Leaving Cybertorn

Scorcher and the crew ran out of the base, joining the rest of the Warden survivors in the hangar. The Wardens watched in awe as a large dinosaur looking beast fell from the sky towards Cybertron.

"What in the Creator's name is that thing!" Trouble shouted, pointing at the large purple monster making planet fall. The large demon then opened its maw, purple fire shooting out in front of it giving it a rather scenic descent.

"Trypticon...." Scorcher muttered, watching as the Titan touched down, feeling the collision from their position. It was as if the whole of Cybertron shuddered once the Decepticon touched down. The Wardens struggled to keep their balance as the shockwave hit them, parts of the mountain beginning to crumble away. The group watched as the tower that once was their home began to break apart; the lack of care from Warlord and his crew becoming apparent now that the exterior was coming loose and exposing the decay.

"Wardens, Move out!" Scorcher shouted, running away from the collapsing mountain, breaking into a sprint until jumping into the air and transforming into a light vehicle. His team and the other Wardens did the same as well: Celina and Trouble transforming into similar light frames and following their boss while Train and A.M.Y. transformed into larger forms, bringing up the rear. The Wardens, lead by the one named Barrage, all shifted into different types of forms; flyers, heavies, lights, the one thing they all shared was the worn out emblem of the Wardens: a rectangular shape that appeared to be a face, it could have been mistaken for the Autobot insignia.

The large group sped away from the collapsing metal as fast as they could, but some of the more wounded Wardens were not able to outrun the debris and were lost, taking more away from their already dwindling numbers.

Having cleared the danger zone, Scorcher jumped out of his alt form and turned, gazing upon the now collapsed mountain range that was once his home eons ago, back when Warlord was truly his brother and not the monster he turned into. All of his soldiers pulled up next to him, some remaining in their more mobile forms, but others shifting to walk towards Scorcher.

Train Trek, Celina and Barrage closed the distance and approached Scorcher, who turned to face the three, as well as every other Warden there. "Brothers, Sisters, Wardens of Cybertron!" He began, slowly walking towards his soldiers. "We are what remains of an ancient order, one that sought to protect the children of Cybertron from the evils of the cosmos," other Wardens shifted to watch Scorcher with their own eyes. "But in my absence, It appears that I allowed the Wardens to become one of those evils." Some of the Wardens nodded in agreement. "I should have stayed and taken the mantle, but that time has passed."

He turned back around, seeing all of the Wardens in their true forms, all of their eyes watching his every move. "That is why I am declaring that the Wardens as we once were are no more. Henceforth, we shall be Phoenixes! Guardians of the cosmos, no matter what happens to us: As long as one of us lives we will rise from the ashes and return anew!"

The Wardens cheered as he finished his speech, A.M.Y. and Trouble clapping behind everyone. A.M.Y. leaned close to Trouble, lowering her voice as to not be heard by ay of the others. "Should we tell Scorcher that we left his ship back there?"

Trouble, still clapping, shook his head. "What he doesn't know won't kill him."

Barrage and Celina were cheering as well, but Train Trek was preoccupied, having been contacted by Optimus. "Prime, sir, what was that thing that landed near Metroplex?"

"That does not matter now. We have subdued it. Did you fine Sentinel?"

Train hesitated to reply, but finally spoke. "We did."

"Is he with you currently?"

Another pause. Train did not want to destroy Optimus' opinion of his mentor, or rather, he was afraid of what he would do if Optimus decided to work alongside his mentor. "No, sir. He escaped. Said something about heading to a planet called Earth." Train said, distorting the truth slightly.

"Earth..." He heard Optimus mutter across the line. "I have a mission for Scorcher if he is still alive. Where is your current position?"

"Sending you the coordinates. We'll need a few dropships."

----------------------------

Scorcher and his squad, as well as Barrage, the leader of the survivors, stood in front of Optimus, with Train Trek standing behind the leader of the Autobots. The large Cybertronian strode up to Scorcher, the sun making his blue and red chassis shine. "Scorcher, I need you to go and scout out earth and prepare the planet for our arrival."

Everyone present, Train included, showed visible signs of shock, Scorcher most of all. "Optimus, why Earth? What are you planning?"

