Fire of Youth

Chapter 24

*Alright! Let's get this mythology/Predacon train chugging again! Choo-choo! :D First up: Texas.


Later...

Bluestreak was a little bewildered by how many critters out in the desert were dangerous to humans. There were only a handful that could be safely brought back to the base to show his brothers or the humans. The simple rule with the creatures was: if it had fangs or claws or hadn't been domesticated as a common pet he couldn't bring it back. And unfortunately a lot of the desert wildlife had fangs or claws and hadn't been readily domesticated 'cause living in the desert wasn't easy. Animals living in the desert were under the rules of kill or be killed, eat or be eaten. He was happy he could bring back a few things though. There were even a few snakes that were harmless, like the gopher snake (he had no idea what the heck a gopher was though). That kinda made up for it. Animals on Earth were just so weird and cool! The sheer variety of designs and colors and everything made home look a bit, well, dull.

Bulkhead was even nice enough to tell about some of the tropical animals he'd seen in the Mexican jungles. Mostly birds. There had been a few creatures in the underbrush and trees that built massive, sticky nets called webs and had eight feet on their bodies and multiple eyes. "Spiders" they were called. Humans apparently had a thing against them because they were so creepy looking and often had nasty bites. Bulkhead had told him a story from way back when where, after the base had been overrun with scraplets which had then been 'bridged back to the Arctic, Ratchet had admitted that humans were useful in their own right and Optimus had admitted they were strong despite being so small.

And Miko had then freaked the flip out when she thought she'd felt a spider on her, running off shrieking at the top of her lungs.

Yeah. Humans and spiders didn't mix well. Kind of like how scraplets and Cybertronians didn't mix well. Hey, at least spiders couldn't fly or swarm humans and devour them alive. That was one thing in their favor.

Grimwing's visor had also been completed at last. With some help from Ratchet the Thunderbird had been outfitted with it. He had offered many thanks in return. Personally, Bluestreak thought he looked pretty cool with it. It was also nice not to see the poor mech squinting and shielding his optics with his hand whenever he went outside. Even inside he tended to squint a lot. Ratchet and Rafael had seemed very pleased with the end result – and with their efforts. Fowler had even dropped by with Mr. Rowland. Both had been impressed with the visor. The two men had left to see to their routine business. Mr. Rowland had promised to stop by later to see how things were going with the Thunderbird and his friends.

"Infernus?" prompted Ratchet.

The Prime turned from his teaching in instant. Bluestreak didn't like the medic's tone. There was something in it that told trouble was coming. He watched him tilt his helm inquisitively to one side in a silent question.

"You need to head to El Paso quickly. We must get that fossil into safe keeping before they can use it for ill purposes. Two Predacons in their ranks is enough I should think."

He turned to Ultra Magnus. He was the most well-versed tactician he had. "Sir? Who should I bring?" Infernus asked. He really knew nothing about the area. He'd be going in blind.

"This is an oil field, meaning you will need to be mindful of blaster fire and, well, dragon fire. I needn't remind you that oil is incredibly flammable. But we need to keep this below the radar if we can. There might be workers on site who could spot us and complicate matters considerably. Speed and stealth would be helpful in this instance. Minimal firepower would be preferable as well. We could severely damage the already unsteady oil economy if the field goes up in flames."

Infernus's blue gaze flicked among his ranks. Speed and stealth Ratchet had said. No powerful explosives or firearms either, as one misplaced shot could see the place's oil drills erupt like a volcano. Definitely not Wheeljack then. That was a no brainer. The fastest team mates he had were Bluestreak, Arcee, and Bumblebee. Might as well bring all three. Poor 'Bee hadn't been out in the field for a while, and Blue would just get bored staying here for another mission. 'Bee knew better than to get cocky with his triple-barrel cannons. Blue would probably be a little less trigger happy with his own shotgun after his little misunderstanding with Grim. Not like a shotgun had great range anyway. Arcee liked using her arm blades over her blasters at any rate. Yeah, this'd work. Totally.

