Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers: just my OC's & the plot.
HUNTERS MOON
Chapter 6: Baited, and Trapped
Sometime later:
"Well this has certainly turned into a fine mess!" Majestrix growled as she narrowly missed a huge piece of shrapnel that went flying over her head.
"Less talk, more fighting!" Prime barked back as he covered her attack on one of the Insecticons.
As quickly as it had began, so the battle had grown with intensity as the Insecticons spared the Autobots no quarter. Despite their dumb anger-fueled rage and their disorganized attack patterns, the beasts were hard to contend with: their sheer size and thick armor were hard to overcome, as were their ravenous appetites as they tried to pick off the smaller warriors.
The battle looked set to run in the con's favor, until a few minutes later when Grimlock ordered the Dinobots to attack. From there on it was brute force vs brute force: the ground and forest trembled with the intensity of an earthquake as the two juggernaut-type teams slammed into each other; tooth and claw vs tooth and mandible, and as the battle raged on, neither side could seem to get the better of the other. And so it was left to Prime, Majestrix and the rest of the Autobot's to try and even the odds, as the bots all weaved in and out of the fray, trying to pick and shoot at the chinks in the cons armor.
As one con swooped in low for an attack, Prime and Majestrix both ran for the cover of a nearby vertical ridge: the beast's huge mandible's just barely missed their helms as it flew right overhead, clipping a huge pine clean in half as it tried to regain altitude: Majestrix aimed her wrist cannon, and grounded the beast with one well-placed shot to the base of the wings, leaving it to the mercy of Grimlock's SIC, who proceeded to tear into the creature like a pitbull on a rat.
"Whoever set those explosions off clearly wanted to keep us busy" Majestrix said offhand
"But the question is: who?" Prime glanced at her with a skeptical frown.
: Prime? Come in Prime! This is Buzzsaw! I found the younglings! : Buzzsaw suddenly chirped over the comm.
: This is Portia; I have Max with me, over: Portia said
: Acknowledged. This is Prime, who is nearer to Buzzsaw's position? : Prime barked over the open comm frequency
: That would be us Prime: Trailbreaker replied : But we're still quite a way off yet, it's going to take us time to get up there:
: Then are there any flyers who can get there faster? : Prime replied
: I'll be right there Prime, just give me five minutes to shake this con off my tail-fins! : Skywarp replied frantically : I'll cover him! : Lazerbeak added.
: Copy that: Prime replied as the comm went silent.
"HEY! We got a problem!" Cliffjumper called out as he pointed to the sky; looking up, both Optimus and Majestrix were dismayed to see four of the Insecticons breaking away from the fight and taking off in the direction of the mountain.
"Great. That's all we need" Majestrix fumed, "Crystal', any luck on your daughter's end?" she turned to Crystalwing.
"Hang on, Shiningstar's coming in now: I'll put her on loud-speaker..." the femme replied as she switched on her external loud-speakers, : Mother? Mother! Please come in! We got a serious problem! : Shiningstar's frantic voice made her mother still with worry : What's wrong?! : She replied back.
: It's Shadowstar, I lost her! :
: You lost her? :
: She went on ahead of me and now she's out of my telepathic range, and I can't pick up her scent anywhere! :
Crystalwing frowned in confusion : What do you mean you can't pick up her scent? :
: I mean, I don't know where she went. She's completely diapered! :
This didn't make sense, but Majestrix had the cons to worry about, and as she watched the four wayward Insecticon's fly out of range: she opened up her comm frequency : Longrange, Coldbore, Velocity, Blackshot. There are four Insecticons breaking away from the main fight: power up your stealth-protocols and try to snipe them: she ordered...
But there was only static on the other end of the line.
: Blackshot?, Longrange?, Coldbore?, Velocity? Can any of you hear me? : She tried to reach out for them, but again, there was no reply.
'Where the frag have they all gone?' she mentally growled with frustration as she looked back over the battle, checking to see who was still fighting and who was taking cover...
It was then she noticed, her eldest daughter Eclipse was absent too.
Meanwhile, elsewhere:
: You're sure this is the place? : Deathshot asked Portia over her privet comm
: It was defiantly there, the attack chopper was waiting for me as they dragged Morri into that area: the spider femme replied.
: Alright, thanks Portia: the sniper replied as he and Thundercracker transformed, and landed on the forest floor: right across from the edge of the gorge. Opening his cockpit, Deathshot set Ashley and his father down on the ground, while Ravage jumped down and stretched his hind-quarters out.
