TRANSFORMERS GENERATION 2 and ROBOTECH: THE NEW GENERATION STRANDED Part Four: Taking Measures By Christopher E. Meadows [Dedicated to Raksha, M. Sipher, Peter Walker, and also to Aubry Thonon, whose "Children of Light, Children of Shadow" fanfic was one of the first Robotech 'fics I ever read. (This also lets me split the dedication evenly between Transformers and Robotech fanfic writers. :)] "Well, _that's_ just great," Nightracer said, hands on her hips. "So, Rapido, you're the one who's famous for Big Plans. Plan us out of this one." Rapido ignored the sarcasm in Nightracer's remark, choosing to take it at face value. "Very well. The first thing we need to do is make certain of our supplies. Turbofire, as quartermaster, you'll take charge of equipment and stores. The rest of you, what do you have to contribute? I'm particularly interested in Energon, for personal use if not the spacebridge. We're all going to be running low before long unless we can find a replacement source." "I think we've all got a few Energon snack packs," Windbreaker said, pulling out a small case of his own. Skram nodded, and contributed his own, as did Turbofire and Rapido. All heads turned to look at Nightracer. "What're you looking at _me_ like that for?" "If we're going to survive, we're going to have to share equally," Rapido noted. "_All_ of us." "Okay, okay, I get the point." Nightracer pulled out an Energon canister of her own, followed by another, and set them with the others. "That's all I've got." Turbofire looked at her suspiciously. "Are you sure?" "Are you questioning my word as a Decepticon?" Nightracer growled, shifting her stance slightly. Turbofire looked like he was about to do the same, when Skram stepped forward between them. "Guys, guys!" Skram said. "What's wrong here? If we're gonna get out of this, we've got to be able to trust each other, at least as far as sticking together until we can get through this, right? You know this, I know this...and I'm pretty sure Nightracer knows this, too." "I won't trust a Decepticon farther than I can throw it," Turbofire muttered. "He's right, though," Rapido said. "We can't survive if we're all watching our _own_ backs instead of the group's. The trust has to start somewhere, and I'm willing to take Nightracer at her word on this." Windbreaker nodded. "Same here." "All right. I'll accept that for now," Turbofire said, then looked over at Nightracer. "But I won't trust you." "Fine by me," Nightracer replied. "Anyway, there's my backup Energon. If you need anything else from me, that's fine, too...but _nobody_ touches my weapons, you got that?" "Fair enough," Rapido said. "Turbofire, put one third of that away as emergency reserves, and split the rest five ways." "Yessir." Turbofire did as requested, and gave everyone back an even amount of Energon. "Gee, thanks for giving me my own Energon back. Or at least part of it..." Nightracer said with notable lack of enthusiasm. Turbofire ignored her. "What's next, oh fearless leader?" Skram asked. "We head out and do some scouting," Rapido said. "If there's a society advanced enough to field the kind of fightercraft we just encountered, there must be energy sources that can be converted to provide Energon for us and power we can get home with." "Sounds good to me," Windbreaker said. "I suggest we split up, to cover more ground," Nightracer suggested. Rapido looked at her for a moment, contemplatively. "That's...a good idea, Nightracer. Skram, you go with her. The rest of you, with me. We'll meet back here in two hours; synchronize your internal chronometers." There was a chorus of assent, then the five Transformers changed to vehicle mode and headed out. Rapido, Turbofire, and Windbreaker went south, while Skram and Nightracer went north. As Windbreaker raced ahead of the other two to look for anything interesting, Turbofire asked, "Hey, boss? Are you sure about letting Skram and the Decep go off by themselves like that? I mean...she _is_ a Decepticon...." "I'm aware of that, Turbofire," Rapido replied. "But she doesn't have any reason to want to take action against us until we're all safely home. Least of all Skram, who is the closest to a technician of any of us, and hence the key to reactivating the spacebridge. Also, Skram has demonstrated a knowledge of Nightracer--perhaps even a bit of hero-worship. I don't for one moment doubt Skram's devotion to the Autobot cause, but I _do_ know that means he probably knows more about her than any of the rest of us...which means he'd be the one to know what to watch for if she _did_ try to pull anything." "I see." They drove on a while in silence, then Turbofire asked, "So what do you think our chances are?" "Of what? Getting