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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: No comment
Chapter 26
A feral grin spread across Strobe’s face as he glared at Cobalt.
“Well isn’t this a nice little reunion?” he asked as he moved to stand up. “I guess you figure that you can just stroll in here and save the day?”
“Stay on the ground where you belong you viral worm,” Cobalt sneered never taking his optics or his weapons off the Decepticon.
“Now now, is that any way to talk to an old friend?” Strobe asked as he sank back down to a low crouch.
“Is there any reason to keep this piece of slag functional?” Cobalt asked, ignoring Strobe’s comment.
“No,” Turbine said loudly and quickly, almost drowning out Arclight’s response of “Yes”.
“Aww, and here I thought we had such a connection. Especially after Sigma Bridge,” Strobe said with a wicked, knowing grin. “Well at least I have one ally.” He turned a lascivious grin toward Arclight, sending a shudder through to her very spark.
“Silence!” Cobalt barked.
“Why?” Strobe asked, his voice dripping with false innocence. “Are you worried that I might tell them the truth about you? That I’ll spill your dirty litt-”
“Shut up!” Cobalt yelled. “Just shut up!”
He tensed and fired on the Decepticon sending molten and shattered tile flying in all directions. But he was too slow. Even as the first shot hit, Strobe had already jumped out of the way easily, using Zenith’s stolen legs to rise above the heads of his captors, up to the catwalk that surrounded the room. Cobalt turned his aim upwards, destroying the murals as he fired, sending his allies to the ground in at attempt to avoid the wild shots.
Mocking laughter filled the hall as Strobe danced around the shots moving like a wild marionette.
“You are just so predictable!” he called. “Shoot first, ask questions later. Always have to be the big hero!”
“Cobalt! Stop it!” Updraft cried as he tried to shelter Arclight with his body. “Don’t you see what he’s doing?”
“All I see is a Decepticon defending a Decepticon!” Cobalt growled as he turned the guns toward the prone pilot.
Updraft’s optics widened in shock but his resolve hardened and he quickly scrambled to place himself between Cobalt and Arclight.
“He wants you to lose control! He wants you to make a mistake!” Updraft yelled.
“Oh I think he does that right well on his own without my help!” Strobe laughed. “You were always good at making a fool of yourself weren’t you?”
Cobalt let out a roar of frustration and fired at Strobe with all his guns and again the Decepticon danced out of the way.
Arclight struggled out from behind Updraft.
“Stop this! Cobalt you’re falling into his trap!” she yelled.
“It’s what this planet wants!” Updraft cried out as he pulled Arclight back, continuing to shield her. “This planet wants us to kill each other!”
“Shut up you Decepticon scum!” Cobalt screamed. He turned his attention to Updraft, bringing his left arm to bear on the pilot and medic.
“Cobalt! No!” Updraft pleaded to the enraged warrior. “You’re better than this! You’re an Autobot! You’re supposed to be protecting people! Please Cobalt! Don’t do this!”
Cobalt’s engine roared in frustration and anger and his faceplate twisted into a mask of rage as he turned all his weapons on the pilot, completely ignoring Strobe, still standing on the catwalk.
“Please!” Updraft said softly as he stood, ignoring Arclight’s protests, but still keeping his body between her and Cobalt. He stepped forward, his hands wide in a placating gesture. “I’m no threat to you. We’re no threat to you. We have to work together if we’re going to get out of here. We can’t turn on each other. We can’t let them win.”
“What are you doing?!” Turbine shrieked. “He’s distracting you! He’s letting that thing get away!”
With a last, almost hysterical laugh, Strobe slipped out of a doorway on the catwalk and out of the room.
“Please, Cobalt,” Updraft said calming, continuing to walk forward until he was in point blank range of the Autobot’s weapons. “Please, try to remember what we spoke about in the city. We have to work together against our common enemy.”
