CHAPTER 29
Chain of Command
Earlier that day, on the Nemesis...
"Shockwave, sir, with all due respect," Thundercracker voiced, gaining the attention of the bots in the lab, "do you really think it's wise to spawn an army of beasts in this tiny lab, or within any part of this warship? I mean, not even the lone beast we had was compact enough to stroll these corridors without tearing them asunder."
"I was referring to my offsite laboratory," Shockwave clarified, "which we have erected expressly for the cloning procedures."
Thundercracker stood speechless for a moment, staring at the Cyclops. Skywarp and Dreadwing too looked surprised at how much had already been done without the Seekers' knowledge.
"I... don't know what to say," Thundercracker replied sheepishly. "You really think of everything, don't you?"
All of a sudden, the room they were standing in started to rumble. Thundercracker and Skywarp flinched by the shaking, the others gazing at the ceiling as pebbles began falling from above.
"We're under attack!" Skywarp exclaimed.
"Autobots?" Thundercracker speculated, considering Starscream was back with the enemy, and Optimus Prime had recently gained the ability to fly.
"Illogical," Shockwave protested and checked one of the computers to scan the ship while the rumbling noises continued above them. "Though there appears to be an enormous mass upon the upper hull."
With that in mind, Megatron exited the lab, the Seekers and Shockwave following close behind, everyone curious to find out what had trespassed on the warship. On the way, Megatron ordered a few Vehicon troopers to follow, just in case it was an attack. The noises and shaking became louder the closer they got to the flight deck.
As they reached the hangar, both the tremor and the noise stopped. As the door to the flight deck opened, the group was met by the face of the Predacon. Thundercracker and Skywarp felt a rush in their tanks by the sight of the returning beast. The others were also surprised to see that it had survived, though it seemed to have gained frostbite several places on its armor. It must have been sent to one of the poles, probably the Antarctic, as it was extremely cold and had some powerful blizzards. Even so, the Predacon's frost damage seemed to be healing fairly quickly.
As the Predacon noticed the Decepticons had come out to welcome it, it took a few steps forward, its wings folded on its back, and emitted a soft rattle.
"How did it find us?" Dreadwing questioned.
"Predacons possess precise homing instincts," Shockwave explained.
"And astonishing resilience," Megatron remarked and turned to his First Lieutenant. "Dreadwing, assume command of my beast."
"Me, Lord Megatron?" Dreadwing repeated skeptically.
"Military command of the Predacon is most logical," Shockwave pointed out. "Since my services are required elsewhere."
Dreadwing gazed from Shockwave to the Predacon, which stared coldly at the Seeker. Dreadwing scowled at the beast.
"Very well," Dreadwing replied. "I shall train it well."
"Good," Megatron replied and turned back to the hangar. "Get to it right away. The rest of you, return to your posts!"
Shockwave and the Vehicons followed Megatron back into the ship, while the Seekers remained outside with the Predacon. Dreadwing gazed between the Predacon and the two other Seekers.
"Skywarp and I will go on patrol," Thundercracker informed the First Lieutenant and went past the staring Predacon.
"Have fun with the beast," Skywarp snickered and followed his Trinemate to the deck.
Before Dreadwing could protest, Thundercracker and Skywarp initiated jet mode and set off into the sky, leaving the royal Seeker with a big glaring Predacon. Dreadwing glared right back at it.
"Well," he said calmly. "Looks like it's just you and me now, beast."
Meanwhile, the Wreckers, including the two new recruits Hot Shot and Octane, had finally arrived in the Hiberty's Bluffs in Scotland, having flown all the way from Nevada in the course of about an hour. Optimus Prime's team must have already arrived at their destination via GroundBridge.
The recruits - as well as Wheeljack - wondered why Ultra Magnus had decided the Wrecker team had to take the long way to Scotland rather than just taking the GroundBridge and get there faster. Magnus had argued that with the ship they had an arsenal of weapons with them, as well as allowing the base to use the GroundBridge for the team or teams that didn't have a ship. Still, it seemed like a waste of time to Wheeljack.
Nonetheless, the Iron Will was a fast ship, as they arrived in Scotland in a short amount of time. The ship descended to the ground and landed gently on its legs. The team gathered on the hatch, which soon began descending so the Wreckers could exit the ship.
"Alright, Beast Hunters," Ultra Magnus said. "According to our intel, the Decepticons should be excavating for Predacon bones directly beneath us."
"On it, chief," Wheeljack said as the hatch reached the ground, and ran on ahead. The others stared after him.
"Does Wheeljack not comprehend the chain of command?" Ultra Magnus asked Bulkhead with displeasure. "I didn't authorize him to advance without proper cover."
"Uh, I'm sure Jackie's just trying to prove himself now that you and he are serving together again, sir," Bulkhead assured.
"Yee-haah!" Wheeljack hollered as he reached the edge of the bluff and jumped into the ravine below.
Ultra Magnus frowned with disapproval, Bulkhead gazing nervously at him. The recruits just observed the scene with curiosity.
"So... are we gonna go?" Hot Shot asked impatiently. "Can I storm in too?"
"No," Ultra Magnus said sternly. "We must use stealth and caution. We do not know how many Decepticons may be in the mine. Let us proceed."
Without further argument or hesitation, the rest of the team made their way to the edge of the bluff and prepared to climb down. Wheeljack, despite having initially jumped, was climbing down slowly and carefully along the cliffside. Even Octane was climbing, despite having an airborne alternate mode, as well as having discovered he had the ability to fly in bot mode, having built-in thrusters in his legs. Though the plane mode would probably have been too loud and attracted the Decepticons' attention anyway, as would the thrusters. Besides, the recruits had to learn to be stealthy too, and seeing as they were still newbie, the veterans didn't want any of them to engage the Decepticons alone. They had to stick together for now.
Before they had left the Iron Will, the recruits had each grabbed a weapon from Ultra Magnus' arsenal, as they learned they didn't have any built-in melee weapons themselves. Hot Shot had taken a pair of daggers, and Octane decided to grab a sword. Not as impressive as the Star Saber, but it would do. As the recruits had only just begun their combat training, it seemed fair that they be allowed to use weapons to defend themselves with, should they get engaged in close combat. Blades weren't that difficult to figure out how to use, after all. They would be fine.
As Bulkhead began climbing down as well, a few pebbles fell from his footing and landed on Wheeljack, drawing his attention to his fellow Wrecker. The recruits were already past Bulkhead some distance away from Wheeljack, having reached and begun climbing down before the big Wrecker. Ultra Magnus was still on top of the bluff, making his way to the others.
"Jackie, wait up," Bulkhead called quietly. "Ultra Magnus wants us to-"
"Blah-blah-blah," Wheeljack said annoyed.
Bulkhead looked down and shushed everyone, pointing down. They all paused in their climbing and looked down. A Vehicon Grounder exited from a cave entrance, checking things out outside the mine. It paused and looked from side to side, finding nothing unusual. The recruits gazed at the Decepticon with interest. Ultra Magnus peeked out from the edge and sighed, deploying one of his ion cannons.
Wheeljack smirked at the unwitting Vehicon and gazed back at Bulkhead and the recruits. "Wrecker fact number 17," he began.
"Guards never look up," Bulkhead ended quietly.
Just then, Bulkhead lost his footing and held on tight to not fall down. Despite saving himself, pebbles fell from his position, past Wheeljack and the recruits, and landed by the pedes of the Vehicon guard. The Vehicon took notice of the fallen rocks and looked up. Just then, Wheeljack had leapt from his position, drawn his swords and aimed for the Vehicon. With a quick slice, Wheeljack decapitated the Vehicon, sparks flying from the headless body that fell seconds later.
