Chapter 2
Once the Autobots had checked to make sure there were no more Destrons close by, Jazz stepped outside the storage bay and looked about. "Well, there's no sign of those things anywhere," he informed the others, referring to the drones.
Prowl walked up to stand beside him. "Maybe not, but they aren't our only problem." Then, before he could recommend their next course of action, Ironhide made his way over to the two Autobots, his fists clenched into tight balls, ready for revenge.
"What are we all standing around here for? I say we go and show that bucket-of-slime Straxus what we Autobots are made of," the red Autobot proclaimed, angry. "Kick his rusty can all the way back to Polyhex!" The other Autobots all voiced their support.
Their medical officer joined the trio, adding his input as Prowl considered their situation. "We've got to try and take back the Command Center. It's our only chance."
Behind him, Trailbreaker nodded his agreement. "Ratchet's right. We can defeat Straxus… with the Decepticons' help," he said as he looked over his shoulder, indicating towards the small company nearby.
"Agreed," Prowl responded. "Though, we'll still need to deal with the drone army, somehow."
Megatron, having overheard, spoke up. "I've already sent reinforcements to Iacon. The drone army will be taken care of once Straxus has been dealt with."
Prowl looked back at the Decepticons, and then at his fellow Autobots. "All right, then. Let's take back Iacon," he said, and began to lead the way out along the road back to the Command Center.
During the short but intense battle that had taken place earlier between the Autobots and Straxus' forces, Skyfire had been shot out of the sky by three flight capable Destrons. He'd crashed a short distance away from the Command Center, and had remained where he'd fallen, smoking from his engines and rendered temporarily offline.
Once his automated self repair mechanisms had had enough time to do their job, he slowly came back online. He realized he was still in his alternate mode – a modified Valkyrie super jet with superior capability and weapons systems, and undoubtedly a highly valuable asset to the Autobot army – and transformed back into robot mode. It would take more than a few torpedoes and a stream of laser blasts to permanently deactivate him.
He staggered to an upright position, one hand holding onto a railing to steady himself, and looked around for Straxus' guards, including any encroaching drones. There were none in sight; however he could clearly make out the sounds of what he thought was a large number of foot soldiers marching together in unison. Cautiously, he began to walk towards the sounds, which seemed to be coming from just around the corner, and then stopped short. A full view of the street that led to the nearest city square opened up before him, and he could clearly see the cause of his concern.
He could not imagine how or why, but it looked as though the entire drone army was marching towards the communications tower, which loomed in front of him only a short distance away; its tall, thin spire reaching up towards the expanse of a clear, mauve sky. A larger, lone figure appeared to be leading the entire army of drones, though he did not recognize the mech.
The moving horde was a frightful sight, and in that moment he was relieved that he had not been spotted by them or, if they were aware of his presence, seemed to show no interest in him. But the thought was quickly replaced by a darker one, as he realized what might have happened.
If the Autobots had been defeated by Straxus and his armies and Iacon had been taken, then Cybertron and all of its inhabitants were in immediate danger. Without the strength and numbers of the Autobot army, there would be no one to stop the Destron war lord from unleashing mayhem and plundering the planet's resources until there was nothing left.
"What's happening?" A deep, concerned voice materialized from somewhere behind him to his right, and he realized it was the hot shot espionage specialist Mirage; due to his special ability to become invisible and then reappear at will, he often turned up in unexpected places, often at others' annoyance and displeasure.
Skyfire shook his head, unsure of the answer, though he was glad that at least one other Autobot had survived the battle against Straxus. "I don't know, but I'm going to try and get a closer look," he said finally.
Mirage nodded in acknowledgement and started after the larger jet-former as they both began to follow the Nemesis Army, keeping out of sight as best they could.
Hot Rod watched the form of the mech that used to be Optronix, and his demented army, march eastward on an unknown mission, before turning to his fellow Autobots, distraught. "Well, we can't just let Optronix go like that! He risked his own life to save ours – we've got to find a way to help him!"
Skids, Pipes, and Sureshot looked back at him in confusion and defeat, while Ricochet, Guzzle and Kup stood quietly by, watching as Blaster and several others began to offer their assistance to the injured. Yet others lay motionless on the ground, as Magnus did. Though Straxus' guards had fled and the Autobots were no longer being held hostage, there was no time to relocate those who had been killed.
Kup took charge, speaking up. Of all the Autobots present, he was the highest ranking. "There's nothing we can do for him, lad. We've got to find the others first." He glanced behind him at the ruined Command Center. "In case Straxus returns."
But the brash cadet would not give up on his friend so easily. "Let me go after him – if I can at least find out where he's going–"
"No," Kup reaffirmed. "It's too dangerous. We'll wait for the others. They're bound to come back looking for us."
"That's if they're even still alive out there!" Hot Rod contended. "For all we know, we could be the Autobots' last chance!" He was obviously grieved by what had happened to Magnus and now Optronix, and wanted to do something, anything, to make things right again.
