Gunfire and explosions filled the skies around the mighty Cybertronian vessel. Vehicons flew in the air, many of them felled by the Axalon's turrets. However, Autobots were also wounded in the battle, several having been hit by flying pieces of the ship as the enemy fired their rockets and guns. Non-combatants were helping their wounded Autobot comrades to the nearest medical center. Hoist had taken command over the medics and was busily running about to help the injured. Engineers were also at work, repairing any damage that had been inflicted on the Axalon from the assault. Leading them were the Omnicons and Wheeljack. In the control room, Roller was seated at the captain's chair. He was giving out orders left and right as Autobots were running about.
On the left side of the ship, several Helicopter Vehicons had transformed and landed on a damaged launched pad, a large hole in the hangar's door. They immediately took out their pulse machine guns and opened fire. Several Autobots were hit while the others took cover. Among them were Camshaft, Rollbar and Dune Runner. The one-optic Autobot ducked as several plasma bullets soared over his head, before revealing a rocket launcher in his left aim, Camshaft fired three javelin-shaped rockets at the closes Vehicons. The projectiles impaled the drones in the chest, neck or face, before detonating, destroying them and any Vehicons near them. While he was doing this, a drone had managed to sneak up on Camshaft and fired his pulse machine gun right at the Autobot's back. The projectiles stung at first, bu the one-optic mech's Allspark enhanced adaptive armor managed to overcome the damage by hardening Camshaft's back armor. Once that was done, Camshaft spun around, brought out his right forearm-mounted photon rifle and fired, destroying the Vehicon's face.
"This is Camshaft on level 8 at hangar 12. Boarders have been repelled and emergency doors have sealed the breach." Camshaft reported.
:Understood! Leave a team there to guard it in case the Cons try to breach it. I want the rest to head towards the upper levels. They're getting hit hard up there: Roller responded. :You'll have to cut through the ship near the dark matter drive to reach there quickly:
"Got it!" Camshaft said before ordering the wounded to be taken to the infirmary.
Rollbar was helping move some of the wounded when the ship suddenly shook again. "Slag, those Cons are really hitting the ship hard." The bulky mech commented.
"Its going to get harder the more they get desperate." Arcee added. He was looking at some of the drone parts for anything useful. "The number of the drones they're losing is going fast. It's only a matter of time until they pull off something crazy."
"Hey!" Camshaft yelled. "Less talking more moving! We got wounded here and no telling when those drones are going to come back."
Meanwhile, outside the Axalon, Dreadwing landed on a nearby chunk of Cybertron. There he observed the battle from a safe distance. The Vehicons were zooming around the large vessel with explosions appearing in the sky as weapons fired their ammo. There were a few skirmishes on the Axalon itself but none of the drones were able to push deeper in. Dreadwing had to hand it to whoever was commanding the Autobots; they knew aerial warfare well. At this rate the Vehicons would be wiped out before they could even do serious damage. It was time to call in some reinforcements.
"Dreadwing to Longshot. We require assistance against the Axalon. Their defenses are a lot stronger than we had anticipated." Said Dreadwing.
:Copy that. We just finished resupplying ourselves with the Energon Quintessa harvested from Earth. Longshot is moving out and preparing for interception: Switchblade replied.
Dreadwing ended the communication before looking back towards Axalon. The battle was still pretty much even as neither side being able to push the other. It was only a few minutes later when he heard the sound of an engine dying. Dreadwing was confused at first until his optic widened when suddenly the Axalon began to tip a little to the side. Had something happen? Were the Vehicons able to do enough damage to make the large vessel lose its balance? The Decepticon flyer decided to transform and get a closer look, while at the same time ordering the drones to press their attack.
Back in the command room, Autobots were scurrying about. The sudden shift had caused some of them to slide into the wall, the consoles or into each other. A few were able to latch onto anything they could grab to remain place. Roller held to the sides of the command chair, spluttering Cybertronian swears as he tried to make sense of the current situation. "What the slag just happened?" The captain exclaimed as the Axalon regained balance.
Having held onto his console, Wheeljack was able to see the problem. "Power generators that siphon from the Dark Matter drive have been damaged. We've lost 30% power that holds the ship in the air." The scientist reported.
"Can we fix it?" Roller asked. He didn't even flinch when an explosion hit the window's shield.
"Not from here" Wheeljack Replied. "Someone will have to go to the generators and fix them manually."
Roller got on the coms. "To all Autobots. Damage to Dark Matter drives as destabilized the ship. We need any available engineers to get to the power generator and initiate repairs!"
