The Transformers

The Instrument of Revenge

Chapter 28 – Battle Over Cybertron

Shockwave looked to the sky and could see the damaged Omega Supreme still adrift. Astrotrain was near and he yelled out to him. "Astrotrain, shuttle mode!" The Decepticon triplechanger ceased his fighting and immediately executed Shockwave's command. Trypticon was blasting at nearly everything that moved and Shockwave could tell that along with the rampaging Dinobots, the Destructicon's fall was assured. "Trypticon continue the battle…" he yelled into the air. Shockwave then tapped into his personal communicator so all the other Decepticons could hear him. "Decepticons our final victory is at hand. The fall of the Destructicons is inevitable now and it is time for the Autobot to follow them to oblivion. Board Astrotrain and let us remove this final obstacle from our universal domination…"

The Decepticon soldiers emerged from both land and air, transformed to robot form and boarded Astrotrain who had converted to his shuttle mode. Trypticon stomped across the metal Cybertronian landscape crushing the dwindling Destructicon army beneath his giant feet. Blasts emerged from his mouth mounted weapons vaporizing airborne Destructicon warriors who descended from the sky attempting to offer some opposition. There could only be one outcome.

Still in Dinosaur mode the Dinobots pushed their way through the remaining Destructicons. Grimlock grabbed a soldier within his mighty jaws; Sludge crushed another beneath his foot; Slag rammed into one with this strong Triceratops skull, Swoop dropped a bombardment of weaponry upon a squad of three and Snarl used his solar powered tail to blast two more. Amongst the confusion, Grimlock looked around, could see no Decepticons other than Trypticon and then noticed Astrotrain slowly rising into the air. He returned to robot form and soon the other Dinobots did the same. He looked to them and again to the air.

"Me not like this… Me not like this at all…"

Astrotrain moved closer to the still adrift Omega Supreme. Inside the crowded cargo hold Shockwave moved through his Decepticon warriors to the front of the shuttle. "We are going to have cut through his hull Astrotrain…" The Decepticons rearmed their weapons and once again prepared for combat. They truly believed that this was their day. They would be victorious.

Omega Supreme's alarms still sounded as numerous Autobots moved about the bridge attempting to regain control. On one side of the bridge Pipes worked on the exterior sensors, on the other Perceptor was hands deep into Omega's weapons while on the other First Aid was repairing the helm and engine controls. Optimus Prime frantically paced about the room. He needed to know what was happening and he needed to know now. "Pipes, I need those sensors…" he proclaimed standing over the blue colored Autobot. Pipes had wires twisted and crossed in every direction with a hope of getting Omega Supreme's sensors working anyway he could. He finally looked up to Prime. "Done…"

Optimus Prime turned to Sideswipe who was at the science station. Sideswipe's hands raced across the controls as fast he could punch in and retrieve information. His eyes turned to Prime. "I'm detecting Astrotrain on a direct route to us…"

The Autobot leader placed his hands upon his hips. He knew what was happening. "I was afraid of this…" He looked around the bridge at his Autobots who had already seen their share of fighting on this day. He knew that it was not yet over. They had no alternative. "Prepare to be boarded! Man your weapons! Perceptor, First Aid, Pipes, continue with the repairs. We need Omega up and running."

Astrotrain moved alongside Omega Supreme. "This is going to take a while… Omega's hull is a lot thicker than the average Transformer…" Astrotrain slowed and two lasers on his exterior began cutting into the Autobot giant. Inside, the Autobots positioned themselves. Jazz, Springer, Hot Rod, Bumblebee, Sideswipe and Streetwise dropped to one knee and behind them stood Hot Spot, Inferno, Scattershot, Broadside and Optimus Prime who took aim and waited for the first sign of Decepticon entrance. After several minutes of cutting, the lasers finally began piercing Omega Supreme's hull. The Autobots however, were ready for them.

The large round metal slab fell hard to the deck floor as Decepticon weapons fire emerged from the resulting black smoke. Streetwise was struck hard in the chest and was sent onto his back before the Autobots opened fire of their own. Blast after blast streaked past one another until the charging Decepticon army finally stepped onto the Autobot vessel. Leading the boarding party was the mighty Soundwave who caught Scattershot hard with a left fist. He then released his small army of cassettes. Ravage transformed to jaguar mode, Laserbeak and Buzzaw to eagle modes, Rumble and Frenzy to robot modes, Slugfest to Tyrannosaurus Rex mode and Overkill to Stegosaurus mode.

Optimus Prime took notice as the other Decepticons joined Soundwave and among them the Combaticons, Constructicons and the Predacons. Last, but not least was Shockwave and at his side, to Optimus Prime's astonishment, was Arcee. Before Optimus could say one word, Arcee raised her weapon and pointed it directly at his chest. The Autobot Commander could do nothing as she fired and the blast shattered his cab windows and tore through his internal mechanisms just missing his spark and the matrix itself. Smoke poured from Prime's chest as he fell to one knee. Although they were now on different ends of the bridge, both Hot Rod and Springer took notice of the action. Hot Rod's jaw dropped and his body became numb. His mind went blank and he could not figure out what was going on. He had just witnessed one of his closest friends firing upon their leader.