The Energon Pub

Ayers Rock

"Are we? ARE WE?" Starscream asked in mocking anger. "And how are you so certain of this? PLEASE enlighten me!"

Australia- Ayers Rock


Feedback showed no emotion under Starscream's angered questioning, but he cringed inside. "I don't know, Commander." He finally said after letting the Sky Commander's words hang in the air for a moment. He handed Starscream his glass gas rifle. "Not even a cycle ago I was up there." He pointed to the sky. "Actually blissfully unaware of what was truly happening down here. I've barely been here long at all and I've seen this... whatever..." He motioned to the Fallen. "Take out our leaders... except for you. Everything inside of me is telling me to run... get away. Because by the looks of it, The Fallen's going to succeed."

He paused, looking at the damaged Seeker in front of him.

"I wish I had your confidence, I really do." He said. "Back in the beginning of the war.. I joined the Decepticons very early on,... I was an absolute mess. I was so full of circuit speeders just to get through my day I could barely fly, I could barely think. And then I saw you. You and I, we're meant to to reach for the stars, we're flyers, the heavens are our homes, and where I was barely able to even get off the ground, you soared. So full of confidence and self assured-ness... like nothing could touch you. You were then as you are now, smart, ambitious, clever, confident, and charming. And I wished I could be all that. I could look up to the sky and see you fly overhead as you made a name for yourself.

"But because of that..." He continued. "I pulled myself out of it all. I don't have grand ambitions, my only ambition is to be the best support I can be. I will never stand in the spotlight, I don't want to, I'm better at standing behind the Decepticon in the spotlight. I'm not clever enough to lead or inspire, and because I'm not clever and not strong, and lack really any viable combat abilities... I don't have the courage to stand before this.... thing and think I can defeat it. It shot you out of the sky! But you can still stand there and have the courage to face it. I don't. I don't have the courage you do. I wish I could. You can face the odds and laugh in the face of them. You are Starscream, Sky Commander, once Megatron's second. You can turn the odds in your favor, you have that ability, I don't."

He paused just a moment, looking at the Fallen above them. "Ultra Magnus may get killed. Slag, I probably will." He continued once more. "But I don't know, maybe you won't... because nothing can seem to defeat you in the end... and I... envy you for that. I'm not lucky, not like you. I'm not clever enough to get myself out of this mess like you are. You are the Great Starscream, master of the skies and the luckiest mech in the universe.

"I didn't answer your question.. I know." He began finishing up this seemingly watershed moment. "I don't have an answer. I'm Feedback, the Con who can get his head cut off and replaced with this." He pointed to his empurata. "Talk about unlucky. Why do I think I'm going to die? Because I just am not you."

He looked back down at the sand and rock. It was one of those moments he was glad he had no face because he could not have resisted smirking. Because where as he actually was truthful in what he said, he said it all because he knew exactly how to play into Starscream's narcissism. Battle plans? No, he wasn't clever enough, but the mouthy Con knew how to play other's emotions.

Ayers Rock

Starscream stood there, mulling over what he just heard. Was he wrong about this Decepticon? Feedback seemed committed, ready to follow Starscream anywhere, yet here he was, urging retreat, trying to get Starscream away from The Fallen by feeding his ego. Could it be that all this time Feedback was actually trying to sabotage his efforts? If so, on whose orders, if anyone's? Starscream then realized that he barely knew anything about Feedback. Suddenly, he was reminded of Soundwave. Feedback had the same vibe. He looked at the glass gas gun Feedback handed him.

"And what am I supposed to do with this?" he asked. "Does it even work?"

Australia - Autobot Shuttle Longevity - Combat Casuality Care Unit

"It won't hurt. You'll just experience several jumps... So to speak. Your body may lift slightly off the slab but that's normal. Here's what I'll be doing. I'll send a series of pulses from your spark to Rewind's spark. After that I'll take a few readings to be sure everything went okay."

Chromedome nodded towards Axle as he explained to him the process of the procedure he was about to endure. The mnemosurgeon grew nervous as the field medic left his side and towards Rewind's. His processor began to flush with worry and morbid thoughts, beginning to fear whether the operation would work or not. But as quickly as those thoughts formulated, they soon dissipated the moment Axle flicked the switch.

"AHH! GEYAHHHH!" Chromedome withered in uneasiness as he felt his spark beginning to skip a feat beats during each pulse that transferred over to his conjunx endura. The tan and white Autobot shot up as the final pulse was drawn from his spark. The operation left Chromedone gasping for breath. It was a strange sensational to have your life energies pulled from your chassis like that.

Chromedome rose from his lying position and turned over to the side of the slab, sitting upright on the edge of the operating table. The cable that connected his spark to Rewind's was still clamped unto his chest armor. His left hand gripped the base of the clamp-like device while his free hand tightly grabbed hold of the edge of the slab.

"Tha-That was... Different..." The mnemosurgeon panted as he looked over towards Axle. "So did...did it work or do we gotta do another-phew... Jump?"

Hot Rod's Subconscious - The Fallen's Mindscape

"Ah, Soundwave, you have returned and brought company I see. How nice! You must know that your efforts are useless. Hot Rod is mine and he will always be!

The Fallen was putting up quite the effort to keep the two communications officers from seeing the Autobot cavalier encased within the mental firewall. A conversation took place between the possessed Hot Rod and the Fallen's essence before the two were enveloped in and intense light. The proverbial ground Soundwave stood on began to quake as if Sludge had unleashed one of his signature earth-shaking attacks. Before Soundwave could react, the dull fire re-erupted into an intense vortex as the Fallen had regained control of the Autobot's body.

"You don't suppose that was a result of us-" Soundwave began to ask his Crimson-coated rival as a transmission from his cassetticon saboteur came through his comm link.

>>”Boss! The Fallen's shield is down! Was that you? Are you alright?"<<

>>"We're still functional, yes. The status of his shield I feel was not of our own doing, but that of Hot Rod's subconscious trying to break through. Maintain your distance from the Fallen. Soundwave out."<<

Closing his comm line to the feline-cassette, Soundwave returned his attention to Blaster. "Your efforts to break through to Hot Rod seem to have been marginally effective. I recommend employing the threat of what would happen to those he considers close to him if we want to make more progress. The mentioning of Arcee seemed to have been an effective measurement on the Fallen's part. If we can get the cavalier to continue fighting against the Fallen in here, then he should be too distracted to continue his efforts outside the mindscape."

Top of Ayers Rock

Springer braced himself for the slag that was about to hit the fan. It was good to know the the kid had managed to survive being smacked around by that Constructicon gestalt, but it appears the Fallen was sticking around in there for longer than he had expected. A small jet propelled Springer's sword from the hilt that was fashioned to his back, and the green and yellow warrior wasted wasted no time in retrieving his signal blade.

"Wreckers! We End This Now!... Springer, regroup... Battle of Alje' IV." Magnus hollered over the roar of the Fallen's cackling of dark electrical energy following in the throw of his mighty Warhammer. Springer gripped the hilt of his broadsword with both hands as each digit wrapped around the handle very tightly. He held his bladed-weapon out a couple meters out a head of his chassis to catch the full front of the dark energy that surged towards him. The moment the black lightning bolt connected with his sword, the Autobot triplechanger could feel himself being pushed back by the immense power.

"What! hell if I know how we did that I was offline for most of that fight!" Broadside had exclaimed.
Springer let loose a chuckle from his vocalizer as he poured every last ounce of his fabled strength into pushing against the wave of energy with his sword.

"Well then, this time you're just gonna have to stay awake!" Fighting the urge to drop his weapon, Springer channeled all his power into a tensed slash at the ground. The electrical energy that had collected around his blade had been redirected at the summit of the mountain top where it was instantly grounded. Swinging the broadsword around by his hilt, the green and yellow warrior braced himself for another volley.

-

Silverbolt landed atop Ayers Rock and stared down and bared witness to the result of another failed attempt to extinguish any of the fiery vortexes surrounding the summit. The Aerialbot gruffed a small amount of depleted carbon dioxide before he turned back to see the possessed form of Hot Rod unleashing a hell storm of dark electrical energy from his hands.

Silverbolt rolled to cover behind a rock structure that had been pushed up from Devastator's March across the summit.

"Ey! Whatcha doing grounded down here, flyboy?" Jazz greeted the Aerialbot commander as he patted the flier's shoulder plating.

"Well, let's just say my attempt at dousing the fires clarified that I'm not cut out for fire and rescue work." Silverbolt quipped as he drew his rifle in time to watch Ultra Magnus toss his hammer out towards the Fallen's hovering body.

"Oh, so I can blame you as the reason I'm still stuck sitting atop this smoldering rock pile. Haha!" Silverbolt couldn't help but smile at the Special Operations Director's usual sense of humor in situations like these. Optics locked with a Demi-god, and he still finds the optimism get a wisecrack in on it. "Listen, man, I got an idea to get us back in this fight."

"What's that?"

"Your gun, it's powered by electro-whositwhatsit, right?"

"Yeah, To a degree."

"Why not toss the Fallen's disco light show back at him?"

Silverbolt took in the Earth idioms Jazz was feeding him before diverting his optics to the weapon he clenched in it hands.

"You want me to do what now?"

"Absorb the airborne static, then shoot it at him."

"Okay, well what are you gonna do then?"

