The Secrets of the Cyber Worlds: Short Stories of the Past
Lost Leviathans
Marina growled as she struggled to fling a rather large Quintesson corpse into the ocean. She nearly fell over the edge with it with a gasp but managed to regain her balance with a giggle. She watched with pleased turquoise optics as the body sank into the abyss.
"So long, monster," she said confidently.
She glanced away to gaze at her home. The city of Aquatica still stood and retreating there while being pursued by angry Quintessons proved to be the last offense of their rule. Slowly but surely, the Aquatronians were taking the cities of their world back after the Quintessons began losing repeatedly as their plans failed at each turn. They were so focused on calculating with probability that they didn't pay attention to realize their enslaved populace wasn't going to simply give up. It helped certainly that the Cybertronians who visited usurped their carefully strewn hypothesis the leaders of the factions would be too desperate to win against one other to question "assistance." Turns out the Decepticon Leader favored the Autobots' deaths by his own hand, not by assisted measures. The Quintessons didn't account for his pride and ultimately, they lost quite a few of their commanders keeping their plans in motion like a hive mind.
The toppling effect since then had been one failure after another for the Quintessons, and Marina overthrew her slaveholders with a little persuasion. She was proud of herself and kicked their squid asses every chance she had and rescued her fellow Aquatronians with utmost determination.
Marina stood at the docks overlooking her city no longer plagued by constant attacks as the Quintessons were practically extinct with so little surviving members while her forces only grew. The recent attack ended only an hour prior. Despite some damage, Aquatica was holding up quite nicely-
A deep roar, painful and breaking in scattered frequencies, echoed. It couldn't be ignored even a hundred miles away. Marina turned rapidly towards the direction of the noise, hearing massive shifts in the water echoing with it. Running along the edge of the docks, she froze once she reached a damaged ramp with an overturned vessel...and a Leviathan Queen. She recognized the queen immediately. Aquatica's Queen Oceanus.
The red sunset colored Leviathan Queen shakily sank her claws into the ramp as she dragged herself out of the water. The scaled armor was riddled with scorch marks of blasters foreign to Aquatron, and many of them had pierced deep into her hide. The crimson optics of the Leviathan Queen reflected agony as were her pleas for mercy in the roars produced through gargled blood being pushed out of her mouth with each sound. Marina watched horrified as Green Energon dripped past the fangs like lava. It helped none that she could tell precisely what wound was causing it.
A Quintesson foe, or a battleship most likely, had put a hole straight through the Leviathan Queen's skull. Queen Oceanus was dying. Marina noticed off the bat her Leviathans were circling confused and angered near the edge of the ramp as the last of the tail was dragged up. The queen did everything in her power to use her arms to pose upright even as more blood dripped from her backside downward. A better view of her fins showed Marina they were shredded by gunfire; the confrontation was personal. However, her limbs were struggling, and she bowed her head a little with what Marina could perceive as a groan. Her arms gave out not long after, and Queen Oceanus collapsed with a weak whine with her chassis and chin sending cracks across the platform. She lay there with miserable noises barely heard.
Marina carefully minded some of the Leviathans crawling onto the ramp to perch alert upon seeing her move closer to the giant creature. The four red optics locked onto her as she stood in front of the queen just out of reach of her jaws. The queen was defensive, optics narrowed as she studied Marina with utmost caution.
"It's okay, shhh," Marina said, gesturing for the Leviathan Queen to calm.
Inching forward to not startle her, Marina got as close as possible and lifted a servo to slowly stroke the faceplates just above the line of fangs protruding from a mouth nearly as big as Marina herself. She repeated the same pattern of petting as she moved to the side of the Leviathan Queen's face and knew the large optics trailed her every movement with a strained hiss rumbling next to her audio receptors. She remained on the queen's right side and continuously rubbed the scratched and scarred metal below the lowest optic. She didn't care about the blood. There was nothing she could do anyways except provide what little comfort she could offer.
She stood there, cheek to cheek with the monstrous being facing the ramp so she wouldn't be attacked by the watchful Leviathans trying to figure out what was wrong with their queen. This wasn't supposed to happen; the Quintessons had no idea they had decimated an entire hive of innocent predators of the natural food chain that just existed to do as they were meant to. Without a queen, they were utterly lost, and a new one would take ages to be born under such conditions of stress.
Marina could hear her spark, the faint booming noise was rhythmical, and it made her sad how it was slowing down.
"You don't deserve this…"
Queen Oceanus breathed in sectioned stutters. Marina still stroked her cheek despite the dangers as the rest of the Leviathans grew testy, clambering near her wanting to strike and nodding their upper bodies with the angry pats of their tails against the ramp. Their peeved rumbles unsettled her, but it was their only way of communicating their distress as their queen hardly moved.
Suddenly, the queen peered down at Marina with half-lidded optics fading as her spark rate plummeted. Marina looked up just in time to see the crimson turn dark with an audible last exhale as her spark beat once more then fell silent. The Leviathans went quiet as well, peering at their leader with little to no movement between them. They were sniffing the air, trying to find some other explanation for the lack of response from their queen. They understood the death occurred but didn't know why.
Marina wiped a few tears of her own out from the corner of her optics until she gasped when a green Leviathan of a different tone got far too close for comfort. It hissed at her, snapping its jaws mere inches from her face before staring her down. She refused to look away as that could tempt the Leviathan into attacking what it perceived as fleeing prey, but she wasn't afraid to admit she was scared shitless. Her spark raced mortified looking at the venomous optics that despised her very existence. She didn't know what it expected her to do nor if it blamed her for the death. It hissed with a rather foul mood most dangerous, but could she blame it?
The stench of death must have made it uneasy as it didn't linger in her presence long. It backed away with a growl before crawling down the dock ramp and sliding into the water. The others yelled at her just the same then disappeared into the ocean. Marina stood there breathing hard, using the side of the dead queen to keep herself from falling to her knees. It was one of the more frightening experiences of her life. To be so close to a Leviathan and not get eaten was a miracle, one she wasn't going to take for granted.
But now there was a new problem…what would happen to the hive? The creatures would eventually succumb to predators without the queen to offer order and protection against larger foes. If predators didn't get them, they would simply fight each other to death when food was scarce. A part of knew she couldn't do anything to help…but what if she could try? They wouldn't survive in the wild as well but if she could win them over, even if temporary, she could keep the hive from destruction. It was a challenging plan, one that could lead to her getting hurt. It wasn't fair they lost their queen this way. They shouldn't have to suffer too from some exterior cruelty forced onto them they didn't deserve. But then the question now was how was she supposed to save them when they could kill her at any second?
Her plan was simple: feed them. Most creatures recognized habits just like her kind did. A routine would accustom her to them to where an attack was less likely. From there, it was just a matter of convergence. Having them accept her into their hive.
