Chapter One
Night Glory
12 years later; just outside of the Decepticat military outpost, Hiakara.
A thick, onyx smog caked the air, illuminated by the faint glow of the midnight moon. The choking substance simmering in the atmosphere coaxed her to awake from the darkness of sleep. With slurred vision she opened her optics to a world of starlit night.
A large paw prodded her side, sending sharp pain through her side where a huge, gaping cut dug into her like a valley. It was scarred over, but was still tender.
“Wake up,” a harsh, but soft voice commanded, jabbing her again, “Thunderstorm…”
Turning her head around, she saw a Decepticat soldier standing up tall by her side. The soldier’s face was cold, but her softened, sunset colored optics were curious. She whispered lightly to herself before looking back at the mangled heap on the ground, covered in shredded jewels.
Taking in a deep, gasping breath, she rasped, “Who’s Thunderstorm?”
The Decepticat flinched from surprise, quickly recovering and replying, “I actually don’t know, but the name was on the charm around your neck.”
Thunderstorm hesitantly let her paw fall from her chest onto her neck, feeling the hand carved charm hung on a purple, metal, spiked collar around her neck. She eyed it carefully, tugging on it only to find it secured tightly, as if welded into the collar.
The Decepticat soldier grinned faintly and said, “Name’s Leopardstrike, warlord of the military outpost, Hiakara,” she paused as if remembering something important,” We need to get you out of here and back to the outpost. Damage that severe should’ve killed you, but I guess toughness is one of our best qualities,” gently padding towards Thunderstorm, she grabbed her by the collar and lifted her up slowly, and then steadying Thunderstorm’s footing. She grimaced in pain as the soldier let go of her left side and her back leg crumpled beneath her.
Leopardstrike put her head under Thunderstorm’s shoulder to lift her back up, murmuring calmly in her ear, “The outpost is just down in this canyon, you can make it. Once your there, we can fix you up.”
Thunderstorm gave her a look of reproach, before ducking her head as another spasm of pain seared through her left flank. As the made there way down the trail to the outpost at a snail’s pace, a drift of snow began settling down on the ground. Leopardstrike sneezed as a miniature snowflake landed on her snout.
Thunderstorm shielded herself from the fresh, fallen snow and the gale, wrapping her tail over her shoulder. Leopardstrike seemed accustomed to the weather. She turned a sharp corner, into a cave that smelled of ice and years of cold. Towards the end of the tunnel stood two burly guards, each of them holding a machine gun. They stared towards Leopardstrike and Thunderstorm with child-like curiosity. Thunderstorm guessed they were not as frail as they looked.
Leopardstrike approached them with a kind smile, holding out her paw in a friendly gesture. Both of the guards grinned and gave them a salute, dropping their weapons to the ground.
Leopardstrike returned the salute and then replied, “At ease, you two,” her face turned grim, “Blackhawk, I need you and Tanker to report to Evening Star that I found a lone Decepticat soldier who needs medical assistance, ASAP.”
The bulkier one, Tanker, answered softly, “Of course, we’ll get to it right away.”
Blackhawk sighed faintly and trotted off towards the valley below where a cluster of buildings and watchtowers were stationed. Tanker followed him at a slower pace, stopping every few seconds to shake snow from his face.
Leopardstrike began to lead Thunderstorm into Hiakara when Blackhawk and Tanker rushed past them, panting heavily and eyes wide with shock. Gunfire rattled the outpost suddenly and voices were yelling orders over the noise. Leopardstrike settled Thunderstorm in a crevice inside the cavern and rushed out into the battle. Thunderstorm watched grimly as she ran off, ears drawn back against her head and teeth clenched tightly shut.
She longed to get into the fray again and feel the rush of combat once more, but her injuries plagued her even into her spirit. Her body was useless at the moment, but she felt a deep feeling in her that longed to betray; become a rebel and take control of her moment.
She felt her claws unsheathe from her paws and her whole body tensing with anger. This is my moment!
