Diamond Lake, Earth
Daniel sighed and looked up at the red and flame-bedecked mech sitting next to him. "Boy, the fish are really jumpin today, huh, Dan-o?"
Out in the lake, a fish jumped out of the water briefly, as though completely ignoring the bait set out for it.
"Yeah, I guess so." Daniel mumbled.
"Hey, what's the matter?" HotRod asked.
"Oh nothing, I guess I miss my dad is all." the 12 year old set his head on his hand and looked out over the lake. The blue sky was clear, and the sun was shining, and there was only a puffy cloud here and there. He looked up at the sky, wishing he could see his dad so far away, but knew he couldn't. He'd been gone for so long. He hadn't even called. Yeah, Daniel and his mom were here, and Spike had called last week, but when was his dad gonna come see him?
"Hey, don't worry. Spike'll be back soon. Whoa! Hey!" HotRod reeled in the fish and smiled. "I caught something!"
"Wow! it's huge!" the auburn-haired boy looked up at the giant fish, which was the size of HotRod's finger, but that was still very large.
"Yep, it's a whopper alright!" THe mech nodded, smiling at the fish.
something beeped, and Daniel pulled out a GPS locator, with a blinking dot on it.
"Hot Rod, the shuttle's coming! let's watch it land!" Daniel hopped up, heading to where he'd left his hoverboard, something he'd gotten for Christmas the previous year. He barely heard Hot rod in the background as he hopped on it and hit the ignition button.
"Talk about dull, Daniel." HotRod snorted, throwing the fish back into the lake. He ran up the slightly sloped hill after the boy.
"C'mon, hurry, or we'll miss it!" the boy yelled as he ran for his board and started the engines, making the board go sideways at the abrupt start. He hadn't gotten the hang of it yet, but was trying. He shot off down the pathway, swerving to miss one bit of rock, and deciding to take the shorter route, ramped over a small shrub. He didn't see the rock on the other side untill it was too late.
Hot Rod caught him, and transformed. "If you're gonna ride, Danno, ride in style"
He peeked out of the windshield as Hot Rod made his way up the winding mountain path.
They reached a clearing in the treees that lined the road.
"Hey, let's stop here!" Daniel suggested.
"Why bother for a peek when you can see it all from atop 'Lookout Moutain'?" Hot Rod asked, kicking it into high gear. He rammed past Kup and the other Autobots before heading up the mountain.
Kup, Cable, and Ty were in the process of putting up a road barracade. There had been some falling rock that had blocked the roadway a few miles ahead, on the other side of the lookout mountain, and Grapple and Hoist were working on removing the rock, but he wanted to keep motorists off that stretch of road.
He glanced up just in time to see a bright red flame- bedecked vehicle barreling down the road towards him. "Look out!" Ty tackled the smaller yellow mech, Cable, out of the way. Kup took a step back as Hot Rod crashed through the sign, narrowly missing the older dark blue mech. "Turbo-revvin young punk! i'll straighten you out yet!" Kup yelled, waving his fist angrily. Cable looked at the retreating car, wide-eyed. Hed nearly become road kill, as he might put it.
"Who the heck was that?" he asked. Ty let go and unwrapped her arms from around the short yellow car. "I believe his name is Hot Rod." she answered."Sir, would you like any help chasing him down?"
Kup sighed. "No, Ty, just go back to the city and get another sign. I'll deal with the youngster." the mech transformed and revved his engine, speeding after Hot Rod.
Ty looked down at Cable. "Well, let's go." she Transformed. "Aww, man. Does this mean we're gonna have to lug another one of those things down here and listen to him for another two hours?" he groused, picking up the peices and throwing them into her truck bed.
-----------------------
Lookout Mountain, Earth
Hot rod reached the lookout point, and skidded sideways before letting Daniel out and Transforming. Daniel went over to one of the viewers, and zoomed in on the shuttle. "Hot Rod, look! there's a hole in the shuttle!" he exclaimed!
"What?" Hot Rod got a closer look. "Decepticon!" He opened fire on the shuttle, stepping away from Daniel.
Starscream jumped as the weaponblast hit him in the shoulder, knocking him clear off his feet. He stood back up, shaking his head to get rid of the dizziness.
