Author's Notes: All sorts of stuff goes down in this action packed chapter! Blasters and Bots are flying all over the place, and our Rescue Bot's carefully laid plans start to crack apart in the face of so many foes. But they can make it through if they work together! Side note, and probably unrelated, but as they fight for their lives and the fate of Earth, who keeps calling from deep space?
Drop a comment to share what you think! I swear I will be better at responding! And as always, enjoy!
Part 14
A Cacophony of Con Chaos!
Heatwave
He slammed the airlock door release then stood on the edge of the lowered ramp as the Sigma hovered above their target. He had optics on a cluster of Decepticons all staring open mawed at them in differing levels of shock. The large framed Saberhorn and his shorter counterpart Glowstrike glared up, weapons shifting out from subspace. They stood with most of the other Cons, save for a small cluster on an adjacent building. According to Secundus' scans, that second group was far from completing their own broadcasting device, so this first group took precedence.
"Shut it down!" Heatwave snarled to the two bots in charge.
"I knew it!" Shouted a Decepticon from the other shorter building. Heatwave risked a glance away from tehri primary target. The shouter was the Con with massive antlers. He assumed this one was Thunderhoof. "They here cuz that nac crab squealed! How many times is he gonna nac on me?"
Heatwave felt Blades over his shoulder, "Nope! Not him… In fact, he's dead!" He reported with a confident smile.
Thuderhoof's glare only intensified as he shouted, "Imma peal his plating then boil him alive!"
"That kind of attitude may be why he's so inclined to keep betraying you!" Chase offered over Heatwave's other shoulder.
Thunderhoof jabbed a digit at them, "Imma kill you nacs too!"
"This doesn't have to turn into a fight!" Heatwave shouted over the Sigma's engine, plowing right past this degenerating conversation.
"And if we don't, Autobot?" Saberhorn snarled. His guns buzzed as he aimed at Heatwave's helm.
Even in the line of fire, Heatwave kept his focus on the other Decepticon boss behind the larger one. Glowstrike was trying hard to not be his focus, using Saberhorn as a chassis shield so she could creep to the Minicon near the broadcasting tower.
"Activate it now," he was sure he saw the words form on her lip plates.
'So much for doing this the easy way,' Heatwave thought as he sent the ping through their comm channel.
Quickshadow appeared like a phantom from the opposite edge of the building. The Decepticons were too startled to react as she burst out of her sleek Porsche mode, deactivating the magnetic pulls on her tires that allowed her to climb the side of the building. "Evening chaps," Quickshadow greeted after launching one of her gadgets through the small crowd of Cons. The spinning disk slammed into the mishmash of metal pieces that made up the broadcasting tower and affixed to it.
The Minicon working under it startled back as the device zapped the tower. "Scrap! No no NO!" he yelped in utter panic. Glowstrike blasted the device from the construct, but not before it had done some noticeable damage.
That was the cue for the blasters to start firing. Saberhorn unleashed a hail of blaster fire at Heatwave and the sigma, Glowstrike and her posse focusing their fire on Quickshadow. He held on tight as the Sigma under him swerved out of the way. He didn't even have time to be worried about Quickshadow before she vanished back over the side of the building. He pressed a hand to his commlink. "Now would be a good time, Secundus!"
Saberhorn looked ready to jump off the edge and fly after them. He and many of his men stumbled to a stop, looking up in horror at the sky.
Hoist
"So far Secundus's cloak is covering at least ninety percent of the towers," He reported into the open commchannel from his perch a few building tops away. He was almost done on his end with his assigned transmitter.
"Save for the last ten percent," Hotshot laughed, precariously leaned over the edge of their building. He hadn't done much 'helping' to set up the energy transmitter Secundus had instructed them to erect within a certain radius. "The Cons will have just glimpsed a whole Titan and know what's up!"
"If they are wise, they will surrender now," Medix commented with a pursed brow ridge. His stiff body language let Hoist know he didn't think this scenario was going to happen.
/What about the other tower?/ Wedge said over the commlink. He, Whirl, and Doc. Green would be on their own respective roof top, setting up another transmitter. Dr. Baranova, Boulder, and Graham would be on the final roof at the other end of their triangle setting up in kind. /They haven't stopped working on their own device… It may go off before we can take down the first group./
/I'm hearing a lot of doubtful Debbie's on the chatter!/ Whirl chastised. /Come on team! I only want to hear good news going forward!/
/Got sum bad news, friends,/ Brushfire reported right away. /Me and Blurr lost sight of a Con… The rest are still in our scopes, but…/
"What's one rouge Con going to do?" Hoist pointed out, "They may just have fled. I'm sure a lot are going to, now that they see Secundus."
/It's tha bloke who shot our boy, Chop Shop./ Brushfire specified.
Hoist startled up from his work. Ok, probably not the best Con to lose sight of…
"Steelpaw-law–maw-" Fixit slapped his own helm as he scrolled through his prisoner manifesto. He had been assigned to Hoist's party to help with the transmitter. Much like Hotshot, he was mostly just there for emotional support, and to give commentary. He had done well in that department this whole mission. "Ug, you know who I mean. He's the crafty one… But he's also a lone wolf. I would guess he has just turned tail and run." He assured the group confidently.
"High Tide, Kade, and Servo will take care of any stragglers in the park in front of the buildings," Hoist reminded them all. "We just need to stay focused on this," He connected the final wire and stepped back as the transmitter roared to life. He took in the site with a smile. "My side's done, Professor Boulder."
"Steel-tall, Meal-craw… UG! It's right there! I can picture it!" Fixit complained as he paced on his wheels.
"You'll get it eventually bud," Hotshot promised. He was more focused on the other rooftops. "And are we really counting Kade on the 'fighting Decepticons on the ground' group?"
