"I am Optimus Prime, and I send this message to any surviving Autobots taking refuge among the stars: We are here... we are waiting."
Those were the words which Autobot Leader, Optimus Prime, had transmitted from the Planet Earth approximately five Earth hours ago, a message to any and all Autobots who had survived the War for Cybertron and were either left on their homeworld, still battling what remained of the Decepticon forces, or scattered among the stars.
A call to rally his troops, one could call it, using a majority of Earth's satellites to beam the transmission up into the skies. Upon transmitting it, Optimus Prime himself speculated that it would take him several months before the transmission got a response.
He was wrong.
Several million, perhaps trillion, light years away from Earth, somewhere in a system which no human telescope, no matter how powerful, was able to even glimpse at, was an Autobot ship. Codenamed the Xantium. The unit was an old, Class C Explorer Vessel, with about ten Anti-Aircraft cannons attached to its hull being it's only form of defense against any attacks it may encounter. The unit currently held nearly close to two hundred Autobots.
Or more specifically it used to carry around two hundred Autobots.
"We're taking heavy casualties!"
"Incoming barrage!"
"Everyone, brace for impact!"
Those were among the few cries of the Autobots who were on the Eastern Starboard of the Xantium as they did their absolute best to hold their ground. Overhead, the Aerialbots tried their hardest to fend off the Decepticon Seekers who were bombarding their comrades while providing invaluable air support. The ground forces attempted to stay their Decepticon attackers, though it was very apparent to them that they were fighting a losing battle, as the opposition were flooding into their ship by the hundreds, and they were certain that it wouldn't take long before they were overwhelmed.
"My engines are fried! I can't-" came a transmission from an Aerialbot before he crashed into a support pillar, nearly killing a fellow Autobot in the process. The support pillar he crashed into collapsed, and it came crashing down, creating a new piece of cover for the battle.
"We lost Slingshot!" exclaimed an Autobot with a white chassis, turning to face his fellow Autobots on the Starboard for a split second before he turned his attention back to the battlefield.
"I've lost contact with the unit stationed at the eastern Port!" came another cry from an Autobot law enforcer, only for a missile to strike him square in the abdomen, forcing him onto his back as he gave out a pained cry. The missile tore a massive gash in his abdomen, and it was no less than a miracle that he was still alive.
An overhead Seeker noticed the wounded Autobot trying to get away, however, and smirked as he aimed another rocket at him. Once he was sure it would hit, he launched it, only for an obstruction to get in the way of the blast.
"Everyone, get back!" came a new voice from the smoke. The newcomer swung his arm out of the smoke, dissipating it a little and revealing his massive, arm mounted chaingun. The Decepticons who were closest to him had less than a second to show their shock before they were quickly mowed down by the Autobot.
Heavily armoured and very obviously built for heavy duty work and combat, the newcomer had a chassis which appeared to be nigh impenetrable and almost bulletproof. He also had a massive tank barrel sticking out of his chest, which he did use to blast a massive hole in the Decepticon's formation.
"Warpath, nice timing!" exclaimed another Autobot who had raced up at the front lines. Much less armoured than his comrade and with a blue chassis, the smaller bot was hiding behind a chunk of their ship which had been blown straight off. The heavily armoured Bot, Warpath, simply snorted as he nodded, taking his light blue optics away from the battlefield for the briefest of moments.
"I'm fine, Jolt," replied Warpath as he turned to his side, using his right shoulder as a temporary shield to protect himself from enemy fire as he reloaded his chaingun. "I can survive a few dings! Get this guy out of here, ASAP!"
The blue Autobot, Jolt, didn't need to be told twice as he raced over to Warpath and scooped the wounded bot up into his arms. Upon seeing this, Warpath began backpedaling, using his very own chassis as a shield for Jolt and the wounded Bot until the two had regrouped with their comrades.
"Thanks… for that… Jolt," were the only words which the Autobot could cough out as he began losing Energon from that wound of his. Panicked, the young Autobot flexed his claws, which began emitting electricity between them, and used it to try and stop the Energon leaks in his comrade.
"Yeah… but if you die now, it'll all be for nothing!" exclaimed Jolt, clearly panicked as he sealed the last leak in his comrade. Right as he did, an explosion could be heard, prompting Jolt to duck. "Hey… I'm sorry, but-"
"Just be… careful… kid," said the wounded Autobot as he gripped his comrades arm, a smile forming on his faceplate as the lights of his optics dimmed, indicating to a panicked Jolt that he was running out of time. But he himself did not have the time to worry over that, as he ducked under a piece of debris next to Warpath, who was just standing in the open, absorbing all the flak which was coming their way, and another Autobot with a silver and blue chassis.
"Smokescreen, can you patch me in with First Aid?" requested Jolt as he flexed his claws. The Autobot he was sharing the cover with, Smokescreen, grimly shook his head.
