Article 21319 of alt.toys.transformers: Path: usenet.ins.cwru.edu!ns.mcs.kent.edu!news.ysu.edu!news.ecn.uoknor.edu!paladin.american.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!news.sprintlink.net!parsifal.nando.net!parsifal.nando.net!msipher From: msipher Newsgroups: alt.toys.transformers Subject: FANFIC : Nightracer's Nightmare Part 1 Date: Sat, 9 Sep 1995 02:30:39 -0400 Organization: News & Observer Public Access Lines: 249 Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: parsifal.nando.net Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII NIGHTRACER'S NIGHTMARE A preview of "Transformers : The Phoenix War" by M Sipher I'm sure this has happened to a lot of fanfic writers... you finally get your shit together and sit down to write, but the Beginning (normally a good place to start) simply ain't *happening* for you... So I'll take a cue from Kevin McDonald (The Kids in the Hall) and start at the Middle... with a short middle piece featuring Nightracer, who as you all know is BotCon '95's Exclusive Transformer... whom I've already devalued by replacing the Decep insignia that came with her with a spare sticker I had... (Oh dear. What's she worth anyway... any clues? Action Figure News & Toy Review has gotten pretty slack on its TF coverage...) At any rate, "The Phoenix War" runs on the American comic continuity. Actually, it runs about twenty-five years *after* the American comic continuity. This Middle is here to A) Get me in the mood to actually finish the rest of this series, and B) to preview the plot and my writing style (vaguely serious with enough smartass and downright silly stuff to keep the tone from getting grim.) One more round of legal crap... Transformers and all that are property of Hasbro/Kenner/Whatever... The character of "Nightracer" was created by Raksha... any characters you don't recognize are probably my creations, and are considered under the "Fair Use" rule... i.e., I can't stop you from doing whatever you want with them, but please don't be a jerk about using them! Let me know what you think.... Enjoy! -- Transformers: The Phoenix War Part (?) "Nightracer's Nightmare" or "Don't Let The Bastards Wear You Down" Thrust and Skywarp watched as Skystalker brought his shuttle in for final approach. As it descended, Thrust let out a series of vocal epithets, thankful that they would go unheard in the airless vacuum that surrounded the oversized asteroid called Decepticon Headquarters. After all, he and several others, Skywarp and Skystalker included, had travelled across half the galaxy to join the New Decepticon Empire... Left a chump job guarding some nowhere fuel depot owned by a now-deceased Cybertronian Governor... Only to earn a chump job guarding the spaceship landing pads. At least Skystalker got to go outside the asteroid field on cargo runs.... And now, as if to add insult to injury, those dueling egos who lead the Decepticons, Windrazor and DeathSaurus, started shipping in a bunch of new recruits who Thrust had never heard of. "So who's this clown they got on this shuttle?" Thrust mumbled over low-range Decepticon broadcast frequency. "Huhn? Oh... uh... oh yeah. You'll love this one, Thrust... some sharpshooter. And get this... a *female*." A smile crossed Thrust's face. "You are *kidding*. Oh, man. I thought that all the females went Autobot...." "Nope. And from what I hear around base... 'Razor's givin' her a top position... prob'ly even send her out on one of those weird missions he's sending half the force out on." "Un-be-friggin'-lievable... wanna join me in givin' her hell?" "You bet your afterburner." Skystalker's shuttle finally settled on the landing pad. The side hatch slid open, revealing the passenger. "Oh, is this gonna be fun..." The Transformer inside was hardly half Thrust's height, and didn't look particularly strong. Jet black with deep blue trim, looked like she had an Earthen car alternate configuration. And she looked like she'd rather be anyplace but there. "I was only plannin' on some verbal abuse... but you know, I think we could get in some of the physical type as well!" The Decepticon strode up to the two jets without even acknowledging Skystalker, who gave her a rude gesture behind her back. She stopped right in front of them, and looked at them both with bored expectancy. "So which one of you peons is going to take me to the head of this Boy Scout troop?" An opening insult died halfway to Thrust's vocal unit. How *dare* this little... why that... who does she