Chapter 3-Battle Lines
The Osean army base sat in the middle of the arid, rocky landscape in the southernmost state of Zona Arida. The state was not a place for the weary, much less a whole base of soldiers who were going to spend most of the day doing heavy labor or training. Temperatures were known to reach above a hundred at midday, and could drop to near freezing temperatures at night. And that wasn’t counting the hazardous little critters that could ruin your whole tour with just one sting or bite. You weren’t getting a break in Zona Arida, but as the soldiers would always say “at least it isn’t Mexica”.
But this wasn’t just some leisurely stroll for new recruits-there were reports of Karaba activity in the area, most likely some minor business going on between Mexica and Osea. But any Karaba sighting was treated seriously by the top army brass, enough to warrant military interference. Thus, the construction of a regional base and regular patrols around the area was authorized until Karaba’s presence was confirmed.
Standing guard at the base’s entrance were three talos. They were the M6 Bushnell, units that composed Osea’s mobile armor division. The Bushnell were 13 foot tall mecha built to the usual configuration most talos sported. They had dark blue, almost black composite armor with long heads and a yellow visor over a single optical camera. Together with the M4 Murphy units, they formed the bulk of Osea’s MA forces, though less advanced and less capable of combating espers than the ERD’s new Paladin mecha.
The cockpit was located in the torso and was just large enough to accommodate an adult human, though it wasn’t small enough to be cramped or uncomfortable. In front of the pilot seat were three directional monitors that showed video images directly from the camera’s viewpoint in the head. Two joysticks controlled the talos’s arms, and finger rests manipulated the fingers. Two foot pedals controlled the talos’s movements, right for throttle and left for reverse/brake.
The Bushnell units were large and bulky and were definitely not very fast compared to some other models used in other countries, though they were powerful combat weapons. Despite their combat abilities, the weather conditions of Zona Arida made them into walking death traps if the pilots weren’t careful. Aside from the usual problems of the engine overheating, the cockpits were built with air conditioning, so heat strokes were a very real threat when operating in the desert. It was just one of the many things talos pilots had to worry about along with mechanical malfunctions or getting ambushed and torn apart by amalgam terrorists.
“Hey.” Said the pilot of Bushnell unit-003.
“Yeah?” Unit-002 replied.
“Why are we here?”
“What?”
“Why are we here?” 003 asked. 002 took a moment to answer.
“I don’t know man. That’s like asking why we’re born, or if there’s a purpose in life. I sometimes ask myself that when I’m along and it keeps me up at night, you know? Is God just playing with us? Is the meaning of our lives just some cosmic game? I want to know the answers, but I also hope that I never find it either.”
Unit-003 stared at him through his mecha’s camera lens. “No, I meant why are we here, sweltering inside non-ventilated talos in the middle of the freaking desert?”
“Oh,” Pilot-002 coughed. “Um, yeah, I have no idea.”
“What was all that stuff about god?”
“Nothing.”
“…You wanna talk about it?”
“Nope!”
‘Idiots.” Pilot-001 thought. These were the people he was stuck working with. Gaia, sentry duty was a boring job.
Then he noticed something strange; a small black shape hovering in the air in the distance. He enhanced his unit’s camera vision and saw that it was a black helicopter approaching the base-an MH53-Blackhawk.
“Huh, I didn’t get word of that coming here.” The pilot muttered. His team was usually the first to know if the base was having visitors, and this little surprise made him a little uneasy. He also saw two other choppers fly out of the base to escort the Blackhawk in, signaling that Watch Command was probably just as nervous about this unannounced encounter as he was.
The sight of the Blackhawk wasn’t the only thing that had everyone on edge, despite its commonality among the military along with the Apache; it was that this chopper was sporting a model number of a chopper that was shot down almost a year ago. Even more suspicious was that it wasn’t hailing any of their calls, only getting static in response.
Soldiers in humvees gathered at the landing area, weapons drawn and raised as the Blackhawk descended. Once it had fully landed on the ground, the CO spoke over the intercom.
“Attention crew of the MH-53 shut off your engines and stand clear of the aircraft. Failure to comply will be met with deadly force.” He announced. The soldiers took aim to emphasize this, but there was no response or movement from the pilot. “This is your last warning. Stand clear of the vehicle with your hands raised or we’ll open fire.”
More silence followed, and the soldiers became uneasy as the tension rose, with many expecting this to be a feint and for the helicopter to have been rigged with explosives. Some even thought it was hiding a bunch of Karaba agents waiting to hop out and waste them. But something completely unexpected happened-the pilot vanished! Like a bad television image. At the same time, an invisible pulse reverberated throughout the base, causing all electronics within its radius to go haywire and short circuit.
The Blackhawk’s rotors stopped in place and folded back-something anyone with avionics on their resume would know wasn’t possible for this kind of chopper. Then it began to…change. It was reconfiguring, shifting, metamorphosing even as the soldiers stared in its direction. The robot that was once a military helicopter had feet, arms and a head.
It also had a name-Blackout. But the soldiers did not see or sense that, and the Decepticon made no effort to identify himself. Almost as once, everyone opened fire on the metal giant, but their bullets had no effect on his body. Blackout looked around at the brace, but stupid, humans that attacked him and slammed his fist into the ground.
There was a mighty thunderclap, a huge spherical sonic shockwave that blasted everyone off their feet. Soldiers were sent flying, electronics went even more haywire, military vehicles were tossed around like toys and torn apart. Then the slaughter began.
XXXXXX
Things had finally calmed down enough at the Ark to allow the Autobots to focus on properly settling down in their new home. Some of the Autobots used this break in the fighting to better help the kids and Minicons acclimate to their new accommodations. Despite this, everyone was still on high alert in case another Minicon panel activated, which was evidenced by the horrible events surrounding the second panel’s activation and subsequent retrieval by a Decepticon.
Optimus and Prowl stood in the Ark’s computer hub watching a television broadcast on Teletran-1. It was a breaking news story about a military base in Zona Arida that was practically wiped off the map, with no survivors documented.
