34- Dark of the Moon.
"And the lower legs or hooves of Keldeo not only can be used for physical counterattack but also to shot water streams." Ultra Magnus detailed while Fixit looked closely a hologram of Keldeo, before making a simulation of using a water move which surprised him.
"Ah sir, with all due respect, I think Keldeo is not an aggressive pokémon, unless it's provoked." Hot Rod reminded.
"I don't doubt of our human friends' personal experience from their own encounters, but now that we know the Decepticons have been targeting legendary pokémon to use them against us I believe it is vital we understand their combat behavior just in case we're forced to face them."
"Oh, so that's why we are taking classes about pokémon, isn't it?" Moon realized.
"But why just conform with a simple audio class sent by Tracey? Isn't it better than the kids explain it to us with more detail?"
"That sounds pretty appropriate Warpath, but since our friends are currently busy participating on the biggest pokémon tournament of the entire world their assistance may be not available right now. It seems like the proper reward for the constant help they have offering to us for a long uninterrupted time." Optimus explained.
"So this is like an additional training to handle infused dark energon pokémon before free them with Ratchet's medicine." Smokescreen understood.
"Oh please, the only way to train is to actually train. Which is what I'm going to do right now. You should stay with them and attend class Sun, but I know enough pokémon stuff." Sideswipe said before leaving.
The young Autobot ran between the woods of the jungle, Olive Jungle exactly, on Fiore. He jumped between trees, reacting very fast, before landing and practice some combat moves. Suddenly, he heard something, so he transformed and drove at where it came from. When he was close enough changed back to robot form and hide behind a boulder. What he saw let him speechless: a pair of Vehicons were carrying what looked to be a female cybertronian, he supposed it couldn't be a Decepticon.
"Where are they taking her?" Sideswipe wondered before going after them.
He followed them to an improvised cell by using a small aperture on a rock wall. Sideswipe also saw a pair of two-wheeler Cons guarding the access, so he put his technique to work and jumped between them, knocking them out. He was about to continued after the others went he saw them coming out the hole, like being expelled by something. Then, some kind of cybertronian plane exited looking at them. The Vehicons fired at it, making it to spin around, with Sideswipe right behind receiving the wind it generated with its propellers, causing him to fly back into a puddle of mud.
"Lights out!" A female voice announced right before the plane transformed.
The plane was a female cybertronian with red and black touches with some kind of crown on the head, Sideswipe thought she was pretty. But what impressed him most was when she fired two beams of energy from the propellers of her wings which hit the Vehicons hard, knocking them out. Sideswipe saw she was an Autobot once he saw her emblem.
"Awesome take-down." Sideswipe congratulated.
"Freeze, Decepticon." The female Autobot warned charging her propellers again.
"Whoops."
Sideswipe managed to evade the beam very close, which took down a tree behind him. He didn't have time to explain himself when she started attacking him, forcing him to dodge her strikes until he received one of her kicks.
"Wait, we're on the same side. Whoa." Sideswipe defended before dodging another punch.
Because she obviously wasn't going to stop and listen, Sideswipe was forced to defend himself, grabbing her leg when she attempted to kick again and throwing her aside. Next he attempted to immobilize her by tackling her to the ground but she dodged impressively close and grabbed him in the air, pinning him against the floor instead.
"I haven't seen or heard no trace of Autobots in a long time since the fall of Cybertron, but I have seen a whole lot of Cons." She said after pulling out some kind of sword of energy and aiming Sideswipe with it.
"Well, I'm not one of them. I'm a member of Team Prime, I serve under Optimus's guidance." Sideswipe backed.
At last, with a close look on Sideswipe's chest, she saw he was telling the truth, so she deactivated her sword. It appeared she misunderstood him with a Con because of all the mud he had over his body.
"Okay Slick, I gotta admit: you have some decent moves." She said offering him her hand.
Which he took without doubting. "And you're lucky, I was just about to let loose. And my name is Sideswipe, what's with Slick?"
"That's our usual look or you just show it when you are on duty?" She said referring to the mud, which made him clean it a little. "My name is Windblade."
"A pleasure. So, what's a pretty, awesome and tough Autobot like you doing here in middle of the wild?"
"I was tracking down a suspicious energy reading and found these Cons handling something somewhere in the jungle. And by the intensity of the signal is definitely cybertronian."
"Huh what? There's a cybertronian relic here?"
"More like a whole structure. My guess is that it was built here some time ago. I was about to give it a more personal look to make sure. Wanna come with?"
"Me? With you? Of course. Just...lead the way."
Sideswipe followed Windblade into the hole the Cons were taking her.
"So, not to insult you but, how the Cons managed to get you being that good skilled fighter?" Sideswipe asked.
"They didn't. I just thought the quickest way to reach the bottom of their operation."
"So you got yourself captured, huh? Pretty smart I must admit."
"And good thing I did, it led me to this."
