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Iranian Desert - Central Hub

Blast it! Blast it! Blast it! Thrust cursed as he tried to act like he did not know of Hardhead approaching the position of him and Slipstream. Time seemed to have slowed down ever since Dirge had alerted him and Slipstream of Hardhead approaching their position. Thrust had no desire to engage in combat with someone as powerful as the stubborn Autobot warrior, nor he wanted to provide the Autobot a target to practice on. Still, Dirge's command of acting out like the energon gathering was their main objective was a convincing one for the Autobots to buy the ruse this whole mission was.

It took all of Thrust's courage to wait until he actually could pick approaching Hardhead with his own optics. And when he did see the green Autobot soldier, it also met they had only seconds left before a projectile would hit the pile of energon he had gathered with Slipstream.

"Slipstream! Look out!" Was all he managed to shout out when his sensors registered Hardhead targeting them. And only the quick act of kicking the thrusters on his feet to maximum thrust saved him from being blown out along with the energon pile.

Only moments later Thrust was high in the air in his jet form, far closer to his own comfort zone than he had been on the ground. But he was still shaken, speeding away from the oil field as fast as he could to collect his nerves. For a time being, he was too far from the Autobots to attack him or for him to offer any assistance to the other seekers.

Dirge on the other hand was putting his considerable skills to the test after sharing his attack plan with Skywarp. The fact that both Silverbolt and Slingshot had already been engaged by his seeker brethren made everything all the easier. Taking a target lock on Hardhead who was just preparing to fire towards Nightraven, Dirge launched one of his concussion missiles at the thuggish Autobot while continuing with great speed towards the area where Ramjet and Hellion were engaging the Aerialbots. With the missile being powerful enough to tear open even Hardhead's tough armor, Dirge was pretty certain that he did not need to fear an immediate counterattack attempt from the soon to be crippled war veteran. Instead, he began producing the intense, fear causing vibrations from his engines as he sped towards the Aerialbots. As brave as the Autobots were, they all had their weak points. And the petrifying fear generated by Dirge's engines would bring forth their worst nightmares, making them easy prey for Hellion and Ramjet.

Iranian Desert – Central Hub

After straightening from her barrel roll, Nightraven ascended in order to stay out of Hardhead’s weapon’s range. The femme suddenly noticed Dirge heading in her direction. Feeling a might more confident that she would soon be joined by the warrior, Nightraven took the opportunity to continue her attack. She pointed her nose down as she headed in for another strafing run.

The same time the femme Seeker descended, Hardhead transformed and fired two explosive shells aimed directly at her. The femme was able to avoid the first shell, but it cost her too much room to maneuver and evade the second shell. Nightraven quickly transformed to her robot mode and ignited her foot thrusters. She took aim at the projectile hitting it twice before it exploded.

Her victory was short lived when shrapnel from the shell’s casing bore into her lower torso and thigh. Nightraven let out a scream of pain as she clutched at her stomach. Before she was able to raise her arm cannon to return fire, Dirge arrived and quickly launched one of his concussion missiles at the green Autobot.

With Hardhead now, hopefully, occupied, Nightraven made a hasty retreat still clutching her stomach. She had only made it a few miles when she landed hard in the sand. She let out a painful groan as she pushed her upper body up and rolled on to her back. She slowly lifted her head and looked down at the hole in her torso.

“Agh! It figures. Damnit, Nighty, what were you trying to prove?”

She let out a pained hiss as she lowered her head back down. The femme finally laid her free hand on the sand, but quickly pulled it up and looked at it. Her optics dimmed slightly as she noticed her hand was covered in a mixture of Energon and fuel, but the amount didn’t coincide with her wound; there had to be another.

She carefully sat halfway up and ran her optics over her body; it was then that she realized that a chunk of her right thigh was missing and that the pool of vital fluid was growing larger.

“Slag!”

The femme began to panic. Quickly looking about to be sure there were no Autobots around, Nightraven rolled onto her stomach and began to drag herself further away from the battle. The motion was excruciating, and the addition of sand to her open wounds would not bode well when it came to repairs she would need. As he slowly made her advance she opened a channel to Skywarp. He was really her only option.

>>”Agh. Remember when you told me to be careful? Well….Agh! I lasted as long as I could. I was hit by some shrapnel….lost a lot of energon and fuel. I’m sorry, Skywarp. I should have been more careful.”<<

Iranian Desert – Above the Central Hub

Hellion roared in return at Slingshot as she opened up with her machine guns. She charged right at him, performing an aileron roll, corkscrewing towards the Aerialbot. It might hurt her accuracy a bit but would do the same to his. It also meant she would have a chance to slash him with her wings as they passed each other, or she could just ram him. Either way she was more then willing to use something other then her guns, even if it meant transforming and grappling with him in mid-air.

*

Slipstream continued the menial, boring labor that was filling energon cubes. She did her best not to look too annoyed. She continued the work even as she was warned about the imminent approach of Autobots, mostly because Thrust did the same. The seeker remained calm though, not because she was particularly brave, but because she had an escape ready for the attack that was sure to come.

By the time Thrust shouted his warning her transwarp drive was already activated. As the other con launched into the air Slipstream vanished in a flash of light, only to reappear directly overhead some distance. She had gambled that the air would be clear and so it was. She glanced down and sighed as Hardhead’s shot detonated the energon they had collected. Now all of that labor had truly been a waste, and she hadn’t even gotten the chance to sneak some for her personal use.

Sighing again the femme transformed and rocketed off, circling high above the battlefield. She wasn’t about to get in the middle of any of the dogfights involving her thuggish teammates. Watching her shots bounce off of Warpath, Hardhead or Ironhide didn’t sound particularly amusing either. That just left the medic, Ratchet. Probably not the noblest or bravest thing to do attacking him, but no one had ever accused her of being either. She swooped down on the Autobot and opened up with her lasers in a strafing run.

*

Ironhide wasn’t surprised to see the Cons getting a slight jump on them. He had hoped to get the element of surprise but it was hard to do when you were bouncing down into the middle of things. Still, those cons seemed to be really on the ball today, almost too on top of things. It still didn’t quite feel right, but that was something he was going to have to worry about some other time. Right now some Deceptichops were in bad need of busting.

He transformed into robot mode as he spotted Skywarp swooping down at him. He could make out the seeker launching a pair of missiles at him. He slid his hands into his arms to bring out his chemical emitters. “I think you’re missiles could use a bit of coolin’ off Skywarp.” He sprayed a cloud of liquid nitrogen into the air in front of him, before turning and running. The missiles flew through the super cold cloud and lost track of Ironhide and guidance. The slammed into the ground, pelting his back with debris but nothing he couldn’t shrug off.

