For a group to expand beyond their familiar home to a new, uncertain world is a process that can occur for a number of reasons. In cases such as the following, however, leaving one's homeworld comes as an act of desperation. A chance taken on new territory with various risks due to instability in their original home. To venture to an unfamiliar place is already a worrying prospect when venturing across one planet, but to cross the stars and take a chance on another planet entirely...such a move can only come out of sheer desperation...and for the two warring parties of the Cybertronian race, there has not been a more desperate time. Our tale begins on the far off metal homeworld of Cybertron, a vast alien planet home to sentient alien lifeforms with the ability to shift between humanoid robots and a vast assortment of other forms, ranging from the fully mechanical in the form of vehicles and weaponry to forms that alter their structures to accommodate a startling metamorphosis into an organic form. The population of this world has found itself split in a civil war like no other, one consisting of the Decepticons, a group born in rebellion against an oppressive government, and the Autobots, who seek to restart from the more noble foundations of the original government and prevent their world from being overtaken by what they perceive as a new tyrannical force attempting to take hold. This long and expansive war has had a terrible toll on the planet. Important figures and locations have been leveled in various attempts by both parties to gain superiority over the other, countless lives lost to the conflict, and most damning of all, the planet's natural resources have been expended to a dangerous degree. The only hope either faction has left of saving their home is to harness the power of a recently discovered sub-species known as "Minicons" that, according to legend, mat have the key to not only restoring Cybertron but bringing balance back to a chaotic universe. And so, the leaders of both factions have set their sights on the planet where the first confirmed Minicon sighting in centuries occurred, the planet Earth. With all their remaining resources being pooled into colonization efforts, both factions have been placed into a desperate scramble to surpass the other, engaging in occasional acts of sabotage to slow the other down only to end up in a situation where the launch of the flagships for both parties would coincide. As such, one more desperate conflict would break out on their homeworld as the two leaders and some of their finest warriors engaged in a battle to stall the others. Unlike most of their recent battles, this one ended with grave consequence and personal cost to both leaders that would only fuel the overbearing feeling of desperation among their peers. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Say again, Starscream, say again." A voice only slightly elevated from monotone voice rang across a communication feed exclusively shared between those of the Decepticon party, "Your initial transmission was partially disrupted, but enough of it has been received and the medbay is being prepped as quickly as it can under present circumstances. I require you to state once more, who has been injured?" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Whilst the Decepticons scrambled to attend to their own losses in the face of the final homebound conflict, the Autobots were dealt a worse hand by fate as they were made to hastily carry one of their own onboard for immediate medical treatment. The firefight outside had yet to dwindle, but those who were close enough to witness the end of the two leaders' conflict knew that too much time had already been wasted to wait for a ceasefire. The Autobot's Leader, Optimus Prime, laid limply across a hovering "stretcher", a hand already beginning to grow duller in color fruitlessly attempting to cover the ghastly injury received at the very end of his battle with his counterpart leading the Decepticon forces.
A dark green con looked out at the fire fight ahead of him, and sighed. It had been a while since his higher ups had contacted him for his next mission. He was starting to worry about what had actually happened out in the battle. He himself wasn't looking to good, his previous target giving him a good run for his money and damaging some of his leg assembly. Turning away and into the Hangar Bay, he started walking away and towards the hallway. He knew as he walked past he started to receive a lot of Looks of hate or fear, but he simply ignored them as he went by. --- A Maroon and Cyan bot rushed away from the battle clutching her shoulder. "Dammit, this battles going to Scrap quickly!" She quickly applied some bracings to her Wounded shoulder before trying to see what was happening in the decepticon side of the campaign.
Grimlock stood behind the strecher firing at the Decepticons in an attempt to protect the Prime from any further harm. "AUTOBOTS! COVERFIRE!" He roared as he blasted a generic seeker out the air. "WE NOT GIVE THEM INCH!"
Roadbuster staggered forward and turned his less damaged shoulder into the withering fire. "PUSH 'EM BACK!" he roared as he opened up against a couple nearby Decepticon positions, obliterating them in a hail of cannon-fire, plasma bolts, and mortar rounds. A couple genericons attempting to flank the Autobot retreat found themselves cut off by a wall of flame, then picked off by blaster fire. "Here's your first taste of the Inferno, Decepticreeps!" Hot Shot quipped as he leapt down from his perch. Frowning, he muttered to himself, "Okay, maybe that was too much." ----------------------------- Across the battlefield, Swindle bravely manned (read: cowered behind) a turret emplacement, gunning down any Autobot stragglers unfortunate enough to be wounded in his line of sight.
