Song: No Problem – Pusha T
Arcee awoke with a throbbing headache, aggravated and distasteful of her last known predicament. "Primus above!"
"Oh, I'm afraid Primus is not down here. This is my domain."
She sat up abruptly and saw she was in a decorative room. A few other mechs and femmes gave her small looks of pity before they acknowledged the hand wave of someone they suddenly cowered under, notable restrictive collars on their necks. She saw she was on some type of couch adorned with fancy cloths but then she noted her weapons were gone, put in the corner of the room where guards were also watching her like hawks. A mech covered her view of them, big and tall, dark red with silver edging and venomous purple optics and bio lights. The signature pendant she sought was gold instead of silver and carried far more details on it than the silver ones. His back kibble with wheels were positioned in a way that almost resembled wings. She would say he was handsome, but his deeds outweighed any sort of redeeming factors he may have had, even beauty.
"So, you're the femme who just lost me seven pieces of property that wasn't yours to take-"
"Freed is the proper term. People aren't property for you to take," she snapped back.
Mourningstar, or who she assumed was, merely tipped his helm with a surprisingly calm demeanor. But she had dealt with mechs of a similar nature and knew this guy was only putting on an act until it came down to what he wanted from her.
"Everything can be sold...for the right price. But fair enough. I just lost seven people, and I wonder why? Why do you care for their lives? Most of them are nothing but wastes of space, and don't lie and tell me they mean something to you. You're not even from here, Cybertronian."
Arcee scoffed, "Maybe where I come from, that's not acceptable. Ever put that in your calculations?"
Mourningstar grew a humored grin and clapped his servos twice when he started to walk closer to her. "Oh, you have some bite to your bark, I can tell. Deadly, beautiful, but also with brains and, as my guards have witnessed, some iron brass. I don't normally see that in the people I meet; that would get you in trouble, but I'm honestly enjoying the snark. It adds a fresh flair around here, wouldn't you agree, boys?"
The guards chuckled low, but Arcee didn't stop glaring at Mourningstar though she did scoot away when he sat beside her. "Now, I find that quite attractive in a young lady. It gets a bit boring when everyone agrees when you agree or disagrees when you disagree. It's like talking to a bunch of parapyros. They repeat everything basically."
"No wonder your ego is inflated," she muttered.
Mourningstar was a bit taken aback by the jab, but he cackled at it before looking her up and down which made her uncomfortable. "I'm a businessman, obviously you don't agree with what I sell, but to be as good as I am, sometimes you must love yourself too much. It makes the job so much easier. But now I wonder how much you'll be worth. Not every day do we have a stunning Cybertronian like yourself among us and with high demands the more customers I have, people would pay so much just to be in your presence alone. Or maybe..."
He started to lean closer as Arcee snarled when he placed a digit under her chin to keep her from retreating.
"...I should keep you all to myself. I have a few I keep until I grow bored then get new ones, but you...I don't think I'll ever tire of you."
Right as his scarred lips were about to meet hers, he pulled away when a guard came into the room from another area and whispered in his audio.
"Oh, is it time? Well, I have a bit of short supply today but that means they will pay more," he grinned. He then gestured to Arcee. "Come, darling, you must see my job at its finest."
Arcee did not want to go but she knew there was no choice in the matter. Following him in a different direction from where the guard went, she found herself in a balcony and, to her horror, a crowd of people chatting as a stage lit up with an announcer that bore Mourningstar's crest out in the open unlike the others. There were already auctioned off items like simple furniture, most likely stolen, as well as weapons but it seemed the crowd grew larger as the main auction was about to begin. Nearly thrown onto the stage was one of the younglings Arcee didn't save after being jumped.
Her spark broke at the sight of little bot quivering and knowing what Mourningstar's customers wanted, she couldn't even describe how terrible it was. The youngling looked almost about to cry as so many adults leered at them with unhinged, sick emotions, and Arcee knew there was a parent somewhere panicking to death at the loss of their child as well as the soon-to-be loss of innocence.
"Please, Mourningstar, you can't do this to a kid!"
He barely charged his amused expression when he looked at her, laughing silently at her concerns. "I give the people what they want. It's just business in the end regardless of whoever gets in the way. I would assume you knew that when you had your war; this is no different."
As bidding started, she saw the youngling being startled by the shouting of prices. The highest bid was 100,000 credits. She didn't want to imagine what would happen to the youngling with the person that made the bid.
"750,000 credits-," someone's voice hissed with a serpentine disposition. The crowd was naturally stunned by an unnaturally high bid. Then the voice continued, "-for the gorgeous lady in the balcony seating."
All optics turned to her, including Mourningstar's but he grew aggressive when he shouted down at the buyer, "She's not for sale!"
Out from the shadows with persistent, haunting golden eyes of a serpent, Captain Silos himself. Some bots immediately whispered about the Metal Head which he seemed to ignore. Instead, he merely gestured to Mourningstar. "I thought everything can be sold...for the right price. Is that not your motto?"
"Ceros Silos," Mourningstar hissed with an unknown expression. "You dare-"
"I heard there was a Cybertronian here on Velocitron and I was wondering if you found them, and you did, I see. So, naturally, I came to buy her."
Arcee couldn't tell if he was trying to fool Mourningstar into releasing her or actually trying to buy her. If the trafficking bust was a setup, she was going to kill Silos even if it killed her in the process.
"You mean to tell me you insult me with your presence just to stick your organic alien spike into some valve? Do you have no respect for the species, not to mention physiological, boundaries of interface?" The red mech scowled.
Captain Silos paused for a second to look to the side then shrugged, "Nope, never crossed my mind."
Arcee used the distraction to note the guards had slipped away to go down to Silos leaving her with Mourningstar. She quickly saw a chair unlatched from the floor just behind the curtain and slowly backed away silently to get it.
Silos said, "But at least my partners scream in pleasure in the berth. Can you say the same, Mourningstar?"
That pushed a button and Mourningstar's demeanor completely flipped right before Arcee's optics. "You maggot-infested, filthy, degenerate abomin-"
She grabbed the chair and swung it right at the back of her captor's head. He fell to his knees, just low enough for Arcee to send several punches. She ripped his unique crest off his neck before pushing him over the edge of the balcony. Several people screamed at almost being crushed under the large mech. Just as he hit the ground, sirens rang out and the underground ring erupted into chaos as Override, Road Rage, and her troops burst into the underground auction. She saw Silos quickly hide towards the back, not before throwing the announcer towards the chaos with a smug grin.
