Hey everyone, I'm back with a new chapter, finally! Apologies for the delay, but it's been a hectic year to say the least. Nonetheless, I'm glad to be posting a new chapter just in time for the holidays. On a particular note, this upload also marks the tenth anniversary of my Fanfiction profile, and I'm more than happy for that. It's only fitting I mark it with an action-packed chapter like this, hope you enjoy it.
Ex-Prince FrostFang: As I said in the introduction, this is set in my own story universe, the Alliance Universe. The inclusion of the Transformers will be based on various TF media throughout the years, TF Prime being one of them.
CT7567Rules: Not sure about any more Minicons, but certain weapons might be brought in as the story progresses, some based on the media, some I might just make up myself, wait and see.
vBluefire85v: The Predacons have definitely been an afterthought, though I can't promise they will be in this story. The similarities between dark eco, dark energon, and dark crystals will soon be discussed, as the link between all three of their worlds is explored like they discussed last chapter. I have an idea in mind for the Autobots as far as traversing areas like the wasteland and others, keep watch.
Ch9: Con-Armada Assault
VROOOOMMM…Shift…shift…chink!...
The sound of a transforming vehicle emerged from the woods before shifting into its robot mode. Barricade had arrived at a break in the Brink mountains, where clear skies and plains now lay ahead of him. But he wasn't here for sightseeing, he was here to catch his ride. He aimed his arm up and fired a red laser beam into the sky, a signal to his faction's warship which was now breaking through the clouds.
The Decepticon vessel Nemesis broke through the planet's atmosphere, making itself visible for the first time in Elorin's skies. Upon seeing the ship, Barricade called out through his comm, "Barricade to Nemesis, I am ready to come aboard, requesting clearance."
Soundwave's voice replied back over the comm, "request received and cleared, prepare for transport."
A few seconds later, Barricade's body lit up with a red light, before fading away in its aurora as the ship's teleporter brought him aboard. Next thing he knew, he was on the Nemesis bridge, surrounded by his fellow Decepticons, and his lord and master standing in front of him.
"Barricade…report," Megatron addressed and ordered him, forcing the Decepticon scout to kneel.
"My liege, I have confirmation the Autobot scout is planet bound, and he has made contact with the organic natives."
"Well that pretty much confirms what we already learned earlier," Knockout said off to the scout's right with Brawl nodding in agreement next to him.
Barricade asked, "what do you mean?"
A new voice from behind him drew his attention, "we mean we had already suspected your enemies to have allied with ours, hence why we are here."
Barricade turned around to see something he didn't expect, or rather two somethings. One was a four legged dark purple organic reptilian creature with yellow wings and eyes, and the other a smaller two legged organic creature with a lanky dark purple body, black opaque eyes, and a disfigured humanoid face.
"Intruders!" Barricade whipped around and pointed his arm cannon at them, ready to fire.
"BARRICADE!" Megatron shouted, getting his full attention, "Stand Down…THAT is an order."
He quickly deactivated his cannon and kneeled in submission once again, "apologies my lord, but why are these organic cretins aboard our ship?"
"These 'organics' are our new allies," Megatron explained, "as well as our new guides to this galaxy. We have reason to believe that their enemies stationed on this world have now allied with the Autobots, therefore it was prudent to take necessary measures and forge a truce for our mutual benefit."
"I…understand my lord, forgive me," Barricade relented.
Errol then spoke again, "oh well, no harm no foul gunslinger. Let's move on, and save the firepower for the REAL battle."
Barricade sneered at the dark purple organic's attempt to converse, which Megatron replied to…
"Indeed Errol, it's time for us to make the first strike," he said before calling into his comm, "Starscream…is your Seeker armada assembled?"
Back down in the hangar bay, the Decepticon First Lieutenant stood at the head of his Airadicon troops, the first of his Seeker squadrons assembled on Elorin ready to attack. He jumped to attention at the sound of his master's voice through his comm.
"Ah!...Yes master, we are ready to begin," Starscream answered shakily.
"Good, then proceed…and Starscream, show…no…mercy," Megatron eerily declared.
"Gladly my lord," Starscream chuckled in anticipation, and turned to his troops.
"Take flight my troops and follow me, for the glory of Lord Megatron!" He rallied them before they ran for the open hangar door ahead of them, making the jump and transforming into their aircraft modes in midair, and flying off for their intended destination, with Starscream at the lead. The rest of the Decepticons and Maleficence aboard the bridge watched the Seeker armada fly off toward Union Alliance Headquarters.
At Union Alliance HQ, the group that was left behind were talking amongst themselves. Seem, Charvo, Sig, Hunter and Packer were in discussion together while the COM officer, Rip, was currently monitoring for any more unusual readings next to awaiting a response from the absent Alliance forces. Though he didn't have to wait for very long…BEEP BEEP BEEP
"What's that?" Sig asked for all of them.
"I am receiving a transmission," Rip replied, "it's from General Torn, and it's labeled Urgent!"
He did his duty as COM officer and answered the transmission, "General Torn, this is Union Alliance HQ, we receive you!"
"Attention Union Alliance HQ, This is an Omega level Emergency! We have strong Intel warning us of an impending attack coming your way!" Torn said. "Initiate DEFCON 1!"
His warning concerned them all and Rip replied, "At once General! But what is coming our way?!"
"You'll know it when you see it, trust me. We're on our way back right now, just keep an eye on the skies, and again…DEFCON 1 LOCKDOWN!" Torn shouted before signing off.
Rip did his duty and pressed a button which opened up a broadcast over the entire headquarters, "Alliance HQ personnel, we are initiating DEFCON 1, commence with protocols and prepare for imminent attack! GO…GO…GO!"
The whole station became ripe with activity as soldiers jumped to attention racing to their posts. Gunners set themselves in all the gun turrets stationed around the base. They were similar in size and shape to the ones from the old Drill Platform, but with more potent firepower. Other Alliance officers took up their arms and posted themselves in set locations all over the Alliance platform, keeping their eyes open on the skies for anything.
The remaining party at the Main Hub stayed while Sig walked up and asked Rip, "alright, everyone's in place, so what now?"
