Wazup y'all!
Now that I think about it... I actually don't have much explanation for why I made another new story when I still have two others to update...
Anyway, this one is in the WFC/TFP/BAY universe or the aligned continuity. Most of the characters in the spotlight are OCs. I encourage you to read at least all of the first chapter and send a review my way with anything you think I could change to make my story better. I appreciate all feedback/criticism you have to offer. Thanks for reading!
I landed on the metal floor of my cell with a loud thud. The Decepticon restraining me has just thrown me to the ground. The shackles that bound my wrists and ankles are now being attached to a hook on the back wall by the same heathen. I slowly stood, giving my torturer a death stare he won't forget. He simply scoffed and exited my cell, closing the energy field door behind him. I examined my wounds, which weren't severe, mostly minor scratches on my red and silver paint. I examined the cell, which was completely empty. The walls were their typical purple and black with red highlights. Darkmount hasn't changed one bit. I wondered where my teammates are located, it would be smart of Megatron to separate us, that would create a chance of lowering morale. I knew these shackles would not break, not even from the energy field, so I simply had to wait for an opportunity to present itself. I sat below the hook I was bound to and waited. I tried to contemplate everything that happened, I might as well kill the unlimited time I have at my disposal.
It was about 100 vorns ago, I was but a young cadet in the Autobot Military. I was still learning how to live with death around every corner, the war was still new to me. I can still recall one of the first times I was drafted all that time ago, I was scared, but I still had my intelligence. With everything happening so fast around me, it was starting to send me into a panic, but I did not let it overpower my judgement. There were bodies dropping all around me as barrages of ammunition fired at us at rapid speeds, remarkably I was not hit until a shell from a marauder tank exploded right in front of me. I was flat on my back with my hearing damaged. Pain from the impact scattered across my body like I had been hit by a barrage of knives. I attempted to sit up, but an immense throbbing pain in my cranium plate refused the attempt. I instead decided to roll onto my front and at least crawl somewhere remotely safer to gain my bearings. Ashes and sparks flew everywhere from my allies being murdered by the enemy, I refused to watch and kept my sight forward.
I found refuge behind a flipped Decepticon marauder tank with a body hanging out of the hatch. I sat up against the tank, protected from enemy fire. I tried looking around the side but didn't see anything promising. The enemy was advancing. I saw some attempt a retreat, running into my view on the opposite side of the tank from behind me. Not many were successful. I counted every death. Every life pathetically wasted. Every soldier dying in cowardice. The enemy was advancing again, I needed to act if I wished to remain online.
I sat up which was excruciating and ripped off a panel of the tank behind me. Even with this thing seemingly inoperable, I managed to fix the wiring to be able to activate the main cannon. I didn't bother putting the panel back on and flipped the tank onto its treads. I tried pulling the body out of the hatch, but it ripped in half leaving the legs behind. I tossed the rest out and got inside the cockpit. Unfortunately, I was shot in the lower abdomen in the process. I attempted to rotate the cannon to aim at the enemy in my state of excruciating pain, but something in the engine exploded in a plume of smoke.
"Scrap," I muttered aloud.
If I get out of the tank, I will die. If I remain in the cockpit, I will die. There is no escaping this situation. All I could do was wait for my inevitable demise. I hopelessly watched through the windshield as the enemy marched forward in blaze and glory.
That is until Ultra Magnus and the Wreckers arrived. The mighty General charged toward the front lines with his squad with no care for their own lives in a kamikaze. I was astonished by this act of fearlessness. They ploughed through the front lines like a Juggernaut, demolishing most of them. The enemy clearly outweighed our forces, no matter what the Wreckers did, so they opted to hold the line while Ultra Magnus ordered a retreat. I knew I would not be seen in this tank, and I no longer had the strength, nor pain tolerance, to stand. So, I simply opted to punch the hatch open, which sent it straight off its hinge and shot into the skies with my automatic rifle. The commotion attracted the attention of one of the wreckers, a hunky green bot with loads of body armour. Clearly the tank of the wreckers. He hefted himself on top of the tank and peered into the cockpit.
"You alright soldier?" He asked.
"I'm shot, I can't stand," I replied.
"Allow me." He mused as he turned and slowly ripped off the turret of the tank completely, I could hear him straining during the process.
"Thank you, sir," I said as he grabbed my arm to pull me up.
"No need for that," He chuckled as I put my arm over his shoulders, "Call me Hound."
I nodded before he carried me down the tank and ushered me back behind the crossfire. Hound took me to one of the outposts behind no man's land, I was then laid on an improvised gurney.
"Don't worry, I'm a medic too." He said simply as he looked over the wound dripping Energon, "You're about to feel a little pressure."
He then ripped the 50 Calibur bullet right out of my shoulder with his bare hand. I screamed in pain. He then sprayed something into the wound which froze it and made the pain immediately subside, some sort of cryogenic treatment.
"Pressure hurt like hell," I grunted. Hound chuckled in reply.
We then heard an explosion not far from our location, it sounded like a mortar.
"I need to get back out there. You're staying." Hound commanded.
"Respectfully sir, I am going with you." I stood, grasping my wound.
