Isle of Berk - Ahch-To

3rd person POV...

After entering the forest, Elita and Mara traveled around the landscape for a little while, the latter still perched on the former's shoulder. They took the time to marvel at the scenery, the skies being clear of clouds while the air was cool and not to hot. The large trees cast plenty of shadows, although there were plenty of small clearings that they would come across from time to time.

"I've never fully thought about the landscape of other planets much," Elita remarks. "But this place... it's nice. Nature is an odd, but beautiful thing to see."

"You don't have forests or other things on your world?" Mara asks.

"Definitely not, and we never will," she replies with an amused chuckle. "Cybertron is a non-organic planet."

"Huh," she comments in response, becoming curious. "What is Cybertron like?"

"I think the best way to describe it is that it's very similar to Coruscant," Elita says thoughtfully. "It's all metal, filled with great cities of boundless size and magnificence."

The fond smile on Elita's face as she recalls Cybertron slips away to a sad sigh, remembering that's not the case anymore.

"At the very least it used to be. Nearly every city aside from the major capitals, like Iacon and Kaon, have suffered from the war," she says sadly. "I can only imagine how much more damage they've received since I was last there. It's left many people without homes, forcing them to seek refuge with one side or the other."

"That sounds awful," Mara says sympathetically.

"It's sad, but unfortunately we've all grown used to the fact. The war has been raging for several millennia, and at this point I don't even know if Megatron dying would stop it. Some other con, like Starscream, would just rise to take their place," she says.

"And if... Optimus, were to die?" she asks hesitantly.

"...most Autobots would probably lose any hope and morale they would have left. The Decepticons would win," Elita says grimly. "Most of Cybertron's military joined the Decepticons, while the Autobots mostly began as workers. People like my sparkmate, they're the main reason they still keep going during this war."

"That's horrible. I'm sorry I asked," Mara apologizes.

"Don't be. I've carried these thoughts for a long time," she replies.

"Kind of makes our rebellion against the Empire seem pretty insignificant compared to your war," Mara scoffs with dry humor.

"Our war has lasted this long simply because our species can live for a very long time, so the ideals and beliefs remain the same," Elita tells her. "That doesn't make your struggle any less significant. We're just one planet; you're an entire galaxy."

"I suppose when you put it that way..." Mara shrugs in response.

"I suppose," she replies with a small smile. "But enough about me. How are you feeling?"

"Alright, I guess," she shrugs.

"You sure? I can imagine that was... a bad experience for you," Elita says slowly, concerned.

"Yeah... but I'll be fine. I'm free right? And I'm going to recover fully," Mara replies in a sense of optimism.

"Mara, I've been captured several times before during the war," she tells her. "Trust me when I say that you don't have to hide your fear and anxiety."

Mara flinches at her words, glancing at the ground meekly.

"Dad never really seems like that," she murmurs.

"Even he feels those emotions, a lot more than you realize. War is a universal thing, and I can see it in him," Elita remarks. "Jarik carries a lot of stress and anxiety over many things. He tries his best to hide it... even from himself."

Mara looks up at Elita, uncertain on how to respond but feeling a small bit of sadness and worry.

"I know he's always thinking about Mom," she admits glumly. "I do too."

Elita looks down at her sympathetically. "I think you can both help each other. Being vulnerable doesn't always mean the same as being weak. You both need each other a lot."

Mara nods her head, feeling a bit of emotion wallowing up in her throat. Before she could respond her comlink beeps, and she answers it with a curious expression.

"Yeah Dad?" she asks.

"Mara, Elita..." he starts off, and they instantly notice the pain in his voice. "...the Decepticons found us. They're coming for you!"

They both widen their eyes in horror, and the sound of starfighter jets echoes through the air. Elita looks up in alarm to see the jet swing around them in an arc before blasting straight towards them, the intent all too clear.

Mara gasps in fright as Onslaught transforms while Elita braces herself, plucking her off of her shoulder. Without a moment to waste Onslaught rams straight into them mid transformation, the velocity of his flight sends them all hurtling across the clearing, tearing up the ground. Elita manages to stretch out her hand and drop Mara off to the side, who rolls across the ground in an unsteady heap. The two Cybertronians tumble and roll across the ground as they punch and shove each other. Mara unsteadily gets back to her feet, watching the fight with wide eyes, unsure of what to do.

"Run Mara! Get to the others!" Elita exclaims.

Getting her feet under her, Elita stands up and swings around with a closed fist, delivering a fierce punch to Onslaught's face, which creates a metal clanging sound. Onslaught's head whips to the side from the punch, and he glares forwards with a growl. As Elita spins back around from the momentum, he tackles her to the ground again as she attempts to jump away. She grunts in pain as they go tumbling, and he then grabs her by the arm and throws her away, sending her slamming through several large trees and breaking them.

