Nova Black 16/17
The Ascension of Nova Black
Part 16 of 17
Verse: G1 AU (all characters are OCs.)
Wordcount: 2,650+
Rating: M for violence, dark themes, etc.
Warnings: Violence (battle scenes, damage from fighting, etc.)
Summary: The final battle between Nova's team and the Settlement's Autobot defenders, continued. Nova finally gets a chance to fight her archenemy, who's committed the cardinal sin of getting to Winder before she did. But Brightbolt is legendary for the 'Cons he killed back before he left the Autobots. Will she make him pay, or wake up something long-dormant she's better off not messing with?
And yes, this is the penultimate chapter. This thing -- this wild, amazing ride -- is almost done. The next chapter will be the last. As always, the next bit -- the end -- should be up sometime next month.
I couldn't be happier, and I'm so grateful to those of you who've come along on this journey.
Thanks muchly to
meaisin_caoin for betaing.
Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8 - Part 9 - Part 10 - Part 11 - Part 12 - Part 13 - Part 14 - Part 15 - Part 16 - Part 17
Nova Black hastened toward the fuel reservoir, her spark wheeling its anxiety. The closer she got to it, the closer she got to the Autobots' weapon. She was reasonably safe if she stayed on the ground, simply because most of the rebels, and most of the Neutrals they'd driven in to protect, were flightless. But her last battle had proven that they could, and would, aim the weapon low enough to hit someone on the ground if they had a clear shot and a reason.
A bright lavender light up ahead told her Bane was advancing, probably from the ground. But although he'd be formidable whether on the ground or in the air, even he wouldn't be able to disable the weapon and handle the Autobot vermin swarming to guard it.
Where are our grounders? she thought, her wings twitching as she remembered Colossus's arm, lying severed and still near a knot of rubble. How grave were his injuries?
And could Quake do enough to compensate for them? He was big, and she'd seen him in action earlier, but he wasn't built a fighter. Not like a Decepticon was.
Unless he'd been built one, too, which would make him even more of an opportunist than she already knew he was. She snarled, willing herself to ignore that thought, and opened her comm link. "Nova Black to Quake and Colossus."
Her old comrade answered first. She cycled a sigh of relief through her vents as she heard him say "Reading you, Blackie."
"What happened back there, old friend? You're --damaged." She wasn't going to say "they tore off your arm," not over an open comm with someone else listening.
"I am. Don't get me wrong, it hurts like hell. But Leech's little green pal closed the wound and installed some temporary plating over it. The little thing knows what it's doing. I'll be all right.
"Or at least," he added, his voice a deep growl, "all right enough to make a few of these bastards pay for what they did to me."
She chuckled, a cold, metallic click. "Right. Quake?"
"On my way. Don't worry. Bane, your big blue friend, and I will get the bots manning the weapon. You, Winder, Leech, and his little pet just worry about everyone else."
She hissed. She didn't like it. Bane was a flier. He should be waiting for the grounders to handle it and taking the air as soon as they did, not trying to be one of them. But there wasn't much that she could say against it. It was a better strategy than hanging around waiting, after all. And what had she been doing for most of this battle, if not fighting from the ground?
"Fine. You two concentrate on backing Bane up, then." Her optics gleamed as her faceplates twisted into a grin. "I've got someone to go after anyway."
Quake whistled. "Something tells me I'd hate to be Shiny right about now."
Colossus laughed, then rumbled in pain. "Who is this?"
"Just someone from the Settlement who needs taking apart."
"The Settlement? I thought you were the one telling us to leave the Neutrals alone."
"He's no more Neutral than I am," Nova answered, clicking the comm link closed.
###
The debris was easy to find. Plenty of bots here had extensible limbs, but Winder's particular construction was unique. And Brightbolt certainly wasn't being subtle about his intentions to tear Winder apart. It seemed everywhere Nova looked, she found the small links that made up his limbs, lying in small puddles of hydraulic fluid and Primus knew what else.