"You're injured, I'm not risking you getting killed out there." He replied, loading up his triple-barreled minigun on a nearby ammunition bench.
"I would rather perish in battle saving lives than sit here and watch my brothers and sisters die knowing I could prevent it," I stated sternly as I deployed my rifle.
Hound was now standing at the exit of the outpost, his minigun slung over his shoulder. He dropped his gun on a workbench and grabbed a syringe from the medical table behind me on the other side of the gurney.
"If you're goin' out there, you're gonna need this." He said as he slammed the needle between the plates of my armour on my right shoulder. I winced from the impact as my wound was still tender even after the freezing, but that subsided almost instantly. A pain killer, a strong one.
"If your shoulder acts up, or you get real hurt, take this." Hound said as he tossed me another syringe, the same one he just gave me.
"Now let's kick some Decepticon aft." He smirked as the cigar in his mouth was being lit.
I followed him in a run out of the outpost, my rifle held in both hands, the barrel pointed to the ground. The first thing I did when we exited the building was examined my surroundings. The enemy was still advancing, especially with the aid of 4 mortars even bigger than Titans (1) behind the front lines, like catapults obliterating dozens of Autobots after every shot fired. They looked heavily armoured, and the operator was clearly shielded as he was not in view. There is no easy way to incapacitate these weapons, bombing them may not even be effective.
"What the hell are we supposed to do about that?" I asked Hound beside me, emptying a mag into the front lines.
Once Hound was done with his overly enthusiastic war cry while firing at the enemy, he said, "We already called air support, they can't touch them. Optimus might call for a retreat."
I tried to stay optimistic, maybe there was still a way to penetrate the armour. I grabbed Hound's scope. The mortars were very large, with an 8-wheel tread on both sides and a circular body. Even if a bullet could reach it from here, it would probably ricochet off of it. I tried to locate the cockpit, but there was no visible evidence there was even a driver. What if…
I ran back into the outpost and grabbed the perfect weapon for this situation… as long as my theory is valid.
"The hell are you doin'? I need backup!" Hound yelled into the comm.
"Don't worry, I'm about to solve all of our problems," I replied as I approached him. He was using one of his grenade launchers on one of the mortars.
"You crazy son of a- is that the Harvester?" He asked is a scoff.
"Well… it could also be a really stupid idea. But, hear me out."
Hound only scoffed but made no further protest.
"There is no way to penetrate the armour of these beasts, but maybe we aren't supposed to. I can't see any evidence that those vehicles have drivers considering the size of their ammunition, there would simply be no room for a cockpit. This leads me to one theory." I explained as I aimed the Energon Harvester at the closest mortar, now nearly about to run us over. It fired and began to extract Energon from the massive machine. The lights of the mortar flickered, and the barrel dropped.
"Energon-powered vehicles? Megatron is getting even crazier every cycle." Hound mused.
The large vehicle eventually stopped its ascension to our side, steam pluming out of a smokestack behind the large cannon. As Hound and myself were celebrating the discovery of my theory being correct, the mortar started to shift. With loud creaking and sounds of metal shifting over each other, it revealed a massive Decepticon Titan in robot form, which collapsed due to lack of Energon crushing multiple soldiers of both sides.
"Well… That's new." Hound said simply.
"I'll deal with the other mortars, you cover me."
"You giving me orders, cadet?"
"Sorry, just cover me please."
"Nah, I'm jus' kidding. I got ya," he chuckled as he immediately sprayed ammunition into the enemy in front of me.
Since the Harvester was short-range, I essentially needed to get right in front of the vehicle for it to be at all effective. We ploughed through the enemy, one after the other falling at my feet as I ran through the very core of the battle. At one point, a large bot got in my way. He was tall and very bulky with mostly blue colouring, very similar to myself minus his colour scheme. I aimed my rifle at his face, but he knocked it away and sent an uppercut into my lower abdomen. While we are very similar, he was certainly more experienced in combat. Hound tried to help but was too slow for hand-to-hand combat with this brute. I then used the Harvester on him. As he was becoming weak, it was healing me. I then got to my peds, grabbed my rifle, kicked the back of his knee to force him down and sent several bullets into his back. But they had minimal effect. He turned, grabbed the Harvester, and tossed it away.
"Who… are you?" I asked in astonishment as he began to stand in front of me.
"My name is Onslaught. And you are..."
I was about to answer before he answered his own question for me.
"...dead."
Then he started sending several blows to my body, from my abdomen to my chest I was attacked until he swept my legs and I collapsed to the ground. As I was on my hands and knees he pressed a blaster to my head and mused, "Any last words, Autobot?"
Before I could answer he was knocked away from me. Hound body checked him.
"Thank me later, keep moving." He said as he helped me up and tossed me back the Harvester. I nodded in recognition and appreciation as we continued our course to the next mortar.
I was able to take out another mortar, but the final two transformed into their bipedal forms. I guess Megatron no longer has any care for his own troops now, he just wants to win the battle. Hound transformed and retreated for new orders. I followed, but I did not currently have an alt mode as of yet.
I then saw him, Optimus Prime, a large axe in his right and a large rifle in his left, firing behind us.
