Transformers Fan Fiction / Machine Robo Fan Fiction ❯ Transformers Vs Gobots: Storm of Steel ❯ Chapter 4

Pathfinder, an EW specialist, disabled Rogun's main weapon and confiscated his concealed weapons-- or rather, those in obvious hiding places as decoys. A hydraulic cylinder detached itself from each arm, extended legs to reveal themselves as disguised spyders, and-- trailing control cables because a transmission could trigger the security device-- disarmed the bomb, unlocked the Decepticon's restraints, enabled his main weapon, and began repairing the howitzer. Once Rogun was able to transform-- he swore, 'I'll return the damage the Guardians inflicted upon me, a hundredfold,' as pain shot from components the spyders were unable to repair-- he began repairing himself as the spyders began unlocking the cargo compartment he was imprisoned in.

Rogun no longer had ammunition for his main weapon, but the Decepticon wasn't unarmed; he removed a hydraulic cylinder from each leg, unfolded pistol grips from the disguised laser and grenade launcher, and waited. Click! 'Lord of Light, protect me.' Then he burst out of the cargo compartment, an alarm drowning out the sound of his shoulder ramming the door.

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Transformers Vs Gobots: Storm of Steel

Written by Sidewinder (aim9snake@hotmail.com), 2008-2009. Characters created and owned by ARCO, Bandai, Hanna-Barbera, Hasbro, Production Reed (formerly Ashi Productions), and Takara.

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'Patience,' Cy-Kill reminded himself as the spyders entered the temple. The silver titan feared not for himself-- he was confident nothing on Earth could endanger him-- but for his prize.

One by one, the spyders reported the completion of their scans. Cy-Kill's HUD now displayed a map highlighting the weak points on the temple floor, information his lasercom transmitted to Doomwing. "Where?" A star appeared on the map.

"There is a chamber underneath this human construct... a cyber viper's nest, where Starscream lies in wait," the werewolf answered.

At Cy-Kill's command, a Cruellock drone approached the temple and flooded it with radar beams that pierced earth, stone, and then metal-- a Cybertronian alloy. "Megatron!" The image made him smile. 'The Light is finally within my reach!' "Crasher." The Ehrhardt drove up and transformed beside the silver titan. "Create an opening through which one of us may enter the chamber. Take care not to cause a cave-in and extinguish the Light, or you will face such wrath, the Dark God of Destruction's will dim in comparison."

"By your command." Crasher examined the map. 'There.' Hatches opened on her hips to reveal two storage racks, from which the Amazon selected four octagonal blocks-- incendiary charges-- she handed to the second drone. Insect-like self-repair arms extended from Crasher's forearms and detached the Deinonychus' upper wing so it could fit through the gate. The Cruellock entered the temple, set the blocks in a cross at the location its controller designated, and exited.

"Burner, burner, burner!" the Amazon warned as flames shot from the charges, burning a hole in the stone floor. The drone reentered the temple, its fire extinguisher cooling the stone so infrared sensors may look into the chamber.

Nick and AJ were all but invisible in a dark alley-- if found, they would claim to be lovers in a tryst-- the eyeglasses' integral cameras and radios sending images to the Autobots. "Nuts to George. Duff, four, sighted. I say again, Duff, four, sighted." They didn't see the second drone.

Blades replied with, "Butter to Nuts. Pathfinder has Edward. I say again, Pathfinder has Edward. Archie suspected. George visiting her."

"Sh--" The young man suppressed the curse to avoid offending the woman beside him, and walked backwards until the Decepticons were out of sight, hoping they were out of the machine men's sight. "Mrs. AJ--"

"I'm not running or hiding," the nurse insisted.

"If a Duff catches you, he won't believe you came alone, and you'll be bait to lure us out of hiding. Matt and I are gentlemen; we can't just abandon you, and we're likely to die in the rescue attempt. If a Duff catches me, he's more likely to believe I came alone--"

"You expect me to abandon one of my patients to a fate worse than death?"

"If I have your death or maiming on my conscience, my soul will suffer equally-- that is a fate worse than death."

AJ knew Matt, who spoke passable Danish, would support Nick's decision; if necessary, the men would drag her away, claim she had a panic attack and leave her with a civilian, and continue the mission. 'Damn fools.' "Take care not to make my soul suffer for your chivalry." She walked backwards until she was near the alley entrance, and then walked down the deserted streets, to where Nick left a bicycle they bought from an islander, with coin-sized gold disks the Autobots provided.

Nick slowly advanced, careful to avoid making noise, until the temple was in sight. His right hand reached under his coat, towards the Colt Single Action Army (SAA) revolver in his shoulder holster. 'I hope I won't have to use this,' he thought, knowing the weapon was useless against the Decepticons.

"Shriek!" Crasher clutched her head, drawing the machine men's attention away from the temple.

'Can they hear me? Do they really have eyes on the back of their heads?' Nick controlled his fear, his desire to turn around and run away, and slowly backed away.

An audio storm-- the sound of gunfire, explosions, the shriek of metal torn asunder, and roaring flames-- flooded the Amazon's radio, disrupting her control of the drone. "Kilotron, you fool! Stop transmitting!"

"Pathfinder!" Rogun shouted before two guns spoke as one; then silence.

A frown was the only sign Cy-Kill received Rogun's final transmission. "Doomwing, contact Fangs," in the repair chamber. "I must know if he can support me."

"By your command." The werewolf bowed.

