CHAPTER EIGHT
Roadbuster let out a battle cry as he unloaded his guns on the attacking Monstercons, standing guard over the weakened Guzzle. Springer was locked in a sword fight with Leo Prime, and Apelinq and Kup were lost amidst a horde of Chimeracons. Things were not looking up for the Wreckers....
As he gunned down a pair of Croctobots, Roadbuster attempted to raise the others on his comm. "We're getting pinned over here! I don't care what orders Springer already gave you; we could really use some back up!"
"Don't bother," he heard a voice say. "They can't hear you."
The blare of a horn was Roadbuster's only warning as a yellow tow truck came barreling out of nowhere, crashing into him. As the Wrecker fell onto his back, the truck converted into a hulking robot and pinned his chest down with a large foot.
"Oh, you have no idea how long I've been waiting for this moment," the yellow bot said as it aimed a gun at Roadbuster's head. "Go on. Guess. Just pick a number, any number."
Roadbuster stared back at the bot, recognizing his voice. "Hubcap? Is that you?"
"589 years. That's how long it's been, to the day." Hubcap snaked a finger around the trigger of the gun, his visor gleaming with a ravenous rage. "Class of Cycle 9227. Sole survivor. You remember, don't you?"
Roadbuster tensed. He did indeed remember that day; it was the day of what High Command liked to call "the Roadbuster affair." He had heard a voice in his head, claiming to be the death god Mortilus, and at its behest he had mode-drilled all of his cadets to the point of death so that they could be sacrificed to the altar.
Evidently, he had managed to miss one.
"You were there?" Roadbuster murmured. "You were... one of my cadets?"
"Regrettably," Hubcap said bitterly. "My commander had reassigned me to your unit in the hopes that you would be able to properly discipline me. In a way, it worked; I'm not the same bot now that I was 589 years ago."
He began to apply pressure to the trigger.
"And you wanna know something?" he asked in a deadly whisper. "I think I'm better for it."
"That's funny." A shadow fell over Hubcap and his target. "'Cos I think you're better dead."
Hubcap had no time to react as Guzzle grabbed him by the head and squeezed. Roadbuster was splattered with energron from Hubcap's crushed cranium as the former Autobot's weightless body fell off of him. Guzzle then offered a hand to Roadbuster and pulled the older Wrecker back to his feet.
"Thanks," Roadbuster grunted.
"Welcome," Guzzle replied just as tersely. He looked around to see Springer and the others still locked in combat with Leo Prime and his forces. "Ready to get back into action?"
"Sure," Roadbuster said. "Just let me make a quick call...."
* * *
"Boy, this sure takes me back."
Twin Twist fired his dual guns at the oncoming horde of Star Seekers. Several of them looked like Decepticon Vehicons given a new paint-job and they were just as cannon fodder-y as he remembered them.
"Remember the Battle of Aquarius, Broadside?" he said to the battleship that was carrying him and Arcee across the bay, circling the Star Seekers' own vessel. "We went up against Snaptrap and his crew, and Impactor used his harpoon to--"
"Can this wait?" Arcee asked, dodging blasterfire from an aerial unit. "I don't think now's the time for reminiscing."
"Sorry. It's just... being back from the dead and all has...." Twin Twist paused for a moment before raising a hand to his comm. "Roadbuster? What is.... Uh, we're kinda preoccupied at the moment. Springer did tell us.... I know that, but--"
"Hang on!" Broadside suddenly shouted, abruptly veering away from the Tidal Wave. "Something's chasing us!"
Twin Twist and Arcee both turned to see a trio of fins poking out from the waters, fiercely pursuing them. As the pair aimed their guns, the three sharks jumped out of the ocean and transformed, landing on Broadside's hull.
"Looks like Autobots are back on the menu, boys," said the lead Sharkticon, a wiry beige and blue bot. She brandished a long ax from her right arm. "Dibs on the blue one."
"Yeah, I'm gonna have to call you later, Roadbuster," Twin Twist muttered as the three Sharkticons closed in on him and Arcee.
* * *
"Okay," Getaway said quietly as he and Skids kept their guns trained on the numerous Terrorbots surrounding them, while Star Saber stood with his sword at the ready. "So are we just gonna have a perpetual Nebulan standoff, or is something gonna happen?"
"These bots were on Luna One," Star Saber murmured. "What are they doing here on Earth?"
"Store it with the million other questions we already have," Skids said. He turned to one Noisemaze unit and stared into its triangular visor. "Are you guys much for words? Or do you just stand around and look intimidating?"
The Noisemaze said nothing. Skids expected as much.
What he wasn't expecting was for one of the EVE units behind the Noisemaze to turn on and detach from its station. Yellow optics lit up on its screen rather than blue as it floated over to hover before the three Autobots. When it spoke, it did so with a dull monotone rather than with a feminine lilt.
"Now that I have your attention--"
"You've had it for, like, five minutes," Getaway snapped. "Took you long enough to speak up."
"...Now that I have your attention, allow me to introduce myself," the small robot said. "My name is Garrison Blackrock, founder and CEO of Onyx."
Getaway looked the drone up and down. "You guys are big on employee uniformity, I take it?"
"Ha ha," the drone intoned. "What you are seeing is not myself but one of my prototype Exploration robots. Ideal for space travel... and dealing with unwanted visitors."
Skids gestured at the Noisemazes. "And these guys?"
"Ah, those belong to our benefactors," Blackrock said. "They were provided to us earlier this year and have been an excellent template for our own Transformers."
"So we've noticed." Skids glanced at the dormant car bots. "So what exactly is your guys' game here? What are you trying to accomplish?"
"Well, speaking solely for myself, it is my wish to advance my race's technology to lengths never once dreamed of before. Like Edison and Gates were for their time, I shall be the visionary for mine. I will be what this world needs to propel humanity towards greater heights."
"So it's an ego thing. All of this...." Star Saber gestured widely to the various types of robots. "...is all for your personal achievement."
The drone tilted its head. "What were you expecting? We're a corporation; personal achievement is all we're about."
"Least you're honest about it," Getaway muttered.
Skids shook his head. "No. No, no, no. There's gotta be more to it than that. I mean, why even make your own Cybertronians? The EVE-bots I can understand--"
"'EVE-bots?'" Blackrock asked.
"...But why make copies of us? Why make the same exact bots Scorponok and his minions made?"
The drone's yellow eyes widened. "Wait. You... you know about Scorponok?"
"None of us were there for it in person, but we've heard the stories." Skids eyed the drone carefully. "I'm sure you have. Right?"
"Oh, dear." The drone tapped its fingers together. "I should have been prepared for this outcome. Uh...." The robot swiveled its head to one of the Noisemazes. "Could one of you, like, incapacitate them or something?"
"Wait, what?" Getaway exclaimed.
He and Skids moved to fire their guns but the Noisemazes had already raised their arms and released a blast of energy that shunted the three Autobots into stasis lock, knocking them to the floor.
"That works," Blackrock said. "Now then... what say we deal with the intruders outside?"
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