"Lord Megatron has been gravely injured. I repeat-- Lord Megatron is in need of immediate medical attention." Starscream's voice, high at the best of times, was shrill with tension and effort as the Seeker wheeled through the skies above the battle, pooring firepower down on any Autobot who made the mistake of getting too close to the badly wounded Decepticon commander, or the two mechs carefully helping him, no, closer to dragging him, from the rubble of the quickly clearing battlefield. Their leader had gotten the better of the battle. Optimus Prime was broken, and fading fast. But Megatron could barely walk. Shook and stumbled and fell like a palsied ancient. Left a trail of vibrant energon and thick, clotted internal fluid as he staggered off the battlefield, supported under each arm by a fellow Decepticon. The seeker had no illusions that without that support, the Decepticon leader would be crawling.
"I'm en route to assist, lieutenant," rasped a gravelly voice over the communication feed. "Just keep him in one piece till I get there." The Decepticon who had spoken was racing out from cover and across the chaotic battlefield as fast as his wheels could carry him, his jagged, silvery armor plating deflecting the odd laser bolt that managed to find him. The day had started out awful, sure. And Wheeljack had known from the beginning it could only get worse. But this? This was different. This could be it. The very thought pushed him to accelerate even further, exhaust ports seething with nitro steam as he sought out his dying commander.
Chicane looked up over a ridge before having to duck from incoming turret fire. "Manned Enemy Turret position, 12 O'clock! 3 kliks north of my position! Does someone think they can get it? We got wounded on the other side!" She swung over to a small outlook, trying to find a good angle to get in some suppressing fire on the turret. --- Spitfire's head perked up at the mention of Megatron being wounded on the field. "What?! Megatron been wounded?!" He went out to the edge of the hangar bay, and looked out to the ensuing fight. "Hmph. Time to get my hands dirty." He cloaked himself and started to advance towards the field. "I'll help provide cover support. We need to get our leader back soon..." He than tilted his head. "Wait a second. Air Commander Starscream, if Megatron is this injured than surely Optimus has been injured as well. Permission to go behind enemy lines and eliminate a key target?" He continued walking.
"Optimus Prime--" The feed momentarily filled with harsh crackling and static as Starscream banked hard to avoid a detonating missile, flame and shrapnel reaching out to caress his chassis with hot, ragged hands that scorched and left stinging cuts and scrapes. "Optimus Prime left in worse condition than Megatron. He was on a stretcher, and already beginning to grey around the edges, holding his guts together with his hands." Starscream pounded a salvo of null-rey rounds into the source of the missile, then did an aileron roll and shot straight up, banking all the way around till he was flying the opposite way he'd come, turned upside down. "If you want to be fragging helpful, Keep what remains of the Autobot forces as far away from Megatron as possible, soldier."
From what little he had heard of the initial scrambled message, Shockwave feared that this might have been the case. There had been few moments in his life where he had hoped to be wrong about such an assumption, but this was certainly the shining moment above all instances of Shockwave fruitlessly hoping for the best. Calling the attention of nearby worker units, Shockwave turn slightly away from the larger medical slab and cry out to them, loud enough that the remark would be heard over the shared feed. "Double your efforts, Lord Megatron is in critical condition!" He barked in a strangely urgent voice, considering who the mech was. Very shortly after that, those who were given the benefit of being further away from the chaos and explosions outside might be able to hear things being frantically tossed around and adjusted in the medical bay. "We will be ready for him when he arrives, Air Commander." He assured the Seeker, "We will need all remaining forces to return to the ship immediately. I would advise that you call an immediate retreat in Lord Megatron's stead, Starscream. We cannot risk allowing an Autobot assassin to slip into the Nemesis during the firefight."
Swindle spotted Chicane trying to outmaneuver and let up harrying a crippled Autotrooper to spray the ridge he assumed she was bound for with machine gun fire. “Oh slag no, I’m not getting caught out here!” he yelped.
Jetfire flew in, firing off his wing and nose mounted weapons at Starscream. “I don’t think so, Screamy!” He shouted as he targeted the Seeker. While on the ground, the form of Star Saber was keeping Decepticons away from the wounded Optimus Prime. He could see his commander was gravely injured, and he didn’t like it one bit. “Just hang in there, sir!” Star Saber said to him. “We’ll get you to the medical bay and you will be fine.” He slashed a Decepticon away with one of his swords before impaling another with the second.
"I have it!" stated Scattershot, transforming into his alt-mode. Lining up his rocket pods, he launched a salvo of missiles at the Swindle's position. The first few hit the ground, sending nameless grunts flying, while others were blasted apart. However, the missiles that were heading straight for Swindle exploded prematurely, colliding with missiles coming from the opposite direction. A blue figure immerged from smoke, and approached Swindle's position, firing with a concussion blaster held in one of his hands. "Soldier, your position is compromised" came the familiar monotone voice of Soundwave "Relocate to a safer position, or you will be cut up by Autobot fire along with your turret."
