Hi everyone, welcome back to Code Prime. Before we begin, many of you have wondered how Leila's Geass was able to overcome Shin's Dark Geass. Well, the answer is actually kinda complicated… but keep in mind that Leila's Geass is unique even among other Geass users, that's all I really can say without spoilers, but I do plan to provide a logical explanation at a later date.
I also want to say that I acknowledge my mistake in the previous chapter where I said Alexander the Great was from Mesopotamia, when he was actually from Macedonia. I have already made the correction.
One quick thing before we start… let us observe a moment of silence for the unfortunate passing of anime voice actor Billy Kametz, who passed away at 35 due to colon cancer. He was a great voice actor, most known for playing Naofumi Iwatani from "The Rising of the Shield Hero" and Josuke Higashikata from "Jojo's Bizarre Adventure". Thoughts and prayers to his family.
Now, with that being said, let the hunt for the Iacon Relics continue.
Broken Walls
Darkmount- New Kaon
The Combaticons stood at attention outside the main fortress of their capital on Earth, along with the mining detail assigned to them by their leader, all ready to be deployed to their given set of coordinates.
"Combaticons and Vehicons, listen up." Onslaught instructed. "Megatron has assigned us to these set of coordinates." A three-dimensional hologram was displayed in front of them that showed them the general area of their assigned destination, a portion of the Great Wall of China. "We're being deployed to a mountain-based area with an ancient human-made structure stretching over twenty-one thousand kilometers. We do not yet know what our target is, but that's not important right now. What is important is us securing it."
"Onslaught, ever since the Autobots and their human allies have fought back, we've suffered set-back after set-back." Swindle said.
"First Area 11, then the Ark, then that mess in the Chinese Federation, now we're going back to that continent?" Vortex added.
"As much as I hate to admit it, we've underestimated the Black Knights." Onslaught explained. "But that won't happen again. Surveying the area, I have a plan that will allow us to claim victory. Best case scenario, we destroy our enemy and take the Relic; worst case, we obtain the Relic. Either way, we win."
"Finally! Time to show those meatbags why we're the toughest Cons out there!" Brawl punched his fist into his palm.
"What's the plan?" Blast Off asked.
"The greatest strength of the Autobots and the Black Knights is their unity, their teamwork." Onslaught began. "We start by taking that away."
The Great Wall of China, an outstanding feat of human achievement, and arguably the largest structure built by human hands given how long it was. All seemed peaceful on the forested mountain range it stood upon, until a Groundbridge portal opened up along the southern side. Stepping out of the portal was Theta Team, consisting of the Aerialbots and Black Dragon unit, a total of sixteen individuals, Autobot and Black Knights in their respective Knightmares.
Jetstorm and Safeguard deployed from Drift, allowing the two Mini-Cons to observe the ancient structure before them.
"This is the Great Wall of China?" Jetstorm said in awe.
"Truly incredible…!" Safeguard was in awe as well.
"It sure is." Zi Dien answered with a smirk. "Now let's keep the Cons from tearing it down."
"So, to be clear, we're looking for an ancient Relic launched from your home planet." Xingke said towards Silverbolt. "Though we don't know what it is yet, it's likely to be a Decepticon-made weapon of mass destruction, or some sort of historical item."
"That's the basic summation, yes." Silverbolt confirmed.
"And if we can't retrieve it, our best option is to destroy it." Chiba said.
"So where is it?" Zhou asked.
"Based on the coordinates provided, our target is about ten kilometers eastward from our current location." Tohdoh replied, observing the data on his Zangetsu's screen.
"Then why did we not Groundbridge closer?" Safeguard asked.
"I agree, wouldn't this enable our enemy a better chance of obtaining the Relic?" Jetstorm also asked.
"We cannot be certain that our enemy isn't already here." Drift explained to his students. "Without knowing who we are dealing with, it is best to approach this situation with caution."
"I agree with Drift." Senba said. "We should be cautious."
"Then we'll split into four separate groups and surround the location on all ends." Tohdoh began. "Jetfire, Urabe, Zi Dien, and myself will come in from the north. Xingke, you will take Chiba, Zhou, and Air Raid from the south. Silverbolt, Senba, and Hong Gu on the west. Drift, Asahina, and Windblade on the East."
"And what of us, Commander Tohdoh?" Jetstorm asked.
"You two will remain by my side." Drift told them.
"But master…?" Safeguard began.
"My decision is final." Drift insisted.
With reluctance, both Mini-Cons bowed. "Yes, teacher."
"Alright, let's move out." Silverbolt ordered as he transformed, engaging magnetic locks to attach Hong Gu's Gun-Ru to its haul before flying off with Senba's Command Akatsuki right behind it.
The others followed suit as they began to split off. Tohdoh's Zangetsu took flight alongside Jetfire's jet-mode, Urabe's own Command Akatsuki, and Zi Dien's Gekka Shiden. Xingke's Shen Hu flew with Chiba's Command Akatsuki, and Air Raid's jet-mode, which attached Zhou's Gun-Ru with its magnetic locks to its haul before flying off, this left the only remaining group behind.
"Safeguard, Jetstorm, return." Drift ordered.
The Mini-Cons seemed hesitant at first, but before they would comply, Asahina spoke up. "Hey Drift, how's about they ride with me this time around?" He proposed, much to the Mini-Con's surprise as even Drift raised a slight eyebrow. "I mean, we're all in the same group, so what does it matter?"
"Very well." Drift nodded in acceptance. "But when I call for assistance, you two must answer. Understood?"
"Yes, teacher." Safeguard and Jetstorm both bowed before hoping up onto the shoulders of Asahina's Akatsuki.
"Come on guys, we got a Relic to grab." Windblade said before she transformed into her jet-mode with Drift doing the same into his own vehicle mode before following after Windblade with Asahina and his passengers right behind them.
"Thank you for allowing us to ride with you, Asahina." Safeguard told him.
"No problem." He assured. "I think I get where you're coming from."
"Where we are coming from?" Jetstorm asked, exchanging confused eye-contact with his fellow Mini-Con.
"It means I think I know what you're going through." Asahina explained. "You want to be able to prove yourselves to your master, impress him. But he keeps you from stepping up because he feels you aren't quite ready."
"Yes, that's exactly it." Jetstorm confirmed. "Please don't misunderstand, we admire and respect Master Drift to the highest degree."
"Before, our previous master… did not have the best intentions." Safeguard began. "We were tasked with stealing vast riches. Though he did offer us training and a place to live, we had to return the favor with complete loyalty to him, even if it involved us doing questionable things."
"That is until Master Drift took us under his wing and helped us to flee." Jetstorm added. "Though we know he has the best of intentions for us and has never once let us down, he has been incredibly strict with us. We never do anything on our own when it comes to the mission. We are always by his side."
"And while it is an honor to fight beside him…" Safeguard continued.
"You feel like you can be doing more, and he might be underestimating you." Asahina finished, much to their surprise. "Yeah, it was like that with me too. Before Britannia invaded Japan, I was a student of Tohdoh. He taught me so much; swordsmanship, military tactics, and after Japan fell, he personally oversaw my Knightmare training. And despite all that, he rarely let me leave his side or do anything on my own. And if he wasn't by my side, he always had somebody else with me, mostly Chiba, Senba, or even Urabe. I thought it was because I was the youngest, and probably the most inexperienced, and when we became soldiers and formed the Four Holy Swords, all he did was boss me around. All of that, it's hard not to take it personally. And while I did question him at times, I never disobeyed him, not once. And that's probably the only reason I'm still alive right now."
Safeguard and Jetstorm looked to one another in surprise as Asahina continued.
