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En Route To The Warehouse

Reaver was staring straight ahead, stunned, as his sensors and diagnostics alerted him that his real self had taken damage. "Scrap..." He muttered. His eyes drifted to Feint, who's avatar looked very confused. "I took damage at the warehouse."

--

"Get back there!" Feint yelled at the flyer. "Protect yourself!"

---

"What about you?" Reaver asked. "And the damage isn't bad."

--

"I'm fine." Feint said cocking a smirk. "In our world I'm a little thing... In the humans' world .. I'm a big metal war machine."

--

Reaver actually laughed. A genuine laugh, not something he did often. "Not so sure about war machine... but I don't think we're far out anyway, you're right, you're fine." he said. "You've scraped through worse than a few human fightercraft."

And with that, he was gone. The avatar snapped out of existence in a flash of light.

Warehouse

Reaver's consciousness came back to his body, finding himself under rubble. A few dents, a couple scratches, but they were well armored beings. A warehouse's debris and a few missiles couldn't do any serious damage.


He wiggled his way out of the debris, listening to the chatter on the comms of his fellow Decepticons.

Three newcomers had joined them. Seekers. They were up in the air. Blackout was sending periodic reports of the UN Force's whereabouts.

He made his way to the warehouse doors, as soon as he stepped outside, he was transforming into his alt mode, and taking off, set on a trajectory to follow Feedback, Lock On, and Vertigo.

Where as the three Seekers ahead of him had US military markings, Reaver sported Russian designations, his alt mode even more stand out-ish being an experimental design with forward swept wings. He was quick and agile though, and more likely to draw the attention of the UN aircraft.

Skies

>>"Friendly on our 6."<< Feedback announced to the others as Reaver approached.

---

>>"I don't see any support aircraft right now"<< Blackout commed back to Feedback.

Warehouse Complex

Flamewar had barely had any time for her consciousness to fully return to its original state in her natural body before a portion of the building they were in erupted in flames, smoke, and debris and the world--for a brief moment--came crashing down around her.

She wasn't as well-armored as the others such as Megatron, Sixshot and their warrior ilk. That was by design. her function typically called for dexterity over brute strength. The downside to that was that even relatively insignificant human attacks like this could, well, hurt.

As she lay temporarily immobilized under the debris, she could feel it. Not so much from the heat but from several structures that had collapsed around her and on top of her. Probably also some shrapnel from the humans' weapons that had lodged itself further than she would've liked.

Gah...irksome little trolls.

“Flamewar, hold on! I’m here! Are you okay, my dear?” she could hear Sixshot calling out as he cleared the debris and rubble off of her.

"You never disappoint," she said as she accepted the offered aid and got back to her feet. "I'm frankly amazed they had the guts to call a strike."

She then looked around.

"What of Megatron?"

Warehouse Complex

Megatron had been approaching and ordered him and Octane to transform. Mission was clearly accomplished and it was time for them to go.

But just that quickly, everything around them was fire and smoke.

Autobots? No way. Couldn't be. But who else would do it? The fleshies? How had they even found them here?

Too many questions and Astrotrain had no immediate answers. In the midst of his distraction, it was actually Octane who helped him refocus on what he was here to do: Megatron had ordered them to transform.

But where was Megatron?

Astrotrain looked around the warehouse remains. Most of it was still standing, but there was clearly a section that had been utterly demolished by whatever had struck them. There were several piles of scrap and debris. Sixshot was digging someone out of one. A few meters away, another started to move.

Warehouse Complex

Unceremoniously, Megatron pushed himself to his feet, allowing the debris that had fallen on top of him to fall away like leaves. Rage was in his optics, but not rage that they had been attacked. That was always what he was intending to instigate. His rage stemmed from not knowing how the primitive little fleshbags had figured out how to attack them here. Somewhere along the line, Soundwave had uncharacteristically dropped the ball. Megatron intended to find out how so the mistake would not be repeated.

"Ready to be loaded, Lord Megatron, if it is still your wish."

"It is," Megatron growled as he approached Octane's loading platform and began to ascend. He then opened up a mission-wide comm.

