CHAPTER TWO
--Earth--
Not for the first time today, Fractyl wondered how he had allowed himself to get roped into this.
When he had evacuated from the Mothership along with Offroad and the others, he hadn't exactly have a planned destination in mind; he just needed to get away from... well, everything. The Secret Order had fallen apart at the seams; everything they had worked on had been for naught and Fractyl didn't want to be around when Delta Magnus or Shockwave or whoever was in charge now started executing bots for their failure.
Offroad had insisted they return to Cybertron -- which the Combaticons and most everyone else had gone to -- but Fractyl had not felt comfortable with that option. He knew Shockwave had a base there; what if the Decepticon returned and tried to track them down? What if the Autobots arrested and punished them? Was there anywhere in the universe where they'd be safe?
Before Fractyl's paranoia could take them anywhere, that was when they were picked up by the Wreckers.
The ragtag team, led by the infamous Impactor, had been exploring the cosmos for nearly a month since the incident at Outpost One, searching for supplies and potential recruits. Fractyl and Offroad had been the first of the latter they had come across.
Fractyl wasn't the best at reading people, but Impactor had not looked at all pleased with his selection. Of course, given the other kind of bots he had with him, Fractyl wasn't sure what he was expecting.
Still, regardless of Impactor's feelings, the two were allowed into the Wreckers (Fractyl hadn't had much of a say in it, since Offroad's enthusiastic agreement drowned out any protests he might've had). After that, they went on to pick up one more recruit -- an Aerialbot named Alpha Bravo whom Offroad was somehow familiar with -- before going off to do whatever it was Wreckers did.
Recently, Impactor had become interested in tracking down Tarantulas. Fractyl knew the spider-bot from his time with the Secret Order, but that did not seem to be the cause behind Impactor's motives. The veteran Wrecker, as well as Counterpunch, seemed to have a personal reason for locating Tarantulas and killing him.
Thanks to a tracking monitor that Tarantulas had installed into Counterpunch when he had the double agent prisoner on Outpost One, they were able to reverse-engineer it to trace the spider's location to a planet called Earth; an apt, if unimaginative name for a world comprised of mostly dirt and water.
And bugs, as it would turn out. Lots and lots of bugs.
Fractyl had heard of the Insecticons and their replication abilities, but even this was ridiculous. Every time Fractyl shot down one, ten more would take its place. Whether it was a genuine Insecticon or some weird Eukarian crawler, there was simply no end to them.
Toxitron didn't seem to mind. In fact, he looked like he was having the time of his life.
Fractyl was already starting to regret repairing the Optimus clone's vocal processor as Toxitron bellowed, "Ha ha! Yes! Die, you putrid insects! Enjoy the sweet release of death!"
And to thing, Fractyl was the one with the Decepticon badge....
After shooting down a Kickback clone, he turned around to see Toxitron holding a green and blue mantis-bot in his hands, slowly melting their body away with his corrosive powers. As the bug screamed in agony, a brown bug-bot with a drill for an arm came charging towards the Wrecker.
"Mantis! No!" the small bot cried over the roar of his drill.
"'Mantis?' Seriously?" Toxitron scoffed at the screaming, melting Mantis in his hands. "In that case, call me 'Truck.'"
As the drill-bug lunged at him, Toxitron spun around and threw the decaying Mantis into him, knocking them both down. Fractyl watched on in horror as the acid transferred from Mantis onto the other bug and soon both were screaming as they rotted away... all while Toxitron laughed even harder.
Why, oh, why did he sign up for this?
"Fractyl?"
The green Decepticon jet turned around to see Alpha Bravo standing amidst the remains of the Insecticons, who had all but cleared the underground caverns. Even with his mouthplate and visor, Fractyl could still read disgust from the orange-plated Aerialbot.
"Impactor wants us to meet him outside," Alpha Bravo said. "Are you two, uh, all done here?"
"Uh, yeah," Fractyl murmured, glancing back at the still-cackling Toxitron. "At least, I hope we are...."
* * *
"Anything?"
"No luck, boss," Offroad said as he waved a scanner over the ground. "They're too far deep into the caverns. It'd be impossible to track them."
Impactor growled as he dug his harpoon into the earth. "Clever pests. Just like that time on Roxtus Prime when Squadron X used the Skrall Caves to get away from us. Twin Twist alone couldn't keep up with them."
"Why the need to chase them?" Overhaul asked, standing with the two Wreckers who had rescued him from his insect captors. "They're far away from any known civilization, not doing any harm. Why not just let them retreat and call it a day?"
Impactor glared at him. "You've never been a Wrecker, have you, Overhaul?"
The small green bot shook his head. "Crest offered me a spot after the Battle of Altihex but I turned him down. I was there at Polyhex when Straxus threw Ripcord and Drop Zone into his smelting pool after having them eat their t-cogs. That wasn't a party I wanted to join."
"Then you should know that, for us Wreckers, the battle is never over -- whether the enemy retreats or surrenders, it's simply not over. We can never call it a day."
Overhaul shrugged. "Well then, I'm glad I turned him down. I don't think I'd be able to live that kind of life."
Impactor grimaced but did not argue further as he stood up. Instead, without looking at Overhaul, he asked, "So there are other Autobots here?"
"Yup. My unit and I've been investigating mysterious energon readings in this region. We've also got a city full of us overseas."
"An Autobot City?" Offroad commented, looking incredulous. "Man, and I thought Symbol Ships were bad...."
"Let's regroup with your unit then and get in touch with Autobot City," Impactor said. "Because trust me, the things that are going down here... they're going to require a lot more than a few Autobots and some Wreckers...."
* * *
"Forgive me, master. We... I have failed to deliver the prospect to you."
Tigerhawk regarded the red fire ant Predacon that knelt before him, head bowed in subjection. Formikon (or Inferno as his comrades often called him) was perhaps the most loyal of the Eukarians under his rule, without requiring the need for mind control or brainwashing or whatever Psychobat's gift was called. Any failure he performed hardly ever brought his loyalty into question, if only his competency.
In most cases, Tigerhawk might have seen it fit to punish Inferno for leading so many Insecticons and Crawlers to their deaths. But seeing as they had lost so many, Tigerhawk could not spare to lose another soldier. Not when they were so close....
"Rise, Inferno," Tigerhawk ordered, to which the Predacon obediently did so. "You are forgiven... provided that you do not fail me in the future."
"I shall not, my queen!" Inferno said, snapping a salute. Tigerhawk silently dismissed him and the fire ant quickly marched out of the chamber.
Once he was gone, Tigerhawk turned back to what had been occupying his attention before Inferno's arrival. The Enigma of Combination glowed bright from the pedestal it sat upon, beckoning him, tempting him to use its power.
But he resisted. The time would soon come for it to be put to use; when Nexus Prime was finally reassembled and Onyx Prime was ready to make his ascension. Then, and only then, would the Enigma finally be put to use.
Eight thousand years ago, the Transformer race knew to fear the title of Prime.
It soon would again.
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