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NEWS OF THE WORLD |
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By Charles Ellis (with a shout-out to Kevin Briggs and Miles Reid) |
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PREVIOUSLY ON THE CONTINUED GENERATION 2… The tail end of December, 1995. Optimus Prime is in a severe depression following a confrontation with the Liege Maximo, which Optimus lost; Hot Rod has finally escaped Imperial captivity along with Arcee, the first female Autobot which he biomorphically replicated; Shockwave has become a Liege Centuro, replacing Jhiaxus. The Aerialbots visit Japan to relax from the war, when they are attacked by the Combaticons minus Onslaught, who is off searching for something on orders of Shockwave. When Onslaught joins the battle, the team combines to Bruticus, only to suffer from a severe glitch that causes them to lose- it wasn’t Onslaught after all but a strange shape-shifting mechanoid, which Shockwave calls Metamorphosis- a weapon that caused Liege Centuro Deathsaurus to come to Medieval Earth to find it (he was trapped there and breaks free in early 1996). The Aerialbots leave, not realising that Air Raid has been left behind and his appearance assumed by Metamorphosis… The Dinobots (minus Slag) arrive in the former Yugoslavia, having deserted the Autobots due to the Autobot/Decepticon truce created after the battle against Jhiaxus and not realising the alliance has since dissolved. They are suffering from severe bitterness and depression, with Snarl growing to loathe his companions, when they are attacked and defeated by Trypticon. Tracks has gone AWOL and is hiding in Italy. Beachcomber goes searching for him, only to be attacked by the military. Tracks does nothing to avert this, not wanting to go back to the war. The deactive Beachcomber is later taken from the Italians by members of the terrorist group Cobra. The Decepticons intercept and battle the Aerialbots, and a vicious battle erupts between Autobot and Decepticon. Metamorphosis is taken to Autobase, along with the captive Constructicons and the retrieved bodies of the Dinobots. Megatron prepares to launch an assault to get the Constructicons back; meanwhile, Shockwave is preparing to launch his own attack to get Metamorphosis with the Combaticons, Stunticons and Trypticon. He has Air Raid and the AWOL Springer captive. First Aid determines that Metamorphosis is a possible future of the Transformer race- the next evolutionary step. Just after this, Scrapper escapes his jail and Trypticon launches an all-out assault on Autobase… THE LONELINESS OF TRACKS Everything was wet. The Italian landscape for miles around was saturated by the pouring rain, threatening to wash away the grasslands as it turned soil into sodden mud. Tracks stood in this, the rain drumming incessantly on his armour, his feet sunken in the mud. His optics were water-smeared and the world was reduced to a drab blur. One thought played through his mind over and over. <Traitor.> He’d left Beachcomber there to die. Sat back and let the humans shoot at him. What sort of Autobot abandoned comrades like that?
<It doesn’t matter. No one saw me but him, and he’s not
around anymore, is he? I’m safe. I’m- Primus, what am I saying?!
That’s not the POINT. Even if no one finds out, I’ll still remember,
and how can I live with myself if I don’t do something? <But what? How can I find him? I can’t go to the other Autobots for help, not after this… I’ll have to do it myself. But how could I possibly manage that? <I brought this on myself. Me and my damned finish.> ************************************************************************ Once upon a time, Tracks had been a simple Autonomous Robot, one of billions like him. He hadn’t been noticed very often and hadn’t lived a glamorous life- he simply worked in a transportation hub. No friends. No life. When war broke out, he signed up as a soldier, and still went unnoticed- he never got promoted, he never did anything to distinguish himself from the generics. It drove him to despair, the constant nagging feeling of being ignored, of not mattering. Then the Ark mission came up, and the call for extra troops to record their minds onto memory crystal in case they were needed in the long term. Tracks, to his amazement, as chosen and the next thing he remembered after downloading was waking up in a glorious new body. He had no idea what happened to his old body, the old Tracks. Dead, he presumed. He didn’t like to press the issue. But now, with his new form, he stood out. So he started to boast about his looks and make sure everyone knew how marvellous he looked, and in his mind they all agreed. And he did this because now he had a chance at recognition, and he wasn’t going to lose it. They would notice him, they’d ALL notice him. Appearance was everything. It was life was all about. ******************************************************************** He didn’t want people to notice him. It would be too shameful. “Tracks the coward”, they’d hiss. “Put his paintwork over a fellow Autobot. Got his comrade killed. We don’t need his sort in the Autobots!” “No,” he whispered. “It can’t be like that…” The rain was showing no sign of letting up, but the gloom of the weather didn’t match the darkness in Track’s soul. He hadn’t moved in an hour, paralysed by fear of the Autobots seeing him and knowing what he’d done.
