Transformers fanfic (www.gazliter.co.uk)

Out of the Future
By Mark Stevenson

Note: This story takes place directly after 1988 story The Legacy of Unicron (issues 146-151)

All was darkness, then all was light - and what hit the ground was not a pretty sight...
"Dammit, Scourge - what on Cybertron happened?"
"Shut up you moron, can't you see I'm in pain?"

The year, by the earthen clock, is 1493. The human explorer Columbus has sailed the Atlantic and discovered the Americas. The world is now officially a bigger place. A new sense of optimism is sweeping the civilised world. Which is all well and good for that distant planet. However on Cybertron things have just taken a turn for the worse...

The heap of rubble shifted, and a low groan came from within. A large sheet of metal was pushed aside by powerful robotic arms. Dented and scuffed, Cyclonus got to his feet, staggered, and fell to his knees again, cursing. A few metres away, Scourge lay on his back, at the bottom of a shallow, Scourge-shaped crater. They were both confused, disorientated and in a lot of pain. Understandably, neither of them were feeling in the best of moods. "I swear, if I don't hurt something real soon, I am going to kill someone..." muttered Scourge, dragging himself out of the hole, before slumping on his belly next to the prone form of Cyclonus.

The purple Decepticon gasped. "Nnn - If I ever see that bounty-hunting scumbag again..." "...Then you'll get thoroughly trashed by a psychopathic mechanoid capable of trouncing Unicron's finest creations - again." Scourge snidely finished. And then the memory suddenly hit them both, and they simultaneously sat bolt upright, staring into each other's eyes. "Unicron." they both whispered.

Unbeknownst to the newcomers, their arrival had not gone unnoticed.
"What is it, soldier?"
"I - I'm not sure sir. The scope registered some kind of unknown temporal anomaly about a klik above the surface of the planet..."
"Fascinating. Do continue..."
"Well, uh, following that, we traced two objects of unknown origin falling to the surface at a speed of nearly 100 K.P.B."
"Very good, soldier. Where are they now?"
"Um, I lost them, sir..."
"Grrr!"
"B-but I traced them to the s-southern sector of Khannax-"
"Very good, soldier. I think this demands further investigation!"
"Um, sir..."
"What is it now, soldier?"
"W-w-would you mind awfully - uh - releasing m-my head, puh-please?"

Elsewhere, the two bedraggled warriors helped each other to their feet. They realised now the full weight of what had happened, of what they had done. Under the psychic control of the demi-god Unicron, they had masterminded one of the bloodiest, most senseless battles in Cybertron's long history of senseless, bloody battles. Thousands of Autobots and Decepticons had perished. It was doubtful that they would get any sympathy from either side. It was highly likely that they would be torn apart on sight. The prospect delighted neither of them.

"We have to get off this planet, Scourge! They'll kill us if we stay!" shouted Cyclonus, panic rising in his systems. "Fantastic idea, genius - and where do you propose we go? Believe me, I know all about hunting; the state we're in now, we'd be easy prey!" Scourge said, taking a pause from banging his head against the nearest wall as he did so. "Faceit!We're dead meat, out there or here - on - Cybertron..." There was another pause, as the two took in what Scourge just said. Cyclonus scratched his head. "Waitaminute - how did we get from Junk to Cybertron? We were there only a few-"

"OF COURSE! Unicron's time portal!" Scourge declared triumphantly. "It creates a temporal and spatial dislocation!" then he paused. "So, we've moved through space to Cybertron - that just leaves the question of ti-" "SCOURGE! LOOK AT THE STARS!"

Scourge looked up, and instantly knew what his partner was talking about. He knew how to navigate by the stars, and that was the view that one got from within the Alpha Centauri system. Not in a million years, at least.
"Amazing. Cyclonus - do you know where we are? We've travelled hundreds of vorns into the past, back to when Cybertron was a rogue planet! No-one'll know who we are! We're safe, my friend! We're-"

But the explosion cut off anything else he had to say. Bruiser kicked the motionless body of the winged Decepticon. "Filthy 'Cons," he spat, and gave the body another boot just for good measure. "Ah, let 'em be, Bruiser - they ain't gonna bother anyone from now on." said Edgeflash, shouldering his rifle and surveying in the wreckage around him. The battle had been over as soon as it had begun; the two Decepticons had been totally unprepared. He'd expected better in such a 'disputed' territory.

