AN: Hey guys! We're back again with a new chapter for Volume 0 of Transformers Remnant!
[audience applause]
Yes, yes, you've all been very patient, and I thank you for that patience. And what better way to reward it than by making this the first thing I post for our now regular month-long RWBY-based updates.
Qrow: So if it's got something to do with RWBY, you're doing work on it?
AN: Yeah. I mean, this should be obvious if you've seen the latest episode of Studio News over on the Studio Fandom YouTube Channel. Along with a couple other important announcements. If you haven't seen that episode yet (that being episode 8), please go and check it out. There's some especially important info in that episode that I need all of my followers and fans to know about.
Raven: How about we just get this over with? I want to see what you have us doing here so we discuss how accurate, or inaccurate your interpretation of us at a young age may be.
AN: Raven, you do know that most info about the Age of Team STRQ is still a huge mystery aside from some general details, right? It's a little hard for anyone to know what may or may not be accurate right now.
Summer: Don't worry about her, lyoko. I'm sure it'll be great. Even if we aren't in this chapter.
Raven: Wait, what?! I thought we were supposed to be the stars of this story, and now you're telling me we're not even in the first chapter that takes place on Remnant?!
AN: Alright, alright, calm down. Calm down. You'll understand why this chapter's the way it is in just a moment. For now, it's time to roll out!
Also, if you haven't already, please check out our YouTube channel "Studio Fandom". It's the best place to get updates as to what I'm doing with my writing stuff at the time along with various other content. And if you want to look at some pretty cool artwork, we've also got a DeviantArt page now "studiofandom", so check that out too, when you get the chance.
I do not own anything from any of the Transformers or RWBY franchises or any other franchise mentioned in this story
Chapter 2: First Contact Could be Better
Remnant, Today
Even several years after its conclusion, the Great War that once plagued Remnant still left a few scars behind that people were hoping to wipe away as best as they could. One such method of doing so was through the Vytal Festival, but since that only occurred once every two years many still felt it was necessary to find other methods of building bridges to heal various old wounds. As such, it was not uncommon to find either groups of huntsmen or even a contingent of military forces from two kingdoms coming together for a shared training exercise like the one taking place right now in Vale.
There were not any Grimm around to battle, but a simple round of capture the flag with weapons did have a few benefits of allowing huntsmen to improve their skills and see what their neighbors were capable of should the need arise. Of course, the participants of this particular game mostly consisted of recently graduated huntsmen from Beacon and Atlas Academy, so it was all the better to see just what they all had up their sleeves. Assuming any of them got the chance to show off, because a good number of them were being taken out of the game by just one particular Atlesian huntsman. The young man in question was proving to be an excellent marksman with his revolvers, and had no trouble keeping cool under any level of pressure, making it safe to say he was carrying his whole team for most of the game.
Of course, he soon met his match in the Vale team's current captain: a woman who was so skilled with her semblance you would think it was magic as opposed to telekinesis. Not only did she keep many of his shots from hitting her and her allies, but she also managed to conjure up incredible counterattacks with just a wave of her riding crop. Between that, her graceful movements, and her overall level of discipline, you would be surprised if she and this Atlas soldier did not end up being the last ones standing by the end of things. In the end, that very scenario was exactly what happened, and the two were locked in a very intense stand-off where a single breath could have decided the final victor of this battle.
At long last, the air of tension broke, as the blonde huntress waved her riding crop forward, prompting the Atlesian huntsman to duck and roll to one side so he could avoid the telekinetic blast before firing one of his revolvers at her. The blast did hit only a barrier that the huntress had conjured just after her initial attack, but the soldier was not letting that stop him. He charged forward with a loud battle cry, and tackled the blonde, only to be kicked off a second later and then pinned down by an invisible force. Unable to so much as lift a finger, the Atlesian merely glared up at the woman holding him down with her semblance, even as she gave him a cocky smirk.
"Looks like that's game over for you, James," the huntress boasted.
Lieutenant James Ironwood merely continued glaring up at the blonde, panting a little before he finally smirked back and said, "Maybe, but the objective was never for me to beat you, Glynda. I just needed to keep you busy."
Glynda Goodwitch's confusion shone through her face until a loud announcement came through their Scrolls declaring Ironwood's team had just captured their target's flag, much to Glynda's surprise. "What? But when did…?" Glynda gasped, until the answer finally dawned on her. "When we first crossed paths earlier, you deliberately garnered my attention so that I would be focused more on you…"
"Instead of your base and flag. Sometimes a leader has to be willing to step back and let his team handle the important work, even at the cost of his own life," James finished, grinning all the while.
Glynda let out a huff of annoyance at first, but ultimately let James up and joined him in his laughter. "Okay, I'll admit, that was a clever tactic on your part."
"Well don't sell yourself short, Glynda. You made me break a sweat more than a few times over the course of this bout," James insisted. He then held out his hand to her as he added, "I know we're going to be shaking hands with our entire teams after regrouping at the control center later, but I'd still like to go ahead and say good game to you now. You may not have won the match, but you did still beat me."
She took a little bit of time to regard James's sincerity, but ultimately, Glynda still accepted the handshake with a smile of her own. "Likewise, Lieutenant. You've certainly proven how well-earned your rank in the Atlesian military is."
"Ugh, don't remind me of that. When I was studying to be a huntsman, I thought I would be out on the front lines battling Grimm and other threats to the kingdom, not relegated to more desk work," James pleaded with her, getting a small chuckle from Glynda. "You laugh now, but just wait, Glynda. I'll bet with your skills, you'll be getting shunted into a position similar to mine before you know it, and then you'll be complaining to me about the paperwork involved."
"I doubt that. Unlike you, James, I always enjoyed all of the class work, whether it was for combat class or just simple reports and tests," Glynda disputed with a wave of her hand.
"And how exactly would you know I didn't enjoy all of my class work?" James questioned.
"I still remember when my team and I crossed paths with yours during the last Vytal Festival, and all the times we did so during classes," Glynda proudly declared.
"Oh really? Well maybe you could prove that sometime. Maybe over a little dinner to celebrate the success of this co-op training session," James challenged.
"Why James Ironwood, are you asking me out on a date?" Glynda teased with a sly smile that showed she already knew the answer to this question.
James would have continued playing this new game of theirs had he not caught sight of something up in the sky. The object in question quickly drew his full attention towards it when it got bigger and bigger, indicating it was coming closer with each passing second, and when he realized just how close it was coming to them, he quickly grabbed Glynda and pulled her to the ground with a warning shout. The two just barely hit the dirt and covered the heads before the object roared past them, drawing up a massive blast of wind that probably would have toppled a few of the trees around them if it were just a little stronger, and from the sound things, it did knock down a good portion of the forest when it finally crash-landed.
"What in the name of Oum was that?" Glynda asked.
"I'm not sure, but I don't think we should just leave it alone," James determined, pulling out his Scroll so he could make a few calls. "This is Lieutenant James Ironwood. I need any available soldiers and huntsmen to the Emerald Forest right away. Something's just crashed down out here, and I'm not sure if it was an airship or a massive Grimm. Either way, we need to investigate." He then looked to Glynda and said, "My people should be able to get there quickest, but if you can bring in anyone else…"
"I'm already on it," Glynda informed him. "I've already alerted Professor Ozpin to the situation, and asked him to ensure none of the students at Beacon enter the forest until further notice. I'll meet you there as soon as some of the local huntsmen have arrived."
