The Birth of Sky Lynx
The year is 1991, and the events of Scramble City: Mobilization precede this story.
GULF COAST
Metroplex's toss carried the very damaged Trypticon out to sea. The giant completed his follow through, when he felt a jerk in his hip. He reached down and realized that his transformation cog had been dislodged at the very least. He would be able to get only a single transformation accomplished before his cog ceased working altogether. He shifted into his mobile platform mode. At least he could still move.
Trypticon was in much worse shape. Thundercracker circled his floating form for a while and then it disappeared into the waves. The Stunticons and Combaticons broke off in retreat. Megatron watched from afar. He had committed everything to reviving Trypticon. He had sacrificed his base in order for Trypticon to have a new body to match the remains from the Nemesis, which had contained his mind. Now the Autobots had Metroplex, and he had nothing. Earth was more or less lost to him.
"What is your command, Megatron?" asked Soundwave.
"We will leave this place for a time. We will regroup with Shockwave on Cybertron and use our interspace connections to acquire more energy," answered Megatron.
"So the mighty Megatron will turn tail and run?" chirped Starscream.
"I am not in a mood to be trifled with, Starscream. Contact the others, and have them meet us at the space bridge," answered Megatron. Within an hour, there were no Decepticons on Earth for the first time in 4 million years. Unless one counted the mass that was Trypticon, resting in the sea bed.
Optimus Prime and the other Autobots moved to inspect Metroplex. "Ultra Magnus, do you know what is wrong with him?" he asked.
"Hard to say, Prime, without going inside him," responded Ultra Magnus.
"I'll do it, Prime," volunteered First Aid of the Protectobots.
"I'll go with him," offered Streetwise.
"Very well. Aerialbots! I want you to scout the Decepticons' usual hiding spots. Magnus, the Protectobots, and I will take care of Metroplex," answered Optimus Prime.
Silverbolt saluted and the Autobot jets zoomed in different directions. First Aid and Streetwise found a panel to enter Metroplex and the two robots began looking around for the problem. Metroplex called to them from a display screen, "Missing cog. Transformation is difficult if not impossible if not found," said Metroplex.
"Where was it connected in here?" asked First Aid.
"Closer to fortress treads, in the middle," answered Metroplex.
Streetwise and First Aid continued down the long hallway area of Metroplex. After a view twists and turns, the duo found the area that Metroplex described. First Aid motioned to Streetwise, "It might be anywhere in this area. Keep your eyes open."
"My eyes are never anything but open, and wait for it, there it is," answered Streetwise, kneeling down over an object that looked to be the shattered cog.
First Aid knelt down to examine it closer. "This is not good. This is not good at all. This thing is completely wasted."
"So, we'll buy him a new one," answered Streetwise.
"It's not that easy, Streetwise. Metroplex is ancient and the technology behind his cog is ancient as well. There is no one alive who could manipulate this thing. It would take years of study to repair," answered First Aid.
"Well, get busy schoolboy. It's not like Trypticon is going anywhere," responded Streetwise.
First Aid found the nearest monitor. He used it to contact Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus outside the fortress. "Optimus, We have found the problem. Metroplex's cog is no more. It is a mere broken set of gears and other tech. I have no idea if it can be fixed or how," said First Aid.
"Perhaps Wheeljack or Perceptor will have an answer. What is Metroplex's condition?" asked Optimus.
"I am capable of movement, but cannot become a robot," answered Metroplex.
"That is not good, but we can at least get Metroplex to his new location," interjected Ultra Magnus.
"Perhaps, but he would be easier to fix in city mode," answered Optimus.
"City mode is possible, but would need assistance to transform. Many cranks and such," answered Metroplex.
"Optimus, Streetwise and I can put Metroplex into city mode at his proper destination," added First Aid.
"Very well, you and the Protectobots will take Metroplex to Tennessee as planned. Ultra Magnus and I will return to the base and send you Perceptor and Wheeljack. Ultra Magnus, we much to discuss," answered Optimus Prime. The two trucks transformed and moved toward the Autobot base. On the other hand, the Protectobots and Metroplex moved north toward Chattanooga and the final stop for Metroplex. The Aerialbots found the usual Decepticon hiding places abandoned. Earth was free. No one amongst the Aerialbots or the Autobots knew how they would use this victory.
AUTOBOT BASE
Optimus walked with Ultra Magnus at his side. He was thinking about a great many things. With the Decepticons off of Earth, it was possible to use his plans for Autobot City to gather energy to aid in the reconquest of Cybertron. The question was where to begin. The Earth was too far away to make a reasonable staging area. The resistance cells would be too difficult to contact and would make poor starting places anyway. His Metroplex gamble had paid off, partially.
The communications room was abuzz with activity. Perceptor and Blaster were clearly trying to determine what had happened to Trypticon, so much so that they had missed a message coming in from space.
"Blaster, can you get that incoming message, please?" asked Optimus Prime.
"No two ways about it, chief," answered Blaster. He ejected Rewind to continue his tracking while he honed in on the faint signal. There was no visual.
"Hello, hello, anybody? This is Kup on the old mining station near Cybertron…" said a faint voice.
"This is Earth, old cat. What is shaking?" asked Blaster.
"The Decepticons have returned to Cybertron en masse. I mean all of them," answered Kup.
"Are you all right, Kup?" asked Ultra Magnus.