"Strange," said Easim, the group's tactician. "I don't recognise them from any of the specs of the 'Cons operating in this area..."
"Hey, Easim, slow down," Edgeflash said as he patted his friend on the shoulder, "remember - the only good 'Con is a dead one..."
"Heads up, guys," shouted Blowout, who was, as ever, keeping a close eye on the scanner. "We got five more bad guys heading in from the east - and one of them's a real big one..."
"Then let's roll out!" cried Watek, the group leader; and with that, the Autobot Guerrilla squad disappeared into the ruins, moving silently east.

"If somebody doesn't tell me, in the next five breems, where these - objects are, I shall begin to get very annoyed indeed!" Decepticon high commander Scorponok growled, causing his bodyguards to shudder.
"I'm still trying to lock the signal down, sir." said Mindwipe, fiddling with a scanner as he did so. Internally, he cringed; this was another fool's errand. Space debris fell to the surface all the time. What made this special?
"Mmm - remember my patience is limited, Mindwipe..." Scorponok growled. Zomart, Vordak and Sky-Rim shuddered at their leader's words; silently, they wished they were anywhere but here.
This is absurd, thought Mindwipe, just before a laser blast square in the back knocked him out cold.

This is turning out to be too easy, thought Watek, as he unleashed another volley of plasma fire at the enemy. Two ambushes in one day, and neither of them posing any trouble. His team had been operating throughout the disputed area for over a vorn, hitting supply lines, raiding databanks, and generally spreading death and mayhem amongst the ranks of the local faction of Decepticons. His unit was too small to attract major enemy attention, but skilled and deadly enough to be a very painful thorn in the side of the Deceps. The Guerrilla squad's principle was simple; in order to win a dirty war, you had to be a dirty warrior - and they tried their damnedest to be the dirtiest. Higher powers in the resistance like Xaaron might not have liked their methods, but could not refute their success rate. And now, Watek could not believe his visuals; there, caught in the middle of their ambush, was the leader of the local Decepticon faction, Scorponok! This was turning out to be a very good day indeed...

"Ghaa!" cried Scorponok as the ground next to him erupted. "Decepticons! Defend your leader!"
The three remaining bodyguards started firing randomly into the surrounding junkheaps and shattered buildings, unsure even of where their assailants were hiding. They were trapped in an expanse of open ground, with barely any cover; their opponents were unknown in number, well camouflaged and clearly had the strategic advantage from the outset. Their panicked firing never even came close to the Autobots' positions.
"I can't see anything!" screeched Vordak, microseconds before a tight salvo of pulse laser blasts cut him clean in half. His torso and his legs fell to the ground, quite some distance apart, and lay there twitching.
From his hiding position, Blowout mentally chalked one off. "Two down, three to go..." Sky-Rim leapt upwards, transforming as he did so into his sleek strafe flyer mode. He spotted a lone Autobot, and a small one at that, moving around behind a building. Laughing, he swooped down for the kill.
"Your exhaust is mine," he cackled, and was completely taken by surprise when an Autobot flyer popped up to his left and blew him to pieces.
Easim glanced up as Edgeflash landed softly and crouched next to him. "Gets 'em every time," said the larger robot. "Of course it does," grinned Easim, "It's one of mine!" With a mighty roar, Bruiser exploded through a heap of debris, charging directly towards Zomart. The Decepticon was paralysed with fear as the brutish Autobot bore down on him; the shots from his weapon ricocheted harmlessly off his thick carapace. Bruiser slammed into Zomart, reaching upwards, and with one enormous fist crushed the head of the Decepticon. The whole thing took barely a second. Scorponok, realising that he was now the only Decepticon left standing, brought his shoulder-mounted blasters to bear on the now exposed Autobot. Two precise snap-shots from Watek destroyed both weapons, and a third, more powerful shot to the chest lifted Scorponok off his feet and slammed him hard against the wall behind. Bruiser approached his fallen enemy.
"Bruiser! No!" Watek shouted, emerging from hiding. "We want this one alive. For the time being, at least..."

"Ungh... Cyclonus?"
"Welcome back. I was beginning to think you'd died before you'd been created. Come on, get up." Cyclonus helped his fallen comrade to his feet, "Do you know what really annoys me about this? The fact that we've only just arrived in this time and people are already trying to kill us. That really makes me mad."
Scourge brushed a layer of dirt off his body, nodding. "Oh, yes," he said as he looked around, allowing his enhanced tracking systems to run over he local area. Finally, he turned to his comrade. "Well, the culprits would appear to be five Autobots who headed east from this position. Energy trails would suggest that most of them are very powerful and heavily armed."
"Good," said Cyclonus, cracking his knuckles, "that always makes for an interesting fight!"

