The Energon Pub

Australia - Top of Ayers Rock

The Fallen watched with glee as Ultra Magnus used his jump jets to avoid plunging to his doom in the crevice the fiery demigod had created beneath him. For the briefest of moments it appeared as though the City Commander had achieved flight, but that was not to be and was short lived. Once the Autobot leader hit the ground hard he readied his weapons for another ill-conceived strike, but then powered them down just as quickly. Instead, he attacked the Fallen with more posturing in regards to the existence of Hot Rod and just how limited the agent of Unicron really was. It was all comical as always.

“I may not be infinite, Magnus, but my master is and once he arrives nothing will stop the chaos he will bring with him!” The Fallen’s words echoed across the top of the mountain just as the flamed-engulfed mech levitated off the ground again and pointed his staff down at the City Commander, readying another dark energy strike, this one intended to be fatal.

I remember now why you chose me as your vessel, Fallen.

What? The Fallen’s attention was once again drawn inwardly to the cavalier, lowering his staff in the process.

You told me before but then you tried to make me forget and hide the real reason I’m so important to you.

Oh, and what would that reason be exactly, child?

It’s the fact that I’m a part of the Prime lineage. You can’t just possess anybody. It has to be someone who’s a part of your lineage. Rodimus Prime wasn’t just a name you came up with. It’s who I am to become some day! It is my destiny!

You are a fool, child! You are not a Prime and you never will be! Just because you have the potential doesn’t mean you will succeed! You are my body and soon your spark will become one with my own! Your only destiny is to serve me until I no longer require you!

Perhaps or perhaps not. I might not be a Prime now, but some day I will. Some day I will be strong enough!

You will never be strong enough, child! Do you think you will ever amount to anything other than a pathetic cavalier with a big ego? Do you really think you will ever be as great a warrior as those Primes before you? NO, you won’t! You are a weakling. If you were truly strong you would never have allowed me to take you over in the first place. That shows just how pathetic and weak you really are!!

Hot Rod grew silent once more. The Fallen, as evil and twisted as he was, had a point. The cavalier took risks, too many risks that didn’t just put himself in danger but his fellow Autobots as well. He took a risk on Cybertron and the result was the Fallen entering his body and making it his own. Hot Rod had failed. Even if he found the strength now to fight back it would not erase the failure that had preceded it. It would not eliminate the darkness that had crept into his spark and threatened the lives of all Cybertronians. How many had died already? Those lives were not just on the Fallen’s hands. They were on the cavalier’s, as well.

I may have failed before, but I won’t again! I will redeem myself! By the way, you may want to duck.

What?! The Fallen’s attention quickly returned to the battle around him, but it was too late to avoid the enormous fist of Devastator.

"DEVASTATOR DEVASTATE!!!!"

The demigod’s fiery optics widened as the green gestalt struck the shield with such a force that it propelled the Fallen back through the air and across the top of Ayers Rock. The possessed cavalier tumbled end over end until finally the Fallen steadied himself, stopping just before the far edge of the mountain. Still hovering in mid-air, the Fallen quickly regained his equilibrium and glared back across the mountain top at the Constructicon combiner. The shield was still intact and surrounding the demigod, but something was amiss. Something was different.

Wait, is that..... Hot Rod began to comment from within, taking a moment to accept what he was seeing. ....is that....a crack?!

Impossible! I.... The Fallen’s thoughts trailed off as he focused in on a small, hairline crack in the front of the shield where Devastator had struck with his massive fist. It was only about a foot in length and did not go all the way through the thick barrier, but it was there nevertheless.

It IS a crack! Your shield has been compromised!

Fool! It is NOT compromised! It is only a mere scratch! I am still well protected within!

Maybe for now, but you are still weakening! You can call it whatever you like, but you cannot deny that you have spread yourself too thin with all of these conjurings of yours. Golems, fire birds, fire tornadoes, the sandstorm, earthquakes, it’s all taking a toll. Not to mention the others have stopped firing their energy-based weapons and have begun a physical assault. You will now have to power your damaged shield all by yourself instead of relying on their weapons to power it for you! They’re on to you, Fallen, just like I said they would be!

It does not matter!! I will prevail! My master will rise and wipe this universe clean of the Cybertronian filth that infests it! It will happen and there’s nothing you can do about!!!

Ignoring further taunts from the cavalier, the Fallen returned his attention to the looming presence of the green combiner. As much as he wanted to deny it, Hot Rod was right. The fiery demigod had spread himself too thin. He needed to adapt in order to prevail and bring his master into this realm.

As a result, the Fallen raised his staff high above his head before bringing it down in one swift motion. Within a few astroseconds, the sand storm that had raged around the mountain suddenly collapsed and dissipated into the surrounding desert. However, everything else the possessed being had conjured remained. The four fire tornadoes continued to swirl at equidistant points from one another around the mountain while the fire birds and rock lords continued their assaults unbated.

The extra power the Fallen now had at his disposal was redirected into re-enforcing his shield, the hairline crack still present, an annoying reminder of what he had allowed the Cybertronian filth to accomplish. “Devastator!!!” The fiery demigod bellowed across the top of the mountain. “You may have rattled my cage, but you have NOT rattled my resolve to destroy you and all other Cybertronians!!! You will die just like they will!!!”

