[G1] Alien Sky (part 1)
May. 22nd, 2008 06:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nkfloofiepoof posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
deceptikittyTitle: Alien Sky
Arc: N/A
Rating: PG
Characters: Skywarp, Thundercracker, Soundwave, Starscream, and more
Summary: This...is STRANGE. Let me go ahead and warn you of that. It all stemmed from a very old entry in![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
tfiwts that demanded stories where the Transformers are turned into something other than humans, so I started this back in November.
...then I found it had already been done and done much better by Starhorse on FF.net with her story On Being Reduced to Instinct. So, this kind of died there two paragraphs in.
Well, I was depressed after totally bombing my GRE Tuesday, so I picked it up again since I'm stuck in everything else and managed to finish the first part. I have the whole thing planned out in my head, but since I worry I'll just look like I'm ripping off Starhorse, I'm not sure if I should even bother continuing/finishing it. Should I? =/
Not going to bother cross-posting anywhere since I don't know if I'll continue it or not.
I suppose none of us really should have been surprised. He's not exactly known for making such split-astrosecond decisions, but there we were - one klik, we were going about our normal routines calculating the dwindling energon supply, sending out a scouting party to oversee the latest round of destruction in a neighboring city, and any number of other normal tasks, and the next klik, he was screeching over a private frequency in his unique voice for me to report for an emergency launch.
I, unfortunately, am obedient to a fault - I knew he would not have called me of all mechs if he didn't have dire use for me and my abilities, so I immediately answered the call and rushed onto the ship's bridge to see I was not the only one he sent for. Almost all higher ranking officers were present in addition to several additional soldiers I would never have expected - twelve of us total as far as I could count.
He was in a hurry - he didn't even bother filling me in on the situation, not that I really expected him to. I just do what I'm told, and rarely does anyone see fit to explain to me why. Instead, he barked orders here and there, pointing us to stations to prepare for launch, activate the weapons arrays, disconnect from the heart of the city, and make sure the hull was securely sealed. It was when I was in the middle of beginning the launch sequence that I noticed something out the main view screen, and seeing that telltale orange shell clued me in - we were to give chase.
We launched just a klik later, and we burned a lot of fuel in our attempt to catch up - most of the time, we simply chased at a distance, firing a few threatening shots every so often, but soon enough, we finally came up beside them and attacked full-out. I'm not quite sure what went wrong from there. In the middle of our attack, our ship broke away, leaving all of us behind, and I didn't notice the blue planet we were fast approaching until flames began to lick into the gaping wound we left in the side of the ship as we punched through the atmosphere. My last totally clear memory was when I pushed myself away from the mech I was grappling with and looked out the hole in the hull just in time to see a sea of green before we crashed.
---
The first thing Skywarp realized was that he was laying half on his side in something wet and cold, but he ached from nose to foot and, thus, could not bring himself to care to move just yet. He could not even bring himself to drag his optics online, so he stayed perfectly still to wait for his comrades to come to him, busying himself studying his surroundings by audio alone.
There were many foreign noises, sounds he had never heard before - a strange combination of whistling and chirping and trilling all around him and coming from dozens of directions at once, an odd bubbling noise in the distance to his right, and an equally odd whoosh every few kliks. As he thought about the noises and tried to place them, something stirred in the back of his mind and began to assign names to the noises though he knew not where the names originated. He had never heard of anything called a "bird" before, but somehow, he knew that was what made the whistling and trilling noises above and around him. The cause of the other sounds did not come so easily, so he gave up for the time being and focused on the "birds". It was almost musical - he singled out one particularly interesting trill and listened intently. It was the same pattern over and over again, high notes followed by low notes, but it was quite intriguing - almost intriguing enough to allow himself to come fully online.
Something cool suddenly slid up his back, and he jerked online with a start and whipped his head around to see who dared touch him, but there was no one. In fact, he found himself staring at something...fuzzy and organic, black as night like his armor but most definitely not a part of his body he recognized. He felt something odd near his aft and shifted a little to dislodge it only to see the fuzzy thing he was staring at wiggle as well just before something black and tipped with white shot up from the end, and he stared stupefied at the short appendage now attached to his - yes, whatever condition it was in, it was definitely his now - aft.
