Somewhere within the Tarnian Syndicate's territory, two heavily armed, military-grade aircraft and a medical transport come down for landing. The passengers organize themselves, the medical team setting up a triage while the strike force advances deeper into enemy territory on the hunt for their target.
Twenty minutes later, the first shot gets fired from a long distance, taking out the first guard protecting the secret base hidden far from any kind of civilization in the Tarnian Wastes. The first shot is followed by more, and the guards on duty fall like flies, the few survivors seeking shelter from their unseen enemy and calling in the ongoing attack on the facility.
Within the command center of the Organization's base of operation, Torrent watches with growing fury as his carefully laid plans unravel all over the planet, his undercover agents getting taken out one by one. Not by enforcers but by those he thought to be his like-minded.
Why are everyone against him?!
Why can't they see what he is trying to accomplish?!
They should support and applaud him for his genius strategy!
Not ruin it!
The world would have laid open before their feet, ripe for their taking!
He has reached out to Ember to salvage whatever can be salvaged of the situation, but to no avail, and it has only made his fury grow.
What good is a hacker if he isn't there when you need him!
The emergency communication from the guards on duty interrupts his internal monologue, adding more to his fury, and he brings the surveillance of the area of conflict up on the screen, seeing the advancing attackers breaching the outer perimeter and entering the base's inner perimeter.
With a livid curse, he activates the alarm and mobilizes the whole base against the attackers.
Why is the world so against him?!
Hidden from sight, Torment and Darksteel observe Talon, Prowl and the elites advance on the Organization's base of operation. Torment takes out the last of the guards with his sniper rifle and packs it away to follow the attack group.
"It looks like we got their attention." Darksteel comments as the alarm klaxon blares.
Torment smirks coldly, keeping out of sight by activating his cloaking device.
It is best to keep Torrent from knowing who is coming for him.
If he sees Torment, Torrent is likely to do something drastic - like putting Athena directly in the line of fire, and they do not want that.
His and Darksteel's sole purpose on the mission is to secure her and get her back to Flux at their landing site at a safe distance from the area of conflict.
Talon breaches the main building of the building complex, drawing all of the defenders' attention and leaving Torment and Darksteel able to enter unhindered. In a mist of purple, Darksteel teleports them inside the building complex and they make their way down the corridors with Torment constantly scanning for spark signatures as they advance further and further into the enemy base. Searching for that special one among all the rest and avoiding direct combat with the enemy forces rushing to Talon's point of entry.
The whole building complex shakes as heavy weaponry gets fired, and Torment knows Talon has gotten to where Torrent is. He recognizes the telltale power of his nemesis's main weaponry. That cannon Torrent brandishes is not something to take lightly but is pure destruction when unleashed.
It means he has to up his effort and reach Athena before everything possibly collapses around them.
Talon sends another artillery shell out of its trajectory. Everything shakes violently when it impacts a wall and explodes, crumbling the building's supporting structure and creaking the ceiling ominously.
"Who are you!" Torrent roars in his alt-mode, his cannon primed and aimed at the invaders.
Talon chuckles darkly.
"It shouldn't surprise me that you don't know who I am." He comments mockingly, opening fire on Torrent alongside his elites while Prowl keeps to the back and out of the direct line of fire, guarding their rear.
Talon unsheathes his talons and brandishes them, smiling challengingly at his foe.
"Why don't you come out of alt-mode? Then I can show you who I am."
Another artillery shell is his answer and Talon sighs theatrically as he sends it into another wall, ruining more of the building in the process. He is keenly aware of the damage being caused to their surroundings and knows this can't go on. He needs to get Torrent out of his alt-mode and within physical range to take him out.
"Do you think I am stupid!" Torrent growls, a salvo of bullets firing from the machine guns on both sides of his alt-mode. "I have the upper hand here, efficiently locking you and your team down! You can do nothing against me!"
Talon takes the salvo in stride, defending those behind him, the bullets pinging against his reinforced armor, only causing him slight pain and superficial damage. His elites return the fire, a salvo of missiles getting sent against Torrent's alt-mode, causing the first minor breach of his armor. Energon begins to trickle from the wound, and Talon orders another salvo, seeing the opening he has waited for.
