Seibertron.com Energon Pub Forums

Skies

>>”You missed. How could you miss, Brawl? I gave you exact firing solutions! Ugh…Onslaught, the Autobots are getting away. I can still make them out. I’m going to fire on them.”<< After all, the boss had let Brawl out for a walk. His sensors darted to the edge of the forest that Vortex was presently grounded in as he registered movement. Two vehicles going into the forest? Closer inspection determined that Autobot transponders came from them.

Frag.

Vortex had a lot of back up as it was, but a little aerial support didn’t hurt. Frag these Autobots. Did they think they could attack one of their own and get away with it? Firing an x-ray laser down at Prowl and Rook in two short bursts, he turned his attention back to the other group of Autobots who had fled from the road. Another barrage for them. All the while, Blast-Off transmitted more firing solutions.

>>”Here are the Autobots, Brawl. Don’t miss again.”<<


Forest

When his comrades didn’t immediately follow him, it confirmed Red Alert’s worst fears. They had deserted him. Left him to die. This was a trap, and he had just flung himself headlong into it. Stupid! He should have been more careful. He should have…

>>Red Alert, we are going to race as hard as possible to the ranger station so we can get you and the package bounced out of here. After that Pinpoint and I will stick around to deal with the Cons. Once you secure the ordinance then you can return if you choose.<<

Primus help him. He was playing right into their hands. D-Did they do something to the missile that he was carrying? Impossible! Red had made sure of that. H-Hadn’t he? Indecision crippled him as he raced through the trees.

"Red Alert, I've got your back. Concentrate on getting to base and I'll cover you. Hot Shot, should I engage if fired upon?"

They were coming. There was no time. Wh-what should he do?! F-Focus! Remember your training! As he tried to calm himself enough to make a decision, Prowl’s reply cut sharply through his thoughts.

>>”Of course I sent her, Red, and no one’s keeping you in the dark. In case you haven’t noticed yet we need reinforcements because we’re outnumbered. Can’t you just accept help without complaining about it or assuming that someone's out to get you? Stow your paranoia for once and focus on the mission!”<<

Why would Prowl say that?! Of course, Pinpoint was sent by him. She was in league with him. He could tell she doubted him. Disrespected him. They all did. Red wasn’t wrong. Oh Primus, how he wished he was. They were all out to get him. Get the Autobots. Prowl and his minions. He just knew Prowl had something to do with the Fallen. Something to do with everything fishy and wrong that had happened recently. How many had he turned to his side?!

>>Red Alert, Pinpoint, slight change to plans. Red is taking the missile with him back to the Ark-22. Pinpoint and I will disassemble the computer terminal we brought down and then bounce back. We fire on the Cons only in self-defense. Remember this mission is supposed to be an in and out mission. Hopefully the Cons will remember the infiltration protocols as well.<<

Hot Spot had fought with Prowl earlier but now he seemed more than happy to cooperate. Had that all been a ruse?! To gain his trust?! No. No! No, no, no, no…! What should he-

“Augh!”

He was hit. Red was hurt. Where?! Where had it come from?! Red didn’t have much time to ponder that as he skidded and spiraled out of control. Transforming, Red clutched the missile to his chest and crashed through the trees at speed before sliding to a painful halt. Biting back the pain, Red staggered to his feet, lifting his gun and pointing it. Right at the two oncoming Autobots.

>>”Stop. B-Both of you! Now. Which of you did that?!”<<

Skies

>>”Sounds like a good plan, ’Cracker, but we also got more ‘Bots heading towards Vortex's location. I’ll keep an optic on these slaggers the best I can while you follow the others. Okay, buddy?”<<

"Got it," Thundercracker sent to Skywarp in reply.

Thundercracker shifted, sending the final firing solutions for the Autobot transponders to Brawl. He shot overhead the three Autobots rushing somewhere, probably their base of operations. Good. Things were going well.

Then Blast Off interfered. The only airborne Combaticon began firing on their targets. Now he was putting the mission, as well as native lifeforms, at risk. And he wants fighting smart, either.

"Blast Off! We had orders, a plan! What do you think you are doing?!"



Forest

The terrain was not fitted for driving at such speeds. Nor was Pinpoint designed for such off-road travel. If the 'Cons don't get me, this planet will.

Her thoughts were cut off by new orders from Hot Shot.

>>Red Alert, Pinpoint, slight change to plans. Red is taking the missile with him back to the Ark-22. Pinpoint and I will disassemble the computer terminal we brought down and then bounce back. We fire on the Cons only in self-defense. Remember this mission is supposed to be an in and out mission. Hopefully the Cons will remember the infiltration protocols as well.<<

Infiltration protocols. Those silly little rules that prevented open warfare on inhabited planets. The sniper figured the best way to protect the indigenous population was to involve them. Oh well, those rules have the-

BOOM!

The sound of laser fire impacting something once again cut her off of her thoughts. It was followed by the sound of several more shots. Dirt was thrown into the air, clouding Pinpoint's vision. She immediately hit the brakes.

"Prowl, we are under attack. Unknown number of assailants!"

She transformed, tossing herself in the air and drawing her pistols. When she hit the ground, she found herself facing an armed and scared Red Alert.

>>”Stop. B-Both of you! Now. Which of you did that?!”<<

Pinpoint immediately dropped her weapons and put her hands in the air. "Red Alert, it wasn't us. I promise you. But, sir, with all due respect, we're exposed out here."

One particular hill top

>>”You missed. How could you miss, Brawl? I gave you exact firing solutions! Ugh…Onslaught, the Autobots are getting away. I can still make them out. I’m going to fire on them.”<<

>>”Graaah! I am firing through slagging canopies Snob-Off! Give me a fraggin’ break!”<< Brawl bellowed into his communicator - set on the open channel between the group of Decepticons the Combaticons were part of during this particular mission. >>”I am not stupid! Even I know that boss let me take shots because the meatsacks are unlikely to spot low flying projectiles fired from a damn forest into another part of the stupid forest!”<<

Stupid Blast-Off. Always looking down on him. Like those stupid seekers too. At least he could fire on the Autobots without grabbing the attention of every human with a cell phone in the vicinity. Same could not be said about jet fighters starting to shoot at a fragging forest. Someone would eventually come to investigate what the ruckus was about sure but if everything went as boss planned they’d be long gone before that.

>>”Here are the Autobots, Brawl. Don’t miss again.”<<

>>”Oh, shut up already!”<< Brawl roared into his communicator and fired another explosive shell towards the coordinates provided by Blast-Off, with the targets apparently being Red Alert, Pinpoint and Hotspot.

