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PART 26

"The tower's opening again", observed Mirage. "Four Seekers."
"Starscream, Skywarp and Thundercracker I recognize." Bumblebee replied. "But who's the big white Decepti-creep leaving with 'em?"
"His name's Skyfire, Bumblebee. He was a space explorer who went missing before you were manufactured."
"Shoulda stayed missing if you ask me."
"Can't argue with that", laughed Mirage. "We were never friends. Back when I used to hunt Turbofoxes on Cybertron, Skyfire and a bunch of like-minded Cybertronians used to show up firing their thrusters and revving their engines in protest, trying to scare them away."
"So where'd they find their long, lost explorer anyway?"
"In Alaska, I guess. Prime said he saw Skyfire's body laying in a scrap heap when he boarded the Decepticon's ship. I guess one of his buddies decided he was worth saving shortly after that."
"What a bunch of grease stains", Bumblebee replied as he waited for the last Seeker to disappear into the clouds. Once they were all gone he flipped up his communicator.
"Bumblebee to reinforcements from Cybertron. You are clear to land. Over."
"We hear ya, Big bee." A voice said over the comlink. "We're coming down."

Skyfire couldn't help but notice how much the landscape had changed as he flew overhead. The planet was almost entirely covered by ice when he first scouted it's surface eons ago. His mission was to seek out a world rich in the type of natural resources that the Decepticons could easily convert into energon. Once located, the energon would be shipped back to Cybertron via space bridge. He chose this world because he believed that it wouldn't matter if his race disrupted it's ecosystem. The few surviving lifeforms still inhabiting it's icy surface seemed to be headed toward extinction anyway. He was wrong. The planet had bounced back, and now ironically, he was about to aid in it's destruction.
"This is so wrong", he said to himself.
Although Decepticon by brand and designed for military conflict, Skyfire never enjoyed it. Back on Cybertron, his fellow Decepticons had called him "pacifist" as if it were some sort of slur. He became an explorer to get away from the war, and warriors like Thundercracker and Skywarp. Skyfire could feel their disapproving optic sensors all over him even through their alt-modes.
"Hey, Starscream. What's the deal with Megatron not making Skyfire change his alt-form?" Skywarp complained via comlink. "Why's he getting special treatment?"
"You're on an open channel, Skywarp." Starscream answered. "Why don't you ask him yourself?"
"Oops."
"I couldn't find a suitable alt-mode." Skyfire sighed. "Everything here on Earth is either to big or too-"
"Who cares?" Interrupted Thundercracker. "These disguises don't work anyway. Right after I picked up Soundwave on the last mission I had a bunch of earth germs buzzing around me like nano-gnats."
"Good one", laughed Skywarp. "Everyone knows earth germs can't fly! You almost had me there for an astrosec."
"They weren't flying on their own Skywarp, they were piloting mechs that look like us!"
"You mean like they're doing now?"
Thundercracker looked ahead at the wall of enemy aircraft coming up over the horizon. He counted at least a dozen.
"Um, yeah. Just like that."
"Clear the comms of all non-essential chatter. Anyone who gets shot down by these insects is getting left behind to rust." Starscream ordered as he opened fire.
The pilots mistook the null ray bursts pelting their aircraft for bullets. Instinctively, they moved to evade, only to find their consoles dark and their controls unresponsive. Several of the fighters stalled out of the sky, leaving Starscream a clear path through their formation. Skyfire swung in behind him, followed by Thundercracker with Skywarp bringing up the rear. The survivors of Starscream's assault looped back in hot pursuit of the Decepticon jets.
"This is Raat-1 to Raat-Leader. I've got a straggler in my sights."
"Fire when ready, Raat-1."
"10-4, Leader. These tin soldiers done made the biggest darn mistake they ever could showin' us their afterburners."
Raat-1 fired a missile at the black F-15 with purple and white wing stripes in front of him. The aircraft vanished an instant before the warhead detonated, leaving fragments from the explosion to pepper the blue F-15 that his intended target had previously been following nose to tail.
"That's not funny Skywarp!" Thundercracker yelled.
Seconds later, a sonic boom smashes into the remaining military aircraft like a brick wall, sending them spiraling out of control toward the ground. In moments the skies are cleared, save for the four Decepticons that triggered the air force's response in the first place.
"Aw, what did ya have to go and do that for Thundercracker?" complained Skywarp. "Now there's none of 'em left to play with!"
"Playtime was over the minute those germs almost blew me outta the sky!" Thundercracker retorted.
"On the contrary", laughed Starscream. "We're just getting started. Thundercracker, take the point and knock down the door. Let the flesh creatures at Sherman Dam know we're here."

(to be continued)

PART 27

"Good news." Chip Chase said as he rolled his wheelchair into the observation booth at Sherman Dam. "A new shipment of floppy discs just arrived."
"Good news indeed." Jeff, the Dam's director of operations replied. "I don't know how we'd run this place without them."
"They were on back order, sir." Chip informed him. "I heard the department of defense still uses them for their nuclear weapons systems, and they've been ordering a lot lately."
"Probably related to the robot terrorist attack over at Harrison. Geez, giant robots. What's-"
His last words were cut short. The same violent explosion that silenced Jeff forever barely touched Chip. Perhaps they would have shared the same fate had Chip been able to stand upright. He sat there in a daze, half deaf and blackened with ash. However, one glance at what remained of his friend and coworker was more than enough to snap him back to reality. He wheeled himself over to the edge of the observation booth and looked down at the four giant robots standing in the rubble of what used to be the plant's main entrance.
"Looks like we won't be using any of the humans as slaves", remarked Skyfire.
"And why not, Skyfire?" Starscream demanded, ready to chastise him if the reply was not to his liking. He was well aware of Skyfire's reputation for compassion towards those he considered to be lower lifeforms.
"Because Thundercracker killed them all!" Skyfire shot back, motioning to the bodies mixed in with the rubble. "A consequence of using a missile to gain entry into this structure."
"You malfunctioning moron!" Starscream hissed, slapping Thundercracker on the back of the head.
"Thanks a lot, Thundercracker." Skywarp said sarcastically. He held up his right hand so everyone could see the digits he lost in battle at the Ark. "Now we'll have to do our own work!"
Starscream walked over to Skyfire and placed a hand on his arm. "Skyfire here will be our transport. Load him up, we wouldn't want him to waste energon on any unnecessary trips now, would we?"
Skyfire transformed to alt-mode as Skywarp and Thundercracker began the task of filling energon cubes. He made up his mind not to tell the others that they were being watched. Knowing Starscream, he probably would try to find some use for the crippled human.

(to be continued)

PART 28

The door to the metallic gold colored ship opened, and it's three crew members stepped out into the open air. There was Overdrive, an accomplished strategist rising quickly through the Autobot ranks. Downshift, an overzealous security 'bot nearly as paranoid as Red Alert. And Camshaft, a scout known for always returning from a mission fully functional, even if the rest of his squad got turned to scrap.
"Wow, where'd you 'bots get the energon to fly this thing? Bumblebee exclaimed. "It's huge!"
"Elita's squad started stealing energon outta Decepticon headquarters the astro-second Megatron left for Earth", laughed Downshift. "Security there must've taken a dive under Shockwave's watchful eye."
"You would think a slaggin' scientist would realize that two optics are better than one", remarked Camshaft.
"Stay focused! We're behind enemy lines, remember?" Overdrive barked, pausing to look around. "Where's the construction crew?"
"Um, there's a problem with that." Bumblebee hesitated. "Huffer, Hauler and Wheeljack are all undergoing repairs right now."
Overdrive stared at him in disbelief.
"Bumblebee, the whole point of us transporting one of Iacon's Ion battery towers halfway across the galaxy is so we could reassemble it right here in the Decepticon's backyard, reducing their options to exactly two. Which are, either stay on the ship and wait for the energon to run out, or fly out and get blown to bits."
"If the construction crew wasn't ready, then why'd you give us the okay to land?" Downshift inquired.
"Because Jazz told us to." Mirage answered, turning visible for the first time since the Omnibots' ship landed.
"You were here the whole time? Watching us?" Camshaft asked angrily. "For what? We're Autobots!"
"Decepticons have a nasty habit of hijacking Autobot shuttles", explained Mirage.
"So you had to make sure we weren't riding dirty. Fine. Let's not drift off the subject here", asserted Overdrive. "Why did Jazz give the order to land?"
"Your ship hovering up there in low orbit was making our little friends nervous." Mirage replied.
"That's just great." Camshaft groaned. "Now command is making decisions that could get us scrapped just to please a bunch of primitives."
Camshaft's words hit hard. There were a lot of orders flying around that Mirage didn't agree with himself. Being assigned to a crew which ultimately wound up stranded on an alien planet was one of them. He still had assets on Cybertron that he wanted to keep an optic on just in case he decided to take his leave of the Autobots some day. And with the way that the war was going, that day might be coming sooner than he had planned. He glanced over at Bumblebee, curious as to why the youngster had nothing to say. Usually when one of the rank and file began to criticize one of the higher ups, Bumblebee was quick to defend his idols.
"Sorry." Bumblebee said, flipping down his comm. "I had to take that call. Mirage, those four Decepticons we saw? They just attacked Sherman Dam."
"Let me guess", said Mirage. "Ratchet wants us to go handle it."
"Ratchet?" Asked Overdrive. "What happened to Prime?"
"Damaged", answered Bumblebee.
"And Prowl?"
"He's in bad shape too", Mirage replied.
"That leaves Jazz", Downshift whispered into Overdrive's audio receptor. "And it sounds like he may have been compromised."
"Affirmative. That's why I'm assuming command of the Ark and it's crew, effective immediately." Overdrive announced to the stunned Autobots. "Optimus Prime and Prowl are both offline, and I believe that the humans are impairing Jazz' ability to lead the Autobots stationed here."
Overdrive paused to address any dissent. There was none.
"Well, no arguments from me." Downshift said, breaking the silence. "What's our next move, commander?"
"Your next move is to guard the ship", ordered Overdrive. "The rest of you are with me. Autobots, transform and roll out!"
"You getting all this, Jazz?" Bumblebee whispered, shifting to alt-mode.
"Loud and clear, Bee.” Jazz radioed back. “Just roll with it for now. I'll handle him when I get back to the Ark."

(to be continued)

PART 29

"Four vehicles approaching, sir." Lieutenant Winowski reported, grabbing his binoculars.
His unit had been mobilized in response to the attack on Sherman Dam, but then abruptly ordered not to engage. To say that every soldier in his company was a little perplexed right now would be putting it too mildly.
"Is there an F-1 racer and a beetle in that procession?"
"Yes sir!"
"Let 'em through! They're the Autobots!"
Winowski watched as soldiers hurriedly moved the vehicles and barricades obstructing the roadway.
"The whole sitch is fubar" he grumbled, stepping back as the four robots in disguise blew past him. "You think these overgrown toy soldiers can do the job better than us, Cap?"
"Have you seen the size of some of these metal monsters, Lieutenant? I'm not ready to die just yet."

Overdrive, Camshaft, Mirage and Bumblebee came to a halt on a ridge overlooking Sherman Dam.
"Did you see the way those flesh bag soldiers looked at us when we passed through their checkpoint?" Camshaft ranted, shifting to robot mode with the others. "Like we were the enemy!"
"They're angry Camshaft." Bumblebee surmised. "We brought our conflict to their planet."
"So what if the Decepticons disrupted power to a few cities?" Camshaft continued. "Most of Cybertron has been dark for vorns!"
"But the humans didn't ask for any of this", reasoned Bumblebee.
"Some of us didn't either, Bee." Mirage reminded him.
"Well, now one side is finally in a position to win it all after all these years", deduced Overdrive. "It's ironic how the most decisive battles of the entire Cybertronian war won't be fought on Cybertron. They'll be fought here, by us."
"You mean "us" as in "us four", or by all the 'bots stationed on Earth in general?" Quavered Camshaft.
"Judging by the attendees in Doc Ratchet's repair bay... possibly by us." Overdrive replied. "The 'cons are after energon. If we allow them to grab enough of it, the last Autobot stronghold on Cybertron could get overrun by hundreds, maybe thousands of newly reactivated re-energized Decepticons."
"If Iacon falls we'll be fighting a guerrilla war", added Mirage. "There's not too much chance of a victory in that."
"The Decepticons must not maintain control of that power source down there", declared Overdrive. "I've reviewed the files on the operation at the Harrison nuclear power plant. I won't be making the same mistakes as Jazz."
"I was at Harrison", Bumblebee chimed in. "Our sniper froze up and allowed Thundercracker to slip in and blindside us. That wasn't Jazz' fault."
"You're right. It wasn't his fault", agreed Overdrive. "But Bluestreak should have had a detention cell waiting for him when he returned to the Ark. No, the mistake Jazz made was ordering his squad to attack without knowing exactly who they were going up against."
"That's because Soundwave was there", Mirage stated matter of factly. "We still don't know how many nuisances that Decepti-creep can carry in his chest compartment."
"Which is why I'm sending you in first, Mirage. If Soundwave is in there, I want you to take that piece of scrap out first."
Without a word, Mirage transformed and redlined it down the steep hill towards the structure that housed the dam's generators, cloaking himself as he went.
"Nobody's getting picked apart by buzzards on my mission", mused Overdrive.
"Overdrive!" A voice shouted over his comm.
"Downshift, what's happening? Is the ship under attack by Decepticons?"
"No, it's not that-"
"Have they sent spies out to gather intel?"
"No, it's the fuel tanks! The energon in them has increased by twelve percent!"
"Uhhh, okay."
"Energon is not supposed to do that, Commander."
"I fail to see how having more energon in our storage tanks than previously thought is a cause for concern", sighed Overdrive. "Call back when you have something interesting to tell me."
zzzt

(to be continued)

