"Proto-what now?" repeated Matt, glancing up at Optimus.
"I'm afraid I know nothing, either," he responded.
After recovering three of the stasis pods, and being joined by Quatrei and Scourpuss, the Autobots returned to the Exodus in time for one of Matt's visits-Anna couldn't make it, as she was protesting the demolition of some city theatre. But once there, Hot Rod repeated what he had told the others.
"It happened about seven thousand stellar cycles after the Exodus vanished," he began, pacing and gesturing as he explained. "We were dropping like rust mites, and the higher ups wanted a soldier that could turn the tide, an Autobot with the spark of a killer. They didn't realize until too late how appropriate that description was."
Chapter 10: Rampage
In the Decepticon headquarters, Starscream oversaw Chopblock as he installed shell programs into the two stasis pods from the Exodus. The first one to open was small, a core-class pod, and a short bot emerged from it. She looked very rugged, with pieces suggesting she had a beast mode, and orange optics stared back at the much larger seeker.
"My name is Vertebreak," she began, kneeling before Starscream. "I am your humble servant, commander Starscream."
"I'm pleased to hear it, Vertebreak. You may rise." He then turned to the next pod, watching as its occupant awoke. She was purple, about the same size as Starscream, with a scowl across her face. "Does this pretty face have a name?"
"Mosstone," she seethed, jabbing a finger into Starscream's wing. "I know you planted something in my head, but once it's out I'm gonna-"
"You may kneel," the seeker interrupted, grinning smugly as Mosstone complied with the order. "It doesn't matter what you're planning to do, because it shall never happen. You belong to the Decepticons now, Mosstone."
The former neutral growled, but said nothing more. Close to Megatron's CR chamber, Solon and Overcast observed the indoctrination.
"Man, poor Mosstone," the former remarked, looking down at his nutritional ration. "She knows she's got a shell program installed, but she can't do anything about it."
"We all know," the jet replied. "But why should we do anything about it when there's work to be done?"
Once again Solon felt sorry for his conversational partner, then looked down at his ration before tossing it aside. "I'm gonna go into town," he announced. "These rations are awful, and I wanna taste actual human food."
"But Starscream wants all Decepticons here until the last pod is-"
"Great, but right now I'm gonna grab some grub."
And Solon skated off before Overcast could say anything else. As he left the base and entered the cool mountain air, he could hear the distant rumble of thunder, deciding to get to the city as quickly as possible.
"The experiment was wild, wouldn't listen to anyone, and slaughtered anything in its path," Hot Rod explained. "Eventually, 'bots and 'cons had to work together just to get it contained."
Cybertron, many years ago…
Protoform X had finally been downed, its inert body dropped into a stasis pod by a few Autobot and Decepticon soldiers. Watching the process were Elita-1, leader of the Autobots while Optimus Prime was MIA, Decepticon scientist Mutilor, and an Autobot soldier.
"Be careful," advised Elita. "We don't need to cause any unnecessary harm."
"Tell that to it," remarked Mutilor, closing up the stasis pod. "Even if we did cause any harm, it wouldn't care. Based on your scans, the connections to its brain module aren't functional, and the spark is the only thing keeping it alive."
"What's our plan for it?" asked the Autobot.
"Find an uninhabited rock and dump the stasis pod there," Elita answered. "In the meantime, have this stasis pod secured, Kremmel."
The Autobot agreed, dragging the massive pod away.
Once Hot Rod finished explaining, he turned to Speedstar. "Was that pod on the Second Chance?"
"Yeah, we was heading out anyway," the green one shrugged. "Made sense at the time, had no idea we'd crashland here."
"If this Protoform X is as dangerous as Hot Rod suggests, I say we find it and recapture it immediately," ordered Optimus.
"I'll do it," said Speedstar, blinking as everyone stared incredulously back at them. "I mean, it's kinda my fault, I may as well."
"Best get going before you change your mind," remarked Evac.
Speedstar turned away, transforming to vehicle mode and driving out of the Exodus.
Bonecrusher couldn't make sense of the final stasis pod. It had an unfamiliar layout to pods from either vessel, making it almost impossible to access.
"What's taking his last pod so long?" demanded Starscream as he stomped over. "I thought you were a skilled programmer."
"I have no idea," responded Bonecrusher, pressing the keypad repeatedly to no avail. "It's like whoever made this pod didn't want it opened."
"I'm not interested in excuses, beast. Have our newest Decepticon awakened right now!"
And the seeker left without another word.
Deciding that perhaps the pod needed power, the grey mech found some power cables and plugged them into it. Thunder sounded again, rattling the base, but he paid it no mind, making the connections and preparing to send a power boost to the pod.
Solon had just skated into Central City, watching a group of storm clouds appear over the mountains, a few flashes of lightning visible.
