The Energon Pub

[Ramrider]

My first posted TF fiction, this piece is designed to help set the scene for my Fusion timeline... C&C welcome.

[NOTE: At this point, all the Autobots are still using their G1 formats.]

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Timeline: Cybertron 2306.

For too long, Cybertron has been on the verge of another Shutdown, due to ever-decreasing Energon sources. The Autobots and Decepticons called a truce, in order to jointly find a solution to their energy crisis. Together, they developed a new, self-replicating form of Energon, but the Decepticons stole the formula and all the data needed to generate more.
Newly rejuvenated, the Decepticons officially ended the ceasefire in grand style, as they repeatedly attacked the Autobots, ruthlessly taking advantage of their foes' desperately weakened condition. Soon, they were able to eliminate the Autobot leader, Optimus Prime, and seize for themselves the Creation Matrix.

Thanks to the former Constructicons, Scrapper and Long Haul, the Decepticons have discovered how to use the Matrix to reconfigure their bodies into new, more powerful forms, and are also on the verge of learning how to revive their fallen comrades.

The situation has never been more desperate for the heroic Autobots...

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THOOM!
The Ark shook.

The lights dimmed. Wheeljack looked up at the ceiling as rocks and metal dust plinked off his cranial dome.

THOOM!
The Ark shook.

Skids snapped back to reality as the shockwave jarred him, sending his book flying from his hand and skittering across the floor. He leapt from his bunk, out of the door, and sprinted down his corridor.

THOOM!
The Ark shook.

Mirage's carefully-aimed shot completely missed the target and burned a scar into the wall behind. Muttering, he stalked out of the practice range, and made his way to the Hub.

THOOM!
The Ark shook.

Ironhide turned to face the door as he heard the other Autobots pile in. Jazz was the first to voice the question on everyone else's lips.
"What's goin' down, Ironhide? It feels like the whole place is ready to fall in 'round our audio receptors!"
Ironhide returned a humourless laugh.
"Sounds like a pretty good summary to me... we got Decepticons on our hull, and they're givin' us a poundin' we can?t handle."
"I'm trying to pull more info," Inferno chimed in, "but the ident scanners are fragged. I'm just picking up two blips, but I can?t even be sure that?s accurate.?

THOOM!

"That's it!" snapped Jazz. "Slag the scanners -- we'll find out who it is when we see 'em for ourselves. Autobots, scramble -- and expect the unexpected!"

As the Autobots made it out into daylight, they stared in disbelief at their assailants. Two small tank-formed Decepticons awaited them, still pummelling the Ark III with the blasts from their cannon-arms.
Hound was agape.
"I -- I don't recognise them. Who are they?"
"Who cares?!" Ironhide roared as he transformed, his van mode barrelling toward the nearest of their foes. "Let's just show these runts who they're messin? with!"

"Hey, check it out," one of the Decepticons, the blue one, called to his cohort. "One of 'em wants to come and say 'Hi'!"
"Why don't you go meet him at the door, bro'?"
The first Decepticon wasted no time in responding, cackling like a lunatic as he assumed his tank mode and sped headlong at the rapidly approaching Autobot. He fired several pulses of high-frequency sound at Hound as he went, slamming the unsuspecting mech into a nearby bulkhead.
Ratchet responded quickly, rushing over to check his friend?s injuries.

Meanwhile, Hot Rod and Inferno made to charge the other attacker, clad in red and black armour.
?I?ve got it!? Skids yelled excitedly from the sidelines. ?I?ve finally got an ident! They?re -- ?
He never got to finish his sentence as he was incapacitated by another bolt of ultrasound.

?Thanks, bud!? yelled the second assailant, as his partner careered into Ironhide, sending the old Autobot flying off the ground, rolling several times before coming to a halt on his side several hundred metres away. ?No fair spoiling our fun -- I?d much rather we make our own introductions..!?
The Decepticon crouched as Hot Rod and Inferno continued toward him. His dug his single hand through the debris until he was certain he had made contact with the ground -- and he began to vibrate. As the vibrations intensified, it seemed the planet itself was joining in, and the Autobots approaching him soon lost their footing and crashed to the ground. Soon a fissure appeared, the ground rent asunder, debris falling from the edge down toward the core of Cybertron. Hot Rod scrambled to safety, but Inferno was too close to the edge, and only managed to save himself by digging his fingers hard into the edge of the fissure. Sandstorm was quick to come to his aid, hovering overhead in his helicopter mode and snagging Inferno?s ladder with his winch.

A clean shot to Rumble?s chest proved enough of a distraction to stop the quake. As the Decepticon looked up, he noticed Mirage, a thin wisp of smoke rising from his sniper rifle.

Jazz was growing impatient. The longer this battle went on, the more Energon they wasted -- and in these hard times, that was in short enough supply as it was. This needed to end -- and now. With a short series of silent signals, he communicated new orders.

Sandstorm rose again, this time using his rotors to form a wide wind tunnel. Fragments of debris whipped up around him, sand and flakes of metal making it almost impossible to see. Jazz joined in the barrage, flaring his light and sound system into action and almost blinding the two Decepticons.
Then, suddenly, energy blasts from the remaining Autobots whicked through the smokescreen to shower the attackers, quickly accompanied by a hail of shrapnel courtesy of Wheeljack.

Rumble and Frenzy opted to cut their losses and pulled out, beating a hasty retreat toward their home base. A few shots fired after them helped them on their way.


Jazz stretched his joints.
?Nice job, guys, but I reckon this has taught us a valuable lesson. This fight?s cost us a lot of Energon -- and there are a lot of bigger, badder uglies where those two came from. We need Energon, and we need it fast.?
Wheeljack looked thoughtful.
?What we need is a way to work smarter, rather than harder -- and as luck would have it, I may have just gotten an idea that could give us an edge?"

[Skullgrin140]

Really Good start. Awsome Job