"Blue, Arcee, 'Bee – with me."

He was pleased to see all three nod and join him. Ratchet began queuing up a groundbridge.

"What about Scotland?" Miko wondered.

The Prime considered again. His speedy soldiers would be busy in El Paso. So maybe he could send the two Wreckers plus Magnus to check the place out? Maybe Grim in case things got hairy? He was used to being in caves. Ratchet had said he'd detected an Energon deposit beneath the bluffs. Depending on how large the deposit was the number of 'bots needed to transport it (and possibly a fossil there) would vary. Smaller the deposit the fewer 'bots were needed. Larger the deposit the more 'bots were needed. They needed the Energon badly. His injuries courtesy of Starscream had taken their reserves down. Ugh. But he didn't want to split everyone up, not with the Gwyllgi and that bronze dragon now both working for the 'Cons. There wasn't much choice here though. Splitting up when their numbers were low and while there were two Predacons ready to rip them all to pieces was a bad idea. Time couldn't be thrown aside waiting for one group to finish before sending out the other, not this time.

"Commander? Can you take Wheeljack and Bulkhead to the bluffs? See what's there? I know you guys just go back from Mexico," he said, addressing the two Wreckers, "But we need that Energon. The 'Cons are hoarding enough of it as is. Just scout the place out if you can. Push comes to shove, try to secure the place. If their pet Preds come – one, the other, or both – don't fight them. Just get the slag out. Much as we need the stuff I'm not gonna risk lives for it, and I'm not sure if I could make it there in time to lend a hand. No idea whether or not we'll finish at the oil field before you guys finish at the bluffs. And I'm not sure how well Grim would do if those Preds showed up again. Gwyllgi was a handful by itself. The dragon? That thing might be too much. Er, no offense Grim."

"None taken." Grimwing answered.

Ultra Magnus nodded. "Understood, Prime."

Wheeljack made a face at Infernus: "You're no fun. That dragon or the new pet dog comes I'll give 'em somethin' to chew on." He detached the grenade on his hip and tossed it up in the air a few times with some skillful flicks of the wrist.

Ultra Magnus shot him a disapproving look. The white Wrecker returned it with a glare of his own and a seemingly ill-timed rebellious smirk. The larger mech's fists clenched, optics narrowing.

Bumblebee got between them quickly: *Okay, fellas. Let's not do this right now. Focus on the real fight, would you? You can save the glaring contests for later.*

When it looked like the two were willing to at least tolerate each other the scout withdrew. He kept an optic on them regardless. Smokescreen had read of the Wreckers' battles in the Hall of Records but that didn't mean he was fully aware of the friction the team had had (and apparently still had) with their present commanding officer. Wheeljack was the biggest cause of that friction. He and Magnus mixed about as well as oil and water. Bulkhead tried to be the mediator between the two, but he hadn't always been successful. He had a feeling these two would keep at it until they finally learned to work together or else got each other killed because of their contrasting personalities.

Bumblebee really hoped they'd avoid that second one. They were too low on numbers to start losing anyone else.

"Wheeljack. Play nice with him. I'm not evening ordering that. Just do it as a favor to me." Infernus said. "Listen to him. Please. If you dropped a cave on that Predacon the first time you met it, I kinda doubt a grenade is gonna do more than tickle it. Might do something to the Gwyllgi if you manage to hit it but believe me when I say that thing is fast. Not an easy target. Oh, did I mention it could turn invisible? Hard to hit something if you can't even see it. You guys wouldn't be able to smell it like me and Grim can."

"What?" Wheeljack challenged, folding his arms over his chassis. "You don't think me and Bulk are capable of holding a beastie off?"

