The Energon Pub

Australia--Uluru

To say that Tracks had never been a part of anything like this in his life, well, it was just an understatement beyond recognition at this point. Demigods, firenadoes, golems. Only Unicron himself could make this insanity spiral any further down the proverbial cyber-fox hole. Tracks was quite certain now that he was living the last breems of his life. All in all, he supposed it had been a pretty good run. He'd hoped to squeeze out some more explorations of this new planet they had arrived on, but that was a minor quibble. Not in the face of the incredibly extended life he'd already lead. No, this would be alright. Let oblivion come. He would go down fighting.

Or he would go down, anyway, under the clubbing axehandle blow of one of the rock creatures, standing just a meter or so taller than him but a good deal wider and with at least one of his "friends" to help him. Tracks didn't really get a chance to see before he wound up facefirst in the ground with a mouthful of Terran minerals clogging his vocalizer.

"You...scuffed...my paint," Tracks growled, pushing himself up before sustaining another blow that drove him even deeper into the comparatively soft mineral surface.

Even in this, the end of all things, his priorities were clear.

Australia - Top of Ayer's Rock

>>"Weirdwolf! Focus on the staff! Get it off his hands, it must be part of his power!"<<

"Everyone, move! Avoid the fissures at all costs!!!"

A yellow and teal blur of motion darted across the fissures effortlessly until it finally stopped at the edge of the fissure that the Decepticon Supreme commander had vanished down. Peering over the edge, a cybernetic wolf head peered down into the crevice, red optics scanning about until they landed on Razorclaw. It withdraw from the edge for a moment before leaping out into the brink, transforming in midair.

Weirdwolf plummeted toward Razorclaw. As he drew near the lion-former, he used his robot mode flight abilities to slow his descent. Realizing that he would overshoot the Predacon commander at this speed, he plunged his sword into the wall of rock, nearly immediately halting his descent. When he halted beside Razorclaw, he withdrew his sword from the rock face and proffered a hand to the Decepticon Supreme Commander.

“To assist you I have come, king of beasts,” Weirdwolf said as he hovered beside Razorclaw, “Though know I not what course to take with regards to the demon god above. Even with the destroyer of worlds, breach his shield we cannot. Suggests Skullcruncher to remove the Fallen from his staff.” The tracker snarled in frustration as he again wracked his brains for anything that could possibly assist them. “Perhaps if...knew we how the Fallen possessed his puppet...”

Weirdwolf trailed off of his train of thought as some of the rock above broke off and flew down toward them. The tracker blasted them apart with a few well placed missiles. A shower of dust and debris coated them. “The place for words this is not.”

Australia – Top of Ayer's Rock

The top of Ayer's rock had erupted in a storm of all kinds of weapons fire and explosives. Even Sixshot had made it back up to the top of the rock and had unleashed his own volley of highly lethal armaments. Unfortunately, even all of that didn't seem to phase the Fallen. Quite the contrary. He even took a moment to catch her arrow and turn it back around toward her.

Flamewar's optics widened. “I believe this belongs to you, my dear." Oh no. Many things churned into motion in one instant. Wipe-Out ran out in front of her, shooting at the Fallen as he darted to the side. “GET DOWN!!" With a shove, Warwolf swept her aside and placed himself between the bolt and herself. The physical contact finally snapped Flamewar out of her stunned stupor. She dodged to the side as the bolt connected with Warwolf, the impact sending him tumbling across the rock even as it crumbled beneath their feet.

Flamewar bolted over to her pupil's side, there almost immediately as Warwolf managed to sit up. She immediately spotted the infected area. Whipping out her sword, it flared up red as flames wrapped around it. “Stay still,” she muttered as she grabbed her student's arm and held it out level with the ground, placing the edge of her sword lightly against the joint under the arm. She would prefer Warwolf not to lose an arm to her bolt, but at least her sword would instantly cauterize any wound.

Flamewar looked over to Warwolf for a moment before turning her attention to the time sensitive matter at hand. With a heave, Flamewar jerked her sword upward, slicing through Warwolf's arm easily. As soon as the infected appendage came free, she flung it away and examined the wound. “Hmrph...” She pressed the flat of her blade into the wound, sealing the leaks that the original incision failed to.

With Warwolf's wounds tended to, Flamewar glanced over to the Fallen and the fissures that were spreading further with each passing astrosecond. Autobots had arrived on the scene as well. Brute force wasn't working. And that staff of his...seemed to amplify his powers if it wasn't the source of them entirely. If they could separate him from that...but it would require getting through that shielding to even touch the Fallen...Or maybe...they didn't...

>>”Sixshot, this is Flamewar. Remember that time the Fallen punched you in the faceplate? Well, I need you to try that again, but this time, try to take the Fallen's staff away from him. It probably amplifies his powers, so we'll stand more of a chance if you can wrestle it away from him. Think you can do that?”<<

Australia - South of Ayers Rock - Combat Trench

Once Prowl had finished sending his message to Ratchet, a follow-up response came in from Jetfire, alerting the military strategist that he would coordinate his actions with Silverbolt. The comm had been unnecessary, but it was nice to know that there were some under the black and white’s command that did not need to be told what to do.

>>”Affirmative, Jetfire. Continue your efforts with Silverbolt and provide air support where needed. Prowl out.”<<

With that little tidbit out of the way, Prowl’s attention was then drawn back to a new communique from Bitstream. Once again this seeker was trying to bargain with him. Hadn’t the strategist been clear when he said to bring him the sixchanger’s spark or there would be no deal? One of the two “new” options Bitstream had now given him required no action from the black and white and considering how busy Prowl was at the current time, it would be that option he would go with.

>>”You assume too much, Bitstream. As I said before, you need to prove to me that you can fulfill your side. Bring me Sixshot’s spark or no deal. If that requires deactivating him through his brain module then I suggest you do so. Personally, I think you overestimate your abilities as I calculate only a 5% chance of your success in that endeavor. However, if you happen to fall within that percentage and succeed then I will be happy to admit my mistake. As for your other option, if you wish for me to get the code from Starscream then I don’t really need you as I can use the code on Sixshot, myself, once I have it. Therefore, you become irrelevant in this equation, don’t you? I mean, what help would you be providing me if I do all the work and take out both Sixshot and Starscream?”<<

Cutting the encrypted comm line, Prowl simply shook his head. This Bitstream seemed to think the black and white was stupid. The seeker also seemed to think that the Autobots would be helpless in the aftermath of this battle. What he failed to realize was that both the Ark-22 and the Guardian were up in orbit and could provide multiple airstrikes if necessary. Furthermore, Bitstream did not consider the state of the Decepticons, themselves, who surely would be just as worse for wear as the Autobots.

This is why strategizing should be left to those of us who specialize in such things, Prowl thought inwardly as he and Shockwave both received Nova Strike’s data regarding the Fallen’s seemingly impenetrable shield. The black and white studied the information carefully as his purple counterpart did the same. As he expected, the shield was unlike any he had ever encountered before. He couldn’t even ascertain the primary power source. The Fallen’s staff could be the main generator or something within the possessed form of Hot Rod, himself. It was difficult to gauge with the data provided.

Before Prowl could relay his conclusions to Shockwave, the Military Operations Commander spoke up with his own determination. The black and white listened closely and nodded in agreement to everything the purple Decepticon was saying. Shockwave’s logic was sound. There was no arguing with that. Everything thrown at the Fallen’s shield had be deflected or absorbed thus far. There was nothing to suggest that a concentrated orbital strike would have any effect that was different than before. A phycological approach against the demigod had not been tried as yet. Such attempts had proven successful with some of the heralds. Thus, it was logical to assume that such a tactic could be useful against the Fallen, as well. If Hot Rod was still in there somewhere, then reaching him might be their only chance.

“I concur with your analysis, Shockwave,” Prowl finally said once the Decepticon scientist had finished speaking. The black and white did not like agreeing with a ‘Con, but there was no other alternative here. Shockwave was correct. “Razorclaw did say that Soundwave had detected another presence in the Fallen’s mind. That has to be Hot Rod. I’ll contact Magnus on top of the mountain and tell him to....”

Prowl’s words were cut short as he noticed a pair of large shadows enveloping himself and the other mechs that were taking cover within the trench. Looking up, the military strategist saw two huge rock lords looming over them, one of which was about to slam its stone club down onto them. “LOOK OUT!!!” Prowl yelled as he dove out of the way, tackling Blaster and Eject to the desert floor in the process just as the medieval-type weapon struck the ground where the three ‘Bots had just been. He was unconcerned with Shockwave as he knew the purple scientist could handle himself.

“You two okay?” Prowl asked Blaster and Eject before immediately turning his attention back to the huge rock creature as it lifted its club out of the trench. With his acid pellet rifle still lost, Prowl took aim with his shoulder-mounted rocket launchers and fired two missiles at the first golem. Both projectiles hit their target, shattering the stone beast into a hundred pieces that showered down around him. The second rock lord was still alive and advancing towards Shockwave while several more golems began approaching the trench from the sand storm.

“We got more incoming! Concentrate your fire on them!” Prowl yelled at anyone who would listen to him. Nearby, the shattered remains of the rock lord that the strategist had just seemingly destroyed began to shake and roll back towards one another. Within astroseconds, the pieces began to reform as the golem slowly rose up anew, much to the prick-bot’s dismay. “Great, just great,” the black and white muttered as he quickly opened a comm line to everyone within range:

>>”Autobots, Decepticons! This is Prowl. It seems that these ‘rock lords’ can be knocked down but they don’t stay down! Don’t assume they’re dead just because you’ve blown them up. They have the ability to reform themselves! Use extreme caution!”<<

((OOC: More to come.))

