Six Times the Charm
A fanfic by Bill T. Taylor
a.k.a. RedStreak
Galvatron’s flagship charted its way past the twisted, gaseous filaments of the aptly-named Veil Nebula. The Kaon was burning energon fast, desperately seeking out the path of the far flung Scorpinok. Already the Decepticons had traveled some thirty-odd thousand light years from both Galvinok and their prior host, Char on this quest, far beyond the safe, entrenched protectorate of Decepticon space. And yet, Galvatron’s determination on finding the lost Hive mechanoid and its host remained fixed as granite.
“No,” he told his crew, “We are not turning back until we have retrieved Scorpinok; we are not turning back until we locate the whereabouts of our Decepticon Headmasters and Cyclonus…and…..”
Galvatron shook an angry fist, bellowing, “WE ARE NOT TURNING BACK UNTIL I HAVE ZARAK HIMSELF IN MY GRIP TO ANSWER FOR HIS ACTIONS!”
Six-Shot was smacked, flung to the floor where he skidded against a wall, Scourge, Misfire, and Slugslinger standing to his sides silently. Six-Shot struggled to get up, looking up at his commander. He tried to say, “But…Galvatron, we’ve been out searching for over a decacycle! We’ve been out of contact with Galvinok for two weeks, and the Kaon’s fuel supply is nearly depleted! Surely we….”
A section of the wall just to Six-Shot’s left exploded, a blackened crater left in the console with a few wires sparking. Galvatron was now standing up from his throne, and as he stepped down from it the other Decepticons in the room began to tremble. “I…have had…ENOUGH of your excuses!” he declared. Walking slowly toward Six-Shot, he said to him, his gold cannon humming loudly, “It was you, Six-Shot, who calculated the Scorpinok’s trajectory; you directed us to this sector of space. If anyone is to blame for this mission…it…is…your own…incompetence!” Galvatron then raised the glowing barrel of his weapon up, pointing at Six-Shot’s head.
“And the last time,” Galvatron added, “I dealt with incompetence…was when Starscream sought to take my place…and need I elaborate on how I dealt with him?”
Just as the fall of another Decepticon seemed eminent, a just noticeable pinging started. Galvatron paused, glancing toward his throne once more. On one arm, a light was bleeping, a signal. Leaving Six-Shot he returned to his proper place, clicking on the small holoprojector built in. “Report,” he said into the device.
Blast-Off of the Combaticons was displayed on the holoprojector. Dutifully he said to Galvatron, “Lord Galvatron, the quantum fission trail has reappeared on our scanners. It ends near a planet dangerously close to a pulsar within this nebula.”
“Good,” said Galvatron is a less irritable voice, “Divert our course towards the planet, regardless of what danger the pulsar poses. Use our reserve energon – I want Scorpinok and the Hive now!”
“But Galvatron,” Blast-Off wearily said, “Without the reserves, there…won’t be anything left at all! T-There won’t even be enough to repower ourselves either….”
“I…said…NOW!”
Renewed fires burst forth from the Kaon’s thrusters. Swiftly it turned to port, flying square towards a blipping pinpoint of light, the Veil Pulsar. In mere minutes it crossed billions of kilometers, passing charred worldlets and asteroids, ahead one modest, rocky planet hardly bigger than Earth or Nebulos.
Six-Shot stared with an odd fixation on the planet circling the flickering pulsar. “Darius,” he uttered to himself.
Scourge overheard, looking to the six-changer. “You know this planet?”
“Yes…a long…long time ago,” Six-Shot replied, recalling old, very old, memory files.
In the past, a Cybertron ark-ship flew into the stellar cloud of the nebula, steering toward its brightest star that harbored a thriving system of young planets. One select world was chosen, the ship, already worn from centuries of stellar sojourns, settled on that world of crystal forests and tranquil methane pools. It became a haven that endured for more than a millennium…until….
The huge orange star that had drawn the pilgrim transformers shuttered. In a white, pulsing flash, it exploded. In the span of seconds, the supernova engulfed all the orbiting worlds, consuming them. While others entirely vaporized, the haven-world was spared its full wrath, char-blasted on one hemisphere as earthquakes and fires consumed what remained. Cities, buildings, homes, all that was accomplished…devastated.
Amid the still-steaming ruins, one transformer survived. He groaned, shoving the wreckage aside as he called out, “Merritran! Son! Merritran! Where are you?” His green and white armor plating bashed, and yet still he searched…and searched…until nothing…no one…was found. Sobbing, he stretched out his arms and yelled in anguish.
Six-Shot shook his head. Now he was onboard the Kaon, returning to the very world he was forced to abandon. “Merritran, my love,” he softly said, “If only….”
“What is that garble you’re talking?” Slugslinger asked, his hands hugging his hips as he stared with a raised eyebrow at Six-Shot. The six-changer frowned, his face plate stark. He shoved the Targetmaster rudely.
“Nothing of your concern.”
The planet Darius came into range. The Kaon continued on course vigilantly, until….
At the rear of the ship, the main thrusters began to flicker and wane. Finally, ending with one final burst, they fizzled out entirely. Auxiliary thrusters kicked in, desperately trying to maintain stability. Soon their own reserve of energon drew low, the Kaon steering, wavering more and more pronouncedly. Onboard the bridge, the Combaticons desperately tried to navigate, Galvatron grappling his throne to stay on.
