CHAPTER EIGHT
"Why is it we always find ourselves fighting hordes of faceless bad guys?" Skids commented as he fired on a charging herd of raptor-like Terrorcons, holding fort in front of a shelter they had been attacking.
"Decepticons always think in bigger numbers," Overhaul said as he locked claws with a jaguar-bot. "That's why they always lose; they forget that less is--"
"Save the lecture for after we're out of this mess!" Stormshot snapped, shooting down a flock of robot hawks. "Because right now, your argument doesn't sound very convincing!"
Indeed, the Terrorcons seemed to be never-ending, as more were continuing to pour out of the Worldsweeper. All around, Crusadercons, Torchbearers, and other Camiens were cutting through the drones only to be quickly overwhelmed by reinforcements. There was no sign of them letting up and Skids wasn't sure they'd be able to hold up for much longer.
He could only hope that Star Saber and his team were making better progress than they were.
* * *
"We're gonna need to jump."
The shuttle rattled as it flew over the Worldsweeper. Standing on the open ramp, Star Saber could feel the heat of the warship's turbolasers as they fired on their vessel. Only Wing Saber's piloting skills kept them out of harm's way.
"You're joking, right?" Ammo yelled over the sound of blaster fire. "I mean, I'm not saying I'm against heroic acts of bravado, but you've gotta draw the line somewhere, right?"
"Too later to back out now," Scoop said as he readied his twin guns. "Besides, I've gotta admit, I've kinda miss this kind of action. Takes me back, y'know."
"Wish I shared your nostalgia," Ammo muttered. "I'll tell you one thing, K'th Kinsere is not something I look back fondly on."
"All right, everyone get in position," Star Saber ordered. "Powerglide, Dogfight, you're our air support. Everyone else, stay on me."
With that, Star Saber gave the signal and the seven Autobots jumped off the shuttle. Dogfight and Powerglide immediately transformed and diverted firepower away from the others; Ammo and Scoop were the first to touch down onto the Worldsweeper's hull, followed shortly by Roller and Crosscut. As soon as Star Saber had joined them, Roller charged towards a turned turbolaser turret and punched a hole into it. As it struggled to turn back around, Roller used all of his strength to tear the turret out of its base, creating an opening into the ship.
"Everyone in!" Star Saber commanded.
The Autobots proceeded to jump down the hole, opening fire on the bots that had been manning the turret. Once any and all resistance had been dealt with, Star Saber led the team down an adjacent hallway, following signs that directed them to the warship's brig.
"If Rung is on this ship, he's sure to be down there," Star Saber said. "We don't know how many guards they've got, so be ready for--"
"Thirty-three two."
Everyone came to a halt as Star Saber froze in place, his optical sensors dilating. From down the hall came a pair of gun-toting Legislators, their wideness leaving no room for escape. More footsteps sounded behind them and the Autobots turned to see another team of the giant gold robots. And leading them... was Chief Justice Tyrest.
"Star Saber!" The judge grinned broadly. "What a pleasant surprise. It's been a while, hasn't it?"
"Tyrest." Star Saber spoke the name with disgust as he tightened his grip on his sword. "I thought you were dead."
Tyrest chuckled. "Not quite. My recall trigger activated just in time before you could land the killing blow. Credit where it's due, though; you certainly got the jump on me when you betrayed me."
"What's your game now, Tyrest? Unicron is gone. You don't have any dark gods to worship now."
"And what's with the symbol ships?" Scoop added. "P-36s were out of fashion even before I was dead."
Tyrest smirked as he held his staff aloft, thumbing a button near its tip. "I didn't come down here to tell you all my plan... I came here to stop you."
There was a hissing sound as he pressed the button and, suddenly, piece by piece Star Saber's detached from his core body and clattered to the floor. Reduced to his inner blue robot form, Star Saber looked down at his weaker state as Tyrest broke into laughter.
"So worth it! I actually could have done that anytime I wished, but I thought it would be satisfying to see you--"
"That's it!" Without warning, Crosscut opened fire on Tyrest. Caught off-guard, the Chief Justice was knocked back as the Legislators moved to defend him. Roller immediately tackled the first two while Corsscut and Scoop exchanged fire with the others, leaving Ammo to come to Star Saber's assistance.
"You... you can reattach your armor, right?" Ammo asked, dodging a stray blaster shot. "I've seen Ultra Magnus do it."
Star Saber shook his head. "There's no time; not in these conditions. We may need to call Vector Prime or... or something."
Behind them, Roller succeeded in taking down one of the Legislators. Claiming its gun, Roller shot down its partner before swinging it at Tyrest and the remaining two. Upon seeing this, Tyrest motioned the Legislators to hold fire.
"That all it takes to scare you?" Roller said wryly. "Thought you'd be made of sterner stuff."
"Oh, I'm not scared of you," Tyrest replied. "I've just changed my mind about killing you."
With that, he pressed another switch on his staff and the five Autobots all fell to the floor, completely paralyzed. Smirking to himself, Tyrest signaled the Legislators to surround them.
