The Energon Pub

Uluru: in flight over Ayers Rock

Frenzy wrote:OVERKILL! ... Did you see Blitz! Genius! Talk about 'afthatted!'

And that was his cue. He had been preparing this speech for hours, recording and re-recording it to ensure he got it just right and now the time had finally come. As the cassette force approached the hilltop, a deafening surge of applause began to play, building into a crescendo of cacophonic cheering as a raucous shout began.

“YEAH, THATS RIGHT FALLEN, NOW YO IN TROUBLE!! YOU WANT PAIN?? WELL LET ME TELL YOU, OVERKILL HAS SOME REAL GOOD NEWS FOR YOU!!”

The recorded voice was almost deafening. The entire hill, already unstable from the relentless pounding it had taken, shook as the robot tyrannosaurus Rex slammed into the ground a few hundred yards in front of the frozen demi-god possessing Hot Rod, roaring over the recorded sound of his own voice, turned up to 11.

Overkill had arrived.

“YOU THINK BLITZWING PUT THE HURT ON YOU?! IMMA TO STOMP YOU SO HARD THAT UNICRON IS GONNA NEED A COSMIC SHOVEL TO FIND THE PIT I SENT YOU DOWN TO!! THERE’S GONNA BE SO MANY PEICES OF YO WHEN I'M DONE, YOUR GON NEED PERCEPTORS MICROSCOPE JUST TO FIND YOUR OWN AFT!! YOU AINT NOTHING WHERE I COME FROM SLAGGER, THE LAST DEMIGOD I FACED IS STILL WEARING MY FOOTPRINT FOR A FACEPLATE!!”

The blue and white cassette dinosaur swung his tail into the ground with a thunderous slam, pre-emptively triumphant monologue still blaring from his speakers. Overkill had been itching to get into this fight, and now he was here, he was going to do it BIG!

“FRENZY!!! MOUNT UP! IT’S TIME TO RIIIIIIIIDE THIS DINO TO VICTORY!!!”

He scraped his talons into the ground below him, growling and snarling at the Fallen whilst he wound up for the charge. He bared his razor sharp teeth, swung his tail behind him, primed his missile launcgers and, STIL creating as much noise as he could, began to sprint towards the dark figure engulfed in flames.

“IMMA FILL YOU SO FULLA TEETH, UNICRON’ GON MISTAKE YOU FOR A SHARK!! ROOOOAAAARRRRRRRRR!!!”

Australia – Uluru

The scowl that had etched itself on Ratchet’s face, almost permanently, had grown twice as deep as he stared at Cloudbreaker.

"I, er, I mean... Look it's... You see there's- I mean up on the..." Cloudbreaker attempted to explain the best he could to the hardened veteran.

What could this idiot possibly be babbling about. Ratchet mused as his optics tightened into slits.

"Sorry! I wish I could help more but I need to help somebody else now!"

Surprised by Cloudbreaker’s sudden rush of speech, Ratchet reared back slightly before regaining his processor. “You slagger!” He grated out as he reached forward with one hand. But seconds later the ‘Con had converted to his alt mode and rocketed off.

“Frag.” Ratchet mumbled.

Turning on his heal the CMO took a quick look up at the mountain. He couldn’t see Trailbreaker nor could he see the exact location of the Fallen…but one could assume the demi god was right where the gathered Cybertronians were.

Ratchet transformed and began to make his way back toward the Longevity. He’d be of more use there than on the battlefield. He just needed to know what he was heading in to.

>>”First Aid! What’s the status of the Unit?”<<

The white and red CMO waited several minutes and there was still no response. He hadn’t heard about another attack. Worried that something had occurred, Ratchet hit the accelerator. He was just about to open another line to his protégé when his com came to life.

>>”Things are….um….hectic, sir. There’s a steady flow of patients…thank Primus the drones have been able to take of the minor injuries. But there are others in more serious condition.”<<
Ratchet hummed before answering. >>”How’s Veneer doing? And who are the other mechs in critical condition?”<<

A short pause which nearly worried Ratchet as much as before.

>>”Vee….he needs surgery. For now he’s stable. Axle wants to wait a little longer….he said the internal repairs will be of help. Then we have Rewind. He needs a spark jump but….I tried Chromedome. His Spark is low yield; it didn’t work. Axle’s helping me out.”<<

He could see the shuttle coming into view and quickly replied to First Aid.

>>”I’m coming on the shuttle. When I arrive just point me to where you need me.”<<

>>”Yes, sir.”<<

Australia – Shuttle Longevity: Combat Casualty Care Unit

Tracer moved from circuit slab to circuit slab searching desperately for Smokescreen, or someone who could tell her where he might be.

And then she heard it.

"Tracer?!"

The scout quickly looked over her shoulder and finally spotted Smokescreen’s familiar form. She physically relaxed as she made her way through the bustle to stop right beside his slab.

“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....."

Tracer shook her head as she knelt down beside him.

“And waiting up there for the inevitable was something I had no intention of doing.”

She took hold of his left hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Besides. You told me we would never be apart again.” She shrugged before she offered him a small smile. “Me up on that ship and you down here is pretty much the opposite of that promise.”

Her grip lightened up on his left hand when she noticed the stump that used to be his right arm. Her optics lingered for a moment before she looked him in the eye. “Wheeljack’s gonna be pissed.” She smiled and brought her forehead down to press against his.

Hot Rod’s Subconscious - The Fallen’s Mindscape

Hot Rod felt the cold envelope him. The fires of the subconscious had all but gone out now, but not before the Fallen had managed to eject the minds of both Soundwave and Blaster. The cavalier was now alone to fight the demigod. It was just him and the demon. The fates of the entire Cybertronian race, this planet, the universe, his own, would be determined very shortly. Would Hot Rod have the strength to persevere through it all? Would his comrades find a way to help him and defeat this supernatural foe? Only time would tell.

What now, Fallen? You are frozen. You are beaten. What else can you do?

Hahahahah!!! Silly silly child. I am NOT beaten. How can I be beaten when such stupid Cybertronians like the tank-former and the Stunticon brute are so gracious enough to help free me from my icy prison? As for what else I can do....well....

The fires began to rise anew, beating back the darkness of the mindscape around them.

No! I will not let you restart this! I will not let you break free!

Oh, my dear Hot Rod, you have no choice! You never did! They will die and you will die. It’s inevitable.

Australia - Top of Ayers Rock

Prowl remained steadfast in front of the frozen demigod, his scanners indicating that the hellfire was beginning to intensify once again under the layers of ice. Soon it would all melt and the battle would begin anew. The military strategist rechecked the nitrogen levels within the freeze blaster. Still at 10%. It would be enough to reinforce the icy tomb around the Fallen, but it would not be enough to fully encase him again. They needed Trailbreaker, they needed Wheeljack, and they needed them last cycle!

Unfortunately, what he got was a Decepticon triplechanger that thought the Fallen still needed to be attacked right now. The demigod was surrounded in ice. The last thing that was required at the present time was anything that could break said ice and hasten the Fallen’s escape. Of course, no one had ever accused Blitzwing of enough intelligence to understand such things. Not only that but he was louder than a Dinobot’s roar, as well.

“No, you idiot! You’ll break the ice and free him!” Prowl shouted, jumping backwards as the ominous shadow of Blitzwing’s tank mode was cast down from above. This was quickly followed by the concentrated gale-force winds from Motormaster’s cyclone gun, which slammed into the Fallen’s frozen form, knocking it back and thankfully out of the way of the triplechanger’s assault. The tan and purple tank landed hard on the summit, kicking up sand and debris upon impact.

Prowl raised his free hand to shield his optics for a moment before turning to look at Motormaster, who had approached from behind. For some reason, the Stunticon Commander brought up Praxus, babbling about some debt that the analyst owed him. What any of that had to do with the present situation was any mech’s guess.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure I don’t owe you a fraggin’ thing,” the black and white responded to Motormaster’s ridiculous assertion. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go clean up this new mess you and Blitzwing have made.”

Prowl then shifted his attention to where the demigod had landed. The ice statue was now laying on its side several meters away. Already the strategist could see the damage done as cracks formed across the Fallen’s frozen prison. Raising his freeze weapon up, Prowl approached the scene, ready to reinforce the ice layers as needed.

>>”Wheeljack! You are needed RIGHT NOW!!”

