Disclaimers: Transformers are owned by Hasbro.
I make no monetary profit from my fanfic/fanart.
Summary: A story about Astrotrain
Rating - PG
~~~~~~~
EIGHT TIMES LUCKY
"THIS IS INTOLERABLE!!"
Astrotrain wished he could disappear. Scotty, now would be a good time. He wanted to excuse himself, but looking at the absolute fury in Galvatron's face, he decided to keep quiet. After all, he had just returned to Decepticon headquarters after failing his seventh mission in a row.
"How could you fail seven consecutive times?!" Galvatron bellowed.
Astrotrain was shivering inside and couldn't think of anything to say.
"ANSWER ME!!" screamed his leader.
"I'm ... I'm sorry ... I ... uhh ... I ..."
"Silence, you pathetic, worthless scrap heap. I have a good mind to terminate you - right now."
Astrotrain jerked. "Don't ..." he said, uneasily.
"Give me one good reason why not, apart from the fact that you do not wish to die."
Astrotrain said nothing. He could not think of a thing to say and did not share Galvatron's view of him being a pathetic worthless scrapheap.
"I ... I can prove I'm not worthless" he said, after a short period of silence, which seemed quite long.
"I'm listening" said Galvatron, with extreme sarcasm.
"Give me a mission, a task or something ... anything ..."
"HAH! And have you fail your eighth consecutive time?!"
"Galvatron, I promise I wont fail ..."
"That's what you promised the seven other times."
"Please, give me a chance ..."
"I GAVE YOU SEVEN CHANCES!!"
Astrotrain was running out of ideas and growing more and more frightened and uneasy by the minute.
"Please, Galvatron."
"Please? Hah ... that word has absolutely no meaning for me. You should know that by now."
Galvatron then harshly pushed Astrotrain onto the floor and pointed his particle cannon at him.
"No, Galvatron!" exclaimed Astrotrain. "Wait ... who will you use as a shuttle transport if you don't have me? ..."
Astrotrain was getting desperate.
"I'll construct a new one."
"B ... but-"
"But what?"
"But what about the times I haven't failed?"
"What about the times you have?"
"Everyone fails sometimes, Galvatron - even you."
Galvatron could say nothing because he knew Astrotrain was right.
"You have failed more times than I can tolerate " he said. "You would be more use to me as molten metal. "
"NO!!"
Galvatron readied himself to fire.
"One last thing, Astrotrain, aren't you going to beg me for mercy?"
"No ... What good will it do? You have no mercy. It'll only make you wanna destroy me more."
Galvatron hesitated. "Not many realise that" he said. "You surprise me, Astrotrain."
There was a pause. "I shouldn't but I'll give you one last chance. One only."
Astrotrain sighed with relief.
Galvatron continued. "The Autobots have constructed plans for a new secret headquarters. I want those plans. Fail me again, and I will not be so lenient."
"I won't ... thank you, Galvatron."
"Well, don't just sit there - MOVE!"
Astrotrain quickly stood. "As you command, Galvatron."
He transformed into his shuttle mode and blasted off for Autobot headquarters on Cybertron. He flew a little too close in range and the Autobots detected him on radar.
"It's Astrotrain!" said Rodimus Prime, inside the headquarters. "Probably with most of the Decepticon army aboard. Activate the outer defence cannons."
Astrotrain had not yet realised he'd been detected. Hot Spot manned the cannon and aimed it at him, then without warning, blasted Astrotrain out of the sky. The blast was excruciating and shocked Astrotrain as he was not prepared for it. As he was falling out of control to the ground, Hot Spot blasted him again. Astrotrain almost exploded. He painfully managed to transform himself into robot mode, before crashing onto the ground, in extreme agony. He lay there, in absolute pain, bleeding. Hot Spot ran over to Astrotrain, who had by this time fallen unconscious from the pain.
"There's only Astrotrain here. Where are the other Decepticons?"
Prowl, another Autobot came to Hot Spot.
