Speedwrite selection
Title: Hidden Sides
Rating: K+
Continuity: Generation 1
Characters: Ensemble
Author: Rose0mary
Prompt: #1 Costumes
Blaster almost ran into the disguised red Lamborghini. “Cool costume, Red. Does this mean you plan on joining the party later tonight?”
The security director flinched away from Blaster. “Yes.” His optics continually scanned the hallways, focusing on any movement.
“See you after shift change then.” Blaster walked off, whistling.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Before the party, ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Bluestreak tracks down one of the officers. “Red Alert is acting weird today.”
“Not you too!” Jazz groans. “Listen, Blue, I ain’t canceling the party just cause Red Alert agreed to go.”
“But -“ Bluestreak slumps as the special ops officer ignores his concerns.
Jazz doesn’t relent, exactly. “It’s covered. Let the mech enjoy a one-day off, kay?”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ During the party, (while the high grade is freely flowing), ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Cliffjumper asks the world in general: “Does anybody else think Red Alert is not himself?”
Bumblebee hasn’t taken his optics off the mech-in-question since he wandered in. “Yes.”
Trailbreaker hears the question and attempts to explain why this is a good thing. “Relax guys, Red is enjoying the party. Even the high grade.”
Bumblebee and Cliffjumper share a quick glance. “Since when does Red Alert drink high grade?”
“Whenever Inferno drags him away from his cameras. And there he is.” Trailbreaker points towards the fire-fighting mech. “He’s positive Red is red.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ The next day, after the party ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Gears confronts the red Lamborghini. “Where were you yesterday?”
Red Alert twitches. “Here, in the Ark.”
Gears scrutinizes the security director for a few minutes. “Good to see you back to normal.” He goes off to inform Bluestreak that the security director is his ordinary, paranoid self.
Title: Story Telling
Rating: Teens
Continuity: Generation 1
Characters: Mirage
Summary: "I was one of those rare mechlings who insisted on finding proof of the legends."
Prompt: #2 Swapping Scary Stories
Outside, under the light of a full moon, a cracking fire - big enough for several Transformers to sit around - burns brightly.
“Who wants to start off tonight?” The only human enjoying the warmth asks. “Springer? Heatwave? Trailbreaker? Bulkhead? Grimlock? Cliffjumper?” One by one, the named mechs shake their heads, until finally, one mech, still uncalled, speaks up.
“I’ll do it,” Mirage states. “The Towers are full of secrets - hidden passageways, sealed tunnel doors that lead into Koa, Vos, Praxis, and other cites selling forbidden materials or entertainment, forgotten rooms that once doubled as private prisons - and it is the duty of every asspring Noble to discover everything there is to know about their tower.
“It was rumored that in the core of every habitable building in the Noble district lies a horrorcon. Some tales say it is a hungry spark-eater that resides there, others say a nest of undisturbed scraplets are held in stasis.
“Undergoing the rite of adulthood, I was tasked by my elder to go find out the truth of what lay in the center of my tower … alone.
The eternal starlight failed to illuminate the gloom in the innermost chambers. Not even powerful floodlights could shine a beam strong enough to fully eliminate the shadows. Wherever the darkness pressed in, there remained a sense of movement - motion no keen optic could see, sound no keen audio could hear.
Something abandoned and forgotten about, should have picked up rust, dust, a feeling of emptiness, a sense of decay. My tower had none. Something remained, actively inhabiting the deepest, darkest reaches of space.
I had just received the cloak-upgrade, so putting my lamp down, I activated the disrupter and - being young, foolish, feeling invincible - walked away from the safe zone of illumination. Beyond the sphere of light, I saw them.”
“Saw what?” a curiously hushed Fireflight whispered.
“Spark eaters. Aware and hunting.”
“What did they look like?”
“An empty - except for the white optics that peered past the frame and armour, looking directly at the spark.”
“What did you do next?”
“When I saw them, I turned and ran, forgetting my clock hid me from view. They had been waiting for someone to brave the eternal darkness, hungry enough to pounce the first living thing they encountered. Even turborats and glitch mice were fare game, for I saw remains of those dangling from the mouths of the Spark eaters.”