“Our reserve energon is depleted,” Onslaught reported, putting all his strength into keeping the steering column straight, “We are losing all power to thrusters!”
“We’re going to crash!” Scourge yelled.
“Not if I have anything to do about it!” Six-Shot grumbled, turning and rushing out. He entered and flew out of the Kaon’s open hanger, transforming to his suborbital jet form and darting to the rear of the ship. As the limb of Darius grew large ahead, he ordered his onboard systems, “All power to engines…NOW!” From his own thrusters erupted a giant flare, one that guided the Kaon as Six-Shot clung to its underside. The vessel steadied itself, steering around a range of perilously sharp mountains that just missed grazing the portside nacelle. The Kaon nevertheless dropped in altitude, finally ending its galactic journey by plowing a mile-long trench into the ground over a barren plain.
Six-Shot dug himself out, dirt and grit clinging to his formerly polished plating. Already Galvatron stood with the Combaticons and Targetmasters at his side. “Finally,” he said, looking down at the dirtied Six-Shot, “I thought you’d never get out. Come – we’ve already scouted the Scorpinok’s location.”
As the others marched out, Six-Shot, glaring at Galvatron’s backside, grumbled softly, “You’re welcome.”
The troop of Decepticons marched through dusty ruins that had lain undisturbed for many centuries. As the eleven of them moved up a hill, a shot flew out, blasting apart the base of one ruined structure. “An attack!” Scourge yelled, he and the others taking cover quickly. Looming behind the hill was the wreak of Scorpinok, battered yet clearly operational. The Decepticons scattered, Scorpinok blasting whole chunks of the landscape apart.
Galvatron fired a few shots before ducking behind a stony block. Turning to his right, where Slugslinger and Six-Shot were taking cover, he ordered the pair, “Six-Shot, Slugslinger, you two attack Scorpinok’s flanks – create a breach in his armor!”
Pathetically Slugslinger shrugged his shoulders, asking, “But how? I don’t have a weapon!”
“Oh for crying out loud!” Six-Shot exclaimed angrily. He transformed, shrinking down into a blaster than fit into Slugslinger’s palm. “There! Must I do everything?”
A shot rang out. In a yellow flash the ground between Slugslinger and Galvatron exploded. The two Decepticons were flung in opposite directions, the ground between them cracking apart. Tripping, Slugslinger let go of Six-Shot, the six-changer falling straight into the new-formed rift. Falling into the dark chasm still in blaster form he yelled out, “SLUGSLINGER YOU MORON! HELP!”
Six-Shot banged against the sides of the rift hard. As he free-fell he transformed back to robotic form, but before he had a second to act something jagged ran through his backside. “AGGGH!” Six-Shot yelled, a stalagmite piercing violently through his torso, sparking wires and circuits exposed. For a moment he was in agony, in the next stasis lock. As he lay there, his limbs slacking as he remained pinned to the sharp rock, a pair of yellow-orange eyes peered out from the darkness.
“Father?”
Hours, perhaps days later…Six-Shot’s optics restored themselves. Above him was a blurred figure…a transformer! He could barely move, and yet he tried. “Hold still, your initialization circuits are still damaged. Give me a moment,” he spoke.
“Where…where am I?” Six-Shot groaned. The stranger closed the main circuit panel in his chest. Feeling returned to his hands, arms, and legs, his body rebooting and restoring itself. Six-Shot’s eyes refocused upon the stranger, widening as he recognized him. “You!” he uttered in surprise, “I…I somehow…recognize you.”
“You’re home again, father,” replied the gold-faced transformer, “and it is good to see you again. Though…” He glanced at the Decepticon icon marked upon Six-Shot left breast. “You seem…different.”
“Yes,” Six-Shot told his ‘son’, “Things have changed…a lot…since I left. Now….”
“SIX-SHOT!” a loud voice blared. Six-Shot and the other glanced up, Galvatron and the five Combaticons descending from above. Galvatron landed, immediately saying to Six-Shot “So this is where I find you…in a hole…talking to some…damned mechanoid!” He raised up his arm cannon, targeting the stranger.
“No Galvatron!” Six-Shot exclaimed, stepping between his leader and son, “This is…my son…a survivor of the Darius colony. Please…don’t shoot him!”
Galvatron groaned. “You’ve got to be kidding me! You…a son? Affection does not become you, Six-Shot. Why should I care to spare him? We need to get off this rock now that we’ve recaptured Scorpinok and the traitorous Hive!”
The son of Six-Shot spoke up, “If it’s energy you need, I’m sure our colony can spare enough to help.”
“The colony?” Six-Shot asked, “But Darius was burnt away centuries ago!”
The transformer laughed. “Oh, sure…the surface. We just rebuilt underground! Here, I’ll even take you all to it if you wish.” With that, he transformed. Becoming a huge, treaded drill tank, Six-Shot’s son drove right into a wall, burrowing through at rapid speed. Hesitantly, the Decepticons followed behind…to a discovery beyond comparison.
At the other end, a giant cave, easily large enough to engulf Trypticon, Scorpinok, or even the wretched sprawl of the Autobot’s Iacon lay, and within its walls was carved out from the very mantle of the planet a hidden city as great as any that existed before. Even from a distance they saw hundreds of transformers living as they had for centuries, dwelling among carved structures of incredible design and beauty.
“Incredible,” uttered the crude Swindle, his awe shared by the others.