"Look at how the blast effected him" he pointed out. "He came alone."
"You mean I fried that cannon on full power at one Transformer?!" exclaimed Hot Spot in disbelief.
"Yeah, but how was you know it was only him?" said Warpath.
"I should've at least fired a warning shot ..." confessed Hot Spot, feeling guilty. "Come on, let's get him inside. Perhaps we can repair him."
"Why did he attack us alone?" asked Prowl, puzzled. "It's not logical."
"Whoever said Decepticons were logical?" said Hot Spot. "Help me get 'im inside."
Together they carried Astrotrain inside Autobot headquarters.
"What happened?" asked Rodimus.
"There was only Astrotrain - no one aboard him " replied Hot Spot. "I almost blew him apart."
"Why did he come alone?" asked Rodimus, surprised.
Hot Spot shrugged.
"I know he's our enemy, Hot Spot," said Rodimus, "but blasting him with that cannon on full power wasn't fair."
"I know, Rodimus ... I didn't realise he was alone ... I should've given him a warning shot first ... I ... I'm sorry..."
Rodimus realised how Hot Spot was feeling. "It's not your fault. It was mine. I gave the order to fire."
"You didn't realise either, Rodimus."
Rodimus Prime nodded. "I suppose ... Ratchet, repair his blast wounds quickly. They're quite severe ... Then we have to find out why he attacked us and why alone?"
"He's probably after our new secret headquarters plans" informed Red Alert.
Rodimus looked at him. "Perhaps."
Ratchet began to repair Astrotrain in th repair bay. It was quite difficult as many of Astrotrain's circuits and internal organs had been destroyed. Ratchet had to replace quite a lot of them. He wiped the excess blood off Astrotrain's body and began to repair his split metal skin.
Finally, Ratchet had finished. Astrotrain was still unconscious, but alive. Ratchet carried him to the main control room and lay him on a table.
"He should regain consciousness soon, Rodimus," he informed.
"Great job, Ratchet. Thank you."
Ratchet smiled.
Astrotrain slowly began to regain consciousness. "Ohhh ... ahh... ohhh ..."
He was still in a little pain from the blasts, but it was gradually going away.
"We apologize for blasting you with that cannon" confessed Rodimus Prime. We had no idea you had come alone."
Astrotrain jerked. He realised that he was not alone. Astrotrain paused for a while, uneasy.
"Why did you attack us alone?" asked Rodimus Prime, puzzled.
Astrotrain said nothing. He felt frightened and didn't know what to say.
Rodimus repeated his question.
There was a short pause.
"You came to steal the plans, didn't you?" accused Rodimus, before Astrotrain could say anything.
Astrotrain was too frightened to say anything.
"You came to steal them, didn't you?" forced Rodimus.
"Plans? ... What plans ... " said Astrotrain, nervously.
"Don't play innocent with me" said Rodimus Prime, angrily.
Astrotrain shook his head.
"I don't know what you're talking about ..."
"Oh yes you do" said Rodimus, sarcastically. "The plans for our new headquarters. Don't worry. They're locked away and out of your hands. "
Astrotrain felt very nervous. How am I gonna get the plans? ... Galvatron's gonna kill me ... I gotta get those plans. He leapt off the table and scrambled away. He was still in pain, and realised he couldn't go far without hurting a lot. The Autobots fired after him. Astrotrain yelped and scrambled to the wall. The Autobots blasted at him.
"Don't!" he shrieked. "Don't shoot!"
"Hold your fire, Autobots," ordered Rodimus Prime.
He looked at Astrotrain. "Don't move," he ordered coldly, pointing his photon eliminator rifle at him.
Astrotrain kept still, apart from the fact he was shivering. Rodimus Prime roughly grabbed him and led him to a prison cell. Astrotrain tried to jerk free, but Rodimus was stronger than him. He pushed him into the cell, locked the door and walked away.