>>"Our position is compromised. We leave. Now. Torch anything left behind and eliminate witnesses."<<

Megatron then continued his steady march into Octane's holding space.

"Fire up your engines, Octane. We're not waiting for stragglers."

An explosion rocked the skies over Aleppo as one of approaching UN support flight’s aircrafts suddenly ceased to be. Before the others had time to barely react, a second jet fighter exploded in a fiery ball of fire. They had been taken completely by surprise and clearly by an enemy stealth fighter equipped with new type of air to air missile that hadn’t even caused a radar alert. With two aircraft left of the UN flight the culprit finally made an appearance before firing yet another missile. A lone Suhoi Su-57. A new type of Russian fifth generation stealth jet fighter.

>>”Mayday! Mayday! We have a bogey on our six! Su-57! Su-57! Two down, can’t shake-”<< came the first distress call before being cut short by yet another explosion as third member of the UN flight exploded.

The pilot of the remaining fourth aircraft chose to eject instead of taking his chances against the Russian jet fighter after a futile attempt of shaking the bogey.

A moment later an encrypted message came through Decepticon channels up-linked by Soundwave. >>”Blitzwing to Soundwave. Formerly incoming UN support flight dealt with. Others are engaging the original attackers. Waiting for further orders.”<<

[Warehouse Complex]

Megatron wrote:>>"Our position is compromised. We leave. Now. Torch anything left behind and eliminate witnesses."<<

Dreadnaut had already managed to crush some of the rubble underneath his heavy treads, ballistic missile batteries loaded with anti-air ammunition. The seekers were going to have their share of dogfighting, but Dreadnaut would make it quicker. He raised his batteries, took aim 58 degrees portside of their current location, and pulled the trigger.

Some twelve streaks of intense firelight ignited the sky, seeking out the human jets. The artillery mech rolled in with the rest. Out of this place now.

Inside Warehouse

Skywarp wrote: “You look no worse for wear.”

Don’t I? Thundercracker wondered as he evaluated his idea for pulling himself free from the rubble. He often credited himself with being the more pragmatic of the Seekers, but at the moment he didn’t feel so certain of that. At least, there shouldn’t be any CR chamber time for me. It was a plus, but it may have come too early as Skywarp’s combative tendencies came to the forefront.

Skywarp wrote: “Let’s go, ’Cracker. We’ll show those flesh sacks what happens when you attack Decepticons!”

Thundercracker shared his friend’s desire to take to the air and end the threat they faced, no matter how insignificant it’d seemed at first. He’d long believed, as did the others, that human technology couldn’t hurt them.

Maybe not, but if it can bring a building down on us, there could be a risk. The thought had merit and needed more studying, and he knew the best way to study was a hands on approach.

His optics flared at the idea of battle, of testing their skill against the humans’ and their technology, but what if their weapons were strong enough to injure a Cybertronian? He glanced at Skywarp and knew his friend waited for him to receive confirmation from Megatron, and that was the part that irked him.

How do I keep allowing myself to be put in these situations? he thought. There was a time when he’d already be in the air with Skywarp and Starscream by his side, the three of them laying waste to anything in their path that didn’t wear the Decepticon symbol. But now?

He clenched his hands at the impossibility of their war and what it meant to bring it to another planet, a planet that may be hostile to Cybertronians in general.

What have we done? he asked himself as Megatron’s communication came through.

Megatron wrote: >>"Our position is compromised. We leave. Now. Torch anything left behind and eliminate witnesses."<<

The implications were clear, and it was out of Thundercracker’s hands.

Forcing his new conundrum aside, he accepted his warrior instincts to take over. Smiling at Skywarp, he said, “Looks like it’s time to show these fleshbags who the skies belong to. Up for another wager, ‘Warp?”

Thundercracker didn’t give him a chance to respond as he transformed into his F-22 Raptor mode, and with his customary thundering sound, burst through what was left of the warehouse and took to the skies. Exhilaration flowed through him at being in the air and not encumbered by a holographic form anymore.

“Haven’t felt this refreshed since rolling off the assembly line, eh, ‘Warp?”

He quickly spotted the human craft on his radar and would’ve shaken his head had he been in his robot mode. “They’re attacked one another. Looks like Megatron’s plans worked.”

