- We have Ultra Magnus who has fled from the Mini-Con sanctuary with the Requiem Blaster (his toy came with it, OMG, what a tie in!  ). Where is he going? Where he can get help, of course!  

- We have Starscream who has been ordered by Rapid Run to get the Requiem Blaster before his spark and body are completely tied together (or "revived"). He's going to follow Ultra Magnus because, damn it, he wants his body back!

- We have Rad and Alexis who are going to head to Cybertron to try and warn Optimus Prime of what's happening on Earth.

Now, if you figure Ultra Magnus is most likely going to Cybertron, and that Starscream is chasing him, with Alexis and Rad on their way, what are the possible chances that Starscream and Alexis are going to have a reunited meeting?

     

 

Woot.

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14 – The Scorponok’s Sting




The walls along the side of the citadel came crashing down as the body of Jetfire crashed through the steel girders, landing with a thud as sparks shot out from his body scraping against the cold, metallic surface of Cybertron. Standing inside the citadel with a cloud of dust slowly dissipating was the large hulking form of the warrior known as Scorponok. He stared down Jetfire, his optics glowing a deep, dark red. He turned his head to his left to see the other Autobots, their weapons drawn, preparing to open fire.

“You cannot stop me,” laughed Scorponok, taking a step forward towards the Autobots.

“Hit him with everything!” shouted Hot Shot, opening fire. Blurr and Landmine joined in the barrage, shooting energy blast after energy blast at the charging brute. Scorponok continued to laugh with every step he took, laser blasts simply bouncing off his armor and exploding against the walls.

“This is futile,” thought Prime to himself, protecting the damaged body of Rodimus. “This…imposter…is too powerful, nothing we do can even dent him in the slightest. There has to be another way…”

“Agghh!” cried out Blurr as he flew backwards, a laser blast from Scorponok connecting with his shoulder. He slid to the far back wall before he stopped, his left shoulder in flames while his right hand clutched his wound. “Optimus! We need your help!”

“Landmine!” shouted Hot Shot, firing blast after blast at Scorponok. “Give Optimus some time to pull it together!”

“You got it Hot Shot!” shouted Landmine, standing up from his position. “Hey Scorponok!” he shouted. “This is gonna hurt you more than it’s gonna hurt me! BRUTE MODE!!!” he shouted. Suddenly his trailer materialized behind him and transformed, pieces of it connecting to Landmine. Within moments, Landmine stood with a hulky weapons system on his back and two large claws on his arms. He took a step forward, shaking the room.

Scorponok looked at Landmine.

Landmine looked back, and smiled.

“Bring it.”

Scorponok wailed out in despise as he charged forward, his large clawed hands in the air ready to strike. With a flash, both clawed arms came crashing down only to meet with Landmine’s left arm, brought up to block the attack. Swiftly, Landmine, with his right fist, smashed his claw in to Scorponok’s chest, causing the warrior to keel forward. With a smash of his left fist, Scorponok went crashing to the ground face first as Landmine leapt behind the imposter elder. Without stopping to think, Landmine opened fire with his weapon pack, sending loose laser blasts and missiles that smashed in to Scorponok, as well as around him. Clouds of dust and debris filled the air as Landmine unleashed his arsenal.

Then, there was silence – the eerie type. It filled the entire room as the clouds of dust slowly worked their way out of the building. There was some noise of rustling as Jetfire slowly entered back in to the citadel, still feeling a bit loopy from the beating he took. Optimus Prime emerged from the back room where Rodimus was hiding, complete with his super mode. He towered over the other Autobots.

“What happened to Scorponok?” he asked, his radiance shining to all those around him. “I have a feeling he’s not out for the count just yet…”

Laughter echoed throughout the hall of the citadel.

“What gave you that idea, Optimus Prime?” laughed the voice of Scorponok. “You know, you really are just like the legend that describes you – a fool’s hero!”

Optimus Prime was silent at the insults being flung at him by Scorponok. But the others weren’t so accepting of such harsh criticism.