Marina made sure Queen Oceanus was given an honorable funeral and disposed of respectfully. After that, she went to work to save the Leviathans. Every day, she visited the common area where they were located even when their queen was alive. She had Aquarius send a transport of nothing but leftover seafood and other chow that was safe for the creatures to feed on. She had a handful of the stuff despite the yucky, gooey slime feeling rather distasteful. Slowly, she lured one or two up the ramp after throwing a few pieces in and made sure they could see her throw the bait to understand she was providing it to them. Midway through the first feeding, she spotted the same deep green Leviathan that had faced off with her watching intensely from another ramp. It was lying undisturbed until she pulled up. Now, it just observed with its webbed tail flickering to slam against the ground agitated. If she didn't know any better, she assumed that it may have been the second-in-command to the queen from how the others resting near it were immediately aware of its frustration. If there was a key to unlocking the Leviathan loyalties, it was through that one.
Marina kept tabs on Nympha, the name she came up with just to spite the arrogant Leviathan, and tried her best to appease it…but Nympha proved to be quite the brat. As days turned into weeks and some of the Leviathans were beginning to get used to her, Nympha would attempt to steal her feed and if caught would knock her over with the swish of its tail after snagging the food. It would then pound its tail on the ground a distance away as if to mock Marina while giving several grunts. The taunting was most annoying to Marina because it encouraged the others to show attitude too. Being whipped by fleeing tails upon the outcry of Nympha was not fun, especially when it got her in the face, and she fell with a startled shout.
Marina refused to give up. She tempted them to get close with grubs fished from the ocean floor that made good bait for larger specimens. The Leviathans saw it as a tasty treat. Testing the weeks of training, the moment of truth…
She held a grub out, showing no fear to prevent them from reacting badly to the emotions, and let a brazen blue Leviathan approach of its own free will. It sniffed the grub, and she prepared to snap her servo back if it tried to bite more than just its offering. To her surprise, it took the grub lightly from her grasp and fed right in front of her. She barely contained her excitement as it didn't back away. It trusted her enough to let its guard down to eat. Now that was progress. The others were curious, some taking the grubs quickly from her while others were sedated about their feedings. Nympha, however, refused to come to her and watched from afar skeptical.
Upon returning a few days later, she realized the Leviathans were on the docks sunbathing. It was rare to see them do this, especially such a huge amount at once. It was then Marina realized they had no real home. A Leviathan Queen always made the decisions of where a home was and led them back to it with utmost care. Without her, they wouldn't go back because they were now unsure if it was safe. Since Marina had slowly won their trust enough to eat from her servo, they seemed to believe Aquatica's surface was their home now. As great as that was, it posed a problem. They couldn't stay on the docks because for one, the area needed to be repaired and that was hard to do with a bunch of Leviathans roaming around it. And secondly, it just wasn't a good home for them in general. Leviathans survived in packs and the ability to hide while their queen took care of the heavy defenses. Aquatica wasn't going to sacrifice bullets for a queen-less hive. She had to do something about this.
Then it occurred to her. Beneath the city, in between the vast pillars that held up the city itself, the underside of the platforms had enough stability to build a home and to compensate for the lack of a queen, she could build a defense system for the Leviathans. Underwater turrets and cannons that read their signatures but defend against foreign intruders. It was complex but so was building floating cities sustained by pillars that went into depths unseen. If that could be accomplished, she could build a home for a hive easier than that.
Recruiting Aquarius, her faithful second-in-command, she oversaw the construction. Occasionally, the Leviathans watched and swam around the crews building with interest. Marina made sure the huge multi-level complex had enough slots for the Leviathans to move in and out without hassle or without risk of crowding. She calculated there were roughly two hundred members of the hive, so she made enough space for over three hundred just in case. Overseeing the construction was fun as Nympha patrolled the job site almost every day they were out there. The cannons were the hardest to construct as it took careful calculations to get them to recognize what they were supposed to protect, including bots, and what they were supposed to fight off. It was time consuming working with her weapons experts on that one.
It took over three months to build it, and another month to lure the hive into accepting their new home. Lots of grubs were sacrificed for the effort. Finally, the hive migrated into the underwater building attached to the city underside. As they settled, Marina kept track of Nympha noting certain behaviors like it would watch over the exterior fiercely and it still would not come to her on the surface, staring as if confused but full of ire. Marina pinpointed it still believed she had something to do with the lack of their queen. She had no clue how to remedy such a mindset and show Nympha her innocence. The only thing she could think of was to isolate the Leviathan and piece together what it sought from her without sending the others into a riot.
Trapping Nympha was not easy, some said impossible, but luring her into a lone dock with a pool segregated from the ocean was her best bet. Marina had to get help, multiple Aquatronians in fact, to coax her away from the rest of the hive. It was a pretty hefty demand but after getting it on the dock, they corralled the creature into a pen. To say Nympha was angry was an understatement. Marina needed its cooperation in order to keep the hive settled though so she had to do what was necessary.
Days of sitting beside the pool simply talking to Nympha as it hissed at her was like trying to have a conversation with a wall, but she noticed while the Leviathan was far from happy with its entrapment, it did listen in a way. It silently stared at her whenever she talked and moved when she was silent swimming around its pen. Marina felt bad but she couldn't have a Leviathan that had the capability of usurping her progress with the others. She went to the pool every day despite the danger and the constant glares. Nympha was better to talk to sometimes by that alone than other bots anyways.
"You know, I'm only trying to help you. I just can't stand to see you suffer as you have been. You probably don't believe me, do you?"
The Leviathan's fins twitched as it floated still in the water looking at her in silence.
"This wasn't supposed to happen…I guess we both lost a lot to the Quintessons. They just take until we bled dry. It's a wonder what was left to fight for."
Slowly, the Leviathan got close enough to where it could snag her leg at any given moment, but it didn't. She offered it a grub. Nympha didn't take it. It was stubborn.
She shook her head, "What do you want then? You don't like me, you're angry about the demise of your queen, but you don't want to compromise on anything."
Nympha began swimming around the pool edge then suddenly began splashing about, throwing water everywhere. Marina had no clue what it meant or why. She assumed Nympha wanted out, to be left alone. She wasn't going to push her motive any farther. Opening the secure barrier, she sighed as Nympha immediately took to the exit but after climbing up, the Leviathan peered at her, tilting its head curious as to why she would let it out after keeping it for so long. It didn't move, and Marina wondered if it was waiting for her. She took one step only for Nympha to flee.
She didn't see Nympha for a week or two, instead focusing on keeping the Leviathans happy. Patience was a virtue as she still fed them and visited the hive via an elevator just below the Hydratoll station she had installed. A single corridor within the hive was like visiting an aquarium with a few spots where the Leviathans could go out of the water to relax. Sure enough, one day she found Nympha among them. It hissed at her but not as severely as it was instead unsure. Bringing out a grub, she made sure Nympha was her sole target and there were no interruptions from the other Leviathans.
