Disclaimer: I only own my OCs.
Authoress: *stares into the abyss* By the Allspark, what just happened?
Michael: *walks in since others are banned* This is chaos and not the good kind either.
Authoress: *shakes head* No, there is good here. This event can be the catalyst to help the Galactic Alliance and thus help Pandimala.
Michael: *nods* True, but there will be a cost.
Chapter 20: Hymn of Chaos
Caigal's 1st P.O.V.
The embassy was in chaos. I had been going to Garl's to discuss an order I had placed with him when the sirens first went off. While not at our embassy, I knew that it could only mean trouble. So, I immediately returned to the main embassy building to assess the situation. What I saw made my heart stop. On our observation screens, creatures of all shapes and sizes were rampaging through the streets. Tyrexians, scraplets, dwellers, drillers, acklays, fizgigs, who were as terrifying to organics as scraplets were to mechano species, and for the same reason, dactillions, drakoulias, and dimorxians were flooding on my screen along with countless other species that I did not recognize.
And the ones behind the attack were not keeping their identities a secret. The mercenaries of Luxor could be seen ransacking different homes on the security feeds. While they had not breached the Eternia Embassy, they were pushing their assault. If we survived this night, there would be thorough investigations as to who might have hired them.
For now, though, I needed to take charge. "Caigal," I turned to see Garl walking into the room. However, the large packages on his shoulders confused me. This was not the time for showing off his latest weapon.
"Now is not the time, Garl. We must take action against the attackers, and we need an accounting of all those registered at the embassy." I ordered him as I made to move past him.
However, I was surprised when he held up a hand. "I already have Ulthan'zur going through the embassy registry with all those who have arrived at the emergency shelter. Sh'qtar is assembling the troops to prepare to support Vestium Major and search for any missing that may appear on the register." He then motioned to the package that was still on his shoulders. Now that I got closer, whatever he was carrying was too cumbersome for even our largest soldiers. "And this is for Pandimala. Emperor Thav just contacted us and said the femme is currently MIA. Since her order is done, I would rather give her the best chance to survive."
Pandimala was out there, and no one had seen her. I thought she was supposed to be at the banquet! Hells, that femme always seemed to be in the middle of everything. At least I knew she could care for herself for a while. And, knowing her, Pandimala would try to make her way to embassies that were friendly toward her. Depending on where she was when the attack started, the most likely embassies she would aim for would be here or the Antiga Prime embassy. While she had made friends with the other embassies, those would be the ones who would immediately send word that she was okay.
Given that Pandimala had been worried about security during this event and had fully admitted that she seemed to be in the middle of most of these attacks, she would ensure we knew where she was. So, unless she was stopped before reaching one, we would eventually hear from her. Making sure that we could account for her whereabouts would be one of the first things she would do.
"Once Ulthan'zur confirms how many are still unaccounted for, you can try to contact Pandimala. Undoubtedly, the femme will be in the thick of the creatures." I agreed before I motioned toward the doors. "Let's see if he has any updates on the roll call."
Garl nodded, and so the two of us started to make our way out of the embassy. Thankfully, I knew we wouldn't have to go far to the shelter area. My ancestors had purposefully planned the embassy so that the main embassy building and the shelter were in the center. It would take longer for an attack to reach us here than if we were placed elsewhere.
Glancing into the sky, I saw many flying creatures approaching our location. While the streets were peaceful now, that would not last long. The dactillions and dimorxians were the most concerning to me right now. Dactillions would especially be looking for organic prey, such as labac, and the dimorxians were indifferent in whether their prey was organic or mechano. When we launched our offensive, I would have to ensure that the troops sent out were well-armed to fight them.
It only took us a few more minutes to reach the shelter. Once we arrived and Garl set the blades for Pandimala outside, we walked inside, and I felt relaxed. From the look of the room, most of those at the embassy were here. There would be few, if any, that still needed to arrive. That was a report I was sure father would be eager to hear. Of course, since the banquet was going on, most embassies would have restricted curfews for themselves. Not overbearing, but strong recommendations to stay near the embassy.
It took me a few moments to locate Ulthan'zur. The smaller labac had a data pad in his hands, and he was seemingly scrolling through it. In front of him was Mareth. She and her son had been regular visitors to the embassy over the years, so I had come to recognize her quickly enough. However, the concerned look on her face told me that something may be wrong.
"I'm not seeing him on my check-in list," Ulthan'zur said as we walked up. Do you remember when you last saw him?"
Someone was missing. And since Mareth was standing here, it was obvious who it was. "It was this afternoon. I told Ran'kiel he could play at the lake with Jiran until sunset. He should have been back hours ago, though."