Arcee fled backstage and grabbed her ricochet ray, Dagger Prima, and her double ended sword when she saw the youngling running into the room distraught. She quickly waved down the kid and asked, "Where's the other one? I'll keep you from them, but I need to know where the other youngling is. Do you know?"
The silent kid pointed at the stock room and Arcee kept them close as she walked fast into the other room. She pushed back the curtains to see several pained and terrified faces looking at her including the other youngling. Just then Silos appeared behind her.
"You can handle the rest, right?"
"Thank you for coming to get me. I didn't think you would."
Silos smirked, "Can't let you die just yet. Override is going to be here any second and I can't stay because she's now aware of the Metal Heads and I'm...you know."
"Oh right," Arcee frowned.
"Good luck to you, hero."
The Metal Head captain activated a ground bridge and left as Arcee started unchaining Mourningstar's victims. Once they were all freed, she escorted all of them outside where Override and Road Rage were forcing restraints on Mourningstar and several of his accomplices. When they spotted Arcee, they were flabbergasted.
"Arcee, what the-what are you doing here?!" Override exclaimed angrily.
"Trust me, the answer to that is not one you're going to like. I caught wind of this trafficking ring and I just decided to help, got caught but managed to get someone to call you," she said awkwardly. Even Road Rage was a bit unsure of her, the first time she had ever seen the bubbly femme frown.
Override gestured to Mourningstar and asked, "And this is the mech behind all this? You're sure?"
She was about to answer when one of the younglings pointed at him too. "They stole me from my mama!"
The other victims, young and old, all nodded and exclaimed their grievances to the surprise of Override and her troops. They didn't expect so many witnesses, but the leader's expression changed to neutral as she observed the hatred in all their optics were directed at Mourningstar himself. With this, she slowly broke a proud smile and shoved the disoriented ringleader into her troops' servos.
"Mourningstar, you are under arrest for crimes too indescribable to mention out loud. Take him away!"
Road Rage approached Arcee as the remaining troops comforted the victims and more squadrons searched the rest of the premises for Mourningstar's followers. "Do you know how long we've been trying to find this crime ring?"
Arcee played innocent and shook her head, "No. How big of a deal was this?"
"Uh, massive! Now that we know it's Mourningstar, I can tell you that his ring spans the entirety of Velocitron. We've been searching for his hideout for years. Every time we got close, he slipped through us like running Energon. You just saved lives today. Do you know what he does other than just sell people and illegal items? He trades with customers who grow bored of their victims for newer 'models' and then kills the useless ones. Mechs, femmes, and younglings...it was horrific when we found remnants of what he's done but never could find him. You just made history, Arcee, I hope you know that!" The serious tone, although proud, was off-putting to Arcee but she understood why Road Rage would break her normal demeanor.
Override, however, seemed less sympathetic. "The fact is, Arcee, that you just broke the biggest crime ring in Velocitron. I don't know what to say about that. It makes me look incompetent, but maybe that was a necessity. Maybe seeing the situation from fresh optics gave a clue we overlooked."
Arcee felt bad that this was not the case. She remained mute as Override continued, "I don't know why you thought this was something you needed to do...but I'm sorry I doubted you for a second with the Metal Heads and-"
"It was the right thing to do," she answered, smiling as the two younglings clung to her. "No one deserves to go through this."
Override now supported a genuine smile. "I don't know how many times I can thank you during your stay here. Now, I must oversee the cleanup and other boring parts of the investigation but while I can talk with you, I need you to go back to Delta with Road Rage. When I got your bribed anonymous call, the Metal Heads were seen on the outskirts of the city near Robex Base, and I suspect they took the Energon Core there as someone broke into said base a day ago."
Arcee stayed stoic but internally, she panicked. Another fault of hers but the convenience of the presence of the Metal Heads was a good insurance clause on the whole ordeal, assuming no one from the base was present to identify her.
"The one on the highway, Blurr said it looks like a lieutenant, bigger than the ones you fought in Red Run Canyon. I need you to take out that lieutenant before it gets it in its head to send those creatures into the city. Road Rage will join you in a moment. I can handle this; can you handle that Metal Head for me in my place?"
The queen nodded, "You can count on me."
As she left Override to do her thing and navigated the underground streets back to the surface, she received a call from Silos as she waited for Road Rage. "Did Mourningstar get his well-needed justice? Couldn't stick around to find out."
"Yes, he's in custody."
"Excellent," Silos purred in a questionable manner that made Arcee frown.
She prodded, "I want you to tell me something, Silos. Back at the auction, you and Mourningstar sounded a bit too familiar to just know about each other's existence. That makes me think you have a history with him. What's the deal?"
"Mourningstar and I, we never got along well. He wanted control of all trade, especially foreign trade where he saw the most profit as you were almost proof of that. I refused to be bought out, so he sent his goons to harass me...ended as well as you can guess when the people he sent never came back. He saw me as an unspoken rival; I cared not for his deranged paranoia."
"And the berth talk...you had to add that because?" Arcee shook her head amused.
Captain Silos laughed, "I like to piss people off by hitting them where the ego matters, and bedside performance is always a proud sport. Though I don't really perform much myself as of late on account of some truth to what he said about the physical limits of different species, not to say that I haven't done it before. There's just a trick to-"
"Yeah, okay, Silos, keep the peace here and within please."
"What can I say? I'm a natural hellion at heart. Hahahahahahahaha!"
Arcee refrained from humoring him any more by letting him go when Road Rage finally appeared with her signature smile back in place.
"Ready to go, Arcee?"
"Let's go hunting."
Bolt watched from afar keeping tabs on the sudden appearance of the Metal Heads on the highway. Moonhunter growled, swaying his tail side to side but held off to wait for his companions' commands. "Why are they mobilizing now? Someone must have told them Delta is still split over those weird growths. This isn't sitting right with me, Megatron."
Megatron was about to comment when he was interrupted by Rockahilly. "Who cares?! Those loathsome beasts are scarin' away all my livestock, eating the few stubborn ones that refuse to run away!"
"Maybe the guy's right," Silverstreak shrugged, "we've never had a single encounter with these things before. There's something wrong."
Zoomkill scowled, "We never met a Cybertronian before either since the little sharpshooter. I say we blow the damn monsters up. Nobody'll miss them."
