Integration
Integration
Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers. I am only borrowing it.
Bold Cybertronian
Italics Radio Transmission
Barricade groaned and transformed out of his alternate mode. He didn't care if the squishies saw him. He was in a concrete drainage ditch on the side of the highway where he had been run off the road by Optimus Prime. Every external panel was dented and wet. In short, Barricade was pissed.
Barricade consoled his infuriated mind with the fact that Lord Megatron would be raising a new army right about now, so Barricade started scanning for sparks to find out where he could participate in the carnage. Barricade found a few scattered sparks in Mission City, but all had Autobot or Neutral readings. The only Decepticon within sensor range was down the road about five miles and very weak.
"What the pit is going on!?" Barricade screamed out in Cybertronian. He stomped up the embankment of the drainage ditch, back onto the highway and transformed back into his police interceptor alternate form. It took only a few minutes of weaving through traffic to find the headless body of Bonecrusher beneath the basket weave of the interstate interchange. He transformed and leapt down to the body.
"WHO'S THERE! I'LL RIP YOU APART!!" Bonecrusher transmitted across the comm. spectrum.
"So, you're still alive," Barricade replied. "What happened?"
"I got beheaded by Prime," Bonecrusher sounded embarrassed.
"Want your head back?"
"Yes. But I'll find it myself. I don't need your help!"
"Fine. Have it your way." Barricade transformed back into his alt mode and rolled away from Bonecrusher. The headless Decepticon began crawling around on his hands and knees, pawing in the dirt for his head. Barricade found the spectacle amusing for about ten minutes, but then tired of watching Bonecrusher miss his head by mere centimeters every time. "Took to long. Now sit still," Barricade announced after transforming again, picking up Bonecrusher's head, and knocking the headless body back on its aft.
"What are you doing!?" The irate Constructicon demanded.
"We're exposed and you're in no shape to do anything but get slagged. I'm doing a field repair to at least keep your head physically attached so your autorepair can get to work. Got a problem with that?"
"I could have found it myself," Bonecrusher pouted.
"Uh huh," Barricade sarcastically agreed while welding the structural supports of Bonecrusher's neck back together. "There. Now let's get the pit out of here. I'll lead." Bonecrusher muttered something about haughty minicons taking over, but made no move to contest the decision as both Decepticons transformed and sped away from the scene of battle just ahead of the US Army salvage team sent to collect their corpses.
Starscream transformed and touched down on the moon. He was glad Megatron was dead, but the intrusion of the humans into the private war between Decepticons and Autobots offended him. The United States of America would pay for interfering with the affairs of the Cybertronian race. As Starscream's first act of vengeance, he ripped out the flag planted by the astronauts of Apollo 11 and shredded it. Then he used the remains of the Lunar Excursion Module's landing stage as a chair.
Now comfortably seated, Starscream pondered how best to enact his revenge. Earth was filled with factions. So many factions existed, in fact, that it made the Decepticon - Autobot conflict look simple. 'Nations' that were supposedly allied had been enemies in the past. For instance, in Europe, Germany was allied with France and the Netherlands, nations that it had crushed and conquered 60 years before, any eyeblink to a Cybertronian. Starscream had little doubt that the humans' shifting loyalties could be played to his advantage. Perhaps he could get some of the squishies to actively assist him, as the Americans did for the Autobots at Mission City.
Starscream needed more information before he could fully enact his plan. He leapt off the lunar surface and flew to a nearby television broadcast satellite. Jacking into the primitive communication relay was child's play, but deciphering the data flow was difficult. Most of the channels that flowed through the satellite were useless drivel, although Starscream did stop briefly to examine a humorous cartoon called 'Pinky and the Brain'. Finally, Starscream found the 24 hour news networks. Ah, the buffet of strife and hatred to be exploited! Now he just needed to find a country suitably powerful and suspicious of the United States to manipulate. The choice was obvious.
Starscream disconnected from the satellite and transformed into his F-22 alternate mode before diving back into the atmosphere undetected. Approaching the target country was so easy; so much unmonitored airspace. The Decepticon landed in a sparsely populated farming region after transforming just above the ground. He hacked into the power and telephone lines to resupply with energy before sending a call to assemble across the internet and the heavens.