Slowly but gradually, Torrent suffers more and growing wounds, and finally, he gets forced out of alt-mode. But the fight is far from over as he pulls out his triumph card and purple swirls manifest between him and his attackers.
The distant sound of gunfire and missile explosions as Talon works on weakening Torrent have Torment and Darksteel hurrying down the corridor they are in as the all-out battle rattles the whole building they are in and causes sections of it to collapse.
Hurriedly taking a corner to avoid a collapsing ceiling, they stumble unprepared into a smaller group of guards mobilized against Talon. The guards hesitate, staring surprised at them, clearly not expecting invaders this far from the actual fighting, and it gives Torment and Darksteel the time to eliminate the threat. Then they move down the corridor, checking every room they pass on their way, but all of them are empty, their occupants gone to deal with the attack.
They take another corner and that is when they see Ozone leave a room. Torment immediately recognizes his former colleague and holds him at gunpoint.
"Thank Primus, you are here, Torment." Ozone surprises Torment by saying, not reacting to the weapons aimed at him.
Torment narrows his optics.
"What are you playing at, traitor?!"
"No games. And not a traitor." Ozone says, shaking his head calmly, meeting Torment's optics with honesty in his own. "I am on your side. Have always been. Talon hired me a very long, long time ago to keep optics on you when you left the Polyhexian Cartel. He wanted someone to protect you and report back to him on your development. I have stayed by Torrent's side on Talon's order, reporting about Torrent's plans whenever I could."
"Identification!" Torment demands, not yet lowering his weapon. Not before he has confirmation Ozone is one of their secret agents.
"OT-98-31-Delta."
When the identity is confirmed, Torment stares cautiously at his once close friend before slowly lowering his weapon and folding it back into his frame. Beside him, Darksteel does the same, except he keeps his weapon out, ready to defend them should more enemies discover them.
"Come with me." Ozone says, and Torment and Darksteel follow him back to the room he had walked out of when they encountered him. The door gets unlocked, and in an instant, Torment forgets everything else around him as he stares at the little figure lying huddled in the corner of the small cell.
"Athena?" He whispers hesitantly, frozen on the spot at the sight of her. But when there is no response, he hurries to her side and kneels beside her. His hands hesitate before touching her, but he pulls himself together and gently touches her to turn her around to face him.
Her face is bruised and caked in dried energon, and he fights against the urge to caress her cheek, not wanting to cause her pain by aggravating her facial wounds. Her optics remain offline and he realizes she is unconscious.
He looks up, meeting Ozone's gaze.
"Tell me everything." He demands, needing to know everything about the damage she has sustained. It can be vital for Flux's treatment of her.
Ozone provides a full description of Athena's experiences since she arrived at the Organization's base of operation, and Torment has a deep urge to go kill Torrent by his own hand when he learns about everything Athena has been through. He gently picks her up and walks out of the cell and into the corridor, turning to Ozone to thank him for his loyalty.
But that is when Ozone gets summoned by Torrent, and Ozone looks at Torment.
"You need to go, sir." Ozone says calmly, peace and acceptance in his optics.
Torment wants to protest, but as seconds turn to a minute, he hears a faint beeping from behind Ozone's chestplates.
The explosive device.
"GO! NOW!"
Ozone throws himself away from them as Torment and Darksteel begin to run away down the corridor, the explosion following the next second, bringing the corridor down where Ozone once had been. Torment stops and stares at the ruined corridor and what remains of his friend.
Ozone's decapitated head stares at him with lifeless optics from among the rubble, and Torment begins to shake from rage.
He had just gotten his estranged friend back!
And now he is gone forever!
Torrent has so much to answer for!
The rage clouds his mind and he is about to go and confront Torrent himself, but a hand on his shoulder brings him back to reality, mentally grounding him.
"We need to move, Torment," Darksteel says. "We have what we came for. Let Talon handle Torrent."
Torment looks down at Athena in his arms and nods, pulling himself together.
"You are right."
Athena is his first priority.
