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[Chapter Nine: Access Granted. Displaying Contents.]
. . . . .
"Sources are confirmed, Sir. The scan data has been caught from multiple sensors," Greenlight explained, fingers dancing across the input board. A loop of video played over and over on the large holographic display: Insecticons suddenly stopping in mid-motion, then becoming erratic, falling over, convulsing, and most of all, screaming.
"And this has never happened before?" Ultra Magnus asked, arms folded, staring intently at the display.
"No, and we've been here since the launch of the Ark," Greenlight explained, turning partway around in her seat to look at the others behind her. "We know they're connected through some kind of hive-mind, it's what allows them to function as a super-organism, with one of the three evolved Insecticons acting as the control and brain of the swarm, but we've never seen this happen. The only conclusion I can offer is that something happened to one of the Trine."
"They've been operating the swarm without Shockwave for some time now," Elita-One said to the members of Team Prime gathered in the communications center of the Iacon base, "but even when he was present on Cybertron, we never observed them having this sort of collective seizure."
"Which means that Shockwave must be back on Cybertron," Arcee stated firmly. "We saw him drag Starscream away from the Omega Lock platform on the Nemesis after Megatron was destroyed, and the ship logs indicated that an escape pod had been launched afterwards."
"Are you absolutely certain it's Shockwave?" Socket asked Arcee. "We know that he has not been working entirely alone on Cybertron. He has a handful of assistants, as well as Predacon warriors."
"Wait, there are Predacons on Cybertron? As in, alive and active?" Bumblebee questioned, optic ridges raised in surprise.
It was Elita's turn to join in that surprise. "You know of the Predacons?"
"Yeah, we slagged a scrapton of them back on Earth," Wheeljack explained from his position against the back wall, leaning against it, arms folded. "But Ol' Shockers had one really big one that gave us trouble."
"Predaking," Bulkhead continued, finishing Wheeljack's thought. Ultra Magnus, somber, looked at the prosthetic claw that had once been his hand, lost in a battle with the Cybertronian dragon.
"Looks like he hedged his bets," Chromia added, joining in the conversation. "He kept some Predacons here, and sent others to Earth - but that still doesn't explain what happened to the Insecticons just now, or if what happened was because of Shockwave."
"Right," Greenlight nodded. "We can't rule out the possibility that Shockwave is here on Cybertron, and if Megatron is dead, that just means he has free rein to carry out whatever his own plans are. He isn't going to stop just because the Decepticon army has fallen. He's always been quietly building his own."
"Pfft. We'll stop him, just like we did Megatron," Smokescreen confidently stated, smile on his faceplate.
"You haven't fought him as long as we have," Slug rumbled. "He is no easy foe. Not even the Wreckers - not even us - could dig him out of his nest, or stop his minions completely. Do not be overconfident."
"Slug is right to be cautious," Optimus Prime stated at last, having listened to his friends and comrades, contemplating the information before him, and then opting to speak. "Shockwave is a brilliant scientist, but he was also once a leader on Cybertron. If anyone were to revive the Decepticons, it would be him, but we need more information before we can act. We have to be certain Shockwave is here on Cybertron - that he intends to threaten the peace - and we need to find out why the Insecticon swarm suddenly suffered a mass malfunction."
"If Shockwave is attempting to continue in Megatron's footsteps, we will need to be cautious with Knock Out," Socket advised. She shook her head and vented, worry creeping up into her features. "Now I wish I hadn't sent Shiftlock out with him to look for Moonracer."
"Eh, Shifty's more than capable of handlin' that two-bit dirt-kisser," Swoop reassured Socket confidently. "Th' Boss taught her how to fight like a gladiator."
"Speaking of your boss, where is Grimlock?" Elita-One asked, noticing the Dinobot's total absence from the room.
. . . . .
ONE HOUR BEFORE:
"Well that's new," Springer mused from his position inside the cell, watching the Insecticon drones outside twitching and seizing up on the walkway outside their prison. "Maybe it's time for us to finally bust out of here."
"Not just yet," Alpha Trion admonished, jotting down a few more notes into the book on his lap with an ancient stylus-like object in his right hand.
"What, you mean we're just gonna wait around for Shockwave to-"
"I SERVE NO ONE BUT MYSELF!"
Springer took a step back as the voice thundered through the open structure of the prison inside the Hydrax Plateau. He frowned. "Someone's down there." He went to the very edge of the cell, as far as he could without coming into contact with the forcefield, which would electrocute him into stasis lock if he did. "I can't quite make out what they're saying - there's two of them, a mech and a femme." He turned to look at the elder Cybertronian. "We don't have time to wait around taking notes, Trion. This could be our only ticket out of here."
"Patience is a virtue," Alpha Trion stated, persisting in his work.
"Look, someone could be in trouble down there!" Springer protested, unhappy with being held back from what he considered his duty.
"What is happening below is destiny," the elder Cybertronian politely but firmly declared.
Springer scowled and turned back towards the cell door, trying hard to see what was going on down below. The design of the prison made it almost impossible. "You mean it's destiny that someone might be getting killed down there?" was the triple-changer's acid retort.
"We are all destined to see the end of our lives one day," Alpha Trion calmly replied.
Thrashing violently, one of the Insecticon swarmers suddenly flung itself into the forcefield of the Autobots' cell. A white-hot burst of plasma exploded outwards from the field, cooking the swarmer into a blackened, smoldering husk. The field generator shorted out, leaving only the bars of the cell to contain the prisoners.
Springer kicked open the door to the cell, shattering the lock and banging the door loudly against the other side of the bars. He turned to the older mech and flashed him a victorious smile. "I don't know about you, but I've got better things to do tonight than die."
. . . . .
