Chapter 4
Washu momentarily hesitated, before she simply gritted her teeth together and grumbled as she realized Starscream was right. The bomb that was in the back of Starscream's head was powerful enough to not only blow him up into small pieces of scrap, but it also had enough power to obliterate the Masaki household near them, which meant both of Washu's friends would assuredly meet their doom. For once, Washu was stuck for a solution to rescue Starscream's captives; something the Decepticon noticed as he let out a loud laugh of triumph.
"Hahaha! Oh dear. What's wrong, little Washu?" Starscream asked with contempt. "Is the universe's most brilliant genius actually unable to think of a solution? I thought so. A mere meat bag like yourself would never hope to best me in a game of wits. However, I am not a completely heartless Decepticon. I will release them, provided you return my armaments to me, as well as the contents of that laboratory of yours...I know you must keep a veritable goldmine of weapons in there."
"I would never do that." A serious sounding Washu announced to Starscream.
"Then your friends will pay the price for your selfishness!" Starscream cried.
Washu looked on at the towering robot in horror while he began to hold his arm out in front of him; his fingers beginning to tighten their grip on his captives, which caused both Tenchi and Sasami to cry out in panic. Washu began to tremble on the spot, feeling too conflicted to act accordingly, or Starscream seemingly had her over a barrel. But then, a possible lifeline was granted to the victims of Starscream's gambit as a woman flickered into view near them.
Curiously, the woman floated in the air, almost at the same height as Starscream's head. She was sitting in a cross legged position, as if sitting on a cushion while in mid air. With her eyes closed, the woman stretched out her arms as far as she could, as if she was just waking up from a deep sleep, before her golden eyes wearily opened before she spoke.
"Would you keep the noise down?" She yawned as some of her spikey light green draped in her right eye. "I'm trying to sleep off a-..."
With her eyes fully open, the floating woman now finally looked to see the scene unfolding before her, much to her shock, to see a giant robot holding two of her friends -one of whom was an interest of her heart -perilously. For a split second, the woman thought she was dreaming, but then, the cry of desperation that came from Tenchi's voice delivered the sobering realization that this was no dream.
"Ryoko!" Tenchi called to the woman upon seeing her. "Help us!"
"She will do nothing of the sort!" Starscream roared.
Washu continued to look on to see Starscream turn to his right in one quick stride, so that he could face the woman who continued to float in mid air. Raising his laser gun, Starscream pointed the small white gun towards Ryoko, squeezing the trigger as he did so that a bolt of purple energy shot from it, flying towards Ryoko with an intent to end her life. Seeing the bolt coming, Ryoko's eyes widened, then she flickered from view as the beam of purple energy simply shot through the sky before it collided with a tree that exploded into splinters. Cursing for missing his target, Starscream the noticed that Ryoko had reappeared mere feet from his black face as she had a look of rage on hers. To Starscream's surprise, Ryoko raised her right fist then smashed it as hard as she could into Starscream's face. Letting out a cry, Starscream felt as if he had been punched by Optimus Prime with so much might that Starscream began to fall back towards the ground as he released his grip on Tenchi and Sasami, who dropped towards the ground.
The two humans screamed when they began to drop over twenty feet; but as Tenchi dropped, he suddenly felt a force under his armpits before he began to drop slowly to the ground. However, Sasami continued to drop at full force, leaving Washu to run across the ground, where she caught Sasami in her arms, saving her from a hard fall, and as Tenchi softly landed on the ground, Ryoko flickered into sight as she was the one who invisibly carried Tenchi safely onto the grass.
"Are you alright, Tenchi, darling?" Ryoko asked with concern as she brushed a sweaty Tenchi's cheek.
"We've gotta stop that thing!" Tenchi screamed in a panic, to which a shocked Ryoko stumbled back.
"Ow! Take it easy!" Ryoko cried. "I think I've gone deaf..."
"That won't be the worst of it when I finish with you!"
The foursome looked up as a shadow loomed over them, to see Starscream lunge for the group with his right palm outstretched towards them. Immediately, Ryoko teleported away, while Washu and Sasami ran. Tenchi, however, was not as lucky, as he reacted to slowly and he was snatched up in Starscream's grip once again, before he reached for his laser pistol, which he quickly grabbed.
"Oh no, Tenchi!" Sasami cried with fear.
"Let him go!" A reappearing Ryoko cried.