Cobalt continued to glare at the pilot, his optics black with anger and his chest heaving as his ventilators kicked in, trying to cool his rapidly overheating systems.
“Please,” Updraft whispered. “Don’t do this.”
Cobalt looked up at where Strobe had been then back at the pilot. For a moment there was no sound save for the Autobot’s overclocking systems. Finally he turned away and holstered his weapons. Breathing a deep shuddering sigh he dropped his gaze to the floor.
“What is going here?” he asked quietly. “What in the Pit is going on here?!” he demanded in a shout.
“You let that Decepticon scum go!” Turbine yelled. “You let this little fragger con you into letting him go!”
“Shut up Turbine,” Arclight said in a low voice. “You’re the one who said that there was a toxin emanating from this building. You’re the one who said we had to be careful. And yet now you’re the one who’s acting violent and hysterical. Just calm down and think for Primus’ sake!”
The engineer took a step toward her, his massive hands clenched, his body shaking with controlled rage. Updraft moved to guard her, but Arclight forced him back with a negating look.
“Turbine, stop and think for just a moment. You need to get your firewalls up and fight off this virus, or whatever it is,” she said softly. “You need to be the one in control. Not whatever it is that’s in Strobe.”
The look in Turbine’s optics were at war with his body. He shook with rage, his hands clenched so tightly that Arclight could hear metal buckling. But there was fear and confusion in his optics as his processor fought for control against the strange invading force. Finally, just when Arclight was ready to give up and run from the attack she knew was coming, Turbine spun and slammed his fist into the wall, leaving a huge hole and a web of concentric cracks and fissures in the painted surface.
“What is going on here?” he growled. “What is wrong with us?”
“I don’t know,” Arclight whispered as she approached him. “Here, let me see your hands. I’m sure you’ve hurt them.”
“No!” he shouted, backing away quickly. “Just keep away from me. I’m barely in control as it is and I want all of you as far away as possible just in case I lose it.”
“Okay, that’s fine,” Arclight said softly as she backed away.
“Great, so we’re done trying to rip each other’s processors out,” Cobalt said as he sat heavily on the ground. “Now can someone please explain to me what the frell is going on here?!”
“There was an ancient message in the buffer,” Updraft said. “It was a warning. Telling us not to come planetside. That there was an infection here that wiped out the colonists and the original inhabitants before them.”
“What kind of infection?” Cobalt asked. “What information did they provide? What are the symptoms, the life cycle? The-”
“I don’t know. The message wasn’t clear and it broke up in several places,” Updraft replied miserably. “I didn’t understand half of what was said and-”
“Then play it again!” Cobalt demanded. “Let me see this message!”
“Unfortunately dim-spark here destroyed the machine!” Turbine said accusingly. “It’s nice and convenient isn’t it? That no one else can see this message?”
“I didn’t intend to break the console!” Updraft cried. “It was self defence nothing more than that! It was the only way to stop Circuit!”
“So you say,” Turbine growled as he stalked toward the pilot. “Nice and convenient that there were no witnesses to this attack.”
“How dare you?! How dare you accuse me of this?!” Updraft strode up until he was face to face with the engineer.
“How dare I?” Turbine asked, using his greater bulk to loom over Updraft menacingly. “You’re a stinking ‘Con! It’s not a real stretch to see you-”
“Stop it!” Arclight bellowed. “Just stop it! We are in this together and we cannot go back to petty infighting! Now back off!”
“You’re just defending him because you’re-” Turbine became silent at the murderous look Arclight shot him.
Once he and Updraft had moved to opposite sides of the area Arclight exhaled heavily and turned to the pilot.
“All right, so tell us exactly what happened,” he said, shooting a silencing look at Cobalt when he opened his mouth to protest.
