CHAPTER SEVEN
--Archon--
"Optimus Prime."
"Metalhawk."
A tense silence descended upon the Tribunal Chamber which the five Autobots had been brought to. Seated upon a high, golden throne, with the two other Tribunal members at his side, Metalhawk looked down upon their visitors in a haughty manner.
"Please do enlighten me," the gold and blue mech said in a snide tone. "Why have you decided now to visit Archon after a thousand years of ignoring us?"
"You know why," Optimus said.
"Do I?"
"Don't act dumb, 'Hawk," Kup snapped. "You all saw the stars go out. You all know the legends. Unicron is back in town."
"Don't you dare speak his name!" one of the councilors said sharply. "It only invokes chaos and ruin--"
"Chaos and ruin are already here," Arcee said. "No sense in sending them another invitation."
Metalhawk scowled. "Your Autobots seem to have lost their manners, Prime."
"Metalhawk, please. You must see the bigger picture: Unicron has returned and will soon consume Cybertron-- and I'm sure he won't stop there."
The ruler of Archon smirked as he leaned back in his seat. "It's funny; Zeta Prime turned us away, and yet here you come to beg for our assistance now that certain death looms over you."
Optimus sighed. "Zeta Prime made many mistakes, and I have spent much of my time as Prime to correct them. Which is what I'm doing here."
He took a step forward, craning his head up at the highly-seated tribunal.
"Please, Metalhawk. Forget about the past... for the sake of the future."
The Archon ruler frowned as he exchanged meaningful looks with the other councilors. Finally, he let out a reluctant sigh.
"Hipotank," he said to the teal mech that had escorted the Autobots. "Rally your militia. The time has come for us to take arms."
"Are you sure this is a wise choice, Metalhawk?" one of the councilors asked.
"Not entirely, Traachon," Metalhawk replied. "But I am not one to take risks, and the Chaos Bringer poses a far greater one than any other."
"So you are with us?" Prime asked.
The gold and blue mech nodded curtly. "I will admit that I've only heard of your leadership skills; this will be a chance for me to see them in use."
"Then I will be seeing you again at Combatron."
As the Autobots began to take their leave, escorted once again by Hipotank, Kup leaned in to whisper to Optimus. "That went better than expected. Think it's too good to be true?"
"At this point, Kup, I'll accept anything."
--The Lost Light--
"Spark, what does it take to-- ah." Ambulon hit the medibay's overhead light fixture hard, promptly turning back on and casting a bright ray on the gruesomely-mutilated visage of Crosscut. The doctor instantly winced at the sight. "Okay, someone turn it off."
"Come on, Ambulon, you've seen worse," First Aid said, already set to work on Tailgate. "How did this happen, anyway? I don't know any D.J.D. member with razor-sharp claws."
"They've got a pet turbofox now," Nautica said. "An undead one, of sorts."
"How did the D.J.D. even find us?" Ambulon wondered aloud. "Are they just good trackers or--"
"Speaking of the D.J.D.," Brainstorm said, "someone should keep an eye on the door. Now would not be a good time for a Decepticon to walk in."
"Even one who's willing to lend a servo?"
All of the Autobots save for the injured brought out their weapons and aimed them at the black and red Decepticon standing in the doorway. The mech held up his hands defensively.
"Oh. Is this a bad time? Maybe I'll check back when everyone's dead."
"Flatline," Ambulon said through gritted teeth. "How the Pit did you get on board? Or are the D.J.D.'s doctor now?"
Flatline cackled. "I'm afraid not. As for how I got on board... let's just say we made a dramatic entrance."
"'We?'" Nautica said. "You mean there's more of you?"
"Yes, but they're not here to hurt us." Appearing behind Flatline was Drift, who had spoken, along with Nightbeat, Swerve, Skids, and several other Autobots-- as well as a few Decepticons.
"As much as you may find it hard to believe," Drift said, "they're here to help us."
"And we should trust them... why, exactly?" Strongarm asked, gripping her axe.
"Consider this," Flatline said. "If we wanted any of you dead, we would not be having this conversation."
The Autobots considered the Decepticon's words for a moment. Then, with great reluctance, Nautica sighed. "Fine. Make yourself useful. But if you try anything--"
"I know, I know: my face, your wall." Flatline scoffed. "And you call us savages."