"Drift aren't all that different, they might come off as strict and even unfair at times… but I'm sure they know what they're doing. Tohdoh has never once let me down, and I know Drift is the same for you. The time where you guys can prove yourselves will come, I know it. And I know that Drift probably knows that too. Just be a little patient."
This earned a smile from both Mini-Cons. "Thank you for your words, Asahina." Safeguard nodded.
"Yes, it is nice to meet someone who understands, as you say, where we come from." Jetstorm added.
"No problem." Asahina smiled.
After some time, the team consisting of Tohdoh, Jetfire, Urabe, and Zi Dien arrived at the dig site, which was about a mile away from the Great Wall. His team hid behind the Wall itself as they observed the site. Already a Decepticon excavation team had begun to dig away at the land, carving a massive hole as they continued to excavate for the buried Relic.
"This is the north team, we're in position now." Jetfire reported.
"South team, in position." Xingke reported back, a blue light flashing from a hill on the other side of the dig site.
"East team, ready and waiting." Windblade replied.
"West team, standing by." Silverbolt responded. "Looks like they haven't found the Relic yet."
"Then let's move in now. We got them surrounded, we can get the jump on them." Air Raid urged.
"Negative, something's not right here." Tohdoh's eyes narrowed. "We're only seeing Decepticon miners, no real defenses of any kind. Something's not right here."
Suddenly, the section of the Great Wall they were hiding behind exploded; sending the Zangetsu, Jetfire, the Gekka Shiden, and Akatsuki Command unit flying back.
"Well, what do you know?" Stepping out of the smoke was none other than Onslaught, with a team of Tank and Heavy-Duty Vehicons right behind him. "Even Tohdoh the so-called Miracle Worker can be caught off guard."
"IT'S A TRAP!" Zi Dien exclaimed.
"Fire in the hole!" Vortex and Blast Off both flew down from the sky, several jet Vehicons behind them as they laid a bombardment of Energon blasts down on the south team, forcing them to scatter and find cover.
"Oh, you guys want a dogfight, huh?" Air Raid transformed and flew after the two airborne Combaticons.
"Air Raid, wait!" Xingke flew after him in his Shen Hu, leaving Chiba and Zhou to deal with a group of Vehicons that transformed and landed in front of them before opening fire at the two female Black Knights.
Explosions erupted around the area surrounding the west team, causing Silverbolt, Senba, and Hong Gu to look in surprise as Brawl and four Tank Vehicons rolled up in their respective tank-modes.
"Payback time, you puny meatbags!" Brawl exclaimed as he and his team of heavily built and armed Decepticons opened fire.
Multiple Vehicons moved in their vehicles modes and surrounded the east team, prompting Windblade, and Drift to draw their respective weapons with Asahina doing the same in his Akatsuki Command unit while Safeguard and Jetstorm deployed, reading their weapons.
Swindle casually strolled up to them with a smirk, standing at the head of his unit. "I love it when suckers fall for sucker bait, don't you?" He grinned before he and all the Vehicons surrounding them opened fire.
Windblade retaliated by blowing her jet-fans in one direction to clear a path. "This way! Come on!" She urged as she ran down the path, using her swords to cut down the downed Vehicons that were near her. Asahina and Drift provided cover as the former returned fire with his Knightmare to gun down one Vehicon while Drift used his own sword to block some of the shots.
"Safeguard, Jetstorm, go with Windblade!" Drift ordered.
"But Master, we can help!" Jetstorm protested.
"Go!" Drift exclaimed.
"Do what he says! We'll cover you!" Asahina exclaimed, only to gasp in shock as Swindle had already rammed his Akatsuki in his vehicle mode before transforming to engage in close-combat with Drift, firing a point-blank Energon blast powerful enough to knock him back.
"Jetstorm, we must go!" Safeguard pulled his fellow student away, who could only grimace in shame before running to catch up with Windblade.
Back with the north team, Tohdoh's Zangetsu had drawn its katana, parring the offensive strikes from Onslaught and his axe. "A pleasure to see you again, Mr. Miracle Worker. Though I didn't expect it."
Tohdoh narrowed his eyes as he spun his Knightmare to deal a kick to Onslaught and knock him back. "We defeated you and your team before, we can do it again!"
"I wouldn't be so sure. This time we're prepared for you." Onslaught said as he gestured to around him; showing the struggles of his team, such as Urabe and Zi Dien in their Knightmares barley holding their own against the offensive fire-power of the Tank Vehicons. Though Urabe's Akatsuki Command unit fired its Radiant Wave missiles at one Tank Vehicon to destroy it, he was quickly blasted back by two more. Even Jetfire was unable to get in the air and transform as the Heavy-Duty Vehicons came at him in close quarters combat. Jetfire couldn't even find an opening to attack as at least four large Vehicons ganged up on him, punching and slugging him to prevent him from countering.
Not only that, Tohdoh could see multiple explosions all across the area, specifically at the three locations the other teams were at. The Combaticons were expecting this.
"You may have caught us off guard before, and we did underestimate you, but it won't happen again." Onslaught told Tohdoh. "Now we'll show you why Megatron considers us his most elite team!" He charged and tried to bring down his axe onto the Zangetsu, but it quickly blocked it with the katana, allowing the Tohdoh to deliver a flip kick to Onslaught's face with his Knightmare, but the Combaticon quickly recovered and retaliated with a punch just as the Zangetsu slashed its katana at him again.
Both attacks struck, though the force behind Onslaught's punch was enough to send the Zangetsu crashing into the Great Wall, Onslaught saw a diagonal cut across his chest that was already leaking Energon. He glared at the black Knightmare as it stood up straight, the blue fluid dripping from its primary weapon.
"We won't fall so easily. And even if we do, we'll be certain to take you with us!" Tohdoh declared before driving the Zangetsu forward in a charge.
With the south team, they seemed to be having an equal amount of trouble. Chiba had managed to cut down one Vehicon with her Akatsuki's katana, but was forced to fall back as her Knightmare was shot in the shoulder, two airborne Vehicons hovering in the air as Chiba's Akatsuki was forced to circle up with Zhou's Gun-Ru, and though she shot down one Vehicon, her unit's right arm was shot off by an Energon blast. It wasn't long before both their Knightmares were completely encircled by seven hovering Vehicons that continued to fire down upon them.
"Ugh! We can't fight like this! We're surrounded!" Zhou exclaimed as her Knightmare's left leg was blasted off.
"Xianglin! Eject now!" Chiba ordered. Zhou promptly opened her cockpit, allowing Chiba to reach with her Akatsuki's hand and grab her before twirling and shooting out her Slash Harkens to force the Vehicons back, allowing her and her passenger to drive away, even as the Vehicons returned fire.
Above them, Air Raid and Blast Off appeared lock in a high-speed aerial chase in their respective vehicle modes, with the Aerialbot appearing to be in pursuit of the Combaticon, firing multiple Energon blasts in an attempt to shoot him down, but Blast Off proved too quick for even a single shot to land.
"Hold still, will ya?!" Air Raid exclaimed as he fired a missile, but Blast Off flew straight up to avoid the missile and fell back down to get behind Air Raid, firing and effectively turning the tables on him.
"Let's see if you can outfly me, Autobot!" Blast Off shot forward, prompting Air Raid to fly away but Blast Off was closing the gap quickly.
The Shen Hu fired its slash harkens from its wrists at the circling Vortex, but he transformed and fell to avoid them before transforming again and shot at the Shen Hu to ram it, knocking it off balance before transforming yet again, hovering in place to unleash his shockwave attack, further sending the Shen Hu tumbling closer to the ground, though Xingke was quick to try and stabilize his Knightmare.
"Shooting from behind? You Decepticons are truly cowards." Xingke spat.