“I my haste, I left the light behind - who knows what secrets its burning flames revealed even as it died out, sometime before the Towers finally fell to Megatron.”
Title: Collection
Rating: Teens
Continuity: Generation 1
Characters: Blaster, Perceptor, Skyfire
Summary: Scientists carry vast arrays of tools - all of it 'in case of emergency/what if' equipment.
Prompt: #3 Superstitions.
“Perceptor, what is this?”
“I like being prepared.”
“For what? A horrocon apocalypse?”
“Don’t be absured Blaster. It’s for emergency use only, not willy-nilly use against our mythology.”
“Oh, nice. You got the sonic screwdriver. I’m missing that from my kit.”
“It’s been standard issue since Kaon threatened to break away from the Counsil. How’d you avoid getting the update?”
“I’m outta here, guys.”
“See you later, Blaster. I was frozen. Here, for untold vorns. Remember, Perceptor?”
“Right, right, right. Have you had occasion to use the electro-fragmentation grenade?”
“The Theta uprising? No never went into that sector. Have the geriousgrubs been encroaching on Ulicon?”
“Those are imaginary creatures!”
“Oh, go study your cryptology, Blaster.”
“Just because you don’t know about the strange creatures of the unexplored galaxy doesn’t mean they don’t exist!”
Title: Forsaken
Rating: K+
Continuity: Prime
Characters: Smokescreen, Alpha Trion
Prompt: # 4 Settings: In a temple or other religious/spirtual location
Smokescreen looked all around in awe. “This is where all our records, the most ancient artifacts, and the oldest decrees are stored?”
Alpha Trion briskly walked through the Iacon Archive. “Not just stored, but preserved - “
“For future reference and study.” Smokescreen spoke in unison. “You must have told me a thousand times.” He followed the old mech he was guarding. “So, what one-of-a-kind relic did you need to retrieve before fleeing?”
“This.” Alpha Trion pulled out a tome, made of some kind of glossy material his apprentice didn’t recognize. Unlike everything else in this huge archive, there were no markings on the spine, covers, or even notes summarizing past findings.
“That?” As Smokescreen watched, Alpha Trion grasped the top right corner and top left corer, lifted the cover, to reveal metal sheets.
Sheets covered in symbols and glyphs the much younger mech had no way of understanding. “What does it say?”
In answer, Alpha Trion opened it towards the middle. Before Smokescreen could read the whole page, the metal leaves flipped over, showing strange markings and tags that were, again, indecipherable.
“Okay, Alpha Trion. What Am I supposed to be seeing?”
“The o ne object that cannot lie about the past - the one objet that reveals our future.”
Stunned, Smokescreen could not raise his voice in protest before Alpha Trion threw the item down, breaking it. “Why’d you do that?”
“Because Iacon will fall, the archive ransacked, and all its treasures, the forgotten weapons, will be used in an effort to totally destroy those who fight for justice, mercy, and compassion. If the invaders managed to retrieve that relic, all would be lost. Now, there is a chance that honor, truth, and life itself will preserver - and life restored to our home.”
Title: The last stop
Rating: K
Continuity: Prime, post war
Characters: Arcee, Knock-Out
Prompt: # 5 contact, dead
Arcee walked along Cybertron’s restored roads, no longer able to find evidence of the ravages of the Autobot-Decepticon war. Prosperous cities had once again replaced wrecked ruins, shattered homes, and forsaken empty lands.
On a whim, traveling through Iacon, she decided to join a tour. Politely nodding to the old guard, she followed the group.
Knock-Out noticed the latest addition as he led the small crowd of new sparks in the restored historical arhives. “Once, long ago, this build was one more desolate than the badlands.” He continued the tour, stopping when they entered the Hall-of-Memories. “Go and explore - this exhibit was made for interactions.”
Arcee hung back as the newsparks gleefully ran about. “I thought you wanted to remain a medic.”
Knockout turned around. “You’re behind the times, Arcee. I changed vocation ages ago.”
“Hmm.” A hologram of the last Prime lit up and the faint image of the mech spoke his pre-recorded message to an audience that wasn’t listening.
“It’s hard to believe.” Arcee thought she spoke softly.
It wasn’t quiet enough. “Hard to believe what, exactly?” Knockout asked gently.
