Chapter 25-Rising Storm
In the deep reaches of outer space, a spaceship emerged from foldspace in a quick flash of light before heading straight for the nearest planet in eyesight. Its destination: Planet Terra. Inside were only two occupants, a tall, bulky mech and a shorter mech with a slender, lanky form.
"We'll be nearing Terra soon, Grimlock."
"About damn time." Grimlock growled. "I thought we'd never make it."
Swoop looked out the viewport at the blue planet they were heading towards. "Do you think Optimus will help us?"
"If not, I'll make him help us. He's wasted no time risking his life to save soldiers before. This should be no different."
Swoop nodded and held the ship steady as they entered the atmosphere. He really hoped Optimus didn't hold any grudges, or else their team might actually be gone for good.
XXXXXX
"Now follow the light."
Annie's pupil dilated as Ratchet shined the light into her eye. He moved it back and forth, and her eye followed it. After a minute, he turned the light off and smiled down at her.
"Congratulations, Annie. You eye is back and fully functional." Ratchet said.
Annie blinked, both eyes watering as she realized just what that meant. Her right eye was back! She could see again!
"Annie!" Debbie pulled her sister into a hug, with Grindor squeezing between them to get a hug in too. Darren and Gina watched from the side with smiles of their own.
"I can't believe it. Annie's actually getting better." Darren said.
"I'm glad something's going well for her." Gina said. "Now all that's left is her arm."
Annie's superhuman regeneration factor had been working overtime on repairing her body back to the way it was. Her eye had fully grown back after three days, but her left arm was a bit slower. Muscle and cartilage had to grow first before the bone. Thankfully, it was up to her elbow at this point, so it wouldn't be long until she had her entire arm back.
"Hey, Ratchet, how's the Ark doing?" Gina asked.
"It's almost back to full power. Repairs are going smoothly thanks to the technical magic of Armorhide and Wheeljack. A bit of a pain having repair drones work right outside my office though." Ratchet said.
"At least your ship is still in one piece." High Wire remarked.
"Speaking of pieces," Darren snapped his fingers. "Annie, don't you have a date with Brittany in an hour?"
"It's not a da—wait, an hour?" Annie hopped out of Debbie's arms and ran for the ground bridge. "Shit, I'm going to be late!"
Annie, calm down—frag!" Grindor took a bone to the head after it was shot from Annie's back. "Watch it with those things!"
Darren chuckled for a moment, but his smile dimmed as quickly as it came. Debbie saw this and walked over to him.
"What's the matter, Darren?"
"Annie will have to go back to school, and she still doesn't have total control of her powers. What if the other kids give her a hard time like they did with Brittany?" He asked.
"Annie knows well-enough not to bring any attention to herself. She knows what happened to Brittany and won't put her, or you, in danger." Debbie said.
"Not intentionally, but trouble always finds her, and I don't want it coming down on us."
Debbie bit her lip, not wanting to agree or disagree with Darren's rather true statement. Annie either looked for danger or danger came for her. "Look, just have some faith in your sister. She's more careful now, right?"
"I guess." He sighed, not entirely sure. He didn't like doubting Annie, but past experiences told him that any sort of peace they had would always, in some way, come to an explosive end.
XXXXXX
Optimus sat in the Ark's bridge reading over the repairs being done to the ship, which had landed in a forest in Nebrask for immediate repairs. The damage report was as expected for a ship that had an aerial death match with the Nemesis, though that attack Megatron threw at it left a jagged opening near the rear of the ship. A fuel line was torn open and much of the ship's fuel supply was depleted, enforcing a need for emergency repairs.
"Feels a bit dull, doesn't it?" Jazz walked up to him. "After all that craziness three days ago, it's hard to sit still."
"You're telling me." Optimus put his datapad down with a sigh. "Any word from the ARA?"
"Nothing. Megatron had enough sense to clear the island of any sensitive materials before or during the battle. It took us almost an hour to scout the base in fear of triggering some self-destruct sequence Megatron left behind for us to find. Otherwise, the entire facility is cleaned out. All that's left is a half-destroyed island and an empty base." Jazz said.
"And with them on the Nemesis, we can't track their energon signals. Meaning we're back to square one, or close to it." Optimus said. Jazz clapped his shoulder.
"Enough of that, boss bot. We bloodied their noses and sent them packing. Yeah, maybe we didn't get any prisoners, but we made them run, which is a plus for me." Jazz grinned at is longtime friend. "We both knew that winning this war wouldn't be easy."
"You're right about that." Optimus chuckled. "Thank you, Jazz."
"Any time, Optimus." Jaz smiled. "Everyone needs a bit of a pep talk now and then."
Suddenly the alarm went off on the main computer and Optimus checked the alert message.
"What is it?" Jazz asked.
"One of our satellites just detected an Autobot vessel heading for our location." Optimus said. "Teletran, have you identified the vessel?"
"Affirmative: ship is identified as the Grimstone."
"The Dynobots' ship?" Jazz frowned. "What do they want?"
"Probably nothing good if they willingly came to us instead of the other way around." Optimus replied, feeling uneasy about this surprise visit. "Call up Ironhide and Prowl. We need to go see what they want."
XXXXXX
Optimus and his team exited the ground bridge at the foot of a mountain where the ship was going to land.
"What the hell could Grimlock want with us? I thought they flew off to chase after Sprawl?" Ironhide said.
"Don't know, but I can tell this is going to give us all headaches." Prowl said.
"Look alive, everybody. Their ship's landing." Jazz announced.
The Grimstone was a custom made ship refurbished from a decommissioned Autobot shuttle. It was dark grey, red, and very large, which wasn't surprising given that the Dynobots were large themselves. However the Autobots were quick to notice the battle damage along the ship's outer hull. Fresh wounds from a space battle.
"Oh scrap." Ironhide muttered. "This isn't gonna be good."
