Boy, this chapter's been long in the making...
DEVASTATION
--Cybertron--
“I’ve got a lock on him! Skydive, Slingshot, form up behind me!”The two Autobot jets took up flanking positions behind Silverbolt as they advanced towards the giant green-and-purple combiner attacking Fortress Maximus, leaving smoke trails in their wake. Once it was within firing range, the three Aerialbots unloaded on the gestalt, pelting its armor pelting with bullets and blaster bolts. The combiner made a grunt of annoyance as it shifted its attention away from Fortress Maximus’ central tower and swung a massive arm at its assailants. Silverbolt immediately pulled up, just missing the massive purple fist, while Skydive and Slingshot split up and flew in opposite directions to get out of the arc of its swing.
“That barely left a dent in it!” Slingshot exclaimed as he and Skydive moved to rejoin their leader. “At this rate, Iacon will already be in ruins by the time we bring it down — if we ever do!”
“We’re going to need a different course of action,” Silverbolt grunted. “Fireflight, any word from the Council?”
“Starscream said he’d be sending his Seekers shortly,” answered a red and white jet flying below the other three Aerialbots. “I haven’t seen any yet.”
“Are we really going to trust Starscream of all bots to send us help?” remarked Skydive.
“Like it or not, Iacon is just as much his city as it is everyone else on the Council’s,” Silverbolt replied. “If we lose Iacon, Starscream loses whatever seat of power he has his grip on. He will defend Iacon if it’s the last thing he—”
“Look alive, Autobots!”
The four Autobot jets all scattered as a hail of purple fire came out of nowhere and rained down on the combiner. As the gestalt let out a roar, Skywarp teleported into view and fired upon the giant again, zipping in and out of existence before it could do anything to attack him.
“Man, somebody please tell me they recorded that,” the black-and-purple Seeker cackled over the Aerialbots’ intercom. “Did you guys see how they—”
“Focus, Skywarp,” came the morose sound of Thundercracker’s voice just as the blue Decepticon jet arrived with a squadron of Seekers. “You can brag about it after we’ve cleaned up this mess.”
While Skywarp continued to play games with the combiner, the Seekers formed up with the Aerialbots. As they began to circle their way back to Fortress Maximus, Thundercracker flew up alongside Silverbolt.
“You don’t seem happy to see us,” the blue Seeker commented.
“We’re simply focused on the mission,” Silverbolt answered stiffly.
“Uh-huh. So do you guys have a plan on how to take this thing down?”
“So far, all I’ve got is to just keep shooting at it.”
Thundercracker chuckled at that. “Funny. I think a lot of us were thinking the same thing.”
* * *
Battletrap cringed as the ceiling made a terrible noise over his head. The whole facility was shaking as the combiner outside — “Devastator,” it called itself — dealt with the fortress’ defenses and any Autobot (or Decepticon) that stood in its way. Sometimes, though, Battletrap wondered if Devastator had forgotten he and the other Ultracons were still inside and would just keep hitting Fort Max until it collapsed in on all of them, rendering this entire operation moot.
He couldn’t dwell on that, of course. The Autobot in charge of the place was trying to trap him in with walls and blast doors; he had to keep moving if he wanted to find those he had been sent to free and make it out in one piece (or at least two functioning components).
As another blast door slammed behind him, just narrowly missing him, Battletrap took a sharp left and saw an elevator at the very end of the hall. Speeding towards it, he deployed his rotor blade and sawed through the door before jumping down into the shaft. After passing one or two floors, he grabbed onto a ledge and swung himself into an open hallway. Mere seconds after he was through, the door slammed shut and would have cut his arm off had he not moved it away in time.
“Sweet spark,” he muttered to himself. “This Autobot sure means business.”
“Battletrap?” the voice of his operator — Quake — crackled into his audio receptor. “What’s taking so long? Where are—”
“Coming right up, boss!” Quickening his pace, Battletrap navigated his way through the corridor, avoiding bisection by blast door along the way, before finally coming across the cell — or cells, rather — that he was after.
On either side of him, protected by enforced ray shields, were two Decepticons who had made up the combiner Liokaiser during the Thunderwing War. To his left were Guyhawk and Killbison while Drillhorn and Hellbat occupied the one on his right. All four of them looked less than excited to see him.
“Hey, guys!” Battletrap said in an overly cheerful tone. “I’m here to break you out!”
