CHAPTER EIGHT
--England--
"These guys just aren't letting up," Downshift grunted as he shot down two more Kickback units. "They must really want whatever it is they're after."
"Ah, victory through persistence!" Sky Lynx said as he impaled a Bombshell model with his tail. "That was the motto of Mongo the Majestic. A charming soul. Could really belt out a good tune."
"Did he have a swarm of bugs?" Evac asked.
"No, but he did have a horrible case of--"
"Wait!" Crosswise said, holding his fire. "Everyone stop!"
Downshift glanced at him. "Are you crazy?"
"Just do as I say!"
Reluctantly, the others ceased fire. Just as they did, the remaining Insecticons immediately began marching away, ignoring the Autobots as if they had never been there to begin with.
"The heck?" Downshift muttered. "Talk about a mood swing."
"I'll say," Evac remarked, retracting his shoulder cannons. "Wonder what's gotten into them."
"Um, guys? Some help."
As the last Insecticon flew off, the Autobots all turned to see Jetfire and Stormshot emerge from what remained of Folgan Castle. With them were three bots hobbling on their feet, moving as if they had not used their joints in some time.
While Evac and Downshift rushed to help them, Crosswise rubbed his chin as he studied one of them, a winged mech in blue and red. "Say, I know you. You're that bounty hunter. Devron, was it?"
"Devcon," the bot corrected him. "Devron was a warlord. How could you confuse me with him?"
"To be fair, you have the personality to match," said a smirking red and orange motorcycle bot.
Devcon scowled. "Zip it, Flareup, or you'll be finding yourself back down there underneath ten tons of rubble."
"How did you guys end up here anyway?" Downshift asked. "And who's the orange Optimus?"
"My name is Ginrai," grunted the bot in question, who did indeed bear a striking resemblance to Optimus Prime. "And our story is... a long one. Is Dai Atlas here?"
"The Circle of Light guy?" Evac said. "No one's heard from them in months. We can take you to Optimus Prime though."
"Wonderful." Ginrai looked up to see Jetfire turning back to the castle. "Where are you going?"
"There are still more bots back there," Jetfire replied. "Arcee told me that Burton had taken them in over the years."
Stormshot shook her head. "I'm afraid it's a lost cause. None of them were registering a spark signature to me. I think they're long gone."
Jetfire sighed but conceded the point. Turning back around, he raised a hand to his comm. "Wheeljack? It's Jetfire. Can you open a GroundBridge for us?"
"Hey!" Sky Lynx exclaimed. "I'm standing right here!"
Jetfire motioned for silence. "Wheeljack? Do you copy?"
There was no response for a minute or two. Then, after a crackling of static, Wheeljack's voice came through. "Yeah, I copy. Unfortunately, I think asking for a GroundBridge is a bit much for us at the moment."
Jetfire frowned. "What do you mean?"
"We've been having some... technical difficulties. Things are just now coming back online. It might be a while before we can get out our GroundBridge -- or space bridge -- up and running again."
"No matter. We've got Sky Lynx. We'll be returning to Autobot City shortly."
"Great. Did you guys find anything?"
"Uh...." Jetfire looked back towards the ruins of Folgan Castle. "Somewhat. More questions than answers, really."
"I feel ya. See you soon then."
After ending the call, Jetfire turned back to the others. "All right, I'll take Ginrai and the others back to Autobot City. You guys keep an optic for Overhaul and those bugs -- but do not engage them. Understood?"
The other four Autobots nodded curtly.
"Good." Jetfire then nodded to Sky Lynx. "Let's get going."
* * *
"Fascinating."
Cogman groaned as he was prodded awake. After adjusting his optical sensors, he found himself at the mercy of a massive robot with multiple appendages hanging off of his shoulders. The creature-esque machine hung low over Cogman, poking him with a vast array of tools.
"Cybertronian, yet... different. You have the build of a Cyberdroid, yet no Cyberdroid I know has a transformation cog that works so... extensively."
Cogman tried to speak only to realize his vocal processor was not responding. Had his captor deactivated it? What purpose did that serve?
After a moment, the monstrous bot ceased his examination and retracted his tools. Leaning away, he moved his gaze to someone just behind Cogman's head.
"You may proceed."
"I should probably mention that I've never operated on someone this... small," said the second person. "I can't guarantee he will survive the procedure."
"He doesn't need to," the spider said. "He is merely a curiosity, nothing more."
With that, he turned around and strode away. As he left, Cogman spied an ornately-shaped object hanging from one of the spider's limbs. His energon went cold when the realization set in.
The Enigma of Combination.
As his spark sank, Cogman almost did not notice the pain when the Predacon mnemosurgeon injected his needle-like fingers into his neck.
* * *
Wheeljack did not recognize the two bots currently working on Metrotitan's space bridge, but he already admired their work ethic. As soon as Ragnarok had vanished, they had immediately gotten to work before even receiving any instructions.
If only he could get that sort of attitude from Huffer....
As he stood by and watched the pair work, Wheeljack saw the red one (Phoenix, he believed his name was) stand up and access the space bridge's controls, inputting a series of commands. Meanwhile, the gray one -- Lander -- reconnected a few wires before closing the panel he was working on.
"Finished already?" Wheeljack asked. "That didn't take long."
Lander glanced at him but said nothing. In a way, he looked almost... sad?
Once Phoenix had finished his input, he sent it in and a blue portal materialized within the arch. Already Wheeljack could see a group of silhouetted figures emerging from the other end.
"The heck?" Wheeljack adjusted his optics as the center figure became more visible. "Is that... Metalhawk?"
Without warning, Lander lunged at the engineer and tackled him to the ground. As Wheeljack struggled against him, Metalhawk emerged from the space bridge, accompanied by six others -- a good number of them being Decepticons.
"You had us worried, you two," the gold and blue mech said. "We had just received Dauros' signal and yet you weren't answering."
"Ragnarok's arrival had caused some... disturbances," Phoenix said. "A minor inconvenience though. The Matrix is ours now."
Metalhawk nodded before shifting his gaze to Wheeljack, whom Lander still had pinned. "We seem to have a witness though. That is unfortunate."
"Allow me to rid us of him," said one of the Decepticons, drawing a sword. Metalhawk stopped him from attacking.
"There is no need, Bludgeon. He can't do anything to stop us. None of them can." He gestured to Lander, who released Wheeljack from his grip. As the Autobot engineer got up, Metalhawk smirked at him.
"Go ahead and warn your 'Prime' -- if he can even be still called that anymore. The ascension is already underway. You have lost."
With that, Metalhawk and the eight assorted bots transformed and took off, leaving Autobot City before Wheeljack could even finish his alert....
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