“We got in here and Circuit saw that there was a message in the buffer. He set it to play but it was broken up and there were sections with no sound,” Updraft began. He leaned against the wall heavily, shuttering his optics in an attempt to recall the events clearly. “From what I gathered, there was some kind of virus that made them all paranoid and violent. It took the sparklings first. I don’t know if they died, but he – the hologram I mean – said that the more they tried to protect the sparklings the more infected they became. And then the older mechs were infected. He said they did unspeakable things …” Updraft broke off, his voice barely above a whisper.
“And then what happened?” Cobalt asked. “What else can you tell us?”
“He, uhm, he said that they started to do some unspeakable things … The recording ended with the other colonists killing the speaker.” Again, Updraft broke off. He opened his optics and looked up at the ceiling for a moment, before getting up and approaching the still forms for Discourse and Circuit.
“When the recording ran out I ordered Circuit to get a message out. He didn’t want to; said that he’d have to plug directly into the system. But I ordered him to do it. I – I threatened him, just like Strobe would have,” he said miserably. “He got infected and he killed Discourse. I tried to blow out the comm. unit to break Circuit away from it, but all I did was ruin everything.”
“Well at least you admit it,” Turbine grumbled softly. He then turned to Cobalt. “And where were you through all this? One minute we’re following you and the next you’re nowhere to be found.”
“I was cut off from you,” Cobalt said simply. “I heard you following me but the doors behind me closed up and the whole place became unbelievably dark. I couldn’t do anything except move forward.”
“What? You mean that someone was shutting the doors behind you?” Turbine asked. “Why didn’t you just open them? Shoot them open? That arsenal of yours has got to be good for something!”
“Oh it’s good for something all right!” Cobalt growled, approaching the engineer with a dangerous look in his optics.
“Stop it! Both of you just stop it! Stop provoking each other!” Arclight yelled. “This isn’t getting us anywhere!”
Cobalt shook his head as if to clear it then sat back down on the ground. He buried his face in his hands for a moment before looking up and continuing his story.
“It wasn’t that the doors were shut,” he explained. “The portals closed. It was like they had ceased to be.”
“That makes no sense!” Turbine argued. “The walls are metal and stone. They don’t move!”
“The message in the buffer … the colonist said that it seemed that the organic things outside had turned against them,” Updraft said softly, more to himself than the others. “And there was a stone in the woods with a warning on it. ‘Beware the trees’ it said.”
“Look, how it happened doesn’t matter! All that matters is that it did happen,” Cobalt said dismissively.
“Right, fine,” Arclight said with an exasperated noise. “So we’re done trying to kill each other?” She looked at each of them for some sign of argument before continuing. “Now we need to figure what we’re going to do.”
“We need to get off of this rock, that’s what we need to do,” Updraft said. “Circuit had suggested finding the spaceport. There may be a working shuttle, and if we can get into orbit we can get out a distress signal.”
“We’ll probably need to fight our way here,” Turbine said solemnly. “I don’t know about the rest of you but with how angry I am right now, I’m not sure that I’ll be able to stay focused.”
“Just stay close to me and I’ll get you out,” Cobalt replied, looking at each bot in turn, levelling a determined gaze at each.
“And what makes you think that you’ll be able to fight off this virus-thing any better than the rest of us?” Turbine asked.
“Because it’s my job to keep you safe. I am making it my job and I take that very seriously,” Cobalt replied. “I’m going to get you off of this rock. I swear to you that I will get you out of here.”
“Oh well, isn’t that a sweet sentiment!” said a voice from the door.
They all spun and saw Strobe leaning casually in the door frame.
“You promise to get them off-world!” he said mockingly. “As if we’d ever allow that!”
“You will not stop us,” Cobalt growled as fired on the Decepticon, moving to shield the two neutrals.
Updraft raised his rifle and fired at Strobe, standing shoulder to shoulder with Cobalt.
“Get out of here!” he yelled back at Arclight and Turbine. “Move! We’ll deal with him!”
Laser fire lit the room, melting stone and bouncing off of metal as Strobe danced around every shot. With their allies’ covering fire, Turbine and Arclight ran to the back of the room to where Strobe had exited before.