“I’m right here!” A voice exclaimed suddenly as the mechanical engineer appeared from behind Prowl and ran right by him. The strategist stopped in his tracks and allowed Wheeljack the room he needed to get the job done.

“There’s not much time, ‘Jack. Between the cons’ stupidity and the reigniting fire from within, the Fallen will be free in moments,” Prowl informed the inventor who was already moving into position beside the Fallen’s frozen body.

“I understand, Prowl,” Wheeljack responded as he knelt down next to the possessed Hot Rod. The prick-bot was right. The ice was cracked and quickly melting as an orange glow emanated from underneath the ice layers. The engineer brought the spark extractor to bare and switched the safety to the off position. It was now live and fully powered up. The four claw-like mandibles at the end of the barrel opened wide as ‘Jack brought them close to where the Fallen’s chest plate was under the ice.

“I assume this will work through ice?” Prowl asked.

“It should, yes,” Wheeljack responded as the mandibles latched on to the ice. “There, now I should....” The mad scientist’s words were abruptly cut short as the Fallen’s remaining hand broke free from the ice and grabbed a hold of Wheeljack’s wrist. With a quick twist and a hard shove, the engineer was propelled back and away from the ice-covered demigod. The demonic hand then grabbed the extractor and tossed it away like a useless stick.

“You didn’t think a little ice would stop me, did you, Prowl?” The Fallen’s words bore through the ice as it further melted and cracked, dropping from his fiery frame in chunks.

“I was kinda hoping that it would, actually,” the military strategist responded as he swiftly opened fire with his freeze gun again. This time, however, the Fallen was ready and unleashed a steady stream of hellfire from his mouth to counteract the blue beam. Prowl’s weapon began to beep loudly as the nitrogen levels plummeted to zero. With the weapon faltering, the black and white was forced to discard it and leap out of the line of hellfire. The Fallen then noticed the approach of Overkill and quickly directed his fire blast at the mechanical T-rex.

“Foolish Cybertronians! You cannot stop me! I am immortal! I am...” The Fallen’s words were now the ones cut short as Hot Rod continued to fight him from within. The struggle was very apparent, even from the outside. “Now, Prowl! Kill me! Rip our sparks out!” These words belonged to the cavalier, having broken through even if it was only for a moment.

“Wheeljack! Where..?” Prowl looked around to see that the engineer had landed several meters away. The police-bot rushed to the inventor’s side.

“It’s my wrist. When the Fallen twisted it he damaged it,” Wheeljack said as Prowl knelt down. “I can’t work the extractor.”

“Perhaps not,” Prowl said, standing again. “But I can. Stay here, ‘Jack.” The military strategist then hurried back the way he had just come, grabbing the extractor off the summit as he went. As he approached the Fallen's position, Prowl readied the weapon once more for use, the mandibles extending outward. “Hold him, Hot Rod! Fight him!”

“I....can’t....anymore! He’s too....strong!!” Hot Rod’s words became that of the Fallen. “Indeed, I AM!!” The demigod proclaimed as he finally got back up to his feet.

“Slaggit!” Prowl muttered as he backed away from the fiery demon whose icy prison was now all but gone.

“You will now burn, Autobot! You will ALL burn!!” The Fallen opened his mouth again and spit hellfire directly at Prowl. The strategist put his hand into the air to shield himself, a reflex action that would really do him no good against the power of a demigod. However, the fires never reached him. In fact, they never even got close.

Australia - Top of Ayers Rock

Prowl put his hand down to see that the hellfire had hit a transparent wall. At first, he didn’t understand what had happened. So much that had occurred on and around Ayers Rock had confounded his logic center. It had quite often almost driven him mad. Somehow he managed to survive it all and once again he had survived thanks to a certain defensive strategist.

“Trailbreaker!” Prowl shouted as he looked over to his left to see the black fuel guzzler standing there, giving his best force field face that everyone always made fun of. “It’s about fraggin’ time! Where have you been?”

“Helping Ratchet,” Trailbreaker replied as he kept his force field strong and steady, protecting them from the Fallen’s continued attacks. “I also needed to refuel. Better late than never, right?”

“I suppose,” the military strategist agreed, allowing a slight smile to form at the corner of his mouthpiece. “Well, now that you’re here I need you to form a tight field around the Fallen’s entire body and keep him perfectly still. Once you do that make a hole the size of the end of this extractor’s barrel so I can then rip that dark spark right out of him. Understand?”

“Yep! I gotcha, Prowl! No problem!” Trailbreaker replied confidently as he readjusted his force field to surround the possessed cavalier.

“No! Stop! You cannot do that!” The Fallen shouted as the stream of hellfire from his mouth subsided. “You cannot hold me! You...”

Yes they can, Fallen, with my help!

Hot Rod’s words rang through the Fallen’s head as the defensive strategist’s force field grew tight all around the fiery demigod, holding him in an upright position. The flames were now pressed down against his mutated body by the transparent barrier, creating a void underneath. With no more oxygen to draw from, the fires went out completely, leaving only a burnt and scarred framework behind.

“Perfect,” Prowl muttered as he approached the Fallen’s contained form and brought the spark extractor up to bare once again. “Right here, ‘Breaker! I need a hole right here at the center of his damaged chest plate!”

“You got it!” Trailbreaker called back, adjusting the force shield accordingly.

A small controlled breach formed right where Prowl needed it to be, allowing him to quickly latch the end of the extractor’s barrel onto the chest of the deformed cavalier. The mandibles dug deep into the charred armored plating, securing the weapon in place.

“Do it, Prowl,” Hot Rod’s weakened voice came through. “Don’t worry about me. The Fallen must be stopped...no matter the cost.”

The military strategist said nothing. He only nodded as he calibrated the controls on the extractor to aim for the dark spark residing within. There was still a strong possibility that this might also pull out the cavalier’s own light spark along with the Fallen’s dark one. It was a necessary risk and one that Prowl was more than willing to take.

Wasting no further time, the black and white pulled the trigger, activating the spark extractor.

“NOOOOOOOOO!!!!! You cannot do this to me! I am the FALLEN!! I am a DEMIGOD! I am the herald of UNICRON, himself! I cannot be stopped! You will all die. You will suffer the wrath of my master, the Chaos....”

“Oh, shut up already!” Prowl replied as the bright beam of the extractor shot out from the barrel’s tip and penetrated straight into the possessed cavalier’s chest cavity. The Fallen’s body arched back within the force field. “Hold him, ‘Breaker! Hold him!”

“I’m trying! He’s putting up one hell of a fight, though!”

“I don’t care! Just hold him!” Prowl shouted, the Fallen’s body shaking violently as the extractor’s beam found its mark and began a tug of war against the power of a demigod. Fire erupted from the controlled breach in the field, an attempt by the Fallen to melt the extractor. “Fight him, Hot Rod! Fight him!!” The cavalier must have heard him and more importantly listened for a change. The fires receded as the weapon continued to pull at the demon’s dark spark.

“No! Destiny....you cannot....destroy....my....DESTI....arrrrrrgggghhhhh!!!!!”

An intense light emanated from every orifice of the Fallen’s possessed body. Finally, a glowing ball of darkness was pulled into the spark extractor and deposited into the containment unit connected at the back end of the weapon. Prowl then released the trigger and the extractor quickly powered down, the mandibles detaching.

The brilliant light subsided as Hot Rod’s body grew dark. Prowl stepped back and closely inspected the containment unit, a clear window allowing him to see what was inside. The Fallen’s dark spark was there, but was Hot Rod’s light spark there, as well? The military strategist looked closely to be sure. “No....”

Prowl looked up and over at Trailbreaker. “We have it! The Fallen’s spark is contained and ONLY his spark. You can release Hot Rod now, ‘Breaker. It’s safe.”

“You sure, Prowl?”

The black and white did one final check of the extractor’s controls and readouts, which clearly indicated that the dark spark was secured. “Yes, I’m positive.”

“Okay,” the defensive strategist relented and brought down his force shield. It was a good thing, too, because his fuel cells were beginning to dip below acceptable levels. If the extraction had taken much longer, his force field would have ultimately failed. As it was everything worked out. Now, the clean-up began.

Without the benefit of Trailbreaker’s force field keeping him upright, Hot Rod’s still deformed body fell helplessly to the ground. However, that was not the only thing that fell. The fire tornadoes, rock lords and remaining fire birds all fell, as well, crumbling into dust or dissipating into thin air. It was over. It was all finally over.

