As Fireflight and Scattershot traded barbs, the Technobots and Aerialbots closed the distance, rapidly bearing down on the main Decepticon army. Without waiting for a formal command from Shockwave, the Decepticons immediately launched a fierce counterattack.
Missiles and plasma fire lit up the sky, but the ten Autobot fliers didn't panic. As seasoned veterans who had fought side by side through countless skirmishes, they were highly coordinated. Even against a powerhouse like Shockwave, they were confident they could hold their own for a few rounds.
"Razorclaw, take the Predacons and the Air Division," Shockwave commanded, his singular red eye tracking the approaching Autobot ground forces. He completely ignored the dogfight raging overhead, focusing entirely on Ultra Magnus leading the vanguard. "Make sure the Aerialbots and Technobots stay out of my way."
"Leave them to us, Lord Shockwave," Razorclaw replied with a savage grin. He fired his thrusters, leading his elite hunting pack and the bulk of the fiers straight into the sky.
True flying warriors were rare among the Autobots, making their aerial squads the absolute best of their faction. To ensure the battle in the skies didn't end too quickly, Shockwave ordered his troops to press the attack. He raised his massive arm cannon, the reactor on his back humming with sudden power as he locked onto Ultra Magnus and fired.
The heavy shell detonated in a shower of sparks right beside him, but Ultra Magnus evaded the blast with practiced ease, accelerating his stride as he charged straight at the scientist. "Shockwave! Your fight is with me!"
"Exactly what I calculated," Shockwave replied coldly, his optic burning with a bright crimson light as he met the Autobot leader head-on.
The two titans slammed into each other with a violent crash, sparks flying from their heavy armor. As bitter rivals who had clashed more times than either cared to count, they traded lethal blows from the very first second. There was no testing the waters, no holding back; both fought to kill.
Spurred by their leader's charge, the remaining elite Decepticon squads surged forward to find their own targets. If the boss was on the front lines, the troops had no business watching from the sidelines. In an instant, a full-scale clash erupted across the metallic plains.
Up in the clouds, the Predacons fought a brutal, desperate battle against both the Technobots and the Aerialbots. Trapped in a two-on-one fight, they were barely keeping their footing. If it weren't for the endless waves of ordinary Decepticon fliers drawing the Autobots' fire, the Aerialbots would have swatted them out of the sky long ago.
On the ground, the Stunticons locked horns with the Trainbots, while the Terrorcons threw themselves directly into the path of the Protectobots. The Seacons, whose skills were heavily diminished when fighting away from their watery domains, were forced to split their strength, scrambling back and forth to reinforce the gaps between the Stunticons and the Terrorcons.
Only the Wreckers were left entirely unchecked. Moving with unstoppable momentum, they carved a bloody path straight through the frontline grunts, heading directly for the heavy armored transports.
Sensing the threat, the automated heavy cannons mounted on the Mastiff and Basilisk transports began to roar. Every heavy shell that found its mark sent an unlucky Autobot flying through the air. Even if the blast didn't crush their sparks instantly, taking a direct hit meant losing their mobility, and losing your footing on a battlefield of this intensity was an immediate death sentence.
A Decepticon infantryman raised his rifle, cautiously stepping toward a smoking crater left behind by a Mastiff's cannon. Spotting two wounded Autobots groaning in agony at the bottom, a cruel, bloodthirsty grin spread across his face. "Haha! Autobots, let me put you out of your misery!"
Before he could pull the trigger, a heavily armed Cybertronian racing car tore over the ridge, its chassis bristling with heavy repeating blasters. The vehicle slammed into the Decepticon at full speed, throwing him into the air before its mounted guns barked, ripping his metal frame to shreds before he hit the ground.
A handful of similarly modified combat cars swerved in right behind him, their engines roaring.
"Twin Twist, stick to the line! Stop wandering off!" Roadbuster, the captain of the Wreckers, barked through the comms, reprimanding the rogue warrior. He cast a quick glance at the two struggling Autobots in the crater but chose not to stop. In a critical run like this, there was no room for sentimentality. The objective came before everything else.
"Alright, Roadbuster, my bad. I won't break formation again," Twin Twist said, his tone sincere enough, though his thoughts didn't match his words. If a next time came, he knew he would do it again; he simply couldn't stand by and watch his comrades get scrapped.
