I can't believe it's been a year already! To celebrate, here's the start to the final battle!
As always, before we get to the story, here's my usual disclaimer that this story idea is not mine! My friend on TikTok, Deckar Terdax, came up with this plot idea as a movie concept and I really liked it so I asked if I could write it as a fic and here we are! I've enjoyed working with Deckar on this little project, either writing chapters or adjusting what they send me! This one was all Deckar, for example. I just proof-read and did a little adjusting to make sure everything was good to go!
I hope you all enjoy!
God Bless and Good Day!
~The Lupine Sojourner
Deadlock led the Autobots to the construction site, all the while mentally preparing himself for the inevitable battle with his former friend. When they arrived, the Autobots transformed while Kenji stepped out of Deadlock to allow him to do the same. In front of them, they saw that the gate had been smashed open and saw tread marks in the dirt leading them inside.
Moonracer looks around with some concern. "This place is huge. Impressively so, but it'll take forever to find them." Magnus doesn't seem to acknowledge her, stepping through what is left of the gate to follow the trail until it splits off in three separate directions.
"They're trying to separate us." He notes, glaring down at the separating tracks.
Deadlock walks up next to him and frowns. "Bludgeon never utilizes these sort of tactic," he comments grimly, "He normally charges in and kills everything in his path."
Behind them, Moonracer kneels down to examine the tracks. Looking up, she sees Magnus in that same tense posture from earlier, staring at a particular set of tracks. She knows exactly what he's thinking.
"With all due respect, sir," she begins cautiously before blurting out "You can't seriously be considering facing Tarn alone!" Magnus spins around at his student's outburst, his stern expression painted with that same unfamiliar fury for Tarn, but Moonracer doesn't shrivel back at it, firm expression on her face. She knows she is talking back to a superior officer, but she also knows he can't win against Tarn. Not alone, anyway.
Magnus' face softens slightly and he sighs. "I know it's dangerous, but-"
Moonracer cuts him off with a stern look and pointed finger, knowing she may be getting herself in trouble, but out of concern for Magnus, she can't help speaking up. "But nothing! We are not here to settle old scores!" Magnus flinches slightly at this, as he never said anything about old scores. Moonracer lowers her head and continues shakily, "You don't have to explain. I can see it in your optics; Tarn did something to you and you want payback for it." She turns away, arms folded across her chest, her nerve to talk this way to her commander fading.
Ultra Magnus has been her closest companion, her family even and she can't bear the thought of losing him.
Deadlock turns to Magnus, who now looks conflicted. "She's right." Deadlock said. "Etsuko is in danger and is our main priority." Magnus spares the warrior a glance. While the former Decepticon is correct, he still knows that Tarn will never stop his brutality. Even if they saved the girl, Tarn would just hunt them down wherever they went.
Sighing, Magnus says, "I have to do this." He gestures to Kenji, "For their safety." He doesn't notice Moonracer tense up at what he said. Deadlock looks down on his human friend, and with a great deal of reluctance, has to agree. He looks up at Magnus and says coldly "Do not deny yourself our help, should you need it."
Magnus nods in agreement. Deadlock then motions to one of the set of tracks. "I'll take Moonracer and try to find Etsuko." Moonracer turns around slightly, the anguish evident on her face. Magnus felt a strong feeling of regret, knowing that he had to abandon his student, but he had to do what he felt was right. This way, she was at least spared fighting Tarn.
Deadlock places a hand on Moonracer's shoulder and motions with his head to follow before going on ahead with Kenji in tow. Moonracer spares one last glare at her teacher before following. She had only made it a few steps, however, before she heard, "He was an Autobot once." Moonracer froze at this revelation as Magnus continued to explain. "And…one of my closest friends."
The young bot's optics were wide in shock. So that was it. The hatred towards Tarn. The desire for revenge. He had betrayed his friend and the Autobots. Moonracer spun around to speak but Magnus had already walked away. She stands there in stunned silence for a moment until she hears footsteps come up behind her. "War is a terrible thing to live through. It forces you to realize what kind of person or monster you can become."
Moonracer turned her head to see Deadlock standing just behind her, giving her a sympathetic look. She almost wanted to lash out at him but realized something. "But that doesn't mean the monsters can't see the error of their choices and choose to redeem themselves." She replies, turning to face Deadlock with a small smile. "You alone are proof of that."