“That Optimus Prime has been deactivated longer than all but two-dozen Cybertrons have been alive.”
“Hmph.” The oldest tour-guide in existence, one of a few who had lived through the battles and wars four generations had only been taught about, huffed in exasperation. “Every mech deactivates eventually.”
“But shortly after his life had just begun?” Arcee asked, forgetting that when she was that young, she’d been fighting for her very existence. “I miss him still.”
“Like I mentioned earlier,” Knockout shoved the ancient femme forward, into the pick-up field. “The hologram’s interactive. Go talk with him.”
Title: Trial Testing
Rating: Teens
Continuity: Generation 1
Characters: Megatron, Ensemble
Prompt: # 6 House-to-House
Two mechs meet in a shadowy corner; both assured they had not been followed to this rendezvous.
“So, you’ll do it?” Asks one.
The other responds with scowling face. “This one night only.”
They retreat, but not to their proper bases.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“Why are my Stunticons harboring an Autobot?” Before Megatron broached the question, not one of the Decepticons had given the cowering Lamborghini a second glance. Now, every con in the vicinity looked at the trembling mech.
They tried to look anyway. Dead End and WildRider stepped in front of the one everyone had assumed to be t heir week gestalt team member. “Scientific research.” The leader of the Stunticons replied, not caring that his team was shielding the intruder from view.
Astrotrain snipes away. “Funny - you never seemed interested in doing work before.”
Megatron’s glare is enough to stifle the others. “How is giving an Autobot free reign on base - specifically this one - scientific research?”
Drag Strip manages, somehow, not to sneer. “We’re testing how long it takes for the bots to notice the little switch-a-roo.”
“Listen closely, Red Alert.” The Decepticon warlord Looms over Motormaster and the non-gestalt member. “If I ever see you on my base again, it will be your end!”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“What are the findings?” Megatron asks Soundwave after Breakdown has been successfully reintegrated into the Stunticon team.
“Results Inconclusive.” Soundwave elaborates. “Breakdown insists the reason no Autobot raised the alarm is solely due to the human holiday going on during trial basis.”
Rating: K+
Continuity: Generation 1
Characters: Ensemble
Author: Rose0mary
Prompt: #1 Costumes
Blaster almost ran into the disguised red Lamborghini. “Cool costume, Red. Does this mean you plan on joining the party later tonight?”
The security director flinched away from Blaster. “Yes.” His optics continually scanned the hallways, focusing on any movement.
“See you after shift change then.” Blaster walked off, whistling.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Before the party, ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Bluestreak tracks down one of the officers. “Red Alert is acting weird today.”
“Not you too!” Jazz groans. “Listen, Blue, I ain’t canceling the party just cause Red Alert agreed to go.”
“But -“ Bluestreak slumps as the special ops officer ignores his concerns.
Jazz doesn’t relent, exactly. “It’s covered. Let the mech enjoy a one-day off, kay?”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ During the party, (while the high grade is freely flowing), ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Cliffjumper asks the world in general: “Does anybody else think Red Alert is not himself?”
Bumblebee hasn’t taken his optics off the mech-in-question since he wandered in. “Yes.”
Trailbreaker hears the question and attempts to explain why this is a good thing. “Relax guys, Red is enjoying the party. Even the high grade.”
Bumblebee and Cliffjumper share a quick glance. “Since when does Red Alert drink high grade?”
“Whenever Inferno drags him away from his cameras. And there he is.” Trailbreaker points towards the fire-fighting mech. “He’s positive Red is red.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ The next day, after the party ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Gears confronts the red Lamborghini. “Where were you yesterday?”
Red Alert twitches. “Here, in the Ark.”
Gears scrutinizes the security director for a few minutes. “Good to see you back to normal.” He goes off to inform Bluestreak that the security director is his ordinary, paranoid self.
Title: Story Telling
Rating: Teens
Continuity: Generation 1
Characters: Mirage
Summary: "I was one of those rare mechlings who insisted on finding proof of the legends."
Prompt: #2 Swapping Scary Stories
Outside, under the light of a full moon, a cracking fire - big enough for several Transformers to sit around - burns brightly.
