Omega Supreme and Devestator struggled, the emerald Decepticon forcing Omega Supreme to his knees.  Gloating over his defeated enemy, he didn’t notice the small shuttle flying overhead; or, if he did notice it, discounted it.  It was too small to contain enough troops to cause him problems.  Which, of course, was just what the occupants had been counting on.  Ready and waiting, they hurled themselves out once they were over the target.

The first thing Devestator saw was the last thing he expected; he was being attacked after all.  And then, he had no more time to think, as Grimlock’s feet slammed into his face, knocking him backwards.  Once he was down, Sludge and Snarl both came crashing down on him, with Swoop finishing it with a low strafing run.

Damaged beyond their ability to continue, the Constructicons split apart, their bodies locking up.  The Dinobots then proceeded to smash Menasor back into his component parts while Omega Supreme recovered and Optimus disengaged from him.

“You not think we let you have all the fun, do you?” Grimlock asked as Optimus walked over to him.  The Dinobots were making sure the Stunticons and Constructicons were really down and out, so that they wouldn’t be attacked from behind.

“Hey boss!” Swoop called out.  “This one’s still up.  You want me to drop him?”  Swoop was standing over Motormaster, who was struggling vainly to escape from his captors.  It was pointless, however, as Swoop was standing with one leg on his chest and a laser rifle pointed at his head.  Motormaster was fearless, not stupid, so he waited.

“No.” Optimus ordered, obviously disappointing the aerial Dinobot.  “I need to speak with him.”  Quickly, he and Grimlock strode over to the semi-conscious form of Motormaster.  Prime’s face was totally emotionless, and Grimlock’s was content.  He and his Dinobot’s had proven their worth once again, this time by crushing two Decepticon gestalts.

“Motormaster, this is pointless.” Optimus said, standing over the Stunticon leader.  “Your forces are in extreme jeopardy.  Order their withdrawal.”  It was a lie; Decepticon forces were running wild in the streets of Rubigen,  while Autobots were forced farther and farther back.  Still, if Motormaster didn’t know that, it might work.

“Please Prime.  You really think my men would listen even if I told them to retreat?  They’re out for mechfluid, and they wont stop until they’re swimming in it.”  He stopped, coughing from a swift kick in the side.  It seemed Swoop didn’t appreciate the way Motormaster was talking, and had decided to tell him so.  Clearly.

“You’d better watch yourself, Motormaster.” Swoop said.  “You’re in hostile territory.  Very hostile.”  Lining up his arm with Motormaster’s head, Swoop made ready to pull the trigger.  Prime, however, stopped him.

“Wait, Swoop.  Though I, too, would like to put an end to Motormaster’s warmongering, this is not the way.”  Leaning over, he wrapped his hands around Motormaster’s throat and dragged him up, so that he could look into the Decepticon’s eyes.  “This war has raged for four million years, embroiled dozens of aliens and claimed thousands of Transformers.  What possible reason could you see for continuing it?” he demanded.

“To rule is the Decepticon destiny.” Motormaster replied, his voice solid and steady.  He stared at Prime for a moment, both locking optics, neither backing down.  At last, Optimus moved, tossing him aside to the Dinobots.

“Make sure he will cause no more trouble,” he ordered.  “Then, prepare yourselves.  If the Decepticons want a fight, I don’t intend to disappoint them.”  The iron determination in his voice, the idea that he was totally committed to this battle, managed to get even Grimlock’s approval.  Motormaster was lucky to have already been in stasis lock.

The appearance of Omega Supreme, Optimus Prime and the Dinobots proved to be
a rallying point for the beleaguered Autobot forces.  Wherever they appeared, the Autobot fought on with redoubled efforts, fighting to the last bot.

Unfortunately, it seemed that the best they could hope for was still simply dealing a more savage blow to the Decepticon troops.

“Slag!” Optimus shouted after watching yet another knot of Autobot troops be swept aside.  He wished that he could fight alongside them, to the end if that was what came of it, but he knew that it would be worthless to sacrifice himself in minor skirmishes.

“Me know this hard on you.” Grimlock said as they rushed along towards the next battle.  “You good leader.  Care about troops beneath you.  This battle not easy for you.”  Optimus was surprised at Grimlock’s comments.  He had never guessed the Dinobot commander was so astute.

“No, it isn’t.  But seeing Cybertron fall again would be worse.” Optimus replied.  “That must not be allowed to happen.  That is my only concern.”  If only that were true, he thought to himself.  If only.

