60- Chain of Command.
Hoth
Just when the sun started to rise, its heat caused some of the ice formation to melt. On one of these formations the Predacon continued frozen, but the heat allowed its systems to return online. A herd of Tauntaun was observing the weird figure, while two Wampas were ambushing them, right in the moment in which the Predacon managed to break itself free from the ice. The cybertronian dragon roared, scaring all the creatures nearby before flying away. Meanwhile at space, the Nemesis flew like always, now escorted by the new Decepticon fleet.
"Is it really wise for Shockwave to spawn an "army of beasts" here in this laboratory or within any part of this warship?" Starscream questioned, with his siblings present on a room alongside Shockwave and Megatron.
"Starscream's not wrong. Not even the lone beast we had was compact enough to stroll these corridors without tearing them into sunder." Slipstream supported.
"Which reminds me, we are so very sorry for your loss." Skywarp added, but actually he smirked.
"I was referring to my off-side laboratory. Which we have erected expressly for the cloning procedures." Shockwave clarified.
"That would explain why some of our ships have been sending supplies to a second secret location. You think of everything, don't you?" Thundercracker deduced in admiration, while the other Seekers groaned.
Then the ship started to shake.
"Sir, our sensors have detected an unidentified signal that had approached to the Nemesis real fast. It caught us by surprise." Kraken reported by com-link.
"We're under attack. Autobots?! Or the Jedi?!" Starscream asked.
"Negative sir. We have not detected any hyperspace entries nearby." A droid reported.
"Though there appears to be an enormous mass upon the upper hull." Shockwave saw on a terminal.
The Decepticons made their way to the flight deck. The dock door opened to reveal the Predacon standing before them.
"It's back." Thundercracker saw in disbelief.
"How did it find us?" Skywarp asked.
"Predacons possess precise homing instincts." Shockwave explained.
"And astonishing resilience. Starscream, you and your Seekers assume command of my beast." Megatron declared before he turned back inside the ship.
"Ugh…us?!" Slipstream asked in disbelief.
"Master? I-I mean we wouldn't dream of ceasing such an honor from its very creator." Starscream expressed nervous.
"Military command of the Predacon is most logical. Since my services are required elsewhere." Shockwave said following his leader.
The door closed in front of the Seekers, who put faces of horror seeing the Predacon getting closer.
Mimban
Meanwhile, Ultra Magnus's ship reached its destination. It landed on a cliff, and soon the elevator descended the three Wreckers to the ground.
"Alright Beast Hunters, according to our intel the Decepticons should be excavating for Predacon bones directly beneath us. We must remain alert, now more since they now have that former droid army under their command." Ultra Magnus reminded.
"On it, chief." Wheeljack said before he quickly ran out in the open.
"Does Wheeljack not comprehend the chain of command? I did not authorize him to advance without proper cover."
"I'm sure Jackie is just trying to prove himself now that you are here serving together again, sir." Bulkhead said.
"YEE-HAH!" Wheeljack yelled before he gleefully jumped off the ledge, leaving Ultra Magnus still unconvinced.
Wheeljack was now climbing halfway down the cliff, then a few rocks hit his head, so he looked up to see Bulkhead climbing down to him.
"Jackie, wait up. Ultra Magnus wanted us to…"
"Blah, blah, blah." He interrupted as he continued climbing down.
"Sh, sh!" Bulkhead said as he pointed down.
Right below them was a Decepticon guardian walking out of a cave's entrance in sentry mode. Ultra Magnus squatted from a distance on the ledge. After seeing where the others were, he groaned and changed his hand for a cannon.
"Wrecker fact number 17?" Wheeljack started.
"Guards never look up." Bulkhead finished.
Then Bulkhead lost his footing and a few rocks fell. They bounced of Wheeljack and landed near the guardian's feet. He looked up to see Wheeljack coming right at him with swords at hand. He sliced the Con's head clean off. Bulkhead smiled, before Wheeljack looked at Magnus and saluted him. But soon the other Decepticons exited the cave.
"Scrap." He cursed activating his battle mask.