Ewa Forest Reserve

A pair of explosions erupted in the trees nearby as Prowl and Rook came under attack from the Combaticon flier somewhere above the forest canopy. “X-ray lasers. It must be Blast Off,” the military strategist concluded as tree bark and dirt pelted his chassis. “You okay back there, Rook? The woods should provide us with enough cover to avoid any direct hits. But, the ‘Cons know we’re here now. So, be vigilant. They’ll likely come at us on the ground.”

Homing in on Hound’s signal, Prowl slowed and turned off the main dirt road and into the small clearing that the green scout and Nova Strike had used to hide from Swindle. Transforming into robot mode, the black and white approached the pair. “I see you two are no worse for wear.”

“We’re fine,” Hound responded, converting to robot mode, as well, and giving the team leader a proper salute. “We managed to avoid Swindle, sir. Don’t know where he ran off to, but Vortex is not far from here. If we trek through there on foot, we should be able to catch up to him and the missile he’s carrying in short order.” Hound pointed to his right before returning his focus to the strategist.

“No,” Prowl retorted plainly, drawing a look of surprise from the green scout. “It’s too much of a risk. It’s broad daylight and there’s not one but two human military installations not far from here. This is supposed to be an in-and-out operation to retrieve Cybertronian tech from human control with infiltration protocols adhered to. The missile is out of human hands, as is the other one, which is what’s most important. Therefore, our mission is accomplished. Going after a standard ‘Con ordinance at this point unnecessarily risks our exposure. No, we head back to base camp and bounce out of here. We only fire back to protect ourselves; minimal conflict. Is that understood?”

Hound nodded. “Yes, sir. You’re the boss.”

>>”Prowl, we are under attack. Unknown number of assailants!”<<

Prowl opened a return comm line to the other Autobot team of Pinpoint, Hot Spot and Red Alert:

>>”I read you, Pinpoint. We have come under fire here, as well. According to the probes I still have in the area, there are three seekers along with Blast Off overhead. The Combaticon, Brawl, is also situated on a hill nearby, firing at you. You three get back to base camp ASAP and bounce out of here with the equipment in tow. If the ‘Cons close in on you, destroy their missile. No sense giving them their ordinance back. The four of us here are heading back to base camp now. We should be there shortly. Prowl out.”<<

“All right, you three, let’s get moving,” the military strategist said, transforming back into his Nissan GT-R police cruiser mode. Hound followed suit, returning to his humvee form. “Okay, I want everyone to follow behind me closely. Once we are out from under the cover of the forest, we’ll be fair game for the ‘Con fliers and Brawl’s tank fire. So, be mindful of your surroundings. Now, let’s move!”

With those words spoken, Prowl led Rook, Hound and Nova Strike back onto the secluded dirt roadway, heading quickly towards the edge of the Ewa Forest Reserve.

Forest

"Red Alert, it wasn't us. I promise you. But, sir, with all due respect, we're exposed out here."

“You’d like me to believe that, wouldn’t you?! No, no, I’ve been playing into his hands this whole time, haven’t I? Well?! HAVEN’T I?!” Red Alert barked at this Pinpoint if that even was her real designation. One could never know with Prowl. He clutched the missile tightly to his chest. But she put her weapon down. Was it to lure him into a false sense of security? What about the Decepticons? Were there even Decepticons? No! This was a trap! A trap designed to take him out of the picture! Oh, he could see it. He saw it so clearly now. This was summary execution.

Not today. Not on Prowl’s life.

Mind made up, Red Alert lowered his weapon. “I understand, Pinpoint,” he murmured calmly. There was a resolve in his optics. And, in the next moment, the missile was in the air, headed straight for Pinpoint. There was no guarantee that she was on Prowl’s side, but to be safe, he had to deal with her before Hot Spot arrived. If anything, hopefully this would delay his two “compatriots.”

Leaping back and firing at the missile while it was aloft, Red Alert transformed, speeding away from the explosion behind him. First, he’d check the base. If Prowl was there, he’d initiate an emergency bounce and enforce a lock down on that bounce chamber’s pad. Yeah. It would work.


Skies

"Blast Off! We had orders, a plan! What do you think you are doing?!"

Thundercracker. Blast-Off had forgotten that he was not the only pair of optics in the sky today. He pondered briefly if he should dignify Thundercracker’s question with a response. After a moment, he decided to. One of them had to be the better mech, and it would of course be Blast-Off if that weren’t already obvious.

>>”Providing our prey a little encouragement. Unlike we who can see them plain as day, x-Ray lasers are out of the scope of standard human sight, and they aren’t technologically advanced enough to detect them otherwise. Pathetic creatures really. Ooh, it seems like some drama is unfolding down there…”<<

>>”Graaah! I am firing through slagging canopies Snob-Off! Give me a fraggin’ break!”<< Brawl bellowed into his communicator - set on the open channel between the group of Decepticons the Combaticons were part of during this particular mission. >>”I am not stupid! Even I know that boss let me take shots because the meatsacks are unlikely to spot low flying projectiles fired from a damn forest into another part of the stupid forest!”<<

Ack. His poor audios. Snob-Off? Well, he never. And to insinuate that Blast-Off was foolish? Well, that was going a shade too far. It actually stung a bit to conceivably be berated by Brawl for more than a few reasons, but Blast-Off put up a protective façade of indifference as Brawl’s voice blasted at him again.

>>”Oh, shut up already!”<<

>>”Now what would be the fun in that? Hmm…”<< Blast-Off spotted a group of four Autobots. Hm. Had he missed? Him? Someone who could hit a target from 12,000 miles away? Pfeh. Must’ve been careless. Gathering firing coordinates for Prowl’s group, Blast-Off transmitted them over to Brawl.

>>”Can you do rapid fire to these targets? There’s four of them so you might have better luck actually hitting one of them.”<<

Forest

Hot Spot continued to have trouble with the terrain in the dense forest. It didn't help with the bombardment from most likely Brawl raining down debris. One of the larger trees came at Hot Spot knocking him over just as he popped up over a large rock. He transformed shaking off the roll over.

"We got to get out of here before there is a huge hole in the middle of the forest."

He then noticed Red Alert being knocked around and back in robot mode as was Pinpoint. Before he could get things back under control, Red went nuts by tossing the missile at Pinpoint blowing it up in front of Pinpoint. Hot Spot made a dive for Pinpoint to knock him out of the explosion area.