Australia - Top of Ayers Rock

The mechanical lion continued his ascent up the sandstone wall of the fissure's interior, choosing to save what energon he had left by not utilizing his robot mode’s thrusters. There was no need for them when he had claws that could securely grab hold of the rock, allowing for a steady climb. Unfortunately, the quakes had not ceased, making said climb a bit more difficult than expected. Another violent tremor through the fissure caused the stone around Razorclaw’s serrated digits to crumble, sending the Predacon lord falling back down further into the crevice before he was able to regain his hold on the rock wall. Perhaps this wasn’t going to work so well after all.

Before Razorclaw was able to make his next move, Weirdwolf appeared hovering beside him, offering to help the Decepticon Supreme Commander. Of course, the Predacon lord required no help. If he did he wouldn’t be much of a leader. “I’m fine, Weirdwolf,” the lion-former replied as the yellow tracker commented on what course of action to take against the Fallen. It seemed that Skullcruncher had the idea to get the demigod’s staff away from him as it could be the amplifier or even the source of his power. It was then that a rock broke off from above and fell down towards the beastly duo. Weirdwolf destroyed the boulder easily, showering them both with rocky debris.

“Okay, I’ve had enough of this! Let’s get the slag out of here,” Razorclaw growled, leaping from the rock wall and transforming into his robot mode. He immediately activated his foot thrusters and rocketed up and out of the fissure, assuming that Weirdwolf would be close behind him. “Decepticons, take to the air! Use you robot modes’ flight capabilities to avoid falling into the fissures,” the Predacon lord bellowed to his subordinates on top of Ayers Rock as he noticed that the Autobots were focusing on destroying the bedrock around the Fallen. Apparently, they were hoping to collapse the ground from under the fiery demigod. Not a bad idea all things considered. “Everyone, focus your firepower on the ground around the base of the Fallen’s shield! Perhaps we can create a gap that can be exploited!”

With his orders given, Razorclaw hovered over the mountain and took aim with his shoulder-mounted concussion cannons, firing several volleys down at the foundation of the Fallen’s shield. He hoped to aid the Autobots in further destabilizing the demigod’s position on top of Uluru. If that could be accomplished then perhaps the staff could finally be separated from the flame-ladened Prime, giving them all a chance at victory.

Australia - Cliff Face of Ayers Rock

Sixshot stirred slightly on the rocky outcropping as he received the transmission from Flamewar. Apparently, the Decepticon femme wanted him to challenge the Fallen once more in the hopes that a physical confrontation would force the demigod to lower his shield and allow the Phase Sixer to get that staff away from him. It was a sound plan if it wasn’t for one minor issue.

>>”I read you, Flamewar. Yes, I do remember that punch. How could I possibly forget so soon? The crack in my faceshield is a constant reminder. As for your plan, I can certainly give it a try. However, I recently suffered a direct hit from the Fallen’s staff, resulting in his dark energies overloading my circuits. My systems are slowly rebooting, but it will take a little more time. I should be at optimal capacity within three breems. Then the Fallen will feel my unconditional wrath!”<<

The sixchanger did not mention the breach in his back armor plating. It was bad enough that he had been rendered almost useless by a single shot, a feat that was unheard of when it came to phase sixers. At least it had come from a fiery demigod of legend and not some ordinary mech. This Fallen was truly a worthy adversary, one that Sixshot wished to fight mano-a-mano if he could only get by that shield. However, he would not allow his supernatural enemy a free punch next time. Oh, no. The STAG would give it his all and perhaps even use that staff against the Fallen in the process.

((OOC: More to come.))

Australia – South of Ayers Rock

Trailbreaker slowly turned his head and stared, open mouthed, at the ‘rock lords’.

“Okay, I’m gonna rephrase the question. What the frag IS that?!!"

From the towering killing machine before them Trailbreaker took a side glance in Smokey’s direction. “I…I…don’t know. But it probably wants us dead! Let’s get the frag out of here!” The defensive strategist groped the air behind him hoping he’d grab a hold of Smokey or even Ratchet he stopped, however when he caught the rallybot mention they would stay behind and cover Ratchet’s escape.

“Um, Smokes…” He was cut off when the diversionary tactician took a shot at the rock lord bearing down on them.

"Trailbreaker, try using your force field to keep it contained. We need to prevent it from getting to Ratchet and the shuttles,"

Trailbreaker ducked low and covered his head as pieces of the rock lord rained down on them. He took a tentative peek and began to stand back up. “Uh, Smokey…I think we should make a break for the shuttles with Ratch. Have to keep close to be sure that force-field stays in place round Blurr.” While he spoke Trailbreaker began to edge away from their attacker.

Ratchet revved his engine prepared to speed back to the Longevity to begin Blurr’s treatment, but the arrival of the giant rock beast gave him pause. Would that thing flatten both Smokey and Breaker? He’d wait to be sure the two of them would be able to handle their attacker.

"Ratchet, you’d better get Blurr out of here now! We’ve got some kind of rock thing, beast, whatever the slag it is coming right at us! ‘Breaker and I will try and hold it off! Just go!"

“I’m not going anywhere! Besides, if Trailbreaker’s too far out of range the force-field surrounding Blurr will dissipate.” Ratchet’s statement was backed by Trailbreaker's.

A rocket aimed at the creature’s head hit home. That moment of relief its destruction brought relaxed Ratchet, that was until the thing began to regenerate. “Alright you two, transform and let’s get the slag out of here. Like NOW!”

While the CMO took off Trailbreaker looked to the diversionary tactician, offered a pleading expression and transformed. “Come on Smokes! Let’s at least get Ratch as close to the Longevity as we can.” He quickly took off in the direction of the shuttles.

Australia - South of Ayers Rock

“Slag, I completely forgot that you have to keep within a close proximity to maintain your shield around Blurr,” Smokescreen replied to Trailbreaker as they continued to back away from the rock lord that had just reattached its head to its body. Prowl’s communique regarding the golems’ ability to put themselves back together only served to reinforce what the rallybot already knew. “Now he tells us. These fraggin’ rock monsters aren’t going to stay down, are they?” Smokey commented as he fired another missile at the golem, blowing the entire thing to pieces this time. “There, that should buy us more time.”

Smokescreen then turned at the behest of both Ratchet and Trailbreaker. “Okay, okay! I’m coming!” The diversion expert relented as he transformed, being very careful of his severed right arm. Thankfully, it only folded up under the hood of his Subaru BRZ alt mode and didn’t prevent him from driving as the tire on that side was attached to his shoulder. “I’m going to make it a little harder for these rock lords to follow us!” The rallybot said as he sped forward through the sand and unleashed a thick, black cloud of magnetized smoke from his rear exhaust. It wasn’t as much as he normally could expel, but considering his current condition it was all that he could muster. “There, that should slow them down. Now, let’s get to the shuttle!”

As they drove towards the Longevity, Smokescreen remained at the rear of the caravan to serve as a sort of buffer between his comrades and any other golems that might try and catch up to them. Thankfully, the rock creatures appeared to be slow moving and unable to keep up with them. “Seems we’re putting plenty of distance between us and them. Hopefully, none of them will follow us all the way back to the shuttle.” The rallybot paused for a moment before changing the subject. “I'm sorry about before, guys. I didn’t mean to be stubborn and order you fellas around back there. Those rock things threw me for a loop. I've never encountered anything remotely like that before, you know? Between them and my low power levels, I wasn't thinking straight.”

Australia - Short Distance from Shuttle Longevity

Skywarp tried desperately to keep a tight hold on Darkride in order to give Oil Slick enough time to reach them and administer the sedative. However, the herald’s increased strength and quick movements made that endeavor very difficult not to mention all of the vital fluids of some mech covering the former interrogator. What is this slag? ‘Warp thought to himself as Darkride slipped around in his grasp like a slimy earth worm.

“Come on, Slick! I can’t hold onto him for....OW!!! ” Skywarp cried out suddenly as Darkride bit down on his forearm. “Fraggit, that hurt you supernatural scum!” The bite was quickly followed up with a powerful elbow to the teleporter’s left temple, causing him to release the herald and stumble backwards. The seeker’s optics flickered as his vision blurred and he became dizzy and lightheaded, wobbling around in an attempt to remain standing. That attempt failed, of course, and ‘Warp fell to the ground hard.

Laying there in the sand facing the sky, Skywarp was overcome by darkness as his consciousness faded away. The last thing he remembered seeing before everything went black was Darkride charging directly at Oil Slick. Hopefully, the chemical specialist would win the forthcoming battle without the teleporter’s help. Otherwise, 'Warp might find himself eviscerated when he woke up from his little nap.

((OOC: A Fallen post will be coming soon.))

Australia - Top of Ayers Rock

With the sixchanger once again taken care of, the Fallen moved away from the summit’s edge and returned his attention to those on top of Ayers Rock. A smirk formed on his visage as he watched the one called Warwolf save the femme, Flamewar, from her own arrow. The cosmic rust laced bolt struck Warwolf’s shoulder and the disease quickly took hold. However, Flamewar moved in fast and severed the infected limb before the tiny microbes could spread any further. Such compassion from the likes of a Decepticon. Perhaps these two were closer than mere comrades in arms. It mattered not though. All of them would die eventually regardless of they individual affections.

Explosions then erupted around the Fallen once more as two of the Aerialbots unleashed a series of explosive shells followed by concussion and sonic bombs. These devices were not directly aimed at the fiery demigod, but at a crater just in front of him. It quickly became apparent that their attempt was to collapse the ground around him and ultimately from beneath him, as well. A barrage of photon blasts from Wipe-Out caused the Fallen no concern as they were absorbed by the shield. The ground, however, was another story as Ultra Magnus, himself, finally made a bold move towards the blazing Prime, big hammer in hand. The Autobot leader brought the large weapon smashing down into the ground behind the Fallen, destabilizing the entire area around the flame-ladened mech just as Razorclaw’s concussion blasts came down from above and added to the destruction.

