Civil War 14: The Star

[7Knight-Wolf]

Things start to get a little weird...
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Part 14: The Star

Topazor had not run far before he was stopped by Tigatron, Air Razor, and Cheetor. “What’s got into you?” growled Cheetor. “You could endanger the whole mission going by yourself. Then there’s the pure craziness of the idea. Topazor, you used to be smart!”

Topazor was immensely irritated; Cheetor was barging in on his feelings and shaming him at the same time. Why did that cat always have to seem so collected? “I’m not a perfectly cool Shaft like you!” he growled. “Just leave me ALONE!!!”

Cheetor remained firm. “Topazor, we have no time for tantrums. You want my help saving Cybertron? Then we do this my way. The beast bots and you and I are going back up to Cybertron while Chris and the others fight against Megatron. Let’s move it.”

Reluctantly, Topazor obeyed. Soon he felt too emotionally exhausted to argue. The group arrived at their ship, hidden among boulders and shrubs. Then they were off to Cybertron. Topazor dropped off to sleep.

Cheetor piloted the ship all night. He kept throwing glances at Tigatron. “What, Big Cat—no hello?” he asked.

“Sorry, Little Cat,” said Tigatron with a fond smile. “I’m just tired, that’s all. It’s good to see you again.” He smiled. “You know, while I was dormant I did not age. You’re older than me. You’re certainly not a reckless teenager anymore.”

“Maturity was forced on me,” answered Cheetor. “Or some people might call it maturity, anyway. It was actually depression and grief that made me grow up a little. It was…so hard when you guys were captured. I was scared and insecure; I had nightmares about my imagined inferiority. I was so lonely that for a few days I even had a crush on Blackarachnia! I was so confused, but when you became Tigerhawk, I dared to hope again. Things started looking up. …Then you were hit by the Nemesis.”

“And your recovery?”

“It’s still going on. Optimus helped, but my life’s no easy picture.”

“Whose is?” Tigatron sighed.
******************************
Sunrise found Chris, Miratron, Springer, and Jessica planning a battle strategy. After thinking it over, the group decided they had better have a look at Megatron’s strengths and weaknesses before coming up with an attack plan. Springer volunteered to break into Megatron’s large ship and see what it was like. Chris would go with him. Meanwhile the girls would rally any townspeople willing to fight for the cause. They split up.

As the girls cautiously approached town, Miratron said, “Hey…does Chris like you?”

Jessica was a little startled by the question, but she answered, “Yeah, Chris and I go way back. We were best friends when we were younger; but it’s a different kind of friendship now, you know? Why do you ask?”

“Well…Topazor came pretty close to telling me ‘I love you’ last night. I’ve never been interested in chasing guys. I’ve never even had a sisterly sort of friend, let alone a boyfriend! Chit-chats never sounded important in comparison with perilous missions in Cybertronian slums; but now I want your advice. What should I do about Topazor?”

“Maybe you should ask about yourself first of all,” suggested Jessica. “Are you interested in Topazor? Can you handle a relationship? Are you in a situation to try one? It’s your call, but for me personally, a war is no time for romance.”

Miratron nodded. “That’s about what I thought. But speaking of guys, that was pretty brave what Springer did. Waking up Tigatron and Air Razor, you know. It’s so cool and surprising when he’s serious about something, because he seems so goofy most times. Anyway,” said Miratron with a shrug, “don’t you dare tell anybody what I’ve said! I’m supposed to be the apathetical one.”

Jessica laughed. “No, that’s me, remember?”
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Springer and Chris stood in a deserted house in Walden, right next to the Town Square where Megatron’s ship was parked. Crowe mercenaries and emissaries of the Empress were vigilant in guarding the ship. Chris whispered, “There’s a lot more booty inside there than an Administrator.”

“What do you mean?” asked Springer. “Are they guarding something important?”

Chris nodded. “Very important. This type of ship was built for security; it has the most state-of-the-art defense programs of any ship. There are fifteen high-priority Crowe minions patrolling the outside, and there are probably many more inside. There’s no way we can both get in. I’m a wanted man, but you could pull it off, Springer. Here; take these and find out what Megatron is guarding and how many bots he has.” As he spoke, Chris handed Springer a steel identity chip with the Crowe insignia, and a few codes which he had copied from the DR-C. “With these, you have high-priority clearance.”