Ironhide shook his fist up at the seeker. “You’re gonna have to do better then that Deceptichump, assumin’ you got the guts ta come down here and fight me face to face!”

Iranian Desert – Above the Central Hub

Silverbolt, not being one of the more manueverable Aerialbots, noticed that Ramjet was basically on top of him. It surprised Silverbolt that he was able to move out of the way quick enough being as close as he was to him. The best way for Silverbolt to dodge anything was go straight down. In this case, it was at a 15 degree arc as Silverbolt sped down towards the sand. Luckily he barely dodged the beams from Ramjet. The roar from Dirge's rattled Silverbolt a little bit to the point of almost crashing into the ground. Silverbolt pulled himself together just in time to pull out of his dive and get himself behind Dirge's engines' effects. Knowing the engines effects, Silverbolt targets Dirge right in the back and fires.


Slingshot knew that this kind of dogfight, as humans called it, would be something that Air Raid and Skydive would be envious of which made him glad. The big question is if Slingshot will be in one piece to tell about it later. Watching what his opponent was doing was a bit disorienting as well as the sound from Dirge's engines.

"Hey, with those fancy manuvers, looks like you are trying to screw in some loose screws. Hanging out with Screamer and gang, I wouldn't be too surprised that you do have a few loose in that cranium up there."

Some of the bullets grazed his wings and underside. He pulled out to the right and tried his best to get at a ninety degree angle on the daring Seeker but the minor damages to his wings were beginning to add up making it a bit harder to manuever. When he thought he had the best target, he open fire once again.

Iranian Desert - Central Hub

If Skywarp had been in robot mode, he would’ve scowled at the sight of Ironhide spraying the seeker’s missiles with liquid nitrogen, allowing the old Autobot to elude their destructive power as the projectiles struck the ground behind him. The prankster made a pass over the red mech as he challenged the F-22 to land and face him on the ground. Ironhide’s tone suggested that ‘Warp was a coward for remaining in the air where the ‘Con held a distinctive advantage over his ground-based prey. It was true that maintaining air superiority was a better strategy for an aerial warrior such as the teleporter, but it was also the safer alternative to fighting the seasoned veteran faceplate to faceplate. ‘Warp would never be taken seriously by his teammates if he remained hiding in the skies while taking pot shots at the enemy down below.

Skywarp contemplated his next move, his processor aching from the strain of all this thinking. It wasn’t really his forte as he usually needed someone like Thundercracker to tell him what to do. Thankfully, Nightraven was along for the mission and had helped guide him in the right direction thus far. However, ‘Warp was also beginning to believe what Hellion had told him earlier that he was only a grunt and would never be anything more than that. Perhaps she was right. Maybe the teleporter was forgetting who he really was. Nighty seemed to see more in him and he wanted to prove her right, but he also didn’t what to loose himself in the process. He was a warrior, an elite seeker and a prankster. Those things were still there and could never be purged from his systems. However, he also needed to prove something not only to the object of his affection, but to himself, as well.

As Skywarp continued to struggle with his internal conflict, he received a distress call from Nightraven, effectively delaying the inevitable decision he would soon have to make. >>”I’m on my way, Nighty! Hold on!”<< Banking hard to the right, ‘Warp flew away from the main battle and quickly honed in on her signal. It didn’t take long before he spotted her wounded frame crawling across the sand below. Wasting no time, the teleporter descended towards the seeker femme, transforming in midair and landing directly next to her on the desert floor.

“I’m here, Nighty,” Skywarp spoke softly as he knelt down and gently took hold of her shoulders, turning the damaged femme over onto her back. He looked down at the gaping hole in her abdominal region as well as her damaged right thigh. She had clearly been attacked by one of the larger Autobots such as Warpath or Hardhead, as only their weapons could cause damage such as this so early on in the battle. It didn’t matter who did it, though, as ‘Warp quickly realized that she had already lost a considerable amount of vital fluid from the leg wound. He didn’t have to be a medic, either, to know what would happen if she didn’t get the needed repairs and fast. ‘Warp peered down at Nightraven, an obvious look of concern spread over his faceplate. “Nighty, what do I do? Tell me how to fix you. I don’t know how. Please, tell me.”

*********

A wide grin spread across Hardhead’s faceplate as he saw shrapnel from his explosive shell strike Nightraven, forcing her to flee the battle. He hoped he had succeeded in taking her out as it would bring the seeker numbers down if only by one. It was better than none, of course. His small victory was short lived, however, when he immediately came under attack from Dirge who had launched a concussion missile directly at him.

“Slaggit!” The war veteran shouted as he tried to avoid the incoming projectile. Being large and bulky limited his speed and agility as he ran towards a nearby building to seek cover. However, before he could reach safety, the missile struck the ground behind him violently, creating a powerful blast wave that knocked Hardhead forward into the outer wall of the structure he was approaching. Between the force of the explosion and the green mech’s heavy frame, the wall easily gave way as the Autobot soldier crashed right through it, leaving a sizable hole in his wake. The room inside the building where he came to rest was small and had been someone’s office. Thankfully, the human who normally occupied the space was no where to be found as he or she would surely have been crushed underneath the big Autobot’s girth when he landed on his chest plate.

Turning over onto his back before pushing himself into a sitting position, Hardhead rubbed his cranial unit as his audio receptors rung from the vibrations of the concussion attack. The armor plating on his back was scorched from the blast and littered with pieces of shrapnel, some of which were embedded deep enough for his pain sensors to actually register. Ignoring the discomfort, the stubborn mech attempted to crawl out just as the building began to buckle from the damage it had sustained. The ceiling overhead quickly caved in as one side of the structure collapsed into a pile of rubble, trapping the green warrior underneath. “Well, this sucks,” Hardhead muttered as he slowly began digging himself out from under his temporary prison.

>>Starscream to all teams. Check in with a status report on your current assignments.<<

Iranian Desert - Central Hub

Skywarp received Starscream's communique over his comm line, briefly distracting him from Nightraven's dire condition. Being that the teleporter was left in charge of the Iranian mission, it was up to him to provide the ordered status report on how things were going. He decided to keep his answer focused on the positive and not mention anything about Nighty's current situation. 'Warp quickly opened a secured comm line to the self-proclaimed Decepticon leader:

>>"Commander Starscream, this is Skywarp. The mission here in Iran is going well. We've already acquired a considerable amount of energon from one of the oil pipe lines and have also attacked the central hub of the oil field. An Autobot team recently arrived to counter us, and we are currently engaging them. So far the diversion seems to be working. I'll let you know if anything changes."<<

Skywarp shut off his comm line before returning his attention fully to Nightraven. Truth be told, he had never really taken his optics off of her, not even for an astrosecond. He only hoped that Starscream had not sensed any tension in his vocal processor that would give away that something was wrong. But that wasn't the prankster's primary concern right now. 'Warp just wanted Nighty to tell him what to do in order to save her spark.