PART 30

"This makes one billion astro-liters." Skywarp said, as he added another cube to the growing stack of energon inside the hold of Skyfire's alt-mode. "Just thinking how one stray laser blast could blow you to bits."
"And yourself as well, genius." Skyfire muttered.
"We're gettin' greedy, Starscream." Thundercracker warned. "We should get out of here before the Autobots show up."
"I've got something for them if they do." Starscream said, reaching into his chest cockpit to produce an explosive device.
Thundercracker and Skywarp recognized it instantly. It was the kind of explosive they used to seal up Autobot boltholes on Cybertron. Anything powerful enough to collapse tunnels made of Cybertronian steel would make short work of anything produced on Earth. Starscream attached the device to the wall and primed it with a rotating click to the right.
"Keep working", he said.
"I still say we scramble.” Thundercracker grumbled, filling another cube.
"What's buggin' you, Thundercracker?" asked Skywarp. "You've been glitchin' ever since we crashed on this rock."
"A lot of things." answered Thundercracker, passing the finished product to Skywarp. "This planet especially. The whole place reminds me of an old horror vid. The one where a bunch of organics scrap some explorers on Nebulos and take the place of their heads."
"Oh, the Headmasters!" smiled Skywarp, stuffing the cube into Skyfire's already overcrowded cargo hold. "They say it was based on a true story, y'know. I heard all those mechs had to be put into cold storage after nobody could find a way to separate 'em from the flesh creatures."
"The only thing scary about that vid was the way they treated the Nebulans during filming.” recounted Skyfire.
"You would think that, Skyfire." chided Starscream. "Now transport this shipment of energon to the space bridge and then return for another load."
Outside on the ridge, Overdrive, Camshaft and Bumblebee watch the interior of the plant begin to glow as Skyfire ignites his engines.
"Outbound Seeker! Outbound Seeker!" Mirage hissed over their comlinks, communicating from somewhere deep inside that same structure.
"Transform!" yelled Overdrive. "Hopefully he won't recognize us in our alt-modes!"
The three Autobots completed their transformations a split second before Skyfire emerged from the plant, roaring skyward over their still alt-forms.
"That was one big 'con", remarked Camshaft.
"Hopefully his departure will give us the advantage in numbers", replied Overdrive. "Mirage, how many hostiles are in play?"
"Three", responded Mirage.
"Is Soundwave among them?"
"Obviously not. If he was, he would have overheard me warning you about Skyfire and exposed us already. It's just Starscream, Skywarp and Thundercracker in here, hard at work stacking energon cubes."
"Take out Starscream. When his stooges go to return fire, we'll move in. We'll be on their backs in a matter of astro-seconds."
"Overdive, there is something else you should be aware of. I found human survivors. There's a chance they could get killed in the firefight."
"Not our problem." Overdrive replied, starting his engine. "Autobots, get ready to roll."
Bumblebee transformed and slammed both hands down on Overdrive's hood.
"One second there, pal." He said. "Prime's orders are to protect the humans."
Overdrive shifted out of alt-mode and stared down at Bumblebee. The newly self-appointed Autobot commander stood nearly twice as tall. Not that this mattered to Bumblebee, the little Autobot felt he had the bigger struts.
"Prime's laying on a slab in Ratchet's repair bay right now with his parts spread out. I'm in command here." Overdrive said forcefully.
"You might wanna find a detention cell for yourself when we get back to the Ark", suggested Bumblebee, poking out his chest. "Because the minute that Prime steps off that slab I'm gonna tell him what you did."
Overdrive continued to lock optics with him for a moment before finally deciding to flip up his comm.
"Mirage, change of plans", he sighed. "We're going to attempt a very foolish, and risky, frontal assault maneuver. Please provide the survivors with an exit while we are engaging the Decepticons."

(to be continued)

PART 31

"I'm telling you Jazz, I dropped that big lug right here!" Sunstreaker reiterated as he pointed down at the spot where he left Long Haul with his cerebral circuits sizzling. "I drove off to check on Sideswipe, and when I returned ten minutes later with a squad of Autobots, the 'cons were gone! Everybody! The space bridge... even the mech I shot in the head, all gone!”
Jazz bent down to examine a discarded piece of scrap metal.
"Cybertronian by the looks of it", he deduced. "Sure could use Hound right about now. No use in wastin' more time here, though." he said, transforming to alt-mode. "Keep searchin' Sunstreaker. "Those big ugly suckas'll turn up somewhere."

"What is your name?" Hook inquired of the big mech standing in front of him.
"Long Haul", the mech replied.
"State your function, Long Haul."
"Transport" he answered, surprised at the words that came out of his own vocoder. "Aw, slag! Transport? I don't wanna haul stuff around, I wanna be on the front lines!"
"That's Long Haul all right." Scrapper said, slapping Hook on the back. "Good job, Hook!"
"It seems I finished repairing him just in time", he said pointing upwards.
Skyfire appeared into view with the sun shining brightly behind him. He flew directly over the six Constructicons, landing in a grassy field as near to the newly Constructed space bridge as he was able.
"Constructicons! Start removing the cubes from Skyfire's cargo hold and readying them for transport", ordered Scrapper. "And be quick about it!"
"What's the rush?" asked Skyfire. The Constructicons seemed to be tripping over each other in their efforts to unload the energon cubes.
"Is your comm working?" Hook asked.
"I turned it off", replied Skyfire. "I didn't care for the hot air that was blowing out of it."
"Well, if you had kept it on you would have heard that Starscream's squad is under attack by the Autobots", snorted Hook. "He wants you back as soon as possible."

Mirage dropped his cloaking field and punched a hole in the wall, allowing the three human survivors and a fourth confined to a wheelchair to escape the plant, now the scene of a raging firefight between two warring factions: the Autobots and the Decepticons.
"You're welcome", he said sarcastically as the last human passed through. He turned reluctantly to join the battle when something on the wall grabbed his attention.
"Downshift, come in." Mirage called over his comm.
"Downshift here. What can I do for you, Mirage?"
"I need help disarming a bomb."
"What kind?"
"It looks like a small detpack."
"Oh, those are easy. You got a blade on you?"
"Yeah."
"Use it to pry off the cover and tell me what you see."
Mirage slid back a panel on his forearm and then reached into the compartment for his vibroblade. He set it to low and began removing the cover. It was almost completely off when he heard a voice behind him.
"Drop it."
"Repeat!" Downshift yelled over the comlink. "I didn't copy."
"Skywarp." Mirage said.
"Shut up. I said drop it." ordered Skywarp, pressing the barrel of his arm-mounted weapon against the back of Mirage's head- knowing full well that he intended to shoot the Autobot anyway, no matter what he did. Mirage knew it too.
"Okay! Okay!" Mirage shouted, throwing his hands up, and throwing off Skywarp's shot in the process, resulting in a blown audio receptor instead of a point blank round to the head. Mirage rounded on him with the vibroblade, succeeding only in slicing through the seeker's afterimage as he teleported away laughing.
"Dammit!" Mirage uttered in frustration. He pressed two fingers against his damaged audio receptor to quell the feedback and then drew his rifle, determined not to let the Seeker take him by surprise again.
"Look out!" Skywarp taunted him.
He hit the ground rolling, unsure of exactly where Skywarp had reappeared next. When Mirage jumped up again ready to fire, both his intended target and the bomb were gone. This time it was apparent where he was headed, he could hear the whine of jet engines above him.
"The retaining wall", he said to himself.
Mirage blasted a hole in the ceiling, and then deployed a grappling hook from his wrist socket to pull him up. He could see Skywarp from where he stood on the roof. The Decepticon was using his heel thrusters to hover as he affixed the bomb to the side of the dam.
"Well..." Mirage mused, cloaking himself as he fired his grappling hook upwards. "This can't be any worse than climbing the Manganese Mountains!"

(to be continued)

PART 32

Bumblebee and Camshaft huddled together behind a burnt out generator, pinned down by a fusillade of incendiary rounds and null ray blasts unleashed by Starscream and Thundecracker.
"I knew this would happen!" complained Camshaft. "All of this just to save a few stupid humans that will probably be dead by the end of next week! I heard that the lifespans of organics are notoriously short!"
"Camshaft! Put your mouth in idle for an astrosecond and just listen!" yelled Bumblebee. "Look over there to Starscream's right."
Camshaft peered out from around the opposite side of the generator cautiously. "Yeah, I see him."
It was Overdrive. Camshaft glimpsed his red and black paintwork as he crept behind a pile of rubble.
"Looks like he's trying to flank 'em."
"If Screamer keeps stepping backwards and firing, there won't be any room for Overdrive to get behind him." Bumblebee pointed out.
"Um, so what do you propose we do?"
Bumblebee transformed into his bright yellow VW alt-mode. "I'm going out there." he said.
"That's suicide! You'll get yourself blown to pieces!"
"Not if you two are faster on the trigger!" Bumblebee hollered, screeching out into the open.
Both Seekers took the bait and swung their arm-mounted weaponry around in Bumblebee's direction as if they were of one spark inhabiting two bodies.
"Autobot fool!" Starscream cackled, hitting him with null ray blast that seemed to dance over the periphery of his entire alt-form before stopping his engine. The momentum kept Bumblebee rolling until he collided with a pillar directly in the path of Thundercracker, who discharged an incendiary shell towards him before his pieces even had a chance to finish hitting the ground. A neutron beam fired a split second earlier by Camshaft inadvertently struck the projectile, causing it to flare brighter than the sun as it exploded in the startled Decepticon's faces. Overdrive stood up to take full advantage of the situation, cutting both Seekers down with multiple shots from his plasma rifle and his own neutron blaster.
"Aaannnddd just like that, it's over! You okay 'Bee? Camshaft inquired, confidently striding past him on his way make sure Thundercracker was down for the count.
"Someone's feeling themselves" mumbled Bumblebee.
"What did you say, 'Bee? I didn't catch that."
Bumblebee grunted as the panels of his alt-form separated as if he were about to return to robot-mode, but then slammed noisily back into place.
"I can't transform!"
"Null ray effect. It'll wear off." Overdrive said, pointing his rifle down at Starscream's head as the Decepticon lay wounded in a pool of his own Energon.
"Still online, 'Screamer? That's good. I wouldn't want you to miss out on the last astroseconds of your function cycle."
"W-wait" Starscream pleaded, raising a shaky hand up from the floor. "I'm much more valuable to you alive than dead!"
"Camshaft, Mirage went outside chasing after Skywarp. See if he needs assistance with him." Overdrive commanded, never taking his optics off of Starscream. "I've got things under control here."
"On it." Camshaft replied, deploying his grappling hook and ascending through the same hole in the ceiling Mirage made earlier.
"I bet you've got a lot of secrets to tell... you being second in command of the Decepticons and all." Overdrive said, placing the barrel of his plasma rifle under Starscream's olfactory sensors. "Or is that Shockwave now? You Decepti-creeps are so treacherous it's hard for me to keep track."
"You know us so well." Starscream smirked, flipping open both chest compartments to reveal an array of cluster bombs.
Starscream launches them before Overdrive can react. They explode, tearing apart his upper torso and faceplate. He stumbles backward, optics flickering. He sees the Seeker that left earlier fly in and transform. The big Decepticon towers over him, standing nearly twice as tall as Optimus Prime himself.
"Well, I guess this is where the sludge hits the fan."
And then blackness.

(to be continued)

PART 33

"Thundercracker!" Starscream yelled, rousting the Seeker to his feet. "We're out of here, now!"
"But what about these Autobot wrecks?" he protested, gesturing angrily towards Overdrive and Bumblebee. Thundercracker had been shot twice already while stationed on Earth and now he was looking for a little payback.
"Where's the one that blasted me?" he ranted. "He isn't even here!"
"The bomb will take care of all the Autobots", laughed Starscream. "Along with every wretched flesh creature within a five mile radius."
"Good riddance." replied Thundercracker.
"Starscream, where is the det-pack?" inquired Skyfire. "It's not in the spot you left it."
"Skywarp moved it to keep it out of the Autobots' reach." coughed Starscream. "Come Skyfire, we leave for the Space Bridge at once. I'm in need of Energon and spare parts."

I store away my weapon, thankful that the Autobot shut down from his injuries before I was forced to use it. I turn to follow Starscream and Thundercracker as they change form and depart.

"Skyfire!" a voice calls out. "You're Skyfire, right?"

I don't respond. Engaging in conversation with the enemy when a bomb is about to detonate nearby doesn't seem like a particularly wise choice of action.

"I heard that you used to protest against the destruction of innocent life forms."

It was one of the Autobots. The yellow one, trapped in alt-mode.

"What changed you Skyfire? Why did you turn against a cause you once believed in?"

"It's because I have dedicated myself to the Decepticon cause." I say. "And to all that such a commitment may entail."
The words sound strange coming out of my vocoder... because nothing I have ever said could be further from the truth.