"Now, the shield," Rip said, pressing another button.
"Shield?" Hunter and Charvo asked together, until a loud hum echoed through the air, causing them to look up. A central node anchored at the top of the base's central spire opened up like a collapsing sphere, generating a concentrated charge of blue eco power before shooting up into the air. It reached its designated altitude before extending out like an umbrella, encompassing the whole station while everyone aboard the platform watched the spectacle in awe.
"By the ancestors," Charvo gasped, for in all his years, he had never seen anything like this technological wonder. Hunter was just as amazed, as the humans certainly didn't have anything like this the last time he came here!
The shield set down on the Elorin terrain before settling. Packer and Seem kept silent while Sig smirked and chuckled, "you guys really have upgraded this place haven't ya?"
"After all the previous invasions we've been through, what do you expect?!" Vinn said from the central holograph. The Elorians smirked at his reply while Charvo and Hunter were still stunned silent. Suddenly, something was detected on radar…
"Everyone brace yourself! We have incoming bogies inbound from the northeast direction!" Rip called through the station speakers after seeing the blips show up on the radar screen.
Sig turned to the holograph and said, "Vinn, can you show us the northeast sector?"
"Coming up!" Vinn said before bringing up the live camera feed from the northeast point of Alliance HQ. Everyone present walked up to the holograph to observe it more closely. The approaching aerial force unsettled them all, including the humans who didn't recognize the style of aircraft being shown on screen. The force counted a total of eleven, with ten purple toned flyers following a single red colored one that was leading them. However, none of the Alliance suspected what they really were…
…Currently…
Leading his squadron en-route to the coordinates that Errol had provided, Starscream soon had the planet's Union Alliance military base in his sights.
"There you are, hehehehehehe…" the aerial commander noticed the blue energy dome surrounding the base, "ah, so the humans have shielding technology do they? Not bad for fleshlings, but nothing I haven't encountered and broken before!...Airadicons, commence the attack!"
The transformed flyers split off to surround the shielded base, until their commander gave the signal, "OPEN FIRE!"
The Airadicons let loose with laser fire firing at various points on the shield dome. The shield blocked the shots as expected, but the energy pulses sent out from the impact all fed up to the central conduit up top. It was something Starscream quickly assessed and noted.
"There it is, its precious power source, ripe for target practice! Hahahahahaha!" The Seeker cackled before taking aim at the node and fired two missiles. "Bye bye!"
Suddenly, two laser shots fired from inside the dome and intercepted the missiles, blowing them away. Starscream was appalled, "What?!"
He looked down and saw one gunner that was closest to his position, had just destroyed his missiles before they reached their target.
"Why you! So you want to play rough huh? Fine by me, you organic trash!" Starscream yelled.
Before he could get any closer, a multitude of gunners took aim at the Decepticon commander and released fire. The frequency of the gun turret lasers allowed them to bypass the shield to attack the invaders. The transformed flyer was forced to back away to avoid getting pelted.
"Ah! What the?! How dare you?!"
Inside the shield, the Alliance personnel watched as their gunners fired at will on what they presumed was the leader of this unknown invasion armada. Sig and all the others standing by him watched with an apprehensive look. Whoever was piloting the red flyer was clearly intelligent, as his initial tactic had exposed the shield's power source for him to destroy. Also, he appeared to be quite skilled in evasive maneuvering, as none of their laser blasts had hit yet.
Demonstrating his own knowledge of battlefield tactics, Sig told Rip, "tell your boys to concentrate their fire and direct that lead flyer toward an open spot, then you can take him out!"
Rip relayed the suggestion to the gunners, and several turrets in the closest sector to the lead flyer let loose a heavy concentration of fire which forced it toward the west side, where three more gunners were ready to finish it as they took aim. However, before they could fire the first shot, the unthinkable happened…
…At the same time…
Starscream was becoming more than frustrated at these 'humans' who were forcing him into a corner to open fire on him. As if these organic cretins stood a chance against the aerial commander of the Decepticons! He decided it was time to let them know what they were really dealing with…
"Okay, no more playing around…TRANSFORM!" Starscream shouted as he shifted from his alternate mode back to robot mode in midair, then disengaged his jets to pile drive right down on top of the shield, where it lit up and sizzled like a bug net as it struggled to maintain its shape.
Starscream landed atop the shield as he looked down to the organics standing on the platform below him. He secretly delighted in the terrified looks on their faces before yelling to them, "you fleshling filth, prepare to die!"
The sinister Decepticon Lieutenant pounded on the shield with his metal fist making it pulse, while shaking the platform at the same time. Starscream repeated the action over and over as he attempted to penetrate the shielding.
…Inside the shield…
"What the hell is that thing?!" was Sig's question that everyone had on their minds after watching the flyer transform into a giant robot similar to the ones they had seen earlier.
"I'm guessing another alien robot?" Hunter rhetorically added as he and everyone flinched from the shockwave the robot caused from his latest punch on the shield, "...and this one is clearly not friendly!"
"Yeah, its declaration of our deaths pretty much confirmed that!" Vinn shouted in terror. He cried out again as the robot pounded on the shield once more.
"All gunners engage the primary target! NOW!" Rip shouted over the speakers. All the gunners took aim at the hostile giant robot attacking atop the dome, until it noticed what was happening and called out to its comrades…
"Decepticons, transform and assault!" they heard it say. Suddenly, all ten of the purple toned flyers transformed themselves into their own robot mode, all nearly the same size as their red toned leader. The purple robots landed on different spots across the shield, clinging to it with their metal appendages like flies on a wall. The humans, dragon, and cheetah inside the shield were stunned silent at what they had just seen.
"Uh-oh," Vinn whined, getting a really bad feeling about this.
The conjoined group of Alliance members and Autobots were currently returning to headquarters as fast as they could. The two Freedom Cats piloted by Jak and Torn led the way, followed by Spyro and Cynder's dragon group as they flew past the mountain range and back out into open terrain. The two Autobots Bumblebee and Sideswipe followed the crowd of aerials in their alternate vehicle modes on the ground below.