Thunderstorm stood up slowly, testing her legs once more for support. They held, but wobbled. She was satisfied though, truly feeling her strength return at the moment the thought of war came to her mind. Staying within the shadows, Thunderstorm crept out of the cave and into the outskirts of Hiakara. Sirens blared across the town and a jet lit up the sky with missiles for a split second before vanishing from view, leaving a trail of vapor behind them. The rumbling of drop ship engines flooded her ears. Looking up into the dawning sky, hordes of Autopaw troops had started an assault from the east, the rising of the dawn signaling their attack’s start.
Shouts from both sides of the fight rung out in the constant clatter of gunfire. Thunderstorm crouched down among the shadows of ruined buildings to avoid a rush of young Decepticat cadets fleeing from the site. They paws were stained, but their expressions were a dead giveaway that they did not choose to be part of this.
Thunderstorm waited until they were safely out of range before emerging from the darkness and racing towards the heat of the battle. She spotted Leopardstrike cornered in a soldier housing building, defending a young, crippled soldier from a fleet footed Autopaw soldier.
Turning away from the outside struggle, Thunderstorm ran at the Autopaw with her head held low and rammed into his side with such force that it knocked the breath out of him and sent him crashing into the wall. Leopardstrike gasped and inched closer to the injured soldier. Thunderstorm gripped the Autopaw’s front leg in her jaws and ripped him from the wall, throwing him down hard on the floor. He wearily lifted his head and snarled, sheathing the blade on his tail, and lunged at her. She sidestepped and caught him on the shoulder as he leaped over her. Thunderstorm grabbed him with her front claws and slashed open the armor on his chest.
With a fading cry, the color in his optics faded and he fell limp to the ground. Leaning down to the ground, Thunderstorm snatched up one of his claws that had fallen out and put it through her steel collar. With an evil grin of satisfactory spread across her face, she turned back to Leopardstrike.
Her terrified look told the story, for she didn’t utter a single word or sound before sprinting off again. The injured soldier had stayed put, shivering violently. He cowered in the corner as Thunderstorm approached his slowly, trying to wipe the hard expression from her face, “Go little one,” she ordered, “Get out of here. You’re too young for this. Your time will come later, but not now.”
He straightened up as he saw that she was friendly, he nodded politely and limped off towards the outskirts of Hiakara, following the cadets out of the outpost. Glancing over her shoulder to see dark, blue flames licking at her paws, Thunderstorm turned her gaze towards the center of the outpost. It was drenched in fire and destruction, corpses scattered across the town; both Autopaw and Decepticat.
Thunderstorm swallowed and walked outside. The Autopaw drop ships were leaving and triumphant cheers from the soldiers they contained were still hanging in the air. The sun had risen above the horizon and the darkness of the night had been extinguished till it gained strength once more. Nothing moved but the towers of molten metal that continued to burn in the heat of the flames and the beginning day.
The surviving Decepticats had begun to gather around the cavern to discuss events and heal their most treatable wounds; not that most of them were.
Thunderstorm padded with heavy paws as she saw Leopardstrike was not among them. Her heart had been pure for such a determined Decepticat. She never gave up even through tough times.
Regrouping with the soldiers seemed to make the thin tension between everyone break. Some had lost good friends and sometimes even their old mentors in the battle; slaughter from the stronghold of revenge. Fury spread throughout the huddled soldiers like a virus, heads hung low and growls occasionally slipped past bared teeth.
A sky blue light flashed from the other end of the tunnel and several heads turned to look. Outlining the cave in the blue light of his optics was the leader of the Autopaws himself, Fire Prime. All the Decepticat soldiers fled without a second glance, stumbling over each other as they ran off. Only Thunderstorm remained, sitting in the shadows. She opened one optic and snorted, unsheathing her claws silently.
“Fear is your greatest enemy,” Fire Prime spoke, padding closer at a slow pace, “it seems that you know not of that like your comrades.”
Thunderstorm kept her head lowered and her shoulders bunched as he approached, ready to strike, “If you put your mind to it, fear can be your greatest weapon.”