"Decepticons, attack!" Megatron bellowed. The Decepticons fled the crashing shuttle, just as another laserbolt pierced the rear engines, sending the systems into overload, and the back of the shuttle started to explode. Starscream swung down low, and headed for the city.
Meanwhile, a pair of vehicles, one black chevy Blazer with teal sidestripes named Ty, and a yellow Ford Festiva named Cable were on their way back to the city.
"Hey, Ty, did you just hear something?" Cable asked. The Blazer slowed down to listen. "those sounded liek jet engines." she noted. Just then, Starscream came streaking overhead. "That was Starscream!" Cable exclaimed. Ty sped up slightly, and Cable tuned in to the Autobots' communication frequency. His optics widened, even though it couldn't be seen in vehicle mode. "Autobot city is under attack!" He sped up and zoomed around Ty, who sped up also. "So, what are we going to do? the two of us can't stop them alone." Ty reasoned. "You're right. But we still have to get back to the city, or we'll be caught outside by the invasion force." Cable sounded. The two sped up more, but were cut off by a streak of laserfire.
Thundercracker and Skywarp laughed as they fired at the mechs. They did a backflip and continued. "Die, Autobots!"
-------------------
Autobot City
Meanwhile, inside the city, Wheeljack, Alpha, and a few others had been playing poker, and were perfectly unaware of the mayhem about to descend on their city.
Sideswipe grinned and took another shot of high-grade.
Alpha dealt the cards and then placed her bet before taking a shot of high-grade. "Well, boys? Whatcha got?" She asked after everything had been dealt, and the river flipped.
Wheeljack smirked. "Two fives."
Sideswipe put his down. One king, one jack, a two and a four.
Hammertread growled and laid his hand down. a three, four, six, and eight. He grumbled under his breath.
Alpha grinned and put down two tens and two jacks. "Two pair." She smiled, taking the chips. "I win again."
Wheeljack cursed.
Alpha grinned. She stuck out her tongue.
HT grumbled again, taking another shot.
Sideswipe just grinned. "That's okay, I'll getchya next time." he smiled confidently.
"Says you." HT rumbled. "She taught us this terran game. For all we know she could have told us wrong..." he glanced at Alpha deciding not to answer that sentence aloud.
"So she could win.." was the other end of it, but he thought "Nah. she's too goody-goody Autobot to cheat." he thought, glancing at the femme out of the corner of his optic again. "Who's deal is it?" he asked.
Alpha glared. "I heard that, HT." She said, but then sighed. "Whatever. My deal." She took the cards and then delt it to the others. "Alright. IT's..." She glanced at the mech next to her, "Wheeljack's blind bet."
---------------------------
The forest, ten miles southeast of Autobot City
Ty swerved, but not quickly enough. skywarp's blast hit her front driver's side tire. The blazer swerved sharply, and flipped sideways. "Ty!" Cable transformed and pulled out his gun, firing desperately at the two seekers. "I knew it was gonna end this way." he whined. "This isn't fair!" he glanced at the overturned vehicle. "Ty?" he squeaked. "Ty, wake up!"
Skywarp laughed and then fired at them again, but Hound fired back and caught the mech. He kicked at him and then got to Ty. He turned her over and fired at TC. "Get her out of here!"
Cable glanced at Ty, then back at Hound. "How? she's three times as big as me?" he glanced back and forth a couple more times, giving the impression of a chiuwawa at a cat show.
Skywarp swooped down, and Cable ducked, eeping again.
"Just get her in the back of my alt.mode." Hound replied. Cable grabbed Ty and helped maneuver her so when Hound transformed, the femme would be in the back of his jeep mode. He fired at Skywarp, then transformed. "C'mon! Just follow me!" He yelled, heading towards the Autobot City.
Thundercracker swung down after Skywarp, and fired a couple shots right at Hound. Cable fired back and missed.
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Eastern hills, five miles outside Autobot City
On the Eastern side of the city, Gunlock and Beacon had gone for their flight patrol, and Cap, Terra and Driveby were under them, speeding along the ground.
Terra flew as fast as her bat wings would carry her as she did a quick barrel roll, enjoying the feeling of the wind on her wings.
