Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers: Robots in Disguise or any of the characters from said series. This is purely a work of fan-fiction, and I do not seek to profit from it. The events depicted in this story are mine, and mine alone, and exist only to entertain.

Link Up Me Hearties, Yo Ho!
A Transformers: Robots in Disguise story by Razorsaw

Spaceport CSSB-16. A tiny station in an out-of-the-way corner of the Milky Way Galaxy. It boasted little armaments, its local security garrison was all but nonexistent, and it was known far and wide for only one thing: being a haven for all of scum and n'er-do-wells that skulked about the spaceways. Not offensive enough to attract the attention of the "noble" Autobots, and beneath the notice of the universe's energy-hungry Predacon conquerors.

Well, it was normally beneath their notice. Today, one of the servants of the notorious Megatron had ventured to CSSB-16 on one of the Megastar's shuttlecrafts, having come here while his master was distracted by his schemes. Luckily, the station was an energon crystal's throw away from Earth's sector, and he could easily return before Megatron noticed his absence.

Sky-Byte hoped he would be able to, anyway.

The Predacon felt uncomfortable here. He was a proud, Predacon warrior! Destined to conquer worlds in the Predacons' name! This station was a hive for lowlives! Pickpockets! Thieves! Insurance salepersons! If anyone in the Predacon Alliance saw him here, his career would be ruined! Why, the scandal might even compromise Megatron! The Allspark knew his position with the council was tenuous enough... the Earth mission was already critical enough...!

But Sky-Byte couldn't dwell on potential disgrace. He had to be here. The shark had no other choice. Not when those loathsome Decepticons were-

"SKY-BYTE! YOU OLD SALT! IT'S BEEN AN AGE!"

Sky-Byte frowned, his fins drooping. He'd been waiting to meet his contact in a corner of CCSB's seediest bar, and of course, they'd chosen to announce it to the world that they'd seen him. For a moment, all eyes (and a myriad of other sensory organs) were on the shark, as a large-sized fellow Predacon, his armor white, green, and gold, stomped towards him. Sky-Byte could barely keep his displeasure subdued as the other Cybertronian reached him, clapping him on the back as he laughed uproariously.

"Halfshell..." Sky-Byte said uncomfortably, struggling to stand as a large hand smacked against his back. "It's good to see you as well. Been too long... far too long... not long enough..."

Not quite hearing the last part, "Halfshell" let out another laugh before pulling Sky-Byte to sit down with him at a nearby table. "It's been how many stellar cycles? Bah! I lost count!" he said. "Bah, it was when we served under General Shockaract, t'weren't it?"

"Ah yes," Sky-Byte replied, chuckling. "Those long past halcyon days. I remember them well. It was where I first learned to swim, as it were."

"Ha!" Halfshell bellowed. "Cuz yer a shark!"

"... Yes," Sky-Byte replied, his tone quite deadpan. But then he coughed, clearing his audio system, before continuing. "But I'm afraid I didn't come to meet you to reminisce, Halfshell. I need you for a job..."

Halfshell raised a brow, before nodding. "Aye, ye said that in your transmission," he said. "And not much else. You know m'done with the Alliance, right? I've got me own crew now, and we aren't keen on working fer Megatron. We seek our own profit and glory, you know!"

Sky-Byte waved it off. "Oh no! No no no! It's nothing like that, I assure you!" he said, suddenly looking nervous. "This... this has nothing to do with what Lord Megatron wants."

Halfshell crossed his arms. "Oh really now. I'm listening..."

Sky-Byte grimaced, looking side to side nervously, before leaning in, and speaking quietly. "Megatron has some new soldiers," he said, his voice low. "We created them from some dormant Autobot space pods. They're... Decepticons."

Halfshell's optics widened. "'Decepticons?' With... vehicle modes?"

"I know, it's obscene!" Sky-Byte replied, forgetting that he'd been reluctant to take on another Predacon when Movor's pod had nearly scanned an eagle rather than another vehicle. "But... sadly, they're doing quite well..."

Halfshell tilted his head to the side. "Ooookay," he said. "What's the problem with that?"

Sky-Byte grit his teeth. There... was really no other way to put it, he realized. It was humiliating, but he had to fess up. "Well, you see-" he began.

"Ah, they be showing you up, I take it?"

Sky-Byte's expression became one of surprise. "How did you know?"