"I will say, I've been needing some material for my forces. I believe you will all do nicely."
Before the Legislators could move in however, an explosion rocked the ship. Stumbling, Tyrest grabbed onto the wall for stability before raising his hand to his helmet.
"What's going on out there?" he snarled into his comm.
"We've got a bunch of fliers strafing us, including a shuttle," came the response. "One of them just hit our shield generator. I'm not sure how much longer we can hold out."
Tyrest scowled as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Primus, I knew these antiquated ships would be the end of us. Flame, I want you to recall the Terrorcons. We should have enough of the ore to satisfy our master."
"Copy that. And what of the Autobots?"
Tyrest was silent for a moment as he coolly regarded Star Saber and the others. "Leave them," he finally said. "They are of no concern to us. Besides, we already have the one we're after."
With that, he pressed another switch on his staff and before Star Saber knew it, they were all falling to the ground below....
* * *
Sunlight gleamed through the cracks in the walls as the sounds of battle tentatively came to a stop. Hesitantly, Swift opened the door to the shelter and everyone came out to see the robotic hordes retreating to the Worldsweeper.
"Wow," Anode murmured to herself as she, Lug, and Wipe-Out stepped out. "What did you guys do to scare them off?"
"Nothing," replied Skids. "They just kinda... stopped."
"I don't like this," grunted Overhaul. "First Thunderclash, now these guys... it's like they're toying with us."
"More like they already got what they were after," said Stormshot. "I think we were just in the way."
"They were trying to kill us," Lug pointed out. "And they completely ransacked Parvus Oppidum."
"It must have been the ore they were after," Skids said, looking to Overhaul. "You said these Terrorcons siphoned energon, right?"
Before Overhaul could answer, a shuttle came flying towards them, flanked by Autobot fliers. At the same time, the Worldsweeper began moving away from the village, pointing itself to the sky. As soon as the shuttle had touched down, the symbol ship blasted off, taking its army of Terrorcons with it.
The shuttle then lowered its ramp and a part of six disembarked from it. Wing Saber helped guide a weakened, unarmored Star Saber while Roller and Scoop carried pieces of his armor. Skids stepped up to them, a worried look on his face.
"Where's Rung?" he asked.
"Still on the Worldsweeper," Star Saber said grimly. "Tyrest stopped us and kicked us off the ship. No idea where they're headed now."
"Well, we can't just give up! We have to go after them!"
"Maybe we should warn the other teams," Stormshot suggested. "If it is the Regenesis ores they're after, then they could be going to Earth or Velocitron next."
"That is a very strong possibility," Star Saber agreed. "I'll have Big Bang alert them immediately. In the meantime... we don't have anything as to an idea on who these bots are or what they're up to."
"Actually...." Anode stepped up, surprising even herself. "You do."
The Autobots all turned to look at her. "And who would you be?" asked Wing Saber.
"My name is Anode. I'm a blacksmith... and I think I know who's behind all of this."
--Elsewhere--
"I trust that you have a satisfactory report to bring, Chief Justice."
Chief Justice Tyrest grimaced as he stood before the glowing emblem of the Grand Architect. Flame stood to his right while Thunderclash stood behind them both, arms folded patiently.
"We have retrieved a considerable sample of the ore from Parvus Oppidum," Tyrest began. "Unfortunately, we were unable to proceed to the capital; we encountered resistance and were forced to retreat."
"Resistance was always expected," the Grand Architect calmly replied. "That is why I had you target the frontier towns first, so that you would be able to at least procure enough to satisfy our needs. Caminus can always be revisited if necessary."
Tyrest nodded, allowing himself to relax. "My Legislators were also able to retrieve the Autobot you requested captured. The one called Rung."
"Oh? May I see him?"
Tyrest stepped aside to allow a Legislator to step forward, holding a petrified Rung in place.
"Ah, wonderful. I say that makes up for Flame's failure to execute the remaining two blacksmiths."
Flame bristled from the remark but remained silent.
"And Thunderclash," the Grand Architect went on. "Or do you prefer Vexus? Either way, congratulations on an excellent performance. It would seem Lord Imperious' procedures were successful."
The Dire Wraith-Autobot hybrid grinned as he shifted to his true form. "Very much so," Vexus hissed. "I look forward to applying his technique to the others."
"Yes, well, there'll be plenty of time for that. In the meantime, we still have much to do. The Terrorcons are already in the process of recovering Eukaris' ore, which still leaves us with a number of others."
"What about Earth?" Tyrest asked. "I've heard that Scorponok has perished and that our facilities there have been compromised."
The Grand Architect chuckled. "Oh, anything but, my friend. Our operations on Earth may have suffered a major setback, but Scorponok has proven himself to be very resourceful when it comes to salvaging his setbacks.
"Trust me, my friends; Earth will play a critical role in things to come. I wouldn't have it any other way."
TO BE CONTINUED
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