When he'd landed in Mission City, the scene was nothing but pure chaos. Humans were running in all directions, driven by panic and fear. He had arrived during a slight lull, the military humans scrambling to regroup even as the Decepticons recollected themselves. Starscream had barked at him to get moving, but the Seeker flew out of range for no reason that the Pave Low could fathom. Brawl was barely managing to get back up, his severed arm sparking as he rerouted all available power to his weapons systems. It was a matter of waiting for Megatron's command to attack, words that Blackout had dreamed for millennia to hear again. The Autobots were working with the humans to put together a plan, having found out first hand that hiding the Cube in a city was a terrible idea. It wasn't like the Decepticons were going to pull their punches to avoid harming humans. The virus that Frenzy had planted had done its job, the confusion and lack of instantaneous communication spread the human military thin.
Still, they were inventive, creative little maggots, and more than one of them knew what to do when the standard protocols failed. The short distance radios were crude, but effective. Well, not entirely as effective as they'd hoped, considering they had drawn Starscream directly to their whereabouts within the city. They thought they could hide in the maze of buildings and streets, conceal the Cube when its power was a beacon in and of itself. All of them could feel it, and Blackout had no doubt that was why Brawl was not dead yet. To be that close meant failure was out of the question. One of the human soldiers on the radio was confirming air support, something that amused Blackout to no end. Did they not realize those crude radios were heard by everyone?
From his perch, Blackout surveyed the scene below, watching as the humans strapped the yellow scout to another vehicle. What purpose did that serve? He would be dead before long, if not from one of them then his injuries would do him in. While they struggled, he listened in on the humans' radio conversations again. It was a simple plan: the Black Hawks had only to follow the signal flare on the rooftop of a nearby building, and retrieve the 'precious cargo'. It was a laughably desperate plan of action. The thought of mere Black Hawks escaping with the Cube was insane. If not himself or Starscream, Megatron would tear them from the sky to retrieve the Allspark.
In the distance, there was the familiar whupwhupwhup of incoming helicopters, and Blackout shifted on his lookout. The fragile concrete chipped and broke under his hands and feet, but he paid it no mind. He made himself busy scanning the Black Hawks from a distance, noting the number of the crew and their positions. The helo briefly considered shooting them down, but at that moment Megatron called for the attack. Blackout didn't need to be told twice, and the black mech completed his shift, Pave Low downgrading to a Black Hawk. He leapt from the rooftop, blades spinning to life, ready to intercept the weapons specialist and medic.
Sam's lungs burned as he ran up the stairs. He had enough terrible memories of torment during gym class during his life, but this sure as hell beat all of them. The running itself was bad enough, but having a giant evil alien robot chasing him sure set it apart from other experiences. He was never happier to reach the rooftop, hope rising in his throat as he heard the rhythmic thrumming of helicopters. Slamming the butt of the flare against the wall, he started screaming with a voice he was surprised he still had. He saw the shadow of two Black Hawks from the opposite side of the building, running as fast as his legs would carry him to the edge of the rooftop.
Everything ran in slow motion; like a sunrise breaking the darkness of an endless night, a third Black Hawk rose up in front of him. One of the crew leaned forward when he saw him, hands stretched out for the Cube. It was all Sam could do to thrust it in front of him, wanting to drop the alien artifact so badly. The second the soldier's hands were on the cube, Sam knew something was wrong. He should have known better than to just run blindly forward like that. In retrospect, there were a lot of things wrong with the entire situation. He had seen Starscream on an adjacent building, but the F-22 had not attacked. He had seen the two Black Hawks come from the other direction, and the arrival of a third seemed suddenly out of place.
So many tiny details added up far too late, the biggest clue being the surge of energy that came from the Cube the moment the soldier touched it. The power nearly shorted out the hologram, but the faux soldier jerked the Cube backwards into the Black Hawk. Sam had tried desperately to hold on, but the shock from the Cube rattled him, and the hologram's harsh movement caused him to pitch forward. The Black Hawk's crew vanished, and it folded in on itself to transform to its root mode. Landing heavily on the rooftop, Blackout's feet crushed the edge, and the bricks came out from under Sam. The Decepticon staggered forward as its foothold crumbled, finding even ground while Sam was sent into a freefall.
The terror of falling and dying paled into comparison to what he felt when he realized the Decepticons now had the Allspark. The rooftop exploded as Megatron burst through the ceiling, but Sam was already gone, hurtling to the death he knew he deserved.
It had been the moment Blackout would have waited for ten lifetimes to experience. The organic child was clueless as to what was about to happen, implicitly trusting what he saw with his eyes. The human soldiers had done him great disservice, sending him in blind and with no backup whatsoever. There was no one to warn him, no one to tell him there had only been two Black Hawks inbound. He doubted it would have mattered if he hadn't mimicked the other aircraft; how many civilian humans would have known the difference between a Pave Low and a Black Hawk? Still, he was glad he'd taken the small precaution, in case the boy had an ounce of intelligence.
Rid of the child and with the Allspark in his hands, Blackout found himself in a unique position. Moments after landing, Megatron had finally fought his way through the confines of the building. Frustrated by the irritating chase, Megatron's reward was his most loyal of soldiers, waiting to deliver his objective. Blackout did not hesitate, and Megatron had the Cube from him in a manner of seconds. He would never, never admit to that brief moment, that strong desire to keep the Cube. It was the first time he'd ever touched the artifact, and it felt good to hold. However, he still believed stronger mechs than he were meant to wield its power, and it felt better to pass that responsibility back to Megatron.
The smallest turn of events promised Blackout a very bright future indeed. It secured him his position next to Megatron, a far higher rank than he'd ever managed to achieve. No one would dispute Megatron, no one would dispute him, and he wouldn't have to listen to another agonizing screech from the treacherous Raptor. Starscream had remained on the other building for longer than Blackout cared, but eventually the Air Commander came to join his esteemed leader. Blackout would have liked to have killed the jet right then and there, but he would leave it to Megatron. The Decepticon leader would have more than ample opportunity to discover Starscream's treachery, and punish him appropriately.
The Autobots and their comrades had fled in short order, far more quickly than any of the Decepticons thought possible. The city was already being evacuated, but it hardly mattered. Megatron was not concerned with the wanton destruction of the city, nor of using the Cube to transform the surrounding machines into warriors. Where the Autobots had gotten that idea was beyond the Black Hawk, but Megatron had no need for new, brainless warriors. Blackout had proved ultimately loyal, and the same could be said for Brawl, were he not half dead in the middle of the café. They had lost contact with Bonecrusher and Barricade, and Starscream was sent out to find and retrieve them. It did not escape Blackout how furious the Seeker had been to be used for such menial work, but he could not dispute their leader. Megatron needed experienced soldiers, not uncontrollable drones brought to life by a mere spark of energy from the Cube.
Blackout had wondered if Megatron would leave the fallen to rot; they had, after all, failed at defeating the Autobots. It was certainly not compassion that drove Megatron to revive them. The reinstated leader needed them, at least, for the time being. The Cube was used to its fullest potential, restoring Brawl, Bonecrusher, Frenzy and Barricade in short order. Before leaving the city, Megatron ensured that the Autobot second in command was left in the middle of the street, lifeless and broken. Should the Autobots return to the evacuated city, they wouldn't have to look far to find their dead. It was a mockery they all took far too much pleasure in, but they were drunk with their victory.
Starscream was the only one that did not show any emotion over the spectacle, though Megatron was far from celebratory. Blackout knew there was a simple reason behind it: he had been iced down for so long he was going to need time to sort everything out. The Black Hawk would be ready to do anything for Megatron, to tell him everything. He could barely hide his surprise when the Decepticon leader had dismissed him, not wanting to hear anything. Blackout did not understand what the problem was; Megatron gave them all their orders, but to Blackout he gave no instruction at all. It was somewhat disorienting, but Megatron simply told him to do what he pleased, but be available when he was needed.
The first thing Blackout had done with his newfound, exulting freedom was to fly directly back to Qatar. He still needed to find Scorponok, knowing the drone was injured and hurting somewhere in the desert. He'd had to break off his search in order to fight in Mission City, but now he had all the time in the world. How the resilient little drone had gotten so far off course was something he could worry about later. With the Allspark in Megatron's hands, it was difficult to not feel invincible. Distance put his mind at ease, guessing the dismissal he'd gotten was as close to a reward as he was going to get. He would use the time to track his drone, and then return to Megatron's side immediately. Certainly by then the Decepticon leader would have formulated a suitable plan for their triumphant return to Cybertron.
When he had found the scorpion, it was far more damaged than Blackout had previously thought. The drone whined and keened, dragging its broken tail in the sand, claws whirring slowly as Blackout landed. It had certainly seen better days, but he did not worry for it. Besides, despite its injuries, Scorponok instantly let him know that it did not like the Black Hawk disguise. The Pave Low was much, much more comfortable. Blackout would have gladly scanned another one to please the symbiote, if they came across one on the way back. Scorponok's attitude assured the black mech that it was perfectly fine, even though its mangled tail made it hurt. Still, the trip back to the United States was almost euphoric for the both of them.
Even in its current state, the little drone burst with excitement and energy at the news of their ultimate success. There was a swell of pride, a strange emotion from the symbiote, at knowing its master had been the one to end the battle so spectacularly. Through the link, Blackout had soothed the scorpion with promises of a full recovery with the power of the Cube. Scorponok could feel the rush the Black Hawk had gotten from holding the artifact, if even only for a few moments. It was fairly brimming with glee as the west coast finally came into sight.
Blackout still could not wrap his processors around how things had completely fallen apart after that flight. In his absence, something had happened. As soon as he was over dry land, he came under fire from none other than Barricade. The police cruiser had been lurking in the warehouses by the docks, and Blackout had to give him credit for catching him off guard. Once Blackout landed, Barricade was on him again, quickly thrown back by one swipe from the Black Hawk. The hunter did not relent, advancing again as Blackout struggled to determine why he was being attacked by his comrade.
Paranoia and pride conjectured that the Mustang was jealous, and that he wanted the glory that Blackout had brought himself. It was insane: Barricade could not hope to overpower the Black Hawk, who flung him away into a nearby warehouse without flinching. Blackout was vaguely aware of the humans in the area, all scrambling in fear and terror of what was happening. He ignored them in favor of preparing for Barricade's next attack, claws going straight for his chest. Blackout deflected his crazed strikes, annoyed and growing increasingly angry at the erratic behavior. The interceptor came back at him with his flail swinging, forcing the Black Hawk back before he lost an appendage.
He didn't want to kill Barricade without knowing what was making him do this, but the interceptors attacks made that hard to do. Trying to buy them both time, Blackout backed out onto the docks, rear rotors spinning to try and keep the mustang at bay. He calculated how to incapacitate the other 'Con, when Scorponok suddenly dumped a frantic message on him. Frenzy had uploaded a file to the other drone, a nearly untraceable transmission that likely saved their lives. The hacker gave the scorpion an entire update, which it wasted no time in relaying to Blackout instantly: Megatron is dead Megatron is dead Starscream killed Megatron Starscream has the Allspark Starscream killed Bonecrusher Starscream ordered Barricade to kill us Barricade doesn't want to kill us Barricade must attack to fool Starscream We have to Escape We have to Escape Escape!
Blackout had very little time to digest the news his symbiote had just dumped on him, faltering somewhat over what he had just learned. He had even less time to consider his actions, as Barricade advanced on him after pausing for far longer than was necessary. The helo swung his arm, rotor blades narrowly missing the Mustang as he lunged. Blackout made his swing far too wide, exposing himself in what would have been a fatal error. Barricade was on him in an instant, hydraulic claws crushing his armor as they collided. The force of the attack sent them both toppling off the dock, Blackout wrapping his arms around the smaller Con to trap him. The cold water was a shock, but he held tight, ignoring the throbbing pain in his chassis from Barricade's hands.
Neither of them let go until they hit the bottom, a plume of sand rising around them as fish scattered out of the way. Barricade released his claws, retreating from the Black Hawk as he managed to push himself upright. They both looked up toward the surface, knowing their small fight was over, but they had another long fight ahead of them. Starscream may or may not be satisfied that they had killed each other. Whatever his plans were, the F-22 would eventually send someone to retrieve or locate their bodies. Blackout ejected Scorponok, who thrashed pitifully in the salt water until it adjusted properly, sending it out ahead to plot their path. It was long, grueling walk along the shoreline, but they had no other choice. They had to disappear to escape Starscream, and, quite possibly, Brawl. Barricade had no idea what had happened to the tank.
After several miles, Scorponok led them up the edge of the dropoff, satisfied it had discovered a safe point of exit for them. They emerged in a relatively secluded area, covered by trees, but a busy roadway could be heard not too far from them. Splitting up had been their only option. There was no place for a Black Hawk on the interstate, and Blackout simply did not have the capacity to carry anything heavier than a medium sized drone like Scorponok. They agreed on a rendezvous point, and parted ways. Blackout did his best not to stew over what, exactly, had just happened. It didn't help that Scorponok was sending the most miserable emotions over their link. The drone was still in bad shape, the salt water stinging its injuries and resolve crushed by overwhelming disappointment.
The Black Hawk showered water down on everything he flew over until he was dry, frequently changing directions in case he was being tailed. It was ludicrous, he knew, trying so hard to evade an enemy he wasn't positive existed. Starscream had gone from an annoyance to a credible threat, and the fates of the other two warriors were worrisome. Blackout began tracking southeast for awhile, watching the roadways below and making wide circles around any military establishments. If any other Decepticons were going to come after them, they would likely stick to where they wouldn't stand out. Moments before he was to change direction again, he picked up a faint, barely detectable Decepticon distress signal.