>>Prowl, Red Alert has went into one of his paranoia fits. He just tossed the missile towards Pinpoint and blew it up in front of her. This is getting out of actuators. I'm going to open up a line to Onslaught in order to calm things down.<<

Knowing it to be a risk to open his location up like this but if they kept going, it will be even a greater risk to give the human military even more knowledge than what they already have. Hot Spot open up a broad channel hoping his Decepticon counterpart would consider his words.

>>Onslaught, I know you are here somewhere. We need to desist all fighting for the sake of the infiltration protocols. This human military already knows enough about us we don't need to add more to it. The Autobots had blown up the missile we had and currently in the process of retreating. If you want to call this a victory, go right ahead. Again I implore you to call off your team before we level this forest. You are a reasonable and logical leader. Is there any good strategy in continuing this fight?<<

Forest

Pinpoint ducked as another shell flew in, grabbing her pistols and quickly holstering them. The shot exploded to her right, splintering the trees and leaving a crater in the ground. So much for Infiltration Protocols. No way we're gonna be able to cover this up.

She looked back up at the terrified Red Alert, who was still holding the ordinance in his arms.

“You’d like me to believe that, wouldn’t you?! No, no, I’ve been playing into his hands this whole time, haven’t I? Well?! HAVEN’T I?!”

"'His'? Red Alert, what are talking about? We're only here to get this explosive off-planet, I promise you. Please sir, let's complete our mission."

The white sniper was starting to get irritated. All three of them were sitting ducks for the 'Cons to pick up. Fortunately, Red lowered his weapon.

“I understand, Pinpoint."

Oh good. Now they coul-

Pinpoint gave Red Alert look of confusion as he threw the missile. What the Pit was he-

Oh scrap! Pinpoint tried to jump back, but could see that it was too late as the security officer opened fire. Just as she braced herself, she was knocked off her servos by Hot Spot, who tackled her out of the blast.

Another shot from an overhead aircraft missed her head by inches. "Ok, that's it! I've had enough."

She rolled out from under the executive officer, pulling her sniper rifle from her back and taking aim for one of the Seekers. She settled on her target and pulled the trigger.



Skies

>>”Providing our prey a little encouragement. Unlike we who can see them plain as day, x-Ray lasers are out of the scope of standard human sight, and they aren’t technologically advanced enough to detect them otherwise. Pathetic creatures really.”<<

It was 'Cons like Blast Off that made Thundercracker feel ashamed for his faction. He didn't understand their need to look down on other walks of life and the needless destruction to beautiful worlds like this one. He was preparing a response when Blast Off brought attention to some situation on the ground.

Sure enough, one of the 'Bots was holding a gun up to their teammate. What was going on down there?

His question was answered when the red and white one -Red Alert- threw the ordinance -the target of this mission- in the air and shot it. The resulting explosion blocked Thundercracker's view of the other two 'Bots.

Just as well.

He opened up a comm line to Onslaught.

"Sir, one of the missiles were just detonated. I think the Autobots protecting it were taken out as well. I recommend we commit the rest of our forces to protecting Vortex and his cargo."

He shifted, and was about to fly off just as he caught a glimpse of sunlight shining off something...

Thundercracker immediately opened up comms with Nightraven and Skywarp. "You guys, one of those 'Bots is a sniper! Be careful!"

Too late. Just as he finished, a shot rang out.

Ewa Forest Reserve

When his advanced sensor suite picked up additional weapons discharges, it made Vortex's circuits started surging: he needed to be wherever the battle was happening and help his Combaticon comrades take down the enemy. But...he also had the precious cargo. That was the priority. That was the only reason they were here to begin with. Had to remember that.

>>"Hey Blasters, can I get a lift? Once we got the cargo secured, we can clear the frag outta here."<<

Ewa Forest Reserve

Offroad listened to Vortex's next words. "Affirmative huh? Onslaught's gonna like you, heh." He had heard much about the Combaticon commander, with his brilliant plans and schemes. He wondered what it was like to be in his unit, but the whole military vehicle style didn't attract Offroad too much to it.

Suddenly, the sound of a distant explosion. Action was taking place. He turned to Vortex and said, "I would suggest that you move quickly in order to reach the rendezvous point and secure the cargo. I'll walk a bit further back in the event of a strike." He nodded in agreement of his comm-link to Blast Off.

He brandished his axe in one hand and turned around, staring back into the thicket of the forest and started walking several meters behind Vortex. He drew one of his SMGs in the other hand and held it pointing at the ground in the case of an emergency. Of course, he wouldn't need it, but you can never be too prepared.



As twigs and dirt flung towards Rook, Prowl called back to him, "You okay back there, Rook?". "Yes, sir. I am fine." Rook's durabyllium armour was capable of withstanding much, much more, so the impact of the explosion didn't do much to shake Rook off.

He followed the 'Bot in charge to the clearing where Hound and Nova Strike were. He transformed and jumped into robot mode, drawing his rifle in the process. He stood ground and kept his optics and his audio receptors at their maximum possible capabilities. Prowl and Hound had a conversation, so Rook picked on what was going on. "Our mission is accomplished. Going after a standard ‘Con ordinance at this point unnecessarily risks our exposure. No, we head back to base camp and bounce out of here. We only fire back to protect ourselves; minimal conflict. Is that understood?” "Yes, sir. Will do as instructed."

Rook transformed back into his armoured APC mode, mounting his rifle on top, concealed within an armour panel. Fliers were always a problem, because they were fast, but Rook had dealt with them before, so it wasn't a huge deal. He pulled onto the dirt roadway and followed behind Prowl with the rest of the 'bots.

Highway

Swindle was heading back back to Wheeler, in the confines of his cabin his dash board lit up with his tactical HUD, both Combaticons and the Seekers had engaged Autobot targets. Swindle slammed on the breaks. He could not care less if the seekers lived or died, but his comrade Combaticons were a different matter.

"Sargent Peck, Initiate extraction protocol Foxtrot Tango. Your on your own for now buddy."

Swindle uploaded tactical data from Blast-off, making sure to tag on a quip about "being passive sitting in space only marginally helping out." Although Swindle was always great full for the intelligence BlastOff provided.

Swindle headed in the direction of Vortex, keeping an eye out for the green Autobot humvee.

------------ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ------

Sargent Peck was nearly done, his end of the mission was going smoothly, as far as the humans were concerned it was a top secret live fire training exercise for the US special forces. Surrounding military units were ordered to look the other way and civilians were redirected from the area.