"But you haven't seen him?" I jumped into this conversation, dread starting to fill my veins.
She nodded. "I haven't. I was hoping he had just checked in already and I couldn't find him. But he hasn't." Mareth then glanced at the doors. "I have to get out there."
Holding up an arm to stop her, I shook my head. "You aren't a fighter, Mareth. You would just put both of you in danger. Ran'kiel is smart. He'll know to stay hidden if he is surrounded, and Ran'kiel has gone through the safety simulators enough that he is allowed to be outside the embassy despite his age." Usually, we waited until a labac was fifty years old before allowing them to leave the embassy. However, Ran'kiel had always done well on the safety protocol training, so we allowed him special permission to leave the embassy when he visited. I then turned to Ulthan'zur. "Any other missing?"
He nodded. "About fifteen labac, twenty psiar, and four other registered visitors."
Since we had an approximate search list, it was time to leave. "Send the list of those missing to Sh'qtar so we can send out recovery teams and reinforcements. Garl," The labac focused on me as I addressed him. "Get your packages, and then go join Sh'qtar's teams. Once you discover Pandimala's location, contact me before joining the relief mission."
Garl gave a salute before he went back out the way he came. While I wished to join him, I knew the best place for me to be was here to relay information directly to my father and from him to the teams about to go out there. I sent a quick prayer to Murav for the safety of all those unaccounted for before I moved toward the central communication hub in the shelter. If I were to play my part, I had to be ready to receive and transmit any messages I may get.
Firebrand's 1st P.O.V.
It had been a cycle since the siege of monsters had started on the city, and the streets were in chaos. Everywhere I turned, I had to be on high alert. There had already been multiple creatures that had tried to swarm me. Thankfully, I kept a few blades in subspace. However, I was starting to tire. There were just so many creatures here that I was becoming overwhelmed. I was trying to make my way to the Eternia Embassy. There, I could recover outside their shelter and act as a last line of defense should the creatures break the embassy's defenses. However, from what I had seen, only the flying creatures, drillers, and some of the larger creatures like tyrexians would be able to do so.
And, of course, my path was also blocked by the odd mercenary, causing chaos on the streets. I had already dropped three of them and knew more were around. Hopefully, Seabreaker, Grinchain, and Lightbeam were doing better in their movements than I was. When sire sent the message that Pandimala was MIA, we had all split up and headed toward different embassies she might head toward. Seabreaker was heading to the Ethosian embassy, Grinchain was on his way to the Airlandian embassy, and Lightbeam was going to the Antiga Prime embassy. My goal was the Eternia embassy.
Screams around me caused me to come out of my thoughts as I watched a young dweller breach the ground and drain a mech that had been running not thirty meters away from me. I had to keep moving—no time to get lost in my thoughts. Reaching the Eternia embassy had to be my first task. And I had to make it. Either that, or I had to run into one of the reinforcement platoons that had to be out by now. If I ran into one of them, I could have support getting to the embassy before I helped them in their fight. When it came to the large creatures running about, fighting in strike teams was our best strategy.
Movement from my side barely gave me enough time to raise my blade. An instant later, said blade met with another as I found myself faceplate to faceplate with another mercenary. "Fresh energon," The mech laughed as he pressed against my blade. "I'm glad I took this mission."
The grounder's grin was disgusting as he pushed me back. He was enjoying the suffering that was happening around us. How could any being enjoy this needless loss of life? When I became Vestium Major's ruler, I would ensure that we never traded with Luxor. This alone showed how sparkless they were. To allow such carnage to spread on innocent beings just because they were paid a servo-full of credits was unforgivable. "You won't survive long enough to enjoy this," I snarled back at the mech as I finally found my footing.
He laughed as he danced away, blade prepared to strike at me. However, I knew better than to follow after a retreating bot. That would open me up to a counter-strike that I would be ill-prepared to block. "This coming from the great heir of Vestium Major who couldn't deal with a simple Decepticon threat?" Whoever had hired the mercenaries knew about the trouble with Pandimala and my involvement. "Offlining any Cybertronian is simple enough, yet you let a femme get the better of you. If I were you, I would feel embarrassed."
A flare of anger rose in my circuits at the implied insult. If she was a genuine threat to Vestium Major, I was sure I could rise to the occasion. However, flashes of my strike against the femme brought doubt into my processor. She had moved so precisely that she had been able to avoid most of the shots that had been fired at her. I should have been able to hit her, yet I hadn't been able to.
Pain flaring from my side brought me out of those thoughts as the mech struck at me. Thankfully, I had enough training to deflect most of his strike. Now that I was refocused, I saw what the mech was trying to do. He wanted to throw me off my guard, and I had almost let him succeed. As we traded blows, though, his wording came back to me. "You have experience offlining Cybertronians?"