James nodded in acknowledgment of this and quickly hurried off to join the rest of his soldiers, feeling both curious and worried as to what could have possibly just landed out here.
Admittedly not the best landing experience he has had since joining the Autobots, or ever, but considering he was still functional and only seemed to be suffering some aches and pains, B-127 could say it was also not his worst. Still, he had to wonder just how unstable that Space Bridge portal was to have shorted out nearly all of their instruments to the point where they had just barely managed to keep the ship together enough for a crash landing. Regardless, all B-127 knew right now was that they had better have at least landed on the right the planet, never mind whether the AllSpark was here or not, otherwise this whole trip could not possibly have been worth the crash, the damage to their ship, or the incredible pounding in his helm.
He took a little bit longer to shake off said helm-ache, but only because the sound of his friends' groans reminded him he was not the only one on the ship. As soon as he felt he could at least ignore the pain, he turned to the others and asked, "Is…Is everyone still in one piece?"
"I think so, Bee," Windblade grumbled in assurance, opening and closing her wings as she stood up, just to make sure they were still working right.
"I remain functional," Deadlock reported, seeming like he had recovered the quickest out of everyone on board.
"Same here. Wish I could say the same for the Alchemor," Chromia informed them, having set to work in checking over the ship's systems once she could think straight.
B-127 was almost afraid to ask, but knew he had to even if Chromia had not said anything. Especially after putting the ship through such a rough landing. "What's the damage report?"
"In a word: bad," Chromia replied, proving B-127's fears well-founded. "The engines are completely shot, so there's no way we'll be getting her flying again without extensive repairs. Assuming we either have the supplies or can find anything of suitable use outside. Weapons are offline, artificial gravity generators are down, not that we seem to need those at the moment, fuel lines appear to have been damaged or severed at several key junctions, main ship communication systems are down, primary energon reactor is offline…"
"Can we please just skip to what is working?" B-127 requested.
Chromia was a little annoyed at the rude interruption, but given all the other things that were reading as damaged or offline, she could not blame her acting team leader for the impatient request. "Well, the doors on the ship are working, so we're not stuck in here, and we still have operable shields. The only other good news I can give you is that our medical supplies and emergency supply packs appear to still be in good condition."
"Yeah, okay. I'll take that," B-127 sighed in relief. As long as they had proper supplies and a decent amount of energon to ration, he was not too worried about their immediate survival. Unless of course any Decepticons showed up in the next couple of nanocycles, but given how busy the other Autobots were keeping Megatron's forces that should not be too big of a problem. He then looked to Windblade and asked, "Please tell me we're in the right place, though. I don't want to find out we've ended up on some desolate rock several light-years away from where we should be."
Windblade quickly checked her computer's readouts and soon let out a relieved smile as she replied, "Yep. This is the place alright. We've landed on the remnant world, as Optimus called it."
"What of the AllSpark? Can you determine its location?" Deadlock asked right when the words were forming in Bee's voice box.
Windblade's response was a flat look as she said, "If finding the AllSpark was as easy as scanning an area, let alone a planet with the sensors on a small ship, it wouldn't have taken us so long just find out what planet it had landed on."
"Can't you use your Cityspeaker abilities to sense whether or not it's close by?" Deadlock asked.
"If I had something like the Matrix of Leadership, or even something that would give me a direct link to Vector Sigma, maybe," Windblade shot back, clearly annoyed by Deadlock's suggestion. "Being a Cityspeaker doesn't mean I suddenly have a fix-all solution to every big problem. I don't know why so many people think that."
"Maybe it has something to do with the part you played in waking up the Titans who were still back on Cybertron," Chromia suggested.
"You say that like I'm the only Cityspeaker who's fought in the war," Windblade reminded her friend.
"Okay, okay, so there's a good chance tracking it with Windblade's powers won't work," B-127 interrupted before anymore bickering could start. The last thing they needed was to get off track due to Windblade ranting on about the specific abilities of Cityspeakers once again. "That doesn't mean we shouldn't at least table it for later, assuming we end up exhausting all other options."
"And what other options are there?" Chromia asked. "The only thing we have to go on about the AllSpark's location is the scouting reports on the Decepticons' own search efforts from Cybertron and Optimus's word. We're not equipped for a planet wide search of the AllSpark even if the ship was still in one piece."
"Then it's a good thing finding the AllSpark isn't our top priority at the moment. Our mission right now is to establish a base and protect this planet from any possible Decepticon threats," B-127 reminded everyone. He knew he had their attention when they all just looked at him in silent shock. "Hey, I'd love to go out to find the AllSpark right away just as much as any of you or the next 'Bot, but like Windblade said, we don't have the capabilities of doing so right now. If we are to find the AllSpark, our best bet would be back on the Ark, be it through the ship's own scanning capabilities or whatever insight Optimus may be able to gain from the Matrix of Leadership. Until then, all we can do is protect this planet from anything the Decepticons or anyone like them might throw at it."
"So we're just going to resort to stalling tactics until Optimus and the others get here? I'm not saying we won't be doing anything at all once we've got this base up and running, assuming we can find a good, defensible location for it, but I don't like the idea of just sitting around and waiting for the others," Windblade argued.
"She's right. What if the Decepticons find it while we're waiting for them? Be it intentionally or by accident?" Chromia asked.
"The only Decepticon with that kind of luck would have to be Starscream, and that's assuming he isn't too taken in by his delusions of grandeur in thinking he can seize control from Megatron," Deadlock reminded the two girls. "Still, if they have Soundwave, Shockwave, or both with them upon arrival…"
"I'm not saying we just sit back and do nothing. We just need to take things one step at a time, and make sure we're actually ready for the race while we're waiting for the starting signal," B-127 informed the three.
The other 'Bots knew Bee had a point. Their mission was not determining the AllSpark's exact location; at least, not right now. They just needed to keep the planet safe until the rest of the Autobots arrived to help them find it. Sure, it was not really much of an improvement, but keeping the Decepticons from doing anything to this world and its denizens should still be a lot easier in comparison. After all, fighting Decepticons had become old hat for any Autobot worth their sigil by now.
Now fully reminded of their current goals and what they would need to do to reach them, the four 'Bots were ready to get working on grabbing anything they might need from the ship before leaving it. No one needed to point out just how bad an idea it was to use the damaged shuttle as a base of operations, regardless of how isolated this location may or may not be, but right when they were just getting started on gathering the minimal amount of supplies, the alarm suddenly went off, grabbing their attention once again.
"What now?" Windblade groaned, now very fed up with how little of a break they had managed to catch in the last few cycles.
"Hang on. I'm checking," Chromia replied, already at a console to see what the ship's sensors had picked up. A few keystrokes later, and she had the reason behind the alert. "Looks like our external sensors have picked up something surrounding the ship. Several things."
"Can you give us a visual?" asked B-127.
"Give me a nanocycle. The automated repairs only just finished fixing what little damage to the external cameras and view screen they could handle," Chromia replied, fingers flying across the board as she worked. "Coming on screen…now."
The 'Bots all looked to the view screen as one, and while the image was incredibly grainy, they could still see enough to recognize their ship was being surrounded by several different vehicles. Both aircrafts and ground vehicles alike were currently pulling up to form a perimeter around the Alchemor, but they were all clearly smaller than the Autobot shuttle. In fact, the 'Bots would say all these vehicles around them were no bigger than most standard Cybertronians' alt mode. Seeing all of that, the first thing the 'Bots assumed was that these were local Transformers, until they saw several, smaller beings stepping out of the vehicles and approach with weapons at the ready.
