Flash fic: For the Sake of Destruction (g1) - PG 13
Title: For the Sake of Destruction
Rating: PG-13
Warning: Genocide
Characters: Onslaught, Hun-Grr, Vortex, Swindle
Universe:G1
Prompt: tf-speedwriting, Iron Maiden's Two Minutes to Midnight.
Summary: Onslaught disagrees with the Terrorcons' battle strategy. Flashfic, one hour.
“Onslaught,” Hun-Grr growled.
Onslaught glanced up from the battle maps in front of him, cooling meeting Hun-Grr’s gaze - or at least, the gaze of the head closest to him. The one that wasn’t busy eating... whatever it was. “Yes?”
“As soon as the objective is secured, fall back to the extraction point. We will insure that they are in no condition to pursue.” There was a malevolent joy in Hun-Grr’s fanged grin.
Onslaught did not let his disapproval and disgust show. He was perfectly familiar with the Terrorcon’s version of “insuring they will not pursue.” Death. Destruction on a scale that went past military necessity, even becoming detrimental to the long-range goals. Onslaught did not consider himself to be sentimental or merciful or particularly easy to disturb. He was a Decepticon, and perfectly capable of horrendous acts of violence and cruelty when it suited his needs. But the Terrorcons gleefully crossed boundaries of even Decepticons. They killed, maimed, and consumed in ways that disgusted even those, like Onslaught, who were used to the deprivations of Vortex and his fellow interrogators. And it was just so utterly pointless. They destroyed resources that could be used by the Decepticons for no other reason than it was fun.
“A solid plan,” Onslaught began, choosing his words carefully. Disgusting beast or not, Hun-Grr outranked him here. “But perhaps a quieter solution would work to our advantage. If we use stealth, the populace will not be able to identify who attacked them-”
“Your way takes too long,” Hun-Grr growled.
“If the defenders can’t identify us, we can delay their ability to organize a counterattack from another base, allowing us the time to create a battleground more advantageous-”
“We don’t care, Onslaught!” Hun-Grr interrupted again. “These ones will die. Then the rest will die. If you’d pull your head out of your strategy books, you’d realize that we’re not fighting them, we’re killing them. All of them. Every last one down to the last mewling spawnling.”
“There is little advantage in ruling a dead rock,” Onslaught said, keeping his voice even, even as his fists clenched under the table. “Megatron can make more use of intact infrastructure.”
Hun-Grr snorted, swallowing the last of his meal and turning both heads to sneer at Onslaught. “If Megatron wanted to rule this planet, he wouldn’t have sent us to destroy it.”
x-x-x
“A waste,” Onslaught said out loud, rubble crunching under his feet.
“Got a sudden liking for itty bitty buildings?” Vortex chirped, landing on a half-demolished house. “Ain’t all that useful when we don’t fit in the doors.”
“Not just the buildings,” Onslaught said, nudging at a mangled body with his foot. “Everything.”
“Ohhh,” Vortex drew the word out, nodding sagely. “So you’re getting into xenophilia, then?”
Onslaught spared him an irritated glance. “Knock it off, Vortex. The locals could have been useful as a subservient state, allowing us to dedicate more resources to our actual mission of defeating the Autobots. This-” he motioned to the destruction around him, “This is all just a waste of potential, destroyed for no other reason than they wanted to.”
“Personally, I think it’s a great reason,” Vortex said cheerfully. “You shoulda circled back with me. Watchin’ the Terrorcons go to town is hilarious. And then they let Abominus out in the middle of the city, and booyah, everything just kinda started explodin’.”
“Yeah, that don’t make me regret passing it up at all,” Swindle said from where he was rummaging through the rubble. “Sorry, ‘Tex, but some of us don’t think buzzin’ giant killer mechs who want to flatten us to be the best way to spend an afternoon. Tell ya what, though, you strap a nice high-resolution camera to your landing gear and get a good-quality video of the destruction next time. There’s a few crazy slaggers who pay good money for that sorta close-up slaughter footage. “
“Is there anything you can’t turn into a profit?” Vortex asked curiously.
“I’m sure there is,” Swindle answered, just as cheerful. “But I ain’t found it yet. Help me load us some of these intact pieces. If Hun-Grr and them keep up like this, there’s gonna be a big opening in the market for cultural artifacts from here.” He grinned. “Off-world natives gotta have a bit of the dead homeworld, y’know.”
Onslaught tuned them out, watching a building collapse in the distance to the laughter of the Terrorcons. “Such a waste,” he muttered.
