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wyntir_knightTitle: The Devil You Know
Series: G1 universe, focusing on Original characters
Rating: R
Summary: In the early days of the civil war on Cybertron, Sentinel Prime authorized several refugee vessels to take Neutrals away from the planet in hopes that they could start peaceful colonies where they would be safe. Many of these refugees were never heard from again; lost to us through time and distance. But history does record the fate of one of the vessels. The Stormchaser was three orns away from its destination when it was shot down by Decepticons in an act of cowardice and deceit. There were no survivors. That is what history tells us. But in this case, history is wrong.
Author's Note: Well, the month is over, but the story certainly isn't. So I'll continue to post this until the rough is done.
Chapter 22
Arclight and Turbine followed Cobalt up the side of the large hill, taking the Autobot's lead. They followed a rough path that looked like it may have once been paved with gleaming white stones and lined with small flowering trees; but now, after vorns of neglect, the path was crumbled and overgrown and the trees had gone wild. In this place there was no hint of the devastation that had settled everywhere else. There was a natural peace here; only the fading sounds of clashing metal and feral screams spoke of the massacre they had just barely survived. So far, there was no sign that their enemy were following, but Cobalt was obviously not taking any chances. He stuck to the shadows of the trees, keeping a close optic on both front and rear.
Finally he came to a stop at a large grey-green tree with long falling leaves that brushed the soil around the base in a large circle. With a quick look around he ducked under the branches and into the dark shelter of the shadows. There was something beautiful and almost sad about this tree. All the others looked angry and feral, but this one looked almost like it was bent in sorrow. Arclight and Turbine followed Cobalt under the tree and looked around in awe at this organic dome.
"You two are going to wait here while I figure out what Strobe is up to," Cobalt said as he moved to the edge of the curtain and looked out.
Turbine dropped to a crouch, his optics on the trunk of the tree that was acting as their shelter. The trunk was thick and twisted with a strange swirling pattern to the bark that seemed to move on its own in a hypnotic flow. Turbine reached out hand, fingers extended, to stroke the bark with reverence. It was like the tree was speaking to him with a visual code. His processor worked overtime in an attempt to understand what was being said. He knew that if he could decode the message he could finally understand what was happening here. This tree had seen it all, it knew the truth, and it was trying so desperately to tell him; if only he could understand. But every time he started to figure it out, every time he thought he was close to cracking the code it slipped through his fingers like so much sand.
He pulled his hand away from tree and sat back in his heels, cocking his head to the side as if to examine it from another angle. Again the message called out to him but it was obvious that he was missing a key. He placed his hand flat against the trunk again and shuttered his optics looking into himself for the answer.
For a long time he felt nothing but dirt under his knees and smooth bark under his palm. He was about to give up on this fool’s errand when he realized there was something else. It was faint, but there; a heaviness in his tanks and a tight band around his spark. It was a dull and indefinable pain that seemed to come from all around him. It was like a taint, touching everything around him like a viral infection and this tree was the last bastion of untouched purity.
He leaned his forehead against the trunk and took a deep, shuddering breath as he felt all of the pain of every living thing on this world flow into him, wrenching his spark until all he felt was agony. A nearly unheard sigh escaped his vocalizer and he pulled his hand away from the tree and dug his fingers into the soil at its base. A portion of his mind hoped that this was all a hallucination; a reaction to the stress. But at the same time, a part deep in his Spark hoped that this was really happening, that what he felt was true, that he had found at least a part of an explanation for everything that had happened.
Oblivious to everything Turbine was doing, Arclight crept up beside Cobalt and moved the leaves to look out at the surroundings.
“What are you doing?” Cobalt growled.
“I want to see what’s going on,” she replied as she looked out between the leaves.
“And I told you to stay put.”
“I am. I didn’t leave the tree. … What’s he doing?” Arclight asked.
As they watched Strobe loped down the hill on Zenith’s stolen legs. The Decepticon approached the large stone and steel structure at the base of the hill and began to stretch up to his new full height and began to look through the tall plasteel windows.
“I have no idea,” Cobalt replied. “The only thing I can figure is that he’s looking for Updraft’s team.”
“Then shouldn’t we do something?” Arclight asked.
“Not until we know what’s going on,” Cobalt said.
