Chapter Text
Praxus. Of the many city-states that made up the main governing body of Cybertron, Praxus was among the biggest and most important. It was the unofficial hub of Cybertron's technological and cultural progress and played a major part in the politics that made up the planet.
That was Praxus then.
Now it was on fire.
Skids flinched as beside him, a silver bot with a yellow visor screamed in agony as his chest was ripped open by a blast from a Decepticon.
Skids quickly ducked behind cover where several of his fellow Autobots were.
"We lost Leader-1, repeat, we lost Leader-1!" he called.
"I noticed!" Optimus Prime grunted to the blue bot as he finished reloading his gun and then ducked out of cover so he could start blasting at some Decepticons across the battlefield. He managed to down two of them as their mechanical heads exploded from the perfect shots Optimus delivered to them.
"Nice shot, Optimus!" Ironhide congratulated pumping his fist into the air.
Optimus didn't cheer back; he just gave a grim expression as he looked for more cons to destroy.
It had been a long and difficult day. The Autobots had barely gotten word in time that Megatron and his Decepticons had been planning an all-out assault on Praxus. They had arrived just as the Decepticons started the attack, and the Autobots had been fighting for who knows how many megacycles by now.
Optimus couldn't help but bitterly note that it had taken hundreds of Stellar Cycles to build Praxus, and now it was looking like it was all going to be destroyed in a matter of days.
He grunted, and he turned on his wrist communicator. "Hound! I need a status update on the evacuation efforts!"
Hound's voice came in clear through the comm, but he sounded distressed. "We're doing our best, Optimus. But these cons are—" A huge explosion ripped through, and the comm faded out.
"Hound?! HOUND!?" yelled Optimus in concern,
Hound wobbled back and forth as he picked himself up from the explosion that sent him flying off his feet. When he got up, he heard a crunch underneath his foot. He turned to look and saw he had stepped on a disembodied mechanical arm. He looked around a bit more and figured out where it came from: the Autobot he had been with when the explosion knocked him off his feet…who was now in several pieces across the Praxus street.
"Ah, great…" Hound muttered mournfully as he looked at the parts.
"Hound, are you okay!?" called a nearby orange and red Autobot.
"I'm fine Smallfoot… just shaken." Hound answered, rubbing the back of his head.
"Well, come on, we can't just give up!" Smallfoot encouraged.
"I know!" Hound said.
Another explosion ripped out, and Hound and Smallfoot turned to where it came from. They saw a large beige tank rolling straight through a building and right at them.
"Oh, frag! Blitzwing!" Smallfoot shouted.
"Die, Autobots!" screamed Blitzwing as he fired a mortar shell at the two. Behind him, Hound could see a green helicopter fly in as well as a purple jet.
"Fall back!" Hound ordered Smallfoot. He grabbed her arm, and the two started running for the evac point.
"You can run, but you can't hide, Autobot!" Blitzwing taunted. "Come on Springer! Let's roast these suckers."
However, Blitzwing's teammate Springer, the green helicopter, didn't answer; he just kept hovering above him.
"Springer, get your head in the game!" Blitzwing ordered
"Oh. Uh, right." Springer muttered. He started flying forward along with the purple jet Octane as they pursued the Autobots.
Ever since he was first forged, Prowl had shown uncanny levels of focus and determination. It took a lot to get him to lose his train of thought, and it's why he was such a great detective and a great tactician.
So it said something that during this immense battle, he just froze right in the middle of the battlefield. He stared all around him at the burning buildings and listened to the screaming and dying echoing all around him.
Praxus was his home, and this is what the Decepticons had done to it.
"Get down, you idiot!" shouted a voice.
Before Prowl could fully register it, he felt himself being pushed to the ground by a green and yellow bot as a laser shot soared above him.
Prowl let out a gasp of relief. "Thanks, Bludgeon. I'm sorry but…"
"Don't be. I understand. This is your home…" Bludgeon said mournfully as he helped Prowl get back up. "Just focus on avenging it!"
Prowl nodded. He silently ridiculed himself for losing focus during a pivotal moment and brought out his sword. He glanced around and spotted a pair of Decepticons advancing from the rear.
