by Stormtalon » Tue Nov 03, 2015 10:01 pm
Alpha Bravo lay in a heap as the elfin hermit transformed back into a green mountain lion and bounded into the jungle.
“Wait,” Alpha Bravo croaked.
He untangled himself and chased after the cat. The lion’s green body and white limbs blended easily with the jungle, but Alpha kept up. He had to.
“Wait,” Alpha Bravo called again, but the hermit didn’t respond.
Alpha pushed through a tangle of vines and tumbled into a clearing, in fact a landing for a stairway. He looked up in time to see a white tail vanish around the bend in the spiral staircase.
“Lets see if I can get ahead of him.”
Alpha Bravo transformed into a helicopter and rose through the under story. He spotted the lion as it sprinted up the staircase spiraling around a tree-like building. It was a tower built like the surrounding circuit trees, but where the main trunk branched off, there was a balcony/mezzanine. Alpha Bravo set down there.
Transforming back into a robot, he waited for the lion to appear. And wait…and wait.
Alpha Bravo gripped his blades. He knew the lion was close. So where was he?
The jungle grew quiet; the quiet that surrounds a predator stalking his prey. Alpha Bravo clenched and unclenched his blades. When the attack came, he reacted.
Alpha blocked the lion with the flat of his sword. Alpha Bravo rolled backward and flipped the lion over his head. The lion twisted in the air and landed on his feet. He charged again.
This time Alpha dodge-rolled to the side. The lion skidded across the balcony trying to change direction. He leapt again at Alpha Bravo, but a well-timed roundhouse kick knocked the lion a safe distance away.
“Enough of this!”
Alpha Bravo pulled out his blaster. The green lion recovered from the kick and saw the business end of the blaster. He growled in a low, dangerous tone, but did not advance.
“You could have taken me out any number of times in the jungle. I don’t think you lured me here just to suck at it now. So why don’t you tell me what this is all about?”
The lion lifted his head up. He looked like he was about to roar, but instead transformed into his spindly limbed, elf-like form. He only came to Alpha Bravo’s chest and when he spoke it was with a high reedy voice.
“You came here full of questions. I had to make sure you were worth of the answers.”
“And am I?”
“You merit three answers from this point on. Use them wisely.”
Alpha Bravo stopped and considered his questions. While he pondered, the hermit wandered over to an alcove, sat down and began working on some device. He opening a compartment by his waist and extracted a shard. It looked a lot like the crystal shard found at the temple.
The hermit muttered to himself. “Lots to do. Lots to do.”
The hermit put the shard in the device. It didn’t fit so he pounded it into place.
“Whoa! Be careful. That thing is dangerous!”
Alpha Bravo feared he might merge with the hermit and maybe the tree. But nothing happened. The hermit closed the panel and the scanner came alive. He cackled with glee.
“Ha-ha! It works. Now I can find the others. We might make it this time.”
The hermit stood up and spun around and ran full tilt into Alpha Bravo.
“You’re still here? Haven’t you asked your questions?”
Alpha Bravo shook his yellow head.
“Well spit them out. I’ve got to go.”
“What did that thing do to my buddies?” Alpha blurted out pointing to the shard in the device.
“Your friends are now merged,” the hermit said matter-of-factly.
“They aren’t merged now. You separated them,” Alpha argued.
The elfin bot shook his green head.
“No, they are now merged with Superion.”
“Will they turn into the giant again?”
“With the right activation code, yes.”
“What about a deactivation code? Is that how you stopped Superion the first time?”
“Once activates the colossus, twice deactivates and that’s your three,” he answered.
“Scrap!”
Alpha mentally kicked himself. He didn’t mean to burn through his questions. He blocked the alcove. He could just drag the hermit back to base. The hermit stood there with the patience of a predator. The next move was Alpha Bravo’s. Alpha stepped aside allowing the hermit passage. The spindly hermit gave a half smile before transforming into a green lion. He grabbed the scanner in his mouth and bounded past him. Alpha turned to see where he was going, but in mid-leap between two branches, he vanished. He could see the branches bend and creak from his weight, but he couldn’t separate him the greenery.
Alpha Bravo knew it would be hard to explain, but he needed the courage to stand by his words. He agreed to the hermit’s terms. Going back on it seemed cowardly.
“I hope the others can use what I learned,” Alpha Bravo said to himself.
