Chapter Two
Kaon
En-route to Hiakara; after raid on Sukal
Since Thunderstorm had failed to consider the amount of energy it took to activate and use her electrical powers, she found herself weary on the journey back to Hiakara. She felt sheepish having to have Leopardstrike at her side constantly so she wouldn’t fall behind or end up tripping over her own paws, which would be extremely embarrassing. She relished the fact that most of the trails through the ravine were downhill.
Earlier Ravager had agreed to travel to Kaon on Leopardstrike’s request, even though no enemy soldiers had followed them, because Vulcan had sustained many serious injuries in the fight and since Hiakara lacked a trained medic.
Leopardstrike explained to her that most Decepticat outpost or small cities didn’t have a medic at all, only soldiers with a brief knowledge of basic healing. Kaon had half of all the medics since it was a primary target for both Autopaw and Rebel attacks, and consisted of the bulk of the Decepticat army. Nevertheless, the Decepticat and Decepticon capital was in complete control.
As the outpost came into sight over the ridge, Thunderstorm cringed as she once again saw the devastation from the day before. The sun rising on the smoldering town served as a solemn reminder of past events. The raging inferno had diminished into tiny pools of orange embers and lit torches that had survived the onslaught from the outskirts of Hiakara. As the group began to scavenge around the burned down buildings they realized the true urgency of the situation. Life in Hiakara for the next couple of days while they prepared for the week long trek ahead would be a living hell, and they knew that. Weapons and ammunition were low which gave them barely any defense.
The journey to Kaon would be tiring and long, but these out casted soldiers hadn’t been to the city since their graduation ceremonies many years ago and were eager to return. However, Vulcan was refusing to go because his old mentor was there and he didn’t want to be seen in such a state. He was shrugged off by everyone as a nescience. Leopardstrike was the only one who knew the truth about his uncertainty; he wasn’t afraid of his mentor, he was emotionally scarred by his encounter thirty years back. He was terrified of the Rebels.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They started home near the break of dawn two days later, to maximize the distance traveled that day. By now it was midday and they had traveled several miles from Hiakara. The valleys and mountains near Hiakara faded into the horizon behind them and the soldiers emerged into a barren plain of nothingness, drenched in a thick, freezing fog. The ground beneath them was slippery like ice, but radiated warmth that seeped into their bodies, keeping the cold of the air at bay.
Leopardstrike slowly kept up from behind, helping Vulcan. He was limping on one of his front legs and half of his face was scratched and torn up. Ravager glanced over his shoulder to keep an eye on the two every once and a while. He seemed unaffected by the nip in the air and the shakiness of the ground beneath them.
Thunderstorm silently drew back and let herself drift behind, sticking by Leopardstrike’s side. Even then, no words passed the two. Vulcan was shivering in fear, not of pain, taken prisoner by his own emotions. He knew they were in what was considered a border line between the Rebels’ and the Decepticats’ territory. Neither one of them wanted this place to look after considering how insignificant it was. The Rebels could attack them here if they wanted to.
Suddenly, Vulcan cut to a dead stop. He stared at the earth below them and shivered. Leopardstrike went to his side and prodded his side, but the soldier kept still and panted. He muttered something under his breath and clenched his teeth shut tight.
A metallic screech from the dense fog rang out, and the soldiers had to shield their ears. Vulcan was shaking violently now, his face wild in panic, “Rebels…” he whispered softly to himself. At least a dozen of the Rebels emerged and stared down the small group of Decepticats. They were alien compared to the soldiers, with thick fur peeking out from their thin layer of armor. At first glance they looked harmless, with no guns or significant armor covering to protect them and they spilled out a sticky, red liquid from their wounds instead of the light purple substance that both species of Transformers leaked.
Thunderstorm lowered her head and bared her teeth, but a sharp glance from Leopardstrike drained all of her hostility. Both of them knew that the Rebels were enemies and were very aggressive; Leopardstrike was taking a risk by not attacking them first.
“We’re just passing through, Terra, let us go in peace,” Ravager began, stepping forward to face the Rebel commander, “Are we causing any harm?”
Terra growled, “You’re on our territory, soldier! I don’t play around when I smell an invasion!”
