From LetheRvr@aol.com Wed May 1 21:47:44 2002 Received: from imo-m03.mx.aol.com (imo-m03.mx.aol.com [64.12.136.6]) by grex.cyberspace.org (8.6.13/8.6.12) with ESMTP id VAA19220 for ; Wed, 1 May 2002 21:47:41 -0400 From: LetheRvr@aol.com Received: from LetheRvr@aol.com by imo-m03.mx.aol.com (mail_out_v32.5.) id z.b4.ae431c0 (4226) for ; Wed, 1 May 2002 21:46:19 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: Date: Wed, 1 May 2002 21:46:18 EDT Subject: Brawn part 3 To: suz@cyberspace.org MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: AOL 5.0 for Windows sub 139 Status: RO X-Status: The Chronicles of Brawn Part 3-The Titan "...then the fogs were slowly broken, and some of that which is called memory returned to me. I recalled nights and nurses and needles. Every time things would begin to clear a bit, someone would come in and jab me with something. That's how it had been. Yes. Now, though, I was feeling halfway decent. They'd have to stop. "Wouldn't they? "The thought came to assail me: Maybe not." For perhaps the third time in his existence, Brawn mentally began to read through the Chronicles of Amber, an Earthen book series by a human named Roger Zelazny he had scanned into his memory banks. There was little else to do with his spare time, stuck in a cramped little cell in the heart of Autobot City. For Brawn, spare time was not something he was use to, and though he had internal ways of amusing himself-such as reading-he still felt ill at ease. Brawn paced back and forth in his cell over and over again, to the point where he thought if he paced any longer he'd end up creating tracks in the floor. He tried conversing with Steeljaw, to find out something of what had gone on during the attack, but the robotic lion merely glared at him, growling now and then, but otherwise silent. "Awe nuts, I know you can talk if you want to. For what it's worth I'm innocent." No response in return. And so it had gone on for hours. Though to say that Brawn was bored during this time would be somewhat inaccurate. He did keep himself busy internally, his inner mechanisms going to work on the latest of wounds he had suffered on his back. Luckily, the wound he had gotten from Hound wasn't that severe, and he would have normally been able to sustain it had he known it was coming. It was mostly the shock that had gotten him, that had sent him off to dance with the void once more. Also internally, he thought. What the humans considered death was not the same for Transformer life forms, though the humans did argue about what happened after death just as much as his own kind. Brawn was never much of a mystic, though he had prayed to the warrior aspect of Primus on many occasions. Part of him knew they were superstitions, but another part of him found comfort in them. Whether they were real or not didn't matter. But he had never really gotten his head around what happened after death. Some had said that all Transformer life contained a sacred "spark" that contained their personality, their "life force," a thing that survived after death, but none had ever proven so. And even those that did believe in the "spark" couldn't agree where it went afterwards. Some said that it joined the matrix, to be reincarnated in another life. Others said it joined Primus, to become one with his life force. And others believed that it instead drifted off, to search the void of space, an endless voyager in search of a new home... Brawn wasn't sure about any of that though. All he knew was that if one was to die, the best way to die was to go down fighting. It was part of the warrior's code, and while not religion, it was the one thing he did believe in without any doubts. Still... he wondered what had become of the Spark of Optimus Prime... it was hard to conceive that he had been beaten, let alone that his soul would never come again. That and Prowl... Always the stoic, logical warrior. But also a warrior always in search of acceptance from his peers. Where were they now? Where had they gone? And so the thoughts raged in his mind, with little else to do with his time then think. Occasionally he'd return to Zelazny, to lose himself in the comforts of someone else's adventure, but left it before too long. He didn't think he could deal with reading of Corwin's blinding and agonizing long prison sentence in his own home of Amber... that part hit a little close to home. He didn't know how long afterwards it was, but at some time he heard large, booming footsteps, and powered himself back up to full awakeness. "Blaster say to go join him, me Snarl to take over watch." Steeljaw glanced at Brawn, then back at Snarl, and nodded his head once. "Snarl, whatever they've been saying about me, you've got to