Many, many changes from the original. Even the title! Hope you enjoy!
Soundwave's hand flew over her arm, doing her best to get through Blackout's well… blackout. She started talking to Starscream through a shared link. "Blackout's signature: detected. Shockwave's signature: detected. Brawl's signature: detected. Bonecrusher's signature: detected." She paused, her sensors scrambling and before she could go further, they suddenly went erroneous. Annoyed, she then said as in afterthought, "Megatron's signature: detected." She lowered her hand from her arm and looked up at the now blank screen in front of her, "Enemy has disappeared. No further information available."
Dread filled Starscream's Spark with each signature Soundwave announced. Underlying the dread was anguish, knowing his Sparkling had been used to do this. Starscream looked toward where Soundwave was watching out the doors. He'd noticed her stance change, "What? Really?" he asked aloud, not expecting to hear all of those Designations. "Disappeared?" he asked, confused.
"Affirmative. Unknown shields are being used." Her left hand curled into a fist. Somehow Blackout seemed stronger than he used to be. "Decepticon Spread Link: Disabled. Information gathering: disabled." The groan could be heard in her voice. She then announced over all links that were still active, "Decepticon Link: Breached. Shutting down."
Starscream looked toward the sky, wondering how many Shockwave actually managed to bring back to life. "Shit," the leader said, "Anyone else we should know about?"
"Unknown." Soundwave replied, irritated that they had vanished. She idly wondered if it was the same technology Shockwave had used to hide the others that had gotten by her previously.
A thought hit Starscream. "Devastator…" he spoke the name. He knew that Hook was having a hard time keeping the other Constructicons under control. "Soundwave," he said in a warning tone.
Load bad luck into cannon. Aim at processors. Fire.
When he'd taken command of the Decepticons, this was certainly not what he'd expected to face. Quarrels here and there… Maybe. Autobots, probably… But never did he think he would have to face his worst enemy… twice. Like, who called that? Which perverted god thought it would be fun to bring a mech back to life? It was unheard of to begin with. Especially after those experiments under Kaon.
He was still new to the gig, only being the leader for what, an Earth year or so? Since when did taking leadership mean he would have to do what was rightfully impossible? He would fight fiercely to keep what he had. His family. His 'Cons. The somewhat peaceful life he had created for them, barring their stupid games. He thought he'd done a good job, and the others must have agreed. Soundwave would have surely stepped up if she had felt he was screwing up. He thought about what Sixshot had told him earlier. He hoped what the six-changer said was true, because he wasn't sure whom he could trust right now.
He would be preparing to take on Megatron himself. He wasn't about to stand back like a coward and let someone else do it. What the pit was he thinking, anyway? He wouldn't be able to win in a one on one with the tyrant. This he knew. But he'd try. He knew most Decepticons might help with his cause, but there were cowards in their midst, as one had proven already.
He was actually handling things better than he thought he would in such a situation. Talking to Miles and Mikaela helped. They were now caught up on what all was going on inside his mind.
The young leader realized he'd have to make the call. Not having the Spread Link would make it difficult, so he contacted Soundwave, "Set up an encrypted message system to replace the spread-link. It'll have to do for now."
Effective Immediately. All Decepticons report to the base and await further orders. I have an announcement I'm sure none of you are going to like.
When Jazz, Ratchet and Prowl arrived, they noticed the rest of Autobots were more on edge than usual. When they saw them, they were more alert and hoping for news. It was Blaster who asked, "Hey, you seen Hot Rod?"
Both Jazz and Ratchet had no answer. Last they knew, he was here. "He's not here?" Jazz asked.
"No, he left a little while ago. We were hoping he was going to you,"
Prowl heard them as he drove past, heading for the main building. Hot Rod could wait for his attention. All of them could. He had something far more important to talk about with Optimus. Upon entering, he quickly transformed, standing in the middle of the room, looking around. "Where's Optimus?" he asked, "I have important information he needs, now."
"He's in his office." Bluestreak told the tactician, "He said something about Hot Rod's disappearance. I certainly hope Hot Rod is all right. And hey, have you seen Mirage? He left earlier, but he didn't tell anyone where he was going." Prowl eyed the babbling mech and then went to find Optimus.
"Something wrong, guys?" Sam asked as Jazz and Ratchet made their way into the building.
"I'd say," Jazz answered since Prowl was busy elsewhere. "There's a real big crisis at the Decepticon base,"
Optimus Prime stepped out of his office just as he heard Jazz, "What has Starscream gotten himself into this time?"
"Well, to make a long story short, Shockwave found out 'bout Typhoon's Allspark radiation an' someone somehow managed to take 'er."
"Wait, what? Are the other Sparklings okay?" Optimus asked, worry hitting him like a train.
"Yeah, the rest are shaken up but fine, it was just Typhoon they took."
"Who?"
"No one knows." Jazz replied with a shrug, "They know it wasn't Shockwave, but it had somethin' to do wit 'im."
"Why would they be after her…?" Optimus wondered aloud.
"We aren't entirely sure. Though, I suspect Crush had something to do with it." Prowl replied this time. "I'm willing to bet it's because of her Allspark power."
"Crush? One of the Rainmakers?"
"Yeah. Starscream killed 'im." Jazz said.
"You think Starscream killed him?" Optimus asked.
"No, I know he did. I heard 'im beatin' on that mech." Jazz said. "He was livid."
"But… why?"
"As far as I could make out, he betrayed 'em. There was talk of Acid Rain expellin' 'im from his trine jus' before all this went down. Add to that Barricade is very upset. Starscream is jumpy…" Jazz told them. "Not sure… but somethin' else has got 'em all spooked."
"Optimus," Prowl interrupted, "There's something else you need to know."
"More bad news?"
"Starscream said he knows where the Matrix of Leadership is," Prowl warned. "I suspect it's not on Cybertron," sarcasm laced with irritation at the situation could be heard in his voice.
Unbelievable. There was stunned silence around the room for a long moment. No one said anything, waiting for the other to speak.
"What?" Optimus' optics grew wide, "Where?"
"Seeing as Starscream hasn't said anything until now, I'm assuming Shockwave has it."