“This was a bold move on the Cons’ part.” Prowl said. He didn’t seem particularly bothered by
the Cons’ attack, since he’s seen them do far worse than a small-scale massacre. He was more bothered by the implications it hinted at. “It was very risky to send just one Con to attack a military base in broad daylight.”
“Megatron would spare no expense at obtaining the Minicons, but stealth was paramount. Blackout has experience in infiltrating enemy lines and attacking them from the inside.” Optimus sighed and shook his head. “The panel was buried under the base, and the soldiers were just in his way.”
It was just bad luck that the panel was smack dab in the heart of the base, hidden underground and undiscovered. The Decepticons had no qualms about erasing military installations to cover their tracks via infiltration or good old shock and awe techniques. Now they had another Minicon in their clutches and left a trail of corpses in their wake.
‘What a way to start off an arms race.’ Prowl thought wryly. Turning to Optimus, he asked, “Do you think they’ll do it again?”
“Not if they can help it. Megatron only did this to maintain his lead over us, but he’ll try to avoid open confrontation with the natives as per his infiltration protocol as long as possible. At least until he gets into the later phases.”
Their conversation was interrupted by a loud boom from the hallway and Optimus and Prowl ran outside to see smoke coming from one of the rooms near the crew quarters.
“For Primus’ sake, what did Wheeljack blow up now?” Prowl grumbled.
To his surprise, it wasn’t Wheeljack who caused the explosion, but their three human companions, who stumbled out of the room covered in soot and coughing. The Street Action Team followed them out, looking no worse for wear, though they were a little dirty.
“Sorry, totally our fault.” Daren coughed. “We’re okay.”
“Speak for yourself, Mr. No Hands. My ears are still ringing.” Annie complained, rubbing her ears.
“Relax, Annie, it wasn’t that bad.” Gina chided, cleaning her blackened glasses.
“Would someone please explain what’s going on here?” Prowl asked impatiently.
“We were trying to use some hephaestium to help power the Minicons’ computer terminal, but Gina
used too much and it ignited.” High Wire said.
“Not to worry though, no one’s hurt.” Grindor chimed in.
“Except for my pride.” Gina grumbled.
“Still pretty cool to see though.” Grindor added. Sureshock crossed her arms.
“Don’t you mean hot?”
Grindor gave a loud laugh and slapped her hard on the shoulder. “Haha! That’s a good one, Sureshock! Hot! Ha! You’re crazy girl,” He chuckled. “You’re crazy.”
“And who gave you permission to use this room?” Prowl inquired further.
“We did,” Jazz walked up to them with Sparkplug in tow. “Since the kids and Minicons are gonna
be hanging out with us, I figured they’d need a place to stay. Don’t worry, I got permission
from boss bot to grant them access.”
Prowl gave Optimus a look, and Prime returned his firm gaze. “They do need a secure place to stay and work until we can find proper accommodations, Prowl. And the Ark has more than enough space for them and us.”
Prowl nodded, but he still wasn’t very happy for Jazz and Sparkplug to be doing this behind his back. Fortunately for the pair in question, any objections he had were cut off when Teletran-1 began giving an alert. Prowl rushed over to the terminal to see what was going on.
“What’s happening?” Sparkplug asked.
“Teletran just detected another stasis panel,” Prowl said. “Looks like your little move in is going to have to be put on hold.”
XXXXXX
Blackout entered the command center of the Nemesis with his prize in hand. He unapologetically pushed past Starscream and approached Megatron, presenting the panel to him with a humble bow.
“Lord Megatron, I present my latest quarry.” Blackout said. Megatron smirked.
“Good work, Blackout. Have your left no evidence of your little…excavation?”
“Yes, my lord. I was very thorough in my extermination of the pests.” Blackout nodded. “I gave them no chance to fight back.”
“Good, it would be a shame if any survivors made it our despite your best efforts. Secrecy is paramount, and any human who even catches a glimpse of us must die.” Megatron took the panel from Blackout and held it to Nightshade. “A present to you, my shadow.”
“What?! How come she gets a Minicon? She didn’t do a damn thing!” Starscream exclaimed.
“Because unlike you, Nightshade has continuously proven her loyalty to me time and time again.” Megatron said, looking at the other Cons to make sure they got the message. Starscream bristled, but remained silent, not intending on spending another afternoon in the med bay.
Nightshade took the panel and had it read her biosignature. This panel was a modified version that housed a Mini-Con agent designed to only be activated by a Decepticon. The tiny object broke apart into particles and reformed into a solid form. The Minicon was appeared from this panel was much different than the others; it had an animalistic robot mode, like Ravage and Laserbeak, sporting the form of an owl with dark purple armor and large, round, red eyes. She stood in Nightshade’s palm on large feet tipped with sharp ivory talons and spun her head around to look up at Nightshade.
“What’s your name, Minicon?” Megatron asked.
“I am Songbird, Lord Megatron.” Songbird bowed her head to her new partner. “It is an honor to serve you, mistress.”
Nightshade smiled at the little Minicon. “Hello, Songbird.”
“Let this be an example you all of you!” Megatron said to the other Decepticons. “Those who serve me unconditionally will be rewarded handsomely, just like Nightshade. But those who dare stand against me and our cause,” He gave Starscream a fiery glare. “And you won’t live to see
the next sunrise. Understood!”
“Yes, Lord Megatron!”
XXXXXX
The Autobots were assemble in the computer room as Optimus brought up a holographic map of the continent where the panel was located-in central Emmeria. The blinking red beacon that showed the panel’s location was inside one of the Emmerian Union’s member nations.
“The panel is located in the Wielvakia Republic, in or near the city called Prague.” Prowl said. “Teletran-1’s located the beacon within the city’s territory, most likely within an abandoned part of the city. Maintaining our cover won’t be too difficult if that’s the case.”
“But the signal is faint. We can barely get a lock on its coordinates.” Wheeljack said.
“Any on ideas on what’s causing the disruption?” Optimus asked. Gina patted his foot to get his attention.
“It might be underground,” Gina said. “Much of Prague’s old territory is half buried in an
earthquake. It might be buried inside the rubble or possibly a building during the quake.”