believe, I didn't do it. Hound shot me in the back... I don't know why, but he did. I would never turn on an Autobot." Snarl transformed back into his robot mode, "Me Snarl know you not traitor. Not know what go on, but know that much. Grimlock always say that you friend of his, so therefore, you friend of Snarl." Brawn smiled, "Well, it's nice to know that someone believes me. The way things have been going lately though, I barely believe myself. The only way things could make sense is if Hound, Sunstreaker, and the ghost of Huffer had all suddenly changed sides. But that doesn't make sense at all." "Me Snarl know how you feel. Me often confused. Confused all day long, but no one ever explain things to Snarl. Grimlock only one who explain things. Him smart." Brawn bit back the reply that quickly formed in his head as to the Dinobot leader's intelligence-the last thing he needed to do was piss of someone who was in a position to tell him what was going on. "Could you explain things for me, Snarl? Tell me what has been going on out there?" "Strange things, me see today. Explosions all over, much of city destroyed. See many fallen Autobots today, too-Windcharger, Wheeljack, many, many Autobots. I hurt many, many Decepticons though... miss Wheeljack very very bad. Wheeljack always stick up for Dinobots. Me Snarl almost killed, but Grimlock come and save Snarl. Beat Devestator to pieces. See Sludge's eyes do things me Snarl never see before, not know what means, but funny! Also see Sunstreaker move very fast, like Blurr. Not know what that means either. Me not like Blurr much, talk too fast for me Snarl. Bite head off one of these days. Me loose track though... "Prime and Megatron fight. Fight hard, but both fall. Me not see Prime die, but see body, and make Snarl feel very sad. Magnus now has Matrix, going to fight Decepticons. Decepticons destroy Moonbase One. Destroy Moonbase Two too, though no one say so. Snarl feel very sad about that too, not know why they do that. Want to go fight Deceptions too, but too slow, miss shuttle. Tell Snarl what it all means?" Both of Cybertron's moons destroyed!?! Brawn found himself shaking, wondering how so much could go wrong in such a short period of time. All those lives... Autobot lives, that had been on the moons, gone. He shook his head. "What it means, Snarl, is that things are very, very bad." The Dinobot nodded in agreement, "Me Snarl thought so too. Not good day to be a good guy." * * * * * There is only so long one can carry on a conversation with a Dinobot, but with little else to do, Brawn continued his conversation with Snarl, who was only too happy to discuss what he had done-and would like to do-to certain Decepticons out in the field. As the two talked, Brawn learned more details about what had gone on in the latest raid; about how the two moon bases had been attacked by some sort of "monster planet" that had shown up fast near the first moon base and ripped it to shreds in no time at all. He also heard about how one of the cogs to Autobot City had mysteriously disappeared before battle, keeping the City from transforming into robot mode. "Without the Matrix to give it personality, he'd have been nothing more than a Guardian Drone unit, but it still would have helped," Brawn explained to Snarl. "Did Magnus happen to use the Matrix...?" "Ultra Magnus barely even have time to wipe own butt when Decepticons strike again. New Decepticons, very ugly, very mean, led by purple guy with crown on head. Most all Autobots decided to run rather than stay and fight-get to Cybertron, figure out what go on. Me Snarl had to stay to keep Decepticons busy, so no follow. Not many of us left here." It was all quite confusing, Brawn had to admit. Often the Dinobots would talk a lot of nonsense, such as seeing Sludge's eyes doing weird things, but Brawn had a feeling that Snarl was telling the truth, even though he wished it was otherwise. There was so much that didn't make sense though... but then again what made sense about Brawn being attacked by Hound and Sunstreaker...? Sunstreaker... "Snarl, what did you mean earlier when you said you saw Sunstreaker move like Blurr? You mean he was moving very fast?" "Me guess so. Turn head one way, see Sunstreaker getting off shuttle with Prime. Turn head other way, see Sunstreaker running after Decepticons. Turn head back, he's talking with Hound. Cannot be two Sunstreakers, so must be moving fast. Too fast for Snarl. Make head hurt." Was it possible? Could there be two Sunstreakers? Or two Hounds? Maybe another Huffer? It sounded impossible, but... But... hadn't Megatron cloned Optimus Prime himself once before? Brawn gripped on the bars of his cell and became very intense. "Sludge-what if I told