Panting, groaning, and wounded, the Autobots and their allies were in their base, trying to grasp what happened. \u201cWhat IS this?!\u201d protested Prowl. \u201cThe Decepticons are striking at points of now strategic value and doing nothing but waiting for us before SHOOTING at us! There was nothing of value there! Pit, even that recent skirmish in Chun-nan is nothing more than an Energon drain, since we found that the amulet they were after was nothing more than something to sell to tourists! Primus, I\u2019m spinning my wheels here!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell, stressing over it,\u201d replied Goldbug Magnus, \u201cisn\u2019t going to help. All we can do right now is to stop the Decepticons where we can.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWith how much we\u2019ve been gobbling up Energon,\u201d retorted Prowl, \u201cI don\u2019t know if we CAN sustain it! Ratchet\u2019s running low as it is and he shouldn\u2019t have to patch us every single day!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI hate to sound callous, but it IS part of the job. In any event, there\u2019s not much else we can do. \u2026Hey, on a slightly related note, where\u2019s Optimus?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026I thought you knew. I was gonna ask you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf he\u2019s gone charging off alone again\u2026Teletraan, where\u2019s Optimus?!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe and Blackarachnia are currently in the old English countryside,\u201d reported Teletraan. \u201cHe mentioned that they\u2019re fighting a blast from the past, but the call cut out before he could explain who it was. He\u2019s still alive, from what I can detect.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSend a Sky Spy to his position,\u201d ordered Goldbug. \u201cWe need to know how many we\u2019re facing, or even WHO we\u2019re facing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere\u2019s also the matter of Cliffjumper not here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOh, that? He\u2019s investigating an incident in Shamar. Oil\u2019s being drained from their reserves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey don\u2019t suspect us, do they?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo, they don\u2019t. They think it\u2019s a Decepticon, but they want us to confirm it. So, I sent Cliffjumper to help them out in any way they can. If he gets overwhelmed, he\u2019s comes back, and we send backup.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cVery well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shamar, once known as the Middle East, still as enchanting as its legends say. Cliffjumper always wanted to check it out and this mission was the perfect opportunity. A Male Mobian White Oryx and a few G.U.N soldiers approached him as he parked at the President\u2019s Mansion. \u201cI never thought I\u2019d see a Transformer face-to-face!\u201d chuckled the Oryx. \u201cI\u2019m Naaman Abdallah, President of Shamar.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m Cliffjumper,\u201d returned the bot. \u201cIt\u2019s a pleasure to help in any way I can.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLet\u2019s talk inside,\u201d invited Naaman. He led Cliffjumper\u2019s holo-form through the Mansion into the War Room. Naaman\u2019s staff was waiting for them. \u201cLadies and Gentlemen, the Autobot representative, Cliffjumper,\u201d he introduced before sitting in his seat. Cliffjumper sat between a female Sand Cat and a male human. \u201cNow, as I\u2019ve mentioned last night,\u201d continued Naaman, \u201cI invited our Autobot friend to confirm our thoughts on this being a Decepticon raid on our oil reserves. Mr. Cliffjumper, many of us are still confused by your faction symbols, even going so far as to mistake Thundercracker for an Autobot at one point when Unicron ruled Mobius.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLet me show you my faction\u2019s symbol first,\u201d began Cliffjumper. He rolled up his sleeve and showed off the Autobot symbol tattooed on his shoulder. \u201cThis is what bots on my side show off and we\u2019ve got blue optic lenses. The Decepticons wear this symbol,\u201d the tattoo became the Decepticon logo for the duration of the rest of his explanation,\u201d and their optics are redder than my paint-job.\u201d The symbol returned to the Autobot one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell, that confirms it,\u201d declared the human male. \u201cThe Decepticons are raiding our oil reserves. Fuel, possibly?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI mean, oil CAN be converted into Energon cubes, but it\u2019s a very bitter taste for us. We only convert other fuels into Energon as a last resort and this planet is saturated in natural Energon crystal, so much so, it\u2019s too much of a good thing for us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo they shouldn\u2019t even be so desperate,\u201d surmised Naaman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not stopping them from taking it,\u201d grumbled the female sand cat as she looked on her tablet. \u201cI just got a call that the Decepticons stole 630,000 gallons of oil an hour ago.