"This is where she was attacked?" Thundercracker raised a skeptical optic ridge as he looked around; sure enough, there was evidence of an attack having taken place here recently. Bullet holes littered the ground and tree trunks, the leaf litter had been blown about, as if a miniature tornado (or a helicopter's downdraft) had been through here; and several meters away, Ravage padded over to sniff a black carbonized tree stump, and part of the tree in question. "...Whoever it was, they sure didn't stick around long" he added
"This is weird..." Ashley frowned as he sniffed the air, "I can smell plasma discharge, but I can't smell any energon residue"
"Portia said they were human, but I'm not smelling otherwise" Ravage added sceptically.
"This doesn't make sense," Deathshot said as he scanned the ground with his left optic, "There are footprints on the ground everywhere on the opposite side of the gorge: but no bio-signatures or weapons discharge of any kind"
"How'd they managed to cover their tracks like that? Because there sure as frag ain't any ionized aluminum particles anywhere" Thundercracker added as he too scanned their surroundings.
"Portia said Morri fell into the river, "John changed the subject, "If she survived, she'll have washed up downstream; come on!" The Royal Marine left no opening for debate as he took off into the dense undergrowth, following the gorge as it steadily sloped down towards the bottom of the valley: the two flyers followed from the air as they hovered over the trees, while Ravage and Ashley brought up the rear.
A couple of kilometers downstream, the gorge opened out into a flat wide expanse, where the riverbanks pushed the trees back for over four hundred yards apart. As they scanned the area, both flyers soon spotted a series of odd-looking tracks in the mud, and after carrying the two humans and drone across to the opposite side, they soon got a good look at the tracks in question.
"It's her, she was definitely here" Ravage stated as he scanned the tracks.
"You're sure?!" John demanded
"See those hand prints there?" the panther drone motioned to a set of hand prints, "Those are her palm and finger prints, and from the lack of any blood, I'd say she escaped the rapids in one piece"
"But who took her?" John pointed to the other footprints, "There must have been about eleven of them, and from the way they circled around her, I'd say they were armed"
"But again, no bio-signatures or weapons discharge; whoever these humans are, they went to great lengths to cover their scent" Ravage replied, "But the more pressing question is, what do they want with her?"
"HN!" Ashley hissed as he gripped his side in pain
"-Are you okay?" his father laid a hand on his shoulder
"Ugh, just a cramp, don't worry I'm fine..." he waved off: though the queasy look on his face told the others that wasn't entirely true.
A while later, elsewhere:
"Are you comfortable?" Chumley asked politely.
"Just take the blindfold off already" Morri huffed in annoyance, it was bad enough her legs and torso were tied to a chair, but having a blindfold on had been somewhat disorientating. Being marched blind up and over a small mountain, and then shuffled into (what had sounded like) a small encampment wasn't her idea of escape (never mind finding help). And as she half worried for the fate of Portia and Max, the question of what this Chumley fellow wanted with her was now starting to take center stage in her mind.
Almost immediately, she felt a large pair of hands untie the knot at the back of her head, and as the blindfold slipped off, she saw...A full English breakfast laid out before her, complete with toast and various jams and spreads; and tea served in a posh Royal Winsor cup and saucer. The table was covered in a white linen tablecloth: with a small silver candelabra lending a gentle glow of candlelight.
Half expecting a small collection of torture devices, or something of an inhumane nature: this was the very last thing Morri had been expecting.
Looking up and across the table, she saw Chumley typing away on a laptop, looking quite nonchalant and laid back as he went about his work. Looking around, she saw she was inside a very large tent, filled with computers and other various types of equipment; some of it she recognized as satellite jamming hardware, while the rest she couldn't quite place. Looking down at her CTG, she was surprised to find a small electronic bracelet fitted over the wrist: whatever it was, it was jamming the device's tracker system; so calling the Autobots or even getting a GPS hit would be impossible.
But as she heard Chumley take a sip of his tea, her attention was immediately drawn back to him as he closed his laptop, and sat up straight as he addressed her: "It's not very often I have guests over, so having a fellow 'limey' is real treat" he smiled with that charismatic charm of his. But Morri wasn't taken in by it as she stared at him like a disgruntled cat. "Charmed," she drolled as she eyed the breakfast suspiciously: "And how much poison did you lace this with?"
