Transformers Prime
Vehicon
Episode 10 Mother Knows Best Part 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers as it is the property of Hasbro.
"Squawk! Mistress, is this really a good idea?"
I turned my visored head to look at my skeptical bird above me, the snow and wind blowing against us as we traversed the Frigid Artic tundra
"Wha? Of course it is! The Harbinger's records say they dumped a trap shortly before they crashed."
He flapped his wings in agitation.
"Squawk! But Mistress!, The reason WHY they crashed was because they were attacked by an Autobot Battalion which resulted in the second trap popping open and devouring everything on board besides the protoforms! Orion told me that we shouldn't act rashly!"
Not again. I miss the good ol days when Squawk thought I was always right but after being friends with Orion he now likes to question my decisions! First philosophy and now he questions my orders?
"Well too bad. Cuz I'm not acting rashly! Unlike you and me they are vulnerable to sub-zero temperatures and thus not able to attack us And did you already forget?" I tapped my backpack to emphasize my point.
"I have cryo canisters to store them in and even IF we ran out of them we can make more. So stop worrying about it!"
"Squawk! Alright, Mistress!"
Good, at least he is very easy to convince. That would explain why Orion has him around his finger. Even when he isn't asking about me his influence on Squawk is still notable. Oh well, he's Squawk's first internet friend so I just have to deal with it.
It's been about a week since Breakdown was returned to the Nemesis and thanks to my insider intel I know that Megatron doesn't suspect a thing and Breakdown is in the clear. Also, Knockout has been more friendly with the Vehicons of late, trying to start up conversations with the warriors, though mostly about beauty tips which only a couple Vehicons actually care about but XL 777, or Scrap 7 as he is called among his siblings has shown quite a bit of interest in this and has started talking to Knockout as well. His latest teammate XL 32 however just doesn't care but sticks around as they are Vehicons and Vehicons don't like being alone as
Vehicons who are alone are easier to ambush
If one is injured the other can either get help or report what happened while the injured one buys time.
And they need someone to shoot the breeze with as they work.
Now this has a bit more interest for me as XL 888, and XL 777 were actually chat buddies and after a brief period of confusion as I acted and talked differently than XL888 he just shrugged it off and we kept chatting. Not really a best friend like Radical but a workplace friend for sure.
What? You thought I never talked to my fellow Vehicons? I think you need to rewind….whatever this is that you are watching as I did say that I wished that my fellow Vehicons were in different stations and XL 777 was serving on the Nemesis thus a different station. Normally this wouldn't be possible with how little the mines interacted with those onboard the Nemesis but a year before XL888 died XL777 reached out to him partly due to them both having 3 matching digits and XL888 thought it was funny so they kept in contact.
I would of kept talking to him even now as he was a fun guy but I had to stop because ya know, XL 888 is dead so if I contacted him I would blow my cover instantly. He's a clumsy Flying Vehicon with a very vocal and upbeat personality but when it counts he knows when the shut up and do his job, unlike a certain SOMEONE I know.
I glanced at my bird again with my physical eyes before turning my digital gaze to follow my recently refreshed scanners and then my physical forward to find any visual signs of my prey.
I can't say the same for his partner XL 32 who is an elite Grounder who was among the top 10 best fighters in the entire fleet including the Named Cons. but due to Grounders and Fliers usually being in separate squads means that they don't usually get to work together in missions often but they don't seem to mind. Especially with his…..reputation.
What reputation? Oh, not much…. Other than that he has survived every fight he has ever entered. You heard me right. Every Single One. Sure, he has lost limbs, been shot in the head, crushed, ball bearings busted, and even dropped from orbit but this mad lad is still around. He should have been Scrap a long time ago but he isn't which is where the name comes from.
I even heard he once hit Optimus Prime with a tree and lived! I can't, however, say the same for any Vehicon who works with him as there is a 90% mortality rate making him a bit of a pariah as being in the same squad as Scrap 7 would always eventually lead to certain death.
It was another factor for Scrap 7 to reach out to XL 888 as since they didn't work together it meant that maybe XL888 wouldn't die.
Oh.
I stopped walking as I realized that Scrap 7 thought I was dead. Er, his friend XL888 was dead. Which is technically true. That must have hurt and I kinda feel bad.
Between this and his clumsiness, he was in an odd position with the higher-ups. On one hand, his constant survival means that he has more combat experience than most other Vehicons which should have gotten him more respect but the fact that he was usually the only one left to report his troops passing makes him look like a coward. The phrase 'Don't shoot the Messenger' is most apt….. especially since he HAS been shot…multiple times in fact and yet he still survived even the ire of the higher-ups.
Everyone else loved to speculate why he was always given the highest priority when it came to repairs and also played a role in his ostracization as to why did he always get fixed while the others were left to rust?
But I didn't do that. Why? Because I already know the Seeecrrreet!(Sing song voice.)
Before he died Scrap 7 told XL888 and swore him to secrecy as telling anyone else would risk his immediate termination and now I will tell you guys because I made no such promise!
It was Shockwave. Yeah. Turns out Mother Dearest played favorites. Well, as much as a bot who claims to do things solely based on logic can be anyways.
Why? He has no idea. All he knows is that he was an experiment and that part of it is to see just how much punishment he can take without dying thus Megatron humored Shockwave and told Scrap 7 that part of the experiment was no one knowing about it other than Megatron and Soundwave and the moment he did he would be terminated.
Goes to show just how desperate Scrap 7 was for friendship if he let THAT loose.
Good thing then that his new friend will be around for a long time as he not only survived every single time they worked together but if it wasn't for getting on the bad side of a certain treacherous lieutenant would have probably been named by now.
I then began walking again as my mental self closed and then reopened the Scanner for the 15th time.
Hmm. Still not picking up anything via Energon signature so maybe the trap ran out of power? I'll adjust my scans to pick up anything bearing a Decepticon marker and see if that works.
