FanFiction.Net - unleash your imagination
:
B s .
A
A
A
:
full
3/4
1/2
:
E
E
:
Light
Dark
Cartoons » Transformers/Beast Wars » It's in the Energon
|
Author of 9 Stories |
Disclaimer: ‘Transformers’ does not belong to me, It belongs to ye olde Hasbro.
I just want to say a big thank you to my awesome beta reader, tomorrow4eva and thank you to everyone that has reviewed this story so far- it’s all extremely appreciated!
“Prowl, congratulations on a mission well done,” Optimus nodded, as the officer entered the operations room. Prowl looked quite worn and tired.
“Thank you, Sir. The prisoners are both contained. I will write up a mission log shortly. Any further orders?”
“No,” Optimus shook his head. “Get some rest for now, Prowl. When Magnus returns, you can aid him in interrogating the prisoners.”
Prowl nodded. “Understood, Sir. Ummm, regarding Sunstreaker…”
“He has been cautioned by myself. He will not be accompanying you on the next mission, as punishment. Hot Rod will replace him.”
Whilst being suspended from one mission may not have been a big deal too most ‘bots, to Sunstreaker it was exactly that. He lived and breathed missions. Being stuck at HQ and thus, suffering with boredom, was punishment enough for him. If he’d liked staying in the rear with the gear rather than fighting, he’d have become an engineer or comms specialist.
“Go and rest now, Prowl,” Optimus urged gently.
He could see that despite Prowl’s worn appearance, he was restless. Prowl was never very good at giving his processors a break. Sometimes he had to be forced into taking a break, otherwise he was prone to overloads.
“Yes, Sir,” He turned and left.
Optimus turned back to Teletraan, where he had been working on monitoring any unusual activity. Despite telling Prowl to go and take a break, he himself was guilty of not taking one for some time. He just couldn’t tear himself away from the console, not when the Decepticons were being this quiet. He had to be the optics and audios of the Autobots; it was his job as commander, his duty. As far as Optimus was concerned, his personal needs came second. He could wait. Rubbing a hand over his optics, he sprung up suddenly when he heard a voice speak over the internal comm. system.
“Optimus Prime, please make your way to the medical bay.”
“Hmmmm,” Optimus sighed lightly. No doubt Ratchet wanted to check that he was doing exactly what he wasn’t- taking time to rest. Optimus took one last look over the screen before him, and then left for the med bay.
“Listen, Ratchet,” Optimus spoke, walking towards him, “I appreciate your concern, but I must keep a constant optic on-“ He stopped, momentarily surprised.
“Is…he online?” Optimus asked, stepping closer to the operating table Ratchet stood at.
“Yeah…yeah, he is,” Ratchet nodded, looking down at the prone Bluestreak.
Optimus gauged Ratchet’s reaction carefully. Optimus knew something was bothering him, not to mention his lacklustre reaction at having reactivated one of their comrades.
“Ratchet…everything’s okay?”
“He has no recollection of the incident,” Ratchet blurted.
Prime moved to take a closer look at the resting Bluestreak. Sensing the presence, Bluestreak opened his optics.
“Errrr…Prime…?”
“Not only that,” Ratchet continued, “but he had no recollection of a lot of other things. Only bits and pieces of data,” Ratchet sighed heavily.
“Is that so,” Optimus said, concern in his optics.
“Ask him something,”
Optimus frowned slightly, before turning to look at Bluestreak.
“Bluestreak, can you tell me where we are?”
Bluestreak looked around a bit.
“Are we in the mines? Did something hit me on the head again? Cause, y’know, that happened before. In fact, it’s happened three times already.”
Optimus’ face was full of worry. Whilst he was glad Bluestreak’s personality component clearly hadn’t been affected, his data loss was still an issue.
“Get some rest, Bluestreak,” Optimus sighed gently.
“Rest? Actually, I feel a little tired, which is strange, I don’t usually feel this tired, maybe I should get some rest…,” Bluestreak babbled.
