SEVEN: THE REVOLUTION BEGINS NOW
Axiom Nexus
Just as they had been mere hours ago, Prowl and Cliffjumper were positioned on a rooftop that oversaw Shockwave’s lab. Arcee and Overload were no longer in their positions, as Alpha Trion had supposedly lost contact with them after their first failed attempt. In their place were Immorticon and Blackarachnia, two TransTech that Trion had recruited to his cause. In the skies above just as Thrust had been was another TransTech by the name of Nightscream, circling above the Transwarp Complex. Meanwhile, Small Foot and the rest of the so-called “Go-Bots” were somewhere with Trion himself, wherever he was at this moment.
Despite Trion’s assurances that this time would go much more smoothly than the last attempt, Prowl still had his doubts. Something about Alpha Trion this time had put him off, as if he was acting differently than normal. He just couldn’t put his finger on it….
Prowl glanced at Cliffjumper, who had his optics fixed onto a pair of binoculars. “Has Alpha Trion ever said anything about his home reality?”
Cliffjumper frowned as he mulled over the question. “No, he hasn’t. And I’ve never thought to ask. Why?”
“Just curious.” Prowl returned his attention to the lab down below. “Is he similar to the Alpha Trion in your reality?”
“Yeah, pretty much. Why, is something wrong? You’re starting to sound like how I do whenever I’m around Mirage.”
“Something about this doesn’t feel right,” Prowl said. “Thrust gets captured, Arcee and Overload vanish, and now these TransTech come out of nowhere to help us and Alpha Trion asks us to trust them, after telling us they’re our enemies. Does that not seem odd to you?”
“You’re right, it does seem odd. Actually, no, it just is odd.” Cliffjumper lowered his binoculars to look at Prowl. “You don’t think he’s trying to pull something on us, do you?”
Prowl shrugged. “It’s hard to say. It could just be paranoia, given the… unpredictable nature of this place. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see how things play out.”
“Yeah. I guess.” Cliffjumper looked back down with his binoculars. “Well, we’ve got movement. Two bots are standing guard outside the lab. Both TransTech. Immorticon is rolling past them.”
“I see them.” Prowl adjusted his visor to get a better look of the aqua-colored tank as it slowly rolled past the complex. Suddenly, the tank came to an abrupt halt and the two guards reacted to this. As they started to draw their weapons, Immorticon swiveled his turret towards them and opened fire.
Not only were the two guards vaporized in an instant, but it also blasted an opening into the wall of the complex. Alarms immediately blared from not just the building but throughout the city itself. As more guards started to move in from both inside and outside the complex, Nightscream dove in and attacked them with the talons of his bat-like beast mode. At the same time, Blackarachnia came zipping down from her position and started eviscerating bots with the appendages of her spider form.
As the carnage unfolded down below, Prowl exchanged a look with Cliffjumper.
“I take it that’s our signal?” Cliffjumper asked.
Prowl deployed his shuriken. “I have a bad feeling about this.”
* * *
“We have a breach! Insurgents are making their way into the complex!”
Shockwave turned away from Sari, Gigawatt, and the others, his single yellow optic flaring. “Hm. Interesting. I had calculated the probability of such an occurrence, but perhaps I had underestimated their chances of success. No matter.” He started to walk away, brushing past Bug Bite as the smaller white bot stared in confusion. “Alert all nearby security units and have them—”
Before he could finish, the entire complex shook as a nearby wall exploded. The body of a deactivated TransTech mech was tossed into the room as the intruders made their way inside.
“Ah,” Shockwave intoned. “Never mind.”
Leading the band of insurgents with a sword drawn, Alpha Trion stepped over the newly made hole and glowered towards Shockwave. “Take us to the transit room. Now.”
“I don’t believe you are in much of a negotiating position, lowtech.”
“You are the one with guns being pointed in your direction.”
