Chapter 11 - Prepare For Battle

Gygax

Speeder looked on, across the wasteland of twisted and charred metal. His gaze had momentarily strayed from the small, winding road better known as the Narrows, and had come to rest upon the twisted remains of an old war machine. It had been built by the Autobots several hundred years ago and become a bit of a landmark via the fact that no one had bothered to remove it and recycle its components. It was a testament to the war; a warning that the enemy were called Decepticons for a reason. It had been an Autobot traitor who had been the demise of the massive tank-like machine. It was onboard that very machine that he'd met Flashpoint. Five out of the eight operators had been killed. Himself, Flashpoint and the traitor being the only survivors. And that was by a minor miracle. His attention was returned back to the present by the low, familiar whump - whump - whump of large rotar blades. He turned and signalled Blue Falcon who was perched atop the twisted ruins of a building keeping watch on the main through-road.
''Sounds like we got company.'' He transmitted to the younger Autobot.
''Yeah, I see 'im. Krusher and Roadtrain.'' Blue Falcon replied.
''Speeder to Raid, y'there boss? We got Decepticon activity on the main road-'' He cast a look at the Narrows and saw Steele trundling carefully through the mess. ''And in the Narrows, too. No sign of Hookshot or Jetstream. Permission to intercept?''
''Permission denied. Follow at a safe distance and stick to cover. We're on our way.'' Came the gruff reply.
Raid then signed off and left Speeder and Blue Falcon alone. The two could see each other clearly from their vantage points and dearly hoped that Krusher and the other two Decepticons hadn't picked them up with their scanning systems.
''Right, you heard the boss. Let's be off then.'' Speeder transmitted.

He saw the Autobot nod once and half slide, half scramble from his vantage point, back down to the ground. Speeder followed suit. He proceeded to follow on foot, rather than engage his vehicle mode. If he went into vehicle mode, then he feared that his main programming might kick in and un-intentionally send him at a quicker pace than he wanted. It was a bad habit that he retained from his days of being a courier. He noted that Blue Falcon had also chosen to do the same as he saw him, out of the corner of his vision, climb deftly over a pile of twisted metal and disappear into the wreckages that lined the main road. Speeder looked at his own options for cover. There wasn't much. It was fairly open, with only a smattering of ruins. He huffed, a wisp of steam curling from what passed off as his mouth. The sun had risen and was quickly heating up the land. He felt a slight shudder deep within his systems as his cooling systems came online. He rocked back and forth momentarily on his heels, listening to the sound of Steele's metallic treads grating across the metallic surface of Cybertron. The Constructicon wasn't exactly quick in vehicle mode, so he had a few moments to spare. On the other hand, Roadtrain and Krusher didn't have the weight of construction to bear nor the awkwardness of caterpillars. He bounced once and with a barely audible click, his rear wheels spun down from their places at his lower legs and repositioned themselves, his feet reforming around them. He gave an experimental rolling of his feet and, once satisfied that everything was in working order, he skated forward nimbly as if he was taking a leisurely stroll around the block. Skating was quicker than running, but not as quick as driving. It also used less energy.

He skated across to a felled pylon and ducked down behind it. He peeked over the top and saw Steele trundling along at a steady pace.
''How's things your end?'' He transmitted.
''Not good. Krusher and Roadtrain are moving quick. I'm having a hard time keeping up with them amongst the ruins.'' He replied moodily.
''Well you need to keep it up until we hear from Raid or the others.'' Speeder replied.
He wasn't too impressed with being told to hang back either. It was only Steele, after all. Yes, Steele was slightly larger and stronger than Speeder, but Speeder had better agility and speed. He also reckoned that he had slightly better weapons than the battered Constructicon, too. He scanned the area for his next form of cover. He located the toppled eaves of a shattered building, took one last scan and skated swiftly towards it, hopping and swerving around anything that got in his way. As he closed the gap between himself and his intended area of cover, the ground behind him erupted in splinters of metal and shrapnel. Speeder swore and skated a tight circle to face the Constructicon, his own weapons online and hot. He took aim at Steele, who was in turn reverting to his robot mode and preparing to continue firing at him. Speeder let off a few plasma shots as two missiles left Steele's shoulder cannon in a puff of grey smoke and yellow flame. Speeder scooted out of the way and ducked down inside the eaves he was originally targeting, the shockwaves of the impacts nearly knocking him over.
''I've been made!'' He transmitted too all of his crewmates. ''I'm gonna take Steele down now before Krusher realises what's going on!''
He made the transmission as he shot forward, hunkered low. He bounded over a large ripple in the road that had been caused by the shockwaves of a large bomb and landed a few feet away from Steele. The constructicon growled and swung around, digger arm flicking out and taking the Autobot by surprise. The blow sent Speeder rolling across the narrow road, a felled pylon halting his movements rather abruptly. There was a deep dent in his chest armour and his shoulder joint sparked as he moved his left arm.