"Call us what you want, a win is a win." Vortex said with a grin. "Just look at your Autobot friend over there."
Xingke looked to see Air Raid was in serious trouble, his right engine had already been hit by Blast Off's attack, causing him to lose control, enabling Blast Off to close the gap, transform and grapple into Air Raid's haul.
"No! Get off me!"
"Sorry, Autobot. We just crossed the finished line." Blast Off aimed his Energon blaster right at the face of Air Raid's jet mode. "And you lost."
He fired only three more shots before the front-most of Air Raid's jet mode exploded and caught fire. Blast Off let go and hovered in the air as he saw Air Raid spiral toward the ground before crashing and exploding, ending the life of the Aerialbot right then and there.
"Air Raid!" Xingke exclaimed in shock. This was the first time he had seen an Autobot killed. The logical part of him knew that the Autobots were mortal beings like humans and were capable of being killed, having killed off a few Decepticons himself, but to actually see such a mighty and noble being meet a terrible end like that was something else.
"Don't look so surprised." Vortex told him. "There's a reason why the Autobots feared our team in particular. We racked more dead Bots than most other Cons, and now you're about to join them." He opened fire on the Shen Hu once more.
The west team wasn't having that much success either, Brawl's superior firepower, as well as that of his team of Tank Vehicons, were more than enough to keep Silverbolt, Senba, and Hong Gu from retaliating. All three were forced to find cover behind some trees at a distance, with desperately trying to return fire, only to have the area in front of them torn up by explosions from the tank blasts.
"Yeah! This is how you do it!" Brawl exclaimed in joy while he was in his tank-mode along with the Vehicons. "Tear it all up! Leave no cover for them!"
That is what they had been doing since the start of this explosive fight. Brawl and the others blasted away line after line of trees and land to prevent their enemies from finding any kind of stable cover and retaliating. Another line was blown away, and just like before, Silverbolt, Senba, and Hong Gu were forced to retreat even deeper, though Hong Gu's Gun Ru was caught in the explosion and its lower half was blown away.
"I'm down!" Hong Gu shouted as he opened his Knightmare's cockpit.
"I'll get him! Cover me!" Silverbolt ordered.
"Rodger!" Senba fired all his Akatsuki's missiles ahead, hoping they would hit Brawl and his team. They only hit the burnt and scorched ground in front of them, forcing him and his team to transform and halt their advance. Though this allow Silverbolt to rush up and grab the exposed Hong Gu before retreating.
"We need to regroup! We can't fight back like this!" Senba said.
"You're right." Silverbolt acknowledged as he opened his comns. "Silverbolt to all units! We have to regroup! We're getting picked off bit by bit out here!"
"Yeah! We're working on it!" Windblade replied as she cut down one Vehicon, but was forced to fall back as more appeared from behind the trees in front of her to open fire. Despite their best attempts at retreating; Windblade, Asahina and Drift were forced into a circle with Jetstorm and Drift in the center.
"Master, I do not believe we will be able to retreat from you as we are thoroughly encircled." Safeguard told Drift.
"We cannot stay like this!" Drift exclaimed as he and Windblade use their respective swords to parry and block the enemy's Energon blasts, while Asahina returned fire with what he could via his Akatsuki's machine guns or slash harkens. "There must be some form of cover!"
"We spotted an entrance to an underground cavern near our location! I'm sending the coordinates now!" Senba responded.
Asahina received the coordinates and had it displayed on his cockpit's screen in mere seconds. "I have it!"
"Windblade, Asahina, you are the only ones that can fly! Take my students and rendezvous with the others, this time I will make sure you escape!" Drift said just as he pointed his finger at his Mini-Con students before they would even protest. "This is non-negotiable!" He was shot in the shoulder by an approaching Vehicon, but quickly got up to cut him down with his sword. "Retreat!"
Though it was with great reluctance, Windblade had to relent. "You heard him! Hop on, boys!"
Left with no other choice, Safeguard and Jetstorm both transformed into their disk-like alternate modes and attached themselves to Windblade's arms before she transformed and flew away with Asahina leading her to the received coordinates.
All alone now, Drift had drawn both his swords as he moved to cut down all the encircling Vehicons, even as they shot at him. He decapitated one while using his other blade to impale one from behind, drawing both swords again to slice and dice a third, but was shot in the back. He refused to back down however as he recovered to slice down a fourth but was shot again in the legs to bring him down to his knees.
Drift groaned in pain and exhaustion, but still refused to surrender even as the remaining Vehicons aimed their blasters at him.
"I do not fear death." He said defiantly.
"Who said anything about death?" Swindle mocked as he approached the downed Autobot. "I'm thinking interrogation would work better." He quipped himself a blaster-like device and fired at Drift, shocking him before he fell to the ground, unconscious. "EMP blaster baby. I knew I made a good choice in buying this."
"You actually bought something?" One Vehicon asked. "I thought you stole it."
"I kinda did when I sold that old rotary engine a few cycles back, making them think it was one of a kind, but it was just a piece of junk." Swindle grinned. "Junk of treasure. I swear, I make conning an art form."
"We're falling back! Proceed to the rendezvous!" Tohdoh exclaimed as he flew his Zangetsu up and backwards, opening fire with a series of missiles onto Onslaught, which he dodged by rolling out of the way before returning fire. The Zangetsu had turned around and unleashed a series of missiles onto the Vehicons swarming Jetfire, providing him with much-needed space, but also leaving himself vulnerable for his Knightmare to be shot in the back with precise shots by Onslaught to disable the Zangetsu's float system, forcing it to the ground.
"Tohdoh!" Urabe exclaimed as he sliced down one Vehicon.
"No! Go and meet up with the others! I'll hold them back!" Tohdoh ordered as he drew his Knightmare's katana to engage the remaining Vehicons.
"He's right, we have to go!" Jetfire told Urabe, who could only gnash his teeth in frustration.
"We'll be back for you, sir! I promise!" With that declaration, Urabe's Akatsuki took to the air with the Gekka Shiden right behind him, just as Jetfire transformed and flew away with the two Knightmares.
The Zangetsu was surrounded by the remaining Vehicons, along with Onslaught. But once he saw them leave, Tohdoh gave a deep sigh before deactivating his Knightmare and opened the cockpit to stand up and face the Decepticons with a glare.
"A wise choice." Onslaught gloated as he walked forward to literally look down upon the old soldier. "You look so much smaller from up here." As he gloated, the fire in Tohdoh's eyes had not vanished. He would surrender now, but the time to retaliate will still come, and he will heed the call.
From the air, Xingke struggled against the combined efforts of Vortex and Blast Off, both circling him in their respective vehicle modes, and the most he could do was try and intercept whatever blast they shot at him. But when he could block the attack from one, he would be vulnerable against the other. This was made evident when he used the Shen Hu's Slash Harken flails as a shield to protect himself from Vortex's shots, but it left himself open for Blast Off to shoot the blue Knightmare in the back, the force was enough to send him back closer to the ground. He tried to stabilize himself as best as he could, glancing to see Chiba's Akatsuki in a similar struggle with Zhou inside the cockpit with her.
They had also received the coordinates for the rendezvous, but he also knew they couldn't all make it. So, the best he could do was allow them to escape.
"You need to go…" He told them. "I'll get you some cover, but you need to regroup with the others and plan a counterattack. I promise I'll be fine."
"Xingke, sir…" Zhou tried to protest.
"He's right." Chiba said before addressing Xingke. "Do what you need to do."
"I thank you." Xingke's face hardened as he let loose with the Shen Hu's chest-mounted Baryon Canon, taking down all the remaining Vehicons, before aiming it at the flying Combaticons, forcing Blast Off and Vortex to fly and avoid it.