He had no choice. He’d have to find Beachcomber on his own.
That’d make the shame go away, and then nobody would know what he’d
done- he could cover it up, yes! He could make everything all right again! And he fell into the depression again. Finally, after a long time, he came to a decision. He was going to find his comrade whatever it took, he was going to do it alone and he was going to let his finish remain mud-smeared and filthy until he had triumphed. He transformed, mud being kicked up as his legs were wrenched from the earth, and blazed off back the way he’d came. He went quickly, because if he remained still the depression would hit again and he’d freeze up. He was going to make amends. DINOSAURER’S DAISHINGEKI! Kaboom.
Bits of the Earthbase went flying as plasma bombs, particle beams
and photon fire pounded it, with sonic mines disabling half the defensive
weaponry. The other Decepticons were pretty much sitting back and letting
Trypticon handle everything.
Behind the walls, Autobots scrambled to fire back with anything at
hand, but their collective firepower was bouncing off the robotic titan.
A small explosion and Brawn was sent smashing backwards, deactive.
Bluestreak snarled and fired a shot off between Trypticon’s optics.
Already four Autobots were down and the Earthbase was getting trashed.
This was, what, just three or four months after Megatron blew it up when
Optimus was off at the Hub?
“This is Prowl, calling all Autobots. All aerial combatants,
head out to strafe Trypticon! Aim for his plasma-bomb launchers!”
Bluestreak adjusted accordingly. To his right, Carnivac could be
heard whooping in delight at being allowed to have such a good fight. ********************************************************************** Scrapper
crept through the shuddering Earthbase, searching for his comrades. They
were here somewhere, and once he’d freed them then they would take out
the Autobots from the inside. It would be a day remembered in Transformer
history as the day the Constr-
The floor came down on top of him. ********************************************************************** Prowl
cursed under his breath. Slingshot had been shot down already- what had he
been thinking, sending the Aerialbots out before their repairs were
complete?! Even worse, the last attack had caused part of the third floor
to cave in. They were taking heavy structural damage, and soon Trypticon
would be able to bring the base down simply by nudging it.
<We can’t fight this, we don’t have the firepower and
we’re trapped in a corner. We need heavy reinforce->
Slowly an idea stole over him. Smirking, he transformed to car mode
and sped off towards the communications room, praying it remained intact. ********************************************************************** Optimus
was angry.
He’d tried peace so many times. He tried it with Megatron, and
the Decepticon spurned him. He tried talking to the Liege Maximo and he
ended up beaten mentally and physically. All these times he’d called for
restrain and peaceful solutions- when did they ever work?
The largest guns he could find clasped in his hands, he ran out of
Earthbase and began firing. ********************************************************************** Sideswipe
rocketed downwards and landed on Trypticon’s back. Right, now he was out
of gun-range, and could piledriver away until he breached the armour-
A compartment opened, spitting out Full-Tilt, who shot Sideswipe in
the back, knocking the Autobot off. Midway to the ground, Trypticon’s
right leg kicked out and punted the Autobot through a hole in the
Earthbase roof. ********************************************************************** Prowl
frantically typed up the necessary co-ordinates, hoping to get the job
done before the Decepticon’s knocked out base power. In the distance
came a short scream as Bumblebee get blown in half.
“Come on, come on…”
********************************************************************** “TRYPTICON!” The
dinosaurian looked down to see Optimus Prime moving forwards, firing on
his left foot (so that’s what that annoying itch had been…). A
quick particle beam missed as Prime strafed to the right, firing as he
went. Trypticon yawned and disgorged Brunt, using him to pin down the
Autobot while he prepared to fire again.
It really was incredibly boring for him. Aim, fire. Aim, fire.
Maybe if all his foes weren’t so fragile, maybe if he had someone of
equal size and power. Instead he just sat back and let automatic systems
do all the work for him while meaningless little firepower rattled off
him.
He noticed Optimus had taken down Brunt. Sighing, he fired off a
photon charge that sent the Autobot flying backwards. Depressingly simple.
Then Shockwave gave the order and Trypticon ceased firing.
“Autobots! You have seen the firepower of Trypticon. He has
nearly levelled your base without myself, Bruticus or Menasor joining the
fight. I have also received intelligence from Vortex that Megatron and
three gestalt’s worth of Decepticons, including Razorclaw, Divebomb and
Snaptrap, will be reaching here in twenty minutes time. If our battle
continues any further, you will be too weak to deal with Megatron’s
forces and you will all be slaughtered.