Halfshell let out a short laugh. "Sky-Byte, no offense, but y've always been the insecure type," he said. "When we served under Shockaract, y'were always convinced Cataclysm was running to take your position."

"But he did!" Sky-Byte protested. "He got promoted and I was busted down to waste disposal!"

"Not my point," Halfshell replied. "It's always been your weak point. Besides, I also saw the likes of what y'went to Earth with. Those three brothers, Slapper, Gas Skunk, and Nightscream right? They aren't exactly the sharpest hooks in the rigging, if you catch my drift."

"No, no, you're right about that," Sky-Byte said with a sigh. "And his name is Darkscream, by the way."

"Right, Darkstream," Halfshell replied, shrugging. "But either way, I can imagine what it must be like. But what makes these Decepticons such a threat to you, Sky-Byte? I don't see why having wheels instead of feet would give someone such an advantage."

"It's not just that," Sky-Byte replied, holding the side of his head. "There's one called Scourge, he didn't just scan a vehicle. He scanned Optimus Prime! It's like having to work with the same kind of person you're fighting! He's not only as evil as Megatron, but he's just as powerful as Optimus, and that's without having a trailer he can use to make himself taller!"

"Optimus Prime?!" Halfshell replied, sounding surprised. "Okay, I see what you mean. But that's still just one bot! What about the others?"

Sky-Byte scowled, rubbing his temples, pushing his shark-fin helmet up slightly. "They're combiners."

Halfshell grew silent for a moment, staring at Sky-Byte with a pointed glare. When he finally spoke again, he did so more quietly, speaking short and sharply. "Oh. I see why you wanted to talk to me, then."

Sky-Byte nodded quickly. "Yes, quite! You and your team... you could all be more than a match for them! Why, you could even-"

"We wouldn't be doing anything," Halfshell interrupted. "These Decepticons be showing up you and yours. I don't see what our being there would even prove for yeh, Sky-Byte!"

"You wouldn't!" Sky-Byte pleaded. "This isn't about making me look better, it's about making Scourge and his cronies look worse! It would show Megatron they're not perfect! That they're actually fallible!"

"Wouldn't siccing the Autobots on them do the job just as well?" Halfshell replied, beginning to look annoyed. "I mean, from what I heard it sounds like they be showing Megatron his own aft every other weekend."

"It's not the same!" Sky-Byte cried, standing up and clapping his hands against the table. "This would be a group of Predacons defeating them! It'd show Megatron that the gulf between Decepticons and Predacons isn't nearly as wide as he thinks! If you could do it, perhaps he'd see the value in having me around as well!"

Though he was surprised at Sky-Byte's outburst, Halfshell continued to glare. "You want me to put my team in danger," he said, "all for the sake of your insecurities. I'm sorry Byte, I can't-"

"I saved your life!"

Halfshell blinked his optics. "What now?"

"Back when we served under Shockaract!" he said. "During the battle of Tyger Pax, towards the end of the Great War! We were battling the Elite Guard, and Storm Jet nearly took your head off! At the end of the battle, you told me! If I ever needed your help, all I had to do was ask!"

Halfshell balked. "Ye... ye can't be serious!" he protested. "That was millions of years ago, Bitey! I didn't even remember it happened until you brought it up!"

"Well I did!" Sky-Byte replied. "I've remembered it all this time! A promise made between friends, on the eve of our kind's most resounding defeat! To think, after all this time, after the sacrifice I made for you, you'd try to welsh on your promise!"

Halfshell growled. "Hey now, I-!"

"What would your crew say, if they found out their captain were doing such a thing?!"

"You say that like my crew respects me to begin with," Halfshell replied, his tone deadpan.

"What would the galaxy say?" Sky-Byte amended, "if they knew the great Captain Halfshell, was a coward who broke his promises!"

Now that... that got to Halfshell. He sat there for a moment, letting the shark's words sink in. The words had a ring of truth to them... Halfshell wasn't just a criminal, he was a pirate, and that came with a particular code of honor. If word got out that he was going back on a promise, the reputation he'd worked so hard to build up would be torpedoed like so many cargo barges.

Halfshell sighed, and visibly deflated, sinking back into his chair. "I really don't have a choice, do I? Fine then, you cartilaginous cretin! I'll do it!"

Sky-Byte's face lit up, and he let out a cheer. "Oh, thank you, Halfshell! I won't forget this!"