They fired their weapons, but Wheeljack managed to deflected the laser shots. But suddenly, more shots came from behind him. Bulkhead and Magnus saw coming right at Wheeljack a small battalion of former Umbaran crawler tanks with modifications (now some kind of centipede droids), former Umbaran mobile heavy cannons modified (now as some kind of Juggernaut droids) and Umbaran hover tanks piloted by droids.
"Scrap, we got big ones." Bulk spotted.
Even being in middle of the crossfire, Wheeljack whistled. "Plasma cannons. Now that's advanced weaponry."
"We must dispose of those plasma weapons, and hurry." Ultra Magnus decided.
Wheeljack tried to dodge the new shots as he kicked a Con which Bulkhead finished by slamming him with his wrecking ball. He pulled out his other one and whacked another one. More lasers came from above the Decepticons, made by Ultra Magnus to distract them. And just when he was almost at the bottom he jumped off and pulled out the Forge of Solus Prime. He slammed it between three tanks, taking them out at the same time. He pooped one droid with the handle and finished it with a smash, and with another great swing he hit another one that crashed against one of the remaining Cons. When the combat was over, the Wreckers retrieved their weapons.
"That's why we wait for cover." Ultra Magnus said.
Wheeljack was about to say something when suddenly he heard knocking noise coming from inside him.
"Ah, bolts." He groaned remembering something.
He opened his chest plating and a pair of hands appeared: it was Han, who emerged from Wheeljack making retching noise and deep breaths.
"Ah…" Bulkhead only said in disbelief.
Wheeljack got him in both hands and took him to a boulder to rest on. "Forgot you were in there, kid."
"At least I didn't heave on any floor mats this time." Han answered before he covered his mouth.
Meanwhile out on the Nemesis's flight deck, the four Seekers were attempting to teach the Predacon some military training.
"Alright beast, listen up: you don't like us and it's clear that we don't like you either, but Lord Megatron has put us in charge of you, so you better cooperate and learn something useful!"
"You have heard Skywarp, you miserable beast! We are your commanding officers, and I order you to crawl into your kennel, now!" Starscream demanded pointing where the Predacon was supposed to go, but the creature only made a low growl and looked away. "I said now already!"
"Allow me, Starscream. Perhaps it will learn with a little… persuasion." Slipstream said smirking as she pulled out one of her electrified whips and hit the Predacon with it.
But that was a wrong move, because the Predacon angrily growled and fired flames at them. Skywarp was the first in react with his teleportation, while the other Seekers dodged.
"We're going to need better ways to teach this primitive reptile droid who's boss." Thundercracker said, before noticing something hot and sizzling on his sibling. "Huh, Starscream?"
Then he saw that the tip of his antenna was red hot and burning, so he quickly put it out. At the same time, with the Wreckers…
"And what could have possibly compelled you to bring the native?!" Ultra Magnus demanded.
Wheeljack rolled his eyes as a flashback showed when the Wreckers were about to leave the base, he was the last one to get out when suddenly…
"Hey." A voice called from behind him, no one than Han. "Can I come with? You'll maybe need some extra firepower."
"With not?" He answered.
That was his explanation.
"Are your circuits impaired, soldier?" Magnus asked.
"Prime told you to lead the Wreckers on this one. I assumed he meant all of them." Wheeljack answered looking back at Han giving him a smile.
"Are you mocking your commanding officer?"
"Wouldn't think of it, sir. The kid is a full-blown Wrecker. Ain't that right, Bulkhead?"
"Well…is true that sometimes Han's aim has proven to be helpful in my missions."
"Look, he may be small, but he saved my tailpipe. He has huge potential, both as a fighter and a pilot. Snuffed an Insecticon, all on his own."
"Outside standard protocol no doubt." Ultra Magnus clarified.
"The point is I can handle myself, sir." Han finished standing up.
"Surprisingly he's right, I saw it with my own optics. Han has been through worst, and we've drawn out the enemy and cleared passage." Bulkhead reassured pointing at the Cons and droids' bodies.
