Sorry about the wait. I'm not actually too happy with this one but no matter how long i stared at it nothing popped into mind.
Enjoy
Firefly stared hungrily at the tiered city. Sweet success was a single raid away, she could almost feel Elita-1's energon running through her fingers.
Unfortunately that would have to wait. Tempted as she was to drain her enemy of all vital fluids, Firefly had other, more intense, plans for her torture. Elita-1 wouldn't be able to escape her revenge for much longer.
She turned to Barricade and Stormcloud. "Enter the city. Find my prize."
The Decepticons under the command of her Second and Third swarmed into Tyger Pax. Elita-1 was hiding amongst the derelict buildings somewhere and Firefly intended to flush her out.
Misfire and Blackout stood beside her. "Set charges along the rim. Block off anything that could be used as an escape route." The two moved away. She called Blackout back. "I want you to go under the city. Don't let anything past you."
"Under the city?"
She sent him a sideways look. "Must I repeat myself?"
"No, sir."
He hesitated for a moment and Firefly sighed. "There are catacombs that run beneath the city. Take a squad and do a sweep."
The dark mech nodded and departed. Trip-wire was her last guard, his protective presence at her back was both disturbing and reassuring. It was an unusual experience for Firefly.
"What do you require of me, my lord?"
"Nothing yet, Trip-wire, stay here. Once the sweeper teams have reported back, then we'll claim victory."
"Of course, my lord."
Firefly smiled at the subservient tone. She enjoyed taking advantage of his complete devotion to her. "Fetch me a cube."
"Yes, Lord Firefly." He left.
Not waiting for the mech's return, Firefly rocketed skyward. From the air she monitored the invasion. Both Barricade's and Stormcloud's contingents were progressing well. A quarter of the city had been taken already.
Off to the side a chain of explosions began, the outer wall collapsed. A part of Firefly's mind felt sorry for the destruction of the once beautiful city, but casualties of war weren't always restricted to sentient life.
*Barricade, report.*
*No sign of the target yet. West and South quadrants still not secured.*
*Complete the exploration. Bring any online mechs to the City Square.*
Firefly cut off the transmission and dove into the city. She skimmed the air above Stormcloud and gave him the same instructions.
The sweeper teams had already passed through the center of the city, allowing Firefly to land without much concern of attack. Summoning the forces she'd left outside the city, she surveyed the damage time had wrought. It was obvious that only minor repairs had been made to increase the structural integrity of the decimated buildings. Most of the buildings she had destroyed before she'd gone offline were still in ruins.
Trip-wire entered the Square with the rest of the Decepticons. He looked rather put out that she'd left him behind. He handed her the neon cube.
"Run into any trouble?" Firefly asked as she kicked some scrap metal out of her way.
"No, sir. Tyger Pax appears to be yours."
"The last thing I want is this city." She sneered. I don't need this haunting reminder. "Set up a perimeter. If there are any resistance forces here I don't want to give them an opening."
Trip-wire nodded and moved away.
It wouldn't be too long before Barricade and Stormcloud returned, hopefully with Elita-1 in their hands. She sipped the energon in anticipation.
Cycles passed and Firefly waited with growing frustration. Where were her troops? Had the female Autobots put up a challenging defense? She doubted it before reminding herself that this was Elita-1 and the bitch had been smart enough to stay alive this long. Now wasn't the time to underestimate her enemy.
Her optics roved over the grouped mechs, they narrowed as she only saw Decepticons. The lack of civilians was unusual, especially for Tyger Pax. A hollow shell of its former glory it might be but it had once been the main home for neutrals. That sort of label would draw the displaced and hopeless even during war.
Barricade appeared from the left, distracting Firefly from her thoughts. The look on his face not at all positive.
"We found no sign of the Autobots."
Firefly's fingers tightened on the cube. That was all right, she told herself, Barricade had only searched half the city. A niggling doubt pushed at her. No civilians.
A handful of breems later Stormcloud gave her a similar report.
Anger twisted her features as she threw the half-full cube against a building. It exploded with a satisfying bang. She grabbed Stormcloud by the top of his chassis and shoved him to the ground, blaster in hand moments later.
"Do another sweep of the city and find her. I won't be denied."
"She's not here, Firefly. The Autobots gave you bad information." Barricade said levelly, moving her gun away from Storm's head.
Firefly was contemplating shooting him in the head when Blackout contacted her.
*Firefly, I think I've found something.*
Delight spread through her. *Send me your coordinates now. Barricade, stay here. Keep an optic on everyone. You two, with me.*
What Firefly found once they reached Blackout was not quite what she wanted. She strode through what was obviously a command center of some sort. From the look of it it had been hastily evacuated. The smallest of smiles graced her face when she spied the Autobot insignia on a wall. Elita had been here. But why wasn't she here now?
