Top Of The List

by dudenotactive

Next Steps

The Peaceful Tyranny was deathly quiet, the DJD dared not to speak as their leader glowered towards the vast expanding void of space. Even with the fact that there were more 'Cons on board did not change it, they too were silent as a corpse. Tarn sat on his throne, contemplating the news he had received from his medic. The Nemesis, the flagship of the Decepticons, a symbol of defiance and hope to all its soldiers. Was now out of his reach.

No longer would he be able to claim it back for his brothers and sisters, no longer would he walk down the halls of the Nemesis once more. It laid on the hands of the Autobots for far too long, he should've struck the museum first. But he was busy with his plans instead. It was taken from him by the dastardly Blitzwing.

"I should've ripped out your spark." Tarn muttered out loud. The crew cast a worry glance over to their leader. A vehicon who was closest to Tarn literally feinted, he fell down with a thud and now his body laid on the floor, yet none made a move to remove the vehicon.

"You uh... alright there boss?" Nitro Zeus asked, not because he was brave, but because he was simply stupid enough to approach the calm and collective leader of the DJD.

"No, everything is not alright." Tarn sighed. "Nitro, could you perhaps play that Earth song? What did Knockout call it again? Oh right, Queen Of The Night by Mozart, I believe." He chuckled with delight, truly an odd scene for the rest of the crew. "As a connoisseur of fine music, I have to express myself for this beautiful song. Truly, gold among copper, Knockout has exquisite taste."

"Yeah, sure thing boss." Nitro Zeus proceeded over to a control panel and played the requested music. The silence was replaced by a beautiful symphony that quickly filled the bridge, though some 'Cons expressed distaste, they chose to keep their opinions to themselves. There were of course people who appreciated good music, such as Clobber, the Lugnut look alike, who was open to any forms of music.

"This sounds cool." She whispered to the closest 'Con to her. To which the bot simply scoffed as he tuned out the music.

"A bit crass, but I agree Clobber, it is as you say 'cool'." Tarn spoke. "Kaon, contact Nickel. I wish to speak with her with something important."

"Contacting now." Tarn's communication officer said as he connected with the Storm Slicer. Soon enough it was answered.

"Nickel here," The minicon answered, just behind her was Knockout, he was busy working on a vehicon who looked like he fell off a cliff. "What do you scrapheads need? Tarn, did you break your T-cog again?"

"Nickel, please, my T-cog is fine." He assured her. "I just wanted to talk about Blitzwing."

"Ah, yes, the lunatic." She scoffed. "Did you send out a team yet? There were sightings around the Delta sector and I believe that is our best bet."

"I will send out a search and capture team, but there is still one more thing. Our number is small, I am still trying to reach out to every Decepticon who would listen. So that is why I decided that I am sending your team to capture Blitzwing."

"What!?" Nickel exclaimed, her sudden outburst caused Knockout to slip and caused his buzz saw to cut the vehicon's arm who screamed in pain. Ignoring the commotion behind her, she glared through the screen and at Tarn. "Why us!? Tarn, if you send me out, then who's gonna patch you and the others up!?"

"We have capable medics on board and on the field as well as some certified doctors ready for emergencies. The reason why I chose you is because you already have a ship of your own as well as soldiers experienced enough to face any conflicts that would come your way. Three seekers, two triple-changers, one of the Combaticons, and a battalion of vehicons that are ready to die for you."

"A-and a fellow medic!" Knockout added.

"But Tarn! I am not suitable for this kind of mission, we are more of a research group!"

"Look on the bright side Nickel," Kaon spoke up from his side. "You'll be making good use with that title of yours, Commander Nickel!" This earned the shocker a few stifled laughs coming from Tesarus and Helex.

"Kaon," Tarn shushed his com officer. "Listen Nickel, the Nemesis holds millions of Decepticon secrets and we have been trying to get that ship back for ages now. It would be easier to simply take it from Blitzwing's hands. We can only hope that Flamewar and Thunderblast are his only allies. Make sure that you bring them all alive, I wish to have one last chat with Blitzwing."