Nympha stood upright with its arms, tail slowly thumping against the platform in warning. Regardless, Marina held up the grub and closed the distance between them to where the grub was in reach of the Leviathan. She waited, staring down Nympha determined to progress. Nympha barely nudged the grub with its noseplate before finally taking it slowly out of Marina's grasp. It held it in its mouth refusing to eat and stared at her for a good minute or so. With a few grunts, Nympha ate the grub.
Marina breathed a sigh of relief. It was a start. Nympha turned its head slightly and she let it lean forward to sense her, smiling a little as the cool breath of the mermaid-like being tickled her face. When Nympha showed no other sign of aggression, Marina scoffed in disbelief.
"You trust me now?"
Nympha still held some unsure behavior in its posture but otherwise let her slowly reach out and touch graze the side of its cheek and chin. Marina flinched when it growled for a second but still pursued until Nympha was leaning slightly towards her touch curious of how the pets felt good.
With the Leviathans now used to her, none of them were truly hostile and with Nympha finally acknowledging her, the conversion was complete. She couldn't replace the late Queen Oceanus, but she could protect them. What the Quintessons took would not stop her from making sure all life of Aquatron could recover. The Leviathans were just one of many species hurt. She believed together, she and Nympha could keep Aquatica safe if the squid-faced monsters ever came back. This was a sure sign of a beautiful new start for both of them.
Hostility
Screams were echoing across Hydronix. Aquarius was pushed and scraped by fleeing bodies as he tried to see what was happening. The alien invaders' ships stormed the docks pushing away Leviathans, Leviacons, and startling the garden leapers from their city fountains. Aquarius was shoved into an alley from the masses and hid among an old container when suddenly, the people thinned passing the alley entrance.
A ghastly ghoulish red light muted the radiant white and blue colors of Hydronix and only grew brighter, making Aquarius cower. Squid-like robotic entities hovered in unison with unnatural red bio lit tentacles snaking beneath their "heads." Their multiple red optics stared forward unblinking. Aquarius heard them breathing through vents and vaguely saw what appeared to be flesh beneath the moving panels of the side like the creatures were wearing armor. It horrified him just as much as their awful tentacles waving aimlessly in the air around them.
He backed away until he hit a loose piece of scrap with his heel and froze as one alien's gaze directed towards him. The alley lit up with the ominous red glow. His wide optics mirrored the color with utmost fear. He did only what he could do in that moment. He ran.
The alley curved into a street with blaster fire. Red bolts zipped past his head hitting the buildings around him. He stumbled out of the way when he found himself in the path of another alien just as it motioned with its tentacle to swipe at him. It growled with a terrible mechanical echo like Aquarius had never heard before. He was struck hard, his back hitting the wall violently enough for him to topple through it. Groaning, he coughed and rubbed his head. The same hellish glow returned to come towards him, and he tripped profusely trying to flee.
He had no clue what these things were or why they were here, but the hit he endured told him one thing: there was no peace to be made. What did they ever do to deserve this company? Surely, the Cybertronians weren't that broken up about being let go from their communications, were they?
Aquarius fled back outside, preferring the chances of evading them out in the open against a building they could potentially trap him in. The Aquatronians around him realized the same thing and rather than fight the powerful enemies, they began running towards the ocean. More alien vessels were coming in and covered the escape routes. Some Aquatronians managed to dive into the water, letting themselves sink to a safe point and swim to the nearest underwater station. Everyone else, however, had no such luck.
Restraints from the ships caught many midjump, some were snagged before they even had the chance to leap. The others backed away from the blockages and peered up at their captured friends scared. Aquarius slid to a halt to prevent himself from getting stuck in the crowd as the aliens formed a barrier with themselves to coral the Aquatronians into a secure circle. Some bots attempted to strike the invaders only for their tentacles to quickly catch their weapons and force them to the ground as more alien troops came in from behind. He stared flabbergasted at the scene.
A snarl caught his attention, and he dodged a tentacle aiming to grab his arm. He was about to pull out his weapon like his peers only for another tentacle to catch his wrist. Several troops surrounded him, each sending a few of their limbs in tandem to restrain him as best as they could. He fought them, tugging his arm away only for two more tentacles to wrap around the same limb. It took over six of them to finally force him to his knees.
"Let go of me!" His shouts fell on deaf audios.
When his struggling barely allowed him to move, he was then approached by a slightly larger specimen. The metal in the space between the emotionless optics formed a line running down to the base of the divider that separated the head from the ring connecting to the tentacles. Aquarius froze when it hissed open slowly, squinting in concern. Abruptly, lamprey-like fleshy jaws burst wide open with a high-pitched roar, organic teeth lining the interior. He was a mixture of disgusted and frightened of the abomination that was this creature.
Aquarius muttered, "What the hell are you?"
Various frequencies of voices were heard. The alien was trying to configure its voice to match the language of the Aquatronian. Garbled and outright disturbing in some tones, Aquarius winced as some of the higher spikes of noises until it spoke with a deep snarl and a secondary undertone voice echoing behind its main one.
"We are legion. We are Quintesson," the big one said despite the mouth didn't move. Instead, its bio lights lit up with each word. "And we have come to spare you from your miserable existence. Behold, a new world order and we will make sure this planet is secured properly."
Aquarius growled, "Who said we need you to dictate our way of life?! We were doing just fine! Now, if you would be so kind, get off our planet!"
"No, the cosmos deems us needed here, and here we shall stay. Our leader will come soon."
"You can tell your leader to shove it," he quickly hit back.
A tentacle curled under his chin as the techno-organic beast hissed, "That would be most regrettable. But we suppose if the others will be as defiant as you, perhaps a disguise will work in our favor more."
Aquarius was confused until a bright red beam of light scanned him head to toe to his displeasure. He heard the exo-mechanical suit beep before it suddenly transformed. He stared terrified as panels shifted to reveal more than just its mouth. Its organic brain and organs moved as the armor took on a more familiar appearance. The lamprey mouth hid within the abdomen, the brain was concealed in the chest and all but two of its armor's optics now sat on the shoulders, hip plating and arms. The remaining two sat properly on a makeshift faceplate that looked reminiscent of...him. The color scheme was black and red lights in comparison, but the Quintesson appeared nearly exact to his structure. The tentacles had separated to make up the limbs and back kibble.
The entity made its first steps on grounded feet, stepping into Aquarius' personal space. Unblinking red optics with a false mouth snarling at him. Some type of slime was present within the mouth as it opened wide enough to show off quite a few fangs among its structure. It was mortifying to see an alien running around in his structure.
"Now you see," the Quintesson said with a much more defined voice, "we Quintessons are superior. You are not worthy of this world."
"Just because you can play a trick and mimic us doesn't mean you're higher than anybody."
"And yet, who will they believe when we go to their cities, their homes looking like you and countless others. If we don't take control, there will be mass panic and with it, utter chaos. We despise chaos and those that don't yield will soon learn just what we do to beings who don't obey," the Quintesson said, flicking a tip of a claw under Aquarius' chin.
"Place him under heavy surveillance. When our queen comes, you will be the first we interrogate and get rid of those nasty independent thoughts."