The humans waited with tension that transformed minutes into hours, frozen in place to avoid drawing attention, and fighting every instinct to flee. Then Groove radioed, "George to Apples, Monkey, and Nuts. Pathfinder is a flamer, I say again, Pathfinder is a flamer," dead or otherwise disabled. "The party is over," abort the mission.

Nick whispered, "But the Duff--"

"Will use you as living shields against our guns. The party is over," Groove repeated.

"Apples, go home." "Monkey, go home," AJ and Matt radioed.

'Did Cornwallis feel this way when he surrendered at Yorktown?' "Nuts, go home." Nick turned around and slowly walked down the alley. He paused, turned to check for any pursuers, and then continued towards the alley entrance. The young man checked for pursuers again, and then scanned the street before him; seeing no threats from either direction, he exited the alley. "Gasp!"

A man, wearing an Austro-Hungarian Army great coat, stood before Nick.

'How did I miss him?' "Good evening," the American said in passable Danish. Nick withdrew his right hand to reveal a pack of cigarettes-- he didn't smoke, but he hoped the stranger believed he was reaching for the pack instead of a concealed weapon. "Do you have a match?"

A laser pistol appeared in Rom's hand. Nick, recognizing the weapon, lunged at the stranger, but failed to tackle him-- the hybrid was too heavy. Rom slammed the pistol grip against the back of Nick's neck, hitting the pressure point he targeted. Nick remained conscious long enough to cry in pain; he didn't hear Matt and AJ ask, "Are you all right?!" as Rom carried the cataleptic American upon a shoulder, an offering to his master.

>>

Courageous burst through the sea like a breaching whale; this was how the battleship was described by fishermen in nearby trawlers, the human minds trying to rationalize something alien by describing it, however inaccurately, as something familiar.

In the bridge, a low but powerful voice shook the air-- "like a lion's growl," Liena later described to the others-- as the battleship asked, "Is it logical to reveal ourselves to save...?"

"Nick's safety is a secondary concern, one we'll address if it doesn't endanger the primary concern-- prevent Cy-Kill from leaving Earth with his prize. Whatever it is, it must be vital to the renegades' plans for him to reveal himself and risk an Autobot or Decepticon response," Hotspot answered.

"And us? Is it right to risk the millions of sentient beings on this planet, to capture a Decepticon renegade whose former comrades seek his destruction?"

"I'm doing this to save the sentient beings on this planet... prevent Cy-Kill from using his prize to kill the billions of sentient beings beyond this planet."

Courageous sensed the 'But if I fail, I can still...' in the middle of the sentence, but he saw too much destruction to retort his commander's cold logic. "Kill one to save another; sacrifice one to save a dozen. When will we be free from the need to justify these sacrifices?"

Hotspot briefly lowered the mask of stoicism-- invisible armor shielding his spark from the pain of enduring 6,000,000 years of war, while witnessing his friends and compatriots' destruction, often due to decisions he made as Leader One. "When the war is over, and these sacrifices are no longer necessary."

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The Danes felt no relief when they saw 18 rigid airships, each bearing Royal Navy insignia, approach the island; joining the Allies may kill or maim far more of their own than the "German" attack.

The same sight planted no fear in Zod, who knew Hotspot had but one battleship to challenge him, and detected no warp signatures to suggest Autobot reinforcements arrived; if the Guardians had another, that ship would've attacked the renegade battleship to save Courageous. 'Inflatable decoys with metallic envelopes to prevent sensor beams from penetrating them, and prevent me from learning revealing which ones are not threats, until I am within the Autobot weapons' maximum effective range. I am insulted to learn you believe I will fall to this ruse.' His guns extended and then fired with such force, the HE shells pierced and deflated multiple decoys at once, denying Courageous a means of concealing his approach.

Finally, an 8.8 cm shell roared as it exploded upon armor, instead of hissing as it pierced another gas envelope. Zod himself roared as he transformed into a Giganotosaurus.

"You asked for it!" Courageous expressed no fear as he transformed into a machine man, but his namesake emotion was born of a readiness to die for his brothers-in-arms; he had no confidence in his own chances of victory.

'So Nick wasn't delusional when he saw an armored Zeppelin,' Matt thought, studying the images on the screen extending from the Camel's instrument panel. "We're gonna rescue Nick, right?"

"I'll try to rescue Nick. The others will try to stop the Decepticons. Hopefully, we can get to our human friend before the Decepticons get whatever they came for." 'Hopefully, we won't have to sacrifice Nick's life to prevent the deaths of millions.' Groove cursed the Decepticon firepower forcing him to creep like a spyder, fighting dread and despair with each step taken. The Autobot warrior stopped 300 kilometers from the alley entrance. "My stealth capabilities are at their minimum effective range." A hatch opened to reveal the Camel cockpit. "I'm afraid you must continue on foot."

"I understand." Matt climbed onto the cobblestone road.

"Take this." A disembodied hand, holding a tube, appeared in midair; the sight shocked Matt, despite his knowledge of Groove's stealth capabilities. "It's a rocket launcher adapted for human usage. When the grip and shoulder rest unfold," self-repair arms unfolded and then folded these components, "your glasses will project crosshairs for you to aim the weapon. It ejects a counterweight to eliminate recoil from the rocket launch; before you squeeze the trigger, make sure the rear end is clear of anything you do not want to destroy."

"Thanks." Matt unfolded the grip and shoulder rest, holding the rocket launcher like a rifle; Groove was invisible again as the man advanced towards the temple.