CHAPTER TEN
--Carcer--
"No. Absolutely not."
Rodimus frowned as he crossed his arms, staring defiantly at Magmatron, who sat across the table. "What do you mean 'absolutely not?'"
"What do I...?" A look of utter perplexity crossed Magmatron's face. "What do you think I mean? I mean that there is no way we're altering our course just so that you can investigate some protoform's fable."
"Fable this," Rodimus retorted, producing the bullet from Agent 113 and setting it down on the table for all three of Carcer's leaders to see. Magmatron and the other two regarded it for a moment before looking back at Rodimus.
"Is this a joke?" Magmatron asked.
"Um, no," Rodimus said. "There are coordinates to the Necrobot's planet on that bullet. They were left behind by an agent of ours within the Decepticon ranks. I... I imagine it was left for a reason."
"Isn't everything?" said the one called Ultra Trion, picking up the bullet and rolling it between his fingers. "You know, I myself have long been intrigued by the Necrobot myth. I always used to brush it off like most, but for the past few centuries... it's certainly been a matter of interest to me."
"You can't be serious," Elitus said, staring slack-jawed at Trion.
"What? Surely you yourself have pondered it at least once in your life. All legends have some amount of truth to them. The Necrobot is no exception. I say we--"
"No," Magmatron spoke firmly, his tone carrying every sense of finality. "We've just had this discussion, Trion. Carcer does not currently have much power to spare. We can't waste it on a wild mysticorn chase."
"I agree," Ultra Trion said. "But we need not use Carcer for the voyage. Do we not have a decent number of ships in our hangars?"
"Yes, but we've depleted all of them of fuel to power Carcer."
"Not all of them," Elitus murmured.
All eyes were on the magenta femme, wide with surprise. "What?" Magmatron said incredulously. "What do you mean 'not all of them?'"
A smirk played across her lips. "How else would I mean that, Magmatron? There is one ship we have not yet drained. The one that carried the two generals, Obsidian and Strika."
"What?!" Rodimus exclaimed upon hearing the two names.
"Ah, yes," Ultra Trion said. "They arrived just before the trip to Master, when we already had plenty of fuel. Do you know how many bots it can carry?"
"About fifteen, give or take," Elitus said. "It's certainly not enough to carry all of our new guests."
"In that case, we--"
"I'm sorry, but before we carry this conversation any further, I must repeat: what?!" Rodimus looked to each Covenant member as if they had all lost their minds. "Do you guys not know who Obsidian and Strika are?"
"They were distinguished members of the Autobots during the First Great War," Ultra Trion said. "While I am aware of their change in allegiance since then, I do not respect them any less and am more than happy to serve alongside them once more. Besides, with the war over, do factions even matter at this point?"
Before Rodimus had a chance to answer, Sentinel Major stepped through the door behind him. "We have a situation," the orange mech said gravely.
Magmatron rose from his seat. "What is it?"
"Payback just commed me. Apparently there is a serial killer with mnemosurgical abilities roaming free through the city. According to her sources, he can use his powers remotely via eye contact."
All four bots stared at Sentinel in silent astonishment and horror. Eventually, Elitus cleared her vocal processor, nodding curtly.
"Very well. I shall radio the generals immediately. We shall put the whole city on lockdown."
"I mean, would it make much difference?" Rodimus asked. "This 'city' is flying through space, so there isn't exactly anywhere he can go. Plus, I don't think he knows about any ships here...."
"It never hurts to exercise caution," Magmatron said to the Autobot. "Are any of your group capable fighters?"
"Uh, yeah. Drift and Windblade are both Cyber-Ninjas. Skids' got a scrap load of guns, and Whirl's pretty much a menace with anything you give him."
"Good," Sentinel said, already out the door. "Then this shouldn't take too long."
* * *
"This is taking foreverrrr."
Greenlight glanced at her purple and orange companion, who was banging the tip of her spear against her helmet. "How long has it been now?"
