The Despair of Dead End The Stunticons couldn’t believe their optics. Motormaster, their powerful and aggressive leader, had just been blindsighted! The Decepticon lay on the ground, still in deep stasis. Over him stood Big Bang, who was preparing for his second assault. “Don’t hurt us!” pleaded Dead End, knowing it couldn’t end well. “I told you we were being watched! We didn’t kill all of them! We were being followed! Someone hold me!” whined the eternally paranoid Breakdown. "I suppose you were right," Wildrider said quietly. "He looks big. Lots of pieces to be broken into, if you ask me," he said with a sinister grin. "Try your worst," Big Bang taunted. The four Stunticons charged at the Autobot full force, leaving the Arielbots and Orion free to escape. They missed their chance, however, because Motormaster came back online. "You bots are going nowhere. Orion, that Matrix will be mine!" The giant Decepticon lunged at Orion, but his path was blocked by Silverbolt. The two began to grapple, and Silverbolt was clearly losing. The other Arielbots started picking of the Stunticons from Big Bang, who was having a difficult time taking the four of them on all at once. Air Raid grabbed Drag Strip by the next and pulled him backwards. Breakdown was tackled by Slingshot. "Pathetic Autobots!" said Wildrider as he bit into Big Bang's armor. "You can't stop the Stunticons!" "Oh yeah?!" opposed Skydive. "Well this is for what you did to Slingshot!" Without a second thought, Skydive took his rifle and shot at Wildrider. Unfortunately for him, his shot missed his intended target and instead nailed Big Bang in his lower torso. The big bot fell to his knees, and the Stunticons once again ganged up on him, overpowering him. Motormaster let out a villianous laugh, knowing that his victory was imminent. He lifted Orion up in the air by the throat and gave him a dark smile. "Please," Orion begged. "Don't do this. Have mercy!" "No mercy...." "F-f-f--" "What are you trying to say, Autobot?" Motormaster said, now violently shaking Orion back and forth. "Spit it out!" "Fine! Have it your way!" Orion finally shouted. From his arms extended two long Energon blades that he used to slice Motormaster's arm clean off. Orion dropped back to the ground with a new sense of determination. He headbutted Motormaster right in the abdominal region, causing the Decepticon to fall on his back. Suddenly all the fighting stopped, and all eyes were trained on Orion. With Motormaster's life in his hands, everyone wanted to know what he would do next.
Back at the Headquarters Delta and Ariel were escorted to Autobot HQ by Powered Convoy, a large carrier Autobot of very few words. Wheeljack greeted Delta and had the Autobot Medic, Ratchet, come out and take a look at Ariel. She was still in rough shape, and was quickly forgetting simple things, like who she was. "It'll be tough all right," Ratchet said. "But I'll see what I can do." "Thanks, Ratchet," said Wheeljack. "Now, Delta, I believe we still have to introduce you to Trailbreaker, don't we?" Wheeljack led Delta down a system of stairs into a small, very secretive looking room. "It's my own personal workshop," Wheeljack explained, "but I'm letting Trailbreaker use it since this invention is a rather big deal." Delta analyzed the room. There was a wall of monitors, some standard tech equipment, some blueprint holo-screens, and a large table piled high with circuit boards and broken bits of machinery. "Oh, hey Wheeljack. So this is the bot you've brought to guard me, I take it?" Trailbreaker asked. "Yep, he's a good kid, tough, too. I think you'll find he's the right bot for the job." "Well then, nice to meet you, Delta! I suppose you'd like to see what I'm working on?" Wheeljack left the two alone for a while to get some work down of his own. Silently, Trailbreaker worked on his project and Delta would occasionally ask him some questions. He was getting anxious about Ariel, but he knew he couldn't leave his post. Still, he found he cared more about Ariel than he thought he did. "You wanna check up on her, don'tcha?" Trailbreaker asked with a smile. "Well, go on. I should be fine here for a good while yet. Heck, the Decepticons probably don't even know anything about this project anyways! Go!" "Wow, thanks, TB. I'll be back shortly." Quickly, Delta made his way up to the medical bay where Ratchet was having Ariel undergo several cranial scans. He was a little surprised to see that Delta wasn't with Trailbreaker, but agreed to let him see