Chapter 40-Ultimatum
Optimus hated waiting.
Deca-cycles of warfare had taught him that patience was necessary if you wanted a clear, decisive victory over your opponents, but Optimus was never one for sitting back and letting the enemy do what they wanted until the right opportunity presented itself. That was more Prowl's thing. Perhaps that was why he never fully took to politics…and why he and Prowl never saw eye to eye.
But right now, he really wished that he had stepped in. News of the Brotherhood's victory over Wolfe's regime in Assiah was broadcasted all over the world on every major and minor news station there was. Dreyas had broadcasted his victory speech across the airwaves, and Megatron later showed the live and slow execution of Wolfe by way of extremely slow decapitation. Optimus wasn't surprised, people like that were the reason Megatron had become the monster he was today.
Karaba had a new base of operations, one with tons of advanced weaponry and technology that Wolfe boasted would be the end of the esper revolution. The Decepticons had access to a sizeable legion of towering robotic drones at their command. They had the perfect staging ground to wage war on the rest of the world.
Optimus knew that the Neo Knights were correct to keep him from intervening in the battle. As Prowl stated, it was tactically sound. If they had gone to Assiah, they would be fighting both the Cons and Wolfe's Guardians, and suffered unneeded casualties. But after seeing the brutality Karaba showcased in their victory broadcast, he wondered if he should have taken the risk.
"As much as I would've wanted otherwise, Prime, you made the right call." Colonel Barnett said when he visited the base. "Wolfe was no better than Karaba. He would've attacked you on sight and maybe even killed some of your Autobots. To think he was planning to use those damn robots of his to wage war on other nations."
"If there's one thing you learned, it was that there are no shortage of self-proclaimed warlords who think they can take everything they see, even when someone stronger than them is banging on their door." Optimus said, crossing his arms. "Have you detected any major movements from them?"
Barnett shook his head. "No, they're staying put on that island. Probably to fully secure the island of any resistance. I imagine they'll have their hands full taking care of all the espers Wolfe's people have been tormenting."
"The Decepticons are also recovering from their battle, only leaving the island to gather energon. I've spoken with Prowl and he says that trying to attack them now when they have the full support of the island's esper population wouldn't end well."
"I can see why, though you'll have a tough time explaining that to the top brass. Several governments are very nervous about having Karaba basically have the resources to wage proper war on them."
Optimus looked down at Barnett with narrowed eyes. "Some of these counties wouldn't happen to be Xing, Yuktobania and the Aztecan dictatorships, would they?"
Barnett gave a humorless smile. It was no surprise to anyone that the nations most trigger happy at wanting to wipe Assiah out were those countries exposed for the brutal treatment of espers by Karaba. Nations that were raided and soundly humiliated by the Decepticons, and had their global reputations tattered in a single day. It wasn't just that the Cons beat these nations through sheer firepower and strategy, but they've also dealt them a serious blow on the political scale as well. A crucial rule of revolutions is to show just how ineffectual the old regime is, show their weaknesses for all to see, rattle their cages and make them angry.
"President Flagg wants to speak to you and Prowl about deciding our next course of action. I doubt he'll sanction military action against what is essentially a sovereign nation, but you never know." Barnett sighed. "People have started wars over less."
Optimus gave a tired sigh and made for the door. Looks like he wasn't getting any sleep today.
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The next few days on the island of Assiah was hectic. Karaba was fortifying the island from outside attacks and healing from the wounds they've acquired in their conquest of said island. The Decepticons were great help in ensuring the quick transportation of materials and weapons from one location to another. Learning about the assortment of laser weaponry and advanced vehicles Wolfe had at his disposal was quite the experience, and Tirant had a field day going through all of the tech and replicating it.
"All resisting groups have been successfully subjugated and imprisoned, Megatron. Karaba has full control of every military facility on the island, and the Guardians are still at our command." Nightshade reported.
"You mean, at Dreyas's command." Starscream corrected.
"Be silent, Starscream." Dreadwing growled. Starscream glared back at him but said nothing more.
"Calm yourself, Starscream. Dreyas knows that it wouldn't be in his best interest to betray us this far into the game." Megatron said. "And even if he did, Shockwave has developed some countermeasures in case he turns those robots onto us."
Turning to Nightshade, he asked, "How goes the search for Wolfe's hidden treasure trove of secrets?"
"Some members of the Karaba scout party detected something abnormal deep below the island using seismic waves. Something big and made of metal, though they can't discern what it is." She reported. "Apparently whatever it is, it's big, at least bigger than the island."
That was unexpected, and it must have showed on Megatron's face because she continued, "Yeah, that was my reaction too. They've also found a service tunnel within the maximum security area inside the citadel that leads deep underground, presumably to the cavern where the anomaly was detected. Dreyas wants to see if you'll lend some Minicons for the exploration team he's sending down there."
Megatron thought about it. This might be a chance to see just what Wolfe had uncovered that allowed him to amass such technological wonders to use against his enemies. His interest in uncovering this secret wasn't because he sought this technology for himself, no he had everything already, but more to see just how deep this hellish planet went in terms of contradictions. Terra was home to races other than humans, he knew that now, and Primus knew what the hell the dolems did in the past to make this planet such a circus. He wanted some clear cut answers as to what he should expect before some ancient mechanoid goliath from the bloody Stone Age tried to tear him apart.
"Have Leader-1 go, along with three other Minicons of his choosing." Megatron said. "Dreadwing, have your Seekers continue patrolling our naval territory. Soundwave will monitor the local airwaves to ensure that the other nations don't have any funny ideas."
"And the plan, Megatron?" Starscream asked.
Megatron stared at him hard, but for once it wasn't in anger. "If your contact pulls through, then we'll be able to set the stage for the operation. But keep in mind whether we move forward or not depends on how you handle this, Starscream."
Nightshade turned to Starscream with a sneer. "So try not to frag this up."
Starscream smirked at her. "Don't worry, Megatron. I'm quite persuasive if I put my mind to it."
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"Finally, some peace and quiet." Thundercracker sighed, sitting down next to the recently made statue of Megatron that the espers of Karaba had set up right next to one of Dreyas.
The two statues had been set up in the middle of the island's capital city that was formerly Wolfe's seat of power. It was a status symbol to show every one of the two leaders who made this historic victory possible. Thundercracker thought it was a bit ostentatious, but who was he to judge? He used to be taking orders from freaking Starscream of all people!