But this also allowed his comrades to escape, the Akatsuki unit flying alongside the beam and managing to make it past the enemy.
One look at his radar screen told Xingke that all his remaining allies, save for Tohdoh and Drift, had managed to escape. Even Hong Gu had fled with Senba and Silverbolt. This was enough of a relief for him. With his Knightmare heavily damaged and its power nearly drained, Xingke deactivated the Shen Hu just as Vortex and Blast Off landed in front of him.
"Not bad for a meatbag." Blast Off. "But still not good enough."
The remainder of the group, consisting of Jetfire, Silverbolt, Chiba, Senba, Urabe, Asahina, Windblade, Jetstorm, Safeguard, Zi Dien, Zhou, and Hong Gu had managed to regroup in an underground cavern that was far enough from the dig site to remain hidden, but close enough so that when they were ready to launch a counterattack, they would be able to do so.
They just needed to figure one out, which is what they were trying to do now as the humans were outside their remaining Knightmares, trying to re-assess their situation.
"Alright, three of our own have captured, one was killed…" Silverbolt began, he and Jetfire expressing a moment of silence for their fallen fellow Aerialbot, with the others following suit. "The enemy has the dig site completely secure, and we don't have a means to properly breach it."
"We only have five Knightmares, some of them pretty damaged." Chiba said. "Should the Combaticons combine into Bruticus again, I don't think we can pull off another win."
"So, what's the plan? Do we contact base? Call for back-up?" Hong Gu asked.
"Most of our top guys are all on other missions right now." Windblade said. "We can get some infinitary units, but against the Combaticons… it wouldn't do much."
"And by the time they arrive, the Cons could have already secured the Relic." Jetfire added.
With a grim expression, Zhou spoke up. "Be honest… what are the chances Xingke and the others will be executed?"
That took Safeguard and Jetstorm by surprise, the thought of their mentor being executed was unthinkable.
"Knowing Onslaught, I'd say he would think it be best to keep all three of them alive." Silverbolt said. "He's no Starscream, Onslaught is smart. Tohdoh alone could be a valuable source of intel, same goes for Drift and Xingke. So for now, they'll keep them alive."
"There is no way Tohdoh is giving them any kind of information without a fight." Urabe stated.
"Unless the Cons put him through a cortical psychic patch." Jetfire countered. "We heard from Suzaku that Megatron has perfected it enough to work on humans. Even if Zero had thought of some kind of counter-measure, it's not worth the risk. If they manage to break through and get all the info from not only Tohdoh, but also Xingke and Drift…"
"They could learn everything." Chiba finished, looking down with a grim expression of frustration. "Such as the location of Horai Island and all its defenses."
"Exactly." Jetfire confirmed.
"So, we need to rescue them before they escape." Asahina stated.
"But what about the Relic? We can't just let the Cons have it!" Zi Dien said.
"The potential intel they could gain is even worse!" Senba argued. "We need to rescue Tohdoh and the others!"
"Onslaught will have them heavily guarded; he'll be expecting us to stage a rescue mission." Windblade said.
As an argument began to ensue with the group, Jetstorm and Safeguard looked to each other before trying to speak up.
"Excuse us…" Safeguard raised his hand, but it seemed to have gone unnoticed.
"Why don't we all go in at once, grab them and get out?" Urabe suggested. "We'll move quickly so they won't have time to fight back!"
"They'll form Bruticus right away if that happens! In which case, we're all dead!" Silverbolt countered.
"If you would just…" Jetstorm spoke up as well, but like his fellow Mini-Con, he was ignored. Getting frustrated, they nodded to each other as Safeguard allowed Jetstorm to climb up on his shoulders, standing tall before preparing to shout as loud as he could.
"We can't afford to split our already dwindling forces, we need a plan!" Zhou stated.
"WE HAVE A PLAN!"
All eyes set on the two Mini-Cons, the fact that one was standing on top of the other was enough to get their unwarranted attention before Jetstorm dropped down.
"We have a plan that could enable us to rescue our comrades and secure the Relic." Jetstorm began. "First, we allow the Decepticons to finish the excavation and unearth the Relic for us."
"Once it is unearthed, the Aerialbots and all those with Knightmares will launch a surprise attack." Safeguard spoke next. "But it will be done from two ends, forcing the Combaticons to split up and preventing them from combining with one another."
"While they are distracted, Safeguard and myself will rescue Master Drift as well as Tohdoh and Xingke." Jetstorm continued. "And should it be necessary, Zhou and Hong Gu, the only two here who do not possess any Knightmare frames, will secure the Zangetsu and Shen Hu if they are being held in a separate location, which does seem the most likely possibility if Onslaught is as cautious as you say."
"They will quickly deliver the Knightmares to Tohdoh and Xingke, they along with Drift and ourselves will move in and secure the unearthed Relic." Safeguard finished up. "And if it is a weapon, we could use it against the enemy force. If not, we'll retreat right away."
"That's…" Silverbolt thought about it for a minute. "That's… actually pretty clever."
"Yeah, I think it could work." Zi Dien said in agreement.
"Onslaught would indeed keep their Knightmares away from the prisoners so they can't get them back, but close enough to keep an eye on them." Windblade said. "He'd also keep the prisoners themselves within eye-sight along with the excavation."
"But if we play our cards right with this… his caution could be his undoing." Senba grinned.
"But Onslaught is still no fool." Jetfire said. "He could see we're trying to separate them."
"But not every Combaticon is as smart as he is, correct?" Safeguard asked. "We have done some studying of our enemy, notably our most dangerous ones and the Combaticons do rank high up there."
"But as Safeguard said, they're not all as cautious." Jetstorm added. "For instance, Brawl loves a fight and won't hesitate to jump into one without thinking; while Blast Off is a reckless 'speed demon' I believe is the human term for it."
"Indeed, all we need do is get their attention, and get them to separate, and they will not be able to combine." Safeguard finished.
"We will separate them and pick them off as they attempted to do to us." Jetstorm put in.
"Using both the enemy's tactics and psychological weaknesses against them…" Chiba said, sounding very impressed.
"Ha! You two are still students? I think you should be warriors at this point." Urabe laughed.
"This could work." Windblade said. "And we did take down a good portion of their Vehicon forces in that ambush. If we take down most of the others in a surprise attack, and do separate the Vehicons…"
"We could outnumber them!" Jetfire said with realization. "They're tough, but I've seen for myself that they're not invincible. And if we're lucky and manage to kill one…"
"They won't be able to combine at all." Silverbolt finished. "Alright; Jetstorm, Safeguard, we're going with your plan."
This earned excited smiles from the two Mini-Cons as everyone around them began to smile as well with hope and/or eagerness. They might still be able to pull off a win here. Safeguard and Jetstorm shared eye-contact with Asahina, who merely smiled himself before nodding and giving a thumbs up of approval.
"But our initial strike has to be crucial." Silverbolt began. "Not only do we have to take down most of their Vehicon forces, but we also need to get the attention of Brawl and Blast Off and get them to go in separate directions. So, here is what we'll do…"
The excavation continued as though nothing had happened. None of the miner Vehicons were killed in the fight and had resumed their drilling into the large pit they had already dug into. The only difference now is that the remainder warrior Vehicons were guarding the area with most of the Combaticons monitoring the area, while Onslaught oversaw the whole thing from the center.
In one corner of the pit, the deactivated Zangetsu and Shen Hu were being guarded by a group of Vehicons. While some distance away, Drift, Tohdoh, and Xingke were similarly being guarded, the Autobot had his hands cuffed in front of him while Xingke just sat, as opposed to Tohdoh who remained in a kneeling-meditative position with his eyes closed, simply waiting for whatever opportunity would present itself to strike.