Iranian Desert - Above The Central Hub

Ramjet scowled after his laser bolts missed Silverbolt. It was irritating. However, he noticed that Dirge had been attacked by the Aerialbot Commander and Ramjet suddenly acted on his own interest.

>>Hey Dirge! Look out!<< Ramjet yelled over the comm link.

He'll pay him back later.

Right now, he must busy himself with something. Looking over the arrived Autobots, only one seemed to be a worthwhile target. Ironhide.

Ramjet pulled out of his assault on Slingshot and moved to where he was above the Autobot Security Officer and dropped one of his Cluster Bombs down upon the Autobot.

He then heard the communication from Starscream. Great. Now he had to deal with an ego, and a possibly angry Autobot.

>>Well, 'Screamer, I'm doing as ordered and distracting the Autobots.<< Ramjet responded, keeping a keen eye on Ironhide as well.

*****

Iranian Desert - Central Hub

Waspinator felt his stinger penetrate the faceplate of Warpath and he knew that it wouldn't be long for the effects to come into play throughout his entire body.

Waspinator threw a right hook at Warpath's faceplate when suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his left side, he looked down to see that Warpath's cannon had just went off, blasting at his side.

It hurt like the Pit itself.

He snarled and transformed, after that he slung himself over the body of Warpath and grabbed on behind him. Taking an opportunity to bite and sting him, Waspinator shouted out, "Wazzpinator doezzn't care about what Pow-Bot think about Wazzpinator!"

It was then when he received the communication from Starscream.

>>Wazzpinator attacking Pow-Bot!<< Waspinator responded, again taking a bite in the armor of Warpath.

Iranian Desert- Central Hub

Slag, this bug doesn't know when to quit. That last shot shoulda sent him flying or falling.

Warpath could feel the venom start to work it's way through his body, as Waspinator continued the attack. As the Insecticon kept biting and stinging, the dents in Warpath's armor became larger. But Warpath hardly noticed, because he felt something even worse inside him.

That sting he put in me, what's it doing? Feels like... NO! Gotta ignore it, fight the pain. Gotta get him off.

"Yeah? Well POW-bot is gonna smash your...", Warpath began to threaten, though it took some effort, "BAM, smash your face into a scrap... pile!"

With all the strength he had, Warpath started pounding Waspinator's head, everything he had to get the annoying insecticon off of him.

Iranian Desert – Central Hub

From Ratchet’s vantage point he was able to observe a large portion of the battle, especially since the Seekers were still in the air. The only ‘Bot he had no sight of was Hardhead, who was too far from view. After some time he began to get worried that he hadn’t seen Skywarp since he had warned the green warrior that the black and purple Seeker was headed his way.

Ratchet opened a comm link with Hardhead, but before he could even question the warrior he heard the ever familiar sound of jet engines. Slipstream had come on him from behind and strafed him. The medic dove out of the way from the weapons fire only to land face first in the sand. He slowly raised his head to see the ‘Con flying off He watched with a sneer before getting back to his feet.

“Slagger! Come on down to my level! I promise you, you won’t regret it!”

****

When Nightraven hear Skywarp’s response she let out a relieved sigh, but knowing he would arrive soon did not stop her from trying to get as far from the battle as she possibly could. She continued to drag her broken body along the desert floor when Skywarp finally landed next to her.

When he took hold of her shoulders and turned her onto her back she let out a low hiss of pain and grabbed a hold of his forearm squeezing it hard. After the pain subsided to a much more tolerable ache, Nightraven flashed Skywarp a slight smile. Her smile faded when he began to panic. She gave his forearm another gentle squeeze in order to get his attention.

“First, calm down and listen to me. I….I need you to….clamp off the energon and fuel line in my leg. Heh, I’d do it myself, bu…..but I can’t sit up.”

Her expression turned more serious as another wave of pain shot through her frame. Her heads up display gave a run down on her systems and their status. Her energon levels were at 20%; if they plunged below 10% before the ruptured line was sealed off……she refocused her attention on guiding Skywarp.

With her free hand she removed an emergency medical kit and gestured for Skywarp to take it.
“In…side should be some clamps. You…you’re going to need to use them to stop the energon and fuel flows. The lines are…pretty deep in my thigh.”

She moved her hand from his forearm and placed it gently on his cheek.

“You need to do this, Skywarp. Please, don’t doubt yourself now.”

Iranian Desert – Central Hub

Slipstream snickered at Ratchet’s comments. That was the type of drivel that worked on far less intelligent Decepticons then the likes of her. She couldn’t blame him for using that tactic though, as it would likely work on almost every other Decepticon on this mission with her. Truly she was fully among the dregs and grunts on this little mission. Alas, she would simply have to do her best given the circumstances.

“I have a better idea Autobot, how about you come up here and face me rather then cowering on the ground! A lack of flight ability isn’t an excuse either.” She strafed the medic again with her lasers. She was hoping to keep him distracted on his feet, allowing her to teleport behind him and cut him down with lasers at close range.

The seeker received the signal from Starscream along with the others. She didn’t really feel the need to reply until all of the other idiots did so. Stifling another sigh she opened a line back to the seeker commander. >>”All is going according to your plan Commander Starscream.”<<

*

Hellion could hear the Autobot saying something but she couldn’t really make it out. All she could hear was the thumping over her fuel pump and all she could see was tinted red. As the Aerialbot attempted to peel away from her she pursued. Unfortunately the smaller Autobot also proved more maneuverable and was able to break away and get an angle on her. The femme grunted as shots struck her.

Roaring in anger Hellion turned and shot straight up and her best speed. Once she was above the cloud line she transformed and started to drop, She would try and tackle Slingshot on the way down, but if the maneuverable Aerialbot managed to dodge her she would simply aim to land on one of the Autobots on the ground below.

*

“Cowardly bunch a ‘Cons,” Ironhide muttered to himself as Skywarp flew away. It was starting to look like they’d just have to fight the seekers until they ran out of ammo and had to run or come down and fight hand to hand. Unfortunately that was going to take a lot longer then he wanted. They were going to have to find some way to start shooting them out of the sky, and that meant freeing up his big guns to do some shooting.

Ironhide turned to see Hardhead getting buried under some rubble while Warpath fought with some new fangled Insecticon. The security mech jogged over to them, his chemical emitters spraying out a new liquid on to the debris. “Here ya go Hardhead old buddy, some acid should help soften up some of that debris so you can smash outta there quicker. We could use yer guns shootin’ up some more cons.”

