Chapter 19: Inevitability
TheLunchKing
Heed my words... Egg.
-=-=-=-=-=-
Chapter 19: Inevitability
-=-=-=-=-=-
Chapter 19: Inevitability
-=-=-=-=-=-
Staring down at the laser core of Breakdown, I watch as Pacekeeper inspected it while reading up on the medical procedures to keep said core active. Already ever since I brought it back to the Harbinger and gave it to Pacekeeper, the thing looked far better. A brief look with the visor showed that its energon signature was regaining strength, so that was good at least.
"How's the patient Pacekeeper?" I idly asked as I rapped my digits on one of my thrusters.
"According to these files, the Laser Core is recovering from its forced slow burn. When it recovers from its previous state, it says here that the Laser Core can be used on a protoform to reforge the owner of this Core." Pacekeeper said as he narrowed his yellow optics at the data slate in his servos.
Nodding my helm at him, I turn around while waving a free hand. "Keep up the good work Pace, this guy's in capable servos."
"Y-yes mother!" Huh, he stuttered. But I could feel the happiness coming from behind me even as the door closed, so that should be fine. At least, I think so?
Though, that begs the question. What do I do with Breakdown? Despite my obvious pity for him being essentially shafted by Airachnid and M.E.C.H, actually those two entities fucked with him the most. I'm not counting Bulk because they looked more like rivals instead of archenemies. I still could not stop giggling at Bulk's "Mine's Bigger!" line.
Despite all that, he is still a Decepticon. Loyal to Megatron and all that jazz, not to mention there is one big problem if I want to recruit him. Specifically, one big shiny red problem.
Knockout.
I am fairly certain that those two are conjunx endura, no one can convince me otherwise other than those two. Even then, I would be fairly suspicious still, because Breakdown is more or less not only Knockout's best friend in all but name. But I could tell that he actually cared about the big lug given that he really wanted to rip C.Y.L.A.S apart. To the point he actively asked Megatron to allow him to do it.
Knockout doesn't really like volunteering himself for groundwork. But the fact that he wanted to throw servos with C.Y.L.A.S tells me all I need to know about his feelings for Breakdown and I am pretty sure it goes both ways. Breakdown would most likely follow Knockout more than anything.
Hmm... I mean, I could just use his Laser Core as a bargaining chip? It's kind of fucked up to think of it like this, but I have no way of knowing whether Breakdown is willing to throw aside the Decepticon cause to fight with me and my kids. It is more likely that he might just try and escape to head back to the Nemesis and return back to the Decepticon ranks.
Which, if I'm being honest might be the best path for him. But if Megatron refuses the hammer wielding lug citing weakness or some bullshit, then he might just crash out of disbelief really. Then again, Megatron is Megatron, there is no way for me to tell what the crazy bastard might do.
I mean, we are talking about the mech that looks at the literal blood of robot Satan and decided to snort that shit up when other bots would be distrusting or outright scared of the stuff. Megatron looks cool, but he's fucking unhinged.
So the safe bet would be for me to have Breakdown's core fixed up, but we aren't giving him a protoform to reforge himself in. At least for now, because high chances are that the Decepticon would still be loyal to Knockout and by extension to Megatron and the rest of the Decepticons.
We will keep his Laser Core as a potential bargaining chip just in case I need to negotiate with the Cons and their Silver Gladiator of a leader.
Letting out a sigh, I sat at a bench and placed my helm in my servo. We are horribly outnumbered and outclassed by the named warriors of both sides. All this training most likely won't be enough, we not only need experience, but we need a way to simulate battles. Training and 'sparring' with a shadow opponent is great and all, but that can only get us so far.
At least Analog had a thought about that when I brought it up, he wanted to try something but needed time as he needed to dive into the internet. Which, thanks to my experience in my past life, sounded a little fucking concerning. As there were some things within the net that should honestly never see the light of day.
For now though, I'll trust Analog to steer clear of the fucked up shit on the internet, Primus forbid if he comes across the Dark Web and sees things he shouldn't. For now though, I think it's high time I took a look at that other set of coordinates.
Alright, let's take a closer look at where it is exactly... Huh, a tiny island in the Florida Keys? Wonder what's over there, eh I'll be taking the relic visor with me and a few of the kids. Maybe Skyhaul and one of the twins. Yeah that sounds good to me, Skyhaul and maybe Chromepinion. One close up and one ranged, then there's me.
Now, where are they? Ah, I should also have Analog look for places on this planet that can hide a base, maybe dig out a hole in a mountain or something.