Fire Prime snarled softly, but loud enough to hear. Thunderstorm gave him a cold, hard stare, stepping out of the shadows. She stood exactly eye level with the leader, who, for an Autopaw, was extremely undersized. Although they were considered tiny and nimble, some were everything but that. Decepticats were known for being powerful but, in a way, smaller than they should be.
Thunderstorm took in a deep breath, tensing her entire body for the first strike. Fire Prime stared at her for many seconds, a smirk on his face. He knew he could win.
“Stop being such a coward,” Thunderstorm spat, shattering the silence, “fight like the leader you are!”
Fire Prime snarled impatiently, flexing his claws and flattening his ears against his head. I’ll show you to mess with me!
He pounced on her with such speed it took her breath away as he smashed into her with his gigantic, front paws. Fire Prime took a deep breath as Thunderstorm dragged herself up on her paws again. She panted heavily with an angered expression. When he ambled towards her she hunched her shoulders again, but his look was forgiving as if he didn’t mean to cause trouble. Fire Prime took one final glance at Thunderstorm before turning tail and running away, leaving his special collar charm behind. It shone with a brilliant, blue light as the fading sun struck its surface. Thunderstorm hesitantly pawed it, flipping it over and evaluating it with caution before lifting it up and staring at it for a minute, admiring its ancient design. She had fought the Autopaw leader himself, and now she had something to show for it.
Turning to see the soldiers who had fled returning to the hideout, she clenched the charm tightly and bared her teeth. What cowards!
They all gathered around Thunderstorm and settled down, slowly lowering their voices and relaxing, “Did you really fight Fire Prime?” one of them asked. He was so small he was probably a very young cadet.
Others piled on asking the same question as if in complete disbelief.
Thunderstorm lifted her paw into the air to silence them, holding up the amulet that he had left behind and let it hang from one of her claws, “Is this proof enough?”
The soldiers stared in awe at it, hypnotized by it. One soldier hung back, sitting in the shadows, but his head was up as if trying to catch a glimpse. He drew back and sighed a few seconds later, “How?” he asked softly, only his dark red optics showing from the darkness, “How would that come off of his collar that easy. In your weakened state there’s no way you could’ve beaten him,” he took a step out, revealing his front half, “You’re faking your victory.”
Thunderstorm stifled a growl, flattening her ears and retorting, “It wasn’t a long fight. He tackled me and left when I stood up. He left this behind. I won because he retreated on me!”
The soldier blinked and took a deep breath, “I’m glad to see you’re telling the truth. It’s nice to meet a Decepticat who doesn’t lie.”
One of the soldiers in the corner shouted at them and pointed towards the outpost. Dragging a lifeless gray body was Leopardstrike, covered in claw and bullet wounds. She came up to them and set down the corpse on the ground, not caring what happened to it afterwards, “Sorry for being so late, guys. Our idiotic outpost leader decided to go off and fight solo and got pummeled by reinforcement troops near the weapons caches on the north side.”
“So we’re without an outpost leader now,” a heavily armed soldier grumbled, spitting on the ground, “well that’s just dandy.”
“Someone will take Solaris’ place, Vulcan,” his partner assured, giving him a hard pat on the shoulder before turning to Leopardstrike, “but the question is who will take his place?”
Leopardstrike glanced around to the group of gathered soldiers, none of them were leader material, but then she caught sight of one of them hanging back in the shadows, his optics shut tight in a daydream, “Ravager!”
His head snapped upright and he snorted to see that it was only Leopardstrike, “What is it?” he muttered, exhaling deeply through his nose.
“You were Solaris’ apprentice for a while; he told me he taught you the skills of a leader before you switched over to your soldier position in the strike force. You could take his place. You’re the only one who knows such things that’s still alive.”
Ravager lifted his head boldly, “Is that what it takes for me to get revenge on those accursed Autopaws I’ll do it, but with such a small amount of skilled soldiers left it’s almost impossible to hit them back.”
“Thunderstorm,” Leopardstrike whispered in her ear as Ravager discussed plans with the soldiers, “what happened back there with that Autopaw? You destroyed him in only a few blows; I’ve never seen that before, not even in a Decepticat.”