Torn turned on the flyer megaphone so everyone could hear him, "We're less than five minutes out from HQ, be ready to engage any hostiles upon arrival!"
Everyone nodded until a sudden broadcast came over their radios, "...This is Alliance Outpost Omega 1! We are under attack, repeat we are under attack! Hostiles are large and extremely dangerous, requesting reinforcements now!..."
"Oh no, we're too late!" Spyro exclaimed, having heard the whole thing along with his fellow dragons.
Jak quickly retorted, "not yet we're not! Torn, I think it's time to kick in the afterburners!"
Torn nodded, and everyone on board the flyers braced themselves knowing what was about to happen. The dragons were confused until Jak said to their winged friends behind them, "we'll fly ahead and hold them off until you get there, keep leading the Autobots to HQ, we'll see you there!"
Jak and Torn pressed a button on their console, igniting the Freedom Cat afterburner engines. The two flyers suddenly jetted forward at their maximum speed, with jets of red, orange and yellow mixed fire bursting out of their exhaust ports. The flyers quickly flew ahead out of sight, stunning the dragons as a whole.
"Wow…that was pretty cool," Sephpyr commented.
"Heh, these humans never fail to surprise, do they?" Saphira added.
"Remarkable!" Volteer exclaimed.
Spyro and Cynder grinned at their comments, before the purple dragon flew down close to the two Autobots following below them.
"What's up?" Sideswipe asked, "why'd your human buddies kick in the turbo?"
"We just received a warning from Alliance headquarters, it seems the Decepticons are already there!" Spyro explained.
Sideswipe immediately replied, "well then what are we waiting for? Time to put metal to the pedal! Let's go Bee!"
Bumblebee beeped back and the two Autobots picked up speed, zooming ahead after the flyers, leaving Spyro behind blinking in shock.
He sighed before muttering, "not that it's not appreciated right now...but what is it with this obsessive need for speed?"
There was pandemonium at Alliance HQ, as the entire base was on alert now that the invading armada had shown their true colors. Eleven transforming alien robots now covered the blue eco shield surrounding the base and were attempting to break through. The red one atop the shield had not relented in trying to penetrate.
"Ahhhhh!" Starscream shouted as he pulled back and hit the shield again harder than before, shaking up everyone inside, "...you can't keep me out forever you pitiful cretins! Soon enough I will burst this pathetic bubble, and you…will all…PERISH!"
He hit it again, with cracks starting to show atop the shield, and the damage was detected below…
"The shield can't take much more, one more hit and it will break!" Rip called out reading the console.
Sig ran up next to the officer and shouted into the comm, "open fire and unleash hell on that red monster…NOW!"
The gunners didn't hesitate and everyone within vicinity let loose a barrage of laser fire at Starscream. The Decepticon Lieutenant pulled up his arms to shield his face, screaming in fury as the lasers burned his metal skin.
"Aaaagghh! Filthy cretins, how dare you! Nobody attacks the Commander of the Decepticons!" Starscream shouted as he jumped into the air and flipped over transforming back into his alternate flyer form. He immediately propelled up, and then turned back around in the sky to dive bomb toward the shield with his nose pointing straight down at the shield. The Decepticon armed his remaining missiles and took aim as he neared the base…
"Now you filthy fleshings, prepare to feel my wrath!" The Con prepared to fire, but before he could he was hit by laser fire once again, this time on his port side which knocked him off course.
"Aggh!...What the?!" he yelled out as he transformed to his bipedal form midair, keeping himself propelled with the jets on his back. The Union Alliance members within the shield turned to see the source of the blast that saved them, and smiled in relief. Two Freedom Cats were inbound and approaching the base, with Jak and Torn in the pilot seats!
Spotting the red unfriendly robot he had just shot at, Jak called out, "I'm on the red one!"
"Take him out Jak! We'll get the rest!" Torn called over the comm as he flew his FL-Cat over toward the base. Jak flew his FL-Cat toward the red aerial Con, firing a few more laser shots while his passengers watched in awe from their various positions, Cal in the passenger seat, and Keira and Samos in the gunner turret hole.
Starscream yelled at the blue flyer who dared to shoot at him, "Why youuu!...TRANSFORM!"
Shifting back into his red flyer form, the Decepticon flew over the last laser blast fired at him and flew over the Freedom Cat as Jak and Daxter looked up and observed.
"Oh great! Not only are these Decepticons a bunch of metal nasties, but they're also metal nasties that can fly!" Daxter yelled.
"Yeah?...Well so can I!" Calidan declared as he fit his goggles over his face and rolled off the side. The others watched him in freefall until he activated his Eagle pack and extended his wings, flying over the ground in an arc and up back to their altitude. Eagle flew up past the FL-Cat and toward the Decepticon Lieutenant in the sky.
Starscream saw the winged soldier approaching him through the air, and noted his size compared to the blue flyer, "now what do we have here?...A bug separated from the swarm? Well allow me to put you out of your misery!"
Starscream fired an array of laser shots at Eagle who bent out of the way avoiding them as he flew around the Con and above him. Starscream adjusted his trajectory and flew low and back up to continue the attack. Eagle turned around to see the Con was now chasing him.
"Great, I got his attention," he said to himself, "alright then, let's see what he's got."
Eagle flew around to circle the landscape below as the dogfight commenced.
Torn had flown his FL-Cat around the base shield and was opening fire at the Cons who had attached themselves to the shield. His first shots succeeded in knocking off the first Con in sight, only for the evil robot to transform in freefall and take flight. The Con flew high and came back around to attack.
"Oh fantastic," Torn seethed, "we can knock them off the shield, but all it does is force them to change in freefall and fire right back at us!"
"Any ideas sir?" one of the FL soldiers asked.
Torn quickly replied, "yeah, we need support. Get on the comm and order our gunners to open fire at any of those flying toasters, and now!"
Inside the base at the station hub, Rip heard the chime from the console and read the message sent with it. He called out over the station comm, "all gunners, open fire on the closest hostile target! Force them into the air and shoot them down!"