"No…" Optimus said in exasperation. Anyone but him.
Meanwhile, on the eastern coast, hope beat in the chest of an Earthling Sparkling.
All she knew was that she was waking up. She vaguely remembered being dropped by Shockwave because they'd believed her to be dead. She was so weak and didn't even know if she was going to make it. The little femme moved slightly and found her body was basically numb and her Spark hurt really bad. She tried to cry out, but she had no voice.
Forcing her small body to move, she found herself almost completely buried in sand. With a lot of effort, she managed to pull herself free. However, the waves came up and buried her again. Disgusted with the water and sand, she got free again and crawled away to where the water wouldn't do that again. She looked back at it, wondering how that worked. It would be nice to bury that mech that had brought her out here in it.
After a hopeful sweep for Starscream or Barricade, she didn't see either of them in range of her, which frightened her. She had no idea where she was. How she had gotten to this place was a mystery to her.
It was difficult to move, but she knew she needed to get hidden. She was hurt not only from what Shockwave had done, but she was also very low on energy. By now, she would have crawled into Barricade to feed, but Barricade was nowhere to be found. Hopeless, and too weak to continue, she could hardly fight the waves or the sand that began to bury her as the tide rolled in. She'd be buried alive and never found. She missed Barricade and Starscream so much… why hadn't they come?
Her energy was spent by the time she reached brush. Typhoon made it as far as the bushes at the edge of the water before her little body could do no more. Luckily, she had made it above the water, but she couldn't get away from it before her little body gave out entirely. Her systems went into an emergency Stasis Lock to conserve what little energy she had, and her body fell to the ground. Her runes glowed so faintly it could be missed in the dark. They pulsed between purple and green.
Prowl continued his report as Blaster approached, "The Autobots may be in danger as well." He stated calmly, "It seems there are other mechs that managed to get past Soundwave, sir. One of them was the one that attacked Runner and took Typhoon.
"Starscream made a point to say that Jazz is in danger because of her being a femme, which leads me to believe that Shockwave will be after all of the femmes and his attack on Runner was just a start."
Upon hearing that, Ironhide spoke, "Well then, I say Jazz should be locked down here and not allowed to leave without an escort."
Jazz outwardly sighed. Since she'd become a she, they always felt the need to protect her more than she felt she needed and treated her more delicately than she wanted. The only one she didn't mind the delicateness from was Prowl… the rest, "I'm the same!" she argued. "Just because I am a femme doesn't mean I can't do my duty!"
Sunstreaker literally picked her up from behind, "You're a pipsqueak. Pipsqueaks need protected,"
"Put me down, ya slagger before I magnetize ya ta the ceilin'…" the small femme growled.
"Nah, me and 'Sides will be your 'personal escorts', Jazz," The yellow warrior offered with a smile.
Jazz folded her arms in his grip, glaring, "I don' need an escort."
"Come on, you helped to raise us. Don't deny us this opportunity to protect our little femme,"
Jazz frowned. "You're conspirin' somethin'… I can feel it,"
"We wouldn't do that!" Sideswipe chimed as innocently as possible.
Jazz thought about it. It was a sure bet anyone would play hell getting through those two, but she figured the twins could be used elsewhere than to be up her aft, "Alright, ya wanna help me? Protect the Sparklin's with ya lives. It'll put my Spark at ease."
"Come on, Jazz…" Sideswipe pleaded. "Barricade would never allow us to watch over them, you know that."
Jazz shrugged at the twin, "Can't hurt to try, 'Sides. She's distressed."
Sunstreaker then spoke up, "But we aren't the Sparkling-sitting type,"
Jazz looked to the yellow warrior, her optics furrowing, "Either help out there, or go bury yourselves in tar. Take your pick,"
"Protect the Sparklings?" Optimus asked Jazz, "You think something else is happening?"
Jazz nodded curtly as Sunstreaker set her down, "I'll bet my Spark on it, Prime."
"Explain,"
"Since Typhoon was taken, there's something I can't figure out underlying the situation. The rest of the Decepticons that had come in with Shockwave went missing. The only ones I think that are left are the Constructicons."
"You think there will be an attack?"
"Prob'ly," Jazz replied.
"Shockwave certainly knows how to leave his mark, doesn't he?" Jetfire commented.
Optimus turned to the flier, "Enough about that, Jetfire. I would like you to take the Aerialbots with you and patrol the skies. If you see anything unusual, report to me. We need to get a heads up on what Starscream is planning. He didn't help by not telling us anything."
"You got it, sir," Jetfire nodded.
Tyler was a volunteer firefighter in his mid-30s. He had made himself a life in a remote town in Maine. The area was nice, not as crowded like those places of Portland or Kittery, but still had people. He also didn't mind the tourists during the warm months. He'd bought a house near the ocean that he could enjoy during the summer months. Being a single father wasn't easy, as the child's mother had decided to up and leave, leaving him with the responsibility of taking care of the 4 yr. old at the time. Now, Craig was 15, and had gone to camp for the summer at his own request. Tyler hadn't been alone for very long and already missed his kid.
It could have been the wind that sent him in a different direction home, or maybe it was seeing something different as he walked, but something stirred him to walk closer to the water.
Here, he would make one of the greatest and most dangerous discoveries of his life. As he walked, he happened to see something shiny glinting in the distance on the beach. Curious, he headed toward it, wondering who could have thrown trash on a beach that he regularly found himself cleaning. At least that portion.
As the black-haired man approached, he noticed the glinting was metal and covered by sand. It looked as though it had washed up on shore. As he got closer, he realized this thing was partially buried. Strangely enough, it looked like a little metal hand with claws on the joints.
He stared at it a long moment. Something about the creepy hand thing unnerved him, and he thought about it suddenly coming to life and grabbing him. And so, he did what any normal American would do when confronted with such a thing.
He poked it with a stick.
Feeling silly for thinking such a thing, he dropped the stick and reached for it and found it hard to tug, as if a lot of it was buried, but he continued to pull until he pulled a mass of metal out of the sand. Sand plopped down from it as he pulled, having caked itself in every orifice possible.
