Transformers Fan Fiction ❯ Transformers: Star Fury ❯ Harsh Landing ( Chapter 1 )

Episode 1 - Harsh Landing

Streaking through the sky, with white-hot fire, the Novastriker's passengers scramble to control her. High above, another vessel hangs in space with its weapons poised for the kill should the wounded attempt to escape. On board the dying Novastriker, the Cybertron crew attempts to regain control.

"Ramulus, bring the nose up!" The Cybertron commander, Grand Convoy, calls out above the klaxons and creaking of stressed metal. "Our angle of descent is too sharp, we'll burn up!"

"I'm trying the best I can!" He glances toward a comrade who is lying on the deck-plates, killed by an explosion from the initial attack. "Nightglider was a whole slaggin' lot better at this than I am!" A nearby console explodes as several warning lights next to Ramulus glow red. "Burnt slag, we've lost the forward thrusters! Switching to aft… hold on tight!" The ship lurches as the tail is brought down and the heat shields a positioned correctly but the buffeting only worsens. "We're not going to make it!" The stresses become too much and the outer bulkheads begin to come apart dead center.

"We're breaking apart, aft sections are slowing but we're gaining speed!" Jawbreaker reads several status updates, "We've lost over half the crew and fires are beginning on all levels below command deck!" The klaxons continue to blare as the altitude warning alarms go off.

"Keep her steady Ramulus, we want to survive this!" Grand strains to remain in the command chair as the g-forces increase, "Prowl, activate the fire suppression systems, we don't want be burned to death when we land!"

"The controls have been fused!" He scans the list of the few systems that remain active, "Auxiliary systems are also down, I've got to open the outer vents!"

"Do it!" Grand begins to slide up the back of the chair as the remains of the Novastriker reach terminal velocity. "Ramulus, status!"

"This is gonna hurt!" The main viewscreen clears and land can be seen directly in the crippled ship's path. "We've hit terminal velocity!"

"All hands, brace for impact!" Grand's words are lost as he is thrown from the command chair to the deck plating along with the rest of the crew. The impact of the Novastriker's remains throws debris hundreds of meters into the air. A fifty-kilometer trough is dug as the once proud ship skids to a stop; it tears this nasty scar through an arid jungle until coming to its final resting-place. The fires that once burned brightly on the aft of this wreckage have been extinguished; the moist air of the jungle replaces the stale artificial atmosphere once within the ship.

"Scourge, status of the Novastriker." Novatron, the great general of the Destron military, sits in his command chair on the citadel like bridge of the Fury Hunter. "Is she dead?"

"Affirmative, General, it shattered in the upper atmosphere and fell to the planet's surface in pieces." Scourge would smile if he had a mouth. "The chances of surviving that is extremely low."

"Is there anything worth salvaging?" The great leader raps his clawed fingers across the armrest of his command chair.

"Yes… the engineering section was designed to survive if the ship lost orbital stability." He enters several commands into the computer and turns to his commander, "My scans have found her, she lies in a vast desert wasteland." Novatron smiles with his soldier's findings and steeples his fingers.

"Today was a good day for your death, Grand Convoy, I shall not miss you or your weakling Cybertrons." He spins his chair and faces the rear of the bridge. "Iguanus, prepare a salvage team, I want that ship and the remains of the Cybertrons that died on it." With orders given the great Destron turns away without returning the salute Iguanus gives. "Scarem, place us within the shadow of this planet's moon, I want to surprise the Cybertrons who attempt to salvage what they can of this failed mission, they will pay for all the hard work that they have forced me to destroy." He leans back a little more and smiles, evilly.

All is quiet on the ruined bridge of the once proud Novastriker; a gentle breeze blows through the hull breach on the port side even though it is no bigger than someone's head. Several groans come from the debris as Grand Convoy, Ramulus, Jawbreaker, and Prowl pick themselves up.

"Is everyone all right?" Grand scans the wreakage and sees a pile of debris move and the groans of his other companions. "That was certainly a nice crash, Ramulus."

"I only wish…" Ramulus crawls out from under the ruined navigation console with Nightglider's body in his arms, "…Nightglider could have seen it." His friend's face is charred and misshapen, the explosion caught him off guard.

"There's not much we can do… many others have lost their lives so this ship wouldn't be used as it was designed. Think of those in the engineering sections…" Grand stands and estimates the damage as Prowl brushes pieces of the viewscreen off himself.

"That was some landing, glad I'm still in one piece." He scans the bridge and whistles, "It's gonna take a lot of work to patch this up if we want this to be our base of operations." He walks over to the only operating console and begins to work on it.

"You're not thinking of us staying here, are you?" Jawbreaker pushes a section of bulkhead off of himself. "I mean…" Grand gives him the answer in one look, "that's suicide! We're all gonna die."

"No, it's not suicide, if we plan properly we can protect ourselves from the Destrons and keep them from getting their hands on what's left of this ship." He looks around at the faces of his three closest friends and comrades. "We can't give up, we do that and the Destrons will have defeated us before a single shot was fired." He walks to Prowl's side. "What works in this junk-heap?" With the press of several buttons the damage reports appear on screen.

"Primus, almost all of the systems have been damaged in one way or another. The three lower decks have all become one…" There is a short silence as they realize that there had been several `bots down there. "The main computer core is still intact, several power junctions have been shattered and the main ventilation system has been pretty much scrapped."

"Weapons, what do we have for defenses?" Grand leans down a little bit to get a better view. "This planet will crawl with Destrons in a few mega-cycles, they want this ship."