"Oh, I'm fine. I'm hanging out in an old mine on this pathetic hunk of junk that we call a moon with Skyfire and Arcee. Everything's dandy," responded Kup.
Pathetic hunk of junk that we call a moon. Optimus thought on those words for two seconds. Cybertron's moons could serve as the launch point he needed. He would have to grab them while Megatron was still disoriented from his defeat earlier, because if he knew Megatron…
"Kup. Stay where you are and keep the communications open. We're coming for you. Friends, I believe the key to victory is now in the act of seizing the inner two moons of Cybertron. I will take a strike force on Omega Supreme to land on the second moon. I will take anyone who is not necessary for the completion of Autobot City on Earth. Ultra Magnus, I will leave you in command here with Wheeljack, Perceptor, and Grapple in order to complete our preparations," said Optimus.
"Can you give me some more muscle than that? Metroplex is uncertain, and I don't think the engineers and I can hold off a Decepticon attack," answered Ultra Magnus.
"I will also leave you the Protectobots and maybe a couple of others as I think about it. Sorry, old friend. My mind is racing right now," said Optimus.
"I know what you mean, Prime. If I had just my old guerrilla Wrecker team from Cybertron, I would be satisfied," answered Ultra Magnus.
"That can be arranged later. I am off to Cybertron's moons," said Optimus Prime.
"I wasn't serious…" but Ultra Magnus's voice tailed off behind Optimus. The leader was too far into his mind stream to be pulled back now. Ultra Magnus turned to Blaster. "Get me Grapple and Wheeljack."
In the background, the rumble of Omega Supreme's engines could be heard and the base got much quieter. Wheeljack and Grapple reported to their new boss, Ultra Magnus.
"Men, Optimus Prime is leading an assault force against the moons of Cybertron. He wants to build working bases there, but until those are complete we will be his supply line. We need a fleet of shuttles constructed as quickly as possible. Grapple, take Hoist and anyone else you need and get on that. Wheeljack, try to find us a more temporary solution. I will be here in case Kup reports anything else. Move," ordered Ultra Magnus.
"Yes sir" responded the two mechanically inclined Autobots. Wheeljack walked off, deep in thought. How would he do that. He passed by Spike, the helpful human.
"Hey, Wheeljack, what's on your mind?" asked Spike.
"Spike, when the humans go to space, how do they do it?" asked Wheeljack.
"That's easy. On the space shuttle. Here, let me show you," answered Spike. Spike uploaded video feed from an old launch. The video showed the spacecraft lifting off under the power of the solid rockets and then separating. The orbiter then continued on when the video feed cut off.
"Solid rocket fuel, not terribly controllable. Yet I would not need that part. The orbiter though I could do something with. I could build my own Astrotrain. How do they get from place to place on the ground?" asked Wheeljack.
"With this," said Spike. He played a video of a crawler taking the shuttle assembly to the launchpad. It was not moving very fast.
"Nice idea, but too bulky for what I have in mind. I hope Grapple doesn't mind sharing materials, because this is going to be a doozy," said Wheeljack. Wheeljack spent the next few hours finalizing his plans. He was able to adapt Autobot technology to preexisting shuttle blueprints. He also redesigned the crawler, taking away its treads and replacing them with wheels. He also shrunk the crawler in size relative to the orbiter component. He was pleased with the result. Now he had to build the thing.
CYBERTRON's 2nd Moon
Omega Supreme landed and let out the assault force. Cliffjumper came out first, followed by Jazz and Sideswipe. They were followed by Ironhide and then Optimus Prime. Prime gave immediate orders to fortify the metallic moon and the team got to work with Omega Supreme and the Aerialbots on patrol. Their presence was not ignored by the Decepticons on the planet below.
"Megatron, the Autobots are fortifying Moon 2," noted Shockwave from his observatory.
"Optimus must be trying to follow up his success on Earth. We cannot let him use that moon to feed aid and energy to the rebels here on Cybertron. Shockwave, I want you to clear out all known rebel strongholds from the planet. I want no surprises," ordered Megatron.
"As you command, lord Megatron," answered Shockwave.
CYBERTRON's 1st Moon
Arcee kept her deployable visor down and scanned the area around the entrance to the tunnels that led to Elita One's base. It tested the range of the device, since she was on the first Cybertronian moon and she was trying to observe Cybertron itself. She hoped to catch a glimpse of Springer or Hot Rod. She still did not know if they had been successful in their weeks old mission.
Instead of either of those two heroic Autobots, she saw instead the Stunticon combiner Menasor moving ominously, like he knew where he was going. With him was ground support including Blitzwing and Sunstorm. Menasor began to bash into the wall, and make holes into which drones of Decepticons charged. Arcee winced, but before she warned Kup, she twisted her view to another resistance cell site. This one was commanded by the generalist Pipes, a relatively fresh face in the long Cybertronian war.
Arcee did not even have to squint to find the base. There were Bruticus and Starscream moving in on it. She had seen enough. Megatron was wiping Cybertron clean of Autobot resistors. No doubt Devastator was elsewhere finding another cell to destroy. Arcee could remain silent no longer, "Kup, Megatron is attacking our friends. They're going to destroy two cells that I can see, and one of them is Elita's."
"Well, we're up here and they're down there. I hate it as much as you do," answered Kup.
"I'll go. They won't expect me. Which cell should I go to?" asked Skyfire, not thrilled by this development, but accepting it all the same.
