//------------------------------// // Lost Souls // Story: Cybertron Girls // by SonicSpeedster97 //------------------------------// Megatron was still outraged by the failure of his soldiers and alliance with Cobra to bring him a functioning weapon built from the Energon Harvester and was thus forced to relegate Soundwave back to his unending duty of decoding the Iacon database to acquire more coordinates. All that was left for him to do now was sit and wait for a new update from one of his lieutenants, or for Nightbird to return from her mission to acquire the Omega Lock components held by the Autobots. As it turned out, he wouldn’t have to wait long as a terminal started toning. “Lord Megatron, it’s Shockwave, from Kaon HQ. He says it’s urgent.” a Vehicon reported. “Put him through,” Megatron ordered, sounding almost bored as the cyclopic face of his chief scientist appeared on the screen. “This had better be worthwhile, Shockwave. None of our other projects seem to be bearing any fruit.” “I assure you, Lord Megatron, you will find this most intriguing.” Shockwave nodded. “You recall the series of raids against our installations on Cybertron I have informed you of.” “Yes, yes, I remember. I also remember you assuring me it was nothing but Scraplets.” Megatron reminded irritably. “Scraplets do not steal Energon,” Shockwave assured cryptically. Megatron’s eyebrow raised in interest as he looked at Shockwave. “You have my undivided attention.” To reward that attention, Shockwave put up security video from a base on Cybertron, just moments before the doors exploded and three forms roared out the door. Shockwave froze the footage just as the forms left the smoke cloud from the blast, revealing their vehicle forms; a red pick-up truck, blue van, and bright green supercar. “The Virago… I was under the impression they were dead.” “As was I. I have determined that they have been using the labyrinth of intercity transit tunnels beneath the surface of Cybertron to remain undetected.” Shockwave explained. “I have already ordered Obsidian and Strika to prepare an assault.” “Ensure they do not begin that assault just yet,” Megatron ordered. “If the Virago are still alive, then I have little doubt that so too is Elita-1. And I want to find that out for myself, and see the look on Optimus Prime’s face when he sees her in my clutches.” “As you command, Lord Megatron. I will await your arrival.” Shockwave quickly terminated the communication link as Megatron stood up from his throne. “Soundwave, activate the SpaceBridge, and prepare for transit to Kaon,” Megatron ordered. “I have unfinished business there that I must attend to.” “As you command, Lord Megatron.” Soundwave nodded, easily opening the SpaceBridge vortex on the ship’s bridge. “Lord Megatron, what if Nightbird should return while you’re still on Cybertron?” asked Breakdown. “What should we tell her as to why you are gone?” “Simply tell her that I am preparing a special… surprise for our mutual friend Optimus Prime,” Megatron assured. “After all, is that not the truth?” “As you wish, my liege.” Breakdown nodded as the warlord passed through the vortex, which promptly disappeared. “I just hope that story holds.” “You worry too much, Breakdown.” Viper assured. “Everything’s gonna be fine.” “Is it?” Breakdown asked seriously as he and the Cobra-flyer left the bridge. “Look Viper, Lord Megatron told Nightbird that the Autobots were the aggressors in the war and that they drove us off Cybertron. If she finds out the truth that Megatron was the one who started the war, she’ll start to wonder what else we lied to her about.” “If that happens, we’ll just knock her out and let Bombshell root around in her brain module; rewire some things.” Viper shrugged. “Bombshell’s a neuroscientist, Viper; not a miracle-worker.” Breakdown reminded. “He can’t hide the truth from anyone forever.” “Let’s just agree to disagree and hope we don’t have to find out which one of us is right.” Viper assured. “No argument here.” Breakdown nodded. Megatron smiled as he stepped out of the SpaceBridge into his main complex on Cybertron, in the middle of what looked like a massive thunderstorm. “More acid rain, Shockwave?” he asked the cyclops. “It has become far more ever-present in the millennia since you left,” Shockwave noted, looking out at the red clouds. “Cybertron has managed