“Who wants to start off tonight?” The only human enjoying the warmth asks. “Springer? Heatwave? Trailbreaker? Bulkhead? Grimlock? Cliffjumper?” One by one, the named mechs shake their heads, until finally, one mech, still uncalled, speaks up.
“I’ll do it,” Mirage states. “The Towers are full of secrets - hidden passageways, sealed tunnel doors that lead into Koa, Vos, Praxis, and other cites selling forbidden materials or entertainment, forgotten rooms that once doubled as private prisons - and it is the duty of every asspring Noble to discover everything there is to know about their tower.
“It was rumored that in the core of every habitable building in the Noble district lies a horrorcon. Some tales say it is a hungry spark-eater that resides there, others say a nest of undisturbed scraplets are held in stasis.
“Undergoing the rite of adulthood, I was tasked by my elder to go find out the truth of what lay in the center of my tower … alone.
The eternal starlight failed to illuminate the gloom in the innermost chambers. Not even powerful floodlights could shine a beam strong enough to fully eliminate the shadows. Wherever the darkness pressed in, there remained a sense of movement - motion no keen optic could see, sound no keen audio could hear.
Something abandoned and forgotten about, should have picked up rust, dust, a feeling of emptiness, a sense of decay. My tower had none. Something remained, actively inhabiting the deepest, darkest reaches of space.
I had just received the cloak-upgrade, so putting my lamp down, I activated the disrupter and - being young, foolish, feeling invincible - walked away from the safe zone of illumination. Beyond the sphere of light, I saw them.”
“Saw what?” a curiously hushed Fireflight whispered.
“Spark eaters. Aware and hunting.”
“What did they look like?”
“An empty - except for the white optics that peered past the frame and armour, looking directly at the spark.”
“What did you do next?”
“When I saw them, I turned and ran, forgetting my clock hid me from view. They had been waiting for someone to brave the eternal darkness, hungry enough to pounce the first living thing they encountered. Even turborats and glitch mice were fare game, for I saw remains of those dangling from the mouths of the Spark eaters.”
“I my haste, I left the light behind - who knows what secrets its burning flames revealed even as it died out, sometime before the Towers finally fell to Megatron.”
Title: Collection
Rating: Teens
Continuity: Generation 1
Characters: Blaster, Perceptor, Skyfire
Summary: Scientists carry vast arrays of tools - all of it 'in case of emergency/what if' equipment.
Prompt: #3 Superstitions.
“Perceptor, what is this?”
“I like being prepared.”
“For what? A horrocon apocalypse?”
“Don’t be absured Blaster. It’s for emergency use only, not willy-nilly use against our mythology.”
“Oh, nice. You got the sonic screwdriver. I’m missing that from my kit.”
“It’s been standard issue since Kaon threatened to break away from the Counsil. How’d you avoid getting the update?”
“I’m outta here, guys.”
“See you later, Blaster. I was frozen. Here, for untold vorns. Remember, Perceptor?”
“Right, right, right. Have you had occasion to use the electro-fragmentation grenade?”
“The Theta uprising? No never went into that sector. Have the geriousgrubs been encroaching on Ulicon?”
“Those are imaginary creatures!”
“Oh, go study your cryptology, Blaster.”
“Just because you don’t know about the strange creatures of the unexplored galaxy doesn’t mean they don’t exist!”
Title: Forsaken
Rating: K+
Continuity: Prime
Characters: Smokescreen, Alpha Trion
Prompt: # 4 Settings: In a temple or other religious/spirtual location
Smokescreen looked all around in awe. “This is where all our records, the most ancient artifacts, and the oldest decrees are stored?”
Alpha Trion briskly walked through the Iacon Archive. “Not just stored, but preserved - “
“For future reference and study.” Smokescreen spoke in unison. “You must have told me a thousand times.” He followed the old mech he was guarding. “So, what one-of-a-kind relic did you need to retrieve before fleeing?”
“This.” Alpha Trion pulled out a tome, made of some kind of glossy material his apprentice didn’t recognize. Unlike everything else in this huge archive, there were no markings on the spine, covers, or even notes summarizing past findings.
“That?” As Smokescreen watched, Alpha Trion grasped the top right corner and top left corer, lifted the cover, to reveal metal sheets.