As he was dragged back, Aquarius yelled, "They won't fall for it! No matter what you do, I'll make sure you regret it!"
He barely heard the disguised Quintesson say to their fellow soldiers, "Prepare for cleansing."
Aquarius didn't know what that meant but it didn't sound good. He heard more cries and saw ships embedding themselves into the city infrastructure like parasites. The sky was dark from an incoming storm, an omen of utter devastation to the life he knew. It was the last thing he saw before being pulled onto a ship that reeked of a foul odor indescribable. The blues of Aquatron were violated with a deep red ambience and the ship's ceiling cut off the sky view to an eerie crimson with nasty pulsing tendrils like the ship itself was alive.
He was thrown into a cell coated in a slimy substance and tried to paw at the energy shield only for a tentacle of a peeved Quintesson commander to strike it, making him fall back onto the covered floor in startlement.
"Inferior lifeform, your judgement will come. Our forces are converging on the next cities as we speak. By dusk, your world will be ours. We suggest not trying to escape until we gather the rest of your wretched kind. Then, by all means, do try. It will make the chase all the more fun for us. Welcome to your new home."
Aquarius stayed on the slimy floor stunned as the Quintesson's shadow no longer blocked his view from seeing several others already captured. If they intended to take all of Aquatron and were confident in doing so, that gave him the harsh reality that they indeed had the means to do it. As he watched carriers and sires with offspring and lone, scared individuals unsure of what to do, he began losing hope as well. And it all happened so quickly. No one was prepared, and he felt so helpless for the first time in his life.
How could a species do this? How could life as everyone knew be over in less than a day? Aquarius did not know what the future held for them, but he couldn't see anybody who could help them. Aquatron was doomed, and he had to believe that as he remained seated in the unfavorable cell unable to live and certainly waiting to die.
N.E.S.T
General Bryce and General Morshower were present and that concerned Captain William Lennox the most. His team was present as well. His best friend, Corporal Robert Epps, was just as uneasy as him.
"Gentlemen, do you know why you have been called here today?" General Bryce asked.
"Sir, no, sir," they said in unison as they stood at attention. They knew, but it was best not to say anything.
General Morshower then said, "You are some of the few who have witnessed beings not of this world, and that puts you in a very daring position because some of them now know of your existence as allies of the faction we're trying to help in their ungodly war. I'm sure you remember who's who."
They remembered the encounter well. Too well...
Lennox had gotten the order to leave the base in Qatar in the middle of the evening after Agent William Fowler, as the man declared himself, warned of a gas leak that made the base unsafe. They were forced to evacuate under such short notice that he was too focused on getting everyone else out and his team stayed to help him. But before many of the transports could load them in, Lennox and his men saw a jet unlike anything that existed roar down and shoot purple energy across the base field, destroying the planes and killing the other soldiers on it in a fiery explosion just before they could board the aircraft. As Lennox struggled to look at the inferno that held his other peers after falling onto the ground, he stared into the raging fire. Purple fire wasn't normal.
"You saw a battle of titans and learned on that day that we are not alone, and they have been walking among us in disguise."
The jet circled before other abnormal fighter jets came in and all of them transformed in sync. Landing among the wreckage to Lennox and his team's bafflement and horror was a silver monstrous robot with blood red optics that he swore was exhaling the same fire that burned around it. A demon of unknown make, Lennox stared into the deathly eyes of the alien that all but glared at him back, vicious pupils contracting with a low growl of warning.
Just then, the honk of a truck threw them off considerably before the unknown monster could do anything and drove full speed at them. That truck shifted into a being of equal power, blue optics ablaze in contrast to the vile red and purple. Lennox barely backed away, only staring as the truck sent a swift fist into the monster's helm. More robots, a motorcycle, sports car, and heavy-duty tactical vehicle all raced to assist whom Lennox believed was their leader. One thing that stood out the most was the robots with squared symbols etched among their bodies did all in their means to protect them.
Lennox had to be pulled back into reality by Jamie and Epps practically dragging him out of the way. He couldn't help watching the clash of aliens destroying their base. The silver robot was the most ferocious and haunted his dreams with little to no mercy. He recalled the callous stare of venomous eyes most terrifying.
The fire illuminated its frame purple, but the red stood out despite everything. It clashed with the red and blue robot and sparks flew with each clash of their fists against their metal. The silver one got the better of its opponent after shoving away a fury of attacks and slammed the other into the asphalt with a roar. The truck was saved by a petite blue robot which the silver monster took no kindness too, but it bought the fallen just enough time to get back on its feet.
Lennox whispered, "Yes, sir."
"And you all survived with the help of a faction I will admit to you in person that we have been allied with for some time." Morshower looked over the tense faces of Lennox's team, especially the captain himself. "Now, the reason why I am disclosing this with you is only the higher ups and specialists at the Pentagon knew of these things. Agents assigned to them by certain positions act as their liaison. You are the first, forgive my phrasing, 'lesser authorized' personnel who have now seen what we need to keep secret, gentlemen. And we don't keep this under wraps just to keep the nature of aliens secret. If the world knows too soon, especially with the tyrant of the Decepticons insisting on wiping us off the face of the Earth, everyone will be in danger. Mass panic will not help at this time."
Captain Lennox immediately asked in the general's pause, "Sir, if I may speak, who...exactly wants us dead and who are our allies?"
General Bryce replied instead, "The Autobots are our greatest defense against the Decepticons led by a mechanical guardian known as Optimus Prime. You'll recognize them by this."
He slid a metal emblem from his side of the standing desk for the soldiers to see. The Autobot's symbol was the same boxed insignia he caught a glimpse of prior.
"And your enemy is a creature most foul, ruling an army of destructive beings with an emblem of deceit. The one you need to watch out for, and whom you unfortunately saw in that close encounter, is..."
He all but ducked and nearly tripped as explosions of loose cannon fire from the beings ruptured around him. His team was fleeing. He had no choice but to. He briefly paused to see who was winning, flinching as the body of one of them flew past from being thrown and they went through a warehouse like it was made of paper. The noise was abysmal to his senses. He saw the tyrant raging, wounding the big, bulky green robot and striking the feminine one out of its way with another inhumane roar until its dreaded red optics latched back towards Lennox. There was death in those eyes; it wanted him dead.
It lurched towards him. He couldn't run any faster than he was. The silver robot was on his position so quickly that he had to run into a thinner alley of the base where it couldn't follow. It slid to face him, and he looked back. A clawed servo outreached but before it could get him, one of the other bots slammed into it, breaking part of the building in the momentum. He could hear its peeved growl.
Navigating the ruins of the base as its warehouses, barracks, and the security housing collapsed from enemy fire, large dark purple troops of the silver tyrant tearing the base apart, Lennox felt like he was trying to run in a maze. He knew the ins and outs of the base...but not when everything was being burned to the ground with vicious mechanical monsters roaming about.
