The skies of Iacon seemed peaceful. At least they did until it started raining Autobot shuttles.
Within the crashing and burning Autobot ship, five silhouettes (their faces obscured by smoke) argued. "They're gaining on us!" One voice yelled. "I can see that!" Shot back another. "I calculate a thirty five percent chance of this manoeuvre being completed successfully." A third figure noted. "Shut Up!" Four other voices responded.
The shuttle was suddenly shaken violently as a blast tore into their hull. The voices cried out to each other again. "We're going down!" One yelled. "Pull up!" Panicked a second. "I'm trying!" The first voice shot back. "Ah, scrap." They all said simultaneously as their ship hit solid ground.
"Uhh my head gasket." One of the crew members complained as he clambered out of the burning wreck that was once their shuttle, holding his head. He was built slightly larger than Ratchet and bore a slightly faded elite guard insignia on his broad shoulders. The dark green bot peered back inside the smouldering ship. "Are you okay in there?" He shouted into the smoke.
His question was answered as a servo appeared from within, pulling another bot out of the hatch. This one was similar to Smokescreen, his orange and yellow paint job and flame decals giving a statement of their own without the young Autobot having to say a word. He dusted himself off. "We're fine Kup. Trust me, I know how to land my own ship."
The one called Kup raised an optic ridge. "You mean crash?" Came his gruff reply. The other Autobot rubbed the back of his neck.
"That's my ship, Hot Rod." A green bot added. He was tall and broad shouldered and having just exited his burning ship, was covered in a fine layer of dust which he tried to scrub off with his servos.
Hot Rod rolled his optics. "Whatever. I'm not getting you a new one. You're the pilot."
"And you were supposed to be the navigator! But all you've managed to do is direct us into the ground like a suicidal Aerialbot!" He facepalmed. "I should've listened to Perceptor."
"Yes you should have." Came a voice from the smoke as two more Autobots emerged from it. One was reasonably large with what looked like an oversized microscope perched on his shoulder and red armour, which was now scratched and burnt in places thanks to the crash. He appeared to be limping slightly, supported by a smaller bot who looked almost identical to Bumblebee, were it not for his blue and orange paint job and goggles which covered his optics.
Springer looked at them with a mixture of shock and concern. "Primus Perceptor what happened?"
The red bot grimaced slightly as a responded. "Your ego 'happened' Springer. Luckily I wasn't too near the back of the ship, otherwise I'd be molecules by now."
"You should probably sit down Perceptor." The bot supporting him said, eager to be relieved of his burden while still showing concern for his comrade.
"I'll be fine Hot Shot." He insisted. "We need to locate the other Autobots if we wish to survive this."
"No need." Springer added, pointing to the group of approaching vehicles. "Looks like they've come to us." He narrowed his optics, focusing on them with curiosity. The vehicles which he saw in front of him were mostly unrecognizable to him however. Obviously some of these Autobots had taken on the guise of some alien vehicle and had not yet reverted back to their original forms for reasons he could not yet fathom. From Springer's limited knowledge of the alien vehicles he could make out Jazz (who had kept his original form), Ironhide (who had done the same), and what appeared to be Ultra Magnus, Bumblebee and Arcee? From what he could tell. While Springer did not know these bots all too well, a few of them had been fortunate enough to make his acquaintance.
Once the Autobots had reached their ship they transformed, confirming Springer's suspicions. "Springer." Arcee said, a hint of caution in her voice as she folded her arms, eyeing him up and down. Ultra Magnus also gave him a similar look, like he was waiting for a bomb to explode.
Springer was about to say something when he was interrupted by the other bots. "Sweet Primus what happened to you?" Jazz asked them with concern, though his voice still sounded as cool as ever. Bumblebee rushed to help Perceptor and Hot Shot as Ultra Magnus continued to observe the new arrivals, as if checking them for errors in conformity.
A deep ominous rumble overhead turned their attention skyward. "That happened." Hot Rod clarified, pointing to the source of the noise. From the sky descended a very large and imposing Decepticon warship. Despite it only being half the size of the Nemesis, the ship still possessed enough firepower to easily decimate a small city. A mixture of light and dark purple hues decorated the ship, right up to its spearheaded prow which proudly bore the Decepticon insignia.
