Author's Notes: Hi everyone, and welcome back to the story! Now I introduce the second Decepticon entering this fic: Overlord! Honestly, I only wanted to include this guy because I got a Leader Class Overlord toy, but I think this will really add an interesting element to an already emotional tale of intrigue and betrayal. Yeah, I guess this is getting pretty heavy for Rescue Bots. Oh well. The discrepancy in tone is kind of the point, so I guess this works. Thank you for reading this story and I hope you enjoy this chapter of "Stranger of Utopia" :)
Chapter 3
Revolution or Devolution?
It was a hot busy afternoon at the bazaar in a small village in the Sahara Desert. People were milling around buying and selling. Women were gossiping about the day's events. Men were bartering over prices. Children were running around and playing as children often do. Everything was active and filled with the sounds of laughter and chatter. No one suspected the evil that was coming their way.
A tiny black dot could be seen up in the sky, but only a few people even seemed to notice it at first. As the dot grew larger and got closer however a few people started pointing up to it and murmuring about what it could be.
Once details on the black object became clear the people could see shades of purple and blue interspersed with the black. They could also see the strange looking spiny wings on the aircraft. It looked like nothing from this world, and it certainly didn't look like anything these townsfolk had seen before.
"Is that an American drone?" One man asked.
"No, I think it's Israeli," Another man guessed.
"It looks like a giant vulture," A kid commented.
"It's getting awfully close," A woman pointed out nervously.
Sure enough, the black, purple, and blue alien jet was actually descending right at the edge of the tent village. People from the bazaar and the surrounding area ran toward the ship to see what it was, curiosity overriding the fear of most. A crowd had gathered by the time the jet landed, and they arrived just in time to see this giant jet transform into a robot of incredible size and proportions!
"What the devil is that thing?" A man cried out in fright.
Red eyes could barely be seen glinting in the sunlight as the robot regarded the now terrified crowd of people.
"So, this is where Megatron went, huh?" The large mech asked rhetorically, "What a dump! Not to mention you aliens. You are so tiny! I could probably fit five of you in my mouth!"
"It's going to eat us!" A little boy screamed.
"No, I just said you would fit!" The mech snapped at the child, "Don't put words in my mouth, you little brat!"
"Excuse me, sir," An older man approached the mech, "What exactly is it you want from us? We don't have a lot of resources around here, but the safety of the citizens is our top priority. Name your demands."
"Well...on the last planet I visited they threw a virgin off a cliff because they thought that would get rid of me," The mech pondered, "I don't know why they thought that would work. Eh, you got any energon crystals? I'm pretty hungry after the long trip from deep space."
"Deep space?" The formerly panicked boy asked, "You mean like an alien? Like on those TV shows?"
"You idiots don't know about life on other planets yet?" The mech scoffed, "Oh, this is going to be too easy. In the meantime though, I need energon. So long, slaggers!"
The mech then transformed back into his jet mode and took off into the sky. The village breathed a collective sigh of relief, thinking they had avoided the wrath of a vengeful unknown creature; possibly some sort of metal demon. Their assumption was incorrect however, as the mech flew over their village and bombed the entire bazaar! Fortunately no one had been there at that moment, but everything was on fire and the loss of goods was a devastating blow to the village.
Overlord laughed as he flew away from the tiny human tent city he had just decimated. He loved causing destruction, and he always loved scaring an entirely new sentient species. He especially loved the superstitious ones, because they would panic in the most interesting and unpredictable ways. Of course, most screams ultimately sounded the same to him.
"I guess while I'm here I should scan for Decepticons loyal to me," Overlord thought out loud, "If I'm going to get revenge on Megatron it would help to have some cannon fodder on my side."
Overlord still held a grudge for the red energon incident. He had come so close to killing Megatron, but unfortunately Soundwave had already caught wind of the plan. Being Megatron's most loyal soldier, Soundwave of course stopped Overlord's scheme to take the throne for himself. Soundwave had drank some red energon as well, and the two powerful Decepticons had fought on equal footing. Well, equal was a relative term. Overlord cheated and still lost.
Once Overlord had been put before a mock trial and found guilty he was sentenced to death. He would escape however and leave Cybertron for good, keeping in touch with his followers whenever he could. No matter the cost he was going to get back at Megatron, and maybe even find a planet to conquer. Overlord might not have been the most stable mech in the world, but he was smart and laser focused. He knew Megatron was here, and he knew if Megatron was here there had to be a reason why.
It was late at night on Griffin Rock, and Blades couldn't recharge. He was wide awake watching TV and drinking energon. Chase and Boulder had recommended the History Network to help him recharge (before going back to sleep themselves) so now Blades sat on the large bench made for the Cybertronians and watched a documentary on the French Revolution.