Details of the mission had been harder to cover up, And it became apparent others were working towards the same goal. Sargent Peck walked down a dark echoing corridor along side his erstwhile ally, he looked Mr White up and down, A forgettable blond G-man type.

They walked in silence until reaching the double door, Peck opened the door and gestured Mr White thought. A black plain Goverment looking car with tinted windows sat waiting for Mr White on the curb idling.

"It was a pleasure Sargent Peck" Says Mr White in a peculiar accent extending his hand.

Peck smiles, "I assure you the pleasure is mine."

They shook hands mutually assured on a successful mission.

"With any lucky this should all be forgotten within less then a week." Monotonously says Mr White.

"I make my own luck." Smiles Peck.

"Then I wont have to wish you any luck then." reply's Mr White ominously with a uncharacteristic smile.

Pecks smile fades from his face as he narrows his eyes at Mr White, looking for hidden meaning in the bland passive face.

Mr White walked to his car getting in the back seat without looking back.

The Government car pulls away. Peck waves goodbye with a curt three figure wave and puts his hands in his jacket pockets.

He watches the black sedan fade into the distance, just a normal earth petroleum car, except for one detail Peck took notice of, instead of a general motors badge it had a Autobrand.

"Brassy aliens." thought Peck, knowing full well the symbol meant nothing to ninety nine percent of the earth.

Peck waits by the curb chewing gum. There is a faint rumble in the distance that increases as it gets closer, A red open top sports car pulls up, Retro wave blasting over the speakers, Accelerated by Miami Nights. A cute blond girl driving the car wearing over sized black sun glasses and dark red lip stick chewing gum, motions for Peck to get in. He jumps in the passenger side, She throws him a wink, with eyes caked in too much eye liner. Peck flung his hands behind his head as he drove away from the air field, now he was just another tourist on holiday with his wife.

Skies

>>"Hey Blasters, can I get a lift? Once we got the cargo secured, we can clear the frag outta here."<<

>>”Hm? Who do I look like? Astrotrain?”<< Blast-Off replied to his downed fellow. >>”Oh alright. I’m en route.”<<

Angling down to the forest that Vortex and some other Cons occupied, he perked up slightly when his sensors registered returning fire from the forest. Well, well. One of the Autobots had finally gotten fed up of his prodding. Hah. A little more excitement. Still, it wouldn’t do to draw too much attention, but Blast-Off wasn’t too worried for the moment. If Onslaught had let out Brawl on a leash, he surely had considered human exposure.

It wasn’t long before he’d made his descent, landing in a clearing not far from where Vortex and Offroad were headed.

>>”I’m here. Let’s go, double time, Vortex. I’d prefer to limit my ground time as much as possible.”<<


Central Oahu Regional Park – Abandoned Ranger Station

Red Alert skidded onto the scene, transforming as he ran to the little base that they had made. There had been a guard posted on the perimeter, but slipping past him was no trouble. However, the guard next to the portable console was. Frag it all! No, wait. Maybe this was good. It meant that Prowl and the others hadn't returned yet. As the Autotrooper noticed him and gave him a nod, Red Alert realized either Prowl wasn't yet aware that Red was onto him or the Autotrooper hadn't been informed. Either way, it was a plus for him.

Walking toward the trooper briskly, trying to act casual, Red Alert glanced at the console. He'd need the data drives. Prowl could be hiding something on them.

"Stand aside, I need access," Red Alert conjured up in a tone he hoped was authoritarian.

"Sorry sir. I'm to guard this until Prowl returns."

"Ah, I understand," Red Alert replied, his suspicions confirmed. There was information on those drives. Potentially something incriminating. He doubted it. Prowl was a little too smart for that, but there was a chance. Steeling his resolve, he fired rockets at the Autotrooper, blasting the stunned Autobot away as Red Alert rushed in.

He kneeled down, tearing off the portable console's access panel and taking out the data drives while the Autotrooper was scrambling to his feet. Straightening, Red Alert contacted the bounce chamber aboard the Ark-22. He’d relay from there to the Guardian and go straight to Magnus. Right. Good plan. He’d lock Prowl and the others here out from returning…so he’d have to stop at the Ark-22 anyhow.

An emergency bounce activated, Red Alert waited for it to take him away when pain erupted in his shoulder. He whirled around. The Autotrooper had gotten back up and was firing on him! Putting up a hand to defend himself, he was whisked away in a flash of light before the next rounds could hit him.

Priority-1 Transmission from Ultra Magnus to Prowl

--Critical situation aboard the Guardian. Command staff assembly urgent.--

Ewa Forest Reserve

"I would suggest that you move quickly in order to reach the rendezvous point and secure the cargo. I'll walk a bit further back in the event of a strike," Offroad said.

"Suit yerself, chief," Vortex said, before Blast-Off chimed in with his response to the Combaticon Interrogator's request.

>>”Hm? Who do I look like? Astrotrain? Oh alright. I’m en route.”<<

Vortex's initial reaction to Blast-Off's question was to say yeah.....actually you do look like Astrotrain. But given that he needed to get airborne again, he decided it wasn't a good time to antagonize his teammate.

>>"Copy that,"<< he commed back simply, turning back to Offroad. "I got air evac on its way. Let's go!"

Ahead, he saw the shuttle land and he picked up his pace. Unsurprisingly, Blast-Off sent another comm once he was settled.

>>”I’m here. Let’s go, double time, Vortex. I’d prefer to limit my ground time as much as possible.”<<

>>"Hey, I'm as double-timing it as fast as I can. My back's killin' me somethin' major. Stupid fraggin' probe. What'd they load that thing with, anyway?"<< Vortex grumbled as he emerged into the clearing. Frag, he could deal with the pain later. What he couldn't deal with was the Autobots getting ahold of his cargo again.

Climbing aboard, Vortex leaned against Blast-Off's interior wall before slumping down onto the floor.

"Phew. Too close."

One particular hill top

>>”Can you do rapid fire to these targets? There’s four of them so you might have better luck actually hitting one of them.”<<

Ghhn. How annoying could one person be?! Plenty infuriating when the said person was named Blast-Off that was for sure. Every sentence he managed to utter out of his vocalizer to Brawl oozed arrogance and contempt. Oh how he would have liked to rearrange the other Combaticon’s faceplate into a fashionable hole. With his fists.

One could only dream. Onslaught had made Blast-Off the second in command of the Combaticons for some strange reason that Brawl couldn’t fathom and thus, he was out of his reach in more way than one. At least until he make a bad enough mistake.