"Thundercracker?" At the sound of his name, he looked down to see Debra standing by his foot.
"Debra? What's up?" Thundercracker asked.
"I just wanted to see how you were doing." Debra said tiredly. "Sorry I haven't been in touch lately. I've been very busy lately."
"I understand. Conquering places is all fun and games until it comes to the cleanup. Then no one wants to help out." Thundercracker grumbled. For all their bluster, Slipstream and Skywarp were slag partners when it came to handling the final phases of the Protocol. "Oh yeah, how are Jane and Fauntleroy?"
"They're healing nicely. We've got some pretty powerful healers in Karaba." Debra smiled. "Thanks for helping them. I hope I didn't get you in trouble with your comrades. I hear they weren't happy with you helping an organic."
"It's nothing. Starscream's all hot air these days." Thundercracker waved off her concerns. "I have thick mesh."
Debra nodded and leaned against his leg. Thundercracker looked down at her and saw that she was looking kind of sad.
"Is something wrong?" He asked her.
"Oh, um, it's nothing."
"It's not nothing, Debra." Thundercracker replied. "You're looking a bit down. What's wrong, you're not happy we took this place?"
Debra took a moment to answer, but eventually she worked up the courage. "It's not that I'm not happy we took the island. It's what it cost us that's got me down. Everyone's acting like we didn't just lose so many comrades to that horrible man, and they're treating it as a sacrifice those people wanted to make for the cause."
Debra shook her head. "It wasn't. They were just the unlucky ones." She sighed. "The more we fight, the more I'm getting tired of how violent our methods are getting just to win this war. We're not just hurting racists and power hungry dictators anymore, Thundercracker. We're also hurting innocent people who don't want any part of this, and some of those people are related to espers. It just feels as if we're forgotten why Karaba was made in the first place."
Thundercracker said nothing, letting her vent her inner feelings. Debra bit her lip and looked up at him.
"Thundercracker, have you ever thought that the Decepticons have strayed too far from what they used to be? That they've forgotten why they were formed in the first place and just keep getting worse over time?" She asked.
Thundercracker remained silent, and Debra wasn't expecting an answer. So when he did reply to her question, she was pleasantly surprised at both the fact that he answered, and his answer in general.
"Sometimes."
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"How did things go to hell so fast?"
Sparkplug looked up from his daily briefing to give Jolt a look. "I'm sorry?"
The red Minicon pulled up a chair and plopped down next to Sparkplug with a dejected sigh. "This. This whole conflict on Terra. How did things go south so fast after we kicked the Cons asses in that raid on Decepticon Island? I thought we had them on the run!"
Sparkplug sighed and put his datapad down. "I know, Jolt. I'm frustrated too. And things haven't been going our way for a while either. First Megatron's alliance with Karaba, then them turning nearly the entire planet's esper population against the Autobots, and now this. I honestly don't know if this war will ever end."
In all honesty, he thought that this war was just going to get worse for Terra. He didn't want to become jaded or cold to the situation they were all in, but it was all starting to seem hopeless. The violence only got worse and worse, and everyone from the humans to the Atlantians was being dragged into their mess. Not to mention the kids…they've been through so much already.
"Maybe we should pay the kids a visit." Jolt suggested. "Get our minds off things. I could use a distraction right about now."
"But Jolt, I've still got to run things around here. I can't just bail because I'm stressed." Sparkplug said. "It comes with the job."
"Then would you at least take a break? You're making me exhausted just from watching you work." Jolt said.
"Okay, okay, I'll go with you." Sparkplug smiled. "I guess I do need a drink."
"Great!" Jolt grinned. "Road Storm's gotten better at mixing energon types, so I think you're in for a treat."
But before the two mechs could leave the room, the base's klaxon alarms suddenly started blaring all around them. "Alert! Alert! Code Red security breach!"
"Code Red?" Sparkplug exclaimed. "But that means the perimeter sensors were breached!"
Jolt ran over to the computer and brought up the external camera feed. He cursed when he saw three large airships hovering above the mountain that the base was built inside. "Sparkplug, we've got Karaba airships heading our way!"
"Slag! How did they get this close without us detecting them?" Sparkplug activated the base's automated controls and got on the base's intercom. "Minicons, we're under attack! Man battle stations! This is not a drill!"
"We've got to call the Autobots!" Jolt tried accessing Teletran-1 to contact the Ark, but all he got was static noise. "Scrap, I'm not getting a signal!"
Sparkplug looked at all the security monitors and saw that they were also acting a bit glitchy. "I think it's happening to all of them. It's electromagnetic disturbance."
"Electromagnetic? But how…" Jolt's eyes widened and he stared at Sparkplug, who shared him with a matching expression of horror.
"We need to evacuate ASAP." Sparkplug said.
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The base had gone into combat mode as the Minicons prepared for battle. A quick run over of the system showed that many of their digital systems were being short circuited by a long range electromagnetic pulse, presumably from Dreyas himself. What was worse was that there were increasing levels of microwave energy saturating the area. It was small at first, barely detectable from what was normally emitted from the sun, but as it increased, more sensitive technologies would start to malfunction. That wasn't counting the affect it would have on the Minicons themselves.
They had nowhere to run, and they were effectively blind. The only thing that was running without problems were the base's defense systems, which ran on a separate system in case some saboteur tried to hack into the base's computer grid to take control of everything.
Once it was clear that the airships heading for the base were hostile, Sparkplug activated several hidden laser turrets and plasma cannons built into the mountain and in the surrounding forest to emerge from their secret mounts to attack the airships simultaneously. There was some relief in that their sole method of defense worked, but it wouldn't last for long.
"Thankfully Megatron hadn't decided to beef up Karaba's airships or we'd be smoldering in a crater by now. The canons will keep their airships busy for a while, but once their heavy hitters come out, it's only a matter of time before they break in." Sparkplug said.
"Why run then? We can take them!" Bomb grunted, slamming a fist into his palm. "We have the weapons to waste them!"
"Because if we stay here any longer the microwaves washing over the base will offline us one by one." Said Turbo, hefting a large plasma cannon onto his back.
"We need to evacuate through the emergency entrance. Once were out, we'll scatter into the forest in teams of three as soon as we're outside." Sparkplug said to the assembled Minicons. "Once we're far enough away, everyone make an attempt to call the Autobots. They need to know what's going on!"