It got to the part of the documentary discussing Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette being held prisoner in their own palace, and Blades was nervous wondering what was going to happen to the royal humans that had made their subjects so angry. He was so engrossed in the events on the TV that it startled him when he heard pede steps coming into the room.
Blades jumped and gasped, only to see that it was Frazzle holding an energon cube very similar to his own. He smiled in relief, and she shot him an impish grin of her own.
"You're up late, super struts," Frazzle commented teasingly.
"So are you," Blades retorted playfully, "So, um, you couldn't recharge either?"
"Nah," Frazzle replied as she sat down on the floor next to him, "Nightmares. You?"
"I don't know," Blades shrugged, "Maybe it was all the excitement from the volcano today. It was nice to have a day off, but I'm not used to flying so high. I think I'm still jazzed from the whole experience."
"I see," Frazzle replied; less than impressed, "So, what are you watching?"
"I'm watching a documentary on human history," Blades replied, "Want to watch with me?"
"Eh, it'll kill a few breems," Frazzle replied agreeably.
Blades smiled at her and then went back to watching the TV. The show played for several minutes with Blades barely paying any attention at all. Frazzle being so close made him feel a giddy type of nervousness. He felt her wing accidentally brush against one of his rotors and had to cover his mouth to keep from giggling. He still felt a little awkward around her, and hoped she didn't realize he was attracted to her. He knew it was silly to have a crush on a femme he just met, but he loved how streamlined she looked and how easygoing and fun she was. He only hoped it wasn't obvious he felt that way.
To distract himself from Frazzle Blades went back to watching the TV, and the documentary was at the part where a fancy carriage was heading to the town square. Blades wondered what this meant since he hadn't been paying attention.
"Louis the XVI was proud and unapologetic as he stood before the crowd of jeering onlookers," The narrator said in an analytical tone over the dramatized footage on screen, "On January 21st, 1793, Louis XVI was executed by guillotine at what is now known as Revolution Square."
The documentary then showed the beheading, and Blades screamed in a less than manly manner.
"Yes!" Frazzle shouted as she pumped her fist in the air, "Take that, functionalist scum! Power to the people!"
"Frazzle, a man just died on screen," Blades reminded her.
"It was just a reenactment," Frazzle remarked unsympathetically, "Besides, that guy was a crooked Prime that kept his people starving while he and his family kept themselves closed off in a palace filled with food and luxury. He had it coming."
"But to kill him? That seems so extreme," Blades replied uncertainly, "Why didn't they try to talk to him?"
"Weren't you paying attention to the show? They did try!" Frazzle pointed out caustically, "They sent a bunch of starving femmes to him to broker a deal, and he just hauled aft out of there rather than deal with it!"
"Oh, I, uh," Blades stammered, not wanting to admit he was paying more attention to Frazzle than to the TV, "Well, I suppose that's true."
"I never realized before how much humans are like us," Frazzle noted, "They had wars and bad leaders too. They also had famine. I never really thought about that. I wonder how they managed to keep their world alive."
"I don't know," Blades shrugged, "You wanna watch something else? I think there's a channel where we can stream cartoons or something."
"You don't like talking about the war, do you?" Frazzle asked.
"Not really," Blades replied sheepishly "I can't really relate to it. Other mechs besides us talk about how bad it was and how everything changed, but I don't understand. I don't know how it happened or why, and I don't feel comfortable saying anything to you about it because I don't want to say the wrong thing. I hope you understand, Frazzle."
"Actually, I don't," Frazzle replied in realization, "I don't really know anything about your time either."
"Oh," Blades sighed.
"Was the caste system still around when you were activated?" Frazzle asked Blades.
"Of course it was," Blades responded as if she asked whether the ocean was wet, "I was built to be a Rescue Bot, just like everyone else where I grew up. Iacon had the largest team of Rescue Bots on Cybertron, and our city-state was the safest in the world. I admit I'm not the best at my job sometimes, but I've always been proud of my job and my duty."
"You know, people like you are exactly why the war happened," Frazzle commented critically.
"People like me?" Blades asked nervously, "You mean Rescue Bots?"
"No, I mean mechs and femmes that were forced into a certain function whether or not they were emotionally or physically qualified for it. What if you wanted to be an artist, or a medic, or a business-mech? You couldn't do it, could you?"
"Why would I want to?" Blades asked in confusion, "I like my job. I get to help people, and I have great teammates."
"But what if you didn't?" Frazzle pressed, "Not everyone got to be built into a good caste like you. Rescue Bots were a priority caste that got energon whether the lower castes did or not. What if you had been a seeker, or a construction mech, or a miner? My sire lived during those times, and many of his family members died during those times before I was ever built. Blades, the functionalist system worked when times were good, but when things got bad the mechs that labored for our society were left to die. When mechs are starving, they'll follow any voice that says they won't go hungry if they follow them. That's how this happened. Same as with the humans. We just got tired of the powerful mechs that said we don't matter."
"But the caste system doesn't exist anymore," Blades pointed out, "Optimus Prime got rid of it."
"Optimus Prime came into power after everyone else had been assassinated," Frazzle retorted, "He found some ancient relic that said he was the chosen one. Some fell for it, and others didn't. Honestly it's kind of weird now that I think about it, how a war over energon devolved into a holy war and then eventually a personal grudge match between two former friends that grew to hate each other. Neither one of them, Optimus or Megatron, are qualified to run a nursery school, let alone a planet. It's just sad, really. How we play our role and choose sides because being alone guarantees death quicker."
Frazzle then turned away from Blades and sighed heavily. She rubbed her face to relieve the stress, and then she felt Blades' hand on the spot of her back where her wings met.
"I'm sorry this has been so hard on you, Frazzle," Blades told her empathetically, "I don't know what you went through, but I want you to know I'm here for you. You can tell me what all happened, or you can keep it to yourself. Just know that I'm here if you need to talk to me."
"Wow, this got too real too fast," Frazzle replied breathlessly, "Next time, let's just watch cartoons."
Blades chuckled at that remark, which made Frazzle laugh as well. Together they found themselves laughing harder than they should have, and soon Blades realized he was hugging Frazzle. Frazzle suddenly realized this too, so she shoved herself away from Blades.
"O-Kay, that's enough of that," Frazzle exclaimed as she squirmed away from Blades, "I'm probably gonna go back to recharge now. Don't wake me unless it's important."
"Goodnight, Frazzle," Blades waved in a friendly way.
"Yeah, uh, see ya," Frazzle muttered as she quickly left the room.
Blades rubbed his arm trying to calm himself down. He couldn't figure out exactly what had happened, but he was sure he and Frazzle had just shared a moment. She was such an intense femme, yet at the same time she could be playful. The mystery was an appealing aspect about her to Blades, but he understood that she had a lot of baggage. Still, he wondered if she felt anything for him now too.
Frazzle, meanwhile, was sitting on the floor in a corner of the main room in the dark trying to process what had just happened. She actually hugged an Autobot! She opened herself up to a fragging Autobot! Not to mention her rhetoric could have given away her position. She was getting careless and she had to hurry up and find a prize to claim before she got too sloppy in her mission.
This wasn't what Frazzle had signed up for. She was a soldier, not a spy! Not to mention she was trying to act friendly to make the Autobots trust her, but she had almost allowed the seduction to work both ways. She wanted Blades to like her, but she did not want to like Blades. When he told her she could talk to him however, and when he hugged her, it made her feel...safe. She didn't want to feel safe, because then she would let her guard down and be in danger again.
No, if Frazzle was going to make a move against them, she would have to do it soon. Less than two days and she was already getting attached. There was no way this was normal!
"Spoiled isolated glitch," Frazzle whispered about Blades, "He doesn't know anything. He got upset because a human Prime that starved his subjects died. He gets upset when anybody dies. He would probably get upset if Megatron died!"
Frazzle tried to convince herself that Blades was just an idiot that wasn't worth her time, but the truth was his lack of blemish was one thing that made him so appealing. He had no battle scars. He had no ruined past. He had no hatred. Frazzle had never seen a mech like him before, so she didn't quite know what to make of him.
Suddenly, there was a squealing burst of static over Frazzle's comm, and she could tell it was someone over one of her private channels trying to get in contact with her. Considering only a select few from a certain splinter group had this frequency, Frazzle knew she needed to answer it.
/I read you. Who is this?/ Frazzle asked in a clipped formal tone she only used with her colleagues.
/Ah, little seekerlet.../ A silken malevolent voice purred over the comm, /Ready to play another round?/
/Overlord, sir!/ Frazzle exclaimed in shock, /I...I was unaware you had survived, sir. Welcome to earth./
/You didn't answer my question,/ Overlord chided her in a sing-song voice.
/Oh, um, yes sir! I await your orders, General,/ Frazzle replied in a ruffled manner.
/I haven't thought of any orders yet!/ Overlord snapped angrily; his mood shifting quickly, /Just stay where you are until I think of something for you to do. Oh, and don't tell anyone I'm here yet. I want to surprise Megatron./
/Yes, sir,/ Frazzle replied dutifully, /Anything you say, sir./
/Overlord out,/ Overlord said before cutting off the comm.
Frazzle disconnected her end of the signal and then sighed wearily as her wings scraped against the wall. Her master was still alive. Overlord had returned and somehow even crazier than before. She had expected at best to return to Megatron, but now she was working for Overlord again. She had managed to avoid being caught in her treason the first time, but this time if Overlord failed she would surely be executed. Visions of the French king at the guillotine filled her processor.
I wonder if Blades would be upset if I died... Frazzle thought as more dark thoughts clouded her mind.