“Yes, I have noticed.” Shockwave tilted his head. “But I have a direct line to the Security Force as well as the Senate. With a single call, I can have them shut down all power in this sector, thus preventing you from accessing the transit room.”
“You can try that,” Alpha Trion said. “However, Nightscream is already blocking out all incoming and outgoing transmissions. The Senate won’t be able to hear you, nor you them.”
“Nightscream, you say?” Shockwave turned his gaze to the trio of TransTech that were among Trion’s insurgents. “I will admit that I find it remarkable that you managed to convince them to stoop down to your level.”
“It wasn’t hard. Especially when I had plenty of spark extractors on hand.”
“Ah. I see.”
Standing near Alpha Trion with Cliffjumper and the Go-Bots, Prowl looked up at the Autobot sage. “Spark extractors? What do you mean by that?”
Alpha Trion did not answer him, instead taking another step towards Shockwave. “This is your last chance. Where is the transit room?”
Shockwave pointed a claw in the direction of where Gigawatt and the others were. “You will find it over there. However—”
“Thank you.” Alpha Trion then raised his sword and plunged it directly into Shockwave’s chest. The TransTech’s body immediately began to spasm as the blade pierced his spark chamber.
“Trion!” Prowl exclaimed. “What the hell are you doing?!”
Alpha Trion grunted with effort as he moved the sword up through Shockwave’s chest and cleaved it through his head. The TransTech’s body fell lifelessly to the floor, landing with a metallic thud.
“By the Matrix,” Cliffjumper murmured, his mouth hanging open in horror.
Ignoring them both, Alpha Trion stepped over Shockwave’s corpse before turning to his followers. “Blackarachnia, find the control console. Immorticon, Nightscream, stand guard here. The rest of you, into the transit room.”
As everyone moved into position, Prowl stopped to look up at Trion. “What was that?” he demanded, pointing at Shockwave’s body.
“That,” Trion said in a cold tone, “was doing what needed to be done. The TransTech do not listen to reason and they know nothing of the language of violence. That was me giving them a lesson.”
“The Alpha Trion I knew would have never done that. I don’t think he ever laid a hand on a weapon.”
“The Alpha Trion you knew came from a Cybertron that is different from mine. Now get into the transit room. You do want to go home, don’t you?”
Before Prowl could answer him, he heard a loud shout come from the direction of the transit room.
“YOU!” He turned in time to see Bad Boy throw a fist into the face of a small white bot—whom Prowl instantly recognized as Bug Bite. “It’s because of you that we’re in this mess!”
“This wasn’t how it was supposed to go, Bad Boy!” Bug Bite retorted. “Look, once I get Expanse back, I’ll set everything back—”
“No, you won’t,” Treds snapped. “I think you’ve done enough for one cycle.”
As Prowl stepped towards them, a small shape came zipping out of the chamber. “Prowl!” Sari exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”
“Sari?” Prowl gawked at his techno-organic ally. “I should ask you the same thing. How did—”
“There will be time for you to explain your stories later,” Alpha Trion said sternly. “Blackarachnia is prepping a jump for your home reality. I suggest those of you that come from the same place as Prowl get inside now. Cliffjumper, you will have to wait for your turn.”
As Prowl and the Go-Bots got into the transit room, Prowl turned to look at Cliffjumper. “It’s been nice knowing you. I’ll be sure to tell my Cliffjumper all about you.”
Cliffjumper smirked at him. “You do that. I’m sure my Prowl won’t believe anything that I tell him.”
“Sounds like someone I know.” Prowl then glanced over at Alpha Trion before whispering, “Do be careful around him.”
Cliffjumper nodded knowingly. “Don’t worry. I’ve already got my optics on him.”
Prowl returned the nod before stepping into the transit room with the others. As the door closed behind him, he noticed that Sari was with four other Autobots—three of them being ones he recognized.
“Agent Knight!” he exclaimed. “By Primus, I thought you were killed in the war! The same with Maverick and Ecto… Ecto—”
“Ectronymous Diamatron,” Ectotron said exasperatedly. “But you can just call me Ectotron.”