"You heard Magnus!" Jazz excitedly exclaimed as he rose to his feet and drew two electro-nunchuks from his back. "It's the battle of Alje' IV! Magnus flung his hammer and someone's gotta fill in for Impactor!"

Australia Ayers Rock of DOOM

Feedback looked up at Starscream as he mulled over what Feedback had told him. It seemed his actions backfired,
couldn’t always be successful, and there's always that possibility that someone like Starscream would be able to see right through him.


"And what am I supposed to do with this?" he asked. "Does it even work?"

"Do with it what you can." He said. "If you can, it worked a few times for me. But my commanding officer got it from Swindle, so who knows what it will do." He looked at Starscream a moment. "I meant what I said. I wouldn’t be here if it hadn’t been for you. You inspired me so long ago... even if you didn't know it or don't believe it. I just don't think I will survive this, though you probably will." His attention was drawn to the dark energy bolting around. "These energy bolts aren't acting like electricity. More like magnets.... Not exactly, but that’s the best analogy I can make. Maybe being this close and below to the Fallen is the best place to be, or the worst, but at least we've been missing the strikes. We're going to need you as a leader if we survive this, so I'm not leaving you here with out someone to watch your back... unless you don't want me. I just don't think that this is the wisest action. Not when we need strong leaders."

Ayers Rock

Starscream's mind was racing. In it, several things bounced around: Feedback's loyalty, his prediction of their demise should they stay around, Starscream's potential if he were in control of The Fallen's powers, and this stupid glass gas gun, which came from an underhanded dealer, whose name literally means "to screw someone over." In what seemed like forever, but was actually a matter of seconds, Starscream decided on everything. He looked right at Feedback's face, or what he had for a face, and tightened his mouth. Through almost clenched teeth, he spoke.

"Fine. We leave. Taking risks comes with gaining power, but even I can see this might be a fool's gambit. I just wish we weren't the only ones around to be doing something. I was counting on the others to come in and let the action loose, but it seems nobody around here knows how to play this game."

Starscream looked at the glass gas gun.

"And this...I doubt this would have any use against someone like The Fallen, if it even works. But I might be able to get some spare parts out of it."

With that, he began walking away, with a bit of a hobble, as he looked at Feedback again.

"You make good sense, considering the circumstances. But if this is a ruse, make no mistake, you will pay dearly."

Uluru - cliffside

The long jump pack leaps up the rocks where better than Sideswipe emptying his jetpacks fuel in one hit. But it was taking time for him to reach the top of the rock as he bounced he caught glimpses of rock creatures moving around below him. Above him flocks of fire birds flew towards the summit of Ayres Rock the vast form of Devastator was looming large over the Fallen.

The echoes of Devastators punches echoed around the area Sideswipe noted that the flocks of Firebirds where getting thicker. "What the hell is going on a Firebird convention?" The jetpack landed him just below summit he activated the jetpack again thou it was at probably the worst possible time. As he cleared the lip of the rock he was caught full on by the gale force winds generated by the handclap.

The autobot warrior flew end over end back down the rock as he struggled to keep awake he thought to himself "looks like I'm blasting off again"

The unfortunate warrior ploughed into the ground near a decepticon medical unit his body skidded along the ground and eventually stopped. His gears ground as he started to stand up his left arm limp his hip as also out as he eventually got to his feet he moved with a pronounced limp his right optic flickering on and off. He moved in towards the medical centre eventually reaching the perimeter.

"is there a doctor in the house?"

Sideswipe fell forward on his face

Australia – Ayers Rock

“BRAWL!!" he bellowed... “I’m coming buddy! Swindle will save- YOOOOF!!"

Brawl had no idea what was going on anymore. His sensors had been overloaded by the Fallen's dark energy assault. Every pain receptor was sending forth a signal or pure agony. The agony however, was a stroke of luck for the stocky Combaticon for it ended up saving Brawl's life as much as Swindle's efforts. The sensory backlash from the dark energy had triggered a spontaneous transformation back into robot mode – sort of forcing a reset that booted Brawl back into his default state. Which in turn made Swindle's gambit work by rising Brawl's center of gravity higher, thus making it possible for the munitions expert to tackle him out of the way of the energy attack. For had he stayed in his tank form, his much greater weight would have resulted in Swindle running into an unmovable object.

“That’s gonna leave a mark" he chuckled, "that’s, what? 9 you owe me now, big guy? Brawl? Hey... BRAWL?"

Brawl didn't react immediately. He simply couldn't. Being knocked down was of little consequence to him. He was built to take an impact. Swindle had most certainly been hurt more than him by that. But the dark energy attack? It had hurt him bad. Hadn't Swindle come when he did, Brawl would have soon joined the Predacons Headstrong and Tantrum in stasis-lock if not perished for good like Nightweaver.

"BRAWL!!" He yelled, mimicking the voice of their commander, Onslaught, in the hope that if it was just a daze it would snap the unmoving warrior out of it.

“On your feet, Soldier! No one gave you permission to lie down!!"

Something stirred in the brain module of the brutish Combaticon. His audio receptors were again giving him an sensory input again. His vision began to return. The pain began to subside.

“RAAAARGH!”

A roar of anger was joined by a cacophony of screeching and clanking as Brawl pushed himself back to his feet and made a quick survey of what the slag had just taken place.

“Huh? Swindle?! Where the frag did you come from?!”




Australia – Ayers Rock


A being built for roads, Motormaster had never been too interested in climbing if it was avoidable. But given the circumstances, he preferred having solid ground under his feet rather than utilizing his way too slow and cumbersome robot form flight ability to provide the Fallen an even easier target to hit with those lightning like energy attacks he had seen whizzing over the edge of the summit. At least now he could use the edge of the summit to take cover from the demigods attacks. Not that it made him any less frustrated.

Sixshot beaten, Devastator in pain, Shockwave dropped from the skies by a single blast of the Fallen's energies – it was infuriating. He was Motormaster - the nigh invulnerable King of the roads. Not some cowardly punk forced to take shelter from enemy fire. And here he was doing just that. Waiting for an opportunity to strike without having his circuits shorted out like so many other 'cons that had tried their luck against the Fallen so far. And yet there was not a slagging thing he could do without making a sacrifice he was not interested in making.

Except. There it was. That opportunity he had been waiting for. Ultra Magnus. The probable acting commander of Autobots on this sector was making an attempt to get on Fallen's face, likely to save that idiot who had gotten possessed in the first place. The Autobot's attack had drawn the Fallen's attention away from lesser targets at least for a time being and with the energy shield gone, there wasn't going to be any better opportunity than this.

And Motormaster was hardly beyond shooting someone in the back if he had the chance and a reason. Aiming his atom-smasher rifle dead on to Fallen's back, Motormaster fired – adding a salvo of mini-rockets from his shoulder mounted launchers for the good measure.

Australia--Uluru

From the sounds on the open-comm chatter, they were making progress. Shields going down and all that. It actually served to instill some real hope in the repair tech that they might actually come out of this thing alive. Might. Still, it was a lot slagging better than most likely not.

Now he had Shockwave on board. Wasn't that just lovely? Even as Malpractice continued to manipulate his primary controls, Landgrab was careful to roll just a little bit more smoothly. It didn't seem like the Military Operations Commander was conscious but if he was, even just slightly, Landgrab certainly wanted to provide him with a comfortable repair experience or do anything else that might cast a grim shadow over Psychout's efforts.

"It sounds like that Fallen guy sure isn't going down without a fight. Heh," Landgrab chuckled nervously.

Well of course not, numbglitch.

Maybe he could follow up that perceptive insight with some commentary on Motormaster's less-than-pleasant demeanor.

Australia - Autobot Shuttle Longevity: Combat Casualty Care Unit

Smokescreen lay flat on a medical berth with his cranium resting on a soft cushion and his optics off-lined as he drifted in and out of consciousness. The pain receptors in his half-severed right arm were throbbing, but the rallybot had gotten used to it. The pain killers that the medical drones had previously administered were helping a little with the lesser damage he had sustained, but the drugs were not quite as effective when it came to a cut-off appendage. That pain was far worse, but not as much as being doused with acid by the likes of Oil Slick. At least this time Smokey would not require a whole new body like before. Only a new right forearm would be needed.

The red and blue mech’s thoughts drifted back to Tracer once again. As much as he tried not to think about her or the battle that was still going on outside, his mind continued to return to the troubled femme. She had been left on board the Ark-22 for a while now. Thankfully, Wheeljack was still up there to help her if she needed him. Hopefully, nothing had happened and the replicator continued to function properly. In his processor, Smokescreen could see an image of Tracer sitting by the device, waiting for another vile of Syk to be produced. She appeared worried and agitated, which would probably only worsen her condition. Once the illegal drug was ready, she injected it directly into her systems, her features changing as quickly as she could transform into her alt mode.

Tracer... Smokey muttered to the image within his mind. The drug-addicted femme then turned towards him and smiled.

I feel better now, Smokescreen, the femme said to him with a smile. The red and blue racer smiled back, but said nothing. This wasn’t real. She wasn’t actually there. It was all in his head. Smokescreen? Her vocals became more anxious.

”SMOKESCREEN?!”

The rallybot’s optics suddenly on-lined as he was awakened from his semi-conscious daydream by the very real vocals of a femme. The diversion expert slowly lifted his head off of the med berth's cushion and looked around the room, his optics scanning the comings and goings of every mechanoid around him. It had become very busy in the combat care unit, but not enough for him to miss the sight of Tracer, herself, standing a short distance away.