Shaking her head, Elita glances up to see Onslaught stomping towards her, changing his arm into a cannon. Spotting the broken tree trunks, she gets an idea and stands back up in a crouch.

"I'll be sure to send Prime your regards," Onslaught says mockingly.

He attempts to shoot her with his cannon, but she dashes forwards and shoves past him, grabbing a fallen tree. Hefting it in her arms, she slowly turns to face him, a scowl on her face.

"Get scrapped..." she growls.

Swinging the log overhead, she slams it down against Onslaught's unprotected back, breaking the entire tree in two pieces. Mara jumps away as one of the ends of it lands on the ground near her. Onslaught snarls at Elita and attempts to attack, but she evades him again.

"...you IRRITATING..." she continues with a shout.

Having evaded his punch, Elita brings back her fist and slams it into Onslaught's lower back, causing him to grunt in pain. He arches his back in response before spinning back around with an outstretched arm.

"...waste of metal!" Elita finishes angrily.

Ducking underneath his punch, she pops back up and brings back her arm, slamming the palm of her closed fist into his head. Onslaught goes tumbling backwards in a roll, and she stumbles slightly from the momentum of her punch. Regaining her footing, Elita pulls out her right wrist blade and advances as Onslaught gets back to his feet.

Mara watches the fight as Onslaught throws a few punches, catching Elita off guard. She stumbles backwards, and then raises one arm to block his next attack with her forearm. The two go face to face, red and blue optics glaring furiously at each other.

"Slagging con!" she exclaims.

Elita dislodges herself from him and then spins around, slashing his faceplates with her blade. Onslaught cries out in pain and anger as the blade leaves a thin gash, and is thrown to the ground again when Elita spins around and grabs his armor, tossing him away.

"COMBATICONS!" he roars, outraged.

From the sky above, Vortex comes hovering down in his helicopter form, transforming. He lands on the ground heavily and takes off at a run, turning his hand into a buzzsaw. Nearby, Blast Off also comes in for a swift landing, transforming midair and landing on the ground between a few trees, skidding two a stop. During his transformation he plows through two trees and then comes to a stop, ripping up a third with a snarl on his face, activating his blaster.

"Meet your death, Autobot scum!" he growls.

Elita gets into a battle stance, glancing around warily at the sight of all three Decepticons charging for her.

TRACK ONE: Forest Battle - Steve Jablonsky (0:00 - 1:18)

Behind a tree a few dozen feet away, Mara anxiously watches the sight, rushing out of cover. She pulls out Shaak Ti's blue lightsaber and activates the blade, throwing it through the air. The saber twirls around as Mara guides it along its path, slicing along Blast Off's foot. He lets out a startled cry of pain and stumbles, collapsing to the ground. His foot was still well intact, but it still hurt.

Onslaught was grappling with Elita when he saw what happened, a quick glance with his optics letting him see the lightsaber return to Mara's hand. Scowling, he shoves Elita away with a swift kick and sending her over to Vortex, who instantly jumps in for the attack.

Taking a step forwards, Onslaught raises his plasma cannon and aims at Mara. She takes notice with wide eyes and quickly starts to run, hoping to avoid his shot.

Just before Onslaught could fire however, Elita comes charging up behind him after shoving Vortex off of her, and tackles him to the ground with a yell. The plasma bolt goes wide as he falls, and Mara leaps for cover behind a large boulder.

The two Cybertronians rolled over each other, and Elita quickly comes out on top. Onslaught kicks his leg out behind him but she catches it, slamming an elbow against the back of his knee. He grunts in pain, and she grabs his shoulders and yanks him towards her, bringing a knee to his face with a shout.

As Onslaught goes tumbling, Blast Off flies up behind her using his jets in an attempt to surprise her, firing his blaster. However she was ready for it, ducking out of the way of his shots before leaping into the air, delivering a roundhouse kick that knocks him flat on his back. Blast Off scrambles to his feet angrily and throws his arm out for a punch, but she grabs it and then twists around behind him, slamming both of her fists against his helm to complete the move.

Vortex rushes forwards with his buzzsaw out, but Elita quickly kicks him away before returning her focus to Blast Off. She picks him up from the ground and then does her best to flip him over, kicking him in the head. The power of the kick sends Blast Off flipping away to tumble across the ground with a pained and angry groan.

Peeking out from behind her hiding place, Mara watches the battle with worried eyes, trying to figure out what to do. She holds her new lightsaber in her hands, unable to think straight from fear and helplessness.

"You can't hold us off forever Autobot. Surrender, and I promise your death will be painless!" Onslaught declares.

