[FICTION] The Fanfic continued....

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~*ShadowDancer*~
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The Fanfic continued....

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And here's another update....

PROLOGUE

Several millennia ago a terrible conflict took place deep in an unexplored part of space on the distant planet of Cybertron, home to a race of mighty robots that call themselves “The Transformers”. These are not robots as you or I think of them, they are sentient beings capable of sensation and emotion and so much more for each hides the ability to change their shape, to transform into any number of vehicles, each has their own distinct personality and function. The warring factions on this planet are known as the Heroic Autobots and the Evil Decepticons.

During this distant time when we humans were but dust upon the face of creation the conflict between these two factions resulted in a mighty battle on the edge of our solar system. The planet of Cybertron, knocked out of its orbit by the raging wars upon its surface, was drawn into the gravitational pull of our Sun and subsequently directly into the path of the asteroid belt near Mars. Realising that disaster was imminent if something was not done about the situation the leader of the Heroic Autobots, Optimus Prime, mobilised a squad of his Autobot troops and lead them out into space to clear a path, by force, through the asteroids.

Unbeknownst to this noble Autobot, the evil Decepticons had set a spy amidst their ranks in the form of Ravage, a skilled Decepticon agent taking the guise of a robotic Panther with the ability to record massive amounts of audio and visual data. Who took his new-found knowledge of the Autobots mission back to the Decepticon Headquarters and to their leader the mighty Megatron. A being whose evil nature was only rivalled by the giant planet-eater known as Unicron. Delighted by his agents findings Megatron immediately called together a squad of his finest warriors; The Seekers: Thundercracker, Starscream and Skywarp, his Communications Officer, Soundwave and his collection of Minibots: Ravage, Rumble, Frenzy, Buzzsaw and Laserbeak. They left with only one intention, the elimination of the Autobots and their leader, Megatron’s mortal enemy, Optimus Prime.

Mobilising an attack ship the evil Decepticons gave pursuit to the Autobots and set about their diabolical scheme, boarding the Autobot vessel by force and systematically eliminating all who stood in their way until only Prime and Megatron were left standing amidst the wreckage and charred forms of the fallen. The noble Prime, realising the defeat of his troops and his potentially imminent demise at the hands of the Decepticon leader set the wreckage of his ship, The Ark, on a collision course with a nearby planet as yet uninhabited by any form of life. All aboard the ship lay dormant within its wreckage in the heart of a volcano for several millennia until the stirrings of the volcano eventually re-activated the ship’s computer system that subsequently set about repairing friend and foe alike. Forming them according to the apparent dominant mechanical life forms that now teemed over the surface of the planet.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Present Day Location: Mt St Hilary, North America

Chief Medical Officer Ratchet sat alone in the mess hall, enjoying a well-earned moment’s rest from the turmoil of the past few days. The large red and white robot sighed, stretched the stiffness from his joints and reclined in his seat soaking up the sound of a local earthen radio station. “A little light jazz never hurt anyone,” he remarked to no one in particular as he tapped out the rhythm of the music on the arm of his chair.

The door to the mess hall slid open with a smooth hiss, Blaster and Jazz entered, “I hope you two aren’t planning to change this frequency I’ve picked up...” Ratchet called over.

“No way Doc,” Jazz cut back in his own inimitable style, “I listen to anything, well anything with the exception of radio static that is,” the white robot grinned, the over head lighting glinting on his visor. Turning his attention back to the red robot, Blaster, who was now leaning against the wall humming along to the radio, “Yo big B! C’mon…you still owe me on that game of shuttle hockey dude. I’m taking you down this time!”
“Yeah? Well good luck Jazz, ya gonna need it!” Blaster laughed approaching his comrade and dealing him a friendly slap on the shoulder. The two made their way to the back of the room to the shuttle hockey table. Ratchet grinned to himself and muttered, “Those two are well matched.”