>>”This is Prowl to all Cybertronians here in Uluru. The Fallen’s spark has been expelled from Hot Rod’s body. He is defeated! I repeat, the Fallen has been defeated. The battle is over!”<<

With his message sent, Prowl approached and knelt down next to Hot Rod. The cavalier’s body was severely damaged by what the Fallen had done to him not to mention all of those who had been trying to destroy him. Plus, who knew what the extent of the internal damage was. However, even through all that, Hot Rod was still somehow conscious. “How do you feel, kid?”

Hot Rod looked up at Prowl and cracked a slight smile. “A little warm,” the cavalier replied before his optics went dark and stasis lock overtook him.

“Yeah, you and me both,” the black and white muttered as he patted the cavalier on the shoulder plate and got back to his feet just as Wheeljack approached.

“So, it worked okay?” The inventor asked, rubbing his injured wrist.

“Yes, it worked fine, ‘Jack. Here,” Prowl carefully detached the containment unit from the back end before then handing the spark extractor, itself, over to the engineer. “Get this out of sight before any of the cons think too much and realize what it is. It may already be too late, but I want to try and keep this a secret if possible.” Wheeljack nodded, taking the weapon from the prick-bot and placing it over one shoulder so that it was hidden behind his back.

Prowl then turned his attention to the Autobot leader. “Ultra Magnus, the Fallen’s dark spark is secured within this containment pod,” Prowl said as he approached his commanding officer with the spark trap in hand. “I highly recommend that we launch it directly into the sun, sir. It’s the only way to make sure the demigod’s spark is extinguished forever.”

Australia - Top of Ayers Rock

Razorclaw pulled himself slowly out of the trench he had found himself propelled into by the Fallen’s last dark lightning attack. Thankfully, the Predacon lord’s sonic sword had absorbed the brunt of the assault, overloading with the powerful energies before exploding. The force of the blast was intense to say the least, but his sword had saved him from certain stasis lock had the lightning made a direct hit.

This was not to say none of the Fallen’s energies had impacted Razorclaw. They had, just to a much lesser extent. Some of his systems had gone off-line and were now trying to reboot, but none that would’ve put him into stasis lock. He was weakened and battered, like most on the battlefield, but he was functional. He was the Decepticon Supreme Commander, after all. He had to show strength in the face of adversity, not weakness of any kind. Pain was irrelevant. Only victory mattered, and in this case victory mattered more than ever before.

With all of the strength he could muster, Razorclaw stood tall at the top edge of the trench and looked out across the summit where the Fallen was now frozen solid. Blitzwing, Motormaster and even the cassette, Overkill, made additional attacks on the demigod, but it mattered little it seemed. The Autobots had a plan, one that would stop the Fallen and save their precious cavalier at the same time. Such sentiment could spell doom for all of them, but the Autobots did not care. Even Prowl was apart of this plan which was a bit surprising considering his more aggressive personality and willingness to sacrifice his own men to get what he wanted.

Still, the Autobots’ plan moved forward as both Wheeljack and Trailbreaker joined in to help contain the Fallen. The ice had melted, of course, but the defensive strategist’s force shielding provided a viable alternative. Ultimately, Prowl utilized a gun-like device to yank the demigod’s dark spark right out of Hot Rod’s mutated body.

Wait, is that what I think it is? Razorclaw couldn’t believe what he was seeing. A spark extractor. The Autobots had a spark extractor, and not a medical device, either. A weapon meant to be used against an enemy. This was surely something Prowl had initiated as neither Optimus Prime nor Ultra Magnus would allow such a device to be created. Would they? Regardless, it was something the lion-former could not let stand. He could not allow a spark extractor to remain in the hands of the Autobots. It might be used against the Fallen this time, but it could very well be used against a Decepticon the next. The Autobots were not as innocent as they would have others believe. Razorclaw knew that fact all too well. No one was truly innocent in this long war. No one.

Prowl’s message then rang across the Predacon lord’s comm line, a message that he simply ignored as he walked across the summit, keeping his cranium held high even though he was in intense pain across his entire framework. The lion-former then opened a channel to address his own troops:

>>”Decepticons, this is Lord Razorclaw. As you have already heard, the Fallen is defeated. The fight is over. Stand down. Begin collecting our dead and wounded and prepare for orbital bounce back to the Thanatos. Leave none of our tech behind. Infiltration protocols are still to be adhered to.”<<

Razorclaw then switched to the Predacons' private frequency:

>>”Divebomb, where are you? What is the condition of our brethren?”<<

Cutting his comm line, Razorclaw approached the current Autobot leader, the Predacon lord’s battle-damaged armor still smoldering some from battle. “Ultra Magnus, with the fight now over our truce will soon come to an end. How soon that occurs will depend very much on your willingness to hand over the spark extractor that Wheeljack is hiding behind his back. It’s either that or you will destroy it outright. Regardless, I cannot allow Autobots to possess such an instrument that could someday be used against my Decepticons. The decision is yours so choose wisely.”

Razorclaw then looked begrudgingly over at Prowl, who had the containment unit with the Fallen's spark inside. "And I also concur with your second that launching the dark spark into the sun is the best option. I want to know how exactly that will be accomplished, Magnus."

Ayer's Rock

>>”This is Prowl to all Cybertronians here in Uluru. The Fallen’s spark has been expelled from Hot Rod’s body. He is defeated! I repeat, the Fallen has been defeated. The battle is over!"<<

Backdoor looked up at the summit. Was it really over? He couldn't believe his luck. He hadn't been killed! He looked at the damaged Scout. "Well, maybe I could pay him back. This is Backdoor to any receiving Autobots. I need a bounce. And my friend here may need one as well."

He fell into a sitting position. "Wow. I can't believe I'm still alive. One thing's for sure. I'm NEVER doing this again."

Then he collapsed from his processor over-stressing itself. Ouch.

Australia - Top of Ayers Rock

Sure, the initial idea of adding the freezing gale winds of his cyclone rifle to the Autobots' freezing rays had been a sound idea. At least until Motormaster had spotted Blitzwing coming down from the skies with his trademark attack. The blasted fool. Fortunately enough a small adjustment to the rifle's power output gave the weapon enough strength to knock the frozen form of the Fallen out of the way of the triplechanging commando – thus allowing the Autobots to go on with their plan. A plan which become suddenly far clearer to the Stunticon commander. A spark extractor. A real fraggin' mobile spark extractor in the hands of the Autobots. First one Motormaster could ever recall seeing.

It wasn't like he hadn't seen spark extractors before but they had been massive, unwieldy devices. Certainly not something a puny wuss like Wheeljack could carry on his back with such ease. Letting the Autobots to keep a weapon like that wouldn't just do. Slag, the whole situation was just plain wrong. The Decepticons had already taken far greater losses than their age old enemies and now they were holding a weapon with that kind of crazy potential. It had to be procured. Or destroyed. And by the looks of it Razorclaw was eying it too – something that Motormaster responded to with a slight nod when their optics met briefly.

So it was done.

The Fallen had been defeated. But the cost had been too high.

>>"Decepticons, this is Lord Razorclaw. As you have already heard, the Fallen is defeated. The fight is over. Stand down. Begin collecting our dead and wounded and prepare for orbital bounce back to the Thanatos. Leave none of our tech behind. Infiltration protocols are still to be adhered to."<<

Others could do that. Motormaster was too close. He had the opportunity to act. He had to act. Razorclaw was ready to test Ultra Magnus' reaction. He wasn't.

>>”Breakdown, Dead End, Wildrider. Move to position and prepare to engage the enemy.”<<

"Ultra Magnus, with the fight now over our truce will soon come to an end. How soon that occurs will depend very much on your willingness to hand over the spark extractor that Wheeljack is hiding behind his back. It’s either that or you will destroy it outright. Regardless, I cannot allow Autobots to possess such an instrument that could someday be used against my Decepticons. The decision is yours so choose wisely."

Or perhaps it was just a distraction for the Stunticon to act. Which ever it was, Motormaster couldn't stand idle and wait. They were too vulnerable – the so called Autobot honor meant nothing to the Stunticon leader. He knew what the Wreckers were capable of. Or the Dinobots. Not to forget the Monsterbots and the black and white Autobot standing near him. He knew all too well.

