Author's Note: I do apologize for the long delay, but apparently my college year is not as over as I'd like. I have to write my English exam again, and I have 2 essays to finish. So updates will take a while. Also, there is now a dog in the family, a blond German shepherd named Chester, and he requires some attention. So again, I apologize.

If anyone here has read Foxey's story "Interviews with the Transformers", it's my pleasure to inform you that Foxey is going to do an interview with my character Ultra Rodimus. I will be keeping an eye open for that.

Disclaimer: You get the idea, right?

Metal and Neon

Chapter 9: Battle in the Desert Part 2

The people who had remained behind in Las Vegas when everyone else evacuated stood at their windows or in the streets, staring at the horizon. Bright flashes of yellow, purple, red, blue, and occasionally green light flared and faded across the hot desert sand. The wind carried the screaming of jet engines, the howling of laser weapons, the crashing of metal on metal, the rumbles of explosions, and the faint sounds of voices to the nearly empty city. The lights and the sounds had drawn the people out to watch and listen.

The Autobots had managed to lure the Decepticons away from the base and out into the open desert, where there was no one around to be hurt or killed by the savage fighting. The Decepticons' on and off appearances in Vegas had left a death toll of 136, most of them victims of Motormaster. No one had wanted that number to rise any higher. Everyone who'd wanted to leave had left, and the few who had stayed behind were doing their best to lay low and keep out of sight.

Nick Stokes leaned on the wall of CSI HQ, arms folded over his chest, watching the lights in the distance. He knew what those lights were, and he was very glad Ultra Rodimus had managed to lure the 'Cons into empty desert several miles away from both base and city.

"If it looks this bad from here, I really wouldn't want to be any closer," Catherine commented as she joined him.

"There's gonna be a lot of damage out there," Nick pointed out.

"I know. But it cold be worse."

He shot her a look. "How?"

"They could be right in the middle of the city."

Nick had to chuckle a bit. "Good point." Movement caught his eye, prompting him to turn and see what the source of the movement was. When he saw what was approaching the city, his eyes went very wide and every drop of color drained from his face.

"What?" Catherine asked sharply.

The other CSI raised a shaking hand and pointed. Catherine turned.

"Oh, my..."

Flying right toward the city was a huge Transformer, one so big it made Ultra Rodimus look small. Its armor was easy to spot, a mix of black, orange, red, and yellow in color, with some spots of grey. The Transformer had black and gold wings, and a lion's head adorned its chestplate. A pair of bull's horns capped its right knee, a rhino's horn its left. Both hands looked like they had claws growing from the backs, above the fingers. The giant carried a huge sword in one hand and had a massive cannon attached to its left arm. It was a terrible, menacing sight.

Catherine's shocked and horrified gaze noticed a spot of purple mixed in with the giant's bright colors. The giant was too far away for her to make out what that spot was, but she had a sinking suspicion that she knew exactly what it was, and she hoped to whatever deity was watching that she was wrong.

Grissom emerged from the building, saw them, frowned, and to turned to see what they were staring at. He froze, staring in horror. But unlike the other two, he'd read the Autobots' list of Decepticons and knew exactly who that giant was.

"Predaking," he breathed.

"Gris?" Nick whispered unsteadily.

"That's Predaking," their supervisor told them shakily. "A gestalt. A Decepticon combiner."

"Uh oh..."

"He's also nearly impervious to attack," Grissom added.

Nick snapped out of his paralysis. "I so did not need to hear that!" He grabbed Catherine and Grissom and dragged them inside, shouting for everyone to get into the basement. The group of TV reporters who'd parked themselves in the building caught Nick's panic and broadcast a warning, ordering everyone who was left to get out of the open. Then they left their cameras and followed the CSIs and the lab techs to the basement. They'd just made it when the shaking started.

Ultra Rodimus swore vilely as he watched Predaking take off. Galvatron's insane laughter only brought out worse swear words. The Autobot leader kicked his current opponent, Blast-Off, in the midsection, forcing him back long enough to take quick stock of his own forces. Unfortunately, none were in any position to do anything about the Predacon gestalt.

((You're the only one who can handle Predaking anyway!)) Magnus pointed out.

(I'm aware of that, but I'm rather busy here!) Ultra Rodimus shot back.

Blast-Off was about to lunge again when a missile hit him in the back and exploded. The already-damaged Combaticon was blown off his feet by the force, slamming down hard and remaining in an unmoving heap. Ultra Rodimus sent gratitude and apology to his mate, who forgave him but hinted that he could properly apologize in their private quarters later, and launched himself into the air, transforming to jet. His engines ignited with a thunderous roar, the shock wave swatting Decepticons left and right. As he blasted away in pursuit of Predaking, he used his wing to bat one of the Sweeps out of the sky and right into the all-to-eager hands of the Autobot the Sweep had been taunting. Bits and pieces of Sweep were flying in all directions as Ultra Rodimus cleared the air battle and hit full throttle.

He intercepted Predaking just outside the edge of the city, blasting low over Predaking's back and dropping below the speed of sound. The sonic shockwave swatted Predaking like a mosquito, sending him to the ground with a loud crash. A moment later the snarling gestalt was on his feet, firing wildly at his enemy. Ultra Rodimus dodged most of the shots, but some still hit, bouncing off his armor and not causing much damage. He spun around and flew straight at the furious combiner, transforming to serpent. Predaking took a step back as the huge snake hit the ground and moved with lightning speed. The impact threw Predaking backward.

Fortunately, that section of the city was completely empty of people, animals, and anything valuable, so only buildings were damaged when Predaking landed. The giant Predacon clawed at the rubble, managing to find leverage and get out of the way seconds before Ultra Rodimus struck. In an instant the serpent was coiled up for a new attack, hissing, fangs bared. Predaking dodged his head, but Ultra Rodimus's tail was another matter. It struck such a powerful blow that Predaking came apart. Five Predacons in animal form fell heavily to the ground. Ultra Rodimus transformed.