A sudden silence fell over the room as the lighting flickered and the radio momentarily cut out. Casting a swift look to the overhead lighting units Ratchet got to his feet, evidently on edge. “Yo Doc, whassup? Thought ya’d fixed them power relays?” Jazz called over. With a sidelong look, his hand moving toward the pistol at his hip Ratchet nodded, “So did I Jazz, so did I…” as he headed for the door. The klaxons didn’t sound a Decepticon attack warning and a muted click sounded as the back-up generators kicked in, the three Autobots breathed a collective sigh of relief. “Keep it on this station, I’ll go check the situation in Ops,” Ratchet called over his shoulder and left the room. Blaster nodded with a grin launching a fierce assault on Jazz’s base, “No worries on that score Ratch!” Jazz dove for the shuttle in a futile attempt at defence, “Oh man! C’mon B, that was outta line – I was distracted!”

Stepping out into the corridor Ratchet was broadsided by Blurr who came hurtling down the corridor at near light-speed gabbling nonsense as usual. He managed to keep relatively still in order to help his latest ‘victim’ back to his feet. Ratchet gave him a look that if harnessed could quite easily put at least a dozen transformers permanently out of commission, “In the name of Primus Blurr! What the hell are you doing ninety indoors for?! You’re gonna kill someone one of these days!” From the offset he had known that this one would be trouble, “One more stunt like that and I’ll fit you with nullifiers whether you want them or not!” The chief medical officer stalked off in disgust leaving Blurr at a loss for what to say.

Ratchet continued down the corridor cursing Blurr beneath his breath, his steps echoing off the metallic walls. The hum of the back-up generators sounded throughout the grounded ship, he knew he still had a considerable amount of work to do to put the ship back in ‘ship-shape’ as the humans would say. The recent increase in frequency of Decepticon attacks had taken its toll both on the remains of The Ark and the other Autobots who had been stranded on Earth with him. Stopping at the door to the Ops room he keyed in the security code, the door slid open with a metallic hiss and a rush of dense black smoke spewed forth from it temporarily blinding him.

Switching to infrared vision he stepped inside, the dim outline of the generators was visible as a ghostly red silhouette. The smoke seemed to be coming from the main generator; Ratchet approached it cautiously wondering why the extractor fans hadn’t activated. He knelt beside it and removed what was left of the access panel with his laser scalpel, the metal sheeting was intensely hot but rather than having started to melt it shattered like glass in his hands. The circuitry inside the machine was mangled; wires sparked and writhed in the heat. Leaving the generator, knowing it was beyond repair for the present, Ratchet concentrated on the extractor on the wall…it appeared the power supply cable had been cut. His suspicions raised, he looked about for any signs of an intruder in the room.

However after a few moments of hearing nothing bar the humming of the back up generator and the occasional hiss or crackle of a loose wire he continued to work on the extractor. A sudden burst of intensely bright light swept the room, the medic spun on his heel and attempted to crouch in defence of any attack. “Erm Ratchet, you in here buddy?” The small yellow form of Bumblebee stood at the door, “What happened?” Rising to his feet from behind the ruined generator Ratchet returned, “That’s what I’m attempting to find out…The main generator’s blown and these wires appear to have been cut ” a slight frown was evident on his face. Bumblebee nodded, “Weird…anyhow, Prime wants to see you when you’ve got a moment free.” Ratchet nodded and continued on with the extractor, if he couldn’t get the generator working he’d at least get rid of the smoke.

Bumblebee continued on his way to Wheeljack’s lab wondering what his friend had invented now, or more to the point exactly how many pieces he’d have blown himself to this time. He always had the best intentions when it came to his devices but things never quite went according to plan. Everything he invented was perfect in theory but in practice…well that was an entirely different matter. The small yellow autobot grinned to himself as he recalled Wheeljack’s last invention, the Shock Cannon, it had been a shock alright! Went up in Wheeljack’s face blowing him nigh on to the dark side of Cybertron…thank Primus they had Ratchet with them. He lived up to his reputation as the greatest tool and die bot on Cybertron.

Passing the Mess Hall and taking a turn to his immediate left Bumblebee walked a short way down the adjoining corridor and paused outside a door marked with what would resemble a Nuclear Hazard sign by human standards, this was Wheeljack’s lair, his lab. Listening for any worrying noises such as explosions, hisses and/or curses Bumblebee decided it was eerily quiet. There was just the faint clicking of a machine. He cautiously opened the door and gingerly peeped around the edge of it in an attempt to ascertain how much danger he could potentially be in, “Wheeljack? You around here?” a small silver thing buzzed within millimetres of his head and shot off down the corridor, bouncing off the walls.

