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Perceptor tapped the intercom on the door.
"Prime, it's Perceptor."
"Enter." The Autobot's leader's voice was heavy with fatigue.
The door slid open. Optimus Prime was sitting behind his desk, staring into space. Although his faceplate was as expressionless as ever, Perceptor could just sense how weary their leader was. It seemed so long ago that the Autobots had vanquished Bludgeon on Klo. Since the victorious return home to their reborn home planet, Cybertron. Prime looked up.
"It's bad news, isn't it?"
Perceptor tried to avoid eye contact.
"I fear so Prime. Search Team Alpha came under Decepticon fire at Jekka. Omega Supreme was able to withdraw the team before a critical amount of damage took place."
"How bad is it?"
"Slapdash is severly incapacitated, and they're still under pursuit. Omega was struck by a projectile, and this has impinged upon his velocity. The Decepticons are still on their tail."
"Do we know which Decepticons attacked them?"
"We have positive IDs on Snapdragon, Darkwing and Windsweeper, which would indicate-"
Prime interrupted. "Bludgeon."
"Unless there has been a further split in the faction."
"Unlikely." Prime pounded his fist on the desk, denting it. "Even the word of a warrior means nothing if it is the word of a Decepticon warrior. As evil as Bludgeon is, I would have thought he would have the honour to remember we spared him and his forces on Klo."
"Prime-" Perceptor began. But Prime was in full flow now.
"Ready Sky Lynx for launch. Have the Aerialbots, Getaway, Kup and Hot Rod meet me there." He swept up from his chair and towards the door. Perceptor followed him, protesting.
"Prime, I know it's hard but we cannot afford to divide our forces further! Already we-"
"We can't leave them to die-"
Prime was cut off. The scren on his wall flickered into life, shwoing the face of the Autobot Communications officer, Blaster.
"Blaster? Why are you using the over-ride? It's for Priority Red use only."
"Big guy, I don't know how to tell you this... but this is a Priority Red..."
Prime was bewildered. What misfortune could have befallen the Autobots now...
"W-what...?"
"I can't believe it either... Trypticon has just emerged from under the ground in Sector 12 in city mode, and 'Cons are disembarking and attacking! They're inside the complex!"
"H-how...." was all Prime could manage.
"Who was on guard in that Sector?" Perceptor asked.
"Tracks and Sideswipe."
"Are they-" Perceptor began.
"Na, had the sense to pull back to a defendable position, thank Primus. I've already sent the Battle and Sportscar patrols to give them back-up, but we need a command decision Prime."
"I... I..."
Perceptor cut in. "Mobilise all forces. Blaster, you remain in the control centre, try to co-ordinate things until Prime arrives on the battlefield."
"Roger and wilko, Perceptor. Blaster out."
The screen flcikered off. Perceptor grabbed Prime by the shoudler, and looked into his optics.
"For Primus' sake Optimus, pull yourself together. We are demoralised and many of us, myself included, could cease functioning at any time because of that unstable nucleon that idiotic Dinobot poured into us. We need the greatest leader the Autobots have ever had; we need Optimus Prime!"
LOCATION: Space. Earth Date: 10-7-92.
A shockwave rippled through the bridge.
"That one was a little close, Omega!" Point Blank shouted.
"Situation inadvertant." The control panel in front of the Targetmaster intoned.
Point Blank turned to Nightbeat.
"Damn it, Omega wasn't built for space combat. His speed is supposed to mean there isn't any need for defensive weaponry!"
"I know, but I have an idea. We could use the escape problems, Omega can transform and dust of our tails, pick us up and we can find somewhere for repairs."
"Is that do-able Omega?"
"Plan acceptable."
"That's that then... I'll go tell the others." Nightbeat looked far too much like he was enjoying himself. He leapt up and left the bridge. Point Blank jumped up after him.
"What about Slapdash?"
The pair left the bridge arguing. Neither of them had seen the large planet on the scanner which shouldn't have been there, or the large void within the void of space, and Omega was to busy avoiding the dogged pursuit of the Decepticons.
LOCATION: Iacon, Cybertron. Earth Date 10-07-92.
Sideswipe stepped out from behind the stack of metal containers serving as a make-shift defensive wall for himself and Tracks, and fired three shots off. He ducked back into cover as a series of shots strafed where he had just been standing, and looked across to the other Autobot.
"I don't know about you, Tracks, but aside from Trypticon I haven't recognised a single one of these... I wish I'd actually read some of the files, instead of spending most of my spare time doing... well, not alot."
