshot glanced down at her with concern: "If it is, they chose a good opportunity: the power's still out and we're still pulling ourselves back together...If you're going to take a shot, you do it when your enemy's got his head turned"
At that moment, Morri suddenly remembered the chip Velocity had given her earlier. Opening her breast pocket and pulling it out, she held it between her finger and thumb, trying to figure out what it was for. Considering the amount of tech crammed into the base, it could be for absolutely anything. But why did Velocity give it to her in first place? That's what Morri couldn't figure out, and as she stared down at the UBS-sized device, she tried to work out the inconsistency in Velocity's actions.
"Oh hey," Deathshot greeted Soundwave, as the communications officer boarded the ship via the broken window in the observation deck, right below the bridge. "My goodness, what a mess" Soundwave stared at the torn up metal plating and destroyed terminals that now lay in pieces, scattered about the damaged floor. With only a few remaining intact enough to still properly function, it was a wonder the ship could still fly at all, considering the flight controls were half-blown away by Longrange's gun-fire.
Allowing his creations out his chest compartment, Soundwave approached the sniper with them in tow, and was about to speak, when suddenly, two more familiar faces flew in through the window, and landed next to them.
"Hey," Thundercracker greeted as he powered his engines down, "We finished the secondary sweep of the area surrounding the dam"
"Whoever shot Jolt is long gone by now, why the slag are we even still looking for a trail?" Skywarp gripped as he folded his wings up, "The ionized aluminum around the dam won't offer anything new"
"Anyway, why're you here?" Thundercracker regarded Soundwave with a strange look.
"I sensed something's off" he glanced around the bridge, "I'm looking for the source of the cause: and I have a feeling it could be bad"
Noticing the chip Morri was holding in her hand, and sensing the memories surrounding how she acquired it: the drones were immediately at her side, and already clued into what she was thinking. "What do you suppose Velocity gave it to you for?" Ravage growled as he sniffed the device.
Reminding herself of the drone's ability to telepathically key into anyone's train of thought in real time, Morri got straight to the point: "That's what I don't get...Unless? ..."
"Her whole twisted hatred of you was a ruse?" Rumble finished for her, "Or perhaps? You were a means to an end, and her feelings about you were no different than before?"
"She gave this to me for a reason" Morri frowned as the cogs in her mind continued to turn, "The question is, what?"
"What's going on?" Deathshot asked offhand as he approached his charge.
"I'm trying to figure out what this could be for..." Morri showed him the chip. Suddenly remembering their conversation in the med-bay, right after the incident in the training room; Deathshot suddenly remembered Blackshot and the coup. "Given the fact she didn't want Blackshot t have it, I'm beginning to wonder if maybe it has something to do with the coup?" Morri added,
"COUP!" Skywarp gawked in alarm: as did Soundwave and Thundercracker, "What coup?!"
'No use keeping it a secret now' Deathshot thought offhand as he quickly forwarded a data-burst of what happened in the corridors of the base's lower level, the training room and med-bay.
"WHAT?! Blackshot's planning to overthrow the base?!" Thundercracker fumed, "-And we're only learning about this now?!"
"Why the slag didn't you guys say anything sooner?!" Skywarp added in equal dismay,
"For a few good reasons," Deathshot glared at him, as if to emphasize the point of how difficult and dangerous the situation was, "One: between the girl and the Broadsword cons, plus the power being cut off, the base's main resources have been stretched. And secondly, we have no idea where Blackshot and her team are; they could be anywhere, and it's not like we have any inklings as to how they're going to pull it off"
"Does Prime know?" Thundercracker pressed him: half annoyed with him for keeping this to himself, and half appreciative of the desperate nature of the situation,
"Why do you think the warning for the cyber-invasion incursion has been issued?" the sniper glanced sideways at him, "If she's hacked Teletran from the inside out, that's the first place to try stop her; after that, it's a matter of locating and apprehending her"
Suddenly remembering Blackshot, and her cold-sparked attitude, Skywarp felt a pang of dread go through his pump: "...Considering it's her? No way is it going to be that easy..."
"I know..." Deathshot bitterly sighed as he dropped his gaze and folded his arms: indeed, given her tactical line of thinking and resourcefulness; Deathshot knew this was probably going to get very difficult...But still ...there was something about what Velocity did that no sense. Frowning in a mix of scepticism and curiosity, Deathshot turned to Morri and asked: "...Did she say anything to you? Right before she was offlined"
"Only, that she called me a clever girl, and right before Blackshot killed her, her 'final words' were six numbers," Morri recalled, "Two five six, three eight seven: in that order I think?"