He watched the sand fall, then dragged the thing to the water and got the other sand off it as best he could, finding it wasn't very heavy, and he lifted it higher to examine it. It had a head. And what appeared to be eyes which looked to be shut. He dropped it in surprise.
It crashed to the ground unceremoniously in a heap, not sounding as though common metal should sound. He wondered if it was some sort of titanium or platinum. He picked it up by one of the 'arms' and upon further inspection, he took notice how it seemed to be all together made strangely and it was very intricate. He used his other hand to support some of it and looked at the rest of it. A 'torso'… which looked very weird, as if something in it had exploded. It had soot in an outward splatter across it. He tilted his head at the strange design on the 'torso' area. It looked almost like a pale golden paint splatter. However, upon closer inspection, it was almost tribal looking.
It was incredibly detailed, down to lines and wires all about the inside of the 'arm'. Glancing down, he saw it had what appeared to be legs, which bent like they were digitigrade like a bird. They hung lifelessly as he looked them down to the feet. The feet had one main toe and 4 smaller toes, one on one side, two on the other side of the big one.
It looked like a spindly… robot. Evidently, someone was trying to be creative. It actually looked somewhat neat. He wondered what it was used for. It wasn't very big, looking maybe to be 4 foot tall and leaking some kind of light blue glowing … stuff every once in a while. He was no scientist, but there was nothing good that glowed blue when hitting open air. He worried if it was radioactive.
After another minute and curiosity getting the best of him, carefully he set the robot down, avoiding the blue substance coming from it. He got it flipped over and looked down at one of the freakiest robots he'd ever seen. In the part where the eyes were was a fully made mouth, which was full of tiny sharp teeth. Was it someone's school project? They should have gotten a metal for originality, because he'd never seen anything like it.
The soot meant the robot was probably junk and dumped here because it had likely exploded. He reached for it, and a small arc of energy snapped between him and it, like static shock, making him flinch back. He looked at his finger, which was tingling and burning. After cursing the thing, he looked for some kind of 'made in' but there were none, no company logos, no nothing. "Whoa dude, what the hell are you?"
He'd decided he was going to take it home. There, he could examine it further and hopefully figure out its origins. Remembering the blanket behind the seat in his truck, he went and got it, brought it back and proceeded to move the thing onto it and covered it over, being careful not to get cut on the sharp edges. By the time he'd returned it to his truck, the substance had stopped coming from it. He'd put it in the bed to be safe. When he got to his house, he pulled it from his truck and brought it into his house. He took the body to his office and laid it out on the floor, splaying it out as how it may have looked, deciding he would check it out after he ate.
En route to the Decepticon base, the ex-commander addressed Megatron, "It seems we have a problem…"
"And what problem would that be, Shockwave?"
"I've gotten reports that Sixshot is alive and on Earth," it surprised Shockwave that he was alive, and it puzzled him as to how he would find himself here, of all places. He must have followed a beacon.
"Ah… Sixshot…" Megatron grinned darkly, remembering the power of him. "I thought he was killed on Cybertron?"
"So did I. I lost all contact with him. Tantrum has reported that he's taken out three mechs from his team,"
"So since he took out the last one so easily, how strong is the second team?"
"I took precautions against that. He must have caught them off guard. He said something about the six-changer coming to the aid of a scorpion looking drone," Shockwave thought about it a moment. All of the Combaticons were alive now and should have fled the Decepticon base and the Constructicons should have talked Hook into joining them, "We will have Bruticus and… perhaps Devastator… There's no way Starscream or anyone else can stand up to that."
"We will use Devastator to subdue Sixshot, not kill him." Megatron explained, "I want that mech under my control, Shockwave. It was your screw up that made him go awry in the first place. Fix it now that he's been found."
"Devastator may kill him anyway. He hated him for what he did to him."
"I thought you had full control of that combiner on Cybertron?"
"I did. Devastator has only chosen to listen. His programming must have been scrambled. I'd need to get into Hook's processors to fix the error, and he disappeared shortly after you left for the Allspark."
Frenzy, on the other hand, could barely conceal his excitement. He knew Sixshot wasn't dead. Upon hearing that his mech creator was on earth, he vibrated. He missed Sixshot greatly.
Back in Nevada, time was moving too quickly. Starscream tried to stay close to Barricade. He twitched when surprisingly he'd been attacked several times through their link. The attacks were beginning to physically hurt. "Would you stop?" he asked.
He wished she'd pick a mood and stick with it. Why was she attacking him? The young leader was doing his best to hold himself together, even firewalling the young femme's Spark from his to make it easier on himself while he dealt with the turmoil in his own.
"I don't want to do this anymore." The femme replied, tired of the feelings she couldn't get rid of. They squirmed in her Spark, sometimes ebbing, only to return. It was a feeling akin to missing a step.
"But why attack me? It's not my fault." He couldn't understand why she was attacking him, and it forced him to put up stronger firewalls. It was depressing to think about what they had been through.
He looked up at the ceiling as if looking to the sky, wondering where Shockwave was, knowing this crap had only been the beginning of it. The Seeker looked back down Barricade, "That message I sent out was for you, too."
"I don't care."
The attack on their Sparklings had done something to her. He hoped it was not irreparable. This only added fuel to the fire that was already burning within the leader.
Mikaela stayed clear of her – like on the other side of the room near the door. She was acting so strangely and hoped that being by the door she was far enough not to aggravate the femme further. She wanted to sit with her, but Barricade made it clear she wanted no one near her except her Sparklings.
She curled up in a corner watching her. She could see the pain in the optics of her friend, and it was hard. Tears sat in her eyes as she did her best to restrain them from falling. She wanted to do something for her… anything. She knew there was no quelling the turbulence within the hunter. The femme was silent, only moving here and there, but she didn't talk. Mikaela stayed in the room, however, letting the femme know she was there if she needed her.
Starscream looked toward the door, "Come on," he said to them, "I need to tell all of you something." A moment later, he walked out.
Mikeala looked at Barricade, who didn't look like she wanted to get up. "Think we should find out what he has to say?" she asked.