to retain at least some of its regenerative aspects from before the AllSpark was launched, but without it, these storms will remain.” “I suppose you’ve devised a way for the soldiers to not be harmed by these storms?” asked Megatron. “A special alkaline coating I formulated after the Nemesis launched, and have since improved tenfold,” Shockwave answered, opening a small pod nearby. “If you would step inside…” Megatron did so and was quickly sprayed down with a clear chemical concoction that made his armor much shinier. “Excellent work, Shockwave.” Megatron nodded. “Now… where is Obsidian?” “At your command, Lord Megatron.” a voice remarked as a dark bot stepped from the shadows with wiry orange propellers on his shoulders. “I was wondering where you were,” Megatron remarked. “And I presume your consort has the search party prepared?” “Ready and waiting, my lord,” Obsidian assured, leading the warlord to the bottom floor of the complex, where Megatron found a large group of Decepticons waiting inside the door. “Other parties are across the planet awaiting your order.” “Then they shall have it.” Megatron nodded as he turned on his com. “Decepticons, the Virago must not be allowed to survive any longer. Burn them out of their little hiding places in the tunnels, and no matter what; bring me Elita-1! Now Decepticons, Transform and Rise Up!” Across Cybertron, Decepticons transformed and raced across the planet into train stations, following the tunnels across the world. In a deep chamber hidden in the tunnels, the female bots from the raid footage looked around in worry as they heard engine noise down the tunnel. “Oh great. Shockwave finally found us.” the blue bot scowled as she faced the door, reaching for a large poleaxe. “Well, might as well go out swingin’.” “Whoa there, Chromia.” the red bot stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t do anything too crazy.” “Why not? We’re all about to die anyway.” Chromia assured. “No one is dying except for them.” That assurance came from the large brick-red and salmon-pink Autobot in the back of the chamber. “But we’re not doing it down here. We’re going up to street-level.” “Street-level? Are you crazy, Elita?!” asked Chromia incredulously. And sure enough, this massive fem-bot was Optimus’ female counterpart Elita-1, alive and kicking against the Decepticons just as the others on Earth had hoped and predicted. “I refuse to compromise the location of our base,” she assured, raising her blaster. “We’re the only Autobots left on Cybertron – maybe the universe – and if we lose our headquarters, we officially lose our homeworld and the war.” It had long been thought by the Virago that Greenlight’s contact with the Ark had simply been her picking up the ship’s final distress beacon, which didn’t fill them with much in the way of hope. “Alright then, what’s the plan?” Chromia asked, grabbing up her ax. “Chromia, you stay on my fender and watch my six while we head north to draw their fire,” Elita ordered, pointing to each bot in turn. “Firestar, load up whatever Energon we have and take Flareup and Glyph to the east side of Iacon. Moonracer, you’ll get to a vantage point and watch their backs until they’re out of sight; any Cons go after them, you cut them down. Greenlight and Lancer, make sure all our sensitive materials are properly concealed and the booby-traps are set, then head to Iacon West. If all goes well, we’ll all rendezvous at the Hall of Records within the cycle.” “I’ll contact the Hall and tell them to expect us.” Glyph – a smaller blue bot with green trim – nodded, transmitting a coded message over a computer terminal. Once the message was done, she, Moonracer – a light blue-green bot – and Flareup – a somewhat larger red bot – rallied with the larger red bot and raced out the base’s east door – Firestar becoming the pickup truck while Flareup and Moonracer became motorcycles and Glyph became a compact car – as Elita and Chromia ran out the northern door before they transformed; Chromia into the van from the footage and Elita into a large salmon-pink and red buggy. Once they were gone, Greenlight and Lancer – a bulky bot with purple and orange armor – sealed various data files on their computers before they were all unplugged and powered down, allowing the two bots to set various traps at the other entrances and race out the