Transformers: Deep Space Exploration Team

by TcogArchitect

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Six Feet Under

Published January 7th, 2013

BRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAPPPPP

The femme laughed at Wingshift once more as she slithered out of the way of another burst of machine gun fire. Another small pile of rubble fell from the wall, adding to the clutter in the small cave. Without the night vision abilities of the other Autobots, Wingshift had been forced to use his lights to see his foe, though they seemed to do more harm than good, considering his currently dismal accuracy. She had managed to strike several more times while his back was turned, and the stiff feeling had increased, decreasing his reaction time significantly. Once more, he felt the sting of sharp metal enter his back, tearing yet again through his wings before retreating as he stumbled forward. His knee gave out, and he fell with a grunt. Turning back around, he caught a glimpse of his guns. The barrels were red with heat, and starting to bend under their own weight. They obviously wouldn't be of any use after this. Returning his attention to the problem at hand, he noticed that the femme was not returning to the shadows as she had been. Instead, she stood in plain view, knife in hand and a smirk on her lips.

"Well, looks like you didn't have to worry about them seeing what you had planned anyway. Although, they probably won't want to see this, either." Wingshift tried to counter her sudden charge, but the stiff feeling prevented him from using the speed he needed. She barreled into him, and his lights went out for a moment as he lost focus. When they came back on, he was on his front, the femme kneeling on his back as his struggles to move became more futile every second. She let out a hiss of satisfaction.

"You feel that? That's my weapon's little secret. You see, I was designed to subdue cybernetic beings like us for capture, containment, and, in some cases, study, without killing them. My knives create a special, living virus that increases in strength with more strikes. Right now, you can barely move. Let's change that." She brought her knife up, and plunged it back down into Wingshift's arm. She raised it again, and brought it back down, higher this time. She continued working her way up, until she reached the guns in his shoulder. "You aren't going to need these anymore. They're far too damaged. How about we just remove the dead weight, hmm?" She jammed the weapon under the lowest gun barrel, and twisted back and forth, prying out all three at once. The femme grinned maniacally. "And now for the other." She repeated the procedure on Wingshift's other shoulder, and then worked her way down that arm, as well. Once she was finally finished, she stood up and looked over her work. "Now, that should be enough to hold you still until I get back. Oh, and just in case you thought your little cave-ins would stop me..." Her shin guards suddenly moved to either side, revealed treads underneath. Her legs folded up under her, and her arms moved down onto her back to get out of the way as her chest plate returned to its position covering her head. "I have no trouble getting a little dirty. Ta!" The snake-head then began spinning at high speed as she rolled forward, effortlessly boring through the rocks blocking the path that Skybreaker and the Crusaders had taken. Wingshift tried once more to move, but his left arm was barely attached, and the rest of his body refused to help him in any way. As his lights faded, he activated his distress beacon.

I just hope they got out in time.

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Down the tunnel, Skybreaker strode with purpose. He was now in his robot mode, using his lights to guide the way as he carried Applebloom in his arms. The other two fillies trotted alongside him, looking back into the darkness behind them, fearing that something, or someone, would appear at any moment. When a new sound startled them, however, it was from the front. Skybreaker stopped as a scratching sound came from the right wall a few yards ahead of them. The began to push outward as the sound got louder, and Skybreaker put Applebloom down behind him before getting into a fighting stance. The bulge in the wall quickly grew, and fell away to reveal a pair of blue, furry paws. Skybreaker dropped his stance as Detpack came into view, followed soon after by Bunker.

"Oh, man, am I glad to see you guys. Wingshift is back a ways, fighting a femme that ambushed us topside. I don't know how well he's doing, though. We need to get back there as soon as we can." Bunker nodded, but paused in giving any orders when he noticed Detpack glaring down the tunnel, his ears laid back and a low growl emanating from his throat.

"What is it?"

"Something slimy. And it's getting closer."