Skywarp tried to push himself to his feet only to have his arms flail out in front of him and catch the ground with things which certainly did not feel like his fingers, and that prompted him to jerk his head back around to his front and stare dumbfounded at the long, frail things which used to be his powerful arms. He lifted one experimentally to survey the two hard surfaces where his hand used to be. Shifting once more told him that his legs were in similar condition. Don't panic - don't panic, he told himself repeatedly. Frail as these alarmingly strange appendages seemed to be, they seemed strong enough to support his weight, so he very carefully pushed his still aching body up to stand. It was an odd thing standing on both his hands and his feet but his body not bent over. In fact, when he looked up again, his head was at a comfortable, almost natural angle despite the position, so he took the opportunity to survey his surroundings.
The last thing Skywarp remembered was attacking the Autobot vessel shortly after it left Cybertron. However, he was most definitely not in the Ark anymore - there was no hideous orange metal to be seen anywhere around him and also no Autobots. Instead, he was surrounded by tall, brown, organic poles that stretched high over his head and reached up to a blue - blue? - sky with brown arms tipped with green. Trees, he told himself and was alarmed by the realization that he knew what these things were.
The cold feeling slid up his back again, and he shuddered against it even as he named it in the back of his mind - wind. That name was not entirely alarming - he had heard of wind before, but not like this.
A snort brought his attention back to his surroundings, and he looked sharply to his right to see he was not alone. Staring at him was an organic creature, blue grey in color with intense red eyes peering over its long snout. Two long, bony protrusions arced high over its head and branched off into several additional tips, a total of seven points each. Deer, Skywarp's mind supplied though he still did not understand how he knew. Something told him he needed to get closer to identify the stag, but Skywarp needed only to see the stag's expression of boredom to know, and he felt something leap inside his chest from happiness. Thundercracker!
Skywarp almost fell forward on his snout when he tried to bound over to his comrade, not accustomed to such strange limbs. Thundercracker, for his part, did not yet try to stand and instead watched Skywarp learn how to walk with big, exaggerated steps one at a time until he had a firmer grasp on his balance. It was only when Skywarp finally wobbled the distance between them and snuffed in the blue-grey stag's ear that Thundercracker finally pushed himself to his own feet. He was the same size as Skywarp, but somehow, the black stag felt smaller, and Skywarp lowered his head just a little so Thundercracker's antlers stood above Skywarp's own.
The silence was maddening. Skywarp wanted so badly to ask his comrade what happened, why they were in such bizarre bodies, where they were, where were the Autobots, where were the other Decepticons, and a thousand other questions, but he could not ask any of them, and neither could Thundercracker answer him. Thundercracker was surveying their surroundings as Skywarp had been earlier. He supposed it may have been fascinating to a more scientific type of mech, but to a simple soldier, there was not much to see which was worth seeing - trees covering the sky, green and brown grasses and bushes, dirt rubbing into the sensitive flesh - flesh - between his hooves, and an occasional flash of color amongst the leaves as what he assumed were birds darted from branch to branch.
The wind wafted under his snout, and Skywarp was suddenly made aware of a sense he never put much thought into using before as he lifted his muzzle and sniffed the air. He knew not what he was smelling, but it gave him a feeling of familiarity. A brief glance at Thundercracker confirmed he felt the same, so the two turned to follow it, weaving through the trees and stepping carefully over rocks and shrubbery. Skywarp stopped to investigate all the new and strange organic things on the ground every few steps, but his waning attention was grasped quickly and repeatedly when his ears swung forward and told him Thundercracker was leaving him behind. Not wanting to be left alone in such strange surroundings trapped in this odd body, Skywarp quickly followed him again.
Thankfully, he did not have to worry about his spotty attention for long as the two stags soon came over a slight hill and found themselves gazing down upon a group of wobbly and uncertain creatures, a deep mix of brown and green with massive, flat-tipped antlers arching high over their heads. There were six, one larger than all the rest and with much, much larger antlers which fanned out in a shovel-like shape and tapered into many points. The six creatures huddled together in an mixture of uncertainty and nervousness.
Thundercracker held back in his own uncertainty, but Skywarp knew exactly who they were and leapt down the other side of the hill to join them. He leaped high into the air and nearly glided down the slope with a grace that greatly surprised him as he thought such fluidity was only possible when flying. He did not dwell on it though, his attention immediately drawn back to the group of creatures when he reached the bottom of the slope.
The five caribou jerked away from him in surprise, and the moose bowed its head and stood before them protectively, using its bulk to make itself appear more intimidating than the black deer bounding toward them. Skywarp's ears drooped back, and he lowered his head in silent apology for frightening them. He stood still with his head bowed and tail drooped for a klik to allow the Constructicons to recognize him, and Long Haul lifted his massive head again once he allowed himself to relax.
