Chapter 04
Swarm stood in its hexad form, and for all appearances seemed undamaged. Megatron slowly circled them while Scrapper performed an examination. He was clearly disappointed. In fact, he was enraged. If anyone else were at the focus of that rage they would be cowering, but if this bothered Swarm he showed no sign. "You fool! To think I was actually impressed with your abilities. If you can be beaten when only one of your collective carcasses are damaged . . ." He was so disgusted with his new soldier that he could hardly find a voice for it.
Starscream walked around to the rear of Swarm. The six robots didn't even acknowledge his presence. "I think they're worthless! If that was all it took to defeat them-I can take one of them out right now."
Without warning Starscream fired a missile, pointblank, into the back of the nearest unit of Swarm. The robot flew across the room, hit the floor and slid to a halt, its back still smoldering. If the other five were effected it was not apparent as they launched themselves onto Starscream and began to batter him to the floor.
"Enough!" Megatron shouted. "End this childishness immediately!" Swarm instantly was composed and standing rigidly at attention, and in perfect formation. Starscream wearily got to his feet, holding his head. He almost fell over twice before he finally steadied himself enough. "You are fortunate I never revoked the order not to use lethal force on Decepticons, Starscream," Megatron said with a smile.
The sixth unit of Swarm picked itself up off of the floor a moment later and joined the other five parts of its being. Megatron was amazed as he watched this. There was no sign of where Starscream's missile had detonated. He was whole once again. "What is this? How is it you all did not fall under that attack as you did while fighting the Autobots? Explain!"
For the first time since he had arrived, Swarm spoke. His voice was a strange overlapping of many voices combined. It was a layered speech, almost as though all of the voices that comprised it were not timed the same. The result was a bizarre, flat echoing effect. "I learn, Lord Megatron. I have the ability to adapt to any attack, given enough time. However, I have not had much experience in battle. When the Autobot crushed my legs I did not know not that the pain information should not have been transmitted the other units, as is the case with all other data. The result was pain for us all, not merely the one unit." Megatron stood fascinated by what he was hearing. Although, he had to admit it was odd hearing Swarm refer to himself as "I" when describing other units of his being that would, under normal circumstances, be considered "we." Swarm continued his explanation, having been given no orders to stop. "This error will not occur again. In response to why I did not succumb to Starscream's attack has a similar answer. I have learned not to transmit pain data to the other units. Therefore, my other components were free to quell the threat. As you can see, the damage dealt in Starscream's attack has been healed and will not be able to damage me again."
Intrigued, Megatron stepped over to Starscream who, a bit wary of the approach, cringed slightly. "You mean to tell me that if he were to use the same attack against you it would not cause any harm?"
"That is correct," Swarm responded.
"Starscream," Megatron ordered. "Fire a missile at Swarm."
Starscream slowly brought up his arm, worried of a repeated beating, and fired as commanded by Megatron. Swarm made no attempt to dodge the assault and took the impact full in the chest of one of the six units. In a few moments the smoke and flames of the detonation cleared. Starscream gasped audibly at what he saw. Megatron, too, was impressed. Other than some scorch marks there was very little damage, and even that was disappearing before their eyes as the nanotechnology "healed" itself.
"Excellent." Megatron looked at Starscream who was still gaping. "Good work, Starscream," he said in a mocking voice. "For once you have provided us with some useful information." Megatron promptly kicked the air commander's leg from underneath him and, in his weakened state he fell onto his back. A roar of laughter erupted from the other Decepticons at this. Megatron allowed the brief moment of levity before calling an end to it.
Finally, Megatron was confident that he now had a weapon with which he could destroy Optimus Prime. There were no more mistakes that could be made, Swarm was truly the ultimate weapon. He began to laugh maniacally at this revelation and suddenly turned sinister. "We finish the Autobots at first light!"
* * *
The Autobot space cruiser finished fueling just after one o'clock in the morning local Earth time, just as the final supplies were being loaded aboard. Jazz, Ironhide, and Blaster supervised the operations while Optimus Prime briefed the small group he was bringing with him to Cybertron. He had decided that a small group was best so that they were able to move around quickly and with the least possibility of detection. The group consisted of Perceptor, Cliffjumper, Hound, Skyfire, Mirage, Prowl, Trailbreaker, and Warpath. They listened carefully as Prime explained the seriousness and importance of the mission, as well as the extreme danger involved. "I will understand if any of you does not want to go, this may be a journey none of us returns from. But, for the sake of the Earth and Cybertron we have to try."
"Bam! There's no way I'm gonna miss this one, Prime," Warpath said balling his fists and punching the air. A bit too enthusiastic for this solemn moment, Prime thought, but that had always been Warpath's way. The commander looked at the others in the group but none of them made any indication that they wanted to back out, although Perceptor did look a bit nervous.
