Chapter 11-A Storm of Swords part 2
Astrea loved her mother. She was the light of her life, the epicenter of her world. Aside from her brother, Finn, Tyr had a strong impact on her view of the world, having been taught on how to be a woman and a queen, and the ways to have both lives lived separately, yet intertwined. Even with Finn gone and the pressures of being crown princess mounting her shoulders, Astrea didn't feel too burdened, knowing that her mother did her best to make the transition as smooth as possible.
But now…she was afraid of her mother.
Following her armed escort back to the palace, Astrea was taken to the throne room, where her mother awaited her angrily. The queen's fins were visibly shaking, a sign that she was really angry, and the trident in her hand crackled with energy in response to her emotions. Oh, she wasn't happy at all.
When the guards left to give mother and daughter some privacy, Tyr and Astrea was finally left alone. The princess didn't dare speak out of turn with her mother in this state.
"What were you thinking?" Tyr asked. "Rushing headlong into a hot zone without knowing the capabilities of the enemy? Along with three transports and a strike team as well?"
"Mother, Saba was under attack and crumbling fast. There was no time and we had to act." Astrea said.
"And what if it were the Decepticons? You would've run underprepared into a battle against an enemy who could've killed you in a heartbeat." Tyr said, standing from her throne and walking toward her daughter.
"Except it wasn't the Decepticons, it was humans. And the reason I did what I did was thanks to the Autobots allowing us a shortcut to and from Saba. You didn't see how desperate they were, mother. Thousands dead within the first few minutes of the attack alone." Astrea shook her head. "Something had to be done."
Tyr frowned, reaching forward to hug Astrea to her. "I could have lost you, Astrea. We should not take our enemies, human or Decepticon, lightly. I've already lost Finn to another man's machinations. If anything happened to you…"
"I know, I'm sorry, mother." Astrea said and hugged her mother back. "But what about the humans that attacked Saba? They're still there right now."
"I have Garen snooping around with Agent Barnett. He doesn't know the full story, but apparently the fighters were supposed to have been some top secret experimental aircraft for the land and sea. Whoever did this made those hybrid fighters for this specific reason-underwater warfare."
"But who sent them?"
"That's what we're trying to find out. Right now, everyone's just trying to handle the refugees from Saba." Tyr said, and then her gaze darkened. "But rest assured, when we find whoever did this, they'll wish they never heard of the name Atlantis!"
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Barnett gave a tired sigh as he slumped into his chair at a café in Times Square. His head hurt from the headache formed from this new incident that suddenly popped up and the political ramifications that sprouted from it.
'A human attack on an Atlantian city. This is unbelievable.' Barnett thought. 'Just when things were going good for once.'
"Are you alright, Agent Barnett?" A familiar voice asked.
Barnett's eyes snapped up to the tall, board shouldered man with a well-groomed mustache standing by his table, a bright red and blue truck behind him. It took him a minute to realize who it was.
"Who-Prime?"
"It's me, Agent Barnett." Optimus nodded, looking down at him, concerned. "Now, are you feeling alright? You look very tired and stressed."
"Couldn't be farther from the truth, Prime. And I'm sure you know what the cause of my stress is?"
Optimus took a seat across from him and studied the government liaison. "I know about the attack on Saba. Gina was there asking to help the refugees evacuate from the city."
"What was…you know what? Nevermind, I'm sure she had a good reason to be that far down underwater." Barnett sighed. "The Atlantians are out for blood and the President wants answers, now. Someone launched the first strike and now it's bringing us to the brink of war."
"Have you found any evidence of the attackers?" Optimus asked.
"I only have so much leeway, Prime. Dealing with the merfolk isn't really the ARA's jurisdiction, considering they aren't aliens. General Abernathy is keeping me informed so I can give you a head's up in case it's the Cons." Barnett said. He took a long sip of his coffee. "From what I understand, it might be in response to recent attacks on a group of island military bases in the Pacific Ocean."
"Attacks." Optimus hummed.
"Don't get any ideas, Prime. The president won't be very accepting of any unannounced Autobot involvement in a Terran political situation." He warned.
"Considering how this incident started, I'm starting to believe that we should look further into these attacks. The Atlantians have no idea of who attacked those bases and we have no idea who attacked Saba. There's a very high chance of Decepticon involvement in this." Optimus explained.
"Knowing you, you'll launch an investigation even if I told you no. look, I'll call up Ambassador Hawke and tell him of your intentions to help, but please don't aggravate the situation further. I already have General Talbot glancing my way."
"Understood, Agent Barnett." Optimus nodded. His avatar vanished and his real body drove away, leaving the human colonel to enjoy his free time in peace.
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Prowl stood in front of a map of the Pacific Ocean in the Ark's computer room looking at the points of attack that reportedly held military installations. After Optimus gave him an update, he was hard at work in trying to figure out what exactly sparked this attack in the first place.
"Yo, Prowler, we've got your guest."
Turning around, Prowl saw Optimus and Jazz entering the room with the Atlantian's liaison Garen. "Garen," Prowl greeted him. "Sorry for poaching you like this, but we need a more in-depth look into the puzzle."
"No apologies needed, Prowl, was it?" The Autobot nodded and Garen smiled. "Putting our heads together may help us solve this mystery faster. What do you need?"
"According to Agent Barnet, the attack on Saba wasn't as random as we thought it was, but it may have been in response to an attack on a group of military bases in the Pacific Ocean." Optimus said, lifting Garen onto the computer console to give him a better look. "We think that the humans who attacked Saba were too well-equipped for a sudden deep sea assault like this."
"You're right about that. Princess Astrea and her human friend, Gina Harkins reported that these humans rained down depth charges down on the city to ravage the infrastructure before launching their hybrid fighters to pick apart any signs of resistance or survivors."
"Hybrid fighters?" Jazz questioned.
"They looked like fighter jets by could move through the water as fast as they could move through air. These people were definitely planning for an operation like this and were very prepared." Garen crossed his arms. "But we don't know where they came from, and the Constable isn't authorizing any return trips to Saba. We're all in the dark."
'And we have no idea if this was some covert military operation or something else. Too many variables to consider.' Prowl thought. "Jazz, can you show me the locations of the bases that were attacked?"
"Sure, but since they're supposed to be top secret, we don't know where all of them are yet." Jazz said, bringing up a topographic chart.
Garen narrowed his eyes and mentally charted each island that had a base. He took note of the large number of aircraft carriers and battleships hovering nearby, putting that together with the Atlantian cities that were located beneath the waves in the same area. That was when he made the startling realization.
"My god." Garen whispered in horror, gaining the Autobots' attention.
"What's wrong?" Optimus asked.
"I recognize this territory. Here," He pointed to the spot where Saba is located. "This is Saba, and close to it is the city of Marielle." He dragged his finger over to a spot near an Osean naval base. There were a group of aircraft carriers passing over that area. "This is where Muria, our second largest city, is located."
Optimus also noticed what had Garen so horrified. "These naval deployments are posted near major Atlantian population centers."
"I'm guessing this isn't a coincidence." Jazz said, crossing his arms with a frown.