She reached down and picked up a hand, staring at it in morbid fascination, and then threw it down. Maybe Grandeur had been right about Brightbolt after all.
"Blackie." The high voice was laced with static. Startled, Nova looked down.
Winder's head lay on the floor in front of her, rolling side to side as it howled in pain.
"Help me," it wailed.
Nova smirked, leaning down toward it. "Slither into more trouble than you could handle, Winder? You've got a lot of spark calling me by that nickname when you're in pieces."
The head's optics flashed. Whether from agony or anger, Nova couldn't tell. "Fine -- N -- Nova. I -- I was wrong to turn the others against you. Please."
Nova's grin twisted into a scowl. She'd known the bot had no shame, but whining for his life like this was a new low.
"For -- for the team," he said, his rasping squeal disintegrating into another shriek. "I know you despise me. But the team -- needs all of us --"
Nova laughed. "The team? The team didn't need Cinder, and it doesn't need you."
With a snarl, she kicked the head. It rolled away, squealing in protest.
"The only problem I have with that shiny Autobot killing you is I don't get to do it myself," she said, watching it for a moment. Then she turned away, her optics flaring bright, determined crimson.
Turning the corner and hastening down another alley, she found Brightbolt. The silver bot was leaning over what remained of Winder's chest. He'd torn Winder's spark chamber open, and as she watched, he ripped the bright orb from its housing with his bare hands.
She raised an arm and fired her laser. The silver bot easily dodged her warning shot. He squeezed the spark in his hand, frowning in concentration as it seared his palm and fingers. It flared brightly and then died.
Then he whirled to face Nova, so quickly that even her upgraded reflexes couldn't match his speed. Nova's wings twitched in indignation. "That kill was mine."
Brightbolt skidded to a stop, his visor flaring yellow. "I've been expecting you to betray us since the moment I laid optics on you," he said, his voice soft and cold. "But this one was your own kind.
"Your own kind!" he roared, his hands curling into fists.
"That one was a worthless piece of scrap that deserved everything he got," Nova snarled, lunging at Brightbolt. "But I don't like Autobots getting my revenge for me."
With a screech of metal, Brightbolt swerved out of the way. A silver hand grabbed at one of Nova's wings and pulled. "I already told you I'm not an Autobot any more.
"I don't deserve to be." The small fingers curled, damnably sharp, and dug deep into the brand on one of Nova's wings. Thrashing, she screeched in pain, twitching her wings to get him to let go. He held on.
"Oh, that's right," she hissed, turning toward him and grabbing for anything she could reach. If he wasn't going to let go, maybe she could use that to her advantage. "Not even worthy to be scum. I remember now."
Her hand curled around the cables at his waist. Not a critical system, but it would have to do. She yanked with all the strength her upgrade had given her.
Brightbolt snarled, his clawlike fingers digging into Nova's brand as he twitched with pain. Pleased, Nova transformed her other hand into an energon dagger and drove it toward Brightbolt's abdomen, hoping to do more damage.
Her blade glowed an eager violet as she swung, but it cleaved nothing but air.
Nova whirled, startled, just barely in time to avoid a stream of yellow blaster fire. She was a Seeker, which meant she was fast. She'd been upgraded, which meant she was very fast. This bot -- this reject half-Autobot -- was faster? That couldn't be possible.
But somehow it was. Or at least, he was faster than she was now. If she could transform, and take to the air, that might even the odds.
But to do that, she needed to be sure that wouldn't grant her a face full of fire from the Autobot weapon first.
She stared, her optics struggling to focus. She could see shimmering, shifting light as the other moved. Gritting her denta, she forced herself to be patient as her targeting computer determined his probable location. Finally, with a grin, she raised an arm, aimed her laser, and fired.
The sky outside the alley flared purple. Bane, outside the alley, firing on the weapon again. The ground shook, throwing Nova off balance. Had she managed to hit her enemy? Knocked to the ground, with the lavender light of Bane's shot searing her optics, she couldn't see --
Something landed on top of her. Awkwardly, thank Primus. She shifted her hand back again, wrapped her arms tightly around her enemy's frame, and rolled.
