KS got this one nailed down, awesome work.

 

Awesome stuff, although admittedly I've only read the first chapter  

Can't wait to see more of this!

 

Double post

 

Episode 26: Imposing Authority



"So, how is he Doc?"

The sound of the question caused Sawbones’ optics to flare to life. He had been working on Springer for over twenty-two hours straight before stabilizing the patient and taking a break. He decided to have a seat in the hallway outside the operating room before heading to a spare regeneration chamber for a few off-line hours. Upon checking his internal chronometer he realized that he had been sitting at that chair for over two hours. The elderly physician looked up at the robot asking the question, the red youngster that he always saw palling around with Springer, Hot Rod. "Fine so far, kid. The procedure is going as well as we can expect, but I've had to do a great deal of work on his nervous circuitry, so we're keeping him in stasis lock until the completion of the operation. We don't want him waking up into a world of pain, so he's going to be in no condition for visitors for quite some time."

Hot Rod smiled and sat next to Sawbones. "That's fine, he's been acting like a real tool lately anyway. I just wanted to make sure that he’d be alright."

The tired physician chuckled. "So the two stooges are squabbling? I thought you guys shared a neural net. Did he refuse to pull your finger or something?"

"Man, the Stooges? Even your Earth references are old." Hot Rod smiled at the ancient white robot. "Naw, I have no idea why he's acting like he is. He's just blowing me off all the time, taking every opportunity to put me down, which is what we do, but now when he does it, it seems like he's not joking. Anyway, I just chalked it up to pre-operation anxiety." The young red Autobot looked Sawbones up and down and shot him a look of feigned nervousness. "And given that it's you that will be operating on him, I can't say I blame him for being nervous."

"Such disrespect shown toward a superior officer could land you in the brig!" The angered voice of Elita One echoed through the hallway. The two seated Autobots turned to see her marching toward them.

Sawbones shook his head in amusement. "Aw, the kid's just playing, though now I can see why Kup hates him."

Elita One shot a glare at the red youngster. "Such 'playing' will not be tolerated in my army."

Hot Rod met her stare and arrogantly replied. "Well then, I guess it's good that this isn't your army." The red robot turned to Sawbones. "You guessed right, I was playing. I know that you're an excellent doctor and that Springer is lucky to have you working on him. If I offended you with my comment, then I apologize." Hot Rod glanced again at the Femme Commander. "But I know that you're not so uptight as not to catch the joke, Sawbones."

Elita smiled at the impudent Autobot. "Well Hot Rod, you're right about one thing and wrong about another. Sawbones apparently was aware that you were kidding; that's where you were right. Your comment about this not being my army, that's where you were wrong." She nodded as Hot Rod's optics expanded. "You see, when Ultra Magnus left for Earth, he placed me temporarily in charge of the Autobot forces." Elita One found the look on Hot Rod's face to be priceless. "So I have the authority to deal with any insubordination as I see fit."

"Ahem." Sawbone's pulled Elita One's attention toward himself and shook his head in a silent appeal on Hot Rod's behalf.

The acting Autobot Commander on Cybertron reluctantly acquiesced to the silent request. She looked back at Hot Rod. "You're lucky that I'm not as uptight as you seem to think. Now get out of here." The imposing pink warrior watched as the red Autobot got up and walked away.

Once Hot Rod was gone Sawbones stood up. "What in the Inferno was that all about?"

Elita shook her head. "I don't know, that kid just rubs me the wrong way."

Sawbones nodded slightly. "I guess he can get under your outermost layer, but he's a good kid."

Elita looked at the door that Hot Rod had exited through. "Perhaps, but if he hurts Arcee in the slightest, I'll grind him to powder."

Sawbones knew what she meant. While Hot Rod would never physically harm her, he had seen many a 'male' knowingly or unknowingly cause a great deal of emotional grief to Femmes in his time. He had lost count of the devastated Femmes who had attained, and quickly lost Sunstreaker's affection just prior to the war. It was one of those pointless ailments that Sawbones just didn't have much patience for. "She's a big girl, Elita. Leave the two of them be."

Elita turned to the physician and decided to get down to business. "Tell me about your progress in the procedure."


***


The giant cicada cruised over the water as it made its way to the California coastline. In seconds the thunderous sounds of the waves crashing against the rocky shore became overwhelming, and a moment later Venom was zipping over dry land. After four straight hours of 'Beavis and Butthead', the sounds of waves were blissful. He had been forced to sit through the vulgar, yet childish human animated show in an attempt to get more familiar with Rampage. Venom had walked away from the meeting having learned little other than how base the savage Predacon truly was. Four hours of silly jokes, cruel pranks, and discussions involving human biological functions that the dark Predacon couldn't possibly understand. But despite his ignorance, Rampage found every second of the pointless programming enthralling.

Venom could only be thankful that it was all over. He now had meetings with the other four Predacons ahead of him in the coming days, but going by how the other Decepticons described them, none would be as bad as Rampage. But any and all meetings with Predacons would have to wait. He had received word from Ransack that the other Insecticons had been found and rounded up, so the issues that had been weighing on his mind for quite some time could finally be addressed. And no matter where his true loyalties may or may not lie, for the time being he needed to give the impression that the Insecticons, both old and new, were his primary focus.

Ahead, in a decimated fruit grove he saw the other six biomechanical Decepticons waiting for him in robot mode. They had probably chosen this location so that they could feast while they waited, and the human farmer had more than likely informed the authorities of the infestation of Decepticons in his field. It would probably be less than an hour before some sort of Autobot contingent arrived at the request of the humans. Venom cursed his Insecticon forebears for their lack of patience and discretion.


The green, orange and silver cicada transformed and landed before the others. "Thank you for coming my brothers."

The statement went completely ignored by Kickback and Bombshell, who were focused on the conversation that they were having with each other. "So you will teach me how build mind control devices like yours?"

Bombshell laughed at his friend's request. "I suppose, but why the sudden interest in my technology?"

"That's enough." Barrage's attempt to end the private conversation, like Venom's greeting, went completely ignored.

"Let's just say that my methods of...influencing others is not quite as effective as yours. I feel that I could benefit greatly from a few lessons from you."

"SILENCE!!!" Venom refused to be ignored any longer. "Why did you bother showing up if you were just going to yammer away with each other!?!"

Kickback exasperatedly took a step toward Venom. "We figured that your lackeys went to the trouble of tracking us down, so I guess showing up was the least that we could do." The former Commander of the Insecticons shot a glance at his fellow biomechanical prototypes and displayed a sarcastic grin. "I guess we can let you say what you came to say now. But make it quick, we've got a planet to pillage."

Venom angrily looked from Kickback, to Shrapnel and then to Bombshell. "You were brought here to discuss your complete disregard of my authority."

The three original Insecticons laughed, and Shrapnel stepped forward next to Kickback. "Oh, that that that."

"Yeah, ya stuttering twit, THAT!" Ransack belligerently yelled out.

Shrapnel turned to deal with the insult-hurtling Ransack, but a loud voice halted his progress. "HALT!" Shrapnel twisted his head toward Venom, revealing the smirk that displayed how little he thought of the assigned leader's authority. Venom smirked in return. "You...” He turned his head to look at the other two original Insecticons as well. "All of you will learn to obey my orders. You see, I can go to Shockwave and have him enforce your obedience, or I can go to Megatron and have him do the same, only more unpleasantly I believe." Venom shook his head. "But I decided that I would rather handle Insecticon matters internally." With that he nodded to Chop Shop, Barrage and Ransack, who instantly set upon their insubordinate comrades.

Barrage and Ransack tackled Shrapnel, teaming up on the only original Insecticon with a significant degree of strength. Shrapnel swung wildly, howling in both rage and excited joy as he struggled to fight off the attack. But his two assailants pressed forward nonetheless, and Shrapnel was quickly overwhelmed by the combined attack.

Chop Shop lunged for Bombshell, but was immediately put on the defensive as he barely evaded a shot from Bombshell's head-mounted mortar launcher. Landing clumsily on the ground, Chop Shop looked up to see Bombshell's right foot bearing down on him. The impact sent the reddish brown Insecticon rolling across the ground, but the blow did little to faze Chop Shop, who transformed to continue his attack in insect mode. The stag beetle leapt up and tackled Bombshell, and once on the ground utilized its six limbs, pinchers and superior strength to quickly dominate the struggle.

Despite being overpowered, Bombshell did manage to throw Chop Shop off of him and momentarily escape the insect’s grasp, giving himself time to transform as well. The black and purple rhinoceros beetle charged the stag beetle, and the two giant insects collided with tremendous force. Despite Chop Shop's greater strength, Bombshell's design allowed him to knock the stag beetle back. But Chop Shop used his backward momentum to prop up on his insect hindquarters, transforming and spinning around as he did so, so that his robotic form now stood over the rhinoceros beetle. In a single fluid motion, Chop Shop raised both hands over his head and drove his body downward, slamming his fists into the back of Bombshell.

Venom and Kickback were locked up in a deadly grip, each struggling to gain ground against the other. The two would-be leaders shoved and grappled, doing anything that they could to establish dominance, but it appeared that physically they were too evenly matched for one to gain a clear advantage. The brawlers finally fell to the ground, each one launching a punch as the opportunity presented itself, but none of the blows caused any real damage to the recipient.

While on top in the struggle, Kickback pushed himself off and quickly leapt to his feet. Venom quickly made his way to a standing position as well, but a quick snap-kick from Kickback sent him hurtling back. Venom shook off the blow, but before he could get to his feet a giant black grasshopper had landed on him and begun tearing into his chest with its two powerful jaws.

A quick series of punches knocked the grasshopper off of Venom, and the Insecticon leader immediately got to his feet and leapt into the air, transforming to cicada mode as he did so. The grasshopper leapt after the cicada, but the flying insect dodged the lunge. Kickback landed, transformed and began firing on the giant winged insect. Venom dropped down and took cover behind what was left of a pillaged orange tree. The Insecticon Commander transformed and began trading shots with the former Commander.

Kickback's attack came to an abrupt end as a giant black and yellow locust landed on him. Having dispatched Shrapnel with the aid of Barrage, Ransack now began tearing into Kickback, while several yards away Chop Shop was putting the finishing touches on Bombshell.

Venom calmly walked out from behind the now-smoldering, tree and approached his predecessor. "Don't dismantle him Ransack, I want him fully functional. I want him walking away from here having clearly learned today's lesson." Ransack stepped off of Kickback, transformed, and lifted the beaten Insecticon to his feet and held him up. Venom continued walking until he stopped before the battered Kickback. "You see Kickback, I'm well aware of your belief that you are the rightful leader of the Insecticons, and that I am just a temporary obstacle for you to ignore, and eventually remove. You have schemed to usurp me from the moment I arrived on this planet, haven't you?"

Kickback raised his head and sent a defiant glare at the green, orange and silver victor and smiled. "Oh, dear, you've found me out...” The darkly colored Insecticon chuckled ominously. "Now, what exactly are you going to do about it?"

Venom shook his head in frustrated anger. "I had hoped that today's demonstration made one thing clear. That I am the leader, the head bug; and you, you're just one of my drones." Venom gripped Kickback's chin and held it so that their optics lined up. "Unfortunately, that fact may not have sunk into your cranial shell." The Insecticon leader released his grasp and stepped away from his ensnared subordinate. Gazing upon the other two original Insecticons, he raised his voice so that all could hear. "All future disciplinary action will be progressively more brutal, until the fact that I tried to make clear today does finally sink in. I am in command here!"

Kickback jerked himself free from Ransack's grasp and started walking away, his voice still containing a hint of amusement. "So...command."


***


"Darkmount, come in. This is the Decepticon Warship Catapult requesting assistance." The dark red Communications Officer continued his attempts to contact the home world, attempts that had yielded no response for the last four hours. Glancing around the brightly lit bridge, he looked for any sign of hope from other members of the crew, anything to justify continuing his seemingly pointless attempts at contact with Cybertron. He didn't bother looking to his commanding officer sitting in the Captain's chair. Nothing positive would be coming out of that Decepticon.

Finally, a static-filled garble could be heard through the speaker of the small communications station on the far left side of the ship's bridge. "Kkkrrrrppsss...Dark...kkkrrrpppssss...peat...kkrrppss..."

The officer looked hopefully to his commander, who sent him a disinterested nod to answer the response. The red Seeker turned back to the console and attempted to clarify the reception. "This is the Decepticon Warship Catapult. We are returning per your command, but our energon reserves are all but depleted and we do not have enough to return to Cybertron. Please advise."

This time the unknown voice was comprehensible. "Warship Catapult, this is Darkmount. Please forward your current location so that we may better advise."

The Seeker smiled and complied. "Of course. We are in quadrant seven forty three of the galaxy's outer rim."

The response from Darkmount was several minutes in coming, but eventually the same unfamiliar voice returned. "I am forwarding coordinates to a planet that is only one tenth of a vorn's travel for you, going by Darkmount’s last record of the Catapult’s capabilities. Once you arrive you will report to Lord Megatron himself. Our High Commander has procured vast energon from this world, and will be able to refuel, and best decide how to assign your Warship."

The Captain of the ship lurched to his feet. "Megatron lives!?!" Unfamiliar feelings of joy and hopefulness entered into him, but his innate personality and eons of pessimism quickly forced the feelings out.

The voice, seemingly irritated with having had to answer this question numerous times to numerous returning warlords, curtly replied. "Yes, Darkmount out."

Ignoring the insolence of the voice, the Warlord rubbed his chin. "This certainly changes things. With Megatron alive and in command, and a sufficient supply of energon at our disposal, our campaign of spreading misery throughout the galaxy can begin in earnest! The age of the Decepticon Empire is about to commence!"

The other Decepticon warriors cheered, and the red communications officer rose to his feet as well. "Excellent news, Lord Darkwing!"

"Yes Furtive, this news is a temporary oasis in our painful existence." Hints of a smile could be seen briefly on Darkwing's face, but his characteristic frown quickly reasserted itself. "Drag that useless, morose twit Dreadwind out of his quarters and bring him here! It practically takes an act of Primus to break him out of his melancholy stupor, so I'd better start motivating him now so that he's ready to spread his angst to the Autobots, and anyone else who would dare get in our way, when we arrive on this new planet!"

"Aye Captain. Should we revive the Nebulons as well?"

Darkwing shook his head. "No. Even a tenth of a vorn would account for a fair chunk of their pathetically short lifespan, plus I have no desire to deal with those creatures until it's absolutely necessary. Keep them in hibernation."


*


Deep within a giant, corkscrew-shaped craft traveling within the same quadrant, a long metallic tentacle snapped a switch on a complex communications array to the off position. The tentacle slid its way back toward its point of origin, and rested beneath the body that it was attached to; an egg-shaped metallic structure hovering several feet in the air upon a beam of light, and bearing multiple faces.

The odd being traveled toward the center of the room, where six others of its kind were hovering, awaiting its arrival. Once it had taken its place with its comrades, the creature addressed them. "It would seem that our creations have found another world possessing the element that they require for survival. And unlike with the Transformers on Nebulos, they actually plan on sharing their find with their home world."

One of the creature's companions shifted faces and responded. "Perhaps we can use Cybertron's dependence on this new world to our advantage. I suggest that we commandeer this vessel and use it to approach this new Decepticon colony without arousing suspicion. The Cybertronians on this world are probably few in number, and therefore should be easily conquered by our forces. From there we can initiate our reclamation of Cybertron, and of our disobedient creations."

The other creatures smiled with all of their faces and bobbed their bodies in acceptance of this proposal.


***


The two metal carts rolled on their large wheels, past the open outer gates and into Iacon, their six owners finally coming to a stop as two Autobot guards approached them and silently ordered them to stop with their outstretched palms. The six beleaguered neutrals stepped away from the large carts that contained all of their possessions and spread their arms and legs as they had seen others do to gain access to the city.

Roadbuster walked up to the first of the refugees and ran a hand-held scanner along the outside of the robot's frame. Upon completion of the scan, Roadbuster brought the scanner to his face to examine the results, and nodded as they came back clean of any weaponry or anomalous energy readings. "This one's clear." A couple minutes later the five companions had also been inspected and granted access as well. Roadbuster walked away from the apprehensive newcomers and toward the other guard at the station, Camshaft. "Have you scanned the wagons yet?"

"Yup, not so much as a data pad in there. Nothing electronic whatsoever."

Roadbuster nodded as he reached into the carts and sifted around with his right hand through the simple metal tools held within. The first immigrant to be searched pleadingly held his right hand out to stop Roadbuster. "Please kind Autobot, these simple items are all that we possess. Do not damage our only belongings."

Roadbuster nodded and withdrew his hand. "Of course. Nothing was damaged. Please proceed to the Capital Spires. There you will be issued rations and be assigned living quarters." The hulking green and orange Autobot pointed toward the tops of the large capital buildings.

The grateful robot nodded and smiled. "Thank you." With that the six refugees gripped their carts and started making their way toward the center of the city as the two Autobots called the next group forward to the checkpoint. After traveling for nearly three miles, the neutrals pulled away from the major thoroughfare that they had been traveling on and led their carts down a dark, deserted alley.

Coming to a stop, the refugees stepped away from the wagons, and the leader of the group hesitantly spoke toward them. "It is safe to come out, there is no one around."

Two quiet thuds could be heard from underneath each of the carts, and a second later a dark shape emerged from under the wagon in front and slithered before the watching robots. The form straightened itself out, a black creature extending thirty feet in height and bearing a human male's torso in Ninja garb blending into the tail of a serpent; shapes completely unfamiliar to these neutral Cybertronians. Red, human shaped eyes glared brightly from the slit in the black mask and sent waves of terror through the refugees.

From the opposite side of the same cart another form launched into the air, landing gracefully on top of the cart. It had the appearance of a thirty-foot human male in orange and maroon Samurai garb. It landed in a kneeling position upon the heap of metal tools within the cart, its helmet-covered head facing downward. Slowly the head looked up, revealing a skull where the face should be with an evil red glow coming out from deep within each of the sockets. With a shiny metal katana gripped in its right hand, the form leapt into the air again, flipped and landed next to the dark, serpentine creature.

From underneath the rear cart, two other forms emerged, but neither displaying the grace or skill of the first two creatures. The larger of the two was a thirty one foot, bare-chested human male with a mustache and wearing only a brown loincloth and assorted strips of armor that appeared to be made out of leather; again, a sight completely alien to the refugees.

The fourth creature had two legs mounted on a pair of split-toed green feet holding up a powerfully built torso with shoulders that sprouted not only a pair of dark purple arms, but two pairs of similarly colored tentacles as well. The chest was covered in a light blue armor, and the monstrous dark purple head was covered in a vintage human diving helmet of the same color.

These two new creatures stood next to the first two, and all four glared at the six terrified refugees. The leader of the frightened robots overcame his fear and stepped forward. "We have done as you requested. Please honor your end of the bargain and send the order to release our comrades."

The skeletal samurai nodded and raised his wrist to his bony mouth. The garb on the top of his wrist seemed to peel away, revealing a wrist communicator underneath. Keeping his red optics on the neutrals, the skull-faced creature spoke in Bludgeon's voice. "Release the incentive." Upon completion of the short sentence, the 'sleeve' grew back, once again covering the wrist communicator. The 'Samurai' bowed to the refugees. "You have performed well, and as I promised your comrades have been released and no harm will come to them. There is no greater bond than the word of Bludgeon." As Bludgeon rose from his bow, a smile was spread over his bony mouth. "But while honor compels me not to harm your friends being held in the catacombs of Harbornia, I made no such promise regarding the safety of you and your traveling companions."

The optics of the refugees flared in horror, but a blur of deadly movement from the four monsters had them cut down before any cries for help could be elicited. Leaving the dismembered corpses by the carts, the four monsters escaped into the shadows.


***


"What in the Inferno is this?" Wheeljack looked at Inferno, wondering if he ever regretted having a shared designation with the Cybertronian equivalent of the human Hell.

