Note: In its original printing in my fanzine Roll Out, this story was part of a crossover with another series running in the zine at the time (which will be continued as soon as I get that dang heating element for my Xerox machine :P). The other series, "Autobase Controllers" by Shaun McMichael, is about a group of Autobots and Decepticons who crashed on Earth several thousand years ago while searching for the Ark. The characters Dial, DeRolle, and Xevander were all created by him and originally appeared in that series.
Firestormers #7
By Trixter
In a small Autobot research camp on the desert planet classified as Procyon Five, Skids and the Firestormer team Beta-5 were preparing hurriedly for an attack. They had detected the orbiting Decepticon shuttle a few minutes earlier and now, as the Firestormers unloaded weapons from their ship, the Starcruiser, Skids tried desperately to contact any other nearby Autobot ships. Dial stood on a chair beside the communications console, watching with interest. "I'm sure Dharma would love to talk to you all about your, your time I guess I should say," Skids said conversationally, trying to cover his growing panic. "Once all this is over, I mean. She loves hearing about Cybertronian history. She's rather young herself, so she missed most of it." Dial smiled at that. "I do hope she gets back soon, I'm starting to get worried," Skids added.
There was a rustling behind them, and they turned to find Trixter standing in the doorway, holding open the canvas flap that served as the door to the makeshift metal building. In her other hand was a small rifle. "Any luck, guys?" she asked.
"No," Skids sighed, adjusting the the signal for what seemed like the thousandth time.
"Don't worry," she said. "This is what my team was sent here for, after all." She skirted the table in the center of the room and handed the diminutive Dial the gun. "Just your size," she smiled. "Fortunately I kept a few Micro-sized weapons on the Starcruiser. Until we can figure out how you got here and how to get you back you might as well help us out."
"Thanks, Trixter," he said, examining the tiny rifle. They hadn't exactly been fighting with sticks and rocks in the time he came from, but the gun was more advanced and intricate than any he had ever seen. "You guys are certainly making me feel welcome here..."
"What did you expect us to do, shoot you?" she smiled. "And anyway, after a while you learn to take things like an Autobot from the past who was an unwilling participant in a time-travel experiment and roll with them." Then she wandered over to the security computer, lightly resting her fingers on the edge of the control board. The monitor glowed with the outline of the orbiting Decepticon shuttle, and numbers flashing on the left side of the screen indicated its position. "I hope Upstart gets back soon," she muttered to no one in particular.
Suddenly they heard shouting outside, followed by loud gunfire. Afterburner yanked open the canvas flap, nearly tearing it down. "Come on!" he shouted. "The party's starting!" He tossed Skids a rifle and the researcher caught it akwardly. He and Trixter rushed outside and Dial jumped off the chair and followed. Outside they found Air Raid and Strafe shooting up into the air at Darkwing, Melee, Slugslinger, and Misfire. The three Decepticon jets circled the camp firing on buildings and Autobots alike while Melee hovered in robot mode, shooting at everything in sight with her massive anti-matter rifle and laughing gleefully at the resulting explosions. Air Raid and Strafe lept into the air and transformed into their jet modes as Skids, Trixter, Afterburner and Dial took up the fight from the ground.
As the battle was starting, Dharma and Upstart entered the camp, dragging the still-unconscious Decepticon Ruckus with them. Unarmed and therefore unable to join the fray, the two Autobots took refuge in a tent on the edge of the camp, pulling Ruckus in with them. They laid the Decepticon on the ground and listened to the battle outside. After a minute Upstart became restless and started pacing sound the tent. "Aren't we even gonna try to help them?" he asked Dharma impatiently.
"There's nothing we can do right now," she replied calmly. Upstart sat down in a huff.
Elsewhere on the ground, Trixter turned to Afterburner. "That one with the big gun's doing more damage than the rest combined," she commented, pointing to Melee. "I'm gonna take her down, cover me!" The Technobot focused his fire on Melee as Trixter ran around behind her line of sight. Trixter fired her rockets and shot into the air. Melee was too busy dodging Afterburner to notice her coming up behind her. Trixter fired and the blast hit Melee right in the back. But Melee was more heavily armored than Trixter had figured, and the Decpeticon wheeled around in anger, gun ablaze. Trixter tried to dodge her fire but a blast from the anti-matter rifle hit her left wing and the resulting explosion disabled the rockets on her back. She spirialed to the ground and landed face-down in the sand. As she struggled to her feet a blast from behind tore a gaping hole in her side and sent her sprawling back to the ground. Melee landed and stood over the injured Autobot, grinning with malicious delight and pointing the massive rifle at her head.
Afterburner ran over to where Trixter had landed and, seeing his teammate in danger, fired on the Decepticon. Melee noticed him at the last minute and turned around, but too late. Several blasts from Afterburner's gun hit her in the chest and she fell backwards, unconscious. Afterburner rushed over to Trixter and pulled her into the nearest tent, which happened to be the one Dharma and Upstart had taken refuge in.