“Tracer?!” Smokescreen called out with as much volume that he could muster. “What the frag are you doing down here? You’re supposed to be on the Ark. It’s not *cough! cough!* safe for you here.....”

The former street racer’s weakened voice trailed off as he reached out for the troubled femme with his left hand, happy to see her while at the same time unhappy that she had placed herself in harm’s way.

Australia - Not far from Autobot Shuttle Longevity

Ah, another jab at Skywarp’s intelligence. The chemical expert was batting a thousand today. The teleporter frowned at Oil Slick, the domed mech shifting the weight of Darkride on his shoulder plating. “Well, excuse me for not memorizing some stupid code. I’m not the one who usually initiates bounces, so I don’t need to remember them. But don’t worry, from now on I will just to make you happy.”

Oil Slick’s stares and expressions had not gone unnoticed by Skywarp. They were the same looks he had received on countless occasions by most within the Decepticon army. No one took him seriously and often shrugged ‘Warp off as just another mindless thug whose only usefulness was to destroy things and kill Autobots. Once the war was finally over, what place would there be for a prankster like Skywarp? Would there even be a place or would he just be discarded once his abilities were no longer required?

Of course, that assumed the war would ever end or if they would even survive the current battle with the fiery demigod of legend. And if they did make it through this fight, Skywarp would likely not have to be concerned about his usefulness for many vorns to come if ever. The war had gone on for this long and had no end in sight. For now, his place within the Decepticon ranks was secured so long as someone with teleportation capabilities was needed.

“Let’s just get these two up to the ship before they wake up. I...” Skywarp’s words were cut off as Oil Slick mentioned that two figures were approaching them, motioning behind the teleporter. The prankster glanced back over his shoulder, keeping a tight grip on the Stunticon herald. “Looks like the blind-bot and the traitor,” Skywarp said before turning his attention back to the chemical expert. “As much as I would like to blast Howlstrike to bits, now’s not the time. And, yes, even I can understand that.”

Skywarp then stepped in close to Oil Slick as the domed mech transmitted the recall signal up to the Thanatos. Within moments, the two Decepticons, along with their unconscious cargo, were enveloped in a bright beam of light as they were bounced off the battlefield, leaving nothing but sand and dust behind.

Australia - Outside Autobot Shuttle Longevity

Howlstrike nodded when Blindside said that they could not let Darkride escape. While vengeance was not on the former Predacon’s mind, he had no problem helping another ‘bot exact their revenge on a Decepticon or, in this case, a herald of the Fallen. It would be his great pleasure to aid Blindside in eviscerating the interrogator. Primus knew that Darkride was guilty of similar tortures, if not worse, to untold number of captured bots in the past and that was before he became a demigod’s minion.

“Whatever you say, Blindy,” Howlstrike growled as Blindside stormed off towards the place where Skywarp and Oil Slick stood. The Autobot hunter pulled out his energo sword with his left hand, letting out a groan as the pain in his still damaged shoulder intensified. Howl quickly switched the blade over to his good arm. Leaving the CR chamber early had not been a great idea. Even the tracker could not deny that. Of course, he would never admit such a thing openly. The green and black mech was a warrior, a former Predacon, after all. Pain was for the weak. Pain would not stop him from his objective and, by all accounts thus far, it would not stop Blindside, either.

As the Autobot duo approached the Decepticon pair, it became more and more apparent that Howlstrike had been correct in his original assumptions that both Drag Strip and Darkride were in the possession of Skywarp and Oil Slick respectively. “I was right! Darkride is there! Ol’ dome-head has him! We must hurry, Blindside!” Howl quickly transformed into his timber wolf alt mode, ignoring the sharp shooting pain from his shoulder exasperated by the sudden shifting of gears and servos.

Howlstrike rushed ahead of Blindside as fast as he could, his wounded shoulder and other unfixed damage keeping him from achieving his beast form’s top speed. Then the bounce beam came down from the sky as the former Predacon had feared. He tried to increase his speed, but his shoulder finally failed him, causing the mechanical wolf to tumble snout first into the sand just as the brilliant light engulfed the Decepticons and whisked them away.

“SLAGGIT!!!” Howlstrike roared as the lupine mech returned to his robot mode and slowly got back to his feet. His left shoulder was throbbing even more now than before his stay in the CR chamber. The pain was hard to ignore even for a former Predacon, but Howl managed, gripping the injured joint with his right clawed hand. The tracker then glanced back at Blindside, knowing full well that his newfound friend would be none too happy. “Almost had him! We’ll get him, though. Don’t you worry, Blindy! Fraggers like Darkride always get what’s coming to them.”

Howlstrike then glanced back towards Ayers Rock where he knew Razorclaw was likely fighting for his life right about now. “Always.”

Australia - Base of Ayers Rock

The police-modified Nissan GT-R skidded to a halt at the base of the rock formation, kicking up a cloud of sand as the cruiser did so. When the dust settled, Prowl had already returned to his robot form, gazing up the side of the mountain. As yet, he had not received a response of any kind from either Ultra Magnus or Razorclaw. Although, the latter was hardly surprising given the nature of a Predacon, but the military strategist assumed the City Commander had received his prior transmission and was simply too busy fighting to give a response. It was either that or Magnus was incapacitated or even dead.

Furthermore, Prowl had yet to hear back from Wheeljack on board the Ark-22. Hopefully, that meant the mad scientist was busy getting the spark extractor ready for deployment. As long as that was the case, the black and white was fine with radio silence from the mechanical engineer for the time being. Of course, the one mech who did respond in a quick fashion was none other than Shockwave, and his reply was not exactly what Prowl wanted to hear. Apparently, the Military Operations Commander needed more information in order to confirm the strategist’s conclusion regarding keeping Hot Rod contained, surmising that Prowl was just looking for an excuse to keep the cavalier from being destroyed.

Idiot, Prowl thought inwardly as he watched Shockwave’s flying ray-gun take a shot at the top of Ayers Rock. The one thing that the purple ‘Con failed to realize was that Prowl had no problem sacrificing one of his own ‘Bots if it was for the greater good. In this case, it was for the preservation of the Cybertronian species. If destroying Hot Rod would secure that preservation then the black and white would kill the flame-ladened mech, himself. As it were Hot Rod’s death was not a guarantee the Fallen would be stopped and not just hop into another body.

Prowl was about to open a comm line back to Shockwave to protest the purple scientist’s actions when suddenly a dark lightning erupted from the top of the mountain. It appeared to be some kind of electricity made of the same dark energies that the Fallen had utilized previously. Clearly, the fiery demigod had survived the initial onslaught of Decepticon firepower, including that of Shockwave, and was now unleashing a new hell on those positioned on the summit and in the skies above. One bolt of dark lightning struck the flying ray-gun dead center, sending Shockwave crashing into the desert below.

“I told you to contain him,” Prowl muttered under his breath as he watched his Decepticon equivalent go down. As much as they all needed a mech of Shockwave’s power to remain in the fight, it pleased the military strategist to a certain degree that the one-eyed ‘Con had received his just desserts for ignoring Prowl’s logical conclusion in favor of a more violent approach. Still, what’s done is done and the black and white needed to reach the summit soon and without being struck by the Fallen’s newest, electrical attack.

That’ll do, Prowl thought as he noticed a short distance to his right one of the human’s hiking trails that lead up and around the side of Uluru. It was still a very steep hike, even for a Cybertronian, but it would be easier than to climb straight up the rock face. Also, based on Prowl’s internal calculations, the path should wrap around and bring him up behind the Fallen’s current position, enabling him to avoid the lightning.

Breaking into a sprint, Prowl quickly reached the bottom of the human path and began the arduous climb to the top of Ayers Rock. As he went, it occurred to the military strategist that in order to use the spark extractor, not only did they have to subdue the Fallen somehow, but they would also have to hold his body in position long enough to use the device. The probability of knocking the demigod out cold was less than 5%. Therefore, there had to be a way to restrain the Fallen without being either burned by the hellfire that surround his body or electrocuted by the dark energies. Prowl’s logic center quickly came to a rational answer.

>>”Trailbreaker, this is Prowl. I am currently ascending Ayers Rock. I need you to get your aft over here ASAP. I’m going to need that shield of yours to hold the Fallen down if we’re going to suck that malevolent spark of his out of Hot Rod’s body. Get yourself refueled and then double time it. Follow my signal as the hiking path I’m using makes the climb to the top a little easier. Understood?”<<

((OOC: More to come.))

Australia - Top of Ayers Rock

A feeling of satisfaction enveloped the Predacon lord as his Decepticons obeyed his orders and unleashed a torrent of firepower directly at the Fallen. His own concussion blasts struck the demigod in the back, but did little damage to the fiery mech. It was not surprising, really, but at least some damage was better than before when nothing could get through that unholy shield. The impenetrable barrier was now gone, giving them all the opportunity to strike at the Fallen and let him have a taste of his own medicine. The possessed cavalier was open and exposed. He would therefore fall like the monster’s namesake that inhabited his body. Of course, the Autobots did not seem to share that sentiment, but it mattered little. If they were not willing to destroy Hot Rod and therefore the Fallen then the Decepticons would do so and show them who was truly the stronger faction.