Wheeljack landed gracefully on his pedes and stood up, turning around to look back up at his teammates. Bulkhead chuckled, Ultra Magnus frowned, and the recruits stared impressed at Wheeljack's performance. Wheeljack made a saluting gesture to Ultra Magnus with his swords, perhaps mockingly. One could never know with Wheeljack.
It didn't take long before Wheeljack's execution of the one guard got the attention of the other Decepticons. Soon, two additional Vehicons exited the cave mouth to see the horror in front of them - one of their fellows, headless and deceased. Behind them, several other Vehicons appeared and drew their blasters.
"Scrap," Wheeljack swore and put on his battle-mask, preparing for battle.
The Vehicons charged, firing at Wheeljack, who deflected the lasers with the flat side of his swords. As one Vehicon approached him, Wheeljack sliced across the other's abdominal plates and kicked him back. Bulkhead leapt from his position and hammered one of his wrecking balls into the Vehicons, offlining him. As Bulkhead joined the fight, the recruits decided to follow the Wreckers' example and leapt from their positions, landing solid on their pedes and deployed their new weapons.
Some of the Vehicons looked surprised at the two new bots that had never been seen before. The surprise gave the recruits enough time to test out their new weapons. Octane swung out with his sword and sliced across one Vehicon's chestplate, while Hot Shot leapt in and stabbed another Vehicon in the abdominal plates, offlining him.
The other Vehicons soon got over their surprise and began firing at the recruits. Like Wheeljack, Octane tried using the flat side of his blade to deflect the lasers, but it was difficult. Good thing these Vehicons were poor shots. Hot Shot didn't try to deflect the lasers, instead he darted around, trying to dodge the attacks. He moved with swiftness that resembled Bumblebee's speed. These recruits were fast learners, already doing great in combat despite how little training they had received.
Before the Vehicons could land a hit on the recruits and Wreckers, Ultra Magnus fired his ion cannons from above and leapt down the ledges of the cliff. As he leapt off from a low ledge, he drew the Forge of Solus Prime from his back and hammered it on the ground, right between two Vehicons, causing the ground to tremble around them. Magnus used the hammer to down two more incoming Vehicons, one falling unconscious on the ground, the other being flung into the cliff wall and passing out.
Having dealt with the Vehicons, the Wreckers put their weapons back in their sheaths and looked around the battleground. Bulkhead leaned towards Hot Shot and Octane.
"Nice fighting styles, you two," Bulkhead praised. "You learn fast. Keep up the good work."
Hot Shot and Octane smiled at the praise and gazed excited at each other. Ultra Magnus was not as pleased about the situation.
"That's why we wait for cover," Ultra Magnus pointed out, scowling at Wheeljack.
Wheeljack glanced at Ultra Magnus in confusion and retracted his battle-mask. The fight had gone well, no one had gotten hurt and the enemy had been taken care of now.
A banging noise sounded from Wheeljack, drawing the others' attention. Wheeljack looked stumped for a moment before throwing his head back in exasperation.
"Ah, bolts," Wheeljack said and retracted his chestplates, revealing an ill-looking Miko emerging from the hood, gasping for air.
The others stared at the girl and Wheeljack in surprise and disbelief. Wheeljack had brought a human to their mission!
Bulkhead gazed back at Ultra Magnus, who looked none too happy about this discovery. "Uh..." Bulkhead said, not sure what to say.
Wheeljack carried Miko out of his hood and brought her down to a nearby boulder that she could rest on.
"Forgot you were in there, kid," Wheeljack apologized with a smile.
Miko continued to gasp, still feeling queasy from the experience. "At least I didn't heave on any floor mats this time," she said, then covered her mouth as she seemed to be about to hurl.
Ultra Magnus scowled at Wheeljack in disappointment. The recruits remained silent, unsure what to make of this situation. Wheeljack was in big trouble now.
"And what could have possibly compelled you to bring the native?" Ultra Magnus asked sternly.
Wheeljack rolled his optics as he thought back. It had been nothing special, really. Miko simply asked if she could come along, and Wheeljack didn't see why not. So he had let her into his chest compartment without anyone noticing, before joining the others in the Iron Will.
"Are your circuits impaired, soldier?" Ultra Magnus said in a louder and sterner tone this time, apparently thinking Wheeljack was taking too long to answer, snapping the Wrecker out of his thoughts.
"Prime told you to lead the Wreckers on this one," Wheeljack pointed out and gestured Miko behind him, who put her hands on her hips, feeling better now. "I assumed he meant all of 'em."
"Are you mocking your commanding officer?" Ultra Magnus asked skeptically.
"Wouldn't think of it, sir," Wheeljack replied. "The kid's a full-blown Wrecker. Isn't that right, Bulkhead?"
"Well..." Bulkhead drawled out, uncertain if he should get involved in this argument, since it was his partner and everything.
"Look, she may be small," Wheeljack said instead, "but she saved my tailpipe, snuffed an Insecticon, all on her own."
"Outside standard protocol, no doubt," Ultra Magnus assumed, still with a stoic expression. It was hard to see if he was impressed with Miko's feats or not.
"The point is," Miko voiced, smiling, "I can handle myself. Sir," she added and stood straight to attention.
"Miko has been through worse," Bulkhead defended, deciding to get involved in the conversation. "And we've drawn out the enemy and cleared passage."
Ultra Magnus sighed, but made no further comment about it.
"Uh..." Hot Shot voiced from near the cave entrance with Octane next to him, drawing the others' attention. "Can we get going already?"
Ultra Magnus gazed from the recruits to the Wreckers and the human before letting out another sigh and began moving forward.
"Wreckers," Ultra Magnus annoucned, "let's move in!"
Later, Thundercracker and Skywarp were on their way back from patrol. They hadn't so much gone flying for patrolling or even just for flying, but rather because they didn't want to get themselves involved with Dreadwing and the Predacon. That said, they couldn't be soaring among the clouds all day, even though they wanted to. They had to return to the warship so they could make themselves useful to Megatron.
"How do you think Dreadwing is doing with the Predacon?" Skywarp asked as the Nemesis came into view.
"I wouldn't think anyone on the ship other than perhaps Megatron and Shockwave could tame that beast," Thundercracker replied, "but maybe Dreadwing can pull it off, who knows?"
As they approached the ship and headed for the flight deck, they noticed the Predacon was sitting outside in the middle of the deck, with Dreadwing standing in front of it and gesturing towards the hangar. It seemed he was trying to coax the beast inside the ship for some reason.
The two Seekers reverted to bot mode and landed gracefully next to Dreadwing and the Predacon, who both turned to look at the newcomers.
"So, you're back," Dreadwing said with an undertone of a snarl.
"How's it going?" Skywarp asked with a smirk and crossed his arms. "Have you become besties yet?"
"Very funny," Dreadwing snarled for real this time. "I am trying to get this thing to enter the ship, but it is stubborn and disobedient."
"Why are you trying to get it in the ship?" Thundercracker asked skeptically. "I doubt it can even fit."
"It's not about getting it in the ship," Dreadwing explained. "It's about getting it to heed my command. If it will not obey my every order, how am I going to train it, let alone lead it into battle?" Dreadwing glanced back at the Predacon, which snorted at the Seeker's glare. "For now, I must get it to obey me. By going inside, now!"
The Predacon snarled at Dreadwing but remained seated, refusing to obey the smaller winged being. Dreadwing was growing tired of its insubordination.
"Go... inside... NOW!" Dreadwing shouted at the Predacon.
