Chapter 21 - Devastation

The outskirts of Bresham's town centre was a wasteland. Buildings had been collapsed, roads shattered, powerlines badly damaged, and the purpotrator of all the devastation lay in pieces in the midst of it all. High above the scurrying emergency services and news crews that were busying themselves with their set tasks, a multi - toned black and silver fighter jet of an alien design soared, almost soundlessly, circling the area of destruction, powerful optical sensors picking through the debris as best they could from that altitude. If those disgusting bags of meat weren't down there, I'd have had the micro chip by now! Turbulance growled angrily to himself as he watched the ongoing scurrying of the people on the ground below. Then he noticed someone familiar. It was the female news reporter from the previous night. He kept his optics fixed on her as she wove around the debris and dodged those who got in her way. Apparently, by the way she was moving, she'd found something of interest. Turbulance decended a little lower until he could see her paws. A shrill shriek of surprise came from his depths as the Doe, Leanna, took up the remains of a quiet corner and inspected something small and black. It was the micro chip. Compared to the images of it he held within his data banks, it looked a little battered and charred. He'd only know if it still functioned if he got ahold of it. He continued circling, vanishing fast into the early morning clouds whenever another air craft threatened to reveal him, only reappearing when it had flown into the near horizon to continue his watch on the Doe.


''What've you got there?'' Asked a stout golden Ferret with a camera perched heavily on his shoulder.
Leanna jumped, almost losing her balance on the piece of rubble she was situated on and almost dropping the charred remains of the micro chip.
''Huh? What? Oh, nothing. Just the remains of my phone, that's all.'' She replied hastily, slipping the micro chip into her pocket.
She looked blankly at the new camera man. He stared back with an equally blank expression of his own.
''Well?'' He prompted slowly. ''You up for a report?''
She blinked. Every fibre of her being ached and twinged. She really needed to go home, get cleaned up and go to bed, maybe even call in sick the next day. She looked around at the devastation that the giant mechanical beings had made. The harbinger of it all was still lay in the middle of it all; head gone, torso shredded and behemothic legs and what was left of the arms un-moving. Among the machine's debris, was the remnants of her chopper. It was empty now and had been removed from the massive spikes of the beast's back by the emergency services. Remembering the look on Bob's face as the spike was pushed up and into his head, and the sight of the skewered pilot prompted an easy answer.
''No.'' She mumbled. ''Not yet. Sorry.'' She said and walked precariously off in the opposite direction, away from the mess of the battle, heedless of what was following her from above.


Turbulance watched patiently as she exchanged sentences with another fur covered organic before walking unsteadily away. He kept track of her, moving as slowly as his jet form would allow, flying tight circles in the morning sky. It didn't matter where she was going, so long as she got as far away from the masses of other organics, so he could retrieve the micro chip. She wandered down endless abandoned streets and, much to Turbulance's relief, finally came to a stop in an empty car park. She practically fell onto the old bench that was situated in the corner and tilted her head back, eyes closed. He circled down lower and at twenty feet above the surrounding roof tops, his wings rotated and slid back along with the rest of his panels, the nose and the cockpit folding down to form the chest, revealing a dark face with piercing red lenses. Leanna cracked open an eye upon hearing the familiar grumbling hissing sounds of an elien engine. Then her eyes widened and she pressed hard against the bench as Turbulance settled cooly to the ground in the middle of the car park. He just looked at her for a moment. A few minutes passed, the only sounds were that of the work being done in the distance, before Turbulance finally broke the silence.

''I do believe you have something that belongs to me.'' He said smoothly, taking a delicate step towards her so as to not damage the concrete beneath his massive feet; enough damage had been done no thanks to Carjack revealing himself to a scientist and a group of teenagers before going on a rampage in the middle of town.
Leanna just stared up at him, unmoving, with wide eyes.
''Something that belongs to you...?'' She mumbled.
Turbulance nodded in reply, feeling his patience dwindling rapidly.
''That small piece of debris you picked up from the... Scene...'' He said. ''It is very important to my kind.''
Leanna looked him over. Her eyes settled upon the deep purple insignia that he bore on his shoulder armour, an identical, slightly more scarred insignia on the nose cone of his jet form that lay at his chest. She remembered the insignias on the other two robots; both of which were very much different. Speeder's didn't look as sleek in design, nor did it appear to her as devious looking.
''Why's your, uh, badge, different from the other two?'' She asked.

Turbulance just blinked. That wasn't what he was hoping for.
''I am not here to discuss the nature of my insignia or why it's different to those of the others.'' He sneered unhappily.
Leanna looked back into those fiery red optics of his. He leaned in closer.
''Give me the micro chip. Now.'' He growled coldly.
''Micro chip?''
Turbulance's patience snapped. He now had an intense dislike for all reporters. His hand shot forward and pinned her roughly to the bench. She gasped out loud as her already aching body was almost crushed once more.
''You will relinquish the micro chip or perish!'' He growled menacingly.
Leanna tried to squirm, but couldn't. His grip was too tight, and her efforts to move were only making his grip tighter. As much as she wanted to keep the small piece of melted debris for herself, to possibly have analysed for any further details of the incident, she also very much wanted to stay alive and intact. She felt something break. Her left arm. She let out a laboured cry of pain and forced a furious nod.

