And now you shall all bare witness to the battle for the Knight's Ship. Enjoy and review!
(Before Cade Reached England, the Axalon)
The group of five had been investigating the interior of the large ship for over an hour. Much of what they found were the same: wet floors, the sound of water dripping, sparks from damaged machinery and parts of the ship, and the scattered crew of Lockdown's men. Some were in forced stasis lock, while others were not so fortunate. The Autobots took noticed that several holding pens that they had walked by were empty, the glass shattered, and bindings broken.
"That does not bode well." Depthcharge muttered as he examined a rather large empty cage.
Daytrader was busy picking up anything that caught his attention. "Yeah, this nice and all, but where exactly are we going?" The scavenger asked.
Wheeljack activated a holo-projector, showing a layout of the Axalon. "According to the information Fixit gave me, we need to head towards the command bridge. Supposedly power can be restored there. We might even be able to activate the scanners to find out if anyone or anything is still on board." The inventor explained.
"Well, we'd had best be careful." Sea Spray noted. "Breacher and I will take the lead and Deptcharge will watch the rear in case we encounter any hostiles." The sea specialist explained.
The Autobots continued moving through the ship, using their attached lights to see through the pitch-black halls. None of them noticed the being watching them from the shadows, blue dots focused intently on the mechs.
(Outside the Axalon)
At the sandy beach near Axalon, new arrivals had come. Twelve mechs to be exact. At the front was Oil Slick, carrying his Cosmic Rust blaster. Next to him was Smolder, the leader of the Mayhem Attack Squad. He was a red mech with a Wildland Fire Engine. Next was Bombshock, a large green mech that possessed Tatra T816. After him was Icepick, a degenerate bluish white mech with a G6 Rhino for an alt mode. The hulking, lime green Steamhammer followed, having scanned a Caterpillar D9. Mudslinger came out next, the green and blue monster truck. Transforming from his Boeing CH-47 Chinook form, the bluish grey Windburn landed. The destructive Sledge was beside him, his yellow armor reflecting the sun, having scanned a Rockwheel Trencher. The grey armored Darkstream landed, transforming form his BAE System Corax mode. Running out next was Over-Run, the yellow mech having scanned a McLaren MCL32 for his alt mode. Finally, Undertow, the sole sea specialist on the team, with a Mark V SOC alt mode, came out. His black armor contrasted the light shining down on him. Also with them was Mindwipe, who had been sent by Megatron to assist the recovery of the ship and the 'recruitment' of the mercenaries.
"Looks like you were right, Oil Slick." Smolder commented to said Con. "Now, are you sure there are mercenaries that survived the crash?"
Oil Slick nodded, adjusting his blaster. "Yes, though they're probably in stasis. The ship has a built in energon wave disperser. If we can activate it, it will disperse a burst of energon throughout the vessel, reactivating any stasis lock Cybertronian. Though they might lash out upon coming back online." The chemical specialist explained.
"Uh, Smolder." Mudslinger said, getting his commander's attention. "My scans are picking up a dozen or more Cybertronians inside, but five of them appear to be moving."
"Survivors that came back online?" Suggested Darkstream.
"Or Autobots" Smolder said. "Undertow, patrol the areas still in the waters. Darkstream and Windburn will take the air and give us a bird's eye view report along with Mindwipe. The rest of us will move in and split into groups. One group will go to the energon generator while the other searches for this unknown lot."
The Cons nodded. Undertow immediately transformed and hit the waters. The three flyers took to the air, flying over the Axalon. Back with the ground forces, Oil Slick, Smolder, Over-Run, Icepick, and Sledge went in one direction, while Bombshock, Mudslinger and Steamhammer went towards another.
It wasn't long until Darkstream spotted another occupant above the ship. Skyhammer was patrolling the skies, unaware of the two Decepticons. :Well, lookie here, Windburn. An Autobot all alone: Darkstream said through the coms.
:Looks like Smolder was right: Windburn replied. :I'll let him know. This one's all yours, Darkstream:
:Ha! With pleasure!: Darkstream declared as he fired rockets at Skyhammer. The Autobot only had a few seconds to realize that he was not alone.
(With the Autobots)
BOOM!
The explosion caught the attention of the Autobots within the Axalon and had their heads looking around. "What was that?!" Daytrader asked.