Thunderstorm lowered her head and shifted her gaze away, refusing to answer. She was as clueless as Leopardstrike to what came over her at the moment of battle. Looking down at her stained claws made her shiver.
Leopardstrike knew that she wouldn’t receive an answer and turned away from Thunderstorm, “Ravager, I believe in our remaining soldiers more than I believe in the entire army of Koan. Their armor configuration matched that of soldiers from Sukal. It’s a rather small Autopaw settlement, so they must have had orders and extra fighters from Iacon. If they returned straight to Sukal on their own, we can hit them hard by midnight tonight.”
“Are you crazy?” Vulcan shouted, “We’ll get slaughtered out there!”
“I say it’s worth a shot,” a young soldier retorted politely, looking hard at Leopardstrike, “We don’t have the means to rebuild Hiakara and we’re out of usable weapons except the ones we posses at the moment, what other choice do we have? After the assault we can rendezvous in Kaon and finish the job there if needed. “
Ravager nodded, “Your thinking is very in depth. Good work, Tex.”
Tex smiled and blushed, her red optics shining with pride. She walked over to Thunderstorm and Leopardstrike, “Got any moves you could show me before the fight?”
Thunderstorm couldn’t help but smile, the soldier’s attitude was completely at ease and laidback, “Nah, you’re a good enough fighter on your own.”
“R… really?” Tex stammered, her paws scuffling around uncontrollably.
“She means it,” Leopardstrike answered for her, scratching Tex behind the ear. She loosened up eventually and stopped trembling. Leopardstrike sighed lightly as Tex ran off to one of the other soldiers who looked almost exactly like her, just bigger, “Tex was my cadet until a few months ago, so she’s fairly young. Too young to participate in this upcoming battle I’m afraid. Fighting the Autopaws on their home turf presents a huge challenge.”
“I know,” Thunderstorm replied, narrowing her optics, “but we’ll pull through in the end. You can count on it. Just let Tex come, I’ll keep an eye on her.”
With a second glance at her former cadet, Leopardstrike sniffled and agreed, “Life is harsh, Thunderstorm, but if Tex dies in her first real fight I’ll make your life worse than it already will be.”
Ravager’s yowl broke their conversation before Thunderstorm could reply, “My Decepticats, this is the last time we let an attack go unanswered! Tonight we strike one of the heads off the beast and return the favor that those accursed Autopaws have given to us; tonight… we will be victorious over those scrap heaps and retain our rightful place at the top of our species. The whole of the Decepticats deserves to be the dominant ones. Group sacrifice is the only way to achieve greatness. Some of you may not make the return journey back, but I promise you that your sacrifice will not be in vain. Maybe we will be spared from the hands of death, but I am not a psychic and I cannot save you from your fate if destiny chooses to take a dark path during these next few hours. I only wish that you are safe, but sometimes safety must be put aside for a greater force. If someone chooses their personal safety over the main objective of keeping the Decepticats and Decepticons at the head of this war and it results in the destruction of this faction, death will rain down on us like hail. You soldier pledged your loyalty to the Decepticats, so honor your choice and fight like the soldier you choose to be when you allied with us. Never stand down and never give up!”
The whole gathering of soldiers cheered and shouted in triumph. Thunderstorm snorted and said, “Do they always act like that?”
“Humph, only on days like these,” Leopardstrike chuckled, “but I guess we are who we are.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fire Prime paced angrily in the Sukal city square, his teeth grit tight and his claws unsheathed. Blue Spark was supposed to be here an hour ago!
The doors on the Sukal training building opened and an electric blue and gold soldier stepped out. Her blue optics shone with intensity. She recognized Fire Prime and trotted over to him, “Sorry I’m late, sir. Had sniping practice with some of the cadets today, and they were looking forward to it too since I was going to be teaching them.”
“You know I’m busy, Blue Spark, and I can’t wait any longer!” Fire Prime growled sharply, trying hard to keep his voice low, “Losa gre yurala cewli purka! I’ll kick you off this darn position if you don’t listen to your leader!”