"Is that-" Bumblebee began before Ultra Magnus finished his thought. "The Empirion." He stated, the words now visible on the side of the ship in jet black lettering.
The Autobots ducked behind cover and readied their weapons, expecting a fight. To their disbelief, the Decepticon warship didn't even seem to acknowledge their presence. Instead it changed course, redirecting itself away from the Autobots and Iacon and to the other side of the planet.
Perceptor raised an optic ridge at the ship's sudden change in course. "That's odd. It's unlike Bludgeon to run from a fight."
Ultra Magnus stood there in thought. "This is most unsettling. If Bludgeon is going to join Shockwave then we could have another war on our hands."
"Then let's take 'em down before they can get any stronger!" Hot Rod interjected, slamming his fists together with a metallic clang.
Magnus eyed up the young bot with unimpressed optics. "We must not act hastily. Our top priority is to get you all back to Iacon in one piece, and then we will formulate a plan on what to do next."
Springer cut in with a slightly annoyed tone. "Look Magnus, Bludgeon has some pretty important prisoners holed up in his ship, if we wait around for too long then we may be too late to rescue them. I suggest that we get back to Iacon, load up and then launch a rescue mission at nightfall. They won't know what hit 'em."
Ultra Magnus did not seem to be impressed by the soldier's disrespectful tone. "Listen here soldier, we live in difficult times, each and every move we make must be carefully considered or else we risk losing everything, again. Do I make myself clear, wrecker?"
Springer stated at the Commander for a few seconds before scoffing. "Whatever." He said as he pushed past the Autobots and began to walk back to Iacon city.
Ultra Magnus watched him go and sighed, turning back to the others. "So Perceptor, who does Bludgeon have prisoner?"
The bridge of the Empirion was not unlike that of the Nemesis, though it was smaller than that of the Decepticon flagship. At the front of the bridge stood a large figure, looking out of the large window as the Cybertronian landscape raced beneath them. The Decepticon was strongly built, with hues of yellow, green and red strangely complimenting his stature. A tank barrel jutted from his back, positioned next to the circular hilt of a Samurai sword.
"Bludgeon." The Decepticon turned to face the speaker who was behind him, revealing the helmet that he wore. It was very similar to a traditional Samurai helmet, with horn-like protrusions from the centre. The mask that covered his face resembled a skull, with two ruby red optics glowing from behind.
The bot who had addressed him was also quite large, though a little shorter. Purple and grey colouring covered the Decepticon's broad chest and shoulders. "Yes, Quake? What is it?" Bludgeon asked, his skeletal mask moving slightly as he spoke.
"You're not honestly going back to Megatron, are you?"
Bludgeon laughed. A sinister, humour-less laugh that sounded like a blade being dragged along a metal surface. "No Quake, I am not. According to Blitzwing, Shockwave has somehow taken over command. We will bide our time, and once Shockwave gives us what we want we will..." He finished his sentence by closing his fist tightly in front of the bot.
Quake nodded. "And what of the prisoners?"
Bludgeon let out a low growl from behind his mask, but Quake did not appear to visibly flinch in the slightest. "He can have Prowl and do what he wishes with him. Drift is mine. Now go and prepare for landing. We're almost at Kaon."
Quake nodded and turned, marching out of the bridge and to the lower decks. Bludgeon turned and looked out the window once more, glowering at the remnants of the once proud Decepticon capital. "Let's see what you've got in store for us this time, Shockwave." He said to himself with a evil smirk.
Author's Notes: I'm sorry this chapter took me so long to finish. My motivation fluctuates sometimes, but I still want to finish this story. I hope that this chapter wasn't too clumsy but introducing so many new characters at once is no easy task. Ultra Magnus has a past with Springer and so does Arcee, a little (as sort of a reference to G1). This may cause some problems later on. As for Bludgeon, well, he's just too cool not to have in this story and will serve as another antagonist for it. Let me know what you guys think and I'll try and get the next one out sooner! Until next time! ;)