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The sound of clicking metal filled the darkened hallway of the Nemesis as it headed for its assigned destination in the middle of the desert, several hics from Jasper, but ironically close where once both the Headquarters of the Autobots and Megatron’s fortress Darkmount had stood.
The few Vehicons who were working inside the hallway on one of the maintenance consoles bowed respectfully when the three high ranked Decepticons passed them. Even if their ranks at the moment were only their inheritance which they acted upon till the true holders awakened again from their stasis.
“Are you two sure that this will be a good idea?” come the worried question as crimson optics looked over the two taller mechs walking beside the slender Seeker, emitting a vented sigh from the one in the middle of the trio. They may have been at this time of different ranks, but the ties they forged were still there for all to see.
“As much as I would hope that there is another way, at the given time we don’t possess all too many alternatives. Our creators are still in healing-stasis, - which as you remember means shortened resources in solving problems -, and at the given time I don’t feel all too much desire regards calling Orion.” come the reply from the tallest mech as a silver servo pressed against the crest of his helm, he felt a processor ache coming up. He had spent the past five orbital cycles with trying to come up with a different solution, one which did not involve calling the Autobots – no matter if they did manage to work together in dire times – and making his best friend go, but this was the only one he had hopes for regards working out. Of course he understood his bonded’s concerns even without tapping into their bond, he had read the files and was not pleased with this, but he trusted his SIC with his spark.
“Orion and his team would concern me far less than Shade seeking out those two unpredictable mechs, one is already bad enough, but both...” Lightning grumbled, wings pushed high to show his displeasure about the whole situation they were in and he doubted that anything could change it till the lean mech does not return without a single scratch to his finish!
“Lightning, as Neo had pointed out we have at the moment not many alternate solutions, if MECH truly got their hands on one of our ships which had crashed during the war we can’t let them keep it.” come the calm reply from the deep violet mech as the trio entered the bridge, stopping in front of one of the large computers, long digits dancing over the keys to bring up the needed files. “It is of outmost importance to find out if the information is true and sabotage their plans in gaining more knowledge to continue their sick doings, though if Primus is merciful towards us and our findings turn out as false I have already advised a backup plan to get out of there without trouble, but as pointed out, should it be correct...”
There was no need to elaborate, they had all been cleared up about the human made organization which did not dread to hunt down Decepticons and Autobots alike to gain knowledge about their workings and technology for their own twisted plans regards world domination. Created by the late Leland “Silas” Bishop, who found his torment and end on their warship after he dared to step before their creators in the desacralized body of one of their fallen comrades.
Sadly things did not end with him...
It turned out frustratingly that there had been a woman desperate enough or with quite the bad taste in men, who did not only marry that monster, but also bore him a son under the designation Maximilian Bishop who was just as rotten like his father whose genes he had inherited through that unholy bond blessed by the Unmaker himself. Both fractions were still debating if it was a good or bad thing that unlike his sire his fake Transformers did not imitate the members of Team Prime, but were a bunch of grotesque, metallic monstrosities.
“I still don’t like it Shade, as much as I trust your skills I can’t say that about that duo of deserters no matter their files, one had absolutely no regards towards rules if they did not fit him” the silver and red Seeker started as he pointed with one clawed digit towards the image file featuring a Seeker with a mainly black paintjob, both his wings and the tempered glass of his cockpit on the other hand a deep shade of red “while the other has an obvious processor glitch.” Lightning growled as his golden plating framed optics narrowed, he was not in the least pleased to let Shade into the presence of either mech. No matter if from all of them it was Shadowsound who could take care about himself the best.
He was simply protective about his friend.
“Lightningstar, for the severalth time, it will be alright and I can manage.” Shade reassured the Air Commander when the ship gave the signal that they had arrived at their destination. “This is my stop, I will stay in contact with you all per com, if something should disturb it I can still send messages via telepathically contacting Ravage.”
“You are not taking Ravage!?” come the almost shrieked question which made everyone in audio range flinch.
“Ugh…these are the times he reminds me on his sire.” Neo whispered to his friend who hid a small smirk while they watched the angrily muttering flyer pace around in front of them.
“You certainly ignored it when you bonded, so too late for regrets.” Shade whispered back. Though he had made plans to tape the time when their creators finally awaken again form their stasis and both Lord Megatron and Starscream find out that their sons had sparkbonded. His sire will probably find it more than amusing, mostly if he does not need to treat them medically afterwards, but now he needed to calm the other down.
“Yes, in case the communication should not work via commlink, just like in that cave” he did not get a reply as all three of them pushed away the memory of that dreadful place and what had happened in there, it was better not dwelling on it for too long. “So this is why he is staying here, mostly if I should require Neo’s ‘assistance’.” said Decepticon leader nodded at this, back then when Shade was sent out to terminate Airachnid through his sire’s orders had he turned towards him and waited for his command to finish the deed fully. He was Shadowsound’s master just like his sire was to the other’s carrier, it was not fully pleasant that one of your friends could not step up towards your commands, but he could not change that. Shadowsound and his carrier were eternally different from other Transformers and he accepted this and simply cherished the fact that he had a friend on whom he could lean on. “I have instructed Crimsonhaze to take over the medical bay from me till I’m gone and you all can share the Communications Officer position.” Shade informed before turning around and heading for the door, he had a mission to accomplish and he would not fail it no matter what needs to be done to ensure his success.
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Close to midday one could rarely see people wandering around the desert, not that many would freely venture out into that terrain, even on the street which lead to the next city was at this time of the day not much going on. This was probably why no one noticed a deep violet, almost black coloured DeLorean DMC-12 speeding over the empty street with certainly more horse power then 150, that is... except the person in front of whom the car come to a screeching stop.
“Caitlin Evangeline Fowler, just what do you think you are doing here?” come the suspicious voice from the car as the woman in front of it raised an eyebrow, hands on her hips. She knew him enough to know how to act around the con and at the moment she was not intimidated or feeling guilty in the least.
“First, don’t come with the full name number” she said while removing her left hand from her hip and holding out a finger as she counted “second, I’m a Special Agent and MECH is a terrorist organization under high wrap, so I can be of help with the authorities plus asking possible witnesses and don’t cause a mass panic or heart attacks and third, what those glitches do concerns the Transformers so it concerns also me.” she finished while pointing at the Decepticon symbol which hung from the dog collar-necklace around her neck. “I even dressed so that I can move more freely.” Cait said while gesturing to the red sleeveless top, knee length navy blue skirt, - thus making the deep scars running from her neck over her collarbone, right arm and leg more noticeable – and black, flat soled boots, even her shoulder length brown hair was tied back in a ponytail.
“Don’t care Lin, beside that are you with these colours trying to show your admiration towards Optimus Prime or Orion?” Shadowsound asked the last part in slight amusement as the woman blushed before looking agitated.