Blue Spark stiffened and dipped her head solemnly, her optics clouded, “I’m sorry sir, right this way.”
She led him through the building gate and into a large hall that was decorated in yellow and russet stone. Great, silver pillars supported the balcony above them as soldier that were serving as the higher servants rushed swiftly from room to room. She turned a sharp corner and stepped into a long corridor with several rooms stretching all the way down on both sides. One of the rooms was barricaded shut by sheet metal and screws. Blue Spark stopped in front of it and ripped the metal off with her bare paws. The door opened with a piercing squeal. She peeked inside and lit up the dull room with a quick flash of static that shocked all the lights back on.
Shivering in the corner was a Sukal soldier with a gaping leg wound, he whimpered to Blue Spark as she padded closer, “Please no more… please…”
Blue Spark bared her teeth and the soldier threw up his paws to protect himself from her, “Stop being such a coward. I’ve brought Fire Prime to you so you can tell him what you know.”
The soldier’s body relaxed slowly from its extremely tensed state, “Fire Prime himself?”
Blue Spark nodded and stepped to the side to reveal the Autopaw leader. The soldier stared in awestruck amazement, “Lural, acreta turru,” he greeted the soldier with great respect, using the ancient word for soldier and the statement ‘Best wishes’ also in such speech. He glanced calmly at Blue Spark, “Get some medics over here and get him on his feet.”
Before Blue Spark could respond, the soldier spoke up, “No, it’s fine. I still got three could limbs,” he insisted sharply, struggling to stand up, his injured leg quivered like a frightened rabbit about to be captured by the menacing predator. Blue Spark curled back her jaws in an angry snarl. Usually a lower soldier saying defiant things to his superiors, especially their leaders, would be beaten and severely punished, but Fire Prime refused to flinch at the comment. Blue Spark raised her brow at him, but he ignored her. He was completely numb to insult and hurt after the incident twelve years ago that resulted in the death of his apprentice, Blue Spark reasoned within her knowledge.
Fire Prime scrambled over to the soldier and supported his weak right side, and then with a cold glare at Blue Spark said, “You are not required from this point on. I will speak with him personally.”
Blue Spark fought back the urge to speak out and argue, but she knew it would only cause trouble to befall her, “Yes sir…”
Fire Prime stalled for a moment then gave a brisk nod and walked off with the Sukal soldier. He exited the hall building and strolled into the square, the soldier limping slowly behind him. Once they were out of sight, Fire Prime led them into a shadowed alley, dripping with rain. The soldier looked into his leader’s icy blue optics and stifled a small grin, “Father… I haven’t seen you for such a long time. Where’ve you been all these years?”
“As with you, Bluefire, and I apologize for my absence. I-“
“It was Lightning Prime again wasn’t it?” Bluefire narrowed his optics to slits and he frowned, “You always choose a random cadet over your sons! I bet you don’t even know where Thorn is right now!”
Fire Prime couldn’t believe his own son had become so angry at him. Sometimes the fate of you and your soldiers is enough to change your perspective on the world, he reminded himself, Bluefire thinks I’ve abandoned him and his brother. “I thought he was in Sukal with you, last I heard.”
The look on Bluefire’s face told him that he was off by a mile, his mouth hung wide open and he looked ready to cry, “No… he’s M.I.A. near Akayar when he went there as a field medic.”
A tiny tear streamed from Fire Prime’s face and he ducked his head. Bluefire continued the abuse, “Why don’t you care about us anymore? When we were little and we had just become true Autopaw soldiers you spent every second of you day with us and you were a true father… but you’ve changed since you took Lightning Prime on as your apprentice. She was completely clueless and the only thing she was any good at was fighting. She had no common sense. She would rush into a battle if it was her against the entire Decepticat army!”
Fire Prime could see his point, but Bluefire didn’t know his true reasons behind his reasoning. He’ll never see past me and he’ll never understand ever if I told him the truth.
“Destiny has its ways, son,” Fire Prime replied simply, trying to explain without causing further harm, “but I’ve realized my mistake in not spending time with you and Thorn,” another perfect lie, “Now that she’s gone, I’ll make up lost time.”