:This is Wheeljack! I'm with Trench and we're near where the damage is. We're already on our way there!: The inventor said back.
:Omnicons here! We'll be following you from behind and be with you shortly: Strongarm's voice added.
(Power Generator)
Wheeljack and Trench were unsure of what to expect when they arrived at the generator. The sight of the controls partially melted took the inventor by surprised. Sparks and smoke were coming out of the console and the generators themselves were in similar shape. Much of the room was also in bad shape, with debris covering the floor and even the walls.
"What the slag happened here?" Trench muttered as Wheeljack ran over to the console.
The inventor scanned the controls before letting out an angry groan. "Whatever happened, the console is completely fried. I'll have to repair it before restarting the generators." Wheeljack declared as he pulled out his multi-action wrench. He then tore out metal plating, exposing the numerous wires and gears underneath the console. The inventor had just gotten his digits around the wires when the sound of a weapon being fired caught his audio receptors. If it wasn't for Trench pulling him out of the way, then it would be Wheeljack, not the console, that would be hit by a blast of cosmic rust.
The two Autobots followed the bolt's trajectory. Limping from the shadows of the power generator was Oil Slick. The Cybertronian chemical expert had multiple scratches on his armor. His left leg was badly damaged, and sparks could be seen flying out of it. In Oil Slick's right hand was his cosmic rust rifle.
"You!" Wheeljack exclaimed, recognizing Oil Slick. "How are you still alive? The automatic security turrets should've cut you down?"
Oil Slick snarled, not bothering to answer. He had been lucky during that moment when the ship's turrets turned on him and the Decepticons. While Smolder had been cut to pieces, Oil Slick somehow was knocked down into a nearby chute. He had been sent to the Axalon's waste disposal chamber, the impact sending Oil Slick into stasis lock. It was hours later when the Cybertronian came too did he realized the Autobots had taken over the ship. Oil Slick was quick to check his options: it would be impossible to escape the vessel with the Autobots running about. He would be shot down in seconds. And even if he did somehow escape, Oil Slick would have nowhere to go, as Megatron would most likely rip him apart for failing to capture the Axalon and getting some of his troops slaughtered. Thus, Oil Slick's only chance of survival was to damage the large Cybertronian ship so the Decepticons could capture it, and hopefully avoid Megatron's wrath. Hence why he damaged some of the ship's power generators.
"You don't need to know anything. Just die." Oil Slick said as he raised his weapon. He was about to fire when Trench charged at him. The Autobot grabbed Oil Slick's right arm and raised it upwards, causing the Con to fire his weapon at the ceiling. Trench then grabbed the Decepticon's waist with his other arm, pushing Oil Slick.
Not taking his optic off his opponent, Trench shouted at Wheeljack, "Wheeljack! Hurry and fix the power generator! I'll hold this slagger for as long as I can!"
"Let me go you piece of scrap!" Oil Slick demanded as he struggled against Trench. He was firing his weapon wildly. Fortunately for the Autobots, Trench managed to knock the rifle out of the Decepticon's hand.
Wheeljack, meanwhile, got to work on repairing the generator. The inventor wasn't foolish enough to believe that the young Autobot would be able to hold the veteran Decepticon back for long. Thus, Wheeljack had to focus on fixing the generator before he could help Trench. Though he wasn't an actual combatant, the inventor had enough experience that he and Trench should be able to take down Oil Slick.
Unfortunately, Oil Slick was not going to wait. Freeing his left hand, he activated his mounted claws and stabbed Trench in the waist. The tubes attached to them sent cosmic rust into the Autobot's body, rusting the inner circuits and parts. Trench screamed in pain as he collapsed onto the floor before the Decepticon.
Wheeljack gasped when he heard Trench's cries. Oil Slick turned his attention towards the inventor but was stopped when Trench grabbed his right leg. Ignoring his pain receptors, Trench tightened his grip and caused Oil Slick to lose his balance and fall to the floor. With a growl, the Con started to kick Trench to get the young Autobot to release him. Despite the repeated kicks to the face, Trench refused to let go. He was determined to give Wheeljack time to fix the generator.
Oil Slick continued kick Trench in the face, having even damaged one of the Autobot's optics. He would've continued when he suddenly heard a thrumming sound. Looking up, Oil Slick saw that the power generator was back up. The Decepticon had little time to react when Wheeljack struck him in the head with his wrench. The impact caused sparks to fly from the blow as Wheeljack prepared to land another hit. However, Trench's grip had weakened, allowing Oil Slick to free his leg and dodge the inventor's next attack.