"Go to Elita. Bring our friends back," responded Arcee, concerned.
"You don't think we're letting him go alone, do you?" asked Kup.
"Oh, no. Of course not," answered Arcee.
"Then mount up. You think you got the juice?" asked Kup.
"I have what we need," answered Skyfire, still resigned and now thinking of a good plan of attack. He transformed into his ship mode. Kup and Arcee got on board and Skyfire took off. He directed his flight directly toward a hole opened by Menasor opened far below. He planned to speed past the Stunticon giant and then eject his passengers to get down to where Elita One and her forces might be. It was going to tight and commando style, not something the deliberate scientist Skyfire was used to, but well suited to Wreckers like Kup and Arcee.
CYBERTRON- ACCESS TUNNELS TO ELITA's BASE
Shockwave reported in to Megatron, "We have been making good progress down here thanks to Menasor. Our intelligence on the new location of Elita One was accurate. Our drones are moving on ahead, down these tunnels…"
Sunstorm looked over his shoulder. "What is that?" he asked. He pointed to the air. A white form rushed past and then flipped over, dumping two somethings out before transforming into robot form. It was Skyfire. He began firing his rifle to keep the Decepticons away as he backed down the tunnel. Arcee joined with him in his withdrawal, but she did not see how they were going to deal with Menasor.
"Please tell me this was not the entire plan," muttered Kup.
"Menasor! Destroy the Autobots!" ordered Shockwave.
"I…" started Skyfire. He stopped when Arcee jumped out from behind him and shot into the tunnel roof. The area was already unstable because of Menasor's bashing and the top gave way. The Decepticons were cut off. Of course there was no getting out that way.
"Quick thinking," commented Kup.
"Yes, let's hurry. Those drones are probably still ahead of us," responded Skyfire. As they got closer to the base itself, they could hear fire and action still going on. It made Arcee want to rush, but Skyfire and Kup held her back. They made it into the entry way of the base and started to see the results of the drone attack. There were a couple of drones in the first room, along with a body of an Autobot. Arcee hid her face.
Kup knelt down and looked at the fallen Autobot. He knew her and was certain that Ironhide would no doubt be upset. "It's not one of our boys," said Kup, calmly but glumly. They moved on into the next chamber.
It was much the same story, but the shooting was louder. Two more bodies that were not Springer or Blurr. As they came to the next door, they could hear voices asking for orders. Skyfire motioned the other two back. He was going to use his size to flank the drones in the room. He pulled his rifle forward and then lurched into the room.
On one side there was an Autobot holding his ground behind a computer station. Across from him near the exit of the room was another Autobot moving so fast the drones could not hit him even though he appeared to be standing still. Skyfire then stood still and shot down the five drones in the room.
"Don't shoot! Friendlies!" yelled Kup from behind the doorway.
"Why would I want to shoot for? Huh huh? All I have been doing is shooting shooting shooting and then you come here and tell me to don't shoot? Of course I'm not going to shoot…" answered Blurr.
"Can it, Blurr. It's okay, Kup. We were expecting more Cons. Not complaining, mind you," replied Springer.
"Is that you, Springer?" asked Arcee.
"I'm the only green guy here," responded Springer. "I suppose you will tell me what is going on back there. We thought Menasor would be here by now."
"Arcee took out the ceiling. We have been trying to find you and evacuate you. Who else is with you?" asked Skyfire.
"Rod is guarding the next line of defense with Moon Racer and Elita. I don't suppose you saw any of our other hosts…" started Springer, but he saw Kup shake his head. "That's too bad. Elita would be the only one to know if there's a backdoor to this place."
"Then let's find her," said Skyfire. The five of them passed through the next door way only to be challenged by a commanding female voice.
"Stop right there. That's right, you, the big one. You're not taking my friends anywhere," the voice ordered.
"Elita, he's with us," answered Springer.
"And by my reckoning, he probably will be taking us somewhere by the end of this," added Kup.
"Kup, you always did know how to treat a lady," answered Elita One, emerging from her position with Moon Racer in tow.
"Ma'am, the Elite Guard taught me two things, shooting and shooting again. Women were not in the database," answered Kup.
"Where's Hot Rod?" asked Arcee.
"He's watching the back exit," answered Elita. "What was your plan?"
"We were going to find you and extract you and try to return to the first Cybertronian moon. Is the exit you speak of secret?" asked Skyfire.
"Should be. Of course I thought the whole base was secret," exclaimed Elita.
"We'll just have to take that chance," answered Skyfire. The Autobots moved through the rest of the base, picking up useful items as they could. They found Hot Rod and then Skyfire transformed in the tunnel. They loaded him up and then he started his engines. He had to hope that none of the seekers were watching. Once he escaped into orbit, they could not chase him down. Of course he thought this without remembering Astrotrain or Blast Off. He shot a big hole out the back hatch and then took off through the debris. So far so good.
"Reflector, track his trajectory," ordered Megatron back at the Kaon tower. Reflector nodded and proceeded to follow the flight path.
"Megatron, why not just send Astrotrain after them?" asked Reflector.
"Because that would likely attract the attention of the Autobots on the second moon. I want them divided as long as possible," answered Megatron. "Contact Soundwave, get me a report on the second assault group. Then update me on the other assault formations. Contact Shockwave and get his units here. I have a job for them, now."
"As you command, Megatron," answered Reflector. "The Autobot is heading for the first moon, returning to his origin point."