you that there could be two Sunstreakers? A good Sunstreaker, and a bad Sunstreaker pretending to be the good Sunstreaker." "Me then say Brawn's head full of Parvokian Pastrami. How can there be good Sunstreakers and bad Sunstreakers? Only one Sunstreaker, not many. Just as only one Brawn, one Grimlock, one Snarl. Not make much sense." "Listen Snarl, you need to go talk to Blaster, tell him that Sunstreaker and Hound are in danger. If there are imposters in our ranks, the imposters will no doubt try to destroy the real Sunstreaker and Hound, just as they destroyed Prowl and framed me for it!" Snarl transformed back into his dinosaur mode at this point. "No, Brawn. No more talk. You prisoner, me have orders. Blaster right, you try to confuse Snarl, try to make me leave so escape. No, no, no. Not do. Me stay here another two hours, then go when Rewind come." "In two hours, Hound and Sunstreaker could be..." Brawn never finished his sentence though, for as it turned out, the confusion that had begun the day had only just begun. The cell where Brawn was being held suddenly lifted and began to rotate in a 90 degree angle, the floor where Snarl was standing split in an even manner down the center, the walls themselves lifting, panels moving up to cover open doorways... Sirens and lights were going off all over the place. "What go on here, what you do!" "I didn't do anything!" Brawn yelled, as his cell began to sink halfway into a chamber in the floor, to make way for a large piston above the cell, and then come back up again. "What go on here, Brawn! Tell Snarl what go on!" * * * * * "Get that section into place now, before the whole wall comes down," Blaster said to Bluestreak, watching the Autobot carry a warped panel over to a badly damaged control section "Like I said last time you said that to me Blaster, I can only go so fast, and as it is, I'm going as fast as I can. So let me do my job." "Just do it," he snapped, and walked away to attend to other matters. It was not easy being a leader, Blaster knew. He hated being in charge, even for a little while. It went against his nature. He was built to be carefree and jovial, not to tell people what to do and how to do it. But as the highest ranking officer in Autobot City, with Magnus gone, someone had to give orders. He just wished it didn't have to be him. Too much had gone on too quickly for him to deal with. The blitzing of Autobot City... the death of Optimus Prime... the news of an equally strategic strike against both of the Autobots moonbases... not to mention having to deal with Brawn turning sides. He didn't know what he was to do with that. He didn't know what to do about anything.. "Okay Blaster, I'm here," Gears said, suddenly coming from around the corner, "Though I don't know what good it'll do." "Good-where are the others? The reinforcements I asked for?" "You're looking at him. According to Telatram One, the Volcano Base is likely to be the Decepticons next target. They only sent me because I was already half way here. Though I don't think you'll like hearing it, I'm suppose to bring as many Autobots back there as I can to defend Mount St. Hilary in case of attack." Blaster glared down at Gears. "Teletram One can kiss my pale robotic..." "Knew you weren't going to like it," Gears muttered over the end of Blaster's remark. "No one is leaving here yet, Gears. I'll not give the Decepticons Autobot City, not now, not ever. I've put too much time and effort in here to give up on it now... too much needs to be done... it can be salvaged... I..." "Blaster, Blaster!" Sunstreaker suddenly started yelling, running in his direction. "What is it now?" he snapped angrily at yet another problem. "It's the core! The core has been breached, Autobot City is about to explode! We need to evacuate immediately!" "Always knew these new fangled machines were a waste of time," Gears said, transforming into vehicular mode and driving away with speed. "Great, just great!" Blaster yelled, then cooled down. He had to keep a level head, had to act the right way, ask the right questions. W.W.P.D. What Would Prime Do. Yeah, that was it man. "How many Autobots are still inside?" he asked. "Huffer, Snarl and that traitor Brawn..." Sunstreaker replied. "Right, you get out of here and I'll..." "I know where they are, I can get to them quicker. You get out of here, Blaster. Now. The Autobots need you more." Bluestreak rushed by him and grabbed his arm. "He's right, Blaster, and when Sunstreaker's right, he's right, so let's stop wasting time talking, for talking doesn't do much good I always say, and get out of here." In his gut, Blaster felt it was the wrong thing to do. He wanted to say it was wrong for him to leave and let Sunstreaker