"A code?" Lazerbeak suggested,
"It has to be; for this maybe?" Morri gazed down at the chip, "Perhaps it's the password to access whatever's on it?"
Gazing around the bridge, Thundercracker's frame of thought was suddenly turned in a slightly different direction: "I don't get it," he frowned, folding his arms, "This whole ship is supposed to be protected by Class-2 force field-shields, so how the slag did Longrange and Coldbore get in here? Technically their still confined to the brig, which means their access codes to the ship were automatically revoked"
Suddenly remembering what happened earlier, Deathshot recalled: "During the fight, I figured we could use the ship's field disrupters to dispatch those shields the cons were putting out: try and level the playing field you know? But right before they stormed the bridge, I was locked out of the system"
"Locked out?" Soundwave frowned in alarm, "But-, you are a member of this ship's crew: that couldn't be possible unless-"
"-Someone locked the system, from outside the ship" Deathshot gazed at him with a knowing look, well aware of what he was implying,
Thundercracker failed to see the point, "I don't get it, how?-"
Soundwave filled him in, "From what I've read of the ship's specs: the bridge's computer systems are completely stand-alone, their online access is highly restricted, and can't be accessed from the outside"
It was then, Skywarp suddenly realized: "But then that means-"
"-Someone already had access to the Black Solstus" Ravage interjected, "...Take a wild guess who,"
An uneasy pause passed between everyone, before Morri thought aloud, "...But if Blackshot did lock you out: why? What purpose would that serve?"
Putting his proverbial thinking cap on for a moment; the only thing that came to mind for Deathshot was: "...The field disrupters scramble all kinds of energies: that's why, if there are any outgoing or incoming signals, the bridge automatically shuts down the communication and scanner arrays"
"Including the ones that link up the ship's online functions?" Soundwave fretted slightly,
"Yes" Deathshot unfolded his arms, "In fact, any two-way connection would be disrupted entirely"
"...She's using the ship to aid her with the coup!" Morri suddenly realized: "I don't know how, but it explains why she locked you out and deactivated the field disrupters"
"There's something else as well," Ravage interjected as he scanned the chip carefully, "The metals that make up the internal components of this device are a metallurgical match to those found here; in other words, this chip is designed to correspond to a device somewhere aboard this ship"
Deathshot blinked in surprise, "Which one?"
"I don't know?" the panther drone turned to Morri, "Plug it into your CTG and find out"
Activating the jack-ports on the inner side of her CTG, Morri plugged the chip in, and waited as the software was initiated and booted up.
"Before we go any further with this, there's something I think you need to know..." Ravage stated in serious tone, before turning to look up at his creator, and nearly jumped with alarm as he saw the look on his face. Turning to see what had alarmed the drone, the three flyers were concerned to see the intense look of alarm and confusion on Soundwave's face, as well as the thousand mile stare in his visor...
"Hey? You okay?" Thundercracker asked offhand, placing a hand on his shoulder,
"...Something's happening in the command center..." Soundwave frowned, as he telepathically tuned into the minds of everyone in said place...
As the three bot's concentrated on Soundwave, Morri's attention was suddenly distracted by a beeping noise: it was her CTG, the chip's software had been activated, and an alarm was going off. Studying the data on the holographic screen, she realized the chip had only activated an alarm system; the beeping noise was coming from somewhere else in the room.
In the far corner of the bridge, on one of the few terminals that were still largely intact, a small red light flashed rhythmically on the underside of the console. From the bots point of view, the light was so dim and far enough back from the edge that no one would've been able to spot it from above. But for a five foot, two inch tall human like Morri that could see the underside of the console, it was fairly noticeable.
At the same time, in the command center:
"...What are you doing here Blackshot?" Optimus ordered frankly, keeping his tone clam and his emotions in check, "And where have you been this entire time?"
The other Autobots continued to watch in silence; what was going on?
"I apologize for my absence Prime" Blackshot stated in a deliberate nonchalant tone, "Things have been pretty hectic today; hard to tell what's going on with the power offline"
"True. But you didn't answer my question," Optimus frowned, "...Where have you been? ..."
Blackshot didn't reply at first: she glanced at Majestrix, and the look in her optics told her everything...She knew... not much point in beating about the bush then: except...
"Ensuring the base is secure sir," Blackshot coolly replied, "We don't want to take any chances: that the enemy might still be hanging around in the vicinity, do we?"