"I don't know. Skyhammer, what's going on out there? Skyhammer?" Depthcharge tried contacting the flyer, but to no avail. "This is not good."
"We need to keep moving. Chances are we have Decepticons here too." Sea Spray said as the group began going forward.
Eventually, they had reached the walkways of the outer parts of the ship. The Autobots had to be careful as some of the platforms had broken off from the crash or were close to breaking. That made walking more difficult and yet they were able to move on. Sea Spray, Breacher and Depthcharge kept their weapons at the ready the whole time, for the event a fight broke out.
The Autobots had finally reached another corner when suddenly Bombshock and Steamhammer appeared in front of them. Both sides were shocked to see the other, but the Decepticons acted first.
"Autobots! Slag them!" Steamhammer shouted as he grabbed Breacher and slammed the sea specialist into the wall. Breacher let out a grunt of pain as he tried to pull out his plasma blaster. Sea Spray tackled the larger Con from behind, banging his fists against Steamhammer's head. Bombshock opened fire with his wrist and shoulder mounted machine guns, shooting at the other Autobots. Depthcharge moved in front of Wheeljack and Daytrader, is durable armor taking the brunt of the Decepticon's attack.
Unfortunately, that left them open from the rear as Mudslinger struck Wheeljack with a hammer. Daytrader let out a yelp as the Con attacked him next, trying desperately to dodge Mudslinger's swings.
Just as the Cons were about to overwhelm the Autobots, a small figure jumped down from the ceiling, landing on Bombshock's shoulders. Morphing his arm into a plasma cannon, the newcomer fired at the large Con's head, blowing it into pieces. "Bombshock!" Steamhammer cried, tossing aside Sea Spray and Breacher. The Decepticon tried to attack his comrade's killer, but the figure was too quick, using their small size to avoid the larger Cybertronian's attacks. They than transformed into a white-silver Smart Fortwo that zoomed underneath Steamhammer's legs. Knowing what the smaller mech was planning, Steamhammer tried to kick the mech, only for his opponent to transform back into robot mode and grab the Con's leg. Moving swiftly the mech climbed up towards Steamhammer's chest and began blasting it, ignoring the Decepticon's attempt to shake him off.
Seeing one of his comrade's dead and the other about to be killed, Mudslinger decided to retreat. Before he could, he was suddenly grabbed by Depthcharge, who roughly tossed the smaller Con into the wall. Aiming his built in left arm proton torpedo launcher, the sea specialist Autobot fired several blasts into Mudslinger's chest, destroying the upper portion of the Decepticon's body. By then, the newcomer had already finished off Steamhammer, walking off the Con's corpse.
"Everyone okay?" The figure asked.
"Yeah" Depthcharge answered, as he helped up Wheeljack. Daytrader was secretly shifting through the Cons' remains for anything useful, while Breacher and Sea Spray were getting their systems together. "Question is, who are you?"
Now that the action had died down, the Autobots were able to get a better view of the mech. He was short, taller than the femmes, but shorter than Skids and Mudflap. He had light silver armor and was a bit bulky. His blue optics stared up at the larger mechs without fear.
"Normally, I would ask you all that first, but I suppose I can begin the introductions." The mech replied. "My name is Roller. Knight and captain of the Axalon. Or I was, before that slagging mercenary took over."
"Wait, you're the captain?" Wheeljack asked, having regained his bearings. "But Fixit told us you were killed."
"Fixit, huh? Well, I'm glad to know that at least one of my crew survived." Roller commented. "To answer your question, no, I was not killed. In fact, Lockdown could not risk my death as I had the control schematics and security codes loaded up into my processors. It was a safety precaution Alpha Trion had set up in the event the ship was taken over. Instead, Lockdown had me locked up inside the ship's main terminal, fragging used me as a live computer."
"How did you get out, then?" Breacher asked.
"When the Axalon hit the waters, the damage must've brought me out of stasis lock and freed me from my bindings. From there, I managed to regain control of the ship, killing any mercenaries or other occupants that survived the crash. I brought it here where I could hopeful do repairs in peace, heading out in the dropship to find more supplies. It's also how I scanned this new alt mode." Roller explained. "I already know who you guys are. I managed to access some of the data logs from the ship. If you're with Optimus, then I'll help you repair the Axalon."