"Optimus! Orders!" Hound requested as Optimus chopped a lone Decepticon drone in half.
"Try to find weak points. We may not win this battle but we will give them a fight they will never forget." He replied in his iconic intimidating voice.
"You got it, chief. AIM FOR THE LUGNUTS!" Hound hollered.
I only recognized a few of my fellow Autobots that weren't currently charging their frontlines: Hound, Ultra Magnus, the other Wreckers, the infamous Warpath and of course Optimus Prime himself.
We all charged, a large army, all the others were letting out a war cry. I then saw some of the enemy side doing the same, alongside their titan allies. They were intimidating, but I was confident in our numbers and the leadership of our Prime. We clashed hard. I saw many on both sides killed instantly by gunfire or melee weapons, this unsettled me. I had to put myself in harm's way, something of which I was not entirely used to yet, but I have no choice. I unleashed my automatic rifle at the enemy, taking out easy targets as well. Every one I kill decreases the likelihood of us losing both the battle and ultimately our very lives.
I continued to stay just behind the front line, sniping lone drones that could pose a threat to unsuspecting Autobots. Hound was loading his rocket launcher while three other bots covered him.
"Fire in the hole!" He exclaimed as he launched the rocket right for one of the Titan's manifold. It had little to no effect. Hound cursed and threw his launcher at an unsuspecting drone to his left.
"You!" a familiar voice exclaimed from the front line. "You're mine!" Onslaught exclaimed again as he began to charge.
I took a step back, not really knowing what to do, shooting would be ineffective and attempting hand-to-hand combat would be a suicide mission. While frozen trying to decide what to do, something slid in from behind me. Another bot with wings on his back slid on his side toward Onslaught. With a blade in his right, he sliced the side of his calf causing him to fall hard. This bot now turned and jumped on his back, wrapping his legs around Onslaught's neck and swung around, forcing him into the ground with the momentum.
"Thanks for the assist," I said to the newcomer.
"No problem." He replied, holding a jagged knife to Onslaught's neck.
Onslaught pushed the bot off of him with his ped and got to his peds quickly. The bot dodged a few hooks and grabs, then attacked with his own much quicker punches. He sent several hooks and jabs into his abdomen, while also adding in a few blade attacks in between. Onslaught took the brunt of every attack, backing up slowly throughout, while not taking as much damage as I would expect, but still fairly damaged all the same. The bot then finished his skilled attack chain with a powerful uppercut to the lower gut, sending Onslaught far backwards.
"So who are you supposed to be?" He asked, flipping his two identical knifes 540 degrees counterclockwise in his hand and sheathing them.
"J-228," I replied.
"Ah, no callsign, huh? I'm Interceptor."
"I can see that." I chuckled, "Thank you."
"All in a day's work."
We were then both distracted by our conversation when one of the Titans began firing mortar ammunition out of its chest.
"So what are we doing about… that?" Interceptor asked.
"Hound already tried a… non-effective region. We need to find a weak spot." I replied.
"I'll go for the optics." He replied as he transformed into a bomber jet. The Titan noticed him and tried swatting him away, but Interceptor was clearly skilled in flight. He dodged and flipped over his attacks, firing at him in the process. Eventually, the giant was able to catch him off guard and backhanded him out of the sky.
After Interceptor was gone, I was forced to resume my attention to my immediate vicinity. I continued to cover my fellow Autobots until I noticed an Autobot soldier attempting to snipe the closest titan. Both he and I failed to notice the Decepticon drone aiming a blaster at the soldier's chest before he doubled over from the shot. I ran quickly to him to check him over, but the life was already fading from his eyes. Without hesitation, I avenged him and killed the drone brutally, grabbing him and literally tearing the armour off his body, punching into his chest and ripping out his spark in a blind fury. The downed soldier looked at the obliterated corpse in my hands and then at me. I dropped it and rushed over to him. Without a word, he handed me his sniper and slowly rested his head on the servo I was holding him up with. I slowly rested his body down on the ground. He died in my arms that day… and it scarred me for a long time to come. I looked over the sniper in my hand and cocked it. I crouched beside the soldier's body and aimed at the Titan slowly approaching our side, randomly firing mortar shells from its chest at my allies. I peered through the scope and tried to steady my arms. With the soldier that gave his life in mind, I was determined to win this battle with his very sniper. I tuned out all of the explosions and gunshots around me, focusing on my target. I steadily diminished my shaking and steadied my aim. As soon as the crosshairs were lined up with my target point, I fired.
The bullet rocketed from the barrel of the sniper toward the Titan's face. Time seemed to slow as the bullet arced and obliterated the Titan's right optic. As soon as it made contact, the giant groaned and its lights flickered, then dimmed. The Titan began to tip forward, slowly picking up speed.
"Everybody MOVE!" I called out, picking up the harvester and sniper, mounting them both on my back. We all ran, Autobots and Decepticons alike, as the massive corpse slammed into the ground, creating a small shockwave in its wake.
Once the dust cleared, all the Autobots cheered. While there was still one Titan left, Megatron opted to at least keep one alive, and ordered a full-scale retreat.