Brightbolt hissed again. Nova knew why. She felt it herself, the sharp-edged pieces of her former comrade digging into her back and wings as they tumbled over and over one another.
And then the rolling was over and done. Her enemy lay beneath her, his blaster lying discarded near the far wall, his visor blazing yellow, his mouth twisted into a feral scowl. She yanked her hands away so they wouldn't be crushed beneath him and transformed them. They crackled brightly, energy humming through her weapons systems as she cycled a pant in anticipation, thinking of how it would feel to finally drive them deep into her enemy's chest, to pierce his spark and feel it flare in futile desperation. She raised an arm, grinning.
A silver hand caught it, light but damnably strong, twisting hard as the body it belonged to arched up for better leverage. The cabling in Nova's shoulder went taut, pain flaring through the sensors as it twisted further than it was built to.
Is this what happened to Colossus? Nova thought, thrashing as the cabling in her joint began to tear, sending Are you the one who tore his arm off, you vain little Autobot bastard? Maybe Grandeur was right after all. Maybe you are a one-bot army.
She felt her arm go slack in his grip as some of the cables controlling its motions ruptured. Light flashed before her optics as his other claw reached up to claw at them.
"Oh, hell no you don't," Nova snarled. "Not after all I did to earn these."
Hissing in desperation, she swung blindly with her other arm, hoping to get lucky, or at least to distract him.
The blow never landed, but two things happened in Nova's favor. First, the arm lunging for Nova's optics stopped, twisting hard to block her other arm. Second, her enemy's whole frame moved as his weight shifted, easing the pressure on her damaged arm. With a supreme effort of will, she wrested it out of his grip. It hung, half-useless, at her side.
That was better than nothing. If she could just control that arm enough to reach a weak spot, she'd still have just enough strength to plunge the blade in. That might not do much, but it would be something.
The ground rocked again. Gritting her denta against the pain, Nova swung her injured arm as best she could. She was rewarded with a strangled cry -- but a short one, as the heaving ground forced the combatants apart again.
She chuckled, imagining Colossus's great fist pounding into the turret of the weapon over and over. Clearly they were doing well. Not that you're helping me any, she thought, cursing as another blast sent her sprawling.
She saw the flicker of Brightbolt's movement above her, slower now than it had been. Still, he was upright and she was not. And she didn't yet know whether she'd done any appreciable damage.
And he was built to stay on the ground, and she wasn't. If she couldn't even stay on her feet, he'd get at her again. And this time she'd lose more than just some use of one arm.
Keeping an optic on her opponent's movement, she transformed her hands again. He was going for his blaster, which wasn't good, but it would buy her the moment she needed.
The hand on her damaged side twitched, stuck, and then finally transformed. Swerving to avoid an attack from Brightbolt, Nova reached out with her good arm to press her damaged shoulder as hard as she could into its socket. That was no substitute for repair, no. And it hurt like hell. She howled, shaking her head as her optics fuzzed with pain. Still, it was necessary. She needed to make sure it stayed where it was supposed to.
After all, if the Autobots' weapon was damaged, they wouldn't be able to keep her out of the air.
She could take to the air like this. Did, in fact, leaping up, taking off, and firing with her good arm at the blur that was her grounded opponent.
But if she wanted to outmaneuver him, she'd have to transform first. And she couldn't do that if her arm was too loose to slide into its proper place on the underside of her other form.
Yellow light flashed as Brightbolt fired the blaster. It hit Nova's side. Her frame pitched heavily and her engines roared as she struggled to right herself. No good taking off if this slagger was just going to shoot her down again.
Brightbolt fired again and missed. Nova wasted no time beginning her transformation sequence, accelerating as she did to get higher into the air. A blast caught her wing but did minimal damage. She ignored it as best she could, concentrating on her arm, which failed to lock into place and hit her own underside with a sickening thud.