Swiftly and quietly, Prowl activated his jump jets on his wing doors and leapt into the air. Before either Decepticon could register what was happening, Prowl had jumped down and sliced one of them in half lengthwise.
The other Decepticon froze and panicked upon seeing his friend drop down. He saw the energon-soaked face of the white bot who had killed him.
"No! Wait!" he begged.
"You had plenty of chances to wait!" Prowl said coldly as in one swift motion, he chopped the Decepticon's head off.
Behind him he heard a charging sound. He swerved and saw another Decepticon aiming his rather large gun at Prowl's head.
"Bye-bye, Auto—" the con didn't get to finish before a dagger was stabbed into his back. The Decepticon grunted and fell down, giving Prowl a look at the bot who saved him. A blue bot with flame decals and one half of his car mode on his arm.
Prowl sighed. "I was hoping it'd be Bludgeon who saved me," he muttered.
"What's that supposed to mean!?" the Bluebot asked defensively.
"Well, Sideburn, knowing you, you're never gonna let me hear the end of this." Prowl explained, irritated.
"You got that right, bro!" Sideburn laughed.
"Focus, you two!" Bludgeon said as he walked over to the two Autobots. "We still need to meet up with Optimus."
"Right," said Prowl. "Let's roll!" And with that, he transformed into his Cybertronian police car mode and started heading out. Sideburn and Bludgeon followed suit in their Cybertronian sports car and tank modes, respectively.
Hound and Smallfoot raced down the battered and destroyed highway of Praxus with Blitzwing, Octane, and Springer in hot pursuit. Explosions erupted all around them, and buildings collapsed inches away.
Blitzwing unleashed a very powerful shot from the barrel of his cannon mode. The shot flew forward and landed inches away from Hound; he could feel himself being slightly propelled by the blast.
"Son of a glitch!" Hound muttered.
"Come on Hound, we're almost there!" Smallfoot yelled.
"I KNOW!" shouted an exasperated Hound.
Before he and Smallfoot could get much further, they heard someone scream "HELP!".
Hound paused and turned to his right. In the rubble of an abandoned building, a silver and red Cybertronian was trapped under some debris.
"Please, please, get me out!" he pleaded.
"Hang on!" Hound said. He knew he had to work fast with the triple changers on their heels, and he rushed over with Smallfoot in tow to the trapped robot.
Hound and Smallfoot knelt down and started to lift the debris off of the civilian. "What happened?" Hound asked.
"When the attack happened, I got knocked out." Bluestreak explained. "I woke up under rubble."
"What's your name?" Smallfoot asked.
"Bluestreak."
"Well, Bluestreak," Hound said as he lifted the last of the debris off of him. "Let's get you out of here."
"Incoming Decepticon!" shouted Smallfoot.
Hound turned and saw Octane flying right toward him, firing some missiles.
Hound ducked just in time as the missiles soared over him, and he picked Bluestreak up and put his arm around his shoulders. "Let's move!" he shouted, and he and Smallfoot continued their run to the evac zone.
All of this was observed by Blitzwing. "Alright, let's take them out," he said as he got the Autobots in his line of sight again.
"What? Blitzwing, they've got a civilian with them!" Springer pointed out hovering behind.
"Who cares?" Blitzwing muttered, and he fired another shell at the two Autobots.
This time Smallfoot thought fast and managed to pull out her pistol just in time to shoot the mortar shell out of the air, and it exploded with a "BOOM" a decent distance away.
"Nice shot!" Hound complimented.
"Thanks," Smallfoot smiled.
Hound and Smallfoot were almost there. They barreled over some cover, and their destination came within sight: the last evac shuttle that the Autobots were using to get the Praxus civilians out of there.
At the shuttle, a white robot with a blue visor, Jazz, was leading the evac. "Is this everyone!?" he asked a nearby Autobot named Downshift.
"Almost done, Jazz." Downshift reported as he hustled a scared and tired civilian inside.
"Got another one right here!" Hound shouted as he dragged Bluestreak in with him.
"Great!" Jazz shouted. "Get him loaded!"
"We also got—" Smallfoot was interrupted by a huge crashing sound, as Blitzwing in his tank mode smashed his way through the cover. "-THAT!" she finished.