>>”Sorry 'Claw. This will go down my way.”<<

A rifle butt collided hard with the back of Prowl's head, sending the Autobot military operations commander stumbling into the ground – the back of his helmet cracked open. As an immediate follow up, Motormaster dropped down on one knee and let the powerful gale winds from his cyclone rifle send Wheeljack flying high into the air away from the other Autobots and towards his approaching Stunticon cronies.

>>”Get that extractor! Destroy it if you have to!”<<

Reaching down, Motormaster grabbed hold of Prowl and yanked him against his own torso with a crushing grip.

“One move and he is dead Magnus.” He snarled, “There will be no peace. We will collect our wounded and withdraw. Do the same and I will even let him walk away this time. One move, going to take that chance?”

Australia - Top of Ayers Rock

Swindle had been on his hands and knees, recovering from his buddy-saving collision with the much heavier Brawl, but Wheeljacks entrance forced him to stand to attention. The Fallen may have been the greatest threat the Transformers race has ever known but to a weapons expert, munitions specialist and black market entrepreneur such as he, there was absolutely no mistaking the device that the Autobot inventor was carrying, and with this distraction Swindle simply forgot all about the enemy.

The battle became muted as he watched as the Fallen brought down using this most glorious of profit margins, and everything else became garbled background yelling...

I ASSUME THIS WILL WORK THROUGH ICE? ... I CAN’T WORK THE EXTRACTOR! ... YOU WILL NOW BURN! ... THATS RIGHT FALLEN, NOW YO IN TROUBLE!! ... BETTER LATE THAN NEVER, RIGHT? ... NO! STOP! ... OH, SHUT UP ALREADY! ... OVERKILL IS HERE!! ... YOU CANNOT ... ARRRRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!! ... SO, IT WORKED OKAY? ... YES, IT WORKED FINE ... DEMIGOD'S SPARK EXTINGUISHED FOREVER ...


Wait, did Overkill just help to destroy the Fallen? ...Nah, that would be ridiculous.
Swindle just could not take his eyes off the beautiful device; its luscious curves, its smooth finish, the way it painfully tore the lifeforce from its target like the soul being torn from an angel... When they had finished with it those cowardly Autobots would hide it away again, too scared to use it. That should not be allowed – no, it WOULD not be allowed, but his musing was interrupted as a wild Motormaster appeared, giving him his opening.

Ironically predictable for such a savage, Motormaster could always be counted upon to do the craziest thing possible at the craziest time – it was why Swindle liked him so much. As the truckformer savage took Prowl as his prisoner, Swindle saw the obvious distraction and waited until the black Stunticon leader raised his cyclone weapon. A blast from that would send the already injured Wheeljack flying backwards towards the... Stunticons?! Ugh, they couldn’t be allowed this gun any more than the bots could, what do they know about intergalactic commerce?!? This would not do at all, he needed to act NOW!

“BRAWL! Time to cash in on your tab buddy! See if you can stop these idiots from killing me whilst I do something stupid...”

And, for the second time in one battle, Swindle dived through the air and body-checked another Cybertronian. He slammed hard into the side of Wheeljack who had been blown backwards. One hand on the Spark Extractor, the other wrapped around the Lancia's waist, Swindle and Wheeljack were carried towards the awaiting Stunticons.

“Hey Wheeljack, time for me relieve you of your cumbersome valuabl*oof*...”

Uluru: in flight over Ayers Rock

When Overkill boomed out his speech, Frenzy paused and hovered mid air. The spectacle elicited the attention of the crazy cassetticon, who, quite honestly, enjoyed the insanity.

Psychout wrote:"FRENZY!!! MOUNT UP! IT’S TIME TO RIIIIIIIIDE THIS DINO TO VICTORY!!!"

He couldn't help himself. He absolutely had to indulge Overkill's desire in this case. Nothing could be more absurd than a rampaging robotic T Rex booming out monologues like a wrestling star trying to stomp down a demi god who had managed to frustrate the attempts of an entire race with intent to kill said demi god.
And the heat of battle, Blitzwing's desperately absurd attempt to aft-hat the Fallen, Motormaster
blasting away, thus blasting the Fallen out of the way, and the various hilarious attempts by Bots and Cons alike, swept up the unstable cassette into the action.


"I'm coming, Overkill!!!!" He shouted as he engaged his thrusters. Laserbeak was faster than he so the condor and the Boss were well off ahead of him once he had stopped to hover. He maneuvered to Overkill, hovered over the big beast for a moment before disengaging the thrusters and dropping down on his back.

Laser blasters out, he started firing in the air. "Bring it on, Fallen!!!!!!!" He shouted in his characteristically loud manner. "Bring. It. On!!!!!"

Psychout wrote:He scraped his talons into the ground below him, growling and snarling at the Fallen whilst he wound up for the charge. He bared his razor sharp teeth, swung his tail behind him, primed his missile launcgers and, STIL creating as much noise as he could, began to sprint towards the dark figure engulfed in flames.

"Woooohooo! Yeah! Let's do this!!!" Frenzy shouted above his noisy partner. He slipped away his blasters and climbed up Overkill's neck a bit so he could see over the Dino's head. "Cover your audio receptors, Overkill, this slag is going to get Frenzied! Get it, Frenzied, cause my name is Frenzy....?"
He cocked his head a brief moment as he looked down at Overkill. "Frag, your arms are too short to cover your audios! Eh, I'll direct it away from you."

He raised his arms well over Overkill's head to keep the sonic screech away from his partner's audios. Tuning the frequency to insanity, he let out his signature Frenzy Special, a multi frequency circuit wrenching wall of sound enough to drive fear into the spark of any mech in it's path, even though Overkill's cacophony attempted to drown it out. It didn't matter, he was only adding to the sonic craziness.

Australia - Top of Ayers Rock

Wheeljack had reluctantly taken the spark extractor back from Prowl and slung it over his shoulder plate once more in a futile attempt at hiding it from the Decepticons. Who was Prowl kidding? Not all ‘cons were stupid. Surely some of them had already realized what kind of device it was by the mere simply fact that it had just extracted the Fallen’s spark out of Hot Rod’s body. Even a brute like Motormaster was smart enough to put two and two together.

Speaking of the Stunticon Commander, he had already noticed and so had Razorclaw, who was now demanding that the extractor be handed over or destroyed. The Predacon lord was giving Magnus a chance to do either option peacefully which was surprising considering the lion-former’s reputation. Of course, Motormaster was not so willing to do things in a peaceful manner and quickly took Prowl prisoner before firing his cyclone gun at the mechanical engineer. With very little warning, the blast of cold wind struck Wheeljack dead center and sent him flying back several dozen meters towards the approaching Stunticons. The inventor landed hard on his side, skidding through the sand and gravel before coming to rest near a trench.

“Ah, frag,” Wheeljack muttered as he tried to regain his composure. The wind had literally been knocked out of him, but he would live and the extractor was still securely in his possession. That’s all that mattered at this point. The engineer managed to sit up and gaze back where he had just come from, seeing Motormaster threatening Prowl if the spark extractor wasn’t given up or destroyed. This blasted thing was far more trouble than it was worth, not to mention much too dangerous for anyone, ‘Con or ‘Bot, to have in their control. I’ve got to destroy this damned thing before it’s too late!

Unfortunately, before Wheeljack could react further, Swindle decided he wanted the extractor for himself and abruptly tackled the mechanical engineer back down to the ground. ‘Jack felt one arm go around his waist while the other hand grabbed for the device. Clearly, the arms dealer wanted to sell the extractor to the highest bidder. How he thought he’d get away with such a thing with so many others around was anyone’s guess. But, it’s Swindle, so he had to try.

In the midst of the struggle, Wheeljack managed to grab a hold of the spark extractor and pull it in front of him. He then quickly accessed the control panel on the side and set the device’s power core to overload. Once it reached CRITICAL, the inventor shoved the extractor back towards the arms dealer. “You want it, Swindle? Fine, you can have it!”

