"Why would Hun-Gurrr call an emergency assembly out of nowhere? I wonder what kind of operation we are dropping into this time."
Two Decepticons conversed in quiet tones as they walked toward the grand entrance of the Decagon. As elite warriors, they didn't just serve as squad captains; they also held tactical command positions within the broader army, assisting the high commanders in mobilizing the rank and file.
"No idea," the second Decepticon replied, shaking his head before leaning closer to whisper. "Word is the directive came straight down from Shockwave himself."
"Lord Shockwave?" The first speaker looked visibly relieved. "Well, that makes sense. Hun-Gurrr would never kick up this much dust without an explicit directive from the master logician."
"Still, ever since we pulled our entire perimeter back into Iacon, we haven't been assigned a single external combat mission."
"Who can truly guess what goes on inside Shockwave's calculations?"
The two soldiers fell silent as they neared the main staging ground, quickly locating their respectives squads to fall into formation. A hundred heavy Decepticon troops stood in flawless, rigid rows across the plaza outside the Decagon. Compared to the massive garrison currently occupying the capital, this detachment didn't even amount to a tenth of their total active strength, far from a total mobilization.
A moment later, the heavy blast doors beneath the Decagon ground open, and a line of massive, heavily armored land transports rolled out onto the surface. Each mobile platform stood nearly twenty meters high and stretched over sixty meters in length, reinforced with thick blast plating and bristling with point-defense turrets, a heavy anti-aircraft cannon anchoring the upper deck.
A civilization capable of building starships to cross the galaxy held no difficulty engineering heavy land armor. However, these vehicles represented the very last of the Decepticons' heavy transport reserves; after all, even the finest engineers couldn't construct armor without raw metal. Beyond serving as moving fortresses on the battlefield, the interior bays of these vehicles were massive, easily housing an entire combat squad without crowding the decks.
Once the column stabilized, Shockwave strode out from the shadows of the Decagon to face the assembly. The logistics of the deployment had been handled entirely by the elite captains and junior officers, leaving no need for him to micromanage the staging.
Shockwave's singular red eye swept across the ranks, his gaze pausing for a brief second on a specific heavy transport before he raised his hand and gave the command: "Move out."
---
Deep within a subterranean bunker beneath the ruined city of Tarn.
The exact moment Shockwave's division cleared the gates of the capital, Ultra Magnus received the intelligence report.
Blaster ran into the central command room, catching the leader's attention immediately. "Ultra Magnus, Rewind just picked up a major signature shift. The Decepticons are on the move."
Ultra Magnus had spent the last several cycles trying to calculate a way to break the current stalemate on the planet. Ever since the Decepticons had turtled up inside the massive fortifications of Iacon, the Autobot guerrillas had been left with nothing to do, unable to find a clear target in the field. Every passing solar cycle meant they were burning through their remaining fuel reserves without securing any fresh supplies.
Hearing Blaster's words, his posture straightened. "What kind of movement, Blaster?" Any action from the enemy was welcome; a live target in the field was far better than staring at the impenetrable walls of Iacon without a clear strategy.
"Shockwave is personally leading a detachment out of the capital," Blaster explained quickly. "They deployed several Mastiff-class and Basilisk-class heavy armored transports alongside the infantry."
"At first, Rewind couldn't determine the strategic purpose of the convoy, but he managed to verify the manifest of one of the heavy transports. The bays are completely packed with energon cubes."
"Energon cubes?" Ultra Magnus looked up, genuine surprise in his eyes.
"Exactly," Blaster said, his tone thick with excitement. "Not just raw fuel, but heavy military provisions as well. The entire column is kitted out for a prolonged deployment. Eject, Ramhorn, and I have completed an initial analysis of the trajectory. The Decepticons are planning a major move, though their ultimate intent remains unverified."
Ultra Magnus's optics brightened, though he maintained his calm demeanor as he pressed for specifics. "What is their total active strength? Do we have a verified destination?"
"The vanguard numbers roughly a hundred troops. Their current vector is tracking straight toward Kaon."
"Kaon?" Ultra Magnus paused, thoroughly baffled by the choice. "What do they want with that wasteland? Are they attempting to construct a secondary fortress?"
Long before the civil war broke out, Kaon had been the most lawless, chaotic sector on Cybertron. For as long as Ultra Magnus could remember, the region was a dangerous no-man's-land that even the Decepticons had abandoned after briefly claiming it. It was a worthless heap of scrap metal, and he couldn't see anything of value that would draw Shockwave's personal attention.
Of course, Kaon's historic chaos stemmed from the fact that it once housed the ultimate treasure sought by every Cybertronian: the Well of All Sparks. But the Well had been sucked completely dry eons ago, leaving nothing but an empty crater.
After a moment of deliberation, Ultra Magnus made his decision. "Blaster, Rewind's intelligence gives us the window we need. Assemble the squads."
"On it, Magnus," Blaster smiled. "I'll keep Rewind monitoring their tracks. The moment their parameters shift, you'll be the first to know."