"What's Galvatron gonna do to me? ... I know what he's gonna do. He's gonna melt me into molten metal ... It's gonna hurt and he'll probably rip me apart painfully before he melts me... I gotta get those plans ..."
Astrotrain tried to escape, but couldn't get out of the cell.
Finally, a few hours later, he managed to crack the code to the computerised lock. Astrotrain sighed with relief - and was also relieve that his internal healing system had taken care of most of the pain. He began to sneak away. He quietly snuck along the walls. At one corner he accidentally bashed into Rodimus Prime. He got a shock, and before he could retaliate, Rodimus quickly blasted him and locked him in another cell.
"You won't escape next time so don't even try " he warned.
Rodimus walked away.
"Galvatron's gonna kill me ... And the Autobots just don't care ... They're supposed to be understanding and stuff. Why can't they understand this? I don't care about what Rodimus said. I have to escape and get those plans."
Astrotrain tried to crack the code again. Finally, after a few hours he managed it and then began sneaking around, being extra careful not to be seen or heard. He heard some Autobots talking about the plans and where they were stored. Astrotrain quickly and quietly went to the particular corridor and started to the safe marked number 99. He tried to crack the code, but it was very difficult. Rodimus Prime then saw him.
"You again!" he yelled, angrily, blasting at him.
Astrotrain let out a small shriek and jerked away from the safe.
"I've had enough of you, Decepticon ..."
He blasted Astrotrain in his chest. Astrotrain crashed into the wall, but was still conscious and frightened. Rodimus Prime walked towards him and pointed his photon eliminator rifle at him.
"No ... don't ..."
"And why not?" Rodimus blasted near him.
"Don't!" shrieked Astrotrain.
He scrambled away as Rodimus blasted at him again. Rodimus blasted him twice in his chest and throat. It hurt Astrotrain a lot.
"Please stop ..." he gasped, his throat bleeding.
"Why should I? You would've stolen the plans if I hadn't've stopped you and let your fellow Decepticons kill us all."
"I have to get those plans ..."
"No you don't. You don't have to get them. You want them to give to Galvatron so you guys can get the edge over us and be a step further in getting 'conquest of the universe.'"
"It's not that ..."
"Oh, then what is it?" asked Rodimus Prime, sarcastically.
Astrotrain took a little time to recover from his blast wounds. His throat stared bleeding. Rodimus pointed his rifle at him again.
"No! ..." exclaimed Astrotrain.
"What else?" asked Rodimus Prime, impatiently. "Hurry up, or do I have to blast you again?"
"No ... you don't have to shoot ... I failed Galvatron seven times in a row. He said he was going to kill me. I don't know how I did it, but I persuaded him to give me one last chance, and this is it. If I don't get those plans, he'll kill me."
"We also need the plans, Astrotrain," said Rodimus Prime, lowering his photon eliminator rifle. "We need that new headquarters."
"And I need my life, Rodimus Prime."
Rodimus thought about what Astrotrain had just said.
"I understand " he said, "but-"
"But what? I thought you Autobots care about all life. Is an inanimate headquarters worth more than someone's life?"
"Well, no," began Rodimus Prime, "but-"
"But," concluded Astrotrain, glad that he was getting to Rodimus, eve if it was just a ruse. "It's because I'm a Decepticon, right?"
"Well ... all life is more important than inanimate objects, but, you've got to understand, we need that headquarters. It's vital."
"You can make plans for another one ..."
"And waste all that time for nothing?! You gotta be joking! Have you got any idea how long we spent on those plans?"
"No" replied Astrotrain, "and I don't care. I care more about my life than a stupid bunch of plans. You Autobots obviously care more about your time than life."
"That's not true," said Rodimus Prime, feeling hurt. "Anyway, Galvatron probably won't kill you. He's often said that before to Decepticons and he hasn't."
Astrotrain became frightened.
"He did kill Starscream. He means it this time, Prime."
"Yeah, sure ..."
"He really does ..."
Astrotrain was getting quite worried and nervous. Rodimus forced him into a prison cell.