Blaster walked up to him, placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Hey – we'll find a way to get Optronix back. But Kup's right – you can't confront him on your own."
Hot Rod sighed, hesitated. "I just… want to do something to help, you know?"
"I know. We all do," Blaster replied softly, though he was at a loss to know what else to tell him.
Kup continued speaking to the others, ignoring the cadet. "I'm going to try and get in contact with Sentinel from the comms center. In the meantime, let's get all the injured to the med bay."
As he approached, Prowl could see a small group of Autobots gathered outside the Command Center and, when he realized that neither Straxus, nor his armies, were anywhere in sight, he increased his pace until he was sprinting towards them. He and the Autobots who accompanied him were immediately greeted with expressions of relief and elation, while the small party of Decepticons who had arrived with them spoke little and kept their distance.
"Good to see you're all okay. What happened?" Ricochet asked, running up to Prowl, Ironhide, Jazz and Trailbreaker.
"One of Straxus' little raiding parties came looking for us, and let's just say they got a whole lot more than they bargained for," Ironhide replied, and then paused for a moment. "We thought you might need a hand dealing with the Mighty One himself, but it looks like the party's already over," he commented, looking around at the non-functional drones that lay strewn about them.
Prowl stepped forward, taking note of the wounded Autobots being carried into the command post, and the damage the Center had sustained. "Where is Straxus and the drone army?"
"Ah, well, Straxus and his loyal followers kind of took off…" Ricochet started to explain.
Prowl's gaze settled upon the experienced sharpshooter, his expression one of confusion. "Took off?"
"Well – turned tail, to be exact," Ricochet offered. "After what happened with Optronix – I mean, Nemesis Prime–" He stopped short, the look of puzzlement on Prowl's face not helping matters. In all honesty, he wasn't sure that Prowl and the others would believe what had happened – at least, not until they saw Nemesis Prime for themselves.
As the Autobots were briefed on the situation with Optronix and the Nemesis Army, mostly by Hot Rod and Blaster, the Decepticons focused their attention elsewhere, namely upon a certain Destron mad scientist.
Thundercracker stopped Deluge from slipping away unnoticed, grabbing him by the arm. "Ah, just the Destron we wanted to see," he said, scowling. "In a hurry to be somewhere?"
Deluge struggled against his grasp, but was still weakened by his clash with Nemesis Prime and it did him no good. "Let go of me, or I'll–"
"Or you'll what?" Thundercracker taunted. "Run away like Straxus and all the rest of you losers?" Then he turned to his companions, forcibly dragging the scientist along with him. "Hey, Starscream, look what I found trying to sneak away," he called out.
"I said let go of me!" Deluge demanded, as Dirge grabbed him by the other arm. "You have no right to hold me here!"
"We're not letting you go anywhere until you hand over control of those drones to us," Starscream answered him smugly. When Deluge gave him a surprised expression, quickly turning into contempt, the Decepticon Air Commander continued. "That's right – we know about your fascinating experiments with the undead."
The scientist attempted to feign ignorance, but then quickly changed his tune when he saw that the Decepticons weren't buying it. "I will never hand over control of my great Army to you!" he proclaimed defiantly. "Never!"
"We'll see about that," Starscream answered him after a beat, and turned to the Decepticon leader. "Megatron, shall I terminate him now, or wait until Soundwave has had a chance to reprogram him into a mindless drone?"
Solemnly, Megatron looked from Starscream to Deluge and then back again, until the Destron scientist began to show signs of concern for his own well-being. Finally, he gave the order, nodding. "Terminate him."
Starscream smirked as he raised his null ray at Deluge, point-blank, and prepared to fire. Just as he was about to do so, Deluge burst out in a frantic plea for his life. "No – wait – please… there's no need to kill me. I've done nothing wrong!"
Megatron stepped towards Deluge and looked down upon him in an intimidating manner. "You will hand over control of those drones, or be terminated. The choice is yours," he said bluntly.
"That's not possible," he informed them, and quickly tried to explain when he received disapproving looks from the Decepticons. "Please, you don't understand. You see – my control module was destroyed! Look for yourself – if you don't believe me, it's right over there!" Deluge nodded towards a mangled black object on the ground nearby.
Skywarp picked up the non-functional module and handed it to Starscream, who briefly looked it over. "You must have another one of these," the second-in-command said.
"I do, but it won't help!" Deluge countered. "Not anymore. No one can stop my Nemesis Army now."
"What do you mean?" Starscream asked curiously. "What happened here?"
Deluge looked back at him in earnest. "Don't you know? Why, it's already too late. For the first time in our history Cybertron will finally become a unified world, ruled by the great Nemesis, and aided by the greatest Army our galaxy has ever seen!"
The Decepticons couldn't even begin to fathom the scientist's outrageous claims. "What is he talking about?" Dirge asked in puzzlement. The scientist must have truly lost his sanity.
One of the Autobots spoke up as he made his way over to them. "I think I can explain." It was Prowl.
The Decepticons turned their attention to Sentinel's advisor, curious to hear what he had to say.