THE LOST CHILDREN OF CYBERTRON
Chapter 25: Unicronian Trouble
---THAT SAME NIGHT DECEPTICON HEADQUARTERS---
Thundercracker after having finally been released from medical care was able to fly to the new Decepticon headquarters and the one to wait for him was his brother Skywarp. The black and purple seeker stood there in his new armor and show up Thundercracker proudly.
"Like?" he said showing off.
"What is that 'Warp?" T.C. asked
"It is my new Alternate Mode lookie!" he said transformed into an F-22 except this one was a bit blacker then what it should be.
"Oh," Thundercracker replied
"Yeah so when are you going to get another form?" Skywarp asked
"When I feel like it," Thundercracker smirked as he walked into the base.
Both brothers walked towards their quarters that they shared near the mountain top. The Decepticons turned an entire mountain into their base and so far they had the seeker quarters near the very top. They remembered the last time they kept fliers underground. Their claustrophobia was enough to drive anyone nuts. Or drive away their nuts and bolts for Decepticons.
When the two past they could see Rumble busy with some sort of earth game in his hands.
"What you playing there squirt?" Skywarp asked
"Daxter," was the reply.
"Ok," was the reply back from Skywarp as he and Thundercracker past the minicon and headed towards their barrack.
When they entered Thundercracker immediately liked what he saw. It was very spacious which suited the seekers just fine and allows them to move without trouble. He walked further into the room and Skywarp leaped onto one of the reclining berths that were made for him. There was a very large view screen and a computer off to the side.
All in all it looked like a hotel room well almost. There were holographic pictures of himself, Skywarp and Starscream when they were sparklings with their creators standing near the outlook to the Crystal City which was when Thundercracker first got his crystal trophy for winning the best writer's award. Who knew that the hard often quite seeker was a very good writer.
Next to that hologram was a picture of Skywarp on his first vorn party when the nearly warped his way into the energon cake and splashed the cubes on all the guests. There were many more pictures of them when they were young with trophies on the walls from younger days before the war to trophies of battles won and lost.
That was some of the things that Thundercracker wished to forget.
"So," he said
"So," replied Skywarp
"Any news going around the Autobot headquarters?" 'Warp asked
"Yeah they are worried about the approaching Unicronian fleet," Thundercracker said
"Oh slag! We are so screwed! We don't have enough 'Cons left in the galaxy let alone if we combined our power with the 'Bots we still will be slagged for they have enough firepower to destroy this planet." Skywarp said
"I know that 'Warp and without Starscream here to lead then we are totally slagged." Thundercracker stated the fact.
"How is it that our youngest brother became heir to the Decepticon throne?" Skywarp asked
"He has proven to Megatron that he had the leadership skills necessary to lead the Decepticons. You and I both know we don't have patience to lead more then a squadron of Seekers and that is it. You with your pranks would not be enough to lead," Thundercracker replied
"I know that but still with that much Unicronians coming I had to wonder if Unicron himself is making his appearance," Skywarp said while going for a drink.
"Um 'Warp, Unicron himself is coming," said Thundercracker
"Ah Slag!"
---SOMEWHERE OUT IN SPACE---
"My lord everything is going according to plan," said Sideways as he looked over the system schematics for the Earth System.
"Excellent we will be there soon but at the moment we are taking our time gathering our forces while we travel in hyperspace. The Nemesis may be faster then us but we will eventually overcome the Cybertronian forces soon enough," Galvatron said with a sneer to his face.
"Yes my liege Lord Unicron is already making his way to us and it is only within the breem should he rendezvous with us," Sideways said
"Excellent it appears as if our lord has finally awakened and wishes to participate in this battle." Galvatron said
"The battle is already lost for the transformer race." Sideways said
"Our lord will rule the universe that is our greatest desire yet," Galvatron replied.
The Unicronian fleet moved through space at a slower pace through hyperspace allowing all their forces to gather at different spots. Their master was right behind them as they slowly made their way to the Planet Earth.
Their plans would be simple let the Transformers on Earth prepare they are no match for the Unicronian Army. That army was now amassing to being a campaign against the one planet that stood up to Galvatron in his Megatron disguise.
EARTH
---AUTOBOT HEADQUARTERS---
"Are you saying that this 'Unicronian Army' is making its way here right now to Earth?" Secretary Keller said to Optimus Prime as he and the other leaders of the United Nations said.
"Yes, he will be hard to hide considering he is the size of Earth's moon," Optimus said looking glum.
The other leaders were quite as they stared at the screen of Unicron leaving Cybertron. It was broadcast from one of Cybertron's working satellites.