"Excellent," muttered Megatron.
EARTH- THOUSAND OAKS, CA and the ENVIRONS (happening concurrently)
Wheeljack had established his workspace, although Ultra Magnus had been skeptical when he had learned that Wheeljack would be working so far away from Metroplex. With him, Wheeljack had shanghaied Perceptor in coming along. Perceptor brought a large tool kit including a case that Wheeljack had carried secretly in the Autobot base. Perceptor was also concerned about their other companions, Grimlock, Slag, Sludge, Swoop, and Snarl. They were behaving and in their robot modes, but Perceptor did not trust Dinobots. Labor was scarce though, and for some reason the Dinobots were willing to work with Wheeljack on this project.
"Wheeljack, why are we here?" asked Perceptor, as Wheeljack put his tools down and it appeared that they were about to work.
"This is Stonewell International Headquarters. They built the original shuttles and are working on one right now. If anyone knows the ins and outs of this stuff, it would be those guys," answered Wheeljack.
"Yes, but their limited cognitive skills would only be suited to a project of their approximate size. How are we supposed to extrapolate upon their construct given such inappropriate algorithims?" asked Perceptor.
"Well, I have never built a shuttle before. Even if it is ten times larger than anything they've built, at least they have built one. Besides, I figured that you would want to handle the orbiter yourself. I have something in mind for the crawlers that I asked for," said Wheeljack.
"If you say so," said Perceptor. "Just remember the Dinobots are not likely to listen to me."
"Sure they will. They've been told the faster we finish, the sooner they can go fight Decepticons," answered Wheeljack. With that, Wheeljack got to work on mating the two crawlers and turning their internals in unusable passenger space. With Sludge and Snarl to hammer and Slag to weld, the process went fairly well. Wheeljack also threw in a couple of personal touches, but before long it took shape. A new coat of blue paint was applied. Red was added near the wheel joints.
Perceptor was having a harder time with the orbiter, largely because Stonewell did not have any components sized to his needs. That meant getting Grimlock to adjust the available materials with fire and force. Swoop also had to hold pieces as they were connected together. When the elements got too large for Swoop to hold, the work slowed down again. Perceptor noted that Wheeljack's plan had made several substitutions, notably Cybertronian alloys instead of silicon based tiles. Perceptor was thankful, for he heard that each tile had to be placed individually on the orbiter. Once Wheeljack joined in the construction, the work went faster. Finally they were done, and the seven Autobots observed their handiwork. The orbiter was mated to the new crawler deck horizontally. Inside the orbiter was enough electronics to control the crawler remotely if they were separated.
"We're only missing one thing," said Wheeljack. "A spark."
"You want to make this thing live?" asked Perceptor. "What's wrong with it being a transport vehicle?"
"If you noted the schematic, I never planned simply to build a transport craft, but a transport Autobot," said Wheeljack.
"I had thought some of these designs were superfluous, but where will get you get a spark?" asked Perceptor.
"We have one left from the Ark from crewmates who were damaged and would not have otherwise survived. Five became Dinobots, and we discovered that their sparks were also slightly damaged, resulting in the Dinobots' personality issues," said Wheeljack.
"Me Grimlock not damaged, me king," interjected Grimlock.
"The next five became the Protectobots with similar effects, although better handled. Hot Spot is indistinguishable from a normal Autobot. However First Aid is a pacifist, Groove is a hippie, Blades is super violent, and Streetwise is blacksploitative. Defensor balances that all out and works pretty well. That means there is one spark left and I am going to give it this shuttle," said Wheeljack.
"Hehe, Groove is a hippie!" laughed Swoop.
"Sludge laugh too, if Sludge knew what a hippie was," added Sludge.
"Wheeljack, if this spark is also damaged, won't that result in personality complications too?" asked Perceptor.
"Probably, but our last Autobot comrade deserves a chance and I'm giving it to him," answered Wheeljack. He installed the final spark into the spark chamber setup in the orbiter section.
CYBERTRON- TUNNELS LEADING TO THE OLD PERCEPTOR CELL
Soundwave had had enough of Starscream. Despite the presence of the Seeker commander and his once creation Bruticus, there had been little to no progress made in wiping out whatever Autobots inhabited the old Perceptor cell headquarters. There had been many speeches and directives and drones running in wrong directions. Bruticus was blasting holes in no particular logical order.
Soundwave calmly released his cassettes "Rumble, Frenzy, Buzzsaw, Slugfest eject. Operation: Infiltration." If Starscream was not going to try to root out the Autobots, then Soundwave would smoke them out. The four cassettes began slipping through the rubble, looking for an access point. Buzzsaw found one and the three others followed.
Further down the tunnel, Frenzy noticed something that looked like a door, "Heh Rumble, that's the ticket."
Rumble proceeded to turn his arms into piledrivers in order to shake the door down. The effects were not ignored by the Autobots behind the door.
"What are we going to do, man?" asked a white Autobot.
"I don't know, Tailgate. I was trained as a technician, not a guerrilla. It was always someone else who came up with the ideas," answered a dark blue Autobot.
"Who needs ideas anyway. I've found most problems can be solved with cake. Does anybody have any cake?" asked a third Autobot.
"Swerve, that cake joke gets them every time," said a pale yellow Autobot. "But seriously, we need a plan."
"I've got a plan for ya, Hubcap," answered a fifth Autobot.