“Bah! This suits us little more! This whole city is primitive, millennia out of date by Decepticon standard! Even…wait.” The Decepticon’s eyes perceived something. Amid the tall buildings, one isolated corner was occupied by an odd, ring-shaped structure. “What is that?” Galvatron asked Six-Shot’s son, pointing to the one building.
He looked. “I…believe it was an old space bridge…or at least one we tried to construct after the sun went nova when some wished to evacuate. However, when we constructed the new colony here there was no need to….”
“It may be a…bit primitive,” Galvatron interrupted, “But just perhaps this city could be of use to me after all.” He turned to the Combaticons, barking out, “Go down to the ancient space bridge and make it operational.”
“What do we look like, Constructicons?” Vortex whined.
“That wasn’t a choice…IT WAS AN ORDER!” shouted Galvatron. As the five-some rushed off, Galvatron faced Six-Shot and his progeny. “Now…as for you.” He stepped up, his shadow stretching over the transformer, Six-Shot standing aside as Galvatron approached him. He laid a cold hand on the nervous ‘bot’s shoulder, but his face remained as stolid as ever. “If you truly are your father’s bolts and circuits, then perhaps we can tap your potential…forge you into another Decepticon.” Smirking, Galvatron further said, “Your test shall be…a little dust ball of a planet called…Earth.”
Gold Bug, Spike, and RedStreak stood by the railing on a tourist boat escorting them to the State of Liberty on Liberty Isle. As they sailed by Ellis Isle, the group received a grand view of Manhattan to the Northeast, its numerous skyscrapers shimmering in the noon sunlight.
“Man, this place reminds me of Cybertron,” Gold Bug said, sighing heavenly.
RedStreak, looming tall over the others, quoted, “It does, Gold Bug. Even after almost three years of being here, this planet still surprises me. You humans are blessed by Primus to inherit such beauty.”
“Heh,” Spike laughed, wearing a leather jacket and jeans instead of an exosuit, “You could say that. Still, it hasn’t always been so peaceful, but that’s not your fault Autobots.” As he spoke, he gazed toward one part of Manhattan where a new set of towers stood in place of an old pair. Spike bowed his head a little, remembering the shock of that September day eight years ago. Glancing up, he yelled, “Hey Chip! Enjoying the view from up there?”
From RedStreak’s head Chip yelled back “Ha! And quite a view it is!” Inside he sat behind RedStreak’s blue optics, looking out at the world through them as if they were his own. “I might still be stuck behind a console in here,” Chip admitted, “But it feels great riding on your shoulders Red!”
RedStreak laughed. “Hey! Don’t flatter me! Wouldn’t wanna offset my ego circuits now would you?” Then, as his laughter paused, RedStreak swore he felt something. “Say,” he asked Gold Bug and Spike, “Do either of you feel a breeze suddenly?”
A clash of purple lightning blasted out of the sky. High above the city a whirlwind formed in the span of a minute. Even from the hydrofoil they stood upon Spike, RedStreak, and Gold Bug felt it, strong enough to blow the hats and coats off the other human passengers. Looking square at it Gold Bug muttered, “No, it couldn’t be!”
“Couldn’t be what?” RedStreak asked naively.
At the eye of the storm high above the city a beam of violet light stuck down. A few speck-like figures flew down it, vanishing somewhere in the streets of the Big Apple. “A Decepticon space bridge!” Spike shouted. He turned about, running down a flight of stairs leading to the main cabins within. “I’m getting my exosuit on! Gold Bug, tell the captain to turn about…RedStreak and Chip….”
“We’re going to engage those Decepti-creeps and nip this problem in the bud!” RedStreak swore. He leaped off the boat, transforming to starship form and zooming toward the city shore itself with Chip in his cockpit.
Six-Shot’s foot stomped upon a parked car as Cyclonus and Scourge stood behind him. Cyclonus glanced about. “It worked,” he declared, “The space bridge teleported us to Earth.”
“Ugh, not that I’d wanna put much credit in the Combaticons’ work!” Scourge grumbled, “I thought we were supposed to be in Washington, not New York!”
“It does not matter,” Cyclonus replied, “We’re here to scan alternate forms, as well as ‘test’ our new comrade’s abilities.”
“My son will do fine,” Six-Shot assured Cyclonus. He turned to his son, also brought here by the space bridge. Six-Shot handed to him a pair of marble-sized lenses. “Here son,” he offered them to the somewhat twitching newcomer, “Insert these into your optics – the quantum scanners will allow you to scan and assume additional forms besides your crude drilling apparatus. You’ll need more powerful weapons to survive a battle!”
“Well…as you say, father,” Six-Shot’s son replied. He flipped his optics open, popping the little lenses inside. As he proceeded, the click of a gun caught the attention of the Decepticons.
“Freeze! NYPD!” one policeman yelled, aiming his pistol square at Six-Shot. In minutes three squad cars pulled up, more policemen appearing and drawing on the four transformers.
“Oh this is pathetic,” Six-Shot groaned, “Seven humans…against four Decepticons? Ha!”
A bullet fired. It deflected off Six-Shot’s chest, barely leaving a scratch. Gasping, the newcomer stepped up before his father to defend him. “Leave my father alone!” he yelled to the officer. Then, as he frowned upon the human, a pair of shimmering beams fired out of his eyes.