"Glad I'm not there," he shrugged, picking up his skateboard to find somewhere to eat.
Bonecrusher could practically feel the lightning strike where he was. The overhead lights shorted out, the emergency lights bathing everything in a deep red glow, and monitors burst; but most importantly, the stasis pod was affected, the top practically bursting off its hinges.
The grey Decepticon hurried over, wondering if the pod's occupant was alright, and looked inside. The mech was a burnt orange, with several sharp angles and jagged shapes covering their body. Their optics turned on, the deep green orbs studying Bonecrusher intently.
"Ah. So now I can think," they began, voice deep. "Fascinating. Only now am I capable of thought…"
"Excuse me," called Bonecrusher, the stranger turning his attention to him. "Who are you?"
"I am a weapon."
The stranger shoved the Decepticon aside, stomping out of the pod and analyzing his surroundings. As Bonecrusher rose, the stranger was on him in an instant, wrapping his hands around the former's neck.
"What joy," he remarked, hands gripping tighter. "Now I can feel satisfaction when I kill you."
A sudden flurry of blaster shots hit the stranger's back, knocking him away, as Starscream repeatedly fired upon him. The attacker broke away with a snarl, firing a missile at Starscream before smashing through a wall and retreating into the open.
Starscream's torso had a massive, sparking burn on it, but he remained functional, turning to Bonecrusher and demanding, "Explain that. Now."
"I have no idea, the pod came on and he tried to terminate me-"
"I don't give a frag about you, catch that thing before we lose our greatest warrior!"
Ultimately deciding not to test Starscream's anger, Bonecrusher transformed to wolf mode and scurried through the hole.
Fortunately, the storm didn't reach the city, so Solon picked something up from a food truck and ate it in the nearby park. As he sat, he could hear a group of people arguing outside some old building, but paid it no mind. As the shouting continued, the human noticed two people, a man and a woman, sitting on a nearby bench. He had never seen those people before, but he felt compelled to walk over to them.
"Excuse me," he called, the two of them looking over. "Um… do I know you?"
The woman looked at him and rubbed her chin, speaking first. "I haven't seen you before, but something's… familiar about you."
"She's right. Have we met somewhere?" the man asked.
"I'd… heh, I'd remember if we had," said Solon. He looked at the two for a moment, then put his hands in his pockets. "Well, that storm looks pretty rough. I won't be heading back home until it clears up."
"You live in the mountains?" the woman asked. "We used to live there, but… we stopped, after our son went missing."
Solon's brow furrowed, wondering what that could mean. "He went missing?" The woman teared up, only nodding in response. "I… My condolences. N-Nice talking to you, uh…"
"Daisuke," answered the man, wrapping an arm around the woman's shoulders. "Daisuke and Lorraine Kitakaze. And you?"
"Um… Ulchtar." He gave what he hoped was a nonchalant shrug. "My parents were nerds."
Giving a wave to the humans, Solon skated out of the park, nearly running off the sidewalk due to being lost in thought.
Speedstar drove through the mountains until they reached a muddy field, prompting them to transform to robot mode.
"I ain't getting my wheels dirty," they griped, stepping across the puddles. "Who do I look like, Mudraker?"
As Speedstar ventured into the trees, thunder clapped overhead. They produced their weapon, aiming it into the trees in case something was out there. They could hear footsteps nearby, heavy enough to be another Cybertronian, and slowly inched their way closer. They saw the other shape get closer and closer, green optics staring right back at him. Speedstar finally saw this stranger's face…
...and they both jumped back in surprise.
"Oh, for booting up cold, what are you doing here?" demanded Speedstar, both relieved and dismayed to see who it was.
"I could ask the same question," responded Bonecrusher, his tone about the same. "I came here following a beast, a monstrously large figure who nearly deactivated me."
"I'm looking for something similar. As much as I hate to say it, it sounds like we'll have to work together to take this thing out."
"Regrettably, that sounds like our best option. If my olfactory sensor is correct, the subject was heading northeast, towards the top of this mountain."
With a direction in mind, the begrudging allies set off on their mission.
In the Exodus, Evac had opened one of the stasis pods and was scanning the occupant inside; they had a cream and turquoise frame, with a brass skull-like face, and an attachment on their right arm. Matt looked up to the computer as the call came through, T-AI answering.
"This is Speedstar to base. I got bad news, and worse news."
"What's the bad news?" asked Matt.
"Protoform X broke out, and now it's headed into the mountains."
Everyone looked over in alarm at this. "…And the worse news?" asked Mountrek slowly, wondering what could be worse.
"I gotta work with Bonecrusher."
"I'm not happy about this either, four-wheels," came a faint voice from Speedstar's comm. "Rest assured, Autobots, once we apprehend this creature, I will gladly part ways with Speedstar-even if I'd rather blow out their brain module myself."