Just as he finished speaking he heard the whistle of Ramjet’s cluster bomb. He dived for cover but still took a good portion of the blast. His armor was definitely starting to show some wear and tear, but it wasn’t about to bother him yet. He hadn’t just been called Ironhide for nothing, he had earned that name.

The Autobot drew his laser rifle and opened fire back at Ramjet. “C’mon ya little con, that the best you got? Yer gonna have to stop hidin’ up there sooner or later and fight like a real mech if you wanna actually hurt me.”

Iranian Desert - Central Hub

Skywarp had begun to panic. He recognized this simple fact moments before Nightraven had. It was a feeling the teleporter seldom experienced as he was an elite seeker that feared very little. However, the sight of so much vital fluid draining out of the femme’s leg was something that elicited a reaction most Decepticons would view as a weak trait on his part. Thankfully, they were so far out from the main battle that no one else saw his response to her dire situation as it would surely only solidify the general belief that ‘Warp had become weak.

I don’t care what they think, Skywarp thought as Nightraven grabbed a hold of his forearm and squeezed hard as she hissed in pain. Once her pain faded somewhat she managed a smile that quickly dissolved when she also recognized his panic. She squeezed his arm again, only this time it was more gentle in order to help calm him down. Her words echoed her actions as she then went on to explain what he must do to prevent her from losing even more energon.

Pulling out a medical kit, she handled it to the kneeling Skywarp. The prankster took it in both hands all the while focusing on her verbal instructions. She then moved her hand to his cheek, telling him not to doubt himself now. He grasped her weakened hand and nodded. “I’ll do my best.” The teleporter’s words were soft and hopefully soothing to her. Without an astrosecond to spare, he opened the med kit and found the clamps she had spoken of.

Skywarp set the kit to one side as he placed the clamps on his left thigh. He then turned his attention to her injured leg that was seeping energon. The gapping hole appeared to be just large enough to fit his hand inside. “I’m sorry, Nighty. This is going to hurt,” the teleporter warned as he reached his right hand into the wound, feeling around for one of the ruptured fuel lines. He quickly realized that she wasn’t kidding when she said they would be deep. The prankster pushed his hand further inside before he finally located the line in question. Taking one of the clamps, he fastened it to the broken tubing. The flow of energon slowed considerably, but it had not stopped completely as there was at least one more line to seal.

“That’s one down. Shouldn’t be much longer now,” Skywarp assured Nightraven, who was clearly in a tremendous amount of agony. He tried to ignore the pain that he was causing her as he continued to route his right hand around inside her leg wound. Finally, ‘Warp found the other burst energon lines and used the remaining clamps to prevent the continuous flow of vital fluid from those hoses, as well.

“There, that should do it,” the prankster said as he pulled his energon covered hand out of her leg gash. She didn’t appear to be hemorrhaging anymore, much to his own relief. However, had he been fast enough to stop the loss of fuel before stasis lock would ultimately consume her or even worse happened such as an extinguished spark? Looking down into her torture-filled optics, Skywarp spoke to her softly. “Nighty, I think I did it. How do you feel? Was I in time?”

*********

As Hardhead continued to dig himself out of the rubble of the building he found himself buried under, he heard the unmistakable sound of Ironhide’s vocalizer. “Thanks, ‘Hide! I can sure use the help!” The green mech shouted back through the thickness of the debris, which slowly began to weaken and melt from the acidic chemical the red Autobot had used. Hardhead then pushed with all of his might until he finally burst forth from the ruins of the half demolished building, bits of rock and concrete falling off of his imposing frame.

Once he had brushed himself off, Hardhead turned his attention towards Ironhide’s position nearby, following his mission commander’s line of sight straight into the sky where he saw Ramjet fleeing after his latest cluster bomb assault. After Ironhide had returned fire on his attacker, the green warrior pulled out his trusty shatterblasters and aimed them towards the white conehead, as well. He unloaded several rounds of his diamond-hard shards into the air, hoping to pierce a wing or two and help bring Ramjet down to their level.

“Don’t waste your breath, ‘Hide. These seekers are cowards. They’ll never come down until we blow them out of the sky,” the green mech shouted to Ironhide over the commotion of the battle. Of course, Hardhead’s words were easier said than done as the Decepticon fliers were notoriously good at staying airborne. Their luck would eventually run out, however, and when it did the war veteran would be waiting to finish them off with his favorite dual weapons.

Iranian Desert - Central Hub

Ramjet was suddenly under extreme fire from both the likes of Hardhead and Ironhide, the latter had been damaged before by his Cluster Bomb. Now both of the heavy soldiers were attacking him. Joy.

He did hear Ironhide yell something about coming down from above to fight, and Hardhead yell about how he would never come down because of his cowardice. Ramjet's anger boiled, he wanted to show them what true warrior he was, but he also wanted to keep his Aerial Advantage.

But it dawned on him.

He turned into a large banking turn to where he was facing Ironhide and sped full speed straight towards him in hopes of ramming the old-timer.

Ironhide's blasts hit on Ramjet's nosecone, and the left side of his fuselage were also struck by the blasts. It kinda hurt, but he also remembered other battles where his pain receptors weren't giving him any sort of pain, and he was severely damaged.

Hardhead's blasts soared over one wing, and clipped the other, going directly through the tip of it. That also hurt, but it hurt like a paper cut rather than a gunshot wound.

Instead of turning back, he floored it, speeding down into a barrel roll, hoping to drill through the red soldier.

*****

Iranian Desert - Central Hub

Waspinator was very pleased with his assault on Warpath but things changed after he was punched in the face by Warpath. The sudden fist knocked him back onto the ground, Waspinator snarled and then jumped up in the sky, fluttering his wings that created a hideous buzzing sound.

He knew that in time, Warpath would fall to his poison. But that was beside the point; Waspinator was pretty sure his left mandible might have been snapped off.

Waspinator wasn't sure if he was really hurt, but he didn't have time to check at this time.

He flew right back down and grabbed onto Warpath, yanked him up, and threw the tankformer. After that he aimed and fired his Ion Antennae at the red tank.

Iranian Desert - Central Hub

Dirge felt some level of satisfaction as Silverbolt took a dive towards the ground. But the feeling of triumph soon disappeared as the B-1 Lancer managed to stop its suicide dive. Dirge however, was nowhere near of being psyched out of the battle by one successful maneuver by an Aerialbot. The grim seeker slowed his speed enough for Silverbolt to be able set his sights on him. The Aerialbot commander was now chasing the dark blue and black Eurofighter. Dirge even let the Aerialbot to fire at him to bait him in deeper though he did his best to anticipate the firing lines Silverbolt had, thus avoiding direct hits. Curiously enough even Ramjet seemed to notice this. However, Dirge had let Silverbolt to get behind him, he could have easily followed Silverbolt's plunge towards ground earlier and kept the Aerialbot in front of him had he chosen to. No, for some reason the Aerialbot did not seem to understand the nature of Dirge's power. Increasing the fear inducing vibrations from his engines to far greater level than before, the vibrations hit Silverbolt now in full force. The effect would be so overpowering that the Aerialbot really had not other chance than to get to the ground to escape his fear of heights.

