Metamorphosis: Chapter 23

[wyntir_knight]

Chapter 23


Megatron stood on the command deck of the light cruiser Shade’s Vengeance watching as the burnt out husk of Charr floated silently below. “I had thought that you might have been exaggerating, Soundwave,” he said grimly. “To think that the great Decepticon Empire has sunk so low.”

Soundwave said nothing, but Red Eye grunted slightly. Megatron turned to face the Seeker and found him shaking his head, a strange mixture of amusement and dismay written on his face.

“Do you have something to add, Red Eye?” Megatron growled.

“Nae. Nothin’ of importance anyway,” Red Eye replied.

“I will be the judge of that,” Megatron growled. “Now speak. And choose your words carefully; providing this ship does not make up for your previous failures.”

Red Eye pursed his lips for a moment. He opened his mouth and promptly closed it, looking as if he was trying the find the right words. The words that wouldn’t get him fragged.

“It’s just tha’ I’m surprised that yer surprised by this,” he said finally.

“What do you mean?” Megatron asked, his optics narrowing dangerously.

“Look, I don’ mean nothin’ by it, it’s just tha’ you were th’ only thing holdin’ that lot together,” Red Eye said, motioning vaguely at the screen. “Even in th’ old days, even before I ... uh, took my sabbatical, so t’ speak, the Decepticons didn’t have a whole lot o’ leadership material in th’ ranks. If ye’ll pardon me sayin’.”

“The assessment is accurate,” Soundwave said. “The Decepticons are disabled.”

Megatron took a long look at both Soundwave and Red Eye, as if studying them. After a moment he turned back to the viewscreen.

“That will change as soon as we land,” Megatron said. “Red Eye, I assume that you know this space.”

“Aye, m’lord,” Red Eye replied, sounding vaguely confused.

“I need a fuel outpost that we can hit quickly and efficiently. It will have to provide a take large enough to refuel all of my troops with enough to spare.”

“Enough t’ spare fer what?” Red Eye asked.

“That is none of your concern,” Megatron growled. “You just need to provide me with a location.”

Red Eye crossed his arms over his chest and looked down with a serious look on his face.

“There’s only one place that I can think of that’ll suit yer purposes,” he said seriously. “We might be able t’ manage a quick in-out at Beltane Prime. They’re not really well defended, but we’ll have t’ go down t’ get it, an’ that’ll be a problem.”

“How do you mean?” Megatron asked.

“Well, see, th’ problem is tha’ th’ atmosphere’s made o’ somethin’ really caustic,” Red Eye explained. “Ammonia or somethin’ like that. Th’ point is we can’t go down easily. Usually th’ Beltane Globes bring th’ fuel up, not th’ other way around.”

“And they will have what we need?” Megatron asked.

“Oh aye, they will. Beltane Prime has a stockpile of high quality refined energon. The whole of th’ planet is made up of energon ore an’ the populace is uniquely suited t’ processing it.”

“Elaborate,” Soundwave ordered.

“Well, uhm, how do I put this delicately?” Red Eye mused. “The Globes eat th’ ore and the energon is the ... byproduct, if’n ye know what I mean.”

“You mean the energon’s waste?” Skywarp said, sounding shocked.

“Aye, I suppose you could say that,” Red Eye replied.

At the back of the bridge, Starbolt began to giggle softly.

“And you people call me perverted. At least I don’t eat shit.”

“Silence!” Megatron ordered. “Do not think that you are indispensable, femme.”

Starbolt’s optics widened and she slunk further away from Megatron’s sight.

“Red Eye, you will provide us will all the information you have on Beltane Prime,” Megatron ordered. “Call in favours if you have to but I want to know everything about that world and its defences. I expect a full report when we return from the surface.”

Megatron turned toward the doors to the main hold, motioning for Soundwave, Skywarp, and Thundercracker to follow.

“And, Red Eye,” Megatron added, “Don’t you even think of betraying me. Don’t think for a moment that I won’t hunt you down if you do. And if any of the others try to defy me, I will hold you personally responsible.”

“Aye, Lord Megatron,” Red Eye replied nervously.

x-x-x

On the surface of Charr, Swindle sat on a large pile of debris, staring up at the dark sky and trying to ignore the churning in his tanks. Bilious sulphur clouds were gathering, and with them came the guarantee of acid rain. Swindle shivered slightly at the thought of another night trapped in close quarters with the other Combaticons. This new life that had been thrust upon them was enough to test even the camaraderie of gestalt-mates, and Swindle didn't get along with his team-mates under the best of circumstances. Or rather, they didn't get along with him. They never had forgiven him for selling them for scrap.

A quiet footfall behind him caused him to tense in anticipation of battle, but the feeling passed quickly. He barely had enough energon to keep him functional. He certainly didn't have enough to power his weapons.

“It's only me, and neither of us is up for a fight,” Dead End said as he approached. “Not that a fight would do any good anyway.”

“What do you want?” Swindle growled.

Dead End shuffled over lackadaisically and sat down next to Swindle. He drew his knees up to his chest and rested his chin against his crossed arms.

“I asked you a question,” Swindle said.

The only response Dead End offered was a half-hearted shrug as he stared up at the sky.

“I guess misery loves company,” Swindle grumbled.

The Combaticon and the Stunticon sat in silence for a long time. I could almost be termed a companionable silence if it wasn't for the desperate gloom that hung over them.

Suddenly a flash in the sky caught Swindle's attention.

“What was that?” he asked.

