High in the mountains, Mountrek stalked through the mist in beast mode, being followed by Speedstar and Anna from the road. The scout theorized that one of the Second Chance's stasis pods may have been nearby, since another had ended up in a reservoir at a nearby dam. The three eventually found a pod nearby, Anna stepping out and the Autobots transforming so they could walk closer.
When they made it, though, they found the pod's door ripped wide open. "That's just great," bemoaned Speedstar, placing a hand on their forehead.
"Whoever was inside this stasis pod somehow got free," Mountrek explained, upon seeing their human companion's confused expression. "We have no idea if they were Autobot or Decepticon, but either way, tracking them back down is gonna be a pain."
Anna nodded, taking another look at the pod. "Hang on, those are scratch marks," she said, pointing out the gashes along the outside of the pod. "I don't think the occupant broke out of the pod-"
"-but someone else broke into it," finished Speedstar, biting their index finger with worry. "But the question is… who?"
Chapter 6: Dino Hunt
Back at the Exodus, Speedstar uploaded a file to T-AI, who projected it on the screen.
"Here's a copy of the Second Chance's registry," they said, pointing at the screen. Most of the names listed were marked by Decepticon insignias, while a few were Autobots. "T-AI, narrow the list down to leader class stasis pods."
"'Leader class'?" repeated Anna. "I didn't know there were any other leaders in the Autobots."
"That's just what we call the pods," shrugged Speedstar, who clearly didn't know why that was either. "But there are a few, who take care of different subgroups and the like. Elita-1 became overall commander after Optimus disappeared."
"I have found two leader class stasis pods in the vessel's registry," announced T-AI. "Decepticon Harshwing and Autobot Grimlock."
"Either one of those two escaping sounds like a bad idea," remarked Mountrek.
"Honestly, Harshwing isn't that bad a bot," the green Autobot replied. "But Grimlock… hoo, I hope it's not him."
When he came to, he saw another Transformer staring at him. She had green optics, purple and silver plating, kibble suggesting an aquatic alt-mode, and a loathsome purple insignia on her chest.
"Who are you, Decepticon?"
"My name is Flashflood," she responded, grinning slyly. "You're smart, for such a simple Cybertronian."
"And you're about to be a stain, if you don't get out of my sight."
"Oh, how rude! This is the thanks I get from pulling you out of that stasis pod?" Flashflood was now right in front of Grimlock, fingers brushing over his chest plate. "I did something for you, now you should do something for me."
"What?" He asked the question not out of curiosity, but out of impatience.
"I plan to use the other prisoners from your ship and take control of Cybertron. Straxus and Elita-1 are fatigued by endless conflict, snuffing out their sparks and taking Darkmount for myself should be as easy as pi."
"What makes you think I'll help you?" His vision was slowly turning orange, a sign that he would soon transform.
"Because I helped you! You're an Autobot, you're bound by honor, no matter what! Even a simpleton like you should understand that."
He laughed, which threatened to split open his mouthplate. "You think I'm some cowardly Autobot?" he snarled, enjoying as her expression turned to fear from his transformation. "ME GRIMLOCK!"
"...I was expecting a giant car."
Flashflood scrambled backwards as flames erupted from the mouth of the monster-a "tee wrecks," as human folklore called it. She had no idea how the Autobot could have acquired such an alt mode, but she wasn't going to stick around and ask him! The aquatic Decepticon got to her feet and reached for her blaster, but this Grimlock was a faster draw. A back-mounted weapon quickly fired on the ground right in front of her, forcing her to keep going unarmed.
"Grimlock chase down puny Decepticon!" he cried, snapping his jaws behind her.
Flashflood flipped upwards, catching the edge of a cliff and hoisting herself atop it. She really hoped Grimlock's stubby arms were useless for climbing. They were, but then he had a different idea.
Slamming his head into the side of the cliff.
This action quickly made the rocks unstable, knocking Flashflood off balance. Spotting a stream from her vantage, she tried to leap off the cliff into the water; however, another of Grimlock's destructive headbutts made her stumble, and she landed back in front of him.
"Decepticon may be fast, but still weak," he taunted, his beastial head right in front of her.
The purple Decepticon scuffed an elbow through the dirt, sending dust right into her pursuer's face. He coughed, not expecting the onslaught of dust, which gave Flashflood all the time she needed to get to her feet and run. Coming up on her right was a spot where she could jump right into the river, but familiar thuds told her that the beast was right on her tail. Closing her optics momentarily, she jumped off the ledge, hearing Grimlock skid to a halt behind her. As the river came closer into view, she began transforming, turning into a patrol boat right as she hit the water.
But even as she sped away at full knot, Grimlock's angered roar shook her frame.