"Alright, then. Everyone aboard the shuttle." The small group boarded the spacecraft, grabbing some supplies as they went. Once they were all on board Prime called to Jazz, Ironhide, and Blaster.
The three approached their leader. Blaster arrived first. "What is it, Prime?"
"Yeah! Do you need me to go with you and bust some Deceptichumps?" Ironhide asked hopefully, shaking a fist in front of his face. Ironhide had been disappointed to find out that he had not been chosen to be part of the group and had been making any excuse he could to try to be on the team. In truth Prime wanted Ironhide to go along, he was a good warrior and always came through in a pinch. However, he had opted to leave him behind to command things on Earth-along with Jazz. He had other plans for Ironhide to take care of. Plans that were as equally important as his own mission on Cybertron.
"No, Ironhide. I have another mission for you and Jazz." He did not like to have to give this order, but there was no other way. "I need you to destroy the power plant."
The three of them looked astounded. Ironhide began to protest. "But Prime..."
"Don't argue. This isn't something I ask you to do lightly. I wish there was another way, but we cannot risk letting the Decepticons get their hands on that power. And with this new weapon at their disposal they are more than capable." The others looked downcast but it was clear they understood the grave situation. "Once the power plant is demolished I want you to retreat. Download Teletraan One's files and hide until we return. Hopefully, we will have a means to stop Megatron."
"What if there isn't a way, Optimus?" Blaster looked his leader in the optics, worry on his features.
"There has to be a way. Good luck." Optimus Prime boarded the shuttle and sealed the door behind him. He looked around the tiny cargo hold and surveyed their reserve. He noted grimly that this was probably the last energy that the Autobots would see for a long time coming. He proceeded to the cockpit of the ship where Cliffjumper and Hound were performing pre- launch configurations. "Are we ready, Cliffjumper?" Optimus asked.
"Yeah, Prime. Ready when you are." The small, red Autobot made final preparations on his control panel in front of him.
"Then let's go," and get this over with, he added silently.
Hound pressed several buttons and pushed a lever forward with a green enameled hand. As he did this the whine of the engines got louder. Cliffjumper executed a similar series of commands and the ship lurched forward. Slowly the rocky sides of the hangar that the Autobots had carved out of the face of the volcano seemed to move back as they began their exit. Prime stood between the two pilot chairs braced against them with one hand on each, watching through the windscreen. They approached the edge of the platform where a sheer drop off of a few thousand feet waited, but at the last moment Cliffjumper and Hound pushed their respective control levers all the way forward, and with a sudden burst of incredible speed and a roar of the engines the spacecraft blasted out of the mountainside and into the sky. The inertia of the launch nearly knocked Prime backwards, but he was able to steady himself again once he grew accustomed to the speed. In a matter of minutes they were clear of the Earth's upper atmosphere and hurtling toward their bridge-point.
Hound keyed in some commands on the console in front of him. "Heading is on course for the bridge jump, Prime."
The Autobots had convinced the humans-with major difficulty-to allow them to put a space bridge jumper in geosynchronous orbit between the Earth and its moon. It was a small satellite-like device-large by Earth standards of such things-and allowed the Autobots ship to open a space bridge to Cybertron large enough to send a ship through. This cut the time to get back to their homeworld immeasurably.
"Prime, this may not be the best time to bring this up, but when we get to Cybertron where are we going to land? The place is crawling from surface to orbit with Decepticons," Cliffjumper said.
This, too, was something that he had given thought to, but there weren't many options. "We know that the Autobot resistance is on one of the moons. We'll have to try to land there. If we come in slowly and stay behind the moon the Decepticons should not be able to detect us."
Cliffjumper was not convinced. "But which moon, Prime?"
"I understand, Cliffjumper, but communication with Cybertron has been sparse with the Decepticons in control. We're lucky to simply know that the rebellion is based off of a moon base. When we arrive we'll have to pick the closest moon and hope for the best. If we choose incorrectly, we'll devise another plan." Grudgingly, Cliffjumper offered no further argument and busied himself with the controls. Optimus didn't like not having sufficient contingency plans, but the situation did not give him a great deal with which to work.
Hound began a routine on a side console. "Bridge jump in ten seconds." He turned a dial on the panel and a purple gridwork appeared, overlaid on the windscreen-they were entering the jump. It seemed that their speed increased as they were pulled through. The grid collapsed on them, folding space and time, pulling them through the fabric of reality. It was disorienting but the feeling only lasted a few short moments. The projected grid vanished with a final twist and then they were clear of the space bridge exit point with Cybertron looming before them.