"Well, he did when the rock, paper scissors round against Dani. That's a binding contract," Hoist reminded him with a shrug. With a final input code, the machine under him was done. The top of it glowed silver as it began to charge. He smiled triumphantly and turned on his commlink to share the good news. "Professor Boulder, our transmitter is done!"
Across the distance to their left, another light blinked on. /Ours too. Good job Hoist!/ Boulder praised.
/Way to leave me and Doc Green in the dust guys./ Wedge grumbled.
/Now in our defense,/ Whirl chimed in, representing Wedge's team with an excuse at the ready, /we did accidentally drop the transmitter down a flight of stairs on the way up here because you guys were all hogging the Groundbridge que. Thankfully, I thought to pack it in three layers of Styrofoam to keep it from smashing. So, you're welcome everbot./
Hotshot pranced away from the edge of the building to admire their efforts. "And this will keep them all from running away?"
"We're you not there for the debriefing, Hotshot?" Medix grumbled. "It will amplify Secundus's energy field and keep our cover. And as a bonus, it will mess with those devices in the center."
Hotshot wasn't exactly listening now either. He had already moved on to watch the blaster fire at the peak of the main tower. "Heatwave and the others have the Con's on the ropes! And all before they have even Bridged Grimlock's group in. Man, I wish I could be part of the action!"
"Are you so sure about that, little one?"
Hoist felt the Energon in his pipes freeze over like he had been shoved into one of the Decepticon stasis pods on the destroyed Alchemor. He panned around, Hotshot mirroring his same fearful stance. It became clear why Fixit had suddenly gone silent.
Their little orange companion was in the grasp of a gray Decepticon. He had appeared from the edge of their rooftop in utter silence. Fanged denta pulled into a smile and yellow optics locked onto Hoist, Hotshot, and Medix. He snickered at their combined terrified silence.
"S-steeljaw," Fixit croaked. His optics faded out and he went totally limp in the Decepticon's claws.
Heatwave
The Minicon Decepticon somehow managed to stay connected to the machine and continued his tinkering even with all the chaos exploding around him. He was also their unofficial target, seeing as he looked to be the only one who could finish the device.
When Secundus revealed himself, over half of the once imposing Decepticon army fled in all directions, abandoning their cause in favor of escape. Little did they know they had a plan for that. Heatwave dodged out of the way of the Decepticon Saberhorn as he slashed a bladed servo at his helm. "Secundus, a group of twenty on your immediate port side!"
Just within the circumference of their invisible shielding a Groundbridge burst open in the path of the fleeing jets. They didn't even have time to burn their thrusters to slow down before the centripetal force of their flight threw them into the portal with Dinobots on the other side ready to settle them down. None lethally. Heatwave had stressed that multiple times to their Dinobot contractors. At least Hoist repeated the order. They seemed to like him more.
"More chaps headed south!" Quickshadow informed Salvage via commlink. He was maintaining the Groundbridge's from the Academy and the Fire House on Griffin Rock remotely. Between him and Secundus, they had three portals to insnare fleeing Cons and take them out of play. So far, Grimlock hadn't reported a problem from their end.
"Stand your ground! They will pick us off if we separate!" Glowstrike hissed into the unorganized army.
"If you would only surrender, we could explain!" Chase implored again, before being tackled by the Con once guarding the Minicon Needler.
Heatwave took aim at the device in the center, still sparking from Quickshadow's tampering. One good water blast should short it out permanently.
He was hit broadside. Saberhorn had caught up to him. "I hope you are happy with the side you chose to die on," his attacker hissed, blade raising up for a killing blow.
A metallic thud hit him in the back. Not hard enough to even make him flinch. But his optics still went wide when he saw the one who threw the device, which had now been affixed to his back armor. The thrower was Quickshadow. "Heatwave, if you could, this grumpy flower needs a light shower to cool down."
Heatwave didn't need to be asked twice. He sprayed Saberhorn down with the heavy jet of water he had already prepared for the EMP device Needler was working on. Quickshadow activated her shocker before Saberhorn could get it off. He was grounded in a dance of electric convulsions. Quickshadow clicked off the current and gave Heatwave a cheeky smile. "Teamwork does come in handy I suppose. At least with you lot."
"Stick around more, and maybe you'll get used to it," Heatwave retorted playfully. They left their banter to pick up later when red blaster fire made them jump away and apart. Glowstrike was airborne, firing down onto their small group and forcing them back towards the edge.
/Heatwave,/ Salvage said in his audio, /I just received a Spacebridge request./
Heatwave dove out of the way as more blaster fire rained down. He broke down that latest report in his brain as he danced around the roof for his life. "Spacebridge?" He clarified, "This is the worst time for Team Prime to be calling!" He had officially run out of room, teetering on the edge of the building as Glowstrike circled around.
Blade's larger frame shoved her midair, "Sorry!" He managed to say before crashing into her with his landing gear. Glowstrike recovered from her tailspin before turning back on him and giving chase. Blades quickly retreated, "I said I was sorry! Gah!"
Heatwave gave himself a moment to cycle his vents, stepping away from the edge and trying to set his sites on Glowstrike as she chased her new arial target. "Just tell them, something important is going on, I'll talk to them later!" He re-aimed his high-power water cannons into the sky to try and scare Glowstrike off Blade's tail rotors.
"Bad news bosses!" Heatwave heard Needler snapping over the fray. His gripe was more effective than Heatwave had been to stop Glowstrike from blasting Blades out of the sky. He had been failing to drench her. "This can't recalibrate! They have interference running in three places around us! Without those going down, this is scrap!"
"Take them out then!" She snarled, and Heatwave was sure she just gave that order to some of her 'harder hitters' because the two big bots who had been trying to take down the Sigma suddenly fled. They were charging over the building's edge to jump to the next closest structure. They were headed for two of the three outlier teams with the transmitters.
Whirl
"Hoist? Hotshot? Medix? Everything ok over there?" Whirl tapped her commlink with growing anxiety. "They just stopped talking."