-=-=-=-=-=- This is a Line Break -=-=-=-=-=-
Stepping out onto grasslands with a beachhead a little ways away from us, I looked around just as Skyhaul and Chromepinion came out of the ground bridge portal behind me. "Oh the heat here is nasty, I can feel my cooling fans spinning faster just to keep with the heat." I heard Chromepinion mutter.
Without even turning back, I answered him. "There's the beach. You can splash yourself with seawater if you want?"
"Nuooooh thank you! I don't want ocean salt getting into my filters or some other place. The sand is going to be even worse!" Pfft, ok Anakin.
Skyhaul's voice interrupted his brother's little spiel. "Mother, what is it that we are looking for here?"
"My ECM suites boosted by the Harbinger found a sketchy signal coming from this place. I want to check it out. Now, do you two remember what I said earlier?" This time, I did turn around in order to look at both Skyhaul and Chromepinion.
The both of them nodded at me, Skyhaul repeated my words aloud. "Should we encounter any other Cybertronian, we are to call you Optimus."
Smiling at the both of them, I nodded. My colors shifting into the red and blue of Optimus Prime, looking down at myself, I resisted the urge to form a deadpan expression. I'm now just tempted to frame shift back to the Peterbilt alt mode, cause the way this is colored now, it's making me look like I have blue thigh highs. Damn it.
Resisting the urge to sigh, I simply turned back around and re-engaged my battle mask before flipping down the relic visor. Once more my vision expanded until I could see far more than I was used to, although it was a little disorienting to suddenly start narrowing my vision down on random fast moving objects like squirrels and apparently crabs- oh hey a barracuda just eviscerated a fish.
No wait. Focus, I'm looking for energon signatures. That is the most likely culprit that was pinging off against my suites, but it didn't take long for me to see the giant glaring blue ball that moved deeper into the island. Huh, that is a lot of energon, let's go take a look.
Turning back to Skyhaul and Chromepinion, I nod my head in the direction we were supposed to go. "Alright boys, change into your alt modes, we'll be flying the rest of the way there to save time."
The both of them nodded at me before Chromepinion gave Skyhaul a joking look on his faceplate. "Try not to drop me Haul, I know it's tempting."
Even underneath his visor, I could tell Skyhaul rolled his optics in response. "Don't touch anything and I'll make sure your ride is smooth brother."
Three transformations later and I was flying more or less to escort Skyhaul's osprey form while he carried Chromepinion's alt mode inside his cargo bay. I was taking lead on this one as only I could see the signature with this visor, which thankfully showed me that we were rapidly closing the distance between us and whatever it is.
I actually think that I can take a look at it now without the visor, because the energon signature is kind of painting the entire thing blue with the visor. So I flip it up and shuttered my optics a few times before taking a good look at what it was.
Huh. Surprising, this is a long distance pod. Kind of like the one Smokescreen came with in the show, but this one looks old as hell. By that I mean the thing must have landed here LONG ago, it's completely overgrown with vines, roots, and leaves that I was surprised I could tell what it was at a glance. It also looked a little fucked up, I can see damages all over the thing.
So I dived down towards it, curiosity overwhelming me. I could hear Skyhaul's form following behind me as we both dived for the pod, I easily pulled up and shifted back into my root mode, slowly walking towards it while Skyhaul landed safely before letting Chromepinion drive out of him before the both of them transformed back as well.
I stood before it and looked around its overgrown state, trying to see if it had any insignia that could show which faction this pod belonged to. As long as I find any identifying mark, I will be able to make the decision on whether we should just blast this into oblivion or give the Autobots a helping servo of sorts.
But then again, the choice was taken out of my hands when I heard a voice I so dearly did NOT want to hear.
"Looks like Prime's got himself a few new lackeys... Surrender, and perhaps I will make your deaths swift." I almost wanted to scream in fucking terror, the one Primus damned mech on this rock I do not want to fight without ample preparation, and he just appears out of fucking nowhere when I least expect it!
Fuck fuck fuck shit fuck fuckity god DAMNED FUCK!!!
Aight, fuck it. We ball. Flipping down my relic visor and re-engaging my battle mask, I Optimus-mimed as I turned around. I could see the second energon signature and already I was dreading who would be right besiiiii- shiiiiiiiiiit.
"I cannot allow that Megatron." I say as I crank up my emotion dampener up to 95% as I felt my stress levels increase to uncomfortable heights. Not only was Megatron standing right fucking there, but so is shitting SOUNDWAVE.
Even with the slight bluish tint of the visor and the purplish-blue color of Megatron's spark signature, I could see the honest surprise in the Decepticon leader's red optics at seeing 'Optimus Prime' right in front of him. He schooled his features before he started chuckling lowly.