“Hold tight,” Arclight said as she grabbed Turbine and held him close to her. “This’ll probably be rough!”
With that she activated her thrusters to full force, praying that she had enough power to lift both herself and the bulky minibot to the catwalk.
“Oh ho! None of that!” Strobe laughed. “You’re not getting out of here that easily!”
He waved his hand like he was swatting away a spy-bug and suddenly the shadows under the catwalk began to bubble and roil like some angry living thing. Tentacles of dark plant matter, previously unseen in the darkened corners came to life and shot out toward Arclight, grabbing her legs, wrenching Turbine from her grasp, and clogging her intakes and thrusters.
With a choking cry, Arclight was pulled down to the ground and pinned to the tiles by massive lengths of slick fibrous vines. From her left Arclight could hear Turbine fighting the organic enemy, but judging by the sounds of his intakes clogging, he was fighting a losing battle.
“Let them go!” Updraft screamed as he launched himself at Strobe.
With a deft motion, Strobe reached out with one of Zenith’s stolen arms and plucked the pilot out of the air, holding him at arm’s length as he began to squeeze his throat, slowly cutting off the circulation of energon to his central processor.
As Strobe focused of the struggling pilot, his attention was diverted from the vines, giving Arclight and Turbine just enough leverage to begin escaping from their bonds. Cobalt, for his part, was not idle through this. Taking full advantage of Strobe’s distraction, he fired a full volley into the former communicator, sending him flying backwards and into the wall.
“I tire of this game,” Strobe growled as he tossed Updraft’s limp body across the room where he collided with Arclight as she finally regained her feet. “I think it’s about time that we increase our numbers again.”
With preternatural speed he jumped over the heads of the assembled and landed beside Cobalt. Before Cobalt could react, Strobe had the Autobot warrior by the throat. With a deft motion he extruded wires from his fingertips and jammed them into the side of Cobalt’s helm. Cobalt shuddered as if electricity was passing through his system, screaming out in agonized static until his vocalizer finally gave out. His body fell limp in Strobe’s arms, his blue optics dimming until they finally flickered out.
Updraft struggled to his feet and for a moment he froze as indecision overtook him, but the sight of the Autobot’s limp form was enough to bring him back to reality. With a scream of outrage he fired on Strobe, but anger and fear clouded his sight, and not a single shot hit its mark.
“Updraft! He’s gone! We have to get out of here!” Arclight pleaded, grabbing the pilot’s arm and pulling him toward the exit.
“The Governor’s shuttle is our best bet off of here,” Turbine said. “We have to get there, and we have to do it now!
Together the three of them ran to the partially collapsed exit. With Turbine in the lead and Updraft guarding their rear, they ran through the halls, praying that they were heading in the right direction, and yet, somehow knowing that they were being herded toward an unknown fate.
“You can’t get away from us!” Strobe yelled out as Turbine, Updraft, and Arclight turned the corner.
“The original inhabitants couldn’t escape us! The colonists couldn’t escape us! And you certainly won’t escape us!” Cobalt laughed.
“He’s alive!” Updraft gasped as he slowed. “We have to go back for Cobalt!”
“No!” Arclight yelled as she grabbed his arm, pulling him further down the corridor. “That’s not Cobalt! That’s whatever’s in Strobe! It’s the virus talking!”
“Virus! Spare me!” Strobe called out. “We are no virus! Just because we have no bodies to call our own does not make us viruses or worms or whatever terms you solids insist on using!”
“There’s no point in running!” Cobalts taunted. “You can’t escape us! We can smell your fear! Your hate! Your lust! There is nowhere you can go where we won’t find you!”
“Come on!” Arclight whispered harshly. “We have to go!”
She turned to go only to realize that Turbine had continued on and was nowhere to be seen.
“Come on! Let’s go!” she said as she pulled him along the corridor, stopping only when they came to a set of stairs leading up into darkness.
