The explosion threw me into the air and I landed hard, denting my backside. My visor had cracks, and my emote-fins kept flickering. Had the device worked? There was a deafening silence, the ringing in my helm preventing me from hearing anything. After a minute, my audios came back online and the sound of battle filtered in. Shouting, firing, blasters and explosions. I could see the dust clearing and a few shadows moving. Then, there was a massive roar. A Predacon? No..it sounded bigger. I picked myself up and charged through the dust toward the noise.
"WHEELJACK!? YOU BLASTED FOOL! YOU NEARLY OFFLINED THE LOT OF US!" a voice shouted. The dust cleared enough that I could make out the figure. The red paint scheme and raspy tone could only belong to one Autobot. Ironhide. He was fighting a horde of Insecticons, and several of the beasts were converging on his position. A loud thud echoed and the ground shook. As the dust finally cleared, I could see we were in a large chamber of some kind. Whatever was causing the tremors appeared to be coming from outside the chamber.
"Wheeljack. Explain. Now." Ironhide yelled. "Ironhide, my invention was supposed to teleport everyone within a 20-meter radius to a specific location. However, I've never had a chance to test it." I responded. "And WHY is that Wheeljack?" Ironhide said, punching an insecticon and firing a blast at another. "It was a bit too unstable." I replied sheepishly. As if to emphasize the point, a blast from an insecticon knocked the weapon out of my servo.
"We need to leave. NOW! Gotta find Prime and regroup!" He exclaimed, firing back at the swarm. "Agreed," I replied, punching another insecticon. "Let's go." We turned and ran towards the exit, shooting at any insecticons in our way. I had a bad feeling. We were halfway across the chamber when the door was flung open, throwing us both into the wall. Looking up, we saw the source of the massive tremors. It was an organic, but far larger than any I had ever seen. They appeared to be fleeing, and we soon saw why. A small, black metallic feline was pouncing on its peds', it's claws leaving long furrows in the material.
"Autobots sighted! Ravage! Attack!" A voice ordered, and the beast sprang at us. It hit Ironhide's chassis and clawed his chest. Ironhide grabbed it and threw it away from us. It hit the wall and fell to the ground, not moving. "Let's get out of here, Wheeljack!" Ironhide exclaimed. We ran to the exit and left the chamber, running helm-first into the beasts master, Soundwave. "Slag it," Ironhide said. "Rumble. Frenzy. Attack." Soundwave ordered, and two smaller, red and purple cassettes emerged and fanned out. Transforming their arms into pile drivers they started attacking Ironhide and me.
"Wheeljack. Go find Prime! I'll hold them off!" Ironhide said, kicking Rumble and punching Frenzy. Not wanting to leave him alone, but knowing he was right, I ran away, dodging and ducking any blasts, blasters or projectiles sent my way. Running along the corridor, I came across another group of Autobots. This time it was Ratchet and Hound. "What's the situation, Wheeljack?" Ratchet asked. "Ironhide's back that way, but Soundwave and his cassettes are keeping him busy." I responded. "Any sign of Optimus?" I asked. "Not yet," Hound answered.
"We need to leave, the Decepticons are all over the place." Ratchet said. We continued on, eventually running into Bumblee and a few other Autobots. After a few minutes, we found Optimus, taking fire from Starscream and his triad. "Optimus!" Ratchet said, relief evident in his voice. "Report," Optimus replied, in between laser blasts. "Wheeljack's teleport device worked...but not quite as expected," Ratchet said. "It teleported us all to a massive dwelling of some kind. Decepticons and insecticons are everwhere."
"We need to retreat for now," Optimus stated. "We are outnumbered and outgunned." Activating his long range comms Prime called out, "Autobots, converge on my position and retreat." Several Autobots responded, saying they were on their way. We managed to get Optimus out of the firing line, ducking into another chamber. This one appeared to contain a large berth. "Holy hetrodyne," Hound exclaimed. "Even Metroplex wouldn't need a berth that big. What sort of creature lives here?" "Whatever it is It's massive and It seems to be organic.
"Organics don't grow that large, Hound. At least not any that I'm aware of." Ratchet commented. "Either way we should probably continue on." The others nodded in agreement and after a few micro-cycles we made our way onto the berth, taking stock as the Autobots who responded to the retreat order filed in. "Is that all of us?" Ratchet questioned. "No," Prime stated "We are missing almost half our team. Wheeljack? Do you know where the rest are?" "I don't know Optimus. The device only affects a 20 meter radius. If they aren't here they must be back on Cybertron." Wheeljack responded.
"Can you get us home, Wheeljack?" Optimus asked. "I... I don't have a second device..." Wheeljack said, trailing off. "You had ONE device and thought a battlefield was a good place to try It out?" Ironhide rumbled. "It was all I could put together in such a short time. The power required was immense, and the device was barely stable to begin with." "We can't stay here while our comrades might be in trouble back home." Optimus said. "Perhaps the organic will be willing assist us, and give us the parts needed to repair the device." "Did you see that...thing?! It would probably sooner squash us."
"It is the only option available. If we are unable to reach Cybertron, the planet will fall." Prime stated. "We have to at least try," Bumblebee said. The rest of the group murmured their agreement. "Very well. Bumblebee, Ironhide and Wheeljack. You will come with me.