3- Assault, Surprises and Flight
The sun started to rise above the junkyard. Ash could fell the sun rays waking him up, since he and his friends decided to sleep in the open like if they were camping. At recalling their stay there was thanks to the many people who now knew about the Autobots' presence on Earth, he remembered to text his mother for her to know he and everyone were fine. Meanwhile, far from there, Darkscream was standing in front of a huge number of Decepticon volunteers which formed his strike force, Stinger was between them, as many others as Roadkill, Nightbird, Quake, Shatter and Dropkick, Drag Strip, Undermine, Motormaster, the Alpha Insecticons and of course his Seekers.
"Hear me mindfully Decepticons, we have come across a unique chance on history, one we cannot afford to let go. Lord The Fallen has trusted me the assembly of the best members for this strike team to ensure the success of this mission, so failure is not an option. I expect each and all of you to perform as you never done before, do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, general Darkscream." All said at the same time.
"I have never seen Darkscream so serious like that before." Spacestream murmured.
"He must be taken serious being one of The Fallen's second in command." Thundercracker deduced.
"And that each of us has been chosen by himself? Do you know anything about this, Stinger?" Roadkill asked her pal.
"The only thing I can tell you is that if we accomplish it will change our future for better. There's a certain object in enemies' possession and we are going to retrieve it."
"So it's a search and recover mission." Shatter understood.
"And if we snuff off a few Bots on the way, better for me." Dropkick smirked.
"Everyone is loaded and ready, awaiting your command." Slisptream reported.
"Today we hunt Autobots." Darkscream proclaimed, being that the signal for the Decepticons to start the assault, so they transformed and headed for their target.
Unaware of the incoming threat, it seemed that the Autobots and their human and pokémon companions were at the Decepticons' hands, but as the raiders were approaching the junkyard, they didn't realize they activated a few items cloaked on their way. While this happened, alarms sounded around all the place.
"Arg, what's that sound?!" Lana complained.
"Is that some kind of alarm?" Kiawe asked.
"Yes, and it's not for fire alarm! Something has triggered the outer perimeter's sensors, something is coming here!" Clemont traduced.
"So that means…?" Dawn started.
"That someone is going to pay us a visit, and it's not friendly." Ash realized. "We need to get out of here!"
"Everyone listen up, this place has been discovered, enemies incoming! Sixty seconds to evac! We gotta roll out now!" Perceptor shouted.
"You heard him everyone, let's move!" Ironhide repeated before starting taking guns as turning at Hound. "Grab as many weapons as you can, we must not leave any of use to the Cons."
"Chill out Hide, I got this covered. Take everyone out of here, I'll buy some time."
"Naha, not this time. Optimus don't want anyone to be a hero, let's move!" Chromia objected.
Hound groaned in annoyance before following them. "But I was born to be a hero."
"Kids, you and your buddies go first! Make sure you have everything, we're leaving!"
Following Hot Rod's instructions, each human made sure it had all its stuff, in Clemont's case Sophocles and Wedge had to give him a hand, and met with their corresponding partner at the back exit. Moments later the Decepticons finally stormed from the main entrance, it didn't took them long to secure the place, too easy.
"Darkscream, they got up out of here." Drag Strip reported after searching through the command center.
Quake groaned in annoyance. "I crushed more buckets in Cybertron."
"The end is near, old treacherous friend. What a shame you'll be unable to see it." Darkscream said to the half of Lockdown's head before covering his face with a new battle mask (leaving it to look a Starscream's face of the movies).
Suddenly an explosion occurred in front of him. "Come and get some, you little scraplets!"
It was Hound, who came out shooting lots of raid shots, forcing the Decepticons to take cover. But Darkscream faced him valiant and fired his weapons, hitting the Autobot. But at the moment he vanished like nothing, leaving no remains, not even the marks of his shots.
"No no no, it was a hologram, they tricked us!" Darkscream realized.
"Yeah, they are too scared to fight us head on." Kickback celebrated, making Darkscream to grab him by the neck.
"No, you idiot! It was a distraction, they are getting away!"
"They will not reach far." Stinger reassured looking his wrist terminal, which showed a red spot moving in a map.
Meanwhile…
"The holographic decoys have been activated, it should gave us enough time." Clemont reported looking his laptop.
"Woah, you have worked on the junkyard's defenses?" Ritchie asked in disbelief.
"I simply came up with the suggestions, Perceptor and Blaster helped with the design and everything else."
"You have become a genius by your own too." May complemented.
"So where are we going now?" Goh asked.
"Yeah, it isn't supposed we should bridge back to New Iacon?" Mallow pointed.
"This is not an evacuation, but a tactical retreat. We still have to know how the Cons managed to discover us here, so we are going to lure them right where we want." Springer revealed.
"There's a town up ahead, the perfect place to hide. Ratchet, are you already there?"
"Indeed Clemont, I'm starting to coordinate things right here. For the moment you arrive it will take just some moments to organize everything." The Autobot medic confirmed by com-link.