The engineer quickly broke free of the Combaticon’s grasp and dove into the nearby trench where he would be safe from the resulting explosion that would happen in mere astroseconds. There was no stopping it now. It was beyond the point of no return. It was only a matter of how quickly Swindle would realize what was happening and get rid of the extractor before it blew up in his faceplate.
_________

Before Prowl could receive a response from Ultra Magnus regarding the disposal of the Fallen’s spark, a badly damaged Razorclaw had approached and demanded the spark extractor be destroyed or given to them. Otherwise, he would break the truce which had been a dubious one at best. Wheeljack’s efforts to hide the device had been for nothing and the military strategist should have known that to begin with. His logic center was only now beginning to feel normal again after having to deal with supernatural entities for so long. At least it was now over and things could get back to the way they should be.

Prowl was about to respond and tell Razorclaw to go stuff his demands up his aft section when the black and white was hit hard in the back of the cranium by the butt of Motormaster’s weapon. The strategist immediately fell down to his knee joints, his arms going limp as his optics flickered before darkening. The containment pod, with the Fallen’s spark still inside, rolled out of his hand as his actuators went slack, as well. The spark trap came to rest not far from where Ultra Magnus was standing, but the Autobot leader was unlikely to make a move with the threat of Prowl’s demise looming over him. The prick-bot might be intolerable socially, but there was no denying that he was very important to the Autobot war machine both strategically and militarily.

The black and white was briefly shaken back into a half-conscious state when Motormaster jerked Prowl back against his massive frame in a tightening grip. Prowl could only hear muffled sounds and see ever so faint images, but nothing he could understand or make out in his current state. His head was in a deep fog as the strike against his cranium had been powerful enough to crack open his helmet. A delirious Prowl tried to access his HUD, but was unsuccessful as darkness once again consumed him.


((OOC: Razorclaw post forthcoming.))

Australia - The skies above Uluru

Divebomb soared high above the battle, watching with glee as the other flyers were stripped from the skies by the Fallens predictable magics. He swooped, rolled and rose through the antipodean sky, nimbly avoiding the streaking death that so many others had fallen to without even breaking a sweat, now his eagle-eyes were focused on the action below, watching Razorclaw as he lead his tiny troops atop the sacred rock.

Razorclaw wrote:>>"Divebomb, where are you? What is the condition of our brethren?"<<

>>Look up great Alpha, look up. If you cannot see me, always look up - the skies are mine again. As for our ‘brethren’? Those idiots are fine. The really tiny talker over at the repair outpost reports that they have them all fixed, and they're sleeping off their little battle with the Fallen as we speak. It would appear at least the medic there shows a few smarts, he saved Rampages life.<<

Divebomb circled around in tight spiral as he descended for a closer view at the hilltop as the final battle took place. The tiny speck of Prowl, aiding the tiny speck of Wheeljack and the tiny speck of the Fallen was finally vanquished, allowing the tiny speck of Motormaster to seize the upper hand. The job was done, and the skies were still his.

>>So, what’s our next move? The skies are almost clear, and the land-danger is over. Do we leave?<<

Australia - Top of Ayers Rock

The Decepticons were in bad shape. Razorclaw was well aware of that. Furthermore, the Autobots, while having suffered casualties of their own, were not nearly in as poor a state as the Decepticons currently on and around Ayers Rock. It almost seemed as though the ‘Cons had been nothing more than mere canon fodder while the Autobots rescued one of their own. In fact, the lion-former was certain that the ‘bots never had any intention of destroying their pathetic cavalier. They always planned to save him no matter what the cost would be to the Decepticons. They had been used, no two ways about it.

Well, that ended now.

Before any response could be given by Ultra Magnus to Razorclaw’s demands, the ever reliable Motormaster had taken matters into his own hands. The Stunticon Commander did not disappoint, knocking Prowl over his stupid cranial unit before blasting Wheeljack with his cyclone gun. The military strategist was then taken prisoner, held tightly against Motormaster’s torso. So much for any diplomacy the Predacon lord had been willing to give the Autobots. The truce was officially over and done with and none too soon.

Razorclaw wasn’t even angry with the Stunticon Commander’s actions even though they could be viewed as overstepping his leader. It was still important to maintain Motormaster’s support if the lion-former was to preserve his position on the throne. Megatron might not have tolerated such an action, but Razorclaw was no slagmaker nor would he ever be. He needed friends and he needed to keep them happy for the long run.

Besides, it wasn’t like the Autobots weren’t capable of such things, as well. It was their oppression that helped start the great war to begin with. They were the oppressors and the Decepticons were the rebels fighting for their rights. Peace through tyranny. Megatron’s ultimate ideal. Motormaster had reminded the lion-former of that with just a few violent strokes and equally volatile demands that echoed his own. This whole end of the universe Fallen situation only served to strengthen why they were still at war with one another after all this time.

“I suggest that you comply with our demands, Ultra Magnus, or you will lose your precious strategist,” Razorclaw stated firmly, reinforcing Motormaster’s own words. The Predacon lord then accessed a panel on his forearm and sent a quick signal skyward before looking back up at the City Commander. “And I am well aware for the distain many of you have for the prick-bot, so if that’s not enough incentive for you then consider this. The Thanatos is currently in orbit directly overhead with it’s weapons directed at the Longevity where I believe you are keeping the majority of your wounded. Am I correct? So, if you don’t care enough about Prowl then perhaps you’ll care enough about all those damaged souls within your shuttle craft. All it will take is one sent signal on my part and you will lose them right along with the black and white. Are we clear?”

Razorclaw then took a small step back as status reports began to come in over his comm link. Apparently, there was some kind of power failure with the bounce system on board the Thanatos. Thus, a mass evacuation of ‘Con forces via orbital bouncing was no longer a viable option. In addition, medical drones from across the battlefield had now indicated that many of the wounded were too severe to survive the rigors of a bounce trip. It became very apparent that a new evacuation option was needed and the lion-former knew exactly what to do.

>>”To all Decepticons, our truce with the Autobots is over! Furthermore, there has been a change in the evacuation plan. Astrotrain will now serve as our primary means of transport back to the Thanatos. Load all of the wounded into his cargo hold and make sure to thoroughly destroy all of the dead before leaving. As I said before, no trace of us here can be left behind. You will then board him at the base of the rock formation on the south side. Astrotrain, transform into your shuttle alt mode and land there ASAP. Understood? Starscream, since you and your seekers have the ability to break free of the planet’s gravitational forces, you will serve as escort as we leave the area. I trust you will not have a problem with that? Razorclaw out.”<<

The lion-former had no sooner cut his comm line when he finally heard back from his aerial subordinate. As he looked skyward, Razorclaw opened a new channel on the Predacon’s private frequency:

>>”Divebomb, there you are! Not only is the danger over but the truce is now over, as well. We have a hostage in the form of Prowl to help ensure our escape. I assume you heard my orders just now? Go back and wake up the other Preds, they’ve slept long enough, and start evacuation procedures immediately. Help with the wounded as needed and get everyone into Astrotrain once he lands at the base of the mountain. Also, make sure no Autobot touches any of our Decepticon comrades or technology. Don’t trust any of them. Got it?”<<

Australia - Shuttle Longevity - Combat Casulty Care Unit

Chromedome stared up into the medic's soft optics as he had to regretfully inform the mnemosurgeon that the jump was unsuccessful. Chromedome's brow shifted, contorting the visual visor to take a shape that displayed his worry for the archivist and the unfortunate news Axle was feeding to him. The mnemosurgeon gripped his chest plating with his right hand as the medical officer's words continue to ring throughout his processor.

"...but at least we don't have to look too far." Axle stated as Chromedome snapped back into reality, his gaze following the green and black medic's gesture towards the far slab in the shuttle, the slab that contained the mech partially responsible for Rewind's condition.

"Hex..." Was all the tan and white Autobot could vocalize as he was left speechless to the thought. "But what if-" Chromedome began before he cut himself off, unsure of even what to ask the medic. There were so many reasons he didn't want to have to rely on the sedated herald to help save his conjunx endura's life, enough that it was clouding his better judgement. But a quick glance to Rewind's slab reminded the Mnemosurgeon that his help was gravely needed.

"Every fiber of my being wants to say no right now..." The tan and white mech began to explain to Axle, "I want to lay back and demand we try jumping from me again... But that'll only deteriorate more from the timeframe we have... If the mech responsible for Rewind's current state is the only one who is able to save him, then as much as it pains to to agree along with , I say we try it."

The mnemosurgeon then rose from the edge of the slab he was laying upon and approached Rewind's. He stared down upon the archivist's body before reaching down and placing his actuators down upon Rewind's.