(To be continued)

PART 34

"Skywarp!" Starscream' voice boomed over the comlink. "What's taking you so long?"
"It's this slaggin' det-pack!" yelled Skywarp. "I can't get it to stick to the wall!"
"That's probably because it's magnetic and there's no metal for it to attach to. Make a hole in the wall and put the bomb inside."
"Will do, Starscream."
"And I suggest that you do it quickly. I set the timer for one thousand Astro-seconds several hundred Astro-seconds ago."
He could hear Starscream laughing as he broke off the connection. Skywarp was known for playing some pretty cruel pranks on his fellow Deceptions, but none of his tricks could ever match Starscream's wanton disregard for the safety of others. Remote triggering the countdown sequence on a det-pack while he was still holding it just reinforced his belief that his air commander saw everyone else as expendable. At least Megatron valued him. Even if he suspected it was only for his teleportation ability. With Starscream, it just seemed like he was determined to win at all costs, no matter who got slagged along the way.
"High-pitched hunk of junk." grumbled Skywarp, and then he got to work. Held aloft by his boot-jets, Skywarp blew a deep, but narrow hole in the cement structure of the dam's retainer wall. He placed his right hand on the side of the blast hole while he reached all the way into it with his left arm and dropped the bomb inside. When he went to move away, he was surprised to see that he was anchored to the wall by a Vibroblade through the hand.
"Sensory circuits must've gotten glitched when that old rust bucket blew off half my fingers." he thought. "I didn't even feel when this happened."
Skywarp leveled his weapon at the slight distortion in the air to his right. "Cloaking doesn't work when you're up close."
"And teleportation is useless if you're nailed to a wall." Mirage replied, his smiling face becoming visible along with the rifle he had pointed at Skywarp's head.
"Kaonian standoff", the Seeker smirked.
"Yes." Mirage conceded. "But it'll be Starscream's bomb that destroys us both if you don't tell him to stop the countdown."
"Hmm nice." Skywarp said, admiring the Vibroblade protruding from the back of his hand. "Durabillium steel. Double edged, right?"
"Stop stalling, Decepticon!"
"There's another option, though."
"What's that?" Mirage growled.
"This."
Skywarp cut power to his boot jets and dropped like a rock. The upward facing side of Mirage's blade cut through the remainder of his hand like a laser scalpel through tin foil. He transformed halfway down, performing an aerial spin maneuver to avoid getting shot before soaring upward and escaping into the clouds.
"Slag!" exclaimed Mirage. The Seeker was smarter than he gave him credit for. He would have to try and disarm the bomb by hand. A difficult task given the time constraints, and the fact that he only had the use of one hand. The other was retracted into his forearm so that he could continue to use the grappling hook currently extending out of his wrist socket. Escape was not an option. He could escape the blast, but not the rush of water that would undoubtedly batter him to pieces.
"Mirage! You need help up there?" Camshaft called from below.
"Thank Primus!" exclaimed Mirage. He was never the religious type until now. The early Transformers believed that a god was watching over them, and that someday he would come to deliver his creations from the cruel oppression of their Quintesson masters.
"That same god must be watching over me now", thought Mirage as he pulled the Vibroblade out of the wall and threw it down between Camshaft's feet.
The scout looked puzzled. "What's this for?" he asked.
"Use it to disarm the det-pack I'm going to toss down to you!"
"Excuse me? I don't think I heard you correctly. Did you just say that you were going to throw down a bomb for me to disarm?"
"Yeah!" Mirage shouted, reaching in and grabbing the det-pack. "Come closer! I need you to catch it!"
"Sorry Mirage." Camshaft said, transforming to alt-mode. "You're on your own with this one!"
Mirage could hardy believe his optics as he watched Camshaft drive away. And then it all hit his processor at once- Camshaft was a coward. The only reason he had survived this long is because he never put himself in harm's way. The heroic accounts he would give during debriefings about how he alone managed to survive a Decepticon attack that doomed yet another unit he had been assigned to were false. The stories were all junk. Skyfire emerged from the facility a moment later, looking up at him from a cloud of Camshaft's dust before he could think to activate his cloaker.
"This just keeps getting worse and worse." groaned Mirage.
"Give me the bomb!" Skyfire demanded.
"I'd sooner give it to Megatron!"
"I can take it away from here where it won't cause any damage! Now throw it to me before I change my mind!"
"I'm out of options", Mirage thought. He had no way of knowing if Skyfire would dispose of the bomb as he claimed, but holding onto it would serve no purpose either. He felt utterly defeated. So it was with a heavy spark that Mirage tossed the det-pack down to Skyfire. Then he turned and blasted the cable tethering him to the side of the dam, deploying a parachute from his back as the pavement shot up towards him. He hit the ground tumbling, adding the momentum from his roll to his alt-mode as he changed form and headed for the hills.
Mirage heard the bomb detonate in the sky at the halfway point between the dam and the elevated ridge that he had calculated would keep him safe from the floodwaters. He reverted to robot mode while still in motion, planting his feet on the ground and sliding backwards in the earth until he came to a stop. The dam was still intact. Skyfire's parts weren't raining down on him so it was safe to assume that he survived. Whether or not he would return to attack again was a mystery. As was the Seeker's motivation to negate Starscream's threat in the first place.
"It's none of my concern", thought Mirage. "It not my problem anymore because I'm done with the Autobots."

(To be continued)

PART 35

Starscream, Skywarp and Thundercracker came in low, reverting to robot mode as they touched down a few hundred yards away from the space bridge. All six Constructicons stopped what they were doing to watch the trio as they approached.
Starscream could hear them whispering-
"Ouch. Looks like they got their tail rudders handed to 'em."
"Where's the Energon?"
"I bet you they lost the cubes to the Autobots."
"Nah. Starscream's just got 'em stashed someplace. You know him... always scheming."
"I bet you three energy conductors that they lost everything to the Autobots... including the Dam."
"Bet."
"Ask 'em."
"No, you ask them."
"No you-"
"Silence, you idiots!" Starscream snapped. "Scrapper! Ready the space bridge!"
"At once Commander Starscream." Scrapper replied, moving quickly to the bridge's control panel. The leader of the Constructicons knew full well which Decepticons to engage with and which Decepticons to avoid entirely if possible. His subordinates however, did not. Bonecrusher rushed to block the Seekers' path as they moved toward the entrance to the space bridge.
"What happened to the second shipment of Energon?" the burly Constructicon demanded. "We're out here running on fumes, busting our treads and you three come back empty handed!"
Starscream contorted his face into an expression of disgust and shoved the mech out of his way by the faceplate. Bonecrusher lunged after him cursing and swinging wildly, held back just barely by the combined efforts of both Scavenger and Long Haul. Skywarp chuckled at the commotion behind them while Starscream continued onward pretending not to notice.
"He's not stupid enough to actually lay hands on me, is he?" thought the Air Commander, looking back out of the corner of his optic. "I'll have to remember to have him dismantled once I've taken over leadership of the Decepticons."
"Link established." Scrapper rasped. "You may depart when ready, Star-"
"Negative." a monotone voice said.
Soundwave transformed, changing and growing out of tape player mode directly in front of a very surprised Starscream. The Constructicons shrugged when the Seeker's accusing gaze fell upon each of them. How long Soundwave had been hiding there in plain sight was anyone's guess.
"Autobot encampment established near Nemesis." the spymaster droned. "Megatron's orders are-"
"To step aside." Starscream interrupted, thrusting a null ray into his faceplate.
Soundwave quickly obliged, side-stepping out of the way to allow the Seeker commander to enter into the circular confines of the space bridge.
"Coming?" he beckoned to Thundercracker and Skywarp.
"Uhhh no, Starscream." Thundercracker answered nervously. "We're uh, good here.
"Yeah! You go on ahead." Skywarp said, waving him off. "We would join you except umm, Megatron's orders and all."
"Suit yourselves" Starscream cackled, his shrill laughter barely audible above the sound of the air being torn apart by Decepticon science.
A portal opened in the sky and everything below it was drawn upwards into it. Then in a flash, the hole closed, the deafening rumbling sounds ceased, and Starscream vanished as if he had never been. Thundercracker stared up at the skies. They were calm now. The clouds that gathered around the space bridge had already begun to recede at an unnatural pace.
"Some mechs never learn. What's the matter Skywarp? Didn't feel like gettin' involved in any power struggles this afternoon?"
"Shut up, Thundercracker." Skywarp sneered. "Scrap! I had my spark set on jetting off to Maccadam's!"
Skywarp turned his attention toward the Constructicons, many of whom were already returning to their duties. "Hey!" he called to them. "Which one of you construction geeks is gonna fix my hand?"
"I will effect repairs." Soundwave responded after the question hung in the air unanswered for several seconds.
"Thanks" Skywarp said, unscrewing his hand off at the wrist socket. "At least someone realizes that there's real work to be done around here."
"Where is Skyfire?" Soundwave inquired as the Seeker plopped the damaged extremity into his outstretched palm.
"How should I know?" Skywarp shrugged. "The big know-it-all stayed behind at the Dam. Probably took a rust nap when it went to pieces."
"Incorrect. Sherman Dam still intact."
"I don't know where he is then..."
Soundwave held a button down on his mid-section and opened a channel to Cybertron.
"Attention Garboil."
"Squaawwk!"
"Locate Skyfire. Operation: apprehension."
"Squawk. Squawk...?"
"Correct. Where else would he go besides Cybertron?"

(to be continued)

PART 36

The first image Overdrive saw when he returned to online status was that of Ratchet's smiling face looking down at him. He was in the Ark, lying on his back on a slab in the repair bay.
"Doc. Gimme a status report."
"Well, you were badly damaged when Downshift and Camshaft hauled you in here-"
"Not that kind of report, Ratchet. Military!"
"I've been stuck in here for days. I'm really not the one you should ask-"
Overdrive slides off the table and walks toward the exit, ignoring Ratchet's loud objections that he return at once. The doors open to reveal Wheeljack standing there tinkering with his data pad while Hauler, Downshift, Camshaft and Optimus Prime look on.
"Prime! I should have known you were functional again when I didn't see your body back there with the others."
"Yes. Ratchet does excellent work." laughed Optimus. "All the more reason to let him complete your repairs."
"As you command, Prime." Overdrive said with a nod of the head.
"Before you go", Optimus continued, "I wish to commend you for your show of leadership at Sherman Dam. You and your team managed to liberate the facility from the Decepticons with no further loss of life."
"I'm afraid I can't take the credit for that, Commander. It was Mirage and Bumblebee who were responsible for saving the humans, not me."
"Mirage still hasn't checked in yet." Optimus said in a worried tone. "Bumblebee went out searching for him a while ago, I'm told."
"Definetly not worth the energon expenditure if you ask me." remarked Camshaft. "That 'bot always struck me as a deserter."
"Well, no one's asking you." Ratchet snapped.
"He was supposedly going after Skywarp the last time anyone saw him, Prime." Camshaft continued. "Overdrive sent me to go back him up, but when I got outside he was gone. No sign of Skywarp either."
"And the bomb?" inquired Optimus.
"There was no bomb." Camshaft shrugged. "I firmly believe that Mirage made the whole thing up just to cover his escape."
The Autobot leader considered the possibility of this for a few moments before speaking again.
"Mirage is one of our best operatives." said Optimus. "It's not like him to just disappear like that."
"Funny... because that's all he ever seems to do!" Camshaft retorted.
Ratchet rolled his optics. "Hilarious."
Downshift leaned in towards Wheeljack. "What's with Ratchet?" he asked. "He seems a little cranky."
"Ah, he doesn't trust 'bots he never has to fix." answered Wheeljack.
"Well that explains why you and him are such good friends." Downshift chuckled.
Ratchet grabbed Overdrive roughly by the arm. "Anyone have anything else to discuss with commander Overbearing here before I lock him up in my repair bay?"
"Ratchet, wait!" Overdrive protested. "The cargo ship! Who's guarding the cargo?"
"Umm Bluestreak and uh, Cliffjumper." Downshift hesitated.
Overdrive stood with mouth agape. "Are you serious right now? You let that gun nut near a Battery Tower equipped with two Ion cannons?"
"Relax O.D., neither one of 'em can put it together without me." Wheeljack assured him.
"Cliffjumper's preoccupied anyway." added Downshift. "I gave him strict orders to watch the ship's energon levels."
"Is there a rupture in the storage tanks?" inquired Optimus.
"No. The levels are actually increasing..." Downshift informed him. "Somehow."
"I'll look into it." Wheeljack offered, tapping at his data pad. "Just give me an astro-sec to get the Ark's systems situated and I'll-"
AUTOMATED DEFENSES ONLINE
"Good to hear your voice again, Teletraan-1." Wheeljack said, giving one of the overhead security cameras a thumbs up. "Crank the laser cannons up to level 10."
ENEMY DETECTED
"What? Where? asked the bewildered mechanical engineer. "Oh, no. Teletraan abort! Abort!" he shouts, realizing at the last moment just who the super computer's intended target might be.
Hauler steps back as twin laser cannons drop down from the ceiling and swing in his direction. "Wheeljack...! I've got a bad feeling about this."
Laser beams burn through the air close enough to the ex-Constructicon's faceplate to sting his olfactory sensors.
"Lucky for me your targeting systems are off." Hauler huffs, drawing his weapon. In one squeeze of the trigger both cannons are battered to scrap by a wide arcing beam from his vibroforce gun.
NEGATIVE. ENEMY INCAPACITATED.
"What? Your circuits must be scrambled-"
The sight of Optimus Prime laying on the floor behind him with a smoldering wound to the torso causes Hauler to pause mid-sentence.
"Help me get him on a slab!" Ratchet yells, grabbing Optimus under the arms. "Hurry!"
Hauler glances back at Wheeljack as he runs to assist Ratchet. The Ark's resident mad scientist is in a daze. He looks to his data pad for answers, but it holds none.
"How could this have happened?" he asks himself. He had tested and retested and he been certain that any possibility of an accident occurring at this point was in the rear view mirror. Wheeljack stared at the scene blankly. He watches as Ratchet and Hauler place Optimus back on the same operating table he had risen from fully repaired just two hours earlier. He could see all that was occurring, yet somehow he was failing to process the events through his cerebral circuitry.
"Wheeljack! What is your malfunction?" Ratchet had been yelling at him even as he labored to administer repairs to their fallen leader.
“Do you know how many days I spent working on Optimus after Megatron's assasination attempt? Reconnecting wires... building parts from scratch...! You know every time there's a big explosion in your laboratory I can't help but wonder if you're an engineer or a saboteur!"
"I know what he is." Overdrive says, laying a heavy hand on Wheeljack's shoulder. "He's a traitor! Downshift! Camshaft! Take him away!"