"Autobots! Cover fire!" Jazz ordered, pulling his gun out, and began shooting at the Deception. Several of the other Autobots, like Downshift, followed his lead as Hound and Smallfoot rushed Bluestreak inside the evac shuttle.
"Hah hah!" Blitzwing laughed as he changed from his tank mode to robot mode and then pulled his swords. He charged forward and slashed his swords down, chopping one of the poor Autobots in half, then he kicked another Autobot away.
As Blitzwing tore into another Autobot, Springer arrived on the scene and transformed into his robot mode, where he ended up face-to-face with a female Autobot with a pink color scheme.
"I don't wanna hurt a woman." Springer said, in a voice that indicated a mix of chivalry and mockery,
"Oh, trust me," the female Autobot, Arcee, laughed. "I don't mind a good fight." Then she pulled out her dual swords and started slashing at Springer.
Springer retaliated by bringing out his own swords, and the two engaged each other in a fierce clash of blades.
As this was going on, Octane burst onto the scene from the air, still in his jet mode, and began raining down fire on all the combatants.
Jazz winced as he took the fire from Octane while also dodging Blitzwing's sword. He was as smooth as always, but this incident was really pushing his limits.
"Jazz!' Screamed the familiar voice of Optimus in his comlink.
"I'm kinda busy here, Prime!" Jazz responded as he dodged another slice from Blitzwing.
Optimus grunted as he tossed a Decepticon off him and sliced him down with his axe. "So am I!" he muttered, frustrated.
As he spoke, Prowl, Sideburn, and Bludgeon had just returned back to Optimus's group.
"Hold on Jazz." Optimus says, and he briefly put his comlink away and turned to Prowl. "Status Prowl?" he asked.
"It's bad, Prime." Prowl said sorrowfully. "The Cons have decimated all of western Praxus. They're gonna glass this whole city soon."
"Damn it." Optimus grunted. More shots rang out around them. "Keep them occupied until we can get out of here!" he ordered.
"Yes, sir." Prowl said proudly. And he moved forward and started firing down on the incoming line of Decepticons.
Optimus turned his comlink again. "Jazz, are you almost done with the evac!? We needed to be out of here hours ago!"
Jazz fired a blast of laser fire at Octane; against all odds, the blast managed to hit the Decepticon jet square in the middle. Octane let out a scream of pain, and he flew right into a ruined building.
Jazz let out a huff. "Yeah, Prime. We're loading the last of the civilians, right–" A huge engine roar buzzed out, and Jazz looked up in horror.
There, approaching in the air, were the unmistakable jet forms of Starscream, Skywarp, and Jetfire. Three of Megatron's most fearsome warriors.
"Oh, scrap," he muttered. "We got Seekers inbound on our position!"
"Do something!" Optimus shouted over the comm.
"Like what!?" Jazz asked.
"Anything!" Optimus shouted back.
Starscream flew around the building of Praxus in his sleek jet mode along with his companions, Skywarp and Jetfire.
If his face were visible in this form, he would have grinned. Praxus had always been a center and hub for Cybertron's politics, which meant it was often filled with the worst of its high society members. It was finally time to make all those that held people like him back all those years. It was fun to watch this city burn.
As they flew down the streets, Starscream sensed some unrest in Jetfire, a white and red robot that shared a body type with him and Skywarp.
"Is something bothering you, Jetfire?" Starscream asked.
"I…I don't know." Jetfire admitted. "This doesn't—"
"Quit your whining." Starscream shot back, "I know you don't feel comfortable with this, but it's a necessary sacrifice for the cause. As Megatron himself has pointed out, it will send a message to the Autobots."
"That nothing is sacred, that we can't be stopped." Jetfire muttered to himself as if he'd heard it before.
"Exactly." Starscream added.
"Hey Starscream," said Skywarp, "I think we found some Autobots!"
Starscream looked down, and sure enough, it was an Autobot evac shuttle being filled up with civilians.
Starscream inspected the area around the evac zone and spotted a tall tower just across the way. He let out another unseen grin.
"I know just what to do," he declared gleefully, and he turned down for a nosedive and prepped his missiles.
Jazz watched in horror as Starscream got closer and closer to the ground; it wasn't clear at all what he was planning to do.