The large red Autobot seemed not to take any offense to Mirage's angered outburst and simply shrugged back to Wheeljack. "We knew that he wouldn't like it. And since this was your idea, I'll let you do the explaining."

Wheeljack shook his head as he and Inferno lowered the large portion of metal that would be used to section off Mirage's large living quarters into two smaller rooms. "Thanks pal." Wheeljack turned away from the now chuckling Inferno and faced the furious Mirage. "Look Mirage, now that Steeljaw, Ramhorn, Eject, Rewind, Grand Slam and Raindance are here, we've run out of living quarters. You have the largest room outside of Prime's, so we figured that it would only be fair to commandeer some of your space to create a living quarters for Ramhorn."

"RAMHORN! Are you insane? The last place that I want to be is anywhere near where that lunatic calls home! And even ignoring the danger of having him around, he's a filthy, low class pig unfit to dwell anywhere near me!"

Wheeljack's side lobes lit as he replied. "Actually he's not a pig, he's a rhinoceros."

"WHO CARES?" Mirage seemed to calm slightly. "Look, as they were, these quarters were still inadequate for someone of my caliber. You may think that my quarters are large, and by your standards they very well may be, but for me, for Iacon's most prominent socialite and industrialist, it falls short. But because the Decepticons needed to be stopped I sucked it up and accepted my lot." Mirage defensively held his hands up. "Now, I'm not saying that I'm any better than anyone else on this ship, but different people have different requirements. I gave up much more than most Autobots to fight this war, I bring much more to the table than the majority of Autobots, I add a sorely needed element of class to this rag-tag bunch, so I honestly feel that at the very least, I deserve these quarters." Mirage held his hands out wide, encompassing both sides of his partially segmented room. "These entire quarters!"

Inferno laughed out loud. "What a bunch of slag. Look, you blue-oiled snob, despite your warped logic, this is more than fair. And regardless, the order to do this comes directly from Prime, so take a hike you priss!"

Mirage glared at the massive red robot, but his heated stare was met only with a mocking smile, and an optic flicker that seemed to be an invitation to act on his anger. But Mirage resisted the urged to lash out against the larger Inferno, and simply stormed away from the two Autobots remodeling his room, down the hall, and eventually out of the Ark.

The white and blue Autobot ran up to the rock face that ran along the mountain side that led away from the Ark and punched it full force, sending rocky debris in every direction. "SLAG IT ALL!"


*


"The only thing worse than Autobot technology...” Starscream slammed his fist against his cluttered workbench and tossed the data pad that he was looking at over his shoulder. "...Is a Decepticon interpretation of Autobot technology." The frustrated Decepticon shook his head, but managed to smile. "But I guess now that I don't have an air force to command, I have plenty of time to decipher what those hacks back at Darkmount were trying to explain." Suddenly loud shouting was being transmitted through the communications console that was built into the cavern that Starscream was calling home these days. Deciding to grant himself a reprieve from the seemingly endless quest to build a working wormhole generator, the gray Seeker walked over to his communications station. "What in the Inferno is this?"

The former Decepticon Air Commander approached the console and looked over the two-dozen screens to see which camera was recording the commotion. Spying the image of Mirage punching rocks and kicking the dirt, Starscream zoomed in on the Autobot, grinned and laughed. "Oh Mirage, I always expected more from a bot of your pedigree."

"You're all low-class swine, unfit to polish my feet!" The image of the blue and white Autobot on the screen screamed out at the large, golden-hued craft he stood before. "Ill-mannered ruffians whose company I no longer wish to keep! I regret the day I enlisted! A pointless, insignificant army made up of pointless, insignificant Autobots! What in the Inferno was I thinking? I hate you all!"

Starscream's laugh gently rolled into a low chuckle as he watched the enraged Autobot storm away from the scuttled ship, transform and drive away. The Decepticon relaxed in the chair before the arrangement of screens and rubbed his chin. "I always knew there was a reason that I liked you, Mirage."


***


"But WHY do you like him?" Elita One couldn't fathom why such a smart, strong and confident Femme, one that she had come to feel for in a manner similar to the way that higher level organic females felt for their offspring, could possibly be so enthralled with such a cocky, insubordinate, immature prankster. Arcee must certainly be smart enough not to be taken in by the youth's charms, but to Elita's confused dismay, she apparently wasn't.

Arcee walked alongside Elita One through the streets of Iacon toward the Capital Spires. "He's not like that around me. I mean, yes, he jokes around all the time, and is never serious, and kind of has a little bit, just a little bit, of resentment for authority...” The younger pink Femme could only sigh and shrug. "But with me he's smart, and sweet, and kind, and cute, and brave, and respectful, and honest, and creative..."

"Yes, that's all fine, but this is your first romantic contact with a 'male'. Bots that start out being sweet and kind and romantic can sometimes turn out to be slimy scum-buckets. I just don't want you to learn this the hard way."

Arcee smiled at the statement, not because of its meaning, but because of the maternal tone in Elita's voice. Arcee looked up at her Commander and giggled. "Exactly, this IS my first romantic experience. I might get fooled, or hurt, or something else, but even the bad parts will be new and fun in a way. And it's not like I'll be wasting the best vorns of my life on some jerk; we're immortal."

Elita One cocked her head to the side and gave her friend a sly grin. "Only if you're careful."

The illumination of Arcee's optics brightened in a rolling pattern. "Yeah, yeah, I know. But I'm still going to date Hot Rod. I know you don't like him, but I think he's amazing."

"It's not that I don't like the lad, in fact I do see many of those traits that you see in him. And in time I'm sure that he'll be a great bot, but it may take many vorns for him to get to that point, and I just think that you'd be better served by not waiting for him to grow up." But one look at Arcee's face let Elita know that there would be no convincing the Femme, and accepting defeat in this matter, the Commander smiled and decided to offer advice. "But since you insist on being stubborn in regards to this, may I suggest that you not let him know how 'amazing' you think he is. As long as he's the one chasing you, you'll be in complete control of the relationship."

Arcee laughed. "Way ahead of you there, Boss."

Elita laughed as well. While she was elated to have 'males' around again, there were certain moments that could only be shared with other Femmes.

As the two pink warriors made their way through the narrow street, a dark form slipped between the shadows that ran along the sides of the buildings that they passed. A form whose long, winding lower section stuck to the sides of the edifices high above the Femmes. As it slid into a particularly large, dark shadow it came to a stop and raised its left arm to its masked face, uttering a low whisper as it did so. "Blight to Bludgeon; I've got a surprise for you. While I've been unable to find Ultra Magnus, I have stumbled upon The One."

Bludgeon's equally low voice came back. "Are you sure? I heard that she was killed in the conquest of Matriopolis."

Blight's dark form remained motionless as he responded. "I heard the same thing, but I am looking at Elita One as we speak."

"What is your location?"

"I am maintaining a distance of about one hundred forty yards behind she and another Femme. I found them inspecting a space-faring vessel at the city's western air and spaceport, and they are currently returning to the Capital Spires via the back roads of the former entertainment district. It is the perfect place for an assassination. We could terminate the two Femmes and still have plenty of time to find and eliminate Magnus before they are missed or their bodies are found."

"I'm on my way. I have found out that Magnus is currently off world, so Elita One is not only the primary target, but also most likely the only one of real value in this city. I'll be by your side in nine minutes."

Elita One and Arcee continued walking through the seemingly deserted section of Iacon, taking the time to admire the long abandoned structures that they passed. Though it had only been ten minutes since she had accepted Arcee's choice to continue seeing Hot Rod, Elita felt the urge to reinitiate her meddling. "You know, Arcee, your boyfriend had some pretty harsh words for me this morning outside the infirmary."

Arcee scoffed. "Oh, and I'm sure that you did nothing to instigate those harsh words."

Elita smiled and mockingly replied. "No, I didn't egg him on in the least."

"Uh huh, I'm sure you were nothing but polite to him. Anyway, I'm tired of talking about my love life, tell me about the great and wonderful Prime."

The Commander laughed. "What's to tell? He's tall, has broad shoulders, a narrow waist, blue optics and a very important job."

"Alright, no more Earth television for you. You sound like a vapid human female."

Elita nodded at Arcee. "Deal. Blaster insisted that I watch that crap whenever I got off duty. He claimed that it would help me learn about our new allies, but it just seemed to be a big waste of time." A dreamy look came over the powerful Femme. "No, despite his physical attributes, it's Optimus' soul that I love. He's the kindest, most noble being that I've ever come into contact with." Her cheery demeanor dimmed sorrowfully. "But fate is compelled to keep us apart."

Bludgeon looked at Blight, knowing that his protégé was struggling not to laugh at the ironic truth held in Elita One's statement. A statement that would more than likely be her last, as the two masters of Metallikato moved nearer and nearer to their attack against the two Femmes. Bludgeon gripped the handle of his charged metal blade tightly, as Blight did the same with his.

They prepared to lunge as the one called Arcee put her hand on Elita One's shoulder. "Come on, since when do you get all dramatic? Besides, you'll be reunited with Prime when he arrives here in a few days."

Bludgeon and Blight immediately turned their optics toward each other, both obviously arriving at the same realization. The two would-be assassins slipped back into the shadows and vanished.

 

Dude, you can't end it there! You realize now you'll have rabid fan boys beating down your doors, demanding more?!

Nebulons! YAY! The rest of the fandom may have hated them, but I think they're cool. Though, Darkwing being one of the war lords seems....odd to me. But whatever, just keep 'em coming!

 

Uh oh... Bludgion and Blight are posed to do some real damage. One complaint though. Seems as though your bringing the Nebulons in Kinda early.

 

Very cool, I can't wait to see your rendition of the Powermasters. Prime against Blight and Bludgeon should be awesome, as well as SS and Mirage.

Keep it up!

 

Starscream and Mirage...awesome!

 

I absolutely love this fic. You got well thought out introductions to everyone and plenty of surprises. For example, I can't believe it was Omega Supreme who had the greatest effect on Predaking.

I've been trying to figure out who might help the Autobots by undergoing the nanotech process. The only ones I can think of are the Monsterbots. Unless you bring in some Beast Wars characters.

Interesting design for Blight's pretender shell when Starscream's seems likely to be unused.

Any chance of Arcee knowing some Metalikato? Her Botcon character did learn it eventually.

Punch's character is very interesting

I have to say the thought of Darkwing as a Decepticon leader does strike me as weird, but without Scorponok, Cyclonus or Scourge, then I guess they really don't have anyone qualified. Except for Spinister.

By the way, early on you used the name Wideload in a list of casulties and since you normally use newly created characters as fodder I thought I'd point out there is an Autobot called Wideload. He was the Throttlebot dump truck.

With the Autobots getting the triple changer tech will Scattershot be getting the upgrade? In his TF universe entry at least he had an artillary mode, which would fit with most of the Scramble City leaders having a third mode as toys, but at least his was useful.

Jason Barnett

 

I don't really like this story, but that's just because I don't like G1; however I do respect you as being a really good writer. Although I have to admit I really do like your version better.

 

Episode 27: Prodigal Fathers


"What do you want? Leave me alone!" the lightly colored Decepticon barked at his unwelcome guest as the door to the dark, cramped room opened.

The blue Darkwing walked in despite the wishes of the room's occupant. "Get up, Dreadwind! I'm getting tired of having to drag you out of this hole every day. There is too much to prepare for to allow you to sulk like this. Now accompany me to the bridge!"

"Slag off!"

The exasperated Darkwing shook his head. "Perhaps I should revive Hi-Test. He always had a way to get you motivated."

Dreadwind quickly twisted his head and shot Darkwing a glare. "I'll squash him if you do! I mean it, I'll grind the annoying, know-it-all little meat bag into a pulpy wet slick on the floor."

Darkwing walked toward the unyielding Dreadwind, leaned toward him and smiled cruelly. "We both know that no matter how tempted you get, you won't do that. So get up, or I will have him badger you until you finally comply."

Dreadwind looked pleadingly up at Darkwing. "Why are you doing this to me?"

Darkwing helped his friend to his feet. "So that you can share your overwhelming despair and hopelessness with others."

In unison, a beeping noise came from each of their wrists, though only Darkwing bothered to answer. "What is it?"

The voice on the other end was clearly nervous. "Sir, an enormous craft has appeared in front of us from out of nowhere."

Darkwing's response came without hesitation. "Blast it to particles!"

The Decepticon warship shook gently as a barrage of ordinance was released at the new ship. Both Darkwing and the no longer lackadaisical Dreadwind charged out of the room and through the hall toward the bridge of the ship. Half way to the bridge the voice that had announced the arrival of the ship burst forth from the wrist communicators of the two Decepticons. "Sir, our weapons had little effect!"

"Fire again!" The now energetic Dreadwind shouted into his wrist communicator.

"Sir, we are already low on energon. Do you think it wise..."

"FIRE AGAIN!!!" The ship gently shook again just as Darkwing and Dreadwind burst onto the bridge of the _Catapult_. They watched the main view screen as it displayed the explosions caused by their weapons bounce off a large, corkscrew-shaped vessel. The fire and smoke cleared from each impact point, revealing precious little damage inflicted. Dreadwind shook his head despondently. "So this is how I meet my end?"

Suddenly the Decepticon craft jolted, sending several members of the crew stumbling about. A black and orange treaded Decepticon manning the tactical station looked up to Darkwing. "Sir, they've got us in a tractor beam!"

"Prepare for close quarters combat!" Darkwing called out enthusiastically. If this was truly the end, he would welcome it; but he would make sure that he didn't welcome it alone. As the other Decepticons scampered to get their weapons, Darkwing turned to Dreadwind and slapped him on the back. "What say you and I do a little deep space alien mangling?"

Dreadwing looked back at him slightly confused. "But we can't...oh no. You mean...” A sour look came over his face. "Aww, I hate doing that."

Darkwing turned and sprinted off of the bridge "Come with me." As he entered the hallway he passed a red Seeker running toward the bridge. "Furtive, you have command of the ship while Dreadwind and I are outside the _Catapult_."

The red Decepticon could barely get out his response as Darkwing and Dreadwind sprinted down the hall away from him. "Outside the _Catapult_? Oh...that. Aye sir." Just before heading onto the bridge, Furtive stopped and turned back to the departing Decepticons. "Sirs, should I revive..."

"No time!" Darkwing called back as the two winged Decepticons finally came to an exit hatch and opened it. They stepped into the airlock/compression control chamber and watched as the door that they had entered through sealed shut behind them. Darkwing gave Dreadwind a smile. "Fight with unbridled fury, and either we destroy these creatures, or the painful ordeal that is our existence finally comes to an end. Whichever comes to pass, we win." Dreadwind nodded, and Darkwing pushed a large red button that opened the outer door, releasing the two Decepticons into the frigid emptiness of space.

The two robots transformed into Cybertronian jets and set out toward the alien craft. Darkwing's jet mode was primarily dark gray in color, and though not a Seeker, his wings were slung back and clung to the sides of his body much the way an unmodified Seeker's would. Dreadwind's jet mode was primarily white, and unlike Darkwing his design had very little in common with a Seeker's other than bearing many nearly universal traits of all attack fliers. His light blue wings were swept backward, and jutted out from his body.

The Decepticons were not built to operate efficiently in the void of space, not individually at least. Dreadwind sped out ahead of Darkwing and sent him a message through a communications channel. "Do we really need to do this?"

Darkwing didn't bother to respond verbally, instead he flew in behind Dreadwind and the nose of his jet mode flipped upward and over onto his back. Realizing that there was no avoiding what was to come, Dreadwind unlocked his rear portion, raised it, and locked it into position just above his lower body. A moment later the two Decepticon jets linked, and a series of internal adjustments took place to facilitate a full combination. "Time to show these soon-to-be casualties what Dreadwing can do!" Darkwing's voice shot through all Decepticon channels.

"Yeah, ra ra ra." Dreadwind's sarcastic voice echoed none of his partner's enthusiasm, but he did dedicate all power and focus toward their shared cause; the destruction of the corkscrew-shaped craft.

Dreadwing darted through space, traversing the vast distance between the Catapult and the alien craft in seconds and unloading on it with the combined firepower of both Darkwing and Dreadwind. The target took some damage and immediately returned fire on the Dreadwing fighter, but the enhanced speed, agility and durability of the combined aircraft kept the enormous vessel from deterring Dreadwing's attack.

Dreadwing swooped in alongside the gray hull of the massive, oddly shaped ship and strafed it. The damage caused by the attack was once again, minimal, but the two components of the powerful Decepticon jet felt the rare sensation of being thrilled. They wove in and out of a multitude of laser shots lancing out at them, and the few that connected did little to their own enhanced armor. They swung away from the ship with the intent of circling back to further weaken the area of the ship that they had just pounded on. But despite Dreadwing's prowess and aerial skill, it was unable to evade or overpower the wide-arcing tractor beam that suddenly shot out from the twisting metal ship. In seconds both Dreadwing and the _Catapult_ were being pulled into separate landing bays of the giant craft.

*

Furtive called the other Decepticons to order as their ship touched down inside the alien vessel. "All right, warriors, prepare for hostilities!" Gripping his rifle tightly, the red Seeker turned and faced the same exit hatch that Darkwing and Dreadwind had exited from, the hatch which would also be the most likely point of entry for any invaders. A few minutes passed before Furtive's assumption proved correct and the hatch was blown open.

An instant later dozens of identical rotund robots with gray, lavender and blue coloration were charging into the Decepticon warship. Upward pointing jagged points of metal seemed to be wrapped around the top of their massive torsos, their dark red optics reflected nothing other than a mindless lust for destruction, and each of these monsters wielded a small rifle and a blue flail. But despite their fearsome appearance, most were cut down quickly by Decepticon fire. Furtive started advancing on the invading robots, stepping over a few of their frames as he did so. "YES! Make them pay for their underestimation of Decepticon might!" The other Decepticons pushed forward as well, and the hordes of robotic invaders were slowly being pushed back toward the gaping hole where the exit hatch used to be.

But just as the Decepticons were beginning to change the momentum of the fight, a thick piece of metal tubing burst through the ceiling from above. The startled Decepticons could hear the sounds of other tubes penetrating the Catapult's hull from other parts of the ship. Furtive timidly approached the tube and peered up into the opening. "What is..."

Suddenly a torrent of murky fluid shot out of the opening, nearly knocking Furtive to the ground. The liquid was entering in such quantities that in moments the Decepticons were up to their waists in the slightly gooey fluid. "Somebody scan this slag!" Furtive looked around at the other Decepticons.

A small brown robot made his way to a wall console and began scanning the fluid. "Sir, it's just a mixture of water, oil and assorted mech-fluids. It's not toxic to us in the least."

Furtive rubbed his chin. "So what's the purpose of this?" Just as the question was asked, the invaders pushed forward again, but as they made their way into the hallway each one began transforming. The jagged top of their torsos raised and enveloped their heads, creating a more primitive face with large green optics seemingly devoid of any soul and an enormous maw filled with the deadly metal teeth that had surrounded their torsos in robotic mode. The flail that had been their melee weapon in robot mode now made up their beastly tail, but seemed just as deadly in this mode as one of the partially transformed creatures shattered the cranium of a nearby Decepticon with it. The robotic arms flipped down to create a pair of legs, but despite this trait it quickly became obvious that these creatures were built for aquatic environments, as they dove into the fluid and began darting through it at impressive speeds.

The defending Decepticons could see the first few waves of attackers, but as the liquid level rose the mechanical sea beasts were able to disappear below the surface, and soon the Decepticons were being painfully attacked from below and pulled under. Furtive fired frantically in the direction of the monsters' point of entry, but as he soon became unable to see anything but the agonized faces of his comrades, he panicked, turned and began swimming wildly for the end of the hall. A pair of powerful jaws clamped down on his left wing, but he quickly blasted the beast with his left arm-mounted rifle, and the lifeless frame of the monster sunk to the floor. Engaging his foot thrusters, Furtive shot his way down the hall and opened the thick metal door to the next section of the ship. Paddling through, he reached the other side and slapped the wall-mounted control panel to seal the barrier shut once again, ignoring the pleas of his soldiers who were desperately trying to follow him through.

