Earth:

Starscream tried one last time to hail the Autobot vessel before deciding to welcome himself aboard to investigate. He readied his arm cannons and prepared to land inside the gaping hole in the Atobot cargo ship when a single craft exited the hole, black and red, tipped with a pair of silver wings. Sharp red highlights raced along the aerial machine as it made a beeline for Starscream.
“What?” he aimed at the newcomer and was shocked to hear it respond, “Not what, you junker, who!” A pair of red lasers tore past Starscream. “Call me Fitor!” He shot through the air and clipped Starscream with his wings, which were, much to Starscream’s chagrin, razor-edged. A slice wound cut into his left wing, and the Seeker was spun by the force. He screamed with anger and responded with a volley of laser blasts.
“Incompetent fool! Do you know who I am?!”
“Like it matters.” Fitor laughed back. A flicker of yellow light ran along his joints and he changed from vehicle to robot, halting his flight and hovering before Starscream. Had the Decepticon seen Fitor’s original body he would hardly recognize him now. Fitor’s head retained its cone-like shape, but his body mass had grown in the upper chest and arm portions, legs rounded with intricate detailing. His wings splayed from a single point on his back in a V, his extra fins set within his forearms and lower legs. They glistened, a stray shard of Starscream’s metal caught along an edge. His eyes cast a withering, icy glare, his lips thinned into a cocky smile. Fitor enjoyed his newfound mobility. He called to the jet, “Let me guess, blocky head, big mouth, bravado to spare… you must be Starscream!”
“Remember that name Fido, it’s the last one you’ll ever-” Starscream’s retort was cut short by the sound of Cyclonus approaching. He appeared beside Starscream and transformed, the Sweeps joined him.
“He’s no Autobot!”
“No kidding genius,” Starscream sputtered, marveling over Cyclonus’ ability to point out the obvious, “He’s responsible for that!” He thrust a finger towards the Autobot ship, still speeding towards Metroplex, indicating the gaping hole in its top area. “Now stop wasting time and stop the ship! I can easily handle this cretin!”
“Mind your tone, Starscream,” Cyclonus reverted to jet mode and swung after the ship, the sweeps following suite, “Galvatron you are not.”
“That ship’s a lost cause” Fitor smiled, “Did I mention we killed the whole crew?”
“How about that,” Starscream leveled his shoulder cannon at Fitor with a devious smirk, “did I mention I don’t care?”

**************

“Sweeps, open fire! Cyclonus unleashed a barrage upon the cargo ship, Scourge doing the same, tearing into the lining of the vessel and drawing a plume of smoke from the already damaged engines.
“What are you doing?!” Cyclonus heard Springer’s anger amplified through his radio, “Lower your settings, Magnus said slow it down, not destroy it, you didn’t hear that with those satellites sticking out of your head?!”
“Destroying it will slow it down, autobot.” Cyclonus killed their connection and continued firing. It was getting too close, moving too fast, but if they broke it apart- A movement in the cavernous hole caught his attention. Three Renegade jets shot out of the crippled cargo ship and took wing. Bad Boy, Snoop, and Skyjack bore only a passing resemblance to their old selves, their flight and robot modes altered to grant them optimum maneuverability and firepower. Snoop changed into robot form and launched a cluster of smoke grenades at Cyclonus. They erupted in a fiery explosion, sending plumes of inky black smoke in every direction. It washed over the sweeps, who immediately clicked through their extra-sensory systems and tried to continue firing. Their shots neared the craft but veered off. As they exited the cloud, the Renegades came at them full speed, firing upon the sweeps in their momentary blindness. Cyclonus spun himself rapidly and roared his engines, coughing the smoke from his systems as he transformed and took aim at Snoop.
“I’ve no time for the likes of you, meddlesome she-bot.”
“The name is Snoop,” her hands came alive, crackling with yellow, sparking energy, “Looks like you’ll have to make time, won’t you?”

*****************

Springer and Blades pushed themselves, trying to remain close to the craft, which now threatened to shake apart before it could reach Metroplex. Springer launched a grappling hook and snagged the front end, Blades did the same. “If we could just get it to change course!” He strained, the cable went taunt and hummed, the vibrations rattling his systems. Blades felt his own line thrum, then snapped a moment after Springer’s. Both were sent hurtling in opposite directions as the ship continued on course.