The Grimstone slowly touched down to the ground in front of them. The team waited anxiously as the ship powered won and the landing hatch slid open with a hiss. Heavy footsteps could be heard from within the ship that grew louder. Prowl and Ironhide tensed up as the saw the big, hulking form of Grimlock leave the ship.
"He isn't looking so hot." Jazz whispered to Prime.
Optimus agreed with that observation. Grimlock looked like he had just gotten out of a very harrowing battle. Scars and burns covered his armor from top to bottom, and his red optic visor was cracked. Someone had clearly put him through his paces.
Grimlock walked up to the group and stop in front of Optimus. "Prime."
"Grimlock." Optimus replied. That was as much of a greeting the two would give each other.
"Hey guys." Swoop exited the ship next, also looking tired and battle weary.
"Swoop?" Prowl blinked. "What happened to you two?"
"And where's Slag, Sludge and Snarl?" Ironhide asked.
A deep growl rumbled in Grimlock's chest. "Gone."
"Gone?" Optimus said. "What do you mean?"
"They were taken…by Shockwave."
XXXXXX
Back at the Ark, the Autobots were gathered around Grimlock and Swoop as Ratchet and Lifeline worked on healing them. A quick dip in the CR chamber left the Dynobots as good as new, physically at least.
"Good to not have bullet holes in my armor anymore." Swoop spread his arms out in a nice, big stretch. "I was starting to rust there for a moment."
"You were rusting. You haven't cleaned those wounds in weeks, Swoop. That could've contaminated your energon flow and led to an infection." Ratchet said.
"We were busy running for our lives, doc." Grimlock said bitterly. "We had worse things to worry about than a little dirt in our fuel lines."
"Grimlock, tell us what happened." Optimus said softly. "Who did this to you?"
Grimlock was quiet for a moment before telling his story. "When we left Terra, we chased after Sprawl, the guy who was in stasis with us on this world before those humans dug us up."
"Isn't he the guy who killed Skaar?" Ironhide asked. Grimlock nodded.
"Yeah, and after we fixed up our ship we all agreed to go after him to finish things once and for all…as a team." Grimlock looked at his hands. "We had no idea that Sprawl was working for Shockwave."
"Until the bastard led us to Shockwave's ship, the Enlightenment." Swoop said. "As you can imagine, Shockwave sent every Con under his command at us and chased us through three star systems before we made our stand on a moon. We fought and killed most of them before Shockwave got involved…with the Predacons."
"Frag." Bulkhead cursed. "He must have been serious if he sent those guys after you."
"He was. Shockwave split us apart before setting the Predacons on the others. We barely escaped from Shockwave." Swoop said.
"But Sludge, Slag and Snarl are his prisoners, and as we speak that one-eyed freak is torturing them!" Grimlock stood up and glared at Optimus. "You said that you'd never abandon your comrades, so now's the time to prove it. Help us get them back and gut Shockwave and Sprawl."
"That's not your call to make, Grimlock." Prowl said. "In case you haven't realized it yet, we're still recovering from waging an all-out attack on the Decepticons three days ago. We're in no position to go gallivanting off to find Shockwave."
"Yeah…about that." swoop coughed into his hand.
"For Primus' sake, what now?" Ironhide groaned.
"I never said you had to leave your comfy little position on this rock." Grimlock's faceplate slid apart to reveal his toothy grin. "Shockwave won't stop until he has all five of us. You don't need to do a damn thing. He's coming here."
XXXXXX
The battle damaged Nemesis was hiding out within a snowy valley deep within the Yuktobanian Mountains, where the terrain was too hazardous for human habitation. The moment they landed the Decepticons were hard at work fixing up their ship. The damages were severe and Prime's surprise attack had limited its battlefield capabilities. Still, it was well enough to fly and combat any human forces, which was something Megatron was willing to accept.
At the moment Megatron, Nightshade, Dreadwing and Darkshadow were in the ship's war room discussing their next plan of attack.
"Our energon reserves are looking good, and Shockblast has already located a sizeable portion in Southeast Usea." Darkshadow reported.
"We've never mined that much energon from there, have we?" Dreadwing asked.
"No, never saw the need to after detecting so little energon there." Nightshade said. "We should start looking into it soon, though."
"How goes repairs for the Nemesis?" Megatron asked.
"Going smoothly, though half our weapon systems were destroyed in the battle, and it'll be a while before we can get the ship's electromagnetic shields back to full power." Nightshade said.
"That's good enough." Megatron nodded. "The Autobots may have run us out of our base, but they can't detect our ship…so long as Starscream's distant relatives don't frag things up for us."
"Don't jinx it." Darkshadow muttered.
"Dreadwing, take your team and scout for more deposits of ultra energon. Knockout has informed me of a breakthrough in his refining of it into fuel for the ship, and we need the Nemesis up and running on the double." Megatron said. "Darkshadow, have Shockblast monitor human communications and naval movements for any—"
"Megatron," Soundwave walked into the room. "We are getting a transmission on an encrypted channel."
Megatron frowned. "Sender?"
"Unknown."
"Fine, patch it through."
Soundwave wordlessly wired the transmission to the war room's monitor, and the sender of the call was an honest surprise to those present.
"Greetings, Megatron."
The emotionless tone of the speaker made everyone freeze for a moment before Megatron spoke up.
"Shockwave?"
XXXXXX
Shockwave wasn't the type of mech to name his ships. They were simply transport vessels, nothing more. It was Ashling who had the audacity to name the ship he used the most the "Enlightenment", a bit of a joke in regards to his everlasting hunt for knowledge in the name of cybertronian advancement. Unfortunately, the name just stuck and soon everyone started calling his ship that. Shockwave didn't bother telling people otherwise, knowing that it wouldn't be logical to do so, although he did send Ashling to a very cold planet to study its native lifeforms not long afterwards.
The Enlightenment wasn't a large ship like the Nemesis. It was slightly smaller than the Ark, more or less to act as a mobile lab for Shockwave to operate in. It also doubled for a good prison transport.