Infernus's optics narrowed, but there was no real malice in them. "No. I do think you can if you really try. I'm just telling you not to. I'm not trying to be mean here but you guys had to be rescued the last time you fought that dragon. My group in Wales got lucky with the Gwyllgi 'cause it was raining. Grim doesn't count. Harming wasn't what he'd been trying to do in the mountain. He was just trying to frighten some manners into them. Point is, you won't have the advantages we both had the last times we fought those things if they show up – and I'm thinking they might. Megatron won't be taking chances with the possibility of two resources all packaged up for him. It's free loot he might not know we know about."

The white Wrecker looked less than pleased about this arrangement but did not offer a retort. Kid had a point. Wreckers were trained to take risks like that though. That was the whole point of a black ops unit. They went in and dealt with the problems everyone else was too cautious or fearful to deal with, getting rid of anything that got in the way of that goal. Sometimes they had a real, concrete plan but a lot of the times those plans had either had to be scrapped or altered on the fly. With Magnus around, those improvisations hadn't been so commonplace, but when they did occur there had been distinct friction among the Wreckers and their Commander. They'd wanted to do it their way while Magnus wanted to do it his way – the "safer" way.

"Alright. Fine. No promises though. If he starts bugging me about protocol and rank for the billionth time..." Wheeljack left the weak threat open ended, his expression remaining none too pleased about working with his old unit leader.

Infernus mentally sighed and rolled his optics. He couldn't have these two constantly at each other's neck cables. Was there any way to get them to at least tolerate each other, on missions if no where else? They were already all dealing with one major fight. Having a second one even closer to home would weaken them from the inside out. A team was no team if they couldn't cooperate on and off the battlefield. Megatron would be quick to take advantage of that. Their unwillingness to cooperate might get them killed. But...how was he supposed to do that?

'That I am unsure. Ultra Magnus is a talented mech to be certain but he has trouble cooperating well with different attitudes and viewpoints. In a word he is stubborn. And unfortunately so is Wheeljack. Despite efforts to alleviate tension during the War it never faded. How you intend to obtain the result you wish I leave to you. I will warn you that no one has been successful in such an endeavor. A handful have tried merely to be met with dismal failure.'

"Oh, thanks for that wonderful little pep talk..." he muttered. He had been hoping for a little more encouragement than that, maybe even a hint or suggestion on how to work this conflict into something a little more productive. Aggressive glaring contests and passive-aggressiveness that might turn into real, physical aggressiveness needless to say were not productive. It would hamper them in the field.

"You say something?" Arcee asked.

"Hmm? Wha? No. Nothing."

Arcee didn't look convinced. One slender brow ridge arched up at him. He'd seen Jack's mother give Miko that look once before, and slagging Pit was it scary effective at getting you to talk. Infernus gave in and opened up a short-band channel to her:

*Okay, fine. I'm trying to think up a way to get those two to get along so they don't handicap themselves on missions and possibly get themselves hurt or killed because of the fact they can't stand each other. Happy?*

The femme appeared surprised on hearing that. What looked like genuine appreciation flickered in her pink-rimmed optics. A tiny little smirk formed.

*Good luck with that. If Optimus and Jazz couldn't get them to get along I have no idea how you're gonna manage.*

*Oh, ye of so little faith.* Infernus teased with playful sarcasm. *I'll think of something. At some point. Probably. Hopefully...*

A groundbridge swirled open. Bumblebee whistled and darted for the portal. Arcee actually managed a small, wry smile and gave the young Prime a friendly shove forward. Infernus looked at her, startled and pleased at the change in attitude. She'd said one time she considered him a good choice in a successor to Optimus, and had even hugged him that same solar cycle. He just hadn't thought her attitude would change so drastically. Was she finally learning to live with the past in order to accept the present? If so that was a really good step forward for her.

"Come on, Smaug. Let's go make sure the 'Cons don't blow the oil field up and get a sea serpent onto their roster."

He grinned broadly. Hey. If he could get Arcee smiling and playfully shoving him – even making a Lord of the Rings joke at him – then how hard could getting two stubborn mules to tolerate each other really be?

