Transformers #10 - Blitzkrieg

Transformers

The Transformers: powerful warrior robots waging a never-ending battle across space and time. Autobots and Decepticons, fighting a war of long-forgotten ideologies, now trapped in a cycle of violence that threatens to consume them all. They have traveled across the ages from their homeworld of Cybertron to a blue-green orb we know as the Earth. But this is not the Earth we know; it is a world transformed, a place of mutants, superheroes, and villains. It is a world where nothing is as it seems...and these alien robots will soon find that those they thought were allies and enemies are not. They will find that there are greater threats than each other...

Issue #10: The Phalanx Ascension part 3 "Blitzkrieg"

By: Wes A.

**********

The Ark, Mt. St. Hilary "We were hoping that you would arrive to free your comrades. Now all the Autobots will belong to our hive."

Huffer looked up into the face of Optimus Prime. It was not the face of the beloved leader. It was twisted, evil.

All of the Autobots on the Ark were.

The powerful Phalanx-Autobot had Huffer pinned down on the floor, ramming his fist into the immobile Autobot’s torso. With a crack, Huffer could feel and hear his outer armor breaking. He couldn’t be assimilated by the Phalanx, not for as long as his body’s supply of Cybertronium would last. Still, that didn’t mean the Phalanx could rip him apart, piece by piece.

A short ways down the corridor, the remaining Heroes for Hire, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, and Death’s Head, were making one last stand against the hordes of Phalanx drones coming at them.

"Well boys, it’s been real," said Luke Cage as he smashed another drones head with a right cross.

"Not done yet, Luke."

Death’s Head tilted his head towards Iron Fist as he blasted two more drones to atoms with his arm-formed cannon, "Love the optimism, always a sure sign of the doomed hero."

Iron Fist kept his feet and fists flying against the drones, an impenetrable wall, "Just keep fighting."

*** Polyhex, Cybertron A large explosion rocked the large compound on Northern side of Polyhex. All over the city Decepticons and Vehicons alike ran to their battle stations. With a loud whoop, they suddenly found hundreds of Autobot warriors leaping out at them from every direction. Leading the Autobot charge was the powerful Fortress Maximus. Alongside him were the Wreckers.

"Let’s go Wreckers!"

Impactor lead the team straight into the Decepticon ranks. All over, weapons fire pierced Vehicon drones and automated defenses. Darkmount was still not fully repaired from the last Autobot attack* (*once again, read A World Transformed #3 for details) and thus the Space Bridge had been moved to a different location. The Decepticons thought it would be a safer location. They were wrong.

Topspin and Twin Twist, the Jumpstarters, had blocked off a group of Cycler drones from the Wreckers position. Although the drones were only about a third of the size of the standard Autobot, their sheer numbers were their advantage. "Keep it up, don’t give them a second to recover!", barked Twin Twist.

As the two Jumpstarters were laying waste to the Cyclers, three larger Deathtread drones came up behind them and aimed their shoulder cannons. Before they could fire, a barrage of plasma bullets took them out. Having dispatched their targets, the Jumpstarters looked up to see the Autobot twin brothers Rack and Ruin blow the smoke from the barrels of their gattling guns. The twin brothers looked at each other with feral grins and slammed fists together. "Now this is my sort of mission!" exclaimed Rack triumphantly.

As the Wreckers and the other Autobot squads kept the Decepticons at bay outside, Ultra Magnus led Kup’s team through the halls of the Decepticon compound. The team consisted of Ultra Magnus, Springer, Kup, two young Autobot’s named Hot Rod and Blurr, and a light purple colored Autobot female warrior named Arcee. Like Magnus did with the Wreckers, Kup was making these three young Autobots into a well-formed unit for combat.

"Should be just up this hallway," said Magnus. Magnus led the team to a door. Blurr, a young Autobot that was a part of Kup’s team, quickly cracked the lock on the door and gained them access. Magnus went in first to find the Space Bridge.

"There it is. Just the way I remember it. They‘ve even replaced the control system by now."

Just as Magnus had said, the Space Birdge’s control system was indeed replaced. The ceiling had been taken off the room to allow transport for the Space Bridge.

"Blurr," ordered Kup, "see if you can get this piece of scrap to work."

"HeyKupyougotit,nomatterwhatyouneed,you’retheboss."