While I did this I thought about 32 who was known as Wrecker 2
I never met the con nor spoken to him but he is probably one of the strongest Vehicons in the entire fleet and alongside his partner XL 253 before XL253 died they were the most competent team on the Nemesis. They were also the ones that Radical saw as 80% of Vehicons would never be able to do even a 10th of what they can do. As to how his partner died? I actually knew this one.
Because I buried him. That Vehicon that Starscream killed just to prove a point? That was 32's partner as it turns out that Slagheap didn't kill him just to prove a point but also because it was the perfect way to kill a highly trained Vehicon without risking his own paint job. I have no doubts that in a straight-up fight, 253 would've cleaned his clock.
But why was Wrecker 2 separated from 253? Same reason why 253 is dead. Starscream. Think about it. He was assigned to be the partner of a Con who had a 90% ally mortality rate.
The sheer depths of Starscream's scheming are honestly quite admirable for a Decepticon but that doesn't change the fact that I hate him.
As for Wrecker 2's Personality? No clue. Like seriously, I have no clue. He could be a butt-kisser or a complete rebel and I would have no idea as the only thing the gossip covered was him and 253 being absolute Units and that Starscream hates his guts.
But what I really want to know is WHY. Why was Starscream so focused on killing Wrecker 2? Why would he go as far as to kill his Partner? That bit of gossip was sadly unknown as Neither Wrecker 2 nor Starscream will discuss it.
I shrugged it off as I continued my search, my advanced sensors combing through this winter wonderland.
No point in wasting time on it. I just hope the pair stay alive for as long as possible. If not for Scrap 7's sake then spiting Starscream was just as good.
Bzzt.
Hmm?
With a blink of confusion, I stopped walking again as my Spark skipped a beat. Did Sparks beat? I tapped my ample chest which refused my command to open. Drat, really wish I could check as the timing of that when I was talking about those two was…..Ominous.
Ya know what? I Don't care. Just gonna ignore that like I did with Optimus's illness and Squawk's Questline as that has worked great so far. If I don't play along then I won't be involved.
Blip!
I abandoned that stressful train of thought with a smile as at last my sensors picked up something.
"I got something!"
I called out to Squawk who flew back to me and landed on my left shoulder as I displayed the purple Octogan-shaped Scanner grid from my hologram projector where a red light blinked.
"Squawk! Where is it?"
"Hmm. It's a Decepticon relay that's for sure which but it's so old I can't tell if it's the Trap or something else. Judging from these readings it's about 50 meters to the right and…..100 underground?"
"Squawk! Did they bury it?"
"Not likely but they did crash a long, long time ago and we are standing on ice so maybe it sank to the bottom of the ocean then the ice froze over it. Either way, We've been here an hour with no leads and I am getting bored as I have to have my mental self run the scanners so let's just check what it is and call it a day. I am sending you the coordinates, go fly ahead and make sure that there isn't any danger and report to me but DON'T come back till I say so okay?"
"Squawk! At your command Squawk!"
With a right-wing salute, my Parrot Patrol Plane took flight and zoomed off at high speeds to the location as I waited where I was. I wasn't going to go until Squawk confirmed it was safe as even if there was a Trap 50 Meters is far enough that I should be able to ground bridge out and if needed I can call a bridge on top of Squawk to get him out too though that risks others getting in but that's why I have 100 Exo Skeleton's ready for rapid deployment.
I had decided to stick with the Skeletons as
1. They were creepy.
2. They were easy to modify and arm with weapons,
and 3…I just like the idea of unleashing robot zombies with glowing red eyes while playing that Call of Duty clip of fetching their souls.
I had worked on them a bit focusing on improving combat effectiveness using Breakdown as a reference but that was against a single target in an enclosed space so the only way to improve them further is a live fire test to really see how Project 'Cadmus.' performs and since that would imply being in danger…I would rather leave them unfinished.
'Squawk! Nothing here's Squawk!'
My bird reported through the comms and I told him.
"Do a few more sweeps okay? Just in case."
I wasn't going to take any chances.
A few minutes later he reported.
"Squawk! Nothing here!"
"Alright. I'll be there soon."
I turned into ground mode and drove over as I had spent so much time looking so I wasn't going to 'cheat' by ground bridging over.
Soon I arrived at the spot with Squawk standing right above it and proceeding to dock on my shoulder.
'Squawk! Mission complete!'
'Great job! Now, let's find out what's down here. Ooh, it's like a loot box!'
'Squawk? Loot box? What's that?'
Grk!
Scrap right! I never exposed him to the nightmare that was Lootboxes! Gotta think quickly.
'Um uur, it's another name for a treasure that you don't know what's in it until you do.'
Please buy it.
'Squawk! I see! Then let's open the box of loot Squawk!'
HE BOUGHT IT! I am so smart! Now! To find my prize!
"Squawk! Digging music please!"
"Squawk! On it."
BROTHERS OF THE MINE REJOICE!
SWING SWING SWING WITH ME!
With the Digger's national anthem playing I Diggy dug a hole.
By the time the song ended We had reached the treasure and as I removed the last bit of frozen earth the contents of our gacha is…..
"A Fossil?" Yeah, you heard me right. The thing that was giving off the beacon was the skull of some kind of a dinosaur but instead of being made of rock, my scanners were telling me that it was made of dead cyber matter. The head was one of the most famous Dinosaurs so even I know what it is. A Velociraptor Skull.
And sitting pretty in the skull cavity was the beacon.
I picked up the skull, lifting it up so I could examine it closer with Squawk changing into beast mode to also look at it.
"Squawk! We got a skull?"
"Seems like it."
I tried to use my needles to access the beacon's data as even though this thing must be millions of years old the beacon was still mostly intact so if I was lucky then maybe other data might be intact as well.
BEEEEPPPP!
ACCESS DENIED!
Jinkies!
My mental self jumped back as what should have been a rotted house code-wise was instead freaking Fort Knox!
For my physical body instead of jumping I just gasped.
"Jinkies!"
My Bird Squawked in Concern.
"Squawk! What's wrong?"