Optimus looked at Ratchet, who was emanating unease. Ratchet probably blamed himself, thought that he hadn’t tried hard enough. Optimus knew how hard he could be on himself. Being a medic had to be one of the most emotionally difficult jobs. Lives were laid in their hands, and no matter how little could be done sometimes, there was always that buried feeling of self-blame, of feeling like you could have done more when things went awry. Optimus sympathized with him.
“Can anything be done?” Optimus asked quietly.
Ratchet crossed his arms, staring down at Bluestreak.
“…I don’t know. I have a few ideas, but no guarantees that any of them will work.”
“We still have hope then, Ratchet. Just do your best, that’s all we can ask for.”
“Will do, Prime, will do.”
“Well, at least we still have an opportunity to shed some light on this situation. Hopefully the detainees will be at least a little cooperative.”
Prowl grimaced slightly. Ever since the drug had worn off, they had been little more than drones. They hadn’t uttered a word, and had shown minimal resistance when they had been moved from their cells to the interrogation room.
Halting outside a door in the bright hallway, Magnus tapped in a code. The complex lock released with a number of electrical whirs and hisses and the door slid open. The sight of two civilian robots restrained in chairs greeted Magnus. They appeared to take little notice of the two Autobots that walked in. Magnus was irked by this, something just didn’t sit right.
Magnus took a seat opposite them, and Prowl followed, preparing a data pad.
“My name is Ultra Magnus, I am head of Autobot security. I’m going to ask you some questions. Do you have anything to say before we proceed?”
Ultra Magnus was met with blank stares. Prowl found it unnerving, especially considering how different they were behaving compared to when he had first encountered them.
Magnus simply shook his head, “Okay…First, do you know why you are here?”
One of the robots, a dark purple one, opened his mouth as if he were going to say something. Magnus and Prowl both leaned forward in anticipation. He suddenly shut it again. They sat back.
“Umm, how about you?” Magnus politely directed the question at the other prisoner, an orange mech.
“Ta-tak-ennn,” the robot appeared to be having trouble communicating.
Magnus and Prowl both looked perplexed.
“What’s wrong, why can’t he speak properly?” Magnus turned to Prowl, whom he knew to be more acquainted with the prisoners. Prowl had a confused on his face.
“I- I don’t know, Sir, but they haven’t spoken since they’ve been here.”
The orange robot struggled in his chair, trying to get their attention.
“Ta-ken. Do some-thing. Head-“ He stuttered. Every word sounded like it took all his effort.
Prowl and Magnus listened intently, unsure of what the mech was trying to tell them.
“What was taken? What do you mean by ‘head’?” Magnus asked, leaning forward. The purple robot then began to talk.
“Tak-en. Need-help! Heads-look,” The mech squirmed in his chair. Things here obviously weren’t as they appeared.
“You were taken?” Prowl frowned.
“Who by?” Magnus stared the ‘bot in the optics.
The mech's face suddenly looked the picture of fear. He attempted to speak again, as did the other prisoner.
“De-cep-“
“Meg-a-“
Neither had a chance to finish their words as two loud explosions suddenly engulfed the room. Magnus and Prowl both his the deck instantly.
“Stay down,” Magnus grimaced, holding his hands on either side of his head. “My audio receptors are ringing…”
“I think my equilibrium chip just shorted…,” Prowl groaned.
As the black smoke slowly began to clear, the two Autobots stood up. Gradually, Magnus could see the outlines of the two robots becoming clearer, still in their seats. It was soon obvious why they hadn’t moved.
“What?” Prowl gaped.
The smoke cleared further, revealing two headless prisoners. Magnus frowned deeply.
“Their heads…exploded?” Prowl asked.
Cautiously stepping closer to examine the scene, Magnus responded, “It would appear that way, yes.”
Magnus looked down the sizzling neck where a head had once rested. Prowl sighed, clearly agitated. “There goes our information.”
Magnus turned to look at him. “Not only that Prowl, but two lives have just been lost, in a horrid way. Exactly how and why is unclear now, but I think there’s much more to this situation than we realize. You heard what they were about to say.”
“Decepticons and-’
“Megatron, exactly. This takes things to another level. And those two weren’t Decepticons, which means…”
“Megatron used them,” Prowl finished, following the same line of thought as Magnus.