Bolt sighed aggressively, "If none of you are going to contribute to the conversation in a civil manner, you can all-hey, Arcee!"
The warlord quickly turned to see his sparkmate driving up with Road Rage behind her. She transformed and he quickly said, "There you are. After you went venturing, the Metal Heads started appearing everywhere! Whatever you did in that canyon with Blurr, you really upset them."
Arcee scoffed, "Yeah, that's my superpower right now."
As she waved to Rockahilly who politely gestured to her in return, Megatron frowned, "Arcee, you're not telling us something and it's bothering me. Ever since you've been splitting off with us-"
"What? You think I have something to do with the Metal Head presence too? When something becomes suspicious, it's me?" Arcee bit back angrily.
"You know what I mean; why are you being secretive? I'm trying to give you your space to trust you but it's...hard to do that what you're actively avoiding us."
Road Rage came up beside her and tried to defuse the situation. "Arcee got caught in Mourningstar's trafficking ring. She was only visiting Traction City and he caught her like many of his other victims. She helped save them. Override's working on taking his followers into custody. If it wasn't for her, Mourningstar would have never been caught possibly. We owe her that."
Bolt looked at Arcee. "You happened to be caught by a-see, this doesn't really help your point of being out alone though. Noble indeed, but that could have gone extremely wrong knowing how the sick minds of such criminals work."
Megatron still shrugged with a distasteful expression. "Why couldn't you tell me as soon as you were in that situation or out of it?"
Arcee refrained from saying "Silos convinced me to investigate as a part of our deal or else he'll get you killed, and he helped me." It wouldn't go over well so she instead said, "I didn't want you to worry. I was hoping I could do this alone."
The pained frown of her sparkmate almost broke her spark. "I always worry, it's what we as partners do for our loved ones. I don't mind you doing something alone...just at least let me know. I can't bear to think that if something happened and I had no clue where you were..."
She placed a servo on his arm. "I'm sorry, truly. I'll be more honest, I promise...to both of you. No more keeping you in the dark."
Yet, the one secret she had needed planning. She needed to alert them somehow of Silos eventually, but would it be too late if she did? That was a conundrum and certainly not one she could exploit yet. But she intended to be more respectful from this moment on as best she could.
Road Rage patted her shoulder and decided to give a shoutout to Rockahilly to the surprise of Arcee. The fact that the two knew each other brought up some questions but Arcee merely shook her head with a smirk. While Megatron was neutral in terms of feelings, he nodded to her and went to talk to Bolt when her commlink chimed.
"Now's not the time," she whispered.
"I beg to differ," Silos said. "Have you seen the news? Metal Heads have been spotted near Robex Base as well as the outskirts of Delta."
"Yeah, we know. We're staring them down at a considerable distance. You wouldn't happen to know why with that sixth Horaquan sense of yours, would you?"
"The Metal Heads have gotten wind of your activities on the planet and Red Run Canyon's hunting spree with that blue speedster friend of yours solidified your attempts of sabotage to them. They are very vindictive. I sense the new Metal Head Leader has sent more than just the normal hive members out to stop you. Commanders of the twisted army have been awakened, and I cannot stress enough the danger they possess. The fact that the leader is sending them is a red flag to me because although I never let them in on the murder of Tigressa, your knowledge of the species used to defeat those in the canyon may have given you away as more than just a mere obstacle. Not many people have ever fought Metal Heads solo and survived, Arcee, and they will notice that. Take precautions as your new foes will not have mercy on you."
"No one ever does," she sneered.
"Which is why I want to ask a favor of you. I want fifteen gems for a new centerpiece of a display I'm making in my seemingly spare time. I used the ones I had for other things and found myself a bit short on stock. The Metal Head Commander gems are far too large so keep them if you want but the Grunts' gems...well, you drew them out so here's the perfect time to collect. Do that for me, and I might have something worthwhile to trade for your services."
"You...you want to do arts and crafts while there's the threat of death looming around the city, which you're residing in, by the way?!"
"It's amusing more so; I have nothing to fear from the Metal Heads. Defected but never defeated, even ask them yourself."
"You help when it's convenient to you. Duly noted." She broke the transmission off annoyed. Silos had some skewed priorities it seemed but whatever kept him off her ass, she would accept even if it didn't play to her favor. "Fifteen stupid skull gems coming your way then, Silos."
"Arcee!"
The queen peered towards Bolt who gestured out across the highway. To her horror, the Horaquan were running at them. Mechs and femmes behind the bots noticed and several screams were heard. While most took a stand, some with younglings fled for cover. Bolt jumped down from his ledge and brought out his axe. Silverstreak and Zoomkill both stood by Road Rage as Rockahilly took point with his cannon.
Megatron growled, "Their siege has started. Guard the city; do whatever you can to protect your home!"
Rockahilly met his charge with an enthusiastic bellow. "Shoot those ugly things!"
Suddenly, half the group of Metal Heads jumped over the bridge onto the outer ledge to take the city from the side, each snarling as they made sure not to fall off to the planet surface below and aimed for the nearest targets to attack. Splitting off meant it would be harder to keep the monsters in a contained area and would spread their virus like wildfire. Then they saw some of the larger Metal Heads traversing the highway. Six giant, predatory dinosaur-like Horaquan didn't seem to be able to run but what they lacked in speed, the cannons on their backs proved to level the battlefield quite well. They took their shots, the blasts flying right into buildings causing the neon lights attached to them to spark and crumble. The bots, both Velocitronian and Cybertronian, answered back.
Gunfire erupted from everyone. The Metal Heads that had diverted off the bridge ran into the city but were shot at every angle. Several collapsed after sustaining multiple blasts to the chest, their skull gems popping out to signify their deaths. However, many grew wise to the positions of their targets and timed the gunfire to dodge it, leaping up and changing their stances from quadrupedal fast crawling to bipedal running. Once they got in range of their enemies, they leapt at them with claws and teeth at the ready.