The two were silent for a long time watching the building and the Decepticon as he searched the windows of the old structure.
“How sure are you that what you brought back is actually Strobe?” Cobalt asked in a low voice.
Arclight paused and thought about the question before answering.
“The truth is, I don’t know,” she replied. “It would be better if I knew how he came back in the first place.”
“Is it possible that you made a mistake? That he was just in stasis?” Cobalt asked.
“No!” Arclight said, offended. “I’m not some sparkling fresh from the academy! Thanks to you Autobots and the Decepticons, I’ve seen more than enough death to make a proper diagnosis. He was not in stasis. He was dead. And there’s no coming back from that.”
“All right, I was just asking,” Cobalt replied. “There’s no need to get defensive.”
“What’s he doing?” Turbine asked, walking up heavily behind them.
“Most likely he’s looking for something. Or someone,” Cobalt replied.
“I’m not so sure about that,” Arclight asked.
“What do you mean?” Turbine said, looking over at the medic curiously.
“I mean … well, doesn’t it seem like he’s waiting for something?” she asked.
Cobalt turned away from his vigil for a moment and prompted Arclight on with a look.
“Well, it seems to me that he’s waiting for us. I think he may be leading us somewhere,” she replied.
“That’s ridiculous,” Cobalt said. “He can’t possibly know that we survived the attack in the city, and he can’t know that we’ve followed him either.”
“Can’t he?” Arclight asked. “I just … I don’t like this. It’s too easy.”
“And you’re too worried,” Cobalt dismissed. “Look, he’s moving and I’m going after him. If you two want to go back then be my guest, but I’m going on.”
“Oh, yeah, like that’s a choice,” Arclight muttered as she stepped out from under the tree and followed Cobalt and Turbine down the hill.
“I think you might be right,” Turbine whispered as they made their way toward the building. “I think that we’re walking into a trap.”
“You know I can hear you two whispering back there,” Cobalt snarled. “But really, trap or not, I will kill that Decepticon … or whatever he is now.”
“And get us killed in the process,” Arclight muttered under her vocalizer.
They reached the bottom of the hill and moved along the edge of the building staying to the shadow cast by the wall. The plants here were smaller than everywhere else. On the hill the grass was at least a foot tall and had completely gone to seed and the trees were wild and overgrown. Here by the building the few trees were twisted and stunted and the grass was dry and brittle. It was almost as if the soil around the building was tainted and life was struggling just to survive.
“Something’s wrong here,” Turbine whispered to Arclight, looking at the dead and dying plants around them.
“It’s just old, that’s all,” Cobalt muttered as he watched Strobe disappear around a corner.
“I don’t know. I think there’s more to it than that,” Turbine said as he knelt by the side of the building to examine the grass.
“Fine, you stay here and stare at the organic growth. I have work to do, even if you two don’t,” Cobalt snorted derisively. He turned and continued to follow the Decepticon.
Arclight watched the Autobot leave and shook her head.
“There is something more going on here, but he is just too stubborn to see it,” she muttered.
“Not stubborn. Just obsessed,” Turbine said.
He picked up a handful of dirt and dead grass and began to rub it between his fingers.
“What are you doing?” Arclight asked as she looked over his shoulder. “I thought you were an engineer.”
“I am,” Turbine replied simply. “But that doesn’t mean that I can’t have an interest in organic life.”
“No … it doesn’t. It’s just surprising that’s all.”
“No more so than a medic who fights. With arena style swords no less,” Turbine shrugged.
“Good point,” she replied. “So what do you see?”
“I’m not sure. This type or organic growth needs sunlight, nutrients, and water. There’s no reason to believe that there is anything different here than over there,” Turbine said, motioning to the lush green and yellow growth on the side of the hill.
“Well, it is shadowy here. Maybe it’s not getting enough sunlight,” Arclight said. “Maybe Cobalt’s right. Maybe it’s just dead growth. We should go.”
“No. It’s not just dead growth and we shouldn’t go. Not just yet,” Turbine said. His tone was soft but there was an edge to it that didn’t allow any arguing.
“Alright. Fine. So what does this mean?” she asked, her optics on the corner of the building where Cobalt had disappeared.
“If I had to hazard a guess I’d say that there is a toxin in this soil,” he said, dropping the handful of dirt and dusting his hands off. “And I’d wager it’s coming from this building.”
