Sari contacted Optimus to give him a status report.
"So Sari, how did your meeting go?" asked Optimus.
"Well sir, we can't complain – too much," smiled Sari. By the way, just to let you know, Sentinel says it's not necessary for the Ark-32 to come to the moon."
"I see," he replied. "Well, that's not his decision to make. Farside Beacon One is a Cyberton/Earth cooperative, and my team is responsible for protecting Earth's assets. I'll have to make sure he understands that."
The display board on Farside Beacon One was now reading:
ALERT
Object(s) Detected: Decepticon Ship
Number: 1
Estimated Time of Arrival: 01:05:18
Probability of Arrival: 98%
Projected Arrival Distance (Km): 500 km
Projected Coordinates: (19.3°S 122.6°E)
"They'll be here soon," said Fanzone.
"Optimus is on his way," said Sari.
"Our teams are ready," said Bumblebee.
Fanzone nodded. "I'll be at the controls with my men. We'll be your eyes and ears, should any other Decepticon ships show up."
"And I will be outside." Said Bumblebee. "Sar, I guess you should head on over to Steelhaven."
Good luck, Sari," said Fanzone, saluting. "Go kick some butt!"
"Thanks, Lieutenant!" Sari returned the salute, and left the station.
Bumblebee went to go check on Firestar and Sandstorm. "You guys ready?"
"Ready, Sir!"
"Ready, Sir!"
Both bots took control of the weaponry. Sandstorm botted the starfield missile launcher; Firestar, the particle-combustion cannons. If needed, either could turn to one of the four laser emitters.
Battle with Team Chaar
- Decepticons: Strika, Oil Slick, Blot, Mindwipe, Sky-Byte, Scalpel
- Steelhaven Crew: Sentinel Prime, Warpath, Jetfire, Jetstorm – Sari
- Farside Beacon One: Bumblebee, Sandstorm, Firestar; Fanzone, Pond, Burdick, Tucker
- Ark-32: Optimus Prime, Jazz, Ratchet, Arcee
"Sentinel Prime! Decepticon ship in sight!" Said Jetfire. "We intercept, yes?"
"That's just what they would expect us to do, isn't it?" Said Sentinel.
"Uh, yes?"
"So, we won't. We'll surprise them; catch them off guard," he said with a wave of his servo. "By doing that, it will draw their fire away from the station."
"It will?"
"Of course it will! Don't question a superior officer's judgment!"
On the Team Chaar ship, they were readying for a battle with the Steelhaven. Strika ordered all defensive weaponry active.
"General, they're not taking off!" Said Sky-Byte.
Strika couldn't believe her luck! "What is this - they're just sitting there? Oh, I forgot, this is the military genius Sentinel Prime! So Prime, you think I will go after Steelhaven like a decoy and miss my prime target? Idiot! Attack the station - ignore the Autobot ship."
They went into attack formation directly at Farside Beacon One.
"What are they doing?" Yelled Sentinel. "Take off! Take off!"
"Fire!" Yelled Strika. But before they could fire on the station, her ship received a volley from the port side! The Ark-32 fired on them with all their weapons!
"What the? Evasive maneuvers!" Yelled Strika. Their ship avoided Optimus' weapons, but was unprepared for another strike from below. This came courtesy of Sandstorm's starfield missile launcher. It struck her ship's starboard engine, knocking it out.
"General, we must land!" Said Sky-Byte.
"Very well. Scalpel, repair the engine as soon as you are able."
Sentinel got on his communicator to the Ark-32. "Optimus, what are you doing here? I said your presence was not needed!"
"You're welcome! And it's not your call," he replied. "Those are Earth's assets I'm protecting."
The Ark-32 landed beside the Decepticon ship, about 3 kilometers from the station. Ratchet, Optimus, Arcee, and Jazz emerged.
The first to emerge from the Decepticon ship was Oil Slick. Bumblebee was waiting beside their ship and rushed toward him, blasting with his stingers.
"Hey there Autobot, here's an oldie but a goodie. Catch!" said Oil Slick, flicking a vial at Bumblebee.
"Bumblebee, watch out!" yelled Ratchet. The vial broke open in front of Bumblebee. Cosmic Rust! It began eating away at his armor. "Aaah!" he screamed.
"Hold still, kid!" yelled Ratchet, running to his side, and quickly covered the affected area with corrostop. "Blasted Deceptislime!" cursed Ratchet. He fired an EMP blast at Oil Slick, but coward that he is, the Decepticon transformed and sped away.
Sky-Byte emerged and rushed toward the Ark-32. Jetfire and Jetstorm had left Steelhaven and took after him. They kept him occupied, taunting the Decepticon and flying around him in tight circles.
