Hydrax Plateau; Cybertron.
Blackspark Supermax Security Prison.
…
Built upon the jagged metallic coastline where the Eastern-most part of the Hydrax Plateau meets the Sea of Rust, is the nigh-impenetrable Autobot prison of Blackspark, part of a much larger military complex. Constructed during the latter half of the Great War, and built upon the ruins of an already ancient citadel, from even before the time of Nova Prime, the large prison is now where most of the Decepticon prisoners of war are locked up. Escape is thought to be impossible, as the prison itself is on a peninsula, with one way in by land that led to a nearby fortress city, and was in one of the few places in the Sea of Rust where there was still water, now tainted and dark from the rusty seabed.
However, even in the face of eternal imprisonment in what is arguably one of the most dreary and miserable places on all of Cybertron, the many Decepticon inmates managed to keep their spirits up. Every afternoon, in what little time in the outdoor recreation yards they had, the Decepticons traded stories and conversations with one another, many mingling with other troops they had never met before. And in the evenings, the cell blocks were filled with the sound of Decepticon war chants and battle hymns, as to spite the guards, who were unable to mute their prisoners' defiance.
It had been months now since most of the Decepticon forces had either been driven off Cybertron, killed in battle, or ended up Blackspark. Outside, a particularly nasty storm was brewing out in the Sea of Rust, the sound of thunder distance over the horizon. Such disruptions were ignored by Tankor. The old Decepticon general had long since gotten used to the frequent offshore storms, being in one of the cells with a window that provided him an outside view of one of the guard's barracks. In the absence of any other high-ranking officers amongst the prisoners, Tankor had taken up the leadership mantle to the army's worth of inmates at the notorious prison.
Yet, only to him did the distant storm reveal what events were to unfold later that very night. One of the guards, a Decepticon sympathiser, had helped him send out a message for a plan of escape, one unlike any other that had been conducted. All previous escapes had failed, so the very idea of it was laughable. However, unlike all past attempts, they had an Ace up their subspace, and he didn't just mean the access card he had taken; because the breakout wouldn't just be from the inside.
"Alright, back in yer' cells, ya cyber-roaches!"
Evening had fallen at this point, and the inmates were being marched back to their cells after their nightly cube of energon, that was always served in a large open space dotted with snipers.
Swindle had been having what was probably the worst time out of the prisoners at Blackspark. One of the members of the famed Combaticons, he had been going through a serious case of what could be seen as withdrawal. Combiner teams share a certain bond, and not linking up into their more powerful gestalt form was noted to be highly unhealthy, as was discovered by the Constructicons after Scrapper went missing for over a decade.
Swindle shuttered his dim optics for a moment, as he rested his weakened self on his berth. If there was one thing the green logistics expert was thankful for, was that he wasn't doomed to rot alone in this cell. He heard the pedesteps of his cellmate enter a few moments after himself, and the sound of the energy shield activating, sealing them within. Looking over to the other berth, he saw the familiar yellow and blue recon scout sitting there.
"You all good, Swindle?" he asked.
"Good as I can be, Counterpunch." Swindle said, forcing a smile through his pained state. He couldn't show weakness now, not in front of the Autobots. He had known Counterpunch ever since he had first arrived at Blackspark, and he was known to be sociable with the rest of the inmates as well. The two imprisoned Decepticons chatted absently for a little while longer, Swindle's agony having thankfully passed on by then.
Then, Swindle noticed something, his dark blue optics catching three guards coming towards their cell. One of them typed an access code into the control panel, and the energy shield disappeared.
"Decepticon scout, designation Counterpunch. The warden would like a word with you." One of the guards said, a heavy-set mech with a hand cannon strapped to his back.
Swindle was curious, as nobody ever got taken away to talk with the warden. Pit, the vibrant red and purple femme barely ever showed herself around the cellblocks, always patroling the outer walls or busy in her office.