“Invasion?” Leopardstrike hissed, “We are all exhausted from a fight a while back, and I don’t want to risk our lives in a pointless skirmish like this one you’re trying to cause.”
Ravager glared with hatred up at the Rebels, “Wait! When did this become your territory? I thought this area was unclaimed.”
The Rebel let out a laugh, “Unclaimed by your kind maybe, but not unclaimed to us. Even though this place has fog all year long and is vulnerable to major earthquakes, we still seem to find this route being used by Decepticat soldiers to move from city to city, since most of them are built in a semi circle around the north side this valley. With the exception of Akayar, Hiakara, and Lakethtar which is right next to the lake of tranquility in this valley.”
“This land is ours now!” a Rebel from beside Terra snarled.
All the soldiers drew their claws as the Rebels tensed and growled, eager to battle. Leopardstrike spoke out, stepping up face to face with Terra, “Look, I don’t know how many times I have to tell you to get it through your thick skull, but for the last time, we’re not here to fight!”
Terra flinched as he heard her sharp words. He was surprised by the passion in the Decepticat’s voice and the determination to protect her injured and tired soldiers. Terra ordered his cats to relax. Leopardstrike’s gaze softened with her amazement and gave him a polite nod.
Vulcan looked up at the warlord with despair and rasped as best he could in his frozen state, “Run, Leopardstrike…the Rebels are… liars… all of you… run, before… it’s too late…”
Before Leopardstrike could head his warning, Terra struck out, grabbing her throat in his powerful jaws. The other Rebels hung back with wide grins of the muzzles and the Decepticats gasped, beginning to slowly walk backwards away from them. Vulcan optics lit up and he began shuffling his giant paws in a great ponder. He lowered his head and grit his teeth hard, unsheathing his claws a s a tiny stream of tears slid down his face. With a savage cry of both anger and fear, he launched himself at Terra with all his might and slammed into the Rebel’s side with enough force to send the cat flying into the ground.
Leopardstrike wriggled out from his grasp and landed hard on the rough ground beneath her. She shook her head to clear her optics which had become blurry with pain. Vulcan grabbed the Rebel’s snout in his fangs and bit down hard, attempting to pick him up, but to no prevail.
Thunderstorm let out a whimper from behind a boulder as the Rebel fleet gouged her fellow soldiers, taking everyone by surprise. They had the upper hand but that fact was quickly gone as the Rebels tore the trained soldiers apart. Thunderstorm watched from her hiding spot filled with disdain and sorrow. Her instincts told her to run away and leave them behind to save herself, but her mind screamed for her to help. She stood up and ambled out from behind the rock.
Leopardstrike sprinted over to Thunderstorm with Tex and grasped her shoulder, Tex yelping in terror. Thunderstorm merely blinked. She felt power rising from within, the feel of voltage running through her. She let out a rumbling growl and she felt her body swallowed by electricity. Leopardstrike and Tex leapt away, burying their faces into the ground. Thunderstorm charged at the Rebels, jumped onto one and crunching down on his back with all her force, sending static through her canine teeth and into the Rebel. Blood splattered onto her face and stained the ground as she one by one picked off the Rebels with her attacks. Once most of them were gone or dead, she collapsed on the ground, panting hard. All of the Decepticats had been injured, limping towards Ravager and Leopardstrike. Vulcan was crawling over to them at a snail’s pace and all beat up. Leopardstrike rushed over and hauled him up and over her shoulder as gently as she could. He stuck up his paw in refusal and picked himself up with a heaving whimper.
Ravager sat casually on the edge of the group, licking one of his paws in which he’d torn a claw. He opened one optic as he heard Leopardstrike approach, “We’re going to have to go off course for a few days and head to Lakethtar. It’s the closest city that has a healer of some sorts and none of us can make the journey to Kaon with all these injuries. Well just slowly die off otherwise.”
Ravager paused and set his swollen paw down, “So…” he replied blankly, “why does this concern me when you’ve already made a decision. I’m not your adviser.”
“It’s like the other way around, Ravs,” Leopardstrike held back to urge to snap at him and kept a calm attitude, “I need your approval to make those decisions that will decide the fate of all of your soldiers.”