Pleased, Skywarp lifted his head again and glanced over his shoulder to see Thundercracker step up beside him. Hook stamped his hooves and shook his head in rage in a frustrated and wordless attempt to demand what was happening, but even if he had been able to voice his frantic question, no one could answer - no one knew the answer. Scavenger heaved out a snort of disdain at his fellow Constructicon's behavior and blew a cloud into the air, an act which did not go unnoticed by both Skywarp and Mixmaster who proceeded to mimic his action so they too could send clouds into the cool air.
A snap brought the attention of all to a thick pile of bushes just as three tiny figures scrambled free of the brambles. The small trio was little more than a pile of long legs darting about each other, but they froze upon seeing the massive Long Haul staring down at them. It was difficult to identify them from their color, a drab grey with a dull mossy green near their hooves, but all three fawns were identical - even their dappled backs were exactly the same, and, as far as Skywarp was concerned, that meant they had to be Reflector.
One of the Reflectors darted between Long Haul's long legs and bounded to Thundercracker where he proceeded to jump up and down in place, quite obviously just as confused as the rest of them. Thundercracker, the highest ranking Decepticon present, merely gave a shake of his head and returned to gazing at their surroundings. There were still three crew members from the Nemesis missing, but he saw no sign of them. Still, since those present had not been separated by too much distance, it stood to reason that those remaining were nearby as well.
With a snort and a toss of his head, Thundercracker pushed past the tightly packed group of caribou and made his way deeper into the trees, leaving the others to follow him. He stepped carefully over tree roots rather than bounding over them the way Reflector and Skywarp were - the blue-grey stag knew his legs were thin and fragile even if he did not understand exactly what he had become or how, and he knew getting one of them caught or tripping was the last thing he wanted.
Thundercracker stopped every few trees and lifted his snout high into the air to let the wind carry their surroundings' scents to him in the hopes that it would tell him of the location of their other comrades the way it had led him and Skywarp to the Constructicons and Reflector, and after nearly two breems of weaving in and out of the trees, he was rewarded with a scent he did not recognize yet still seemed familiar, and following it led them to a small clearing just large enough for Long Haul to fit without scraping his massive antlers against the trees.
In the center of the clearing lay a black stag like Skywarp, but his uniform black was broken by blaze of white on his throat, and his white antlers bore eight points each to Skywarp's six and Thundercracker's own seven, and that alone was enough to tell Thundercracker that he was in the presence of one higher ranking than himself. Under the black stag's watchful gaze were two fawns smaller than Reflector head butting one another, one a deep, rust red and the other ashen grey. Tucked against the stag's side was a black bobcat, and perched on his antlers were two ravens and a sleeping bat hiding in its own wings.
There was no need to identify Soundwave.
As Soundwave pushed himself up to stand, another stag emerged from the trees behind him, rust red like Frenzy and with a set of white antlers arcing elegantly over his head, nine prongs each. He held his head high and proud, snout perfectly parallel to the ground, and his steps were graceful and confident as he strode to the group. Thundercracker lowered his own head just enough that he would not question the other stags' dominance and silently passed the burden of leading the confused and distraught group to them.
Starscream moved his piercing red gaze to each Decepticon in turn, counting to see who all was missing if any. His ears pushed forward when he counted one short, and Thundercracker did not need to use his imagination very much to picture the grin his superior would have had on his face had he been able. They all knew one was still missing. Pleased with this, Starscream moved to the more pressing matter of where they were and what had happened, but even if he had a guess, he could not speak - much to the relief of all present though they would never let him know that.
Thundercracker's ears pressed back when he realized this. None of them could communicate reliably, so how were they to rectify this situation? As far as he could tell, they were trapped in these strange, organic bodies, and none of them even had a clue how it had happened in the first place. Also, where were the Autobots? They had all been locked in combat inside the Ark when it crashed, yet only Decepticons were present. Surely the Autobots were trapped in these bizarre bodies as well.
Starscream gave a shake of his head in frustration and turned his attention to the wind as if it held the answers they were looking for. He raised his head to sniff the air just as Thundercracker had, but his head jerked back down, and everyone's ears shot up when a noise bayed over the soft calls of birds. It was a deep, resonant noise that seemed to echo through the trees, and it tugged at them even though they knew not what it was. The pull was still there even when the noise faded away.