Exhausted, he leaned against the wall, still up to his shoulders in murky fluid. He noted that this section was just as flooded as the last, and assumed that the rest of the ship was in a similar state. He desperately tried to think of a way to combat these nautical killers, but the situation was growing no less hopeless with each discarded idea. Then, at the end of what he thought to be the deserted hallway, he noticed something skimming through the surface of the befouled water. The dull gray point disappeared quickly beneath the surface, but Furtive knew what he had seen.

He then saw several other gray points darting over the surface of the fluid, indirectly making their ways toward him. "No no no no no nonononono! NOOOOO!" Both of his arm-mounted rifles strafed the liquid and walls of the hallway. From beneath the surface a barrage of laser fire darted back at him, countless shots that left his armor singed and his rifles disabled. In horror he watched as a dozen pairs of emotionless green optics rose from the water and gazed upon him.

But through his terror he managed to notice an anomaly. One of the pairs of optics near the back of the group of monsters seemed to be analyzing him, as if capable of higher-level thinking. The observation was quickly discarded as the beasts slowly started making their way through the liquid toward the panicked Seeker. "NO! Stay away from me! Please, NOOO!" Agony overwhelmed Furtive as serrated shards of death tore into his left thigh. He frantically punched through the liquid at his attacker, but a second set of jaws locked onto his right forearm just below the surface. The tormented Decepticon could actually see the blank green optics of the monster as it cut into his arm and quickly severed it below the elbow.

Furtive jerked his head back and cried out in pain, his optics catching sight of an advancing form walking toward him through the murky flood. It was one of these creatures, but in robot mode, and unlike the blank expressions displayed by the others in either mode, this one's optics were lit brightly in amusement and it bore a malevolent grin. Furtive screamed at the oncoming robot. "WHY!?! Why are you doing this!?!"

The advancing robotic monster only widened his cruel smile in response.


***


"Stunning." The sentiment wasn't intended to come out verbally, but the Autobot just couldn't keep the utter joy and fascination at what he was seeing inside any longer.

"What was that, Hound?" The white cab of the car carrier called out to the green jeep that was riding on his carriage section.

The jeep sighed dreamily as it visually scanned the beautiful forests of the Allegheny Mountains that Magnus was hauling Hound, Bluestreak, Tracks, Trailbreaker and Windcharger through. "I sometimes wonder what it would be like to run through the forests, swim in the creeks, climb the trees and lay in the grass, just letting the wind wash over me as the warm sun gently lulls me to sleep. I sometimes wish that I had been born here, as..."

Hound hesitated, but Tracks was quick to reply to the obvious intended completion of the sentiment. "A human! Are you serious? My goodness, even those few that could be considered good looking only remain that way for thirty or forty years, then they hit the proverbial wall. Do you really want to be a dermis covered conglomeration of all sorts of vile things with a one vorn lifespan?"

Still concentrating mainly on the foliage, which was adopting the yellows, oranges and reds that were indicative of the fall and approaching winter, Hound only bothered with a one-word response. "Yes."

"Wow. Well, to each his own." Though bewildered, Tracks decided not to ridicule Hound the way that some of the other Autobots might choose to.

"There it is." Ultra Magnus' excited voice pre-empted any possible ridiculing that Windcharger, Trailbreaker or Bluestreak may have considered doing to Hound over his apparent flesh-envy. The car carrier was just rolling around the other side of the mountain that they were traveling over, revealing a large valley below. Several acres at the base of the valley had been cleared away to accommodate the enormous construction project that was currently underway.

A vast portion of the expanse was already covered by the metal foundation. Hundreds of humans were scurrying around the worksite, and at the heart of the project were Grapple and Hoist, arguing over something as usual. Hound silently lamented the destruction of such a large portion of the forest, but realized that with the construction of this site the chances of an Autobot presence on Earth even after the end of the war would be greatly enhanced, and therefore his own chances of staying indefinitely increased; a small silver lining to the ravaging of some of this planet's natural beauty.

The six Autobots made their way down the mountain toward the work in progress, the first contingent of soldiers to be stationed at what was planned to someday become the Autobot's primary base of operations on the planet Earth.


***


"Heh heh heh, that sneaky little scoundrel." Despite the chuckling that reverberated throughout the cavernous chamber, Starscream was clearly irritated by the details on the communiqué sent from Cybertron. "So, someone's been snooping around some of my old holding facilities, have they?" Starscream snarled as he began transmitting a response to his operative on the home world.

"I expected you to cheat me...” Starscream completed the transmission as he continued to mumble to himself, then stood up and walked away from his communications console. "But to outright steal? I would have thought that beneath even you, Swindle. I'm afraid that it's time to bring our business relationship to an end."


***


"So is that typical of Earth stories?"

Hot Rod looked at Arcee and smiled. "What do you mean?"

The pink warrior shrugged. "Well, while there was a lot I didn't understand about Earth, and its oceans, and its predatory aquatic beasts, I still found that the first incarnation of the story was very interesting, suspenseful and that the characters and dialogue were excellent. I just didn't feel that way about the continuation."

Hot Rod nodded. "Yeah, sequels to human movies are rarely as good as the originals."

"Yes, that definitely was the case here. I mean, in the first movie you have a strong-willed protagonist with comrades that have drastically varying personalities but who are just as strong-willed. Yet despite their differences, they were forced to work together to overcome the enemy that threatens those they were sworn to protect. The battles with the shark were epic, and when a hero fell, it really meant something." Arcee shook her head. "With the continuation, it seemed to be all about the children. Don't get me wrong, I'm fascinated by human children, but it focused more on the children than it did on the battle between Chief Brody and the shark, which seemed to be what everyone came to see." She looked down as the two Autobots walked away from the makeshift theatre that Blaster had put together in downtown Iacon before leaving for Earth. "And the battles with the shark just seemed...inferior in the continuation. Not epic, or suspenseful, or even interesting. When the human Quint was devoured in the first movie, I was filled with grief despite thinking him to be a jerk. But the characters in the continuation were so bland that when the shark killed them I felt nothing. It was just a big let down compared to the original."

"Yeah, the Jaws sequel definitely seemed to deviate from the formula that made the original great." Hot Rod wrapped his left arm around the Femme's shoulder and leaned in close. "But Blaster said that there are a few occasions where a sequel can be as good, or better than the original. He and I agree that the second 'Godfather' was as good as the first, mainly because it delved into the character development a little more and the writing was just as good, if not better. Basically, the writing of 'Jaws Two' seemed to be directed at a simpler audience than the writing of 'Jaws', whereas the writing for 'Godfather Part Two' was meant for the same or even higher level of audience maturity than the original." Hot Rod reached out with his right hand and placed his index finger just below Arcee's chin, and then gently raised her head so that she met his gaze. Though momentarily looking serious, he giggled and smiled. "Just don't watch 'Godfather Part Three'. It's a pathetic end to an epic story."

Arcee came to a stop and turned to face the red Cavalier. "Deal. Besides, I think that I should pick the next movie, and it definitely won't be about Earth criminals or predatory animals. Moonracer recommended a movie called 'Terms of Endearment'."

"Ahh, that sounds like a chick flick."

Arcee looked quizzically at Hot Rod. "A what?"

Hot Rod shrugged. "Not sure how an infant version of a flightless fowl plays into this, but apparently it's a term for a movie catered toward human females. Basically all feelings and no fun."

Arcee looked softly into Hot Rod's optics and smiled coyly. "Won't you do this for me?"

Hot Rod wrapped his right arm around the small of Arcee's back and cupped the back of her head with his left. Then, in a sudden but graceful movement, he twisted around, pulling her with him so that she was pulled off her feet and brought to a nearly horizontal position just a few feet off of the ground, the only thing keeping her from falling being Hot Rod's hold of her. The young Autobot looked deeply into her optics and smiled. "Anything for you." With that he leaned forward and mimicked an action that he had seen countless times in the many human movies that he had watched.

Arcee started to struggle as Hot Rod's soft metal lips made contact with hers, but she quickly acquiesced, wrapping her arms around Hot Rod's back, head and neck as she returned the kiss. Several seconds later Hot Rod disengaged his pliable metal lips from Arcee's and raised his head a couple of feet to better look at her face. "Sorry if I was out of line."

Arcee smiled as her optics darted away in seeming embarrassment. "Actually, that was really nice. I'm glad you did it."

"Perhaps a sequel?" Hot Rod's mischievous smile returned.

Arcee looked back into his optics and gently nodded, but as the two faces approached each other again, a black fist impacted heavily against Hot Rod's cheek, sending the red Autobot stumbling back and falling to the ground. Now without Hot Rod holding her, Arcee started to fall to the ground, but a pair of powerful silver arms immediately caught her, silver arms that were mounted on a broad green and yellow frame. Thoroughly confused, the Femme looked up to see Springer's concerned face looking down at her. "Are you all right?"

Arcee looked up. "Yes, what's going...” Springer gently raised her to her feet and turned toward Hot Rod, who was slowly getting to his feet as well.

Hot Rod rubbed his jaw and finally stood upon his rubbery legs. "What in the Inferno was that for?” He shook his head to clear some proverbial cobwebs. “If this is because you think I didn't visit, then you're wrong. I did, but Saw Bones told me...” He turned angrily toward his best friend, only to receive a second punch, this time to his right optic.

Springer kept walking ominously toward the red Autobot. "How dare you attack her like that!?!" The recently modified Autobot sent a powerful kick with his green and silver leg into Hot Rod's mid-section, sending him rolling several yards back.

Shaking off his confusion, and leaving his questions to be answered for another time, Hot Rod sprung to his feet ready to fight his closest friend. "All right, if you want to do this, then let's do this!" Crouching into a fighter's stance, the young Autobot stared into Springer's optics, his glare letting the green and yellow Autobot know that he had a fight on his hands.

But before the two Autobots could lock up, Arcee jumped in between them. Looking quickly toward Hot Rod initially, she uttered a quick request. "Hold on, let me sort this out." Though enraged, Hot Rod nodded and relaxed. Turning toward Springer, Arcee gently gripped his shoulders and looked into his flared optics. "Why are you attacking Hot Rod? I thought you were friends."

Springer turned his heated gaze away from Hot Rod and peered down toward Arcee, his disposition softening almost immediately. "I uh...I...it looked like he was hurting you, and I...uh...I wanted to stop him."

Arcee smiled at him, the image of her beautiful face giving off a cheerful glow melted Springer's rage, and he became as pliable as putty in her hands. "He wasn't hurting me, Springer. We were...” Arcee suddenly felt the desire to have Springer remain unaware of what they were really doing. "We were reenacting something we saw humans do in a movie."

Something seemed to cause Springer some internal pain, and he quickly looked away. "Kiss." Arcee looked down, saddened by the pain that this apparently was causing Springer.

The angered Hot Rod took a step forward. "If you know what we were doing, then why did you throw me a cheap shot?"

Springer's head instantly snapped back up and he resumed his glare at Hot Rod. Several tense seconds passes before the green and yellow Autobot turned and started walking away. "Slag off, Hot Rod."

Hot Rod stepped next to Arcee and the two robots watched their troubled friend walk away. Hot Rod raised his hand to his dented face and shook his head. "Looks like Sawbones didn't wire him back up right."

Though suspecting that that was not the reason for the outburst, Arcee remained silent.


***


Lights instantly lit in each section of the hallway just before the six-foot tall, thickly built organic of humanoid shape reached it, causing the creature to laugh. "Sometimes you can be exceptionally courteous." A smile came over his green-skinned face as he continued the comment. "And then there are other times when you lack even the most basic of courtesies."

Another voice echoed through the hallway that, aside from the green-skinned creature, appeared to be empty. "Cerebros and I both felt that it would be better if we said our farewell from orbit."

The young adult creature shook his head. "Then I suppose I should be happy for once that the Council is made up of a good number of gossipers. Though I am just a little upset that I, of all Council members, turned out to be the last to know." The creature turned into a room and approached a twenty-seven foot headless gray robot. He stopped and stood before another robot, one that was only six and a half feet tall and bore a gray torso and head with blue limbs. Looking up toward the large, headless form, the creature squinted his eyes and scornfully twisted his mouth. "So is this why you have been shying away from bonding with me since our enemy got Darkwing's message and left?"

The headless robot twisted slightly toward the creature, and a different voice seemed to emanate from it. "Yes. Though I do not agree with what we are about to do, I do respect the will of our leader and will follow his orders."

The original bodiless voice returned. "It is necessary. We cannot allow the threat that has plagued this planet for so long to spread elsewhere. Here we were able to keep it in check, but without us to oppose them, our enemies will cause unthinkable damage throughout the galaxy. Especially now, with Megatron alive."

The organic creature stepped toward a terminal, a confused look coming over his face. "Yes, all of the Autobots seemed especially dismayed upon hearing that name in the transmission that we intercepted. Who is this Megatron?"

The headless robot replied. "A deadly butcher we thought to be long dead. It was he that first organized the Decepticons and initiated this senseless conflict."

The bodiless voice continued. "That is why we must follow our enemies, and stop them anyway we can. Peace has finally come to Nebulos, now we must fight for it on this new world."

The indigenous Nebulan crossed his arms. "And you were planning on leaving without me?"

The bodiless voice continued. "Yes, my friend. You, your entire family for countless generations, has fought with us to combat the Decepticons and those Nebulans that would ally themselves with them. This conflict has cost you your father, a brother, and though you never knew them, many other ancestors as well. You have paid a horrific price, and have earned the peace that now, finally, exists here."

The Nebulan shook his head. "No. Stay with us. You originally came here to escape the war, to find a peace. Now that you finally have it, you choose to leave?"

"That was over a million years ago, and in that time we realized that as much as we long for peace, we can not neglect our responsibility. I fled from that responsibility once, and as tempting as it may be, I can never do so again."

The Nebulan smiled. "I couldn't agree more, which is why I must accompany you. Our species evolved alongside your war, you were our gods, then our protectors, then our friends, and now, you are our comrades. Your war is our war, your enemies are our enemies! We have as much desire, and right, to stand against the Decepticons as you! Stopping their evil is just as much our responsibility as it is yours!"

The bodiless voice chuckled. "Boy, I walked right into that one. All right, we will accept any Nebulan volunteers that have already been bonded to an Autobot. But realize that even if we are successful, we may not return to Nebulos for many decades, or centuries, or even more. Make sure that every volunteer is clear on this point, Galen, because once we leave their lives as they know them will be over."

The organic creature nodded. "I will, but I can already tell you that we will be willing to make any sacrifice to stop Scorponok's evil."



***


Though his vehicular form was not technically 'street legal', Mirage jumped at Spike's phoned in request that he give him a ride to school. The blue and white Cybertronian would do anything to get out of the Ark and away from the other low-class Autobots. Especially his new obnoxious neighbor, Ramhorn. Besides, if the police noticed him and decided to take issue with a pre-teen child driving a Formula One race car on public roads, he could always just 'disappear' using his light diffracting technology. The poor cop would think that he had eaten an expired donut when the racecar just vanished right before his very eyes. That thought kept Mirage amused all the way to the Witwicky house, and throughout the trip to the local Junior High School.

"Thanks, Mirage." But despite his amusing escape plans from potentially being pulled over, the drive to school had been uneventful, and now that Spike was jumping out of the car there would be no need to worry. If a cop were to pull him over now, all Mirage would have to do was transform. A quick check against an on-line image of Drag Strip in the police database to prove he wasn't a bad guy, and Mirage would be free to go.

"No problem Spike, have fun at school." Spike's groan at the prospect of enjoying a day of school left Mirage amused, and once Spike had joined some of his friends, the Autobot car carefully pulled away from the hordes of gaping kids.

The blue and white racecar made its way through the streets, careful to obey all of the traffic laws despite the urge to open it up and zip along the roads at top speed. Mirage chuckled inwardly at the stares that he was getting, not sure if they were due more to his uncommon alternate mode or to the holographic driver that he had selected, a vintage image of Hugh Hefner in his late thirties. Now that was a human that Mirage could respect.

The Autobot came to a halt at a stop sign in a residential area when suddenly his proximity sensors started going crazy. Before Mirage could react, a twenty-eight foot renegade Seeker had landed in front of the racecar and had its null blasters locked onto him. Starscream smiled, though Mirage didn't notice anything beyond the barrels of the arm-mounted weapons.
"Hey there buddy." Starscream's sickly-sweet sarcasm cut the silence.

Mirage could only remain motionless as he replied. "Congrats, you got the drop on me."

In a display of feigned shock, Starscream brought his left hand to his chest and inhaled through his mouth, something that he had seen surprised humans do. "I'm not here to get the drop on you, my friend, I just have to be careful that you don't blow me away. You see, despite our friendship, fate has cast us on different sides of the battlefield, and you may take my friendly approach as a hostile act."

The racecar shuddered in anger. "WE WERE NEVER FRIENDS! We traveled in the same circles, went to the same events, we shared many of the same friends, I might even go so far as to say that we were friendly acquaintances, but we were most definitely not friends! Those that you call friends obliterated my estate and dropped me to the status of any other common Autobot!"

Starscream raised his hand from his chest to his chin and acted as though he were considering what Mirage had to say most seriously. "Hmm. I see. Well...” Starscream extended both arms forward and slightly out with his palms up, in a type of pleading display. "Please, transform. I feel silly talking to a human pornographer reliving his youth." The Seeker returned both arms to a forward position and leveled his weapons on Mirage once again. "Slowly now. I need to be careful until you realize that I come in peace."

Mirage complied, and a moment later the twenty-three foot Autobot was looking up at the former Decepticon Air Commander. "So why are you here?"

"Well, my dear Mirage, you see, you were not entirely correct when you said that my friends were the ones to obliterate your estate. I can no longer think of them as friends; I am, as the humans say, on the outs with the Decepticons."

"Yeah, I'd heard. Tough luck for you, my dear Starscream." Mirage was belligerently annoyed by the Seeker, yet he did have to admit to himself that he did always like the Decepticon's style, even after the war had started.

"Then you know that killing you really doesn't do me any good."

Mirage crossed his arms. "What then? Are you telling me that you wish to defect?" The Autobot couldn't help but smile at the ridiculousness of the statement.

"Have you been consuming tainted energon? Of course I don't wish to defect. Aside from you and a small handful of others, I find Autobots to be repellent creatures unfit to be in my presence." Starscream's smile broadened and he flickered and optic at the Autobot. "And I always got the impression that you felt much the same way."

Ignoring Starscream's implication, Mirage continued to press. "Then again, why are you here?"

"Why, to enlist the help of an old friend."

"I told you, WE WERE NEVER FRIENDS!"

Starscream laughed. "Come now, can you honestly say that I wasn't the best wingman...” The Decepticon tapped on his right wing, "...so to speak, that you ever had? I know that you were the best one I ever had. Between the two of us we got a look under the hood of every Femme in Matriopolis. And that was just the Femme hunting. You and I used to spend weeks together hunting all sorts of sparkless creatures..." Starscream flickered his optic once again. "And maybe a few that weren't so sparkless, if memory serves."

"FINE! Fine, we spent time together, we had some good times, we engaged in some sport...but I knew that you could never be trusted."

Starscream's laughter got louder. "Trusted! HA! Of course not! But since when do you place much value in trusting others?"

"You come to me looking to make an alliance, and then confirm that you can not be trusted? Now who's the one that's been consuming tainted energon?"

Starscream ceased his laughter, but an amused look on his face remained as his optics narrowed at Mirage. "I'm not going to ask you to trust me, just to trust your own judgment. Friend or not, you do know me, and know me fairly well. So you should be able to determine whether what I offer is valid or not."