"Like slag I will!" Elita exclaims in response.

The fight had moved to a more clear area with not as many trees in the way, and the three Combaticons now had Elita surrounded in a circle. She manages to bring her arms up and hit Onslaught away with an uppercut, however Blast Off jumps forwards and punches her in the face right afterwards.

She stumbles with a grunt of pain, whipping out her wrist blades to face him. Vortex however grabs her shoulder and jabs his buzzsaw into her side, causing her to cry out in pain. She elbows him the face to get him off, but is immediately struck on the side by Blast Off's small, bladed weapon on his arm. Elita swings a wrist blade at him and he backs up, prompting Vortex to move in. She quickly turns around to block his buzzsaw with her left wrist blade, shoves their weapons into the air, and then spins around yet again, swinging her right blade downwards to deflect Blast Off's attempted stab.

Out of the corner of her vision Elita then sees Onslaught dashing towards her. She desperately tries to swing around and face him but Onslaught acts first, grabbing her shoulders and shoving her forwards to off-balance her. He then lifts her up and over him with a yell, throwing her down on his other side so that she crashes through a large tree, and is slammed painfully into the ground.

Elita groans in pain, rolling away and scrambling to her feet, but Onslaught advances relentlessly and delivers a devastating kick to the side of her face, breaking off a few shards of her helm and causing her to stumble in a daze. She falters weakly in her steps, and Onslaught takes another step forwards to backhand her in the head. She groans in pain and, as Vortex and Blast Off move forwards on either side of him, Onslaught raises his plasma cannon and charges it up, releasing a powerful shot.

She's unable to move in time and the point blank shot strikes her in the center of her chest, blowing her far away.

"ELITA!" Mara shouts in horror.

Elita travels several hundred feet through the air before hitting the ground, tumbling another hundred feet and tearing up the grass, dirt, and plants all around her. She groans in pain, weakly rolling over onto her stomach and attempts to push herself up. Her entire chassis is scorched from the plasma bolt, and there are several large scratches and dents along her body where she received hits. Energon is leaking from a few cuts, and she spits out a glob that gathered in her mouth.

Mara reaches her, skidding to a stop by her side and overlooks her with wide eyes, fearing for Elita's life and wellbeing.

"It must be such a shame that you won't get to reunite with your sparkmate," Onslaught states with false pity, drawing his sword. "Once you're offline, he will soon follow due to his suffering."

"Come on Elita, get up. We've got to fight!" Mara urges.

"Just go Mara… run. Please," Elita replies weakly, her arms shaking as she struggles to push herself to her feet.

"Why would I do that?!" she scowls in frustration.

Standing up fully, Mara pulls her her lightsaber again and holds it defensively in front of her, doing her best to shove down her fear as the three Decepticons draw closer.

"Stay back!" she shouts.

"I'd like to see you try and fight us fleshling," Blast Off scoffs.

TRACK ONE: Pause at 1:18

Onslaught glances down at Mara with a hint of a smirk on his face, and starts raising his sword up. However as he does so, a low whine starts to echo through the air, developing into a shriek. He frowns in confusion and looks in the direction of the noise, while Mara widens her eyes in recognition.

Zipping through the sky as a black blur is Toothless, and at the crescendo of the shriek he unleashes a powerful plasma blast. His aim is true as he hits Onslaught, causing the large Decepticon to stumble heavily with a grunt of pain, dropping his sword. Blast Off and Vortex turn around and raise their blasters as Toothless and Hiccup veer off, the rest of the dragon riders moving forwards.

Several bursts of fire are sent their way, and the pair raise their arms to protect their faces, otherwise not receiving much damage other than scorch marks. Scowling, Blast Off raises his arm and shoots a rocket, which Astrid and Stormfly just barely avoid.

The twins fly forwards on Barf and Belch, spewing out a trail of flammable gas in their wake.

"Take this metal-heads!" Tuffnut shouts.

Belch sparks his teeth, and the gas cloud is invited all around the Decepticons. They let out shouts of surprise, irritation, and a small amount of pain as the residue smoke obscure their vision.

Frustrated, Vortex brings out his own energon blaster and starts firing wildly at the dragon riders. They all scatter with startled yelps as the red laser bolts zip all around them.

"Oh Thor oh Thor oh Thor!" Fishlegs exclaims, he and Meatlug ducking behind a tree.

"Come on Toothless, lets show them what you got!" Hiccup says determinedly.

Toothless roars in approval, and the pair flip around in the air and start sipping towards the Decepticons, letting another plasma blast build up. So far it seems that's the only dragon attack capable of harming them, due to its explosive intensity.