"Ha, who would have thought someone who gave us so much trouble would be so small." One Vehicon commented, referring to Tohdoh.
"Wasn't this guy in Area 11?" Another asked.
"Yeah, he had that fancy black Knightmare and was pretty good with a blade. But he caused even more trouble to those annoying little Brits."
"Good. Always nice to see some self-serving pieces of work get taken down a peg. Never could stand Britannia anyways."
"So glad that Megatron wiped them out. Now if only we could just do the same to the others."
"If it weren't for the Autobots, I got a feeling those Black Knight guys wouldn't have lasted a day."
"You underestimate humanity." Xingke spoke up. "Because if we're as weak as you say, you wouldn't have gone to such great lengths to lay out a trap like you did."
"Keep your mouth shut, meatbag! Nobody asked for your opinion!"
"Well if you wish for the opinion of another Cybertronian, let me share mine with you." Drift spoke up. "You do indeed underestimate the human race. And that weakness is why you are going to lose this war."
"Shut up!" One Vehicon aimed his Energon blaster at him, but Drift merely narrowed his eyes, undeterred despite the blaster being aimed directly at his face.
"That's enough!" Onslaught walked up to stop anything from escalating.
"Sir." The Vehicons saluted.
"Go take five, I'll handle this." Onslaught told the Vehicons, who walked away, leaving the leader of the Combaticons alone with his prisoners. "What's wrong, got nothing to say Deadlock?"
"I do not answer to that name any longer." Drift stated.
"You and I may not have known each other, but I know your work." Onslaught began. "You and the rest of Shadow Raker's students made quite the reputation in the Decepticon army. I don't know for sure if Megatron knows… but I don't think he'd mind letting you back into his ranks."
"I would rather be impaled through my spark chamber than bear that insignia again." Drift glared.
"Be careful what you wish for, it might just come true." Onslaught replied.
"Speak for yourself." Tohdoh finally spoke up, keeping his eyes closed. "You really should use this chance to finish this off, me especially. It might be your only chance. If you don't… then I promise Onslaught…" his eyes slowly opened with a glare. "It will be my blade that pierces through your spark chamber."
Onslaught said nothing at first, him and Tohdoh appearing locked in visual combat. It ended when Onslaught chuckled.
"Wow… I think I might have gotten some chills. You are a defiant one, Kyoshiro Tohdoh. And I'm looking forward to seeing Lord Megatron break that defiance" Onslaught leaned in menacingly.
"Onslaught, sir! We found the Relic!"
This got the attention of Onslaught as well as the imprisoned heroes as he walked down to the center of the digsite to get a closer look, but Xingke had something else on his mind.
"You were a Decepticon?" He asked Drift.
"Yes, unfortunately." The samurai-like Autobot answered. "A time in my life I'm not particularly proud of."
"We all have demons in our past that may haunt us at times." Tohdoh spoke up, remembering the place Suzaku was in after he took his father's life and the choices he made. "But in the end, who we chose to be now is more important. Don't forget who you were, but don't let that hold you back either."
"Trust me, I already know." Drift acknowledged. "I am no longer the Decepticon Deadlock. I am an Autobot, and I will die as an Autobot."
Xingke and even Tohdoh couldn't help but smirk at that resolve. But their smirks vanished as they got back to the task at hand, looking down to the center of the pit where they saw the Relic being unearthed, with Onslaught overseeing it.
It was a rather large Relic, large enough that it wasn't held in any of the containers they had seen with previous Relics. It appeared to be a large, cubical, metallic crate. Once it was hauled up onto flat ground, the miner Vehicons used their torches to cut one side of it open and reveal its contents.
The first thing they took notice was a bright red glow that shined out from the crate. The source of that glow as a large chunk of glowing red crystals that emanated an odd-sound. This was something the Decepticons recognized instantly.
"Red Energon…" Onslaught said in awe, with all the Decepticons looking awe themselves. Onslaught then chuckled. "Oh yes, Lord Megatron is going to love this."
Even from their vantage point, and guarded by Vehicons, the prisoners could see what the Cons had unearthed and overheard it all.
"What is Red Enegron?" Xingke asked.
"An extremely rare yet volatile form of Energon." Drift explained. "Refined into fuel it provides the power of hyper speed."
"How would you describe this hyper speed, exactly?" Tohdoh asked. "Some people often use it as a term of exaggeration."
"I've never experienced it myself… but based on what I've heard… when one is infused with Red Energon, it appears that time has slowed to a crawl." Drift tried to explain it as best as he could. "You move at ten times your normal speed."
"We can't let the Decepticons leave with something like that." Xingke stated.
"Patience." Tohdoh said, remaining as calm as ever. "I have a feeling our opportunity is fast approaching."
Almost directly on cue, multiple explosions erupted all across the area. "What?!" Onslaught exclaimed, as this drew the attention of the Vehicons as well. Though these weren't random explosions: they were targeted. Specifically at the groups of Vehicons across the excavation site, effectively taking down most, if not all, of them in one fell swoop.
The perpetrators were none other than Silverbolt and Jetfire in their jet-modes, both transformed and hovered over the sight. "Hey, Blast Off!" Silverbolt called to him. "How about a race?! Unless you taking down Air Raid was just him going easy on you!"
"Come and get us, slowpoke!" Jetfire added as both Aerialbots transformed and flew away.
"Slowpoke, am I?!" Blast Off growled before transforming and flying after them.
"Blast Off, wait!" Onslaught tried to stop him, but he was already gone. "Vortex, go get him! It's obviously a trap!"
"I'm on it!" Vortex transformed as well and flew to catch up with his fellow Combaticon.
"Brawl, Swindle, we need to secure the Red Energon!" Onslaught ordered.
"You got it." Swindle was about to move in, but Brawl was suddenly shot in the back, forcing him to his knees as he turned around to see the Gekka Shiden, showing off its many blades, including the dual long swords in its hands.
"Hey Brawl, let's dance! Unless you're scared!" Zi Dien teased.
"Ha! Little meatbag wants to go a few rounds, huh? You're funeral!" Brawl transformed into his tank-mode and shot at the Gekka Shiden, forcing Zi Dien to turn around and flee with Brawl pursuing after him, much to Onslaught's shock.
"Wha...?! Brawl! Where are you going!?"
"I'll get him!" Swindle transformed as well and drove in pursuit.
"Swindle!" Onslaught's optics suddenly widened as realization hit home. His entire team was lured away in two separate directions, away from the Relic and himself. "They're separating us!"
Suddenly, Windblade's jet-mode flew in and rammed into Onslaught, catching him on her right wing as she flew upward and away from the dig site.
"Duh. That's the plan." She snarked before she transformed and kicked Onslaught away, sending him falling and crashing to the hard and unforgiving ground.
Blast Off flew in literal circles, trying to catch up with Jetfire and Silverbolt. They were careful to not only maintain their speed ahead of him, but even increased it. He was so focused on them, that he didn't even notice his own speed picking up. That is until, Silverbolt transformed right in front of him.
Going too fast and no time to stop, Silverbolt lashed out with a powerful kick that sent Blast Off reeling and spiraling out of control in the air before he transformed to try and stabilize himself, but this left him open for Jetfire to fly in and shoot at him with Energon blasts.
"This is for Air Raid!" Jetfire's next shot sent Blast Off falling toward the ground.
"Blast Off… you reckless idiot…!" Vortex criticized as he tried to get in on the fight.
"Don't you just hate it, when your team falls apart?"
"Wha…!" Vortex couldn't see the two flying Aktasukis appearing from the clouds above him, slicing their blades at his propellers as the shot past him.