“How can you be sure?” Prowl asked skeptically. “You’ve never been to Prague, and we don’t have
solid evidence that it’s underground.”
“If the activation beacon works like an electrical signal, then the reason it’s so hard to
detect is because it’s under a thick layer of rock.” Gina crossed her arms and gave him a smug look. “Geology 101. Learn it.”
“Burn.” Annie chuckled.
“If that’s the case, then can you estimate how far underground the panel is?” Optimus asked Gina.
“I can only say that it must not be too far down if Teletran-1 can still detect it.” Gina answered. “Sorry, but that’s all I know.”
“That’s okay, Gina, you’ve helped us greatly.” Optimus faced his team. “Prowl, call up Arcee, Bulkhead and Bumblebee. They’re more equipped for urban combat.”
“Yes, Prime.” Prowl said and walked out of the room. Once he was gone, Annie cleared her throat and raised her hand.
“Hey, Optimus, what can we do?” She asked.
“I’m sorry?” Optimus said, looking down at the girl.
“What can we do to help?” Annie asked again, giving the Autobots an expecting look.
“You want to come with us?” Sparkplug blinked. After almost getting blasted away by Megatron at point blank range, he thought that they would rather stay as far away from the fireworks as possible.
“Out of the question, Annie.” Ratchet said. “These missions are too dangerous for humans, much less children.”
“Optimus, we won’t be anywhere near the fighting!” Annie said, trying to appeal to the big
boss. “We can just help get the Minicon behind the scenes while you guys kick some Decepticon ass!”
Optimus crossed his arms. “The answer is still no.”
To everyone’s surprise, it was Darren who reinforced his sister’s decision. “With all due respect, Optimus, she has a point. If the panel is underground, then I doubt any of you bots are small enough to fit inside whatever tiny crevice it’s stuck in. And we all know your vehicle modes aren’t going to cut it.”
“We can head inside with the Street Action team and Sparkplug.” Gina said, inwardly hoping Prime would say yes. “They’ll keep us safe.”
Optimus was very reluctant to condone such a thing. The children were already in danger from the Decepticons’ retaliation for awakening the Minicons in the first place, and this would only paint a larger target on their backs. But the logical part of him knew they were right. The panel was inside an enclosed space too small for the Autobots and, technically, having the children search for the panel during panel was the safest way to keep them out of harm’s way.
“High Wire,” Optimus called the Minicon out. High Wire stepped forward. “I don’t need to yell you this, but you keep these children safe by any means necessary. If things get too dangerous, then abandon the mission and fall back immediately. Understood?”
“Yes, Prime.” High Wire nodded. “Nothing will happen to the kids under out watch.”
“Don’t worry, Optimus.” Sparkplug said and smiled at the kids. “They’re in safe hands.”
“Good.” Optimus nodded, trusting Sparkplug’s judgment. “Autobots, prepare to mobilize!”
XXXXXX
Prague was an old city with a lot of history behind it. Many who lived both in and around the city and were born here called Prague the city of the golem-not the ancient automatons, but the legendary giant made from clay reanimated by magic to protect the city against invaders. Prague was located on the Vitava River, and consisted of old buildings that have survived since the Middle Ages. For the Autobots that drove down its streets, it was like being transported back in
time.
But the novelty of the experience was quickly diminished as they traveled past the checkpoint and into the section of the city that had been ravaged beyond repair by the earthquake. Here, the buildings were far older, and the streets got narrow the deeper they went into the disaster zone.
“And earthquake did all this?” Bumblebee whispered. “I didn’t think Prague sat on any major faultlines. And the damage here…it’s unreal.”
“That’s why it’s so strange.” Gina said, taking pictures of the passing buildings with her phone. “You’d never expect Emmeria of all places to suffer a quake this violent, but it happened. Mother Nature is always unpredictable, Bumblebee. Doesn’t make the death toll any less horrific.”
Prague’s “old city” was cut in half by a large jagged crack along where the fault line was situated. Like two unbalanced plates, half of the city was stuck on a lower level than the other, with many buildings set on an uneven scale; most were buried, others caved in or half destroyed, and many little more than piles of rubble. That’s not to say of the settlements that were dragged underground and buried along with a quarter of the city.
The Autobots were heading towards a deep ridge that provided the only direct route to what’s left of the buried city-the place the children and Minicons were going to climb down to for the panel. Once they reached their destination, the bots released their passengers and transformed to their natural forms.
“Wow,” Darren breathed as he peered down at the slope leading into the earth. It was so small and dark down there, even with the sunlight hanging over head, he couldn’t see the bottom! “You sure this is the quickest way to the panel?”
“Yeah, the signal’s strongest here, so we might have a chance at getting close enough to it to snatch it. Don’t worry; the region hasn’t had any tectonic activity since the quake.” Gina assured him. She did some stretches and made sure she had her safety bag with her. “Okay, I’m all set and ready to go!”
“Same here.” Annie and Darren said. Aside from the basic necessities required for the mission, such as rope to help them down underground and to act as a lifeline, they also had custom made scanners that looked like flip phones Wheeljack made to make their search easier. Despite knowing the inherent dangers to climbing into a crevice in a former earthquake zone, Arcee made sure the kids knew what they were getting into.
“Remember, if you get into trouble down there, pull out immediately. Don’t take any risks, do you understand?”
“Yes, yes, we get it, Arcee. At the first sign of trouble, we get the hell out of dodge. Now can we go already before the sun sets?” Annie asked impatiently. Optimus nodded.
“Go, and stay safe children.” He said.
The Street Action team went down first, helping their young charges down after them. Sparkplug went down last, giving Optimus a parting nod before following the others down into the earth. Arcee crossed her arms, still not comfortable with letting them go in alone.
“Does anyone else feel like this is a bad idea?” She asked.
“Relax, Arcee, the kids know what they’re getting into. They have Sparkplug and Goldfire watching their backs.” Bumblebee said.
