Part Four: Moribundus
'......All ...ead.. her...'
'...not ....proach!'
'HE'S COMING!!...This is ...this was Commander Depthcharge. Last survivor of Garrus 12, signing off.'
'Do not. I repeat: Do Not approach!!'
Message sent. Beacon's deployed. If you're out there Cybershark, and this distress beacon reaches you. I hope you choke on it!
i - We had a deal
The Shark saved the Maximal heroes of the Beast War. Thwarting an insane plot that could have dramatically altered the history of our race. I was there, during those closed door hearings. The audacity of Megatron's plan shocked me, as much as anyone else present. But that wasn't why I was there. Wasn't why I vouched for the Space Pirate and his demands. X. It was all about Protoform X. I was on his trail when I received word of the returning Maximals. Couldn't have returned to Cybertron faster if I were super charged with Energon.
The Elders were at an impasse when it came to Cybershark. He was part of a interstellar terror cell. All members were to be turned over to the Galactic Alliance on sight. Yet, our people would be dead without him. Megatron's scheme would have never come to light. Doubtless, upon hearing of it. Tripredacus might have sent more than Ravage back to finish the job. Primus knows what would have happened if that Deceptacreep found or extracted his original spark, let alone his body.
The Shark offered an alternative proposal. A discrete way of rewarding him, without letting a Space Pirate roam free. Which would cause issues with our allies in the Galactic Alliance. He seemed to have no interest in that anyway. The Pax Cybertronia prevented the Elders from being able to utilise the shell-programmed Maximals. These psuedo-Predacons. Now powerful "Transmetals" in their own right. Couldn't be touched by either side without breaking the treaty. The decision was reached to put them into Stasis. Rhinox and the scientific community objected on moral grounds. They were overruled, on political ones.
X was different. He was mine! My presence and personal history with X was ..noted, by the Maximal Elders at the meeting. My request for his transfer into my custody was denied. He was going to be stowed away in stasis with the others.
I didn't take the news well.
I spent the following solar cycle in a cell. After a minor ruckus with Ironhide. That's when the Shark approached me. He gave me a job offer. There had been approval for his proposal. He had reinstated the Garrus project. The penal system of the Autobots. Created at the height of the Great War. Ultimately, the last facility was decommissioned by Rodimus Prime after the battle of Nebulos. The Elders deliberated for several Mega-cycles on the ethics of such a proposal. Megatron's confession. His true mission. This forced their hand. Peace without enforcement, would only lead to catastrophe.
An abandoned, aquatic world was preselected by the Shark. Five star systems distant from Cybertron itself. Cybershark, as he introduced himself. Offered me the role of warden. X, would be my primary responsibility. How could I refuse? The newly christened "Garrus 12" came into being one decacycle later. He required no materials at all for construction. The Elders, well Silverbolt. Showed concern over how much of this proposal was already in motion. Seemingly before he even rescued the Beast War Maximals.
I insisted on a troop of Maximal Protoform being made available for my team. Subordinate only to me. Cybershark, ominously in hindsight, didn't object to this. Prowl queried what Cybershark even gets out of this deal? Cybershark noted he was a researcher, before joining the Space Pirates. He was in the process of studying the history of his species and this world in particular was needed for his experiments. He said he would not be able to leave. Additionally, the prison (and Maximal oversight) being penance for his crimes. We all bought it. Unseen red flag number one.
ii - The Protoforms
Another request was possession of the remains of his former squad - The Seacons - as they were known. They had unique physiology that he said would aid in his research. No one saw the harm in this. Another red flag, missed. At some point, in their transit to Garrus 12. Cybershark was left alone with the Protoforms. Fifty in all. Their CNA was altered in a way that wasn't understood until much later. When they were awoken. The dormant (and amusingly headless) X was transported with them. He was Prisoner One. The other inmates would follow later. Due to some issue raised by the Predacon Alliance. Politics, pfft.
iii - The Beast Machine
Hammerstrike. A gigantic and seemingly sentient submersible techno-organic vessel. This was to facilitate the prison itself. Endlessly swimming across this expansive ocean world. I queried the design once, as he was modelled after a different species than the Space Pirate himself. He chuckled and said it was homage to an old friend. I later learned that a Hammerhead Shark Bot wasn't on file as part of either the Space Pirates or the Beast War Maximals. Strange?