Given that they had been at war for countless stellars, Cybertronians were masters of combat that most didn't want to meet as an enemy. That was regardless of their faction. Both Autobot and Decepticon fighters were terrifying to behold.
Decepticons just tended to take that view to the extreme.
The mech in front of me laughed. "Of course. When Megatron started his little uprising, I was right there in the Pits of Kaon with him. We even stayed at the same compound before I was sold off. Of course, the pile of rust never took notice of me. Megatron was so focused on his goals that he disregarded those that couldn't help him move forward at that click. But, he soon learned. I made sure of it." This mech was a Cybertronian? How did he end up with the mercenaries of Luxor? "I had the audios of great houses in the higher castes who respected my abilities. And when he tried to gain support for his revolution, I was right there, whispering into the audios of those who could affect change of the corruption that would follow Megatron's great ideals. Because of me, Numglow, the Council rejected his pitch. He wasn't a threat to them until I convinced them he was."
Wait, that didn't sound right. I had been taught enough about the beginning of the war to know that Megatron's thirst for violence caused him to be rejected by the Council. "He was rejected because of his violent solution to dismantle the caste system."
"Ha!" The newly identified Numglow laughed as we clashed blades again. "That's what the official records say, of course. The Council couldn't let why they rejected his pitch enter the public audios. There would have been waves of support from all castes joining him. That was especially true when so many triple-changers joined his ranks before the meeting. Even Orion, who would become Optimus Prime, was left out of the room until they rejected Megatron's proposal, and he started to threaten to tear them down. Gotta give it to that old Council; they could manipulate the masses with style."
We continued to clash blades for a few more nanos before I forced the mech to fall back. What I heard now explained much of what we saw with the Cybertronian Civil War. The sudden change in Megatron's outlook on the war was what he wanted from the start. And the anger he responded to Optimus Prime joining the Council seemed more reasonable now. To that point, his ally had been manipulated by the Council and would not listen to Megatron.
Pandimala needed to know this. She needed to see this. If we both survived the solar, I would ensure I allowed her to watch a patch of this conversation. I needed to keep him talking. If I could, I could get him to spill more. This was the start of my penance to Pandimala for what I did—all of it. Thinking of what he said, I realized that a small part didn't make sense. "Why would having triple changers on his side sway the masses of Cybertron?"
"You are clueless," Numglow laughed. "Back then, triple-changers were practically revered. Outside of the Prime, they were the highest-ranking bots in the caste system. Even the Prime would have to watch his step with them. Why do you think they were sent here for the training you bots offered? Cybertron could not risk the triple-changers rampaging against their way of existence. Vestium Major's failure to train Astrotrain and Octane hit the caste system hard. That was even more so when they joined Megatron's ranks along with Blitzwing. It was also why, despite the backlash that Council meeting had for Megatron, the Decepticons gained so many supporters in their early solars." He then paused and stared at me before he grinned. "But enough of your distractions. It's time for me to claim your helm. I'm sure the helm of the heir of Vestium Major will get me a large,"
I flinched back as, while the mech was talking, a dimorxian dove at the mech and started to tear at his neck cables. His screams filled the air as the giant techno-organic flier devoured him. Thanking Iussa that I was not in the creature's sights, I moved forward. Now, more than before, I needed to reach the embassy. The information the mech gave me would be important to Pandimala, and I needed to start my penance to her.
In the back of my processor, I knew I was partially at fault. I had caused dissension in my family, distracting us from the enemy rising against us. My focus on Pandimala as the enemy blinded me to the real threats surrounding Vestium Major and the Alliance.
A scream coming from my right caused me to stop in my tracks. There, about twenty meters ahead of me, I could see a young labac in a shelter of rubble. Surrounding him, though, were a group of ten fizgigs. For a labac as inexperienced as the young one seemed to be, they would devour him if they broke through his shelter. So, I pushed toward the young one. If I could reach him, I could cut down the creatures and help guide the labac to their embassy.
Snarls from my right were the only warning I got as a pack of pachyphels charged forward. While I was not a part of their diet, the techno-organic creatures habitually charged anything that moved. With their reinforced helms, enough hits from them could offline a bot. And the five coming at me could deal a lot of damage. While I was able to dodge most of them, the fifth one was able to clip my side, throwing me to the ground. When they turned back toward me, I resisted the urge to move. If I stayed still, they may be distracted by other movements and leave me in the clear to reach the labac.
The five creatures stopped and stared at me, seemingly trying to see where I had gone before their heads turned. Something else must have caught their attention. Any relief I felt vanished as the pachyphels charged the moving fizgigs and the young labac in turn. "No!" I yelled as I fought to run forward. But, the damage the pachyphel did to me and my previous damage hindered my movements.