“And we all know Megatron doesn’t ask before he uses something,” Magnus said grimly.
Prowl turned his head away, sighing, “This is bad.”
“My thoughts exactly. It’s highly possible two innocent, civilian robots have been killed and we don’t even know how. Prime must be informed of these developments immediately.”
“Agreed, Sir,” Prowl answered firmly.
“Knock, knock,” Sideswipe shouted as he walked through the med bay doors, with Sunstreaker beside him. Sunstreaker looked to be in a particularly foul mood.
“Bye, bye” Ratchet sang back, standing up. “You don’t need to come for another check up just yet for your optic, so leave before you, I don’t know, do something.”
“Actually, we’re here to see Bluestreak,” Sunstreaker sneered.
“Yeah, we heard he was awake, Doc,” Sideswipe added.
“Ohhh,” Ratchet said in understanding, “Well, that’s different, why didn’t you say so.”
“We just did,” Sunstreaker retorted.
Ratchet glared at him, unimpressed.
“We heard that he, uhhh…has forgot a lot of stuff,” Sideswipe said uneasily.
“Heh, things get around here quick, don’t they.”
“And Blue’s not even about the place!” Sideswipe grinned.
Ratchet chuckled lightly, before continuing, “He doesn’t remember everything, no. Hopefully some familiar faces will jump some circuits. But don’t worry, I’m…working on things,” Ratchet finished quietly. “Can’t talk long, though. He needs his rest.”
“Okay, Doc,” Sideswipe nodded, patting his twin on the shoulder.
They made their way over to Bluestreak’s bed, whilst Ratchet busied himself with doctor’s things.
Sunstreaker and Sideswipe each stood at opposite sides of the bed, looming over Bluestreak. The scene was not unlike a tiger waiting to pounce on its prey.
“Hey, Blue, how’s it going?” Sideswipe asked.
Bluestreak opened his optics to be met by two similar faces.
“Hey Blue, do you remember me? You must remember the hottest looking mech in town,” Sunstreaker said seriously, running his hands over his head vents.
“And you must remember me. Remember not so long ago when we stole the horns off of Cliffjumper’s helmet and he couldn’t tell what was wrong? And later he socked you one in the chassis?” Sideswipe smiled.
“Hahaha, I remember that,” Sunstreaker laughed, “Bluestreak wouldn’t stop whining about how much it hurt! Hahaha, a mini-bot punch!”
Bluestreak was just staring at them both with wide optics.
The twins both looked at him and spoke at the same time, “So, do you remember me?”
Static silence fell for a nano-klik or two.
“Heyyy,” Bluestreak smiled at Sunstreaker, “I remember you. You’re Bumblebee, aren’t you?”
Sunstreaker looked mortified. “WHAT?”
Sideswipe doubled over, trying to contain his laughter. “Actually Blue, that definitely ain’t Bumblebee,” He managed with the biggest grin on his face.
“I should completely slag you for that insult,” Sunstreaker fumed, clenching his fists. Steam coming out of his head vents wouldn’t have been such a strange sight right now.
Bluestreak seemed oblivious to the damage he had just dealt on Sunstreaker’s ego.
“Oh wait, I remember,” He spoke up again, “You’re the angry one, aren’t you? Can’t remember the name, though,” Bluestreak frowned.
Sunstreaker’s jaw just dropped.
Sideswipe quickly and wisely tried to divert the attention from his brother. “What about me? Come on Blue, what’s my name?”
Bluestreak narrowed his optics in concentration.
“Sideswipe.”
“Yes!” Sideswipe punched a fist in the air.
Sunstreaker looked annoyed, “Hey! How can you remember him, and not me? We’re twins!”
“Sorry, bro, I guess some ‘bots are just more memorable than others,” Sideswipe bragged, grinning.
“I’ll make your face more memorable in a minute,” Sunstreaker growled.
Ratchet turned and looked over at the twins and Bluestreak, smiling lightly. He was glad Bluestreak had visitors, he knew how much he liked others company.
Turning back to his work, the smile faded. The uneasiness once again sunk in. He didn’t know whether Bluestreak would ever have the rest of his memory data back, and if there was a way, would the price be worth it?
Within the operations room, a number of Decepticons were gathered around a large round table. On it was displayed a computerised, interactive map of Cybertron.
“Of course,” Megatron spoke, “to power these assaults, we need more bodies. After the briefing, Starscream, Thundercracker, Skywarp, Thrust, Dirge and Astrotrain will all go and find us some new ones,” Megatron smiled. A very creepy sight indeed.
“But, Mighty Megatron,” Starscream cut in, “why are we having these pathetic weaklings fight our battles for us? We are more than capable of taking on the Autobots ourselves,” He sneered. “Unless, Mighty Megatron, you are afr-“
“Enough, Starscream! No more of your incessant whining. This is a briefing, not a debate,” Megatron snarled, staring harshly at Starscream.
Astrotrain looked at Dirge, both of them smirked at each other.
“It is quite simple really, let me break it down for you,” He hissed, “Once my plan is fully underway, the Autobots will be stretched thin and almost completely overwhelmed by numerous, constant assaults from the drones. Hopefully in the process, many will be permanently deactivated,” He gleamed, “Once we begin to weaken their forces and morale, it’s only a matter of time. We shall strike them at the root; Autobot HQ in Iacon. It will be a huge tactical blow to them, one that we will not allow them to recover from. You see, whilst they’re at their weakest and pre-occupied with those mindless drones, we will be at out strongest and their base will be ours for the taking. Prime will be mine to crush!” Megatron finished, clenching a fist.
Skywarp groaned with all the information just bestowed upon them.
Starscream stared on speechless, a very rare occurrence indeed.
Megatron chuckled darkly, “Are we quite done now, Starscream?”
Starscream turned his head away. “Yes, Mighty Megatron,” He spat.
Megatron continued with his original line of thought, “Once Bombshell has finished implanting the cerebro shells and injecting them, we will split them into two squads and send them on simultaneous attacks at these locations: here,” He slammed his hand down on Uraya on the map, “and here,” He finished, bringing his other hand down on the edge of Iacon. “There they will draw the Autobots' attention.”
Bombshell, who was stood around the opposite side of Megatron, took this opportunity to speak. “Lord Megatron, we are running quite low on the stimulant, more will need to be created soon.”
Megatron frowned at him. “And? I thought being a scientist, you were more than capable of that, Bombshell. Or are your skills inadequate?”
Bombshell felt his Energon boil. How dare Megatron try to humiliate him in front of everyone! He knew it was something Megatron revelled in. “Of course not, Lord Megatron, but there is one ingredient that is harder to acquire than others.”
“Yess?” Megatron urged him on, growing impatient.
“It can only be found in an ore extracted from the Kalis area,” He said.
“Fine, I will send the Constructicons to gather more,” Megatron waved a hand. “That concludes this briefing. Everyone knows what they must do.”
A chorus of ‘Yes, Lord Megatron’ was heard, except for Starscream, who instead chose to say ‘Lord Megamouth’ quietly for his own satisfaction.
As the rest of the Decepticons begun to leave the room, Megatron spoke again. “Bombshell, stay behind.”
Mentally sighing, Bombshell turned around, holding his hands together. “Yes, Lord Megatron?” He forced a smile. It looked terrible.
“Regarding the two prisoners the Autobots have taken. You anticipated such an event, yes? They will not be able to gain anything from them, will they?”
Bombshell grinned genuinely, “Oh no, Lord Megatron. I made amendments to their head modules and the cerebro shells. They are programmed to self-destruct upon even an attempt to divulge anything Decepticon related. The Autobots will be clueless, the explosion will incinerate the cerebro shell.”
“Very good, Bombshell,” Megatron smirked, “Hopefully they’ll take some Autobots with them.”
“Oh yes,” Bombshell said excitedly, “I had that in mind as well,” He lied.
“Hmm, of course,” Megatron sneered, “Nothing is more gratifying than Autobots perishing. Soon enough, it shall happen en masse. Cybertron will be under my control…ahhh, yes.”
