Wild Ride (Cyberverse Mech!reader X Hot Rod)

40: Assault

'Useless...' I thought as I sat on the edge of the hanger located in Iaconus's digits, my legs dangling over the side and my head resting in my hands. Since the others returned, I wasn't allowed to do anything. I wasn't allowed to fight. I wasn't allowed to prepare weaponry. Pits, I wasn't even allowed to clean up a spill. I felt totally and utterly obsolete.

"Y/D, don't sit so close to the edge." Perceptor said. "You'll -"

"Oh, frag off Perceptor." I snapped as I shakily stood with my arms crossed. "Am I not allowed to be alone with my thoughts for 10 minutes? Or is that 'too strenuous' just like everything else?"

"I was saying that you would be outside the safety of the cloaking module." Perceptor said. Embaressment replaced my annoyance, and I pinched the space between my optics with a sigh.

"Sorry, sorry, that was uncalled for." I apologized. "I'm just frustrated either this waiting. I'm a soldier, not some hunk of scrap."

"You are under strict orders from Ratchet to avoid heavy activity. You need to take time to heal."

"With all due respect, Perceptor, time is something we don't have." I said grimly as I turned to go find Hot Rod and the others. I ended up locating them in the war room, and Hot Rod glanced over to me with a worried look. "What did the scan show?"

"A quantum drive at the center of the ship." Wheeljack said. "We can use it to send those squiggly bastards out of here."

"Oh yeah, who's going to be crazy enough to go into the Quintesson ship and get it?" Hot Rod asked sarcastically.

"I'll go." Optimus said.

"Me too." Bumblebee volunteered.

"As will I." Megatron said as he entered the room with Dead-end.

"Then I'm going as well." I said with a look of distrust towards my sire.

"No, you're staying here." Hot Rod said firmly. "You haven't been cleared for combat."

"He's standing, isn't he?" Megatron said. "If you can stand, you can fight."

"He's still staying here." Hot Rod argued.

"And what? Sit around doing nothing?" I huffed in agitation.

"No, you won't be." Macadam said as he entered. "He will be fighting, just not directly."

"Mac, what are you talking about?" Hot Rod asked.

"Y/D has a task ahead of him that none of you are aware of, one that will bind him to this universe."

"I thought you knew nothing about me?" I asked the old mech curiously.

"I don't. But I do know of what you will become. You will be here, and it will be a sight to see."

"Cryptic as ever Mac." Hot Rod chuckled. "But how are we going to get them inside?"

"By using Iaconus as a distraction."

-----

"Optimus and the others are in position." I called through the comlink as I carefully kept my optics trained on the group. "Have Macadam pull the plug."

"Copy that big guy, go for it, Mac!" As soon as Hot Rod said this, the Quintessons began to swarm, everyone engaging in combat while I quickly darted away to safety.

"Optimus, we have the Quintessons' attention, move!" I said through the comlink.

"Copy. Moving in."

"Keep your comlink open Y/D, and stay out of combat. Keep an optic out for the Judge." Soundwave said through the comlinks.

'Good thing that I'm sneaky.' I thought as I put my old assassination skills to good use. I darted over to a section of the hanger where I had an excellent view without being seen, my optics scanning the horizon for the 5 faced freak. Like clockwork, it appeared and opened fire upon the hanger.

"Judge has arrived! Flyers move out!" I commanded. Out of the hanger, the flyers both Autobot and Decepticon rushed out to engage with the judge, myself included.

"Y/D! You're supposed to stay out of combat!" Soundwave snapped over the comlink.

"Not going to fight." I said before shifting forms and landing right above one of the faces. I leaned over upside-down and hooked my feet on the edge. "Yoohoo!"

"What?! You again!" The face barked. A tentecal lunged for me, and I shifted forms and darted away as it punched itself in the face. I repeated the process again and again, all the while cackling in absolute delight.

"Stop hitting yourself! Stop hitting yourself!" I taunted with each missed swing.

"Y/D! On your left!" One of the flyers warned. But it was too late. A tentecal came flying at me and swatted me out of the sky and to the ground with a massive crash, my frame slamming into one of the buildings below. I let out a strained whine of pain and forced myself to stand, one sentence coming to mind.

'As you will it, so it shall be.'

I changed forms and charged back up into the action, at this point Hot Rod and the others leaping in as well. I landed on top and channeled a burst of electricity through my good hand and slammed it into one of the many faces, frying it right off.

"Y/D! Fall back!" Hot Rod ordered.

"Nah, not this time. This is personal." I then charged the bulbous freak and ripped off a chunk of its outer plating, exposing the inner workings. I then fired a shot inside, and the Judge lost control. It began to spin irradically and fire at random, one of the shots hitting the Quintesson ship. I then grabbed Hot Rod, Clobber, and Soundwave and teleported them to the ground in one big group.

"Hurg, I'm gonna get sick." Clobber said as she stumbled a little.

"Didn't know you could do that." Soundwave said.

"If I will it, so it shall be." I said, my tone suggesting realization rather than a response.

"Y/D?" Hot Rod started to ask before I teleported away and decked the Judge ad hard as I could, sending the bulbous being right through the wiring that was draining the Allspark of power. A massive explosion encased the structure, and it all came crashing down to rubble. "Take cover!" I then teleported back down to them and raised a barrier of telekinetic energy, shielding everyone from the flying debris. As the dust settled, I lowered the shield and looked back to the stunned bots with worry.

"Are you all okay?" I asked.

"We are." Hot Rod said before turning his gaze to the ruins of the Quintessons. "The ship! The Judge! They're gone! We won!" Hot Rod cheered.

"Quintessons inferior, Cybertronians superior." Soundwave said.

"We may have won the battle," I said grimly as my optics fixed something rising from the rubble. "But we have not won the war."

The others turned their gaze to see a massive object burst through with 3 rotating faces spinning about wildly before landing on one we all wished to never see again.

"I am the Judge of this universe! And it is GUILTY!" Starscream cackled.

"Y/D, teleport out of here! Now!" Hot Rod ordered.

"But -"

"GO!" And reluctantly I did.