do the heroic work for him. But the others were already acting on the impulse that the order had already been given, and he didn't want to go against them, just because his "gut" told him so. "Alright then. Come back in one piece then Sunstreaker. That's an order," Blaster said, transforming into tape deck mode just as Bluestreak transformed to car mode, carrying him away, out of Autobot City. Safely away from the area, he joined the others... watching in anticipation for the city to self destruct... Waiting... watching... expecting something to happen soon... And something did happen, though not what they expected. The city moved, parts of it lifting high into the sky, though not due to any explosive force. In fact, the city was not self-destructing at all... it was... * * * * * At that point, Brawn came to a decision. He'd stayed here long enough, and it was time to leave. He didn't care anymore if they thought he was a traitor, his friends needed help, and that was what he was going to give to them, whether they liked it or not. As the cell came back up again to level ground--and the feeling of gravity took over, letting him know that the whole room had been lifted-he began to put his strength to work on the bars that held him in place. Electricity flowed through him, but he did his best to ignore the pain that it brought. It only took a matter of seconds, though, for they had been designed for smaller Decepticons like Frenzy or Ravage... not physically strong Autobots like himself. "No Brawn! You no leave, Magnus say so!" "I don't care what Magnus said, he didn't have all the facts. Neither do I for that matter, but I've got a lot more than he did. Something is going on right now, and we both need to get out of here and find out what, or we're both going to regret it soon. Possibly with our lives. You said that you trusted me, said you thought I was innocent. I've got to get out of here and save what's left of the Autobots now, and I'll do it with or without your help. Now, are you with me, or are you against me?" A huge amount of ceiling suddenly shifted overhead, to be replaced by a broken, ugly white corridor shot to pieces by laser shot from the raid. "Snarl no like choices, both seem like trouble. But me rather go with you and fight than stay here and get crunched by wall." Brawn smiled as he stepped out of the cell. "There's hope for you yet, big guy. Let's get out of here." Snarl led the way through the complex corridors and walkways of Autobot City, but the scenery around them was quickly changing, doors locking tight and quickly as the whole city began to tilt and lift... Brawn took no time, however, in punching his way through the doors as he came to them, stretching the metal apart with his bare hands, and continuing on towards an exit. "This take too long, need out now!" Snarl exclaimed, and thundered forward in his slow, but bulky dinosaur mode straight towards the wall to the right, and through it, making a hole to the daylight outside. Brawn ran to the hole to follow, and stopped him self just barely in time. The drop to the ground was extreme. He heard the loud thunk of several hundred tons of Dinobot striking the ground, and while loud, it was far away. Looking down, he cursed himself that he hadn't been built as an Aerialbot. He also saw an enormous pair of robot feet, connected to even larger robotic legs as tall as Cybertronian skyscrapers. Autobot City had been transforming alright... and it was in robot mode. * * * * * "Attention all Autobots!" a voice sounded over the loudspeaker that was to be the voice of Autobot City, "Your pathetic revolt against the Decepticons ends today! Just as your leader has died, so shall the rest of your kind unless you leave the planet Earth for all time! This, your greatest warrior ever built or designed is now under Decepticon control. Since you have failed to give him a name, I shall do so now... prepare to face the might of Metrotitan!" Autobot City under Decepticon control? Great. Just great. How much worse could this day get? Brawn looked out again and saw the remaining Autobots, firing helplessly like ants up at the giant form of "Metrotitan." He saw Snarl and Gears off in an area going at it against the huge robot's massive foot. Further over to the right were Blaster and the tapes, who had been joined by Bluestreak in a fruitless attempt to attack the head. He realized suddenly, that although he wanted to greatly join his fellow Autobots, not only was there no way to do it without falling to his death, but that he was already in a much better place to help them-inside the city itself. How in the world the other Autobots had been tricked into leaving the city, Brawn didn't know-but he did know that the