Two things came to mind: Barricade had gotten himself into trouble, or one of the others was setting a trap. The fact that it might be a genuine distress call ranked low in the list of possibilities, but he followed it nonetheless. It was nowhere near their agreed upon rendezvous point, but that didn't mean Barricade wasn't shaking up his trail as well. Blackout followed the signal to its source, made easier when it was flagged by a plume of black smoke. There, he found Bonecrusher, not in much better shape than he'd been when Prime had gotten through with him. It was remarkable, if not miraculous, that the Constructicon was alive. How long he would remain alive was up for debate.
The Buffalo mine sweeper had not taken to Starscream's coup, and he had paid the price for it dearly. Blackout found it morbidly hilarious that after months of inactivity, Bonecrusher had managed to get himself killed twice in one day. Well, he wasn't gone yet, but the prognosis was not looking good. Starscream had clearly aimed for his spark, the blasted, charred metal twisted nearly beyond recognition. The spark chamber itself was exposed, the brilliant blue light flickering as often as it pulsed. He was still conscious when Blackout landed, and had managed to choke out a few key details. After that, he had fallen into stasis lock, possibly permanently.
During his flight inland, paranoia had borne the idea that Barricade had lied to him, and he'd fallen into another terrible trap. Any moment Megatron himself would come streaking out of the sky and shoot him down for his misguided insubordination. He had not questioned Barricade simply because Scorponok had delivered the information, which had come straight from Frenzy. The simplicity and reliability of the drones made lies too easy to detect. Scorponok would have known, if not because Frenzy was a terrible liar to begin with, but it would have sensed the rouse. But Bonecrusher confirmed what had happened with what he said, as well as confirming that Starscream and Brawl had already left the planet.
Blackout should have known Starscream would have a ship waiting on Mars, which made their situation much more dangerous. With the Allspark in his grasp, none of them would dare defy him. If they were discovered to be alive, they would be hunted down by their own faction members. He was not surprised to learn that Brawl had gone along with it. After all, he was likely far too eager to reunite with whoever was left of the other Combaticons. Bonecrusher might have felt the same sentiment, but the Constructicons were well known for their loyalty to Megatron. It was possible Starscream had attacked Bonecrusher first, just as he'd sent Barricade to destroy the Black Hawk without first petitioning to him. Either way, the Constructicons would have very little warning as to what was coming their way.
He felt little sympathy for them, as he was more concerned with losing possible allies against the F-22 Raptor. Keeping Bonecrusher alive would be no easy task, but he had extinguished the fire from his chassis and dragged him to the nearest shelter. There was no telling how abandoned this area truly was, seeing as the humans might have fled after what had happened here. It was impossible to move the Buffalo anywhere else, and Blackout was already going to be late arriving to the agreed rendezvous point to meet Barricade. Radio silence was of the utmost important, and he had killed Bonecrusher's beacon as quickly as he was able. He had no means to repair him now, and this was one of many matters that needed to be discussed with the Mustang.
Blackout left Scorponok behind to guard the mine sweeper, parting with the injured drone reluctantly. It could no doubt care for itself, and it would ward off anything that came near Bonecrusher, but he still hated to leave it again. Not bothering with shaking up his trail, Blackout flew directly to the coordinates. It was in the middle of nowhere, and he had to circle several times before finding a spot to land. Barricade informed him of his tardiness, but was silenced when Blackout told him about Bonecrusher, and what he had said.
Their options were painfully limited. With global communications out, and no contact from their own forces, they were blind as to what was going on around them. They decided Frenzy was to purge the virus from the humans systems, thus realigning satellites and bringing networks back on line. That would give them access to a great deal more information than they had, as they could easily hack the networks and glean what they needed. The fate of the Autobots was vital to know, as well as what the humans would mobilize to defend themselves. When their communications network was reestablished, the human military would lurch into high gear to get things moving again.
Until they had what they needed, it was a matter of lying low and surviving. Bonecrusher would have to be moved, which would be no small feat. After much deliberation, the pair split up again. Barricade would drop off Frenzy at the nearest terminal he could hack, and proceed to look for a more permanent shelter for them. In the meantime, Blackout would fly back to Bonecrusher, and tend to the Buffalo as best he could. Neither of them was a skilled medic, and knew only the basics of field repairs. Barricade would have an easier time pinpointing a hideout, and Scorponok could still serve as a lookout.
That had been three days ago. Things hadn't improved much from there.