"Oh, come on," she snarled at herself. Below her, she could see the yellow gleam as her enemy's blaster powered up again, and the white gleam of his grinning, polished lips. If he made this shot he'd down her for sure.
Concentrating as hard as she could, she repeated the movement to lock her arm into place again. There was another spike of agony so bad her engines nearly stalled, but finally her damaged limb locked into place. She hastened to finish her transformation, swerving out of the way just in time for her enemy's fire to blast a hole into the wall behind her.
"No," he cried, zooming toward the other side of the alley, still hoping to outrun her.
She swooped down toward him, her engines roaring as she picked up speed, energy singing through her weapons systems as they powered up and she let go, beams of violet energy streaming toward her enemy.
He dodged one, spinning out of the way with all the grace of the light grounder he was. Nova was ready for that, however, and the second bolt of laser fire caught the scout straight on, wreathing him in lavender lightning. He froze, screaming, and Nova dove toward him.
She transformed again, smoothly this time, and barreled into his still-twitching frame. They hit a wall, hard, and Brightbolt's visor flickered, dazed.
Excellent. Nova wasted no time, slamming her good fist into his chest over and over, watching him slump, his head lolling.
His hands twitched feebly and his visor flared, but the flurry of blows proved too much and his hand fell to his side.
"Kill me, Decepticon," he snarled, the silver face gleaming as he tossed his head. "Don't waste your time."
Nova chuckled. "Why not? I've been waiting a long slagging time to take you apart. Might as well enjoy it."
"That's -- why -- not," Brightbolt croaked, pointing.
"Eclipse," said a voice behind her, the deep, rumbling voice of a big grounder. She could hear the creak of the newcomer's jaw gears, which meant he was either in disrepair, or had been built a long time ago.
Slag.
Keeping a tight grip on her enemy's neck cables with her good hand, Nova half-turned her body.
In front of her stood Grandeur, a crude Autobot insignia carved into his chest, his optic strip gleaming brilliant blue.
"Let Brightbolt go," he said. "I'm the one you really want."
This entry was originally posted at http://stainless.dreamwidth.org/11867.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
Part 16 of 17
Verse: G1 AU (all characters are OCs.)
Wordcount: 2,650+
Rating: M for violence, dark themes, etc.
Warnings: Violence (battle scenes, damage from fighting, etc.)
Summary: The final battle between Nova's team and the Settlement's Autobot defenders, continued. Nova finally gets a chance to fight her archenemy, who's committed the cardinal sin of getting to Winder before she did. But Brightbolt is legendary for the 'Cons he killed back before he left the Autobots. Will she make him pay, or wake up something long-dormant she's better off not messing with?
And yes, this is the penultimate chapter. This thing -- this wild, amazing ride -- is almost done. The next chapter will be the last. As always, the next bit -- the end -- should be up sometime next month.
I couldn't be happier, and I'm so grateful to those of you who've come along on this journey.
Thanks muchly to
meaisin_caoin for betaing.
Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8 - Part 9 - Part 10 - Part 11 - Part 12 - Part 13 - Part 14 - Part 15 - Part 16 - Part 17
Nova Black hastened toward the fuel reservoir, her spark wheeling its anxiety. The closer she got to it, the closer she got to the Autobots' weapon. She was reasonably safe if she stayed on the ground, simply because most of the rebels, and most of the Neutrals they'd driven in to protect, were flightless. But her last battle had proven that they could, and would, aim the weapon low enough to hit someone on the ground if they had a clear shot and a reason.
A bright lavender light up ahead told her Bane was advancing, probably from the ground. But although he'd be formidable whether on the ground or in the air, even he wouldn't be able to disable the weapon and handle the Autobot vermin swarming to guard it.
Where are our grounders? she thought, her wings twitching as she remembered Colossus's arm, lying severed and still near a knot of rubble. How grave were his injuries?
And could Quake do enough to compensate for them? He was big, and she'd seen him in action earlier, but he wasn't built a fighter. Not like a Decepticon was.