“Do you really think this strategy will work, Ultra Magnus?” The Fallen questioned as his intense glare bore straight into the City Commander’s very soul. “I expected such stupidity from the likes of the Predacon beast but not from someone of your stature. You should be ashamed.” The fiery demigod smirked as he raised his arms up to either side while at the same time his feet lifted off the ground as the sandstone finally collapsed from under him. But the demigod did not plummet downward. No. He remained where he was, hovering a few feet over the hole in the ground, his shield quickly enclosing beneath him and creating a complete transparent bubble around the flame engulfed form of Hot Rod.

“When will you Cybertronian scum learn? I keep wondering that and you keep disappointing me,” the Fallen asked to no one in particular, shaking his head as he levitated away from the hole and over to solid ground. He remained hovering a few feet off the surface of Ayers Rock just in case anyone attempted another try at taking the ground out from under him. Pathetic. Although, a new sound then came from above. It was not from laser fire or more bombs. This sound was some kind of music, likely originating from the indigenous population of this insignificant planet. The Autobot called Jazz was hanging from a green and yellow helicopter, Springer, no doubt, blasting said music from two speakers.

“What an interesting noise you make,” the Fallen commented as he gazed up at the hanging white mech. “But I’d much rather hear your screams of pain! That would be true music to my audio receptors!! Ha ha ha!!!” The fiery demigod pointed his staff and unleashed a bolt of dark energy directly at Jazz and Springer with the intent of knocking them out of the sky. The Fallen then fired another intense energy beam at Razorclaw, who attempted to dodge the attack but was struck in the left shoulder, the force of which sent the new Decepticon leader spiraling back down to the ground.

"Fraggit!!" Razorclaw shouted as he hit the summit hard, his shoulder plate on fire and sending sparks in all directions. The dark energies then coursed through his systems, leaving him immobile for the time being.

Meanwhile, the Fallen sent one last bolt of energy directly at Ultra Magnus before the agent of chaos turned his attention to the rest of those around him. Many of the Decepticons had decided to take to the air in order to avoid the fissures while the Autobots did their best to navigate around and over them. After a moment of contemplation, a wide smile slowly formed on the Fallen’s faceplate as a new idea welled up within his processor.

No, you can’t do that! That’s not fair! Hot Rod’s thoughts broke through once again, having seen the fiery demigod’s newest plan before it had been hatched.

Oh, but I can, child! Fair or not, I CAN and I WILL!!

Ignoring Hot Rod’s continued merciful pleas from within his mind, the Fallen turned his outward attention to the nearest fire tornado, pointing his staff directly at the swirling vortex. “Take form, my children! As my rock lords down below took the bodies of stone, you will take the bodies of FIRE!! Arise, my fire birds!! ARISE and take flight!!!!”

With a single wave of his staff, about a dozen balls of flame emerged from the blazing tornado and quickly took the shape of monstrous birds made of pure hellfire! Their wingspans reached between 50 and 60 feet as the fire birds flew out over Ayers Rock. “YES! Burn the Cybertronians with you fire breath! Burn those in the air and on the ground, as well! Burn them ALL until they are nothing but ashes blowing in the wind!!”

SCREEEECCCHHHH!!! The various fire birds cried out in response to their master’s command. The blazing beasts then circled over the mountain before unleashing torrents of flame from their mouths at any Cybertronian they set their sights on. No one was safe as all those on or above the summit quickly came under the intense heat blasts from the bowels of hell, itself!

Australia - South of Ayers Rock

As the fire birds began their attacks on the summit of the mountain high above, the Fallen’s self-proclaimed rock lords continued their assaults down on the surrounding desert below. Many of the golems had been seemingly destroyed by various Cybertronians such as Prowl, Smokescreen, Motormaster, Chromedome and Silverbolt, along with Starscream, Thundercracker and other assorted seekers. Even the enormous Constructicon gestalt called Devastator had crushed many under his massive feet.

Unfortunately for the 'Bots and 'Cons, the stone warriors that had been destroyed thus far would not stay down for long as their sandstone pieces rolled back towards one another and reformed into new golems, ready to rejoin the rest of their fellow rock lords and continue their attacks on any mechanical beings in their wake. Devastator was the first to come under renewed attack with the rest of the Cybertronian filth soon to follow.

((OOC: Treat the “fire birds” the same way as the “rock lords”. NPC cannon fodder.))

Australia--South of Ayers Rock-Combat Trench

The situation on the ground was growing much more tenuous, particularly after the entity had utilized a new set of abilities to conjure elementals into his service. It was fortunate, at least, that his Autobot counterpart saw that his logic was sound. It would make evolving their strategy to defeat the entity that much more efficient.

“I concur with your analysis, Shockwave. Razorclaw did say that Soundwave had detected another presence in the Fallen’s mind. That has to be Hot Rod. I’ll contact Magnus on top of the mountain and tell him to...."

Before the Autobot strategist could elucidate on their next course of action any further, the Fallen's terran elementals had advanced closely enough on their position to now be classified as a threat. The rock creature slammed its cudgel just above Shockwave's cranial unit and then brought it in a downward motion, embedding it deep into the ground where Shockwave had been standing only microseconds before. Having sidestepped the first attack, Shockwave was not fully prepared for the terran elemental's melee ability as a follow up strike sent the cycloptic strategist reeling into the ground. Taking only milliseconds to reorient himself, Shockwave raised his arm cannon, blasting through the creature in a blaze of rock and fire, sending its upper torso streaming in multiple directions while its fiery lower half stood there for a moment. In Shockwave's estimation, the threat had been satisfactorily nullified.

As he got back to an upright position, Shockwave was about to turn his energies to another such threat when he noticed movement. Prowl's subsequent transmission from the threat he had been dealing with confirmed Shockwave's own analysis: these elementals would not be destroyed so easily.

>>"Autobots, Decepticons! This is Prowl. It seems that these ‘rock lords’ can be knocked down but they don’t stay down! Don’t assume they’re dead just because you’ve blown them up. They have the ability to reform themselves! Use extreme caution!"<<

Shockwave turned to Prowl, even as the elemental only a meter or so away was reforming itself steadily right in front of him.

"Imperative: do whatever is necessary to facilitate the psychological break. Only then will our attacks have a chance at success. In the interim, if the elementals can reform--then we must leave nothing to reform."

To that end, Shockwave knew that his alternate mode was capable of delivering much higher intensity energy discharges than his standard mode. The current scenario required its use.

His thrusters kicking in, Shockwave lifted himself into the air, just as the newly reformed rock elemental took a swipe at him. Having reached a satisfactory height, Shockwave transformed and began to seek out his first suitable target.

Austrailia - Skies

At the sight of the newest foes forming forming from the fiery vortexes surrounding the Fallen's position, Silverbolt reluctantly transformed back to his jet mode so that he and his Aerialbots could focus on keeping the skies clear.

"Demigods, rock creatures, and now birds made of fire?" Silverbolt muttered under his breath as he rocketed forward and began open firing on the creatures emerging from the fire tornadoes. "Mark this all down as 'things I never expected to see in a lifecycle'."

Silverbolt continued to unleash bolts of discharged energy from the cannon fixated under the nosecone of his jet mode, zapping holes through the elemental birds under the Fallen's will. Though most of his targets disbanded and decimated in the blasts, the creatures would slowly reform around where they last flew.

"This is ridiculous!"

>>"Jetfire to Silverbolt, I've joined our Autobot forces in the skies. I haven't found myself in a direct combat scenario outside a simulator in an embarrassingly long time, I'm afraid. I'm respectfully deferring to whatever you might need of me up here until I determine just how much psychological rust has accumulated."<<

>>"Good to hear from ya Jetfire."<< Silverbolt replied to the now battle-active scientist. >>"How about we get you back in the swing of things by just trying to provide covering fire wherever its needed. Focus on the fiery bird-things, try and keep the skies somewhat clear so they aren't pecking about at the ground-pounders. Primus knows they've got enough on their plate at the moment."<<

>>"Same goes for the rest of you."<< Silverbolt stated as he switched from his commline with the Autobot scientist to the rest of his squadron. >>"Break off formation and clip the wings of these flaming slaggers. Slingshot, I want you to focus on providing covering fire to the ground troops. I'll leave you to your own will on this one, as it is your specialty. Everyone else, let's move out!"<<

Uluru - Ayers Rock

“...But I’d much rather hear your screams of pain! That would be true music to my audio receptors!! Ha ha ha!!!"

"Oh scrap, BRACE FOR IMPACT!!!" Springer screamed as he banked as hard as he could to avoid the energy blast coming from the Fallen's staff. His helicopter mode pulled far enough away from the stream of focused energy, but it wasn't enough to prevent the cable holding Jazz from getting struck. The heavily twined metal practically sizzled in one spot and severed the connection that kept the special operations director within Springer's hold.

"Ay! Ay! You could've told us to cut it out without taking it literally!" Jazz hollered as he began his free fall towards the rock formation. Tucking his arms in towards his chest plating and retracting his speakers back into his shoulders, Jazz braced himself for the inevitable crash landing he'd have to make. A second before making contact with the ground, Jazz yanked his shoulder forward, allowing him to roll out of the fall and recover quickly without causing injury to occur. "Any other ideas?"

>>"Prowl!"<< Springer commed in to the black and white strategist as joined up alongside the rest of the Decepticons and Autobots standing alongside one another, reverting back to his robot mode, drawing his cannon and taking aim at the Fallen. >>"Magnus' idea of a sonic based attack didn't do scrap. Have you or anyone else come up with anything useful that doesn't revolve around pointlessly shooting at his damn shield?"<< A nearby explosion cut Springer off as he cupped a hand around his optics to shield him from the debris. >>"He's practically toying with us here!"<<

Australia – Uluru

There hadn’t been an enormous amount of energon from the wound. Thank Primus for small favors. But it was still a significant loss. However what caused Axle the most concern was the readout he kept getting whenever he scanned Rewind’s spark. The archivist’s spark was shrinking.