“However, I will pull out my troops, thus giving you a fighting
chance against Megatron, on one condition: give me Metamorphosis.”
Optimus Prime got up, his chest blown open and the Matrix
half-exposed. “We do not… give up… our own.”
Optimus Prime ran through his options. They were thus: give up
Metamorphosis or die.
Prowl transformed, aimed his rifle at Trypticon’s optics and
stepped in front of Prime. “Right, here’s the deal. I used a warp gate
to go to Cybertron and bring over all these Autobots from our base. I
think there’s enough firepower among them to bring down Trypticon,
especially now he’s had the Earthbase crew pounding at him for the last
five minutes. Add them to the Autobots already here that still function,
and we could deal with you, and Megatron and his mates when they get here.
“So, you leave and we won’t kill you all here and now.”
Hrrr.
“We accept,” he said. “Decepticons, fall back.”
And Megatron and his cronies showed up- Prowl gave them the
Constructicons back with no fuss, taking great care to mention the bombs
rigged up inside them that he would trigger, killing the gestalt team, if
Megatron launched an attack. It would take the Decepticons several hours
to get home and perform surgery to discover that Prowl had been lying all
along.
Conveniently nobody had been killed in the battle. Jackpot and the
Hot Rod Patrol were ordered to stay on Earth for a month at the most to
cover for the wounded; the rest were sent back to Cybertron, moaning about
an anticlimax. ********************************************************************* “This
battle showed us one thing,” said Prowl. “We can’t keep
Metamorphosis at Earthbase. If Shockwave tries that stunt again, and this
time knocks our power out early on… Either way, we need somewhere else
to hide it.”
“Optimus frequently has ‘problems’,” said Wheeljack
flippantly. “That’s what makes him Optimus.”
“Not like these. Something’s going wrong with him. And it’s
serious.” IF YOU PAY
ATTENTION… “Oh
Primus, I want to work with someone else…” “Come
on, Big Daddy! My alternate configuration is that of an Earthen vehicle,
same as yours.”
“You seem to be missing something here, Hydraulic…” ************************************************************************ The
Alley Viper melted from the shadows, gun trained on the trench-coated
figure. The figure tensed slightly, and tightened his grip on the
briefcase.
“There’s no need for that. I’m not stupid enough to betray
you.”
“All counterfeit, of course, but good enough to fool most hu-
people.”
“Good.” The Alley Viper nodded to the side with his head, and
another came out, holding a small metal box with wires protruding from it
and a small Autobot symbol. “Here. You know they’ll figure out
you’re using it.” ******************************************************************** Transmissions
of infra-red data were relayed to him. They were moving from the abandoned
factory and into the street, towards- Slag, they’d spotted him.
Of no consequence. ******************************************************************** “Look,
it’s very simple. We’re on a mission to find a place for
Metamorphosis. We’re to avoid being noticed at all costs. And I’m
sorry to say, but monster trucks don’t often show up in Canadian
cities.”
“Look, shut up and look for somewhere we can stash a
shape-shifting child-minded super Transformer.”
“Don’t blame me, Prowl was the one who set these targets! Damn
the man, always dragging us little guys down…” *********************************************************************** Five
Alley Vipers crept over to where the bright green armoured vehicle stood.
Machine guns were aimed at it, the safety removed and bullets slid in.
“On my mark-“
The vehicle beeped once and fired a heat-seeking missile. The
explosion blew two of the Vipers to ash.
“FUCK!”
“This is Viper Four to all BAT units; pursue Autobot vehicle and
destroy it at all costs!” *********************************************************************** Vorath
discarded his trenchcoat and ran over to where Mindwipe lay headless.
“Got it- one high-grade Autobot radio, belonging to an ex-member of the
Earth Surveillance Team. With this the Decepticons will be able to hack
their communications with ease for at least three months before they
discover us! Who needs Soundwave?” ********************************************************************* “Look,
Daddy, we are NOT stopping our mission just so you can visit the Mainframe
studios office!” *********************************************************************** The
vehicle skidded into an alleyway, almost tipping over, while three sleek
white androids came charging after it. They’d been chasing it for two
solid minutes, mercilessly destroying any obstacle, inanimate or
otherwise.
Now they had it cornered.
A strange black mist billowed out as they came in, blinding their
visual senses. And before they could switch to infra-red or similar, a few
well-chosen missiles blew them to scrap.