Optimus Prime looked upon his homeworld and emotion at its beauty threatened to overwhelm him. The silver-gray imperfect sphere beckoned him. The bright light that emanated from within was visible through the cavernous holes in the planet's metallic surface. Unlike the Earth, Cybertron had no sun; it was always enveloped in perfect night. A large amount of light came from the structures on the surface-a surface that was almost completely built over-making it seem a splendid jewel drifting through the galaxy. Through the splendor of the moment reality reared is horrible head. He was forced to remember that the Decepticons ruled the planet now and he was here to insure their rule was as short lived as possible. He watched Hound and Cliffjumper and saw similar looks of longing on their faces. He did not want to ruin the moment for them, but they were now in enemy territory and they needed to be cautious. "Hound, plot a course for the nearest moon."
Hound started at the mention of his name, but carried out the order without a so much as a pause. "Give me a heading, Cliffjumper," he said. He keyed in the course and the ship turned to the left, pulling Cybertron from their view and replacing it with one of the moons. It was not too far off, and if they acted quickly they might make it without detection. Unfortunately, it was at that moment their ship was hailed.
Static crackled over the communications system. "Unidentified craft. What is your clearance code?"
"Decepticon orbital patrol," Hound said irritably. "Damn, Shockwave sure is efficient."
"How many are there?" Prime inquired.
Hound's fingers danced over the controls for a few more microns. "It looks like three."
"What now?" Cliffjumper asked. "There is no way we're going to convince those Decepticons that we're on their side."
"Don't say anything," Optimus warned. "Try to outrun them, Hound." He left the bridge area and moved toward the main area of the ship. It was far to early in their mission for things to be going badly. Prowl, Mirage, and Skyfire met him on his way to the cargo area.
Prowl approached first. "What's going on?"
"We are about to be attacked," Prime said solemnly. The three of them looked dismayed. "I want you and Mirage to get to the battle stations."
"There are only two cannons. That's not going to be enough," Prowl voiced excitedly.
Skyfire came forward. "Optimus, let me go outside and try to hold them off." When Prime began to reject the idea he quickly said, "I'm the only one capable of fighting outside of this ship right now, and it may give us the chance we need to get away. This is mission is way too important to worry about one soldier."
Prime would have much preferred it if no one left the confines of the ship, but Skyfire had a point. This it was too important. If the Decepticons won here they won on Earth as well. Then the Matrix only knew where they would go from there. Reluctantly he nodded to Skyfire, allowing him to go. Everything was happening so quickly, they had only been in Cybertron's orbit for minutes and already there were serious problems. This did not bode well for the rest of their mission. He forced the bleakness from his thoughts; he had to remain clear-headed, too much relied on their success.
From the bridge he heard Cliffjumper yelling. "The Decepticons are through trying to talk!" A moment later there was a loud crack and the ship shook slightly. The Decepticons were attacking. Skyfire ran to the exit hatch and keyed it open. He jumped from the spacecraft, transforming into his jet mode as he did so, and sped away around to the back of the ship. Mirage said to Prowl, "You arm the port laser, I'll take the starboard side." Prowl nodded once and they both ran off in opposite directions. Optimus returned to the bridge.
Hound was working furiously at the controls. "Power from all systems except for weapons has been routed to the engines, Prime."
"Good." He looked out the small trapezoid window to the right of Hound and evaluated the Decepticon pursuers. They were of a typical warrior design, looking like triple-finned rockets. Most of jets in Megatron's army had looked similar before the crash on Earth. It served as a reminder of how different their stay on Earth had left them, Autobots and Decepticons alike, from their homeworld brethren.
The Decepticons had caught up with the ship and were pacing them. They fired once again, in unison, and the ship shook more violently this time. From the rear right side of their shuttle a spear of orange laser light hit one of the assailants, which immediately transformed. In robot form it looked similar to Thundercracker or Starscream; their robot forms remained the same, regardless of any vehicular changes that may have occurred to their Earth-based counterparts. The Decepticon returned fire on the source of his attack sending blue-while electric blasts streaking from his arm blasters toward Mirage and his post.
Skyfire suddenly appeared from behind the shuttle and blasted the one who was attacking Mirage, sending him spiraling away from the battle zone. Skyfire then increased his speed and flew between the remaining two, drawing their fire and leading them away from the Autobot ship. Laser fire was exchanged between the Autobot and Decepticon patrol as they progress further away from the shuttle, until finally there were out of Prime's line of sight.
Optimus watched with worry as Skyfire flew into the distance taking the Decepticons with him in pursuit. "Skyfire did it!" Cliffjumper exclaimed. "He led them away from us! We're . . ." he paused awkwardly, " . . . dead."
"What is it?" Prime asked.
The tough little red Autobot pointed at a small radarscope to his right. Over a dozen blips appeared on the monitor approaching the shuttle. "Looks like they called for reinforcements."
Optimus leaned forward to Hound's console and pressed a button. "Prowl, Mirage. Get out of there. More Decepticons are on the way." He released the button and addressed Hound. "Divert all remaining power to the engines. We have a good head start on them." He indicated the radar. "We might be able to outdistance this group."
Hound complied with the request, the lights dimming as he did so. "What about Skyfire?"
Prime paused for a moment. He did not want to have to leave him behind but Skyfire knew the risk when he volunteered to divert the first attack. "We have no choice. He'll have to catch up." I hope, he added silently. With a gravitational lurch the ship sped forward.
"We're outrunning them, Prime," Cliffjumper announced as the first barrage of laser fire rained on the ship. "But we can't outrun their lasers!" A deafening explosion rocked the ship that nearly knocked Hound out of his seat and spun the ship around once. Luckily, Cliffjumper's piloting skills were well polished and he managed to right the ship and get them back on course using only the secondary thrusters.
Trailbreaker appeared in the bridge entryway pointing behind him. "The back third of the ship is gone, Optimus! Our primary engines are completely destroyed!" Smoke and dust began to drift onto the bridge, punctuating Trailbreaker's grim news.
A hint of panic rose up and threatened to break through Prime's resolve. At that moment he understood that there was nothing that they could do. They were going to lose. He looked out of the front of the ship and saw the moon looming large and silver ahead of them. They were very close to it now. If they were able to hold out for a few more moments they might be able to crash land. Another violent tremor wracked the craft and he moved out of the bridge and into the main cabin to survey the damage.
Debris was strewn about everywhere, all being pulled toward the hull breach at the back of the ship. "Trailbreaker, use your forcefield to close that hull breach for as long as you can." Without a word the tall, dark Autobot ran off to seal the rupture. Prime looked around the cabin, struggling to stay calm. "Warpath, see what you can do about some of those Decepticons that are on our tail. Get Prowl and Mirage to help you!"
Perceptor ran up to Prime from the bridge. "Hound would like to report that our guidance systems have failed and the gyroscopic stabilizers have seized. Additionally, I fear we are have been caught in the gravitational pull of the moon."
Prime burst back into the bridge. There was a large hole in on the left side of the cockpit and Cliffjumper was on the floor, unmoving. Perceptor ran to the small Autobot's side, assessing the damages. Hound was still working frantically at the controls, but it was obvious from the lack of response from any systems that it was all in vain. "Sorry, Prime. We couldn't hold it any longer." He pointed to the proximity detector that showed a frightening reality. Dozens of Decepticons were gaining on them, and without primary engines they were gaining fast.
The Decepticon assault continued to pound the ship in relentless waves, shaking the shuttle and frying controls. Suddenly, the scene of the Cybertronian moon pitched wildly in front of them as the craft tilted to the right. The motion gradually, painfully, became a spin. Numbly, Optimus Prime noticed that they were no longer being fired upon. Apparently thinking that there was no escape for them the Decepticons had broken off their attack to watch the shuttle crash on the moon. Worse, he knew that the Decepticons were right; there was no escape. Helpless, he watched horizon as the ship spiraled faster and faster, the moon rushing toward them with ever increasing speed.
* * *
Skyfire, in his robot form, punched the last of his assailants away, somehow he had managed to defeat all three. The Decepticon he was fighting, badly beaten already, sailed away from him, unable to attempt another attack. He looked into the distance and saw many more Decepticons hammering the Autobot cruiser. He started forward to help his friends but caught himself when he noticed the thick line of very hostile enemies between the shuttle and himself. Horrified, he watched as the Autobot ship began to waver on its course and then fell into a spin as it began to plunge toward the moon. The Decepticons gradually broke off their attack, saving their energy and letting gravity do their dirty work for them. They did not withdraw however, but simply stayed on course, closing the gap between them and the shuttle, knowing that the spacecraft was doomed. The shuttle continued on its downward spiral until it finally disappeared from view. After a few agonizingly long moments there was a small flash of orange-white light on the moon's surface.
Grief filled Skyfire to overflowing. He wanted desperately to go to his friends' aid, to find out if they were still alive, but he knew if he did that he would only be captured or killed himself and, as Prime has said, this mission was too important. It rested on Skyfire to see the mission through in its entirety.
Forcing himself to break out of his concerned reflection, Skyfire decided it would not be much longer before the Decepticons noticed him now that the primary threat had been eliminated. He looked behind him, in the direction that his own small battle had been taking him, and saw another of Cybertron's moons. He resolved to make his way there try to get into contact with the Autobots. It was just as probable that the Autobot resistance was on that moon as any other.
Skyfire transformed into his jet form, engaged his thrusters, and speed toward the moon as fast as he was able.
