Staff Meeting

Staff Room, King of Beasts, Kuwahawi Island

Borodan looked at the clock once more as he shuffled his stack of papers about. This was to be the first official meeting of the King of Beasts' facilities department and the members on staff were already making more of a mess than they were going to clean up. The seconds passed agonizingly slow for the hunter-turned-administrator until, at long last, he could call this meeting into order.

"Lady and gentlebots, thank you for coming on short notice," he announced, clapping his hands together. "Let's do a quick roll call even though I know we're all here. Halfshell?"

"Yarr!"

"Scylla?"

"Here, darling."

"Coelagon?"

"Eh? Speak up!"

"Good enough. Terrormander?"

"Gimme a minute. A Lapras just popped up."

"Oh, really? I mean, er, Sea Phantom."

"I'm ready to go, boss!"

Borodan nodded. "Very well. As part of our...ahem...'rehabilitation' we have been assigned to work here at the King of Beasts for one of their seasons, after which our parole officer, Groundbreaker, will decide if we are free to go or if we need to work here another year.

I'll be fulfilling the role of Assistant Manager during the night shift while you five will be acting as groundskeepers and, if need be, maintenance staff since the last repairman retired and went to work with Kawashiro. Any questions?"

A shark with legs, Sea Phantom, stood up. "Aye! Will we be fightin' anyone? The Kobbers are always fightin', right?"

Borodan nodded. "In addition to our hotel duties, we are allowed - in an extremely limited capacity - to do security functions. Basically, if you see two guests getting into a fight, you may break it up - GENTLY - if no full-time security staff are on hand.

But we will not be allowed our swords or laser pistols without permission from Groundbreaker."

Halfshell, a big turtle, stood up. "But what about God Neptune, matey? Can we be formin' him?"

Borodan shook his head. "Not unless our parole officer permits it. We need to play this EXTREMELY straight, do what we're told, and get out of here."

The hunter perked up though, having an idea.

"My previous duty, enforcing the Brandes Accord, is technically still in effect. I shall petition to allow you to join me on my hunts if rogue Decepticons come to the planet. Then you shall be allowed to fight and make some possible bonuses in the process. Sound good?"

A round of hardy "Aye aye"s answered his question.

"Very well then. We will meet again tomorrow to discuss more specific duties, work schedules, and the like. Dismissed."

Borodan stood and left the office in just shy of a rush. He had to meet with the other hotel managers and then with Groundbreaker to discuss his proposal. Back in the staff room, the Seacons huddle around and began to weep tears of joy.

"This is the break we've been waiting for, mateys!" Halfshell cheered. "We'll work hard, get our ship back, and then find all kinds of treasure in this world's seas!"

"Why wait that long, boss?" the squidlike Scylla asked. "An island chain like this will likely have many wrecks we can plunder to build our fortune."

"Aye! As long as there aren't handsome sea folks for ye to woo, lass," Sea Phantom noted, only to get slapped with a tentacle.

"I don't know about treasure, but at least we can get our ship back and get in some scraps," the manta ray, Terrormander, added.

"Have heart, lad! We'll have all that and more by the time we're done here!" Halfshell said. "Ain't that right, Coelagon?.......Coelagon?!"

The eldest of the Seacons sat in the corner, snoring gently. Halfshell bristled. "WAKE UP, MATEY!"

The fish monster Deceptacon awoke with a start. "Oh, is it time to eat?"

Halfshell thought about it for a moment. "Aye, it be a good time to eat. And then...THEN...we be gettin' to work! Learn the lay of the land, go visit that library lass Koakuma to start findin' some leads, and then...er...then..."

"Then we go to the beach!" Scylla added.

"Aye, then we can go to the beach," Halfshell agreed, nodding.

Making a Treaty with the Devil

Princess Sasami's fleet, Rebecca Brandes commanding - Deep Space

Following the victory over the Decepticon supply depot, Rebecca was prepared for more boring cruises through space. The grand offensives against the Decepticons and - to her surprise - their allies from a presently-undetermined organic race were being fought by the regular Juraian military. Fleets of Juraian cruisers and battleships were on the front lines, engaging Decepticon ships in captured territory and unclaimed systems the robots had begun colonizing for their war efforts. The irregular fleet Rebecca commanded, consisting of the Juraian Soja-type battleship that served as the princess' flagship, the J-Ark, and a dozen-plus Mandalorian vessels, was being used to patrol the outskirts of the Juraian empire's territory for enemy incursions. The robot aggressors seemed content to avoid Cybertron and other Autobot worlds, preferring instead to plunder the resources of unaffiliated planets teeming with uptapped resources.


That made for pretty boring patrols, but things were about to get more interesting.

Rebecca, currently commanding from the flagship's bridge, was in the middle of studying a map of the overall war effort when an alarm began to ring.

"Enemy fleet incoming!" an officer reported. "Estimated strength twenty Supreme-type vessels and one unknown!"

"Give me a visual of the Unknown," Rebecca ordered, her curiosity piqued. "And put the fleet on yellow alert."

The bridge crew was clearly puzzled at only going to yellow alert with enemy ships in sight, but complied. The image of a large vessel, almost resembling Terran aircraft carriers, appeared on the screen with the now-familiar Decepticon emblem painted on its bow.

"Calculate their speed and trajectory," Rebecca continued ordering. "Have they launched any fighter analogues?"