He sighed heavily, shooting a glance up into the darkening sky, “I… I don’t approve, Leopardstrike…”
“What!” she yowled sharply and in complete disbelief. The soldiers flinched as the shout split the uneasy silence, “You’re saying you’d rather watch your soldiers die like cowards in the middle of this spark forsaken pit than just wait a few days to continue. You’re mad!”
Ravager couldn’t help but feel a little guilty, but he reminded himself that he was leader, not Leopardstrike, “It’s not that I wish for them to die here, it’s that I have faith that they can make it. They’re the most determined bunch I’ve ever fought alongside and I have to say so far it’s been an honor.”
He paused, taken hold of by sorrow, “But you must realize that once we get to Kaon, they’ll split us up into different deployments and we’ll barely see each other again. Once we all recover there, they’ll just ship us out again.”
Most of the soldiers began letting their heads droop from their shoulders. Thunderstorm hadn’t known Ravager or any of them for long, but felt grief in leaving them after this was all over. Sadly though, Leopardstrike simply didn’t care, “I’ve never known you to be such a gear head,” she stuck her muzzle right in his face and snarled, “As soldiers, we’re never friends even if we are the same team! It’s our duty to not become sentimental.”
Leopardstrike turned tail without waiting for Ravager to respond, grumbling curses under her breath. She raised her head and blankly called to some of the soldiers, “Those who choose not to follow this moron come with me. We’ll let them go to an early grave and laugh when we get to Kaon and they never do.”
Vulcan hesitantly stepped towards Leopardstrike. Tex, Tempest, Chaos, and Spur, the cadet Thunderstorm and her had saved back in Hiakara, went with her without flinching. Leopardstrike’s grin of satisfaction faded in surprise as she saw Thunderstorm stay put alongside Nickelwing, Blackhawk and Tanker, Javelin, and Uppercut. Ravager almost regretted his decision to object when he saw the fury in Leopardstrike’s sunset red optics which were usually soft and calm.
“This is a simple problem that could have been avoided,” Leopardstrike hissed softly, trying hard to dismiss her from them.
Ravager complied silently, never shifting his cold, hard gaze from her as she slowly dissipated into the blue tinted haze. He sighed with frustration as he turned away from his soldiers and hung his head. A constant echo of their short, shallow breaths drew the air into a state of serenity as Ravager stood up quietly and began to walk off, gesturing for the soldiers to follow with only the short flick of his ear tip.
They obeyed with a second glance back to the spot in which Leopardstrike and her group had disappeared, they then realized the danger of their presence here. The land shook with every step and muffled growls and shrieks kept the silence at bay, no doubt from another group of victims taken by the Rebels, but a sharp breaking noise, like the ground splitting in half, rang out along with a familiar call of a fellow soldier.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Leopardstrike gripped tightly to the edge of the broken earth, trying to ignore the burning sensation that singed her snout and tail. No one made an attempt to help her as Chaos had already fallen in and had suffered a fiery and slow death that none of her followers wanted to experience because of an accidental slip of the paws. Leopardstrike reached up to a ledge just big enough for her and hauled herself up and onto it, staring down at the boiling magma below her.
Tempest reached out his paw to help her but was short. Leopardstrike reached for the edge of the chasm and found her claws scraping the edges but without the grip she needed to pull herself up. She felt the ledge below her suddenly crack in half and she plummeted down into the inferno, her soldiers’ looks of shock and panic spread wide across their muzzles.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ravager urged the soldiers on even though they heard a cry for help, mostly because Ravager exclaimed that it would be too late to help them if it really was Leopardstrike’s group because they had traveled constantly at a trot for an hour. They were out of range of help from them.
Thunderstorm bit back the comments she wanted to say. She already missed the sassy warlord and felt alone, unguided, and helpless without the Decepticat who woke her up on that hazy night and became what Thunderstorm had thought as her first friend.
Ravager halted in front of the mouth of an opening in the rock face and gazed inside as if curious, but shook his head and continued walking. Strange voices echoed sharply off the rocks; not those of either Rebel or Transformer. Thunderstorm turned her ears towards the sound of a falling rock that hit the ground and tumbled gently a few feet before stopping. A shadow flickered in the dim light of the stars. With the fog still hanging right above the ground, only a sliver of the moon casted light on the crater in the mountains so the soldiers had to travel by scent and sound. Not knowing where they put their paws next was a frightening feeling to anyone.
