CHAPTER FIVE
--Recovered audio-recording from Garrus-16--
"You know, this is getting just a bit tedious, don't you agree? I'm already starting to get bored."
"I'll... never talk...."
"But my dear friend, you've already lost three of your limbs. Are you sure you wish to keep playing?"
"Kill me... if you please. I'm not telling you... anything."
"Your defiance is admirable... but ultimately useless."
"Argh!"
"Oh, come now. You should be used to the pain by now. But don't worry, it will end soon -- one way or another."
"Just... get it over with. You're not getting anything out of me."
"Perhaps I should mention that you are not the first Autobot I've tortured so far. I've gone through about... oh, about seven so far. And if you refuse to talk, there's a lot more to choose from. Think about that for a second: the lives of all your men are now weighing on your shoulders. How would you like to die knowing that you caused their own deaths?"
"They are... pre-prepared to do their duty."
"Which is what? To die for your cowardice? And you call yourselves the good guys...."
*A chainsaw roars to life*
"I grow tired of asking this, so this will be the last time: what are the codes to Aequitas?"
"Go to blazes."
"Heh. You first."
--End of recording--
--The Lost Light, Swerve's--
"So what's the presentation today, Blue'?" Pipes asked as the blue mech stood at the counter of the bar. "Metropolis? 2001? The Wrath of Khan?"
"Alphaville," Bluestreak said, cleaning out a glass. "It's People's Choice and Whirl's suggestion got picked."
"Jean-Luc Goddard for the win!" the ex-Wrecker cried from where he sat with Skids and Nautica, the latter two not paying much attention to the film itself.
"Um, right." Once Swerve had provided his drink, Pipes went over to their table and sat with them. "So," he said, "how did that trial went down?"
"That's classified information," Whirl snapped. "You don't deserve to know. Keep your olfactory sensors to yourself, Snoops."
Skids rolled his optics. "You weren't there either, wise-guy, and neither was I. And Nautica here sure isn't telling us anything."
The purple femme simply snorted as she scowled at the wall.
"Wow, she seems pretty upset," Pipes whispered.
"A matter of understatement, are you?" Skids replied wryly.
"No, seriously. I've seen upset, and that right there is really upset. That's upset tenfold. Was she even a part of the timey-wimey shenanigans?"
"No, but keep in mind that she worked closely with Brainstorm."
"Oh, yeah! I read a rumor in the Lost Light Insider that they were a couple--"
"We most certainly are not a couple," Nautica retorted hotly. "We weren't even friends. Just... work acquaintances."
"Suuuure you were," Whirl said snidely. "Work acquaintances always give each other cute nicknames like 'Stormy' and 'Naut.'"
"That doesn't indicate--"
"Plus you always carry that wrench around ever since Brainstorm modified it for you."
"I've always had carried it--"
"Nautica and Brainstorm, walking in the Helix Gardens! K-I-S-S-- wait, does he even have a mouth? I don't know if his faceplate is one of those retractable ones or--"
The ex-Wrecker was cut off by a wrench thrown at his head. While he yelled out in pain, Skids and Pipes watched as Nautica stormed out of the bar, fuming all the way.
"You sure weren't kidding, Pipes," Skids muttered. "She's beyond upset now. She's transcended into a greater plane of unhappiness."
"I guess. But I'm sure throwing things at Whirl is a natural reaction for most."
"I'm not talking about that," Skids said. "I'm referring to the fact that she didn't pick her wrench back up."
--The medibay--
Tap tap tap.
"All right, 'bots," Ultra Magnus said to the half-dozen Autobots who had their guns aimed at the coffin. "Keep your aim steady."
Tap tap tap.
"Ratchet, when I count to three, open the coffin."
"Got it."
Tap tap tap.
"One... two...."
TAP TAP TAP.
"THREE!"
Ratchet released the clasps of the coffin and the lid hissed open. Emerging from the capsule was a spindly mech with blade-like arms and a visor screen for a face. He moved to get out of the coffin but was stopped cold as all seven Autobots before him raised their guns at him.
"Don't move!" Ultra Magnus said sternly. "Move a single piston and you're scrap."
"Considering what I've been through, I'd call that a reprieve," the mech muttered.
"Who are you? What were you doing inside a coffin?"
"Not even an offer of energon or oil? My, some warm welcome this is."
"We don't exactly take people popping out of coffins too easily," Magnus said.
"Well, rest assured that I am not a zombie."
"Correct," Ambulon grunted, standing behind the mech with Ratchet and First Aid. "You're a Decepticon."
All optics and visor-screens turned to the medic. "How do you know?" First Aid asked.
"He was part of the science team that experimented on me, when I was with the Decepticons," Ambulon said. "You remember me, don't you, Viral?"
The Decepticon studied him for a moment before saying, "Ah, yes, that's right. You were the right leg."
"Viral?" Ultra Magnus frowned. "Last I recall, you were imprisoned at Garrus-16 over seven months ago by the Secret Service."
"Things have changed at Garrus-16, and not at all for the better," Viral said darkly. "I was lucky to leave with my life, let alone leave at all."
"We're recently received a distress call from Garrus-16. Care to tell us what's happened there?"
"You do not need to know," the Decepticon said quietly. "If you value your life -- and those of your crew -- you will stay as far away from that place as possible."
"And why should we believe you?" asked Getaway, one of the bots Magnus had brought with him. "Why should we take this from a Decepticon?"
"Take it or leave it -- I won't try to stop you either way. All I ask is that you drop me off somewhere -- anywhere besides Talrus, of course. I don't want any part of your adventures."
Before Magnus could reply, his comlink buzzed and he answered it. "Ultra Magnus, here."
"Rodimus. Have you found what's inside the coffin?"
"Yes. We've got an escaped Decepticon on our hands; a convict from Garrus-16."
"Wow, talk about coincidence. Can he tell us anything about it?"
"Only that we should avoid it like the plague."
"Yeah, I'm not going to trust a 'Con on that," Rodimus replied. "We'll take him with us when we go down there, whether he likes it or not, so that we have a guide of some sort."
"A wise idea," Magnus said, to which Viral snorted. "Are you picking up any signs of Decepticon activity?"
"Not from orbit, no, everything looks pretty barren. Mainframe says he's picking up over a hundred life signs in once concentrated area -- that would be Garrus-16, I believe."
"Right. I'll be on the bridge shortly, with the Decepticon. Magnus out." After ending the call, Magnus looked back down at Viral. "Sorry to ruin any plans you had."
"Me?" Viral let out a humorless chuckle. "You, sir, have just signed the deaths of every single spark on this ship. And you call yourselves the good guys...."
No comments:
Post a Comment