CHAPTER THREE
"For the last time, I am in no need of protection!"
Chromia sighed at the High Councilor's insistent stubbornness. Her boss at Rodion Security was not joking when he said that the escort would not be easy.
"Sir," she said to Emirate Xeon as she and her team drove alongside him towards Tyger Pax. "This is for your own safety. We were given orders and we are obliged to follow them."
"Then here's another order," Xeon growled. "Frag off!"
"Many apologies, Emirate, but you have no authority over the orders given to us by the Elite Guard," said Spin-Out, Chromia's laid-back partner. "Sorry."
Xeon's truck form let out a low rumble but he said nothing further. A few minutes later, they were approaching the building which was to serve as his meeting place with Councilor Ratbat. Standing at the entrance was Ratbat himself, accompanied by his assistant Soundwave. As Xeon and his escort came to a stop and transformed into their robots forms, Ratbat smiled in greeting.
"I'm glad you could make it, old friend," he said to the Emirate. Eying Chromia and her comrades, he added, "I see that you are taking precautions in security."
Xeon snorted. "Against my wishes." To Chromia, he said, "I believe I am no longer in need of protection."
"I'm afraid not, sir," Chromia said. "Our orders were to protect you at all times and at all costs."
The Emirate sneered. "And my orders are for you to back off! I don't care what Ultra Magnus- or even Sentinel Prime says! I've trained myself in the brutal arts of the Kaon gladiators of old. I will not fall at the hands of a petty assassin!"
"I beg to differ."
At the sound of Ratbat's voice, Xeon turned to face his colleague only to have his face completely blasted off by a concussion blaster in the hands of Ratbat's assistant.
"I would hardly call Soundwave petty."
Quickly shaking off the shock of the Emirate's death, Chromia brought out her dual blasters and aimed them at Ratbat and his assistant. The former let out a cool laugh.
"You wouldn't dare threaten a High Councilor, would you?" he asked.
Chromia glared at him. "Your butler-bot just killed another councilor. At any rate, he should at least be arrested."
Ratbat let out another laugh. "Not unless there was anyone left to tell of the incident."
Suddenly, from behind the building, a squadron of Seekers appeared. Below them were several heavily-armored tanks, each one flanked by two Guardian droids. Chromia's startled gaze shifted between Ratbat and his small, gathering army.
"What... what are you doing?" she demanded. "What's going on?"
Ratbat smirked. "The Decepticon Empire is making its comeback, my dear. And it's going to be a heck of a show."
To the Seekers and the rest of his army, the councilor ordered, "Kill them all."
* * *
"Heading out again?"
Orion Pax stopped before the door he was heading out of to look at Springarm. "Yes, I am. Why?"
"Nothing, it's just...." The blue Autobot shrugged. "We haven't caught this many crooks in... vorns. What's gotten you so driven to catch them?"
Orion sighed. "Ever since my brother died at the hands of Decepticons, I became more determined than ever to bring a stop to their evil."
"Even if it means starting another war?"
Orion stared at Springarm for a moment, his expression unreadable. Then, concealing most of his face with his mouthplate, he said, "Even if it means preventing one."
Just as he was about to leave again, the television monitor which played over Springarm's desk abruptly ended the sports channel he was watching to display a news report from the Iaconian Newsfeed Service.
"-city of Tyger Pax in flames," the news reporter was saying. "Ultra Magnus is dispatching whatever units he has available, including the Triorian Guard. Primus knows what's-"
Springarm whistled. "Wow. Tough break for Tyger Pax. Hope it's not an omen, eh, Orion?"
He stopped when he noticed something quite unsettling: Orion Pax had vanished.
* * *
Chromia ducked behind a piece of debris as she dodged a rocket from one of the Guardian droids. She wondered if Ratbat had known that the drones could act quite... berserk, or if he had unleashed them without thinking. Either way, she and her team were doomed.
Shooting down the Guardian drone that was harassing Chromia, Spin-Out dropped down and rolled to crouch at her side. "Gearshift is injured," he said. "Fixer is repairing him. Lost sight of Livewire and Strongbox. The others are probably dead or too injured to fight."
Chromia sighed as she fired over her shoulder, scouring a hit on a Seeker's wing. "Did you get the distress signal out?"
"It should be all over the news-feed by now," Spin-Out replied. "Not sure we'll all be alive by the time help arrives though."
"Then let's make our deaths worthwhile." Emerging from behind her cover, Chromia unleashed all of her firepower on the Seekers and drones, with Spin-Out shortly following suit.
Despite their efforts, their opponents continued to swarm in. It was almost as if Ratbat had an unlimited supply of Guardian drones. As if there was a factory underneath... or something that required this many Guardians to protect it.
Her musings were abruptly interrupted when the ground shook. The struggle came to a halt as all combatants- Autobot and Seeker alike- looked off towards the horizon. There, Chromia could make out a brewing storm, but it was not an ordinary one. No, this one would strike fear even in the spark of a Decepticon warlord.
It was Spin-Out who managed to speak the name of the incoming tempest: "Devastator Winds."
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