Springer and Magnus exchanged confused looks as the younger Autobot tech went to work on the Space Bridge’s control panel. Kup caught the exchange. "The kid has some kind of speech virus recurring in his CPU, medic’s can’t seem to wipe it from his system," whispered the older Autobot.

The groups waited for several minutes as Blurr’s hands expertly worked the control panel.

"Come on Blurr, any cycle now," muttered Hot Rod impatiently.

As Blurr began programming Earth’s coordinates into the Space Bridge, the Wreckers Impactor, Whirl, and Roadbuster entered the room. They quickly saluted Ultra Magnus.

"We have secured the compound Magnus," reported Impactor, "but Scorponok will no doubt send reinforcements soon."

Magnus nodded his head. "Don’t worry Impactor, we’ll try to make this as quick as possible. If the Decepticons numbers grow too big and we’re still not back, I want you and Fortress Maximus to evacuate the base. Understood?"

Impactor reluctantly nodded his head. Just then, the Space Bridge’s power core began to power up. Kup’s team began to power up their weapons. Each of them had large rifles, especially made for this mission. Each bullet had a charge of Cybertronium that it would administer on contact with a Transformer.

"All right Autobots," said Ultra Magnus, "let’s get ready to roll out."

*** Trypticon, Siberia "So I take it your plan did not proceed as you intended."

Blaster looked across the cellblock hallway. On the opposite side was Shockwave, the former commander of Trypticon. The purple-hued Decpeticon merely stared at Blaster, his yellow eye emitting its constant glow. "You could say that," said Blaster simply.

Blaster had shared a cell with the Lost Cybertronian and Cosmos, all of whom were bound by energy bonds. The rest of the Autobot unit was scattered in neighboring cells.

"They are an efficient hive," continued Shockwave, "I would like to study a sample of their genetic stock."

"What makes you think you’ll get a shot after this?", asked Blaster.

Shockwave returned his gaze to the blank wall he was facing. "I will."

Blaster decided to not argue the point any further when he felt a rumble from the floor. Cosmos and the Lost Cybertronian looked around. Movement could be heard from the other containment cells.

"What was that?" asked Blitzwing from a cell down the hall.

"They destroying the city? Sounded like a building coming down," said Beachcomber.

Cosmos glanced at Blaster, "Do you think that’s the reinforcements from Cybertron?"

"Dunno, man."

Blaster was trying to get to his feet when a side wall of the containment area was blown open.

"The slag!?!" shouted Blitzwing.

The wall that went down was near Blaster’s cell. He squirmed to get a look at what had happened. With the wall gone there was a large hole leading outside, the sounds of battle seeping in. Metallic footsteps made their way towards Blaster’s cell.

"Well, I didn’t expect to you here."

Blaster’s mouthpiece tightened when he saw the grinning Seeker Starscream looking down at him. The Decepticon commander had several canisters of Cybertronium tucked under his left arm. Starscream’s grin widened at Blaster’s reaction.

"Not happy to see me?"

"I cannot imagine why."

Starscream turned around to see Shockwave glaring him.

"Shockwave! Well, this is a surprise. When I heard about this city I knew it had to be run by someone very clever to keep it from the humans. You were not my first choice, sorry to say."

"Screamer, get us out of here!" yelled Astrotrain. With one fluid motion, Starscream fired at the cell’s control counsel and destroyed it. All the power bands and energy doors went off-line in the cells. Autobots and Decepticons rushed out, unsure of how to regard their liberator. Starscream threw down the Cybertronium canisters.

"Anyone who needs a refill take one now and get outside. My forces will only distract the Phalanx for so long."

"Your forces?" asked Blaster slowly.

"Oh yes, there’s been a slight change in leadership in the Decepticon ranks. Now hurry, Ravage has reported that the virus is attempting to take out the city‘s Cybertronium reserves."

After retrieving their weapons from the containment area storage locker, the liberated prisoners went outside to see none other than Devestator fighting off several dozen Phalanx drones.

With a thick laugh the giant gestalt Decepticon smashed two infected Seeker drones with his right hand. Ground forces were trying to use heavy pulse cannons against the giant, but were swiftly stomped out under Devastator’s feet. Dirge and Thrust were also picking off Phalanx drones from the air.

Starscream immediately took control of the situation.

"As powerful as Devastator is, he will not last forever. Shockwave, I need you to accompany my to the Cybertronium reserves."

"Hold up! You’re not going anywhere without me and my people!" said Blaster.