"This makes no sense. Relations have only been open between humanity and merfolk for…almost two months. How can anyone muster up a mobilization of this scale in such a short time?" Garen asked.
"And under the President's nose?" Optimus said.
"Decepticons?" Jazz suggested.
"I won't deny that the Decepticons may have had a hand in this. Megatron's been quiet these past few months and its making me worried. That still doesn't explain the Navy's deployment against the merfolk." Optimus said. "If the Atlantians didn't attack those bases, who did? The Lemurians?"
"I think I have an idea." Garen said with a grim expression.
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"Your majesty, I implore you to please hear me out. You don't know the carnage Saba became when they attacked the city. Hundreds died in the first twenty minutes alone, and they would've kept doing it if the princess hadn't chased them off with her forces." Thalasaar said, staring up at the queen and her small council of four constables.
It was an emergency council session to discuss their next course of action. A few high ranking military leaders were also in attendance, along with Astrea and Kiani themselves.
"I propose we strike back in force. Thanks to the Autobots we now have a means of an instant strike, and thus we shall show the humans the folly of spilling merfolk blood." The governor said to the people.
"As much as I want retribution for Saba, Thalasaar, I will not take military action until I know for sure what nation or organization was responsible. If we blindly attack the wrong enemy, we'll be inviting war upon ourselves while the real perpetrators get away." Tyr said.
"Garen is already getting information that will help prevent another attack on our cities." Constable Dyranna said. "We will be ready if they pull another assault on us."
"But it won't be enough! These humans won't stop until they wipe us out and steal our resources! They'll never admit to their own follies!" Thalasaar slammed a hand down on the podium. "We need to mount a counterattack or more of our kind will die!"
"He won't stop until he gets what he wants." Astrea whispered to Kiani.
"Can you blame him? Saba was completely destroyed and he literally couldn't do anything to stop it." Kiani said. "Honestly, it's obvious the whole thing was a black ops attack by the Osean Navy. It's only a matter of time before the other nations start dropping I to get a piece of us before the Decepticons decide to finish us off."
"You don't know that." Astrea said.
"Nor do you." Kiani replied. "You know how they treat espers on the surface. Why should they treat us, and entirely different species, any different? Just strip away their flags and the blame can be passed all around."
"You say that like we don't have people like that under the sea as well." Astrea replied. "People like your father. As if he didn't take part in a coup that killed my brother and almost killed my mother."
Kiani scowled but didn't say anything, knowing it was the truth.
"Until we get enough information to be certain of our next course of action," Tyr announced, catching their attention. "We will not take any action. I will, however, order all settlements in the outer territories, particularly in the tropical regions, remain on high alert and report any suspicious activity."
Thalasaar looked extremely disappointed but didn't press the matter further. "As you wish, your grace."
The meeting was adjourned, and everyone began to exist the chamber. Astrea made sure to avoid Kiani for the rest of the day, as the commander looked like a lion fish ready to attack.
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"His name is James Maylander, an admiral in the Osean Navy for almost 37 years with a known background in military history." Garen said as he showed the Autobots various photos of the man in the computer room. "He has an extensive career in the Navy and a reputation for being a shoot first, ask questions later kind of guy. What's more, I believe he's known, or at least been somewhat aware, of our civilization for decades now."
"Great, more secret government scrap." Jazz groaned.
"What does he have to do with all this?" Prowl asked.
"Prince Finn had me do some investigative work on Killian after taking notice of some odd decisions of his. Following his failed coup, I discovered evidence of him having private meetings with Maylander during the insurrection." Garen explained.
"Knowing how that incident turned out, it wouldn't be a stretch to assume that Maylander was betrayed by Killian in some way." Optimus said.
"Igniting a grudge against the merfolk after they almost started a doomsday device that would've flooded the world." jazz said.
"What's more, many of his fleets pass through the outer regions of Atlantian territory, and I wouldn't put it past him to have placed those secret bases there to monitor any Atlantian activity." Prowl said, rubbing his chin.
"And put him within striking distance of any settlements for his fighter squadrons to attack." Jazz nodded. "Even experimental hybrid fighters. Yeah, it's all coming together."
"Yes, but it's not concrete evidence against him. Both leaders will want something more than loosely connected threads that can easily be disproven." Optimus said.
"Way to kill the mood, boss bot." jazz grumbled.
"No, he's right. Proof is needed to show Maylander is breaking the treaty, and even then we still have no idea who really attacked those bases."
"But it's still a lead." Prowl said. "You report your findings to the queen, Garen, we'll continue things on our end. We're close to averting another catastrophe and we can't let up now."
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A small mini-sub swam through the murky waters that once held the Atlantian city of Saba. Maylander, who wanted to take a look at the results of his victory, had to admit that this mission was more of a success than he could ever imagined. Looking around at the city, he could see that a preemptive strike was very effective at the moment, and the hybrid Tigershark fighters did a wonderful job in the field tests.
"Initial estimates put or casualties at less than ten percent, which is more than acceptable." The pilot reported as he cruised around the ruined city. "Satellite and sonar indicate zero activity within a fifty-mile perimeter."
"Excellent. Keep updating the system. I don't want anything getting close to us without ample warning." Maylander said.
"Yes, sir." The pilot said. His sonar screen detected a small moving target approaching them. "Sir, I've got movement on our 3'0 clock."
As the submarine passed by a pile of fallen rocks, a member of the Murian guard swam out of a grotto. Making sure none of the fighters spotted him, he swam out into the open and went to one of the more secluded areas of the city the larger sea craft couldn't enter.
"This is agent B'Rash calling from Saba. Can anyone read me?" He whispered into his radio. "Please, can anyone read me? I have crucial information that-"
"I've got a visual!"
B'Rash jumped as a spotlight was shined on him and spun around, taking out his sword to attack. To his surprise, it wasn't any of the fighters, but a human riding a motorized sea glider wearing pressurized body armor. Growling, B'Rash shot forward to attack, but one of the other soldiers fired something from his gun and hit him in the back. B'Rash was assaulted by a powerful shock that knocked him unconscious.
"Admiral, sir." Called in one of the soldiers.
"Commander Jenkins." Maylander replied. "Something come up?"
"Beta team just ran into a fish face in the northern sector of the city. He didn't put up much of a fight. The Stingray proved effective." Jenkins reported. "From what I could tell, it must have been one of the lower-level ones. Couldn't withstand the Stingray at full power and was terminated."
"Very good, commander. Keep your men on standby." Maylander ordered. "I may need you sooner than later."
The admiral returned his attention to the drone footage on the monitor before him, which was showing another merfolk city, this one larger than Saba.
Maylander was no fool; he knew this little operation could get him court-martialed, or worse, but what he was doing was in the name of preserving his country's safety and freedom. Some may call the merfolk a burgeoning species, but he only saw a growing army of beings worse than espers. After Killian's betrayal, and witnessing the might of the Atlantian army and their weaponry, it was crucial that this threat be eliminated before humanity finally drowned in its own blood.
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Aboard the Nemesis, Megatron studied footage gathered from Soundwave's hacking of Osea's weather satellites. With everything that was going on with the Atlantians, Megatron had not forgotten their other mission-the elimination of the filthy humans of Skywatch
"Is this accurate?" He asked Soundwave, who nodded.
