RENEGADES REACTIVATE, CHAPTER 1 BREAK OUT

[Jazz Man Crothers]

RENEGADES REACTIVATE, CHAPTER ONE: BREAK OUT


Across the surface of one of Cybertron's two moons, the ground was covered in frost and large patches of ice. Being the furthest moon from the planet it orbited and currently on the opposite side that faces its sun, at this time in its stella cycle, the temperature on the moon dropped far below zero.

It was a phenomenon the other moon didn't experience. Its sister satellite, the larger of the two, remained at a temperature similar to that Cybertron experienced most of the time. And it was the moon most Cybertronians would as a place to find time and relax. Many locations served as a place where regular Cybertronians and even intergalactic visitors could come to visit as a sort of vacation. The larger moon had much entertainment to offer. Gambling in the cybersinos and betting on racing. Clubs with music and dancing, local oil houses for drinking that offered intergalactic choices for off-workers. Hunting turbo foxes imported from Cybertron, virtual reality escapes where you could assume a made-up identity and be the hero in a prefabricated fantasy. But that was years ago.

Now the moon was more like abandon derelicts, left in ruin and falling victim to rust. Those that used to visit were long gone, never to return since the space around Cybertron was considered dangerous to anyone who got too close. Ever since the war broke out, the entire galaxy stayed cleared of the Cybertronians and their conflict. The war machines were too dangerous to come into contact with.

However, in contrast, the smaller, colder moon still housed a small population despite its harsh conditions. Set up in key positions around the second moon, detention centres were the only existing structures.

Eons ago, before the war, the smaller moon had been used as the testing ground for many experiments too dangerous to perform on the planet, everything from testing new fuels, to test flights of new spacecraft before being allowed to venture into space. And of course, here they tested weapons capable of great destruction. The moon had been abused and left ugly. So when a place to keep the worse of Cybertron's prisoners locked up was needed, it was the obvious choice.

Criminals by the hundreds were shipped to the moon. Murders, thieves, pirates Decepticons and former Autobots who have broken the Autobot code were brought to the prisoner moon, as many called it. Bounty Hunters would often visit, and bring in valuable marks for the reward. And the fate for each inmate was the same; infinite stasis lock.

Every prisoner was placed in a stasis chamber and their systems went into shutdown. Energon was regulated through their bodies to preserve their sparks as killing them outright was deemed too cold and callous.

Each detention centre has its team of guards and operators who monitored the ground and made sure every stasis chamber was in functioning order. These teams were small since the prisoners were deactivated, causing no trouble for anyone. The guards had access to an armoury that they maintained through never needing it. Some armouries even had the original weapons that came in with the criminals. The illegal upgrades the inmates had made to their firearms were enough to have landed them in prison for years.

The largest of the detention centres on the second moon was known to hold the deadliest of criminals. Fort Highram, named after the first prisoner to have been brought there, was the leader of a religious cyber-cult said to worship a God-like eternity, powerful enough to rival the might of the God of Light, Primus, and the legendary God of Chaos, Unicron, combined. While it was concluded Highram was insane, the amount of death on her hands earned her a permanent resting place in the detention centre named after her.

Being the largest of the detention centres, Fort Highram had the most staff. However, that changed a few months ago.

When the Legion appeared on Earth, every Autobot in service was called on to help in the battle. But even with reinforcements from Cybertron and its moons, it wasn't enough to stop the invaders. The staff and the fort's administration who kept a watchful eye on the prisoners never returned. Leaving the moon with a population of imprisoned criminals.

The fort's stasis chambers were watched by the fort's computers, monitoring each prisoner's internal systems, cerebro-cortex and spark levels. Everything was kept in perfect order and prisoners weren’t able to escape. To conserve energy, Fort Highram ran on auxiliary power. The hallways and holding area were in total darkness.

In the main security hub, a single terminal turned on and its screen came to life. The computer began to reboot the fort's systems, slowly routing power through the mainframe and activating the generators.

On the terminal's screen, a series of commands appeared, each one demanded a password which was inputted almost as soon. Codes were revealed and files were unlocked.

A file containing the manifest of all the inmates was found and soon the command to free every prisoner was entered.


