Ok, let me state first that this is my interpretation of the Kiss Players universe, without most of the weird, pseudo-porn stuff and focusing more on the sci-fi aspects of the franchise with some new twists on things. I have all the toys and have listened to the audios and read through as much of the material as I can on it. Things do not happen exactly as they do in the official version. Some characters act differently to be less offensive and most of the sexual imagery has been culled in favor of a more palatable, straight TF reading experience. Let me know what you think.


Let's begin.

Great and terrible he was. Once a leader of armies, a conqeror who's very name could strike fear deep into the sparks of his enemies. He commanded an army the likes of which had never been seen in the history of the Universe. Then came defeat, then came ignominy. Then came a force even greater than he, a force of consumption and need that promised him even greater power and conquest, for the price of servitude. Rather than face the nothingness that awaited him offline, he took the deal, allowed the consumer to impart some of it's dark and vile energies into him, rebuilding him, reincarnating him as not just a Commander, but and Emperor of Destruction. Then came combat, then came victory... followed by the agonizing defeat and the destruction of his dark patron.
Then there was pain, then sudden blackness. All that he was was shattered, scattered, seperated. His consciousness fragmented and disconnected, kept alive only by the dark energies imparted to him by his foul and all-consuming Master. All that remained was the dark hunger of that dread creature and a need, a need to reunite himself, to be whole again. To do that though... he needed to consume, devour and rebuild.

Transformers Kiss Players: The Hunger
Chapter 1: New Arrival

The sun set slowly over Tokyo, shadows growing and taking over the streets, shadows cast by the half-rebuilt skycrapers rising over the newly re-paved streets. The shadows seemed to flow from beneath fresh overpasses, from underneath bridges still untinged with exhaust smoke. There was a sense of new life about the city, rising from the ashes of recent Devastation, a sense that things were going to get better. Still, at night, very few people felt comfortable wandering the nearly empty streets or leaving their homes until the comforting rays of the sun once more chased away the nightmares and memories of what had happened. Nightclubs struggled to stay open, many failed utterly and it seemed that Tokyo finally found some respite under the cover of darkness. Almost.

This was no to say that no one was out and about at night. Even the most silent of cities has some nightlife, if one looks close enough. The criminal element had come back quickly enough after the catastrophe, peddling their illict wares, running underground hotspots catering the the vices of those brave or desperate enough to wander the streets at night. Night had become a time for those trying to escape the daylit world or order and respectability, those seemingly terrified of the newly rising city. It was a world of sin and need, of nightmares turned fever dreams and one of rumors. More specifically, THE rumor.

It was no secret that beings from other planets existed. Not long ago, they had fought their wars upon earth, built bases and allied themselves with governments both benign and despotic. Many had thought one faction to be heroes and defenders while fearing the other faction as the monsters they were. Huge machines of alien origin they were, disguised as everyday machines so as not to attract human attention or retaliation, at least at first. The longer their supposedly secret war went on, the more people became aware of just what was going on until all pretense was dropped and the two armies began open hostilities on first a global, then galactic scale.

That was when the first grumbling of human resistance began, when men and women decided to take up arms against these aliens and show them that earth was for humanity, not robot warriors from beyond the stars. The movement was small at first, barely a whisper until the catastrophe of 2005, when one of the worst of the robotic titans plummeted through the atmosphere as a casualty of one of the epic conflicts brewing out in deep space and hit Tokyo itself with more force than an atomic bomb.

Millions perished, millions more were left homeless. The worldwide economy took a massive hit, stocks plummeted, banks failed, unemployment surged. The countries of the world banded together to send relief aid to the people of Japan. The United States, already reeling from its own problems, sent help to rebuild the Capitol city of a staunch ally. At the same time, it was determined that these aline robots, who called themselves Transformers, would need to be kept from ever returning to the earth. Thus, the Earth Defense Command was repuposed and tasked with finding a way to defend the planet from becoming a casualty of a non-human conflict.

The scientists of the Japanese branch of the EDC built a perfect solution, the anti-electron field, which prevented the aliens from coming to earth without sustaining immense damage. As a further countermeasure, they managed to reverse engineer the robots themselves and built a fleet of transforming vehicles to battle any that might survive passage through the earth's new defenses. All seemed to be in place to ensure human supremancy over the planet.