"Yes, Megatron. There are no official records of an Osean or Canadian sanctioned base in Alaska. This facility is off the record and secret. It is most likely a Skywatch facility."
"Good work, Soundwave." Megatron turned to Dreadwing, who stood there waiting for orders. "Dreadwing, assemble a team and mobilize at once. You will locate and destroy that base. Leave no survivors. Leader-1 shall lead a ground team to raid the facility for anything they might have."
That caught Leader-1's attention. "Are you expecting to find something there, Lord Megatron?"
"If this base is one of those supposed merfolk research stations, then there's a chance the humans have some useful artifacts in their possession. Knowing those filthy scavengers, they'll have more than just living test subjects inside." Megatron said. "Go, Dreadwing. Seek out and destroy them like the animals they are!"
"As you command, my liege." Dreadwing said and left to carry out his mission.
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"A facsimile?"
"Yes, you grace. Prime theorized that the merfolk who ordered the covert strike on the military bases may not have been a merfolk at all, but a Decepticon agent in disguise." Garen said.
"By Neptune," Astrea whispered. "They can do that?"
"According to Agent Barnett, this is exactly how they operate. They sow discord between nations and let them bleed each other out before going in for the kill." Garen confirmed. "All of this is probably the work of Megatron, and Maylander's involvement was just bad luck on our part. We've all been played."
"Damn it. I'll turn that wretched despot into a trash can if I ever see him in person." Tyr growled. "Garen, go inform Agent Barnett about this. We need to avoid war at all costs and try to salvage this mess before-"
"Your grace!" Dyranna ran into the war room in a panic.
"Dyranna, what's wrong?"
"It's the humans! Kiani and her team just encountered three humans patrolling the seabed outside Muria!"
Tyr's grip tightened on her trident as Astrea shared a worried looked with Garen through the monitor.
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"Calloway, you're playing with fire, that's for sure." General Howzer said, taking a puff from his cigar. The four-star general and veteran of the Belkan War stood in the disguised observation deck of the Skywatch research and containment facility in Alaska.
"I know, but those fish heads started this fight. Attacking our bases like that was pure arrogance on their part." Calloway sighed and adjusted his glasses. "We have enough to deal with the cybertronians."
"Well, at least we can handle these guys." Howzer said, looking around at the Atlantian relics gathered from the abandoned city. His eyes focused on the golden broadsword with a crossguard engraved with Atlantian script. "Any luck with this toothpick?"
"No, this thing is a hassle just trying to move. One thing is certain, the merfolk's weapons are no joke." Calloway said. "Maybe Jackson might be able to have his people look at it-"
He was cut off when the base's alarms started going off. Calloway and Howser quickly made their way to the command center, where everyone was on high alert.
"What's going on?" Calloway asked.
"Major, we've got five Decepticon flyers inbound. They're closing in fast!"
Outside, Dreadwing's Seeker squadron approached the base in flight formation. Dreadwing was in the lead, and was powerlinked to Ariel, who served as his flight assistance.
"Dreadwing, I'm detecting almost two dozen missile rackets harboring anti-aircraft missiles. They're already deploying counterattack measures."
"Will we endanger the cargo by launching an air strike?" Dreadwing asked.
"No, scans show that the base can withstand a lot of damage."
"Good. Seekers, target the communication towers and fire at will!"
"Finally!" Starscream opened his bomb bay doors and fired two missiles alongside Thundercracker and Skywarp.
A rain of fire fell upon the base as the missiles hit the facility head on. Half of the missiles took out the radio towers, effectively eliminating any communication to the outside world. The other missiles hit the rest of the base, mainly the hangar and observation deck. Once they got close enough, the Seekers landed in front of the bunker doors and deposited the Minicons.
"Cover all possible exits and make sure to look for any secret openings. Leader-1," Dreadwing looked down at the Mini-Con. "You know what to do."
Leade-1 nodded and turned to his team consisting of Rook, Crosswise, Cannon, and Thunderclap. He led the charge into the hangar area where the aircraft were parked, leaving the Cons to deal with the talos coming to fight them.
"I've been waiting for some target practice!" Skywarp grinned and opened fire on the talos.
"No, no, no, no…" Calloway said as he quickly ran out of the security room. "How did they find us?"
"Who cares how? Do we have countermeasures in place?" General Howzer said.
"This facility was designed in secret for a reason. Megaton himself could tear this place apart with his bare hands." Calloway started relaying his orders through his radio. "Send out the Tigersharks and take them out! Don't let them get into the holding area!"
"Tigersharks?"
"This base was designed to counteract a possible merfolk attack, not Decepticons." Calloway led Howzer into the armory and entered a code into the weapons locker. "Take what you need. They're experimental, but should do fatal damage to those robots."
Howzer picked up a rifle that looked like a grenade launcher, only more advanced and relatively cool looking. "Nice."
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Kiani's team ran into a group of humans in combat gear sniffing around the hidden alcoves near Muria, a scouting team most likely. Of course, Kiani attacked them with extreme prejudice. Two humans were killed, but Kiani was knocked out from a powerful electrical surge that one of the humans fired at her. It was a rifle that looked like an oversized Taser, specifically made to subdue merfolk.
Kiani was taken back to Muria's military command garrison, where Astrea had taken a ground bridge to the city to see her friend personally.
"Is she alright?" Astrea asked as she looked at Kiani in the healing chamber.
"She'll live, but being shocked with a direct current can drop even her." Brand said. "The humans certainly aren't idle during peacetime."
With it now being clear the next target of the humans was Muria, the city was placed under lockdown, and regular patrols along the city's territory. The city militia remained on standby on the queen's orders, knowing that if anything were to attack Muri, they'd go for the garrison first. Tyr was always right in her hunches, but this time, she washed she was wrong…and she wasn't.
Only an hour after the encounter with the enemy scouts, Atlantian drones detected a sudden change in the undersea currents…and were met with a squadron of hybrid fighters and a volley of missiles.
In the hangar, Astrea and Brand met up with a revived Kiani, who was already decked out combat armor with a full loadout.
"Brand, what's the situation?" She asked.
"All-out assault. Your friends are back with some heavy weapons and a lot of fighters, attacking the Dor base. For now, the fight's ship to ship, so we have to hope they can keep them at bay until we get arrive."
Kiani looked over at Astrea, who was reaching for a rifle. She snatched the princess's hand in a tight grip. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Gearing up." Astrea said.
"Astrea, you are royalty, not a soldier. You belong in the command center." Kiani said.
"This isn't some small incursion, Kiani, this is an all-out assault. You need all the help you can get." She growled.
"Astrea, if anything happened to you, your mother will be devastated and the royal line will be compromised. You'll be more useful helping the queen coordinate our forces." Kiani explained. "You are more useful than any soldier on the battlefield. You can create change from the top down."
Astrea bit her lip, knowing Kiani was right. Tyr had made sure to hammer in the military capabilities of their armies to her children, and now those wartime classes were going to pay off. "Just promise me you'll be careful. Both of you."
