CHAPTER FIVE
--The Requiem--
"Give me an ETA."
Sitting at the controls of the Wreckers' ship, Packrat blinked and craned his head to look at Impactor. "Eh?"
The Wrecker leader rolled his optics. "How much longer until we reach Earth?"
"Oh." Packrat returned his attention to the controls. "I dunno. An hour? Two hours, maybe."
"And you really couldn't find a ship better than this hunk of junk?" Punch commented, standing off to Impactor's side.
"Give me a break, will ya?" Packrat sniped back. "Good ships aren't easy to come by cheap. Besides, you shouldn't knock the D.V.X. Bludgeon used one as his ride of choice during the war."
"You're talking to Autobots, pal. You shouldn't expect us to be impressed."
"Fractyl's a 'Con, isn't he?" Packrat asked, looking at the geochemist expectantly.
Fractyl waved a dismissive hand. "Leave me out of this."
Packrat frowned but did not press the matter. Meanwhile, Impactor began to pace around the bridge, surveying its empty crew pits.
"You say you don't know who last owned this ship?" he asked Packrat.
The Maximal shook his head. "I bought it from a neutral sales-bot in Ibex. S'was the only thing he had that wasn't fallin' to pieces."
"Have you checked the ship's logs?" asked Sandstorm.
"Tried to but they're encrypted. Think the sales-bot did it for whoever he got the ship from."
"What was the bot's name?"
Packrat threw his hands up. "I don't fraggin' remember! It was a slaggin' year ago, after the whole Thunderwing business went down. I didn't think to ask many question 'cos I was just plannin' on reselling it."
"Could I have a look?" Punch asked. "Ex-double agent here, so I know a few tricks to cracking codes."
Packrat gestured to the ship's console. "Be my guest."
While Punch went to work, Impactor looked around again and realized there was a noticeable absence on the bridge.
"Where's Toxitron?"
"I think he said he was going to search the rest of the ship," Sandstorm replied. "Said something about stowaways."
"I already quadrupled checked!" Packrat protested. "No one's hidin' anywhere!"
Impactor scowled. "Either way, I don't want him roaming around on his lonesome. Sandstorm, go fetch him."
"Sure thing," the orange bot said, already turning to depart.
* * *
The sound of his own footsteps was all Toxitron heard as he wandered the halls of the Requiem. His optical sensors roamed from wall to wall, desperate to pick up anything out of the ordinary. His hand was gripped tight around the handle of his Distortion Rifle, finger just waiting to pull the trigger.
"I know you're here," he growled quietly. "Don't think you can hide from me."
He couldn't explain this "sixth sense" he had suddenly picked up. Ever since he had set foot on the Requiem, he could tell something was off. It was as if something -- or someone -- was beckoning him, begging to be found.
Having come up empty in the main hallways, he decided to head down to the engine rooms. If being on the Lost Light had taught him anything, it was that a lot of bad things went down in the engine rooms.
By the time he reached them, Toxitron could hear another set of footsteps coming from behind him. No doubt one of the others come to find him. Not wanting any kind of confrontation to divert him from his personal search, Toxitron hurried into the room and locked the door behind him. No sooner had it clicked shut that a blade had plunged into his chest and knocked him to the floor....
* * *
"Toxitron?" Sandstorm rapped his hand against the locked door. "What are you doing in there? Are you--"
An agonized cry cut him off. It was all the incentive he needed to force his way in, blasting the lock and kicking the door open. Once he was in, Sandstorm found himself gazing upon Toxitron lying on the floor, a wide gash in his chest.
As he rushed over to the Optimus clone, the door shut behind him and he was kicked from behind by a large foot. A heavy weight kept him pinned to the floor as a gun clicked against his head.
"Scream and they'll never find your body," growled a menacing voice.
Sandstorm snorted, unimpressed. "Tough talk for someone too scared for a one-on-one fight."
"We're not looking for a fight."
"Who's we?" Sandstorm's question was instantly answered by a silver and teal bot emerging from the shadows, wielding a sword dripping with energon.
"We don't want any trouble," the sword bot said darkly, fixing his cold gaze on Sandstorm.
"Your bloodied sword says otherwise."
"You misunderstand. Our interest lies solely with our brother. You need not be a part of this."
"That argument would be a lot more convincing if you hadn't just stabbed my fellow Wrecker."
The bot with his foot on Sandstorm's back began to apply pressure. "I say we just blast him now and be done with it."
"Let us not be so hasty, Megastorm. We don't want to attract too much attention. Just keep him down while I prep the device."
"You 'Cons aren't going anywhere!" Sandstorm snarled, thrashing beneath Megastorm's foot.
The silver bot smiled thinly. "Correct, Autobot. We are not planning on going anywhere."
He then produced a pronged cable box -- a Transwarp device, Sandstorm realized -- and switched it on, taking a step towards the Wrecker.
"You, on the other hand...."
Without warning, Toxitron sprang up and grabbed the silver bot by the leg. The mech let out a startled cry before deploying an arm cannon from his arm, which he then pointed at Toxitron's head.
"Megaplex, wait!" Megastorm cried, removing his foot from Sandstorm's back. The Wrecker immediately jumped back to his feet and threw his fist into the Megatron clone's purple face. Megaplex quickly swung his arm to aim at Sandstorm only to find himself staring down the barrel of the Autobot's gun.
"Don't think I won't pull the trigger," Sandstorm growled. "I've already killed more 'Cons and 'Bots than you guys ever have in your entire life. You really think you stand a chance?"
Megaplex glared at the Wrecker but nonetheless lowered his arm. "You make a good point," the silver clone muttered. "Doesn't he, Megastorm?"
The other clone responded by raising his gun and firing in the direction of the ship's engines. The entire room was engulfed by the resulting explosion.
* * *
"What the hell just happened?!" Impactor yelled as the entire ship rocked violently.
"An explosion just went off in the engine rooms!" Fractyl cried. "We've lost control!"
"Packrat! Get us out of hyperspace before we're atomized into dark matter!"
"No need to tell me twice!" Packrat quickly manipulated the controls and brought the Requiem back into realspace. A red planet laid ahead and almost instantly pulled the ship into its gravitational range.
"Fantastic," Punch muttered. "It just wouldn't be a mission if our ship didn't crash."
Fractyl banged himself on the head. "I should have said no. I should have said no."
"Pull yourselves together and hold onto something!" Impactor roared. "Like it or not, you're Wreckers now! This is par for--"
Whatever else he was about to say was drown out by the roaring flames as the entire ship caught fire....
No comments:
Post a Comment