Book V
     "Dark Times, Part II"

     Chapter XXII
     "Ambush"


     "Are you mad?", bellowed Brawl.
     "He's insane", said Rumble.
     "He's just kidding", said
Swindle.  "You are just kidding,
aren't you Skyquake."
     "No, I'm quite serious.  The
only way to defeat Megatron is to get
him off this planet.  As long as he
controls the resources of this world,
we can never defeat him.  We don't
have the means to defeat him alone."
     "But what you suggest is crazy",
said Hook.
     "Perhaps, but I think it will
work", responded Skyquake.
     "I agree with Skyquake", said
Blitzwing.  It is a good plan,
although I do see why you are so
opposed.  But Skyquake is right, it
is the best course of action."
     The rest of them mumbled their
agreement.


     Optimus Prime rolled into
Autobot City.  Megatron's adherence
to their agreement had gone on longer
than Optimus had thought it would. 
He was waiting for the other shoe to
drop.
     Optimus was pleased to find that
everyone was staying, except for
Ultra Magnus and Omega Supreme.
     All the Autobots were gathered
to see Ultra Magnus and Omega Supreme
depart.
     "Ultra Magnus, take care of
Rodimus, he's going to need a lot of
help", said Optimus.
     "Of course, Optimus", responded
Ultra Magnus.
     Before Ultra Magnus could say
anything else, he was hit in the
shoulder by a laser blast.  Optimus
turned around, and saw the same five
Decepticons who had done so much
damage to the base hovering in the
air.
     "Surrender now", said the
female, "or the Xformers, will
destroy you."
     "Megatron and I had a deal",
said Optimus.
     "Consider it broken", said the
one next to her.  He had long razor
like talons coming out of his hands. 
"Attack."
     "Autobots, scatter", commanded
Optimus Prime.
     The battle was ferocious. 
Whoever these five were, they
possessed an awful lot of power.
     "Draw their fire away from
Omega.  Ultra Magnus, get out of
here", said Optimus.
     "Understood", said Ultra Magnus,
as he made a dash for Omega.  He just
made it in the door.  "Omega blast
off."
     Omega Supreme's engines engaged,
and he began to rise slowly.
     "Don't let them get away Thing",
commanded Cyclops.
     Thing ran toward Omega Supreme,
and jumped after him, but Omega was
out of his reach.
     "Forget them", said Spider. 
"Let's take care of these chumps."
     The battle continued.  Laser
fire was exchanged, and the one
called Storm conjured up a
thunderstorm to worsen the situation. 
The Autobots had scattered among the
courtyard.  They all knew from seeing
their previous attacks that they were
deadly at hand to hand combat, and
the Autobots tried to keep them at
bay with laser fire.
     The one called Thing went after
Bluestreak, and grabbed him from
behind.  He put his hands around
Bluestreak's neck, and began to
squeeze.
     "Help", murmured Bluestreak,
just before his neck snapped, and
Thing held only his head in his hand.
     "Bluestreak", yelled Optimus,
but he was too late.  Bluestreak was
dead.
     "Autobots, retreat", said
Optimus.  "Skyfire, transform."
     "Understood", called Skyfire
from across the courtyard.  "Give me
some cover."
     The Autobots gave Skyfire as
much cover as they could, and he
transformed, and they got aboard. 
Optimus was the last, and when he
reached the door to Skyfire's cargo
bay, he closed it from outside.
     "Get them out of here, I'll
cover you", said Optimus.
     "Optimus, we won't leave you",
said Skyfire.
     "Take off, that's an order."
     Skyfire engaged his engines, and
they took off.
     "Storm, go after them", said
Cyclops.  "You're the fastest in the
sky.  We'll finish off Optimus
Prime."
     Storm transformed into jet mode,
and headed off after Skyfire.
     "Megatron will be pleased when
we scrap you Optimus Prime", said
Spider.
     Optimus was pinned down behind
what was left of the guard tower at
the end of the courtyard.  They all
kept firing in his direction, and he
could only get off a couple of shots
before he had to duck back under
cover.  He decided to make a run for
it.  Optimus opened a compartment in
his leg, and took out a solar
grenade.  He tossed it out in front
of his four attackers.  It exploded
in a blast of light more powerful
than the sun.
     "My eyes", screamed Spider,
falling to his knees and clutching
his face.  Wolverine and Thing were
on the ground also.  Cyclops's eye
was protected by a filtering device,
and he was unaffected.  Optimus
jumped out from where he was, and
Cyclops hit him in the right shoulder
with a blast.  Optimus transformed,
and sped away from the ruins of
Autobot City.
     "Damn", said Cyclops, "he got
away."
     "Why don't you go after him?",
said Thing.
     "I'm not fast enough, I'll never
catch him."
     "Megatron will not be happy
about this", said Spider.


     Meanwhile, Storm was in pursuit
of Skyfire.  She fired a missile at
Skyfire, which just missed when he
rolled left.
     "Could you cut the acrobatics",
said Bumblebee as he tried to keep
from falling on his head.  "We're
flying all over the place in here."
     "Sorry, but if I don't keep
flying, we're going to get toasted",
said Skyfire.
     "I have an idea", said Hound. 
"Skyfire, slow down, and let her get
right on your tail."
     "Brilliant plan Hound, but once
I do you'll have no more than thirty
seconds before she locks on and blows
us to bits, or should I say blows me
to bits."
     "Don't worry, I've got a plan",
said Hound.
     Outside, Storm saw her enemy
slowing.  He must be low on fuel she
thought.  She locked on her missiles,
but just before she was going to
fire, she saw that they were heading
towards a bunker, and the door was
closing.  Skyfire went through the
door, but she knew she wouldn't make
it and pulled up hard.  She circled
around to attack the bunker, but it
was gone.
     "Damn.  Fooled by a hologram,
how degrading", she said to herself. 
She searched the area, but they were
gone.  Megatron was not going to be
happy.