"I promise, Princess Astrea." Kiani smiled. "The humans won't be able to touch us."
Kiani saluted her and ran off to grab a Vimana fighter before they were all taken. Astrea cleared the launch bay to give them clearance to launch, and prayed for the safe return of her friends. As she headed back to the command center, she had an idea on how to stop this madness.
"Change things from the tip down," Astrea muttered. A smirk grew on her face. "Okay, then. Let's make a change."
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"Optimus, Teletran just detected Decepticon activity up in Alaska." Bumblebee reported.
"Alaska?" Optimus blinked and looked up at the monitor. "Did you ID them?"
"It's the Seekers, all of them." Bumblebee brought up their profiles. "And it looks like they're going in hard and fast, but for what I don't know."
"We'll soon find out." Rodimus said. "What's the play, Prime? We going to put those Cons on ice?"
"You stay here with Bumblebee and remain on standby, Rodimus. Bumblebee, call up Prowl, Jazz, Bulkhead and Ironhide. We'll need a lot of firepower to get Dreadwing's unit to back off." Optimus said.
"But Prime…" Rodimus groaned.
"I'm sorry, Rodimus, but you're to remain here on watch duty. I need you two on top of things with the Atlantians if anything escalates." Optimus said as he walked down the hall. "Tomahawk has command until I get back."
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Rodimus sat at the comm station in the Ark bored out of his mind. He always hated getting stuck on watch duty and this time, he had no excuses to get out of it.
"Relax, Hot Rod, you'll get a chance to warm up your guns." Bumblebee said. "Want me to call up Tomahawk to keep you company?"
"Don't bother." Rodimus grumbled and flicked Bumblebee's tiny horns. "And what did I tell you about calling me that stupid name you little twerp?"
"Hey, watch the horns!"
The two mechs fooled around for a minute before a chirp on the priority one channel-the emergency comm channel-caught their attention. Bumblebee and Rodimus looked at each other curiously before patching the call through. It was Princess Astrea!
"Princess?" Rodimus blinked in surprise. "What are you-"
"Autobots, we have trouble. There are humans launching an attack on Dor, a military garrison near one of our major cities." Astrea said. "We're holding them back, but I'm afraid this might only be the beginning of something larger. I know this is out of your jurisdiction, but please, we need assistance!"
"Um, Princess, Optimus just took a good portion of our team to fight off some Cons in Alaska. We can't move without his say-so…"
"We'll come help you." Rodimus cut in. "Prime's busy, but there's a good number of us in reserve to make somewhat of a difference."
"Thank you." Astrea smiled. "I'll send you the coordinates for Muria's location. Just please, hurry!"
When the call ended, Bumblebee gave Optimus a glare. "That wasn't your call to make, Rodimus."
"Those people are in trouble and they need our help. We can't just turn them down." Rodimus said.
"That's not-scrap." Bumblebee sighed. "We'll be fighting humans, you know that right? This might have some serious consequences down the line that might come back and bite us in the aft."
"I know, but we've already got some humans as our enemies, in case you've forgotten." Rodimus said. "Come on, Bee, you've been hanging around Prowl too much. There's more to being an Autobot than fighting Cons. Saving lives is what we do."
"All right, all right, I get it." He sighed. "We're going swimming. But you're taking responsibility for this."
"Nyonian's honor." Rodimus said.
"Can we at least notify Tomahawk before we do anything stupid?"
"Don't worry, I'm not gonna leave my girl out of this!" Rodimus grinned.
After a few minutes, Rodimus and Bumblebee were in the launch bay with Tomahawk and her assembled team of Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Trailbreaker, Moonracer and Skyfire. The team was ready to go, but only after Rodimus and Tomahawk had a rather heated argument about this sudden turn of events.
"Of all the idiotic things you could've done, Rodimus," Tomahawk growled. "Prime's going to have your head if Prowl doesn't get to you first."
"I'm sorry, hawk, but people are in danger. I couldn't just say no to them." Rodimus said seriously. "I told Bee I would take responsibility and I will. Don't worry."
"With you, I always worry." Tomahawk sighed. "Just…be careful in the water, okay? Underwater combat is really treacherous, especially at those depths."
"Will do, Hawk." Rodimus said, taking her hand. "I'll keep our Bots safe."
On the side, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker were having a little talk of their own. "You sure you're up for this, bro?" Sideswipe asked his twin. "I mean, fighting underwater is totally different from-"
"I'm fine." Sunstreaker shifted his hand into a vibro-blade and back again. "Let's just go put these fleshies in their place."
Sideswipe frowned, but nodded. "Okay, bro."
"Everyone ready?" Rodimus asked the team. They all nodded and he gave the thumbs up to Bumblebee. The scout switched on the ground bridge and Rodimus ran forward into battle. "Roll out, Autobots!"
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Astrea watched the ground bridge materialize in the base's hangar bay. She sensed the soldiers behind her tense up a bit, but she only felt relief as she saw Rodimus's team step out of the bridge.
"Autobots, thank goodness you're here!" Astrea exclaimed.
"Heling people is our job, Princess. We're not going to leave you out to dry." Rodimus said.
"That was a terrible joke." Skyfire muttered.
"Don't start with me, Skyfire." He grumbled and looked down at the princess. "So what do you need help with? We aren't that skilled at underwater combat, but we're good enough to hold out own."
"With the forces mobilized at Dor, the city is basically protected by a token force. I'd be a fool if I wasn't expecting another covert sneak attack or something." Astrea said.
"Princess!" A soldier ran into the chamber carrying a touch pad. "Princess, Constable Dyranna detected an intrusion in the eastern side of the city. She wanted to show you this."
Astrea took the pad and held it up so the Autobots could see. It showed exactly what Astrea was afraid of-humans clad in high tech swimming gear moving through the darkest parts of Muria, escorted by five odd-looking aquatic talos. One of the talos carried a large bomb with a hazard symbol on the side. A nuclear warhead.
"Holy slag." Rodimus whispered in shock.
"The humans aren't here to win a war," Astrea said with dread. "They've come to annihilate us."
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Kiani wasn't the biggest fan of the Autobots, seeing them as just one more problem the Atlantians had to deal with, but she had to admit that seeing Skyfire zipping through the water like a great white shark taking out fighters was a nice sight indeed.
All around her, humans and Atlantians fought ferociously. As advanced as the merfolk are, the tenacity of the assault was still surprising. Death was everywhere, and just minutes into the battle there were already casualties on both sides. A fighter flew straight at her and shot a missile in her direction. Kiani was ready to tear it apart with Skyfire flew past her, throwing her off balance.
"Need a hand, sweetheart?" Skyfire shot her guns and took out the missile.
"Watch where you're flying!" Kiani yelled. Skyfire whistled and transformed to robot mode.
"Someone's testy? Where's the love?" She quipped. A fighter locked onto her, but a narrow beam hit its thrusters and sent it careening off into the dark depths.
"Stop joking around, Skyfire." Moonracer said as she took out another fighter. She was holed up within a small grotto, sniping fighters from afar.
The two femmes' contributions to the battle were not unnoticed by the human pilots.