The "Hammerhead" itself, could also detach to become a space faring craft. An omitted fact from the Elders. He was more than capable of leaving whenever he pleased. Without the "eyes", the sentience of the Beast Machine becomes active. Speech, I never heard. But the awareness of the thing was clear. I was wary of being inside it from day one. Even with my own Submersible Mode, something about Hammerstrike made me cautious about investigating the ocean beyond. Something instinctive and primal.
'These datalogs are a bit intense, eh?' The query just met with a shrug by the co-pilot of the shuttle. 'I thought this beacon might be worth something salvaging. Either for the Energon core or just in scrap. But maybe we should have left it floating out there, Brimstone?' His answer came in the form of a strike to the back of his head.
'Put a lid on it, Hunter! That flapping mouth of yours is the reason we're scavenging junk in this worthless shuttle in the first place.' The venom behind those words, wounded his companion. 'Always mouthing off to Leo Caesar. It was bound to get us slagged eventually...'
'It wasn't my fault we screwed up..'
'"WE!?" It was all YOUR fault! Cannonball and the others nearly pulled off that mutiny!'
'But I didn't know...'
'WE WERE ON GUARD DUTY! I WALK AWAY FOR TWO CYCLES FOR SOME ENERGON AND YOU LET THEM INTO HIS PERSONAL QUARTERS! WHAT DID YOU THINK WAS GONNA HAPPEN?! Even then you couldn't shut up! We're lucky we weren't actively involved and got banished instead of executed!' The exchange was becoming more heated within the confined space than Hunter was comfortable with. Trying to soothe the gathering, potentially lethal, rage of Brimstone became top priority.
'So erm.. where did we leave off with the datalog?' Brimstone's optics briefly flared at the question. He then closed them. Let out a calming breath and returned to reading from the monitor.
iv - The Awakening
The fact this was all a set-up, I should have seen coming. X was used as bait to lure me. Knowing I would bring Protoforms with me. They were the real prize. one he couldn't have gotten on his own. Even through the black market, no Space Pirate could have gotten access to so many Protoform in pristine condition. His "experiments" had nothing to do with the planet itself. That was a cover to use an isolated location that masked convention orbital tracking. The Protoform were the key. The Seacons became the missing link between his biology and ours.
Organic alt-mode fusion was rare outside of the Beast Wars. It was tech that he needed to see, to study. So he could replicate it. Spliced with his own CNA. His people would be restored anew, using our bodies as base mold to be re-engineered. Too long went by before I started to piece all this together.
Cycles passed after the last Protoform was awoken before my suspicions started to raise. Passing his quarters, I overheard the Shark talking to some "Mediator" once over an encrypted channel. The voice was vaguely familiar, although distorted. They talked about "Transmetal extraction" and a fee was mentioned. A rare mineral for sale or explotation these days. I also heard the voice use another name too. "Skybyte". I Don't know that name? Another Bot in play? How many more secrets does Cybershark have hidden in this place?? One of the crew came out of a turbo lift and drew me away from the corridor before I could hear more. Sharpedge. Smart kid. Another shark species, I believe. They all were. When the Protoform were awakened. They emerged fully formed. The pods didn't even perform a cursory scan. The red flags kept piling up. Didn't see any of them, til it was too late of course. All I saw then, was X.
He was kept in the deepest pit of this place. Although in stasis. I had his Crab Mode held by a hydraulic dynamo. The slightest thing goes wrong, it pulls him apart and jettisons each piece into different directions across the planet. All save one of my security monitors were pointed at X. The other on Cybershark's lab. I wouldn't fail in my duty again. I swore on all those lost. Blinded to the Sharks machinations. May the future forgive me.
iv - Worst Case Scenario
With the other inmates "in transit", according to Cybertron command. There was very little for me to do as the megacycles went by. Other than train the new recruits. Sharpedge and Overbite were my star pupils. It took be back to my days as a Drill Sargent on Starbase Rugby. The good times. The rest, possessed a great aptitude for combat. In turn they were pressed into the "Hellscream" squad. They would be a strong security presence for X, the plastic Preds and any further prisoners to come. All of these bots were more innately more vicious than I assumed Maximals could be? Cybershark dismissed this with some offhand remark about being a Shark Bot. Which, to my regret, I bought that too.