(To be continued)

PART 37

Skyfire exited hyperspace somewhere beyond Cybertron's first moon. It's orbit had deteriorated so drastically that many astronomers mistook it for a small planet. The second moon had drifted far enough away to the point where it could no longer be counted as part of the solar system it originated from.
Cybertron itself had become a dead world. Skyfire registered some signs of activity around a large smelting pool that burned curiously in the center of Polyhex. A pool of that size seemed more suited for an industrial sector like Tagan Heights rather than a city that housed primarily military personnel. The only other visible signs of life were tiny pinpricks of light emanating from Kaon and Iacon. From a brief conversation with Thundercracker back on the Nemesis he learned that Iacon was still held firmly by the Autobots. His visit to the city wouldn't be a pleasant one, but it was a necessary stop on the road to redemption.
Ion batteries lit up the darkened sky upon Skyfire's approach. He descended lower, hugging the barren metallic plains that were once home to a bustling marketplace. Ion bolts struck violently behind him, leaving a trail of craters and scorched steel as the determined Seeker managed to stay just one step ahead of the next blast. He jinked upward suddenly, cutting his thrusters to allow gravity to decrease his momentum, then he transformed and landed heavily on two feet behind a large upended piece of roadway. The corpse of the Decepticon who bent and curled it into a wall to shield himself from enemy fire lay rusted at his feet. A forgotten casualty of one of the many attempts to lay siege to Iacon.
"I didn't come here to fight!" Skyfire yelled, hoping that he was close enough to the gates for someone to hear him.
"Then you've wandered into the wrong neighborhood, my mech." A staticky voice said over a nearby loudspeaker.
"Please. Hear me out. My name is Skyfire, and I-"
"What did you say your name was? Jetfire?"
"It's Skyfire."
"The explorer?"
"Yes."
"Got some bad news for you, S.F."
"What's that?"
"Iacon's already been discovered."
"This is no time for games!" screamed Skyfire, impatience and irritation beginning to raise his core temperature. "I must retrieve something from Sentinel Prime's vaults, the fate of a world is at stake!"
"Oh, well why didn't ya say so? No need to hide out there like an itty bitty glitch mouse, come right on in, my mech!"
Skyfire stepped out from behind the wall and was greeted with an explosive shell that hit him dead center and dropped him on his skid plate. His hand moved up towards his chest, it was cracked and wet with energon. A dark red tank rumbled noisily toward him.
"Blam! Blasted 'im right in the blingin' badge! Good job keepin' that 'Con conversatin', Blaster!"
"Anytime." Blaster replied, switching communications from loudspeaker to comlink. "Keep your optics lit, Warpath. Seekers don't fly solo."
"Will do." Warpath said, changing from tank to robot.
He pointed his turret at the injured Decepticon laying in the scrap heap in front of him. Warpath liked having a gun as part of his chest. It made him feel like his whole body was a weapon.
"Don't move 'Con, or KABLAM!"
Skyfire shook his head in frustration. " I told you, I didn't come here to fi-AAGHHK!"
"Warpath!" Blaster shouted over the comlink. "I know you just didn't shoot that fool."
"Not me." Warpath answered, bending down to get a look at two smoldering holes in Skyfire's throat. "Twin laser flash, ZING! came from nowhere!"
"Fall back until I can get a visual on who else is out there."
"No wait, Blaster. I see 'im!”
Warpath! Speak to me! What's happening?"
"Garboil... he ZAP! took out this 'Con's vocoder and hauled his rear WHOOSH! outta here!”
"Guess they ain't want him talkin' too much, my mech. Chain him up and drag him inside."

(To be continued)

PART 38

Bitstream sat down at his station, detached his weaponry, and then proceeded to enter the enemy's domain using just his fingertips. From his computer terminal in Decepticon headquarters he had managed to gain control over one of the security cameras on an elevator lift in Iacon. Small reward to some for a cycle of work, but to an information engineer like Bitstream? Totally worth it. This cycle it's the camera. Next cycle it'll be the Autobot's entire defense grid.
"Well, well, well. Sizzle my circuit boards... looks like someone's about to stop believing in all that "heroic Autobot" propaganda."
"Talking to yourself again, old buddy?"
"Hotlink!" exclaimed Bitstream, spinning around in his chair to the direction of his squad mate's voice. "I didn't even notice you working over there. What's up?"
"A shipment of Energon got caught up in the Van Allen belt." Hotlink answered. "I'm adjusting the Space Bridge's receiver so I can get it to materialize. You really didn't hear me clanking around back here?"
"You know how I get lost in cyberspace, bud." laughed Bitstream. "Come over here and take a look at this. I guarantee it's gonna blow your cerebral circuitry!"
The resident mechatronic engineer walked over and studied the image onscreen. "This is in Iacon?" he asked.
"Yup."
"That seeker laying on the gurney... he looks like Skyfire!"
"Yup."
"What's he doing back here? I thought he was still on Earth with Megatron."
"Now that's the million shanix question." Bitstream replied, index finger in the air.
PING
"Shipments coming through." Hotlink said, glancing at a sensor on his wrist. "Get ready to receive."
Bitstream read the contents as they scrolled down his monitor. "Cybertonium. Caesium. Plasteel. Beryllium... that's not Energon!"
Hotlink bent down to read the contents himself. "No wonder it got stuck mid-transport. Scrapper set the beam for pure Energon."
"It's Starscream." Bitstream face palmed. "I can't. I just can't do it this time."
"Can't do what, bud?"
"Cover for him anymore, Hotlink! Starscream's not authorized to be here. Not now. This is the start of one of his schemes! I just know it!"
"I think you're overreacting just a little, Bitstream."
"Remember when that intruder got in using one of Red Wing's optic sensors?"
"Yeah...? What of it?"
"That was Starscream's doing... he set that whole thing up. He told the Autobots exactly where Red Wing was going to be, and when, so they could dismantle him."
"Really?" inquired Hotlink, looking skeptical. "How'd you find all this out?"
"Shockwave's files. I-"
"You hacked into Shockwave's files!?"
"I can't help it okay? It's what I do. Anyways, old one eye ripped video and audio of Sideswipe bragging about how he got the drop on a Seeker from a captured Autobot's memory banks."
"And that Seeker turned out to be Red Wing?"
"Yup. And Sunstreaker's the one who carved out his optic."
"But what I don't understand is why Starscream would go through all the trouble of having the Autobots break in to steal data. Why didn't he just hand over the intel to them himself?"
"Because you can't simply hand over intel like that to your enemy, Hotlink! You have to make them believe that they discovered the info themselves... that's the only way you can be sure that they'll act upon it."
Hotlink shook his head in disbelief. "The whole thing just seems a little- I don't know- convoluted."
"Trust me, this is how it's played. I'm the 'Con who orchestrated the Tarn Valley ambush remember?"
"So you're basically saying that Starscream got shot down with Megatron aboard the Nemesis just so he could run back here and seize power the first chance he got?"
"More or less..."
"Doesn't make sense, bud. If that's the case then why didn't Shockwave report Starscream's treachery to Megatron as soon as he uncovered it?"
"Don't know..." Bitstream shrugged, flipping up his comlink. "But I know what I'm going to do now."
"What's that?"
"Warn Shockwave."
Hotlink jammed the barrel of his weapon down Bitstream's throat before he could utter a word.
"It's a shame, really." he sighed. "We could have been the new Soundwave and Shockwave to Starscream's Megatron. Seekers at the top of the Decepticon command structure... the way it's supposed to be. I can't let you ruin this for me."
Bitstream didn't bother trying to look when the door to the Space Bridge opened. He already knew who was going to walk out of it.
"You want to shoot him Lord Starscream, or should I?"
"Hotlink, you and Bitstream have worked together for such a long time... I wouldn't dream of being the one to break up such an effective team." Starscream smirked. "You shoot him."

(To be continued)

PART 39

In the dim confines of Shockwave's lab a monitor screen blinks to life.
"Attention Shockwave."
"This is Shockwave." The scientist replied without looking up from his work on the operating table. "You may proceed with your report Soundwave."
"Skyfire has been captured by Autobot forces in Iacon."
"That is unacceptable. I calculate an 89.6% chance that Skyfire will provide our enemies with information that they will find advantageous. In fact, with every astro-second that he remains in their custody I am forced to revise that figure upward."
"Incorrect. Skyfire silenced. Vocoder disabled."
"Vocoders can be repaired. Although it is a delicate and time consuming operation, it can be done. No, I want you to contact Iacon. Tell them we want to exchange prisoners."
"Trade? For which Autobot?"
"One of the test subjects." Shockwave replied, looking up at the Autobot wrecks hanging above suspended by their feet from the ceiling. "We'll give them the "rookie". I'm sure they'll be delighted to have him back."
"Affirmative. Ending transmission."
Soundwave's image cut out to reveal Hotlink's panicking visage less than an astro-second later.
"Commander Shockwave! Emergency! Bitstream's had an uh, malfunction!"
"Take over duties at his station, Hotlink. I shall be there momentarily."
A hose snaked out of the wall and blew the mech fluids off of Shockwave's hand with a mixture of foam and compressed air. Once clean, he carefully placed all of his surgical instruments back in their proper place and then set out for the Space Bridge control room.
"There is only a 3.7% chance that Hotlink's last communication was truthful." calculated Shockwave. "Termination is recommended, but postponed at this time due to the probability that subject will be needed to perform his function again sometime within the next two thousand deca-cycles."
Hotlink was sitting down grinning from audio receptor to audio receptor when Shockwave entered the room. Bitstream was seated next to him, head tilted back with black smoke wafting from his open mouth.
"Humor me, Hotlink. I want you to explain to me in great detail exactly how Bitstream's vocal components managed to escape the confines of his body... of their own volition."
"It's better if I show you instead." Hotlink replied, leveling his weapon at Shockwave's glowing yellow optic.
Shockwave raised his gun-arm to fire, or rather he thought he did. Instead he found himself paralyzed, trapped in a "living stasis" of sorts with his body bathed in a radiation that made him appear gray in coloration.
"You like it? I named it after myself. I call it "Hotlink's instant immobilarity field". You passed through it when you walked into this room."
"The name sounds ridiculous." Shockwave replied. "It is reminiscent of something an Autobot would conceive of."
"Oh yeah?" Hotlink growled, pressing the barrel of his arm-mounted cannon harder against Shockwave's immovable head. "Why don't you explain to me in "great detail" exactly what is it about the name that sounds "Autobot-y" to you?"
"Just shoot him you fool!" a voice hissed in the background. "He has obviously figured out that the immobilization effect is only temporary and he's stalling for time!"
"Violence will not be necessary, Starscream." Shockwave said calmly.
"Oh?" Starscream inquired, feigning surprise as he stepped into the scientist's field of vision. "I didn't expect such a dedicated servant of Megatron to fall in line so easily. You are one of his most loyal followers, aren't you Shockwave?"
"Incorrect. I am a follower of logic. Recently, Megatron has begun to rely on guile to achieve his objectives rather than the use of brute force-"
"Something I had been telling Megatron to do since the beginning." Starscream interrupted. "Go on."
"Precisely. You have always favored the use of stealth against our enemies, so in the final analysis it is you, Starscream, who would make a better leader for the Decepticons."
"Well now, we can't argue with sound logic now, can we?" Starscream said smugly, slapping Shockwave hard on the back as the last vestiges of his immobilization wore off and his color returned.
"No, we cannot." Shockwave said dryly.
"Excuse me?" Nacelle called out from the doorway. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"
All three Decepticons turned their heads simultaneously.
"Nacelle! Don't. Move." Hotlink cautioned.
"Um, some sort of experiment?" Nacelle asked as Hotlink rushed over and fiddled inside an open wall panel.
"Nacelle, Starscream is the new leader of the Decepticons." announced Shockwave. "You will take your orders directly from him now."
"Yes Command- I mean S-Shockwave." Nacelle stammered. He looked puzzled as he entered the room. Shockwave had not spoken favorably of Starscream in the past, so it was unlike him to simply hand over his authority to someone he considered to be of lesser ability. In addition, Shockwave's might was rumored to be second to only Megatron's, so it was doubtful that Starscream had seized control by force.
"He still functions." Nacelle said, eyeing Bitstream nervously. "Would you like me to begin administering repairs, um, Lord Starscream?"
"No. Shockwave can repair the traitor Bitstream after he finishes repairing me. I have a different job for you." Starscream said, placing a data slug in Nacelle's palm. "Modify the Decepticons on this list to my specifications, and then refuel them using the Energon shipment from Earth."
"All members of a secret power base you've been building, I presume?" inquired Shockwave.
"Yes." answered Starscream. "I had been assembling an army to take down Megatron for vorns, so you could imagine my dismay one solar cycle when he up and ordered nearly every one of them into stasis to conserve Energon."
"Purely coincidental, I'm sure." dismissed Shockwave. "May I suggest the addition of Sunstorm?"
"Now why would I bring along that irradiated idiot?" Starscream snapped.
"For precisely that reason." Shockwave answered. "The fact that he emits radiation constantly is the very reason I suggested his inclusion. A fully functional Decepticon is able to withstand his emissions, Megatron in his damaged state, cannot."
"The radiation would interfere with his internal mechanisms", Starscream smiled. "Weakening him."
"If you were to defeat Megatron in single combat it would silence any who would dare question the legitimacy of your command."
"I like the way you think, Shockwave."
"Thank you, Lord Starscream. Might I make another suggestion?"
"You may."
"Refuel your troops with the self-replenishing Energon I recently developed instead of the low grade sludge procured from Earth."
"Yes, of course." Starscream nodded in agreement. "Only the best for my Decepticons. Nacelle!"
"Y-yes?"
"Do as Shockwave has instructed and top off my elite with his new Energon formula."
"At once, Lord Starscream."