"All right, soldiers! You heard the mech!" Bomb shouted over the rumbling noises of explosions and cannon fire. "Let's transform and get the hell out of dodge!"
The Minicons armed themselves with whatever they could carry, while Longarm and Roll Bar got to work on downloading or destroying any sensitive information they could access. Once everything was done, Sparkplug and the Land Military Team lead the group to the emergency exit that was built just for this exact reason.
"Sonar, your team is with me." Sparkplug said to the Air Defense team leader. "Your team must fly as fast as possible from the combat zone to escape their magnetic field. If this plan fails, we're counting on you to manually contact the Autobots."
"We're on it boss." Sonar promised.
'Primus above, please let us get out of this in one piece.' Sparkplug prayed as he hit the door controls and the doors to the emergency tunnel slid open.
Only to reveal the muzzle of a laser rifle pointed directly at his face.
"Hello Sparkplug." Leader-1 said smugly, his yellow visor glowing in the darkness of the tunnel. Behind him, Sue and Jane stood with their powers activated and ready to attack. "Where do you think you're going?"
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Several minutes later, the Minicons were rounded up and forced to the control center, where they were surrounded by several Karaba members armed with high powered assault rifles, all of whom were led by two of Dreyas's eldest daughters. Leader-1 was leading the strike team with Zapmaster and Thunder.
"This is a sight I've dreamed about," Leader-1 said as he stood in front of the captured Minicons. "Having the great and honorable Sparkplug on his knees before me with guns pointed at his head. I wish Laserbeak was here to record this. Moments like this are rare these days."
"For Unicron's sake, could you not do this today, Leader-1?" Zapmaster groaned. "It's painful enough being in the same breathing space as you without having to listen to your grandstanding."
"Shut it, Zapmaster." Leader-1 hissed.
"Well you finally caught us, Leader-1." Sparkplug said hatefully. "You won, we lost. All it took was you having a platoon of espers backing you up."
Leader-1 backhanded Sparkplug across the face. "Keep talking like that and I'll carve out your voice box!"
"Whoa there, metal dude, don't damage the merchandise." Jane said, walking up to them. "We still need them alive."
"But not in one piece." Leader-1 replied.
"What the hell do the Cons even need us for?" Opal demanded. "They've already got their own damn island and an army of superhumans on top of that. They certainly don't need any Minicons at this point in the war."
"You're right, but you lot are just as valuable as hostages." Jane smirked. "The Autobots have something we want, and you all are going to help us get it."
"And what's that?" Roll Bar asked.
"That'd be telling." Leader-1 said. "You'll know when we contact the Autobots with our offer."
"If you think we're going to let you use us to hurt the Autobots, you've got another thing coming." Sparkplug spat.
"You're in no position to make threats, Sparkplug." Leader-1 said carelessly.
"On the contrary," Sparkplug glanced up at something on the upper level. "I am."
At an unspoken signal, the walls along the second level of the base suddenly exploded as over a dozen shape charges detonated at once. The soldiers unfortunate enough to be near them were seriously injured and some were even sent flying off the ledge down below. Using the distraction, Sparkplug and the other Minicons rushed their captors, taking their weapons and shooting at anyone who wasn't them.
"Shit!" Jane attempted to disable the Minicons, but someone grabbed her hair from behind and pulled her back violently. "Ah!"
"Sis?" Sue looked over at her sister and saw her struggling against someone who was clearly invisible and was gripping her hair like the reins of a horse. "I got you!"
Sue covered her body in flames and rushed to help her sister, but a white Minicon fell from above and landed in front of her. It was Undertone. He tossed a concussion bomb at Sue and jumped away as it went off, unleashing a concussion wave that threw her back into the computer screen behind her. Undertone performed a backflip and landed next to Jane, whom he took out with a solid punch to the face.
"Thanks," Indy breathed as he disabled his invisibility power. "I was starting to lose control there."
Leader-1 watched in shock as his plan fell apart literally before his eyes. The Minicons had already taken out half of his team, and he lost track of Zapmaster and Thunder, the useless pieces of slag. Knowing that it was no use to fight back, Leader-1 transformed and sped out of the control center into the entrance tunnel.
"No you don't!" Sparkplug growled and transformed as well before speeding after him.
"Sparkplug, wait!" Jolt called out to him, but the yellow Minicon was already gone. "Damn it! Okay people, let's get the hell out of here before reinforcements arrive!"
Sparkplug chased Leader-1 through the tunnel and out into the forest. The uneven foliage and terrain slowed Leader-1 down enough for Sparkplug to slam into him from the rear and sent him tumbling over the side. Leader-1 tried to angle himself to shoot his twin cannons, but Sparkplug had already rammed him into a tree, forcing both mechs back into robot mode.
"You worthless piece of slag!" Sparkplug roared as he pummeled Leader-1's face with hard punches. "Selling out your own people to be sold as slaves, I should rip out your Spark for your cowardice!"
"Cowardice? It's called surviving!" Leader-1 landed an uppercut to Sparkplug's chin and knocked him back. He ran forward and kicked the mech in the chest. "You wanted to bury your head in the sand and sit back while our people were treated as second class citizens by the Bulks! Did you honestly think we could play neutral in a war like this? If you had just agreed to join the Cons, then we'd be sitting at the top of the food chain by now!"
"We'd be sitting on the corpses of trillions of innocent people!" Sparkplug grabbed Leader-1's leg and lifted him off the ground, throwing him into a tree. He then landed a punch to Leader-1's face with enough force to crack his visor. "We'd be no better than the Bulks who treated us like dirt!"
"We'd be kings!" Leader-1 shouted.
"We'd be murderers!" Sparkplug shot back.
The two traded a couple more blows before Leader-1 grabbed Sparkplug's head and slammed him into the ground several times. Sparkplug struggled to break free, but had no leverage to move.
"What's the life of an organic species or two compared to our kind, the superior race! You're no different from Prime, and that is the reason we're killing each other now. If you fools didn't have such bleeding Sparks, we'd be conquering the universe as a single empire! As one people!" Leader-1 hissed, pushing Sparkplug to the ground and raising a fist. "All this pain and strife is on you, Sparkplug. The deaths of Mugen and every other Minicon is all on you. And as a Decepticon, it's my duty to deal this punishment onto a traitor like you!"