Bluefire seemed reluctant to accept his father’s words, they seemed hollow and crowded with grief for Lightning Prime. Fire Prime took one last step towards Bluefire’s trust, “Until I am no longer Bringgar Skilay’ra I will hold my word.”
Bluefire had forgotten what the words meant, but he guessed they were his name in the ancient language, which his father knew plenty about (he could fluently speak the whole language except for a handful of words that were never fully uncovered and were literally half-words).
He took a steadying breath to calm himself before the final answer that would decide if this blood feud would end right now or continue for years to come, “I have seen many families wage battles such as this one, but I won’t lie down and let this one continue. I forgive you, dad.”
Fire Prime looked as if he would burst from sheer joy, he gave his son a giant hug and smiled like he never had before, and tears flowed from his eyes like a river, “I’m sorry… for all the pain I’ve caused you.”
Bluefire snorted softly in good nature and pulled away from Fire Prime. Glancing around, Fire Prime’s expression grew dark and he asked, “What happened to you?”
“Well… I was seeing this Deceptica-“
Fire Prime started growling, the deep sound echoing off the walls. Bluefire continued warily, “I went to the cliffs near Hiakara to meet up with a Decepticat medic from Koan. She needed supplies desperately so I snuck a pawfull of medical stuff from here in Sukal and brought them to her,” Bluefire waited for his father to respond, but he only felt despair pulsing off him, no words escaped his mouth, “Blue Spark found out and put me in the prison, ordering the guards there to torture me while I was there. That’s how I got this leg all busted up.”
“You idiot…” was all Fire Prime could muster before turning his head and walking out of the alley, “You’d lose your head if it weren’t attached.”
Bluefire flattened himself against the ground in submission, looking up to Fire Prime in remorse, but his father ignored him. All forgiveness felt by the last few moments had gone. Shaking in anger, Bluefire spat, “I hope you die today, just like Lightning Prime! Slaughtered by tooth and claw!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The snowstorm that had blown over Hiakara earlier that day had abated over Sukal, leaving the city blanketed with icy snow. The sun shone weakly through the thin layer of clouds in the afternoon sky.
Watching Sukal from the top of the cliffs that were built up from Hiakara, the soldiers eyed their prey. Leopardstrike used her claws to map out the city and planned strike points on the city square, the Golden Tower, and other important buildings. Blue Spark lived in the Golden Tower, safe from any means of a small attack, but the twelve Decepticat soldiers were prepared for an all out brawl. They were determined to go down fighting if they went down at all.
Pointing at her sketch of the tower, Leopardstrike said, “Blue Spark and Outbreak are primary targets. If we can trap them in the tower we’ll have a chance to attack them right in their home territory. I recommend that half the squad storms the tower and the rest create a distraction so they can enter the tower.”
Ravager focused intently on Leopardstrike’s instruction, even though now, he was considered her superior, “Should we send the more nimble soldiers or the stronger ones into the tower?”
“A mix, three of each,” Leopardstrike replied, “Blackhawk, Tempest, and Chaos, you three join Vulcan, Uppercut, and Tanker on the tower raid to take out Blue Spark and Outbreak. The rest of you will stay with me and Ravager on the frontlines of the battle.”
Thunderstorm sulked to the edge of the gathering with Tex, who was shivering in both excitement and fear of the fight to come. She had been assigned to stay with the young soldier and protect her from harm. Leopardstrike had been quite sensitive about the safety of her former cadet, apparently she had a good relationship with Tex that most mentors did not have with their apprentices.
“You think we’ll beat them,” Tex asked softly.
Thunderstorm glanced remotely at her with pity, “I don’t know. I think it’s foolish to attack them in their own city, even after they did the same thing to us. They’ll have the home advantage which includes having more soldiers than we do.”
Tex remained quiet for the remainder of the time, satisfied with the response. Thunderstorm watched Ravager with concern, the new outpost leader was nervous, she could tell. He walked with shaky legs and constantly kept shooting glances up at Leopardstrike who had much more experience than him, but warlords for forbidden to become leader of anything but combat groups.