Rating: PG-13
Warning: Genocide
Characters: Onslaught, Hun-Grr, Vortex, Swindle
Universe:G1
Prompt: tf-speedwriting, Iron Maiden's Two Minutes to Midnight.
Summary: Onslaught disagrees with the Terrorcons' battle strategy. Flashfic, one hour.
“Onslaught,” Hun-Grr growled.
Onslaught glanced up from the battle maps in front of him, cooling meeting Hun-Grr’s gaze - or at least, the gaze of the head closest to him. The one that wasn’t busy eating... whatever it was. “Yes?”
“As soon as the objective is secured, fall back to the extraction point. We will insure that they are in no condition to pursue.” There was a malevolent joy in Hun-Grr’s fanged grin.
Onslaught did not let his disapproval and disgust show. He was perfectly familiar with the Terrorcon’s version of “insuring they will not pursue.” Death. Destruction on a scale that went past military necessity, even becoming detrimental to the long-range goals. Onslaught did not consider himself to be sentimental or merciful or particularly easy to disturb. He was a Decepticon, and perfectly capable of horrendous acts of violence and cruelty when it suited his needs. But the Terrorcons gleefully crossed boundaries of even Decepticons. They killed, maimed, and consumed in ways that disgusted even those, like Onslaught, who were used to the deprivations of Vortex and his fellow interrogators. And it was just so utterly pointless. They destroyed resources that could be used by the Decepticons for no other reason than it was fun.
“A solid plan,” Onslaught began, choosing his words carefully. Disgusting beast or not, Hun-Grr outranked him here. “But perhaps a quieter solution would work to our advantage. If we use stealth, the populace will not be able to identify who attacked them-”
“Your way takes too long,” Hun-Grr growled.
“If the defenders can’t identify us, we can delay their ability to organize a counterattack from another base, allowing us the time to create a battleground more advantageous-”
“We don’t care, Onslaught!” Hun-Grr interrupted again. “These ones will die. Then the rest will die. If you’d pull your head out of your strategy books, you’d realize that we’re not fighting them, we’re killing them. All of them. Every last one down to the last mewling spawnling.”
“There is little advantage in ruling a dead rock,” Onslaught said, keeping his voice even, even as his fists clenched under the table. “Megatron can make more use of intact infrastructure.”
Hun-Grr snorted, swallowing the last of his meal and turning both heads to sneer at Onslaught. “If Megatron wanted to rule this planet, he wouldn’t have sent us to destroy it.”
x-x-x
“A waste,” Onslaught said out loud, rubble crunching under his feet.
“Got a sudden liking for itty bitty buildings?” Vortex chirped, landing on a half-demolished house. “Ain’t all that useful when we don’t fit in the doors.”
“Not just the buildings,” Onslaught said, nudging at a mangled body with his foot. “Everything.”
“Ohhh,” Vortex drew the word out, nodding sagely. “So you’re getting into xenophilia, then?”
Onslaught spared him an irritated glance. “Knock it off, Vortex. The locals could have been useful as a subservient state, allowing us to dedicate more resources to our actual mission of defeating the Autobots. This-” he motioned to the destruction around him, “This is all just a waste of potential, destroyed for no other reason than they wanted to.”
“Personally, I think it’s a great reason,” Vortex said cheerfully. “You shoulda circled back with me. Watchin’ the Terrorcons go to town is hilarious. And then they let Abominus out in the middle of the city, and booyah, everything just kinda started explodin’.”
“Yeah, that don’t make me regret passing it up at all,” Swindle said from where he was rummaging through the rubble. “Sorry, ‘Tex, but some of us don’t think buzzin’ giant killer mechs who want to flatten us to be the best way to spend an afternoon. Tell ya what, though, you strap a nice high-resolution camera to your landing gear and get a good-quality video of the destruction next time. There’s a few crazy slaggers who pay good money for that sorta close-up slaughter footage. “
“Is there anything you can’t turn into a profit?” Vortex asked curiously.
“I’m sure there is,” Swindle answered, just as cheerful. “But I ain’t found it yet. Help me load us some of these intact pieces. If Hun-Grr and them keep up like this, there’s gonna be a big opening in the market for cultural artifacts from here.” He grinned. “Off-world natives gotta have a bit of the dead homeworld, y’know.”
Onslaught tuned them out, watching a building collapse in the distance to the laughter of the Terrorcons. “Such a waste,” he muttered.