*******************

Thruster’s main control room hosted a curved wall of monitors, their various sizes and widths connecting in an flickering web of images. Blane stood before the display, arms folded behind him, hands curling and uncurling into fists. Crasher stood beside him, eyes glazed with delight, laughing as Springer and Blades spun wildly through the air.
“That gives new meaning to the term whirlybird!”
“Party’s just startin’.” Blane smiled, “Thruster, weapons online, and tap the citybot’s computers. You find a chink in the armor, you shut him down.”

*******************

Metroplex sensed the last of the Autobots leaving his premises and immediately began to transform. It was a welcome change. Though he understood the Autobots’ need for his city mode, the long stretches of inactivity wore on him. It was hard, knowing that every bot within was moving freely while he could not experience that freedom himself. His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden buzzing in his head that grew into a painful siren. His monitors sprang to life, a blank face composed only of green metal stared at him, he felt his internal security programs spring to life, blocking out its attempt to hack his systems. Then came the firestorm. Painful bursts of laser artillery fell from the sky and pelted his armored siding. His onboard weaponry immediately came to life, firing skyward in the general vicinity of the attack. His systems were now picking up a vague form above him, and he doubled his efforts, pushing aside the pain when he thought of his fellow autobots on that failing cargo ship. They needed his help. He continued to change, sensors clicking off the speed of the incoming ship while fighting off the attempted intrusion into his mind. It was coming in faster. With a grunt he rose, a leg formed, an arm, his head began to rise from its holding. His proximity alarms warbled frantically. As Metroplex neared complete transformation the Autobot ship smashed into him.

*************

Fitor swung his head to the left and dodged Starscream’s shot. He heard the collision below as the Autobot ship slammed into Metroplex. “Bullseye!” he shouted and looked back at the Decepticon. Starscream made ready to charge and suddenly felt a large hand grip him from behind the throat. The fingers reached all the way around, already applying pressure.
Fitor pointed to Starscream’s assailant, “Screwhead, air this loudmouth out!”
A tremendous robot covered in black metal gripped Starscream tighter. A pair of stealth wings indicated one vehicle form, but the drill cannon mounted to his back suggested another. He held Starscream with his right hand, his left spun and took the form of an enormous, ridged drill. It jumped to life with a snarl and Screwhead drew his arm back. Fitor laughed, his grin never fading as he watched Starscream struggle desperately to free himself from the hulking bot. Bullseye enjoyed the resistance. His former self could barely complete the most rudimentary task, but in his new body he found himself not only comprehending the intricate workings of himself, but others as well. He was no longer a drone in the Renegade army; he had become a vital part of their mission. His eye visor flashed, amused by Fitor’s excitement, and he shook Starscream violently from side to side, a gruff laugh escaping him as well.
“I…have had... ENOUGH!!” Starscream roared, his thrusters blared to life and he twisted wildly, firing a blast of his null ray that caught Bullseye in the forehead. At once the Renegade felt his circuits overheat, threatening to seize from the lapse in electron flow. He screamed; arms locked in an outstretched gesture as if welcoming someone with a hug. He embraced only the barrage of missiles Starscream fired, the explosions caused Bullseye to do an impromptu dance in the air before his hover capabilities cut out and he fell like a hunk of metal. Starscream watched Bullseye became a black dot against the landscape, a cocky smile playing on his lips. His thoughts snapped back to Fitor as a spade of metal erupted from his chest, shearing through the glass of his cockpit with a dry crunch. Starscream gasped in shock and pain, he could sense the wicked sneer Fitor was wearing. “You tricky little scud,” Fitor ripped his blade free, spun Starscream around and smashed his midsection with a savage kick. His arm spun on a downward arc and sliced through the tip of Starscream’s left eye down the length of his cheek. The Decepticon shrieked “MY FACE!!” Red chips of glass rained towards the ground below and Starscream roared, infuriated. He took aim at Fitor as the Renegade charged his fists and took aim. An explosion erupted between them, Fitor hurtled backwards, grimacing as he realized his right forearm was sizzling, the metal cracked and orange from the heat. The null ray hadn’t hit him directly, but the energy from the blast was still wrecking havoc on his motor functions. His thrusters shorted out, and he fell from the sky. Starscream clutched his chest and felt hot fluid dripping, his consciousness fading in and out. He felt himself dipping, then falling. His descent was abruptly halted. Through the haze of his good eye Starscream made out a face all too familiar to him, it haunted his forced memories ever since his last attempt to rekindle the war… Hun-Grr stared down at Starscream with a bit of a smile, enjoying Starscream’s inability to speak after realizing who had saved his life. The other Terrorcons flew alongside their leader, Rippersnapper the closest.
“Stupid new-bots!”
“Yeah!” Sinnertwin chimed in, “We teach him to wreck our chew toy!” Blot laughed along with Cutthroat, their eyes glowing red in unison as their claws flexed in anticipation.