Wedge paused his tech work to give her a worried look, "Should we contact Professor Heatwave?" They both found their focus landing on the distant dark building with its single point of light at the top.
/Outlier teams, incoming!/ Heatwave's voice came through on the open channel. /We have two bogies coming for Doc Green's and Boulder's teams./
"Not on the ground, right?" Cody worried, leaning over the railing to gaze down onto the busy streets. Frankie was right by him, scanning the many oblivious specs as they walked by.
/It's via the roof tops,/ Blurr, their other look out warned.
/About ten kliks to intercept,/ Brushfire added.
"But what about Hotshot, Wedge, and Medix?" Whirl pointed out.
They all stayed focused on their dark tower. Wedge cursed. What was wrong? The bogies weren't spotted going there, so why no answer?
"Eureka! We've got it!" Doc Green exclaimed, jumping back as the transmitter came to life. "Everything within the triangle grid will not be able to activate, including their EMP bomb and broadcast."
The celebration was short lived. A ground shaking rumble almost knocked Wedge off his newly healed peds. A four-legged Cybertronian rose from his landing, shark beak smiling. Massive, thick war plating and sharp denta perfect for the task of ripping apart any metal. This was probably Underbite. So, scrap. "Hey chumps," Underbite greeted, his wicked grin widening. "Imma eat that thing ya made. Then every one of you."
"Gross," Frankie couldn't help but commentate, taking a step back into the railing.
"It doesn't have to be this way," pleaded Chief Burns. He had stepped in front of Dani when she in turn had jumped to block Cody and Frankie from sight. "The war is over, and we don't want to fight."
"Imma stop ya right there, fleshy," Underbite chuckled, "I don't give a flying frag what's going on in the political circle. Long as I can chomp on whatever I want. I'm a simple bot that way." He stalked towards the transmitter, gnashing his denta with excitement.
/Guys, help…/
Wedge started, momentarily forgetting the massive Con stomping towards them. That had been Medix's terrified voice. Everyone would have heard that.
"We can get there faster flying." Chief Burns said, both out loud and into the commlink while making eye contact with Whirl.
"And what about this big problem?" Dani growled, stepping back and out of Underbite's way.
Doc Green finally had to concede the one-sided game of chicken. He rushed out of the way of the transmitter as Underbite loomed with a grin. "Looks tasty." Underbite chuckled. "Can't wait to taste the rest of what you humans made, probably starting with this skyscraper."
"Again, gross," Frankie snapped, holding onto her dad, unable to do much else but watch.
"Well, good thing I ain't here to impress," Underbite shrugged, going to snap into the transmitter with a gaping maw.
A whistling cut through the air, just as something jammed into Underbite's mouth, holding it open. A sort of boomerang carved from a massive tree. He stumbled backwards in shock, trying to shake the thing from his jaws.
"Bull's eye! That's how the locals here do it!" Brushfire jumped down from her hidden perch and landed in Underbite's path. "Sorry I was late! Had to make Blurr take ova for my spot too. We may be losing ground, sad to say." She gave the Chief a thumbs up. "I got this covad mate. You fly ova and help the little tykes.
With a snarl, Underbite bit through the bent wooden beams. Then he instantly regretted it. He wavered, bio lines waning as if struck with a wave of weakness. "Blak! What in the pits was that made of?"
Brushfire arched a brow. Then she grinned. "Ah, so not a fan of organic stuff?" She scanned the concrete and metal roof top. She spotted the large pile of Styrofoam Whirl had brought to protect the transmitter in transit around the same time Wedge did. Her smile grew devious. "Gewd to know."
"Everyone, start moving. Whirl, Dani, with me," Chief snapped. "Doc, Cody, Frankie, go with Wedge. Get back to Secundus to regroup."
Nobody protested. Wedge took the three humans into his hands while they sent a Bridge request to Salvage. He gave Whirl a final look, one hopefully conveying his want for her to be careful.
"Fly like you are tryin' to make the wind jealous, girl!" Brushfire encouraged, she and Underbite circling each other.
Whirl nodded, smiling at Wedge before transforming, letting the Chief and Dani into her cockpit before they all flew off for the dark tower to save their friends.
Boulder
"We, may need back up here too. Whenever anyone gets a free klik," Boulder reported as the Decepticon brute dragged himself up from the side of the tower.
This was the Kaon Gladiator Chop Shop reported. Groundpounder.
Boulder's partner Graham was trembling all over, and he worried the human genius may faint. "Um, is a Cybertronian gladiator that bad?"
Boulder pursed his lip plates. "I've told you about Megatron, right?"
"The original Con that started the war?" Dr. Baranova recalled, stepping back much like Graham was.
"Yeah, that one. He was a Gladiator in Kaon too." Boulder explained.
That update made Graham hide the rest of the way behind Boulder.
The grizzled gladiator cracked an evil grin, "Fans of mine?"
"Oh yeah," Graham whimpered from behind Boulder's ped. "Watched the fights all the time. Great show. You should really focus on that talent. Rebrand, you'll make it big."
"Sometimes servos would fly off into the crowd," Groundpounder said out of nowhere and still smiling at Graham. "Little ones like you were just collateral damage."
Boulder glared at the approaching Gladiator. He was rusty with hand-to-hand combat. He was now regretting always insisting to Heatwave he didn't need to join in with sparring. Not that any amount of training among friends would help against this foe, but having something to fall back on would be better than nothing.
"How did I end up with three nerds?" Groundpounder snorted. "I heard you had Dinobots. I was hoping to get one of them. Oh well. Sometimes you gotta work your way up through the scrap to win something good."
"His large upper mass could be used against him," Dr. Baranova offered, "If you can get a hit in," She added, less sure about this addition.
"What'll it be, nerds?" Groundpounder mocked, "Gonna have the first go?" He even spread his bulky servos to expose his core, proving just how unthreatened he felt.