Once inside they made an incredible discovery.
"By the Allspark." Sideswipe expressed.
"Interesting. The walls are covered with ancient cybertronian hieroglyphs." Windblade recognized.
"Cybertronian? I thought pokémon rangers said this was an ancient human temple."
"I would guess those humans you mentioned built their temple atop an existing cybertronian structure."
"Yeah, you may be right. Our kind discovered this planet much before humans appeared. And...what kind of cybertronian structure you think it may be? A stationed weapon, or a battle station?"
"Hehe, relax Slick, it doesn't shows the right proportions. I believe it must be something not built for the purpose of destruction, but way bigger."
"Can you figure it out by reading theses symbols?"
"Hum, let me see it."
Windblade just took a couple of seconds to read all the symbols of one part of the walls.
"Already?" Sideswipe asked surprised.
"Not need to work my neural net so much to got the big part: it appears these ruins are built over some kind of ancient cybertronian space port." Windblade translated.
"A space port?! Why would our ancestors build something like that in a remote place such as this?"
"Probably to use it as secret launch point for ships." Windblade theorized while she noticed the symbols were glowing, and the ground started to shake. "And from the looks of it the Cons have already started the countdown for the launch."
"Which means there must be a cybertronian ship still stationed here somewhere."
"Looks like we've got a launch to stop. Are you in here with me, Slick?"
"Of course, no way I'm gonna let you engage the Cons on your own. And to think it was just going to be a boring listening report in the morning."
Both Autobots made a run for where the energy seems to be concentrating until they reached to a part of the ruins with some towers canalizing energy to what seemed to be some kind of cybertronian ship ready for launch. Unfortunately it wasn't unprotected.
Ion Storm came flying and transformed before landing. "Will you Autobots please stop bothering in our business?!"
"Ion Storm, so the Seekers are back in action." Windblade recognized.
"You should have stayed on dance lessons and artistic interpretations."
"Let's show them what we are made up." Sideswipe responded.
"Well said." Windblade agreed.
Ion Storm started launching missiles at them, so the duo used some pillars as cover. Next, Sideswipe pulled out his guns and started return fire, Windblade saw him and decided to do the same, changing her hands for the tip of a proton burst rifle: a long raged weapon. That surprised their attacker, who didn't expect such response.
"Let's see if you can finish the job, prove yourselves worthy of being called Decepticons! Destroy them before they ruin our plans!" Ion Storm ordered.
"You heard him!" One Seeker repeated as a huge squadron positioned themselves on high levels and started firing lasers at the Autobots.
"This is worse than I expected, even for me. They got us pinned down." Windblade admitted.
"Yeah, no joke. We're gonna need some help." Sideswipe agreed.
"If only we could contact with any ally present here. Didn't you say you were under Prime's guidance? So do something."
"Relax, I'm about to call cavalry. Hey everyone, Sideswipe here." He called through com-link.
"You have some nerve for calling after skipping over the lesson."
"Seriously Arcee? That's how you answer the call of a comrade asking for help?"
"What?"
"Sideswipe, what is it?" Optimus asked.
"It seems Cons have unearthed a long lost spaceport that our ancestors left abandoned right under this very jungle and they are up to something. We are deep in a serious mess with lots of Cons blocking our way to the launching bay."
"We? Did any other Autobot besides Drift already arrived?" Moon wondered.
"I guess we're going to figure it our very soon." Bumblebee said.
"Autobots, lesson time is over. Roll Out!" Optimus proclaimed.
Back with Sideswipe and Windblade, the duo was holding it the best they could, but the Decepticons were approaching slowly.
"They are trying to surround us." Sideswipe realized.
"Slick, what are you better at? Long range firing or close combat?" Windblade questioned.
Sideswipe responded by pulling out his blades. "Have your answer?"
"Ha, I like your style."
Windblade pulled out two energy swords and alongside Sideswipe they confronted the Decepticons face to face. While he took down the nearest enemies Sideswipe could take a look to how good Windblade was in close combat.
He whistled. "What a fem Bot."
"Hold on, that appearance, those combat moves. I haven't seen them since time back during the war. It could be...No way, that's Windblade?!" Ion Storm recognized.
It didn't took them long enough to dispose most of the enemies.
"Whoa, I gotta admit girl, you're pretty good."
"Well, you're not too bad yourself, Slick."
"Ha, if you think a couple of rolled heads is going to make things easier for you, then…" Ion Storm was about to say, until more lasers surprised him while more of his Seekers fell. "Arggh! You haven't won anything! Look, the launch has begun!"
Despite the team's arrival and that all enemies were destroyed it appeared the Decepticons already obtained what they wanted: Ion Storm transformed and flew away while they observed how a cybertronian ship, similar in shape to a human space shuttle, ignited its engines and headed for the sky.
"What's happening?" Elita asked.
"It appears the Cons got what they came for: they just launched a ship from the temple." Windblade reported.