Of course, Silverbolt was not the only victim of the intense vibrations from Dirge's engines. Every other flyer nearby was in danger of succumbing to their fears. The effects could be seen on the ground as well as number of humans had left their shelters to run wild around the battlefield in utter panic and chaos. Had his carefully cultivated image made it proper behavior, Dirge would have been now cackling in delight.
___________________________________________

Meanwhile, Thrust had managed to gather up his courage again. Sure, he was still somewhat shaken by Hardhead's attack but he also understood his duties. And then of course there was the fear of his brothers in arms taking him as a completely joke for running away from a fight.

Dirge's decision to utilize his fear engine made short work of any attempt from Thrust's part to engage into an Aerial dogfight against the Aerialbots alongside his squad member but the Autobot targets on the ground were fairly different game. Particularly the Autobot chief medical officer who had joined this mission to act as field medic. Probably at least. That at least what what Thrust believed. If he had Ratchet's skills, he'd never enter the fray. The others would be too dependent on him for his life being risked on the battlefield.

In the end, the reason for Ratchet's presence mattered very little. What did matter however was that Ratchet was relatively easy target without weapons to endanger Thrust's one life. And thus, the maroon and dark grey seeker took a dive at Ratchet, his laser cannons blazing death from above. "Prepare to die Autobot!"

Iranian Desert - Central Hub

Warpath couldn't feel any lower. He had never seen or heard of this strange Insecticon before, and here he was getting slagged by the buzzy little slagger. Every powerful hit the maroon warrior made, the big-bot shrugged them off at hit him back with a dozen weaker hits.

Warpath hardly noticed the impact his body made when he hit the ground. His mind had been on the poison that continued to spread through his body. As some of his systems weakened, he finally realized he would have to forget his pride. If he wanted to make it out alive, he would need some serious help. He radioed for help.

>>R-ratchet, I neeeeed help..... Got BLA-A-AM stung by some-<<

His vocalizer stopped working. Since he had been stung in the face, his vocal components had already corroded more than any other part.

I may not be able to say a thing, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna keep quiet.

Warpath raised his cannon up, ready to fire at Waspinator- only to be hit by a charge of Ions from the Insecticon's antennae. Just before he fell from electrical disruption, he made one last desperate shot, firing a cryogenic shell at the green wasp.

Iranian Desert – Central Hub

Ratchet let out a low growl as Slipstream replied to his earlier taunt, but she never offered him any time to respond, instead the femme came about and headed directly at him. Another strafe. Just perfect. Lousy Seekers; always the first to spit out slag, but never able to back it up. Ratchet turned around and made a run for a small building just on the outskirts of the hub.

Laser fire licked at his heels as he barely had time to make it around the corner of the structure. His back slammed against the cool concrete wall giving the medic a reprieve from the femme’s long range attack. Ratchet knew the structure wouldn’t last under a continuous barrage of weapons fire, but he had nowhere else to go.

He took a peak around the corner but did not see where the jet had disappeared to, which, not only irritated him to no end, but it also worried him. It was then that he received the call from Warpath. Ratchet’s focus was now to get to the tank-bot as quickly as possible. With his weapon in hand Ratchet slowly, and carefully, moved around the side of the building and found nothing in the way of the enemy.

Feeling that familiar tug or, in Ratchet’s case, need to help his fellow Autobot. The CMO finally decided to take off from his position and make his way to Warpath.

>>”Hang on ‘Path! I’m on my way!”<<

Ratchet had been successful in avoiding the strafing from Slipstream, but just barely. After he sent his message to Warpath a rain of laser fire punched into the sand just in front of him; thanks to Thrust. Ratchet stopped short and took a few unsteady steps back.

“Geeze! You slagheads don’t quit!”

The CMO made an attempt to back pedal when he received a message from Hardhead.


****

Once Skywarp had taken the medical kit, Nightraven lowered her head back down her optics focused on the sky above. She heard him open the kit and remove the clamps. She took in a deep cycle of air through her intakes when he spoke.

As soon as he inserted his hand into the wound Nightraven let out a pain riddled scream. The femme tried unsuccessfully to remain still, arching her back and twisting slightly in a sad attempt to alleviate the pain….ultimately, it didn’t help.

Nightraven relaxed, but it didn’t last for long. As Skywarp’s hand rooted around in the wound for the second line, Nightraven off-lined her optics and clenched her jaw shut. She kept her optics off once he had finished. Her body relaxed as the pain became bearable.

After his inquiry Nightraven remained silent. A few minutes passed before she finally spoke; her voice low.

“Better.”

The femme on-lined her optics before she turned her head slightly to look up at him, a forced smile on her face. A series of warnings began to flood her head’s up display, her energon levels had just dropped to 15% and her systems began to shut down one by one. The smile that was on her face faded, her optics meeting his.

“Thank you, Skywarp, but you sh…should head back to the ba…ttle. I’m far enough away fr…om the skirmish that none of the ‘Bots will f…find me.”

Iranian Desert - Central Hub


Skywarp felt a slight sense of relief when Nightraven said she was "better". Unfortunately, her forced smile revealed the truth about her condition. She was fading fast as her broken words to him showed just how weak the femme had really become. She encouraged ‘Warp to leave her and return to the battle, telling him that she was far enough away and thus safe from the Autobots. The teleporter knew that the rest of the seekers needed his help, but Nighty was the only one he truly cared about. The others had showed him nothing but disrespect so far and would likely continue to do so even during the heat of combat. Still, the prankster also knew that there was nothing more he could do for the object of his affection. Stasis lock was imminent for her and there was nothing he could do to stop it from happening.

“Nightraven, I’m sorry I couldn’t do more. Had I been a better leader maybe you won’t be in this situation,” Skywarp began to say, pausing a moment as anger began to well up inside his circuitry. He may not be able to prevent the inevitable, but he could certainly seek retribution against the one responsible. “Nighty, I just need to know one thing before I go. Who did this to you? Tell me so I can make them pay with their spark!”