With another wave of his staff, the Fallen looked to the sky where his avian beasts were circling overhead. “My fire birds, converge on the green giant and burn him into a smoldering pile of molten metal! Hahaha!” As commanded, the remaining dozen or so fire birds changed their course and flew at Devastator from every direction, unleashing endless torrents of hellfire down upon the gestalt in an effort to end his attack after only one punch.

Australia - Uluru- In the Midst of The Bodies

After he'd gotten a couple of clicks away, Feedback transformed back to robot mode to look busy, hoping no one would suspect him. After all, there was a lot going on. The Fallen was a more important issue than a stray rocket hitting Ultra Magnus, right? Well, so long as Mags didn't get blown to bits. "I hope you have some serious armor plating, Mags... " He muttered as he waded through the debris towards some robotic forms.
From where he now was he really couldn't see clearly what was going on up on the rock, so he had no idea what happened to the big Autobot.

"Don't mind me..." Feedback said loudly in case anyone around was listening. "Just here looking for surviv- hello? What's that?" Feedback picked up something on his radar scanner; he detected a very strong radar ping. A quizzical look formed on his faceplate. The signal was coming from a pile of seemingly dead 'Cons. He made his way to investigate.

In the middle of the 'Cons was where the signal was originating. Getting to it, he hoped to find the source in stasis lock, unfortunately, as he flipped over the 'Con, he was alive, barely alive, but alive. And offline.
A simulated sigh escaped him and he considered shooting the near dead 'Con. However, he didn't; fearing trouble from anyone who might see him do so; especially that 'Bot over there that was half conscious.
"Scrap..." He muttered. He could now only hope that the 'Con would die en route or at the hands of Mal Practice who's reputation proceeded him. He tugged the offline 'Con out from the rest and checked the others. They were all stasis locked. Good. No other witnesses...
With a sarcastic roll of his head to look at the 'Bot, he frowned at it. "I suppose you'd like help too?" He grumbled. "Well, I can't take you and this 'Con; and truce or not, my priority is to 'Cons; but I'll call up one of your 'friends'."

The 'Bot nodded the best he could. Feedback would have liked to pretended he didn't see that, but in the trouble he was potentially in already, he didn't want the 'Bots adding another [potential] count of homicide to the list.

Feedback opened one of the Autobot designated frequencies. >>>Autobots... I have one of your... whatevers."<<< He said dismissively waving his hand. >>>"I can't bring it to you, so you'll have to come out and get it yourself. It appears to be mostly alive and indicated it would like to be saved. I've sent the co-odinates with this transmission."<<<

With that he started off, dragging his 'Con behind him. "Ugh... You are heavy!" He said in a slightly strained voice. He headed off to Mail Practice and Landgrab. He had purposefully kept close to the medical part of their team in case he needed them. "Oh.. What are those medics names... Mal Practice, and Landgrab is the mobile medical bay." He opened a comm >>>"Mal Practice... Landgrab... I'm heading your way with a barely alive 'Con... For you to.. Fix..."<<<

He was nearly halfway to Mal Practice and Landgrab's position when he noticed an certain... Absence. The firebirds were no longer overhead but had moved towards the rock. "That can't be good .." He muttered.

Outside Longevity

Bumblebee stood outside Longevity, bored. It was hot and firebirds wouldn't stop coming, he was getting very tired of them. Until...

"Hey, guys." said Bumblebee. "I'm picking up a transmission..."

ctrlFrequency wrote:Australia - Uluru- In the Midst of The Bodies

>>>Autobots... I have one of your... whatevers. I can't bring it to you, so you'll have to come out and get it yourself. It appears to be mostly alive and indicated it would like to be saved. I've sent the co-ordinates with this transmission."<<<

"One of ours are out there...damaged. We need to save it...I'm going!"

Bumblebee dashed across the sands, thinking that he would hopefully make it there in time. But then he stopped dead in his tracks.

What if it was a trap? I need to take caution.

He lifted his arm up to his chest, clenching his laser pistol. He slowly walked towards the co-ordinates.

Outside Longevity

Kup could see that Bumblebee was eager to get into the thick of everything. Kup really couldn't blame him. The kid was a scout after all. He wasn't exactly used to being away from danger. He just needed to know that they were helping by not getting themselves or anyone else killed right now. Kup didn't much like it either, but he was making it work.

"In Hot Rod's body? Really? What happened to the young lad? Weren't you supposed to be watching him? And quit smoking those. They ruin your insides, how many times do I have to tell you?"

Kup started to speak, to protest, before looking at the ground. It wasn't exactly a pleasant set of memories.

"Yeh. I was. I don't know what happened. We were on Cybertron and...you wouldn't believe it. It doesn't look like home anymore. It doesn't look like anything. Something happened while we were there. I dunno how. But the Hot Rod I went up there with wasn't the one who came back."