"As they approach they are gathering their armies from across the galaxy. Give about nearly a few months and they will reach Earth's Solar System within the speed in which they are going." Optimus said
"But they could slow down to gather supplies at any time," replied Skyfire from where he stood.
His colossal form stood up from where it was hunched down and luckily the world leaders had their chairs up high so they could meet Optimus face to face on even ground.
"With an Army like that they would need to have a lot of supplies." Said one man from one of Southeaster Asian countries.
"Yes that is correct Unicron needs to feed and according to legend he feeds on planets instead of Energon. He feeds on that and converts it to energy which he digests for a thousand years. If Earth is his next target then he would, no he will devour it," he said
"How will our weapons work against that thing if I remember correctly from this report that yours failed against their armor. Or in some cases they multiply if you hit them in the right spot?" one man said
"We don't know we have to find a weakness," said one man
"What about those strange transformers that took out six of them during the Nemesis rescue? The space shuttle and the American F-15?" asked another man this one from Australia.
"We have yet to locate them so far they have avoided detection," said Prime.
"Well have you tried the Hawaiian Islands?" asked another voice and everyone turned to the Prime Minister of Japan.
"Excuse me?" asked another man this one from Russia
"When I was in Hawaii last on a vacation I met this wonderful little car I somehow 'Don't ask me how I did it' got lost one night when I walked out of my hotel and could not find my way back. I met a strange blue car without a driver. It opened its doors and offered me a ride and spoke my native language! He said he would get me back to my hotel and he wore the same symbol as the Autobots on his steering wheel. The only difference is that near his gas valve was a strange symbol that looked almost like a second Autobot symbol but it has a phoenix surrounding it with the Decepticon symbol merging with it. It had strange writing in both English and Kanji.
From what I got this fellow didn't mean any harm that was before I knew of the battle of Mission City," he stated.
"Did this bot tell you his name?" asked Skyfire
"He did but I don't' remember," replied the Prime Minister.
"Sir what about other transformers making their way to earth from other galaxies?" said another representative.
"They will be here shortly within the next two weeks. We need to be prepared to defend this new planet and our new home. Earth has welcomed us and has given us a second chance. We lost everything during the war and we don't want to lose it again," Optimus Prime stated.
"What about the Decepticons?" someone asked
"They will be helping to defend this planet too now that their current leader or acting leader says so,"
"We are trying to locate them as fast as we can but unfortunately they are as elusive as shadows. The only clue we have is that they are found in Hawaii." Said another man.
"I believe I know where they are," said a soft voice and they all turned to the President of the United States as he stood up.
"I recently learned of where these so called transformers were hiding thanks to some classified files from President Regan. He knew about their existence since they first appeared. He placed a law on them for protection because they were endanger of having different organizations capture them for experimentation. So now they are under the protection of the State Government and if anything were to happen to them the Hawaii Government has the Authority to override what the nation says to the point of striking independence."
The crowd was silent as they heard this till
"So how do we communicate with these strange Transformers?" it was the representative from China.
"We have to speak to their guardians I think hopefully an arrangement can be made," said one man and they all turned to Keller again.
"How so?" asked Optimus
"I've already met them when I was in Hawaii and I know some of their human guardians it is only a matter of time to get in touch with them," he said and Optimus nodded.
"We need to know how they managed to kill six Unicronians when an army of Cybertronians can't do it," said Skyfire.
"Yeah I just hope I can get in touch with them," Keller said.
---PAKELE RESIDENCE---
Kamaka walked to the phone as it continued to ring. He picked it up with his left hand and answered. After listening to the person on the other line Kamaka felt his blood grow cold as he hung up. Hurrying towards where his wife was meditating he quickly told her the situation. Nodding Obun followed him towards the control room to where Nanobite would be along with the other Pakele family members would be.
"The situation has grown dire we need to gather the family back for an emergency meeting," Obun said.
"But that is too risky mother you know that the government would want to get the children now that they are on the mainland, and with three adult guardians with them it would be too much of a risk if these Unicronians are still coming as our contacts have told you," Mr. Pakele said.
"Keoki I know the risks and they must gather but not immediately. I am calling a Ho'oponopono at the time their school gets out for Christmas Vacation. That should allow them to come here without interference." Obun replied
"But mother what about the Autobot guardian. From the reports that Marie has given us he is on active duty with the Autobots and they will notice his presence missing." Replied Keoki's wife Mrs. Pakele.
"I know that is why I've decided to use the Warp Gate to bring him here and return him once our meeting is over," Obun said.