“AGH!” the officer yelled, his gun suddenly hot as fire. The beams were locked onto his gun, a holographic outline projected over the primitive projectile weapon. The beams vanished when he dropped the gun, the officer falling backward onto the concrete sidewalk as Six-Shot’s son began to transform.
“What in the name of Char?” Six-Shot muttered, his son flipping skyward and shrinking down. He reached up and grabbed a green and red laser pistol. “Ah, he scanned the weapon and transformed into a gun! Excellent form son!” Six-Shot congratulated, whirling the pistol in his hand and cocking it.
“Bah,” Scourge said, “A tank would have been more useful!”
A loud screech veered overhead. A red, angled craft flew over the city, arcing back and veering toward the Decepticons’ position on Madison Avenue. Six-Shot narrowed his eyes. “Hmmm…we shall see, Scourge. Here! Take my son as a weapon, Cyclonus, use me!”
He tossed the pistol to Scourge, Six-Shot himself transforming into a blaster for Cyclonus. As RedStreak zoomed over Madison Square Garden just a few blocks away, the pair with their six-changer guns fired upon the Autobot flyer. Bright pairs of plasma fire flew out from the barrels, narrowly missing the starfighter’s wings.
RedStreak returned fire, the small cockpit laser slicing up the pavement before Scourge and Cyclonus. As he swooped back up, a large blast went clean through his starboard wing. “AGH! Damn it, what the Pit WAS that?” RedStreak exclaimed.
Chip, attending to numerous flashing displays, only replied, “I dunno…but it managed to cut even through High-Q’s impenetrable plating!”
Beginning to swerve for a second pass RedStreak swore, “Then that’s that! I’m gonna drop my torpedoes right on those Decepticons at point blank….”
“Red!” Chip blared, “There’s hundreds of people on that street! You can’t just launch missiles in the middle of New York’s busiest sector!”
RedStreak submitted. “Alright, then we’re just gonna have to lure those ‘Cons away from the population, but I can’t sustain flight mode with that kinda damage. We’ll have to head back to the….”
Another shot rang out, striking RedStreak’s left wing. The potent blast caused the Autobot to burst into flames, spiraling into the Hudson River with a mighty splash. Scourge looked to his hand at the gun that struck even the swift RedStreak. “Finally, a decent weapon instead of that loudmouth Fracus.”
Six-Shot and his son transformed, resuming their full-sized robotic forms. “Ha!” Six-Shot laughed at Scourge, “And you wanted him to be a tank! Now to finish the job – where there’s one Autobot there’s bound to be a couple more of the rust buckets too!”
The quartet of Decepticons took to the air, flying toward the south end of Manhattan. There, among the numerous piers and docked vessels they spied Gold Bug and Headmaster Spike beside on hydrofoil, holding position as the other tourists disembarked. “There they are!” Cyclonus said, “Decepticons…transform and attack!” Six-Shot transformed to jet form, as did Cyclonus and Scourge, diving down and firing on the pier.
The forth transformer hesitated, watching as the three Decepticons rushed to battle, blasting away even as innocents rushed away before them. Two transformers, one gold and the second ruby-red, fired back from the ground, holding their ground near one pier. “This is so strange,” the transformer uttered, “Why do they fight to protect those primitive creatures?”
“We’ve got to protect this area until the humans evacuate!” Gold Bug exclaimed. He aimed his gun skyward, firing off several rounds at Scourge. RedStreak, standing alongside him, fired in concert, leaving a sizeable scratch in Six-Shot’s armor.
Chip, monitoring the situation through RedStreak’s optics, suggested, “We’re too vulnerable if we remain here on the ground; Red, think you can convert to flight mode while Gold Bug and I hold the fort here?”
“Dunno; I don’t know with the damage my wings took if I can fly much less fight, but what the heck!” RedStreak’s head detached, transforming into an independent transformer while the Autobot body began to change. Then, in mid-transformation, RedStreak jammed, the Autobot grunting, “Slag! I…can’t shift forms! The damage I took must have been greater than either of us thought….”
Six-shot’s son hovered high over the hydrofoil where the Autobots remained, watching curiously as they continued to defend the humans. Suddenly Six-Shot himself appeared, transforming from his jet mode and hovering alongside. “Well, what are you waiting for? Fire on them!” Six-Shot demanded.
“I…” The transformer hesitated, his twin rifles lowering in his hands, trying to explain his hesitation. “I was planning to scan that aquatic vessel.”
Six-Shot noted the hydrofoil, going, “Hmmm…very few Decepticons if any possess a boat for an alternate mode. Proceed to scan it then!” His son glared squarely at the hydrofoil, narrowing his eyes. They brightened, becoming like two stars as he fired out a gold scanning beam.
On the boat Gold Bug jumped off just as the last few passengers rushed off. “There, that’s the last of ‘em! Let’s hope ‘ol Spike has gotten ahold of Prime!”
Chip wholly agreed. “Yeah, we can’t fight two-against-one forever like this! Come on, we’d better find a better place to hold our ground!” In his exosuit Chip bolted up back onto RedStreak’s shoulders. However, at the same moment he merged, the scanning beams enveloped the hydrofoil, and with it RedStreak.
“AGGGGGGGH!” RedStreak yelled, his body suddenly becoming hot as fire. The beam passed quickly, but it was enough to cause the Headmaster Autobot to fall to his hands and knees, groaning wearily.