****************

Thruster dropped the stealth cloak above Metroplex, blotting out the sun and throwing the city into darkness. A row of doors slid open along her massive frame, the Renegades poured forth like a cloud of frenzied bees. An erratic flicker of lights lit the seams of the flying machine and with ease that defied its size, it changed forms. A pair of legs folded from the ship’s underside, arms pulling free of the midsection as it reconfigured into a decidedly feminine form. Its head appeared, curiously a single shade of green. Her eyes, simple indentations in the face itself, carried a hint of yellow that flared once its mode change was completed. She dropped, arms raised and fists drawn back as Metroplex finished his transformation.
“Clear the area!” Magnus shouted over the rumbling, hoping everyone could outrace the darkness, “Clear the-”
The collision was deafening.
The cargo ship, which had been jutting from Metroplex’s torso, exploded, its remnants falling from the titan as he fell. He hit the ground with Thruster on top of him, the fall cracking two of his towers and shattering a number of his windows. Transformers were thrown from the force of the impact.
Magnus and Galvatron pulled themselves to their feet and turned towards the violent battle erupting around them. They had gone only a few meters away when the grounded Thruster reared back and brought a massive fist down towards Metroplex’s face. He pulled his head to the side and felt the wind of her forearm swoosh past. It slammed into the ground before Magnus and Galvatron and pulled back, dripping boulder-sized rocks and dirt. Springer transformed and touched down beside Magnus, staring up at the giants as they struggled.
“Any ideas?” Arcee, Blurr and Hot Rod pulled up beside them, covered in dust.
“Springer, fall back to Autobot City II and send out a call to every Autobot we have! Contact Prime, he needs to know what’s going on here!” Magnus turned to Arcee and Blur, “You two join him, go!” They transformed without a word and followed Springer, a clenching fist of uncertainty gripping them. Galvatron’s eyes scanned the skies. Less than ten minutes ago they were empty, now they were alive with conflict. His sweeps were engaged with the newly arrived Renegade air forces, and cutting through it all, a bright yellow sphere heading in their direction.
“Galvatron, we need to-” Galvatron grabbed Magnus by the shoulder and pushed him hard, “Eyes open Autobot!”
The commanders fell back from the explosion in time to see a combination of steam and dust spewing from the impact point. Three figures were silhouetted against the smoke, the yellow eyes of the largest one shone brightly as he stepped forward, a wide smile on his face. Blane surveyed the scene of their arrival, both Autobot and Decepticon were present, and, most importantly-
“Galvatron!” Blane called his name as he would an old friend, prompting a hard look from the decepticon. Magnus shot Galvatron a look of his own. “You know him?!” His hand instinctively reached for his blaster.
“Don’t be stupid Autobot.” Galvatron’s attention returned to Blane, who was flanked by Cop-Tor and Crasher. Eyes locked with Galvatron, Blane pointed in the direction of Springer and the others. “Crasher, Cop-Tor, whatever they were sent t’do, make sure they don’t do it.”
“With pleasure Blane,” Crasher changed modes and peeled out while Cop-Tor launched himself, changed, and took off. Galvatron’s eyes narrowed.
“How is it you know me?”
Blane lifted a finger to the sky, “The head-man gave us the rundown. Never met you, but I’ve already got you pegged.” ‘Head-Man’ didn’t ring any bells to Galvatron, and at the moment he didn’t care. “And who are you, newcomer?” Galvatron’s cannon came online, “I might remember your name after I blow your head off.”
Blane laughed at Galvatron’s threat. “I used to call myself Cy-Kill. Cy-freakin’-Kill! Can you believe that?” His smile faded to a dry grin, “Now you’ll call me Blane, leader of the Renegades.” His head tilted, making his smirk look even more unsettling, “And to me, you’re just another corpse that don’t know he’s dead.”