FORT HIGHRAM MANIFEST
PRISONER LOCKDOWN OVERRIDE CODE: 18173729818119
CHAMBER 16272 UNLOCKED............................PRISONER: CRAMSHAFT
CHAMBER 23431 UNLOCKED............................PRISONER: SKYSTALKER
CHAMBER 72671 UNLOCKED............................PRISONER: SHARPSHOT
CHAMBER 18373 UNLOCKED............................PRISONER: BANSHEE
CHAMBER 37822 UNLOCKED............................PRISONER: HOIST
CHAMBER 28645 UNLOCKED............................PRISONER: ROADTRAIN
CHAMBER 28745 UNLOCKED............................PRISONER: AIR FANG
CHAMBER 47266 UNLOCKED............................PRISONER: ONIX
CHAMBER 77782 UNLOCKED............................PRISONER: MAVERICK
CHAMBER 28644 UNLOCKED............................PRISONER: JAZZMATIC
CHAMBER 46677 UNLOCKED............................PRISONER: INDELIBLE
CHAMBER 99827 UNLOCKED............................PRISONER: BUCKSHOT
CHAMBER 28232 UNLOCKED............................PRISONER: BOMBBLAST
CHAMBER 23433 UNLOCKED............................PRISONER: RAINSTORM
CHAMBER 44433 UNLOCKED............................PRISONER: LUST
CHAMBER 35789 UNLOCKED............................PRISONER: LATYRX7
CHAMBER 43323 UNLOCKED............................PRISONER: FIREBLAST
CHAMBER 46786 UNLOCKED............................PRISONER: BLOT
CHAMBER 13988 UNLOCKED............................PRISONER: XBOT


Within every holding area, stasis chambers began to power up the occupaints inside. Chamber doors, that were never suppose to open again, broke their seals, allowing fresh air to seep inside.

With a unified hum, each chamber door opened.

Every occupant inside the stasis chambers appeared to be inoperative. But slowly they began to stirr. Optics grew bright, hands rose up, legs pushed up the of the body until they sat up. Everyone looked about, confused, not sure what they were seeing. Not realizing where they were.

And then, one by one, they remembered. Each and every inmate looked at each other, looking for comrades and wondering who they could trust or who would start trouble.

[Hoist]

Light, artificial light.

That was the first thing Hoist saw has his optics slowly came online transitioning from a deep dark nothingness to a vibrant blue. Although Energon was running through his body and certainly keeping him alive, vital circuits and sub-systems were also slowly now coming back online also. He was in a pod, some sort of stasis pod, hooked up to machinery and by the looks of it not alone, although not quite ready to turn his head head. Stead he tried rasing an arm to look at the various wires and could see the rest of his form, still disguised in his black armor from his last venture where upon he was captured, but why was he awake now, why now? Why was he still alive?

Whatever the reason the memories of being captured and being sent to this particular moon for sentancing and imprisonment, imprisonment - more like incarceration. So he played arounnd a little with the timelines, him and the wreckers; using banned imbargoed technology - who didn't. He didn't suppose it mattered now, now doubt most of his Wrecker comrades would be dead by now. Here he was though, imprisoned and reactivated next to Primus knows who, the comon thuggery and villanry of Cybertron, thieves, muggers, killers - it was all the same.

In the next pod a long a white space -looking mech was also awkening. As his optics came online and no doubt he was feeling the same feelings of suddenly being re-awakened, he wish he wasn't. Indelible was tried and sentenced for the murder of his leader that he didn't actually commit but was as good as guilty in most mechs optics, let alone his own cerebal cortex. As he felt his systems come online Indelible instictivley raised his arms up and tried to push his pod open, all the while looking from one side to the other at his fellow inmates.

[Bomblast]

Roadtrain's optics flickered as he began to awake. His memory was patchy. The only thing he could remember clearly was being put into his stasis pod. The pod began to open, but for the moment, Roadtrain was content to just lay there. While his memories were still rebooting, he felt at peace. That was, until he heard the hideous, high-pitched scream....

Bomblast's systems rebooted and he awoke as his pod was still opening. Letting out a high-pitched scream, he bolted from his pod, heavily damaging it in the process.