Still grinning, he followed the femme, the gunner, and scout through. Out of curiosity he tossed a quick sideways glance up to the catwalks. Jack had put down his textbooks and was looking after them with a hopeful smile of his own. Miko had a grin of her own, but he was a little worried to note that grin wasn't targeted at the portal. It was targeted at Bulkhead and Wheeljack. That was not a good thing to see. He knew Miko pretty well by now. That grin always signaled trouble.

'Miko, don't you slagging dare...' Infernus thought.

He glanced back to see her idly fidgeting and watching the Wreckers, waiting for an opening. In warning, he gave her the classic "I'm watching you..." gesture and stepped into the portal. Some instinctive sense made him pop his helm back out and once again to find her on the stairs, frozen on noting he was still watching her. Slowly, he back-stepped into the groundbridge.

The portal closed behind them.


*Welcome to the Lone Star State, Smoke!*

Bumblebee had his arms out like a showman displaying his wares and tricks. Arcee had to resist the urge to roll her optics. Mechs. And she was stuck with the three most playful ones on the team. Wonderful. This'd go well.

Infernus looked around, a hint of confusion in his fiery blue gaze. He asked whether or not this was still Nevada, 'cause he didn't see much difference. It was mostly flat and rocky in every direction. The ground was desert-y looking. Not a lot of plant life. Had Ratchet decided to troll them and just plonk them somewhere in Nevada, knowing he wasn't that great at geography?

*Oh come on! This is Texas! They got cowboys, they got rodeos, they got really good Mexican food Raf says so. I believe him. Mexico's just south of us. We're basically right on the border. New Mexico's just north of us. American Southwest tends to look kinda desert-y anyways until you hit the mountains. We're actually in a kinda mountainous region right now. El Paso's at about thirty-seven hundred feet above sea level even if it doesn't look like we're that high.*

The scout pointed off to the distance. Glimmering on the horizon, just visible, was a modern city skyline. It poked up in silvers and glassy blues and greens from the rocky desert like some bizarre forest. Compared to New York, which Miko and Jack had described in vivid detail to him, the place was nowhere near the sheer scale of that city. It was puny compared to Iacon, too. Still. Pretty impressive in its own right to have a city like this in the middle of the rocky, semi-mountainous desert.

*That's El Paso right over there. Population's roughly seven hundred thousand or so. Not the biggest city in the state. Interstate Ten runs through there to San Antonio to the south, Fort Worth to the north, and Houston to the southeast. I consider it lucky we got El Paso and not one of those three. They have a lot more people in those cities.*

"Wow. Am I talking to a scout or a tour guide?" Infernus joked. He hadn't expected 'Bee to be so knowledgeable about the cities of the country and the planet in general. Sure he'd been here a lot longer than he had but this was some pretty specific intel. Research was required to obtain it.

Bumblebee made a face at him: *Shut up. I like exploring Earth, okay? It's fun. If you start exploring you'll find it's a lot like home. Just not as much metal and everything's built to human scale, not our scale.*

"I like all the colors." Bluestreak chirped. "There's just so much variety!"

"Guys. Please." Arcee interrupted. "Oil field. Fossil. Remember? This isn't a tour. This is a mission."

"Well, where's the oil field? I don't see it." retorted Infernus.

The scout looked around. At first glance the city was the only plainly human-made construct anywhere near them in that general direction. On turning about to face the opposite direction he spotted what might be mistaken for high-tension towers. On zooming in he noticed there was key features in such a tower that were missing, and a metal pole was driven down the middle of the tower. His optics were not sharp enough to determine whether or not that pole was rotating but he could take a guess that that pole was a drill. Clustered near these rigs were several see-saw like structures that slowly rocked up and down in a rhythmic fashion, each the color of dark iron. One was completely still. A bridge ran over a ravine in which water rushed.