Magnus's answer was only a frustrated breath. Meanwhile, the Predacon was now sleeping in the Nemesis's hangar, while a few B1 battle droids observed it.
"Maybe it's fierce, but it sleeps like a puppy." One of them said.
"Is hard to believe this thing is similar to the Decepticons." The other added.
Suddenly, the sound of approaching footsteps woke it up. It looked to see Starscream in the Apex Armor while the other Seekers remained hidden.
"Okay, now in you go!" Starscream ordered pointing to the ship's corridor.
The Predacon stood up and roared.
"Ha! Do your worst. The Apex Armor is virtually…" But Starscream couldn't finish because the Predacon grabbed his arm and started tossing him around like a toy. "AH! NO! Release me!"
That made the droids to laugh.
"This isn't funny!" Starscream yelled before the Predacon threw him to the wall and crashed upon the other Seekers, showing again who was the dominant species.
"Well, that was fun." One of the droids said.
"Not a word, to anyone. Or you will be sent right to the scrapheap." Slipstream warned threateningly.
"Roger roger."
"Ouch, I'm going to feel that tomorrow." Thundercracker groaned.
"Starscream, are you with the beast?" Megatron asked through the com-link.
"Yes, master! We've been…reviewing…attack maneuvers. He's doing quite well."
"One of the excavation teams has failed to report in."
"We shall assemble our Seeker armada immediately and…" Skywarp started.
"I will prefer that you lead our newly returned asset on this mission so that we may see if our Predacon is as adaptive on fetching bones as it is hunting Autobots."
Meanwhile, the Wreckers were now inside the cave looking for any trace of the bones the Decepticons were looking.
"Is this it?!" Han said picking an object.
Ultra Magnus looked at it. "No. That is a rock." He continued his way.
"Ha. Just like old times, huh, Jackie?" Bulkhead asked trying to cheer him up.
"Except back then, I didn't need permission to pick my partners." He answered.
"Come on, we're all on the same team. Hey, beast hunters, right?"
Then Wheeljack turned at Bulkhead. "During all those cycles it took me to travel to the galaxy, all I could think about was getting our band of brothers back together. But this isn't the lineup I had in mind." He said looking at Ultra Magnus. "You did the smart thing, Bulk, leaving the Wreckers when you did. While we were still bringing our A-Game. Before the rust set in."
"Wait, I thought Wheeljack was the one who left the Wreckers." Han said.
"Jackie basically deserted once the Wreckers fell under Ultra Magnus's command. I transferred out before that, to join up with Optimus at the battle of Thunderhead Pass. Sometimes I think Jackie feels like I deserted him." Bulkhead explained.
"No Bulkhead, you didn't do anything wrong. No one wants to be the one who breaks up a gang, or a family."
Then the whole place began to shake. The large vibrations caused Han to lose his balance and fell, but Bulkhead caught him and covered him from the falling rocks with his other hand. Suddenly it stopped.
"What was that?" Bulkhead asked.
Then they heard a loud shriek, followed by a lowed growl and thunderous approaching footsteps.
"Whatever it is, is big." Wheeljack deduced as the approaching footsteps grew louder. "And it's coming fast!"
Ultra Magnus stood in between both Wreckers with a bad feeling of what it might be. Suddenly the recognizable creature came crawling through the tunnel.
"The Predacon." He recognized. "Let's roll!"
Everyone changed to their vehicle forms and accelerated. Han was safe ridding in Bulkhead.
"It's back?" He asked looking through the window.
The Predacon launched a huge fireball, but the Wreckers managed to dodge it. The Predacon continued trying to bite the closest Bot when it was close enough. Then Magnus noticed another tunnel way on his left, so he quickly entered, followed by the others. The Predacon roared and viciously attempted to follow, but when the tunnel became smaller it got stuck, so it struggled to break free and as a last move it fired more flames, which was getting close to the Wreckers.
"Accelerate!" Ultra Magnus commanded.
They arrived to a large opening cave before the flames caught them. Once inside, they returned back to robot form.
"That rock won't hold it forever. We need to contact base and request reinforcements." Ultra Magnus said.
"Wreckers don't call for backup." Wheeljack argued.