Aboard the Exodus, T-AI had sent out probes to try and track down the wayward escapee, but couldn't find any trace of them yet. What the probes did find was a purple patrol boat in some isolated river.
"Hang on," pondered Speedstar. "That color scheme looks familiar… T-AI, bring the registry back up, I think we have another escapee."
The registry returned to the screen, the Autobot filing through names until they came across one: Flashflood. Pulling up this prisoner's profile was all the confirmation they needed.
"So you have two escapees now," surmised Anna. "Looking at the size of her hands, she may have been the one who clawed open the other pod."
"Well, look at Nightbeat junior over here," they remarked, but Speedstar was impressed that she not only noticed the scratches, but figured out who made them. "Now the question is, how did she escape?"
The volcano had gone extinct long ago, cold and lifeless like her homeworld. But it's last eruption had managed to knock loose her stasis pod, letting her come back online. In that time, Flashflood had gathered as much human technology as she could, hoping to find a way of getting back home.
Currently, she had multiple other dormant prisoners in her lair, each ripped out of a stasis pod. Producing a cube of Energon, she emptied it into the body of another dormant Autobot, whose optics came online moments later.
"Good, you're awake," she remarked, watching the Autobot's expression change.
"Hey, you're a Decepticon," was all he said in response.
"You're smarter than your friend. Now, I'm Flashflood, your new boss."
"Right… Can you fly, Flashflood?"
The Decepticon rubbed her chin in thought, shaking her head, before getting blasted back as the Autobot transformed to pteranodon mode and took off through the open mouth of the volcano.
"Wh… That's not fair!" Stomping her foot, she just hoped her team of Crawlers could subdue the other members of the team.
In the mountains, Grimlock stomped through an abandoned mining site, having transformed to robot mode after losing Flashflood. As he idly kicked a rusty minecart, he heard the sound of flying overhead, nearly reaching for his weapon before he saw the pteranodon flying into view.
"Hey, Grimlock!" he called down, transforming to robot mode as he landed.
"Swoop. So you're here too." The larger Autobot relaxed somewhat, content with the presence of the other. "Any idea where the others are?"
"No idea. But that Flashflood character, she looked like she was gathering an army for something."
"Taking out Elita and Straxus," answered Grimlock. "Did you see the others?"
"I saw other Autobots, but nobody else from our unit. Any idea how to find 'em?"
"I'll figure it out, Swoop."
In the Decepticon's base, Solon skated in, eyeing his phone with interest. Overcast was manning one of the consoles when an image was projected.
"That's from me," the human remarked, looking up at the image. It was a dinosaur, one made of metal with a cannon on its back. "Somebody saw that in the mountains. Any idea what it is?"
"It looks like some sort of mechanimal," responded Overcast, analyzing the picture until he spotted a familiar insignia. "No, wait, that's an Autobot!"
"Yep. Records describe him as Subject 26, otherwise known as Grimlock," continued Solon. "Used as a test subject by Decepticon scientist Shockwave using data gleaned from planet Sol 3-well, I guess that would be Earth."
"Should we inform Megatron?"
"Nah, let's keep this our secret for now. If the records are right, he'll do worse to us than we can do to him." When the red jet conceded to these orders, Solon asked another question. "How are you, Overcast?"
This made him stop. "Um… I feel.. fine, Sub-Commander. Why do you ask?"
"Just wondering." Solon picked up his skateboard and walked off, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. One way or another, he would break Overcast free of his shell program.
Grimlock and Swoop trekked through the mine, happening across another stasis pod. This one was smaller than their pods were, with the Autobot insignia taking up half of the front. Ripping the pod open, Grimlock found a robot who would barely come up to his waist. She had a red chest, wide silver shoulders, and claws on the end of her forearms. They both took a step back as she awoke, standing inside the pod as her visor glowed.
"Grim, Swoop," she greeted, stepping out to greet them.
"Hiya, Slash!" Swoop responded, making their smaller companion flinch. "Grimlock was able to find your stasis pod. Can you believe that?"
"Quiet. There's one more-very close by," snarled Grimlock, stomping forward.
Slash knocked her fists together awkwardly, glancing between the larger robot and where he was staring. "I'll, uh, do a quick recce, then," she stated, transforming into a velociraptor and moving ahead.
It wasn't long before she found the last pods-and that they weren't alone. That was all Grimlock and Swoop needed to transform themselves and get into battle, discovering three robots with the Decepticon insignia preparing to rip the pod open. Before they could strike, one of the Decepticons saw them.
"COMRADESSSSS, THE DINOBOTSSSSS HAVE DISSSSSCOVERED USSSSS!" he cried out, flapping his wings transforming into a cicada.