* * *
At the Valley of the Colossi, work stopped when the Aerialbots emerged from the hanger. The five Aerialbots walked in a close knot from the hangar to the airfield. Scientists and workers gave them a wide berth. Slingshot sneered at them.
“What? Afraid we’ll merge right in front of you,” Slingshot challenged.
The diggers remained silent.
“That’s a fine ‘thank you’ to the bots who found this place for you,” the white and yellow Aerialbot shouted.
“Slingshot, don’t make this more difficult,” Silverbolt admonished.
“More difficult? We found this place, catch hell for it and they treat us like rust-plagued lepers.”
“I wasn’t talking about them.”
Silverbolt cast a meaningful look back at the other Aerialbots: Skydive, Air Raid and Firefly. All three were slumped and down in the mouth. Slingshot spun around.
“Who ordered you to mop around like a bunch of Decepticons?”
That snapped the three to attention. Slingshot stomped up to each Aerialbot.
“We are Aerialbots. You know what that means. We soar higher than the rest. We fly fast than the rest. Why?”
“Because we are the best.” The three mumbled out.
“Why?” Slingshot demanded.
“BECAUSE WE ARE THE BEST!” The Aerialbots shouted.
“That’s right!”
Slingshot continued loud enough for everyone to hear including the scientists.
“Now, we’ve been recalled to Fortress Omega. We aren’t returning like a captured enemy squad. As far as I’m concerned, we completed our mission and we are returning for our next assignment. Do you see anything to contradict that?”
He turned to Sky Dive.
“Do you see any guards escorting us?”
“No, sir,” the black and red Aerialbot replied.
He turned to Firefly.
“Are there any stasis cuffs binding us?”
The red and white Aerialbot shook his head. “No, sir!”
Finally, he turned to Air Raid.
“Then are we prisoners going to the brig?”
“No, sir,” the white Aerialbot answered.
“That’s right! So stop dragging your feet! We’ve done nothing wrong and the next one I catch acting like we did will be scrubbing energon tanks for a week.”
The Aerialbots stood up tall and marched briskly to the airfield. Silverbolt bringing up the rear smiled approvingly at Slingshot. At the airfield, the Aerialbots transformed as a unit and took off leaving the scientist to their find.
* * *
The Aerialbots flew in formation overhead. On the valley floor, Hardhead looked up at them with a grimace.
“We really could have used them for this mission,” he muttered to himself.
Instead, he had to work with a snob, a crackpot and a paper pusher. Truly, an elite combat unit in the making.
“Ok, listen up!” Hardhead barked in his old school, drill instructor voice.
He pointed to Highbrow, a deep blue and grey Autobot who transformed into a twin-rotor, VTOL aircraft.
“You’ll take point. Keep no more than a click in front of the convoy and your scanners set on high.”
“I will endeavor to dispatch my duty with the utmost alacrity…” Highbrow started but Hardhead cut him off directing his next order to the tan and red Autobot with an eager to please look.
“Chromedome?”
“Yes, sir. Ready to roll. Where to you need me? Front guard? Rear guard? Vanguard?”
“Front guard and mute the chatter.”
Chromedrome wordlessly saluted. Hardhead moved on to the last member of his detail, Brainstorm. Brainstorm was a teal and grey Autobot who transformed into an aerial scout craft. Normally, he'd have him on point instead of Highbrow, but not today.
“Perceptor says you outfitted the transport with something to keep these relics stable? So we won’t wind up like the Aerialbots.”
“Yes. If my calculations are correct a magnetic flux bottle will provide a protective…”
“Great, man the transport, will ya? If anything goes wrong I want you on top of it.”
“In order to fix it?” Brainstorm added.
“Yeah, that too,” Hardhead said dismissively.
“I’ll pick up the rear. Our destination is the Crystal City. We make no stops unless I say so. Understood?”
The brain bots nodded or murmured. Hardhead shook his head again. If he had a couple of days, he could whip them into a cohesive unit. But this is what he had to work with. Brainstorm climbed into the transport truck. The others transformed and got in position. On Hardhead’s command, they rolled out.
The convoy snaked its way out of the Valley of the Colossi and into the high wilderness. They were close to the dig site and reinforcements so Hardhead didn’t worry much here.
High above the only road through the wilds, Blackjack spied the convoy from behind a tree.
He radioed in. “The package is on the move.”