Starscream shot Blaster a scowl, "Fine, you and one of your lieutenants can accompany us, but we must go now!"

Blaster nodded. "Warpath, you’re with us. The rest of you work with the Decepticons to fight the Phalanx."

As Shockwave led Starscream, Blaster, and Warpath further into the city the remaining Autobots and Decepticons joined the battle. Powerglide, the Lost Cybertronian, and Blitzwing transformed into their aerial fighter forms and took to the sky while the rest attacked the Phalanx ground forces.

"It’s about time we get to blow something up,"

muttered Astrotrain as he opened fire on a infected Decepticon drone.

Powerglide and the lost Cybertronian were blasting a squad of airborne drones. The Lost Cybertronian did a barrel roll, taking out three drones with a missile salvo.

"Good shot, Cybertronian," said Powerglide.

"Thank you," said the Cybertronian with a quiet confidence, "and, please, call me Jetfire."

Powerglide chuckled as he did a loop around a drone, "Better than calling you ‘the Lost Cybertronian’ all the time."

*** Huffer could feel Optimus beginning to tear at his outer armor. Yellow tendrils began to splinter and crack his shell, making their way closer to the diminutive Autobot’s inner circuitry.

"Optimus, please, d-don’t..." pleaded Huffer.

The assimilated Autobot gave no answer.

In the same hallway, a Phalanx drone grabbed Iron Fist by the arm and was attempting to draw him out of the group formation the remaining heroes were in. Luke was about to help his teammate when a blast of fire came down through the ceiling and vaporized the Phalanx drone. The drone didn’t let out so much as a yelp before it was turned into a few wisps of dust.

"What the hell?" asked Iron Fist, looking up.

All eyes went to the ceiling as a wide hole was burned through the Ark. Through the hole came what appeared to be the Ghost Rider. The figure had the flaming skull and chain, but wore a cape, had a yellow diamond decorating its chest, and looked to be made of metal. The new combatant wasted no time in attacking any Phalanx it could find.

"I can smell the deaths of billions from you machines, the deaths of lives and souls. Vengeance will now be brought forth upon you." proclaimed the Ghost Rider as it engulfed its chain in hellfire and smashed away at a cluster of Phalanx.

Optimus withdrew from his attack on Huffer and melded into the wall of the Ark. This new combatant was powerful and was easily destroying any Phalanx it touched. The other Phalanx on the planet needed to be aware of this.

Meanwhile, the Phalanx that were attacking the remaining heroes had focused their attention on the new threat. Sensing the opportunity, they helped Huffer to his feet.

"Can we still get to the Cybertronium?" asked Iron Fist.

"Yes," said Huffer with a crackle in his voice, "We’re very close now."

"Then what’re we waitin’ for?" asked Luke as he dashed down the hall, the others following him.

Ghost Rider sensed the others leaving, but if he cared he showed no sign. More drones came pouring from the walls of the Ark, each being vaporized with a blast of hellfire.

***

After a flash of light, Ultra Magnus and his crew found themselves in a dark room. They each had their weapons powered and at the ready.

"Doesn’t look like they were expecting us," muttered Hot Rod.

Magnus immediately took charge. "Springer, get the door open. Kup, Blur, get ready for any surprises on the other side."

Springer made his way over to the pad on the wall beside the door. Kup and Blur crouched down in the front of the door, weapons ready. Springer hadn’t even touched the pad when the door opened and several Phalanx infected Decepticon Seekers began to walk through. "Fire!"

On Kup’s order, he and Blur blasted off several rounds from their rifles. Each shot made a direct hit. With each hit scored to the drones exterior, a dose of Cybertronium was seeped through into their systems. They were weapons designed to combat techno-virus’s like the Phalanx. The effect took seconds, the Phalanx part of each drone beginning to slowly deteriorate. Ultra Magnus watched the effects with a grin on his face. "Perceptor will be glad to know his design still works."

As the drones began to disinfect, the Autobot team began to make their way out of the room. With hardly a noise they made their way through the main complex of Trypticon. Magnus suddenly gave the halt signal with his left hand.

"You hear that?" he asked Kup.

Kup listened for a second, "Yeah, sounds like gunfire coming from the east end."

"What‘rewewaitingforlet‘scheckitout,boss," said Blur in a rushed whisper.