************

Fitor saw the Terrorcons coming for him, and tried again to reignite his thrusters. They cut in, caught flame, then fizzled out. “Great.” The word barely left his mouth when a hand snagged his arm. He looked up and corrected himself. Not a hand-a claw. Scorp hovered in place, his new spiked length of tail lashing side to side like an excited cat. Vamp was close by, surrounded by a cluster of the Renegade Mutants. Fitor’s smile withered. He hadn’t cared much for them before their global change, now their evolved bodies looked like a closer reflection of their sinister nature. He didn’t like the way they nearly crawled over themselves to be closer to Vamp. Most of all, he didn’t care for the way she had taken to calling them her Renegade mutants.
“Make certain Blane knows it was I who saved you Fitor.” Vamp’s voice was low, but Fitor flinched, he swore her hissing voice was skittering through his mind.
“Right,” he managed, “I can see it was you that saved me because Scorp’s the one who-ag!” Scorp’s claws dug into his metal, he winced, “Right, kudos to you, but in case you didn’t notice, we have a problem coming our way, and it has lots of teeth.”
“A problem for you,” Vamp tilted her head and tittered, it sounded like nails across sheet metal. “A meal for us.” Six creatures broke from the cluster and moved forward, their robot forms far from anything humanoid. Like the Terrorcons, the only word that could fit them was ‘monster.’ They came into view and caused the Terrorcons to halt their advance. Vamp smiled. “Heart Attack, Fright Face, Weird Wing, SouthClaw, Fangs, Gore Jaw. My precious Beast Fiends… Please me.” The beasts made for the Terrorcons, exchanging snarls and growls with their soon to be opponents. HeartAttack hesitated a moment. She cast a baneful, scarred red eye towards Vamp then rejoined her group. Fitor watched the bulky creature a moment, for the first time noticing a series of crisscrossed slits carved into Heart-Attack’s back. He looked back towards Vamp.
“What was that about?”
A smile appeared to grow out of Vamp’s face, exposing a glistening pair of red fangs. “She is resistant, but she will learn. All bestial mechanoids will wish to please me.”
“Those Decepticons look pretty bestial to me, why don’t you make them please you?” Her tone became sharp, buzzing dangerously in Fitor's audio. “Those are feral, disgusting creatures. I have no desire for those filth.” Her voice trailed off and she tilted her head suddenly, eyes traveling towards the tremendous forms of Thruster and Metroplex. “There.” She lifted a wiry claw towards the conflict, the Renegade Mutans followed her gaze as one. She changed forms, resembling an insectile sliver of an aircraft, and took wing, her brood close behind. Fitor managed to pull free of Scorp and reignite his hover, waving the mutants off. “Have fun doing whatever it is you think you’re doing. I’ve got other things to tend to.”
The darkest six of the Renegade mutants encircled HeartAttack, she opened a claw towards the Terrorcons and screamed “Gattai!”
A flare of pink and purple light illuminated the Beast Fiends as they initiated the starting sequence of a GoBot gestalt merge. Fright Face and HeartAttack combined, creating a solid torso. Both Weird Wing and SouthClaw folded into arms, connecting to their respective joints while Fangs and Gore Jaw became legs for the giant. A demonic head, dark blue with a mouthful of interlocking fangs rose from Fright Face’s back and gave a thunderous bellow. It registered as a cross between a bat and metal buzzsaw. “Death-Combination, MONSTROUS!” The gestalt radiated energy, it’s size greater than the combined mass of its individual components. Starscream’s jets kicked back in, allowing him to remain airborne behind the Terrorcons.
“Terrorcons, show this ‘GoBot’ what a real monster is!” They needed no coaching. Hun-Grr snarled, his mind going overcome with bloodlust “Terrorcons, MERGE!” They moved as one, Rippersnapper and Blot’s bodies shifted, readjusted their limbs and attached to Hun-Grr’s broad shoulders as arms. Sinnertwin and Cutthroat connected to the bottom of his legs while the hands and feet, chest shield and head connected with the sound of a small explosion. In a voice that echoed with the Terrorcon’s rage the new machine howled, “Combine to become ABOMINUS!” The gestalt gripped a tremendous cannon in his hand, his voice deep and menacing.
“Abominus,” Starscream felt his hover fading, his wounds sparked erratically, “Attack!” No sooner had the words left his mouth, his hover systems shorted out completely, and Starscream plummeted to Earth.
Abominus triggered off a deafening blast from the cannon and growled when Monstrous dodged the orange line of explosive energy. With a four-taloned claw the gobot combiner took hold of the gun’s barrel and crushed it. White lights flashed from the weapon as it self-destructed in Abominus’ hand. He jerked back, curling a fist as he did so and swung at Monstrous, catching the beast in the center of the face. Monstrous howled and held the wounded spot but was not driven back, he snaked a hand out and grabbed Abominus by his left arm. Immediately the claw gripped with the power of a vice and dug into the metal. Abominus snarled, bringing fist upon fist down on Monstrous’ back. The bestial robot turned a wicked glare on Abominus and clasped a claw around his fist. It was almost crushed in his grasp. Abominus roared, teeth clamped in a defiant sneer. The two monsters locked eyes, uncaged violence and cruelty raging in their optics…