"I don't care…" Barricade replied. Though, she started to stand and made her way to the door. She stopped just in front of Mikaela and looked down at her for a long moment. She then offered the girl her hand. When Mikaela got on, she headed out the door and to the wreck room where the rest of the Decepticons were milling around.
"So, what's so important that we aren't going to like, 'Screamer?"
"It's Shockwave. He's successfully resurrected Megatron."
"You're joking…"
"Soundwave detected his Spark signature." Starscream's face changed to dismay when his optics met Barricade's, "there are others she was able to identify before her line went dead."
"Who else?"
"Blackout, Brawl.," the Seeker answered, looking toward Hook's medical bay, deciding not to mention Bonecrusher. He turned back to the others, "That's just the ones that we know about."
"Seriously?"
"I'm afraid there may be more." Starscream admitted. He lowered his head at the thought of Sunstorm or Swindle.
"Where are they?"
"They are on their way here as I speak."
"Aw, slag, 'Screamer."
"We aren't going to surrender, 'Screamer."
"I know. They have at least one combiner that we know about. If Swindle was brought back, they'll have Bruticus as well."
"Two combiners?" Astrotrain asked, "That seriously hinders our chances."
"Hey, don't forget, we do have a combiner killer on our side,"
"Thankfully."
"We got your back, 'Screamer."
Starscream gave each one of his 'Cons a look, "Well then, let's get ready for war."
Chancing no one would pick it up, Soundwave scrambled a temporary link to Sixshot. "Return to me,"
"I'm almost there. Piranacon and Predaking are here. I don't know how. Predaking is no longer an issue. Snap Trap's team is lurking, I can't find them,"
"Shockwave is on his way with Megatron."
"Megatron?"
"Be aware that Bonecrusher is alive, as well."
"What? Please, tell me you're kidding."
There was a blip from the femme and the signal went dark. "Slag," the six-changer cursed. That was no good.
The sight of two cars barreling ass across the desert suddenly diverted the teal mech. He knew they weren't regular cars, since no one would drive such things out where these idiots were. He recognized one of them immediately, even though he appeared a bit different from when he last saw him. "What have we here…" he asked quietly to himself as he assessed what was going on.
He landed hard in such a way they would pass him before they realized he was there. Timed perfectly, he grabbed for Mirage with one hand, lifting him in the air, making his wheels spin like mad.
"Hey! What the frag!" the cloaker called. Realization of who had him hit him a moment later, "Slag," he said. "it's you…"
"Yes, it's me," The Six-changer grabbed Mirage with his other hand as the mech tried to escape. As mirage fumbled to get away, he flipped the mech over his head and used the momentum to slam him into the ground. He could hear something break. He reached down and picked Mirage up by the neck struts from behind, holding him there. "I am in a really, really bad mood. Don't fuck with me, Autobots. Why do I keep running into you little slaggers?"
Mirage reached for Sixshot's claws on his neck in an attempt to get away. He felt Sixshot shake him. He resigned himself to still, knowing the six-changer could or would do more damage.
"Sixshot?" Hot Rod asked, curiosity getting the better of him as he spied the energon leaking from different areas on the assassin. By the looks of it, he'd obviously been in a fight. If he was still this strong even being damaged like he was, he became apprehensive of Sixshot actually hurting them. Hot Rod then realized the situation and that Sixshot was throwing Mirage around like a toy, "Hey, come on, put him down!"
A dangerous look came through Sixshot's visor as he looked to Hot Rod. There was a bloodlust Hot Rod had never seen before in any Cybertronian. "Don't tell me what to do."
Quickly realizing he had overstepped, Hot Rod attempted to redirect Sixshot's anger asking, "What happened to you?"
"That's none of your business." The six-changer snarled, "Why are you out here and not with your Autobot groupies?"
"That's none of your business either."
"Stop messing with him!" Mirage sent to Hot Rod, hoping he'd stop antagonizing the assassin.
"Wrong answer," Sixshot growled angrily and threw Mirage in an underhanded throw. The cloaker spun through the air. As he flew, Sixshot jumped toward the cloaker, above him, put his feet on him and kicked him to the ground. Mirage landed hard on his side. Sixshot landed down next to him and glared up at Hot Rod. "Answer my question. I'll kill him."
Mirage tried to get up, his left arm was lightly damaged, and parts of his chest were crumpled, but his damage wasn't too severe. He let out a choking sound as he pushed himself to a sitting position and scooted a little further from Sixshot. "Hot Rod," he said, wiping energon from his mouth. "Just tell him,"
"Idiots…" The six-changer said as he reached for Mirage, having seen him trying to move away. He aimed and fired a grappling hook from his right wrist at Hot Rod this time, making sure neither of them would go anywhere. Catching him by his back end, he reeled him to himself and pinned him down with little effort. He let go of Mirage, focusing on Hot Rod, which was the one who had the answers he wanted. "I'll ask you one more time… Why are you out here?"
Intent on not telling, Hot Rod refused to say. "Just like you have your secrets, we have ours,"
The Autobot's refusal to answer made the six-changer's patience hit its last straw. He started pushing down on Hot Rod, using his weight to crush the young mech, reaching his clawed fingers into Hot Rod's armor at the same time. He leaned down, nearly whispering, "You can't fathom how much restraint I am taking from ripping you apart here and now." Sixshot growled darkly, "You're digging yourself a hole that I will gladly bury you in if you keep up that attitude." He then considered that Soundwave could get what information they were hiding, "Better yet, you both are coming with me."
"What? Why?"
"Shut up, that's why." Sixshot replied simply.
"Are you going to kill us?" Hot Rod asked hesitantly.
"Depends on if you keep talking…"
In the sky, Jetfire who was flying high enough not to be noticed, saw Sixshot dragging the two mechs he'd caught earlier in the direction of the Decepticon base. He came in closer for a better look. "I got something unusual for you… How about Hot Rod? Sixshot's got him and Mirage and he's taking them somewhere, what are my orders?" He watched Sixshot glance up at him.
"Don't bother 'im!" Jazz nearly screeched, "He's not the enemy!"
"What has gotten into you, Jazz? That's Sixshot!" Ironhide suddenly yelled. "And he has Hot Rod and Mirage! Shoot him!"