The Dynobots were kept down in the hold block usually reserved for some of his larger experiments. Shockwave had them in separate cells close to each other. Slag and Snarl wee in cells next to each other while Sludge was place in a cell across from them. Shockwave had to have the Constructicons modify his cell to accommodate the Dynobot's large size.
Currently, Slag was doing the only thing he had been doing since they were imprisoned—slamming his body against the door in an attempt to knock it down. Of course the doors were triple layered and heat resistant, along with electrified bars, so he wasn't having much luck in that regard.
"Slag, just stop." Sludge said wearily. "You've been at this since we took off. Give it a rest already."
"You expect me to just wait around for Shockwave to cut us open and turn us into his pets?" Slag growled, backing away from the door to go for another charge." No thanks!"
Sludge shook his head and sat against the wall. He may not have been the smartest tool in the shed, but even he knew they weren't getting out of this place anytime soon. Still, he held out hope.
"Don't worry, Slag." Sludge said. "Once Grimlock finds some help, he'll be back to get us out of here."
Slag couldn't keep the scowl from forming at Grimlock's name. Of course Sludge would say that. It was all he ever said since they were thrown into this dungeon. Slag wasn't having any of it. It seemed like Grimlock was often the source of their problems these days.
"Wake up and smell the energon, Sludge! Grimlock and Swoop aren't coming back! Those bozos ran when the going got tough and that's that!"
"That's not true and you know it." Sludge glared at Slag. "Dynobots stick together! Grimlock and Swoop would never abandon us. Not after everything we've been through."
"You mean being put into stasis lock on an alien planet for four million years? Being dug up by fleshies and mind controlled?" Slag retorted. "I can keep going if you want. For Primus's sake, you actually died!"
"And Grimlock brought me back with his own Spark." Sludge said, making Slag go quiet. "If he didn't care, he wouldn't have even bothered."
Slag scowled and looked away with a huff, punching his cell wall hard enough to leave a dent. The three Dynobots were quiet for a little while before the door to their prison opened to allow one of their jailors inside.
Sprawl's large form stepped into the chamber, his white visor glowing as he studied his three captors. The Dynobots, in turn, glared at him with equal rage in their eyes.
"I trust you are all comfortable?" Sprawl asked, a smile in his voice.
"Go to hell." Slag growled.
"Been there, done that, no thanks to your leader." He said. "But don't worry. Once we find your friends, I'll make sure to pay him back in full for all that slag he put me through."
"Cry me a river." Snarl stood p and glared at Sprawl through the bars. "You could barely handle all five of us, so what makes you think you can handle Grimlock alone?"
Sprawl chuckled. "What makes you think I'll be alone? Please, you're going to have a front row seat to the action."
Sprawl gave them a jolly wave as he walked back to the door and left the chamber, once again leaving the Dynobots alone.
"What I wouldn't give to melt his face off." Slag growled.
"Second it." Snarl grunted.
"Rip his head off and kick it into space." Sludge plopped back down against the wall.
Slag was silent for a moment before asking Sludge, "Do you really think Grimlock's gonna come looking for us?"
"I know he will." sludge smiled. "Grimlock may have hit a rough spot with us before, but in the end, he'll be there for us."
Slag couldn't deny that. The issue of Grimlock's suicidal plan with the volcano had nearly broken the team apart. Nearly driven them away, but for some reason they couldn't stay apart for long. Perhaps it was because at this point, they didn't have anywhere else to go. All they had was each other, the only ones who could accept each other's flaws. Grimlock using his own Spark to revive Sludge showed that.
Whatever the case, Slag will humor Sludge and wait for Grimlock and Swoop to save them. But they'd better hurry. He wasn't a mech who sat around doing nothing. He'd sooner stab a crude drawing of Megatron than go through that mess.
XXXXXX
Sprawl made his way toward Shockwave's lab on the second level of the ship. There, the two head hanchos of the Decepticon's Science Division, Shockwave and his assistant, Feint, were waiting for him.
The huge cyclopean Decepticon with the single yellow eye stood at his computer looking over the energon samples acquired from the three Dynobots. Feint dutifully stood by her master (she says boss, but Sprawl knew better) her face obscured by the polarized glass of her mask.
"Hey, big mech. You have a nice chat with the three stooges down there?" Feint asked.
"Go suck a cogwheel, Feint." Sprawl said as he stomped past her.
"Your bickering hasn't gotten any less annoying than the last time." Shockwave said. "Stop it at once."
Feint went quiet as Sprawl asked, "What are you looking at?"
"The energon samples collected from the Dynobots. It's nothing short of amazing at seeing how Trypticon's energon had altered their forms at the genetic level. Even flushing the tainted energon hasn't reversed the changes." Shockwave answered. "I wonder if the energon of other Titans will have different effects on regular mechanoids."
"Shockwave," Sprawl had to stop him before he got into one of his rambling fits. "Are we getting too close to Terra?"
"We'll reach the planet within the cycle. I suggest we make preparations before we make contact with Megatron."
"Preparations?" Feint inquired.
Shockwave turned from his microscope to give his two subordinates his full attention. That single yellow eye stared blankly as he made his intentions known.
"Feint, you will be off to study the planet's Ore-13 supply. Take some samples, study its properties. See what's changed the ore into what it is now." He told her in that same dead tone he always spoke with.
"Yes sir." She nodded.
"Sprawl, stay behind and guard our prisoners."
"Got it." The ancient mech said.
"And what about me, Shockwave?"
Both Sprawl and Feint scowled as a Con with a robot mode of a large bat flew onto the console and glared at them with red beady little eyes.
"Ratbat, you will come with me to meet Megatron." Shockwave turned his unnerving gaze onto the former Senator. "I trust you can behave yourself, Ratbat?"
"I'm not a protoform, you one-eyed bastard. I won't say anything to anger our deal overlord." Ratbat hissed.
"As long as you understand your position." Shockwave said. He felt the ship shake and tremble as it exited foldspace. "We're approaching the planet. Feint, take us into orbit while I message Megatron. It's time to see the fruits of my labor."
