Captive of the Wild

Captive of the Wild Part 1

Captive

TF Prime Barbarian AU RP

Chapter one: captured

Ratchet crouched, lips pressed into a thin line as he trailed along beside the trundling carriage; the two zaphorses snorting softly as they struggled against its weight. It was a regular delivery. They did this bi-monthly and even still, Ratchet couldn't help but nervously flick his gaze around, trying to keep a sharp optic out for any danger.

Of course, that was what Bluestreak was for, the young gunner seated atop the carriage along with Percy, the two mechs sighting down their snipers for any signs of trouble. And Ironhide and Kup took up rear positions, with Jazz on the other side of the carriage, keeping up with it along with Ratchet. With all of the medical supplies they were carrying, there was no room inside for any of them to travel in the carriage.

Ever since Event Zero*, as it was called, Iacon had a shaky truce with Kalis. Although the meteor shower that changed, well, everything, had been on the other side of the planet its aftershocks had been felt across their world. With Kaon, Blaster City, and cities all the way to Nova Cronum infected, energon production was severly limited. Iacon had never had its own source; it always traded with other cities for energy. And the impact of the meteors had shifted tectonic plates, severly damaging underground piping.

In short? Iacon no longer had a means of easily acquiring energon. Kalis, however, had always been its major supplier. And was still able to produce clean, uncontaminated energon. So instead of Iacon pumping directly from them there was an uneasy trade between them: every month they would alternate. First part of the month Kalis would send over gallons of energon in 'coptors. In exchange, Iacon would use part of that energon to run its factories and produce medical supplies and munitions. Usually these, too, were flown over, but- but the aerialbots were currently recovering after a run in with a pack of barbarians that also happened to have fliers with them.

Losing shipments to nomads or, worse, terrorcons wasnt unheard of; when energon supplies were running low fliers couldnt make it out either for the trades and theyd need to be done by foot then, too. So it wasnt a wonder why using the caravans wasnt so common. Not any more at least. But they couldn't at least try. Failing to do so would no doubt anger the other city and Iacon needed that energon to feed its citizens perhaps more than Kalis needed a steady stream of medicine. So here they were. Optics and audios alert with strung out nerves.

They were two days out from Iacon now and it'd be at least another three until they reached Kalis. Their group hadnt stopped once to rest, too fearful of the beings that might be out there, waiting for them. Instead the warriors alternated resting on one of the poor zaphorses. It'd be a miracle if the beasts didnt keel over by the time they made it to the other city...

It was another day and a half before the attack to the caravan occurred. The trap had been carefully laid on the path of the caravan, on a patch of terrain that barren, flat and held absolutely no way for the City Autobots to take advantage in a fight. They sprang out of holes carefully hidden in the rough tyerrain, belowing and swarming with sheer brute strenght and number.

They were Barbarians, those mechs who, after the cataclysm, had fled the cities to avoid getting infected by the Plague and became nomads. They usually lived off the scraps they could find from the very ground, but it was far from enough, and because of that their number had always stayed small and widely spread throughout the entire planet in small tribes. They were mistrusted and feared by the Ci9ty Autobots, who despised those mechs that had chosen to turn to such a savage lifestyle rather then hold onto their Civilized nature. Most were from the southern Hemisphere and were warbuilds, Decepticons that they were called. They were warriors, fighters at spark, and usually twice as large as the average Autobot.