“I’m not! I just did not get to renew my wardrobe since a few years. Uncle Bill already looked ready to have a heart attack after he found out about what my medallion symbolises when I got back from my two therapy months abroad the Nemesis so me in violet or silver would send him over.” actually Bulkhead who was the closest back then needed to pick him up as he ranted about the cons and… alien brainwashing... “He also made quite the impressive jump when I got a call as we were talking and he found out that I put Megatron’s angry yell as a ringtone.” Cait said thoughtfully, she loved her uncle, but he had trouble understanding that she could actually get along with the Cons who were not that bad if you figured out how to understand them. You simply needed to watch their movements when they talk, look for the other meanings of the things they say and pair those to the observed gestures and you get them.
“Intuitive” she was not sure if he meant the ringtone or her excuse for being read-blue “, but you should get back to Jasper or we might get a call from the Autobots, but it will be your uncle demanding that you get returned.” it had happened once, when Airachnid had managed to find her son and she got caught up in that attack, it had been there when she got those scars on her body and had almost died. Though she was a rather stubborn human to let herself be taken out like that, this was why Lord Megatron had at that time given permission for her to stay on their ship for the duration of two earth months.
“I let myself be brought here by a taxi and I don’t have enough cash with me for a ride back, but if you want me I could walk…” Cait trailed of, knowing that she was wining when a frustrated sound come from the DeLorean in front of her.
“Fine, get in” Shadowsound sighed as he opened the gullwing door on the driver’s side “, but this will be a dangerous mission and not only because it concerns MECH, but because of other factors.” he admonished as she slipped inside.
“You remember that some of the information come from my resources so give me the details I don’t know and I will give you some additional tips and before you ask, I have both my gun and shocker with me which Shockwave had modified.” she said smirking as the rear-view mirror turned in her direction, seatbelt sneaking around her body.
“And your uncle is confused why you can get along with us.” Shade stated to the grinning woman who seemed to have decided that if she runs into Cons while working she wants to tag along when having free and running into them.
“Correct, so the details?” she asked while leaning back in her seat, looking in front of herself.
“Ngh…fine, as you know there is a chance that MECH had gotten their hands on a Decepticon ship, it could mean trouble regards the data and materials they could gain from it. ” that she knew, they were still hunting after possible MECH members which was not easy due to the members covering their whole body and the annoying fact that with each encounter they learn to hide their doings even better. This was almost what one would call a witch hunt! “Unfortunately with our creators in stasis I need to ask for help during this mission, but Neoblaze did not desire to call Orion so we need to contact two others as a type of help.” it was not hard to note that her unlikely guardian was not flattered by the idea, but he could not go against his master’s orders and she knew that Megatron’s adoptive son would never order Shade to do something if he knew another way.
“So, who are we getting if not the bots?” she inquired while squirming a small bit, it was as if the seatbelt would have tightened around her body. “Shade?” she asked while stroking with her hand gently over the steering wheel.
“Both of them had once worked for our fraction, but deserted it in the end that should be enough, though one of them had for a while also been a Bot, but not for long.” it was not like the other to give such few details.
“You are worried about me also joining in.” she finally stated, it would explain the few details and the still rather tight seatbelts.
“Even if I’m a telepath I can’t predict how they would react to be around a human or even their current sight regards the Decepticons.” he finally admitted, she had grown on him and the others and he did not like the fact of Lin getting into dangerous trouble, the human body had its limits, sadly too many of it.
“Then I will simply stick close and now to my info” she said in the same reassuring tone she tended to use on her father who worried for her because of her job. “There seems to be a mortician who lives two cities from Jasper and is a loner, but that is not the important part.” she added in before she gets interrupted, sees the guy was all for precision when it comes to information’s, she blamed this habit on his carrier. “One of my old schoolmates father died and it was that place where the body was brought. He told me that on the second day he drove up to the place because he wanted to quickly deliver the army medals to let him be buried with them and he saw the man talk to his 1997 Cadillac Hearse. He thought that due to it being a pretty old car that it must have some function problems for the motor turned on and even the lights blinked a few times during the talk as if answering.” she said, eyes on the console in front of her.
“And you immediately got to the idea that it could be a Transformer?” Shadowsound asked, it was not unusual for humans to talk to objects so it could be just an old man talking to his car due to him being the option that it is way better company then other humans.
“Of course, I know that humans can be strange, you remember that due to the 18+ rated conversation between me and Starscream your sire literally banned us from the med bay if we are in no need for medical treatment.” she actually found the memory amusing, Knockout had impressively displayed how well his face plate could take up the same colour as his paintjob.
“No, I did not know that, but that would explain your banishment from there and why sire had on that day all but marched up to the bridge after his shift was over and dragged carrier out without acknowledging anyone.” he had wondered since a while, but never got to ask what happened while he left Lin in the med bay as he went to check on Lightning’s injuries.
“Exactly, but my point is if that car is really a Transformer you will have an easy time finding out with your spark sensing and we may get by chance some additional intel about the ship. The morgue is not far from where it had been pulled from the ground by those scientists before it got stolen, so they may know at least the name.” she pointed out and Shade could see her point, if he had the name of the ship he could call up the needed data to know what they will face.
“Fine, we will check it out, but now we have found the first one, at least they reacted to the signal beacon.” Shadowsound sighed as he stopped and Cait could get a glimpse at the silver–red 2008 Pontiac Grand Prix parking not far from them, though she needed to raise an eyebrow when she noted the rather…uhm… interesting licence plate, well…this kind of explains a small part of the lacking details and Shade being not happy about the mission. Soon she felt the seatbelt leaving her and the familiar shifting of a form changing Transformer, her uncle avoided sitting in their alt-modes when they do that, two bad experienced were enough for him, but she did not mind.
Soon she found herself sitting on Shade’s bitarlueous, her back resting against his chassis behind which she could feel his spark. She liked the feeling of his life energy, but at the moment had she her eyes trained on the Pontiac which activated its engines the moment Shade finished transforming and now it was the other’s turn. It did not take long and soon she found herself looking at a tall mech, though some inches shorter then Shade, with a grey-silver like paintjob with in-added red part, but much more then by Starscream. He regarded them with suspicious red optics - she found those red stripes one under each optic intriguing -, but she could not relax as long as Shade did not.
After what seemed like several joors the other spoke up.
“Sees’, if I would have known that the signal beacon was to lead me to an execution by old Megsy’s shadow, who as it appears does have a face plate, I would have ditched it. Though I did not know that the Cons now have also some squishy pets, but if they feel nice...” Cait narrowed her eyes, she was definitely not a pet, just like she was not a lamp, though she got the additional hint.
“I’m not here on orders to execute you, but with a request regards cooperation on a mission.” Cait was sure the other also got that this was not exactly a request thing, but for his credit the grey-silver mech kept quiet, but he seemed to show a twinge of…relief? “Also I will let that insult towards lord Megatron slide as well as calling Lin a ‘pet’, for she is not that and neither a toy as you so eloquently suggested” Cait nodded, but still the guy did not even look sheepish about that “and my designation is Shadowsound, Commander Soundwave is my carrier.” Shade finished at which the other mech broke out into hysteric laughter which made Cait look up at her guardian, not sure about the processor stability of that guy.
“Oooohhh…hehehe….so…haha…someone actually went and…hahaha…got that mech sparked…hehehe.” Cait did not need to be a telepath to feel Shade getting annoyed, but at least she was not getting a strange vibe of danger in the air, she got a bit sensitive to that since the incident with Airachnid.