*********

Hardhead smiled as a few of his shards grazed Ramjet’s wing tip, but it wasn’t enough to bring the conehead down. Instead, the white seeker turned and made another run at Ironhide, barrel-rolling at him in an apparent attempt to ram the red 'Bot. It was then that the green mech’s attention was drawn to the skies above as the roar of Dirge’s engines struck an uneasy cord within Hardhead’s massive frame. It wasn’t exactly fear per say as the large soldier’s courage was unparalleled amongst the Autobot ranks. Still, it was an unsettling feeling that nagged at his nerve receptors.

“It’ll take more than a loud engine to frighten me!” Hardhead bellowed skyward just as Thrust soared overhead to make an attack run on Ratchet’s position. The green warrior could just make out the distant medic as he attempted to reach Warpath, who had somehow been injured by Waspinator. However, the CMO was having a difficult time getting to his intended patient with seekers constantly bombarding him. Looking over at Ironhide, Hardhead could tell that the team leader had things with Ramjet well in hand. Therefore, the war veteran knew that he was needed elsewhere. “Hey, ‘Hide! I’m going to help Ratchet. He’s under attack by two seekers! Be sure to give Ramjet a ‘kiss’ for me! Heh heh!”

With that being said, Hardhead turned and jogged in Ratchet’s direction. >>“Don’t worry Ratch, ol’ buddy, cover fire's on the way!”<< Several astroseconds later, the career soldier slowed his advance when he was within range and raised his two shatterblasters into the air. He aimed one at Thrust and the other at Slipstream and opened fire on both seekers, hoping to keep the pair occupied long enough for the CMO to reach the crimson tank-bot and provide him with the aid that he needed.

Iranian Desert – Central Hub

Her HUD had been flashing ever since see crashed in the desert, and only now did it begin to slow which meant that stasis lock was imminent. Nightraven bypassed her warning systems so she could focus on Skywarp and what he was saying. It was becoming steadily more difficult to concentrate on anything that was happening.

Nightraven raised her hand and gently placed it on Skywarp’s cheek. She flashed him a weak smile before it quickly faded.

“Please, Skywarp. D…don’t be so har….hard on yourself. I’m here only be…because I’m not a war…warrior. I belong behind a desk, no….not out here.”

She ran her thumb lightly over his cheek before she went on.

“You…you’ve done a good job lead…leading this mission. Don’t think otherwise.”

The femme’s optics grew dim as her main systems began to shut down.

“All of them look al…alike.”

She furrowed her brow as she attempted to think of the Autobot’s name. After a moment she gently shook her head, an afflicted expression on her delicate features.

“Har…Hardhead. Sk…Skywarp, I’m so sorry I couldn’t…”

Before she could complete her sentence her body went lax, her hand sliding from Skywarp’s cheek to the desert floor. Moments later Nightraven’s optics grew dark and she slipped silently into stasis lock.

Iranian Desert - Central Hub

Between Dirge’s fear powers and Thrust shoving his way on to her target Slipstream wasn’t in any mood to keep fighting. Instead she turned up, heading higher into the air. Once she felt a bit more comfortable after putting some distance between herself and Dirge she began circling the battlefield, looking for targets of opportunity.

The seeker spotted Skywarp with an apparently badly wounded Nightraven. She snickered in derision, thoroughly unimpressed by the other femme. What good was a Decpticon if they couldn’t even make it through the opening minutes of a battle? She was certainly no heavy duty warrior but she had managed to do alright so far. Apparently the other seeker’s specialty laid further from the battlefield then hers,

Of greater interest though was the fact that their leader had rushed off to tend to her personally. It certainly appeared that her earlier suspicions about them were correct. Perhaps there would be an opportunity here that she could bend to her advantage.

*

Ironhide chuckled at Hardhead’s words. “Maybe the cons should work on getting’ sturdier struts in their troops, maybe then they’d be able to come down her and face us in a straight, stand up fight.”

The red Autobot watched as Ramjet banked around. It seemed that maybe their words had actually gotten to him, or maybe the Con had just gone to his traditional fallback plan of ramming things. Either way he was dropping down and flying right for him. It was not an unexpected move so Ironhide was prepared for it. He waited until nearly the last minute to sidestep out of the charging Decepticon’s way. At the same time he attempted to grab on to Ramjet as he blasted by. He was either going to drag the flier down to Earth or go flying up with him. Either way it put him in closer postion to him so he could deliver some real damage.

Central Hub

Ramjet flew past Ironhide at speeds exceding Mach 2.0 with full intention of ramming Ironhide to the sand, however, instead of ramming straight into him, Ironhide anticipated his attack, dodged to the left and tried to grab onto him. However his barrel-roll tactic did more than drill, it also made him hard to catch!

Ironhide's hand slid across his spinning wing, grabbing nothing but air.

Ramjet let out a cackle and said, "Ha! You'll have to do more than THAT, old man!"

Ramjet pulled himself up and ignited his afterburners, trying his best to singe Ironhide on his way up. He floored it, speeding directly up and into the clouds where the roaring of his engines stopped due to the muffling of the clouds. They wouldn't see him coming.

He transformed and began to twirl into a freefall. Optics only giving him a blurry, dizzying display, he closed them, only relying on his gyros to tell him where to go. He suddenly stuck out his arms and he balanced out. It was an interesting tactic, one that surprised even Ramjet, but it was working so far.

He opened his eyes to see the top of clouds as his freefall progressed. He flexed his arms back as he directed and balanced himself. He squinted his optics, wind buffeting his faceplate and body, trying to get a better view of the landscape below. He saw a shape moving amongst the clouds, what was it? Ramjet couldn't tell.

He then saw the small form of Ironhide on the ground when the clouds cleared a little. Ramjet folded his arms back to speed his freefall by making his form be more Aerodynamic. He then flipped forward his arms and began to fire his Null Rays on the smaller form of Ironhide.

But suddenly, the form in the clouds made an appearence. Slipstream; she was about to cut in from of him! Ramjet yelled out and flailed in order to get out of the way of the form of Slipstream.

He only hoped she would get out of the way.

*****

OoC: The Foe's Warpath used Ice Beam! Its super effective! Waspinator was frozen solid! For those of you who play the Pokemon games.

Central Hub

Waspinator thought the battle going well, his poison had already started to take affect on Warpath! He would fall soon, if Ratchet didn't have an anti-venom, that is. He fired a stinger at Ratchet as he continued his onslaught on Warpath with his antennea. He didn't want the medic to come to heal the red tank-former.

"Wazzpi-URK!!" Waspinator was cut short, for Warpath had just launched a Cryogenic Projectile at him, and it had hit square on his chestplate.

Waspinator struggled to keep airbourne as he began to freeze over. His wings began to freeze as well, until his flight was stopped completely. He fell to the dusty Earth next to a dune as he froze over completely. His middle right insect arm was the least frozen so he used his incredible strength to break through the ice. Then he began to punch at the ice on his head while firing his Ion Antennea to melt the Ice.