Quickly getting up, Oil Slick grabbed Wheeljack by the neck and slammed him against the wall, causing the inventor to drop his wrench. "You think you accomplished anything?" Oil Slick snarled as he tightened his grip on Wheeljack, denting the metal. "It will only take a minute for me to kill you and sabotage the power generator again. All you did was delay the inevitable."
"Actually, he bought us time to get here!" A new voice shouted.
Surprised, Oil Slick turned his head towards the entrance. Standing there were Strongarm, Skyblast and Signal Flare. They all had plasma cannons out and aimed at the Decepticon. Said mech didn't even have a chance to react when the Omnicons fired on him. The first shots caused Oil Slick to lose his grip on Wheeljack, making the inventor hit the floor. Oil Slick tried to defend himself but realized that he was going to be killed so fled out the back door. Skyblast and Strongarm were still firing at him while Signal Flare checked up on Wheeljack.
"Wheeljack, are you okay?" The Omnicon asked the inventor.
Rubbing his neck, Wheeljack nodded. "I'm fine, Signal Flare. But we need to get Trench to the infirmary, fast." He responded. The two mechs ran over to help the young Autobot who was in stasis lock. Meanwhile, Strongarm was doing a check on the generator while Skyblast was contacting Roller about Oil Slick's presence.
Said Decepticon had managed to escape the Omnicons, though he had lost his right arm and rifle in the confusion. With his presence now known across the ship, Oil Slick's plan was scrapped. His only chance to escape was to reach the dropship at the bottom hangar. It had enough power for him to escape off world. Oil Slick just turned around another corner that would lead to the elevator, when he found himself staring at Landmine. The Allspark mutant had been guarding Simmons, Leo and Dutch as the Autobots battled the Decepticons. Leo let out a scream at the sight of Oil Slick, and Simmons nearly fell over in surprise.
Landmine was the one who acted first. Getting in front of his charges, he revealed his Neutron Assault Rifle from subspace. With no means to defend himself, Oil Slick could do nothing but curse. "Slag" Were his last words as the Autobot gunned him down.
(The Iron Will)
Ultra Magnus's vessel flew through air, skillfully dodging the large chunks of Cybertron. Inside the ship were the Dinobots were checking their weapons for action. Cosmos and Gears were at the pilot seats, steering the ship while Windcharger was checking the rotating turret.
"It doesn't look like we're being tailed anymore." Windcharger said as he checked for enemy fighters.
"Good, because we're approaching our target." Gears said for everyone to hear.
True enough, the vessel of the Star Seekers, the Longshot, could be seen from the front window of the Iron Will. The Cybertornian starship moved through the large chunks of Cybertron slowly. Any debris that got close to the Longshot was knocked aside by an energy shield surrounding it.
"About time. My blades have been getting itchy." Slash said as he readied his dual scythes.
Sludge snorted. "Not if I get to the action first." The larger Dinobot boasted as he hefted a spiked lance.
Before the other Dinobots could put in their own words, Gears spoke up. "No one is getting any action until we take down that shield. The slaggers managed to get a generator powerful enough to cover the whole ship." He said.
"Fortunately, we prepared for this." Cosmos noted as he went to the back of the ship and grabbed an object. In his hand was a cylinder silver shaped device that had several blinking lights on it. "Something that's the size of our ship won't be able to slip through the shields. But, an EMP bomb of this size will certainly get through with zero detection."
"So, we just get close enough and throw it through the shield?" Grimlock asked.
"No. Though the EMP doesn't have enough power to deactivate their whole ship, our vessel will completely shutdown if we're too close." Gears said. "Unfortunately, the launchers won't make the distance either, so once we fire the bomb, Windcharger will magnetically moved it closer until it bypasses their shields. Then I'll remotely set it off."
"We'll soon be in their scanner's range." Windcharger announced as he climbed down the turret's ladder.
"Understood. Cosmos load the bomb while I activate jammers. Windcharger, get up top and get ready to show us your magic. And Dinobots, just sit back and watch us work." Ordered Gears.
Cosmos walked towards the nearest rocket pod and loaded the bomb. "Okay, we're all set here."
Windcharger had climbed out of the ship, feeling the wind hitting him as he gripped onto the roof. He adjusted his optic as he focused on the Longshot. "All ready up here."
Cosmos gave a nod to Gears. Said mech nodded back before activating the launcher. "Firing EMP bomb…now!" And pressed the trigger.