The command was received and heard by all, and all the gunners inside the dome aimed their turret lasers at the closest Con in sight. The remaining nine were shot off the energy shield, coercing them to transform and open fire in their alternate mode. The gunners shot right back, their laser shots passing through the shield as its parameters allowed, and pelted against the Cons in midair.
Their counterattack allowed Torn to engage the flying purple hostiles with his own weaponry. Jak joined him with his own flyer now that Eagle was keeping the red leader occupied. The two FL-Cats opened fire against the two closest Cons, causing them to scatter. The remaining Cons adjusted their trajectory and started shooting back at the blue flyers. The two leading officers called out to each other over the comm while their passengers hung on for dear life.
"Never an easy day, huh Jak?!"
"Are you kidding Torn? I'm starting to like this war!"
The Ark was flying along the Haven Mountain Range, less than five minutes from reaching the Union Alliance base. The Autobots who remained on the bridge were Jazz at the helm, Ratchet at the Teletraan hub, and Optimus at the head. Ashelin and Terrador stood by the Prime as the Ark continued on its course. Ashelin took note of their position outside before speaking…
"We're approaching the endpoint of the Haven Range, Union Alliance HQ should be over the next ridge."
"Good, any new updates on the status of the base?" Optimus asked her. Everyone had heard the transmission Ashelin received about the base now currently under attack, but nothing since.
"Nothing right now, so no news is good news," Ashelin replied.
"For now, but we must nonetheless be prepared to expect retaliation once we arrive," Terrador added, "if these Decepticons are like any other enemy, they will most likely redirect their attacks toward the larger threat…your ship."
Optimus agreed with the dragon guardian, "indeed they will."
Ratchet interrupted as he called his leader's attention, "Optimus, I'm picking up several energon signatures at the base coordinates Governor Ashelin provided. Eleven in total…it's the Decepticons."
The two organic Alliance leaders cringed at the news while Optimus narrowed his optics. He came to a decision and said, "accelerate speed to the rendezvous point, I will prepare to engage them myself."
Terrador and Ashelin were stunned as Optimus turned and walked to the elevator. Ratchet and Jazz quickly protested in tandem, "What?!...But Optimus?"
"That's an order you two…" Optimus sternly cut them off, "...our war may have been brought to this world, but I will not allow it to inflict even a single native casualty."
What he said made Ashelin's expression soften, and Terrador in turn gave a nod, for his words had genuinely helped earn their respect. Optimus then addressed his Lieutenant, "Jazz, you are in command until I return."
Albeit uneasy, Jazz still acknowledged his leader's command with a nod as Optimus entered the elevator and it closed, leaving the four of them on the Ark bridge. As the elevator dropped, Optimus called out to his other two Autobots on board at their assigned positions on his comm, "Arcee, Ironhide, the Decepticons have assaulted the Alliance base, be ready to engage when necessary."
"Yes Optimus…You got it boss," Arcee and Ironhide said in tandem over the airwave.
Arcee then asked him herself, "What are you going to do sir?"
"I will join the Alliance in defense of their base, personally," Optimus answered before switching over to another link that connected with the Minicon on board.
"Fixit, I'm on my way to the airlock, have my gearpack prepared upon my arrival."
"Yes sir Optimus sir!"
Eagle continued his dogfight in the air with the red colored Decepticon Starscream. He continued to dodge laser blasts from the aerial commander with barrel rolls and dives. He tried to return fire himself, but Starscream wouldn't relent. The Con's frustration was growing as his elusive target dived again to avoid yet another shower of laser shots.
"Argh! Hold still you filthy insect!" Starscream shouted before diving down to continue the chase. Eagle flew right above the Elorin terrain along the plateau adjacent to the Alliance base. He turned around to see Starscream following close behind at the same altitude.
"Sheesh, this guy doesn't quit! Fine then…" he said before pressing a button on his gauntlet. Flares deployed from his pack from behind the winged soldier and in front of his pursuer.
"What the?!" Starscream cried out before hitting the flares, causing a flash of light that blinded his optics, "AAGGHH!...I can't see! I can't see!"
While he was blinded, Eagle took advantage and pulled a loop to ascend further into the air and turned around to face the Con commander. Aiming his missile gauntlet, he pulled the trigger and fired a single projectile heading directly for his target. Unfortunately as it approached, Starscream transformed in midair, causing it to miss over his head, and Eagle grumbled in frustration.
Starscream skidded to a halt on the ground as he rubbed his optics, "Agh! My optics, my optics!...Curse that pitiful cretin, no one traps Starscream and lives to tell about it!"
He squinted as he tried to regain his vision. Everything seemed fuzzy for a moment as he looked at the area surrounding him. He heard a noise, and saw the small flying assailant coming around on his left. The Con commander snarled as his vision slowly returned.
Eagle glared at the bipedal robot on the ground as he flew straight at him. He aimed his gauntlet again and put his finger to the trigger. Another missile fired from the gauntlet and flew directly toward Starscream at top speed. The Con's restored optics went wide at seeing the flying projectile zooming right at him! He jumped out of the way at the last second just barely avoiding the hit, before rolling over and skidding to a halt. Starscream growled in fury as he watched the winged soldier fly past and into the air again.
"How DARE YOU?!..." He shouted before running to transform again and take flight in pursuit. "You wretched insect! You dare to shoot at me?!...I am Starscream! Commander-in-Chief of the mighty Decepticons, and you…are trash!"
He picked up speed to catch up to Eagle, who looked back at the angry Decepticon whom he had heard shouting at him with a sweatpanned expression, "...oh great, now he's mad."
Jak and Torn continued their attack on the ten purple flying Decepticons in the skies surrounding Union Alliance HQ. It certainly wasn't easy given they were outnumbered five to one. Their gunners inside the shielded base provided great cover, but it wasn't enough to regain advantage.
"Heads up Torn! You have one on your tail!" Jak called over the comm, dodging another shot while observing the Con chasing after his friend and superior officer in his own flyer. Keira kept herself secure in the passenger seat next to Jak while her father Samos remained in the gunner turret bracing himself.
"I see him!" Torn called back, "Can you take him out if I fly around toward you?"