"Blaze, I think we've got Autobots here!" One pilot said.
"What? Impossible!"
"No, I just spotted two Autobots on the field shooting our boys down like nothing." He said.
"Then take them down!"
"Sir?"
"Shoot them down! If they're helping those fish heads, then they're the enemy!"
Skyfire saw some of the fighters break off and target her and Moonracer. She sighed and changed forms, racing off to face them. It was so hard being popular these days.
XXXXXX
Starscream gave a displeasured grunt as he took a missile to the shoulder. He raised his arm and riddled the offender with a barrage of laser blasts that tore apart the missile rack. It was pretty sad how shallow the base's defenses were. You'd think a secret base would have at some decent countermeasures against intruders.
"It's so good to know Megatron has enough faith in our abilities to send us against cannon fodder." Starscream huffed.
"Oh come off it, Starscream." Thundercracker said. "Would you rather we square off against the fish heads like those humans? Because I'd rather we have an easy job to complete instead."
"And that's why you're a lacky and not a commander!" Starscream spat. "You lack ambition."
"And you lack common sense, you skid plated moron." Thundercracker shot back.
"Stop squabbling and remain focused. They could still have reinforcements." Dreadwing said.
As if on cue, a ground bridge appeared and Optimus exited the portal with his team. Dreadwing scowled as he looked at the Prime and turned to face him.
"Prime." Dreadwing growled.
"Dreadwing," Optimus pointed his ion cannon at the Seeker. "Cease this attack at once! These humans have done nothing to you!"
"These humans have committed a grave offense against the Decepticons, Prime!" Dreadwing said. "Not that you would care. They would tear your soldiers limb from limb for their so-called science and you'd still try to defend them!"
Optimus's eyes narrowed. "Dreadwing…"
"We gonna flap our lips or are we gonna waste them, Dreadwing?" Skywarp asked.
"Yes, Dreadwing. What are you orders?" Starscream smirked.
Dreadwing's response was to take out his cannon and fire a missile at the Autobots. They scattered and started shooting at the Seekers, reigniting the battle amidst a field of broken talos.
"This is getting worse by the minute." Calloway muttered as he looked at the screens. General Howtzer was barking orders to the security team, trying to must up somewhat of a counterattack force against the alien intruders. "General, have our artillery units move out and engage the cybertronians."
"Even the Autobots?" Howtzer blinked. He was no fan of the Autobots, but they were doing a damn good job keeping the Cons at bay. "You sure you want to do that, son?"
"General, the last thing we need is the Autobots discovering our little operation here and blabbing to the President about what we have here." Calloway said and marched toward the door. "We need to sanitize this location and make sure no one sets eyes on what we have here."
Calloway took a strike team and quickly made his way to the vault where they kept their captured assets. There were multiple routes to the vault, with the Mini-Cons going down the most direct route. Calloway could already hear the sound of Murphy talos engaging the Mini-Cons with machine gun fire and rockets.
'Those things won't be able to get past the Murphys. They're easy pickings compared to the larger Cons.' He thought as he walked up to a set of heavily armored doors.
Inputting the key code into the scanner and then placing his thumb on the pad to scan his fingerprint, Calloway opened the doors so he could retrieve or destroy what he sought to keep out of alien hands.
Bodies, dozens of them. Merfolk bodies both living and dead prepped for study by Skywatch's xenobioloy division. Many were kept in water filled tanks under heavy sedation, though two unlucky specimens were on dissection tables with their chest cut open to properly examine them. The sight would've made one Veronica Howards sick with rage.
In another smaller room was a holding cell where they kept any merfolk artifacts, especially ones salvaged from the ruins of the city of Marielle, the settlement that was the casualty of a hydrogen bomb going off a couple of miles from it. Maylander had no qualms about using potential weapons to better combat their aquatic neighbors.
Calloway turned to his team. "Gab whatever isn't bolted to the floor or too heavy to carry. Leave the bodies."
The personnel were about to get to it when they heard a terrible screeching sound and turned back to the doors. The screeching came from Bishop, the Minicon gestalt formed from Rook and Crosswise, who was dragging the blood soaked torso of a Murphy behind him. He stopped just a foot away from the Skywatch agents before throwing the wreck over their heads, making them duck.
"You lose something?" Bishop grinned. Leader-1 and Thunderclap walked out from behind him and approached the group.
"I think we all know how this is going to end, yes?" Leader-1 said pleasantly.
"If you people know what's good for you, you'll stay back." Calloway growled, pointing his gun at Leader-1's head.
"Really? You're making threats?" Leader-1 laughed. "You must be joking. Lord Megatron knows what your people did to Ravage and Laserbeak. He wants to put you humans in your place, whether it is quick or slow it entirely up to me. Now you have some goodies that we want, so stand aside and we'll-"
Calloway pulled the trigger and the bullet ricocheted off Leader-1's orange visor.
"…Kill you all slowly and painfully. Thanks for making it easy for me." He nodded to the gestalt next to him. "Bishop?"
Bishop cracked his knuckles and advanced on the terrified humans, planning to make the most of these rarely scored kills.
XXXXXX
Maylander's plan was essentially a suicide mission, plain and simple. Marine Captain William Anderson was to lead a highly trained and skilled team deep into enemy territory to arm the warhead. His team would be escorted by four Tritons, semi-amphibious talos built for underwater combat, the most advanced models the Navy developed. With most of the merfolk army occupied with the fighters, Anderson figured it'd be an easy win so long as he and his team stood on their toes. How wrong he was.
Anderson was expecting interference from the local security forces, maybe even encounter those Atlantian gigas, but not four Autobots swimming at them.
Rodimus slammed into a Triton, narrowly avoiding getting his head skewered by the talos's long arms and sharp claws. When it tried to shove its hand cannon into his face, he twisted his body and shoved his arm cannons into the talos's camera eye, firing off a blast that destroyed the head and camera. He spotted Thalasaar leading his own team to handle the infantry team, and they showed no mercy on them.
"Carter, hurry up and arm the bomb!" Anderson yelled as he fired his gun. One of the merfolk soldiers had sliced his Stingray rifle in two and all he had was a modified glock and a combat knife.
Carter, a woman who just got down slitting a merfolk soldier's throat, quickly swam to the warhead and typed in the launch code. Rodimus saw her and swam after her as Sunstreaker and Sideswipe handled the other talos.
"Stop!" He yelled.
Thalasaar saw her and raced for Carter, grabbing her into a headlock just as she hit enter and the warhead came to life.
"Too late, fish head." Carter grunted.
In his submarine, Maylander watched the combat data come in; the level of power these creatures had was astounding, more than he anticipated. Even unaided, Kiani alone took out dozens of fighters. And now that the Autobots had come into the battle, the operation's difficulty level increased dramatically. If this battle went on any longer, they'll be overpowered.
"Admiral," Lieutenant May said. "We're picking up an activation signal from the primary target."
"Confirm signal."
She did so and nodded. "Confirmed. The warhead has been armed, sir."
"Ready to engage exit strategy." Maylander commanded. "Retreat fighters to rendezvous point. Move into position for final assault."