THE PRESENT:
"Where'd you pick up that slick alt-form?" Shiftlock asked Knock Out as they sped across the Kalis Freeway towards the Badlands far to the south of Iacon, both in vehicle mode.
"On Earth," Knock Out answered, very pleased with the praise heaped on his vehicle mode choice. "It's called an "Aston Martin". Despite the fact that the planet is populated with inconsequential, irritating organic creatures, they do know how to make a fine automobile."
"I'll say," Shiftlock agreed, lowering her tone as she continued, "When I saw you transform I kinda wanted to... well..."
The red mech was now highly intrigued, driving a little closer alongside the orange and black speeder. "Go on," he coyly encouraged. Okay, so she was no high-caste courtesan, but who was he to turn down a free lap around the track?
"I kinda wanted to lick your seats," Shiftlock hastily blurted out with an almost creepy eagerness.
Knock Out drove back onto the road.
"OK, that was bawdy even by Decepticon standards," Knock Out coughed, trying to mentally compose himself.
Shiftlock just laughed. "Wow, I didn't think I'd make you lose control of your own steering wheel!"
Knock Out grunted, disapproving. "You can't just go making comments like that! Especially when a mech is driving!"
"And why not?" Shiftlock asked, still in high spirits from her minor 'victory'.
Knock Out revved his engines, zooming ahead and sliding into the center of the road, transforming out of drive; Shiftlock's response time was in nanokliks as she braked heavily and transformed a short distance away from him, looking puzzled as to the sudden stop. "Look," he began, exasperated, "It's just not very -" He paused, searching for the right words as the younger female walked over to him. "- not very femme."
Shiftlock's optical ridges raised before sinking lower into a mild, questioning frown, smirking. "So?" she rebuffed curtly. "Like it matters out here. Bein' a femme doesn't mean anything. The only thing that matters out here," she said, gesturing with one hand towards the rusty, ruined surroundings, "is whether or not you can kick aft and live to see another day."
"It's not going to stay that way forever," Knock Out admonished. "Things are changing, and there will be more Cybertronians coming back from all over the galaxy, trying to make their home here. You're not going to be able to keep living like - like a dinobot!"
The femme suddenly scowled. "What's wrong with being a dinobot!?" she snarled, instantly furious. "You could only HOPE to be HALF as good as ANY of them!"
"Do you have horns?" Knock Out asked Shiftlock, folding his arms across his chest, unperturbed by her anger.
The question took Shiftlock offguard. She blinked and her scowl softened as she squinted at the red mech, as if she wasn't sure her audioceptors were working right. "What?"
"Do you have horns?" Knock Out continued. "Do you breathe fire? Do you walk on all fours, or maybe fly around on wings?" he pressed, driving his point home, leaning in closer to Shiftlock and getting her face.
"I -" the femme's words died in her throat, her mouth opening and closing, but failing to produce a rebuttal.
"Oh that's right; you aren't. You're not a dinobot, you're a speeder. You're not a mech, you're a femme," the former Decepticon continued, "and there is going to come a point in your life when you're going to need to start acting like it! If you keep carrying on like you were drug out of some junkyard you're going to end up isolating yourself from everyone else, and despite how completely obnoxious you are, I feel like you deserve a fair warning before it all crashes in on you!" He turned his back to her, sparing himself from what he was just sure would be leaking lubricant and pathetic sobbing. He hated to be harsh on such a young femme, but by the Pit, someone had to set her straight; much as he hated to even consider it, he was beginning to see why the guilds and caste systems had been imposed, unfair as they had become. Little femmes shooting their mouths off and talking like Combaticons on shoreleave were going to get themselves hacked if any truly dangerous Cybertronians showed up. It almost made him shudder to think what someone like Overlord, Vortex, Motormaster or Sixshot would do to her, and she was just too - too young to suffer that!
Knock Out grimaced to himself, wondering why he should even care, it was her own ticket she'd be punching, and he owed her no favors -
- He felt her tapping on his shoulder.
Great.
With a heavily put-upon vent he turned around to face her. "What is it now?" he grumbled.
Shiftlock, wide-eyed, was staring up at the sky. "Um. Look behind you."
The red mech cautiously craned his head over to the left, and his spark sank into his feet.
"Oh scrap."
. . . . .
[Chapter Nine: Complete.]
[End of Transmission.]
Author's Note:
The chapter would have been longer, but I feel as if I should wait to continue this story until after I've seen Transformers Prime: Predacons Rising. I have a few hunches about Predaking and the other Predacons, but I want to have those hunches confirmed before writing on.
In the meantime, I will probably write some Spotlight vignettes about some of the characters in this story as companion fics - and I'll do like IDW and leave you with some teaser soundtrack hints about what may or may not happen in the future of this fic. The songs are roughly in chronological order for the story's progression. :)
The songs should all be profanity-free and safe to listen to.
"Don't Talk, Just Drive!" - Doublequick (Blue Stahli)
"Who Is The King Of Beasts?" - Red Omen (Two Steps From Hell)
"Daddy Dino" - Cleaning This Gun (Rodney Atkins)
"The Tactician's New Desire" - Growl (EXO) (Be sure to get the English subtitles for this one, it's K-Pop!)
"Emirate Starscream" - Cult of Personality (Living Colour)
"The Spider's Lair" - Where I Reign (Kamelot)
"The Takeover" - Meet Your Master (Nine Inch Nails)
"Firewalled Soul" - And All That Could Have Been (Nine Inch Nails)
"We Have To Warn The Autobots!" - Land of Confusion (Genesis)
"Combiner" - Monstronix (Q-Factory Music)
"Terrorcon Theme" - Almost Dead (Powerman 5000)
"Iacon Is Surrounded!" - The Howling (Within Temptation)
"The Last Generation" - This Will be The Day Extended (Roosterteeth)