"Oh Primus! I just had the most horrible nightmare! The entire universe was at peace. And everyone was hugging and...and...holding hands! Oh it was terrible! Terrible I say!"

He looked around and noticed a number of other mechs now staring at him.

"What? The doesn't sound completely horrifying to you lot?"

Roadtrain snarled as he glared at Bomblast.

"Oh for Spark's sake. They kept him alive instead of terminating him?" He muttered to no-one in particular.

[Hoist]

"That's the least of my concerns right now", muttered to Roadtrain in response. "Hey who's in charge here?!" growled the bot as he attempted to climb out his stasis pod. "You think there's any staff or it's all automated these days?" he asked not really caring which if either of the other mechs replied.

With both feet planted on the ground, everything seemed calm and regulated, quiet, a bit too quiet for his liking. Besides him he noticed Indelible.. "I know you!, .. Even with what I did, i never killed my own leader.."

"I never killed him.."

"What?!"

"I said, I nevernever killed him!!"

"Sure, I'm sure they just gave you time out to think about your life decisions!!"

"I don't need to explain myself, least of all to you!!" Indelible was fully sat up now and so far was thinking that he wasn't liking the comany around him.

[Bomblast]

Bomblast was poking and prodding his now broken stasis pod when the conversation in the room peaked his interest. Without looking up from his his pod as he inspected it, he answered.


"I killed my leader once. Back when I was a 'Con. Whole squad actually. They deserved it. Kept making fun of me. Pushing, and pushing. I remember the laughter. And then the screams. Then it went quiet. So quiet....So quiet..."

Bomblast stood motionless for a moment, staring blankly ahead. He then shrugged and continued poking around his pod.

Roadtrain stared in disbelief at Bomblast before hauling himself out of his pod. He looked over at Hoist and Indelible and nodded towards Bomblast.

"Seriously, if nobody has any objections, I'll do it right now. Only good 'Cons a dead 'Con."

"I whole-heartedly agree my friend!"

[Jazz Man Crothers]

Holding his head as he slowly rose from his stasis pod, one inmate groaned as he sat up. "It's one thing to have a hangover, its another to forget the party that gave it to you."

As the robot complained, he rolled to one side of the pod and slipped. Falling hard onto the floor, he raised himself slowly and looked around. "This is no party I remember."

Latyrx7, the second in command of a group of misfits calling themselves the Renegades, stood up and looked around at all who surrounded him. Then the memory of it all came back. Locked up forever for doing the job the Autobots were too scared to do. Or that's at least what he told people. It was a lot better than making the mistake of killing a double agent working for the Autobots. L7 was sure that the former Decepticons supplying information to the Autobots would soon betray them, so in his mind, he was doing them a favour. So what if he technically murdered a Decepticon. He had it coming. And Latyrx7 felt he had it coming too with all the glares he was getting from the other inmates.

And that feeling didn't get any better when he heard his name yelled from across the area. "Latyrx7!"

Stomping through the crowd, pushing any in his path out of the way, came a large, green and angry-looking robot who was hell bent on finding Latyrx7. He then spotted the smaller robot and any inmates who separated the two quickly moved out of the way. Latyrx7 looked up at the mad bot, who had steam rising from their head and an expression that could freeze a squad in their tracks.

"Why you dirty, double-crossing swindler! You got a lot of nerve showing up here, after what you did."

"What can I say? The brochure for this place said I get to kick back and relax. I couldn't refuse. Especially after they put me in cuffs."

The larger robot then grabbed Latyrx7, hoisted him off his feet and hugged him. "Haha! I knew I hadn't seen the last of you! You ok? You don't look so good."

Latyrx7 was put back down after the somewhat harsh hug. "I'm ok, Buckshot. I have no idea how long I've been out but whatever. Let's figure out a way out of here. Anyone else from the crew about?"

"I haven't seen anyone. But you know what the boss used to say? You can always find a Renegade even in the best of them. Or was that the worst?"

Latyrx7 looked around. "Let's have a look around. Keep your distance though, Buckshot, but don't look like you're trying to keep your distance. Walk casual."

The two then went off, looking for old comrades and new recruits and most importantly, a way out.