Onslaught sees this however, and quickly gets to his feet with a growl, raising his sword. As Toothless lets the plasma bolt loose, Onslaught swings his sword wide, hitting the bolt and letting it explode harmlessly against the more dense and sturdy material of his blade. He then swipes through the air at Hiccup and Toothless, causing them to yelp in alarm and swiftly roll out of the way.

"Onslaught!" a voice yells.

The Decepticon General turns around at the sound of the voice, and spots Jarik flying forwards on Zenna. He leaps from the dragons back with a yell, activating his lightsabers. Onslaught moves to intercept him, but Jarik anticipates it and flips off of his sword arm, lunging forwards and jabbing his lightsabers against his shoulder. Onslaught roars in pained anger and violently jerks his shoulder to dislodge him. Jarik separates while dragging both blades against Onslaught as much as he can, landing on the ground.

He winces heavily as a spike of pain flares up in his ribs, but shoves it aside to jump away as Onslaught attempt to stomp him flat. Jarik lands again but takes heavy, unbalanced steps back, his injury still quite present.

Having been fed up with constant attacks from the dragons fire, Blast Off rips a tree out of a ground and throws it at the riders as they group up for a combined attack. Unprepared, they all shout in surprise and quickly direct their dragons to evade it but all of them struck by the branches, mostly glancing blows to the wings or legs of the dragons, and they tumble out of the sky.

Elita groans again, crouching now and holding a hand to her chest. She looks up in despair as the Decepticons turn their focus back to her, Jarik standing in front of her with his lightsabers out while Mara stood beside her, lightsaber also held at her side. Zenna comes in for a landing in front of Mara, flaring her wings out protectively and roaring in challenge.

"How cute. A bunch of mindless organic beasts and their foolish human masters trying to protect a lone, weak Autobot," Blast Off sneers.

"Not really much of a challenge," Vortex comments, glancing at the fallen riders. They and their dragons are struggling to get back up after the sudden crash. "Certainly strange beings though."

"I'll show you a challenge, Decepticon," Jarik growls determinedly.

"You? Hah!" Blast Off laughs mockingly. "How're your fleshy innards?"

"Little Jedi, I personally don't care whether you live or die, but Elita One will perish today," Onslaught states coldly. "I'll offer you one last chance to spare the lives of you, your apprentice, and all your friends. Only if you stand aside."

"Jarik, please... it's not worth it for me," Elita pleads, wincing in pain.

"Elita, if you die then Optimus dies. And then the Decepticons will win!" Mara says worriedly.

"Indeed," Onslaught says with a cruel smirk.

"I can't lose anymore friends Elita," Jarik states firmly.

"How unfortunate for you Jedi," Onslaught comments with a false sigh.

"Wish I got the chance to interrogate you femme, but I suppose this will have to do," Vortex adds with glee.

The three Decepticons begin to stalk forwards with their weapons out, Onslaught's sword trailing along the ground. Jarik tightens his grip on his lightsabers, staring at them anxiously, knowing that this is a losing battle. Zenna growls threateningly, standing protectively in front of Mara, who nervously holds her lightsaber. Elita manages to get to both feet, her legs shaking as she stands up and activates a wrist blade.

Just as the Decepticons are about to attack and deliver the final blow, another whining sound starts to permeate through the air. Onslaught falters and turns to look at the dragons, but Toothless was still on the ground, Hiccup climbing onto his back. Jarik and Mara both look at the sky upon sensing something, and Elita also looks up with wide eyes, feeling a familiar presence through her sibling bond...

Obscured by rays of sunlight, a large ship flies towards them and then pulls up, streaking by. The side opens up to allow a Cybertronian figure to leap out, falling straight towards the Decepticons. While the ship disappears behind the tree canopy, the newcomer kicks their feet out with a yell and slams them against Onslaught's helm, sending him crashing to the ground. They kick backwards off of his face and landed in front of Elita and the others, standing in a battle-ready stance.

The others now have a good look at the newcomer, who hey instantly recognize as being a femme, although much more bulky than Elita. She's sporting a deep violet colored paint job, with silvery gray highlights and a crest similar to Elita's. Her optics glow a deep blue, fierce determination held in them.

"Chromia?" Elita gasps in shock.

"Good to see you still online, sister," Chromia replies.

Blast Off and Vortex are both taken aback at the sight of Chromia, and Onslaught stands up with a furious scowl, red optics gleaming with anger.

"Impossible," he snarls.

"Not quite, slaghead," Chromia retorts. "You're about to receive the beating of a life time for what you've done to my sister."

"Feel free to join her fate!" he growls.

TRACK ONE: Resume at 1:18

Heavy stomping shakes the ground lightly, and everyone's attention is drawn to the side of the clearing as a second Autobot charges out, this one the largest of the Cybertronians present. His armor is colored black with dark gray highlights, and gruff scratch marks cover his arms and battle-hardened face. Two massive cannons adorn his arms.