My allies all continued celebrating on the battlefield, firing the last of their ammunition into the dark sky above. A few of them came right up to me in celebration, cheering for me. They were applauding me because I was the one to take down the titan and win the battle with one mere sniper bullet. From that day forward I obtained the callsign: Jaeger, the hunter.
My reputation continued to build as I fought in more battles, I was becoming more skilled in combat, both ranged and hand to hand, although I was still new to this environment. I never enjoyed war, I always felt a little sick every time I obtained a new kill. I had to learn how to live with the blood on my hands, or it could kill me.
Since the Autobots were a new faction, they did not have nearly as many resources as the Decepticons. With that in mind, the Decepticons almost always have the advantage, which is why stealth is key at all times, large hangars for preparation between battles are not ideal. While a large building isn't ideal because it is very out in the open and rarely defended well compared to a Decepticon attack party, the Autobot's current headquarters was no mere outpost, but rather an entire city: Metroplex. Only now, about 100 years before the great Exodus, was Alpha Trion constructing the Ark, but I didn't know that yet.
After the battle I obtained my callsign, I needed to choose an alternate form. I wanted something with armour, as I was not yet very skilled in battle. The other Autobots were already collapsing small temporary structures and outposts to be moved back to home base on large transports. I saw among them were larger bots, about my size, collecting weaponry and ammunition within their own internal storage, as they had alternate modes with compatible storage. I examined one of the carriers that stood out to me, an eight-wheeled ammunition transport, which was oddly reminiscent of a scout vehicle, yet with twice the wheels(2). I scanned the vehicle and transformed. Hovering above the ground in my alternate form, I followed the army back to Metroplex City. Most of the land we travelled across was near barren. Tall, half-collapsed towers among small destroyed cities. Abandoned and war-torn. Even though these ruins were so damaged that they seemed ancient, they were no more than 5 vorns old. We used to be a peaceful civilization, even though imperfection was never distant. Technological advancement thrived, governments had no corruption… interstellar travel was even being considered. However, with imperfection comes selfish ambition. While that was found in all intelligent beings, it was certainly evident in the Decepticon faction. Especially their leader. His deceitful ideals and declamations sickened me… before the Autobots even existed. He advanced politically, deceiving the masses and growing in numbers. I used to think they merely joined him out of blind belief or fear of Megatron himself, but I guess I never considered that people could become as corrupted as he is. I pondered my past even then as I followed the army through these ruins, I guess I consider it somewhat therapeutic.
We travelled along what seemed like endless ruins for a while, but then we reached surprisingly intact buildings. I found it somewhat ironic that structurally sound buildings were unusual to me. Among these buildings was a distinct white black and red tower in the distance, the distinct Autobot insignia told me exactly what this was. While I have officially belonged to the Autobot faction for about 2 vorns now, I was always stationed at outposts. I had yet to lay my optics on Metroplex City, until today.
We drove toward a protruding entrance leading halfway up the tower. I drove along the large black ramp examining the impressive structure. Cannons of all sizes slowly scanned the skies, ready to eliminate anything with a Decepticon Energon signature within its radius.
Once inside, we entered a chamber of the widest part of the tower and began to unload. I then transformed back into bipedal mode, noticing several squads of Autobots lifting cargo off of transports to receivers stationed in the tower. I saw Hound waving me over to his position among the hustle of rushing bots. I passed through the crowds in the hangar and approached him.
"Come, the boss wants to talk to you." He said simply.
As I followed him I started to wonder who he was referring to. He could mean Ultra Magnus, another General like Warpath, maybe even Optimus himself.
Hound and I then walked through a doorway to a lift. The lift took us through a tower and opened to a floor that looked like the command deck of a space shuttle. A large glass wall adjacent to me stretched across most of the room, with a very distinct bot in the centre, looking out into the distance.
"You summoned me, sir?" I began, stepping into the room with Hound behind me on my right.
"Indeed. It is Jaeger, isn't it?" Ultra Magnus replied.
"That's what I hear," I replied with a chuckle. I don't know why I resorted to humour… I rarely do.
"Did you think of it yourself?" He asked.
I admit I was slightly taken aback that Ultra Magnus was engaging in small talk.
"Uhh, no it was given to me."
"So you earned it?" He stated, finally turning to face me.
"I guess I did."
"How?" He asked sternly, now slowly walking toward me.
"For killing a Titan," I said simply.
"No." He replied, now right in front of me, "The word Jaeger is a term meaning hunter(3). You earned that title not for gaining a kill, but for your dedication and perseverance. That, cadet, is a privilege you should hold in higher regard than a mere kill honour."
I stood tall in place and replied, "Yes, sir."
"Now," He started, "I did not summon you here to counsel you. I did, however, summon you to remind you of what you represent. Do you believe in what you are fighting for cadet?" He asked me.
"With my entire spark," I replied sternly, reengaging in eye contact.
"Well then." He mused with a smirk backing up slightly, "Welcome to the Wreckers."
Hound then grabbed my shoulder and shook me slightly in congrats as several other wreckers around the room cheered.
"But… why me?" I asked, halting the celebration, "There are so many other bots who would answer the same way. I'm so inexperienced, all I did was get one lucky shot on one enemy. That's it. I'm nothing special."
