5: OUT OF THE FRYING PAN
--Carcer--
"Has anyone seen Sentinel Major?"
Payback paused midstride. As the rest of her party continued marching down the hall, the green and brown Carcerian turned to see her comrade Wingblade approaching her, flexing his recently reattached arm.
"No, I haven't," Payback replied. "Why do you ask?"
"I haven't seen him since we started the jump," the winged mech told her. "I've been concerned about some of our Cybertronian guests and wish to speak with him about said guests."
Payback shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. Anyway, we should probably get moving; you know how the generals get when soldiers aren't punctual... especially Strika."
"Right," Wingblade muttered, frowning. "I'm just worried that these bots will only give us more grief the longer they stay."
"Hey, don't fret over it," Payback said. "I'm sure the big bot will have it all under control."
* * *
"I really don't like this idea, Whirl."
"Ah, quit being a wuss, Eyebrows," Whirl retorted. The ex-Wrecker was ahead of a group consisting of himself, Rung, Skids, and Ariel; the only Lost Light-ers that still remained on Carcer. They were currently sneaking through the inner corridors of the Titan, going past the resident Carcerians unnoticed. It helped that they all seemed to be off somewhere urgent and thus did not see the need to pay the four Autobots any mind.
Of course, that didn't stop Rung from continuing to be a worrywart.
"I'm being serious, Whirl!" the psychiatrist hissed back. "I'm beginning to doubt these Carcerians are even remotely trustworthy. Cyclonus is missing, Rodimus and the others aren't back yet, and we've clearly traveled to someplace but exactly where is anyone's--"
Whirl shushed him, raising a claw as he brought the gang to a stop before a nondescript door. A single metal plate bolted onto the door read, in Old Cybertronian, the words "Space Bride Chamber."
Rung frowned upon seeing this. "You're not actually thinking...?"
"You bet I am, Eyebrows."
"It's sure to be heavily guarded though. Who knows how many bots they have in there."
"You think numbers mean anything to an ex-Wrecker like me? Besides, we've got Skids--"
"Don't count on me to be of much use," Skids said grimly, rubbing his helm. "I'm not exactly in the best state of mind to fight or anything."
"Ah, no worries," Whirl said. "I'll do all the hard stuff. I don't mind. I might need you to blast down the door though. 'Cos I've got no guns and I don't exactly have a Roadbuster kind of build, y'know?"
Rung's eyebrows raised in alarm. "I do believe such an act would attract more attention than we don't need."
"Well, what would you suggest we do instead, skinny?" Whirl snapped, turning on the smaller Autobot. "How do you suggest we get off this god-forsaken ship?"
"Uh, Whirl...?" Skids started to say.
"Shut up, I'm not finis--"
"Ahem."
Whirl let out a yelp as he spun around. Standing in the now-opened doorway was Sentinel Major, who staring at the four Autobots with cool blue optics.
"Scrap," Skids muttered.
"I was wondering when you would get here," Sentinel said. "I almost began to think you were planning on staying."
"Sentinel Major, please. We mean you no--" Rung was silenced by Sentinel with the raise of a hand.
"Save it," the larger mech said. "We don't have much time."
All four blinked in confusion. "We?"
Sentinel stepped aside, revealing the room to be filled by the twenty-odd Camiens that had also been transported to Carcer with the Lost Light-ers. "I suggest that you come aside."
* * *
"I'm impressed, Trion. I didn't think you had the guts."
Ultra Trion said nothing as he stood beside Elitus. The both of them were watching Magmatron and his generals bark out orders to the Carcerians, who were mobilizing to head down to Eukaris.
"I mean, I know you no longer claim to be an Autobot, unlike Sentinel, but what you did was very Decepticon of you."
"Hardly," Trion grunted. "Perhaps if I had dumped them out the airlock, which I could have easily done instead."
"True, but that would have been too easy." Elitus grinned wickedly at him. "I like a bot who takes the long way round."
Trion glanced at her. "Your advances are flattering but unwanted. I do not wish to be anything more than mere acquaintances with you and the others."
Elitus scoffed. "Don't mistake my impression for anything beyond such, Trion. You're only flattering yourself."
Both bots fell silent as Magmatron began to approach them. The Eukarian had his optics set on Ultra Trion, who shifted slightly under his gaze.
"Old friend!" Magmatron said, grinning widely. "I have heard about what you've done with those Cybertronians. Excellent work, my friend."
Trion bowed his head. "Yes, well, there wasn't much to it--"
"Nonsense!" Magmatron rested a hand on his shoulder. "You have proven yourself a more than capable ally. It is no wonder the Autobots once held you in such high regard."
Trion opened his mouth to respond but was cut off again. "Now then, I have an offer to make you," the Eukarian said.
"An offer?" Trion repeated bemusedly. "Of what sort?"
"I shall be heading down to Eukaris in five minutes time. While Sentinel and Elitus command Carcer in my absence, I want you to accompany me."
Trion looked perplexed at this. "Accompany you? Me?"
"Yes." Magmatron smirked. "Don't worry; I have an upgrade already set aside for you. I would be remiss to have you come as you are."
Ultra Trion could only stammer in response. Without waiting for a clear answer, Magmatron slapped him on the back.
"Glad to hear it! I'll have Elitus take you to go see Cogwheel."
Before he could protest, Trion found himself already being dragged away by Elitus. The magenta-colored femme flashed him a devious grin as they left.
"How does it feel to be coming out of retirement, Ultra Magnus?"
Trion's only response was to stare off aghast into space.
* * *
"Okay, what kind of game are you playing?"
Sentinel Major looked over his shoulder at Skids as he worked the controls of the space bridge. "I beg your pardon?"
Skids gestured widely at the gathered crowd of Cybertronians and Camiens. "What are we doing here? Where are you planning to send us to? And where the Pit are Rodimus and the others?"
Sentinel sighed. "I wish I could answer your last question, but I honestly don't know. I haven't had the chance to speak with Ultra Trion and I don't want to raise any more suspicion than I already have with my absence. As for where I'm sending you... that's what I'm still trying to figure out."
"What do you mean?" Rung asked.
"There's not enough power to send you just anywhere in the galaxy," Sentinel explained. "However, I can send you to any world with a Titan of its own... provided their space bridge is still working."
"Well, you can rule out Caminus," said Firestar. "I'm pretty sure the Decepticons have eliminated any chance of us going back there."
"And you might want to rule out Animatron as well," said Whirl. "Call it a hunch."
Sentinel rubbed his chin. "Right. That just leaves Velocitron... and Devisiun. Any objections to those?"
"What about Metroplex?" another Camien asked. "I've heard that the Circle of Light have been commandeering him."
"Yes, but we don't know if they still are," Skids pointed out. "Plus, they could be in the middle of something bad for all we know."
Any further conversation was abruptly halted by the sound of Sentinel's comm going off. The orange Autobot's optics briefly flashed in alarm.
"That's sure to be Obsidian, wondering where I've gone. We've got to make this quick." Turning back to the space bridge's console, Sentinel punched in a series of commands and in short time, a portal materialized.
"There. This should take you to Velocitron. Hopefully you will find help there."
Skids frowned. "How can we be sure we can trust you?"
Sentinel sighed. "Look, there's no time to argue. The portal won't last for long, and there's going to be bots barging in here any moment now. I suggest you go now."
Skids looked to Rung, who simply shrugged, then to Firestar, who nodded slightly. Without another moment of hesitation, they started moving towards the portal....
No comments:
Post a Comment