“Are we ready?” Leopardstrike rose up onto her paws and looked strongly at Ravager. He paused and took a deep breath, “Yes… it’s almost nightfall.”
Leopardstrike faced Thunderstorm and handed her a set of armor, “Here, you’d be better off going into battle with this than your normal armor.”
She hooked the helmet on her head and adjusted the shielding that covered her optics into a comfortable position. Leopardstrike put the rest of the battle armor on top of Thunderstorm’s regular armor; a spiked tail guard, plates that covered her shoulders, and paw covers with over guard for her claws, but still allowed them to be used in combat.
After the rest of the soldiers had been suited up, Leopardstrike arranged them into their groups and discussed the plan to them briefly, eyeing the sky repeatedly for the sign of the beginning of the moonrise.
With a final, reassuring look at Ravager, Leopardstrike grabbed the Hiakara flag she had brought from off the ground and raised it as high as her limbs would allow. Soft cheers followed so that they wouldn’t alert the enemy but could still celebrate their prefight triumph. Thunderstorm grinned lightly, refusing to cheer, but still in good spirits. After the still silence return, she stepped in front of Leopardstrike and shouted as loud as she dared, “It’s time to burn this hellhole to the ground for what they’ve done! Let’s make them pay for their arrogance
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Itching with anger and frustration, Fire Prime forced himself to calm down. His position as leader was more important than his personal wants, he knew that the moment he was chosen, but know the bearing was weighing him down. He missed the time he spent with his family when he was only a soldier, when Sun Prime had been leader and led the Autopaws with the authority that they deserved. She had been a perfect leader, strong despite her fragile frame. Fire Prime did not feel that he deserved the position, especially since he became depressed over Lightning Prime’s death; that had been cruel since it was so early in his leadership.
He had been walking the backstreets of Sukal for hours now, wondering about things he hadn’t noticed until now. He remembered his quick skirmish with the Decepticat soldier in the cave vaguely, but still had the image of the soldier drilled in his mind. He remembered the soldier’s colors and markings to match those of Darkwind’s sister, Thunderstorm, although that seemed impossible considering that she had been accidently killed by Darkwind when they got into a fight.
Fire Prime thought hard, straining his memory to remember the important details. Then his face drooped as he recalled the only marking on the soldier that didn’t match Thunderstorm’s; a golden lightning bolt mark on the soldier’s left cheek, the same one that Lightning Prime had, but hers was black.
“No… it can’t be,” Fire Prime faintly laughed at the idea to make it vanish from thought. He trotted light heartedly into the city square, shadowed by the Golden Tower. He saw Blue Spark’s face in the top window; her expression angered, “Hey, thanks for the great treatment during my visit,” Fire Prime spat sarcastically up at Blue Spark, but he knew she couldn’t hear him. She blinked blankly and turned away.
He slouched down onto the hard ground, ducking his head. It pained him how much Blue Spark reminded him of Lightning Prime in a few ways. She was a natural born leader and soldier, and never backed down from a challenge unless completely needed.
A short ping sounded out near him and he focused his hearing on the round near him as he heard whispering in the cliffs behind him. Turning around quickly on his back paws, he faced the Decepticat soldiers that stood on the cliff top about half a mile away. Three soldiers had sniper rifles and we’re flattened against the ground as best as they could, three more stood up beside them as Fire Prime noticed them.
At the head of the soldiers he recognized with a jolt the Decepticat who had attacked him in Hiakara, Leopardstrike the Hiakara warlord, a senior soldier named Ravager, and several others that the Sukal soldiers had engaged during the raid. Leopardstrike lifted up her paw a few inches to reveal the mangled body of a fallen Autopaw scout and shoved the body down the cliff. It landed right in front of Fire Prime’s paws, but he failed to account for the trickery involved as he crouched down beside the dead scout. They stalked closer as silently as a hawk hunting its prey, cutting the air with quiet wing beats. As they leapt down from halfway down the cliff into the square, another six emerged from the bottom of the cliffs and disappeared just as quickly into the shadows of the buildings. Fire Prime caught their movement just in time as Leopardstrike smashed into him; her front paws out in front of her, sending a searing pain up his gut. He collapsed on the ground for a split second, enough for two more soldiers to take a strike at him. One slashed his claws across Fire Prime’s face and the other gripped hard onto his foreleg.