The group arrived to a small town, where Ratchet waited for them. Luckily for them the town was abandoned, so they didn't need to worry about collateral damage.
"Alright everyone, we all know our positions and what to do." Ratchet announced.
Springer was the first to transform. "Tactical positions, let's go!"
"We gotta prepare everything for our guests." Warpath added.
"Prepare what?" Bonnie asked.
"Turn this ghost town into a deadly town, its going to be wired and rigged. A little surprise for the Cons." Wheeljack explained as he started to place some explosives.
Understanding that time was something they could waste as their enemies came closer, the gang also helped settling everything up, making sure to not carry anything too much delicate or dangerous.
As they were helping, Serena noticed something blinking. "Ash, what is this?"
"What is what?"
"You got something on your bag. It seems to be blinking."
"Please, tell me it's not an astray mini explosive." Ash begged, not moving just in case, as Fixit took it.
"Relax, it is not. But now that I see it, this looks like a tracker."
"A tracker?"
"This must be how they found us."
"So, I lead them right to us?"
"Don't blame yourself Ash, it was the Cons, probably you didn't notice. But now we are the ones who are going to catch them off guard." Perceptor reassured.
After installing everything, everyone hid around the town, ready to fight, with eyes on where supposedly the Decepticons would come. Even the gang prepared themselves, with some of their pokémon awaiting and Ash, Ritchie, Clemont, May, Goh, Kiawe and Mallow with cybertronian weapons at hand.
"Here they come. Everyone, get ready, don't attack until I say." Ironhide instructed.
In that moment they saw the Decepticons arriving at town's main street.
"Yeah, Decepticons are in the streets." Skywarp announced transforming and landing.
"I smell a fight coming." Hardshell said eager to fight.
"Search the town. He's here." Darkscream commanded.
"You'll see what we are capable of." Host said. "Hey you Bots, where are you?!"
"Come out wherever you are. If you don't we will demolish this town to the ground." Undermine menaced obliterating part of a building with a punch.
"It's an abandoned town, knuckledhead, there's no fun in destroying this." Motormaster corrected.
"Come out boy, I know you can hear me. You have something in your power that we want, and we will not leave until we find it." Darkscream called.
Ash knew he was talking to him, so he decided to try something.
"Guys, I wanna try something." He said to his friends.
Moments later…
"Hey Scream, I'm right here." Ash said getting out of his hiding place, while his pals, and the mysterious cloaked figure from before, watched him carefully.
"Ah finally, I see you have decided to cooperate." Darkscream smiled.
"Wait, where's the little yellow critter?" Sunstorm said, noticing Pikachu was not with Ash.
"You mean the pokémon?" Red Wing corrected.
"It isn't suppose it always goes where he goes?"
"Ash Ketchum, I need that talisman. Give it to us and we will leave you and your friends unharmed. You have my word."
"Do you really expect me to trust your words after everything I saw coming from you, Scream? Besides, this was entrusted to me, I will not disappoint the memory of that knight by giving it to guys like you."
"Such a shame, looks like we will have to take it by force." Motormaster smirked pulling out his sword.
Although seemed like negotiation, Ash was actually distracting the Decepticons while Bumblebee was approaching silently. Once near enough he charged against them, but Stinger saw him coming and fired his plasma cannon. The impact hit Bee on the chest, making his body to split in pieces completely.
"Bumblebee!" Lillie cried.
Stinger put his foot on Bee's head. "Hahaha, so much for a great warrior. This was your plan B?"
"Oh no, not at all." Ash responded with a smile, which confused the Decepticons.
"Then what is it?" Acidstorm asked confused.
"A big mistake." Max said smiling.
Out of sudden, what was formerly Bee's hand grabbed Stinger's foot and pulled from him, while his other pulled out his weapon and fired at the Decepticon group, surprising them. Added to this all parts of Bumblebee's body started to move by their own, joining together between the Decepticons while they watched in disbelief, and trying to dodge being hit. As result Bee's body joined together, now being who put a foot on Stinger's chest.
"A little advice, next time you shoot somebody don't go near them till you're sure they're off." Bee mocked.
"What?! A complete magnetized reconstruction? Impossible!" Thundercracker shouted in disbelief.
Ash took the chance to fire his gun at Darkscream's shoulder. "Now!"
Following his signal, suddenly the whole floor beneath the Decepticons sank down, thanks to Iris's Gible, Excadrill and Diggerby. While Ash and Bee retreated back, Pikachu, Sparky, Pachirisu, Luxray, Heliolisk and Dedenne Took chance to use their electric attacks to zap the Cons.
"Get those vile beings!" Darkscream ordered while they recovered.
"I'm on'em!" Drag Strip nodded.
But immediately, Wheeljack activated the explosives, detonating them by surprise around the Decepticons. That caught the Decepticons by surprise, followed by the shots fired by the gang's weapons and the Autobots. The Decepticons tried their best to counter, but they were attacked from all directions.
"This was supposed to be an assault performed by us, not a trap for us!" Ion Storm complained.