He barely turned a corner when the most bloodthirsty, fanged smile greeted him heightened by those same hellish red optics. The voice of the monster, he couldn't hear it well in the chaos, taunted him as some type of blue liquid dripped from a crack in its scarred features. Lennox could do nothing but back away frightened as it stalked forward. Its pede crushed the remnants of a Humvee with ease. Like a prowling tiger, this thing was determined to hunt him. Lennox practically froze as his fate was sealed.
"...Megatron."
The name echoed in his mind as he recalled the monster opening his jaws with a laugh that plagued every fiber of his being. Thankfully, Lennox was not killed as he assumed he would be when the yellow muscle car robot managed to jump onto Megatron's helm and made the monster turn in place angrily roaring. The blue motorcycle joined in as he tossed the yellow robot, destroying a whole building in the process. It bought Lennox the time he needed to escape without fail this time.
Lennox managed to rejoin the others mortified but alive. As they escaped into the desert, they could still see the purple flames well into the night. They were rescued but their base was destroyed as were many lives. All he heard later on was a transmitter held in the base had been stolen but no one except him knew by what or who. He was too petrified to correct the rumors surrounding their escape when questioned. He was just happy to still be there, and he didn't have a clue who he really should be thanking.
General Bryce then said, "We want to aid the Autobots as well as have a team that deal with the recovery and isolation of these battles quickly and efficiently. And if military aid is necessary in direct conflict, we'll need said team capable of going in. We'll need a commander for our team we will call N.E.S.T. It will be an elite op that dedicates itself to the protection of our world and the assistance to the allies who can do what we cannot with the alien forces that want us dead. It's a demanding job, brutal even, but we need the best of the best and you are some of the best in the field who know of this threat. Are you interested?"
They were all nervous. How could they not be? Demanding, risky, and a hell of a responsibility. But if not them, who would do it? They made promises to protect the people they served and to do that knowing their entire world as they knew it was in danger of an alien threat, well, some sacrifices of service were required, and Lennox would say these were one of the few instances he would bring his dedication blindly. His teammates knew this too. And since when did anyone normally deal with technologically advanced aliens?
Lennox received slow nods from his dedicated team until he was the last to respond. If they were in, he was too.
"Yes, sir."
General Morshower nodded as well, "Then it's settled. General Bryce and I will be the head of operations as your commanding officers. Remember, this is classified. Once you are assigned to N.E.S.T, there's no going back. Information cannot be passed down to anyone not affiliated. You are off the record more than Black Ops missions. We're in the middle of an alien war here, people. Our lives aren't ours to control if those Decepticons are here, so we have to work with what we've got."
"Sir, yes, sir!" They all chanted.
As they were fitted with the latest technology, adorned with specialized suits and taken to a base most secure by even their means, Lennox found others were assigned who witnessed similar attacks or accidentally came in contact with the alien specimens. And he was assigned to be their commander aside from the generals. Even Epps was in disbelief of the odds. N.E.S.T. was small for now, but Lennox had the feeling it would grow as their alien allies lingered.
If this team was meant to fight the horrors of space, Lennox felt very underqualified. The fact that they were robots was infinitely worse because how does one manage mechanical life? But no matter what trials such enemies had, he promised his team they would find a way even if it was more or less a cleanup crew. What else could they be among titans of war? He had no clue where he stood in the presence of such beings, but he would help the Autobots if it meant the survival of their race.
And if he had to encounter the dark creature known as Megatron again, his nightmares could never prepare him for such a thing. For now, N.E.S.T. could only keep the world's most damning secret. Deep down though, Lennox kind of wished they were alone.
The Last Pirate
The metal beast collapsed with its head detached and its blue blood leaking everywhere with the nauseous oily smell unlike anything he had ever encountered before. He gagged a little at the scent but kept an eye on it to make sure it wasn't still miraculously alive, not like when he fought the one in Wales that survived with a pillar lodged in its chest and nearly sliced him in two. The scars on his abdomen reacted a little to the memory and he winced.
He brought out the foreign alien technology he had been temporarily gifted not by choice hidden by his coat sleeve and marked off the location of the beast's demise in the Viceroyalty of New Granada. He checked to see if any targets were left marked by the entity that revived him over two decades ago and still held his sisters and Kia in neither living nor dead purgatory. He would win their lives back. That was the deal. To his surprise, he found he had hunted the last metal monster on the planet. And the deal proved complete.
Malachi rubbed his temples in relief. Countless efforts of constantly hunting across the globe, nearly dying to kill the invasive metal creatures had finally been done. Many of them were from the myths of various cultures he had heard of in his childhood. The age of wonder was more than just exploring to him; he had found almost all the legends of mythical beasts were true...but they weren't what he thought. This wasn't how he wanted to know about them, especially that mechanical life could exist.
The device on his wrist beeped suddenly and he knew it was the higher being who helped him. Sure enough, he got what he wanted in return. He went to the coordinates provided and there before him was a miracle. His triplet sisters were past toddler ages, all had the faint features of their mother with the same eyes. His sisters had aged, and he felt kind of bad he missed their first steps, but he ignored this feeling for the happiness he had upon hugging them. They seemed to recognize him. At least the entity wasn't heartless to keep them in the dark of their own brother. Kia was there too as was his ship refurbished and prepared for action again, not a single scratch...but his crew wasn't brought back. Sorrow hit him briefly knowing he was there, but they weren't. He had sacrificed them in a foolish pursuit. There was nothing he could do about it to fix that.
The only instructions he was given for his services by the entity that appeared before him in a ghostly humanoid silhouette was a simple command. "Our deal is complete, but you must remain on this planet as long as you function as punishment for your previous actions and if you perish, the afterlife will not have mercy on you. Tread your life wisely or suffer the consequences for both you and for them."
Malachi knew not what that meant entirely, and seeing the entity vanish made him press his dear sisters close. Kia pressed behind him. With no other hints of just what life was going to be like now that he had done his task of killing the alien monsters, he could only approach life as he knew it though seldom few things changed in two decades. At least, that was until a few years later...
Back in action as a pirate again, he plundered everything he could to make up for lost time. Banks, ships, loot, everything under the sun and more. His old habits returned with a fiery passion, but he found that monster hunting had allowed him to learn how to be more agile and calculating then when he was a teenager when he "died." The tricks he picked up in the years previously stunned and outflanked the opposing marine powers and other rivals with ease. There weren't a whole lot of challenges to be made, but then he began to see the real changes of why that was.
The world was, in a sense, expanding but like the monsters once inhabiting it, even if foreign in nature, what he knew was slowly being phased out. Piracy wasn't the same as it was decades before when anyone with the power to bring whole fleets to their knees was considered the rulers of the sea. The times of finding new lands weren't as special, its occupants were already condemned to foreign politics and its treasures all but worthless now. Piracy itself was fading into obscurity, and Malachi was witnessing all of this as his body refused to age, and he didn't even know why until he recalled what the entity said. It was then he realized his punishment, theirs, wasn't just about risking a death worse than ever, it was the ability to see all he knew die. While the world moved on, grew wiser, advanced and learned, he was stuck watching it constantly take out what made it special. That was his curse, and it hurt him more than he would admit.
