North Atlantic: Laurentian Abyss.
It was 9:13 AM. A full carrier strike group glided across the surface above the trench, leaving long white wakes in the deep blue water. As the burial site of Megatron's remains, this sector of the North Atlantic was under constant, 24-hour surveillance by a multi-layered net of naval and sub-surface assets.
High above the fleet, a ship drifted, cloaked and invisible to the naked eye.
Once the carrier group had moved a safe distance away, Dirge piloted the transport down to an altitude of less than a hundred meters above the waves.
"Ravage, go."
"Yes, Lord Skygnaw."
The cargo ramp hissed open. Skygnaw walked to the edge with Ravage, preparing for the deep-sea descent. Suddenly, a cluster missile trailing a long white plume of smoke shrieked toward the ship from the horizon.
"My Lord, there's—"
BAM!
Before Ravage could finish his warning, Skygnaw kicked the panther out of the ship and leaped after him.
WHOOSH.
The missile whistled past Skygnaw's head, missing him by a hair's breadth, but the ship behind him wasn't as lucky.
BOOM!
The transport, lacking an automated evasion system, took the hit directly on the open ramp. A massive explosion tore through the hull, and the ship began to lurch violently toward the ocean. Fortunately, at the last second, Dirge managed to stabilize the thrusters.
[Dirge, get out of here!] Skygnaw transmitted. The ship was his most valuable asset for stealth; he couldn't let it be destroyed or salvaged by the humans.
[Understood, My Lord!]
Dirge pulled the nose up, rapidly gaining altitude, though the heavy damage meant the ship could no longer cloak or engage its jump drive.
Simultaneously, six jets streaked across the sky. Leading them was a supersonic fighter with a silhouette Skygnaw knew all too well—Starscream. The coward who had fired the missile was the Air Commander himself.
"Lord Starscream, what is the meaning of this?" Skygnaw demanded, his optics narrowing.
His question was met with silence. The six jets continued their approach without a word. Skygnaw watched Ravage splash into the sea below, then transformed into his assault ship mode to intercept the incoming flight. He didn't know why Starscream was here, but he knew the intent was lethal.
[Starscream, stand down! Why are you attacking Skygnaw?!]
Soundwave's voice crackled over the comms, but Starscream only smirked. He didn't hesitate to fire another pair of cluster missiles. He had decided that today, Skygnaw would pay for his deception and betrayal. More importantly, he could not allow Megatron to be resurrected—not even the slightest chance of it. Starscream was playing a desperate game for leadership, and he was losing his sanity in the process.
SWISH—BOOM!
Skygnaw fired a volley of heat-seekers, intercepting Starscream's missiles in mid-air before diving toward the five trailing jets. He recognized them as a squad of Basic-tier Decepticon grunts. While the rule was usually to take out the leader first, Skygnaw decided to clear the board of these annoyances so he wouldn't have to divide his focus during the duel with Starscream.
Having brought only Ravage and Dirge, Skygnaw found himself outnumbered in the ambush. But he wasn't afraid.
"Skygnaw, let me show you what a real Commander-class warrior looks like!" Starscream's voice crackled with arrogance. He barked at his drones, "Kill him!"
Starscream had brought these grunts back with him from Mars. Facing a Commander-class warrior like Skygnaw terrified them, but under Starscream's direct orders, they gritted their teeth and opened fire.
Rat-tat-tat!K-boom!
For a moment, the sky was filled with streaks of tracers and explosions. From a distance, it looked like the start of World War III. The violent skirmish didn't go unnoticed by the human fleet below.
"Attention, all units. Contact at Vector 214. Multiple unidentified aerial targets."
"Copy. Launch Hawkeye One and Two for reconnaissance."
[Confirmed. Hawkeye One taking off.][Confirmed. Hawkeye Two taking off.]