In the sky the patterns of both the Autobot and the ship were absorbed into the mainframe of Six-Shot’s progeny. Gasping, his body spasmed. He suddenly transformed, this time into a starfighter. “Ahhhh!” he blared, finding himself zooming unbelievably fast. As Six-Shot watched in surprise we grazed the water’s surface, impulsively transforming into a green and red hydrofoil next, and then back into a starfighter.
Gold Bug and the weakened RedStreak watch in shock from the pier. “Oh no! That Decepticon’s absorbed RedStreak’s starfighter form!”
“And with it,” Chip stated from inside RedStreak’s head, “all the technology High-Q put into it! We can’t let them assimilate that kind of power!”
“Then let’s stop him before they get away!” RedStreak promptly suggested.
In the sky Scourge and Cyclonus transformed and watched along with Six-Shot as his son scrapped the skies above New York wildly. “Incredible! Your son has somehow transformed into an aerial form.” Cyclonus said to Six-Shot.
Suddenly the starfighter zoomed sharply over his fellow Decepticons, nearly scrapping off their heads. “Yeah,” Scourge grumbled, “But the fool hasn’t a clue how to control it!” The jet screeched away, diving toward the sole patch of green amid the massive human city. “Slag! He’s headed toward that park! Rrrr…now we’re gonna have to retrieve him! Six-Shot, you’d better get your son in order, or else!” The trio of Decepticons gave chase to the wayward son, flying toward Central Park.
A loud yell filled the air over Central Park as a jet fell straight into Central Park Zoo. In the panther cages, the big cats growled and leapt away as the jet crashed nosecone-forward right into what was formerly their wading pool. For a minute the jet stuck straight up like a flung dart, then he let out a moan, transforming to robotic form. “Ugh, what happened?” Glancing around at the barred cage surrounding him, he added, “And more importantly, w-where am I?”
“Grrrrrrrrrrr!” came a growl from his side. The transformer glanced and shuttered, a big black panther growling in a deep, rumbling voice. A second growl resonated from his left, two panthers now before him. The son of Six-Shot got up, but this only agitated the cats further. One stepped toward him, its mouth snarling with fanged teeth.
“Go away!” he warned the cat, and he aimed his rifle, meaning to give the beast a grazing shot. Instead, his eyes flashed out a pulse, targeting the panther. It growled loudly, and then thudded to the ground, rendered unconscious by the beam’s broiling heat. The transformer once more shape-shifted, this time into a great mechanical beast. The gold eyes from its fiery red head looked upon the second panther, and flashing diamond-edged steel teeth, it gave a bitter growl. The cat, mewing wearily, scampered to the farthest corner of its cage.
At the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Sixty-Fifth Street, a whole fleet of cars came, lead by a single red truck with a long gray trailer. They stopped, and the lead truck transformed into a mighty Autobot. “Autobots,” Optimus Prime called out, “Transform!”
Hot Rod, Blur, Chromedome, Hound, and Springer all shifted from vehicle to robot, all five Autobots standing tall amid the crowded urban stretch surrounding them. Moments later, Gold Bug rolled up in car mode, towing behind him RedStreak in his ravaged starfighter form. Once Chips got out, he bonded with RedStreak while Gold Bug transformed as well.
“Prime, there’s Decepticons on the loose!” Gold Bug immediately exclaimed.
“I deduced that much when Spike alerted me on his com-link,” Prime somewhat bluntly replied to the smaller Autobot.
A loud roar echoed from the direction of Central Park, followed in turn by the screams of a dozen humans. “That hardly sounds like a Decepticon to me, but trouble you bet I can smell!” Hound stated.
All eight Auotbots rushed into Central Park Zoo. Toward the Big Cat exhibit they saw iron bars warped and worn down, a large metal paw with sharp talons standing on it. The gold-eye beast stared at the Autobots, its crude green-coated wings flexing slightly on its back.
Prime raised up his rifle and aimed dead center at the panther-bot’s red head. As the other Autobots followed suit, Optimus Prime said, “Alright, whoever or whatever you are, stand down and surrender! You and the Decepticons have already done more than enough damage to this city…but I’m still giving you the chance for a peaceful surrender.”
The metal creature, itself looking frightened, started to back away, standing down as Prime requested. Suddenly a blast erupted from Prime’s right foot, a chunk of concrete carved out by an energy blast. From above Scourge, holding Six-Shot in weapon mode in his hand, yelled out to Prime, “No Prime! You stand down and surrender!” With a sweep of his arm, he flung Six-Shot at the Autobot, Six-Shot transforming into a white winged wolf, howling as he tackled Optimus Prime.
Prime slammed backside-down to the concrete, Six-Shot’s claws already digging into his chest and abdominal grating. He arced his feet back, delivering a powerful double-kick to the Decepticon beast. Six-Shot flipped and landed on his feet beside his son. “Now son! Help me destroy these Autobots!” he snarled.
“But…why? I don’t see….”
“THEY’RE OUR ENEMIES! TRANSFORM AND ATTACK NOW!” Six-Shot roared angrily.
“You’re outnumbered, Six-Shot!” Hot Rod told the six-changer.
“Wrong, Autobot trash! You’re the ones outnumbered here!” Six-Shot transformed, becoming a weapon-loaded carrier car. He fired off a dozen shots, his own son transforming to drill mode and ramming through the crowd of Autobots before transforming into a starfighter and sweeping back over them. Together the two six-changers knocked the Autobots off their feet, changing forms constantly and blasting, slashing, crushing them with more weapons than even eight Autobots could contend with.