Turbulance grinned broadly. His grip was relieved from her body and she flopped back onto the bench panting heavily, tears streaking her dirty cheeks. Her good arm moved and her paw dipped into her trouser pocket, fumbling around for the micro chip. Her raw fingers closed around it and she extracted it from her pocket, holding it out in her flat palm for Turbulance. She tried hard not to shrink back when he reached for the micro chip, and was rewarded with a surprising gentleness, as his large metallic fingers just barely grazed the surface of her palm as he took the small piece of burned plastic. He looked it over as he held it between thumb and fore finger. He grinned and turned away, leaping high into the air and transforming before vanishing into the clouds above, leaving the battered Doe behind on her rusty old bench. He soared high, the micro chip now firmly in his grasp. All that needed to be done, was to make sure it still held all the data intact. But his musings were cut short as a missile shot past him. A look to his aft explained the origin of such a device. It was an Apache AH-64A that went by the designation of Deadmetal. Another missile. This time Turbulance anticipated it and banked sharply, comming up behind Deadmetal, who promtply countered, swinging his tail around, a thin string of heated plasma erupting from the chain gun beneath.

Turbulance banked again, transforming mid-maneuver, and unleashed his own weaponry, his own plasma shots hitting home for a scant few seconds, before the evading Earth styled chopper dropped and strafed around the Decepticon, transforming for a brief few moments to let off an EMP before reverting back into vehicle mode. The EMP washed over Turbulance. He was still tired from the excurtion with Carjack, and Deadmetal's sudden appearence and evident renewed energy was almost his demise. The EMP knocked him offline, sending everything dark and silent. When he looked about himself, he was in free fall, with the ground comming up very fast. He engaged his propulsion system again and charged upward to where Deadmetal was.
''Wanna see my new party trick?'' The Autobot taunted.
Turbulance growled angrily and leveled his own EMP cannon at his enemy. The air seemed to shimmer around Deadmetal. Then he started to fade and Turbulance promptly flew through where the Autobot had once been hovering.
''What!?'' He roared.
Before he could continue, he remembered his primary objective. And realised that he'd just been robbed whilst he was blacked out. The micro chip had gone. Deadmetal had taken it. That's why he sounded so smug.... Turbulance thought sourly. And he wasn't willing to go into the depths of Autobot territory to retrieve it, either. Especially with the likes of Galaxy and Raid there, even if their leader was now blind. Feeling fatigue close in around him, he leveled his trajectory and went in search of a safe hiding place to recharge. No micro chip, no return to base. He thought, remembering Krusher's sour and sadistic threats.


George hazarded a glance into his kitchen and promptly fell back, hiding back behind the large folding door that seperated the living room from the kitchen. The washing machine was there. His children were sat on the sofa, peering through the large archway and into the kitchen, a wonderous look etched upon their young Vulpine faces. George's wife stood in plain view of the machine, a basket full of laundrey in her paws. She eyed up the machine, then slowly walked toward it.
''What're you doin' woman?'' George hissed from around the corner.
She looked over her shoulder at him as she crouched before the robotic washing machine.
''Doing the laundry, what else?'' She said evenly, even though she herself felt as bad about this whole scenario as her husband looked. Which wasn't all that great.
She pulled gently at the door. Nothing happened. The door opened easily. The laundry was stuffed in, powder and softener was administered and buttons were gingerly pushed. The washing machine got to work. There was no incident. Nothing to cause alarm. For now, anyway. She rose steadily to her feet and turned to her family.
''It's the only one that's outlived its warranty.'' She said blankly.
George gaped. The children rejoiced. The alien washing machine was apart of the family now, whether George liked it or not.


Flashpoint stared intently through the micro-scope and at the burned and beaten micro chip. After a moment, he removed it and placed it within the confines of a small machine and the small screen on the wall above it lit up. Letters and symbols streamed on in fractured patches at a laborous speed. Then the data seemed to fizz and the screen went blank. Flashpoint turned to his waiting companions.
''The micro chip is worthless now. It was too badly damaged, and the data is corrupt beyond any form of retrieval or repair.'' He stated bluntly.
''Well that sucks.'' Speeder huffed. ''All that trouble for nothing.''
''Not necessarily for nothing..'' Raid pointed out. ''We have one Decepticon less to worry about.''
''I think that number could be upped to two. Turbulance could be in for a rough ride when he gets back to base, minus the micro chip.'' Deadmetal said.
''If you plan on doing any raids when their in their current weakened state, so long as you leave some for me, I won't complain too much.'' Galaxy injected.
''Don't worry, Galaxy. We know how much you like Krusher.'' Raid grinned.


Krusher stood before the Space Bridge, hands held at his back as he stared on at the massive structure. Roadtrain trundled into the chamber and braked to a halt before transforming.
''Still no sign of Turbulance?'' He queried.
Krusher remained silent for a moment before answering.
''No.'' He stated cooly. ''It's been two days now.''
''He could've made off with the micro chip. Assuming it's still in one piece and working.'' Roadtrain stated.
Krusher didn't take his optics off the Bridge as he replied.
''I trust Turbulance a great deal more than any other Decepticon I have worked with. He wouldn't do something so foolish.''
''Oh?'' The KAMAZ prompted.
''He's clever. Very clever. He knows what I'd do to him if he tried such a stupid feat.''
''So, he's followed your orders, and left...?''
Krusher looked down at Roadtrain.
''Yes.'' The reply was simple and demanded no more questions.
The mission was now well and truly over. Carjack had been destroyed, and the micro chip lost, possibly destroyed too, and Turbulance had taken Krusher's advice and left his team after his failure.
One down, one more to go... Roadtrain sneered privately as he looked up at Krusher one last time before transforming and driving away.

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