Author's Notes: Trying a slightly new way of formatting chapters (I've been influenced by Bibliotecaria.D's very professional looking presentation). I think I'm also going to end each episode with an Author's section to wrap up loose plot ends and give some insight into why I had certain things happen as they did. A few shout-outs to my wonderful readers and reviewers won't hurt either. :D
I took a little break for Mother's Day (we moms enjoy a day of rest every so often). Back to the action!
*.*.*.*.*
Chapter 10
*.*.*.*.*
The fusion cannon on the end of Megatron's arm gave off wisps of fuscia-colored plasma vapors after the discharge of several weapon bursts. The door remained sealed, though the exterior bore fresh new char marks, the metal fading from cherry red to gray as the heat dissipated.
"Reinforced door?" Airachnid asked.
"Of course," Megatron replied. "How else was I to recharge soundly?"
"Well, we won't be able to blast our way out. I guess that just leaves the ventilation systems. I'm probably the only one on this ship small enough to fit into them," the spider said. "Give me a boost?" she asked.
The room was nearly pitch black, only the power lines and alt-form lighting systems of the two bots in the room providing any light. The power had gone out and the doors sealed, and neither had been able to raise communications. The only message they had received was the same clip of an Earth video like everyone else. It wasn't a good sign.
Holding Airachnid by the waist, the Decepticon leader raised her to the ceiling; she unfastened the grate on the ventilation system, and using her webbing, pulled herself up into the shaft. "I'll see if I can get out and get the door open from the outside. If nothing else, I'll find out what's going on."
"Exercise caution, Airachnid. This smells of revolt," Megatron warned, concerned for the spider's safety.
"I thought the same," she replied as she steeled herself into focused mindset of a hunter. "You can at least count on me to fight at your side. If I had planned ill for you, you'd have known it long before this sudden power outage."
Megatron smirked. "Indeed. But what of the Insecticons? I know now you have no control over Kickback other than familial sentiment."
"Which is stronger than you think," Airachnid said pointedly. "The Insecticons are still at your side."
"You hope," Megatron retorted gently. "Kickback and his hive think of you as their mother, but would they now think as well of me as you? Our bond does not guarantee Kickback will accept me as some sort of father."
Airachnid chuckled sweetly at the mech's naivete`. It was to be expected to a degree; how could one mech understand the views each individual in his vast army held towards him? "Then you know him less than you think. When he was just a youngling, you were the closest thing to a father he had. There may be more loyalty yet than you know."
It did come as something of a surprise to him that anyone in the Decepticons could look to him in that way, but he had to consider that he had always worked with grown mechs - not children. A small part of him hoped that Kickback still had some positive feeling for him. He was going to need help bringing his monsters to heel. "Primus speed, Airachnid."
"Thank you," she whispered appreciatively before disappearing into the ductwork.
...
"LET ME GO YOU INSUFFERABLE WRETCHES!" Starscream shrieked, writhing against his bonds while lying on the walkway of the command center. "I WILL TEAR OUT YOUR SPARKS FOR THIS!"
The Air Commander was quickly silenced by a sharp, brutal kick to the head from a tank-alt Vehicon.
"Y'know, that wasn't a terribly smart thing to say," a rotorcraft Vehicon, marked with three red bars painted across his Decepticon insignia, said as he crouched down near Starscream, who was leaking from a tear in his facial mesh. "How long did you guys think you were gonna be able to keep beating and killing us every time you had a temper tantrum? Didn't you think we'd get sick of it after awhile?" He stood up and moved away from Starscream, just in case the Seeker had any tricks in mind. "The "glorious" Decepticon revolution? Don't make me laugh. You just wanted to trade one corrupt prime for another."
The shock of that statement hit Starscream like a bucket of ice water. "Wait - why would you think that?!" he gasped. "We were trying to take power back from the Autobots who wanted to control Cybertron for themselves!" That had always been the propaganda line. That had always been what they told the warborn Decepticons; the Vehicons had been one of the last waves of Cybertronians sparked before the Allspark ejected - and their had not been so numerous as the wave of Autobots that were the last generation.
"We read the book," said a tanker Vehicon, the tesla coils on his shoulders sizzling with energy.
The book? What did they mean by -
The seeker's optic lenses shrunk and his mouth opened in horrified realization. The book. Megatron's book. They must have found a copy and suddenly thought themselves an oppressed lower class! Certainly if you looked objectively at their situation they were right, but this was a conquering army, there had to be order in the ranks, discipline, sacrificing the pawns at the front lines to achieve victory - it was sound military strategy! How could they simply turn aside after all these vorns just from reading a book?