"I hate to admit it, but we are gonna need help." Thundercracker nodded.
"This is general Darkscream, requesting heavy reinforcements right now!"
A ground bridge opened right behind the Decepticons, and a lot of Decepticon troops came out to support their allies.
"Track down the kid! We need the talisman!" Darkscream instructed.
"Ash, keep moving! We'll cover you!" Chromia shouted.
Since he gathered all the Decepticons' attention, Ash tried his best to not get caught, firing them back when he could with Pikachu, with Serena alongside Pancham, Sylveon and Delphox watching his back (with the moves Dark Pulse, Fairy Wind and Mystical Fire). And he wasn't alone, everyone was doing their best. Stinger was busy with Bee and Hot Rod, and still shocked by Bee's miraculous reconstruction; the Seekers, despise being more in number, were being outmatched by Jetfire, Silverbolt and Air Raid; Roadkill and Nightbird were focused on Arcee, Chromia and Moonracer; Springer managed to match Motormaster's sword skill; Warpath rumbled with Quake; Mirage used his fake doubles to confuse the Insecticons and counter them, same as Smokescreen with his signature weapon; Drag Strip tried to catch up with Ash using his fast speed, but Sideswipe and Sunstreaker didn't allow him, smashing him in vehicle mode from different sides; Hound and Ironhide were who surprised the most, using their heavy guns to stand their ground against the largest amount of Deccepticon foot soldiers, heavy and light troops; Perceptor made use of his logistic analysis tools to aim the cannon of his vehicle form, which was an advanced cybertronian tank, to take down the snipers; Strongarm and Nautica managed to prevent Shatter and Dropkick to advance using their cover and time to fire wisely, assisted by Wheeljack's explosives. Ratchet was also present, using his repair ray to fix any wounds his team mates may receive, until Spacestream noticed this and fired him on the shoulder, alarming Wedge and Whirl, who were near to keep the humans safe, and went to his need.
"Ratchet, are you okay?"
"Urg, I've been worse Clemont, easy. Actually this may be the perfect chance to test my new emergency self-repair." The Autobot medic revealed, pressing one button on his wrist terminal, making blue currents of light to flow through his body. When it ended, his injured were fixed.
"Wow, that's cool."
Back to the fight, Jazz and Cliffjumper were eliminating the Decepticon tanks with their exceptional teamwork; Drift and Windblade performed a combined attack.
"I got the leg!" She announced cutting a leapers' leg with her swords, before Drift cut off the head.
"There goes his fat head!"
The gang supported their best in the battle, so their pokémon, which used their moves by their own, surely their trainers instructed them how to act before when they were getting ready: most of them moved around the battlefield engaging the Decepticons without stop moving (Sparky stunned them with Thunder Shock and charged with Volt Tackle, the same as Espy using Psychic to paralyze and striking with Psybeam, Staryu moved between the enemies with Rapid Spin surprising them with Swift, same as Wartortle but with Ice Punch, Quilava used Smokescreen to confuse them and strike with Flame Wheel, Luxray zapped them with Electric Terrain and finished with Wild Charge, Excadrill rammed into them with Drill Run and battled close range with Metal Claw, Magearma tackled them with Rollout and used Fleur Cannon at distance, Tsareena engaged with Magical Leaf before getting close to attack with Trop Kick); others attacked from the air (Zippo in his mega form attacked from the distance with Fire Spin and Steel Wing for close combat, just like Kiawe's Charizard with Aerial Ace and Flamethrower, Rose used Double Team to confuse the Insecticons and surprise them with Steel Wing and Brave Bird, Scyther tackled them with X-Scissor and attacked at distance with Razor Wind, Beautifly did the same with Silver Wind and Aerial Ace, Togekiss used Aura Sphere at distance and Sky Attack directly, Dragonite rammed into them with Dragon Rush and Thunder Punch for close combat, Vikabolt employed String Shot to blind the Cons followed by Zap Cannon); ones used their moves for sabotage or slow down (Dedenne used Thunder Shock, Cruise and Iris's Gible employed Sandstorm, Snowy alongside Skitty assisted with cold by using Powder Snow and Blizzard and Heliolisk helped with Flash); while he defended with Bubble Beam, Piplup used Whirlpool so Gyarados and Primarina could stood safely to help, one with Hurricane and Flamethrower and the other with Surf and Aqua Jet; and others decided to face them as well as the Autobots, head on (Golduck faced them with Giga Impact and Focus Punch, Blaziken mega-evolved with combinations of Sky Uppercut and Blaze Kick and sometimes with Overheat, same as Cinderace with Blaze Kick, Double Kick and Pyro Ball, Diggerby surprised coming out of the ground with Dig and Hammer Arm, Mamoswine used Ice Fang and Take Down, Haxorus battled with Outrage and Psycho Cut). Ash also sent some of his pokémon to assist in the battle: Sceptile, Infernape and Greninja faced the Cons directly with Leaf Blade and Solar Beam, Flare Blitz and Mach Punch and Water Shuriken followed by Cut; Melmetal used Thunder Shock to stun followed by Zap Cannon and Double Iron Bash when they gathered together, and Torterra stood his ground covering the others with Leaf Storm and Energy Ball. Because of all the mess, only Undermine managed to follow Ash.