The dense high wilderness opened up when they reached the lower wilds. Tall trees still dominated, but were more spread out. Hardhead speed up the convoy as they took the rolling ups and downs of the foothills.
From the tree line marking the end of the forest, Dead End radioed in.
“I confirm one air escort and two ground units. And only the tank looks trained. They are heading for the speedway.”
The woods thinned out into the silvery plains of the Alkali Flats. A ribbon of black and white cut across the plain: the Polyhex speedway. This would take them all the way to Crystal City.
On the other side of the freeway, a series of gunmetal cliffs rose above the flats. These were the Barium Bluffs. Motormaster, Dragstrip, Wildrider and Breakdown watch the convoy turn onto the speedway from here.
“Told ya, they would head to Crystal City,” Breakdown boasted, “Autobot communication hubs are so easy to hack.”
Motormaster nodded. “Yeah, now if you can just do the rest of your job as well, we will all be sitting pretty. That’s a hefty bounty they are hauling.”
He turned to Wildrider and Dragstrip.
“The tank will give us trouble. Take him out.”
Wildrider snorted. “Sure, give us the easy job?”
He and Dragstrip backed away from the bluffs, transformed and peeled out.
* * *
Brainstorm breathed a sigh of relief as the transport trundled along the speedway. Compared to the bumpy off road section, they were gliding on zero-friction fluid now.
“Hello paved roads,” he murmured to himself. He picked up the radio.
“Looks like smooth sailing from here.”
Hardhead growled, ‘Why did someone have to jinx it?’
Highbrow radioed in, “Alert! Alert! Two vehicles approaching at high velocity.”
“Is speaking too soon something you’re taught or just raw talent,” Hardhead yelled at Brainstorm.
“Sorry. I’ll man the guns.”
“Negative,” Hardhead ordered, “They maybe bandits, they maybe travelers. We don’t fire until we are sure.”
A maroon and yellow racer and the dark grey sedan with red-tinted windows came barreling down the speedway. The Autobots held their fire as they whipped past Chromedome, then the transport truck and zipped by Hardhead without incident.
They continued west into the setting sun and then spun around charging the convoy. Hardhead swore and made a tight u-turn. Rolling backwards, the tank let his cannon do the talking. He fired at the racers while yelling for the convoy to keep formation and at double time.
Dragstrip and Wildrider weaved and bobbed around the incoming shelling. The glaring sun ruined Hardhead’s aim. The two split going into a pincers maneuver. Hardhead saw their strategy. If he targets one, the other blindsides him. But it couldn’t be helped. He fired at the yellow racecar. Dragstrip braked just before the flats erupted from the shelling.
Wildrider came in on Hardhead’s exposed flank. The tank swung his turret around, but knew he’d be too late. In a flurry of silver dust and debris, Highbrow descended forcing Wildrider to veered off.
“Slag it! What are you doing Highbrow? Get back to the convoy!”
“Unappreciative,” Highbrow declared. He lifted off and turned to rejoin the transport truck. That’s when his port side rotor exploded. Highbrow spun out of control crashing into the flats.
From the overlook, Motormaster watched Highbrow spiral into the ground.
“Good shot, Dead End,” he radioed, “Now the truck.”
Perched in the tree line 3 cyberstadis from the highway, Dead End lined up his next shot. Chromedome and the transport where speeding away. Dead End hit the rear tire first. The truck skidded and swerved. Dead End lined up his shot: the front tires. He fired, but the tan car dropped back and took the shot. Dead End swore mightily and took aim, but the transport jack-knifed into the drainage ditch running alongside the speedway.
Motormaster watched the wreckage with a slight frown on his face. Not exactly as plan, but the truck was stopped and two of its defenders are down. Now for the third.
Hardhead heard the crash. It took years of military discipline to focus on the fight ahead and not turn around. He can’t help anyone if he’s offline. The racer was keeping his distance while the sedan came around for another charge. Hardhead transformed. He couldn’t outrun them. He’d have to outfight them. As both cars speed toward him, the ground beneath Hardhead’s feet began vibrating and then exploded. Hardhead went flying. Dragstrip swerved to avoid the massive crater in the highway. Wildrider spun out and transformed.
“Hey!” He yelled at Motormaster. “A little warning next time!”
“You nearly took off my front end with that,” Dragstrip joined.
Motormaster didn’t respond. He shouldered his disruptor cannon and made his way down the bluffs.