Seeing coming another quarrel between Wheeljack and Ultra Magnus, Bulkhead decided to intervene.
"What Jackie means is we can't get a com-link signal this far underground." He explained, so Magnus looked at Wheeljack, who smirked and crossed his arms. "Han, I have to get you out of here. I'm gonna need you to climb." Bulkhead said before putting him on a boulder and pointing at the ceiling, revealing a huge crevasse where the sun light shone through it.
"No way. I wanna help." Han argued.
"And you will." Ultra Magnus suddenly said. "Your mission: reach my ship so you can contact Optimus Prime or Elita One."
"Yes sir." Han nodded saluting before he started to climb up.
The Predacon's roaring sounder more furious, followed by the sound of rocks breaking.
"Not sure I like the sound of that." Wheeljack said.
"So, huh…?" Bulkhead started.
"We make our stand. Here and now." Ultra Magnus suggested pulling out his hammer, so both Wreckers readied their guns.
Han finally reached to the top and saw Magnus's ship, so he ran toward it. But once he almost arrived, he heard the sound of the elevator, so someone else was inside the ship. He went to hide before the elevator revealed that four familiar Decepticons, a few Seeker soldiers, a JK-13 security droid and a few binary loadlifter droids came out. So he decided to hide.
"Given that this ship is currently unoccupied, it would seem the Autobots did stumble upon our little mining operation." A voice said, revealing to be Thundercracker.
"No worries. Our Predacon is no doubt dismantling the interlopers as we speak. It was a challenge, but we managed to tame the savage beast." Starscream proclaimed.
"Yes. Taught it to heed our every command." Skywarp added.
"Come on, come on." Han whispered behind a rock.
"You're not wearing the armor to protect yourself from it?" One of the Seekers asked confused.
Starscream looked back at them. "From our beloved pet? Of course not! In fact, it's getting rather warm in here." He pressed the button on the chest of the armor, deactivating it. Han saw when Starscream grabbed the armor in deactivated form and placed it on another boulder. "Ah, ventilation."
Back in the cave, the Predacon continued advancing until it arrived to the open cave, where Ultra Magnus was waiting with his big hammer ready. It made a short screech and charged for him, while Magnus simply waited for the last moment to swing the hammer, and hitting the Predacon's head hard, making it screeching in pain.
"Open fire!" Ultra Magnus signaled.
Wheeljack fired at it from one side, while Bulkhead fired from the other. The Predacon swung its tail at Bulkhead, but he dodged receiving only a few scratches from its spikes. The Predacon charged its core and launched a fire shot at Wheeljack, who dodged it. It tried to do the same with Bulkhead with the same result. That made it launch more fire in all directions, almost hitting Magnus, who slid on his knees dodging the flames before hitting hard again the beast's chest with the hammer, sending it to the ground. Still down, the creature swung its tail at him, but Bulkhead grab it.
"No you don't." He said, but the tail's strength was more than enough to pull him up and tossed him at Magnus.
With two Wreckers down the Predacon approached them, but a few shots caught its attention.
"Hey, hot head!" Wheeljack called from a ledge.
The Predacon was preparing to launch more fire, moment that Wheeljack took advantage to threw a grenade, and it was counting. It looked like it was going straight down the beast's throat, but it whacked it away with its tail in the last moment. The grenade bounced off the walls and landed in the center of the cave, just when the time was out.
"Oh, scrap." He simply said.
The blast shook the bluffs and the dusty explosion shot through the crevasse like a volcano. While the Seekers went to the crevasse to inspect it, Han took the chance to reach the platform. The Decepticons noticed the smoke seeping through the crevasse.
"Seems like someone detonated a powerful explosive inside there." Slipstream deduced.
"That'll do some damage." Thundercracker agreed.
Han was almost at the platform when a foot stomped in front of him. He gasped as he looked up to see Skywarp, who reached first with his teleportation ability.
"Han Solo, is it?" He recognized, as the droids started surrounding him.
"Hehehe, hi Starscream. It's been a while." He saluted nervous.
