Chapter 2

Optronix reached the base of the communications tower and transformed back into robot mode even before he'd come to a complete stop. Then he began to climb the tall, thin structure, calling out to Ricochet. "There's a manual override at the top – I'm going to try to activate it."

The sharpshooter, having also transformed back to robot mode, stared up after the red, blue and white cadet before proceeding to follow his lead. "Oh, I get it. You're going to try to get the drones' attention by jamming their internal com frequency?" he shouted back. "I gotta admit, that's clever."

After a long pause, Optronix responded, raising his voice slightly so he could be heard by his companion below him. "I don't know if it will work, Ricochet, but I think it will be worth a try."

They continued to scale the tall structure, and a minute later they reached the top. The view from that height offered them a breathtaking panorama of Iacon and all its densely packed buildings, and they paused for a few moments to take in the sight.

Then Ricochet walked a short distance along the thin, circular walkway that surrounded the tall central antenna, and kneeled down to open the cover on the control bank. Flicking a couple of switches, he input a security code and then began to carefully adjust a tuning dial until he could pick up interference on his own internal com link, originating from the antenna that was looming directly above them. "Well, that ought to do it," he said, standing up and turning to his Autobot companion. With luck, the interference signal that was now being broadcast from the large antenna would disrupt the drones' inter-communications just as it did their own, to the point that they would begin to move directly away from the Command Center in their attempt to try and follow the source.

Optronix nodded affirmatively. "It is an inconvenience, albeit a temporary one." The interference caused by the antenna would affect all mechs within its broadcast range.

"Hope it works," Ricochet said, as he looked out across the skyline.

They watched as the circle of drones that surrounded the Command Center down below began to move and break up, slowly at first but then with more determination.

"We can only hope," Optronix replied.

Jazz could see the entire city of Iacon Central and its surrounding suburbs sprawled out below as he looked out from Astrotrain's flight deck. The drones had formed a wide circle around the Command Center, and he could make out a group of Autobots as they attempted to find a path through the blockade of drones. However, they were vastly outnumbered by the enemy army.

He tried to contact the command post once again, but his signal continued to be completely unresponsive, and he shook his head in dismay, just as Astrotrain spoke up.

"I'm picking up some sort of interference."

"As am I," Starscream said, corroborating his report.

"Me, too," Dirge added, as Skywarp and Thundercracker both nodded in acknowledgement.

Jazz looked at them all in turn, and then peered back out towards the ground below. Unlike the others, he did not detect anything unusual and decided that the fault was definitely with his own internal receiver. "Nope; I'm getting nothing. Must be the damage I took from the drones…" He trailed off, and focused in on something unusual happening toward the east, atop the communications tower. "Hey, look – the interference you're all picking up must be coming from over there," he said, pointing.

Starscream walked over to stand beside him, following his indication. He studied the happening in central Iacon below for several long moments, watching as the drones that circled the Command Center began to gradually break up their formation and head towards the communications tower. He could just make out the distinct figures of two Autobots standing at the top of the structure, right at the base of the large antenna that pierced the sky. "Hm, looks like someone is creating a decoy to lure the drones away."

"Sure looks that way, doesn't it?" Jazz affirmed.

Megatron and the others walked over to the front view screen, and took a few moments to evaluate the situation. It was the first time that he had seen the army of drones for himself. "Such mindless creatures."

They all continued to watch with interest as the mass of drones now made its way steadily towards the communications tower, abandoning – at least temporarily – Iacon's command post as their immediate target. In their wake, the team of Autobots that had previously been unable to get past the drones successfully reached the Command Center.

"Astrotrain, take us down," Megatron finally said, and the triple changer immediately began his descent towards the Autobots' command post.

As Ricochet and Optronix watched the drone army below steadily approaching their tower, they were alerted to some sort of aircraft in the sky heading towards the Command Center to the west. They watched quietly as it began to descend, until it stopped above the command post, hovering. They could see that Prowl and the rest of the Autobots had managed to reach the command post, and were gathered directly in front of it.

"That a Destron craft?" Ricochet queried, glancing over at his companion.

Optronix gazed out at the stationary craft in the sky, and slowly shook his head. "I can't say. It may be unwanted company."

"Well, there's nothing we can do about it right now. We might soon have a bigger problem," the sharpshooter replied, diverting his attention back down towards the base of the communications tower. The first few drones had reached the foot of the building, and were now beginning to climb their way up. He quickly reached across to the control bank and deactivated the antenna, but to his dismay the drones continued unrelenting on their new, single-minded purpose to reach them. "It's not stopping them. Any ideas?" he asked.

Optronix crouched low to peer down at the ground, and then quietly sat back to lean against the antenna support. "We have done all we can. Once Prowl has secured the command post, he may be able to send help our way."