The Predacon responded by bellowing a loud, shrill roar in the royal Seeker's face, baring its many sharp teeth and spreading its mandibles threateningly. Thundercracker and Skywarp winced back with yelps and hugged each other while staring at the beast in fright. Dreadwing did not even flinch from the Predacon's roar, nor did he look away from it. He simply bared his own teeth and snarled at it.
"I will not say it again," Dreadwing growled in warning. "Go inside the ship now, or I will have to use force."
The Predacon pulled its face away from Dreadwing and continued to snarl. It gazed between Dreadwing and the two cowering Seekers a distance away, still hugging each other without taking their gazes off the massive beast.
Somewhere in the Predacon's mind, it felt puzzled why the mean winged bot in front of it didn't cower in fear like the other two. The fearlessness this dark Seeker seemed to possess reminded the Predacon of Megatron and Shockwave, its master and its creator, both of who showed no fear of it, both radiating power from their EM fields. This winged bot was not afraid of the Predacon, unlike most of the bots it met, which felt unnatural, unnerving, even. If he was not afraid... did he possess power like Megatron and Shockwave?
"Get inside now," Dreadwing growled again, "beast."
The Predacon snorted and snarled at Dreadwing. To everyone's surprise, the Predacon actually got up this time and began walking towards the hangar, hissing at Dreadwing as it walked past him. Dreadwing stared perplexed after it before a satisfied smile presented itself on his face.
Seeing the Predacon leaving their presence, Skywarp and Thundercracker sighed and looked back at each other, first now noticing that they were still embracing each other. They quickly pulled away and coughed in embarrassment.
"Well then," Thundercracker said after resetting his vocalizer. "Looks like you got it under control now."
"It is a step one, in any case," Dreadwing replied, watching the Predacon crouching in a corner of the hangar while glaring at Dreadwing.
"Dreadwing, are you with the beast?" Megatron's voice sounded over the comm.
"Yes, my liege," Dreadwing replied. "I have managed to make it heed my every command."
"Excellent. One of the excavation teams has failed to report in."
"I shall assemble a squadron and-"
"I would prefer that you lead our newly returned asset on this mission," Megatron interrupted, "so that we may see if our Predacon is as adept at fetching bones as it is hunting Autobots."
Dreadwing glanced at the Predacon, which continued to glare back at him, still crouched. Dreadwing hummed.
"Understood," he replied, and the comm. ended. Instead of ordering the Predacon right away, Dreadwing instead entered the ship, with Thundercracker and Skywarp following close behind, the latter two glancing concerned at the angry Predacon they passed.
"Uh, didn't Lord Megatron tell you-" Skywarp began but was interrupted by Dreadwing.
"I will have a few troopers accompany me," Dreadwing replied without looking at either of them. "Just in case."
"Well, good luck with that," Skywarp replied.
They arrived at a fork, where Dreadwing went to the left while the two Trinemates went to the right, heading for the bridge.
"'I'm Dreadwing, I taught a Predacon to heed my every command,'" Skywarp mock-imitated as they were far enough away from Dreadwing. "'I'm such a good pet, Megatron loooves me.'"
"Alright, that's enough," Thundercracker replied though chuckled at the parody. "But you're right. That Dreadwing is such a pain in the aft sometimes. Thinks he's all mighty and good. And the worst part is, Megatron totally buys all that scrap."
"How much exactly has Dreadwing done for the Decepticon cause?" Skywarp snarled with his arms crossed. "He's failed more often than he's succeeded, as far as I've seen, in any case. Yet Megs praises him so much and calls us incompetents! Me, who actually got that Omega Key and figured out about that Omega Lock thing, I'm the incompetent one?! While Dreadwing wastes time on bombs and fighting Autobots and totally ignores the mission at hand and-"
Thundercracker laid his servos on Skywarp's shoulders as they neared the bridge. "Calm down, Warp," Thundercracker replied. "His Lordship might hear you."
Skywarp let out a sigh and relaxed his cables. "It's just so unfair," he grumbled. "Why won't Lord Megatron pay attention to me?"
"It is unfair," Thundercracker said in agreement. "But that's what we'll have to endure for the greater good. So what if Lord Megatron doesn't praise you? You got me for that."
Skywarp gazed at Thundercracker and cracked a small smile. Thundercracker smiled back at his Trinemate. They paused just before entering the bridge.
"I know you're doing great, Skywarp," Thundercracker continued. "Don't worry about what Megatron, Dreadwing, Shockwave, Starscream or anyone else says about you. You're smart, and you are definitely a lot more competent than Dreadwing. They're all just blind, they can't see the truth even if it's right in front of them. I will be there for you when you need me. Always remember that."
Skywarp's smile widened. "Thanks, TC," he said. "I know I can always count on you. I don't know what I'd do without you."
"Me neither," Thundercracker replied and pat the other's shoulder. "Now, let's go see if Lord Megatron has something for us to do while Dreadwing's gone."
Skywarp nodded, and they entered the bridge. Megatron stood in his usual place by Soundwave's side on the catwalk. The Seekers stopped before the catwalk and stood to attention.
"Lord Megatron," Thundercracker greeted. "We heard one of the excavation teams failed to report in. Anything we can do?"
Megatron turned to face the two Seekers and hummed. "Shockwave has already been sent out to assist another team. You are both on standby until further notice."
The two Seekers' disappointed sighs did not escape Megatron's audio receptors. He cracked a smile in amusement over the Seekers' eager to work.
"Although, since you are currently available," Megatron continued, gaining their attention, "I suppose you can assist setting up a new communications dish out on the flight deck."
Thundercracker and Skywarp both cocked their heads in confusion.
"A communications dish?" Thundercracker replied skeptically. "Why-"
"Get to work immediately," Megatron ordered. "The troopers will supply you with the materials. Dismissed!"
Thundercracker wanted to say more, but decided to shut his mouth. He and Skywarp left the bridge and returned to the flight deck, where a group of Vehicons began arriving with building materials. They noticed the Predacon was gone, as was Dreadwing, most likely, along with some Fliers. Thundercracker sighed.
"What could Megatron be thinking, having us set up such a primitive communications system?" Thundercracker uttered.
"Hey, the Vehicons brought an instructions manual too," Skywarp remarked and pointed at a datapad on a stack of boxes. "This looks like fun."
Thundercracker gaped after Skywarp who immediately turned on the datapad and got started on the building. The blue Seeker sighed.
What have the Decepticons come to...?
Meanwhile, the Wreckers had moved a good way into the cavern in Scotland. It appeared there were no more Vehicons than the ones they fought outside the cave, as their path went quietly and the tunnel was pretty empty of anything but rocks.
"Is this it?" Miko asked and held up an object that was spiky and in a peculiar shape.
Ultra Magnus turned and looked briefly at the object the human had found. "No, that is a rock," Ultra Magnus replied.
Miko lowered her arms and gazed at the rock again in disappointment. Hot Shot took a look at it as well.
"A pretty cool-looking rock," Hot Shot remarked with a smile. "Maybe you should keep it as a souvenir."
"Eh, it's fine," Miko said and put the rock back on the ground. "It's a bit heavy anyway."
Octane looked around at the tunnel. Hot Shot glanced up at the Triple Changer.
"What's up?" Hot Shot asked. "Something wrong?"
"No, on the contrary," Octane replied. "I feel quite calm. I've heard flight frames usually have claustrophobia, yet I have no problem being in these narrow tunnels."
"Maybe it's 'cause you're only part Flier," Wheeljack suggested. "You should see Screamy in your spot. He'd freak out like no one's freaked out before."
"You don't know half of it," Bulkhead replied. "I've actually lived with the guy, he goes absolutely bolts."
"I see," Octane replied and moved on with Hot Shot beside him. Miko fell back as Bulkhead and Wheeljack began talking together.
