TRANSFORMERS GENERATION 2
and
ROBOTECH: THE NEW GENERATION
STRANDED
Part Five: Battles Royale
By Christopher E. Meadows
[Dedicated to Raksha, M. Sipher, Peter Walker, Aubry Thonon, and Dave
Van Domelen, whose own contributions to Transformers fandom have been
many and varied, ranging from creating the RoboMACs role-playing game
system to personally painting over 100 dinner-exclusive Transformers
figurines himself for BotCon '97.]
Nightracer drove up the ravine once more, heading for the large
spherical building and the associated human prison camp. Losing Skram
had been easy; all she had needed to do was double back into her own
dustcloud, then make a lightning-quick turn behind some boulders and
power down until the Autobot was gone. A few minutes later, she had
been free to go about her own business unhindered. After she had
finished, she would simply find and rejoin Skram and blame him for
taking the wrong turn. He might be suspicious, but he would think
little of it, given how much he _wanted_ to trust her already.
Foolish Autobot.
She topped the rise and continued down into the valley, now
driving slowly and furtively and keeping to what little cover was
available. It would not do to be spotted and challenged before she
could reach her objective, would it?
By now Nightracer had covered nearly half the distance to the
buildings, and had not yet been detected. Perhaps she might just make
it all the way after all? No, wait...four of the small, pink ones had
just launched into the air and were heading her way. Oh well. Time
to reveal herself.
Nightracer transformed and stood up. "If you can understand me, I
came to talk, not to fight!" she called out. As more of the pink
mini-crabs and the larger purple ones streaked toward her, claws
glinting, Nightracer observed wryly that she had apparently not been
understood.
Rapido, Windbreaker, and Turbofire watched, guns ready, as the
three aerial blips--no, make that four--swept in toward them. They
were aircraft of what looked like advanced human design. Turbofire
sighted along his gun toward them, but Rapido placed his own hand on
Turbofire's arm. "Lower the gun, Turbo. They might be friendlies."
"Right." Turbofire lowered his gun, and Windbreaker followed
suit. They stepped out from behind their cover and waited.
They didn't have long to wait. The aircraft approached the
ground--then extended legs and arms, not changing completely to
humanoid forms but stopping at something halfway between fighter plane
and robot. They came closer and stopped. Rapido noticed the
assault-rifle-like cannon pods held in their hands. "Are they...?"
Turbofire began.
Windbreaker shook his head. "Transformers? No--look, they've
got human pilots."
The other side was having just as much trouble trying to decide
what to make of the Autobots. "Well, I've never seen anything like
this before," Rook observed.
"Me, neither," Scott Bernard said. "They look like some kind of
transforming...ground vehicles? We never made any of those. Not ones
that look like _that_, anyway."
"And they've got _faces_, not sensor plates," Rand put in.
"That's very weird in my book. So, you think we should say hi or
something?"
"Better keep them covered until we're sure they're friendly,"
Scott decided.
Back on the Autobot side... "They're still pointing their guns at
us," Turbofire observed. "Think they're gonna fire?"
The blasts that suddenly hit the ground right between the two
groups came, surprisingly enough, from neither side. Scott looked up
at the horde of pink and purple crab-mecha that were upon them. "The
Invid! Scatter, everyone!"
Rapido managed to pick up the exclamation over short-range radio.
So that's what they're called, he thought as he brought his own
cannons to bear. "Autobots! Provide covering fire! I think we're
all on the same side here!"
"You got it!" Windbreaker opened up with his cannon, shooting
from the hip and raking a stream of automatic fire across two of the
pink Invid mecha, holing them multiple times.
Turbofire ran for cover behind the cargo pod, firing up into the
air. The human fighters had taken off, and were engaging the flying
Invid on their own turf. "Next time, we bring jetpacks," Rapido
muttered, dodging a stream of plasma discs and firing back.
Rand fixed a purple Invid Trooper in his sights and fired the big
Beta's arm-mounted particle-beam cannons, blowing off its left arm and
leg before shattering the torso armor and blowing the alien mecha to
pieces. The best thing about the Beta, Rand reflected, was the array
of firepower it packed. With beam weapons, conserving ammo was not
such a big--
WHAM! Rand was thrown against the seat harness as an Invid Scout
slammed into him from behind at high speed, and the Beta was thrown to
the ground. "Oof!"
Rook swooped in, picking the scout off with a gun pod blast.
"Rand, are you okay?"
The Beta got back to its knees, then to its feet. "I think
so...man, look at Scott go!"
Scott Bernard had gone right into the heart of the Invid, using
his Alpha's half-plane, half-robot Guardian mode's maneuverability to
full advantage. He feinted left, he feinted right, he flipped over
backward at full thrust, until the Invid were right where he wanted
them. Then he fired off a cluster of four missiles from the shoulder
launch bays, catching half a dozen of the crab-like mecha in the burst
radius of the explosion and sending them to the ground in flames.