Firefly's logic circuits came up with the most likely situation; to avoid totally selling out his fellow Autobot, Ultra Magnus had warned the femme commander of Firefly's attack. Elita had then bugged out to avoid capture. She'd probably evacuated the city as well.
Laughter bubbled forth from Firefly's throat. If the Autobots thought that was enough to deter her they were sorely mistaken. The Decepticons watched her with mixed expressions.
The semi-manic laughter gradually eased and she sighed. "Take everything of value. I want all the information downloaded from these computers and decrypted. They haven't been gone long, a handful of joors at best."
Trip-wire was beside her instantly. "Would you like me to start a search of the surrounding areas?"
Firefly shook her head regretfully. "No. Elita-1 wouldn't be stupid enough to remain in the area. She's smart and probably has a secondary hiding place until she sets up a new base. Dammit!" She punched the nearest console, denting the protective covering.
"Lord Firefly, perhaps we should return to Polyhex. Tyger Pax isn't, structurally, the safest place to be." Stormcloud said from his place near the door.
Firefly looked up and nodded curtly. Blackout gave the order to his team and the abandoned Autobot base emptied.
"I take it this means the next Autobot we capture will be ours to play with?" Blackout asked once they were alone.
Her optics raked over him and his brother. "I'll consider it. Ultra Magnus didn't lie to me so he'll expect to receive some sort of ransom demand. Of course if the next Autobot we find is Elita-1, he won't be negotiating for anything except a headless, sparkles shell." She swept from the underground base, Trip-wire close behind.
Blackout shared a look with Stormcloud. "What exactly is her big problem with Elita-1?"
Stormcloud shrugged. "I don't know, she never told me. I just know I wouldn't want to be between them when they finally meet." He sidestepped a particularly jagged piece of broken flooring. "Did you know Elita-1 declared Firefly a 'heinous blight on Cybertronian ideals'."
Blackout's optics widened. "That's impressive. I thought only Megatron inspired that sort of hatred from the Autobots."
Stormcloud's head shook. "She's near the top of their 'most wanted' list, for sure."
"They have one?"
"We do, why shouldn't they?"
Blackout frowned for a moment before shrugging and following his brother into the open air.
Needless to say Barricade wasn't surprised when Firefly returned looking far from pleased. He'd known from the instant he'd stepped into the city that something was off. The absence of homeless mechs and neutrals had been the biggest clue. There wasn't a city anywhere on Cybertron that didn't have its share of squatters and vagrants, especially one that hosted Autobots.
"Was I right?" He asked as she stopped next to him. He couldn't have hidden the smugness in his tone even if he'd wanted to.
The glare she sent him should have melted the metal from his face. "I really feel like dismembering you right now."
He shrugged. "You could, but who would stand up to you if you did that?"
"You're lucky I like you."
Barricade chuckled. "What do you plan to do with Tyger Pax?" His gaze ran over the shattered skyline.
She shrugged, the scowl not moving from her face. "I don't know. I don't want it. You want to manage it?"
Barricade snorted. "You're not getting rid of me that easily. Tracer would be able to get this place back up and running."
"I'll think about it. Leave a team here for now, I'm not done with it yet."
They were silent for a moment then Barricade asked. "What are your plans now?" He knew she'd still be set on hunting down Elita-1 but she would also have to solidify her control of Cybertron. Shockwave wasn't going to sit back for long.
"They need more training. Blackout and Trip-wire especially if they're going to be in my guard. I'm sure Stormy's skills could use some revising. Unfortunately I can't waste my resources looking for a phantom. Elita will have to wait."
"Shockwave next?"
"Perhaps. Recall to Polyhex, we'll discuss this there." She said before taking to the air and leaving him behind.
A smirk appeared on his face.
"Barricade, sir, should we go after her?"
Barricade turned his head to see Firefly's puppy. The blue mech stared after her disappearing form. "Not unless you want to have a brand new exhaust installed."
The young soldier stepped back a bit and stuttered an excuse. Barricade dismissed him with a wave of his hand. The kid was entertaining but he took Firefly far too seriously.
"'Cade!"
Again Barricade turned to see another of Firefly's devotees. Stormcloud wasn't as bad as he used to be and that was only a good thing.
"What do you two want?"
"Are we leaving?"
"Yep."
"Where's Firefly?"
"Preparing a training regime I assume."
Stormcloud groaned and Blackout asked what that meant.
"It means we're going to get our afts ripped off and handed to us." Storm replied. "She's angry and we'll pay for it."
Barricade clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Get them into ranks and move out. Leave a skeleton force to watch over the Autobot hideout. Time to go home."
Please leave a review, with your help I can only get better.
TammyCat