"Graham, if you could run a quick calculation for me," Boulder asked without taking his focus from Groundpounder. "Can this roof withstand a sudden mass shift of say, forty thousand pounds, give or take a few tons?"
With trembling hands, Graham typed into his data pad, adjusting his glasses as the sweat made them slide down the bridge of his nose. "Um, according to the schematics of the building… That goes about one hundred pounds over code."
"Then I'll try to be light on my treads," Boulder rushed forward, aimed square for Groundpounder's center. He jumped, then transformed, slamming his bulldozer scoop into the Decepticon's chest.
Hoist
"Now then," Steeljaw tossed Fixit's limp chassis to the side and began to advance on them. "Hello, little Autobots… This device you have is thwarting my plans for greatness. So, it must go I'm afraid."
Hoist felt like his peds were magnetized to the roof. He couldn't even bring himself to back away. He had faced Dinobots. He had met actual Decepticons back at base… But this one wasn't an ally like Chop Shop or the others. This one was going to hurt them.
Hotshot's back platting was suddenly in front of Hoist's immediate line of sight, blocking him off from the Decepticon. His fists raised and his whole energy field flaring. "Back off, Con!"
"Hotshot, back down…" Medix hissed. He appeared equally frozen in place.
Steeljaw stopped, arching an amused brow. "So much fire in such a little bot… I would be charmed if I wasn't so pressed for time." He went to sidestep Hotshot to continue a path for the transmitter. Hotshot shuffled in front of him again, intending to hold his ground.
It happened so fast in a flash of gray. With a metallic slap, Hotshot was across the roof and slamming into the guardrail. It was enough to thaw Medix. He rushed to Hotshot's groaning side, checking the area Steeljaw had struck him.
Now Hoist was shaking. With renewed fear and now anger for his friend. Hotshot had tried so hard and had been backhanded nearly off the top of a skyscraper. What could Hoist do if the most boisterous among them stood no chance?
The Decepticon's smirk vanished into a disgusted frown. "Yes, this is necessary!" he hissed. At first, Hoist thought the Con was talking to him. But there was no optic contact. He was arguing with the air. "The Autobots have a working Groundbridge that we can use to set you free! In fact, it looks like they have a surplus of the technology!" He pointed a claw at the battle many buildings over as the green vortexes trapped retreating Decepticons like birds in a net. "We just need to get these Autobots out of the way first so we may appropriate one."
Now he was looking at Hoist, and that smile returned to send shivers through Hoist's whole chassis. "So be patient, while I thin the herd," a buzzing blaster appeared, aimed between Hoist's optics.
Run. Move. Do something! Hoist could only stair up at his soon to be murderer and think of his friends. He hoped they would be ok.
Bam!
Steeljaw snarled, thrashing away from Hoist with his claws clutching one of his optics.
Hoist could only blink in total confusion. What had… Hit Steeljaw? Not a blaster, it was…
Something clanked into his ped, and he glanced down to investigate. A human bullet casing, still hot from discharge. Hoist just now registered more external stimuli beyond his fear, and he could hear the familiar sound of Whirl's rotors.
Hovering above the roof line was Whirl with Chief Burns hanging out from the door and his gun still aimed at Steeljaw. It had been the first time Hoist had ever seen the Chief unholster his weapon, and it was a perfect bullseye on the first try.
Dani popped out from the other side of Whirl's cockpit, "Nice shot dad!"
They landed hard, both humans jumping from Whirl so she could transform. "Remind me to thank Mrs. Neederlander for starting the Griffin Rock shooting club, and then roping me into it. I like to think it's kept me sharp." The Chief said.
Whirl was shaking Hoist, and he was still too stunned to defend himself from her attempts to help him. "Hoist! You ok? Are you hurt?"
"Hotshot," Hoist managed to say, "He got hit, help him."
Whirl spun around, finding Hotshot and Medix. Hotshot was still prone with Medix trying hard to get him up. Whirl was gone from Hoist's side to help Medix. Hoist needed to join her.
"Filthy flesh creatures!"
Hoist startled again. Steeljaw rubbed his optic tenderly, glaring at the Chief with his gun still poised to attack. The optic lens was noticeably cracked, but it was still functional. The human weapon wouldn't do much against the rest of the Decepticon. "I will thoroughly enjoy subjugating your whole worthless race!"
The Chief started unloading the gun's magazine, but Steeljaw was ready this time. He shielded his optics with one servo and marched forward to grab the humans.
Hoist finally thawed, but he didn't run to Hotshot's side. He found himself jumping into Steeljaw's way just as the Chief's gun clicked empty.
Steeljaw arched a brow ridge over his cracked optic with mild amusement. At least he wasn't focused on Dani and the Chief anymore. "Alright, I'll bite. What do you intend to do little one? I am very curious."
Hoist didn't have anything he could do. No weapons, no war reinforced armor. Not even a plan. All he had was adrenaline chemicals pumping, mixing with the Energon in his pipes and feeding him a steady supply of borrowed courage. Hoist screamed at him. It was more of an angry, scared roar. As if he were one of the Dinobots ready to charge into battle. His voice box crackled from the exertion.
Steeljaw looked even more entertained, being worlds away from intimidated. "Terrifying. But I'm afraid I barely heard it… Care to try again?"
The building under them shook with the force of the monstrous roar that followed his request. Like a lightning strike smashed right in front of them and boomed across the Sydney skyline. But it had hardly come from Hoist.
Steeljaw didn't have time to be surprised before the concrete under him exploded. A massive metal T-rex rose from the rubble of the floor under them, slamming Steeljaw with his snout in the process.
"Grimlock!" Hoist gasped.
The Dinobot leader gave him a fanged grin, peeking up from the hole in the roof, "There ya are, short stuff. The Bridge cords were off. I ended up under yas. Heard your battle cry! I like your style."
"The damage will be hard to explain," Dani pointed out to her dad. They had both retreated to the far edge away from the gaping hole Grimlock created in his grand entrance.
"Hey, what in the Pits did ya expect me to do? Use your damn tiny doors?" Grimlock snapped while dusting off more debris and climbing up onto the roof. The structure under them continued to crack under his weight, the hole getting wider with each massive step.
Steeljaw groaned. It allowed Hoist to spot him in the wreckage. He crawled from the floor he had fell into, keeping the massive hole in the roof between him and Grimlock. "I… Will have this world! You worthless fools will not ruin this!"
"Looks pretty ruined already, if you ask me." Dani quipped.
Steeljaw glared. All that fire was smothered as Grimlock started around the hole, stalking after him. Steeljaw stumbled backwards, looking for any means of escape. His sights landed once more on the transmitter, now so far out of his reach. Hoist did not like the spark of realization in the Decepticon's optics.
He pulled something from his subspace. Whatever it was unfolded into a Cybertronian staff. "Not enough power left to take down a Dinobot…" He muttered.
"What you saying, tiny?" Grimlock asked, almost upon him.
Steeljaw's mind appeared made up. He aimed the tip of his spear, and a blast of purple energy was expelled in a powerful trajectory. Grimlock didn't have to dodge. It wasn't aimed at him. The transmitter exploded in a shower of sparks and metal fragments.
"No!" Hoist cried, reaching out in vain as his work vanished into ash. The woosh of a connective system powering down registered in his audios. The triangular shield they created to cripple the Con's devices evaporated in an instant. The EMP bomb to take out all of Earth's tech could be activated again.
Steeljaw didn't linger to relish in his victory. He jumped to the nearest roof to escape Grimlock. There was nothing more Hoist could do, and sulking wouldn't help. He hurried to his friend's side just as Whirl was helping Hotshot stand and Medix was picking up as still unconscious Fixit.
"We need to get them back to Secundus and regroup," Medix said.
"No, I'm all good guys," Hotshot insisted with flashing optics and a grinning mouth dripping Energon. "I've gotten worse in Cube practice."
Medix gave him a very pointed look. "Hotshot, you have a fractured cranial chamber and two ruptured Energon lines. You are not even almost in the category of 'all good.'"
"I got him," Grimlock lifted Hotshot effortlessly onto his back, "A soldier is no good to the cause dead, kid. Hey big guy! We need a Bridge back to ya!" He commd to Secundus.
"We won't have to wait for one at least." Dani noted, gazing off from the roof. "Looks like there are no more Bridges opening to catch Cons. I guess they aren't falling for it anymore. The Sigma is also retreating…"
"Hence why we came here," Grimlock assured her. "No more idiots flying into our claws, so it was time to bring the action here."
"But the transmitter shield is down now," Dani said bleakly. "If the Decepticons get their device operational again…"
"You all think too much," Grimlock snorted. He bumped Hoist in a playful manner, and it almost knocked him off his peds. "We got plenty of warriors to bring the rest of em' down. And I'm not even talkin' about my group of freaks." He smiled down at Hoist, who couldn't help but return the sentiment. Having such a powerful bot call him a warrior was incredibly flattering.
"Yeah," Hoist agreed with lingering hope in his Spark. "We'll think of something else to stop them."
Boulder
Had he really thought this through? As he was almost launched off the side of the building, he decided 'nope' was the correct answer, because he was not doing well.
Groundpounder didn't wait for him to get up. Boulder had just enough time to roll out of the way. But then he was grabbing the back of Groundpounder's back plates himself. It was to stop the Decepticon from throwing himself off the edge and plummeting to the ground, crushing who knows how many people. Groundpounder did not thank him for the save. He snatched Boulder by the same servo and slammed him onto his back.
Boulder groaned, but at least he was still online. He made out through his crossing vision the Con smiling down onto him. "It was a fun warm up," he snickered. He started to step over Boulder to make his way towards the transmitter.
Still on his back, Boulder grasped him around the ped.
Groundpounder's amusement looked to be wearing thin as he glared down at him. His free ped rose above Boulder's helm, ready to stomp down.
A blast of Doc Green's impact foam incased the offending ped before he could crush Boulder's helm. Dr. Baranova was busy fine-tuning Boulder's Energon powerup tool after Groundpounder knocked it away. But she wasn't the shooter.
Graham's whole body was shaking. But he clung to the foam gun and a glare both aimed at the Decepticon. "Y-you're going to get away from him!"
"Graham, no…" Boulder groaned.
"Not your most intelligent move," Dr. Baranova hissed, trying to work even faster, "This isn't your school bully you're standing up too."
"That's kind of how I'm visualizing this, so I don't think about it too hard," Graham admitted with a whimper. "And there was more then one bully, if you could believe that."
"I can believe it," Groundpounder agreed as he yanked his ped free from Boulder's grasp. Boulder tried to crawl after him as the Decepticon closed in on Graham.
Groundpounder released a tired vent, "And here I was hopin' not to get human juices on me. I've got scrap luck today I guess."
Graham shot as he retreated. Groundpounder just ripped off the foam as it hit him.
"Groundpounder, no!" Boulder pleaded, fighting his way back up.
"Done!" Dr. Baranova shouted, leaping up from her work. "I've successfully hyper charged it! The energy behind any impact has been increased by fifty percent!"
"Whatever the Pits that means," Groundpounder snickered, reaching out for Graham.
Boulder was closer to Dr. Baranova than Graham. He snatched the tool and affixed it to his servo as he limped forward. He threw himself between his partner and Groundpounder. "Power up and Energize!" the tool sparked with a ludicrous amount of power. It wasn't sustainable and would probably blow after a few shots, but he aimed regardless.
"More foam?" Groundpounder guessed. "Because that has worked so well for ya before."