Swarm stood in its hexad form, and for all appearances seemed undamaged. Megatron slowly circled them while Scrapper performed an examination. He was clearly disappointed. In fact, he was enraged. If anyone else were at the focus of that rage they would be cowering, but if this bothered Swarm he showed no sign. "You fool! To think I was actually impressed with your abilities. If you can be beaten when only one of your collective carcasses are damaged . . ." He was so disgusted with his new soldier that he could hardly find a voice for it.
Starscream walked around to the rear of Swarm. The six robots didn't even acknowledge his presence. "I think they're worthless! If that was all it took to defeat them-I can take one of them out right now."
Without warning Starscream fired a missile, pointblank, into the back of the nearest unit of Swarm. The robot flew across the room, hit the floor and slid to a halt, its back still smoldering. If the other five were effected it was not apparent as they launched themselves onto Starscream and began to batter him to the floor.
"Enough!" Megatron shouted. "End this childishness immediately!" Swarm instantly was composed and standing rigidly at attention, and in perfect formation. Starscream wearily got to his feet, holding his head. He almost fell over twice before he finally steadied himself enough. "You are fortunate I never revoked the order not to use lethal force on Decepticons, Starscream," Megatron said with a smile.
The sixth unit of Swarm picked itself up off of the floor a moment later and joined the other five parts of its being. Megatron was amazed as he watched this. There was no sign of where Starscream's missile had detonated. He was whole once again. "What is this? How is it you all did not fall under that attack as you did while fighting the Autobots? Explain!"
For the first time since he had arrived, Swarm spoke. His voice was a strange overlapping of many voices combined. It was a layered speech, almost as though all of the voices that comprised it were not timed the same. The result was a bizarre, flat echoing effect. "I learn, Lord Megatron. I have the ability to adapt to any attack, given enough time. However, I have not had much experience in battle. When the Autobot crushed my legs I did not know not that the pain information should not have been transmitted the other units, as is the case with all other data. The result was pain for us all, not merely the one unit." Megatron stood fascinated by what he was hearing. Although, he had to admit it was odd hearing Swarm refer to himself as "I" when describing other units of his being that would, under normal circumstances, be considered "we." Swarm continued his explanation, having been given no orders to stop. "This error will not occur again. In response to why I did not succumb to Starscream's attack has a similar answer. I have learned not to transmit pain data to the other units. Therefore, my other components were free to quell the threat. As you can see, the damage dealt in Starscream's attack has been healed and will not be able to damage me again."
Intrigued, Megatron stepped over to Starscream who, a bit wary of the approach, cringed slightly. "You mean to tell me that if he were to use the same attack against you it would not cause any harm?"
"That is correct," Swarm responded.
"Starscream," Megatron ordered. "Fire a missile at Swarm."
Starscream slowly brought up his arm, worried of a repeated beating, and fired as commanded by Megatron. Swarm made no attempt to dodge the assault and took the impact full in the chest of one of the six units. In a few moments the smoke and flames of the detonation cleared. Starscream gasped audibly at what he saw. Megatron, too, was impressed. Other than some scorch marks there was very little damage, and even that was disappearing before their eyes as the nanotechnology "healed" itself.
"Excellent." Megatron looked at Starscream who was still gaping. "Good work, Starscream," he said in a mocking voice. "For once you have provided us with some useful information." Megatron promptly kicked the air commander's leg from underneath him and, in his weakened state he fell onto his back. A roar of laughter erupted from the other Decepticons at this. Megatron allowed the brief moment of levity before calling an end to it.
Finally, Megatron was confident that he now had a weapon with which he could destroy Optimus Prime. There were no more mistakes that could be made, Swarm was truly the ultimate weapon. He began to laugh maniacally at this revelation and suddenly turned sinister. "We finish the Autobots at first light!"
* * *
The Autobot space cruiser finished fueling just after one o'clock in the morning local Earth time, just as the final supplies were being loaded aboard. Jazz, Ironhide, and Blaster supervised the operations while Optimus Prime briefed the small group he was bringing with him to Cybertron. He had decided that a small group was best so that they were able to move around quickly and with the least possibility of detection. The group consisted of Perceptor, Cliffjumper, Hound, Skyfire, Mirage, Prowl, Trailbreaker, and Warpath. They listened carefully as Prime explained the seriousness and importance of the mission, as well as the extreme danger involved. "I will understand if any of you does not want to go, this may be a journey none of us returns from. But, for the sake of the Earth and Cybertron we have to try."
"Bam! There's no way I'm gonna miss this one, Prime," Warpath said balling his fists and punching the air. A bit too enthusiastic for this solemn moment, Prime thought, but that had always been Warpath's way. The commander looked at the others in the group but none of them made any indication that they wanted to back out, although Perceptor did look a bit nervous.