Halfshell could only glare. "Ye'd better not. Ye'd definitely better not."

Three weeks after Sky-Byte's venture into deep space, his leader, Megatron, would be found hovering in bat mode over the battlefield playing host to both his forces and Optimus Prime's Autobots. This time, they'd chosen to attack a institution in Europe investigating tidal energy sources. Cackling, the Predacon leader began to taunt the Autobot leader.

"Muwahaha! Foolish Autobots! Once the Predacons and Decepticons plunder the Marine Energy Research Centre for its secrets, there will be no stopping us from harnessing the energy of the Earth's oceans themselves!"

"We'll never allow that, Megatron!" Optimus fired back. "The Autobots will never allow you to exploit the Earth's natural resources!"

"Oh come on!" bellowed Slapper, who had already taken cover from the Autobots' laser fire. "The tides are already there! We're being eco friendly!"

The Predacon frog's word went unheeded as the battle raged on around him. Both groups stood on opposite sides, with Megatron's forces nearest the building and the Autobots trying to break through. With Optimus stood the Autobot Brothers, Prowl, Sideburn, and X-Brawn, along with fellow Autobots Tow-Line and Skids-Z. On Megatron's side there was the Predacon leader himself, the quartet of Sky-Byte, Slapper, Darkscream, and Gas Skunk, and the Decepticons Scourge and Mega-Octane and his Commandos.

Pleased with how the battle was commencing, Megatron turned to Sky-Byte, his bat mode muzzle curling into a fangy grin. "I must commend you on discovering our newest target, Sky-Byte," he said, honestly sounding impressed. "I'm surprised, however. We'd never managed to pull any knowledge of this place from Doctor Onishi's memories before."

"Yes, well," Sky-Byte, who was in his shark mode. "The good doctor can't be involved in every single scientific endeavor on this puny planet, can he? That's why I take it upon myself to scout potential targets like this one!"

His words were bald-faced lie, however, and Sky-Byte knew it. The reason for an ocean-side battle had been someone else's idea.

Before either Predacon could say anything, Scourge strode between them, brandishing his sword and double-barreled blaster. "Lord Megatron! Allow the Decepticons and I to defeat these foolish Autobots!" he cried. "Send Sky-Byte and his minions to collect the data we need... it's what they're best at, after all."

"Mmm, yes," Megatron replied. "I'll hang back in the meanwhile... Now go! Both of you! Quickly! Before the Autobots summon reinforcements! I'd rather them not use those contemptible combiners of theirs to even the odds...!"

Sky-Byte couldn't help but glare, but nodded, dutifully. "Come Slapper, Darkscream, Gas Skunk!" he said, motioning for the Predacons to follow him into the building. Before they entered, however, he looked over his shoulder at the Decepticons, five of whom were in the middle of forming their own Combiner, Ruination.

You'll get yours, Scourge, the shark mused to himself. It won't be long now...

Closer to the battle, Ruination finished combining, with the fliers Ro-Tor and Movor becoming the legs, and the land-bound warriors Rollbar and Armorhide connecting to Mega-Octane's shoulders as the arms. "Ruination... AWAKENS!" he bellowed, as he bore down on the Autobot leader.

Seeing himself cornered, Optimu's optics flashed as he began to summon his trailer, intent on evening the odds with his super mode. But before he could do anything, he was struck from behind by a spray of laser fire that seemed to come from nowhere. With a cry of pain, Optimus dropped to one knee, smoke pouring from where he'd been struck.

"Optimus!" X-Brawn cried as he ran to his leader's side. Scourge and Ruination both froze, however – neither of them had launched the attack.

"What... what hit him?!" Prowl demanded, looking about frantically.

"I saw it!" Tow-Line replied, pointing at the coastline. "It came from the water!"

As if on cue, a wall of water suddenly erupted from the surf, from which appeared five figures that could only be described as sea monsters. The largest one was white and green, with a dome on his back that made him resemble an earth tortoise. The smaller ones resembled a squid, a manta ray, a shark, and some kind of fish, though most of them appeared to have arms and legs in places where their alternate modes shouldn't.

"Predacons?!" Skid-Z cried, clearly surprised. "When did Megatron get new troops!?"

Optimus meanwhile stared on in a mixture of shock and pain. "No..." he groaned. "It can't be...!"