It was, and Groundpounder was right. Hypercharge foam wouldn't do any damage unless it had a force to repel…
Boulder felt the switch flick on in his brain in real time. "How about this?" he huffed, still unsteady on his peds, "You gave me a free shot before… I'll return the favor." He turned the gun on himself and fired. A massive expanding coat of foam slammed into his center of mass, gunking up his joints and transformation seams. Graham and Dr. Baranova didn't try to stop him. They had come to the same conclusion he had. "Give me your best shot… Unless you're all just talk." He added, servos outstretched, mimicking Groundpounder's own taunting pose.
Groundpounder just stood with an arched brow, staring at the three like they had lost their minds. Then he smiled, cracking the pistons in his knuckles. "A gladiator never backs down from a challenge. The humans should back up… I call this one the 'Spark Exploder," he took a few steps back before launching his fist at Boulder's chest. Each time he had come in contact with the foam his powerful punches had ripped through it.
Not so much this time.
Boulder felt the impact, but his Spark didn't explode. Groundpounder's offending servo did. The already impressive force of the punch was absorbed into his hyper charged foam armor and reflected back with the energy of a crashing spaceship. He was launched away from Boulder, helm jerked backwards and slamming through the roof.
The dust fell over Boulder and the others. Only when it settled, and he saw Groundpounder was out cold did he feel safe enough to edge closer. Graham dropped his own foam gun and exhaled. Then he jumped into the air, "Heck yeah! Nerds win this round!" Groundpounder moaned, and Graham's excitement sizzled into the air as he retreated behind Boulder.
"No worries, he's not going to wake up any time soon," Boulder assured them. He struggled to pull the massive Decepticon from the hole he fell through in the roof. He got to work sealing the main Energon arteries the explosive amputation ripped open.
"That's more than he deserves," Dr. Baranova pointed out with a frowned.
Boulder shrugged. "Part of the job."
"Staying on the high ground is hard sometimes," Graham agreed with a snicker laced with lingering adrenalin, "But hey, at least we protected the transmitter."
As if dramatic irony had been waiting for that exact sentiment, the transmitter sparked a sudden protest. Then it powered down, the disrupting energy it created now gone up in smoke.
"W-what the heck happened?" Graham demanded of no one in particular. He rushed to the device to try and find out. "Not on our side, it was disruption from one of the others…"
/We have bad news guys,/ Hoist's voice came through the open commchannel, "Our transmitter was just blown up by Steeljaw… We are headed back to Secundus now. Hotshot and Fixit got hurt so they need treatment./
/I swear to hurt I'm not Primus, guys,/ Hotshot slurred confidently, /Wait… let me try that again…/
/It's a good idea,/ Heatwave added, and Boulder saw the Sigma retreat from the main building, /We need to regroup. Even with almost a hundred Cons transported away, we are still outnumbered. Grimlock, it looks like your time has come./
/FINALLY./ Grimlock huffed.
"At least the harder hitters are starting to go down," Boulder reported tiredly as he started picking the foam from his plating, "Groundpounder is down for the count. We can collect him after this is over. He isn't waking up any time soon."
/And Undabite is well on his way too!/ Brushfire reported merrily. /In fact, I may need medical for the big boy… As it turns out, him processing anything but metal makes him real sick! And Styrofoam is the exact opposite to metal as you can get./
/I'm just surprised you got him to eat it,/ Whirl said sounding very impressed.
Brushfire snorted a laugh, /He didn't eat it willingly!/
/Is anyone reading me?/ Salvage interrupted. /We are getting another incoming comm from off world… Should I keep ignoring it? It's starting to clog up the channel./
Boulder grimaced, and he was sure Heatwave was too, "Best to keep ignoring it. We can't risk the progress they have made on Cybertron."
/Agreed!/ Heatwave hissed. /Send them some generic answer and we'll deal with it later. For now, everyone other than the ground teams head back to Secundus to regroup./
/About that Heatwave,/ Kade's growl came through, /It's getting pretty dicey down here… We can only spray Decepticons with water for so long before they stop caring… They are going to get by us. How far does the invisibility shielding stretch before they are visible to the people down here again?/
/It's like the one time me and Slash had to put out flaming rocks from Mount Etna with nothing but a bucket of Sicilian soda!/ Woodrow added merrily.
Slash laughed right along, /EVERYTHING was on fire! Good times!/
Kade sighed into the commlink, /Thanks for that input uncle Woodrow./
/It's getting bleak down here, Heatwave,/ High Tide said, much more seriously. And this wasn't said on the open frequency. Only the older members of the Rescue team would get it. /We are only a few kliks from losing our cover./
/And then that scary Agent lady will kill us if the Con's don't,/ Blades pointed out with a resounding shutter.
Heatwave didn't answer right away. Boulder took that opportunity to step in, /If we can manually hook into the Decepticon's EMP device, we could shut it down./
/Manually?/ Blades gasped. /As in, go down there? You don't think we tried that?/
/That one slippery Con just got back to the others,/ Blurr reported from his lookout post. He was probably talking about Steeljaw, /Also looks like they are trying to fix their humanity tech ending weapon… Please don't make me go down there too./
/We'll discuss strategies together. For now, everyone fall back to Secundus./ Heatwave ordered before shutting down the chatter.
Graham and Dr. Baranova were looking to Boulder, dust and worry covering them both. He wished he could assure them. Their Groundbridge opened before they could steep too far into uncertainty.
Heatwave
He stood over Medix and Blades as they assessed Hotshot. He tried not to let his worry show. Or his regret for caving in to let the Recruits join in this mission. No, they were ready. It could have been even the seasoned rescuers among them to get hurt… Heatwave just had to keep reminding himself of that each time Hotshot winced away from the two medics probing his helm wound. However, this was Hotshot, and despite his injuries, he was smiling and yapping away to his peers, "Wedge, you should have been there. I just went for it! How many of us can say we've tried punching a war hardened Con?"
Wedge laughed softly, "Well, I mean you've punched me before, and I used to be a Con. Does that count?"
"Sure doesn't!" Hotshot insisted, "But you guys really should have seen Hoist! He jumped right in and just released his inner beast! That's probably the real reason the Con ran off with his tail between his peds!"
