Full of Dread -- The Streets of Cybertron

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Date Posted: 09:29:19 04/18/03 Fri
Author: Shaper
Subject: Full of Dread

A violet scaled, feline shaped metalflesh creature bounded onto the ruined high way, followed in short order by a rumbling red and purple Cybertronian tank that dated back to the Great War.

Swarm drones circling over the maimed metropolis began sweeping down in bowstring waves, clacking mandibles together hungrily.

"We must find someone in authorrrity," purred Shaper, breaking left and leaping onto a lower high way. Moments later Klunk landed heavily and executed a half-penny turn before following.

Both proceded to what appeared to be a hydralic fluid storage facility - five large bulbous towers covered with pipes and residual technorganic fluting from the Great Reformatting. However one of the towers occasionally flickered with unhealthy looking energy discharge. As Shaper and Klunk drew closer they noticed a number of Transformers attempting to contain a fire at one of the key pumping stations. A green, spindly seekerbot waved the two travellers over.

"We need help!"

"What is the prrroblem?" The seeker gestured to the giant hydralic towers behind them.

"This was supposed to be a medical storage facility, holding mech fluid in bulk incase needed. Unfortunately it is actually a storage facility use by the extremist Predacon faction, White Widow." His blue optics narrowed. "For cybervenom."

Shaper bowed his chrome masked head and reared up, metalflesh muscle and sinew stretching and warping. Weaves of crimson light flowed across him as his outline became anthropomorphic, fore legs becoming arms and haunches stretching into tapering legs. Furnace red runes etched out across the violet and purple metalflesh. The snarling puma face stretched and flattened into a skull lightly joined by violet metaflesh muscles.

"Cybervenom?"

"Cybervenom is a powerful and illegal weapon devised by the Predacons, Pre-Occupation." A graceful female techorganic stood from a crouching position with a small fractal butterfly perched on her right index finger. Tawny eyes, golden fir mottled with speckled white feathers and folded wings indicated a variety of lioness/eagle fuzor. "It is a combination of a viral assault and an EMP assault in a volational nanotechnology delivery system."

"Nanotechnology?" Shaper frowned, searching for a translation. "Devices-which-may-not-be-seen?" he asked in an old Cybertronian dialect.

"Whatever," replied the Seeker, mentally making a note of the odd usage of the language. "The fire has taken out the remote pumping station controls. The only other controls are inside, but the containment tanks are beginning to leak into the facility."

A dozen other assorted Transformers could be seen fighting the fire as the Seeker and the Fuzor explained the situation.

"Non of the Ecofront are equipped for biotech environments - technorganics are particularly vulnerable to cybervenom, and none of our Maximal/Predacons or Autobot/Decepticon members have sufficient armour to survive more than a few seconds." The fractal butterfly flapped into the air and orbited Klunk, whom transformed into robot mode and batted it aside. The dazed creature fluttered to the ground, and Klunk raised a foot above the stricken insect.

The fuzor recovered from a look of horror and planted a well aimed kick at Klunk's mid-torso, sending the towering tankbot staggering backwards and onto his back.

"Lepidoptera Lycaenidae Primus, the first new life form identified in the New Common Cybertronian Ecosystem. Considered sacred by some Cybertrons." She snarled at the sprawled tankbot. "Mistreat it at your peril."

"Gyre! Greenwire! We're losing containment" shouted a white and red Autobot roadster. The large foam canister he had been spraying sputtered and dribbled to a halt. Consternation became to anguish as Gyre turned to Shaper.

"Please! If there is anything you can do to help...? If this facility is compromised then we could lose the entire ecosystem! Entire species that have only existed for a handful of years will be lost!"

Klunk righted himself and came to stand at Shaper's left shoulder.

"Cybertron has an ecosystem," said Shaper with a touch of awe. "I do not know if I can help - my powers will surely attract more of the Swarm, and this cybervenom sounds as deadly to me as it would be to you."

"You don't look like any technorganic I've ever seen" muttered the Seeker. Klunk looked at the Transformers fighting the fire, then at the dazed butterfly flapping away down away from the fire. He scanned a partially damaged but entirely useless pump control station.

"Pumps inside... like pumps outside?"

"Why, yes," said Greenwire. "Hit the flow control, or turn the valve for manual control."

"Out of the question," cut in Shaper. "This prisoner is under my protection until the Courts are restored." Shaper turned around and waved a finger up at Klunk, whom looked away. As Shaper turned back to Gyre and Greenwire the tankbot curled a massive fist and righthooked Shaper, sending the metalflesh Transformer crashing to the floor. Greenwire lifted his forearm blasters to cover Klunk, but found both arms held at his sides.

"Show me pumps." The Seeker struggled, then locked his eyes with the tankbot and opened a data relay that showed directions to the inner pumping station. Klunk nodded and collapsed into tank mode, trundling through the fire and through the facility's gates.

* * * *

Shaper shook his head as his fleshoptics opened and lit back up. He held a hand to his mouth and spat out a tungsten tooth and some black fluid flecked with red and blue sediment. He wobbled to his feet with the help of fuzor Gyre.