how Ariel was doing. "Whatever happened to her, it must've been more severe than my other cases." "Other cases?" Delta asked. "Yeah, before Ariel was brought in, some other bots managed to locate the bodies of Sentinel and one other bot, but I'm not sure who he was. I thought I heard his name was Dion. Oh well." Suddenly, there was a large bang coming from underground. Ratchet and Delta both knew what had happened, so they rushed down to Wheeljack's lab as quickly as they could. On their way down, they crossed paths with Trailbreaker's kidnapper, Straxus! "Out of the way, Autobots! This cargo is going directly to Megatron!" "You work for Megatron?" Delta asked, sincerely confused. "I thought you two were, like, equals." "We are, slag it! He just had me capture this bot in exchange for--oh, I don't have to tell you! Just die!" Straxus dropped Trailbreaker's offlined body to the ground and took out a giant axe, which he swung wildly. All during his assault, he cussed and cursed repeatedly. "Fragging Megatron, look what I'm reduced to! Grunt duty, that's what! If I wasn't in such dire need of--hey!" Delta had swatted the axe out of Straxus's hand, much to the Decepticon's disgust. "Very well, Autobot. Reinforcements, come!" Suddenly, the whole Autobot HQ was swarmed by a host of Decepticons. They ravaged the place, but ultimately it was just a diversion so Straxus could escape. Alpha Trion observed all the wreckage and then beckoned for Wheeljack to come. Reluctantly, the scientist did. "Who let this happen, Wheeljack? Did I not instruct you to have the Wreckers come to defend Trailbreaker?" Alpha Trion said sternly. "Yes, sir, and I did." "Well then?" "Only one bot could come, and it appears he left his post, sir." "And who among the Wreckers would be so foolish as to leave his post?" Alpha Trion answered, losing his patience. Wheeljack pointed to Delta, who glanced down in shame. He had failed, and now the Decepticons had control of the force field technology.
Back-to-Back updates! Magnus's Scorn As he walked through the wreckage and rubble of the ransacked headquarters, Magnus carried a feeling of remorse and disgust. Whoever this Delta guy was, he must be a bigger dissappointment than Orion! Magnus kicked at a piece of broken equipment and took his glance upward, where his eyes met Wheeljack. "You really picked a winner, didn't you?" Magnus barked. "Look what he's done!" "I intructed him not to leave his post, Magnus, but he did so he could check up on a fembot who's in critical condition. He's been stripped of his title as Wrecker already, and has been exiled for what he did." "And the precious fembot for whom he shirked his responsibilities like an idiot?" "Still being tended too, but Ratchet's working overtime now. Lots of Autobots received damages from Straxus's attack." "Imagine if it were Megatron attacking," Magnus said with a shudder. "We're tearing apart at the seems here! The Autobots are going to die out soon, even sooner if we don't have a leader!" "Orion--" "Don't get me started on Orion, Wheeljack! I'm mad enough as it is! Have we even gotten an update from him yet?" "Yes, last I heard they were headed to Uraya." "Uraya?! The town that was just obliterated by Decepticon attack? That Uraya?" Magnus said, now burning with anger. "It's like he's looking to get himself killed!" "You seem like you need to blow something up, Magnus. Would you say that's correct?" Wheeljack said with suspicious calmness. "Yes, of course. Why?" "Follow me." Wheeljack took Magnus to one of the few rooms untouched by Decepticon attack. In it, there was a battle trailer with two large cannons mounted on top. "It becomes armor, too, of course. If Orion fails, I personally think you'd make a terrific leader. Now go, kick some skidplate," Wheeljack urged. Magnus was awestruck. He carressed the fine metal of the trailer. He examined all the hidden weapons. He stood back in sheer amazement. "Well, try it on!" Wheeljack encouraged. Magnus did just that. The trailer transformed around him, forming a massive suit of armor. He felt very powerful, as though he could take on Megatron all by himself. "Like it?" "It's...it's amazing, Wheeljack. Thank you." "You know, Orion may need your help too. You should go find him." "I will, if he hasn't already gotten himself killed, that is." "Go. Be the hero you've always wanted to be, Magnus." "You know, Magnus seems to bland now, don't you think, Wheeljack. How about you call me Ultra Magnus, from now on?" "Sure thing, Ultra Magnus."