A short bark hit their ears from far in the distance, followed by a series of baying howls and grunts. Ravager lowered his head and flattened his ears against his head, his thick tail just barely skimming the ground. He was anxious, everyone could tell in his quickened breaths and footsteps. Thunderstorm noticed that Blackhawk had broken off from the group, crawling along the shadows beneath the cliffs. He was barely visible except for his dull purple collar and crimson optics.
The soldiers stopped in a small dugout patch of ground as Blackhawk turned a sharp corner and bounded up the cliff in a few leaps. They could only see his silhouette as he crested to top of the cliffs and looked around towards the plains beyond the crater. The soldiers heard him let out a thin growl as a dozen of shadowy, slinking figures emerged from the thickest of the fog banks, but enough to see them clearly. Their glowing golden eyes were squinted and their pointed tongues lolled out like a dog’s. They heard the strange creatures’ voices again; slurred words that sometimes sounded like a very deep bark and ended in a hissing noise. It was not of any language the Transformers used, not even the ancient language.
Blackhawk skirted back a few steps, his paws dangerously close to the edge. Ravager crouched down and tensed his muscles, ready to attack the creatures if needed. They prowled closer to Blackhawk and the ones in the front began letting out howls and grunts of fury.
Ravager let out his deathly roar from his hiding spot and the creatures began to whimper and whine, scurrying backwards and tripping over each other. One stood its ground and let out a high pitched howl that sounded like the scraping of sheet metal. It totally ignored Blackhawk and jumped off the cliff, charging at Ravager. He grabbed the creature’s muzzle with his front paws as it bowled him over. Unsheathing his claws, he struck its soft eyes and face, leaving a trail of blood on the ground and all over both of their faces. It snapped at his throat with its ivory fangs and swatted at his chest with five foot long, razor sharp claws.
Blackhawk grabbed it by its tender neck scruff and hauled it off Ravager. It snarled in fury, but was silenced as Blackhawk sunk his teeth into its throat. It took several minutes for the thing to go limp and by then everyone had recovered from the strange attack.
Ravager examined the creature for a few moments before turning to the soldiers, “It’s odd to see these things here. They’re usually over in the Valley of Bones.”
Tanker strode up to them, “What is that thing?”
Ravager chuckled softly, “It’s an indigenous, organic species known a Kr’uptey which means “corrupted one” in the ancient language. They’re pack creatures and always fight, hunt, and live in groups of ten or more. They never stray far from the Valley of Bones, though; it’s quite strange to see them all the way out here. Plus they’re actually not known for attacking others. Something must have bothered them.”
“So, are we just gonna sit here all day and chat about these stupid things? We should get going so we get to Kaon soon. I want to get out of this freaky place before I get eaten by ghosts or something even weirder happens to us, “Blackhawk spat, then he started walking off.
Ravager sighed and pulled ahead of Blackhawk, the rest of the soldiers followed them. It was just after midnight when they stopped for the night. They slept tightly packed together in the cavern they had found to conserve the little warmth they did have, but the chill of the lingering fog still found its way in. They were lucky, though, that there wasn’t a breeze, and then it would’ve been unbearably cold. Dawn came all too quickly for them. They were awakened by the dim light of the morning sun peeking through the hanging cloud banks.
Ravager awoke first, stepping outside to take a deep breath of the fresh air and relax. None of the soldiers had gotten much sleep, and if they did it was full of gore filled nightmares. Thunderstorm lifted her head from off her foreleg as she heard Ravager get up and go sit outside. She let out a breath and buried her head back in her paws. From outside the sound of muffled paw steps echoed into the cave and back out again. Ravager stood up and walked a few paces forward. Thunderstorm lifted her head up again, but not too high, she didn’t want to be caught eavesdropping if this was important.
A bluish-gray Decepticat soldier emerged from the haze and stood up tall in front of Ravager. Ravager bowed and nodded in respect. He stood up again, but didn’t hold the soldier’s gaze.
