CHAPTER NINE
--Outpost One--
This whole thing had been a bust.
Thunderhoof wondered why he had even agreed to this whole thing in the first place. He could have just taken for the stars when he had the chance... but Gigatron was a very influential being. A Decepticon warlord? That was glory personified.
Except it wasn't. The whole thing had been a major waste of time. It was time to throw in the towel.
"Hurry up, you louse!" he barked to his mooks as they loaded up his (newly acquired) ship with anything worth loading. "I haven't got all day!"
"Almost done, boss," replied Scowl, stepping down the ramp. "Just waiting on Clampdown with those energy rods."
"Ah, forget about 'im!" Thunderhoof snapped, storming up the ship's ramp. "We have what we need. Let's just blow this joint and--"
"Ahem. A moment of your time, Thunderhoof?"
The blue elk-like Decepticon paused midstride, slowly turning around to see a steel-blue canine Decepticon standing before him. With him was that louse Clampdown, along with an assortment of other Decepticons.
Thunderhoof sneered at the whole lot of them. "Steel Jaw. Long time no see."
"Indeed, old friend," Steel Jaw replied, that trademark faux smile plastered on his face. "I've been meaning to chat with you since our freedom but... I've just been busy."
"That right?" Thunderhoof snorted. "What do you want?"
"Nothing... much. I was just hoping you could give us all a lift...."
"You? After what happened at Pellechrome? Fat chance!"
Steel Jaw tilted his head. "Are you sure? What if I made you an offer you couldn't refuse?"
"And just what in the Pit could you offer me?"
Steel Jaw smiled. "Tell me... have you ever been to Troja Major?"
Thunderhoof stared at him, an optic raised. "Why? What's on Troja Major?"
"Oh, nothing much. Only everything you could possibly imagine... and then some."
Thunderhoof continued to stare at him... before slowly smiling. "I'm listenin'."
* * *
This whole thing had been a failure.
Watching from above as he hovered in his bat mode, Gigatron watched as the Autobot Ultra Magnus threw everything he had at Ragnarok. The large Decepticon was already showing signs of weariness; his defeat was all but a guarantee. And once he was down, the Autobot would be setting their sights on him next.
There was no better time to leave than now.
Shifting to his dragon mode, Gigatron set off to find and gather as many troops as he could before leaving. There would be another time for him to make his conquest; this time without being on Tarantulas' leash.
He smiled to himself as he flew off. His time would be soon. One day, he would be in control of the Decepticons, as had been his dream since the days of Trannis. One day, he would rule.
And nothing would stand in his way.
* * *
"And... stay down!"
Ultra Magnus punctuated this by landing one last punch onto Ragnarok's cranium. The Decepticon giant faltered for a moment before falling face-first onto the ground, kicking up clouds of dust.
Stepping over the fallen Decepticon, Magnus pulled Ragnarok's arms behind his back and deployed a pair of stasis cuffs, which he latched onto the 'Con's servos. He then stepped away from the giant, dusting off his hands as he admired a job well done.
It's good to be back.
"Magnus! Love the new duds!"
Ultra Magnus turned around to see Rodimus and the rest of his team approaching him, all admiring his newly armored form.
"You can thank Brainstorm," he said. "I think this is his way of saying 'sorry.'"
"It's certainly in his style," Chromedome remarked.
"Oi." Whirl elbowed Rodimus and pointed up ahead. "Is it just me, or are those the blokes we came to rescue?"
Ultra Magnus turned around to see seven mechs emerging from one of the moon's craters. It didn't take long for him to recognize them as Prowl and the Wreckers.
"Well, that's certainly fortunate," he commented. He then frowned as he noticed an eighth bot come out right after them: one that bore a very familiar face.
Rodimus seemed to have noticed this as well. "Is that...?"
Magnus did not speak and waited until Prowl and the Wreckers had joined before addressing them. "I'm glad to see you've made it out okay."
Prowl shook his head. "Not okay. We lost one of our own."
"Oh. I'm sorry to--"
"What are you doing here? How did you know we were here?"
"They got my message," Ironfist said. "You did, didn't you? The datatrax?"
Rodimus grinned. "We sure did. Very clever move you did there, sport."
"So what's the story here?" Magnus asked. "How did you get captured? Who had you captured? What even is this place?"
Prowl released a heavy sigh. "All of those questions require very long explanations. Right now... I think we're all due for some refueling and recovering."
"For once we can agree on something," Rodimus said wryly. "I'll call Mainframe to bring the Lost Light in."
"And what about big and ugly here?" Whirl asked, kicking the unconscious Ragnarok. "Is there even room on the ship for him or--"
Without warning, Ragnarok's body erupted into a fiery explosion, sending all within its radius flying off their feet. At the same time, another explosion occurred elsewhere on the moon, although none bore witness to the replica of Ragnarok as it transformed and took for the stars.
--The Lost Light, later--
"You're back."
"Yup." Skids deactivated the bars to Archforce's cell but made no move to enter. "Come on. Up and at 'em."
Archforce stared at him confusedly. "What...?"
"Don't worry, I'm not walking you to your execution," Skids said. "There's someone I want you to meet."
With some hesitation, Archforce get to his feet and followed Skids out of the brig. The Autobot led him through the ship to a room with very magenta walls and lots of flame decals. Archforce had to adjust his optics so he wouldn't get blinded.
Seated at a desk was a red and orange Autobot. Standing next to him was a very grave-looking bot in white and black, and a large one in blue and black. There was something about the latter mech that struck Archforce as familiar... but what was it?
"Take a seat, Archforce," Rodimus said, gesturing to a chair in front of him. "We have a lot to discuss."
TO BE CONTINUED
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