“Is that what this all is?” Guyhawk asked as the building shook violently.
“I know it’s not exactly the most clean rescue operation,” Battletrap said, getting to work on the control panels. “But at least it’s working so far, eh?”
“’Working?’ We’re not even out yet!” snarled Killbison.
“Hold on to your equinoids, I’m nearly there.” After bypassing the first shield layer and getting to work on the other, Battletrap glanced furtively between the two cells. “Say, which one here has Deathsaurus in it?”
“I think he’s at the very end,” murmured Hellbat. “Where they’re keeping Overlord’s corpse.”
“Oh, slag, Overlord? Why haven’t they smelted him for parts already?”
“Stop asking questions and get us out of here already!” Drillhorn snapped, slamming his fist against a wall for punctuation.
“Alright, alright! Nearly there!” After another minute of hacking his way through the control panel, Battletrap finally brought down the last firewall and the ray shields began to dissipate. Allowing himself a proud grin, the Duocon pivoted to head down the hallway. “There! Now, let’s get ol’ Deathsaur—”
“I don’t think so.” Coming up behind him, Killbison threw his fist into the back of Battletrap’s head and sent him sprawling face-first onto the floor. “We’re making our own escape plan.”
“What?!” Battletrap turned onto his back and looked up at the four Decepticons in shock. “But… Deathsaurus is your leader! He’s, like, one of the oldest warlords!”
Guyhawk sneered. “Yeah, and look where that got us. I think it’s by time we make our own decisions.”
“But, guys, Ratbat needs all five of you to form Liokaiser so we can—”
“Ratbat?!” Drillhorn snorted. “Since when was Ratbat in charge? That’s like… that would be like making Hellbat leader but worse!”
Hellbat glared at him. “Hilarious. Now are we going to get out of here or what?”
Killbison scratched his head. “Uh… how do we get out of here?”
Battletrap scowled as he got back to his feet. “Well, maybe if you guys would listen to me, we could—”
“I’ve got it!” Shoving Battletrap back down, Drillhorn deployed a large drill from his arm and pointed it at the ground. “All of the chaos is coming from outside and above. Naturally, that only leaves down!”
“Are you sure this is the bottom floor?” Guyhawk asked.
“It’s not!” Battletrap screeched.
“Then we’ll just have to keep drilling until we get there!” Drillhorn said.
“No! You’ll just make things worse!”
Guyhawk laughed at him. “Relax, genericon. Drillhorn is a strategist. He knows what he’s—”
The pink Decepticon was cut off by a blast door falling between them, cutting off Battletrap from those he had just rescued.
“Finally!” he heard Cerebros say through the intercom. “I’m just about fed up with all of this!”
“Oh, yeah?!” Scrambling to his feet, Battletrap started to run towards the end of the hall. “Wait until I activate my secret weapon!”
“Secret weapon? What are you—”
Battletrap answered by separating himself from the waste. His upper half instantly transformed into a white helicopter and began to fly its way towards the cell at the very end. Battleslash could hear blast doors closing behind him in attempts to stop him, but the helicopter was too fast for the Autobot to react in time. While he lost Roadtrap along the way, Battleslash soon made it to the pair of cells waiting for him at the very end of the corridor. He transformed to robot mode just as the last blast door fell down behind him, too late to capture him.
Rubbing his hands with glee, Battleslash looked up into the cell containing Deathsaurus. The former Decepticon warlord was still in his monstrous “combiner” body, looking not all too dissimilar from the Autobot Sky Lynx. Battleslash wasn’t sure why this was the case but he also didn’t have time to care. Flying himself over to the control panel, he got to work as he had the last one. As if noticing him for the first time, Deathsaurus lifted his lizard-like head from its resting position and inclined his head towards the Duocon curiously. Momentarily meeting his gaze, Battleslash grinned and waved at the warlord.
“Hi! This is a rescue!”
Smoke exhumed from the dragon’s nose as Deathsaurus snorted. “Is it?”
“Yup! I apologize for my over-excitement; I’ve never met a warlord face-to-face before, especially one of your status. My name’s Battleslash, by the way.”
“Charmed. Are you about done?”
“Just about—” Before Battleslash could even finish, he felt a large hand fall on his shoulder. Before he had a chance to react, he was wrenched away from the control panel and thrown across the room, crashing into a wall. Rolling onto his back, he looked up to find himself staring down the barrel of a gun.