"No can do, Jolt," said Smokescreen regretfully, a frown making its way onto his faceplate as he peeked out of cover and blasted a few rounds. "Comm-links are scrambled! The Decepticons must've done something to it. The best we can manage is short range communication, and that's about it!"
"Slag it all!" exclaimed Jolt as he splayed his claws out. Once they were splayed open, Jolt's hand began spinning. It spun for a moment, before a ball of pure Electricity was formed in his palm. Peeking out of cover, the Autobot aimed the ball of Electricity at an enemy and discharged it. On impact, the ball overloaded the curcuity of his enemy and essentially destroyed him from the inside.
While the Autobots fought to hold their positions, however, they failed to notice a handful of cloaked figures move behind them. The figures were aptly named 'Cloakers', and a single unit had uncloaked behind Jolt, Smokescreen and Warpath. The cloaker smirked as he aimed his plasma cannon at the blue Autobot, intent on taking out the smallest of the trio before slinking back into the shadows and picking off another target.
Or it would have done that if it had not been distracted by the sound of an incoming Cybertronian vehicle. Turning, it widened its optics when it saw a silver vehicle come at it. Transforming before it reached the cloaker, the Autobot used his momentum to deliver a punch to the head of the Cloaker, hard enough to send it flying off its shoulders.
The head rolled to a stop between Jolt and Smokescreen, who turned to regard their savior who ducked behind some debris.
"Well, nice to see you again, Camshaft!" greeted Smokescreen as he shot a Seeker down with his shoulder cannon.
"I wish I could say the same, Smokescreen," replied Camshaft as he transformed his left arm into an assault rifle of sorts. "But I'm here as the bearer of bad news."
"You implying that anything that happened today has been good?" questioned Warpath as he recovered from a direct hit from a missile. The strike scratched his armor, but it didn't do much damage outside of staggering him a little.
"No, but it is urgent," replied Camshaft as he shot down a Seeker. "I bring news from Commander Ultra Magnus."
"He's planned a counterattack?" asked Jolt hopefully.
"No, we're planning a retreat," deadpanned Camshaft. And at that, all the Autobots who could hear him just stared.
"You must be joking," said a nearby Autobot. Camshaft responded with a mechanical snort.
"In times like these, I do not joke!" he retorted, sounding a little offended. "We are all to evacuate the Xantium."
"Yeah, and what if we don't?" asked Warpath, not willing to abandon the ship without a fight. Camshaft, once again, snorted.
"Then you will go down with the ship," replied Camshaft. "Right as he realized that we were fighting a losing battle, Commander Ultra Magnus ordered for Detpacks to be placed in vital areas of the Xantium. It was to ensure that the ship does not fall into Decepticon hands, and to provide a distraction when we escape."
Everyone went silent at that, with the only sound being that of the battlefield and the roar of their cannons. And the one who broke the silence was Jolt, who cleared his mechanical throat.
"Well… suddenly I feel like abandoning ship," he said sheepishly, ducking as a shot grazed his head.
"Likewise," agreed Smokescreen. Warpath, however, seemed indecisive, prompting Camshaft to speak up as he shot the leg of a Decepticon.
"Listen, Warpath, I know you are indecisive about this," he said firmly. "You consider this an act of treason, but do not think of it that way. If anything, this is a direct order from the Commander of this Vessel: Retreat. Live to fight another day."
"Yeah yeah, I hear you!" exclaimed Warpath as he turned to glare at Camshaft for a moment before he pointed towards the closest entrance to the Xantium, the one which he and his fellow Autobots had fought so hard to protect. "Everyone, fall back!"
Despite not using his comm-links, every Autobot and Aerialbot could hear Warpath's thunderous voice ordering for a retreat. Those who were up at the front transformed and sped towards the entrance into the Xantium while those who guarded the rear provided cover fire.
Backpedalling into the Xantium, Warpath made sure that every last Auto and Aerialbot was in before he shut the doors. Doing a headcount, he noted that about 20 Autobots were with him. This was not good, as his crew had about 50 before the battle started. Hell, even their leader seemed to have fallen in combat, as evident by the fact that he was not here.
"This is not a time to be standing around, everyone!" exclaimed Jolt out of the blue, making everyone turn to him. "We need to get to the escape pods before the joint blows!"
A handful of Autobots, especially the Aerialbots, were left confused at what he meant, but Camshaft quickly filled them in on the details, and by then, all the Autobots were racing towards the escape pod depo.
Escape pod depo
"Skyquake, the Escape Pod depo is clear. All Autobots who attempted to enter have been either destroyed or captured."
Those were the words of a Decepticon Commander who was assigned to guard the Xantium's escape pod depo from any Autobots who were attempting to escape the battle. His crew consisted of about 10 other Decepticon Vehicons, discluding himself.
Over the past few kliks, only two Autobots were cowardly enough to try and abandon ship. One was shot dead while the other had surrendered. They looked to be twins of sorts, with the dead one being Red while the one captured a bright Green colour.
"Excellent work, commander," came a transmission from the commander of the Decepticon side of this conflict, Skyquake. He seemed please with the Grunt, though it could most likely be fake. Either way, the Grunt felt a sense of pride when he was praised. "Keep up the good work."
And with that, Skyquake cut the link, and the Grunt just sighed happily to himself.
'Not much to do now…' was the thought which went through his mind as he knew that the conflict was all from above. It would most likely stay that way until all Autobots were wiped out, or until they decided to get to the escape pods, leading them straight to him. 'Just gotta sit back and-'
His thoughts were interrupted, however, when a massive bang was heard, making everyone turn to look at the door to the escape pod depo, their optics widening with fear. Immediately, all the Cons took a defensive position as the knocking continued. And after the fifth slam, a massive hole was put into the door, coughing up a ton of smoke and shielding those who were behind it from view for a split second.
And following that split second was the sound of heavy gunfire as the Autobot Weapon Specialist, Warpath, stepped in. Almost immediately, half of the Decepticons guarding the Escape Pod Depo were mowed down before they could react, all while the other Cons tried fruitlessly to pierce Warpath's thick armour.
From behind Warpath, Jolt lunged at a Decepticon and impaled him with his claws while Camshaft tackled another down and beat him into a pulp. The final two were finished off quickly when Warpath shot the space between the two with his chest cannon, the shockwave rattling them enough to send them offline.
The unit leader simply stared in shock at seeing his platoon be wiped out so quickly. His shock, however, was quickly replaced with fear when he felt something latch onto his chest. Looking at it, he saw that it was a whip of sorts, and it had pierced his chest armour. Following the whip back to its owner, he widened his optics when he saw that it was Jolt. And he only had a fraction of a nanoklik to react before Jolt send several dozen volts of Electricity into his system, overloading him.
"That seemed a little overkill," pointed out Warpath as Jolt retracted his whip, and Jolt simply rubbed his head sheepishly.
"Sorry… spur of the moment," apologised Jolt, prompting a chuckle to erupt from Camshaft as he tapped a few buttons on a nearby console. As he did, the Autobot whom was held captive began thanking his saviors, though he was largely ignored thanks to his annoying self.
"Alright, the pods are set. Everyone, get in!" exclaimed Camshaft as he motioned for the other Autobots to enter. Once they were in, Camshaft tapped the console and ejected every one of them. It didn't take long for himself, Jolt, Warpath and an Aerialbot to be the only Autobots remaining on the Xantium.
"What are the odds of Commander Ultra Magnus getting away?" asked a hopeful Jolt as he looked to Camshaft, whose single optic dimmed. He didn't wish to answer, and neither did Warpath, though the Aerialbot seemed to have a few words of his own.
"Keep your chin up, Jolt," he encouraged with a pat to his comrade's back. "If anyone can survive this, it's Magnus. The bot's second only to Prime, after all."
"Yeah, guess you're right…" muttered Jolt as he was ushered into an Escape Pod. "Where're the coordinates set for?"
An explosion made Camshaft momentarily pause before he responded. "I sent the other Autobots to locations that are as close to Optimus Prime as possible. But as for us…"
"What's in it for us?" asked the Aerialbot, folding his wings up in a somewhat nervous manner.
"Well, Breakaway," continued Camshaft, tapping the console for the Escape Pods nervously. "I found a planet that's well hidden. It seems to be located in the Andromada System. Right now, I would say we head there."
"Why not head straight for Prime?" asked Warpath.
"And lead the Longshot to him as well?" asked Camshaft, baffled. "Absolutely not! I sent the Autobots to different locations for a reason! If we all made a beeline for this 'Earth' which Prime spoke of, we'd just be leading the second largest Decepticon warship to him!"
"Makes enough sense for me. I just hope this planet you detected isn't hostile to us or something."
"As do I, Jolt. now, get ready. I am disengaging your pod now. The rest of you should go as well."
As instructed, Warpath and Breakaway entered their respective Escape Pods, and once Camshaft punched in the coordinates, he entered his. And, though a separate console, he ejected all four pods, prompting them to boost towards the planet which Camshaft had indicated.
And from his Escape Pod, Jolt saw the name given for the planet they were headed for.
'Remnant.'
I am a madman for writing this.
Despite school and other stories, I wrote it. And god damn, it was fun, so be able to write out a battle like this. It's probably meh, but hey, I enjoyed it.
The original draft of this story had Mirage in Camshaft's place, though it was changed for… reasons. Anyways, hopefully you guys enjoyed this prelude to the story. Next chapter should be up within a week… maybe. I don't know anymore.
Ciao.