"Found her at last!"
Scalpel ejected from Skygnaw's chest compartment, skittering across the pavement toward the rusted hull. He climbed onto the main airlock, his surgical tools whirring as he interfaced with the ancient Peruvian security bypasses.
A heavy hiss of pressurized gas echoed through the courtyard as the ramp slowly ground open. Skygnaw watched with interest; it was clear Scalpel hadn't insisted on coming along just for the view.
"Skygnaw, inside! Quickly!" Scalpel buzzed, disappearing into the dark maw of the craft.
Skygnaw glanced back at the Peruvian soldiers scrambling to regroup before following the medic. As his heavy pedes hit the deck, the airlock hissed shut, sealing out the shouting humans.
The interior was more spacious than the exterior suggested—a multi-functional scout vessel. Skygnaw navigated the cramped corridors until he reached the bridge.
"This is..."
Slumped in the command chair was a Decepticon. From behind, the frame was slender and elegant, but four long, spindly mechanical legs—resembling arachnid limbs—jutted from the back plating. When Skygnaw rounded the chair, he saw a feminine faceplate, cold and sharp.
"Skygnaw, meet Airachnid," Scalpel said, already plugging himself into the ship's primary console.
Airachnid? Skygnaw searched his data banks. She wasn't a main player in the recent Earth movies, but her reputation in the deeper archives was legendary. A hunter, a sadist, and the sworn enemy of the Autobot Arcee. Unlike most Cybertronians, she had a spark of biological origin, making her temperament far more volatile than the average soldier.
She showed no energy signature. Her spark was dormant, but her chassis was pristine—free of the rust that plagued the exterior. She wasn't dead; she was in a state of deep stasis, likely due to a total depletion of Energon.
Skygnaw leaned in, his sensors pinging as he measured her frame's latent power level. His optics widened in surprise.
Airachnid was a Commander-Class warrior.
"Lord Scalpel, why have I never heard of her presence in our current ranks?" An Elite-Class like Skygnaw should have known of a Commander active in the sector.
"It is only natural," Scalpel chirped. "Airachnid was a Decepticon once, but she requested leave to pursue her own... interests."
"Leave?"
"Kekeke~ Don't look so worried, Skygnaw. It wasn't a desertion. She left with Megatron's personal blessing. Soundwave, Starscream, and even Shockwave were aware of the arrangement."
Another secret of the high command, Skygnaw thought.
Scalpel continued to manipulate the controls. Within minutes, the ancient ship groaned, its dormant engines coughing to life. Two pillars of blue flame erupted from the thrusters. Outside, the Peruvian soldiers watched in slack-jawed horror as the "artifact" they had guarded for decades lifted into the air.
"Sir, do we fire?" a soldier asked, aiming his rifle at the hovering craft.
The commanding officer hesitated. He calculated the fallout of a destroyed alien ship versus a stolen one. "Open—"
Before he could finish the order, the ship vanished. It didn't accelerate; it jumped. One moment it was there, the next, it was gone, leaving nothing but a distorted pocket of air.
The ship reached the Konnas Canyon base in seconds. It was a terrifyingly efficient piece of technology—barely long enough to engage the drive before arriving. Skygnaw stepped off the ramp, looking back at the vessel with envy. He needed a ship like that.
"Skygnaw, did you secure the asset?" Barricade asked, walking over to the landing pad. He stared at the V-shaped craft, trying to identify the pilot.
"Just a routine recovery," Skygnaw said, keeping it vague. "I'm leaving the base for a cycle, Barricade. I've received intel that Megatron's remains weren't destroyed. The humans have hidden them for study, much like Sector Seven did. I'm going to track the body. If we find it, we can bring the Leader back."
It was a perfect lie. No Decepticon would dare question a mission to resurrect Megatron. Barricade simply nodded and retreated into the tunnel.
"Skygnaw, I must focus on restoring Airachnid's energy levels. Your payment will have to wait," Scalpel said as he scurried back into the ship.
The "payment" was four high-grade information chips. Skygnaw intended to use the AllSpark fragment to create a four-man Elite squad of his own, using the chips to program loyal, advanced personalities.
"No rush, Lord Scalpel. I have business elsewhere."
Skygnaw ordered T-26 and a few grunts to assist the doctor with energy conduits before taking flight.
Denton, Idaho. Air Force Museum.
Under the cover of night, a Pave Hawk helicopter landed in the museum's yard. Minutes later, a silver streak tore into the sky, leaving a distorted wake of superheated air.
Skygnaw had returned to his Foxhound Interceptor form. He wasn't staying on Earth to be hunted by NEST; he was going to the Moon. He needed to "salvage" the secrets left behind on the lunar surface while the Autobots were distracted.
As Skygnaw breached the exosphere, far across the galaxy in the Iacon sector of Cybertron, a gargantuan Decepticon warship detached from its mooring.
Inside the hold stood fifteen warriors.
They were all High-Class veterans, with several Elites among them. They were the specialized sub-groups: the Combaticons (Onslaught, Swindle, Blast Off, and Vortex), the Constructicons (Scrapper, Mixmaster, Scavenger, Rampage, and Long Haul), and Starscream's own personal elite squadron, the Seekers (Skywarp, Thundercracker, and others).
Onslaught, the commander of the Combaticons, stood at the center. Together with the already-on-Earth Brawl, they could form the gestalt titan Bruticus. The Constructicons, meanwhile, were ready to build Devastator.
Nearly a third of the Decepticon's remaining high-tier strength was now in transit. Their Leader had fallen on a primitive world, and the Decepticons were coming to collect the debt.
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