Thanks for the comments, everyone! Now it's time for the Decepticon's POV The Con Job Straxus led his troops up to the gates of Megatron's citadel. He had his minion, Terradive, carry the body of Trailbreaker for him. The troop was welcomed in by Soundwave, who took Trailbreaker off of Terradive's hands and quietly led Straxus up to Megatron. "Ahh, Straxus. I see you've fulfilled your part of our deal." "Yes I have, Megatron. Now don't you dare try to doublecross me, for you know my soldiers are just as capable of destruction as yours. Now give me what I desire." "Very well. Even I know better than to anger you, Lord Straxus. Starscream, fetch our friend here his rewards." The Seeker left the room for a moment and came back hauling a large platform with several Energon cubes piled on top of it. Straxus looked at it dissaprovingly. Several Decepticons in the room tensed up, because they knew what Straxus was capable of when provoked. Megatron seemed to have forgotten something that Straxus was demanding. "This isn't everything I asked for, Megatron. Where is my apprentice?" "Oh, yes, he was so broken down, I didn't think he'd be missed." "WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?!" "Soundwave, go." Now Soundwave left the room. Straxus could very clearly hear screaming, as if someone were being violently tortured. When he reentered the room, he was dragging a filty, broken down mess of a Decepticon behind him. Most of the Decepticons in the room looked on, as if it were no big deal. However, one of them, Thundercracker, was absolutely appalled. "You will pay for this, Megatron. It angered me enough that you used my student for bartering, but look what you've done to him! Mark my words, this will come back to haunt you. Brickhouse, on your feet. Now!" Thundercracker watched as Straxus himself began striking this lowly Decepticon. Why were they all acting so savagely? This was not the Decepticon cause that Thundercracker had believed in. He believed in peace through a powerful dictator who could easily silence any chaos. That wasn't what he saw before him, though. What he saw was a group of savage idiots who were uncivilized. It made him embarrassed to be a Decepticon. Finally, Straxus and his troops left. "Lord Megatron?" Thundercracker whimpered. "Was all that really necessary?" His answer? A swift jab to the face.
Just to let you all know, by the end of the week, I hope to post pictures of my interpretation of Big Bang, Orion, and Megatron!
A True Hero After Thundercracker had taken a beating from Megatron for questioning his methods, he was sent to the CR Chamber, where he had a long time to think. He thought about what being a Decepticon stood for, and how it was being perverted by the likes of Megatron and Straxus. He thought of what it would be like if he did ever decide to defect to the Autobots. He thought about Sentinel Prime, and how he had claimed to be working for peace on Cybertron. "Perhaps," Thundercracker thought to himself, "I'm on the wrong side." The Decepticon's thoughts were interrupted by the sound whooshing noise of Laserbeak, one of Soundwave's minions, passing by. He had been gone for quite some time, monitoring Orion Pax's actions to play back for Megatron. "Ahh, welcome, Laserbeak!" Megatron greeted. "Soundwave, show us what he saw! Now!" Laserbeak transformed into a miniature computer drive which Soundwave plugged into the main monitor. On it, an image of Orion and the Stunticons appeared. "Yessss!" Megatron said with great relish. "The Stunticons did find their target after all! Let's see how they dealt with our Autobot friend now." Orion stood with his arm blades in a crossed position by Motormaster's neck. The Decepticon had already lost an arm to Orion's blades, and wasn't willing to lose anything else. He gave a grunt of frustration, knowing that one false move could be the end of him. The rest of his Stunticons remained motionless, afraid of what might happen to them. The Arielbots took advantage of this and quickly subdued their enemies. "Well?" Motormaster asked. Orion said nothing. "Aren't you going to kill me?" Orion still said nothing. "Spare me the embarassment and just kill me now, you fool! Just do it!" Orion put his arms down and offered his hand to the Decepticon. Motormaster just slapped it away and glared at the Arielbots who had taken out his soldiers. "You won't get away with this, kid. I promise you that." "Did you even stop to think that I chose not to take your life for a reason? Go. Get out of my sight." Motormaster kicked at Drag Strip, who was barely conscious, and ordered him to wake the other Stunticons to retreat. The con reluctantly did as he was told, though with considerably less speed than usual. The five left, and Uraya was silent once more. "Why....why