The two Autobots helped Afterburner drag the mercifully unconscious Trixter into the tent, then knelt beside her as Afterburner tore a strip of canvas from the door flap and tied it around her midsection to keep the sand out of the wound. "Is...is she gonna be okay?" Upstart asked worriedly.
"I really can't say, Upstart. She's hurt pretty bad." Then he turned to Dharma. "You don't have a repair bay here, do you?" She shook her head. "Well, the closet major base is Cybertron. We have to get her there, and soon. We may have to pull out, but we can't let the 'Cons get their hands on the notes from the old base."
"When we found the notes, we rigged the old base with enough explosives on a time-delay switch to destroy it completely in case something like this happened," Dharma said quietly. "It was meant only as a last resort, but I'm sure Prime would consider saving an Autobot's life worth losing that weapon technology."
"Looks like we don't have much choice," Afterburner said. "Go ahead and set the timer to detonate, then get to the Starcruiser. Upstart, help me get Trixter to the ship."
"What about him?" Dharma asked, pointing to Ruckus. The Decepticon moaned as he slowly regained consciousness.
"Just drag him outside the tent so the other 'Cons can find him," Afterburner suggested. "We don't have a place on the Starcruiser for prisioners, and we're going to be crowded enough as it is this trip." As Dharma pulled Ruckus into the open, Afterburner opened a comm link to all the other Autobots there. "Hey, guys, Trixter's hurt bad. We need some cover to get her to the 'Cruiser, then we're clearing out! Dharma's setting the base to blow."
As Upstart, Skids, and Afterburner carried Trixter to the Starcruiser and Air Raid, Strafe, and Dial covered them from the air, Dharma made her way to one of the smaller of the flimsy metal buildings that formed the camp. The one she entered housed the time-delay switch connected to the explosives in the old base. As she typed in the passcode, she dwelled for a moment on the implications of what she now had to do. She was about to destroy all she and Skids had worked so hard on, the base they had worked for days and nights to excavate. But despite her regrets, she knew that if she didn't destroy it and leave now, not only would Trixter die, but countless other Autobots would be killed as well if they ended up losing the battle and the Decepticons got the notes. And with that in mind, Dharma pulled the switch.
"Someone's calling my name," Melee thought blearily as she lay face-up in the sand. "I wish they'd shut up." She sat up slowly and saw Darkwing running toward her.
"Melee! Commander, the Autobots are retreating!" he shouted to her.
"Good," she muttered, getting unsteadily to her feet. "Where'd my gun go?" She saw it a few meters away and picked it up, examining it for damage.
"But, y'see, that's bad!" Darkwing explained. "They're leaving! Something must be up if they're abandoning the base."
"Okay, fine, call the shuttle," she said testily. "We'll get off-planet and see what happens."
"What about Ruckus?" Darkwing asked.
Melee looked around for a moment, then pointed. "He's right there. I thought I heard them doing something with him earlier. Grab him and let's get out of here. All this sand's slagging up my gun."
On the Starcruiser, Air Raid fired up the engines as Upstart and Afterburner set Trixter down at the back of the bridge. Upstart turned to Skids. "Could you take my position for me?" he asked quietly. "I want to stay back here."
"Sure," Skids replied, "what do you do?" He looked around the bridge as Afterburner and Strafe took their positions.
"Just the weapons an' stuff," Upstart answered distractedly.
As everyone else took their places around the bridge, Dial sat down in a corner and watched, unsure of what to do. He knew that, for the moment, he was just along for the ride with this group, but he felt deep down like he should be doing something to help out. After all, they had made him feel like he belonged with them, like another member of the team, even though they really had no reason to trust him. But all the crew positions were filled, and though he was worried about Trixter, he got the distinct feeling that he should keep his distance for the time being. Even during the brief time he had been with them he had figured out that she and Upstart were close friends, and he didn't want to intrude.
Suddenly the main door opened and Dharma rushed in, urgently hitting the button as if pounding it would make it close faster. Just as it closed laser fire hit it from outside. "That's everyone!" exclaimed Air Raid. "Hold on, guys!" The roar of the shuttle's engines grew louder and it barreled down the makeshift asphalt runway, then tilted sharply upward as it took off. And as they left the planet, Dial wondered what Cybertron would be like after all those years.
EPILOGUE:
"Uh, Cybertron's not supposed to be surrounded by warships, is it?" Air Raid asked Afterburner as their home planet came into view. The planet was indeed surrounded by a fleet of large, heavily armed starships.
"Not last I checked." The copilot turned to the other Autobots on the shuttle. "It looks like we have trouble, guys!" he announced. Everyone looked over at the main viewscreen.
"Can we get through?" Upstart asked worriedly. Throughout the hours-long trip he had stayed beside the still-unconscious Trixter, and his only concern was getting her to a repair bay.
Air Raid thought for a second as he studied the formation of the ships. "Yeah, this ship's just small enough that, if I maneuver just right, we should be able to get between them undetected."
"Hey, look at that one!" exclaimed Strafe, pointing at the screen. He got up from his seat at the navagation controls and went up to the screen. "That big one there. Is it just me, or does that one look familiar?"
"You're right!" said Air Raid. "I think that's the Twilight!"
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