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Phoenix Wars -05–

Fiction by M Sipher. Last updated: 3rd November 2003.

TRANSFORMERS : THE PHOENIX WAR
Fanfic by M "Sipher

Part Five
"Hell From Above"
or
"Tiptoe Through The Inferno"

**********

The assault caught Ultra Magnus by surprise... but only barely. He managed to sidestep a stream of heavy laser fire, only to leap right into another blast. It caught him in the side, scorching and blistering his armor. He grimaced in pain as the Cybertronian Thunderjet swung wide and came in for another strafing run. Magnus stood stock still, as if attempting to stare down the jet... and in a split second, he threw his arm up, his laser rifle materialized in hand, spewing death into the air.

The jet didn't even have time to scream before his cockpit was ripped to shreds.

Magnus turned his attention towards the outer perimeter of the spaceport... already the mixed Cybertronian and Decepticon forces were raining fire on the human settlements just outside the port's defenses. He muttered an expletive as he shifted to his vehicle mode, calling for his backup on board the Unified Galactic Peacekeeper shuttle... a handful of Autobots and assorted humans in armored space suits sure as hell weren't going to turn the tide... but it was better than nothing.

**********

Rapido and Wreck-Gar scrambled as lasers punched holes in the concrete just inches behind them. They dove for cover in an open hangar, sheltered by a cargo shuttle in for repairs. The human tech crews had already scrambled for safety... but a few didn't make it. Rapido saw a blast crater in the back of the hangar, and two blackened corpses. An errant rocket had made its way into the hangar. Rapido's double-barreled engine-block rifle materialized in his clenched fist.

Wreck-Gar made a sickly gurgling noise. Rapido knew it was a physical impossibility, but he could have sworn the Junkion's face had paled. "This is not my beautiful trade... Cybertronians hide like plaque between the spacelines... attacking the sensitive gumline. So begins another dreary day...."

"Didn't you *scan* that wreck or *anything*?!"

"Soitenly! All polls showed it free of life forms and other household pests..."

Rapido turned his attention to the battle outside. He fired at a pyramid-shaped Decepticon Seeker jet, the thunderous roar of his rifle adding to the cacophony of the battle. Wreck-Gar had fallen for one of the oldest tricks used by Transformers... but the Junkions, who had been separated from the other Transformers for millions of years, would never had learned of this tactic. By shutting down all systems and setting a timed reactivation, one could hide from virtually any life-signs scanner. While it was an old gambit, Rapido had never heard of one so expertly timed... and with such a large number of troops. Whoever was leading this assault had taken a big risk... and it had paid off.

His radio squawked to life. "Rapido! Rapido! Come in, man! It's Skram... be alive, slaggit!"

"I'm here... Wreck-Gar and I are in hanger Six. What's going on out there?"

"We're outside the spaceport... Hubcap's hurt, but still battle-ready. The Deceps are running rampant throughout the city! Most of our units are out, but human casualties are already hiKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK...." the radio erupted in pink noise.

"Skram!! Answer me! Are you allright?!"

"KKKKKKe's okay!" Hubcap's voice was barely discernible through the static. "DeceKKKKKKKKamming the communicaKKKKK... I'm heading for the Security buildKKKKKKK..."

Suddenly, the northern night sky lit up with a fiery cloud. Debris flew throughout the city. "No he's not," Rapido breathed. "There went the Security building... and Willison. DAMMIT!" He punched a hole in the wall. Through it, he could see a Cybertronian Combat Transport sitting in the wreckage of the decoy derelict ship. Gunports opened up on its sides... and trained on the Junkions ship.

"Aw, no, they're sitting ducks..."

"Duck theathon?!" Wreck-Gar gasped. He leapt from the hangar, four-bladed axe in hand. "No Whammies today, when Wreck-Gar's on your side!!"

**********

Inside the Junkion ship, Rerun pulled out a large chunk of scrap metal out of the wall, giving her a clear view of the landing field. Wreck-Gar ran for the ship at top speed, arms waving in a complex sign language.

"Aaaaalllllrightythen," she turned to her fellow Junkions. "It's time once again for driving excitement, this weekend on Verhan! One flip of the switch and we're on our waaay!"