"Where did... my charge go?" Greenwire's optics flicked towards the battered gates to the hydralic station - enough of an answer. Without pausing Shaper lept into the air, skimming over the fire and the twisted gates. He weaved into a foyer lit by flicking lights and the spreading fire. He saw Klunk's shadow moving down a corridor and dived to follow.

Shaper emerged into a large spherical chamber with one other exit. Klunk turned, saw Shaper, and hit a large black and yellow button set in the wall. Instantly meters thick hexaplastic slammed down from the ceiling, sealing Klunk inside the facility. Shaper ground his teeth with frustration and shouted into the intercom, "Do you think you will redeem yourself?"

Klunk paused, then pressed the intercom on his side of the partition and answered.

Shaper staggered back from the intercom, and watched Klunk vanish into the flames, shadows and smoke.

* * * *

Klunk clambered over a pile of rubble and referenced the schematics he had obtained from Greenwire. A corridor branching off to his right seemed to lead directly to the central pump controls, but thick suspicious black pipes groaned and strained under internal pressures.

Tankbot stretched his legs, then began pounding down the corridor. Before he was halfway towards the end rivets began popping from the thick parallel piping spraying green vicious fluid across his path. Klunk rose his left arm to protect his optics and ran through the mist and spray, billious green energy leaping to his arm and back.

The cybervenom began its initial attack, eating away at potential fuel lines whilst also looking for microvents and other ways to infiltrate Klunk's internal systems. As a G1 chassis he had many more redundant systems than a Predacon or technorganic might have, but even these would not stand up to concentrated cybervenom for very long.

Half-blinded, Klunk emerged from the corridor onto a gantry looking down over a cylindrical pit from which thrust great pistons and pump shafts into the ceiling. His left arm was beginning to numb and twitch. Unfortunately the tankbot had arrived too late, for cascades of angry green cybervenom were falling from cracks in the ceiling and running down the straining pistons. Klunk considered the options, then lept down into the pit.

The tankbot landed hard, small fissures radiating around him in the ferroconcrete. Already inches high cybervenom lapped at his feet, sending Klunk into a brief spasm. Internal systems were already being infiltrated and the digital elements of the toxin were preparing to lay siege to autorepair and other critical systems. Filters were starting to pick up impurities in Klunk's fuel cycle.

Through flickering optics the pump control could still be seen between the smoke and the crackling, seething rain of cybervenom. Klunk lurched forward towards the console, but was waylaid by a torrent of the biotech fluid exploding from a nearby conduit, covering half his face and torso. Nanites seeped through his left optic, which overloaded and exploded outwards in a flicker of lime-tinged energy. Klunk tottered and held an increasingly insensate left hand to the empty socket and reached out for the automatic controls, grasping a lever and pulling it back to close down the system.

The console bleeped and shuddered, but the pistons kept pumping.

Klunk growled in frustration and staggered over to the manual valve and began turning the large metal wheel with both hands. Another explosion and more flames. Another cascade of cybervenom poured over Klunk, but he barely felt it as tactile sensors, perhaps fortunately, began to burn out or shutdown under the barrage of micro-EMPs and nanotech probes running riot through his shell.

After what seemed an eternity the valve clicked and stopped. An automatical announcement was drowned out by the main pistons noisily shrieking to halt and environmental scrubbers coming on line and evacuating the chamber of all fluids.

Klunk lay innert, stretched out on the cracked tiled floor as cybervenom sluiced off him and his shell crackled and twitched with angry green fingers of energy crawling across his pitted and scarred armour plating.

* * * *

Shaper wandered out of the burning facility and the broken gates back to the 'Ecofront'. Cheers went up as the pumps seized up and the fires began to get under control. Greenwire stepped in front of Shaper and said something, but the metalflesh Transformer could not make out any of the words.

".. said: 'Where's your pal?'" The gaunt Seeker reached down to put his hands down Shaper's shoulders and shook him. Shaper's violet fleshoptics blinked, then reflexively jabbed Greenwire on a certain spot of each wrist and just left of the centre torso. Greenwire looked puzzled, then cried out as his arms went numb and released Shaper, dropping to his sides. "What the slag was that?!"

"Fuelline/neuralcluster strikes - fuel and sensory information to you arms has been temporarily suspended. Normal functioning will resume within microcycles." With that he stepped around Greenwire loped to a rubbled strewn construction site and found a piece of debris to sit on as 'Ecofront' began organising a clean-up operation.

For cycles he sat still, resting his head on a palm in deep contemplation. He was unaware of the lime green eyes of the Seeker watching him for a cycle or two, then looking down at a sharp tungsten tooth partially covered with a viscous, tarry substance flecked with red and blue particles. Greenwire sealed the tooth in a hermetic compartment and joiend the clean-up crews.

* * * *

"Do you think you will redeem yourself?"

"No."

'Heavy boots of lead,
Fills his victims full of dread.
Running as fast as they can,
Iron Man lives again!'

- Black Sabbath, 'Iron Man'

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