"Scrap, we're too late." Hot Rod cursed.
"Regret nothing soldier, even if if we can't stop it we will be able to track it down." Ultra Magnus reassured him.
"And after that we'll catch it." Predaking added.
"Blaster, deactivate all power nodes of this space port, cut all energon access points, make sure no one can use this place in case there's still other ships remaining. Meanwhile, we must analyze what just happened." Optimus instructed.
Moments later the team was back at New Iacon, with Windblade included.
"It looks like you ran into some pleasant unexpected company, kid." Wheeljack noticed.
"Oh yeah, guys I introduce you to Windblade. Windblade, meet the whole stationed group of defenders of Earth: Team Prime." Sideswipe introduced.
"And this is your command center? I have to admit I didn't expect something resembling our former bases of Cybertron. It feels so nostalgic." Windblade expressed admiring New Iacon.
"Glad to heard you find it to your preferences. Welcome to New Iacon."
"It's an honor to be in your presence again, Optimus Prime. It's been a while since I met more of ours."
"We are the first Autobots you meet since the exodus?" Warpath asked surprised.
"It makes me wonder how far the others could end. I'm starting to worry." Moon said.
"Well anyway, we are glad to see another of ours back at home, geared up and ready to assist us."
"The pleasure is mine, commander Elita. I've heard great things about you and your unit back on Cybertron. I wondered if I could be part of it." Windblade revealed.
"Well, it's never too late to ask." Arcee pointed.
"So now we count with another flyer besides Optimus, Drift and Predaking, that's a huge upgrade." Smokescreen said.
"You've said it, kid. And with me we now have one member of each kind adapted for all kinds of environment." Seaspray noticed.
"I already know what I can contribute, but it looks like this Team Prime put together has a pretty high list of success." Windblade noticed.
"Indeed, the mark of a good collective effort and leadership." Ultra Magnus added.
"Well, we all had solid raw materials to begin with." Bee said.
"If Slick's here by any indication I'd say that's probably true." Windblade agreed.
"Slick?" Moonracer asked in surprise before laughing a little as Smokescreen.
"I guess we now have another nickname for you, bro." Sunstreaker provoked but Sideswipe didn't seem to bother, he just smiled awkwardly.
"Tell us soldier, what impulsed you to travel to Earth?" Optimus asked finally.
"As much I wanted to answer it was for locate the scattered survivors of our faction, I'm afraid it is not, sir." Windblade excused, which Optimus answered with a smile. "Instead I tracked a suspicious Decepticon transmission, calling all surviving forces to gather at one certain location. I was tracking one ship heading exactly for this planet."
"That may explain the constant new Decepticons arriving to Earth." Ratchet nodded.
"For later follow Xiaxus, Shockblast and Darkscream's command." Optimus added.
"Darkscream?" Windblade asked curious.
"Just think of an improved version of Starscream, taller, stronger and worse, but with his same bad personality." Sideswipe explained.
"I guess that can't be good news."
"Which side was the ship you were following?" Elita asked.
"Let me guess, another bunch of Cons wanting to join the party?" Wheeljack suspected.
"You got it right, Wrecker. And from what I saw it wasn't everyday's Con: the ship had an admirable escort so it had to be a big cheese." Windblade continued.
"Like a high-ranking officer?" Drift asked.
"Mostly. But I didn't have time to check it for sure when I detected the spaceport being awaken."
"Blaster, how is your progress?" Ultra Magnus asked through com-link.
"The port is completely in lock-down mode, but the activation process has let most of its parts completely exposed. The only option I see to prevent it being discovered by humans is to remove it completely."
"We'll send heavy support to handle that." Optimus swore.
"At the mean time, we should figure out what the Decepticons have planned for that ship which recently took off." Elita suggested.
"You, little 'spark breaker'." Windblade called, referring to Fixit. "You look like the kind of organized and well-skilled Minibot that would know how to trace a spaceship's energy trail."
"Oh, only the one who learned from the smartest Bots ever walked upon this planet." Fixit nodded a little embarrassed before heading for the terminal and start operating it. "The ship's velocity and trajectory indicate its destination is...the dark side of the moon."
"Why would the Cons send that ship to that deserted rock?" Warpath wondered.
"Surprisingly most part of Earth's satellite hasn't been explored yet."
"And since it's part of Earth's territories it may also been the perfect place for our predecessors to hide something of value." Optimus sensed.
"If I may, sir, you are right. I saw our mysterious important Con heading right at that bunch of dust when I headed for the surface, and I have a funny feeling there's where he's currently now." Windblade confirmed.
"But that doesn't have sense, we already scanned it's surface, there's nothing there." Hot Rod recalled.
"Yeah, we found no signs of energon readings or suspicious signatures. Nothing worthy to draw the Decepticons' attention." Ratchet supported.
"Oh, it's there, I haven't been wrong yet. It's one of my best qualities." Winblade reassured.