"Before you tell me what you're offering, tell me what you want. I find I'm in a better bargaining position if I know the price before I see the merchandise."

"Of course. I wish for your aid in procuring the means to eliminate Megatron."

Mirage's optics widened. "Ah, thus allowing you to take his place." The Autobot realized that Starscream might be on the up and up in this dealing; it was no secret that he had always coveted Megatron's position. Though interested in the proposition, Mirage knew not to display that interest. "And what if I feel that you would make a more competent commander than Megatron? I might be sealing my own doom by putting you in charge."

Starscream gently laughed. "Your reasoning for being hesitant is sound. I would indeed make a more competent leader than Megatron. But you see, his goals and mine differ in certain areas. Unlike Megatron, I can accept a coexistence with Autobots. I have no interest in occupying Iacon, or even Earth for that matter. If given command, I would only take a tiny bit more energon from this planet and return to Polyhex." In a show of good faith, Starscream lowered his weapons and started pacing. "I have no interest in genocide, and slavery seems pointless when automatons are so easily created. The Autobots will be safe from Decepticon hostilities, and I would even grant restricted access to Vector Sigma so that you may replenish your numbers...” The Seeker turned to Mirage and smiled. "I'd even grant unrestricted access for the replenishment of your Femmes."

Starscream then placed his hand on Mirage's shoulder. "Of course, for your part in helping me achieve this Utopia, I would see to it that you were treated as a monarch. You would have such wealth that your holdings prior to the war would look paltry in comparison. I would grant you your own city-state, or anything else that you would desire if you were to help me overthrow Megatron...” The gray Seeker gave the Autobot a gentle shake. "And, if you were to help me pick up the Femmes from time to time."

Mirage looked down, obviously tempted by what he heard. "But you would continue your push for galactic domination. Prime would still stand against you."

Starscream nodded. "Yes, it's in our nature to conquer, just as it's in Prime's to oppose us. But that's his problem, not yours. You see, regardless of what Prime does, I will leave Iacon, Earth, and heck, even Matriopolis alone. I see no gain in occupying those Cybertronian city-states, and we have already taken enough energon off of Earth to last us at least until we find a new supply. As long as you are not fighting by Optimus Prime's side, you will be safe from the Decepticons. This I promise."

"So, I DO need to trust you."

Starscream cocked his head mischievously. "Perhaps just a little, but ultimately, all that I'm asking for is for you to help me get rid of Megatron, which is hardly anything that you should have a problem with." The gray Seeker then shrugged and smiled. "And besides, despite what you said earlier, in this matter I CAN be trusted. Why, I even have a good faith offering, one that will give Omega Supreme, Superion and Defensor one less playmate on the battlefield."

Mirage gave a crooked smile, indicating his skepticism. "So, you're severing all ties to your former comrades in your quest to lead them. Sounds like your plan could use a little ironing out."

Starscream nodded. "Don't worry about me. I can play those chumps like a laser-horn. But yes, the last of my current ties are being severed as we speak."



***


With the influx of the Earth-supplied energon, most Decepticon city-states were returning to pre-famine levels of activity. The only exceptions to this seemed to be the archive levels of the government buildings. The small, predominantly orange Decepticon rifling through the computers in the basement of the Tarn Imperial Palace was most thankful for this fact. His slender black fingers bounced off of the keys on the console, his optics taking in every detail of the dimly lit screen, which was the only source of illumination in the vast, cluttered chamber. "Come on, come on. Give me something." The slender robot muttered at the screen in frustrated desperation. All previous clues that he had gotten off of Starscream's old records had yielded nothing but empty vaults and warehouses. But as he became more familiar with the Seeker's old record keeping, the more confident he was that he would eventually find some, if not all, of the funds that Starscream had appropriated from the Tarn coffers prior to the rise of Megatron.

Then, it happened. The Decepticon's optics brightened as the screen apparently displayed what he had been searching for. "Thank Primus." The thief whispered as he memorized the details before powering down the console for the night. He left the compiled archive disk in the console, however. After all, Starscream probably had a great many more secrets stashed away in that disk waiting to be uncovered the next time this Decepticon returned.

The frail robot jogged out of the now pitch black room, the only thing keeping him from stumbling over the countless items strewn about being the familiarity he gained of the room from his numerous previous visits. He gleefully trotted through the doorway and turned as he entered the hall. "Ughn." The impact he had with the large object that was now in his way sent him falling backwards to the floor. Slowly increasing the illumination of his optics, he noticed the forms of two Seekers standing before him. "Uh, hey guys."

The floored Decepticon peered through the darkness to see their two heads turn toward each other before laughter could be heard. The one on the left, the one that had apparently knocked the thief to the floor, turned returned his head toward the downed robot and addressed him. "Hello Defraud, what brings you to the archival basement?"

Defraud was stunned, and extremely disconcerted that this Seeker knew his name. "Uh, do I know you?"

The Seeker stepped forward, allowing the dim light of Defraud's optics to reveal his orange-yellow coloration. "I am Sunstorm, and this is Deathmist. We heard that you were down here, and we decided to keep you company."

Defraud hesitantly got to his feet. "You heard I was down here. From who?" The orange Decepticon's mind raced trying to figure out what had given him away. At first he considered the possibility that Swindle had set him up, but while his employer was fully capable of treachery and betrayal, there was no profit for him to do such a thing.

As Defraud frantically struggled to figure out what had gone wrong, Sunstorm answered his question. "Now, do you really think that your pilfering of various warehouses would go unnoticed?"

Terrified, Defraud started backing away from the Seekers. "Wha...what are you talking about? I never pilfered nuthin'."

Sunstorm smiled and nodded. "Sure you didn't." The yellowish Seeker turned toward Deathmist and nodded. With that, the formerly unmoving Decepticon leapt forward and grabbed the panicked Defraud. As the darkly colored Seeker dragged the slender thief down the hall kicking and screaming, Sunstorm laughed. "Don't worry, Defraud, we're just going to have you deliver your boss a little message."

Deathmist turned his head in the darkness toward Sunstorm. "I thought that we were supposed to make him vanish?"

Sunstorm stopped laughing for a moment. "That's what the Commander said, but where's the fun in that? Knowing him, I'm sure he'd much prefer for Swindle to not have any doubt about what will happen to him if he tries this slag in the future."

Deathmist shrugged. "If you say so." Defraud screamed for help at maximum volume upon hearing his inferred fate, but unfortunately for him, the archive levels of government buildings were almost always deserted.


***


Despite feeling a sense of joy that it would all soon be over, Darkwing still felt the need to at least try to figure out a way to strike back at those that would be killing him. He looked over at Dreadwind, who was strapped to an X-shaped structure with energy binds in the same manner as Darkwing, but quickly realized that the fool was too despondent to be of any use. He then peered up, through the ceiling made of some sort of transparent metal, at the rapidly spinning 'blades' of the ship and the strips of light that shot by at an exceptional pace. The Decepticon had deduced that these strips of light were stars that they passed, and therefore that they were traveling faster than Decepticon science had previously thought possible.

The door to the small room that Darkwing and Dreadwind occupied slid open, and in hovered four oddly shaped beings. The first creature bore a fairly slender armored torso, with three green tentacles coming out of each shoulder and an elongated head whose face bore a reptilian appearance. The other three each had a more rotund, egg-shaped frame with four slender tentacles coming out from their base and five unique faces spread out around the perimeter of their frame.

The first creature seems to possess a subservient air upon entering, but at seeing the Decepticon prisoners it took on a more aggressive nature. "Hold thy tongue unless queried!"

"Where are our comrades?" Darkwing’s desire for death made him nearly fearless, and he welcomed any assault brought on by his disrespectful demand.

The creature bared his sharp white teeth in what could only be construed as a smile. "Most were dispatched in the taking of your vessel. Those that survived have been tried and found guilty." The creature reached toward a small compartment on his torso with his tentacle, opened it, and withdrew an item. "I believe that this belonged to the highest ranking officer on the ship." The creature tossed the item on the floor before the bound Darkwing, and the Decepticon recognized the small object to be one of Furtive's fingers. "That was all that we could find of the convict after his sentence was carried out, though I do believe that there was more of him left behind on your vessel during his apprehension. Not that you will ever lay optic on any of it, as it is time that you yourselves were tried."

One of the egg-shaped beings hovered forward and peered inquisitively at Darkwing with its forward facing visage. "Hold, Magistrate. We wish to acquire information from these commodities before their trial." Darkwing was able to understand what they were saying, but some of the terms and wording was a little confusing to him. After an analysis he was surprised to realize that not only were they speaking Cybertronian, but Old Cybertronian. But the impact that this realization might have had on a more intelligent being went completely ignored by Darkwing, as he immediately fantasized about dismembering these creatures.

The reptilian creature bowed his head toward the egg-shaped creature that spoke. "As you command, my Lord."

At that moment footsteps could be heard from the hall. The egg-shaped beings moved away from the doorway as the Magistrate hovered toward it so that he was between the door and his apparent masters. A moment later one of the robots that invaded the Catapult was standing in the doorway looking toward the egg-shaped creatures. "What do you want, drone?" the reptilian creature spat out at the robot. The robot looked at the Magistrate, his face contorting in anger. The Magistrate then nodded in recognition. "Oh, it's you. What do you want, Gnaw!"

The gray robot turned back toward the 'masters' and addressed them. "My Lords, we have arrived in the solar system of the planet that these commodities were traveling to. We will bring the ship to a halt on the opposite side of the planet's moon, using it to hide our presence. We will await your orders at that point."

One of the other 'masters' rotated faces and responded to him. "Excellent, now relieve us of your vile presence." Gnaw nodded and walked away. The face that had dismissed the gray robot turned toward the other 'masters'. "The property that has come to this planet will soon be returned to our possession or be destroyed. And the time is soon coming when the factory world will be ours once again as well."
The other floating creatures snickered in delight.

 

:ROCK  :  

 

Sweet!

 

Ahh... Good stuff. I wonder If the decepticons powermaster components will help them with the quints? As for Mirage, trusting Starscream... That won't go well. Next episode will be interesting.

 

Episode 28: Tis Better To Have Loved



"How could she be so thoughtless?"

Chromia's question elicited feelings of both agreement and agitation from Arcee. The pink warrior stared forward as she replied. "You really can't blame her. After all, our little jaunt to Cybertron was originally just supposed to be a reconnaissance mission."

Chromia just shook her head as the two Femmes made their way toward the launching platform where the large gray rocket was gently lowering to a landing position. "Oh weld-slag! We've been in regular communication with her for months. Saloria is well apprised of our situation and I'll bet my limbs that whatever matter she's insisting to speak with Elita about immediately is of minimal importance at best. She knows how important this is for Elita, but Saloria's just a vindictive...” The blue Femme looked at Arcee, suddenly remembering that they were talking about the Cybertronian equivalent of her mother. "Well, I just don't think it's fair for her to call Elita away from this."

Arcee sadly nodded as they stopped in front of the settling rocket ship, in between several high-ranking Autobots that were already assembled. "You're right." Arcee looked to her left and saw Kup, who smiled at her and started walking toward them. "Hello, Kup."

"Hey Kid, where's your boss?" The elderly Autobot gave her shoulder a gentle slap in greeting. Despite enjoying the presence of 'male' Autobots, Arcee still had to get used to their practice of using aggressive acts to indicate affection.

"She received an urgent message from New Harbornia. One that Saloria insisted could not be delayed."

Kup shook his head in annoyance. "I always hat...uhm...never mind." Kup felt for Arcee, whom had strong feelings of affection and loyalty to both Elita One and Saloria, two Autobots whose ideologies clashed in virtually every matter. "I'm sorry, sweetheart."

Arcee displayed a hurt smile. "Don't worry about it, old-timer." Suddenly her optics flared as she just thought of something. "Have you had a chance to check on Springer?"

Kup nodded. "Yeah, he and I had a long talk." Though having seen situations like this countless times before, romantic matters were always something that Kup had difficulty talking about. "Look, he understands and accepts the situation, and knows he was wrong to go after Hot Rod like that. That's about all I feel comfortable saying on this subject."

Arcee smiled at the blue Autobot, but then her optics caught sight of the platform lowering from the rocket. Kup turned around toward the rocket as well and backed up next to Arcee. As the platform touched the metal ground, the door that it led to slid open, and out stepped the imposing red form of Optimus Prime. His bright blue optics scanned the crowd, his nods indicated that he was pleased to see so many friends, but after a few sweeps of his head it became apparent that something wasn't right.

The Autobot Commander made his way to the ground and greeted many of the Autobots that had assembled to welcome him home. Arcee hesitantly approached the legend that she had grown up listening to two different versions of; the great and noble hero as told by Elita One and the warmonger who met force with force as told by Saloria. One look into his kind warm optics let her know that Elita's version of the story was the more accurate of the two. "Hello, Optimus Prime, I am Arcee and I am here to greet you on behalf of Elita One, who was regrettably detained on an urgent matter."

The Autobot Commander nodded at the pink Femme. "So you're Arcee? Elita One holds you in very high esteem. It's an honor to meet you." Arcee smiled and looked away slightly embarrassed to have Cybertron's greatest legend say such a thing.

The Autobot Commander turned toward the old blue robot that had approached with Arcee. "Hello Kup, it's great to see you again."

"Yeah, you too Prime."

Unseen by the numerous Autobots on the platform, two pairs of glowing red optics peered from the shadows a few hundred yards away.


***


"So, what's your story?"

The four identical gray robots that were wheeling in trays of various metal tools and devices looked up at Darkwing, the bound robot that had asked the question. Three of them snarled and started making their way malevolently toward him, but the fourth growled at them, immediately causing them to back down and return to their tasks. The apparent leader of the group then looked up at the raised prisoner. "Remain silent!"

"Or what, they'll torture me? By the looks of those gadgets you guys are wheeling in here I'd say that torture is a forgone conclusion whether I behave or not." Darkwing smiled. "So tell me, what's the deal with you guys? I mean, your buddies there just seem like mindless killers...” The three previously belligerent robots turned toward him and growled, but immediately returned to putting the trays into place. Darkwing ignored their sign of hostility and continued to direct his question to their 'leader'. "Whereas you can at least talk. In fact, I think that you're the only one of, whatever you guys are, to have an assigned designation. Isn't that the case, Gnaw?" The shackled Decepticon broadened his smile at the annoyed robot.

Gnaw peered down, knowing that he should not engage in conversation with the prisoner, but reveling in the odd feeling of knowing someone actually wished to talk to him. He finally succumbed to the desire to converse and looked up at Darkwing. "We...” Gnaw pointed to the other three robots and then to himself. "Are known as Sharkticons. We were the Master's first creation, and the only line to be made on, and for, our home world. You other lines were created on the factory world that the Masters built, to be primarily sold to other races throughout the galaxy. The factory world, which was designated Cybertron, had a life-giving computer built on it by the Masters, designated Vector Sigma."

"Those floating buckets didn't make Cybertron, or Vector Sigma." Dreadwind sneered, finally breaking his silent malaise.

Darkwing nodded at his partner's comment. "Yeah, Primus created Cybertron and everything on it."

Gnaw nodded in mild amusement. "Yes, the kind and loving god of the false religion created by the slaves. I had almost forgotten that name." The Sharkticon then shook his head sadly. "A fiction created out of desperation. The Quintessons are the true creators of Cybertron, and of the life that arose from it."

Gnaw then grinned at each of the prisoners. "Now, as to MY story. Though omnipotent, our creators are quite curious." Gnaw paused as he was forced to consider the paradox of the statement he had just made. His blind faith in his creators quickly put a halt to his dwelling on it, and the robot continued. "About one hundred thirty thousand vorns ago the Quintessons wondered if it would be possible to have Vector Sigma implant a spark into a Sharkticon, despite the enormous anatomical differences between the creations made on the home world and those made on the factory world. The initial attempts failed, but after performing enhancements to one test subject's simple neural net and nervous system, they succeeded. I was given life." The smile quickly faded and a slight depression came over Gnaw. "Their question now answered, the Quintessons lost interest in the subject and moved on to other diversions, leaving me the only one of my kind to have been given life."

Dreadwind smiled. "How envious you must be of your spark-less brothers, being that they do not to have to deal with the pain of life."

Gnaw looked at the light colored Decepticon in surprise, and became even more surprised to see Darkwing nodding in agreement. "No. I love being alive. Having desires, feeling emotions; I have detailed memories of my existence prior to having these things, and trust me, we are all better off being alive." Seeing the two Decepticons mockingly shake their heads, the Sharkticon continued. "Imagine charging into battle without the thrill, slaying an enemy without any sense of joy at watching the life leave his frame, or peering over a battlefield at the corpses of those that opposed you and feeling no pride in the carnage. I've done these things as a drone, and I've done them as a living being. Life adds so much." Seeing that his words were having little to no effect on the prisoners, Gnaw disgustedly turned to leave with the other Sharkticons.

Before the Sharkticons reached the doorway the reptilian Magistrate entered, followed by the three 'Masters'. The Sharkticons stood to the side as the Quintessons passed, and then continued their walk out of the room. The Magistrate approached the Decepticons and barked out an order. "You will answer the Master's questions immediately, and respectfully!"

The first 'Master' hovered forward and began his interrogation, despite the snickering of the prisoners. "Explain the process by which the two of you were able to combine!" A quick rotation occurred and a new face on the same Quintesson peered at the Decepticons and added to the command. "In vivid detail!"

Dreadwind laughed out loud. "We were the test subjects you idiot, not the scientist!"

Darkwing giggled and looked at his friend. "I think you should have said idiots. There appears to be five idiots resting on that floating...Aaarrrrrggggghhhhh!" Both Decepticons cried out in pain as the Magistrate utilized two small tools to fire painful bolts of electricity at them.

"You will respect your creators!" The Magistrate finally ceased the electrical attack, allowing the interrogation to continue.

The 'Master' that had asked the question rotated faces again. "Answer the question!"

Darkwing groaned in pain as he lifted his head to look at the Quintesson. "Look, neither one of us knows the technical details of the process, but I'll tell you what little we do know."

The face currently displayed by the interrogator smiled. "Proceed."

"Before we left Cybertron, our leader at the time, Shockwave, got the idea in his cranial shell that the merging of bodies and sparks would lead to great power. He was kicking around some theories on how to make this happen, and decided that it was time for a little dangerous experimentation. Dreadwind and I had already long since grown tired of living, and with the dwindling supply of Autobots to kill, there was virtually nothing left for us to derive joy from. So we met with Shockwave and volunteered for the procedure in the hopes that it would fail and we would be put out of our misery."

"No such luck." Dreadwind spat out.

"But before the procedure I heard about a group of Autobots that had managed to steal a ship and escape Cybertron. Though Dreadwind could care less, I really wanted to hunt down and eliminate these Autobots, so I negotiated a deal with Shockwave where in exchange for volunteering for the procedure, Dreadwind and I would be assigned command of..."

"Irrelevant! Stick to the details of the procedure!" The command was broken up and delivered in sections by a different face of the Quintesson's spinning body.

Darkwing shrugged as best he could with his arms pulled wide apart. "Uh, fine. We went into the lab, Shockwave put us under, did what he did, and when we woke up he stated that the procedure was a partial success."

"Explain."

"Well, our bodies were able to connect and work together in the combined jet mode with exceptional efficiency, but there was no interaction between our sparks. And he seemed disappointed. Well, as disappointed as that personality-deprived goon can seem, about us retaining our individual thought processes in the combined mode. He seemed to be hoping for our separate minds to lie dormant as some new combined personality took control." Darkwing shook his head. "He must have been losing his mind to think something like that was possible, which made me happy that I had coerced him into giving me command of...” Darkwing stopped, remembering that the Quintessons had no interest in hearing about how he had left Cybertron to hunt Autobots. "So that's about all I know about our combining ability."

The Quintesson seemed angered at Darkwing's apparent ignorance. "There is nothing else that you can tell us!?!"