He pulled himself to his wheels with a mild grimace and skated forward, circling Steele, taking well aimed shots at the seams between his armour and his joints. Steele howled in anger as an EMP burst washed over his right leg. He instinctively placed all his weight on his left leg and swung a fist at Speeder. Speeder ducked, but was again caught out by the digger arm attached to Steele's back. Steele chuckled grimly as he was lifted up and over the Constructicon's head via the heavily abused bucket and slammed down with all the force Steele could muster into the ground. Speeder's systems fizzed around the edges and he struggled to focus for a moment, but he continued to move. Pain was starting to register, but it was dull and bearable. He forced himself to roll upright, and instead of circling around Steele, like he usually did, he snarled and sprang straight at him, tackling the Constructicon to the ground, sending sparks flying as they landed heavily. Speeder pulled his fist back, metal plating forming around it before punching him square in the jaw with all his strength. There was the nasty little noise of metal tearing underscoring the sound of metal colliding with metal. Steele's jaw hung loose, showing glimpses of his mechanical esophagus. Just within sight, was his vocal processor, an intricate mess of wires and thin, metal plating, overlapping and meshing together. The wires glowed slightly and fizzed, causing the impossibly thin, circuit lined metal plates to vibrate with garbled static.

''What was that? I couldn't understand a slagging thing you just said.'' Speeder grinned cruelly.
The neatly interlocking metal plating that made up the mech's face contorted into a grimace as Speeder punched him again, putting a dent in his thick chest armour.
''Speeder, report!'' Came Raid's voice.
''Can'ttalknow,busyreducingSteeletoscrap!'' Was the hurried reply as Speeder was flipped over and promptly kicked down the road.
Steele was slowly starting to regain feeling in his leg.
Speeder landed hard and looked up just in time to see Steele pull himself to his feet, hatred burning in his optics. His jaw was swinging from the movement, sparks and Energon dribbling from the single hinge it was clinging to. Steele took a step forward and unleashed the last of his missiles upon Speeder. The first one was easily avoided, but the second hit the smaller mech square in the chest. The impact sent him rolling further down the road. Now pain really was registering. His circuits were buzzing horribly and the hole in his chest that the missile had made felt as if it was on fire.

Speeder retaliated swiftly, ignoring the fresh pain. He bombarded the ever encroaching Steele with plasma shots and EMP bursts. Steele emitted a low, electronic growl and continued to move forward through the frenzied fire, ignoring the pain that accompanied each shot as pieces of armour started to come loose and fall away. He didn't realise how close Steele was until his hand had gripped him around the neck and squeezed hard enough to send sparks flying from the Autobot's mouth in a puff of steam. His free hand shot up and gripped one of Speeder's flailing hands. He took ahold of his wrist and squeezed until the metal buckled and Speeder emitted something akin to a whimper of pain. Steele hefted Speeder off the ground. There was a surge of hot pain in his left side as his arm was pulled free. Steele snorted and tossed the limb amongst the debris.
''If I'm going down, then you're comming with me.'' Steele transmitted harshly.
Speeder gurgled metallically as he spotted the single remaining missile locked in place at the Constructicon's shoulder.
'' 'olonasec,you'renotreallygonna-'' Speeder started urgently, his sentence swiftly draining away at what he next witnessed.
Steele brought his hand up and ripped his jaw the rest of the way off. He held it before Speeder's face and crushed it in his hand before letting it fall, twisted and broken to the ground. Steele's optics flickered. Speeder looked at him curiously. Then the missile at his shoulder shuddered. Speeder took up his squirming again, but Steele refused to let go, his grip too tough to break out of.
''Ooohhh Fuuu-''

The explosion was heard a league away. Krusher ignored it. He always kept an open line to all his crewmen during the course of battle so he could tell who was still online and who wasn't. Steele's line had abruptly cut itself off and his ID signature had vanished suddenly from his long-distance scan.
''Krusher to Crash. I've just lost Steele.'' He transmitted flatly.
''You have a terrible knack for losing your crew, Krusher.'' Came the blunt reply. ''But so long as you take better care of mine than yours during this battle, then all will be well. Try not to screw it up. Megatron's relying on us.''


Burnout followed Crash from above, keeping a close eye on him. Flare and Turbulance followed closely behind in formation. It was time to prove their worth to their new commander and help take the Energon Depot.
''Krusher has a Decepticon down.'' Crash transmitted.
''Which one?'' Turbulance asked earnestly.
''Steele.'' Was the blunt reply.
Turbulance gave a soft growl that was barely audible over the wind and engine noise. He felt Flare look at him, but he ignored it. He had to admit, that he'd become quite attached to the little Constructicon over the years. Steele was probably the only mech Turbulance had ever called 'friend' in his entire existence. Loss was an alien feeling to him. It felt unnatural and unwelcome. It didn't belong within his personality traits. Yet he felt a small amount of it, a small hint of sorrow about the news.
''We're comming up on Krusher's unit.'' Burnout said.
''I can see the Autobots.'' Flare said.
''I don't see Galaxy....'' Turbulance said.
''Thank Primus for that.'' Flare muttered.
Turbulance grinned in the privacy of his vehicle mode.
''Decepticons, prepare to intercept and engage the enemy!'' Crash barked with a cruel eagerness.

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