Confused as to what could have come from the vehicles, Chromia decided to zero in on the smaller lifeforms for a better look. They all expected some type of Mini-Con or a similar type of Transformer, but what they saw instead proved to be quite the surprise. All around their ship, and with some still coming out of the various vehicles and holding what looked like much smaller versions of some of their standard weapons, were a number of strange-looking, fleshy creatures. Sure, they did not seem too different from the Cybertronians in that they stood upright and had similar body structures to most Cybertronians, but the apparent lack of metal features made it very clear just what kind of creatures these beings were.
"Organic lifeforms? I don't remember anyone saying this planet was populated by organics," Deadlock noted aloud.
"In fairness, none of us really knew what to expect from this planet. Even Optimus himself admitted to having very little knowledge about it before sending us on our way," Windblade pointed out. She then noticed how Deadlock seemed especially on edge, and smirked a little as she questioned, "What's the matter, DL? You're not scared of some organics are you?"
"Uh, do you know what kind of things organics are said to be capable of?" Deadlock demanded in return. "There have been stories of how they have corrosive acid that could melt a Cybertronian down to their bare components, and that a single touch could cause a total system crash that would leave you crippled for life, if you're lucky!"
"Oh please! That's just a bunch of silly old superstitions that Sentinel Prime stirred up back in the day. I mean, sure, some might be capable of stuff like that, but not all of them. Saying otherwise is just the kind of attitude that allowed things to get as bad as they did before the war started," Chromia disputed in return. She then turned back to the monitor and said, "Still, I didn't think we'd encounter an organic lifeform like these. I mean, look at them! I think I've seen Mini-Cons bigger than these guys."
Windblade laughed, "I'm pretty sure that's not true."
"Doesn't change the fact they're surrounding us and with weapons ready to fire," Deadlock reminded them. He received a number of skeptical looks in response, to which he said, "Yeah, I know they probably won't do all that much to us, but they're still holding us at gunpoint, which means they probably don't want to make friends."
"Or they're being cautious because we, something that they've probably never seen before, just crashed down in their backyard," B-127 reasoned out. The others seemed skeptical of this idea, but B-127 was as much of an optimist about this kind of thing as their leader. He just had to believe these people were acting out of caution and perhaps a little fear. Based on this line of thought, his next decision just seemed to make sense to him. "You guys finish gathering up everything that may be salvageable and anything else we may be need in the near future. Somehow I don't think we're going to be coming back to the ship any time soon."
"And what're you going to do?" Deadlock asked.
"What else? I'm going out there to make first contact." Stunned looks followed from Bee's teammates the second he said that. "Hey, if we can establish a peaceful dialogue at the very least, it might make things easier for us while we're on this planet. Besides, those guys look like they're going to try and break into here at any nanocycle anyway, so why not go for an option that would give us more time to properly prepare for leaving the ship behind."
No one liked how much sense that made anymore than they did the idea of their team leader putting himself at risk, but it did seem like the best option. "Okay, but before you go out there, at least helps us make sure we all have personal supply packs," Chromia insisted, opening a compartment near the back of the room when she did. "It may not be much, but each of these should still have enough energon to last each one of us a good amount of time. Plus it always helps to have the basic medical supplies packed into these things in case of an emergency."
B-127 nodded in agreement to this and soon helped the young medic with passing out the supply packs to everyone. Like Chromia said, they were not enough to survive for an extended amount of time, but the amount of energon in a single supply pack would at least last a few solar cycles minimum, if not a couple deca-cycles, assuming each pack was only used by one 'Bot each. Hopefully, they could find a good source of energon before they ran out, but considering they had enough packs so that everyone on the team could each take two, they were not too worried just yet. Once everyone had grabbed their supply packs and spread out to start grabbing what they could, B-127 checked over his systems and weapons just to be safe, and began heading over to the airlock. Right when he had passed through the door out of the cockpit, Windblade called out to him once again with one last worry.
"Are you sure you don't want me to go with you, Bee?" she asked her old friend. "What if they don't even understand our language?"
"Hey, that kind of thing is what the uplinks to Teletran I is for," B-127 pointed out with an easy-going smile. A second later, his smile faltered a bit as he quickly asked Chromia, "Those are still working, right?"
A few sparks shot out of the console Chromia was currently working at, followed by a short series of beeps and whirrs after he posed his question. Once all of this had finished though, Chromia did give him a confident grin and replied, "They are now. And even if they weren't, we still have the handheld links in the supply packs to fall back on."
"That's not as reassuring as you may think, Chromia. The handlinks aren't nearly as powerful as a working Teletran station like the one we have on the ship, or even the one back on the Ark," Windblade reminded her.
"Maybe, but it looks like we're going to have to make do with them after leaving," B-127 pointed out. He then gave Windblade another reassuring grin as he said, "Don't worry. I'll be fine. I mean, this is me we're talking about. Remember?"
That drew a laugh out of Windblade. "Now I'm really worried," she joked before pulling her friend in for a quick hug. "Just be careful, Bee."
"You too, Windy," B-127 replied while returning the hug, and with that, he headed out to greet the locals.
James arrived on the scene just shy of a few minutes behind the other soldiers, and now that he was close enough to get a good look at what had crashed down in the Emerald Forest, he could honestly say he was a little surprised. It looked like a huge airship of some kind, something that one of the other soldiers had affirmed for him upon his arrival, but it was nothing like any airship they had ever seen in Vale. Heck, it did not even look like any airship James had seen in any of the kingdoms, and he had studied up on the technological levels of all the kingdoms quite thoroughly over the years. Sure, Atlas had plenty of large airships for transporting smaller crafts and soldiers, but while this one did seem comparable in terms of size, the matter of its function was an entirely different story.
More to the point, the few analysts that had arrived with the rest of his troops had already completed some initial scans, and while they did confirm that the ship was definitely as damaged as it appeared to be, there did not seem to be any signs of life inside. Then again, their scans also indicated that the ship was made of various metals and materials of unknown origin, so the chances of the crew still being aboard were not all that low, assuming there was one at all. What had James really worried was just what kind of crew could be inside. If the ship's composition was comprised of unknown elements, then who was to say its owners or occupants were any different? More importantly, what if they were hostile? James did not like going into a situation with so many unknowns, but when one of his men shouted that a hatch on the ship seemed to be opening up, he knew they were going to get those answers at any second.
When the hatch had completely opened and a boarding ramp extended down to the ground, everyone had immediately tensed up with weapons ready to fire, prompting James to feel it necessary to tell them to take it easy and not act rashly. He soon joined them in their tense reactions though when the sound of big, metal footsteps reached his ears, and he turned to see a large, yellow robot with black detailing come out of the ship. When it came into full view, James watched it slowly raise its arms up in the universal show of non-hostility, but he still did not feel very comforted as the robot came to stand before them.
"What is that thing?" a random soldier asked aloud. "Some kind of mech suit?"
"Couldn't be. The only thing that's ever come close to a working mech suit is the Paladin project proposed by the late Doctor Watts, and I'm sure we all know how that ended," James reminded both the soldier and everyone else who had heard them. He then fixed his gaze back on the robot and slowly moved forward, his hand resting on one of his revolvers just in case as he did. Despite his doubts, the mech suit idea did seem to be pretty viable, so he addressed the machine as such. "Pilot, if you can hear me, then step out of the mech and identify yourself."