would you let them live, Orion?" demanded Air Raid. "They killed Fireflight! And Big Bang!" "Actually," Slingshot broke in, "Skydive killed Big Bang. Way to go, by the way." Skydive immediately took offense to this and said, "Oh, now don't start with me! I was aiming for the red and black one! You know that! I'd never kill another Autobot on purpose!" "Well he's dead, so there goes our shot at him being Prime!" Slingshot shot back. The three Arielbots began to bicker among themselves, but Silverbolt saw that Orion slipped away and had gone over to look at their fallen friends. "Are you okay?" he asked. "I couldn't bring myself to kill him, Silverbolt. I just couldn't," Orion said, shaking. "If I did, I wouldn't have been any better than the Stunticons!" "You got your message across at least. I doubt they'll come back to bother us again," Silverbolt consoled. "But what if they kill someone else? And what if Big Bang was the chosen one to receive the Matrix?" "I sincerely doubt he was the chosen one. As for the Stunticons killing anyone else....did you see the condition they were left in? They'll be out of commission for quite some time." "I....I guess so." Thundercracker watched on the monitor as all this went down. Orion, the enemy, had spared the life of a Decepticon! He had such compassion, such care for his fellow Cybertronian. He didn't wany anyone to die. He just wanted peace. A familiar thought passed through Thundercracker's mind then, only this time he was more certain of it. The Decepticon way of life wasn't for him. It was the Autobots who were fighting for peace and justice, as was he. Then and there, he decided that he would be an Autobot. The only problem was getting it passed Megatron.
Yep, he's dead and gone. Also, I've made the decision that once I'm totally done writing this story, it will have a very shocking alternate ending to it as well.
Also, time for another one of these! The First Assault "Soundwave, watching this display sickens me. Turn it off. Now." Doing as he was told, Soundwave stored Laserbeak away and shut off the monitor. "It's become very clear to me that our friend Orion is more powerful than what he first led us to believe. He and his group have already taken out our special ops team, which means we have to turn it up a notch." "But, Lord Megatron," Starscream broke in. "You couldn't possibly mean--" "Do not interrupt me!" Megatron shouted as he slammed his fist into Starscream's face. "Now then, Thundercracker, come!" No response. "Thundercracker! Answer me now!" The Decepticon snapped back into focus before Megatron completely lost his temper. "I'm terribly sorry, Lord Megatron. What is it?" "That Matrix is going to be mine, regardless of the cost it may bring us. Orion and his team will be killed, but I need a proper Decepticon who will be competant enough to bring such an idea to reality," Megatron explained. "Sir, you want me too--" "No, I want our secret weapon! Now go! Awaken our sleeping giant!" Thundercracker slipped away, realizing that his may be the perfect chance to leave the Decepticons once and for all. Perhaps if he could sabotage Megatron's precious secret weapon..... "Ahh, there you are!" he said outloud to a closed cell. "Megatron has given me orders to release you to kill a certain group of Autobots, but that's not what I want you to do." The beast behind the cell door growled, as if to say it was listening. Thundercracker took out a microchip and placed it into the machine working as the beast's external brain module. After a quick burst of static, the deed was done, and the beast's mind was reprogrammed. "All right, we've got you back to full capacity again!" Thundercracker announced. "You better head up to Megatron to receive your orders. He's probably waiting for you." The beast left Thundercracker and obediantly lumbered its way up to Megatron's quarters. Now Thundercracker smiled to himself as he thought, "Just wait until Megatron sees what I have in store for him!" Megatron heard the thumping of footsteps and came to the conclusion that Thundercracker had freed the beast, the Decepticons' secret weapon. "Welcome back!" he said. "You've more than likely heard this already, but I have a mission for you-a mission you will complete or else. Understand?" The beast nodded. "Very well. Do you see those Autobots?" Megatron said, gesturing to a still image of Orion and the Arielbots on a computer monitor. "Kill all of them, except for the red and blue one. That one you bring to me alive." The beast finally signalled that it wished to speak, so Megatron allowed him to do so. "I shall complete this task in your GLORIOUS name, Mighty Lord Megatron. No mercy!" he bellowed. "Very good!" Megatron said, legitimately happy. "Go, then, and kill them all! Lugnut, transform and attack!"