Bots were bitten and screamed bloody murder as their friends tried desperately to save them while they were being torn apart. One bot blasted the head off a Horaquan with his friend convulsing from a bite to the neck. Before he could comfort his dying friend, said friend's eyes turned a malicious, ghostly yellow. The infection on his neck streaked across the armor like a purple plague. Armor twisted and shifted as organic matter became present on the protoform. He watched terrified as his friend became a monster. Nearly unrecognizable, the infected bot made an animalistic growl with dark purple sludge dripping from mutilated jaws. On the chest of it, a golden gem was present. The bot who had to point a weapon at his former friend grimaced when he had no choice but to pull the trigger when the monstrous being lunged at him, newfound tail whipping profusely. Several shots dropped the infected bot and his friend just stared as the skull gem clattered beside the body.
On the main front, the Metal Beasts with the cannons drove the team back as they webbed out across the city crushing anything or anyone that happened to go underfoot as they just stomped through uncaring. The Grunts and Ramheads, the lesser soldiers, used them to hide behind as many of the bots' blasts did nothing to the larger species.
Bolt sliced down two Metal Heads as Moonhunter caught one by surprise, ripping its throat out before retreating to prevent being stepped on by the Metal Beast tracking them. One Metal Grunt managed to swipe the Vehicon off his feet and loomed over him imposingly. Bolt kept his weapon in front of him to try and guard himself. A horn abruptly rang out and the Metal Head whined when it was hit. A red and white car knocked it down and made a spinning maneuver before transforming.
Override activated her blaster and aimed at the disgruntled creature. "Didn't anyone ever tell you to play nice?"
The Metal Head merely growled but that was the last noise it made as she shot it point blank before it could get back up. Smirking, she then offered Bolt her servo. Moonhunter sat beside his feet as he got up.
"Came to the party, huh?" Bolt chuckled.
"Of course, I wouldn't miss it," she answered as Blurr came up from behind her with a smirk.
Meanwhile, Arcee and Silverstreak were confronted by several humanoid Metal Heads with weapons, each trying to cut them down. The former brought out her ricochet ray and fired. One Metal Head sneered as it dodged her, but she returned the smile when they both heard the blast bounce between multiple hits. It hit two Metal Heads before hitting the wall of a building, the ground, and then finally hit the smug creature ripping through its abdomen.
"Oh, I need to use this thing more!" Arcee laughed as she quickly scooped up three of the skull gems and put them in her subspace.
Silverstreak shot down a few of the pursuing Metal Heads with disdain. "Will it work on these colossal ones, d'you think?!"
The Metal Beast in front of them slowly grunted as it trailed them, snapping its jaws in warning as its cannon aimed past them to an untouched area of the city. Gunfire barely nicked the armor of the giant monster.
"No, I don't think so," the blue femme muttered.
Megatron, Rockahilly, and Zoomkill each kept the advancing forces of the Metal Heads at bay on their end when Megatron noticed Arcee and Silverstreak trying to draw the Metal Beast's attention away from the city to them. He quickly ran to Arcee and asked, "So, any plans? We can't hold them off, not if they can get across the highway."
Catching a glimpse of Bolt, Override, and Blurr trying to regroup with the others, she quickly said, "Then maybe we need to blow up the highway...?"
"Uh, what about the Metal Heads on the other side?"
Arcee tried to wave down Override, but she didn't see her. Stubbornly, she sighed, "Stay here and I'll figure something out."
Megatron was about to argue when Silverstreak twisted away as a blast flew right by her startling both. The femme scowled, "You just going to stand there? Starting firing! We ain't getting younger, boy!"
He did what he was told on the premise of not wanting to die as Arcee sped towards Override. Upon reaching the Velocitron leader, she saw a few more Metal Head skull gems lying around for the taking.
"I take it you aren't just here to help me," Override then said, taking cover behind a wall.
"Override, we need to blow up the bridge of the highway. It's the only way to stop them. If we can sever their forces, the rest can be hunted down. We need to secure Delta first and foremost."
The red and white femme looked at her for a second like she was crazy, but it slowly melted to understanding. Finally, she said, "Blurr, the defense grid, do we have it online? Delta has a nuclear ion cannon along the barrier of the city near the highway itself. It's powerful enough to blow up the bridge."
"Yes, Ma'am. We just have to recalibrate it to lock onto the highway, but the main office is up there," he responded, pointing to a high building in the center of the city. "Arcee, you want to go with me? Give me some cover?"
"Sure thing," she nodded.
Override patted her shoulder, "Keep up the good work, Arcee. We'll hold them off then, once they are separated, we'll end this together."
Blurr gestured to the queen, and she followed him. Using her speedster ability, she transformed and navigated the battling city. She slid under a Metal Beast still wandering and reached the center plaza of the building thankful it ignored her in favor of targeting a gunship brought out by Override's guards.
"This is the Weapons and Defense Station. We usually have a hundred employees manning it during times of conflict. It controls all Velocitron's city-wide defenses. The grid, however, is deep underground. That's what I've been doing the past several hours, trying to turn it back on. We haven't used it since we defeated Ransack and his followers," Blurr said coming up beside her.
They both went into the station, turning briefly to peer outside when they heard an explosion close by, and went to the elevator. The ride up had muffled gunfire and faint shaking. When they reached the main command room, Blurr quickly evaluated the controls and started turning on the cannons and typed in their objectives. As he did so, Arcee went to the window overlooking the city and paused.
Streams of blasts from weapons on both sides, the marching Metal Heads attacking everything they could reach, and the visual explosions that rang out made her shiver. The parallels made of the Cybertronian war were inevitable. It looked no different from what she witnessed in Iacon between the Autobots and Decepticons...but at least the Decepticons didn't try to eat people.
"What was it like?" Blurr asked, "The war?"
She peered back at him as he slowed his movements to gaze at her with sorrow yet curiosity. The war with Ransack must have not compared much to what the Velocitronians heard of the civil war on Cybertron. She glanced down at the streets below, clicking her glossa trying to find a way to explain it.
"It took us by surprise and yet, we knew it was going to happen...the ones who wanted it the most...including myself, wanted the chance we were promised but never received. I didn't take Megatron's side back then because although his views mainly coexisted with my own, I could tell he was going too far with how he was approaching it. It tore us apart, destroyed us in more ways than you could know. I envy you, Blurr. Don't take that the wrong way but I really envy Velocitron..."
"For being able to save our world," he finished. "I don't take it personally. But, at the same time, I think I should envy you more."
Confused, Arcee stared into his rough sapphire optics.
"Because if we were to have gone through what Cybertron has, I seriously doubt we could have revived our world and returned it anew. That takes special talent; we're all just racers looking for the next thrill. I don't think any of us could do what you did."