I sorry Rewind. I just wasn't good enough.

His actuators clutched around the archivist's lifeless hand.

I've never been...

Australia – Skies above Uluru

Razorclaw wrote:"...Go back and wake up the other Preds, they’ve slept long enough, and start evacuation procedures immediately..."

>>Evacuation? As you command Alpha.<<

Divebomb banked sharply. There was nothing in the sky as nimble as he, and the few Seekers remaining airborne were laughable at best. He swooped down towards the tiny ones and their medical station. He had no time for the land-based machination, but if the commander said he wanted the lesser-ones, then that was what he would do – the Predacon’s were the strongest for a reason, and Razorclaw was that reason.

Australia – Medical outpost FUBAR

“Ah, scrap. I hate being right all the time.”

Psychout had been glued to the battle up top. Through the scope of his rifle, he could clearly follow the chaos upon Uluru and his prediction that the battle wouldn’t stop with the Fallen had, of course, been correct. No sooner had Motormaster made his move, Swindle had made a predictable dive for the multimillion-shanix trophy and Razorclaw was on the backfoot.

“Mal. Pack up. NOW. The Fallen has been defeated but we’ve got a stalemate up there – Motormaster has Prowl prisoner and it looks like Razorclaw is trying to hold the truce, but they’re outnumbered up there and it won’t go well...”

He was interrupted by Razorclaws transmission. Change in plan? Astrotrain? Ugh. What in the pit has Thunderwing being doing up there?

“...so much for a quick exit" he continued as he turned towards his medic partner. "Have you finished Sideswipe yet?”

“I finished the red’s feeble injuries ages ago, I’ve got Battletrap up here now - far more interesting, do pay attention! ...Did you know the two components of these Duocons share a sub-cortical neuralgic routine? Of course, a biphasic catractic memory coupling made of a unidium four and crystallex alloy would have been a good eight percent more eff...”
Psychout cut short Mal Practice's technobabble before he could get going again. “A simple yes would have done. Did you add the extras”?
“...yes. Sideswipe wont even know its there.”
Psych dropped down from his hovering spot by Crueljaw and landed on Landgrabs bench occupied by Sideswipe. With a bit of effort, he rolled the Autobot off the bench and onto the ground. That’s a bargaining chip we wont be needing. Now he needed the his team back here – what was left of it.

>>Cloudbreaker! Where are you with Darkfire? Get her back to FUBAR on the double or Crueljaw will ensure you fly back in the same state as her!” ...Now where had Starscream gone with Feedback? Psych began to scan the horizon for an ego the size of a planet carrying the mangled seeker comms specialist, but he eye was drawn to the fast approaching form of Divebomb. Looks like the Predacon has come to pick up his buddies.

“Landgrab, strap Shockwave in and prepare to move out towards Asrotrain. ‘Jaws - and you’ll like this, all dead bodies are to be destroyed to prevent tech from falling into either fleshling or Autobot hands, 'scotched earth', the works. Go wild buddy, Uh, I’ll look after this one though...”

He was dragging the body of the late Nightweaver towards Landgrab when Divebomb arrived.
“You! Tiny talker, wake them up!”
“What? Wake who up?” Psych feigned ignorance to buy time as he dragged the red and black seeker corpse towards to the recovering pile, eyeing up its cloaking tech.
“The Predacon Warlords, you fool! Your leader, the Alpha Razorclaw, demands you return them to operational levels immediately!” He began to circle aggressively, getting lower and lower, focussing on the small Decepticon all the time. “You have an issue with the commanders orders?!”

Mal was still hard at work so instead of disturbing him the cassette dropped Nightweaver at the foot of Landgrab and moved towards the dead weight of the other Predacons. The most damaged, Rampage still had a good few hours before his recovery cycle would be completed, but he was repaired enough. Psychout wordlessly turned took some energon sticks from Landgrabs stash, thanked the patient medical station with a friendly nod and inserted them, one after the other, into the chest cavities of Rampage, Tantrum and Headstrong and slowly their lights and optics took life again.

“There, they’re awake. Now get them out of here, I have evacuation protocols to undergo and Commander Shockwave to extract, as well as the rest of these dead weights to transport.”

Medical outpost FUBAR

Starscream landed roughly on his feet, but didn't fall down. He was outside the base looking around. He had never been here, just followed previously programmed coordinates, not even knowing why they were there. He also had another set of information in his data banks, under the file name Killswitch. He had no idea what they were. Somewhere, somehow, his memory had been tampered with. Or maybe it's just the way the codes were implanted? Starscream vowed to figure it out. But first, to deal with Feedback.

"Hey!" he shouted at what appeared to be an entrance. "Anyone home?!"

He stepped forward with Feedback, and lifted his arms with the unconscious 'Con in them, as if to offer a sacrifice.

"Open up, I bring glad tidings!" he shouted, smirking.

Ayers Rock

By the time Ironhide made it up to the top, all the fuss was over. The Fallen was done for, and it seemed the Autobots and Decepticons were back to going at each other. Just as well, Ironhide thought. He'd been itching to bust some Deceptichops. He stood up, not bothering to brush himself off. In the commotion, the 1st thing he spotted was Motormaster, holding Prowl as a shield in front of him. Ironhide had been in enough fights to immediately recognize the situation. There was no bargaining with Decepticons. If Prowl isn't freed now, he's dead. Ironhide did the only thing he had learned to do in this situation through 1000s of years of warfare. He pulled his rifle from his backpack, and set the charge to the densest projectile he had for highest impact. He only had 1 shot at this. He raised the weapon, aiming at Motormaster's thick bucket head. He waited, not sure if taking the shot would make things worse or better.

Australia – Modical Outpost FUBAR

"Open up, I bring glad tidings!”

Mal Practice stopped, open mouthed. Starscream, the very reason Psychout was forced into a cassette form in the first place, had just approached the Medical station on foot. He hadn’t been watching the battle as he had been working and the realisation that their Aerial Commander had one of Psychout's team in his arms, near wrecked, staggered him. And confused him. Thankfully, his commander was too busy feeding the Predacons to notice, or he would explode.

“You!?” he stammered, totally lost for words. He had to think quick, but social interaction was not his speciality. Thankfully, Starscreams injuries were there to save the situation – medical talk he could do, and the obvious lack of wings was a perfect conversation-prompt. “What happened to him, to you?! Razorclaw’s expecting you to escort us out of here shortly, but you can’t fly in that condition. ...uh, I can fix your wings from that wreck down there” he said, pointing to the corpse of Nightweaver, “but you won’t be as fast although you should still achieve escape velocity, but the boss won’t be happy, he is NOT a fan of yours. Bringing Feedback back alive will keep him quiet at least.”

“What happened out there?”

Australia Medical station Fubar

The hulking bodyguard looked on impassively as psychout floated around in front of him looking like a meercat on the lookout for predators. Thou one infamous ego landed in their midst

"Open up, I bring glad tidings!"

Crueljaw's optic's narrowed as he looked at the aerospace commander

"Only glad tidings you can give me is when you finally expire ya aerial nuisance" The bodyguard knew that Starscream was high up the command echelon but he rarely kept his feelings cloistered behind walls of facade. He strode towards Starscream and looked at the feeble Feedback who was completely trashed. "I'll take him from here you puffed up pigeon" The decepticon grabbed the battered new comer to the team and slung him over his shoulder like a sack of spuds swinging around he bounced Feedbacks head off the wall. "Ooops!"

Crueljaw gave a slight look over his shoulder as he moved while he spoke to Starscream "Was there summit else you wanted or are you just going to clutter up the place?"

"Landgrab, strap Shockwave in and prepare to move out towards Astrotrain. ‘Jaws - and you’ll like this, all dead bodies are to be destroyed to prevent tech from falling into either fleshling or Autobot hands, 'scotched earth', the works. Go wild buddy, Uh, I’ll look after this one though..."

Crueljaw heard the command from his diminutive commander and shook his head as he turned again and bounced feedback off the other side of the entrance. "Not at this point get Cloudfart to do it when he brings the aftsassin back i'm not moving, not with him here" Crueljaw jabbed his thumb at Starscream over his shoulder venom dripping from his vocal processor.

"Ok Doc where do you want this piece of slag?"