Unbearably curious, Starscream gave a snort and started away, leaving the others to follow. Soundwave walked just behind the red stag with Rumble and Frenzy at either side and Ravage bounding through the brush behind them. Thundercracker stamped a hoof onto the ground before he too followed, and Skywarp soon joined him at his side. Reflector ran ahead to join Starscream, and the Constructicons, much larger than the stags and having increasing difficulty making their way through the foliage, lagged behind in their attempt to circumvent the more densely packed trees and find a better way around for Long Haul, and they started to give up before the sound echoed through the trees again, and they were again pulled by the call.
The walk was blessedly short before they reached another clearing, this one by a softly bubbling stream where yet another stag stood, his mouth open as he called to them. He let his voice trail off and lowered his head to gaze upon the group of changed Decepticons, his muscled neck easily supporting the enormous set of black, elegantly curved antlers - ten prongs each - weighing down his head. He stood out against the backdrop of the green and brown vegetation easily, his lustrous white coat shining and reflecting off the water. He was only a fraction taller than Starscream, but by bulk, he was much larger, shoulders and chest thickly muscled to carry him with an air of grace mixed with power. Even Long Haul felt very small in the white stag's presence.
Starscream's ears pressed back flat against his head in disappointment that they had found the last Decepticon from the Nemesis' crew, but he could not voice his annoyance. It was no less palpable though, and Megatron favored the red stag with a heated glare before he tossed his head and turned to the stream, stepping through the water to cross to the other side. When no one followed him, he spun to face them and gave an angry snort along with another glare, but he was only met with flipped ears and tails and tilted heads, all confused.
Angry, Megatron stamped his hooves and turned in a circle before he tossed his head again, and Thundercracker's ears raised in surprise. Megatron knew something. He wished their leader could speak and tell them what it was, but following him would have to suffice for the time being. Soundwave was the first to follow, stepping through the water and closely followed by his twins and Ravage who did their best to leap over the water. Thundercracker followed behind him, and soon everyone else joined them.
Megatron waited until they were all assembled once more before he turned and started into the new section of forest. Thundercracker knew not where they were going, but Megatron walked straight and with a purpose, so all he could do was hope a solution would present itself soon.
---
I only knew a little more than Skywarp did of what was going on when we were called to the Nemesis. I knew the Autobots had launched the Ark - we had been expecting them to any time. Soundwave had been spying on the construction of the Ark with Laserbeak for a long time, almost since its initial conception. Of course, we had conflicting opinions on just why they were making the starship - Megatron thought they were trying to flee before we could get the upper hand, but Starscream and Soundwave thought they might have simply been trying to find a hiding place so they could build up their forces again. Regardless, we all knew one thing: we needed to stop them.
When the Ark launched, we were ready. The Nemesis launched just after the Ark, and we remained at a steady distance firing warning shots as we burned a lot of fuel catching up and coming aside them. The battle after we boarded is a blur - I just remember Megatron grappling with Prime and me trying to take out their navigation controls before anyone could stop me. I think I was the first to notice we were going to crash, but I didn't have time to yell out any sort of warning. We came on the planet too fast and plunged through the atmosphere before I could even think to say anything.
I don't remember the crash itself. I just remember waking up in that strange body and staring at Skywarp. It was so jarring, but I had to maintain some semblance of composure for Skywarp's and everyone else's sake. I was just relieved when we found everyone and I didn't have to stay in charge any longer than I did - I don't think I could have handled it as off-kilter as I still was. That body was so foreign and wrong, and while I normally don't put much stock in Megatron's ability to lead, when he seemed like he knew what was going on and walked like he knew exactly where he was going, all I could do was hope that he would find a solution soon.
Little did I know that was only the start of our problems.
Arc: N/A
Rating: PG
Characters: Skywarp, Thundercracker, Soundwave, Starscream, and more
Summary: This...is STRANGE. Let me go ahead and warn you of that. It all stemmed from a very old entry in
tfiwts that demanded stories where the Transformers are turned into something other than humans, so I started this back in November....then I found it had already been done and done much better by Starhorse on FF.net with her story On Being Reduced to Instinct. So, this kind of died there two paragraphs in.
Well, I was depressed after totally bombing my GRE Tuesday, so I picked it up again since I'm stuck in everything else and managed to finish the first part. I have the whole thing planned out in my head, but since I worry I'll just look like I'm ripping off Starhorse, I'm not sure if I should even bother continuing/finishing it. Should I? =/
Not going to bother cross-posting anywhere since I don't know if I'll continue it or not.