"Aaaahhhh~ Optimus~ I can see you got yourself a few... 'upgrades' to your frame. They will not save you from my wrath." Megatron drawled out as he took a few light steps forward, his right arm raised as he ejected his blade from underneath his fusion cannon.
"That remains to be seen. Why are you here?" I asked in Optimus' voice as I maintained 'appearances' and shifted my right servo into a blade and my left into a path blaster.
"Is it not obvious? The pod right behind you of course. I was only intending to come here with Soundwave if only just to ensure this retrieval goes without a hitch. But I do suppose that today is Soundwave's lucky day. Soundwave, go to the pod, I will keep Optimus and his lackeys busy." I saw him tilt his helm to the side as he finished speaking to me in order to give Soundwave his task. I wasted no time in doing the same, although for a different reason.
"Skyhaul, Chromepinion, leave. The both of you are no match for these two." So am I really, but I need to keep up the appearance as long as possible.
Skyhaul snapped his helm to look down at me. "But Mo-Optimus! We can't just let you fight them by yourself!"
"Megatron has a twisted sense of honor, he will accept no one other than himself to rip out my spark. Neither of you are strong enough to fight Soundwave, not even if you fought him together. Your best option is to retreat, now go!" I see from my relic visor's vision that Skyhaul and Chromepinion were hesitating, before a particularly loud stomp from me got them moving.
Megatron's optic ridge rose as he sees my kids go off on their own to retreat before looking at me with a sort of amused look. "Another one of your self-sacrificing tricks? Don't you think I would have wised up to those tactics?" He drawled out as Soundwave started to walk towards the pod.
I shrug before pointing the path blaster from him to the pod, causing Soundwave and Megatron to freeze in their tracks. "I have a feeling that whatever is in this pod, is something that you really want Megatron. Make no sudden moves, and I won't destroy this pod."
For extra effect, my shoulder mounted thermo-rocket pods opened up and readied their payload. Silence reigned over all three of us as Megatron narrowed his optics at me, and I could see Soundwave's visor 'staring' straight at me. "I'm surprised... Even after reading the reports and hearing from my officers, I didn't exactly believe that you had reawakened your ruthless streak. Especially after clashing with you on this planet's moon... Clearly I was mistaken."
Wait what, reawakened? Was Optimus a brutal beast of a fighter back in the war on Cybertron? "Does that disappoint you?"
"Not really, but I'm surprised. I didn't think that the mighty Optimus Prime would be fine with shooting a defenseless unarmed combatant." Megatron slowly rumbled as he slowly began stepping to the side, Soundwave taking his own few steps back but slowly moving towards the pod in a circle.
"You will find that I am full of surprises."
"Is that right?" I thankfully saw it with the relic visor before anything, so I jumped backwards as red energon blaster bolts rained down on my previous position. The shrill call of Laserbeak echoing through the air as Soundwave started running for the pod.
"Soundwave has a couple of them up his subspace." Megatron grinned, showing his denta as he raised his cannon to start blasting at me.
Mentally I swallow my nervousness as I raised my path blaster to shoot at him while firing off the rockets to target at Laserbeak.
I guess now is as good a time as any to start getting practice in with using these thrusters! I activate them and dashed to the side to intercept Soundwave.
Making them stop running towards the pod as they turned to react to me, one of their cyber tentacles darted out and thanks to the relic I was able to react by forcefully wrapping it around my leg and using the thrusters to essentially backflip in the air, intending to launch Soundwave overhelm and towards Megatron.
But I may have miscalculated as instead I began spinning and forcefully taking Soundwave with me, and I could see with the visor that Megatron was aiming at me but he wasn't shooting. Was he afraid he might shoot Soundwave? Huh, didn't think he'd have it in him to care about hitting his teammate.
Wait, I'm spinning. This works actually. Loading up my thermo-rockets once again, I let loose and fired multiple rockets as I spun, sending explosive rain in every direction. To be honest, I'm surprised I'm lasting this lon-OOF!
My thoughts were interrupted as I felt myself get forcefully pushed off of my spin, I was hunched over Megatron's alt mode. "Nice trick." Megatron growled out as he continued carrying me off into the sky while Soundwave and Laserbeak stayed on the ground to get to the pod.
Grunting, I raised both servos and smacked them down on Megatron's jet frame, eliciting a pained yell from Megatron as he was thrown off course and giving me enough leeway to slip off of his bumper. Transforming into my Berkut mode as I fell freely.
Jets roaring to life, I blasted through the air and cut through the air in a sharp turn in order to engage the Silver Gladiator in the skies. "Have at thee Megatron!"
This was going to suck, I know it. I did surprisingly well earlier but I doubt that this is going to last. Even with the visor, I'm going to make a mistake at some point. I hope the kids got away safely.
Last edited:
