Title: Worthless Effort
Warnings: gen, fighting
Continuity: G1
Characters: Brawl, Omega Supreme, Blast Off, mentions of Vortex and Swindle
Rating: PG-13 (because of some action)
Disclaimer: Sadly, nothing is mine.
tf_speedwriting Prompt: up against a bulkhead
Summary: Brawl, Vortex and Swindle bear up against Omega Supreme. Or at least try to…
Beta: ultharkitty:D
Note: It's a prequel to Caring, but can totally be read as stand-alone. :)
Worthless Effort
Brawl fired his sonic cannons. He didn't aim, because Omega Supreme's bulk was hard to miss. Unfortunately, it had no effect, at least no effect the tank could see.
Or rather, it didn't damage the giant Autobot, but had the effect that Omega Supreme paid attention to Brawl. The huge weapon which was the titan's arm raised, and Brawl cursed inwardly. He cursed his attempt to take on the Autobot alone when Vortex and Swindle were already down. And he cursed his slow alt mode.
Transforming back to root mode, Brawl powered up his thrusters. The energy gathering above him in that huge muzzle reflected in his visor.
Omega Supreme unleashed his blast; Brawl leapt aside, and was still too slow.
It burned, he felt metal melting, torn off his torso as his arm was lost in the energy. The pain soon went numb. Only the sharp sensation of sliding over the rough, rocky ground remained when battle programming kicked in and deactivated the sensor nodes on the leaking side where his arm once was.
The energon loss was still noticeable, though, and Brawl's systems struggled to reboot his failing equilibrium chip.
Omega Supreme was charging his weapon again.
Frag…, Brawl thought, and stood up unsteadily, his hand clutching at the wound. He opened a commlink to Vortex and Swindle, but all he got was static.
The 'copter lay close to the canyon wall, a few rocks lying on and around his demolished alt mode which had been crushed by Omega Supreme's giant claws. Swindle was still close to the Autobot's feet; an attempt to install a bomb on them had been futile and had left him a sparking wreck on the ground.
They were still alive, Brawl knew because of the bond. Despite it being closed, their presences were an underling ping in his systems, and it was one of the times Brawl was glad of it.
The tank wasn't very confident he could save his team mates. He could hardly stand, and the weapon again was pointed at him, the energy intense enough it caused the ground and rocks to vibrate.
Brawl's programs calculated the power of each thruster, changing the settings because of the asymmetry due to his missing arm. That he would be able to get away another time was also something he wasn't very confident in.
The calculations weren't done as the muzzle lit up anew. Battle programing kicked in again, processing more images per astrosecond, and sent every visual into slow motion. It wasn't as though Brawl could do much, however. He tripped a few steps aside, but the range of the Autobot's weapon was immense.
Then, there was a loud boom. It reverberated through the canyon, made the ground shake even more, and Brawl fell. It wasn't Omega Supreme firing his weapon, and for an astrosecond, Brawl thought it had been Thundercracker's sonic boom, but there was no seeker in the sky.
Another booming sound, this time violet lasers hit Omega Supreme from behind, causing the Autobot to stumble. One of the big, white not-really-wing thingies on his back was torn off and slid over the ground until it was stuck close to Brawl and provided cover.
The tank hurried to hide behind it as the sound of lasers came back two more times and mingled with the noises of the Autobot's anger.
Brawl opened a comm. 'What the frag are you doing here? Onslaught will rip us apart.'
Over the link was only a huff, one of the condescending huffs Blast Off always uttered when Brawl apparently didn't get the obvious.
'You'd rather die an unnecessary death?'
No, of course Brawl didn't want that, but they had orders, and Onslaught didn't like his orders to be ignored and…
Brawl couldn't finish the thought as Blast Off impended to hit the canyon wall, seemingly punched by the Autobot. Brawl went rigid at the sight, and his still active program slowed the view down again.
Blast Off was able to transform to root mode, but his back hit the rocky wall, and the shuttle's optics flickered. He crashed down, the thrusters only able to slow down the fall a little.
Then, the ground shook, stones and metal bits flew around, dust was kicked up, worsening the view, and Brawl huddled against his cover.
Slag, now Omega Supreme was really angry. He said something, but Brawl couldn't understand when the noise of falling rocks drowned everything out.
The tank offlined his optics, and hoped it would be over soon.
'What the frag are you doing?' Blast Off spat over the commlink, and Brawls optical sensors snapped back online, recalibrated, and took in the image of the shuttle half running, half flying towards him.
Blast Off pressed his hand at hiss lower side, and when he eventually landed next to Brawl, the metal piece stuck in the shuttle's hip was clear to see. It was orange-beige - a part of Swindle? Brawl shuddered.
'You still want me to leave and fight alone?'
The tank winced. He could hear, despite Blast Off's tone seeming blank to most people, that the shuttle was angry. He just didn't know at what.
'We need to combine to Bruticus,' was all Brawl could bring to mind, but Blast Off merely shook his head.
'Right, with Onslaught at base and Vortex and Swindle down? That'll work well…'
'Okay, okay, so what great ideas do you have?'
'We're getting the pit out of here.'
Oh frag Onslaught would hate it, Brawl thought, but he knew it would be the only way to survive.
'What do we do?' he asked, and shifted awkwardly, now realising that Blast Off appeared slightly unfocused as he stared at their cover. He was scanning and calculating… well, stuff, Brawl realised, and suddenly was very relieved to have the shuttle there. Strategies and such really weren't Brawl's thing…
'He'll fire again in about 0.35 kliks. I'll draw his attention to me, you go to Swindle and bring him to Vortex. I'll pick you up there.'
Brawl frowned behind his broken visor. 'Drawing his attention to you?' Not that Brawl wanted to be the diversion, but if Blast Off died, they all would get slagged…
The shuttle just nodded, and pulled the metal piece out of his side. Instantly, energon flowed down the purple side.
Nothing more was said as Blast Off powered his thrusters, and Brawl did the same, leaving their cover quickly, and just in time to avoid being blown away by Omega Supreme's cannon.
The tank couldn't pay much attention to what Blast Off did. Getting Swindle away from the Autobot had priority, but from the corner of his optics, he saw the shuttle close to Omega Supreme's face.
What the pit was Blast Off doing?
Whatever it was, it sent the Autobot into a rage, and Brawl had to hurry.
Swindle was a mess. Stuck somewhere in between his transform sequence, he was neither in root nor alt mode. He leaked in several places, and the bomb – or whatever it was – was still in his hand. Seeing it, the temptation to use it was suddenly very strong, and Brawl had to remind himself that retreating was far more important now. He subspaced the bomb, and picked up Swindle. Now he had to get him to where Vortex lay.
With someone keeping Omega Supreme busy, it was a surprise how easy it was to get to the 'copter at the other end of the canyon. Vortex was just as much a heap of scrap as Swindle was, and Brawl shuddered. Blast Off would be so fragged off about all the energon leaking in his alt mode cargo hold…
'I'm there, you gonna give us a ride now, or what?' Brawl yelled over the comm, and at first he didn't get an answer. He began to think the worst, but eventually the shuttle showed up.
Again it seemed as though Blast Off had been thrown through the air, but he could prevent hitting the wall by using his thrusters, and transformed mid-air.
A relieved blow of air escaped Brawl's vents when Blast Off hovered close to them.
Vortex and Swindle were heavy, but when they all were inside Blast Off, the shuttle took off before his cargo hold door was even closed.
Exhausted, Brawl slid down the metal wall. Opposite him, the metal was ripped and leaking; the damage about as big as Brawl's torso, and he tilted his head. He wondered, but didn't ask. Apparently, this was the negative side of mass shifting, he mused, when he remembered Blast Off's wound in root mode.
"Onslaught will be so angry…" the tank muttered.
Blast Off's onboard speakers crackled in response. Then a huff. "I don't intend to pay for Onslaught's false pride."
Brawl frowned. "Wewere on the battle field, not you. No one asked you to come down and save us. And you shouldn't have needed to go for the head if you were afraid to die."
Through the speakers came a sound which would have been accompanied by one of his annoyed shaking of his head if Blast Off had been in root mode.
"Do you really think I meant the fight? Why do you think I saved you? Certainly not because I likeyou so much. But what use has a Bruticus with only one arm when both his legs and the other arm died in action? I'm not going to be locked up again because of Onslaught's…" Blast Off stopped as though he was about to say something he'd regret later.
Brawl sighed.
It took 2.73 kliks before Blast Off began speaking again. He was much calmer, and the usual condescension in his voice was gone. It was a sign that Blast Off was in pain, or tired - or both; Brawl had known the shuttle long enough to know that much…
"I needed to disturb or destroy his optical input. Omega Supreme is as fast as I am, maybe even faster. He would have followed us."
Brawl grinned, then said, teasingly. "Yeah, sure. You only wanted to show off."
A muttering followed. "Vector Sigma, why do I even bother to explain anything to you?"
Brawl laughed, and nudged the wall behind him with his elbow. He enjoyed the teasing, and the quiet grumbling from Blast Off. It distracted him from the look of his beaten team mates.
He only hoped the Constructicons would be able to repair them. Brawl didn't intend to pay for Onslaught's false pride, either…
The line Blast Off didn't finish would have been: "I'm not going to be locked up again because of Onslaught's failed attempts of showing Megatron we're worth enough without Bruticus…"