This was it. Twenty minutes…twenty minutes and it will be all over.
XXXXXX
At Dor, Skyfire and Moonracer stopped fighting as they saw the fighters pull back and fly away. They looked confused as Kiani swam up to them with Astrea.
"I saw the battle from the outpost." Astrea said. "The other fighters also seem to be pulling back."
"So they're retreating?" Moonracer asked.
"Looks like it." Kiani observed.
"Good riddance. About time they realized they bit off more than they could chew." Skyfire laughed, beating her chest.
Suddenly a large shadow fell over them as the submarine moved into position above them.
"Slag, they're not running!" Moonracer shouted.
"They're just getting out of the way!" Astrea gasped.
The two submarines opened their Bombay doors and dropped hundreds of depth charges down on the Murian garrison.
Everyone bean shooting down the depth charges, including the Autobots. Skyfire raced around the water shooting missiles to take out anything near her with Comettor's support. Astrea hung back with Kiani destroying as many explosives as possible. They were so preoccupied with the rain of fire coming down upon them, that they didn't see a depth charge landing on a cliff behind them.
"Watch out!" Moonracer swam up to them and covered the two girls with her body as the depth charge exploded, sending rocks everywhere and knocking them back with the blast wave.
"Moonracer!" Astrea exclaimed as she saw a chunk of the femme's armor get blow off.
Seeing the Autobot get hurt protecting her and Kiani set something off in Astrea and her eyes turned into slits as a surge of power flowed into her.
"ENOUGH!"
Kiani gasped as Astrea swirled the water around her, forming a spinning whirlpool around her body. The princess seemed to move the entire sea with her as she shot toward one of the submarines with the intent of ending this battle for good.
XXXXXX
The assault on the Skywatch base had turned from an invasion into a three way battle between the Autobots, Decepticons, and the Skywatch soldiers. The Seekers shot back at the Autobots in a barrage of laser and missile fire, while dealing quick but devastating strikes at the remaining Skywatch defenders who were poorly equipped to fight off Decepticons.
At the heart of the battle was Optimus and Dreadwing, who were dueling with swords. Optimus had powerlinked with Sparkplug to bring out his heated battle blade, and Dreadwing was powerlinked with Ariel to increase his physical abilities. The Seeker commander came at Prime with attacks fueled by anger and hatred directed at the Autobot leader.
"I will get revenge for my brother, Prime!" Dreadwing growled, pushing against Prime's arm blade. "You and that human will pay greatly for this!"
"Had you and your brother strayed from Megatron's path of conquest, you wouldn't have had to bury your brother!" Optimus said. He broke the deadlock and spin-kicked Dreadwing in the face.
"Don't act so self-righteous, Prime!" Dreadwing spat, blocking Prime's sword and reaching for his head, only to grasp at air. "I'm not so weak as to betray my creed to Lord Megatron for your empty promises!"
"Then the killing will continue until nothing is left!" Optimus shouted. He took out his ion cannon and fired a shot in a single motion, hitting Dreadwing's chest.
"Careful, Dreadwing," Starscream smirked. "Wouldn't want you to embarrass yourself by losing your head to Prime like your brother."
"Focus on your own fight, Screamer!" Jazz said, firing a barrage of cryo-shells into Starscream's back. Starscream's boosters froze over and he crashed into the snowy ground face first.
"Lousy ingrate!" Starscream snarled.
General Howtzer watched it all from the observation deck. He stood in shock and awe as he witnessed the metal giants clash on top of the burning wreckage of Skywatch's most advanced Gernsback talos. The talos teams were forced to fall back or risk getting blown to pieces like their comrades, leaving the cybertronians to fight.
"My god. These creatures…they're too powerful." Howtzer muttered. "Allies or enemies, we're no match for them!"
"How right you are, General." A menacing voice said behind him.
Howtzer spun around long enough to see the barrel of a gun before his head was blasted apart in a gory spray of blood by a single laser blast.
Dreadwing continued to fight Optimus furiously, but the Autobot leader continued to fight back with just as much power. The two mechs were almost on equal ground in terms of strength, but Prime's already exceptional strength was boosted by Sparkplug. Dreadwing narrowly dodged a slash from the battle blade and tried to stab Prime, but Optimus leapt to the side and slammed a knee into his chin.
Dreadwing brought his sword up by instinct, but Optimus's next slash slammed hard enough into his sword to shatter the blade and leave a deep gash in Dreadwing's chest. The blue Seeker fell back into the courtyard, landing on the burning torso of a Gernsback and crushing the pilot's dead body inside.
"Dreadwing!" Ariel cried out.
"I'm fine, Ariel." Dreadwing said, gritting his teeth at the burning pain in his chest plate.
"Stand down, Dreadwing." Optimus said. "Your team is being pushed back and you are alone. You won't be getting anything from this base on my watch."
"Alone." Dreadwing snarled. "And whose fault is that, Prime?"
"Dreadwing!" Dreadwing looked back and saw the Minicons running out of the base with an abundance of goodies pilfered from the vault, along with a live human prisoner. "Take this! It'll help you!"
Dreadwing didn't have time to ask as Leader-1 tossed him an emerald green sword. Reaching out, he was surprised to see the sword enlarge so that it felt nicely in his hand the moment his fingers touched the hilt. Energy crackled from the blade and into his arm, and Dreadwing felt reenergized as he got back to his feet.
And for the first time in centuries, the fabled Atlantian blade, the Sword of Storms, was used in battle.
XXXXXX
Astrea attacked the submarine with the force of a tsunami. She clapped her hands together and tons of water slammed into the vessel's armored hull with enough force to cause its structure to rupture. Inside the sub, chaos took over as the water pressure steadily increased.
"The hull is stressing from the water pressure!" Captain Adams said as he struggled to remain upright.
"It doesn't make any sense." One of the officers said. "We're at nine hundred feet!"
"It makes perfect sense." Adams growled. "We're under enemy attack!"
Astrea continued to strangle the submarine with the very water it swam through, her eyes glowing bright blue as she increased her power. Inside, Captain Adams heard telltale groans along the sub that no submarine commander ever wants to hear.
"The hull's fracturing. Get us to the surface, now!" Adams yelled. "Emergency blow!"
"Now that you've destroyed a city and killed hundreds, thousands of my people, you're just going to call it a day and go home? You think you can just walk away after what you've done?" Astrea's body glowed with power as she chased the sub. "Think again! You need to learn this once and for all…the oceans don't belong to you!"
The fighter pilots and officers onboard one of the naval aircraft carriers sitting upon the area were greatly startled by seeing one of their premier subs suddenly get launched from the water heavily damaged, held in the grasp of a massive wave. Shooting from the water on a water spout, Astrea rose into the air and began attacking any and all fighters in the air that were heading her way.
"Whoa." Skyfire said. "That's…something."
"Autobot!" Kiani swam up to her with Sideswipe and Sunstreaker in tow. "We're still outnumbered by those fighters. Support the princess or her death is on your head!"
"You got it!" Skyfire transformed and shot to the surface, flying into the air in jet mode and began shooting at the fighters attacking Astrea.