The pair retreated back to the sky to rejoin Scourge and Cyclonus above. “Excellent devastation!” Cyclonus applauded, “Your combined transformation abilities kept the Autobots from counter-attacking!”
“Yes, your son switches forms more quickly than you, Six-Shot!” even Scourge applauded.
“Yes…yes,” Six-Shot smugly said, looking upon his son. Laying a hand on his shoulder, he told him, “From now on, my son, you shall be called Quickswitch for your prowess in today’s battle!”
Suddenly the sky swirled, the space bridge above reopening. “Galvatron must be nearly prepared! Come, Decepticons! Let us return to Darius!” Cyclonus said. The four Decepticons transformed to jet mode, rocketing into the eye of the vortex just before it closed, the sky slowly returning to normal.
“Darius?” Optimus Prime mumbled.
Just a few hours later, after extensive repairs to Prime and his warriors, the Autobots congregated as Fortress Maximus orbited between the Earth and its moon. Optimus Prime punched in a file into one of Maximus’ consoles, searching for something as Gold Bug asked loudly, “What are you talking about with ‘Darius’ and ‘lost colonies’ and whatnot?”
An image appeared on the large console, of a barren, desolate rock of a planet. “Darius,” explained Optimus Prime, “was a long-lost colony world in early Cybertronian history, not unlike the humans’ Roanoke colony in their colonial era or Atlantis of myth. After eleven hundred years of paradise, it was supposedly destroyed in a supernova explosion. A reconnaissance mission was to have been conducted…but the Great War erupted before anyone could attempt it.”
“Soyou’resayingGalvatronandhiscrudyDecepticonsareonDarius? Huh? IsthatitOptimusPrime?” Blur said at his usual hurried pace.
“In so few words, Blur, yes,” Prime replied.
“But why are we going there?” asked Spike, “If it’s like as you say, then Darius is nothing but ruins. Surely….”
“That new transformer was neither Auotbot nor Decepticon…his hesitation to harm any of us proves that. If he came from Darius as I suspect…then there may be other survivors there as well…and I dare not contemplate what Galvatron plans for the rest of them,” Prime said.
Light years away and beneath Darius’ bleak surface the space bridge reopened in the planet’s subterranean surface. Galvatron stood there in anticipation as Quickswitch, Six-Shot, Scourge, and Cyclonus emerged from the opening ring. “Lord Galvatron, we have done as you wished. My son, Quickswitch is now…what the?” Six-Shot began to say.
Throughout the city the inhabitants were hard at work. Most were working upon a massive, tower-like laser being built right atop their city square. Others were remodeling various buildings into command posts and bunkers, converting once majestic and aesthetically-pleasing architecture into Decepticon military drab. They were overseen by the Combaticons, the warriors holding their weapons ready should any worker slacken or get out of line.
“Galvatron,” Six-Shot uttered in disbelief, “What are you doing to the Darians?”
“Putting them to work,” Galvatron muttered, “They refused to fight so I had the Combaticons turn this place into a stronghold we can make use of. In addition, this shall become the new powerhouse of the Decepticons….”
Hesitantly, Quickswitch spoke out. “But…Darius, our home, is a dead rock. There is little more than enough energy to power the city, not an armada.”
“Oh, but there is more than you thought,” Galvatron corrected the youth. Blast-Off approached Galvatron, nodding his head. Galvatron, smiling confidently, nodded back. The Combaticon turned and signaled the others. A switch was pulled, and the underground city began to shake.
The tower structure in the city square rose up higher and higher. Above it, the chasm ceiling began to part, shafts of light never before seen shining down. In the alien sky above, a single pin-point of light brighter than all the surrounding stars shimmered prominently. The tower aimed, firing toward the violent pulsar a narrow beam of light, striking directly at the star.
The Decepticons gathered around the tower’s base. Watching as the pulsar sun began to pulse brighter and brighter, Cyclonus asked his lord, “Galvatron, what exactly is happening?”
Giving little more than a glance to his underling, Galvatron replied, “This modified drilling beam will cut to the pulsar’s core, tapping the near-infinite power source within.” As he spoke, energon cubes were being pumped out through one side of the tower, loading onto a great conveyor belt by the dozens.
Quickswitch tugged at Six-Shot’s shoulder, grabbing his attention. “Father,” he said to him in a whispering, “Do you not see what this madman is doing? We welcomed him here, and now he’s taking advantage of our city, enslaved our family and friends! How can you allow this?”
Six-Shot glanced at the Darius transformers loading the energon cubes with Vortex and Brawl aiming their guns at them. He stared a moment, then looked back to Galvatron silently. “Galvatron is our master now,” he told his son, “We serve him now; nothing else matters.”
Quickswitch could not believe those words. “But father!” he protested.
Six-Shot turned around with narrow eyes. Grabbing Quickswitch by the throat he harshly murmured, “Do not contradict me! We serve Galvatron…nothing else matters! Understand?” He then tossed his own son to the ground, returning his gaze to his leader.
Quickswitch felt something in his spark chamber breaking; were he human, one could say it was his heart. “Father,” he softly said, his gold eyes quivering.