Vortex fell for a few brief seconds before transforming and hovered in mid-air to face the two Aktasukis led piloted by Senba and Asahina.
"You Cons aren't the only ones that can claim the skies. And these skies are ours." Senba declared before he and Asahina went on the attack.
Brawl, still in his tank-mode, continued to shoot and blast at the fast moving Gekka Shiden, which quickly drew its electromagnetic nunchaku to spin around and deflect the blasts that came to close.
"Hold still, meatbag!" Brawl exclaimed.
"Meatbag, meatbag, that's all I seem to hear. You got anything else, cause it's kinda getting old." Zi Dien snarked.
This angered Brawl, up to the point where he transformed and tried to charge the purple Knightmare, only for two Aktasukis to appear from behind their cover of broken trees and quickly zoom past Brawl in crisscross fashion, slicing at him with their swords with enough force to knock him back and down.
Swindle had just arrived and transformed, looking in comic shock at not only seeing Brawl knocked down, but the three blade-wielding Knightmares in front of him.
"And the con artist has just been conned." Swindle commented.
"Damn right." Urabe grinned.
"Let's go." Chiba stated as the three Black Knight Knightmares charged forward.
"The opportunity?" Xingke asked.
"I believe so." Tohdoh grinned.
"Better think again." The two Vehicons guarding them had their Energon blasters primed and ready. "Might as well put them out of their misery right now."
"Perhaps you should focus less on what is in front of you, and more on the threat from behind." Drift said with a smirk.
Suddenly, two disk-like objects flew through the air and struck the Vehicons in the back of their heads, knocking them down as Jetstorm and Safeguard transformed and landed in front of them. Safeguard was quick to act with his naginata, impaling the Vehicon in front of him in-between his optics to kill him; while Safeguard slammed his nunchucks in the face of the second before leaping on top and wrapping his nunchucks around the Vehicon's neck before twisting to snap the neck and end that Vehicon's life.
"Master Drift, colonel Tohdoh, Xingke. We are relieved to see you unharmed." Safeguard said as Jetstorm leapt up to slash his nunchucks on Drift's cuffs to free him.
"Well done, students." Drift stood up.
"Now we just need to get our Knightmares…" Xingke began.
"Oh, that will not be necessary." Jetstorm smiled as he gestured toward the side to reveal the Zangetsu and Shen Hu were already rolling in their direction, coming to a stop in front of the group, much to the surprise of Drift and Xingke, even as the cockpits opened to reveal the pilots being Hong Gu and Zhou respectively.
"I do believe these belong to you." Zhou smiled.
"Zhou? Hong Gu? How did…?" Xingke wondered.
"These two little geniuses came up with the plan." Hong Gu summed up, gesturing to the Mini-Cons. "Separate the enemy, free the prisoners, and secure the now-unearthed Relic."
Drift looked toward his students in surprise as they stood at attention to their teacher. This was really their plan? He couldn't help but smile in pride.
"Excellent work, you two."
Both Mini-Cons were surprised at first, but smiled widely at their teacher's praise. "Thank you, Master Drift." They both bowed.
"Let's not celebrate yet." Tohdoh said as he got back into his Knightmare along with Xingke; Hong Gu and Zhou remaining in their cockpits with them. "This battle is not over until we've secured the Red Energon."
"Red Energon!? That is the Relic?!" Jetstorm exclaimed as he and Safeguard turned to see and finally notice the glowing red crystals still in the open crate at the center of the dig site.
"Yes, securing that would be our best option." Safeguard agreed as they and their teacher, along with the Zangetsu and Shen Hu moved in to secure the rare form of Energon.
Onslaught slashed and hacked with his axe relentlessly at Windblade, who was quick enough to parry each of his strikes with her swords. But when she crossed her blades to block a vertical axe-strike, Onslaught swiped his legs to trip up Windblade. He tried to stomp down onto her, but she flipped backwards to land on her hands before flipping again to get back up on her feet and activated her jets to send a gust of wind to push Onslaught further back.
"Grrr, this is a waste of time." Onslaught grunted in frustration before transforming and zooming off at high speeds around Windblade and back the way she came.
"Scrap… he figured it out!" Windblade transformed herself and flew after him.
Onslaught wasted no time in contacting his team. "All Combaticons, converge back on the dig site! Combine into Bruticus the second you get there! No time to waste! Get there now!"
The hovering Vortex fired his Energon blasters at the flying Aktasukis piloted by Asahina and Senba, but they moved quick and around him, gunning in for hit-and-run attacks, Asahina attacking first with his sword, which Vortex attempted to block, but this left him open for Senba to strike from behind.
It wasn't long however before Vortex heard Onslaught's order. "Blast Off, we need to move! Now!" He exclaimed to his fellow flying Combaticon, who was caught in the middle of a pincer-attack from Silverbolt and Jetfire in their jet-modes. He transformed and was able to escape it before flying off to meet with his partner and followed him.
"They're regrouping!" Jetfire exclaimed as the four of them flew after their enemies.
Chiba rolled forward in her Akatsuki, slicing at Swindle to knock him back. When he tried to open fire on her, Urabe flew down from the side to land a kick and knock him to the ground. Just like with his teammates, Swindle heard Onslaught's orders over the comns.
"Hey Brawl, you want a big fight? Let's give them one! The biggest one imaginable!" Swindle shouted to his teammate.
Brawl had continued to fire at the evading Gekka Shiden, but he heard Swindle's shout and Onslaught's orders. The thought of combing and wreaking havoc never ceased to appease him.
"Ah yeah. It's devastation time!" Brawl transformed along with Swindle and drove back the way they came.
"No! They're heading back!" Chiba shouted.
"After them!" Zi Dien ordered as they drove their Knightmares in pursuit.
Back at the dig site, just as Tohdoh, Drift, and the rest of their group were about to obtain the Red Energon, Onslaught's vehicle mode shot forward over the edge of the pit and flew above them, right before he opened fire with his Energon blaster at the group and fell down as he did, landing in-between them and the Red Energon just as the remaining Combaticons had arrived.
"Combaticons combine!" Onslaught ordered as he leapt to the top of the crate containing the Red Energon and leapt higher into the air and transformed into a central-chest piece unit. Brawl and Swindle arrived swiftly, transforming into the right and left legs respectively, linking up with the central unit that Onslaught turned into. Vortex and Blast Off had also flown in simultaneously, transforming into the left and right arms, combining with their fellow Combaticons just as the head popped up at the top and the optics shined to life.
Windblade, Silverbolt, Jetfire, Senba, and Asahina had all arrived with Zi Dien, Urabe, and Chiba just as the massive Combaticon Combiner came online and loomed over all of them, particularly Tohdoh's group, who could only look in shock and even fear.
"Oh scrap…" Tohdoh muttered.
"You insects… you've really done it now…" Bruticus growled. "You made me mad!" He raised both his fists and tried to bring them down on Tohdoh's group. Though they were able to retreat in time, the force of the impact shook up the whole ground and knocked them down.
"Move in! Circle around and fire at him from all sides!" Silverbolt ordered as he, Jetfire, Windblade, Zi Dien, and the Four Holy Swords took to the air, shooting at Bruticus from all directions with missiles, Energon blasts, and machine gun fire.
Bruticus quickly activated his propeller-shield on his left arm to shield himself from the heavier missile blasts, while the other attacks did little-to-no damage on his haul. He then shot out his flamethrower on his right arm to force everyone back. All except Zi Dien who tried to fly at the back of his head, where he thought would be a blind spot.
'If I can get his neck, maybe I can…'
That proved to be his last mistake as Bruticus swung the rotating propeller blade at the Gekka Shiden, slicing it to pieces. Zi Dien's eyes widened as his Knightmare was sliced and diced before exploding, ending his life in that instant.