Counterpunch grinned. "Of course, best not to keep her in waiting," he said. The guards didn't even grab him, as he voluntarily got up to go with them.
"Hey, whats going on here?" Swindle asked, confused by the situation.
Counterpunch only glared back at him, as his form slowly began to shift. Shoulders folding back, and wheels shifting position, his wheel's rims changing from silver to gold. His once vibrant yellows and blues gave way to a dark purple and silver, and a golden Autobot insignia appeared on his chest.
"Counterpunch… Your an Autobot!?" Swindle cried, as he slammed into the now reactivated energy shield before he could strangle the treacherous mech.
"Through and through, it would seem." the now revealed spy said, in a much more sinister tone than his other form had. "And for the record, the names just 'Punch'" he continued.
"I'll scrap you myself if I get out of here!" Swindle shouted.
"I doubt that very much. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some juicy information to tell the warden. Ta ta, Decepti-creep." Punch said, as he and the rest of the guards walked away, out of sight.
Swindle, being rightfully enraged over this revelation, started punching the energy shield as if Punch himself were still standing right there. Already weak, he gave up after striking the shielding a few dozen or so times over.
He eventually started pacing around his cell, thinking over just how much the Decepticon prisoners had talked to Punch about plans, strategies, and personal life, as they had all thought him to simply be one of them.
He was brought out of his thoughts, as a loud rumble of thunder boomed, and he snapped around to look at the nearest window, that being in the cell across from his own. He could now see that the storm had reached the shores of the plateau, as drops of polluted rain had begun splashing against the heavily reenforced window.
He then looked to the cell's occupants, two seekers whom he had encountered various times throughout the war. One was adorned with a green camo scheme with highlights of black, and the other was a conehead, all black and dark gray, with lines of vibrant orange on his wings and upper legs, and recognized them as both Acid Storm, a rainmaker who looked worse for wear, and Thrust, a well-known tactician, who had helped to formulate many a winning strategy against the Autobot forces. In fact, Swindle probably worked with Thrust more times than he knew, as head of logistics for the Decepticons, he was moving weapons and supplies all across Cybertron and the colony worlds, so it wouldn't surprise him if he had been supplying most of his endeavours.
Thrust gave Swindle a polite wave, taking notice of the green mech observing them. Out of courtesy, Swindle waved back, wishing that their comm systems hadn't been disabled so that he could talk from afar with the other inmates.
Content that he had nothing else to do, the Combaticon in question simply laid down on his berth, and did his best to get some recharge that night. However, sleep would not come to him this night, not yet at least, as this was when everything was set into motion.
A loud explosion could be heard throughout the vast complex, shaking everybot to the core. Then everyone began to hear the distinct sound of gunfire and flak turrets in the distance. The lights began to flicker, then there was darkness. And given that the energy shields gave off some light, the blackness of the cell block left no question as to what was happening. The Decepticon prisoners wandered out of their cells, using either their bio-lights or headlights to see in the darkness.
After another few minutes, the lights flickered back to life. With the shielding for the cells down, but the doors out of the cell block they were still locked, there was not much else they could do but wait.
Then, from behind one of the large blast doors at the end of the block, a faint "CLEAR THE DOOR!" was shouted out, and the sound of drills spinning against the thick metal gave clear indication to what was being set.
The Decepticons stood back from the door, and just in time as well. For no sooner than they had taken cover from what was to come, a flash and a boom went off, and the armored door came flying off it's supports. Walking into the newly-liberated cell block through the smouldering rubble that was once the door, was none other than general Tankor, a large rifle slung over his shoulder, with even more soldiers behind him.
"Now tell me," Tankor said, "Who's ready to kick some Autobot aft tonight?"
The Grand Liberation; Decepticon Warship
Location: Over Blackspark Supermax Prison
…
"General, the prison complex's communications have been scrambled. I estimate about 20 minutes before they can break through to call out for reinforcements."