Above Darius, a bright red flash of light signaled the arrival of the Autobots. From the swirling transwarp gateway emerged RedStreak…and behind him in turn, Fortress Maximus. “Chip to Optimus Prime,” Chip called in from RedStreak’s cockpit, “The transwarp drive link-up was successful, but RedStreak’s transwarp cells are nearly drained. Doubt a return trip is possible, at least with transwarp.”
“Affirmative,” Prime replied, “Do RedStreak’s sensors confirm we’re at our intended destination?”
The console before Chip returned a reply. “Roger that, Prime,” RedStreak said, “We’re at the Veil Pulsar, near Darius…but I’m getting some really odd readings! I’ll download ‘em to you stat.”
Cerebros, Optimus Prime, and Gold Bug stared at an image of the flashing pulsar on their screen. “Hmmm, that’s odd. There’s activity coming from the pulsar…and it’s growing more intense by the minute,” Cerebros said.
“But aren’t pulsars dead stars…except, ya known, for spinning like flashlights?” Gold Bug asked.
“Clearly this is something unnatural,” Prime said, “And I distinctly suspect the Decepticons. Fortress Maximus, prepare for engagement on planet Darius.”
Below the planet, the rumbling from the laser tower continued, tapping the pulsar’s power. Cyclonus paused, unsure of something. “Scourge, did you just feel something?” he asked his fellow Decepticon.
“Feel what? Aside from the damn shaking of that machine?” Scourge asked, implying the tower’s rhythmic drumming.
There was a more sizeable quake. As the Decepticons looked on, Quickswitch knelt to the ground and confirmed it. “Something big has just landed…on the surface too. My seismic sensor probes know it.”
Six-Shot then added, “Then it can be only one thing.”
“Fortress Maximus,” Galvatron uttered, eyes flaring red. To Cyclonus and the Combaticons he yelled out, “They must have detected the pulsar drilling beam! Quickly, ready Scorpinok! Cyclonus, Quickswitch, Six-Shot…we’re going to handle this Autobot aggression…personally.”
Almost directly above the colony’s subterranean position Fortress Maximus had landed and already fortified his place. Several Autobots were already disembarking, Hot Rod and Blur among them, readily seeing the drilling beam less than a mile away shooting up from the ground.
“If that’s not where the Decepticons are, then I’m an oversized ATM!” Hot Rod said.
From beyond the horizon a great laser beam fired. Hot Rod and Blur ducked, the blast hitting the forward section of Fortress Maximus. Looking to Hot Rod as they laid their in the dust, Blur said, “Okaysoyou’renotanATMmachine?Okayokayokay?”
Scorpinok lumber over the horizon, awkward yet more than capable in battle. The Autobots exchanged fire with it as Cyclonus guided the Decepticon-Hive war machine with Headmaster Vorath at his side.
“Be thankful Galvatron directed his rage against Zarak and not you, Vorath,” Cyclonus reminded the Hive Headmaster, “Now help me steer this thing! Galvatron needs a distraction to implement his own strike.”
From behind, a boulder toward the rear of the Autobot fortress slid to one side, revealing a hidden passage. Through it Galvatron, Six-Shot, Quickswitch, and Scourge came up. “Now, before that accursed monstrosity has a chance to detect us!” Galvatron said. With his arm cannon he blasted out a hole in a vent. Instantly the Decepticons rushed in.
“Decepticon intruders in lower halls,” Fortress Maximus boomed a warning to the Autobots, “Intervention suggested!”
Optimus Prime saw the security camera image of Galvatron and three others rushing inside. “It looks like Galvatron has arranged a party to meet up with us,” Prime said. Cocking his rifle, he told his fellow Autobots, “Well I’m rarely one to turn down an invitation! Autobots, prepare to roll out!”
Prime, Springer, Hound, and Cerebros immediately rushed down the corridors, rifles and pistols ready in their hands. As they turned a corner, they were immediately met by Decepticon firepower. Six-Shot and Quickswitch, in tank and drill modes respectively, fired their weapons, holding the Autobots at bay for a moment.
Hound, his shoulder-mounted missile swiveling into place, shouted, “Stick this in your tailpipe!” His missile fired, blasting right between the two six-changers, knocking both of their treads.
The other Decepticons rushed forward, going hand to hand with the Autobots. Scourge and Springer duked it out, Galvatron and Optimus Prime aiming their weapons at one another.
“This time,” Galvatron swore, “It shall be I that stands victorious, just like Megatron!”
Two triggers were pulled simultaneously. Prime’s rifle and Galvatron’s arm cannon fired. With glancing blows, one of the crests above Galvatron’s brow was shot, Prime’s rifle shot clear from his hand. Six-Shot, wrestling with Hound, grunted out “Take him Galvatron!”
Galvatron smirked, eyeing Prime as he stood his ground unsurely. Just yards away, Quickswitch glanced at both transformers, watching their moves. “Finally,” Galvatron smirked with delight, “The one Autobot whom I’ve respected and hated so much…at…my…mercy. Of course, there is no such thing as mercy to a Decepticon.”
A shot rang out. It wasn’t Galvatron’s. The gold cannon was flung from his forearm, crashing to the floor with a large hole in its gold casing. Quickswitch held his energy rifle in hand, glaring at the Decepticon leader. “No,” he simply said.
Six-Shot turned about, eyes wide. “WHAT? NO!” Shoving Hound away, he rushed to Galvatron’s side. “Galvatron! Take me!” he told his leader. The Decepticon transformed into a blaster, Galvatron taking it in hand.