A small part of him asked, Then why are we here?

The question wasn’t important as he angled upwards and banked to come at the humans from above. With any luck, they’ll be too busy with each other to notice us, he thought, hoping he wasn’t overthinking it.

Aboard Octane

No sooner was Megatron settled aboard the triple-changer than he had brought up several holoscreens of Decepticon activities on the planet, reviewing what had been done and what was ongoing.

>>"Soundwave to Megatron.<<

"Proceed, Soundwave."

>>"Scorponok returns, Megatron. Victorious. He requests an audience."<<

A satisfied grin spread across Megatron's silvery features.

"Most excellent, Soundwave. Prepare a meeting of the Conclave. Inform Scorponok that I'll be coming to the Tyrannis. Megatron out."

He then looked up slightly, knowing his "transport" would be perfectly capable of hearing him. "Alter your course, Octane. We have a new destination."

Skies over Aleppo

Megatron wrote:>>"Our position is compromised. We leave. Now. Torch anything left behind and eliminate witnesses."<<

Thundercracker wrote:“Looks like it’s time to show these fleshbags who the skies belong to. Up for another wager, ‘Warp?”

Before Skywarp could respond to his long time friend, the blue seeker had transformed and roared up into the skies above. The resident prankster followed suit, transforming into his F-22 Raptor alt mode and launching himself into the air. He quickly arrived at the same altitude as Thundercracker and swiftly pulled alongside his buddy.

“What kind of wager did you have in mind, ’Cracker?”

Thundercracker wrote:“Haven’t felt this refreshed since rolling off the assembly line, eh, ‘Warp?”

“They’re attacked one another. Looks like Megatron’s plans worked.”

“Yeah, it’s good to be flying again,” Skywarp replied as he did a quick barrel roll just for the fun of it. “Megatron’s plans always work. These human germs are pathetic. They’re fall for anything. But, now it’s time to eliminate those who attacked us even if they don’t know what we are. Heh.”

As Blitzwing arrived and took care of human reinforcements, Skywarp closed in on a pair of the original attackers. Taking aim, the teleporter fired several missiles at the human aircraft, which quickly struck their targets, destroying two of the fleshling UN jets before they had time to react.

“That’s two down, ’Cracker! How you doing over there, bud?”

Warehouse Complex

Flamewar wrote:"You never disappoint. I’m frankly amazed they had the guts to call a strike.”

"What of Megatron?”

Sixshot looked around until he finally saw the large form of the slagmaker pull himself from the rubble not far away. “He’s there,” the STAG responded to Flamewar, pointing in the direction of their supreme leader. “He looks fine. It would take much more than human missiles to take down Megatron.”

Megatron wrote:>>"Our position is compromised. We leave. Now. Torch anything left behind and eliminate witnesses."<<

The slagmaker quickly boarded Octane before the triplechanger took off, not waiting for any stragglers. Sixshot looked to the skies and saw that the seekers were handling the human jets that had attacked them. That only left dealing with the Cybertronian technology still on the ground, much of which was now buried in rubble, and also ensuring that there aren't any witnesses left to tell what happened here.

“Looks like much of our equipment is severely damaged and not salvageable. Get inside Astrotrain,” Sixshot said to Flamewar. “I will handle this.” He then opened his comm line to the rest of the Decepticons left in the area:

>>”Everyone, gather what you can and get inside Astrotrain immediately. I will raze the entire area from above, destroying all evidence of our presence here and eliminating any witnesses. Move now if you value your lives!”<<

Sixshot closed his comm line and gave a nod to Flamewar. “Hurry,” the STAG said with concern in his voice before he then launched himself into the air and assumed his jet-propelled laser pistol alt mode. The flying gun then took position over the warehouse complex, hovering in place as he waited for the Decepticons below to vacate the area. Sixshot wouldn't wait long, though.

Warehouse Ruins

>>”Blitzwing to Soundwave. Formerly incoming UN support flight dealt with. Others are engaging the original attackers. Waiting for further orders.”<<

>>"Acknowledged, Blitzwing. The Triorians will serve as Megatron's escort to the Semper Tyrannis. Fall in sequence behind Octane,"<< Soundwave transmitted to both Blitzwing and Astrotrain.
___

The Tyrannis? They weren't headed back to the Thanatos? That caught Astrotrain's attention. Even so, he didn't question the orders. They were coming from Soundwave, which typically meant they were really coming from Megatron.