Seeing that she had no other options but to obey, the minicon scowled at Tarn. "Fine, we'll get the ship! But you boys better not do anything dangerous while I'm gone! Or else I'll rip you a new aft! Nickel, over and out!"

When the screen went black, Tarn relaxed into his seat. Helex walked over to his superior to ask a simple question. "Was it a good idea to send out Nickel? We have some bots to spare."

"But I need them here, we are at the dawn of a new age, Helex. A future where Decepticons will rule, and all are equal. It is simply a recovery mission, so Nickel could handle that alone. But there is something that is a possible chance."

"What is, Tarn?"

"How did three or more Decepticons successfully steal the Nemesis which is displayed in a museum?" He revealed the one question that had been bothering him all day to Helex. When the giant didn't answer, Tarn continued. "You see Helex, there are many possible ways to steal that ship. But one answer stands above it all, and it's the possibility of an inside job. One that requires years of work just to earn everyone's trust. But there is another way to do so, and it's to be an Autobot from the very start. And Primus help me if I am correct, or else the fate awaiting Blitzwing will be... tragic."

---

"You have to take us!" Dash tried her best to convince her friend, Sunset Shimmer.

"Easy RD, it's not that simple." Sunset argued back.

"Come on, this Arcee sounds like a reasonable person, so I'm sure she won't mind!" Dash shot back.

As they were speaking just outside of the entrance, the rest of Sunset's friends spectated them both. They had their own opinions, such as Applejack who chose to distrust the aliens since one of them had openly threatened one of her friends. Fluttershy was predictably scared of meeting the Cybertronians, countless horror movies had taught her to be fearful of creatures beyond the stars, which she watched said movies because of Dash. Pinkie for one was excited, never would she have thought that there was a day in her life where she would meet visitors from outer space, and honestly, she was totally hyped.

Rarity was only curious if these machines have any fashion senses. Hopefully they do. As for Twilight, she was ecstatic of discovering a whole new species from another galaxy. She couldn't stop herself from thinking about all the possibilities, like their way of life. Sunset had mentioned something about a crystal called "energon" when she was recalling her encounter with the aliens. Which Twilight guessed as some sort of fuel for the Cybertronians. There was just too much to ask, and she wanted to see them as soon as possible. But unlike Dash, Twilight made sure to be mature about the whole thing and be patient, it was entirely up to Sunset when it came down to it. She did say that Starscream wouldn't like it if they just popped into the abandoned airfield.

While Dash was trying her best to convince Sunset, the redhead noticed something in the corner of her eye. It was Arcee in her alt mode, she was parked just next to the sidewalk. Sunset excused herself and quickly rushed over to the bot in hiding. But as she walked past the statue that decorated the front of the school, she didn't notice that her friends trailed behind her. When she finally did notice, Dash had flashed towards the bike quicker than Sunset could blink.

"Are you Arcee!?" Dash questioned the bike, no answer came. "Hey, talk! Where's Starscream!?"

"Arcee!" Sunset quickly rushed over to the Autobot. "I am so sorry."

"Save it kid," Dash leaped back when the bike finally spoke.

"So you can talk! Now then, where's that jerk!?" Dash demanded from the femme.

"Okay, what did that creep do?"

"Oh I don't know," Rarity hummed. "Playing in traffic, attempted to kill our friend, and especially threatened Dash's life to keep her in silence."

The front wheel shifted towards the rainbow girl. "And you didn't listen? You're braver than I would've thought. Arcee, nice to meet ya."

Dash was taken aback by Arcee's kind introduction. "Oh, I'm Rainbow Dash." With this first action, the rest of the Sunset's' friends introduced themselves in their own colorful ways. Arcee was honestly impressed to see such an interesting group of friends. And honestly, she was surprised how accepting they were so quickly. If they were disturbed that there was a talking motorcycle, then they didn't show it.

"So, guess this was the chance, huh?" Arcee sighed. "Do you girls have some questions?"

"Uh, yeah!" Dash stepped up. "I want to have a little talk with his lordship!"