All five launched themselves at once, straight at him. He managed to transform to his dino mode seconds before they hit.

It was chaos.

All five were struggling to reach him, clawing and goring each other in the process. He was a snarling, snapping blur of claws and teeth, snapping and slashing at whoever came into his sights. Rampage opened fire with his shoulder-mounted guns, spraying laser fire every which way. Houses, trees, dumpsters, and the odd vehicle exploded into flames, casting a red glow over everything. By now royally pissed off, Ultra Rodimus twisted at an angle that should have been impossible for a dinosaur to pull off and caught Rampage in his teeth. He bit down as hard as he could, driving his teeth right through Rampage's armor. The Predacon tiger squalled in pain and applied his claws to Ultra Rodimus's armored head, scratching up his armor. Twisting his head, Rampage spotted a blazing green eye and flailed wildly in its direction. By sheer luck he managed to reach it, digging two claws into the socket and tearing the optic out.

Ultra Rodimus's head jerked back, snapping Rampage up and around with enough force to break the hydraulics in his back, paralyzing his rear legs. The half-crippled tiger went flying, landing well outside the city limits. Rampage struggled to get up, but his hind legs refused to work.

The Autobot leader screamed and shook his head, sending drops of dark blue blood flying. Pain and killing rage warred for dominance, the rage keeping the worst of the pain at bay, the pain tempering the rage, preventing him from going berserk and reducing the entire city to smouldering rubble. But even the pain couldn't completely dull the rage. Enough of the rage got through to make him want to destroy whoever or whatever crossed his path.

The Predacons obligingly provided a target.

Divebomb came diving out of the sky, hoping to hook his torn eye socket and rip open his armor. But he'd unknowingly dove with the sun behind him, casting a steadily-growing shadow. That shadow tipped Ultra Rodimus off. He whirled on one massive foot, and suddenly Divebomb found himself heading straight into Ultra Rodimus's open jaws. The eagle flapped desperately, but it was already too late. The Autobot leader snatched him right out of the air, crushing his wing, and hurled him head-first into a tree. Divebomb hit and crumpled.

Razorclaw bellowed in fury and pounced, keeping on the Prime's blind side. The Autobot leader swung around, trying to get the lion in his sights. His thick tail hit Razorclaw squarely in the ribs, flipping him into a burning dumpster. The Predacon leader roared and began clawing his way out, launching himself into the air and landing right on Ultra Rodimus's back.

The maneuvers Ultra Rodimus pulled off to try and dislodge him put even professional bucking rodeo bulls to shame. It was all Razorclaw could do to hold on, claws hooked into Ultra Rodimus's armor, too busy holding on to do anything else. It was just occurring to Razorclaw that he was in a very bad position when Ultra Rodimus threw himself sideways, slamming into another tree and using it to scrape the lion off. Razorclaw hit the ground, knocked senseless.

The pounding off hooves on pavement alerted Ultra Rodimus that Tantrum was charging him. Realizing that Tantrum was too close for a counterattack, Ultra Rodimus shifted his weight and extended one hind limb, grabbing Tantrum's head and gripping as hard as he could. Metal creaked loudly. The impact made Ultra Rodimus hop awkwardly backward to keep from falling over. The Predacon bull went to his knees, then fell heavily onto his side, limbs twitching. His motor controls had been severely damaged.

Ultra Rodimus got both legs under him and raised his head, looking for the fifth and last Predacon. A moment later, Headstrong crashed right into him, hitting him in the ribs. The young Autobot roared and staggered back. The rhino lost his footing and slid to his knees, stunned by the impact. Before he could clear his head and get back on his feet, a huge, clawed foot slammed down on his back, smashing him to the ground. Again and again Ultra Rodimus stamped down on Headstrong, bending his armor out of shape and putting pressure on his spine, which did the same job in Transformers as it did in humans. Finally, it proved too much, and Headstrong lost consciousness.

Ultra Rodimus comm beeped. He managed to answer it.

"The Decepticons are retreating!" Blaster reported.

"Drive them back to their ships," Ultra Rodimus ordered. "Send someone out to pick up the Predacons, get Inferno over here, and I need a medic."

"A medic?" There was surprise and concern in Blaster's voice. "Why?"

"Just... do it."

With that, Ultra Rodimus cut the link and dropped into a crouch, sitting where he could see all five of the Predacons, and waited for someone to arrive.

To be continued...

At least this chapter is longer than the previous two. I hope you like this one, 'cause I might not get another one posted for a couple of weeks. Sorry to have to tell you that, but that's just how it goes.

Chiomon: Of course they will. Would I let it end any other way?

Gromia: Nobody feels sorry for Buzzsaw. And I hope that helps with your writer's block.

Fenestrae: Going after Magnus is the mother of all bad ideas. Mess not with the mates of territorial Autobot leaders. Ultra Rodimus annoyed is a terrifying sight at the best of times, 'cause it usually means someone is about to get their head bitten off. And you can get shirts that say that?

New Dye: Yes, I got the card and thank you for sending it. Your question will be answered in the next chapter. No, he doesn't use those phrases; he considers them outdated and cliche. In Ultra Rodimus's universe, Jennifer built those weapons from a mix of human, Transformer, and alien technology. In the CSI universe Earth has no contact with alien races, so they don't have the tech to build weapons capable of harming a Transformer. And as for the military question, probably all of the above. Then they'd try to use the Transformers' technology for themselves and probably blow themselves to hell in the process.

Thank you all for your reviews. Now send me more and I'll try to get another chapter out soon!