But the rumor persisted that somehow, some of the alien robots survived and prowled the streets at night, seeking to kill the humans who were denying them their battleground and prize. No one had seen any of these attacks and there was no real evidence for them but somehow, the rumors persisted of people caught out at night being pursued and killed by cars with no drivers. Some laughed at this as just an 'urban legend', the government denied all allegations and the EDC dismissed such stories as mere 'latent but understandable post-traumatic paranoia.' Despite all this, it had a profound impact on the city and her people, creating a climate of fear.

The EDC's Tokyo command HQ, known affectionately as "The Playhouse" was one of the first new structures completed. A construct that would seem towering anywhere but the heart of Shinjuku at 48 stories, the glass and steel monolith housed all the offices, the Research and Development department and even the aparatus for the field that protected the entire earth as well as a sophisticated computer system patterned on the captured remains of one of the aliens' own artificial intelligence units. At the base of the building was a massive garage, wherein the secret weapons of the EDC were stored and maintainted.

To the untrained eye, they would appear to be a fleet of 48 modified Mazda RX-8 sedans with light bars and the black and white paint job of police vehicles. They were, however, the Autoroopers, robots built from reverse engineered alien tech capable of transforming and taking on the originals on an equal footing. They were the pride and joy of the Earth Defense Command who planned to begin mass production soon and have every EDC Branch across the world equipped and ready in case of a full-scale attack.

Sitting in her office on the top floor, EDC Japan Branch Commander Hitoshizuku Amaō smiled pleasantly at the young woman sitting across from her. "I see," she began, "That your service with the EDC New York branch was nothing short of exemplary and you received four commendations for service above and beyond the call of duty between Summer of 2003 and Winter of 2004. That's all well and good but that was the old EDC, before the new focus. I need to know that you are not secretly one of those among our ranks who secretly sympathizes with the enemy. How can you prove that to me, Miss ShaoShao Li?" She raised one eyebrow, waiting for a response.

The young woman across from Commander Amaō had long black hair tied up in a bun and the lithe, powerful form of a martial artist. Truth be told, ShaoShao Li, despite her Chinese roots and prowess in Kung-Fu was more American than anything, having grown up in New York City with her immigrant parents. In fact, this visit to the Tokyo branch of the EDC was as close to China as she had ever gotten. Adjusting her uniform, ShaoShao swallowed softly and responded as professionally as she could. "Despite my past affiliations with some of the aliens, I never considered them comrades. I was merely carrying out the orders given to me by my commanding officer. I believe in duty above all else and that the defense of the earth outweighs any personal feelings I may have."

"Is that so?" The Commander asked with an amused tone, raising one eyebrow and chuckling. "Then I believe you can prove your devotion to the cause quite nicely today. I have something to show you, Miss Li and I would like you to come with me." The older woman stood and walked around the desk. She was oddly dressed, in a traditional kimono and sandles, creating an odd juxtaposition between the ultra-modern and professional office and its occupant.

ShaoShao stood as well and saluted. "Yes Ma'am," she said, even as the Japanese woman strode past her, heading for the door. ShaoShao had to hurry to keep up for despite her off footwear, the Commander moved like a women with a purpose and one that could not be kept waiting in the least. Following her into a waiting elevator, the Chinese girl waited for the Commander to speak, which did not take long.

"You know why we chose you out of all the officers in the foreign branches of the EDC, don't you Miss Li?"

"For my record and my service, I had assumed Ma'am. Is there another reasons?"

"Well, yes, actually. You see, you have been called here to try out for a very speical unit in the EDC, one that's not commonly known to the public at large."

"Well, I don't know whether to feel honored or concerned."

"That choice will be up to you, once I tell you of this unit. You see, the Autoroopers we have built here at the Japanese branch are amazing machines. They can be operated by remote by our main computer but that leaves them rather lacking and only able to carry out simple routines such as patrols and guard work. To be truly effective, they have to be controlled directly by one of our field agents."

"Ah, like a driver or is it more of a remote control system?"

"Neither really. You see, the Autoroopers are built using a system we call ParisiTech which allows a direct merging of the nervous systems of a living being to the circuitry and controls of the machine. However, only very special people can ever merge with one of our special weapons."

"And I'm one of those?"

"We would like to hope so. That's why we called you here, to put you to the test. I hope you don't mind." Before ShaoShao could even respond, the elevator stopped moving and the doors swung open. Oddly enough, she hadn't noticed how far down they had gone, the elevator's LCD panel indicated B6, which meant that, somehow, they were 6 floors below the main building. She had no idea the facilities reached down that far.