He moved to try and shoot him down, but Blitzwing grabbed him and put him in a chokehold before he could. Jazz grunted and squirmed, but Blitzwing wouldn't let go; there was nothing he could do to loosen his grip.
"Someone… stop him." Jazz choked out, but all the other Autobots in the area were busy with their own problems, either engaged in battle or helping the evac.
During his fight with Arcee, Springer kicked her away from him just before looking up and seeing Starscream flying right towards the evac zone. "Starscream, what are you doing!?" Springer asked.
"Sending a message." Starscream said simply.
After that, it all seemed to happen at once. Starscream launched the missile right at the nearby tower, and the subsequent explosion ripped through the tower's iron and steel supports, leaving a gaping hole.
The tower, unable to support its weight, began to fall forward, right towards the crowd of civilians the Autobots were loading into the shuttle. No one had time to react properly; screams of panic and terror roared out. Everyone in the vicinity scattered as the tower landed on the crowd with a massive boom and a chilling crunch.
While more than a few civilians and Autobots had managed to get away from the tower's collapse, just as many weren't able to escape.
"NO!" Hound cried from his position in the evac shuttle.
Jazz flung his head back and whacked Blitzwing in the jaw. The pain was so sudden that Blitzwing instinctively let Jazz go, and Jazz made a run for it. "Autobots, disengage, and let's get out of here!" he ordered with a mix of urgency and somberness.
As every Autobot in the area was preparing to make a run for the shuttle, Arcee prepared herself to have to fight off Springer to escape. But when she turned to face him, she found she didn't have to. The green Decepticon was staring in slack-jawed horror at the slaughter Starscream had just caused.
Arcee didn't have time to contemplate this; she ran to the shuttle and arrived there just as it was taking off. Its rampway was still open, and Hound stood there waiting for her.
"Come on!" Hound yelled as he offered his hand.
Arcee jumped high and grabbed Hound's hand, and he pulled her up. Behind her, the doors closed, and the final evac shuttle flew off into the Cybertronian skies.
"Hah! That was glorious!" Starscream stated, satisfied.
"No kidding." Skywarp remarked, "Nice shot, Screamer. Let's get back to Megatron."
"Right… him…" Starscream muttered to himself. "Are you coming, Jetfire?"
Jetfire was quiet as he soared around, taking in the sights.
"Jetfire?" Starscream asked.
"Yes Starscream I'm coming." Jetfire said. He turned and followed his two compatriots as they flew toward where Megatron had been hiding out in the battle.
Back with Optimus and his team, Optimus finished up his call. "That was Jazz! The last evac shuttle is away!" he reported.
"What's the plan then, Prime?" Sideburn asked.
"We're pulling out!" Optimus answered.
"What!?' Ironhide exclaimed as he launched another missile at the cons. "You can't be serious, Prime! We can't just give up—"
"Optimus is right, Ironhide!" Prowl stated as professionally as he could manage. "The battle's lost! The best thing we can do is pull out to fight another day!"
Ironhide just stared at him. If Prowl, a native of Praxus, was saying that, then it had to be serious. "...Alright," he finally muttered.
"Autobots! Roll out!" Optimus ordered. He transformed into his vehicle of a Cybertronian truck and started driving away; everyone else followed suit, changing into their vehicle modes.
Prowl was about to do the same when he paused. He looked over at Bludgeon, who was staring bitterly at the downed corpse of an Autobot.
"Bludgeon, what are you doing?!" Prowl asked. "We have to leave now!"
"...Of course." Bludgeon said coldly, and he turned into his tank mode and drove to meet the others
Prowl didn't have time to contemplate what might have been on his old friend's mind. He just turned into his police car mode and did his best to not look back at the burning wreckage of his home city…
Megatron looked over the sight of Praxus on fire, high above in his position on the top of one of its tallest towers.
It was glorious. Thousands of years of history, culture, and society, gone. It was exactly the message he needed to send to Prime. They couldn't hold themselves back anymore; it was time to get rid of the old to make way for the new.
As he stood there, watching it all, his wrist comm buzzed. He looked down and saw that it was Soundwave. "Yes?" Megatron asked, answering the call.
"It is over, Megatron." Soundwave reported, "The Autobots are in full retreat."
Megatron grinned. "Run, Prime, run…" he mocked to himself. "You are only delaying the inevitable…"