"Easy there Rainbow, there's gonna be plenty of chances. So just relax. I'm actually itching to have a talk with ol' Screamer." No could really see her face, but underneath her disguise she was secretly scowling. One of the few things she didn't trust Starscream with was the lives of every human around. She worries that the seeker, who is stronger than Dash, would do something Arcee would regret. A regret that would surely haunt her.

"Oh, I have a question of my own!" Twilight took a step closer, her hands were already holding a notebook and a pencil, ready to write down any answers that came her way. "First is, who made you? Are you a living machine complete with self preservation, desire, and emotions? Are you able to experience the five senses such as touch and taste? Do you have any organic parts somewhere in your body? Second, what is the point of having genders besides as a part of your character? Are robots able to reproduce in the same way as us humans?"

Arcee chuckled. "Sorry kid, but I can't answer all of those questions. But tell you what, I'll find someone who can and you just wait. Besides, we have some plans, right kid?"

"Plans?" Sunset asked once the bike faced towards her. Then it hit Sunset like a sledgehammer to the face, she had completely forgotten what she and Flash had planned out for today. "Oh right!"

"What is it sugarcube?" AJ asked.

"Sorry guys, but Arcee and I got this thing to do. You see, I kinda invited Flash for a ride and I don't really want to disappoint."

"Flash you say?" Rarity zipped between her friends just to get closer to Sunset. "Well, maybe we can put a pin on the whole alien thing and save it for tomorrow after school."

"Oh, and you're okay that I'm ditching you girls over Flash?" Sunset asked.

"Well..." Fluttershy looked away awkwardly. "It's fine that you want to hang out with Flash."

Applejack nodded. "We can go talk to Dash's new friend tomorrow, it would certainly give us enough time to get over the fact that big giant robots are out in the Everfree doin' whatever it is they're doin'."

"I can put a hold on my research, I mean, we still have the chance so there's no need to be worried about it." Said Twilight. "And I can't wait to tell other Twilight if she ever visits us again, she would totally flip!"

"I need to make a 'Welcome To Planet Earth!' cake anyways! Just to make you all feel welcome!" Pinkie informed them.

"That is not necessary, we don't eat organic food like you guys, but I'm sure my pal Smokescreen would like an oil cake." Arcee turned towards the athlete. "What about you Rainbow, you cool if we put a hold on your meeting with the big bad Decepticon?"

Dash huffed as she looked away. "Fine."

"Thanks everyone! I will totally pay you guys back for this!" Sunset promised.

"No need dearie," Rarity assured her. "just go on and enjoy your ride, just make sure that you ride safely!"

"I'm not the one driving Rares." Sunset said with a smile as she went back towards the school to wait for Flash Sentry.

Seeing that they were done, the group gave their goodbyes to Arcee and went off in one direction. Dash waited when they were out of earshot and quickly huddled everyone together and against their will.

Applejack cursed. "Dagnabbit RD! What's runnin' in that head of yours!?"

"Watch the hair Rainbow Dash!" Rarity warned the athlete.

"Shush!" Dash silenced them. "Listen, I know that we said we'd meet the aliens tomorrow, but I decided to go and see the jerk today! I know where the spot is, and it would definitely be easy to find the airfield."

"Dash, I think it would be smarter to wait for Arcee, she seems to be the leader of the group." Twilight said.

"Well I don't need that, I'm going straight to that moron and give him a piece of my mind. With or without you guys." With that said, she broke off the huddle and started marching towards the direction of the Everfree, leaving her friends behind. Determined to do through with her plan and face off the seeker in mind.

They stared at her as she walked down the sidewalk, the group could only sigh as Dash had already made a large gap between her and the group. Left with no other choice, they decided to follow Dash's lead, just for her safety. It would be terrible if something were to ever happen, and hopefully, everything would be fine.

---

"There's nothing here, oh Commander Nickel." Knockout had pointed out the obvious as the Storm Slicer drifted through space. They have been searching for the ship for hours, yet they found no results. The crew started to lose morale and were already bored out of their processors.