Above, Swoop let out a cry, alerting them that there were troops around the next corner.  Quickly the four foot-troops (they’d left Omega Supreme with Autobot troops a little while ago, so he could support them in a static role.), slowed, wanting to take them by surprise.  They couldn’t take any chances with these attacks.

Suddenly, they could hear yelling and weapons fire from around the corner.  Optimus held out a hand, motioning for them to stand back.  He peeked his head around the corner just enough to see a most astounding sight.

“Dogfight?” Optimus called out in surprise.  Stepping out around the edge, and with the Dinobots on his heels, he came face to face with Dogfight and several more Autobots finishing off the Decepticon squadron he’d been about to do the same to.  The surprise that it was the hot-headed Dogfight in a command role struggled with the fact that they had defeated a force twice their size.

“Sir.” Dogfight replied, snapping off a quick salute.  “It’s wonderful to see you well, commander.”  Turning back to look at the others with him, Dogfight raised his voice.  “Guys!  Show some respect!”  Immediately, the other three Autobots snapped off salutes before going back to scavenging for weapons and ammo.  “Sorry sir, but we don’t really have time to stop.”

“I understand.” Optimus replied.  “But I thought all Autobot forces not cut off had been ordered to withdraw to the command center?  What are you doing out here.”

“Killing, sir.” Dogfight replied simply.  “Every Decepticon we drop back here is one less to assault the command center.”  Suddenly, Dogfight looked a little self-conscious.  “Of course, if you’d prefer we moved to reinforce the main element, sir, we will.”

Optimus thought for a moment, weighing his options.  Now was not the time to make rash decisions.  He was spared, however, from making any decision when Swoop called out in surprise.

Turning to see what had spooked the aerial Dinobot so, Optimus was surprised to see a smoke trail leading down from space and towards Rubigen.  A shuttle, battered and damaged, was the cause of the smoke, and Optimus was surprised to see it had the Autobot symbol emblazoned on its side.

“Grimlock,” he called out, “how many troops did you bring?”

“Grimlock bring only himself and Dinobots.  More alert Decepticons, defeat purpose.”  Pointing up to the ship, Grimlock looked back at Optimus.  “That not my work.”

“Sir?” Dogfight spoke up, reminding Optimus that the Triggerbot and his team were still standing there.  “We’re ready to move out.  Good luck.”  Snapping off another salute, Dogfight lead Chamber, Cable and Kobal off, towards yet more battle.  Optimus didn’t even see them go; his attention was focused on the shuttle instead.

“We have to see who’s in there.” Optimus said resolutely.  “They could be relief troops.  We have to help them.”  From behind, he felt Grimlock lay a hand on his shoulder.

“Rubigen need us here.” he said.  “City in danger.  Decepticons close to overrunning defenders.  Them,” he said, pointing out towards the still-descending shuttle, “not be help to us.  Only we be help to us.”

Though he knew Grimlock was right, Optimus couldn’t just watch as the shuttle plummeted, leaving the survivors easy pickings for the rest of the Decepticon horde.  If he could not save Rubigen, he could at least save them.

Without another word he dropped forward, transforming to his vehicle mode as he went, calling his rear section from the subspace pocket he left it in.

Revving his engine he sped off, leaving the Dinobots in his wake, coughing at the dust he kicked up.

Watching him go, Grimlock shook his head.  “Seems more level-headed me get, more wild Prime get.  Go figure.”  Shrugging, he motioned for his Dinobots to get ready.  Whether Optimus was with them or not, they were going to fight the Decepticons here.

In the shuttlecraft that was, at the moment, hurtling unceremoniously towards Cybertron, the passengers were not happy.  It would be hard to decide, however, if they were more unhappy over being tossed around, crammed in like sardines or in danger of slamming into the surface of a planet at fantastic speeds.  Probably, it was a mixture of all three, and more.

“I thought you said you could fly this crate!” someone in back shouted.  Without turning to look, the pilot replied calmly, “We made it here, didn’t we?  It’s not my fault if ‘this crate’ comes apart in the atmosphere.”

Next to her, the copilot sagged slightly, cradling a wound in his left shoulder.  His panel had exploded in his face, and a particularly nasty piece of shrapnel had sliced through him.  Fortunately it had missed any major fluid lines.  Assuming they survived this, he should be fine.  Of course, that was a pretty big assumption to make right now.

As the ground hurtled towards them on the monitor, she let her mind wander for just a moment.  It’d been a tough trip, and more than once she hadn’t thought they’d make it this far.  But now that they were here, home on Cybertron, she knew nothing could stop them.

The Transformers would be saved.  She’d make sure of it.