Chapter 2
Cyclonus was flying in jet form over the area flanked by two Sweeps in search for their missing crew.
He was at the correct coordinates.
But he realized quickly that things had by far not gone according to plan.
This mission was merely a small part in a greater campaign. In the weeks since the truce that Galvatron had called out a few years earlier came to an end, the Decepticons had been on the advance.
The shuttle crew they were looking for were sent for the mission to fly a diversionary attack on Metroplex, to keep him occupied while their main forces were active somewhere else.
It didn´t take more than a look for him to see that something had gone seriously wrong.
xxxxxxx
The police officer Tom Maynard was experiencing the most horrifying day of his entire life.
He was a cop in a small town at the West Coast and as such had not expecting something worse than a few speeding crimes, thefts or maybe some cases of housebreaking in his district.
What happened today however was beyond even his wildest imagination.
He had of course heard about the extraterrestrial Transformers who had been fighting their war on earth for over 20 years now.
But he had never thought that something like this could happen.
His home-town didn´t exist anymore.
xxx
The three Decepticons saw before them the burning remains a human settlement.
A large crater was covering part of of what had once been the city, fire had broken out in the neighboring areas, houses had been leveled and the streets were in chaos.
In between the rubble they could make out what were clearly parts of the debris of a space ship, a Decepticon shuttle.
Their ship had crashed right into the middle of a human town.
"Cyclonus", one of the Sweeps addressed him.
"I see it", he said.
xxx
"I assure you Officer Maynard, we are doing everything we can", Ultra Magnus told the human who was standing next to him.
He and the Protectobots had arrived a few minutes ago to give emergency aid to the population, as good as they were able to.
Given the situation that didn´t seem to be much, the city had been turned into a inferno. The first estimation of the casualties was already going into the thousands.
It was a disaster.
After Optimus Prime´s resurrection and the following truce Ultra Magnus had, like many other, secretly hoped that the war was over for good. But he saw how hopeless such a wish was.
The war continued and alone today thousands were dieing and not even in a battle or some campaign, but just in a insane accident.
"How is Metroplex taking it?" Hotspot asked him.
"How do you think. He is the one who fired the shots that caused this. He is terrible."
"I see."
"He had transformed into city mode and offered himself as shelter for the survivors and his med-centers to help the injured. But I don´t think it will be even close to enough."
xxx
Cyclonus group had detected the four seekers, who were ironically waiting only a few miles from the burning town.
They transformed and landed in front of the lost group.
"Report", Cyclonus ordered, "what has happened here?".
"At first the mission went as planned", Skywing answered him, "our ship however was hit by Metroplex fire."
"We had calculated that in The shuttle was a acceptable loss for this mission. But this was not exactly part of the plan." He pointed to the burning city.
"The ship crashed directly into the human settlement. It was a one to hundred chance."
"I understand", he replied. "The situation is still serving it´s purpose as a distraction."
But it still was a waste, he thought silently.
In opposite that many would have thought, he didn´t exactly look down on humans. Unlike many other species he had met they were at least willing to stand up for themselves and fight, even if they were not too effective in it.
It wasn´t their fault that they had been born as small, fragile organics.
There were races out there that were physically far stronger and did nothing beside hiding behind others for protection. At least the humans were trying to back up their allies.
Exactly that however was it what made them his enemies and he had no problems to kill them as opponents.
This however was not part of a battle but merely a completely senseless massacre. And exactly that was it what was feeling sour for him.
"Cyclonus, we have enemy contact", one of the Sweeps informed him.
His own sensors detected them too one split second later, close to the crash-site, Autobots.
xxx
Spike Witwicky was standing in the middle of the devastation. He had known that the cybertronian war had restarted a few weeks back, this however came as a total surprise.
The entire morning he had been talking to town officials, consoling people whose relatives were dead or missing, trying to coordinate the human rescue teams with the efforts of the Autobots, watching corpses being found and numbered and overseeing the destruction.
It was a disaster. It couldn´t even have come worse, he thought
A moment later he realized he was wrong.
Blades was the first who had made them out, a group of seven Decepticons, Cyclonus, two Sweeps and three seekers. They were flying in robot mode, closing up to the border of the town.
"Magnus", he shouted.
Of all the possible times and places, this was possible the last they wanted to fight. Here they were surrounded by hundreds of panicked or injured humans.
The six Autobots materialized their weapons.
Above them the Decepticons came to an halt over the outskirts of the city.
On the ground the humans had seen them by now and were getting even more in panic.
Everybody was waiting for what would happen.
For a short moment the gazes of Ultra Magnus met.
"Decepticons", the second in command ordered his group, "retreat, we are finished here."
All of them transformed into jet mode and flew off into the sky.
"They are leaving", Hotspot said.
"They are not going to attack us?" Tom Maynard asked them.
"Not they are not officer", Ultra Magnus answered. In the last years he had come to know Cyclonus and he thought he had a good idea how he would react.
"We have to continue here. I think at least for today you will have nothing to fear from them anymore."
End
