Chapter 5 - Lurking In The Darkness

A robotic foot carefully lowered itself into the back yard of the Ferman's house hold, careful not to disturb the small water feature or the flower beds that outlined the oblong patch of green. No matter how careful Carjack may have been, he still managed to leave large footprints, the likes no one on the planet Nyxen 3 have possibly ever seen before. He looked at the rear of the house. It was a similiar situation around the front; no lights on, all organics inside were firmly tucked away in their beds. The only movement being from that of the pet Budgie that flitted about it's cage in a fluster, the pet cat that had darted off to hide beneath the sofa and the cause of the pet's commotion; a spindly, six foot tall figure standing upright and flexing it's mechanical limbs. A sub sonic message, more of a prompt to gain a reply, or even the smaller Decepticon's attention, was sent out. The washing machine stopped mid flex and slowly turned around, his piercing red eyes going wide. The small Decepticon, titled Vox by the children of the house, spun around on his metallic heel and sprang neatly over the crowded kitchen table and fled through the living room, a single finger rearranging itself to become a lock-pick of sorts, the small amount of magnetism it gave off, being perfect for the job of getting out of the house without raising any alarms. Carjack swore as he saw the Decepticon bolt through living room and tear off down the street. Without realising he was being watched from an upstairs window as he crouched down to look through the large kitchen window, he raised himself carefully and swiftly, navigating back over the flimsy wooden fence and lept out onto the road, transforming mid-leap, the doors, panels and cloned engine surfacing and sliding back into place as he gave chase.


The young vixen ran from her room, brother in tow, their eyes wide with what could only be described as terrified wonderment. Their parent's bedroom door loomed ahead of them, the main goal of their over excited and near panicked trajectory. The door swung open, banging loudly on the cabinet that lay just inside the threshold of the adult's room and both children pounced on the bed, shaking awake their mother and father.
''Mum, mum!'' The boy said in a near shriek.
''There was a robot in our garden!'' His sister continued.
''It was huuuge! The size of the house!''
''Nu uh! It was bigger!''
George growled something under his sleep laden breath and his wife hauled herself up onto her elbows, fur and hair ruffed up from tossing and turning in her sleep.
''A what now?'' She asked groggily, letting a large yawn escape her chest and through her wide open maw.
''A robot!'' Her son said, nearly whining to put his point across.
George forced an eye to open, mentally kicking his brain into first gear.
''A robot?'' He sighed, his voice floating up from the pillow.
''Yeah, and a big one!'' His daughter stated, stretching her arms as wide as they would go, to put that little bit more emphasis on her words.

George's other eye snapped open. Suddenly he was feeling very awake, and extremely paranoid. He pulled himself out of bed and pulled a shirt on and stalked out of the bedroom.
''In the garden, you say?'' His voice called from the landing.
His children bounded out onto the landing with him as he peered cautiously through the narrow window there, before making his way into the children's room. He placed a paw flat on the wooden face of the door and pushed it open slowly, black ears forward, eyes wide, muscles ready to spring his body into action and run for the nearest robot proof cover. Where that robot proof cover was, he had yet to find out.
He placed a foot into the room. Paused. Sniffed. He didn't know why he sniffed the air. Maybe they smell like old oil...? he asked himself. Then another thought occurred to his tired mind: What does space smell like, anyway? And with a puzzled expression firmly planted on his red furred features, he crossed the threshold and stepped fully into the brightly coloured bedroom. He crept up to the window and peeled back a curtain, not sure if he wanted to see what was out there. Then the curtain was being held back in a quaking paw. He peered out, his wife having suddenly appeared over his shoulder and his children squirming between him and the window-sill, trying to get a better look. There was nothing in the garden. Except for the giant, oddly shaped imprints on the lawn...


Sliding around an empty street corner that was illuminated by a single light, a six foot, spindly robotic creature skittered, metal feet grinding and smacking hard against the concrete paving slabs, sending up sparks as it moved in a near blind panic. The transformed washing machine almost slid over, stretching a long, thin arm out to try and steady himself, regaining his bearings and continuing his sprint for whatever safety he could find, that need intensifying when an engine roared and a large, brutal looking 4x4 slid around the corner with a screech of tires. He hazarded a glance over his thin shoulder and at the beast of a car that was following him, chasing even, and let out a short, electronic sounding wimper as he continued to run, almost colliding with a late night wanderer, barrelling into the drunken Spaniel, sending them both to the ground in a tangle of organic and technical limbs. Dazed and ever so slightly confused the Spaniel look at the monstrosity that he had became inadvertantly entangled with and gave a yelp, frantically trying to escape when a pair of piercing red eyes focused on him, the glowing red lenses seemingly narrowing before the mechanical creature took off again, all this commotion crammed into a mere estimated second, leaving the canine all the more confused as he watched it tear off down the street with long, powerful strides like that of a small Dinosaur giving chase to it's athletic prey. Then the 4x4 appeared, and just as soon as the Spaniel caught a glimpse of the large vehicle, it too was gone, lost to the network of roads that laced the town like a spider's web.