Right away, Chumley took his fork, leaned across the table and took a rasher off her plate, taking a bite as he leaned back into his chair: "Unfortunately, I left my best brand of cyanide at home..." he joked, "No, Poison's not my thing: too cheap and too cowardly" he added before turning somewhat serious: "Now, you strike me as a bright young lady. If I wanted you dead, don't you think it would've been a tad simpler to simply shoot you in the head as you were climbing into your friend's cockpit?" he asked
Morri had to admit, he had a point; but had he really been that close to Portia?
"And besides, you haven't had anything to eat since yesterday, and you just walked over five miles down a mountain with no provisions: you must be absolutely famished, so please, do help yourself..." he gestured to the food.
As the heavenly scent of all the various fried foods wafted about, her growling stomach suddenly reminded her of the fatigue she'd been pushing aside for the last several hours. As Morri studied his face for any sign of deceit, she picked up the tea, smelt it: and upon smelling nothing that would indicate any poison, took a small cautious sip.
"See? No poison" Chumley smiled
"It's okay I guess" she shrugged: though secretly, it was wonderful to taste proper English tea again.
"Okay? It's from Fortnum and Masons! Finest Earl Grey this side of the Atlantic: none of that cheap drain cleaner they call 'coffee'" he scoffed:
"How about we cut the chit-chat, and just skip to the obvious questions?" Morri drolled as she took another sip.
"Ah yes, the reason why you're here" Chumley nodded, "Well? Basically the long and short of it is, I needed bait"
Morri put her tea down: "Bait? For what?"
"To bring one of your Autobot friends in my dear" he smiled, "No doubt you're guardian will be the first to come running to your rescue: but unfortunately, I only need one Autobot in particular"
She stared at him utter disbelief: "...You do realize you're in for one hell of a fight if the Autobots come along: there's no way in hell they'll let you off lightly for this" she frowned
"Which is why it's prudent to keep you alive: I only want them riled, not vengeful. A human hostage is bound to strike a soft spot, and from what I've been told, you're certainly good at that my dear" he replied with a knowing look in his eyes.
Morri froze: "...What do you mean 'from what I've been told'? ..." she pressed him, wondering what he meant by that.
"Excuse me sir?" Another gentleman poked his head in through the entrance of the tent: "The lads are ready to proceed with the next phase: "Very good, tell them I'll be right out" Chumley replied.
He slowly got up from the table, and as he approached Morri, something akin to an apologetic look seemed to come over him as he told her: "...As you might have already guessed, my 'particular career choice', is not exactly one I can brag about to most law-abiding folk. I specialize in many things, but above all: getting whatever the highest paying customer wants the most; and my current 'clients' have gone to great lengths to ensure that I deliver what they want. And I'm sorry to say, what they want is your friend: Optimus Prime..."
Morri stared at him in a mix of disbelief and shock: her mind spun for a moment as she tried to process what he just said. But her train of thought slowed a bit as a sudden rise in activity outside seemed to grab Chumley's attention.
"...You better eat up my dear: we've got a long day ahead of us" he patted her on the shoulder, and left the tent. Turning around as best she could, Morri couldn't see Chumley anymore, but as the tent's entrance flapped about in the wind, she noticed several large black crates sitting on the ground, all staked one on top of the other, with the words: DANGER: HIGH EXPLOSIVES, painted on the side in big red letters.
But what alarmed her even more, was the sound of the mysterious weapons being charged and primed.
Meanwhile, elsewhere:
: Not to sound pushy, but how far to the cave? : Bluebird asked worryingly,
: About another ten miles, then a two mile climb up the side of the mountain: Trailbreaker replied as he led the way along the old logging road.
: Stop panicking, we'll get there okay? : Veebee added : And I'm sure Firefly will be okay; in all likelihood she's probably stuck in a tree somewhere-:
Tangostar was about to throw in her opinion, when quite suddenly, and without warning: a large bright green object came tumbling down the steep slope, crashed onto the road and ran right up against a tree before coming to an abrupt stop. As Trailbreaker hit his breaks, the other three sisters didn't have enough space to stop as they crashed into his rear bumper: fortunately there no serious damage done as the four of them transformed and inspected one another over, but even so, it was quite a shock.
Turning their attention to the object in question (which looked like a mish-mash of metal and half-destroyed vegetation), they approached closer with their weapons at the ready; but when they noticed how familiar the distinct humanoid robotic form looked, the thing suddenly let out a disgruntled groan: "Geez, nice of you not to crash into me, I only went head-first down a fraggin' mountain!" And right away, they all breathed a sigh of relief...