"Think again punk heads!" Ironhide declares.

The three Combaticons only have a brief moment to express their terror before Ironhide is on them, slamming a deadly punch against Blast Off's face. The seeker goes flying, and Ironhide turns to bat aside Vortex as he tried to attack next. Chromia rushes forwards and activates two wrist blades, a matching set of Elita's, and then lunges at Onslaught. She slams her blade against Onslaught's sword, pushing against him fiercely while he glares back, enraged and scared at the same time.

The dragon riders are all stunned for a moment, watching as the battle between titans starts. Even the dragons are bewildered.

"Woah..." Snotlout murmurs.

"There's more?!" Fishlegs squeaks nervously.

"At least they're on our side," Hiccup points out.

"No kidding!" Astrid says breathlessly.

"Dude... this is AWESOME!" Tuffnut yells excitedly.

"I know! Look at all the destruction they're causing!" Ruffnut adds eagerly.

Jarik on the other hand is still standing in his position, unsure of how to proceed. He's still injured, how badly he's not sure, but Elita is definitely in a worse state than he is. He glances back to see her pulling out her second wrist blade, intending to join the fight. Mara then meets his gaze, her expression still fearful, but she shares a silent message with him and then climbs on Zenna's back. Getting her meaning, he looks at the battling Cybertronians and then moves forwards, using all his training and skill with the Force to block out his pain for now.

Vortex swings his buzzsaw for Ironhide, but the veteran warrior dabs his wrist and then lifts him overhead, slamming him into the ground behind him.

Blast Off then interrupts by shooting a missile, which strikes against Ironhide's aide. He grunts as the missile hits his arm and then turns around, swinging a fist out. Blast Off ducks away and then jumps into the air, using his jets to hover. He aims another missile and fires, but Ironhide rolls under it and then pops up with his own cannon, firing back at him. Blast Off only has enough time to widen his eyes in terror before he's shot out of the air, breaking through a tree on his way down.

Onslaught parries a slash from Chromia and then jabs his sword, which she quickly evades. They exchange blows with each other using their weapons, before Chromia leaps into the air and delivers a roundhouse kick against his chest. He stumbles back and drops his sword, prompting her to leap forwards with her wrist blades out. Snarling, Onslaught spins back around to face her with a fist out, catching her unprepared and punching her away. He then whips out his plasma cannon and turns to face Ironhide, letting loose a shot.

Having shot down Blast Off, Ironhide spun around at the sound and barely ducks away from the plasma bolt, which blows up three trees behind him. Vortex then shoots his blasters in rapid fire, forcing his attention away from Onslaught.

Onslaught tries to fire again but Elita then charges at him, tackling his side. He's shoved away, however she's still weak so Onslaught effortlessly whips around with a growl and slams his elbow against her face, knocking Elita flat on her back with a pained groan. Chromia then charges forwards again and swings her wrist blades at him, prompting Onslaught to suck and step back, one blade scratching along his chassis.

Vortex backpedals quickly and continues firing his blaster while Ironhide charges at him, shooting his own cannon in retaliation. He leaps out of the way with a startled cry while Blast Off gets to his feet, aiming his rocket launcher with a seething growl.

Just then Zenna shoots forwards through the air with Mara riding her, shooting a burst of fire at him. He ducks away from the fire and turns to face the dragon, only to see Jarik leaping off her back with a boost from Mara. Whipping out his lightsabers, he lands on the back of Blast Off's back and then plunges them down. The Decepticon roars in pain, swinging his arms wildly in an attempt to grab Jarik, but is then tackled by Ironhide. Bringing out his arm cannon, he takes aim at the flailing and cursing Blast Off and waits for Jarik to jump off, firing directly after.

"FRAGGING HUMA-" he yells.

A grenade is shot at Blast Off and hits right underneath his chin, exploding on impact. Blast Off's body is blown to the ground, while his head lands beside him, separated in the explosion.

TRACK ONE ENDS

Vortex widens his optics in shock and backs up, but is suddenly struck by a plasma blast behind him, courtesy of Toothless. He stumbles forwards, and then lets out a curse in pain as Nadder spikes from Zenna and Stormfly jab themselves into his armor. Ironhide wastes no time in charging forwards, delivering a fierce punch to his gut and then slamming him down on the ground. Vortex only has time to groan in pain before Ironhide shoots a missile from his cannon with the calm efficiency only a battle-hardened veteran like him could have, killing him on impact.

"Punk-head Decepticon," he scoffs.

Still engaged in a fight with Chromia, Onslaught whips his head around at feeling the deaths of Blast Off and Vortex. He cries out in rage at the sight and then grabs Chromia's arm when she attempts to strike him, twisting painfully and then kicking her away.