Prowl's transmission echoed across Razorclaw’s comm line like an Insecticon buzzing in his audios, insisting that they must not destroy the Fallen lest the demigod’s spark was to escape and take over another body. Instead, the military strategist wanted them to contain Hot Rod until Wheeljack could arrive with a spark extractor to remove and dispose of the Fallen’s spark safely. The lion-former scoffed at the idea of containing the fiery mech. He had already been contained on top of this rock formation for who knows how long now. The demigod would not likely be going anywhere, either, at least not until all Cybertronians present were eradicated from Uluru. The black and white simply wanted to save one of his own Bots, but that was not going to happen. The Predacon lord would bring an end to the Fallen and to the cavalier, as well. After all, the only thing better than a dead demigod was a dead Autobot. It would be icing on the proverbial cake as the fleshbags would say.

Razorclaw simply ignored Prowl’s communique and kept his focus on the Fallen who had avoided Shockwave’s blast and endured the other attacks the Decepticons had thrown at him. Lining up another shot with his concussion cannon, the lion-former watched as the Fallen rose up from the summit and unleashed a dark lightning from his actuators, first at Devastator and Shockwave and then at the rest of the Cybertronians both on the summit and in the skies above. Before Razorclaw could react, one of the energy bolts struck his remaining shoulder-mounted cannon, destroying it and sending a slight surge of power into the Predacon lord’s systems. He had felt this sensation once before as it had knocked him down for several breems. This time was no different.

The Decepticon leader fell to the ground, clutching his left shoulder as residual energies coursed through his body. Thankfully, it had only been a graze and not a direct hit, his weapon taking the brunt of the assault. Only a small amount of the dark electricity had infiltrated his internal systems and since he had already experienced such an attack previously, his body was more prepared now to counteract the affects. Still, it shook Razorclaw to his very core, but not for long. The Ore-13 was still within his circuits and it helped to alleviate the affects, as well.

Remaining on the ground the avoid another strike, Razorclaw received a transmission from Psychout regarding the status of Shockwave and the Fallen’s resistance to explosive and heat-based attacks. It made sense considering the demigod was already on fire. The Predacon lord sent a non-verbal acknowledge back to Psychout before opening a comm line to all Cybertronians on top of Ayers Rock:

>>”This is Razorclaw. Avoid using explosives or fire-based assaults on the Fallen. He is already surrounded in flames! Instead, focus on kinetic and ballistic attacks to bring him down. Magnus, if you’re going to use that hammer of yours, I suggest you do so NOW!!”<<

With Shockwave seemingly out of commission for the remainder of the fight, they had few heavy hitters left on either side to stand a chance against the Fallen’s power. Even without his shield, the fiery demigod was not going down without a fight and had plenty of tricks left up his metallic sleeve. The giant Constructicon gestalt was still a viable option, but the Predacon lord did not know the extent of the damage, if any, the combiner had sustained from the Fallen’s dark lightning.

>>”Devastator, report! What is your condition? If you are still functional, continue your attack on the Fallen. Step on him! Crush him!! Do you understand?!”<<

Razorclaw did not know if the green behemoth could hear him or not and he wasn’t going to just sit on his laurels and wait for a response. The lion-former was the leader of the Decepticon Empire now. He, himself, was a heavy hitter and it was high time he made some kind of an impact in this battle against extinction. However, Razorclaw had to make his move at just the right time. Otherwise, he would fail and the Fallen would continue to unleash his wrath on everyone around him until all were dead.

With Ultra Magnus finally making some kind of play against the Fallen, Razorclaw saw an opportunity to flank the fiery demigod. Transforming into his lion alt mode, the Predacon lord stayed low and crawled down into one of the trenches he had previously used. Moving slowly and methodically, Razorclaw crept his away around the Fallen’s position as the Autobot leader flung his massive hammer at the possessed cavalier. Simultaneously, other renewed attacks targeted the Fallen, all the while dark lightning continued to pour from the devil’s actuators.

Razorclaw simply stayed low within the trench to avoid more of the dark energies. The last thing he needed now was another dose of that unholy power infiltrating his systems, which were still shaking off the last attack. Having found his spot a good distance behind the Fallen, the mechanical lion waited patiently for the perfect moment to strike and finally bring an end to this conflict.

Australia - Top of Ayers Rock

The Fallen continued to unleash the unholy dark lightning from the tips of his actuators, targeting those on the summit and in the skies above. A maniacal laughter filled the air as various Cybertronians began to fall all around him. Shockwave had dropped like a rock, Devastator had at least been kept at bay for the time being, and others were brought down with varying degrees of damage to their bodies. It was all a symphony of chaos, one that the demigod’s own master would be proud of.

This is how it ends for your kind, child. This is how it will end for all who stand in my master’s way!

NO! I won’t let you do it, Fallen! I won’t let you!

Hahahaha!!!! You have no choice, child! My mental fires are keeping your two comrades at bay within my mind while I deal with the rest out there! You have no one to turn to, no one to help you! You will witness the extinction of your filthy race before you join them once I suck your own energies dry!

The Fallen’s tormenting of Hot Rod came to an abrupt halt when the fiery demigod felt something strike his leg. Looking around and down, the flame-ladened mech saw a seeker throwing rocks at him, cursing him in the process. The ‘Con in question was called Feedback and he seemed to have serious anger management issues.

“So, this is what you throw at me? Rocks? Hahahahahah!!!” The Fallen exclaimed with a roar of renewed laughter as Feedback then managed to fire off a shot from his glass gas rifle. The shot struck the demigod’s frame, causing some of his flames to diminish slightly. It wasn’t nearly enough, of course, as the hell-fires were swiftly reignited with earnest. “Nice try, but you truly are so pathetic aren’t you?! It’ll take more than a simple fire extinguisher to put out my perpetual flames!”

Starscream’s own taunts then echoed in the Fallen’s audios. “I do know how to fight, actually. Do you know how to die or are you too cowardly to face your ultimate fate?! Do any of you have what it takes to accept your inevitable deaths?!” The Fallen then turned his dark lightning at both Feedback and Starscream as a reminder that the end was near for them and the rest.

As he did so, an armor-piercing projectile ripped through his right shoulder plating and shot out the front in a fiery display. “Arrrrggghhhh!!! What the slag?!!” The Fallen spun around in mid air only to be met with the blast of Brawl’s twin sonic cannons. The force of the strikes sent the flame-covered mech back through the air several yards, his audios ringing from the effects. All the while the dark lightning never ceased to course from his actuators as the Combaticon thug was quickly overtaken by the unholy power, allowing the enraged Fallen to regain his bearings enough to turn his attention elsewhere.

You’re armor has been breached, Fallen. You are injured.

You are delusional, child. It will take much more than a hole to stop a demigod!

But, you’re bleeding!

Nonsense, I... The Fallen glanced over at this right shoulder and noticed a trickle of dark energon oozing from the open wound. It was minor, but it was technically still an injury. It’s only a scratch! Nothing more!!

While still feeling the effects of the sonic attack and having once again been distracted by Hot Rod's comments, the Fallen had not noticed the approach of Ultra Magnus who was readying his war hammer for a brutal assault. At the last astrosecond, the fiery demigod caught sight of the City Commander just as he unleashed his weapon, hurling it through the air in a virtual spinning vortex. The Fallen turned his lightning attack towards the hammer with the intent of destroying the weapon before it reached him, but the demigod was not fast enough.

The Autobot leader’s war hammer made it past the lightning unscathed and collided with the Fallen squarely in the center of his chest plate. The hellish figure was propelled backwards through the air in an uncontrollable spiral, knocking him out of the way of various other attacks. Broadside’s shots missed their mark as did Motormaster’s atom smasher volley along with the Stunticon Commander’s follow-up salvo of rockets.

A few meters away, the Fallen crashed down to the summit hard, tumbling end over end until he finally came to rest, lying face down on the mountaintop. The dark lightning had now ceased as the demigod was in no position to maintain such an assault. Furthermore, the fires across his back plating dimmed but did not go out entirely. The metaphorical air had been knocked out of the Chaos Bringer’s minion. It was a sensation he had not felt since well before his ascension into a demigod and one that enraged him more than ever before.

Pushing himself up from the surface, the Fallen remained on all fours as he looked down at his crumpled chest plate where the Autobot’s hammer had left a sizable dent behind. It hurt. Real pain had been inflicted on the possessed cavalier. However, said pain was quickly diverted to Hot Rod’s consciousness within, consuming the Autobot in an aura of agony and despair. The rage within the Fallen’s vessel did not go away, however, as the hell-fires began to grow brighter once more as the anger grew increasingly powerful.

Lifting his head up to gaze out across the summit of Ayers Rock, the Fallen let out a deafening battle cry. The fiery demigod then raised his right hand up and brought it down hard into the surface of the mountain, causing the ground to shake violently. “You will pay for that Ultra Magnus. YOU WILL ALL PAY DEARLY!!!”

With another furious roar, the mutated body of the possessed cavalier began to shift and change as gears and servos rearranged themselves in a methodical fashion. Panels and limbs folded in on themselves at various joints across his distorted frame as the Fallen’s head disappeared into his torso. Within astroseconds, the fiery demigod’s transformation sequence was complete, a half-track siege tank now sitting where the hellspawn had once lay injured just moments ago.

