SideStep turns his focus towards the heavy troopers.
Thrust spins out of the way, dodging the attack, while Vigor transformed and tried to throw a punch at the trooper hanging on to him.
Lightshift growls and sharply turns to the left, avoiding the shots.
Fortress had dealt with the two heavy troopers and the dropship theyâd come in on, clearing the way for our heroes to advance.
The trooper shooting at Thrust flies past him. When Vigor transforms, the trooper hanging onto him is thrown off, and she falls for a short time before transforming back into jet mode and taking flight again.
Lightshiftâs pursuer darts past him.
Sidestep glanced behind him at the crewmembers who had come down with him. âEveryone safe?â
Thrust accelerates forwards before turning and trying to get on the tail of his attacker.
Vigor transforms again, spiraling uncontrollably for a moment before pointing his nose down towards the planet and flying straight.
Lightshift turns back to the right, trying to get his weapons on target to destroy his pursuer.
Fortress transformed into his transport mode. Just as Pipebomb and Broadwing caught up with them.
âClimb aboard. I shall offer transportation.â
Fortress said.
SideStep nodded. âThanks.â He climbed aboard Fortress.
Thrust successfully flanks his air trooper, while the one on Vigor resumes her pursuit. Lightshift shoots his opponent out of the sky.
Thrust opens fire.
Lightshift turns and flies towards Vigorâs attacker, as Vigor tries to spin and get the trooper off his tail.
Thrust shoots down the air trooper heâd thwarted, while Lightshift and Vigor are able to outwit their attacker and create an opening for attack.
Lightshift opens fire on the remaining trooper.
The jetâs engines go up in flames as Lightshift strikes true, and the trooper tumbles into an uncontrolled descent, sure to crash. The battle continues all around the Splitter brothers, a distraction to give our heroes a shot at reaching the ancient tower.
A flock of New Decepticon fighters and air troopers race past the trio for Salvation, but they are quickly intercepted by the insecticon warriors our heroes had recruited from the menagerie world theyâd visited earlier in the voyage. The unlucky goons are torn apart in a storm of blades and teeth, as the insecticon queen emerges from a portal beneath them.
The Splitter brothers flew back into formation, searching for any larger targets they could take out.
The Decepticon supply ship Adjutant had taken a beating from its repeated encounters with our heroes: Shockwaveâs rescue, Wildsongâs infiltration, and now Salvation battered its hull with salvo after salvo of ordnance. A foldspace warhead struck the massive ship near its engines, causing a large section of it to disappear in a flash of light.
Around our heroes, bots of every size, shape, and faction charged out of the woods and into an open expanse in the valley, pushing toward the tower and the treasure within its aged walls. Titans transformed into bunkers for smaller crewmembers to shore up inside, and Salvo led Requiem-IX, the fireteam defected from the New Decepticons, in an assault on a line of siege mechs.
The three fighter jets flew towards the Adjutant, firing their weapons at any weak spots once they were in range.
The Angelicons and Epsilon do their best to help their allies in reaching the tower.
The opening created by the warhead bored right through the hull and into the Adjutantâs propulsion deck. One of its engine cores glowed brightly- an inviting target. But the New Decepticon soldiers within the deck raise their photon rifles and fire up at the Splitter brothers as they approach.
While our heroesâ allies fight through the New Decepticon forces deployed against them, a shrill cry suddenly echoes across the clearing, followed by the harsh buzzing of a thousand insectoid wings in flight. From behind the Siege Walkers, a swarm of insecticons darkened the sky, led by a massive beetle-like bot with minty green armor and rows of needle-like teeth beneath a curved horn.
This was Bombshock, another one of the predacon clones in the New Decepticonsâ arsenal, and now he and his hive were bearing down upon our heroes!
Zepar went to challenge Bombshock, one-on-one.
Bombshock hissed and dove at Zepar, trying to skewer the Angelicon on his horn.
He rolls in the air in an attempt to evade the attack and try to slice at its wings to ground it.
Zepar rolls out of Bombshockâs path, and his sword cuts through the insecticon/predaconâs left wing. Bombshock hits the ground, spraying dirt and grass out in a halo around him from the impact. His insecticon horde, a hive of spindly creatures with shimmering wings of plasma and spiky, greenish-brown armor descend upon our heroes.
Zepar roars loudly for all to hear, a challenge to be alpha of the Neo-Decepticon hive, at Bombshock as he lands nearby where the Predacon landed.