Kup looked up again, watching the battle rage on, wishing he could do something more to help the cavalier, just like Bumblebee wanted to do. Just like they all wanted to do. But in the end, he had to give himself the same advice that he had given Bumblebee. Looking at Ironhide, he pulled the cy-gar out of his mouth, examined it, and then popped it back in, taking another satisfied drag.

"And leave me alone about these. What are ya, my proto-batch initiator?" Kup huffed, before picking up a weird transmission that pulled his thoughts away from his guilty feelings entirely.

>>Autobots... I have one of your... whatevers. I can't bring it to you, so you'll have to come out and get it yourself. It appears to be mostly alive and indicated it would like to be saved. I've sent the co-ordinates with this transmission."<<

It was pretty clear from Bumblebee's next words that all of them had received the transmission. Kup didn't recognize its origin, but he knew that caution was definitely the order of the day in this situation.

"One of ours are out there...damaged. We need to save it...I'm going!"

Kup started to protest, but before he could really even get a word out, Bumblebee was gone. The kid had heart, no denying that. He looked to Ironhide again.

"Someone's gotta watch the shuttle, but one of us better make sure he doesn't get himself killed."

Uluru – Newly established Decepticon repair station 'FUBAR'

Mal Practice; medical consultant, battlefield surgeon, technical genius and forefront in the field of modest self-evaluations of his own abilities was hard at work. And by hard at work, that actually meant he was cackling like a lunatic whist elbows deep in the chest cavity of a Predacon tiger. Hydraulic fluid was leaking everywhere, and shavings of Rampage's decaying core module were scatted all over Landgrab's repair platform workbench like left over screws from a cranial refit. He had stabilised the felineformer and arrested any further damage to its internal routines. There was still a serious amount of work to do on its internal circuitry to get it back on its feet any time soon, but that could wait. He closed up Rampage having activated his auto-repair circuits, but not before uploading his bill into the tigers memory banks - Rampage was in for a shock when he came back online. "Well Landgrab, that's one down. Good thing we got here eh, I'd like to have seen First Aid diagnose that as quickly..."

He was preparing to move to the next patient, Headstrong, when the comms chatter blew up. He paused for a second to take all the details in as he absent-mindedly licked the energon from his fingers. "Hmmm. Seems we're going to be rather busy, Landers!"

He unceremoniously shoved the stable but unconscious Predacon onto the gorund beside Landgrab’s large platform and with considerable effort dragged Headstrong up next. Programming in the treatment cycle identical to that of Rampage's into Landrgrabs autorepair routines, he plugged Headstrong in and allowed the repair bay Decepticon to take over the initial stage of the medication and monitoring it's vital signs whist he began the internal surgery incisions and replied to the callouts from the team's comms frequency.

<<<Psychout, we're going to need some help here. Landgrab and I are good, but I cant teat everyone at once! Find me some support or I'm tripling my fees! Cloudbreaker, address me however you like, as long as it’s preceded by ‘Doctor’. I'm not entirely sure what I can do for this corpse of yours, but if it’s carrying something as valuable as you claim then I’ll take a look. Drop it here by Landgrab and we’ll see... and, Feedback? you must be the other new guy Psych mentioned? *sigh* Just bring it in. Even if I can’t save it, we can hopefully salvage something valuable from this mess...>>>

"Here we go Landgrab, I hope you have plenty of power left... what now??!"

The chopping sound of helicopter rotors above him signaled the delivery of yet another patient as the two halves of a Duocon were dumped by his feet. “NOT THERE!! Over here, up on the table – and be quick about it!” he yelled at the delivering mech, refusing to be distracted from the delicate microsurgery now underway inside Headstrong. Behind him Blades removed the hauling chain from BattleTraps feet and landed behind the gruff surgeon, but without taking his eyes off Headstrong to see who it was that delivered his latest case, Mal tossed a messy pile of components behind him to the startled Autobot, interrupting it's questions.
“Make yourself useful and hold these... And this... And these... And whatever you do – don’t ingest it!!”

Foul smelling energon and corrupted lubricant oozed and seeped like fetid sores from the pile of scrap Mal Practice dumped into the arms of the red and white rescue helicopter, piling more and more decaying servos and linkages onto the heap, whilst the expert battlefield medic skillfully trimmed out the diseased circuitry from the wounded Headstrong.

“There we go, that was easy, wasn't it?” the surgeon stated matter of factly, and leaving Headstrong to the ministrations of Landgrab's repair bay systems and turned to the unconscious Duocon. Still ignoring his stunned surgical assistant, who in turn was still holding the discarded internal organs of a feared Decepticon warlord, he bent over to evaluate the two halves of his next patient and typed some details into a readout on his wrist panel. “Battletrap? I've worked on this Duocon before." he muttered. "...minor dermal abrasions to the lower component. Scorching to the blade-drive assembly and swash plate; minor trauma to the cockpit assembly, likely leading to low-yield linkage trauma to the upper section of the robot mode - mostly cosmetic - the the upper component. Combined subject rendered offline through severe impact concussion and enforced separation syndrome. The helicopter is worse of the two, but this is still simple stuff, shouldn't take long...” He put an arm out and withdrew a cable from one of Landgrab's many medical compartments, and plugged it into the blue Jeep half of the failed experiment in combiner technology.
“Landgrab? Give him three 0.07 second jolts of biocardial energon, at 427kw. That should bring it back online at least, and then maybe he can tell me where exactly his upper half is injured.”

