Precious Things

by Phantom

Chapter Nine

Alita groaned inwardly when she caught sight of the burly-looking guard stationed outside of the engine room. Guards were never known for their intelligence, and maybe this one could be led on as easily as Sport. "Hi there," she cooed, sidling up to him. "Gosh, you're cute!"

"Ya think so?" the thug asked.

"Suuuure!" Alita gushed, mentally sneering at him. "But my friend thinks you're even cuter!"

"Wow, really? Where is she?"

"She's waiting for you in the Hub. She was too shy to come with me, so she's waiting for you there. Better hurry, though, before she changes her mind."

"Okay!" the guard said eagerly. 'Not the brightest bulb on the tree, is he?' she snickered to herself.

The guard's grin faded when he recalled his duties. "Aw no, I can't leave my post! Cyclonus would have my head!"

'Just great!' Alita groaned. Still, she never let setbacks get in her way. "Oh, thaaat's no problem! I'll guard the place for you!"

"Woud'ya? Thanks!" The guard lumbered off, whistling tunelessly, as Alita snickered at his back. Her mind returned to the task at hand, and she pondered the locking mechanism on the engine room door. Unlike the locks on Decepticon establishments on Cybertron, this one was state-of-the-art and would require hours of effort, time that she obviously didn't have. A tiny screwdriver emerged from her pinky and began to remove the screws around the keypad. A small charge of electricity zapped her hand, and she cried out, more in surprise than in pain. She punched the controls in anger, and the door slid open obligingly. Alita stood gaping at it for a moment, marveling at the connection between her fist and the door, then dashed in as the doors started to close.

She stopped short, floored by the wide expanse of high-tech equipment. Fortunately for her there were no technicians in sight. She could hear the steady thrum of the plasma generators as they powered the mighty engines. The ship was moving slowly at the moment, but it was undoubtedly headed towards Cybertron, as a glance at the charted course confirmed. A dreadful sort of awe filled her as she studied the machines in front of her, registering all kinds of data. This battleship was an incredible creation. But its beauty was cold and brutal, and if she didn't stop it now perhaps it never would be stopped.

She hunted around the numerous consoles for the one that controlled the plasma flow, finally picking it out. She headed over to it and began tapping out commands, all too aware that time was slipping away. Most of the settings looked uninteresting.... There it was! *Ventilation Controls* Alita quickly moved the icon to the "close" position. //Disabling the ventilation controls while the plasma engines are in use is not recommended// the computer informed her.

"No slag," she snorted. "Confirm," she said firmly.

//Authorization not provided// the computer replied, almost as if it was daring her to succeed.

"Manual authorization," Alita snapped back, feeling dread rise in her. How was she going to pull this one off? She knew that vocal authorization would not work since the computer was most likely trained to identify voice prints.

She looked around, trying to figure out which terminal in the mass of technology was the right one to use. The blinking screen was a clue. She thought briefly, and a whisper of an idea entered her mind. CYCLONUS, she entered next to the NAME command. PASSWORD appeared next. Alita entered MEGATRON and then crossed her fingers, a habit she'd picked up from Optimus, who'd picked it up from Earth.

//Authorization confirmed, Cyclonus// the computer announced. //Beginning ventilation shutdown.//

"Yesss!" Alita cried, pumping her fist in the air. It worked! Every moment of terror and anxiety during this mission had been worth it.

Her private celebration was interrupted when a blast from a fusion cannon melted the door. Alita gasped and swung around, pressing against the computer terminal behind her as Galvatron and Cyclonus stepped through the door.

"So this is where our saboteur is hiding," Galvatron sneered. "You were right to install those silent alarms, Cyclonus. We've been able to capture him easily." He stopped short when he got a good look at her. "By the inferno, it's a female!" he roared.

"Yes, my lord," Galvatron dutifully confirmed the obvious.

"This will be fun," Galvatron smiled sadistically and advanced upon the intruder. Alita clutched the controls behind her, her mind swimming with fear. Someone as unstable as Galvatron could do anything. "That pretty face will be the first thing to go!" He raised his fusion cannon menacingly.

Cyclonus held up his hand. "My lord, we must leave her vocal unit intact. She will not be able to talk if she is too badly wounded."

Galvatron studied the creature before him curiously. "I don't remember a female like this in our army. I surely wouldn't have forgotten," he leered. "You are right, Cyclonus, there are other ways to have fun with her."

Alita felt nauseous. There had to be some way out of this, even if it was death. She had known all along that she wouldn't be returning from this mission, and the only important thing was to complete it. Her life was secondary.

