Chapter 12 - Intimidation

Gygax

Crash powered along the battle scarred road, deftly avoiding any debris that lay in his path. Up ahead, the battle had already started. Just moments ago, he'd recieved word from Flare that the Autobots had cut Roadtrain off and that Krusher had gone in for the kill, if not to back-up the weaker Decepticon. He skidded around a sharp corner, alien tyres squeeling in protest and leaving a set of black streaks on the odd metallic road in his wake. Up ahead, there was the remains of a bridge. In the basin beneath that bridge was where things were happening. In previous years, the bridge had been bombed, leaving it as a twisted, half-wreckage, the rest of its remains laying crumpled and shattered below. The din of battle raised itself above the noise of his engine and a chopper soared into view, firing hot yellow into the skirmish below. Crash picked up his pace, watching the Autobot carefully, taking in all his movements. Crash launched himself off the twisted remains of the bridge as his panels and wheels reconfigured themselves, re-forming around the bipedal body that was concealed within. A cannon formed around his left forearm. A heavy, charged plasma shot erupted forth, momentarily knocking him off balance mid-air and sending him into a slow spinning motion as he plummeted towards the ground. He caught a glimpse of the damage he'd done. The tail boom of the chopper was ripped apart, pieces of fractured and charred metal splintering away in a blast of liquid fire. Gundog howled his rage and tried to control his sudden descent, his shots streaking around, hitting everything that got within his crosshairs. Crash landed heavily amongst the debris, but rolled neatly to his feet and ran for cover, firing at any Autobot that came within range. Gundog also hit the ground hard, but failed to recover so easily. Instead he transformed and had a quick inspection of his damage. He swore; the remains of his legs sparking at the knees, Energon dribbling out and pooling beneath the fresh, smoking stubs of metal.

From somewhere behind him, Flashpoint hurried into the fight, wielding his own gun. Blue Falcon was hot at his heels, shooting at Turbulance who was circling over head like a predatory bird. A large hand landed heavily on the back of Gundog's neck armour, hauling him towards cover. He grunted at the sudden movement, yet continued shooting. Crash ducked down behind a piece of twisted roadway as the Autobot's shots seared across the distance, slamming into the chunk of bridge as he was hauled into cover. Flashpoint grunted something as he set about sealing up the wounds.
''You're lucky it's only your legs.'' He muttered. ''You'll have to make do with being legless until we get back to base.''
''I'm used to being legless!'' Gundog snorted in a sudden burst of amusement.
Flashpoint looked momentarily bewildered at the comment then shook his head, twisting a wry smile.
''Stay put!'' Flashpoint ordered sternly. ''You're in no state to fight.''
''Not a chance!'' Gundog retorted hotly, his temper suddenly returning. ''So long as I'm still functioning, I'll be fighting!''


Overhead, Burnout opened his cargo bay doors. Several dark figures dropped into the sky, plummeting toward the battle. Shortly after disembarking their mode of transport, Burnout followed suit, transforming mid-flight and going into a controlled free-fall, twin sets of rotar blades flared out at his back. Several sets of metallic feet landed heavily and joined the fight. Plasma, laser and EMP fire filled the basin. Deadmetal took up Gundog's position as the air support, firing all his weapons upon the Decepticon soldiers below. He stayed just out of leathal range, putting gravity on his side. Anything that hit him merely left hot streaks of black and minor dents on his armour as the enemy shots lost their upward momentum, whilst his own firepower slammed into the ground below with ferocity. It was hard to aim from his current height, but he still managed to do damage, seeing limbs ripped apart in a flurry of sparks and smoke. Several of his shots hit home, reducing the Decepticons to smouldering piles of scrap. At the edge of the basin, Raid was exchanging close blows with Krusher, the larger mech bearing down on Raid whenever he got the chance.
''Why don't you give up now and save yourself the humiliation of a horrible defeat?'' Krusher rumbled bitterly as he grappled with Raid.
''If I do that, then I won't get the pleasure of seeing you reduced to scrap.'' Raid growled.
The smaller mech hooked his foot around Kusher's ankle and heaved him over. Both Autobot and Decepticon landed heavily, exchanging heavy blows and close-range gunfire. A piece of Raid's thick armour flew free and he hissed electronically as the plasma burst seared the sensetive circuitry and metal plating beneath. He managed to get a fist free and the resulting punch in the face made Krusher reel and his optics dim momentarily. The Decepticon's optics buzzed with static then he felt his world topple as he was forced to roll off of his quarry. Raid got his feet. A nearby Decepticon exploded in a flurry of shrapnel and liquid fire. Raid cast a quick look in that direction in time to see Solar circle low and cut down another Decepticon with near-perfect aim.