"Fly'!-" Bluebird exclaimed with delight as she dropped to her knees to hug her little sister tightly: but Firefly only pushed her back: "Watch it! You nearly squished Roxy!" she retorted. Curled up in the crook of one arm, a very dazed Roxy flopped over to one side as she tried to scramble out of the femme's grip: "Oh God!-" She moaned, "Get me off this ride!", placing her down on the ground, Firefly grimaced as the human staggered to her feet, only to throw up behind a tree.
"Where-, how in Primus's name did you escape the Insecticons?" Trailbreaker exclaimed
"Someone took care of that for us" Firefly huffed as she staggered to her feet, and tried to pick the torn branches and twigs out from in between her joints and armor plates: "The caves they were hiding in were stuffed to the vents with bombs: lot's of em'!"
"-Damn fuckin' bombs almost blew us off the mountain too!" Roxy panted as she leaned against the tree, waiting for her equilibrium to level out: "We managed to get inside a cave and avoided the main blast. But no sooner had the explosion subsided, those oversized bugs come blasting outta the rock screamin' and hollarin' their heads off! I'm tellin' ya: they were pissed!"
"After we dug ourselves out of the landslide, we found another way down the side of the mountain; but somewhere back up there I tripped and fell, and well? Here's where we landed" Firefly shrugged
"-Oh my Primus!" Veebee exclaimed as she spotted the wound in her sister's side, "You're hurt!"
"Huh? Oh that: the pain died down ages ago after Morri put a patch-weld on it: I can't transform but I'm still good to go" Firefly smiled
The other three sisters and Trailbreaker all looked at one another in mild alarm: They were half expecting Firefly to be fired up and ready to go on the war path; but instead, she was actually being...level headed?
"...Are you sure you're okay?" Tangostar asked cautiously
"Yeah? Why wouldn't I be?" Firefly looked at her weirdly
"She's good, trust me" Roxy sighed as she dusted herself off and stood up straight: "All I wanna know, is where I can get a big fucking gun, so I can blast one of those mother fucking freaks right outta the-
Roxy froze, and gawked in shock: worried, the bots all scanned her, alarmed that it might be internal malfunction of some kind.
: This isn't good, her adrenaline levels just spiked! : Bluebird commed
: Like duh! Her adrenaline's been up since the explosion! She probably just-
Roxy pointed to something behind Trailbreaker, and as the others turned to see what it was: they were all rather taken aback by what was standing in the road some thirty feet away. It was a strange creature: about nine feet tall, covered in dark brown hair all over its body, and looked vaguely similar to a human.
"What?-" Veebee gawked, but before she could say anything else, the creature extended its long arm, and pointed to the sky. Looking up at where it was pointing, the bots all froze in fear as they spotted four Insecticons flying overhead. As they watched the group break up and head off in various directions, they began to panic as one start heading right towards them; quickly, Roxy glanced back at the creature, but was it was gone.
"RUN!-" Trailbreaker barked. Snatching Roxy up and holding her in the crook of her arm, Veebee and the other bots all ran towards a tunnel carved out of the rock.
As the Insecticon made a beeline for them, they just barely made it inside as the great behemoth slammed head-first into the tunnel entrance, causing the structure to cave in right on top of it. Fortunately, the bots managed to get far enough into the tunnel for the beast not to reach them, and as it tried to dig out the thick granite rock, its wide mandibles kept getting stuck. Turning on their headlights to see a little better in the gloom, Veebee turned her high-beams on full in an attempt to dazzle the creature's optics, while Bluebird, Trailbreaker, Firefly and Tangostar tried to shoot at its face. Their laser guns were more of an annoyance than an actual threat, and as they aimed at its optics, the creature backed out and shook its head to try and stave off the sting of the blasts. But it didn't go away, and started trying to dig them out again: only this time, from the side of the collapsed tunnel entrance, where the laser gun's line of fire was obscured by the rock.
"Are we gonna be safe in here?" Roxy panted, "How far does the tunnel go back?"
Looking back over his shoulder, Trailbreaker saw that the tunnel curved around a corner, but he couldn't see any daylight: "Hard to say, it could go right through the mountain for all we know?" he replied
"As long as that thing isn't able to get at us, I'm okay for a lil' spelunking" Firefly replied
Turning around and running further down the tunnel, the bots all listened as the beast continued to smash the rock: wondering if it might be able to actually get through. As long as it didn't figure out that using its plasma cannons would be a much more effective means of blasting the tunnel wider, they would be okay...