***********

“There were good Autobots on that ship.” Magnus’ voice was low, brimming with anger as he leveled his weapon at Blane, whose eyes moved towards him.
“Beat it Magpie, the grown-ups are talkin’.” Blane lowered his hand and snapped his fingers. A high pitched squeal of tires sounded to the left of Ultra Magnus, he saw a blur of red, black and silver lunge at him and change forms. Psycho roared as he sprang, silver and black arms reaching oversized, hooked claws towards Magnus’ face. Psycho himself had no face, only a slick stretch of a smooth glass-like surface that opened suddenly, exposing multiple rows of jagged teeth. Magnus fired at the beast as it came, the blast slamming into his shoulder and throwing him off course. Instead of his face, Psycho clamped down on Magnus’ left arm and immediately began to click off the notches in his vice-like jaws. The metal resisted, then crunched inward as Magnus stumbled back, bringing the length of his gun down across Psycho’s face. It made a hollow ‘thunk,’ and bent on a wild angle. He didn’t have time to care, he raised it again and craned his neck back to avoid a swipe from one of Psycho’s elongated black talons. The Renegade growled incessantly, it sounded like three different creatures, all snarling and hissing at the same time but at different pitches and intervals. He let go of Magnus’ arm enough to shift his head and bite down again. And again. And again. The sound became a clanging, chattering sound that became almost as painful as the damage the creature was inflicting.
Magnus noticed with mounting concern they were nearing Metroplex and that thing the Renegades arrived in. Their battle was shaking the landscape, making it even harder for him to get his footing and think. The two mountainous bots were carving out a small canyon, the last thing he needed was to get careless and- “Gah!” He hissed through clenched teeth, noticing for the first time that his assailant sported a large length of spiked tail. It rose and quivered, tipped with a flat, curved triangle of metal that listed from side to side like a cobra, then whistled past Magnus’ eye. It missed but sliced across the tip of his helmet with a spark before drawing back. Psycho released his hold Magnus’ arm and curled towards him, intent on making another lunge for his original target. His jaws opened wide, quivered when they could go no further-then unhinged in the middle and elongated. A cloud of silver teeth yawned at Ultra Magnus, he could hear them clacking against each other in anticipation. His thoughts buzzed, he drew back with an angry yell and transformed. Psycho leapt, mouth impossibly wide and landed not on Magnus’ face, but the front bumper of his cab. Psycho roared as Magnus floored his engine and blinded him with his floodlights. Psycho fell to the ground, limbs flailing in a cloud of flashing metal. He was on his feet in a second, hunched forward like a goblin and managed a snarl as Magnus collided with him, knocked him flat, then ran him over. Internally, Magnus winced in pain, feeling his tires being ripped by the thrashing Renegade even as he was being crushed. They blew completely and sent him into a wild spin. His trailer jilted to the side and pulled the cab with it, sending him into a sideways tumble. Pain jolted through his body, by the time he managed to push it down enough to think, he was already falling over the newly formed cliff and into the chasm.