“Oh thank god.” Prowl cleared his vocal processor. “I mean, uh, good. I see that we will all have a lot of catching up to do once we’re back home.”
“I’ll say,” Sari muttered. “I could really use some sleep, too….”
Around them, the room hummed to life, and in an instant they were all enveloped in a blanket of energy, transferring them all out of Axiom Nexus.
* * *
“It is done,” Blackarachnia said. “They have been sent to universal stream Primax 615.24 Omega.”
“Excellent,” Alpha Trion replied. “Now, ready the room for—”
“Hold up!” Cliffjumper stormed up to Trion, pointing an accusatory finger at the larger Autobot. “You sent them to the wrong universe!”
Trion slowly turned his head to look down at him. “Did I?”
“Yeah! I heard one of those, those Go-Bots say that they were from Primax 1213.1 Omega! Now I might not be good with numbers, but the ones she just rattled off sounded way off!”
“Perhaps you misheard,” Trion said. “Or perhaps they had misspoken.”
“I don’t think so.” Cliffjumper narrowed his optics. “I think you’re lying to us. I think you’re up to no good!”
Alpha Trion stared at him for a moment before shuttering his optics and sighing. “Oh, Cliffjumper. You always were too clever for your own good, even in my reality. If only you could have kept to yourself, just for once.”
He then unfurled a cannon from his arm and pointed it at Cliffjumper. Before the small red Autobot could react, Trion opened fire and Cliffjumper was blown to pieces.
“Unfortunate,” Alpha Trion lamented. “But at least now we can save some time and energy. Have you set in the coordinates for the next universal stream?”
Blackarachnia nodded. “Ready whenever you are.”
“Excellent. Topspin, it is time to go.”
A red and blue bot poked his head into the room before slowly stepping in. He jumped slightly at the sight of Shockwave and Cliffjumper’s remains. “What is happening, Alpha Trion?”
“The culmination of a lifetime’s work.” Alpha Trion extended a hand to his assistant. “Come. It is time to go home.”
* * *
“Well, we’re still alive, at least.” Road Ranger patted himself down. “I am, anyway.”
Prowl tentatively stepped out of the spot they had just been teleported to. They were still in some dark room, but it did not resemble the transit room on Axiom Nexus. Scanning the area, he spotted a window that was placed very high up, too high for any of them to reach while in robot mode.
“Sari,” he said. “Can you get up there and tell us what you see outside?”
Sari nodded and kicked on her feet boosters, propelling herself up to the window. “Well,” she said after a moment, “it looks like Cybertron.”
“But not like Axiom Nexus, right?”
“Well, I never set foot outside back there….”
Prowl looked over to Path Finder. “Can you help her identify where we are?”
Path Finder converted to her spaceship mode and hovered up to join Sari at the window. “Yeah, no, don’t worry. We’re in Iacon. I recognize some of the buildings. I will say, though, that I don’t remember there being that many signs.”
“Signs?”
“Yeah, I’m seeing a lot of holo-boards. They say things like… ‘You are our eyes?’ ‘Everything is all right?’”
Maverick rubbed his helm. “Now, I know I’ve been away from Cybertron for a long time, but that doesn’t sound like something Optimus Prime would authorize. Optimus is still Prime, right?”
“Technically no,” Prowl said. “He shares joint command with Rodimus Prime—you might have known him as Hot Rod.”
“Hot Rod?” Knightride said incredulously. “How did that turbo-revving punk get put in charge?”
Prowl shrugged. “He has come a long way, I will admit. What else do you see, Path Finder?”
“Some Sky Spy unit is zipping around, and I think it might have noticed… oh slag.”
“What do you mean ‘oh sl—’”
Suddenly, the walls burst open and a pair of large hulking bots came storming into the room, weapons drawn and aimed at those inside. “Hands where I can see them! Nobody move!”