Clothing, technology, and all the in-betweens were changing faster with pride and greed, sometimes even far worse than his variant of it. He still did steal, but he found it was more to preserve what he deemed no one should have because they couldn't understand its value. In a way, he was stealing because it was the right thing to do.
In his spare time, he and his family had to learn the new ways of the 19th century that he barely understood. Malachi, or Maximillian as he had to change his name to be out of the limelight..."Max" as his limited circle of friends nicknamed him with the changing times, was a relic despite being only and continuously in his 30's. More languages had to be learned, and he needed to new hideout, so he took no qualms in murdering a plantation owner to use the house for his own needs. The son was spared as he was only a tyke and raised by the free slaves he employed and befriended. He couldn't harm children; that was a bit too much. When he wasn't busy taking what he wanted, he stayed in the mansion deciphering the new technology safely away from everyone else to not harm them accidentally. He had a few injuries but nothing permanent.
With weapons growing more advanced, he took inspiration from the newfound metals used in machines and steamboats to craft armor to protect his vitals. Walls, buildings, and other areas weren't as easy to climb, so he remembered the metal beasts he had fought before and their claws. Animals had natural claws used for multiple things, so why couldn't he harness that to stay one step ahead in the less-friendly environments that relied on more than just a human's perspective of navigation? A good thief evolves into his environment. The clawed gauntlets he based on old European knights and that of the metal beasts was stiff, but the iron proved quite strong.
Catherine, Christina, and Cadence all had to learn to defend themselves. That was fun to teach but the years of being little girls didn't hinder their minds from learning. He took them on plenty of heists, taught them any new technology or had them help him steal the latest stuff to figure out what it did. While he kept most of the heat on him, the girls were in charge of deducing the world's ever-changing features and relaying them to him. Photography was probably the most baffling thing he had ever known.
Of course, even with proper knowledge, there was still plenty of danger. Max wasn't bulletproof but his armor, though it weighed him down sometimes, proved efficient against the new types of gunfire being used by the mid-1800's. He had plenty of scrapes, wounds, and bruises from bullet fire, swords, knives, and other unorthodox things like something called a baseball bat which hurt like hell. He also couldn't count how many times he had been called either costume "wannabe" or delusional. He liked his style, and he refused to give up the life he held so dearly in his heart even if it was full of thievery and death. Up to 1890, he used Antagonizer but he couldn't find any more people willing to man her. Retiring her to his mother's homeland was one of the hardest things he had to do.
Come the 1900's, that was when Max was supposed to be extinct. Nothing looked recognizable, not even the cities he frequented in his youth over a century prior. Cars, planes, and most cities having electricity was stunning and made him feel even more obsolete. If anyone from his era knew the future, they would have hung him for blasphemy...among other things. Adapting to it was even worse. Bombs, machine guns, and far more troubles came with rapid technological growth, and Max had to keep up for his safety and his sisters.
On one of his runs from the rifles the police had in London, far more accurate, his normally loose coat was constantly getting snagged on the new wires and other inconsistencies with the city structure that he wasn't used to which almost led to him getting caught. He once was forced to hang over electrical wires in the early 1900's because of this, a hard threat to his safety, so he had no choice but to pin his clothing to be more form-fitting with only his coat tail loose.
By the time the growth of the future was inevitable in 1960's, Max finally accepted all that was to come after nearly two centuries of disbelief. Humanity was becoming worse, so why should he not give them a taste of their own medicine his way? He was done watching on the sidelines, being forgotten by time. If he couldn't accept the future, he would make it bend to his will. His outfit was rejuvenated with thinner steel armor sewn withing the fabric and forged into metal plates that made up his gauntlets and shoulder armor that was stolen from the good boys of the U.S. Army, new automatic handguns after years of training to learn them between his notorious robberies, and an upgraded utility belt with gun holders, a sword sheath and pouches. They provided the necessities to carry out the high-scale robberies he was performing without risk of sluggish movements and bodily injury, not to mention a better overall arsenal.
If the world was changing, he finally saw that he needed it too. But that didn't mean he was going to give up what made him what he was. The new changes were welcomed with a new mindset. Max figured out the challenges of the new world order from the countries that hadn't existed previously. With Kia by his side as well as his sisters, he intended to take all Earth had to offer. He still didn't understand why he was given immortality, but he might as well put it to some good use. He was going to make sure the world knew they couldn't get rid of the past that easily, and he was coming for everything they held dear for as long as he lived. If he had to suffer in immortal hell, he was going to equalize it as the world showed signs of the same sins he was all too familiar with. Two could play that game.
By the 21st century...Max Jacova was a free spirit and the last pirate.
"Freeze!" The cops yelled.
Rounds of bullet fire from the automatics they held were dodged accordingly. Max flipped over a chimney and used it as partial cover as he kept running with a bag secured around the side of his waist. Jumping off the sides of fire exits and other accesses were common for his routine. With a smirk, he made his leap of faith off the twenty-story complex. Mid-fall, he twisted around and used the high hardened steel durability of his clawed gauntlets to grip the side of the building, one his previous time would have never fathomed to have existed and slowed his descent while leaving a trail of damaged siding in his wake. As soon as he was close to the ground, he hopped off and caught himself among a tree, flipping down to land in a crouched position. He gazed up with his expression unchanged as the cops could only glance down at him perplexed. He saluted them mockingly before navigating through heavy traffic to his escape route into Central Park.
Kia blended in with the shadows of the night, wagging her tail happily at the sight of her master who whistled for her to follow in their getaway. Sirens in the distance indicated the chase was still on. He didn't mind. The fancy Dodges the NYPD had were new, but they weren't anything special anymore after a few run-ins. If anything, he just liked to piss them off so they would give him something to do.
More than half the stunts he did, all the close calls with cars, the quick climbing he had to perfect over the years and multiple other feats he could have never achieved back in the 18th century. As much as he missed his old world, sometimes change had to be accepted. Now, his thieving habits in the current day and age were easier to land him in hot water and the people had better firepower to back up their threats so he had to tread with more backup plans. It didn't stop him from doing what he loved, just added more of a thrill.
Sure, it was dangerous...but what else did he have to live for?
Born of Death
Growls emitted from the darkness invisible to most. Small wildlife was weary, but some larger specimens weren't as afraid…though they should have been.
A tiger stalked by the waterfall and sniffed the area with its ears back. It hissed now focused on the water running down, vaguely understanding that there was something behind it. Its snout was almost touching it when jaws snagged its head, dragging it further in suddenly with an unknown alien snarl. The tiger yelped as it tried to escape. Water was shot everywhere as the tiger thrashed and blood streaks blended with the clear blue until a harsh echo of cracking bones being shattered in the otherwise silent jungle ended all movement.