Though no one could understand what was going on, the tension in the room was rising with every second that passed: and in the pit of his stomach, Glen could tell something was about to go down. Keeping one eye on Blackshot, and another on the space behind one of the huge bot-sized computers: he slipped out of his chair, and snuck in through the gap as quietly and discreetly as possible; praying she hadn't spotted him.
At the same time, aboard the Black Solstus:
While the bots pressed Soundwave for more details as to what was going on: Morri wandered over to the console, and next to the flashing red light, a small jack-port had opened up. It looked like the right size and shape for the chip to fit into, and deciding to find out if that was the case, she unplugged the chip from her CTG, climbed up the raised paneling on the front side of the console, and with her one free hand, reached up to plug the chip into the jack-port.
All at once, the metal panels that made up the console shifted and fell apart, causing Morri to lose her grip, as the whole terminal and wall behind it, transformed into a door.
"What the-?" Soundwave snapped out of his funk, and stared wide-eyed at the door,
As she got back up on her feet, Morri took a cautious step forward, and the door suddenly slid open. "...D," she breathed in astonishment, "Did you know about this?"
"...No..." the sniper shook his head in utter dismay. This totally made no sense; this ship had been his home for the better part of thirty thousand years. He knew every millimeter of it by spark: there wasn't a single secret compartment or room, or concealed door or weapon he didn't know about. So how come there's a secret room adjacent to the bridge, he didn't know about?
Reaching down to scoop Morri up off the floor, Soundwave tentatively stepped inside, holding her close in one hand.
Inside, the small room was long and narrow, and parallel to the bridge, facing away from the central core system controls. At the end of the room was a large sophisticated-looking terminal, with a bot-sized swivel chair in front of it.
"A secret terminal? ..." Soundwave thought aloud as he sat himself down, and placed Morri down on the front of the console: the two seekers stepped inside to get a look, standing at Soundwave's back, while the drones stayed at their side. Deathshot however, was still shocked at the fact there was a secret terminal here on the bridge, and was still staring at the opening in dismay and incredibility...
As he typed away on the terminal's console, accessing the system; Soundwave was totally taken aback at what he found: "This-...is unbelievable!"
"What is it?" Morri pressed him; as she watched various streams of data scroll down the huge screen, while numerous windows popped open on the desktop,
"It looks like an entire net system: one that's linked up to the ship's systems from every possible 'back door'. Data-processing, memory-storage, life-support, weapons systems, the works: but at the same time, is disguised to look like part of the general functions software. In other words, a multi-backdoor hacking programme that covertly copies and collects data on everything that goes on aboard this ship: and stores it in this terminal"
"Blackshot's been spying on this ship and everyone in it?" Skywarp leaned in closer, still somewhat at a loss of what to think of all this,
"Yes, and from the amount of data accumulated, I'd say she's been doing this a very long time" Soundwave replied. As he scrolled through the near endless streams of data, something caught his optic: a file titled 'operation: favored selection'; clicking the file in question, a long list of Autobot names suddenly appeared. He didn't recognize any of them, except one...
Deathshot
"What's operation favored selection?" Morri gazed up at the screen: a cold pang of dread running down her spine,
Clicking on Deathshot's name: the file opened into a video player; with the recorded data-stream of someone's optic feed...
Clicking the play icon; the first minute depicted a chaotic war-zone in a cybertronian city of some kind: explosions thundered and fires raged out of control everywhere. With strange giant glistening spires and towers stretching high up into the sky, being shot and destroyed by cybertronian jets: and all around were the panicked electronic screams of cybertronians as gunfire roared and echoed all around; all fading in and out of thick black smoke.
"Iacon," Thundercracker recognized the cityscape, "This must have been the first week of the invasion: right after the defense shields were destroyed"
The video continued, and the cybertronian in question was running down a long dark tunnel: the thundering of the explosions growing fainter the deeper they ran, until finally, they emerged into a long corridor of huge reinforced bunkers. Running to the door at the very end, they knocked twice (their hand not visible in the shot: and not once did they speak or could even be heard to be flushing air through their vents), and the door swung open with a deep grinding creek, to reveal a beautiful femme in red and sky blue armor.
Morri's heart suddenly skipped a beat, as she recognized the femme's face: "That's!-
Speaking in her native cybertronian, the femme seemed to recognize the mystery cybertronian, as she invited her in with a welcoming smile, "Oh it's you! I was wondering when you'd be back," She gestured over to the corner of the small bunker, where a small female sparkling sat on a berth, watching the stranger approach closer...