For now...
At the same time, back up the mountain:
"Look! There they are!" Lazerbeak swooped down as he spotted his brother flapping his wings to get their attention.
"Finally!" Skywarp huffed as he pointed his engines downwards and came into land by the cave, where Chelsea and the other youngsters had all been waiting.
"About time you showed up!" Annabelle frowned up at the seeker "What took you so long?!"
"Gimme a break youngling, I've been chased by bugs all over these mountains! ...Okay, everyone inside, and try not to fidget" the seeker huffed as he opened up his cockpit, and placed each of the youngsters inside: he was about to reach for Chelsea, when he hesitated: "...Uh oh, I'm full" he blurted out.
"Full? What do you mean you're full?!" Chelsea panicked
"I mean, if I try to squeeze you in, it's going to make safe flying very difficult, and teleporting even more dangerous!" the seeker frowned, "...Lazerbeak? Would you mind?"
"What do I look like? A rental?" the eagle squawked incredulously as he ruffled his metallic feathers; Skywarp shot him a deadpan frown, to which the drone let out a long frustrated sigh, "...Fine! Get on!" he replied as he hopped over to Chelsea, and crouched down low enough for her to climb on. But no sooner had the teenager straddled the eagle's back, with her legs hanging down on either side of his neck. Everyone in Skywarp's cockpit screamed as they pointed to something in the air-
"What the- FRAG!-"
Skywarp slammed his cockpit shut and blasted back into the sky as an Insecticon slammed into the cave: Lazerbeak took off with Chelsea screaming and hanging on for dear life while his brother swooped up and around to cover him. As the Insecticon pulled itself out of the crumbling cliff-face, and reversed back out into the air, the flyer and two drones wasted no time in putting as much distance between them and the con as possible. The beast fired its plasma cannons, but missed as the flyers quickly gained altitude.
"I need to get the younglings back to base!" Skywarp called over to Chelsea, "I'll come back for you, I promise!"And with that, white sparks started flashing around Skywarp's wings as he activated his teleport mode, and in a thundering flash of brilliant white light, he was gone.
"He's gone?!" Chelsea gawked as she tried to hold on, "What happened?!"
"He teleported back to NEST, don't worry, he'll be back, but right now we got more important things to worry about!" Lazerbeak squawked as the Insecticon was quickly gaining on them.
"SHIT!" How'd we stop him?!" Chelsea panicked
"We can't: best tactic we have is to drop to a lower altitude and stagger our moves, give him the fly-around. He's so heavy he can only fly in a straight line at this speed" the black and red eagle replied
"Okay!" Chelsea nodded
"You better return to the battle brother, I sense things are getting rather heated back there" Lazerbeak looked over at Buzzsaw.
"Affirmative: take care brother!" the yellow and black eagle called out as he banked away, while Lazerbeak pointed down and headed back towards the mountain. The Insecticon had trouble keeping up as the smaller drone weaved his way over the air-currents.
And quite unexpectedly, he could sense Chelsea's fear steadily growing into excitement, as the sensation of speed began to elicit a little buzz of thrill in the front of her mind. "You know? Despite the circumstances, I think I could get used to flying like this!" Chelsea smiled as she leaned down, and positioned herself just right so she created as little drag as possible.
"Well that's nice to know..." he drolled as he sped up, and lead the Insecticon on a wild drone chase.
A little while later, back down in the valley:
The battle was now reaching fever-pitch, as Grimlock and the other larger Dinobots were slugging it out with the 'Alpha' Insecticon, Hardshell, and a couple of his more able warriors.
Deathshot, Thundercracker, John, Ashley and Ravage had followed the river for a while now; as the sounds of the battle echoed over the rise of the valley: it was grim to listen to, especially when the sound of an Autobot crying out rang the loudest. But their attention was soon drawn to the sound of two stray Insecticons coming right at them.
"RUN!" Deathshot yelled as he and Thundercracker flew up in the air, leading one of the cons away. Ravage let John leap onto his back and ride him while Ashley stayed close to his side as they bolted: they just cleared about fifteen meters as the other con slammed head-first into the riverbank. Stone, mud and water were tossed about as the bug staggered to its feet, and started lumbering after them.
"What now?" John frowned as he hung on tightly.