"You misunderstand, kid. I'm Skywarp, but no worries. Natives always get confused when it comes to differentiate droids."
Inside the cave the Predacon broke free from the rubble roaring in anger. It looked for the Autobots until it spotted something shining. It went to where the shine came from, moved a rock out of the way and found a fossil of a Predacon optic. It scanned the eye and saw the Predacon that it belonged on its mind. Meanwhile…
"The Autobots must be total fools to allow a little human to accompany them." Slipstream opined.
"Ha, look who's speaking? At least I'm not accompanied by a few foot soldiers and droids to protect myself for an already tamed prehistoric pet." Han mocked.
"Oh, he has spirit. I like that, I admit it." Skywarp said.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Were you trying to reach this ship to call for help perhaps?" Starscream deduced before pressing a button that made the elevator to go back up into the ship.
"You think that or you are going to stop me? Think again, clankers." Han said running for the elevator.
"What did you call us?!" Thundercracker asked mad. "Droids, do something useful and crush him!"
The binary loadlifter droids charged at him, but Han managed to shoot them at their weak spots, taking them out of the way. Starscream attempted to squash him, but he jumped forward and rolled between his feet. He quickly got on his feet and jumped for the platform, managing to grab the ledge. Once on the platform he saw the security droid coming at him. It tried to take him down with its tentacles, but he managed to evade them.
"I'm gonna need more firepower. Or something else." Han mumbled, spotting the Apex Armor.
The droid tried to grab him with its tentacles but he evaded again at the same time that he saw that he was close to the Apex Armor, so he decided to make a desperate jump for it. He landed right on the button, activating the armor as it engulfed him. The Decepticons were in disbelief seeing the armor covering a human.
"Wow!" Han said when he saw himself completely covered by the armor.
"The Apex Armor works for those insects too? Why didn't you tell us that was possible, Thundercracker?!" Skywarp asked in disbelief.
"How I was supposed to know that?!" The blue Seeker defended.
"What's the matter, guys? Can't pick someone your own size?" Han mocked advancing toward them.
Then the Decepticons heard a faint growl and looked up. Next a small object fell from the sky and bounced of Han's head. It rolled on the ground in front of the Decepticons' feet: it was the fossil.
"What do you know, it does fetch." Starscream remarked.
"Huh?" Han asked, before Starscream pointed above him chuckling, making Han turned to see the Predacon landing on top of the ship. "Scrap." He cursed as he ran in fear screaming, but the Predacon caught him.
Meanwhile in the cave the Wreckers finally recovered themselves.
"Well, that didn't go exactly as planned." Wheeljack said.
"That's because any first-cycle cadet knows better than to detonate a grenade in a confined space!" Ultra Magnus lectured.
"Even if I intended the confined space to be the belly of the beast?" He argued.
"Uh, sir…" Bulkhead started.
"Your actions continue to be just one step removed from getting us all scrapped!" Ultra Magnus shouted as he stomped.
"With all due respect, sir, the Predacon's loose and Han is out there alone!" Bulkhead said pulling out his wrecking ball and heading down the tunnel.
"Permission to provide cover, sir?" Wheeljack said to Ultra Magnus.
Speaking of Han, he was laying on the floor while the Predacon crawled him. And the Decepticons seemed to enjoy it.
"Not so tough now, hey little boy?" Slipstream mocked.
"Go ahead! Make a wreck of him! As you no doubt did the Wreckers." Starscream encouraged.
"Starscream, status report." Megatron called through com-link.
"Master, we have secured the bone." He reported as he saw Han screaming while the Predacon picked him up and started shaking him like a toy. "And our Predacon is dealing with the Autobots' pet human as we speak. On my command of course."
"I will not risk losing a precious commodity to your arrogance!"
The Predacon slammed Han hard to the ground, creating an impact crater.
"I'll tear you apart!" Han threatened, but the creature unleashed another fire storm over him.
"Have the beast return with my prize immediately! You can stay behind and finish the Autobots." Megatron instructed.