“I fail to note the humour in that.” Shade finally stated in a flat tone when the other finally calmed down and got closer, looking the both of them over while giving an appreciating hum.
“Well, you are certainly more expressive then the big Boss’s shadow and you have a nice crimson shine to your paintjob when the light hits it in a certain angle, though the femme here does also have her own nice appeals.” Cait felt Shade bristle, the last time someone had flirted with him had he locked them into a storage room… this was how in the end Neo and Lightning ended up together.
“Don’t even think about it big guy.” Cait finally spoke up, carefully standing up to glare at the mech who started snickering.
“Feisty.” was the reply she got.
“This ‘feisty’ also does have a nice human self-defence device modified by Shockwave so that it can send even a Transformer depending on size to the ground from the electrical shock or into temporary stasis.” Cait replied back smirking as the other shuttered his optics, the grin still in place, but he held his clawed servos up and pulled a few inches away.
“No need to get that defensive girly.”
“My name is Cait Fowler.” she finally said to set that part clear, - she only took those comments from Hide who did that with all females -, and it seemed that the other was getting her drift and straightened up a bit more.
“The designation is Degrate.” Cait really wondered if some of the Transformers noticed just how much their names seemed to fit to them. “You could say I’m a deserter to the Con cause and an exile to the Bots.” Degrate told them smirking and Cait decided she did not need elaborations.
“He had also been an excellent sniper during his time back on Cybertron.” Shadowsound added in, making Cait wonder why they would need a sniper, but she learned to not question either Shade or his carrier if they had a plan devised.
“Awww, I’m blushing at the nice compliments” Shade narrowed his optics “though I still wonder who ever managed to get into the armour plating of Megatron’s TIC.” well at least this time he did not use a ridiculous nickname for Megatron. Cait felt how one of the feelers trailed out, it had been one of the main two due to the fact that she could see it and the upper part's teeth thinned into long needles, this seemed to get the message over. “Whoa! Him with Doc Vanity!?” well… this was also a new nickname for Knockout she had not heard before and between Smokescreen and Wheeljack she heard quite a number of them and luckily for their health had said medic nor his bonded also not heard them.
“This will be a long mission.” Shade grumbled and he was partially concerned that the other’s destructive side gets triggered? For the records, his sire was not vain, it was a coping mechanism from his time as a warzone medic!
“Soo, are all members to the party here?” Degrate finally asked, at least one of them seemed to be amused here.
“No, one is still missing.” Shade said finally, composing himself when soon the roar of engines could be heard, shortly followed by the sight of a slowly descending A-10 fairchild thunderbolt which transformed upon landing.
“Commander Soundwave?” the dark Seeker asked with a slightly raised optic ridge as he stared at Shade, wings raised in a manner to indicate defence. Cait was on occasions shocked about how expressive a Seeker’s wings could be regards their true feelings and now she also needed to wonder just how much others felt regards Soundwave to have these reactions when spotting Shade who certainly inherited his carrier’s frame type in several ways.
“Negative, the Commander is my carrier.” Shade sighed as he took in the somewhat surprised expression and Degrate looked again as if he would start snickering again. Was it really so hard to get into ones processor that his carrier did have emotions?
“Hard to believe for all, but it seems as if the Doc does have quiet the skills.” Degrate decided to be helpful, in not the greatest way.
“I don’t need to know that” the newcomer stated and Cait finally noticed that his optics were not red, but violet. Till now she had only met two Transformers with that optic tone without the influence of Dark Energon, one being positive, namely Wave while the other negative and making her avoid helicopters and spiders. Then she noticed that those violet optics rested on her, regarding her with wariness and distrust. “Since when does Megatron use the natives of this planet?” she heard the question, his gaze never leaving her.
“Lord Megatron does not, Agent Cait is, one could say a special case and Lin, this is Stormfront, he is a demolitions and weapon’s expert.” ok, him she could understand, Decepticon ships tended to have a good array of weapons and traps which were not that hard to trigger, she also guessed from the size of his frame that he was a combat type Seeker unlike Starscream, Lightning and Haze who were much smaller and slimmer to be more agile in the air.
“Though I still don’t know why two deserters were called here, what is Megatron playing at?” the new arrival asked and it seemed that Degrate also perked up at the idea to finally know why he was here.
“First the designation is Shadowsound as for why you are here, on this planet there is a human organization with the designation MECH. They plan on world domination with the usage of technology and for a while had been our kind their hunting targets.”
“Wow, the Cons scared of a bunch of humans?” Degrate chimed in and Stormfront seemed to think along the same lines.
“They may be humans, but they are dangerous and refine their methods after each attack. Somehow they have developed weapons which can send one into a temporal stasis, but that is enough for them to pry us open,” the duo stiffened “if needed on the spot and with the data they had created crude copies of their victims, but since the change in leading those copies are more like grotesque monsters. They had and still hunt after both fractions, my sire’s partner had been their first victim” the two ex-cons exchanged a glance as they remembered the large Wrecker constantly beside the medic like a bodyguard “and they had been the first beings to awaken Prime’s wrath towards humans when they attacked Bumblebee and operated his T-cog out.” Cait watched as both newcomers looked aghast, their servos unconsciously pressing against the plating on their side which hid the device. Stormfront’s wings were raised in an aggressive manner, denta grinding against his lower derma while Degrate lost his smirk, his optics making her for a few seconds shiver.
“You said something regards a change in leadership.” Stormfront said in a tight tone, delibaterly ignoring the human femme.
“The original leader received punishment through lord Megatron, but unfortunately he had before that reproduced and his heir took over.” was the only reply before Shade continued. “Through several resources we have the suspicion that one of the Decepticon ships which had crashed during the time when the war had been spread out to several other planets had landed in their property. If this should be true we need to either retrieve the ship and whatever was on it or destroy it so that MECH does not gain any more knowledge about us for their hunt.”
“Sounds like soo much fun.” Degrate said sarcastically as he tried to not slip into his other personality, who would have thought that there were organics like that on this small planet.
“If my memory serves right has Megatron enough forces to take care about such things, and you are also here.” Stormfront spoke up again as he looked over at the lean mech, his frame certainly resembled the Communications Officer’s, he also had that strange aura around him which set ones processor on the edge. Beside that had he still trouble to understand why a human needed to be brought along, but he was sure that as long as he held his distance from her will the mission go over fast and he can get out of here.
“Lord Megatron, as well as the Head Officers are at the given moment in stasis just like in the case of the Autobots” Shadowsound said with a vented sigh while the two mechs raised an optic ridge as they tried to figure out why that needed to be done, mostly by both sides. “Both fractions are currently led by our liege’s and Prime’s adoptive sons respectfully while our creators do not awaken, the stasis was needed due to them having during a fight come into contact with an artefact containing a strong virus.” unfortunately they did not know when it would fully clear out of their systems, it had been already a stellar cycle ago, but at least were their statistics reassuring. “This means that all upcoming problems need to be solved by us.” he finished while looking at his ‘team members’.
“Okey-dokey, though old Megs with a sparkling…” Degrate trailed off while the others decided to ignore him.