"I have to ask though," Nightbeat said. "Why are you here? And who's commanding you?"
The medic chuckled. "It's funny you ask that. The answer for one helps answer the other...."
* * *
It was as if Mortilus himself had stepped onto the bridge.
The bridge being as dark as it was, Elita could not tell if the fallen forms of Red Alert and Hubcap were stirring. Windblade she could tell was still online, but the gashing wound near her chest indicated that she would not be returning to the fight anytime soon. Elita herself was gravelly wounded, having taken severe damage to the legs.
It was down to Ultra Magnus to save their metal hides.
Elita found it all somewhat fitting as the two law enforces clashed, as if she was watching a battle of wills. Such thoughts were soon evaporated as Tarn fired his fusion cannon pointblank into Ultra Magnus' chest, sending the revered Autobot sprawling into a computer station.
"You really should be dead," Tarn said darkly as he approached Magnus. "All of the things you've been through-- Simanzi, Clemency, Hell's Point-- and yet you're still kicking. There must be more to you than meets the eye."
"Maybe I'm just that good," Magnus grunted, quickly recovering.
"Oh, no. I do believe there's more to it than that; I have seen members of the Warriors Elite succumb to things less worse than a Fast-Folding Sun."
"And I've seen plenty of Decepticons succumb to me." With a battle cry, Ultra Magnus lunged towards Tarn and delivered a swift and hard punch to his midsection. Tarn lurched from the attack before returning it with an upward kick to Magnus' groin. The Autobot flinched from the move but kept on exchanging blows with the Decepticon enforcer.
This brawl soon came to an end when Tarn swung his arm and struck Magnus with a powerful backhand, enough to send him down to the floor. As Magnus struggled to get up, Tarn struck him again before leaning in closely to his audio receptor.
"To be honest with you, you've always been a top priority on my list. After hearing so many tales about you-- about how you won the Battle of Talrus almost single-handedly, about how you survived the Siege of Massunstrad-- I, quite frankly, started to fear you. I was almost afraid you would be able to bring victory for the Autobots.
"And now, fighting you here, I find all of this almost... almost anti-climatic, really. I was expecting a lot more from you, but so far, I've been nothing but disappointed."
"That makes two of us."
Tarn's optics widened as a bolt of energy hit him in the back. Moving away from Ultra Magnus, he spun around to see a large figure standing in the doorway to the bridge; covered in silver, black, and red armor plating, armed with a massive fusion cannon, the figure was unmistakeable.
"...Megatron?"
"You ignored my orders." The Decepticon leader raised his arm, aiming the fusion cannon straight at Tarn's face. "Never ignore my orders."
He fired the weapon and the D.J.D. leader was sent sprawling across the bridge, landing right at the very front. Tarn then simply laid there and watched as Megatron slowly approached him.
"How did... you follow us here?"
"Did you really think I was ever comfortable with letting Decepticons as powerful as you five roam free?" Megatron snarled. "I have had trackers built into every member of the Decepticon Justice Division since conception, along with a number of failsafes. Don't ever think I'm not a step ahead of everyone."
Tarn gazed at him in shock. "But... why? Why have you stopped us from executing these Autobots-- something you've long advocated?"
"Because I am not longer an advocate of such action. The war ended long before I realized it, and today, I declare it being officially over. Now, stand down or suffer the consequences."
Tarn's optics blazed as he stared at his leader in utter disbelief. When he spoke, it was rife with feelings of betrayal.
"Everything you've stood for... and now you're abandoning it?"
"I see it more as looking at it differently... and acting in a different, better way."
For a while, the Decepticon fanatic was silent, registering and mulling over all that he had heard his idol say. Then, he spoke again, this time his voice a deadly whisper.
"I don't know who you are... but you are not the Megatron I've long looked up to. Whatever happened to him, he's dead and you're nothing but an imposter. I will obey your order one last time, but know this, my liege: when next we strike, you won't be able to stop us... because as far as I'm concerned, you have already earned yourself a spot on the List."
With that, Tarn returned to his feet and wordlessly left the Lost Light's bridge, deliberately brushing past Megatron. Once he was gone, the Decepticon acknowledged the fact that all optics were now on him with a mere nod.
"I do believe this is the part where I explain myself."
No comments:
Post a Comment