Two early-warning aircraft spiraled into the sky. As they reached the target airspace, the pilots were stunned to find an F-15 Eagle locked in a frantic dogfight with a massive, strangely shaped craft. The two were trading fire and slamming into each other with visceral hatred. Below, the water was littered with burning wreckage from the downed drone jets.
[USS Nimitz, this is Hawkeye. We have alien hostiles engaged in an aerial battle over the restricted zone. Requesting instructions.]
The arrival of the humans didn't slow the combatants down. Skygnaw was finally realizing why Starscream held the title of Air Commander. The Seeker's skill and finesse in the air were leagues beyond his own. If it weren't for the fact that Skygnaw's chassis was forged from Orichalcum—making him significantly more durable than Starscream—he wouldn't have survived the Air Commander's erratic and deadly maneuvers.
"Dammit! Skygnaw, why is your hull so strong?!" Starscream roared in frustration, firing another pair of missiles. He couldn't accept that a former subordinate possessed a superior frame.
In contrast, Skygnaw's mood improved. A frustrated enemy was an easy target. He replied casually, "Maybe your frame is just weak, Lord Starscream."
As they brushed past each other in a high-G turn, he continued, "Your attacks are just like your ambition: soft, weak, and barely enough to make me itch!"
"ARGH! SKYGNAW!!"
Starscream snapped. The provocation sent him into a blind rage, and he began dumping his entire payload toward Skygnaw. The sky turned into a wall of lead.
Skygnaw didn't underestimate the firepower. He pulled his nose up into a vertical climb, narrowly evading the barrage. Starscream stayed on his tail, closing the gap for a final collision, ignoring the fact that Skygnaw was much faster than him.
Just as Starscream was about to ram him, Skygnaw performed a sudden, violent air-brake maneuver. He stalled his momentum, flipped his chassis, and transformed into humanoid form in mid-air.
As Starscream roared past beneath him, Skygnaw drew the Scepter of Retribution.
Zing—
A pulse of shimmering light hit the F-15 dead center. Starscream was frozen instantly, suspended in the air.
BOOM!
Skygnaw's Fusion Cannon roared. The point-blank shot slammed into Starscream, sending him tumbling out of the sky and into the ocean below.
The Hawkeye pilots watched in horror. "Targets confirmed as alien robots! Decepticons!"
[Copy. Decepticons identified.][Angel Six, we have Decepticon bogeys at three thousand feet. Requesting saturation strike.][Locking on.]
The vertical launch systems on two Burke-class destroyers flared to life. Dozens of anti-air missiles surged into the sky.
Starscream breached the surface of the water, but instead of counter-attacking, he screamed in terror. "Skygnaw! What kind of weapon was that?!"
Clearly, he didn't recognize the Iacon Relic. Both bots were now in humanoid form, hovering using their thruster systems. Starscream was badly damaged, his back plating shattered by the fusion blast.
"Heh. Guess."
Skygnaw didn't offer an explanation. He raised his arm again, ready to finish the job, but the shriek of incoming missiles and a warning from his sensors made him pause. Dozens of large naval missiles were closing in from above.
"Tsk. Annoying," Skygnaw muttered, looking at the human fleet. He'd forgotten about them. He deployed his shoulder-mounted heat-seekers and flared his energy shield, but he didn't stop his advance toward Starscream. He wasn't afraid of conventional missiles.
Bullies like Starscream were always the most afraid of death. Seeing Skygnaw drop his defensive posture and charge through the missile fire, Starscream transformed immediately and fled toward the fleet.
[USS Nimitz, the Decepticons are heading your way!]
[Copy. Initiate maximum defense! All units, engage!]
BOOM—BOOM!
The sea behind them erupted as the naval missiles detonated, sending towers of water sixty meters into the air. Skygnaw pushed his engines to the redline, closing the distance and firing constant bursts at Starscream's tail. He'd been worried about Starscream's schemes, but now that the traitor had delivered himself to him, Skygnaw intended to leave a mark the Seeker would never forget.
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