Springer nodded and took off. Trying to act calm, he walked straight up to the ship. He was challenged several times by guards, but every time he showed them the ID chip. When he walked up the metal plank and came to the sealed doors of the security-ship, Springer was aware of many sentinel optics examining him closely. He punched in the access codes Chris gave him, and after leaving his weapon outside the door, Springer was free to roam the ship.

Not even Springer and Chris, who knew something was being guarded, had any idea what the shocking prize really was. It was more stunning than their wildest dreams.

In a quiet hallway, there was a small screen across which was scrolled orders from Megatron. Springer paused to read the commands. “Patrollers ordered to continue guarding the Special Item.” Springer noticed that beside the words “special item” there was a code. He put the code into his data tracks to show Chris later.
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Jessica and Miratron had gathered about thirty strong residents of Walden willing to fight Megatron. Pleased by the fortunate turn of events, the girls met Chris inside the old abandoned house. Chris also seemed pleased, but he never relaxed for long before seeing the negative side. “How are we gonna fight bots who have twice our numbers?” he growled in frustration. “And think of the weapons! These men have rifles and pistols, Jess; those bots have plasma blasters!”

“We’ll find a way,” Jess said lamely. She, too, was always on the negative side; but she made an effort at encouragement.

Miratron’s efforts were genuine. “Chris, I learned the hard way from you that humans are not helpless. It may a take a while, but we can do this. We can fight.”
******
As he strolled through the security ship, Springer counted the bots he passed. There were thirty so far, plus endless auto guns. There was no way to call for help; the ship blocked all comm. Links. If Springer was caught, there would be no escape.

“Hey!” exclaimed a patroller-bot suddenly. He was a stocky transformer with a shrewd face. “The Security drones said that you’ve been moping around the halls for fifteen minutes! Get back to your job or I’ll report you!”

“I’m sorry,” stammered Springer. “I’m a new reinforcement, and I don’t know the way to the Top Security room where the Special Item is kept.”

“You’re with Security?” asked the patroller suspiciously. “You look like a warrior-bot to me. And I had no idea we were receiving anew recruit today.” His metal fingers reached for a blaster.

“Wait,” said Springer quickly. He knew he had made a mistake by saying too much, and now he would have to risk everything. “Dude, hands off the gun.” He moved forward, intimidating.

“Are you threatening me?”

Springer showed his singularly roguish smile. “Yes sir,” he said.

The small bot was unmoved. “Make one move and the alarm goes off,” he said. “If I don’t shoot you, the auto guns will.”

Daringly, Springer grabbed the little bot’s blaster. “Lead me to the Special Item,” he ordered. “Try any funny business, and you get a friendly hug from a plasma ball. Now, I know the camera up there may be able to hear our voices. So you’re gonna look into that camera and let the security bots know that everything’s alright.”

His optics smoldering with wrath, the patroller faced the hall’s camera. “I’m taking this bot to the Top Security room,” he said. “He’s got ID.”

“What a good boy you are,” Springer laughed condescendingly. “Now let’s go.”

Following the patroller, Springer soon reached the most heavily guarded room on the ship. It was reinforced with a type of metal Springer had never heard of before, incredibly dense and strong. Powerful auto-canons lined every wall in the room, along with a force of some twenty Security drones. And in the very center of the room was a guarded vault, which could not be accessed except with numerous, complex codes. “These bots really take precaution seriously,” Springer muttered. “What in the universe are they guarding?”

Then the nightmare began without warning. An alarm set off, ringing through the entire ship and nearly deafening Springer. The alarm seemed otherworldly, like a strange unknown beast howling in pain. Springer brandished his blaster, but he knew it would do no good. Everywhere, the auto guns turned in his direction. The drones called for warrior-bots. And through the chaos Springer could hear the little patroller laughing mockingly. “Did you think we were that easy to infiltrate?”

“How did they know?” cried Springer in dismay. How could they have overheard his dialogue with the patroller? Why weren’t they fooled by all the codes? It was impossible, completely impossible!