"Hey, so got any better at flying lately?" Hot Shot asked.
"Haven't really had the time," Octane replied. "I would love to get taught by Starscream, but he seems to hate me for some reason."
"Really? Well, I think he did sort of give you death glares or something back in the base. What did you do to make him hate you so much?"
"I don't know. I've barely done anything yet, barely talked to him."
"Well, maybe you should ask him when we get back."
"Like he'd want to talk to me."
They fell silent for a moment and paused in their walking, since the three in the back weren't moving. Hot Shot pat Octane's arm, as his shoulder was too high to be worth the effort.
"You just gotta be brave enough to ask him," Hot Shot said with a smile. "He can't ignore you forever. We all live in the same place, after all. You just have to stand up for yourself, show this guy you ain't afraid of him. You gotta make him listen to you."
Octane thought about Hot Shot's words for a while, then chuckled. "Where'd you learn to speak like that?" he asked.
"Bumblebee," Hot Shot replied and crossed his arms with a smirk. "He's an awesome teacher. Taught me all about speed, courage and independence. And we're bros too, which makes it all so much cooler!"
Octane's smile fell. "Brothers," he said and gazed at the ground. "Right."
Suddenly, the tunnel began shaking all around them, Miko falling off a rock she had been standing on, but Bulkhead managed to catch her before she hit the floor. Rocks and dust began falling from the ceiling in several places from the tremor.
"What was that?" Bulkhead questioned with concern.
His question was answered by a faint yet very familiar shrill roar coming from the end of the tunnel they had come from, followed by a rattling rumble. Everyone looked in the direction the sound came from. Soon after, loud thuds were heard in a fast pace.
"Whatever it is," Wheeljack said, "it's big."
The loud thuds became louder with every second, and the rumbling became more intense along with it. Another loud shriek was heard from the tunnel. At the end of the tunnel, as far as they could see, a shadow danced on the lit wall, following in sync with the thuds and the rumbling. The recruits looked at the tunnel with anticipation, unaware what was coming.
"And it's comin' fast," Wheeljack continued and took a step back, as did the others, except for Ultra Magnus who stepped forward between Wheeljack and Bulkhead, still holding Miko. They knew what was coming. They recognized the sounds, but they still couldn't believe it was what it sounded like.
A few seconds later, the Predacon came into view, running through the narrow yet large enough tunnels that it could move, its wings folded flat against its body. As it set its optics on the Autobots, it let out another shrill roar, making everyone take a step back and sent chills down everyone's spines and spinal struts. The recruits winced back by the emergence of the huge monster.
"The Predacon," Ultra Magnus remarked and turned to the others. "Let's roll!"
At the same time, all the Autobots assumed their alternate modes, Bulkhead letting Miko get inside him, Octane assuming his tanker truck mode, and rolled off in the direction they were going, away from the Predacon. The Predacon continued to run after them, closing in on Ultra Magnus. Miko stuck her head out of Bulkhead's window.
"It's back?!" she exclaimed.
She quickly got inside again, as the Predacon powered up and unleashed a fireball on the team. Everyone managed to dodge to the sides to avoid getting hit, Octane only just managing not to get hit. Suddenly, a thought struck the Triple Changer's mind.
"Hey, uh, that stuff in my tanker," Octane shouted, "that stuff called octane or oil or something, that's not flammable, is it?"
There was silence for a while as they thought about the realization.
"Oh scrap," Bulkhead swore. "Why did you have to choose a tanker as your alternate mode?"
"That stuff's highly volatile!" Wheeljack exclaimed. "Like Energon! I learned that the hard way!"
Ultra Magnus turned to lead the group into a side-tunnel, in an attempt to shake off the Predacon.
"You've got to be kidding!" Octane exclaimed. "So if I get hit, I explode?!"
Just then, they heard a loud thud and rattling and hissing, as if the Predacon had got itself stuck. But that didn't stop it from attacking. It fired another fireball under a shrill roar, this time with Miko foolishly sticking her head out the window again to see if the Predacon really was stuck. Octane felt his Spark skip a beat, sensing the incoming fire.
"Accelerate!" Ultra Magnus shouted.
Everyone boosted up in speed as they approached a chamber, especially Octane who apparently was especially vulnerable to heat with his chosen vehicle mode. As soon as they were in the chamber, everyone scattered to the sides to dodge the flames as they reached them, just in time that no one got hit, not even Octane. Everyone sighed of relief, but now they had another problem. This chamber was a dead end, trapping them between a rock and a Predacon. The bots assumed bot mode and assessed the situation.
"That rock won't hold it forever," Ultra Magnus remarked and turned to the others. "We need to contact base and request reinforcements."
"Wreckers don't call for backup," Wheeljack said and placed his servos on his hips, glancing at Bulkhead.
Bulkhead and Ultra Magnus both glanced at Wheeljack in disbelief. Bulkhead turned back to Ultra Magnus.
"Uh, what Jackie means is, we can't get a comm. link signal this far underground," Bulkhead tried to explain.
Ultra Magnus gazed from Bulkhead to Wheeljack, who continued to stare defiantly at the commander, now with crossed arms. Bulkhead set Miko down on a rock by the wall.
"Miko, I have to get you out of here," Bulkhead said. "Gonna need you to climb."
They all gazed up at the ceiling, which had a nice gap sending in sunlight. There was a stairs of rocks going from the bottom to the top, though it seemed a bit hazardous and would probably take a long time.
"No way," Miko protested. "I wanna help."
"And you will," Ultra Magnus assured. "Your mission: reach my ship so you can contact Optimus Prime."
Instead of arguing, Miko stood to attention and saluted. "Yessir!" she said and started climbing.
The bots gazed at her climbing for a moment. Octane stepped over and picked Miko off the wall by her shirt.
"Hey! What gives?" Miko exclaimed as she was put back on the rock.
"You don't have to climb by yourself," Octane said. "I can help too. I'm a flight frame, remember?"
"Your plane mode is too large to fit through that gap," Ultra Magnus commented.
"I'm not talking about transforming," Octane defended. "I can fly in bot mode too. Let me help her out."
Behind them, they heard the Predacon growl and roar as it struggled to get through its trap.
"We don't have time to waste," Ultra Magnus said. "Get her to safety, soldier."
Octane saluted. "Yessir!" he said and held out his open servo at Miko. "Climb on. I'll get you out of here."
Miko seemed to make a pout but nonetheless stepped onto his servo. "I can handle myself, you know," she grumbled.
"I know," Octane replied with a smile and stood straight. "Hold on tight."
Octane activated the thrusters in his pedes, and fire started to spout from underneath them. Soon, he began ascending into the air, trying his best to keep his balance and not lose control of this ability he only recently had discovered that he had. The other Wreckers remained below and watched the twosome steadily reaching the top of the chamber.
"Hope that Predacon is alone," Hot Shot said anxiously. "Otherwise Octane and Miko might be in trouble."
Before anyone could comment further, they heard a loud thud and crash, followed by a rattling moan and a shrill roar from behind them. Everyone turned to the tunnel as things suddenly went quiet. Too quiet.
"Not sure I like the sound of that," Wheeljack uttered.
"So, uh..." Bulkhead drawled out as Ultra Magnus took a few steps forward.
"We make our stand," Ultra Magnus said and drew the Forge of Solus Prime from his back. "Here and now."
Bulkhead, Wheeljack and Hot Shot deployed their blasters and cannons, preparing for the Predacon to arrive. Hot Shot gazed briefly between the tunnel and the gap, Octane having now disappeared from his point of view.
"Please be okay, Octane," Hot Shot muttered to himself.