Still taking are to not attract attention, the group made it’s way closer to the fight. When they reached it they found a large room with the doors blown open, surrounded by a number of Phalanx drones.

"Arcee, Blur, Hot Rod, take them out with a wide pattern," ordered Magnus.

The three Autobots fired their rifles from the cover of the hallway corners. Half of the Phalanx were taken out in the first barrage. The other half were taken out from the same type of firing coming from inside the room.

"What the slag?" mouthed Hot Rod.

"That wasn’t you?" asked Kup.

Hot Rod shook his head. Magnus knew that something was in that room, something with the same weaponry. He was about to give the order to move in when a voice cried out from the room.

"Don’t shoot, we’re not with the yellow fellas!"

"Blaster?"

Magnus poked his head around the corner to see Blaster and Warpath come out of the room with Cybertronium rifles like his team had. The Autbot leader was about to break his cover when he saw Starscream and Shockwave also walk out of the room with rifles. Magnus set his rifle onto Shockwave.

"Blaster, get down!" he barked.

Blaster shot his hand out in a spread fashion,

"Magnus, don’t! It’s cool, they’re with us."

Magnus kept his rifle trained on Shockwave.

"Do not worry Magnus, we’re on the same side," said Starscream impatiently, "Now come along, we have a city to retake."

Magnus lowered his rifle and came out into the hallway. Kup and the other followed suit. The two groups met each other in the middle of the hall.

"Ok," said Magnus warily, "since you seem to have everything under control, what’s the plan?"

*** "Kikt...we must abandon this world."

Inside of the Phalanx hive located at the center of Trypticon, the Phalanx leader assessed the situation. All around him the images from monitors gave an eerie glow that reflected on his obsidian skin. The screens showed the Decepticon/Autobot forces engaging the Phalanx. With the arrival of reinforcements from Cybertron, the Phalanx were beginning to lose ground. With each shot from the Cybertronium weapons fired, the Phalanx’s influence was taken away bit by bit. And with the reports coming from the Ark about an unstoppable threat, the situation was worsening.

"Kikt...give the order to retreat. We will withdraw from this world."

"Yes, you will."

The Phalanx leader turned around to see Shockwave standing before him, a Cybertronium rifle in hand.

"Actually, you will never be coming back."

Shockwave fired a barrage of shots from his rifle, each slamming into the Phalanx. The creature screamed a sound that was like interference from a speaker, its body dissolving away as the Cybertronium was literally eating it away. Shockwave stood and watched every second, never taking his gaze off the sight before him.

***

Finally, when the leader was gone, all of the Phalanx on the planet began to dissolve away. The Decepticon drones at Trypticon returned to their previous state. The Ark, the Autobots, and military base were returned to normal.

Megatron and his Decepticons on the Nemesis found themselves back to the way they were.

***

Mirage, Trailbreaker, and Cliffjumper looked around at the deassimilated Autobots that were attacking them moments ago outside the Ark.

"We just won, right?" asked Trailbreaker.

Ironhide looked around, "What’re we doin’ out here?"

***

Ghost Rider looked around as the Phalanx drones dissolved before his very eyes. He sensed that no more of the Phalanx were at the Ark. With his mission complete, Ghost Rider lowered his head, and in a burst of flame he returned his body back to the Vision.

"What?"

Vision accessed his memory banks and replayed the Ghost Rider’s actions within a few seconds. As he saw the violence and coldness that the Ghost Rider showed, the fluids in his body felt like they were about to freeze.

He took to the air immediately through the hole in the Ark the Ghost Rider make, not wanting to be present when others came looking for his other half.

***

"Well Magnus, it’s been real," said Blaster with a smile.

"Yes...it has," said Magnus, unsure if Blaster meant it as a compliment.

The two Autobots shook hands, ignoring the dozen or so Decepticons that surrounded them in the Space Bridge area.

"I can’t believe Shockwave is letting them go,"

Blitzwing muttered to Octane. "They saved our skid plates. It was the least we owed them."

"Whatever," growled the Triple Changer. As Magnus and his team stepped onto the Space Bridge platform, they made way for Jetfire as well.

"Take care of yourself, Jetfire," said Blaster.

Jetfire smiled, "I will. From what you’ve told me, Cybertron isn’t what it used to be. I just hope I can make a difference there."

Shockwave activated the Space Bridge, and with a flash of light the group on the platform vanished. Dropping his smile, Blaster turned toward Shockwave.

