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randomplaces2008-10-13 12:56 pm
random_xtras) wrote in randomplaces2008-10-13 12:56 pm
Entry tags:
Fusion-'verse. Various locations. Reformat ((Warnings: character death))
Megatron frowned deeply as he listened to Rodimus Prime's report, his arms crossed over his chest where he and Oriana Pax's combined sparks ached at the words of the young Autobot leader.
"Soundwave and his recorders were found dead, with no marks on them. Skywarp and Thundercracker are missing." Rodimus' jaw clenched. "The bodies were left where they lay, and the security footage was wiped. It's the same MO as for the attack at the rebel base, except that no one disappeared there."
Megatron glanced at where Ultra-Magnus sat with bowed head next to him at the table, then looked over at Jazz, who was leaning against the door frame and staring blankly out into the Cybertronian dawn.
Rumbling, he bowed his own head, fists clenching. Soundwave... faithful retainer. And Starscream... I carried her through the bowels of Unicron to save her life, and then carried her through the bowels of Primus to try and get her life restored... and she's gone too now.... I will never be able to right the wrongs that I did to her.
-Primus has her.- Oriana's thought was a soft caress.
His optics flickered, and then he nodded. -That... doesn't ease the pain, Optimus.-
-I know.-
He shut his optics off, trying to lose himself in her spark snuggle, but then leaped to his feet and sent the table crashing onto its side as Jazz fell with a strangled cry.
"No!" Rodimus vaulted the fallen furniture and rushed the figure who stepped inside over the black and white mech's body.
As Megatron, Oriana, and Ultra-Magnus watched in startled horror the intruder punched a hand through the young Prime's chest, then shot him at point blank range as she wrenched the Matrix free and held it up with a triumphant cackle.
It was a Seeker, yet not a Seeker. Slender. Black as the death of hope. She swept the room with a crimson gaze that was pitiless, scornful, and mad.
"What... Starscream?" Megatron took a step toward her, but then stopped as she pointed that fatal weapon at his chest.
"Starscream was a weak fool," she said, her voice cold as the void of space. "She threw her life away for naught. Look on me and despair, for I am Deathscream!"
He frowned at the feeling of wrongness that came from her. "What do you want?"
She smirked and kicked Hot-Rod aside, then sauntered closer, not looking around at the two other Transformers who followed her inside. "It's not a matter of what I want. You want this trinket, and Unicron wants a word with you. You know what to do."
Her smirk widened as she pointed her gun at Ultra-Magnus' head without taking those fiery cold optics from Megatron's.
"My lady," said the femme who had followed her. "There's a squadron of Seekers coming."
"Oh really?" Deathscream stood poised for a moment, but then transformed and shot skyward, going through the ceiling and roof as though they had been paper. "Cyclonus! Scourge! To me as we hunt!"
"No!" shouted Megatron, launching himself after her, only to fall with a clatter and a grunt as Ultra-Magnus flying tackled him to the ground.
"Seeker squadron, abandon attack!" shouted the Autobot over his communicator. "I repeat, abandon attack and disperse! Get the slag out of here NOW!"
"Let go of me!" Megatron wrenched an arm free, only to sputter and see static as Ultra-Magnus punched him in the face.
"You go out there now, and you die! Just like Jazz and Rodimus did...."
Oriana's rage, which had been as hot as his own, faltered and tumbled toward grief. Megatron winced and stopped fighting. "Let me go."
"No stupid stuff?" Ultra-Magnus looked at him, wincing slightly as the sound of a fuselage hitting the ground came from outside.
"No... stupid stuff." Megatron's voice was resigned. "Let go."
The Autobot did so, eying him warily the whole way. "They're gone. Some kind of warp gate."
"That explains how they came and went at the other sites," said Oriana as her mate pushed himself up and turned toward Hot Rod's crumpled shell. "Though, if that was Starscream... she must have been changed days ago. And Soundwave...."
"I don't want to think about it." Megatron hunkered down and gently turned Hot Rod over, his optics switching off for a moment as he saw the peace on the young mech's dead face. "Primus...."
-He's with Arcee, and Springer,- murmured Oriana brokenly, her affection and grief for the two murdered mechs flooding her senses.