“Good work Basher.” ************************************************************************ “What
was that explosion?” “Who
cares? Found anywhere that looks suitable for Metamorphosis?” “We’ve
lost all contact with the BATs!” “Damn
it,” muttered the chief Viper. “OK, we leave the city now. Get the
truck and a change of clothes, and we’ll head back to the Cobra base
in-“
There was no sly twinkle in his optic, no polish on his chassis, no
hint of humour. Just a cold, clinical expression and a coiled fist.
Tracks began to talk over the sound of the machine guns. “Basher
detects infra-red. Your friend Vorath showed up on it rather differently
to everyone else around him, due to his Headmaster parts. I’ve been
tracking him for- look, stop firing, you can tell it’s not working.
Thank you. Now, I’ve been tracking him for a long while, and what do I
see? You, selling Autobot technology.
“How did you get it?”
Tracks walked off, transforming into his Corvette form and driving
away. So, now he knew Cobra did indeed have Beachcomber and hadn’t
simply taken the technology from another source. This would require
planning. ********************************************************************* “So,
you didn’t find anything of interest at all?” asked Prowl.
The two Micromasters shook their heads. LASER ETHICS New
Year’s Eve, 1995.
On one side, Electro and Volt. On the other, Fireball and Jolt.
Both sides with light sabres charged and held ready.
“Tell me,” said Volt, breaking the silence. “Is there a
strategic reason to your being here, or are you tracking us down for
superfluous purposes of revenge?”
“We aren’t rejoining the Decepticons. Remember that the
short-lived alliance came about shortly after our activation, and so the
two of us, along with the Rotorbots, have been introduced at an early age
to the Autobot ideals.”
<Skids, you’d better hope you won’t need us as bodyguards
after all…> ********************************************************************* Charlene
leaned against the wall of the house, eyebrows raised. “Not that I’m
not glad to see ya, Skids, but you’re not known for social calls.”
The car began turning into Skids, but halfway through it began to
melt and shift until it reformed the blank, featureless body of
Metamorphosis. Charlene stared in shock.
“Oh my God…” ********************************************************************* Volt
back flipped over his opponent, sticking out the sabre in mid air and
cleaving off Fireball’s left arm at the shoulder.
To the side, Electro swiftly transformed and drove away under
Jolt’s feet before transforming back several metres away. Jolt snarled
and charged forwards, but Electro was now no longer stuck on the defensive
and gave as good as he got.
Fireball continued to fight, while Volt parried and ducked every
strike he made.
“C’mon!” said Jolt. “Y’know you’d be happier in the
Decepticons!” ******************************************************************* “Metamorphosis
is a highly advanced Transformer, but… well, not fully developed
mentally. The Decepticons are after him, they think we have him stashed in
Earthbase, so we need somewhere to hide him temporarily. And I thought
that, well, nobody would go looking for him out here.”
“You certain? I can’t take him in if otherwise- I have a family
to think of now, Skids.”
“Cease, Fireball! Your fuel will run out soon!”
Volt ducked to the side as Fireball lashed out and made an
unsuccessful swipe to the head.
“Shoulda stayed with us instead of defecting. Shoulda rejoined
when you had the chance.”
To the side, Electro cried out as a light sabre ripped at his gut. *********************************************************************** Hubcap
cricked his exo-knuckles and sat down inside Seaspray. “OK, through
various contacts and news sources I have determined that Tracks is
responsible for several Transformer-related attacks on human terrorists
throughout the world. The most recent attack was on Cobra in Toronto.
Since then, he’s refuelled at about four Blackrock gas stations, and
judging from that I can tell he was heading to the coast. So, he’s
obviously gunning for Cobra Island.”
“So?” said Hubcap. “Let’s just get there in time to salvage
the two of them.” ********************************************************************* Electro
had had enough. Quickly transformed, he drove between Jolt’s legs again,
but then transformed and swiped out, cutting off the Laser Rod’s foot.
Jolt looked down, whimpered, transformed and drove off into the sunset.
“You coward!” raged Fireball. Quickly he moved to end the
battle, but now had to face two opponents and was swiftly disarmed. As in,
his other arm came off.
“Oh slag.” G.I. JOE(‘S
VILLAINS) VS THE TRANSFORMER “We
just picked it up on radar. It’ll be hitting the island in just over
five minutes.” “The
Joes? They wouldn’t dare, would they?” “Too
small a craft to carry a sufficient task-force team for a serious invasion
of our island. But judging from what we’ve got hidden here…” **************************************************************** Giant
cannons attached to the island’s coast opened fire, missing the Corvette
Stingray completely as it swerved to the side and continued its approach,
hovering ten feet above the water. Weaponry was brought online and
targeting activated; scanners began searching for the tell-tale signature
of an Autobot Vorcode.