"He is the enemy! He's everyone's enemy!" Jetfire argued. He began heading upwards when he saw Sixshot begin running. "He could kill them for Primus' sake!"
"No! Stop!" Jazz continued to defend, "Leave 'im be! If you mess wit 'im he will kill 'em!"
Prowl poked Jazz, making her shut up so he could talk, "Jetfire, Jazz is right unfortunately…" the tactician glared at the silver femme before continuing, "They have a better chance of living if you leave him alone." He knew that if Sixshot was taking them alive to where he was going, then he probably wanted them alive, however, if there was an upset he didn't like, he'd destroy any evidence of his capture. It was a surety that if they messed with him, things would go bad for the two Autobots. They could not forget he was and still is a terrifyingly successful assassin.
In Maine, after eating something, Tyler went back into his office to examine what he had found. He didn't try to get into anything just yet, only looked the small thing over more carefully under the light. While looking it over, he realized that it seemed less damaged than he first remembered, but it could have been the different light too.
His next inspection led him to the chest of the robot where the soot was congregated the most. Avoiding getting cut, he felt down the intricate arm area and fiddled around, looking at the strange lines and cables, which he assumed was used to make it move. He yanked his hand back in surprise when the chest started parting, folding and changing, revealing a small box that looked almost like glass. He hadn't seen the glow before on the beach.
Inside it was very faintly glowing, and it rapt his attention for a moment. He reached for the small glow and a bolt of what appeared to be electricity shot from it and zapped him all the while appearing as if it were stabilizing inside the robot.
He cursed and brought his hand quickly away with a shake, wondering what it was. He looked back at the tiny box and saw it was glowing a little brighter. A few sparks flew from it and the gold that was on the chest seemed to melt into the small box until it was barely noticeable.
Figuring he had somehow managed to repair it, he watched for it to do something else. But the small robot didn't move.
Her Spark hurt so bad. She had no idea why, either. It was a constant throb now. She barely opened her optics to see she was not outside, she was mostly clean and she was in a building. Where was she? Afraid, she only listened.
He picked up his phone when it rang, "Yeah?"
"Nah, I'm busy right now. Found something on the beach."
"I don't know," he answered, looking down at the robot.
"Yeah, man, a damned robot,"
She listened silently to the man who was now talking. She was afraid he would hurt her, and in her current state, she was defenseless. She didn't move, only listening to what the man had to say. She couldn't listen in on the other end, as so much of her was damaged… so she had to go off of what this man was saying.
"Man, how the hell should I know? Maybe it was dumped, and the tide covered it, it's strange as hell, though. Never seen anything like it,"
That didn't tell her anything she didn't already know…
"Nope, no maker as far as I saw… I think it's broken or something. There's something melted into it and every time I tried to touch it, I got this real nasty shock. Might end up taking it to the junk yard."
Typhoons little optics went wide. She might be young, but she knew what a junk yard was!
"I'm sure it's some kid sch-" Tyler happened to glance over to see small red optics staring at the ceiling, "H-hold on, I-I'll call you back!" He ended the call and as he did, the optics went from the ceiling to him. He stilled.
Typhoon only stared at the man wondering who he was.
He only stared back. It was looking at him, so it must have been an AI robot. He wondered what kind of programming it had, and had never messed with an AI before, so he really had no idea what to say to see if it was responsive. "Hello." He felt a little weird talking to an inanimate object.
Typhoon assessed what damage she could and found that her vocal processors were only slightly damaged now. "Where am I? Who are you?" she asked. She quickly realized she was no longer beeping. She was speaking coherent English. She looked around the room, bewildered.
Tyler jumped when the robot spoke. "M-my name is T-Tyler. Do you have a name?" He watched it look around as he considered it sounded not quite like an AI. There were inflections in its voice, and it even sounded like it was scared. But robots didn't get scared.
"The designation given to me by my creators is Typhoon." She replied, a little hesitant, as she was told humans could be dangerous.
Still amazed, he stood and got closer; it watched his every move. Tyler took notice of how its eyes followed him precisely, no jerks or weird movement usually seen in robots. And it only followed him with its eyes. The rest of it stayed still. He knelt next to her.
This frightened her and she jerked away, afraid he was going to hurt her more than she already was. She'd been through enough and she missed her creators. Tyler had also jumped, not expecting the robot to jerk away from him. Since when did robots do that, anyways? Was this a superbly made robot?
He didn't move, expecting it to move again, but the small robot laid still. She was hoping the strange man would at least go away so she could die or heal without interruptions. She wondered how long it would take Starscream or Barricade to find her.
Tyler got up, still watching it as the eyes followed him carefully. He even tried stepping to the side, and they followed. He shrugged and decided to go get a drink and leave it for now. Perhaps it needed to dry inside, seeing as he found it by the ocean. It was no doubt that the saltwater had done something to it.
Soundwave's hand flew over her right arm and then stopped. As if checking a second time, she typed then stopped again. With the information she was getting, she turned abruptly for Starscream, "Commander, I have updated information from Sixshot."
"Regarding?"
"We may be in more danger than first thought."
Starscream raised an optic ridge at Soundwave, "And what crazy reason would that be?" The young leader then grimaced, "I can't help but feel that coming from you, I should be more worried than normal."
"There are two combiner teams that arrived before Shockwave did. Sixshot is now on his way in. He's destroyed three of Razorclaw's team, however there are seven more mechs. Snap Trap's team is fully functional."
"How did they get by you?"
"Unknown, the combiners have been identified as Piranacon and Predaking."
The leader thought about it. He'd heard the names but never paid attention, they were low ranked and pretty much cannon fodder on Cybertron. "I know of Razorclaw and Snap Trap. They were grunts on Cybertron."
"They are now combiner leaders."
That was news. Starscream grimaced a bit, "Since when?"
"Unknown."
"Shit." The leader cursed.
Sixshot arrived at the Decepticon base, dragging a pissed off Mirage and carrying and equally pissed Hot Rod. He stepped inside, surprising everyone with his quarry and dropped them in the middle of the floor. He pointed vehemently at them, saying, "Don't move or I'll stake you to the floor,"
The two Autobots looked around seeing Decepticons still arriving, wondering what they were preparing for as they appeared to be in a panic.