"You first." Sparkplug hissed.
Leader-1 felt something press against his chest and a second later felt his entire chest plate get blown apart by a laser blast that blew open his chest. He stumbled back, grasping at the large smoking hole in his torso. Sparkplug got to his feet, a blaster in his hand as he stood over Leader-1's dying body.
"I want to say it pains me to do this," Sparkplug said as he pointed the blaster at Leader-1's head. "But that'd be lying."
Just as he was about to pull the trigger, a fireball hit the ground behind him, blasting him off his feet and slamming him into a tree. He fell to the ground dazed and saw a figure hovering over him surrounded by a fiery aura.
"So this is where you ran off to." It was Magda, Karaba lieutenant. The woman looked down at Leader-1's still form dispassionately before turning her gaze to Sparkplug. "And you're the Minicon leader. Your comrades have already been captured by my troops, so don't bother fighting. You're lucky my girls aren't seriously hurt or I'd have slaughtered the lot of you."
Sparkplug groaned and tried to point his blaster at her. Magda sighed and raised a hand in his direction.
"Such heroic nonsense." She sneered and launched a blast of superheated microwave energy at him.
Sparkplug had no time to react as his vision was filled with fire.
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As the morning passed into the afternoon, an uneasy air fell upon the Autobots. Something didn't feel right, though no one could tell what it was. Optimus felt it most of all, and it kept him antsy for the entire morning until Prowl called him out on it.
"Prime, sit down and stop stressing yourself out over a feeling." He said in a hard tone. He was sitting at the Teletran terminal in the command center managing the routine energon recon missions some of the Autobots were out on. With things having quieted down somewhat, it was best to get to work on replenishing their stockpiles while they had the chance.
"It's not a feeling, Prowl. This is something serious." Optimus said, staring out the windshield of the Ark's main deck into the forest beyond. "Something bad has happened and we all instinctively know it, even you."
"Be that as it may, we don't even know what this "something" is. For all we know, the Decepticons might have uncovered another dolem weapon." Prowl said, not taking his eyes off the screen. "Primus knows that they seem to be finding those things in an ancient shopping mall for how many they've found already."
Their conversation was interrupted by an alert from Teletran-1. "Alert: Priority One distress call from Omega One."
Optimus and Prowl went silent in shock and the Prime ran over to the console. "Open the channel Teletran!"
The comm channel connected to the Minicon base and Optimus wasted no time in demanding answers. "Sparkplug, what's wrong? Are you under attack?"
"Oh it's far worse than that, Prime."
Optimus and Prowl stared in shock and horror as Megatron's face appeared on the screen instead of Sparkplug's.
"Megatron?!" Optimus exclaimed.
"What a wonderful expression you have there, Prime. It's rare to be able to genuinely surprise you like this." Megatron gloated.
"What did you do to the Minicons, Megatron? Where are they?" Optimus demanded angrily.
"Worry not, Prime, they're safe and sound, for the most part. The same cannot be said for your little friend Sparkplug." Megatron grinned. "As for how I found they're little base…well, that's for me to know, and you to find out in the next stellar-cycles."
Optimus made to speak, but Megatron stopped him. "I'd love to chat, Prime, but I'm on a tight schedule. So here's how it's going to go. These Minicons are my hostages. I could just keep them for myself to torment for my amusement as payback for making me run around this wretched dirtball for an entire year. But I am nothing if not merciful."
Megatron lost his smile and gave his terms. "You can have these wretched vermin back, free of charge, Sparkplug included in return for just one little member of your group."
"We're not giving you anybody for you to torment, Megatron." Optimus growled.
"It's one person in return for two dozen Minicons, Prime. Minicons who trust you to have your best interests at heart. You wouldn't want to disappoint them again after finally earning their respect, do you?" The warlord taunted. "One of your comrades in return for the entirety of the Minicons. That is my offer. Take it or leave it. And don't try to rescue them, because their location is well hidden and well protected."
Optimus clenched his fists, his chest tightening in pure anger at how the situation had completely devolved. "Who do you want?"
"Someone who's been on my hit list for quite some time…Darren Radcliffe."
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"No, we're not doing it!"
Arcee's voice ran through the halls of the Ark as she made her view on this matter very clear. She and the other Autobots had been told of Megatron's ultimatum and Megatron's terms had caused quite a stir among the Autobots, Arcee, Bumblebee and Moonracer in particular.
Optimus sighed, looking tired and worn. "Arcee…"
"If you're actually considering this, Optimus, I swear to all that is holy this will be the last time we'll be speaking in person." Arcee hissed.
"Calm down, 'Cee. No one's made a decision yet." Jazz said, and she rounded on him.
"Then why the hell are we even discussing this? We can't just give the Cons Darren, they'll torture him!" She said. "Have we really gone so far down the petra-rabbit hole that we're giving humans to them?"
"She's right, we're not putting Darren's life on the line like this after everything he's done for us. Heck, we don't even know why they want him in the first place." Bumblebee said strongly. "I'm sure we can still find the Minicons ourselves."
"Megatron gave no hints to their location, and he's had Karaba take over Omega One." Ironhide said grimly. "We've checked the satellites several times, but there's no sign of their energon signatures. No doubt that they're having Dreyas create a magnetic field to hide their signals from sensors and radar."
"Then look harder." Arcee said. "Drive around the whole damn countryside for all I care, but I won't allow you to give Darren up."
Before Optimus could say anything, Sunstreaker cut in. "Why all this fuss for a single human? He's just one kid, and the Cons are holding several of our friends hostage." He muttered, not entirely into the conversation. "Not very clear-headed for a cyber-ninja."
"Sunny, don't even start." Sideswipe groaned.
Before anyone could react, Arcee leapt across the room and sucker punched Sunstreaker in the face, knocking him to the ground. She kicked him in the chest before Rodimus and Tomahawk dragged her back.
"That human is the reason you're still in one piece you good for nothing waste of space!" She roared. "He's the reason you're still around to annoy everything with your false bravado and piece of slag attitude! If it weren't for him, you'd still be OZ's little science project!"
"You bitch!" Sunstreaker growled and tried to run at her, only to be stopped by Sideswipe.
"ENOUGH!"
Everyone froze at Optimus's command and they all turned toward him. The thunderous look in Prime's eyes was enough to take the wind out of their sails and they all calmed down immediately. Seeing that he had everyone's full attention, Optimus inhaled through his intakes and reined in his temper.