"You Autobot scum will pay!" he snarls.

Retrieving his sword, lunges forwards stab Chromia while she was off balance, but is then tackled by Ironhide. The pair roll over each other and Ironhide comes out on top, swinging a fist down. However Onslaught ducks away from the attack so that his fist breaks through the ground, and then shoves his arm up. His plasma cannon charges up and then fires, hitting Ironhide point blank in the chest and tossing him several feet away with a grunt of pain.

As Onslaught is getting to his feet however, Mara zips past on Zenna and chucks her lightsaber, slicing his face before catching it right after. Onslaught growls in pain and aims his blaster at them, but is caught off guard when Jarik jumps into the air from beneath him with a shout, lands on his shoulder, and then stabs his lightsaber directly into his left optic.

Onslaught roars in agony, thrashing around violently and reaching up to grab Jarik, throwing him away. Jarik yelps in alarm and quickly works to protect himself, using the Force to create a bubble. He hits a tree trunk and cries out in pain, ribs aching, but manages to land on his feet after sliding to the ground, albeit shakily.

Chromia helps Elita to her feet while Ironhide gets up, whipping out both cannons and stomping forwards with a growl. They all face Onslaught in a threatening manner, the rest of the dragon riders hovering in the air behind them.

"That was incredible!" Ruffnut shouts.

"Two down, one to go!" Tuffnut adds gleefully.

Onslaught staggers backwards, a hand on his face to cover his left optic, snarling and cursing in a mixture of pain and rage. He slowly removes his hand to reveal energon leaking from his ruined optic, and glares furiously at Jarik as he limps forwards to stand beside Elita, lightsaber in one hand while he holds his ribs with the other. Onslaught looks around at the gathered assortment of his enemies, also noting the bodies of his two comrades, growing more furious and afraid with every second.

"To the Pits with you, Autobots!" he growls furiously.

"There's a lot more where that came from, Onslaught," Ironhide grunts.

"I imagine Megatron would be quite angry with you," Chromia says with a smirk. "If he ever sees you again, that is."

"Your meager threats don't frighten me femme," Onslaught snarls.

"You're outnumbered and outmatched. Just surrender," Jarik says.

"As if I'd give into the demands of a human," he growls, his remaining optic glowing with rage. "Lord Megatron will deal with you soon enough!"

Jarik's stern expression falters with worry and anxiety, and he glances back at the Viking teens and their dragons for a second. Already a few Vikings were undoubtedly killed in the sudden, initial assault on Berk...

"You won't be going back to buckethead," Ironhide growls, whirring his cannons in warning.

"Oh I believe I will!" he retorts.

Moving fast, he raises his arm and then fires three quick bursts from his plasma cannon. Everyone avoids the blasts with shouts of surprise, although one bolt explodes near Ironhide's foot and causes him to stumble, while Jarik tumbled across the ground with a grunt.

Onslaught wastes no time in turning around and jumping into the air, transforming. Just as Chromia was about to strike at him he blasts his thrusters to the max capacity, blowing her away as he shoots off into the sky. Left in his wake in a grenade that lands on the ground in the middle of the group. Ironhide doesn't waste a second in kicking it away, letting it explode harmlessly amidst a few trees.

"Scrap!" Chromia scowls angrily.

"That's some slag," Ironhide grunts. "Should've seen that coming."

They both knew that by the time they would get to their scout ship, Onslaught would've already return to his in orbit to escape, most likely heading back to Cybertron now that his comrades were offline.

"I'm not looking forward to seeing him anytime soon," Jarik grunts, pushing himself off one knee to stand up.

Ironhide regards him thoughtfully for a moment before Chromia turns to Elita, rushing to her side worriedly. She stands in front of the wounded Autobot commander and holds her shoulders, checking her over.

"Elita!" she says in concern. "I wish we'd gotten here sooner."

"It's fine, Chromia... I'm just glad to see you," Elita admits with a small smile. "I can't believe you're here."

"I thought we lost you," she says, pulling her into a hug. "Where have you been all of this time?"

"Uh, what kind of sound is that?" Tuffnut asks with a frown.

"Sounds like Jarik's rolling trash can, but with a boar squealing mixed into it," Ruffnut comments.

Jarik rolls his eyes, and the three Autobots turn towards them with confused looks, although Elita was a little bit sheepish, having not realized that they switched to Cybertronian.

"I don't know... this is strange," Fishlegs admits meekly, intimidates at the sight of three Cybertronians.

"It's probably their language guys," Mara theorizes.

Astrid and Hiccup look at each other and shrug, sighing exhaustedly. At this point they've seen enough weirdness that these things don't really surprise them anymore.