Back in Hangar E, Starscream was sleeping uneasily. He was still curled up in his defensive position and did not seem to be having a good dream. His closed optic lids were twitching, as were his digits, legs and wings now and then. He emitted small grunts on occasion, often catching the attention of the others in the base.
While Ransack and Crumplezone were chatting with each other, and Red Alert was helping Ratchet adjust the devices on one of the tables, Arcee didn't have much to do by herself, so she mostly watched Starscream in his sleep. She wondered what the Seeker might be dreaming with all those little movements and sounds he made. Jack was watching TV, and Raf was on his laptop, so they didn't pay much attention to what the others were doing. It was already past noon, though Miko was nowhere to be found. She had told the boys she was going to get a soda, but that had been a while ago now. The boys had an idea where she might be, but decided not to dwell on it, knowing she could take care of herself.
All of a sudden, Starscream woke with a yelp and swiped the air in front of him, hitting the wall to his left. The sound caught the attention of some of the others, especially Arcee who had been watching him all this time. Starscream looked around and blinked a few times before letting out a sigh and settling back against the wall.
The others returned to what they were doing, but Arcee, not having anything else to do, decided to approach the Seeker and strike up a conversation.
"Bad dream?" she asked, knowing the answer.
"It wasn't a pleasant one," Starscream admitted and only briefly gazed at the two-wheeler.
"Wanna talk about it?"
"Not really."
"Alright."
Arcee leaned against the wall on the right side of Starscream. Starscream looked around the base. Something was amiss.
"Where is everyone?" he asked, noting how empty the hangar looked.
"We caught two signals of Decepticon activity earlier," Arcee replied. "Optimus took Bee and Smokescreen to an oil field in Texas, and Ultra Magnus took the Wreckers to some bluffs in Scotland."
"I see," Starscream replied and took another look around, gazing at Ransack, Crumplezone, Red Alert and Ratchet. "Where is that Octane?"
"He and Hot Shot went with the Wreckers to the bluffs," Arcee said. "They'll probably be back soon, but we haven't heard from either team yet."
Starscream hummed in understanding. "And why are you still here?" he asked.
"Just in case another signal pops up while the others are out," she replied.
"Aha."
After that, there was silence. Starscream fell into deep thoughts, Arcee gazing between him and the empty space in front of them.
Like he had said, Starscream's dream had not been pleasant. In it, he found himself surrounded by the Autobots, all staring at him with judgmental looks. They called him useless, expendable, unwanted and not worth their resources. They kicked him out of the base into the open, empty desert, where he was left all alone, even the military base disappearing.
But he had not been alone, for in the next moment, he found himself surrounded by the new recruits, one of them, probably Hot Shot, having grabbed him from behind and prevented him from getting away. The recruits had repeated the veterans' chants about his uselessness and how much better it would be if he just disappeared from this world. Starscream had watched as Octane approached him, holding a knife, intending to kill him. Starscream had struggled in Hot Shot's surprisingly strong grip, finding himself strangely weak.
But before Octane could put the knife in, Starscream had instead managed to get one of his arms free and clawed Octane in the side, then took his knife and stabbed him to death. Afterwards, Hot Shot finally let go of Starscream, and the four remaining recruits stood again around Starscream and called him a murderer. Starscream looked between the recruits and the corpse of Octane, who then turned into Cliffjumper, and everyone chanted "Murderer, murderer..." all around him.
When Starscream had then turned around, he saw Arcee staring at him in disbelief and glaring at him, also calling him a murderer, a monster. The other veterans appeared, and they talked about putting him down, make sure he wouldn't hurt anyone anymore. Starscream had then backed off, turned back to Cliffjumper's corpse, only to see it rise as a Terrorcon and launch itself at him.
That's when he woke up. With a beating Spark, venting quickly and still feeling an ounce of anxiety from the dream.
Just thinking about the dream made Starscream anxious and look around the base to study the faces of the others. He side-glanced Arcee when she wasn't looking at him. She had said she had forgiven him for killing Cliffjumper, but was she sincere? He didn't think so. She still hated him, he knew it. She just couldn't let it affect the team. She was compromising, but inside, in reality, she still utterly hated him.
Starscream thought about how the team in the dream so easily kicked him out, left him alone in the middle of nowhere. How the recruits had been about to harm him, and how he defended himself, only to be accused of murder and being evil. No one cared when he was in danger, but if he hurt someone, everyone hated him.
That was something Starscream was truly afraid of. That because of his past, because of his reputation, that he would not be able to defend himself, should he get attacked by someone who was thought to be an ally. He didn't know why or how that would ever happen, but the situation itself was scary to him.
The part where he got left in the middle of the desert suddenly reminded him of the time when the Autobots had left him behind on Cybertron. Was that why he dreamt about this? He had not had any abandonment nightmares before the whole ordeal with the Omega Keys, but lately that was what most of his nightmares had been about. As well as getting attacked by the Predacon, that is.
Starscream let out another sigh, catching Arcee's attention yet again. She studied his face and his wings, which were in their normal position despite his otherwise seemingly dejected mood.
"Are you okay, Starscream?" Arcee asked quietly.
"Terrific," Starscream said sarcastically and grabbed the G.I. Joe datapad, turning it on. He said no more.
Arcee let out a sigh of her own and pulled away from the wall. Starscream didn't seem to be in the mood for talking right now. So she decided to go do something else.
Starscream gazed up briefly from his datapad to look at Arcee as she walked away. He wasn't paying much attention to the story. He still worried how the Autobots thought of him. How they felt about his killing of Cliffjumper. How they thought about Octane.
What they thought about Octane compared to Starscream and vice versa. If Starscream really was useless and to be replaced with Octane.
Starscream tightened his grip around the datapad. He wished internally that Octane wouldn't make it back to the base. Or at least got neutralized so he couldn't replace Starscream. At least then it wouldn't be Starscream's fault if the Triple Changer just 'disappeared'. He was more comfortable with the thought of the universe getting rid of Octane for him instead of doing it himself.
I hope he gets eaten by Insecticons, Starscream thought spitefully and returned his attention to the datapad in his servos.
Meanwhile in Scotland, Octane had finally reached the top of the chasm and put his arms on the ground in front of him to support his weight, turning off his thrusters. Miko stepped off his palm and went on ahead towards the Iron Will, while Octane used all his strength to pull himself out of the hole and onto the ground.
"Hey, wait up, Miko," Octane said as he got onto his legs and went after her, though walking rather than running like she did.
Miko didn't answer him; she was still determined to be the one to reach the ship and call for backup first. She would be the one to save the others below, not Octane.
Though as the pair reached the ship, the hatch on the underside opened on its own, starting to descend. Voices could be heard from inside the ship, and Miko immediately went to hiding behind a nearby boulder. Octane looked around, but there was no boulder or anything large enough to hide him. Miko gazed back at him as the pedes of the intruders became visible.
"What are you doing?" she whispered. "Hide!"
"Where?!" Octane hissed back as the legs of the intruders appeared in their field of vision.
"Given that their ship is currently unoccupied," Dreadwing's voice sounded as he and two Vehicon Fliers appeared from the ship, "it would seem the Autobots did stumble upon our mining... operation."
Dreadwing and the Vehicons stared ahead at the unknown bot standing right in front of the ship, among some boulders. Octane had decided not to try hiding and instead just improvise.
Dreadwing frowned at the stranger. "You there!" he growled. "State your business!"
Octane put on a nervous smile and waved. "Oh hey there," he chuckled. "I'm the newest Decepticon recruit, Octane! Nice to meet you!"
Dreadwing shared a glance with the Vehicons. None of them had raised their weapons, but they were still wary of him.