No! I couldn't fail in this! I couldn't!
But even as I thought that, I felt helpless as the pachyphels charged forward. I couldn't reach him in time!
My optics widened as a figure ran from behind the labac's shelter, crushing most of the fizgigs as their blades cut through two pachyphels. "Don't move, Ran'kiel!" Pandimala shouted as she positioned herself above his shelter, crushing the remaining fizgigs as she did. By this point, the remaining pachyphels had turned and started to charge their location.
As each one entered her swords' range, she cut them down. There was no hesitation in her optics. As more creatures charged her position, the Decepticon did not hesitate. Her pedes moved around the labac's shelter as she defended his position. In the firelight surrounding us, I saw the strength Pandimala had. However, instead of seeing a monster, as I had before, I saw a warrior. Nothing was going to get by her. Blood and energon rained from her blades as she cut down the remaining creatures who charged her location.
With the current threats gone, I stood and moved toward the femme as she took a tarp from her subspace. Where had she gotten that? "Pandimala, we've been looking for you," I spoke as she wrapped the tarp around the labac and his war beast.
"I figured," She responded as she picked up the labac and held him out to me. "Get him to the Eternia Embassy. The way behind me should be clear for a few clicks, giving you enough time to get Ran'kiel here to safety. I was going to the embassy when I picked up your signal. So, I bypassed it to give you some backup."
"Thank you," I thanked the femme before remembering the mech I fought. "Pandimala, I need to show you a patch once this is over."
She nodded as I took the labac. "I will make sure I see it. For now, get Ran'kiel to the embassy and make sure he stays wrapped in that. I picked it up to help any organics during this fight. With how injured we are, our energon could hurt them while we are trying to help them." I hadn't even thought about the dangers of energon interacting with organics. How did Pandimala keep such a calm helm during this? "I'm heading to Caribate Square. From what King Poiman's troops told me when I ran into them, a hive link creature controls the rest of these creatures. I'm going to see if I can help slow it down."
While I wanted Pandimala to join me, I knew trying to suggest that to the Decepticon was pointless. From what we had seen, once the femme set her processor to something, we could do little to dissuade her. Grinchain had told me about her first meeting with Iussa and how she dealt with it despite his nervousness. So, I nodded. "Try not to get yourself offlined. It will make sire look bad if his guest offlines during this."
In return, Pandimala smirked. "I'll try my best," she said before she ran toward the square.
Once she was out of sight, I started to make my way to the Eternia Embassy. As I moved, I got on my comm and added my siblings and creators. "I just met with Pandimala. She is headed toward Caribate Square. I'm escorting a young labac to the Eternia Embassy. I'll check in again once I arrive."
As the affirmations started coming in from my family, the young labac in my arms spoke up. "Is she going to be alright?"
While I was unsure of the answer, I had to make sure to ease the young labac's mind. "If anybot can thrash whatever controls these creatures, it will be that Decepticon. Now, let's get you back to your embassy."
Even though those words left my vocals, I felt worried as I moved forward. She had plenty of injuries on her chassis, and I was sure she would gather more. Given my current mission, she needed backup that I couldn't give her. All I could do for her now was pray to Iussa to protect Pandimala in the fight ahead of her.
Pandimala's 1st P.O.V.
My intake struggled to steady themselves as I moved from fight to fight. All of these creatures were slowing me down. At first, I had focused on reaching an embassy to inform them of my status. While I wanted to use my comms to call them, the first creature that attacked me, a techno-organic flying dinosaur Poiman's troops identified as a dimorxian, surprised me. In that surprise attack, it was able to knock out my comms.
I was sure that I was fated to keep damaging that fragging thing.
However, when I was close to the Eternia Embassy, I picked up Firebrand's signal and figured it would be best to support the heir. When I came up on the mech trying to save Ran'kiel, my chassis moved on its own as I tore down the creatures threatening them. Once the area was cleared, I realized I could have Firebrand report my status while I followed up on a rumor Poiman's troops picked up on. If a hive mind was driving all these creatures, cutting that control out should cause the rest of the creatures to become easy pickings.
As I drew closer to the square, the number of creatures defending the area increased. Whatever this creature was, it had to know that we were hunting it. Sheer numbers were its only defense stopping us from reaching the square. Already, I had to fend off a young dweller and two young drillers. Thankfully, the rules for transporting creatures through Facit, where they had to come from, made it clear that creatures like drillers, tyrexians, and dwellers had to be young to be allowed into the city.
And given the size of their adult forms, they weren't being smuggled in.