XXXXXX
"Wow, you're tall." Moonracer gaped at Swoop, who chuckled at her.
"I'm not that tall. Bulkhead has at least a foot on me." Swoop grinned. "You haven't seen big until you've met Sludge. He's even bigger than Grimlock!"
"Yeesh, as if I didn't feel small enough already." Bumblebee joked.
In the command center, Optimus was giving Grimlock a quick rundown of events since he left Terra.
"So you actually attacked the Cons on their home turf?" Grimlock gave a hearty laugh. "Ha! Didn't think you had it in your, Prime."
"Thank you for your vote of confidence, Grimlock." Optimus said. "Our invasion would've been less harrowing had Megatron not set those three cyborg dragons on us."
"Dragons?" Grimlock questioned.
"Giant firebreathing reptiles almost as big as Sky Lynx." Arcee said from the comm station. "Now imagine Megatron outfitting them with tech and you've got the average Autobot Wednesday."
"Hmph, sounds like you had a fun time." Grimlock said, crossing his big arms. "I'm almost jealous."
"I'm flattered." Optimus said dryly.
Suddenly the computer flared to life and Arcee was quick to read Teletran-1's emergency reading. Swoop, Moonracer and Bumblebee ran into the room.
"What's going on?" Bumblebee asked. "Cons?"
"Teletran just detected another ship entering the atmosphere." Arcee said. "And it's a big one."
"Is it the Enlightenment?" Grimlock growled, stomping up to Arcee. "Is it Shockwave?"
"Waiting for verification." Arcee said. She frowned when the results came up. "Scrap, it really is the Enlightenment."
Grimlock growled low in his chest and Swoop patted his arm to calm him down.
"So Shockwave really did come to Terra. He possibly means to meet up with Megatron." Optimus said.
"And we have no idea who he's brought with him aside from Sprawl and the Dynobots." Arcee said.
"Can you track the ship's trajectory?" He asked her.
"Already working on it."
"Once Teletran locates Shockwave's ship, we will take a team and ground bridge to its location." Optimus said.
"As long as we get going soon." Grimlock rumbled. "Because I'm going to tear all of them to pieces!"
XXXXXX
Megatron, Nightshade and Soundwave left the Nemesis and took a ground bridge at the rendezvous point Shockwave told them to meet at. Their meeting place was at a forest clearing, far from civilization to avoid discovery.
"Shockwave should be with us any moment now." Megatron said.
Just then, he heard the sounds of jet engines in the distance. Megatron looked up and saw a purple aircraft shaped like a large cybertronian space gun flying toward them. As it got closer, it changed shape into a large bipedal form that landed on the ground right before Megatron and his group.
"Greetings, Shockwave." Megatron said with a smile. "It's been a while."
"It's good to see you are in good health, Lord Megatron." Shockwave said and nodded to Nightshade and Soundwave. "As it is good to see you Lieutenant Nightshade and Soundwave."
Nightshade nodded back, but Soundwave remained still and silent as a statue.
"I apologize for the sudden visit, but there have been some new developments that require you attention."
"It seems everyone is busy these days." Megatron remarked. "I take it you haven't come alone?"
"No, my lord. Sprawl is back on my ship, and Blitzwing and Astrotrain are out scanning new alter modes." Shockwave informed them.
"Two triple changers?" Nightshade sad. "What's the occasion?"
"They're helping provide added protection," Shockwave replied. "Against my prisoners—Slag, Sludge, and Snarl."
Megatron and Nightshade regarded Shockwave with looks of shock. "Three of the Dynobots are your prisoners?"
"Yes. With the Predacons' help, I've managed to capture three of the Dynobots, but Grimlock and Swoop have escaped." The scientist explained.
"You've done me proud, Shockwave! Three of the mighty Dynobots brought down low!" Megatron laughed. "Where are they?"
"In my ship's holding cells." Answered Shockwave. "I've made some modifications to ensure that they do not escape."
"You've been very busy lately." Nightshade noted.
"Among other things." shockwave relied. "My ship is a little ways from here. I can show you the Dynobots if you like, though I am sure the Autobots have noticed my exit from foldspace."
"Then let us make haste." Megatron grinned. "It's not every day we have the Dynobots in cages."
As Shockwave called for a ground bridge, Soundwave kept his gaze on the one-eyed scientist. He couldn't read his mind thanks to Shockwave's implants scrambling his telepathic signals, but he knew Shockwave likely had other motives for visiting Terra.
XXXXXX
"We've landed."
Snarl's sudden statement brought Slag and Sludge out of their brooding.
"How can you tell?" Sludge asked.
"The ship stopped moving. I know when a ship is active through the subtle vibrations it gives off, and this ship is as still as a corpse." Snarl explained. "We must have landed on Terra."
"Back to that hellhole, wonderful." Slag growled. "Knowing our luck, Megatron might pay us a visit before Prime even knows we're here."
"My, my, how painful it must be to be forgotten by your own comrades?"
Slag glared up at Ratbat, who was left behind to watch over them and hadn't shut up since Shockwave left.
"You're one to talk?" He snapped. "Weren't you a senator before the war? You know, one of those bastards Megatron made a sport out of killing? You're more obsolete than a data slag."
"Watch your mouth, you animal!" Ratbat hissed. "Without Megatron, without this war, you'd all be mercenaries running around with the Functionists hounding you day and night for your deformities."
"At least our "deformities" are useful. Didn't your secretary tear out your Spark and pop it into that body?" Sludge taunted.
Ratbat would have snapped back when they heard heavy footsteps down the hall. The door slid open and Shockwave entered the room, and Rabat was about to address him when someone followed the scientist inside.
"Megatron." Slag snarled, eyes burning with rage.
The Decepticon leader himself stepped into the room and looked at the three prisoners. A smile spread on his face upon seeing the snarling faces of the Dynobots.
"Slag, Sludge, and Snarl. My, is has been a long time, hasn't it?" Megatron said.