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: No comment
A feral grin spread across Strobe’s face as he glared at Cobalt.
“Well isn’t this a nice little reunion?” he asked as he moved to stand up. “I guess you figure that you can just stroll in here and save the day?”
“Stay on the ground where you belong you viral worm,” Cobalt sneered never taking his optics or his weapons off the Decepticon.
“Now now, is that any way to talk to an old friend?” Strobe asked as he sank back down to a low crouch.
“Is there any reason to keep this piece of slag functional?” Cobalt asked, ignoring Strobe’s comment.
“No,” Turbine said loudly and quickly, almost drowning out Arclight’s response of “Yes”.
“Aww, and here I thought we had such a connection. Especially after Sigma Bridge,” Strobe said with a wicked, knowing grin. “Well at least I have one ally.” He turned a lascivious grin toward Arclight, sending a shudder through to her very spark.
“Silence!” Cobalt barked.
“Why?” Strobe asked, his voice dripping with false innocence. “Are you worried that I might tell them the truth about you? That I’ll spill your dirty litt-”
“Shut up!” Cobalt yelled. “Just shut up!”
He tensed and fired on the Decepticon sending molten and shattered tile flying in all directions. But he was too slow. Even as the first shot hit, Strobe had already jumped out of the way easily, using Zenith’s stolen legs to rise above the heads of his captors, up to the catwalk that surrounded the room. Cobalt turned his aim upwards, destroying the murals as he fired, sending his allies to the ground in at attempt to avoid the wild shots.
Mocking laughter filled the hall as Strobe danced around the shots moving like a wild marionette.
“You are just so predictable!” he called. “Shoot first, ask questions later. Always have to be the big hero!”
“Cobalt! Stop it!” Updraft cried as he tried to shelter Arclight with his body. “Don’t you see what he’s doing?”
“All I see is a Decepticon defending a Decepticon!” Cobalt growled as he turned the guns toward the prone pilot.
Updraft’s optics widened in shock but his resolve hardened and he quickly scrambled to place himself between Cobalt and Arclight.
“He wants you to lose control! He wants you to make a mistake!” Updraft yelled.
“Oh I think he does that right well on his own without my help!” Strobe laughed. “You were always good at making a fool of yourself weren’t you?”
Cobalt let out a roar of frustration and fired at Strobe with all his guns and again the Decepticon danced out of the way.
Arclight struggled out from behind Updraft.
“Stop this! Cobalt you’re falling into his trap!” she yelled.
“It’s what this planet wants!” Updraft cried out as he pulled Arclight back, continuing to shield her. “This planet wants us to kill each other!”
“Shut up you Decepticon scum!” Cobalt screamed. He turned his attention to Updraft, bringing his left arm to bear on the pilot and medic.
“Cobalt! No!” Updraft pleaded to the enraged warrior. “You’re better than this! You’re an Autobot! You’re supposed to be protecting people! Please Cobalt! Don’t do this!”
Cobalt’s engine roared in frustration and anger and his faceplate twisted into a mask of rage as he turned all his weapons on the pilot, completely ignoring Strobe, still standing on the catwalk.
“Please!” Updraft said softly as he stood, ignoring Arclight’s protests, but still keeping his body between her and Cobalt. He stepped forward, his hands wide in a placating gesture. “I’m no threat to you. We’re no threat to you. We have to work together if we’re going to get out of here. We can’t turn on each other. We can’t let them win.”
“What are you doing?!” Turbine shrieked. “He’s distracting you! He’s letting that thing get away!”
With a last, almost hysterical laugh, Strobe slipped out of a doorway on the catwalk and out of the room.
“Please, Cobalt,” Updraft said calming, continuing to walk forward until he was in point blank range of the Autobot’s weapons. “Please, try to remember what we spoke about in the city. We have to work together against our common enemy.”
Cobalt continued to glare at the pilot, his optics black with anger and his chest heaving as his ventilators kicked in, trying to cool his rapidly overheating systems.