Hoist released a nervous chuckle when the group refocused onto him in the corner, "No biggie. Just, felt right."
Grimlock, who Heatwave noticed was remarkably soft when around Hoist, gave a somewhat proud rumble. "He sounded like one of my pack. May take him on as a real warrior."
Hoist continued to try and hide the pride bubbling in his aura field.
"You'll live," Medix informed Hotshot, "But you are down for the rest of this fight."
Hotshot groaned out his disappointment, "Does that mean me and Whirl's jumping jack competition this Saturday is a bust?"
Medix gave him a pointed look, "Assuming we survive to see Saturday, correct. You are sitting that out too."
Hotshot groaned again and laid down on the floor with his servos spread in a pose of childish disappointment. Whirl patted him on the ped where she was stationed next to him. "No worries, Hotshot. You wouldn't have won out over me anyway."
"I'm more worried about this one," Blades spoke up. He had stabilized the Minicon Fixit, but he had still yet to regain consciousness. "I've never seen this type of stasis lock, if that's even what it is… Some sort of boot up mode is happening. I think it's just something he will come out of on his own. Hopefully."
"As long as he's alive," Heatwave said. He couldn't let anyone else get hurt. They needed to find a way to end this.
"Alright chums! Let's focus up!" Quickshadow said, clapping her hands high to emphasize her point, "The remainder of Grimlock's Dinobots are about to bridge back, but their larger chassis sizes have brought about a snag in our well laid plans…" She looked at Heatwave. Right, his cue to take over.
He gave her a thankful nod then left Hotshot's side, patting him on the shoulder as he went, "The roofs of two structures have already collapsed due to the fight. One from Grimlock, and the other from Boulder's scuffle with Groundpounder. Neither was avoidable, and thankfully, because of the late hour, no one was in those buildings. And Secundus' cloaking makes it so no one on street level would have seen anything. But people hearing us is a whole different story," Through the large open porthole they stood adjacent too in Secundus' lower half, they could see the city. Many Sydney police and other emergency personnel had gathered, investigating the rumblings they were no doubt hearing from the sky. "We don't have much time. And that also applies to the Decepticon transmitter that they are fixing as we speak. If it comes down to it, Secundus will drop the cloak in favor of utilizing his remaining energy to fry the machine himself. But that's a last resort."
"There is still the second broadcasting machine to deal with on the shorter tower," Boulder reminded them. Heatwave was also worried for him too. After his run in with the Gladiator Con, he was in no condition to fight on. "True, it's not as far along as the main one, but it's still a threat."
In fact, save for Grimlock, the whole team appeared spent. Doc Green and Dr. Baranova were clinging to Frankie, all talking quietly about different plans for taking down the Decepticon's machines. Their plots kept circling back around to needing a physical connection to shut them down now that their own transmitters were a bust.
There was a green burst of light on the ground level. "That'll be my boys," Grimlock informed them with a smirk. "Cuz you insist we don't smash any more of your precious buildings, we'll stake out and pick off the ones who run."
That would be handy, giving back up to High Tide, Kade, Woodrow, and Slash. But that was assuming the Decepticons would run. They appeared affixed to their high ground.
Blurr continued to feed them increasingly bad news from his lookout post. The Cons had regrouped and appeared unwilling to leave their tower. They knew the Dinobots were down there, and for whatever reason, weren't coming up to get them. Grimlock and his massive companions could not even step on the skyscraper's roof structure without collapsing it. And a full blown four Dinobot brawl against one hundred remaining Cons, one of them also being a Dinobot, would start bringing down the buildings. Not even Secundus could hide that kind of destruction.
"We'll have to draw them out away from the towers," Heatwave said out loud. Now it was just a matter of figuring out how they would do that, and how much time they had left before that device was functional again.
Heatwave noticed Cody observing the city below thoughtfully. Frankie left her parent's side to lay a comforting hand on Cody's back. After a moment, and then an affirming nod between them, they both retrieved their cell phones. Who they could be calling, Heatwave couldn't guess. Basically, everyone was here. Maybe they were just saying goodbye to friends back on the island in case they all failed. Heatwave decided that wasn't it when he caught the tail end of the conversation Cody was having, "Yeah, maybe start up a remote hack. It's gotten bleak. We'll keep you posted." Some science friends on Griffin Rock? Maybe even the twins Evan and Myles now that they had left crime behind. Heatwave wouldn't complain where the help came from. They were desperate.
"Guys," Cody said with sudden alarm. He put his phone away and pointed out into the night. "Something is happening on the taller tower."
Heatwave hurried over. His optics zoomed in to investigate. Cody was right. The Decepticons left were stirring, some hovering into the sky.
/Incoming!/ Blurr came through with a gasp. /At least twenty airborne are headed straight for you! Looks like they want to beat us to the punch and charge first this time!/
"Scrap," Heatwave hissed.
/I'll start picking them off!/ the Dinobot Swoop insisted, and Heatwave saw the dark shadow of the winged Cybertronian take to the sky. There was no way he could take them all.
"You're letting way too many through, Swoop," complained Grimlock with an optic roll, "it's like you lot are worthless without me out there."
/Then by all means boss, gack! You grow some wings and come join me!/ Swoop snapped back.
Grimlock vented, stepping away from the hole, "Hold on, I'll start chucking scrap at 'em. Somebot help be find stuff I can throw."
"No, it might hit someone on the ground," Heatwave said.
Grimlock gave him a sour glare, "Wasn't that what your group on the ground was supposed to do, clear out civilians? And don't humans' recharge when their sun goes down? Why they still out and gettin' in the way?"