I flipped my visor up to look at the 'supposed.' fossil before flying out of the hole, my bird flying beside me as I both answered him while opening a ground bridge directly to my lab.
"For something older than all of humanity it has a stupidly powerful firewall blocking access."
"A firewall?"
Squawk flew to his perch as I place the Skull on the center table and then went to my vault where I stored the cryo Canisters and retrieved several diagnostic, Dissection, Repair, and Hacking tools which I then placed on the southern Counter as I narrated to my Con my thoughts.
"Yes. And one powerful enough that I couldn't even find out who made it or anything about the data it contains. Which of course means that I need to try harder! Ohh I haven't had the chance for a good ol hacking session since I got here!"
This is gonna be so much fun! Seriously, I haven't gotten the chance to actually test my E l333t computer skillz for so long that I can't stop grinning from ear to ear! And with my lab preventing any and all communications in or out that either I or Squawk don't want to go through means that no one will know what is going on even if the creator set up some kind of failsafe into their creation.
"Squawk! But Misstress, Didn't you hack the Nemesis when we were saving Breakdown?"
Ugh, my smile shrank a tinge as I turned to lecture my bird waving my hand in dismissal.
"Well, Yeah but that is beside the point! That was a serious situation where I needed to not risk anything and this is purely recreational! So I can take my sweet, sweet time on this Kinder egg."
I rubbed my hands together like a miser counting coins as both my minds were already ablaze with ideas and plans to once again prove my intellectual superiority!
Sadly my bird didn't get the forecast for clear coding skies and tried to rain on my parade instead!
"If that's so then why not use Orion? We could find out right now! Squawk!"
I frowned heavily as I stomped my left foot angrily, shook my head, and had my hands to my sides balled into fists as my claw clicked like a crab.
"No no no! It's no fun to sequence-break a game by brute-forcing the solution! Sure, if I used my dear Orion the Iacon Supercomputer would be able to tear it open like a Chainsaw to a wooden puzzle box but that's just wasting a perfectly good puzzle box!"
He still looked confused but I didn't care anymore as I wanted to play with my new toy NOW!
"Alright! I'm getting started now you can either play music and stick around or buzz off I don't care which! Momma's got work to do."
I turned away from him, flipping my visor down and picking up a Diagnostic tool as he declared.
"Squawk! As you command! What Music would you like me to play for you today?"
"Hmmmm how about Techno Dubstep Playlist #3?"
"Playing now!"
From the hidden Surround sound speakers inside the Tesla coils Daft Punk's Harder Better Faster Stronger started playing as I eagerly began playing with my new toy.
"Game Start!"
Change of POV Mine B34, Somewhere in Nevada.
"Hey, you ever wonder why we're here?"
Standing guard at the entrance of Decepticon Mine B34 hidden within the many, many generic rock canyons found in the US were 2 Vehicons. The first was a Flier Vehicon who asked the Question then to his right was a Grounder who responded, their voices an exact match.
"We are here because YOU asked Knockout if he or Breakdown could talk with your friend XL999 and Breakdown agreed so we got escort duty."
The annoyed tone of the grounder gave the impression that this wasn't the first question he was asked and he knew it wouldn't be the last.
Though the same physically down to the faceless visors and voice how they held themselves and their manner of speaking was enough to tell them apart.
The flier was to the right of the entrance leaning against it with his legs crossed and arms behind his head.
"I mean, yeah, that's the obvious answer but I meant in a more…philosophical way. Like, Why were we made? What is our purpose in life? Are we really less important than the named Cons or are we the same deep down where it counts? I don't know about you Wrecker 2 but it keeps me up at night."
The now-named Wrecker 2 was standing in the regulation sentry position with his right arm in blaster mode and held within his left hand though he raised it to rub his nonexistent nose.
"I swear Scrap 7 you need to defragment your hard drive cuz all the times you dented your skull must have corrupted SOMETHING up there. Also, We were made by Shockwave using Burnout's spark to create lord Megatron's perfect Army. Our purpose is to win this war and Yes, we are just as important as the Named Cons."
This surprised Scrap 7 as he snapped his gaze to his compatriot lowering his arms and standing straight.
"Wait, really? You think we are just as important as the named Cons?"
"Of course we are! I mean, Decepticons are all about strength right?"
Scrap 7 nodded. "Yeah."
Wrecker 2 looked to him "So whoever is strongest is important right?"
"Yeah." X2"
"So since I am stronger than Starscream and HE is a named Con then by process of elimination I am more important than he is and that means that we all matter as long as we can prove our strength."
"That's a good wisdom. But wait, how do you know you are stronger than Starscream?"
"How else would I know? I beat him in a fight."
This was enough to make Scrap stand at attention.
"You did?! When?"
"Pass."
This made Scrap groan and throw his arms in the air
"Really? You always pass when it comes to you and Starscream!"
Wrecker tilted his head and if he had eyebrows he would have definitely raised one as he countered.
"Fine, I'll tell you if you tell me why you always get medical care first."
"Grrk!"
Scrap froze for a moment before he drooped with his arms hanging low.
"Sigh, Point taken."
Wrecker chuckled before returning to his default annoyance as he looked behind him into the entrance.
"Good. now how long are we supposed to wait before your friend finishes talking to Breakdown? I had a sparring match with War Marshal CounterPunch scheduled for tonight and I Don't want to miss it!"
"Well-"
"Sorry I'm late! There was an accident and Breakdown needed my help patching up XL1052.
From the entrance emerged a Vehicon Miner who though he was a giant robot when compared to his Warrior Caste Brothers appeared quite small.
Scrap sounded a bit hopeful.
"Help patching up 1052? Then does that mean he agreed?"
XL999 nodded happily.
"Yeah! I'm to go back with you guys so that my chassis can be retrofitted to better serve my new role as Breakdown's Medical Assistant."
Scrap patted his friend on the shoulder hard enough to make him fall over.
"Congra-oops."
Wrecker sighed as he helped XL999 up.
"Please Scrap, don't break our new medbot before he can even start."
XL999 nodded in appreciation for Wrecker's help standing up.