I suppose none of us really should have been surprised. He's not exactly known for making such split-astrosecond decisions, but there we were - one klik, we were going about our normal routines calculating the dwindling energon supply, sending out a scouting party to oversee the latest round of destruction in a neighboring city, and any number of other normal tasks, and the next klik, he was screeching over a private frequency in his unique voice for me to report for an emergency launch.
I, unfortunately, am obedient to a fault - I knew he would not have called me of all mechs if he didn't have dire use for me and my abilities, so I immediately answered the call and rushed onto the ship's bridge to see I was not the only one he sent for. Almost all higher ranking officers were present in addition to several additional soldiers I would never have expected - twelve of us total as far as I could count.
He was in a hurry - he didn't even bother filling me in on the situation, not that I really expected him to. I just do what I'm told, and rarely does anyone see fit to explain to me why. Instead, he barked orders here and there, pointing us to stations to prepare for launch, activate the weapons arrays, disconnect from the heart of the city, and make sure the hull was securely sealed. It was when I was in the middle of beginning the launch sequence that I noticed something out the main view screen, and seeing that telltale orange shell clued me in - we were to give chase.
We launched just a klik later, and we burned a lot of fuel in our attempt to catch up - most of the time, we simply chased at a distance, firing a few threatening shots every so often, but soon enough, we finally came up beside them and attacked full-out. I'm not quite sure what went wrong from there. In the middle of our attack, our ship broke away, leaving all of us behind, and I didn't notice the blue planet we were fast approaching until flames began to lick into the gaping wound we left in the side of the ship as we punched through the atmosphere. My last totally clear memory was when I pushed myself away from the mech I was grappling with and looked out the hole in the hull just in time to see a sea of green before we crashed.
---
The first thing Skywarp realized was that he was laying half on his side in something wet and cold, but he ached from nose to foot and, thus, could not bring himself to care to move just yet. He could not even bring himself to drag his optics online, so he stayed perfectly still to wait for his comrades to come to him, busying himself studying his surroundings by audio alone.
There were many foreign noises, sounds he had never heard before - a strange combination of whistling and chirping and trilling all around him and coming from dozens of directions at once, an odd bubbling noise in the distance to his right, and an equally odd whoosh every few kliks. As he thought about the noises and tried to place them, something stirred in the back of his mind and began to assign names to the noises though he knew not where the names originated. He had never heard of anything called a "bird" before, but somehow, he knew that was what made the whistling and trilling noises above and around him. The cause of the other sounds did not come so easily, so he gave up for the time being and focused on the "birds". It was almost musical - he singled out one particularly interesting trill and listened intently. It was the same pattern over and over again, high notes followed by low notes, but it was quite intriguing - almost intriguing enough to allow himself to come fully online.
Something cool suddenly slid up his back, and he jerked online with a start and whipped his head around to see who dared touch him, but there was no one. In fact, he found himself staring at something...fuzzy and organic, black as night like his armor but most definitely not a part of his body he recognized. He felt something odd near his aft and shifted a little to dislodge it only to see the fuzzy thing he was staring at wiggle as well just before something black and tipped with white shot up from the end, and he stared stupefied at the short appendage now attached to his - yes, whatever condition it was in, it was definitely his now - aft.
Skywarp tried to push himself to his feet only to have his arms flail out in front of him and catch the ground with things which certainly did not feel like his fingers, and that prompted him to jerk his head back around to his front and stare dumbfounded at the long, frail things which used to be his powerful arms. He lifted one experimentally to survey the two hard surfaces where his hand used to be. Shifting once more told him that his legs were in similar condition. Don't panic - don't panic, he told himself repeatedly. Frail as these alarmingly strange appendages seemed to be, they seemed strong enough to support his weight, so he very carefully pushed his still aching body up to stand. It was an odd thing standing on both his hands and his feet but his body not bent over. In fact, when he looked up again, his head was at a comfortable, almost natural angle despite the position, so he took the opportunity to survey his surroundings.
The last thing Skywarp remembered was attacking the Autobot vessel shortly after it left Cybertron. However, he was most definitely not in the Ark anymore - there was no hideous orange metal to be seen anywhere around him and also no Autobots. Instead, he was surrounded by tall, brown, organic poles that stretched high over his head and reached up to a blue - blue? - sky with brown arms tipped with green. Trees, he told himself and was alarmed by the realization that he knew what these things were.