"Zi Dien!" Jetstorm yelled in shock as Safeguard also gasped in surprise.
Everyone present, even Tohdoh and Xingke, as well as their respective passengers, looked in shock. But Tohdoh was the first to get back into the present and continue the fight.
"Xingke, fire everything you have at Bruticus' legs! It'll trip him up!"
"Understood." Xingke's eyes narrowed as he activated the Shen Hu's chest-mounted Baryon Canon while the Zangetsu fired all its missiles. Both attacks went straight for the legs, but Bruticus had already seen it coming.
"Nice try." He activated his propeller shield again to block the attack before raising his other fist and slammed it onto the ground, sending a shockwave attack right at them.
"MOVE!" Drift exclaimed as he grabbed his students and tackled the Zangetsu and Shen Hu out of the way, but the force of the devastating attack still sent all of them flying and crashing along the ground.
"Onslaught is the head of Bruticus." The Combaticon Combiner said. "He's learned all your tricks from the last fights. I know them now too. You won't stop me again!" Onslaught swung his massive fists violently and relentlessly at the flying Bots and Knightmares around him, forcing them to fly back and gain their distance.
"You're kidding! That thing knows how we fight?!" Asahina exclaimed.
"I believe we've underestimated Bruticus…" Senba commented, a nervous drop of sweat falling from his face.
"I'm moving in to secure the Colonel and everyone!" Chiba said.
"Go." Silverbolt approved. "Urabe, cover her. Everyone else, keep the attack up but keep your distance!"
"Rodger." Asahina, Senba, Jetfire, and Windblade all acknowledge as the five of them flew around Bruticus, firing whatever long ranged weapons they had and avoiding the monstrous flamethrower he would retaliate and unleash upon them with.
As Tohdoh and his group began to recover, Tohdoh had to open his cockpit to allow himself out along with Hong Gu and assess the damage done to the Zangetsu, it seemed in pretty bad shape and would need extensive repairs, something they couldn't do right now.
"Colonel!" Chiba landed her Knightmare near the recovering group as Drift stood up with Urabe's Akatsuki hovering in front of them and keeping an eye on the battle. She immediately got out and ran toward him. "Are you arlight?!"
"I'll live…" Tohdoh assured. "But I can't use my Knightmare anymore."
"Our plan… it failed…" Jetstorm said, almost as if he was conceding to defeat. "We were to prevent Bruticus from forming and yet…"
"That's exactly what happened… and now we're outmatched and… Zi Dien has… fallen…" Safeguard said in the same tone.
"You guys…" Urabe muttered, keeping an eye on the battle. He could tell that it was a loosing battle. With a swipe from his arm, Bruticus had sent Windblade and Silverbolt crashing to the ground. He then shot his flamethrower toward Asahina and Senba's Knightmares, though they were able to avoid the worst of it, the flames still fried their float systems, forcing them to perform an emergency landing. All that was left was Jetfire as he flew in to fire more missiles, but Bruticus had blocked the missiles with his shield before quickly grabbing Jetfire in his free hand.
Bruticus looked at the struggling Aerialbot in his grip. "I remember you." He recalled when Jetfire and Jazz worked together to send Bruticus flying off the fleeing Ark and crashing onto Cybertron's surface. "Let's see how you like it!" He threw Jetfire away, who tried to stabilize himself in his jet-mode, but it didn't stop him from crashing all the way into the Great Wall, causing a portion of it to collapse.
The Combaticon Combiner laughed as he reached down and tore open the metal crate behind him with his fingers before plucking the large chunk of Red Energon out. The chunk was big enough to fit in the palm of his hand, it was roughly the size of an average Knightmare.
"Looks like I win."
"No… has the Red Energon…!" Xingke exclaimed.
"Unfortunately…" Drift fell to his legs in exhaustion. "Nothing we have can stop this monster… I'm afraid that we have lost…"
"No… we… we can't lose…!" Jetstorm stuttered in despair.
"There, there must be something…!" Safeguard said in the same desperate tone.
Urabe thought for a moment, looking at the big chunk of Red Energon in Bruticus' hand. The readings off that were definitely higher than normal, possibly more explosive than regular Energon. He knew they had a way to stop this. Their orders were not just to obtain the Relic, but to destroy it if its acquisition was all but impossible.
'Even if we can't win this, we'll make sure they won't either.'
"Hey, you two runts…" Urabe got the attention of the two Mini-Cons. "This was a good plan, don't beat yourselves up about it. Don't get too hung up over every little thing."
"Urabe, what are you saying…?" Safeguard asked.
"Colonel…" Urabe got Tohdoh's attention next. "Tell Prime and Zero, it's been an honor serving with them. And an even greater honor to serve under you."
Tohdoh and Chiba's eyes both widened as they realized what he was implying. "Urabe… don't…!"
But it was too late, he had shot his Akatsuki straight toward Bruticus, much to their shock, as well as the rest of their group.
"Hey! Big guy!" Urabe shouted at Bruticus as his Akatsuki flew right at him. "One last meatbag left! Think ya can take me!?"
"Little bug!" Bruticus unleashed his flamethrower onto the charging Akatsuki., the Red Energon held back in his free hand.
Silverbolt, Windblade, Asahina, and Senba had all recovered, and even Jetfire from his spot at the collapsed area of the Great Wall, and they could all look in shock to see the flames beginning to overtake Urabe's Akatsuki.
Time seemed to slow down for the member of the Four Holy Swords. Right before the flames would consume him, his sensors had already locked onto the Red Energon within Bruticus' grip. And with the pull of a switch, his Akatsuki fired a missile right at it.
Almost as if it were in slow motion, the missile had flown out of the flames. Bruticus' optics widened as he saw it and where it was heading. He made a desperate attempt to break apart, but as the joints disconnected, the missile had impacted the Red Energon.
*BOOM!*
The Red Energon erupted in a massive explosion, one powerful enough that sent the now detached Combaticons flying and would consume the near-destroyed Akatsuki. Urabe smiled and closed his eyes in acceptance as the explosion consumed him as well.
The blast felt like a major earthquake that shook up the whole area, the shockwave blasting Tohdoh's group back, with Drift using his own body to shield Jetstorm, Safeguard, Tohdoh, Chiba, and Hong Gu; while all the other surrounding Bots and Knightmares were also knocked back a bit.
Jetfire gasped as he quickly transformed and flew back to help anyone who may still be there.
Fire and smoke, that was all that seemed to be present in the massive crater that was the excavation site for the now-nonexistent Red Enegron.
Onslaught groaned as he tried to pull himself up. His body appeared to be mildly-damaged, but nothing that was unfixable. "Combaticons, report in." He needed to check on his team.
Brawl and Blast Off were the first to step up, both appearing in the same shape as Onslaught. "Oh man… that was something…" Brawl said in a daze.
"Onslaught!" Swindle called to his leader, who promptly ran to him and looked in shock to see Swindle standing over a critically injured Vortex. He appeared to be missing his right arm, left leg and a portion of his lower left side, Energon leaking everywhere. "He's in critical condition and needs medical attention!"
It only made sense. Vortex had formed Bruticus' left arm, which had been the hand that held the Red Energon. So, it was only natural that Vortex would take the worst of the blast, even if they did undeploy before the explosion.
"Those Bots and their meatbag pets! I'm gonna vaporize them!" Brawl yelled in a fury.
"No." Onslaught stopped him, putting a firm grip on his shoulder.
"But Onslaught…!" Brawl attempted to protest.
"The Red Energon has been destroyed. There's no point in fighting anymore. We're retreating, that's an order."
Brawl growled further in annoyance. "Fine."