Gygax - Autobot Base

The base was dark and nothing within was moving, save for the slow blinking of several tell-tales on the numerous computers. Shrapnel fiddled with the next control panel, inputting codes and swearing when they didn't work. Finally, the blast door slid open. Shrapnel made an odd, relieved noise in the back of his vocal processors. Within the newly opened room was a single green light. Four sets of red optics peered into the darkness, picking out the various pieces of machinery and the lone computer set-up against the far wall, next to yet another heavily armoured door. Shrapnel stepped carefully in to the room, scanning the area constantly for any traps and hidden security mechanisms. He padded slowly across the room and hacked into the computer. The screen flickered to life and a green, wire-frame map of the entire base was displayed. Several moments passed in utter silence. Then a head appeared at his shoulder, inquisitive optics staring at the monitor.
''Found it yet?'' Lokjaw whispered.
''No.'' Shrapnel grunted simply.
''Try the top floor.'' Wrench suggested helpfully, appearing at Shrapnel's other shoulder.
''We are on the top floor.'' Sideblast said as he too inspected the map from over the top of Shrapnel's head.
The four young Constructicons continued to stare intensely at the flickering screen.
Something's wrong... Shrapnel thought. It's been too easy... Something bad's gonna happen, I just know it.
The very same thought weighed on his friends equally as heavy. So far, they'd had very little problems with breaking into the Autobot's base.
''There!'' Sideblast hissed excitedly, jabbing a dark purple finger at the monitor. ''That room there. It's big enough to house a fully functioning Space Bridge. It's gotta be in there!''
''You sure...?'' Wrench asked hesitantly.
''Yep. Biggest room here. Takes up both levels. Gotta be that one.'' Sideblast said.

''Well, we ain't got much to lose...'' Shrapnel sighed.
''Except our Sparks if we don't find it and sabotage it.'' Lokjaw said pointedly.
''Thanks. I really needed to be reminded of that.'' Shrapnel hissed irritably and set about opening the door.
When the door slid open they followed their memorized route to the room they'd espied on the computer screen.
''Well, slag.'' Wrench muttered. ''How're we gonna get in there?''
Shrapnel inspected the door frame and the door itself.
''There's no control panel...'' He murmered.
''No slag. We can see that, genius.'' Lokjaw commented sourly and crossed his spindly arms across his armoured chest.
''Knew it'd been too easy...'' Shrapnel added quietly. ''Had to be some kind of draw back...''
''I say we use brute force and ignorance.'' Sideblast grunted.
The others looked at him and edged away from the door. Sideblast grinned and brought his weapons to bear, the door within his crosshairs. There was an explosion of laser and plasma. The door became blacked and hot, but remained sturdy.
''Nice idea, Sergeant Subtle.'' Shrapnel said.
''Shut up. This is a tough door. We need to do this together.'' Sideblast snapped. ''C'mon, otherwise it'll be a long and painful death.''
''Yeeeaaahhh... I much prefer the swift and painful death at the hands of the Autobots, rather than the long and painful one.'' Wrench said and took up his position next to Sideblast.