"Hey, big mouth! You big scary monster - NOT!" Said Jetfire. His over-sensitive ego hurt, Sky-Byte swatted at them like flies. "Shut up!" he yelled at the two.
"Look at face! He scares you, brother?" says Jetstorm.
"What, him? No! Check out teeth," laughed Jetfire. "Supposed to be what, goofy shark?"
"Come a little closer, you two flying tunnel drones, and I'll show you!" Said Sky-Byte, snapping at them.
Blot lumbered out and began spewing mucus over Steelhaven. Warpath went after him. "Hey, stinky, open wide! BAM!" He fired a blast from his chest gun that knocked Blot on his back.
"You stupid retro-rat!" yelled Sentinel. "How DARE you spit on my ship!" He thrust his lance at Blot, only to have Blot use the lance to right himself. Running away, Blot turned and spit mucus all over Sentinel's Skyboom Shield. "Oh, that's just great!" He complained. "Now how am I going to get THIS sticky gunk off?"
While all this was happening, Strika transformed into her battle tank and took off toward Farside Beacon One. "Arcee! Ratchet! Follow me!" yelled Optimus. "Keep her away from the station!" Bumblebee, recovered from the Cosmic Rust attack, followed behind.
"Jazz, stay behind and keep an eye on Sari," said Optimus. He was concerned about whatever Sentinel might order her to do.
Mindwipe flew behind Strika. Her plan was to let Mindwipe hypnotize the humans into destroying the station on the inside, while she destroyed the exterior.
Sentinel Prime saw Mindwipe flying overhead, and decided to order Sari to go after him. "Sumdac! Attack Mindwipe!"
"Yes, sir!" Sari used her jet skates to get behind Mindwipe, and fired orbs up at him. With his extrasensory perception, he easily dodged every blast. Flying lower, he taunted her. "Come closer, Technorganic, perhaps you'll have better luck."
Jazz watched Sari going after Mindwipe. "Did Sentinel brief Sari on his powers?" he wondered. Knowing Sentinel, he doubted it, and began running to be closer to her.
Mindwipe executed feints on each orb attack, allowing Sari to get ever closer, until jumping, she did a Ninja twist, attempting to use her arm blade on his wing, but sensing the maneuver he twisted out of the way, turning his face at the precise moment hers faced his, optics glowing red.
"Look here, Technorganic," said Mindwipe to Sari.
"Sari! No! Look away!" yelled Jazz.
Too late! She glanced up at his face. "You are under my control, Sari Sumdac," he said, landing before her.
"No! I…" Sari struggled. She turned her helmet away and tried to close her optics, but it was no use. She was forced to look back into his face. Staring, her optics turned red and her arms dropped to the side. "Yes, Mindwipe," she said. "What is your command?"
"Destroy the Autobots!" he ordered.
Sari slowly turned to the nearest Autobot. She raised her arm and pointed her servo at Bumblebee. "Destroy the Autobot," she repeated.
Bumblebee turned and saw his friend preparing to fire a deadly orb at him. "Sari?" Her servo began glowing. Strika watched this with glee. "Goodbye, Autobot," she said.
Sari's optics suddenly turned blue again. Recognizing Bumblebee, she shook her helmet, trying to shake the impulse. "Bee? I can't! I…"
"Destroy the Autobot!"
Seizing the opportunity, Jazz had only seconds. Using Processor-Over-Matter, he tried to reach her Spark. "Sari, you must push back against Mindwipe. You must resist. You must resist. Resist. Resist."
"Resist, resist," Sari said to herself. Her optics revealed the struggle as they went back and forth from blue to red, back to blue as her Processor-Over-Matter began to push back against Mindwipe's powers. "Resist!"
"YOU WILL OBEY ME!" yelled Mindwipe.
"NO!" said Sari, and with a stunned look on his face, she turned her servo to Mindwipe and fired the orb at him instead! It blew a hole right through his Spark chamber. "Aaah!" He screamed, and fell back lifeless onto the lunar surface.
"Mindwipe? No! Curse the Cyber-Ninjas!" yelled Strika.
Mindwipe destroyed, Sari was completely freed from his powers. "Are you alright, Sari?" Jazz asked, rushing to her side. "Yes, Sensei, thank you for rescuing me."
"Sorry, Bee!" Sari yelled to Bumblebee, "It wasn't me!"
"It's OK, Sar! Go get Scalpel!" Scalpel was scampering towards Mindwipe. "Good parts, ya! Ze processor intact!" he was saying.
"Step aside, Sumdac! I've got him!" yelled Sentinel.
Sentinel transformed into vehicle mode in an attempt to mow down Scalpel. "C'mere you little six-legged freak!" He sped toward the diminutive Decepticon.