At first the only response they received from the machine was a gargle of odd sounds and noises that none of them could understand, and considering the way everyone seemed to grow even more tense, James would not have been surprised if someone ended up shooting the machine out of frayed nerves. The machine appeared to realize there was a problem, as it slowly moved one of its hands to its head, and appeared to relay a set of instructions to something or someone. Soon after, they all saw its optics flashing for a moment or two, and it then lowered its hand back to its original position as it spoke again. Not that the first thing it said made any more sense to them.
"Bah-weep-Graaaaagnah wheep ni ni bong," the machine slowly sounded out.
"Um…excuse me?" was the most intelligent reply James could think of.
He then saw the machine's shoulders sag a little before it muttered, "Well, so much for the 'universal' greeting. Thanks for nothing Kup." It then coughed like it was clearing its throat before directly addressing the group at large again; this time with a phrase they could all understand. "It's alright. I come in peace."
James remained skeptical of the claim. "If that's true, then step out of the machine and identify yourself."
The robot just gave him another confused look, glanced back at its ship, and then turned to face him again as he stated, "Uh, you just saw me come out of the shuttle. I can't really get much further outside of it than that."
"I'm running rather low on patience for these kinds of games, pilot. Step out of the mech suit and identify yourself, now," James demanded, his hand now firmly gripping Due Process as opposed to simply resting on top of it.
That seemed to clue the robot in on what he was implying, but instead of shutting down so that a pilot could step out, it did something none of them expected. It started laughing. "Ah, ha-ha-ha-hah! I-I'm sorry," the machine chuckled. "B-but…Oh Primus…Are…Are you telling me you think I'm some kind of automaton or something?"
"What is that supposed to mean?" James demanded.
The robot quickly calmed himself down again as he explained, "I'm saying that the only things inside of me are circuits, wires, energon, and the spark that keeps all beings like myself alive. But to answer your other question, my designation is B-127. I'm the leader of an Autobot advance team from Cybertron."
Now James was a little surprised. If what this machine claimed was true then someone else had taken the projects of Doctors Watts and Polendina, and combined them into something far more advanced if not impressive than even he had dreamed of. Sure, there were a few terms out there that he was not familiar with, but the fact of the matter is that this machine was claiming itself to be a living being just like himself and the troops around him. Whoever built the machine must have been quite the scientific genius, and that seemed like a good enough reason to get on good terms with them.
"I don't think I'm familiar with this…Cybertron, you said? Where exactly is that located on Remnant? Do you know which kingdom it's closest to?" Ironwood asked. His question ended up being ignored at first, but not for the reason he might have expected.
"Did you just say you call your own planet Remnant?" B-127 questioned. He hummed to himself a little before he finally decided, "Not the weirdest name I've ever heard for something, but still… And it's not like you named it something like Dirt or anything." Bee then returned to the previous topic and stated, "Cybertron is not a kingdom. It's…Well, you might find this a little hard to believe."
"Try me," James challenged.
B-127 just shrugged and said, "Cybertron is another planet. Or it was."
James found it a little curious how B-127 had changed to a use of past tense, along with how the machine seemed to grow a little upset when doing so, but most of his attention was currently on the other piece of information it had just shared. Another planet? If B-127 was to be believed, then both it and the ship were physical, legitimate proof of life existing outside of their world. A rather frightening idea to be certain, but a fascinating one all the same. Being someone who had held a great fascination for astronomy, James had always wondered what it might be like to meet a being from another planet, but he never imagined it would be like this. Of course, he also typically imagined such a thing involving an intense battle with said beings, and he doubted that was going to change in the transition from fantasy to reality.
He had not failed to notice how B-127 mentioned he was the leader of an advance team, which meant there were others like him. Whether or not they were inside this shuttle craft, as the machine had called it, or they had landed in other locations across Remnant was yet to be determined, but whatever the case, James knew that one does not send an advance team for no reason. The problem is, in his mind there was only one reason why someone would send an advance team like this, and it was not for anything peaceful. He was about to act on this notion when the sounds of something flying towards them reached his ears.
At first, he assumed that the thing approaching them was an airship carrying the local huntsmen and authorities that Glynda had promised to send over, and from the way B-127 turned a little worried upon looking up to the source of the sound as well, James felt his guess was good. That confidence vanished when B-127's concern turned to panic and he shouted, "By the AllSpark! Incoming!"
The next thing James knew, the robot had reached back and pulled out a rather big looking rifle, and he immediately assumed B-127 was about to attack either them or the approaching airship. It turned out to be the latter, given how the machine opened fire as soon as his weapon was aimed upwards into the air, and James no longer saw any reason to continue trying for a peaceful solution. Just as he was giving the order to open fire on B-127, the machine in question turned back to them and dove forwards.
"Scatter!" James shouted to his men as he made his own dive into the dirt. Not that he needed to since they were already moving clear of the diving robot. After rolling over to safety, he drew his white revolver and began firing on B-127 while he was lying prone.
B-127 seemed to wince a little when some of James's shots hit him near his face, and it soon raised one arm up to better defend himself, even as he tried shouting out an attempt at further reasoning. "What are you doing?!" B-127 demanded. "I'm on your side! Shoot the Decepticon, not me!"
Before James could ask what a Decepticon was, the airship he heard earlier came swooping down in a maneuver most Vale airships he knew of were not capable of. The next thing he knew, James saw the ship begin reconfiguring until it had turned into another robot that was just as big, if not slightly bigger than B-127. The new robot let out a savage battle roar as it tackled B-127 away from James, his troops, and the ship. Needless to say, his unasked question had definitely been answered now, and he did not like said answer. Not that it meant he believed B-127's claims to being on his side.
"All units, coverage on my location and pursue the entity identified as B-127. It is now engaged with a second, unknown entity of what is assumed to be identical origin. Both targets should be considered hostile. Do not hesitate to open fire and disable them if you can. You are authorized to destroy them otherwise," James radioed to his troops.
All in all, Bee could honestly say his first attempt at first contact left a lot to be desired, if not by others, than certainly by him. From what he could tell of that military leader, he did not seem to succeed in getting it through the guy's head that he was not an enemy, which was ridiculous if you asked him. He even stated clear as day that he came in peace! What kind of nutcase would go and shoot at someone who claimed to come in peace? Sure, he might have dropped the alien bomb a little too soon, and his laughing at the guy originally suspecting him of being a piloted robot suit may not have won him any favorable points, but still! Totally uncalled for. Of course, there was also of the matter that he had suddenly drawn his blaster and opened fire on someone the military guy had probably assumed was his allies sending reinforcements, but that one was not on him. It was completely the fault of the Decepticon that had just tackled him through the thick foliage of trees and was now trying to pin him down.
First day planet side, and already he was fighting an invading Decepticon. Either Megatron had already sent out some advance scouts of his own without the Autobots knowing it, or this guy was part of a separate team that just got lucky in finding this place around the same time the Alchemor had arrived. Neither were very favorable ideas, but B-127 had no intention of letting his worries get the better of him while he had a fight to win. The first show of proof to this was given by how he finally managed to kick the Decepticon in question off of him after they finally got a fair distance away from the organic soldiers. He really needed to learn what their species was actually called at some point, but that was not an immediate concern right now.