The room was obviously part of the R&D Department, with an air of science unmistakable to ShaoShao. Several young women were seated around banks of computer looking into a room seperated from the main one by heavy walls and extra thick glass. Commander Amaō rested a hand on ShaoShao's shoulder and leaned in to say. "They're all here to monitor your test. Go ahead, look through the window, see what you are going to be tested with."

Nodding nervously, the new transfer did as she was told, walking over to the window and peering into the brightly lit room beyond. Inside was a police car. "That's an Autorooper, isn't it?" There was a tone of hushed reverence in her voice, betraying how impressed she was at the idea of being partnered with a machine of such sophistication and power.

"That's right ShaoShao," The Commander replied, her voice taking on a rather out of place chipper tone. "Now, we just need to get you suited up so we can run your initial test." She pushed a button on the wall and a panel slid open, a metal tray emerging carrying a box. "That's your suit, make sure you put it on carefully, it's very hard to make those."

"Why?" The other girl replied, taking the box in her hands and opening it, revealing a rubbery, slick material that seemed very thin and extremely tight.

"Because they have to be tight enough not to fall off in the merging process. You see, during a merge, the Autorooper must make direct contact with the operator's body for maximum efficiency. If normal clothing is worn, it is destroyed. That suit allows direct acess without the need for the removal of clothing. Besides, do you really want to have to come out of your fusion naked? It's kind of embarassing, or so I'm told."

ShaoShao shook her head. "No Ma'am! This will be good!" With that, she hurried off to the nearby locker room to change.

The suit was tight, like a second skin of oily, slippery rubber but it was warm, covered her from neck to feet and had nice treaded soles to prevent slipping and padded hand-sections to increase grip. Best of all, she could wear it under her normal uniform and be ready for fusion at a moment's notice... provided she passed this test. Walking out of the locker room, she was greeted by the beaming Commander, who clapped her hands together and beamed like a proud parent.

"You look perfect ShaoShao. Now don't worry, I know the color is kind of bland, but that's just the basic one. You pass this test and your official suit will be any color you want. I bet you pick red, red is such a nice color for you. Don't you agree?"

ShaoShao sighed and just asked, in as pleasant a voice as she could muster, "Can we get on with the test, please?" There was just something about Commander Amaō that rubbed her the wrong way, she just couldn't put her finger on it.

"Oh, but of course. Just step this way." A door swung open, leading into the sealed room. "We'll monitor you from here and give you instructions. Just relax, do as we say and everything will be ok."

"Yes Ma'am." ShaoShao took a step towards the car, admiring its sleek curves and custom paint when the door closed behind her with a rather final and definite thunk. Taking a deep breath, she put a hand on the door and opened it, sliding into the driver's seat and running her hands over the steering wheel. Even with her gloves on, she could feel something, like a small vibration, run through the car at her touch.

"Good, hope you're ready ShaoShao because now is the moment of truth!" The engine of the car roared to life, the dashboard lit up and she could feel the power beneath her. "Now for the test. Kiss the car."

"WHAT!?" ShaoShao exclaimed, hoping she's heard that wrong.

"Lean forward and kiss the steering wheel. It's how the fusion is done. Don't worry, it doesn't have to be a deep kiss of anything, you just have to press your lips to it and see if anything happens."

Embarassed and confused beyond words, ShaoShao did as she was told, closing her eyes and leaning forward to press her lips (closed mouth of course) to the steering wheel. What happened next was terrfiying in the extreme. There was a sudden flash behind her eyes, like something springing away inside her head that she'd never known about before, something that resonated with a very similar part inside the vehicle. The next thing she knew, she could feel the car around her, feel the wires and engine, revving like the beating of her own heart, feel the power and the need. There was an odd noise and suddenly, there was no car anymore, there was no ShaoShao anymore, there was the Autorooper in full robot mode and it's controller, together as one being.

The head turned, the eyes scanning the room. From inside, the part of it that was ShaoShao Li could see all the readouts, get instant data from the onboard computer, even move the arms and legs as if they were her own. It was unbelievable, frightening and at the same time, exhilerating beyond words. She wasn't just controlling a giant robot, she, for all practical purposes, WAS a giant robot!

"Excellent ShaoShao! Wonderful!" Commander Amaō hooted from inside the control booth. "I knew you could do it! Welcometo Ne Squadron! You're now officially a Kiss Player!"

To be Continued...