"Thank you Wrecker 2. It's an honor to meet you face to face."
"I know. And you can pay me back for my kindness by working hard to prove to the higher-ups that your idea of having more medical bots is actually worth the effort."
After Breakdown's kidnapping, XL 999 had the realization that having only 2 med bots for the whole fleet was too risky, and perhaps in another timeline he would have kept his mouth shut as what was the likelihood of Command actually listening to a lowly miner? But that was not true for this one as not only was there a new Warmarshal who cared about Vehicon Casualties but his friend XL777 had recently gotten chummy with the only medical bots Knockout and Breakdown so he took a chance and asked his friend to relay his idea of training Miner Vehicons to be medics to secure the safety of the fleet instead of relying solely on 2 medics and unknown to the Vehicon's Knockout and Breakdown had ulterior motives to their agreement.
Well, more Knockout than Breakdown but Breakdown always followed Knockout's lead so there was little difference.
Which is why 30 minutes later XL999 became the first Vehicon Miner in years to grace the Nemesis's operation Table as he was modified into the fleet's first Vehicon Field Medic by the Mad Doctor himself.
Assisting him was Breakdown who was a bit confused.
"So Knockout. I'm glad for the idea of having some extra help around here but why are we doing this?"
Knockout smirked as he began dismantling the powered-down Miner piece by piece which made Breakdown wince as he recalled how it felt to be taken apart.
"Simple Breakdown. It's all about reputation."
Breakdown retrieved from the Scrap Storage a Vehicon T-Cog and a few other components as they had plenty of parts to burn due to the many, many Vehicons who died on the battlefield.
"Reputation?"
Knockout explained as he took from Breakdown the T Cog and did some measurements.
"Yes, Reputation. You and I both know that our….friend only helped us due to your good reputation with the Vehicons so it could be said that the more the Troops like us the more SHE likes us and what greater way to gain the admiration of the grunts than to actively work to improve their lives?"
Breakdown gained a look of understanding as he caught onto what Knockout was implying without actually speaking. But, that then led to him asking a question that would be impossible for anyone listening to them to really understand without context.
"Then we want Car insurance?"
Knockout cut with his rotary saw a gap below the Spark Chamber to place the T Cog, his words accentuated by the grinding noise.
"Indeed. We are Decepticons, Might Makes Right but choosing the RIGHT Might is most important. We have a good Gig so let's stick with it but if things go south?"
Breakdown grinned as he answered.
"We cash in our insurance for a big payout!"
"Exactly! Now, hand me that Circuit Connector, I gotta make sure the Tcog's connected right."
Now if you had suggested Breakdown before his kidnapping by humans to betray Megatron he would have killed you on the spot but that Breakdown hadn't been abandoned by Megatron and have his rescuer call out Megatron for his stupid decisions. Those criticisms have circled around in his mind for over a week being renewed anytime he accessed his Eye of Ra which he used quite often due to how much it improved both his medical and combat skills. And after a week of this, he had come to a simple conclusion.
Megatron was just a stronger Dirt Boss. And so while reluctant to make an enemy out of him if push came to shove he would always choose Knockout and if Knockout wanted to join up with the Queen of the Vehicons then he would gladly stab Megatron in the back every time.
Besides, he really wanted to try that 'Chocolate Cake' thing again.
The pair continued their work, their treachery obscured by all while in another area of the Nemesis, a fierce battle was taking place between 2 proud Warriors.
"Freeze solid!"
Inside the training colosseum near the bottom of the back of the ship, a bruised Wrecker 2 dodged a cryo missile launched by CounterPunch, rolling to the side and the very instant both his feet were on the ground opened fire at the WarMarshal with dual blasters rushing him. This forced CounterPunch to abandon his attempt to shoot a charge ice beam to instead shoot several smaller shots which Wrecker once again dodged dark soul's Style.
They had been doing this dance for about 20 minutes with Wrecker leaking Energon from his mouth showing the damage he had taken while Counter Punch was mostly untouched. The battle was a game of Spacing as CounterPunch while great at Ranged Combat was absolute Trash at CQC while Wrecker 2 excelled at all ranges meaning that not only did he have an easier time closing the gap but if he did then CounterPunch would lose. Period.
Like now.
"Oof!" CounterPunch grunted as Wrecker nailed him in the stomach hard enough to fold him over like a lawn chair before being slammed hard into the ground with Wrecker 2 standing with his foot on Counter's face bending his nose 90 degrees.
"Looks like Victory is mine this time."
CounterPunch scowled.
"Good for you. Now get your foot off my face!"
Wrecker obliged, taking it off and extending his hand to the downed War Marshal.
"You really need to work on your CQC sir."
CounterPunch glared at the extended arm for about 30 seconds before he grasped Wrecker by the forearm and was lifted to his feet.
"Says you. It took you 3 matches to actually reach me so I think I will be fine as I am."
Wrecker sighed at his CO's stubbornness.
"If you say so sir So what do you think of it?"
CounterPunch straightened his dented nose while Wrecker 2 retrieved from one of the colosseum walls a washcloth and 2 Energon injectors
"You mean XL999's idea?"
Wrecker handed Counter an injector
"Yes, It's only because you okayed the procedure that it can even happen but you never told me if you actually believe it will be worth it."
Counterpunch stabbed it into his right arm, smiling slightly at the rush of fresh Energon entering his system.
"I think that it should have happened the moment the Fleet arrived on Earth and the med bots called far earlier."
Wrecker wiped off the spilled energon from his chin, then injected himself while confirming.
"I agree. Imagine how many of us would still be alive if we had more med bots."
"Well, I'm glad to hear that! Man Wrecker, you really slayed the Warmarshal with that last attack of yours!
Both sighed in unison as Scrap 7 strutted over from his spot in the stands.
Seeing Counter's annoyance he quickly added with hands waving.
"Not trying to throw Shade on you sir! Truly you are the MVP!"
This only made the pair sigh even louder as Wrecker Rebuked him.