"But we only use the gates for emergencies," Keoki replied
"I know and since we have the energy to do it we can. The only reason why we didn't use it is because the children prefer to use their own strength to go places." This time is was Kamaka that replied.
"Well I can settle for Christmas break I have not seen Alex in over several months now." Mrs. Pakele said.
"Don't get your skirts up Azalea she will be fine," Obun said
"Yeah I guess your right," was the reply
---HITACHI RESIDENCE---
"COME BACK HERE WITH MY WAX TITAN!" Zenith yelled as he chased the sea monster around the yard.
Titan was laughing as he held up the can of turtle wax and giving raspberries to Zenith as he danced around the Ford Focus. Running at full speed he was giving a merry chase. Barricade and Frenzy were at work along with Marie leaving Starscream to watch the sparklings. So far it was a headache the first few days but after nearly two weeks with the sparklings he had learned a bit about their personalities.
He knew that the two chasing each other were polar opposites. Zenith was usually shy and not that talkative but Titan was the more outspoken one. Then there was the two DJ's as he called the music duo Sonic and Stitch whom love to download all sorts of songs and play them for everyone.
Then there was the cell phone duo which he rightfully named which they were so tiny to him that he almost accidentally stepped on them a few times. There was Skeeter and Scrappy. Scrappy he had learned of his terrible origins from Kekoa and from that former head of Sector Seven Banachek.
There was Artemis the only other femme and an Autobot whom was busy helping with the animals by herding the cattle to another part of the pasture to graze. She was being helped by Goliath the giant of the group and from what Starscream heard the oldest.
Goliath was the more wise of the group since his age made him the leader.
And then there was the twins Rodan and Radon.
From what he can tell both are fliers even though one was an Autobot the other a Decepticon. From what he gathered from listening to them they had always known that they are siblings in reality and not surrogate. He could also feel their sparks and found that to be true. Their origins are a mystery according to Barricade since Twins on Cybertron are very rare.
The only two twins he knew of were of course the Autobot Twins Sideswipe and Sunstreaker and then there was a pair of twins from a forbidden union eons ago just as the war started and the entire planet split long before he was sparked. Those twins were killed on the spot after they watched their parents face Megatron's punishment.
Or as Starscream mused Galvatron
It was Galvatron that killed off the Femmes and the naturalborn sparkling and younglings. It was he and the minions of Unicron that started the war and all those that were grown up already were forced into the Armies to fight. In fact Starscream had been a brilliant scientist when the war was raging outside and was force to become a soldier.
Before any of this both him and his older brothers had been something else while the war raged on around them. Starscream had been a scientist, Thundercracker had been an aerial instructor and Skywarp had been a shop keeper for a joke shop that he had bought just down the street from their residence. It made a lot of credits too in fact if Cybertron was still around they would have been made with the money the three of them had gotten.
But like all things the war had caught up to them and they were forced into the armies.
The laughter that snapped him out of his thoughts was enough to make Starscream look up just as a large water balloon hit his face.
White paint and water smeared down and Starscream looked up at the laughing twins as Radon held a balloon in her hand and threw it at him. White paint dripped down as Starscream glared at them but in a playful manner.
Having a devious smirk on his face he turned towards them and loaded his missile launcher. The twins looked at each other and quickly ran and transformed in mid-jump.
Shooting up into the air they tried to get away from him but Starscream being the Air Commander of the Decepticon army was not someone to prank. The Air Commander transformed into his F-22 form and chased after them.
The twins laughed as they dodged Starscream but after years of doing strange maneuvers with his brothers he knew how to catch at least one of them. He dove right at Rodan and the F-15 tried to get out of the way.
But Starscream plastered him with paintball shots sprinkling him with red paint.
"Hey that is not fair!" he shouted as Starscream zoomed away.
Now to find Radon.
The said twin he could see was no where to be found that is until a shadow started to grow on is back. He nearly collided with Radon as she streaked past him and pulled up with Starscream right after her.
He tried to hit her with all he got but she out maneuvered him and matched him wing for wing.
That is right she is the same model as me he thought and had to think of a way to get the other F-22.
Then it struck him he sped up till he was right under Radon and then transformed one arm and grabbed the unsuspecting Femme.
Cries of shock were heard as she tried to get away from him but he held on firmly to her wings as he let loose a spray of paintballs at her.
Shocked Radon nearly dropped but then that ended up in a roll as Starscream let go of her and did a front flip and transformed back into his alt mode. Radon's pride hurt but she had a few other tricks up her sleeve. Knowing that she was not that damaged if that had actually been bullets instead of paintballs Radon began to climb. Starscream had let her go as she climbed and thought that she only had her pride wounded.