Finally he turned to congratulate his newest surgical assistant, still standing speechlessly holding the insides of a rhinoformer, and nearly dropped his scalpel.

“BLADES?! What in the pit are you doing here?”

Australia - Autobot Shuttle Longevity - Combat Casualty Care Unit

The former Predacon stirred within his CR chamber as the repair cycle reached the half way mark. Howlstrike’s optics slowly flickered back online as everything around him came into view. The inside of the chamber was still filled with the nanite-rich fluid, clouding his field of vision. However, he could still make out the the door directly across from his faceplate along with the tiny window that exposed the Combat Care Unit on the outside. The green and black tracker let out a groan as he leaned forward, wanting to get out and back into battle. While his injuries were not completely healed, he was well enough to continue the fight against the Fallen. He had been a Predacon, after all, and was much tougher than most.

Reaching over to the emergency release switch, Howlstrike pulled down hard on the lever and the nanite liquid quickly emptied from the chamber. The door then slid to one side, allowing a rush of fresh air to strike the lupine mech across his entire framework. “Finally,” Howlstrike growled under his breath as he stepped out of the CR chamber and stretched his still aching limbs. His shoulder was now partially repaired as were other parts of his body that had been damaged during his encounter with Hardhead. He still showed signs of battle damage, but he could endure it for the time being.

At least the war veteran had gotten what he deserved even if he hadn’t been responsible for his own actions. Howl did not care. Whatever demon Hardhead had been transformed into had received retribution and that’s all that mattered. Surely, the real Autobot underneath would understand once this Fallen business was all over and done with. And if he didn’t understand, oh well.

The Autobot hunter then glanced over at an adjacent CR chamber, the same one that still housed Howlstrike’s new friend, Blindside. The ex-Predacon strolled over to the unit and checked the readings on the display. Howl was no expert when it came to interpreting technical jargon but it appeared as though the sightless mech’s repair cycle was also only about half done. Regardless, Blindside had spent more time in the nanite fluid than Howlstrike and his injuries had been no worse as far as the tracker could recall.

“Hey in there!” Howlstrike yelled as he pounded on the outside of Blindside’s CR chamber. “Time to wake up, Blindy! We got a herald to kill! Let’s go you lazy aft. Up and at ‘em!” The herald in question was Darkride. The interrogator had messed up Blindside’s friend, Veneer, pretty bad earlier, almost killing the nurse. Naturally, the disabled Autobot wanted revenge on the possessed 'Con, and Howl was perfectly happy to oblige, his love for the hunt second to none. Of course, there was the chance that Oil Slick and Skywarp had already succeeded in brining the torturer down thus robbing Blindside of his vengeance. Still, it was worth checking out to see where things stood in that regard.

Becoming impatient, Howlstrike moved in closer to Blindside’s CR chamber and pressed his faceplate up against the small window, allowing him to clearly see his new friend on the inside. “Oh, Blindside! Wakey wakey, sleepy head! You've rested long enough! Let’s get moving in there before I go kill Darkride by myself!” The lupine mech flashed a toothy grin at the sightless Autobot. That visage would be the first thing Blindside would “see” when he finally woke up.

Shuttle Longevity – Combat Casualty Care Unit

Thud! Thud! Thud!

An odiously painful banging stirred Blindside from his recharge cycle. It was akin to being beat about the head with a bludgeoning instrument of some sort. Also there was muffled shouting but that really didn't make it through the casing of the CR pod. Soon the pounding ceased and instead was replaced by somewhat clearer vocals.

“Oh, Blindside! Wakey wakey, sleepy head! Let’s get moving in there before I go and kill Darkride by myself!"

The blind tactician reached out and placed a hand on the window, sending some sonar waves pulsing gently through it to see exactly who awaited him on the other side. He had a sneaking feeling that he knew exactly who it was. And his sonar only confirmed it. Blindside gave Howlstrike a baleful glare in reply to the tracker's toothy grin.

The CR chamber hatch eventually opened up and released him, the fluids dripping off of his healed frame. Suddenly, the blue jet lurched out and wrapped his arm around Howlstrike's neck awkwardly, his position in the CR chamber not really the best to perform such a hold. Blindside balled his other hand into a fist and noogied the tracker with a half-hearted growl before releasing his newfound friend and stepping out of the pod, stretching his stiff servos.

“Haven't you ever heard the expression: “Don't tap the glass”? Sheesh!” Blindside said with a wry grin at the lupine Autobot. “Rrrright! So, Darkride. Let's kill the slagger, shall we, Howl?”

With that, Blindside cheerfully meandered out of the shuttle, catching sight of Bumblebee's hasty departure in the process. He narrowed his optics slightly as his lips curled into a frown. Then, he noticed Ironhide and Kup. He was about to move along, after all, he needed to check the temperature of the Darkride situation, but something Kup said gave him pause.

"Someone's gotta watch the shuttle, but one of us better make sure he doesn't get himself killed."