"Scrap, please. shut up. It's bad enough that you waste time on the human information Network so don't curse our audio receptors with their terminology."
Counter glared at Scrap making him jump back and stand at attention.
"Yes, I only gave you that access due to your stellar record in combat so if you want to KEEP that access you will never speak like that in front of me AGAIN!"
Under the threat of losing his internet privileges, Scrap had his head and knees against the floor dogeza style as he desperately begged.
"I'm so sorry! I Swear to never burden you with such things again!"
Counter smirked, seemingly satisfied with his groveling, and addressed Wrecker.
"Good. Wrecker?"
Wrecker stood at attention.
"Yes Sir?"
"We will fight again in 3 days. Do NOT allow Scrap to come with you."
"As you command War Marshal."
Counter then left, leaving Wrecker and the still-prostrated Scrap alone.
After several minutes Wrecker said.
"He left. You can stand up again you bolthead."
"Whew! That was a close one!"
Scrap jumped right back up acting as if nothing had happened making Wrecker ask him with a hint of sympathy,
"Look, I know you miss Silent 8 but you need to move on. You are lucky that the War Marshal is so understanding or you would be dead."
Scrap sighed sadly as he rubbed the back of his head.
"I know, It's just. He loved using the internet and the words humans use on it so when I use them it feels like he is still around."
Silent 8.
Wrecker 2 knew quite a bit about Scrap's first Miner friend as he talked about him all the time but to him, it was unhealthy as constantly talking about the dead only made their absence hurt worse. It's better to accept their death and move on. It's what he did for XL253 after all.
This is the mentality of most of the fleet but Scrap was special. Maybe it was the constant head trauma, or perhaps being a pariah among his fellow Vehicons but he got extremely attached to the ones who actually liked or tolerated him and their loss always hurt.
Wrecker thought his making a new Miner friend would have let him move on when he suggested it but no, it just made things worse and now Wrecker was already dreading trying to comfort Scrap if XL999 died.
Now why did Wrecker put so much effort into trying to keep Scrap happy? Why did he care at all?
"I understand. C'mon, let's get to the Barracks. We got to be at our post in 6 Terran hours.
"Alright."
The pair left the arena, Wrecker guiding the depressed and slightly slouched Scrap by the shoulder in a comforting manner.
Because Scrap was his Partner. And Wrecker 2 would always have his Partner's back.
Always.
3 Days later Overcock's POV.
ACCESS GRANTED.
"VICTORY!"
I screeched in triumph with my arms up in the air as after 72 hours of continuous work I finally managed to solve the puzzle box and it was incredible! Just accessing the operating menu alone took 4 hours and only by spoofing the Harbinger's Registration number was I even able to access the user interface.
Then, as I worked on it there were no less than 10 different attempts via different methods to send some kind of signal before self-Destruction which freaked me out as I had predicted maybe 1 or 2 at best but the difficulty in negating these self-destructions dramatically increased with each one as I had less and less time and understanding of the methods each time and on the third one it seemed I would lose the data as it tried to overwrite the entire thing into the entire script of an old Cybertronian play about Insecticons.
But thanks to some Quick thinking/panicking I tried swinging Squawk at it to 'make it go back.' and it worked! The only downside was I had to start from scratch which while annoying let me pull an Undertale and repeat my attempts over and over and over again, learning from every attempt and slowly but surely breaching the firewalls and now it was time for me to get my prize!
"Squawk! Congratulations Mistress!"
My bird gave me my accolades as I lifted my visor, removed my equipment, and jacked the skull into the Lab's Hologram Projector located above the table to display the interface for Squawk to See.
Because Just opening it with my own system won't be as satisfying as seeing it for real and allowing Squawk to seek the fruits of our labors.
"Thank you! Now, let's see what was so important they were willing to destroy it rather than let it fall into enemy hands."
A blue digital Keyboard manifested in front of me and with a keystroke the projected purple octagonal screen revealed to me its secrets.
0-o
Huh?
What…..What is all of this?
Cyber Neuclaric Acid?
Duration of functionality before CNA Decay?
Biorhythm archive to learn what went wrong as time progressed?
I will admit. I was not expecting this.
The screen was full of CNA sequences, schematics, and a diagnostic log that was so THICC it took up most of the data on the Predacon Fossil I found.
You heard me right. This is from a Predacon. The prehistoric ancestors of Cybetronians who died out long before even the Primes arrived Though it was kind of obvious as the title of the project was in fact. 'PROJECT PREDACON' but this wasn't a natural Predacon but a CLONE of one who among several others had 2 jobs.
Protect the Energon reserves hidden on Earth from Autobot intrusion.
Run as long as physically possible and record EVERYTHING.
This is some heavy stuff and worse it's stuff that I simply have no idea about! I mean, sure, the more I look at it the more it KINDA makes sense if I squint and look at it sideways but even with the stuff I learned from the Jury Rig's Protoform research I was scrambling to fully understand what was on the screen.
What I DID know however was that these Clones were made by a specific someone fully aware that they were all unstable and sent them out to anyway so that they could one day retrieve this data to perfect the cloning process.
Who was it? Cmon, do I really need to answer that? There is only one Decepticon who was smart enough to actually use this and also has previous experience cloning Cybetronians.
"Well well well, Mother Shockwave. What large data you have."
I muttered this as Squawk started having smoke coming out of his ears as it tried and failed to understand any of this.
"Squawk! My processor hurts! Is this even language!?"
By Primus. We finally found a language that Squawk can't learn!
Today is a momentous day in history and should be remembered forever.
Hahaha! Now you get to know how it feels to look at gibberish!
My brief joy vanished as this sank in.
Scrap! That means he can't translate for me!
Should I leave it alone?
No, I worked far too hard to just abandon it now! And I think if I learn what all this means I could possibly make my own Predacons! Or even give me a Beastmode! Or turn Squawk into a Pterosaur! Scrap it, I could turn all my Skeletons into Velociraptors!
My eyes lit up as that thought crossed my mind and it was soooo cool!