west door with Greenlight transforming into the supercar from the footage and Lancer into a medium tank. The Decepticons swiftly burst into the base not moments after they had left, and their commander smiled. “Well, this looks promising. Bring those computer banks back online and let’s see where they were headed.” The other soldiers smirked as they marched into the chamber… only for one of them to trip some sort of pressure plate in the floor, triggering a massive blast of nano-frost and glass gas in one, freezing the soldiers instantly before the base itself exploded in a huge fireball. Obsidian quickly checked his coms as he flew alongside Megatron in the form of a Cybertronian helicopter similar to an Osprey, as the warlord drove in his Cybertronian tank-mode alongside Strika – a massive female bot with a six-wheeled assault vehicle for her alt-mode. “Lord Megatron, the team investigating the tunnels near Iacon South just went offline. The last thing I heard was an explosion,” he reported. “Ah, Elita.” Megatron smiled. “Do we still have working transports? I’m needed in Iacon as quickly as possible.” “As you wish, my lord,” Strika noted, turning on her coms. “This is General Strika; requesting a dropship at my position for transport to Iacon.” “Yes, general; dropship on the way.” an officer reported, just before a large drop-pod flew down and allowed the warlords onboard, each transforming back to their bot-modes as they boarded before the ship took off for Iacon. High in one of the ruined skyscrapers of Iacon, Moonracer kept her optics on Firestar and Flareup miles away down the streets through the scope of her sniper rifle, smirking as she saw Decepticon flyers closing in on them. “You guys picked the wrong day to mess with me,” she smirked and started pulling the trigger, shooting the flyers right in the spark-chambers, sending them tumbling out of the sky. “Pfft. Easy pickings for the best sharpshooter in the universe.” Unfortunately, it was just then that she saw another large wing flying towards her sniping position. “Oh scrap. Would’ve been nice for you to account for this, Elita,” she remarked, shouldering her rifle and blasting the flyers out of the air just before they got her in their range, though they were sent spinning out into the lower levels of the building, causing it to start to crumble. “Oh great. You’d think we’d build these things to endure this sort of abuse.” With little other choice, Moonracer was forced to leap from her sniper’s post and drive down the side of the building as fast as she could, quickly jumping from the wall and landing perfectly as she roared after Firestar and Flareup… looking around as she drove to see exactly the sort of devastation and ruin brought to Cybertron by these millennia of war and neglect. “Huh. Guess you’d think wrong.” It was then however that she struck something and caused the road under her wheels to explode. “Whoa!” Quickly she transformed and stumbled to a steady stop a few yards from the new crater in the already devastated street. “Alright, who’s the wise guy?” She never found out as she was suddenly hit in the head by a strange projectile that sent a powerful electric current through her body, knocking her out. Across the city, Flareup noticed the tower falling in her rearview mirror and scowled. “Well, there goes our sniper support,” she remarked as she glanced up at Firestar, her truck-bed loaded down with Energon cubes. “Looks like we’re on our own from here.” “Think Moonracer’s gonna be okay?” asked Glyph. “She’s been in tougher spots than this before; she’ll be okay,” Firestar assured. “We’ve gotta worry about ourselves, and keeping this Energon secure.” “That’s not all we have to worry about.” Glyph noted as she spotted a large wing of Decepticons in pursuit behind them. “We’ve got company!” “Not for long, we don’t.” Flareup smirked and quickly ramped off a broken piece of the road, transformed in midair, and landed perfectly on top of Firestar’s cargo, firing back at the Decepticons with an SMG. “Hey, no free rides! Especially not on top of highly combustible material in the middle of a firefight!” Firestar ordered. “It’s called suppressing fire, Star! You’re welcome!” Flareup countered, and she was right; as she fired on the Decepticons, they were all too busy dodging her shots to try and fire on the Energon in