"Well, you still going to keep your word?"

Shockwave nodded, "I will grant you safe passage outside of Siberia, and the use of a shuttle to reach the Ark."

Blaster nodded and turned to leave the room.

"But understand one thing: you will not delay the inevitable."

Blaster turned toward Shockwave and gave the Decepticon an icy stare. He said nothing, simply walked out of the room.

***

As the shuttle made its way out of Trypticon, Shockwave and Starscream watched in an observation room.

"You should have killed them, you know."

"Do not question me, Starscream."

The Seeker chuckled at the comment, "Just like Megatron, blind obedience and nothing more."

"I am not like Megatron."

"Oh, I know," said Starscream vaguely, "That’s why I have a proposition for you."

Shockwave turned from the window towards Starscream. "An alliance?"

Starscream smiled a feral grin, "What else?"

Shockwave pondered for a moment, his yellow eye glowing.

"Perhaps."

The two were interrupted as the observation room door opened. A short, gray colored Transformer entered the room.

"Shockwave, Starscream. I hope I wasn’t interrupting anything."

Shockwave’s demeanor remained neutral while Starscream’s was anything but.

"What are you doing here? You’re not a Decepticon!"

"Yes, he is," replied Shockwave, "He came here some years ago while we were building Trypticon."

The figure stepped towards Starscream and extended his hand, a smile on his faceplate and a purple Depceticon insignia on his chest, "Deceptcion engineer Spanner, at your service."

The End...for now.

The New Face of Marvel Universe: Transformed

We're trying something new here at MUTF. These days everything in our lives are becoming more dynamic. Cell phone are not just portable anymore, they also access the internet and have become our personal boom boxes. Going on a road trip isn't the interesting part of the drive as much as it is playing Playstation in the back seat.

The internet has become even more dynamic and interactive as well. Online radio stations now use podcast technology to send the latest shows to your desktop. Websites now are becoming more forum/blog enabled to link readers. We have decided to try this as well. MUTF will now be using the concept of blogging to post new stories and allow our fans to provide instant feedback to our stories and to other fans. The site is just thrown together right now but we plan to change it as our needs change. Let us know how you like it!

~~
Mop-Boy

Transformers # 9 - S.O.S.

Transformers

The Transformers: powerful warrior robots waging a never-ending battle across space and time. Autobots and Decepticons, fighting a war of long-forgotten ideologies, now trapped in a cycle of violence that threatens to consume them all. They have traveled across the ages from their homeworld of Cybertron to a blue-green orb we know as the Earth. But this is not the Earth we know; it is a world transformed, a place of mutants, superheroes, and villains. It is a world where nothing is as it seems. . .and these alien robots will soon find that those they thought were allies and enemies are not. They will find that there are greater threats than each other. . .

Issue #9: The Phalanx Ascension part 2 "S.O.S."

By: Wes A.

------------------------------

Autobase, underground Cybertron

The chamber of the Autobot Elders was abuzz with talk. It was not only the 12 Elders who were there, but also Fortress Maximus, Ultra Magnus, and Elita-1. Everyone in the room was talking with one another, with the head Elder Emirate Xaaron trying to bring order. Off in the corner of the room, Ultra Magnus merely sat in a chair, watching all of the Autobot leaders settle themselves down.

"Everyone, please be silent," said Xaaron, "We’ll review the message again."

Xaaron turned toward a large screen behind the large table where the 12 Elders were seated. With the push of a button, the screen came to life. A simulated picture of Blaster’s face came upon the screen. It was an encoded message from the Autobot that was received a few short hours ago.

"This is Autobot Comm officer Blaster. Code Red! Repeat: Code Red! We have reached our destination via the Space Bridge and are on a planet called Earth. The Decepticons have built a city on this planet, with the presumed dead Decepticon Shockwave in command. A techno-virus known as the Phalanx has assimilated the city and all the Decepticons inside it. If this virus reaches Cybertron, it can potentially take over the entire planet. We need back-up ASAP! Repeat, we need back-up ASAP!"

The image faded away. There was a grim silence in the room. Xaaron turned off the screen.

"He’s right," said Elita-1 grimly, "If a techno-virus gets to Cybertron, it could be disastrous. The Decepticons are in low-supply of Cybertronium, they’d be the perfect targets."

"We’re not going to let that happen," stated Xaaron.