"Alright, then." Bunker transformed, and motioned to Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. "Skybreaker, let's get these ones above ground. Detpack, guard the entrance for now. Make sure that nothing follows us up. Let's go." He re-entered the tunnel they came from, while Detpack transformed to keep them covered. The bottoms of his rear legs split in threes,exposing the matter collectors in each, and the sections of his head pushed outward, allowing his beast mode face to rotate to the back and his robot face to rotate forward. He had a flat visor where his optics were, and a thick faceplate to prevent damage from flying debris. The rest of his head staying extended, small plates underneath the main portions filling the gaps between them. Next, his wrists turned 180 degrees, and the backs of his front paws opened out into five distinct fingers, the claws of his beast mode adorning the back of each of the main knuckles. Finally, small restrainer plates along the remainder of each arm moved away, and slid aside to allow the ventilation ports within to move fresh air into the bomb builders, necessary if he needed to generate many bombs in a short time. While he waited, Crackshot joined him, having finally dislodged himself from the wall he had gotten his horn stuck in a few minutes ago. Bunker had prioritized getting to Skybreaker, and had simply left instructions to follow them when he was freed. The two kept their optics trained on the darkness where the smell Detpack noticed was coming from. It wasn't long before they heard a slithering sound, like wet clothes being dragged over a washboard without purpose. Detpack glanced back at Crackshot.

"You want me to check it out, and you provide cover?" Crackshot nodded.

"Sure. Just don't go too far. I can't shoot around corners." The other Autobot nodded his understanding, and started moving down the tunnel cautiously, watching the shadows of the cave's formations for his quarry. After several seconds of not seeing or hearing anything, he finally relaxed, and started backing up to return to where Crackshot was. He didn't get far, though, as he suddenly found himself knocked to the ground. Rolling onto his back, he saw the glint of a knife in an upraised hand, and barely managed to block the strike aimed at his chest. The tip grazed his fur, and he grunted in exertion as he tried to push it away. Looking up at his assailant, he noticed that it was a femme. She grinned down at him evilly, and gave a low hiss.

"Ssso, looks like there are plenty of you to choose from. Now just lie still, so I can - GYAH!" Detpack scrambled away from the femme as she was sent careening off of him. He looked up as he dashed, seeing Crackshot standing with his firing arm leveled at the mysterious Cybertronian, the end of his cannon smoking from the residual particles of the shot he fired to get her off.

"You alright, Detpack?"

"Yeah, thanks. Where'd she go?"

"I don't know."

"Looks like you could use some help, then." Both of them looked back to the tunnel Detpack had dug, to see Bunker climbing back out. "Let me handle this." He walked out in front of them, addressing the tunnel as a whole since he couldn't see the femme herself. "Attention rogue sparkling! This is Bunker, second in command of Autobot Deep Space Exploration Team number six. In accordance with wartime laws, you are under the supervision and command of both myself and Dark Lance, our leader. Come with us, and I can guarantee that no harm will come to you." There were a few moments of silence before the reply came, echoing wildly around the tunnel.

"And what if I don't care? What if I don't come with you, hmm? What then?" Bunker's optics narrowed dangerously.

"Then you will be treated as a Decepticon, and dealt with accordingly." A genuinely amused cackle sounded through the tunnel.

"Heee, hee hee hyaa haha ha! Please. I just scrapped your buddy back there, and I'm obviously better equipped than you down here. I don't have any reason to fear you. So I think I'll just be on my merry way, since I can't get rid of all three of you now. Don't worry, though, I'm nowhere near done with you." Bunker's attention focused on the right wall as he heard the activation of a t-cog, and he ran forward as the sound of a drill going through rock reached his audio receptors. He turned the corner just in time to see the back end of the femme's drill form disappear into a newly-dug tunnel, which collapsed behind her, preventing anyone from giving chase. Bunker ignored the now-sealed exit, and called his two new subordinates to follow him. All three returned to their beast modes, and sped down the tunnel towards where the femme had said she left Wingshift. As they continued, they soon picked up the faint signal coming from his distress beacon, and increased their speed further at how weakly the signal was transmitting. When they finally found him, Bunker's jaw went slack as Detpack and Crackshot turned away, feeling sick.

Wingshift was lying on his front, both arms eviscerated to the point of uselessness, and various parts scattered around him. Bunker transformed again, and knelt down next to the fallen warrior, doing a simple scan to find out if the size of the pool of Energon he was lying in was a lethal amount to lose. As it turned out, the answer was 'no', but it wouldn't take much more. Wingshift needed to get to the med-lab. Now.

"Crackshot! Over here, now. We need to carry him out, there's no time to wait for any of the others. Detpack, get him secure on our backs, then start digging a tunnel wide enough for us to walk through side-by-side. We need to move fast, here." Detpack gave him a curious look as the senior Autobot got into position next to Wingshift's head, while Crackshot stood next to his feet.