>>"Acknowledged,"<< Astrotrain said, transforming into his shuttle mode and opening his bay doors. As he did, he fired up his engines. As Sixshot's transmission had made clear, he would not be waiting long.

Warehouse Ruins

“He’s there. He looks fine. It would take much more than human missiles to take down Megatron.”

Sixshot of course had optics on their leader very quickly. They quite possibly had never left. Always efficient.

"As usual, you're quite right," Flamewar said with a smirk. Megatron was clearly wasting no time, as his orders had made clear. In a flurry of lift and acceleration, Octane was gone, climbing altitude far faster than the black operative had ever seen him move. Their leader was not exaggerating. Sixshot recognized it and so did she.

“Looks like much of our equipment is severely damaged and not salvageable. Get inside Astrotrain. I will handle this,” Sixshot said. Flamewar nodded, offering no argument as she headed to where Astrotrain had transformed. His engines, also, were firing up.

“Hurry,” Sixshot transmitted, before launching himself into the air. He was quite a marvel to behold.

>>"You'd think I had never done this before,"<< she transmitted with a grin as she settled herself into Astrotrain's passenger bay.

>>"Acknowledged, Blitzwing. The Triorians will serve as Megatron's escort to the Semper Tyrannis. Fall in sequence behind Octane,"<< Soundwave transmitted to both Blitzwing and Astrotrain.

Like Astrotrain, Blitzwing quickly gave his acknowledment to Soundwave’s message. Internally however, he was surprised by the name of the ship Soundwave had so casually shared with them.

>>”Semper Tyrannis?! Isn’t that Scorponok’s worldburner?”<< He transmitted to Astrotrain in disbelief while taking his place as the rear guard of Megatron’s escort. >>”First Sixshot and now Megatron summons yet another warriors elite here? What the slag is happening here, I am just asking?”<<

Skies over Aleppo

There were few things as refreshing for Thundercracker, or any Seeker, as feeling an atmosphere flowing over his wings. They were designed to fly, and each of them relished the sensation. Almost as much as taking on others that dared to enter their domain.

Let flyers be flyers was a phrase some used, and one Thundercracker thought was apt. But when those flyers attacked him and his friends, that phrase ceased to exist for those individuals.

Skywarp wrote: “Yeah, it’s good to be flying again,” Skywarp replied as he did a quick barrel roll just for the fun of it. “Megatron’s plans always work. These human germs are pathetic. They’re fall for anything. But, now it’s time to eliminate those who attacked us even if they don’t know what we are. Heh.”

“Agreed. Time to show them who the masters of the skies really are,” Thundercracker said, locking his targeting system on the nearest human craft and increasing to full speed.

He spun, barrel-rolling to avoid the human’s incoming fire. It was almost too easy. While in mid-roll, he fired, and one of the fighters exploded. The other banked away to avoid the fire and debris, but it clipped its wingmate and their wings bent, sending them hurtling toward the ground.

Scrap, I never did specify our wager.

Skywarp wrote:“That’s two down, ’Cracker! How you doing over there, bud?”

Thundercracker fired at another fighter, but missed as its pilot chose then to dive. Slag it!

“I got three for one. These humans don’t want any part of the fight they started. They bail at the first sign of resistance.”

Just like the Autobots, he wanted to say but only thought. He didn’t know why he held that part back. Too much thinking and not enough reacting, he chastised himself as Blitzwing entered the fray and took out the human’s support.

“Looks like we have some competition, Warp” he said, indicating Blitzwing. “He’s gonna leave us with the scraps.”

Warehouse Ruins

>>”Semper Tyrannis?! Isn’t that Scorponok’s worldburner? First Sixshot and now Megatron summons yet another warriors elite here? What the slag is happening here, I am just asking?”<< Blitzwing asked over the Triorian's unique comm signal.