(Decepticons)
Meanwhile, back with the rest of the Mayhem Squad, the deaths of their own came quickly to Smolder's scanners. "Steamhammer, Bombshock and Mudslinger are offline." He muttered.
"The Autobots, no doubt." Oil Slick commented as the group made a turn. "We'll have to move quickly if we want to gain control of the ship." He said.
"Undertow, Darkstream, Windburn. Keep your optics sharp and scanners online. We got more Autobots inside the vessel." Smolder ordered.
"How are we going to take over the crew anyway?" Icepick asked. "Doesn't seem like they'd be willing to listen to us if they've been with Lockdown all this time."
"Shockwave already devised a plan for that." Smolder replied. "Mindwipe was given a device that will allow him to mind control all those that are synced with a certain radio frequency. In this case, it will be the one that the mercenaries used."
After the explanation, the group arrived in front of a large door. Oil Slick walked over towards the security keypad and typed in the combination for entry. When the door opened, the Decepticons were greeted to the sight of a large, circular room with several control panels. In the center was what appeared to be a large power core or generator.
"This is it" Oil Slick said the unasked question. He walked over to a panel and began pressing some keys. The generator began to power up. "Preparing disperser, all systems operational."
"Mindwipe, prepare for programming subjugation." Smolder ordered over the transmitters.
:Understood: The black con hissed.
In just a few seconds, the machine began powering up. Lights began to glow, and a humming noise filled the room. It then released a powerful burst of energy that moved throughout the ship, covering every corner of the giant vessel. The surge made the ship shift in the sand, slowly sliding onto the water. As the energy past over the stasis lock Cybertronians, they each began to come back online, their optics glowing and systems rebooting. At the same time, Mindwipe's hypnosis began to seep through their processors, taking over their functions. One by one, each mercenary, cyberwolf and other Cybertronians began to rise, now completely under the control of Mindwipe.
With the Autobots, the group of now six mechs felt the surge of energy passed over them. They stumbled a bit as they felt the rush of energon temporarily surge through their systems. When they finally managed to recover, Wheeljack asked the obvious question, "What is Primus' name was that?"
"The Energon Wave Disperser" Roller answered. "To be used in the event the Axalon's crew is rendered in stasis lock. If the Decepticons were the ones that activated than every Cybertronian in this ship will be brought out of stasis."
At that moment, what was originally a motionless body nearby sprang to life. The mercenary lunged at the closes Autobot, Daytrader. The scavenger let out a yelp as the merc grabbed him by the shoulders. Fumbling for a bit, the junker was able to pull out a plasma blaster from somewhere among his pile of items. Firing several shots into the mercenary's chestplate, said mech fell back to the floor dead.
"Holy slag! That scared the CPU out of me!" Daytrader exclaimed as he edged away from the now corpse.
"It's only to get worse." Depthcharge said, already readying his proton launcher. "If those mercenaries all come back online at once, we'll be overrun."
"I know a way we can get rid of them." Roller replied. Once all optics were on him, he continued. "Before I found you guys, I had finished setting all the ship's systems back at the terminals. If we can get to the command bridge, I'll be able to bring the security turrets back up. They'll gun down these mechs within seconds."
"If they don't rip us apart first." Sea Spray commented as multiple voices were coming from around the corner. None of them sounded friendly, and the Autobots promptly began moving towards the command bridge.
As they fled, the mercenaries began to catch up. Those that were armed fired their laser rifles at the Autobots, who promptly returned fire. Cyberwolves were also in the mob that was chasing them, as well as junk drones. They all had a dead look in their optics, as if they were not controlling their actions.
"Is it just me, or are these guys a bit, what's the word humans have…zombie-like." Breacher said as he fired his plasma blaster.
"Doesn't really matter since I'm pretty sure they would try to kill us either way." Said Depthcharge.
The group were running through a cross section when the floor suddenly caved in. Sea Spray and Breacher were sent plummeting down several levels of the ship. The two yelled until they were caught off by a loud splash.
"Breacher! Sea Spray!" Wheeljack shouted as he turned back to the hole where the floor once was. He was stopped by Depthcharge.