"What exactly do you have in mind?" asked Fortress Maximus.

"We’re going to gain access to the Space Bridge and send a strike team to the Earth. The team will be armed with anti-tech virus weaponry and help retake the city."

"I take it we aren’t to be asking the ‘Cons for help on this?" piped up Ultra Magnus.

Xaaron shook his head. "There’s no time. Plus, I doubt the Decepticons even know that their outpost has been overrun. The minute they open the Space Bridge, the virus would have a chance to get through. We can’t risk it."

"Ah," said Ultra Magnus, "And who will be leading the team across the Space Bridge, if you don’t mind me asking."

"You will."

Ultra Magnus stared at Xaaron for a moment, neither saying a word. "Well, sounds good to me."

------------------------------

"You’ve got to be kidding me, we just did this routine!!"

Magnus closed his optics for a moment, letting his troops get their anger out of their systems. The Wreckers were Ultra Magnus’s personal troops, the best in the Autobot army. The team consisted of Ultra Magnus, his second in command Impactor, Springer, the Jumpstarters Topspin and Twin Twist, Rack and Ruin, and Whirl and Roadbuster. Just a few weeks ago, the Wreckers had attacked the Decepticon capital of Polyhex to allow Blaster’s group access to the Space Bridge* (* see A World Transformed #3 for details). Now they were being asked to do so again.

"I’m serious Magnus, it’s just suicide to try this again," said the Triple-Changer named Springer.

"He knows that Springer," said Impactor.

"Yeah Springer, just relax," said Rack while polishing a plasma rifle, "We kicked Decepticon skid plate before, we can do it again. What’re you so worried about?"

"I’m worried about getting blown to a dozen pieces by a squad of Vehicons, that’s what," said Springer.

Rack just gave Springer a dirty look and muttered, "Aw you’re never any fun."

Magnus raised his hand, indicating for the Wreckers to be silent. "Springer, I know how you feel, but you have to remember that we’re the most qualified unit for the job. The Aerialbots are still off-planet raiding the Decepticon’s energon facility on Talos 7, so the mission automatically falls into our hands. It’s as simple as that. You‘re free to decline the mission, if you wish."

Springer let out a frustrated sigh. "I’ll take the mission Magnus, you know that."

Magnus smiled at his fellow Wrecker, "I know, I just wanted to lay the guilt trip on you anyway. Now everybody get yourselves ready. We head out in half an hour."

------------------------------

Magnus walked down the halls of the hidden Autobase. The base was several miles beneath the surface of Cybertron, deep in the lost levels of the planet. Billions of years ago, the older Transformer races inhabited these levels. Over time though, other layers were built over it. It was almost as if the past had just disappeared.

Magnus looked at the faces of the other Autobot’s he passed in the hall. Their faces had different looks on them. They were looks of hope and determination. Ever since the Ark went missing, the moral of the army had slowly declined. But following the announcement of the Ark’s founding and the defeat of Straxus, the Autobot’s had renewed vigor for battle and determination to retake their home.

"It’s funny, no matter how many times I put my skidplate on the line for Xaaron and his pals, they keep asking me to do it. And you wanna know the funny part? I keep saying yes. Some people never learn I suppose."

Magnus came to a halt. He turned around to see the battle-scarred form of an older gray and blue Autobot standing before him. The older Transformer gave Magnus a smile.

"Hey Magnus, long time no see."

"Kup!"

The two Autobot’s enthusiastically gave each other a slap on the shoulder and shook hands. Both had wide smiles on their faces.

"Hey old timer, how’ve you been?" asked Magnus.

"Who you callin’ ‘old timer’? I’ve told you before, I’m ‘well aged’."

"I thought you and your squadron was still on the other side of Cybertron raiding the ‘Cons space ports. When did your team get back to Cybertron?"

"Just yesterday. Been busy at the med center. I tell ya, those upgraded Vehicons put up a hell of a fight."

"Tell me about it. So the Elders have you on a job already?"

"Yeah. Actually, we’ve been assigned to go through the Space Bridge to Earth."

Magnus’s optics raised a bit. "Really? Well, at least they got the right team for the mission."

"Yer telling’ me. You on your way to the armory?" Magnus nodded. Kup tilted his head toward the direction down the hall where the Autobot armory was located. "Come on, I’m going there myself. I hear that they have some special weaponry lined up for this mission."