“Ahhh, yes, Bombshell,” Starscream grinned as he arrived on the roof of Decepticon HQ. Bombshell was already there waiting. He looked agitated.
“You’re late!” Bombshell spat, “You told me not to be late! What is the meaning of this?”
“Late?” Starscream exclaimed dramatically, “Not according to my internal timer. Yours is obviously wrong,” He chuckled.
Bombshell was further annoyed, “Wrong? I think not-“
“Bombshell,” Starscream soothed, “This is not what I asked you here for. Do you want to hear my proposition or not?”
Without waiting for Bombshell to reply, he carried on, “Of course you do,” He smiled. “We both know how terribly deluded and pathetic a leader Megatron is…”
“Yesss,” Bombshell eyed the seeker warily.
“He doesn’t deserve to lead the Decepticons. Many others agree, but are too afraid to do anything about it. But not I, no. And I think neither are you,” He smiled darkly.
“Starscream, get to the point, I have no time for your folly,” Bombshell narrowed his optics.
Starscream’s looked taken aback slightly. “Okay, Bombshell,” He smirked, “Lets get down to business. With your knowledge and ability to produce the stimulant and cerebro shells, and my skills as a leader, we are more than capable of taking control of the Decepticons, are we not?”
Bombshell hummed, knowing exactly where this was going. “Yess.”
“Of course. So imagine if we are able to establish our own secret force. It will be superior to Megatron’s. With a stronger force, the other Decepticons will have no choice but to join us. Not like they’d rather stay with Megatron anyway…,” He trailed off. “Megatron will be destroyed by his own army, how wonderfully ironic,” Starscream smiled, his optics windows to a dreaming, wishful mind.
As flawed as some of the plan was, due to Starscream’s deluded ways, Bombshell could see merit in it. Including what it could bring him. “Ahhhh, yes, Starscream, I see the benefits of such a plan… However, how do you propose we keep a force hidden under Megatron’s olfactory sensors? Or did you not think that far ahead?”
“Actually, Bombshell, I did. Again, how wonderfully ironic that one of Megatron’s old bunkers should be used to create the army that will destroy him,” Starscream laughed, lavishing the thought, “It is old, but in good enough shape for what we require of it. See, Bombshell? I have thought this out. Now you have heard my plan, what do you say?” He stared intently at Bombshell.
“I will participate, under one circumstance,” Bombshell turned his head.
“Yes?” Starscream hissed. He strongly disliked going by other mechs terms.
“I command along with you. I will not settle for second in command,” He waved a hand.
Starscream clenched his jaw, extremely annoyed. How dare he make demands when Starscream was going to allow him the privileged position of being his second in command?
“Fine!” He relented, “But just remember who put you there!”
“How could I forget?” Bombshell murmured quietly to himself.
“We shall speak again soon, Bombshell, but for now, try to procure as much of the stimulant as possible. We’ll need as much as we can get. Farewell for now, comrade,” He smirked as he walked away, off to whatever other crafty things he was up to, no doubt.
Bombshell grinned delightfully at the retreating back of Starscream. Indeed, he would go along with Starscream’s plan- for it would benefit his own personal agenda. The day he let Starscream truly get the better of him was the day he deactivated.
“This news regarding the possibility of Decepticons is most disturbing, Magnus,” Optimus said, monitoring Teletraan’s screen.
“These abductions are beginning to become unsettling too, Prime,” Magnus added, stood at his side, “You don’t think-“
“Yes, I do. There’s a correlation. Robots are abducted; then drugged civilian robots draw and attack our forces. Hot Rod discovered that the two prisoners we had, matched the description of two missing robots. Hot Rod,” Optimus gave cue for the tenacious ‘bot to speak. He was seated at a terminal.
“Yep. Both worked around the same area in Kalis. One worked at an ore-refining factory, the other at an Energon storage pit. Poor slaggers were just ordinary civilians,” Hot Rod shook his head.
“Hmmm,” Magnus brought a hand to his chin, “Abductions, possible re-programming, Autobot casualties- this has Decepticons written all over,” Magnus uttered, processing through all of which they knew so far.