Deadlock smiles back before bowing a little. "Thank you for allowing me the chance to repent and atone for my past sins." He stood up straight before motioning to the tracks. "Come on, we need to find Etsuko."
"I'm coming, too!" Kenji says quickly, causing Deadlock to turn back to him.
"That was not the agreement." He says, equally as firm. "You need to remain outside the site."
Kenji narrows his eyes. "I know, but I need to know she's ok. I need to see her." His face then shifts, showing a concerned father that would do anything for his daughter.
Deadlock groans after thinking it through for a moment. "Stay close and do as I say."
Kenji nods and the three continue moving into the site.
Soon, several minutes have passed as Deadlock, Kenji, and Moonracer creep along, keeping an eye out for any Decepticons. Just in front of them, Kenji focuses on the tracks, telling them which direction they need to go next. The site is far too quiet, and it had all three of them on edge.
Deadlock decides to break the silence by asking, "If you don't mind, were you and Ultra Magnus the only ones who chose to come find me?"
Moonracer looks at the warrior before sighing, looking down in sorrow. "No," she replies somberly, "We lost one when the 'Cons ambushed us on the road. Brawn."
Deadlock bows his head in reverence. "I'm sorry for your loss. If you wish to blame me, I won't…"
Moonracer suddenly waved her hand to stop him. "No! Please don't. He knew what he was getting himself into when he joined us and wouldn't want any of us blaming ourselves. But he did have a message to pass on to you."
Deadlock frowns. "Oh?"
Moonracer smiles a little. "He wanted to say, 'My debt is repaid.' I'm not sure if you remember, but you helped him direct a refugee ship he was captaining to a safer route."
Deadlock takes a moment, and smiles as he remembers that meeting. He turns to Moonracer, nodding gratefully. "I wasn't aware he felt as if he were in my debt. But he had true honor and a pure Spark, to wish to help a mech who was once considered an enemy."
The two continue on their way, but Deadlock stops suddenly as something falls in front of him.
Moonracer nearly bumps into him as she looks in front of him. "What is it?" she asks cautiously.
Kenji turns around, having been ahead of Deadlock when the object fell, and his eyes go wide as he processes what it was. "Etsuko's jacket."
Deadlock kneels down and gingerly picks it up to examine it, fear starting to flood through him.
Moonracer quickly raises her sniper rifle and peers through the scope at the top of the building they're standing by on a hunch, and sure enough she sees a small figure, shaking with fright.
"She's up there. She's alive" Moonracer points up and Deadlock and Kenji stared up at where she pointed.
Kenji then pieces it together, eyes widening. "She must've dropped that jacket to tell us where she is. Come one, let's go!" He began to run, but Deadlock put his hand in front of Kenji to stop him.
"You need to stay here." He ordered but Kenji is persistent.
"I am not losing my daughter. Even if I have to tie myself onto one of your swords, I'm going."
Deadlock looks down to reason with him, but he sees a stubbornness he only really saw in one other person: himself. Sighing, he carefully picks Kenji up and places him on his shoulder. "Hold on tight," He murmurs, not liking the situation, as he points to the steel support beams near where they stood. "It's going to be a long drop if you don't."
Kenji steels himself and, using Etsuko's jacket, secures himself as best as he can to the handle of Deadlock's sword.
Deadlock and Moonracer then position themselves at the base of the building and with a leap begin their climb to the top. With every beam they grabbed hold to, each one gave a groan as if they couldn't hold the Cybertronians' weight for long.
But outside of that, it was pretty easy going until about fifty feet up, when a large explosion rocked the building, causing Deadlock to lose his grip. Thinking quickly, he pulls out the sword Kenji isn't strapped to and manages to position it between the supports to catch himself and keep him and Kenji from falling.
Moonracer, on the other hand, isn't quite as lucky. She loses her grip and falls off the structure, landing with a hard thud on the ground below.
Deadlock looks down to see her land. "Are you alright?" He shouts down to her.
Moonracer slowly stands up, groaning in pain. "I've been better."
Deadlock sighs in relief that she's alright.
But on her left, she then hears the roar of an engine and a pair of bright headlights switch on, momentarily dazing Moonracer. As she looks over, she sees that it's the tanker truck from earlier about eighty feet away, positioned to drive right at the base of the structure Deadlock was climbing.