"Four missiles for six kills...how's that for munitions
conservation?" Scott said cheerfully. The Alpha's fuselage flipped
back and its head came up as it went to full Battloid mode and touched
down on the ground, gunpod cradled in its arms.
"Pretty good, except you're all out now," Lancer remarked, firing
a short burst from his own gun into another Invid.
"I was hoping you wouldn't remind me," Scott said, putting his
back to the cargo pod and blazing away with his cannon. "Hey, how're
our new friends doing?"
One of the big, purple Invid Troopers knocked Rapido's cannon out
of his hand with a swipe of one of its oversized pincer claws. Rapido
grabbed the pincer and pulled, throwing the Trooper over his shoulder
and onto its back, then finished it with a small laser cannon built
into his arm.
"On the whole, I'd say not bad," Lancer said, turning his
attention back to the battle.
Nightracer was having problems of her own--but not more than she
could handle. As the pink mecha--not the ones with cannons built in,
Nightracer noted; thank Primus for small favors--surrounded her, she
pulled out a submachine cannon in each hand, her weapon of choice for
close encounters. Spent shell casings rattled on the ground as the
armor-piercing shells tore through four of the pink crabs in front of
her.
As the guns ran dry, Nightracer reached down and back, and jammed
the handgrips through the sensor eyes of the mecha behind her. She
used her momentum to vault backward into the air, slapping something
round and metallic onto the torso of another crab as she passed
overhead. Nightracer landed in a crouch with an assault rifle in her
hands and fired at another enemy, as the limpet mine she had just
placed blew that one up.
She kept in constant motion, dodging claw swipes and energy blasts
with consummate skill, firing blast after blast from her rifle and
making each one a bullseye. As she worked, Nightracer occasionally
noticed the looks of hope and desperation on the faces of some of the
humans, out of the corner of one visual receptor. She paid them no
heed; lesser lifeforms did not concern her.
As Nightracer blew up another mecha with a rocket blast, the big
green and orange robot that she had seen land here earlier came
shooting out of the sphere. "What in the Regis's name is going on?!"
its pilot thundered in consternation. "Cease this immediately!"
The surviving Invid mecha complied, halting their attack and
withdrawing. The green and orange mecha set down in front of the
strange mecha, a safe distance away. "Who are you, and what is the
meaning of this?" it demanded. "Explain yourself or die, human! No
one attacks the Hive and lives!"
"Please don't insult me by calling me human," Nightracer growled,
eyeing the pilot through the mecha's transparent chest canopy. _He_
certainly seemed human enough. "The name's Nightracer, and I am a
Decepticon warrior. And I did _not_ attack your Hive. I came to
speak to you, and your goons jumped me."
The man's eyes narrowed. "Not human? What trickery is this?!"
"No trickery, pal. I'm no piloted vehicle, I'm Cybertronian clear
through. And I'm not from around these parts," Nightracer said.
"Now, listen and listen good. If there's anything you need done that
calls for a damn good gunner, I may have a deal for you. Interested?"
The man looked from Nightracer to the shattered mecha on the
ground all around her, and his eyes narrowed still further. "I might
be."
Nightracer grinned behind her faceplace. "Good. Then let me
explain."
With the three Autobots and four freedom fighters working
together, it did not take long at all to see the last attacking Invid
to bite the dust. "Well," Scott joked, setting down and converting
his Alpha back to Guardian mode, "that wasn't so hard."
"Yeah, especially with these guys' help," Lancer said, indicating
the Autobots. "You ever seen a mecha move like that before?"
"I haven't even seen _Scott_ move like that," Rook said, landing
her own jet. "Maybe Max Sterling _might_ have, but..."
Rapido approached the group of Veritechs. "I don't believe we've
been properly introduced. I'm Rapido, and and this is Turbofire and
Windbreaker."
"Lieutenant Commander Scott Bernard, Robotech Expeditionary
Force," Scott said, opening the canopy. "You guys are some fighters.
I've never seen anything like that before--or like those mecha you're
piloting. Are you from Jupiter Division, or the Robotech Research
Group?"
"Neither of those, actually," Windbreaker said.
"And we're not piloted, either," Turbofire put in.
The cockpit on the Beta opened and Rand hopped out. "Not piloted?
Wait a minute, so you're saying you're robots? I didn't think they
had that technology yet."
"Well, _they_ may not, but _we_ do," Rapido said with a grin.
"We're from a little farther away than you might think," Rapido said.
"We'd better save explanations for later," Scott Bernard decided.
"It won't be long before they send another patrol to take up where
that one left off."
"Right," Lancer agreed. "We'd better call in Lunk and the others
and see if there's anything here for us."