"You two," She turned to the twins. "You will help me keep anymore fighters from getting airborne."
"Us?" Sideswipe gaped at her.
"How do you expect us to get up there?" Sunstreaker asked.
Kiani rolled her eyes; were all men the same no matter what race they were? "Just brace yourselves."
Kiani wrapped the three of them in strong currents of water and used them to shoot up to the surface. They burst out of the water like rockets and onto the deck of the nearest carrier. One of the soldiers on the deck spotted them and was the first to be taken out when Kiani punched his face, breaking his nose and a few teeth.
Sideswipe and Sunstreaker got to their feet on the runway and immediately started taking cover as the ship's talos units started shooting at them.
"They're mine!" Sunstreaker ran forward and unleashed a burst of extremely hot energy at the nearest talos. One Triton lost its arm, which Sunstreaker used to stab its claws into its head. Two more shot at him and he lashed out with a powerful kick that nearly caved in the cockpit of a Triton pilot, knocking him unconscious. The last pilot tried to grab Sunstreaker, but he took its arm and threw it into one of the unmanned planes.
"Whoa, Sunny, chill out with the ultraviolence!" Sideswipe said.
"You focus on your job, I'll focus on mine!" Sunstreaker shouted and went back to beating down the talos.
Kiani used her water spouts to slice up the wings and thrusters of the jets to ground them. Sideswipe protected her from the soldiers that were shooting at her. He knew Optimus was going to be furious with them, but considering the circumstances, they might get a pass for this once.
"Comettor, try to locate the second sub." Skyfire said as she weaved through the air, shooting down another fighter's wing. "It's got to be here somewhere."
Down below, the Ajax combat submarine got a lock on Skyfire's position and Maylander gave the order to fire.
"Frag!" She yelled as two cruise missiles shot out of the water at her. She quickly shot down the first one but the second hit her in the chest and blew her out of the air. Astrea gasped as she saw the Autobot fall into the water.
"Skyfire?" Astrea looked up and saw two fighters heading their way, firing two missiles each. She dragged Skyfire underwater to help her escape the missiles and made sure that she was far from danger.
Astrea turned her glare onto the Ajax. No more people were going to get hurt today. The merfolk didn't start this war, but Astrea was sure as hell going to finish it!
XXXXXX
The Sword of Storms was an ancient weapon of Atlantian lore. Legends said that the first king of Atlantis used its incredible power to break apart glaciers and cause abnormal weather patterns to form, creating the conditions for a storm. Whether or not these legends were true is still speculation, but upon first glance, one could tell it was not made by mortal hands. The sword was yet another gift bestowed upon the mortals of Terra by the dolems.
Dreadwing felt power flow into his body as the sword enlarged itself to fit into his hand. The sword, with its sea green blade that glinted beautifully in the sunlight, crackled with energy, and the sky seemed to get darker as more power flowed from the blade. Autobots and Seekers alike paused in their fighting to look at the spectacle.
"What is that?" Starscream breathed.
"Oh boy," Bulkhead groaned. "We're in trouble."
"Incredible. To think that such power could be found in this frozen wasteland." Dreadwing said. He held the sword in both hands and swung it at the Skywatch base.
"No!" Optimus yelled.
There was a bright flash as the sword unleashed a powerful bolt of lightning that tore through the observation deck and killed everyone inside as it continued to shatter the Cliffside the base was built upon. The ice cracked and crumbled away, taking with it the majority of the installation and anybody still inside. Everything fell into the canyon below, leaving behind an empty space where a military complex used to be.
"Holy…" Leader-1 muttered.
Optimus was the first to recover from his shock as he charged at Dreadwing with his blade out. He channeled energon into the hyper-coils in his legs to increase his speed and lunged at the Con.
"Dreadwing!" Ariel cried out.
"I know!" Dreadwing spun around and met Prime's blade with his own attack.
There was a deafening screech as their blades clashed, and after that, two things happened. One; Optimus's battle blade shattered on contact with the sword. Two, the energy wave caused by the clash blew them both back, though Optimus took a fair amount of damage as the window panes on his chest shattered and almost caved in his chest plate. He hit the ground hard and rolled to a stop on his front. He didn't get back up.
"Prime's down!" Ironhide shouted, running over to Optimus.
Starscream grinned and pointed his guns at Ironhide's back, but Thundercracker put a hand on his arm.
"Finishing the mission." Thundercracker said. "We've won, Starscream. It's over."
"It's not over until they're dead. Prime and his lackies are vulnerable! Weak! We can kill them all right now!"
"We've already completed our mission objective, Starscream, and we aren't totally unscathed either. Dreadwing's not looking too hot after using that sword, and we're almost as bad as him." Thundercracker replied. "Now are you going to comply, or do we have a problem?"
Starscream scowled, but he relented and powered down his weapons. He pushed Thundercracker aside and walked away.
"I will not forget this, Thundercracker." Starscream growled.
Dreadwing couldn't feel his arm as he knelt on the ground, exhausted. He glared at Optimus as a ground bridge appeared behind him.
"Dreadwing, we need to go." Skywarp said to him.
Dreadwing nodded and Skywarp helped him up and into the bridge. Before entering the portal, he gave one last look at Optimus.
'I will kill you one day, Prime. You will pay for my brother's death…or that of the human who slayed him!'
XXXXXX
"Holy slag," Sideswipe gaped at the giant wave that Astrea was summoning. "Bro, we gotta bounce!"
Even Maylander couldn't hide his shock as he saw the massive wave reach almost a mile into the air, higher than even the altitude the fighters were flying. What's more astonishing was the giant water construct of Astrea that was controlling it. The aircraft carrier, the fighters, the sub, everything was engulfed as Astrea channeled the fury of the ocean into this attack.
With a wave of her hand, Astrea brought the submarine crashing down onto the carrier. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker barely got off when the sub crashed onto the ship hard enough to capsize it, tearing a hole into the lower deck of the carrier. In one fell swoop, she torched the ship, the submarine, and the fighters. But it still wasn't enough for her.
Astrea raised her hand to deliver another attack when someone blocked her path.
"That's enough, kid. You've won!" Skyfire said.
Astrea glared at her, but she slowly calmed down. She relinquished her control over the water and slowly lowered herself onto an ice platform beside Skyfire. The Autobot Seeker swam over to her and patted her back with a large finger.
"It's over." She whispered.
XXXXXX
Down below the waves, Rodimus and Armorhide were dealing with another problem. The nuclear warhead that was about to go off in five minutes. With the help of two merfolk soldiers named Brande and Siphon, they were able to get away from the city via hanging onto the wings of the Vimana fighters to increase their speed.
Let it be known that Rodimus had no experience in diffusing bombs, let alone highly destructive ones like nuclear warheads. He threw them, not stopped them. Surprisingly, Armorhide was a very handy tech-head, but there was only one problem.
"You don't know how to diffuse it?" Rodimus shouted. "This thing will kill us, Armorhide!"
"I know, but I've only worked with cybertronian devices. How am I supposed to know how to diffuse a human made bomb?" Armorhide shot back.
"It's a nuclear bomb! Everything within a hundred miles of us is going to die, Armorhide, including us!" Rodimus screamed.