"You are not gonna get away from me. Come here, boy!" The Dinocon demanded changing to his dino form.
Fortunately Grimlock intercepted him, covering Ash, Serena and the pokémon with his huge size. That gave them a relief, until their path was blocked by a wall of flames, followed by familiar roars. They looked above and spotted the 3 Predacons approaching them, while this happened Ash was dragged inside the building next to them without warning. He tried to scream, but someone covered his mouth.
"It's okay, we're safe. Everything is going to be fine now."
"What are you talking about?" Ash asked, wanting to know who was the one who was holding him.
Back outside the Predacons approached ready to attack, but fortunately Predaking and the rest of the Dinobots faced them, forcing them to focus their attention on their new opponents.
"Darkscream, this is not looking good. We are losing too many troops very fast." Spacestream reported as they noticed the Autobots were making advances.
"Decepticons, retreat!"
"Serena! Where's Ash?" Max asked, arriving with Bonnie.
"Well, he's...Wait, he was here just a second."
"Where did he go?" Bonnie asked.
Pikachu responded smelling around until he followed his scent into the building. Meanwhile inside…
"Let me go, my friends may need me!"
"Easy boy, the only one who's getting out of here is you. I'm going to take you home."
When Ash looked at the person in front of him he saw it was an adult man, and that he wasn't holding him with force. And then, when the light allowed him to look at his face better, he got shocked at recognizing him.
"D...dad?"
"Ash! Are you in here?" Max called as he and the others got inside.
"It's okay guys, I'm fine."
"And who is this person? Is he trying to kidnap you?"
"Haha, no no Bonnie, it's fine. He's...my father."
Everyone got speechless, Serena most of all. "You...you are… Ash's father?"
A sudden shake that the building suffered made Ash's father to take command. "Come on, we should be safe on the roof."
"Eh, hi mister, I'm Serena. I'm...em...I'm dating his son. I'm just telling since, you know, we never met until now…" Serena started to say, a little nervous since it was their first encounter, as they got into an elevator.
"Wow, and who is that?"
The one Max noticed was another who was in the elevator with them: the very same human size cybertronian was there.
"Hello Master Ash, I have been sent to collect you."
"Me? Wait, you know me?"
"At this point there is no one who has not heard of you."
"Is that...one of those weird robots?" Ash's father tried to deduce as he stood between the kids and the new robot.
"Are you an Autobot?" Bonnie asked.
"It isn't obvious, little lady?"
"Lady? Why do you talk like that?"
"You look like a waiter, or more like a butler." Serena noticed.
"You are very keen, grateful lady. But we should be more aware of that strange object which is currently heading at us."
Just as the Minibot noticed, a huge glove attached to a cable broke through the glass and grabbed Pikachu, taking him away.
"Pikachu!"
Then they heard very familiar laughs.
"Prepare for trouble."
"So make it double."
"Surprises don't cease today." Max said.
"To protect the world from devastation!"
"To unite all people within our nation!"
"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"
"To extend our reach to the stars above!"
"Jessie!"
"James!"
"Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light!"
"Surrender now or prepare for a real military fight!"
"Meowth, that's right!"
"Wobbuffet!"
"Team Rocket?!" The kids yelled.
"Who are they? Some friends of yours?"
"No mister, they are very bad guys who steal other people's pokémon." Bonnie clarified.
"That should be refereed as kidnapping." The robot said.
"What are you guys doing here? And in a moment like this?" Serena demanded.
"Yeah, we admit getting in middle of a battle doesn't seem like a wise idea." Jessie started.
"But then we thought what other great chance to sneak and grab Pikachu than a huge chaotic scenery?" James continued.
"And that's how we now have him." Meowth proclaimed holding Pikachu inside another cage for him.
"Pika pi!"
"Hey, give me back my buddy!"
Ash reacted so fast than not even Team Rocket expect it, jumping to the edge of the balloon before it started to float away.
"Ash!" Serena yelled.
"Hang on, don't fall!" His father shouted.
"Oh, I am so clumsy!" The robot complained for himself.
"Are you okay?" Bonnie asked.
"No, he's no okay, he's hanging on a balloon and they're taking away his friend."
"Come on twerp, let it go." Jessie said.
"Accept that we have won and we will leave you in peace once and for all." Meowth insisted.
"Never! I will never let you get away with this!" Ash responded trying to climb up the balloon.
"Hum, so that's it. The young sire will not leave until he has his friend back. If you excuse me." The robot said before jumping right into the balloon, in front of Team Rocket.
"Huh? Who is this?" James asked.
"What you are doing is very ugly and is not very appropriated, so you better show a little education and return that little being back with the young master."
"Who do you think you are to tell us what we can and we can't do, a teacher?" Jessie insulted.