"Tell me Jaeger… when you were out in battle today, were you scared?"
"Yes."
"What was it you were afraid of? Dying?"
Before I responded, I slowly looked to Hound behind me, who then gave me a slight nod.
"I was afraid… that every second I stood on the sidelines lives were being lost. Lives I have a chance of saving. Sure one bot won't make much of a difference, but at least I'm changing the statistic, no matter how insignificant it may seem. I could save a life."
"Now… I think you just answered your own question." He replied, patting my arm.
I thought about that for a moment, Sure it was one lucky shot, but maybe that didn't matter. Maybe what Magnus is trying to tell me is that it doesn't matter if a bot has 2 kills or 200 kills under his belt. Just as long as his spark was pure and determined to do the right thing no matter what sacrifices need to be made.
"Thank you, sir. I am honoured."
With time, more battles arose. There was one time I was preparing for transport to an abandoned city with the rest of the Wreckers in Metroplex City's hangar. Part of me was still elsewhere… like I didn't belong. I never enjoyed war, but I wanted peace. As my mind was drifting, someone snapped me out of it.
"Oi! What in Primus' name do ya think you're doin'?" I turned my attention to a large bot with a thick accent of some sort yelling at two other bots carrying explosives.
"Is ya heads filled with rust? You fumbling a bomb like that is gonna turn this fortress into a bloody quarantine zone! Now get your afts in gear and get on that transport!"
As the large bot was mumbling to himself about "how he has to do everything himself," Bulkhead approached him.
"Go easy on them Junction, they're still young."
"Yeah? When I was as new to war as they were I was leading a strike team into an Insecticon hive! I didn't lose one bot that day, and now I gotta deal with bucket heads who can't carry a small nuke." He complained loudly.
Suddenly, something sped in front of me in a blur. It drifted around me a couple of times before he transformed right in front of me.
"You must be Jaeger." The slender bot began. He reminded me a lot of Dead End, I had encountered him in a recent battle before I adopted my new name.
"I am. Who are you supposed to be?" I asked in return.
"The name's Throttle, but that's pretty self-explanatory."
"I can see that."
"So I gather we are in the same division, with your new drastic promotion and all." He continued.
"What was that?" I asked.
"Oh, nothing, just a little shocked that a brand new cadet got bumped up into an elite strike team that I have been struggling toward for several vorns now. But hey, I'm not the one in charge."
After a moment of awkward silence, an alarm blared from the transports.
"Duty calls." He smirked as he backed up and then transformed, speeding toward one of the transports beginning to hover, ramping onto it.
I began to get to know more about Throttle as time progressed. He was a very haughty and proud individual, viewing himself as one of the best. He was famous for his skills as a talented gunslinger, being as fast as he is. I also encountered Junction several times in battles I was stationed in, he was very 'less talk more shooting'. He kind of reminded me of Hound… if he was always pissed off. Interceptor was also frequent in battles, he was a very effective assassin, obliterating any enemy he sets his optics on in seconds. Even though he was almost as large as I was, he was as quick as a bullet.
There was one battle over a piece of land near Iacon where all of us were in the same attack party organised by Ultra Magnus. Interceptor and Junction were to charge in while myself and Throttle gave them cover.
"Any questions?" Magnus concluded during the briefing.
Throttle was about to speak before Magnus interrupted him, "No? Good."
I loaded up my automatic rifle and sniper which I still kept after that first battle and mounted them on my back in a cross. I saw Throttle loading his pistols and Junction loading one of the biggest miniguns I've ever seen. Interceptor was sharpening his knives in the corner but stood as soon as Ultra Magnus walked in.
"Gentlemen, last-minute change. You have another member in your squad, this is Synapsis." He introduced.
Then a somewhat short and bulky bot hefting a large electric weapon over his shoulder entered the doorway. Throttle gave him a confused, yet mischievous look.
"Play nice," Magnus ordered as he exited the room, almost staring down Throttle the entire time.
Without a word, Synapsis walked over to a workbench and placed his weapon carefully on it. It didn't take more than 10 nano-cycles for Throttle to speak up.
"Ok, I gotta ask. What in Cybertron is that thing?"
"A prototype," Synapsis replied simply. His voice was a little deep and slightly raspy.
"For what? A shock tower?" Throttle chuckled.
"So I'm assuming you're the cocky, entitled bot who wants to dominate everyone around him?" He snapped back without hesitation.
Junction let out a loud "HA!" in reply to that remark.
"Listen here sparky, why don't you come over here and say that to my face?" Throttle threatened.
"You're just proving my point further." Synapsis mused, never breaking eye contact from his 'prototype' as he tinkered with it.
Without missing a beat, Throttle began to march over to Synapsis, pulling out one of his pistols.
"Keep talking. I dare you." He growled, pushing the barrel of the pistol into the back of his head.
"Hey!" I called out, stopping Throttle in his tracks, "Save it for the real enemy!"
"Since when do you call the shots?" He shot back.
The workbench I was stationed at was on the other side of the bench Synapsis was working on, because of this I was just close enough to Throttle to be able to grab him by the chest plate and pull him in, spun him around into my arm to put him in a headlock.