"We can't help them right now. If they landed in the water, then they'll be fine. Right now, we need to get to the bridge!" The sea specialist said as he pulled the inventor along.
(Energon Disperser Chamber)
With the Decepticons, the mechs could hear as the ship's crew were moving about. "Looks like the disperser worked." Mused Smolder.
"What about the Autobots?" Icepick asked his leader.
Oil Slick pressed a few buttons and activated a screen inside the room. An image came up, showing the Autobots running from mercenaries. "Judging by the area they're in, the Autobots are headed towards the command bridge. If we take the route that we came through, we might be able to cut them off."
"Icepick, Over-Turn, Sledge, head out and corner those Autobots. Oil Slick and I will check on the fighters that are still useable." Smolder ordered the three Cons. They nodded and headed off to engage the Autobots.
"Fastest way for us to reach the fighters is to go around on the outer walkways." Oil Slick explained.
"Fine. Undertow will cover us from the water. I don't want to take any chances of the Autobots attacking us on the way there." Smolder answered as the two began making their way towards the hangar.
(Meanwhile…)
Back with the Autobots, said mechs were still running from the mob of mercenaries, dodging lasers as they ran. Trying to help, Daytrader tossed several miscellaneous items from his stash on the floor behind him. Whatever they were, they were quite effective in keeping their pursuers a good distance. Meanwhile, Wheeljack had been trying to contact Breacher and Sea Spray but with no luck.
"How much further?!" Yelled Depthcharge as he fired another proton torpedo.
"Next turn, up ahead!" Roller replied as he fired his plasma cannon. He inwardly grimaced as he watched more bits of the ship fall apart while running.
True enough, the Autobots were greeted to a large sealed door, with two more pathways connecting to theirs. Behind them, the mercenaries were getting closer. "Cover me while I get the door." Roller said as he tried to hotwire the control panels. Depthcharge stood in front of him to cover the smaller mech. Wheeljack brought out his triple-barrel grenade launcher while Daytrader was still shooting his plasma blaster. Mercenaries and cyberwolves fell as the three Autobots fired their weapons, knowing full well that any hesitation would mean instant death.
"I got it!" Roller cried as the door fully opened. The Autobots wasted no time in running inside even as the mercenaries fired at them. Roller quickly sealed the door shut before the attackers could get in. A few seconds later, banging could be heard from outside, forcing Depthcharge to remain guard.
Wheeljack took this moment to look at the command bridge. Like the rest of the ship, it had been damaged from the crash. The captain's chair was missing a portion of it, some of the control panels were inoperable, and finally the see-through magnetic shield was gone, allowing the air from outside to come in. "Well, I worked with worse conditions." Wheeljack muttered as he analyzed one of the panels.
"No time to lounge around. We need to get those sentries active before those mercenaries break through." Roller said before he was suddenly hit by a plasma blast. The force sent the small mech crashing into the wall.
Wheeljack and Daytrader spun around towards the source of the attack. Floating outside the command bridge's window was Windburn. "Smolder! I found the Autobots in the command bridge. They made mention of sentries and-" The Decepticon was cut off when he was hit by a pair of rockets from behind. Windburn was sent crashing into the outer wall of the Axalon before falling into the water below. Coming in from behind Decepticon was a damaged Skyhammer. The flying Autobot transformed and landed in the command bridge.
"Skyhammer!" Wheeljack exclaimed as he ran over towards the injured flyer. "What happened to you?"
"Decepticons…got the drop on me a while ago. Fortunately, they didn't hit anything fatal. Just put me into temporary stasis lock. Came back online a few minutes ago." Skyhammer replied as he tried to get up. Sparks were popping up all over his armor, and signs of damage were visible too.
"Daytrader, help get Skyhammer somewhere safe. I'll check on Roller and we'll begin activating the sentries." Wheeljack ordered the scavenger.
"Ugh, I'm fine. I've been through worse." Grunted Roller as he got up from the floor. He made over towards the panels pressed some buttons. Several images popped up, showing multiple areas of the ship. Many of them had mercenaries moving about, no doubt heading towards the command bridge. Some showed the outside of the ship, giving the Autobots a view of the two remaining Decepticon flyers.
One of them Depthcharge recognized. "Mindwipe." He said. "No wonder the mercenaries are acting like zombies. That Con must be using his hypnosis to control their processors."