“Why don’t you show yourself and fight!?” challenged Hot Shot, waving his blaster in the air. “You’re a coward for hiding yet continuing to run your vocalizer!”

“Would you like a taste of my power, weakling!?” Scorponok offered, his laughter only increasing. “Just stand still, this won’t hurt a bit…!”

With the end of that remark came another flash, this time as a large robotic scorpion came charging out of the dust cloud towards Hot Shot’s position. Above its head was a scorpion tail with a purple stinger attached to the tip. It was glowing, seemingly tainted with the stench of death and destruction. And Hot Shot was its target.

As if planned, another flash caught everyone’s attention – this time it was the blue vehicle mode of Blurr as he slammed in to Hot Shot, knocking both of them out of the way of the stinger as it came crashing down where Hot Shot was standing. The metal that touched the stinger immediately began to corrode, steaming up as an acid-like substance ate away at the compounds that made up the metal. Scorponok, still in his scorpion mode, turned to face Landmine and Optimus Prime.

“Who is the coward now, Autobot?” Scorponok laughed. “Who else would like to battle the all mighty Scorponok!?” he shouted, snapping his claws open and shut. “I possess power beyond the comprehension of any first generation Transformer! And none of you shall interfere with the plans that my master has set forth!”

Optimus Prime’s optics narrowed.

“Unicron!” he shouted, taking a step forward. His fists clenched and the anger he had managed to bury deep inside himself began to boil up. He reached for his blaster and took aim at Scorponok. “You’re trying to revive Unicron! This entire invasion is nothing more than a ruse to get energon to revive Unicron!”

Scorponok transformed back to his robot mode and laughed.

“Don’t insult me, half-breed!” he snarled, snapping his claws in the direction of Optimus. “I would rather burn in the abyss than aid that corrupt demi-God!”

“Then…what exactly…?” asked Optimus, confused. He had been so sure of himself that the Council of Elders were actually trying to revive the Chaos Bringer. It all had made sense – the intense search for energon, the refusal to allow weapons on Cybertron, the mysterious nature of all of them. He couldn’t be wrong, he had to be right, it just made too much sense.

“Didn’t like my answer?” cackled Scorponok, slowly moving towards Optimus. “Let me guess – all the scenarios pointed towards Unicron? You’re so narrow-minded, I can’t believe Megatron has failed to destroy you after all these eons…”

“Who are you!!?” shouted Optimus, stepping forward at a rapid pace. He was angered – this upstart had hit a nerve with him. The planet was in ruins with countless lives destroyed and this foreigner simply laughed at the entire concept. An anger burned deep within Optimus Prime’s spark, and as a champion of justice, Prime was going to break Scorponok or die trying.

“Allow me to formally introduce myself,” Scorponok smiled. He bowed. “I am Scorponok, Supreme Commander of the Terrorcon forces!” He stretched out his arms and transformed back in to his scorpion mode, his stinger tail beginning to glow dimly. “I could give a slag about the civil war you fight, about the Gods you worship and fear, or the idealistic morals you impose as rights!” Scorponok began to move his way towards Optimus, who was still walking towards him. “And I will be the last thing you see before you’re swallowed in to the pit!”

“Never!” shouted Prime, lunging out with his left fist with the copter drone attached. Prime’s ill-fated move left him injured, as Scorponok’s stinger drove straight in to the droned arm, sending shockwaves of pain through Optimus’s body. He fell to one knee as the acid from the stinger slowly ate away at the internal circuitry. With a simple thought Prime detached the injured drone, letting it fall to the ground lifeless as the acid continued to eat away at it. He looked up to see Scorponok preparing for a second strike.

But fate would not take Optimus Prime’s life today. The back chamber exploded, debris flying in to the sky as more dust covered the air. Prime used this opportunity to grab Scorponok’s tail with his functioning right arm, pull himself up and slam his right foot straight in to the face of Scorponok’s scorpion mode. The result sent Scorponok flying backwards with a dent the size of a small Earth vehicle. As the dust settled, all optics rested upon the two new arrivals…

…Doom-Lock and Command Ravage.