"Now, we run, and try to find adequate cover. There's no way we can take that thing by ourselves, and those two will be busy for a while," Ravage looked up at the two flyers, who by now were flying circles around the other Insecticon.
Running parallel to the sloping ground, both the drone and the hybrid had very little trouble staying ahead of the bug as it tried to pursue them through the forest. The dense trees slowed it down dramatically, but as the slope kept growing steeper and steeper, it soon became very difficult to run at speed on a near-vertical incline, and Ravage was soon forced to head down towards the river, which had now expanded into a small lake. As he led the way along the shoreline, he spotted a huge dark shadow just beneath the water's surface...
A shadow that was moving at speed towards the shore...
He barely had time to scan the object as it burst out of the water right behind him, and slammed into the Insecticon with one huge CLANG!
Skidding to a halt, stopping some distance away: Ravage, John and Ashley watched in alarm as a giant robotic Spineosaurus tossed the bug onto its back, and decapitated it with one big almighty SSSCRUNCH! Courtesy, of its enormous crocodile-like jaws. At this point both Ashley and his father didn't know which to be more alarmed by: the fact that the Dinobot had decapitated the con in one bite, or the fact that it could easily crush them with said jaws. But they didn't have time to decide as the Dinobot spotted Ravage, and started stomping over towards him.
"Rrrr! Decepticons!" He growled in a gruff gravelly voice as he started to run,
"RUN!" John barked; but as Ravage and Ashley covered about ten meters, the second Insecticon dropped dead in the lake, followed by Deathshot and Thundercracker, who landed with their arms folded: purposely blocking the Dinobot's path. The beast skidded to a halt, and eyed the two flyers with a mix of disdain and sly glee. "Heh, I was wondering when you'd finally throw you're lot in with the cons, Deathshot" he snarled.
"Actually, it's the other way round" Thundercracker stated, "I'm the one who upped and left for the Autobots"
"Well we all know that's a lie" the Dinobot scoffed as he began slowly circling him, "Still, it saves us the trouble of hunting you down"
"Back off Hammerjaw!" Deathshot scowled: "He's with me, as are they" he glanced down at the drone, hybrid and human.
"Hm, mere entrees, it's him I want to kill" Hammerjaw growled as he moved in closer.
"You'll do no such thing!" Deathshot stated angrily as he unfolded his sniper rifle and aimed at the Dinobot's flank, "-Now back off!"
"Heh, yeah right-" the beast smirked mockingly, but as he took another step forward, Deathshot fired his weapon at point-blank range: the shot cracked through the air like thunder, deafening everyone. It hit the Spineosaurus with such force that it knocked him right over onto his back; and as the sniper folded his weapon away, the Dinobot staggered back up onto his feet, and shook off the water from his armor: which unsurprisingly, hadn't even been dented by the shot.
"...Nice to know you're aim is still good" Hammerjaw frowned, "But seriously, you've gone soft. Letting this cannon-fodder and his pet walk all over you like this"
"Pet?" Thundercracker raised an optic ridge
"The freak here" the Dinobot glanced down at Ashley, who took a few nervous steps backwards, "I don't know what kind of drone that supposed to be, but I know a con when I smell one"
"He's not a Decepticon!" John growled angrily, jumping off Ravage's back and rushing to stand between his son and the beast, "And he sure as hell ain't no drone!"
"Hmm, you might want to tell the meat-sack to keep its mouth shut: and to remember its place" Hammerjaw glanced back at Deathshot.
"Look, we don't have time for this" John added, "Either piss off or go back to the fight!" he barked.
Hammerjaw swung his head round to try and snatch the human up in his teeth, but in the blink of an eye Deathshot unleashed a volley of laser-shots from both wrist-guns, shooting the Dinobot right in the back of his throat, which forced him to back off. Taking advantage of his vulnerability, the sniper then punched the beast with a sharp upper-cut to the left side of his face: promptly flooring the beast on his aft again.
"Heh, whatever; I'm hungry anyway..." he smirked as he got back up on his feet and stomped back over to the headless Insecticon, and proceeded to tear the creature apart to get at the energon-rich circuits beneath the armor: "...Catch you idiots later, I should be ready for dessert by then"
"What was that all about?" Ashley grimaced nervously.
"Nothing, it's just posturing" Deathshot frowned, "Come on, we still have to find Morri" he stated as he took off, with Thundercracker followed suit. John remounted Ravage, and together with his son they took off back into the forest; hoping not too run into any more of Hammerjaw's team-mates.