"Excellent. Keep up the good work, and keep shooting down their fliers." The general said, her voice filled with elation.
Strika had been planning this mission ever since she caught wind that the Autobots would be so foolish enough to move mass numbers of Decepticons to a central location. Albeit, a very large, heavily fortified location. Thankfully, she had managed to receive Tankor's message about the super-storms in that region, as they perfectly cloaked any ships hiding amongst them.
Currently, all weapons systems onboard were firing away at the Autobots' fortifications, taking down every ship or gun emplacement they could. Even from up above, they could tell that sections of the complex's power had been taken out by the now darkened buildings.
The crimson and orange general brought up a communications line to the hangar bay of the Grand Liberation on her console.
"Yes, general?" the trooper on the other end of the line said.
"Are the shuttles ready to be sent down to receive our comrades in arms?" Strika asked.
"Affirmative. All fueled up and ready for launch." the response came.
"Excellent. Don't launch them until we are certain our people down there have gotten to the landing zone. Over and out." Strika ordered, as she cut the comm line.
All the famed general could do now is wait for Tankor's troops to make it out of that Pit-forsaken place alive.
Currently, the many number of Decepticon prisoners were gathered around the armory of the prison. Swindle, Thrust, and Tankor had begun to pass out all manner of guns and blades to whoever needed them, even returning most of the personal weapons that had been confiscated.
All across Blackspark by now, almost every Cell Block had been freed, and the guards were not prepared for such a wide-scale breakout. Even with support from the on-site military base, they were barely a match for the hundreds of Decepticons that were rebelling against them.
Off in one of the guard towers, the Autobots stationed there had devised an idea to quickly deal with the seemingly endless amounts of prisoners.
"Are you certain this is a good idea sir?" the Autotrooper said, as they finished aiming one of the large anti-air turrets at one of the prison buildings.
"Trust me on this one 0X-86, this is a sure-fire way to blast those Decepticons either back to their cells, or to the Allspark." the commander, known as Scattershot replied, cocky as ever. The well-decorated artillery bot was the commander of the overall military complex, whereas the prison was run by its infamous warden.
With a watchful optic trained on the cell block that they had aimed at, the base commander saw a crowd move past, barely making them out through the small windows. "I see movement in the block, fire at will!"
And as soon as the final words had left his vocalizer, the Autotrooper on the turret started blasting away at the building's walls, slowly opening up a hole in the side of it. The constant hellfire that rained down from the cannon cut down many of the unsuspecting Decepticons inside the cell block, dozens being taken out as the gun sprayed wildly.
"Ha ha! We have them now." Scattershot exclaimed, as he watched the carnage his assistant was wreaking upon the prisoners.
Then, he heard a faint whirring sound, as looked over to see the mighty gun powering down.
"Ah Pit, what's wrong with the thing, 0X-86?" Scattershot asked furiously.
"Haven't a clue, sir. It's like the power's been cut or something." came the Autotrooper's response.
And at the sound of shouting, Scattershot and 0X-86 were pulled out of their problem for a moment, as they looked out to see the Decepticons now using the hole they had opened up as an escape out of the prison, and into the rest of the military complex.
"Ah. Well then, that's fragging fantastic." Scattershot replied, deadpanning.
"Should we inform the warden of this, sir?" 0X-86 asked, at a loss for words himself.
"Might as well do," Shattershot responded, "but something tells me she won't like it."
At the top of one of the prison's administrative office buildings, lies the office of the cruel and war-hardened warden. Adorning the walls of the office were various trophies from her time fighting for the Autobots, mostly weapons and mods she had claimed from the bodies of her most fearsome adversaries.
Before the breakout started, she had been taking care of some evening paperwork before heading off to recharge. She knew something was afoot when the power went out in the building, and the small potted crystal plants she kept became the main source of light. Now, she stood out on her office's balcony, droplets of rain sliding down her frame, observing the battle commencing over the prison, her prison.