The Fallen’s tank mode was longer than most with continuous treads in the back and regular wheels positioned at the front. It was heavily armored with a single powerful gun turret situated on top along with a pair of surface-to-air missile batteries mounted on either side. Of course, hell-fire continued to burn across the vehicle’s entire surface, but the damage done to the demigod’s chest plate was now clearly visible at the front of the siege tank. A weakness to be exploited, but one the mechanical demon did not intend for anyone to take advantage of.

Without delay, the Fallen’s tank mode slowly rolled forward towards the Cybertronian disease that still infested the summit of Ayers Rock. Taking aim at various targets, the demigod repeatedly opened fire with his top-mounted cannon, unleashing a virtual hellstorm of dark energy shells at anyone within range. Ultra Magnus, Motormaster, Devastator, the Combaticons, Razorclaw, Jazz, the Autobot triplechangers, they were all just some of the intended victims of the Fallen’s latest attack. Explosions erupted across the summit as the side-mounted missile batteries simultaneously fired, sending dark energy fueled rockets into the skies to seek out and destroy any aerial combatants that were still left.

You’re a monster, Fallen! You have perverted by body into something hellish and unnatural!

MY body, you mean! You no longer have a vessel to call your own and soon your very spark with by mine, as well! Hahahahahaha!!!

Hot Rod's Subconscious – The Fallen's Mindscape

"Ah, Soundwave, you have returned and brought company I see. How nice! You must know that your efforts are useless. Hot Rod is mine and he will always be!”

Oh joy of joys. The Fallen had noticed them almost as swiftly as Hot Rod had taken heed of his words and tried to reach him. The demi-god and his unwilling vessel had a little chat and were soon enveloped in a blinding, intense light. Blaster kept his optics open wide though, scanning through the painful brightness for any sign of his friend Hot Rod to no avail. As the light faded, the hellish flames viciously exploded outward, causing Blaster to flinch slightly as they brushed him.

"Your efforts to break through to Hot Rod seem to have been marginally effective.”

“Yeah, I'd say so. He didn't try to distance us from Roddy because we weren't a threat,” Blaster replied to his blue rival.

”I recommend employing the threat of what would happen to those he considers close to him if we want to make more progress. The mentioning of Arcee seemed to have been an effective measurement on the Fallen's part. If we can get the cavalier to continue fighting against the Fallen in here, then he should be too distracted to continue his efforts outside the mindscape."

“And that buys time for our boys on the outside to figure out how to save Roddy,” Blaster finished in agreement. “Let's just hope we don't become vegetables trying.”

“HOT ROD! Roddy! Man, where are you?! You gonna let the Fallen just beat you back like that? What would 'Cee think? You gotta keep fightin'! Focus! Every second the Fallen isn't in control, is one of our friends' lives spared! You can't let up! Right now, that flaming slagger could blow apart Sideswipe or Perceptor or Arcee! Do it for them! Do it for all of us! Do it for Optimus.”

Blaster paused to see if he could make out any change in the inferno or hear Hot Rod's voice calling out to him. Without looking, the crimson-colored communications officer addressed his rival. “Soundwave...How fast can you react if we find ourselves at the receiving end of the Fallen's full attention?”

Australia--Uluru--Some distance away

It was an impressive show. None of the archivists who would one day catalog the events of this battle for future generations of Cybertronians would have any doubts about that. Astrotrain looked down at blinking comm panel on his arm. He had been ignoring it. He had been ignoring most everything for a little while now. They weren't making any headway against this threat. He had resigned himself to the likelihood of being swallowed up in some infernal blaze. Others, it seemed, hadn't gone too far down that road.

>>"Hey Astrotrain and Blitzwing, it sounds like open season on the Fallen. It is time slag one so called demi-god. I wonder if the Autobrats are going to try and stop us or join in eliminating one of their own."<<

Astrotrain's expression quirked slightly, curiosity very evident on his face. What had happened? What had they done to make any sort of headway against this mythical monster? He couldn't begin to guess. These kinds of threats were too far above his pay grade. Blitzwing was likely having the time of his life. He'd go out in a blaze of glory for sure. Octane's question was a good one though. One that made even the normally straightforward and minimally-philosophical Astrotrain pause a little longer and think. He was in a good place for doing such things at the moment.

>>"That's the top-grade engex question, Octane. My guess is the 'Bots are too sentimental. They're gonna try to save their friend, mess everything up, and you're about to be a dead mech. And I won't be too far behind you."<<

Where were Darkwing And Dreadwind when he needed them? Maybe they could cheer him up.

Australia--Ayer's Rock--Summit

Sandstorm knew they had finally dealt some real damage to this Fallen slagbag. For a good while he didn't know whether they would--or even could--but that question had been answered and the crazy Thirteener's attacks were growing more erratic with every astrosecond that passed. It was only Sandstorm's dextrous nature that saved him from bearing the full brunt of any of the lightning blasts that had come streaking from the insane creature.

In the midst of it, though, he had seen that Broadside had taken a shot from the stuff, and a pretty serious one at that. But he couldn't do anything to help that right now. This was all part of the risk when your main function included wrecking things. Sometimes they wrecked you back.

The Fallen had taken some more serious hits himself, though, and that gave Sandstorm the opportunity he was looking for as he jolted across the summit and stopped just short of one of Broadside's oversized feet. Latching the freeze ray onto his back, Sandstorm reached down with both arms and began to slowly pull Broadside further away from the danger.

"Geez, wouldn't kill ya to skip a refit every once in a while, would it?" Sandstorm asked with a smirk, having no idea whether his fellow Triple-Changer was even conscious enough to hear him or respond.
___

In the midst of it all, Swindle was certainly being true to form, trying to eke out a profit anywhere he could. But, fortunately for the little dealer, he was also doing what he could to aid a fellow Combaticon: an act which allowed Onslaught to forgive some of his less-than-desirable traits when he might not have otherwise. This was life and death. The last thing in Onslaught's stream of strategic consciousness was the concept of any "tab". To the victors would go all the spoils, just as it had always been. Swindle could collect then. otherwise, it would be the Pit for all of them.

Apart from that, it looked like their attacks were working. Damage was actually being done. Onslaught had been in more than his share of battles over the vorns. He knew only too well that if it could bleed, it could die. And now, like any wounded animal, since damage had been done the crazed entity was now lashing out with every supernatural ability at his disposal.

He had, as skillfully as he could manage, avoided the Fallen's lightning energy assault; however, he had not been so fortunate with the even more erratic hellfire attacks. One such shell detonated only a meter or so from Onslaught's current position, triggering an involuntary transformation and knocking the Combaticon Commander into one of the trenches.

Even so, his optics registered the damage and everything else around him. He was down, but he was not out.

Australia – Ayers Rock

The cruel, gleeful smile that had risen on Motormaster's visage the very moment he saw Brawl's kinetic penetrator blasting through the Fallen's shoulder died as soon Ultra Magnus' hammer found its target and threw the Fallen out of the way of the Stunticon leader's own assault.

“Slaggin' piece of malfunctioning servotrash...” Motormaster cursed, taking some pleasure in seeing the Autobot commander tumbling down as a result from being hit by the Fallen's energies.

“Messed up my hit did you Magnus. Serves you right.” He smirked and and dropped behind the edge of the summit as a precautionionary reaction to seeing the Fallen transform. He had seen the demigod do way too much weird slag today to take any chances. His hunch saved him from being hit by a dark energy shell too, witnessing one to whizz just over his position.

The Stunticon positioned his sword in a manner that allowed him to follow what was happening on the top of Ayers Rock through the reflection from the sword's surface without exposing himself to the Fallen's rampage. Against this enemy, it was better to wait out and observe for another chance now rather than making himself yet another target for the Fallen to take out. And Motormaster certainly wasn't going brood over the chance of Ultra Magnus meeting his maker up there.

Australia- Ayers Rock

“So, this is what you throw at me? Rocks? Hahahahahah!!!" The Fallen exclaimed “Nice try, but you truly are so pathetic aren’t you?! It’ll take more than a simple fire extinguisher to put out my perpetual flames!"

"Oh... really... I'm pathetic?" The seeker said in a low growl, turning to see the flames reignite that the glass gas rifle had managed to diminish. It was then he wished he was a better tactician, because there was nothing more that he wanted than to obliterate that egotistical glitch. Instead he just bristled and turned his attention back to Starscream as the Fallen also lobbed insults back at the Sky Commander as well.

Starscream began walking away, with a bit of a hobble, as he looked at Feedback again.

"You make good sense, considering the circumstances. But if this is a ruse, make no mistake, you will pay dearly."

Feedback watched Starscream for just a brief moment as The Commander began to walk off. He sighed slightly, so wishing that the situation was different. But falling back seemed like the best option, even if it was not the option that made both of them look the best.

"No ruse, Sky Commander." He finally said and started into motion himself. "I'm no fool, I know crossing you would have very dire consequences."

He opened his comm to his team, figuring it best if he let them know he was coming back, with company. "Pscyhout, Sir, Doctor, Landgrab, I'm coming back with someone in need of repairs, if you wouldn't mind putting Creuljaw on a leash, please, I'd rather not have what I have left of my face-" He paused, sensing something coming up behind him, but not closing the commlink.

It wasn't solid, whatever it was, it wasn't picking up on his proximity radar. But something nagged at the back of his mind that something dangerous was filling the air. Feedback turned to see the Fallen's attention was directly on the two Seekers. "Oh slag..." He muttered as he saw what it was. The Fallen had unleashed his wrath specifically at Starscream and himself, dark energy bolts bearing down on the two and since they hadn't been facing in the Fallen's direction there was no early warning this time. "Starscream!" He yelled. "The Fallen has targeted us!"