"One more word out of you and I will recycle you into my glitch!" Nickel warned him.

To which Knockout simply laughed in response. "Sorry, but minicons are not my type." He said right before his optics moved toward the red triple-changer. "I am more of an automobile enthusiast. If you catch my drift." He winked at Shatter with a growl.

"Do that one more time and I shall make sure that you will only be able to intake energon with a pump." Shatter would threaten the mech.

As this was happening, Brawl and the seekers stood on the sidelines and we're watching the whole thing. Entertained and distracted, they no longer felt entrapped in a ship with nothing else to do. At least for the time being.

"Oh come on Shatter, you and I should totally go see a movie together." Knockout slipped to her side and wrapped an arm around her. "I know this great Earth film about a magical girl who quite literally let it go."

"That sounds appalling." She hissed.

Before Nickel could scold Knockout, a vehicon by the communications panel called for her attention. The officers of the Storm Slicer approached the vehicon and prepared themselves for whatever news that was to come.

"Commander, I am receiving a distress signal coming from an unknown source!" He informed them. "We are trying to decode it, but we are only receiving an unreadable message."

"Is there any way to find out who is sending this distress signal?" Nickel asked.

"I do not- wait, we are just receiving some kind of recording, ma'am!"

"Play it." She ordered.

"Stop!" Thunderblast's voice boomed out of the audio. "Flamewar, Steve, help! He's trying to throw me out of the ship!"

Then a mech's voice would be heard by the crew. "No point in running Decepticreep, come here so Ah can show you how we Autobots give seekers like you a good hello! POW!" They heard a heavy slam from the recording, and it sounded as if some bot had their lights knocked out.

Then the audio cuts there. The groups stared at the screen for a second, then Nickel slammed her palm into her face. "Did... Did Thunderblast send us a distress signal by mistake?" She hoped she was wrong.

"No," Thankfully Slipstream was quick to shoot down Nickel's guess. "Thunderblast is an idiot, but she isn't dumb enough to accidentally call an enemy for help. So it is either a trap, or someone else sent that distress signal."

"Then it's a trap." Shatter concluded. "There is also the fact that an Autobot exists on the ship. We do not know how many, but it is definite that we must be careful with our next move."

"But we can still work with this," Knockout spoke. "If we track them with the distress signal, we can bring them down easily. And there is a possibility that they do not know about the distress signal, so there's a silver lining in the clouds."

"Very well," Nickel had finally come to a conclusion. "vehicon, lock on that signal and do not let it out of your scanners!"

Brawl slammed his fist into his palm. "Finally some action! I'll go freshen up, and hopefully we'll have a fight!"

"Oh yeah," Thrust agreed. "I can't wait to get out and fly! I was getting some cramps in my joints."

"Remember!" All eyes turned to Nickel as she stood among the taller bots. "Tarn wants them all alive, so please, don't break 'em."

With that, the whole room cheered. They prepared for a battle that would certainly come. Meanwhile, Blitzwing was in a lab within the Nemesis. Leisurely working on a device of unknown purpose, unaware of the threat that would come.

Author's Note:

Team Arcee is about to get some visitors.

Team Nickel are sent to fetch the Nemesis.

Team Blitzwing has more members than anyone believed.

Team Tarn has big plans.

What will happen next?

Comments

[redmar]

I wonder when Rainbow is going to receive a huge lecture about her idiotic behaviour. Pony Twilight would certainly be interested in the Transformers. I wonder who exactly the Autobot on the Nemesis is.

[The Voice in the Water]

Dammit Dash.

[Spazz Kid]

"There's nothing here, oh Commander Nickel." Knockout had pointed out the obvious as the Storm Slicer drifted through space.

Storm Slicer?
stayhipp.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/SpongeBon.jpg

[MikiStenbeck]

"Oh come on Shatter, you and I should totally go see a movie together." Knockout slipped to her side and wrapped an arm around her. "I know this great Earth film about a magical girl who quite literally let it go."

sooooooooo many movie references. love it, :)