As more and more drones gained a foothold on the vertical beams around the base of the tower, pulling themselves up with a steady, depraved purpose, Ricochet tried to take his mind off the idea of their imminent demise at the hands of these aberrant, senseless creatures. "I sure hope so," he said at last, shaking his head, and then sat down beside Optronix as they both kept their optics on the activity near the command post in the distance, watching as the unfamiliar shuttle landed.

Astrotrain came down to land a short distance away from the Autobots, and was greeted by several weapons pointed in his direction. There was much commotion as cries of threats and warnings could clearly be heard. Jazz recognized Sentinel Prime's personal advisor in charge of the group of Autobots, but the Prime himself was nowhere to be seen.

"I'll talk to them first, see if I can't explain the situation to them," Jazz said to his unlikely company of Decepticons, and Astrotrain responded by opening his side hatch to let him out.

As soon as Jazz appeared at the opening, the Autobots fell quiet, watching him in puzzlement. Jazz ignored them and slowly walked over to Prowl, his limp obvious for all to see. Then he turned around to face the gathered Autobots, waving for them to put their weapons away. "They're not your enemy; they've come to help."

Prowl watched as Megatron and the other Decepticons exited Astrotrain, and slowly lowered his weapon. He was well aware of who Megatron was – Sentinel's former military advisor – but also of the Prime's distinct order to prohibit any Destron from entering Iacon; however, given the current emergency situation he decided to ignore Sentinel's decree – at least for the time being. He nodded to the other Autobots to follow Jazz's advice and lower their weapons as the Decepticons began to make their way towards him. Only Astrotrain remained where he was.

Megatron was the first of the two to speak, looking out towards the communications tower where a number of Deluge's drones could be seen scaling the tall, slender building. "I see that you have managed to redirect the drones, but it will not be long before they return." Prowl acknowledged his assessment of the situation and followed his gaze. He could see the small figures of two Autobots stranded at the top of the tower.

"Optronix," Prowl said in realization, and then turned his attention to one of the senior ranking Autobots behind him, who had called out to him.

"The med bay's already at full capacity – we're not sure how many more are out there." It was Ironhide, the predominately red Autobot. Behind them, many Autobots were rushing to and fro as they proceeded to implement lock-down procedure to secure the post.

"Gripper was with me, but he's probably found his way back all right along with the other laggers. Didn't see anyone else out there," Jazz reported.

Ironhide took one look at Jazz and shook his head. "I think we have room for one more."

Jazz looked down at his injury and shrugged. "Heh. I'll be all right. Just got into a little scuffle with them things, is all," he said, indicating with a nod of his head in the direction of the drones.

Another Autobot took Jazz by the elbow and began to lead him inside the Command Center. "You're going to be all right because I'm going to make sure of it." He appeared to be a medical officer; he was predominately white in color and shared a similar robot design with Ironhide.

Once the two of them had disappeared inside the command post, Prowl glanced back towards the drones in the distance – more than half of them seemed to now be making their way back towards them, just as Megatron had predicted, while the remainder continued to relentlessly climb the tower. "We don't have much time. Let's get inside." He waved at all the Autobots, signalling for them to proceed inside the Command Center where they could escape from the advancing drones – a handful of them had already begun to reappear in the street behind them. "Alright, lock it down! Let's go, everybody! Come on, hurry!" Prowl shouted, sprinting towards the wide entrance of the command post.

The small group of Decepticons were now largely ignored by the Autobots, as they stood amidst the frantic rush of activity triggered by the advancing Nemesis Army. Unlike the Autobots, however, they were not restricted to travel by road and could make a quick escape if need be.

The commotion around them gradually began to subside as the Autobots took shelter inside the command post. Prowl was the last one still outside, and he looked over at the Decepticons, motioning for them to follow him. "It won't be safe out here."

Starscream watched the approaching drones and flinched at the sight of them – a frightening mass of barely sentient mechanoids. "Well?" he asked simply, turning to Megatron.

The Decepticon leader looked back at the triple changer behind them, still in shuttle mode. "Astrotrain, secure one of those drones for Shockwave and return to base."

As soon as the order was given, the purple and grey Decepticon lifted off the ground and hovered briefly in the air before circling around and changing direction, preparing to carry out Megatron's instructions. "No problem. One living specimen coming right up," he said, before shooting off towards the communications tower.

"Let's go," Megatron said to the remaining Decepticons, once Astrotrain had disappeared beyond the nearest structures, and strode towards the command post. The others followed after him and, once they were all inside, Prowl looked out one last time before sealing the doors closed, the sight of the mindless horde lurching ever closer towards them sending shivers down his linkage.