What he did not expect however was a scream and Radon diving towards him. Starscream barely moved in time as Radon dove beneath him and plastered him in heavy paintballs again. Starscream was completely white and green as Radon came out of her stoop and raced around a few hills before coming back again at Starscream.
Rodan having recovered from his shock too gave chase as he ganged up on his sister. Having sensed him Radon flew to the side and avoided his paint missiles but Starscream got plastered. Smiling for the first time at their game he decided to end it and went after them. They both laughed as he chased them and decided to give them a heads up when he spotted a lake just below him. Diving towards it he was then being chased by the twins.
The twins gave chase as he did a sharp 360 and shot straight up but the twins were not fast enough to realize their mistake and plunged straight into the lake. At least they got the paint off as they smashed the surface again still in their alt modes to the surprise of Starscream and got him good with torrents of water. Feeling refreshed Starscream began to laugh as the twins directed him back to the base.
When they flew over the base a grim looking Barricade was standing there when they landed. Waiting for the twins to leave he turned towards Starscream.
"What is going on my friend?" Starscream asked Barricade.
"I have grim news my friend. I've just receive word from the Deceptibots main headquarters that their matriarch wants them home when the humans celebrate their holidays at the end of the solar year." Barricade said and Starscream nodded.
"So we finally get to meet the leader of the Deceptibots," he said and Barricade nodded,
"They want us to bring the Autobot Bumblebee as well," Frenzy said as he appeared from Barricade's chassis and leaped onto his shoulder.
When the three Decepticons entered the base Barricade laughed at Starscream seeing the paint on his body.
"Don't worry it comes off with water," he said and Starscream shook his head as he headed towards the wash racks aware of the music blaring from Sonic and Stitches room.
As he entered the wash racks the twins were already there cleaning themselves off of the paint and weeds that clung to their intake valve.
"That was fun Uncle 'Star can we do that again sometime!" said Rodan and Starscream felt himself grow hot under his optics.
"Um maybe some other time but yeah we can do it again some time," he said and the twins looked at each other before they scrubbed each other before they got out and headed towards Sonic and Stitch's room.
Starscream heard loud music again as he passed by and then headed towards where Barricade was sipping away at a cube of energon. Grabbing a cube himself he sat down next to the Saleen Mustang and drank down.
"Nice trick you did with the twins," said Marie as she joined them with her own meal.
"No problem I've heard that those two can be quite a handful?" Starscream said and Marie nodded.
The music still blared while they talked about what Obun had to say.
"So this 'Obun' she is the Matriarch of your little gang?" said Starscream
"Yes and she must be treated with respect since she is very old by human standards," said Marie as she took a drink out of her soda bottle.
"I see and it was her husband that stumbled upon the ship?" was the question
"Yes," was the reply.
"Why would she want to meet with us now?" asked Starscream
"My mother has her reasons why she would wait until Christmas vacation for the teens. I think she also wants to meet Sam, Mikaela and Miles as well," Marie said.
"I can understand Sam and Mikaela after all they were at Mission City, but why that Miles kid?" asked Barricade
"Obun wants to meet all of her grandchildren's friends that is how she is," Marie replied
"The troublesome part is that of Unicron's approach to Earth. How long you think before they get here?" Frenzy asked
"They could have been here sooner but I think they are gathering their armies after many centuries picking off any Transformers they find along the way," Starscream replied.
"Ouch they sure think they can defeat us eh?" said Marie taking a sip from her drink.
"They destroyed countless worlds through the eons. They took many races to extinction before they discovered flight. They feed on war and hatred that is why Cybertron became the perfect place for Unicron and his forces to gather. We had been at war for millions of years and it was by coincidence that Unicron was drawn to such a place." Starscream said
"I see," replied Marie as she chewed on another piece of her dinner which was beef stew.
"So this Unicron feeds on hatred, anger and fear?" she asked
"Yes and no, he feeds on hatred, anger, greed and sorrow and by wiping out our femmes and sparklings he made us suffer slowly for he thinks we have the power to stop him," Starscream replied.
"If what you said is correct then we are doomed," said Frenzy
"No we have hope someone told me that their most precious gift is among the Deceptibots I have to find out what it is and use it to defeat Unicron," Starscream said.
At this Marie nodded as she finished her meal and stood up.
"Well it has been a long day and I need a shower and some sleep how about you 'Cade?" she asked the police car.
"I do need some recharge I haven't had any for days," Barricade replied only now looking at his diagnostics.
"Same here," Frenzy replied also as he stood up from where he was drinking his smaller cube.
"If your staying up Starscream I suggest you tell the kids that before they go into recharge that they better train before sleep," said Marie as she got up also.