>>”Of course I can Blasto! Just watch!”<< Brawl bellowed into his communicator while his turret turned to face the direction of the coordinates Blast-Off had provided to him. >>”Locked and loaded!”<<

With his firing computer calculating a trajectory for the targets highlighted to him by Blast-Off, Brawl let loose the first explosive round of his, targeted on the road straight a head of Prowl in. This was done in order to cut the road off, thus making the Autobots easier targets for what was to come. With the first explosive on its way, Brawl followed it by firing three more explosive rounds at the Autobot group, each shell separated roughly by 5 seconds. If only he could see their faces right now.

Leaving Ewa Forest Reserve

>>Prowl, Red Alert has went into one of his paranoia fits. He just tossed the missile towards Pinpoint and blew it up in front of her. This is getting out of actuators. I'm going to open up a line to Onslaught in order to calm things down.<<

Prowl received Hot Spot’s transmission as he and his team raced towards the edge of the forest. If the military strategist had been in robot mode with a table in front of him he would have flipped it out of sheer annoyance. So, Red Alert goes nuts and tries to blow up Pinpoint and then the Protectobot Commander has the brilliant idea to contact Onslaught of all mechs, thinking that it wold calm the situation down. Unbelievable.

>>”No, Hot Spot! Do not comm Onslaught! Are you crazy? You’ll give away your position and possibly lead them to our base camp. Just get Red Alert under control!”<<

The black and white cut his comm link to Hot Spot and was about to open a new one to the Autotroopers back at the base camp, when one of them contacted Prowl first.

>>”Commander Prowl, this is Autotrooper C17. Red Alert just attacked me before taking the data drives from the console and then bouncing back to the Ark-22. What are your orders, sir?”<<

Oh, for Primus’ sake! >>”Your orders are to remain where you are, ‘trooper! You and your partner begin dismantling the base. We’ll be there soon to bounce up with you. Prowl out.”<< Well, this mission has certainly gone completely off the rails. It would be a miracle if any of them made it out alive or at least not as Decepticon prisoners. That would make a bad cycle even worse.

Speeding out from under the cover of the Ewa Forest Reserve, Prowl once again attempted to open a new comm line, this time to Ultra Magnus in order to warn him of Red Alert’s delusions. And once again, the black and white was interrupted, this time by a large explosion that suddenly detonated directly in front of him.

“Fraggit!!!” Prowl exclaimed as he veered off the roadway and flipped over onto his roof. Debris pelted his scorched chassis as the strategist transformed back into robot mode and quickly took cover in a nearby ditch. The prick-bot scanned the skies for more explosive rounds and he soon found them. “We have incoming! Take evasive action, everyone!” The prick-bot shouted to Rook, Hound and Nova Strike. Hound swiftly went off road to get around the huge crater the explosion had left in the center of the roadway, while Nova Strike followed him.

Meanwhile, Prowl’s logic center went to work as each of the additional three rounds were fired at them, roughly five seconds apart. With lightning speed, the black and white analyzed each one’s probable paths of movement and determined where they would likely land. Prowl then quickly transmitted those coordinates to Rook and the others so that they could avoid getting hit. Hopefully, they would receive them in time.

The military strategist’s highly logical brain then calculated the reverse trajectory of the incoming explosives and quickly determined that they had been fired from a distant hilltop. Prowl could not see a Decepticon up there with the naked optic, but logic dictated that there had to be one there somewhere. A convoy lead by a military police car would certainly not come under immediate attack by the humans and certainly not from that distance.

As new explosions erupted around him and the others, Prowl targeted the hilltop in question. Taking careful aim with his shoulder-mounted rocket launchers, the black and white unleashed two incendiary missiles directly at the vicinity where Brawl was hiding.

“Everyone, go NOW!” Prowl then shouted to his team as he transformed back into vehicle mode and raced down the road towards Route 99. Hound and Nova Strike fell in behind their mission leader with Rook hopefully unscathed behind them.

--Critical situation aboard the Guardian. Command staff assembly urgent.--

Oh, now what? Prowl thought as he opened a secured comm line to the Guardian:

>>”Commander Magnus. I received your communique. Unfortunately, we have come under Decepticon attack and are currently attempting to return to base camp for a return bounce to the Ark-22. I will be there as soon as I can. Furthermore, it seems that Red Alert has had one of his paranoid delusional psychotic breaks again. He attacked Pinpoint and an autotrooper before stealing the data drives from our portable console and bouncing back to the Ark. You might want to warn them that he’s coming. Prowl out.”<<

Skies

Skywarp continued to circle the skies over the Ewa Forest Reserve, trying to pick up any visual signs of Prowl and Rook. He soon detected their transponders along with two additional Autobot signals. However, before he could relay those new coordinates to Onslaught or Brawl, Blast Off had already done so.

“Why the frag am I even here?!” The teleporter shouted, not caring who might hear him. He felt completely useless. He couldn’t attack anyone for fear of alerting the humans and now he wasn’t even able to transmit the coordinates of the Autobots he spotted without the Combaticon space warrior doing so first. And why the frag was Blast Off even down here at this low altitude. Didn’t he normally just hang out up in orbit and rain laser fire down from there? Skywarp was about to ask him when the Combaticon spaceplane descended down to pick up Vortex and their cargo.

“Good, go down there. Stay out of my way!” Skywarp exclaimed as he circled back towards Prowl and his group who had now come under attack from Brawl. The prankster got a good chuckle as he watched them scatter like cyber-ants.

Realizing he was no longer needed here, Skywarp headed back towards Thundercracker’s position. As he approached, he opened a comm line to his long time friend:

>>”Hey, ’Cracker, Nighty and I are heading back your way, I….”<<

>>”You guys, one of those 'Bots is a sniper! Be careful!”<<

Skywarp was caught off guard by the warning from the blue seeker. >>”A sniper? Really? I doubt they’re any good…”<<

A shot from Pinpoint’s sniper rifle then struck the teleporter’s left wing tip, causing Skywarp to briefly lose control. A trail of smoke emanated from his wing, which was damaged but not enough to ground the prankster. He would have a hard time maneuvering like normal, but it would not keep him out of the battle.

After struggling to right himself, Skywarp came up alongside Thundercracker. >>”You know what, bud? I’m sick of this slag. If these Autoscraps want a fight then I’ll give ‘em one!”<<

With that said, a ticked-off prankster took aim at Pinpoint below and unleashed a volley of laser fire on the so-called Autobot sniper.