After a few seconds, his head was free and some of the ice was melting. But he was a sitting duck here, and he was in the center of a battlefield fighting an angry tank-former. He fired his Ion Antennea again at Ratchet this time, while using his one free leg to pull himself into the nearest sand dune.

It would be humorous to all to see, except for Waspinator.

Then, he began to pull himelf into the hot and sandy dune to melt much faster. Here is where he'll wait until his ice has thawed.

Iranian Desert - Central Hub

Skywarp turned his head slightly in the direction of Nightraven’s hand as she caressed his cheek, but then quickly refocused his full attention on her as she tried to reassure him of his leadership abilities. While he didn’t really agree that the job he had done thus far was all that great, ‘Warp wasn’t about to argue with Nighty, especially not in her present condition. It wasn’t until she mentioned the name of the Autobot who had injured her that the teleporter’s rage swelled up once more, his optics turning a crimson shade.

Hardhead, Skywarp thought, a frown etched deep across his faceplate. The old war veteran was big and tough, but he was also slow and not as agile as the seeker. Hardhead wouldn’t be an easy target to take down, that was for certain, but ‘Warp felt confident that with his air superiority and teleportation ability, he’d be able to give the green mech the retribution that he so richly deserved.

“Nighty, I’ll make him pay, I promise....” Skywarp’s words trailed off as Nightraven’s body went limp and her optics darkened into a deep black. Stasis lock had overtaken her, but at least she could be repaired once they returned to the Ultrax. Until then she would be safe here, but that gave the teleporter little comfort. Placing one hand on her shoulder, ‘Warp leaned down and gently kissed her on the forehead. He then stood and took one last look down at her silent form before turning his cranial unit back towards the battle at the hub. He needed to get back there not just for revenge but to help the others beat back the Autobots. He was supposed to be the team leader, after all, and he wasn’t even in the thick of things.

Transforming into his F-22 Raptor mode, Skywarp launched himself into the skies and flew back to the hub and into the heart of the fighting. As he approached he was suddenly overcome by Dirge’s fear engines as a wash of emotions filled his circuits. The fear of failing as a leader, the fear of losing Nightraven, the fear of never being taken seriously, it all came over him at once causing the prankster to quickly lose altitude. >>”Dirge, you idiot! Turn down your engines! You’re not just affecting the Autobots, but the rest of us, as well!”<<

In an attempt to remain airborne, Skywarp teleported to the opposite side of the complex in the hopes the affects would be less there. He was correct, but those ominous vibrations could still be felt deep within his framework. He flew low and tried to get a baring on what was happening on the ground. Specifically, ‘Warp was searching for Hardhead, but instead he found a partially frozen Waspinator lying on a sand dune. With the loss of Nightraven and the useless green Insecticon doing very little, it was apparent that back-up would be required if this diversion operation was going to be successful.

As a result, Skywarp opened a secured comm line to the Ultrax in orbit: >>”Commander Starscream, this is Skywarp. We’ve taken some casualties down here. Nightraven has fallen into stasis lock and it appears that Waspinator is about as useful as a scraplet infestation. I will need additional support in battling the Autobots. Please send back-up ASAP.”<<

Once his message was sent, Skywarp returned his sights to the ground where he soon found the mech he was searching for - Hardhead. With the green warrior firing at Thrust, his attention would be distracted just enough to allow ‘Warp to make his attack. Banking to the right, the F-22 came around into position and set his sights on the Autobot below. Skywarp unleashed two of his heat-seeking missiles and watched as they streaked towards their target.

On the ground, Hardhead continued firing on the red conehead with his shatterblasters, attempting to force Thrust to break off his attack on Ratchet. However, the war veteran’s attention was quickly drawn away from his mark when he caught sight of two incoming missiles heading right towards him. Having very little time to react, Hardhead tried to dodge the rockets, but with little success as both heat-seekers struck the ground within a few yards of his position. The resulting explosions sent the massive Autobot flying through the air before finally landing on his back a good distance away.

A dazed Hardhead moaned and reached up to rub his cranial unit which was thankfully still intact. His internal systems registered multiple armor breaches from numerous bits of shrapnel, but it was nothing that would keep him down for long as his armor was designed to withstand close encounters like this one. However, he couldn’t afford to get caught in many more explosions like that, either, or even his armor wouldn’t be able to save him.

In his attempt to sit up, Hardhead was abruptly pushed back down onto his back by the foot of a seeker. The green mech looked up to see Skywarp standing in robot mode over him with one of his arm-mounted weapons pointed down directly at the Autobot’s head. The prankster looked enraged, a feeling that seemed to be focused squarely on the war veteran. “So, it was you that fired on me?” Hardhead groaned, already knowing the answer.

“Yes, it was me. You should really pay closer attention to you surroundings, Hardhead. This time it will cost you dearly,” Skywarp replied as he felt vengeance within his grasp. “This is for Nightraven, you fraggin’ piece of Autoscrap!” The teleporter then opened fire at point blank range.

(OOC: I've been asked to temporarily cover Silverbolt.)

Iranian Desert - Central Hub

Frustrated at missing Dirge, Silverbolt tried to coax greater speed from his already maxed out engines. He wasn’t designed for this and he was now paying the price for his designer’s lack of imagination. Still he refused to give up just because his target wouldn’t hold still. He fired again, this time trying to force Dirge into a right banking maneuver that Silverbolt would be ready for and would, hopefully, make the Decepticon an easier target.

As he opened fire he felt an odd feeling swell up inside of him that quickly turned to panic. Cursing himself for being a fool for being lured into a trap he fought to remain aloft for as long as he could. He couldn’t give in to his dear, he came too far to let it affect him now. Letting out a growl he fired a desperate salvo towards the Dirge before being overcome by the Seeker’s ability.

Instantly he banked away and aimed for the ground. He had to get there, to touch the firm soil of Earth before he was overcome. Despite his best efforts he fought against the effects and somehow managed to pull up enough so that he wouldn’t crash nose first into the ground.

Hugging terra firma as best as he could Silverbolt tried once more to get back into the fight before transforming and skidding along. He hoped he’d be able to stop but his momentum was too great causing him to be tossed into a roll until he managed to stick a foot out to stop himself. Covered in dirt and grease from a yet unknown oil leak he remained on one knee and with a hand on the ground cursing himself for being weak.

OoC: Been asked to temporarily cover the Aerialbot pain in the Afterburner. Please make notes that these are the views of Pains in the Afterburner and are not necessarily those of his commanding officers.