Quickswitch bolted to Prime, transforming into a laser pistol and landing in Prime’s own hand. Optimus Prime, though very much surprised, didn’t miss the opportunity to aim back at Galvatron. Once more, the transformer commanders were matched.
From Galvatron’s hand, Six-Shot yelled, “Quickswitch! You betrayed us! Remove yourself from that Autobot!”
The pistol in Prime’s hand gave his reply. “No, Six-Shot, you betrayed us, me, mother, AND our people! How can you ally yourself with such evil and still be my father?”
Six-Shot, shaking bitterly in Galvatron’s grip, growled, “I…have…no…SON!” He fired out.
Prime darted away from the blast, a blast from Quickswitch returning the shot. Galvatron’s stomach blasted out, the Decepticon tyrant knocked back hard. Six-Shot leaped out and transformed, holding Galvatron in his arms. “Decepticons, retreat!” he yelled out. Glaring at Quickswitch, he vowed, “You will regret this…Quickswitch.”
The Decepticons fled, but there were other problems. In the sky, the pulsar pulsed more brightly and more frequently. Cerebros, connected directly with Fortress Maximus and all his sensors, sensed the disturbance. “Prime, we’ve got a situation here!”
Mere minutes later, back on the command tower, the Autobots observed the pulsar’s increasingly erratic behavior. The tower the fleeing Decepticons had constructed was piercing the pulsar’s heart...triggering some bizarre reaction from within. “If my calculations are correct, we’ve got maybe seventeen cycles before the pulsar explodes, taking out everything within a billion miles.”
“But my friends and family are still here!” Quickswitch stated, “Our colony, our city…everything would be destroyed completely this time!”
“But we haven’t enough time to evacuate the colony!” Hound reminded them.
“And RedStreak doesn’t have enough power to warp us out of here before that thing blows!” Gold Bug further added.
Prime thought a moment, then looked to Quickswitch. “Quickswitch, you scanned and took on the same flight mode as RedStreak, no?”
“Yes, I did…unintentionally,” Quickswitch honestly said.
“And Cerebros,” Optimus Prime next asked the Headmaster, “Using what equipment Galvatron left behind…could we initiate a tranwarp jump…a BIG one large enough to warp a planet?”
“Are you kidding Prime?” Cerebros uttered, “That’s beyond theoretically possible! The power consumption for such a warp is beyond…beyond….” He paused for a moment, thinking over again. “What the slag…maybe,” he frankly said.
Fifteen minutes later, Quickswitch, RedStreak, and Fortress Maximus were in a linear formation over Darius. In the distance, the pulsar was flashing like a light tower, each blast of light more brilliant than ten suns. “Configuration lock achieved,” Chip reported from RedStreak, “It’s now or never guys.”
At the laser tower’s base beneath Darius, Springer, Hound, and Gold Bug finished slapping together some jury-rigged equiptment. “Roger here Prime,” Springer reported, “The tower is reconfigured. We’re just lucky the Decepticons left just enough energon cubes to execute this stunt.”
“This is no stunt,” Spike replied from within Cerebros, “This is a matter of life and death.”
“In that case,” Prime added as he and Cerebros manned Fortress Maximus, “May Primus look down on us from the Matrix and spare us.” He then reached down and pressed a single master control button.
The laser tower lit up, becoming awash with a deep red glow. Its power surged up into space, striking first Fortress Maximus, then RedStreak, and then Quickswitch in turn. “Firing towing beams!” RedStreak radioed out. As their transwarp cells charged to maximum capacity, multiple rays of light of the same deep red stretched from RedStreak and Quickswitch to the planet, a great grid of energy enveloping the whole of Darius.
As Prime and Cerebros oversaw the ‘stunt’, Fortress Maximus reported, “Diverting all power to transwarp jump.”
The main power beam was focused, and before Quickswitch began to open the swirling transwarp gate. Slowly powering his thrusters, Quickswitch moved forward. RedStreak and Fortress Maximus fired up their engines as well, putting as much momentum as possible into it. Behind them, planet Darius, enveloped in the energy grid like a great stone in a net, began to move. Its orbit adjusted just slightly, on course to intercept the gateway.
“Prime!” Cerebros exclaimed, “The pulsar…it’s going nova!”
In the distance, the pulsar’s light faded…then brightened ten thousand fold. As the glare diminished, a great shockwave began moving out at nearly the speed of light. For every meter the planet moved closer to the transwarp gate, the overpowering shockwave moved nine thousand kilometers closer to them.
Then, as he centered the eye of the gateway, Quickswitch was sucked inside. RedStreak, still linked with him via the power beam, soon followed. Fortress Maximus approached more slowly, also sucked in. The shockwave growing now dangerously close, the planet was briefly illuminated in its deep blue-green light. Then, without notice…it popped through, the gateway sealing up just as the shockwave swept through.
Elsewhere in the galaxy, the great gateway reopened near golden Cybertron. Quickswitch, RedStreak, and Fortress Maximus all appeared, and with them…a brave new world.
“We did it,” Cerebros said in disbelief.
Prime looked down upon Cybertron, its cities glimmering beautifully. “No Cerebros, we’ve done so much more.” He watched as planet Darius began to circle about Cybertron, becoming a new large moon for the transformer home world. “We’ve saved the people of Darius…and returned them back to the world we all shared in common. We have all…returned home,” said Optimus Prime.
The End