Looking up at his current opponent, B-127 almost panicked at the sight of a familiar red and grey color scheme, but after taking a second look and seeing that the build did not fit the Decepticon he had first thought of, he relaxed a little bit more. After all, this Decepticon was decidedly easier to deal with in comparison. "Blitzwing," B-127 identified with a grin. "Wow, did I miss you. How long has it been since I last kicked your tailpipe? It feels like it's been orbital cycles. Oh, wait. No, that's not you I'm thinking of, is it? After all, I beat you just about every other solar cycle."
His mocking certainly riled up the Decepticon. "You got lucky all those times before, scout, but your luck's just run out," he growled as he charged again.
B-127 just rolled out of the way, slashing at Blitzwing with one of his arm blades as he did, and then proceeded to open fire on the Decepticon afterwards with another verbal jab already prepped. "Right, said the 'Con who's changed his paint job so he looks like a carbon copy of Starscream. Speaking of, is it supposed to raise your already incredibly low intimidation factor, or are you just finally embracing your inner Starscream fan-bot?"
Blitzwing just growled angrily as he turned and started firing on B-127 again, forcing the scout to run for any cover he could find. Not that it prevented him from hearing when Blitzwing muttered aloud, "I told Astrotrain this new look was a bad idea. 'No, of course you don't look like a knock-off Starscream,' he said. 'It'll totally freak out any Autobot who sees you,' he said. Thanks a lot, pal." He then turned his attention back to B-127 and shouted, "It doesn't matter either way. I will destroy you no matter what I look like!"
"Yeah, that's got me shaking in my skid plates," B-127 sarcastically retorted. That being said, he was actually a little worried, but more about how his original objective of luring the organics away from the Alchemor seemed to have been completely lost to him now. Still, there might be a chance he could salvage this, so once he found better cover, he quickly pinged the ship again. "B-127 to Alchemor. We've got a new situation. Blitzwing's here."
"We noticed, Bee," Windblade replied over the radio, sounding quite amused. "Kinda surprised you would consider him a problem though after all the times you've beaten him. Like when you left him to get blown up on a damaged cargo hauler along with Shadow Striker, or the time when you tricked him into crashing head first into his own troops."
"I never said Blitzwing himself was the problem. It's the fact he caused my first contact negotiations to fall through," B-127 clarified for her.
"…In a good way?" Windblade asked with a hopeful tone.
"In a bad way, or did you not see them start shooting at me shortly after I spotted him closing in on us?" B-127 questioned.
"Honestly, I was hoping I had imagined that part."
"Never mind that now. We do have some good news for you, Bee," Chromia interrupted the two friends.
"I'll take whatever you've got at this point," B-127 replied.
"We've completed our salvage work on the ship, and it looks like your attempts to lure the locals away from the ship did succeed. Granted it's not in the way you were hoping for, but they're still following you, so…small victories?"
B-127 was hesitant to ask, but he just had to know, "Why is it a small victory?"
"They're all coming after you with what looks like an intent to fight you and your dance partner."
"Yeah, that figures," B-127 tiredly sighed. He was not all that surprised, given that one soldier had shot at him even after he tried to save both him and the others from the approaching Decepticon, but a small part of him did still hope that they were only going to shoot at Blitzwing when they got here. Of course, that was assuming he got lucky, and even his luck was not that good. Speaking of which, he did have one more question for Chromia. "Are you sure they're all following us?"
"From what I can tell, it's a good majority of them, yeah. There is a small number still here, but not enough for them to be a problem if they wanted to be one," Chromia informed him.
"Alright, change of plans," B-127 decided. "I'll keep their attention on both me and Blitzwing for as long as I can, while trying to ground the annoying Triple Changer. Hopefully for good this time."
"Might I recommend you try to just ground him enough to interrogate him? It does seem a little odd that he just happened to show up here so soon after we landed," Deadlock suggested.
"You have a point. I'll see what I can do about that, but I'm not exactly looking to make this go for too long. Once those locals arrive, I'm going to have two problems to deal with, so interrogations aren't really going to be something that's on my mind," Bee pointed out. Still, he knew Deadlock had a point about how suspicious Blitzwing's quick arrival was, so he might as well try for some answers. "While I'm handling that, you guys are going to need to bail out of the Alchemor as fast as you can. Don't make the run until you get my signal, and don't stay together. Split off into multiple directions so that they'll have a harder time catching us."
"Are you sure it's a good idea for us to split up like that? What if you any of us need backup?" Windblade asked.
"I'm sure you're all capable of losing a few, small organic lifeforms, and right now, we can't afford to take any risks, especially on the off-chance Blitzwing isn't alone. Once you're all clear of the ship, activate your Autobot tracking beacons. I'll try to find each of you as soon as possible. If any of you can meet up with each other beforehand though, don't hesitate. Just go for it as soon as you're sure the signal is from a friendly."
"Understood," the other three Autobots all chorused in response, and with that, Bee cut the communication off so he could turn his attention back to Blitzwing.
He could not have chosen a better time, because Blitzwing had just switched over to firing rockets at him. Rockets that obliterated his cover in one blast, and sent him flying off his feet afterwards. Luckily it was just the shockwave from the explosion that threw him off balance, otherwise he would probably be suffering a bit more damage than just a slight ringing in his audio receptors, but he still needed to get clear of this area. All these explosions and fires could not be good for the vegetation around here, and he would prefer to not let another world get burned to the ground just after he had arrived on it. That and he could see the first sign of the folks from earlier getting closer, so he had to act fast if he was going to keep Blitzwing away from them, at least as much as possible.
So, without even so much as an inkling of a second thought, he made a huge lunge to the side and transformed into his alt mode to race away from the area. He must have gotten the organics' attention by doing so, because they were firing on him the second he past just close enough into their range of fire. Not that he was too concerned; most of their weapons were barely doing more than scratching his paint. A few of their shots did sting a little though, so he figured it was better to keep as much distance as possible, and not try to find out just how harmful their weapons could be to him. At least for now. Right now, he had a Decepticon problem to deal with, and said 'Con was currently flying after all of them in his jet mode, firing a barrage of gunfire at every chance he got.
B-127 knew his stalling tactics would not work forever, but if he was going to turn things around in his favor, he was going to need to get somewhere with a little more open space, and just enough cover for him to stand a fighting chance, be it against Blitzwing or the locals who were currently shooting at him. Luckily, he did not need to look very far, as he ended up driving right into a clearing filled with what looked like old ruins. Or at least, what he assumed to be ruins on this planet, given that they looked like a collection of rocks cobbled together to make some rather old buildings. Regardless of whether he was right to assume what they may or may not be, as far as Bee could tell, the place was devoid of any life aside from himself and his pursuers, so that made it the perfect place for a new battleground.
The only thing that made this location better was that it was also far enough away from the Alchemor for anyone to either notice or turn around and get back to try and intercept his friends when they made a break for it. So, once he had transformed back into robot mode, he dove behind the nearest, big enough pillar, and tapped his comm. link, signaling for his team to make their escape.
It seemed like today was going to be packed with one surprise after another. First, a giant, honest to Brothers spaceship crashed down in the Emerald Forest, then the crew of said ship turned out to be a huge alien robot, and finally, an airship comes flying and turns into another such robot flying that attacked the first one. If that was not enough, during the ensuing battle between these two technological titans, the first robot who itself B-127 proved capable of altering its configuration as well by turning into what could only be described as some type of futuristic car, and began driving through the forest at an incredible speed, while maneuvering along the terrain in ways that would make some of the finest pilots in Atlas jealous. Honestly, if this kept up, James could swear he would find a few gray hairs on his head the next time he looked in mirror, and he was just barely through his twenties.