"Whoa, if we all have your luck." Arcee said, a little sarcastically.
"Have you bounced your frequency arc off the troposphere? It decreases short-ranged interference."
"Whoa, that's an interesting idea. How I didn't think about that?" Ratchet said impressed. "Fixit, do it."
"I'm on it." Fixit performed the reconciliations and made another scan on the moon's surface. "Oh, what you know? There's a whole congregation of Decepticon signals, right at the dark side of the moon."
"Just like Windblade predicted." Predaking agreed.
"How lucky." Moon said.
"You have a good field analysis, soldier." Ultra Magnus congratulated.
"Shall we mobilize, sir?"
"All in right moment, Windblade. Predaking, Warpath, Ratchet and Ultra Magnus will come with me and assist Blaster on dismantle that spaceport. Bumblebee, you take everyone else with Windblade, figure out what the Decepticons are planning to do with that ship."
"Understood, Optimus."
"Fixit and I will remain here in case of any unforessen event." Elita added.
Fixit opened a ground bridge for Prime and the others.
"You have a base equipped with its own space bridge? You guys are more veteran than I thought." Windblade admitted.
"And you still haven't seen anything yet." Sideswipe added.
"Lead the way." Bumblebee approved.
"Alright, let's crank our pistons and cross some distance!" Windblade announced.
"Well said!" Sunstreaker said.
"Yeah, alright!" Smokescreen celebrated.
"Now, that's how you do it." Wheeljack followed.
"Not bad, it almost as inspiring as Optimus's." Elita congratulated.
"Now, how did you come out with that so fast? Because I had the worst time." Bumblebee talked with her while the crossed their portal.
Seconds later, the group was now at the dark side of the moon.
"Here we are, the moon." Hot Rod announced.
"Pff, doesn't look as incredible as humans think." Wheeljack opined.
"You may say that, pal. It doesn't even have wetness, just a reduced gravity. "How can humans find that exciting?" Seaspray wondered.
"It is a small step for a little boy, but a giant step for pokémon and humankind." Smokescreen pronounced making a pose of holding a flag on top of the land, making laugh everyone else.
"Have you been waiting to use that one?" Moon deduced.
"Sorry, I just couldn't avoid it."
"A little joke from time to time is good to rise group morale. But we better move out." Windblade said.
"Let's go everyone, the dark side of the moon awaits." Bumblebee encouraged.
While the group headed to their destination, Sideswipe spent most of the trip talking with Windblade. Something the others noticed.
"I'm the only one here who has noticed how cheerful Sideswipe is since he met Windblade?" Seaspray shared.
"Yeah, he even didn't seem bothered when we called him by the same nickname as her." Moonracer agreed.
"I've known my twin since forever, and let me tell you I have never seen him acting like this. My guess is that Windblade has stolen his spark. I think in the same way the humans use to refer as...romantic?" Sunstreaker guessed.
"Seriously? Sideswipe likes Windblade? Next thing which may surprise me is that because of her he stops his joking behavior." Arcee said.
"Sometimes the mere presence of a new influence is enough to make one to change its path for a more honorable one." Drift pronounced.
"Oh, not one of your nonsense riddles again." Sunstreaker complained.
"Haha, but you both have a point. Maybe Windblade is just what Sideswipe needs in order to grow."
"You really believe that Hot, or did you heard it from Optimus?" Smokescreen asked.
"Surprisingly I came up with it myself."
"Looks like your training with Optimus is making effort." Arcee noticed.
"Team, you are officially in the dark side of the moon. You should be near the ship's last trail." Elita communicated.
"Understood commander."
"Guys, you should come and see this." Windblade called.
"By the Allspark." Smokescreen expressed.
In front of them was the same cybertronian ship from the spaceport, now landed in a more proper way and surrounded by Decepticons.
"Team, report. What do you found?"
"This is bigger than we thought, Elita. There are more Cons than we expected, like a whole battalion." Arcee started.
"It seems they are picking out some materials out of the ship. From the looks they seem to be engineering items, replacement parts and equipment used for complex repairs." Windblade notified.
"Like for the construction of a super weapon?" Smokescreen asked.
"Fortunately not, newbie. If I must assume, I say it's more like ready a bunch of spaceships."
"Perhaps we could know it for sure if we know what kind of ship is that." Drift suggested.
"Fixit." Elita called.
The Minibot sighed like if he was with his mind on the clouds. "Spark breaker here."
"What? Fixit, snap out of it. We need you to analyze the spaceship schematics to figure out what kind it is. Arcee, send us an image."
Once the image was sent to the base's screen, Fixit started analyzing its schematics.
"Hmm, it seems that ship was some kind of support ship, or an engineering ship. Designed to carry lots of materials for the sustenance, resupply and repair for other kinds of ships. Specially military." Fixit discovered.
"Then that's it: they're unloading the ship's equipment, surely for the Nemesis." Sunstreaker deduced.