"Oh, sorry about that," Elita apologizes. "Didn't even realize we switched languages."

"Well, who are these fleshy creatures?" Ironhide asks gruffly.

"Hey! Watch who you call fleshy, metal...ly!" Snotlout shouts.

Ironhide frowns at him with a stern gaze, unimpressed, and Snotlout shrinks inwards at him.

"Are you not fleshy?" he demands.

"No, he's just an idiot," Hiccup sighs.

"Hiccup, why don't you lead the others back to the village... see if everyone's alright," Jarik says grimly.

Hiccup glances back with a worried expression on his face, realizing he's right. Nodding his head, he turns Toothless around and directs the gang to follow him, and they quickly take flight after him.

"The village?" Elita asks, concerned.

"Onslaught went there first," is all Jarik says in explanation.

"Oh no..." Mara says, eyes wide with worry.

"Dumb 'Cons don't give a slag about innocent life," Ironhide grunts irritably.

"At least he's driven off now," Chromia says.

"How did you find me?" Elita asks.

"Prime sent us. He felt your spark reawakening some time back, and we heard reports of Onslaught and his cronies traveling here to the Andromeda galaxy," Ironhide explains.

Elita widens her optics slightly, relief and a mixture of emotions running through her.

"Thank Primus he's ok," she whispers happily.

"Where've you been this whole time? We thought you were gone," Chromia says.

"I was trapped underneath the island when the Combaticons attacked me.

They thought I was dead, but I was just forced into stasis," she explains.

"How'd you free yourself?" Ironhide asks.

"I actually have Jarik and Mara to thank for that," she says, gesturing to them. "If it wasn't for them I'd still be trapped."

Ironhide and Chromia both turn to look at them, and Jarik offers a small wave while Mara smiles sheepishly, shrinking inwards a little bit at their gaze. Zenna growls quietly upon sensing her unease.

"Them?" Ironhide asks gruffly. "Huh."

"Should I be flattered?" Jarik asks him with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't know what to think of you, but you didn't do half bad against Onslaught fleshy," he grunts in response.

"...thanks," he replies.

"You'd be surprised Ironhide, so play nice," Elita scolds gently.

"Well in any case, thank you for helping my sister," Chromia says with a grateful nod.

"You're welcome," Jarik says.

"Yeah, no problem," Mara adds meekly.

Elita groans quietly while holding a hand to one of her more serious wounds, where energon was still dripping out slowly.

"I think we need to get you patched up. You took a heavy beating," Chromia says in concern.

"I'm more worried about the others back at their village," she says in reply.

"You shouldn't blame yourself Elita," Jarik says.

"But I should've known better. Onslaught clearly recognized the dragons being used back on Coruscant. He's smart, and has been here before, so he merely put two-and-two together," Elita insists sadly. "I should've known that he'd return to look for me here."

"What's done is done, so there's no point assigning blame," he replies.

"He's right Elita. Onslaught and his goons are responsible, not you," Ironhide says in agreement.

"Are they going to come back here?" Mara asks, gaining everyone's attention. "He's gone, and he knows our hiding place now."

"Megatron wants nothing more than to offline Elita before she can get back to Optimus. He'll surely send more 'Cons," Ironhide states.

"Then I have to leave. I'm only putting you guys in danger by staying," Elita says.

Jarik glances back at Mara, who's frowns sadly, and then looks back up at them. Chromia is helping to support Elita with an arm around her waist.

"I understand. At least now you have a way back," he says with a small smile.

"I wish you didn't have to. I think you're kind of cool," Mara admits glumly.

"You have to focus on your rebellion against the Empire, not our war. It's for the best," Elita says with a small smile. "Maybe we could visit sometime, who knows?"

"Seriously?" Chromia asks.

"Hey, they're very nice!" she replies defensively.

"You always were the soft one," she says in exasperation, shaking her head.

"Well good luck Elita. I hope you guys manage to pull off a victory," Jarik says.

"Some day," Elita replies.

"You can bet your tailpipe on that," Ironhide grunts firmly.

"Remember what I said Mara," Elita adds.

With a final wave she and Chromia both turn and start walking away towards their ship, their footsteps stomping. Ironhide glances down at Jarik and offers a respectful nod, and then marches after them as well. Pausing as an afterthought, he then heads over to the two Cybertronian corpses and collects them both, dragging them away with him.

Once they pass behind the tree line, Jarik turns to Mara with a confused frown.

"What exactly did you talk about?" he questions.

"Uh... not much. Just stuff," she replies with a shrug.

SEVERAL DAYS LATER

Kaon - Cybertron

3rd person POV...

"Well, isn't this disappointing."