So, while I had to mind my step as I moved, fighting the ambushes I would face from these creatures was easier than it might have been. Still, I would struggle if I didn't get to the square soon. While I had been able to defeat the creatures that attacked me, I hadn't left some of those fights without injuries. None were critical yet; however, I had to be careful.
A deep roar sounding through the air caused a click of fear to run through my systems. Instincts I never had before my transformation screamed at me to fall back. Whatever was ahead, it was made to hunt me. And since I had not felt the same feeling from the dwellers, drillers, and tyrexians I already faced, I knew that whatever was ahead of me was a greater threat than they were.
The sound of a lighter roar caused me to stand on guard as a young tyrexian charged my location. Despite being young, the creature stood twice my height. As it charged me, I braced myself. While the creature was taller than me, I knew I was smarter than it. So, with a simple motion, I sidestepped the creature's strike before I stabbed it in the side. Despite the creature's pain, it kept charging forward, its instincts to run taking over. However, all it did was cause the beast to die faster. I spared the tyrexian's fallen body a glance before I continued forward.
This was getting tedious. If I kept getting attacked by these creatures, I would arrive at the square too late. Somehow, I needed the hive mind to let me through. But how? Without knowing what kind of creatures I was dealing with, I couldn't know how likely it would be to understand me. Plus, most of the creatures that had been let loose would be challenging to contain while I tried to communicate with the lead mind.
"Pandimala down!"
I immediately dropped to the ground as I heard Sandstorm's vocals call out. A nano later, a shot traveled above me, striking a young dimorxian out of the sky. Once it hit the ground, I didn't hesitate to stand and drive my blade through its neck. As I removed my blade, I turned to Sandstorm, who stopped beside me. "Thanks for that."
The mech nodded before we both moved forward. "I was on my way to the square when Lord Dawnbreaker contacted me with your location. Figured you could use an extra set of optics."
"I appreciate it," I responded as we continued to move forward. "Have you heard anything about what creature is in the square?"
While I felt relief when he nodded, that relief started to wane as I registered the concerned look on the triple-changer's faceplate. "A few of our soldiers are in the square and are reporting that it is a razorhowler."
I was confused, even though I heard the dread in his vocals as he identified the creature. What the frag was a razorhowler? "A razorhowler? What is that?"
He glanced at me with an incredulous look on his faceplate for a few nanos before he must have realized why I was confused. "I still forget that you might not know about lessons we learn at a young age." The air around us seemed to grow heavy as Sandstorm continued. "Razorhowlers were once simple creatures. They were hive-minded but unable to carry any drive toward destruction. That was until Cybertron's Council got their servos on them. They saw the potential for destruction that the creatures carried and drove the creatures to become energon-thirsty. Perfect creatures of destruction for their gladiatorial pit fights. One of the few ever defeated in Pits was by your Lord Megatron to earn his advancement into the higher castes."
As Sandstorm said that, my processor flashed back to the show when Ratchet was telling his version of Lord Megatron's rise. My Lord, standing upon the fallen body of a gigantic creature with spikes adorning its body. That was what I was currently heading toward. "I didn't know the creature's name, but I know what you speak of," I interrupted the mech before he could continue. "Do we know how developed the creature is?" Hopefully, given the size of the one I remembered from the show, this one would have also been limited.
"Thankfully, the reports I have been getting say that it is young," Sandstorm answered, much to my relief. "However, despite that, it still is quite large. It must have been right at the size limit." Slag.
Despite the deterrent of its apparent size, I might be able to use its youth against it. "Do you think I could communicate with it through one of the creatures it's controlling?"
Sandstorm glanced around at my question before he primed his blaster. "Only one way to find out," Then, without hesitation, he fired at a charging pachyphel. The shot hit the creature's leg, causing the pachyphel to collapse.
While the juvenile tried to stand, I quickly closed the distance between myself and the creature before grabbing and lifting it. Once its eyes were level with my optics, I issued my challenge: "Fight us if you dare." I then snapped the creature's neck.
Given the razorhowler's reported youth, I hoped to stoke any competitive edge it may have. Many creatures I knew from Earth would attack any perceived threat to their dominance. Right now, I was banking on the creature having the same reaction. "More incoming," I braced myself as Sandstorm called that out. Focusing in front of us, I steadied my blades as more pachyphels charged forward.
However, when they reached half the distance from us, the herd suddenly veered and charged away. "Guess the razorhowler didn't like my challenge," I commented as we moved forward.
"Apparently," Sandstorm agreed. "Let's keep moving forward. If you're right, we should reach the square soon."