Sneering, Starscream looked up towards Ryoko, who had reappeared back in the air not but a second earlier, prompting Starscream to instinctively raise his laser pistol up into the air, where another shot was fired from the pistol. This time, Ryoko was too slow to react to Starscream's assault, for the purple beam of laser energy caught Ryoko in the shoulder, who quickly dropped out of the air where she slammed to the ground with a harsh thud. She gripped her shoulder tightly as she rolled onto her left side, which brought a laugh out of Starscream.
"Make no mistake, this is but a small sum of what I could do to all of you!" Starscream informed the group. He then looked towards Washu.
"I bore of this trivial game. You have until sunset to deliver my weapons, as well as the most powerful creation from your bountiful laboratory to me, or this one shall become a stain on the Umeda-Sky Building!"
With that, Starscream leaped into the air, where the boosters on the bottoms of his feet roared into life, propelling him high into the sky. Laughing maniacally, Starscream then threw Tenchi high up into the sky, which drew out a loud scream of fright from not only the young man, but the three females on the ground. But as Tenchi began to drop, Starscream transformed into his alternate form of the F-15 jet. With his cockpit open, Starscream hovered until Tenchi dropped into the cockpit, where the glass canopy quickly closed, looking as if he had swallowed Tenchi whole, before then, with a roar of thrusters, Starscream flew away from the Masaki home in a red and silver blur, leaving the group on the ground as they felt drowned by the feeling of helplessness.
As the roaring sound of Starscream's thrusters faded, and the final echoes of his laugh faded away, Washu finally looked to Ryoko, who lay on her knees in the grass. She, as well as Sasami rushed over to Ryoko, where they gathered around her to check her wounded shoulder, but they were quickly pushed away by Ryoko as she growled angrily.
"Damn it, no!" Ryoko cried desperately. "It's taken Tenchi! What the hell was that thing?"
"It is named Starscream." Washu announced sullenly. "He's a Decepticon- an alien robot, who I found near death a few days ago. I found him, took him to my lab and repaired him...But I didn't expect this to happen."
"You what?" Ryoko roared.
Ryoko, now fueled by anger, no longer cared about the searing pain in her shoulder and she stood, where she looked down towards the diminutive Washu with anger painted across her face before she then craned her head towards Washu's face.
"You helped an evil machine, just so he could take Tenchi and shoot me?" Ryoko cried. "Have you finally lost it!"
"Are you quite finished?" Washu asked angrily. "I didn't plan for Starscream to take Tenchi. Obviously, he didn't need my help anymore, so he pulled out of our agreement. I suppose that's typical of a Decepticon. But now, we need to get Tenchi back."
"And that's typical of you!" Ryoko growled. "Well, we can't wait around, we need to get Tenchi back!"
"We will, Ryoko." Washu replied in a calm manner. "But first, I need to get something back from my laboratory first."
"You're not going to give that mean robot what he wants are you, miss Washu?" A concerned Sasami asked.
"Let's just say he's going to get what's coming to him." Washu answered.
"I'm not waiting around for you to rattle around in that lab of yours." Ryoko snorted. "For we all know that robot could squash Tenchi by the time we arrive!"
"I wish Ayeka was here..." Sasami softly spoke. "She'd know what to do."
"Psh, we don't need her." Ryoko announced. "All I need is myself and Ryo-Ohki."
At that moment, a small brown rabbit looking creature came scurrying out of the screen door of the Masaki household, meowing in a panic while it ran. As it neared the three females, the creature, known to the family as a Cabbit used its large hind legs to leap up into the air, where it landed on Sasami's head.
"She always comes when I call her with my mind." Ryoko announced as she tapped her own forehead.
"Not that you have much of one..." Washu muttered, causing Ryoko to growl.
"Hey! What did you say?" Ryoko cried.
"Nothing." Washu calmly replied as she began to walk away from Ryoko. "You can go if you want; I'll catch up with you."
With that, another door appeared out of thin air. Red in colour, the door opened with a long, loud creak, showing nothing but darkness inside. Washu stepped through the door into the darkness, where she flickered away, disappearing before the door slammed closed then phased away into thin air, leaving Ryoko, Sasami and the cabbit, Ryo-Ohki alone. Ryoko prepared to leave, but Sasami spoke up, pausing her in her efforts.
"Is there anything I can do?" Sasami asked.