"I have not heard of any new recruits in the Decepticon ranks," Dreadwing snarled. "And I am the First Lieutenant. Lord Megatron would have told me."
"Oh, that's because I just arrived on Earth just now," Octane said and laughed, scratching the back of his head in a nervous gesture. "Yeah, and I've been searching around for the Decepticon base since. I saw this ship here, and I thought maybe it belonged to us?"
"It is an Autobot ship," Dreadwing replied. "Which you should clearly be able to see on the marking."
Octane gazed at one of the symbols on the ship and briefly glanced down at Miko behind the boulder. She looked skeptically at him, and he quickly winked back before returning his gaze to the trio in front of him.
"Yeah, I, uh, didn't see that when I first arrived," Octane chuckled nervously - Miko wasn't sure if he was genuinely nervous over the acting or if he was acting nervous, pretending to be a shy bot. "But yeah, it's an Autobot ship, I know now. So, uh, what's your name, fellow Decepticon?"
Dreadwing and the Vehicons stepped forward, past the boulders, approaching Octane. Deeming the coast to be clear, Miko got out of her hiding spot and set off towards the ship, trusting Octane to stall the Decepticons.
"I am Dreadwing," Dreadwing introduced and stopped a few meters from Octane. Rather than continue talking, he studied Octane up and down, until his gaze fell on the purple symbol on the other's royal blue chestplate. His optics widened as he recognized the symbol.
"He's an Autobot," Dreadwing snarled and drew his machine gun from his back, the Vehicons deploying their blasters. "Get him!"
Octane quickly gazed down at his chest and waved his servos in front of him. "What? No, no, no, I'm not an Autobot!" he exclaimed. "I'm, uh... a spy! That's it, I'm a spy for the Decepticons! Undercover! Infiltrator!"
Dreadwing and the Vehicons didn't fire their weapons right away, but they didn't lower them either. Octane took it as a cue to continue.
"I was sent here, to... find the Autobot base and infiltrate it, and steal their secrets. Yes, that's it. They have no idea I'm on your side. Which I am, seriously."
Octane glanced over at the hatch, with Miko on it. He wondered why she wasn't getting inside the ship. He then realized the button for going up was too far up and away for her to reach by herself. He had to do something.
"Uh, since we're all Decepticons here," Octane said with a nervous grin, slowly moving to the side, towards the ship, "and that's an Autobot ship, then we don't need to bother with it, right? Might as well leave it and find someplace to talk, right?"
Octane reached the ship without the Decepticons firing at him, and pushed the button to close the hatch. Unfortunately, Dreadwing turned his head to gaze at the hatch and spotted Miko.
"A human!" Dreadwing growled, getting the Vehicons' attention on her. "Stop her!"
The Vehicons went towards the hatch, but before they could reach Miko, Octane transformed to truck mode and rammed them, pushing them away from the ship and catching Dreadwing's attention. Eventually the Vehicons split from Octane's ramming and got back onto their legs.
"Fire!" Dreadwing ordered, as all three Decepticons began shooting after Octane, desperately zig-zagging to dodge in truck mode, while trying to lead the Decepticons away from the ship and Miko.
"Scrap," Octane swore as one of the lasers were very close to hitting him. "I forgot, that stuff in my tank is explosive, isn't it? Better take to the skies before I blow up!"
In the next moment, Octane changed form to plane mode. This time, all three Decepticons stopped their firing and stared at him for a moment.
"A Triple Changer?" Dreadwing uttered. "Interesting. After him!"
All three Decepticons transformed to jet mode and took off after Octane in his bigger plane mode. They started shooting after him, and he desperately tried to get out of their range, shake them off, outspeed them, but they kept following him.
"They can shoot in their alternate modes?!" Octane exclaimed to himself. "Maybe that means I can too? Come on, I gotta have something in this form..."
The Fliers just circled around the area, Octane getting brushed several times by lasers but not taking any serious hits, while Miko finally made it inside the ship in safety. Octane struggled trying to find weapons in his flight mode.
"Come on, please, please..." he said. "Oh, I think I got something! Here goes!"
Pulling a virtual trigger, Octane launched a pair of missiles right in front of him. He yelped and quickly turned to the left just in time to avoid getting hit by his own missiles as they exploded. The jets behind him were hit by the shockwave but didn't take any significant damage nor did they lose control.
"Okay, that was a bad idea," Octane hissed to himself. "But really, missiles? No lasers, I have to be facing the enemy or I'll be hitting myself?! Better take it to the ground then."
Octane steered towards the ground and transformed to bot mode, followed by the Decepticons behind him. They didn't shoot after him right away, instead the four Fliers just stared each other down, a distance between the Iron Will and the chasm where the others were.
"You're pathetic," Dreadwing spat. "I've never met a worse Flier or warrior in my life. Were you brought online yesterday?"
"Uh, no, I came online three days ago," Octane corrected offended and drew the sword on his back. "I'm not pathetic, I'm strong, I can do stuff!"
Dreadwing stared at him for a moment before he huffed a laugh. "This will be easy," he said and drew his own sword. "I won't even need to use my proximity bombs... yet."
Inside the cavern, the Predacon had broken free from its trap and made its way inside the small chamber in which the Autobots had fled. Only, as it entered, it saw only one Autobot, the big blue one with the big golden hammer. He stood in the middle of the chamber, glaring at the Predacon with a determined look on his face.
The Predacon threw its head back and screeched before charging towards the Autobot commander. Ultra Magnus swung the hammer and whacked the Predacon's face with it, causing it to shriek loudly.
"Open fire!" Ultra Magnus yelled while the Predacon was recovering from the impact.
Wheeljack leapt from his cover and fired lasers at the Predacon, though it didn't have much effect on its thick armor. From the other side, Bulkhead appeared and shot his own lasers at the beast, making it look his way. A little away from Bulkhead leapt out Hot Shot, activating his own set of blasters and shooting after the Predacon, now being shot at from three different directions, making it uncertain which bot to target first.
Instead of charging, however, the Predacon simply swung its huge tail in the direction of Hot Shot and Bulkhead. Hot Shot yelped and only just managed to jump high enough to avoid getting hit. Bulkhead ducked instead and got scraped on his back by the spikes on the underside of the tail. He had thick armor too, though, so the attack didn't do much damage to him.
As the bots continued firing, the Predacon's chest lit up, and it pointed its head to the ceiling. Ultra Magnus watched as the beast looked at Wheeljack before opening its jaws and launching a fireball at him. Luckily, Wheeljack managed to get out of the way just in time to avoid getting burned. Behind the beast, Bulkhead and Hot Shot continued firing, but retreated as the Predacon opened fire again, this time spouting fire from the left to the right to hit as many targets as possible. They all managed to avoid the flames, however, seeking cover behind boulders or ducking under the flames.
Ultra Magnus charged and swung his hammer once again, hitting the Predacon on its right shoulder and knocking it back, causing it to fall on its side on the ground. It rose its head and shrieked at the Autobot in anger before whipping its tail at him.
"No you don't!" Bulkhead uttered and caught the tail just before it hit Ultra Magnus behind him.
It proved to be a mistake, as the Predacon simply lifted its tail up high, Bulkhead's heavy weight being no problem for the much bigger and heavier beast. It swung its tail and threw Bulkhead back on the ground, earning a yelp from the Wrecker as he crashed into Ultra Magnus, knocking them both into the wall. Hot Shot remained behind his cover, not feeling confident in taking on the Predacon by himself.
The Predacon approached the two downed Autobots, but was distracted by Wheeljack's firing at it from behind. It turned to look at him, standing on a ledge.
"Hey, hothead!" Wheeljack called, seemingly wanting to get the beast's attention.