"Never fear, no Autobot is enough to stop us," said his companion, as she transformed into a rhinoceros beetle.
"Tearwing and Burrowface, you deal with the other two," commanded the third, before he transformed into a lobster. "I'll take down the big one."
"DINOBOTS, ATTACK PUNY DECEPTICONS!" roared Grimlock, spewing flames from his maw as he led the charge forward.
Slash engaged Tearwing, wrapping her jaws around a leg and throwing him to the ground. The Decepticon buzzed, waving his wings in the velociraptor's face until she couldn't concentrate and released her grip. Transforming to robot mode, Slash pulled out two knives and swiped at her opponent, making him retreat.
Meanwhile, Burrowface was having a more difficult time handling Swoop. The pteranodon was able to take potshots at her from the air, and he even knocked her on her back, unable to get up. Snarling, she transformed back to robot mode, swiping at his wings as he passed overhead. This had an effect, as Swoop plummeted to the ground, transforming as he tumbled along, only stopping when he hit a tree.
"Ow," he groaned.
Grimlock was having the most success of the Dinobots. His opponent's claws looked powerful, but Grimlock's jaws were just as-if not more-powerful. He picked up the lobster and threw him aside, where he landed on his back. The Decepticon got out of the way seconds before the tyrannosaurus began breathing fire at him.
"Okay, new plan," he called out as he scuttled away. "Both of you, to me!"
"AT ONCCCCCE, KINGRABBER!"
"Understood, boss!"
The leader, Kingrabber, then transformed into a set of legs. Burrowface and Tearwing began merging, forming a torso and arms, before combining with their leader. A head popped out of the combiner's torso, green optics glaring down at the Dinobots.
"FEAR US, WORTHLESS DINOBOTS, FOR WE ARE PESTILUS!" the combiner roared.
"Grimlock may need new strategy…" the Dinobot leader admitted, as Pestilus began stomping towards them.
"Here's a good one, Grim, bring down Pestilus and stay alive!" called Slash.
"Not the most detailed of plans, but hey, it works," said Swoop, who had recovered enough to take part in the battle.
Pestilus stomped forward, his right elbow unveiling some sort of machine gun. The weapon fired at Grimlock, bouncing harmlessly off his armor, but a shot at his joints had him transform to robot mode. He groaned and stared up at the combiner, producing his once back-mounted weapon to fire at him.
Meanwhile, Slash spotted the still vacant stasis pod sitting further away, abandoned by the three Decepticons. Sharing a nod with her fellow Dinobots, she charged between Pestilus' legs, the other two keeping his attention on them so she could work unopposed. Transforming to robot mode, she reached the access panel and began typing away.
Pestilus continued firing on Grimlock and Swoop, who did their best to shoot back when they could. "What exactly do we do here?" demanded the Dinobot leader.
"I don't know, they never taught us how to take on combiners!"
"YOUR PITIFUL COMBAT PEFORMANCES ARE AN INSULT TO ALL CYBERTRONIANS. FOR THAT, YOU MUST PERISH!" declared Pestilus, lifting up a foot to stomp the two with…
...before a robotic ankylosaurus jumped on his back, gnawing at the spine atop his head. Pestilus growled, shaking the ankylosaurus off. Before it crashed to the ground, it turned into a robot, the same height as Swoop but a lot bulkier then he was. The dinosaur tail became a cannon, which she picked up and aimed right at the combiner's chest. It fired scalding water right at Pestilus, knocking him back with a pained wail.
"Nice work, Scald!" cheered Swoop.
"Let's keep it up!" added Grimlock, transforming to dino mode and breathing flames at Pestilus.
The combined sensations made Pestilus screech, until eventually he broke apart into his component robots. The last Dinobot-Scald-snickered as she eyed up her work, and Grimlock transformed again to inspect the three downed Decepticons.
"We kill them now, so whoever their master is loses three soldiers," he demanded.
"I dunno, we should find Energon," commented Swoop. "That fight really burned up our reserves, I don't think we could take another one."
"I agree with Swoop here," remarked Scald. "I'd like to recharge before meeting whoever's friends with Creepy McBugface."
"Uh, speaking of… friends, maybe we should find other Autobots." The other Dinobots turned at Slash's suggestion, causing her to smile nervously. "I mean… th-there's strength in numbers, right?"
Grimlock scoffed, stomping off. "We don't need anyone else," he sniffed.
Scald was next, thumping the smaller Dinobot on the back. "You're our best scout, girl. Hate to see ya go soft on us."
Swoop gave a small shrug to Slash, who looked down at her feet before following the rest of her team. As of right now, they had but one mission: to survive on the strange planet called Earth.