“The Minicons can’t protect them from everything. Sure they’re smart enough to avoid trouble,” Arcee thought about Annie. “Well, most of them, but if the Cons get past us-“
“That won’t happen, Arcee.” Optimus cut her off. “Because we will be right here standing guard.
You and Bumblebee set up a perimeter around the crevice. Bulkhead, you’re with me. Stay on your guard, for the Decepticons may already be here in hiding.”
Optimus was, unfortunately, right in that regard, for up in the sky, Laserbeak was watching them, circling above like a robotic vulture waiting for its prey to enter its final death throes. He cut his observation short and flew to the far corner of the city, unseen by the Autobots. Soundwave, along with Megatron and Starscream, were sitting in pace waiting for his intel. He landed on Soundwave’s shoulder and fluttered his wings.
“Four Autobots are at the edge of the crevice. Optimus Prime is leading this one personally.” Laserbeak said. Megatron nodded.
“Good, I was looking for a good fight. Soundwave, you stay back and monitor the field from here.”
“Understood.” Soundwave nodded.
“Starscream, do you copy?” Megatron asked.
Up in the sky, Starscream was circling above the hot zone in jet mode, waiting for the signal. “Loud and clear.”
“I want you and Nightshade to move in and attack them with all your firepower. We need to catch
their attention.”
“Don’t worry Megatron, I’m sure I can complete this task even with your pet bird lagging behind me.” Starscream said arrogantly.
Nightshade paid his comment no mind, making a mental note to break his wings after he mission. She snuck closer toward the Autobots, sipping through the streets and into the remains of a church that was large enough to hide her large form. Looking through the hole in the domed roof, she saw her targets and waved Songbird over.
“You know what to do.” She whispered.
Songbird nodded and leapt off her perch, transforming into her weapon mode-a dark purple rail gun that attached to Nightshade’s right arm. Nightshade charged the rail gun and pointed it at the Autobots, or more specifically, Optimus Prime. Waiting until her target stopped moving, she fired her weapon, releasing a powerful burst of electromagnetic energy that shot at the back of Prime’s head.
XXXXXX
When the kids said that the underground was no place for Autobots, they weren’t exaggerating, Sparkplug mused. He noted how little space there was to maneuver the deeper they went, with barely enough wiggle room for the Minicons let alone the kibble-less kids. They made it onto the semi-even ground and followed the trail of shattered buildings and shredded streets using their flashlights to light their way.
Gina had a sky spy ahead to scout a safe route for them to take. Despite having been a decade since the quake, there was a high possibility that the area was still structurally unstable, and one displaced rock could bury them alive.
They exited the small tunnel into a carve that was large enough to encompass a mall parking lot. Many buildings stood slanted, their roofs caved in, with older stone buildings remaining mostly intact. The cavern itself was actually formed, with a section of the town having fallen into it during the quake and buried by increasing layers of rock over the years.
“So on a scale of one to ten, how likely is the chance of this cave collapsing on us?” Grindor asked.
“Grindor.” High Wire sighed.
“I’m sorry, but you can never be too careful with these things. I had a friend back on
Epistemus, an energon miner; he was an expert on geological events. The guy knew where you could
and couldn’t dig based on how stable the mine was. And you want to know what happened to him?”
“No, we don’t, Grindor.” Sureshock said.
“He got killed in a quake. A boulder just fell on him and killed him instantly, in a mine he thought was completely safe.” Grindor finished. Gina groaned and glared back at him.
“What’s your point, Grindor? We’re trying to work here.” She said.
“I’m just saying to keep your wits about ya.” He shrugged. “Never know when this place might get the shakes. Hell, this whole cave could come crashing down on our heads any-“
“Shut up, Grindor, just shut up!” Darren hissed. This wasn’t helping his growing claustrophobia at all.
The sky spy returned and showed them the path it had mapped out. They followed the trail through the rubble and came upon a large temple, or what was left of it. The front part of the temple had collapsed in on itself, with a giant boulder sitting on top of the rubble. The rest of the building was also damaged by a statue that had fallen against the side and was just sitting on the roof supported by the still holding support beams. The sky spy hovered over the ruined temple and blinked its lights.
“I think the sky spy found the panel.” Gina said. “Its somewhere in the rubble.”
“It must’ve been in the temple as a sacred relic when the quake hit.” High Wire said.
“Great, so how are we going to get it?” Grindor asked. “Anyone got any shovels?”
“No, but we do have a telekinetic.” Annie looked at her brother. Darren nodded and stepped forward.
“This shouldn’t be any problem for me so long as the panel’s not under the boulder.” He said. “I just need some concentration and-“
A loud boom caused them to jump in surprise, and the Minicons immediately got in front of the kids. It took them a minute to realize that the muffled explosions were coming from the surface.
“Slag, it looks like the party’s kicking off up there.” Grindor said.
“You have no idea, scrapheap.” Someone laughed.
Sparkplug’s eyes widened as a small figure walked up to them down the ruined street. He recognized the small mech as Leader-1, his confidant in the Micron faction and partner on various secret projects, including the Minicon gestalt program.
“Leader-1?”
“Sparkplug,” leader-1 greeted with disdain in his voice. “I thought you would’ve perished in the crash with your pacifist friends, but I guess that was too much to ask from Mortilus, eh?”
“What are you doing here? Were you in the panel Megatron stole?” Sparkplug asked. He made to walk toward his friend, but High Wire held him back. “High Wire, what…?”
“Don’t, Sparkplug. Look.” High Wire pointed to the Decepticon symbol on Leader-1’s right shoulder. That was when Sparkplug noticed the two microcassettes in Leader-1’s hands; one red and one blue.
“No,” Sparkplug whispered in horror, realizing the implications. “Leader-1, why are you with the Decepticons?”
“That is a story for another time, preferably when I’m dancing on your corpse.” Leader-1 threw
the cassettes in the air, and before their eyes, they grew in size, unfolding into two 11 foot tall mechs-the twins Rumble and Frenzy, who looked at the Minicons and children with bloodthirsty grins. “Rumble, Frenzy, kill them all.”