Starscream looked to the two Autobots on the ground. "Look what the six-changer dragged in…"
"Yeah," Hot Rod replied with a grimace, "don't you have a leash on that jerk?"
"Um, no. That would defeat his purpose. Why did he bring you here, though?" Starscream looked up to the retreating six-changer in wonder.
Hot Rod gave a sound like a sigh. "Not a clue, Starscream… not a clue."
"Must have been a reason," the Decepticon leader said and then frowned as he looked more closely at Hot Rod, "You," he pointed at him, "You look different," his voice was more in thought than anything else.
"Really?" Hot Rod innocently asked as he and Mirage got up from the ground.
"Yes," he drawled out, "You seem older; in fact…you grew a few inches, too. You're nearly as tall as Prime. That's not normal…"
Before Hot Rod could reply to that statement, there was a noise behind Starscream. Hot Rod and Mirage stared in apprehension at Soundwave's quick approach. Her wave sensor rose and pointed at them a moment as if she was trying to read something and then it dropped back down on her back.
"Autobots: follow," she told them. At first, they hesitated, looking to each other with worry. "Now," she droned. Her voice almost seemed ominous. How she could pull that off with such a monotonous tone, neither of them knew. Hot Rod stood first, and then Mirage. The telepath began toward an open room.
Starscream followed, curious. He looked at her, then to the two Autobots, wondering what she had planned for them. "Soundwave, before you get started with whatever it is you're doing, I need your assistance." Starscream then looked back to the two Autobots, "I wouldn't advise you go anywhere…" and he walked off with Soundwave.
When Hot Rod figured they were hopefully out of hearing range, he whispered, "Mirage, I want an explanation…now!"
Mirage could only shrug.
In the med bay, Hook saw the shape Sixshot was in as he entered. He mouthed 'Wow' and pointed to a berth for him to sit. "What happened to you?"
"Would you believe a surprise combiner team?"
"What?" Hook began working on Sixshot immediately,
"Yeah, that's what I said." The six-changer chuffed, "They were two short of combining though. I killed them. And guess what?"
"I don't even want to." Hook shook his head.
"There's a second one."
"Where did they come from?"
"No one seems to know. They got by Soundwave somehow."
"They sure did a number on you…"
"Yeah, well, what do you expect? Three vs. one are pretty crappy odds, though it could have been worse."
The other Constructicons had been standing off to the side, watching. They frowned upon seeing the medic tend to a mech that was supposed to be their mortal enemy, the other Constructicons were not only confused by this behavior, but they were also mad. "Hook, what's wrong with you?"
"What?" Hook asked, not taking his optics from his work.
"Why are you helping that killer?" Scrapper asked.
"Because he needs repairs, obviously you're not blind to that fact," Hook retorted without looking away from his work.
"He's our enemy! Don't you remember what he did to Devastator?"
"Of course I remember, why?"
"Can't you see reason?" Scavenger asked. "You shouldn't be helping him,"
"What reason are you going on about?" The medic replied, pulling a piece of metal on the assassin. "You speak nonsense."
Hook gave a quick tug, making Sixshot hiss in pain. He looked at the metal and a small smirk played in the corner of his mouth. "You need to stop trying to see if you really are immortal, Sixshot."
"Keeps me on my toes," Sixshot remarked with a small shrug.
Scrapper stepped forward, "He's an enemy of combiners. He just told you he took out one already."
"And? If he was an enemy," Hook said with strain as he worked, "I would treat him as such. He hasn't given me a reason,"
"Can we all stop talking like I'm not here?" Sixshot groaned, already tiring of listening to them.
Ignoring Sixshot, Scavenger asked his leader, "You also don't see what Starscream has done with the Decepticons."
Out of frustration, Hook stabbed a little harder than he should with a tweezer like contraption, making Sixshot flinch and growl at him. He glanced at the six-changer then went back to addressing his team, "Of course I see it, that's why I stick with him,"
"Megatron has more power; if you stay with Starscream you will be destroyed!"
"If you ask me, Megatron's a loser," Sixshot grumbled.
Hook looked at Sixshot then to his team, "If that is my fate, then so be it. I refuse to go back to the life Megatron imprisoned us in and forced us to live," he replied.
Mixmaster growled, slamming his hand on the berth where Motormaster was still lying, "You've grown soft, Hook!"
Tired of their ranting, Hook yelled, "Shut up!" He threw a large item at the other Constructicon, hitting his arm. The item clanged to the floor. "I am the leader of you idiots, I said no!"
Mixmaster looked at the other rather irritated Constructicons. If Hook were not in their command, they would be free, and they could find another to make their leader. Whatever hold Shockwave had on them, it was good and tight. His glare turned on his leader, as did the rest of the Constructicons. "Then we will have to do away with you and find another leader."
Sixshot watched them and bristled dangerously, hearing their intentions. "I dare you to try it…"
Scrapper turned his glare on Sixshot, "Who are you to talk? This isn't your concern, freak."
"When it concerns Starscream's Decepticons, I will say what I want."
"Psssh… You fear the Constructicons because of Devastator!"
Sixshot glanced at Hook, then back to Scrapper, "Yeah… but there's one problem…"
"What's that?"
"You don't have Devastator. Bonecrusher is dead." The six-changer lied. His glare changed to one of savagery, "And I'll do the same to the rest of you if you don't stop."
"How dare you stick your nose-plates in where it doesn't belong!"
Sixshot leapt from his seat and out of Hook's reach, and before Scrapper could dodge, the six-changer had him against the wall, pinned by his neck while the other arm formed a rather large cannon right at the Constructicon's chest. "You're not combined right now. That makes you easy pickings." Sixshot growled darkly.
Sixshot heard the other Constructicons moving behind him to save Scrapper and he glanced back long enough to pinpoint them. Other weapons on his body began powering up and taking aim, making them stop. "Don't do it."
Hook, tired of the arguing walked up to Sixshot, getting a dark glance in his direction. The medic knew not to get too close when the mech had that look to him. "Stop it, Sixshot. I can bring them around."