As the two of us continued to move forward, I felt a heavy pressure in the air. The closer we moved the square, the stronger the pressure became. The razorhowler was preparing for us. While we were enjoying a calm approach to the square, I knew that, once we arrived, all Pit would break loose. The increasing smell of burning metal, flesh, and ammunition spoke of that. Nervousness crept into the bottom of my tanks as I continued forward. While I had been able to take on many of the creatures and mercenaries I had come across so far, I knew that the razorhowler would be an even more challenging opponent.
Even though this was a young one, it was still the same kind of creature that Lord Megatron had to fight to win his way out of the Pits of Kaon. The corrupt bots back then would not have made that fight easy. Honestly, they would have tried to sabotage it as much as they could get away with. Fighting the caste system, any enemies my Lord had back then would have used the fight to take him out. So, not only did my Lord defeat a creature trained to kill us, but he also defeated his opponents.
In comparison, taking out this juvenile would be easy.
…Easy, right. I was kidding myself.
I focused as we stepped into the square. Dead bodies and offline chassis were spread across the archways and pillars in a way that made it look like macabre garlands were decorating the creature's home. Energon and blood mixed as it dripped down around us. My tanks almost wanted to empty at the sight.
However, I couldn't afford that weakness now. Not with the creature staring at me from across the square. The creature was easily four times my height and triple that in weight. From how it moved, I wouldn't have to worry about blitzes. Two large main eyes focused on me as the eight smaller ones moved randomly. If I had to guess, it was watching the destruction it was causing through the hive link it had made with the rest of these creatures.
As I stared into its main eyes, I felt a shiver travel down my backplates. Instincts I never had before told me that this thing was crafted to hunt us. To hunt me. Even though I had plenty of difficult battles before this, I knew this would be my most challenging one yet. If I was to return to my Lord, I would have to push past all of my limits to destroy this creature. "So, you aren't a coward, at least," I called to the creature as I drew out both blades. "For me to return to my Lord, you must die. So lie down like a good little glitch and die quickly."
I had to resist the urge to cover my audios as the razorhowler let out an immortal screech before it started to charge forward.
While it was by no means fast, it was moving much faster than I thought it would be. Raising my blades toward it, I let out my battle cry before charging forward.
Scorchflint's 1st P.O.V.
I let out a vent as I cut down another creature. Here in the square, it was hard enough to keep the blasted things contained, let alone try and watch the fight going on in the center. I wasn't sure if she was a genius or just plain crazy, but according to Sandstorm, the femme had outright challenged the fragging razorhowler to fight her. Surprisingly, the thing listened. But, of course, given the history of the creatures with Cybertron, it might have had some deep-rooted hatred toward any that looked like us. And given that Pandimala challenged the creature directly, it wouldn't have let that challenge go unanswered.
And, while the femme was being kept on the tip of her pedes, the few glances I got at the fight told me she could damage said monster. Risking another glance at the fight, I couldn't help but marvel at the way the femme moved about the field. Bots as large as she was should not be able to move that fluidly and agilely as she was. Despite knowing her history, it was still incredible that the Decepticons could keep her out of any reports and away from the Autobots on the planet.
"Sir," I glanced at Bastof as he stopped beside me. From how his intakes were backfiring, he had taken more damage internally than he looked. "The numbers are starting to decrease."
Glancing around, I noted that he was right. The number of creatures our squad had come upon here in the square had seemed to stretch on forever. I was sure I would lose my spark here among the monsters. However, we had held on as more of the guard had joined us along with squads from other embassies. With all that power, we had entered an impasse with the fighting. At that point, I had been pretty content with the pace of the fighting. Worst-case scenario, we would have to outlast them as we slowly took out their numbers.
And then Sandstorm and Pandimala arrived.
I had noticed a slight change before their arrival but hadn't thought much of it—just the juvenile razorhowler getting distracted by the different creatures it was controlling. But when the creatures suddenly cleared a space for Sandstorm and Pandimala to walk through, I realized that one of them must have challenged the creature, and the creature must have accepted the challenge.
I had known Sandstorm for almost our entire existences and knew that he wouldn't have done that, so that had left Pandimala.
That guess was proven correct as the femme had charged the razorhowler, which had made its way toward her, and the fighting in the square intensified.
Now that time had passed since their duel began, I realized Bastof was correct. As Pandimala and the creature continued to fight, the creatures seemed to dwindle in numbers. Not only that, as I cut down a pachyphel that tried to charge, I realized that they were becoming less focused than they had been before.
"Pandimala's doing better than she looks like she is," I agreed with his statement before diverting another pachyphel away.
Bastof took down a dimorxian before he responded. "Sir, when we clear the square, should we,"
A pained roar from the creature caused me to look toward the razorhowler. There was a large gash starting behind its right eye and traveling down and across its body. Pandimala was already moving to the side as the creature tried to move around and get another hit on her. But that injury must have slowed it down more than expected as Pandimala danced out of its range.