Immediately Megatron's words echoed in his processes: If I must personally take each Cybertronian by the neck and crush them until they at last rise against me, learn to fight, learn never to be yoked by an oppressor again, so be it!
It was happening. By the Allspark, it was happening.
...
Motormaster dropped to the floor, vents flared open to the full, sucking in ragged gusts of cold air and spluttering out heat mingled with mists of energon from internal injuries. He tried to force himself back onto his feet, his gears grinding and the metal of damaged joints creaking ominously, before his limbs trembled and gave out. Wildrider and Dead End had been knocked into stasis lock by the heavy blows of tank vehicons, while the sniper rotorcraft Vehicons had shot out Motormaster's hands and joints, crippling him. Shockwave was being bound, his optic shattered in one clean shot, the thick cable to his fusion cannon split in two. Drag Strip refused to leave his side and he had commanded her not to fight, not to risk their generating sparkling. He had shielded her with his larger frame until they had been surrounded.
When did the Vehicons ever get this good, or this organized? When did they ever fight this hard? Shockwave did not understand it. The sudden blackout in the mess hall followed by the broadcast made no sense to him. He could not determine who had caused the rebellion with communications down, though he strongly suspected Starscream had perhaps persuaded the Vehicons to turn on the Decepticon officers in a strategic coup.
"The ship's secure," one of the femme cycle Vehicons said to someone entering the room. Blind, Shockwave could not tell who the Vehicon could be speaking to. He waited, expecting to hear Starscream's voice.
"Casualties?" asked a female voice. Wait - could that be -?
"Few, fortunately. We were prepared to make sacrifices but the vast number of us are alive thanks to you," the Vehicon said again. "We owe you our lives and freedom, Shiftlock."
"All I did was give you a history lesson. You saved yourselves," the Wrecker said.
"Shockwave was actually protecting the Stunticon," the gruff voice of a tanker Vehicon reported.
Shiftlock looked surprised. That was not what she recalled from all the battles the Wreckers had with him on Cybertron. He would sooner have sacrificed everyone in an installation than let himself ever be taken. Self-sacrifice had not been part of his observable modus operandi. The McLaren walked closer to the bowed purple mech and the yellow femme clinging tightly, protectively to him.
"What gives?" she questioned suspiciously. "It's not like you to give a scrap about other Decepticons, Shockwave."
"Leave him alone!" Drag Strip shouted angrily. "He's my mate. He was trying to protect me!"
Shift had to blink several times before that finished computing. "Did you just say "mate"?"
"She is correct," Shockwave stated. His voice was tremulous as he continued, "She is my mate. I beg of you, do not harm her. She is sparked."
Shiftlock stared blankly at Shockwave. Shockwave has a mate? Shockwave is begging for her life? Her sparkling might be Shockwave's- ERROR. Does not compute. Divide by zero. Brain dot exe has generated a production fault and the system will shut down. Rebooting system.
A red Vehicon nudged Shiftlock. "Pssst. You're the ranking officer of this rebellion. Your call."
The femme shook her head, getting her processes back online. "Right. Thanks Dave."
"When we get loose you're gonna regret you ever came out of the well!" Motormaster snarled. A tanker Vehicon abruptly slugged him across the mouth, silencing the huge brute.
"Look, we're in control of this ship right now. We control the power core, the door systems, communication lines, even the navigation systems in the control center of the ship. Every officer and Insecticon is either neutralized or locked down without possibility of escape," Shiftlock explained, hands on her hips. "You want me to go Prowl on you? The tactically wise thing to do right now would be to just start lining you all up and executing you DJD-style. I don't think even Prime would chew me out for ending the war like that - bring home the Nemesis with a cargo bay full of gunmetal gray Decepticon elites."
"But I don't transform and roll out that way. I don't kill sparked femmes - I know some Wreckers that would have no problem pulling banana boat's spark out and smashing it in their hands just to let Shockwave hear her scream, as repayment for all the horror he's inflicted on other Wreckers - but I'm not gonna do that. Revenge is just too damn easy, and all it does is breed more revenge."
Shiftlock looked to Dave. "Tell Skippy on the bridge to open up communications on the ship and see if we can get Autobot HQ on the line. I want all the Cons in on this little conference call. We're reopening hostage negotiations with Megatron - on my terms."
So apparently in the Transformers Prime game there are further Vehicon frame types besides ground-type, car-jet and the silver-gray Seeker types: There are also Tankers (which haul energon like gasoline trucks), Tanks and Helicopter types as well. I also saw a fascinating fan-made female Vehicon motorcycle-frame design that was just too cool not to include. Female Vehicons for the win. :)
Next chapter should be the finale for this episode - with a new episode starting soon after. I need to go back and finish Brat!; I had a bit of writer's block on it, but I think I can get back to it now.