Australia

>>”To all Decepticons, our truce with the Autobots is over! Furthermore, there has been a change in the evacuation plan. Astrotrain will now serve as our primary means of transport back to the Thanatos. Load all of the wounded into his cargo hold and make sure to thoroughly destroy all of the dead before leaving. As I said before, no trace of us here can be left behind. You will then board him at the base of the rock formation on the south side. Astrotrain, transform into your shuttle alt mode and land there ASAP. Understood? Starscream, since you and your seekers have the ability to break free of the planet’s gravitational forces, you will serve as escort as we leave the area. I trust you will not have a problem with that? Razorclaw out."<<

"Finally." said Thrust.

Thrust then started looking for Razorclaw or an Autobot to shoot, he couldn't fly because of a broken wing.

"Guys, wait for me!"

---

>>”This is Prowl to all Cybertronians here in Uluru. The Fallen’s spark has been expelled from Hot Rod’s body. He is defeated! I repeat, the Fallen has been defeated. The battle is over!"<<

Bumblebee sighed.

"It's over, what do we do now?" he asked. "It looks like the Decepticons are leaving by space bus."

Australia: Autobot Shuttle Longevity - Combat Casualty Care Unit

Smokescreen cracked a slight smile when Tracer finally saw him and made her way over to his circuit slab, kneeling down beside him. She took hold of his outstretched left hand, giving it a gentle squeeze, and the rallybot knew right then and there that they’d be okay. He didn't know how. He just knew they would be. It couldn’t come to an end the way that the Fallen wanted it to. Primus would save them some way, some how. After all, if they were able to defeat the four heralds then they could persevere and beat the fiery demigod, himself.

The troubled femme’s words reached the diversion expert’s audios. Of course, she wouldn’t stay up on the Ark-22. Tracer was far too stubborn for that and Smokescreen knew it. He was just lucky she didn’t decide to come down planet side sooner and help him directly in his fight with Drag Strip. Then her spark would have really been on the line. She then mentioned his promise and Smokey let out a defeated sigh. He did promise her that they would never be apart again and he had meant it. However, the Fallen was a unique situation he just wanted to protect her from.

“I know what I promised, Tracer,” Smokescreen muttered quietly as he squeezed her hand back with a weakened grip. “I just didn’t want you to get hurt. That’s all. Can’t *cough cough* fault a bot for that now can you?” The rallybot managed a full-on smile even as a trickle of energon appeared at the corner of his mouth and his half a right arm throbbed with intense pain more than it had before. The painkillers that the medical drone had administered to him earlier were either beginning to wear off already or weren’t working well enough to do any good. Tracer’s comment about Wheeljack being pissed brought a light chuckle out of the red and blue mech. “Yeah, he’ll be real thrilled with me. heh. Although, *cough cough* I think he’ll have to rebuild a lot of *cough cough* bots after this is all over.”

Then, just as their darkest hour seemed to be upon them, Prowl’s message came in over everyone’s comm line, announcing that the Fallen’s spark had been expelled from Hot Rod's body. The fiery demigod was finally defeated. Smokescreen wanted to cheer to Primus above but he had no strength. His smile just widened as he looked deeper into Tracer’s optics. “See, Trace, I knew we'd win. Everything’s going to be okay *cough cough* now.” Smokey then began to choke on a glob of energon that was stuck inside his throat. With one more good hard cough, he managed to bring it up and spit it out, aiming away from Tracer. The purple mass landed a short distance away from his circuit slab as a splotch on the floor. “Yuck!” He then looked back at the femme with a grin. “Sorry, that was gross. heh.”

Australia – Top of Ayer's Rock

The Fallen had tried to shake him off, but Weirdwolf refused to let go. However, when the lupine tracker felt the burning pain ebb away to be replaced by a frigid cold, Weirdwolf bounded away to see the Autobots freezing the Fallen. They had a plan evidently. In any case, there was no further use for him here. Weirdwolf padded over to over of the many fissures. This particular one held Skullcruncher at the bottom.

The wolf-former jumped down, using his claws to slow his descent. Not because his legs could not take the strain of the fall, but because he didn't want to land on Skullcruncher. Once at the bottom, Weirdwolf pawed his amica endura lightly.

“Skullcruncher? Do you function?” he asked, already wondering how he was going to evacuate his much larger friend. The ultra energon that still pumped through his circuity made it a less daunting task than usual, but still. “Heavy as Omega Supreme you are,” Weirdwolf grumbled, not really relishing the prospect, “Worse still when enemies fill your gullet.”

Weirdwolf sighed and transformed back into robot mode, heaving his friend up slowly and grimly began the trek up. They weren't going to get off of the ground if he tried to fly or jump. At least not far. Wrapping Skullcruncher's arms around his neck, Weirdwolf clawed his way up the sheer face of the fissure and made slow progress toward the top.

“Worse and worse still,” Weirdwolf griped blithely to his comrade. After what seemed like forever, the tracker poked his head out over the lip of the fissure to assess the situation on the surface. The Fallen was on the ground. Not flaming. Motormaster had taken Prowl hostage. Guess they'd beaten the Fallen. “Short-lived the truce destined to be was...” Weirdwolf commented to Skullcrunhcer. Pulling himself and Skullcruncher out of the fissure, Weirdwolf moved toward the gathering of Decepticons, with visored optics narrowed at the opposing Autobots.


Arcee felt her spark clench up in her chest as Hot Rod yelled at her to run away. Where exactly did he think she could run to get away from the Fallen? Still the same old Roddy until all that mutilated armor and flames. And then he was frozen. Prowl had a plan, but the Cons were dead set on destroying the Fallen while he was frozen. Fortunately, their attacks, for the most part, missed thanks to Motormaster's cyclone gun. Wheeljack arrived soon after as the Fallen began to break through the ice with...was that...no...Arcee looked on with mixed emotions of horror and fascination. A spark extractor. And there it was. The Fallen's dark spark extracted. It was over. Just like that.

The pink warrior rushed over to Hot Rod's broken body, kneeling down beside the burned out cavalier. “Hot Rod? Are you...?” the question lodged itself in Arcee's vocalizer. At the sound of a commotion, she looked up to see that the truce was over. Already. Arcee snarled, drawing her weapon, but, on hearing Razorclaw's threat, she quickly lowered it. “Fraggin' Cons...”

South of Ayer's Rock

“Not much we can do, I’m afraid," Howl replied in a disappointing manner, knowing full well that in their current condition they wouldn’t be able to offer much help in the continuing battle. “Darkride’s gone and this stupid truce prevents us from smashing ‘Con head plates in."

Blindside's fists clenched tightly and shook in bitter disappointment. He listened to Howlstike as he tried to compose himself, his prey out of his reach for the moment. The action was winding down on top of the rock. Even if it wasn't, he was hardly in any shape to assist the battle. Some of his wounds had reopened due to the stress he'd put them through. A good rest in a CR chamber would get him back to fighting condition. Hunting condition.

The blind tactician slowly rose to his feet and walked at the wolf-former's side as they made their way back to the Longevity. The duo had nearly arrived when a transmission from Prowl buzzed over the comms.

>>”This is Prowl to all Cybertronians here in Uluru. The Fallen’s spark has been expelled from Hot Rod’s body. He is defeated! I repeat, the Fallen has been defeated. The battle is over!"<<

“Looks we did it. Go team,” Blindside muttered to Howl. “Do you think the Cons will call the truce off now or after we all get out?” Blindside scanned the area around them for enemies. With the loss of their common enemy, all bets might be off. He and Howl weren't in the best condition, but they might be the only ones able to defend the shuttle of wounded.

“If we're attacked, we should probably retreat into the shuttle's open bay...we can use the walls for cover,” Blindside said, thinking aloud, “We'll need to hold any attackers there though. Can't afford to risk the wounded...”


Blaster was back. In the desert. In the battle. No longer in the flaming mindscape. He looked over to his blue and white rival for some kind of explanation. It was soon forthcoming. The Fallen had almost got them. Nearly made them vegetables. Lights on, no one home. Blaster shivered internally. Ugh. Telepathy.

Soundwave reunited with his cassettes as Blaster stood up straight and cast his optics around for his own subordinates. He saw Eject and Steeljaw almost immediately and spotted Ramhorn after a bit of looking. “Eject, Steeljaw, Ramhorn! Regroup on me!” The crimson communications officer called before looking back over to Soundwave.