"But why they performed all that show with the spaceport?" Smokescreen wondered.
"Yeah, why didn't they just picked up the ship?" Moon supported.
"Maybe because it was without energy when they find it out, and in order to not employ too much energon they used the port's energy to charge up the ship." Seaspray deduced.
"There's still one question: why all the trouble to bring the ship to the dark side of the moon? Why not leaving it for being picked up by their own warship?" Hot Rod asked.
"They are up to something, and surely our mysterious big cheese may know it." Windblade deduced.
"Bumblebee, infiltrate their operation and try to figure out their purpose. Fixit will make a new full scan of all the area in case we can know more." Elita instructed.
"Copy that." Bumblebee ended. "Smokescreen, are you in for sneaking between them and see what they're hiding?"
Smokescreen answered by turning on his phase shifter. "Leave it to me."
The young Autobot sneaked inside the camp the Decepticons established around the ship, passing through the objects and equipment and hiding between them to prevent being discovered by the enemy. After a while sneaking he finally found what seemed to be the command center, he found the main computer and checked it. After a while, he returned back with the group, emerging from the floor.
"Finally Smokey, what did you find?" Moonracer asked.
"It's worse than we imagined. It appears there's a whole Decepticon fleet buried right beneath the moon's surface. They're using the ship's equipment to get ready the ships for joining the Nemesis."
"That explains why they decided to brought the ship right here, to work closer to the things to fix." Arcee said.
"The scan confirms Smokescreen's report: multiple ships are buried across the area surrounding the camp, a few light cruisers and starfighters used during the war. The lack of energy readings indicates they have been buried during a long period of time." Fixit added from base.
"So the Cons are recovering their belongings for the use they were hidden here." Windblade suspected.
"We gotta stop them, that fleet must not take off." Sideswipe supported.
"I say we blow those things before they even have the chance to aboard them. We just need to get close enough to get the fireworks ready." Wheeljack suggested pulling out a few grenades.
"There's a deep canyon which surrounds the camp completely and leads to the border of the fleet. That should approach you to most of the ships to start planting the explosives before the Decepticons become aware of your presence." Fixit advised.
"I'll try to warn Optimus about this, see if you can get support in case things get complicated." Elita said.
"Got it, over and out." Bee ended.
While the Autobots took the long way, there was a conversation taking place on the command center of the Decepticon camp.
"Are you certain of what you saw, Ion Storm?" Darkscream demanded through a hologram.
"Completely brother, it was her. Only she would perform those graceful, elegant and deadly moves."
"Interesting, so one of the few worthy opponents for the Seekers has finally arrived. And knowing her as I do, no doubt she may already have a clue about our secret little operation. Looks like we will have to accelerate our plans."
Back with the Autobots…
"Whoa."
"What is it, Smokey?" Arcee asked.
"Look." The young Autobot said pointing to the lifeless body of a Vehicon. "Looks like the Cons are not the only ones besides us here at the moon."
"But what could have done this?" Drift wondered.
"Better question: what could be living in a place like this?" Sunstreaker corrected.
"Whatever it is it may be hostile. We better get ready just in case we run into it." Windblade suggested pulling out her energy swords.
Suddenly, the group sensed like something passed around them very fast. They searched everywhere for it until a shadow on the ground made them look above them. They got surprised at seeing what it was.
"What do you know? It was a Deoxys." Smokescreen recognized.
"Looks like we have found our mysterious stalker."
"Windblade, don't! That's not a threat, it's just a pokémon." Arcee stopped.
"Pokémon?"
"The native creatures of Earth, alongside humanity." Bee explained.
"Although this kind seems to come from outer space, from what the children told us." Hot Rod added.
"Then how do you explain that?" Windblade demanded pointing at the corpse.
"Probably that Con sneaked where he shouldn't." Wheeljack deduced.
"Maybe it was trespassing into its territory. The Con surely reacted with his guns and the pokémon defended itself, just a normal reaction." Hot Rod theorized.
"Still, it's hard to believe such a simple one of those pokémon managed to take it down so easily." Sideswipe pointed.
"Perhaps because it wasn't just one." Drift added spotting something more.
Behind the Deoxys looking at the Autobots, stood floating in front of them three more, which just the stone of the chest with different color.
"Whoa, there are more of them." Sunstreaker admired.
"It must be a group which decided to make the dark side of the moon their home." Seaspray deduced.
"It's okay, you're not in danger. We mean not harm for you." Bee excused raising his hands.
"Yeah, we're just passing through." Smokey followed.
Imitating Bumblebee, the Autobots retrieved their weapons and raised their hands as sign of not looking for a fight, with Windblade being the last one. The main Deoxys looked at them curious and floated around them, examining them. After a while it returned where it came from alongside its companions.
"Pff, that was close." Sideswipe expressed in relief.
"Wait until we tell this to our pals when they return from the tournament, they will not believe it." Moon said.