"Can we find where Breacher and Sea Spray are?" Wheeljack asked as he joined Roller at the controls.
(With Smolder and Oil Slick)
"Windburn? Windburn, come in!" Smolder said over the coms. When he got no response, the Con growled. "Slag it all. Change of plans, we're going towards the command bridge." Smolder snarled.
"What?!" Oil Slick exclaimed. "What about the fighters? We can't just change directions now."
"Listen to me, deserter." Smolder snarled as he pointed a metal finger at the ex-Con. "Lord Megatron's orders were to reclaim this ship. If those Autobots reactivate those sentries, then we're all slagged. Now get moving before I melt you down." He threatened as he shoved his incinerator cannon at Oil Slick.
That's when the section of the wall in front of them exploded. Flying out was a white, blue, yellow and black stripped Landing Craft Air Cushion, with a blue Cybertronian hanging onto it. Smolder and Oil Slick were knocked onto their afts as the hovercraft hit the water. A loud splash was made as the boat made contact.
"What the slag?!" Exclaimed Smolder as he tried to make out what happened.
Breacher, still riding Sea Spray, began firing at the two Decepticons. Though the two Autobots were just trying to find an exit after crashing through several floors of the Axalon, they couldn't miss this opportunity to take down some Decepticons. Especially after they had managed to get the drop on them.
Smolder managed to take cover behind a support beam, while Oil Slick was forced to move about while shooting back at the same time. "Undertow! Get the slag over here! We got two Autobots firing on us from the waters!" Smolder ordered.
A few seconds later, the Sea specialist Decepticon arrived. Quickly transforming, Undertow had his feet morph into water skis, allowing him to surf through the water while firing his Gatling guns at Breacher and Sea Spray. With the Autobots' attention on him, Smolder and Oil Slick were able to counterattack.
"Breacher, looks like we'll have to use our combo." Sea Spray said as he dodged bullets, photon bolts and cosmic rust beams.
"Copy. Launch me." Breacher replied as he got ready.
After avoiding another cosmic rust projectile, Sea Spray began leading Undertow to follow him, while Breacher pretended to fire back. When Undertow was directly in front of Smolder and Oil Slick did the duo act. Breacher jumped into the air, allowing Sea Spray to transform. The latter activated his wrist mounted machine guns while powering up his turbines. Before the Cons could react, Sea Spray released a powerful gust of wind from the blowback. At the same time, he and Breacher fired their respective weapons. The blowback not only sent Undertow flying right towards Smolder and Oil Slick, but the wind increased the speed of the Autobots' projectiles, tearing through Undertow's body and tore Smolder's right arm off.
The two Autobots watched with satisfaction at their work. Breacher landed on some nearby rocks that stuck out of the water. "Looks like our move worked once again. Not that I'd expect anything-" Breacher's sentence was cut off as he let out a yell of pain. A beam had shot out from the smoke and struck the Autobot through the waist.
"Breacher!" Sea Spray cried as his friend got to one knee. The sea Autobot immediately ran to his side to check his damage. Sea Spray was shocked to see that bits of Breacher's armor was starting to rust.
As the smoke cleared, it revealed Oil Slick with his rifle raised forward. The chemical specialist than morphed his right arm into a grenade launcher. Taking aim, Oil Slick fired three grenades that were obviously filled with more cosmic rust. Sea Spray's optics widened as the projectiles headed right for them. With no other options, he grabbed Breacher and dived into the ocean, diving deeper as quick as he could. The grenades exploded upon contact, covering both the air and water in that area with cosmic rust. Sea Spray just barely avoided the explosion, feeling bits of the rust going against the back of his armor.
Oil Slick vented some air as he retracted his grenade launcher. "If that didn't kill them then it at least injured them severely." He said to himself. Oil Slick turned his attention towards Smolder, who had managed to overcome the pain from losing his arm. "Can you walk?" Oil Slick asked.
"Ugh, yes. I'm still functional." Replied Smolder. He picked up his Incinerator Cannon. "We proceed to the Command Bridge. Stopping the Autobots from reclaiming this ship is vital." He finished as the two continued moving forward.