“Choose your next action carefully, Decepticon,” growled the Weaponizer known as Cog. “Because it just might be the very last thing you do.”
Battleslash said nothing as he glanced furtively between the gun and Deathsaurus in his cell. The former warlord met his gaze with an impassive look on his serpentine face. Battleslash searched it for some kind of hint as to what he should do next, but found nothing. Returning his gaze to the Autobot, the Duocon reluctantly raised his arms.
“Smart.” Keeping his gun trained on Battleslash, Cog raised a hand to his audio piece. “This is Cog Unit-826 to Control. I’ve got the other Duocon in the bag.” He stood there for a moment, as if waiting for a response. When he spoke again, the tone of his voice was laced with confusion. “Control? Do you read—”
A cacophony of noise silenced everything and everyone as a giant purple fist tore through the walls. Light poured into the chamber as metal was parted to reveal a titanic green combiner looming over Fortress Maximus. Jets of all kinds zipped around and fired on it but dealt little damage on the giant. Cog spun around and unloaded his guns on Devastator, as if he thought they would do any good. Devastator made an irritated grunt before bringing his fist down onto the Weaponizer, smashing him into pieces. As Battleslash backed up against the wall, not wanting to get smashed in the process, he noticed that the ray shield to Deathsaurus’ cell had dissipated and the warlord was calmly stepping out. It was as if this whole thing had been orchestrated by him.
“Relax, my friend,” Deathsaurus said to Battleslash. “The tide has turned in our favor. Today… the Decepticons rise again.”
He couldn’t dwell on that, of course. The Autobot in charge of the place was trying to trap him in with walls and blast doors; he had to keep moving if he wanted to find those he had been sent to free and make it out in one piece (or at least two functioning components).
As another blast door slammed behind him, just narrowly missing him, Battletrap took a sharp left and saw an elevator at the very end of the hall. Speeding towards it, he deployed his rotor blade and sawed through the door before jumping down into the shaft. After passing one or two floors, he grabbed onto a ledge and swung himself into an open hallway. Mere seconds after he was through, the door slammed shut and would have cut his arm off had he not moved it away in time.
“Sweet spark,” he muttered to himself. “This Autobot sure means business.”
“Battletrap?” the voice of his operator — Quake — crackled into his audio receptor. “What’s taking so long? Where are—”
“Coming right up, boss!” Quickening his pace, Battletrap navigated his way through the corridor, avoiding bisection by blast door along the way, before finally coming across the cell — or cells, rather — that he was after.
On either side of him, protected by enforced ray shields, were two Decepticons who had made up the combiner Liokaiser during the Thunderwing War. To his left were Guyhawk and Killbison while Drillhorn and Hellbat occupied the one on his right. All four of them looked less than excited to see him.
“Hey, guys!” Battletrap said in an overly cheerful tone. “I’m here to break you out!”
“Is that what this all is?” Guyhawk asked as the building shook violently.
“I know it’s not exactly the most clean rescue operation,” Battletrap said, getting to work on the control panels. “But at least it’s working so far, eh?”
“’Working?’ We’re not even out yet!” snarled Killbison.
“Hold on to your equinoids, I’m nearly there.” After bypassing the first shield layer and getting to work on the other, Battletrap glanced furtively between the two cells. “Say, which one here has Deathsaurus in it?”
“I think he’s at the very end,” murmured Hellbat. “Where they’re keeping Overlord’s corpse.”
“Oh, slag, Overlord? Why haven’t they smelted him for parts already?”
“Stop asking questions and get us out of here already!” Drillhorn snapped, slamming his fist against a wall for punctuation.
“Alright, alright! Nearly there!” After another minute of hacking his way through the control panel, Battletrap finally brought down the last firewall and the ray shields began to dissipate. Allowing himself a proud grin, the Duocon pivoted to head down the hallway. “There! Now, let’s get ol’ Deathsaur—”
“I don’t think so.” Coming up behind him, Killbison threw his fist into the back of Battletrap’s head and sent him sprawling face-first onto the floor. “We’re making our own escape plan.”
“What?!” Battletrap turned onto his back and looked up at the four Decepticons in shock. “But… Deathsaurus is your leader! He’s, like, one of the oldest warlords!”
Guyhawk sneered. “Yeah, and look where that got us. I think it’s by time we make our own decisions.”