“So, what do we do now?” Stormfront asked, he wanted to get moving.
“First we will head to Growen Valley, that is a city close to Jasper” Cait spoke up “there in the city’s outskirt a morgue can be found whose owner may or may not be in contact with a Transformer” she could feel two pair of optics looking at her, but she kept on talking “the ship was found by scientist not far from there so we may know at least the name of the ship and Shade will be able to tell us what it had carried.”
“Sounds like a plan, but what is a morgue?” Degrate decided to chime in, he was kind of never so fully into learning everything about this planet which was not important for him to continue being online.
“A place where the natives of this planet ready their dead to be buried.” Shadowsound replied in a dry tone while the other two glanced at each other. He really wondered how even if small, but still a number of their kind could live here and have only basic knowledge about the planet and its inhabitants, his sire at least attempted to get more knowledge and combine that with those of his carrier.
“Great.” Stormfront mumbled before looking again at the dark mech when he felt a small tingling in his processor, knowing that he was not the only one trying not to flinch. No matter the time he spent in the Decepticon army, the rumours of Commander Soundwave being a telepath and thus able to hack into your processor had been unsettling…and frighteningly true. He did not like the intrusion, even if only for getting the coordinates, but he could not complain for he did not wish to find out just how much this one was like the Commander.
“We will head out right away though Stormfront you should land on the plateau aproximally one thousand hicks from where the morgue is placed, it is by far less suspicious if two cars appear at a morgue then if also a jet lands there.” everyone nodded in agreement, the logic was easily noticeable which only left for the three of them to Transform while their fourth member climbed inside the dark DeLorean and speed off.
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Growen Valley was a small rural town which had been established in the year 1866 by a small group of colonists who come to America in the hopes of a better fortune and of course the gold which had been found in the nearby mountains almost a year after building the first house. At the present the town’s population is around 6862 souls, a great difference to the only 120 people who had originally built it. It had a mostly calm neighbourhood with four good schools which ranked each year on a nice place on the education’s charts and a number of playgrounds, a movie, big library, three parks so that the elderly could enjoy the beauty of nature without teenagers listening loudly to their music or dogs barking and even two museums. Growen Valley’s people were a hardworking and good natured bunch, some of them even descendants of the original saddlers, but since some time their normalcy had been broken.
It had all started when close to Jasper a strange type of monument appeared out of nothing, but it soon disappeared without a trace just the way it had come to be. Naturally this was enough to start the rumours about UFOs having landed in Jasper and the involvement of the government only strengthened these beliefs and then it happened…a couple of miles from Growen Valley a group of eager scientists who doubled as hobby UFO hunters dug out a space ship form the ground! Several of the townspeople had gone there to see it; a huge ship which had been made out of some type of black metal, it was smooth even if it must have been buried for several millennia. It was long and it seemed to have a number of sharp stabilizers which gave it a look as if several thorns or blades would stick out of it, - a frightening creation clearly not made by human hands - though what lay inside was a mystery for before the team could attempt to pry the unnaturally large door open it had been stolen. Again people thought that it was the government, they did not want a second Rosswell fiasco on their hands, but that of course did not stop the alien fanatics to storm the city and the people were only all the more eager to sell small trinkets or tell stories about alien visitations to the tourists.
After all, it certainly helped the income of the city, but not all were into this game.
In the outskirts of the town, more correctly the western part of it, slightly farther away from the other houses one could find a simple two story building which had once been a white colour, but time had made the paint turn grey though the owner did not complain. A black fence surrounded the building and the yard around the house with a strong iron gate, it was probably a good thing for so the neighbouring children would not think about venturing out there to play hide-and-seek in the coffins. The building was divided in two parts; the upper floor had been built out to serve as a home with two bedrooms, a small study filled with a large number of books and a bathroom. Downstairs one could find a modest kitchen with small, round table close to the window, a larger storage room and work room plus the door which would lead to the garage in which on occasions people could see an old hearse, in other times the car would be outside under the only tree which could be found in the garden, not far from the terrace. To the building belonged also a second storage shed and a smaller building which was combined with the original one, this was where the bodies were prepared and made ready to be delivered to the church or the family members could mourn them. This was actually the only ground why one could see people even go near the house, if you exclude the curious children who like daring each other into visiting places their parents tell them not to go. The owner of the morgue was a man named Thomas, an older man who had always been known to be weird in the eyes of the townspeople. It was true that since the profession had come to be were people in a subconscious way vary regards those who worked almost day by day with the bodies of the deceased, but there was also the fact that the mortician only left his home twice a month to stock up on groceries in any other case he kept to his home. People were since long the option that something was not right with him, but no one could speak against his expertise and fair prices as a mortician compared to the other two working in the town so people no matter if they liked it or not still went to the withdrawn man and entrusted their dead to him.
Though not the dead were on the minds of those who drove through the iron gate, sand whirling up around the two vehicles as they come to a stop, engines turning off.
“Nice place.” Cait said as she climbed out of the DeLorean, her gaze for a few seconds falling on the hearse which parked in the shade of an old tree, she held back a smirk when the door pushed against her hand when she was about to close it to first give the impression that the vehicle was not a several feet tall alien robot. If the car was truly only a car she would not like to give the poor human a heart attack.
Soon one could hear the front door opening and an older man stepped outside, his gaze falling first on the woman standing on his lawn and then the two cars. He slightly raised his eyebrow at the two vehicle combinations before going through mentally with his calendar, there had been no entry there about someone coming today or even a telephone call and he usually preferred to be informed about visits. Walking down the few steps he neared the visitors, partly suspicious regards why the driver of the more expensive car did not climb out, but he was not worried about any type of danger, he had a friend to back him up and even before that he could take care of himself.
“With what can I be at your service ma’am?” he asked when reaching the woman, easily noting the deep scar running down her neck, over her collar bone, the ones running down her arm as well as her leg. He had worked long enough with dead bodies of different types to note certain things about the body of a person right on first sight even if those scars were easily noticeable for anyone who would look at her.
“Mr. Thomas I assume.” the woman replied her voice holding beside the polite friendliness also a tint of authority which he had heard often enough by people who served in the army or held similar positions.
“Yes and you would be?” he asked while she reached into the pocked on her skirt, pulling a black two piece document holder.
“Special Agent Caitlin Fowler, FBI.” so he had guessed right regards the authority in her tone, all people who served either in the army or at such organizations adapted such a tone without noticing it. “I hope that it is not a problem, but we would require a small information regards the ship which had been found not long ago close to your home.” she said while brushing her hand over the closed door of the DeLorean.
Thomas hid his suspicious look even more while he still tried to keep an eye on the other car whose driver he still could not see. Of course he had heard the rumour about aliens close to Jasper and how the government had hidden it, now he even knew which agency must have done it and there was also the suspicion that they had taken the ship which had been found, but then he did not understand why an Agent would be asking for it. He had been told that the ship held a partly familiar design about it and he resisted the urge to look at his friend, anstead he held the woman’s gaze.
“What is with everyone being this crazy regards aliens?” he asked instead at which the woman smirked, her hand resting on the dark vehicle beside her.