The femme turned to her child, "It's alright sweet-spark, we're going to be okay now" she assured her with a smile: before turning to address the stranger...
The stranger's arm came into view with a laser gun firmly gripped in their hand. For a split second, the femme stared at them in confusion, before the stranger pulled the trigger, and shot the femme in the neck and shoulder twice...
She fell to the floor, fear, shock and horror reflected in her dazzling blue optics, before the stranger turned the gun on the sparkling, and fired six times...
Finally, when it seemed like this nightmare-made-real couldn't get any more horrifying, the stranger pointed the gun back to the femme, who by now was sobbing uncontrollably, at having witnessed the death of her only child. The stranger flicked a switch on the side of the weapon, and as they aimed the weapon down at her, she looked them dead in the optics...
For that one moment: between the flick of the switch and the pulling of the trigger, time seemed to loosen into the longest, most harrowing experience anyone could ever witness; as the femme looked her murderer in the optics. Pleading for mercy, begging for compassion, the incredibility of this vile heinous act, all reflected in the horror and disbelief of her gaze. A gaze that held the unbearable knowledge that she wasn't going to live; and as her optics glazed over as the life left them, something resembling a deep regret seemed to flash through them...
The stranger pulled the trigger; energon and metal exploded everywhere as the resounding bang from the gun echoed around the small bunker; as quickly as the attack begun, it was over just as swiftly...
The stranger studied the room and it's now dead occupants, as if to check to make sure their work had been properly done. They then turned, and headed for the door, without a single word being uttered...
Soundwave paused the video, and held his head in his hands. Unable to fully comprehend, what he just witnessed. Behind him, the seekers stood there in silent shock: taken aback by the brutality and cold-sparked nature of the murders. While down on the floor, the drones own horror resounded with their creator's; but it was Morri, who was the worst affected...
Her whole body felt like it was going seize up and quit on her: she fell to her knees as she pitched forward, her hands clasped tightly over her mouth to hold back the unrestrained cries that threaten to overwhelm her: tears streamed down her face as her stomach turned with vile disgust, and felt like it was going to drop right out of her butt; and all the while her mind screamed in anguish and horror; hoping and praying this wasn't real. Her mental anguish was reaching such an unbearable level, that it shocked Soundwave out of his own horrified stupor, and forced him to focus on her: as he generally grabbed her, and held her steady...
"Morri..." he genially shook her, trying to grab her attention and make sense of her panicking mind, "You know this femme?!" he demanded in shock: of all the scattered thoughts racing through her mind: that was the one that was resounding the most.
"Who is she?" Thundercracker pressed her in a fluster,
Trying to pull herself together, Morri gasped for breath, as she desperately tried to calm herself enough to speak coherently: "...R-R-Rosestar and Starlight," she sobbed, wiping the tears from her eyes: "Deathshot's sparkmate and daughter!" she pitched forward again as another sob brought a fresh wave of tears.
"What?!" Skywarp gasped in horror,
"...No way..." Thundercracker breathed in shock.
"Who's optic feed is this?!" she sobbed: her horror turning to anger, "WHO'S IS IT?!"
"-I don't know! It-" Soundwave fumbled at the console, as he clicked the play icon and the rest of the video continued. As the stranger turned for the door, a dark shape moved across the screen for a split second-
"-STOP!" Morri shouted, and Soundwave pressed the pause icon, "Rewind that last bit, that was a reflection I think?"
Soundwave rewound the last few seconds of footage: played it, slowed it right down, and paused it. Indeed, it was a reflection of the stranger's face, caught in a small piece of polished metal that was part of the wall paneling; it wasn't big, but it showed enough to properly make out their face...
And the face in question: was Blackshot's...
Everyone stared at the screen in abject shock.
"...Blackshot?..." Skywarp breathed in disbelief: he knew she was cold: but this?
"Blackshot-, killed Deathshot's family?!" Thundercracker stared at the screen in a daze.
Catching her breath, Morri turned to say something to the seeker: but froze in terror with a sharp inhale, when she saw who was standing behind him...
Suddenly: the drones began to hiss and growl loudly at something behind them, snapping Soundwave and the seekers back to reality. Turning to see what was causing the aggravation; the three flyers froze when the saw it was Deathshot standing there...
"Deathshot! Calm yourself!" Ravage growled pleadingly as he arched his back: his neck, shoulder and back spikes raised like hackles.