This was it! The way to perfect my Exo Skeletons! Velocoraptorers were always group hunters so having lots of them would make them perfect!
But there was one obstacle that I couldn't surmount with studying! Because as I skimmed through the data there was one very, specific section missing.
"WHERE IS THE NODE NEURAL NETWORK?"
Node Neural Network. It was something that was mentioned time and time again throughout the whole file but it wasn't THERE!
I didn't even know what it did but from the name, it must be used to make the Predacons able to think…or simulate nerves?
"AUGH!"
I yeeted the Skull into a wall hard enough to dent the wall out of rage though at this moment it was just a paperweight as I had copied the data over to the Harbinger's data banks so it was the perfect outlet for my rage!
"Squawk? Node Neural Network? What's that?"
Squawk's question did NOT help as I could only shout while throwing all three arms up in defeat.
"I have no Slagging Idea! And without it, I won't even know if I am doing anything right! It's like trying to do a 5000-piece puzzle that is pure black!"
Squawk chirped sadly at this.
"So that's it Squawk? Is there no way to get it?"
This cut through my slump as I remembered those signals.
I straightened from my slump as I quickly jacked into the Harbinger and began studying the 10 different signals that were attempted to be sent, the display was flashing rapidly as I utilized Orion to his full potential as the only reason they would send signals if they were expected to be received somewhere.
10 different GPS maps stacked 2 by 5 all appeared showing the planet in a grid in in all 7 colors of the Rainbow, Black, White, and Brown which all did full scans only for big X's to appear.
So the signal was not meant for Earth but they are all short range so they must be nearby!
"Squawk! Mistress? What are you doing?"
I began expanding the search, the maps now showing the Earth and Moon but again, Big Xs so I kept going, both my mind focused to their limit.
"The Fossil tried to send 10 different Signals but the only reason why they would do that was that they were expected to be received. But due to the complexity of the signals and their age they couldn't possibly reach Cybertron so, there must be of been some kind of relay to enable the transmission… THERE!"
All 10 maps merged together, Showing the picture of a certain red Planet.
My bird tilted his head.
"Mars?"
"Yes, Mars! The Relay is on Mars which is the closest Planet between Earth and Cybertron. It is sending a Signal but it isn't hailing any of my responses so we will have to go in person to see what is going on."
The Map zoomed in to show that it was located near the Jezroro Crater.
Heh, Looks like my dream of Jurrasic Park Overclock edition is still possible!
Squawk flapped his wings and fluttered onto the Table.
"Squawk! So what are we waiting for! Let's use the Ground bridge to-."
"No."
My sharp refusal stunned the bird but I didn't care as I walked out of the lab and headed down the large rectangular white-painted drywall hallways, my feet cushioned by the grey carpet as I headed toward a part of the ship I haven't visited in a long time.
"Squawk! Why not?"
He quickly caught up to me and docked onto my shoulder where I then enlightened him.
"Because none of our Ground Bridges were designed to go any further than the Earth's Moon so we will have to go the old fashion way."
I smiled wide as a few minutes later I opened the final door revealing the second most important place in the Harbinger.
"Squawk! You mean?"
Seems he has already caught on.
"Yes, It's time for the Harbinger to take to the skies for the first time.
The Command Bridge.
It was very similar to the one on the Nemesis as I had based it off that as it was pretty cool with a few changes. The biggest is the lack of side terminals and monitors with the exception being the large blank Windshield Screen made from countless octagonal-shaped displays and a cockpit where Megatron would usually stand.
This cockpit was a work of art, being a mix of Style and Comfort as this was where I would sit when I take to the skies in a Decepticon Warship of my own design! So it was with eagerness as I stood by it and its clear glass cover split down in a Y shape with the top and sides receding into the back of the pod and sides respectively.
The back of the pod had a tall grey back lined in black leather leaving a grey seam on the edges where the glass slid into place and had indents to allow my backpack and my claw arm to seamlessly fit with my claw folding into my backpack for convenience while Squawk himself got off my shoulder then soon after docked himself again onto the back of the Cockpit where a pedestal like the one he was found on sat behind its own smaller version of the cockpit cover which sealed shut upon his taking his position.
The Controls for the cockpit were located on the leather arms of the chair which like the back had indents so that my turbine-like arms could sit comfortably which was good as the controls required my arms to be in drill mode as I inserted my drills into the blue cone-like caps and once I did all it took was a single spin of both my drills in opposite directions to seal the Cockpit and turn on the Harbinger's navigation systems!
The screen before me briefly displayed a massive Decepticon Symbol before from the center and expanding outward showing rock and dirt which sat outside my ship while My mental self became surrounded by screens revealing where all the terminals went as well as
"Squawk! I am docked and ready for duty!"
My mental self turned to her left to see a golden version of Squawk floating in the purple void who was also surrounded by blue screens that covered everything and anything involving communications because what kind of Communications officer would he be if he couldn't do his job?
I am so excited and nervous! On one hand, I would be leaving the comfort of Mother Earth potentially exposing myself but on the other…..
I'm going to SPACCCCCCCCEEEEEEEEE!
Besides, my ship is shielded from detection like the Nemesis so unless they see it in person everything will be okay.
Yeah, I'm good!
Let's get out of here!
With the spirit of the Space Core burning within my chest, I began the ascent of the Harbinger.
3rd person POV: Location: Unknown Desert at around Noon.
A green Lizard was sunning itself on a rock near a cactus, not a care in the world in the way only animals could have when it was stirred from its bathing when a faint rumbling could be felt that quickly became stronger and stronger until the lizard scampers off the rock as fast as it could. Maybe it could get away in time!
But it wasn't fast enough.
The World beneath the lizard seemed to tear asunder as a truly monolithic Energon Drill glowing purple pierced the heavens, It was a mile high in length, half a mile in Width, and made way for a 2 mile-long cylindrical golden body with 8 Purple rectangular plates along its entire length evenly spread around its circumference.