"At the meantime, let's set up preparations for demolitions." Bee announced while seeing some of the ships semi buried in front of them.
The Autobots divided to place explosives on more ships in less time, making sure to plant them on what looked like the ship's weak points.
"Team, status report." Elita called.
"We are placing the bombs on the biggest ships. From the looks it seems the Cons hasn't discovered our presence yet." Bumblebee answered.
"That's what you think!"
The Autobots looked to the top of a crater in front of them and spotted who called them: Spacestream, alongside Slipstream and Nova Storm.
"So your brother was right: Windblade managed to survive the exodus." Nova Storm saw.
"It appears my intuition was right: if Ion Storm was here, the others couldn't be far." Windblade confirmed.
"You know the drill better than your pals here, wherever a Seeker goes, the rest of the crew follow as well." Slipstream responded back.
"You Autobots may think you have stopped our plans, but once again you are too late." Spacestream pronounced.
Suddenly, the entire ground around the Autobots started to shake.
"Oh great, an earthquake. Just what we needed."
"Have your neural net gone nuts, Sideswipe? There are no earthquakes on the moon." Seaspray recalled.
"Then that must be…" Hot Rod started.
"Guys, I'm detecting lots of energy spikes getting bigger and bigger. All right below the moon's surface." Fixit warned.
"They are doing it, they are awakening the fleet." Drift deduced alarmed.
Suddenly, from beneath the floor started to emerge cybertronian starfighters, similar to the ones Lockdown had on his ship, piloted by Decepticons which flew around them.
"Hahaha, what a show you girls just set up." A new voice opined.
The Autobots' surprise increased when they saw a new Decepticon standing next to the female Seekers: it was tall and strong looking as Ultra Magnus, handing a big sword, with a body with some parts which indicated his alt form was similar to the leader of the Wreckers.
"Motormaster?!" Wheeljack recognized.
"He must be the big guy who just arrived." Moon deduced.
"You seem pretty surprised by seeing me, weakling Autobots, meaning you weren't expecting me. Then I assume you weren't expecting this too." The one called Motormaster announced showing a peculiar big object of purple color.
"By the Allspark."
"Windblade, you know what that thing is?" Sunstreaker asked.
"Unfortunately I do. That's a plasma thermal accelerator module."
"Base, we got bad news: we already encountered the important Con Windblade was tracking down, it's Motormaster." Arcee reported.
"The leader of the Stunticons?" Elita recalled.
"And that's not all: it seems the Cons are in possession of an unexpected power source." Bee added.
Fixit gasped in shock. "That reminds me something I forgot to mention. Blaster decoded a new entry of the database right this morning, and by checking it right now I see the coordinates pinpoint almost your actual position."
"So the object sent here was already found by the Cons. On purpose or by chance?" Smokescreen wondered.
"I don't think it matters now." Seaspray said.
"I bet they are more than glad to have their hands on it, specially since it was a vital component of their most powerful form." Windblade added.
"What do you mean with that?" Hot Rod asked.
"That was the power source of the Stunticons' combined form's most powerful weapon."
"You mean Menasor?" Sunstreaker remembered.
"You got the point, little Bot. And although we may not be able to be as mighty as we formerly were, this can still give a little taste of our power." Motormaster announced as he implanted the module into some kind of giant turret.
"Scrap." Bumblebee cursed when the turret aimed at them.
It fired a constant energy beam at them, forcing the Autobots to separate.
"We need to take out that gun, and those fighters as well." Sunstreaker spotlighted.
"We will deal with them." Wheeljack reassured while he and Seaspray prepared their close combat weapons, but suddenly they were pushed down.
"Hahaha, think again, slow Bots." A new voice mocked, revealing to be from another new Decepticon with a body resembling a F1 race car.
"Drag Strip, I should have known." Seaspray recognized.
"Tell me Autobots, you wanna race?"
"You two try to keep that fast and furious Con busy. I will handle the rest." Drift instructed pulling out their blades while lots of Vehicons of different kinds surrounded him. "Sayonara!"
Drift attacked them at high speed, slicing them one by one, confusing and catching them off guard. Meanwhile, the remaining Autobots decided to seek for cover inside one of the moon's multiple craters to escape from the turret's beam and the Decepticon starfighters.
"I don't like the look of our situation." Arcee said.
"The ships are surrounding us and we can barely fight back." Sunstreaker pointed.
"And we don't know how long it will take them to get the rest of the fleet on the space. Windblade, can you distract those fighters long enough for us to take care of the turret?" Bumblebee requested.
"Or at least take them down without them hit you?" Smokescreen suggested.
"My radar cloak is not just for show." Windblade nodded changing to vehicle form.
"Windblade wait, I have the perfect combo move for that plan to work." Sideswipe offered.
"Then what are you waiting for, Slick? Hop on."