“-He’s allergic to…To Ultraviolet light…"

Axle paused a moment to glance up at the worried face of Chromedome. The former doctor offered up a forced smile before turning his attention back onto his patient. “I know, Chromedome.” He was going to continue when he was cut off.

“Ultraviolet light and crude Energon…"

Poor Chromedome. This was killing him. Watching his Conjunx Endura nearly offlined in front of him and now tasked with watching the one who was responsible all the while trying to control the urge for revenge. The thought sent a cold shiver down Axle’s spine.

“Thank you, Chromedome. I’m going to do everything I can to make sure Rewind’ll be okay. You just concentrate on keeping Hex covered,” he said without looking back up.

The medical officer had grown so engrossed in his work that he became unaware of just what was happening around him. He had to get Rewind stable enough so that he could transport him and Hex back to the Longevity.

“LOOK OUUUUUUUUT!!!"

Axle quickly looked up and saw something he had never seen in his existence. A creature made entirely out of rock was moving in his and Chromedome’s direction.

Reacting purely on instinct Axle used his body to cover Rewind from harm. He looked back to Hex who was still laid out sedated on the ground.

From his ward the black and green medic’s optics focused on Silverbolt and Chromedome who were now concentrating their firepower on the approaching rock beast.

He stared for a moment longer before he dove back to work. Just stabilize him. Just stabilize him, was the mantra repeated in his head.

Finally, the last connection was made and Axle took another scan. The results came back positive, but the readings from the spark chamber still showed a rapidly shrinking spark. He needed to get back to the ship where he could utilize the proper medical equipment. But he also needed Chromedome. He’d be crucial in helping Rewind.

Confident that the tiny archivist could be moved without any serious harm, Axle carefully picked Rewind up and cradled him in his arms. “Chromedome! We have to go! Now!” He cried out to the mnemosurgeon. “I need you to carry Hex back to the ship!”

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

“Seems we’re putting plenty of distance between us and them. Hopefully, none of them will follow us all the way back to the shuttle." The rallybot paused for a moment before changing the subject. “I'm sorry about before, guys. I didn’t mean to be stubborn and order you fellas around back there. Those rock things threw me for a loop. I've never encountered anything remotely like that before, you know? Between them and my low power levels, I wasn't thinking straight."

Ratchet groaned lowly as he picked up his speed in order to close the distance between him and the shuttle. Blurr need that antidote and he needed to be put into a CR Chamber if he was going to survive.

Of course the inane ramblings coming from Smokescreen was not helping the already uptight, irritated CMO’s disposition.

“Holy slag! What, have you been taking lessons from Bluestreak on how to annoy others with just your mouth?!” He growled out at the diversionary tactician. “I don’t care what those things are! I don’t care where they came from! All I care about is getting my dying patient back to that damn shuttle so I can save his damn life!” Ratchet’s vocalizations grew in volume as his statement came to an end.

Trailbreaker sighed lowly. He slowed his already slow pace so that he was nearly driving side by side with Smokescreen. “Hey, Smokes. Don’t take the Hatchet’s temper tantrum to heart. The mech’s got a ton of slag to deal with.” He paused for split second before he added, “I mean we all got a ton of slag to deal with, but Ratch only has Aid and Axle to help out.”

While Trailbreaker was attempting to smooth over Smokescreen, Ratchet received a comm.

>>"Ratchet, this is Prowl. I just received a transmission from Razorclaw saying that Soundwave has sensed the possible presence of Hot Rod inside the Fallen’s mind. I need you to get as close to the rock formation as you can and do a complete scan of Hot Rod’s body. I want to know what exactly is going on inside him and also try and ascertain the power source of that shield he’s using. I want to know everything. As the humans would say, leave no stone unturned. Understood?">>

“Arghh! Of course! Because all of this slag just isn’t enough!” Ratchet let out a series of profanities in several Cybertronian dialects. Each one was punctuated with another shift in his gearbox.

With this new dilemma he’d have to get to the ship administer the antidote and then place Blurr inside a chamber. And only after that was done would he be able to race back toward the rock and try to get some focused scans of The Fallen in order to determine if Hot Rot is still within his own possessed body. What a fragging day, Ratchet mentally sighed.

“Okay you two! Our time frame has just been sliced in half. We’ve got to get to the Longevity fast, take care of Blurr and then I’ve got to get back to that damned rock.”

Trailbreaker had shut up as soon as he heard the CMO yell out. “Why do yah need to go back out there?”

Ratchet could see the clear shape of the shuttle just ahead. He sped up causing Trailbreaker to do the same. “Soundwave did a bit of digging into the Fallen’s head he found another presence.” Ratchet heard a low ‘huh’ and continued. “Seems that he believes the presence could be Hot Rod stuck …” he left the rest to the imagination.

“So you’re going tooo…” Trailbreaker said.

“I’m going to get in close so I can do a focused scan.” The CMO kept it short. “Now come on!”

Australia--Uluru

Dirge and Thrust had taken off to provide additional air cover while Thundercracker was wrestling on the ground with one of the rock lords. Starscream had switched out the null ray tech on his arm cannons for standard plasma energy and was viciously blasting away parts of the rock creature that he currently had pinned to the ground with one leg. It flailed at him angrily with the stumps it had left for arms.

With each successive blast, more and more of the creature was sent crumbling in various directions until finally it stopped moving. Resilient little things.

"Teach you to sneak attack me," the Seeker huffed, stepping away and looking around, instantly noticing that Thundercracker had gained the upper hand on his rock creature and was pounding away at what consisted of a head. Starscream took it as a moment to gather his wits and check his ammunition and energy levels. His were still workable, but he could only imagine those that had been on the ground since the beginning of this little melee. The Fallen might well defeat them through attrition before annihilation.

"Stop playing with it and finish it!" Starscream barked as Thundercracker briefly caught his gaze and then proceeded to do just that. He then looked back up at Starscream, but it seemed something else had caught his optic. His jaw dropped a little. Starscream's expression became one of confusion.

"What? Is there some-?"

Starscream turned around just in time to see the rock creature that he had been blasting to pieces only moments before having apparently reassembled itself, arm raised to attack, and already mid-swing in delivering a blow that sent the Seeker Leader crashing backward.
___

The sensations that were running through Mixmaster's mind were unlike...well...just amazingly unlike anything else in the history of ever. He felt so good. So powerful. He was still him. But...he wasn't. It was weird. And awesome!

Two of the rock creatures had charged themselves blindly into Devastator's legs. Into him. Hurt!

"GRRAHHHH!!!" the gestalt howled, turning around to face the oncoming threat, one of his legs kicking outward and sending the rock creature crumbling and spiraling some distance away as his burning red optics settled in the next one.

"YOU ARE NOTHING BEFORE DEVASTATOR!!!!!" the titan yelled before smashing down into the other rock creature as a fiery, birdlike creature of unknown origin whipped past.

Australia – South of Ayers Rock

Skullcruncher wasn't quite sure how far he had made it into the sand storm surrounding the Uluru when he spotted a shape of something moving before him. No, towards him. It was fairly large too, easily towering over the Decepticon warrior - much like Sixshot or Broadside. And Skullcruncher was a fairly large Cybertronian himself, comparable to the Dinobots Slag and Snarl if not to Grimlock or Sludge.

The thing was, whatever the creature was, it wasn't giving out a signal of any kind that Skullcruncher could recognize. In other words, it wasn't a Transformer. It was time to act. Taking no chances, Skullcruncher launched himself forwards, tackling the creature to the ground and finally getting close enough to identify whether the being was a friend or a foe.

The impact told everything. He had ran into solid stone, his own considerable mass having been just enough to allow him to tackle the creature to the ground. A foe. An unliving stone golem. These hadn't been there before the sand storm had emerged. It had to be another of the Fallen's creations.

Well, not for long. Skullcruncher's fist connected with the rock creature's head, smashing through it and leaving its now headless body lying motionlessly in the ground. Pulling himself up, Skullcruncher had had barely enough time to take couple of steps away from the creature before his audio receptors picked up rumbling, scraping noise coming from behind him. The creature had reformed itself and had already back on its feet.

"You just couldn't stay down, could you?" Skullcruncher snarled, gritting his teeth together and pulling out his serrated blade.

The creature did not reply, instead it raised its massive stone club high into the air. Clearly with all the intention of bringing it crushing down on Skullcruncher - only to crumble into pieces shortly after the Decepticon's sword cleaved the being in two lengthwise.

"And stay down!" Skullcruncher boomed, kicking the some of the pieces of the rock creature far away from the rest of it. Only to witness the reformation process beginning again before his very optics. "How the-?!"

In all practicality, Skullcruncher was a fearless warrior. The prospect of having to battle against overwhelming numbers did not faze him. But the very fact that he was now seemingly battling a creature he could not take out was another thing. This was not the way he wanted to go out. He could continue cutting the creature down as long energon still course through his circuitry but being worn out by a creature he had no hope of defeating was not the way he had imagined the war ending from his part.

"Curse you!" Skullcruncher roared, aiming his tissue demolecularization gun at the once again reforming golem, allowing the gun's energies alter the very molecule structure of the rock the creature was formed out of - turning it into soft and rubbery mess that could not support its own weight, making it collapse on itself.

"Hah, that worked better than I thought." Skullcruncher chuckled as he watched the immobilized rock lord trying to keep stubbornly moving towards him.

This was not looking good for the allied Autobot and Decepticon forces. How could they possible defeat these things? Even his trusty demolecularization gun was going to keep the thing down only for so long. By going through the Fallen. That was the only real answer that came to Skullcruncher's mind. "I have no time to play with you."