Arcee smiled and Blurr mirrored her until a bang somewhere in the building made them both freeze. Faint animalistic growls were heard, and they knew their time was up. The Metal Heads must have caught their scents. Arcee brought out her ricochet ray and moved carefully towards the door as Blurr continued trying to lock onto the bridge as well as getting the rest of the automatic defenses up and running.
"Arcee, keep them away from me! I need more time!"
She prepared her weapon when suddenly, Metal Grunts slammed against the hallway turning a corner and snarled at her. She didn't hesitate to fire on the bastards. The ricochet shot hit two of them but had to fire more rounds as they ran closer. Realizing the danger she was putting herself in by firing so close, she put it away in favor of her regular blasters. She maneuvered around one of them to stick her blaster right on its throat and blew out its spine and skull, throwing it off her weapon with her own growl. She hit one through the chest and another straight through the underside of the mouth, forcing its skull gem out. The dark sludge blood splattered everywhere but seemed to fade from being exposed to Velocitron's air.
"How's it going?!"
"One more minute!" Blurr yelled.
"Hurry!" Arcee screamed, deflecting the attempt of a bite by a ravenous before switching one of her blasters to her arm blade and slicing its throat.
One Metal Head collapsed under fire but drug itself determined to still go after her. She noted for a mindless machine, the Metal Heads were truly sadistic for a mere virus. It was like all those horror zombie movies Miko used to watch but unlike the human zombies, these things could calculate and respond to attacks, changing their pattern at every chance which nearly caught her off guard. A few of them used her focus on the floor-bound creatures to navigate the ceiling and try to get the jump on her. She shot one and sliced open the abdomen of another that she moved out of the way of.
"I got it, Arcee! The system is fully functional and there goes the bridge!"
Arcee shot the remaining few but brought out Dagger Prima for the last one when it refused to die. She threw the blade right into its heart and watched it stumble forward with a beastly groan. It tried to reach out towards her, but she only sneered, "Stay down!"
Sending a sharp kick to the handle of the dagger, it embedded deeper into her, and the creature fell over dead, its gem releasing from its corpse. There were almost twenty gems in the hall, enough to satisfy Silos' demands as well as give Override something to compensate for the mess.
"Good job, Blurr!"
"Thank you," he bowed. Then he saw all the bodies when he peered around the corner. "You're an assassin, huh?"
Arcee shrugged, "Part time."
Bolt, Rockahilly, and Zoomkill struggled to keep all their blind spots secure as more Metal Heads moved across the highway into the city. The giant Metal Beasts started converging on their positions while other Velocitronians held their ground alongside Override and Road Rage. Moonhunter snagged the Horaquan by the necks and ripped out their spines to immobilize them, crawling over them to prevent getting caught in the process. When one caught him by the leg, the turrets on his side readjusted to the monster's surprise and were quickly used to blast holes in its face while Moonhunter hissed until he was let go.
"Those two better hurry up! I don't know how long we can keep them at bay!" Override snarled.
Instantly, a rumbling was heard, and the Metal Heads paused as the city seemed to come to life. Cannons that had been hidden in the buildings for years slid out of their domains, Energon pumping into them as their systems rebooted.
Silverstreak threw up her eyebrows. "Guess that answers that."
One cannon immediately swung around from facing the inner city to face the highway bridge over the canyon. Ion particles slowly built up in its muzzle and emitting a blue light as the building it was attached to shook. It fired onto the bridge, and they all winced as the highway was demolished. Metal Heads and pieces of the bridge collapsed down into the vast canyon below. Damage to the supports on other parts of the bridge gave out leading to several sections falling each in turn until it reached the edge of the drop-off. With the Metal Heads isolated, they now had a chance to stop the invasion.
"Override," Blurr's voice came through, "Velocitron's defenses are fully operational. The targeting system is aimed at the Metal Heads only. Other cities are getting warned of this as well. Arcee and I are coming back down to meet you."
"Good! Alright, guys, let's kill these alien freaks."
Megatron deflected a blast before cutting off one of the Horaquan's heads and impaling the other. While he dealt with them, Road Rage was losing her smile, her expression growing darker by the minute. He noticed her digits twitching like she wanted to strangle the monsters with her bare servos. She looked conflicted but eager to do something, something that she seemed to be waiting for her leader to let her do and he had no clue what. Override noticed too.
"Road Rage," she said with a commanding voice. The light red femme looked at her frozen as if waiting for a specific word like an attack dog. Sure enough, Override smiled, "Destroy them."
Whatever restraint Road Rage held in respect for her leader easily melted and cheery, cute Velocitronian Megatron knew supported a vicious, feral grin now with fangs unseen prior. Her golden optics turning a hellish red and somewhat smaller than normal.
As Road Rage began showing abnormal signs of pent-up aggression, Arcee and Blurr transformed and rejoined their group with Bolt saluting them mockingly as he and Rockahilly cut down several Metal Heads. With the legion thinning out without support, all that was left to worry about were the large monsters.
Override quickly addressed, "Arcee, I need you and Megatron to help Road Rage. She is the powerhouse of my troops; we rarely get to use her talents, but it seems now's the perfect time to demonstrate them. You want to know the real reason why she's named that? I want you to lead her to those giant monsters and watch her six as she unleashes some hell. Can you do that for me?"
Arcee looked between her and the maliciousness of Road Rage. "As long as it's not directed at me, I'm good with it. Megatron?"
"I have zero arguments on my end," the warlord said without a beat. "Road Rage, time to see what you're made of."
Road Rage's bio lights became blood red as her armor shifted to produce claws as well as a sharper appearance. The rounded horns on her helm were larger and deadlier with the natural blush on her face overshadowed by dark grey stripes. She was hunched over a little more, the deep red stripes on her limbs now almost black, and her back kibble was poking outward instead of upright. She looked like she was demonic and Arcee didn't doubt this for a second.
"Just lead her to them. DON'T piss her off in this state. She's very hard to control once she lets her negative emotions go until blood has been spilt. That's why she's extremely nice; she prefers not to hurt people unless necessary and is nearly indestructible like this. I suggest you get moving fast before she redirects it towards someone," Override stated.