"What's that, Outback?" asked Hubcap. The door behind them collapsed and Buzzsaw appeared in the doorway.
"Run!" yelled Outback as Buzzsaw's first blast lit up the dark chamber. The Autobots avoided it, and ran out into the next rooms of the chamber. They looked around to see if everyone had made it.
"Is everybody here, mates?" asked Outback.
"I think so," answered Swerve. "Of course if we had cake this would never have happened."
"Wait, the count is off," added Pipes. "Someone's not here."
"It's Tailgate, Pipes. He must have wandered through the wrong chamber," answered Hubcap.
"Fool's going to get us all killed," muttered Pipes.
"Keep moving, I'll get Tailgate," said Hubcap, with an authority not usually associated with the small bot.
"You sure, mate? You could always use some backup," replied Outback with a twinge of concern in his voice.
"No. We have to get as many of us out of here as we can. I'll be fine, Outback," answered Hubcap.
"We'll save some cake for you," added Swerve.
"You do that," answered Hubcap, who then disappeared into an adjacent room. The remaining three Autobots looked at each other for a moment. Pipes shrugged his shoulders and then they headed for the underground emergency exit.
Hubcap pulled out his gun and fastened down a face shield, hiding his mouth. He could see a white trembling object out of the corner of his eye. It was Tailgate. Hubcap pulled the Autobot to him and found him almost paralyzed in fear. He supported Tailgate back into the main room and lowered him to the ground. "The others are down that way, let's go…" but his reassurance was broken by the entry of Frenzy and Rumble. Frenzy fired two shots and Hubcap again had a decision to make. He turned to Tailgate.
"Tailgate, get your aft section out of here, now!" ordered Hubcap.
Tailgate looked at him for a moment and then fled down the passage. Hubcap took dead aim and flattened Frenzy with a charged shot. Rumble rushed him, but Hubcap flung the Decepticon against the wall. Slugfest emerged and try to shot him with missiles, but Hubcap dove into a corner and on the turnaround nailed Slugfest's optics, blinding the small dinosaur. Hubcap looked away for a moment, trying to assess the situation when then tiny vibrations of wings could be heard.
He turned his head and then all went dark. Buzzsaw nailed him with a single shot and he collapsed. The other cassettes checked on their wounds as a much larger pair of robots entered. It was Soundwave and Starscream.
"Soundwave, collect your troops and bring the prisoner to Kaon," ordered Starscream.
"Autobots still active, recommend pursuit," answered Soundwave.
"That's what I'm here for," replied Starscream. Soundwave only nodded. He gathered up Hubcap and the three tapes returned to his compartment. Buzzsaw landed on his shoulder, where he could prevent any danger on the way to Kaon.
CYBERTRON'S 1st Moon
Skyfire landed and his passengers exited back near that mine again. As the gang got their bearings, different bots had different ideas of what to do next. Elita wanted to contact Optimus to coordinate with him right away. Arcee chatted up Springer. Kup started to reminisce with Skyfire and Moon Racer. Hot Rod felt a little out of place and walked away from the mine. He lowered his blue targeting shield and zoomed in on the action on the planet. Sure enough, Megs was still at it. Bruticus was advancing, but Hot Rod could see some other action going on near to Bruticus that the giant seemed to be ignoring.
He could see Starscream shooting at something. Yet there should have been nothing there to shoot. Moving his gaze a little he detected the glint of chrome reflecting in the lights of the planet. Starscream was chasing something all right! It must be another cell of Autobots. Hot Rod boiled. If Starscream got any sort of help, then those bots were doomed in the open. Hot Rod walked back to the group and brushed Kup aside from Skyfire.
"There are more Autobots down there. We have to help them," Hot Rod's voice had a firmness that could not simply be ignored.
"That's a negative. Optimus is trying to seize these moons. Observe the second moon if you would, because there is a large task force on it. One moon is not going to be enough. Optimus may not know it, but we hold the other moon he needs. I will not abandon this moon. We must contact Optimus and reinforce this place until he arrives with more troops," answered Elita One.
"There are bots in trouble down there," stammered Hot Rod, realizing he had little hope of getting Elita to go along.
"Sorry, kid. Sometimes the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few," answered Kup, still not thrilled that the turbo-revved young punk had knocked him out of the way.
"Perhaps we can try to do both. I can fly down and try to pick up those Autobots while the rest of you make camp up here," offered Skyfire.
"You're a good bot, Skyfire, and I'd hate to lose you on a throwaway mission like this," answered Elita One.
"I think we both know that Optimus would approve of just such a throwaway mission," responded Skyfire.
"Let me go with him," demanded Hot Rod.
"Very well. You two will go the planet. The rest of us will begin to fortify this moon. Now go, before I change my mind," ordered Elita.
Skyfire transformed. Hot Rod climbed in. Skyfire was ready to make yet another short-sighted diving attack into a situation with no clear end point. The scientist in him hated himself for it. He also began to wonder if he had enough fuel to pull all this off. He decided not to think about it and instead try to imagine Starscream in his sights, as he no doubt would be soon.
CYBERTRON- THE ROAD TO IACON
Starscream pursued the four fleeing Autobots, keeping them under fire the whole way. He would defeat them all with no assistance, despite Soundwave's advice. The stupid fools, there was no escape. As Starscream contemplated his upcoming victory, he took a shot across his bow, forcing him from the sky and causing him to transform to orient himself. Who dared?