“So?” Arclight asked. “It’s not like we can be affected by an organic poison.”
“I not sure you should be so sure of that,” Turbine muttered under his vocalizer as he stood. “We still don’t know what made the trees do what they did. Or even how those bots managed to attack us,” he added, motioning to the hill and the battlefield beyond it.
“So what do you suggest?” Arclight asked. “This building is our only chance to get out of here. We can’t just wander around this city hoping that we’ll find something else. Besides, something else might be worse, and we’re worrying about something that may not even be something to worry about.”
She turned and started to walk away.
“Besides,” she said over her shoulder, “Updraft, Circuit, and Discourse are probably in here. And we can’t leave until we have everyone.”
“I’m not suggesting that,” Turbine replied. “I just think that we need to be careful when we go in there. We need to be aware that there may be more in there than an abandoned building.”
“Noted,” Arclight replied.
She continued to walk away then stopped suddenly and dropped her head.
“I know,” she said softly. “I know that there’s something wrong here. I know that we have to be careful. But I don’t know what else we can do. We can’t stay out here. We can’t go in there. And we can’t stay put. I just don’t know.”
Turbine brushed past her and headed toward the entrance of the building.
“You’re right. We can’t. We can’t do anything. Nothing except keep going,” he said. “I just wanted to be as informed as I could be before we went in.”
“And do you know any more now than you did?” she asked as she followed.
“No,” he said.
“So what’s the point?”
“I don’t know.”
Arclight shook her head and continued to follow the big brown engineer. Slowly they entered the main doors and looked around the large space.
There was no sign of either Cobalt or Strobe, but there seemed to be two groups of tracks leading into the building proper.
“Can you track?” Turbine asked.
“No. It’s not part of my programming,” Arclight replied. “But I’d rather we not split up.”
“I’d agree with that,” Turbine replied as he examined both sets of tracks.
He stood up and pointed to the sent that led left out of the hall. “Let’s try that one. At least we’ll find someone.”
“Sounds good,” Arclight replied, following the engineer.
As they walked neither noticed the deepening shadows that followed them, nor the shadowy figures that seemed to coalesce out of the darkened corners.
Series: G1 universe, focusing on Original characters
Rating: R
Summary: In the early days of the civil war on Cybertron, Sentinel Prime authorized several refugee vessels to take Neutrals away from the planet in hopes that they could start peaceful colonies where they would be safe. Many of these refugees were never heard from again; lost to us through time and distance. But history does record the fate of one of the vessels. The Stormchaser was three orns away from its destination when it was shot down by Decepticons in an act of cowardice and deceit. There were no survivors. That is what history tells us. But in this case, history is wrong.
Author's Note: Well, the month is over, but the story certainly isn't. So I'll continue to post this until the rough is done.
Arclight and Turbine followed Cobalt up the side of the large hill, taking the Autobot's lead. They followed a rough path that looked like it may have once been paved with gleaming white stones and lined with small flowering trees; but now, after vorns of neglect, the path was crumbled and overgrown and the trees had gone wild. In this place there was no hint of the devastation that had settled everywhere else. There was a natural peace here; only the fading sounds of clashing metal and feral screams spoke of the massacre they had just barely survived. So far, there was no sign that their enemy were following, but Cobalt was obviously not taking any chances. He stuck to the shadows of the trees, keeping a close optic on both front and rear.
Finally he came to a stop at a large grey-green tree with long falling leaves that brushed the soil around the base in a large circle. With a quick look around he ducked under the branches and into the dark shelter of the shadows. There was something beautiful and almost sad about this tree. All the others looked angry and feral, but this one looked almost like it was bent in sorrow. Arclight and Turbine followed Cobalt under the tree and looked around in awe at this organic dome.
"You two are going to wait here while I figure out what Strobe is up to," Cobalt said as he moved to the edge of the curtain and looked out.
Turbine dropped to a crouch, his optics on the trunk of the tree that was acting as their shelter. The trunk was thick and twisted with a strange swirling pattern to the bark that seemed to move on its own in a hypnotic flow. Turbine reached out hand, fingers extended, to stroke the bark with reverence. It was like the tree was speaking to him with a visual code. His processor worked overtime in an attempt to understand what was being said. He knew that if he could decode the message he could finally understand what was happening here. This tree had seen it all, it knew the truth, and it was trying so desperately to tell him; if only he could understand. But every time he started to figure it out, every time he thought he was close to cracking the code it slipped through his fingers like so much sand.