“Because Mr. Thomas you seem to hold a good relationship with a visitor from Cybertron.” she said and the mortician stiffened at hearing the name of that planet before it was followed by the familiar sound of a transformation. He did not need to turn around to know that Deathtouch had taken up his original form, he knew that this revelation his friend had lived on this planet as a refuge for a long time and if the government knew about them he could be in danger. He took several steps back to get to his friend, but the Agent had already walked over to him, her posture relaxed.
“There is no need to worry, we are not part of MECH who had been the ones who stole the ship” the brown haired woman spoke up, not even in the slightest way feeling threatened by Deathtouch’s scythe like weapon, Thomas wondered if she could somehow know that his friend would only use it if there was no other way to defend himself or him. “We only require the information if either of you know the designation of the ship and after that we are leaving.” Thomas wondered regards her speaking in plural, but then he remembered the missing second driver at which he immediately turned to the two cars which started shifting.
Deathtouch watched varily from his standing position as the human femme approached him, he did not feel threatened by her presence only nervous that he had been found out. Her words did not help much to ease him and then he saw the two other Transformers. They were certainly much younger, though one of them still counted as a fairly young spark and that is when he noted the frame type. He had not seen an Assassin Class in several millennial, but due to the status of his family he had been around them though the colour of his optics were a wrong colour, the ones he had encountered from his type had all without exception violet optics, but his were crimson. He wondered briefly who his master may be, he somehow doubted that it was the human femme, but there was a connection between them and he knew that it would be impossible to escape if the assassin did not want it.
“What is this MECH?” Thomas asked, but still wondered why his friend was looking this intensely at the one who had been the DeLorean before.
“A dangerous organization bent on taking over the control of the earth through the usage of advanced technology, sadly is this the ground why they started hunting after the Transformer’s currently here on earth.” Thomas stiffened somewhat as he glanced at his friend, it had taken a long time, but in the end Deathtouch had told him about his past and the last thing he wanted for his only friend to be hunted by a bunch of fanatics. “If you should ever see military, mostly air force personal asking questions, mostly regards vehicles and no one mentions ‘Project Thalos’ then they may be from that group. In that case me, my uncle Agent William Fowler and his adoptive son Agent Jackson Darby should be contacted.” she told him while giving over a name card before turning so that she could look at both the mortician and the black Transformer. “Now could you please tell us if you had seen the designation of the ship?”
“You assume that this MECH had taken in.” Thomas stated as he felt Deathtouch coming a bit closer, his weapon still held tightly.
“Unfortunately and with it having been a Decepticon ship it may hold dangerous things on it.” Cait said with a sight when she noted the confused glances, well she guessed that by the black Former, she had still trouble to note Soundwave’s expressions behind his visor and the other was wearing a mask which made the expression reading just as hard as if he would have a visor.
“Ooohhh~ someone had left Cybertron a rather long time ago” the silver-red one spoke up grinning.
“Degrate” and with that he fell silent after the darker mech spoke up before looking over at the black one and his human partner. “Several millennia ago Sentinel Prime’s and the Iaconian council’s decorates had reached a boiling point by the masses who stood below all others. A rebellion had started lead by a gladiator of Kaon and a young archivist of Iacon who had been teached by Alpha Trion, the last of the Original Thirteen. In the end both stood in front of the council, but things had already detorated too much since Primus had retreated and in the end the two leaders separated. The archivist was granted the Matrix of Leadership by Primus himself” Deathtouch was not surprised, he had also seen how corruption was slowly spreading amongst the people of Cybertron which was only made worse by the cast system developed by Sentinel Prime. “Through the rift two fractions rose the Autobots gathered under Optimus Prime and the Decepticons under the leadership of Megatron.” it was easy to note that both leaders carried the names of two of the Original Thirteen as well as when the second fraction had been named the young mech turned his helm to the side to look as the symbol on his shoulder plate. “Then the War for Cybertron started, causing the death and missing off millions and in the end tearing the planet in half and killing it.” Thomas was sure that his friend looked horrified at the information, he may have escaped from Cybertron long ago, but it had still been his home and hearing it having been destroyed, yes he had also been told about smaller fights happening on the planet in the past as well as energon being on Earth, but to know that those may have been part of a greater war then both World Wars put together... “At the moment the surviving members of the two fractions which found their way to this planet to find another one close to how Cybertron was as Alpha Trion wrote in his last message.”
“In other words till they can’t leave we need to hold MECH away from them.” Cait said as she waited for the answer.
“I understand” Thomas said as he looked at his partner, he would be damned if he lets some people who have no regards for life treat him like some type of machine they can take apart. “I’m not sure regards the name of the ship, had not seen it personally, but we were out in the city getting groceries when a few townspeople who had been out at the exuviation’s site talked about it, one of the kids even made a copy about the scribbling on the side.”
“What did they look like?” Cait asked seeing how Bot and Con writing looked different and the common writing had been pushed away after the cast system come to be. It also showed the contrast in the nature the two developing fractions, the writing of the Autobots was softer and many letters were rounded just like how their writings were much gentler, trying to add a bit of sugar coating to their works. The Decepticon writing on the other hand was for the lack of a better word ‘pointier’, sharper which added to their text’s nature, Cait had learned early after having begged Shade to show her how to read in Cybertronian that Decepticons were brutally honest about anything they wrote down.
Thomas only shook his head sadly there was no way he could call up those scribblings clear enough to draw them without mixing up the order or some lines, but Deathtouch lowered his weapon and started writing on the ground. He had almost forgotten that the other had also seen the paper with the symbols and even though he could not read it due to it being a new style he still remembered them. The mortician knew how hard it was on his friend to not simply go back to the garage in his alt-form, he was not exactly trusting, but he was also trying to fight down his fear to be hunted again. He was not about to give up on his new home due to those humans and it seemed to help that the three visitors did not give any indication as if they would not leave after having attained the information.
“Does this help?” Thomas asked for his friend while looking at the Agent who looked intently at the symbols which made him wonder if she could read them.
“It certainly does, Shade?” she asked while looking up at the one who must be her partner, their close relationship was easy to note.
“The ship’s designation is ‘Deimos’”
“The Greek God of Terror.” Thomas said as he tried to fight down the bad taste in his mouth and he was not the only one.
“Correct and unfortunately for us if MECH managed to pry it open and get past the ship’s self-defence we are in big trouble. Deimos had disappeared during the middle of the war, carrying a supply of scientificall and medical insturments. Unfortunately some things were not nice on it like the cosmic rust.” neither the mortician nor the FBI Agent needed to ask, the name talked for itself as well as how all three Transformers gave a noticeable shudder.
“Great…” Cait finally spoke up before looking up at her guardian who nodded at her and transformed. “Mr Thomas, we thank the both of you for your help it showed us what we will need to face.” Cait said while holding out her hand before she climbed into Shade and they drove away.
“Things had been much easier in the past.” Thomas finally said as he could only see a small trail of dust before looking up at his friend, somehow his silence felt different then usually, he was thoughtful regards something, but it was not the loss of his planet or even the organization.
“What is on your mind old friend?” he finally asked at which the black Transformer shook his head before transforming back to his alt-mode.