home?" "Yeah." "I don't know, Turbofire, and that's the truth. I don't know enough about this place to say. It's tempting to say that all we need is the Energon to power the spacebridge and we're home free...but whenever you make that kind of assumption, something always comes up." "Yeah, I know what you mean. I just hope we don't come under attack by any more of those purple things." Whatever Rapido had been about to say was interrupted by Windbreaker's radio call. "Hey, guys! I think I just found something you're going to want to see...." Not too far away, a small convoy of air and ground vehicles moved up the desert. There were three aircraft--one large blue plane, and two smaller red and green planes that each resembled the front half of the larger one--and a utility truck/armored personnel carrier brought up the rear. The smaller planes were Alphas and the larger one was actually _two_ planes, a combined Alpha and Beta Veritech Fighter. These were the main mecha-of-the-line of the Robotech Expeditionary Force, and, as it happened, of this small band of freedom fighters as well. The planes were flying on hoverjets only, using the bare minimum power on which they could get by, to conserve power and minimize protoculture emissions from their engines. If the Autobots had still been monitoring human communication bands, they might have picked up a bit of conversation over extreme-shortrange intercom frequencies. "Scott, there's something I don't understand," Rand, the orange-haired young man leaning back in the command seat of the Beta module remarked. "If Reflex Point is to the northeast, how come we're heading due west?" "Well, that's simple, Rand," Scott Bernard replied. The REF Lieutenant Commander, whose hair matched the color of the Alpha he was piloting, was the de-facto leader of the small group. "We're low on both protoculture and weapon charges, and the word from the Resistance is that we might be able to find supplies of both in this sector." "Maybe if you didn't use missiles like they were going out of style, we might only have to worry about protoculture fuel cells," Rand said. "I didn't exactly see you _complaining_ all the times he's saved your bacon with them," the strawberry-blonde pilot of the red Alpha put in. "That's not what I'm saying, Rook, and you know it," Rand retorted. "The point is, if we want to _make it_ to Reflex Point, we should all be trying to conserve our ammo, y'know?" "He's right," Lunk, the burly mechanical specialist of their party, put in from the APC. "There's only so many missiles I can carry in this thing. And the truck's currently riding a bit light on the tires, if you know what I mean." "Hey, guys, let's not argue, eh?" Lancer, the purple-haired intelligence specialist and occasional crossdressing lounge singer, put in from the green Alpha. "What's done is done, and I can't see any point in recriminations now." "Actually, Rand does have a point," Scott admitted. "I was trained for naval operations, not guerilla warfare. Ammo conservation isn't exactly a big worry when you're resupplied and refitted after every mission. That's why our mecha were designed to rely so much on expendable ordnance." "Missiles, you mean," Rand put in. "Yes, Rand. I mean missiles," Scott replied, sighing inwardly. "And cannon shells. I guess what I'm saying is that it's force of habit that I use so much firepower. It's a habit I do plan to try to break." "Actually, if it comes to that, we'd _all_ do well to practice a little more weapon conservation," Lancer put in. "From the count I took this morning, we hardly have a dozen missiles left among the four of us. And I don't think our Cyclone ordnance is faring much better." "And I'm hungry!" Annie LaBelle, the short, redhaired morale booster of the group put in from her seat in the APC cab. "And Marlene is, too, aren't you Marlene? When are we gonna find some more food, huh?" Marlene, the enigmatic other redhead in the party, just smiled at Annie. "You're _always_ hungry, Annie," Lunk said, reaching a hand over to tousle her hair through her "E.T." cap. "Hey, cut that out!" "Sure is desolate around here," Rand noted. "Not a tree for miles. Just rocks and sand." "I rather like it," Scott replied. "It's kind of like home. A lot more like it than that jungle was." "Heh. No spiders here, eh Scott?" Scott laughed goodnaturedly. "Or grizzly bears." "It would be nice if there were no Invid, either!" Annie put in. "Which reminds me," Scott said. "Lancer, how about powering up your sensor pod again and seeing what you get?" "Roger." Lancer reached over to the control board for the reconaissance sensor retrofit and punched the "Enable" key. While all the Alphas were equipped with long-range radar (powered