Megatron stared, trying to understand the feelings and how to deal with them, then just cradled Hot Rod's broken shell and wept.
"Soundwave and his recorders were found dead, with no marks on them. Skywarp and Thundercracker are missing." Rodimus' jaw clenched. "The bodies were left where they lay, and the security footage was wiped. It's the same MO as for the attack at the rebel base, except that no one disappeared there."
Megatron glanced at where Ultra-Magnus sat with bowed head next to him at the table, then looked over at Jazz, who was leaning against the door frame and staring blankly out into the Cybertronian dawn.
Rumbling, he bowed his own head, fists clenching. Soundwave... faithful retainer. And Starscream... I carried her through the bowels of Unicron to save her life, and then carried her through the bowels of Primus to try and get her life restored... and she's gone too now.... I will never be able to right the wrongs that I did to her.
-Primus has her.- Oriana's thought was a soft caress.
His optics flickered, and then he nodded. -That... doesn't ease the pain, Optimus.-
-I know.-
He shut his optics off, trying to lose himself in her spark snuggle, but then leaped to his feet and sent the table crashing onto its side as Jazz fell with a strangled cry.
"No!" Rodimus vaulted the fallen furniture and rushed the figure who stepped inside over the black and white mech's body.
As Megatron, Oriana, and Ultra-Magnus watched in startled horror the intruder punched a hand through the young Prime's chest, then shot him at point blank range as she wrenched the Matrix free and held it up with a triumphant cackle.
It was a Seeker, yet not a Seeker. Slender. Black as the death of hope. She swept the room with a crimson gaze that was pitiless, scornful, and mad.
"What... Starscream?" Megatron took a step toward her, but then stopped as she pointed that fatal weapon at his chest.
"Starscream was a weak fool," she said, her voice cold as the void of space. "She threw her life away for naught. Look on me and despair, for I am Deathscream!"
He frowned at the feeling of wrongness that came from her. "What do you want?"
She smirked and kicked Hot-Rod aside, then sauntered closer, not looking around at the two other Transformers who followed her inside. "It's not a matter of what I want. You want this trinket, and Unicron wants a word with you. You know what to do."
Her smirk widened as she pointed her gun at Ultra-Magnus' head without taking those fiery cold optics from Megatron's.
"My lady," said the femme who had followed her. "There's a squadron of Seekers coming."
"Oh really?" Deathscream stood poised for a moment, but then transformed and shot skyward, going through the ceiling and roof as though they had been paper. "Cyclonus! Scourge! To me as we hunt!"
"No!" shouted Megatron, launching himself after her, only to fall with a clatter and a grunt as Ultra-Magnus flying tackled him to the ground.
"Seeker squadron, abandon attack!" shouted the Autobot over his communicator. "I repeat, abandon attack and disperse! Get the slag out of here NOW!"
"Let go of me!" Megatron wrenched an arm free, only to sputter and see static as Ultra-Magnus punched him in the face.
"You go out there now, and you die! Just like Jazz and Rodimus did...."
Oriana's rage, which had been as hot as his own, faltered and tumbled toward grief. Megatron winced and stopped fighting. "Let me go."
"No stupid stuff?" Ultra-Magnus looked at him, wincing slightly as the sound of a fuselage hitting the ground came from outside.
"No... stupid stuff." Megatron's voice was resigned. "Let go."
The Autobot did so, eying him warily the whole way. "They're gone. Some kind of warp gate."
"That explains how they came and went at the other sites," said Oriana as her mate pushed himself up and turned toward Hot Rod's crumpled shell. "Though, if that was Starscream... she must have been changed days ago. And Soundwave...."
"I don't want to think about it." Megatron hunkered down and gently turned Hot Rod over, his optics switching off for a moment as he saw the peace on the young mech's dead face. "Primus...."
-He's with Arcee, and Springer,- murmured Oriana brokenly, her affection and grief for the two murdered mechs flooding her senses.
Megatron stared, trying to understand the feelings and how to deal with them, then just cradled Hot Rod's broken shell and wept.
Chapter 4
"Welcome back to the land of the living, my lord." Her cold smirk passed over him, showing just a hint of concern.