"You better go away if you don't want to be turned into scrap." Meowth threatened scratching the robot's hand with his claws.
"Now you're all on my black list."
Without warning, the robot grabbed Meowth by his tail and started to swing him around against his pals with great precision as a weapon. That made him release Pikachu's cage, which the robot caught and broke, releasing him and thanking the robot cuddling his head.
"Yeah yeah, I am glad that you are fine too. You are welcome. Now, if you lady and gentlemen excuse us, goodbye."
The robot ignited one of his fingers, right to the balloon, causing it to break and fly out of control. Followed by instinct, Ash jumped out when the balloon was near enough to the floor, while Team Rocket disappeared in the sky like usual.
"Team Rocket is blasting off again!"
"Ash! Are you okay, did you get hurt?" Ash's father asked after meeting him.
"No, I'm fine." He responded before Pikachu jumped to his arms. "Haha, hey buddy, I'm glad you are fine."
"Pika pika. Chu."
"That Pikachu and you look very close."
"Yeah, he is my very first pokémon, and since the first moment we have passed through a lot together."
"Ah, there you are, good to find you alive. Just like nothing happened." The new robot said arriving with the others. "Let's make you presentable." And he pulled out a little brush which he used to clean Ash completely.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Ash's father asked.
"Shiny, spic and span. You look better already, young sir."
"Is that….perfume?" Serena smelt.
"Ideal to clean any unwanted stink which can ruin any acceptable presentation."
"Aha, there you are!"
Everyone got alarmed when the one who shouted, Skywarp, appeared right on front of them. Well, not the new one.
"Will you mind, sir? We are having a civilized conversation." The small robot simply said without turning his look from Ash.
"Get away, is a Decepticon!" Serena urged.
"Ha, you only have a Minibot to protect you?" Skywarp laughed as he was about to grab him.
But when the Seeker was about to touch him, the robot grabbed him by the finger and twisted it. "Don't attack the messenger or the messenger will harm you."
"ARGH, my finger! It hurts, it hurts a lot!" Skywarp complained holding his finger moving away with hurry.
"Hahaha, such a great warrior he is." Sunstreaker laughed as he and other Autobots gathered around them.
"Wow, you managed to beat him just with that? You are amazing." Bonnie complemented.
"Sometimes size isn't everything."
"Who are you?" Ash finally asked.
"My name is Cogman sir, and I am here because of that." The Minibot named Cogman said pointing at where the talisman now was, attached to Ash's arm.
"Huh? How curious, I didn't remember it being there like that." He tried to take it off, but it didn't move. "It look like stuck."
"Well, at least its intact, not like your shirt." His father noticed, seeing now a hole where the talisman could be seen.
"It looks like you could have been hurt, but maybe that thing protected you." Serena theorized.
"That's right, that is here because of you, it will not leave you until your quest is fulfilled." Cogman nodded. "You have been chosen."
"What do you mean chosen?" Ash asked confused.
"I will explain everything if you'll kindly come with me."
"What? No way, that's not gonna happen. The only place my son is going now is Pallet Town. We're going back home." Ash's father protested.
"Hum, actually dad, I think it's preferable that I go with him."
"What? Ash, seriously? I'm trying to take you far from all this madness."
"But the Decepticons have come because of this. I can't just ran away like that, they will just keep coming."
"I'm afraid the young master is right, all this ballyhoo is on his account. If you want to safe your friends you will leave them." Cogman continued.
"Wait, and refuse to fight on their side when they need me the most? I can't do that."
"Your friends will be safe in your absence, in your presence unsafe. You are more important than you can possibly imagine. You are needed sir, urgently. Our leader used to say that all the important decisions in life often come down to just one moment."
"That phrase...it was something Sentinel Prime used to tell me in times of desperate choices." Optimus realized, speaking through the com-link.
"So, it means that Cogman is one of yours?" Max asked, just to be sure.
"Indeed. He was selected as first choice for ambassador in case of possible encounter with other sentient life forms." Ratchet revealed. "He was evacuated with the first wave before the fall of Cybertron. Although I have no idea how long he was been here."
"Ash, something tells me if we want to know why the Decepticons are after the talisman we must reach to the bottom of this matter. I'm sure Sentinel would have agreed if he was here." Optimus advised.
"Go with him, we will keep the Decepticons busy, buy you enough time for you to escape." Elita added.
Ash looked at his friends, who were now present while the Autobots were ending dealing with the enemy, still unsure about it. Then Serena approached him, gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Don't worry, we'll be fine. It's you who are more in danger, so its me who should worry. Just be careful, watch out for him, okay Pikachu?"
"Pika pika." Pikachu nodded.
"Okay Cogman, let's go." Ash accepted.
"Great, then we are going to Galar. Just one problem: I took the trouble to come here on my own, so we need a fast and, if possible, safe mode of transport."
"I think I can provide you with the perfect choice for that, Cogman. Just keep us updated about your progress."
"It will be a pleasure, Prime."