Feedback's radar crackled, his communications wavered, even though the bolt had not yet hit him. He diverted all his power to his communications array to keep the line to his team open in case he needed to call for help. He started running, as he was lagged behind Starscream, to catch up to the Seeker. He knew he couldn't outrun the bolt, but he guessed that the attack from the Fallen was going to be significantly more powerful than the last blasts they took, as the demi god looked to be bent on making examples of the two.

As he reached Starscream, he was now positioned between the Fallen and the Sky Commander, the first bolt of dark energy nearly reaching him. The second bolt was only a split second behind the first, and out of instinct, shielded the Sky Commander by nearly pushing him down. "Psychout, Sir, I'll need medi-" He began, with a rather calm voice, over the comm.

The first bolt hit him, sending a massive jag of energy through his systems. He screamed out in absolute pain as even though the bolt that hit him earlier was not as powerful, it had scrambled his systems and he was not completely recovered from that.

His communications array blew up. Not went offline, blew up. He could see, in that last moment of consciousness, the sparks burst from under his wings. The radar sensors on his wing tips also exploded as the electrical surge from his communications array cycled back into him. Now instead of pushing the Sky Commander to safety, he fell on him as he went offline.

The second bolt, meant for Starscream, then slammed into Feedback. The resulting surge through his radar/sonar pods sent electricity doubled back through his systems, frying all his jamming equipment and sending Feedback into status lock, twitching as all the energy fried circuitry.

Top of Ayers Rock

Starscream was limping away from The Fallen's position, his mind on what to do next. He had this Decepticon seeker-wannabe hanging on his every word. He had already decided to allow Feedback to accompany him, But to where? He certainly wasn't going back to the Thanatos. Razorclaw can shine his skidplate. He was no commander of Starscream! No one was! Well, maybe Megatron. But...

At that moment, Feedback's shouting froze Starscream in his tracks, as he turned around, only to see Feedback flying at him. No, not flying. Being thrown! By an energy bolt! Starscream couldn't brace himself quick enough on his bad leg, so he simply dropped to his knees. He tried to shield himself from Feedback's now exploding body, as the energy surge overloaded his internal systems. The other Decepticon's now unconscious body slammed into Starscream as the second bolt hit it full force. The momentum knocked both of them tumbling towards the edge of the rock formation.

"Oh..." Starscream groaned. "...hell...!"

Tangled in Feedback's lifeless limbs, as well as some of his now-exposed internal parts, Starscream couldn't stop them from going over the edge. He could, however, still fly. With sheer luck and coincidence, both his internal systems regained enough function and Feedback's body clung to him so that he could grasp the other Decepticon in a bear hug and activate his thrusters in his feet.

Knowing his back was totally exposed to The Fallen's attack, Starscream blasted off the side of the rock formation with as much energy as he could muster. As he ascended, he shifted the unconscious Feedback's body in his arms, and he was now carrying him as one would carry an injured child, or perhaps a newly-married groom carried his bride over a threshold. Feedback's limp arms hung down as his head tilted back.

"Damn it..." Starscream muttered to himself. "I hope his last transmission went through."

With that, Starscream zoomed away from Ayers Rock and the site of the battle.

In the skies

Skydive and Fireflight were finishing off a golem when the Fallen's dark purple lightening shot around them.

"Hey Skydive, it looks like the Fallen is putting on a light show for us."

"It looks like it isn't just for us. Look at the mountain top."

Fireflight looked toward the top only to see a bolt coming straight at him. He barrow rolled to his right and barely got clipped. The energy went through his circuits which caused engine failure for a brief moment. This allowed a more direct hit by another bolt. This shot fried his systems and exploded the fire fog missiles causing massive damages. The only blessing was the explosion launched Fireflight close to the Longevity shuttle. The mangled mess of Fireflight landed a few meters away from the shuttle.

Skydive saw what happen to Fireflight to his horror. He quickly open a comm link to their squad commander.

>>Silverbolt, this is Skydive, Fireflight is down! He got hit with two of the Fallen's bolts. The first clipped him but the second was a direct hit and it detonated his fire fog missiles. He crashed near the Longevity.<<

Before Skydive could wait for a response, he dodged his own attack for the first shot but the second was right behind it and twice the width. This one smacked Skydive right in the nosecone which sent him careening into the ground plowing through one of the very few remaining golems. The golem collapsed on top of Skydive.


Elsewhere in the upper skies Jetfire watched the mess. He noticed the energy bolts coming from the Fallen and one came up toward his direction. He had no intention of being hit so he took to the stars. As he thought, he was able to out run the energy as it dissipated but a very large object coming down caught his attention. He quickly noticed it was the Guardian. It surprised Jetfire to see the ship so close to the planet. He wondered if the ship was having troubles keeping orbit due to the damages it took from the Fallen's earlier attack.


Top of Ayer's Rock

Hot Spot barely ducked behind a rock formation to avoid the bolts. Once they were done, he got from behind the rock and had to duck the physical armaments being launched. The rock he was just behind blew up and Hot Spot got peppered with lime stone. One of the larger chunks hit him hard enough to crack his back armor and made him fall down onto his face. He then got up and once in range he unloaded the coldest liquid he had in his tanks.

"You are a wash, Fallen. No matter how hard you try, you can't take us down. The Cybertronian race is too strong to be taken down by one lone mech. You know from your own personal history of how strong we are. I believe Hot Rod is one of the strongest, most noble, pure, and passionate sparks in the Autobot army. You are a mere proto compared to him. You will lose this fight and become a laughing stock instead of the nightmares of young protoforms."

Hot Spot open a private communication to Ultra Magnus.

>>Sir, I suggest you get in there and knock some sense into Hot Rod. Remember, most tank formers have a soft under belly.<<

Australia – Ayers Rock

Finally.

It had felt like an eternity. Waiting for the earth shake again, buried under over a hundred tons of rock. Yeah, perhaps it hadn't been the smartest idea ever to follow Sixshot through the tunnel the sixchanger had dug into the facade of the Ayers Rock but at that time Skullcruncher had found it a course of action worth of exploring. Of course, it hadn't exactly gone as planned. The Fallen had sealed the tunnel as soon as Sixshot had burst out of it, burying Skullcruncher alive under the ancient red rock.

A lesser Cybertronian would have been crushed. Not Skullcruncher. But not even one as tough and strong as he could have escaped a trap like that after being encased in rock without any room to move – at all. Until the ground shook again, allowing movement, allowing him to reach for his serrated energo-blade.

Lacking a powerful firearm that could have broken him free, Skullcruncher did what he could to push as the sword away from him before flaring it up, allowing it to cut into the stone, quickly turning the rock around the blade into molten fluid. In a moment he had carved himself a small, heated cavern where he stood in quickly cooling magma that burned away what little was left of his exterior paint. A pathetic flesh creature would have perished doing the same but a Cybertronian with as thick and heat resistant armor plating as Skullcruncher could easily survive a quick plunge into a lava pool, let alone just standing in something that couldn't reach the melting point of his armor.

It was time to set into work. Cutting and crushing rock, Skullcruncher began tunneling towards the surface and a constant heat signature he was registering through his sensors. It had to be the Fallen. What else could stay that damn hot?

Fortunately enough it wasn't that far off his position. He had felt so useless thorough the battle that it ate away at the proud warrior. His attack earlier ignored. Forced to fight unliving rock golems. Being buried alive. His audio receptors were starting to pick up sound waves through the stone around him. Sounds of combat. The battle had not ended yet. Hope.

The heat level began rising steadily as he dug his way towards the surface. So close now. Every move he took felt like an eternity. Then the small rocks fell on him, followed by unnatural flames striking down into his tunnel. Not by much but just enough for Skullcruncher to identify his target. It was the Fallen and the demigod clearly wasn't shielded anymore, at least not from below.

It was time for a revenge.

Without giving a second thought about letting the Fallen's flames touch him, Skullcruncher sunk his energo-blade as deep into the belly of the Fallen's tank form as he could reach from his rather limiting position – but not without consequences. While the white hot energo-sword sliced through even Fallen's armor plating without much resistance, it also worked as a conduit for the Fallen's dark energies – striking the cybervore with a backlash that made him loose his grip on the sword and fall back into the bottom of his tunnel, writhing in agony.

And with the sword's energon feeding contact to Skullcruncher's hand lost, the fire around its blade died out as well.

OOC: Arranged with Smokey.

Australia - Uluru

"BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Blitzwing laughed manically as his treads rolled over the graveled remains of the latest rock golem that happened to cross his warpath. His tank-turret pivoted 20 degrees along his X-axis and 47 up the Y, taking aim for a low-flying firebird that was continuing to pester the assembled Cybertronian joint force.

*CHEK-KRAAWWW* Roared the triplechanger's tank cannon as he sent one of his usual explosive shells across the red sand. His aim was fixated on the bird's chest, or what could best be described as a chest area. While his accuracy was by far one of the best in his tank-mode, he forgot to account for the rapid movements these fiery entities was utilizing, instead his shell connected against the wing of the fiery hell spawn.

"STAY DOWN!" Blitzwing taunted his elemental foes as he watched the bird spiral down and disburse into a cloud of flame before he returned his main gun back to the front of his tank form.