Bolt backed away from behind her as she peered to the side upon hearing him, shivering with anger built up and a sinister grin. Arcee gestured for her to follow, and she took an experimental step forward towards the Cybertronians with a snort that sounded more like a weird growl than simply a noise from the nasal plating. Once they had confirmed she would follow, Arcee raced to the nearest Metal Beast heading their way with Megatron following behind. Moonhunter decided to join and gave his owner a yowl of assurance.
"Nice to see you too, buddy," Arcee smirked.
The first Metal Beast was being bombarded with Delta's automatic guns, but it held on regardless of the cannons aiming for its chest. When they got close to it and shot the few lingering grunts underneath it for protection, they watched as Road Rage grew even more infuriated.
The now blood crimson femme jumped on top of the monster and started tearing at everything she could reach. The Metal Beast rotated clockwise trying to reach around to snap at her as armor was violently ripped off it. In its distraction, it began firing its cannon at random, some blasts hitting its own peers to the relief of a few Velocitronians who had been dealing with them.
"Arcee," Silos suddenly commed, "I see your team from my position. Would you like a little insight on that thing?"
She said nothing but he knew he was going to tell her anyways. "Metal Beasts are made to be tanks, born of the deepest depths of our dark pools of Economorphia. They are bulletproof, fireproof and cannot be defeated by mere weapons. Their weakest points are within."
Arcee's optics widened as she realized what that meant when she suddenly shouted, "Road Rage, target the internal organs! The heart! Go for the heart!"
Road Rage paused mid-ripping of a piece of armor when she frowned confused before growing malicious again once she got the message. Her blood red contracted optics and she did what none of the bots expected her to do. She reached the jaws of the Metal Beast and forced them open before diving right into them. The creature was forced to swallow and gagged, stumbling back a step to process what just happened. After a second, he growled at Arcee. Megatron snarled back and kept his sword ready just in case, but neither bot needed their weapons.
The four yellow eyes of the massive Metal Head widened as far as they could go when its chest expanded and deflated, its small arms clutching inward with a distressed whine. The tubes beneath its chin started leaking dark purple blood as did the seams around its underbelly armor. It gave one last cry before falling forward, crashing onto Delta's streets with a guttural noise. Crashing through its jaws was a pleased, antagonized Road Rage who seemed eager for more.
"Alright, let's move on," Megatron said a bit concerned by the corpse.
The second Metal Beast was near the entrance to the highway towards FastTrak and Arcee gestured to Road Rage without a single word, the latter knowing what to do now. Road Rage did her thing to irritate the monster before saluting mockingly as it reached over to eat her with her Cheshire grin. Once it did, he aimed for the Cybertronians who only gave it a grin. It paused at the unusual expressions until it was ripped apart from the inside. Its corpse made sludge splatter right in front of them with an ever-excited Road Rage popping out at the same time as its skull gem. It was noted that insane Road Rage didn't talk to their confusion, but they said nothing as they tracked down the third Metal Beast.
To their surprise, the third and fourth target Metal Heads were a pair. Both patrolled the outer edge of the city and pointed their cannons inward for an easier assault. Road Rage was led to them and quickly coaxed one into eating her whole. The partner Metal Beast nipped at its peer angrily wanting a piece of her but instead it grew horrified with a strained snarl as it watched its partner violently shake and die, blood pouring out of its jaws while the skull gem popped out somewhere beside it. The remaining Metal Beast backed away even as a blood-soaked crazed Road Rage pursued it. Hissing, it tried to squish her with its tail.
"Where was Road Rage during our war?!" Arcee exclaimed, "She would have ended it a lot sooner by hunting you down! No offense...sorry."
Megatron glared at her as he shot a Ramhead which collapsed inches away from him. "Good to know that would have been an option."
"Well, I mean, we figured the only way to win the war at the time was to kill you. She would have helped. It was a thought-I should stop talking," she said facepalming before getting out Dagger Prima and ripping a chunk of neck out of a grunt that tried to jump her.
"In fairness, I would have liked her to be a Decepticon...and I would have ordered her to kill Optimus which would have won the war in my favor-"
"What happened to the 'I'm the only one allowed to defeat him' mentality?"
He froze and peered to the ground. "Good point. Okay, have her kill everyone else then?"
They both were startled as the fourth Metal Beast fell over dead with Road Rage throwing to the side what appeared to be some type of organic organ though neither could tell what part it was. She swiped her servos together with her feral grin still present. The Cybertronians merely looked at each other.
The fifth Metal Beast was terrorizing the outskirts of the Dreadnaught Speedway which Road Rage seemed to grow even more irate because of this. Arcee looked away as she did her thing, blood splattering everywhere like normal. Megatron sidestepped a thrown chunk of its tongue which Road Rage had ripped out when it wouldn't comply in letting her down into its throat. He grimaced at Moonhunter sniffing it but said nothing.
The Metal Heads were lessening in their attacks and with all the Metal Beasts aside from one down, the city was mostly secure. All four scoured as much as Delta as they could trying to find the Metal Beast. When Road Rage showed signs of frustration, they knew they needed to find it soon or pay the price. Finally, they got a notification from Override.
"One of those large Metal Heads is in the center of the city, but there's...something else here. I can't get a visual on it but it's grabbing my troops and fast! Get here as soon as you can!"
"Override's in trouble!" Arcee stated. Road Rage snarled but followed without question as they sped to the city's center plaza.
When they got there, however, there was no sign of the Metal Heads. Bolt, Override and the others were all near the buildings on guard and called out to them. The Vehicon was the loudest.
"You guys need to take cover now!"
Moonhunter looked up at Arcee awaiting directions but before Arcee could reply or decide, the ground shook. Behind them, the last Metal Beast landed down from the highway track running above and gave a booming roar. Road Rage focused in on it and they let her. Suddenly, something else darted on the right side of them. Neither bot caught who was behind the movement, but the blue Nitrotiger began to growl, pressing against Megatron's pede with a flick of his tail.
A strange hissing was heard as Arcee kept Dagger Prima out. Then it began to glow. She knew that meant this wasn't a typical enemy. As Road Rage aimed for the throat of the Metal Beast that moved away from the center plaza trying to shake her, that left the three alone with whatever it was stalking them. Then they heard a Velocitronian wandering. Arcee watched him stumble back looking around frantically until out of nowhere, something large, not as big as the Metal Beast but bigger than normal, snatched him up into the shadows between the buildings. They heard the screams then silence. It was fast...like the Metal Runners in Red Run Canyon whom Arcee suspected were made to counter Velocitron in the takeover. That left a bad taste in her mouth.