(To be continued)

PART 40

Wheeljack sat in a durabllium steel cube in a darkened section of the Ark. Downshift's optics provided the only source of illumination as he peered through a plasteel window into Wheeljack's makeshift cell.
"Hey, what's the reason for keepin' me here instead of the detention cells Huffer built?"
"Too high tech, Wheeljack." Downshift replied. "Overdrive doesn't want to risk you cobbling something together and escaping using mechanical parts stripped from inside the walls."
"Smart 'Bot."
"Oh, he knows what you're capable of. You're the Autobot who engineered new alt-modes for Grimlock's crew while under siege in Kalis by an army of Decepticons."
"I patterned them after some big creatures I saw at the Cosmic Carnival eons ago, back when I was a new model fresh off the assembly line." laughed Wheeljack. "Who knew they'd turn out to be so destructive?"
"You did."
"Dinosaurs" I think Big Top called them, supposedly the last of their kind... Y'know Downshift, I wouldn't be sittin' here if Ironhide was back on his feet."
"You're right. And I'm sorry pal, just following orders. But rest assured, we will get to the bottom of this."
"Who's handling the investigation?"
"Uh, Red Alert... via faceplate time from Cybertron... with Camshaft."
"When did they get started?"
"About five minutes ago, actually."
"What?! I've been in here for almost a day!"
"Well, it wasn't Camshaft's fault. Red got off to a late start. He was convinced that someone was spying on him in an elevator in Autobase... he had everyone search the entire building top to bottom for spy cams."
"Red's a little paranoid, you guys do know that right?"
"Of course! He's director of security, I served directly under the 'Bot. Amazing sensors... there isn't a Decepti-creep in existence that he can't identify."
"Kinda like a walking Teletraan-1..."
"Yeah! He is!"
"Which makes me wonder why Teletraan said "enemy detected" before it blasted Prime instead'a just sayin' the 'Cons name... or the 'Con Teletraan mistook him for, I mean."
"You know what's funny? I seem to remember a Decepticon whose actual name was "Enemy". He was one of Soundwave's minions."
"That's it!"
"You don't think-"
"I know it sounds crazy Downshift, but you gotta get down to the repair bay right now!"
"C'mon Wheeljack...! How could a Decepticon get inside of Optimus Prime?"
"Listen. Back when we held Frenzy prisoner, we discovered that his new alt-form was this tiny rectangular thing that humans call a cassette tape. He could have easily fit inside Prime in that mode. Frenzy and Enemy are the same model, Downshift! They're gonna have the same alt-mode!"
"Not necessarily,Wheeljack. I knew a couple of 'Bots that looked exactly the same but turned into completely different- hold on, I gotta answer my comm... Yes, Commander? I'm with Wheeljack down in storage... he's here? Okay, right away!"
"Downshift, wait! Who's here? What's goin' on?"
"Jazz is back!" Downshift shouted as he screeched down the hall in alt-mode. "And he's not happy!"

(To be continued)

PART 41

Interfacing with the Ark's security system as he raced through it's massive corridors, Downshift flipped frequencies on his car radio until he heard the two voices he was searching for.
"...only gon' say this once. Stand down, or I will lay you down."
"First off, I'm giving the orders now, and second- you're welcome to try."
There was no question as to who the first 'Bot was. The other voice in the room belonged to acting Autobot commander Overdrive.
"There's two of us here", Overdrive continued. "Soon to be three. You're outnumbered. So I suggest you surrender before we're forced to bend your rear assembly out of place."
Downshift skidded to a stop between the two 'Bots and transformed to robot mode. "Any chance we can deescalate, this?" he asked.
Overdrive and Jazz continued to glare at each other, ignoring both the question and his arrival.
"I don't think I'm hearin' y'all correctly." Jazz said, tapping the place his ear would be if he were human. "I must've blown an audio receptor or somethin' the last time I took down three clowns single-handed."
"Then I'll speak louder." Overdrive said, raising his voice. "You put the emotions of this planet's inhabitants before the lives of your fellow Autobots when you ordered us to land in hostile territory sans sufficient support staff... you're working for them now, Jazz."
"Who!?"
"The humans."
"You're crazy, man!" Jazz erupted. "Nobody's pullin' my strings, number one... and number two- I didn't tell you to land that ship!"
"Mirage said you did." interjected Downshift. "Seconded by Bumblebee."
"And where's 'Bee now?" Jazz inquired.
"Out searching for Mirage." Downshift replied.
Jazz flipped up his communicator, intent on questioning Bumblebee himself.
"Don't bother." Camshaft said. "Both of their comlinks are off."
"That's convenient." Jazz said wryly.
"I'll say. Turn around, Jazz." ordered Overdrive. "Let my head of security slap some cuffs on you and put you in a nice cozy cell."
"It'll only be for a little while", Downshift assured him. "Just until we can get things sorted out."
Jazz turned around as if to comply, but then suddenly transformed and screeched down the hall, leaving Downshift to look stupid with the Energon cuffs dangling from his fingertips.
"Don't just stand there!" Overdrive yelled, pulling Downshift by the arm. "Get after him!"
Camshaft watched the two transform and roar down the hall before switching to his alt-mode and rolling off in the other direction. If conflict was their destination, Camshaft was determined to take the scenic route getting there. The only problem with this stratagem was that Jazz was too sneaky to just drive off in a straight line. He suspected that Jazz would double back at some point, increasing the chances of them running into each other. And that's the very last thing Camshaft wanted to happen... especially alone.
"Gotta find someplace to hide until this whole thing rusts over." he thought.
Camshaft searched for several minutes before happening upon a dark store room in a partially collapsed section of the Ark. As fate would have it, Jazz was already inside. The special ops agent had his back turned to the door and was in the process of restraining a noticeably dented and dinged Downshift with his own handcuffs. Slowly, silently, he took aim at the back of Jazz' head. Downshift caught sight of Camshaft's shadow and smiled.
"You lose", he said.
"Uh huh. Is that Overdrive standin' behind me or Camshaft?" Jazz asked nonchalantly.
"Does it matter?"
"Nah, but that shaky hand does." Jazz replied, glancing over his shoulder. "You sure you wanna take that shot, 'Shaft? If I'm still generatin' afterwards I guarantee Ratchet is gonna have a real hard time patchin' you up."
"P-put your hands behind your b-back!" Camshaft stammered.
"I got a better idea." Jazz smiled. "Walk away. Me and you both know you ain't built for this."
Camshaft backed out of the room without speaking another word, his gun still trained on Jazz as best he could. He holstered it in his leg compartment as he spun around, literally bumping into Overdrive in his haste to make himself scarce.
"Who were you talking to?" Overdrive demanded.
"No one." answered Camshaft. "I thought I saw Jazz, but it turned out to be just some ah, junk falling over."
"Junk... falling over?" Overdrive repeated, eyeing him suspiciously.
"He's here." Camshaft whispered when it became obvious to him that his lie wasn't going to work. "In the storage room behind me."
Overdrive shoved past the cowardly Autobot and burst into the room guns blazing. Neutron and plasma beams whizzed over Jazz, nearly missing him as he quickly transformed into vehicle mode. The Autobot veteran gunned it, first sideswiping Overdrive to keep him off balance, then changing form once again to disarm him by twisting both his wrists counter-clockwise. Overdrive head butted Jazz as his weapons clattered to the floor, cracking the trash talking Autobot's visor from end to end. Jazz retaliated with a stiff jab to the olfactory sensor, and then he flung off his shattered lenses to reveal two bright, nearly white optics underneath.
"Mad now", Jazz grumbled. "I got those on Velocitron."
"So what?" Overdrive sniffed, wiping away the fluid dripping from his nostrils. "Get another pair."
"Can't. Cybertronians are banned from the planet."
"Tough break." Overdrive grinned, swinging and missing his opponent by less than an inch.
Jazz countered with a flurry of blows to the faceplate that made the younger 'Bot see static. Staggered, Overdrive managed to duck one of his swings and answer it with a metal crunching kick to the side of the head.
"Scrambled your circuits, huh?" he smirked.
Jazz' punches were slower now- a result of electrical signals sent from the brain not quite correctly connecting with the body, Overdrive theorized- but no less damaging. He grappled with Jazz to avoid another one of his deadly combos, scooping up the slightly smaller Autobot in a mighty bear hug, engine revving loudly in robot mode as if the power he was using to crush him was surging directly from that part of his anatomy.
“Shoulda surrendered when you had the chance.” chided Overdrive.
Jazz felt his metal buckle and the windshield on his back burst, showering them both with the Cybertronian equivalent of auto glass. He deployed his speakers from the sides of his hips and cranked the volume to the max. Overdrive shut down his receptors as the decibel levels became unbearable, but he had no defense against the rumbling vibrations of Jazz' sonic assault. The bass pounded his internal mechanisms mercilessly- and to his credit, he was able to withstand it all- until a particularly mean guitar riff triggered a series of systemwide glitches. Jazz broke free as his adversary's cerebral circuits crashed and his body hit the floor, still twitching from the after effects.
"Ratchet!" Jazz wheezed into his comm. "Come get me... I'm hurt bad!"
"I can't help you right now." Ratchet responded. "I've got a... situation."

(To be continued)

PART 42

Downshift felt a tug on his restraints. "What are you doing?" he asked.
"Turnin' you loose." Jazz replied. "Need ya to check up on Ratchet for me."
Free from his bonds, Downshift stood up and stared at Jazz for a moment. He was in no condition to continue fighting- this much was clear to the both of them- but yet he had still opted to release someone who was under orders to bring him in.
"All of concern for his fellow Autobot..." Downshift thought. "To blazes with Overdrive's orders. Jazz' spark is in the right place."
"Might be a hostage situation." Jazz warned. "Be careful."
"Understood, Commander. I'll approach with caution." Downshift acknowledged, and then he transformed and headed to where he was needed most.

Enemy stood on the chest of Optimus Prime as he lay on the operating table. One blaster aimed at the Autobot leader's head, the other leveled at his doctor.
"First Skywarp pops in, now you." Ratchet sneered. "Aren't there enough Autobots out there to shoot without you having to resort to barging into my workshop to do it?"
"Apparently not." Enemy said sarcastically. "I mean, are your optics on or what? Have you seen the amount of wrecks you got laying around in this slaggin' mausoleum? I gotta tell ya, doc... the field's lookin' pretty sparse out there."
Enemy's words sting like a bite from a scraplet. Ratchet had been working nonstop to repair the injured ever since their first outing on this planet, but the damages kept mounting with each interaction between Autobot and Decepticon. And judging from Jazz' last call, there were undoubtedly more bodies awaiting service somewhere else in the halls.
"And for your information, I actually arrived with Skywimp." Enemy continued. "I've been hiding inside Prime the whole time!"
"What?" Ratchet said, searching his own memory banks. "How is that possible?"
He rewound to the events of a few days ago when Skywarp suddenly appeared before him in the repair bay. He wasn't sure why the Seeker had stuck his hand inside Optimus Prime's wound then, it was painfully obvious now.
"Your knee." the medic observed. The Decepticon's knee joint was shredded and leaking an assortment of fluids, energon chief among them. "It's the reason why you're checking out early."
"Like Teletraan said "Enemy incapacitated", smart 'bot." Enemy snarled. "I'm forced to cut my spy mission short."
"Well, you're free to go "Enemy", or whatever you call yourself." Ratchet said, releasing the bay doors. "The further you are from my patients the better. I don't think you'll get far though... and it's not because of your knee."
"That's where you're wrong, Doc." Enemy stated matter of factly. He took the gun he was aiming at Optimus Prime's head and returned it to the slot on his back. He then reached into his thigh compartment and pulled out a small cylinder with a button on top.
"You see this?" he said, holding the object high. "It's a detonator for the mini det-pack I left inside your leader. One push of the button and Prime's spare parts!"
"Okay, okay." Ratchet said, holding up both hands in a show of non-aggression. "Let's not do anything rash, Enemy. We can talk about this."
"You're an overrated medical droid. I'm a Decepticon warrior." Enemy replied. "What's there to chat about?"
"You're safety, for one thing." Ratchet said, transforming to alt-mode. "I can offer you safe passage off of this ship."
Enemy pretended to think about it for a few seconds before climbing in.
"No tricks 'bot." he said.
"No tricks." Ratchet repeated.
"Turn on your sirens."
"Are you serious?"
"As a rust rash. I thought you were concerned about my safety?"
Ratchet obliged and the unlikely pair wailed into the halls of the Ark. They blew past Huffer as he struggled to lift a large wall panel back into place, making the engineer to do a double take as he attempted to see just who was riding in the rear of Ratchet's alt-mode.
"You got shuttles on this heap?" Enemy demanded.
"Yes."
"Take me to 'em. I can't be seen riding inside the likes of you."

Downshift arrived in the repair bay and transformed.
"Empty." he said to himself. "No signs of a struggle... but the doors are wide open. That's not like Ratchet."
He reassumed alt-mode and sped off again, almost slamming into Huffer's legs seconds later as he drifted around a tight corner.
"What is this? The Hydrax Speedway?” Huffer complained. "Why's everyone in such a rush all of a sudden?"
"No time to explain! Have you seen Ratchet?"
"Yeah, he had someone riding inside of him... they were headed towards the shuttles."
"Inside of him? Who's small enough to- oh, scrap!"

Ratchet screeched into the shuttle bay and transformed to robot mode, dumping Enemy on his rear in the process.
"Give me the detonator." he demanded, palm outstretched.
"I don't recall agreeing to that." Enemy snickered. "You offered me a ride. I accepted. Whether or not I decide to send Prime back to the All Spark while I'm coasting back to the Nemesis is entirely up to me."
And with that, the little Decepticon picked himself up and began limping up the ramp to an open shuttle. His injured leg went numb as he attempted to drag it across the ship's threshold. When he looked down, he discovered that it had been frozen solid. Ratchet smiled and retracted a cryogenic spray nozzle back into his forearm housing. A hand holding a pistol emerged a moment later.
"I warned you, Doc!" Enemy screamed. "I said no tricks!"
"You did." Ratchet conceded. "But guess what? I don't care anymore. Push the button... if you've got the struts."
The device made an audible metallic click as Enemy pressed his thumb down hard on top of it.
"There. Happy now? I just made us both famous!” he boasted. “We’re the mechs that just accomplished what Megatron never could- the destruction of Optimus Prime!”
"Uh huh. So where's the explosion?" Ratchet inquired.
Enemy looked confused. "I didn't... I didn't hear-" he stammered.
"That object you're holding... It's not a detonator." Ratchet informed him. "It's a bolt capper."
"A what?"
"A medical instrument. I didn't realize what it really was until I got close enough to get a good look at it. Someone played you for a fool."
"It was the piece of scrap, Skywarp!" Enemy raged. “The boss doesn't even know I'm here! Skywarp said I could impress Megatron by showing some initiative and planting a bomb on the Ark. “Transform”, he says. “I'll stuff you down in my seat cushion and Megs will never know that you're along for the flight.” So I says- cool, but I'll do you one better. When we get inside the Ark, stash me someplace. I'll spy on the Autobots for a while, and then I'll set off the bomb. I had no idea that spawn of a glitch was gonna stuff me inside Prime's body!"
Downshift laughed as he skidded onto the scene, transitioning from alt-mode to 'bot mode as he did so.
"I heard you two over the Ark's security system." he began "And all I have to say is-"
"Look, I already know what you’re going to say, and I’m begging you not to say it!” Ratchet grinned.
"-with friends like that... who needs Enemy!" Downshift concluded with a smile.
"You have cuffs small enough to fit this punk?" sighed Ratchet.
"Yup." Downshift answered. "Got a durabillium steel cell that'll fit him too. The current occupant won't be needing it anymore."

