CHAPTER THREE
--The Xantium--
"Now that was an entrance worthy of Optimus Prime," commented Pyro.
Springer allowed himself a smile as he stared at the massive space station that laid ahead. He had to admit, he was rather pleased with the timing of it all: first the Optimus clone known as Convoy verified what they had suspected about this Secret Order's plans, and then an agent of Prowl's had sent them the location of one of the Order's bases of operation.
One quick call to High Command and boom; here they were. Four Autobot ships, all ready to kick Decepticon tail.
It felt just like the gold old days.
Lifting his head from his station, Ironfist said, "The frequency Charon gave us checks out. Should I try hailing them?"
"Go ahead," Springer said. "But I doubt you'll get a warm reception. These are Decepticons after all; I wouldn't expect anything less from them...."
--Outpost Four--
"They're hailing us."
Darkstar almost failed to register Spinblade's words, her mind too focused on the situation at hand. It wasn't until he repeated himself that she answered.
"Get me through to Lockdown first."
Spinblade looked up at her, confused. "Are you--"
"Just do it."
The green Decepticon complied and in a moment's time, Lockdown's visage appeared on the screen.
"Hey," the bounty hunter said. "I can't help but notice that there's four Autobot--"
"Lockdown, I want you and your team to leave now," Darkstar said. "And take the Titan with you."
Lockdown frowned. "Are we not getting our payment?"
"You'll get it. Just get out of here now. Meet us at the designated coordinates."
While Spinblade transmitted the coordinates, Lockdown said, "You know, for all this extra work, I expect some sort of increase in--"
"Okay!" Darkstar snapped. "I get it! We'll take care of it! Just go!"
With that she ended the call before taking over the comm herself, pushing Spinblade aside. "Attention, Autobot ships. This is Commander Darkstar speaking...."
* * *
"Hey, I think I recognize this guy."
Brainstorm groaned as his systems rebooted. His optical sensors flickered before slowly glowing online.
"Oh, yeah?"
"Yeah." He sensed movement as one of the Decepticons watching over him moved up to him, kneeling down to get a better look at his face. "I think it was at Devola I saw him, serving under Peritus Maximus."
Brainstorm's vision cleared up just in time to see the very unhappy face glaring at him. The Decepticon's right optic was missing, replaced by a crude-looking patch of metal.
"You remember me, don't you, Autobot?" she growled. "You shot my eye out."
"I've shot a lot of eyes out," Brainstorm murmured. "You're gonna have to narrow it down."
"Devola. Or Dabola, whatever. Cycle 9083. Ring any bells?"
"Oh." Brainstorm slowly nodded. "Yeah, I remember now. You were the one who looked like Demolishor."
"Yes, and what you did to me did me no favors in that regard," the Decepticon snarled. "Were you trying to make some sort of joke when you did that? Some cruel, sadistic joke?"
"Hey, you've had more than seven hundred years to fix that optic. Not my fault that you haven't--"
The Decepticon roared as Brainstorm was thrown against the wall, hitting it with a loud bang. As his assailant started to walk over to him, the other Decepticon raised a placating hand.
"Easy there, Irontread. Demolishor said to keep him--"
"Frag Demolishor!" Irontread bellowed, grabbing Brainstorm by the neck. "Frag this Autobot! Frag everyone on this station! I'm going to have my payback even if it's the last thing I--"
She was cut off by the sound of a gun firing off, followed instantly by her chest being blown open. Releasing Brainstorm, Irontread crumpled to the floor as their "comrade" put away her weapon. She pressed a panel on her wrist and her black and purple color scheme faded away to silver and blue.
"I could have easily handled this on my own," Quickshadow muttered.
"Hey, don't complain to me," Brainstorm said. "Gripe to your chief if you want. He's the one who--"
"Forget it," Quickshadow said sharply. "We should get going before--"
"Irontread?" a voice came from down the hall. "Slipchain? Is everything all right? I heard gunfire."
"Before that." Moving quickly, Quickshadow morphed to her car mode. "Let's move."
"No need to tell me twice," Brainstorm murmured as he transformed to jet mode and followed her.
--The Xantium--
"Hello, Darkstar. My name is Springer."
The red-helmeted Decepticon on the viewscreen glared at him. "I know who you are."
"Good. Then no further introductions are necessary." Springer folded his arms over his wide yellow chest. "So, mind telling us what you 'Cons are cooking up?"
"I am at no liability to--"
"I say you are," Springer interjected. "Not only have we uncovered your operations at another one of your outposts, but one of our ships has been reportedly taken over by a clone of Megatron. And it just so happens that we found two Optimus clones at one of your bases. Put two and two together and..."
"Okay," Darkstar said, not at all looking fazed. "Congratulations. Your months worth of spying has finally paid off. Now what are going to do about it?"
"Well... we're going to stop you, of course."
She smirked. "Stop us from doing what?"
Springer blinked. What was it these 'Cons were doing? The ones at Outpost Two had been making clones, of course... but to what extent? What was it they were working towards? Six months of spying and infiltrating and they had still not found the answer to that question.
Looking back at the screen, the Wrecker leader said, "Honestly? I have no idea. But considering you're Decepticons and doing this--"
"My, aren't we factionist?" Darkstar remarked.
"...And doing this all in secret... put those things together and you get a recipe for trouble. I say we are in the right for suspecting you of ill will."
"Maybe so. But we haven't done anything yet."
Springer frowned. "Your Megatron clone captured one of our ships."
"He could have easily gone rogue."
"Even so, why even make him? Or the two Optimus clones we've found? What purpose do they serve?"
Darkstar's optics shifted and Springer knew he had cast his lure. Time to reel it in....
"Seriously. You've brought back one of the most evil Cybertronians in history just six months after his death. What possible use is there in that?"
Darkstar did not respond. Instead, she muted the comm and turned to speak someone off-screen.
"They're planning something," Kup grunted, standing just behind Springer.
"Of course they are," said Rotorstorm, sitting at the controls. "Did we seriously come all this way, go through all this trouble, just to have them go, 'Aw, hey, we ain't done nothin' wrong. We just messin' around with--'"
"Can it," Springer hissed as Darkstar had returned her attention to them and unmuted the comm.
"I'm sorry, what was it you were saying? Something about a Megatron clone taking one of your ships?"
With that, the femme then stepped aside, allowing a very familiar visage to fill the screen.
"By the Prime Program...." Pyro murmured in shock.
"AllSpark protect us...." Kup muttered.
"Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod," Ironfist said.
"Frag," Guzzle swore.
A smirk played across Megatron's metal face. "I can see my presence has made an impression. Good. I'm glad I am still feared after all this time."
"Megatron," Springer said darkly. "I guess you just can't keep a bad bot down."
"Evidently. You Autobots were foolish to think one as great as I could be vanquished forever. The Emperor of Destruction can never be stopped."
"We've stopped you before," Springer said boldly. "We can do so again."
Megatron chuckled mirthlessly. "You'll have to catch me first."
With that, Megatron ended the call... just before the unexpected happened.
The entire space station began to glow, emitting a blinding light. All on board the Xantium shielded their optics just as the station ignited unseen thrusters and zipped backwards, disappearing into the blackness of space.
Once the phenomenon was over, Springer lowered his arm and gritted his teeth. "Ironfist? Call Prowl. He's not going to like this."
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