"Yeah, it's been a while since Grimlock was tossing your ass around back on Cybertron." Slag snorted.
"Oh Slag, ever the violent beast, no matter your alt mode." Megatron turned to Snarl, who sat quietly in his cell. "No witty remarks from you, Snarl? I thought you would've taken the chance."
Snarl said nothing, not even acknowledging Megatron. The warlord walked over to Sludge's cell and grinned up at the taller mech.
"Sludge, it's nice to see a warrior of your caliber in person, though it is a shame that you did not join the winning team."
"Unlike you, I actually have standards, Megatron." Sludge spat.
"Apparently Grimlock has the same foolish notion, which is a shame considering we would've made a fine team together."
Sludge threw a fist at Megatron but it was blocked by the laser wall. Megatron grinned and turned back to Shockwave
"Am I right to assume that you plan on capturing Grimlock and Swoop as well?"
"Yes. It would be more logical to acquire all five Dynobots." Shockwave nodded. "That was part of the reason I came to this planet. I had tracked the Grimstone head to Terra."
"So Grimlock came running back to Terra to seek help from Prime." Megatron snorted. "It seems your leader is willing to swallow his pride to go to Prime of all people for help."
That surprised the three Dynobots. They all knew of Grimlock's antagonistic attitude towards Prime's pacifist ideals, which was shared by most of the team save Swoop. For Grimlock to willingly go to Optimus for help…that was unbelievable.
"Shockwave, there is a possibility that the Autobots have detected your ship's entry into the atmosphere." Megatron said.
"I am almost certain that they are aware of my presence on Terra. I deliberately allowed my ship to be detected by cybertronian sensors in an attempt to bait Grimlock." Shockwave said. "Now that the Autobots know that I am here, Grimlock and Swoop will no doubt take immediate action. If Grimlock is so eager to see me again, then I shall not disappoint him."
"Proceed, Shockwave." Megatron said. "I imagine they will not have an easy time attacking this ship."
"Also, Lord Megatron," Shockwave added as he followed his leader into the hall. "There are other things we must discuss."
The door slid shut and the three Dynobots looked at each other.
"I told you." Sludge grinned. "I told you Grimlock wouldn't abandon us."
"Yeah, yeah, you're right, I'm wrong." Slag grumbled. "Happy now."
Sludge just smiled, his mood considerably lighter now.
Rabat sat in the corner brooding and stewing in anger. He knew Megatron noticed his present yet he did not address him or even glance in his direction. This slight against his person will not go unchecked.
XXXXXX
As he sat next to Grimlock in the Grimstone's cockpit, Optimus realized that this was probably the first time he's been inside the Dynobot's ship. It was certainly a large ship, had to be to accommodate the team's bulk. It was more than enough to hold Optimus, Grimlock, Swoop, and the rest of the team consisting of Ironhide, Arcee, Mirage, Bulkhead and Bumblebee.
Grimlock and Swoop piloted the ship while Optimus sat next to Grimlock working on a plan of attack. Or tried to at least.
"Plan? The plan is we hit those bastards hard and fast and draw them all out so someone can sneak inside." Grimlock's answer was short and to the point. "That's it."
"And if we can't get someone inside?" Optimus asked.
"Then we blast our way in.' Grimlock replied.
"Shockwave probably knows we're here on Terra, and he knows we're coming for him. Kinda makes sneaks attacks pointless." Swoop pointed out.
"That's true." Optimus said.
The radar on Swoop's console beeped and showed something heading their way. "We've got a boogey incoming."
"What is it?"
"Don't know, but it's an energon signature." Swoop looked up through the window and saw the airborne target heading straight for them. "There it is!"
The aircraft, a brown and purple jet, flew right past the ship, seconds before a missile hit its left side.
"I recognize that color scheme." Optimus said. "It's Blitzwing."
"Frag me, we have that bozo along with Shockwave to deal with?" Ironhide groaned.
"He's going to keep hitting us until he knocks us out of the sky." Arcee said as another explosion rocked the ship.
"Swoop!" Grimlock growled.
"On it." Swoop jumped out of his seat and ran to the airlock. He opened the hatch and gave the others a two-fingered salute before hopping out.
Swoop fell through the air before transforming into his alt mode, an alternate form that looked like a pterodactyl. He tracked Blitzwing and flew straight at him, firing a volley of laser blasts from the cannons on his wings.
"There you are!" Blitzwing said, circling around to fight Swoop. "Bout time someone fought back!"
"You'll regret that decision soon, Blitzwing!" Swoop yelled.
Both flyers flew at each other at over 250 mph, and didn't waver in their flight paths. As they neared each other, both Swoop and Blitzwing fired a missile each and broke away. Their aerial dogfight began in a flurry of lasers, missiles and explosions peppering the sky.
XXXXXX
"Grimlock, if Shockwave sent Blitzwing after us, there's a chance he has more soldiers waiting for us." Optimus said.
"The more the merrier." Grimlock laughed.
They neared the coordinates of Shockwave's ship. They saw the vessel's large form sitting at the foot of a mountain on the edge of a shallow forest. As soon as they saw the ship, Shockwave spotted them, and Feint activated the ship's plasma cannons to fire on them.
"He's shooting at us," Grimlock chuckled. "That's cute."
"Grimlock…" Ironhide grunted.
"Don't worry, I've got this." Grimlock opened up the Grimstone's missile pods and fired half of the ship's proton missile supply. Optimus almost asked what the hell Grimlock was doing until he realized Grimlock's plan. The missiles didn't hit the ship, but the mountainside above it. A huge section of the mountain was destroyed and large rocks rained down on top of the Enlightenment. The exposed cannons were the first to get crushed from the rocks crashing down upon them.
"That settles that." Grimlock said satisfied.
"So what's the plan?" Bumblebee asked.
"You go ahead while I distract them."
"Grimlock, we're not leaving you behind." Optimus insisted, and Grimlock glared at him.