"I don't think they will listen to me as much as you Marie," Starscream said.
"Oh they will or else they will hear it from me," said Barricade
"Doing the instructor thing again eh 'Cade?" Starscream said
"You bet if I remember correctly you were my instructor back then," he said smirking.
Starscream had to admit it was something to look forward to. As he stood up after everyone left he used his comm. to call the sparklings to him.
"Get up and out it is time to train!" he ordered
"Ah slag!" was a few curses but only one of the twins surprisingly complained the other cheered as they headed towards the training room.
What surprised Starscream as he entered the training room were the two humans Alex and Kekoa as they too participated in training. What training Starscream didn't know now he did. He remembered watching the human soldiers practice various fighting techniques but nothing as graceful as this. The training was intense as the children did various warm up exercises Alex and Kekoa being human did a bunch of their training throughout the day but the bots being bots and not being organic did not have to go through that but they did in the morning.
The evening they all gathered around in the training room with rows of square boxes as they sat cross-legged on the ground they began to practice slow steady movements. At this Starscream was stunned to watch as he observed the sparklings practicing like what he has seen on the human's world wide web.
They reminded Starscream of Shaolin Monks living in China as they devotedly practiced their kata and watched in slow movements as they practiced and for quite sometime Starscream wondered if this was the gift that Moonshadow had for him.
No he realized This is not her gift
He watched as they then began to practice other forms as well and the movements caught him off guard. They moved with such speed and unity that even the smallest of the bunch Skeeter and Scrappy were doing it perfectly even though their limbs were different then the humans.
As Starscream watched he became even more fascinated by the shadows that they created on the wall. It was those shadows that drew him back to the dream he had before he onlined again.
The dancing shadows of the two creatures that tormented him time and time again. Two of them matched and his optics widened.
The gift is here! He thought as he looked to where the shadows belonged and saw the twins dance their deadly dance. The movements may be slow but after playing back the video feed from his optics he realized when he sped it up that if those moments could be on any Cybertronian it would be deadly.
Sparklings learning such deadly arts but at the same time beautiful they are powerful warriors for someone of their age, he thought humbly.
His thoughts then turned dark as he observed the twins. Poor things not know who their creators are. The others knew but them if I ever knew their creators then I would not have hesitated to show them their creations. Pit if I was their creator then I would have been honored to have such fine warriors as my sparklings,
But many things began to grow light again as a yell was heard and they moved quickly this time like dancing. Starscream laughed when that thought came to his mind.
"What are you laughing at?" said a voice and Starscream turned to find Bumblebee standing behind him with Sam, Mikaela and Miles on his shoulders.
"Oh a thought that they look like they are dancing," Starscream said and Bumblebee gave a smirk through his face mask.
He then began to play music from his speakers. There was some giggling from Sonic as he began to play a Korean pop song and the others only added dance to their movements and Kekoa and Alex had to laugh as they finished.
"Alright guys we have been here for nearly four hours and it is time for us humans to get to bed," Kekoa said to them.
Starscream then checked his internal watch and found it to be nearly 9:00p.m. he sighed as he walked in.
"Alright you younglings time for bed," he said and they all gave some groans as he pointed outwards and they followed Sam, Mikaela and Miles all had backpacks as Bumblebee led them to the house outside.
As Radon watch the others go to bed she passed by Starscream. Her red optics looked at him for a brief second before turning towards her room. What he did not realize is that she took a picture of him and walked into her chambers to convert that to paper.
When she entered her room it was neat and tidy like any teenage room. At least you could see the floor but small bits of dust hung in the air as she kept the room free of debris. It was indeed smaller then her room back at home but she lived with it.
She walked over to the tiny table where her sketch book is kept and took out the transformer size pencil and began to draw. When she was done she was smirking to herself at the picture she drew. It was of Starscream looking thoughtful with Bumblebee in the background. Finished she moved the picture to the side and walked over to her recharge berth.
Getting in she shut down her systems and allowed herself to fall into recharge. The last thoughts of Starscream filled her CPU with that last thought.
I really do look like him
A/n: I really am sorry I took so long to get this up but work really exhausted me to the point of not being able to write. I've spent the past week or so typing this with aching fingers and stiff muscles. Work really does help me clear my mind and get my thoughts in order. As for some of the training techniques I used in this chap I saw this very interesting movie called 'Little Shaolin Monks' it is a documentary made in China about the kids who train at the temple. I think I will use it when I decided to train the four guardians.
Yes four Starscream, Barricade, Bumblebee, and Frenzy.
Well see you next chapter