“Please,” Updraft whispered. “Don’t do this.”
Cobalt looked up at where Strobe had been then back at the pilot. For a moment there was no sound save for the Autobot’s overclocking systems. Finally he turned away and holstered his weapons. Breathing a deep shuddering sigh he dropped his gaze to the floor.
“What is going here?” he asked quietly. “What in the Pit is going on here?!” he demanded in a shout.
“You let that Decepticon scum go!” Turbine yelled. “You let this little fragger con you into letting him go!”
“Shut up Turbine,” Arclight said in a low voice. “You’re the one who said that there was a toxin emanating from this building. You’re the one who said we had to be careful. And yet now you’re the one who’s acting violent and hysterical. Just calm down and think for Primus’ sake!”
The engineer took a step toward her, his massive hands clenched, his body shaking with controlled rage. Updraft moved to guard her, but Arclight forced him back with a negating look.
“Turbine, stop and think for just a moment. You need to get your firewalls up and fight off this virus, or whatever it is,” she said softly. “You need to be the one in control. Not whatever it is that’s in Strobe.”
The look in Turbine’s optics were at war with his body. He shook with rage, his hands clenched so tightly that Arclight could hear metal buckling. But there was fear and confusion in his optics as his processor fought for control against the strange invading force. Finally, just when Arclight was ready to give up and run from the attack she knew was coming, Turbine spun and slammed his fist into the wall, leaving a huge hole and a web of concentric cracks and fissures in the painted surface.
“What is going on here?” he growled. “What is wrong with us?”
“I don’t know,” Arclight whispered as she approached him. “Here, let me see your hands. I’m sure you’ve hurt them.”
“No!” he shouted, backing away quickly. “Just keep away from me. I’m barely in control as it is and I want all of you as far away as possible just in case I lose it.”
“Okay, that’s fine,” Arclight said softly as she backed away.
“Great, so we’re done trying to rip each other’s processors out,” Cobalt said as he sat heavily on the ground. “Now can someone please explain to me what the frell is going on here?!”
“There was an ancient message in the buffer,” Updraft said. “It was a warning. Telling us not to come planetside. That there was an infection here that wiped out the colonists and the original inhabitants before them.”
“What kind of infection?” Cobalt asked. “What information did they provide? What are the symptoms, the life cycle? The-”
“I don’t know. The message wasn’t clear and it broke up in several places,” Updraft replied miserably. “I didn’t understand half of what was said and-”
“Then play it again!” Cobalt demanded. “Let me see this message!”
“Unfortunately dim-spark here destroyed the machine!” Turbine said accusingly. “It’s nice and convenient isn’t it? That no one else can see this message?”
“I didn’t intend to break the console!” Updraft cried. “It was self defence nothing more than that! It was the only way to stop Circuit!”
“So you say,” Turbine growled as he stalked toward the pilot. “Nice and convenient that there were no witnesses to this attack.”
“How dare you?! How dare you accuse me of this?!” Updraft strode up until he was face to face with the engineer.
“How dare I?” Turbine asked, using his greater bulk to loom over Updraft menacingly. “You’re a stinking ‘Con! It’s not a real stretch to see you-”
“Stop it!” Arclight bellowed. “Just stop it! We are in this together and we cannot go back to petty infighting! Now back off!”
“You’re just defending him because you’re-” Turbine became silent at the murderous look Arclight shot him.
Once he and Updraft had moved to opposite sides of the area Arclight exhaled heavily and turned to the pilot.
“All right, so tell us exactly what happened,” he said, shooting a silencing look at Cobalt when he opened his mouth to protest.