"Wait, are you serious son? We should look for a place where we will be safe."
"Giving how things are right now, the weight I just got on my shoulders and the among of time you have been around me since last time I doubt you are the one who should make the decisions regarding my safety, dad." Ash answered back, but with a little tone of anger, to his father, something the others noticed.
"Rest assured sir, I'll watch over him. Over you both." Hot Rod reassured.
"Autobots, it may be Ash's quest but, I want some volunteers for additional support." Ultra Magnus called.
"I'll go. I've been in Galar before, so I can guide you there." Goh offered.
"If you go then I'm too." Sunstreaker joined.
"Come me in." Ritchie added with Sideswipe next to him.
"Me too." Iris followed.
"I will love to see some of the Galar region." Mallow said.
"Then I guess we will have to fulfill our rule as guardians by accompany you." Smokescreen deduced with the other guardians of the ones who volunteered.
"And someone who be in command of the whole unit in case the unexpected happens. I'll go." Bumblebee ended.
"Good luck all of you. Autobots, maintain defense positions until Ash and the others have departed. Once the team are at safe distance bridge back to New Iacon for whatever would come." Optimus instructed.
"See ya." May saluted.
"Bye Ash." Tracey said goodbye.
"Good luck there!" Misty added.
"Pi piplup!"
After the kids retrieved their pokémon, the formed team put some distance in a huge open area out of the woods, now standing like waiting for something to happen.
"Okay, so here we are, the place Blaster told us. Why can't we just ground bridge to wherever that weird Minibot wants to take us?" Mirage suggested.
"Because the location is unknown for the enemy, so it will be more safe to reach there by unusual methods." Cogman answered. "And I've heard that."
"Alright, so what kind of transport are we taking to Galar? Or is it a plane? Either one is fine, I just need first class, okay? Because I got long legs."
"Or, it is a plane." Moonracer revealed in a teasing tone by com-link.
That started to put Mirage nervous. "No, no no. Don't...don't tell me we're flying on...oh man. You know what? I'm walking to Galar."
"What's wrong, Mirage?" Mallow asked confused.
"Relax, I heard he recently went through a whole upgrade." Hot Rod reassured.
Suddenly above them, after hearing the sound of a plane, everyone saw an Antonov An-225 military plane heading right to them.
Mirage whistled. "Now that's what I call style."
"Is that a military plane? How did you managed to get it from the army?" Ash's father asked in disbelief.
"Actually, I think that's another Autobot." Iris deduced.
"And one of the best, kids. I'm Stratosphere, lord of the skies, at your service." A voice said from the plane. "All aboard!"
Moments later the Autobot Stratosphere was blasting off with everyone inside his cargo vault.
"Welcome to Air Stratosphere. Please strap in, turbulence can kill. There will be no snack service on this flight, no drinks, no fun."
"Cut the chatter Cogman, I'm this flight's main character. Optimus, this is Stratosphere. I have the kid and am en route."
Unfortunately…
"Hey! Darkscream, that must be the kid, it's getting away!" Acidstorm spotted when the Decepticons were falling back.
"I'm not getting any reading, the boy must have detached the tracker." Stinger saw on his wrist terminal.
"If he goes away now we may lost the talisman." Spacestream reminded.
"We cannot allow him to reach the safety of their base while we can do something about it. Go after him, do not lose sight of him!" Darkscream ordered.
Almost all the remaining forces, Seeker soldiers and heavy air soldiers, transformed and flew after their target. Meanwhile, inside Stratosphere, most of the present ones were trying to pass time their own way or simply took the chance to finally rest. Ash was just making Serena know everything was fine.
"Yeah, I think we finally lose them, everyone in here is fine. About my dad? Well...it's hard to say, nothing you should worry. Tell everyone how we are, bye." Ash told her before hang up.
Feeling the tension in the air, his father decided to try talk to him. "That Serena girl seems very nice."
"There's no girl like her."
"Ash listen, are you still determined in going wherever these robots are okay…"
"Ok, first of all dad, they're not simple robots, they are living beings from outer space. The Autobots are our friends, and the evil ones are called Decepticons. They have been protecting us much longer than you believe, both loyal guardians and trusted friends."
"Okay, allow me to get it clear: Autobots are good, Decepticons are bad. But still, isn't it better to let this whole matter on their hands? What would your mother say if she knew about this?"
"She's okay, she already knows. Not directly, but she accepted it."
"Alright, it seems I missed a few things."
"Better said a lot." Ash ended with the same little annoyed tone.
"It you allow me sir, this is a direct flight, without possible detours and stops." Cogman interrupted, talking from the pilot seat.
"Don't you know getting in other people's conversations is a sign of bad behavior?"
"Hmm, you got me there, sir."
"Anyway dad, even if I wanted there's no way I can't take this off me, I already tried. And like Cogman said I can't until this is over. And it's nothing new for me."
"Even so, I'm worried son."
Hot Rod was listening the father-son interacting too.
"Guys, is it me or Ash doesn't look very happy to finally reunite with his father?" Hot Rod whispered.