[Jazz Man Crothers]

Echoing from another holding area, the sound of shouting was heard. Next came the clanking of metal on metal as the sound of a fight broke out but suddenly ended as fast as it started. The shouting continued and grew louder, followed by marching. It sounded like a platoon of troops was headed into the holding area. A group of inmates burst into the area, lead by one of the largest and most powerful of prisoners.

"Come correct or don't come at all! All right, listen up you greasy scraps of rusted carcasses! I'm in charge unless someone has a problem with that. All of you have just been recruited by me, Heavy Assault! Unless I don't like you. If you're weak, you're out. If you're disloyal, I'll kill ya. If you come after my position, I'll kill ya. In fact, you are all going to have to try very hard to when serving me if you want to stay alive. Now, where are my renegades?"

[Bomblast]

After hearing Heavy Assault's speech, Bomblast raised his hand.

"Question. If we join up with you, do we get to do any killing? Or do we spend all our time avoiding being killed by you? Asking for a friend."

Roadtrain shook his head. Part of him hoped that Heavy Assault would take Bomblast out right there and then. He weighed his options and figured that teaming up would be his best option for escape.

"If you can get me my gun and my trailer, I'm in. Been gathering dust in this place for too long."

[Hoist]

Indelible, who had now fully emerged from his stasis pod, wandered behind some of the others remaining inconspicuous, the other mech, Hoist however, less so.

"Hang on! Not quite so fast", muttered the bot. "We should follow this hunk of junks just because HE says he's in command?! I don't think so. For what? What exactly are your planning on having us do?". He felt it was a fair question, and if noone as wasn't going to just question it then he would at least.

"Friend, I would just listen to this Heavy Assault guy..."

"I'm not your friend...", Hoist snapped back instantly not even looking round. "Answer the question, why should we fight for you?"

[Bomblast]

Roadtrain stood near Hoist, a faint smile crossing his face for a moment.

"I don't trust this bot as far as I can throw him." He said quietly. "But there's a lot of 'Cons locked up here with us, and I've got a bit of a reputation. I'd feel a lot safer with my gun, and right now I see two options. Go with this guy, or go through him. And I do not fancy my chances going up against him unarmed."

Bomblast, having heard Hoist, piped up once more.

"He's a big, purple tank-bot. You can always trust a big, purple tank-bot!"

Bomblast then let out a loud gasp.

"Big, purple tank-bot?! We're twinsies!"

[Jazz Man Crothers]

Heavy Assault looked at Bomblast with an inquisitive gaze, then looked at the inmates to his left and right. They all laughed at Bomblast's comment. "You! You I like. You look like a bot that can fight. And if you're as funny as you are under fire then maybe I can use you. But this green one, let's have a closer look shall we?"

Heavy Assault stepped forward and all his troops followed him. Some of his Renegades ran ahead of him to push others out of the way, clearing a path that lead all the way up to Hoist and Roadtrain, while some of the other Renegades patted Bomblast on the back, welcoming him to the Renegades.

Heavy Assault, stomping his way up to Hoist, looked like a robot on his way to a fight. His crew yelled and shouted, demanding a fight and some even taking bets on who would win. Then as Heavy Assault took his last step and stood over Hoist, he was impressed that the robot didn't move.

All became quiet, as everyone watched and wondered what would happen. Heavy Assault had a violent reputation and many claimed he would have made a fearsome Decepticon warlord if it wasn't for his own personal and political views.

"So, what should you follow me? Why should you fight for me?" Shouted Heavy Assault to get everyone's attention. The inmates cheered him on, hoping to see a clash and to use it as an excuse to start a fight themselves.

Walking towards the commotion, Latyrx7 and Buckshot could hear the noise and realized who it was. "Is that who I think it is?" Asked Buckshot.

"Of course it's who you think it is. Is it any real surprise that the boss is in here?" Latyrx7 always figured most of the Renegades would wide up here, even someone as powerful as Heavy Assault. What he didn't figure was ever seeing him again and he wasn't sure how he felt about it. Sure they had their differences, and sure they tried to kill each other from time to time, but right now Latyrx7 wasn't sure what Heavy Assault would do if he saw him. But he had to chance it if he wanted to get out of here. "Come on, I guess we're Renegades again."