Unless he'd been built one, too, which would make him even more of an opportunist than she already knew he was. She snarled, willing herself to ignore that thought, and opened her comm link. "Nova Black to Quake and Colossus."
Her old comrade answered first. She cycled a sigh of relief through her vents as she heard him say "Reading you, Blackie."
"What happened back there, old friend? You're --damaged." She wasn't going to say "they tore off your arm," not over an open comm with someone else listening.
"I am. Don't get me wrong, it hurts like hell. But Leech's little green pal closed the wound and installed some temporary plating over it. The little thing knows what it's doing. I'll be all right.
"Or at least," he added, his voice a deep growl, "all right enough to make a few of these bastards pay for what they did to me."
She chuckled, a cold, metallic click. "Right. Quake?"
"On my way. Don't worry. Bane, your big blue friend, and I will get the bots manning the weapon. You, Winder, Leech, and his little pet just worry about everyone else."
She hissed. She didn't like it. Bane was a flier. He should be waiting for the grounders to handle it and taking the air as soon as they did, not trying to be one of them. But there wasn't much that she could say against it. It was a better strategy than hanging around waiting, after all. And what had she been doing for most of this battle, if not fighting from the ground?
"Fine. You two concentrate on backing Bane up, then." Her optics gleamed as her faceplates twisted into a grin. "I've got someone to go after anyway."
Quake whistled. "Something tells me I'd hate to be Shiny right about now."
Colossus laughed, then rumbled in pain. "Who is this?"
"Just someone from the Settlement who needs taking apart."
"The Settlement? I thought you were the one telling us to leave the Neutrals alone."
"He's no more Neutral than I am," Nova answered, clicking the comm link closed.
###
The debris was easy to find. Plenty of bots here had extensible limbs, but Winder's particular construction was unique. And Brightbolt certainly wasn't being subtle about his intentions to tear Winder apart. It seemed everywhere Nova looked, she found the small links that made up his limbs, lying in small puddles of hydraulic fluid and Primus knew what else.
She reached down and picked up a hand, staring at it in morbid fascination, and then threw it down. Maybe Grandeur had been right about Brightbolt after all.
"Blackie." The high voice was laced with static. Startled, Nova looked down.
Winder's head lay on the floor in front of her, rolling side to side as it howled in pain.
"Help me," it wailed.
Nova smirked, leaning down toward it. "Slither into more trouble than you could handle, Winder? You've got a lot of spark calling me by that nickname when you're in pieces."
The head's optics flashed. Whether from agony or anger, Nova couldn't tell. "Fine -- N -- Nova. I -- I was wrong to turn the others against you. Please."
Nova's grin twisted into a scowl. She'd known the bot had no shame, but whining for his life like this was a new low.
"For -- for the team," he said, his rasping squeal disintegrating into another shriek. "I know you despise me. But the team -- needs all of us --"
Nova laughed. "The team? The team didn't need Cinder, and it doesn't need you."
With a snarl, she kicked the head. It rolled away, squealing in protest.
"The only problem I have with that shiny Autobot killing you is I don't get to do it myself," she said, watching it for a moment. Then she turned away, her optics flaring bright, determined crimson.
Turning the corner and hastening down another alley, she found Brightbolt. The silver bot was leaning over what remained of Winder's chest. He'd torn Winder's spark chamber open, and as she watched, he ripped the bright orb from its housing with his bare hands.
She raised an arm and fired her laser. The silver bot easily dodged her warning shot. He squeezed the spark in his hand, frowning in concentration as it seared his palm and fingers. It flared brightly and then died.
Then he whirled to face Nova, so quickly that even her upgraded reflexes couldn't match his speed. Nova's wings twitched in indignation. "That kill was mine."
Brightbolt skidded to a stop, his visor flaring yellow. "I've been expecting you to betray us since the moment I laid optics on you," he said, his voice soft and cold. "But this one was your own kind.
"Your own kind!" he roared, his hands curling into fists.
"That one was a worthless piece of scrap that deserved everything he got," Nova snarled, lunging at Brightbolt. "But I don't like Autobots getting my revenge for me."