"Yeah, things between them hasn't shown like how a familiar reunion should look like, I'm just saying." Smokescreen nodded. "Ash's reaction seems more like…"
"Annoyed, awkward, more like 'you're bothering with your mere presence, I want you out of my view' look?"
"Yeah Mirage, something like that." Hot Rod nodded. "Which is strange, because Ash told me Optimus used to remind him of his father."
"Something must be wrong between those two, but what?" Bee said.
"Should be try to help them fix it?" Mallow proposed.
But before they could continue the conversation, everyone felt a sudden shake.
"Better try to figure out what was that. Stratosphere?" Bumblebee asked.
"Guys, we got problems: the Seekers are closing on my six."
Outside, the Seekers were approaching the huge flyer Autobot.
With Red Wing leading them. "Surrender the boy, Stratosphere!"
"You know I wont' do that."
"Then die!"
The group could see how the Seekers scattered, trying to surround the huge Autobot from different sides.
"Autobots, we cannot allow the Seekers to know where Ash is heading. Stratosphere, evasive maneuvers!" Optimus instructed by com-link.
"Aerialbots are locked and loaded. We will handle this, Prime." Jetfire offered as he, Silverbolt, Air Raid and Windblade crossed a ground bridge above everyone, transformed and headed for the Cons.
"Good hunting." Stratosphere wished.
Jetfire initiated the defense firing his lasers, making the Seeker squadron to slip up after the first casualty, allowing the flyer Autobots to take them down one after another with their blaster fire and missiles. Nevertheless, a few ones managed to pass them and continue after Stratosphere, who tried his best to dodge their missile fire without causing much turbulence to his passengers.
"Hey, don't forget about me, the best flyer of all Cybertron!" Swoop announced, starting launching fire balls from his beak at the Cons.
Three Seekers were hit, but the rest tried to surround the Dinobot. However, Swoop already had an idea: he left them approach him enough from all sides and then his wings' surface became sharp, and started to rotate, hitting the Seeker's wings, cutting them in pieces.
With the whole squadron down, Red Wing was the only standing. "Darkscream, the Autobot resistance is harder than expected. We may need something even stronger."
"Get out of there brother, your substitute is already on route."
"Guys, how are you doing?"
"Stratosphere, we managed to make Red Wing fly, but our sensors are picking up something big heading right at you." Silverbolt reported.
"How big?"
"Let's say just as big as you." Air Raid revealed.
When she looked through the window, Mallow seemed to see something between the clouds. "Eh guys, what is that?"
"Hear me Autobots: me Lugnut, I bring you nothing more than infinite agony and destruction! For the glory and might of the great Galvatron!"
The one who spoke was some kind of huge purple assault bomber, which was approaching them slowly from above.
"An acquaintance of yours?" Goh asked.
"Not even close, it's Lugnut." Stratosphere answered.
"One of the greatest bootlickers you'll ever find, but bad news when he's mad." Sideswipe said.
The new Decepticon, Lugnut, pulled out some turrets on his lower part and started to fire bombs at Stratosphere.
"This doesn't look good. We will give you some cover!" Bee decided before Smokescreen helped him and Mirage, alongside himself, to stood on their pal's outside and fired their weapons to neutralize the bombs which came too close.
"We may need more assistance." Ritchie suggested.
"That wouldn't be necessary, young sir. Because according to the map technically we're already on Galar." Cogman reported looking at Stratosphere's screen.
"But that Lugnut guy will blow us to smithereens if we try to land." Iris pointed.
"We don't need to land. It will be enough to jump." Cogman simply said getting up his seat.
"Jump? You mean jumping out of the plane? Just like that?" Ash's father repeated in disbelief.
"Just like that, we'll make a halo jump. Oh, I always wanted to do one, but I never had the chance."
"Are you suggesting we just drop above Galar, just what the Cons won't expect we'll do, with the risk of being squashed at trying to land safely? Ha, I like that." Mirage opined.
"Honestly it isn't something new for me and Smokey, we already did it once." Iris shared.
"Well I think it's a complete madness. How do you expect that plan works?" Ash's father objected.
"Fear nothing sir, I'll make sure of that."
"Are you...sure about it, Hot?"
"Trust me Ash, I got something new which will make it possible."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's do it as soon as possible."
"I will try draw this dumbhead's attention while you got away." Stratosphere offered.
"Okay team, get ready for jump." Bumblebee instructed.
Each guardian grabbed their human friend, in Bee's case he got Cogman while Hot Rod got Ash, his father and Pikachu, as they waited for Stratosphere to open his ramp, and everyone headed down.
"Okay, let's take this to the next level. Stealth force-engage." Stratosphere announced as he started turning around.
Lugnut caught a little sight of the team's descent, which made him to change to robot form, turning on a few thrusters on his back to remain in the air, showing he had only one eye, just like Shockblast. "What? Have they turned mad or something?"
"Lugnut, now it's just you, me, and the whoopin' I'm about to give ya!"