--------------------------------------
Meanwhile, at Autobot city, the alarm went off.
Alpha jumped to her feet and quickly ran over to the computer. She typed in a comand and gasped suddenly, her spark dropping in her chest. On one screen showed the battle, but the other... the Autobot shuttle, half-buried in the nearby lake, and sending flames high into the air, leaving a thick black trail of smoke against the blue-white sky. Tears for her lost comrades welled up in the femme's emerald optics as she glanced over the carnage. "No..."
The Autobots had seen the shuttle go down, but they couldn't get to it just yet. They had to deal with the Decepticons first.
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The forest, ten miles southeast of Autobot City
Skywarp landed a lucky shot, popping one of Hound's tires. Cable transformed at the same time as Hound did, firing back. He would have been shooting at the jet the entire time, but Hound couldn't carry them both in robot mode. Hound continued to make his way towards the city, carrying Ty, as he managed to dodge the shots. He fired at Skywarp, who now blocked his path, and ran even faster.
Skywarp teleported in front of the group, and fired at Hound, knocking him off his feet. Cable fired off a shot, then tried to duck behind a nearby tree, which promptly got blown to smithereens. Before they could fire back again, Driveby and Cap roared over the hill nearby and transformed, Gunlock and Beacon swooping in after them. Cap glanced up at Terra. "Get back to Autobot city. Now"
Then more Decepticons showed up. -
Meanwhile, back at Autobot city, Ultra Magnus commed Alpha. "Alpha, get to the med bay, Firstaid is probably going to need help. Wheeljack, I need your mega-cannon operational. You have fifteen minutes to get it up and running, or this city is in big trouoble.
Wheeljack glanced over at the others. That catapult-rocket launcher hadn't been operational in months. Last time he'd tried it, it had misfired and wound up blowing a rather large hole in the side of the tech building. "I'm gonna need some help." he muttered. "I'll come with you." windcharger offered.
---------
a few miles West of Autobot City
Meanwhile, a few miles away, Kup and Hot rod were still trying to outrun the Decepticons, and get back to the city in one peice.
---------
Autobot City
Alpha looked away from the screen and shut it off. "Coming, Ultra Magnus." She said into her comm. She quickly changed channels. "Kit, listen to me. Whatever you do, stay inside."
But, mom, I can-
"Stay!" Alpha yelled as she ran towards the med bay.
Kit went quiet.
Alpha wiped her optics as she made it to the med bay; the femme had been crying. Why? She wondered, "Why did they have to die?" The femme whispered and then glanced around before looking at First Aid, "Ah'm here."
------------------------
The forest, ten miles southeast of Autobot City
Hound cursed and fell flat on his face. He looked around for help; where were the others?
Terra looked at him. "I can fight!" She yelped as she dodged. "And I don't really have a choice...
"Terra." Cap grabbed her by the wrist, and swung her back around to face him. "Listen to me. Get back to the city. I'll radio the others and see if they can meet up with you on the way there. I don't want you out here." he looked over at where his comrades were in the air, dodging and swerving to keep Skywarp and Thundercracker from getting a weapons lock on them. "I don't want you out here." He looked back at her. "I don't want anything to happen to you, okay?"
Terra looked at him and then, seeing the look in his optics, nodded. "Alright..." She fired at the Decepticons, letting out a powerful bat echo screech as she did so, and then flew towards the base.
-------------
a few hundred meters away..
Driveby fired at the other Decepticons, knowing she still couldn't get to where Hound and Ty were trying to get to some kind of cover, a rocky rut in the ground nearby. But the Decepticons between them were making it hard.
Hound managed to get to the hiding spot and started to fire, protecting Ty. He growled and fired at Megatron, though the mech wasn't fazed. Megatron simply ignored him, and continued flying towards the city.
Ty's optics lit, and the femme rubbed her face. "What happened?" Cable looked at her. "We have to get to the city and warn them!" Driveby glanced over at them and nodded. "Cable glanced over at Ty. "Can you drive?" he asked. "Yeah." she replied. She was still slightly dizzy, but this was Autobot City they were talking about. They had to get there, and warn their friends before the Decepticons reached them. The Blazer transformed, and Cable jumped into her truck bed. Ty revved her engine and took off, Decepticon weaponfire echoing all around them. Cable fired off a few shots from her truck bed.