Skyfire passed overhead and then landed right in front of Outback. Hot Rod motioned for them to get in. Pipes and the others hesitated for a moment, but then they climbed in. Skyfire took off again, with Starscream in hot pursuit. Skyfire doubted he could avoid his old friend forever, and as he had feared his fuel was running low.
Hot Rod noticed the gauge and exited Skyfire, climbing on the ship's back. He crouched down and aimed his rifle carefully. Starscream had not noticed him during his excitement of preparing to shoot down Skyfire. Hot Rod knew he might only get one chance and so he aimed for one of the engines. He pulled the trigger and bam! He had hit something. He raised his head to find Starscream tumbling out of control back toward the planet. Skyfire took the cue and went full blast to the first moon. He had no more power for another trip.
Elita One greeted the cell members and then immediately put them to work getting the first moon's mine to become a temporary fort. There was now plenty of labor to be found with Elita, Moon Racer, Arcee, Kup, Springer, Hot Rod, Blurr, Pipes, Outback, Tailgate, Swerve, and Skyfire.
CYBERTRON- KAON TOWER
Megatron was furious to discover that not one but two Autobot resistance cells had survived. Elsewhere his efforts had been successful and there were now more Autobots to throw in Kaon dungeon, or the Cybertonium mines, or to execute as examples. Megatron also knew what Optimus was doing on that second moon and was determined to stop him.
"Stunticons, Shockwave, Sunstorm, and Astrotrain, we cannot let the Autobots cling to Cybertron's moons. If that happens, then they are just a small step from invading Cybertron itself. I will send every Decepticon that we can toward that second moon. And we will triumph!" exclaimed Megatron.
"The 2nd moon?" asked Motormaster, confused.
"Yes, you will see quite soon. Shockwave, gather Starscream's unit and the Constructicons and any other Decepticons that you can find and prepare to board Astrotrain. Seriously, Shockwave, you couldn't build me ONE interplanetary ship during four million years of waiting!" roared Megatron. Megatron, Shockwave, and Astrotrain moved outside to organize Decepticons.
"Pardon me, boss. But didn't he just say the 2nd moon?" asked Dead End. "Isn't that where basically ALL of the Autobots are?"
"Yeah, I still think he meant the 1st moon, which is the easier target. But there will be action, so I wouldn't complain too much," answered Motormaster.
"That's okay, I'll break them down," added Breakdown.
"And ride them wild," added Wildrider.
"Like at a drag strip, only not really," answered Drag Strip. The other Stunticons stared at Drag Strip. "I'm sorry, I didn't have anything else."
"No cake for you," answered Motormaster.
CYBERTRON's 2nd Moon
"Prime, every time I look at Cybertron, I want to hit something. When are we going bust those chops on those Decepticons?" asked Ironhide.
"Save it, Ironhide. We still need to build this moon base, secure the other moon, build a base there, and even then we won't have enough energon cubes to launch a full scale assault. So one thing at a time," answered Optimus Prime. Prime was pleased that Ironhide was full of fight, but he was concerned for the safety of the other moon. There was no way to contact them or know exactly who was there except Skyfire.
"Optimus, the Decepticons are gathering near Kaon. Looks like Astrotrain is going to make a trip," interjected Cliffjumper, running over from his quickly constructed lookout post (one telescope).
"Then there is really only one place they could be headed, the other moon. Contact Ultra Magnus on Earth. Tell him to send whatever he has to send. Brawn, go to Omega Supreme and find out if he has any energy to get to the other moon," ordered Optimus Prime.
Brawn and Cliffjumper ran to their assignments. Bumblebee took over the lookout post. He tracked the launch of Astrotrain and found that the Decepticon was getting bigger in his scope. Much bigger. Before he could jump to conclusions, Jazz tapped Optimus and pointed at the approaching shuttle.
"Hate to burst your bubble, chief, but they're visiting OUR neighborhood," exclaimed Jazz.
Astrotrain began spilling Decepticons, including the Combaticons, Constructicons, Stunticons, Insecticons, Soundwave, Shockwave, Sunstorm, Thundercracker, Skywarp, Blitzwing, Octane, Dirge, Thrust, Ramjet, and of course Megatron.
"That's practically their whole bloody fleet!" complained Prowl.
"Bumblebee, cancel Omega Supreme's orders. I think we'll need him here. Aerialbots! Form Superion. Autobots, hold your ground!" ordered Optimus Prime. Bumblebee took off as Superion formed just behind the Autobot fieldworks. Optimus wondered what Megatron could be trying, because Optimus knew how many Autobots he had committed to this gamble. There was Jazz, Prowl, Ironhide, Brawn, Cliffjumper, Bumblebee, Smokescreen, Tracks, Inferno, Sunstreaker, Omega Supreme, the Aerialbots, Ratchet, Seaspray, Bluestreak, Mirage, Trailbreaker, Skids, Beachcomber, and himself. The defenses that they had been building were still rudimentary and would add much to their firepower. Optimus transformed into his truck mode and then pulled away from his trailer. There the turret could add to the defense and Roller could be equipped with a gun to help too. Optimus transformed one more time back to robot mode, having made all the preparations he could. He noted that next time he would leave Magnus with less help.