(to be continued)

PART 43

IACON

Perceptor, Hoist and Red Alert stood outside Skyfire's cell. The walls of the cell were identical in color to much of Cybertron's steel surface. The Energon bars glowed a vibrant pink. Skyfire sat silently on the bench awaiting his fate, glaring at all three Autobots with angry red optics.
"I don't like this Perceptor." Hoist said. "It's against code."
"What do you mean?" asked Perceptor. "We repaired the damage to his chest."
"But his vocoder is still in disrepair. Blaster reported that he seemed to be trying to tell us something before his capture."
"Mmm yes, he did. Perhaps I should ask Blaster to contact the Decepticons and request to postpone the prisoner exchange?"
"It would give me a chance to fix his vocoder, and old Shockwave would be none the wiser, yeah?"
"And... it would also give us the opportunity to interrogate him."
"So it's a win-win. What say you, Red?"
"Too risky!" Red Alert replied. "Any delay will give our enemies time to prepare an ambush. Besides, one Decepticon behind these walls is one too many! From the moment he arrived at our base I felt as if someone was... watching me."
"Nonsense." scoffed Hoist. "Hubcap went through the security camera on the elevator bit by bit and found no evidence that Decepticons had access-"
"I don't completely trust Hubcap!" shouted Red Alert.
"Well ah, no one really does, Red.” joked Hoist. “I mean we do trust him to a certain extent with-“
"Enough. The matter is settled." Perceptor concluded. "Red Alert is our director of security, and as such, has the final say on these matters. I’m afraid that the prisoner exchange will have to proceed as scheduled. Sorry."

OREGON

"Hey Ratchet." Bluestreak called via comlink. "What's up, Doc?"
What? I didn't copy." Ratchet replied. "What's up with what?"
"No no- it's a popular greeting used by this planet's life forms. It doesn't even matter if you're really a doctor or not, they just-"
"Bluestreak!"
"I know, I know... I'm droning again."
"I need you to keep this channel clear! I still have six patients currently undergoing repairs and I could restore them more expeditiously if I didn't have to deal with any unnecessary-"
"Hold that thought, Ratchet! I think I hear trouble-"
Cliffjumper burst into the room like a bundle of explosive red Energon.
"Look alive, Bluestreak! We've got company!" he yelled at the top of his vocoder.
Cliffjumper always sounded to Bluestreak as if he were addressing a bunch of 'bots with faulty audio receptors. He watched as the little Autobot plucked the biggest weapon off the rack, transformed and screeched down the hall. Bluestreak changed his form as well, racing after him toward the exit of the Omnibot's ship. They each resumed robot mode seconds later, drawing their weapons and taking up positions on either side of the doorway as it opened.
"How did you even fit that thing in your alt-mode?" Bluestreak asked, eyeing the massive rocket launcher Cliffjumper was struggling to balance on his shoulder.
"Wouldn't you like to know, Bluestreak!" Cliffjumper replied. "Quiet. We've got six vehicles coming up on the horizon."
"They're Autobots, Cliffjumper!"
"How do you know that? They could be Constructicons with new alt-modes."
Bluestreak refocused his optic sensors to get a better look at the approaching vehicles. They rolled to a stop side by side at the cliff's edge, and then began their steep descent down to the shoreline towards them. Cliffjumper kept the lead vehicle, a police car, in his viewfinder until it reached the ship and transformed.
"Prowl's rolling again." Bluestreak smiled, setting down his rifle.
Behind Prowl, Wheeljack, Overdrive, Huffer, Hauler and Gears arrived and reverted to robot-mode as well.
"Satisfied now? Bluestreak asked Cliffjumper sarcastically. "Hey guys", he said turning to the other Autobots. "Twitchy fingers here was just about to open fire on you."
"Wouldn't be the first time." Hauler sighed.
"Good to see you back, Prowl!" Cliffjumper laughed, ignoring Hauler's barb.
"It's good to be back, Cliffjumper." Prowl replied.
"Looks like you 'bots saw some action while I was away." Overdrive observed, touching the hull of the ship. It's golden exterior bore several new scorch marks since he last laid optics on it.
"Skywarp and Thundercracker came knocking." Bluestreak began.
"And we sent 'em flying off with their tail rudders between their legs!" Cliffjumper concluded excitedly.
"Two Constructicons managed to slip past and board the Nemesis during the firefight, though." Bluestreak added. "Sorry guys."
"Well they're prisoners now." Prowl replied. "Along with every other Decepti-creep aboard that ship."
"We're here to assemble the Ion battery tower Overdrive and his crew brought back from Cybertron." Wheeljack said, patting Overdrive on the shoulder. "Once we set up a proper blockade, no Decepticon will be able to get in or out of their base of operations."
"Wheeljack, you and Huffer are in charge of construction." directed Prowl. "Hauler, Gears, you two unload the tower sections and then assist Huffer and Wheeljack with their assembly. Bluestreak, Cliffjumper, go set up a sniper’s nest a few miles inland in case the skies get crowded."
"We gotcha Prowl!" Cliffjumper shouted, shifting to alt-mode.
Bluestreak gave the rest of the Autobots a thumbs up, transformed, and then kicked up sand with Cliffjumper as they headed for the highlands.
"The rest of you all have your assignments. I need this done in thirty." ordered Prowl.
"Thirty minutes? To finish a tower?" Huffer whined. "No way! It's gonna take at least that much time just to get all the pieces set up."
"Huffer, I've seen you repair one of these things in fifteen minutes during a raging acid storm with one optic blown out." Prowl grinned. "Surely you can assemble one on a clear day in a half hour with help from your fellow Autobots?"
Huffer grabbed his toolkit. "Don't complain if we run behind." he warned.
"If you do, I'm sure it won't be by much." Prowl replied.
"So what about me?" Overdrive asked. "What's my assignment?"
"C'mon." Prowl said. "Let's take a stroll."

"Big ship." Prowl commented, as the two Autobots walked along the perimeter of the spacecraft.
"Cut it, Prowl." Overdrive said. "You want to talk to me about Jazz."
"You put him in the repair bay."
"That was his mistake. He went up against three opponents with little to no knowledge of their capabilities."
"Right." Prowl said, crossing his arms and turning to stare Overdrive in the faceplate. "Neither you, Downshift or Camshaft have ever had a proper tech specs rating. No one knows what you're capable of."
"Now wait just one astro-second!” Overdrive shouted, poking a finger in Prowl's chest. "If this is an investigation, you're shining your high beams in the wrong direction!"
"Relax, Overdrive." Prowl smiled, deciding on a less confrontational approach. "I've been offline for a while. I'm just trying to get up to speed."
"Did you read my reports?"
"I did. Jazz is undergoing repairs, and no one has heard from either Bumblebee or Mirage in days, so we won't be getting any clarity on who gave you the order to land. But I wonder...” Prowl pondered, putting his hand up to his chin. “Who gave you the order to engage the Decepticons at Sherman Dam?"
"We were led to believe it was Ratchet."
"By whom?"
"Mirage and Bumblebee." Overdrive shrugged. "After a conversation I had with Ratchet, I realized that the good doctor couldn't have been the one to direct us to crash Starscream's little raiding party."
"Presumably because he had been working in the repair bay for days, and he would have no idea of what was going on militarily."
"Exactly."
"Typical Ratchet."
"The humans stationed near the Dam allowed us to clear their checkpoint without incident. Someone had to tell them we were coming."
"You reported that Jazz denied giving you the initial order to land, so he wouldn't have even known your crew was available as an option to counter Starscream's group."
"True." Overdrive conceded. "If Jazz is telling the truth."
Prowl set his logic center to work. There was a strategy in play here. Someone had something to gain by this. But who? The Decepticons, humans, or a traitor- or traitors within their ranks?
"Prowl, it's Hound." the voice buzzed over his comm. "I've located Bumblebee."
"Is he operational?"
"Hard to tell. The Constructicons have built him into their Space Bridge console."

(to be continued)

PART 44

36 HOURS EARLIER

The sound of large construction vehicles working frenetically filled the barren Oregon desert. The glare of their headlights illuminated the night sky as they labored to reconstruct something not of this world. Mirage crouched down instinctively as a pair of headlights washed over his cloaked form, casting a long shadow onto the Space Bridge's control panel.
"That’s why we couldn't find the Space Bridge before...!" breathed a familiar voice.
“Yeah, because they keep moving it." Mirage concluded, sounding more than a little annoyed. “What are you doing here, Bumblebee?"
Bumblebee peeked out from the rocks he was hiding behind so that Mirage could see him, even though he didn’t expect Mirage to extend the same courtesy.
“A better question would be what are YOU doing here?” Bumblebee shot back.
“Trying to sabotage the Decepticons’ Space Bridge. What did you think I was doing?”
“When I first saw the lights and drove out to investigate, I kept seeing something I couldn’t make out cast a shadow... I figured it had to be you. This is the third time you’ve come over to study the Space Bridge’s console. You gotta keep coming back and forth to it because you can’t stay cloaked for long.”
“Yes.” Mirage replied angrily. “I was looking for a way to shut the thing down permanently!”
“You’re not fooling anyone, Mirage. You’re here because you’re trying to find a way home.”
There was a long silence between the two of them. A silence finally broken by the sound of Mirage triggering his transformation to alt-mode.
“Give my regards to Prime.” he said, dust trailing behind his nigh-invisible form as he drove away.
“Deserter.” Bumblebee thought.
He didn’t have long to dwell on Mirage’s betrayal though. Something was stalking him from the rear, and it was on him before he could think to transform.
“Ravage! Talk about deja vu!” exclaimed Bumblebee, mad at himself for having cried out. If the other Decepticons didn’t know he was here before, that sure wasn’t the case now.
“Ravage!” Thundercracker’s voice boomed. “What’cha got there?
Seconds later he appeared, shining his fingertip flashlight in the Autobot spy’s face. A look of disgust twisted across his faceplate.
“It’s that runt from the dam!” he shouted. “What’re you doing here, Autobot?”
“Geez, everybody’s asking the same question!” Bumblebee quipped. “Would’ja believe just looking for a gas station?” he said with a sheepish grin.
“Nope.” interrupted Skywarp, as he teleported in directly in front of Thundercracker. Ravage scampered away as the Seeker took aim.
“This is it. I’m scrap.” thought Bumblebee.
But instead of feeling the pain of projectiles entering his body, Bumblebee found himself being scooped up and carried away in one of the Constructicon’s shovels. He felt the ‘Con wince in pain as rounds meant for him penetrated his savior’s vehicular form. Once clear of the line of fire, the Constructicon slammed on the brakes and Bumblebee rolled out, face-planting in the desert sand. He raised his head to see Scrapper transform, clutching his arm where two of Skywarp’s shots had perforated his armor plating.
“Why...?” Bumblebee sputtered.
“Yeah! What gives?” Skywarp demanded.
“Everything we Constructicons build must bear our signature.” Scrapper gasped. “The signature of pain.”
“And you can’t that from a dead mech.” Bonecrusher added, slamming his fist into the palm of his hand.
Five out of the six Constructicons encircled Bumblebee as he stood to his feet. He tried to transform, but Long Haul grabbed him from behind by the shoulders. Sparks flew from the sides of Bumblebee’s chest as he struggled to retract his arms and change form, but he couldn’t overcome Long Haul’s vice-like grip.
“Stop squirming!” Bonecrusher commanded, and then he stepped forward and struck Bumblebee with a backhand to the face that made the little ‘Bot see static.
Scrapper retracted his hand into the forearm housing of his functioning arm and a circular saw sprang out. Bumblebee let loose an energon-curdling scream as Scrapper plunged the spinning blade into his chest. First cleaving the Autobot symbol he wore so proudly in two, and then separating him in half below the spark. Meanwhile, Hook had been busy removing key components from the Space Bridge console, and it was at this moment that he presented them to Scrapper.
“Good work, Hook! Now get ‘em in while the wound is still hot.” Scrapper directed.
Bumblebee recoiled in horror as Hook violated his being. The revulsion he felt towards every single one of them was evident, he didn't have to utter a word.
“You should be honored." Hook told his unwilling patient. "You're a part of something now."
“Yes! Yes! Art with a purpose!” Mixmaster cackled.
Hook stepped back to let Scrapper survey his work, hands dripping with an unsightly mixture of pink energon and black grease.
“I dunno. It needs something.” Scrapper said, looking down at the amalgam of living Autobot parts and blinking control panel pieces. “A stand!” he crowed, index finger in the air as if had just made some great discovery. “It needs a stand!”
“Allow me” Bonecrusher insisted, stomping a foot down on Bumblebee’s pelvis and ripping both his legs out of the sockets.
The brutish Constructicon stood the legs upright in the sand, prompting Long Haul to lay the Autobot’s still screaming torso across his own severed limbs. One quick welding job by Scrapper later, and Bumblebee’s transition from spy to Space Bridge console was complete.
"He looks like a table now." observed Scavenger. "A uh, junky one with buttons on top of it."
"It's an acquired taste." Hook snorted. "I wouldn't expect a mech of your base intellect to be able to appreciate it."
“I think it's an improvement.” Thundercracker said, breaking into a slow applause. “Now if you’re all done redecorating, Megatron’s got a job for us to do.”
“One more important than guarding our intergalactic transport system?” inquired Scrapper.
“Apparently.” Thundercracker replied. “He wants me and Skywarp to escort you and Hook back to the Nemesis. Now.”

(to be continued)

PART 45

KAON. NOW.