He swatted them off with a hard blow of his free front paw, sending them flying into the statue in the middle of the city square. They growled as if nothing hurt them, but Fire Prime could tell by the look in their optics that they were drowning in the agony of the hit and were scared for their life already.
Leopardstrike let out a deep snarl from behind him and grabbed his throat with her teeth, lifted the leader straight off the ground and tossing him into the side of the Golden Tower. He fell with a shout of pain to the ground, staggering as he attempted to stand up again.
Under the pressure, the tower groaned and creaked, starting to bend to one side. Leopardstrike sneered at Fire Prime and gestured for Ravager and Thunderstorm to come. The alert was just getting out and a handful of Sukal soldiers had come from the west side.
Ravager turned to face the troop of enemy combatants with a roar so fierce it shattered the windows in several buildings, and the Sukal soldiers skidded back in fear. With an anger shout, Fire Prime urged the soldiers to face the Decepticats, but they were paralyzed to the spot. Even with the small amount of enemies, Fire Prime soon found himself overwhelmed by five of the Decepticats as they all pounced on him, knowing he was weak. He flailed around wildly without success, yowling for help. He tried to launch a breath of flames at them, but he felt that his elemental powers had been drained from the intense wounds he had received from all his attackers.
Jet black storm clouds gathered suddenly overhead, and a deep blue bolt of lightning that struck the ground right behind them sent the Decepticats fleeing. Blue Spark poked her head out of her broken window and scrambled onto the edge of the Golden Tower, clawing the sides for support. Soon, she had made her way down to the square. She smiled deviously as she saw that Thunderstorm hadn’t run like the rest of her squad, “Better run, kid. I wouldn’t mess with me if I were you.”
Thunderstorm let out a quick laugh before responding, “Hah! I think it should be the opposite.”
Blue Spark flinched as Thunderstorm’s razor sharp claws began to glow lime green and soon were sparking. Fire Prime grit his teeth in frustration and pain, he couldn’t simply allow his once faint thought to become the truth. He did not believe in reincarnation or spirits, but for once he considered the fact that he may have been wrong.
Tex inched closer behind the rubble of a statue as she watched Thunderstorm, who didn’t know that the young soldier had followed her into the heat of the battle. Thunderstorm used Blue Spark’s gathered storm as an advantage, drawing power from the thunderheads as they grew in size. She lifted her head towards the sky as an immediate downpour of rain pelted the battlefield and let out a roar that resembled the rumble of thunder and let loose a bolt of lightning bigger and more powerful than Blue Spark’s. It struck the ground in between the two leaders and left the ground scorched and the air around filled with lingering static. Blue Spark’s optics grew wide and she rushed over to Fire Prime’s side, lifting him up onto his paws and shoving him forward with all her might despite his objection of pain.
Thunderstorm jumped on Blue Spark, raking her electrified claws across her shoulder, leaving the armor burned and sparking. Blue Spark dropped instantly to the ground, crying out in pain and clutching her shoulder tightly with her paw. Blue Spark felt the intense voltage rush through her, which created the hurt, but it left after about thirty second since the wound was not significant. Thunderstorm landed square on her paws and in the attack position once again. Blue Spark gasped for air as the attack faded and all that was left was the wound.
Fire Prime lifted himself from the ground and watched in sorrow as Blue Spark lay on the ground, recovering from the strike to her shoulder. After watching the display of the odd Decepticat’s power, he did not want to face her head on. He limped in weakly and grabbed Blue Spark by the back of her neck lightly, dragging her to the Sukal medic as she was barely conscious. He was surprised that Thunderstorm had not taken the moment to rid herself of both of them; she only sheathed her claws and sat down, watching them with a deadly interest.
She had marked them and would never forget their faces.
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