------------------------------



Earth, Australian Outback

"Are you sure these are the right coordinates, Starscream?"

"Don’t worry, just land when I give the order."

High in the sky, Starscream and Skywarp were in their jet modes flying over the desert stretch of the Australian Outback. The Casseticon Ravage sat in Skywarp’s cockpit. For several hours the jets had been flying. They had just left the Phalanx-assimilate Nemesis and Starscream and insisted that they travel to this location. Skywarp didn’t know what was so important about it, but as long as it meant staying away from the Phalanx, he was fine with it.

The two jets finally landed near a large rock formation. Ravage hopped out of Skywarp before the two jets transformed into their gigantic robot forms.

"Who goes there?"

The trio turned around to see the Constructicon’s Mixmaster and Hook each standing with a plasma rifle pointed at them. When he saw his fellow Decepticons, Hook lowered his gun.

"Starscream, what are you doing here?" asked Hook.

"I’m afraid your mission has been cut a bit short, Hook. The Nemesis has been taken over by a techno-virus, along with Megatron and all the other Decepticons," informed Starscream.

"A techno-virus? On this little planet?! That’s hard to imagine," snorted Mixmaster, "These fleshlings are still dependent on fossil fuels, there’s no way they could create a techno-virus."

"[I doubt the virus was manufactured on Earth. This virus was highly advanced, like nothing I have ever seen,]" growled Ravage, whose speech was translated with the others built-in translators.

"Despite its origins," continued Starscream, "We believe we know of some...allies. But in order to combat the techno-virus, we need Cybertronium."

"That will be no problem," said Hook confidently, "follow us."

The two Contructicons led their Decepticon companions to the rock formation and down a tunnel. After traveling several meters, they came to a lit area. When they got there, Skywarp could see a cobbled together power generator providing light. Also in the area were the other Contructicons: Bonecrusher, Long Haul, Scrapper, and Scavenger. Bonecrusher, the Contructicon leader, nodded his head in a form of salute to Starscream. The Seeker commander did likewise.

"Starscream, what brings you here?"

After a moment, the rest of the Contructicons were filled in on the story of the Nemesis.

"Well, you don’t have to worry," said Bonecrusher walking over to a large bin in the corner of the room, "because we are in full supply of Cybertronium."

Bonecrusher opened the bin and Skywarp saw several dozen canisters of Cybertronium, each bearing a Decepticon insignia.

"Where did you get them all?" asked the obsidian colored Seeker.

"Megatron knew that some of the Cybertronium in the Nemesis had fallen out in the crash-landing on this planet. So before he left, he instructed us to travel this planet to collect as much as possible. As luck would have it, most of the Cybertronium landed near this continent the fleshlings call Australia," finished Bonecrusher.

Starscream picked up one of the canisters and a sly grin crossed his face. "Excellent. Prepare your troops Bonecrusher, we make our move soon."

------------------------------

Black Hills, North Dakota

Despite all his time with humans, he knew that there were still concepts that he did not understand. He knew love. He was positive that he did. For years, he had loved and been loved in return by Wanda. Love, kindness, compassion, he knew them. But now he began to know darker concepts. Hate, fury, and fear.

He sat on the tops of one of the edges, gazing out at the beautiful scenery before him. He had once heard Dane Whitman, the Black Knight, talk about this area once before. Dane said that it was beautiful land. Although he couldn’t enjoy it as much as Dane, the Vision could still admire it, in his own way.

It had been over a month since the change had taken him* (*See Neoknights #6). The experience was very odd, unlike anything he had ever experienced before. Some sort of...virus had infected him. He had changed, transformed into something else. Even now, he could only remember brief bits of what happened, but he knew that he did not like the transformation. Since that day, he has spent a great deal of time trying to find out what happened. He had Hank Pym, better known as Giant-Man and Ant-Man, run a sweep of all his systems, but there were no excess programs found. Recently he has taken a leave of absence from the Avengers to figure out what this new part of him was and why it had taken form within him.

"Excuse me, are you the Vision?"

The yellow and green synthezoid turned around to see a family of six standing several feet away from him, big smiles on their faces. What was so strange was that he hadn’t detected the family’s approach, his advanced audio systems should have at least picked up their footsteps. A small boy, no older than 10, held out a notepad.

"Can I have your autograph Mr. Vision, please?"