Before anyone could get a word in edgewise, the five new arrivals began to transform. "Seacons, terrorize!" shouted the turtle-like one, assuming the largest form between them. "Yar har har, I be Halfshell! The greatest pirate captain this side of the Benzuli Expanse!"

"Scylla, terrorize!" said the squid, blowing a kiss as she assumed her robot mode. "I'm here to make your acquaintance! Aren't you all just so lucky?"

"Coelagon, terrorize!" cried the fish-like one, only to grunt in pain as he assumed his robot mode, nearly doubling over as he held his back. "Ugh... I'm here to show you youngsters a thing or two...!"

"Sea Phantom, terrorize!" screamed the shark, laughing as his feet touched down on the sand. "Ha ha! Looks like Autobots are on the menu!"

"Terrormander... what-ever," said the manta ray, sounding utterly bored. He added no extra taunt as he fell in line along with his apparent comrades.

"Oh great," Side Burn scoffed. "Who ordered the seafood special?!"

Sighing at his brother's terrible joke, Prowl looked over at his injured leader. "You know these guys, Optimus?" Prowl asked, having noted that Prime seemed to recognize them.

"It's as the one called Halfshell said," Optimus replied, pushing himself to his feet. "They're pirates, part of a group called the Seacons. They're scoundrels who sail the spaceways, plundering everything they come across. They used to be part of the Predacon Alliance, until Halfshell broke away and took his crew with them..."

"Seacons, eh?" said X-Brawn, who was still supporting Optimus. "I've heard of them... could'a sworn there was supposed to be six of them."

"Who cares!" interrupted Side Burn. "What are they doing here?!"

"That's something I'd like to know!" Scourge growled, striding forward. The black mirror of Optimus clearly wasn't happy that their battle had been interrupted by these interlopers. Pointing his sword at Halfshell, he demanded: "Seacons! I demand to know what you're doing here!"

"You speak out of turn, Scourge!" Megatron shrieked, swooping down over them still in his bat mode. "Halfshell! I demand to know what you're doing here! This world's treasures have already been claimed!"

"Hmph," Coelagon grunted, trying in vain to straighten up. "These brash new young conquerors... coming to new planets, acting like they own the place. Nothing like the old warlords. Now Mega Zarak, there was a real barbarian..."

Ignoring his senior member's prattling, Halfshell strode forward, a confident swagger in his step. "Well met, Megatron!" he cried. "Well met indeed! The Seacons and I have no desire to be steppin' on your pointy metal toes! This world's treasures are yours to be plunderin'!"

"Oh really?" replied Megatron raising a brow. Then, in a pleased sounding tone, he continued, "I take it then, that you've come here to serve me?"

"What?" Sea Phantom said, dumbly. "We have a new boss now? I thought we were here cuz Halfshell's old friend put him up-"

Interrupting her teammate with a quick punch to the back of his head, Scylla continued, laughing nervously. "No, no, nothing like that! We're here pursuing romance! The romance of battle!"

Then, spying Side Burn, her lips curled into a grin. "Though some of us wouldn't mind the other kind..." she said, causing the young Autobot to make the strangest, most confused-looking expression.

"'Romance of battle'?" Ruination repeated. "That doesn't make any sense!"

"Have you come here to fight the Autobots?" asked Scourge, feeling threatened.

"Not quite," answered Halfshell, setting his gaze on the black-colored tanker. "My my, me boyo... it's true what they said. You be the spittin image of Optimus Prime himself!"

"Aside from the missile launchers," said Sea Phantom, rubbing the back of his head. "And the totally different helmet. And he and Optimus both look like they transform into totally different things too..."

Scourge looked about ready to pop a diode. "Enough of this foolishness!" he practically screamed. "If you didn't come here to fight the Autobots, then who did you come to fight?!"

The Seacons all shared a knowing look, those that could grinning to each other, before setting their gaze forward. Before Scourge could really respond, Halfshell converted back into his beast mode, two cannons swinging out from his shell and training themselves on the Decepticon commander. Scourge's eyes widened, just before the pirate cried out, "Depth Torpedo!"

Scourge had no time to react before the torpedoes hit, both of them striking him square in the chest. He tumbled back, Ruination having to bend over to catch him from falling flat on his back.

"You... you waterlogged menace...!" Scourge hissed. Clearly in great pain "How dare you! Lord Megatron, these pirates have all but declared war on us!"