The Predacon turned all the way around and approached the smaller Wrecker as he fired a few more lasers to keep its attention on him. It opened its jaws, preparing to launch another fireball. This time, however, Wheeljack was prepared.
He drew a grenade from his waist and threw it at the Predacon, aiming at its waiting jaws. Only, the Predacon was much faster at reacting than they thought possible; mere inches from its jaws, it swung its tail and batted the grenade away from its face. Wheeljack's smirk fell quickly and he and Hot Shot watched with dread as the grenade bounced around the chamber until it fell and stopped before Bulkhead and Ultra Magnus.
Bulkhead just regained consciousness when he saw to his horror the beeping grenade lying in front of him and Magnus. Hot Shot returned to his cover and crouched as much as he could to prepare for the blast.
The light on the grenade turned from green to red and beeped very fast, seconds from exploding. Wheeljacks expression fell, and he mentally face-palmed.
"Oh scrap," Wheeljack groused before the grenade exploded.
The Fliers outside the mine had not heard the explosion; it had occured while they were in flight, at the same time as Octane's missiles exploded in front of them all, thus deafening the explosion from the mine.
While the bots inside the cave had been buried under rocks, Octane was struggling in his fight against Dreadwing. They were clashing with their swords, while the Vehicons just stood back and watched. Knowing this was a newbie and seeing his useless flight skills, they did not think highly of him, and Dreadwing was confident he could easily take him out by himself.
Only, as it turned out, Octane was not so useless when it came down to close combat, with swords or with fists. He parried each and every one of Dreadwing's attacks, though got parried himself whenever he tried to land a hit on the Seeker. Ultra Magnus had taught him how to parry and fight with weapons as well as how much strength to put in his attacks, whether they were punches or swings with a weapon. When it came to ground combat, Octane was pretty well-prepared considering he had only been online for three or four days now.
Dreadwing was surprised by Octane's skill in sword fighting. This guy's not too shabby, he thought. I thought he was weak because of his flying skills, but he's actually pretty strong. He could prove a threat in the future, being a Triple Changer and all. I must get rid of him here and now and cripple the Autobots' forces!
"Is that all you got, Autobot?" Dreadwing growled and made a hard swing with his own sword as Octane attempted a strike, knocking the Triple Changer back. "Now, fire!"
The two Vehicons, who had previously just been watching the scene, now deployed their blasters and started shooting at Octane, barely giving him enough time to recover. But Octane managed to lift his sword and quickly deflect the lasers with the flat side of the blade, another thing he had been taught by Ultra Magnus. He managed to deflect most of the lasers, though missed one that brushed his shoulder, causing him to yelp.
Dreadwing sheathed his sword on his back and instead drew his machine gun, aimed it at Octane and prepared to fire.
But before he could pull the trigger, something caught his attention in the sky, as did the Vehicons, who ceased their firing. They all looked up into the sky, now also drawing Octane's attention. It was a bad idea to look away from your enemy, but Octane was too inexperienced and curious to see what had gotten everyone's attention.
From the sky, a small round object hit Octane on the head and fell onto the grass with a small bump, rolling a bit before stopping by the pedes of Dreadwing. Everyone gazed at the object, which resembled an optic.
"What do you know," Dreadwing commented. "It can fetch."
A huge shadow covered the Fliers in darkness, and Octane looked up anxiously. Right above the ship, the Predacon hovered a bit before planting its claws on the roof of the ship. It gawked at Octane, who now seemed to lose all confidence and courage.
"Scrap," Octane squeaked.
Inside the cave, the Wreckers regained consciousness and began digging their way out of the rubble. Hot Shot lifted a few large rocks off him, having been behind cover when the explosion hit, but still got buried under the rubble. As the other Wreckers got out from the rocks, Wheeljack was the first to speak.
"Well, that didn't go exactly as planned," Wheeljack said, almost jokingly.
"That's because any first-cycle cadet knows better than to detonate a grenade within a confined space," Ultra Magnus scolded as he got out of the rubble and approached the renegade Wrecker.
"Yeah, even I know that's a bad idea," Hot Shot snarled in agreement as he emerged. "And I've only been online for three days!"
"Even if I intended the 'confined space' to be the belly of the beast?" Wheeljack snarled back at both of them.
"Uh, sir," Bulkhead uttered and stepped between the three angry bots.
"Your actions continue to be just one step removed from getting us all scrapped!" Ultra Magnus continued, ignoring Bulkhead.
"With all due respect, sir," Bulkhead said louder, catching the other three bots' attention now, "the Predacon's loose, and Miko and Octane are out there alone."
Without another word, Bulkhead deployed his wrecking ball and ran through the tunnel they had come from, intent to come to Miko's rescue. Wheeljack glanced back at Ultra Magnus.
"Permission to provide cover, sir?" Wheeljack said in a mocking tone.
Ultra Magnus glared at the Wrecker, but Hot Shot did not want to waste time. He ran on ahead, with Wheeljack soon following behind, followed by Ultra Magnus.
"Hang on, Octane," Hot Shot said to the air and ran as fast as he could. "We're coming!"
Octane turned away from the ship and ran past the three Decepticons, none of them eager to attack him anymore, now that the Predacon had returned. He put the sword on his back, jumped and reverted to plane mode, trying to take off. But before he could get into the air, the Predacon caught him with its talons, slamming him onto the ground, forcing him back into bot mode.
Octane screamed and writhed on his back between the large claws, trying to aim his blasters at the beast's face, but the shots either missed or didn't have any affect on its armor plating.
The Predacon lifted its claws and started swiping at the defenseless Octane on the ground. Octane screamed in pain and fear as the large claws tore through his armor and caused gaping, leaking wounds. Instead of trying to attack in vain, Octane simply crouched into a fetal position to protect his vitals, while the Predacon mercilessly swiped and caused deep wounds in his armor. Energon splattered by each slash, and Octane screamed as loud as he could, unable to get away or protect himself. His only hope was that the others would make it there in time - if they were still alive, that is.
His small hope of gettin saved by the others vanished when the Predacon stopped its relentless strikes and instead closed its jaws around his torso. It lifted him into the air, causing him to scream even louder and struggle in its hold, but it was no use.
It began swinging its head from side to side, in such a speed that it felt like Octane's limbs were about to fall off. It chomped down harder on his torso, piercing through the mesh and causing heavy leaking. Octane howled in pain and instinctively swiped out with his claws at the beast's face, trying to get it to let go.
After a while, the Predacon threw Octane onto the ground below. Octane huffed by the impact and whimpered in pain, Energon leaking all over his body. He could barely move and didn't even get a chance to try before the Predacon activated its fire mechanism. Octane was engulfed in flames, burning hot, causing him to cry out in utter agony. He had only been online for four days, yet it seemed it was already time for him to die.
Octane wished he hadn't taken Miko outside. He wished he had stayed in the cave with the others, where he would have had protection and cover. Out here, he was alone and defenseless, and now he was going to die a horrible death. He was terrified and helpless and in pain, and he just wanted it all to be over.
While Octane was going through tremendous torment, Dreadwing received a comm. from Megatron.
"Dreadwing, status report!" Megatron's voice sounded.
"My liege, we have secured the bone," Dreadwing reported while holding the fossilized optic between his claws. "And the Predacon is dealing with a new recruit of the Autobots as we speak."
"Excellent. Tell me more when you return. Have the beast return with my prize immediately. You can stay behind and finish the Autobots."
"Yes, my liege," Dreadwing replied as the comm. was cut. He focused his attention on the Predacon, currently busy searing the Autobot called Octane. "You! Beast! Take the bone back to Lord Megatron! Now!"