---
Spurred by Ultra Magnus's command, the remaining Autobot cells began filtering into the hidden underground sanctuary beneath Tarn.
"Ultra Magnus, our cell is secure," the final Autobot squad leader said as he strode into the crowded bunker.
Compared to the heavily armed, pristine legions of the Decepticons, the Autobot resistance looked remarkably ragged. Their armor was scratched and unpainted, but the fire in their eyes was unyielding. To have survived this long after the main armies departed required absolute loyalty and an unbreakable will.
In the eyes of these remaining resistance fighters, they were the last line of defense for freedom and justice, standing firm to push back the tyranny of the Decepticons.
"Magnus, why the sudden assembly? What happened?" an Autobot asked, looking around at the packed room before turning back to the commander.
It was Scattershot, leader of the Technobots. True to his name, he was a loud, brash warrior who never hesitated to speak his mind, acting as a complete wild card within the ranks. Scattershot loved nothing more than transforming into his starship mode to tear through Decepticon patrol lines, unleashing sonic bursts and acid rounds until his ammunition reserves ran completely dry.
His personal motto was simple: *Decepticons are like rust; they are hideous and they are everywhere.* Though his aggressive tactics had earned him a private reputation among some of the more conservative Autobots as a complete loose cannon.
"We have a live operation," Ultra Magnus explained briefly, giving a nod to Blaster.
Blaster stepped forward, repeating the intelligence data Rewind had gathered from the field. The dozens of Autobot soldiers listened with absolute focus. Blaster's Cassette Division had proven itself time and again as the most reliable intelligence asset the resistance possessed, saving them from total annihilation on multiple occasions. Every bot present ensured they didn't miss a single variable.
Yet, caught up in the excitement of a potential strike, none of them stopped to consider whether Rewind's sudden discovery of the manifest had been a bit too convenient.
"Magnus, give us the parameters. How do we drop them?" the leader of the Wreckers asked, practically vibrating with anticipation the moment Blaster finished the briefing.
"We are deploying our entire active strength for this run," Ultra Magnus declared. "Rewind has mapped out the baseline strength of the escort. I will move to personally pin down Shockwave while the rest of your squads target the heavy infantry. Our primary objective is to capture or destroy those heavy transports."
"Regardless of what Shockwave is planning, we cannot allow those resources to reach Kaon!"
---
On the surface of Cybertron, near the approach to the Sonic Canyons.
A seemingly disorganized Decepticon division marched across the metallic plains, keeping a loose pace. To chart a course from Iacon to Kaon, the local geography left them with only one viable transit vector: the Sonic Canyons were an unavoidable bottleneck.
The Decepticon column was stretched wide across the terrain, with the forward scouts riding nearly fifteen miles ahead of the main body. Heavy guards patrolled both the left and right flanks, while air sentinels scanned the skies above.
As the forward vanguard crossed the threshold of the canyon entrance, a deafening explosion shattered the silence, the sound echoing violently off the high metallic walls.
Without needing an explicit order from Shockwave, the Decepticon soldiers automatically deployed their weapons, shifting into defensive formations. No one understood their enemy better than they did; before leaving Iacon, every soldier had mentally prepared for an inevitable Autobot ambush along the route.
"Lord Shockwave," Snaptrap said, rushing to the side of the logician. "Our forward scouts have gone completely dark. Their final transmissions indicate immediate engagement with Autobot forces inside the pass."
"Understood," Shockwave replied, his singular eye flashing with a cold, crimson light. "They have taken the bait. Order the divisions to engage."
"Right away, my lord."
Shockwave's trap was simple but incredibly effective, and the Autobots' response was equally straightforward.
As the Decepticon flank guards rushed to consolidate around the main column, dozens of Autobot vehicles charged over the ridge line. Above them, a small wing of Autobot jets dropped out of the clouds, though their numbers in the sky were significantly smaller than the ground forces.
The Aerialbots and the Technobots served as the primary air superiority assets for the resistance. Ultra Magnus kept them working around the clock, constantly shifting them between multiple fronts until they were stretched even thinner than the Wreckers' transport shuttles. This constant pressure had created a silent, competitive rivalry between the two elite flying squads.
"Silverbolt, let's make a game of this!" Scattershot roared through the comms, refusing to miss an opportunity for a challenge during a rare joint deployment. "Let's see who drops more Decepticons before the smoke clears!"
Silverbolt, famous for his stoic, no-nonsense leadership of the Aerialbots, completely ignored the shout, keeping his focus locked onto his target indicators.
But while the commander chose silence, his deputy, Fireflight, couldn't resist the fun. "You're on, Scattershot! Just make sure you count your targets carefully when the sparks start flying!" Fireflight was a chaotic aerial daredevil who loved nothing more than admiring the scenery mid-flight when he wasn't looking for a thrilling stunt.
"Fireflight, don't underestimate the Technobots!" another voice chimed in.
"Yeah, Magnus always talks about how legendary the Aerialbots are. Today, let's see if you can actually keep up with us!"
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