"Hmm..." Megatron replied, converting to robot mode and setting his gaze back on Halfshell. "Halfshell, explain yourself! Immediately!"

"What's to explain, oh great and mighty Megatron?" Halfshell said, as he drew his sword, which resembled a trident somewhat. "We came here cuz we heard about these new Decepticons of yours, and we simply wanted to see if these new land-lubbers of yours were up to snuff! Ain't been a 'Con with wheels makin trouble in a long, long time you know! We thought we'd test their mettle"

"The way we see it, we're doing you a favor!" Sea Phantom added, looking like though he was practically jittery at the idea of fighting them.

"You can't be serious!" Ruination protested. "We're in the middle of a battle here!"

"Lord Megatron!" cried Scourge, seeing that the Predacon seemed to be considering the pirates' words. "Surely you can'tbe taking these scoundrels seriously! What about the Energy Centre?!"

Megatron sneered. For a moment, he'd been ready to send the waterlogged miscreants packing, but he didn't quite like the gutless display Scourge was giving him either. "Why Scourge," he began, "If you can't deal with unexpected challenges like, what kind of commander are you?!"

"What." Scourge replied flatly.

"What!?" Ruination echoed, with more disbelief evident in his voice.

"Halfshell! You and your Seacons may test my Decepticons however you see fit!" Megatron declared, punctuating his words with a laugh.

With a cheer, the Seacons all strode forward, drawing their weapons and training them on the shocked and appalled Decepticons. Further away, the Autobots simply watched, unable to make much sense of what was transpiring before them.

"They've completely forgotten we're here, haven't they?" said Tow-Line.

"Apparently," said Optimus, who seemed to be standing rather well now. "I suppose while they're distracted, we might as well stop Sky-Byte and the others from plundering the Centre's data..."

"'Plundering'?" asked Side Burn, with a grin. "Did you say that on purpose?"

Optimus blinked his optics, before letting out a heavy sigh.

"What can I say? It's infectious."

Within minutes, the battle between the Decepticons and the Seacons escalated, with Scourge and Ruination fighting back just as fiercely against their attackers. Megatron hovered above them, cackling like a demented gargoyle as the battle dragged out into the shallows of the shore, both sides ankle deep in water as they unloaded their weapons on each other. This proved advantageous for the Seacons, what with them being adapted for amphibious warfare, while Scourge and Ruination's heavier, clumsier bodies had tended to sink into the soft sand.

"This is embarrassing!" Ruination bellowed. "I can't even get close to them before pummeling them!"

"They've tricked us into fighting on their terms," Scourge growled angrily. "No more! Ruination, switch to your flight oriented configuration!"

Ruination nodded. Doing that would allow him to attack the Seacons from the air, instead of slowly wading through the shallows. In moments, his body began to reconfigure itself, both sets of his limbs pulling off the torso in order to switch...

… when suddenly, he was rocked by a two-pronged assault. With a cry of "Sonic Pulse!" Terrormander let loose waves that threw Armorhide and Rollbar away from Ruination's core. Meanwhile, the moment Ro-Tor and Movor disengaged, they were tackled by Coelagon and Sea Phantom in Beast Mode. Both they and Mega-Octane tumbled back into the surf, the latter jarred from torso configuration by the sudden impact.

"Ugh, that was dirty!" Rollbar cried out, as Sea Phantom bit down on his shoulder. "Get off me, you overgrown guppy!"

"I don't even know what the one fighting me is!" Armorhide grunted, as Coelagon's claws tore at his armor.

"I'm a coelacanth!" the elderly Predacon retorted.

"Gesundheit!"

Behind them, Movor and Ro-Tor were already helping Mega-Octane to his feet. "I hate these guys," the Commando leader snarled. "I thought Sky-Byte jockeying for Megatron's favor was annoying enough, but now we have five aquarium rejects trying to get one over on us."

"Sky-Byte..." said Scourge, narrowing his eyes at the fishbot's mention. Between that, the pirates' sudden appearance, and what the dumb-sounding "Sea Phantom" had said before his teammate struck him, the whole situation stunk. He wouldn't have been surprised if that coward Sky-Byte weren't the reason why Halfshell and his crew were here to begin with.

"Yar har har!" Halfshell cackled from a distance away. "You know, I had my doubts about this whole thing, but this is already provin' to be a riot! You gas guzzlers don't know a thing about real combat!"

