Chapter 6: Chapter 5
Chapter 5
Hello again to you wonderful people still reading this story! I'd like to point out that if I haven't fixed it yet, the mech named "Sunstreaker" in the last chapter is actually supposed to be "Sunstorm". Thank you, EmoPirateLuv, for pointing that out to me. And thank you, UTHEMAN, for your kind and continued reviews!
I own only my oc's...Transformers are property of Hasbro. And the childhood of hundreds.
"What's going on?" Arcee demanded.
The backup power hadn't kicked in yet, even after ten seconds of near-total darkness.
Springer frowned. "Look, the groundbridge and the monitors are still functioning." He hurried to the console and began pulling up diagnostic programs.
Suddenly, a harsh grating noise began to emanate from the floor. Every weapon available was instantly pointed towards a service hatch next to the northern wall. As they waited nervously, the grate rose to reveal Marge O'Connor and Gigawatt. They looked terrified.
"Dad, something cut the power to the guardhouse!" Marge hissed, scurrying towards Centurion's silhouette.
"And we mean literally cut it!" Gigawatt gulped, "There're claw marks the size of my head in those walls!"
"Claw marks?!" the others gasped.
"Alright, nobody blow a fuse," Springer turned away from the monitor. "It cut off our electricity but we still have energon-powered defenses. If we need to, we can bridge out."
"To where?" It sounded like Santiago's voice, but with only the glow of monitors and optics, no one was sure. "We can't abandon Outpost Gallimimus! We can't even see anything out there anyway. It's just a power failure...no need to be scared.."
Jack twitched irritably. Something was bothering him about this far more than humanity's ingrained fear of the dark. Something evil was out there, he was positive. Sometimes, it seemed like humans were naturally more receptive than Cybertronians to the presence of evil. Jack ran a hand through his short black hair and sighed. Optimus would know what to do, he told himself, what would Optimus do?
Jack tapped Arcee on the arm in a pattern of four beats, their own private signal for "We need to talk." He led her to a slightly more private section of the warehouse, where she crouched in front of him.
"What is it, Jack?" Bathed in the eerie blue glow of Arcee's optics, the young man held a finger to his lips.
"Did you do any reading on the Kaon province attacks before we left Eden?" he asked in a hushed voice. Arcee nodded.
"Better safe than sorry," she murmured, "Why?"
Jack frowned and shivered, barely perceptibly, but enough that his partner noticed. "Are you cold?" she asked, then noticed that the other six humans in the base looked equally uncomfortable.
Geist seemed to notice to notice the same thing, as he suddenly asked, "A little warm in here, isn't it?"
The humans responded with varying questions regarding Geist's sanity and the state of his atmospheric sensors. "It's freezing in here!" growled one of them, a man named Justin Carter, "What's wrong with you?!"
Springer shot Arcee a meaningful look from across the room. In the incident reports from Megatronus Prime's territories, extreme cold was always the last report from the victims before they were attacked. If the humans could feel it, they weren't experiencing sensor failure.
Jack climbed up the stairs to the computer console. "Springer, are our communications online?" he asked quietly.
"Gimme a minute, it's sluggish," the soldier replied, "You gotta baby it a little." He then demonstrated 'babying' by kicking the unit.
Centurion moved from team-mate to team-mate in the dark, quietly whispering commands. All five Cybertronians faced the walls with weapons at the ready, while their human partners aimed laser rifles at the doors.
The captain strode to the console. "Captain Darby," he said calmly, "Would you mind filling me in?"
The human nodded. "Springer re-routed the energon reserves into a force-field around this warehouse. With your permission, I'd like to contact the nearest fortified settlement with Bridge capabilities."
"You believe we should evacuate?" Centurion asked, worry beginning to show in his optics.
Springer cleared his vents nervously. "Not to worsen matters, but the unidentified signals have multiplied." His optics widened and he cursed softly. "I don't believe this! They're shredding through the defenses!" Sure enough, a flickering warning on the screen began to warn of imminent failure.
Centurion turned his gaze to Arcee, as she was the highest ranked individual present. "It's your call," Arcee crossed her arms, "but in any situation where you find yourself dealing with an unknown threat, your first priority is the safety of your team."
Centurion nodded. "Make the call," he urged. He then summoned an energon mace and moved to guard the doors.
Jack scanned various data and documents, eyes skimming the Autobot glyphs until he found what he was looking for. "Here," he spoke softly to Arcee, "Keller's Holt on Argos. It's the only place close enough to bridge to."
Arcee grimaced. "It doesn't exactly have a stellar reputation Jack," she cautioned.
"Hey," Springer interrupted, "I'll take pirates and scoundrels over the boogeyman any day!" A plaintive-sounding wail from the computer announced the failing of the shields. Fear bubbled and roiled in human and Cybertronian alike.