Megatron peered around until... "By Primus!"
Arcee saw what he did as it ran around them, slowing down like it was mocking them with its speed. She saw it as clearly as day now. Bright blue organic skin with orange markings like flames imprinted on its body, a giant claw on its foot next to normal ones akin to an Earth velociraptor, and spiked orange frills on its neck that extended outward rattling made for a horrifying creature. Its skull gem protected by two crests and a frilled reptilian tail made it seem like something out of one of those dinosaur movies the humans used to watch. It briefly walked with both sets of limbs, tail swinging while it got a good look at its victims, when it resumed a bipedal lean with its decently sized arms curling slightly near its chest.
Neither bot dared to look away from it when Arcee got a new message from Silos. "Toksilisus, the Rapid Hunter...I haven't seen it in years. Be wary of the barbs on its frills and claws. They are venomous, a different type than the virus, not to worry, but you will be in quite some pain as its effects try to paralyze you. The cure to Toksilisus' venom is easy to make, surviving Toksilisus itself is not. Speed is its greatest threat to you, but maybe you could get one of those Velocitronians to help you as it could also be its weakness..."
The Metal Toksilisus stalked closer, a brief flicker of its tongue signifying it was trying to taste their fear and decide its approach. Arcee, however, showed none, matching its circling while Moonhunter moved behind her and Megatron stayed close. It suddenly bolted at them and Arcee barely moved out of the way only for it to strike her lightning fast by slapping her with its tail. It then tried to go for Megatron who managed to make it hit a barrier instead of him. Moonhunter bit down on its calf and it turned so fast, the Nitrotiger didn't have time to react before he was kicked aside with a whimper. The Toksilisus made a raptor-like roar, frills open to the max and ready to lunge when Arcee used her speedster ability to get the jump on it.
She spooked it enough to lower to the ground and crawl backwards, tail raised higher than its head, but it circled her with a clicking sound before attempting to strike with its clawed hand. She could see it calculating, waiting to see what she would do as it strategized every possible maneuver it could pull once she made her move. This wasn't an animal or a regular Metal Head; this was a commander. This was what Silos warned her about.
It seemed to know what she was thinking and took the opportunity to abruptly snap at her. She moved right as her ability was recharged and sent Dagger Prima into its neck. However, it whipped its head around and sent both her and the dagger flying back. The dagger embedded itself in the plaza and Arcee hit the ground, but she swung back upright only to see the Toksilisus zigzagging to lunge at her. Sharp teeth were right in her face. She barely managed to grab the nearest object, a discarded gun of a Velocitronian, and used it to guard herself. It bit down on the weapon and hissed, digging into the metal ground and trying to push her down to maul her. She stayed wary of its claws pressing against the weapon as it gnawed on it ferociously.
"Megatron!"
On cue, the warlord smacked shoulder-first right into the side of the creature. It landed on its back and slid several meters to Arcee's shock. Megatron rolled his shoulder with a grin before giving his own version of a roar. The Toksilisus recovered quickly, and it sneered almost which Megatron matched with the immediate baring of his teeth. When it came after them again, an axe embedded in its lower neck making it bellow. Bolt ran up to it unafraid as it started to bleed profusely, grabbing the handle and taking the blade out. He was punted away as Override and Blurr joined in.
Blurr used his super speed, a power Arcee was astounded to see, and sped around it to confuse it. The Toksilisus roared at this, moving in a circle trying to figure out how to counter Blurr's vortex wall as dust and wind soon picked up. The Metal Head was so focused on him that Arcee saw her opening and took it.
"Throw me," she demanded as she grabbed Dagger Prima. Megatron grinned and lowered his servo. She stepped into his grasp, and he chucked her into the air. She did a flip with her weapon above her helm as she came down. "Let's see you in action without your HEAD!"
The Toksilisus was starting to get dizzy trying to keep track of Blurr that when it peered up at Arcee, its reaction time was off by a second. Dagger Prima went straight through the base of its neck glowing as the Horaquan commander lurched back. It backed away headless as Blurr stopped in a crouching pose. To all their surprise, it took a wobbly step forward as the head itself tried to hiss, the brain seemingly unable to process the attack. Slowly, the head's eyes grew dark, its frills sinking like wet paper and before the body could move any more towards them, it fell forward, and its claws scratched the ground as a reflex.
With the commander defeated, the remaining Metal Heads started to scatter. The Velocitronians still chased them even as they retreated. The sight surprised Arcee. The last of the Metal Heads were killed with no more seemingly coming in. It immediately alerted her that the commander's presence had meaning to their pattern. Like how when Kor was killed, the Metal Heads of Roughridge Mountains all but fled. They couldn't operate without at least one leader among them.
"Damn, Arcee, you still got it," Bolt said.
Arcee placed Dagger Prima back on her person before turning to Blurr with a raised brow. "You mean to tell me you have sonic speed on top of being born on a planet that lives by nothing but speed?"
"Yeah, I don't use it unless I have to," he smirked.
As Rockahilly, Silverstreak, and Zoomkill marveled at Arcee's victory, Road Rage, now looking like her normal self again, stumbled up to the group holding her head with blood-soaked servos and laughed, "I think...hehehehe, I think I need to rest."
The Vehicon patted her back but had a hard time describing her overkill tendencies. "You did...great! Everything is pretty much dead, that's for sure."
Override merely nodded, "Thank you, Road Rage. We'll get you an oil bath and to your chambers soon."
"Yay," she said in a cheerful but hoarse voice. As they could imagine, such a power that required so much building emotions probably was draining to use.
"Arcee, Megatron, Bolt, and of course, valiant Moonhunter," Override then smiled, especially at the latter who purred proudly. "We owe you more than you know. Saving Delta, saving Velocitron wasn't something you had to do...but you did. Here, Arcee, another Radiant Core is yours. I have one more and I think I know how I want to give it to you."
Arcee took it with her own grin and Bolt gave her a rocking gesture.
"Once we get all this cleaned up, I want to invite you all to see our grand championship tomorrow, the Agility Cup. It would be an honor to host the race for you."
Blurr interjected, "But Arcee, I want you to race in my place."
Everyone was shocked to hear that with some mumbling, but it wasn't negative. Arcee frowned, "Blurr, I thought the racetrack meant a lot to you?"