Stratosphere deployed lots of heavy cannons and missile launchers all over his vehicle form, now heading toward the Decepticon surprising him with a huge storm of heavy shots, missiles and rapid fire. That caught Lugnut off-guard, allowing Stratosphere to run over him next, causing him to start falling in a different course. And it didn't stop there: he suddenly changed to robot form and started punching the Decepticon on his exposed big eye. Meanwhile, the team started to see the ground coming.
"Okay guys, this is it! Get ready for landing!" Hot Rod warned.
"I just hope your trick works." Ash prayed.
"We got it covered, just in case your way doesn't work." Iris recalled, earning an eye wink from her guardian.
"Just a little more." Hot said, seeing the floor approaching.
"Well, I think we have waited enough. Just do it already!" Ash's father begged.
"Everyone, landing positions!"
While the Autobots got ready to land, Hot Rod pulled out some kind of weapon and fired a projectile. This impacted almost at making contact with the floor, creating some kind of energy bubble or force field which was where the Autobots were about to enter. When they did suddenly their fall was unexpectedly slowed down, not only that but also all their movements acted like moving at slow motion. That allowed them to reduce the fall's impact and land without a scratch.
Ash's father tried to catch his breath. "Uff, is...is it over?"
"What was that?" Ash asked.
"A new invention which Ratchet forged, and I volunteered for testing. He said this new weapon is suppose to create fields capable to disrupt time." Hot Rod explained.
"So is a weapon to stop time for advantage? That's cool." Ritchie admired.
"Well, it has been a very stimulating situation, but we have pending meeting to attend to, so we better not waste time." Cogman called, making everyone to start the march.
"Optimus, we did it. We reached Galar."
"Copy that, Bumblebee. Stratosphere is currently finishing his rumble with Lugnut as we speak." Optimus answered, now with everyone back in New Iacon.
"I'm sorry but we cannot offer you more support than keeping you updated, we cannot risk letting any leak which may lead the Decepticons to your location." Elita added.
"Or any clue about what the talisman may be leading to." Ratchet pointed.
"We wish you all good luck with your little adventure." Dawn spoke.
"And rooting for you from here." Bonnie ended.
Right after the transmission ended, an alarm sounded.
"Is the Decepticons again?" Kiawe asked.
"It appears our deep space sensors have detected unidentified movement." Clemont saw.
"Aren't those the special devices Blaster placed right at the very edge of our solar system?" May recalled.
"The very ones." The Autobot communications' chief nodded.
"What does it say? Another comet storm or other cosmic anomaly?" Predaking asked.
"Let's check it out."
After a few moments analyzing the image…
"Well, what it is?" Wheeljack asked.
"I...I don't know...but whatever it is is big." Blaster reported.
"Another Decepticon warship perhaps?" Ironhide asked.
"Can't tell, giving the image's resolution. But one thing is clear: it moves."
"And the energy readings doesn't match with anything registered to date. It may be another sentient species." Sophocles suggested.
"That may be worrying, since it seems its trajectory looks to be Earth."
That didn't sound like good news, Optimus thought. "How long do we have?"
"At this rate with the same current speed, that thing will reach in 2 days and 7 hours." Fixit estimated.
"I got a bad feeling about this. And something tells me this is what you wanted to warn us about, Sentinel."
At the same time, in a large room of the Nemesis…
"You are a useless juggernaut, a helpless bunch of scrap!" Darkscream complained to Lugnut, who looked in very bad shape, now being repaired by Knock Out and other Decepticon engineers.
"I didn't expect that Autobot hit me that hard. I did what I could to honor the memory of our great lord and master."
"Oh geez, there he goes again." Quake groaned. "You are becoming so tiresome!"
"Yeah, sometimes looks like Lugnut keeps living in the past, not aware Galvatron has left us forever." Slipstream supported.
"I still can't believe they managed to beat Lugnut, he is one of our toughest warriors." Drag Strip admitted.
"What really should concern us is the detail that the kid managed to slip from our hands. With his trail freezing by the minute, our chances of finding the staff are rapidly depleting." Xiaxus corrected.
"Maybe not." Shockblast said, making all the leaders, The Fallen included, to turn at him while he showed something on a terminal. "Taking into account the place where the fight took place, the pursuit's trajectory and the nearest amount of terrestrial mass we can deduce where they could have headed."
"Destination located: Galar region." Soundblaster pointed.
"I haven't heard of that place, there's almost nothing about it on our databanks." Darkscream mentioned.
"It's unexplored territory, they could be hiding anywhere on it. Like trying to find a servo in a scrapyard." Nightbird said.
"Then we will have to register all places of it. Send all available platoons to scout around the most crowed areas. Search through every corner of that place until you located them." The Fallen commanded, before he stopped and turned his look to a window which showed the space outside.
"Master? What is it?" Darkscream asked.
"I just had this feeling, that we may be not the only ones interested in the staff anymore. Although it is curious that such feeling would happen right now. Something, or someone, must have its eye on our prize."