*There.* he said, pointing. *You see those towers? Those are the drills. They bore down to pockets of oil or natural gas. Those things that like look like giant see-saws are the pumpjacks. Once the bore hole is finished the tower's replaced with one of those. They pump the stuff back to the surface to be processed and sold. Also, funny note about them: they're nicknamed 'rocking horse' or 'nodding donkey' pumps because of how they look and move.*

Infernus looked the pumps and drills over. "Sooo...which ones do we need to avoid blowing up?"

"Both." Arcee answered simply.

"Aaand what about people?"

"Those rigs and pumpjacks are all automated but there might be some personnel on sight to maintain the equipment. It's a Sunday so hopefully the workers are all off site. The fossil might be in storage. I'm not sure."

"Joy." He groaned. "Well, let's go get this over with."

Transforming, he bounded down from the rise onto the flat plains, rocks and dust sliding out of place as he went. The femme, the gunner, and the scout followed behind. Explaining the presence of three unmanned vehicles in a private oil drilling field was one thing. Fowler could easily step in and say they were part of a driver-less vehicle test and their GPS systems had gone on the fritz. Explaining the presence of a giant white dragon was another matter entirely. And on the flat plains where the drilling was taking place there was no cover. They could easily be ambushed from above with little forewarning. Each piece of equipment was a bomb to boot. One stray shot, one stray stream of fire, and the whole place would go up in flames, crippling the field's profits and sending the price of oil skyrocketing. This was a bad sum of factors.

"I don't like this..." admitted Arcee quietly. "Too many dangers."

*We'll be fine. We just need to find the fossil and book it.*

She did not say that knowing their luck it would hardly be as simple as that. Trouble would arise. Things would be made far more complicated. Her expression did become more grim. The scout noticed the change.

*We'll be fine.* he whistled. *Start thinking positive for once.*

Bluestreak nodded. "Yeah! We got a dragon on the team, remember? Any 'Cons come here, Smoke'll roast 'em! Right, 'Bee?"

Arcee snorted softly. Thinking positive had never done anything for her; it never had and it never would. The War had ripped that sort of hopeful, light-sparked attitude from her long ago. In war it was deadly to possess it. Optimism led to over-estimation, and over-estimation more often than not led to death and pain and general misery. She'd had enough of that to last her for many millions of years. Caution was far more important to her. Pessimism was much easier than hope in times like this. More practical.

"If he could avoid char-broiling the field that'd be nice."

The three re-joined their Prime in the confines of the field. Infernus was busy snuffing around one of the few low buildings that dotted the expanse. All around them the drills and pumpjacks went about their own mission unperturbed, chugging ever onward. Infernus seemed annoyed as he kept trying to track. They got a hint of why: the air here was suffused with a smell of sulfur as the oil was pumped to the surface. Finding scents through the stench was a task in it of itself, and he admitted he wasn't even sure what he was smelling for in the first place. He had no idea if the fossil even still retained a scent, and it was hard to pick out individual scents that he did know. The stench in the air masked pretty much everything. Even theirs were foggier here than at the hangar. 'Cons could be hiding behind a building in vehicle form and he'd be none the wiser.

Bumblebee opened a comm. channel back to the hangar: *Hey, Ratchet? Did that report say where the fossil's being kept? Is it on site or somewhere else or what?*

[It is on site, in the building labeled 1B according to the official, un-released report. I apologize; I neglected to mention that. The jaw is far too large for any truck on site to move it, and the few workers there are under orders not to move it until a museum official and a marine biologist are obtained to examine it. So far as I am aware neither has visited and the object has not been moved.]

He shut the line off. So the thing was still here. He relayed the medic's information:

*Look for building 1B, guys. That's where it is.*

Arcee glanced over the building before them. Above the door was a plaque that labeled the building: 1F.

Infernus was about to order them to spread out to cover more ground but reined in the impulse. They were too exposed out here and he assumed he was still ground-bound and unable to give air support. His optics were far sharper than theirs. He could pick the place out from a distance. Sticking together though – that was the sane thing. No one would be left isolated then. The scars from his encounter with Starscream, healed and faint and painted over though they were, stung in remembrance of that instance. He would never make that mistake again. It had nearly cost him his life.