"You bet!" Jak replied.
Knowing what was coming, Keira called up to her father and shouted, "brace yourself Daddy!"
"I'm fine dear!..." Samos called back while attempting to hold himself steady as another Con flew over them, and he replied with dry sarcasm, "...don't worry about me!"
Torn flew parallel toward Jak with his Con pursuer right behind him in an attempt to give Jak a clear shot to take him out. However, a blue colored shot fired from below hit first, knocking the Con out of the air and onto the ground with a hard THUD. Torn presumed it was Jak, "nice shot Jak!..."
"Umm…that wasn't me?" Jak called back.
"Look!" Keira pointed to the ground below, and Jak and Daxter followed her line and were thrilled to see two other giant robots on the ground.
Sideswipe was running alongside the base shield with his arm cannon pointed up. Bumblebee, still in vehicle mode, drove alongside him as they gained the attention of their archenemies. The nine other Cons in the air acknowledged their longtime foes on the ground with one giving an angry shout, "...AUTOBOTS!..."
The nine purple flyers flew toward their vehicular enemies as Jak and Torn along with their passengers observed.
"About time they got here!" Daxter cried out.
Jak smirked and called out to the base, "HQ this is Commander Jak, we have friendlies on the ground…I repeat, reinforcements have arrived!"
The group at the main console smiled and sighed with relief. Vinn brought up the closest video camera on the main hub. It showed the same yellow robot as before in his alternate mode, alongside a new red one in its bipedal form.
"Well, it appears our mysterious yellow alien newcomer is an ally after all," Charvo commented with a grin.
"And he's brought a friend," Hunter nodded.
Sig noticed something else laughing with joy, "Hahaha! They're not the only ones!" he pointed in the distance, and everyone turned thrilled to see the whole group of dragons, save for Terrador, had returned as well!
Spyro's group had reached the base proximity and took notice of the entire layout upon approach, including the shielded base and the ten identified enemies. They saw how the invading purple flyers redirected themselves toward the Autobots on the ground. Knowing they were now the primary targets, Spyro called out to his kin…
"The Autobots are protecting our friends! Now we need to protect them, let's take out those enemy flyers and we'll save everyone!"
"Agreed young dragon!" Cyril nodded, "you heard him everyone! Let's teach these metal monstrosities a lesson!"
Saphira, Sephpyr, Vacu, Zaxto, Volteer and Cynder all nodded in unison. Spyro grinned as he and his whole flock dived down to aid their friends on the ground.
The Con who had been shot down slowly got back to his feet, before turning to see that the red cladded Bot who shot him down was running toward him, or rather, rolling toward him, on his wheel peds!
"Someone call about Decepticon trouble?" Sideswipe quipped before jumping into the air with a battle cry, "Hah!..."
Sideswipe landed on the rock atop to meet the Con in combat, who attacked first with a thrust punch. The Bot dodged and spun around and elbowed his opponent in the back. The Con fell to the ground, but quickly turned over and activated his arm cannon to aim at the red Autobot. He fired a few shots, but Sideswipe bent out of the way dodging each one before jumping again to deliver a pile driver.
The Con dodged the attack, causing the Bot to crack the rock beneath, and his opponent roundhouse kicked him in the face, sending him skidding. Sideswipe just shook it off, and smirked at the Decepticon drone who reset his stance, "alright, warm-ups over…"
He unsheathed his left arm blade and rolled toward the Con who prepared to counterattack, but Sideswipe faked him out and alley-ooped over his head, and swiped with his left arm cutting it off. The red cladded Autobot combatant landed with his blade arm in the air, as the drone head he cut off fell to the ground, followed by its lifeless body. He retracted his blade and scoffed, "hmph, amateur…"
Down below, his fellow Autobot fired his top mounted blasters at the incoming Decepticon flyers who were raining laser fire down on him. Bumblebee maneuvered through the shower as best he could, but some hits made contact. To avoid further damage, he transformed and rolled with the momentum, before jumping up and grabbed the closest Con and held on tight. The yellow Autobot punched through its shell and pulled out some metal wiring, crippling the flyer in midair.
It quickly lost altitude, forcing Bumblebee to jump clear as it landed with a CRASH. Two Cons were destroyed, leaving eight, and half the battalion transformed and landed on the ground near Bumblebee, their arm cannons at the ready. Bumblebee reset his stance against his enemies despite being outnumbered.
"Prepare to be slagged, you stinkin' Autobot," one of the drones wickedly said.
"Hey metal-heads!" a young voice from above drew their attention. They were too late to counter as the electric acolyte Zaxto flew over their heads with an electric stream enveloping them all. The Cons were paralyzed as they screamed from the attack, allowing the rest of his kin behind him to finish it.
Vacu flew in and blew one to pieces with an earth shot…Saphira flew down and fired an ice shard which shattered the head off another…Sephpyr fired a fire bomb which blew another completely apart…and Spyro and Cynder combined their attacks with their trademark ice tornado, enveloping the last Con in a funnel which shattered his body into scattered pieces.
The young dragons flew up and re-grouped together in triumph. Bumblebee watched in awe, completely stunned by how quickly these flying creatures eliminated a squadron of Decepticons. Their strength and teamwork were practically on par with the Autobots!
"Haha! That was awesome!" Vacu cheered.
"You said it!" Saphira agreed.
"Great job on that opening shot Zaxto!" Spyro said to the yellow dragon.
"Thanks! Just doing my part," Zaxto replied.
Their two guardian mentors flew up to them to offer their own congratulations, starting with Cyril, "well done young ones!"
"Absolutely remarkable, ravishing, tremendous, fantastic, stupendous! A truly historical moment for the records which will be revered, remembered, honored and-"
"AND…" Cyril sternly cut him off with a wing to the mouth, silencing his electric counterpart's tongue, before concluding, "we are very proud of you all, and the results your training has produced."
"Thank you Master Cyril," Saphira bowed, while silently glad he curbed Volteer's rambling. The others just smiled back before Bumblebee got their attention with a beep, and they turned to see him give a thumbs up.