Iranian Desert - Skies above

Slingshot pivoted in the air with a tight turn, angling his engines to abruptly avoid a sand dune. His approach had been low to the ground, avoiding radar as he raced up towards the battlefield. It rather irked him he had allowed himself to be drawn out of the air combat zone, and he was decidedly prepared to remedy that embarrassment.

His sensors immediately flared to life as he began to paint several targets, friend and foe. Changing the designation of the Autobots from potential threats, particularly Silverbolt, to friendly and do not shoot unless really irritated. Slingshot finally emerged back to the combat zone.

"YEAH WHOOO!" He squeezed off a burst of Neutron Pellets straight into a pair of fliers who had begun a strafing run on the ground pounders of their little response party. "Now this is what I call fun."

Kicking his joystick tight to the left, while maintaining his rudder forward, he snapped into a tight barrel roll. He squeezed off another burst of pellets straight towards Thrust and Slipstream.

"Well well, now ain't that a sight to behold. Get a look at you Fearless leader. Getting all scared because some blue fender plated Deceptiscrape decided to turn up the decibel levels." He laughed as he shot over head of Silverbolt and locked his weapons on the two seekers. "Let me show you who the real pilot is. Maybe I'll sign your autograph book when I'm done."

He fired again, this time sending a focused burst straight at the conehead. "This'll teach ya for breaking copyright laws."

As he snapped his trigger again, this time loading a pair of sidewinders into his firing tray, an enemy signature appeared on his sensor grid. He pivoted his array upwards to see a rather large shadow begin to decend towards him from a higher altitude, his computer instantly matched the signal with the missing Hellion. Slingshot broke his firing run and switched back to guns as he pushed his vector thrust engine to starboard extremes. He pulled his yolk hard and entered a breakneck G-Force challenging turn.

Desperately he tried to avoid the tumbling shadow. His integrity field chirped before he finally leveled out and entered into a full Snap S Turn to bring himself into a dive in order try and regain some sort of ground to the air dropping decepticon. "Oh sure... you can't fight an Ace of Skies, so ya gotta drop in uninvited. Guess I'll have to give you a departing gift lady." He popped off as incoming fire pelted his underbelly. This was getting rediculous and he knew he needed to do something, anything to keep this entire event from spiraling out of control. But deep down he wondered whether or not he could really pull off the maneuver he was attempting.

Iranian Desert – Central Hub

Ratchet had back tracked enough that he was able to dodge Thrust’s weapons fire. The CMO cursed under his breath at losing the ground he had gained. He needed to get to Warpath now. It was then that he received Hardhead’s message; it was followed by fire from the warrior’s shatterblasters. With a smile plastered on his face Ratchet took off at a run for the downed Warpath. Just before the medic reached the tankformer Waspinator took one last shot directed at him.

“For Primus sa….”

Ratchet took a dive face first into the sand letting the blast from the annoying insect fly over his head. Slowly he lifted his face out of the sand and wiped his hand down his visage. Carefully he rose to his feet and took a quick look around to make sure Waspinator was gone. Once he was satisfied he made his way over to Warpath.

“Slagit all to the Pit!”

Ratchet quickly took out his medical kit. Without even looking into it the seasoned medical officer reached in and removed an injection device and a small vial. With the practiced ease that only comes with several millions of years of experience, Ratchet inserted the vial into the device and looked down at his patient. A small smile crossed his features as he placed his hand on Warpath’s shoulder.

“Alright, ‘Path. This is anti-venom. I’m gonna have to inject it directly into your energon line so it’s gonna hurt like the Pit. Once the pain subsides you’re gonna feel like you’re overheating; just ignore the warnings to engage your internal fans. Are you ready?”

The CMO didn’t even give the tankformer time to answer, instead he plunged the sharp needle into the exposed energon line in Warpath’s neck and injected the anti-venom.

Iranian Desert - Skies above

Only moment ago Thrust had been cackling gleefully and hurling insults towards Ratchet. Few seconds later he was banking hard to avoid Hardhead's shatterblaster attack doing more than grazing his wing. To his relief, he did manage to avoid getting hit by the devastating weapons of the Autobot veteran soldier. Mostly due to the fact that Hardhead's shatterblasters were not ideal for hitting fast moving airborne targets beyond short to mid range. Surviving Hardhead's attack did make the maroon and charcoal seeker to yearn for revenge. Revenge he did not dare to seek against such of a powerful enemy unless a proper opportunity was to be found.

Cursing, Thrust turned away from Ratchet and Hardhead and just as he was about to make a rapid acceleration he was known for his sensor grid went on alert again. This time it was Slingshot he had on his tail. A damned good flyer for an Autobot and to Thrust's displeasure, the Autobot had picked the same alt. form as he had. Blaming himself of his own carelessness, Thrust felt the sting of Slingshot's weapon fire burning through his integrity field and into his armor, damaging the vtol turbine of his left wing enough for the turbine to jam and then explode, causing the seeker losing his control.

Too bad he had just pushed his engines to full power. With a thundering roar of his engines flavored with a scream of terror, surprise and agony Thrust rocketed towards the Persian Gulf in an uncontrollable spin and speed that neither his comrades or the Aerialbots could match. Needless to say, it was becoming rather likely that Thrust was not to appear in the battlefield again anytime soon.


Avoiding being shot by so much more cumbersome craft as Silverbolt's chosen form was child's play to Dirge in his form of the Eurofighter Typhoon. Unlike Silverbolt's bomber mode, Dirge's jet fighter form was made for claiming air superiority and was surprisingly nimble for a human design. Of course, its attributes were enhanced far beyond its human design by the Decepticons but the feel of being better prepared did have its effect on Dirge's ego.

As he was enjoying Silverbolt flying straight into his trap and then diving for the ground in panic, Skywarp suddenly dared to insult him through the comm-link they shared. How dared that lovesick simpleton question him? It was Skywarp himself who had been foolish enough to approach Dirge in a way that exposed the teleporter to his powers.

>>"Only a fool leaves his weapons unused. Fear is my instrument and the only reason we still retain the air superiority in absence of coordinated leadership."<< Was Dirge's rather spiteful reply to Skywarp who had been missing from the battle for way too long already while letting his troops to run wild instead of coordinating them in the battle.

Lessening the vibrations from his engines given Silverbolt was now out of the picture, Dirge began tracking Slingshot's movements and was soon tailing the Aerialbot who himself had been attacking Thrust and Slipstream before being forced to take a risky maneuver to avoid being hit by Hellion. Having the advantage of following Slingshot from a range that allowed him to counter the Aerialbot's attempts of shaking him off his tail, Dirge began his quest of pouring laser fire at Slingshot on every possible opening.

"Death comes to those who cross the skies that belong to the Decepticons!"