Darkwing thought for a moment before deciding that there was something else he could add. "Well, I thought that the part about the combining of sparks increasing power was insane as well, and while we never could figure out how to combine sparks, we kind of did some experimenting with adding the life-forces of other species to our own. Forcing Decepticons to undergo experimentation could get tricky, and there weren’t that many of us. But organics, heck, there were plenty of those and who cares if they struggle? Anyway, eventually some of these experiments achieved some pretty interesting results."

A second 'Master' hovered forward. "Does this have to do with the two organics that we found in a hibernation chamber on your ship?"

Dreadwind spoke up. "Yes! We answered your question, now please, can you kill us already?"


***


"Uh, well we set aside some time for you to...unwind after your trip."

Prime knowingly looked at Kup as the procession of Autobots made their way to the capital spires. "I appreciate that Kup, but we should probably get right down to business." Prime looked over at the building to the left of the group where Sawbones had set up an infirmary to administer to the hordes of refugees that had swarmed into Iacon in the preceding months. The old doctor, who was assisting a robot whose frame was severely dilapidated into the building, looked up and waved at the Commander, to which Prime nodded back before Sawbones disappeared into the building and the door slid shut behind him.

At Prime's answer to immediately begin the meeting, Kup shook his head sadly, silently cursing Saloria for ruining this reunion. Then, in the distance ahead of them, the old blue Autobot noticed a pink racer heading toward them. It stopped about a hundred yards away and transformed into Elita One. Kup smiled and looked back at the Autobot Commander. "Look Prime, uh, I forgot that the war room hasn't been properly prepared. Why don't you give us an hour, or two, or whatever, to set things up?"

Prime caught sight of his love standing in the distance, staring back at him with a smile on her face. Coming to a halt, and without taking his gaze off of her, Prime responded to the old Autobot's suggestion. "That sounds good. Thank you Kup."

Kup nodded and looked to the other Autobots. "Hey guys and gals, let's say we take the long way to the spires? After all, it's such a pretty day."

The other Autobots in the congregation all nodded and the group turned down a side street. Moments later the two Autobot Commanders were standing alone in the street, simply staring into optics that they had not seen in so very long. Then each started walking toward the other, slowly picking up their pace with each stride. In a couple of seconds both Autobots were running, unable to hide their desire to be with the other.

But moments before the lovers could embrace one another, a boot planted into Prime's chest and a long black tail wrapping around the neck of Elita One interrupted the reunion. Both Autobots found themselves violently thrown back and to the ground, disoriented and slightly damaged. Prime glanced up to see Elita pulling herself off of the ground, clutching her neck, unaware of the red glowing blade speeding down at her. "ELITA - ROLL!"

Without hesitation, the Femme Commander followed Prime's frantic suggestion, narrowly avoiding the razor sharp, energized metal blade that had been bearing down on her neck. With amazing speed and grace, Elita One pushed herself to her feet, spun around and faced the dark image that had come so close to striking her down.

Upon seeing Elita avoid the impending deathblow, Prime turned toward his own attacker, a skeletal warrior in ancient Japanese garb. Unlike Elita's assailant, this one stood still, both hands perched upon the hilt of the sword as the blade gently rested on the ground. Two other forms jumped from the shadows and stood next to the warrior, looking to it for guidance. The skull peered vacantly at Prime as it addressed what appeared to be a giant muscle-bound human and some odd-looking creature that looked like it belonged in a human horror film. "Jam communications and make sure that we have some privacy." With that the two creatures grunted and started sprinting on opposite directions of the street to prevent any outside interference. The lip-less teeth twisted into a grin. "Rise, and prepare to meet your destruction, Optimus Prime."

Prime leapt to his feet, directing one last glance toward Elita before dealing with this being. The Femme Commander was holding her own for the moment against a humanoid creature in ninja garb mounted on a serpent's tail, so Prime devoted himself to the enemy before him. "All right Bony, I'm up; come destroy me."

"The name is Bludgeon. Perhaps you've heard of me?" The Decepticon raised his giant katana to the ready position and started circling his target.

Prime began circling as well. "Forgive me, but you don't look the way I always pictured you."

"Ah, my shell. Yes, I was only planning on using it to gain entry into the city, but it is very comfortable, doesn't limit my movements or slow me down in the least, and actually increases my strength. You can say that I've grown quite attached."

Prime nodded. "Bludgeon."

"Yes?"

"Shut up and fight."

Without any physical indication of what was coming, Bludgeon sent his sword slicing toward Prime's head, missing slashing his optics by mere millimeters. Only Prime's astounding reflexes kept him from being blinded by the attack, but he was unable to avoid the series of kicks to his mid-section being delivered by the now-leaping martial arts master.

Prime landed heavily on his back, parlaying the motion into a reverse somersault to avoid the sword strike bearing down on him. "You're pretty good, Decepticon. Your reputation is well earned."

Bludgeon sliced once more at Prime's head, narrowly missing again. "Despite your impressive speed, yours is not!" The skeletal warrior punctuated the statement with a crescent kick to the Autobot Commander's head. Prime's lightning fast block and counter punch forced Bludgeon head first into the metal ground, and to reconsider his evaluation of the legendary Autobot.

Down the street Elita was mixing it up with Bludgeon's disciple, Blight, who while not quite possessing his master's level of skill, was not encumbered by his master's sense of honor either. The student of Metallikato had quickly learned to make the most of his new Pretender Shell, as Shockwave had called it. Standing on his own two legs, which were no longer covered by the shell's nanites, Blight now looked like a ninja with a long black tail growing out the base of his back, a tail that he was using most effectively as a weapon.

Elita quickly ducked to avoid the whipping tail as Blight forcefully propelled it at her, and rolled to evade his deadly sword as he allowed his spin to continue into a slashing strike. "Nice attempt assassin, but your skills will not be enough to best me!" The Femme commander leapt at the black Decepticon and landed a left cross, the force of which sent Blight back a step.

Recovering immediately, the black warrior blocked a follow-up punch and delivered a counter that landed squarely on Elita's chin, sending her stumbling back. Sword raised, Blight charged his stunned would-be victim, but Elita regained her composure in time to dodge the downward speeding slice. "Your fleet movements will only spare your life a short while longer, Femme!"

Elita One turned to reply, but an upward arcing swing of the sword caught her in the face, the blade slicing through her cheek. Her head jerked back, but she recovered quickly enough to intercept a follow-up kick, parrying it and delivering a snap-kick of her own into the side of her attacker.

"Ha ha! Well done, Femme! But now you face the true power of a Metallikato master!" With that Blight leapt into the air at the Femme Commander. Elita gauged the time and placement of his descent and delivered a powerful kick to that point. Unfortunately for the Autobot, Blight's mid-air progress came to a halt and he simply remained hovering. Suddenly off balance from the force of her target-less kick, Elita could only watch as Blight came down on her with a left handed strike to her right elbow.

The force of the blow was minimal, yet the inner workings of the joint connecting her forearm to her upper arm seemed to explode. Her arm went limp, exposing her head. Blight made the most of the opening and landed a right cross followed by a left roundhouse. Elita stumbled back and fell to the ground.

"ELITA!" Having halted Bludgeon's early momentum, Prime sent a glance to see how Elita was faring. Upon seeing her fall to the ground with her slashed face, the Autobot Commander immediately broke away from Bludgeon and charged to her aid.

Blight raised his sword to end his target once and for all, only to be suddenly tackled by a speeding red blur. Blight looked up to see a pair of dark blue fists slam hard against his face five times in a second and a half. The black Decepticon managed to kick his attacker off of him, but the thunderous punches left him very dizzy.

Prime was quickly on him once again, but a flying sidekick from Bludgeon sent the Autobot leader back to the ground. "Shake it off Blight! We're running out of time!"

Blight did exactly as he was told, clearing his head and glaring hatefully at the red warrior that was once again on his feet and coming to attack. He quickly turned toward a sound that came from the opposite direction and saw Elita One coming at them as well, but Bludgeon quickly intercepted her charge. Blight leapt to his feet and faced off against Optimus Prime, rage welling up in him at remembering the punches he had just received, and excitement at the opportunity to kill the most prominent Autobot in the history of the planet. "Hello handsome, let's dance!"


***


The tan jeep bounded over the rocky terrain as it made its way to the old reservoir that Starscream had chosen for a meeting place. Swindle cursed the thick forest that was making his journey so difficult, and finally determined that it would be faster for him to transform and walk through the trees. Finally catching sight of the large body of water, the Combaticon arms dealer set out to find his client. Upon clearing the forest, it was the client that found him. "Ohhh Swindle, over here."

Swindle turned toward the shrill voice of the Decepticon that he had come to see. Sixty yards to his left he saw the predominantly gray Seeker waving at him with his right, blue hand, and started walking toward him. "Could you pick a more inconvenient place to meet? Tiny humans would have difficulty fitting through that mess."

"They certainly wouldn't make half the racket that you made, that's for sure." The outcast Decepticon flashed a charming smile. "But you made it here, and that's what matters. I've missed you so much since our last meeting."

Swindle groaned in annoyance. "Uh huh. Look, I've got a space-worthy craft waiting for you to take possession of on Cybertron, so why don't you just hand over the location of your payment and we'll call it a day?"

"But of course." Starscream revealed a data pad that he had been holding in his left hand. He started to reach out to hand the small pad to Swindle, but pulled his hand back before the Combaticon could receive his payment. "Actually, there is a matter that we must discuss first."

Swindle smiled, but there was some obvious hostility boiling behind his optics. "Oh, and what matter is that?"

"Well, it appears that someone has been poking around several of my Tarnian holdings."

Losing his smile, Swindle just glared at Starscream and sneered. "And how is that my problem?"

Starscream chuckled. "Well, I immediately assumed that it was you behind it, so I had a couple of my associates do some investigating. And sure enough, your old crony Defraud was caught sniffing around my old records." Starscream leaned forward, looked to the area behind and to the left of Swindle, nodded, and then turned back toward the Combaticon and peered into Swindles optics mockingly. At that moment Mirage disengaged his light-diffraction technology and appeared behind the arms dealer with rifle in hand. "Due to your poor business ethics, I've decided to take my business elsewhere."

Swindle turned to look at the blue and white Autobot and laughed. "Even when this clown was a somebody, he didn't have my connections! How is he going to procure a space craft now, requisition one from Ironhide?"

Starscream snickered. "He's already got one." The gray Seeker put away the data pad that he had been holding and pulled out two new ones, which he handed to Swindle. "That first pad contains a copy of the original manifest for the Ark when it left Cybertron four million years ago. Please note that it has eight small shuttles listed. That second pad is supposedly the identical manifest, which was downloaded from Teletran One two days ago. Please note that it has seven small shuttles listed." Starscream shook his head. "I know what you're thinking, but I've gone over them dozens of times, and they're legit. Somehow, a shuttle was removed from the Ark and all record of it was erased with the exception of this one manifest log that was found in a cluttered cargo bay."

Mirage smiled. "I'm glad I remembered that Wheeljack decided to make an inventory that was separate from Teletran One just in case the computer was damaged. If another Autobot found this, questions that I wouldn't want raised would be raised."

Swindle studied the data pads silently, obviously impressed. "This is astounding work, Mirage." The purple and tan Decepticon turned toward the Autobot. "Would you ever consider a career change? I can offer you almost as much in terms of payment as Starscream, with none of the risk involved in working with a fugitive. And leaving Optimus Prime to work for me would be a vertical move in every possible category. You'd have your old estate back in your possession in no time."

Mirage rubbed his chin, as if seriously considering the job offer. "Well, I suppose that if I accepted, I would have to hit the ground running. After all, I hear that one of your key positions is currently unfilled."

Starscream laughed. "Yes, in case you were harboring any hope that Defraud was still alive and just being detained, he's not. Let me confirm for you that he is dead."

Swindle's mouth twisted angrily, and he slowly turned his gaze back toward Starscream. "I did not need your confirmation of that. Defraud's dismembered corpse was found on the front steps of Darkmount, his empty spark chamber placed in one of his palms; a symbolic message regarding the fate of thieves." Swindle obtained some pleasure in noting the surprise etched on Starscream's face. The Seeker obviously didn't want Defraud's fate to be known so quickly.

Starscream instantly realized what had happened and started shaking his head angrily, silently cursing Sunstorm. Glaring at Swindle, the Seeker forced a smile. "Well, you're aware of Defraud's fate. Then you should be happy that a friend will be waiting for you in the Inferno, one which you will be joining in just a moment." The former Air Commander looked to Mirage and nodded.

Mirage raised his rifle to the back of Swindle's head and prepared to fire. Swindle calmly raised his hand to buy a few more seconds. "So I take it that your answer to my offer is no, huh Mirage?"

The Autobot's mouth twisted into a half-smile. "Afraid so. Any last words, Swindle?"

The Combaticon smiled. "Actually, yes." His optics narrowed as he glared at Starscream. "First of all, I'd like to thank you, Starscream, for involving this Autobot. If any evidence of you ever having possessed the wormhole generation technology got out, I may have been looked at. But now, with your link to an Autobot, your possession of Autobot technology can more easily be explained away."

Starscream chuckled. "That sounds like a long-term concern. Not the type of thing that you need worry about any more."

Swindle smiled at the Seeker. "Well, that brings me to my second point. After knowing what you had done to Defraud, do you really think I'd be stupid enough to come here alone?" Suddenly, through a Decepticon communications frequency, Starscream heard a pre-recorded command transmitted. "Now."

A low whistle preceded an explosion near them that sent all three robots flying in various directions. Starscream landed in the reservoir, but instantly burst through the surface of the water and started blasting away at Swindle, who was now diving into the forest. The Seeker spied Mirage, who had scrambled to his feet and taken cover behind a large boulder, trying desperately to figure out where the attack had come from. Suddenly Starscream found himself being attacked from above. Looking up he saw a brown and purple space shuttle bearing down on him. Starscream raised his arms and began firing at Blast Off. "Swindle, you double crossing slag pile!"

From the forest the arms dealer's laughter could be heard. "Insults from one who considers assassinating his supplier to be good business ethics."

Mirage squeezed a few shots off at Swindle, but stopped as he heard sounds from different directions. Ahead in the forest he heard the sounds of a powerful engine, heavy treads, and trees falling; above in the distance he heard the whipping of propeller blades. Combining these sounds with the realization of how powerful and precise the initial long-range attack had been led Mirage to one conclusion. "Looks like he brought his whole team with him, Starscream!"

Starscream, who was hearing the same noises, maintained his fire on Blast Off and slowly made his way to the tree line. Looking toward Mirage, he briefly considered attempting an escape with the Autobot, but decided that an attempt like that would be too risky. Briefly upset by the loss of the asset the Autobot presented, Starscream looked for an opening in the sky to make his escape. "Mirage my old friend, I'm afraid that I'm going to have to leave you here alone with these ne’er do wells. Look me up if you manage to get out of here."

Mirage sent a couple of shots at the gray helicopter flying toward them over the water before replying. "Oh, don't worry old friend, I'm not alone."

A moment later Blast Off was weaving for his life as Jetfire dropped out of the stratosphere and started blasting away at him. Vortex began turning upward to help, but was immediately besieged by all five Aerialbots. In a matter of seconds both flying Combaticons were plummeting to the ground.

Mirage looked to the shocked Starscream. "After knowing what a slimy, devious scum bucket you are, do you really think I'd be stupid enough to come here alone?" Before he could react, the Autobot spy was firing upon Starscream. Diving for cover, the Decepticon only sustained a few scorching shots.

Suddenly their audio receptors were overloaded by the sounds of Brawl bursting forth from the forest a few feet away, almost on top of them. The olive green tank whirled around toward Mirage and Starscream, positioning itself to bear down on them. Starscream laughed as he rose to his feet, engaged his foot-thrusters and took to the air. "Such duplicity from an Autobot; will wonders never cease? Goodbye my old friend, play nicely with Brawl."

Mirage watched as Starscream took to the sky, transformed and beat a hasty retreat, before he had to focus on the noisy tank coming at him. The blue and white Autobot prepared to leap out of the way, but a pair of shots from Swindle's pistol into the back of his legs kept Mirage from escaping Brawl's path.

A barrage of fire from above caused the hulking green tank to pause, and a couple of seconds later both Slingshot and Skydive had landed in robot mode and were firing on both Brawl and Swindle. A moment after that the two Aerialbots were reconfiguring themselves into a pair of legs, and a second later the torso, arms, head and upper legs of Superion were settling upon them.

"SLAG!" Swindle dove deeper into the forest at the sight of the giant Autobot. Brawl, however, had neither the sense nor the reflexes to flee, and as he raised his cannon to fire upon Superion, a giant white fist slammed into the top of his turret, sending his mangled frame nearly a dozen feet into the soil.

As Superion straightened up a series of high-powered shells impacted against his chest. But while the explosions were an impressive sight, Onslaught's attack had little effect upon the Autobot gestalt. Jetfire shot out of the sky and began firing away at the Combaticon leader. "Bonus! We came here today intending to eliminate one Combaticon, but now we get to wipe out the whole slaggin' team!"

The front of a cloud above Jetfire was torn apart as a gray F-22 Raptor burst forth from it. "Profanity is so unbecoming of you, Jetfire!" Before the Autobot jet could take evasive action, Starscream had unloaded a stream of null rays at him, scoring four hits. Jetfire dropped to the tree line, transformed, and landed in the forest. The Autobot Air Commander took cover and fired back, but the Seeker had already turned and flown out of range, laughing the entire time. "I did intend to leave, but I've waited too long not to take advantage of that opportunity. And next time, I won't leave you functioning Jetfire! Toodle-oo!"

Jetfire watched as Starscream vanished in the distant sky, and then turned to see Superion's progress. "NO!" Jetfire engaged his foot thrusters in an attempt to stop the gestalt before he made a mistake. He watched as an adequately repaired Vortex hovered in front of Superion, drawing him away from Swindle and what remained of Brawl.

The patched-up shuttle form of Blast Off swooped down and landed next to the crater created by Superion's attack on Brawl, and both Onslaught and Swindle loaded the incapacitated Combaticon into the shuttle. Jetfire flew as quickly as he could in robot mode, but the enlarged Blast Off was already airborne with the other three Combaticons securely inside his cargo hold. A moment later, Vortex was flying along side the shuttle toward the setting sun.

Superion's many thrusters blasted to life, but Jetfire ordered him down. "Forget it Superion, they're gone." Though the individual Aerialbots could probably overrun Blast Off, and definitely Vortex, the advantage of fighting in a non-populated area was gone. In less than a minute the Combaticons would be flying over a human city, and the potential loss if life would be too much to risk. The white Autobot landed next to Mirage, who was standing, albeit quite gingerly. "Are you alright?"

Mirage nodded. "Yeah." Looking at the retreating Decepticons, the Autobot could only shake his head. "How much better could I have set them up?"

Jetfire nodded. "You did well. I just failed to realize how sneaky Starscream could really be."

Mirage chuckled. "Well, looks like you learned the hard way, just like everyone else who's ever dealt with that metal serpent."


***


The black tail snapped Prime in the faceplate, leaving a small tear in the metal. But Prime's right hand darted up and grasped the tail as it retreated back toward its owner, Blight. Prime gave a tremendous yank to Blight's tail, pulling the would-be assassin toward him.

Blight went with the overpowering force and sent a series of punches at the Autobot Commander, all of which were blocked or parried. The disciple of Metallikato was stunned by the strength, speed and durability possessed by the legendary Autobot. Prime's physical power was greater than any opponent that Blight had ever faced. But while the red Autobot was an extremely skilled combatant, he was not a student of Metallikato. Blight's mastery of Cybertron's greatest fighting form would be the key to defeating this, or any, opponent.

Blight dropped to the ground and rolled to the side, suddenly coming to a halt and striking both of Prime's knees simultaneously. Blight allowed himself a silent celebration of his impending victory as he realized that the timing, form and level of force of the strikes had been perfect. The red optics of the masked Decepticon turned upward, expecting to see agonized pain registering on the Autobot leader's face as the inner workings of his knees burst apart. But the only expression that Blight could discern from Prime's blue optics was one of amusement.