"If your gonna be chaotic enough to start giving death threats to your allies, I will do whatever the hell I want to stop you."
Throttle then elbowed me in the face and swept my legs with his. As soon as I hit the ground he growled, "You better piss off cadet, or I may be forced to do some permanent damage." He then walked outside the outpost without a word.
As I was propping myself up, Synapsis offered me a hand. I grabbed it and he helped me up.
"While I appreciate the motive behind your actions, that was not necessary." He said simply.
"I don't care, it was the right thing to do," I replied in the same tone.
"Fair enough." He replied as he turned back to his workbench.
Then Junction approached.
"Say… Jaeger is it?"
"Yeah," I replied.
"You do realise you just got your aft handed to you by a bot half your size right?" He asked in a low register.
"I do, I admit I do not exactly shine in hand-to-hand combat."
"Aye, but you've got potential." He reassured.
"And how do you suppose that is?" I inquired.
"Well, you're big first off. You've got the smarts for combat, but most of all you've got spirit. Something that is very rare among the new recruits like yourself." He explained.
I had nothing to say in reply, so he continued.
"How about sometime after this battle you meet me in the cargo bay and I can show you a trick or two… if you survive that is." He chuckled.
"Thank you, I appreciate it," I replied.
"He may not look like much, but that rust bucket has had his fair share of victories during the first days of the war." Interceptor…erm… intercepted.
"Ya got that right! Have I ever told you about the great battle over the Crystal City 50 vorns ago? Haha, that day I truly learned what blunt force trauma meant." Junction reminisced.
"I'm sure you'll be able to reminisce further another time. We have a battle to partake in right now." Synapsis interjected as he exited the building.
Without another word, the three of us that remained followed him. To our left, I saw Throttle and Ultra Magnus awaiting us. Junction cocked his minigun before he mused, "You boys ready to see some real firepower?"
"I'm prepared to be underwhelmed." Synapsis mused as he cocked his electric monstrosity in reply.
"50 units says Junk'll take out more." Throttle called out.
"I'm making money too? This'll be fun." Synapsis replied slyly.
"Alright here's the deal," Magnus began, "Junction and Jaeger are going to clear a path to the centre of the enemy's army. Throttle and Interceptor will take out the ones that splinter off or slip through."
"See, Mag's here knows firepower when he sees it." Junction quipped.
Throttle merely rolled his optics in a scoff.
"Synapsis is the one you need to protect. Just get him to the objective point and let him do the rest." Magnus finished.
All of us nodded in recognition, except for Throttle of course who was clearly offended that Synapsis was getting all the attention.
We all get into formation and charged. Junction on my left, Interceptor immediately behind me, Throttle behind Junction and Synapsis in the centre of the four of us. Junction let it rip on everything in front of him, I joined him with my own auto rifle but it wasn't as impressive. We tore through the enemy fairly easily which admittedly was surprising even considering Junction's war experience. Throttle was flipping his pistols on his fingers after every shot making it look like a game while Interceptor was slicing the enemy's faces off like a legitimate assassin. After a while of burrowing into the deepest sections of the enemy army, Synapsis stopped our charge.
"Hold it!" He called out.
He stopped in his tracks while we covered him, fending off the endless hoard of enemies like a swarm of Scraplets. He was pressing several buttons on his electric weapon until he slammed the end of the barrel into the ground. Three prongs from the barrel shot out and grappled into the ground. A crescendo of whirring began to project from the machine.
"Stay close to the weapon!" Synapsis called out over the increasingly loud hum.
"Closer? Are you trying to kill us?" Throttle exclaimed cautiously.
"Just do it!" I yelled out, grabbing him and tossing him closer to it.
Eventually, the crescendo reached its peak and the ground beneath us moved in all directions in a wave-like a herd of tunnelers were traversing below us. Then bolts of lightning shot out of the ground, travelling all across the deep parts of the enemy army, while we remained safe in a small force field in a small radius around the machine. Bolts of electricity were halted by the field constantly. I'll admit I was very impressed, as well as the rest of our team judging by their facial expressions.
"Well done, newbie." Junction mused.
"When it comes to this, I am no 'newbie'." He replied matter-of-factly.
The electric bolts that scattered the battlefield eliminated most of the enemy, enough for our side to gain the upper hand. That is until… he… showed up.
A giant green colossus emerged. Several smaller green bots seemed to combine into it, I counted six of them. The beast bellowed at the enemy. It resembled a Guardian in my mind, but more slender and clearly more manoeuvrable.
"Uhhh…" was all that could come out of Throttle's mouth.
He unleashed the ammunition of his massive rifle upon the battlefield. The rifle itself seemed to be about as large as Junction, if not bigger. Speaking of, the hulk himself was attempting to halt the monstrosity by unleashing every weapon he had at his disposal. A minigun in each hand, yet it was a futile attempt. This giant was seemingly invulnerable to any kind of weapon the Autobots had. The beast eventually saw us at the centre of the battlefield and began to approach.
"Brace!" Interceptor called out as a massive fist quickly approached.