“Sire!” shouted Doom-Lock, rushing past the Autobots to Scorponok. He laid his hand on Scorponok’s side. “Sire, are you all right?”

Command Ravage had his rifle drawn, taking aim at various Autobots in the citadel. He growled as he stared down each Autobot, his trigger finger itching to pull, to extinguish just one spark.

“You fools,” hissed Scorponok, transforming to his robot mode. He put his hand on his head, still trying to recover from the force of Optimus Prime’s attack. He looked to the Autobots. “Your lives are spared for now,” he said gingerly, his armor cracked and his ego damaged. “Doom-Lock! Command Ravage! With me! We return to our master at once!”

Scorponok leapt in to the air and transformed in to his third mode, a cyber jet. The two Terrorcon generals leapt on to either wing and hung on as Scorponok blasted off in to the distance, a small gray vapor trail behind him. Prime, missing an arm, walked to the hole in the citadel’s wall and observed the damage around the area.

“This is truly our darkest hour,” he whispered as he watched Cybertron City burn. Buildings toppled to the surface and explosions continued to ring out across the landscape. Randomly skewed across the ground were bodies of those who had fought and paid the ultimate price. But off in the distance he saw salvation – a group of humans escorted by a lone Autobot.

Optimus Prime transformed to his truck mode, leaving his drones behind, driving off to the unnamed vigilante and his crew. The others simply stood in confusion as Prime left without a word. As Optimus Prime pulled up to the human survivors and the lone Autobot, he proceeded with the introductions.

“Hail!” he shouted, slowing down.

“Hey there,” replied the Autobot. He was blue, red, and brownish gray in color. He was young but built, equipped with enough weaponry to hold his own. In his arms he carried a young teenage boy. At his feet walked the famous Dr. Jones and Prime’s old trusted friend, Carlos.

“Oh wow!” shouted Carlos, pumping his fist in the air. “It’s Optimus! We’re saved! ‘Ey there Optimus!”

“Greetings, everyone!” Prime saluted, transforming to his regular robot mode. “I am Optimus Prime, currently serving as Autobot Commander for the forces here on Cybertron. I’m glad you’re all safe…”

“You lie!” shouted the Autobot, taking a step back. “Rodimus is in charge of the Autobots! You’re one of those…things we’ve been fighting!”

“Rodimus is in a critical state,” Optimus replied sternly to the youth. “Due to his injuries, he is incapable of command. I am in charge until further notice. Now, identify yourself soldier!” Prime ordered, his finger pointed at the young Autobot, almost touching his chest, as if he was challenging him.

“My name is Ironhide,” he replied. “And this here is Kicker, he saved everyone from the Scavenger zombie!”

“Scavenger…?” Optimus replied, looking to Carlos, a sense of sadness in his voice.

“Yeah man,” Carlos said softly, his head down. “Scavenger went freakazoid and tried to crush everyone…and Kicker started glowing and fried every circuit in Scavenger’s body!”

“Kicker did what?” Prime asked, in disbelief.

“His abilities don’t just stop at sensing Energon,” Dr. Jones piped up to Optimus. “It would appear that he has some sort of … manipulation ability … the ability to channel the power from the Energon and concentrate it in to raw energy, which can be focused at anything he points his fingers at…”

“This is all highly intriguing, and disturbing,” Prime concluded. “But it’ll have to wait. We’re setting up temporary shelter in the citadel behind me. We need repairs, so I hope you and the doctor are up for some projects,” Prime said looking towards Carlos. His old human friend nodded in agreement. “All right then. Let’s hurry, the longer we stay outside, the greater chance we’ll have Terrorcons to deal with.”

As the Autobots and humans slowly made their way inside the battered citadel, four robed figures watched them from atop another building just far enough out of optic sensor reach.

“We were unprepared for his survival,” stated one.