“But, guys, Ratbat needs all five of you to form Liokaiser so we can—”
“Ratbat?!” Drillhorn snorted. “Since when was Ratbat in charge? That’s like… that would be like making Hellbat leader but worse!”
Hellbat glared at him. “Hilarious. Now are we going to get out of here or what?”
Killbison scratched his head. “Uh… how do we get out of here?”
Battletrap scowled as he got back to his feet. “Well, maybe if you guys would listen to me, we could—”
“I’ve got it!” Shoving Battletrap back down, Drillhorn deployed a large drill from his arm and pointed it at the ground. “All of the chaos is coming from outside and above. Naturally, that only leaves down!”
“Are you sure this is the bottom floor?” Guyhawk asked.
“It’s not!” Battletrap screeched.
“Then we’ll just have to keep drilling until we get there!” Drillhorn said.
“No! You’ll just make things worse!”
Guyhawk laughed at him. “Relax, genericon. Drillhorn is a strategist. He knows what he’s—”
The pink Decepticon was cut off by a blast door falling between them, cutting off Battletrap from those he had just rescued.
“Finally!” he heard Cerebros say through the intercom. “I’m just about fed up with all of this!”
“Oh, yeah?!” Scrambling to his feet, Battletrap started to run towards the end of the hall. “Wait until I activate my secret weapon!”
“Secret weapon? What are you—”
Battletrap answered by separating himself from the waste. His upper half instantly transformed into a white helicopter and began to fly its way towards the cell at the very end. Battleslash could hear blast doors closing behind him in attempts to stop him, but the helicopter was too fast for the Autobot to react in time. While he lost Roadtrap along the way, Battleslash soon made it to the pair of cells waiting for him at the very end of the corridor. He transformed to robot mode just as the last blast door fell down behind him, too late to capture him.
Rubbing his hands with glee, Battleslash looked up into the cell containing Deathsaurus. The former Decepticon warlord was still in his monstrous “combiner” body, looking not all too dissimilar from the Autobot Sky Lynx. Battleslash wasn’t sure why this was the case but he also didn’t have time to care. Flying himself over to the control panel, he got to work as he had the last one. As if noticing him for the first time, Deathsaurus lifted his lizard-like head from its resting position and inclined his head towards the Duocon curiously. Momentarily meeting his gaze, Battleslash grinned and waved at the warlord.
“Hi! This is a rescue!”
Smoke exhumed from the dragon’s nose as Deathsaurus snorted. “Is it?”
“Yup! I apologize for my over-excitement; I’ve never met a warlord face-to-face before, especially one of your status. My name’s Battleslash, by the way.”
“Charmed. Are you about done?”
“Just about—” Before Battleslash could even finish, he felt a large hand fall on his shoulder. Before he had a chance to react, he was wrenched away from the control panel and thrown across the room, crashing into a wall. Rolling onto his back, he looked up to find himself staring down the barrel of a gun.
“Choose your next action carefully, Decepticon,” growled the Weaponizer known as Cog. “Because it just might be the very last thing you do.”
Battleslash said nothing as he glanced furtively between the gun and Deathsaurus in his cell. The former warlord met his gaze with an impassive look on his serpentine face. Battleslash searched it for some kind of hint as to what he should do next, but found nothing. Returning his gaze to the Autobot, the Duocon reluctantly raised his arms.
“Smart.” Keeping his gun trained on Battleslash, Cog raised a hand to his audio piece. “This is Cog Unit-826 to Control. I’ve got the other Duocon in the bag.” He stood there for a moment, as if waiting for a response. When he spoke again, the tone of his voice was laced with confusion. “Control? Do you read—”
A cacophony of noise silenced everything and everyone as a giant purple fist tore through the walls. Light poured into the chamber as metal was parted to reveal a titanic green combiner looming over Fortress Maximus. Jets of all kinds zipped around and fired on it but dealt little damage on the giant. Cog spun around and unloaded his guns on Devastator, as if he thought they would do any good. Devastator made an irritated grunt before bringing his fist down onto the Weaponizer, smashing him into pieces. As Battleslash backed up against the wall, not wanting to get smashed in the process, he noticed that the ray shield to Deathsaurus’ cell had dissipated and the warlord was calmly stepping out. It was as if this whole thing had been orchestrated by him.
“Relax, my friend,” Deathsaurus said to Battleslash. “The tide has turned in our favor. Today… the Decepticons rise again.”
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