His first instinct was to continuously slam his fist directly on top of our force field over and over. After every blow we sunk deeper into the terrain, the field holding strong as the giant created a crater beneath us. He eventually realized that this attempt would not work, and decided to try something else. His massive servos dug into the ground beneath the field and began to pick us up. The bolts that emanate from Synapsis' machine were broken off as the machine itself was separated from the ground. The bolts of electricity that still clung to our force field seemed as if they were trying to grab us and pull us back to the ground.
"KEEP BRACING!" Interceptor screamed as the giant literally threw us far into the distance.
We soared into the sky, well out of view of the battle we should be a part of. We were in the air for what seemed like an eternity until we finally crashed into the ground with the force of a missile. Only now does Synapsis deactivate the force field and we all tumble to the ground.
"Well, that worked out well." Throttle mused in a pained voice as he grasped his cranium plate.
"Does he ever shut up?" Interceptor groaned.
"When he wants to." Throttle shot back in the third person.
"What now?" Throttle asked after we all looked around our surroundings. Nothing but desolate flatlands.
"We need to find out where on Primus we are." Junction replied, painfully getting onto his peds.
"And… how do we do that." Throttle asked again.
"How about you shut up and watch. Maybe you'll learn something." Synapsis quipped, typing into a screen on his arm.
Before Throttle could shoot back, Synapsis somehow projected his holoscreen and magnified it in front of all of us with a simple hand gesture.
"We are here." He said, pointing to a mark on a large three-dimensional map, "And we need to be… here." He said, swiping through the map with several strokes to where the battle is.
"Is there anything nearby?" I asked.
"The closest city is Iacon," Synapsis replied.
"So you're saying that the closest city to our location is even farther away than where we are supposed to be?" Throttle clarified in clear frustration.
"Unfortunately, yes," Synapsis responded simply.
"Well that's just wonderful." Throttle exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air.
"I guess all that's left to do now is start the long drive back to base." I sighed.
Without another word Throttle transformed and sped into the distance, literally leaving us in the dust.
"He is such a jackass," Interceptor muttered.
While we are not an official team, I still felt responsible for the others. The attitude Throttle was emanating was quite the opposite of beneficial. All I could think about is what I could possibly do to fix it… without making it worse. As I was pondering over this, I started to tune into the other's conversation as we travelled along endless flatlands in our alt forms. Interceptor's alt form was his bomber jet respectively, Junction was a missile carrier and Synapsis turned into what seemed to be a modified hovertank.
"So exactly how long have you been an Autobot, Junction?" Interceptor asked through the com as he hovered meters over the ground at our collective speed.
"Ah… since the Autobots first came into existence." He reminisced, "I was a young lad. Inexperienced like the lot of you."
Synapsis scoffed at that remark.
"But I was never stupid. I did what I was told, and it kept me alive. That's why it really grinds my gears when these youngsters are so careless about everything like they don't care about anybody but themself. That's just wrong if you ask me."
"So there is a little bit of selflessness in you after all?" Interceptor pried.
"Well I never said that, but since you asked, yes I like to think there is. That's why we are on the side that we're on innit?" He laughed.
"You're not wrong about that," I replied.
"Ah! Jaeger, you've been so quiet I almost forgot you existed! Tell us about yourself dear boy." Junction emplored.
"There isn't much to tell," I replied.
"Oh come on! We've got a long journey ahead of us, you might as well make it interesting." He insisted.
"Very well. I am fairly new to being an Autobot. Before the war got really bad I viewed myself as politically neutral, but from what I've seen with the Decepticons, I felt I had to help. I joined about 2 vorns ago, I am still fairly inexperienced in hand-to-hand combat but I think I'm a pretty good shot."
"Aye, we shall see about that." Junction laughed.
"Well I don't want all the attention on me, what about you Interceptor?"
"I used to be stationed in the air force obviously, but since I fight better on the ground, I'm being considered as an addition to the wreckers." He responded.
"Well since nobody is going to ask," Synapsis interjected after a moment, "I was actually a protege of Perceptor. He is where I got most of my technological skills from. I was stationed on this… team… for this battle as a strategic advancement. I had built the Quintus LIPC specifically for this mission as a tactic to wipe out most of the Decepticons, but it clearly wasn't enough."
"...Should I even ask?" Interceptor replied.
"What?"
Interceptor sighed, "LIPC."
"What does that mean?"
"Laser-Induced Plasma Channel. It sends bolts of plasma through the ground that intelligently target electromagnetic signatures better than the ground that surrounds them."
"Would you mind repeating that with less big words?" Junction asked bluntly.
Before Synapsis could reply, Interceptor interjected.
"Hey guys, it seems someone is having some car trouble." He laughed.
Sure enough, up ahead in the distance was a small, stalled vehicle. Once we approached, we could clearly see Throttle stalled ahead of us.
"What's the matter? You run out of gas, Hotshot?" Synapsis quipped.
"Ya need some help there, boy?" Junction continued.
"Shut up. I don't want to talk about it." He muttered into the com.
"Hook him up!" Interceptor laughed as part of Junctions bumped lowered to the ground in front of Throttle and picked up his front bumper.
