CHAPTER TWO
Tailgate groaned as he inched closer to the energon rations in his trailer. This escape of his would be going faster if he didn't keep passing out. He had half the mind to run a diagnosis on his systems to figure out the problem, but felt too weak to do so. Instead, he simply continued to crawl towards the trailer.
Stay focused. Keep calm. You're nearly there.
After passing out for about the sixth time in an hour, he awoke with a worried thought: what if this plan failed? What if he was doomed to be stuck down here forever?
No, he told himself. Keep calm. You're gonna make it, Tailgate.
Besides, he reminded himself, he was too important to just be ignored, forgotten about. It was, after all, him who convinced the Prime to disembark from Cybertron. He was a champion kick-boxer, one of Omega Supreme's top students, a graduate of the Ibex School of Epistemology. He had a reputation proceeding him!
He once again reached for the energon... and collapsed once more.
* * *
"Retrieval Team to Watchout Team. We've got trouble."
Lifting herself up, Windblade peered over her hiding spot and grimaced. Heading towards Chromedome, Rewind, and Shellshock's position were two fliers- one black and maroon, the other violet and gray.
"Wonderful," she muttered. "Hang in there, Chromedome. Red Wing and I are on the way."
"Last one there eats my dust!" Red Wing cackled as he transformed into his jet mode and took off towards the two mysterious fliers.
Windblade rolled her eyes as she did the same. Of all the Seekers she had to be paired up with, it had to be the one whose personality not even his fellow Decepticons could tolerate.
Advancing towards the unidentified pair, she got a lock on the purple jet and fired, scoring a hit on their left wing. A pained cry emitted from the flier as it plummeted towards the ground, crashing headfirst into a small building.
"Amateur," she heard Red Wing scoff. "Shooting down a rookie is no amazing feat."
"How do you know it was a rookie?" Windblade retorted. "Do you have files on every single flier on Cybertron?"
"I recognized that particular one," the Seeker snapped back. "His name's Bugly and-"
He was cut off by a barrage of fire coming from two separate directions. The assault was enough to tear off both of the Seeker's wings, causing him to crash as well. Windblade quickly morphed to her robot mode, landing with more grace, and unsheathed her energy-sword as she searched for the source of the attack.
Approaching her position were Chromedome, Rewind, and Shellshock, who transformed from their vehicle modes and bore their weapons as well, forming a defensive circle with Windblade around the fallen Red Wing.
"I don't see the black flier anymore," Rewind said quietly, hiding behind Chromedome's leg for he lacked weapons of his own. "Did you guys shoot him down?"
"No," Windblade said. "He vanished after I shot down Bugly. He could be-"
"There he is," Shellshock grunted, raising his multi-barreled cannon towards a far-away winged figure. "I've got him."
Just as he was about to fire, Shellshock suddenly swung his large cannon and hit Chromedome with it, sending him flying onto his back.
"Hey!" Rewind shouted, rushing to Chromedome's aid. "What the scrap was that for?"
"I didn't mean to do that!" Shellshock snapped, trying to return his aim to the winged figure. "It's like someone invisible hand pushed me!"
"It's Mindwipe," Chromedome muttered as he stood up. "That's his trick; he can hypnotize people and control them."
"Well, I don't feel hypnotized! How can he get a lock on me?"
"Your mind is like an open book, Shellshock," an eerie voice spoke out, echoing all around them. "You announce your next move before you perform it. You let people know that they're going to die by merely saying their name."
"You're next, Mindwipe!" Shellshock bellowed, swinging his cannon all around him. "I'll kill you with my bare hands if I have to! I'll-"
In the midst of swinging his weapon, the barrel of his cannon ended up pressing against his head and, against his will, he fired it. As his smoldering, headless corpse fell to the ground, the crashed jet form of Red Wing morphed into robot mode, moving around in a daze.
"Ugh. What-?" The Seeker's eyes fell upon Shellshock's corpse and fury contorted his features as he looked back up at the Autobots. "Oh, so much for an alliance, eh? Well, in that case-"
"Shut up," Windblade hissed, hitting him in the face with the hilt of her sword. "We need to get out of here. I can support a certain amount of weight, so when I turn into jet mode, you cling onto my back while Chromedome and Rewind hold onto my tail fin."
"Well, what are you waiting for?" Red Wing snapped. "Transform and fly out!"
"But what if you get shot down like Red Wing?" Rewind asked Windblade as she converted into her jet mode. "That attack came out of nowhere and-"
"Got any better ideas?" Windblade said sharply. "Just grab on already."
* * *
"They're getting away," Mindwipe hissed as the three Autobots and single Decepticon fled from the scene. "Why do we not take pursuit?"
"I already told you," the mech standing next to him growled. "Our purpose is to scare them. We want them to report to their superiors about us. That way, they will eventually send out our targets one-by-one, straight into our hands, not knowing what they are doing."
Mindwipe narrowed his eyes. "But that fem-bot was one of our targets as well. Why don't we capture her now?"
"We will eventually. For now, recover Bugly and return to the hideout. I will commence the next act and draw out our next victim."
The winged hypnotist eyed his leader skeptically but did not question him further, instead moving to carry out his orders. He knew better than to question the Fallen's chosen herald.
No comments:
Post a Comment