Sideswipe jumped on Windblade before she took off, flying through the Decepticon starfighters. Sideswipe fired at them a little, but not to take down one even if he could, but to provoke and make them follow, allowing the rest of the Autobots a little break. The starfighters fired at Windblade, making Sideswipe deflect some shots with his blades, while they also tried to lock their missiles, but Windblade's special ability made it impossible.
"We need to take these ships out." Windblade recalled.
"Get me close to them and I'll make sure they will be out of space for sure." Sideswipe asked.
Windblade evaded a starfighter's rapid fire and positioned herself next to it, allowing Sideswipe to jump on it.
"You have been a very bad fighter. Consider yourself grounded." He said cutting one of the ship's engines with his blades.
After causing the ship to descend out of control, Sideswipe jumped on to the next one, did the same and moved again. He continued jumping between the Decepticon ships while taking them down.
"Not bad, Slick. But don't ever think about having all fun for yourself." Windblade announced before firing laser rounds in vehicle form, destroying a pair of enemies.
Now with the Con's air forces busy and the Wreckers still involved with Drag Strip as Drift taking down the Decepticon foot soldiers, Bumblebee and the others decided to focus on taking down the heavy laser powered up with the found power source. But there was one more obstacle to overpass to reach it: the Decepticon commanders.
"We need to pass them to shut down that cannon. Split up!" Bee commanded.
Unfortunately the Decepticons did the same: while Spacestream remained to watch over the gun, Nova Storm faced Moonracer, the same as Slipstream with Arcee or Sunstreaker and Ion Storm as Smokescreen, Hot Rod and Bumblebee against Motormaster. The leader of the Stunticons blocked the three together with his sword.
"It's been a while since the last time I had the chance for a fight like this. Do me a favor, Autobots, and don't disappoint me." Motormaster said pushing them back.
"I almost forgot how tough Motormaster was." Hot Rod recalled.
"Guys, if any of you can assist us…" Bumblebee started, before being forced to jump aside because of the laser beam. "...we could use any help around here. Can any of you try to disable that gun?"
"Leave it to me, fearless leader. Looks like Slick is having no problem on putting these guys in their place." Windblade volunteered.
Windblade headed for the cannon, but before she could attack two whips wrapped around her and zapped her. It was Spacestream, who managed to catch her and drag her to the ground.
"So this is the so famous Windblade. She doesn't look that special this close." Spacestream mocked.
"Oh believe me, after today she will remain just as a bunch of rumors and stories for cadets." Ion Storm reassured aiming a missile at her.
"Windblade!" Sideswipe shouted.
"Ha, face it puny Bots, looks like this time you lost. Our fleet will rise again and its firepower will reduce your precious new found strength to ashes, as we did before." Motormaster proclaimed.
While the Decepticon cruisers started to emerge from the moon's surface, the big gun looked like about to fire again against the Autobots. But after charging for maximum power it didn't. That let the Decepticons confused.
"Why isn't it firing as before?" Motormaster demanded.
"It may be stuck, something must have plugged the energy conduit." Drag Strip supposed.
"Then check it at once!"
Suddenly, something impacted between the Autobots and the big Decepticon, more near the Decepticon because he was pushed backwards. The Autobots and Decepticons searched everywhere for the responsible one and got surprised at seeing a Deoxys in attack form floating above them.
"Isn't that…?" Sunstreaker started.
"Yeah, it's one of the pokémon we saw before." Smokescreen finished.
"They have come to...assist us?" Windblade asked surprised.
"They know who really is disturbing their home, no wonder they want them begone." Arcee confirmed.
Drag Strip was about to continued his quick attacks on the Autobots when he was hit unexpectedly and sent into a crater.
"What was that? There's nothing as fast as me!" The Stunticon complained.
The responsible one appeared next to the Wreckers.
"How about a Deoxys in speed form?" Seaspray identified.
"And it is not just that one." Drift announced pointing at another in normal form looking at the cannon, meaning it was using Psychic to prevent it to fire.
"Argh, I have enough of this!" Motormaster groaned heading for the cannon, pressing hard some wires, firing it manually.
The Autobots tried to escape from the incoming beam, but another Deoxys got in middle and changed to defense form, blocking the beam and protecting the Autobots.
"Wheeljack, press the detonator!" Bumblebee ordered.
"Let's ruin this Con party."
Explosions emerged from inside the Decepticon ships, causing them to crash land back on the moon's surface, this time to not take off ever again. At the same time, after disposing of the pilot, Sideswipe fired the guns of the last starfighter against the female Cons, allowing Windblade to get rip of the whips. Both Autobots jumped at the gun's top with their blades ready and stroke fast, slicing it and destroying the weapon. That caused a chain reaction on the rest of the structure, making the nearby Decepticons to get away in case of a possible explosion. But before it could happen, Windblade extracted the module from the weapon. The Deoxys continued attacking the Decepticons with Psycho Boost and Night Shade.
