CHAPTER ONE
--Outpost Three--
"Mother's not gonna be happy."
Fractyl kept his eyes on the space bridge, not so much as glancing at the bot standing next to him. "He will come," the green jet said assuredly. "Trust me."
"I do, but...." The large gray and blue Decepticon shifted slightly. "It's been half an hour since Obsidian radioed us. Skyfall should have been here at least twenty minutes ago."
"Maybe they're just experiencing delays. Maybe something's holding him up."
"Or maybe he's just not coming." Offroad placed a hand on the other Decepticon's shoulder. "Look, I understand you don't want to bring this to Mother. No one wants to deliver any sort of bad news to her. But if you want me to bring this to her, I'd be happy to--"
"No." Fractyl sighed as he dipped his head, shoulders sagging. "I was the one assigned to the space bridge. I should be the one to report to her. You have nothing to do with this."
Offroad shrugged. "Okay. Your choice. Just know that I offered my spark for yours; that ain't something I do lightly."
"I know." Fractyl turned to the other mech and gave a weak smile. "Thank you for the gesture all the same."
"Ah, don't mention it." Offroad paused briefly to reflect on his words. A sheepish look then colored his yellow face. "Er, let me rephrase that...."
"No. It's okay." Fractyl turned to head back for the base, which laid several miles ahead on the horizon. After gazing into the distance for a moment, he looked to Offroad one last time. "Wish me luck."
"I don't think it'll do any good, but sure thing." Offroad gave him a mock salute. "Nice knowin' ya, pal."
Nodding curtly, Fractyl then morphed into his jet mode and shot off towards the base.
* * *
"...And that's the situation so far. As far as I know, I'm the only living thing here. Everyone else is either dead or has run off."
Onslaught did not move from his current stance, keeping his arms folded as he stared at the dark green mech on the viewscreen. His visor and faceplate made his expression difficult to read, which only made Oil Slick more visibly uncomfortable.
After a moment, the Combaticon leader finally spoke, keeping his tone neutral. "What of the clones?"
Oil Slick coughed, looking hesitant to answer. "Ah, them. Well, shortly before the Wreckers attacked, Vivisector placed six of them on his ship, which was then stolen by one of our own and taken to spark knows where. The seventh, which Vivisector hadn't yet placed on board, somehow freed himself and took Magnificus and the Wreckers with him."
"Are there any other clones on the station?"
"No, but we do have a large number of spare protoforms. As far as I know, they were not damaged by the Troobian conflict or the Wreckers' attack."
Onslaught nodded. "Very well. We shall send a crew to retrieve you and the protoforms. I will debrief you in full once you arrive."
"Uh, great," Oil Slick murmured. "I look forward to it."
With that, Onslaught switched off the viewscreen and turned to leave his station. In a way, he could almost relate to Oil Slick, in that they both feared repercussions from their superiors. Onslaught had served under a number of Decepticon warlords in his life: Trannis, Megatron, Deathsaurus... but none of them compared to Mother. Not necessarily in terms of her ruthlessness, but in regards to how she executed it. With someone like Megatron, one could predict how they would react upon being given bad news.
Not so with Mother. Mother was never predictable.
As leader of the Combaticons, Onslaught would like to think someone of his rank would be spared from any punishment that entailed death; that his strategic mind was far too valuable to waste.
But then he remembers what happened to the last general to fail Mother and he realizes just how foolish he is.
* * *
The command center of Outpost Three -- commonly known as Mother's Room -- was plunged in almost complete darkness, all save for the array of monitors that surrounded Mother herself. Each screen showed every corner of every room; wall to wall, ceiling to floor. Nothing escaped Mother's notice. She saw and heard everything.
Unless it was here in this room.
It made sense to an extent. Since Mother already had her optics on the corridor leading to the command center, why would she even need to worry about intruders when she could have them dealt with before they were even inside? There was no need to exert any more caution than necessary.
Then again, she had probably never dealt with the Autobot Secret Service before.
The mech known simply as Unit-3 watched from the shadows as two Decepticons entered the command center. The tallest of the pair, clad in dark blue and olive green armor plating, his sensors identified as the Combaticon leader Onslaught. The other, a winged mech colored in greens and browns, was a scientist known as Fractyl.
They came to a stop before the apparatus to which Mother was connected. Stepping forward with his arms behind his back, Onslaught said, "Mother, I... we have bad news to deliver."
There was a moment of silence. At first Unit-3 thought Onslaught was waiting for a response, but then the Combaticon leader spoke again, continuing as if he had already received one.
"Outpost Two has contacted us. Magnificus has been captured by the Wreckers and seven clones have been lost -- one of them currently in the Wreckers' possession."
Silence again. Then Fractyl stepped up, an action Unit-3 found strange since Mother had not prompted him.
"General Obsidian's agent has not yet arrived with the Enigma of Combination, and I fear that they never will. Unless we try getting a hold of him and risk blowing his--"
The flier stopped talking as if he had been cut off, but Unit-3 heard no one else speak. Onslaught then took a step forward as well, splaying his hands.
"Mother, are you sure that is wise? Without the Enigma, I don't see how we can--" The Combaticon paused, before slowly nodding. "Yes, I am aware of that, but at the rate our engineers are working, we'll be in the next millennium by the time--"
Onslaught fell silent as both he and Fractyl adopted shocked expressions.
"I... with all due respect, Mother, you can't be serious," the latter said. "The gestalt is much too unstable to unleash. It could put all our plans at risk."
"He has a point," Onslaught said. "The Mastermind was quite insistent that we kept our operations as covert as possible. Releasing Monstructor would be counterproductive."
Silence again. Fractyl let out a disgruntled sigh while Onslaught bowed his head.
"No, I understand. I... we shall do as you command, Mother. By your will."
With that, the Combaticon leader pivoted and exited the chamber with Fractyl close behind. Unit-3 did everything he could to not utter a sound as he compiled everything he had overheard into a single file and transmitted it to headquarters.
Over six months of surveillance had finally paid of... only now, he wish it hadn't.
ALL THAT GLITTERS
Part III: Darkness, My Old Friend
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