by JaAm » Sat Feb 23, 2008 9:09 am
Sorry for the delays, I'll try to be a bit quicker with part 3.
Chapter 2
Outer space, edge of solar system
The Thanatos entered the solar system with ease. The majestic dark purple battleship slid across space, moving at a steady speed. The ship was loaded with enough firepower to devastate an entire city, and enough supplies and fuel to traverse 150 solar systems. Its transwarp drive was incredible, allowing it to traverse an entire solar system in just one day. But the ship was nowhere near as important as its passengers…
The Thanatos
On the warship’s bridge a lone Decepticon slept. He was waiting for the ship to leave transwarp. The ship, acknowledging that it had reached its first destination, awoke him. His one red optic lit up, showing he was ready. The Decepticon was a great warlord, and a powerful leader. He was also possibly one of the smartest commanders in the entire army. Every single one of his actions was dictated by logic. He based all opinions and decisions on what was the most rational and effective.
“My, you’re up early, Shockwave.”
The commander turned to see Bomb-Burst, his vampiristic lieutenant. “We have exited transwarp,” Shockwave stated, “We need to be ready to execute the second jump. Gather the crew, and inform the new EOD of our status. Also, let him know that the Darksyde is in position.”
“As you command, Captain.” Bomb-Burst walked away from the bridge. He entered the lift and selected crew quarters. As the lift descended, Bomb-burst thought about the unpleasant task before him. While the old Emperor of Destruction was eager for news, the new one was very aggravating. He was more of a politician than a warlord.
Bomb-Burst left the lift upon its arrival and approached Starscream’s quarters. He walked past his two cronies, Skywarp and Thundercracker, who were supposed to be on guard duty. They were both sleeping. He opened the door. Starscream jolted awake from his recharging bay, with his thermo-cover tossed over to his right, as if hiding something. Bomb-Burst half knew what he was hiding. It was definitely a femme. Whether he had taken up Megatron’s habit of force-mating with captured femmes, or he just brought along some “Comforter” was hard to tell. ‘What do you want!?!” the newly crowned Emperor of Destruction said, in his high-pitched, but somewhat raspy, voice.
“Shockwave wishes to inform you that we have left transwarp and are proceeding to move to our next destination. Also, the Darksyde is in position.”
“Inform them that they are to remain in position until I give the order. Now give us- I mean me, some privacy.” Starscream’s response only confirmed that he had brought along a femme for his own pleasure. Bomb-burst wondered what he’d say her role was. “As you command, Lord Starscream.” He left and proceeded to awaken the other crew members.
His first stop was the Battlechargers. Bomb-Burst didn’t dare step into their quarters. It reeked of old food, and had pictures of scantily-clad femmes covering most of the walls. He despised both Battlechargers, both Runabout and Runamuck, but knew their speed made them valuable to the cause. He only cracked the door open. The smell was already offending his scent detectors. “Shockwave wishes to see you at the bridge,” he said loudly enough to awaken the two of them. He left the door as quickly as possible.
Next stop was the Constructicons. Of all the transformers on this mission, they had the biggest reason to come. One of their own, Bonecrusher, as already deployed to Sol-3, and hadn’t been heard of. This time, he stepped into the room. The floor was littered with tons of parts, and many half-built creations. The leader, Hook, was lying down. To his right, was the big, heavy, and stupid, Mixmaster. On Hook’s left was the speedy, arrogant, aft-retentive Scrapper. He awakened them with the same message he gave the Battlechargers.
He proceeded onwards to Dreadwing’s room. Of all the rooms, dreadwing’s was his favorite. There was little light, as Dreadwing never bothered to install illuminators. He entered the room. Unsurprisingly, Dreadwing was already awake. Before Bomb-burst could get his message out, Dreadwing said, “I know, he wants me on the bridge. Not that it matters, anyway. What’s the point? This war’s over without Megatron. We should just call it quits, and maybe the autobots won’t kill us all.” Bomb-burst left the depressing android where he stood, and rushed to meet the others on the bridge.
En route to the bridge, Bomb-burst ran into Soundwave. He wasn’t surprised that the spy already knew to go to the bridge, chances were that one of his henchmen, either Laserbeak or Buzzsaw, who were mounted on his shoulders, or Ravage, who was at his master’s feet. The spy gave him a stare that sent a chill up Bomb-burst’s backbone infrastructure. As to what Soundwave was thinking was a mystery.
When Bomb-burst made it back to the bridge, he took his seat at the right of Shockwave’s command chair. Oddly enough, Starscream arrived last. Everybody knew what took him so long. He could be heard chewing out Skywarp and Thundercracker for falling asleep on the job throughout the entire ship. The Battlechargers were snickering, and reenacting their favorite bits of Starscream’s rant. Soundwave’s henchmen had all entered their storage components throughout his body. The constructicons took their place throughout the bridge. Starscream entered with a very attractive femme on his right and Skywarp on his left. Thundercracker was on the femme’s right. “This, everybody,” Starscream began, gesturing towards the femme, “is Thunderblast, my, err…. Secretary. Yeah, my secretary.”
Shockwave ignored her. Logic dictated she would eventually run out of ways to make Starscream “happy”, and he would have her attempt to do something useful, where she would probably meet her end, unless she met a particularly chivalrous autobot. He began to make preparations for the transwarp jump. The rest of the crew followed suit. Bomb-Burst used the communications system to relay Screamer’s order to the Darksyde.
Shockwave began his countdown. “Transwarp in 3… 2… 1… go.” Dreadwing punched a button at the engine controls and the Thanatos disappeared into transwarp.