HISS Tanks were stationed at the coast, directly in the path of the
flying car. Machine-gun rounds were fired, ricocheting off the car’s
front before it retaliated with two missiles from the Actionmaster drone
unit underneath it. The Tanks exploded and Tracks flew in through the
flames.
Wings were retracted and he hit the ground running. Speed was
required now.
The Cobra agents had been prepared. Bullets and rockets from every
corner were fired at him, chequering his armour with dents and turning
paintwork to an ash-stained mess. Glass splintered and cried. Thousands of
tiny pains over his entire body.
He ignored them.
He had a job to do. ********************************************************************* “The
Autobot’s cleared Zone One, making a beeline for the research
facility-“ ********************************************************************* It
was raining explosives. An arcing wall of missiles came screaming towards
him; Tracks swore and swerved around, the explosions catching him in the
side and nearly tipping him over. Seeing a short street formed by
factories & barracks, he blazed towards it to gain cover.
There were some Alley Vipers waiting for him. They were run down.
Tracking sensors showed the Detonators were still in place, waiting
for him to break cover. Coming in from the West were a troupe of
helicopters, and Frag Vipers were heading towards him from the North-East.
<Cornered. Armour is compromised and a few gears have been
dislocated- transforming is going to hurt. I don’t even know if I can
manage this stunt, but…>
That done, he allowed himself a scream. There was a stabbing pain
coming from inside him, and he knew any further transforming would make it
worse.
Behind him the ‘dark light’ wore off and he had to swerve to
avoid a second barrage. One missile hit his roof- armour damaged and a
primary circuit failed.
Two more kilometres to go. ******************************************************************* “The
Autobot’s driving has become more erratic- it’ll be harder for
missiles to hit. We have four groups in hot pursuit.” ******************************************************************** Cars
lay across his path, with tanks and Cobra agents waiting from him behind
the blockade. Tracks turned round to go back the way he’d came, but the
Detonators were coming up fast. Cornered.
He blazed forwards.
The blockade team fired, quickly destroying his windscreen and
shredding the seats inside. Bullets were ricocheting around his inside and
he cried out in pain. His front was mangled and oozing fuel.
A single incendiary missile was fired. The entire blockade was
destroyed, shrapnel imbedding itself in him.
Nearly there. ******************************************************************* “It’s
broken through all our defences and will hit the lab soon. What now?” ******************************************************************** Tracks
ripped the lab apart until he found the room where Beachcomber was being
held. Reaching down, he tore Beachcomber’s head away and placed it
inside his car mode interior.
Turning round, he transformed and activated his flight mode.
Swiftly leaving Cobra Island behind, he noticed a trio of helicopters
pursuing him. Groaning to himself, he aimed Basher and fired behind him;
the helicopters themselves fired off two missiles before one of them was
destroyed. Tracks spun in the air, avoiding the first missile only for the
second to hit him in his right wing.
The explosion blew his right side open. He was falling towards
ocean.
Tracks tried to control his fall so he would cover more ground
while going down. He sent out a distress signal before the fire inside his
circuitry removed his ability to do so. He hoped he’d go under before
his fuel pumps went up and took out his brain module.
He had a moment to wonder whether Beachcomber’s brain module
would be safe from saltwater damage before he crashed and knew no more. SALVAGING MINDS “Put…
the sword… down.”
Snarl showed no sign of hearing him.
“You’re a little confused, need some help, maybe-“
“Look, please put the sword down.” Slag was pleading now.
“You have a problem with Grimmy and the others, you wait for them to
wake up and then duke it out, you don’t do- you don’t- Look,
please…”
“What the hell would you know?! You’re strong, you’re fast,
you have long-range fire… You’ve got it made!”
“No! No more talk! Grimlock dies! They all die!”
“I’m insulted you think that one shot would breach my armour.
Now put the sword down or I’ll rip your arm out of its socket.”
Finally, Slag spoke, understanding dawning in his eyes. “You came
online first because you had less injuries than the others. Yet all four
of you had been against Trypticon, so Ratchet said. He brainwashed you,
didn’t he? Brainwashed you into doing this.”
Slag recoiled from the look on his friend’s face. “I thought
you hated being weak! Yet look what you’re doing now! Giving in to
weakness, giving in to what that giant bastard wants you to do!”