"I'll give him back up," Blades volunteered, interrupting the budding argument. He looked utterly unwilling, but as a flier, he was one of the only ones who could. Heatwave looked to him, trying to keep the worry from spreading beyond his gaze. "Now don't give me that look, Heatwave! I've fought crazier stuff than this… Mind you, never a swarm of Cons before. But I kicked butt in that virtual reality game we were trapped in. How different from that could it be?" Was Blades talking himself up for the fight, or was this for Heatwave's reassurance?
"I'll head out too!" Whirl stood up. Her smile was gone. A truly unnatural sight for her.
"Absolutely not!" Heatwave said, right along side Blades and Chase all at once.
"Professors!" Whirl snapped right back, "It needs to be me! If Professor Blades goes, then we need Medix here to treat the injured! I'm quick! I can buzz around and be a nuisance while Swoop picks them off!"
"I'm a jet, I should go," Hotshot insisted. It didn't take much for Medix to push him back down into a prone position, squashing his heroic attempts.
/The group is only ten kliks to your location, guys!/ Blurr informed them. /The flying Dino has picked off maybe five… about ten will make it to you if he keeps up that pace./
"Imma still look for stuff to throw," Grimlock grumbled, marching away to do so, and ignoring Heatwave's previous order not to.
"If I drop the cloak, I could send out a stasis pulse to stop this group," Secundus explained around them. Heatwave clenched both fists, looking between Whirl and the incoming swarm. In exchange for their cover, and all of Sydney seeing them fight Cons in the sky, they could protect Whirl and Blades. It wasn't the right option, but Heatwave was damned tempted to take it.
"No! We can't do that! Trust me professors! I can fight too!" Whirl pleaded. She hesitated, then added reluctantly, "I've been learning how."
"We have not covered combat training in the curriculum yet," Chase for some reason felt the need to remind her even in this situation, "Where could you have been learning it from?"
Secundus again intoned before she could answer, "I could perhaps utilize half power to-" His voice dropped off, and heatwave wasn't the only one who looked from the incoming Decepticons to the ceiling of Secundus' internal structure above them. "I… have just received a Spacebridge request." He explained, sounding very confused.
/Heatwave, I just received another message,/ Salvage intoned, /And somehow, it rerouted to Secundus. No idea how they did that./
"Could it be time to bring in Team Prime?" Chief Burns asked. "They seem to have already guessed something is up."
"The request is not coming from Cybertron." Secundus corrected. Well, now Heatwave was thrown too. "The request is almost at the edge of current warping capacity. It is resonating from deep space."
A silent confusion slipped through the group, but they didn't have long to ponder the mystery. The Decepticons were close enough that the buzz of their charging weapons was audible. And for some reason, Whirl's whole body brightened with sudden hope. "From the outer galaxies?" She confirmed with Secundus.
"Yes?" he sounded just as puzzled as to how she could have known that as everyone else was.
Whirl gasped, suddenly jumping up and down with renewed excitement and her smile returning. "Patch him through! He can help!"
"Whirl?" Heatwave asked, "What's going on?"
"No time to explain! It's another Autobot warrior. I know them! Please professors, trust me on this!"
Heatwave looked out onto the dark sky. Swoop was being overrun by three cons as the others continued charging forward. He made out Glowstrike at the forefront, leading the charge. She was done avoiding the conflict, intending to finish it.
Whirl was staring at him, those hopeful optics of hers totally sure of herself. Well… What in the Pits did they have to lose?
"Secundus, answer the request and send a portal. We'll deal with the massive amount of Energon usage for the trip later."
The internal lights within Secundus flickered. A sign of how much energy even the Titan had to use to stretch the portal into the darkest reaches of space to retrieve whoever Whirl claimed would help.
The Decepticons were upon them. Chief Burns hurried the humans away from the large port hole to the outside. Heatwave stood ready alongside those who could still stand. He didn't have time to wait for a miracle.
And then something showed up, but Heatwave couldn't decide if 'miracle' would be the word he would use.
A green swirling portal ripped open before the Decepticons. They scattered around it. They probably thought it was another Groundbridge trap. It wasn't.
The tell-tale sound of whooshing helicopter rotors cut through the buzz of the Spacebridge. Heatwave tried to see beyond the green vortex, occasionally glancing at Whirl's growing excitement.
A blue Cybertronian copter came screaming out of the portal, headed right into the fray of Decepticons. Heatwave thought he recognized the copter from somewhere, but where-
The unknown copter threw itself into a deadly tailspin. They slammed three Decepticons broadside and then unleashed a hail of blaster fire into three more while still spinning. Plating flew, some belonging to the copter and some originating from their Decepticon victims.
Oh Primus. Heatwave did know who this was. Mostly from horror stories from the war, and not originating from the Con side. They probably should have just dropped the cloak and taken their chances explaining all this to Agent White later.
Whirl was basically squealing with excitement as the bot hurled themselves back through the remaining swarm and transformed midair, still far from the open doorway into Secundus. But that was where he was headed. The one opticed maniac decided to take a Decepticon in through the portal with him, slamming a sharp ped into their side and surfing them in before they started plummeting to the earth. They both crashed, the stunned Decepticon slamming into the far wall and the Autobot lunatic crashing into a somewhat last-minute controlled roll that stopped right in front of Heatwave.
Before anyone could even begin to react to that display of suicidal confidence, the bot jumped to his peds and screamed in triumph, turning to his stunned audience. He threw out both clawed servos in a 'ta-da' gesture of fanfare. "Did that look as cool as I know it did?" He demanded of the gaping group. He apparently didn't need an answer as he got to work patting out one of his tail rotors, which had caught fire from the self-inflicted impact from before. "I hope that was an enemy, now that I think about it… By the time I came up with the plan, I was committed." His unnatural optic found them. Heatwave could have sworn he sensed a crazed smile behind that look as he held out a claw for any of them to shake, "Hi, by the way. Names Whirl. Ex-Wrecker banished to the scrap heap parts of the cosmos for not being a 'team player,' or 'thinking things through.' But forget all that scrap... I heard we're killing Cons? Fragging sign me up!"