"Oh, big Autobot! Attack poor little Scalpel! Whatever shall I do?" Using his six legs, he easily dodged out of Sentinel's path, and managed instead to grab hold of his undercarriage. Swinging easily, he hooked on and took out his tools. "Oooh, look at all these bolts! What might happen here, I vunder? Chop chop!" And with a quick turn, Scalpel cut loose two of Sentinel's wheels. They flew off into the distance.
"Aaah!" yelled Sentinel as he crashed into a ditch.
"Aw, poor Autobot. Need tow truck, no?" laughed Scalpel as he scampered over toward Mindwipe.
"Somebody get me out of here!" yelled Sentinel.
Thus immobilized, Oil Slick seized upon the opportunity to use his favorite fighting style, vehicular combat. He went into attack mode, intending to destroy Sentinel.
In attack mode, if he managed to smash him up on the outside, Sentinel would be smashed up on the inside. Oil Slick took off at maximum speed toward the disabled Autobot.
"Sentinel, transform and get out of there!" yelled Jazz, but Sentinel was oblivious, embarrassed about getting stuck in the pit. He kept trying to extricate himself using his two good wheels.
Sari saw Oil Slick's attack, and her training kicked in. Calculating Oil Slick's speed, she formed an orb in her servo, and began to run between him and Sentinel.
Strika watched this maneuver with amusement. "Foolish girl!" she laughed. "Running? How could she manage to catch up to a vehicle as fast as Oil Slick?
Targeting mod engaged, Sari completed her running windup and threw the orb – not at Oil Slick, but at the space ahead of him, aiming at the precise spot where he would be. Meanwhile, Oil Slick was too focused on ramming Sentinel to notice Sari, or the orb coming into his field of vision. As Sari's targeting mod calculated, his front bumper made contact with the orb midway between himself and Sentinel.
Up to this point, Sari's thrown orbs only hit non-moving, non-sentient objects.
The behavior of the orb in contact with a moving object was very different. The moment it touched Oil Slick's bumper, the blue sphere became a large flat disc. His kinetic energy changed the effect as well. The vehicle's momentum pushed him into the disc like a missile striking a stretchable net, until it completely encapsulated Oil Slick, but it then closed up behind him and proceeded to shrink, moving forward like a fading comet, until blinking out with a white flash.
What was most alarming to everyone who observed this was the horrifying, fading scream as the shrinking white capsule proceeded to constrict Oil Slick's atoms into the localized event horizon.
"What? What happened? Where is Oil Slick?" Said Strika. Stunned, she realized he was gone at the hands of the Technorganic.
Transforming out of her battle tank, she used her reciprocating blasters to strike Steelhaven and the Ark-32, disabling their ability to fly. She received a comm message from Scalpel "Ship's engine repaired, ready for takeoff!"
"Sky-Byte! Blot! Retreat!" she yelled. The three Decepticons joined Scalpel on their ship as it took off from the moon.
On the ship, Sky-Byte freaked out at what he saw on the deck behind him.
"Scalpel! What the slag is Mindwipe's helmet doing here? Did you decapitate him?" asked Sky-Byte.
"Good parts in there! Good experiments, no?" replied Scalpel.
"Get that damn thing outta here! It's looking at me!" said Sky-Byte. "Creeps me out!"
"Feh! You weak bit brain," he muttered to himself, as he dragged the decapitated Mindwipe head away to his lab.
Meanwhile, back on the moon, Ratchet repaired Sentinel.
"There! You've got your wheels back on," said Ratchet.
"About time!" complained Sentinel.
"You're welcome!" replied the old bot.
"Ratchet?"
"Depends on who's asking." He turned to see Sari walking towards him with a young fembot in tow.
"I am so excited to meet you, Ratchet!" said the bot. "My name is Firestar. I'm planning to attend the Protihex Medical Mechanics University and study to become a medic."
"Well! So very nice to meet you, Firestar!" Ratchet smiled. "What field are you hoping to get into?"
"I want to get into rescue missions," she said.
"Good field, good field. Lots of opportunities for a young bot," he replied. Ratchet glanced over at the damaged engines on the Ark-32. "We may be here for a while. Why don't you come on in to the ship, and I can show you my sick bay? That is, if it's OK with Bumblebee."
Firestar looked over at her superior officer. "Sure, OK with me!" he replied. "You two go ahead and talk medical stuff."
So the battle against Team Chaar is ended! Sari managed to overcome Mindwipe's hypnotic powers and put him away (although no telling what Scalpel might be able to do with the parts he retrieved). And Oil Slick is gone! Strika has escaped to fight another day. Thanks for reading.