XXXXXX
Optimus reacted before he even saw the blast heading towards his head. He dodged the beam just as it shot past his face and took out a building instead. Without pausing, Optimus spun around an fired his ion cannon in the direction the attack came from, forcing Nightshade to leave her hiding spot to avoid the powerful energy blast. She continued shooting at the Autobots even as they opened fire on her, not pulling out despite the odds.
Bumblebee was the first to see the jet flying towards them. Starscream targeted the Autobots and fired two hunter seeker missiles before breaking off. Bumblebee and Arcee jumped aside as the missiles hit their spot and exploded with great force, taking out two buildings.
“They aren’t pulling punches.” Arcee remarked.
“Of course they aren’t, they’re fighting us!” Bumblebee quipped with a smile. Seeing that Starscream was circling around for another air strike, Bumblebee aimed his blaster and waited for the Seeker to get within his range. He waited for his acute optics to zero-in on Starscream before firing his shot.
As expected, the blast soared through the air before hitting Starscream’s right wing near the base. He gave a startled cry, clearing not expecting not to get hit at his speed and spiraled out of control. Taking a hard nose dive towards the ground, Starscream switched to robot mode to
use his boosters to slow his fall, crashing into a building before rolling to a stop.
“Now you know what it’s like being on solid ground with the rest of us.” Bumblebee smirked. Starscream jumped to his feet, covered in dust and really, really angry.
“You insufferable ingrate!” He growled. “I’ll-“
Arcee cut off his insult with a kick to the face that sent him into another building. “Save it for the choir.”
Optimus and Bulkhead continued shooting at Nightshade, who was ducking in between buildings and popping up just long enough to fire at them before ducking behind cover again. When Bulkhead fired a blast that grazed her arm, Nightshade transformed to beast mode and flew at him, shoving her talons in Bulkhead’s face to push him back. Optimus aimed at her, but a familiar war cry caught his attention.
“Prime!”
A silver tank came crashing through a church and rammed into Optimus, sending him through the empty buildings and into the town square. Optimus dug his feet into the ground and with some effort, lifted the tank above him with his powerful arms. He threw the tank almost a yard across the square, and watched as it split apart and reconfigured into a large humanoid form, landing on heavy feet and glaring at Optimus,
“Megatron,” Optimus said his tone hard as stone. “I was beginning to wonder when you’d show.”
“Why should I miss out on obtaining the third Minicon, Prime?” Megatron smirked. “We’re on a winning streak after all.”
“Only you would treat the Minicons like they’re trophies!”
“Because they are! You’re just too afraid to relish in the power they grant!”
Megatron fired his fusion cannon, but Optimus allowed the beam too shoot past his shoulder as he charged at Megatron. Batting the cannon aside, he took out his battle axe and brought it down on Megatron. Megatron drew his own arm blade and parried the blow.
“Where are the Minicons, Megatron?” Optimus grunted, pushing against his nemesis. “I thought you would jump at a chance to make them dance to your tune in battle.”
“As usual, you just to conclusions, Optimus. What makes you think I’m using them against their own will they fight for my goals, the same as those mindless drones you call soldiers fight for
yours.”
Megatron kicked Optimus away and slashed his sword along his chest. The cut wasn’t lethal, leaving only a shallow gash in his armor. Optimus spun his axe to parry another strike as Megatron continued to taunt him.
“In fact,” Megatron smirked. “My most trusted Minicon is doing my bidding for me-getting the panel and wiping out those pathetic life forms you hold dear!”
Optimus’ eyes grew wide as he made a realization. “The children!”
XXXXXX
Darren lifted the rocks around him away from the pile before him, trying to focus on his task while the battle was going on not too far from him and the girls. The Street Action Team had merged into Centurion and was fighting Rumble and Frenzy at the same time. The gestalt was doing a good job holding his own against the twin Cons, but it was a tough battle. Centurion had to dodge Rumble’s heavy handed blows and avoid having a hole gore into his back by Frenzy’s drills. He used a combination of agile flips and fake-outs to take care of both twins with a lack of weapons.
Sparkplug and Leader-1 were engaged in a very intense fight of their own. They were in the middle of a brutal fist fight, punching and kicking without care for their own injuries. Leader-1 shifted one of his arms into a blaster while Sparkplug took out an extendable laser staff to deflect the plasma bolts fired at him.
“Why? Why do this?” Sparkplug demanded. He swung his staff at Leader-1, who took out his vibroblade and deflected the strike. “I thought we were friends. I thought you wanted to escape the war!”
Leader-1 kicked him back and threw a slash at his head, which he dodged only just barely. “Escape? Sparkplug, who do you think told the Cons about the Exodus anyway?” He laughed. “I never wanted to leave. I wanted to be in control. I wanted to be a part of the winning team.”
“Don’t you see what Megatron’s trying to do?” Sparkplug yelled. “He’s enslaving us!”
“Only the disobedient ones. You made a grave mistake, Sparkplug, and that was trying to be neutral in a war where taking sides decides if you see the next sunrise. There’s no such thing as neutrality in this conflict, it’s either the Autobots or the Decepticons. And you chose the Autobots; your first mistake!”
Leader-1 jumped back and transformed into his all terrain cybertronian ATV, pointing his twin orange pulse cannons not at Sparkplug, but at the children.
“Kids!” Sparkplug yelled.
Leader-1 fired two pulse blasts from his cannons and watched with sadistic glee as they shot at the children. To his surprise, the only boy in the group actually ran forward and, to Leader-1’s even greater surprise and outrage, he raised his hands and the pulse blasts hit an invisible barrier inches away from him.
“How?!” Leader-1 roared.
Darren set his sights on Leader-1 and mentally commanded large rocks to rise from the ground and threw them at the Mini-Con. Two were shot down, but the other four hit Leader-1 dead center, knocking him over. Sparkplug rushed in and grappled Leader-1’s vehicle mode.
“Don’t interfere! Just get the panel!” He yelled at them. Darren looked at him, shocked.
“But-“
“Don’t argue! Just get it and go!”