>>"Aye. If memory serves. If Scorponok is here, that either means he's on the run from Fortress Maximus or he won and he's returning to consolidate with the Big M. It's not in Scorponok's nature to run, though. He probably would have been destroyed on the battlefield over fleeing, which means maybe the war on the second front is over. If so, the noose is tightening,"<< Astrotrain commed back.

”Aye. If memory serves. If Scorponok is here, that either means he's on the run from Fortress Maximus or he won and he's returning to consolidate with the Big M. It's not in Scorponok's nature to run, though. He probably would have been destroyed on the battlefield over fleeing, which means maybe the war on the second front is over. If so, the noose is tightening, "

Blitzwing processed what Astrotrain had said for a moment. With his stealth systems active, he had little to fear from the humans, instead preferring to let the seekers do as they pleased. This was infiltration mission and despite of his many flaws – Blitzwing was good at following orders. At least when they came directly from Megatron himself.

>>”Hah, if Scorponok didn’t run from battles – he’d be dead by now. As would both of us.”<< The triplechanger commando commed back to Astrotrain. >>”That being said, you are probably right. We ain’t hearing a distress call and command guys tend not to advertise victories before they have calculated the maximum effect on how to use the news.”<<

>>”Still, if I were you – I’d hurry up. You’ve got Sixshot hovering above that warehouse you are sitting in, ready to blow it to smithereens by the looks of it.”<< Blitzwing added with a chuckle.

Warehouse Ruins

A few stray Decepticons from the mission had found their way to Astrotrain's cargo hold. Anyone left behind clearly wanted to be or had secured other means of escape.

>>”Hah, if Scorponok didn’t run from battles – he’d be dead by now. As would both of us.”<<

"Heh, well, I wasn't saying I've never run,"<< Astrotrain chuckled.

>>”That being said, you are probably right. We ain’t hearing a distress call and command guys tend not to advertise victories before they have calculated the maximum effect on how to use the news. Still, if I were you – I’d hurry up. You’ve got Sixshot hovering above that warehouse you are sitting in, ready to blow it to smithereens by the looks of it.”<<

>>"Politics. Gotta love it heheh,"<< Astrotrain said, taking note of Sixshot's position. He closed his bay doors and began to rumble forward, pushing debris out of his way. He then activated his forward weapons systems, clearing a better path as he then started to accelerate for takeoff.

>>"Right you are, Blitz. Whoever's left behind can figure out what to do. Megatron didn't pick any clueless greenies for this mission. See you on the Tyrannis."<<

With that, Astrotrain's thrusters fired into full strength and his rocket mode angled upward and launched itself into the sky.

((OOC-If you want your mech to have been amongst those who just got aboard Astrotrain, feel free. The Triorians and their passengers will be heading to Scorponok's ship and, for the moment, this will be the only means of getting to there from here. Otherwise you can send your mech back to the Thanatos.))

Above Warehouse Ruins

Once Astrotrain had taken off with the last of the Decepticons in his passenger bay, Sixshot wasted no time and opened fire on what was left of the warehouse complex below. Sound became solid force from his hypersonic concussion blasters as massive explosions erupted across the entire area, destroying everything and killing anyone unlucky enough to be caught in the barrage. The night sky lit up as though the sun had risen from the ground, itself, as the flying laser pistol continued to unleash his immense fire power on everything in sight.

After about a minute or more of non-stop bombardment, Sixshot ceased firing and transformed back into his robot mode, hovering in mid air to admire his destructive handiwork. “I never cease to amaze myself,” the STAG muttered as a raging inferno engulfed the ruins of the warehouse complex and even an area of over a half mile beyond in every direction. There was nothing left standing, no Cybertronian tech left in tact and certainly nothing left alive. The job was done.

Sixshot then glanced back and up over his shoulder to see the distant speck that was Astrotrain before turning around and transforming into his star fighter alt mode. The sixchanger then rocketed up and out of the Earth’s atmosphere, quickly catching up to the triplechanger just before being whisked away through a space bridge.

Skies Over Aleppo

Thundercracker wrote:“I got three for one. These humans don’t want any part of the fight they started. They bail at the first sign of resistance.”