 

Transformers Kiss Players: The Hunger

Chapter 2: A Quest Begins

Far off in space, light years from Earth, is the mechanical planet of Cybertron, home to the Transformers themselves. Much like Tokyo, though on a much grander scale, the entire planet was undergoing reconstruction after a massive Cataclysm. The war that had raged for eons had apparently come to an end, though at the cost of both of the planet's moons and horrendous damage to many of its cities. A gigantic handprint, a reminder of the gigantic monster that had threatened the very existence of the planet as a whole and its people, still scarred the Norther polar region. It was there that might Iacon, Capitol city of the Autobots, was placed. If it hadn't been for the fact that in those last days, almost the entire planet had been under Decepticon rule, thousands of Autobots would have been killed. As it stood, a few agents scattered among the Decepticon ranks had perished and the loss of Decepticon life and the chaos that followed had made the Autobot task of retaking Iacon, then all of Cybertron, that much easier to accomplish.

Iacon was a mass of activity, with reconstruction being carried out throughout the entire day, never ceasing as they Autobots worked to restore their home to its former glory. The great hall where the Autobot Supreme Commander made his plans was one of the first things rebuilt and rested among the other buildings of the government hub, almost blending with the metallic surroundings. It had once been a center of military activity during the Great War but since the defeat of the Decepticons, it had become more or less a civilian office for the reconstruction effort. Sure, once in a while there were pockets of Decepticon activity on Cybertron itself, mostly raids on Energon storage facilities or attempts to hack the Autobot intelligence network but these were little more than token acts of resistance or desperation to survive without surrender and posed no real threat to anyone.

Since the apparent destruction of their leader, Galvatron, the Decepticons had either fled Cybertron, or gone underground. Occasionally, one would hear rumblings of raids offworld, acts of piracy and the like that were quickly subdued by the Autobot space forces or even the forces of the local planets themselves. It truly seemed that the threat from the Decepticons had once and for all been defeated. At least, that's what the intelligence officers told the Supreme Commander in his daily briefings.

Rodimus Prime scanned the latest daily breifing from his office in the Great Hall, resting one hand on his forehead, the other rested on his desk, one finger tapping a key to advance to the next screen. He could have just downloaded the briefings directly into his central processor, but he preferred to read them manually, with his own optics. It made him feel more reassured about the veracity of things to be able to read the report and then which Autobot compiled it. This was more or less how his days went, day in and day out since the war ended.

He had come of age in that war, fighting alongside the greats of the time. Greats like Ironhide, Ratchet, Prowl and Brawn who were all, sadly, casualties of that war. Even the great Optimus Prime was gone now, killed by the Despotic Megatron, who had, himself, almost perished in that battle only to re-emerge as Galvatron, the servant of an even greater evil. In the final moments of the final battle, Hot Rod had taken up the Matrix of Leadership and now lead the Autobots as Rodimus Prime. Strangely, he felt that his first act as the new Prime was perhaps the greatest thing he would ever do and everything else was just a hollow echo.

It's not that he wanted to fight or that he wished the War hadn't ended. He just had no idea how to lead in a time of peace for there had not been peace on Cybertron for millions of years. He had never known a time when the Decepticon threat had not been there or even a time when Optimus Prime had not been in charge. Now, there was no War, there was no organized Decepticon threat and worst of all, there was no Optimus Prime. This left Rodimus feeling out of his depth, charting new, calm waters but always fearing there were hidden reefs and shoals waiting to sink him at any moment and this was before the news from Earth had come.

The news had come from Ultra Magnus himself, former Commander of Autobot City on earth and one of the most dependable soldiers anyone could hope to meet. It had been Ultra Magnus who had carried the Matric until Hot Rod had claimed it, Ultra Magnus who had almost died to keep it from the hands of Galvatron and Ultra Magnus who had the sad duty of informing Rodimus Prime of events on Earth. The news of the destruction of Tokyo had been hard enough but the revelation that it had been Galvatron who landed there after having been tossed haphazardly into space by Rodimus himself had been crushing. Then the way the humans had turned against the Autobots, blaming them, forcing them from the planet and erecting that anti-electron field, it had been all too much for the new leader.

Making his choice, Rodimus rose from his chair and paced to the far side of his office, staring out the window into the black, Cybertronian night. There was only one moon in the sky and even that was not one of the originals. It was the head of the monster that had finally brought an end to the war with it's all-consuming hunger. For one brief moment, Autobot and Decepticon had fought as one against a common foe. It had been a moment of unity that would likely never come again with only that new moon to mark the triumph.