The cold, unforgiving voice of Lord Megatron makes Onslaught flinch from his position on the ground, kneeling before him. Even though Megatron's voice was calm and steady, anyone could tell that there was intense outrage and fury underneath it. His one optic states submissively at the floor, a medical patch already covering his destroyed one.

"It's taken you weeks to eliminate Elita One, despite her seemingly weakened shape, and then once you come back, it was all proven for naught," Megatron continues with narrowed optics.

He now stands up from his throne, and marches towards Onslaught dangerously.

"So tell me Onslaught. How in the pits of Kaon did you manage to be bested by a lone Autobot that was stranded in an organic wasteland?! TELL ME!!!"

Onslaught flinches fearfully at Megatron's yell, while Starscream smirks off to the side of the room.

"How embarrassing indeed," he chuckles.

"Lord Megatron, we had Elita in our grasp, I swear! If I could explain what happ-" Onslaught starts to say.

Megatron kicks his foot out with a growl, hitting his face and knocking him into his back, where he groans in pain.

"Explain WHAT Onslaught? There were THREE OF YOU! And yet you return empty handed with the news that both of your companions were killed?! A lost optic is a mercy for what I should do to you!" Megatron snarls.

"But it's true, Master! She was very nearly dead, unable to defend herself! But..." he says, faltering.

"BUT WHAT?!" he demands.

"She had help! Just as I was about to rip out her spark, that blasted Ironhide arrived with his wretched sparkmate!" he exclaims.

"What?!" Megatron growls in surprise.

"Funny how you fail to mention that you lost your optic to Elita's human pet," Starscream sneers.

"Those powered creatures carry more power than you realize Starscream, I've seen what Andromeda's so-called 'Emperor' could do. That Jedi would never beat me, but like to see you take on him, Ironhide, and Chromia all at once without getting fragged!" Onslaught retorts seethingly.

"Even so, no human is ever a credible threat, regardless of their so-called abilities! It's simply laughable that you couldn't even swat him for the insect that he is," Starscream shoots back.

"Silence you fools! I don't care about some Jedi or Emperor from the Andromeda galaxy!" Megatron snaps, and they both quiet down. "How could the Ironhide and Chromia have possibly known to go there?"

"I don't know my Lord," Onslaught admits, bowing his head again. "I did not expect their intervention, and I paid dearly for it with the loss of Blast Off and Vortex."

Megatron turns away with an irritated scowl, his anger somewhat cooled at knowing the appearance of more Autobots was mostly to blame.

"It would seem that Optimus does indeed know Elita One yet lives," he scowls, turning back around to glare at Onslaught. "Still, the fact that you took so long to eliminate her, allowing her to escape several times, is what gave the Autobots the time to find her! What is your excuse for that?"

Megatron stomps up to Onslaught and glares down at him, his expression filled with anger.

"For that I have no excuse Lord Megatron," Onslaught says. "But I do not believe they will be capable of returning to Cybertron anytime soon."

Megatron frowns.

"Explain."

"The Andromeda galaxy faces a threat to which it is totally oblivious to: the Hive," Onslaught states. "They are patrolling the boundaries of Andromeda, preparing for their invasion."

"And how is this supposed to be relevant? They are mindless abominations," Starscream scoffs.

"They are vicious and powerful, despite what you may think," Onslaught snaps. "And they will attack any vessel that tries to leave Andromeda; and have already done so to an Imperial fleet, according to the Empire's database. I know about the Hive movements, so I was able to avoid their gaze. The Autobots do not."

"And what guarantee do you have that those abominations will eliminate them?" Megatron demands with a growl.

"None, but I'm certain the Autobots won't be able to get past them without assistance," Onslaught replies. "And if they return to their organic friends then we shall surely know. I managed to sneak a small beacon onto their ship before my escape, so Soundwave will be able to track them."

"I want absolute certainty that they are destroyed!" Megatron snaps at him with a glare. "The next time Soundwave discovers a trace of their location, you and I will hunt them down, so that I can ensure Elita One's demise. PERSONALLY!"

Onslaught grimaces at his tone, understand the threat behind his words if this plan were to fail.

Fun chapter I hope! There are definitely a few moments where I feel I could've done better (Elita leaving felt partly rushed), but I felt satisfied.

I'm sure many of you would have spotted the similarities between this battle and the forest battle from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. I made a few differences to better fit the scenario in my story, but the general idea was the same. That fight is among the most legendary in the franchise.

Ironhide and Chromia appearance! Little continuity error, though not serious. They were a big help in driving off the Combaticons, and now they are finally taking Elita back to Cybertron. Will they be able to is the question however... and what then?

Now Jarik and Mara finally have the chance to rest after a long and exhausting period of constant struggle.