"Just stay here." Ryoko muttered, before she gave a small grin. "Somebody needs to get supper ready in time for when Tenchi and I come home."
"Ok!" Sasami said with a smile. "I'll do just that."
Ryoko chuckled softly at Sasami's chipper response. Then, taking her attention to the Cabbit sitting on top of Sasami's head, Ryoko reached out and grabbed Ryo-Ohki by the scruff of the neck, before she snatched the little brown creature off the girl's head, spun round where she let go of Ryo-Ohki, throwing her high into the air. The Cabbit meowed loudly- so loud that the meow echoed through the sky before Ryo-Ohki began to change her form; curling up into a ball before her form then completely changed as she seemed to grow spikes out of her fur, shifting many times over until she appeared as a large spike covered, gray UFO that hovered in the sky. Seeing her transport now ready up in the sky, Ryoko leaped off the ground as she flew through the air, up into the UFO, which meowed in response to Ryoko coming aboard. Sasami continued to watch on as her surroundings became engulfed in a strong wind, causing the trees and grass to lean to one side from the powerful guts, which also caused Sasami to shield herself with her arms while her dress blew harshly. The wind, which as actually coming from Ryo-Ohki soon disappeared as she blasted off higher into the sky, leaving Sasami alone in the silence of the Masaki home as peace was seemingly restored to the area once again.
Many miles away, in the southern city of Osaka, Japan was a large business building that towered over the district of Osaka, known as Umeda. It was a distinctive sight, as it didn't look like most buildings that littered the skyline of Osaka, for the large, unusual looking building actually looked like two separate towers that were combined by a large roof that crossed over and joined on both sides. Some flights below that roof, a bridge also connected the two halves of the building together, and because of the unusual shape of the building, it attracted many visitors and tourists who would come to marvel at the buildings most unusual shape.
The tower housed many businesses, including an office for a large car manufacturing company, where currently, many of its office workers were in a large board room, taking part in a business meeting. At the head of the room stood a young man, dressed sharply in a black suit, who was currently leading the meeting as he stood beside a large board that was filled with pictures of sales charts, profit graphs and other statistics. The attendees of the meeting were mostly aging men who were the senior people of the company, and they listened intently to what the young executive had to say about the company. But, as he prepared to start the final few financial reports on the company's progress, the group of gentlemen were startled and distracted by a roaring boom that shattered the air of the area. A tremor then shook the room, causing the men to tense in fear as they murmured in shock. One old executive, who sat facing the window, pointed to the window in horror as he let out an exclamation, causing the other businessmen to look out through the window to see Starscream, still in his F-15 jet form, quickly approaching the building. The jet was seemingly on a collision course, which caused the men to all bolt for the door to make a retreat, but Starscream then climbed high up into the sky, following the building's walls up to the top of the building, where an observation deck was located. In a flash, Starscream transformed to his robot mode, which caused Tenchi to fly from his cockpit. Horrified, Tenchi let out a scream as he began to drop, but he was quickly caught by Starscream's hand, who dropped onto the ground of the building's observation deck, which caused another tremor to rumble through the building, which served to panic the building's occupants.
Saying nothing, Starscream calmly strode across the observation deck of the building, which was incidentally closed to members of the public for some construction work. The Decepticon looked around at the construction equipment before he let out a smile upon seeing a large steel piece of piping lying on the ground beside a wheelbarrow. Cruelly, Starscream glared down at Tenchi in his hand, who simply let out a cry of fright when Starscream threw Tenchi into the wheelbarrow so harshly that Tenchi let out a cry of pain, arching his lower back from the pain that quickly ran up through his spine. With that, Starscream crouched on the floor, picked up the piece of piping before he wrapped it around Tenchi as well as the wheelbarrow, tying Tenchi securely in the wheelbarrow.
"This is to make sure you don't try to escape." Starscream announced before he rose to his feet once more.
Tenchi attempted to struggle against his bonds, which Starscream watched with a twisted amusement. Grunting and groaning, Tenchi continued to try to wriggle himself, then wrestle himself free from his bonds, but he found it was no use, before he eventually gave with a sigh. Then, the young man looked up to Starscream, who cast a dark shadow over him in contrast of the afternoon sky. Tenchi's eyes narrowed, while his brown lowered, to cast a glare at his robotic capture.
"You won't get away with this." Tenchi hissed.
