Author's Note: Yes, I am still alive. And I just got my hands on a new resource: Transformers More Than Meets The Eye Official Guidebook Volume One (Volume Two is on its way) so I will be adding in more characters of both factions. There will be mixing of Pretenders, Micromasters, etc. Please note that this book does not contain the origins of the Pretenders or info on what their shells are for, so I still know next to nothing about them. They'll be in here anyway.
Disclaimer: The only characters I own are Ultra Rodimus and his skrill, Falcon. Everybody else belongs to somebody else. Oh, BTW, I am not repeat NOT making up the abilities of the ribbon device. Its powers are taken directly from one of the original Stargate novels. I'm not making up any of it.
Metal and Neon
Chapter 14: Inferno
With Trypticon out of the city and occupied with the two giant Autobots, widespread damage to the city decreased somewhat. What had already been done was still ablaze, but no new sections of the city were being flattened by the giant's fire. Ultra Rodimus could put Trypticon out of his already overcrowded skull and concentrate on everything else.
"Everything else" took the form of Razorclaw, the Predacon leader. The robotic lion was doing his very best to tear the Autobot Prime to shreds of metal. So far Ultra Rodimus was keeping him off, but Razorclaw wasn't giving up. He was rearing up on his hind legs, front claws sawing wildly at the air, lubricants foaming around his jaws, snarling and snapping, his normal habit of remaining absolutely still until he saw the perfect opportinity thrown right out the proverbial window. Now he was acting like a wild, rabid beast, so infuriated by repeated defeats at the young Prime's hands that rational thinking and planning had gone to hell the instant he'd caught sight of Ultra Rodimus's distinctive striped armor. Ultra Rodimus had one hand planted against Razorclaw's chest, trying to push him away, the other attempting to get a grip on Razorclaw's snout to hold his snapping jaws shut. Hot breath smelling of burned metal blasted into his face.
"I need a little help here!" Ultra Rodimus bellowed.
((You could try asking me,)) a comment answered from within his own mind.
(Sorry, Falcon. Wrong arm. If I try to aim you he'll bite my arm off.)
((Then look at your left hand,)) the skrill replied.
Ultra Rodimus's eyes flicked to his left arm, seeing the glint of gold against his smoke-grey color. The Goa'uld hand device. A grin curved his lips. Then he focused as much as he could on the alien device.
The palm stone lit up with a brilliant red-orange light.For a moment it pulsed against Razorclaw's black chestplate. Then it unleashed a blast of energy that sent the lion flying. Razorclaw let out a yowl of confusion, clawing at the air as if trying to get a grip on it before crashing down hard on his side and rolling. He lay there, stunned, trying to get his breath back. Just as he was beginning to move again, Ultra Rodimus pounced. The young Autobot held his left hand over the metal lion's head, the palm stone of the ribbon device glowing red.
Major Carter had explained the device to him in some detail after that first Stargate mission, and he'd quickly mastered it. He'd been reluctant to use its more sinister side, but Colonel O'Neill had pointed out that in a war as savage at the Transformer civil war, the only rule was to get the enemy before he gets you.
The stone worked along the same relative lines as the Stargate, but instead of transporting and reassembling molecules across space, the ribbon device rearranged molecules. When applied long enough it could liquify a target or victim from the inside out.
Razorclaw's legs began to twitch uncontrollably. Ultra Rodimus gritted his teeth, hating what he was about to do, but he never got the chance to finish it. Instinct and some sixth sense told him that someone was attempting to sneak up on him from behind. In an instant he snapped his hand back and dove aside... just as a blur of white fur and grey metal shot through the space he'd occupied mere moments before. The blur slammed into the semi-conscious Razorclaw with enough force to knock the Predacon leader out cold. That stopped the blur long enough for Ultra Rodimus to get a good look at it.
The white blur was a huge wolf, pure white, with blue armor on its shoulders, grey metal plates on its back and chest, and a blue tail. The Autobot leader identified it as Carnivac, one of the newer arrivals to the Decepticon army, a Decepticon with a shell in which he could hide and fight.
Just what I didn't need to deal with right now.