Forest on Fire

"Yes! Got 'im!" Pinpoint whooped. Her shot hit! Well, it was a graze on the Seeker's wing. Still a hit!

Still, it was invigorating to see her shot take effect. The Seeker bobbed and weaved to compensate for the damage to the wing.

Her elation suddenly abated as the jetbot came around. Ignoring a growing pain in her abdomen, Pinpoint strapped her rifle onto her back and nimbly jumped back, drawing her pistols and returning fire.

She cried out in pain as laser fire rained around her, striking the sniper twice in the right leg.



Skies

Thundercracker looked on in horror as Skywarp suddenly jerked as a sniper shot impacted his wing. "Skywarp, y-you okay?"

To his relief, his brother-in-arms rightened and straightened his flight path.

>>”You know what, bud? I’m sick of this slag. If these Autoscraps want a fight then I’ll give ‘em one!”<<

Thundercracker considered pointing out to his partner that infiltration protocols were still in effect. He also considered saying that they hadn't been ordered to engage.

He decided otherwise.

Thundercracker fell in line with his comrades, watching them open fire on the white Autobot. She survived the initial bombardment. As Skywarp passed low, Thundercracker noticed her take aim at closer range.

"'Warp! Pull up!"

It was too late. Thundercracker saw that he only had one option. He opened fire as well.



Forest

Pinpoint engaged her sights, locking in on the Seeker that bsot her as he flew overhead. With her attention focused on him, she didn't notice his wingbot moving in.

She began to squeeze the trigger, only to be cut off as she was hit from behind. Crying out once again as pain laced her frame, Pinpoint fell to the ground.

One particular hill top

It had been looking good for Brawl. With Blast-Off working as fire-control for him, he had had fun taking easy shots at the Autobots from a range, while hidden from their sight himself. But then Prowl went and retaliated. Brawl honestly hadn’t thought any of the Autobots could have been able to do so. Or risk being found by doing that for that matter. Therefore couple of incendiary missiles exploding above him and setting dozens or nearby trees ablaze took him by surprise.

”Hey! How dare you singe my finish! I am going to blast you into smithereens for that! I will -” Yeah. He certainly would have. Except Brawl had no idea where the Autobot who had shot him was anymore. Certainly not too far from where Blast-Off had highlighted them some time ago but the targeting data from Blast-Off was gone now. As was Blast-Off.

>>”Hey?! What the slag guys?! Where did you all go?! I am fraggin’ blind here and under fire!”<< Brawl roared into his communicator while hitting reverse and driving away from the spot where Prowl’s missiles had hit him and caused some minor melting damage and burns to his thick armor.

Leaving Ewa Forest Reserve

Rook raced behind the black and white commander, exiting the cover of the forest and rolling out on to the road. Rook could distantly hear Prowl muttering under his breath, which told him that the military strategist was under a lot of pressure. He definitely needed someone to help him with all the mental workload, but Rook wouldn't get the chance to ask as his thought processes were disturbed by the sound of a large explosion in front of the group.

Catching the whole convoy off guard, Rook drifted and skidded off the road, but his heavy weight and the grip of his tires kept him upright. Unfortunately for the mission commander, the same could not be said so.

Prowl wrote:“We have incoming! Take evasive action, everyone!”

The defender rolled over to the black and white, flipping over into robot mode and arming himself with his rifle. He stood in front of him in the ditch, hold up his arms as soon as the explosion occurred. Dirt, dust and debris flung itself towards Rook but for the most part he was fine.

Prowl once again sent the group a series of coordinates where the next strikes were to hit. Being in the direct vicinity of one of them, he sprang backwards as the shots landed. The first and the second didn't do much but the third was close enough to him to stagger his footing. Still, no major damage, thanks to his specially built armour.

Turning his head to the side, Rook saw Prowl aiming his rockets at a seemingly empty hill, but he caught in to his train of though. He loaded one of the smoke charges he had prepared earlier into his wrist mounted cannon, aimed it in the same general direction as Prowl's rockets, and fired away. The smoke charge went about half the distance of the rockets before detonating mid-air. A large cloud of non lethal smoke started to appear.

Prowl wrote:"Everyone, go NOW!”

Rook started to run in the direction the other three were headed in, but turned around for a quick moment and loaded up the remainder of his charges. He scattered them in every direction, clouds of smoke appearing with each detonation. To the naked optic, everything should have become obfuscated behind the thick layers of smoke and ash. Rook dived into his APC alternate mode and sped off behind the rest of the convoy, hoping that the smoke charges would have been enough to create a momentary distraction until they returned back to their makeshift base camp.



Ewa Forest Reserve

Offroad watched as Blast Off descended onto the ground. As Vortex started to board him, Offroad stowed away his axe and rolled into his truck mode, speeding up and jumping into Blast Off, stunticon-style, reverting into robot mode.

"Good day, Blast Off." He greeted with a humorous undertone. "Let us roll, shall we?"

Forest

Everything was happening way too fast. Hot Spot saw as Pinpoint recklessly took on two Seekers on her own. He understood what Prowl meant about contacting Onslaught. At this point, it was probably worthless due to the usual ways the two factions interact with each other. Down deep Hot Spot was afraid the only way for the Bots and Cons to have peace is for vast majority of their faction and race to be in pieces. Even with this fear it didn't dissuade Hot Spot from protecting his fellow Autobot.

He reached around and pulled a tree half of his size with all of his strength. It seemed to be one of the larger trees in the immediate area and hoped it wasn't one of the older ones. He swung it with all of his might at the two Seekers, Thundercracker and Skywarp, hoping to knock both out of the sky without too much damage. This mission had been an almost complete failure. It would be easy to blame the Cons but the Autobots weren't doing much better about the infiltration protocols. Hoping his great swing gave him enough time, he picked up Pinpoint in his arms and started off towards the temporary base. He looked down at the small fembot and noticed the damaged torso and other laser fire damage in her right leg. If he had time, he could mend the wiring in the torso and patch up her leg but time is one thing they were lacking. As much trouble as Pinpoint caused for herself, Hot Spot had to admire her courage and chassis.

"Don't worry, Pinpoint, I'll get us out of here. This mission was almost a complete disaster. The mission debriefing won't be pretty with Ultra Magnus."

>>Prowl, I've got Pinpoint in my arms and we are heading towards the base. I tried to swat away Thundercracker and Skywarp with a tree. You know Magnus is going to have our aft plates for the way this mission ended.<<

Forest

As Onslaught closed the distance between he and his team, his comm line was beginning to erupt in a variety of activity.