"So why don't we just take one of the other tunnels, then, instead of having me dig a whole new one?" Bunker grunted from the extra weight as Detpack put Wingshift's upper body on his back.

"Because all the other tunnels have too many twists and turns, and too many steep inclines. We need a smooth, straight tunnel if we're going to carry him properly. Otherwise, he's liable to fall off, and in his condition even a small drop could end it. So get digging, already. We don't have any more time." Detpack gave a salute as he finished making sure Wingshift wouldn't fall off, then started tearing into the wall, slanting his path upward slightly and pulling great swathes of dirt away to give the others a comfortable space to move through. After several minutes of digging from Detpack, and encouragement towards Wingshift from Bunker, they could once again see moonlight,and Bunker immediately figured out which way they needed to go to get back to the ship. He called Dark Lance as well, ensuring that the repair pods would be ready by the time they got there. After a few more minutes, the Star Runner was in sight, and they picked up the pace a little when they could see Skybreaker standing in the doorway. He came down the steps in his robot mode, and lifted Wingshift's upper half, allowing Bunker to get out from under the unconscious mutant, transform, and pick up his lower half. They carried him the rest of the way into the ship, and Burnout directed them over to one of the tables. They did as they were told, and backed away quickly as the medic went to work. She immediately started hooking up various instruments to her patient, inputting settings and checking readouts for unexpected problems. There were none, and she continued speeding around the table as she attached more implements to try and keep Wingshift alive. Once all of the various instruments were plugged into him, she stopped moving around, and took a step back, panting as her vents cooled her frenzied circuits. Bunker let her catch her breath, then asked the question the rest of them were wondering as well.

"Well? He going to make it?" Burnout shook her head.

"I honestly don't know. There are too many variables at this point, and he's lost a massive amount of Energon. Not only that, but the damage to his arms is beyond my abilities. I can do a lot, but the wounds he has would require a complete rebuild. I'm fairly certain that the best outcome we can hope for right now is that we only have to reformat him." Bunker leaned back slightly in shock.

"It's that bad? Unbelievable. I don't think he'd appreciate waking up in a new body without his consent, though." Burnout nodded.

"Yes. We'll have to find a way to ask him about it. I may need to use the holo-table's consciousness projection functions, though. He's probably not going to survive at all if we try to wake him up." They were interrupted by a soft groan. Turning toward the sound, they saw Wingshift's optics flicker back to life as he turned his head toward them. Burnout strode back to his side, pushing him back into position as he tried to move. "Have you lost your processor?! You shouldn't even be in sleep mode, let alone trying to move. You need to shut down your major functions right now, and save your power. You are far too low on Energon for this." Wingshift shook his head.

"Is fine.... Heard everything.... *Haaahh* *Haaahhh* Do the reformat. I will deal with the consequences myself, in my way." Burnout glanced back and shared an uncertain look with Bunker.

"Are you sure? You won't be able to regain this form again, and you may not like your new body." Wingshift nodded once, weakly.

"I don't need this form. And I have learned to hate those who hold it now. Besides, laying on a table while there are battles to be fought and allies to defend is unacceptable for a warrior of my caliber." He summoned what little strength he had left, and used it to level a pointed stare at the medic. "Do the reformat." She got the message, and nodded.

"Fine. Shut down, so I can get started." He laid his head back against the table, and his operating lights turned off one by one as he shut down. Burnout shooed the others away, and began her work once they were gone.

Author's Note:

Twists and turns are my master plan....

Also, I would just like to mention that more comments equals more updates. It helps with ideas.

Comments

[Uzume Tennouboshi]

Damn, it looked like it was going to be a close call for Wingshift, but he's all right. And it looks like he's about to get an upgrade. Of course, this means that you're totally going to have to give him a rematch against that femme, so he can pay her back for the way she curb-stomped him! I can totally see this line being used for that:

Wingshift: I recognize her. Leave her to me.

Dark Lance: Are you sure? She almost slagged you last time.

Wingshift: That's precisely why I've got to take her on myself. Besides, I'm a very different bot now.

[Gundamdragon]

Wingshift is one of my favorite bots in this I wounder what his new form will be? Lol he gets the spider thugs from the dreamwave comics.