"I think that red jet's Flywheels, I saw him briefly during the Time Wars... I could have sworn he was dead."
"Yeh, well you were for a bit."
"I fear if the situation doesn't get much better soon, I'll be back there again!"
The rest of the Autobot force were pinned down to the right of Trypticon, with the pair stranded on the left. Two of the Sportscar Patrol had been cut down straight away, but for now the Decepticons seemed content to keep them at a distance rather than moving in for the kill.
Suddenly a flight of five jets swept from behind them and began engaging the airborne Decepticons.
"The Aerialbots!" Tracks clapped. "Wonderful! The big guns are out!"
Suddenly from their right the Autobots erupted, led by Optimsu Prime. Sideswipe looked at Tracks.
"We're gonna win this one!"
Aside from the two jets and helicopter, none of whom the pair recognised, the rest of the Decepticons swooped down to meet them. With the fire pinning them down redirected, Sideswipe and Tracks charged forward to join the melee.
Optimus Prime actually felt more alive than he had done for a while. He recognised most of these Decepticons, and they weren't big league. It'd be a nice morale booster for the Autobots when they beat this lot. He dodged a laser blast from someone without even thinking about it, rolling over to his left and shooting his rifle from a crouching position. The shot caught Cindersaur on the side of his monster-head, and the ugly Firecon collapsed. Prime leapt forward towards his next target, Snarler, who had just cut down Siren in his robot mode, and was controlling his shell to pounce on Sky High. Snarler wheeled round and fired at Prime. The blast kncked him from mid-air. Prime gripped his side... From his memory of the files, Snarler didn't have anywhere near that much firepower... Snarler sneered and threw the gun into the air, simultaneously shifting into his animal mode and leaping onto the back of Jazz. Prime focused through the pain on the gun as it started to transform... Snarler a Targetmaster? No, it was too big... it was another transformer...
This mysterious robot stood before him, and drew a huge, katana-like blade from subspace. It pulsed with energy.
"Optimus Prime. I am Sixshot. As a warrior, I believe one should always know the name of he who kills him."
The Decepticon swung the blade. Optimus instinctively blocked with his right arm, and the gesture was met with a sear of pain. He forced himself to hold onto his rifleand tried to draw a bead on this mysterious warrior. But before he was even halfway through this gesture, Sixshot leapt up into the air and brought his foot crashing down on the barrel, rendering the weapon useless. Prime swung out with his left but the Decepticon was a blur, shifting back into another mode, a puma... which leapt forward, its razor teeth digging into his neck hydraulics... ... his right arm was useless, and his left couldn't even begin to move the Decepticon...
Perceptor's shoulder cannon fired into Quake, knocking the Decepticon out of his way. He was presented with the scene of Prime staggering, a robotic puma nearly severing his head, one of his arms hanging limp behind his back. He spoke into his internal radio.
"Smokescreen, we need cover! Blurr, get Prime out of here! We regroup at Kalis! Evacuate! Those of you who can't transform, get to Sky Lynx! Take any injured. Blaster, initiate Operation Phalanx!"
Smokescreen shifted into his Datsun mode, and began to circle the battlefield, thick smoke spreading from his exhaust, covering the battlefield. Perceptor and Doublecross ran side-by-side towards Sky Lynx.
"You're abandoning Iacon?" The Monsterbot asked, incredulously.
"I don't see we have any choice. They are inside the citadel. Trypticon's weapons system is the equal of Iacon. We have little idea of the size of their force. That new Decepticon may have killed Prime. We are disorganised. The old Autoboase at Kalis will give us time to regroup."
As they reached Sky Lynx, Blaster ran out of the nearby building.
"Phalanx activated, Perceptor! By the time the Cons get to any of our stuff, it's insides'll be less useful than a burnt-out toaster."
Perceptor nodded.
"Let's get out of here..."
Perceptor looked around the inside of Sky Lynx. There were several injured Autobots, and the ones who had either lost their transformational abilites due to the Nucleon, or whose alternative modes didn't have the speed to make their own escape. Sky Lynx' voice came over the intercom.
"Smokescreen's little diversion is starting to clear. We have to go now or we won't be able to!"
Perceptor nodded. Blurr had just placed Prime's mangled body over on a makeshift bunk, and Fixit was already administering what help he could. Blurr moved towards the door. Perceptor stepped into his way.
"You can't go back out there Blurr - it would be a suicide mission!"