The Prime glanced around sharply, optics zooming in to focus on each of the buildings. 1A – nope. 1D – nope. 1C – nope. Ah-ha! 1B! Right over there! He bounded for the inconspicuous trailer-like building. Arcee, Bluestreak, and Bumblebee, taken off guard, transformed and raced after him. He began sniffing to ensure it was empty before they re-joined him. Sure smelled like no one was in there. He could smell even more crude oil within through the masking sulfur stench outside. Combined it was overpowering. This was a garage or something for the on-site vehicles. Or it might be where the fuel was stored until it could be transported for processing at a refinery. That was as much as he could gather from smell alone. There were no windows.

Actually, come to think of it: how were they going to get in to grab the fossil? They were too big to fit. He wasn't going to rip the building apart to get it. That was super excessive and would cause a veritable scrap-storm of an inquiry. Fowler would probably have their helms on platters if they did that.

*Uh, guys? How're we gonna get the fossil in there?* he asked over short-band.

Bluestreak admitted he had no idea. They could ask Fowler or Mark or somebody to be 'bridged over but there rose the problem of once they did get inside the fossil was probably way too big for a human to move without help. Infernus's jaws were large; he had no clue how big this jaw was. The report had never said. He was assuming it was massive since Ratchet had said it might belong to either a Sharkticon or a Leviacon. Some of those things had been freaking huge he said. He'd heard stories from before the War of a nearly complete frame of a Leviacon deep in the Hall of Discovery in Crystal City. Discoverers had nicknamed it Ylvazi don Co'eqelar Su'ul: Dweller of the Deepest Fathoms. He spread his arms wide in a pale effort to describe its sheer scale. Thing was gigantic; enormous – like a blue whale was to a human.

The Prime growled in annoyance. He looked at the skies and all around warily. They were sitting ducks out here as they tried to solve this problem. If the 'Cons didn't know about the jaw they'd certainly be able to track three Autobots here and question what they were up to.

Arcee transformed without warning, startling the three mechs. She drove for the closed door to the side at break-neck speed, ramming into it. The door gave way with hardly any protest.

"Arcee!" they cried in dismay. Oh they were all in so much trouble when they got back.

"Easier to explain a break in than a torn-apart building." she argued. "If Fowler gets ticked, I'll take the fall for it, Prime. It was my idea, my actions."

She drove through the collapsed door and into the garage or storage building or whatever it was. Infernus listened carefully. He heard her slowly drive around, the sound of her engine rising and falling as he assumed she avoided equipment or barrels of crude oil. He heard the shifting of plates as she transformed towards the back, heard a slight scrape of metal-on-concrete as she lifted something into her arms. She came nearer the shuttered garage doors. He had to assume she'd found the fossil. The shuttered exit ways ground open slowly, rust making the gears and pulleys creak and groan. He let out of a sigh of relief on seeing her there with a large, complete jaw of a Predacon eternally agape as if to snap down on an unsuspecting piece of prey. Thing was pretty big, but certainly not belonging of a titan of 'Bee's description. From where she was holding it against her chestplates it reached vertically from just above her neck cables to her upper femoral plating. Nine or ten feet easily. Horizontally it was much wider, but with her arms busy hanging on to the thing he couldn't get an estimate. Freaking big – way bigger than his jaws.

Bumblebee whistled: *Whoa. That thing's big! But...what's a fossil like this doing thousands of miles from any body of water?*

"Good question." Bluestreak said. "You'd think a Sharkticon or a Leviacon would be near a body of water or in water. What's it doing all the way out here?"

The femme returned to their side and handed the jaw over the scout. Surprisingly it wasn't very heavy. Made him wonder if the metal of the jaw was hollow and filled with gas to help with buoyancy when it had been alive. Metal had a bad habit of sinking, after all. He shifted it under the crook of his shoulder and prepped to call back to base for transport. It looked like mission accomplished.