“Hrm...Kup? Do you know who was assigned to watch the shuttle earlier? Ah, and perhaps you could fill me in on which heralds have been taken down already. Do you know?”



Uluru – Psycho Medic Central

“Hmm...” Darkfire mumbled to herself as she largely ignored the team's comm chatter to watch the fire birds converge on the jolly green giant. With them gone, there was no point to flying around aimlessly. Cloudbreaker and Feedback had recovered assets so all that was left to do was return to the rest of the team. Marvelous. Soaring over to where Mal Practice and...was that...yes, Blades stood, Darkfire gently alighted on the desert sand, glancing over to the bodies piled around what appeared to be Landgrab.

The black femme stared blankly at the scene before her with general apathy. She did not move to assist nor did she particularly wish to be noticed. Glancing over her shoulder, she noted the approach of Feedback. Yep. He was dragging along a corpse. Well. A maybe corpse. Who knew? Turning her attention back to Landgrab, she noted some sand had collected on the top of her mobile repair bay style comrade. It bugged her.

Darkfire ignored the sand to spite it. The sand didn't care. It just sat there. Wily nily. Taunting her. She fidgeted. It was laughing at her. The sand was. If sand could laugh. She had no idea why this particular bunch of sand was so horrendous to her sight. She needed to kill it dead. Stepping forward furtively, Darkfire casually dusted the corner of Landgrab off. Of course, that didn't get all the sand. Which was irritating.

So, Darkfire leaned over and began picking off the individual grains of sand from Landgrab, growling softly to herself.

Australia - Top of Ayers Rock

Starscream had enough of this circus. The Fallen had called up all kinds of creatures to try to buffer the combined assault of the Autobots and Decepticons. But Devastator had gotten 1 shot in. The supposedly impenetrable defense was penetrated. Moments later, Starscream noticed the sandstorm dissipating and the firebirds above converging on Devastator before he could wind up for another strike.

"No!" he said to himself. "That can't happen! The big guy has to keep going!"

Starscream suddenly flew up, transforming in mid-flight. He zeroed in on the closest few firebirds and unleashed both his null rays as well as an array of cluster bombs at them.

"Devastator must be kept clear of this nuisance." Starscream once again said out loud to himself.

He flew up above and behind Devastator, picking off firebirds in the air, hoping that that worthless Autobot Sandstorm was doing his part in keeping the golems away. Then, as he aimed at the next group of firebirds, he focused beyond them. There...he saw it...

"It's cracked!" He shouted out loud. "His shield!"

It was minuscule, from where he was flying, but with his superior sensors, Starscream spotted the slight hairline crack in the Fallen's protection.

"Keep fighting you bums!" he shouted down at the Autobots below him, as he took out another bunch of the firebirds.

Shuttle Longevity

"Why can't we both go?" Ironhide asked. "Ain't there anyone else inside who can stand watch?"

He peered inside once again. It was dark in there, and he couldn't see much.

"Who is in there anyway?" he turned to Kup. "You should probably go with Bee. I can handle lookin' after this heap. Besides, I heard the transmission as well, I know exactly where you'll be. If there's trouble, just holler."

Ironhide then unfolded his rifle from his rear armor plating, and jacked in a clip of liquid nitrogen cartridges.

"In the meantime, I'm goin' duck huntin'!" he said with a smirk, and aimed towards the skies filled with firebirds.

Australia Uluru - In The Midst Of Bodies


Feedback's gaze followed the little yellow Autobot as Bumblebee sped past him towards his fallen comrade. He grimaced a bit. "It's about time you got here!" He shouted as he lost his grip on his 'Con 'rescue'. "Frag..." He muttered and picked back up the 'Con. "I swear it was vorns ago I called you slagging 'Bots." He went back to shouting. "And you're welcome! Ish, no manners these 'Bots."

Uluru - In The Midst Of Bodies

Bumblebee reached the co-ordinates, there were bodies everywhere. They were all in statis lock, all but one...the 'bot that the 'con said about. It was still alive, he made it. He picked it up and struggled to walk through the bodies, he had depleted most of his energy getting here and now that he was carrying extra weight it was harder to get through. He heard a crunch and reacted quickly, he took out his laser pistol and pointed it behind him. He then felt something under his foot, he accidentally crushed a 'con's optic. He put his laser pistol away and finally made it through the bodies. On the way back he saw Feedback, Bumblebee thought he was the one who sent the transmission.

"Feedback..." Bumblebee shot a look at him. "What are you doing here anyways?"

Australia Uluru - In The Midst Of Bodies

Rainmakers wrote:
"Feedback..." Bumblebee shot a look at him. "What are you doing here anyways?"

"Seriously?" Feedback asked dropping his 'Con quite by accident. "It's called salv-I mean recovery." He wasn't quite liking the way Bumblebee was looking at him, he leveled his gaze at the smaller mech with the intention to look not to be trifled with.

Uluru - In The Midst Of Bodies

Bumblebee stopped looking at Feedback and continued on back to the Longevity holding the damaged 'bot.

"You still act like a 'con." said Bumblebee.