Before Blight could realize that his perfect strikes had not achieved the intended results, a right snap kick from Prime had the Decepticon skipping across the metal ground. From his prostrate position, Blight looked up and stared in confusion at the red and blue Autobot. "That's impossible! Your legs should have been rendered useless!" Blight leapt up, ran to his sword which had been knocked away earlier, gripped it and charged the Autobot leader.

"What can I say; I was well made." Prime darted toward his masked doppelganger with the intent to end this brawl quickly.

On the other end of the street, Bludgeon slashed at Elita One, cutting into her right forearm. Elita winced, but the strike had not really cost her anything, as her right arm below the elbow had been all but useless since Blight's strike to it. The Femme Commander suddenly realized that Bludgeon’s strike had actually helped her, as the sword blade was now stuck in the armor on her forearm. Twisting her body sharply, she sent a thrust kick into Bludgeon's abdomen and yanked the sword away from him. The blade dislodged itself and was sent clanking across the ground, finally resting a few yards from the entrance to Sawbones' makeshift infirmary.

The skeletal figure twisted its mouth into a fearsome smile. "Well done Elita One. You are making this assassination most enjoyable."

Elita sent a snap kick followed by an elbow strike at the Decepticon, but Bludgeon leapt backward to avoid the strikes. "I do what I can." The skinless Samurai leapt at her once again, leaving much of his torso open in a seeming invitation, one that Elita did not accept. The flying Decepticon suddenly came to a mid-air halt above the Femme Commander. Elita smiled at him and sent a left chop toward his groin. "I've seen that trick!"

Suddenly Bludgeon allowed himself to bend to gravity's will, and was falling back to the ground ahead of Elita's strike. As he fell he gripped Elita's left wrist, twisted his body mid-descent, and hurled her over his head and hard, face first onto the ground. "Ha ha. Femme, I've got tricks you couldn't begin to fathom!"

At that moment the door to the infirmary opened and Sawbones stepped out. "What's the deal with the communications jam?" Suddenly seeing a giant human skeleton hovering over Elita One, Sawbones charged into action. Bludgeon laughed at the oncoming physician, and charged as well. Two punches and a sidekick sent Sawbones flying against the wall of the building and slumping onto the ground.

The dazed Elita One slowly got to a kneeling position and looked to the besieged healer. "No." She raised her hand as she struggled to get to her feet, but still dizzy, she fell back to the ground.

Bludgeon laughed as Sawbones got back to his feet and came at the Decepticon once again. A finger strike to the optic sent Sawbones stumbling back, clutching his suddenly non-operative left optic. Bludgeon continued to laugh as he casually made his way to the sword lying on the ground a few yards away, picked it up, and saluted the recovering Elita One with it. On her hand and knees again, Elita struggled to get to her feet to save Sawbones. "NO! Sawbones, stay back!" She cried out to her friend, but the doctor knew that she needed more time to get her bearings, time that only he could buy her.

Once again he charged the fearsome looking assassin, but Bludgeon was no longer feeling quite so playful with him. With a series of wide arching swings, Bludgeon cut a gouge into Sawbone's chest and then sliced his left leg off below the knee. The Autobot healer fell to the ground, catching himself in a kneeling position. Turning toward Elita and gazing upon her with his one good optic, he called out. "GET OUTTA HERE!"

At that moment the sword plummeted through his back, pierced his spark chamber, and burst out through his chest. Elita One watched as Sawbones' one good optic faded to black. "NOOOOOOOOO!"

Elita's cry made Prime look up from the beating that he was inflicting upon Blight. He saw his battered love leap from the ground and charge Bludgeon, who was standing over the inert form of Sawbones. Releasing Blight's frame, Prime charged down the street as well, knowing that he was too far to get there before the two warriors engaged each other. Enraged, Elita screamed as she bore down on the motionless killer, hatred and oil-lust clearly displayed in her optics. At the last possible moment, Bludgeon rolled his body to the left, narrowly escaping Elita's charge, and slashed his sword across her back.

Sparks and mech fluid sprayed over Bludgeon as he grinned at Prime. Elita managed to remain standing, but she was momentarily unable to move as her internal repair system raced to re-route the nervous stimuli around her severed spine. The fluid-smeared Bludgeon slowly walked behind Elita and gave her a gentle push, forcing her to her knees. "NOO!" Prime's sprint was exceptionally fast, but there was just too much ground to cover. In truck mode he could move faster, but the time expended in transforming would negate any seconds gained. He could only watch helplessly as Bludgeon raised the sword high above Elita's head. He gazed into her optics, and she into his, one last unspoken message of love.

Bludgeon brought his sword down, directing it into the back of her neck and toward her spark chamber. "NO!" Elita cursed fate as she gazed at the love that she had been separated from for so long. She would not give in! She would not allow this fiend to deprive her of what she had spent her life longing for! She lunged forward to escape, but the blade had already entered the back of her neck. Instead of slicing through the center of her spark chamber, her lunge had forced the blade to miss its mark, slice through the side of the chamber and cutting through the outermost edge of Elita One's spark.

She gasped in pain as her optics dimmed and her body went limp. Bludgeon pulled free his sword, allowing her body to slump to the ground. "Fool! I offered you a quick, painless and honorable death. Instead you will suffer great misery before death finally claims you. And while my thrust missed its mark, the wound is still terminal. Despite your last minute attempt, you will NOT cheat death!"

Bludgeon stepped away from the inert frame and stood several yards away as Prime dove next to it and held Elita in his arms. "No, Elita please, no. Nooo." Despite his pleas, her optics had dimmed and she was giving no indication that she was still alive. Slowly Prime's head raised, his neck twisted, until his narrowed optics were glaring at Bludgeon. "It's time for me to rise and meet my destruction, isn't it?"

Bludgeon smiled. "Prime..."

Optimus growled as he rose to his feet and approached Bludgeon. "Yes?"

"Shut up and fight!" Bludgeon swung his sword at Prime's head, imbedding it in Prime's left forearm as the Autobot raised his arm to block the strike. Bludgeon was immediately forced to duck, release the sword and roll as Prime's right fist came at his head. Pulling the sword free from his arm, Prime hurled it down the street. Bludgeon turned to see it slice into the abdomen of the recovering Blight. As Blight groaned in pain, Bludgeon's optics flared in surprise and he nodded his head. "Not bad."

Turning back to the enraged Autobot Commander, Bludgeon leapt into the air seemingly to inflict a flying snap kick. Halting in mid air, the Decepticon was a little surprised to see that his bait had not been taken, and remained motionless for another moment. Reversing his direction, Bludgeon touched the ground for an instant before rocketing back at the Autobot leader, this time following through with the charge and sending a barrage of punches and kicks all over Prime's body. Unfortunately for the Decepticon, all attacks were either blocked or ignored, and a stunning right cross to his cheek sent Bludgeon flying back and skipping across the ground.

Bludgeon was dazed as he forced himself to his feet, his pretender shell having been torn away at the point of impact with Prime's fist. The nanites quickly went about covering Bludgeon's exposed robotic facial features, and soon the helmeted skull was repaired. Prime continued his merciless march toward the villain. "It appears that there's a chink in your armor."

"Come and exploit it, Autobot!" Prime accepted Bludgeon's invitation, and once again the two warriors were firing strikes at one another. Despite his astounding skill, Bludgeon was finding himself unable to overcome Prime's physical superiority. A strike was only good if you could land it, a block only good if it got there fast enough to intercept the strike, a grip only effective if leverage could be achieved. Prime was too fast, too strong, and despite his ignorance of Metallikato, too good at hand to hand combat for Bludgeon to gain an advantage. In minutes it was evident that Prime was gaining the upper hand. The battered and fatigued Bludgeon was soon unable to block any one of an eight-punch combination, one that left him on his back and barely conscious.

The Decepticon struggled to crawl away from the advancing Autobot, but he knew that he was at Prime's mercy. And though Optimus Prime was renowned for his dispensing of mercy, after what Bludgeon had done to Elita One, he knew that there was none of it in Prime's spark for him. Suddenly, charging from the other end of the street, Octopunch was sprinting toward him. "Guys, wrap it up, they're on to...” He suddenly saw his leader at Prime's feet, and Blight on the ground writhing in agony. "SLAG!"

Bludgeon looked up at Prime, who returned the Decepticon’s glare, making no attempt at hiding his desire to kill. Prime continued his march toward Bludgeon, but was knocked forward as a human elbow attached to a muscular arm slammed into the back of his head. Prime whirled around in time to see a left fist slam into his face. The right immediately followed, but was caught in Prime's left hand. The stunned human stared at his trapped hand in amazement. Prime was about to deliver a punch when he was sent to the ground by a shot from the tentacle-bearing monster.

Bludgeon sprang to his feet. "Stranglehold, grab Blight! Octopunch, lead us out of here!" The Decepticon turned back toward Prime. "Mourn your Femme, but take solace in knowing that you will be joining her when next we meet!" A cloud of smoke enveloped the street, and when Prime was next able to see, all four Decepticons had vanished.


*


The gray rocket settled onto Cybertron for the second time in less than an Earth day. The ramp lowered, the door slid open, and Ultra Magnus emerged from Omega Supreme's rocket section. He made his way down the ramp and onto Cyber firma. Kup was waiting for him, and despite the eons of misery that the two had endured together, this was the most despondent that the old Autobot had ever appeared to Magnus. "Hello, old friend."

Kup forced a smile and nodded. "Hey buddy."

The two Autobots transformed and started driving toward the capital spires. Magnus opened a communications channel. "Has she..."

"No." Kup hastily replied. "She's tough, tougher than any of us! If this is pull-throughable, then she's the one to pull through!"

Magnus silently agreed, happy that Elita One was still clinging to life. "The blade pierced her spark? Not just the chamber, but the spark itself?"

The gruff, unyielding optimism in Kup's voice gave way to the slightest bit of fear and sorrow. "Yeah. The sword cut into her spark. Paradon, Fixit…all the docs are saying it's a long shot at best, but that's only because they've never tinkered with one like her! She'll pull through!"

The two Autobots remained hesitantly hopeful, despite the prognosis from every physician in Iacon; or, every physician but one. "I'm sorry about Sawbones. We'll all miss him, but you...you and he were like...I'm sorry." Kup didn't respond. He appreciated the sentiment, but the loss of someone that he had known and been close friends with throughout his entire long life was too painful to discuss right now.

The two vehicles pulled up to the main spire, transformed and walked inside. A few minutes later they were entering the main infirmary, which was crowded with Femmes. "Prime's with Elita. I'm going to start gathering Sawbones' belongings. He spent more time here than in his own quarters, and the piles of his stuff lying around here reflects that."

Magnus nodded and patted Kup on the shoulder. The blue Autobot left to gather his dead friend's things, and Magnus started making his way through the grief-stricken Femmes. He finally saw Elita's slab, with Prime kneeling on the left side holding her hand, and Paradon on the other monitoring her fluid levels. Encasing the majority of Elita One's torso was a portable energon immersion chamber, which was gently massaging Elita's injured spark with waves of pure energon. It was a desperate treatment, but this was a desperate situation. "Prime."

Optimus Prime looked up at Magnus, and got to his feet. Prime started walking around the slab toward his friend, but stopped as he got to Arcee. Though lacking the equivalent of human tear ducts, Cybertronians were susceptible to situations where grief 'overloaded' their basic systems, resulting in breakdowns remarkably similar to those of humans and other high-level organic species. Arcee was currently battling back one of these breakdowns, with minimal success. She reached forward and embraced Prime, finally succumbing to the grief and emitting tearless sobbing. Prime gently stroked her head and back. "She'll pull through, Arcee. Ever since I first met her, Elita has done nothing but beat overwhelming odds. This injury is nothing but a challenge that she'll eventually beat. I'm sure of it." Prime looked up at Magnus and nodded. "But she'll need our help, so please stay by her side. I have to go and do something now, something that if I didn't do, Elita would wind up beating the oil out of me for." Arcee looked up at Prime as they unlocked their embrace, smiled and nodded.

Prime shook wrists with Magnus and they made their way out of the infirmary, with Kup following behind them. "We're doing this now?" The old Autobot placed his dead friend's possessions that he had gathered on an empty slab as they left.

Prime marched down the hallway. "Yes. We can't afford to put this off any longer. If the rumors about that facility are true, we have to put things in play soon. No one would agree more than Elita!"

 

This chapter was a little disapointing actually.

First, Sawbones dies. This doesn't surprise me as I knew he was a redshirt, but it just doesn't do anyhting for the story. You knew he was going to die, so there was no suspense or drama.

Second, the Omni-Prime. Part of the reason I liked this series was that Prime got hurt. He was even incapacitated for a while. But in this fight...Blight's strike to his knees shopuld have at least HURT! Bludgeon's mastery of his art should have made him at least a match for Prime.

Still, it was well written, and the other plot points will keep me coming back for more.

 

I really liked Sawbones and for the record I am sad he died. I thought it was pretty dramatic

 

Yeah, I also knew Sawbones was a redshirt, but still, he died in a decent way. Sure no suspense, but I didn't really expect Elita to get nicked like that.

I like that Prime is a match for Bludgeon. While Bludgeon is all Ninja and stuff, Prime's like a Boxer, he's just huge and massive and still very fast. In a long fight like that, Bludgeon doesn't have a chance to win.

Anyhow, another excellent chapter!

 

Episode 29: Best Served Cold



"Are we certain that this course of action is wise?" The face that had asked the question spun so that another would greet the response.

Another Quintesson on the bridge of the ship hovered forward and stopped to the right of the one that had asked the question. "Not that we mean to question your decision, Governor Apolonicus, but I thought that any attempts to reacquire the slaves en masse were to be put on hold until Cybertron was made ready for our return by the Garbolicanopsil."

The addressee of their doubts peered away from them at the main screen with its dominant visage, though the faces directed at the other two Quintessons displayed looks of scorn. Slowly rotating so that the front of the body, and the face currently lined up with it, faced his comrades, Apolonicus replied.
"It has been over one hundred thousand vorns since our exile from Cybertron, and in that time we have received nothing other than nibbles from the Garbolicanopsil. Contact with insignificant explorers and lost fools, most of who could not make it back to the surface of the planet alive. Those that did lacked the charisma or influence to spread its message effectively throughout the populace of Cybertron." The head rotated and another face continued speaking. "I still regard the Garbolicanopsil as my greatest achievement, but it has failed to re-conquer Cybertron for us, and we can no longer afford to wait for it." Another face rotation. "The Autobots and Decepticons on this planet have several technological deviations from the ones that we were producing ages ago, and perhaps some of these deviations can lead to increased profit margins. With the sale of these few Transformers we can not only replenish our drained coffers to a slight degree, but we can reassert ourselves as viable suppliers of super-powered weapons, warriors and slaves; not just mindless Sharkticons. And this is a primitive world countless light years away from Cybertron. We can apprehend these Transformers without alerting Cybertron to the threat that we once again pose it."

Though still apprehensive, the two subordinate Quintessons bobbed their approval. The one on the left hovered forward a few feet. "Very well. We need to determine which group to attack first. Our sensors have detected one large concentration of Decepticons submerged in the body of water off the western coast of the third largest continent, a large concentration of Autobots several hundred miles north and inland from the same coastline, and a much smaller concentration of Autobots on the eastern part of the same continent. We receive occasional readings indicating other pieces of Cybertronian technology elsewhere on the planet, but they are small enough to indicate either individuals or small groups, hardly worth our attention at this time."

Apolonicus considered the options before rotating faces and responding. "We will attack the larger grouping of Autobots in the west. I wish to test ourselves against Autobots before attempting to capture the warriors, and the smaller grouping of Autobots will undoubtedly have less resources to align against us once they've learned of our attack on their comrades; they certainly won't be a match for the eighty nine Sharkticons that they will be facing." A new face rotated to the front, one with a broad smile. "And once all the Aubobots have been captured, we will turn our Sharkticons loose on the Decepticon underwater base. In that environment, the Decepticons won't stand a chance." The previous face rotated back. "Now launch the attack!"

The subordinate Quintesson on the right bobbed, turned around and made his way to a large console with a small screen. Hitting a few buttons with its tentacles, the creature activated the view screen and the reptilian visage of the Magistrate appeared. The green-faced creature nodded in the screen and acknowledged his master. "What are your wishes my lord?"

"The Decepticon warship is repaired?"

"Yes my lord."

"And the Sharkticon raiding party has boarded?"

"Yes my lord."

The Quintesson laughed. "Then attack, Magistrate Caligulon! The coordinates of your target are being transmitted to you now."

"Yes my lord." Caligulon turned his head to verify that the coordinates were being received, and upon completion of the transmission, diverted his attention to launching the Cybertronian craft. "Gnaw, lift off and pull us out of the landing bay!"

The Sharkticon, the only other being on the bridge of the Catapult, did as he was commanded and slowly piloted the warship out of the monstrous Quintesson vessel. Though brilliant by Sharkticon standards, Gnaw was not nearly as bright as the average Transformer, and therefore had difficulty understanding the controls. Fortunately the Quintessons had modified the controls to make them simpler for him.

In minutes the attack craft had neared the Earth's atmosphere and slowed as it approached the planet's surface. The dark, angular ship darted northward over the western coastline of the United States, finally curving inland. A few minutes more and proximity sensors alerted the fact that they were approaching their target.


*


"Who'd a thunk that some use would ever come of that data pad with the hogwash inventory count?"

Mirage and Jazz chuckled at Ironhide's statement. Mirage put his hand on the old, red Autobot's shoulder. "Just don't let Wheeljack hear you say that about his count. He still swears up and down that his inventory was good on the data pad, that it's Teletran One whose count is wrong."

Jazz shook his head. "Man, as smart as he is, you'd think he'd have common sense enough to accept that he only loaded seven shuttles on the Ark. I mean, it's not like someone's going to find a ship full of unconscious alien robots, break inside, take a shuttle craft but leave everything else alone, and then alter the main computer's manifest."

"I don't know about the leaving everything else alone part, but yeah, I'm beginning to think that something like that may have happened here." Ironhide, Mirage and Jazz whirled around, startled, as Wheeljack walked into the Ark's control room.

"Boy, you best have ol' Ratchet take a look at your noggin, 'cause you're soundin' as crazy as a Junkion."

Wheeljack shook his head, the crests at the sides lighting up as he spoke. "Look, Ironhide..."

"Decepticon craft inbound!" Bumblebee's call caught everyone off guard.

Ironhide twisted toward the small yellow robot. "Sound the alert! Round up the others right quick!" With that, Ironhide and the other three Autobots with him started running toward the exit ramp, pulling their weapons to the ready.

As the exit ramp lowered, so did the aft cannons, which immediately took aim in the direction of the incoming craft. Ironhide, Mirage, Jazz and Wheeljack were the first ones out, but were soon followed by many of their comrades. From around the other side of the mountain thunderous pounding could be heard as four dinosaurs ran and one flew to join them. Jetfire made his way to the front. "Of course this would happen only minutes after Omega Supreme leaves for Cybertron." The tall white robot turned and looked to the Aerialbots and Protectobots with his long red optic. "This thing will probably have quite a bit of firepower, so we'll need Superion and Defensor to lead the charge and offer cover."

In seconds the two gestalts were towering over their friends. Jetfire turned back toward the direction that the sensor equipment indicated the vessel was coming from. Sure enough, there it was on the distant horizon. Jetfire leapt to the air and transformed. "Dig in and take cover, I'll see if I can soften it up a bit before it gets here." A moment later the white and red jet disappeared into the distance.

A Tyrannosaurus Rex arrived, transformed into Grimlock, and arrogantly walked into the clearing in front of the Ark, weapon poised for firing. "Defensor, Superion, with me, Grimlock! When ship get close, we charge! War ships not have much weapons on underside, so we go there and blast it from underneath!" With that, Grimlock and the other Dinobots started jogging toward the advancing ship.