Silverbolt "Hey, Silverbolt?" It was a rare moment of downtime, and Orion had a question that was just eating away at him. He figured he may as well get to know the Arielbots a bit better, and so he started by questioning Silverbolt. "Why do you hate flying so much?" The bot sighed and sat down, making Orion instantly regret his question. He had evidently brought up a touchy subject. Two sparkplugs and an Energon converter. That's what I almost lost my life over. My team, the Arielbots, hadn't yet learned to function as a team yet, and we became victims of a Decepticon ambush. "Wow, I can't believe I'm going on a mission with you guys!" Fireflight said enthusiastically. He was so young and, well, unsarcastic back then. "It's not that big a deal. We're just picking up supplies and heading straight back. Settle down, newbie!" Air Raid said rudely. "Come on you two, stop bickering," Skydive warned with a certain sterness in his voice. My team members barely even knew each other, but I thought that this wouldn't be much of an obstacle for us on such a simple mission. Oh...how wrong I was. We were half way through Kaon when our sixth member, Airazor, accidentally set off this motion sensor trap. Unfortunately at this time we Arielbots hadn't been reformated into our airborne bodies, so we couldn't fly away. The ground opened up from beneath us and we feel into a giant, electrically charged cage. One by one, the Decepticons picked us off and tortured us, for no good reason. They didn't even want information. They simply relished the horrified looks on our faces. Skydive, Air Raid, Slingshot, Airazor, Fireflight and I were all brought to our physical and emotional limits by what they made us endure. It was this experience that hardened Slingshot, made him the cynical and sarcastic bot that he was when you knew him. They took Airazor and I and led us to this shooting range. First they strapped her to this platform, and then they launched her right into the air. She was hurtling through the atmosphere when all the shots rang out. The Decepticons were merciless in their onslaught, using her as target practice. She was blasted through several times, and the cons kept firing long after she was dead. I was next. They strapped me in and launched me up into the air. After seeing what they did to Airazor, I was mortified. Once again, the shots rang out, but unlike her, I was prepared. I dodged the first volley of blasts, and eventually managed to manipulate my fall so I could grab a con--they were shooting from the tops of buildings--by the neck and drag him down with me. I snatched his blaster out of his hand and started firing back. No Decepticon fired back at me. It was only after the incident did I find out that the one whose neck I grabbed was their leader, some slagger named Thunderwing. They didn't want to kill their precious leader, so I survived the incident. He didn't. Ever since then, I've hated the feeling of being in the air. It's not because I'm afraid of flying. It's because I always think of her. She was so defenseless, like your girl, Ariel. When we found her, she immediately reminded me of Airazor, which is why I showed such compassion to her. I can only imagine how she's doing now. Silverbolt's voice trailed off then, and he stared at the ground. Orion knew he had to say something. "Silverbolt...look at me." He looked up, with a face of despair. "The Decepticons can't get away with stuff like that, torturing the innocent and defenseless. I didn't kill Motormaster because I knew that would've made me stoop to his level. If it were any other con, though, any other one who slaughters without a second thought, well--" "Thank you, Orion. You know, you would make a great leader." "You...you really think so?" "Well," Silverbolt said wryly, "you are the one holding the Matrix right now." "True, true! Anyways, I guess we should get going. Are you going to be all right?" "Yes, I will be. Let's get going." "Yeah, for Slingshot! And Airazor!" "And Ariel." "Of course. Autobots, let's get going! Next stop, uhhh....Thunderhead Pass!" "Thunderhead Pass? Really?" Silverbolt asked, acting quite disturbed. "Yeah, is there something wrong with that?" "Orion, that's where we were tortured."