"Ha! You say it like it's a bad thing!" Joked Buckshot, though he understood what Latyrx7 meant. Buckshot loved being a Renegade and in Heavy Assault's crew. It meant he could do what he wanted and had to answer to nobody. Of course, Buckshot had to watch his back since most of the Renegades he fought alongside were incredibly untrustworthy. Except for a rare few, like Latyrx7. Buckshot would follow him if he left the Renegades, or if he took over. "Let's get down there and see what's up. Maybe the boss needs backup, or we can at least watch a fight." The two robots ran toward the crowd surrounding Hoist and Heavy Assault.

Heavy Assault, standing tall in front of Hoist, finally decided to answer the question. "The answer is simple when you fight for me you fight for your freedom. For too long we have been caught up in this war between Autobots and Decepticons. Trapped in the middle, while both sides tell us what to do. How to live and who to kill. I say, if they come to us and tell us who we should fight, then we fight them! Who are they to control us and tell us what to do? We are not programmed to serve, we are all hardwired with free will. And what's the point of free will if we can't use it? Are we redundant? Are we mindless drones, who must obey every command given to us by a power that uses us for their own gains? No, we are not. So I say kill your masters! Take your freedom! Build a new world for yourselves!"

The inmates went wild at Heavy Assualt's comments, some even chanted his name and swore loyality to his cause. Latyrx7 and Buckshot started pushing through the crowd."Move it, lowlifes! Official Renegades here. You know, L7. Heavy Assualt's speech sounds a lot like the one that made me join up."

"That's how he gets you. Hook, line and sinker!"

Heavy Assault raised his hands for silence. "Of course, if I'm telling you that you should answer to no one, then why should you answer to me? If you don't want to then don't. I don't care. Go on and live your life as a slave for the newest Decepticon warlord of the latest Prime. But if you join me, then you are one step closer to gaining a life without having to serve those who would send you to your death. I simply surround myself with warriors who aren't afraid to get their hands dirty to get what they deserve. And don't lie to me that you don't want to get out of here! Each and every one of us wants freedom. And tonight we will fight for it because look. Look at how many of us there are. I see former Autobots, former Decepticons, murderers, thieves, mercenaries, assassins, scientists and criminals of all kinds. With all of us united, who can stop us? No one! No one! No one!"

The crowd had grown bigger since Heavy Assault's speech began and the shouts grew louder, praising him. Heavy Assault, with his arms raised, bathed in the glory and confidence that his words had secured him a new army of followers.

[reddtherage]

   Air-Fang took the time to slowly decloak in the back of crowd, trying to not to draw attention doing so. Truth be told he was a little out of his element with the whole crowd cheering and it made him feel uncomfortable. Years surviving in building wrecks by himself on Cybertrion had made him paranoid and vigilant. Top that off with the fact that the first team he joined, the Renegades resulted in him being thrown in Stasis Jail, on one of Cybertrion moons as his first “official” job with them had resulted in him regretting his choice so far.



   Slowly pushing through the crowd until he stood some were near Bombblast and Hoist, he attempted to see if his voice box worked “Believe it or not before the war, I delivered mail here” he mumbled “Or at least at the beginning of the war. I think, feels like dream that's old remembering the past before the war. details are a little fuzzy. ” he voices like low gravel with a little bit of static.



While waiting for a response, Air fang would go through a system check, checking to see if his weapons are there or at least if he can deploy them. Since he was not a good hand to hand combat, and he was expecting to fight close quarters inside this prison. he lifted his right arm and attempted to deploy his Scatter blaster, making sure the weapon was pointed away from any one bot, or renegade...... forgetting entirely that his weapons were sized when he was arrested and put in stasis embarrassed, he mumbled out a quick " my scatter blaster IS my Melee weapon. Feel naked with out it" halfhearted apology awkwardly staring at his arm when nothing deploys aware of how awkward he looked. 


That spark of thought made him pause as he raised his voice enough to be heard. “Question how are we going to go into battle with out weapons? not every one is built like a Battering ram."
he attempted to joke, with his damaged voice but he felt a little Off. There was something wrong with his voice. he usually sounded a little spooky when speaking but right now he sounded like a human old man who smoked way too much in their life he half expected some form of tobacco smoke to come out of his mouth every time he spoke. His aftermarket voice box he got during his past must be acting up and if that was acting up then who knows what other black-market customizations he got installed was acting up as well.