Darren was still reluctant, but Gina brought him back to the task at hand. “Darren, the panel’s right there. We have to grab it and go before they start losing ground.”
“But the Minicons-“
“Will be fine!” Annie yelled. “But they’ll lose steam if we keep standing here wasting time!”
Darren nodded at the girls and pushed them aside. He took a deep breath and released a couple of telekinetic waves, brushing aside the large rocks with strong psychic pushes that got stronger each time. He didn’t stop until he saw the green glow of the stasis panel pinned between two boulders. With a hard yank, he pulled it free and Gina caught it.
“Let’s go.” Gina said.
Frenzy was punched hard in the jaw and crashed into the side of a half destroyed wall. Rubbing his chin, he glared at Centurion. The little mech was livid; he didn’t sign up for this op just to get his slag pushed in by some freak of nature! He stood up and caught a glimpse of the children making a run for it with the panel.
“Bro!” He called to his twin.
Rumble also saw the kids and grinned. “I see them!”
Taking his focus off Centurion for a moment, Rumble’s arms folded into oversized pile drivers
and began hammering into the ground with tremendous force. He generated intense vibrations from his arms into the ground, causing the cavern to shake violently. Darren tripped over his feet and quickly deflected a falling boulder from crushing Annie with a force barrier. Leader-1 transformed and punched Sparkplug away, swinging his vibroblade at his head, which Sparkplug leaned back from, getting a cut on his cheek.
Frenzy ran at Gina and brandished his drills. “Hand over the panel toots and I won’t have to rearrange your face!”
“Try it and see what happens!” Gina said defiantly. She tossed the panel at Annie. “Heads up!”
Annie ran backwards and caught the panel in her arms like it was a football, fumbling with it a bit before grabbing hold of the panel. “I got it!”
“And I got you!” She screamed as Rumble appeared behind her and quickly threw the panel at Darren. “Darren, go deep!”
Darren caught the panel in his telekinetic grip and levitated it into his hands. Hearing Annie’s scream he looked up and almost felt his blood freeze. Rumble had Annie in one of his massive claws, holding her tight in an iron-hard grasp around her torso.
“Hand over the panel or I’ll snap her neck!” Rumble threatened.
XXXXXX
Nightshade fought hard against Arcee and Bulkhead. It wasn’t hard to outpace the green Autobot, but he hit hard. He fired blaster bolts at her while Arcee ran in close and attacked her with her twin rapiers. Nightshade parried her attacks with her own swords and they dueled atop empty house that shuddered from their weight.
“I don’t know why, but I thought the great cyber-ninja Arcee would’ve been a better fighter
than this.” Nightshade said.
Arcee slashed at Nightshade’s head, but she ducked under them and kicked her in the chest. Arcee rolled onto her back and to her feet. Almost immediately she had to lean back to avoid having her head skewered by the swords Nightshade stabbed at her face. The femme spun around for
another attack, but a wrecking ball slammed into her chest. Nightshade hit the ground hard and rolled to her feet, glaring at Bulkhead.
“Didn’t see that coming did ya?” Bulkhead smirked. He retracted his wrecking ball and shifted his other arm into his blaster, shooting at Nightshade.
The Con rolled to the side, catching a bolt to her leg before leaping up and firing her railgun
at Bulkhead. She scored a hit on his chest and took him down before blocking a strike from Arcee. Bulkhead groaned as he felt the burn on chest from the direct hit. Seeing Arcee fight the female Con, bulkhead rushed to air his comrade, but got hit in the arm by two missiles.
“Oh come on!” Bulkhead exclaimed and looked over to see Soundwave walking towards him. “You really don’t wanna mess with me right now, chatterbox.”
“Arrogance will only get you so far, Autobot.” Soundwave said, taking out his concussion rifle.
“You’re one to talk. Now let’s see how you fight against someone who can tank your punches!” Bulkhead said and charged at Soundwave, throwing a punch at Soundwave, who did the same.
At the same time, Bumblebee was racing through the streets trying to outpace the constant bombardment of laser fire Starscream shot at him. The yellow Autobot weaved through the streets trying to shake off the Seeker, but couldn’t stop without getting pumped full of holes like a rupture energon tank.
“Pathetic fools!” Starscream cackled. “There’s no escape!”
Starscream paused in his assault, but the slight reprieve only yielded to the other weapon in Starscream’s aerial arsenal. Bumblebee turned a corner when he noticed Starscream firing two missiles at him.
“Scrap!” Bumblebee exclaimed. The missiles were laser guided, meaning that Starscream could lead them straight to him with greater accuracy. Bumblebee had to do a fake out to avoid the first missile, which blew up a statue once led off course. The second one nearly hit him, the explosion close enough to his trunk that the blast wave caused him to swerve out of control and slam into the side of the building.
He switched modes and rubbed his head to get the ringing out of his head. Seeing Starscream streak overhead, Bumblebee finally had enough. “All right,” He grunted. “I’ve always wanted to fly.”
He jumped atop a building, which groaned a bit from his weight and waited for Starscream to fly in close again. Starscream circled around and flew low to the rooftops to tear the scout apart with his laser guns, but he wasn’t expecting Bumblebee to suddenly jump up and grab his wing. Starscream yelped and tried to maintain his balance with the scout hanging onto him like a scraplet.
“Get off me, you fool!” He yelled.
“Like hell I will, this is awesome!” Bumblebee laughed.
The Autobot hung onto the Seeker with all his might despite the high speeds, even when Starscream smashed into the sides of the buildings to dislodge him. He would’ve hung on longer but he realized that Starscream was flying higher into the air, to a distance where a free fall would be fatal. He needed to cut this flight short. Shakily taking a hand off, Bumblebee fired his stinger into Starscream’s fuselage, getting a pained cry. They spun in the air as Starscream lost altitude and fell into a death spiral. When they neared the ground, Bumblebee jumped off and crashed into a rooftop, while Starscream had to change forms to slow his descent. Still, it crashed to the ground hard and rolled along the buildings with a trail of destruction left in his wake.
As for Bumblebee, he was lying on a pile of rubble inside the building he fell on, his back aching painfully from the rough landing.