>>"Hey Astrotrain and Blitzwing, it sounds like open season on the Fallen. It is time slag one so called demi-god. I wonder if the Autobrats are going to try and stop us or join in eliminating one of thier own."<<

>>That's the top-grade engex question, Octane. My guess is the 'Bots are too sentimental. They're gonna try to save their friend, mess everything up, and you're about to be a dead mech. And I won't be too far behind you."<<

The comm line shared between the Decepticon triplechanger's pinged with life again as Octane delivered some insight on the current events of the battle. Blitzwing quickly shifted to his F-15E strike fighter jet and rocketed straight up into the sky before halting in the air and changing to his robot mode. The commando's optical visor gazed across the blazing landscape and towards the summit of the Australian rock formation. Above he could see massive bolts of dark energy surge and jump about, though at who he could t exactly distinguish.

>>"Well I've had just enough with what these Autobots think!"<< Blitzwing barked as his vision became fixated on the chaos that was enveloping the summit of Ayers Rock, >>"We've sat back and let them play their hand this entire damned time! And for what? To get shot at? To get bludgeoned with living rock? FRACK THAT NOISE! I say we show this so-called demigod the real meaning of a triple threat! Time for us to play the wildcard!"<<

Closing his comm line and shifting back to his Violet shaded jet mode once again, Blitzwing put all his power into rocketing himself towards the summit of Ayers Rock.

Top of Ayers Rock

Vortex had kept his distance along the back of the gathered Decepticon forces upon the summit. The Combaticon was nuts, practically insane most claimed, but squaring off against a demigod? Yeah, let the rest of the loons have a shot at it, they're far more durable than he was. Speaking of durable... There went his fellow Combaticon, Brawl, tossing Rocks like some primitive to peppering the possessed Autobot with his own barrage of ballistics.

Before Vortex could make some smartaft quip towards his lesser intelligent team member, the Fallen's patience grew thing and he finally changed form, shifting into some tank-like vehicle while still being set ablaze with his patented brand of demonic fire. Soon the main cannon of the Fallen's began to return fire upon those who had gathered atop the red-colored rock. A torrent of dark energy shells began to pepper the top of Ayers Rock as the Fallen gave up his charade and decided to try and finally end this conflict. Vortex cowered behind a sizable chunk of rock to protect himself from the onslaught, though already he could feel his cover slowly deteriorating away as the shells pounded further into the rock.

-

>>"Devastator, report! What is your condition? If you are still functional, continue your attack on the Fallen. Step on him! Crush him!! Do you understand?!"<<

That voice, it rang once again in his audio receptors. The sound of the Predacon Commander was the only thing Devastator could hear after being struck by the Fallen's dark energy bolts. His circuits twitched, joints and actuators throbbed with a pain each individual Constructicon had never endured before. Devastator was brought to his knees before the fiery demigod had changed form, and now reality was catching back up with the green and purple giant.

"Crush... Fallen..." Devastator bellowed as his vocalizer came back online, residual sparks of the dark energy spewing from various points in the gestalts armor.

"Scrapppper... mussst... disengage..." Devastator murmured as he struggled to raise back to his full height, his thunderous voice laced with a tone that sounded a lot like that of Hook.

"Can... kill him... We... have to..." Devastator replied to himself, his voice returning to its normal tone.

"Can't... maintain... connection much... longer..."

Devastator stood back to his full height, though the damage done to him was apparent. His upper body had a slight hunch and his jaw was left agap as his basic targeting systems tried to locate the tank-form of the Fallen. Just when his basic sensors had spot him, his torso began to take the forefront of the Fallen's barrage. The Constructicon gestalt tried to shield himself using his arms, but continued to be harassed by the demigod's dark energy shells.

"DIE!!!" roared the Constructicon combiner as he dropped his arms to make one last swing at the Fallen. His fist connected into the red-rock, but he had missed the Fallen by several meters or so. Upon striking the earth, Devastator fell back to his knees. An assortment of warning lights and alarms blared in his HUD as he tried to rise up once more. Best as the brutish green mass tried, he just couldn't gather the energy to pull himself back up.

The Constructicon combiner began to sway as his knee servos grew weak from the abundant energy loss. A deep bellowing escaped his vocalizer as he began to roll to the left, his body now limp from extraneous use and exposure from the entirety of the conflict. Optics fixated on his target, Devastator could see dark energy begin to pour from underneath the tank-form of the mystic prime. A satisfied smile took to his faceplate as his final thought was how he had won over the Fallen, shortly before he could feel his processor growing distant from him and all feeling he had had quickly disappeared from his sensors.

-

"AGH!" Scrapper exclaimed as his body fell limp in the red sand that coated the Australian outback. His vision was highly blurred, an apparent side effect of the experimental combining process. His processor throbbed as he struggled to look about in his current condition. He could make out the other 5 of his team members littered around him, though they were only green blurs in his optics. He tried to rise to his feet, but the motor functions in his legs were still recovering and attempting a sudden reboot.

"Constru-ACK-ticons..." The shovel loader attempted to call out before he found himself coughing up energon. "Did...did we get -ACK- him?"

Australia - Top of Ayers Rock

It was a difficult climb, but Prowl managed to make it to the summit of the rock formation in one piece. The military strategist slipped on the brittle sandstone once or twice during his ascension, but he quickly caught himself and kept going unabated. Time was of the essence. If there was any remaining hope of stopping the Fallen and saving Hot Rod in the process, action needed to be taken sooner rather than later. Things looked grim, but it could get much worse if the possessed cavalier was outright killed. Destroying Hot Rod’s body would not stop the Fallen’s dark spark from finding another vessel and then this conflict would start all over again. The Decepticons did not understand this logical fact, not even Shockwave was open to the very real possibility. Thus, it would be up to the Autobots to bring this situation to the proper conclusion.

This was not to say that Prowl had any aversion to killing Hot Rod if he thought it would bring a final end to the fiery demigod. The strategist would do so in a spark-beat. Of course, things would not be that simple. The Fallen was more than just a possessed Cybertronian. He was, at his core, a dark spark of immense, but not unlimited, power. It needed to be removed and contained before being ultimately destroyed. Only then would the threat be eradicated permanently. Anything else would leave the proverbial door open for the Fallen to return at a later time. The Prime of legend needed to be stopped here and forever.

Peering over the edge of Ayers Rock, Prowl stayed low with Wheeljack’s experimental freeze gun still slung over his right shoulder. The black and white could see the Fallen a good distance away, having now stopped his lightning assault and assumed some kind of elongated tank mode. Interesting. Looks more like a mutated winnebago with a gun turret on top, Prowl thought with a slight chuckle, keeping his optics on the proceedings.

Pulling himself up over the edge of the mountain top, Prowl dashed across the summit towards the Fallen’s position, approaching from behind and keeping low to avoid being targeted. The fiery mech continued to unleash rockets into the skies and dark energy shells at those on the summit who had not already been taken out by the lightning. Devastator tried to hit the demon Prime, but completely missed before ultimately collapsing and breaking apart into the individual Constructicons. If a huge gestalt like that could be brought down by the Fallen’s might, what could the rest of them hope to do?

When he was close enough, the black and white took cover behind a large boulder, now only several meters from the Fallen’s position. Clearly, the demigod needed to be contained, but Trailbreaker had yet to respond to the military strategist’s prior communique. The idea of using the defensive strategist’s force field was a sound one, but the time it would take the fuel guzzler to get up to the summit might just spell doom for them all. There had to be another way and then it hit Prowl like a punch from Sixshot. The freeze guns! Of course! How could I be so dumb!!

The simple answer: Prowl was not so dumb. His logic center was just having problems trying to wrap itself around the notion of a supernatural entity that was attempting to murder them all and bring about the apocalypse. Keeping focus on the aspects that seemed a bit more grounded in reality had helped to keep the black and white from going completely crazy. Still, this entire scenario continued to affect him in ways he normally did not have to deal with. Just when he thought he finally had things figured out, a supernatural twist was thrown in, and the strategist had to rethink things. Hopefully, this idea would not be more of the same.

Prowl turned his attention away from the fiery siege tank for a moment and towards the other Cybertronians on the summit. Now where’s that other freeze gun? The military strategist thought as he scanned every mech within range of his external sensors. He knew the weapon had been meant for Ultra Magnus, but the City Commander was down and did not seem to have it. Still, someone likely did. There it is! Prowl’s spark skipped a pulse as he spotted the other freeze weapon slung over the back of Sandstorm. The black and white wasted no time in opening a secured comm line to the triplechanger:

>>”Sandstorm, this is Prowl. I’m currently on the summit several meters away from our dear friend, the Fallen. I’ve got an idea that will require your help. I have the other freeze gun that Wheeljack sent down. We need to contain the Fallen until ‘Jack gets his aft down here with the spark extractor. To do that you and I will need to use our freeze weapons and turn that fiery demigod into a block of ice! Flank the Fallen on the other side while I do the same here. Use the trenches to keep out of sight. At my signal, unleash the ice ray on him. Understood?”<<

The idea was a long shot as Prowl did not know just how hot the hellfire was that surrounded the Fallen’s possessed frame. If it was like normal fire then the military strategist’s logic center could calculate a success rate. As it were, there was no way in determining what affect the ice weapons would have on the demigod or how long the ice would last before it melted. The hellfire seemed to be fueled from within so it was likely that the freeze solution would not keep the Fallen down for long. Another unknown factor was Hot Rod, himself. It was possible that he could fight the demon from inside and keep the hellfire at bay, but that was also not a guarantee.