“Are the rest of your soldiers here?” the strange Decepticat asked, his voice stern and impatient.
Ravager nodded and pointed to the mouth of the cave.
“Good,” came the reply, “We heard about the attack on Hiakara back in Kaon a day ago and suspected that you would come here. Where are Leopardstrike and her soldiers? I was informed that they were with you too.”
Ravager swallowed hard, his answer was barely more than a whisper, “We split up. I think she’s in Lakethtar but I can’t be certain. I’m sorry, Stormbringer…”
Stormbringer didn’t say anything in return to Ravager’s claim, he simply glanced over his shoulder, “You guys go ahead and go to Kaon, I already told the guards you’d be coming soon so you shouldn’t have any trouble. I’ll go find Leopardstrike and bring her back to Kaon as quick as I can.”
Ravager nodded, “Thank you. Have you already cleared a path to the city?”
Stormbringer shook his head, “There was no need, it was crystal clear of any danger.”
“Great, no issues with fights and it’s only a day away.”
Stormbringer said goodbye and told him good luck before walking off into the fog again. He had barely traveled half a day east when he heard their cries. The ground itself had cracked open, revealing the bubbling magma beneath the surface.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Leopardstrike felt her jaw smash into something solid, cutting off her fall. A boulder jutting out from the molten stew had stopped her fall a foot from certain death. She felt her jaw come out of place and a searing pain shot through her chin and throat. She picked herself up, the magma licking at her paws. A bubble shot up and skimmed her ear and left half of it burned. She arched her back to avoid the rising tide of flames.
The rock shook violently and began sluggishly sinking into the pit of orange and red goo. Leopardstrike jumped for the wall just as the rock sunk into the lava. She scrambled to find a hold on the sides of the crevice, but the material was so loose it crumbled under her. She heard a voice call out her name from the top of the crevice. She looked up for a split second to see Stormbringer, the head warlord, climbing head first down the side of the small canyon. He stopped level with Leopardstrike as she reached up and hooked her claws onto a busted pipeline in the wall and hang from it. She glanced over her shoulder at Stormbringer who had tensed his back legs to jump. She tried to wave him off as he leapt, but he jumped the river of magma and grabbed Leopardstrike’s scruff in his jaws.
Stormbringer hauled her upward and began climbing back up the rugged wall. Some of the soldiers were reaching down to help Stormbringer. Tempest lowered Tex down by her tail and she reached out her paw to Stormbringer. He took her paw in his and the soldiers lifted Leopardstrike and him up onto the surface again.
Leopardstrike collapsed down onto the ground next to Stormbringer who stood proudly over her, waiting for her to get up. She never did. Tempest checked out her jaw and put it back in place, relieving the agony in her snout. She was still in shock by the time they found a place to stay. Stormbringer had confirmed that they weren’t very far from Lakethtar and once they stopped for a day they would continue to Kaon from the rim of the crater instead of in it. It would be much safer than if they went back through the crater once they were in Lakethtar.
Leopardstrike hesitated, but agreed, never taking her sorrowful optics off the ground.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ravager optics lit up when he saw the edge of the crater. It rose up like a great stone wave. Thunderstorm ran up to the foot of the cliff and began to climb up the wall. The rest of the soldiers followed just as eagerly, scrambling quickly up the edge.
When they reached the top, the buildings of Kaon reached the tip of the sky like the summits of a mountain range, enveloped in a deep fog and as high as the clouds at noon. The towers stretched on for miles into the sky and a thick concrete wall with barb wire lining the top surrounded the city. Guards stood at the main gate and in guard towers scattered across the wall, every one of them was armed with sub machine guns and the towers were fitted with heavy machine guns and snipers.
The soldiers didn’t hesitate to approach the gate, and the guards on duty gave them brief nods as they passed. One of them lowered his head as he saw Thunderstorm, narrowing his optics. For the Decepticats, everyone knew everyone, and a newcomer that no one seemed to know is definitely news. It began raining once they entered the center of the capital.
From what Thunderstorm saw, these soldiers were not as vicious as the legends she had vaguely remembered since she awoke on the cliffs stated. Troops of soldiers sat around chatting and laughing, and cadets scampered across the pathways and on the balconies of buildings, playing tag, their mentors chasing after them with angered smiles and stifling chuckles as they decided to join in.