Wheeljack appeared from behind the safety screen on the left hand side of the room, “Where else would I be Bumblebee?” he waved his small friend into the room, “So what do you think of my latest creation?” Bumblebee shrugged and asked, “What was it anyway?” The inventor returned, “A surveillance drone, I call it a Sky Spy.”

Bumblebee looked in the direction the thing was last headed, “If you want my honest opinion, I think you’d best catch up with it before it causes too much trouble…” the small yellow autobot teased. Wheeljack nodded his agreement and headed off after the Sky Spy with Bumblebee hot on his heels.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

The Autobot’s leader, Optimus Prime, stood before the main screen of the mission briefing room watching a news broadcast. Although the mainstay of his troops were enjoying the brief break in the current wave of Decepticon attacks he was ill at ease. The quiet got on his nerves, making him ever more suspicious that something big was going to happen very soon…and that whatever it was it was going to be very serious indeed. Events were proceeding as normal according to the newscaster’s report. There were the typical protests, a few minor skirmishes in other countries and the standard sports and weather coverage. His train of thought was interrupted by the approach of footsteps. Turning from the visual display screen he found his old friend Ratchet, Chief Medical Officer to his Earth based troops standing quietly behind him. “Ah, good!” Prime’s tone conveyed pleasure, his facial expression as ever was unreadable due to the plate masking his face from the cheek area downward, “Bumblebee found you.”

Ratchet nodded partly out of respect for his commanding officer and partly in agreement, the faintest dusting of soot was visible over his chassis, shading his otherwise pristine red and white paintwork a little darker than normal. Prime noticed this almost immediately, “Been tending to the situation in Ops I take it?” he queried. With a grin and an attempt at removing some of the soot Ratchet returned, “Well Prime, if I don’t who will? I can’t do anything with the main generator for the while so we’ll be running on the back-ups. As soon as I’ve salvaged enough parts I’ll get on it though. What was it you wanted to see me about?” he leaned against the control console casually.

“I require your advice, old friend.” Optimus paused, waiting to see how Ratchet reacted. The medic nodded and took on a studious aspect, “Go on…”

Prime sighed, looking downward giving consideration to his problem, “I’ve been considering our situation here on Earth, it seems to me that we are actually doing more harm than good in our attempts to stop the Decepticons…,” Ratchet cut his tone was serious, “Don’t you even think of quitting Prime. I won’t let you…we were sent here for a purpose. We’ll get the best of the ‘cons yet.”

Nodding, the autobot leader continued, “Quitting was never part of my programming Ratchet. However, the greater part of humankind resents our presence here regardless how many Decepticon advances we manage to hold off. We need a new strategy. The Energon reserves on board are running dangerously low, you yourself know about the situation with repairs…” he let the statement stand, waiting to see what Ratchet recommended.

Ratchet paused, thinking over the options. What Prime had said was true; they were in dire straits in almost all respects. Repairs were having to be left undone due to a lack of spare parts, Energon was running low regardless of his efforts to convert the Autobot’s systems to accept Earth’s fossil based fuels. What power was extracted from the petroleum hardly provided more than average operating ability and prolonged use could cause serious damage to systems, he shook his head, “ The best I could suggest Prime is that we make a run to Cybertron. We’d need to use the Decepticon Space Bridge…we don’t have enough fuel to power a ship back to Cybertron. Alternately you could always ask Skylinx…but you know how temperamental he is.”

“Indeed,” Optimus could well remember the performance that his rather archaic looking Lieutenant Commander had given him when he was last called upon to do something other than drift around in space, “Skylinx does not take orders or requests too kindly. However given the current situation I see little alternative, we do not collectively have the strength of arms to take the Space Bridge and hold it in our current state.” Ratchet nodded in agreement on both points, “Our options are limited Prime, that’s my best suggestion.” Prime turned his attention back to the visual display screen, “Thank you Ratchet, your suggestion has merit and I will give it serious consideration. It may be our only option.” Taking that to be the close of business the medic nodded a farewell to his commander and left the room heading back to his own quarters to attend to the removal of the soot from his paintwork.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

In derelict part of the ship a lone figure stood in the shadow of a bulkhead, the broad expanse of the black jet wings at his shoulders making him look like some form of fallen angel. This was no angel but one of the Decepticon Seeker Jets, Skywarp to be exact, he tapped a small button on his right wrist to activate the personal communications device he carried, a small screen emerged from the plating on his arm, “Skywarp to Megatron, do you copy?”