----------------------------
Autobot City
Outside the city, Perceptor transformed to his microscope/telescope mode and counted the number of Decepticons flying towards them. Megatron was leading the group, even though the constructicons had stayed behind to deal with the group outside the city. He transformed as Ultra Magnus pulled up.
"Ultra Magnus, a consumate evaluation of Decepticon capability indicates a distinct tactical deficiency"
"In other words, Perceptor." the city commanded half- sighed. Sprimger finished for him. "We're outnumbered." He fired off a shot at Starscream as he flew past, and Starscream fired back. The group had to dive out of the way as his blast hit where thay had been standing.
"Springer!" Ultra Magnus said. "You and Arcee transform Autobot City! Preceptor! Go tell Blaster to radio Prime for reenforcements!"
"absolutelypositivelydefinitelynobodycangetthejobdonefasterthanmenobodynobodynobody!" the blue hovercar transformed and zoomed away.
Wheeljack opened one of the panels on the catapult-canon, and started to work. "We have to get this operational." he looked over the mess of wires inside. "now, if only I could figure out what..." he said slowly. "Aha!" he started to reconnect wires, stripping and splicing. He turned to Windcharger. "Try it again." the minispy hit a button, and the machine started to power up. There was a clunk and a whir, and it went dead again. "Slag!"
Alpha growled, looking around. She saw the battle outside. "I've gotta help them!" She said, looking at First Aid. "I can't sit here!"
the ambulance glanced at her. "I know you wish you could help them, but Magnus gave you an order. And the best way you can help them is here."
Hammertread ran down the corridor to meet up with the other frontliners. If the Decepticons got through the gates, it would be their job to defend the fortress. He double-checked his ammunition levels and puled out his shotgun.
-----------------------------
Inside the City
"C'mon, Arcee, let's go!" Springer said, pulling the femme.
"But Kup and HotRod are still outside the city!" Arcee said.
"We can't wait. They'll have to take care of themselves. Come on." Springer grabbed her hand and pulled her away, towards the controls. The two ran over to the external transformation controls, and Springer jumped the stairs. The two activated the controls, and headed for the next set. There were five main transformation controls, and Springer just hoped they could reach all of them in time.
They ran down the main plank as it transformed, folding in on itself, and up onto the cover plate that slid over it. Starscream swung down behind them.
"Pathatic fools!! There is no escape!!" Starscream yelled, flying down. He saw the two go through and transformed, but the doors closed on him. He flew up and...almost made it out. His foot was stuck. Sucking it in, Starscream fired and screamed, flying upwards, "Oh my foot!!"
Springer and Arcee reached the second set of controls, the tower controls, and the city started to shift and fold. Towers split in half and folded back to reveal huge plasma guns, and blast doors slid into place over all the external entrances on that part of the city.
--------------
Autobot City Repairbay
Alpha shook her head. "No! He's not Prime...I don't have to...how can I help them best here?" She turned to him, "I mean...the only people we can help are-" She choked back a sob, "Are dead and many more could die out there!" She pointed to the screen that showed the battle.
Firstaid glanced at the vidscreen. She was right, but he needed help here. His mentor wasn't here to help... he could only guess what had happened to the shuttle.. and he knew he was about to have a full repairbay. He just sighed, rubbing one hand across his face.
Alpha glared at Firstaid. "I need to be out there, Firstaid, please." She begged, her voice soft. She looked at the vidscreen. "Please."
FirstAid looked over at her. "I can't tell you to disobey an order. But if you do decide to, that's your own choice."
"Thank you." Alpha said before running as fast as her legs would carry her towards the battle. She ran towards where Wheeljack and Windcharger were and checked on them first. "Anything?" She asked the two.
Wheeljack looked up. "not yet... We can't seem to get the secondary power converter online. I think it's a crossed wire or something. The circuit box is over there." he pointed to a small console across the room.
The young medic sighed and watched her leave."I just hope I can handle things on my own." Firstaid shook his head, and glanced at the vid screen.