"Shockwave wants me, so I'm going to be his top priority." He growled. "It'll give you an opening to find and free the others!"
Optimus knew Grimlock had a point, as much as he hated to admit it. Shockwave for all his genius had a one track mind when it came to scientific curiosities like the Dynobots and he would most likely put all of his focus on obtaining Grimlock and Swoop. Theoretically, it was a sound plan. But Optimus was never one for being logical.
"Bulkhead, Arcee, Bumblebee, Mirage, you three go ahead and locate the Dynobots. Ironhide and I will stay behind to help Grimlock." He ordered.
The four Autobots nodded as Grimlock landed the Grimstone near the edge of the forest. The infiltration team exited the ship to sneak around to the Enlightenment.
"Will they be alright?" Grimlock asked as he, Optimus and Ironhide left the Grimstone.
"I have faith in my team, Grimlock, as you do yours." Optimus replied. "They will succeed."
The trio exited the forest into a rocky valley, where they saw Megatron and Shockwave standing a little ways off from the ship.
"Hello, Prime." Megatron grinned.
"Megatron," Optimus grumbled and turned to Shockwave. "Shockwave."
"Optimus Prime. I see that years of warfare have not dulled your skills." Shockwave eyed the sword on Prime's back. "And you have a new weapon, too."
"Same could be said for you, buckethead." Grimlock commented, seeing Megatron's scythe.
"Like it? I intend to slaughter you all with it once Shockwave's done playing with your friends." Megatron grinned.
"We are not your toys!"
"No, you are instruments of scientific discovery." Shockwave calmly replied. "Sprawl, take him."
Grimlock heard jet engines behind him and spun around as he saw Sprawl diving towards them. The ancient Decepticon let loose a volley of missiles at the Autobots that blasted them apart from each other in a fiery display. Grimlock stumbled through the flames, smashing through a tree before rolling onto his knees. He cursed and tried to get to his feet, but Sprawl's massive form flew straight through the flames and slammed into him from behind, taking him into the air.
"Grimlock!" Optimus yelled.
"Prime!" Megatron shot forward and attacked Optimus, forcing him to deflect a lightning fast strike from the Star Saber.
As their leaders fought beside them, Ironhide and Shockwave stared at each other from across the field, waiting for the other mech to make a move. After a minute, Ironhide just sighed and took out his plasma rifle.
"Might as well." He said and charged at Shockwave. This was going to be a rough fight.
XXXXXX
Arcee, Bulkhead, and Bumblebee dashed through the halls of Shockwave's ship, trying to navigate the unfamiliar corridors that all looked the same.
"Where do we go in this damn ship?" Bulkhead grunted.
"This would be easier if we had a map." Mirage sighed.
"Maybe we could find something in the control room." Bumblebee suggested.
"Control room?" Arcee repeated.
"Yeah, if we head there, maybe we can find the controls that'll deactivate the cells and let the Dynobots do the rest."
"Good thinking, Bee." Bulkhead grinned. "But how do we get to the control room?"
"You aren't going anywhere, Autobots!"
"Mirage!" Arcee hissed.
"Got it." Mirage fell behind Bulkhead's large form and went invisible, sneaking down the hall unseen as the others faced a trio of insecticons stomping down the hall. They were two of Shockwave's insecticon alphas and enforcers—Shrapnel and Kickback.
"So this is Grimlock's rescue team?" Shrapnel cackled. "If this is all there is, then I'll a lot of fun, fun, fun."
"Get ready!" Bulkhead called out.
Shrapnel pulled out a grenade launcher and fired a shell at them. Bulkhead pushed Arcee and Bumblebee behind him as the shell exploded, releasing a bunch of razor sharp metal pieces that dug into his armor. These sharp filaments were laced with a poison that, while not fatal, certainly increased Bulkhead's pain threshold to the point that it nearly brought him to his knees.
"Bulkhead!" Arcee went to help him, but Kickback lunged forward and slammed into her, kicking her down the hall until she hit the wall.
"Pay attention to me as I kill you!" Kickback snarled. He changed into his alt mode, a robotic grasshopper, and spun around to kick her one more time. She dodged his powerful legs and hopped on his back, using her weight to throw him into the wall.
"We need to go! We can't fight these guys now!" Bumblebee said.
"You're not going—" Shrapnel was cut off as Arcee threw Kickback into him and left over them to join her team.
Bulkhead fired a shot from his blaster at the Insecticons, stunning them long enough for the trio to run down the hall.
"You fools!" The third alpha, Bombshell, ran around the corner with his blaster in hand and kicked his companions angrily. "After them!"
XXXXXX
Ratbat sat on his perch glaring at Sludge, who continued to repeatedly punch the floor for some reason. The loud clang his fist caused made Ratbat's head hurt and he was running out of patience.
"What the hell are you doing?" He growled.
"Making noise." Sludge smiled.
"I can see that you pre-historic pea brain!" rabat snapped. "I want to know why you are punching the floor like a brain dead barbarian!"
"To make it easier for Grimlock to find us."
"Let me make it perfectly clear to you. Grimlock and Swoop will never find you. They won't even get within spitting distance of this ship before Shockwave puts them in chains!" Rabat hopped onto the floor to glare in Sludge's face. "Just lie down like the defeated animal you are and accept that you have lost!"
The door slid open and Ratbat turned, expecting to see Feint or Astrotrain there to help him guard the prisoners. To his puzzlement, he saw no one there. Then pain erupted in his chest as a vibro-blade was stabbed into his torso and pinned him to the wall.
The air shimmered until Mirage appeared in front of the cells. "Someone call for a rescue?"
XXXXXX
Arcee, Bulkhead and Bumblebee ran down the hall with the insecticons hot on their heels, shooting at them. Bumblebee was tending to Bulkhead's wounds when they got a call from Mirage.
"Guys, this is Mirage. I've located the Dynobots and neutralized their guard, but I can't get their cells open."
"Copy that, Mirage. We'll handle it on our side." Arcee said.