Lancer sighed as she checked her chronometer. "Thirteen hours. We've been guarding the space bridge for thirteen hours. That's seven hundred and eighty minutes, or forty-six thousand and eight hundred seconds, or--"
"Okay, I get it. We've been standing guard here for an incredibly long time." Greenlight shot a glare at her. "You know we wouldn't even be here if you had just kept your hands to yourself."
Lancer gave her a coy smile in return. "Not my fault you've got a cute chassis."
Greenlight flushed furiously as she looked away from her Conjunx Endura. "Still, there's a time and place for stuff like that, and during roll call is definitely not--"
"Uh... am I interrupting?"
Both femmes turned to see a black and red mech standing in the doorframe. Immediately, they raised their spears at him, prompting him to hold his hands up in defense.
"Whoa, hey, easy there! No need to get all--"
"The space bridge is off-limits, pal," Lancer said sharply. "I suggest you turn back the way you came and buzz off."
"But... but I was supposed to have clearance," the mech said.
"Clearance? From who?"
"General Obsidian. Didn't he call you to give someone named Skyfall clearance to use the space bridge?"
The two Carcerians exchanged glances. Tilting her head, Greenlight said to Lancer, "Have you checked your backlog at all in the past thirteen hours?"
"Um...." The purple femme looked back at her sheepishly. "No? Hang on, let me check...."
Lancer took a moment to check her messages. After a moment, she looked back to Skyfall. "My apologies. I was unaware the general had cleared you for passage."
"A little odd though," Greenlight said. "Elitus told us we needed to preserve energy for Carcer to make its next jump. Are you sure Obsidian wants us to activate the space bridge?"
Skyfall shrugged. "Eh, take it up with him if you want. I'm just doing as I'm told."
While Lancer went to activate the space bridge, Greenlight continued to stare at Skyfall, a skeptical look in her optics. "Where is it that Obsidian is sending you to? And for what purpose?"
"Uh, those are both need to know, I'm afraid."
"Well, we need some kind of coordinates in order to get you there."
Skyfall hesitated for a brief yet noticeable second before saying, "Sure, sure. Mu-5991-Alpha-956-Rho-9320-Sigma-224."
Lancer inputted the coordinates and instantly a bright blue portal materialized in the space bridge's archway. Grinning widely, Skyfall nodded to the two femmes before transforming into his jet mode and blasting off into the portal. Once he was through, Lancer quickly deactivated the space bridge and blew out a sigh.
"We are so slagged."
"Why do you say that?" Greenlight asked. "We sure as heck weren't going to disobey Obsidian of all bots."
"That's not what I meant." Lancer turned to face Greenlight and, much to the latter's surprise, grinned at her. "There was nothing to disobey."
Greenlight blinked. "You mean...?"
"There was no such message from Obsidian. I knew that bot was up to no good."
"Oh. So where did you send him to?"
"Let's just say he's going to need to scan a new alt mode if he wants to live longer than five minutes in the jungle." Lancer winked at her partner as she nudged her with her elbow. "But that'll be our little secret, yeah?"
"Oh my gosh!" Greenlight laughed as she threw her arms around her partner, hugging her tightly. "You are the best! I could just--"
"Lancer? Greenlight?"
Upon hearing their names spoken, both guards immediately separated and turned to see a spindly mech hovering outside the doorway, a pair of rotor blades keeping him off the ground. While the couple flushed in embarrassment, Obsidian showed no indication he had noticed their intimate moment. Instead, he nodded to them soberly.
"I would have radioed this to you, but since I was coming down this way, I thought I'd deliver this in person," the general said. "If a black and red mech with wings by the name of Skyfall happens to come here and request use of the space bridge, you are permitted to allow him passage."
Obsidian patiently waited for the two femmes to respond. However, Greenlight and Lancer could do nothing but stare blankly at the space before them. Concerned by their lack of response, Obsidian tilted his head.
"He... hasn't come by yet, has he?"
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