down at the moment, along with most other unnecessary systems, for energy conservation), Lancer's alone carried advanced analysis equipment which could return much more information. "No Invid activity to speak of...I _am_ picking up a large metal object, about four miles ahead of us," Lancer reported. "It's big enough to be a crashed drop-shuttle, but the radar-signature I.D. can't be positive." "It could have gotten mangled in the crash," Rand suggested. Scott nodded. "Mm-hmm. Probably right. Shall we check it out?" "Ugh!" Annie said. "I hate going through those crashed ships...feels like graverobbing." She shuddered. Scott nodded again. "I know, Annie, and believe me, I feel the exact same way. But it's something we've got to do." "Wait...there's something else," Lancer said. "Movement. Looks like three medium-sized mecha, from the size of the bounces I'm getting." Scott glanced over at Lancer, through the canopies of their respective fighters. "Is it earth-mecha? Or Invid?" "I don't know, Scott...I can't get an I.D. on them either," Lancer said. "Maybe the power drain is affecting the computer." "It looked okay to me this morning," Lunk said. "I'll run another check on it next time we stop." "It can't be Invid..." Marlene said, barely above a whisper. "I'd feel it...wouldn't I?" "With all the other new types of mecha the Invid have been throwing at us lately, there's no way to be sure this isn't one of them. We'd better proceed as if it's a hostile contact," Scott decided. "Rook, Lancer, take the flanks. Rand and I will go right up the middle. Lunk, you and the others stay back here. Let's go!" "And remember, _guns only_, if you can help it!" Rand put in, though he was largely ignored. The Veritechs' jet engines ignited, and the mechaplanes gained altitude and streaked off to the west. Nightracer drove due north, roughly in the direction of the human prison camp. She had not wanted to take the Autobot with her, but she knew that if she had protested, it would have looked suspicious. Well, she could lose him well before they got there, if it came to that. The assumption Nightracer made was simple. Whoever the wielders of those purple mecha were, they were obviously the power in control of this region. If they had enough energy or fuel to keep up that fleet of mecha-soldiers, they surely had enough to spare to power the spacebridge home. Naturally, it would be far simpler to bargain with them than to attack them and steal it--regardless of Decepticons' reputation for instigating conflicts, it was pure idiocy to start a battle one could not win. The Autobots might have their usual foolish problem with this kind of dealmaking...but then, they did not have to know exactly where their power source was coming from, did they? Nightracer looked over at Skram out of the corner of her sensors. The blue Corvette was riding along easily, keeping perfect pace with her. He did not seem to be having much trouble handling the terrain, and not for the first time, Nightracer wished she had a better suspension--or at least someone qualified to fix the one she had. All this driving in desert terrain was degrading it faster than her self-repair systems could patch it up, and it was starting to ache something fierce. "So," Skram said, "you come here often?" "It's nice that you have a sense of humor, but I'd appreciate it if you'd keep it to yourself," Nightracer replied sharply. "I don't find anything amusing about this situation." "Geez, excuse me for trying to make it a little more bearable," Skram said. "If you have something to say, say it. Otherwise, shut up. I'm _really_ not in the mood." Skram made a noncommittal sound. "Well, okay. I'm really, really excited to get the chance to meet you--and I don't mean from opposite sides of gun barrels. I've always wanted to talk to you, find out more about you--you're the best shot the Decepticons have, and--" Oh, great. As if being stuck with a motormouthed Autobot kid was not bad enough, he was a _fan_, too. "Look, kid. I don't want to hear about it. I don't care how amazingly cool you think I am, get it? I do my job. That's all. And I work alone. I dislike being stuck with _anyone_. I really _hate_ being stuck with an Autobot. And I utterly _abhor_ being stuck with _you_. So keep quiet and keep out of my face, and _maybe_ we'll manage to get along." Before Skram could reply, she accelerated to maximum speed, leaving him in her dust. "Geez," Skram muttered. "Was it something I said?" He increased his own speed, to try to catch up. "Hey, wait for me!" When the others got there, Windbreaker was standing in front of what looked like it had once been a spacecraft of some kind. It was lacking a fuselage and its wings had been