“I imagine it was lightning,” Dead End replied, not bothering to look up. “It'll electrify the rain and we can finally be done with this hole.”

“It wasn't lightning, dumb-aft,” Swindle said as he stood. “I think it's a shuttle.”

“So one of the Triple Changers is back with a few energon cubes,” Dead End replied with a shrug. “You know full well they won't share much with us. They can't afford to have the gestalts threaten their little triad.”

“It’s not the Triple Changers!” Swindle argued. “They’re all in Galvatron’s throne room.” He stood up and started toward the main hall. “You can stay here if you want, but I’m going to go check it out.”

With that Swindle transformed and drove off. After a long moment and a deep sigh, Dead End followed.

x-x-x

“So, what did you do to get on Megatron’s bad side?” Starbolt asked as she leaned against the door of the communications room.

“What in th’ Pit do you want?” Red Eye snapped as he focused on the monitor before him.

“I’m just curious,” Starbolt replied as she walked into the room and leaned against the desk. “And bored.”

“Well go be bored somewhere else,” Red Eye growled.

“Oh come now. I’m not going to try anything,” Starbolt pouted. “I really like you and all; you Seekers have the most wonderful energy. But Megatron! Ah, now there is a mech with potential! And here I thought that Soundwave tasted good.”

“What?!” Red Eye exclaimed, pushing away from the terminal and turning to gape at the femme.

Starbolt just smiled mischievously at the Seeker.

“You tell me what you did to piss Megatron off, and I’ll tell you what Soundwave did to acquire my ... services.”

“I don’t want t’ know that,” Red Eye said as he turned back to the system.

He returned to studying the maps of Beltane Prime as Starbolt continued to sit on the edge of the desk watching him work with an enigmatic grin on her face. Red Eye tried to focus on his research of Beltane Prime, but he kept finding his mind straying to Starbolt and Soundwave. He knew he didn't want to know, that this was likely to be an image he didn't want in his processor. But the more he thought about it the more he wanted dirt on Soundwave, the more he wanted to see the lieutenant brought down a few notches. After a long silence Red Eye sighed and turned to the femme.

“All right, fine,” he said. “I’m sure I’m gonna regret this, but fine. I’m just masochistic enough that I need t’ know. What was yer price?”

“Tit for tat?” Starbolt asked.

“Aye,” Red Eye sighed.

“Oh, no. You go first, darling,” Starbolt grinned.

Red Eye sighed and scrubbed his face with his hands.

“In th’ early days of th’ war I was sent on a routine mission with my Trine t’ fetch two Autobots; an inventor and a medic. They got away from us an’ were captured by a group of Neutrals. I tried to cut a deal with them, but it went wrong and th’ other two members of my Trine were killed. We did manage to take out th’ majority of th’ Neutral gang, but not before some of ‘em made it to th’ gates of Decepticon command. I think both sides were betrayed by one of Argent’s crew, but I have no proof, an’ Megtron didn’t want excuses. My choices were t’ face punishment or t’ run. You can figure out which one I chose.”

“That’s it?” Starbolt asked.

“Aye,” Red Eye replied. “Tha’ was more than enough t’ put me on his black list. You take yer punishment an' you don’t leave th’ Decepticons.”

“Good to know,” Starbolt replied as she stood and headed toward the door.

“Hey, now wait a minute there! Tit fer tat. Tha’ was th’ deal.”

“I suppose it was,” Starbolt replied, turning around to face the Seeker.

She leaned in and placed her hands firmly on the arms of his chair. Red Eye pulled back a bit but stopped when it became obvious that Starbolt wasn’t coming any closer.

“Remember what I promised to do to you? Do you remember how it felt to have me touch you?” she whispered.

Red Eye found himself leaning toward her slightly, mesmerized by her voice, by the feel of her breath on his cheek, by the movement of her lips.

“Soundwave agreed to give himself to me. To feed me. Willingly and with no reservations. I gave him a night he will never forget, and in turn he gave me a taste of that wonderful power he holds.”

Red Eye’s breath hitched in his chest. His body began to tingle in anticipation. He knew he was falling under her spell again. He knew from his bizarre capture on Cybertron that he did not want this, but at the same time, he couldn’t resist.

Suddenly the spell was broken as Starbolt stood and walked purposefully out of the room.

“Have fun studying those maps,” she called over her shoulder with a laugh.

“Slag!” Red Eye growled as he hid his face in his hands. “I swear I will kill that femme.”

Comments

Nice job

[lilyoftheval5.livejournal.com]

“It’s just tha’ I’m surprised that yer surprised by this,” he said finally.
I'm also surprised, it's obvious that Megatron's the glue that holds Desepticons together. He is the Empire.
(girls really do fall for power and bad boys, don't they ^_^;)

“The Globes eat th’ ore and the energon is the ... byproduct, if’n ye know what I mean.”
Well, that was certainly an original source of energon. Congratulations on your imagination and strange paths it leads you on ;D

Soundwave agreed to give himself to me.
Do we get to see that? I really want to see that little scene!

Re: Nice job

[wyntir-rose.livejournal.com]

I think that my version of Megatron had higher hopes for his troops. Silly, really, when you consider that the movie wiped out the whole of the command structure except for Soundwave, and he is rather uncharismatic.

I'm glad you got a kick out of the Energon as waste by-product *grin*

As for the Soundwave/Starfire fic, I've been trying to get that one to work since the "WTF! Pairing Challenge" over at mecha_erotica in January. Eventually I'll get it to work, but for the moment, Soundwave refuses to tell me what happened and Starbolt only mentions something about restraints ...