The cold feeling slid up his back again, and he shuddered against it even as he named it in the back of his mind - wind. That name was not entirely alarming - he had heard of wind before, but not like this.
A snort brought his attention back to his surroundings, and he looked sharply to his right to see he was not alone. Staring at him was an organic creature, blue grey in color with intense red eyes peering over its long snout. Two long, bony protrusions arced high over its head and branched off into several additional tips, a total of seven points each. Deer, Skywarp's mind supplied though he still did not understand how he knew. Something told him he needed to get closer to identify the stag, but Skywarp needed only to see the stag's expression of boredom to know, and he felt something leap inside his chest from happiness. Thundercracker!
Skywarp almost fell forward on his snout when he tried to bound over to his comrade, not accustomed to such strange limbs. Thundercracker, for his part, did not yet try to stand and instead watched Skywarp learn how to walk with big, exaggerated steps one at a time until he had a firmer grasp on his balance. It was only when Skywarp finally wobbled the distance between them and snuffed in the blue-grey stag's ear that Thundercracker finally pushed himself to his own feet. He was the same size as Skywarp, but somehow, the black stag felt smaller, and Skywarp lowered his head just a little so Thundercracker's antlers stood above Skywarp's own.
The silence was maddening. Skywarp wanted so badly to ask his comrade what happened, why they were in such bizarre bodies, where they were, where were the Autobots, where were the other Decepticons, and a thousand other questions, but he could not ask any of them, and neither could Thundercracker answer him. Thundercracker was surveying their surroundings as Skywarp had been earlier. He supposed it may have been fascinating to a more scientific type of mech, but to a simple soldier, there was not much to see which was worth seeing - trees covering the sky, green and brown grasses and bushes, dirt rubbing into the sensitive flesh - flesh - between his hooves, and an occasional flash of color amongst the leaves as what he assumed were birds darted from branch to branch.
The wind wafted under his snout, and Skywarp was suddenly made aware of a sense he never put much thought into using before as he lifted his muzzle and sniffed the air. He knew not what he was smelling, but it gave him a feeling of familiarity. A brief glance at Thundercracker confirmed he felt the same, so the two turned to follow it, weaving through the trees and stepping carefully over rocks and shrubbery. Skywarp stopped to investigate all the new and strange organic things on the ground every few steps, but his waning attention was grasped quickly and repeatedly when his ears swung forward and told him Thundercracker was leaving him behind. Not wanting to be left alone in such strange surroundings trapped in this odd body, Skywarp quickly followed him again.
Thankfully, he did not have to worry about his spotty attention for long as the two stags soon came over a slight hill and found themselves gazing down upon a group of wobbly and uncertain creatures, a deep mix of brown and green with massive, flat-tipped antlers arching high over their heads. There were six, one larger than all the rest and with much, much larger antlers which fanned out in a shovel-like shape and tapered into many points. The six creatures huddled together in an mixture of uncertainty and nervousness.
Thundercracker held back in his own uncertainty, but Skywarp knew exactly who they were and leapt down the other side of the hill to join them. He leaped high into the air and nearly glided down the slope with a grace that greatly surprised him as he thought such fluidity was only possible when flying. He did not dwell on it though, his attention immediately drawn back to the group of creatures when he reached the bottom of the slope.
The five caribou jerked away from him in surprise, and the moose bowed its head and stood before them protectively, using its bulk to make itself appear more intimidating than the black deer bounding toward them. Skywarp's ears drooped back, and he lowered his head in silent apology for frightening them. He stood still with his head bowed and tail drooped for a klik to allow the Constructicons to recognize him, and Long Haul lifted his massive head again once he allowed himself to relax.
Pleased, Skywarp lifted his head again and glanced over his shoulder to see Thundercracker step up beside him. Hook stamped his hooves and shook his head in rage in a frustrated and wordless attempt to demand what was happening, but even if he had been able to voice his frantic question, no one could answer - no one knew the answer. Scavenger heaved out a snort of disdain at his fellow Constructicon's behavior and blew a cloud into the air, an act which did not go unnoticed by both Skywarp and Mixmaster who proceeded to mimic his action so they too could send clouds into the cool air.
A snap brought the attention of all to a thick pile of bushes just as three tiny figures scrambled free of the brambles. The small trio was little more than a pile of long legs darting about each other, but they froze upon seeing the massive Long Haul staring down at them. It was difficult to identify them from their color, a drab grey with a dull mossy green near their hooves, but all three fawns were identical - even their dappled backs were exactly the same, and, as far as Skywarp was concerned, that meant they had to be Reflector.