Jack swallowed hard and sent the communique. "Keller's Holt, this is Captain Jackson Darby at Outpost Gallimimus. We are under attack and require an emergency groundbridge to your location."
"And?"
The voice on the other end sounded bored.
Jack's eyes narrowed and his voice grew cold. "And we're not stupid. We know there are slavers and pirates in your ports. Any attempt at an ambush on your end and I'll bring the Iacon Guard down on you." The receptionist was suddenly much more polite.
"Optimus Prime's personal guard? You don't say! Sending proper coordinates now, sir. Safe travels!"
The coordinates flashed up onto the screen and Zettabyte quickly set the groundbridge accordingly. "You are not just a captain," she observed quietly. The human nodded once.
"I only pull rank as a desperate measure," he said softly.
"Enough chatter, we need to leave!" barked Centurion, herding the others towards the bridge.
Petrovych gaped. "But Captain! Our research, our data-"
"-is expendable. You are not." Apollo spoke for the first time, making everyone jump.
Despite the imminent danger, Santiago managed to chuckle. "You're so quiet, I keep forgetting you're there, Apollo." Centurion ignored this.
"Standard sweep protocols," he ordered, "One Human, one Cybertronian. Weapons ready, we don't know who's on the other end." He waited until all of Sector Sweep 12C had bridged out before he left. He watched with hard optics as the walls began to buckle and tear beneath the onslaught of the mysterious attackers, then bridged away.
He never heard the animalistic cry of fury that echoed through the shattered base.
o-O-o-O-o
From the air, the three young Kaonians watched in horror as the outpost fell in a mass of flames.
"They'll blame us for this," Sunstorm whispered soberly.
"Not if you both do exactly as I say," his sister growled. She led the other two Seekers to a small asteroid orbiting the desert planet.
"Listen, this is neutral space," Slipstream reasoned in a slightly panicked voice, "We had as much of a right to be here as anyone! If anyone asks, Ramjet does the talking." She elbowed her youngest brother in the tank. He sniffled, working up some coolant tears.
"I just don't know what went wrong!" he whimpered in a childish voice, "We were just playing tag in the canyons, when those Autobots attacked us!"
Sunstorm and Slipstream nodded. "Work on the tears," Sunstorm advised, "Because the Prime is going to find out about this sooner or later. I'd rather it was us who told him."
Sunstorm was too late, unfortunately. Megatronus had already heard about the neutral zone skirmish from Soundwave, and he was furious. He had opened a hailing frequency to any Kaonians in the 12C area to confront those responsible. When he saw the trine, he stifled a curse.
How fitting, he thought. Of course the miscreants would be Starscream's unholy spawn! "M-megatronus P-p-prime, sir!" The scrawny one, Ramjet, looked like he wanted to explain.
"Be still!" the former warlord snarled. The young ones cowered before his fearsome visage.
"I fail to understand how this could have happened," Megatronus's voice was deceptively calm. "Have you no duties to perform, that you waste time in other sectors? Is there not danger enough at home that you seek it abroad?"
With each accusation his voice grew harsher. "Have you no respect, that you shame our nation by provoking a fight with our allies in neutral space?!"
The Seekers' wings wilted.
"Return to Pred'akngard," the angry Prime ordered, "and report to Blitzwing because Primus knows where your Carrier is!"
He cut off the transmission with a grunt and whirled to face an image of Starcream.
"This is your fault!" he thundered. "Conniving incompetent fool! And you've passed those traits to your demonic offspring!"
Seething, Megatronus paced the stone hallway before turning savagely on the SIC again. "It wasn't enough for you to interfere with my plans every step of the war, was it? No, you had to teach your young to do it as well!" Starscream's expression never changed.
"Coward!" The Prime screamed, "Sparkless weakling! I hate you!"
Suddenly his expression changed. "Starscream I...I didn't mean that, I swear. It's just that...being a Prime is so much harder than being a warlord. There are rules, standards to follow."
Megatronus shook his helm. "The young ones just don't understand that. I...wish you were here to tell them, old friend."
He tenderly rested a hand on the carved stone helm of Starscream that adorned his grave. "Primus knows their carrier certainly doesn't care enough to reign them in."
With a weary groan, the massive warrior seated himself beside the elaborate tomb. "I never had the chance to apologize," he said reflectively, "You know, for everything. I would've told you that you were right about me the whole time."
He chuckled bitterly. "But then, I get the feeling you knew anyway."
Pensive once more, Megatronus turned his gaze to the galleries of the hall and waited.
Le Gasp! Starscream is dead?! Well that probably explains why the triplets act out. Poor Megatronus.