The fighting was intense with many shots being traded back and forth. Devastator formed and so did Bruticus to take on their opposite numbers in the Autobot side. The Seekers strafed freely as a result, pinning down the Autobot forces. Optimus looked around him and found no losses as of yet. He noted Megatron had transformed into a gun and was being wielded by Soundwave. Something was not right. He looked next to him and found a crouching Seaspray, using the trailer as cover while trying to shoot at Soundwave.
"Seaspray, do you see the Stunticons?" asked Optimus.
"No, can't say that I do. I would have thought they would become Menasor by now," answered Seaspray.
"I know, and that worries me. Something is not right here," responded Optimus. As he watched Megatron transformed back into a robot and nodded at Soundwave.
"Ravage, Ratbat, Laserbeak, Overkill, eject. Operation: Reinforcement," said Soundwave. The flurry of activity distracted Optimus and Ironhide to his right. Seaspray pointed at an object in the sky. It was Astrotrain. Optimus knew the game now; the Stunticons must be on board and had only one place to go.
CYBERTRON's 1st Moon
Astrotrain avoided the fire from the surface and landed on the 1st moon. He unloaded the Insecticons, Shockwave, Blitzwing, Octane, and the Stunticons. With Astrotrain now transformed, there stood ten Decepticon veterans to face five Wreckers, four rookies, two tough broads, and a grounded Skyfire.
Pipes thought that this would not be so bad. The sides looked even, but then he witnessed Shockwave wave his hand at Motormaster and the Stunticon commander nod. Then Pipes saw something he had never personally seen, the creation of a Decepticon combiner.
"They can do that?" asked Tailgate.
"I reckon so, mate," responded Outback.
"He just needs some cake," answered Swerve. "I'll oblige." He threw a small object that impacted off Menasor's chest before exploding. The smoke created by object covered the giant in smoke.
"Yellow cake," said Swerve. The smoke cleared and Menasor was unaffected, again shocking the rookies.
"Idiots," muttered Springer. Menasor came on. Springer signaled to Blurr. He hoped the two of them could distract the big guy. The Insecticons were soon among them and took down the rookies. Pipes tried to use liquids to ward them off, but that failed. Bombshell planted Outback into the metallic surface of the moon. The others followed Kup into the mine shaft itself. Shockwave was frustrated despite four captives. He stopped any pursuit and turned the triple-changers against Blurr and Springer, who had actually kept Menasor busy.
Blurr moved with such speed, but he never saw Blitzwing's tank form ram him. His last view was of Menasor before Blitzwing then ran him over. Springer saw it happen from the side. He could see Astrotrain and Octane trying to grab him from the sides.
"Not today," Springer drew his sword and plunged it into Octane as Octane missed him. He still took a full blow from Astrotrain. Springer looked up at the heavens from his position on the ground. "I'm still here." A kick from Kickback ended the illusion.
Shockwave now had to decide what to do about the mine. He brought over Menasor, "We will make their last protection their tomb." Menasor raised his rifle and fired a blast not down the tunnel, but further back over the entrance. For the occupants there was a shifting of the motes of metal dust. Hot Rod and Kup rushed up back to the entrance. A second blast from Menasor matched with Blitzwing's tank shot collapsed the mine for good catching all the occupants under metal and metallic sand. The forms of Hot Rod and Kup, hunkered over, half buried, could be seen. Skyfire's arm could be made out, as could Moon Racer's sniper rifle.
"Shockwave to Soundwave. Have secured the 1st moon. Soundwave…" tried Shockwave.
"What's that?" asked Astrotrain, pointing to a white object approaching.
"I don't know…" added Shockwave.
"Blast Off?" asked a wounded Octane. "No, he's not white."
APPROACHING 1st CYBERTRONIAN MOON
Wheeljack peered outside the door on the underside. He signaled to Grimlock, Slag, Swoop, Sludge, and Snarl. "Dinobots! There's Menasor, go get him!"
"Me Grimlock love big enemy," responded Grimlock. He and the other Dinobots bailed out, transforming in their well known alt modes as they approached the moon. Menasor brought down his sword on Slag's frill, but it glanced aside. Swoop bombed the Stunticon giant, and Grimlock and Sludge blasted their flame breath from opposite sides.
"Well, here goes nothing," said Wheeljack as he now bailed out of the shuttle crawler. He landed near Snarl. "Grimlock! Aim for the joints, the joints!" as he encouraged the Dinobots on.
Shockwave watched the Dinobots land and engage Menasor. He could deal with this. Menasor should be a match for most of those Mesozoic monsters. The added force of Astrotrain, himself, Blitzwing, and the Insecticons dictated a logical victory for the Decepticons. "Those Dinobots have achieved nothing, men. Attack!" ordered Shockwave.
"I beg to differ, friend," said a voice.
"Who said that?" asked Blitzwing. They were approaching the landed form of the Autobot shuttle vehicle.
"I did," answered the voice. The vehicle produced legs and then a neck and head emerged out of the white orbiter. It charged and started shooting at the crowd of Decepticons.
"What is this?" asked Blitzwing again. He had jumped away from the creature once.
"I am Sky Lynx. I am surprised you had not heard of me before, particularly on my birthday," said Sky Lynx, crushing Shrapnel to the moon's surface with a mighty paw. He then shot down Kickback who was about to attempt kicking Sky Lynx's neck.
"Blitzwing, Astrotrain, split up. He can't be in two places at once. Shockwave ran with Astrotrain while Bombshell and Blitzwing moved in another. Sky Lynx was not particularly impressed.