Sixshot didn't look at Hook when he spoke, glaring at the mech held before him. "Yeah, quite the bang-up job you're doing so far," The six-changer growled and then glared accusingly at Scrapper. He pressed harder on the mech. "They were just conspiring to kill you."
"Wouldn't be the first time, I'm afraid." Hook shook his head. "I can handle it... I'm not their leader for nothing."
"You should be grateful to have a leader that would save you from me pounding your afts into oblivion…" he slammed Scrapper into the wall then let him go, went back to his previous seat and waited for Hook to continue on his injuries all the while staring at the other Constructicons, waiting for them to do one thing wrong.
At that moment, Scrapper, Mixmaster, and Scavenger turned for the door. Hook looked up from what he was doing, "Where are you going?"
"None of your business," Scavenger growled.
"Stay put,"
"We aren't listening to you anymore, traitor." Scrapper glared at Hook, and they all walked out.
The Constructicons walking toward the door got the leader's attention. Starscream watched them leave out the main door. He headed for Hook's medical bay, seeing him working on Sixshot, "Where are they going?"
"Megatron, probably." Hook replied.
"That's a really bad idea, Hook." Starscream warned.
"I know," the medic replied, setting down a tool. He picked up another and looked up at Starscream. There was panic in his optics. It made him stop.
"You don't understand! Bonecrusher is alive!"
At that revelation, Hook squeezed the tool he had in his hand, breaking it. He knew exactly what Starscream was hinting at, Angrily, he threw the pieces of the tool, "Dammit!"
Sixshot's optics took on a dark look, "Can you resist them?"
"They don't make the call. I do."
"Megatron is going to want Devastator. They are going to do everything they can to get you," Sixshot pointed out. "You can't fight off all four of the others."
"Yeah," Starscream agreed. "Maybe you should go to the Autobot's base, Hook."
"I don't think–"
"We don't need Devastator added to Megatron's arsenal," Starscream said.
"I agree." Sixshot said. "I'd rather not face him if I can help it."
"Go to the Autobot base. Stay there. That's an order." Starscream said in finality.
Hook nodded curtly. He understood.
Flying at speed, it hadn't taken them long at all to get to Nevada. They were getting close to Starscream's base, being around fifty miles away. The tyrant spied Breakdown driving in the same direction they were going. "Well, well, well… Breakdown…"
"Lead on, little Stunticon," he said menacingly. Megatron swore he could smell the Seeker from where he was, and it only made his hunger to kill the Seeker grow even more.
Breakdown had no idea he had been spotted by anyone, so he continued on his way, heading back to base.
As Megatron got closer, they saw where he was headed and flew faster than him, not hiding the fact they were there. "Find out everything he knows, Blackout."
"I live to serve, Lord Megatron," Blackout said before turning from the pack.
Breakdown looked up when he picked up what appeared to be dirt flying through the air on his scanners. He honed his scanners and was alarmed to find that it wasn't dirt at all, it was mechs. A lot of them.
Immediately he sent a message to Starscream using the encrypted system Soundwave had come up with.
Hey, uh, was anyone else supposed to land recently?
Starscream received the message, What are you talking about?
Breakdown slid to a stop sideways,unsure of what or who he was looking at.
Megatron is getting close. There's a bunch of them. Like, a lot. Primus, are they moving.
Can you identify them? Starscream replied, hoping he could see if there were more than what Soundwave had found.
One is coming back… Breakdown focused on the large dark helicopter headed for him, recognizing the Decepticon symbol and the make of the chopper. There was only one that he knew of that took on the form of a Sikorsky CH-53 Helicopter. Blackout! It's Blackout!
Breakdown, get out of there, now! Starscream called. Give me your location!
Starscream didn't have much time to act. It was now or never. "All femmes, get your afts out of here! We'll take care of this." He turned to the others present, "Prepare for defense!"
Thundercracker stood there defiantly, glaring at her leader, "I ain't going anywhere and you can't make me. I rather fight by your side than run away like some coward, 'Screamer,"
Starscream snorted at her, "Don't go risking your unborn Sparkling on my defense, TC. You'd be safer gone,"
"I will be fine," she told him. She had a sternness about her that told Starscream arguing would be pointless. He pointed at her vehemently, "I won't argue with you. Now is not the time. I see one thing wrong and you're leaving even if I have to shoot you myself. Got it?"
The blue Seeker nodded and stepped up beside him by the doors, looking up to where the others were said to be coming from.
Soundwave of course, didn't listen either. She would remain by Starscream's side and fight with him. Besides, she had a bone to pick with Shockwave.
The two Autobots that had been brought in previously came to see what had Starscream all riled up. Barricade was standing beside him, as were many other Decepticons, watching out the main doors. "What is going on?"
Starscream turned swiftly, "No time for that, I need you to take the Sparklings and get back to the Autobot base."
"What? Why?"
"Just do that for me. Please."
They heard the tone of his voice. He was nervous, perhaps even scared. He had to be to be willing to send his little ones with them away from him.
Take the humans with you! Get them out of here! Quickly!" Starscream looked toward the ceiling as if trying to sense something.
"Tell us what's going on!" Hot Rod said, trying to get out of Starscream what had him so upset, "Maybe we can help?"
"You can help me by doing as I say! Now!" the Seeker nearly yelled. "Hurry! Leave! Protect them with your life."
Hot Rod looked at Mirage and Mirage looked back at him and shrugged, "Do as he says," Hot Rod told the cloaker.
Barricade was about to argue about Hot Rod taking her Sparklings, but Starscream stopped her. They didn't need to be here.
"Listen, Megatron is almost here, let them take them out of here, 'Run, please! You go with them, hurry!"
"No…" Barricade felt dread, hoping it would be longer. She turned to Hot Rod, chirping at her Sparklings, who headed for the now red, flame marked pick-up style truck.
The humans had already piled into Mirage. Mikaela had tears in her eyes. Miles was holding her shoulder waving Teri to get in with them. They waved Rumble and Ravage as well, but they refused. They would stay and fight with Soundwave.
"Wait, Starscream," Mikaela called from Hot Rod, "We want to help!"