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat\u2019s 15,000 barrels!\u201d exclaimed the human.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWere they seen converting it into Energon cubes?\u201d asked Cliffjumper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the glowing pink beverage you lot consume, right?\u201d asked the sand cat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYep.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThen, yeah, they were seen doing just that. Just to put this in perspective, one thousand barrels of oil makes one tiny cube!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo, this team of Decepticons just stole fifteen cubes in the past hour,\u201d summarized President Naaman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRest assured,\u201d promised Cliffjumper, \u201cI won\u2019t let them take one more quart of oil in ANY second in time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe appreciate that. We\u2019re using Chaos Fusion Drive power like the rest of the world, but it would be nice to have a back-up power source.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over in the desert, the Decepticons that stole the oil were meeting with a person and their aid. The leader of the Decepticon team was a heavily-built femme with the alt-mode kibble of a mining drill, the second was a mech with a twin-rotor helicopter alt-mode, the third was a jet with the nosecone as his feet, the fourth was a mech that had motorcycle kibble, and the last was a tank with the barrel above his right shoulder. \u201cWith all due respect, sir,\u201d began the jet-mech, \u201cit was the Shamaran Military that brought Autobot attention, and yet, you summon us!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI would lower my voice, if I were you!\u201d warned the person\u2019s aid. The jet-mech continued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFirst, you gave us a useless ring!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat ring holds more power than you realize!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThen you tell us to scavenge for our own fuel!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou have the equipment!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd then you tell us to search for more useless rings!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Seven World Rings are meant for our use! Stop speaking for your boss as she was the one who organized this meeting with nothing to show for it!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cShe is in the middle of deciding whether or not it\u2019s worth the effort for her to speak to you directly, Erazor!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYOU ARE THE ONES NOT WORTH THE EFFORT FOR MY MASTER TO ADDRESS DIRECTLY!\u201d The jet-mech then squashed the aid. As he wiped his heel, the motorcycle-mech took his turn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe only ask that you take this matter seriously,\u201d he explained. The person then flicked their hand and the mechs were flung into the wall. The femme looked directly at the person as they lowered their cloak to reveal a muscular man with light purple skin, a cardinal red beard and ponytail curving upwards, pointed ears, and black eyes with red rings. He wore a brown cape, gold armbands, brown and white baggy pants held up by a brown and gold belt, and brown, curly toed boots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe only matter I do not take seriously, madam,\u201d he snarled, \u201cis you! The politics of the Transformers BORE me! You side with a human with a demeanor equivalent to that of a pouty child and, apparently, you do not understand what the Seven World Rings can do or why you were tasked by that man to go after them. Tell this Eggman that I shall honor our agreement if you bring me the Rings. But return to me empty-handed again, and I shall bathe the deserts in your innermost Energon! So decrees the Erazor Djinn!\u201d He then faded in mist. The mechs picked themselves up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026I hate him!\u201d grunted the tank-mech.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Panting, groaning, and wounded, the Autobots and their allies were in their base, trying to grasp what happened. \u201cWhat IS this?!\u201d protested Prowl. \u201cThe Decepticons are striking at points of now strategic value and doing nothing but waiting for us before SHOOTING at us! There was nothing of value there! Pit, even that recent skirmish […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1058,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[98,667],"tags":[146,337],"class_list":["post-4187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-transformers-mobian-chronicles","category-transformers-mobian-chronicles-arc-17-living-stories","tag-sonic","tag-transformers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4187"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4187\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4188,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4187\/revisions\/4188"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1058"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}