One of the Reflectors darted between Long Haul's long legs and bounded to Thundercracker where he proceeded to jump up and down in place, quite obviously just as confused as the rest of them. Thundercracker, the highest ranking Decepticon present, merely gave a shake of his head and returned to gazing at their surroundings. There were still three crew members from the Nemesis missing, but he saw no sign of them. Still, since those present had not been separated by too much distance, it stood to reason that those remaining were nearby as well.
With a snort and a toss of his head, Thundercracker pushed past the tightly packed group of caribou and made his way deeper into the trees, leaving the others to follow him. He stepped carefully over tree roots rather than bounding over them the way Reflector and Skywarp were - the blue-grey stag knew his legs were thin and fragile even if he did not understand exactly what he had become or how, and he knew getting one of them caught or tripping was the last thing he wanted.
Thundercracker stopped every few trees and lifted his snout high into the air to let the wind carry their surroundings' scents to him in the hopes that it would tell him of the location of their other comrades the way it had led him and Skywarp to the Constructicons and Reflector, and after nearly two breems of weaving in and out of the trees, he was rewarded with a scent he did not recognize yet still seemed familiar, and following it led them to a small clearing just large enough for Long Haul to fit without scraping his massive antlers against the trees.
In the center of the clearing lay a black stag like Skywarp, but his uniform black was broken by blaze of white on his throat, and his white antlers bore eight points each to Skywarp's six and Thundercracker's own seven, and that alone was enough to tell Thundercracker that he was in the presence of one higher ranking than himself. Under the black stag's watchful gaze were two fawns smaller than Reflector head butting one another, one a deep, rust red and the other ashen grey. Tucked against the stag's side was a black bobcat, and perched on his antlers were two ravens and a sleeping bat hiding in its own wings.
There was no need to identify Soundwave.
As Soundwave pushed himself up to stand, another stag emerged from the trees behind him, rust red like Frenzy and with a set of white antlers arcing elegantly over his head, nine prongs each. He held his head high and proud, snout perfectly parallel to the ground, and his steps were graceful and confident as he strode to the group. Thundercracker lowered his own head just enough that he would not question the other stags' dominance and silently passed the burden of leading the confused and distraught group to them.
Starscream moved his piercing red gaze to each Decepticon in turn, counting to see who all was missing if any. His ears pushed forward when he counted one short, and Thundercracker did not need to use his imagination very much to picture the grin his superior would have had on his face had he been able. They all knew one was still missing. Pleased with this, Starscream moved to the more pressing matter of where they were and what had happened, but even if he had a guess, he could not speak - much to the relief of all present though they would never let him know that.
Thundercracker's ears pressed back when he realized this. None of them could communicate reliably, so how were they to rectify this situation? As far as he could tell, they were trapped in these strange, organic bodies, and none of them even had a clue how it had happened in the first place. Also, where were the Autobots? They had all been locked in combat inside the Ark when it crashed, yet only Decepticons were present. Surely the Autobots were trapped in these bizarre bodies as well.
Starscream gave a shake of his head in frustration and turned his attention to the wind as if it held the answers they were looking for. He raised his head to sniff the air just as Thundercracker had, but his head jerked back down, and everyone's ears shot up when a noise bayed over the soft calls of birds. It was a deep, resonant noise that seemed to echo through the trees, and it tugged at them even though they knew not what it was. The pull was still there even when the noise faded away.
Unbearably curious, Starscream gave a snort and started away, leaving the others to follow. Soundwave walked just behind the red stag with Rumble and Frenzy at either side and Ravage bounding through the brush behind them. Thundercracker stamped a hoof onto the ground before he too followed, and Skywarp soon joined him at his side. Reflector ran ahead to join Starscream, and the Constructicons, much larger than the stags and having increasing difficulty making their way through the foliage, lagged behind in their attempt to circumvent the more densely packed trees and find a better way around for Long Haul, and they started to give up before the sound echoed through the trees again, and they were again pulled by the call.
The walk was blessedly short before they reached another clearing, this one by a softly bubbling stream where yet another stag stood, his mouth open as he called to them. He let his voice trail off and lowered his head to gaze upon the group of changed Decepticons, his muscled neck easily supporting the enormous set of black, elegantly curved antlers - ten prongs each - weighing down his head. He stood out against the backdrop of the green and brown vegetation easily, his lustrous white coat shining and reflecting off the water. He was only a fraction taller than Starscream, but by bulk, he was much larger, shoulders and chest thickly muscled to carry him with an air of grace mixed with power. Even Long Haul felt very small in the white stag's presence.
