Elite Guard engineer Inferna has been in the Guard for nearly all of her life, following the footsteps of her father Ultra Magnus. Though instead of fighting, she decides to build: weapons, ships, equipment, and anything the Elite Guard would need...
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She aimed directly for the head- its optics more specifically. She knew that her blaster wasn't powerful enough to blow his head off, but it was enough to shatter his optics, blinding him so that the rest could kill him.
Inferna squeezed the trigger, it hitting just below his intended target due to the fact that he had shifted slightly. "Frag!" She cursed aloud. Normally Ultra Magnus would've cast her a disapproving look at the use of vulgar language but now he was too busy directing where the bots should go in order to take him down.
"I'm going to take out his optics so that you guys have a better shot!" Inferna shouted at him over the noise. "But I'll need to get a little closer."
"Inferna, if you get any closer, he'll see you and kill you," the commander said, half-distracted by the soldiers running around him.
"It's the only way!" She said, jumping over the storage boxes and running up to the massive bot.
Ultra Magnus scowled. "Crosshairs, Dai Atlas! Make sure that she doesn't get herself sent to the Allspark!"
The two Guardsbots charge after her, Dai Atlas wielding his sword and Crosshairs his two twin blasters. "Are you an idiot! Stay back," The latter shouted at her.
Inferna ignored him and took aim, firing the shot, it striking its intended target. The combiner roared in mixed agony and anger, Energon trickling down from its dull optic socket. Inferna slid under its legs and shot its back, the metal there shattering.
Dai Atlas nimbly avoided the gigantic monstrosity, stabbing at the kink of its armor in the heel. Crosshairs shot at his chest, and though it didn't do much damage it did keep the Combiner's attention on him.
Inferna grabbed her circular blades and threw them at it, the blade embedding deep into the Decepticon's shoulder blades. It clawed at its back, disoriented from the multiple attacks.
Finally, the commander himself jumped up onto its back, climbing up until he reached its neck. Crack.
The combiner fell, hitting the ground with a loud thud. Inferna pulled the blades from it, placing it back onto her hips. "Is it just me, or was that Combiner a lot weaker than the ones we've fought against before? Is Shockwave getting lazy or something?"
"Whatever the case might be, we must leave immediately and find shelter elsewhere," Ultra Magnus said. "It is surely not the last Decepticon we will have to encounter if we stay here- there are probably more on the way."
-
After they had packed up the camp, Ultra Magnus and Inferna drove alongside each other, some of the boxes full of cargo on the back of their alt-modes.
"You alright?" Inferna asked, trying to break the silence.
Ultra Magnus hummed. "Quite. How about you?"
"Yeah, I'm good.
Ultra Magnus didn't talk for a few beats. "I'm sorry about your friend. I overheard."
The Wrecker was glad she was in her alt-mode so her father couldn't see her scowl. "It's fine. I've lost too many friends to even care anymore." She said bitterly.
"That's why you should've stayed in Iacon with the other engineers- so you wouldn't have to do this." The commander responded. "But I'm just glad you haven't rejoined with the Allspark yet."
"You really want to start this now? Well, news flash, I would've had to fight eventually, even if you confined me to the high council tower! Iacon is constantly under siege now, as it is literally everywhere else in this rotting world!" The words bubbled out of her throat before Inferna could stop them. "If you actually cared about me, you would've stuck around more! Taken care of me more! Maybe then Dynama wouldn't have left."
What am I saying? It's not his fault she left...
"I know that." Ultra Magnus's voice came out so quiet that Inferna could barely hear him. "I regret that every single day of this miserable existence. If I could, I would have spent all the time on Cybertron with you. But, because of my job and fear, I couldn't."
"Fear?" She asked.
"When I was created, all I remember was being cold, alone in a dark empty place. Then of course, when I was around your age, the Quintessons invade, enslaving us. During that, I met Dynama, and then after we drove the Quintessons away, we had you. I was afraid that I wasn't good enough for you. That I might accidentally make you feel the way I felt when I was created. So, I spent a lot of time away from you, leaving you in the care of Dynama. She was always so loving and caring, so I knew you would be in good servos. But I never imagined she'd..." he faltered.
"Disappear," Inferna said, finishing the sentence. "Me either. I'm sorry I snapped at you. It's just- it's just that everyone seems to leave me at some point. You left me for long stretches of time. Dynama abandoned us. Most of my friends either died or went off elsewhere. I feel like there's something wrong with me all the time."
"There's nothing wrong with you," the commander said softly. "That's just life- in this cruel world we live in you must persist no matter what- or risk getting dragged under."
They suddenly stopped, reaching the edge of a forest area, tall metal spires twisting around each other. Inferna and Ultra Magnus, along with the rest, transform, dumping the cargo off their backs. "We'll set up camp here for right now. We'll head out in a cycle to go on scouting patrols and assist the troops."
Wishpers came from the dark area behind her, and Inferna whirled around, grabbing her blaster off her back. "Whose there?" She shouted.
Ultra Magnus quirked an eyebrow ridge at her. "Are you alright, Inferna?"
"I heard something behind me!"
"I didn't hear anything," he said, confused.
"Well there was something there, I'm sure of it!" She responded, her digit already on the trigger just in case.
"And you're sure it's not just because of stress?"
Inferna gritted her denta as the whispers came again. "Whose there!" She shouted again. "I'm not asking again!"