The playful atmosphere hid the hostility they showed in battle and towards the Autopaws, but for now she’d go along with it and not speak out. It was a bad idea anyway, to scold them about what they believe and live by.
As the group entered the city square, a slim Decepticat with broad shoulders and a pointed muzzle stepped forward from the crowds and greeted Ravager with a friendly head bump. Ravager stood back and bowed his head, telling Thunderstorm to do the same. When the soldier said it was ok, they got up and faced him with joy.
“It’s been such a long time hasn’t it Ravager,” he chuckled lightly, “I mean, I never thought I see you Hiakarans again after word of that attack got out. Ya’ miss me much?”
Ravager shrugged his shoulders, “Depends on what gear headed things you’ve done with the Decepticats while I was gone, Darkwind. If ya’ actually did something ingenious then maybe.”
Darkwind smiled like he was full of himself and walked over to Thunderstorm, “Newcomer, eh?” Thunderstorm nodded hesitantly. Darkwind patted her hard on the back, “Ahh… the good ole’ days. When you didn’t give a crap ‘bout nothing and all ya’ did was hang out with the other cadets, pulling pranks and running around like a bunch of crazed animals on sugar high. There’s nothing like being a Decepticat cadet, nothing like it in the whole universe. I still even remember my days as a recruit and I honestly wish I was still young.”
Ravager smirked and glanced at Thunderstorm, “It’s true,” he assured with a slight laugh, “Darkwind and I were in the same cadet troop and, trust me, those fifteen years were the best of my life. To pass the time at night when we weren’t tired, Darkwind would rap for us. By the All Spark, he was the worst rapper ever, but that’s what made it so funny.”
Darkwind blushed and shied away, trying to hide his embarrassment. Thunderstorm felt totally different from the Decepticats around her who were open and humorous. She was shy and didn’t feel like speaking her mind, afraid of criticism.
“Who else was in our troop, Ravager? Um… uh…” Blackhawk cut in. He was in the same troop as the two old friends when they were younger.
“AK, Skyflyer, and that one queer. What was his name again? I forget,” Darkwind replied.
“Trailblazer, that dude was a complete dunce,” Ravager finished, his face lighting up with the memory of his old friends, “Is he still alive?”
Darkwind sighed in annoyance, “Unfortunately, yes.”
Everyone burst out laughing, except Thunderstorm. Darkwind stopped and came back over to Thunderstorm, “Sorry for all that,” he whispered, leading her away from the group, “I guess we got a bit carried away. We’ll send your friends to the medics to get their injuries checked out. I’ll take you to the cadet facility so you can get settled in. I know this is so sudden, but I expect you to be at combat training tomorrow in the morning. I’ll make sure your den mates know to wake you up when it’s time to leave. I’m sure you’ll like them, they’re pretty good kids.”
“Sounds nice,” Thunderstorm replied softly, bunching her shoulders nervously.
Darkwind entered a rectangular building and led her inside. Doors lined the walls like prison cells and platforms led up many levels, possibly ten and maybe even twenty, but the environment was inviting with a indoor training field to their left and a room on their right that was padlocked. Darkwind led her up to the eighth level and to the fourth door down. He opened the door and inside was a room with many beds, a big, flat screen TV hanging from the ceiling in the corner, and a stack of studying material stacked up neatly in the corner. There were five cadets in the room and all of them were curled up on the floor in a circle chatting loudly. Darkwind cleared his throat to get them attention and their heads quickly snapped towards him, “We had a new recruit come in today and she’s joining your troop. As always I expect you to wake her up in the morning if she’s not up by the time training starts and show her all the battle techniques you’ve already learned so she can get caught up.”
One of the cadets stood up and nodded a smile on her face, “Name’s Sunhawk, nice to meet you. I’m the leader of the troop. What’s your name?”
Thunderstorm froze up. She knew her name; she was just nervous, “Uh… Thunderstorm.”
Darkwind’s warm expression turned cold and surprised. His teeth slipped out slightly from the back of his maw, “Thunderstorm… right…”
Gender:
Points: 940
Reviews: 11