Behind her, she could hear the approaching pedesteps. Uniform in their beat, and not too heavy, most likely a more modern build of troopers. Her years of hunting experience gave her such insights.
The Autotrooper stopped and kneeled, once at an appropriate distance.
"You may speak, trooper." said the warden unceremoniously.
"Lord Arcee, news has been brought in. The Decepticons have broken out from where we managed to hold their advance, and they are attacking not just the prison, but all of the Blackspark complex."
Arcee's bright purple bio-lights flared for a second, not out of rage, but out of excitement. She turned, and walked back inside, brushing past the still-kneeling servant bot. Her well-polished scarlet and magenta plating shimmered as she walked past her crystals, her four black helicopter blades having resemblance of a cape.
Reaching a well-tidied cabinet, Arcee pulled out a key from her subspace, and unlocked the case. She pulled out an intricately crafted fusion sniper-rifle, one of the most powerful weapons she managed to "persuade" Perceptor into building for her. She loaded a fusion cartridge into it, and spun around to face the servant-bot, now stood off to the side of the room.
Aiming out past the balcony, she let off a single shot. Moments later, a seeker was seen plummeting downwards, and crashing into one of the nearby buildings.
"Excellent shot, your lordship." the drone said.
Arcee merely grunted in acknowledgment, not caring about the praise, for she knew well enough how good she was. She slung the rifle onto her back, careful to keep it out of the way of her blades. She then activated her integrated arm-blades, and checked them over to make sure they were still sharp.
Satisfied with the state of her armaments, Arcee broke out into a sprint, running towards her balcony. She hopped up onto the guardrail, and with a great leap into the air, she transformed into her helicopter mode, and flew off into the stormy night towards the fray.
…
As the now freed Decepticon forces pushed their way through the grueling onslaught of the Blackspark complex, in their endeavour to reach the landing zone to be evacuated from, the Autobots were implementing ever possible tool at their disposal to stop them. With the Decepticon warship overhead jamming all communications, there was no way to call in reinforcements of any kind, and with the Decepticons being fully fueled and armed to the denta, there was seemingly nothing they could do other than kill as many as they could before they escaped.
Most of the escaped Decpticons were currently in a stalemate with the remaining guards and soldiers, and taking heavy fire from various positions up the tower they were attacking. The various tank-formers and artillery bots on either side were doing their best to decimate the other side, as the building they were currently fighting over was the base's docking tower, where all the shuttles were stored, and the location that they had been told to reach to get evacuated from.
Arcee, never one to pass up on an opportunity, opened fire upon the amassed Decepticons as she flew past, her high-energy blaster fire dealing out heavy damage. Some of the Decepticons that had a spare moment began to fire upon the dreaded Autobot huntress. However, she managed to dodge enemy fire, and swooped back around, and charged right at them. With little time to take in everything, the Decepticons barely moved out of the way when she transformed, and slammed her arm-blades right into the chest of one of them, offlining them instantly. Arcee began to slash and blast her way through this band of Decepticon soldiers, with most of them now focused on taking her out. And with the Decepticon focus elsewhere, the Autobots had time to regroup, and charged into the amassed Decepticons.
The ensuing battle was bloody and vicious, neither side holding back as they fought for their lives. Tankor, never one to shy away from action, was firing off rockets and heavy blaster fire non-stop, cutting down any Autobot he saw, whilst Thrust had taken to the skies with the other Decepticon seekers, circling the heavily fortified tower.
"Come on, soldiers! We're almost home free!" Tankor shouted out over the almost deafening sound of battle, as he continued firing away at the enemy from atop the ruins of a fallen guard tower. He looked around, something catching his attention from out of the corner of his optic. He looked on in horror, as Arcee was cutting down Decepticon after Decepticon with ease, her arm-blades fully stained a faintly glowing blue from all the energon she had spilled.