Thus Prowl kept the force field option open:

>>”Trailbreaker, what’s your ETA to the summit? I have come up with an alternative plan to contain the Fallen, but we may still need your force field. Do you read me?”<<

The black and white then switched comm channels once again:

>>”Wheeljack! Stop fragging around up there and get your aft plates down here now! We need that spark extractor ASAP!”<<

With his final message sent, Prowl returned his attention to the Fallen. Something had now happened, as the fiery siege tank lifted off the ground slightly followed by a flash of dark energy coming from the tank's underside. Had someone attacked him from below somehow? The military strategist kept his optics on the situation as it developed.

((OOC: More to come.))

Hot Rod’s Subconscious - The Fallen’s Mindscape

Hot Rod was surrounded by hellfire. In his own mind (or was it the Fallen’s now?) the cavalier felt isolated and alone, having only pain to keep him company. That pain actually belonged to the demigod who had taken residence inside his body. It was the pain inflicted upon him by the combined forces of the Autobots and Decepticons who were desperately trying to defeat the Prime of legend before all Cybertronians were eradicated and the chaos bringer was unleashed upon the universe. The agony was transferred to Hot Rod so that he may suffer instead of the Fallen. It also served to keep the cavalier at bay so that he could not continue to distract the fiery demigod from his ultimate goal. So far it was working.

The hellfires licked his heels as Hot Rod tried to regain control, but it was no use. The sounds of tank fire could be heard as the Fallen continued his assault on the outside. Visions of those mechs who were dead or dying filled his thoughts as the demigod continued to torture him. Hot Rod did his best to ignore them, but it was difficult. He just wasn’t strong enough. For a while he thought he was, but now he had been beaten back once again, proving that he was a failure.

A new voice then filled his mind as Hot Rod looked around through the mental flames that surrounded him. Who is that?! Who’s calling my name?! Blaster, is that you?!

The vocals continued and was clearly that of the Autobot Communications Expert. “The Voice” as he had once been known was doing what he did best - provide inspiration when it was needed the most. Now was certainly no different. I hear you, Blaster! I hear you! Where are you? All I see is flames! The mention of Arcee hit Hot Rod like Megatron’s fusion cannon. She was out there, too, under attack just like all of them. He cared about each and every Autobot spark, especially hers. The cavalier had to find the strength again. Everything depended on it. Arcee’s life depended on it!

Blaster, I’ll keep fighting! I won’t stop! I promise! But you have to tell the others not to stop fighting, either! I can’t do this alone. They may think they’re not doing any good, but they are! They’re hurting him! I can feel his pain!!

SILENCE, child!!!! The Fallen’s visage appeared above Hot Rod and the others within his mindscape. Soundwave and Blaster were separated from Hot Rod by walls of mental hellfire, but they were still causing problems. They must be dealt with before more damage could be done. I grow tired of dealing with you all! This ends NOW!!

The Fallen’s face, appearing large and transparent above them, opened it’s mouth and unleashed a torrent of fire down upon the mental avatars of Soundwave and Blaster, while at the same time the walls of hell flame closed in around Hot Rod.

No, don’t! Leave them alone!

It’s too late, child....for them and for you!

NOOOOOOOO!!!!

Then a look of anger and annoyance suddenly enveloped the Fallen’s mental visage as he disappeared from the mindscape as quickly as he had arrived. At the same time, Hot Rod felt more pain, this time in his back. Something more had happened. Something had impaled him out there in the real world. The cavalier tried to concentrate, attempting to push the agony back to where it belonged - onto the Fallen, himself!

I can do it! I know I can! I just have to believe in myself! And with that, Hot Rod’s mental avatar threw itself into the surrounding flames. He would retake his body and give the pain back to the fiery demigod one hundred fold even if it ultimately killed him.

((OOC: More to come.))

Australia - Top of Ayers Rock

The Fallen emerged from the mindscape to find an energo-sword piercing his tank mode’s underbelly. Somehow, one of the Cybertronian filth had managed to come up underneath him through the sandstone that comprised Ayers Rock. The one called Sixshot had tried such a maneuver earlier, but that had been anticipated by the fiery demigod who had readied himself for the phase sixer. This new attack, however, was a complete surprise. Hot Rod, along with those others who were invading his mind, had distracted the Fallen yet again, hopefully for the last time.

“Arrrrrggghhhh!!” The fiery demigod cried out in pain. He tried to push the discomfort back to the cavalier but he could only rid himself of some of it. Hot Rod was resisting again, pushing the pain back to the Fallen. It was no matter. The evil Prime of legend could tolerate a little pain even as the blade dug deeper into his underside. From within, the Fallen mustered up more dark energy and sent it down through the energo-sword and into Skullcruncher below. The Decepticon cyber-vore fell back into his hole, a grave he had dug for himself.

Unfortunately, the blade had been left embedded within the Fallen’s tank mode as the pain from the sword grew more intense. Having no choice, the demigod transformed back into robot mode, the blade now protruding from his lower back. Taking his right hand, the Fallen reached back and around, grasping ahold of the energo-sword and pulling it out in one swift motion. He flinched as his pain receptors registered the movement. Bringing it around to the front, the Fallen looked at the sword before then glancing down into the hole where Skullcruncher was laying at the bottom in agony.

“You insignificant vermin! Did you really think your little blade could stop me?” The Fallen boasted as he pointed his left hand down with the intent of filling the hole with dark lightning. However, before he could do so, a shower of cold liquid struck his body from an unknown source. The fiery demigod spun around to see the Protectobot Commander not far away, spraying him with whatever was in his tanks. Hot Spot’s little speech was laughable as was his futile attempt to stop him. “Really? First rocks, now water. You all might as well just give up now and kill yourselves. Hahahaha!!!”

Pointing the energo-sword directly at Hot Spot, dark electricity flowed from the Fallen's actuators and into the blade before shooting out of the tip as a bolt of lightning. “But let me end it for you now, Protectobot!”

Noooo!!! I won’t let you hurt him!!!

The Fallen paused his attack as Hot Rod fought from within, trying to make the demigod drop the stolen sword. The cavalier’s free left hand reached over and grasped a hold of his right forearm, attempting to force it down, but the Fallen resisted. He was literally fighting with himself now, one arm attempting to control the other. “I will not...be stopped.... by you....child!!”

I won’t be ignored, Fallen! I am of the Prime lineage! I can fight you! I WILL fight you!!!

Hahahaha!!!! You are not a Prime and you never will be! I made up the name Rodimus. It is not who you are and it never will be!!

The Fallen continued to struggle against Hot Rod’s latest attempt to regain control, not noticing a silent mech approaching from behind. Four metallic paws hit the ground repeatedly before the sound of a transformation could be heard. Then, just as the Fallen turned his head to see where the sound had come from, a vibrating sonic sword slashed down against his right wrist, severing the hand from the forearm. “What?! Nooo!!! Arrrrggghhhh!!!!” The fiery demigod shrieked as his right hand fell to the ground still holding Skullcruncher’s sword. “What have you done?! What have you done?!!!!”

“I have liberated you from your stolen weapon,” Razorclaw stated with a toothy grin underneath his face shield. “And now I will liberate you from your miserable existence!” The Predacon lord, who had avoided the dark energy shells and waited for just the right moment to make his move, brought his sonic sword up to bare and readied himself for another strike against the fiery demigod.

“Heh, I’m afraid you are gravely mistaken, beast,” the Fallen retorted as his left hand held on to his right wrist, dark energon bleeding from the gory stump. “It is YOU who will be liberated from YOUR life!” As Razorclaw moved in to attack again, the demigod’s optics glowed bright with an unholy light before unleashing twin blasts of dark energy directly at the lion-former. Reacting quickly, Razorclaw raised his sword up in front of him just in time for the blade to absorb the brunt of the dark power. But it wasn’t enough to stop it entirely. The force of the dual attacks caused his sword to quickly overheat and explode, sending the Predacon Commander flying backwards. He hit the ground hard several meters away before tumbling into one of the trenches.

The Fallen let out a deep sigh as his optics returned to normal, or as normal as a demigod’s eyes were supposed to be. The hellfire that burned across his frame dimmed considerably as Hot Rod continued to fight from within. The Fallen looked down at the energon soaked stump where his right hand used to be and growled under his breath. “It appears I will be needing some spare parts. Heh.”

“You’ll be needing more than that, Fallen!” The voice came out of nowhere along with a bitter cold blast that struck the demigod in the back. The Fallen looked around, expecting to see Hot Spot trying to hit him with water again. However, it wasn’t the Protectobot Commander this time. Instead, it was Prowl.

“Indeed,” the Fallen replied as his optics began to glow again, another dark energy strike imminent. Prowl quickly unleashed another blast from his freeze gun, hitting the demigod directly in the center of his already damaged chest plate. The continuous blue beam froze on contact with the metal skin, beginning to spread across the possessed cavalier’s frame and coating it with a layer of ice. But more would be needed to sufficiently encase the demigod.

>>”Now, Sandstorm! Shoot him NOW!!”<< Prowl shouted through his comm line, assuming the triplechanger was already in position. Undaunted, the military strategist continued to fire his freeze weapon at the Fallen.