There was a moment when it all teetered on the brink.
Snarl cried out and flung his sword to the ground before collapsing
onto Snarl, screaming his frustrations and pain to the world. WRAP-UP I One
millennium prior.
“Dominator base X5 located. Soundblaster, jam all communications
to and from it.” “It’s
the Destrons!” screamed the head of security, still communicating
despite the loss of everything below the torso. “We’re holding them
off, but I don’t know for how long. Get the slag out of here, and take
Metamo- ACK!”
A thin whine filled the air, and the guards all dropped to the
floor, bleeding melted brain modules from their audio receptors. Mototron
gave Scowl a dirty look.
“You just have to spoil my fun, don’t you?” ******************************************************************** The
two spindly Dominator scientists had to work quickly. Multiple appendages
removed all traces of data on Metamorphosis from the computers, and
programmed their contingency plan. The Destrons may have captured one of
the prototype camouflage chips, but that would be all.
The wall buckled inwards. One of the scientists turned his
crane-mounted head towards it, and slowly reached for a laser scalpel. Not
the best of weapons, but used on the right point…
Deathsaurus smashed in, gunning down the scientist as he went. He
came in just in time to see Metamorphosis, looking at everything with the
same vacant stare, rocket out of the base in a pod and escape to
hyperspace.
The remaining scientist quickly moved to delete the co-ordinates
the pod was set on, but the Destron moved fast and crushed his head before
he could.
“Deathsaurus to craft- our quarry has been sent to a certain
co-ordinate; transmitting now. We’ll destroy the base, then drop me off
on whatever planet that pod is on. I will carry out this mission by
myself.”
And he did, and got stuck on Earth until early 1996. The Dominators
never did find out who destroyed their top secret Metamorphosis project,
and so the possibility of unlimited transformational potential was lost. ********************************************************************** Early
January, 1996. Deathsaurus has escaped from his earthly prison and has
severed all ties to the Liege Maximo. But he still remembers what led him
to Earth, and the technology behind Metamorphosis would be exceedingly
useful both in future wars with Star Saber and any possible conflicts with
an irate Maximo. And after hearing through the Imperial grapevine that the
creature had been sighted recently, he resolved to have it captured once
more. Icepick
stared in amusement as Mototron shoved as many weapons into various
compartments as he could.
“How do you expect to need to use all of them?”
“Awwww, can’t we have some fun?” ********************************************************************** Chromedome
looked at an exact replica of himself.
As he watched, its head came off and transformed into a tiny
Metamorphosis.
“Fascinating!” He checked the equipment attached to
Metamorphosis and nodded to himself. “Just as we thought- he maintains
basic programming of whoever he changes into.” As he watched, the head
reattached and Metamorphosis transformed into Hot Rod, waving slightly as
the real one came driving up. “And we retains the code for whoever he
became in previous times.”
Metamorphosis stared at him blankly.
“I don’t think he understands factions,” said Charlene.
“I’m not really sure what he does understand. He doesn’t talk at
all.” *********************************************************************** The
exchange took place in the Artic, far from human civilisation.
Vortex and Blast Off unceremoniously dumped Air Raid & Springer
on the ground. Prowl pursed his lips, and nodded to the two Gobots with
him, who retrieved the bodies.
“Here it is,” setting down the container. “The fuel you
wanted, in exchange for your prisoners.”
The two sides left with their wares, neither knowing that Mindwipe
had, under payment from Shockwave, implanted hypnotic influences to have
both of them report to Shockwave any news the Autobots had on
Metamorphosis.
He wasn’t giving up on this. WRAP-UP II Wyoming.
Mototron blissfully drove through the wrong side of the road,
sending traffic scattering across the place.
“I’ve got a lock on our target’s Vorcode! Transmitting
co-ordinates!” ********************************************************************* Autobase
communications & surveillance room.
“This is Eject, scramblers are on- you’re free to speak,
Cosmos.” ********************************************************************** Scowl
liked his Pretender Monster shell. He’d always been a vicious and
dangerous warrior, but with the shell on he finally looked the part.
Intimidation was a great weapon, after all.
The problem with it is that it caused him to waddle everywhere.
This left him clinging on to the back of Icepick’s tyrannosaurus shell
as his teammate jogged across the desert.
“ETA?” ********************************************************************** “We
should really have waited for back-up,” muttered Firebolt.
“Shut up and keep driving!” snarled Skids, gunning his motor.