From the view of the waterfall, lingering eyes of prey to that same tiger watched as its body was swung up with another crunch, its tail and hindquarters limp as more blood oozed with the water downward. The body was forced outward and the tiger's mangled corpse with its head and neck crushed lay on the embankment for all to see. A metallic tail from behind the waterfall struck the water carelessly with a rumble as it turned to go back into the hidden area behind.
Jet black as the shadows it perused, the being went unchallenged in a world it didn't belong in naturally. The Blind Death Minicon had defended its home, a shallow river within a cave system unbothered…mostly. It went deeper into the nest and its peers couldn't be moved by any threats.
The nest of Blind Deaths had them crawling around and nurturing their young. They shook in their little holes in the wall as they made themselves comfortable, cleaning themselves like birds and stretching like guard dogs awaiting the action. Their pitch-black color scheme with minimal dark grey protoform faceplates and optics like obsidian helped keep them out of sight as their mating season had begun. However, they did not know how they came to a world filled with such organic life nor did they really mind as the threats here were minimal. The jungle they occupied held only a handful of inconveniences.
The Minicons paused their normal routine as they heard one of their members huffing in pain. The labored breathing was riddled with stress and whimpers. A youngling nudged the other curiously, but it failed to help it. The tired carrier with its abdomen wider than most others late in birthing clambered around in discomfort. It lied down several times. No progress was made as the day went by. Weakened, desperate, and saddened, the Minicon finally couldn't take the pain. Leaving the nest was risky normally but here on the planet they ended up on, seldom creatures could kill it much less hurt it.
Through the waterfall, past the corpse of the fallen cat, it treaded elsewhere. The shaded canopies of the jungle offered cool air to flow among the trees of green. Its dark color didn't blend well in the vibrant area as it stumbled to a spring away from its nest. The chatter of its peers was not what it needed right now. Near a pool of undisturbed water, it finally laid on its side at ease, or at least some comfort among the agony.
Its body was nearly shutting down, but it refused to give up. It couldn't yet. It could feel its young wanting to emerge. It had to protect it. It had to oversee its young being able to look at the world with it by its side even if it knew something was wrong.
It made a whine as its chassis spammed and the metal had difficulties moving the sparkling through. It breathed frantically after another attempted push. Nothing was responding the way it should. It gave a hoarse cry lying in the organic sediment in its torment and closing its black optics miserably. Its spark thumped wildly in its chamber straining to keep its rhythm.
"Whaea, i reira!" A small voice said, undistinguishable to the Minicon.
A human boy, little older than five, with scruffy clothing and a woman with dirty but formal attire paused not far from it. The Blind Death Minicon was too induced in labor to do anything, but it recognized the new species as a mother with its own offspring immediately. The mother kept the boy back and approached with caution, kneeling slowly and stayed put to the Minicon's observance despite the fast breathing and warning growls. She spoke a strange language but when she lightly pet the round abdomen of ribbed metal, the Minicon gave a warning snap and a hiss though the gesture felt good.
The mother, despite not even remotely knowing what it was, knew enough to identify it as another parent in need. She waited a bit before continuing.
"Kia ora, e aroha. Ka pai nga mea katoa."
The Minicon had never been talked to directly by a creature and looked at her confused, a small rumble of acknowledgement and curiosity. Then a smooth stroke of its delicate belly had it frozen. It contemplated the true reasoning of the good-feel pet until it resumed. A wave of comfort was all it needed to know this being was not hostile nor meant it harm. She kept talking to it as it struggled. There wasn't much she could do except comfort it. After minutes of pain and suffering, its body finally pushed its brood. The humans marveled at the three sparklings. Neither dared to touch them with the Minicon conscious, but the woman resumed assuring the new carrier of its effort.
A rest from the difficult birth as its energy lowered considerably was a necessity. It was surprised to find the woman and her son still with it monitoring it when it awoke with its offspring nestled and cleaned near its chin. Sitting up, tail dragging across the jungle floor sluggishly, it housed the three young in a protective circle formed by its arms. It peered at the woman curious as to why she would stay, moving its head to sniff at her as she tried not to laugh with its breath blowing in her face. It then gave a soft lick to her nose.
The little Blind Deaths were starting to learn to stand on all fours in wobbly motions and the Minicon didn't mind now as one of them approached the boy. The smaller human was entranced with the sparkling as much as it was of him as the two locked eyes. He delicately pet its head as its optics were wide and alert, playfully nibbling at his fingers before climbing onto his shoulders as he giggled. The other two stayed close to their carrier but that one was persistent in exploring the boy it didn't know was supposed to be any different than its siblings or its carrier. The two mothers saw nothing wrong with their offspring being curious about one another.
Just then, several Blind Death Minicons charged at the humans angrily as they came out into the brush. The weakened carrier stood through the discomfort of post-birth and got in front of the humans to defend them much to its peers' confusion. It roared, swiping at any who got close with its tail swinging angrily. The human mother took the three sparklings close for protection in return in case the carrier needed to fight. Once the others got the memo the humans were not a threat after much pacing and angry chatter of grunts and snarls while arguing with the carrier, they lowered themselves to watch as the carrier nuzzled the woman with mutual appreciation. She pressed his nose against its which the Minicon made small noises at curiously.
The humans stayed among the hive for hours, allowing the Blind Death Minicons to get a good sense of them as the mother nurtured the carrier as best she could. They were just as puzzled as the creatures themselves by the oddity of the interaction. When the mother and her son left, the newborn sparkling infatuated with the boy was nearly dead set on following the two to the Minicons' bewilderment.
"Kia ora!" The boy chanted. He saw the sparkling perk up a little.
They could only stare at the humans with quick tilts of their heads and various noises. The Blind Death carrier was most grateful as her three sparklings were huddled beneath her. Never before had she encountered creatures not with intent to harm or kill them if not their offspring first. On their native world of Chaar, sand dwellers and other predators would do anything for a meal given their size. Here, not many creatures rivaled them in strength and others cared less about them. This was a first overall.
The nest was informed of the two and to their surprise, a second visit occurred months later and the Minicons hissed unsure until a good portion of them got the scent and remembered them, especially the carrier. It came out with its sparklings in far better health than prior. The woman and the boy waved and spoke in their unknown tongue, but the Minicons didn't mind knowing they were friendly. The sparkling that the boy met was insistent on getting close while the woman pet her new friend without any growls aimed at her this time.
"Kia ora, tuahine," the boy laughed.
The other Minicons observed the two communicating through neither understood the other. The sparkling just kept nuzzling the boy with a purr. And their encounters didn't stop.
The Minicons grew accustomed to their unusual allies and every month, they saw the two return with the sparkling and the boy the closest of friends. The Blind Death carrier took to licking the boy's head in response to him placing his nose ridge against its own as did the mother. It had accepted them as its own family in repayment for staying with it throughout its painful birth.