"Is everyone okay?" Hot Rod asked.
"Better than the Decepticon fleet indeed." Sunstreaker nodded.
"Well, there's still a few remaining." Smokescreen pointed a pair still operational.
"Think we can take them down by our own?" Moonracer wondered.
"At least we'll take some Cons out of the way trying it." Windblade said confident.
"That's the spirit." Wheeljack supported.
Suddenly the last ships were took down after receiving strong impacts from heavy laser shots. A new huge shadow covered the whole area, but the Decepticons were the ones who got scared and flew.
"What in the Allspark is that huge bunch of shiny metal?" Sideswipe asked in disbelief.
"I can't believe they actually finished it." Hot Rod said.
"Finish what?" The others asked.
"Guys, that's Optimus's new flagship: the Xantium." Bumblebee introduced.
"Whoa, that's impressive." Smokescreen admired.
"Wait until the kids hear about this, they will beg to get on that." Seaspray said.
In that moment, Optimus descended in front of them.
"Just in time boss." Windblade greeted.
"Thanks for taking down those last ships for us." Sideswipe thanked.
"It also seems you managed to stop that former invasion force by your own." Optimus observed.
"Not just on our own. We had some help." Arcee revealing looking at the Deoxys, which nodded at the Autobot leader.
"We appreciate your support, and rest assured we will leave your home in peace once we have cleaned what our enemies left here."
The pokémon saw some kind of abductor beam collecting the remains of the ships. Seeing Optimus was loyal to his speech, they felt better and returned home. Moments later, everyone was back at base, storing the rescued module.
"And you say Motormaster was the one who wanted this?" Blaster recalled.
"It appears he wanted to preserve something from the mighty Menasor." Ratchet supposed.
"Who is Menasor?" Smokescreen asked.
"Motormaster is the leader of a special team of Cons known as the Stunticons. Their specialty was speed, but they were also known by being able to merge together, forming a giant called Menasor. Not as imposing as Devastator but still a serious threat." Warpath explained.
"Wasn't Breakdown one of them too?" Sideswipe remembered.
"Yeah, he was. Bulkhead told me he was considered the muscle of the group, being the toughest behind Motormaster." Wheeljack revealed.
"But for Menasor to be formed all Stunticons are required. And for what we know him and Drag Strip seems to be the last ones." Ultra Magnus pointed.
"Still with the fact of the combiner ability unable from now on, Motormaster was also known as a serious and ruthless leader. His return to the Decepticon ranks could complicate things for us." Optimus warned.
"Well in that case, I better keep an eye for when they start one of their plots."
"Windblade, are you saying with that you want to be part of this team?" Elita guessed.
"In a matter of saying."
"What you do mean with that?" Sideswipe asked concerned.
"I can be of more use out there guarding their possible new objectives than stay here with my engines off. Not saying I will stop by for a while to train a little, report or take a break from time to time."
"So that means you are part of team, but not exactly stay with us?"
"I think she wants to say she will be around, just like I used to do." Seaspray clarified.
"Don't feel down Slick, you still have lot to update me, remember? So, until our next team-up?" Windblade suggested.
Sideswipe answered with a smile. "I'm looking forward to it."
Windblade saluted everyone before heading for the hangar, where she changed to vehicle form and took flight.
"Hey, don't feel bad bro. She's not leaving totally, remember?" Sunstreaker said, trying to cheer him up.
"There goes an awesome Autobot."
"Indeed she is, Bee. Indeed she is." Sideswipe nodded.
"No doubt he has fallen for her." Moon mumbled to Arcee, making both female Autobots laugh.
"I'm sure Serena and the girls would love to hear this."
Meanwhile at the Nemesis, Darkscream was discussing the recent event with Spacestream and his Seekers when Motormaster entered the bridge.
"Ah, Motormaster, it's been a while." Darkscream greeted.
"Starscream? Whoa, you have been busy, looking better than ever."
"It's a pleasure having the last Stunticons with us after a long time." Xiaxus welcomed.
"Where's Breakdown? Isn't he supposed to be with you?" Drag Strip came up with.
The Decepticons present on the room looked between, aware of the newcomers' unawareness.
"Breakdown left us a while ago." Knock Out transmitted. "He was your partner, as mine as well. You have my condolences."
That new surprised the Stunticons, Motormaster included. "A real shame, he was a tough fighter."
"Who did it? Who of those retarded Autobots took his spark?!" Drag Strip demanded.
"It's complicated to explain, but know for sure that both they as this planet's supporters of theirs will receive what they deserve for the role they played on his demise." Xiaxus swore.
"For the moment, Motormaster, we could use your help around here. The unique leadership you employed on the Stunticons may be just what we need in our new chain of leadership." Darkscream added.
"You have good eye Scream, after all we were the kings of the road."
"Then by all means, would you like to share it? To...keep troops motivated."
Motormaster answered with a sinister smirk, he was going to enjoy that.