“Then we shall need to improvise a solution,” concluded another.

“Let us release the prisoner,” stated yet another.

“Excellent idea,” replied the final figure. “This world shall be ours…”

 

 

Thanks for the kind words. As for the story, I highly doubt Hasbro would be "OK" with it to let it be adapted in to any comic form what so ever. A little too violent   And while my nerd-dream is to write something *OFFICIAL* for the Transformers, I don't think I have the resume nor the right contacts to get involved with it.

But I'll keep my fingers crossed  

As for the story right now...

I'm trying to keep the characters somewhat aligned to their Armada selves with a little more fluidness to them. Prime seemed so dull and bland and perfect in Armada -- everyone looked up to him, he was the big hero, the big know it all. He never lost his temper. In this series, he's going to lose his temper, he's going to show that side that the Transformers have that make them sentient.

It's going to show that even the most perfect "character" has their imperfections, their flaws. I want to show that these characters have doubts, have actual emotion, actually *CARE* about what's happening.

The council's storyline is going to be interesting. The only thing more cool than their "prisoner" is who they're really after  

And Carlos is such a pain to write for. I really need to ax him from this story. I don't want to kill him off, that's the cheap, easy way. So I have bigger things in store for him...  

(Anyone notice that for the first time in all my fanfics, I haven't killed off any major characters? OMG!)

 

lol

Oops. Blurr is supposed to be Prowl. Call it writing at 4am making a mistake. I'll go back and fix it.

Here's your new chapter, bitches.

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15 – Insurrection of the Fittest




Skywarp stood atop the cliff on Cybertron’s moon looking down upon his homeworld. Smoke and fire could be seen, even from the moon, as the planet itself seemed to slowly die. In his optics, Skywarp saw both the beauty and the tragedy in such a thing – the beauty of destruction, and the tragedy of the only place he’s known as home being destroyed. It was time to act.

The Decepticon seeker turned around and teleported off the cliff to the ravine below where his fellow Decepticons stood waiting – Cyclonus, Demolisher, and Tidal Wave. Skywarp walked up to them and bowed his head.

“Cybertron is not going to survive very long at this rate,” he said with a mum tone to his voice. “We need to strike soon against these interlopers … crush them and strike at their spark!”

“Did you SEE how many Terrorcons there were!?” Demolisher cried out. “We don’t have that type of firepower, Skywarp! You’re insane!”

“I have to agree with the green one,” Cyclonus chuckled. “Even if it would be fun, we’d end up as scrap by the end of the day!”

“Tidal Wave…agrees,” roared the behemoth.

Skywarp’s temper began to boil.

“You…fools!” he shouted. He pointed back towards Cybertron in the horizon. “See that? That is our HOME!!” he continued to yell. “Regardless of what the odds are, are we going to let some slagging imposters take over the planet that WE were destined to rule?! You cowards, stand up and fight! We are Decepticons, that is our PURPOSE!!!”

Demolisher sighed.

“You’re right Skywarp,” he concluded. “This is what we were created to do – fight! And we should fight for what is ours!”

“I guess if we’re gonna go out it should be doing what we do best,” chuckled Cyclonus, always finding the humor in every situation, even if there was none.

“Tidal Wave…crush!” roared the behemoth.

Skywarp wanted to groan at how inept his followers were. How Megatron ever managed to accomplish anything was beyond his understanding. He knew the battle they were about to engage in would most likely be their last. The Terrorcons were strong in number, but Skywarp thought that he had a legitimate chance with the combined firepower of all four of them. As long as they stood together and fought wisely, no foe would be able to stand against them.

“Come to me,” Skywarp said, motioning to the others. “Each of you place a hand on me, I’m going to teleport us straight in to their slagging camp!”

Demolisher and Cyclonus each placed a hand on one of Skywarp’s arms, while Tidal Wave placed a hand on Skywarp’s back. Skywarp’s optics began to glow bright red as he concentrated all his power in to concentrating on the next teleport. A purple energy vortex quickly began to rise and circle the group of four Decepticons. As Skywarp concentrated harder, the vortex spun faster, until suddenly, the vortex shot up and surrounded them.