"Alright, then. Everyone aboard the shuttle." The small group boarded the spacecraft, grabbing some supplies as they went. Once they were all on board Prime called to Jazz, Ironhide, and Blaster.
The three approached their leader. Blaster arrived first. "What is it, Prime?"
"Yeah! Do you need me to go with you and bust some Deceptichumps?" Ironhide asked hopefully, shaking a fist in front of his face. Ironhide had been disappointed to find out that he had not been chosen to be part of the group and had been making any excuse he could to try to be on the team. In truth Prime wanted Ironhide to go along, he was a good warrior and always came through in a pinch. However, he had opted to leave him behind to command things on Earth-along with Jazz. He had other plans for Ironhide to take care of. Plans that were as equally important as his own mission on Cybertron.
"No, Ironhide. I have another mission for you and Jazz." He did not like to have to give this order, but there was no other way. "I need you to destroy the power plant."
The three of them looked astounded. Ironhide began to protest. "But Prime..."
"Don't argue. This isn't something I ask you to do lightly. I wish there was another way, but we cannot risk letting the Decepticons get their hands on that power. And with this new weapon at their disposal they are more than capable." The others looked downcast but it was clear they understood the grave situation. "Once the power plant is demolished I want you to retreat. Download Teletraan One's files and hide until we return. Hopefully, we will have a means to stop Megatron."
"What if there isn't a way, Optimus?" Blaster looked his leader in the optics, worry on his features.
"There has to be a way. Good luck." Optimus Prime boarded the shuttle and sealed the door behind him. He looked around the tiny cargo hold and surveyed their reserve. He noted grimly that this was probably the last energy that the Autobots would see for a long time coming. He proceeded to the cockpit of the ship where Cliffjumper and Hound were performing pre- launch configurations. "Are we ready, Cliffjumper?" Optimus asked.
"Yeah, Prime. Ready when you are." The small, red Autobot made final preparations on his control panel in front of him.
"Then let's go," and get this over with, he added silently.
Hound pressed several buttons and pushed a lever forward with a green enameled hand. As he did this the whine of the engines got louder. Cliffjumper executed a similar series of commands and the ship lurched forward. Slowly the rocky sides of the hangar that the Autobots had carved out of the face of the volcano seemed to move back as they began their exit. Prime stood between the two pilot chairs braced against them with one hand on each, watching through the windscreen. They approached the edge of the platform where a sheer drop off of a few thousand feet waited, but at the last moment Cliffjumper and Hound pushed their respective control levers all the way forward, and with a sudden burst of incredible speed and a roar of the engines the spacecraft blasted out of the mountainside and into the sky. The inertia of the launch nearly knocked Prime backwards, but he was able to steady himself again once he grew accustomed to the speed. In a matter of minutes they were clear of the Earth's upper atmosphere and hurtling toward their bridge-point.
Hound keyed in some commands on the console in front of him. "Heading is on course for the bridge jump, Prime."
The Autobots had convinced the humans-with major difficulty-to allow them to put a space bridge jumper in geosynchronous orbit between the Earth and its moon. It was a small satellite-like device-large by Earth standards of such things-and allowed the Autobots ship to open a space bridge to Cybertron large enough to send a ship through. This cut the time to get back to their homeworld immeasurably.
"Prime, this may not be the best time to bring this up, but when we get to Cybertron where are we going to land? The place is crawling from surface to orbit with Decepticons," Cliffjumper said.
This, too, was something that he had given thought to, but there weren't many options. "We know that the Autobot resistance is on one of the moons. We'll have to try to land there. If we come in slowly and stay behind the moon the Decepticons should not be able to detect us."
Cliffjumper was not convinced. "But which moon, Prime?"
"I understand, Cliffjumper, but communication with Cybertron has been sparse with the Decepticons in control. We're lucky to simply know that the rebellion is based off of a moon base. When we arrive we'll have to pick the closest moon and hope for the best. If we choose incorrectly, we'll devise another plan." Grudgingly, Cliffjumper offered no further argument and busied himself with the controls. Optimus didn't like not having sufficient contingency plans, but the situation did not give him a great deal with which to work.
Hound began a routine on a side console. "Bridge jump in ten seconds." He turned a dial on the panel and a purple gridwork appeared, overlaid on the windscreen-they were entering the jump. It seemed that their speed increased as they were pulled through. The grid collapsed on them, folding space and time, pulling them through the fabric of reality. It was disorienting but the feeling only lasted a few short moments. The projected grid vanished with a final twist and then they were clear of the space bridge exit point with Cybertron looming before them.