“Ugh, well at least no one can say I didn’t do my job.” He laughed. “Take that Prowl! Haha, ow…”
XXXXXX
“Hand over the panel or the girl get’s it!” Rumble shouted, lifting Annie off her feet.
“I’d do it if I were you, boy.” Leader-1 said, struggling against Sparkplug over the proton staff. “Rumble has twitchy fingers.”
“Don’t give it to him, Darren!” Annie yelled. She grunted when Rumble tightened his grip on her.
“Shut up!”
Darren’s heart was beating a mile a minute. He didn’t know what to do in this situation. They came down here to save a Minicon, not lose someone in the process! Looking at Sparkplug, he knew that the Micron leader wouldn’t risk any of their lives for a panel. But then he had an idea.
“Okay, you win.” He said to Rumble. “I’ll hand it over to you. Just don’t hurt her.”
Letting go of the panel, he let it float over to Rumble, his hands in the air to show that he wasn’t going to do any tricks…that he knew of. Annie tried to protest his actions, but she caught the gleam in his eye and calmed down. Unknown to his onlookers, Darren was only controlling the panel with his left hand; his right was focusing on creating a small bubble of telekinetic energy inside Rumble’s hand. When Rumble reached out to grab the panel, Darren made his move.
BANG! There was a deafening boom as the force bomb detonated like a gunshot inside Rumble’s hand. Like a cherry bomb, the bomb popped with enough force to separate Annie from the surprised Rumble, who reeled back as two of his claws were ripped off from the force of the little explosion. Darren psychically grabbed Annie’s shirt and pulled her over to him with the panel into his arms.
“No!” Leader-1 howled.
Centurion rushed at Frenzy, punching him in the face and throwing him across the cavern into Leader-1. Sparkplug jumped and fired his blaster at Rumble, shooting him in the face and chest to keep him at bay long enough to allowed the kids to regroup with him. Darren slashed his hand and a couple of large rocks slammed into Rumble until he was partially buried under a pile of rubble. Frenzy pushed Leader-1 off him and jumped up.
“You’re not going anywhere you brats!” Frenzy growled and took a deep breath. Rumble realized what his brother planned to do and tried to stop him.
“No bro, wait!” He shouted, but he was too late.
Frenzy ignored him as he released an intense sonic scream that reverberated throughout the
cavern. Centurion had just enough time to push the kids away before taking the brunt of the sonic wave. His audio sensors descended into white noise and his body shook from the intense sonic vibrations that hit him like a rogue wave. The children were on the side covering their ears in pain from the unholy shrieking.
“How is he so loud?” Annie yelled, but realized she could barely hear herself speak, which was not a good sign.
Sparkplug saw Centurion stagger before falling to his knees and breaking apart into his three components. The already dazed Minicons wouldn’t do much and they were in danger of falling into stasis if this kept up. Not to mention the structural integrity of the cave was weakening. Time was up!
“Darren!” Sparkplug made hand motions at Frenzy, signaling to take him out.
Luckily Darren understood his sign language and acted quickly. Focusing hard, he clenched his hand and the ground under Frenzy shattered in his face, knocking him back and forcing his scream up at the cave ceiling, where his sonic waves dislodged part of the ceiling and sent rocks falling on them. The Street Action Team scrambled out of the way as pieces of stone crashed to the ground, though Frenzy was unlucky enough to be buried under some boulders that collapsed on top of him. Leader-1 saw Sparkplug making a run for the entrance as more rocks rained down on them. Leader-1 tried to give chase, but found himself blocked off from following them.
“No, no, no!” He roared in anger and frustration. “You’re not escaping me!”
Sparkplug spared a glance back at Leader-1 before the rocks obscured his view. More debris fell, but the children and Minicons were already making their way to the surface.
XXXXXX
Gina ran over to their guardians to check them over. They were mostly unharmed, sporting superficial wounds from Frenzy’s sonic attack that could heal on their own. Aside from that and the intense headaches, nothing serious could be seen.
“You guys all right?” She asked. She got multiple groans in response.
“Depends on your meaning.” Grindor said. “Do you mean all right as in we can still hear, or as in our internal circuitry isn’t ruptured beyond repair?” Sureshock bonked him on the head. “Would you stop doing that?!”
“Annie, how are you doing?” High Wire asked. The girl smiled, though he could see she was a bit shaken.
“I’m doing fine, now. And we’ve got the panel.” Annie pointed at the stasis panel in Darren’s
hands. “That was pretty intense though.”
“Intense doesn’t even begin to describe it.” Darren said. He glanced over at Sparkplug, who was still staring at the rock wall that collapsed behind them. “Sparkplug, what’s the matter?”
“Nothing, Darren.” Sparkplug said curtly, as if he was trying to keep his emotions in check. He gave Darren a fake smile. “Everything’s fine. Now let’s get topside and give Optimus the good news.”
Darren didn’t look very convinced, but he withheld his questions and followed his friends back up the crevice. It was probably best to let him be and have someone he knows better talk to him.
XXXXXX
The battle on the surface continued to rage on. Bulkhead fought a difficult battle with Soundwave, who proved to be a trick opponent to fight. Arcee and Nightshade were still engaged in their sword duel, and Bumblebee was stuck in a shootout with Starscream. As for Optimus and Megatron, they had escalated to fighting with melee weapons.
Optimus dodged a slash from Megatron and swung his battle axe at him, only for the Con to grab the heated blade with his hands and struggle to wrench the weapon from his grasp. Both leaders didn’t fight as hard as they should’ve-it was a waiting game to see if their smaller allies could reach the surface first with the panel.
Then news came in the form of Leader-1, his voice barely audible from the interference underground. “Megatron…”
“Leader-1, what is taking you so long?” Megatron growled, ducking under Prime’s axe and
throwing a kick at his head. “Do you have the panel?”
“N-no, my lord,” Leader-1 said nervously. “The Autobots’ Minicons and-“
“Gah!” Megatron shut his comm off in rage and charged at Optimus. Their blades clashed, sparks flew, and they glared at each other over their weapons.