The two giants nodded and started running with them. Prowl watched them depart; slightly annoyed that Grimlock had pulled their two biggest assets away from the Ark. The other Autobots started looking to him to see if they should follow, to which he shook his head. "Stay here and dig in. If they fail we will be needed as a last line of defense, if they start to succeed it will be very easy for us to charge ahead."

Jetfire easily dodged the first couple of shots directed at him and darted past the ship, curved around, and began attacking the craft from the rear. Though well armed, Jetfire was not endowed enough in the firepower department to recklessly launch endless volleys of missiles, so he was forced to pick his shots carefully. Fortunately, Jetfire was well read on Decepticon technology and weaponry, and knew just where to strike a Vos manufactured Beta class war cruiser. In and out he weaved, taking out the most deadly weapons first. The Autobot Air Commander marveled at how easy it was to avoid the shots from the ship, and wondered if the craft was adequately manned.

With over a mile to go before reaching the Ark, the Catapult had already lost all of its large caliber cannons. "GNAW YOU PATHETIC MINION, QUIT MISSING!" Caligulon could not fathom how the sentient Sharkticon was completely unable to land one shot on the attack aircraft.

"This isn't like any Autobot, or Decepticon for that matter, that I've ever encountered." Gnaw squeezed off a few more shots at Jetfire, but like before he was unsuccessful. "Plus we need more gunners."

"The Masters modified your controls so that everything could be controlled from your station! No more excuses, DESTROY THAT THING!" Suddenly a new set of sensors went off, indicating that the Catapult was taking fire from below. "WHAT NOW!"

Gnaw hastily accessed the ventral side cameras and viewed their new assailants. At first he concentrated on the two giants, but he eventually took notice of the five smaller robots with them. "They look...no." Shocked, Gnaw scrutinized the view screen that was displaying the ground-based attackers. "It can't be..."

"GNAW, LOOK OUT!!!" Caligulon's cry forced Gnaw's attention back to piloting the craft, and at the barrage of high-powered ordinance coming at them from the rear of the scuttled Autobot ship. The Sharticon veered left, but was unable to evade two shots that impacted the rear of the Catapult. "GNAW YOU INCOMPETENT FOOL! YOU'RE GOING TO GET US KILLED!"

Swoop fired twice more before deciding that Jetfire had softened the ship up enough for him to fly in and do a little close range damage to it. The robot leapt to the air and transformed into a pterodactyl, flapping its wings toward the decelerating ship. Fighting through the powerful gusts of wind, Swoop made his way to the invading vessel and landed on its hull. Transforming back to robot mode, Swoop raised his plasma sword and began hacking furiously against the thick armor of the ship. Between the frantic movements of the ship and the shuddering caused by the impacting Autobot fire, Swoop had difficulty staying on. But he remained on the ship's hull, and in a few minutes had managed to slice through the armor.

Slashing away, Swoop's small opening was growing by the second, and would soon be large enough for him to enter and cause some damage from the inside. The Dinobot took one last swipe before determining the gash to be large enough for him to squeeze through. Clinging to the hull, the tall robot began forcing his upper body through the narrow cut in the ship's armor. His head, shoulders and upper parts of his wings finally penetrated to the interior of the ship, and he smiled as his optics took in the empty hallway.

Then the sounds of countless footsteps could be heard approaching from behind. Swoop craned his neck and twisted his body in a desperate attempt to view the approaching threat. Out of the corner of his left optic he saw dozens of identical robots charging toward him; robots that he recognized all too clearly. Momentarily stunned by what he saw, Swoop quickly shook it off and realized how vulnerable he was. He struggled to pull himself back out of the ship, narrowly missing a spiked metal ball to his head. He peered back through the hole to verify that he had seen what he had thought he had seen. Sure enough, his gaze was met by the vacant stare of a Sharkticon, something that he had not seen since before his forced stasis lock ten million years ago.

From within, a laser lanced out and struck the stunned Dinobot in the chest, knocking him off of the craft and into the powerful wind currents. Flailing about through the sky, the robot quickly started plummeting toward the Earth. Before Swoop could even realize that he might be in trouble, a pair of white hands were wrapping around him and stopping his descent. The confused Dinobot looked up, only to be met by a smile on the face of Superion as he flew toward the Decepticon vessel. Swoop smiled back. "Thanks."

"Don't men...” A series of powerful blasts slammed into the Aerialbot giant, forcing him to fall clumsily toward the ground and release Swoop into the air. But being caught by Superion had given Swoop the opportunity to collect his wits and gain his bearings, so he was instantly able to transform and take flight after the enemy ship.

The Decepticon craft had already passed Mt. Saint Hillary and continued north. Jetfire broke off his attack and started returning to the Ark. "Swoop, attack effectively repelled. Head on back to base buddy." The white super jet shot past the flying dinosaur, which despite Jetfire's order continued flying after the retreating vessel. "Swoop, I said return to base!" Noting the traditionally cooperative Dinobot's insubordination, Jetfire decided to bring in an authority figure that Swoop would not ignore. "Grimlock, can you call Swoop back?"

From the ground many miles back, Grimlock growled his annoyance. "Fine. Swoop, me Grimlock say come back now. Decepticons beaten."

"Those weren't Decepticons on that ship, it was the Goon Squad." The reply Swoop sent through the communications channel confused every Autobot that heard it, every Autobot excluding the Dinobots.

But while Grimlock, Slag, Snarl and Sludge understood what Swoop was talking about; they were unable to believe it. A stunned Grimlock slowly raised his communicator to his faceplate. "Swoop absolutely sure?"

"Yes, I saw dozens of them clearly."

Grimlock peered at the ground in thought as he tried to wrap his head around what Swoop had just told him. The Dinobot Commander turned to the other members of his team, all of whom were gripping the handles of their weapons tightly in infuriated anticipation. "Keep tracking. We be there soon!"



***


"You travel all the way across the galaxy to meet with us, and the best plan that we can present to you amounts to a firestorm hit and run attack." Kup half-heartedly joked as he, Magnus and Prime made their way out of the war room and toward the elevator.

Prime, though obviously thinking about other matters, vacantly replied. "Sometimes simple works."

Magnus nodded. "Yes, despite its simplicity, it should achieve the desired objective." Suddenly, a quickly paced beeping emanated from all three of their wrist communicators. The Autobot Sub-Commander immediately raised his to his mouth. "Magnus here, what is it?"

"Sir, we've just received notification that the Ark was attacked by a Decepticon warship." Chromia's voice chimed through the communicator. "It was easily repelled, which is making the Autobots stationed there nervous. Also, the Dinobot Swoop followed the ship despite being ordered not to, and Grimlock ordered Superion to transport he and the other Dinobots after him. Neither Jetfire nor Prowl know what to make of it."

Prime raised his communicator to his faceplate. "Prep Omega Supreme for launch. We will be returning to Earth as soon as I get to the platform."

Kup turned to Prime as they entered the elevator. "Are you sure Prime? Maybe you should send Magnus instead, with Elita's condition and all."

Optimus Prime shook his head. "No, everything that can be done for Elita is already being done. The only thing that I CAN do is make sure that the Decepticon threat is gone by the time she wakes up. My place right now is on Earth, leading my troops against Megatron." Kup and Magnus sadly nodded. Prime's head lowered as he quietly addressed them once more. "Just let me know if you find Bludgeon and his cronies. I want to deliver his punishment personally."


***


The Sea of Iacon was a four mile wide by twelve mile long pool of oil and various other fluids that stretched alongside the outside of Iacon's northwestern border. Due to the physical barrier that it presented, the level of security on the section of wall that ran parallel to it was significantly less than at other points along Iacon's perimeter. The Autobots would probably reconsider that policy in a few minutes, when the corpses of the two-dozen Autobot guards that had been stationed there would be discovered. Of course, by then it would be too late to apprehend the Decepticons that had killed them, Decepticons that were now emerging from the opposite shore of the black sea. The monstrous form of Octopunch trudged through the last of the oily sludge as he finally made it to solid metal, with Bludgeon, Blight and Stranglehold following behind and each clinging to one of his tentacles.

With a mental command, the nanites of Blight's oil-covered Pretender Shell were drawn back into metal pouches placed on various points of his frame beneath his outer armor. The clean inner robot that was standing in a pool of oil that had only just been encasing him looked down at the wound in his abdomen. His internal repair systems, having been greatly enhanced by the Pretender Shell, had healed everything except a small remaining slit that had once been a huge gash in his armor. So, healthy enough, he transformed into an Earth truck with a flat bed that housed a missile launcher, and slowly started rolling ahead. "All aboard." Barely fitting, the other oily assassins climbed on, and Blight accelerated and began making his way toward Polyhex.


***


"How far are you?"

Grimlock's deep voice replied. "We two miles from your position. Me Grimlock not want to alert Goon Squad we coming, so me, Grimlock, have Superion drop Dinobots off ten miles ago and return to Ark. Other Dinobots slow, so that why we take so long. What you, Swoop, see?"

"They finally put the craft down in a valley about three miles from me. I'm easily within their sensor range, but they must consider me a native life form because they're not paying me any mind." The pterodactyl craned its long neck to get a better look at the ship. "There's a Magistrate and one Goon doing some external repairs to the ship. I'm surprised that they made it this far, we really mangled that thing." Swoop stopped, momentarily puzzled. "Who would trust a Goon to repair anything?"

"Maybe we ask Magistrate that while we pull his tentacles off him in few minutes. So, Swoop recognize Magistrate?"

"Not from this distance. Hurry up and get here so that I can get a good look at his scaly face as it's perched on the end of my plasma blade."

"Just few more minutes." True to his word, Grimlock and the other Dinobots arrived and were standing next to Swoop seven minutes later. "How many Goons you think in ship?"

The winged dinosaur shrugged. "Not sure. Those two are the only things to exit the ship, but I saw at least two dozen when I poked my head in that tin can."

The tyrannosaurus rex snorted. "Pit Lords kill two dozen goons in dormant mode, me, Grimlock, was hoping for more of a challenge."

"That's all I SAW, but there's a good chance that there are more that I didn't see."

The T-rex turned toward the stegosaurus. "Snarl, what most Sharkticons we ever destroy at once?"

The small head of the Dinobot twisted in thought. "I think that we went through sixty-three in one tournament, but there was too much debris to accurately count the inert frames."

The tyrannosaurus nodded before charging toward the downed Decepticon craft. "Time to relive some memories!" With that the other four followed their Commander's lead and charged down the hill that they had been on after him.

Both Caligulon and Gnaw were working on different sections of the ship when they heard the thunderous sounds of the dinosaurs trampling over the earth in their direction. They were still some distance out, but another creature was flying at them as well, this one nearly upon the alien invaders. "Gnaw, release the Sharkticons and have them eliminate these indigenous annoyances!"

Gnaw fired a few times at the flying creature, getting it to circle back, before opening the exit hatch and summoning the other Sharkticons. Seconds later dozens of gray robots were streaming out of the Catapult. Gnaw looked over them and called out. "Feast my brothers, until nothing remains of these fleshlings!"

As one the gray robots transformed into their bestial shark mode and charged at the oncoming dinosaurs. In seconds, the eighty-nine round shark-like creatures sprinting awkwardly at the four prehistoric beasts covered much of the intervening valley.

"YES! Time to break record, Pit Lords!" The T-rex snarled as he cut the distance toward the Sharkticons with each enormous stride.

Despite their simplicity, the Sharkticons were aware that regardless of their size, the organic creatures would be softer and weaker than they were, and would be easily overpowered. Their simple minds were also capable of feeling surprise, which they did as the four dinosaurs tore through them with minimal effort.

"Can't your pathetic race even overpower simple fleshlings!?!" Caligulon screamed at Gnaw. He watched as the bipedal creature with the enormous jaws snatched and obliterated two Sharkticons in between his blade-like teeth.

Gnaw was equally surprised by the way that these indigenous creatures were overwhelming his brethren. He watched as one of the Sharkticons leapt at and tore into the largest quadruped’s front right leg, but its teeth only managed to penetrate about an inch. The giant beast's long neck brought his head down and its mouth gripped the Sharkticon and tore it away. A glint of metal showing through the flesh and blood caught Gnaw's attention, letting him know that these were no ordinary organics. "They may be robotic!" With that he charged after his comrades, ready to destroy whatever these creatures were.

A three-horned monstrosity was tearing through the Sharkticon numbers at an alarming rate, its massive legs or head crest battering those robotic creatures that the horns missed. Gnaw decided that this creature would be the first he would destroy. The only Sharkticon in robot mode, Gnaw distinguished himself further by jumping into the air to avoid the charging monster and swatting at it with his chain mace.

Slag came to a halt, partly because he had finished charging through the bulk of the Sharkticons, and partly because of the initiative displayed by the last one; initiative that he had only seen once before in a Goon. The triceratops spun around and glared at the gray robot. "Is it you?"

A dozen round sharks turned and started toward the apparent Earth creature, but a command from Gnaw stopped their progress. "Hold!" The gray robot started slowly toward the three-horned creature as the many other Sharkticons continued their battle with the other four creatures. "Is it you?" The creature's voice seemed vaguely familiar to Gnaw, a voice that seemed impossible for him to be hearing again. But the appearance of the five robots that had been fighting alongside the amazingly powerful and resistant giants made him realize that as impossible as it may seem, there was a good chance that he knew this creature.

A loud snort came through the nose of the beast. "Hello Gnaw. Been awhile." With that Slag charged his old acquaintance, narrowly missing as Gnaw dove to the side.

Leaping back to his feet, Gnaw ordered his Sharkticons back to action. "Destroy him!" Then turning to Caligulon, the suddenly frantic Gnaw called out again. "It's Slag! They're the Pit Lords!"

The reptilian Magistrate physically shuddered in surprise at Gnaw's claim, but felt almost amused at how impossible the announcement was. The amusement vanished as he watched the three horned creature shift shape into the most violent and ill tempered of the legendary pit fighters. "Zuelos help me." Caligulon muttered under his breath as he stared at the massive Slag tear through the lifeless troops with his plasma sword. Suddenly realizing the danger that he was in, the Magistrate charged back into the ship to call for help.

Taking their teammate's lead, the other four dinosaurs transformed into powerful robots, and continued their massacre of the numerous Sharkticons. A group of eight charged at Grimlock, but three slashes of his saber eliminated all of them. More of their comrades continued after the Dinobot leader, and all shared the same fate.

Though not as efficient as their leader, Sludge and Snarl tore through the omnivorous machines with frightening brutality, laying waste to dozens. Swoop saw this as an opportunity to hone his various combat techniques without worrying about pulling punches or injuring a comrade. Concentrating on technique and timing, the winged Dinobot lunged, thrust and performed various other martial arts strikes. He wasn't inflicting the level of destruction that his teammates were, but Grimlock admired how he was making the most of this learning opportunity.

Slag obliterated the last of the Sharkticons that stood between him and Gnaw, and smiled at the living Sharkticon. "Putting a spark in a Goon was a big mistake." The Dinobot raised his plasma sword. "A mistake that I'm going to correct right now!" He charged at the gray robot, which returned his charge and swung at him with his chain mace. Both combatants landed their strikes, but the force with which Slag's sword impacted Gnaw tore the Sharkticon's chest armor open. The spiked metal ball that slammed into Slag's cranium left a dent, but the Dinobot just shook it off.

Gnaw collapsed to the ground, his injuries severe enough so that he was now at the mercy of the Pit Lord. Looking up at the advancing Slag, Gnaw sputtered out a question. "H...How is it possible? I saw them seal you. I...I know they sabotaged your systems. H...How?"

Slag smiled malevolently. "I guess your gods aren't as infallible as you thought they were." Just as Slag raised his sword, four Sharkticons tackled him to the ground from behind. Six more jumped on him, and Gnaw took this opportunity to climb to his feet and limp away from the fray and into a thick grove of trees forty yards away.

It took Slag nearly a minute to beat the Sharkticons off of him enough to get back to his feet, and then another minute to annihilate all ten of them. He twisted his head desperately to find Gnaw, but the sentient Sharkticon had vanished. Looking back to the battlefield, Slag observed his battered and battle-weary comrades polishing off the rest of the lifeless mechanical beasts.

Grimlock walked toward him with the other Dinobots following behind, each one putting the final touches on any wounded Sharkticons that they passed. The Dinobot Commander reached up toward Slag's head as he approached and touched the dent caused by Gnaw's mace. "Look like Slag get sloppy." The other Dinobots chuckled at Slag's expense. "Lifeless Goons not supposed to land quality blows like that."

Slag angrily glared at his teammates who were having fun at his expense. "First of all, you Femmes can chew on my fender! Secondly, this wasn't caused by a random Goon...it was Gnaw."

The other Dinobots were mildly surprised, and Grimlock chuckled. "So, dumb spark-shell still around." He turned to Swoop. "That probably one working on ship." Grimlock looked at the various Sharkticon frames scattered about before turning back to Slag. "One of these him?"

Slag looked around at the countless inert frames. The wound that he had inflicted upon Gnaw had been substantial, but the Sharkticon was tough, tough enough to survive it. "No. He got away."

Grimlock shrugged. "We get him eventually. Besides, me, Grimlock, more interested in Magistrate inside ship. Maybe even Quint in there." The other Dinobots grumbled their agreement and they all started walking toward the downed Decepticon craft.

Suddenly the rear exit hatch opened, and in the doorway stood Magistrate Caligulon. "Greetings Pit Lords. I am actually pleased to see you again."

"CALIGULON! Me, Grimlock, pleased to see you too! Me, Grimlock, going to give you long, painful death!" The Dinobot hatefully snarled back.

The Magistrate chuckled. "I'm afraid that you won't have that opportunity. You see, our gods are interested in both your recovery from the affliction that they inflicted upon you and your new organic traits. They desire to have you back and to examine you before putting your troublesome lives to an end."

Grimlock craned his neck and looked past Caligulon into the ship. "Can't wait for 'gods' to arrive."

The Magistrate smiled at the approaching Pit Lords. "Then you are in luck, for here they come. But not from within this pitiful vessel, no, they are approaching us from where gods always arrive from; the heavens." Caligulon pointed into the sky. The Dinobots turned and saw the enormous Quintesson craft cut through the clouds and settle into the sky above them. "Make peace with your gods, Pit Lords, for here they come!"


***


The green and the orange-yellow helicopters shot over the metal surface of Cybertron, searching desperately for the occasional oily drop that indicated that they were still accurately tracking their prey. "Anything on scanners?" Springer called out to Sandstorm.

"Naw, noth...wait a minute. I'm getting something just coming into sensor range." Sandstorm analyzed his readings for a few seconds. "I don't think it's them. All I'm picking up is a solitary ground vehicle."

"Scan for organics."

"We're not after Preds here."

Springer replied, a hint of irritation in his voice. "Just do it."

Sandstorm modified his scan, and a moment later replied with results. "I'm getting some weird readings here. I'm not sure what to make of it, but there appears to be three...things with the vehicle."

"Bingo!" Springer increased his speed, now sure of which direction to head toward.

Suddenly a predominantly gray and red jet shot by overhead. "Hey guys, we're not supposed to engage these things. Let's just alert Iacon and await their orders."

Springer's voice came through the communications channel. "Suggestion noted. I think that only a vote can determine what we do next. Sandstorm, what do you want to do?"

Broadside's voice sarcastically replied to Springer’s call for a vote. "Gee, I don't see where this is going."

Ignoring Broadside, Sandstorm voiced his preference. "Let's tear 'em a new one!"

"I see. Well then, that leaves my choice. Decisions, decisions; Hmm...I guess that I'll have to say that..."

"Oh just get on with it!"

"Sorry Broadside, majority rules! Let's kill those oil rags!" With that all three aircraft shot after the signal, Broadside using his superior speed to shoot ahead and do some reconnaissance.

