Alive or Dead? -- The Streets of Cybertron

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Date Posted: 18:23:37 03/11/03 Tue
Author: Shaper
Subject: Alive or Dead?
In reply to: Betacron & Quickstream 's message, "By Primus!" on 20:13:41 02/16/03 Sun

Shaper dropped onto a cracked and rubble strewn high way. Few of the suspended lights functioned, leaving long stretches of the gloomy road intermitantly lit. The robed Transformer moved quickly, appearing to glide like a serpent between fallen columns. Occasionally gaps caused by collapses required Shaper to pounce to a nearby building, signal mast or other convenient piece of architecture.

Pausing on a cracked datastack tower to note Betacron and Quickstream direction, Shaper's fleshtoptics were caught by scuttling movement in the deserted streets below. The movement did not appear to be Swarm drones, but the more furtive movements of a sentient creature that wished to remain undiscovered.

Shaper landed in the dingy streets in a crouch.

Despite the general enhancement of Cybertron's global economy with the event of the Technorganic revolution there were still areas of Cybertron to which the wealth had not trickled down to. Whilst existance had improved since Megatron II's reign, life in small settlements in the deep valleys and trenches of Cybertron's infrastructure was hard and energon hard to come by.

Evidently something had decided that life was not hard enough.

A dozen blackened Transformer shells slumped against the walls of the street. Every iota of energy had been drawn from, not an usual fate for Transformers currently. What was unusual was that a majority had been nailed by their hands with industrial rivets to walls, comm-minitowers and so forth. Some simply lay against the sides of the street with massive leg trauma.

"N-n-no... someone please..."

Shaper tilted his head upwards, apparently sniffing the air with his skeletonal snout. He stood up from one of the shells he had been examining and skulked towards the source of the sound.

-=+=-

Klunk was finally on to a good thing. For the first time since returning to a planet full of treehugging microbots the Decepticon no longer had to hide. As an unskilled, lumbering tankbot his future had not not looked promising. The Decepticons did not want unfashionable, brutal relics and Klunk found that he had few employable skills that led to steady work.

The Bugs had been a blessing. Ever since he had crippled a gullible Predacon looter and left him in the middle of the street, Klunk had realised that he could do whatever he wanted provided the Bugs were satisfied.

They didn't seem to talk much, but the Bugs had an awareness of some sort of bargain. Least amount of effort for energy, or some such rubbish a Neutralist scientist had babbled between the pounding of the archammer driving a carbon spike through the weaking's hands.

The Bugs ate his offerings and kept him safe.

"Why... are you doing..." The Maximal's words were punctuated by the rhythmic strikes against another carbon stake.

Klunk brought back the hammer for a final blow and grunted when the hammer was pulled out of his grip from behind. Shaper stepped back as the blocky Decepticon turned round and into the swinging hammer, cracking an optic and denting the thug's temple.

"Be calm." Shaper put a talon on the embedded rivet and tugged it out of the plasteel wall and the ex-captive's hands. "Transform and flee." Nodding shakily the liberated Maximal folded into a white and orange plumed owl and glided away into the night.

From the opposite direction the increasingly familiar buzzing of Swarm Drone wings swept in on the eclipsed night air. Shaper dropped the hammer next to the dazed Deception and began sinuously weaving his way towards a telecoms tower.

"You can't leave me here!" Klunk tried to push himself to his feet, but failed and rolled onto his back.

Shaper stopped, but did not turn around.

"You codemned yourself."

Has the Imperial Magistrate reached a verdict yet?

He closed his fleshoptics tightly.

"It was them or me! You can't judge me for that...!"

Guilty... or innocent?

Shaper bowed his head for a moment. Then he turned round and helped Klunk into the shelter of the telecomm tower.

"Heh, thanks. You must be one of them Neo-Preds, huh? I'm remember thi- gahh!" Shaper reached up and wrenched Klunk's faceplate down to the same level as his fleshoptics. The unusual strength of his rescuer was beginning to impress itself on the not overly sophisticated cerebral circuits of the Decepticon. The exclamation of shock was at the silver skeletonal face and burning violet eyes set above empty nostril sockets and a nightmare of needle-like teeth.

"You are alive to face justice at the courts of Cybertron. However make no mistake, Decepticon - I will not protect you if you try to escape. I cannot imagine that you are at all popular in this region with either ."

Klunk stammered an apology and allowed himself to be shephered into the comms tower, across the last stretch of highway and towards a large, fortified set of buildings.

'Has he lost his mind?
Can he see or is he blind?
Can he walk at all,
Or if he moves will he fall?
Is he alive or dead?
Has he thoughts within his head?
We'll just pass him there
Why should we even care?'

- Black Sabbath, 'Iron Man'

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