From these it could be seen dozens of tank treads used to move the mining platform beneath the ground swapped an equal amount of circular thrusters per plate via the plates splitting beneath the treads, storing the treads, then a moment later the thrusters took their place and the plates coming back together as the thrusters ignited in blue thrust dragging the rest of the ship out of the ground.
The end of the ship was one gigantic thruster reminiscent of human rocket ships which was how the ship started rising in the first place but now supported by the navigational thrusters was able to launch the Decepticon Mobile Mining Platform Harbinger into space leaving a gaping abyss that quickly began to fill with magma due to how far down the Harbinger was before ascending to the stars.
Overclocks POV.
"SPACCCCEEEEE!"
My dear Bird announced in a perfected recreation of the Space Core making me so proud of him as my Mighty Missile Mansion escaped the earth's gravitational pull and headed towards Mars.
I won't lie, being in Space was such a rush! No longer was I bound to the world of my birth and the entire galaxy was now my oyster! I could go anywhere! I could leave behind this entire pointless fight and find some random planet to chill at for the rest of my very, very, very long life.
But. I shrugged this off as Earth was the only place for me as Earth was the only place with any good entertainment and my friend Radical was on Earth so it would remain my home.
Heh, I should take some pictures and videos and send them to Radical as souvenirs. I can claim I got them from a Rover one of my employers launched.
Or maybe…
I smiled as I thought of another idea that would surely knock Radical's Socks off!
Speaking of which.
"Communications Officer! Do we still have a connection to the Earth's internet?"
In my mental space, Squawk checked several screens before reporting with a digital salute.
"Squawk! Yep! Loud and Clear! The Transwarp Booster is working just fine though I don't know how long that will stay the case as we get further from Earth."
I waved him off with my second mind, an interesting experience as my physical body was the one now restricted and my digital one the one able to move about.
"That's fine. It'll be an hour till we arrive at Mars and if we do lose connection We can just make our own relay Booster on Mars like Shockwave did."
Heck, we might even just steal his and save the effort.
I pulled up the chat service and sent Radical a new message.
Overclock: Hey Radical! What are you up to?
Radical Quiver: Oh! Hi Overclock! You haven't messaged in a few days so I got worried.
Overclock: "Yeah, sorry for ghosting ya 👻 but I had gotten a really difficult and interesting coding job from my employers and it took me 3 days of nonstop work to get it done.
Radical Quiver: Wow, did you get any sleep at all? You know it's unhealthy to skip sleep!
Overclock: Don't worry about it! I'm used to pulling all-nighters.
Radical Quiver: Overclock! You need to take care of yourself! You should go to bed right now. I'm serious, I don't want you getting hurt.
Overclock: GAH! Such…warm…. Concern! It burns my black soul! fine! I'll go to bed after I'm done talking to you. How about that?"
Radical Quiver: That works for me! 😁
Overclock: So? What have you and your friends been up to while I was in the zone?
Radical Quiver: Sigh, a lot's happened. For starters, Jack's Mom found the dorm.
Overclock: NO! She did!? How?! 😦
A delay of 60 seconds.
Radical Quiver: Another Dorm who doesn't like Orion and his roommates followed Jack Home and basically kidnapped Jack's Mom to get back at them but Jack and Cecilia found them, beat the crap out of them, and got his Mom back. Did you know that Cecilia was a Kick Boxer? She never told us till then! After calling the Cops Jack's Mom demanded to know what was going on and so she learned about the dorm.
Scrap, That's a lot to take in. Really? Kidnapping!? Just what kind of college do these guys go to? OH, I want to ask which one but that would mean I would know where Radical lived and that's a no-go. And Cecilia's a Kick Boxer? You go girl show them some real Girl Powah!
Overclock: 😱 your Kidding! So what now? Are you not allowed to see your friends anymore?
Radical Quiver: No, we still do but Jack's Mom has been coming over all the time and it has really kinda ruined the fun of going there.
Overclock: A Shame Though maybe she has a good reason to do that with all the stuff you guys get up to.
Radical Quiver: "What? What do you mean?"
Overclock: Well such young kids shouldn't be hanging around such troublesome people and should instead find some safer friends to hang out wi…BAHAHAHAHAHAHA Oh man I couldn't keep a Straight face long enough to even finish typing that!
Radical Quiver: Phew! 😌 You really had me worried for a second there.
Overclock: I did didn't I? You can hang out with whoever you want to just make sure to be smart about it.
Radical Quiver: Thank's Overclock. I really appreciate your faith in me.
Overclock: No Problem! We are internet friends and you listened to me in the past about….dangerous individuals so of course I trust you!
For some reason, Radical didn't answer for a while after that. Part of me suspected that he didn't listen to me and was one of the kids working with the Autobots but no, that isn't possible. Radical is a smart kid.
Sure, they were 2 boys and 1 girl and he did say he met a boy and a Girl, and the girl I saw with Bulkhead was Asian like his friend Miko…. Could he of?
I shook both my heads aggressively as I dismissed that train of thought.
No, NO! He isn't one of them! He can't be! He listens to me and he is just dealing with something right now on his end.
I Trust him.
"Squawk! Mistress! We have lost connection with the internet!"
My eyes blinked with a beep.
"Oh, we did?"
I tried refreshing the browser but it only gave me the T rex no connection screen and I sighed a deep sigh of relief.
"That makes more sense. It wasn't that Radical hesitated to answer but we lost connection! Silly Overclock! Overthinking things.
"Alright, Thank you Squawk, When we arrive we'll set up a Relay to fix that problem! We will have an internet Connection FOREVER!"
"Squawk! Yes, Misstress!"
The next 40 minutes went relatively quickly with DJ Squawk playing some rad space toons while I messed around with the Harbinger doing loop de loops, BARRELL ROLLS, and other stunts to get used to piloting it and it was awesome!
I was flying a real Spaceship! And he was working perfectly!
Decepticon Mobile Mining Platform Harbinger. When I first was remaking the Harbinger I took Squawk's advice of using the ground around us to fill in the missing parts and simultaneously converted it into the ship as well as burying it and the end result is my Mighty, mining mansion!
