Chapter 2: The Mercenary/The Second Attack


Dexter stared blandly at the faceless Decepticon, who typed furiously trying to gather information on the Metal-monsters and the Dark oppressor that attacked Optimus. In truth, Dexter seemed creeped out by the silent mech, but he respected him nonetheless.

Across the room, Optimus stood watching the screens scroll down with pictures of unusual creatures that matched the description of the Metal Heads. He remained there until the door behind him opened and revealed Megatron with Arcee sitting on his shoulder.

"Hey Optimus, you missed it. Megatron just kicked Smokescreen's ass after he challenged Bigfoot here! The fool was down for the count with two strikes!" Arcee boasted.

Megatron just had a huge grin plastered on his faceplates while Arcee kept explaining the one on one fight.

"Wait, why are you using Megatron as a horse?" Dexter asked, stepping away from Soundwave with caution.

Arcee's smile flattened. "Um…I'm not using him as a "horse"; I'm just trying to get to know him. But if you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly his height!"

"Yeah, but still! It seems odd almost as if you two are now a couple," Dexter pointed out only to receive a death glare from the small Autobot and a concerned look from the warmonger.

Before she could retaliate with a snappy comeback, the screen Optimus was observing turned red and the alarm sprang to life. The sonar began to pick up two huge energy clusters heading straight for them, ones that didn't match the signals of Energon but rather a similar substance.

"Autobots, Decepticons, prepare for battle! I fear that our new enemies have returned and will attempt to bring down this vessel again," Optimus called over the ship's comm. links.

Arcee and Megatron stared at each other for a second before the femme finally hopped down from the warlord's broad shoulder and ran to group up with her fellow comrades.

As the clustered energy signals zeroed in on the Nemesis, Optimus narrowed his optics at the sun fading into the horizon. His eyes adjusted to the oncoming dark only to spot multiple faint specks with lines that appeared to be moving up and down rapidly.


Starscream held onto the side of one of the ship's appendages, scouting for any visible movement along with a few white seeker drones. Predaking landed next to him with Shockwave riding on his back.

"I hear them! Do you?" The Cyclops asked while trying to keep the Predacon steady.

Starscream ignored him only to see a blurry figure hit him from the corner of his optic. His claws latched onto the worn metal as he scowled toward the hovering new Metal Head which resembled a spider.

More spider-like Metal Heads swarmed the Predacon and Shockwave until a few began to fall to their death as blue Energon blasts began to bombard them.

Starscream had a massive grin on his face as Ultra Magnus skidded to a halt in front of the down seeker and continued to fire endlessly.

The Flying Spider-Heads grew attracted to the Energon scent jolting from the Elite officer's gun and circled him. They nipped at his back, legs, and even his arms which began to weaken the older mech.

Optimus quickly emerged from the interior deck with the Star Saber at hand before he jumped to his friend's aid. As soon as he felt he was a good distance away, the Saber lit up, and he swiped a massive bolt of energy towards the cloud of Metal Heads.

The Metal Heads squealed as the blast ripped through their squadron like a blade through fruit. As the ruptured energy's after-debris vanished into the air, a majority of the creatures were no more, and some followed their former brothers down to the Earth below.

The remaining Spider-Heads frantically began clicking their pinchers together as if they were talking amongst themselves.

All the Autobots and Decepticons shuffled slightly, uneasy with what the Metal Heads were doing.

Suddenly, the Nemesis jerked to its right and rumbled as something hit its port side.

"Optimus, I don't like what these things are doing. They appear to be summoning something or someone," Shockwave cautiously said, peering down on the port side of the ship. He stared blandly at the large dent that now was engraved in the ship's armor.

A state of panic hit Starscream as he realized the abomination that caused the vessel to jolt off course was nowhere in sight.

"I do not wish to know what this "someone" is capable of doing, nor do I wish to see it enter and destroy our remaining members upon this vessel," the Autobot Leader spoke, lifting the Star Saber up for battle once more.

The Nemesis quaked again, but the area of damage seemed to emanate from the rear where the rockets sat, pushing the ship slowly to the West towards the constellation, Orion.

A large, red-clawed hand breached the deck's surface and lifted its body to the mixed red and blue eyes that peered in shock at it. The figure's wings grasped the tail fins as its red optics, body, and arms revealed themselves. As it finally brought its feet to rest upon the dark purple metal, it roared angrily while the group of surviving Metal Heads crawled behind their master's massive legs.

Predaking grew unsettled by the presence of another dragon and transformed into his bot form only to screech back as a challenge. He posed himself in a running stance in case his oppressor decided to engage in battle.

The black and red dragon glanced hungrily at the Predacon, revealing his rows of thick teeth while his tongue licked the air. It lifted its right pede, scrapped the floor, and stomped back down as if to give a warning that it was ready for anything.