----------------------------
The hills southeast of Autobot City, 10 miles out
Meanwhile, out in the desert, The constructicons had the group pinned down with laserfire, and Beacon stuck his head out from around a boulder. A blast pinged off the edge of the rock a matter of inches from his face, and he ducked back. "Come out, Autobots. We promise we'll make your death quick." Scrapper called, firing off another shot. Driveby glared at him through the rock.
From a few yards away, Cap glanced over at her from his spot. Gunlock was between them in the ditch, trying to get a sight on any one of their enemies. He glanced at Driveby, as the others did. She frowned, and leaned around her rock to fire off a row of shots at the constructicons, who ducked back behind their tree and bushes cover. Scrapper took a shot at Beacon as Bonecrusher fired at Cap and Driveby.
"We're gonna need some help." Driveby hit her comm. "Driveby to Autobot city, do you read me?" all she got was some static, and a flurry of voices in-between.
She fired off another shot.
-----------------------------
the forest south of Autobot City, 9.5 miles out
Ty skidded to a halt, throwing Cable against the back of her cab. "What the..." the yellow car looked over the top of the truck to see the insecticons blocking the road. "Uh-oh." he sounded. "Uh-oh is right, right." One of them echoed. He pulled out his gun and fired off a row of shots, as Ty transformed and picked up Cable, ducking behind a tree all in one fell swoop. Cable looked at the Blazer with saucer optics. she pulled out her gun and fired off a row of shots back.
While Shrapnel and Kickback had her distracted, Bombshell snuck around the other side. Cable saw him and snapped of a shot. Ty turned, also. "Nighty-night, auto-bot." bombshell fired a cerebroshell at her... Cable knew they were surrounded, and ducked behind a nearby tree away from bombshell. He peeked around after a minute to see the trio standing together over the femme, but they were looking at him. And grinning.
"Now then. You will shoot your friend." bomshell directed.
The minispy felt his fuel pump drop when Ty turned around and aimed at him. She raised her gun, but her face read "Help me"
The Insecticons simply watched, they didn't even bother to shoot at him.
"Ty don't!" Cable cried. The first shot missed and hit the tree, and the car ducked to avoid the trunk, the green branches coveruing him, for now. He aimed back, wishing someone would come to their rescue.
"Don't make me do this, please!" he whimpered. But another shot hit him in the arm, and set the tree on fire. Cable bit back a whimper and popped up, firing two shots. Both hit their mark, and Ty fell, unmoving.
The Insecticons let off a volley of weaponfire at Cable, who had no place to hide...
------------------------------
Autobot City
Blaster had allready radioed the rest of the autobots around the planet, and the armies allied with the United States. Unfortunately, the only response that they got was that they would have to "weigh their options before taking such a risk"...
Hammertread grinned from the roof of the commons building and sighted Blitzwing. He fired, and the triple-changer grunted as the armor-piercing round penetrated his outer armor. The double-chamber bullet compacted, oozing an acid that started to eat away at the purple tank-jet's armor, and he didn't even know it.
He looked through his scope for another Decepticon...
-----------------------------------
the forest south of Autobot City, 9.5 miles out
Kup and HotRod came just in time and drove strait towards the Instections...
The trio of insecticons saw them coming, and fired at them. "Let's go." kickback leapt into the air, leaving the two smoldering body-shells and Autobot rescuers, the pine tree burning brightly in the dimming evening sun.
-----------------------------------
The forest, ten miles southeast of Autobot City
Threee of the constructicons circled around behind the group, and started to advance. The three Marauders saw them, and Drivby fired first. The six constructicons converged on the group, firing from all sides.
Suddenly, there was a series of flashes and explosions, and two shots hit Mixmaster and Scrapper in the backs.
"Toldya I neva miss!" came the yell
"Yeah, but we still got foah moah!" came the female answer. Two more shots rang out, sending the constructicons scrambling back to their cover.
"Not fuh long!" a laserbolt pinged off the rock beside Longhaul's head. A pair of figures ran up, ducking down beside Driveby.
"we got yah message." the cherry-red corvette said.
"We thought we'd come 'ave some fun too." The blue one added.
Klutch grinned over to Indy, who was beside Gunlock and Cap.