Meanwhile, elsewhere:
"This is getting rather serious now Trailbreaker!" Tangostar panicked as the Insecticon edged ever nearer to the five fearful Autobots;
"I know that!" Trailbreaker stated in nervous frustration
The tunnel had turned out to be a dead end, as it only went back into the mountain for about eight hundred yards, trapping the bots as the Insecticon managed to dig out another several yards of rock from the tunnel.
"What'd you think? Flash-bang attack? Or plasma volley?" Bluebird threw in
"At this point, I'm not sure what difference it will make!" Trailbreaker replied as he watched the beast shovel out another load of broken blocks.
But then, quiet unexpectedly: the Insecticon let out a loud screech as something dragged it back and away from the mouth of the tunnel; the sound of metal pounding on metal echoed down the tunnel as the distinct sound of a fight lasted from a few minutes, before silence fell. Glancing at one another in confusion, the bots and their one human friend took a few anxious steps forward, before a big black mech with bright yellow optics made them jump back.
"Greetings and salutations, fellow warriors! For I, Leviathan and my compatriot Carnage, have thwarted thy enemy in one fell blow!" he smiled in a deep booming voice.
Realizing it was one of the Dinobots, Trailbreaker cautiously approached the entrance with the femme's right at his back: and upon peering outside, saw the now-dead Insecticon lying to one side with a gaping hole in its flank. With a smaller Dinobot happily tucking into said wound, ripping out and devouring the glowing blue circuitry and ligament cables inside.
"Come! Let us savor the sweet taste of victory!" the giant Dinobot jovially stated, as he ripped off one of the con's legs and offered it to the bots.
The three femmes suddenly felt the urge to purge their tanks, while Trailbreaker tried to hide his disgust: "Uh? Thank you, but we all refueled before we left" he politely stated.
"Insecticon is fat with energon," the smaller Dinobot stated in a deep gruff gravelly voice: "lot's a' energon to go around" he smiled
"Uh, that's great to know, but we really need to get back down the mountain: the hostages are all safely secured and we need to get Roxy here to a medic" Veebee gestured to the half-anxious human huddled in the crook of her arm.
"Hm? So these are the organics that are the blight of Prime's worry?" Leviathan eyed the human sceptically for a second, before waving it off: "Not to fear, go on ahead: we shall rejoin the fray of battle, as soon as thy hunger has been sated" he stated, and then rejoined his smaller companion, ripping out a huge chunk of ligament cable from the dead beast, and cramming it into his wide maw.
Deciding not to hang around, the bots wasted no time in transforming and driving off, with Firefly jogging along at the rear.
"Okay: what the fuck?" Roxy facepalmed
"Don't ask," Trailbreaker ground through Veebee's loud-speakers, "Just-, don't ask"
Meanwhile, elsewhere:
"This is getting ridiculous!" Majestrix barked angrily as she blasted an Insecticon at point-blank range in the face: "You're turning this into a stalemate!"
"That's the whole point!" Grimlock bellowed proudly as he smacked another of the cons away with his tail, "Drag it out as long as possible and enjoy the carnage at its sweetest. Or is that too 'underhanded' for you?" he mockingly smiled at her.
She was about to rip him a new one when Prime interjected: "At this rate we will fall before the day is out" Optimus frowned, "Grimlock, we have to fall back and regroup!"
"You flee with your tail between your legs if you want to, we got a job to do!" the Dinobot leader growled as he lay into another of the creatures, snapping off its right-side mandible with one bite.
Before the Prime and Prima could argue back, the Insecticons regrouped for another charge: but just as they got above three hundred feet, a giant blast-wave of fire rippled across the sky, knocking the cons out of the air and slamming them into the side of the mountain; the vibrations of which, caused a massive landslide to bury the beasts under thousands of tons of rock and earth.
Looking up from the source of the blast, everyone spotted Jetfire descending with his battle-axe blazing red hot: "That won't hold them for long! Fall back while you can!" he bellowed down. Deciding not to waste time arguing, Prime gave the order to fall back: and without hesitation the Autobots all pulled away, following Optimus and Majestrix as they sped through the valley for over nine miles, until they reached a relatively flat area of forest that met the vertical base of another mountain. The cliff-face was peppered with large caves: adequate cover from the beast, and a better place to make a stand.