"It appears the Fallen has been engaged with the others during our absence from the fight." The Decepticon spoke up, his words aimed towards Blaster though his optics fixated on the mountain top. "I suggest we return to being of use and making our way up there as well."

"Enjoy the hike." Soundwave said as he leaped up into the air and transformed, getting caught by Laserbeak with the rest of his cassettes flying off with him. Blaster scowled and shrugged. “Nice working with you too! Tin-plated Decepticon...” The crimson mech muttered under his breath. He began jogging toward the rock, assuming that his cassettes would know to follow.

Almost as soon as he did, a message from Prowl came in.

>>”This is Prowl to all Cybertronians here in Uluru. The Fallen’s spark has been expelled from Hot Rod’s body. He is defeated! I repeat, the Fallen has been defeated. The battle is over!"<<

Blaster kept on jogging toward the mountain as the rock lords crumbled around him, a smile cracking across his faceplate, bright and hopeful. “Alright!” he cheered. He ought to get up to Ultra Magnus and the others soon to get the down-low on what the evacuation plan was, adding his own usual flair to the announcement.


Top of Ayer's Rock

Skids chuckled as Crosscut when off onto one of his tangents. Despite the tense situation, a moment of levity served to ease the theoretician's nerves a large amount. But Crosscut cut himself off just as Skids reached the top. And they arrived just in time to see the Fallen be defeated and Motormaster take Prowl captive.

“Prowl!” Skids gasped as he lifted his gun. “I don't know Bumblebee. Getaway, are you seeing this?”

Australia - South of Ayers Rock / Outside Shuttle Longevity

As Howlstrike continued onward towards the Longevity, he noticed Blindside walking beside him out of the corner of his optic. The tactician had his fists clenched, clearly angry that Darkride had escaped. The former Predacon knew all too well the feeling at having your vengeance be denied as Howl was still looking for payback against Razorclaw and his old teammates. It’s not that the tracker was still upset about being an ex member of the Predacons. That feeling was long gone now. No, it was the lingering feeling of inadequacy, at being told he was not good enough to be a Predacon or even a Decepticon for that matter. Then there was the abandonment by his former comrades that led to him going off on his own, alone in the wilds of Cybertron. Only Kup had shown the hunter any respect and even kindness, which helped Howl to see that the Decepticon side had not been the right one. There was no honor in being a Predacon. There never was.

“We’ll get him next time, Blindside,” Howlstrike spoke reassuringly again, casting a quick glance over at the disabled mech by his side. Then Prowl’s transmission came across their comm lines, indicating that the Fallen had been defeated. “Yes, go team.” While the tracker was happy about the Fallen’s defeat, he did not sound happy. With one great threat down another would soon take its place. The blind tactician’s question regarding the truce was exactly what Howl was now concerned about. “If it was Megatron in command I would say he would honor the truce until we all left the battlefield, but....”

Howlstrike paused as he, like Blindside, scanned the immediate vicinity for any potential hostiles. “....the slagmaker is not here.” The hunter then turned his attention back to his friend once he saw that the coast was currently clear. “Say what you will about Megatron, but at least he had some lingering sense of honor when it came to situations such as this. However, Razorclaw has no such honor and thus I would say the truce will end very soon if it hasn’t already.” Blindside’s follow-up suggestion to protect the shuttle from potential attackers was a sound one. However, the tactician didn't know the Predacon lord the way Howlstrike did.

“I have no problem protecting the shuttle, Blindy, but...” There was that ‘but’ again. “...I know Razorclaw far better than you. I know how he thinks and how he would react to any given situation. He is an accomplished battlefield commander and strategist, and he knows his troops have taken far more damage than we have in this battle. Plus, he is a coward, who would use any means necessary to win a fight or protect his own men. The likelihood of an attack would therefore not come from the ‘Cons here, I think, but from above.”

Howlstrike then looked up and pointed skyward. “The Thanatos. I'm sure it's already in position in orbit from when the Fallen was a threat. Razorclaw has used this tactic before - an orbital strike against his enemies when the Preds were down and threatened with defeat. He’ll do it again here. I know it, and there’s nothing we can do to defend against that kind of firepower.” The wolf-former then looked back at Blindside again as a devilish grin suddenly appeared on his visage. "But who wants to live forever? Let's go!"

With that said and a hard pat on the tactician's shoulder plate, Howlstrike headed for the shuttle's entrance ramp. Like everything that had gone on in this crazy battle, whatever happened next would be in Primus' hands.

Australia – Top of Uluru

“Well, that was easy!!” Swindle gloated as he held the spark extractor up for the waiting Stunicons to see. “Now... how does thing work?” he asked as he pointed it at Wheeljack and looked down at the controls. Which were flashing. And bleeping. And he was pretty sure the word ‘Overload!!’ wasn't a good thing either. Looking up, he noticed the space that Wheeljack previously inhabited was empty too, that was definitely another clue that that something was up.

The cogs slowly turned in Swindles usually quite rapid neural processes. His millennia of weapon expertise took a brief holiday and was replaced by floating shanix symbols - the value of the spark extractor was beyond belief; he could buy a mansion, he could buy BRAWL a mansion, he could buy his WHOLE TEAM a mansion EACH!! ...But there was something not right about this. Something was niggling away at the back of his mind that really should be important. Was it money? Nah. He looked from side to side, was it someone he owed money to? Nope. But something was definitely wrong here.

Then, the flashing light was replaced by a red flashing light, the universal indication of 'Not Good'.
“OH SLAG!!” he yelled, and the penny dropped with an audible clang.

“Here guys, Idon’tthinkIwantthisanymore!!” he hastily yelled as he tossed the overloading superweapon towards the Stunticons in panic, dived into a ditch adjacent to Wheeljack and covered his ears. It was only after he landed that he considered his options. “GET RID OF IT!! IT’S GOING TO BLOWWWW..!!” he yelled as a warning to Dead End, Wildrider and Breakdown, suddenly realising that right after an epic battle might not be the best time to blow up a fellow ‘con team, especially one full of prospective clients.

“...Motormaster is going to kill me for this.”

Australia - Top of Ayers Rock

Swindle had not explained what just had happened to Brawl but even he could put two and two together. He had attacked the Fallen and paid for that by being stuck by dark energies of the demigod. By the looks of Swindle's buckled armor plating and the fact that they were hardly where he recalled being before he was hit – could only mean that he had Swindle to thank for his continued operational status.

The two Combaticons had barely reached the top of the summit again when it was all over. Disappointing. Brawl had wanted to deliver the killing blow himself. Though truth to be told, even he did not believe in his chances after that last hit from the Fallen. Still, an ending without a great explosion? A complete letdown. Wait. What was happening? Oh yeah, things began looking brighter again!

“Bless that big lug of durabyllium!” Brawl rejoiced as Motormaster rammed the butt of his rifle into back of Prowl's head and took the Autobot strategist as a hostage. The war was not over. He could get back at doing what he did best. Causing mayhem and destruction. Swindle however, seemed to have something else entirely in his sights.

"BRAWL! Time to cash in on your tab buddy! See if you can stop these idiots from killing me whilst I do something stupid..."

“Uh? What the slag are you after?!” Brawl bellowed, not having even paid that much attention on the spark extractor. What he did understand though, was that Wheeljack had something Swindle wanted. Swindle and the Stunticons too it seemed. But Swindle couldn't possibly mean that he wanted Brawl's help against Motormaster's crazy cronies now could he? No, he had to mean the Autobots.

Thus, Brawl put himself between Swindle and the Autobots, his rifle pointed at the enemy.

“OH SLAG!! GET RID OF IT!! IT’S GOING TO BLOWWWW..!!"

And then out of sudden Swindle was screaming in panic like a frightened little turborat - causing Brawl to turn his head just enough to catch a glimpse of an explosion behind him.

"Ooooh. A nice one!"



“I... function.” Skullcruncher had managed to reply to Weirdwolf's question. After that it was mostly just garbled nonsense to Skullcruncher who had been forced to really focus on to just holding unto Weirdwolf as the tracker climbed.

But it was hardly his own well being the large warrior was concerned about. It was his sword. A weapon he had earned in the pits, fighting for his life and then carried with him for an eternity it seemed before sinking it deep into the Fallen's belly.

“My sword... where is... my sword...”