Behind Enemy Lines

The four Autobots drove through the war torn plains of France, large shell craters scattering the landscape. Scorcher managed to merge with their communication array, where ever that may be right now, and heard the Decepticon/Predacon chatter. What he heard was frightening.

Apparently they had set up bases across the entire world, save for the North American continent. They've tried, but they've only managed small outposts in what they call the Plains. Other than that, they have major bases of operation across the globe: on the islands of the Pacific, the Siberian hell scape of Russia, the deserts of Africa, the dense jungles of South America, and even here on the war torn "old World" of Europe. Hearing how many Cons were at each base felt daunting. Scorcher knew he was one of the best, but he was no god of destruction. He also knew that the Autobots that came with him were mainly good for scouting and maneuver around terrain, not straight up warfare. They've only made it this far due to the incompetence of the Decepticons that have they've run into. Who knows what will happen if they encounter a decent group who know how to deal with them.

Bombard and Barrage, while being the only ones that Scorcher could truly rely on in heavy combat situations due to him being a Warden, was much weaker now having been split into two beings. There was nothing wrong with Bombard, its just that he was somewhat...

"Now I'm just saying that Warlord wasn't exactly wrong." Bombard said, the turret head turning slightly as he focused on his three allies. Barrage sighed as he heard his second half say these things. Barrage had been imprisoner by Warlord for who knows how long, rusting the name of the once proud Wardens. It turned out while he had been tortured by Warlord's goons, he had developed a split personality: the voice who was the antithesis of his own thought. Now, after splitting into two forms, that voice was its own being.

"Bombard, I know you're just talking out of your exhaust port, but don't say stuff like that. You know what he did to us." Barrage said, his turret turning to look at his identical twin. "He was mad and would have sent Cybertron into a burnout. It's good that Scorcher returned and killed him."

"Right." Scorcher said, remembering that event. Soundwave coming in at the last second to syphon both him and his underling's Energon. That was something that bothered Scorcher to no end: how was Soundwave able to appear whenever Scorcher needed assistance? The Decepticon was always cryptic, but this was ridiculous. It was like some all powerful being was playing a game, using Soundwave to ensure his show would go on.

"Please, you and I both know that Scorcher didn't do that." Bombard retorted, veering from the group to avoid a crater. "Warlord had ambition, and we were blind to it due to our ancient ways."

Barrage suddenly shifts, kicking his counter part in the process. Bombard shifted as well, landing against a shallow hole and sending dirt flying. The other two stopped moving, knowing that this altercation was sure to attract some kind of attention. "Bee, keep an eye out." Scorcher then shifted as well, stomping towards the fighting Cybertronians. They weren't really fighting: Barrage was holding his punches, only scraping Bombard's plating, and Bombard was holding his arms up, protecting his face. It was less a battle that could result in a fatality and more of a sibling brawl.

Scorcher walked into the crater and grabbed Barrage, pulling him away from his brother, who tried to get up before Scorcher put his large foot on him, holding him down by the chest. "You two need to cooperate. We are in the middle of a warzone, surrounded by hostile aliens and Decepticons hidden around us. Frag, a group of Cons could be after us right now!"

As if on cue, Scorcher's shoulder was hit hard, causing the large Cybertronian to drop Barrage and fall to the ground. All three looked at Scorcher, staring at the wound. That was melting his plating, meaning one thing.

"Sniper, get down!" Bee quickly jumped out of his tank form and dove into another crater, small enough to cover his whole body. Barrage jumped to a different crater, pulling out his Magma Frag Launcher. He crawled to the edge of his cover, looking for where the Decepticon could be hiding.

While he saw nothing outright, he did see a bunch of trees shift unnaturally, as if a large creature had shifted them. He raised his launcher, calculated the range, and fired three shots. The grenades arched in the air and fell onto the tree line, causing a massive explosion. There was a yell, and Bumble Bee looked out, seeing a group of Cybertronians rushing away from the impact area, with Cybertronian limbs flying into the air.

"I see three Cons!" Bee shouts, raising his weapon and firing at the group. Scorcher got up from the ground, his shoulder still melting slightly, and pulled out one of his revolvers. He took aim at one of the Cons approaching them and fired, his weapon punching a whole in the weaker Cybertronian. Bee's assault had done some damage, wounding one of the Cons, the enemy limping away. Bombard pulled out his own Null Ray sniper rifle, knocking down the other Con, its head flying off and the body going limp.

"Damn!" Scorcher curses, dropping his weapon and holding his shoulder. His wound was still melting, and it was burning away his armor. He dropped the armor, and the plating melted away into a puddle of molten metal. He rolled his arm, not feeling the stinging sensation any more. Grunting, he bent down, picking up his revolver. Some of his armor shifted, and while he did shrink somewhat, he looked normal once more. Bee, Bombard and Barrage gathered around him, taking cover in the crater. "We need to be more vigilant. We're in Decepticon territory. We have know Idea where they could be hiding, understand?" He said, more focused on the two Wardens who had started their problem in the first place.

The two nodded, but bombard was more hesitant on replying. Scorcher shook his head, looking back up. He saw some human activity, a large group marching towards the front lines. He spotted some tanks, and knew that they had to blend in. He scanned one of the tanks and nodded, crawling out of the tank into his Mark V form, but rather than the original tan, it was the German camouflage, with the Iron Cross across the hull.

"Transform and copy my armor. It should let us move through their territory without issue." The other three nod, climbing out and transforming. The four then continued on, heading deeper into Germany.

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The wounded Decepticon watched as the four Autobots rolled away, now disguised as German vehicles. He tries to contact Rampage, but heard a low growling. Looking up, he saw a black panther looking Cybertronian, its pure yellow eyes glaring at him.

"R-Ravage? What are you-" The Con began to question before he saw the blue figure of Soundwave walk up, a human with a top hat standing on his shoulder. "Soundwave? What's that thing on your shoulder?"

Soundwave raises his hand, allowing the man to jump on. He then lowered his hand and the human walked up, pulling a cane out of thin air. "A pleasure to meet you, Gear Grinder." The Cybertronian's face contorted, confused as to how this human knew his name, not to mention how this human was speaking Cybertronian in the first place. "I have a simple question for you. Do you wish to live?" Gear Grinder looked to Ravage, seeing him growling. He also watched as Soundwave raised his own blaster, and his shoulder mount spun up. The Human did not wait for an answer, smiling. "Good, then you're coming with us."

The human raised his hand and snapped his finger, the four figures, as well as the scraps of the other Decepticons, vanished from the universe.