"Arguing among us is not going to help the Minicons. Now I have no intention of handing Darren over to the Decepticons, especially not when we do not know why they want him." Optimus said, giving all of his Autobots a look. "Let's focus our efforts on figuring out where the Minicons might be located. We'll collaborate with the ARA and—"
"I'll do it."
Everyone went quiet and turned to the doorway, where they found Prowl standing there with the children at his feet. Darren, Annie and Gina entered the room with the Street Action team and Sara, the eyes of the Autobots on all of them.
"Darren…" Arcee whispered as she stared at him with wide eyes. "What are you…"
"Prowl called and told me what happened." Darren said.
Optimus glared at Prowl. "You had no right, Prowl." He hissed.
"You're right, I had no right. Just as we all have no right to be discussing this without Darren here." Prowl said. "Like it or not, he is at the heart of this, and so he has a right to know what is going on."
"Prowl's right, I do have a right to decide how this is going to go. Sparkplug, Jolt, Roll Bar and the others are our friends. We can't just let them die like this without trying to save them." Darren said.
"Darren, think about what you're talking about." Arcee said, dropping to her knees beside him. "If you give yourself up to them, there's no guarantee that we can save you."
"That doesn't have to be the case." Gina said, stepping forward. "We can save the Minicons without giving Darren away, but it'll be tight. The plan's still a bit rough, but if you'll listen to it…"
Optimus walked over to the children and knelt down to them. Darren met his stare with equal intensity, showing no hesitation in his decision to step forward.
"Darren, we will not sacrifice your life for this." Optimus said.
"I know, but if we do this right, no one will lose their lives." Darren replied. "Trust us."
Optimus glanced up at Prowl, who nodded, then at Arcee, who looked away with a stricken expression. He turned back to Darren and nodded.
"What is this plan of yours?"
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Almost an hour passed while the Autobots made their next move. It would have been two if Prowl had not been around to hash out the finer details and iron out any difficulties throughout the plan. All things considered, the plan was simple but effective, but had a small window for error.
But the planning phase wasn't over for the children. There was still the matter of informing Debbie about Darren's risky decision. It didn't go well.
"Absolutely not!" Debbie shouted.
"Sis…" Darren tried to say, but she cut him off.
"NO! I'm not losing you again!" She yelled, giving him the harshest glare he had ever seen her give. "I'm sick of our family and friends being targeted because of this stupid war! We shouldn't have to die for them! Let them kill each other off and leave us out of it!"
The twins stared at their sister in shock. They had never seen Debbie look so vindictive and spiteful. Annie went to say something, but Darren shook his head to let him handle it. He walked up to Debbie and held her hands.
"Debbie, how can you say that when the Autobots risked their lives for us numerous times. They and the Minicons have willingly put everything on the line whenever we were in trouble. We can't just let that go without giving something back." He said and smiled. "And who says that I'll die? We have a plan that ensures that we can save the Minicons and for me to get out safely."
"But what if that doesn't work? Anything can happen when the Decepticons are concerned." Debbie said.
"We'll cross that bridge when we get there. But I'm not leaving Sparkplug and the others to hang." Darren said resolutely. "They didn't want to be a part of this any more than we do. We're all in this together."
"Please sis, trust us." Annie pleaded. "A lot more is at stake than just us."
Debbie inhaled sharply through her nose and looked away, her shoulders slumped and her posture defeated. Darren and Annie gave her a hug when she began to cry. The three siblings said nothing more after that, just comforting one another in the little time they have.
XXXXXX
Megatron had set the meeting on top of a mountain range a few miles from Omega One, far enough that it'll be too long to travel from the base to the meeting point without the use of a ground bridge. The exchange was supposed to be conducted between the Karaba espers and the children's' remaining Minicon partners, the Street Action team. As for the Minicons, the Autobots were allowed three members to go retrieve them once the exchange of Darren was confirmed.
"Megatron said for Darren to come alone to the mountain, and I'm sure Karaba has energon detectors to see we're lurking about nearby." Prowl said during the planning session. "But that's where High Wire's team comes in. They, as well as Sara, Gina and Annie, will be remaining hidden nearby until Arcee's group has the Minicons. Once that happens, the strike team will move in and retrieve Darren."
"But we cannot make a move until the Minicons are confirmed safe and sound." He reminded them. "And we cannot mobilize without Megatron sending the entirety of his forces at us and causing the whole situation to spiral out of control. We have to time this perfectly."
Darren ran the plan through his mind over and over until zero hour had arrived. After saying his teary goodbyes to Debbie, he took a ground bridge with the Street Action team, Sara, and the girls to the foot of the mountain where the meeting would take place. The sky was dark grey and the air was cold and windy. It felt as if nature itself was mirroring the general mood of the coming conflict.
"Thank you for everything, Darren." High Wire said as he gave Darren a big hug. Grindor and Sureshock also hugged him as well. "There's no way we can repay you aside from promising not to let you down."
"I know." Darren smiled and hugged High Wire back. "I know you won't."
As the Minicons stepped away, Annie walked up to him and also gave him a tight hug, which he returned.
"I'm so sorry things got so bad between us." Annie said in a choked voice. She didn't even try to keep the tears from running down her face. "I'm so, so sorry for everything that's happened."
"And I'm sorry too for all the things I've said." Darren replied, patting her back. "But we have time to make up. I promise."
Annie nodded into his shoulder and pulled away as Gina took her hand. Gina looked at Darren and dragged him forward into a long kiss. They held it for as long as possible before they broke apart and looked into each other's eyes. Nothing else needed to be said.
The ground bridge appeared behind them and Darren gave his friends one last look before entering the portal. What happened next was do or die for everyone involved.
XXXXXX
Jazz had been chosen to lead the other team, alongside Arcee and Bulkhead. Once they were told that Darren was on his way to meet with Karaba, they drove over to where Omega One was located.
As soon as they exited the ground bridge, they saw the signs of the battle that took place. The immediate area around the entrance was littered with burnt, overturned trees and scorched earth. Not to mention that the entire front side of the hidden base was just as damaged and littered with craters and huge chunks of stone blown apart.
"At least the little guys gave them a challenge." Bulkhead muttered.