"Direct intercept course for our ships, no fighters deployed, and..." the officer paused for a moment. "They're coming in at a cruising speed, not a combat speed."

"Enemy flagship is hailing us, sir," the communications officer reported. "Their leader says he wants to parlay."

"Oh, great, some random flunky probably wants to challenge me to a duel or something..." Rebecca sighed. "Prepare cannons and..."

"Negative, Admiral!" the officer rudely interrupted. "It's...it's their Emperor, Scourge."

Rebecca's interest was really piqued now. A personal chat with the bastard machine who'd helped Quick Fix almost drop a giant floating island on Las Vegas?

"Well, I'll take the call this time," Rebecca feigned nonchalance. "Main screen turn on."

Moments later, the metallic visage of Scourge appeared. The would-be Decepticon Emperor of Destruction sat comfortably in a chair almost ostentatious enough to call a throne, his posture casual.

"Greetings, Admiral Brandes. I thank you for taking my call!" Scourge beamed, gesturing grandly.

"I still have a few minutes left on my cell phone I wanted to use," Rebecca deadpanned. "May I ask the purpose of this social call?"

"Ah, straight to the point. Excellent." Scourge rumbled happily. "I have come to negotiate a treaty with you."

"Ending the war so soon?" Rebecca gasped melodramatically. "Unfortunately, the only thing I have the authority to offer you is a prison cell and three Energon cubes a day."

"Generous indeed," Scourge answered. "No, this is not to be a treaty between the Decepticons and Jurai. This is one you have all the authority you need to negotiate."

"Oh, now I AM interested in this," Rebecca chuckled. "Alright, Emperor, what are your terms?"

Scourge's throne moved to the side and a display appeared, showing the planet Earth.

"They're quite simple: Decepticons of all factions, not just my own, will avoid Earth for the duration of the present Decepticon/Jurai war. I will even appoint an Enforcer to the planet to uphold my end of the agreement."

"Why should I care if Earth is neutral?" Rebecca asked. "I don't live there; I just visit once in a while."

"Ah, but your Conjunx Endura, your....spouse, I believe you would say, currently resides there, does she not?" Scourge countered. "Not to mention dearest Princess Sasami."

The display changed from Earth to a live image of the Royal Pain, showing Vina giving Sammy a lesson in how to use a Power Armor frame. The two practiced martial arts for a moment, pulling at Rebecca's heart until the moment Scourge returned the focus to him.

"As you can see, my agents are already watching them," Scourge continued. "Maybe they could repel the ones I have in place now, but what about the next?"

Rebecca gripped the armrest of her chair until she hurt, using that pain to keep a straight face. "I see. It's obvious how I and Jurai would benefit, but what good does it do you to stay off Earth?"

"Quite simple: it doesn't. The planet is rich in energy sources, which is why Decepticons have been drawn to it for decades. However..." Scourge began.

The tyrant rose from his throne.

"In exchange for the boon of leaving Earth free of Decepticon influence, you - in turn - would not be allowed to call upon your Kobber friends for assistance in our war, no matter how vested an interest they might have because of Beatbox and Quick Fix."

Ah, so there it was. Forfeit any possible assistance from a living, breathing, drinking group of living weapons and the robots would ignore Earth until the Juraians were crushed.

"An interesting proposal. Please give me a moment to consider it," Rebecca considered, trying to keep panic from her face.

"Take two," Scourge added as the channel was cut.

There was no way she could realistically believe that a robot called a Decepticon would do anything BUT deceive her. She could hardly believe he'd keep his word to keep robots off of the planet and definitely believed he'd made this proposal to keep Kobbers from wrecking his fleets. On one hand, she hadn't even PLANNED to ask them for help. On the other hand, maybe it wasn't such a bad idea. Indeed, she could agree to the terms and violate them later; it wasn't a binding agreement between two governments. More like a gentleman's agreement that both sides knew the other was going to violate eventually. Not to mention, if Scourge DID gun for her family, he'd bring the Kobbers upon him, treaty or not.

"Open the channel back up," she ordered. "Emperor Scourge, I accept your terms. Decepticons will leave Earth alone and Kobbers will leave the Decepticons alone."

"Excellent! I'm quite pleased to find you so...reasonable about this," Scourge beamed, clapping his hands together. "Then the...oh, it needs a good name...the Brandes Accord has been struck. I shall immediately appoint an Enforcer and send him to Earth."

"And he'll just be there to keep other Decepticons away?" Rebecca asked.

"Of course," Scourge answered. "Well, he will also be there to make sure your Kobber friends don't try interfering. Enforcement DOES run both ways."

Rebecca rolled her eyes. Of COURSE it did. "Very well. Who is he?"

"You may have seen him in action once already in one of those Fites. He is Borodan the Hunter and thoroughly and bafflingly-incorruptible."

"I'll send word ahead to expect him then," Rebecca nodded, satisfied.

"Very good, and in the spirit of parlay, my fleet shall depart this system immediately," Scourge stated, waving to one of his officers to carry out an order. "I expect, in turn, for you to honor our parlay and not seek to strike while our backs are turned."

"Of course. Good day, Emperor."

Rebecca motioned for the connect to be cut and muttered under her breath, "Arrogant bastard."

On board his flagship, Scourge muttered, "Organic twit."

~

Las Vegas

A Gigan-shaped robot approached the Den of Lions. He had received word from his Emperor and immediately set out to begin his assignment.