*And what do you know, 'Cee. No 'Cons! See? What'd I tell you?*

He instantly regretted his choice of words.

He saw Infernus's helm whip around for seemingly no reason. His audials were not on par with a Predacon's but he'd heard something, too. Faint but audible. A roaring kind of whoosh that could only be made by one thing: a groundbridge. Across the oil field about five hundred feet away a groundbridge swirled in front of the bridge. Out of it spewed seven Vehicons, two Eradicons, and a lumbering tank of dark purple metal that was all too familiar. Its massive gun pointed at the Prime dispassionately at the same moment the troopers morphed their hands into weapons. Each blaster and the tank's main gun began glowing with red energy. The three Autobots tensed.

"Secure the specimen." droned Shockwave. "I will deal with the Prime."

Infernus took Shockwave's order as a challenge: *Alright, then! You wanna go, cyclops?! Let's go! Just you and me! Mano a mano! Come on!*

Snarling, he charged forward towards the enemy squadron. He barely registered Arcee shout at him to fight smart. Oh, he'd fight smart alright. Because the funny thing about tanks? They couldn't fly and they couldn't maneuver very well. Big, bulky, typically slow and completely ground-bound. And there was a nice, big, lovely ravine right over there with a narrow bridge and low railings...Oh, yeah. He could work with this set up. This was perfect. Of course, he didn't even know if he could still fly. But hey – might as well find out. You only lived once.

"'Bee! Launch me!" he heard Arcee shout behind him.

He did not turn to look. He kept charging at the tank. He knew from the sound of blaster fire from above she was airborne for a short time, distracting the troops. Two Vehicons fell from well-placed shots to their chassis and helms. The other five swarmed forward to fight Arcee and 'Bee while the Eradicons took to the skies. One more was rammed by a heavy plasma shot from Bluestreak's shotgun. He barely paid any heed to the shots aimed at him though he kept his audials active on all points of interest. Both 'bots were accomplished, and troopers weren't exactly know for being geniuses. He heard one more fall. Shockwave aimed his own cannon at him. He dodged to the side just as the high-powered plasma shot whizzed past him close enough for him to feel the heat. Shockwave did not turn to flee. He trundled forward, firing more rounds. Infernus drew ever nearer.

"You run helmfirst to your death, Prime." he droned. "Optimus's processor was not working correctly when he chose you. You are a pale mockery of his tactical prowess."

*Think again, ugly!*

Rather than ram the full weight of his frame into the tank, he leapt right over him. Shockwave's cannon attempted to follow his path but was unable to aim directly up. He lowered it and spun the weapon around, Infernus knowing full well it would cost him a precious klik or two. He followed him onto the bridge. Infernus spun around to face the tank, standing near the edge. Shockwave drew to a stop in the middle of the bridge.

"You seek to force me over the edge into the ravine. No doubt by using your frame as a battering ram?" he guessed.

*Yep.* It was a lie. That wasn't really his plan. He had a better one – dangerous but better, because Shockwave would never see it coming.

"And yet you are near the edge, and I am not. That placement is not logical for that strategy to function as you intend it. You should be in my position, and I, yours."

He kept silent. He could almost hear Shockwave's processor hum.

"...You have another plan."

Silent.

"You will not have the chance to employ it."

From above came the sound of another groundbridge. Out of it shot a sleek purple drone that began to fire on the white Draconian relentlessly. He forced himself to ignore the painful stings. He'd have to bear it in order for Shockwave to draw near and attempt the attack that would, presumably, send him tumbling over the edge and into the ravine. Shockwave transformed and approached, charging his cannon. The light of the charging plasma was so close to his mesh it turned the white to blood red. Infernus braced himself. Ratchet was gonna have his helm on a platter when he found out about this stupidly risky idea. He just had to hope it was worth it.