think... "Hey, Conehead! You in there? Or do I have to find someone who's intelligence ranks higher than a toaster? Go tell somebody who actually works in this army that Nightracer is here, and I've got a meeting with DeathSaurus and Windrazor, and do it now!" "Why you... urgh... urmmm... grahhhh... OOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHH!" The little Decepticon dodged Thrust's uppercut and countered with a swift fist in his side. It did little more than dent his armor, but the fact that she counterattacked in the first place surprised him to the point that he let down his guard entirely. Skywarp threw a punch at the back of her head, but she bent over backwards and dodged the blow. The punch went straight into Thrust's midsection, doubling him over. "Oh, crap, Thrust! I'm sorreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!" Nightracer leapt up and delivered a swift kick to Skywarp's chest. Again, the physical damage was minimal, but it put the already off-balance Decepticon on his backside. Thrust pulled himself to his knees and aimed his laser rifle at Nightracer's back. "You lousy little..." A bolt shot through the air, catching Thrust right in his arm. He recoiled in pain, and turned to see who shot him. LeoZack stood in the doorway, his blaster in hand, and looking downright angry. "What the hell do you two think you're *doing*?! Your job is to keep watch for Autobot activity, not harass our guests!" *Go interface with a smelting pool,* Thrust thought darkly. This entire army was filled with Decepticons acting real big and brave when not actually engaged in combat.... "Can't you keep your watchdogs on a leash?" Nightracer growled as she dusted off her armor. "If you can't keep your pets under control, how can you expect to run the galaxy?" She completely ignored the dirty looks from the two jets. LeoZack's gun shifted in midair and returned to its housing in his chest. "This is the very reason we're importing such exquisite talent such as your-" "Can the exhaust, where's Windrazor?" The interruption took LeoZack aback some. "He's uh, ... Follow me." He was beginning to sympathize with Skywarp and Thrust.... **** "Nightracer has arrived, Sirs." LeoZack's voice announced over the room pager. Windrazor was studying a datapad with Nightracer's credentials, DeathSaurus simply sat and carefully inspected his spiked flail/rifle. "Enter." they replied together, and both glared at each other for speaking. The door slid open and Nightracer strode in. "Wait outside, LeoZack," Windrazor said without looking up from the list, or looking back at DeathSaurus. He knew that giving orders to one of the BreastForcers was a sure-fire way to annoy DeathSaurus... of course, he would doubtlessly find some way of getting under Windrazor's plating.... "You wanted me?" Windrazor put down the datapad. "Your record is exemplary, Nightracer. Very few have the success ratio you've got. So we-" "So you what? Get to the verb." DeathSaurus chuckled and sat up. "I like you. To the point." *That and you shut Windrazor up.* he thought. "The point is that we're sending you on a *very* important mission." "Which is?" "*Which is*," Windrazor almost snarled, "You will be leading a small team to planet Sabbia, in Section Epsilon... " "Wait a minute. A team?" "... Four. You will be escorting a scientist there to search..." "Escorting?!" "...for a rumored ruin from an ancient civilization..." "Way, whoa, WAITAMINUTE!" she snarled, waving her arms to get Windrazor off his speech. "A team? Escorting? I work alone, and I don't go for some shmuck jobs like baby-sitting some data pusher on some dig in a sandbox!" Windrazor simply leaned on his desk. "Are you done?" DeathSaurus stood up, towering over the two. "To the point... You do as we say. We own you now, so if we say take a team to escort a scientist, you take a team to escort a scientist!!!!!" "I see we're in agreement here... while DeathSaurus certainly makes a... *forceful* point, let me give you some logical reasons... "One. By organizing our troops into numerous squads, individual strengths can negate individual weaknesses... you aren't perfect, and there are those who can cover you in areas in which you lack ability or experience. "Two. This is not simply some 'dig in a sandbox', as you put it. While you are not yet cleared to know the exact nature of this mission, I will tell you that you must defend this scientist *at all costs*. What we are searching for is of the utmost value to our cause. Perhaps we wouldn't