Vision conducted a scan of the family and quickly found that they were not human. Their outer appearances looked human, but they were actually technologically made. After a quick scan of his databanks, he concluded that the technology was unlike any he had ever seen.

"I think that you want more than an autograph," said the Vision, "And you no longer need to continue your illusion. I know that you aren’t human."

The family’s appearance dissolved into that of yellow and black Phalanx drones. Three of the drones charged. Vision’s body became immaterial, causing them to simply pass right through him. He re-materialized himself and opened fire with his eyebeam lasers at full power. Two of the drones were disintegrated.

"You cannot defeat us Vision. You will be added to our consciousness," said another drone as it charged him with an elongated claw hand.

Vision hit the drone with a punch, knocking its head off. As the severed Phalanx head merely rolled onto the ground, the other three drones charged. Vision hit another one with his eyebeams, disintegrating it. Another ran at him, its hand morphed into a spiked club. The club hit Vision, but merely caused a scratch.

"That was unwise," Vision instructed the drone.

Within a moment, the drone joined its brothers as disintegrated particles. Finally, there was one drone left. Vision approached it calmly.

"You will tell me who you are and why you’ve attacked me."

"Negative," came a voice behind Vision.

It was the drone whose head was knocked off. It had reconstructed itself and rammed its hand into Vision, beginning the infection.

‘Warning...foreign virus infecting systems,’ said Vision’s internal computer.

As Vision looked down to see the abdomen shift into that of a Phalanx drone’s, he felt the change come over him again. His entire body erupted in flame, melting away the Phalanx infection. The two drones saw as Vision’s entire body turned into a metallic black covering, his cape likewise turning to blackness, and a chain running across his chest. The yellow diamond remained on his chest, but his head was no longer as it was. It was now a human skull, surrounded in flame, even after the flames all over the rest of his body were gone. The drones were silent as this new entity looked towards them. This was no longer the Vision; this was the Ghost Rider.

"You seek to destroy my host body, and thus interject on my mission. For that, you will feel the pain of hellfire."

With his right hand, the Ghost Rider shot out a stream of fireballs, hitting the drone that infected the Vision. With an inhuman shriek of pain, the drone was disintegrated. Grabbing the chain around his chest, Ghost Rider lassoed the other drone. Some of its body was likewise disintegrated, but for the most part remained intact. Ghost Rider leaned in toward the drones face.

"Now tell me: what are you and why did you attack the Vision?"

"We are Phalanx," said the drone in its monotone like voice, "The Vision is one of this planet’s most advanced technological beings. We sought to add it to our collective."

"Are there more of your ilk here on Earth?"

The drone nodded, "Affirmative."

Ghost Rider mentally tightened the chain around the drone‘s body, "Tell me where they are."

------------------------------

Mt. St. Hilary, United States

Trailbreaker, Cliffjumper, and Huffer lay on a hill that provided a good view of Mt. St. Hilary, yet provided enough cover. They looked down and saw the tail end of the Ark sticking out of the mountain, it’s yellow surface shimmering as if it had a life of its own.

Trailbreaker shook his head, "I don’t believe it."

"I told Prowl not to split everyone up, but NO, he had to do it. Now the Ark has been taken over and we‘re probably the only ones left," griped Cliffjumper.

"What’re we going to do?" asked Huffer with a concerned look.

"I have no idea," said Trailbreaker.

"We’re taking back the Ark, that’s what."

The three Autbot’s turned around to see the form of Mirage shimmer out of thin air. The Autobot spy had several canisters of Cybertronium in his arms.

"Mirage!" exclaimed Huffer, "What’s happened to the Ark?"

"It’s been taken over by a techno-organic life form calling itself the Phalanx. Every Autobot on the base has been assimilated. I barely made it out before they locked the base down. Just an hour ago, they finally got the human‘s military base too. I‘ve been waiting around to see if there were any late Autobot units showing up. Should have known it‘d be you three," finished Mirage with a grin.

"So I take it from your tone of voice you have a plan?" asked Cliffjumper.

"I’m working on it. But first, we’re going to need to call in some back-up."

Trailbreaker’s optics narrowed in confusion, "Who do you have in mind?"

"A group of the ‘superheroes’ I met. They’re called the Heroes for Hire."

To be continued...

Mirage and the remaining Autobots go seek the help of the Heroes for Hire in Heroes for Hire #10, the Phalanx Ascension continues in various MU:TF titles, and the Transformers battle with the Phalanx.