"Come on mech! Don't do this!" Buzzsaw hissed as he unfolded his wings, trying to make himself look as big and intimidating as possible.
It wasn't that he looked angry: or that his wings and engines were vibrating with rage: it was the blank dead expression upon his face, which was most unsettling. As Deathshot stood there, he stared intently at the terminal in a dazed stupor: his mind caught between the horror of this discovery, and the lie he had believed to be true all these years: and between the two; a deep and terrible rage began to boil up; reflected in his one optic.
Morri could see it: that rage and incredulous horror, she could see it in his optic. She understood why, but it didn't make it any less terrifying to see.
To Soundwave, it was a terrible thing to experience: as he stretched his telepathy between trying to keep his drones calm and measured: as they too could sense the unbridled rage welling up within the sniper; and trying to reach out for Crystalwing and her family to warn them of what's just happened. Throughout his bond and theirs, the fear and shock reverberated like a pain induced by unbearably loud fingernails on a blackboard.
At the same time, in the med-bay:
"GHAA!-" Twilightveil pitched over forward sharply, as if she'd just been kicked in the pump.
Around the med-bay, her siblings had the same reaction, as they abruptly stopped what they were doing, and stood there in a mix of fear and shock: trying desperately to flush air through their vents and try to catch their proverbial breaths.
"Twilight!-" Jazz rushed to stop her from falling over, "What's wrong kiddo?!"
"...D-Deathshot!-" was all she could gasp, as energon tears streamed down her fair face: "Oh Primus no!"
At the same time, in the command center:
Crystalwing stood there in shock,
As Soundwave relayed everything telepathically: shock gave way to disbelief, disbelief gave way to horror, and horror, gave way to outrage...
"You killed them? ..." she blurted out unconsciously,
Everyone turned to stare at her, even Blackshot didn't understand what she just meant by that,
Seeing the look on her faceplates, Majestrix and Optimus could tell something was wrong,
"What? Who killed who?" Prowl demanded,
"Crystal' what's wrong?" Majestrix pleaded,
Crystalwing gazed at Blackshot, and couldn't believe this was the same femme she'd fought alongside all these years; this femme, who'd saved her life more times than she could count, had committed the unspeakable, against a fellow Autobot, and friend...
"Rosestar and Starlight" Crystalwing gasped, as her anger began to boil,
The expression on Blackshot's face froze.
Majestrix recognized those names, and realized immediately what this was about: much to her own alarm...
"-YOU WERE THE ONE WHO KILLED THEM?!" Crystalwing screamed in outrage.
Everyone glanced at Blackshot in shock and confusion. But the femme's cold unflinching expression remained: as she stared at Crystalwing in a mild sense of disappointment.
From where he hid behind the computers, Glen's own fear began to turn into panic, as he discreetly activated the open comm on his CTG...
At the same time, aboard the Black Solstus.
: Hey! Can anyone hear me?!- : Glen's panic voice whispered fretfully over the comm,
Everyone stilled as they listened,
:-I don't know what the hell's going on, but Blackshot's in the command center-
Deathshot's glare shot to the communications console,
-And Crystalwing just accused her of killing someone! Someone better get in here and back up the boss bot right now! I got a real bad feeling about this! :
Before Glen had even finished his sentence, Deathshot fired up his engines, and took off out of the bridge in a thunderous roar: making a beeline for the open-air hanger doors.
"DEATHSHOT!-" Morri screamed as the blast of hot air from his engines knocked her off the console,
"-GET AFTER HIM!" Soundwave ordered the seekers frantically, as he caught Morri right before she hit the floor head first.
Thundercracker and Skywarp were after the sniper like a shot; terrified at what he'd do if he got to the command center first. : ATTENTION! WHOEVER'S IN THE COMMAND CENTER LOCK IT DOWN NOW! DEATHSHOT'S COMING AND HE'S ANGRY LIKE YOU WOULDN'T BELIEVE!- : Skywarp frantically shouted over the open comm.
At the exact same time:
As she came speeding down the corridor, Eclipse's pump nearly seized as she tried to wrap her mind around what she just heard over the open comm; but before she had a chance to mentally push it to one side and concentrate on apprehending Blackshot: the angry thunderous roar of Deathshot's engines told her something bad was about to go down, and all she could do, was hope and pray she got to the command center before he did...
As she rounded the corner and spotted the command center: Deathshot appeared at the opposite end of the corridor, flying through the air at a ridiculous speed with the tips of his wings and tail fins scrapping the concrete walls, sending sparks flying into the air.