"Let's see," The screen changes from text to a layout of the ship, the entire engineering section is red along with the three lower decks of the command section. "We've got portable auto-guns in the cargo bay, the main photon cannons and some mines. Slag, this thing is loaded for bear." He types in a few more commands and the image zooms in on the nose of the ship. "According to the specs this area is empty but a massive amount of the power reserves is being sent here, wonder what it could be…" Grand turns to Jawbreaker and Ramulus.

"Ramulus, you and Jawbreaker go down there and check things out, I want to know what the hell that is." Ramulus salutes and heads for the emergency ladder, Jawbreaker follows immediately after. "Prowl, could this be the Omega cannon?" Prowl stares at Grand for several clicks before shaking his mind free.

"Yes, it could be… the power drain is what the specifications that our agent sent us said." He calls up the internal scanners but gets nothing. "If it is the Omega cannon then the Destrons will destroy us for it." Grand and Prowl exchange looks of worry for a cycle.

"If it is the Omega cannon, I'll destroy it and myself if I have to."

Deep within the Novastriker, Ramulus and Jawbreaker jump out of a hatch three decks below the command deck. Down the corridor, where the aft section used to be, is the arid jungle, they turn in the opposite direction and head toward the forward sections of the ship.

"This place gives me the creeps now, why did Boss-bot have to send me down here with you?" Jawbreaker jumps at the sound of creaking metal. "This place don't seem safe." Ramulus has his double slag-maker cannon at the ready as he proceeds down the corridor.

"Would you shut up, this thing won't collapse that easily." He continues to move toward the forward sections. "Just because you thought that it was a bad idea to steal this slaggin' ship in the first place doesn't mean that you have to complain so slaggin' much." A door can be seen several meters ahead of them, it's badly deformed from the crash. "You've got to cut the doors open, that's an order."

"One I adamantly protest." Jawbreaker passes Ramulus and activates the saw on his arm. "Cover yer optics, this light show won't hurt mine but I don't want our XO to be blind." Ramulus complies as a mass of sparks showers the corridor; Jawbreaker's task had begun.

Novatron raps his fingers on the armrest of his command chair; there is a tense air on the command deck of the Fury Hunter. He is contemplating what to tell his lord, Galvatron. The destruction of the Novastriker will not be tolerated lightly. He lifts his hand and regards his claws; perhaps a veil of lies will be suitable.

"Spittor, open a channel to Command and link it to my chambers, I have a report to give." He stands and makes his way toward the lift at the rear of the bridge. "Scourge, you have the bridge until my return, fail me and you shall enjoy the fate of the Cybertrons." A wicked smile crosses his face as the lift doors close and Scourge takes his seat.

The door to Novatron's chambers part and the Destron enters. He turns and enters a room off to the side and dons a cloak. The illustrious commander kneels as the holo-matrix activates.

"What is thy bidding, my master."

"Novatron, status of you hunt." Galvatron is shrouded in a cloak of black material; his face is obscured by the hood over his head. "Have you captured the Novastriker and neutralized Grand Convoy and his foolish Cybertrons?"

"Yes, my lord."

"Good, what is the ETA of your return?"

"My lord, there is more." He looks up at the hologram before him. "We had the misfortune of having to attack the Novastriker, the fool, Grand Convoy, attempted to use her might against us." He bows his head; "I humbly apologize." Galvatron's brow furrows as he hears this news.

"And how much did you leave intact? Is the Omega cannon damaged?" His demeanor changes from one of congratulations to one of slight anger. "Tell me!"

"As far as we can tell, the cannon did not survive." He kneels once more, "For this you have my deepest regrets."

"Your regrets mean nothing!" Galvatron's anger has become immense. "That cannon was built with irreplaceable parts from the demon Unicon, its loss should mean your death!"

"But lord Galva…"

"Stop!" His optics narrow to slits as he interrupts his general, "You will not use that name, I have forsaken it."

"Yes lord. I… apologize."

"Your apology means nothing, your are a fool." Galvatron turns from the kneeling Novatron. "Kill your gunner."

"But my lord, he is my best…"

"Kill him!" Galvatron shakes his fist in the air as he interrupts Novatron again, "Or would you rather that I kill you and take your head?"

"No my lord, you may consider him good as dead." The feelings within him are in an uproar, Galvatron has gone mad… "I shall also make an attempt to recover what I can of the Omega Cannon."

"Contact me again when salvage is complete." The hologram fades an Novatron stands and returns to the main room of his chambers. He presses a button on the nearby desk.

"Smasher." He speaks loudly and with authoraty.

"Yes, commander?" The Roadripper's voice calls through the panel's speaker.

"Kill Spittor." His voice has no feeling, no resolve, no regret, and no remorse.

"Yes commander." The speaker falls silent and Novatron contemplates his next action.

"Wartrons, report to my chambers at once."

Ramulus turns toward Jawbreaker as the clang metal against metal echoes through the corridor. Jawbreaker stands and spins his saw a couple of times before turning toward Ramulus.

"Never thought that this would come in handy." He smiles, "Guess that I might not die after all, you guys though…

"Shut up." Ramulus steps through the open threshold and taps his wrist; the communications equipment inside activates. "Grand, it's really dark in here, could prowl give us some light?" Several moments pass before giant floodlights fill the room with their blinding light. "Thank you." As their photoreceptors adjust to the new light level they are astonished as to what they have found.

"Holy slag, what is this thing?" Jawbreaker walks to the bars along the catwalk. "It's huge!" The bulk of the room is occupied by what appears to be a giant particle exciter that extends all the way to the nose of the vessel. "This is some heavy slag." Ramulus taps his comm-unit.

"Grand, I think you should come see this…"