The Fallen had to fall of they all were going to end up as carcasses on the dry, rocky Australian soil.

Australia--Uluru

Among the Predacons, Rampage was as fleet-footed as they came. So even when the ground itself began to give under the onslaught of the Fallen's powers, Rampage's metallic claws managed to dig themselves into the right grooves, crawling and leaping when he could in order to avoid falling down into whatbever abysmal fate would be awaiting him.

Bull boy wasn't having quite the same luck.

"Transform you nub!" Rampage called out, having already done so as he was in mid-leap towards a fissure that was quickly swallowing up Tantrum's brutish form, hooves clattering against the ground. Rampage reached out and grabbed one of them before Tantrum slid down any further.

"Plunge my horns right inna his gut," Tantrum huffed, still not transforming.

"Decepticons, take to the air! Use you robot modes’ flight capabilities to avoid falling into the fissures," Razorclaw had called out, already leaping--literally--to the most logical way of dealing with this new attack of the Fallen's.

"See? The alpha says so!" Rampage barked back down at the stubborn Predacon. At that, at least, Tantrum seemed to finally come to a little bit of sense, transforming back into his robot mode before rocketing past Rampage, though the other Predacon wasn't far behind.

"Too hot in the smelter? Heh heh heh," Divebomb said, chuckling as he soared over the now airborne Predacons.

“Everyone, focus your firepower on the ground around the base of the Fallen’s shield! Perhaps we can create a gap that can be exploited!"

Almost as one, the Predacon unit focused their energies on the patch of ground that their commander and leader had indicated, unleashing hellfire of a level that few other specialty units could match.
___

Breakdown was glad to see that his choice of words had got under the chassis of Dead End a little bit. All part and parcel of being a Stunticon. Annoyance was a commodity.

For one brief, fearful moment, Breakdown thought that his bringing Drag Strip to their brutish overseer could well bring some sort of beating down on him anyway. But no. Nope nope. The boss quickly turned his attention to Drag Strip and Breakdown was glad of it.

"Well well. Look what the cybercat dragged in."

Hehe. Someone's gonna get it.

Motormaster almost turned his attention back to him and Dead End before one of the Battlechargers, Primus bless him and his kin forever and ever, interrupted everything. Dead End, unwisely, kept on yapping. Breakdown suffered no such glitch.

This time.

"Shut the hell up and reduce them back into rubble!"

Breakdown's attention, like his boss', was now focused on the small army of large, rocky dudes.

"Keep your distance as long as possible and don't slaggin' enter melee if you can avoid it!"

Breakdown took off running, firing as he went at every rock thing that walked into the line of site of his weapons.

Australia – Skies

Waiting wasn't a trait Blades possessed. He was a mechanoid characterised by action and proactivity. He walked forwards, never backwards, and sometimes didn't look when he leapt. Like his commander, he was all about doing, adopting a hands-on approach to every situation possible.

Even waiting for a reply over the comm-link irked him. Not hard to string together a few sentences and vocalise them through a transmission. No more complex than replying to someone as if they were standing before you.

Though Blades hovered in the sky, waiting for his fellow Protectobots to respond to his communiqué, his thoughts were elsewhere, having travelled to a particular fiery tornado. Through the application of foul sorcery, the Fallen had wrought additional creatures to aid him in the Cybertronians' termination.

Creatures not of stone but of fire.

Blazing orange balls vomited forth from the tornado like a series of obscene births. The balls expanded, developing wings, taloned feet, heads with sharp beaks. Coated in a heat haze, their bright bodies wavered like a mirage in the desert. And they were huge.

Blades watched the spectacle unfold, a blend of fascination and apprehension feeding his interest. This made his job tricky. A lot trickier.

Not that he was surprised given the nature of their foe. But what next? Water? The Fallen had manipulated the other elements to his advantage, so—

“Okay, that's enough negative thinking,” Blades said to himself.

Refocusing, he returned to his task. When circumstances changed, Hot Spot had taught his team to accept it and simply go with the flow. So Blades did, and he continued to search for the wounded.

Australia--Skies

The energy readings that Jetfire was being practically flooded with since orbitally bouncing down here were simply phenomenal. Were the circumstances less dire, he would likely be content to take what he had and return to a laboratory environment suitable for dissecting and analyzing it all. Naturally, that was not quite in the cards at the moment, but he could hope.

>>"Good to hear from ya Jetfire. How about we get you back in the swing of things by just trying to provide covering fire wherever its needed. Focus on the fiery bird-things, try and keep the skies somewhat clear so they aren't pecking about at the ground-pounders. Primus knows they've got enough on their plate at the moment."<<

If he had been in his robot mode, the Autobot scientist would have smiled. It was always nice to be of some use to the more combat-oriented amongst the Autobot ranks since he rarely saw any action in that capacity.

>>"Will do,"<< he commed back pleasantly, as he began isolating his scanners for the fire elementals that the Aerialbot Commander had spoke of. They were not hard to miss, and once he had isolated its unique energy signature, he noticed there were multiple such creatures erupting from the fiery vortexes.

Aerially lining up one in his sites, Jetfire released a few calculated bursts from his offensive systems. They seemed to connect with the elemental, sending it bursting into a brighter flash of flame as Jetfire soared past.

But then the same exact energy signature reappered--only now it was behind him.

And gaining.

The confounded things could reconstitute themselves? What was he saying? Of course they could. They were dealing with the Fallen, after all.

Alright...new tact...
___

Uluru--Ayers Rock

Sandstorm was sure something was gonna give soon. The combined Autobot and Decepticon forces were pounding them with nearly everything in their arsenals. Just a little more and...

...and the Fallen wasn't having any of it.

Like something he might have expected out of some blockbuster holovid from the old days on Cybertron, the ground itself began to splinter and crack as easily as a dropped glass of engex back at Maccadam's.

"Oh slaggit..." Sandstorm mumbled, quickly hopping from one place to another in order to maintain some kind of stable footing. It was a losing battle.

Without thinking, Sandstorm transformed into his chopper mode, his rotor blades starting to fire up before quickly dying back down again--a casualty of the Fallen's earlier assault and his stupidity for deploying that little goodie so early.

Primus-slaggin', stormfront-raggin', vent-lickin'...

And as he transformed back into bot mode, a fresh fissure ripped through the rock right underneath him just as a blast of searing fire hit him in the back.

What. the. frag.

Australia – South of Ayer's Rock

>>"Use your own damn sensors to track the rest of us or do I have to pluck them out of your tailpipe first?!"<< Motormaster bellowed into the comm-link, his own optics still fixated on the enormous mass that was Devastator on the horizon. >>"And what comes to our green hulking ally, do I slaggin' look like Scrapper and Hook to you?! Now shut up and get here!"<<

The boss was as charming as ever. Wildrider chuckled maniacally. Actually, when was his chuckle ever not maniacal? Anyway, seemed like the boss had too much on his plate to deal out any kind of serious punishment. Not that it would've mattered to the psychotic Stunticon....much. Sometimes he liked to see just how much he could get away with. Always testing limits. Of physics, of his body, of Motormaster's patience...Didn't matter! As long as it was loud and packed with thrills.

It wasn't long before Wildrider locked onto the signals of his teammates. A lot of other strange anomalies popped up on his sensors as well. All the fun times were being had here it seemed. Roaring up to his Stunticon comrades, it seemed like Motormaster was barking some kind of orders.

”...enter melee if you can...” was what Wildrider very selectively chose to hear over the roaring of his engines. The crazed Stunticon launched himself off of a sand dune, darting past Breakdown, Deadend, and Motormaster in the process, going straight for the rock monster's kneecap. Wildrider deployed his trunk-mounted double-barreled plasma cannon and fired off a shot to blast the rock giant's knee to smithereens. Wildrider shot past the narrow gap between the falling rock titan's body and the stump of his leg to land in the sand on the other side.

Wildrider transformed and gave the rock monster a thumbs down as he cackled with a wicked grin plastered on his faceplate. The Stunticon transformed again and whipped through the crumbling debris of the rock monster as it fell, spinning out to a stop in front of Motormaster as he transformed and gave his commander a little mock salute. His optics bulged with crazed delight and he smiled that same crooked smile up at the Stunticon commander.

“Heyo boss! Looks like I made it just in time, huh? Hahahahaha!”

Meanwhile, Wildrider was completely and utterly oblivious to the rock lord reforming behind him.


Australia – Autobot Shuttle Longevity – Combat Casualty Unit

Blindside cringed a tad as First Aid got fed up with the constant bickering from all three of them. He couldn't really blame the medic nor was it really surprising with Veneer incapacitated in the adjacent room. He had let his emotions get away from him. They were still far from any realms slightly resembling control if he were honest with himself. The tactician knit his hands together and looked down at the floor. Whatever guilty train of thoughts might have been occupying Blindside's mind were immediately wrecked by the sudden, violent convulsions of Veneer. Immediately, he rushed to Veneer's side...was what he would've liked to have done. As it was, both First Aid and Howlstrike were faster than his injury impaired self.

“Come on, Blindside, get those straps secured on the left side of the berth and help me keep the nurse still. Move!"

Blindside was there. He initially fumbled with the straps a few times but eventually managed to still his shaking hands enough to strap the nurse down. The blind tactician then did his best to hold Veneer still. He was trembling even as he held the nurse down. He couldn't help it.

“It wasn't supposed to be like this...” Blindside muttered softly, “He was supposed to be safe here...” The tactician 'looked' over to the nurse's faceplate, half-expecting it not to have that monstrous cavity in it. “It's going to be alright, Vee...Aid is gonna fix you back up in no time...It's okay...just stop...Stop moving...”

Blindside had absolutely no idea why he was blabbering on like this. He hardly had any idea of what he was saying. The tactical, logical side of his processor knew Vee couldn't hear him. So why did he keep yammering on? Clearly logic had nothing to do with it. Why did this have to happen? Vee didn't deserve this. Vee didn't deserve this punishment...no...