"Try to escape from this one, and it won't be Galvatron who kills you, it'll be me."
Astrotrain wasn't sure if Rodimus meant his threat literally or otherwise.
"What am I gonna do? ..."
He tried to crack the combination of the lock, but it was an identification lock and wouldn't let him through. Astrotrain grew more and more worried. He was also getting quite hungry, as he hadn't had anything to eat since before his seventh mission.
Rodimus Prime later came into the cell with an energon cube. "I'm sorry" he said, quickly. "I should have brought you some energon earlier. Despite what you might think, I'm not heartless."
He gave the energon cube to Astrotrain. Astrotrain drank it and felt his starving pain going. He felt much better.
"Thank you" he said, quietly, wiping the little excess energon away from his mouth.
"It's all right. I couldn't even let a Decepticon starve. "
Rodimus stood up and turned to leave. Astrotrain quietly stood up, then leapt onto Rodimus and tackled him down.
"That's gratitude for you!"
"Thanks for the energon, but I'm gonna die if I don't get those plans."
Rodimus tried to grab his rifle, but Astrotrain got it first. Rodimus made a grab or it, but Astrotrain jerked it free. He blasted Rodimus Prime in his chest and stood up. Rodimus grabbed his foot and pulled him down. He tried to climb on top of him. Astrotrain violently kicked him off, then blasted Rodimus twice and aimed the rifle at him to shoot a third time.
"Don't shoot ..." said Rodimus weakly.
"Now you know what it feels like to be on the receiving end, Rodimus. If I didn't have the plans to worry about I'd stay here and blast you until the energy ran out of this gun."
Astrotrain ran to safe number 99 and blasted it open, being careful not to damage the plan disks. He took them out of the safe and quickly double checked they were the right plans.
"There he is!" exclaimed Springer. "Get 'im!"
The Autobots chased after Astrotrain.
"Set weapons on stun" ordered Rodimus. "We can't risk damaging the plans."
The Autobots adjusted their weapons and blasted at Astrotrain. Astrotrain blasted back at them, hitting Rodimus Prime in his chest. Ironhide blasted Astrotrain in his shoulder. Astrotrain dropped one of the plan disks. He tried to pick it up, but Blue Streak, another Autobot, blasted at him. Astrotrain jerked his hand away, then blasted Blue Streak in his chest, grabbed the disk and ran out of the headquarters, transformed into his shuttle mode and blasted off, managing to dodge all enemy fire.
"Cease fire" said Rodimus Prime. "We'll never get him now ... He's too fast and out of cannon range already. He got the plans ... I suppose we'll just have to devise new ones ..."
Rodimus Prime thought for a while, about how desperate, worried, nervous and frightened Astrotrain had been.
Perhaps Galvatron was gonna kill
him ...
Rodimus shrugged, then walked inside Autobot headquarters.
Astrotrain arrived at Decepticon headquarters.
"What took you so long?" snapped Galvatron, angrily. "Did the Autobots capture you?"
"No ..." lied Astrotrain. "It took quite a long time to search all the safes and I had to hide every time Autobots walked past. There was over one million combinations for each safe."
Galvatron looked surprised.
"Here are the plans."
Astrotrain handed the disks to Galvatron.
"Excellent, Astrotrain ... It's about time you did something right."
Astrotrain smiled, half sarcastically.
A few minutes later, Galvatron had discovered another set of plans were being devised by the Autobots. A new set of plans for another new headquarters, in another location on Cybertron. He walked to Astrotrain.
"Astrotrain," he said, "you did excellently on your last mission, and it didn't seem difficult."
Oh yeah? "Yes, Galvatron?"
"I've discovered that the Autobots have started constructing another set of plans for another headquarters. I want you to steal them when they are finished."
Astrotrain almost fainted. Sheesh, I sure miss Megatron! Then he laughed. "Gimme a break, Galvatron!"
The large Decepticon couldn't help but smile too.
*