Gunning her engines for all their worth, Eclipse tried to beat him as he flew right for the command center doors, but their speeds were evenly matched. Thus, they both ended up at the entrance at the exact same time.
"DEATHSHOT PLEASE! DON'T-"she lunged for him as she tried to restrain him, but his anger had him so riled up that he knocked her hard to one side with hardly any effort, and with an angry grunt, he shoved the doors open-
Inside, he barely got one foot in, when Blackshot turned and promptly shot him in the face in a laser blaster; in the blink on an eye the bots drew their weapons, but she was much too fast, as she incapacitated them all with one shot each to the shoulders or chests. Being the nearest to her, both Optimus and Majestrix rushed to tackle her...
In that one second they lunged at her: time slowed as the whole dizzying scenario suddenly spun on its head; the lights suddenly came on, the computers and terminals suddenly came back to life, and in all the corners of the rooms, the security cameras suddenly collapsed and transformed into stasis-field emitters.
All at once, the room lit up with a pale blue glow, as a stasis field blanketed the bots in energy, and caused them all to collapse to the floor. The human's at the far end of the room took cover beneath one of the consoles, avoiding the field's line of sight: and managed to let off a round of shots with their own handguns. But Blackshot was quick to stop them, as she approached the console, bent down, and promptly killed all of them with a single shot to the head each.
From where he hid behind the giant computers: Glen clasped his hands over his mouth to stop himself from crying out; and trying to keep it together, moved further along behind the machines: shielded from the stasis field.
All across the base, the security cameras in every room and every corridor simultaneously transformed into stasis-field emitters, and trapped every bot where they were in a state of paralysis. In addition, the emergency lock-down doors all slammed down, sealing off key sections of the corridors and certain rooms and hangers.
But not everyone was so easy to trap.
In the rec-room: the bots shielded their human friends from the energy field as Ironhide fought through the pain to activate his cannons, and fire at two emitters in one half of the room, at the same time, Jetfire and Ultra Magnas managed to shoot the other two, cutting out the field and eliminating the danger; but the armored doors at both ends of the room were sealed shut. Trapping them all inside.
Aboard the Ark, Darren and his cousins, along with the Waineright sisters, were trapped as the door to the Ark's central system core slammed shut; The VW sister's and Bluestreak, who'd been patiently waiting outside, frantically banged on the doors in an attempt to try and get at them. While outside, chaos broke out as the security cameras now-turned stasis emitters surrounding the hanger trapped every bot where they stood: but not before they valiantly shielded the NEST personnel. Crawling along the ground with them underneath, getting them to the underside of the Ark and Omega Supreme: before they collapsed from the paralysis-inducing energy; their human friends, watching on helplessly, unable to help...
Aboard the Black Solstus, every console that was still functional, suddenly flashed red and locked down, before stasis energy suddenly filled the whole bridge. Fighting through the pain, Soundwave quickly recalled his drones into his chest compartment, before grabbing Morri and stuffing her inside too. As the stasis field grew more and more, the short distance to the observation deck's broken window suddenly turned into, what felt like a hard trudge through sharp blades and burning shrapnel, as Soundwave fought back the pain that threatened to engulf his whole body. As he fell to the floor, he could hear his drones crying for him to get back up, even Morri was banging her fists against the inside of his chest compartment: yelling at him to get up and get out.
He tried so hard to fight the pain, and just when it seemed like his body was about to give out, Soundwave suddenly felt two sets of strong hands under his arms, lift him up, and struggle towards the observation deck. Glancing to his left, he saw Thundercracker struggling to stand up, while to his right, Skywarp struggled to keep pace: both held the communications officer firmly, as they made it to the window, activated their flight systems, and took off out of the ship.
On the airbase some distance away: the humans were trying to figure out what was going on, as they tried and failed to get in touch with the command center; when suddenly, a strange resounding vibration coming from the ground suddenly caught their attention...
One of the flight engineers approached the approximate source of the rumbling, and nearly jumped out of his skin when the sand and dust exploded upwards in a tall plume. After coughing the dust out of his throat, the engineer gawked at the deep hole in surprise, before recognizing the familiar face peering out of it.
"You again?!" he huffed in annoyance, "You ain't allowed to be digging yo' holes near the tarmac, remember?!"
O_O ...
Stay tuned...is all I can say...
Don't forget to R&R before clicking out, okay? :)