“The younges.t…” Thomas guessed that he was talking about the deep violet one, he had noted how Deathtouch had his gaze on him “as.sas.s.in…”
“One of those who had served as body guards for high ranked people on Cybertron?” Thomas asked, what Deathtouch had told him were that they had been rather competent and also dangerous, but they had a strong loyalty to the one they view as their master. Now that he thought back on it, there was something to him, an air he could not describe only that one does better not to have him as the enemy.
The soft roar of the engines had been his answer.
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The drive to the mountain range had passed mostly in silence Degrate following after Shadowsound, he needed to hold a bit away to try get a grip on his processor about which he was sure the other knew and was giving him delibaterly enough space to do so. In the meantime was Shade using the time to send his report over to the Nemesis…
Decepticon warship Nemesis, somewhere above North America
Blue energon glistered in the faint light of the spacious quarters as a tall figure leaned back with a heavy groan against the metallic chair. Tick claws wrapped around the cube holding the life giving liquid as it was raised to the thin mouth plate. Crimson optics like glowing coals stared at the blank computer screen where almost five breems ago he had received the report about the missing ship. He was starting to strongly contemplate to call Orion and ask for assistance about how they should proceed, but in the end he forced himself to stop his servo right before hitting the call button on the console of his private computer. He would wait till he knows Shade’s next report and then he will swallow his pride and either call for help or at least give the Autobots a warning that the enemies of their kind had gotten even more dangerous. Though come what may after this both groups will beside working to decode the coordinates to find the hidden sparklings be also searching for any type of ships and graveyards on the planet to bring them into safety. They had already finished with their call beacon which gives a warning to any neutral Transformer who wishes to keep that status and also those who have picked up their signal in space that they should keep an optic open for MECH.
“Grrr…Primus, please make sure that this goes well…” he said as a silver servo pressed against the crest of his helm, pressing his digits almost close enough to dent. When he took over as a temporary leader of the Decepticons he knew that it would not be always easy, even if the fights between the two sides had calmed down much more it did not change that the echo of the war was still going on. He had always paid great attention to his sire and how he handled things on the ship and listened to his advices, one of them being that no matter if he was Shade’s master when Shade tells otherwise he should listen. At the memory a small smile crossed his face plate, as if he would ever not listen to his best friend who had technically been with him since the first day he had come online on the ship. It was not easy to forget the amused, bodiless voice which told him to be a bit more patient when he had demanded with an angry chirp that the three adults in the room pay attention to him before also telling him to turn back to his sire when he received his designation. When growing up had his sire made it so that the three on occasions when Shockwave brought Steelcrush over four sparklings could grow up as friends, without any mentioning regards their future ranks inside the fraction, this made them build out a strong bond of trust.
It was now this bond on which he relied now on to keep his dark thoughts at bay.
“You will dent your helm if you keep that up and score yourself a scolding from Shade” Neo heard the welcome voice whisper into his audio as long arms wrapped themselves around his shoulder plating, encircling his chassis while a familiar weight rested against his back.
“Sorry, I did not hear you enter.” he replied sheepishly as he craned his neck to get a small glimpse about his bonded who rolled his optics at him.
“You were busy with giving yourself a ground to visit the med bay.” Lightning replied as he nuzzled against his partner’s helm.
“Not exactly my intention, it is only that Shade sent in his report.” Neoblaze could feel the Seeker stiffen and immediately placed his larger servo over his smaller ones in an attempt of reassurance. He knew that the two had when sparklings a strange type of relationship seeing how Starscream and Soundwave had rarely seen optic to optic, but the former was close friends – no matter if he would deny it if asked – with Shade’s sire, only after the ‘incident’ – he subconsciously tightened his hold on the delicate servos – had their relationship moved over to a close friendship. “No he is fine, getting the two to agree had went easier though Shade kind of sounded annoyed” this earned him a small chuckle, till now the only one who could annoy their friend was the Autobot Speeder whose adoptive-sire had hurt Laserbeak and damaged Soundwave’s visor. “In any other way the ship which had been taken is Deimos, a ship which had carried medical and scientificall supplies.”
“Great…if they can’t get it out is it safe to be blown up?” Lightning asked, during the war had many dangerous things been developed by both sides and even in the right hands they could cause much carnage.
“Shade first wants to see the ship’s condition, you remember that the Harbringer even if torn apart had still been functional” Lightning nodded his helm, his sire had used that ship as a temporary hide out when he went for a short time neutral “to make sure I had sent Steel a notice that he should look up the activations and override codes in case the ship is functional. Getting a chance to stock up on medical supplies would be good and I don’t think that Orion would disagree about getting sent some of them to their group.” Neo said, he was not sure how his sire would react to his son and heir doing something like that, but in the end he guessed he would only shake his helm and act disapproving, but would in truth not mind seeing how if he would have truly wished to wipe out Prime and his Autobots here he could have ordered Soundwave to do that long ago and even send him with Shade, but he did not.
“That is a good idea and your sire would never say it out loud, but he would agree with your decision.” Lightning replied as he picked up the thoughts through their bond.
“True, also it seems as if Lin had also joined in.” Neo added in as an afterthought at which the Air Commander was stuck between groaning and snorting.
“Why do I not feel surprised.” he settled on saying, that human femme was just as much of a different kind then Bulkhead’s guarded.
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The abandoned warehouse was unlike its current status on official papers thriving from life as soldiers dressed from head to toe in black, their faces covered by masks were running all about. Computers worked on override as the scientist were doing their best to encode data, soldiers run about with different type of tools while guards marched up and down on their posts, keeping everything under their watchful eyes. They who were gathered here were the elite, the chosen ones to help building out a new world order.
They were MECH.
“How are the workings on opening that ship going on Doctor?” a tall man dressed in a general’s outfit asked, arms held behind his back as he gazed with calculating brown eyes at the man standing beside him who just like him was the only one dressed differently than the others.
“We are doing our best Sir, but the ship seems to have retained some of its primary functions and due to the moving activated its self-defences.” the man replied when a loud scream could be heard, mixed with the crackling of electricity. “This was also not the right code as it seems.” the Doctor said in an indifferent tone as some of his subordinates gathered up the charred corpse from the ground and pulled up a new ladder.
“How long will it take to find the right access code? I want to know what sort of technology the Titans's ship holds so that we may use it to further our goals.” he said while drawing a manicured hand through his short blonde hair. “My father had been a great man, a visionary, but in the end he was consumed by his greed to gain this marvellous technology from walking with the Titans themselves, but I won’t do the same mistakes, even if I keep on walking in his footsteps.” he said grinning before turning back to the one beside him. “I’m asking again Doctor, how long till you get that thing open?”
“We will get past it Sir, even if it is the last we do.” he reassured while gesturing to his men at the computers to hurry up.
“Somehow I’m sure about that, Doctor.” Maximilian replied when a new set of false codes brought on the death of another of his soldiers, oh well they were all expandable.
At the same time was a highly trained FBI special agent doing some old fashioned bodywork and spying as she crawled on all fours thorough the air vents, doing her best to not make the dust raise too high. The last thing she needed was to make loud noises and be discovered, it was soo typical underground organizations, they had a knack for finding the most dusty, old and simply disgusting places and use them as their hide out. It was not as if she was asking for the basement of a five star hotel or the White House itself, but a place a tad more sanitary would be great.