There were enemy forces in Wyoming. They were hunting for
Metamorphosis. Charlene would be killed. All his fault.
He, the goddamn pacifist who stayed in the war to protect
innocent life.
Faster. Have to go faster. ********************************************************************** Charlene
pulled up outside the school and grinned slightly as Metamorphosis’
doors opened all by themselves. It was almost like having Skids back
again.
Skids. Wendell had nearly had a heart attack when the Autobot first
paid her a visit. She often wondered how he’d react if he knew that, had
Skids been human, she’d have gotten together with him on the spot. A
daydreamer, a guy who devoured information with relish, enjoyed just
wandering around the desert looking at things- fitted her perfectly back
in 1986.
But, he was mechanical and thirty feet, so meh.
Metamorphosis… now he was another thing entirely. He hardly
talked, went driving off on his own at night, and didn’t seem to notice
much that went on around him. The Autobots had said his mind was
underdeveloped. She’d never have known what to do with him in 1986, but
now, after she’d become a mother, she still didn’t know what to do but
she made a damn sight better attempt than she would have before. She spent
time outside, talking to it, showing it various Earth things, watching as
Hot Rod & Arcee came round every few days to chat with it…
She waved the kids goodbye as they climbed out, then became
distracted by a beeping light coming from the dashboard. She remembered
this from Skids- some form of scanning system.
Frowning, she checked the rear view mirror to see coming fast up
behind was a bulky black car…
…accelerating…
…with weaponry emerging from the sides…
“Oh Jesus.” She jammed her foot onto the accelerator- she had
to get away, if that thing attacked at the school-
The inside of the car melted and reshaped itself, and Metamorphosis
became Hot Rod.
The car blazed away, with Mototron following, cheering in delight-
random firing was fun by itself but a chase as well? Perfection! ******************************************************************** “We
received a call- Metamorphosis is in Wyoming!” called Vortex. “You
want us to go with you, commander?”
Vortex shrugged and wandered off, wondering how Shockwave was able
to be so audible from so far away. ********************************************************************** Metamorphosis
screamed as bullets impacted with his rear window. They’d gotten out of
the town, but now Mototron was in firing range.
“Come on, you sissies! Fire back!”
Her mobile rang. She answered it.
“Charlene, are you-”
“SKIDS!” She burst out crying in relief. “Oh thank God, thank
God… There’s this- this thing chasing after us, I don’t know where
to-”
“I-I’m sorry about all this.” ********************************************************************** “What
do you mean, ‘be prepared for casualties’?!” yelled Ratchet.
“Prowl, I’m using all my resources here to fix Tracks and Beachcomber!
One’s got severe internal damage and the other is just a head!
And I don’t even know what happened to them, I just have Hubcap and
Seaspray come in one day and-”
“You can yell at Skids et al when they come back in pieces,”
said Prowl, cutting the doctor off. “They’re the ones who went
off without authorisation. Now, what’s the status on the Dinobots?” ********************************************************************** “They’re
coming up fast!” called Firebolt, running back and jumping into Hot
Rod’s front seat.
The Autobots slowly drove out from their hiding places behind the
rotting old buildings, ready to launch a surprise attack on the enemy.
Weapons were armed, targeting was set with enemy velocity and
Metamorphosis’ position accounted for.
And as they watched, an explosion hit the side of Metamorphosis and
he flipped over.
And lay still.
“NO!” WRAP-UP III Skids
stared in horror at the overturned Metamorphosis, and he felt hollow.
Charlene had been in there. Because of him.
Mototron had transformed and was heading towards them, weapons
armed. And Hot Rod drove forward, seemingly unconcerned, Firebolt ready to
leap out. The Destron began firing, and Hot Rod transformed, his
Targetmaster transforming and landing neatly in his hand, and fired. Laser
fire ripped their way towards the enemy…
“I REGRET NOTHI-”
Boom.
It would take the Destrons a while to find all his parts and repair
him.
Skids ran over to Metamorphosis and turned him back over. He knelt
down and looked anxiously through the window.
Charlene looked up, blood trickling down from a gash on her
forehead, and grinned weakly. “My hero…” ********************************************************************** The
Dinobots felt alive for the first time in months. They were together
again, there was an enemy again and best of all, Prowl had agreed to lend
Grimlock, Snarl and Sludge his spare Turbo Cycles.
“Swoop- scout ahead. Rest, lock and load. Time to show everyone
Dinobot’s BACK!”
“Wooooo!” ********************************************************************** The
deserted mining town provided good cover until Icepick started shooting
fireballs at it and set it ablaze.