His creator can take care of Torrent and ensure he gets the end he rightly deserves.
With a hand on Torment and Athena, Darksteel teleports them out of the Organization's base and back to the secured zone where Flux and his medical team are waiting for them, and Torment sends an all-clear to Talon.
"Kill him!"
There is no hesitation as the three teleporters Torrent has summoned open fire on Talon and his elites. Talon aims to kill Shadestop, but the black and yellow teleporter evades by teleporting away, appearing behind Talon a second later and resuming his attack without a hitch.
An endless salvo of bullets slams relentlessly into Talon from all sides, creating dents and minor wounds in their wake, but causing no significant damage. His reinforced armor is what gives him a fighting chance in this uneven fight he suddenly finds himself in, unable to hit his foes with any of his attacks.
He can't help being impressed by the sheer skill they utilize in unity to fight him. These three have fully mastered their outlier ability and incorporated it into their fighting style, turning it into an unprecedented advantage on any battlefield.
Torrent is making scathing remarks during the ongoing onslaught, ridiculing and provoking him, and Talon can do nothing to get to him. The three teleporters zip around him in unpredictable patterns, shooting at him and his elites and successfully keeping them from killing their leader.
All his attention is on his foes, but now and then, he hears the distinct sound of pain as the lives of those most loyal to him slip away, and his rage grows with each loss he takes.
Enough is enough!
The moment Talon gets the 'all-clear' from Torment and knows Athena is safely out of the base, he stops playing around and becomes pure lethal business. The first thing to go is the roof, and Prowl and the elites dive for cover as debris rain down all around them while Talon transforms into alt-mode and shoots into the air above the base.
"AFTER HIM!" Torrent roars, enraged, shooting futilely at the black flight frame now out of his range. Without hesitation, the three teleporters follow the order, vanishing and reappearing on what remains of the roof and intensifying their attack on Talon.
Anti-aircraft systems come to life and the air is suddenly raining with deadly projectiles from all directions as the members of the Organization focus all their artillery on taking down their deadly foe while he seems vulnerable. But this is Talon's element and a situation where he thrives, his spark singing with dark pleasure as he fights against his foes and expertly dodges everything they dare throw against him.
He takes out the anti-aircraft systems in rapid succession with precision missiles, evening the playing field drastically, and focuses his deadly intent on his teleporting foes. Realizing their sudden disadvantage, the teleporters join him in the air, zipping around him and unleashing devastating attacks on his large frame to find any weakness. He is not fast enough to target any of them before they disappear, and none of them seem to tire out as they gradually drain his reserves.
It is still only his heavy armor that keeps him in the fight as they slowly but surely force him closer and closer to the ground, and finally, he is forced to transform out of alt-mode, his talons engaging. That takes them by surprise for a short moment, and he gets his hands on one of them, his talons tearing satisfyingly into the plating of his foe and ripping him apart piece by piece. The energon-curdling scream from his unfortunate victim halts the advance of the rest of them as he hovers as an angel of death in the air above the base, his optics full of berserker rage.
"Who's next!" He challenges as he lets the deactivated frame fall to the ground, his talons dripping ominously with energon.
Down in the base, Prowl and the elites are holding Torrent and his people in check, but they cannot make any progress without Talon there to lend them the required firepower, and they have taken a more or less defensive position.
"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR, YOU IMBECILES! KILL HIM, OR I WILL KILL YOU!"
Torrent's roar of rage causes Talon to chuckle darkly, reveling in the desperation and impotence he detects in his enemy's voice.
He looks down, meeting Torrent's furious gaze.
"I can literally smell your weakness from there, Torrent! If you weren't prepared to face my full wrath, you shouldn't have gone after Torment like you did! I allowed the two of you to become affiliated and have kept my optics on you while you worked together! The moment you hurt him, you made me your mortal enemy!"
"THE ONLY ONE THAT WILL DIE HERE IS YOU!"
At a single command, all of the Organization's flight frames ascend into the air, lending their power to the two remaining teleporters as Torrent throws everything he has at his disposal against his powerful foe in a last-ditch attempt to kill Talon.
"ATTACK! KILL HIM!"