"They don't even know how to protect themselves during combination!" Scylla giggled. "They're complete and total amateurs!"

"Yeah, well what do a bunch of waterlogged fishbait like y'all know about that?!" Rollbar fired back, tossing Sea Phantom away with a throw. The sharkbot crashed into the surf just as Armorhide used his cannon to blast Coelagon off of him.

At Rollbar's comment, the standing Seacons... simply grinned at one another (Halfshell's couldn't be seen behind his faceplate, but the way his eyes looked, it was easy enough to tell). Coelagon picked himself up with a groan, turned to his comrades, and seeing their expressions, came to a realization.

"Oh, so we're doing that, then?" said the elder bot. "Can I not be a leg this time? My spinal strut's been killing me..."

The optics of all the combiners, as well as Scourge, widened at what Coelagon said. But before they could really react, Halfshell let out a cry of "Link Up, me hearties! Yo Ho!" With that, the gang of pirates immediately began to fly into formation, lifting out of the water as they flew together. The smaller Seacons did as the Commandos themselves had before, shifting into the form of various limbs, while Halfshell formed the torso. The Seacon captain's shield then attached as a chest-plate, with his sword being wielded in the combiner's hand. Their combination complete, the white and green titan crashed back into the surf, sending out a wave of water to bowl the Commandos over.

"AHAHAHAHAHA!" the combiner roared, his laughter booming out around them in a distorted version of Halfshell's voice. "Tremble and quake, ye scurvy dogs! Y'all be facing God Neptune now!"

"This isn't fair!" Ro-tor whined as he struggled to remain on his feet. "They shut down our combination and pull out one of their own?!"

"Then combine again!" Mega-Octane roared. Without waiting for his troops to acknowledge his order, the Commando leader jumped into the air, converting into torso mode. The others moved in a moment later, with Rollbar and Armorhide managing to attach as legs before their leader could land back down. Movor flew up and managed to successfully attach to the shoulder, with Ro-tor close behind him...

… only for God Neptune to grab the helicopter out of the air, and toss him violently to the ground. The helicopter-bot let out a cry of pain as he lay there, momentarily stunned, leaving Ruination on four fifths of the way formed.

"You lot don't know how to work as a group, do yeh?!" God Neptune cried as he charged Ruination, swinging his sword at the other Combiner's chest.

"I don't need two arms to deal with you!" Ruination cried, as he dodged the strike. Then, to prove it, he hunched down, powering up the cannons on his back. "Double Demolit- ARGH!"

He never got a chance to fire, because God Neptune took advantage of his stance to slam the hilt of his sword into the back of Ruination's head. The other Combiner crashed face first into the water, with God Neptune standing over him.

"You bilge rats are a disappointment," God Neptune hissed. "A crew is only as good as its captain, and a captain is only as good as his crew. You can combine, but you can't even work together! I'm glad we were convinced to come to this planet, if only to show a bunch of landlubbers like you what a real team is like! Now, any last words...?"

Ruination could only groan.

"I guess not, then," said God Neptune, punctuating his statement with a laugh. Then, he raised his sword, preparing to swing it downward, when-

"BARRAGE ATTACK!"

God Neptune let out a cry as his blade was, quite literally, blasted out of his hands, flying several feet away and landing in the dirt. The Seacon combiner didn't have a moment to properly react before Scourge came at him, brandishing his Sword of Fury as he leaped up, and swung it down against God Neptune's left shoulder. The impact of the blade caused sparks to fly and for Coelagon to be knocked out of position as God Neptune's arm.

"And I wanted to be an arm today," the elder robot groaned, not even bothering to switch out of arm mode.

"What were you saying about a crew only being as good as it's captain?!" Scourge bellowed, kicking off of the Seacons' shoulder. The combiner stumbled back, as Scourge landed next to Ruination. "The Commandos may be a force of their own, but I lead the Decepticons!" the black mirror of Optimus continued. "And together we will conquer any enemy that dares challenge us!"

"Scourge..." Ruination groaned.

"Hmph," his commander grunted. "I believe the playing field has been leveled, yes?"

God Neptune growled as Ruination nodded, and got back to his feet. "Get your skidplate back up here, Coelagon!" the Seacon combiner commanded, and Coelagon was about to oblige, when suddenly, Ro-tor tackled him, keeping him from reattaching.

