Scream of Solitude

The Invasion

Civil war had ravaged Cybertron, homeworld of the Transformers, for millions of years. Megatron, leader of the Decepticons, recently discovered an ancient power that would give him the edge to win over the hated Autobots.

Called Dark Energon, this power remained locked away in an orbital station under the protection of a Sky Commander named Starscream.

Starscream had no intention of letting Megatron get his hands on the Dark Energon. For it was a dangerous substance, capable of destroying Cybertron itself if enough was acquired. Centuries ago, there had been an accident on Trypticon Station, where a stash of Dark Energon had exploded and destroyed nearly a quarter of the entire station. As a result, only small stocks were kept in the station since, to prevent further such accidents from happening.

And now, Megatron had begun his invasion of that very same station, intent on getting a hold of the Dark Energon. As soon as the guards reported the incoming Decepticon forces, Starscream ordered everyone, both Seekers and Grounders to fight back, whether using battle ships or their own alternate modes. Starscream himself remained with his Air Commanders, among them being Jetfire, Thundercracker and Skywarp, in the conference room deep within the heart of the station, trying to plan out their next moves.

"We need to use everything we've got," Starscream said. "And blow them away before they can even arrive here."

"Isn't that overkill?" Thundercracker asked. "It's just a few ships, we've got thousands of warriors and a giant plasma cannon available. There's no way we'll lose."

"We can't let the Decepticons get a hold of the Dark Energon," Starscream replied. "It would be the end of us all. And the war wouldn't have gone this long if our invaders were weak."

"Starscream's right," Jetfire went in. "There must be a reason why they chose to only send this few. But I also agree with Thundercracker, we can't use all our fighters, we'd leave the station under-guarded."

"Why not just fire that big cannon we got?" Skywarp suggested. "It should blow them to bits in seconds, and we won't have to waste any more Seekers."

"It's already launching fire on them every few seconds," Starscream replied. "And has a very unprecise aim, easy for them to avoid with their small cruisers. We need to send more warriors."

"Why don't you do something yourself then, Commander?" Skywarp snapped. "Go out there and face this Mega-something yourself, huh?"

"I do not appreciate your tone, Skywarp," Starscream snarled. "And there is no need for me or any of you to get involved in this fight. The troops will take care of it."

A violent tremor shook the whole room the Air Commanders and Sky Commander were standing in. They all fell onto the floor, taken by surprise at the tremor.

"What was that?!" Starscream exclaimed.

"Commander Starscream," a purple Seeker shouted as she came running into the room from the hallway leading to the containment chamber. "One of the Decepticon ships has crashed into the station."

"Any survivors?" Starscream asked as he and the others got up.

"Affirmative," she replied. "And it looks like the leader's among them. They're entering the station right now."

Starscream snarled and swore. "Didn't I tell you?" he hissed at the others. "Now I'll have to go activate the defense systems! Jetfire, get out there and lead a squadron to fight back their air support!"

"Right away," Jetfire said and reverted to jet mode, zooming out through the semi-windows leading to the outside.

"Thundercracker, get to the control systems and lock the doors! We need to block their way here."