He pulled his hand away from tree and sat back in his heels, cocking his head to the side as if to examine it from another angle. Again the message called out to him but it was obvious that he was missing a key. He placed his hand flat against the trunk again and shuttered his optics looking into himself for the answer.
For a long time he felt nothing but dirt under his knees and smooth bark under his palm. He was about to give up on this fool’s errand when he realized there was something else. It was faint, but there; a heaviness in his tanks and a tight band around his spark. It was a dull and indefinable pain that seemed to come from all around him. It was like a taint, touching everything around him like a viral infection and this tree was the last bastion of untouched purity.
He leaned his forehead against the trunk and took a deep, shuddering breath as he felt all of the pain of every living thing on this world flow into him, wrenching his spark until all he felt was agony. A nearly unheard sigh escaped his vocalizer and he pulled his hand away from the tree and dug his fingers into the soil at its base. A portion of his mind hoped that this was all a hallucination; a reaction to the stress. But at the same time, a part deep in his Spark hoped that this was really happening, that what he felt was true, that he had found at least a part of an explanation for everything that had happened.
Oblivious to everything Turbine was doing, Arclight crept up beside Cobalt and moved the leaves to look out at the surroundings.
“What are you doing?” Cobalt growled.
“I want to see what’s going on,” she replied as she looked out between the leaves.
“And I told you to stay put.”
“I am. I didn’t leave the tree. … What’s he doing?” Arclight asked.
As they watched Strobe loped down the hill on Zenith’s stolen legs. The Decepticon approached the large stone and steel structure at the base of the hill and began to stretch up to his new full height and began to look through the tall plasteel windows.
“I have no idea,” Cobalt replied. “The only thing I can figure is that he’s looking for Updraft’s team.”
“Then shouldn’t we do something?” Arclight asked.
“Not until we know what’s going on,” Cobalt said.
The two were silent for a long time watching the building and the Decepticon as he searched the windows of the old structure.
“How sure are you that what you brought back is actually Strobe?” Cobalt asked in a low voice.
Arclight paused and thought about the question before answering.
“The truth is, I don’t know,” she replied. “It would be better if I knew how he came back in the first place.”
“Is it possible that you made a mistake? That he was just in stasis?” Cobalt asked.
“No!” Arclight said, offended. “I’m not some sparkling fresh from the academy! Thanks to you Autobots and the Decepticons, I’ve seen more than enough death to make a proper diagnosis. He was not in stasis. He was dead. And there’s no coming back from that.”
“All right, I was just asking,” Cobalt replied. “There’s no need to get defensive.”
“What’s he doing?” Turbine asked, walking up heavily behind them.
“Most likely he’s looking for something. Or someone,” Cobalt replied.
“I’m not so sure about that,” Arclight asked.
“What do you mean?” Turbine said, looking over at the medic curiously.
“I mean … well, doesn’t it seem like he’s waiting for something?” she asked.
Cobalt turned away from his vigil for a moment and prompted Arclight on with a look.
“Well, it seems to me that he’s waiting for us. I think he may be leading us somewhere,” she replied.
“That’s ridiculous,” Cobalt said. “He can’t possibly know that we survived the attack in the city, and he can’t know that we’ve followed him either.”
“Can’t he?” Arclight asked. “I just … I don’t like this. It’s too easy.”
“And you’re too worried,” Cobalt dismissed. “Look, he’s moving and I’m going after him. If you two want to go back then be my guest, but I’m going on.”
“Oh, yeah, like that’s a choice,” Arclight muttered as she stepped out from under the tree and followed Cobalt and Turbine down the hill.
“I think you might be right,” Turbine whispered as they made their way toward the building. “I think that we’re walking into a trap.”
“You know I can hear you two whispering back there,” Cobalt snarled. “But really, trap or not, I will kill that Decepticon … or whatever he is now.”
“And get us killed in the process,” Arclight muttered under her vocalizer.