With that, the Combiners resumed battle, with each of them missing an arm and lacking the means to wield their weapons. Ruination led by punching God Neptune across the face, only for the Seacon to follow up with a kick to the Decepticons' shin (which so happened to be Armorhide). The Decepticon let out a grunt of pain, but remained standing, moving to grab God Neptune by his head. The Seacon's hand came up, grabbing Ruination's arm, holding it at bay.

Hovering up above the battle, Megatron continued to observe, cackling to himself as the fight devolved into fisticuffs. "This has gotten quite interesting...!" he said to himself.

"Ye think ye can best us in a man-to-man fight?!" God Neptune snarled. "We're pirates! We know how to fight dirty!"

"So... do we...!" Ruination retorted, stomping forward with the leg formed partially from Armorhide. God Neptune's eyes widened in realization, looking down just in time to see the tank's cannon, mounted on Ruination's knee, aimed directly up at him.

"Oh, sea salt..."

The cannon fired, striking God Neptune right in the torso, just underneath his chestplate. The cannon's shell exploded, blasting both combiners back and knocking them out of their combined forms, though Halfshell took the majority of the damage. While the Seacons immediately switched back to robot mode (with Coelagon punching Ro-tor away from him so he could join them) so they could run to him, Scourge merely stood there with his arms crossed as the Commandos tried to pick themselves up.

"Halfshell, are you okay?!" Scylla cried, with fear in her eyes as they helped him up. Halfshell's armor was cracked, and his shield sporting a sizable burn mark.

"I'll... I'll live," Halfshell groaned. "'I can... I can still fight! We can still win..."

"No," Coelagon growled. "A captain's only as good as his crew, remember?"

"And a crew's only as good as their captain," Terromander continued, managing not to sound apathetic for once.

Halfshell gave his crew a pained look, before nodding. He then turned to Scourge, narrowing his optics at the Decepticon commander. "This isn't over, ya landlubber," he hissed, before he allowed his underlings into the water, where they moved out to sea and disappeared.

Scourge simply let out a satisfied "Hmph," at the Predacon's threat, before turning back to his men, who weren't exactly in the best shape themselves.

"Next time, I expect more from you lot," was all he managed to say. The Commandos could only sigh, hanging their heads in resignation.

At that, Megatron finally dropped down from the air, landing at the edge of the beach. "Excellent work, Scourge," he said. "Once again you've proven yourself to be my superior lieutenant. I have to admit, however, that could have been handled more efficiently..."

"Lord Megatron," Scourge replied, getting right down to business by bowing down on one knee. "These pirates... from the comments they made, I'm certain they came here on someone's request. I am certain this was Sky-Byte's doing, with him seeking to undermine me through humiliation."

"Yes, I figured that. I'm quite impressed with him."

Scourge's optic twitched. "What."

"I'd begun to believe Sky-Byte had gone spineless since your induction into our ranks," Megatron answered. "A Predacon cannot be content to let others do things for them, or to continue to exist in someone else's shadow. Sky-Byte may not have the means to challenge you directly, but he certainly helped take a measure of your abilities today."

"WHAT?" Scourge repeated, unable to believe what he was hearing.

"Oh calm down," Megatron replied, beginning to turn around. "There's more to being an intergalactic despot than conquering things, Scourge. Now come on, Sky-Byte has most certainly secured our quarry, and I really must reward him for coming up with this scheme of his!"

Upon turning, however, Megatron was greeted by the sight of Sky-Byte and the trio being tossed in front of him, the three of them wrapped up together in Tow-Line's cable. The Autobots stood a distance away, dusting their hands off as more Autobots emerged from the global space bridge behind them.

"Lord Megatron..." Sky-Byte whined.

Megatron sighed.

"Nevermind."

Author's Notes: Hey everyone, I hope you enjoyed this work as much as I did writing it. The person who requested it set the premise, based broadly on the Combiner Wars line in Transformers. I love the 2001 RID series, so I welcomed the chance to work on it.

For those of you not aware, the Seacons in this story are actually from a different Transformers anime called "Beast Wars II". I took some small liberties with them for this, "localizing" them a bit, along with re-imagining them for the RID universe. They were a lot of fun in the end! There's a lot of nods to other TF stuff in this as well.

This is a repost of another story I posted at AO3.