have required your services for this particular mission... but somehow the Autobots have discovered the nature of our missions, and are after the same prize. We must not let them beat us to the objective. "Third. If you really don't like this mission, I'm sure we can find something else for you... DeathSaurus, is that position in the recreation hangar still open?" "The "lunchlady" position? Yeah... it's still open. Needs to be filled soon... the troops hate self-service." Nightracer threw up her arms. "Okay, allright! I'll take the first offer!" She sighed and shook her head. "Where do I pick up my squad?" "Hangar Six. LeoZack will show you the way... Dismissed." **** Nightracer stood in the doorway of the ready room, silently studying her three squad members. She had been hoping that her squad would be a highly-trained group of professionals. Or at least some fresh recruits with immense potential, just out of boot camp. Either Windrazor and DeathSaurus were testing her, or they simply enjoyed jerking their subordinates around more than annoying each other. The three were of the same general body make as Nightracer... Earthen automobile alternate mode, lighter and shorter build than the standard Transformer. But the similarities pretty much ended there. Nightracer glanced at the datacard, to check the names. Skidmark... she looked up to see him sitting in the very back of the room, feet propped up on the next row of chairs. For some reason, he was inspecting his fingertips, and looking beyond bored, and mildly annoyed simply be the fact that he was there. Nightracer checked the card again... he was "recruited" after he was caught defacing one of the Decepticon's fuel depots on Cybertron. Had a record of being generally uncooperative and antisocial to extremes. *Oh, goody,* she shook her head. *A slacker punk.* Next recruit... she looked up... *BY PRIMUS, WHAT THE HELL IS THAT HIDEOUS THING?!* The hideous thing in question sent Nightracer's optics into a fit. After a few seconds of readjusting, she looked again... who came up with that color scheme?! The Decepticon in question had an awful day-glo yellow outer casing... some weird-ass lavender and blue scheme with that same neon pastel... she checked the datacard. The visual I.D. section listed his color scheme as Day-Glow Green with Hot Pink accents... obviously outdated, but still hideous. She checked the name again : "Eyesore". *Of course.* Eyesore was talking to the third member of her crew. Actually, talking *at* was a better description. The other Decepticon... Sidewinder, the card said... obviously wanted nothing more than to stuff his fist down Eyesore's throat and rip out his vocal unit, but somehow managed to restrain himself. A real mean feat, considering Eyesore's voice could peel chrome.... She checked Sidewinder's credentials list. Actually, this guy looked promising... expert saboteur, blew up an Autobot ammunition dump... not bad. So there was some promise here after all! It might be best to actually talk to this character and see if he'll be useful.... "Sidewinder?" The 'Con looked up quickly, eager for an escape route. He quickly stood and slid over, an oily smile on his face. "'Ey, Miss. Glad ta -" "Nightracer!!!" Eyesore leapt right in her face. "What an extreme pleasure to be your assistant, I mean, Nightracer and Eyesore, smashing Autobots across the galaxy, conquering world after world in a reign of terror, as the entire Universe cringes in terror at our might, which nobody can face because - " Nightracer finally grabbed him by the face and threw him against the far wall. "Dork," Sidewinder sneered. "'Tany rate, pleased ta meetcha." "So, you're a saboteur..." "Yep. And damned if I ain't the best there is!" *A braggart. Why me?* "So after I demolished the-" "Yeah, whatever. Allright, listen up! Skidmark! Pick up Eyesore!" Time to shift into ice-cold mode... her personal favorite. "In five breems we are to board a shuttle headed for planet Sabbia in Section Epsilon Four! We will be guarding an important scientist, and you must defend him at all costs, even if that cost is your life!!!" None of the three looked too thrilled upon hearing that. *I hate it too,* Nightracer thought darkly, *But there's no reason to let you shmucks know that.* "Allright, get your acts together and move out!!!" (Continued next post...) M Sipher "I know it's what is called 'evolution' 'Cos I've heard that 'loneliness and being alone don't always mean the same" -Jun Karihura of The Nelories, "Nuetral Blue"