It felt like your body was being ripped in to two while being flung a million miles per hour in another direction. Before you could blink, your surroundings disappeared, flashed a bright white light, then slowly faded in to new surroundings. The teleport was finished and successful, and the four Decepticons now stood in the middle of a large gathering of Terrorcon drones – Divebombs, Battle Ravages, and Cruellocks.

“This is it!” shouted Skywarp, pulling out his wing blade. It glowed purple as it formed. “For the honor of the Decepticons, DESTROY THEM ALL!” he ordered, pointing his sword to the group of Terrorcons.

“With pleasure!” shouted Demolisher, transforming to his tank mode. With a single thought, Demolisher opened his massive arsenal’s firepower upon the unsuspecting Terrorcons. Explosions and plasma blasts rained down upon them, destroying countless drones.

That got the attention of the Terrocons, along with three others that the Decepticons weren’t planned to deal with.

“What is going on?” Scorponok asked, turning to face the direction in which the explosions were coming from. “I’m picking up four non-Terrorcon signals in that area…”

Doom-Lock stood still for a moment, concentrating hard on something. His optics flashed, and a vision appeared to him – the four Decepticons attacking the Terrorcons. He was observing the fight through the optics of one of the Cruellock drones.

“Decepticons,” Doom-Lock stated, turning to Scorponok. “Looks like they’re making a final stand…”

“So let’s make it their final stand,” growled Command Ravage, showing his teeth. “It’ll make up for letting those Autobots go…”

“Destroy them,” ordered Scorponok, a smile on his face. “But save the leader of the group for me…”

“Yes sir!” saluted the two Terrorcon Generals, transforming to their beast modes and rushing off to join the battle.

Cyclonus flew across the cityscape, every blast he shot connecting with a Divebomb drone soaring in the area. He hadn’t had a successful kill rate like this in ages.

“This is actually rather fun!” he laughed, firing off missiles that connected with an abandoned city scraper, which collapsed taking out a number of Terrorcon drones as it fell on to a number of Battle Ravage drones. “I can’t believe I was thinking of not coming to this little party!”

Tidal Wave simply waved his hand, smashing tons of Terrorcons with each movement of his large hands.

“Tidal Wave…amused…” roared the behemoth, his optics flashing as the bodies of Terrorcons exploded all around him.

“Heads up Decepticons!” shouted Skywarp as he spun around, his blade dripping oil from the slaughtered and butchered Terrocons that he had fell. His optics locked in to Doom-Lock and Command Ravage sprinting towards them. “We have company coming!”

Doom-Lock and Command Ravage sat in their beast forms at the top of the hill closest to the battle. The four Decepticons converged in to a group as the Terrorcon drones slowly backed away from the battle.

“Is this some sort of heroic last stand?” shouted out Doom-Lock, his raptor teeth snarling. “Are you trying to make a name for yourselves? No one is going to be alive to remember this battle for you, Decepticons…you are fools…”

“We will SLAUGHTER you!” hissed Command Ravage, clawing the ground beneath him. “I will enjoy tearing your metal meshing!”

“This planet is ours, Terrorcons!” shouted Skywarp, pointing his sword at Doom-Lock. “Join us, or perish at our hands!”

“You can’t be serious?” laughed Doom-Lock, his optics flashing. “Very well then, perish it is! Doom-Lock, TRANSFORM!” he shouted. His body leapt in to the air as his joints flashed a yellow light as his body transformed in to his robot form. His tail formed his large sword as he landed, pointing the blade towards Skywarp.

“Command Ravage…TRANSFORM!” shouted the blue and gold panther. His body also flashed yellow light as he transformed to his robot mode, a sniper rifle forming in his hand along with a ball and chain mace. “I will enjoy this…” he hissed.