Australia - South of Ayers Rock - Combat Trench

Blaster stayed fairly quiet as Prowl and Shockwave discussed strategy. He didn't have anything in particular to add to this meeting of the minds, though he was amused by how similar Shockwave and Prowl were. Quoting percentages at each other. Like a logic smack-down. Of course, he would never mention to Prowl how similar he thought they were. No...Blaster was just glad that Prowl was on their side.

“LOOK OUT!!!"

Suddenly, he was laying in the dust while a spray of sand showered over him. Blaster pushed himself up to see that Prowl had been the one to tackle both he and Eject to the side. Where they had just been standing, a stone club held by a rock lord who was joined by another rock lord. Blaster instinctively scooped up Eject and put him on top of the opposite side of the trench while he pulled himself up behind his cassettobot.

“You two okay?"

“Fine, Prowl, but what in Pit are those?” The one that Prowl had blasted apart slowly began to reform, making Blaster issue a groan of irritation. His electro scrambler rifle wasn't going to do diddly against these rock lords. Fortunately, he had brought along a standard-issue blaster to take care of business. Blaster opened fire on the rock lord as it began to reform, not letting up.

“Prowl, c'mon! We gotta move! Trenches aren't gonna protect us anymore,” Blaster called down to the black and white strategist as glass shards pinged off of his armor. A hit from one of those rock lords was going to hurt any one of the normal sized bots hard. He didn't even want to begin to imagine what it could do to Eject or any one of his cassettes.


Top of Ayer's Rock

Weirdwolf followed Razorclaw out of the fissure that he'd fallen down and hovered in the air beside the Predacon commander. Of course Razorclaw had not required his assistance in getting out of the fissure, but assistance was still offered. Weirdwolf would not be much of a Decepticon if he did not present the utmost loyalty and respect at all times. He immediately unleashed his raided arsenal from the armory at Razorclaw's word.

It didn't amount to much. Nothing seemed to. Razorclaw and some autobots were struck by an energy blast from the Fallen. Immediately, Weirdwolf dropped as the Fallen summoned some fire birds from out of nothingness. The thespian tried to fire off a few rockets at the birds. The rockets immediately exploded on contact with the birds, but the birds simply just reformed. One of them turned their attention toward he and Razorclaw.

Weirdwolf growled lowly as it opened its mouth and breathed a tongue of flame at them. Turning his back to the bird, Weirdwolf covered Razorclaw as well as he could while the flames passed over them, snarling with a unique agony. He could feel the armor plating on his back beginning to melt. He wondered idly if this was what being dipped into a smelting pit felt like.

After what felt like an eternity, the bird let up, but only because it had just flown out of range. It was banking around the edge of the rock to return for another pass, breathing fire on whatever it saw. Weirdwolf sagged to his knees, the metal on his back glowing hot as he dug his clawed actuators into the ground.

“Lord of beasts...” He grunted out, “Petrified still are you? I am....uncertain whether another direct assault can I withstand.”

Australia – South of Ayers Rock

Holy fragging shrikebat slag. That was awesome. Like ten shades of cool. Totally fragging ace. Encore, please. Encore.

Runamuck had been blasting away at the rock lords—but missing literally every shot because the stony gentlemechs melted into the sandstorm as if it wrapped them in grainy curtains to help them merge with the thickness of the dust and other slag—when he saw Wildrider do the coolest thing ever.

Flying straight at a rock lord, the Stunticon took out its knee joint with that sweet as plasma cannon he rocked in alternate mode, dashed past the space where the rock lord's knee and lower leg had existed like an astrosecond ago, made a kick aft landing, transformed to robot mode, gave the official thumbs down sign at the guy's mug free of charge, transformed again, and cannonballed through its rocky aft, decimating it to sand and gravel and stuff like that.

These Stunts knew how to roll, no question about it.

Ha, ha, ha. Roll. They had wheels and were land-based vehicles and that was a pun. Runabout would've appreciated it had he heard it.

Runamuck turned to Runabout. “Tell me that wasn't radical and I'll shoot my face-plate off right now.” He cackled as if he'd suddenly gone loopy. “Did you see that? Did you? Wow! Just wow!”

Motormaster, Wildrider, Breakdown, Dead End, and Drag Strip—the whole crew was here. But Draggy didn't count technically, because (a) he was off-line, and (b) he was probably still more of the Fallen's lackey at this point than a Stunticon. But Motormaster would solve that problem with some tough love.

The Stunticon team's presence tended to the cracks and holes riddling Runamuck's fortitude, patching them up and restoring his courage. Inspired, feeling a touch more brave, he continued to shoot the rock lords, doing the best he could to putting them down.

But they kept reforming no matter the damage dealt to them. That was troubling and very annoying.

Still, he went for broke. Better that than getting floored by Motormaster.

A quick bolt of electrical energy dispersed from the barrel of Silverbolt's underside mounted cannon and struck another one of those demonic birds of fire. Though his momentary victory of the elemental creature didn't last too long as it slowly began to rekindle itself using the flames of the fiery vortexes surrounding Ayers Rock.

"Scrap!" The Aerialbot commander cursed as he rocketed about, trying to avoid getting caught up dogfighting with the bird-like elemental he had just disposed of earlier before it reformed itself. He cut his engines midflight and shifted to his robot mode, drawing his weapon and blasting away the creature chasing him and another that soared by. In the few seconds he had before they would reform, he once again reverted to his jet mode and pushed his thrusters to maximum speed, hoping he might have been able to get them off his trail for a moment of two.

As the Aerialbot commander soared over the reactive battlefield, he continued to watch as fiery hell-spawns of the Fallen's creative will materialized from the vortexes surrounding his foothold on the mountain top.

"If we are gonna have any chance of stopping these...these...things, we're gonna need to take out those vortexes." Silverbolt pondered how they could possibly extinguish those flames just as a fresh new elemental materialized from the nearest vortex and took sight of the Aerialbot.

"We're gonna need to smoother it somehow... I don't think there's enough supplies to counter that much flame... Unless..." Silverbolt reverted back to his robot mode and hovered in mid air, placing a digit against the side of his helm as he opened a comm line to the Autobot ranger who had previously been set down by his subordinates.

>>"Nova Strike, its Silverbolt. Listen I think dispersing of those vortexes might be the key to halting production of those elemental creatures. Well, at least just the avian ones... Regardless, I need a typographical readout of the area like you did back in the Peruvian valley. Try and isolate any water reservoirs or something of that nature."<<

Closing the line with Nova Strike, a shrill shriek bombarded Silverbolt's receptors as one of the flaming birds sunk its talons into Silverbolt's back, causing the Aerialbot to flip and spin through the air as he tried to comprehend what just happened.

PRIMUS, WHY!? OH NO, EVERYTHING'S SPINNING!! THIS CANT BE HAPPENING!! NOT NOW NOT NOW NOT NOW!!

Once Silverbolt's systems stabilized himself, the Aerialbot was left panting huffs of expensed CO2 as he tried to regain his composure on the world. He placed an open palm over his spark chamber and could practically feel it pulsing with anxiety. He shifted his head left and right, still surprised he was able to properly stabilize himself in mid-air. That strike from the creature was close, perhaps a little too close for his comfort.

((OOC: more to come))

Summit of Ayers Rock

Ultra Magnus shifted his weight to his left as he intentionally completed his driving swing straight into the crater forged by the bombing run of the combined Cybertronian Air Forces. He allowed the head of the hammer to crash through the weakened substructure of the sandstone with a thunderous crack that sent sprays of rock upwards in a deadly fountain of debris towards the levitating target... such was the power of Ultra Magnus. The probabilities of a successful strike had been insignificant, it was apparent with the rise of the rock titans that now stomped down from the middle portion of the rock towards the defensive lines and the shuttles beyond. But it would serve its purpose, of that Magnus was certain.

As he pulled the hammer from the excavated crater, that ran at least two meters deep with a spray of red sand and dust jutting out from the exposed corners where the hammer had struck, the air above him began to shiver and a brief crackle of hazed ozone as power began to generate in the palm of the possessed Hot Rod. He could sense a sadistic smile from behind the orb of growing energies, it was a typical trait of delusional mania... at least from his own personal experiences. Magnus redrew his hammer from the crater and balanced it loosely in both hands as he studied the nano seconds it took for the powerful entity to reach critical mass and release his power.

The release was as powerful as Magnus had imagined for one who was under the influence of more than simple dementia. He drove the handle of his hammer into the dirt and used his strength to push himself forward towards the crater as the burst of power narrowly cooked him where he stood. His sensors immediately alerted him to the presence of the others behind him and the trajectory of the energy burst.

Without hesitation, Magnus loaded a refection missile into his launcher and released it within moments. His own combat computer warned him that the likely hood his defensive missile would not reach the burst of energy before impact... he knew it was a long shot in itself. But it was the explosion that soon followed that encompassed the last known coordinates of Scoop, Springer and the other triple changer, Sandstorm, that filled him with a sense of rage and confusion. The identification tags phased only briefly before they were restored to a brightly burning red icon on his internal Heads Up Display.

Magnus spun his head around so immediately that he could feel a jam form in his left shoulder links. Ash and dust began to swirl around the impact site where his missile detonated with the energy burst of the fallen, its sphere encompassing the four Autobots. He attempted to cry out to his comrades but their names fell off the tip of his vocorder as the shockwave slammed into his crossed arms, pelting him with debris and stone fragments.

The commander of the Autobot faction slowly lowered his defenses as the pings of rock slowed to nothing. Gusts of wind began to blow in from the south, cold and arid from the coast, its moisture stolen by the outback scrub lands and desert. Each waft of air stung at the ash cloud, pushing it over the edge of the summit into the swirling vortex's that lined its rim. Through the red brownish haze a flicker of green lines began to pierce through the cover. Slowly a spiderweb design of green and orange grew in intensity as pieces of ash and charged particles began to drift to the scorched sandstone floor of the summit.

