So, um, there's gonna be a slight prequel to this put up after this fic gets finished, part one's already up on deviantART, if you care to read that, it's called Night Life: Part One, by EmberShadow1984. Yeah.
The next morning, two sets of troops were headed for the clearing.
Approaching from the South were the nineteen Autobots. Chromia, Elita, and Flareup took point with Bluestreak, Smokescreen, Brawn, Dino, Jazz, Jolt, Mirage, Gears, Huffer, Hardhead, and Streetwise falling in directly behind. Magnus and Springer came in behind them, followed by Hoist, Ratchet, and Wheeljack. Ironhide and Optimus brought up the rear.
Circling in from the other three directions were the forty-five Decepticons. Starscream had taken more than twice the amount of soldiers he was ordered to take, but was sure they'd run into opposition. "One can never be too careful," he'd offered, an explanation Megatron had accepted.
Fracture and Oil Slick led the ground troops from the North, followed closely by Bombshock and Dead End. Behind that motley crew was Breakdown, Brawl, Crankcase, Crowbar, Roadmaster and Strika. Bringing up the rear was Barricade, carrying Scalpel.
The air troops were led into the field from the West by Lugnut and Blitzwing, who was flanked by Thrust, Cyclonus, and Ramjet. Behind them were Dirge, Scourge, and Sunstorm, tailed by Waspinator, Laserbeak, and Buzzsaw. Slipstream and Thunderblast were next, followed by Skywarp, Thundercracker and Starscream. Blackout and Astrotrain brought up the rear.
And from the East, Blackarachnia and Arachnid led the "oddities". Venom, Barrage, Chop Shop, and Ransack followed. Behind them were Hardshell, Kickback, Shrapnel, and Bombshell. Ravage and Hatchet were behind them, with Scorponok scuttling behind. Blot and Spittor trudged along behind them.
**
Ironhide glanced upward, spotting the vapor trail and following it to the fliers, and nudged Optimus. "Prime, there's Decepticon Fliers in the area. I see 'em."
"How many?"
"It looks like eighteen."
"Autobots, kick it into overdrive! The Decepticons are headed for the clearing!"
**
'Starscream to all Decepticon units: All Ground Troops are to stay hidden until signal is given. Repeat: stay the frag down until I call you.'
'Why?'
'Because the fliers have been spotted, and we need to maintain the element of surprise.'
I do, in fact, believe the Autobots are screwed. But, you never know. We do have seven unaligned 'bots to consider. And the fact that, y'know, most of the Decepticons Starscream picked are too aggressive or stupid. Nice goin', Screamer.