With a screech of metal, Brightbolt swerved out of the way. A silver hand grabbed at one of Nova's wings and pulled. "I already told you I'm not an Autobot any more.
"I don't deserve to be." The small fingers curled, damnably sharp, and dug deep into the brand on one of Nova's wings. Thrashing, she screeched in pain, twitching her wings to get him to let go. He held on.
"Oh, that's right," she hissed, turning toward him and grabbing for anything she could reach. If he wasn't going to let go, maybe she could use that to her advantage. "Not even worthy to be scum. I remember now."
Her hand curled around the cables at his waist. Not a critical system, but it would have to do. She yanked with all the strength her upgrade had given her.
Brightbolt snarled, his clawlike fingers digging into Nova's brand as he twitched with pain. Pleased, Nova transformed her other hand into an energon dagger and drove it toward Brightbolt's abdomen, hoping to do more damage.
Her blade glowed an eager violet as she swung, but it cleaved nothing but air.
Nova whirled, startled, just barely in time to avoid a stream of yellow blaster fire. She was a Seeker, which meant she was fast. She'd been upgraded, which meant she was very fast. This bot -- this reject half-Autobot -- was faster? That couldn't be possible.
But somehow it was. Or at least, he was faster than she was now. If she could transform, and take to the air, that might even the odds.
But to do that, she needed to be sure that wouldn't grant her a face full of fire from the Autobot weapon first.
She stared, her optics struggling to focus. She could see shimmering, shifting light as the other moved. Gritting her denta, she forced herself to be patient as her targeting computer determined his probable location. Finally, with a grin, she raised an arm, aimed her laser, and fired.
The sky outside the alley flared purple. Bane, outside the alley, firing on the weapon again. The ground shook, throwing Nova off balance. Had she managed to hit her enemy? Knocked to the ground, with the lavender light of Bane's shot searing her optics, she couldn't see --
Something landed on top of her. Awkwardly, thank Primus. She shifted her hand back again, wrapped her arms tightly around her enemy's frame, and rolled.
Brightbolt hissed again. Nova knew why. She felt it herself, the sharp-edged pieces of her former comrade digging into her back and wings as they tumbled over and over one another.
And then the rolling was over and done. Her enemy lay beneath her, his blaster lying discarded near the far wall, his visor blazing yellow, his mouth twisted into a feral scowl. She yanked her hands away so they wouldn't be crushed beneath him and transformed them. They crackled brightly, energy humming through her weapons systems as she cycled a pant in anticipation, thinking of how it would feel to finally drive them deep into her enemy's chest, to pierce his spark and feel it flare in futile desperation. She raised an arm, grinning.
A silver hand caught it, light but damnably strong, twisting hard as the body it belonged to arched up for better leverage. The cabling in Nova's shoulder went taut, pain flaring through the sensors as it twisted further than it was built to.
Is this what happened to Colossus? Nova thought, thrashing as the cabling in her joint began to tear, sending Are you the one who tore his arm off, you vain little Autobot bastard? Maybe Grandeur was right after all. Maybe you are a one-bot army.
She felt her arm go slack in his grip as some of the cables controlling its motions ruptured. Light flashed before her optics as his other claw reached up to claw at them.
"Oh, hell no you don't," Nova snarled. "Not after all I did to earn these."
Hissing in desperation, she swung blindly with her other arm, hoping to get lucky, or at least to distract him.
The blow never landed, but two things happened in Nova's favor. First, the arm lunging for Nova's optics stopped, twisting hard to block her other arm. Second, her enemy's whole frame moved as his weight shifted, easing the pressure on her damaged arm. With a supreme effort of will, she wrested it out of his grip. It hung, half-useless, at her side.
That was better than nothing. If she could just control that arm enough to reach a weak spot, she'd still have just enough strength to plunge the blade in. That might not do much, but it would be something.
The ground rocked again. Gritting her denta against the pain, Nova swung her injured arm as best she could. She was rewarded with a strangled cry -- but a short one, as the heaving ground forced the combatants apart again.