Predaking yelled a battle cry and charged only to see his opponent follow suit with heavy footsteps.

As both dragons ran towards one another, any gravel or dust that rested upon the ship's balcony was now being launched behind them until they collided with each other, both struggling to keep balance.

After a few punches were thrown, Predaking found himself bleeding just below his chest. He hissed in pain as the monster pushed him to the ground with its claws digging into the protoform of the damaged Predacon.

Before the beast could strike, something zipped past him and felt a slight pinch on his back. He peered back to see his wing barely attached to his main armor. It started gushing purple blood and he soon experienced the full misery of the almost-missing limb.

The monster screamed as its appendage finally broke from its base and crashed onto the hard metal below it. He turned his head frantically to find the person who did it. His blood-red eyes rested on a small form, one covered in a type of black armor, who held a blade he recognized.

All the Cybertronians stood motionless as the mysterious figure sprinted towards the beast and jumped onto its leg while it tried to pulverize its enemy. The figure climbed the dragon's body, dodging every blow that the monster threw which only hit it.

Another sound emerged and sank from the metal dragon as its left arm came to rest on the ground, and the figure merely hopped down while the beast moaned in agony.

The Metal Heads swiftly panicked as the figure walked to them. They knew who it was and they knew better than to tangle with "her".

They fled immediately as she posed herself, ready to defend the ship and its inhabitants.

The dragon screeched madly and grabbed its arm, sending a cruel glare towards his previous opponents. He jumped from the ship's dock, skydiving into the clouds and disappearing from view.

Dexter slid to a stop as the figure stood in his way, holding out her hand to signal the word "stop".

"Who are you and what is your business here?" Dexter shouted, bringing out his gun for caution.

The figure began to remove her helmet, only to reveal that she was a woman which shocked the soldier. "Well if that's how you treat your guests then I must not be welcomed here," she smirked.

Dexter just stared into her blue eyes, waiting for something to happen.

The woman continued to grin and finally answered, "My name's Artemis and the reason I'm here is because I was tracking Demon and the Metal Heads. Apparently whatever you have on this vessel, they are attracted to it, and it must be important if Tigressa is sending her own twin to obtain it."

Optimus' audio receptors caught her last sentence and became curious on the subject. "Artemis, you know who they are?"

Artemis nodded, "Yep, that big fella that tackled Dragon Boy over there was Demon, the second-in-command to the most ruthless and demented bot to ever set foot in this galaxy, Tigressa. Word is you had a run-in with her when the Metal-monsters first attacked this ship; she's mostly known as the Dark One. Scary, isn't she?"

"What is she searching for? Why are they on Earth?" Optimus questioned as Artemis checked her blade for any remaining blood.

She raised a brow at the concerns, "Well, you remember the old legend of how Megatronus disappeared, right?"

"Yes, I told my team about when Raf asked about him," the Autobot Leader said, leaning slightly on the Star Saber as his fellow Cybertronians came within hearing range.

"Tigressa did almost everything that story told, but she didn't need the Energon. In fact, she actually did those things because she wanted to destroy Cybertron from the inside out, so to speak," Artemis replied, still playing with her thick sword.

"Optimus, you said Tigressa made a deal with the Fallen, right? So she must have tricked the Fallen into giving her access to Cybertron's future younglings as well as access codes to our planet's Energon chambers so she could kill off any hope of a future of Cybertron and cause us to turn on each other for the limited resources we had. She wanted us weak and battle-hungry; she wanted us to kill each other off so she could end the lineage of Primus, the inhabitants of Cybertron," Ultra Magnus growled angrily.

Artemis' smile faded as she nodded in agreement with the commander, "You see, Tigressa hated Cybertron because she deemed the planet as 'worthless' as well as Earth. She wants to create a universe that appeals to her liking and Cybertronians and humans apparently don't match her vision. And her Metal Heads were of her own design, monsters and traitors to the core. One was actually a different species once, but changed his allegiance to Tigressa and became a Metal Head by Dark Eco."

"Everyone on this ship is part of the last known Autobots and Decepticons to be alive; we must ensure that this fact cannot be depleted in any shape or form. No one is going to die by my watch," Optimus spoke with a serious tone, "and this 'Tigressa' will not prevent us from surviving, from living. We will defend both our home and Earth by whatever means necessary!"

Both Decepticons and Autobots cheered as well as the humans, who a majority had monitored the unwanted encounter from the main control panel below.

"If we are dealing with gods, then the battle will be taken to them. We will fight among the gods, and we will send them a message that we are here for a reason; we are here to protect any alien from their greed and disharmony or we'll have no choice but to destroy them," Optimus protested.

He returned his gaze back up to the heavens as he did the night before. His optics squinted with anger, hoping that Tigressa could hear him from wherever she resided at that moment. He would fight, even if it truly was among the gods.