“Why can't Transformers take up also more practical forms...like tape decks?” she asked when her hand touched something which felt soft, squishy and sticky…great she found some mould, manoeuvred around it while continuing her whispered rant as she remembered why she was the one crawling around up here. “A normal sized tape deck you can slip into your pocked or clip on your belt, but noo, they need to be some type of vehicle.” she mumbled, it would make her life wonderfully easy, she would even place out a huge assortment of carriable electronic devices they could scan. Biting back a sigh she needed to remind herself that she had been the one who wanted to be brought along so complaining would be useless, she only needed to find where that jerk was having the ship and use her medal to send the signal and coordinates.
“If the defences are this strong then what treasure lays inside will be of incomparable use great use. ” She suddenly heard a voice which most of the time gave her the urge to punch something, preferably the owner of said voice.
Crawling closer she looked down through the ridged opening, carefully not let anything fall down for the two men to detect them. It seems as if she had found the ship and by the looks of it…and the nauseating smell of burnt flesh had they till now failed to open it and had no clue what the ship entails. This was perfectly fine with her, mostly that she would find Maximilian to be more than dangerous running around while wielding cosmic rust! Reaching up she took down her medallion in the shape and colour of the Decepticon army and brushed her index finger over the small button on the side, allowing it to grow. She really loved her little present as a honorary member and started typing in the information’s Shade needed. It was an easy one, but for people who don’t know that the numbers were a mix of letters according to their place in the alphabet and her own one letter shortenings beside the direction in time numbers and the room number in a letter the solving will be kind of hard.
51192021-9.0-220-14/14/3512-4G
Pushing the send button she turned her full attention back to the men gathered below her, it was a huge reassurance that no matter how much information MECH managed to gain over the years about the Transformers race, they still failed regards the enciphering of their writing. It also greatly helped that they till now may have only seen their writing once before this and never realized that Autobots and Decepticons wrote their letters in different ways so they immediately assumed codes instead of letters in an alphabet.
”As soon as I have it all in my hands we will make our demands be heard at the next grand meeting of all the leaders of the world” Cait really wondered why some sociopaths loved to hear the sound of their own voice “They will be forced to give up, then no matter what the governments will try to accomplish, all resistance is futile regards our sheer power.” this caused Ciat to bite back a groan, but it did not stop her from slapping her forehead.
“Great, they are now like the Borg,” and the problem was they really acted like that a bunch of soldiers doing anything their ‘Queen’ orders them to do without showing even an ounce of self-made decisions also if her mind got already towards Star Track references. “Could they not be the ones in red uniforms? The guys who are eager for missions or get picked for them and then die of faster than flies? Would make things sure lots easier.” she said when she felt a small vibration coming from her medal, looking down she found a message from Shade.
He managed to get with Stormfront to the control room without any problems and he will send a long-term signal over to the ship with the access codes, but they would need to start two diversions at the same time. After some short arguing he got Stormfront to do an air raid near the hangar to lock the first part of the soldiers away, but she would need to do a second one for the rest of them to also get out so that he can get on the ship to save the informations on the databanks and send everything to the Nemesis’s cargo bay per groundbridge before planting the explosives. Scrolling down she saw some more, as much as Shade did not like it he sent Degrate to pick her up and help escape. Well at least was he not expecting her to outrun a bunch of armed maniacs, she may have her weapons with her, but the difference in numbers was making things tip not in her favour. Switching over to a different screen on her medal she brought up the map of the air duct system of the building and looked for the nearest way out before starting to crawl again. Not sooner then she had been out did she hear already the sound of shooting and running soldiers while Maximilian barked out orders for them, but he did not seem to make any move to leave, yeah she was getting why they needed a second diversion. Sneaking closer to the door she set her gaze on the door which would lead outside before counting how many people staid behind which was luckily not many and how many hiding places she would have to take cover while getting out. It still won’t be a piece of cake, but as one of her father’s favourite movie quotes says ‘If you put your mind to it you can accomplish anything. ’ Taking a deep breath she pulled out her gun and placed her finger close to the trigger, counting to three she run out from behind the door.
“I should have known that the sudden attack at us has something to do with you Agent Fowler.” Maximilian said, not even carring that there was a gun pointed at him by the glaring woman.
“Well, you know we kind of ended up in a predictable loop.” she shrugged, but never took either her gaze or weapon from her adversary.
“Yes, that is true though let us now not discuss our little diversities seeing how we are both much interested in the race of these impressive metallic Titans.” Maximilian said smirking as he drew his own gun, pointing at the woman while holding his hand up for Doctor to get with his men back to getting the access codes.
“Only our view regards them is way different.” Cait hissed, that man just like his father did see them as nothing more than machines who did not need a human to operate them.
“That is only a matter of taste, though given your close relationship to them whose symbol is on this ship, I wonder if you may just know how to open it.” she knew that his words held a hidden treat in them is she should not cooperate, which she would never!
“We don't negotiate with terrorists.” Cait replied with the sweetest smile she could manage before shooting beside Maximilian’s head, hitting the computer console which started smoking and spitting electricity, this will get them to follow her for sure if the egomaniac thinks that she may be able to open it.
“Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.” Max informed her in a smooth voice which made Doctor raise an eyebrow behind his gasmask while the blonde turned around to look at the destroyed screen. “Also due to you having damaged our computer system will we not ask you if you want to cooperate, you will. Get her.” he ordered which made the scientist jump, but just then a silver and red 2008 Pontiac Grand Prix busted through the entrance and stopping with screeching tires beside Cait.
”Wow, he was not kidding when he said that you would need back up.” she heard Degrate’s voice as she hurriedly got inside the driver’s seat. “Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy night.”
“Don’t you mean ride?” Cait asked as the door shut and the Pontiac turned, swiping the stairs so that Max and the rest of his men were forced to hold on before they end up falling down.
“Would say that, but the two of us are stuck in a chase and the sun had already set so…”
“Okey, I get it.” Cait said when she looked into the rear-view mirror to see if they were followed as hoped, it seemed that Max was pissed enough to leave the ship unguarded or at least with few enough that Shade could send them sleeping for a while, her uncle was still mumbling something about tentacle-cables and concussions whenever seeing Shade or Soundwave use their feelers. “Uhh…Degrate, you might want to step on it for I think Mr. Ego is about to send out his pets…”
“By ‘pets’ you mean…”
“If you look out you will get the answer.” Cait said when she saw four huge, metallic things appear. She could not name those in a nicer way, they looked as if someone would have taken a huge number of large vehicles, thrown them into a mixer and added in a high dose of synthen so that they all fuse together into a huge monstrosity. “They're here!” she told him as they did a sharp turn around a second hangar and a good number of kilometres from the old facility before Degrate transformed behind a huge rock into his actual form. “Hey, a small warning before doing that.” she complained when scrambling up from the hard ground, but then noticed that the other had his optics offlined and was gripping his helm. “Degrate?”
