If you've been waiting for action, this is the chapter to read. Read and enjoy. Chao!
CLANG! Perceptor blocked Sixshot's strike before it could slice his face. Glitch looked around, wondering what to do. The morning was quickly advancing, and there were no signs of any other Decpticons. She felt a bump that rattled through the ship.
"Either Lugnut fell out of his berth or someone's boarding. Maybe Shadestalker found us! If I could unblock a way for Tran to hack into their computer, he could take control of the ship! But I have to help Perceptor first!"
Sixshot kicked Perceptor in the chasse, knocking him over. The sword fell out of his servo. Sixshot held the blades in a V formation across his wind pipe.
"Well, that didn't last long. Shadstalker replaced me with you as his brother in arms? You're nothing but a joke!"
"Just do it," Perceptor stated, "Just go ahead and take your revenge."
"Nothing has changed over the stellar cycles, has it? You had no fighting skills in Solion, why should you have picked up some now? Unfortunately, Megatron would be upset if I ended your pathetic life."
He removed the blades. Perceptor just smiled.
"Oh, I wouldn't say that I didn't acquire any skills over the stellar cycles."
He wept his leg across, knocking Sixshot over. Another bump rocked the ship. Sixshot quickly recovered and sliced diagonally.
Perceptor stood there for a moment, dumbfounded. Glitch nearly shut down right then and there. Something fell to the floor. It was Perceptor's right arm. He looked down at it, and looked back up a Sixshot.
"You… my arm! Can't believe… cut off…. I can't feel it!"
Sixshot put up his swords.
"Oops. Maybe I went a little too sword happy."
All Perceptor could do was stare at the unattached appendage, clearly in a state of shock.
Megatron walked in. He looked down at the arm and sighed. He crossed his own arms and glared at Sixshot.
"I thought I told you not to cut off any limbs! If we want Shadestalker to joins us, then we need to show him that he can trust us. I doubt that he will after he takes a look at the scientist. At least you kept the youngling intact."
"Sorry, he asked for it."
"No I didn't!"
"Shut up kid!"
Perceptor sat down on the ground and hugged his knees with the arm he did have. Glitch came and sat next to him. He continued mumbling. She put her arms around him.
"While you were on you're little rampage, Shadestalker some how managed to get under our radar. He must have some kind of cloaking device. We can't pick up his ship on our scanners, so we don't know if he's actually boarded or not."
"Fine, I'll go look for him. He'll probably come to us."
"No more missing limbs, Sixshot. I do not tolerate disobedience twice."
Sixshot walked out, muttering under his intake. Megatron turned to Perceptor and examined the damage. The connecting joint was sparking, and fluid dripped out of the sliced tubes. It was a steady drip, but at the amount it was dripping, the Autobot would go off line from fluid loss if he didn't receive help.
Glitch picked up his arm and wiggled it.
"This is really… freaky," she commented, "Uh…"
Lugnut came in.
"My lord, there has been an intrusion on board. It's the Autobot ninja master! What should we do?"
"So he's finally on board. Lugnut, take the scientist and go to the throne room. Take his arm with you and keep it out of sight. Under no circumstance is Blitzwing to have it."
Lugnut, not too gently, picked up Perceptor and yanked his arm away from Glitch.
"Whee! I'm flying!" Perceptor stated, clearly delusional from the loss of fluid.
"You're coming with me."
"No! I'm not! I'm tired of doing what you say!"
"That was not a request Glitch. The games end now!"
"Games?! You call all that has been happening games?! I hate to see you be serious!"
He roughly grabbed her arm, hoisting her into the air. Her feet dangled. He looked her in the optics.
"Now listen and listen well! I want no more of this behavior out of you or the scientist isn't going to be the only one with missing limbs!" Glitch sighed. "Fine."
He wrapped his arm around her middle and carried her out. She crossed her arms, annoyed by her current position.
"Enjoy this while you can Megatron. When I'm older, you'll be in for it! Oh boy, will you ever be in for it! You won't know what hit you!"
"I seriously doubt it. Even when you're older, you'll be tiny compared to most Autobots."
"Yeah, but I'll be tons faster and a lot wiser too!"
"You just keep telling yourself that."
Shadestalker climbed up on the ceiling using his ninja equipment. He had called Tran during a recess to check on him, just to find out that Tran had uncovered an encrypted file transfer from Cybertron to a remote region of space. It had been to his horror that the files were all about him, Perceptor, and Glitch. While there was no way to tell from the files themselves who the sender was, Shadestalker knew. The only bot that had access to the files had to be a top intelligent agent, Longarm.
Shadestalker nearly growled when he thought of the bot. Perceptor had been right to be suspicious of him, even if some of it was based in jealousy. That calm bot complex hid the face of a double agent, a Con. He also figured out who received the files, the Decpticons. They had been trying to contact him for eons, but he turned them down every time.
He left the rest of the trial to pick up the trail. It hadn't been easy, but they had tracked Lockdown's emission trail to here. He had no idea that the Decpticon flag ship would be in this sector, but he wasn't surprised. He was not a happy bot. He found his brother and his daughter missing. He came here to get them back. He didn't care how many Cons he had to slice through to get them back. He would even face Megatron himself if he had to. Surprisingly, there was no sign of lie. He found a brightly lit room in front of him.
"No doubt a trap. But it's a chance I have to take! Glitch and Perceptor are in grave danger, and I must do everything in my power to save them!"
He dropped down and activated his battle mask, drawing out his katanas.
Lugnut handed Perceptor's arm to Starscream to hide. Starscream wiggled it and suddenly felt ill. He gave it to Blitzwing.
"Cool!" Hot Head commented, "An arm!" The Seeker did a face palm. Sixshot hid in the shadows, waiting for his prey. Everybody stopped and looked at eh door. It opened. A black ninja bot with white streaks walked in, battle mask down and weapons drawn.
"Drop the Autobot. He better not be harmed or else..."
"I can personally assure you, Master Shadestalker, that neither he nor your youngling has been harmed," Megatron began, entering the room, "Sorry for the cloak and dagger approach, but you're a very hard bot to reach. I really had no other choice."
"I don't answer summons from the likes of you, Megatron. I've denied your flunkies, what makes the leader himself any different? Now where's the youngling?"
Megatron turned to reveal Glitch. She sheepishly grinned at him.
"As you can see, they haven't been harmed. There's no need for battle masks or weapons Master Shadestalker."
Shade glanced around, observing every Con in the room to make sure they weren't trying to sneak up on him (not that they could if they were). Unfortunately for Blitzwing, Random had decided to show himself.
"Vhee! Look at me, I've got an arm! I can make it wave!"
He pulled a wire, making the arm wave. Shadestalker growled and charged at Megatron, letting out a battle cry.
CLANG! He was blocked by Sixshot.
"Sixshot! I should've known a dishonorable scum like you would be involved in this! You would do anything to get back at me and Perceptor!"
"Look who's talking! You were the one that left the clan, your family! And for what?! A title and position in the pathetic Autobot militia?! Did you ever perform processor over matter?"
"It never was my family! It left me!"
They broke apart. Shadestalker looked a Perceptor and noticed the fluid leaking out of him.
"I'm never joining you, Megatron! Do you hear me, never! You can just crawl into a hole and go off line for all I care! And no, I don't care if the youngling hears that!"
"Are you threatening me, Master ninja? Who are you to threaten me, supreme ruler of the Decepticons, while I have your youngling's and brother's sparks in my grasp?!"
"Tran, now!"
A hole was blown in the roof. Tran dropped in and grabbed Perceptor, and his arm. Blitzwing fired at him, but the hologram was too fast for him. Tran quickly went up through the hole.
"What was that?!" Starscream asked.
"Just a friend of mine. He should be coming again right about… now."
Tran popped in again, this time phasing his servo into Megatron's servo and disconnecting one of the wires. The tyrant's servo fell limp, dropping Glitch. Tran caught her, avoided fire from both Blitzwing and Starscream, and went back up to the ship.
"Perceptor's hurt!" she informed him, "Do something!"
He placed him on the table and examined where his arm used to be. He pulled out his bag of medical tools.
"He's in shock. I can slow down the flow of fluid, but don't have the resources here to reattach his arm or give him more fluid."
He quickly wielded the tubes closed, preventing any more fluid from coming out.
"I'll be back. I've got to get Shade."
He jumped out, where Starscream was waiting and shot at him. All the shots went trough him, leaving the Seeker to wonder if his aim needed major improvement.
"Are you quite done?" a rather amused Tran asked.
"It's a ghost! Run!"
He took off, despite Megatron yelling at him to come back.
"Shadestalker! Hurry it up! We have to get Perceptor back to Cybertron if he is to survive! I slowed down the leakage, but I don't know how long it will hold!"
Tran reached inside of Blitzwing and knocked him out.
"If I'm not back in five, leave without me!"
"No, I'm not leaving you alone with these Cons!"
Sixshot unsuccessfully tried to stab the green mech with his blade. Lugnut observed the strange bot, puzzled by his intangibility.
"I don't think he's really a ghost. I will destroy whatever it is in the glorious name of Megatron!"
He punched Tran in the middle. Tran solidified, trapping is servo. Lugnut's optics widened.
"Would you get your servo out of me? Thank you!"
Lugnut quickly withdrew his servos. Tran punched him in the face plate, knocking the giant flat. Shadestalker and Sixshot were locked in mortal combat.
"You replaced me with that kid from Solion! He can't fight worth slag!"
"I think I just figure out who cut his arm off! Sure, he can't fight, but at least his spark is in the right place!"
CLANG! CLANG!
"You and your spark and honor nonsense! At least you have your skills!"
CLANG!
"You and your power talk! Do you still do the hologram trick, you know, the one that I always beat?"
Sixshot broke away and chuckled evilly.
"You'll find that I've made improvements to it."
He multiplied himself, surrounding Shade.
"It used to be a trick, but I found a way to make my holograms real. That means every strike, every blow, and pain is real. It's a really deadly move." They all jumped.
Perceptor began to stir.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you. You know how your inventions go."
A moment later, he mumbled again.
"I know Dad; I need to find a femme while I'm still young. I've got my optic on one. Her name is Triggera, but her friends call her Trig. I know, unusual name. Something about she had a bunch of brothers. She lives about 4 houses down from me. She's a different kind of femme, and I mean that in a good way. I see her quite often down at the plaza. I'm just too scared to talk to her."
Meanwhile, Glitch took a note on everything he said.
"I'll help Perceptor. I'll set him up with that femme! Maybe Shade and Tran will help me."
Tran came in, dragging a battered up Shadestalker.
"He'll be fine. He just needs a few minor repairs. Now let's get out of here!" They all strapped down. Tran took the helm and punched in the coordinates.
"Entering warp speed now!"
The Nova disappeared in the horizon.
Sixshot stabbed his swords into the ground, very upset.
"I nearly had him! How did he find the real me?! For several stellar cycles, I've worked on that technique to defeat him! And he still beat me!"
He picked up his swords and sheathed them. He walked away without saying another word. Blitzwing came back online.
"Vhat happened? I veel vunny."
"My punch went right through him!" Lugnut thought, "But how?! Was he truly a ghost from the past haunting us?"
Starscream peeked back in. "Is the ghost gone?"
Megatron let out an annoyed growl at his limp servo.
"There appears to be a hole in the ship. I better vix it."
"Next time," Megatron grumbled to himself, "I'll only have one ninja at a time!"
Blackarachnia walked in. "What happened here? Did Hot Head go on a rampage again?"
"You didn't hear it?"
"What? Lugnut just fell out of his berth again!"
"Oh for spark's sake, why me?!"
AN/ I tried out a new format. Only one more chapter to go! If you have any questions, ask away!