**********

The Junkion ship teetered to one side as a heavy laser bolt punched through its side. It slowly continued its topple, gaining speed....

The ground shook as the Junkion ship fell on its side. But then it moved... slowly, but it moved away from the Cybertronian Transport. Rapido upped the magnification of his optics, and saw the countless wheels on the ship's underside.

Hatches all over the Junkion ship popped open, and the junk-robots swarmed out, screaming countless barely comprehensible battle cries. Rerun lead the pack waving her naginata-style spear in the air, and shifting to her motorcycle mode as she met with Wreck-Gar, who leapt into the driver's seat.

"This is where the party ends, no extra innings tonight, Sweetie Darling!"

Junkions paired off and ran through the city streets. A half-dozen of them headed for the center of the spaceport, and leapt into the air. In midair they shifted into forms new to the Junkions: jet fighters.

The Cybertronian Thunderjets weren't ready for that. The Junkion jets were hideously erratic fliers, obviously inexperienced, making them hard to hit. The Junkions fired, missing badly, but one Thunderjet got in the line of fire in an attempt to dodge. Its wing was perforated by tiny white-hot shards of scrap metal, the Junkion's only ammunition.

During the confusion, another half-dozen Junkions made their move. More heavy-set than the others, their forms re-shaped themselves... into tanks. The squad leader fired the first shot at the grounded Cybertronians. The cannonball hit one of the Heavy Missile Troopers right in its abdomen, messily cutting it in two, the projectile continuing as if nothing had happened.

Rapido shook his head in amazement.

**********

Jazz scooped Michiko into his arms and ran as the Rock-Grill exploded behind them. He shielded her as masonry and flaming meat pelted his back. His shoulder-mounted missile launcher fired a near-blind shot, but it was enough to encourage the Earthen-style Decepticon Seeker jets to back off for a few moments.

"C'mon, girl, we gotta get you to a shelter!" Jazz hollered, firing into the air.

"No, we gotta get something from my apartment first!"

"Are you crazy?!" Jazz leapt to the side as a steam of laser file ripped through the pavement.

"Trust me! It's one of Dad's Battlesuit prototypes... specially built for me! I'll be a lot safer in that than in a shelter!"

Jazz put her down and turned to car mode, his weapons mounted on his roof and spoiler. "Then let's get the hell over there! G.B.'ll kill me if I let you get hurt... or if his prototype gets busted!" Michiko dove into the driver's seat, and Jazz peeled out.

"He's gettin' away!" Hurricane gasped. "He's probably goin' to man some hidden cannon aimed right at us... THERE IT IS!!!!" He let lose a barrage of missiles in the exact opposite direction Jazz was driving in. The missiles exploded somewhere out of the Decepticons' sight.

"You dolt! Listen to me... THERE IS NO HIDDEN CANNON!" AirTerror shifted to robot mode in order to slap Hurricane's nosecone. He flew over to Tornado, who hovered in the air, examining Jazz's escape route. "Well, aren't you going to shoot him?" He rasped, and sprayed laser bolts after the Autobot.

Jazz swerved and dodged every one, and pulled into a thin alleyway.

"Hey, man, don't go wastin' yer ammo on him!" the purple-and-black Seeker snapped. "I'll make sure he don't go frontin' like this an' that no more..." He raised his missile launcher and fired.

The missile shot high over Jazz. "What a lousy sho- aw, NO!" The side of the building ahead of them exploded in a shower of bricks. Jazz hit the brakes hard, throwing Michiko against the seat restraints. The alley was blocked off.

The second missile stuck the building again... this time right above them. The entire building came down as the variable-frequency concussion missile shook it to its foundations. Jazz tried to drive out of the alley in reverse, but gravity was too quick. He and Michiko were buried under the collapsed alley wall.

Tornado hovered overhead, obviously satisfied with his work. "HAH! So I guess we KNOW who's all that an' a bag o' RAM chips!!"

**********

Hubcap and Skram fired blindly over the burning auto wrecks they were hiding behind. They were pinned down by a pair of Heavy Missile Troopers.

"So how do we get out of this?" Skram gasped as he sent another burst across the street, missing badly.

Hubcap risked a peek. "We scam 'em! Follow my lead... this'll be fun!"