ripped off by the force of the impact that had also plowed a furrow into the desert behind it, but it unmistakeably had formerly been a flying craft. "Whoa," Turbofire said, transforming and standing up. "What happened here?" "This thing came down pretty hard and fast," Windbreaker pointed out. "And look at those blast scars. Megacredits to Energon cubes those were caused by the kind of blaster beams those purple things shot at us." "Whatever it is, it's not a design I've seen before," Rapido noted. "But it is built to human scale, and it's marked in English." He walked around it, looking at it from all sides. "It's big, though. Maybe a drop shuttle of some kind." "Yeah. And look at this!" Turbofire pointed to one of the wings, torn off some distance behind it. "Looks like a cargo carrier or something." He tapped the hexagonal container mounted to the underside of the wing. "Y'know, I bet this could probably fit five or six of _us_ in it." "Can you get it open?" Rapido asked. "Hang on, I'll try..." "Hey, guys, we've got more incoming!" Windbreaker reported. "From the north, east, and south!" Rapido drew his dual cannon. "More of those purple crabs?" "I don't think so--but whatever they are, they're coming in fast!" Windbreaker ran over to the others, and they took cover together behind the wing and cargo carrier assembly. "Nothing else we've seen here yet has been friendly," Turbofire muttered. "Better be ready for a fight." He poked his gun barrel around the corner of the cargo pod and waited. TO BE CONTINUED Author's Notes: I guess I should also say that this story was inspired in part by the fan-parody "Robotech III: Not Necessarily the Sentinels", which used music from the Transformers soundtrack (and had Yellow Dancer singing "Dare"). I'd probably figure out a way to work songs from that soundtrack in here, except that it would be far more referential than I'm willing to get. :) I know that this episode wasn't too exciting, altogether, but it did serve to introduce a few more of the players in our little game. I hope I wrote them believably--this is the first 'fic I've ever written where I tried writing the characters _from_ the Robotech TV series _during_ the TV series. In fact, I don't think I've seen very many 'fics at all set during that timeframe. Kind of a pity, really, given that the way the series is set up makes it fairly easy to insert "untold stories" between various episodes. Anyway, I'm always looking for more feedback! Let me know what you think. I hope you're enjoying this story as much as I'm enjoying writing it. APPENDIX Well, I figured you might want to know a little more about the characters, and since you can't exactly race right out and buy the Gen2 figures anymore, I thought I'd put their profiles in here. Note that I didn't stick _too_ closely to the profiles in my characterization of the characters, the same way as most of the profiles themselves didn't stick too close to proper English grammar. :) All these profiles are (sic), save for a spelling error correction I made on Nightracer's. These files are also copyright Raksha (for Nightracer) and Hasbro (for all the others); I'll probably put this appendix on my webpage and delete it from the posted version of the story when I post the complete version to rec.arts.anime.creative. Note how much longer and better-written the fan-created background for Nightracer is than all the others. Shame, isn't it? They ought to have the fans write the character profiles...would make for a lot better toy line. STR = Strength RNK = Rank INT = Intelligence CRG = Courage SPD = Speed FRP = Firepower END = Endurance SKL = Skill DECEPTICON NIGHTRACER FUNCTION: GUNNER "A good shot is worth more than a big mouth." Nightracer is one of the best sharpshooters of all the Transformers. Her skills are almost legendary. She can hit a speeding target the size of a golf ball at a distance of over 10 miles, both from a stationary or a moving position. Her vision has a normal and a telescopic mode, with a computer-guided visual tracking function. She is cool and imperturbable in even the worst battle situations; almost nothing can rattle her composure. Other Decepticons admire her skill, but are put off by her aloof manner, which is often mistaken for arrogance. In fact, Nightracer disdains braggarts, and is equally unimpressed when someone raves over her skill. She knows she's the best gunner around, and neither promotes nor downplays that fact. She prefers to avoid the complexities of getting close to others, and tends to make cutting remarks that discourage friendly conversation. She is extremely fast as a ground vehicle, and is adept at lighning turns, though she is not designed for rough terrain. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 STR XXXXXXXXXX INT XXXXXXXXXXXXXX SPD XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX END XXXXXXXXXXXXXX RNK XXXXXXXXXXXX CRG XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX FRP XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX SKL XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX AUTOBOT AUTOBOT RAPIDO SKRAM FUNCTION: FUNCTION: PLATOON COMMANDER CRACK PATROL "The deadliest weapon you can have "Hey, loosen up, guys! Saving the is a sharp mind!" universe can't be that big of a deal!" Masterminds and executes battle plans of mind-boggling complexity. An easygoing daredevil. Out for His brilliance at planning down to kicks and in it for the glory. the last detail makes him one of Speeds to the rescue at the merest the most respected Autobot platoon sniff of trouble and turns it to leaders. As a smooth, sleek Autobot advantage! In sleek vehicle vehicle, his rear-mounted engine is mode, his engine doubles as a also a powerful weapon. Converts to powerful weapon. As a robot, he a mighty fighting robot! creates havoc in the enemy ranks. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 STR XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX STR XXXXXXXXXXXXXX INT XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX INT XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX SPD XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX SPD XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX END XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX END XXXXXXXXXXXX RNK XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX RNK XXXXXXXXXXXXXX CRG XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX CRG XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX FRP XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX FRP XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX SKL XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX SKL XXXXXXXXXXXXXX AUTOBOT AUTOBOT TURBOFIRE WINDBREAKER FUNCTION: FUNCTION: SUPPLIES AND SUPPORT ADVANCE INTELLIGENCE SCOUT "Never give an inch!" "I can get you the info you want...before you even know you Utterly dependable and stolid. Not need it!" quick witted, but works away at a problem until he finds a logical The fastest trooper in the force. A answer. As a vehicle, his engine super-speed information gatherer, block converts to a powerful zooms ahead of the battle to bring weapon. As a robot, uses it to back an ultra-accurate report on defend with Super-Autobot courage! the terrors to come. As a vehicle, he's long and lean with a dual 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 purpose engine/defense module. As a STR XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX robot, this firepower becomes INT XXXXXXXXXX unbeatable in his hands. SPD XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX END XXXXXXXXXXXXXX 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 RNK XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX STR XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX CRG XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX INT XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX FRP XXXXXXXXXXXX SPD XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX SKL XXXXXXXXXXXX END XXXXXXXXXXXXXX RNK XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX CRG XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX FRP XXXXXXXXXXXXXX SKL XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX "Stranded" is copyright 1997 by Christopher E. Meadows. Permission granted for free electronic distribution via Usenet and associated archival, as long as no fee is charged and this notice remains intact. For further permissions, such as inclusion in "Con-Quest" or on an archival webpage, please contact the author, he would likely be more than happy to oblige. :) The Transformers, Rapido, Windbreaker, Turbofire, and Skram are registered trademarks of Hasbro and Takara, and Nightracer is a trademark of Raksha and Plumed Serpent Productions. Their unauthorized use here is not for profit, and not meant to infringe upon those trademarks. This is _not_ an official Hasbro-endorsed story, please don't think I'm trying to pass it off as one. (There, that should make the Hasbro lawyers happy. :) Robotech, the Invid, Prince Corg, Scott Bernard, Rand, Rook, Lancer, Lunk, Annie LaBelle, Marlene, and other associated characters and mecha are trademarks of Harmony Gold, Inc. Their unauthorized use here is not for profit, and not meant to infringe upon those trademarks. This is _not_ an official Harmony Gold-endorsed story, please don't think I'm trying to pass it off as one. (And that should make the Harmony Gold lawyers happy too! :)