"Scoop?" Magnus mouthed briefly as the shape began to congeal even further to take shape in a silhouette of a stocking figure braced behind a large shield, its shoulder driven forward to offer additional strength in maintaining the shield's integrity and efficiency. In the heart of the shield a small green point of light flickered from a thin chain as it dangled almost freely though linked to the shovel shield.

"Praise be to Primus." Scoop responded in a slow and controlled voice, obviously pained from taking on such a large volume of energy. The silhouette dropped to a single knee but maintained the position of the shield as he did so. The pendant shimmered in the brown sandy air, its green light flickering. With an anguished look to his left Scoop gave a brief nod to Sandstorm. "How else did you... think I survived this..." his voice staggered briefly before he looked back at the distracted levitating figure of the wayward son of Primus. "... long."

Magnus forced himself up to his feet and drove the end of his hammer back into the crater floor. This action caused its base to fracture in a random spiderweb. His optics were dimmed as his head faced Scoop, who's shield still smoldered as did the few exposed pieces of the infantryman's armor. Fractures lanced across the summit, smoldering vents of steam and noxious gases caused by chemical reactions of the assault on the rock itself highlighted the scene around him and his subordinates.

Drawing up the hammer into his left hand, Magnus drew his heavy laser cannon from the holster located on the rear of his armor. He immediately unlocked all safeties to his missile launchers and rocket pods. His secondary turrets were armed and instantly charged from internal batteries. "You expected more?" He spoke softly before he looked up at the Fallen that had possessed his friend. Nearby he could hear the movement of a handful of the Predacons that had managed to make it to the summit, but Magnus paid them little attention.

His right hand slowly contracted his fingers around the handle of the beam cannon. "You seem to be the one who has been a touch disappointing. Using someone else's strength to attempt to attain your own goals," His optics rose up and flashed a violent blue fire as his hands tightened their grip on their respective weapons. Words would more than likely hold no sway over the kinslayer. No, in fact Magnus expected them to fall on deaf audio receptors. But, somewhere deep within the core of his spark... Ultra Magnus refused to believe the consciousness of the absolute biggest pain in his aft plate was completely extinguished.

Behind him the smaller figure of Scoop staggered forward. His shield already braced and ready for the next blow, as the pendant flickered green with the power of its ancient lineage. In his other hand the combined form of his two powerful weapons was raised and already sweeping the narrow figure for a critical opening.

Magnus simply continued as he pointed the hammer's head at the possessing spirit of the Fallen. "Without Hot Rod, you are powerless. And the best part is that you already know this. Its why you twisted his form, attempted to force him to murder his friends... because you fear him more than you do failing your so called chosen path." Magnus lowered his hammer and immediately swung the heavy laser cannon up to a near point blank range, its power levels set to overload. Impact at this range may not breach the shield that the coward had enclosed himself in... but it would sure as slag give the spirits inside one hell of a wake up call. Two shoulder missiles immediately emerged from his side launchers as his sub turrets emerged from their hard points. The entire weapons package unleashed a devastating burst at nigh point blank range. Come on kid, get the damn message. We're here to help you in this fight...

Australia - South of Ayers Rock

Prowl destroyed two more golems with his shoulder-mounted missiles only to watch them reform and get back up again. This was quickly becoming a pointless battle that served no other purpose than to waste ammo. Perhaps that’s just what the Fallen wanted to happen. Waste enough ammunition against a bunch of fire birds, rock lords and an impenetrable shield and eventually the combined Cybertronian forces would run out, leaving them even more vulnerable than before. That demi-slag is really starting to tick me off! The military strategist thought as he overheard the cycloptic mech’s suggestion to attempt a psychological break in regards to the Fallen and Hot Rod.

“Yes, thank you, Shockwave! I’ll get right on it!” Prowl responded with a hint of annoyance in his vocals. It wasn’t just Shockwave that was annoying the black and white, but the entire situation in general. Prowl knew full well what had to be done and did not need someone reiterating the obvious, especially if that someone was a Decepticon. Still, they were on the same side for the time being and thus the purple scientist was only trying to help.

Ducking down further into the trench, Prowl finally had a chance and opened a comm line to the Autobot Commander:

>>”Ultra Magnus, this is Prowl. Shockwave and I have completed our preliminary analysis of the Fallen’s shielding and our current battle tactics. Attacking him directly is not working. The shield is too powerful and our weapons are having no real affect on it. We are simply wasting ammo, which is exactly what the Fallen wants. Therefore, a new strategy is required, sir. Razorclaw has alerted me that Soundwave attempted to invade the Fallen’s mind earlier and he detected another presence still in there. That presence can only be Hot Rod. If that is the case then the cavalier may be the key to ending all this. You have to get through to him somehow, Commander. Talk to Hot Rod directly. Do whatever you can to give him the inner strength to fight back against the Fallen. If Hot Rod can at the very least weaken that fraggin' demigod it might give us the opportunity that we need. Furthermore, Ratchet is going to conduct a more invasive scan on the Fallen and his shielding. Hopefully, those new scans will yield some useful data. Prowl out.“<<

Prowl’s attention was then drawn to Blaster who he had just saved from being crushed by one of the Fallen’s rock lords. It seemed as though the communications expert and his little cassette were okay. At the very least Blaster was well enough to open fire on an approaching golem. Like the rest that one didn’t stay down for long either, eliciting a call from the red and grey mech to get out of the trench as it was no longer a safe place to remain. The strategist couldn’t agree more. Although, he would never admit that out loud.

“Indeed,” Prowl muttered under his breath and he climbed out of the combat trench, tripping over something as he went. Catching himself, the black and white turned around and looked down to see his half buried acid pellet rifle sticking out of the sand. “Well, will wonders never cease. There you are!” Prowl quickly bent down and picked up his weapon, checking it over once to make sure it was still intact. Thankfully, it appeared to be in optimum condition.

Prowl then received a transmission from Springer, who informed him that the sonic blast idea didn’t work as though that was any surprise. The Autobot triplechanger also wanted to know if anyone had come up with a better idea.

>>”Actually, Springer, we do have an idea which I have already commed Magnus about. We need to get through to Hot Rod who is apparently still in there somewhere. Hopefully, he’ll be able to weaken the Fallen enough to help us break though. In the meantime, focus your attacks on the golems. Understood?”<<

Wasting no further time, Prowl aimed his rifle at the nearest rock lord and opened fire, striking the creature in its face. His acid pellets did some damage to the sandstone warrior, partially melting its visage, but it was only on the bare surface and not near enough to melt the entire thing into slag. Shockwave’s other suggestion to leave nothing left to reform was a good one in theory, but most of the mechs on the battlefield didn’t have that kind of fire power. The Decepticon scientist, perhaps, but everyone else had no other options but to just shoot and avoid.

Or perhaps not, Prowl thought as he gazed back at the four fire tornadoes that still swirled around the mountain. Yes! That might just work! Why didn’t I think of that before?!

Prowl then opened an open channel to all Cybertronians on and around Ayers Rock:

>>”Attention, everyone! This is Prowl! As you know by now these rock lords can reform no matter how many times we knock them down. Therefore, we must leave nothing left to reform. Our best option is to try and push them back towards the fire tornadoes and force them into those swirling infernos. With any luck, the intense hellfire will turn their sandstone bodies into solid glass! I don’t care how you all do it. Just work together and make it happen!”<<

Prowl then cut his comm line and turned his attention to a small group of rock lords that were approaching his position. “Blaster, Eject, join me and focus your fire power at the ground in front of the golems. Try and force them back towards that fire tornado! Do it now!” The military strategist didn’t wait to see if they followed his orders or not. The black and white simply opened fire with his missiles, aiming for the nearest rock warrior’s feet. The explosion caused the sandstone creature to stumble backwards several yards. “Yes, it’s working! We need to keep at it. Don’t let up!” Prowl exclaimed as he opened fire again, hoping for the same result.

((More to come.))

Australia – Autobot Shuttle Longevity – Combat Casualty Care Unit

Keeping the convulsing nurse still was proving a feet in and of itself. Aid had taken to holding Vee down with just his bodyweight, but it just wasn’t enough. Thank Primus Howl quickly moved in to help secure the wounded mech.

"Aid, I got ‘em. Go get those supplies!"

Now free to move, First Aid quickly slid from the slab and ran to the supply shelves to the back of the hold. “Okay. Need flexible tubing…” The young doctor muttered to himself as he gathered all of the necessary items he’d need to help his friend.

“Alright.” He dropped the equipment onto a surgical tray and swiftly stepped to the head of the medical slab. Aid gripped Vee’s head firmly, keeping it as stable as possible while he used the last strap to secure the seizing nurse.

“It wasn't supposed to be like this..." Blindside muttered softly, “He was supposed to be safe here..." The tactician 'looked' over to the nurse's faceplate, half-expecting it not to have that monstrous cavity in it. “It's going to be alright, Vee...Aid is gonna fix you back up in no time...It's okay...just stop...Stop moving..."

First Aid slowly lifted his gave from Vee to look at Blindside. It was just for a moment but the look that had overtaken the sightless mech’s face was sparkbreaking.

Determination set in and the Protectobot set to work.

With one hand pressed against Veneer’s forehead First Aid produced a small drill from his right forefinger. The device whirred to life as the white and red medical specialist moved it to the side of his patient’s head.

Using firm steady pressure Aid began to drill a hole the side of his friend’s mangled cranium. Once through the thick plating Aid pulled out. Immediately after the drill’s removal First Aid inserted the tubing and connected it to a small device that would slowly remove the fluid that had been building.