Unless there was an unseen security force walking through the ship. Unless an unseen being had sounded the alarm when he overheard the exchange between Springer and the worker bot.

This bewildering thought crossed Springer mind in a fraction of a second; the auto guns were now ready to fire. Footfalls of warrior-bots could be heard in the halls. Springer was ready to dash for cover, but before he had moved one step something grabbed him by the shoulders and threw him onto the floor. Springer looked up to get a look at his enemy…

There was no one there.

Springer froze in terror. There was something invisible in the room! Before he could begin to process what was happening, the auto guns went off. Noise and heat and Springer’s cries of pain filled the Top Security chamber.
*******
The unearthly alarm sent tremors of terror all through Jessica’s slender body. She tried to fight the fear.

“The ship’s alarm!” exclaimed Chris in frenzy.

Miratron shouted at the same time, “Springer!”

The platypus-bot rushed toward the ship, closely followed by Jess, Chris, and the other fighters. The alarm continued; Miratron’s unit, fueled by desperation and concern, ran headlong up the metal gangplank. The sentinels opened fire on the intruders. Battle ensued.

Miratron was crying as she tried to fire at the enemies. “Springer’s dead,” she sobbed. ”I know it!”
**********
Through the excruciating pain, Springer slowly became aware of muddled voices all around him. There was a deep, courtly voice with an evil ring to it, and there were the wheedling voices of random bots. Springer fought hard to listen to what the voices were saying…

“But sir, didn’t you want all intruders to be destroyed?” That was a Security bot.

“Fools! I gave no such order.” There was the deep voice: it was Megatron’s voice. “This fugitive holds valuable information; information which my Master needs. Some of the codes he used came off the last DR-C. Thanks to your foolery, he may already be offline!”

Then the tortuous pain overrode the voices, and Springer lost consciousness. In a moment he was awake again, and he began to process his situation. Megatron and the worker bots surrounded him. He could feel that his body was broken, that he could barely move. He was still alive because Megatron wanted information, and Springer knew he must not acquire that knowledge. He decided to risk everything on one final try. Whatever was being guarded, it had to be something of immense power. Power that Springer could use.

Summoning the last of his strength, the Maximal soldier struggled to his feet, ripped an auto gun off the wall, and fired nonstop at the vault. A dozen drones brandished their weapons, and few of them fired, but everyone was hesitant to kill a bot with so much information. Now there was only obstacle that protected the treasure inside the vault: one more code had to be typed in.

“Don’t even think about it,” said Megatron grimly.

But Springer acted. Swiftly he typed in the oldest, strongest, and most complex code Chris had given him. The Treasure was his for the taking. Springer reached—

Megatron charged forward and knocked him to the floor again. Springer felt Stasis Lock coming on. He had lost his last gamble.

Or had he?

If Springer had been conscious he would have seen an awesome blue light fill the entire room, and the treasure which had been so heavily guarded radiated toward him of its own will. It was a spark, or at least it looked like a spark, but far bigger and brighter. It looked like a stunning, flaming star. As if it had a mind of its own, the great spark floated toward Springer’s limp body and came to rest in the palm of his hand.

Springer was still unconscious, but his body rose and floated above the ground, powered by the great spark, and blinding blue light cascaded out of his optics and mouth and fingertips. All of the spare, broken pieces of metal in the room gravitated toward Springer’s body; then they were embossed in sapphire radiance, conformed into new circuitry, and placed all around and inside Springer. He was being rebuilt.

Megatron watched in awe. He could not stop the process of rebuilding, for the light nearly blinded him. Just then he heard a sound behind him, and turning around he was enraged to see over a score of humans. Chris was leading the rebellion, his face grim and set; all his followers were prepared to fight. But they all froze when they saw the great Spark empowering Springer’s limp body.

As suddenly as it had begun, the process was over. A new, shining Springer lay on the floor in Stasis Lock. He was now huge at least five times taller than average warriors. And the blue star still rested in his hand. Somehow, the star looked far more powerful than the king-sized bot it had just restored.

The awesome moment was over, and Chris’ gang of freedom fighters was ready to fight. But it soon became clear that there were invisible warriors in their midst, like the one who had attacked Springer. Baffled and overwhelmed, the rebellion retreated. Miratron dragged Springer with her.