Flaming projectiles and sonic attacks tore apart the burning
wreckage, causing the Autobots to run for their lives, firing back
whenever they had the chance. Skids kept his back to the enemy, sheltering
Charlene in his hands. Metamorphosis ran screaming in horror, not
comprehending what was going on.
Firebolt blasted Scowl’s Pretender shell, blowing it open, only
for the robot inside to be left mostly unharmed and able to shoot back.
Arcee cursed as a fireball struck her in the side, knocking her to the
ground. Pointing upwards and firing, she blasted Scowl’s exposed robotic
form, causing him to fall deactive.
Hot Rod ran over to help her up, only to get hit by Icepick’s
firepower and have his right leg forcibly separate from his waist.
“OH SLAGGING-” ********************************************************************** “Boss,
this is Swoop. I’ve found them, transmitting co-ordinates. There’s one
Pretender left, Hot Rod’s taken severe damage. I can also see- Huh.”
He frowned. “There’s something… off about the air around the battle.
I think it’s a cloaking field depowering. Wait, it is. I can see the
ship coming out- slag, it’s an Imperial troop carrier!”
“Maintain position. We three minutes away!” ********************************************************************** And
the fight halted, and everyone glanced up to see the Destrons disembark.
Four of them, standard purple drones with aerial forms.
And Deathsaurus in his dragon form.
“What do we do?!” screamed Firebolt.
“Die, I guess,” said Hot Rod.
Deathsaurus circled lazily in the air, trying to achieve the
maximum dramatic effect. Metamorphosis was in grasp, after all these
centuries, and he couldn’t simply swoop down and grab him. There had to
be a spectacle. There had to be-
One of the drones exploded in mid-air. The dragon whipped his head
round to see a gigantic purple space cannon come flying in before
transforming and halting in mid-air several metres away with him.
“Greetings, Deathsaurus. This planet and Metamorphosis are under
my jurisdiction. Depart, please.”
Shockwave didn’t reply, but simply opened fire, puncturing small
holes in the dragon’s armour before being rewarded by a searing blast of
napalm. And a curious dogfight began, Deathsaurus lashing out with talons
and tail, and Shockwave barely dodging each strike, his chest-piece
glowing intensely.
Down below, fire from Firebolt and Arcee was forcing the drones to
keep their distance. Icepick stormed closer, determined to finish this,
only to be hit from above by Swoop; snarling, he switched his attention to
the Dinobot. ********************************************************************* “We
should have thought of examining them sooner.”
Everyone was fighting, and his friends were hurt, and there was
heat and pain and noise and all of it going around him, and he just
didn’t understand it. Where they fighting over him? Why?
He didn’t want them to do it. It was getting his friends hurt.
Metamorphosis thought through his choices. ********************************************************************* The
Centuro’s continued to duck and weave through the air in their combat.
Shockwave had the upper hand though, and he’d had it since the
beginning.
“You may notice that you’re slowing down. That some inessential
systems are going offline. That is because of me. I cannot defeat you in
fair combat, so instead I compromised your armour earlier and have,
throughout this whole battle, been transmitting electromagnetic
frequencies at the right level to negatively effect computerised
machinery.
“You’re noticeably getting slower. Your aim is off. So.”
“Surrender and leave, or I will wipe your mind clean. There will
be no resurrection. Metamorphosis is mine.”
He walked out onto the battlefield, serenely calm, began to shift
into another form and as everyone watched he initiated self-destruct.
The explosion was immense, and only a few pieces were left.
Everything else had been vapourised. Nothing of use to anyone.
The Destrons and Shockwave departed, both feeling bitter at being
cheated after coming so close. The Dinobots arrived, deflated that only
Swoop had made the battle. And Skids, Hot Rod and Arcee stared in grief at
the pieces of their friend.
And Charlene giggled.
When questioned about this inappropriate behaviour, she pointed out
that just before he blew up, Metamorphosis had taken the form of
Chromedome again.
And when they searched, they found waiting patiently for them a
tiny “Headmaster” version of Metamorphosis. WRAP-UP IV “You
left me to die.”
“I beg to differ, it was exactly like that!” yelled
Beachcomber. “You were right there, you saw I was outgunned, and you let
them shoot me.” He held his hands out and stared. “Why did you do
that? How could you do that?”
“Why am I saying any of this? It’s no excuse for what I
did…”
“Slag.”
“…could Ratchet really help?” “Yeah.
I can’t hide behind my finish for the rest of my life, can I?” |