“I hate this job, more and more,” Wildrider growled. He transformed and sped toward the overturned truck. Dragstrip did the same.
* * *
A good scientist gathers the facts, develops a hypothesis and then tests that hypothesis. Brainstorm gathered the facts. The truck was nose-in a drainage ditch. He recalled the rear tire going and Chromedome getting hit. Hardhead wasn’t yelling at him, which seemed odd.
“Hypothesis?” Brainstorm asked himself.
They had been ambushed. Chromedome was down possibly Hardhead and Highbrow too. Brainstorm grabbed the radio transmitter.
“Mayday! Mayday! Transport down. If there are any Autobot units please respond. Coordinates are…”
Brainstorm looked up. A white and blue bot appeared on the road. He lobbed a grenade at the cabin. Brainstorm braced himself for an explosion but instead the grenade glowed a bright blue. His control panel glowed bright blue and then shorted out.
“EMP grenade,” Brainstorm breathed, “Hypothesis? They want what’s in the truck and don’t want to damage it.”
The bot leveled his blaster at the cabin window.
“Never mind that!” Motormaster ordered, “Over here! Lets get her open!”
Breakdown holstered his weapon and came around the back. Wildrider and Dragstrip just arrived.
“Report,” Motormaster ordered.
“Like you don’t know,” Wildrider snarked. Motormaster glared at him.
“The flier is down and the tank is knocked to scrapdom.”
“We should finish them off,” Dragstrip demanded.
Motormaster smiled. “That’s surprisingly vicious coming from you.”
“This is race. I’m in it to win.”
“You can hunt them at your leisure. First, we get what we came for,” Motormaster declared.
Breakdown talked to himself as he attached cables to the back door.
“The trick to Autobot security is using a needle not a hammer. Autobots know Decepticons would sooner blast a door than try the knob. They expect overwhelming force. But with a little patience and an energon spike…”
There was a click and a hiss.
“That’s it?” Motormaster asked.
“Almost,” Breakdown explained. “There are two more.”
“Well, hurry then.”
* * *
Silverbolt and Slingshot led their squads in silence. They heard the distress call from the convoy.
“Mayday! Mayday! Transport down. If there are any Autobot units please re…”
The transmission cut out.
“Did anyone get coordinates?” Silverbolt asked.
“I got a fix,” offered Air Raid.
“Relay them to Perceptor,” Slingshot groused.
An expectant pause stretched before Air Raid asked, “You don’t want to engage?”
“No,” Slingshot sulked, “Let them handle it.”
The others were stunned but maintained their heading to Fortress Omega. Silverbolt broke formation first. The hypersonic transport banked and jetted toward the distress signal. Air Raid broke away next followed by Firefly and Sky Dive. Slingshot kept his course a minute longer, then turned and joined the others.
“Just so we are clear,” Slingshot spoke, “I’m not helping those ingrates. I just itching to hit something really hard.”
Silverbolt answered, “Noted.”
* * *
Brainstorm heard the hiss of another lock opening. He slammed his fists on the dashboard. The cabin maybe blast-proof but without power it might as well be a stasis cell. He had to stop them. Then inspiration hit him.
He ducked under the dash and tore off the control panel. He traced the cables until he found the ones he was looking for.
“This one leads to the turret guns. This one leads to the locks. Splice them together and the next time they pop a lock they’ll get a nasty surprise.”
Brainstorm didn’t wait long with the hiss of the final lock came random fire from the truck’s turrets. He giggled as the bandits scrambled for cover.
“I thought you said the truck was offline!” Motormaster roared over the gunfire
Breakdown shouted back, “It was!”
Wildrider offered his advice, “Perhaps somebody’s being clever.”
Motormaster unholstered his ion blaster. Two well placed shots and the exploding turrets rocked the truck. He stalked over to the front and glared at Brainstorm. He fired a couple rounds that caromed off the cabin.
“We’ll see how clever you feel after you are draw and quarter by my friends here.”
Brainstorm didn’t reply. He was afraid his voice would betray him. Instead, he stared back at Motormaster.
“It’s open, boss,” Breakdown shouted.
Motormaster returned to the truck’s cargo as the doors swung open. There in the trailer lay eight glowing shards. Each one worth a fortune and a half.
“Glorious,” Motormaster cooed. He transformed into a semi.
“Now, load me up.”