Optimus Prime looked upon his homeworld and emotion at its beauty threatened to overwhelm him. The silver-gray imperfect sphere beckoned him. The bright light that emanated from within was visible through the cavernous holes in the planet's metallic surface. Unlike the Earth, Cybertron had no sun; it was always enveloped in perfect night. A large amount of light came from the structures on the surface-a surface that was almost completely built over-making it seem a splendid jewel drifting through the galaxy. Through the splendor of the moment reality reared is horrible head. He was forced to remember that the Decepticons ruled the planet now and he was here to insure their rule was as short lived as possible. He watched Hound and Cliffjumper and saw similar looks of longing on their faces. He did not want to ruin the moment for them, but they were now in enemy territory and they needed to be cautious. "Hound, plot a course for the nearest moon."
Hound started at the mention of his name, but carried out the order without a so much as a pause. "Give me a heading, Cliffjumper," he said. He keyed in the course and the ship turned to the left, pulling Cybertron from their view and replacing it with one of the moons. It was not too far off, and if they acted quickly they might make it without detection. Unfortunately, it was at that moment their ship was hailed.
Static crackled over the communications system. "Unidentified craft. What is your clearance code?"
"Decepticon orbital patrol," Hound said irritably. "Damn, Shockwave sure is efficient."
"How many are there?" Prime inquired.
Hound's fingers danced over the controls for a few more microns. "It looks like three."
"What now?" Cliffjumper asked. "There is no way we're going to convince those Decepticons that we're on their side."
"Don't say anything," Optimus warned. "Try to outrun them, Hound." He left the bridge area and moved toward the main area of the ship. It was far to early in their mission for things to be going badly. Prowl, Mirage, and Skyfire met him on his way to the cargo area.
Prowl approached first. "What's going on?"
"We are about to be attacked," Prime said solemnly. The three of them looked dismayed. "I want you and Mirage to get to the battle stations."
"There are only two cannons. That's not going to be enough," Prowl voiced excitedly.
Skyfire came forward. "Optimus, let me go outside and try to hold them off." When Prime began to reject the idea he quickly said, "I'm the only one capable of fighting outside of this ship right now, and it may give us the chance we need to get away. This is mission is way too important to worry about one soldier."
Prime would have much preferred it if no one left the confines of the ship, but Skyfire had a point. This it was too important. If the Decepticons won here they won on Earth as well. Then the Matrix only knew where they would go from there. Reluctantly he nodded to Skyfire, allowing him to go. Everything was happening so quickly, they had only been in Cybertron's orbit for minutes and already there were serious problems. This did not bode well for the rest of their mission. He forced the bleakness from his thoughts; he had to remain clear-headed, too much relied on their success.
From the bridge he heard Cliffjumper yelling. "The Decepticons are through trying to talk!" A moment later there was a loud crack and the ship shook slightly. The Decepticons were attacking. Skyfire ran to the exit hatch and keyed it open. He jumped from the spacecraft, transforming into his jet mode as he did so, and sped away around to the back of the ship. Mirage said to Prowl, "You arm the port laser, I'll take the starboard side." Prowl nodded once and they both ran off in opposite directions. Optimus returned to the bridge.
Hound was working furiously at the controls. "Power from all systems except for weapons has been routed to the engines, Prime."
"Good." He looked out the small trapezoid window to the right of Hound and evaluated the Decepticon pursuers. They were of a typical warrior design, looking like triple-finned rockets. Most of jets in Megatron's army had looked similar before the crash on Earth. It served as a reminder of how different their stay on Earth had left them, Autobots and Decepticons alike, from their homeworld brethren.
The Decepticons had caught up with the ship and were pacing them. They fired once again, in unison, and the ship shook more violently this time. From the rear right side of their shuttle a spear of orange laser light hit one of the assailants, which immediately transformed. In robot form it looked similar to Thundercracker or Starscream; their robot forms remained the same, regardless of any vehicular changes that may have occurred to their Earth-based counterparts. The Decepticon returned fire on the source of his attack sending blue-while electric blasts streaking from his arm blasters toward Mirage and his post.
Skyfire suddenly appeared from behind the shuttle and blasted the one who was attacking Mirage, sending him spiraling away from the battle zone. Skyfire then increased his speed and flew between the remaining two, drawing their fire and leading them away from the Autobot ship. Laser fire was exchanged between the Autobot and Decepticon patrol as they progress further away from the shuttle, until finally there were out of Prime's line of sight.
Optimus watched with worry as Skyfire flew into the distance taking the Decepticons with him in pursuit. "Skyfire did it!" Cliffjumper exclaimed. "He led them away from us! We're . . ." he paused awkwardly, " . . . dead."
"What is it?" Prime asked.
The tough little red Autobot pointed at a small radarscope to his right. Over a dozen blips appeared on the monitor approaching the shuttle. "Looks like they called for reinforcements."