The Predacon stopped its flame attack and glared at Dreadwing. It hissed at him, not keen on ending the fun now, much less leave a snack. Dreadwing glared back.
"I said get back to the ship, you sorry excuse for a beast!" Dreadwing growled.
The Predacon snorted and shrieked at the Seeker in anger. Dreadwing ignored its rage and just threw the optic at it. The Predacon caught the bone between its teeth effortlessly and took to the skies immediately.
"You heard our master," Dreadwing said to the two Vehicons beside him as he walked over to the smoking remains of Octane. "We must locate the Autobots. As soon as I finish what I started."
Dreadwing drew his sword and gazed at Octane, lying on the ground, unconscious, leaking and with burn marks all over his body. His optics were closed, making his function uncertain. To be certain, Dreadwing lifted his sword into the air and prepared to finish off the Autobot.
"You fought well," Dreadwing snarled. "Too bad you won't live to tell the tale to anyone."
Before he could strike, however, a sound was heard from behind, catching the Seeker's attention. The Iron Will seemed to have activated itself, hovering a bit in the air. It aimed at the Decepticons before launching a pair of missiles from the underside.
Dreadwing quickly leapt to the side to avoid the missiles, which flew past and hit the two Vehicons, exploding in their faces. The Vehicons fell to the ground, both deactivated. Dreadwing focused on the window of the ship. The human girl Miko was standing by the controls and operating the ship by herself!
"The human," Dreadwing remarked. "I had completely forgotten about her. Looks like there's more to these humans than meets the eye."
"Step away from our comrade, Dreadwing!" Bulkhead's voice rumbled from behind Dreadwing.
Dreadwing turned back to the mine and saw Bulkhead, Wheeljack, Ultra Magnus and Hot Shot, a new bot, running towards the Decepticons with their blasters out.
Dreadwing quickly drew forth his detonator and held it up so everyone could see. The Autobots stopped promptly, though still with their blasters pointed at him.
"Don't make a move, Autobots," Dreadwing warned with a smirk. "Or else the ship - and the human - gets obliterated."
The Wreckers looked shocked between Dreadwing and the Iron Will, seeing Miko standing in the window of the hovering ship.
"You didn't," Bulkhead said in disbelief.
"I did," Dreadwing replied, still grinning. "I planted a bomb inside your ship when it was unattended. Even if the ship itself won't be destroyed, I am certain your human won't survive the explosion."
With the other servo, Dreadwing lifted his sword into the air again, aimed at the downed Octane.
"So what will it be?" Dreadwing shouted. "The Autobot or the human? Think fast!"
Hot Shot gazed anxiously between Octane, Dreadwing, the ship and the detonator. Suddenly an idea sprung to mind. A very risky, foolish idea, but it was the only thing he could think of.
As Dreadwing prepared to strike at Octane, Hot Shot quickly aimed one of his blasters at the detonator in Dreadwing's left servo. Without hesitation, Hot Shot pulled the trigger and shot a pair of lasers at Dreadwing, gaining everyone's horrified attention.
Dreadwing did not think the Autobots would actually attack, so he was not prepared to react in time to avoid the lasers. One laser hit his servo and knocked the detonator out of his servo, the other laser hit the Seeker in the chest and knocked him back in surprise, stopping his execution of Octane.
Hot Shot stared for a moment, surprised it actually worked. The other Wreckers were surprised too, but did not let it distract them.
"Now, fire!" Ultra Magnus shouted.
All the Wreckers began firing at Dreadwing, who struggled to dodge the shots and leapt to the side to recover. He heard the ship behind him launch another pair of missiles and only just managed to jump to the side to avoid their explosion between himself and the Autobots. Outnumbered and outgunned, and with the mission already accomplished, Dreadwing decided he had had enough.
While the smoke cloud from the explosion concealed them, Dreadwing reverted to jet mode and blasted off into the sky, leaving behind his detonator. He had spare ones back in his quarters, so that one was not a huge loss.
The Autobots fired their blasters after Dreadwing as they saw him escape, but quickly gave up as he did not return. As the smoke cloud dissipated, Bulkhead and Ultra Magnus ran over to the Iron Will to make sure Miko was okay, and to get rid of the bomb in the ship. Wheeljack and Hot Shot stayed behind, Hot Shot checking Octane and Wheeljack finding the detonator on the ground. He stomped on the small device on the side, smashing it to pieces and rendering it dysfunctional.
"Octane, speak to me," Hot Shot begged as he lifted Octane's head and slapped his chest, trying to wake him up. "Don't die, please!"
Octane didn't move nor made a sound. Hot Shot lifted his goggles and gazed concerned between Octane and Wheeljack, silently begging the Wrecker to do something.
Behind them, the ship had landed again, and Bulkhead emerged from the ship with a proximity bomb in servo.
"Heads up!" Bulkhead yelled, catching everyone's attention.
Bulkhead threw the bomb into the air with all his strength and waited until it was several hundred meters in the air before activating his blaster and shot lasers at the bomb. One of them hit, and the bomb promptly exploded with a loud bang, but it was far enough in the air that the explosion didn't harm the others. There was a bit of sharpnel falling to the ground around them though, occasionally hitting one of them on the head, but it was miniscule and not worth dodging.
"Bulkhead, Octane's in real bad condition!" Hot Shot shouted back. "We need to get him back to base right away!"
"On it," Wheeljack said and put a digit to his audio receptor. "Hey doc, we got a situation here. We really need a GroundBridge back pronto."
"I'm on it," Ratchet replied over the comm.
Bulkhead, Magnus and Miko all emerged from the ship and approached the others, gathering around the badly wounded Octane. Wheeljack knelt down and put a digit on Octane's neck cabling.
"He's alive," Wheeljack announced. "Barely. That beast really took a toll on him, didn't it?"
Bulkhead clenched his fists. "Dreadwing's gonna get it if Octane doesn't make it," he growled.
"Don't say that, Bulk," Miko said and looked concerned at Octane. "He's gonna make it. Right?"
The Wreckers fell silent, not wanting to answer or guess. In the next second, a portal opened right in front of them.
"There!" Hot Shot exclaimed and grabbed hold of Octane's upper body, but struggled to lift the bigger bot.
Wheeljack grabbed the left side. "Here, lemme help," he said, and the two bots worked together to lift the Triple Changer up on his feet, hauling an arm over each shoulder. Wheeljack glanced at Bulkhead and Miko. "If you don't mind, I'll be taking the shortcut back to base."
"You do that, soldier," Ultra Magnus replied and gazed at the other two. "Let's go."
Ultra Magnus turned back to his ship, while Wheeljack and Hot Shot went for the portal. Bulkhead and Miko looked between the ship and the portal before deciding to go with Ultra Magnus. Miko looked back at Wheeljack, Octane and Hot Shot as they disappeared through the portal, which closed behind them a second later. She sighed as they reached the ship.
"He'll be okay," Bulkhead assured her as they entered the ship. "We've got Ratchet, and he's got Red Alert now too."
"I know," Miko replied quietly as she settled.
Ultra Magnus sat down at the pilot's seat and began steering the ship upwards.
"Perhaps Wheeljack was right about the human after all," Ultra Magnus said.
Miko briefly gazed at Magnus before staring ahead of her, sitting by Bulkhead on his seat. Bad things tended to happen when she left bots behind. This time was no exception. She remembered how Bulkhead had been close to death by Toxic Energon exposure and how guilty she had felt about leaving him behind.
This time, Bulkhead was safe, but instead it was Octane, one of their newest members, who was on the brink of death. It was too soon to lose any of them.
Hopefully Octane was strong enough to endure and survive this. Hopefully Ratchet could save him.
Hopefully they wouldn't be coming home to a funeral that day.