Transformers Regenerated: Lost Light V, Chapter Seven

CHAPTER SEVEN

--The Leading Light--

    "I see the Rodpod down below," Riptide said as he piloted the shuttle towards Garrus-16. "Should I land next to it or do we go in a different way?"

    Drift leaned over the Hydrobot's station, rubbing his chin. "The schematics Magnus showed me of the facility showed an attic of some sort. Maybe we could land on the rooftop and go through there."

    "Hold up a moment," Hound said from his station. "I'm picking up a huge energon signature -- enough to be six different lifeform reading, but it's all coming in as one."

    "There must be something big in the attic," Trailbreaker muttered, standing nearby with Cyclonus, Atomizer, Chromedome, and Rewind. "Something big and scary, I'm willing to bet."

    "I wouldn't expect any less from these 'Cons," Drift said. "Land us on the rooftop, Riptide. Whatever's there, we'll deal with it somehow."

    "Yeah, sure," Riptide grunted. "Deal with it by dying horribly probably."

--Garrus-16--

    To the surprise and confusion of Skids and his group, the Chompazoid the former had encountered were nowhere to be seen. As they had planned, they split up into three teams of two, with Skids and Ariel using the foot indentures left behind by Underbite to take them back to where Rodimus and the others were being held.

    Since Ariel was unable to transform (at least according to Over-Run), the two opted to walk instead, silently creeping down the hallway. Upon reaching the end of the trail -- at the site where he first ran into the Chompazoid -- Skids signaled Ariel to stay behind while he scouted ahead.

    Peering around the corner, down which he could see the chamber the others were in, he spotted three Decepticon standing guard, talking amongst themselves.

    "--miss Sky-Byte being with us," a blue winged mech was saying. "The guys Gigatron's got here aren't nearly as fun to heckle."

    "No kidding," a crimson one said. "Most of them are too stupid to know they're being made fun of or they nearly bite your head off if you so much as ask them the time."

    "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I also miss how he kissed Gigatron's feet," said the tallest of them, a black and yellow mech. "It was just so pathetic that you couldn't help but laugh hysterically. Why did he leave us again?"

    "I dunno, somethin' to do with the Constructicons," the red one said. "Something they did on Varas Centralus traumatized him or something."

    "Huh. Y'know, I always gave him better credit than that."

    Skids tuned out the rest of their conversation. It was clear to him that these three Decepticons were some of the lousiest he had ever met. Gigatron must have had not much care for security. Maybe this plan would go off easier than he thought.

    He quickly perished that thought. Plans like these never went smoothly.

    Turning back to Ariel, he said, "Stay where you are. I'll handle these three."

    Ariel nodded obediently and Skids moved into the hallway, stepping into plain view of the bumbling trio.

    "Hey, you there!" the red one said. "You're no Decepticon I recognize!"

    "That's because he isn't, you lug nut," the black one snapped. "He's one of the escaped Autobots!"

    "Oh, sweet Primus!" the blue one whimpered. "I didn't think he'd come after us! We're all gonna die!"

    "Shut up, Dark Scream! This guy is going down!" Stepping forward, the black one angled his left shoulder and an orb-shaped crystal glowed in its center. "Left Las--!"

    A single blast from Skids' shoulder cannons sent the Decepticon sprawling back into the chamber. The one known as Dark Scream shrieked out of terror while the red one brandished his own crystal, hidden in his large shoulder pad.

    "No one messes with my brother and gets away with it! Right La--!"

    A shot delivered to the head knocked the red mech out. Horrified by what he was seeing, Dark Scream converted into his beast mode -- a flying squirrel -- and shot past Skids. Deciding he was not worth the trouble, Skids let the Decepticon go and signaled Ariel over to him.

    As the two entered the chamber, Skids was relieved to see that Rodimus and the others were still there -- comatose, but otherwise alive. However, he quickly realized that they were not alone, seeing movement behind Whirl's cocoon. As soon as Skids took aim with his weapons, a pair of arms shot up.

    "Don't shoot!" a familiar voice said. "It's me!"

    Skids blinked as he lowered his guns. "Ratchet?"

    The Autobot medic emerged from behind the cocoon, a disgruntled look on his face. "Can't I help my fellow bots out without being shot at?"

    "I'm sorry," Skids said. "I thought you were a Decepticon. There were two in here earlier, when I escaped." He then tilted his head quizzically. "Where have you been? I didn't see you or Brainstorm when I woke up."

    "I don't know about Brainstorm, but I had a run-in with Pharma," Ratchet muttered. "If it weren't for Tap-Out here, I'd probably be dead."

    "Tap-Out who?" Skids then saw a green Autobot appear from behind Windblade, immediately recognizing him from the cell block when he and the others had first arrived. "Oh, yeah, you. How did you get free? You were in a cell when we met."

    Tap-Out said nothing. Instead, a grin slowly started to cross his face as a disembodied voice spoke out of nowhere.

    "What do they teach at the academies these days?"

    Suddenly, before the three Autobots' horrified optics, Tap-Out's green chassis started to peel away, slowly being replaced by an all-black, red-eyed serpentine creature.

    "Don't you know to never judge a book by its cover?"

    Before anyone could react, a large figure appeared in the doorway, a manic grin on his face. At least half a dozen Decepticons were behind him, all looking eager to tear the Autobots apart.

    "Thank you for that wise lesson, Pseudo," Overlord said as he brandished a gun. "Now I think is the time to demonstrate one of my own: don't pick a fight you know you can't win."

*  *  *

    "You sure is the security center?"

    "Do you not trust me, Autobot?" Viral said wryly as he and Kick-Off stepped into a room filled with monitors.

    "Of course I don't," Kick-Off grunted. "But I don't have much of a choice, now do I? Now answer my question."

    "Yes, I do believe this is the security center," Viral replied, scanning the room. He soon landed his gaze on a lifeless chassis sprawled before the monitor station, fresh innermost energon still leaking from the corpse. "And I have the distinct feeling this plan is not going to go as smoothly as Skids had hoped."

    Kick-Off took one look at the body and simply snorted. "Don't tell me you're freaked out by one corpse. I've seen enough to populate an entire planet. Just get the cell doors open and--"

    Viral had his back turned when Kick-Off was abruptly cut off. When he turned around, he saw the cause of that to be a giant floating hand holding the Autobot in a death grip.

    It was moments like now that made Viral wish he had stayed in his coffin.