In an instant after that, Pandimala turned away from me and tried to move her blades up. Before I could even register what was happening, a large pachyphel slammed into her crossed swords, pushing her back. This was the first time the razorhowler had used another creature in their fight. The large pachyphel pushed Pandimala back for a few nanos before a large snapping sound filled the air. My spark felt like it had stopped as Pandimala's blades shattered, and she was thrown back, skidding across the ground for a few nanos before she stopped.
Instincts kicked in as I moved forward, blade at the ready, and charged the pachyphel. It took me about ten steps to intercept the creature and take a swing at its neck. Thankfully, the razorhowler had it focused on Pandimala, so it could do nothing as I removed its head. After a glance at said razorhowler, to make sure it wouldn't charge me, I turned and ran to where Pandimala was lying.
"Bastof, let me know if that thing starts coming over here!" I yelled at the mech as I knelt by the femme. "Pandimala, are you alright?" There was no vocal response from her, though her optics moving told me that she was still online. The hit from the pachyphel might have been just unexpected enough to send her into shock. "Pandimala, we need you to focus!" I yelled at her before flicking her on the helm.
Her optics immediately focused on me as she seemed to come to herself. "That fragging thing," Her intakes were misfiring as she spoke. While I would generally force troops off the field at this point, I knew that Pandimala wouldn't listen. Not until the razorhowler was taken care of. And we didn't have the troops to spare to attack the thing like she was doing. "That fragging thing cheated," I shivered at the acidity in her vocals. The femme then sat up before she looked at the broken blades in her servos. "And it cheating took out my weapons."
I could hear the defeat in her vocals, and she had every right to sound so. It was still strange to think of a Decepticon with so few weapons. I thought Physis had been lying when her scans returned to say she only had her two swords. It was so minimalist that he had to miss something. But every other scan she had taken since then showed the same thing; without her t-cog in operation, that was all she had.
And now she was defenseless against the creature we needed her to take down.
Glancing at my servo, I considered letting her borrow my sword. But it was much shorter than the ones she had, and I wasn't sure if she could fight with it well enough to win. Shaking my helm, I looked at her. "If you can use it," I started to ask as I held out the hilt of my sword.
"Don't bother," she interrupted me before coughing for a few nanos. "I tried using Dreadwing's once. It was not a good experience." Her intakes stuttered a little. "I wouldn't be able to use that against a pachyphel, let alone against that thing." She ended with a glare toward the creature.
"Good thing I got here in time, then." We both turned to see Garl walking up to us. Over his shoulder were two very large packages.
"They're done?" Pandimala asked, hope back in her vocals.
The labac nodded before he sat down the packages next to her. "Got them done this morning. I was going to try and get them to you before the banquet, but I had some other business that came up." He then let out a laugh. "Better late than never."
By this point, Pandimala had stood back on her pedes and had unwrapped the hilts of what I assumed were replacement blades. As she pulled the blades free from their bindings, my optics widened as I studied the blades. Garl must have spent a lot of time getting those just right. The craftsmanship on them alone would typically be worth millions of credits. As electricity started dancing across the blades, I knew they were made specifically for Pandimala. Her new blades seemed to dance as she test-swung each of them. "They're perfect, Garl," Pandimala agreed as she turned to look at the razorhowler. "Do me a favor, you two," she said, letting out another cough. I felt worried as I saw energon in the corner of her mouth. "Don't let anything else get between me and that thing for five more clicks." She then smirked, a dark gleam coming to her optics. "This will be over soon.'' Then, with speed I didn't think she had left, Pandimala launched toward the razorhowler.
Garl took his blade off his back. "I'll take her left if you have her right."
I nodded at him and gripped my blade tighter before I rejoined the fight. And a fight it was. As I heard the razorhowler's cries of pain, more creatures flooded the square. It was taking every iota of focus I had to keep the creatures away from Pandimala. The razorhowler had to know that it was losing and was trying to get anything through. However, despite the numbers it was trying to send through, more and more reinforcements were arriving in the square. Beings of all kinds were joining the fight here, keeping the creatures at bay as Pandimala fought the razorhowler.
A long roar from the creature caused the creatures around the square to pause and scatter. With the threat away from me, I took the risk to look toward Pandimala. There she was, hanging off the creature's face by her blades. Said blades were embedded into the creature's skull, electricity flowing from them to the razorhowler's brain. The creature reared up on its hind legs momentarily before it charged forward, Pandimala clinging to her blades to keep her in place.