It took a while before I noticed that numbers started to dwindle. The first "rogue" one, I encountered alone after inspecting X's cell. I greeted the Bot causally, but it just stood at the end of the corridor. I could see even from this distance, something was wrong. It lunged at me with a howl. I managed to subdue it. But it was completely savage. Mind-less. Cybershark's examination confirmed that. He said it was a one off. He thought it was some flaw in the Protoform process. Which I rebuked, but he took on the pretence that this was not something wrong on his end. Within a decacycle, most had been lost to this "flaw". There was nothing more we could do but eject them outside. They were little more than beasts by that point. So it was safer for those who remain to let them roam the endless sea.
Two Solar Cycles ago, Sharpedge was among the last ten left. He came to my quarters, terrified. He asked for my help in getting answers from Cybershark. He was convinced our benifactor was hiding something. I agreed and that's when Hammerstrike went dark. The lights never came back on. But the alarms did. X was free! That's the only reason those alarms existed. It must have been Cybershark! I got the Hellscreams to form smaller units and hunt him down. Meanwhile Sharpedge and I headed for the control room, onboard the Hammerhead ship. The blast door was down when we arrived. Cybershark was leaving. He broadcast regret over his "failure". His experiment couldn't bring back his people. The Sharkticon CNA was somehow incompatible with Protoforms. The end result was the complete loss of intellect. He ended the message with a note to Sharpedge and the others that he would keep trying. That's when Sharpedge lost it and I had no choice but to act. Before the battle could damage the blast door and endanger the station. I had to put down my first new friend in stellarcycles. Over the intercom, I heard the others. Dying. X was stuck in Beast Mode. Still headless. But his sheer strength and resilience was unbeatable in such close quarters.
That's when the idea hit me! But before dealing with X, I had to warn others away from this place. I've got a beacon to prep.
'The last part was a little degraded. Looks like a meteor might have hit the beacon at some point. Knocking it off course.' Hunter was actively tinkering with the beacon in the ship's hold. Gouges clearly missing from the otherwise seamless beacon. 'I can't get it all. But I think I can clear up the part beyond the broadcast warning.'
'Just get on with it, loser! The computer can't get a fixed point on the telemetry of the beacon's point of origin until it starts working again.' Spat his sometime friend over the intercom.
'You sure we want to find this place, Brimstone? It sounds like trouble..'
'Armour up! You're supposed to be a Space Pirate. Not some simpering Maxi! It's this Beast Machine I'm interested in. Sounds rare enough to be worth something on the black market. Organising a tow frigate won't be too hard from our contacts. WHEN we have a location.'
'Ok, ok. I got it. Standby...Got it!'
v - The Plan
"This is planet Puracine. Now registering on the Maximal database as a lethal world. Do not approach. Not one living Maximal remains onboard of Garrus 12. The approach vector for this cluster should be mined with Maximal defence platforms as soon as possible!'
'HE'S COMING!!...This is my last chance. I can't fight him. His healing factor seems somehow augmented? I'm going to flood the Hammerstrike and open up the whole base to the ocean. See how those things outside like the taste of unkillable crab meat! I won't survive this. I guess that will be my penance for falling for this con to begin with. This was Commander Depthcharge. Last survivor of Garrus 12, signing off.'
'Do not. I repeat: Do Not approach!!'"
--
'There we go! Puracine! On the charts and within a stellarcycle from our current location. Finally some good luck is coming our way!'
'I sent the message for your tow frigate. They said it will take three stellarcycles to reach Puracine. Still, are you really sure about this?'
'Pipe down, Hunter. We're Space Pirates! They're just a bunch of defective Maxi Protoforms!!'
'I guess you're right.'
'I know I am! Still those defence platforms could be a problem. Set our Transwarp engine to jump into the planet's ocean. This thing is reinforced enough to withstand the pressure. We'll scan some better altmodes when we get there...'
'This Beast Machine might even get us back in favour with Leo and Armourex, you think?'
'Just punch in those coordinates and leave the thinking to me, this time!'