Australia - Top of Ayers Rock

With everything going on, Hot Spot knew he was lucky that he wasn't slagged for his involvement of Sixshot. The form of Devestator still impressed him from this height especially when the behemoth slammed the Fallen with his fist making the Fallen fly back several meters. Hot Spot also noticed some of the former Wreckers gathered together around Starscream who flew off to deal with the firebirds surrounding Devestator. He decided to go over and join the Triplechangers signaling to Ratchet to do the same.

"Springer, Sandstorm, and Broadside I'm glad to see you three still up and functional. By the looks of Ultra Magnus he still has some fight left in him. The hit from Devestator had to do some damage to that shield of the Fallen. I hope Screamer didn't give you all that much trouble. That is one Con I won't ever trust no matter the situation."

Hot Spot turned his water cannons at one of the fire birds attacking Devestator and engulfed it. It took a few minutes but it finally went out with nothing but steam remaining. He then received the message from Silverbolt.

>>Hey Silverbolt, I'm on top of Ayer's Rock chatting with the triple changers and trying to stay away from the Cons now. What are you up to besides keeping the skies clear?<<


Skies

The winds finally calmed down after what seemed like orns to Skydive. He was finally able to fly without worries of being thrown into a tailwind and to conserve what energon he had left. The problem now was all of the sand he had in his systems. To his surprise, the fire birds all decided to concentrate on Devestator with Starscream trying to eliminate them. He noticed Fireflight was on the ground and decided to land next to him in robot form.

Open Area

"Hey Fireflight, how are the internal repairs coming along?"

"I think I can fly once again once I get all of the sand out of the gears."

"Yeah, I agree with you there. Maybe we can shake it out."

Before they try Streetwise and Groove come up to them with down faces.

"Hey, why the grim looks? It isn't like we are losing or anything."

Groove looked at Fireflight with a slight scowl.

"You haven't been paying attention to the battle scene then. This is why I can't stand war or fighting because all it seems to do is make a mess out of areas like this which turns into garbage heaps. Lives are lost for no good reason most of the time."

"Yeah, I know, Groove but this fight is for our survival. By the way, is there any way you or Streetwise can help Fireflight and myself get the sand out of our gears and chassis?"

"Is that all you two need? You'll be some of simplest repairs we've tried to do. Most of the ones we've seen been stasis locked or completely lost. Let Groove and I get our air guns out. First Aid made it mandatory for each Protectobot to carry such equipment even if they aren't as powerful as his."

Groove and Streetwise start blowing every crevice and open area on the two Aerialbots getting several grains out of their systems.

"I doubt we got all of them but hopefully enough to allow you two to have better time transforming and flying."

"Thanks, Groove, you and Streetwise been a help. Now we have a few more golems to bring down and figure out how much more help we can be in taking out the remaining fire birds."

Skydive and Fireflight transform back into their jet forms and fly up leaving the two Protectobots on the ground looking around for more mechs to help with the hope it will be quick fixes.

Australia Uluru - In The Midst Of Bodies

Rainmakers wrote:

"You still act like a 'con." said Bumblebee.

Feedback looked confused. "Of course I act like a 'Con, I am one." He said with sarcasm dripping from his words. "But I called you to help that..." He waved his hand absently at the barely conscious 'Bot. "I would think you'd be grateful. "

ctrlFrequency wrote:Australia Uluru - In The Midst Of Bodies

Rainmakers wrote:

"You still act like a 'con." said Bumblebee.

Feedback looked confused. "Of course I act like a 'Con, I am one." He said with sarcasm dripping from his words. "But I called you to help that..." He waved his hand absently at the barely conscious 'Bot. "I would think you'd be grateful. "

"I mean, you could try to be more nice now that we have formed an alliance...for now." said Bumblebee. "Thanks for telling us but you could of brought it with you as well, instead of just that 'con." he pointed to the 'con Feedback was carrying. "Who else is with you? Your not trying to capture me, are you?"

Australia Uluru - In The Midst Of Bodies


"I mean, you could try to be more nice now that we have formed an alliance...for now."

A low throaty laugh came from Feedback and his smirk slipped onto his faceplate. "Oh Little 'Bot..." He said in an uncharacteristically gravelly voice. Still, there was a lot of sarcasm in his voice. "Just because there's an alliance on doesn't mean I have to act against my nature. I was nice... I let you know to rescue your... thing there." He took a few steps closer to Bumblebee and leaned in. "Once a 'Con, always a 'Con, I can't change my colors, I won't, not for the likes of you. Be very glad I don't kill you right here and now..."

For added measure he started jamming all Autobot communication and distress frequencies, though only in the near vicinity of the two. He was true to his Decepticon badge, after all.

"Thanks for telling us but you could of brought it with you as well, instead of just that 'con."

"Who else is with you? Your not trying to capture me, are you?"


Normally, he was in the habit of keeping his fingers out of view, if not behind his back he tended to keep them curled up so you just couldn't see them. But reached for the little Autobot and place one of his claw like fingers (of which he oddly only had three per hand) under Bee's chin. "I could not save your precious Autobot as well as our Decepticon. And despite this truce you hold so dear, I will not risk the life of a Decepticon to save an Autobot, I just won't harm an Autobot... for now." He raked the finger as he drew it away, just enough to remind Bumblebee he was, in fact, dealing with the enemy. It left no real mark besides a slight scratch, he wasn't trying to hurt the scout.