Immediately Vee’s body slackened and finally stopped convulsing. First Aid let out a heavy sigh. His shoulders slumped in relief as he ran his hand gently over what was left of Vee’s forehead.

After several quiet moments he looked up at Howl, who was still holding Vee down. He reached over and gently touched the former Predacon’s elbow. “You can let him go now, Howl.” Aid nodded. “Thanks for your help.”

From beneath his facemask he flashed a weary smile. It faded slowly as he turned his attention to Blindside.

“Side…” he said softly. “Vee’s stable. But he’s hurt real bad. The…the trauma to his head…it caused several, if not all, of the energon lines feeding his cranium to tear or rupture or fray which, in turn, cause a large amount of fluid to fill the cavity. That buildup is what caused his seizure.” Aid looked back at the now still nurse. “He’s going to need surgery…” Aid looked back at Blindside. “But I can’t do it. And Ratchet…” First Aid seemed a bit embarrassed but it would have to be said. “Ratchet can’t do it either. He just doesn’t trust his hands anymore.”

“The surgery’s delicate and, well…” First Aid shrugged. “Axle was a surgeon back on Cybertron….before the war started. He specialized in the Trinity Organs.” Slowly he reached out and placed his fingertips on the blind mech’s arm. “I’ll call him. See where he’s at.” With his free hand Aid gestured to the side of Vee’s slab. “If you want you can stay with him…alone. If you want.”

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

“Seems we’re putting plenty of distance between us and them. Hopefully, none of them will follow us all the way back to the shuttle."

Trailbreaker smiled and revved his engine as he sped up in order to keep close to Ratchet….who was nearly flying to their destination.

“It’d be nice if they weren’t here at all!” He called back. “In fact it’d be even nicer if none of this slag was even happening.” The tactician let out a chuckle.

He quickly quieted down as he noticed the CMO was pulling further ahead. “Hey! Ratch! Slow down! You move too far ahead of me and that forcefield’s gonna pop!”

“Then shut it and speed up! I have got to get Blurr to the shuttle!” To emphasize his exclamation Ratchet pressed forward even fast causing Trailbreaker to nearly max his RPMs in order to keep up.

Ratchet eased off the gas right before hitting the ramp that led into the Longevity. Trailbraker wasn’t far behind. The two mechs, and hopefully Smokescreen as well, came to a skidding halt in the CCU. Trailbreaker quickly transformed while Ratchet opened his rear hatch.

By only manipulating his forcefield Trailbreaker was able to carefully lift and extract Blurr from Ratchet, without disturbing the shield. Once free of his burden the CMO transformed as well and ran to a CR Chamber where he programmed the settings and prepped the device.

Ratchet moved to a cabinet and grabbed a syringe and a vial of some sort of dark blue liquid. Trailbreaker’s head tilted slightly. “What’s that stuff?”

As he filled the syringe Ratchet moved toward Blurr. “It’s a sedative. It’ll help him to relax giving the nanites an easier time at repairing and curing him.”

Trailbreaker nodded his understanding as he watched the doctor move in close to the former racer. “Okay Blurr. This is just a sedative. It’ll help you to relax. Might even put you into recharge.” He pressed the sharp edge against the shield Trailbreaker let it give while the whole time keeping the seal around the syringe’s tip.

“Alright. We’re going to get you in that chamber now.” Ratchet nodded at Trailbreaker as the tactician maneuvered Blurr into the now opened door. The chamber sealed itself and filled quickly with its fluids.

“Great job, Smokes! We couldn’t have gotten away if it wasn’t for you.” Trailbreaker said as he turned to look at the red and blue mech. In the meantime Ratchet had slipped away and loaded up on the supplies he needed.

He subspaced everything transformed and took off at top speed out of the Longevity and toward Ayers Rock. While on his way he opened a line with Prowl. >>"Prowl. I’m on my way to Ayers Rock. I’ll need to get in as close as possible in order to get this scan done. So be prepared to cover my aft while I’m out there.”<<

Australia - Top of Ayers Rock

Razorclaw had hit the ground hard. There was no doubt about it. However, it was not that which had incapacitated him for a short time. No. It was the dark energies emanating from the tip of the Fallen’s spear that had shaken even a animalistic warrior like him to the very core. Whatever that dark energy was it was very potent and damaging to a Cybertronian’s frame both inside and out. Of course, why would it not be? The fiery demigod would fire nothing less at them. Still, this power was unlike anything from this world. Luckily for the Predacon lord, he had only been struck on the left shoulder. Otherwise, the damage to his internal systems could have been far worse and longer lasting.

“Not petrified, Weirdwolf,” Razorclaw responded to the wolf-former as he pushed himself up to a kneeling position. “Just stunned. I needed time to reboot the systems affected by the power surge. I’m all right now, but we need to avoid the power of the Fallen’s staff. It will take you down hard and keep you there.” The lion-former then got to his feet and peered around at the chaos that had erupted while he was stunned. The attack on the Fallen had done nothing to abate his wrath and now there were birds of hellfire flying overhead.

Razorclaw shook his cranium and turned his attention back to Weirdwolf, who was still on his knees, his back plates glowing hot. The wolf-former had apparently taken the brunt of a fire bird’s attack in order to shield the Predacon lord. “You protected me? That was unnecessary, but I thank you.” Razorclaw reached down and offered the tracker a helping hand. The yellow mech reminded him much of his former subordinate, Howlstrike. Both possessed wolf forms and both were hunter/trackers. However, Weirdwolf exhibited something that the traitor had sorely lacked - loyalty. There was nothing more important in Razorclaw’s optics.

Before the Decepticon leader was able to assist Weirdwolf to his feet, a fire bird dove towards them, shrieking at it approached. Razorclaw took aim with his one remaining concussion blaster and fired repeatedly, striking the fiery winged serpent and dispersing the flames through the air. Of course, just like the rock lords down below, this fire bird would not stay defeated as the flying inferno reconstituted itself and came around for another pass. “Let’s go, Weirdwolf! We need to move now.”

Keeping his hand extended towards the damaged tracker, Razorclaw opened his comm line to his fellow Decepticons:

>>”Decepticons! Hear me! Cease firing on the Fallen immediately. His shield is too powerful to bring down with our weapons. We are wasting ammo on him. The Autobots are going to try a new strategy to get through that barrier, but it is something they must accomplish, themselves, as Hot Rod is their man, not ours. Instead, focus your fire power on these flaming birds and assist our forces down below with the golems if necessary! Am I clear?”<<

((OOC: More to come.))

Australia - South of Ayers Rock

Smokescreen was a little taken aback by Ratchet’s angry tirade against him, accusing him of being like Bluestreak. That seemed uncalled for as the rallybot was only trying to apologize, not to irritate the CMO even further. Although, Smokey should’ve known better as the hatchet’s temperament and bedside manner was not exactly the best in the Autobot ranks. In fact, it was likely the worst. As a result, the diversion expert decided to just remain quiet the rest of the way back to the shuttle in order to avoid any further outbursts from the good doctor.

That plan didn’t last too long, however, as Trailbreaker moved alongside the Subaru BRZ rally car and tried to smooth things over with the red and blue racer. “Yeah, I know, ‘Breaker. I won’t take it to heart.” Smokescreen grew quiet again as another outburst emanated from the white ambulance just ahead of them. Apparently, Soundwave had discovered another presence inside the Fallen that could be Hot Rod and Ratchet needed to get back to the mountain to conduct a more focused scan on the demigod. Therefore their timeframe to help Blurr had been cut dramatically short.

Smokescreen wanted to convey just how dangerous it was to not only rush Blurr’s medical treatment but to also head back towards Ayers Rock where there were rock monsters and a very agitated demigod lurking about. But Smokey kept his concerns to himself as it would only make the situation even worse, at least for himself, anyway. Trailbreaker then muttered something about it being better if the rock lords weren’t there at all. “I couldn’t agree more, ‘Breaker."

The diversion expert was tiring rapidly as his energon levels began to bottom out. Regardless, he pushed forward as Blurr’s life was at stake here and there was no time to waste. Barely able to keep up with Ratchet and even the slow-moving Trailbreaker, Smokescreen still managed to maintain his speed as they all finally reached the shuttle.

Australia - Autobot Shuttle Longevity - Combat Casualty Care Unit

Without delay, the trio of vehicles quickly drove up the entrance ramp and into the Combat Casualty Care Unit. Smokey then transformed alongside Trailbreaker with the intention of helping the defensive strategist get Blurr out of Ratchet’s alt mode. Unfortunately, the rallybot was no longer in any condition to help anyone as he stumbled over to a nearby bulkhead and leaned up against it to avoid falling over.

“Sorry, guys, my energon levels are too low,” Smokescreen muttered lowly. “I barely have enough strength to stand.” The tactician was unsure if anyone had even heard him as he watched both Trailbreaker and Ratchet do what they needed to help Blurr before the CMO placed the blue speedster into a CR chamber that would hopefully fix and cure his ailment. Thank Primus, Smokey thought as he continued to prop himself up against the bulkhead while the hatchet gathered what he required and headed back outside. At least now Blurr can get better and live to fight another cycle.

Smokescreen’s attention was then drawn over to Trailbreaker as the black mech told him what a great job he had done in helping them escape the rock monsters. “Thanks, ‘Breaker. Glad I could help. Now if you could help me recharge my power cells that’ll be much appreciated.” The weakened rallybot then managed to step away from the bulkhead and stagger slowly towards a recharging station that was situated near where the defensive strategist was standing. However, before he could reach it, Smokey stumbled again as his legs gave out from under him and he toppled forward.

“Ah, frag,” Smokescreen said in a low tone as the floor rushed up towards his faceplate. He reached out with his left arm towards Trailbreaker, who would hopefully catch him before the one-armed diversion expert suffered any more damage or embarrassment for that matter.