(welp late start for me)

[Hoist]

Hoist had been satisfied enough with his answer, fighting for their freedom, however it still made his circuits sizzle, even nauseous The way some of these bots followed so easily. If Heavy Assault told some of them to go jump out of an air lock right now, he was pretty sure some of them would as well, No he would bide his time. Get his weapons back eventually, somehow and once hie had earned his freedom; would split from these misfits and no hopers. He wasn't here to make friends or seek glory Roadtrain he could probably tolerate, Bomblast on the other hand... he just had to find the quickest way out eventually , maybe even leaving Cybertron for good...

He became lost in his own thoughts as some of the bots still revelled in good cheer.

Indelible on the other hand had remained at the back inconspicuous as he watched as Air-Fang had pushed his way to the front, the bot had raised a good question.

"So when DO we get our weapons back?", Indelible finally spoke as he raised the question to heavy Assault, "Or are we just going to walk out with our sparks in our hands?.. Don't get me wrong I'm not war hungry, I'm just thinking of the next logical step.."

[Bomblast]

Roadtrain had to admit to himself, this Heavy Assault mech certainly had a way with words. Were he weaker willed, he'd have probably joined in with all the cheering and hollering going on. He certainly had no love for the Decepticons, given his past, and wasn't too keen on the Autobots for the same reason. Hearing Air-Fang and Indelible speak up made him think.

"Could be quite a stampede, all of us heading to the weapon's lock-up. Could get pretty nasty, everyone trying to get their weapons back, or trying to stop someone else getting theirs. That also raises the question, what if we're not the only ones with the same idea? And what if we're not the first ones to get there? I can see this getting really messy, really fast." He said, to nobody in particular.

Bomblast, meanwhile, was thoroughly enjoying his moment of popularity. It had been a long, long time since he had been treated as anything but a freak. He had completely bought in to Heavy Assault's speech and joined in with the cheering. After all, he'd said it himself, you can always trust a big, purple tank-bot.

[Jazz Man Crothers]

Latyrx7 and Buckshot finally made their way through the crowd and reached Heavy Assault. The Renegade leader looked down at the two mechs, placing a hand on Latyrx7's shoulder. "Finally, my ever so faithful second in command is here. This is Latyrx7, if you can't pronounce his name, call him L7."

Everyone laughed at Heavy Assault's joke, though Latyrx7 never found it funny and wondered why anyone would laugh at it. Maybe they were all afraid of Heavy Assault and were too scared not to laugh? As the laughter continued, Heavy Assault bent down to speak with Latyrx7. "Now listen and you listen good. I don't remember if me and you were on good terms the last time we saw each other, its been too long. You are going to get back into my good graces by taking a few of these new recruits and finding the armoury. I'm going to collect some more fodder for the canon and find our actual crew. And if you get any funny ideas and try shooting me in the back just remember. I'm hard to kill. Really, really hard to kill!"

Latyrx7 sighed. "Yeah, I know you're hard to kill, been trying for years. But I'm hard to kill too and I'm worth more to you functional than dead. I kept your Renegades going while you were locked up or offline or when you were so shot up you couldn't remember your name! So you're getting your weapons only because I want my weapons. So don't push me or I'm taking off and who ever wants to come can join me."

Heavy Assault began to laugh again. "That's the spirit, spoken like a true Renegade! Now, go! Find the armoury!"

Buckshot took his cue and decided to choose the mechs who would help him and Latyrx7 find some weapons. "Ok, lets see. You, you and you. No, not you. You look like a pile of scrap. You and you. And the weird purple tank guy, yeah you come on."

Buckshot had invited Hoist, Indelible, Roadtrain, Bomblast and Airfang to help find the armoury. Latyrx7 joined them and the group began to make their way down a random tunnel. "Ok everyone, follow us. My name is Latyrx7 incase you didn't hear him class act explain that and the over-sized bulldozer next to me is Buckshot."

"Yeah, Buckshot. Welcome to the Renegades you rust buckets. Hope you live long enough! Hahahah!"