Sheets covered in symbols and glyphs the much younger mech had no way of understanding. “What does it say?”
In answer, Alpha Trion opened it towards the middle. Before Smokescreen could read the whole page, the metal leaves flipped over, showing strange markings and tags that were, again, indecipherable.
“Okay, Alpha Trion. What Am I supposed to be seeing?”
“The o ne object that cannot lie about the past - the one objet that reveals our future.”
Stunned, Smokescreen could not raise his voice in protest before Alpha Trion threw the item down, breaking it. “Why’d you do that?”
“Because Iacon will fall, the archive ransacked, and all its treasures, the forgotten weapons, will be used in an effort to totally destroy those who fight for justice, mercy, and compassion. If the invaders managed to retrieve that relic, all would be lost. Now, there is a chance that honor, truth, and life itself will preserver - and life restored to our home.”
Title: The last stop
Rating: K
Continuity: Prime, post war
Characters: Arcee, Knock-Out
Prompt: # 5 contact, dead
Arcee walked along Cybertron’s restored roads, no longer able to find evidence of the ravages of the Autobot-Decepticon war. Prosperous cities had once again replaced wrecked ruins, shattered homes, and forsaken empty lands.
On a whim, traveling through Iacon, she decided to join a tour. Politely nodding to the old guard, she followed the group.
Knock-Out noticed the latest addition as he led the small crowd of new sparks in the restored historical arhives. “Once, long ago, this build was one more desolate than the badlands.” He continued the tour, stopping when they entered the Hall-of-Memories. “Go and explore - this exhibit was made for interactions.”
Arcee hung back as the newsparks gleefully ran about. “I thought you wanted to remain a medic.”
Knockout turned around. “You’re behind the times, Arcee. I changed vocation ages ago.”
“Hmm.” A hologram of the last Prime lit up and the faint image of the mech spoke his pre-recorded message to an audience that wasn’t listening.
“It’s hard to believe.” Arcee thought she spoke softly.
It wasn’t quiet enough. “Hard to believe what, exactly?” Knockout asked gently.
“That Optimus Prime has been deactivated longer than all but two-dozen Cybertrons have been alive.”
“Hmph.” The oldest tour-guide in existence, one of a few who had lived through the battles and wars four generations had only been taught about, huffed in exasperation. “Every mech deactivates eventually.”
“But shortly after his life had just begun?” Arcee asked, forgetting that when she was that young, she’d been fighting for her very existence. “I miss him still.”
“Like I mentioned earlier,” Knockout shoved the ancient femme forward, into the pick-up field. “The hologram’s interactive. Go talk with him.”
Title: Trial Testing
Rating: Teens
Continuity: Generation 1
Characters: Megatron, Ensemble
Prompt: # 6 House-to-House
Two mechs meet in a shadowy corner; both assured they had not been followed to this rendezvous.
“So, you’ll do it?” Asks one.
The other responds with scowling face. “This one night only.”
They retreat, but not to their proper bases.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“Why are my Stunticons harboring an Autobot?” Before Megatron broached the question, not one of the Decepticons had given the cowering Lamborghini a second glance. Now, every con in the vicinity looked at the trembling mech.
They tried to look anyway. Dead End and WildRider stepped in front of the one everyone had assumed to be t heir week gestalt team member. “Scientific research.” The leader of the Stunticons replied, not caring that his team was shielding the intruder from view.
Astrotrain snipes away. “Funny - you never seemed interested in doing work before.”
Megatron’s glare is enough to stifle the others. “How is giving an Autobot free reign on base - specifically this one - scientific research?”
Drag Strip manages, somehow, not to sneer. “We’re testing how long it takes for the bots to notice the little switch-a-roo.”
“Listen closely, Red Alert.” The Decepticon warlord Looms over Motormaster and the non-gestalt member. “If I ever see you on my base again, it will be your end!”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“What are the findings?” Megatron asks Soundwave after Breakdown has been successfully reintegrated into the Stunticon team.
“Results Inconclusive.” Soundwave elaborates. “Breakdown insists the reason no Autobot raised the alarm is solely due to the human holiday going on during trial basis.”