Optimus sighed, turning around to gaze upon the destroyed sections of the city. The Decepticons had attacked along side their Kaiju bot, but once Trypticon fell, they pulled back. "Cybertron's core has been lost." Turning back around, Optimus showed the Wardens an odd rectangular object with a blue and gold orb in the center. "Megatron had corrupted the Core with Dark Energon, and the only way to keep Cybertron from imploding on itself, I had to remove the Matrix before the corruption could set in. Once the Matrix was removed, the corruption stopped, but the core had to repair, so it sent a piece of itself to find a planet where it could naturally heal." Optimus explained, hiding the Matrix back into his chest cavity. "Train informed me that Sentinel was heading to Earth, so that must mean that is where the Core shard went."

Scorcher understood what Optimus wanted him to do: Get the shard before it can be snagged by anyone else. The fact that he did not mention Megatron concerned him. "Alright, Me and my guys will-"

"I'm afraid part of your team must stay here." Optimus cut him off, leaving Scorcher stunned. A.M.Y., Trouble and Celina were equally as shocked. "You can take one. It won't be the two of you alone, however, I will send Bumble Bee and Cliff Jumper to support you in this mission." After he said that, both Bumble Bee and Cliff Jumper walked out onto the platform, both fully kitted and appearing to be ready for battle. Scorcher just looked at them in disbelief, the back to Optimus.

"So I leave my guys here so I can go off o another adventure? I already abandoned my men once."

"But now you would be leaving them under my care, not under the power hungry Warlord. Also, I am trusting two of my best soldiers to you. Do you not think I am torn between sending them with you and having them hear to help aid in preparation?" Scorcher looked to the side, towards an alcove of the city. It appeared to be a golden ship of some kind. Scorcher returned his gaze upon Optimus. "Choose one of your soldiers, then meet me inside. Perceptor may have found out a way to send you to Earth from here." After saying that puzzling statement, Optimus walked off, leaving Scorcher to choose amongst his team. He wish he could take all of them. They were each useful and they were like kin.

However, static filled his vision every time he focused on one of his members. Celia, Trouble, A.M.Y., Train, each one shrouded in violent static. The only one who appeared clearly to him was one who was not even on his team. One he had only met a few cycles before.

Barrage.

Scorcher walked up to the Warden and placed a hand on his shoulder. The other members of his team were equally shocked, until Scorcher began to explain why he chose Barrage. Celina was intelligent so she would be needed to make the Autobot ship run properly. Trouble was an engineer, and he could make sure that all of the parts they needed for the ship were in working order. A.M.Y. was a mobile armory, so she could be useful in fending off the Decepticons if they tried to attack, and Train Trek technically wasn't a part of his team.

All four of them, after a moment of contemplating, nodded, beginning to walk away. Celina moved towards Scorcher and cupped his cheek in her hand, looking into his eyes. She could tell that the static was disturbing him once more. "Stay safe please?" She requested before placing her forehead against his for a moment then walking away.

Scorcher gasped, smacking his head a few times to clear his thoughts. Barrage, having no clue what just happened, stared at Scorcher confused. So did Bee and Cliff. Once Scorcher shook his head and looked normal, he nodded to the three. "Shall we?" The three nodded back, and the four of them entered the building.

The room they entered appeared to be a temporary lab of sorts, terminals and screens all surrounding a circular platform. Perceptor looked up from the terminal he was working at and focused on the four soldiers. "Excellent timing! The device should be operational." The scientist rushed across the lab and ushered them to the strange platform. The four followed his direction, although having no idea what was going on. Bee and Cliff even appeared lost. Once Perceptor got all four to stand on the platform, he moved back to the console next to Optimus and began typing away furiously. "Teleportation in 5..."

"WHAT?" Scorcher yelled, glaring at Optimus.

"4.."

"This will work, right?" Optimus whispered to Perceptor.

"Most likely, but 60% chance to turn them into pure Energon 3..." Perceptor replied, slowly pulling a lever that was attached to the console. The four focused on the platform they stood on, seeing it rotate quickly. Scorcher returned his gaze upon Optimus. "2..."

"Optimus! I swear the next time I see you-"

"1!" Perceptor slammed the lever down, and the four vanished. All of the Autobots present were shocked to see that this highly experimental device had finally worked. Perceptor moved down to examine the platform before nodding. "Yes, no Energon present. Teleportation was successful." The scientist landed his studious eyes upon Optimus. "I must warn you, however if we attempt to do that once more, we will not have enough Energon to fuel the Ark. We already wasted some sending Grimlock and his gang of hooligans, we must conserve what energy we have for our vessel."

Optimus nodded, moving down next to Perceptor and focusing on the spot Scorcher stood. "If I had told you, old friend, you would not have gone. Such is his will." Prime then turned and walked away, ready to put Scorcher's elite squad and the Warden remnant to work.