"Too bad it wasn't enough." Jazz said, keeping his eyes forward. "Cee, see anything around us?"
"No, the forest is clear so far." Arcee said, her visor lowered over her eyes as she scanned their surroundings. "Though that's all I can tell visually. The magnetic field around here is insane."
"You have Dreyas to thank for that." Bulkhead growled.
The trio reached the entrance to the base, which was wide open and guarded by two Decepticons—Darkshadow and Blitzwing.
"Oh great, they tossed you here." Bulkhead groaned. He was never a fan of triple changers, a dislike spawned from one too many encounters with a few on the battlefield.
"Keep talkin' asshat. Give me a reason." Blitzwing growled. A look from Darkshadow cowed him and he backed down.
"None of that, Autobots. You're here for one thing and one thing only, yes?" She asked. She jerked her head at the tunnel behind her. "Follow us. We'll show you the Minicons."
Darkshadow and Blitzwing entered the service tunnel and the three Autobots traded a few glances before following them inside. There was little else they could do. They had to stick to the plan.
XXXXXX
Darren emerged from the ground bridge at the top of the mountain, where he saw a dark gray airship hovering on the other side of the peak. And right under the airship were three people—Magda, Fauntleroy and Jane, three of Karaba's highest ranking members.
"You took your sweet time." Magda said. "Do you not want to save your Minicon friends?"
"I'll never rush into a situation when you freaks are concerned." Darren said.
Jane bristled at the insult, but her mother waved her down. "Bold words from a child. Discard any devices or weapons you have and move forward."
"I'm my own weapon." Darren remarked. "And I'm not moving until I know the Minicons are there."
"Do you doubt us, boy?" Fauntleroy growled.
"What do you think?"
Magda felt her patience waning the more she talked to this boy. She could see why the Megatron and Nightshade loathed this boy. "Enough! Your Autobots are already at the base. Resist any further and we'll kill them all!"
She looked to Jane, who nodded and walked over to Darren, cautiously eying him to make sure he didn't try to attack when she was near. She held up an inhibitor collar and put it on him. Darren immediately formed a thin layer of telekinetic energy over his neck that stopped the collar from making contact with his skin and emitting the electrical charge to his nerves that would prevent him from using his powers.
"We've heard a lot about you, kid. We ain't letting you give us problems like you did the Cons." Jane said and pushed him in front of her. "Now move it."
Darren did as he was told, praying for Jazz's group to hurry up and confirm the Minicons' safety. Once he was on the airship, he would be in close proximity with three of the strongest espers in Karaba.
XXXXXX
'Primus, they really tore up the place.' Bulkhead thought as he saw the ravaged interior of Omega One. It made him somewhat glad that the Minicons gave Karaba such a hard time. The little guys had claws, it was time that people learned that.
But he put that aside when he saw the Minicons in the base's command center, and at the forefront was the beaten and battered body of Sparkplug, who looked to be hovering in and out of consciousness. Bulkhead felt Arcee bristle with anger beside him and he couldn't blame her when he saw the state the yellow Minicon leader was in. Sparkplug's armor was completely covered in burns that warped his mesh and he was missing an arm and an eye, which was still bleeding energon.
"Now you've seen the Minicons," Darkshadow said, taking a step back. "They're yours now."
Jazz eyed the Cons cautiously before nodding to Arcee to follow him while signaling Bulkhead to hang back and watch the Cons. They walked forward with their weapons raised and quickly knelt down by Sparkplug, who appeared to have finally noticed them.
"Hang tight, little guy. We're getting you out of here." Jazz whispered to him.
Sparkplug wheezed, his voice scratchy and painfully low. He lifted his head and looked up at them with his remaining eye. "N-No…trap…"
"Guys!" Bulkhead called out.
Jazz and Arcee looked up to see the forms of the other Minicons fade out of existence one by one. They were illusions, conjured by the dark skinned esper girl who was grinning at them from Darkshadow's hand.
"Psyche!" She cackled.
"Slag!" Jazz fired his blaster at Darkshadow, but Blitzwing blocked it and transformed to tank mode, firing pulse blasts at them. Arcee picked up Sparkplug and jumped back towards Bulkhead.
"Darren, it's a trick! The Minicons aren't here!" She called through the radio. The interference was already getting worse and she hoped that Darren heard her warning.
XXXXXX
He did.
Darren glared at the espers around him angrily and tensed his muscles. "You bastards! We had a deal!"
He shattered the collar around his neck and slammed his fists into the ground, releasing a telekinetic pulse that pushed them away.
Hanging on the side of the cliff, Gina, Sara and Centurion mobilized as soon as they heard the noise. The trio pulled themselves onto the mountain top and charged at the espers.
"Take care of them." Magda ordered her daughter and son in law. "I'll handle the boy."
Fauntleroy wasted no time in leaping at the girls. His body glowed with multicolored energy that he condensed into a large beam that forced them to scatter. Centurion tried to flank Fauntleroy, but Jane waved her hand and sent a wave of red energy that caused the ground underneath him to fracture and erupt in a shower of stone shards that pelted his body.
Sara leapt at Jane and shifted her hand into its blade configuration, slashing at Jane's neck and nearly got her. Cursing, Jane jumped back and clapped her hands, emitting red sparks that hit the blade trying to impale her. As soon as the energy touched Sara's blade, it shattered like glass, leaving the bioroid girl to stare at her broken weapon in confusion.
"Not so tough without your fancy toys, huh?" Jane taunted. Sara responded by punching Jane right in the face, causing blood to burst from the woman's nose. "Ow! You bitch!" Jane howled.
"I don't need toys to beat you." Sara said in her usual tone.
Gina tried to summon a distortion halo, but Fauntleroy knew better than to let her get any attack off. He fired an energy blast that completely destroyed the sphere she was charging up and forced her to take cover behind a transmuted wall of stone she shaped.
"Hang on, Darren!" Gina called out to him. "We're coming!"
Darren grunted as he tore up several stones and sent them at Magda. She easily destroyed most of them and swiftly dodged the other projectiles. It quickly got frustrating to miss literally every shot as the woman danced around him on heat waves emitted from her body. When he finally lost his patience, he tried to grab one of her legs with his powers to throw her off balance, but she retaliated with a large fire blast at his face.
He rolled to the side to dodge it, but Magda had boosted herself over at him and slammed her knee into his face. Darren reeled back and she grabbed his shoulders, flipping him over her head and slamming him into the ground.