"Oh you silly Decepticons, I can play that game too," said Sky Lynx. His orbiter half became some kind of strange bird creature that began to pursue Astrotrain, while the crawler became the great lynx and began to hunt Blitzwing. Shockwave now was out of answers. The creature had defied all logic.
Wheeljack noted that Menasor was having a hard time dealing with Grimlock, Slag, and Sludge now all firing flames at the same joint. It would just need a bit more to dislodge the leg that was Breakdown. "Snarl, aim that missile carefully and let it rip," urged Wheeljack.
Snarl's shot finally dislodged Breakdown, causing Menasor to fall and then separate. The Stunticons decided not to challenge the Dinobots in their base forms and began to retreat. Shockwave decided it was time to leave. He transformed into a gun and Astrotrain fired him to knock the bird part away temporarily.
"Very good, now get us out of here! Back to Megatron!" ordered Shockwave. Astrotrain landed briefly to collect the Stunticons. Blitzwing and Bombshell carried the other Insecticons on board. Octane limped in. Astrotrain then jetted away as the Lynx was about to pounce on him.
The two components of Sky Lynx stood next to each other for a moment, but then merged back to his ship form. "Follow him, Sky Lynx, the Dinobots and I will hold things here," said Wheeljack. Sky Lynx fired his engines and began to follow Astrotrain. Wheeljack began to treat the survivors. Grimlock and the Dinobots dug out the others including Elita, Moon Racer, and Skyfire.
"Lay them down over by those four. It looks like Springer and Blurr got hit bad," said Wheeljack.
Grimlock and Sludge carried Skyfire first. The ship regained consciousness for a moment. Grimlock merely nodded at him and Skyfire smiled before powering down again. Springer found his head supported by Wheeljack's arm. "Don't tell me this was all a dream," said Springer.
"No, you got beat up," answered Wheeljack.
"And Ultra Magnus saved the energy core at Simfir?" asked Springer.
"No, I haven't been a Wrecker for a long time," answered Wheeljack.
"Good. I was starting to wonder about those four million years of memories," said Springer. "How are the others holding up?"
"Too soon to say, but help's coming," answered Wheeljack.
"Arcee? Kup? Rod?" asked Springer.
"I don't know. I'll do the best I can," said Wheeljack.
CYBERTRON's 2nd Moon
Astrotrain began to panic when he realized Sky Lynx was still following him. He considered jettisoning some weight, but Megatron had noticed his plight and ordered cover fire. Sky Lynx soon found himself under fire from four or five Seekers. That had the side effect of allowing Optimus Prime to rally his ground forces and try to overrun Megatron's remaining forces. Omega Supreme bashed Devastator apart. The dam was about to burst.
Megatron shook his head, "Decepticons, board Astrotrain and withdraw."
Prowl noted the change, "They're leaving!"
Astrotrain took off again with the Seekers on his wings to keep Sky Lynx away. Optimus began to approach his newest soldier. "I don't think we've met," stated Optimus Prime.
"I suppose not. Optimus Prime, I am Sky Lynx. My presence has brought victory to our cause," announced Sky Lynx.
"I think there was probably more to it than that, but never mind. If you are here, what is going at the other moon?" asked Optimus Prime.
"Wheeljack and the Dinobots are in control there, but he will need help with the wounded," answered Sky Lynx.
"Then we better go help him. Ratchet, Brawn, Jazz, Prowl, Ironhide, and Cliffjumper, you're with me. Our new friend is going to take us over to the other moon. The rest of you, take a light break and then we still have a base to build," said Optimus Prime. His select group boarded Sky Lynx who took off for the other moon.
CYBERTRON's 1st Moon
Ratchet went out to Wheeljack. "What's the report, friend?" he asked.
"You'll have to see for yourself, Ratchet," answered Wheeljack. He barely seemed to notice Sky Lynx's return.
Ratchet did cursory evaluations of the troops. "Prime, these bots are too beat up to be treated here. They need real facilities. However the only facilities we have are on Metroplex or in the old base."
Optimus was kneeling with Elita, "I promised Ultra Magnus I'd transfer his unit to him anyway. Those rookies over there could use some Earth seasoning as well. We'll send them back with Wheeljack on our new friend Sky Lynx."
"I'd like to stay here for now, Prime," came the voice of Skyfire, doing better after a little tinkering from Ratchet.
"It will be some time before it will be completely safe here," warned Optimus.
"That's why I want to stay," answered Skyfire.
"I want to stay too, Optimus. It's been too long, and you always leave," said Elita. She and Moon Racer were the luckiest of the group from the mine.
"Somebody has to run the other moon base. You don't think I'll let Bumblebee do it, do you?" smiled Optimus.
Grimlock and Slag loaded Sky Lynx with the stasis bodies of Outback, Pipes, Swerve, Tailgate, Hot Rod, Springer, Blurr, Kup, and Arcee. Wheeljack and Snarl climbed aboard. Sky Lynx closed the door and then took off toward the Earth, in the most magnificent manner that has ever been attempted in spaceflight.
Optimus stood up, leaving Ratchet to tend to Elita One. Jazz and Ironhide flanked him as he stared at Cybertron. He had pushed the advantage. He had won the day, and the way to win the war was open. It would take time of course. The bases would have to be built up to become factories as well as forts. Shuttles would have to carry more than a load of Dinobots. In the end, it would take a little energon, but a lot of luck.