Spyro, Cynder, and their fellow dragons all smiled and the purple dragon happily replied, "You're welcome, and Thank you!"
The celebratory moment ended as quickly as it came as the sound of the four remaining airbourne Decepticons caught their attention…causing them to narrow their eyes, or optics.
"It's not over yet," Sephpyr said with a serious tone.
"Right," Cynder replied in the same manner.
But to their surprise, they saw the four purple flyers fly away from them, before coming back around toward a different target. To their shock and horror, they saw that they were converging on the two blue aircraft of their human allies instead!
"Oh no! Jak!" Cynder cried out.
"Filthy cowards! They're going after those they deem a lesser threat!" Saphira angrily shouted at realizing the Decepticons true character.
'That's Decepticons for you. Come on, let's go help your friends!' Bumblebee beeped as he gestured to the dragons before running ahead and transforming to vehicle mode to speed away.
While unable to understand him, the robot's body language was all too clear to Spyro and said, "you heard him, let's go save our friends!"
"Agreed!" Cyril nodded and took lead in flight with his fellow guardian and the young ones following behind him. In the distance, Sideswipe saw everything and where the dragons and his fellow Autobot were heading off to. He transformed into his vehicle mode as well and followed them.
Up in the air, Jak and Torn flew their FL-Cats straight at the incoming Decepticon bogies to engage them directly. Having seen their dragon and newfound alien robot allies take out over half the battalion strengthened their resolve to defend against the remainder. Daxter, Keira, Samos, Striker braced themselves as their respective pilots opened laser fire on the Cons, causing them to shoot back. The soldiers in Torn's gunner turret let loose a barrage of machine gun fire, but it wasn't as effective as the lasers.
"Let's see how they like our bombs!" Torn suggested.
"Roger that!" Jak said back before deploying the Cat's secondary weapon, the concussion bomb. Two projectiles fired from each FL-Cat, and upon close proximity, detonated at the same time in the middle of the Con armada. While it didn't destroy them, it still knocked all four Cons out of the air in separate directions.
"BOOM! Choke on that, why don't ya?!" Daxter cheered with a pointed finger. Jak smirked at his sidekick's taunt as he watched them fall to the ground.
All four Cons managed to transform into their bipedal mode and roughly land on the terrain outside the base. They pulled themselves back up getting to their feet before looking toward the human base and noticed that the group of winged creatures who destroyed part of their group were approaching, along with the two Autobots. One of the drones turned to his cohorts and said, "That's it! I'm deploying the Screecher, get ready!"
The other three nodded and the drone pulled out something from his back and attached it to a crossbow mechanism on his arm. After setting it up and activating it, the drone fired the disk shaped projectile and watched it fly. The dragons saw the flying disc coming their way and eyed it with confusion.
"What is that?" Vacu asked for all of them.
Sideswipe saw it, and knew what it was instantly, "oh slag…"
The disc's rotation continued to speed up while its linear velocity slowed down. Soon enough, it halted in midair as it spun faster than a whirlwind, while giving off some light blue sparks. Following that, its primary function that gave it its name was deployed, releasing a piercing, shattering SCREECH that echoed.
"Aaaaggghhh!..." The dragons felt the agony as their eardrums were assaulted, disorienting them which caused them to drop out of the sky onto the ground where they closed their paws over their heads. The humans in the air felt it too, and were cringing in pain as they erratically turned their flyers around trying to get away from the penetrating noise. Unaffected by the device, Bumblebee and Sideswipe quickly drove around the disabled dragons and toward the Screecher hovering yards away.
"Shoot it Bee! I'm going for the Cons…" Sideswipe called out before driving ahead.
Bumblebee beeped in response and took aim, firing a shot from his mounted cannon. Except it didn't hit, as a forcefield popped around the Screecher before the shot made contact! Bumblebee was appalled and surprised at the same time.
"What?! They're shielded now? Scrap!..." Sideswipe groaned knowing who created it in the first place, "...Fraggin Con mad scientist! He thinks of everything…"
The four Cons opened fire on the red Autobot getting his attention, "alright then, I'll just take care of you clowns first!"
He transformed to bipedal mode and used his forward momentum to jump onto his wheel peds and roll toward the Cons as he deployed both his blades at once. With a battle cry he flipped over and lunged at the closest Con, only for the drone to dodge by jumping back and flipping over to transform and take off into the air again as Sideswipe landed. The other three Cons followed in suit, leaving the Autobot on the ground by himself, snarling at their actions.
"Yeah, go ahead and run you slaggin cowards!" He shook his fist up at them, and watched as they grouped together again and flew in unison before arching back around toward the red Autobot on the ground.
Sideswipe readied himself and muttered, "That's it…Come on…"
Inside the base shield, the Screecher effects were somewhat nullified, but everyone inside still felt the ill effects even at a mild level. They were all gripping their heads, groaning in pain.
"Agh!...What is that infernal noise?!" Charvo groaned, gripping his head.
"It's coming from that disc projectile! Whatever it is, it's incapacitated everyone outside! Except for the robots…" Vinn explained, being the only one among them who wasn't affected due to his virtual essence.
While in pain, Sig still asked Rip at the console, "can you get one of our gunners to shoot that blasted thing down?!"
"I already tried! Agh!" Rip gasped in pain, "...no one's responding!"
"Hold on! I've got something!" Vinn called to them, "I picked up another unknown energy signature, heading straight for us!"
"Another one?!" Sig yelled in frustration and pain.
"Arrgghhh! This just isn't our day!" Packer vented flailing his wings before covering his head again.
Unknown to them at the base, the Union Alliance and the Autobots on site were about to get some unexpected aid, and it wasn't the Ark. Flying along the mountain peaks of the Haven Range and into its fog bank, the airborne entity maneuvered carefully through the terrain using his built-in scope to avoid any obstacles. He activated his weapons as he prepared to exit the bank, where the base awaited on the other side.
Before emerging, he called out to his two allies on the ground, "...Sideswipe, Bumblebee, I'm on your six!"
…Currently at Union Alliance HQ…
Sideswipe turned his attention away from the incoming Cons to the call he just received on his comm. Bumblebee transformed and halted in place, having received the same.
