"The Long Road" Chapter one- The Breakthrough

[Steel]

There was always a constant hum on Synar Minor. Even though the mining plant was deep underneath this city dome the massive drills still send a steady vibrance through out the planetoid. The all day 32 hour drilling plus the power hungry hollo-dome filled the colony with an unrelenting buzz. It had been like that for thousands of years. It was only on their simulated night times that there was a slight lul as the dome dimmed to fake a starlit sky. Being Techno-organic the colonists needed some sort of rest at the end of the day. They were far less power consuming than their ancient ancestors thanks to the infusion of organics but they weren’t as relentless as the pure machines.

One-Sixteen hated the buzz. It kept him on edge all the time. This was why he preferred the night. He needed no sleep, along with his pod-brother he was built in a long lost fashion and required no integrated organics. The dust bothered him too. He was sure he could feel it burying itself deep into his joints.

He was a tall mech, one of the tallest in fact. Whole not as big as his hulking pod-brother Synarus, he still felt considerably more powerful than his supposed follow colonists. He found this vaguely disappointing but he was unsure why.

He sat there, silhouetted against the artificial night, perched on top of the neon sign on the greasy bar that he frequented. He checked the time and took another look over the squat colony buildings, firming his resolve that this would be the last night he’d see them. He hopped down off the sign and then flipped effortlessly into the side street next to the bar. There was a hatch around the back that lead to the basement and his base of operations.

He took another check around before flinging the hatch open and stepping down a short set of stairs. The lights flickered on as he flipped a switch. The room as basic, a metal table in the centre and various drums of various energon based blended beverages. The colonists seemed to get inebriated shockingly quickly. He didn’t even know if it was possible for it to happen to him. The energon was too diluted.

He grabbed one of the barrels and twisted it open. Unlike the others this was filled with datapads, various tech specs and blueprints. He scattered them on the table and checked his internal clock again. The others should be arriving. The plan was already in motion.