“Decepticons, FINISH THEM!” yelled Skywarp, the blasters that were behind his back flipping up and firing. The blasts exploded in front of the two Terrorcon Generals as they each leapt in to the air, avoiding the blasts.

Cyclonus took his arm blasters and opened fire at Command Ravage who easily did some aerial acrobatics to avoid each blast. He returned fire with his rifle, the shot connecting with Cyclonus’s left arm, causing the Decepticon to spin and hit the ground hard.

“Cyclonus!” shouted Demolisher. He raised his arms as they transformed in to cannons as he opened his massive arsenal on Command Ravage. Again, the Terrorcon General managed to dodge each blast as he landed, throwing his rifle aside as he leapt toward Demolisher.

“Die!” hissed Command Ravage as he swung his ball and chained mace forward. Before it could hit Demolisher, a large green hand smashed in to Command Ravage, sending him flying in an opposite direction. Tidal Wave towered over the Terrorcon General, his chest turrets turning and opening fire on the Terrorcon, who quickly transformed back to his beast mode to help out maneuver each blast.

Doom-Lock landed in front of Skywarp, his sword pointed at the Decepticon. Skywarp recognized it as a challenge, and pointed his sword back at the Terrorcon as a showing of acceptance to the duel. Doom-Lock charged, at the last second spinning downward as his blade swung for Skywarp’s knees. The Decepticon leapt in to the air to avoid the attack, and swung his blade downwards at Doom-Lock’s head. The Terrorcon quickly rolled to his side as Skywarp’s blade missed, hitting the surface of the planet with a loud ‘ting’.

“Your swordsmanship is impressive,” noted Doom-Lock, rising to his feet and standing in a battle stance. “But I doubt it is enough to defeat me!”

“Depends on your definition of defeat!” shouted Skywarp, lunging towards Doom-Lock, his sword in front of him. He twirled it around and slashed to his right, to which Doom-Lock lowered his blade to parry, then swung his foot out, knocking Skywarp off his feet. Before Skywarp could fall backwards, the thrusters in his feet fired, pushing him away from Doom-Lock as the Terrorcon swung his blade downward over and over, barely missing Skywarp each time.

Command Ravage leapt at Demolisher, knocking the Decepticon on to his back. With a single swipe of his paw, Command Ravage tore out a significant chunk of Demolisher’s chest. As Demolisher cried out in pain, Ravage simply smiled and craved more. But a seering pain rose in his back as Cyclonus opened fire with his good arm, connecting a number of blasts on Command Ravage’s back.

Tidal Wave grabbed Command Ravage in both of his hands and raised the Terrorcon off the ground. He began to squeeze, feeling the body of Ravage give away at the pressure of his own hands. For the first time in ages, he felt like the Tidal Wave of old, the destroyer of worlds and conqueror of the galaxy.

Doom-Lock stopped his assault on Skywarp when he noticed Command Ravage in peril and with a quick move, threw his sword tip first at Tidal Wave. The sword soared through the air like lightning as the tip crashed through Tidal Wave’s head, piercing it and slicing it wide open. The sword stuck as Tidal Wave released his grip on Command Ravage and fell to the ground, dead on impact.

“Tidal Wave!” shouted Skywarp, anger taking over. He charged Doom-Lock again, swinging his sword. Doom-Lock spun around and parried with his claws, lashing out and clawing Skywarp across the cockpit on his chest, exposing some circuitry. Skywarp grunted as he kicked Doom-Lock square in the face, then swung his sword, slicing off Doom-Lock’s right hand. The Terrorcon cried out in pain as Skywarp punched him square in the face, sending him to the ground.

“Tidal Wave!” cried out Demolisher, crawling to his friend and placing his hand on his chest. “Tidal Wave, no!” he continued to wail. A shadow rose over Tidal Wave’s body as Command Ravage, now in robot mode, prepared to strike with his ball and chain.