Starscream's ears pressed back flat against his head in disappointment that they had found the last Decepticon from the Nemesis' crew, but he could not voice his annoyance. It was no less palpable though, and Megatron favored the red stag with a heated glare before he tossed his head and turned to the stream, stepping through the water to cross to the other side. When no one followed him, he spun to face them and gave an angry snort along with another glare, but he was only met with flipped ears and tails and tilted heads, all confused.
Angry, Megatron stamped his hooves and turned in a circle before he tossed his head again, and Thundercracker's ears raised in surprise. Megatron knew something. He wished their leader could speak and tell them what it was, but following him would have to suffice for the time being. Soundwave was the first to follow, stepping through the water and closely followed by his twins and Ravage who did their best to leap over the water. Thundercracker followed behind him, and soon everyone else joined them.
Megatron waited until they were all assembled once more before he turned and started into the new section of forest. Thundercracker knew not where they were going, but Megatron walked straight and with a purpose, so all he could do was hope a solution would present itself soon.
---
I only knew a little more than Skywarp did of what was going on when we were called to the Nemesis. I knew the Autobots had launched the Ark - we had been expecting them to any time. Soundwave had been spying on the construction of the Ark with Laserbeak for a long time, almost since its initial conception. Of course, we had conflicting opinions on just why they were making the starship - Megatron thought they were trying to flee before we could get the upper hand, but Starscream and Soundwave thought they might have simply been trying to find a hiding place so they could build up their forces again. Regardless, we all knew one thing: we needed to stop them.
When the Ark launched, we were ready. The Nemesis launched just after the Ark, and we remained at a steady distance firing warning shots as we burned a lot of fuel catching up and coming aside them. The battle after we boarded is a blur - I just remember Megatron grappling with Prime and me trying to take out their navigation controls before anyone could stop me. I think I was the first to notice we were going to crash, but I didn't have time to yell out any sort of warning. We came on the planet too fast and plunged through the atmosphere before I could even think to say anything.
I don't remember the crash itself. I just remember waking up in that strange body and staring at Skywarp. It was so jarring, but I had to maintain some semblance of composure for Skywarp's and everyone else's sake. I was just relieved when we found everyone and I didn't have to stay in charge any longer than I did - I don't think I could have handled it as off-kilter as I still was. That body was so foreign and wrong, and while I normally don't put much stock in Megatron's ability to lead, when he seemed like he knew what was going on and walked like he knew exactly where he was going, all I could do was hope that he would find a solution soon.
Little did I know that was only the start of our problems.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-05-23 04:41 am (UTC)However, it does appear that you have put a fair amount of time into this story of yours. Do you have plans to continue it out to a conclusion? I an intersted in seeing where you are planning to take this. They are in a very passive species body considering their predatory natures. Thundercrackers parting line indicates some "fun" on the way.
Of course, being from the seekers points of view is certainly a plus here for me. :D
Anyway, has potential. Thank you for shareing.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-05-23 08:42 am (UTC)[/rambling]
(no subject)
Date: 2008-05-23 02:17 pm (UTC)After all, how many writers have offered versions of how Jazz and Prowl met and got together? Or Inferno and Red Alert? Or the twins and Bluestreak? Or Sunny and Blue? Or Twins and Ratchet? Shall I go on? I think I missed Hound and Mirage in the popular pairing catagory there. :D
Raygelle and her "Twinning the Hatchet" series and the various stories within that verse was a huge (and wonderfully excellent) in depth look at the possibilities of the Twins/Ratchet pairing, but others have attempted it since.
I would hope, especially on LJ, that we are tolerant enough to allow a different version on this theme, since we allow so many variations on others.
So, hopefully this is somewhat coherent in what I am attempting to convey. I think you should give it a whirl. As I said, you have offered yourself quite a challenge in placing the majority of the predatory Decepticons in bodies of a fairly passive class of species. Good luck in your decision.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-05-23 04:35 pm (UTC)I like the way you wrote them. The Constructicons behaviour make me smile, especially Long Haul. And Soundwave with the ravens on his antlers...
I hope you will complete this story.
Now, wouldn't that be ironic if the Autobots ended up being wolves, or anything with sharp teeth and claws?