Capable of handling the immense heat of the planet's Core The Harbinger usually stays right on the boundary between the crust and the mantle keeping me safe due to being so far deep that not even the strongest of Scanners could ever hope of detecting us. Granted, it did force me to create a stronger Transwarp Reciever on the ship to enable the internet to work, and that is why we managed to keep internet access even after passing past the moon but once I create my Relay on Mars I will be able to have a Transwarp connection anywhere in the Solar System!
Zero G? Five G? HAH! Filthy human tech Peasants I will soon have…..8 G! Muahahaha!
Hmm. I wonder if I can make money off this?
Thoughts for later as we had finally arrived at Mars!
Wow! It's really, really red!
And I will be the first being to ever walk its surface!
What? Your saying that since there is a relay here that a Cybertronian must have been here already?
Fool!
Shockwave sent the Predacons to Earth Remotely so he must have done the same with the relay so yes, I am the first to ever walk its surface!
"Let's land this thing."
"Squawk! As you command!"
As we approached the surface I maneuvered the ship to face the ground and began landing procedures.
The drill began to spin slowly and the main thruster shut off relying solely on the navigational thrusters to remain in the air the moment the drill made contact it began burying itself into the ground until its entire length was submerged.
After that, the thrusters were put into storage leaving my Harbinger to appear as a Skyscraper as it finished landing procedures.
And best of all thanks to artificial Gravity even though we were horizontal we were standing just fine!
"Squawk! Let's go!"
Squawk was the first to leave the Cockpit, wing thrusters flaring as he rushed for the Airlocks.
"Hey! Wait up!"
I have to get there first!
I turned to Jet mode and it was a race against the clock to be the one that took the first step on Mars!
(Spongebob Narrator voice) 2 minutes later.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
I wailed to the heavens, my knees hitting orange sand as my Traitorous Toucan strutted around me bobbing his head in victory.
He even played the Russian national Anthem to rub it in further!
"Squawk! One small step for Bot, One Giant leap for Squawk!"
I slumped over, glad my visor was hiding my face as I pounded on the ground.
"I'm sorry America. I failed you and now the Russians have claimed Mars!"
I can feel my people judging me from the great beyond! The Cold War is lost The Ruskies have won!
…
….
…..
I then abruptly stood and wiped the sand off my knees.
"I'm bored now. Let's go find the Relay."
The music cut off as my Parrot took to the Martian Skies to fly above me.
"Squawk! As you command! Are we close?"
"We should be. I made sure to land as close as I could without risking damaging it from our landing. Here are the coordinates. Go ahead and find it for me."
"Squawk! As you command!" My bird then blasted off to look for the Relay while I spent 5 minutes walking around my ship using my visor to grab snapshots of Mars to send to Radical.
I took pics of sand, A dune, Some rocks, Sand, a boulder that looks like it was giving a thumbs up, A rover, more sand….Wait.
I blinked as I used my visor to zoom in on the Mars Rover that was sitting on a distant dune nearby.
We made eye contact.
…..
…..
….
Beep Beep Beep
It slowly began backing up without turning around!
"Oh no you don't!"
I sprinted towards it, my feet sending tremendous tremors from my Queenly girth while the Rover spun around making all sorts of panicked noises while driving as fast as it could away from me.
Alas, it was a mere human toy so I easily caught the thing and lifted it to my face with my claw.
"Ahah! Got you now!"
It spun its camera head around while desperately spinning its wheels and poking with its one claw against my own.
"Wow, the people controlling this must be really freaking out!"
Wait…
People, Controlling it?
As like,
watching me
right now?!
"EEP!"
CRUNCH
I yelped as I crushed it in my claw before I dropped it to the ground and stomped on it a few times to make sure it was dead and only when it was a pancake did I mutter
"Hopefully no one saw that."
Third Person View NASA's Mission Control Center in Houston Texas.
A dozen scientists wearing labcoats were in their respective terminals staring blankly at the giant screen that was now saying in large green text.
SIGNAL LOST
The youngest, a white guy with short brown hair wearing pink glasses and a yellow handkerchief looked up at his senior Scientists.
"Soooo…..You all saw that right?"
From the Pandemonium that followed it was safe to say that yes, they saw that.
Author's Note
That's it! You rude (Wonderful) Reviewers have gone too far!
I'm making a callout post on my Fanfiction dot com!
Dragersat: I did it! You happy!?
Shogun Lord Poke Burst: How dare you come up with a better name and Concept for the Exo Skeletons than I did! As Punishment, I am stealing them.
Alright, Terrible Eggman Callout post joke aside I hoped you guys like the new chapter as wow was it a doozy to write!
My Muse was more fickle than ever as she would show up screaming in my face for a few hours then suddenly go silent for a week. And do you know what helped immensely in getting that lazy deadbeat to show up for work?
Your Reviews. I can quite literally say that your reviews helped me get back to work so thank you all.
Now, let's talk about this chapter as oh baby was there a lot!
From Vehicon chads to the Mighty Harbinger making its debut, this chapter has set the stage for further shenanigans.
And there are going to be a lot as we are finally starting to reach the point where the story diverges from Canon which is both frightening and exciting for me. Some Episodes will happen a bit differently, and some might not happen at all.
And due to that, expect some episodes where our Girl gets little screen time as the PLOT DEMANDS IT!
Let's address the Elephant in the room. Why is this a 'Part 1?'
It's because I didn't expect so much to take place before arriving at the Relay! At the rate it was going this chapter might double in size and due to me potentially starting a new job tomorrow during the College break if I kept it all in one piece it might be weeks before it came out so we are having our first 2 parter!
Now, it's time for our episode Preview!
Next Time on Transformers Prime: Vehicon
From the Freezing Tundra to the Crimson sands of Mars our heroine has traveled far to sate her curiosity but you know what they say about Curiosity and Cats right?
Let's hope she has some extra lives….perhaps she can borrow some from Mommy?
Transformers Prime:
Vehicon
Episode 11: Mother Knows Bests Part 2