I winced as the razorhowler crashed into the storefront at the far side of the square. But, as much as I wanted to go and check on Pandimala, I needed the dust to settle first. If the creature were still alive, it would be too dangerous to get near them right now, both for me and for Pandimala. It took a few clicks, but finally, the view of the creature became clear as the dust settled. Deep gashes adorned its body as it lay there, still and lifeless.
With that visual confirmation, I didn't hesitate to run forward, climbing over the creature's corpse to get to its helm. Since Pandimala had yet to make herself known, she might be unable to get out of there. Before that final strike against the razorhowler, Pandimala's health had already looked bad. With the hits she had to take at that last charge, plus any hits it landed on her before that, Pandimala might not even be conscious.
Once I reached the front of the creature, I frantically scanned the store, a flickering light my only help in that endeavor, until I finally saw her. "I need a medic at my location now!" I yelled into my comm as I ran to her side. The femme was still conscious by some miracle, though it looked like she was barely that. "Pandimala, can you hear me?" I asked the femme as I knelt next to her.
Her helm struggled to straighten itself as she glanced at me. "Is it…Is it dead?" Of course, she wanted confirmation.
So, I nodded. "As dead as it can be. You did good work, femme."
Pandimala let out a chuckle at that, though each outtake sounded strained. "About slagging time. That thing," She interrupted herself with a cough. "Didn't want to go down easy. Fragger."
It was difficult not to roll my optics as she responded like that—a typical Pandimala response: "Only you would be mad at the creature that normally takes a squad to take down because it wouldn't fall to you fast enough."
A laugh escaped me as she looked indignant at that. "I did enough," More coughs. "Damage to the slagging thing to drop three of them. It tried to take me with it, though."
I placed a servo against her shoulder as she tried to sit up. "Nope. You stay down there until you get looked at."
While a groan that sounded too annoyed slipped from her vocals, Pandimala didn't fight me and laid back down. "Physis is going to offline me."
"Probably," I agreed with her. He had just finished fixing what he could and was waiting for her t-cog and wings to heal. He would be furious at the amount of damage she accrued this solar. "I'm glad I'm not you." It was best for now to keep her talking until a medic could start looking at her.
Her optics were offline, but she still answered me. "If I act unconscious, he might not yell at me so much." She went into a series of coughs at that.
I shook my helm at her useless optimism. Physis was going to tear her apart. "You keep dreaming, femme."
A defeated groan escaped her vocals as the medics finally reached us. Not one of ours, but I recognized Gatringle from Eskabar and Dezzin from Airlandia. "We'll take her until Physis gets here. He was making his way here. I'd say he was five clicks behind us," Dezzin explained as the two started working on the femme.
Since she was in good servos, I stood and moved away to avoid being in the way. The medics would have a lot of work to get Pandimala stable enough to move to one of the medical tents already being set up. She had done more than enough for the fight. It was our turn now.
Michael: *impressed* Some being was able to ship a razorhowler? They are difficult to transport, to say the least. The tranquilizers alone cost a fortune. That is even for a youth.
Authoress: *confused* How do you know how much a razorhowler costs to ship?
Michael: *smirks* I don't kiss and tell.
Authoress: *raises eyebrow back before smiling* Yes, you do. Pandimala would agree to that if she wasn't half offline again.
Michael: Ah, that's true. However, now that you've brought up that second bit, you and I need to discuss improving security around Pandimala.
Authoress: *motions to writing* I did and look what happened? Short of tying her down for all existence, there isn't much more I can do.
AN: And here is the next chapter! There is so much going on here that I am not sure where to begin. And I don't want to go into a spiel about every part of the chapter. I guess one of the important parts that happened was the brief appearance of Numglow. In this universe, he was a much bigger threat to Megatron than he ever knew. I'm not sure if it is going to end up the same in Valor since Pandimala is there, but we'll have to wait and see. I love inter-twining my universes, so there may be some value in what he said here. At least Pandimala will be aware of what happened and will be able to show Lord Megatron the memory once Firebrand shows it to her. Thank the Allspark said prince got his helm out of his aft. Better late than never.
Speaking of that, it is a good thing that Garl was able to find Pandimala with her new blades. Having so few weapons and then breaking them in the middle of her fight could have gone very badly. Of course, poor Pandimala will now have to face the wrath of Physis once he gets to her. Poor femme can't seem to catch a break from the medics. Oh well, she'll learn to eventually.
For now, I think that is all I will be speaking on. So, as a reminder, here is the next chapter name!
Chapter 21: A Debt Extending Time.
The chapter should be updated in a bit. If I don't get it soon, though, you will see it tomorrow or at some point this weekend. Thanks again for all of the support. Until next we meet, TTYL! *listening to Storm the Castle by Galactikraken and Jonathan Young*