“How pathetic,” he noted, raising his hand, preparing to move it forward and smash Demolisher’s head. But as he raised his hand, another hand grabbed his own. He turned his head to see Cyclonus’s face. No smile, no laughing, just a grimace as the Decepticon smashed his fist in to Ravage’s face, sending the Terrorcon stumbling forward. Demolisher raised his arm and fired a shot at his chest, having it burst in to flames as Command Ravage fell, quickly going in to stasis lock.

Doom-Lock crawled backwards on his hands and knees as Skywarp slowly walked forward. He was joined by Demolisher and Cyclonus, both badly damaged. Doom-Lock had fear in his optic sensors.

“We told you…” breathed Skywarp heavily, exhausted from their battle. “This is our planet…ours to conquer…ours to rule!”

“Then why do you fight for the losing side?” asked a voice from behind the trio of Decepticons. Before they could react, Demolisher and Cyclonus were in the grips of steel plated claws, raised in to the air. Skywarp turned to see a large robotic scorpion staring down at him.

“Skywarp!” cried out Demolisher, struggling against the pressure on his body. “Help…us!”

“Teleport us out of here!” cried out Cyclonus, also fighting the claws pressure. “Save us! Please!”

Skywarp’s optics were large, both in fear and in shock.

“How pathetic,” replied Scorponok, giving the mental command to his claws to snap shut. They did, crushing and tearing in to the bodies of Demolisher and Cyclonus, literally severing them in half. The lower torsos fell first, bouncing lifelessly on the ground. Scorponok released his grip, letting their upper torsos fall to the ground. Both Cyclonus and Demolisher had lifeless looks on their faces, their life already extinguished.

“You…you…” stuttered Skywarp, taking a step backwards. Scorponok transformed to his robot mode, letting the oil and circuitry literally drip off his claws. He glared down at Skywarp.

“The legacy of the Autobots and Decepticons is over,” announced Scorponok, taking a step forward, reaching his claw out for Skywarp. “The legacy of the Terrorcons has begun!”

Before he could reach his target, Skywarp blinked out of existence, teleporting some distance away. Scorponok’s smile turned to a grimace as he realized he had just lost his prey. He looked at Doom-Lock, helpless on the ground.

“You failed me,” Scorponok stated.

“N-No, sir!” argued Doom-Lock. “I lost my weapon…Command Ravage was in trouble so I … please sir, spare me!”

“Do not beg,” Scorponok said, turning away. “It makes you look even more pathetic. Get Ravage and get yourselves repaired. Cybertron lacks the energon we require, so the master is attempting to discover another planet that is much richer in energon. We must be ready to depart for another invasion soon.”

Deep within the planet’s core walked one of the robed elders. He turned the corner and continued walking down a dark, shadowed corridor. At the end of the corridor was a holding cell, completely energized with null rays and high voltage bars. Whoever was inside was not to get out, at any cost.

“You will acquire and terminate the target,” ordered the elder. “If you fail, you will receive punishment much worse than a holding cell.”

“Go slag yourself,” replied the deep, sinister voice. “I serve nobody.”

“You will serve us,” replied the elder, confidence in his voice. “Given your situation, you have to find it rather … logical.”

The prisoner didn’t respond.

“That is what we thought,” the elder replied with a slight chuckle. “Serve us well and be rewarded handsomely. Fail us and death shall be your reward.”

“Do I have a choice?” replied the prisoner, sarcastically. “Death sounds rather inviting.”

“Just remember,” began the elder. “We hold your brother captive as the Autobots have held you captive. Fail us and he too shall share your fate.”

“Leave him out of it,” the prisoner growled. “He’s just a kid, doesn’t even know what the difference between an Autobot and Decepticon is.”

“His state of mind does not concern us in any aspect,” replied the elder. “Nor does the conflict between Autobot and Decepticon. What does concern us is the anomaly, it must be removed. This is your mission. Do you agree or shall we leave you both to die?”

“Fine,” replied the prisoner. “Just know if my brother ever breaks free, I’m coming for all five of you.”

“Thank you for your cooperation…Shockblast.”