A/N: This battle began in Chapter 17
Rough Waters
"We have come to end your suffering," Snaptrap coldly stated, aiming his two rapid-fire sonic-shell cannons directly at Depth Charge. "Prepare yourselves for the after-death!" The Seacon leader was well equipped with weaponry and had one of the most impressive battle minds in the Decepticon Empire. Like most who wore the purple-emblem that distinguished them from Autobots, he was cold-hearted and extremely effective in combat. But he set himself apart from his contemporaries by making himself a master of havoc and chaos. Long ago, in the toxic sludge swamps of Cybertron, he had eliminated an entire regiment of Autobots on his own. The act had earned him the nickname of "Butcher of the Bogs", which he considered to be a badge of honor.
Depth Charge was not impressed. "Spare me your empty boasts," he replied. To his left was Torca, an infantry general in the Beast Wars. He was a big, strong warrior known equally for his brute power and his respected combat techniques. Armed and ready for battle, he took aim with his dorsal gun and waited for the order to attack. Contained within the weapon was a spark-diminishing spray, which would temporarily paralyze whatever poor soul received its blast. Claw Jaw, another Maximal, was found at Depth Charge's right side, his optics scanning those before him, internally deciding on whom to go after first. By using his eight powerful arms as weapons, he could drain his victim's of their power by extracting Energon through the suction-cups on his mecha-tentacles. No Predacon had ever broken from their constrictive grip. "This shall be your final battlefield!"
Snaptrap found the bravado somewhat amusing. He called for his teammates to gather and merge into Piranacon, the only combiner created specifically for underwater combat. The Maximal trio watched in awe and horror as the five Seacons twisted and morphed their unique shapes into a single giant. Nautilator... Overbite... Seawing... and Tentakil were no longer present; they had given up their individualistic traits to their leader and commander Snaptrap. Where five once were, now one remained.
"It's going to take a lot more than some hocus-pocus like that to make me quake in fear," Torca shouted. "Is that the best you can do? Grow bigger and uglier?" Torca fired his spark-diminishing spray at Piranacon, but was devastated to note it had zero effect. Claw Jaw responded with his own barrage of firepower, and then raced towards the impressive juggernaut. He wrapped his arms around the Seacon known as Seawing, who had formed the right leg of the combiner. Instead of draining energon, Claw Jaw found himself receiving a deadly dose of laser-induced venom,shutting down his body immediately.
Longtooth and Waverider joined up with their allies, sporting severe battle damage from their victorious scrap with Submarauder and Finback. "By Primus' light," Longtooth shouted. "What be this abomination?"
"You don't recognize them?" Torca asked, watching Claw Jaw's lifeless body sink to the ocean's floor.
"I would not forget such a face," Longtooth stated. He turned towards his partner and found the look of terror.
"I know them," Waverider admitted. "The Seacons," he uttered. "More accurately, Piranacon. The destroyer of hope. The scavenger of sparks!"
Those would end up being Waverider's final words, as he found himself the next victim in this underwater dance. Using the 'jawbreaker' cannon that belonged to Seacon Overbite, Piranacon unleashed an onslaught of metal eating, salt-based corrosives. Within seconds, the Pretender was reduced to broken circuits and exposed joints.
"Waverider!" Longtooth yelled, instinctively darting for his fallen friend. So brittle had his body become, that even as Longtooth held both his hands out to soften the descent, Waverider was reduced to crumbling matter that sank between his fingers. "This is not a hero's death," Longtooth sobbed. "I shall avenge you!" Turning himself into a projectile of redemption, he raced towards the Seacon giant at over 30 knots, his giant fang-like tusks hungry for the taste of enemy metal. He was swatted away like a fly once within range, then finished off with a triple-crusher cannon. It shot bands of energon that would trap their intended target and then quickly tighten, reducing the recipient to rubble. A quick but rather extremely painful ending.
Depth Charge and Torca stood before their executioner in bizarre silence. They had watched as each and every member of their team had been destroyed by various means. In the end, all of their special abilities and experience amounted to nothing more than a delay of the inevitable. Depth Charge fired off several grenades from his chest and quickly activated a force field to protect himself and Torca from the backlash. As the water was forced back against them, their optics hurriedly scanned for signs of damage and found none. "I think these may be our final moments," Torca admitted, still trying to portray an image of defiance.
As Piranacon began making his way closer to the two remaining Maximals, Depth Charge shook his head in disbelief and then in anger. "No," he growled. "Not like this! Not at the hands of this... monster!" He still clung to one last hope for victory, one final card that could be played. The price of the hand was extreme, but if ever a situation warranted such a maneuver this was it. He quickly activated his nuclear cybershark drone and transferred all reserve energy into its systems. The dual chambers that housed proton torpedoes were reprogrammed into a holding pattern, charging all ammunition to their maximum output. He had turned his drone into his own personal megabomb.
Using his impressive incendiary sword, Piranacon struck at the device in a defensive manner, doing exactly what Depth Charge had secretly hoped he would do. He and Torca witnessed the initial impact, and found redemption as the giant warrior fell backwards and down towards the ocean's bottom. The intense aftershock of the detonation was too much for Depth Charge's weakened force field and it consumed both of their bodies. For several moments the ocean was still and calm.
Until finally, Piranacon rose once again and went in search of another battle.
end of chapter 22