She chuckled, imagining Colossus's great fist pounding into the turret of the weapon over and over. Clearly they were doing well. Not that you're helping me any, she thought, cursing as another blast sent her sprawling.
She saw the flicker of Brightbolt's movement above her, slower now than it had been. Still, he was upright and she was not. And she didn't yet know whether she'd done any appreciable damage.
And he was built to stay on the ground, and she wasn't. If she couldn't even stay on her feet, he'd get at her again. And this time she'd lose more than just some use of one arm.
Keeping an optic on her opponent's movement, she transformed her hands again. He was going for his blaster, which wasn't good, but it would buy her the moment she needed.
The hand on her damaged side twitched, stuck, and then finally transformed. Swerving to avoid an attack from Brightbolt, Nova reached out with her good arm to press her damaged shoulder as hard as she could into its socket. That was no substitute for repair, no. And it hurt like hell. She howled, shaking her head as her optics fuzzed with pain. Still, it was necessary. She needed to make sure it stayed where it was supposed to.
After all, if the Autobots' weapon was damaged, they wouldn't be able to keep her out of the air.
She could take to the air like this. Did, in fact, leaping up, taking off, and firing with her good arm at the blur that was her grounded opponent.
But if she wanted to outmaneuver him, she'd have to transform first. And she couldn't do that if her arm was too loose to slide into its proper place on the underside of her other form.
Yellow light flashed as Brightbolt fired the blaster. It hit Nova's side. Her frame pitched heavily and her engines roared as she struggled to right herself. No good taking off if this slagger was just going to shoot her down again.
Brightbolt fired again and missed. Nova wasted no time beginning her transformation sequence, accelerating as she did to get higher into the air. A blast caught her wing but did minimal damage. She ignored it as best she could, concentrating on her arm, which failed to lock into place and hit her own underside with a sickening thud.
"Oh, come on," she snarled at herself. Below her, she could see the yellow gleam as her enemy's blaster powered up again, and the white gleam of his grinning, polished lips. If he made this shot he'd down her for sure.
Concentrating as hard as she could, she repeated the movement to lock her arm into place again. There was another spike of agony so bad her engines nearly stalled, but finally her damaged limb locked into place. She hastened to finish her transformation, swerving out of the way just in time for her enemy's fire to blast a hole into the wall behind her.
"No," he cried, zooming toward the other side of the alley, still hoping to outrun her.
She swooped down toward him, her engines roaring as she picked up speed, energy singing through her weapons systems as they powered up and she let go, beams of violet energy streaming toward her enemy.
He dodged one, spinning out of the way with all the grace of the light grounder he was. Nova was ready for that, however, and the second bolt of laser fire caught the scout straight on, wreathing him in lavender lightning. He froze, screaming, and Nova dove toward him.
She transformed again, smoothly this time, and barreled into his still-twitching frame. They hit a wall, hard, and Brightbolt's visor flickered, dazed.
Excellent. Nova wasted no time, slamming her good fist into his chest over and over, watching him slump, his head lolling.
His hands twitched feebly and his visor flared, but the flurry of blows proved too much and his hand fell to his side.
"Kill me, Decepticon," he snarled, the silver face gleaming as he tossed his head. "Don't waste your time."
Nova chuckled. "Why not? I've been waiting a long slagging time to take you apart. Might as well enjoy it."
"That's -- why -- not," Brightbolt croaked, pointing.
"Eclipse," said a voice behind her, the deep, rumbling voice of a big grounder. She could hear the creak of the newcomer's jaw gears, which meant he was either in disrepair, or had been built a long time ago.
Slag.
Keeping a tight grip on her enemy's neck cables with her good hand, Nova half-turned her body.
In front of her stood Grandeur, a crude Autobot insignia carved into his chest, his optic strip gleaming brilliant blue.
"Let Brightbolt go," he said. "I'm the one you really want."
This entry was originally posted at http://stainless.dreamwidth.org/11867.html. Please comment there using OpenID.