Still, he would be lying if he said he was not impressed by the battle tactics these two robots were showcasing. They seemed to have combat skills equal to some of the finest huntsmen to come out of any academy on Remnant, and they each made use of their surrounding terrain to turn things to their advantage in a variety of ways. Not only that, but the fact they seemed capable of housing weapons within their bodies like the blades he saw B-127 extend out from his arms, along with the ones they were carrying somewhere on their person, made it very clear they had technology that was probably far more advanced than anything currently at their disposal. If there was any reason to not destroy these invaders, it would be for that. Who knows what they could learn by studying even just a sample of their technology. Of course, that would warrant actually capturing one of them, and right now, that could be a little difficult.
Part of him was tempted to let the two aliens battle it out, let them weaken each other so that they could swoop in and take down the winner, but at the same time, there was no telling whether or not they would keep the entire fight in the forest and not move up to Beacon. Given that the school was full of teachers and young students, James was not too keen on letting these things get close. Sure, they were all huntsmen on some level or another, but it was still too great a risk for James' liking.
When they finally reached the ruins that B-127 had been heading into, it was only just in time to see the Autobot reengage his enemy in battle again, this time with more advantageous terrain, or at least, that is what B-127 probably assumed, but then again, James did know something that the two machines most likely did not know. That very knowledge was enough to signal his men to hold their position at a certain distance and then order them to be very careful with their next few shots, and they did so up to the point where he received a call from the few troops they had left back at the crashed ship.
"Lieutenant Ironwood, something else just came out of the ship," the soldier on the other end of his radio reported.
"What?! You mean there were more of them inside the thing?" James demanded aloud. The question may have been a little redundant, but he could not help but express his surprise in such manner. "How many?"
"Uh…We're not sure, sir. They came out all at once and so fast that we couldn't get too good of a look at them."
"How can you not have gotten a good look at something that size?" James muttered to himself. Clearly he had underestimated these aliens, and that did not sit right with him. "Can you do anything to track them down while continuing to secure the wreckage at their ship's crash site?"
"Negative sir. We don't have the people, and I don't think Miss Goodwitch will arrive with her reinforcements soon enough."
"…Understood. We'll just have to try and contain these two here," James begrudgingly conceded, and he turned back to the two battling robots after ending the call. "Forget watching your aim, people. Just do everything you can to weaken or bring down these things."
The voices acknowledgement to his orders were soon followed by a new, much more rapid wave of gunfire and various other kinds of Dust blasts, and just as he suspected, their barrage ended up waking the beasts that were nesting close by. Not long after the first rounds of their barrage impacted against the nearby cliff face, a loud, bird-like screech echoed in their ears, and several giant Nevermores shot up into the air, while some Deathstalkers burst out from beneath the ground. Not that James was too worried, because he had already redirected a couple squads to keep the Creatures of Grimm away from them. Now they just needed to worry about the giant, battling robots.
Said robots were certainly proving to be of greater concern, given how little of an effect their weapons seemed to be having on either of them, but it was not like they really knew all that much about what to aim for on these things. Still, given how much one of them acted like a human being earlier, James felt there could be a chance they had just as many soft spots as any other human. If they did not, well they were still machines, and those had exploitable soft spots of their own too. The joints being one such spot, and James soon discovered it to be a possible weak point on these guys when he told his men to try aiming for said locations.
You would think they would have an easier time hitting B-127 since he was the one on the ground, but as it turned out, they managed to have more luck getting the Decepticon than they did him, and that certainly turned the tide in B-127's favor. The second that they managed to land a hit on the Decepticon's arm, it spun around wildly until B-127 scored a few hits of his own that knocked the Decepticon out of the sky. B-127 then moved in for a close-combat strike, and did manage to land a few blows from both his blaster and his fists. He probably could have done more than that had he not ended up getting hit by some well-placed Dust shots as well. Considering those particular Dust rounds were made up of Lightning Dust, James was not too surprised to hear the Autobot screaming in pain as he dropped down.
James figured that now would be a good time to move in closer, and quickly signaled for some men to follow behind him as he did so. B-127 did shout a few warnings for them to stay away, but those warnings were ignored for the most part. It was not until he heard a sinister chuckle come from the other robot that James started to realize they had moved in too soon. The only other warning they received was the sound of a missile being armed, and James just barely managed to shout for his men to get back before they were consumed in an explosion of fire and loud booms.
He had no idea where his men ended up after the first two missiles hit, but James had already started trying to focus his Semblance in order to better ignore the pain of his injuries from the attack. It was a struggle to maintain, given how low his Aura had to be right now, but he still managed to focus it none the less, and was soon crawling along the ground to reach the nearest weapon he could find. He fully intended to finish this even at the cost of his life, but he ended up pausing when he saw that the Decepticon had marched over to where B-127 still laid prone on the ground, and then stomped down on the Autobot.
"As much as I enjoy blowing up these lesser creatures, you and I still have unfinished business, B-127," the Decepticon snarled with hate. "Now if you'd please, where are they?"
"Where's who?" B-127 asked in retort, earning him a blade into the shoulder.
"Don't play stupid, scout! We know Prime and his Autobots had to have crashed down on whatever backwater planet the AllSpark was sent to, and you're the first Autobot that's been seen in centuries. So, tell me what I want to know, and I may consider making you're end a little less painful," the Decepticon threatened.
"Can't tell you something if I don't understand the exact question, Blitzwing," B-127 retorted, still showing signs of bravery in spite of the blade currently digging into his shoulder.
The Decepticon now known to James as Blitzwing just twisted his blade a little more, drawing a pained cry from B-127 as he demanded, "Where are Prime and the other Autobots? WHERE IS THE ARK?!"
As James watched this torture session go on, his mind started racing several miles a second. He already suspected that there were more of these things, but from what he had just heard, there was a chance the others may be much closer than he originally suspected. Just how many of these Autobots were there? Was the ship B-127 came in the Ark that Blitzwing was asking about? He immediately dismissed that question after remembering the Autobot had stated his ship was merely a shuttle. If that was true, then the Ark had to be the main ship, but if that was the case, just how big was it? James shuddered to think of the answer, or what it could possibly entail.
His mind was pulled back to the interrogation before him as B-127 threw out a question of his own. "How about you tell me what you meant when you said I was the first Autobot seen in centuries? You're master and his other followers were just attacking the Ark a couple microcycles ago."
That seemed to make Blitzwing pause for a second, until he laughed again after coming to a realization. "You really expect me to believe you don't know?" Blitzwing asked. "I'm not going to fall for such an obvious Autobot trick. I know you're just as aware of how the unstable Space Bridge jettisoned the Ark and the Nemesis across space and time as we are, and we know that the ships had to have crashed on somewhere close to where the AllSpark is. So, tell me where your ship is, NOW!"
B-127 went silent for a brief time, and if James could see its face, he would bet his last lien that the Autobot was just as surprised as he was. These things had the capability to travel across time and space?! If it were not for everything else that had happened so far today, he probably would have never believed it. Then again, from the sound of things, the time travel part may not have been entirely intentional. Still, such technological advancements were something that the people of Remnant had been struggling to achieve for years. Even the most brilliant minds of Atlas had yet to figure out how to make space travel possible, so if they could get their hands on even the smallest bit of the Cybertronians' technology…
James was pulled from his musings once again when the wind seemed to sudden pick up. The way it did so was certainly no natural phenomenon, but he could not think of what could be causing this as he had to focus on remaining where he was. He seemed to be doing better than Blitzwing, because the Decepticon was eventually blown off his feet, and only kept in place due to his grip on the blade he had driven into B-127. That changed when a Nevermore suddenly came out of nowhere and slammed right into Blitzwing, causing him to lose his grip and go flying as well.