“Starscream strode through the halls of Decepticon headquarters, crown upon his head, cape made of the lightest of alloys, flowing like a-“
“Kokular.” corrected Starscream.
“Excuse me?”
Starscream turned around to study the mech tasked with writing a story about him. He was an older Seeker, but one that still sported the color scheme of a newly assembled Air Warrior due to his lack of experience in battle.
“Kokular.” Starscream repeated.
“Oh, I wasn’t aware that this base had a name.”
“It’s one of the many changes I have implemented since the beginning of my reign. You would do well to familiarize yourself with them.”
“Your... reign? Megatron still leads the Decepticons, Starscream. The commanders of several city-states still refuse to follow your orders- chief among them Straxus of Polyhex who-“
“Get out of my sight before I destroy you!” Starscream hissed.
The reporter shrank away, transforming to Tetra-jet mode and rocketing the rest of the way down the hall out of fear that he might get shot in the back.
Starscream grinned in amusement at the sight. “Megatron never instilled this much fear.” he told himself.
He pushed a button on the wall and the doors to the Space Bridge control tower opened before him. The room was crowded with Seekers, ten full squads at least.
Nacelle pushed his way through to greet him.
“Welcome, Lord Starscream." the scientist smiled. "Everyone on your list is here. I believe that you’ll be particularly pleased with the liberties I took in redesigning Ramjet, Thrust and Dirge.”
Starscream scanned the crowd for the trio in question. Collectively, they were known as one of the deadliest Squadrons on Cybertron. A reputation gained in part by Ramjet’s unorthodox approach to aerial warfare.
“Hmm, conical heads.” Starscream commented upon cursory examination of the three killers. “How... festive.”
“And functional!” Nacelle beamed. “New wing designs too! Wait until you see what Thrust can-“
“Where is Sunstorm?” Starscream interrupted.
He didn’t need to see him to know that he wasn’t there. Even the most heavily armored Transformers reported feeling Sunstorm’s presence long before they ever saw him.
“He is traveling to Earth under his own power”, Shockwave informed them as he made his way through the mob.
“Anyone care to share why the key to my plan to overthrow Megatron is currently flying through outer space by his lonesome?” Starscream snarked.
Nacelle looked down at the floor as Shockwave reached them.
“Well now.” Starscream said, staring back and forth between the two scientists. “Let’s not have everyone activate their vocoders at once.”
“Lord Starscream”, Nacelle began. “When I was making adjustments to the Space Bridge in order to accommodate you and your army, I discovered that the electromagnetic waves produced by Sunstorm would negatively impact the entire system’s operation.”
“Go on.” Starscream said impatiently.
“There was a greater chance that you all would have materialized inside the planet’s molten core, rather than on its surface.” Nacelle spat out.
If looks could kill, the glare that Starscream gave Shockwave would have reduced him to metal shavings.
“A slight oversight on my part Lord Starscream, nothing more.” Shockwave attempted to assure him. “When I suggested Sunstorm’s inclusion, I neglected to factor in the effect a surge in electromagnetic ingress would have on the bridge’s extra-dimensional trans-warp window.”
Starscream was not convinced.
"Shockwave, there are those who would count you amongst the keenest scientific minds on the planet, but here you are... claiming to make mistakes only a novice would make." he chastised. "Fortunately, I have your former assistant Nacelle to rely on. I'll leave Cybertron in his capable hands until I return. I would strongly advise you to be more thorough in the future, though. After all, one can never predict the effect another miscalculation might have on your ability to continue functioning."
“Understood, Lord Starscream.” Shockwave replied.
Starscream stared at him for a few moments to make sure he did indeed understand the implied threat before turning to address his troops.
"Decepticons! I look around the room and I see many of the veterans of Cybertron's greatest battles. Do you remember the beginning? Back when we brought the Autobots to heel at Fort Scyk and captured Stanix for Megatron? Someone refresh my memory banks... what was our reward for that stunning victory?"
"Spare parts!" they shouted in unison.
“We fought a seemingly endless war. Friends and squad-mates were lost, personal sacrifices made, and then finally, we succeeded in pushing our enemies back into Iacon... and what was the reward?”
“Stasis!” came the thunderous reply.
“So... anyone care to guess what the reward will be when the last Autobot has fallen and Cybertron belongs to Megatron?”
“Deeaaath.” answered Dirge.
"Yes Dirge, you are correct." Starscream replied.
The crowd was stunned, a wave of disbelief washed over their faceplates.
"Megatron wants peace, and that is a living death for warriors like us!" Starscream continued, as murmurs of discontent grew louder. "Peace through tyranny... so after this is all over we can all continue on as Megatron's subjects... getting a few cubes of energon tossed our way as he sees fit. Decepticons, I ask you- is that what we fought for?"
"NO!"
"We are Seekers! Our superior design gave us the sky, but I Starscream, would give you the stars! Planets to conquer! With those loyal to me made rulers of an intergalactic empire- answering to only me- your supreme leader!"
"ALL HAIL STARSCREAM!"
"No, not "all", my Decepticons..." Starscream said softly. "Not while Megatron still functions."

(to be continued)

PART 46

OREGON

There was a long winding trail leading down from the mountain range overlooking the Space Bridge’s latest location, and Scavenger was traveling up it as fast as his treads could carry him.
“Hey, Scavenger!” Long Haul yelled from below. “Where ya going, buddy?”
“There’s a boulder at the top of the mountain that I didn’t see before!” Scavenger answered excitedly. “It’s just bursting with Cybertronian alloys- I can detect them from here!”
“Aw, forget that dumb rock, Scavenger! There’s a shipment comin’ from home, so I suggest you get down here and help me with it before Bone and Mixmaster come back and catch us idlin’!”
Scavenger threw his treads into reverse and rotated the cab of his alt-form around on it’s platform.
“Ohh, okay...” he whined, rumbling back down the trail.
Upon reaching the bottom, he transformed and joined his puzzled teammate leaning over the Space Bridge’s furiously blinking control panel. Long Haul shrugged and then tapped a display screen ever so lightly. The Bumblebee/console amalgam howled as if struck by a sledgehammer.
“Shaddup, ya wimp!” he chuckled.
“Wow.” Scavenger said, looking on in amazement. “Hey, uh, Long Haul? We usually don’t get things back from Cybertron... whatcha think they’re sending down to us?”
“I don’t know, buddy... but we’re about to find out.”
Storm clouds gathered over them and a portal as bright as the sun appeared above the Space Bridge. Bumblebee screamed as several shadowy winged figures rode a ray of light down into the Bridge’s circular confines. The doors slid open and Starscream strode out onto the metallic pathway leading away from the structure, followed closely behind by his Seeker army.
“Starscream! You’re all repaired!” Scavenger exalted, giving the Air Commander a thumbs up. “Tell us about your vacation.”
“Silence, you dolt!” Starscream sneered.
Ramjet and Thrust converged on the Constructicon immediately, fists clenched, anticipating Starscream’s order to bash him for his stupidity.
“No need for that.” said Starscream, dismissing them with a wave of the hand. “My problem isn’t with him. It’s with his superior. Where is Scrapper?” he asked, coming almost nose to faceplate with Scavenger. “His stunt with the Space Bridge cost me precious time.”
“Megatron s-summoned him back to the Nemesis!” Scavenger stammered.
“For what purpose?” demanded Starscream.
“Dunno.” Long Haul volunteered. “He left with Hook, escorted by Skywarp and Thundercracker over a day ago.”
“And?”
“Your guys were glitchin’ ‘bout two Autobots- armed to the fenders- holed up in a cargo hauler parked outside the Nemesis. Heard Hook and Scrapper made it past safe and sound, though. Crazy, huh?”
Starscream’s optics grew wide. “We can’t afford to wait for Sunstorm!” he screamed. “Decepticons...! To the Nemesis! Scramble!”
“What was that about?” Scavenger inquired, as a steady stream of Seekers shifting to alt-mode streaked overhead.
“Beats me.” Long Haul shrugged. “Starscream’s always blowin’ a fuse over somethin’.”
“Hey, look at my rock!” Scavenger said, pointing to the mountaintop.
“Oh, what about your stupid rock?” Long Haul grumbled.
“It just morphed into a Jeep and drove after Starscream!”

“Prowl, come in!” Hound radioed as he roared down the highway in hot pursuit of the Decepticon jets.
“Prowl here.” the Autobot strategist’s voice answered calmly over his comlink. “Is your cover still intact?”
“No! Had to drop it!”
“What? Why?”
“Prowl, I sure do hope that battery tower is finished, ‘cause you got about thirty Decepti-creeps headed your way!”

(to be continued)

PART 47

Gears grunted as he walked down the ramp of the cargo ship carrying a metal plate easily three times his size. The only parts of the diminutive Autobot Hauler could see as he idled nearby were Gears’ legs from the knees down.
“Gears! I’m over here!” he called out, figuring that if he couldn’t see his friend, then there was no way his friend could see him.
“My navigation systems work just fine!” Gears grumbled.
“Just trying to help.” sighed Hauler.
“You can help me by taking this load off of my hands! My pulleys ache, and I keep getting sand up my exhaust pipe!”
“Always figured something had to have crawled up there...” Hauler mumbled.
“What did you say?”
“Nothing. Hold on.”
Hauler reconfigured the hook at the end of his boom into a three-fingered claw, grabbed the metal plate out of Gears arms, and then hoisted it up into Huffer’s waiting hands at the top of the tower.
“Thanks!” Huffer yelled down. “Two more pieces to go and then we’re done!”
The tower that the Autobots were busy reassembling was twenty stories tall by Earth standards. It had two large Ion cannons mounted on the top, and in the back of those massive guns sat a domed cockpit that served as it’s control center. For eons, it had been one of several that stood outside Iacon defending the city from Decepticon attack. Now it’s been uprooted, disassembled and shipped across the galaxy for use as an instrument in a blockade against those same Decepticons on Earth.
Huffer’s comm lit up. “Huffer! Give me a status report!” Prowl demanded.
“Five more minutes for the exterior. I toldja not to complain if we run behind. You better check up on Wheeljack, though.” the engineer said, pointing to the plasteel dome above him. “I think he’s having some wiring issues.”
“Wheeljack, report!” Prowl shouted into his communicator. “Wheeljack...?”
Wheeljack was hard at work on his hands and knees in a mess of wires when he finally answered Prowl’s call.
“What’s up?”
“I need that tower operational, that’s what!” Prowl snapped.
“It’s not my fault, Prowl!” Wheeljack protested. “Whoever disassembled this console must’ve had hacksaws for hands! Either that, or somebody ripped out a bunch of wires on purpose.”
“Hmm. I don’t see a logical reason why anyone would have to take apart the control panel in the first place.”
“My thoughts exactly! Gimme a sec, let me try a few things up here.”
“Do your best. Prowl, out.”
Overdrive had been standing next to Prowl the whole time listening to his exchanges with Huffer and Wheeljack.
“You didn’t tell them.” he said.
“No, they can’t know what’s coming. Neither one of them works well under duress.”
“Prowl, we’re about to be outnumbered four to one, and not by just any Decepticons either- Seekers! If it were one to one odds, this group might stand a chance against them, but thirty...? We’re going to get demolished!”
“Let’s examine our options.” Prowl said calmly. “Trying to outrun them is out of the question, they’ll drop bombs on us until the last Autobot is scrap. We could fall back to the ship and hold them off with the weapons from the armory, but once the Decepticons seize the tower, they’ll use it to destroy us and the ship too.”
“We could board the ship and fly out of here."
“Yeah, we can choose to flee and save ourselves, but don’t think for a minute that the ‘Cons will leave this battery tower here as part of their defenses. They don’t operate like that. The Constructicons will have that thing reassembled and sitting on our doorstep by tomorrow morning, guaranteed. Our best option is to stand our ground for as long as we can in order to buy Wheeljack and Huffer the time they need to get that tower operational... understand?”
“Affirmative.” Overdrive sighed, flipping up his communicator. “Bluestreak...? How does it look up there? Any sign of the Decepticons?”
“You’re clear on the coast for as far as the optic can see.” Bluestreak radioed back. “I figure either the Decepti-creeps don’t know what we’re up to out here, or they’re too chicken to come out of their tin can at the bottom of the ocean.”
“Where’s Cliffjumper? Overdrive asked, looking through a pair of optic enhancers. “I don’t see him up there with you.”
“He moved to a perch further out. I guess he got tired of conversating.”
“Disconnect him.” Prowl whispered to Overdrive. “I’m speaking to Cliffjumper over here on my comm now. Cliffjumper? What do you see...?”
“It’s noisy, Prowl! Fog’s rollin’ in! Looks like-“
zzzt
“Cliffjumper...?”

(to be continued)

Part 48

“I think Ramjet just slammed into an Autobot... hard to tell in this fog.” Hotlink radioed.
“Not surprising.” Starscream replied. “That defense tower ahead of us didn’t make it here on it’s own- prepare to take evasive maneuvers!”
“Don’t bother.” laughed Hotlink. “My sensors indicate that it’s offline. It might as well be a monument.”
“Yes”, agreed Starscream. “A monument to their stupidity. Decepticons attack!”

Decepticon jets burst forth from the clouds like shrapnel shards. Bluestreak dove down, hugging the rocky perch to avoid being struck by the same Seeker that collided with Cliffjumper less than a minute ago.
“Ramjet.” he muttered. “One of the slagging guards at the Smelting Pool!”
He picked up his rifle and put Ramjet in the crosshairs, ready to unleash lightning from the tip of it’s barrel. “Time to settle old scores.” he said.
It was the whine of Dirge’s engines that gave him pause. His finger trembled on the trigger as an inexplicable feeling of terror permeated his spark. He lowered his weapon, no longer able to take the shot. Several more Seekers zipped by, intent on destroying his comrades on the ground. His audio receptors told him that Prowl was trying to reach him over his comm. He didn’t respond.