"It does but remember, there's always another race. Giving the opportunity for someone else to try means more than winning a mere title and a big desk warmer. As long as I can drive, I'm pretty satisfied with just putting the pedal to the metal and an open road to explore."
Override nodded, "I'll match Blurr's point. You race tomorrow, and I'll rejoin Cybertron's relations treaty regardless win, lose, or tie, and I'll throw in that last Radiant Core as a bonus. How's that?"
She asked stunned, "You...you'd do that?"
"Absolutely. Show me Cybertron's power on the road is just as good as the power within and I'm more than willing to have Velocitron as your ally."
Megatron laughed, "Told you, Arcee. You can be better than the Cybertronians of old by being you."
Override then shouted, "I wish to throw a celebration of our victory tonight in honor of our guests and new friends! Velocitron will not fall today or any day!"
The citizens of Delta, some standing on the fallen Metal Beasts, cheered in agreement. The three ranchers gave her a thumbs up while sweet Road Rage cheered with her innocent demeanor back in place as it should be.
While Delta was pieced back together throughout the night and the bridge recovery was being planned, overseen by Blurr who wasn't much of a partygoer Arcee found out as much as he seemed like he would be, Override hosted a celebration at the FastTrak Command Complex. With news of the guards and other volunteers hunting down the last of the legion of Metal Heads that fled once their commander was no more, the party didn't seem to stop and only got louder.
Bolt was finally getting along with the ranchers, especially Zoomkill. As they conversed, Rockahilly gave him an in-detail description of all the animals they took care of. Arcee could plainly see the joy in the cyberbiologist's mannerisms. Moonhunter was getting coddled and petted like a prince which he didn't seem to mind one bit until Road Rage squeezed him a little too hard out of cuteness overload. Megatron got along well with Override, occasionally still apologizing for egging on Ransack. She dismissed his constant apologies with a smile and assured him it was okay.
Arcee watched this all from the overhead, not being a huge fan of parties herself. When a waiter offered her a drink from her tray, she gladly took it and examined the contents. The Energon here had a zing to the taste, and she liked it. However, she paused when a shadow caught the corner of her optics, rhinoceros-like in structure. She nearly spat out her drink when she saw the edge of it disappear into FastTrak's small garden outside where seldom bots were. She peered around to make sure no one saw her and walked out in pursuit.
The gardens were small with a fountain at the center and standing next to it was Silos, a drink in hand. His tail casually swayed as he took a sip, purring and licking the scarred edge of his mouth. "Such a brave hero you keep proving yourself to be time and time again."
"Silos, are you insane?! If someone sees you-!"
The Metal Head merely scoffed, "Please, you think I'm scared of mechanoids with peashooters? I've dealt with worse, just see for yourself."
True, she could see the faded marks of both blaster fire and scars from melee weapons littered throughout his body. Even the armor infused in his organic skin was worn from battle. She could only imagine what was underneath his helmet covering the top of his snout and his head as the lower half of his face showed some damage near the jawline and mouth. His left ear had a sizable notch in it from a bullet or it was ripped by a knife, and his horns on his snout were nowhere close to smooth with all sorts of scratches.
But she still sighed, "How did you even get around without someone seeing you?"
"Easy, people are distractable. And you can tell that to the server currently helping your mate."
She peered back and saw a waiter offering Megatron a drink in the far distance. He couldn't see her in the darkness outside, but she could see him. The red tinted Energon drinks on the platter were missing quite a few. She turned back to see Silos offer her a glass of the same red drink seen with the second one in his paw. The empty glass of the drink he had just finished lay on the edge of the fountain lip...as were four other full drinks waiting to be consumed.
"I'm just that good," he smirked. "So, congratulations on your victory. Toksilisus was a nasty demon, speedy and intelligent but can't take a lot of hits as you've seen. It was the commander of one of the many Kill Squadrons, an assassin ring of Metal Heads deployed by Tigressa years ago to hunt down people who owed her or people who got in her way but who were minor threats. She always dealt with the major threats herself. Be warned, that won't be the worst of your enemies yet to come if the Metal Head Leader sends more commanders after you. Velocitron is safe...for now."
"You sound unsure," Arcee prodded. "Do you know who the Metal Head Leader is?"
"Kor and I were the only ones in charge until Kor was sent interdimensional and I left. Who indeed? I wouldn't put it past Tigressa to line up the legion with potential leaders just in case something happened to her or one of us. Strategy and adaptiveness were Tigressa's forte, stupidity was not. There are many secrets she kept from me too. Don't think that just because this siege failed, the Metal Heads will stop at one attempt. I recommend telling Override that when you get the chance. Oh, and that reminds me..." he purred, holding out his clawed hand.
Arcee sent him a deadpanned look before pulling out a bag of skull gems from her subspace. "Yeah, yeah, don't think I forgot about you."
He took it with a massive grin and a chuckle. "You're an angel, my dear. As I promised I would make it worthwhile, here's something I think you'll like. A pair of new blades for you. You have no idea how hard it was to find a similar model to your own, but my resources say it is universal for bots your size with them."
The blades he gave her looked identical to her arm blades but had inscriptions on them. She carefully removed her own blades and replaced them, noticing quick they were slim but long and had blue bio lights matching the ones hidden among her chassis. The edges of the blades glowed as well.
"Awesome! You really know how to treat a girl."
"Call it a fair trade."
As they stood underneath the starry sky together drinking the Energon, something she thought at first Silos wouldn't be able to digest, she found his company enlightening. He was mostly silent aside from entertaining her when she had questions. He seemed to enjoy the modesty of the night. He was a strange being, but Arcee grew accustomed to him. He really did change his ways after all and slowly, her guard fell. As the party raved on, they were both content just standing out in the dark with only his gems' yellow glow standing out among the faint blue built into the gardens.
AN: Mourningstar was a trial and error run but I found I liked him as this secondary antagonist of the Velocitronian section because of how devious I made him. His version you see now isn't even the first one. He went through three different variations before I got to write him, one of which he was a mortician and...yeah...got a bit more uncomfortable with dead bodies than live ones. He was deemed too disturbing so I made him a ringleader of trafficking instead.
The fight with the Toksilisus was far longer but given the future enemies, it was more of a beginner's commander. The others have their longer fight scenes for sure, but I altered the Toksilisus to be less of a hassle...though don't think Arcee's going to get off that easy from a real fight.