Moonracer quickly realizes what he was planning; ram into the support beams and try to shake off Deadlock. Moonracer panics briefly, wondering what she could do before she comes to a decision. Pulling out her sniper, she aims at the truck, all the while thinking, I'm really going to regret doing this. With that, she lets off a shot that knocks one of the truck's mirrors off, causing it to slowly turn on her.
Deadlock sees what she's doing and immediately calls down, concerned. "Are you mad?!"
Moonracer looks up and shouts back, "I got this! Go get the girl!" She continues to fire multiple times at the truck.
Deadlock shifts, wanting to drop down and help the young bot, but he knows she's right. Kenji gives him a look that says he isn't happy about this either, but he knows they need to push on and save his daughter. So Deadlock continues his climb, gritting his teeth.
Moonracer keeps drawing the Decepticon's attention towards her, and with one final hit, the truck begins driving fast towards the young bot. Trying to keep calm, Moonracer looks around for somewhere to take cover, and behind her, about forty feet away, there's an opening at the base of the building just large enough for her to at least slide through.
Figuring there isn't a better choice, she bolts for it as fast as she can. Behind her, she hears the truck getting dangerously close, then begins transforming. At the last second, Moonracer falls to her back and slides into the opening, just missed by the 'Con's large hand. It was a close call, but Moonracer fails to notice that the ground beneath her led to a pit as she yelped, falling into it.
When she hit the bottom, she accidentally fires a shot from her rifle. She only got a quick glance as the bullet hit a tank on the other side of the pit and explodes. She winces slightly. I'll have to apologize for that, if I survive this. She stands up, but as she does, a pair of small arms reach through the opening to try and grab her.
She backs up quickly, but one of them manages to grab her shoulder and slowly begin dragging her outside. Looking around, she spots a container full of scrap metal, one piece looking particularly sharp. With effort, she reaches down and grabs it, but before she can use it, the second arm reaches in for her.
Moonracer gives a shout as she swings her makeshift weapon and slices the extra arm off, earning a scream of pain from her attacker. She then swings again at the arm holding her and with another scream, Moonracer falls to the ground and begins crawling backwards.
Outside the pit, Helex pulls back and looks down to see his secondary arms were now worthless. Growling, he bent over as a nozzle sprung out of his forearm.
Moonracer heard a hissing sound and as she looks up, she sees what looked like the barrel of a blaster pointed toward her, a flame lighting the tip. Instinctively, she leaps to the side before a torrent of flame erupts from it, melting some of the steel beams just behind where she'd been not a second ago. Knowing she can't fight an adversary like this alone, she decides to retreat to the other side of the pit, all the while worry gnaws at her, and not just about herself.
Ultra Magnus, where are you?
{Several minutes earlier}
Magnus follows the trail for a while, flinching slightly at every shadow that moves, his mind only half-focused on his task. The image of Moonracer's glare continuously flashes in his mind. He knows she was right; this wasn't supposed to be about revenge. It was supposed to be a rescue mission and a retrieval of a new Autobot.
Magnus sighs to himself, beginning to wonder if he is as good a mentor as Prime had told him he could be, if their retrieval mission is proving less important than settling an old score and making sure Tarn could no longer hurt anyone else.
Magnus stops for a moment, trying to gather himself. Maybe he should have stayed with the others after all…
But his thoughts are interrupted as he notices the trail he's following suddenly disappears not ten feet from where he stands. He turns around and sees that he is still on the right track, but the tread marks just stop abruptly. He glances around cautiously, but the only thing around him is all the human construction equipment, the building behind him, and a large pit about thirty feet away.
Suddenly, the wall behind him exploded, sending Magnus flying. A moment later, as he slowly starts to pick himself up off the ground, shaking his head to clear his vision, spotting a large unmistakable silhouette walking through the smoke and debris, with two glowing red eyes glaring at him.
Magnus, now alert, moves quickly back to his feet. In an instant, he charges forward, and from the smoke in front of him, Tarn burst forth, charging as well. Magnus' previous thoughts all seemed to dissipate, as he was ready to face his opponent. And when the two are finally close enough, they both throw a heavy punch.
There's no going back now, Magnus notes grimly, even if I wanted to.