"Let us see how willing Primus is to protect his Speaker from harm."

Infernus transformed, grinning darkly. "Oh, yeah. Let's."

And he grabbed Shockwave in a vice grip, flung the mech over his shoulder pro-fighter style, and fell off the bridge with his catch. He heard two voices cry out:

"INFERNUS!"


The two mechs plummeted towards the ravine below. Wind whistled past them. Every astrosecond the bridge drew farther and farther away, and the bottom of the ravine and the river that flowed through it drew closer and closer.

"Are you mad?!" Shockwave did not howl but his voice was loud. Maybe even startled if he permitted himself to feel emotion.

"Nope!" the Prime answered, a near mad gleam in his blue gaze. "If I'm goin' down, you're goin' with me!"

The ground drew nearer. Infernus transformed and forced Shockwave beneath his limbs. His wings remained folded, Shockwave noting the tears in the baby blue mesh. He had to time this just right – and pray his wings still permitted gliding at the least. If he could still fly, great. If not – at least the landing he would have would be softer than the one he was forcing Shockwave to endure. Hitting solid rock at this speed, while not lethal to his kind, would definitely leave the mech indisposed for a bit. He stopped intaking air in a mimicry of holding his breath. His frame tensed. His processor began to solve calculations about his velocity far faster than it ever had in the past.

Three

Two

One

'Now!'

A mere ten feet from the ground and traveling at max descent speed the baby blue wings unfurled with a leathery snap. His forelimbs pushed Shockwave away to increase the impact force and give him a boost upwards in doing so. He pulled up as the scientist rammed full force into the stony ground beneath him, tumbling out of control and hitting a large boulder close at hand. His single red optic bore a nasty spider-web of cracks, and he was dented, dinged, and scratched all over. Frantically he flapped his wings and banked sharply to prevent from suffering a similar impact with the ravine wall. He was expecting to not raise in altitude and merely glide to a safe distance. Then he'd find a way back up.

But rise he did.

He flapped them even harder and rocketed up from the side of the bridge opposite to where he'd been standing not even a minute ago. He heard Bluestreak give a shout of elation, saw him on the ground jumping and hollering. Bumblebee whistled and trilled his own delight on spotting his white frame and blue wing mesh ignited by the sun, airborne once more. He looked back down to see Shockwave struggling back to his pedes. He roared in ecstasy. It worked! His stupid, completely dumb plan had actually freaking worked!

And he could fly still!

His sharp optics noticed a Vehicon flanking Bluestreak from behind while he was distracted. He was about to snap a warning at him but the gunner seemed to have planned it all out. He darted under the sole pumpjack that was still, its head up in the air. The Vehicon followed him, losing track of him for a brief klik as the gunner vaulted up the pumpjack and onto its head. Switching one hand to a small blade, he sliced the cables holding it still. The head nodded down. The Vehicon heard the creak of old, rusted gears above. It looked up...

Crra-BANG!

The Vehicon slumped to the ground, visor hideously cracked and it's helm almost smashed in. Sheesh. Those things were heavier than they looked! His snout curled into a smirk.

"Gotcha!" Bluestreak teased.

Good Blue. He wouldn't be able to pull that little trick twice though. The others had seen it.

He jumped down from his perch and darted back to help the others. Another shotgun round, and another Vehicon was blasted to the ground. Arcee was carving up another Vehicon with her arm-blades. An arm was sliced off, then the neck cables cut open. Bumblebee was having the most trouble, trying to fire rounds from one blaster-hand while holding the jaw under his arm tightly, looking around constantly.

Fire began to bubble in his throat. The scream of three engines met his audials, drawing his attention away from the ground fight. He turned to see the purple drone and his posse of two banking around and headed for him.

'Oh, Soundwave. You picked a bad day to join a fight with me!'

He surged forward to meet the enemy head on.


Author's Note: Aerial dogfight incoming! Dragon Vs Drones! Who will emerge victorious?! :D