The rocket tube hummed as the bomb was shot out, making a direct path towards the Star Seekers' ship. Windcharger locked onto it and immediately activated his electromagnet and latched onto the bomb just as it was losing its momentum. The Iron Will began to move forward at a slow pace, making sure not to be sighted as well as remaining just a few inches from the bomb's blast range. Windcharger paid no heed to the ship's movements, or the large debris around him. The mech was solely focused on his tasks and ensuring that his grip on the bomb did not weaken. The bomb was slowly reaching the force field of the ship.
:Windcharger, how much longer? If we go any further, we'll either be caught in the blast or they'll detect us: Gears said over the transmitter.
"Just a few more meters…" Replied the mech. Windcharger could feel his power supply beginning to overload. If he didn't get the bomb through soon then he would lose his hold.
Fortunately, it seemed as if Primus was on his side. Just seconds away from losing control, the bomb made it fully through the shield. Windcharger collapsed on the Iron Will's hull at the same time Gear's triggered the bomb. From their position aboard the ship, the Autobots watched as the EMP went off. The shield soon disappeared as signs of power outages throughout the Longshot could be seen.
"Okay, shield is down. Cosmos, go and get Windcharger inside! I'm flying in fast!" Gears declared as he pressed the accelerator.
The round green mech scrambled up the ladder and helped bring in an exhausted Windcharger, who was close to slipping into recharge. The Iron Will's thrusters flared up at the same time, the ship blasting forward as it hovered above the much larger vessel. A few seconds later the shield came back up and the Longshot was moving again.
"Alright! We made it inside and they haven't picked up our signal yet." Gears announced. He scanned the top of the pirates' ship, locating a hatch big enough for the Dinobots. "Alright you guys. Hope you're ready for some action."
"We live for action!" Grimlock declared as he slammed his fist into his palm. "Let's rock!"
(Longshot, Command Bridge)
"I need a status report!" Switchblade ordered.
The Star Seekers had begun moving when Dreadwing called for assistance with the Axalon. The pirates were planning on bombarding the Knight ship for a little bit to weaken the vessel. Then Switchblade would send boarding parties and take over the Axalon. It was a simple plan and would be easy to complete. The Autobots were already taking a beating from the Vehicons. Another battlecruiser like the Longshot, would overwhelm them.
Then just a few minutes, the entire ship staggered, and the shield was momentarily down. Several systems had also gone down and for a moment it seemed like the Longshot would fall from the sky. Fortunately, power came back online, and the warship remained stable.
"All systems appear normal now, sir! We're still working on getting the shields back to full operation. No idea yet as to what cause the power outage!" Astraea reported.
"Well get to it! We need to be fully operational before we engage the Axalon." Switchblade ordered before the ship suddenly shook. "Now what?!"
A yellow and teal Cybertornian, Meltdown, checked the scanners. "Sir! The outer hull of the ship has been breached! We've lost contact with that sector! Intruders have breached the Longshot!" Meltdown said.
Switchblade slammed a fist against the command chair. "I want response teams there now! Find out the disturbance and neutralize it!" He commanded.
A few minutes later, a team of Cybertornians were standing in front of a large door. On the other side was the room that had gone dark. Among the response team were a blue and orange femme, Catapult, along with Showdown, Shellshock and a smaller white mech with red and blue stripes named Swagger. Catapult had her shotgun out and gave a signal to the others to stand back while she opened the door.
However, before she could do so, a loud bang echoed, and the door shuttered. That caused the Star Seekers to back up and weapons raised. Several more bangs impacted the door and it was then that Catapult realized that their current forces were no match for whatever was repeatedly hitting the door. "Everyone! Fall back and regroup-"
Whatever she was going to say was cut off when the door was finally knocked down. The Star Seeker had no time to react when the massive metal fell on top of her crushing Catapult beneath it. As for the others, they had no time to gawk as the Dinobots, now in their Dinosaur modes, stormed through the room, roaring loudly.
Slug took a moment to look at Catapult's body, the upper part sticking out. "Excuse me" He said mockingly.
Showdown and Shellshock immediately took out their miniguns and opened fire on the Dinobots, the rest of the pirates joining them. Swagger had drawn a katana and tried to attack the Autobots from the side. He was aiming for Grimlock when Slash pounced on him. The pirate didn't stand a chance as the Velociraptor ripped him to shreds. The two larger Star Seekers were impaled by Slug's horns, their bodies tossed aside without a care. The remaining pirates tried to flee but were completely slaughtered before they had a chance to flee. The Dinobots transformed into their robot modes. They brought their weapons out and made their way to the next room.