“These flesh sacks are cowards in the face of a real adversary,” Skywarp replied to Thundercracker as he locked on and took out two more human jets. “Got two more! That’s four all together! Hah!”

Thundercracker wrote:“Looks like we have some competition, Warp. He’s gonna leave us with the scraps.”

“Yeah, well, Blitzwing can find his own targets. These ones are ours!” Skywarp replied back indignantly. Before long, however, the triplechanger had left the area along with Astrotrain and Octane. “Oh, looks like Blitz has bugged out. Good, more for us!”

Suddenly, a series of massive explosions from the ground filled the teleporter’s visual and audio sensors, causing him to wobbled in the air and almost lose control. “What the frag was that?!! ’Cracker, did you see that? I’ve never seen anything that intense!”

Skywarp came around back towards the warehouse complex where the explosions had occurred. Tracing them back to their source, the prankster found Sixshot hovering over the site. “Oh, nevermind. It’s just Sixshot being, well, Sixshot.” The STAG then rocketed up into the atmosphere, leaving Skywarp and Thundercracker flying over the remains of the warehouse complex.

Skywarp then scanned the surrounding skies for any remaining human aircraft and found none in the immediate vicinity. “Looks like Sixshot’s little light show has scared off the flesh sacks. Slag it! I wanted to shoot more down. Arrggghhh!!!”

The teleporter banked around and came up alongside Thundercracker. “I guess we should return to the Thanatos since everyone else is gone and there’s nothing left to destroy," Skywarp suggested, grumbling some more before he quickly perked up a bit. "I’ll race ya, ‘Cracker!” The prankster then angled up the nosecone of his F-22 Raptor alt mode and raced for the stars above.

Skies Over Aleppo

Having Blitzwing intrude on their territory sparked a nerve in Thundercracker. It didn’t help Blitz wasn’t a true Seeker, but there had to be a reason he was there.

Skywarp wrote: “Oh, looks like Blitz has bugged out. Good, more for us!”

And just as fast, he headed out of there.

Odd. Wonder what’s gotten into him? The explosion below rocked him even as high as they were, and the shock threatened to override his sensors as he struggled to keep from banking into Skywarp. They were both too well battle tested for that to happen, but he’d learned a long time ago not to take anything for granted. Thankfully, the explosion died away and his visual and sensor systems cleared up

Skywarp wrote: “What the frag was that?!! ’Cracker, did you see that? I’ve never seen anything that intense!”

“Good question, ‘Warp. Whatever it was is bigger than I gave these humans credit for having.” Could Megatron have made a mistake? he wondered, careful to keep that to himself. He was sure a blast like that had to be Cybertronian in origin, but if humans got hold of their technology or had a weapon here like that…

He didn’t get to finish the thought before Skywarp answered it for him.

Skywarp wrote: “Oh, nevermind. It’s just Sixshot being, well, Sixshot.”

Thundercracker watched Sixshot shot into the air, and when he turned his attention back toward the ground there were only ruins. In one fell swoop, SIxshot had ended their endeavor.

Despite his irritation, part of Thundercracker was relieved it’d been one of their own and not some surprise the fleshlings had cooked up. His tension had faded enough that he even laughed at Skywarp’s frustration.

“They weren’t as much fun as Autobots anyway. Too predictable and shabby construction,” he replied to Skywarp as his Seeker brother came up alongside him.

Skywarp wrote: “I guess we should return to the Thanatos since everyone else is gone and there’s nothing left to destroy," Skywarp suggested, grumbling some more before he quickly perked up a bit. "I’ll race ya, ‘Cracker!”

Thundercracker was grateful his friend was able to find something to amuse himself with so easily, thought he didn’t pity the poor mech Skywarp would take his frustrations out on once they were on the Thanatos.

“Right behind ya,” Thundercracker said as he turned and increased power, creating a thunderous boom as he accelerated and pulled even with his friend. “And don’t try any of your teleporting this time, ‘Warp. First rounds on the loser.”

His internal sensors signaled the lessening pressure as they climbed higher toward the inky blackness of space but didn’t give it a second thought. He was curious as to what awaited them on Skorponok’s ship. If he was here, then maybe they’d finally strike and end this seemingly endless war.

((This thread is closed.))