"No one is with me." He said softly. "But they are all just a call away. And don't tempt me on capturing you, little Bumblebee... all by yourself out here, all alone... I am really not here to play nice, nor by the rules, it just simply seems to be the best idea to pretend to play by them."

Uluru - In The Midst Of Bodies

"You're up to something...I know it." said Bumblebee backing away from Feedback, clenching the 'bot.

I shouldn't of came here alone, if Feedback really is up to something...I could be in deep danger. If I run all the way back to the Longevity my energy will surely run out and his friends are only a "call" away...

Bumblebee held his laser pistol, he made sure Feedback couldn't see it. He slid his finger onto the trigger and slowly backed away.

Australia Uluru - In The Midst Of Bodies

"You're up to something...I know it."

Feedback once again laughed that evil laugh of his.
"Now why would I be up something...?" He asked in the most cruel voice he had. "There's a truce... remember?" As Bumblebee kept backing away, he kept moving forward. He had the little Autobot right where he wanted him. "But.. I suppose as I am a Decepticon you could never really be sure, could you? And as I said, you're out here
all...
A...
Lone...
No one at all to help you." Feedback never let up on keeping his pace with Bee, never letting much distance grow between them, though he was unaware that Bee had his pistol ready. "At my mercy. You can't run, I'm faster than you. You can't hide, not in this slag hole of a desert."

Uluru - In The Midst Of Bodies

Bumblebee didn't like Feedback, not at all. The way he acted made Bumblebee feel uncomfortable, very uncomfortable. His laser pistol was his only chance to get away from Feedback. He slowly uncovered his laser pistol and then pointed it at Feedback, he fired it and then ran, hoping he hit Feedback. He ran as fast as he could while holding the 'bot. His energy was running low, it was getting harder to run. He was going slower, surely Feedback would catch up with him. He collapsed onto the ground and dust rose up making him cough. He was too weak to run. He tried to send a distress signal to Kup and Ironhide but the communications were jammed, probably by Feedback. Bumblebee had no chance, he couldn't escape from Feedback.

Australia Uluru - In The Midst Of Bodies

"Slag!" Feedback hissed as Bumblebee's pistol fired, hitting him in his side.

As Bumblebee took off running, the Con sneered.

Bee had gotten a decently hit on him, and though he was certainly feeling it, he ignored the pain and started in a sprint after the scout, getting ready to transform if the need arose.

Of course, Bee fell and Feedback's purely evil laughter rang out. He stopped running and strode over to the fallen scout.

"You can't call for help..." He said cruelly, noticing the attempt at a transmission from him, as he stopped in front of the scout. "No one can hear you scream... no one." He smirked as he planted his foot on Bee's face plate. He leaned down as much as he could with the wound. He never let any pain show, though the leaking energon gave away the successful hit. "No... one..." He finished hoarsely with a laugh. "You broke the truce, Bumblebee... not I, not any Decepticon..."

"You."

Uluru - In The Midst Of Bodies

Bumblebee didn't want to admit it but Feedback was right, he broke the truce... he shot Feedback...he was the one being careless and let his emotions take control of him.

"You're right, I broke the truce...not you, nor any 'con...I broke the truce." said Bumblebee. "If that is so bad that they are going to lock me up then...I don't want to be an Autobot!"

Bumblebee tried to pull Feedback off him.

"I knew I never should of trusted you...or any of the other 'cons!"

Bumblebee reached out for his laser pistol but couldn't quite reach it.

"If I go down...you're going down with me!"

Australia - Uluru - Temporary Field Station FUBAR, aka "Psycho Medic Central"

Cloudbreaker finally arrived to Landgrab's mobile repair station and took a moment to rekindle his composure. This seeker was heavier than he looked and carting his offlined aft back here nearly drained him of the good energon he had taken in prior to this whole fiasco.

"Doctor Mal!" Cloudbreaker called into the repair bay that was the team's largest member, Landgrab. "Here he is! I'm just going to- oh wow that's a lot of Predacons. Anyways, you look like you got your hands full, I'm just gonna, I'll just leave him out here for ya."

Well he certainly was busier than the thief was expecting to see. He was hoping he could have gone and formally introduced himself to the medical officer and go over what exactly Nightweaver was carrying inside him that made him a prime choice for the recovery effort. Cloudbreaker dusted off his actuators as he turned back from Landgrab and stared out across the battlefield. He pulled his trusty flask from his hip compartment and dropped his mouthplate. He brought a flask up and took a mighty swig of the high grade energon he always contained inside. Hopefully this would be enough to bring him back up after carrying literal dead-weight across the red sand.

As the thief gasped in delight from the pink liquid finishing rushing down through his systems, he overheard the mumbling (or was it grumbling?) of Darkfire scratching away at the sand on Landgrab's repair bay.