Before Carnivac could get the young Autobot back in his sights, Ultra Rodimus was on him, clenched fists slamming into the wolf's head. Carnivac's teeth snapped together on his own tongue, and the 'Con howled in pain. As fast as he could, he whipped around and pounced on Ultra Rodimus, slamming him to the ground, claws leaving long scratches in his paint, threatening to breach the first layer of his armor. The Autobot leader grunted as the wind was slammed out of him, then hissed as the wolf's jaws closed on his throat. Carnivac tried to bite down, but his victim's armor was too hard. So he settled for twisting, trying to rip Ultra Rodimus's head off.
"I don't think so!" A streak of red and yellow slammed into Carnivac's side, forcing him to let go and back off. The streak became Catilla, a massive gold and red puma. The two faced off, snarling, fur bristling.
"Why don't you mind your own business, cat!" Carnivac snarled, eyes blazing.
"You are my business!" Catilla launched himself at his rival. At the same moment, Carnivac lunged. Both met in a whirling, spitting, snapping ball of fur and steel. Ultra Rodimus could only stare at them, until his mind caught up with events and forced him to get himself back on track. He was picking himself up off the ground, brushing off bits of the building he'd crashed into, when a feline roar became a scream of pain. Catilla flew backward, fluids pouing from one shoulder and the side of his neck. His shell was too badly damaged to open so he could get out, putting him out of the fight.
Carnivac howled his triumph and turned back toward his main target, Ultra Rodimus. But this time the Prime was ready. What Carnivac found himself facing was a massive serpent, a cobra, hood spread, optics glowing. He had only an instant to realize what was going on before the serpent struck.
The serpent's head struck out with incredible speed, smashing into Carnivac's side and flipping him into the air like a toy car tossed by a child. He reached the top of his arc and was on his way back down when Ultra Rodimus's coils shifted and his powerful tail came up. The blow sent the wailing Decepticon into and through one of the few multi-story buildings that hadn't been blown apart by the shooting. Carnivac hit the ground, twitched a few times, then went still.
Ultra Rodimus transformed back to robot, inspecting the gouges and scratches in his armor. His braid was coming apart. He panted slightly, catching his breath as he regarded the two unconscious Decepticons, then pulled a long dagger from subspace and advanced on them.
Fifteen minutes later he was done. Depositing his prizes in his subspace pocket, he put the dagger away, picked up his axe, and turned to see how the battle was faring.
Slowly, the Autobots were succeeding in pushing the Decepticons back, out of the city. Once the Autobots who had been hounding Trypticon had come back the Decepticons had become slightly outnumbered, and the Autobot fire trucks had been taking any free moments to deal with some of the raging fires surrounding them. As Ultra Rodimus watched, Inferno finished smothering the flames gutting a large apartment building. A few of the fliers were making runs over the flames, dropping the Cybertronian version of flame retardants onto them. In a few places the flames had gone out completely.
Underfoot the ground was shaking from the battle of the three giants, causing buildings to shudder and windows to crack. The more heavily damaged structures were beginning to collapse from the vibrations. Ultra Rodimus had to scramble aside to avoid being buried as the building Carnivac had gone through came crashing down.
Someone scurried over to him. Ultra Rodimus looked down to see a small green and tan bot with a very vague resemblance to Springer, but with tank treads attached to his shoulders, approaching. The bot, named Flak, stopped in front of him and saluted.
"Report," Ultra Rodimus told him.
"We are managing to drive the Decepticons out of the city, but they aren't going without a fight," Flak told him. "A dozen or more Autobots have been severely wounded, and one is not expected to survive. And—"
Flak never got to finish his report. The small bot was shot from behind and went flying, going limp. Ultra Rodimus leaped backward to catch him, simultaneously calling for someone to take the small bot to a medic. Seconds later Blurr appeared. Ultra Rodimus passed the badly wounded Autobot to the courier. Blurr gave him a grim nod and streaked away as the Autobot Prime turned to face the two Decepticons who had shot Flak.
"I don't know who you are," he snarled at them, "but you hurt one of my warriors and for that you will pay!"
The larger of the two, colored red and green with a yellow face and optics, laughed cruelly. "The name is Bludgeon, Autobot, and if you think you can take us on, then you're more than welcome to try."
To be continued...
I bet you really hate me right now. Another cliffhanger! And no idea when the next chapter will be coming out. Sorry!
Fenestrae: Yes, they've arrived, and they're at least keeping Trypticon occupied. Here's the new chapter for ya!
Gromia: They're only on one side of the city, not right in the middle. Most of it will be relatively unscarred. That one section is probably gonna wind up leveled, though.
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