Shrapnel and Lokjaw followed, the four Constructicons forming a semi-circle around the thick blast door. All brought their weapons online and this time the door caved in, twisting into the room, melting slightly around the edges where the brunt of the blast had hit it.
''Piece of Energon cake.'' Sideblast grunted with a slight smile.
He proceeded to step forward, stamping the door the rest of the way to floor, ripping it completely from its frame with a whine of buckling metal. Inside stood the large silohuette of the Space Bridge.
''Told you it'd be in this room.'' He said with a hint of triumph.
''Wait.'' Shrapnel said, putting a hand on Sideblast's arm to halt him from moving any further into the room.
Sideblast didn't protest. Instead he merely held his position, freezing in place, one foot inches from the ground, held in mid-step. Shrapnel shook his head dismissively.
''No. No one here. The mix of electrical signatures from the Bridge just confused my senses, is all.'' He said.
''Good. Maybe now we can get a move on. This place is giving me the creeps.''
''Yeah. I feel like I'm being watched.'' Wrench said nervously as they ventured further into the room.
They stood at the foot of the Space Bridge, looking up at it.
''Y'know, up until now, I've never actually seen one of these things up close...'' Lokjaw mumbled in awe.
He reached out and placed a hand gently on the wall of the Bridge's basin.

''Shame we gotta sabotage it to the point of beyond repair.'' Shrapnel said.
''Eh, orders are orders. You wanna go against Megatron, that's fine with me.'' Sideblast said with a shrug.
Shrapnel approached the computer that was embedded into the wall of the basin and set about hacking it.
''C'mon, let's wreck this thing.'' Wrench said.
The lights then came on. All Constructicons whirled, weapons at hand. Then their gazes travelled upwards until they locked with the blue vizor clad gaze of the large Autobot that towered over them.
''Oh, don't mind little ol' me.'' Galaxy rumbled sweetly. ''Please, by all means, continue. I wouldn't want to interrupt your special little task.''
The smile she presented them unnerved them more than her mass did. Several shots of plasma and laser pounded into her thick deep green and fiery orange armour, leaving nothing but tiny pock-marks and black scuffs. Several of the small dents promptly popped themselves back out. Galaxy rubbed a thumb across a scorch mark, rubbing the sudden accumilation of soot from that particular area to reveal the green paintwork beneath. She then looked back down at the Constructicons. She twisted another smile, but this time it wasn't at all pleasant.
''My turn.'' She sneered.
She brought all her weaponry to bear, her cannons and missile pods whirring and humming intently as she trained them on the young Constructicons.
''OH MY GOD!'' Wrench screamed in dismay at the display of firepower.
''PRIMUS HAVE MERCY ON US ALL!'' lokjaw countered in horror.
''Right now, I really don't think that it's Primus you should be begging to!'' She snapped angrily. ''Get away from that Bridge NOW!''

All four scrabbled forward, away from the Space Bridge.
''Now you will tell me exactly what it is you're here to do.'' She growled, keeping her weapons hot.
''We've been sent to sabotage the Space Bridge. That's it, I swear!'' Shrapnel whined desperately.
''Please don't kill us! We'll do anything! Just don't eat us!'' Sideblast pleaded.
Galaxy Hmmmed, tilting her head to one side slightly as if thinking hard about something. The order came almost immediately.
''On your knees and grovel for me, slag-heaps!'' She roared.
Four sets of knees of varying sizes hit the ground simultaneously. Numerous pleas filled the room. Galaxy watched the display intently for a few minutes, a content smile on her dark, mechanical features.
''You're slaggin' right you ain't worthy!'' She rumbled. ''Now gimme one real good reason why I shouldn't just reduce you lot to smouldering heaps of scrap right this instant.''
''Uhm....!'' Shrapnel looked around at his cohorts wildly. ''Uh-!''
''We're hard workers!'' Wrench offered desperately.
''I'm willing to change sides!'' Lokjaw blurted.
''We're real good at building things!'' Sideblast added enthusiastically.
''Real good!'' Shrapnel agreed with a brisk nod. ''So please don't kill us!'' He added in a small voice.
Galaxy eyed them all up.
''You're young and naive.'' She said simply. ''One wrong move, and you're Hoven Toast, got it?''
They all nodded briskly.

You are not authorized to comment here. Your must be registered and logged in to comment