CHAPTER ONE
--The Lost Light--
"Any luck?"
Nautica shook her head as she came from around the ship's engine block, still embedded with the bodies of Shock and Ore. "Nope. It's completely dead. Whoever sabotaged us really didn't want us to leave."
"Magnus told me it was most likely Stormshot," Skids said, crossing his arms.
"Who?" Nautica asked.
"Stormshot. White and blue bot, wings, visor. Might have been an Aerialbot."
"Oh. I've never heard of them."
"No one has, actually," Skids said. "Apparently she has been a shut-in ever since our quest started. The only 'bot she ever associates with is Evac, who let slip that--"
"Sorry, who's Evac?"
"Stormshot's roommate."
"Oh, right! The orange and blue helicopter."
"No, that's a different Evac. He's still on Cybertron. This Evac is a blue car."
Nautica frowned as she scratched her head. "I'm sorry, this is all so confusing."
"Join the club," Skids muttered. "Anyway, wanna go tell Rodimus the news?"
Nautica sighed as her shoulders drooped. "Must I? He doesn't seem to be in a good mood."
"He hasn't been since Megatron came on board." Skids smiled as he put a hand on Nautica's shoulder. "But don't worry. I'll tell him myself if you want."
"No, no, that's okay. I was the one he sent so I should be the one to tell him."
"Tell you what: how about we both go tell him? I can be your support beam."
Nautica smiled back at him. "That's awfully chivalrous of you."
"What? Just being a friend."
"Yes. A very, very good friend."
* * *
"So what are we going to do?"
"Quiet," Rodimus snapped, sitting in his captain's chair as he held his chin. "I'm contemplating."
Megatron glared at him. "You've been 'contemplating' for nearly two days now. So I ask again, for the thousandth time: what are we going to do?"
Rodimus rolled his optics. "Hmm, well, let's see. What can we do? We could take on Carcer head on, but that would be suicide. Even I'm not that rash. Or we could sit here and hope that our call to Cybertron gets through and they send reinforcements."
Megatron scowled at him. "So that's your plan? To sit here and wait?"
"Hey, you're free to do whatever you want. If you want to take on Carcer yourself, be my guest; just don't expect anyone to help you."
Megatron continued to glare at him before turning away, snorting as he folded his arms. "Where's Ultra Magnus gone to?"
"Why do you care?" Rodimus asked.
"I don't. It's just that I haven't seen him in quite some time."
"He said he was doing research." Rodimus shrugged. "Didn't say what for."
"And what of the engines? Has Nautica reported back yet?"
"Um, right here, sirs."
Both bots turned to see Nautica stepping onto the bridge, with Skids right beside her. She briefly glanced at Megatron before looking directly at Rodimus.
"The engines are dead," she said. "Completely dead. No way to fix them. We're stuck here."
"Great." Rodimus ran a hand over his face. "Just great. Guess all we can do now is hope that Cybertron comes through for us before Carcer realizes we're here and blows us up."
"What's Carcer doing now?" Skids asked.
"So far nothing," Megatron replied. "As far as we know, it's still hanging over Paradise Tower."
"What would anyone want from Paradron anyway?" Nautica wondered aloud. "Especially to kill Landshark over it...."
"What anyone would want," Megatron muttered. "Complete and utter control."
--Paradise Tower--
"Why so glum, Sandstorm? Is this not what you wanted?"
Sandstorm turned away from the shattered window to see the one known as Magmatron standing in the doorway. The monstrous beast-former stepped into the room, baring his fangs as he smiled.
"We did our part, did we not?" the Covenant leader asked. "We made you leader of Paradron."
"Yes, but...." Sandstorm glanced back out the window, where he could still see the crater made from the impact of Landshark's twisted, motionless corpse. "Did you really need to kill Landshark?"
"How else would we have done it?" Magmatron growled. "Besides, he was weak. In our world, only the strong deserve to live."
Sandstorm sighed, closing his optics. "Even so, Paradron is supposed to be peaceful. Violence is condemned here."
"Oh?" Magmatron raised an optic ridge. "Then what about all of those bots you killed before our arrival?"
"That was different!" Sandstorm snapped. "They were Autobots and Decepticons, not Paradrons! I was trying to send a message, to expose Landshark's mistake in granting them refuge."
"And now he's paid the price. I fail to see the problem here."
"There...." Sandstorm averted his gaze. "There is no problem."
"Good! Now we can focus on the important things." Magmatron laid a hand on Sandstorm's shoulder. Leaning in close, he said, "Tell me: what do you know of the Covenant?"
"Very little," Sandstorm murmured. "I only learned of you from word of mouth; whispers and hearsay."
"How did you get into contact with us?"
"A friend of mine called me. He had just joined your colony seven years ago and told me that if I ever needed help or a different place to live, to call the number he gave me."
"And what was your friend's name?"
"Wingblade." Sandstorm looked up at Magmatron. "Is he here? Is he still with you?"
Magmatron smiled thinly. "He is. I'll be sure to reunite the two of you when I get the chance. But first, why don't we sit down? I think it's time you learned the full story behind the Covenant...."
* * *
Judging by the fact that he had not exploded into a billion particles, Dion deemed the prototype time machine to be a success. It was still ridiculously heavy, but a success nonetheless.
Setting down the block on the lid of a nearby dumpster, the orange Autobot frowned as he looked up. Unless he was mistaken, there had definitely not been a massive ship in the sky when he was last here.
Try to get there before the Carcer incident.
Dion swore under his breath. It would have helped if Pox had given him a specific date....
"You lost, buddy?"
Dion turned around to see a green mech standing behind him, a Decepticon emblem on their wide yellow chest. Instinctively, Dion deployed his twin cannons, causing the 'Con to raise his hands defensively.
"Easy, pal. I'm not looking for a fight. Name's Gutcruncher."
"Not exactly the friendliest of names, is it?" Dion said wryly.
Gutcruncher chuckled. "Guess not. But Sparkcrusher was already taken, so...."
Deeming the Decepticon to not be a threat, Dion retracted his weapons. "My name's Dion. Care to tell me what a Titan's doing in the sky?"
"Heh, I was kinda hoping you would tell me," Gutcruncher said. "It just showed up out of nowhere two days ago and--"
"Two days?!" Dion's optics widened. "Am I too late?"
"Um, what?"
Ignoring him, Dion reached for the time machine, studying the readings on its screen. He must have miscalculated the jump... that or the device was just as unreliable as Tyrone had warned him it would be.
I have to go back further, he thought as he began to prepare the machine for another jump. I can't waste anytime searching for them. Cop-Tur might already be--
He pressed a button and the whole thing sputtered and died, falling apart in his hands.
No.
He stared at the remains of what had once been the last time machine in the world.
No.
"Wow," Gutcruncher commented. "Even I put more effort in my products."
In theory, Dion's screams could have been heard from orbit.
No comments:
Post a Comment