“NO SHIT, MONOTONE!” Swindle howled, abandoning his position without a second thought. Then, hesitating, he tossed a small proximity mine under the turret, just in case some Autobot decided to investigate it. Satisfied, he transformed to jeep mode and tore away to the rear of the main Decepticon battle lines.
"Retreat.... Of course." The seeker sounded ragged and distracted. Shifting his comms to a faction wide broadcast frequency, he began to speak. "Decepticons, f-" A flash of red and white entered the periphary of Starscream's vision, and he performed another rapid midair-dodge, laser-fire sizzling past him by mere inches. "Pah! I don't have time for you, Autobot." Starscream snarled out loud to Jetfire. The Autobot flier dwarfed him-- He was Starscream's mass twice again easily. But the Decepticon was, in the end, the better aerial fighter. It was likely that if it came to a full dogfight, the smaller Seeker would win, but, as Starscream had said.... Time was of the essence, here. Starscream only hovered for a brief, tense second, scanners at max, ready to dodge incoming fire from any source or direction. "Go back to your broken leader, Jetfire. He needs you more than a battle we both know I would win." Starscream's jet-form spun 180 degrees with a snarl of retrorockets, and in the fraction of a moment before his main thrusters ignited and took him to mach-speed almost instantaneously, a pair of seeking cluster-rockets dropped out of the Seeker's chassis and lanced through the smoke-heavy air towards Jetfire, set to detonate on proximity instead of impact. By the time they blew, Starscream was already over a kilometer away, bound for the Nemesis. Over all Decepticon channels, he sounded out-- "Decepticons-- Fall back to the Nemesis. This battle is no longer relevant. We must ensure the Autobots do not slip through our defenses. I am ordering a full tactical retreat!"
Jetfire could barely see the rockets as they sped towards him, but he heard them easily. He transformed into his robot mode and twisted his body so he was flying up and away from the smoke. While he was not as maneuverable as the Seeker, Jetfire was able to avoid one rocket and fire his blaster towards the other while using his shield to block the rest of the blast he was unable to avoid. He grunted as he looked down at where Optimus was and flew down to join Star Saber and the rest of the group protecting him.
Spitfire nodded. "Right than." He started to approach Megatron's position and cut down an unfortunate Autotrooper with his sword. He fired his minigun at a few other straggling Autobots, before continuing to Megatron's position. "Hold on my Liege. Your almost there." --- Chicane backed up as the ridge was pelted by Turret fire, before turning back to see Scattershot had gotten a few shots in on the turret. "Thanks Scattershot!" She pulled out her Marksmans rifle, and saw Swindle falling back, with Soundwave covering him. She aimed her blaster at Soundwave and fired a three round burst before ducking behind cover again. ---
Inside the Nemesis a dark black and purple seeker watched a monitor rather confused. "Retreat? He killed Optimus though didn't he? Doesn't that mean we won and they should be retreating?" ---------------- Seeing the mass of fleeing Decepticons Grimlock turned his attention to the other large Autobot near him. "Roadbuster! Decepticons running away!" He yelled. "We push on them!?"
Wheeljack had only made it halfway out of the Nemesis and towards Megatron when the order to fall back was called. He skidded to a stop at the top of a ridge overlooking the bloody, brutal scene before him as Decepticon troops hastily pushed past him in their retreat. For a few minutes he simply sat there in vehicle mode, quiet amidst the chaos. The gravity of Starscream's words hung heavily in his mind. "Optimus Prime left in worse condition than Megatron. He was on a stretcher, and already beginning to grey around the edges, holding his guts together with his hands."
"Pit yeah!" the lumbering orange-and-green commando bellowed. "WRECK 'N' RULE!" The two mortars on his back lowered over his shoulders and fired on the front ranks of the retreating Decepticons as he lumbered forward to push the attack. His leg cannons continued their steady, staggered rhythm, cutting down Genericons he then finished off with a burst of machine-gun or plasma fire. A Genericon hiding in a foxhole peeked out as Roadbuster passed him and prepared to throw a grenade at the attacking Autobot when he heard a snapping sound behind him. Almost before he could process the sound, he was scorched where he stood as Hot Shot dashed by, joining the two heavy Autobots' onslaught by picking off the survivors of the renewed offensive.
Grimlock holstered his riffle and his sword which quickly depolyed from the hilt to form its blade as he ran towards a mass of genericons. In a matter of seconds the air was filled with the death screams of impaled, slashed, decapitated, and bisected decepticons. "TAKE AS MANY AS YOU CAN!"