"This is so embarrassing." He muttered as his right wheel was hooked on Junctions bumper and was lifted up slightly.
Once we continued our long drive now that Throttle was hooked up, Interceptor continued our previous conversation, while also utilising this opportunity to torment Throttle.
"So Throttle, while you were stalled out there waiting for our help, we were all sharing our pasts and how we first joined the Autobots. Care to chime in?"
"Hardly." He growled.
"Oh come on… we've got a long drive ahead of us." He pried.
"I like silence." Throttle shot back.
"Ha! That's unlikely." Junction blurted out.
"I'm sure his story wouldn't be very entertaining anyway." Synapsis continued.
"Alright fine," Throttle conceded, "I was good friends with Blurr from even before the war got rough. He was the one who convinced me to join. He said that it was for the good of others, protecting myself shouldn't be a priority. Besides, I'm pretty handy with a blaster."
Of course, even with this information Throttle was badgered by the others slightly, but most of the following conversations were in good spirits. I was able to learn more about my fellow temporary team member's personalities and traits. I stayed somewhat quiet, though I do not remember exactly why that was.
After two Solar-cycles of endless driving, we finally arrived back at the former battle-torn terrain. Dead bodies were scattered everywhere, now decomposing in rust. The most notable sight amongst the battlefield, however, was the iconic pikes adorned with impaled corpses in the centre of the terrain. Almost as if it was sending a message to anyone who dare oppose them, saying that this will happen to them if they dare oppose the mighty Decepticons. This was a common practice of the Decepticons, marking another win in their history. We had lost. Junction approached one of the corpses impaled by one of the tall pikes and stared at it.
"You alright?" I asked him as I approached.
"Of course! Why would you think any different?" He replied in an unconvincing tone.
I paused for a moment to think of what to say.
"Did you know him?" I opted to ask.
"Aye, he was in my division. A young lad. He didn't deserve a death like this." He replied somberly.
I couldn't think of anything beneficial to say, so I just stood beside him staring at the corpse, hoping my mere presence with him would be of some comfort. I only now recognized the corpse as one of the two bots Junction was bossing around in the hangar just before I was called to speak with Ultra Magnus.
"I can't help but wonder if I could've gone easier on him." Junction continued suddenly, "He didn't know any better. I was just trying to make him better y'know…" He paused for a moment before continuing, "But this is war, these things happen. I guess he was just part of the unlucky few that won't make it to the other side."
"I'm sorry Junction" was all I could think of saying.
"Thank you, Jaeger." He replied.
We were not far from Metroplex City from here, so it wasn't a very long drive back to base. Once we returned, we were greeted as if we had come back from the dead. Once word got to Optimus about our survival, he called us to meet with him.
We entered the same chambers at the top of the tower where I met with Ultra Magnus. The large familiar viewing window stretched from left to right across the entire adjacent wall.
"Jaeger. All of you. Welcome back from the dead." Optimus mused in the centre of the room.
"Good to be back." Junction replied, taking his hand in a handshake.
"If I may, what happened with you five?" The prime asked.
"We got chucked into the middle of nowhere." Throttle replied without hesitation, "Took two whole Solar-cycles in a dead sprint to get back here."
"For most of us…" Interceptor mumbled. Throttle elbowed him hard for that remark.
"I see… well please know that your return is greatly celebrated. Not many were able to walk away from that fight."
"We noticed. What in Primus was that thing?" Throttle exclaimed. Once he noticed Optimus' somewhat surprised expression at his tone, he corrected himself by saying "...sir."
"Well Throttle, that was Devastator. A new technological advancement from the Decepticons. It is a combination of six other constructicons that form into the giant. He is the first of his kind." Optimus responded.
"So… I'm assuming you have a plan," Synapsis asked.
After noticing Optimus' expression toward him, he assumed further by adding, "You have a plan… right?"
"I do. But it's risky."
"What do you need from us, sir?" I stepped forward.
"Nothing from you four yet, but stand by. I will, however, require Synapsis' expertise." He replied.
"Anything you need, consider it done," Synapsis said without hesitation.
Optimus nodded in recognition of Synapsis' dedication.
"We need to build a combiner."
(1) If you are familiar with FOC, you may know what I mean here when it comes to scale by 'Titan'/'Juggernaut'. Not Omega Supreme or Metroplex, but the insanely armoured juggernauts that I sometimes also like to call Enforcers as I do later in the chapter. They are about twice the size of Optimus in both height and mass and adorn one of my favourite weapons: the X18 Scrapmaker.
(2) So I was having a bit of trouble thinking of a decent alt mode for Jaeger, but I did want him to look somewhat like Swindle's alt mode but obviously bigger considering Jaeger himself is certainly bigger. So I made my own ammunition carrier type vehicle that looks like Swindle but with twice the wheels and obviously more 'luggage room' for lack of a better word.
(3) Yes it's a German word. Yes, German is also Human. Yes, Cybertronians have not gone to Earth yet. I don't care, it's a cool name, if you don't like it then you'll have to learn to deal with it.
If you have any questions at all, feel free to PM me or even post your question in review form. I can answer your question in the next chapter.