“I knew it!” Gears railed. “I knew he was gonna leave us out to rust just like at the power plant!”
“Gears...! Shut it!” Prowl yelled. “Hound! Pick up!”
“I’m close, Prowl... making my way over the mountains now.” Hound radioed back.
“Stay out of sight when you arrive. Do not engage until I give the order, understood?”
The sound of Hound’s voice was drowned out by the roar of approaching aircraft. The Autobots took refuge against the base of the battery tower as Decepticon jets dropped bombs around them. The noise from the explosions overwhelmed their audio receptors as waves of sand washed over them. Three of the bombers circled back for a second run. Prowl and Overdrive stood their ground and met them with a slew of acid slugs and a plasma beam fusillade that forced the trio to abort their attack.
Two Air Warriors transformed and engaged Hauler and Gears in close combat. The two Autobots grabbed one of them by the arms and pulled in different directions, stripping him of both arms and armaments in one concerted move. The other Decepticon opened up on the duo and his own limbless comrade, hitting all three with a barrage of lasers fired from both barrels. Prowl tackled the shooter from behind, cutting his rampage short with a rifle-butt to the head and an acid pellet to the face.
Prowl heard muffled cries for help. His optics were drawn to a commotion above on the wraparound ledge located just beneath the tower’s cannons. Close to a dozen Seekers were swarming over Huffer like Insecticons, ripping him to shreds. It was Starscream himself who held Huffer’s bonnet high over his own head in a mocking display of cruelty before hurling it downward at his friends.
Horror gave way to hope as Wheeljack finally succeeded in bringing the defense tower online. Those hopes were dashed seconds later when Ramjet crashed through it’s translucent dome, colliding with Wheeljack and sending him flying out the other side and plummeting to the ground below.
The Seekers who dismantled Huffer opened fire from the ledge, while several more positioned themselves between the Autobots and their ship, simultaneously trapping them in a deadly crossfire while cutting off all avenues of escape.
“Now, Hound! Now!” Prowl shouted into his arm.
The Autobots all turned tail and ran, not even bothering to change into their alt-modes as they fled. Their enemies fired a dizzying array of null rays, argon lasers and projectiles at their exposed backs. The ‘Cons kept on shooting even after they were all struck down, blasting them to pieces until the last Autobot was nothing but scrap.
“It’s over mechs! We tore ‘em apart like tin foil targets!” boasted Thrust. “Now bring on Megatron!”
Dirge sniffed the air. “I don’t smell death.” he said. “The scent of scorched metal and sizzled circuits... it is not present.” He walked over to what his optic sensors told him was smoldering wreckage and attempted to touch one of the corpses. His hand passed straight through it.
“It’s a trick!” Thrust shouted. “The whole areas an illusion!” He moved closer to an Autobot wreck to prove his point, and in doing so became part of the illusion himself.
“One of those pieces of junk must have a hologram projector!” deduced Hotlink. “We should fan out, search the area. They’ve gotta be around here somewhere.”
Starscream pondered the situation for a moment, and then it hit him- “The ship! You fools! Get to the ship! They’re going to try to escape!”
Hound’s holographic illusion disappeared and the world was revealed as it truly was. The Autobots’ ship was already off the ground, held aloft by it’s hover jets, while four of their number were tearing across the beach in alt-mode, heading for the safety of the surrounding hills. Several of the Decepticons transformed and took off after them, only to be immediately shot down by ion blasts from the battery tower’s cannons.
Prowl smiled as he pressed down on the control console’s twin triggers and downed two more Decepticon jets. The cargo ship had been excellent distraction, but an unplanned one.
“Hound, Hauler, Overdrive, Wheeljack and Gears are all accounted for.” thought Prowl. “So who’s piloting the ship?” He refocused his optics in order to peer through a clean spot on the vessel’s dirty windshield.
“Mirage is at the helm”, he grinned.
The former Autobot spy ignited the thrusters on the ship, and then shot into the skies with Hotlink, Ramjet, Thrust and Dirge in hot pursuit. With Mirage gone- and four Seekers gone with him- Prowl returned to the business of destroying those that remained. Decepticons scattered in every direction, some stopping to return fire once they found cover behind one of the many rock formations on the beach, while others risked an aerial retreat, believing the battle to be already lost.
"Stay and fight, you cowards!" commanded Starscream, null rays blazing, but having zero effect on the artillery tower that was being used to decimate his forces.
Prowl chose his targets indiscriminately, striking down both the courageous and the cowardly alike. He swung the turret around and put the upstart Decepticon leader in his sights, only to lose track of him a second later when the cannons failed to fire and his quarry took to the air. The displays on the control panel in front of him flickered as every instrument in it’s console began shorting out.
"E.M. levels rising", Prowl observed. "Sunstorm's here."


(to be continued)

PART 49

“1491 miles per hour.”

That’s how fast Sunstorm was going when he strafed the tower I was seated in.
The protective dome covering it’s control center had been damaged, leaving it wide open to attacks from higher altitudes. I knew this before I climbed up the rungs and commandeered it, but still... I was convinced that all I needed was two big guns to defeat thirty Decepticons. Hubris caused me to make a tactical error, now it was time for me to pay the price.

Sunstorm’s burst missiles had rendered the tower inoperable. It’s instrument panel was burned beyond recognition. I’m a wreck, but still functional... I exit what remains of it’s cockpit and start the long climb down. The Decepticons are still in disarray, there’s a chance that I might make it to the bottom if I move quickly. (wishful thinking) I feel a rush of wind and hear the sound of metal parts reconfiguring behind me. I turn around and there he is- Sunstorm.

He can’t be as powerful as they claim in the field reports. Soldiers often exaggerate their enemies' strengths to explain away their own weaknesses. I reach for my weapon, squeeze the trigger... and miss every shot! Something’s wrong.

My targeting systems are off by a mile, the radiation Sunstorm is emitting is affecting my optics... one moment they’re telling me that he’s a deep shade of yellow, blaze orange the next. He’s quoting verses from the covenant- I can’t comprehend what he’s saying over the buzz in my cranium...

He takes aim, he shoots... gamma rays slice through me like lasers. I’m burning. Random numbers scroll through my head -my systems are trying to shut down. I stay online through sheer force of will. Is that- Overdrive!?

He’s flying... didn’t know that his alt-mode had aerial capabilities. He opens up on Sunstorm with a pair of guns that pop out of his grille.
“Make a break for it, Prowl!” he yells.

The kid’s trying to lead him away. Sunstorm takes the bait and transforms to jet mode. I don’t have much time... he’ll overtake him in seconds. I let go of the rungs and drop the rest of the way down. One of my knee joints snap when I land... my hip pops out of place. Fortunately, I don’t need either of those parts to roll. I transform and accelerate while watching Overdrive go down in flames in my rear view. I want to turn back, but I can’t. We both know what kind of damage the Decepticons could do with a member of high command in their custody... the secrets they could unlock...

“I’ll make them pay kid, I promise.”

Seekers run aerial patrols over the mountains endlessl, relentlessly. It takes me until nightfall to reach the cave where the others are hiding. I change form and stumble in. The place stinks. It smells like fried circuit boards and unfiltered exhaust fumes.

Cliffjumper isn’t with them. Neither is Bluestreak. Hauler keeps telling Wheeljack to sit down... his circuits are scrambled, he doesn’t know where he is. Falling flat on your face in the sand from twenty stories up will do that to you. They gather around me, their faceplates searching mine for answers. I don’t have any to give.
I wait fifteen minutes before making the call-

“Prime?”
“... Proceed with your report, Prowl.”
“We lost the tower, the Decepticons have control of the coast... three M.I.A., one casualty.”
“Who was it?”
“Huffer.”
“... Not a banner day for the Autobots.”
“No, it was not.”
“Lead the others back to base and then get yourself patched up. After that, meet me in front of Teletraan-1... there’s a crisis in Iacon.”

(to be continued)

PART 50

3 HOURS EARLIER

The Nemesis’ docking tower had been fully extended above sea level for some time without anyone coming in or out. Starscream considered ordering the surviving troops gathered behind him to strafe the tower, but he didn’t want to risk damaging the only suitable base of operations that the earthbound Decepticons had at the moment.
A flooded Nemesis was an unusable Nemesis.
“I have the flying Autobot.” Sunstorm said, floating down to the sand while holding Overdrive by the collar. “Though the one responsible for the destruction of so many of our brethren has escaped my grasp. I’m told that the slagger was last seen scurrying into the hills like a common retrorat.”
“I’ll send Hotlink and the others to search for him when they return with the coward who managed to escape aboard the cargo ship.” replied Starscream. “In the meantime... secure your captive, this is the second time that this particular Autobot has meddled in my affairs! There will not be a third.”
“Lord Starscream, look!” shouted one of the rank and file. “It’s Megatron!”
Starscream looked upwards, the tower had opened and Megatron was flying towards them on a sky-sled. The Seeker that drew attention to him suddenly dropped to his knees, Energon backflowed out of his open mouth and cascaded down his chest cockpit.
Starscream was aghast. “Control your nerves, warrior!” he barked.
“Nuh- not nervous! the Seeker stammered. “Malfunctioning! Energon gauge s-says tank overflowing!”
Megatron laughed as he stepped off his transport. “It seems that your troops are as unfit for duty as you are for command, Starscream!”
“Look who’s talking.” Starscream smirked.
Repairs on Megatron had seemingly only just begun. The parts that were damaged during the battle at the Ark had all been removed, but many of the replacement parts -along with key pieces of his armor plating- had yet to be installed. To Starscream, Megatron looked worse than before.
“Were you currently undergoing repairs, Megatron...? Or is this a new design? I heard the “salvaged” look was all the rage on the planet of Junk!”
“I dragged myself off of the operating table against the pleas of both Hook and Scrapper to address your challenge.” Megatron grinned.
“So you know why I’m here.”
“Of course... you’ve come for another helping of humiliation. Tell me, Starscream... would you prefer to be throttled by the neck once again? Or did you have another part of your anatomy in mind this time?”
“Enough posturing, Megatron!” interrupted Sunstorm. “The masses have spoken, and they say that it is time for you to pass the mantle of leadership on to another!”
“Leadership of the Decepticons is not something that can be given freely!” Megatron snarled. “It can only be seized... by someone stronger, hungrier.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” replied Starscream, extending a hand towards Megatron. Megatron reached out and grasped it.
This was a long-standing tradition amongst rivals preparing to do battle against one another in the gladiatorial arenas. Warriors would surge power into their arms, and then attempt to tug each other off of their feet. This was a move meant to excite the crowd as much as it was to establish who was the stronger mechanism.
"Is your strength failing you, o' mighty Megatron?" Starscream inquired, he could feel the Decepticon leader straining his systems to the point of breakdown.
"Nnnf! Sunstorm's electromagnetic field", grunted Megatron. "It's impeding my functionality!"
"Excuses, excuses." chided Starscream. "Let me show you how it's done."
Starscream took a step back and yanked Megatron forward with him, sending the tyrant first stumbling past him and then tumbling head over heels down the shore.
Starscream looked up at the docking tower and waved, playing to the crowd. Scrapper, Hook and Soundwave were standing there in the entrance, the latter no doubt broadcasting the fight live to every Decepticon base on Cybertron with a working monitor screen.
"Even in his weakened condition Megatron is still dangerous... still deadly", Starscream deduced. “If the mechs back home want to be entertained, they’ll have to tune into another frequency.”
Starscream transformed -and just as he had predicted- Megatron opened up with his fusion cannon. Starscream jinked and looped effortlessly in jet-mode around every blast, waiting until just the right moment to rain down destruction from above.
When that time came, Megatron disappeared amid the dirt and rocks thrust up by the explosive fury of Starscream’s cluster bombs. The ground shook beneath his feet, causing the rock formations around him to topple over, trapping him in a tomb of rubble. Starscream transformed back to robot mode and landed atop the mound of displaced rocks just as Megatron was struggling to extricate himself from it. The Seeker reached down, put the besieged Decepticon leader in a chokehold, and then pressed a null ray to his temple.
“Any last words?” he asked. “Now’s the time.”
“A warning.” gasped Megatron.
“About what?” scoffed Starscream.
“Sunstorm”, answered Megatron. “His mere presence causes the systems of all those around him to fail.”
“Only the systems of damaged fools like yourself who let themselves be goaded into battle with their circuits exposed!” laughed Starscream.
“Oh?” challenged Megatron, “Do you think your warriors would attest to that?”
Starscream looked over at his troops and he was shocked at what he saw- all but one of them were dead! Their gray corpses lay motionless in pools of their own Energon, hyper de-colorization having already taken hold. The only one left still standing was glitching badly, drowning in his own mech fluids.
“It’s true!” the Seeker coughed. “Started m-malfunctioning the moment that- ack! freak touched down!”
Sunstorm stared down at his hands. “I believed my abilities to be blessings from Primus”, he cried. “Instead I find that they are a curse! I must go, Lord Starscream... perhaps Shockwave’s scientific expertise can find a cure for my affliction.”
Starscream watched Sunstorm transform and soar into the skies, all the while failing to realize that along with his departure, so went the advantage. Megatron however, did not. With his remaining systems charging back online, the ex-gladiator reared up and smashed Starscream in the head with a hefty blow that struck sparks off the side of his cranial casing. Megatron then grabbed him by the throat and shoved his fusion cannon into the stunned Seeker’s face before he could react, signaling to Starscream that the next move he decided to make could well be his last.
“If you want to continue this, you’ll do so without a head.” warned Megatron.
“I yield.” Starscream said.
“I can’t hear you. My audio receptors are still ringing from your cluster bombs.”
Starscream sank to his knees. He knew that Megatron had heard him clearly. He also knew that his ability to continue functioning depended entirely on how well he accepted this latest lesson in humility.
“I yield! I yield! Megatron, please...!” he groveled.
Megatron threw his head back and laughed.
“What’s... what’s so funny?” Starscream asked sheepishly.
“The irony of it all.” replied Megatron. “You... that idiot Sunstorm... the fool turns to Shockwave for a solution when he is the cause of all of this.”
“Shockwave...? But how?”
“I was waiting for the opportunity to field test a form of weaponized Energon that he had developed for me. You and your band of traitors provided me with one. The experimental Energon was potent... self-replenishing, and utterly undetectable as a poison until exposed to certain forms of radiation.”
“Sunstorm’s electromagnetic field...”
“Precisely! So you see Starscream? Even when you believe that you are rebelling against me, you are still doing my bidding. Now... consider yourself fortunate that I did not see fit to have you filled with the same substance!”
Megatron kicked Starscream in the chest as he completed his last sentence, sending the Seeker sprawling backwards off the makeshift mountain.
Megatron smirked as Starscream landed with a heavy thud on the boulders below. “Soundwave”, he rasped into his comm.
“What is your command Megatron?”
“Contact Shockwave. Tell him to commence with phase two.”

(to be continued)