Roadbuster let out a quiet sigh. Hearing the quick apology, he knew the hotheaded warrior hadn't taken the warning to heart. "Move out. Secure the targets first," he ordered, prioritizing the mission.
The heavy engines of the Wreckers' combat cars screamed as they accelerated, swarming the slow, bulky Decepticon transports. The drivers inside the massive rigs, realizing they were sitting in moving coffins, scrambled out of their cabs to fight alongside the surrounding infantry. But the moment their boots touched the ground, Roadbuster's crew shifted into their warrior forms and tore them to pieces.
"Twin Twist, Impactor, check the other three transports," Roadbuster ordered once the immediate defenders were cleared. He signaled to Leadfoot and Topspin to hold the perimeter and watch for reinforcements while he strode toward the main heavy rig.
There were four massive vehicles lined up in a neat row. Roadbuster ripped open the heavy rear hatch of the first transport, stealing a quick look inside, and his eyes widened in sudden shock.
The storage bay was completely packed with rows of glowing energon cubes. There were even a few rare fuel storage pillars resting near the back, radiating a brilliant, mesmerizing blue light.
Pure joy washed over his face. Roadbuster stepped into the bay, running a hand over the glowing containers. If his squad could drive these rigs back to base, this payload would completely solve the Autobots' starvation crisis.
A horrific, curdled shriek cut his celebration short.
His instincts flared, and he instantly deployed his heavy rifle, spinning around toward the exit. But before he could clear the hatch, a second scream tore through the air.
This time, Roadbuster recognized the voice perfectly. It was his veteran squad member, Impactor.
He bolted out of the transport, his heart hammering against his chest.
Two figures had emerged from the adjacent vehicles, but they weren't ordinary drivers. They were two Decepticon High Commanders.
Skygnaw stood over a fallen, bleeding frame, his dark blade dripping with blue fluid. It was Impactor, his chest plating completely shattered by a single, calculated ambush. Nearby, Blackarachnia stood tall, holding Twin Twist off the ground by his neck casing with effortless strength.
"A high-tier warrior?" Skygnaw murmured, glancing contemptuously at the fallen Wrecker at his feet before looking up to lock his eyes on Roadbuster.
Realizing the trap had sprung, Roadbuster didn't waste a single second. He instantly shifted back into his racing form, tore up the dirt, and fled into the canyon at maximum speed.
"A squad captain?" Skygnaw noted, raising an eyebrow as the car vanished into the dust. He didn't bother giving chase. A minor player like that was completely trivial compared to the true prize of this campaign.
Before departing the capital, he and Blackarachnia had quietly hidden themselves inside the cargo bays of the heavy transports, waiting patiently for the trap to close. Now, it was time to harvest.
From across the battlefield, Ultra Magnus spotted the sudden disaster unfolding near the transports. He froze in sheer horror, and Shockwave seized the exact fraction of a second to deliver a brutal cannon blast that sent the Autobot leader crashing into the dirt.
Ultra Magnus ignored the damage to his armor, scrambling back to his feet as he stared at the two newcomers in absolute shock. "Two High Commanders!"
Before he could process their presence, the ground beneath his feet began to violently shake.
The metallic soil erupted like an earthquake as a colossal mechanical worm breached the subterranean layers, bursting into the air. It uncoiled its massive frame and dove into the Autobot infantry, swallowing several soldiers whole in a single bite.
The circular maw, stretching over ten yards in diameter, bristled with rows of spinning alloy teeth that acted like a high-speed industrial shredder, pulverizing the trapped Autobots before its jaws even closed.
"Is that the Driller?" Skygnaw thought, watching the mechanical beast tear through the rear lines from the air. He remembered the historical logs identifying the monster as Shockwave's personal pet, though he hadn't seen it back at the capital. It seemed the creature usually traveled beneath the planet's surface.
While the Driller only possessed the raw combat tier of an ordinary elite warrior, its colossal size and subterranean nature made it a magnificent tool for clearing out waves of common infantry.
"Blackarachnia, and Skygnaw!" Ultra Magnus hissed as the two commanders closed in on his position. In a single, devastating moment, the entire reality of the situation became clear to him.
He had walked straight into a trap. A crude, simple trap that didn't even rely on clever strategy.
Shockwave hadn't shown any urgency during their duel because he knew two powerhouses were hitching a ride inside his cargo bays all along. Ultra Magnus had trusted Blaster's intelligence network too blindly, and this single miscalculation was going to cost his army everything, perhaps even his own life.
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