Neither Minicon nor human knew what the other was still, but they understood each other's roles and needs. It was by coincidence they ran into one another, yet they were both perfectly content with accepting the circumstances, and the two offspring were inseparable. As the sparklings started desiring to be independent as their species did within a year of creation, the one that followed the human child around one day followed them as it wished and boarded its ship heading out to open sea. The humans found that as long as they brought back the ever-growing Blind Death Minicon home occasionally, the relationship with the nest thrived.
The years went by, and the carrier always remembered that boy and its offspring as they went on to explore the world together, even as the latter started growing to be the same size as it and the human began maturing as well. It would wait for the boy to return every couple of months, welcoming both as its own even when the boy returned with three more human sparklings in relation to it. Though the woman who helped it no longer came around, it was content in seeing the woman's kindness live through her children. In repayment, the Minicon carrier was more than willing to protect her offspring as its own for years to come.
It wagged its tail when it saw its now fully mature offspring accompanied by the adult man in red after they approached the nest that recognized them with equally eager members.
"Kia," he said to his partner, "welcome home."
Three Children and a War
"Miko, Raf, this way!"
The two ran as the Vehicons were directly on their tail. Jack was higher up running along the alien architecture of the Nemesis with Arcee as they avoided rapid gunfire from the swarm of Decepticons chasing them.
The danger of their situation wasn't lost on them. With the Decepticons far bolder and direct than ever before, the teenagers had no choice but to get into the fray of the action, especially when the Decepticon warship had all but landed in front of them. Megatron and his cronies were hitting hard and targeting them with the mindset of destroying their enemies no matter what the cost. After the Autobots had conquered Darkmount, all hell went loose in Megatron's demeanor.
Miko and Raf used their size to escape into crevices so the larger beings couldn't come close to catching them. All the while, Miko cursed and gestured at them, much to the Vehicons' chagrin. Raf swatted her shoulder concerned at the taunting which she shrugged off with a smirk. Just then, Bulkhead came barreling into the distracted Cons with his vehicle mode, forcing them to topple before hitting the gas to do a donut maneuver and head towards the two teens. They timed their leap into his cabin and watched the Cons try crawling after them in disarray, narrowly missing Bulkhead's bumper with their claws.
"Awesome, Bulk!"
"Not awesome," he warned, "we need to get you two out of here!"
"No matter where we go, they will always try and follow," Raf said.
Bulkhead urged, "Think positive and hang on!"
He gunned the pedal to the metal and avoided the blaster bolts raining from above. In the distance, they could see Arcee now transformed with Jack on her seat driving off the ship's wing and heading for them.
"Ratchet, ground bridge!"
As one appeared, the two kids peered back to see the haunting figures of Shockwave, Knockout, and of course the big bad King Con himself watching them flee. They could nearly hear Megatron growl in frustration echoing as they were driven through the portal back to the military base they currently occupied. Arcee and Jack were the last to appear, sliding to a halt as the bridge closed. The close call was not unnoticed by the other Autobots.
"What were you thinking letting them near Megatron's warship?!" Ratchet yelled.
Both Bulkhead and Arcee were very quick to explain the situation, going as far as defending the encounter of the Nemesis almost dive-bombing them out of the blue as deliberate chance. Megatron was seeking blood for good reasons. While the Autobots argued with Ultra Magnus trying and failing to referee Arcee's stubbornness most of all, the three kids sat in their so-called living room and slouched on their couch miserable. They each reflected in their own way among the tension between the Autobots about how much had changed from when they first met them to now.
They had a home then. Jasper, Nevada. A small town in the middle of a secluded desert. It didn't have everything, and it had its fair share of bullies and good people. It wasn't much but it was what they only knew until the faithful day they found the Autobots. They say there are no accidents, that everything happens for a reason no matter how good or bad the coincidences seem. Finding themselves in the middle of an alien war was a fate like no other. But as amazing as some would think, there was tragedy and loss.
Their home was gone now, decimated by Megatron and his dark citadel. People died, it was covered up as an explosion, but the residents who got out didn't know much except those jets and cars of unknown make fired down at them. The conspiracies, of course, were endless, but no one knew how close to the truth they were. To the three teenagers, there was nothing to fear because they had already experienced enough agony, fright, and mourning as they could bear. The attack was just one of many sacrifices the war had taken in Megatron's insatiable lust for control, and it was one of few moments that ended up being the breaking point of an already one-sided situation.
Megatron had their world turned upside down with the destruction of the first Autobot base, proving that there was little the Autobots could do from turning Earth into a hunting season for the Decepticons now that some speculations of aliens among humans were all too abundant. How long could a secret of such deathly intent be hidden from an entire population? It seemed every turn, the Decepticons were trying to run the Autobots dry on resources to edge them out into the open and with that, the teens were formidable targets just out of spite. But then again, Megatron was all too aware of the human factor in his enemies' evasion.
There was nowhere to run now, nowhere to hide except among the military base but it was only a matter of time before the Decepticons isolated the location by tracking one of the other associates of the Autobots like June and Agent Fowler. There was no predicting the outcome, and, to a rather grim understanding, there was no way to prevent it. They were just waiting for the inevitable, and they were tired of running. But they had to be strong even with enemies they stood no chance against without the Autobots. It was their burden. It was their unfortunate fate they realized rather quickly was not as awesome or as fun as they were hoping. They were far too deep to quit now even as children still.
Within a half hour, all three crashed on the couch unaware that the Autobots had been done arguing for some time. It was what little rest they could get as they were constantly on high alert. The couch was comfortable more than the military grade bunks they were assigned.
In war and in life, there were hardships to be met. The fact that they managed to survive what many couldn't was just another day in their current situation, irreversible and tense. But they were alive. Megatron was having quite some difficulties in hunting them but maybe that's why he did it. It was a game of chicken, and they were forced to play by his rules. No other humans had the will to stand up to him. They were not ordinary teenagers anymore, as much as they would have loved to have gone back to normality, but maybe that life just wasn't meant to be. Neither Jack or Miko or Raf could say why they were chosen to be among the chaos of the alien conflict, the ire of a warlord so cruel and hellbent on destroying them. They wouldn't go without a fight.
Whatever the future held later on, no matter what happened, the children would prevail to their limits. The fate of the world depended on them to stay strong in the face of astounding danger and evil. Even if there did lie a terrible future ahead, they couldn't say they didn't try to save their own.
As they enjoyed their brief rest, Arcee and Bulkhead kept close, lowering themselves to lie next to the couch protectively. The children knew the bots would fight for them to the end though at the moment, they were too fast asleep to notice.
War was hell and theirs felt like an eternal nightmare sometimes.
AN: Watched Transformers One and it's a little awkward how many of my ideas were pretty similar to what the movie ended up going with, but then again it felt like common sense to have Quintessons part of the lore. Whether or not they will be in a sequel we hopefully get, we'll never know for the time being. I like how this section turned out. It was fun to write...over a year ago. Yes, it has been that long since I finished writing Cyber Worlds. I'm far behind on Shadow Realm because I got stuck on a few chapters to keep the flow going but I'll eventually pick back up on it.