'Neptune help us, these aliens act like hysterical children.' Siphon thought. At the current speed they were going, they might be able to get the bomb out of Muria's range, but it will be too late for them no matter how fast they went. But then Armorhide had an idea.
"Brande, stop!" Armorhide yelled.
"What? Why?"
"Trust me." Brande slowed to a stop and Armorhide contacted the Ark. "Bee? This is Armorhide, do you read me?"
"Just barely…what's going on?" Bumblebee replied.
"We have a live nuclear warhead about to go off, we need a ground bridge!"
"Right, I'll bridge you and Rodimus back to the Ark-"
"No! put the bridge as far into Terra's orbit as possible!" Armorhide said.
"What?!"
"Do as he says, Bee!" Rodimus said, realizing what Armorhide had planned.
Bumblebee sent them a ground bridge and Armorhide had Brande glide him towards the portal as fast as possible. When Brande stopped his Vimana short of the bridge, Armorhide used the momentum to go flying right into the porta…and reemerged in outer space.
Weightless, Armorhide threw the bomb as hard as he could into the void, letting it sail off outside of the planet's orbit. He didn't stay to watch the fireworks, and propelled himself back into the ground bridge just as the bomb exploded in a bright flash of light, like a star going nova.
"Armorhide!" Rodimus hugged the Autobot tightly as he reappeared from the ground bridge. "You did it!"
"I…I did it?" Armorhide muttered in a daze.
"Yeah, kid, you totally did." Brande grinned. "Kiani, this is Brande. Mission accomplished. We got rid of the humans' doomsday clock and won the day!"
Back on the surface, Admiral Maylander sat on the stairs inside his half-destroyed submarine, glaring at the dead monitor in front of him. The sub was certainly in better shape than the rest of the carrier, that's for sure.
"Report." He said.
"Sonar is clear, Admiral. No evidence of detonation." The officer said quietly. "It's possible the shockwave reading is hampered by the depth of the blast. We're continuing monitoring."
"Forget it." Maylander spat. "We're done here."
XXXXXX
As everything calmed down both above and below the ocean's surface, the Autobots-both teams-returned to the Ark to recover from their battles. Optimus was rushed to the medibay, where he would spend some time in the CR chamber while the others had some repairs and rested.
"Just when I think you couldn't anger me enough, you somehow exceed my expectations, Rodimus." Prowl said tightly.
"That's a first." Rodimus quipped.
"Rodimus, please." Tomahawk sighed.
"You mobilized a team without authorization into a warzone, and you took part in a non-cybertronian conflict and attacked numerous Osean soldiers in broad daylight." Prowl listed. "Agent Barnett is torn between praising you for helping avert a disaster and wanting to kick your ass."
"The princess needed our help, Prowl. What do you think we should've done, say no to her face? Actually, no, don't answer that. I already know your answer." Rodimus said and crossed his arms. "I know I went off on my own, but I'm not apologizing for saving lives. Tthat's the whole reason I became an Autobot."
"The Autobot were formed to stop the Decepticons. The whole reason we're even on this planet is to stop the Cons from burning this world!" Prowl growled. "That is the whole reason any of us are even on this planet, and we can't achieve that by getting involved in other people's conflicts!"
"Don't kid yourself, Prowl. I joined to save lives, no matter what race they are. You only wear that badge because Sentinel kicked you to the curb when you stopped being useful." Rodimus spat.
Prowl actually looked like he was going to punch Rodimus for that, but Prime's voice stopped the argument.
"That's enough from both of you. There's no point in arguing over something that has already passed." Optimus said, walking into the room. The two mechs backed, but didn't let go of their agitation.
"Optimus, are you feeling okay?" Tomahawk asked.
"I feel better now that I've recovered. Some rest will do me some good." Optimus said and looked at Prowl. "Prowl, we have already proven Decepticon involvement in the incident, so our interference in the conflict does not go against protocol. And know that we Autobots do not exist for the sole purpose of fighting Decepticons. We are meant to show the galaxy that we are more than just monotonous robots. Rodimus's actions were insubordinate, but he has saved hundreds of lives and that is a victory in itself."
Then he looked at Rodimus. "Rodimus, you shouldn't have taken a team without at least notifying me. Engaging Osean soldiers and attacking an aircraft carrier could have consequences for the entire team."
"I know, and I'm prepared to accept any punishment, Optimus. I just couldn't let those people get wiped out without at least trying to help them." Rodimus sighed. "But, uh…about those consequences…"
"There are few, if any, complaints from the Osean government and military, thankfully. They're more concerned about the political mess caused by Maylander's unauthorized attack on Atlantis." Optimus said. "I don't think I need to tell you that the Admiral is in deep trouble."
"What's the word on that?" Tomahawk asked.
"Agent Barnett told me that the Atlantians have taken Maylander and his crew prisoner. The president is meeting with Queen Tyr to negotiate the transfer into Osean custody, where they'll be tried for war crimes. There's a good chance Maylander will face a court martial and serious jail time." Optimus explained. "On top of that, there were numerous documents and images released to the media. Information stolen from the Skywatch base by the Mini-Cons."
"I take it it wasn't good." Rodimus guessed.
"Yes, apparently Maylander and a couple of military officials were involved with Skywatch in the capture and experimentation of merfolk, all under the president's nose." Prowl said. "Flagg's furious and the merfolk are out for blood. No doubt the government's going to come down harder on Skywatch this time."
"Chaos all around." Tomahawk sighed. "Let me guess, the Cons?"
"All signs point to it. They did a good job causing an even bigger rift between humans and merfolk, and they had plenty of material to make it last too." Optimus crossed his arms. "We've stopped the massacre of an entire race, but the damages will last for some time. All we can do is wait and see what happens now."
XXXXXX
"Dreadwing! Welcome home, great warrior!" Megatron greeted his Seeker commander like a returning war hero as he walked into the bridge of the Nemesis. "I see the raid was successful."
"That it was, Lord Megatron. And here is the prize of our gamble." Dreadwing held out the emerald sword to Megatron. "The Sword of Storms."
"I take it the sword lives up to its name?" Megatron asked.
"You have no idea." Starscream muttered.
Megatron hesitantly reached out to touch the sword, but jerked his hand back when his fingers were met with a painful shock from the hilt. "It seems the sword has chosen you, Dreadwing. It is yours, a reward for defeating Prime so spectacularly."
"I am honored, sir. Thank you." Dreadwing said.
Though he didn't show it, Dreadwing was elated. For now he had the perfect weapon to strike down Optimus Prime and avenge his brother's spirit. The Sword of Storms has tasted Autobot blood, and it was hungry for more!
That's it for this little two-parter of Devastation. I'm on fire today. Just got done with chapter 31 of this story, and boy what a chapter that was, and I'm halfway done typing down the first chapter of Mosiac. I had fun writing this chapter, and the next one is going to be just as good. Be sure to check out my Transformers Titan website on Wordpress, and check out my original fantasy series, Fantasia: Red Dawn, on Fictionpress under the name Saya3x3. Thanks for reading and please leave a review.