"Yes, master." Starscream nodded before the communication ended. "Assuming we can course the brainless brute into…"
Suddenly, the Predacon stood in front of them and pinned him to the ground, roaring angrily at him. It noticed the bone next to him, so it carefully grabbed it with its sharp teeth, took flight and flew away.
"What? You never obey our commands!" Skywarp protested.
"That doesn't matter right now. You heard our master: we must locate the Autobots." Slipstream started.
"As soon as I retrieve what belongs to me." Starscream said as he approached Han, who looked unconscious. "Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk. Even the strongest armor can't protect the weakest of creatures." He was about to deactivate the armor when suddenly Han grabbed him, scaring him.
"Protected you, didn't it?" He said.
After showing him, he grabbed Starscream by the arm, which made him scream in the process. He spun him around and threw him at Thundercracker.
"What are you waiting for? Go!" Skywarp shouted to the droid.
The droid grabbed Han's arms with its tentacles, but he smirked and grabbed them back before pulling from them at him, launching the droid above him and making it to crash against the ground, breaking itself totally. Skywarp tried to strike him with help of his special ability, but Han waited for the moment he reappeared and pinned him against the ground. The Seeker soldiers fired at him, but obviously the Apex Armor was doing its job fine. Han charged at them and tackled them that much that sent them flying. Slipstream pulled out her whips and tried to immobilize Han completely, but he did the same as with the droid before and threw her against Skywarp before he could get up completely. Starscream launched a missile at him, but Han grabbed it, allowing it to set off right in his face. The explosion created a huge cloud of smoke. He looked to see if he got this time, but Han jumped high in the air and as he was coming down, he kicked him, sending him crash hard to the ground. Next Thundercracker engaged him; he dodged and blocked every attack he threw at him, until he countered with a low kick. Skywarp jumped as he elbowed him on the shoulder, he dodged two light blows and blocked a heavy blow which shoved him back. Then he charged at him and threw good punches in his torso, next he climbed on top of the Seeker and bashed him on the head. He bounced off him and kicked Thundercracker again crashing on the ground. Slipstream tried to trample him, but he rolled out the way and quickly got back up on his feet to continue engage them. In that moment, the Wreckers emerged from the crevasse and noticed someone in the Apex Armor fighting against the Decepticons. Han punched Thundercracker twice in the torso followed with an uppercut and a side kick.
"Who's wrecking who now?!" Han shouted.
"You dare to challenge us, kid? Us?! Who managed to fight in the great War for Cybertron millions of years before your very first ancestor existed?!" Skywarp shouted angry.
Skywarp tried to strike him, but Han pivoted to the right around him and climbed on top of him. Next, he grabbed his shoulders and pulled him down to the ground.
"Han?" Bulkhead said in disbelief.
"Perhaps you weren't wrong about the human after all." Ultra Magnus admitted as Wheeljack smirked.
Han finished by kicking Skywarp, sending him back with the other Seekers.
"This isn't working. The kid knows what he's doing." Slipstream admitted.
"Perhaps with a coordinated effort between everyone may work." Skywarp suggested.
The same as his fellow relatives, Starscream readied his claws. "You do know how it feels to be harmed? Well, now we're going to show you what I was going to do to Cliffjumper."
"But you didn't, so you are the ones who should be worried. Because I snuffed Bombshock." Han revealed.
That left the Decepticons without words, but before they could charge, they saw the Wreckers coming.
"Uh-oh, if battling an armored human is that hard, alongside three Autobots it will be a nightmare." Thundercracker realized nervous.
"Retreat." Starscream ordered, and all Seekers transformed and flew away.
"Aw." Han groaned while the Wreckers met with him. "They got away with the bone."
"Hey. You brought your A-Game, kid. Like a true Wrecker." Wheeljack congratulated him nudging his shoulder, before seeing both him and Bulkhead. "And I want to remember us just like this, before the rust sets in." He finished looking at Ultra Magnus.
Then Wheeljack transformed and drove away.
"What? Where's Wheeljack going?" Han asked.
"Solo." Bulkhead answered.
"Again?!"
"Jackie just broke up the gang." Bulkhead said sadly as they saw him driving towards the horizon.