>>”Sir, one of the missiles were just detonated. I think the Autobots protecting it were taken out as well. I recommend we commit the rest of our forces to protecting Vortex and his cargo.”<<

>>”Understood, Thundercracker.”<< Onslaught responded back, hiding his frustration behind his words. He transformed and started to make his way deep into the forest, his rifle drawn in the event of stumbling upon the conflict with the Autobots. On the one hand he was glad it wasn’t his team that managed to set off the explosive, but on the other it means the rest of this operation was in jeopardy of just trying to draw attention to themselves. >>”Vortex is already being withdrawn from the fight. Get Skywarp and his friend to rendezvous at the initial drop point and get ready to bounce out.”<<

The next comm made Onslaught freeze in his tracks. It was from the Autobots, most notably the Protectobot, Hot Spot. Onslaught’s history with the fire engine was almost as countless as Optimus’ was to Megatron’s, the protectobot always seeming to show up and defend any fortification Onslaught was assigned to conquer. Once again their paths crossed here on Earth, those the Autobot made a grievous mistake... Without a second thought, the Combaticon commander’s digits began to rush over and access panel on his forearm, each key his pressed quickly hooking his transmitter to his navigational systems. The more he heard Hot Spot’s voice plea for them to desist their defense, the closer he got to locating exactly where he was. Luckily for Onslaught, Hot Spot has a bit of a motormouth today...

>>”Brawl, transmitting precise coordinates for the Autobots. Light em up and pull back, our mission here is over. Everyone else; we got what we came for, make your way for the rendezvous point.”<<

Closing his comm line with his team, Onslaught only gazed through the trees waiting to see the light show further unfold, laughing softly to himself.

“You had your chance, Autobot,” He muttered, responding aloud to Hot Spot’s call without opening his comm link, “But you interfered with my team and my operation. Your pleas for mercy fall on silent audio receptors...”

Route 99 – Heading South

Prowl raced down the highway with his lights and sirens blazing. Hound and Nova Strike followed close behind him with Rook presumably bringing up the rear. All human vehicles the group came upon moved over at the sight of the Nissan GT-R police cruiser leading the pack. The military strategist had picked a good alt mode as the police were a symbol of authority that most humans would respect. At least the good ones would at any rate.

>>“Good job with the smoke charges, Rook,”<< Prowl said over his comm line. >>”It gave us enough cover to get out of the immediate area. Now, if we can only get back to base camp without any more problems.”<<

>>Prowl, I've got Pinpoint in my arms and we are heading towards the base. I tried to swat away Thundercracker and Skywarp with a tree. You know Magnus is going to have our aft plates for the way this mission ended.<<

>>”Well, Hot Spot, at least the mission was accomplished. The Cybertronian ordinances are out of human hands. That's what is most important. I…wait…did you just say that you tried to swat Thundercracker and Skywarp away with a tree? Are you serious?!?”<< Prowl almost couldn’t believe what he was hearing. The black and white was on the verge of busting out laughing, but he managed to keep his composure regardless. >>”I’m curious. How’d that work out for ya?”<<

Skies

“‘Warp! Pull up!”

“Scrap!” Skywarp exclaimed as he came under renewed fire from Pinpoint. Unable to maneuver as well as before, the prankster had no choice but to quickly teleport out of the line of fire in order to avoid being hit again. He soon reappeared a short distance away and quickly set his sights back on the supposed Autobot sniper.

>>”No sweat, ’Cracker ol’ buddy! That Autoscrap’s gonna have to do better than that to knock me out of the sky! Wait, what the frag? Are you seeing this, ‘Cracker?”<<

Skywarp couldn’t believe what he was looking at. As the teleporter flew over the area, he could see Hot Spot pull a tree out of the ground and swing it through the air at the two seekers before then grabbing the injured sniper and running away. Of course, Skywarp was flying too high for the tree to reach him.

>>”Oh my Primus, that was good! Hahahahah!!! Yeah, don’t shoot back at us with your guns. No, swing a tree at us, instead! Heh. Even I’m smarter than that!”<<

The prankster then came around into position and unloaded another volley of laser fire at the fleeing duo of Hot Spot and Pinpoint before picking up another series of Autobot transponder signals just to the north. Adjusting his course, Skywarp saw that it was Prowl and the three other Autoslags he had detected coming out of the Ewa Forest Reserve earlier.

I guess Brawl missed them, Skywarp thought to himself as he opened fire on the other approaching group of ‘Bots.

Approaching Abandoned Ranger Station

Explosions erupted all around them as Prowl and Hound swerved to avoid being hit by the incoming laser fire from Skywarp. >>”Evasive action! We’re under attack!”<< The military strategist warned Rook and the others. >>We’re almost at base camp! Just stay close and follow me! Hound, use your launcher and return fire!”<<

>>”Way ahead of you, sir!”<< Hound commed back as he quickly took aim with his top mounted rocket launcher and fired several missiles into the sky at Skywarp and Thundercracker. Hopefully, that would dissuade them from attacking again and simply allow the Autobots to retreat. The mission was over, after all. The ‘Cons had to know that by now.

Turning off Route 99, Prowl lead his convoy onto the dirt roadway that lead back to the abandoned ranger station which served as their temporary base camp. They soon passed through the edge of the large hologram that hid their base from prying eyes or optics. Why had the hologram emitter not been taken down by now? That was a question Prowl wanted answered.

Arriving at the ranger station, Prowl immediately transformed into robot mode and approached one of the autotroopers. “Why is the holo-emitter still functioning? And why is everything else still here? You should've started bouncing the equipment out of here by now. We’re supposed to be leaving ASAP!”

“Um, we have the rest of the equipment dismantled, Commander, including the portable computer terminal. However, we have a slight problem,” the ‘trooper responded.

“What kind of problem?” Prowl asked with more than a slight amount of irritation in his vocals.

“We’re locked out of the bounce system for the Ark-22.”

“We’re what? Dammit! Red Alert did this! What about the Guardian?”

“We’re locked out of that, too, sir.”

“You gotta be kidding me!” Prowl shouted, grabbing an old wooden table nearby and flinging it across the clearing. The autotrooper backed up in shock as the black and white glared back at him. “What about the Trion? Did you check the Trion’s bounce system?”

“Um, no, I…I’ll do that now, sir,” the ‘trooper said as he attempted to send a signal to the Trion. He soon received the response he had hoped for. “We’re good to go with the Trion, sir. It seems Red Alert didn’t think to lock us out of that system.”