(Command Bridge)
Wheeljack flinched as another loud bang vibrated against the door. Skyhammer had managed to recover enough to help Depthcharge reinforce the door. Meanwhile, Roller and Wheeljack were working to bring the systems online. Daytrader had thankfully activated the shutters, ensuring that there would be no more surprises from the windows.
"Almost there. Just a few more…" Roller murmured. He opened a panel lid and was working underneath the terminal control.
Wheeljack nodded as he clicked a few buttons. "I still can't get through to Breacher and Sea Spray. I hope they're okay." The inventor commented.
"Wherever they are, they're probably better off than we are." Depthcharge added as he held the door back.
As he kept working, Roller let out a grunt. "Ack, some of these wires and gears are busted. I need new ones."
"I got some on me." Daytrader answered. Reaching into his large pile of miscellaneous items, the scavenger handed several objects to Roller, who quickly took them before ducking back underneath the panel.
It was at that moment the door was smashed open. Depthcharge and Skyhammer were sent sprawling backwards, falling on their rears. Tearing through the remains of the doorway were Icepick, Over-Run and Sledge, with dozens of mercenaries and cyberwolves behind them. They all had their weapons out and armed.
"Scrap!" Wheeljack exclaimed.
Icepick pointed his machine gun at the inventor. "Kill them all!" He ordered.
"Not on my watch!" Daytrader bravely exclaimed. Pulling out several small round devices, the junker threw them at the invaders. The devices immediately attached themselves to the three Cons and several mercs behind them. They soon began beeping, showing a blinking red light that started to speed up. Before anyone could even speak, the devices blew up, rendering the Decepticons and mercenaries into bits of metal. The ones directly behind them were also killed, hit by the flying shrapnel.
The Autobots were all silent, unable to believe what just happened. Finally, Skyhammer broke the silence. "Holy slag…"
Following that, the entire command bridge began to light up as the power finally came online. Screens flashed multiple images, both inside and outside the Axalon. The sound of the ship coming to life surrounded them. "The ship is alive!" Roller exclaimed as he crawled out. "Wheeljack!"
"Right!" Wheeljack replied. Looking over the control panels, he gave a rundown. "All systems are active! Including the sentry turrets. Activating them…now!"
In that second, all the turrets came to life around the ship. Before the hundreds of other mercenaries, junkbots and cyberwolves could even react, they were gunned down by the security guns. None of them stood a chance as they were cut apart exactly where they stood. Smolder and Oil Slick fared no better, the former was completely shot to pieces while Oil Slick was sent falling down a nearby shoot. Outside, Mindwipe and Darkstream flew overhead and watched the event take place.
:No!: Darkstream cried. He had already seen Windburn and Undertow killed and was now watching as the rest of his team was slaughtered. :Curse them to the Pit. I'll slaughter those Autobots!:
:You shall do no such thing, Darkstream: Mindwipe said. :The mission is failure. We must return and report this to Lord Megatron.:
:No! I won't let the squad's reputation be destroyed! If you hadn't-: Darkstream's ranting was cut off when Mindwipe, who had been flying behind him all this time, fired two well placed rockets at his fellow Con. The projectiles struck Darkstream right on, destroying his thrusters and sending the Con spiraling towards the water as a smoking heap. With that done, Mindwipe turned around and headed back to England.
Back with the Autobots, the mechs felt their joints finally relax as the immediate danger had passed. Though they came back to focus that there were other tasks to follow through with. "Okay, that's enough lounging around. Wheeljack, help me do a system check. We don't know how much is damaged and if this thing is even flight worthy." Roller ordered.
"Got it" Wheeljack replied as the two got to work.
"I'm going to go and look for Breacher and Sea Spray." Said Depthcharge. The large sea specialist immediately hurried out the door.
"I think I felt the ship move a little." Skyhammer noted as he stood up, leaning on the wall for support. He was still slightly injured from Darkstream's surprise attack. "We must have dislodged from the island and begun floating across the water."
"In that case I'll see where we are right now." Wheeljack said as he pressed a few buttons. A screen popped up, showing their current location. "Oh, we're only a 100 mile out from Havana, Cuba. Might as well let Camshaft and the others know the good news."
And there is chapter 10! Be sure to leave a review of what you think. Next chapter will be featuring Cade and the others diving underwater, as well as Wingblade arriving to the Autobot's Forward Base.