A shot caught the corner of the car Hubcap hid behind. He screamed and clutched his right shoulder... the one that had been damaged long before they were pinned down. He flailed about melodramatically, and finally collapsed. He lifted his head long enough to smile at Skram, and then lay still.

Skram shrugged, and at the next close call, he simply yelped, clutched his side, and toppled.

The two Troopers stopped firing and came closer to examine the wrecks. "They're not dead yet," one murmured. "Let's finish the job..." they aimed at the Autobot's heads.

Turbofire and Windbreaker jumped out from their hiding spots and blew the Troopers away.

Hubcap leapt to his feet. "You picked up on my cue just on time! Shock, we are *good*!"

Turbofire looked sick. "We thought they had nailed you!"

"You mean *you* fell for it too? Oh man, I would make a great stage act..."

One of the Troopers gasped as he lifted himself to his knees. He reached for his dropped rifle.

Before the Autobots could react, however, a black off-road racer ran the Cybertronian down. The racer didn't stop for a second, and merely hollered "Sorry!" as it continued down the street. Skram watched it go... and noticed the red MIG-29 fighter jet accompanying it.

They both had Decepticon symbols.

"Hubcap, you and Turbofire get to the rescue efforts! Windbreaker, you're with me... I wanna know just what those two are up to!"

**********

Windrazor flew over the spaceport, keeping an eye on practically everything. He didn't realize this settlement had reached this stage of development... but that only meant more targets for his troops. The fact that Ultra Magnus was there was a bit troubling, but it would not affect this mission's outcome... it would just mean a few less of his troops would be returning. The Junkion's new fighting forms were also a suprise, but again it only meant a few more casualties.

Jaruga and GaiHawk were on their way, and he was confident they wouldn't fail their mission. There was only one other objective...

A flash of red caught his optic. He turned to get a better look... another unexpected occurrence, but one that could be *very* satisfying personally.

Rapido looked up as laser fire streaked all around him. He found himself face-to-face with a grey F-16A jet.

"Oh slag. Not you."

Before Windrazor could pull of another shot, Eagle Eye swooped in, wing lights flashing in pre-arranged code. "NO! Not *now*!" Windrazor snarled. He had Rapido in his sights...

Rapido shifted to robot mode and fired. Windrazor banked hard, dodging the bolts. So much for that opportunity... "Some other time, Autobot..."

Windrazor followed Eagle Eye into the suburbs of the Verhan moon. There would be other opportunities to finish off Rapido... there may not be another chance for his ascension to leadership.

**********

Strahl had never really been in battle before. Back in the days of the Liege Maximo's empire, Strahl had always been given guard assignments... command of worlds already conquered by the front-line troops. So while he had learned how to keep control of the subjugated, he never experienced the actual subjugation.

It was an act he found absolutely exhilarating.

Olfactory sensors took in the scents of burning wood and flesh. The burned wrecks of building and robot. Audio receptors filled with the shriek of missile fire, thunder of explosions. The cries of the dying.

But it was the look of terror in a victim's face that he found the most gratifying. The realization that their end was upon them.

The look on the faces of the Autobot and three humans in front of him.

In his mobile battle platform mode, he locked his twin plasma blasters on the small Autobot, who shielded the humans with his body, as if that would stop the deadly spheres. "Big man behind the guns," he gasped, a spark of defiance in his optics. He slowly moved to a fighting stance. "C'mon... f-f-fight me!!"

Strahl paused. This Autobot was afraid, and his was a futile stance... but one that had to be squashed. This would be much more fun than simply blowing him away.

When Strahl returned to robot mode, any hope drained from the Autobot's face. Strahl towered over him, almost twice his height. His right hand retracted into his forearm, to be replaced by a broadsword's blade. Strahl smiled as the sword started to glow and crackle with energy.

"All right. Let's just see if you can take me..."

A flash of grey obscured his vision. Windrazor landed directly between Strahl and the Autobot. He turned to Strahl, holding and Autobot heavy blaster rifle in his hand.

"Windrazor, out of my way!"

"Correction, sir. Out of *my* way."

The first shot blew off the left half of Strahl's head. What remained of his face was frozen in surprise, a single cracked optic going dim. The next three shots holed his shoulder, chest and abdomen. The fifth finally knocked Strahl on his back.