Cyclonus turned his gaze to the female. "She seems familiar to me too, my lord, but she is no Decepticon that I know of." His fingers scraped at the Decepticon symbol on her chest, which had been welded on and refused to budge. Still, the fact that it was not a true brand was proof enough for him. "I believe she is an Autobot."

"AUTOBOT?!!" Galvatron roared, forcing Cyclonus to take a step back. "She will die at once. Feel the wrath of Galvatron!"

"No, wait! She could be a useful hostage!" Cyclonus exclaimed, knocking the fusion cannon aside as Galvatron pulled the trigger, shattering a console.

Just then the computer sounded an alarm. //Warning! Plasma breech in progress. Ship-wide destruction in 500 astroseconds//

"What is *that* supposed to mean?" Galvatron screamed, furious at the idea that his ship was doing something it wasn't supposed to.

"No! She must have shut down the ventilation controls, causing the heat to melt down the engines. If the plasma chamber explodes, we'll all be destroyed!"

"So fix it!" Galvatron snarled, always one for quick, direct solutions.

Cyclonus shook his head. "I cannot, my lord. You – *ahem*, the controls have been destroyed. Besides, the meltdown has gone too far to stop it. We must escape."

"Not without killing this worthless female!" Galvatron's revenge would not be denied. Alita shuddered. So this was it then. This was how it was going to end for her. Her hands moved nervously, and one brushed a round object at her side. Even without looking, she recognized the familiar shape of a flare grenade. She quickly lifted it from her hip and pulled the pin, throwing it at Galvatron's feet and shoved past him, heading for the hole that marked where the door once was. The grenade exploded, creating a chemical reaction that resulted in a massive burst of light. The entire room turned a searing white, and even Alita, who anticipated the explosion and covered her optics with her hands, was still dazzled. As the light faded away she stumbled out, her optics quickly recovering as she raced out into the Hub, following the massive crowd to the escape pods. 'At least I don't have to crawl over a pipe this time' she thought in relief. It wouldn't matter if she sauntered past the command center stark naked, for the officers would have deserted their posts, and in the press to escape nobody would notice her anyway.

"RRRRAAAARRGHHH!" Galvatron roared in fury. He had taken the brunt of the light explosion and was now totally blinded. His vision would return soon enough if given time, but then again Galvatron had never been known for his patience. "Where is she? I'll have her head!"

Cyclonus hastened to calm his leader, his vision beginning to clear with only a small amount of static around the edges. "She is gone, my lord. Do not concern yourself with her any more. The ship is self-destructing and we must escape."

Galvatron struck out, and Cyclonus had to duck to avoid the flying fist. "No! She will not escape me! I am Galvatron, leader of the Decepticons! I will not be thwarted!"

Cyclonus tried once again. "My lord, she is trapped here. Her ship has already been found and disabled, and our escape pods are immune to tampering. Her act of sabotage may have robbed us of the strongest battleship in the fleet, but we will escape to fight another day, while her efforts will only bring her death. Do you see?" he begged, trying to will sanity into his leader's addled brain.

His efforts were in vain, for this time Galvatron's punch connected, catching him across the face. The metal split and a trickle of energon emerged. "YAAARGH! I will find her, and I will destroy her with my own two hands! And not even you, Cyclonus, can stop me!"

Cyclonus grew very still as he fingered his wound. The break in the metal was superficial. He had sustained much worse from his leader before, several times blacking out from blows to the head, but for some reason this time it was different. He had been hit, screamed at, and abused one time too many. Galvatron, the leader that he had revered all of these years, whom he had stood by despite massive troop unrest and dissatisfaction, had finally reached the limits of his second-in-command's patience. If he wanted to chase some foolish femme around a self-destructing ship while totally blinded, let him. Cyclonus had finally accepted that Galvatron had reached the point of no return. His madness had many times lent him an edge in battle and made him almost impossible to predict for his enemies, but now it was steering him towards death. And the Matrix help him, Cyclonus wasn't going to fight him any longer.

"Very well, my lord," he sighed in resignation, hating to leave his leader to die but at the same time feeling a very heavy burden being lifted from his shoulders. "Show her no mercy. Glory to the Decepticons."

"Glory to the Decepticons! And don't you ever forget it, coward!" Galvatron sneered. "Now where did that femme go? Come here, girly! I won't hurt you -- much!" His evil laugh followed Cyclonus down the corridor as he left his leader behind to be consumed by his own madness.

end of Chapter Nine

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