Back at the Decepticon base of operations the mighty silver grey transformer Megatron stopped dead in his tracks, sparing his Aerial Commander Starscream from a beating, “I will deal with your insubordination later,” he cast the snivelling Decepticon Seeker to the dust at his feet. “For now I have more important things to attend to,” he kicked him viscously in the side and moved away. Flicking up the communications screen on his own wrist he barked, “Report Skywarp. Has all gone according to plan?”

The hazy figure of the Seeker came into view, “Indeed my leader and these fools are none the wiser.” Megatron smiled darkly, “Well done. Unlike some of my warriors you rarely fail your missions,” he glared at Starscream, “Continue to Phase Two of the operation and see that you do not fail. Megatron out.” He killed the com-link.

Skywarp looked around him at the remains of the Ark with a sinister smile; it seemed that Soundwave’s Static Cloak worked perfectly. He had teleported right in under the Autobot’s noses without tripping a single alarm and was now free to walk around the interior of the ruined ship at his leisure. This mission was going to be a piece of cake, as the humans would say. Moving away from the bulkhead Skywarp studied the map Laserbeak had provided him with, plotting the route to his next destination. The Repair Bay.

Treading carefully to avoid dislodging any of the metal sheeting that lay strewn around on the floor and leant against walls he made his way through the rat-run of dimly lit corridors, taking care to avoid surveillance cameras and any potential confrontations with the Autobots. A small silver thing zipped past him, merely millimetres from his nose. The startled Seeker knocked it down instinctively and stamped on it. Ahead he could hear the metallic footsteps of two Autobots; from past experience he identified the accompanying voices to be those of Wheeljack the Inventor and the minibot Bumblebee.

Employing the Static Cloak he faded from sight and slipped into the cover of a nearby doorway waiting for them to pass. The footsteps halted a short distance away, Wheeljack spoke, “Someone’s destroyed the Sky Spy…What’s going on here?” Bumblebee began to approach Skywarp’s position, the Seeker held his ground until the last possible minute before emerging from his cover and taking the Autobot out with a well-aimed shot to the midsection.
Wheeljack was on his feet almost instantaneously, a blaster in his hand. He managed to lose one shot before Skywarp took him down with a blast from his arm mounted laser cannons. The Seeker swiftly dragged the two deactivated Autobots off into the derelict part of the ship, burying them under various bits of metal sheeting to cover his tracks before continuing on his way.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

After having restored his paintwork to it’s usual pristine state Ratchet had returned to the Repair Bay to continue his research into the matter of modifying the fossil fuel converters that the Autobots now used. He and Perceptor were looking into the problems of longterm use and how to counteract them. It was the lead content of the petroleum that caused the problems, the humans had developed lead free substitutes however these did not yield enough energy to even consider use, so Ratchet had taken the entire idea back to formula. The frustration levels were rising. Perceptor drummed his fingers pointedly on the note-strewn lab bench, eyeing Ratchet, “The formula was obviously flawed from the outset Ratchet, I had said as much. This just proves my theory.” The medic cut back curtly, “Will you please SHUT UP?! I can already see that formula won’t work…I’m a Medic not a Lab Rat! My primary purpose in coming here and getting tied up in this whole fiasco is to ensure that the formula is safe for use and that I can modify the converters to actually produce the damned thing!!” his blue optics sparked dangerously.

A misty grey shape stood in the corridor outside the room eavesdropping, avidly committing all this new data to memory; it seemed the Autobots were having the same trouble as the Decepticon troops were. Megatron would certainly need to know about this…but this was not why he was here.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

...To Be Continued...
~*SD*~
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*Bump*

Post by ~*ShadowDancer*~ »

Just to notify you of the latest update. ;)
~*SD*~
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