"Hahahaha!" Starscream laughed. "Now who is going to stop me? You? One insignificant little flesh creature? Comedy won't set you free from your prison, human."
"My friends will stop you." Tenchi growled. "I might not have many powers to fend you off, but my friends do!"
"Ah yes." Starscream grinned. "Those same friends who would never wish to sacrifice you. I am aware of biology. Those females are drawn to you; they would sooner die than let their love be murdered because they were stupid enough to resist me. Your friends will come, but when they do, they will bring to me what I want...or else."
"They won't be bullied by the likes of you." Tenchi said, but gulped upon finishing his defiant sentence.
"Let them try!" Starscream declared. "Should they be crass enough to do it, then they shall meet their end after I crush you into a puddle of ooze."
Tenchi looked up Starscream again, but this time his glare of defiance feigned as his spirit began to wane. It seemed hopeless for the boy now, as Starscream had rendered him incapable of moving, and along with the fact that he threatened to kill Tenchi, should his friends attempt to rebel against the Decepticon's wishes convinced Tenchi that Starscream would get what he wanted. However, Tenchi wondered if Starscream was actually bluffing about ending Tenchi's life, should he friends come to his rescue, which he was convinced that would do. But then again, Tenchi thought, how could he trust Starscream to simply let him go once his demands were met. If his demands were met. Tenchi continued to ponder the possibilities for a while longer, when movement from Starscream caught his attention, taking his mind from his grim thoughts. He watched Starscream turn as he began to confidently stride away towards the edge of the building.
"Where are you going?" Tenchi called out. "You're not just going to leave me here, are you?"
"I have things to do to prepare for my first steps of dominance." Starscream replied.
"What do you mean?" Tenchi asked curiously.
"Heh." Starscream chuckled. "Do you really think this is all just to allow my freedom from your friend's ownership? No. I have plans for your country, human. Plans that will then allow me to take my rightful place as leader of the Decepticons. Now, I shall go, so just lie back and relax...and prey that I return in a good mood."
Since the day the Decepticons had attacked the air force base on Okinawa island, the Japanese government had placed the country on high alert. This was a fact that Optimus Prime had become well aware of, due to the fact that the Japanese Prime Minister had staged a press conference the following day, saying while he praised the Autobots for their heroic efforts against the Decepticons, any Transformers spotted in Japan, or Japanese waters would be attacked to preserve the safety of the nation. With that in mind, Jetfire was currently skimming the upper atmosphere of the Earth as the super jet began to fly over Japan, with his sensors tuned to pick up Starscream, wherever he may have been. Inside the large super jet's cargo bay, Optimus Prime sat crouched up against a wall while he looked among his small crew of Autobots who were also sitting in the cargo bay with him. Along with the Autobot leader, there was Jazz, his special agent who had put the team together. Then, there was Ironhide, one of the older Autobots, who along with Jazz and Prowl, was one of Optimus Prime's inner circle; he also doubled as Optimus Prime's own bodyguard. Next was Trailbreaker, the Autobot's defense specialist, capable of producing highly powerful forcefields to protect the troops at a moment's notice, even though it was heavily taxing on his fuel reserves. Finally, there was the small Autobot, Brawn, who made up for his diminutive stature by being the strongest Autobot out of Optimus Prime's ranks on Earth. Because of his small size, Brawn was always eager to prove himself the strongest warrior, and one of the most useful under Optimus Prime's command; something he hoped he could show during their trip to Japan.
"I can't wait to get a hold of Starscream." Brawn announced excitedly to the group as he cracked his metallic knuckles. "I'll show him what's what!"
"Chill, Brawn." Jazz said with a grin. "We dunno for sure yet that he's even in the land of the living. He might've kicked the old bucket for all we know."
"Besides which, we must try and maintain a low profile." Optimus Prime reminded the group. "Remember, our presence in Japan is currently not welcomed by the Japanese self defense force. We must be careful."
"Shoot, that just makes our job a heck of a lot harder." Ironhide grumbled. "You should have told that Prime Minister to go and chew on a microchip. If he knew what was good for him, he wouldn't condemn us like that."
"You know, Ironhide, if we just show him we transform into Japanese vehicles then maybe he'll let us off!" Trailbreaker joked, before he continued, "well, us anyway. I dunno about the German sports car, British 4x4, or the American semi truck here."