"How are we supposed to do that with these goons hounding us?" Bulkhead asked as Bumblebee worked on his bleeding wounds.
"Bee, you're going to have to find the control room by yourself." Arcee suggested.
"Excuse me?" Bumblebee squeaked.
"You're small, fast, and the best tracker out of all of us. You've snuck into Decepticon ships with Jazz before, so you know the standard layout." She patted his shoulder and smiled. "You can do this. We'll just be slowing you down."
Bumblebee gave her a small nod before standing up. "Okay, I'll do it. Just…hang tight, all right? This might take a while."
He transformed and sped down the hallway until he was out of sight. Arcee and Bulkhead nodded to each other and stood side by side to face their pursuers.
XXXXXX
Sprawl carried the massive form of Grimlock through the air and over the parked ship to slam him into the mountain side. The ancient Seeker made sure to drag Grimlock through the rock and up the mountain. Grimlock dug his fingers into the rock and yanked himself out of Sprawl's grasp, grabbing onto his back. Grimlock retracted his face plate to reveal his sharp teeth and sank them into Sprawl's shoulder wing.
"Get off me!" Sprawl struggled to get Grimlock off and he struggled to remain airborne. Grimlock tore off a chunk of Sprawl's shoulder and unfolded his energo-sword, stabbing the blade into his thrusters.
Sprawl stalled and faltered in the air before he and Grimlock tumbled down the mountain. Even as they fell, the two mechs continued to grapple and punch anything they could hit before sliding off a cliff and crashing onto a rocky ledge. Grimlock got to his feet, but Sprawl pinned him to the slope behind him.
"You Dynobots think you're the strongest, the meanest, but you're no different from those other posers like the Wreckers and Squadron X!" Sprawl spat hatefully. "You all think you're unbreakable, but if saw half the things I've seen, you'd be leaking yourselves!"
"As if you were any different, old man!" Grimlock pushed against him, but Sprawl held fast.
"You and your team, you were just at the wrong place in the wrong time. Killing your friend was a mistake that I'm not even proud of!"
"Don't you dare talk about Skaar!" Grimlock snarled.
"I will talk and you will listen." Sprawl grunted. "Collateral damage, that's all your team was. Collateral damage! Because unlike you, I'm not some mindless beast that revels in the slaughter of others!"
"Grah!"
A surge of strength empowered Grimlock's body as he slowly pushed Sprawl off him. They held each other off, glaring hatefully at one another before Grimlock kicked Sprawl in the chest and roared. His body transformed into his mighty bestial alt mode—a cybertronian T-rex.
Flames spewed forth from Grimlock's mouth as he charged at Sprawl, who had stumbled back towards the edge of the cliff. Seeing Grimlock come at him, Sprawl gathered his strength for one mighty blow.
"You are nothing, Grimlock of Simfur!" He bellowed, and as Grimlock was upon him, he swung his arm and backhanded Dynobot leader in the face, throwing him over the edge of the cliff and down the mountain.
Grimlock fell down the entire slope of the mountain, unable to stop himself. He transformed back to robot mode as he smashed into a boulder and fell several feet down onto the top of the Enlightenment.
Sprawl left off the cliff and changed to jet mode, hovering down onto the ship before changing back. Glaring down at Grimlock, he grabbed the Dynobot leader up by the neck and lifted him up.
"It's brutes like you that have driven our world to its death." Sprawl said. "Killing you will be doing the universe a favor."
"Y-You first." Grimlock grunted.
Clutched in Grimlock's hand was a missile he tore out of one of the Enlightenment's missile pods after he felt. Before Sprawl could react, he shoved the missile's warhead into a gap between Sprawl's chest armor and kicked himself away. Grimlock took a deep breath and shot a large fireball from his mouth at Sprawl, igniting the missile and causing it to explode.
Grimlock and Sprawl had only a millisecond to regard each other before they were engulfed in one large explosion.
XXXXXX
Mirage cursed as a plasma bolt hi the wall near his face. He got off a few shots before ducking back into the brig to avoid getting a face full of lasers.
"Just give up already!" Feint yelled from down the hall. "You're making my job needlessly harder!"
"I don't care about your bad job opportunities!" Mirage yelled back. He saw the femme whip out a grenade launcher and shot a grenade at him. "Frag!"
He scrambled back to avoid the explosion, which blasted him back into the prison block.
"You okay?" Asked Sludge.
"Ask me again when my head stops ringing." Mirage groaned.
"You could just leave, you know." Slag said. "If you came here with a team, they probably have things covered."
"And leave you with the chatterbox outside? Nonsense!" Mirage smirked and got to his feet. "I can handle her."
He ran over to the door and opened it, only to be met by the tall form of Astrotrain."
"You on the other hand…" Mirage groaned.
Astrotrain punched Mirage and knocked him back into the room, throwing him right into Ratbat's body. The triple-changer calmly walked into the room and pointed his blaster at Mirage's head.
"Light's out, Autobot." He said. Coincidentally, just as he said that, the lights suddenly cut off. "What the hell?"
The Dynobots knew what happened as the light screens barring their cells suddenly went out, leaving only ordinary walls. Slag grinned and transformed into a reptilian beast mode similar to a triceratops.
"Dynobots," He roared, breathing intensely hot flames. "Let's rumble!"
Astrotrain watched in horror as the cells were torn open and the murderous Dynobots burst from their prisons and surrounded him.
"This is going to hurt," Snarl growled. "A lot."
XXXXXX
"Shockwave!"
Upon hearing Feint's panicked voice, Shockwave lifted Ironhide by the arm and threw him aside. "Report, Feint."
"The entire ship's power grid just went down! All computer systems went offline and is currently rebooting." Feint reported before giving a loud curse. "All systems are running on emergency power right now. I don't know what happened!"
"What happened, Shockwave?" Megatron demanded as he backed away from Optimus.
Shockwave took a moment to reply. "Something…I had not expected, Megatron."