"The best way you can help is staying out of the way. Things are going to get real bad here, and I don't want you caught in the fray."
"But…"
"No buts!" Starscream demanded, his voice harsh, "Go with the Autobots back to their base. Fill them in on what you know. Maybe they can help."
As soon as the Sparklings and humans were loaded, Hot Rod and Mirage booked for the Autobot base, Hook in tow. Barricade turned for her team, "Groundhog, take the other two and go with them. Protect my Sparklings like they are your own."
Groundhog gave her a questioning look but nodded, "You don't want us to fight with you?"
"I need you to help with my Sparklings. You're a familiar face."
"You can bet your life on it, 'Run." Motorhead and Roller Force who had heard her order were already transformed and ready to go.
In the excitement, no one saw Blacklight run out of the building and to the side to where Skorponok had been.
Hot Rod saw the Race Track team coming up behind them. He also spied Hook following up behind them. He idly wondered why he was following them back to his base. Quickly the three came up to the sides of the two Autobots. Something real big had to be going down for Barricade to willingly send her Sparklings and her team with them. "What's going on with your crooked leader? Why'd he send us away?"
"It's bad, real bad," Roller Force answered.
"How bad could it be?" Mirage asked.
"Megatron," Groundhog said.
"What?" Hot Rod called. "Megatron?"
"Yeah," Roller Force chuffed, "And there's more. 'Screamer's gonna need help."
"I'd say," Mirage answered. "As soon as we are in range, we need to let Optimus know the situation."
"The Autobots may not make it in time," Hook finally said, "you know how fast these mini-wars can be,"
Barricade remained with Starscream. The anxious leader turned to her, "You have to leave, it's too dangerous for you now,"
The femme knew that taking on Megatron would be too much for Starscream to handle alone. She would help him all she could, like it or not. "I won't let you fight them alone! they took Typhoon from me, too!"
He would have felt a whole lot better if she had just left. Having no time to deal with her troubles, and realizing what was happening, he turned quickly in disbelief and pointed to the sky, "No! Go!" He demanded to her and turned his attention to those in the air, "All Seekers get into the air! Now! Hold them off as long as possible!"
Jess, who had been down talking to Daniel, found himself in a situation. Starscream's head whipped around to see the man running, "You were told to leave."
"They left without me,"
"Dammit," Starscream looked to Skywarp who shrugged, "Guess he's with me, then,"
Jess hopped into Skywarp, having no other alternative, knowing the bad guys were coming. He'd already spoken to the teleporter, and Skywarp agreed to take him up with him, if for no other reason than to drop him off at the Autobot base. "You're slagging nuts, you know."
"So are you, that's why we get along… now let's get this show on the road!" Jess said as he was strapped down. Skywarp left for the skies with Thundercracker, preparing for imminent danger.
"I am gonna take you to the Autobot base the first chance I get," the teleporter told his pet. "It is gonna be real unsafe being with me,"
"Blackout, firewall Soundwave and all communications as long as possible,"
"It's already done. Soundwave's speckodar system should have been reading erroneous since we got to a place called 'Colorado'." the PAV-LOW III replied and began sending out his disruptor, in effect blacking out all communications within his radius, which surprisingly, was much further than he had ever been able to reach before. Hundreds of earth miles. He wasn't sure how long he could hold off Soundwave's abilities.
"Excellent," Shockwave chuckled darkly.
When he stepped back into his office, Tyler was beginning to realize that the robot he'd picked up was changing. He was very confused, yet when he had left the room, he was sure that robot was smaller. He wasn't gone that long, maybe about 20 minutes. It had also moved. What the hell had he picked up from the beach?
He saw it sitting on the floor tinkering with wires and such in a corner. "Whatcha doin' there?" he asked, not expecting a response.
The small head on the thing turned and looked at him.
"I'm not a robot." Typhoon corrected the man, remembering what he had told the person he was talking to on the phone. She quickly realized she was no longer beeping. She was speaking coherent English. She looked back down at the screwdriver she had. Blacklight had told her what sharring was and how he'd used human made tools until Wheeljack had made tools for him.
"Uh," Tyler stammered, unsure what to think when he was corrected by an AI controlled robot. "Okay, I'll bite… What are you?" He watched it cautiously as it took the tool it had and started digging at itself.
"I'm a Sparkling." Typhoon told the man. She dug into her let arm with the tool, picking at her armor with it.
"What… is a Sparkling?" he was almost afraid to ask. He was also wondering what it was doing to itself.
Instead of answering his question, she said, "I'm a little stronger now. Thank you for taking me out of that water. It was damaging me more. I was sure I would die."
"Die?" Tyler asked, confused. Did the programming in this thing make it think it was self-aware?
"Isn't that what happens when a Spark stops beating?"
"A Spark?" he asked.
"A heart." She replied, realizing this person had no idea what she was talking about and related it like Mikaela did. "I need some wires to help fix myself. They hurt me really bad."
Tyler wasn't sure what to think about this thing. It was talking coherently. It was answering question and seemed like it was more intelligent than a mere AI. He was taken aback by the fact the thing replied as if it knew what he had asked. "What? Who did?"
"The others. They dropped me in the ocean after they hurt me."
"The bad Decepticons."
Tyler just stared at the little thing. "Is this some sort of story?"
"I am not sure what you think about me, but I am not some robot." Typhoon told him casually, "I am a living creature, just like you. Stop talking to me like I'm some human made junk."
Tyler raised his brows at the little outburst. "What are you?"
"My creators are aliens from the world known as Cybertron."
"Creators?"
Typhoon looked at the man a long moment, thinking of an equivalent. "My parents," she said.
"Parents?" Tyler stepped back from the robot, "A-aliens?"
Typhoon watched him move back and continued to pick at her armor, content to pull the armor that was itching.
"Someone built you?"
"What?" she asked, wondering how he didn't understand what a parent was, "No, I was born."
"You're an alien?"
"No, I was born on here Earth in Nevada,"
"Nev…" The man could hardly comprehend what the creature was saying. "Oh my god,"
So, a lot going on. Hope it wasn't too hard to follow.