“Well, praise Primus for some good news on this cluster-frag of a mission,” Prowl replied in a slightly relieved tone. “Get all of our equipment bounced up to the Trion immediately, including the holo-emitter. Nothing Cybertronian stays behind. Got it?”

“Understood, sir,” the autotrooper stated with a salute before heading off to carry out Prowl’s orders. Within moments, the first wave of Cybertronian tech was bounced away in a flash of light.

Prowl then turned back to Rook and the others. “Help the autotroopers with the equipment. Hound, get the holo-emitter taken down. By the time you’re all done, Hot Spot and Pinpoint should be back and we can finally bounce the slag outta here. However, we’re going to have to head to the Trion since crazy Red Alert decided to lock us out of the Guardian and Ark-22 bounce systems.”

Sigh. I'm gonna kill that fragger!

One particular hill top

>>”Brawl, transmitting precise coordinates for the Autobots. Light em up and pull back, our mission here is over. Everyone else; we got what we came for, make your way for the rendezvous point.”<<

>>”With pleasure boss!”<< Brawl responded back to Onslaught after receiving new targeting data from his unit commander. While the smoke cloud created by Rook did obstruct Brawl’s optical sensors – it did nothing against using the coordinates provided by Onslaught. Wasting no time, Brawl readjusted the position of his turret and fired several high-explosive anti-tank shells towards the last known precise location of Hotspot and Pinpoint and its immediate surroundings.

”C’mon Autoscraps, it is time to die!” Brawl cackled as he listened the whine of his shots going off and eventually exploding. He knew he was unlikely hit the duo due to the fact that Autobots were unlikely to stay put, but with his firepower he didn’t even have to directly hit the weaker of the two Autobots to cause severe damage. And not even the Protectobot leader could just stand there and take a direct blast from him without risking a potentially disabling injury. And even if he missed he knew he’d at least freak them out. All this while he was safe distance away and obscured by a smoke cloud of created by the Autobots themselves? Hah, retaliation against him was out of question.

Having complied with the first part of orders given, Brawl set out to heed his next objective – by turning around and setting off to drive towards the drop off spot where he had entered the forest in the first place.

Route 99 – Heading South

Prowl's comm wrote:>>“Good job with the smoke charges, Rook. It gave us enough cover to get out of the immediate area. Now, if we can only get back to base camp without any more problems.”<<

>>"Aye, commander."<< Rook was glad that the commander appreciated his improvised efforts. As Prowl activated his lights and sirens, Rook followed him down the road. Luckily, Rook had the markings and the paint scheme of an Earth police vehicle as well, so he didn't seem completely out of place with his larger alt mode.

Approaching Abandoned Ranger Station

Rook ran his tires as shots rained from the sky. Hound had already taken care of the problem, so he didn't worry too much about it. Luckily, since he was the larger of the group, he was able to draw more of the fire, which worked fine since he could take a few shots without feeling much pain. He pulled off the main road and followed the rest of the squad into the base camp.

Rook stood up in his robot mode, moving to go help. He overheard Prowl and one of the Autotroopers talking about the bounce coordinates being locked out. Red Alert. He had heard about the paranoid officer. Being locked from bouncing at this point in time certainly wasn't the best thing, but it seemed that Prowl had found a way out. The Trion, he heard. That would be interesting.

The military strategist gestured to Rook to help out with the equipment. Rook picked up some of the things, slung one over his shoulder, and approached Prowl.

"Sir, I, uh, needed to ask you about something..." Rook looked at the ground, hesitating, "Actually, it can wait for until we get to the ship..."

Ewa Forest Reserve

>>"Hey, I'm as double-timing it as fast as I can. My back's killin' me somethin' major. Stupid fraggin' probe. What'd they load that thing with, anyway?"<<

“And here I thought you were made of sterner stuff,” Blast-Off commented to Vortex as his teammate boarded. Hmph. Vortex making him worry. Seemed to fine for the most part. Still, the sooner they got to extraction, the better. He could looked at after they made it back. It was with a sinking feeling in his fuel pump that he registered Offroad coming at him in alt mode and at speed.

“Ah…” Blast-Off hissed lightly as Offroad plowed into him roughly, indignant even as he shut the door behind him. “What madness possesses you, Offroad?! You were not under fire! Don’t just treat me like a shuttle you can trash at your leisure! How dare you!”

Even as he vented, Blast-Off took off, keeping low. Roll. Hah. He was above all that. He soared.

>>”Brawl, transmitting precise coordinates for the Autobots. Light em up and pull back, our mission here is over. Everyone else; we got what we came for, make your way for the rendezvous point.”<<

Time to leave then. Good riddance. Blast-Off sent back a nonverbal acknowledgement. It wasn’t a particularly long trip to the rendezvous point, and keeping low ensured that he would not be targeted by Autobots. In a few moments, he landed again, opening his doors to allow Vortex and Offroad to disembark. He’d half a mind to just transform and dump them out, but Vortex was hurting so he was feeling somewhat merciful.

>>”We’ve arrived at the rendezvous point, Onslaught.”<<

Forest

As Hot Spot was running with his new comrade, splinters and debris started pelting his armor along with large explosions in the background. This started to remind him of a mission on Orion 4 where his team faced off against the Combaticons. There been so many battles with the two special teams it is amazing they haven't killed each other by now and this isn't without trying. As his processor went back to the mission, he noticed a piece of metal wedged in his side and a slow trickle of energon oozing out of the hole. It is more of an annoyance than serious injury but will need to be pulled out before he can transform since it hit one of the transformation joints. He then decided to shout out to his very capable counterpart, Onslaught.

"Hey Onslaught, this reminds me of the mission on Orion 4. If my processor is correct, it was a rescue mission on my side while your team bombarded then diplomatic complex. We did get the diplomats out but Groove got messed up pretty bad with the compound being flatten. If we weren't on opposite sides, I would almost suggest training sessions on mission like this one!"

Onslaught was one of the few Cons Hot Spot could respect. He wasn't a complete brute like Motormaster nor enjoy dishing out pain and suffering like some others. There was a certain sense of honor with Onslaught in his strategies.

As he got closer to the bounce location, he saw the others standing around with most of the equipment ready.

Ranger Station

"What are we waiting on, Prowl? I doubt the Cons will chase us but still need to get out before the humans coming hunting us. Brawl's attacks has a tendency to draw attention with all of the explosions. As for the tree, it wasn't one of my best ideas but better than having my weapon start a forest fire with any backwash. This little run in with the Cons does make me wonder if we need to get some drills like this going once we get a little down time."