There was a loud rumble coming from the ship and the two Decepticons glanced back to see three Dynobots burst out of the lower hangar of the ship, along with their Autobot allies.
"Shockwave!" Slag roared.
"Holy slag, they actually did it." Ironhide grunted, pushing himself to his feet as Optimus helped him up.
"I never doubted them." Optimus smiled. "But where's…"
A thunderous roar shook the air and everyone looked up to see a scorched and severely wounded Grimlock hop off the Enlightenment. The ground shook from his landing and he limped over to his now free team.
"Sludge, Slag, Snarl!" Grimlock said as he ran over to them. "You're alright."
"Yeah, we're fine. Better than you're doing at least." Snarl replied. "What happened to you?"
"I just got done shoving a missile up Sprawl's aft." Grimlock's fanged maw managed a weak grin. "Guess who won."
Optimus and Ironhide ran over to their team. "Are you all alright"
"Bulkhead and Mirage are a bit banged up, but we're okay, sir." Arcee smiled.
Optimus nodded and he turned to Grimlock. "Grimlock, our mission is complete. It's time to retreat."
"No!" Grimlock thundered. "We're not leaving until Shockwave is in pieces!"
The other Dynobots roared in agreement.
"We deserve some payback for capturing us!" Sludge said.
"Rip him to pieces!" Slag growled.
"Kill him!" Snarl yelled.
"You're all welcome to try." Shockwave challenged them. "But keep in mind that we are far from defenseless."
At that moment, the armor panels on the Enlightenment's port side opened up and two plasma cannons emerged to fire on the Autobots.
"Evade!" Optimus roared just as the cannons opened fire on them.
The entire canyon erupted in flames as the powerful weapons unleashed their firepower. The Autobots scattered, running away to get out of the cannons' range. Megatron pursued them, eager to capitalize on the Autobots fleeing from him for a change.
Grimlock tried to run, but in his weakened state he couldn't move very quickly. A plasma blast exploded very close to him and he was thrown off his feet, crashing to the ground.
"Grimlock!" Sludge ran over to him, his armor blackened by smoke as he tried to help Grimlock up. "Come on, we gotta—agh!"
Sludge took a neutron blast to his chest that blasted him off his feet. Grimlock spun around to see Shockwave approaching them with his arm cannon raised.
"If I can't capture you alive, then I'll operate on your Sparkless husk to discover you biological secrets." Shockwave said emotionlessly. "While the results may not be as fruitful, I cannot be too picky in these situations."
"You won't get the chance you one-eyed freak!" Grimlock growled and drew his energo-sword. "If you want me, come and get me!"
"With pleasure." Shockwave prepared to fire his cannon at Grimlock, but before he could shoot, he suddenly found himself being peppered with missile fire from above. "What?!"
Grimlock looked up and saw Swoop diving towards the ground, firing upon Shockwave. "Swoop!"
"Grimlock, get with Prime and the others. Those cannons are tearing them apart!" Swoop said.
Grimlock wasted no time with words as he helped Sludge up and ran over to where the other Autobots were positioned. Optimus had called for a ground bridge, which materialized just out of reach of the cannons. Megatron saw this and was livid.
"No, you'll not escape this time, Prime!" Megatron swung Keraunos and discharged multiple lightning bolts at the Autobots.
"Swoop, get over here now!" Slag yelled.
Swoop stopped his assault on Shockwave and sped straight for the ground bridge, where the other Dynobots were still waiting. He shot a couple of beams at Megatron to stagger him before heading for the bridge.
"You worthless pile of scrap!" Megatron swung Keraunos and sent out a bolt that caught Swoop in the wing, causing him to fall.
"Come on, come on!" Grimlock growled. "Fly, Swoop!"
Swoop faltered in the air but he flapped his wings and pushed his boosters to max as hard as he could to remain in the air. Eventually his hard work paid off and he slammed right into Grimlock, sending them both tumbling into the ground bridge. Snarl and Sludge followed after them, and Slag was the last to leave. The grinning Dynobot flipped Megatron off before running into the portal.
Megatron gritted his teeth and nearly raged, but he calmed himself. The Dynobots may have escaped, but he had his chief scientist on the planet with him, along with some powerful new additions to his team. Today was a loss, but it might be more fruitful to look at this on a long term scale.
He was sure Shockwave would enjoy studying this world's native inhabitants for some…inspiration.
XXXXXX
The Ark and Grimstone sat side by side as the Dynobots, now full reunited and healed from their battles, were preparing to leave. Optimus and Grimlock stood apart from the other giving their final goodbyes.
"Look, Prime, um," Grimlock began, not looking Optimus in the eye. "Thanks for helping us. I know we're not the easiest mechs to be around, but…"
"Grimlock, I simply done what I would have done for any Autobot…for any friend." Optimus said. "We may not see eye to eye on many things, but just know that if you need my help, you know where to find me."
Grimlock nodded and shared a firm handshake with Optimus before heading towards his ship.
"Happy hunting, Prime." Grimlock said before getting into his ship. "Be sure to mount Megatron and Shockwave's heads on the wall for us to see."
"I'll…make sure to do that, Grimlock!" Optimus replied.
Grimlock's laugh could still be heard even as the Grimstone lifted off and flew into the sky. Optimus and Ironhide watched the ship vanish into the distance.
"So is everything good between you two now?" Ironhide asked.
"Not even close." Optimus instantly replied. "But we're getting there."
"Well at least something good came out of this. But I'm not sure that having Shockwave on Terra is a good thing for us." Ironhide said.
Optimus sighed. "I know, Ironhide, and I dread what horrors he'll unleash upon this world to fulfil his unholy quest for knowledge."
Now that Shockwave's on Terra, things are steadily getting worse for the Autobots, and it's only going to get crazier when Megatron finds his stride in this war. Next chapter changes the course of the war drastically as Megatron makes a decision that has serious ramifications for everyone on Terra. Be sure to check out this story and more on the official Transformers Titan website on WordPress. Thanks for reading, please leave a review, and stay safe!