“It would seem that the so-called pathetic life forms you ridicule prevailed over you all-powerful warriors.” Megatron could practically feel the smirk in Optimus’s voice. “How unfortunate.”
Megatron snarled and tried to stab his blade into Prime’s head, but Optimus leaned to the side and spun around, burying his axe into Megatron’s shoulder. He pulled him in close to stare into his nemesis’s eyes as he said his next words.
“You called me weak for trusting me comrades, but you are the one who’s weak!” Optimus said. “You, who has spent your whole military career keeping your soldiers at a distance, using fear to keep your people in line. How long do you think the fear tactic will last you?”
“Shut your mouth!” Megatron need Optimus in the chest, making him lose the deadlock. He ripped the axe from his shoulder, ignoring the sizzling scar in his metallic skin before he ran at Optimus. Prime grabbed his fist and glared at him.
“How long will it be before fear turns to anger and you’re tossed aside like the senators you overthrew? Before you’re treated like yesterday’s trash. Last year’s damaged goods?”
Optimus headbutted him and kicked him in the chest, knocking him into a fountain. Optimus took out his ion cannon as he continued taunting Megatron.
“To them, you’re nothing but junk.” He went on. “That’s what you are-junk!”
“SILENCE!”
Megatron raised his cannon arm to shoot Prime down, but Optimus was faster. In just a few seconds, Optimus was able to aim his ion cannon and fire off a blast that entered the barrel of the warlord’s fusion canon. The fusion cannon exploded from the inside and seriously damaged Megatron’s arm in the process. Nightshade saw the battle wasn’t going her leader’s way and her protective instincts flared up.
“Megatron!” She cried out. Leaping away from Arcee, she transformed and flew at Optimus, firing a volley of small missile darts from under her feathers. He jumped away from the missiles, but this allowed Nightshade to attend to her leader. Megatron tried to shake her off, but she was persistent, ordering Soundwave to regroup with them and summon a ground bridge.
“What are you doing? I didn’t order a retreat!” Megatron said.
“You’re wounded and the Autobots have the Minicon. There’s no reason for us to be here anymore.” Nightshade argued. Looking at Starscream, she said, “Meet us back at the Nemesis.”
Starscream scowled but nodded, switching to jet mode and flying away with less than happy thoughts on his mind. ‘The one mission Megatron goes on, and we lose the Minicon. Typical.’
Megatron glared heatedly at Optimus as his first lieutenant led him into the ground bridge that appeared behind them. “This isn’t over Prime!”
“It never is.” Optimus calmly replied.
The three Cons vanished into the ground bridge and it shrank out of existence. Optimus took a moment to breath in some fresh air into his intakes to cool his heated systems and looked over at his teammates. They all looked no worse for wear, but Bumblebee looked like he got dragged through the dirt after getting trampled by a herd of Thunderhooves.
“Is everyone all right?” Optimus asked them.
“Never better, sir.” Bumblebee grinned weakly. “But my legs hurt. And everything else too.”
“We’re all fine, Optimus, but what about the children?” Arcee asked with no small amount of concern. “Are they safe?”
“They’re all fine, Arcee.” Optimus said, giving her what he could manage as a smile. “In fact, they’ve completed their mission.”
He pointed to the crevice and the bots were pleased and relieved to see the children and Minicons climbing out, safe and sound but tired and dirty. And in Darren’s arms was the stasis panel. Optimus never felt so proud in his time on this planet, and was glad that the children
had escaped unharmed. They had proven themselves.
XXXXXX
Sparkplug stood in the doorway of the Minicon/human area of the Ark watching his fellow Minicons and the children greet their newest arrival, a bubbly orange two wheeler femme named Razor. The hyperactive and cheerful femme zipped across the room seemingly in the blink of an eye trying to look at everything at once and asking questions a mile a minute without giving anyone time to explain.
“Sparkplug,” Optimus walked up to him. “How is our new arrival doing?”
“She’s doing fine.” Sparkplug told him. “She’s a bit of a handful, but she’ll settle down in
time.”
Optimus saw Liftor nearly jump two feet into the air when Razor warped in front of him and Sureshock had to calm him down. “I can see that. but what about you? You’ve been quiet ever since we got back.”
Sparkplug frowned. “Optimus, back in that cave I…I ran into one of the other Minicons from the Exodus.”
“Another Minicon? Were you able to save him?”
“No…because he didn’t need saving. Leader-1 was a sleeper agent for the Decepticons placed on the Exodus by Megatron. I don’t know for sure, but he alluded that the Exodus crashing wasn’t as much as an accident as I originally thought.”
Optimus narrowed his eyes. “It was sabotage.”
“By one of our own. And now I think they’re might be more Decepticon agents hidden among the refugees. As if I didn’t have enough to worry about.” Sparkplug groaned, rubbing his forehead. “Why would he do this? We worked on the Exodus together, helped rally the Minicons after Overrun’s dead, and yet he just goes and sells us out to Megatron like we’re just living weapons.”
“That is war, Sparkplug. It brings out the worst in people. Leader-1 made his choice and he will not be the first or last to betray his people for power and self-preservation.” Optimus
said, his tone soft and sad. “It’s a hard truth. You’d be surprised how easy it is for a friend or a brother to turn around and betray everything they stood for just for a taste of power and status. Temptation is a being’s worst enemy in war.”
Sparkplug mulled over his words a bit before asking,” So what do we do now?”
“What we have been doing all this time. Save as many Minicons as possible and bring those who threaten their freedom to justice.” Optimus replied and began to walk away. “And try to keep those closest to you from losing themselves in this war.”
Sparkplug watched him go before sighing as crossing his arms. As the leader of the Microns, a group of neutral Minicons and sole representative of Terra’s Minicon population, it was his job to make sure that his people were safe and yet, all he managed to do was get them stranded on a distant world, scattered to the winds with their ship torn in half and now being systematically hunted down like those power-ups from Annie’s video games. And now he had to worry about which stasis panel held a Decepticon hidden amongst the Minicons.
Who could he trust?