"We should respect his wishes. You must remember that humans fear what they don't understand; that is the feral instinct within them." Optimus Prime announced to the group. "Unfortunately, the situation requires us to go against his word, but we do so...discreetly."
"I'm afraid that might be impossible, Optimus Prime." Jetfire spoke with his voice echoing through the cargo bay.
"Whatchu talking about, man?" Jazz asked with a frown of confusion.
"Take a look at this." Jetfire replied.
Together, the Autobots all looked towards the northern wall of Jetfire's cargo hold, where a flat screen monitor as installed within the wall. It flickered on, where, following a small amount of static, the image of Starscream appeared before them, causing the Autobots to perk up slightly in alertness as their thoughts of Starscream being operational again were realized. A small red ticker lined the bottom of the screen, where Japanese writing quickly scrolled across the screen; a language that only Optimus Prime and Jazz recognized. Along with a digital clock on the side of the screen, the Autobots realized they were currently watched a news bulletin when Starscream spoke through the screen.
"Attention, citizens of Japan; particularly the leaders of this nation. I am Starscream, a Decepticon from the planet Cybertron- one of the robotic warriors who recently took part in the assault on one of your air force bases. I am here to tell you that I intend to take my rightful place as ruler of this highly advanced nation of the planet Earth. My merciless nature has been highlighted by the state that your air force base was in left upon my leave, but I am here to inform you that any resistance against my takeover over this nation will not end well. Observe what I hold..."
The Autobots continued to watch the news broadcast, much like many citizens of Japan. They watched intently to see Starscream turn away from the camera before him, as he then leaned towards the ground before he turned back around, and with a grin, displayed the still bonded Tenchi towards the camera.
"I have one of your own people in my custody. Now, I speak directly to the Prime Minister as well as the Emperor of Japan: if my demands are not met, and this country isn't in my hands by midnight tonight, this young man will become a rather unsightly mess at the bottom of the Umeda Sky Building. I know your nation holds honour in high regard. Are you willing to shame yourselves by allowing even one more of your people to die at my hands? I doubt it. You have until midnight, humans. The clock is ticking."
With that, the image of Starscream disappeared from the screen as the camera switched to a television studio,where the news anchor for the Japanese news began to summarize what had just been broadcast on the airwaves. By this point, Jetfire switched off the screen, while the Autobots rumbled vocally.
"Why that low down punk!" Ironhide cried with a fist in the air as he summarized the groups' feelings. "We need to get to that place to beat some humility into him!"
"I'm with you, Ironhide!" Brawn then announced. "Let's kick his tailpipe already!"
"We must act with caution." Optimus Prime said with his open palms in the air. "Remember, he now has a hostage that we cannot allow to become harmed at any time. We must plan our next move carefully."
"Optimus is right." Trailbreaker agreed. "Starscream's the kind of retro-rat who won't think twice about killing the kid if he feels threatened. What's your plan, Prime?"
Optimus Prime thought for a moment, as he had yet to actually figure out a complete plan; but before he could announce anything to his crew, a loud crash penetrated their robotic ears, invading their senses to the point they became dazed momentarily. The large craft they were in rocked violently from side to side, before an alarm then began to buzz throughout the large super jet which stirred the Autobots into a sense of panic.
"Jetfire, what's going on?" Optimus Prime called to their pilot.
"Bad news, Optimus," an injured sounded Jetfire announced. "We've got Decepticons in our air space."
Once again, the screen in the cargo bay switched itself back on so that the Autobots could see what had begun to transpire outside. A couple of hundred feet or so behind Jetfire, the familiar hulking silver form of Megatron flew through the sky with a smoking fusion cannon as he led a small group of Decepticon jets through the sky. Optimus Prime thought that they couldn't have come at a worse time.
"Jetfire, take evasive maneuvers!" Optimus Prime ordered.
"No can do." Jetfire gruffly answered. "Megatron gave me a well placed hit. One of my thrusters is offline, and my gyros are failing."
Another shot connected with Jetfire's super jet form, this one being more powerful than the last, which was evident as Jetfire then shook so violently that the Autobots were tossed from one side of the cargo bay to the other. Through the alarms that continued to buzz throughout Jetfire's jet form, Optimus Prime looked to the monitor, where he could hear Megatron roar towards the jet.