"Well, the day's not getting any younger," Rand said cheerfully.
"Let's get to work."
Skram had not been quite sure just how he had lost track of
Nightracer. He could not even be certain whether it had been
accidental or intentional on the Decepticon's part. His sense of
caution told him she had probably lost him on purpose, especially
since she had been the one who had suggested splitting up in the first
place and had made no bones about her dislike of him. On the other
hand, he admired Nightracer in a sense, and wanted to believe she
could be trusted. He drove around looking for her, with no success.
Until the sound of gunfire and explosions came from nearby. "That
must be Nightracer...maybe she's in trouble!" Getting a rough bearing
on the source of it, Skram poured on the speed and raced through the
maze of desert canyons and rock outcroppings.
It did not take long for Skram to find his way to a cliff
overlooking the valley. There was no way down from Skram's position,
but he did have an excellent view of the whole area. For a moment,
Skram had no idea what to think, then his jaw slowly dropped as he
took everything in.
Nightracer raced back through the canyon. The conversation had
gone rather well; she had explained that they needed energy, and the
human had offered to provide it. Well, perhaps it would be best to
say _humanoid_; judging from how he had called himself Invid and the
way he had spoken of humans, he seemed to be of some other species
after all. But that was not important.
There was a group of human resistance fighters in the area, Corg
had told her. If she destroyed them, or even merely crippled them so
the Invid could finish them off, she would be given all the energy
they needed to get them home. She would have to avoid the Autobots
while doing it, thanks to their silly sentimentality, but that would
not be too hard. Corg had even provided a sample of the
Invid-produced protoculture power cells in which payment would be
rendered; it was sitting in her driver's seat right now.
She would have smiled, had she been able; things were going
exceedingly well. When the situation called for fast action, trust a
_Decepticon_ to get things done while the Autobots were still trying
to figure out what was going on. Now, all she needed to do was find
Skram and return to the rendezvous point.
Nightracer was not particularly surprised when she walked around
the corner of a pile of boulders to find Skram leaning against it,
waiting for her. "So, _there_ you are," she said. "Typical Autobot.
Leave you alone for two minutes, _you_ get lost."
Skram levelled his gun at her. "Just what the hell were you doing
back there?"
Nightracer's eyes narrowed dangerously. "I'm sure I don't know
what you think you're talking about..."
"That...that prison camp. I saw everything," Skram said. "You
talked to the guy in charge of it, and he gave you something. So,
tell me, is this all a Decepticon trap? Are your pink and purple
buddies waiting for you to lead them back to our camp so they can
finish us off?"
Nightracer moved a little closer. "You'd better be damn sure
about what you're doing, kid..."
"Stay back there," Skram said. "I want answers, and I want
them--"
Nightracer lunged forward, shoving the gun barrel aside with her
left hand and slamming Skram hard across the jaw with her right. The
punch rocked him back into the rock face, and he lost his grip on the
gun. Nightracer deftly reversed it into her own hands, and jammed it
under Skram's chin, pressing him back against the rock face.
"Now you listen up, Autobot slime, and you listen good," she
hissed. "What I'm doing is my damnedest to make sure we all stay
alive and we all get back home. You don't like it, tough shit. And
if you ever, _ever_ do something so stupid as pull a gun on me again,
I _will_ kill you." She threw the gun aside and turned to go, tossing
something over her shoulder. "Do something useful. Figure out how
many of these power cells we need to get us home."
Nightracer transformed and drove off, leaving a stunned Autobot to
contemplate the protoculture power cell in his hand.
TO BE CONTINUED
"Stranded" is copyright 1997 by Christopher E. Meadows. Permission
granted for free electronic distribution via the Fanfic Mailing List
and associated archival, as long as no fee is charged and this notice
remains intact. For further permissions, such as inclusion in
"Con-Quest" or on an archival webpage, please contact the author, he
would likely be more than happy to oblige. :)
The Transformers, Rapido, Windbreaker, Turbofire, and Skram are
registered trademarks of Hasbro and Takara, and Nightracer is a
trademark of Raksha and Plumed Serpent Productions. Their
unauthorized use here is not for profit, and not meant to infringe
upon those trademarks. This is _not_ an official Hasbro-endorsed
story, please don't think I'm trying to pass it off as one. (There,
that should make the Hasbro lawyers happy. :)
Robotech, the Invid, Prince Corg, Scott Bernard, Rand, Rook, Lancer,
Lunk, Annie LaBelle, Marlene, and other associated characters and
mecha are trademarks of Harmony Gold, Inc. Their unauthorized use
here is not for profit, and not meant to infringe upon those
trademarks. This is _not_ an official Harmony Gold-endorsed story,
please don't think I'm trying to pass it off as one. (And that should
make the Harmony Gold lawyers happy too! :)