They reached the bottom of the hill and moved along the edge of the building staying to the shadow cast by the wall. The plants here were smaller than everywhere else. On the hill the grass was at least a foot tall and had completely gone to seed and the trees were wild and overgrown. Here by the building the few trees were twisted and stunted and the grass was dry and brittle. It was almost as if the soil around the building was tainted and life was struggling just to survive.
“Something’s wrong here,” Turbine whispered to Arclight, looking at the dead and dying plants around them.
“It’s just old, that’s all,” Cobalt muttered as he watched Strobe disappear around a corner.
“I don’t know. I think there’s more to it than that,” Turbine said as he knelt by the side of the building to examine the grass.
“Fine, you stay here and stare at the organic growth. I have work to do, even if you two don’t,” Cobalt snorted derisively. He turned and continued to follow the Decepticon.
Arclight watched the Autobot leave and shook her head.
“There is something more going on here, but he is just too stubborn to see it,” she muttered.
“Not stubborn. Just obsessed,” Turbine said.
He picked up a handful of dirt and dead grass and began to rub it between his fingers.
“What are you doing?” Arclight asked as she looked over his shoulder. “I thought you were an engineer.”
“I am,” Turbine replied simply. “But that doesn’t mean that I can’t have an interest in organic life.”
“No … it doesn’t. It’s just surprising that’s all.”
“No more so than a medic who fights. With arena style swords no less,” Turbine shrugged.
“Good point,” she replied. “So what do you see?”
“I’m not sure. This type or organic growth needs sunlight, nutrients, and water. There’s no reason to believe that there is anything different here than over there,” Turbine said, motioning to the lush green and yellow growth on the side of the hill.
“Well, it is shadowy here. Maybe it’s not getting enough sunlight,” Arclight said. “Maybe Cobalt’s right. Maybe it’s just dead growth. We should go.”
“No. It’s not just dead growth and we shouldn’t go. Not just yet,” Turbine said. His tone was soft but there was an edge to it that didn’t allow any arguing.
“Alright. Fine. So what does this mean?” she asked, her optics on the corner of the building where Cobalt had disappeared.
“If I had to hazard a guess I’d say that there is a toxin in this soil,” he said, dropping the handful of dirt and dusting his hands off. “And I’d wager it’s coming from this building.”
“So?” Arclight asked. “It’s not like we can be affected by an organic poison.”
“I not sure you should be so sure of that,” Turbine muttered under his vocalizer as he stood. “We still don’t know what made the trees do what they did. Or even how those bots managed to attack us,” he added, motioning to the hill and the battlefield beyond it.
“So what do you suggest?” Arclight asked. “This building is our only chance to get out of here. We can’t just wander around this city hoping that we’ll find something else. Besides, something else might be worse, and we’re worrying about something that may not even be something to worry about.”
She turned and started to walk away.
“Besides,” she said over her shoulder, “Updraft, Circuit, and Discourse are probably in here. And we can’t leave until we have everyone.”
“I’m not suggesting that,” Turbine replied. “I just think that we need to be careful when we go in there. We need to be aware that there may be more in there than an abandoned building.”
“Noted,” Arclight replied.
She continued to walk away then stopped suddenly and dropped her head.
“I know,” she said softly. “I know that there’s something wrong here. I know that we have to be careful. But I don’t know what else we can do. We can’t stay out here. We can’t go in there. And we can’t stay put. I just don’t know.”
Turbine brushed past her and headed toward the entrance of the building.
“You’re right. We can’t. We can’t do anything. Nothing except keep going,” he said. “I just wanted to be as informed as I could be before we went in.”
“And do you know any more now than you did?” she asked as she followed.
“No,” he said.
“So what’s the point?”
“I don’t know.”
Arclight shook her head and continued to follow the big brown engineer. Slowly they entered the main doors and looked around the large space.
There was no sign of either Cobalt or Strobe, but there seemed to be two groups of tracks leading into the building proper.
“Can you track?” Turbine asked.
“No. It’s not part of my programming,” Arclight replied. “But I’d rather we not split up.”
“I’d agree with that,” Turbine replied as he examined both sets of tracks.
He stood up and pointed to the sent that led left out of the hall. “Let’s try that one. At least we’ll find someone.”
“Sounds good,” Arclight replied, following the engineer.
As they walked neither noticed the deepening shadows that followed them, nor the shadowy figures that seemed to coalesce out of the darkened corners.