As Blast Off helped Swindle pick up the injured Vortex, Onslaught contacted the Nemesis. "Soundwave, we need a Groundbridge to the Nemesis' med bay, we have a Con down."
A Groundbridge portal opened near their location, most of the Combaticons already entered the portal. Onslaught turned around one last time in the general direction where he would see Tohdoh and the others attempting to regroup.
'This isn't over.' He thought to himself before walking into the portal, which closed soon after.
All the remaining Autobots and Black Knights had regrouped; the humans stepping out from their respective Knightmares as they recounted what had happened.
"The Relic we've been seeking was Red Energon." Drift revealed to those who didn't quite know it yet.
"That explains the enormous explosion." Jetfire said. "Red Energon has always been more unstable than its more common counterpart."
"Well, on the plus side, it means Megatron won't be able to use it now." Asahina said.
"That is true." Chiba acknowledged. Though she, Asahina, Tohdoh, and Senba fell into a mournful silence for not just Urabe, but also Zi Dien as well as Air Raid. Jetfire, Silverbolt, and Windblade all followed suit as well, along with Drift.
"I am truly sorry for your loss. We all are." Xingke told them, referring to himself and his companions, Zhou and Hong Gu.
"We may not have known them for very long, but they were true warriors." Zhou said.
"It was an honor to fight alongside them." Hong Gu added.
"Thank you." Windblade nodded.
Nervously, Jetstorm and Safeguard walked toward Tohdoh and his comrades, the only three remaining members of the Four Holy Swords.
"Kyoshiro Tohdoh, Nagisa Chiba, Shogo Asahina, and Ryoga Senba… we offer our deepest condolences for the loss of Kosetsu Urabe. And our apologies." Jetstorm said as he and his fellow Mini-Con bowed.
"This was our plan." Safeguard continued. "We had hoped we'd be able to isolate the Combaticons, preventing them from combing, and enable us to obtain the Red Energon with little-to-no chance of casualties, but it failed miserably."
"Not only where the Combaticons still able to combine, but they had struck down Zi Dien… and Urabe was forced into a situation where he had to sacrifice himself to achieve even a draw." Jetstorm added.
"We humbly beg your forgiveness, even though we are undeserving of it." Safeguard finished.
"There is nothing to forgive." Tohdoh revealed, much to their surprise. "Your plan was sound, and it did enable us a chance to retrieve the Red Energon. Though the Combaticons were indeed able to counter, you are not responsible for that, nor are you for Zi Dien's death or Urabe's sacrifice."
"This is war, and casualties are inevitable. Even those among our own side, as well as those closest to us." Senba said.
"Zi Dien's death was unfortunate, but there is nothing we can do to change that now." Chiba added.
"As for Urabe… it was his choice." Asahina said with some reluctance but acceptance as well. "He made the choice to give his life so the enemy couldn't obtain a dangerous weapon. We may not have won, but neither have they."
"They speak the truth, my students." Drift added, walking up to address the Mini-Cons. "You acted wisely and bravely, utilizing our scattered and broken force and staging an efficient counterattack. However, one lesson that we must understand is that in warfare, not every plan we devise, no matter how thorough or brilliant, will go as we wish, which may even cost the lives of our allies. There will always be things outside our control. But what is important is not what we lose, but what we gain, be it a victory or a lesson learned. Even Optimus Prime has failed but has learned from that failure. For failure is the greatest teacher."
"So, give yourselves some credit." Silverbolt added. "And while three of our own may be gone, and we'll probably lose more before this war is over, we can honor their sacrifice by continuing the fight. Would you agree?"
Safeguard and Jetstorm exchanged glances, their guilt was still present, but it felt relieved a little to hear these words form their teacher and comrades.
"Thank you, and yes we most certainly agree." Safeguard said.
"We will continue to fight and honor Air Raid, Urabe, Zi Dien, and all others who made the ultimate sacrifice, and prove that it wasn't for nothing." Jetstorm added.
"Excellent. Now then, it is time to return to base." Drift said.
"On it." Windblade opened their comn channel. "This is Theta Team, we need a Groundbridge as well as transportation. Most, if not all our Knightmares are heavily damaged."
"Understood. Sending a Groundbridge and a retrieval team to your coordinates immediately." Fixit replied.
In just a few short seconds, a Groundbridge portal had opened up before the group as a few Black Knights with their Knightmares exited to help begin transporting the more heavily damaged units Tohdoh and the others had.
During this process, Asahina walked up toward Safeguard and Jetstorm. "So, felt like you pulled your own weight?"
"We have." Safeguard replied with a nod. "And we will continue to do so, in the hopes that our comrades' sacrifice was worth it."
"I know." Asahina smiled. "I'm sure Urabe and the others would know that too."
"Does our interaction today mean you consider us your friend, Asahina?" Jetstorm asked.
Asahina laughed, much to their confusion. "You guys say that like I never considered you my friends to begin with."
This caused the two Mini-Cons to smile excitedly before they bowed their heads to him in respect, which Asahina responded with the same gesture in friendship and respect.
Nemesis Warship
The four Combaticons, after getting some patchwork treatment done to treat their minor injuries, remained outside the med bay as the medical staff continued to fix up Vortex. The doors opened up as a single scientist Vehicon stepped out to address the group as they stood up straight.
"I have good news and better news. The good news is, Vortex will be back up on his feet pretty soon. The worst has been fixed up and his missing limbs should be replaced relatively easily."
"What's 'better' news?" Swindle asked.
"In your report, you said that you were handling Red Energon, isn't that right?"
"Yeah, why?" Brawl asked.
The scientist Vehicon produced a small glass container filled with a glowing red liquid, much to the Combaticons' surprise.
"Is that…?" Blast Off questioned.
"If I'm not mistaken, Vortex had formed the arm of Bruticus that had held the Red Energon, correct? Upon detonation some of its fragments must have gotten lodged into Vortex's body. During surgery, we were able to remove and process them. Though this is barely enough for a single dose at the absolute most… I would think that Shockwave could still find an effective use for it, don't you agree?"
Onslaught took the tiny sample of liquified Red Energon in his hands and could only chuckle evilly. "Oh yes. I imagine he would."
Done.
So yeah, the Relic this time around was a chunk of Red Energon. Given we already had Smokescreen joining the cast as opposed to the canon episode 'New Recruit', it only made sense narrative-wise to have Red Energon be one of the Relics sent from Cybertron.
This was a very explosive chapter as we had some major casualties among the Autobot-Black Knight alliance, most notably Urabe, Zi Dien, and even Air Raid. Don't act so surprised, this is a war story after all, and casualties are inevitable in war. But despite that, the heroes were able to pull off a draw, albeit barley and at great cost.
Safeguard and Jetstorm had their chance to shine here, coming up with an effective strategy that almost worked… but in war, not everything will go according to plan, though it did prevent the Decepticons from obtaining that massive chunk of Red Energon…
But the Combaticons were able to retrieve a small sample of it regardless. Now let me just say right now that there will NOT be any 'Quicksilver' moments like in the canon TFP where a Decepticon will run super-fast while everyone appears to be standing still. There's barley enough for one single dose, and should they use it like that, then that's it, there goes the only viable sample of one of the rarest forms of Energon.
So its only logical that it be handed over to arguably the smartest Decepticon in the universe… who will find a more proper and reliable use for it. As for what that use may be… you'll just have to wait and see.
That's four Relics down, four to go. Up next, we'll have Ultra Magnus and Cornelia's team obtaining the fifth Relic in another original chapter and boy howdy that chapter is also gonna be a doozy…
In the fact we may have a reunion between sister and brother (hint, hint).
Until then, stay safe and stay healthy out there. Love you guys.