Deadmetal, Speeder, Raid and Flashpoint snatched a glance around the corner of the large chamber. There were only a few Decepticons in their way, standing between them and the newly repaired Space Bridge. An alien fighter jet screamed in with a burst of yellow fire, transforming mid-flight, wings, panels and blacked out cockpit glass sliding out of place and repositioning themselves to form a large, bi-pedal mechanical monster. Turbulance looked around at his surroundings and his lenses finally settled upon the Bridge, a deviouse smile curving his metallic mouth. The hidden Autobots watched silently as Turbulance approached the Space Bridge and started typing something into the control panel, his actions halted by a rough sounding voice.
''Hey! Where d'you think you're going?'' Roadtrain snapped from his shadowed corner.
Turbulance turned his head and frowned.
''I'm a hunter, take a wild guess, rust-bucket.'' He replied evenly.
A low growl and Roadtrain settled back down on his rock, hitching a large, metallic foot up, resting an arm on his now raised left knee.
''You got permission to go through that thing from that hunk of worthless metal we're forced to call sir?''
Turbulance cast a look over his shoulder and at the transformed KAMAZ who was seemingly lounging in the shadows.
''Are you searching for a way to get me dismantled, Roadie?'' Turbulance grumbled.

''Now why would I do a thing like that?'' Was his reply.
Turbulance just grinned.
''When I have Carjack, you can bet your rear axel that you're next.''
The Space Bridge flared into life, a large, circular electric blue portal appearing between the two pylons. Both Roadtrain and Turbulance looked up at it, as did the hidden Autobots, a slight air of quiet awe spreading out through the chamber where the travel device stood. Turbulance took step forward, toward the portal.
''I look forward to the challenge...'' Roadtrain growled as the jet stepped through.

Raid leaned back against the wall, concentrating on the small screen that was secreted away beneath a panel on his fore arm. Deadmetal and Speeder turned their attention from the goings on out in the chamber and to their leader as he tracked Turbulance's spacial trail. After a moment, Raid looked up, a frown on his mechanical features. Deadmetal gave him a questioning look as Speeder returned to view the chamber alongside Flashpoint. A sub-sonic message was passed from one Autobot to the other and something behind Deadmetal's lenses flickered briefely, before he nodded. It was going to be a long trek across the galaxy, but Deadmetal didn't care. He just wanted to reduce Carjack to his component parts and use them as spares. He'd grown tired of chasing the Decepticon and was now bent on ending it anyway he recognised as possible. The only problem was; Turbulance had left before them, after the same goal, and there was another Decepticon in the way, between them and the Space Bridge. Who knows how many more Decepticons are lurking in the shadows, waiting for the moment to pounce on any unsuspecting intruders. A nudge in the back, between his folded rotar blades, and Deadmetal turned to find Speeder looking at him with a devious look on his face. Deadmetal and Raid edged closer to where Flashpoint was still positioned and the message was clear now; get to the Space Bridge and bring down any Decepticon that got in their way. Flashpoint and Deadmetal stuck to the shadows, edging their way across the wall, their movements careful and planned so as not to grind their metallic bodies up against the stone. Speeder and Raid went in the other direction, doing the same, gradually edging closer and closer to the Bridge.

When they became close enough to the massive device, Speeder tore across the floor, the closing the distance between himself and the Bridge in a mere second. As soon as he got to the control panel, he typed in the coordinates that Deadmetal had passed onto him. No sooner had the second digit of the eleven digit number code been typed in, Hookshot rumbled into the large chamber, closely followed by small twin lorries of white and deep grey. The crane focused on a partially stunned Speeder and no sooner had the Autobot resumed typing and the portal had flared into life, Flashpoint, Deadmetal and Raid had flung themselves forward to attack the crane mid-transformation. The sudden attack hadn't stopped the crane's panels and long, steel lifting arm from moving postions though. The much large Hookshot swung around as his legs emerged to bring himself upright, slinging the attacking Autobots off of him. As the three Autobots landed roughly, the twins transformed too, standing much shorter than Hookshot at eighteen foot.
''Dee! Thecoordinatesareinlet'sgo,c'mon,c'mon,C'MON!!'' Speeder shouted hurridly over the din of colliding metals.
Deadmetal swung one of the small transport lorries off his back, his fore arm mounted gun springing into existence sending a barrage of heated plasma bullets into the chest of the Decepticon, watching as the light armour gave way in a chorus of electronic scream and buckling metal. With one twin down, a hole boared through his chest, red eyes un-glowing, Deadmetal raised himself from his kneeling position it had rendered him in and spun on his heel, making a mad dash for the open portal as it flickered patiently. He ducked and rolled, narrowly avoiding a large crane hook that had been propelled toward him at high speed, lodging itself into the hard ground upon impact. Hookshot gave an irritated groan and was toppled in his bid to free his hook as Flashpoint and Raid came back at him for another attack.

Hookshot fell heavily and the remaining twin screamed something, launching himself into a charge at Flashpoint. The fire engine distracted himself from the bucking and swearing Hookshot, his fist suddenly comming up to connect with the twin's head, the impact so severe and sudden, his head snapped back with a loud metallic crack. The twin remained on his feet at an awkward position for a few seconds before toppling over backwards to lie limply in the dust and debris. Standing on the first step to the Space Bridge, Deadmetal looked back at the two Autobots as they wrestled Hookshot.
''Get through the portal and find Carjack!'' Raid bellowed and ducked a large fist.
Deadmetal hesitated a moment then continued on, through the portal. Roadtrain, still sat, undetected, in the shadows, watched as Hookshot was disabled by the two Autobots, a small grin playing his metallic lips. He watched as the portal went dark once more and settled back down onto his rock, spectating as the Autobots Flashpoint and Raid fled the scene, but not before locking the Space Bridge down, stopping anyone from comming or going.

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