Showdown at Uraya Orion and the Arielbots had proceeded on their journey, leaving the city of Uraya far behind. What they didn't know was that they were being followed. Ultra Magnus was quite some distance behind them, so by the time he had readched Uraya, Orion was long gone. "Frag, look at this place," he noted grimly. "I can't find Orion's body here but...oh no. Is that Big Bang?" Ultra Magnus knelt down to a barely recognizable corpse. It had a similar build to Big Bang, but....how could he be so broken down like this? What could've caused this? "Kill Orion." "Who's there?" Ultra Magnus, stepped towards his armor to prepare for a sudden attack. "Kill Orion!" "Who is saying that?" "KILL ORION!" At this point, the Autobot had full transformed into his armor, guns at the ready. "KIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIILLLLLLLLLL ORIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!" Ultra Magnus only had time to glance upward before his entire body was smashed into the ground by Lugnut. Viciously, he picked the blindsighted bot up and began thrashing him about. Ultra Magnus, growing tired of his assailant, took one of his impressive cannons and blasted the beast right in the optic. Lugnut dropped him and howled in anguish. "Curse you, Orion! You will soon die for the GLORIOUS name of Megatron!" "What did you just call me?" "Do not play games, Orion! I will end you!" "I'm afraid," Ultra Magnus said nonchalantly, "that you have mistaken me for someone else. Now," he said, raising his gun to Lugnut's forehead, "I expect an apology." "Ha! You're still an Autobot, and thus an enemy of the GLORIOUS--" *BANG* "Glorious Megatron blah blah blah. Primus, do you ever shut up?" As the Autobot turned to walk away, Lugnut rose from the ground and bodyslammed him! "You may not be Orion," he said, "but you will bring him to me."
Allies on the Inside The Arielbots were getting restless. They didn't like the idea of returning to the same place where they had been tortured so many years ago. It was like reliving a nightmare for them. Orion was having his own problems. Thoughts of Dion and Ariel haunted him. Dion he knew was dead-he had given his life so that Orion might live. Ariel was apparently still alive, but Orion had no idea what her condition was. He was dying to find out, but he knew he couldn't return to HQ. "I really don't like the look of this place, Orion," Silverbolt remarked. "Don't get me wrong, I want to support you but why must we go to a place with such horrible memories attached to it?" "I'm sorry it's tough, but I've been through these routes before. It's the quickest way to Iron City." "Iron City?" "It's where a friend of mine lives. I think he'd be a good candidate to hold the Matrix." "Who is he?" "Metalhawk's his name. Good guy, you'd like him." "Metalhawk?" Air Raid broke in. "The hero of the Gaian Wars?" "The very same!" Orion said, beeming. The thought of meeting up with such a larger than life hero made the Arielbots drop all their pains and memories. It gave them an extra spring in their step. Most importantly, it gave them hope! "Going somewhere, Autobots?" The hope didn't last. Orion was horrified to see the mangled yet still functioning body of Magnus-for he wasn't quite Ultra anymore-being gripped by the hulking brute, Lugnut. "Put him down!" Silverbolt ordered. "You get him when I get Orion!" Lugnut replied. Air Raid made a move towards Lugnut, but Orion held him back. He had a look in his eye, a fiery one that hadn't been present before. "You want me so much? Give us Magnus and I'll fight you!" Lugnut laughed at the ridiculousness of Orion's statement. The Arielbots spoke among themselves, thinking that their friend was in over his head. "Have a little faith in me, guys! He can't do that do Magnus. He just can't!" Lugnut carelessly dropped Magnus's body to the ground and kicked him over to Orion. Then he reached behind himself and revealed a large staff. "You