"Can you guys send some backup?" Speedstar all but pleaded.
"Sorry, Speedstar, but all of our forces are otherwise occupied," answered T-AI. "Evac and Mountrek are tending to the civilians, and the others are investigating the Second Chance. Good luck."
As the reluctant duo ventured into the trees, they came across a fresh set of heavy footprints in the mud. The flash of lightning exposed a large silhouette in the distance, but it vanished once they looked there properly.
"Where'd it go?" whispered Speedstar, readying their blaster.
"Closer than you think."
A massive set of claws shoved the two down, a massive crustacean stalking up to the two; they figured out right away that it was Protoform X. Bonecrusher tried climbing to his feet to run, but one of the massive claws gripped his midsection. It squeezed tighter, preparing to snap the Decepticon in two.
Speedstar watched the scene before them, shaking their head before firing on the monster's side. "Hey, ugly!" they shouted. "Why don't ya get a piece of me?"
And the Autobot transformed to vehicle mode and tore away, spraying up mud as they did. Protoform X followed, scuttling after his next target. The monster couldn't have known where his quarry was going, but Speedstar was approaching a cliff.
As the two got closer, Speedstar swerved to the side, transforming to robot mode and bringing themself to a stop. But the beast couldn't stop in time, skittering too close to the edge and falling over.
"Have a nice fall, ugly," remarked Speedstar, before something grabbed their leg.
It was Protoform X, one of his claws gripping Speedstar's leg. Right now, that leg was the only thing keeping him from plummeting to the ground. Speedstar gripped a tree root, trying to keep themself from being pulled down, but it wasn't enough. They shut their optics, already fearing the worst, when a shot rang out.
Looking up, they saw Bonecrusher firing on the claw, until the rogue finally let go and began falling to his demise. Speedstar scrambled to solid ground, eventually standing up to look the Decepticon in the optics.
"I believe this is where most would say 'thank you,'" remarked Bonecrusher.
"I coulda handled him just fine," scoffed Speedstar. "But thanks for the save, I guess. I hope we never see each other again after this, Deceptimutt."
"Trust me, the feeling is mutual."
The two transformed out of robot mode, each going their separate ways.
Bonecrusher arrived just a few moments after Solon came back, watching the human shake some rain out of his hair before heading to his quarters. He saw Starscream next, hands on his hips expectantly.
"Well?" he demanded.
"The rogue neutral attacked me in the forest. I was forced to defend myself, and I ended up tossing it over a cliff where it was destroyed."
Starscream looked ready to explode, but instead stormed off, his wing slamming into Bonecrusher as he walked past.
A middle-aged man sat next to the river, his RV parked behind him. He was very taken by the sight of sunset after the storm, and could have sat and watched it for hours. But he was interrupted by the sound of something slamming to the ground nearby.
The man stood up, stepping over to where the thud came from. He was surprised to find a giant robot laying on its back, several signs of damage from its rough landing. As he stepped closer, the robot began to move, the damage smoothing itself out. It began to rise to its feet, the man running back to his vehicle.
"So I have survived. How unfortunate…" the robot stated, seemingly talking to itself. "No matter. There is a new world here, with plenty of insects to crush."
The man fiddled with his keys, trying to get them into the lock of the RV. The ground shook as the robot stepped closer, looking down at the shaking human.
"You will do nicely," it taunted, raising a foot over the vehicle, "as the first victim of Rampage."
The foot came down.
Speedstar transformed upon reentering the Exodus, cringing as they tracked mud across the mostly pristine floor. Evac had finished tending to the civilian, who was now standing off to the side.
"Where's Protoform X?" he asked.
"Smashed to bits," responded Speedstar. "Honestly, I ain't gonna lose any sleep over it. Are the others back yet?"
"They just requested the ground bridge," answered Mountrek, manning the controls. "Activating bridge… now."
As the ground bridge portal opened, Hot Rod was first to cross, dragging a teal mech in his arms. He tossed the frozen bot on the medical table, taking Evac by surprise.
"What in the Pit are you doing?" the medic demanded.
"No time, doc! Just fix him, please!"
Matt looked up from where he was sitting. "What's going on?" he asked. "Who is that?"
It was Speedstar who answered his question, pointing to where Hot Rod was hovering anxiously over the frozen mech. "That's Kup," they answered. "He's Hot Rod's mentor."
Time for crab.
I wanted this chapter to be done by Halloween, but obviously that never happened. I quite liked doing this one, and pairing Speedstar and Bonecrusher together. We'll be seeing Rampage again, Vertebreak and Mosstone will have more development later, and the old theatre from before will play an important part in a future chapter.
Next time: Solon searches for answers to his past, while Hot Rod frets over Kup's safety.