Decepticons definitely did not want him inside. Metrotitan was not alive-there was no way that the Decepticons could have given life to him. Instead, he was under Decepticon control, and while that meant that the giant robot could feel no pain, he was vulnerable: find the one controlling him, and no more Metrotitan. It wasn't hard to figure which three "Autobots" were in control. Brawn had only been to Autobot City a few times before in its initial phases of construction. He knew where a few places were, but did not know by far where all the technical stuff was kept. He turned left, then right... searching for the armory he had visited on his last visit, but that in itself was proving to be quite a task with all the rooms mixed around in transformation, some not even right side up anymore. Breaking his way through room after room, looking for something... anything that might help him take out the imposters or help him communicate with the Autobots outside. Rooms filled with useless junk, computers that hung upside down, their lights blinking on and off like a mad jukebox, broken experiments and medical supplies that could have been useful earlier but were now passed by without a second thought. Then a room unlike any other he had ever come upon in his life. One that made him stop, forget about everything that had happened today. Just stop completely: a room that held the lifeless--spark-less--form of the Autobot leader, Optimus Prime. Some how his body was still laying flat on the table it had been laid upon, Prime's arms locked in respect to his sides, his chest opening closed. With all that had gone on, all the shocks and surprises, all the confusion and trauma, Brawn still found himself stopping dead in his tracks at the sight. He still couldn't believe it. It couldn't be real... Almost in a trance, Brawn found himself moving forward, touching Prime's cold, lifeless hand, gripping it in his own. But there was no response from Optimus Prime, he was truly dead. "I will make them pay for this Prime... I swear it! I will destroy Megatron with my bare hands if need be, and anyone else that gets in my way. For you, for Ironhide and Ratchet and Prowl... and all the other Autobots who have lost their lives this day due to Megatron's tyranny. I'll not let your death be in vain!" Glancing over to the right, he saw the large laser rifle that Prime had taken into battle time and time again. The same laser rifle that Optimus had claimed that he had always wished that he could lay down, with no reason to pick up again. With a heavy heart, Brawn picked it up, mounting it on his shoulder, holding it in place by the trigger with one arm. It was bulkier than most weapons Brawn was use to, but he was able to lift it without much problem. Then, flicking a panel on Prime's wrist, he opened up a communication to his other Autobots. "Brawn to Blaster, come in Blaster. Do you read me, over?" The voice of Blaster responded, but his voice was strained. "Blaster here... what on Cyberton are you doing talking on Prime's frequency?" He could hear the sounds of intense laser fire in the background and new that the guys must be taking a pounding out there. "You took mine away from me, remember? But forget that for now, I'm inside and I need to know where the controls are for this thing." "What jibe are you talking about, you're the one..." "No, I'm not. Megatron's built a trio of imposters to impersonate Sunstreaker, Hound, and Huffer, just like when he created an imposter of Prime way back when we first got to Earth. No doubt there's three Decepticons nearby controlling their every action from afar. The real Huffer died on Cybertron, and they knew that I knew that, that's why they framed me for the death of Prowl, so that I'd be out of the way while they took control of Autobot City. I don't know where the heck the real Sunstreaker and Hound are, but Snarl says he saw them get off the ship with Prime." "You mean that Sunstreaker... Primus! Man, that sounds so crazy that it has to be the truth. Okay, I'm trusting you man. The command center is in this thing's right shoulder blade--make your way there, and all you should have to do is blast the thing and this Metro-whatever will stop dead in his tracks. I'll send a few troops out to try to find where those Decepticons are hiding out, and maybe we'll get them that way. You better hurry up in there though, cause I don't know how long we'll stand against big, tall, and ugly. "Understood. Out." Brawn left Prime, and closed the door behind him with respect. Then, armed with the gigantic laser rifle, Brawn began to make his way up through the myriad of corridors that filled Autobot City. One against three, eh? He kinda liked those odds. End of Part 3