“We got in here and Circuit saw that there was a message in the buffer. He set it to play but it was broken up and there were sections with no sound,” Updraft began. He leaned against the wall heavily, shuttering his optics in an attempt to recall the events clearly. “From what I gathered, there was some kind of virus that made them all paranoid and violent. It took the sparklings first. I don’t know if they died, but he – the hologram I mean – said that the more they tried to protect the sparklings the more infected they became. And then the older mechs were infected. He said they did unspeakable things …” Updraft broke off, his voice barely above a whisper.
“And then what happened?” Cobalt asked. “What else can you tell us?”
“He, uhm, he said that they started to do some unspeakable things … The recording ended with the other colonists killing the speaker.” Again, Updraft broke off. He opened his optics and looked up at the ceiling for a moment, before getting up and approaching the still forms for Discourse and Circuit.
“When the recording ran out I ordered Circuit to get a message out. He didn’t want to; said that he’d have to plug directly into the system. But I ordered him to do it. I – I threatened him, just like Strobe would have,” he said miserably. “He got infected and he killed Discourse. I tried to blow out the comm. unit to break Circuit away from it, but all I did was ruin everything.”
“Well at least you admit it,” Turbine grumbled softly. He then turned to Cobalt. “And where were you through all this? One minute we’re following you and the next you’re nowhere to be found.”
“I was cut off from you,” Cobalt said simply. “I heard you following me but the doors behind me closed up and the whole place became unbelievably dark. I couldn’t do anything except move forward.”
“What? You mean that someone was shutting the doors behind you?” Turbine asked. “Why didn’t you just open them? Shoot them open? That arsenal of yours has got to be good for something!”
“Oh it’s good for something all right!” Cobalt growled, approaching the engineer with a dangerous look in his optics.
“Stop it! Both of you just stop it! Stop provoking each other!” Arclight yelled. “This isn’t getting us anywhere!”
Cobalt shook his head as if to clear it then sat back down on the ground. He buried his face in his hands for a moment before looking up and continuing his story.
“It wasn’t that the doors were shut,” he explained. “The portals closed. It was like they had ceased to be.”
“That makes no sense!” Turbine argued. “The walls are metal and stone. They don’t move!”
“The message in the buffer … the colonist said that it seemed that the organic things outside had turned against them,” Updraft said softly, more to himself than the others. “And there was a stone in the woods with a warning on it. ‘Beware the trees’ it said.”
“Look, how it happened doesn’t matter! All that matters is that it did happen,” Cobalt said dismissively.
“Right, fine,” Arclight said with an exasperated noise. “So we’re done trying to kill each other?” She looked at each of them for some sign of argument before continuing. “Now we need to figure what we’re going to do.”
“We need to get off of this rock, that’s what we need to do,” Updraft said. “Circuit had suggested finding the spaceport. There may be a working shuttle, and if we can get into orbit we can get out a distress signal.”
“We’ll probably need to fight our way here,” Turbine said solemnly. “I don’t know about the rest of you but with how angry I am right now, I’m not sure that I’ll be able to stay focused.”
“Just stay close to me and I’ll get you out,” Cobalt replied, looking at each bot in turn, levelling a determined gaze at each.
“And what makes you think that you’ll be able to fight off this virus-thing any better than the rest of us?” Turbine asked.
“Because it’s my job to keep you safe. I am making it my job and I take that very seriously,” Cobalt replied. “I’m going to get you off of this rock. I swear to you that I will get you out of here.”
“Oh well, isn’t that a sweet sentiment!” said a voice from the door.
They all spun and saw Strobe leaning casually in the door frame.
“You promise to get them off-world!” he said mockingly. “As if we’d ever allow that!”
“You will not stop us,” Cobalt growled as fired on the Decepticon, moving to shield the two neutrals.
Updraft raised his rifle and fired at Strobe, standing shoulder to shoulder with Cobalt.
“Get out of here!” he yelled back at Arclight and Turbine. “Move! We’ll deal with him!”
Laser fire lit the room, melting stone and bouncing off of metal as Strobe danced around every shot. With their allies’ covering fire, Turbine and Arclight ran to the back of the room to where Strobe had exited before.