"No esper is a one trick pony boy." Magda growled.
Darren gritted his teeth and released a TK pulse from his body that blew her off him. He leapt up and slammed a fist into her jaw to push her back towards the edge of the peak.
"Where are the Minicons?" Darren demanded.
"Like I would tell you." Magda said. "You're a better fighter than I thought, but your strength alone is not enough for you to beat me."
"I'm not alone." Darren said.
A shape leapt up from the cliff Magda was standing by and she spun around just in time to see Annie wrap a hand around her neck and use her body weight to throw the woman over the side. Darren ran over to his sister as she sprouted several bone spikes from her arms.
"What happened?" He asked.
"We've lost contact with the other team after Arcee spilled the beans. Right now let's focus on getting out of here—"
Annie was cut off when Magda suddenly flipped into her view and kicked a massive burst of fire at her. Darren pulled her back and blocked the flames with a TK shield, jumping back as the woman landed on her feet, her body surrounded by a fiery aura.
"No one is leaving this mountain alive!" Magda snarled and increased the power of her aura.
XXXXXX
Inside Omega One, Sue changed into her magma form and slammed her hands into the ground. Channeling her power throughout the cave, she caused the rock to slowly change into lava. Jazz and Arcee jumped back to avoid some burning rocks falling on them.
"Bury them!" Darkshadow yelled.
"What do you think I'm doing?" Sue yelled back.
"They're going to bury us alive!" Arcee exclaimed, holding Sparkplug close to her.
Bulkhead looked back and saw that the entrance had been sealed over by molten rock. "They blocked out escape."
Blitzwing cursed when a glob of lava landed on his shoulder and quickly brushed it off. "Darkshadow, we need to bounce now!"
Darkshadow nodded and looked to Sue, who finished destroying the inner layer of the base's foundations and flew over to her. With the esper girl in her hand, Darkshadow called the Nemesis. "Take us out. We're done here!"
Bulkhead pointed his blaster at them, but the two Cons were gone in a crackle of energy before he could get the first shot off. "Damn it, they're gone!"
"Worry about that later, we need to bounce right now!" Jazz said.
The cave began to tremble as the walls slowly broke apart under the lava that was eating away at it. The temperature rose drastically and in a few minutes, the temperature will have reached levels too dangerous for them to operate in.
"How are we going to get out? The entrance is blocked and we can't call for a bridge!" Bulkhead asked.
Arcee had no idea what to do, and for once even Jazz was at a loss at what to do. She heard weak groans and looked down to see Sparkplug trying to move. "Sparkplug, don't move, you're seriously hurt."
"Emer…emergen…" Sparkplug coughed up some energon as he tried to speak.
"He's trying to say something." Jazz said, dodging a pool of lava forming under his feet. "Just tell us where to go little dude."
Sparkplug weakly lifted his arm and directed it to a corner of the base where an open hatch was located. Jazz saw the tunnel entrance and nodded.
"Good on you, Sparky." Jazz said and turned to Arcee and Bulkhead. "Let's bounce before we burn!"
"I'll take point and clear the way." Bulkhead said and transformed. He drove forward at full speed, with Arcee and Jazz following behind him. Ignoring the burning molten rock on his tires, Bulkhead slammed into the fallen rocks covering the tunnel and made it through.
The trio drove as fast as they could as they heard the base completely collapse in on itself behind them. The tunnel trembled and shook, but thankfully still held up long enough for the Autobots to drive outside. Driving clear of the collapsing tunnel, the Autobots transformed and took a breather from their close call with death.
"That was to close." Bulkhead sighed.
"We need to get Sparkplug some help. He's not looking too good." Arcee said, looking at the Minicon in her hands.
"Jazz to Ark, can you hear me?" Jazz called the Ark on his comm but was still getting static. "Slag, we're still getting interference. We have to go further out to get away from the magnetic field."
Bulkhead looked around for any sign of Cons waiting to ambush them, but fortunately saw no one. Apparently they thought just leaving them trapped in an unstable cave filled with lava was enough to kill them.
'In fairness, it almost was.' Bulkhead thought. When he turned to talk to Arcee, he spotted something on one of the trees. A small blue star-shaped object that was steadily flashing red. His eyes widened. "Oh no."
Jazz and Arcee turned to him. "Bulk?" Jazz inquired.
"We need to haul ass. The place is rigged to blow!" Bulkhead shouted.
He pulled the two along just as the first bomb exploded, destroying the tree it was in. After that came another explosion, and another, and another. Soon the trio were running through a forest filled with bombs that were detonating right after them as they ran as fast as they could through the trees.
"Damn Dreadwing and his proclivity for pyrotechnics!" Jazz grunted as the tree next to him exploded from a bomb that showered his face with burning wood.
"Where the hell is that ground bridge?" Bulkhead yelled into his comm.
The Autobots ran as fast as they could while the forest completely burned around them. Eventually they neared a nearby cliff side and jumped off just as the explosions leveled the entire slope of the hill. They were caught in the ensuing landslide and tumbled down the hill while the forest burned around them.
XXXXXX
Fighting Magda proved to be harder than the twins thought. Her wide sweeping fiery attacks were strong, and the aura she surrounded herself with was hot enough to burn through solid steel. Darren was forced to use his powers to block the majority of her attacks while Saya tried to fire bony projectiles at her, but they burned up before they could reach her.
"She can't keep it up forever!" Darren yelled over the inferno that washed over them. "She's gotta burn out sooner or later!"
"And when's that?" Annie said as she hid behind her brother's shield. Even through the telekinetic shield, she could feel the heat.
"You can't hide forever boy!" Magda growled, cutting the fire blast off before igniting jets of flame from her feet to propel herself forward. "If this is how you fought against the Cons then you're not as strong as they say you are!"
She leapt into the air and descended upon the twins like a meteor. She landed right on top of the shield and broke through it with explosive force, blasting the twins apart. Annie rolled to her feet and shot several bone spikes from her wrists at Magda, who either burned them up or deflected them. Darren shot a TK blast at her back, but she dodged it and swiped her hand to release an arc of flame that almost caught him in the shoulder.
Annie leapt forward and sprouted a sharp bone spear from her shoulder at Magda. The woman managed to avoid getting impaled by the spear and threw a fiery punch at Annie. The girl dodged and tried to stab Magda, but the woman was too quick for her to catch. Magda easily avoided Annie's attacks as she jogged backwards to escape her.