choose to fight? Then fight!" Orion ran in and instantly was flipped over on his back. Lugnut pressed the Autobot to the ground and prepared to deliver a devastating punch. Orion struggled to break free of Lugnut's grasp, but his torso was completely pinned down. He then remembered what he did with Motormaster and revealed his two Energon blades. He crossed them in front of his face, bracing for Lugnut's assault. The Decepticon's fist came crashing down, but Orion's arm blades prevented the blow. Lugnut was caught off guard and stood up a bit, accidentally allowing Orion to escape. The scrawny Autobot took advantage of this and tackled Lugnut to the ground. The Decepticon was infuriated and tried to push Orion off, but he wouldn't let go. He was clinging on for dear life, much to Lugnut's chagrin. He had his blade poised to go right into the Decepticon's eye when he was distracted by the urgent words of someone he couldn't see. "Don't do it! He can help you!" The Arielbots stood between this newcomer and Orion so he couldn't interfere. "Who are you?" Slingshot asked cautiously. "My name is Thundercracker. I'm a Decepticon, but I want to help. That brute over there, Lugnut, can't kill you!" "And why not?" Skydive asked, doubtful and suspicious. "Because I messed with his mind. He was offline but when I rebooted him, I put a nano chip in his core processor. He works for me as a bit of a sleeper agent." "Then why is he trying so hard to destroy me?!" Orion asked, now pinned to the ground again by Lugnut. "Lugnut, enough! Epsilon! Epsilon!" "Epsilon?" Silverbolt asked. "It's the activation word used to restart his programming. I know, you Autobots aren't much for tampering with the minds of others. Ethical slag and all that, but Lugnut really isn't all there anyways. He's more beast than bot, if you know what I mean." Orion stood back, amazed at how tame Lugnut had suddenly become. "You couldn't stop him from doing what he did to Magnus?" he asked bitterly. "First off, you're welcome for saving your life. Second, I didn't know. I was trying to locate him and--nggghhh....." The Decepticon knelt down in pain, gripping his side. "What's wrong?" Silverbolt asked. "N...nothing. I just spoke out of turn and Megatron gave me an attitude adjustment. Grrrrr....I hate him so much. I hate all of them! Perverting the once noble cause the Decepticons stood for!" "Ignoring the 'noble cause' bit for a moment, I'm going to guess you've completely gone rogue now?" Orion asked. "Not completely. Megatron doens't technically know I'm here. If he did, I'd be dead. He really wants that Matrix of yours." "Why?" "He sees it as a threat to his empire. When he killed Sentinel, he thought that he destroyed the Matrix with him. When he found out that he was wrong, he instantly made you-and anyone involved with you-a target." "Wow. So why did he have to destroy the Cybertronian Archive?" Orion asked. "It was all an attempt to lure in Sentinel Prime. His group of Autobots were off somewhere else, battling Trypticon." "And lucky me...I was in the wrong place at the wrong time....anything else I should know, Thundercracker?" "Yes. Back when I was still at the Decepticon Citadel, Megatron was amassive this whole army. He's sending them all after you, Orion. More than likely, they're on their way right now." "How do they know where we are?!" a bewildered Air Raid snarled. "Megatron has been watching you all using this," Thundercracker answered, pulling out from behind him the crushed head of Laserbeak. "It was a spy he was using to track you all down. I found him snooping about and took it upon myself to kill the thing. Again, you're welcome." "So the Decepticons are coming for us then? Great!" Air Raid snapped. "Uhhh...guys?" Slingshot quietly broke in. "I think they're already here." The crew looked over the horizon to see that Slingshot was right. The sky had turned dark with the Decepticon hoarde. Things were going to get messy.