A door opened behind him and Rodimus turned to see Arcee approaching him. "Just go the new reports from outside Iacon proper, Sir. It appears that the Energon plant is ready ot go back online. When it does, we'll have enough energy to power half of Cybertron." She seemed to be trying to make the best of the news, to try and cheer him but he knew that everyone had been walking on eggshells to keep him from slipping into depression since the Earth news had come in.

"Good," he replied, a bit more tersely than he meant to, "Let Magnus know. He's taking direct command of the reconstruction effort from here out." He'd turned over the day to day running of things to his second just the other day. He couldn't deal with all the minutae of a massive project like the rebuilding of an entire planet. Besides, Magnus was a born organizer and delegator. It was a pity the former City Commander thought himself such a poor leader, he was born to it.

"Rodimus," Arcee said, concern in her voice as she took a step towards him, "You've got to snap out of this. You've been so despondent since the news came in from Earth. We need you. There's so much work to be done still and we need your leadership. Please, don't shut us out."

Rodimus raised a hand and covered his face for a moment, shaking his head back and forth. "Arcee, it's just not that easy. What happened on Earth is my fault. I should have made sure that Galvatron was destroyed, not left him to hurtle blindly through space. The entire situation just proves that I am not fit to be the Supreme Commander, not fit to carry the Matrix. I make bad choices or worse, don't see the consequences of those choices. Because of me, we've lost or allies on Earth and turned the entire human race against us."

"Don't talk like that!" The Autobot Femme replied, her voice raised in frustration. "That wasn't your fault. You couldn't have known what was going to happen. You had more important things to deal with at the time and afterwards. It was cosmic chance that Galvatron ended up on Earth, a freak of gravity and trajectory. As for the humans, they'll calm down and lower that shield eventually. They have to."

"But when Arcee?" He was losing his patience now and turned to face her, "And how? How will they ever come to see us as their allies again when the last contact they had with us was that? I should have gone to Earth after the War and explained things, tried to make things better but I didn't! I stayed here and tried to rebuild our world without worrying about theirs. It's too late now."

"It's never too late. Never," Arcee turned and marches towards the door, her arms folded across her chestplate. At that moment, a new report came across Rodimus's monitor and he turned to look at it idly. He paused and checked it again, his optics going wide in disbelief.

"Arcee!" He called anxiously, hoping to catch her before she exited the room. "Call Magnus, something's come up. I'll need to talk to him, immediately!"

Twenty minutes later, Ultra Magnus strode into the office of the Supreme Commander, his expression one of concern. "Arcee said you needed to see me about some kind of urgent matter." The older Autobot's voice betrayed not a hint of his feelings and was as solid and steady as the bot himself.

"I just got word from Perceptor that they've picked up a faint trace of a suspicious energy signature on Earth."

"That's impossible, there are no Autobots left on Earth, they've all been taken off."

"It's not an Autobot signature."

"Decepticon? They were driven from Earth long before we left. I made sure of it myself."

"Not just Decepticon, Magnus, Galvatron's energy signature."

"Impossible! He was...."

"I know. But that's the problem here. The signature is spread out, though concentrated on the city of Tokyo. You know what that means?"

"I think so, but we need you here."

"No,," Rodimus said, placing a hand on the shoulder of his subordinate, "They need -you- here. I'm just a figurehead for now, I haven't done anything of note since we retook Cybertron."

"But sir, you can't go to Earth and risk the Matrix."

"I know. Which is why it is not coming with me. I'm going to leave the Matrix in your care, as Optimus did, until I return."

"I can't do that. I am no the chosen keeper of the Matrix. It's not my..."

"Don't make me make it an order," The Supreme Commander warned. "I will if you refuse me. Just, please, do this for me."

"Very well but I have to ask. Are you doing this out of a sense of duty, or of revenge?"

"Neither. I'm doing this to find Redemption."

Five hours later, a single shuttle left Cybertron, heading for Earth. Onboard, Hot Rod sat back and watched his home retreat into the darkness of space behind him. It was almost liberating, not having the Matrix inside of him, not having that mantle weighing him down, almost. He was glad to be doing something again. It might have been rash and impulsive for him to leave Cybertron alone, to venture across space and back to a planet with a potentially fatal barrier surrounding it but, he laughed to himself ruefully, why break the habit of a lifetime?