Firestar’s bed. “I think we’ve got more pressing concerns.” Glyph brought up. Firestar looked and saw another team of Decepticons had blocked the road ahead and were preparing to fire on them. “Hey Flareup, time for a round of lobbing,” Firestar smirked. Flareup smirked in understanding and grabbed an Energon cube from the truck, tossing it out at the blockade. The guards mistook it for a grenade and quickly fired at it, only to realize too late what it really was… blowing them all to dust and out of the Autobots’ way as they thundered down the road. “Ha-ha! Booya!” Flareup smirked and leaped back into driving for herself, the fireball from the explosion having knocked the air team out of the sky behind them. “We’re home-free now, ladies!” No sooner had she said that than an unusual projectile shot from the shadows and hit Firestar square on the hood, causing her to spin out and slam into the barrier on the side of the road, scattering Energon cubes around her. “Firestar!” “We’ve gotta go back for her!” Glyph remarked as she slammed on her brakes and started to turn around, only for Flareup to swerve into her way and push her along. “No time! We have our orders! Make for the Hall and we’ll regroup with the others!” she ordered, swerving back onto her own line… before she looked back at the crashed Firestar. “I just hope there’ll be someone there for us to regroup with.” Elsewhere, Elita was putting the pedal as close to the metal as she could while Chromia fired on the Decepticons behind them. “I’m pretty impressed. Didn’t think Shockwave thought we were important enough to sic Obsidian and Strika on us.” the blue bot remarked as she sat on Elita’s back with a large blaster. “We blew up and raided one of his key Energon storage facilities.” Elita-1 reminded. “What would you do?” “Still though.” Chromia shrugged, firing back at the copter to try and knock it out of the sky. “You sure about radio silence? I’m kinda worried about the others.” “So am I, but we can’t worry about them right now,” Elita assured. “Our best hope is to fall back to the Hall of Records and pray to the Thirteen that they’ll meet us there.” “I hope you’re right.” Chromia shrugged as she fired further… before she saw something that made her pause. “No. Sweet Solus, no.” “What is it?” Elita asked as she checked her mirror, but didn’t see anything. “I don’t see anything; what’s wrong?” “Elita! You’ll never believe this, but I think I just saw a ghost! It’s-!” Chromia couldn’t finish that as she was suddenly shot in the back by one of Strika’s cannons and tumbled off Elita’s back. “Chromia!” Elita yelled and skidded to a stop, swiftly transforming back to bot-mode as she raised her own blaster rifle… though she didn’t get a chance to fire it as she was suddenly rammed to the ground and disarmed. She looked up at her assailant as they transformed and her optics went wide with fear. “M- Megatron…?” And there he was, towering over her like the conqueror he was. “But- But you’re… you’re supposed to be-” “Dead?” Megatron smiled. “Well, that’s interesting. I thought the same of you and your meaningless Virago just a few cycles ago.” Elita’s optics popped again and she quickly turned on her coms. “Virago, this is Elita-1; come in!” No one responded. “Moonracer?! Greenlight, Lancer; do you read!?” “Don’t bother trying to call them; only two managed to avoid my hunting parties but they won’t be able to stay hidden for long,” Megatron assured. “The rest… well, what say we join them now?” “You must realize, of course, Megatron… that I’m never going anywhere with you!” Elita yelled and drew a collapsible double-bladed Energon glaive from her back, swinging it at the warlord who deftly dodged her every strike before he clubbed her in the back of the head, knocking her to the ground. “And you must realize, Elita, that just as before, your compliance is not a factor,” Megatron assured as he stood upright. “Bring them all to Kaon. And quadruple all patrols until we find the remnants of the Virago. I don’t care how long it takes as long as they’re our prisoners.” “As you command, Lord Megatron.” Obsidian nodded, gesturing for some of his drones to do as the warlord ordered, picking Elita-1 up and dragging her away. She didn’t know what fate was in store for her as she blacked out, but she knew it would be one of the craziest days of her life.