“Indeed it does,” Optimus sighed, “It would certainly explain the welcomed absence of them recently. And it can only mean we have much more ahead of us.”
Having recently returned from their successful mission, Astrotrain and Dirge walked through the dark Decepticon headquarters. They had one destination in mind- the recreation room. Nothing beat some cold, hard, high-grade after a mission.
“Pulling civvies about just ain’t as fun as messing with Autoscum,” Dirge grumbled. “At least Autobots can fight back.”
“Yeah, I think Megamouth should have us ‘botnappin some Autobots instead. That would be much more interesting,”
“Heh, that’s not a bad idea. I’d pay to see the Autobots have to take on one of their own. Just to see their faces…”
“I’d give one of my transformations to see it.”
Approaching the recreation room, the two Decepticons froze outside its doors. They both listened carefully to a racket they could hear coming from within.
“Starscream,” Astrotrain said plainly after a short while.
“What the frag is he babbling on about?”
“Lets see,” Astrotrain pushed open the doors. They were almost blinded by the light that flooded out of the rec room- and speechless for what they saw.
“Megatron is about as much use as a rusted afterburner!” Starscream shouted from a-top a table, a can of high-grade in one hand, “It’s a conspiracy I tell you! He’s really working for the Autobots! You’ve all seen the way he laughs when we are damaged by them!”
“Actually, that’s only you, Screamer,” Blitzwing snickered among Starscream’s audience, all of whom watched on with amusement.
“And why is he always sending that two-faced wreck on secret missions? He has Soundwave spy on us! They are in it together! I bet they sit over at Autobot HQ with Optimus-best-friend-Prime and laugh at us!” He shouted, waving his arms around wildly.
“You’re fraggin’ crazy, Screamer,” Skywarp grumbled.
“He’s always been a CPU short of a processor,” Thrust added.
Starscream was oblivious to his comrades mocking as his intoxicated mind spewed fourth more nonsense.
Astrotrain and Dirge took a seat at a table with Blitzwing.
“Come on guys, who let him drink all that high-grade?” Astrotrain said loudly, “We’ll never get him to clamp it.”
“I’d clamp it for him if I wasn't too busy laughing at him,” Blitzwing chuckled.
“I blame Skywarp and Thundercracker, they should have been keeping tabs on their fellow seeker,” Ramjet said.
“HEY!” Skywarp shouted.
“Oh no, not the mini-bot conspiracy again,” They heard someone saying at another table, as Starscream continued to babble in the background.
“Where is everyone? It looks emptier in here then usual,” Dirge said, looking around.
“Heh, Mighty Megatron’s got ‘em all out on ‘botnappin runs. He’s getting quite a collection. He’s really going all out with this.” Blitzwing said, taking a big swig of high-grade.
“You know, I think he might actually have it this time,” Dirge said, looking thoughtful.
“Yeah, we’ll soon see,” Astrotrain smirked.
Suddenly, everyone turned around when they heard a huge crash. Starscream had collapsed on the table and gone offline. Everyone turned to look at Thundercracker and Skywarp.
“What?!” They both said together.
All was quiet at Autobot HQ, as it had been for some time now. Optimus was stood in the operations room, having a quiet conversation with Hot Rod. “So you see, Hot Rod, that’s twelve reasons why you shouldn’t bet with Prowl-“
Hot Rod jumped and Optimus spun around when an alarm sounded from Teletraan. Both ran over to investigate.
Optimus scrutinized the map that had popped up on the monitor, with two red blotches flashing on it. Teletraan spoke, “Unknown enemies causing damage in Uraya and Iacon. Coordinates 174…”
Ultra Magnus came speeding in, having been alerted. “Prime?”
Optimus didn’t take his optics off of the screen, the flashing turning him red, off and on. “Magnus, mobilise the strike team,” He paused and turned to Hot Rod, “That means you too. Remember you're replacing Sunstreaker.”
Hot Rod nodded, “Ready and willing.”
Optimus turned back to the monitor, “Looks like the Wreckers are going to be busy too. Time to call them in…”