“Hold tight,” Arclight said as she grabbed Turbine and held him close to her. “This’ll probably be rough!”
With that she activated her thrusters to full force, praying that she had enough power to lift both herself and the bulky minibot to the catwalk.
“Oh ho! None of that!” Strobe laughed. “You’re not getting out of here that easily!”
He waved his hand like he was swatting away a spy-bug and suddenly the shadows under the catwalk began to bubble and roil like some angry living thing. Tentacles of dark plant matter, previously unseen in the darkened corners came to life and shot out toward Arclight, grabbing her legs, wrenching Turbine from her grasp, and clogging her intakes and thrusters.
With a choking cry, Arclight was pulled down to the ground and pinned to the tiles by massive lengths of slick fibrous vines. From her left Arclight could hear Turbine fighting the organic enemy, but judging by the sounds of his intakes clogging, he was fighting a losing battle.
“Let them go!” Updraft screamed as he launched himself at Strobe.
With a deft motion, Strobe reached out with one of Zenith’s stolen arms and plucked the pilot out of the air, holding him at arm’s length as he began to squeeze his throat, slowly cutting off the circulation of energon to his central processor.
As Strobe focused of the struggling pilot, his attention was diverted from the vines, giving Arclight and Turbine just enough leverage to begin escaping from their bonds. Cobalt, for his part, was not idle through this. Taking full advantage of Strobe’s distraction, he fired a full volley into the former communicator, sending him flying backwards and into the wall.
“I tire of this game,” Strobe growled as he tossed Updraft’s limp body across the room where he collided with Arclight as she finally regained her feet. “I think it’s about time that we increase our numbers again.”
With preternatural speed he jumped over the heads of the assembled and landed beside Cobalt. Before Cobalt could react, Strobe had the Autobot warrior by the throat. With a deft motion he extruded wires from his fingertips and jammed them into the side of Cobalt’s helm. Cobalt shuddered as if electricity was passing through his system, screaming out in agonized static until his vocalizer finally gave out. His body fell limp in Strobe’s arms, his blue optics dimming until they finally flickered out.
Updraft struggled to his feet and for a moment he froze as indecision overtook him, but the sight of the Autobot’s limp form was enough to bring him back to reality. With a scream of outrage he fired on Strobe, but anger and fear clouded his sight, and not a single shot hit its mark.
“Updraft! He’s gone! We have to get out of here!” Arclight pleaded, grabbing the pilot’s arm and pulling him toward the exit.
“The Governor’s shuttle is our best bet off of here,” Turbine said. “We have to get there, and we have to do it now!
Together the three of them ran to the partially collapsed exit. With Turbine in the lead and Updraft guarding their rear, they ran through the halls, praying that they were heading in the right direction, and yet, somehow knowing that they were being herded toward an unknown fate.
“You can’t get away from us!” Strobe yelled out as Turbine, Updraft, and Arclight turned the corner.
“The original inhabitants couldn’t escape us! The colonists couldn’t escape us! And you certainly won’t escape us!” Cobalt laughed.
“He’s alive!” Updraft gasped as he slowed. “We have to go back for Cobalt!”
“No!” Arclight yelled as she grabbed his arm, pulling him further down the corridor. “That’s not Cobalt! That’s whatever’s in Strobe! It’s the virus talking!”
“Virus! Spare me!” Strobe called out. “We are no virus! Just because we have no bodies to call our own does not make us viruses or worms or whatever terms you solids insist on using!”
“There’s no point in running!” Cobalts taunted. “You can’t escape us! We can smell your fear! Your hate! Your lust! There is nowhere you can go where we won’t find you!”
“Come on!” Arclight whispered harshly. “We have to go!”
She turned to go only to realize that Turbine had continued on and was nowhere to be seen.
“Come on! Let’s go!” she said as she pulled him along the corridor, stopping only when they came to a set of stairs leading up into darkness.