"Optimus?..." Sideswipe instantly recognized his leader's voice, and was thrilled by what he saw when he turned to his right. Flying their way along the Haven mountains with his personally attuned jetwing pack, was Optimus Prime himself.
"Yeah! The boss is here!" Sideswipe pumped a fist and Bumblebee beeped a cheer with both arms in the air.
Getting his first look at Union Alliance HQ and its energy shield, Optimus took a clear overlook of the area…four Decepticons in the air, his two Autobots on the ground, the whole dragon group together incapacitated on the ground, and the Decepticon Screecher weapon responsible for it hovering in midair. His first objective was without question…
"You're mine…" Prime muttered as he flew directly at the Screecher, while catching the attention of the Decepticons at the same time.
"It's Prime! Stop him!" A drone shouted aloud. They were too late however, as Optimus grabbed the Screecher out of the air and flew toward a mass of land near the dragons. With a mighty SLAM, he crushed the sonic weapon beneath his fist, silencing it for good.
The dragons and the humans in their flyers felt the painful pressure instantly leave them. They regained their controls or got back on their feet before turning to see the giant red and blue cladded robot responsible. Jak, Torn, and Spyro's respective groups were grateful and amazed, while their allies inside the base shield couldn't believe their eyes.
"Who is that?!" Vinn called out in shock, a feeling shared by Charvo, Hunter, Seem, and Packer, as they all took in their first sight of the Autobot leader on screen.
Sig recollected himself and made an accurate deduction, "...wild guess, he's probably the robot in charge."
With the Screecher disabled, Optimus turned his focus to the main threats in the air, and armed his cannons before calling out through his battle mask to the Cons still in the air, "here I come!"
With a mighty leap, Prime fired up his jetwing once again and returned to the air, flying over the dragons in transit before passing his two Autobots on the ground who gave a thumbs up.
"I say, Extraordinary old chap…" Cyril said, nodding his head.
"You can say that again," Vacu added.
"Hmph, do I look like Volteer?" Cyril replied with a snarky look.
"Excuse me?!" Volteer fumed as the young dragons could only chuckle at the ribbing banter.
Spyro regathered their attention, "come on, let's go meet up with Jak and Torn."
Optimus engaged the remaining Con armada in the air, firing with his jetwing mounted laser guns causing them to scatter. The Cons in turn tried to fly around and adjust their trajectory to fire back at the Prime, but he flew out of their reach, instigating a chase. From their flyers, Jak and Torn watched the Decepticons chase after Optimus, and decided amongst themselves over their FL-Cat comm.
"Should we fly in to aid?" Jak asked the Alliance General.
"I think he's got this, plus I'd rather not risk harm by friendly fire," Torn answered over the radio link before referring to Optimus, "he'd probably say the same in our position. Let's go find Cal instead, didn't you say he engaged the red leader?"
"Yeah," Jak answered.
"Hey you guys!" Spyro got their attention as he flew up alongside Jak's flyer with the rest of his kin hovering behind him.
"Hey Spyro! You alright?" Jak asked.
"Just fine, we all are…thanks to Optimus," Spyro replied.
"Good to hear," Torn relayed over the radio, "but we're still one man short, so let's go get Cal."
"Cal?" Cynder said out of concern for her friend, "What happened? Where did he go?"
"He engaged the leader of this invading armada," Jak answered.
"BY HIMSELF?!" Cynder shouted in disbelief.
"Great…" Spyro shook his head, "Any idea how to find him?"
Keira cut in, "our comm-link should be able to connect to Cal's Eagle pack, just use this frequency…"
After adjusting the radio to the frequency given by Keira, Jak called into it, "Cal! This is Jak! Come in, where are you?"
"Jak?...Sorry, but I'm a little busy right now!" Cal's voice clearly sounded stressed.
"That's why we're calling, where are you?" Keira asked.
"Somewhere over the opposite ridge from the base…Agh!...and trying not to get peppered by this Con who won't get off my tail!" Cal yelled back.
"Who is it? The one who led this attack?" Spyro asked through the radio, feeling just as concerned as Cynder.
"Yeah, some red-winged maniac…Calls himself Starscream, or something-AGH! Hey, watch it!" Cal shouted again stunning the Alliance group in horror, "...I could use a hand over here if you don't mind!"
"On our way!" Jak said back before addressing Spyro's group, "we'll fly out to help him, one of you let the Autobots know where we're going."
"I'll do it!" Volteer volunteered, having heard the whole thing.
"Good then old chap," Cyril replied with a nod before addressing their students, "let's make haste!"
The whole group took off, with Torn's flyer in the lead followed by Jak's, and the dragons behind him all while Volteer flew down to the two Autobots who were aiding their leader the best they could from the ground.
Sideswipe and Bumblebee had both their arm cannons deployed and were firing at the closest Con that came their way as Optimus engaged them up high. Finally, each of them shot another one down, grounding them. The two combat Autobots engaged the Decepticon drones in melee combat, with each of them ending in victory, leaving only two left to go.
Sideswipe retracted his blade after sticking it through his opponent's stomach and Bumblebee disengaged his arm cannon after firing the finishing shot on his drone.
"Heh, different planet, same old story," Sideswipe joked.
'Yup, the Cons fight us, we fight them, and they end up scrapped,' Bumblebee added, '...it never gets old.'
"Autobot friends!" Volteer called out getting their attention as he flew in place above them, "Congrats on your victories, but I have urgent news!"
"What is it Mr. Scales?" Sideswipe asked.
Volteer sighed at the nickname before addressing the real problem, "Huff…First, it's Volteer, not Scales, and we have another call to aid! One of our own is facing off against the leader of this armada all on his own!"
Sideswipe then asked with concern, "which one of yours?"
Volteer answered, "Calidan, or Eagle as he calls himself."
'What?!' Bumblebee bleeped.
Sideswipe was just as surprised that a lone human was taking on a Decepticon, "Gasp!…and who is the leader?…His name wouldn't be 'Starscream' would it?"
"Actually yes that's correct! So you know him?" Volteer said.