Several minutes later his voice came through the Autobot channel that the three hunters were using. "Yup, black missile transport with three weird looking things hanging on it."

"Wait for us!" Springer called out as he and Sandstorm continued at their maximum speed. Just a few minutes later they could visually see their targets, and Broadside slowed, dropped altitude and sidled next to them. "Well boys, I've got no elaborate battle plan, just wreck 'em hard and fast!" With that the three flying Autobots darted at Bludgeon and his students with weapons blazing.

"Decepticons; battle positions!" The skeletal warrior yelled as he leapt off of the vehicular form of Blight. Octopunch and Stranglehold followed suit, and Blight transformed and engaged his Pretender Shell. The four Decepticons instantly began returning fire at the Autobots.

Without slowing down, both helicopters lowered to just a few feet above the ground, shifted shape, and continued their high speed attack as ground vehicles, one an orange-yellow dune buggy and the other a green and yellow armored car. "Look at the pretty dresses, Springer! I wonder which of these ladies was the one that Prime beat the slag out of?"

Springer sped around the left side of them, firing away at them the entire time. "Actually, it was two of them that Prime spanked, Sandstorm. There would be two lifeless hunks at the bottom of a recycling pile if not for the other two slag-buckets coming to rescue the damsels in distress."

Bludgeon laughed as his Pretender Shell peeled away and he transformed into a green M1 tank with a purple cannon. The tank fired at the Autobots, impacting the ground under Springer's rear left tire and sending the Autobot flipping over the metal ground. "Uninformed fools! The truth is that we penetrated your precious city, killed The One, killed several of your Autobot brothers, and nearly killed The Prime while sustaining only minimal injuries to ourselves! And now you three twits come after us, knowing how overwhelmed you are as warriors!?!" Bludgeon continued firing on Springer as the Autobot transformed to robot mode and dove to evade the barrage. "Whether led here by bravery or stupidity, there will be no escape for you from the mayhem that we are about to unleash."

"Yeah, bla bla bla! I just want to know which of you of you big bad tough guys killed the elderly doctor."

The skull-faced warrior smiled. "Why, my dear fool, that was I." Bludgeon and Springer continued firing on each other, but with an increased sense of malice.

The gray and red jet strafed the Decepticons, narrowly avoiding a missile from the suddenly revealed arm-mounted missile launcher on the black ninja-snake. Blight called after the departing aircraft. "Come back and fight honorably as robots!"

"Yeah, you pathetic Autobot oil-drips. I heard that the only way to make a flying Autobot is to gut out all of the presses so that it's as light and weak as a minibot; maybe that's why these frails are afraid to take us on hand to hand?" Stranglehold's belligerent insults flew as he fired on the speeding Sandstorm.

"Stranglehold, watch out!"

But Blight's warning came too late as Broadside transformed mid-air and landed as a forty-foot robot on Stranglehold's back. "How light do I feel!?!" Broadside stepped off of the massive human and delivered a thunderous punch to the back of Stranglehold's head. "How weak was that!?!"

Blight charged at Broadside, a move that the giant Autobot was waiting for. Broadside swung his massive axe at the black form, but was stunned as the Decepticon maneuvered mid-air to avoid the strike and get in close enough to Broadside to deliver a slash of his own. The red-hued blade sliced through the Autobot's chest armor three times before Broadside could fall to the ground and away from Blight's repeated strikes.

The massive Broadside looked up at the approaching ninja-garbed warrior, suddenly realizing how outclassed he was in terms of close-range combat. Seeing the evil red gleam in the black creature's human-shaped optics, Broadside knew that he had seconds to live. Suddenly a green and yellow blur slammed against his would-be dispatcher and carried Blight two-dozen yards away. "GET OUTTA THERE, BROADSIDE!"

Heeding Springer's command, Broadside leapt to his feet and then to the air, transforming to jet mode as he did so. The plane shot to the air a fraction of a second before Bludgeon's sword cut into the tail section. The Metallikato master watched as the jet sped away before turning to see his disciple battle the green Autobot with the great leaping ability.

Though caught off guard, Blight had quickly recovered and was slashing away at the green and yellow triple changer. Springer had always considered himself to be an excellent sword-wielder, but he was immediately made aware of how insignificant his skills were compared to those of this dark Decepticon. Springer raised his sword to block a downward slice, but Blight expertly changed the direction of his attack and severed Springer's right hand at the wrist.

Springer reached out with his left hand and caught his sword, but left himself open as he did so and wound up with a snap kick delivered to his jaw. Suddenly finding himself on the ground, Springer knew that this battle was not going well. Doing a reverse summersault to get back to his feet, the one-handed Autobot leapt high into the air with his powerful legs, transformed to helicopter mode, and started back to Iacon. "Sandstorm, Broadside, retreat! We need to wait for reinforcements."

Sandstorm, who had been trading shots with Octopunch, grumbled but complied. Taking to the air, he followed his two comrades back toward their stronghold. "What went wrong!?!"

Frustrated, Springer replied. "We underwent a procedure, one that could have gone wrong in countless different ways, one that quite possibly could have left us dead, and instead of utilizing the benefits gained from the procedure, we resort to close range combat with martial arts masters. We really need to figure out how to better use our multiple modes more effectively, otherwise we may not survive the next battle."


***


Omega Supreme transformed to robot mode once Optimus Prime had cleared his tracks and stood vigilant over his fellow Autobots. If the Decepticons did in fact have something else planned, then they would have to deal with the unbridled fury of the massive Guardian.

Prime walked toward the three lieutenants that were approaching him, Prowl, Jetfire and Ironhide. "What exactly is going on?"

"Those crazy lizards have blown a fuse in their already messed up neural nets." Ironhide shook his head. "And the one that I considered to be almost normal was the one that planted the live wire up the rest of their exhaust ports."

Prime held up his hand and shook his head. "Hold on, start from the beginning...and please, use proper names."

Prowl nodded. "We detected the ship approaching from the southwest and prepared to battle it. Jetfire shot out ahead to engage it in the sky, and Grimlock, the Dinobots, Superion and Defensor charged out ahead to engage it from the ground."

Prime's optics narrowed. "Seems a bit headstrong, don't you think?"

Prowl shrugged and nodded. "That's Grimlock. Anyway, at some point Swoop transformed and flew up to the ship, landed on it and started hacking at the hull in an attempt to gain entry. He was blasted off and caught by Superion, who in turn was blasted hard enough to knock him out of the sky, but don’t worry, he didn't sustain any significant damage. As for Swoop, he managed to transform and remain in the air. We inflicted a great deal of damage to the ship, so it retreated to the north."

Prime nodded. "That does seem too easy. I can see why you would be nervous."

Jetfire's red visor flared for an instant as he spoke. "Some of our nervousness is derived from the actions of our own troops. Swoop disobeyed my order to break off pursuit of the ship and return to the Ark. I asked Grimlock to rein him in, but Swoop sent a message back about the ship's occupants not being Decepticons, but 'goons', whatever those are. Upon hearing the message, the other Dinobots started acting strangely, and Grimlock ordered Superion to transport them to Swoop's coordinates. Superion returned about five minutes ago, claiming to have dropped the Dinobots off a few miles from Swoop's position."

Prime started marching up the hill and toward the Ark. "I don't know how much more I can take of his behavior. Grimlock and I are going to have a long discussion when he returns." The Autobot leader shook his head in annoyance. "Where are they now?"

Prowl took his place next to Prime and kept up with his Commander's long strides. "The Dinobots were in beast mode when last I checked, so tracking them is difficult to say the least. But we tracked the ship to a section of the Rockies about a hundred miles outside of Edmonton. It appears that it set down to conduct repairs. We were awaiting your arrival before deciding what to do next."

Suddenly Jazz's voice erupted from their wrist communicators. "Prime, we've detected another ship entering Earth's atmosphere just above the position of the Decepticon craft that attacked us! This thing is huge!"

Prime raised his wrist to his face. "Can you categorize..."

"SIR, sorry to interrupt, but the ship has begun firing at various points on the planet's surface!"

"PATCH ME THROUGH TO GRIMLOCK!" It was time the Pit Lord came clean.

"Done."

"Grimlock, this is Optimus Prime! What in the Inferno is going on!?!"

Several seconds passed silently, so Prime raised his wrist back to his face to resend his query. Just before he spoke, however, Grimlock's angry voice came through. "Shut up Prime, this no concern you!" Blasts could be heard in the background.

"YOU WILL INFORM ME OF YOUR SITUATION RIGHT NOW!"

Grimlock's voice came through once again. "Put on Omega Supreme! This involve him, not you!"

Though enraged, the confused Prime did turn to the Guardian and silently indicated for him to open the communications frequency and participate, which he did. "Omega Supreme here."

"Me Grimlock thought you like to know coiler in sky above."

"Coiler?" Those near him could barely hear the confused whisper, but it quickly became apparent that he was familiar with the term as the Guardian's optics flared so brightly with rage that the light bouncing off of his clear facial armor illuminated his face. "AAARRRRRR!" Omega Supreme let out a roar that knocked Prowl to the ground and left Prime, Ironhide and Jetfire stunned. He immediately transformed into his defense base and his rocket launched. The rest of the base vanished into his sub-space pocket, leaving the three Autobot officers alone and significantly more confused than they had been before.


***


"Cease your resistance Grimlock. It was fate that returned you to me, so why fight it?" Apolonicus's dominant face smiled as he delivered the message through his ships communications console. "The creation of you and the other Pit Lords was my shining achievement. I feel for all of you as an organic would feel for its offspring. I gave you life, and though you won’t admit it, enabled you to live in a manner that you loved and excelled at. Can you not remember the pleasure of seeing the frustration and anger in each face of Arenius and Hadelac as you annihilated their prized Decepticon gladiators? Even the almighty Zeulos was humbled as you defeated his precious Guardians in the Pit. We achieved glory the likes of which neither of us has seen since, but glory which is possible to reclaim once we are reunited."

"Apolonicus?" Grimlock's annoyed voice came through the console over the sounds of the ship's impacting ordinance.

"Yes, my creation?"

"When reunion occur, me Grimlock devour all five of Apolonicus's faces!" A low chuckling followed the threat. "Because of Apolonicus, that only way me Grimlock can gain sustenance."

Apolonicus looked up at his two fellow Quintessons. "Just remember, when I made him he was an excellent speaker." The other Quintessons bobbed in acknowledgement before Apolonicus returned to his conversation with Grimlock. "That was not I. It was Zeulos that chose to desecrate your frames after you were put into stasis lock. I fought him on this, I swear." Apolonicus noted the amused looks displayed by his colleagues upon hearing the claim. Removing his tentacle from the 'speak' button, he addressed them. "Well it's partly true. It was Zeulos who commanded the procedure be done, and I initially did oppose the decision to damage my property." He switched faces; the new one was already chuckling. The chuckling was controlled as Apolonicus addressed Grimlock once more. "Return to me and we can obtain vengeance on that fiend Zeulos!"

A beeping began emanating from another console, and one of the subordinate Quintessons hovered to it to see what was the matter. "Lord Apolonicus, there is a conical rocket inbound." All five of the faces suddenly displayed fearful expressions. "Sir, the dimensions are consistent with...” Panic forced the Quintesson to pause, as if by not saying what he feared he was preventing it from coming to pass.

"Consistent with what!?!"

Now it was Grimlock's turn to chuckle, his light laughter coming through the speaker. "You Quints in trouble now."

Severing the communications channel with the Autobot, Apolonicus addressed his subordinate once again. "CONSISTANT WITH WHAT!?!"

The terrified Quintesson stuttered his reply. "A G...G...Ga...Guardian. O...O...Omega class. I think...” The Quintesson switched faces. "I think it's the traitor."


*


Grimlock rolled out from behind the rock formation that he was taking cover behind as a shot from the Quintesson ship blasted it to rubble. Jumping to his feet, he squeezed off a few pointless shots at the distant vessel before sprinting to find more cover. He and the other Dinobots had been dodging high powered weapons fire for the past ten minutes, pinned down and unable to do any damage to their attackers. They were already low on power after the battle with the Sharkticons, and they would be to the point of falling into non-voluntary stasis lock in a matter of minutes if they kept up this pace.

Suddenly the sound of rolling thunder echoed through the sky, and the Quintesson ship began firing toward the origin of the noise. Shots came back and blasted against the hull of the corkscrew-shaped vessel. Grimlock laughed heartily and fearlessly walked out into the clearing. The Quints had bigger problems now.

The Dinobot Commander walked casually toward the Decepticon ship, where Magistrate Caligulon had been watching from the open doorway. "What are you doing? What is going on!?!"

"Quints should have stayed disappeared." Grimlock calmly announced as he made his way toward the ship. Turning his head back to the sky, the Dinobot watched as Omega Supreme's rocket section came into view, sent a series of shots at the Quintesson vessel, and then slammed hard into it, piercing its hull. "Ouch. He must hate Quints more than me Grimlock do."

Caligulon stammered as he watched this unfold. "Wha...Is tha...No, it can't be!" He stared in amazement as the rest of the defense station appeared on the hull of the ship, and then reconfigured itself into the form of a massive robot. The stunned reptilian-robotic hybrid could only whisper in shock. "Omega Supreme."

The enraged Guardian immediately began tearing into the enormous ship, tossing massive chucks of the metal hull over the side and plummeting to the ground. In moments the image of Omega Supreme vanished as he climbed through the gaping hole in the hull into the craft and began gutting the interior as he made his way toward the command center of the ship. The vessel started to rise toward the atmosphere, but the damage caused by the Guardian's claw, feet and cannon quickly became so great that the ship was unable to ascend. Seconds later, after countless explosions had erupted from the inside, the Quintesson craft began losing altitude.

The horrified Magistrate failed to notice the approaching Pit Lord as he viewed the destruction of the plummeting ship. Suddenly he happened to look down and see Grimlock walking up the entrance ramp to the ship. "NOOO!" Caligulon engaged an energon whip and lashed it against Grimlock. The assault had little to no effect on the oncoming warrior, and the two forms disappeared into the ship. Only Caligulon's pained screams gave any indication of what was going on inside.

The other Dinobots had been watching Omega Supreme tear through the massive Quintesson ship, and were now running for cover as it came down four miles from them. Despite the distance, dirt, rock and various other debris was sprayed over them as the vessel hit the ground with a tremor-inducing thud.

Eight CF-18 jet fighters shot by overhead to engage any possible threat to Canada, but like the Americans, the Canadians had agreed to let the Autobots have the first crack at any issues involving Cybertronians. The pilots naturally assumed that whatever this skirmish was about, it was a problem for the Autobots to handle. Despite this, they remained in the sky above, ready to engage any combatants that might be headed toward a more populated area.
Unseen by the humans, Autobots and Quintessons, a gray F-22 dropped out of the sky and disappeared into the spraying clouds of dirt around the space craft.

Along the outer rim of one of the smaller blades of the corkscrew-shaped top of the ship were a series of 'bumps'. These bumps were actually the tips of small escape crafts, one of which detached from the ship and started flying away. The craft's timing was perfect as the orange and gray claw arm of Omega Supreme tore through the bay that it had launched from. Enraged, the Guardian could only yell at the departing craft.

The three Quintessons inside the craft anxiously stared at the reverse view screen, watching the furious Omega Guardian savagely ripping through their ship and giving them chase on foot. Putting several hundred yards between themselves and Omega Supreme in the matter of a few seconds, the three creatures relaxed slightly. "It appears that we have escaped, Lord Apolonicus." At that moment the small craft shuddered as something landed on it from above. Then a head with a long beak mounted on a thin, muscular neck appeared in the transparent metal view port. The creature slammed its beak against the port, but it held. The head disappeared, and a few seconds later the Pit Lord Swoop was in front of the port, his plasma blade in hand.

Not bothering with the port this time, the Dinobot thrust his sword into the engine of the small craft. The shuttle instantly started dropping to the ground, and seconds later Swoop was thrown away by the impact of the crash. The three disheveled Quintessons slowly emerged from the ship a minute later, terrified to leave it but aware that they could not remain within.

"Hey boss." The Quintessons looked to their left to see the massive form of Slag walking toward them. "I bet you never expected to see me again."

One of the subordinate Quintessons submissively hovered toward the horned Dinobot. "Please, kind Autobot, grant us mer..." A swipe from Slag's red plasma blade cut the Quintesson in two.

"Oh no you don't!" From on top of the ship, Snarl leapt off and thrust his sword down through the top of the other subordinate Quintesson's head, the blade traveling all the way through the egg-shaped body and coming out the bottom. "You're not getting all the fun Slag. I know Grimlock is going to call dibs on Apolonicus, so I get to kill this one."

The enormous Sludge came jogging over, but stopped in amazement as he saw the last surviving Quintesson. A whisper came out of him as he gazed at the terrified creature. "Master." Anger slowly took the place of awe, and he soon was malevolently walking toward Apolonicus. "You not my master any more!"

A banged up and dirt covered Swoop came sprinting over. "Sludge, no! We're going to let Grimlock question him. We need to know if the other Quintessons still exist and pose a threat." Sludge looked up at Swoop, and though he still wanted to destroy the being that had once claimed ownership of him, he acquiesced.

An explosion on the chest of the calmed giant sent Sludge hurtling back. The other three Dinobots on the scene turned to the direction that the missile had originated from, only to have a barrage of null rays rain down on them. Swoop, Slag and Snarl all dove to avoid the attack, leaving the Quintesson unattended. A barbed grappling hook painfully embedded itself into Apolonicus' external shell, and the next moment the Quintesson was being pulled through the air. "So long morons!" Starscream laughed as he made his escape into the clouds with the struggling Quintesson in tow.

Swoop took to the sky and transformed, but it was obvious that he was no match for Starscream's speed.


*


"I'm telling you, I heard Starscream's voice."

"Shut up Dreadwind." Darkwing pulled against Dreadwind's hand as the latter helped the former out of the ship's wreckage. "Starscream's been dead for fifty thousand vorns."

"I know what I heard. Besides, if Megatron could survive..." Dreadwind finished pulling his comrade out of the mangled alien craft and gazed over the landscape, changing the subject as he looked upon the alien world. "Looks kind of like Nebulos."

Two smaller, gray-limbed robotic forms, one with a blue head and torso and the other with a purple head and torso, followed the Decepticons out of the wreck. The one with the purple body looked at the same scene that Dreadwind was gazing upon. "You're crazy, this looks nothing like Nebulos."

Darkwing looked over at the four large, gray robots standing by the crashed escape pod. A fifth robot, one smeared by what looked to be a green, blood-like substance, approached them, as did a massive gray and orange robot. "Wow, that thing's pretty big."

The small, blue colored robotic looking creature looked up at Darkwing and presented a smile on its humanoid facial features. "I've seen bigger."

Darkwing laughed, but stopped as he turned his head toward a sound in the foliage. There, behind a tree, stood Gnaw. Darkwing smiled and nodded at the injured Sharkticon. "I guess your gods weren't so all-powerful after all." All four of the beings laughed at the dejected Sharkticon, and then the two Decepticons transformed into Cybertronian jets. Before they took off into the sky, the smaller robotic creatures leapt up at them and transformed into what appeared to be secondary engines, each latching to one of the jets. A moment later the former Quintesson prisoners had disappeared into the sky.

Gnaw looked down at his wound, a painful reminder of how his creators had been wrong. For the first time ever he allowed himself to seriously question his belief system, and while the experience was emancipating, it was also terrifying. But any further deep contemplation would have to wait for another day. Right now he was on an alien planet, with no other Sharkticons, Quintessons or Magistrates with him. Alone and damaged, Gnaw marched off in the direction of the coast. He would figure out some way to remain alive.

 

Wow, this chapter completely rocked me. Totally missed the BW reference with the shuttles first time around, wowowo. Oh man the battle with the Quints was amazing.

Awesome job man, simply awesome.