"Look-around-look-around!" Blurr babbled. "This-isn't-everyone-not-by-a-long-shot-no-sir-I-have-to-go-back-find-the-others!"*
"But Blurr, we can't wait!"
"Who-said-to-wait-I-never-said to-wait-I've-got-speed-I've-got-firepower-I-can-get-there-myself!"
"Blurr!" Perceptor shouted, but it was too late. In a flash, the Targetmaster was past him and out of the closing door. Sky Lynx began to lift off...
Sixshot's ouma form writhed on the floor, and shifted back to his robot mode. The smoke had cleared enough for him to see the shape of another Transformer lying a few feet away, but not enough for him to make out who he was. He struggled to recover his memory files. He had been at Prime's throat, about to finish him off, when something hit him at, according to his databanks, at around 650 miles an hour.# Suddenly an obscure shape ripped past him, whisking the Transformer in front of him away, and shot off out of the Autobase. No time to worry about that now, Sixshot thought, the spoils of victory await...
LOCATION: Space. Earth Date: 10-7-92.
With a smooth swish, the escape pod slipped away from Omega Supreme, and Point Blank began to focus on the limited controls of the tiny vessel. Nightbeat had persuaded him that Slapdash would be fine in another pod with Grapple and Pipes, and besides it wasn't going to take Omega long to take down a handful of Decepticon jets - he'd nearly trashed the entire Earth-based Decepticon faction on his first day of activation several years ago. The pair watched as the might rocket split, and Omega Supreme summoned the rest of his body from subspace. Misfire had ventured too close, and this over-zealousness cost him his wing as Omega clipped him with his claw-hand. The mighty Autobot swung round his plasma cannon arm, and a single blast was enough to knock Snapdragon and Slugslinger out of the battle. His head swung round to reveal a laser turret, a blast from which caught Dreadwing on the tail. The Decepticons withdrew, seemingly having learnt their lesson.
"There, that was easy." Nightbeat grinned. "Now, shall we enjoy the wonders of space for a few minutes, or go right aboard?"
"Erm, I don't want to bother you Nightbeat..."
"Buuut....?"
"There's nothing registering on the scanners on this thing. They're either being jammed, or there's some massive source of interference..."
Nightbeat craned out of the tiny window on the capsule.
"There shouldn't be a planet there." He commented.
"Eh?" Point Blank pushed him aside...
"Primus, that's not a planet..."
They were seeing a giant metal star-ship, the size of a large moon, bearing down on Omega. It had the unmistakeable Decepticon insignia in letters the height of Mount Everest emblazoned on what appeared to be the front. Before the pair could digest this, a huge purple beam shot out from the behemoth, and ripped straight through Omega's torso.
"...God..." was all Nightbeat could manage. The beam kept on going, and winged their pod, sending it spinning. Point Blankw as thrown to the back of the cabin, his arm jamming under his dislodged chair. For endless seconds, the craft continued spinning.
"Why haven't those scum finished us off?"
"The good news is they've turned round... that bad news is I can see why..." Nightbeat replied.
Point Blank scrambled to his feet and crawled and fell towards the front of the craft. He could see the monster starship heading away. He could see Omega floating lifelessly in space. And he could see... what he could only describe as a funnel on blue lightning... which they were bing sucked into.
"What in the name of Primus is that?" Point Blank asked, incredulously.
"I have no idea. But it's going to be tremendous fun finding out."
Point Blank rolled his optics. He really wished he'd gone in the same pod as Pipes...
LOCATION: UNKNOWN. Date: Unknown.
Nightbeat came back online with a jolt. Well, that was good, he thought, I'm alive. The capsule was now heading on a straight course. He looked out the window. He knew that planet - it was Earth! They'd find the Protectobots, get back to Cybertron, find Omega and just start the whole adventure over again, maybe trading Slapdash in for someone who had all their pieces. Point Blank came round a second later, and Nightbeat proudly told him the situation, with a kind of self-satisfaction which suggested this was his idea all along. However, his bubble was burst in dramatic style when the intercom buzzed on.
"This is Star Saber of the Earth Defence Force. Your craft is not on an authorised flight, and as such is a contravention of international law. Prepare to be broguht onboard our craft."
"Hooo-boy..." Point Blank sighed...
To Be Continued...
*Blurr's still talking at a hundred words a minute, but I thought that this-way-would be easy to read thanlikethisallthetime
#I'm using Earth units of measurement just because it's a bit easier
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