He growled at her and pushed to his feet, his gaze imperiously sweeping the small room they were in as he headed for the door and passed into what looked like a control room.
"All hail Galvatron!" The mech known as Cyclonus straightened and put his fist to his chest in salute, ignoring the pink-clawed Scourge as she hid behind him.
"Hail Galvatron!" echoed Deathscream from behind him.
He scowled, optics flickering disinterestedly toward where three beings very similar to Scourge stood and skittishly cried their own hail. Hmmph. Sweeps. Useless cannon fodder.
His gaze dropped to the cannon on his arm, and his expression lightened as an engaging notion touched his processor. Before the Sweeps had time to do more than cry out they'd been sent flying by a blast.
Galvatron laughed, the sound deep and contemptuous, then shoved past his third in command to scowl at the screens. "Report!"
"All is quiet, sir," said Cyclonus respectfully, then stepped out of the way so that Deathscream could take her rightful place at their commander's side.
Discontented grumbling greeted his words, and Galvatron quickly keyed in commands that would bring up the locations of nearby sentient holdings. "It's time we focused on the main mission."
"Yes," said Deathscream softly, looking pleased.
"Unicron will need new optics, and a new body." Galvatron studied the screens' reports, then pointed. "The Autobot base on Earth bears optic arrays of the right size. Scourge, take the Sweeps and bring them to me at once!"
"Yes, Galvatron!" The slender femme leaped forward and struck her chest in salute, then transformed and jetted from the room with her minions trailing.
He didn't watch her go, already turning his attention to other things. "Trypticon is on Chaar."
"Yes, my lord," said Deathscream, head tilted slightly as she awaited his next words, cold optics fixed attentively on his face. Behind her Cyclonus was also intent and expectant.
Galvatron frowned at them, wondering why it seemed as if something was wrong.
"My lord?" Deathscream drooped slightly as he continued to study their faces.
He growled and shook his head, then leaped into the air and headed for the exit. "We hunt!"
"Hail Galvatron!" They transformed and followed at his heels.
The opposition had been pitiful. Galvatron himself had torn the spark from the lumbering Decepticon mobile base and then taken great joy out of razing the newly built city that Trypticon had gone down fighting to protect with the big Decepticon's own weapons. Knowing that Unicron, though impatient for his new body, would not mind their having further sport, he then set their new toy loose on the supposedly hidden Quintesson base in the next solar system before wiping out a few pirates and random freighters. Abrim as he was with his master's dark power, he needed very little in the way of recharge time, but finally- three days out on their hunting trip- he finally threw himself down on a bunk in an abandoned room and switched his optics off to rest.
His dreams were troubling. It seemed that two voices called to him, and that he knew those voices and cared about them. They pleaded with him to 'come back', and to his utter confusion and rage the sadness in their tones touched something in his spark.
He snapped awake and stared up at the bunk above him, then turned to look as he registered a weight on his arm and against his side.
Deathscream curled there, smirking even in recharge as she snuggled against him, and he felt his own mouth twitch upward as he took in her sleek beauty.
Then he frowned as that sense of something wrong which had touched him on the first day made itself known again. But what could be wrong? He was doing his master's will; resting with his mate at his side....
His mate....
Blue optics seemed to rise between himself and the femme beside him; optics that looked at him with sadness and an emotion that he couldn't recognize but which pulled at his spark. Unbidden, a name seemed to brush at his mind.
Oriana.
Galvatron blinked, then scowled and sat up, roughly shoving Deathscream over the side of the bunk as he banished the processor ghosts with a snort of irritation.
"My lord?" Deathscream sat up, blinking bewilderment.
"Get out of my sight!" he growled.
She froze at the anger in his voice, then scrambled to her feet and fled, confusion still clear in every line of her frame.
Galvatron shoved himself up abruptly and stalked to the control room, where Cyclonus snapped to attention with hail and salute.
"Turn us toward Unicron. I'm tired of this slag." He threw himself into his command chair.
"Yes, sir." The other mech speedily put word to action.
Galvatron didn't watch, nor did he notice Deathscream slip onto the bridge a moment later and hover uncertainly in her usual place at his shoulder as he sat and glowered holes into the screen.