"So, the mighty Scorponok," Watek said, standing over the slumped warrior. "We meet at last. As you can imagine, I have a few questions - and you would do well to answer them quickly and truthfully."
"Urr... You shall get nothing from me, Autobot scum!" Scorponok spat, defiantly. Bruiser kicked him very hard in the side.

"Tchh - I don't think you understand me fully. Do you really want Bruiser here to 'soften you up' a little more? Now," Watek pointed his thumb at the nearby body of Mindwipe, "this one here is still alive. I could threaten to kill him in front of you, but I know that kind of thing doesn't bother you 'Cons much, so I'll threaten to kill you instead. And believe me, I happily will."

He leant in closer, saying, "Listen carefully. I want the access codes to the central computer at your base, and I will torture you until you tell me them."
"Wh-whatever happened to the Autobot code?" asked Scorponok, with a tremble in hisvoice.Rivulets of black fuel ran down the side of his face.
"Why, Scorponok - we do have a war to win..." Watek grinned, and for a moment he laughed, and then his head was slagged by a laser blast from behind.
"Excuse me, Gentlebots, but I believe we have some unfinished business!"
Before their leader's corpse had hit the ground, the four Autobots had spun around to face their new enemy. Scourge stood before them, holding the smoking gun of one of the fallen bodyguards. He grinned wickedly.

Howling in grief and fury, Bruiser charged at full speed towards his commander'sassassin.His momentum was so heavy that he was unable to stop as Cyclonus dropped out of the sky into his path, ramming his fist through the giant Guerrilla's chest cavity in one fluid movement. Bruiser gasped in dismay, the force of the blow lifting him off his feet. As the Autobot fell, Cyclonus savagely jerked his arm backwards, ripping his spinal circuitry from his body. Bruiser was dead before he hit the ground.

"Remember us now, do you?" Cyclonus sneered, ducking quickly to avoid a hail of laser fire. He ran and dodged as the Autobots vainly tried to get a bead on him. Scourge, meanwhile, had swiftly taken up a new position to the right of them, the opposite side to where Cyclonus was leading their fire. Scourge picked off Easim and Blowout with terrifying precision.

Edgeflash, realising that all was lost, transformed and soared into the night sky; but Cyclonus and Scourge, in their vastly superior flying modes, quickly intercepted and made short work of him. The sky glowed with fire as the last of the Autobot Guerrillas was vaporised.

When the two landed, they found a battered and somewhat humbled Scorponok surveying the carnage that they had caused.
He grinned at the strangers. "Very good, my friends. It would appear that I owe you a debt of gratitude - and Scorponok always repays his debts!"
"Scorponok? Oh, I remember y-oooff!" Cyclonus bent double as Scourge elbowed him hard in the abdomen.

"Excuse my - partner, sir," said Scourge, tapping the side of his head in a knowing fashion. "Of course we've heard of the mighty Scorponok. In fact, you're the very reason we're here! Uh, excuse me for a nanosecond..." Scourge bent down and whispered sharply in Cyclonus's ear. Scorponok thought he heard a few curious phrases, things like "...re-write history," "...start over," and "...don't screw this up, you moron." Fascinating. Eventually the two straightened up, and introduced themselves formally. Scourge extended his hand to the Decepticon leader, saying; "We've travelled far, uh, across Cybertron to find you, sir. Our former commander was, how shall we say, too good to the local Autobots, so we decided to seek out a new one! We want a firm, powerful leader, a leader we can believe in - and one who recognises talent when he sees it..."

Scorponok shook him firmly by the hand, laughing, and then put his powerful arms around the shoulders of the two newcomers. "Yeeesss... I think this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship - and also a dark day for the Autobots, eh? Scorponok is proud to have two such powerful warriors as these in his army! Come," he said, kicking Mindwipe, who was beginning to awaken. "Let us retire to my fortress, where we may toast this newpartnership!"And with that, he strode away, Mindwipe scampering after him. Cyclonus and Scourge followed a short distance behind.

"You're always hitting me these days..."
"Oh, do shut up, you moron!"
"For the last time, I am not a moron!"
"All right; shut up, you idiot, plank, imbecile, dufus, dolt, pillock, half-wit, missile with a mouth..."

ENDS