"Ah! What in the name of Primus?!" Blitzwing roared once the wind had died down a little, trying to swat the Nevermore away from him. He had no luck in doing so, and the Grimm proceeded to start tearing into him with its talons, beak, and everything else that it could. "Get this blasted thing off me! I did not come all this way just to be scrapped by some stupid, oversized bird!"
"Then allow me to do the honors," B-127's voice suddenly offered, and James turned just in time to see the Autobot suddenly rush at Blitzwing. For a second he thought he was going for a point-blank attack, but then, one of B-127's hands started glowing until an energy dagger formed around it. That same dagger was then thrust right into Blitzwing's chest, making him freeze where he stood, while the Nevermore appeared to have been frightened off by the sudden surge of electricity that came off its target. With his opponent immobilized, B-127 drew his blaster again, moved back a good distance, and then aimed right at the arm housing Blitzwing's missile launcher from earlier. "Burn in the Pits, Decepticon punk."
It was only at that point that James realized B-127 had been moving to a safer distance, but by this point it was already too late for him to do the same. B-127 had already fired his blaster, causing the missile bearing arm to explode and send the robot attached to it flying. James only just got a few feet away before the remains of said arm dropped down on top of him. The last thing he registered before losing consciousness was the incredible, burning pain searing through both his aura and body.
When Glynda finally arrived at the ruins with the huntsmen and authorities she had promised to bring, she was shocked at the level devastation and ruin the area had fallen into. Sure, the battle had ended at the site of some older ruins, but they were in much better condition than this the last time she had checked. And do not even get her started on how bad the forest fire she had found near the original site of investigation was. Really, she had always heard rumors about how some Atlesian soldiers were all gung-ho about displays of brute force and military might in response to most problems, but this was far too excessive. She had half a mind to reprimand James like a school teacher would a delinquent student for causing all of this, until she got another look around the area.
All this damage could not have just been caused by the Atlas soldiers, because there were far too many of them lying around the area in pain. In fact, it was hard for Glynda to really be certain how many of them were even still alive just by looking at them, and even after checking their aura levels on either her Scroll or theirs, she still felt rather sick to her stomach at the sight of the injuries some soldiers were now sporting. The only thing more worrying right now was the state of Lieutenant Ironwood, as she could not see him anywhere. Not until she heard some very distressed shouting at least.
"Hey! Over here! I need some help! The lieutenant's trapped and seriously hurt," an Atlesian soldier cried out while waving Glynda and her people over.
"Please, step aside," Glynda requested as she drew her riding crop. With a wave of said weapon and a little push from her Semblance, Glynda quickly removed all the rubble away from where Ironwood was said to be buried. When she finally caught sight of him though, she could not suppress the horrified gasp that escaped her. "Oh my god."
There in the dirt, lay Lieutenant James Ironwood, but now, a good deal of his uniform and the flesh beneath it had been burned away, leaving most of his right side an ugly, horrible mess of red burns and scar tissue. If it were not for the weak rise and fall of his chest, Glynda would have thought him already dead, but after a quick look at his Scroll, Glynda did manage to breathe a little easier at seeing he still had just enough Aura to keep him alive. The bad news was it seemed to be working in over time to keep him that way, because it was still falling. Slowly, but falling all the same.
"Get a medic over here, and call for an emergency transport right away. The lieutenant needs a hospital, now!" Glynda snapped, and the soldiers quickly went to work.
She had to hope James could hold on long enough to get the help he needed, but somehow, she doubted there was going to be much of anything a hospital could do to help him. Injuries like that often forced even the best of huntsmen to seek an early retirement. Then again, James was a star graduate of Atlas Academy, and that kingdom hardly ever let promising huntsmen go out so easily if they could help it.
B-127 had not really needed to look up at where that wind blast came from to know Windblade was responsible for it, but he did still turn in that direction to give his friend a thankful salute as he began limping away from the ruins. He already saw what those weird, black creatures with bone armor had done to both the local lifeforms and Blitzwing, so he had no desire to be their next victim. Whether Windblade saw his show of thanks or not was unimportant though in the face of their newest problem. A problem his team needed to know about right away.
"B-127 to Alchemor team. I've got an urgent update for you all," the Autobot scout radioed to the others as soon as he was sure he had gotten sufficiently clear of the previous battleground. "Looks like something went a little crazy with the Space Bridge, because the Ark has already landed somewhere on this planet. The good news is that the Decepticons don't know where it is, but the bad news is neither do we. That said I'm changing our original mission parameters. We'll still be on the lookout for any Decepticon threats, but while doing so, we need to do everything we can to find the Ark. I know it's a long shot that someone may still be onboard and functional, but like I said before, the ship also has our best chance of finding the AllSpark. Even if it wasn't, we can't risk the Decepticons finding the ship before we do, or else the survivors may not even get a chance to defend themselves."
"Copy that," Windblade replied on behalf of the others. "We'll follow your beacon and rendezvous with you in just a few…"
"No!" Bee interrupted before Windblade could finish. "No, it's too risky for us to meet back up again right now. There's no telling if Blitzwing survived that last blast, if he was acting alone, or even how many Decepticons may be out there right now. We need to lay low for the time being, and the best way to do that is to stay separated for now. I promise, we will meet up again soon, but it'd be for the best if we forget what I said before. Do NOT keep your trackers on all at times. Activate them for about thirty microcycles, a cycle at most, and if you don't encounter anyone on the team, shut it off and move on to a new area."
"That seems pretty risky, Bee," Chromia argued.
"To say the least. The Decepticons will be able to pick us off one at a time if we remain isolated from each other for too long," Deadlock stated in full agreement with her.
"I know, but they could also pick up on the signal from our trackers to find us as well if we're not careful. This is the best option for now. Maintain radio silence and whatever cover you can manage until you link up anyone on the team. At which point, you are only to keep regular communication with whomever it is you find. As of now, we need to keep ourselves as well hidden as possible from both the Decepticons and the locals too, based on that little interaction earlier. We need to be robots in disguise," B-127 concluded his orders, but not before one last send-off. "I'll see you all soon, but until then, I'm signing off. Autobots, rev up and roll out."
With his orders given and send off concluded B-127 cut off all communication with his team and proceeded to carry on his way, his eyes searching for anything he could scan for a new alt mode. Even if those soldiers had not seen him transform, he doubted that his Cybertronian form would be the best disguise on this world, so scanning a new alt form was a major priority if he was going to follow through on this robots in disguise plan. Eventually, he managed to stumble upon a place that was close to the nearby city, and soon spotted a vehicle that looked suitable to his build. Not feeling particularly picky at the moment, B-127 immediately scanned the vehicle in question, and assumed his alt mode once the appropriate reconfigurations to his chassis was done.
He did not spend too much time taking in or adjusting to his new form, as his energon reserves were feeling pretty low, and his injuries left him feeling really weak. So, he simply rolled over to the nearest space he could find, parked himself, and then proceeded to enter stasis so that his self-repair systems could work a little more quickly. He never once suspected he had ended up parking in a used car dealership anymore than he had noticed the group of four young, recently graduated huntsmen entering said lot to find a vehicle to purchase.