“So…sorry sweety, but…it is better you run…I…tried getting it u…under grip, bu…but my control is slipping…hurry…would not…not like to be offlined b…by the Commander’s kid…” Degrate said while trying to force his other side back, but it was not working. He knew that it come out whenever he was having strong feelings like anger, freaking out or panicking and he was doing the later of the two. Since the whole thing about this crazy Organization and the more he heard about them well…and now seeing what they do with the informations they forcefully gathered from the bodies of their race, well he really was not a fan of those guys.
“Uh…you know that I can’t exactly get away from here…” Cait said carefully before she was snatched up from the ground, the servo around her waist pressing somewhat tightly and she knew that is would not take too long for her ribs to break, she was sure that at least one was already bruised. “Scrap…De…Degrate…Snap out of it!” though her words seemed to fall on offline audios while the mech pulled her closer, his grip tightening. ‘Houston, we have a problem.’ she thought before looking into the glazy and overly bright crimson optics. “De…Degrate…it is lame tha…that you go for me…see tho…those shiny guy over the…there…” she managed to get out while tipping her head to the left, it was lucky that the silver-red mech had stood up for so he could perfectly see Maximilian’s creations lumbering towards them. She watched as a crazed smile spread all over the other’s face plate before she was dropped on a nearby cliff. “Great, something tells me that ‘psychologist’ is not on the list of Cybertronian professions.” she said when gingerly touching her bruised rib, uncle Bill and her father will be on a roll the moment they find out, pulling down her medallion she started a call to Shade.
“Lin, is everything alright?” she could easily make out the worry in his tone.
“I’m fine, just sent a guy with a split personality on his marry way to shoot and rip apart a certain future Tyrant’s toys and by the looks of it has he a hell of a good time taking them apart.” Cait said while watching Degrate rip of the erm…probably one of the sixty arms of his opponent while shooting at the presumably head of the second.
“Are you hurt?” she heard the question.
“Only a bruised rib and in his defence he did tell me to run and it is not as if I would not have had worse treatment ways over my size.” she informed him and could not help the small smirk when hearing him groan.
“Fine, I got almost everything sent over and am currently setting up the bombs, Stormfront and I will be there in about ten breems.” with that her com when silent.
Well…it was not as if she would go anywhere anytime soon if one takes a look down from where she was placed. Oh, and did she mention the flying metallic parts and all the shooting going on not far from her? Yes it would be a picnic jumping down into the deep and get around without beings squashed like a bug.
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Both Stormfront and Shadowsound arrived just as the later had said to a field filled with several heaps of scrap metal laying everywhere, some of it even showing holes while others were still smouldering, probably from laser fire hitting it up close. Degrate laid in the middle of the rumble, panting, but beside a few small dents and scratches he looked alright, it seemed that when he finished disposing of his opponents he tired himself out enough to get back to his actual processor working. Shadowsound instructed Stormfront to gather the Neutral up while he hurried over to the mountains to get Cait who was already waiting for him. The two of them got back just in time to hear Stormfront say something about "Damn helicopters!" by which both her and Shade could relate, Cait had since her experience with Airachnid not sat in a helicopter and she was determined to keep it that way.
“I think it is time to finish up the mission.” Shade finally spoke up as he took out a remote control device like Dreadwing had once had and pressed the activation’s button. It did not take long for the sound of a huge explosion to reach them as well as the small tremors in the earth. “Your payment for the help will be on these separated coordinates.” he informed the other two Transformers, handing each of them a smaller than normal datapad.
“I will be going then.” Stormfront spoke up, a tint of relief in his tone that this was over before transforming and flying off.
“I will also head on my way.” Degrate said carefully, though then he noticed the human femme standing at his pedes. Had she not been held by Shadowsound before? “Uh…yes?” he asked.
“You know that Shade is not going to kill you and I’m not angry for you having an episode.” Cait informed him, just like by Firehide if a guy was all flirty and cocky she did not like them act all shy and nervous. “I had worse when getting these scars.”
“Uhm…I don’t even want to know how you managed to get those and live through it, the human body seems rather fragile to me.” Degrate stated when he heard something he never thought would ever hear from Commander Soundwave, a chuckle though on the other hand the one who had sired the mech before him had been old Meg’s CMO who was more laid back till you managed to mess up his finish.
“That may be, but they are rather resilient beings.” Shade said while looking fondly at his partner.
“Of course, I’m after all a honorary Decepticon and my cousins wife was made a honorary Wrecker after offlining an Insecticon.” Cait said smirking while Degrate broke out laughing.
“Oooohhh, hope someone had informed Commandant Airachnid about that one and also Megatron, those expressions must have looked hilarious.”
“Well the former was a bit put out at that time.” Cait said while not trying to grimace at them memory of that glitch before looking up at the silver-red mech and holding out her hand. “Friends then.” she said at which the other laughed again.
“Clearly.” Degrate replied as he placed one of his clawed digits in her small hand.
“Good, then you don’t mind me making a small request to you?” Cait asked before explaining. “You know humans, mostly teens and a number of car robbers have a thing to make illegal street races which can lead to serious accidents and as the name says it is illegal. So I managed to get the position to bust these races and if you need to spoil the party then do it with stile. Meaning, I usually ask Shade, his sire, Firehide or a small few of the Autobots to play my ride to win the race before we arrest everyone.”
“Soo, you want me to beat a bunch of humans and their tuned up cars so that you can catch them?” Degrate asked curiously before smirking “Sounds certainly like fun, you can count me in sweetie.” he said before finally transforming and driving off to collect his price. “We will chat later.” he called back before disappearing.
“Well, that ended mostly alright.” Cait said while throwing one last glance at the huge tower of smoke raising up from the old base where she was sure that Maximilian was throwing a fit and yelling about the incompetence of his troops.
“Come now, I need to be back on the Nemesis before Lightning decided that he needs to personally check where we are.” Shade spoke up as he transformed and opened the door to the driver’s side, the seat pulled back a bit to that Cait would not aggravate her bruised rib.
“He is such a mother hen sometimes, though we should get going, I’m tired and want to have a hot bath and then go to sleep.” Cait said as the door closed.
“Yeah, I have kind of noted your need for a bath…”
“Shut it, you were the one who sent me into the vent so you will have to deal with me being filthy.” she told him while closing her eyes, listening to the purring of the awakening engines.
♈ ♉ ♊ ♋ ♌ ♍ ♎ ♏ ♐ ♑ ♒ ♓
At the same time abroad the Nemesis was Neo standing in front of the large screen of the main computer while from the screen a red-blue and silver mech was looking at him disapprovingly.
“Neoblaze, not that we are not happy about the supply of medical equipment and materials, mostly Lightstream and Shiftwheel are, but tell me why you thought that it was a good idea to do a mission against MECH without informing us that they had found a ship?” Orion asked in a stern tone which made Neo squirm a bit, that guy could hit the paternal-scolding tone perfectly. His sire found this side kind of endearing by the dissaprowing fraction leader's sire.
“It was a Decepticon ship and we had it under control.” he explained, but it did not seem to faze the other substitute leader.
“In detail Neoblaze.” Orion commanded and the other knew that he would not get any recharge till he had explained everything to the Autobot, Lightning would make sure about that…