Everyone on the ground did so, while Path Finder and Sari stayed put. “We don’t mean any harm,” Prowl said. “It’s hard to explain but—”
“Shut up!” snarled one of the hulking bots. Prowl thought their red and blue designs were familiar, yet he had a hard time placing it at the moment. “You can explain it all to the Castigator when we bring you to him!”
“No need for that. I am right here.”
From behind the two large bots came a smaller one, hovering on some sort of propulsion boosters built into his feet. A brown cloak draped over his teal-colored body, which lacked any indication of an alternate mode. His head was also lacking of any distinctive features, bearing only a single optic not unlike Shockwave.
Prowl felt his spark pulsate in despair as he realized who he was seeing. “Impossible,” he murmured.
“I am Twelve-of-Twelve, Castigator of the Functionist Council.” The one-eyed mech pointed at them. “Explain yourselves now before I have your obsolescence chips activated.”
“Obso-what now?” Bad Boy asked.
“Wait,” said Small Foot. “Did you say Functionist Council? But… I thought—”
“Neither of those statements adequately satisfy my demand,” Twelve-of-Twelve snapped. “Again: Explain your presence here before—”
“Look, we’re just trying to get back home,” said Road Ranger. “Can’t you just take us to Optimus Prime? Or Rodimus Prime, whoever is in charge.”
The Castigator’s single optic blinked. “Prime? A Prime has not ruled Cybertron in quite some time. All Cybertronians answer to the Functionist Council now.”
“I don’t understand.” Small Foot looked over at Prowl. “Prowl? What’s happening?”
Prowl lowered his head. “What’s happened… is that we have been deceived. Alpha Trion sent us to the wrong universe—possibly on purpose.”
“Why would he do that?” Road Ranger asked. “Isn’t he an Autobot?”
“I tire of this.” Twelve-of-Twelve raised a hand. “If you will not answer my questions, then you no longer serve any purpose.”
He made a motion with his hand. Nothing happened. He repeated the motion. Again, nothing.
“I don’t understand,” the Functionist muttered. “Why aren’t their chips—”
“Ah, frag this!” Treds got up to his feet, extended his chest cannon, and fired. Twelve-of-Twelve was knocked back several feet while the two Functionaries moved in to protect him. Treds fired again and again, dealing damaged to the hulking bots armor plating. Bad Boy was quick to join in, cackling as he unleashed a barrage of missiles from his arms.
Knightride got up to his feet. “Huh. I suppose there are some pros to having ‘Cons on your side. I suggest we take this as an opportunity to get out of here.”
“Agreed.” Prowl transformed to his motorcycle mode. “Let’s roll out!”
As one, the others transformed and followed Prowl as they drove past the distracted Functionaries. Small Foot and Road Ranger were close behind Prowl, followed by Gigawatt, Knightride, and Ectotron. Sari, Path Finder, and Maverick flew after them in their aerial forms, with Maverick even dropping a few missiles as a parting gift to the Functionaries. Once the two large bots had been brought down, Bad Boy and Treds transformed and headed off to catch up with the others.
But amidst all of the chaos, none of them had stopped to see if Bug Bite had been following them.
Sticking close to the shadows, Bug Bite watched as the defeated Functionaries spasmed from their injuries. Twelve-of-Twelve then came hovering back into the room, still twitching from the blast that Treds had dealt him.
He raised a hand to his head. “This is Twelve-of-Twelve to all Functionaries. We have at least eleven—maybe twelve—fugitives loose in the streets of Iacon. Transmitting visual data of them now. Kill on sight—repeat, kill on sight.”
He then lowered his hand and turned to see Bug Bite. Before he could say anything, Bug Bite fired a cerebro-shell directly into his cranial unit. Twelve-of-Twelve’s body immediately went stiff as his optic glowed a soft violet.
“Now then,” Bug Bite said quietly, a wicked grin crossing his face. “How about you take me to your friends?”
No comments:
Post a Comment