As Grimlock tore down the door, they were greeted by more pirates. At the front were Front-Line and Firebreaker. This time, the Star Seekers were ready for them. But that did nothing to deter the Knights. "Dinobots! Slaughter them all!" Grimlock roared as he raised his mace.
Back in the command wing, Switchblade could still feel the shaking and the sounds of explosion. "What the slag is going on?!" He roared.
"We've lost contact with several squads! Our forces are being mowed down one by one! We were able to confirm that the intruders are the Vanguard Knights!" Anomaly said from the commander's side.
Switchblade's optics widened. "The ones that Lockdown had captured? Damn that mercenary to the pit!" He swore as he slammed his fists against the console. "Can we get a visual?"
A few seconds later, several holo-screens came up. Some showed the destroyed frames of Star Seekers. While others showed the Dinobots carving a path through the Star Seekers' forces. A few of the Cybertronian pirates were able to put a better fight than their comrades but were soon cut down as well. Sludge had impaled both Mismatch and Diabla with his lances while crushing Outsider beneath his feet. Slug had smashed aside Swagger before slicing Duststorm midsection, and then turning his attention towards Derail. Sparkscape was using his flamethrower, trying to fend off Scorn, only to get swatted by the Dinobot's whip before the large mech moved his attention towards Rampart and Hotwire. Pandemic was trying to crawl away from Snarl who was battling Ripraw, Triage and Overclock. Slash had cut down Conduit and Macro before engaging Drive-By.
Switchblade blinked his optics. There were two Dinobots missing. The flyer and their leader. "Where's Grimlock and Swoop? Did we lose track of them?" He asked.
His answer came when the door was slammed open. The hinges flew off, one impaling a pirate. Flying through next were Doubletake and Monsoon. Following them were Grimlock and Swoop. Meltdown tried to raise his plasma cannon but was quickly shot by Swoop. The Dinobot's metallic arrow impaled the yellow mech right through the head.
"To the Pit with you!" Switchblade roared. He pulled out a battle hammer and lunged at Grimlock. Anomaly joined him, firing at the Dinobot leader with his positron shotgun. Grimlock shrugged off the shots, focusing on Switchblade. Swinging his mace against the Star Seeker captain's hammer. Meanwhile, Doubletake and Monsoon managed to recover and got back up to engage Swoop. Astraea was busy trying to keep the warship in the air, even as sparks and smoke appeared everywhere.
Switchblade tried to land a powerful blow to Grimlock, but the knight's armor was just to strong. And despite his size the Dinobot was quite agile. It was making things extremely hard for Switchblade to fight properly. Swoop had already dealt with Monsoon and was now locking his blades with Doubletake's saws. From the back, the other Dinobots were finishing up with their own fights too. The former Decepticon wondered if he should just try and flee now.
His musings were broken when Grimlock smacked Switchblade's hammer out of his hands. The Star Seeker tried to pull out his laser pistols but the Dinobot smacked him into the wall, burying Switchblade under rubble. The Dinobot leader swung his flail out and brought it down on top of Astraea, smashing her on top of the consoles. Grimlock followed it up by swing his flail into Anomaly. The blow shattered the former Autobot's legs and had him hit the floor hard.
Swoop had also dealt with Doubletake, impaling him with his sword through the waist and chest. As he kicked the Star Seeker's body to the side, he and the other Dinobots nearly lost their balance when the ship began to dive. The Dinobot flyer looked at the consoles and saw that they were completely destroyed.
:Grimlock! You and your team need to get out of there now! I'm seeing red all across the board! That ship might explode before it crashes!: Gears shouted through the transmitter.
Growling, Grimlock looked at his team. "You heard him move-Agh!" Grimlock ordered before letting out a yelp.
The ship tilting had caused Grimlock to lose his footing. Thus, he slid towards the window with no time to grab onto anything. Grimlock crashed through the window and was now falling through the sky. He could feel the wind hitting his back as he fell. There wasn't even a small amount of floating debris for Grimlock to grab. Fortunately, Swoop had dived after him, transforming and grabbed his leader by his shoulders.
"Scrap, Grimlock! You're heavy!" Swoop commented as he managed to adjust his wings.
"Shut it!" Grimlock snapped. He wobbled as Swoop lost balance. "The slag, Swoop!"
"The wind up here is to strong! I can barely keep myself steady!" Swoop yelled.
Grimlock growled and adjusted his optics. Not far away, he could see the Autobots and humans fighting at the entrance of the ignition chamber. The sound of explosions and gunfire could be faintly heard. "Get as close as you can towards the others. I'm not sitting out of this fight yet!"