Windrazor took a brief moment to examine Strahl's body. Not a sign of life. He looked at the remnants of Strahl's head... his brain unit had been half-melted. Death had been instantaneous. He could never be revived.

He turned to face the stunned Autobot. He offhandedly tossed him the rifle. "What's your name, Autobot?"

"R-Roughshod..."

"Well, Roughshod. You just killed Governor Strahl." Roughshod simply stared at Strahl's body.

"I'm sure your fellow Autobots will remember you with fondness." Without another word, he raised his own rifle and fired four times, each one finding its mark.

**********

"Why can't we just go out there and rip some Autos up?" GaiHawk grumbled. He paced through the room, and kicked an Autobot corpse. The control room of Verhan's thermonuclear power plant glowed red under the warning lights.

"Because this is going to be a *lot* more fun." Jaruga replied as he hunched over the control panel. "Trust me, this is gonna be something that you'll want to record and watch again and again..." His fingers raced over the keypad.

"I got something you can record, creep. Turn around real slow. You too, red boy."

The two slowly turned to face the voice. Skram and Windbreaker held their weapons aimed at the two Decepticons' heads.

Jaruga offered a smile. "Hey guys. What up?"

"Up yours. Hands in the air. I see a gun, I blast you."

Jaruga looked at GaiHawk. "Allright. No guns."

That second, Jaruga and GaiHawk's chestplates leapt from their bodies. In midair, they shifted into animalistic forms... Savagecat and Airstrike bore down on the Autobots.

Windbreaker managed to swat Airstrike away, but was completely unprepared to stop GaiHawk, who body-checked him with a bloodthirsty howl.

Skram managed to dodge Savagecat's initial attack, but the feline mechanism bounced off the wall and sunk his fangs and claws into Skram's left arm.

Skram yelped and fired. The shot singed Savagecat's flank, forcing him to let go. He hit the ground on all fours, only to receive Skram's foot in his chin. Savagecat flew through the air howling, to land in Jaguar's hand... as a gun.

Jaruga and Skram traded shots, Jaguar dodging every one of Skram's shots, while the Autobot took several glancing blows.

It took Jaruga a few seconds to realize Skram wasn't aiming to kill... he was trying to get him away from the control panel.

GaiHawk landed on his back between them. Windbreaker pounced on him, but he managed to get his foot up, catching Windbreaker in his gut and flipping him across the room. Jaruga took the opportunity and threw Savagecat onto the control panel. He shifted back to jaguar mode and hit the last buttons in the sequence.

"It's time to be elsewhere, man!" Savagecat leapt back to his place in Jaruga's chest cavity, Airstrike following suit with GaiHawk. Jaruga shifted to vehicle mode, and let loose with his overhead missile rack. The missiles punched through the room's wall, leading to the open hallway. Jaruga hit the gas, GaiHawk running right behind.

Windbreaker fired after them, as if it would help. Skram turned to the control panel and checked the readout screens. He then tried his radio.

"Rapido... you there?"

"KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKticon jamming is letting up... Skram? This is Rapido! The Cybertronians are retreating... and we got big problems. Windrazor was in that bunch... there *had* to be more to this than random violence!"

"You're right there. Windbreaker and I are at the thermonuclear plant. Two Decepticons broke in here... and this plant is now set to meltdown."

**********
To be continued...
**********

Transformers are the property & copyright of Hasbro/Takara/Kenner, and this fanfic (and the characters created by the author) are in no way intended to infringe on this copyright. This fanfic and the characters in it are considered free to use as one wishes, because, let's face it, there really isn't too much one can do about it, especially considering the sheer amount of spam that's been clogging the arteries of the internet as of late, especially the frighteningly racist swill that seems to be popping up more and more as of late. But the other option is to have people policing these groups... which is frightening in itself, considering this Very True Example : a special branch of The Guardian Angels have been checking the 'net for child pornography traffic. While I would normally applaud such an action, during an interview on National Public Radio, the head of this branch said that GIFs and JPEGs were code for various types of child pornography... I'm not sure if that is scary or merely pathetic. Oh well.

I'm thinking that Penn Jillette (of Penn & Teller) would make an excellent voice for Hubcap...

M "I Must Be Silent, Must Contain My Secret Smile" Sipher