Optimus leaned forward to Hound's console and pressed a button. "Prowl, Mirage. Get out of there. More Decepticons are on the way." He released the button and addressed Hound. "Divert all remaining power to the engines. We have a good head start on them." He indicated the radar. "We might be able to outdistance this group."
Hound complied with the request, the lights dimming as he did so. "What about Skyfire?"
Prime paused for a moment. He did not want to have to leave him behind but Skyfire knew the risk when he volunteered to divert the first attack. "We have no choice. He'll have to catch up." I hope, he added silently. With a gravitational lurch the ship sped forward.
"We're outrunning them, Prime," Cliffjumper announced as the first barrage of laser fire rained on the ship. "But we can't outrun their lasers!" A deafening explosion rocked the ship that nearly knocked Hound out of his seat and spun the ship around once. Luckily, Cliffjumper's piloting skills were well polished and he managed to right the ship and get them back on course using only the secondary thrusters.
Trailbreaker appeared in the bridge entryway pointing behind him. "The back third of the ship is gone, Optimus! Our primary engines are completely destroyed!" Smoke and dust began to drift onto the bridge, punctuating Trailbreaker's grim news.
A hint of panic rose up and threatened to break through Prime's resolve. At that moment he understood that there was nothing that they could do. They were going to lose. He looked out of the front of the ship and saw the moon looming large and silver ahead of them. They were very close to it now. If they were able to hold out for a few more moments they might be able to crash land. Another violent tremor wracked the craft and he moved out of the bridge and into the main cabin to survey the damage.
Debris was strewn about everywhere, all being pulled toward the hull breach at the back of the ship. "Trailbreaker, use your forcefield to close that hull breach for as long as you can." Without a word the tall, dark Autobot ran off to seal the rupture. Prime looked around the cabin, struggling to stay calm. "Warpath, see what you can do about some of those Decepticons that are on our tail. Get Prowl and Mirage to help you!"
Perceptor ran up to Prime from the bridge. "Hound would like to report that our guidance systems have failed and the gyroscopic stabilizers have seized. Additionally, I fear we are have been caught in the gravitational pull of the moon."
Prime burst back into the bridge. There was a large hole in on the left side of the cockpit and Cliffjumper was on the floor, unmoving. Perceptor ran to the small Autobot's side, assessing the damages. Hound was still working frantically at the controls, but it was obvious from the lack of response from any systems that it was all in vain. "Sorry, Prime. We couldn't hold it any longer." He pointed to the proximity detector that showed a frightening reality. Dozens of Decepticons were gaining on them, and without primary engines they were gaining fast.
The Decepticon assault continued to pound the ship in relentless waves, shaking the shuttle and frying controls. Suddenly, the scene of the Cybertronian moon pitched wildly in front of them as the craft tilted to the right. The motion gradually, painfully, became a spin. Numbly, Optimus Prime noticed that they were no longer being fired upon. Apparently thinking that there was no escape for them the Decepticons had broken off their attack to watch the shuttle crash on the moon. Worse, he knew that the Decepticons were right; there was no escape. Helpless, he watched horizon as the ship spiraled faster and faster, the moon rushing toward them with ever increasing speed.
* * *
Skyfire, in his robot form, punched the last of his assailants away, somehow he had managed to defeat all three. The Decepticon he was fighting, badly beaten already, sailed away from him, unable to attempt another attack. He looked into the distance and saw many more Decepticons hammering the Autobot cruiser. He started forward to help his friends but caught himself when he noticed the thick line of very hostile enemies between the shuttle and himself. Horrified, he watched as the Autobot ship began to waver on its course and then fell into a spin as it began to plunge toward the moon. The Decepticons gradually broke off their attack, saving their energy and letting gravity do their dirty work for them. They did not withdraw however, but simply stayed on course, closing the gap between them and the shuttle, knowing that the spacecraft was doomed. The shuttle continued on its downward spiral until it finally disappeared from view. After a few agonizingly long moments there was a small flash of orange-white light on the moon's surface.
Grief filled Skyfire to overflowing. He wanted desperately to go to his friends' aid, to find out if they were still alive, but he knew if he did that he would only be captured or killed himself and, as Prime has said, this mission was too important. It rested on Skyfire to see the mission through in its entirety.
Forcing himself to break out of his concerned reflection, Skyfire decided it would not be much longer before the Decepticons noticed him now that the primary threat had been eliminated. He looked behind him, in the direction that his own small battle had been taking him, and saw another of Cybertron's moons. He resolved to make his way there try to get into contact with the Autobots. It was just as probable that the Autobot resistance was on that moon as any other.
Skyfire transformed into his jet form, engaged his thrusters, and speed toward the moon as fast as he was able.