Darren slammed his hand onto the ground and caused a piece of stone to emerge right where Magda was stepping, causing her to trip backwards. She fell onto her back with a grunt and Annie pounced on her with her bone claws ready to impale her through the heart. A single second was all it took for Magda to flip out of the line of fire for Saya to miss her attack and stab her claws into the ground.
"Shit!" Annie cursed.
Magda landed right next to Annie and formed a condensed ball of flame in her hand, charging up as much microwave energy into her hand as possible to create a basketball sized hand of plasma. She then launched that ball of plasma right into Annie's chest.
"Your Autobot friends will be joining you shortly!" She growled and detonated the plasma right in Annie's face.
Darren watched horrified as his sister's body was engulfed in a plume of flames that exploded with tremendous force. Through the cloud of smoke and heat, he saw Annie's burning body get thrown over the cliff and vanish below.
"Annie!"
XXXXXX
Gina leapt out of cover and threw a smooth stone spear she made from the ground at Fauntleroy, who ducked under it. When she leapt at him, he avoided her fast punch and wrapped his arms around her, trying to crush her in a bear hug.
"That's the best you can do?" Gina grunted and reared her head back to headbutt him right in the nose. Fauntleroy stumbled back in pain, clutching his bleeding nose painfully.
"Far from it." He growled and threw an energy blast right into her eyes, blinding her.
"Jinkies!" Gina exclaimed in pain and instinctively crossed her arms in front of her body just as Fauntleroy launched a large blast of stellar energy at her. The attack pushed her back several feet and she dug her heels into the ground to slow herself down as much as possible.
When he finally cut the flow off, she fell to her knees, the skin of her arms burning painfully from the pure radiation that had just been shot at her. This man was no joke. Looking up, she saw that his body was glowing with a bright blue aura as energy radiated off his form.
"You're strong girl, but I'm just as strong as you." Fauntleroy smirked.
"So you say." Gina's eyes glowed and she channeled energy into the ground to transmutate several stone spikes to shoot at Fauntleroy. His blue aura flashed and he destroyed most of them, but he grunted when another spear was shot at his face, missing him by mere inches and embedding itself into the ground a few feet behind him.
On the other side of the peak, Jane continued to fight Centurion and Sara. Though her probability power allowed her a slight edge, it was hard keeping up with a Minicon combiner and a ruthless android girl dead set on killing her.
"Stupid kids and their stupid robots." Jane growled when she deflected a few plasma bolts from Sara and diverted a punch from Centurion that would have laid her out if it connected. "Meanwhile Sue gets the easy job and Debra just sits back and hangs out with the marauding alien conquerors. Good to see where dad's priorities lie."
"Settle your family bullshit on your own time." Centurion said in his usual multi-toned voice. He pressed his attack on Jane, throwing several punches at her face with no intention of holding back.
Jane used her power to tear up more rocks from the ground to throw at Centurion but Sara blasted them apart with her palm blasters, nearly catching her in the face. "Screw this!" She growled and focused on Sara.
Putting as much focus into her powers as she could, Jane waved her hand and encased Sara in a red energy field that stopped her in her tracks. Clenching her hand, she tore off one of Sara's legs, causing the robot girl to fall forward with a gasp.
Centurion charged at her at full speed, but Jane spun around and hit him in the chest with a bolt of energy. He froze mid-stride, falling to his knees as his body seized up and shuddered uncontrollably.
"Can't…move…" He grunted, feeling the foreign energy invade his joints and connection points. "What's…"
"Don't know why I didn't try this sooner." Jane muttered as she waved her hands and spread them apart.
Centurion howled as he felt his body get torn apart and his combined form was completely dismantled as the Street Action Team was forced apart. The three Minicons hit the ground disoriented from their sudden de-combining and were at Jane's mercy. She stood over them with her arms cracking with energy, grinning at the chance to dismantle them one by one.
Sara saw what she was about to do and looked around for something to use on her. Then she saw the spear Gina created and knew what to do.
"I'm gonna enjoy this." She said, and raised her arms. Just as she was about to unleash her power on the Minicons, she heard Fauntleroy's panicked shout beside her.
"Jane, look out!"
Jane didn't know what he meant, but seconds later a sharp pain erupted from her stomach just under her ribcage. Blood filled her vision as she saw a spear burst through her abdomen, nearly emerging all the way through her body.
XXXXXX
Magda saw it too and her eyes widened in horror as she saw the stone spear impale her daughter through the torso. "Jane!"
She saw Fauntleroy already moving to help Jane, who had fallen to her knees and was bleeding heavily. Her distraction almost made her miss Darren flanking her for a surprise attack. Almost.
Darren fired a large telekinetic pulse at Magda's back, but she flipped out of the way and ran at him. He launched several attacks that missed her by inches and she got closer to him with each miss. Magda leapt into the air and spun around before firing a massive blast of superhot microwave energy that slammed into Darren's TK shield with enough force to throw him to the ground. He grunted in pain as his right arm got hit with the heat blast that burned away the sleeve of his bodysuit and burned the skin underneath.
He tried to grab her, but she flared her aura and forced him away, charging right at him just as he drew several rocks onto his body to form a sort of rock armor. Magda raised her arms and brought them down on his head in a downward fire burst that hit Darren's armor with tremendous power, shattering it and blasting him all the way to the edge of the peak. He didn't get up.
"Get Jane back to the Nemesis!" Magda ordered as she ran over to Darren and picked him up. "We're done here."
Fauntleroy and the wounded Jane vanished through the Cons' teleportation system. Gina saw that Magda had Darren and leapt at her as fast as her muscles could handle.
"Give him back!" She roared, firing several distortion halos as the woman. Magda leapt back, taking to the air as she avoided Gina's attacks and flew away from the mountain.
"He's ours now girl." Magda said grimly before she too was engulfed in an energy discharge and vanished from sight before Gina could reach her. And with her Darren was taken as well.
Gina fell to her knees when exhaustion finally set in and tears fell down her face when she realized that Darren had been taken and Annie was severely wounded several hundred feet down the mountain. The Minicons weren't saved and Sparkplug was most likely in critical condition.
Their gambled had failed and now Darren was in the hands of the Decepticons.
"DARREN!"