'Calidan's fighting Starscream?!...ALL BY HIMSELF?!' Bumblebee bleeped even louder.
"Slag that's not good…" Sideswipe shook his head before calling over his head comm, "Prime! Come in! Optimus!"
"What is it, Sideswipe?" Optimus replied as he shot down one of the two remaining Cons.
"Prime, the dragon with Bumblebee's color just told me that Officer Calidan is fighting Starscream! All by himself!"
"I'm on my way…" Optimus said before flying directly at the remaining Decepticon drone, and with a precisely timed shot, fired a missile which blew it to pieces. Prime flew through the debris and over the mountain, where Eagle and Starscream were located.
Eagle was trying every aerial maneuver he knew and could effectively utilize, but nothing was shaking Starscream off his tail. Whoever this guy was, he was an adept flyer that was for sure. Even more so, he was tenacious as the red winged Con continued firing laser shots at the aerial soldier as they flew along the Haven Range.
"Flee all you'd like, you Little Pest! Sooner or later, I will ground you, and then, I'LL GRIND YOU TO PASTE!" Starscream shouted.
Eagle spat at his threat before muttering to himself, "I am getting fed up with hearing his voice…let's see how high he can really fly!"
He arced up and flew directly above into the clouds, which Starscream observed before adjusting his trajectory and flew up after him, "you think to escape me by sheer altitude? Fool! No matter what the planet, I rule the skies!"
"Rule this!" Eagle yelled as he pointed his missile gauntlet at Starscream and fired. The projectile neared its target, but unfortunately missed as the Con barrel rolled out of the way.
"Still trying to shoot me down?" Starscream taunted, "don't you realize it's futile?"
Eagle muttered, "okay, Plan B." He retracted his wings and let gravity take him back down, falling out of Starscream's line of sight.
"What the?!" Starscream spat out before adjusting his trajectory in a wide arc, and saw the human free falling out of the sky. "You've got to be kidding…Guess he really does have a death wish, hehehe…Far be it from me to deny it! hehehehehehe…"
Out of the corner of his goggle protected eyes, Eagle saw Starscream flying back around to intercept him. He turned his line of sight down, and to his relief, saw the two FL-Cats and the whole group of dragons approaching from over the mountain ridge. His relief turned to wonder as he suddenly heard a rumble echo through the air.
A few seconds later, Starscream locked onto his free-falling target, and prepared another missile, "...hehehe, bye bye..."
ZAP!...Before he could fire, something else fired at him instead!
"Aghhh!..." Starscream was once again knocked away by a laser shot off his port side. Seeing his flying assailant falling out of the sky, Eagle turned in the opposite direction and couldn't believe his eyes. Optimus Prime was flying their way, with his own pack of wings!
Eagle reactivated his wings and hovered in midair as he watched Prime fly by, "no way! He has a wing pack too?! Awesome!"
"Hahaha, and here I thought you were one-of-a-kind Sand Boy," the familiar voice of Cynder caused him to turn around, where the Alliance group of dragons and humans hovered together in midair.
"That's funny Cynder, really," Eagle dryly remarked, which various bodies snickered at.
Jak cut in and said, "good to see you still in one piece Cal, you alright?"
"Simply put, I'm exhausted," Eagle replied.
"Taking on an enemy you're unfamiliar with in a dogfight will do that soldier," Striker said aboard Torn's FL-Cat with crossed arms. He and Torn gave the aerialist a stern glare.
Torn said strictly, "and we'll be having a little 'chat' about that later."
The others cringed at their disciplined tones before giving Cal apologetic glances, whereas he could only let out a breath, and replied with as much conviction as he could gather, "Sir, yes sir."
The roars of jet engines in the sky drew their attention back to the two robots fighting in midair. Starscream had recovered from his previous hit and was currently flying toward his new target. He seethed at his master's archenemy, also his enemy…
"PRIME!...You will pay for this outrage!" Starscream yelled with fury, as he locked his two remaining missiles on target, "BE GONE!..."
He fired, though Optimus said not a word and fired two missiles of his own from his jetwing pack. They intercepted and collided with the incoming missiles, blowing them up prematurely in a cloud of smoke. Optimus flew into the smoke cloud, keeping himself concealed from the Decepticon Commander.
Starscream then gasped at seeing Optimus emerge right in front of him with a raised fist, "What the?!..."
Optimus slammed onto Starscream's hull with a hammer fist, spinning him over. The Prime caught the Commander by his tail wings and spun him around with both hands at least a half dozen times.
Optimus declared, "as you said yourself, Starscream, be gone!"
He threw Starscream away with a mighty spin toss, sending the Con hurtling toward the ground screaming the whole way, "Aaaaaaahhhhhh!"...BOOM!
The echo of the impact jolted the Alliance members, the shockwave was felt even in the sky, and they cringed.
"Ohhh, that's gotta hurt…" Daxter muttered to Jak.
Calidan couldn't resist adding in, "Huh, guess he's not called 'Star-Scream' for nothing."
Needless to say, everyone chuckled at the joke while the mentioned Con lay beaten on the ground, embedded in the side of a mountain base. He groaned as he pulled himself free, falling face first in the dirt, causing him to spit up the foul organic matter. Realizing this mission had failed, Starscream called into his comm with a seething tone, "this is Commander Starscream, requesting an emergency ground bridge, Now!..."
A moment later, a blue swirling portal appeared next to the defeated Commander, catching the attention of the parties in midair. Starscream limped over to the portal, but before entering he turned up at the Alliance group over him and shouted a wicked declaration, "Organic Trash! I promise you, this is NOT OVER!"
He disappeared into the portal which vanished after him, leaving the Alliance and Optimus Prime in the sky. The Autobot leader turned his gaze over to his new native allies. The Alliance group as a whole could only glance back at him, with looks of awe and respect.
Torn spoke for them all, "okay, I guess his team is in…"
Writing this one was a challenge, but fun nonetheless. Again, this marks my 10th Fanfiction anniversary, and I'm grateful to have shared this with my readers. Hope you all have a Happy Holiday, and see you in the New Year!