AN: Now how's that for First Contact? Everything's going great (or at least as great as they could when Ironwood's involved. Not sorry, just maybe still a little salty), and then lo and behold, the Decepticons mess up everything! I'll admit, this time may have been a little more heavily influence by the Bumblebee movie, but there was really little other ways for this to have played out here. Look on the bright side. At least I didn't make Blitzwing take Bee's voice.
Raven: Maybe you could explain the deal with Ironwood and Goodwitch's presence here?
AN: Okay, so that topic came up about as quickly as I expected. So like I said earlier, we still don't know all that much about the older generation of the RWBY characters aside from general info and a bit of supposition and estimates, like how Qrow and Ironwood are about the same age and most of the Beacon staff aside from Oobleck and Ozpin are all at least in their Forties by the time of RWBY Volume 1. What's even harder is figuring out an exact time frame that this story could take place in while making the characters able to do what I need them to do for the story, and be where I need them. So obviously I couldn't have Team STRQ still be in school, because that would mean Ironwood would probably still be in school too. As for Goodwitch and Ironwood's actual presence...well, who better to be the first to encounter the Transformers than the folks who are basically going to become Ozpin's most trusted lieutenants. More or less.
Also, we've never really learned just how exactly Ironwood's entire right side ended up being mostly prosthetics in canon aside from possibly a mission gone wrong, so I wanted to give an explanation as to the exact details on how it happened in this story. What better way to explain it than with a close encounter like that? Not only that, but I feel like this is a good way to explain how Ironwood started his descent into the paranoid, distrustful general we all know him to be in canon. After all, when you've encountered something as startling as things from other worlds capable of hiding in plain sight, you would probably start questioning what's believable or trustworthy too, wouldn't you?
Qrow: What I want to know is why you made Jimmy a lieutenant instead of a general?
AN: Hey, I for one don't think that Ironwood was made a general right out of the academy, so why have him as such at the start of this story. Besides, Ozpin also stated that he shared his secret with the other headmasters, and while Ozpin is the youngest headmaster in the history of Beacon, I doubt even he was made as such right after graduating. Assuming of course he did attend a huntsmen academy when he became Ozpin. So if that's true of Ozpin, why should we expect any different for Ironwood?
Tai: What I want to know is why you had the 'Bots split up like that? Seems a little unnecessary.
AN: Oh but it is necessary. Part of it is because they need to get a lay of the land after what Bee learned from Blitzwing, and now that they've lost their ship, they don't have a safe place to hide. Not that it was all that great of a hiding place after landing anyway, considering how many soldiers found the thing right after it crashed. Plus, I feel like this may make it easier to keep the story from being too short, while allowing the 'Bots to build up a bond with each of their future human companions in this story. Better to take things slow and one at a time than to force it all in at once.
Going back to what I said before about determining a time for this story to take place, there is one other thing I need to address about that. I've seen a few pieces of information that stated Yang had to have been born shortly after her parents had graduated, so that made things a little difficult too, but I'd like to think Raven was not pregnant right at the moment she and her team had graduated. I'm sure there was at least a few months between that and when Yang was born. So we'll still get to see Raven in action, but I'm going to do my best to ensure she's showing some signs of planning to leave some time soon, or even of having that little bun in the oven. Maybe. I know I'm taking a lot of creativity liberties with this one, but again, there's a lot about the Age of STRQ we still don't know about, so maybe keep that in mind when posting your reviews.
Speaking of reviews, let's answer a few shall we?
"RonaldM40196867", you have no idea just how many ideas I've got stirring around in my head. Honestly, it's a struggle to keep them from getting in the way too much.
"CT7567Rules", I kinda already answered your review in a previous episode of Studio News over on the YouTube channel, but I'll explain it again here just in case anyone's wondering about it. The reason why I didn't post the next chapter of Cyber Star Wars as opposed to the first chapter of this story when I did is because the next chapter of that story, as I see it right now is very mundane, mainly because it's mostly just a history lesson, mostly talking, and explaining how the Transformers are similar to the folks from the Star Wars universe, and for such a huge occasion, I wanted to post something truly exciting, full of action, and not just bogged down by history lessons and a large abundance of dialogue. Basically the type of stuff many people would fall asleep in class over.
As for Transformers 00...well, that story takes place after the events of Transformers Prime: Predacons Rising, and that means Optimus wouldn't be in it. It'll star the Autobots we last saw at the end of said movie, and the only scene Optimus would have in that story at the moment would be a simple, recorded message at the beginning. At least as far as the first story is concerned. Not really the best thing to celebrate such an occasion. I think you can see why the first chapter of this story was the one that got posted on said occasion.
In regards to vehicle modes for the 'Bots in this story, I'm hoping to try and keep their vehicle modes from diverting from what they typically turn into too much, so Windblade's going to be keeping her usual vehicle mode. Mostly because that's the one we know her best for.
"Dragon Rider 66", honestly, I hadn't realize there was such a huge parallel between the last scene of this story and the moment you mentioned from Remnant of the Key until you said something, but...yeah, I see that now. Believe me, that was not intentional. Don't worry too much about seeing how STRQ and the 'Bots will interact with each other. You won't be guessing for too much longer, but I hope you enjoyed how things played out in this chapter.
"Guest" of 7/28/2021, I hope you meant Starscream when you said Shockwave in that question, but in answer to your question, let's not get too far ahead of ourselves, shall we? Right now, I'm not really planning on having any Decepticons with those kind of plans being too big of a problem. It'd be more like what we saw from Starscream's plans for seizing control back in G1. Never really working out too well until those few minutes of glory in the G1 movie.
"Guest" of 8/22/2021, glad to hear you enjoyed that so much, but to be fair, it's not like this would be the first time I've combined elements from several different Transformers franchises into one thing. That would be all the way back when I was working on the Gundam SEED Prime Trilogy. And I don't mind at all that you're thinking of the 'Bots in their Cyberverse styles. As I said last chapter, aesthetically speaking, I was going for that look for most of them too.
And to everyone else, I'm glad to hear you all enjoyed the first chapter of this story, and I hope you enjoyed this second chapter just as much, as well as all the future chapters that are still to come.
Now, I'd say that's pretty much it for the time being, aside from the usual last details. Oh, but let me just say right now, we will finally get to see Team STRQ in the next chapter, so the wait won't be much longer. At least, not beyond the wait for the next update's release. I've still got a couple of other things to work on before that though. Most of them being RWBY-based, as is the theme for this month, but until then, you guys can move Onto the Preview!...
The best team of huntsmen to ever come out of Beacon has just graduated, and they're looking to celebrate in any and every way they can think of. Sure, some of them are okay with just getting a simple drink, while others would like to party the night away, but none of them are entirely sure how their leader believes getting a "team car" is a great way to celebrate the occasion. Little do Summer Rose and her team realize that there's going to be more to the car they end up purchasing than meets eye. Just how will Team STRQ react to the secret behind this old car? What will his reaction to the young huntsmen be? A destined meeting is finally happening, next time in…Chapter 3: Hello Team STRQ.
Once again, be sure to check out my YouTube channel "Studio Fandom" and the DeviantArt page "studiofandom" if you haven't already. Always looking for more followers and subscribers on both. And as always...
Please read and review, and I'll see you next time. Till all are one, huntsmen.