"Oi, care for a sip?" Cloudbreaker offered the femme as he extended his flask out towards her to take should she decide for a healthy swig. He was ready to kick up another shot at formerly introducing himself but his attention was stolen by the sight of what appeared to be a stand off between a bot and a con. Cloudbreaker's HUD was able to identify the Decepticon, but only barely enough at this distance. Oh it was Feedback! And uh... By the Guiding Hand, who was that down there in the yellow armor... He appeared to small to properly identify but yet... Oh! Oh no they had a gun pointed at their teammate!

"Scratch the drink," The gold and black thief stated to the dark colored femme as he flipped the cap to his flask back on and returned it to its storage compartment on his hip, "Feedback appears to have made a friend with a tad hostile of a personality." In a blink of the optics, Cloudbreaker reassumed his Cybertronian jet alt mode and rocketed off towards their teammate's position.

His flight towards his comrade was a short one, once again shifting to his robot mode but utilizing the jets in his boots to ride out the rest of the momentum and prevent him from crashing into the red Australian sand. He swiftly and quietly landed beside the now downed Autobot, he didn't seemed harmed.

"Feedback! Oh wow did you get hit?" Looking down at the yellow Autobot, Cloudbreaker was finally able to identify the little trouble maker. "Bumblebee! So it was Bumblebee! Okay that explains- wait... Did you shoot Feedback?" Not allowing the Autobot scout to give him an answer, Cloudbreaker kneeled beside Bumblebee and swiped his laser pistol from his digits.

"Young mecha like yourself shouldn't be carrying a weapon like this around, you could hurt somebody." He studied the pistol as his wrapped was wrapped around the barrel of the weapon and its handle. He flipped it around and pulled back the magnetic action to the weapon, exposing the orangey-yellow power cell inside. Cloudbreaker yanked at the cell-release lever on the other side, springing the power node out and into the air. Before the power cell was affected by Earth's gravity, the gold and black thief pawed into the air and caught it victoriously. "These are very dangerous things, maybe you can have one in a few hundred cycles."

Rising back up his full height, Cloudbreaker stashed the power cell away into his Subspace storage surprise pack before looking down upon the prone Minibot.

"What happened? Did he get tired or something?"

Mental note: Remind me to talk to Knock-Out about a new paint scheme. Perhaps a royal maroon or something to set me apart from this... Trouble maker...

Uluru – Psycho Medic Central

Darkfire noted the arrival of their newest member – newest to her anyway – but didn't pay him much mind. She had this sand to deal with after all. Evil sand it was. She didn't bother talking to him until he offered her a drink. From which she promptly straightened from her rather tedious task and eyed the newcomer up and down with her typical scowl gracing her otherwise fairly pleasant features.

“I don't drink strange energon,” she replied flatly, “Not on a battlefield anyway.” Darkfire returned to her labors, using her clawed actuators to their fullest effect, scraping out stubborn bits of sand in the creases of Landgrab. Cloudbreaker did actually manage to capture her attention when he cut own his own attempt at civility.

"Scratch the drink," The gold and black thief stated to the dark colored femme as he flipped the cap to his flask back on and returned it to its storage compartment on his hip, "Feedback appears to have made a friend with a tad hostile of a personality."

“Primus, I'm going to kill that little glitch!” Darkfire snapped as she whirled and followed Cloudbreaker, her response nearly as immediate as the thief's own. The flight was fairly short though and she touched down a bit further back than her associated. Cloudbreaker disarmed the Autobot who was clearly Bumblebee and commented on the hacker's injury.

Darkfire's violet optics when wide at the sight and her face comprised an expression of sheer disbelief. She stalked up to Feedback and tapped his wound lightly with her clawed actuators. Yep. It was there. And it was fairly substantial. “Oh my...Bwahahahahahaha!” The usually calm and stoic assassin erupted into a fit of unrestrained laughter as she tried concealing her smiling visage from view with a hand. “You got...haha! Shot...by Bumblebee! Hahaha!”

After a moment, Darkfire managed to recover from her fit but couldn't keep a smirk from her face. “Ah, he got you good too! Ha! Ahh...” Suddenly switching gears, Darkfire flicked out one of her swords and was at the minibot's side without delay, tapping the flat of the blade against Bumblebee's head.

“Well, well, little Autobot, you just made my day, which lends me to the inclination not to butcher you this fine day,” Darkfire said almost sweetly with a smile to the yellow Autobot, “Then again, you did shoot my...ah...comrade, I guess, so we can't just let you off the hook. Quite the dilemma. Do you perhaps have a compromise in mind that would favor both of us, hmm?”

Uluru - In The Midst Of Bodies

Bumblebee got up and picked up the injured 'bot. This was the last time he ever trusted a 'con. He walked away quietly cursing at Cloudbreaker. Darkfire then suddenly tapped him on the head with one of her swords, he turned around.

“Well, well, little Autobot, you just made my day, which lends me to the inclination not to butcher you this fine day," Darkfire said almost sweetly with a smile to the yellow Autobot, “Then again, you did shoot my...ah...comrade, I guess, so we can't just let you off the hook. Quite the dilemma. Do you perhaps have a compromise in mind that would favor both of us, hmm?"

"My friends will save me sooner or later...your torturing won't last forever."