"We need to call in reinforcements" Majestrix stated, "Contact Lennox and tell him to send in an air strike: nothing short of a small-scale tactical nuke is likely to stop those beasts"
"If we there were no inhabitants for over twenty thousand miles in any direction, I might consider it. But that's not an option" Prime stated as he helped Ironhide carry an injured Bluestreak into one of the caves.
"Well anything less is hardly likely to dent them: even the sabot rounds on a Thunderbolt II will hardly burn them" Majestrix shot back: "It's a miracle we've lost no one...yet"
"Then let us take care of them: what's why we crashed-landed on this Primus-forsaken rock anyway" Grimlock stated in annoyance.
"If I knew you weren't going to run off and cause more trouble elsewhere when this is over, I'd be glad too" Majestrix growled back at him, "But we both know that's not going to happen...and anyway, what happened to Hammerjaw, Leviathan and Carnage?"
"They went off to take care of the runaway cons" Grimlock shot back, "Unlike you're weakling Autobots, who can't even take on a single Insecticon, let alone a whole pack of them"
"ENOUGH!" Prime snapped angrily, making everyone bare Majestrix and the Dinobots jump: "... This is not helping! Morri is still unaccounted for, and fighting like this is not going to help!"
Taking a deep breath and calming herself down, Majestrix bowed her head respectfully: "Forgive me brother: you are right, this isn't helping at all" she admitted
"What's this?" Grimlock blinked in surprise, "The all-mighty Majestrix Prima heeling to her little brother? Since when did he suddenly become worthy of your mercy?" the Dinobot leader smiled slyly as he stomped over towards her. "Grimlock-" Prime frowned, but was rudely interrupted as the decided to push his luck once again: "-Oh no Prime, I'm very curious to know: just what you had to blackmail her with, to get her to be so, 'obedient'"
The bots all looked at one another with worry as Majestrix's expression darkened: "Hold you're tongue Grimlock, or I'll cut it out for you" she growled
"Well we both know that's not going to happen any time soon" he scoffed, "Don't you think everyone here might like to know, just why, you haven't killed me already? We both know you've had plenty of opportunities to do so before. So why not now?"
"Anyone here would give his rear tires to see you on the scrapheap" Majestrix pointed out
"True, but who has the most incentive?" Grimlock smirked, "I'd say you've lost your nerve, to have not seized the opportunity, and slay me during the battle back there..." he taunted, "...Face it, if you haven't got the brass-bearings to handle me: how do you expect to command any loyalty, when everyone knows where you come from?"
Everyone watched in shock as Majestrix punched the Tyrannosaurus upside his jaw, flooring him instantly, and moved to pin him down with a wrist-blade to the throat-cables.
"Majestrix!-" Prime moved to stop her before anything else could happen...
But just as he laid his hand on her shoulder, a sudden burst of static erupted over the open comm frequency: everyone grasped the side of their helms in discomfort as the signal leveled out, and an image appeared in their optic's field of view. It was an older human male, dressed head to toe in black hunting gear, with someone in a NEST uniform tied up to a chair, with a small hessian sack concealing their head.
: Hello Autobot's : he spoke in British accent, : I do hope you're receiving this message loud and clear, because what I have to say, I will only say once :
The Autobots everywhere all stopped and stilled: listening in a mix of confusion and anxiety as the human continued, :...To your leader, Optimus Prime: I have this simple request. Lay down your arms, and surrender yourself to me. Have no one follow you, or come to your rescue. If you comply with this demand, I will call off the Insecticons, before they have another chance to attack:
Frowning, Prime opened up his comm, :...And if I do not comply to your request? :
: Then I'm afraid, it is not just the life of your troops that will be in immediate danger...: the human stated as the image panned down to his hostage, as he pulled off the hessian sack: revealing Morri, with a semi-automatic pressed against the side of her head, and staring up into the camera with a look of defiance.
The Autobots all glanced at one another in shock: from where he was listening, Deathshot nearly lost it as he watched the live feed; Roxy stared at Veebee's radio in alarm, while Max stared off into space with shock as she overheard Portia's radio.
From where he stood at the entrance to the cave, Prime scowled in anger; remembering the face of this human, : You should already have the co-ordinates to my location uploaded to your comm-receiver. You have one hour...: and with that, the signal went dead.
Her anger towards Grimlock forgotten, Majestrix stared at her brother in disbelief, as his focus now shifted from the cons, to Morri.
CLIFFHANGER! 8D
Hope you all had a great Christmas! :) & happy New Years!
Much love and festive cheer, and please do R&R before clicking off ;)