In his brief moment of distraction, a rocket exploded right next to Tankor, sending him flying into the mess of bots and cons. He struggled for a moment, regaining his balance as he stood himself back up, and realised that he was only a few meters away from Arcee, and she seemed to be moving in his direction, her Autobot forces following behind and forming a barrier, preventing the Decpticons from reaching the evacuation zone.
Then, coming down from storming clouds overhead, the low rumble of a ship's engines were heard. A large shuttle broke through, and was on target for the battle. As it drew closer, it opened fire on the Autobot forces, it's powerful guns sending the enemy forces flying. Whilst it zoomed past them, they noticed the bright red Decepticon insignia painted on the sides of the ship. And before the Autobots could recover from the quick bombardment they just underwent, the ship turned back around, and came in for another strike.
After it's attack, the ship flew over the Decepticons, and hovered in place. The cargo bay doors on either side of the ship opened up, and four Cybertronians could be seen standing on the edge.
/Swindle, I sure hope to Primus that your ready down there, or else this won't be a pretty landing./ Though the line was full of static, Swindle could still recognize the voice of the Combaticon leader, Onslaught. And soon after the message ended, the four other Combaticons dropped from the shuttle, and Swindle ran up to where they were dropping down. One of them, now noticeable as Vortex, had even begun to shoot wildly down at the Autobots. With them nearing the ground now, the Combaticons were in close enough proximity to turn the tide of this battle. They began to transform together, their bodies merging into each other, forming the mighty Bruticus.
The gestalt surveyed the courtyard they had been fighting over, and took note of the various Autobot positions that had begun to fire upon him. He let loose a barrage of missiles from his torso, taking out the nearby guard towers that were still firing down upon the escaped Decepticons. Then he raised his leg up, and slammed it down into the Autobot forces, then proceeded to swifty kick at the crowd with his other foot, taking out many of the amassed enemy troops.
With the rest of the Decepticons continuing to deal with the Autobot forces, Bruticus marched forwards towards the hangar tower before him, and proceeded to lean down, and he punched the heavy blast-door in. From inside, a few Autobot guards stood their ground, desperate to hold onto this last line of defence. However, with being stacked up against overwhelming odds, and with any possible reinforcements hours away, the Autobots inside the hangar bay were run down by the wave of Decepticons, who were frantically trying to get their hands on whatever ship they could.
Bruticus, still on the outside, swatted away any attempts to bring him down, and acted as a barrier between the Autobots amassed before him, and the tower his comrades were currently attempting to escape from. Once more, he let off a volley of missiles and gunfire down upon the Autobots, taking out many of the lesser-armored troopers. Then, he lifted his large pede once again, and in a sweeping motion, kicked at those close to him, sending them flying!
From across the courtyard, a missile was launched, and detonated behind the Autobots, further disorienting them. Bruticus looked over, and saw Tankor stood atop the fallen body of a massive Autobot, passing out an unrelenting smackdown on the Autobots. Now trapped between the two Decepticons, many of the weaker-willed Autobots gave up and ran off back into other parts of the complex.
Bruticus strode over, and quickly snatched up Tankor, as he saw a group of particularly big and rowdy Autobots charging at him, and knew that the injured general wouldn't last long under such a face-to-face brawl.
And so, after quickly getting back over to the hangar, they looked up and the sound of engines. Up above, their assistance had come; shuttles coming down from the Grand Liberation, ready to pick up whoever couldn't fit onto the Autobot shuttles.
"Haha, Strika old gal's done it again!" Takor cried in joy, seeing as the escape plan had been successful for the most part.
/Miss me, old friend?/ a choppy message came in over the old general's commlink.
/Strika, I hope things are going well?/ Tankor asked.
/All according to plan. However, the signal jammers have run their course, obviously, and scanners detect Autobot reinforcements inbound from the city further inland due East of here. We don't have enough time to get everyone out without-/
/Not to worry, you know I'll figure my way out of this mess/ Tankor said confidently.