"Prime!" Megatron cried aloud. "I know why you're here. But I'm afraid to tell you that that treacherous little vermin is mine! I will not allow you to lay a finger on Starscream until he is stone cold dead in my hands!"
"Heh, so old Megatron's Starscream huntin' just like us." Jazz grinned through the bleak situation.
"In that case, let him get on with it." Brawn spoke. "We're sitting ducks out here."
"No, we can't do that." Optimus Prime retorted. "If we turn away from this, there's nothing to stop Megatron from claiming Japan for his own. We must fight back; Autobots, prepare for bat-..."
But before Optimus Prime could finish his orders to his men, another thundering shot caused the jet they were in to rumble violently, but this time, Optimus Prime felt the front of the jet tilt forward as it began to drop through the sky at such a velocity that the Autobots were once again tossed around the cargo bay like clothes in a washer as Jetfire began to drop out of the sky from a final, killing blow from Megatron's fusion cannon.
"My systems are failing!" Jetfire called to his passengers. "Brace yourselves, everyone. This isn't going to end well!"
"Everyone, prepare for crash landing!" Optimus Prime ordered to the group.
With smoke billowing from his bright white and red form, Jetfire continued to drop out of the sky like a large, heavy rock; something Megatron looked at with amusement as he and his small crew of Decepticon jet warriors had stopped to watch. With flames now spewing from Jetfire, Megatron gave a small chuckle at Jetfire's futile attempt to try and steer himself and his Autobot friends away from a grizzly death, for the jet began to pull up its nose as best as he could in a valiant attempt to steer himself away from the side of a large rocky mountain that he as approaching, that threatened to mangle his form up into an unrecognizable mess. But unfortunately for Jetfire, as he began to pull up in a bid to steer himself away from the mountainside, his under carriage violently scraped against the mountain side, causing the mountain to emit an echoing rumble into the sky. Pieces of rock immediately broke away from the mountain in the wake of Jetfire running across it, spewing dust up into the sky, which began to cloak Jetfire in a haze, but the Decepticons continued to watch on, until they heard a final violent crash that hung in the air, echoing as it ended. Through the haze, Megatron let out a triumphant growl to see that Jetfire had come to an ugly landing, upside down on a large road that wound around the mountain.
"Now that he's down, I shall pick him off." Megatron announced. "Thundercracker, prepare to intercept!"
With that, Megatron stretched out his body before he tumbled through the sky towards the blue F-15 jet that hovered in the air behind him, which began to transform into the Decepticon warrior, Thundercracker. At the same time that Thundercracker transformed to his robot mode, the tumbling Megatron's form began to twist, turn and contort as he transformed into his rifle form, maximizing his shape so that he was suitable to be wielded by a Transformer. Thundercracker caught Megatron carefully in his hands before he pointed the black barrel of Megatron's rifle form down towards the mountain where Jetfire lay motionless. Then, Thundercracker simply hovered, continuing to train the silver rifle down at the mountain, before a powerful blast of purple fusion energy shot out of the rifle with enough force that Thundercracker was shoved violently back from the backlash of the blast. Together, the Decepticons watched to see the streak of purple energy cut through the sky before it collided with the mountain side, where with an almighty explosion, the fusion blast tore large boulders of the mountain, which rained down on Jetfire's crippled form like giant hailstones. The rumbled echoed for miles around the mountain, which if the mountain was viewed from a fair distance, could now be masked by all the dust and dirt that was kicked up into the mountain air due to the machinations of Megatron's evil, who cackled with satisfaction upon seeing the Autobot super jet buried in a heap of heavy rubble. With a jerk, the Decepticon leader flew out of Thundercracker's hands, then he transformed back to his robot mode.
"So much for the Autobots." Megatron sneered. "Soon, I will be saying the same about Starscream. Decepticons, move out! We must stop that mindless idiot before he tries to steal this nation away- a nation that rightly belongs to me!"
With a sense of victory, Megatron shifted his position from standing and hovering in the sky, to becoming horizontal in the air, where he once again began to flew through the sky, towards Osaka, Japan, where he intended to deal Starscream as hard of a blow as he had dealt Jetfire. Behind him, Thundercracker transformed back to his jet form, leading Skywarp, Ramjet, Thrust and Dirge who all flew behind Megatron in an intimidating v formation, while their thrusters cut through the sky with a sense of dread spewing from their engines, much like the flames that pushed them on through the sky.