/Very well then. Best of luck to you, Tankor./ Strika said, cutting the comm line.
"Orders, general Tankor?" Bruticus boomed as he kept on firing at the Autobots.
Tankor looked up to the mighty gestalt from where he was in his hand, and looked back out over the now regrouping Autobots, clearly in larger numbers now, most likely from troops coming from the outskirts of the base.
"Defend the launch pad. Make sure everyone escapes."
…
Arcee was in no way happy with how the day had been going. In fact, she was absolutely livid with it. How dare these lowly Decepticons even so much as consider an escape from her prison? They certainly had some ball-bearings to pull this stunt off. Luckily for her, she didn't have to face the breakout alone, as she had plenty of drones and semi-competent soldiers at her disposal to fight them back. For the most part however, the prison guards were merely cannon fodder, while the real soldiers from the military base adjacent to the prison had been doing most of the work during the breakout.
What she also was realising now is that she should of had all of the prisoner's transformation-cogs removed, as she leapt out of the way of Bruticus' fist slamming into the ground, breaking the metal surface with ease. Transforming both her arms back into blasters, she fired up at the combiner in an attempt to distract it. It worked, and Bruticus leaned down to go after her, but he wasn't quick enough. Arcee leapt up onto the arm that had been brought down, and sprinted up it, and leaped off his shoulder like a ramp before he could do anything about it.
Reaching forwards, she fired high-explosive rounds into a window behind Bruticus' head, and tucked and rolled through, safely landing inside the hangar. Looking around the spacious structure, she saw that not all that many Autobot ships had been taken. However, looking up towards the exit at the top of the tower, she caught a glimpse of the last of the escape shuttles, as well as the Decepticon warship, vanish into the storm clouds overhead. Arcee swiftly transformed, and flew up the vertical takeoff tunnel, going all the way to the top floor. Once she landed, she saw what she was after, her personal ship. She unlocked the entrance hatch, and set about bringing the vessel online, not having used it since being appointed as warden of Blackspark. Once she had managed to power up the ship's systems and check everything over, she got the vessel airborne, and angled upwards to better breach the atmosphere.
Arce climbed higher and higher, managing to shoot down some of the escape pods on her way up, no longer caring about bringing the Decepticons back alive. Nearing the edge of the storm clouds, she heard a terrible explosion, and activated rear cameras to see what had happened. Far down below, the hangar bay, along with a significant portion of the complex had gone up, the tower barely noticeable through the fire and smoke. There was no doubt about it that it had been the doing of that Tankor, who she hoped had perished in that last 'heroic' act of his.
…
It had taken Arcee a while to get out of Cybertron's atmosphere, and she was now catching up with the now-free Decepticon prisoners. Unfortunately for her, the various ships had started to break off into smaller groups, many of which were too far away by now to go after herself. Then, she spotted a faint blip on her ship's scanners, a small number of escape pods and shuttles fairly close by, and moving fast in a direction no others had went. Arcee quickly noted down the likely headings of the various groups of ships, along with what she was planning, and relayed the transmission to Autobot command in Iacon.
With her very informal paperwork out of the way, she headed off after her new prey, her huntress instincts slowly creeping back online. And so, she strapped in for a long ride, not knowing how long it would take to catch up to these escapees.
A lone servant-class Autotrooper sifted through the flaming wreckage, digging around where the guard tower once stood but moments ago. He perked up once he found what he was after, and uncovered the mech buried underneath the ruined base. Carefully, he leaned the disoriented mobile artillery-former up against a broken but standing wall.
"Sir? How are you feeling sir?" 0X-86 asked them. It took a few moments, but the bot before him spoke up.
"Yes... I think so. But I do believe a visit from a medic would be required." Scattershot said, groaning through the pain. "Just a damn shame what will come after all this."
"The long and grueling clean-up and repairs, sir?"
"No. The paperwork high command will want in order to explain all this."