Chapter 581: Fierce Battle Begins

The African continent has been exceptionally lively lately.

As both the Autobots and the Decepticon Legion have gathered a large number of personnel in Africa, conflicts began very quickly.

Within Soli, more than thirty kilometers away from the Base, Skids, who was installing energy reaction detection devices aimed at the Decepticons, spotted several suspicious vehicles from afar, moving in the direction of his location.

"Decepticons spotted!"

He called out calmly on the patrol channel while quickly drawing his weapon, raising his gun to fire rapid shots at the three Decepticons who had also spotted him and had already begun transforming into combat mode.

"Hey, you crawlers, daring to provoke your master Skids..."

Even though he was one against three, Skids did not flinch at all.

Ironhide may indeed occasionally make mistakes due to his hot-headed personality, but when he truly decides to do something, he is the type who will not turn back until he hits a brick wall.

After deciding to rely on the two underground bases in Soli and Kenya gifted by Frenzy to establish a permanent Autobot base on Earth, all the remaining Autobots were mobilized by him.

Scientific research personnel who were not skilled in combat were arranged to mine and manufacture equipment, while simultaneously expanding and reinforcing the two major underground bases.

The Autobots skilled in combat were divided into several patrol teams, guard formations, and mobile squads.

This was also the source of Skids' confidence; he had already called for support via the patrol channel, and the nearest patrol team could arrive in just two or three minutes.

The mobile squad stationed at the base would not be too slow either; every member of the mobile squad selected by Ironhide was an agile and quick-reacting Autobot Warrior.

"Hiss..."

Accompanied by a sharp hiss, three cars transformed into three Decepticon Warriors.

"Damn it, it's the Terrorcons!"

After seeing the appearance of the three Decepticons clearly, Skids' expression changed slightly.

The Terrorcons are one of several mass-produced replica units among the Decepticons; their members consist of only three, namely Hatchet, Crowbar, and Crankcase.

Although the prototypes of these three were all Decepticon Advanced Warriors, they were the bottom-tier kind.

However, during the civil war in the past, the three of them had caused heavy casualties to the Autobots.

These three Terrorcons were skilled in sneak attacks, assassinations, and infiltration behind enemy lines; they loved to raid Autobot transport convoys and strongholds, and loved slaughtering Autobot civilians even more.

Because of their extremely vile "battle record," they were favored by Starscream and had long ago become one of the few replica units that Starscream could mass-produce.

Facing these three guys with cruel methods and vile personalities, Skids understood in an instant that he was no match for them, and if a real fight broke out, he likely wouldn't last until the patrol team arrived.

"Run!"

Raising his hand to fire three shots in succession, he immediately transformed back into car mode and drove toward the direction of the patrol team.

"Autobot... coward..."

Hatchet, who had the hottest temper, roared and leaped up upon seeing Skids flee the moment he appeared; in mid-air, he actually transformed into a ferocious monster resembling a mechanical lion, chasing after Skids.

His two companions were not slow either, running in combat form to chase Skids, their speed not a bit inferior to their companion who had transformed into that ferocious monster.

The taillights on Skids' car shifted, quickly turning into two machine guns, firing wildly at the three Decepticons chasing him from behind.

Unfortunately, the small-caliber machine gun he was equipped with only splashed sparks when the bullets hit the monster in the lead that was charging the fastest.

Crankcase was the strongest of the three Decepticons.

Even though he was chasing Skids while running in combat form, his speed gradually caught up to Hatchet; he raised his hand to lift a double-barreled cannon and fired a shot directly at Skids.

"Boom!"

The double-barreled cannon hit Skids accurately; accompanied by splashing sparks and metal fragments, Skids screamed and transformed back into combat form.

On his back, two huge wounds were deep enough to see bone, exposing his Spark.

The three Decepticons of the Terrorcons were not knights who believed in fair combat; once they saw they had caught up to Skids and that he was injured.

Hatchet roared and, without transforming back into combat form, lunged at his body.

Crowbar pulled two short clubs full of steel spikes from his back, and taking advantage of the moment Skids jumped back to dodge Hatchet's pounce, he fiercely threw one of the short clubs at Skids, while Crankcase also fired his gun to seal off his other path of retreat.

"Skids, hold on!"

The patrol team that had received the warning from afar had already arrived, but unfortunately, separated by a distance of several hundred meters, the last thing they saw was Skids' final moment.

Crowbar's steel-spiked short club accurately hit Skids, completely smashing his left arm and shoulder, and his entire body was sent flying back several meters by the immense force.

And just at this moment, Hatchet's pounce came again.

In his Mechanical Monster form, one sharp claw pierced straight into Skids' chest, while the other sharp, long claw slashed fiercely across his neck.

"No!"

Seeing this scene from afar, Mudflap roared, transforming into combat form while still hundreds of meters away, and while charging toward this place, he raised the grenade launcher in his hand and fired wildly at Hatchet.

The other Autobots were the same; although Skids' popularity among the Autobots could not be called very good, he was, after all, one of the veterans who had arrived to support Optimus Prime first, and many of the Autobots who arrived later had received his arrangements and care.

Crankcase roared, and his two companions sneered in unison.

The corpse of Skids, who had already lost his life, was tossed aside casually, and the three ferocious Decepticons did not retreat, roaring as they charged toward the arriving Autobots.

These warriors replicated by Starscream were far inferior to their prototypes in terms of rationality; fighting to the death without retreating seemed to have become an instinct.

And this was just one of many battlefields in Africa.

Leaving this aside, in Egypt, thousands of kilometers away.

Optimus Prime and the others finally encountered the enemy as they continued their march northward.

Arcee was the first to encounter the Decepticons; because she had an advantage in speed and was also relatively meticulous, she occasionally served as a scout, exploring the path for the marching team.

Driving ahead along the desert highway in Egypt into Giza Province, not long after, Arcee felt that she was being watched by something.

Calmly adjusting her rearview mirror, that was her detection device.

Arcee quickly identified the target spying on her; in the sky over a thousand meters up, something suspected to be a large bird was circling above her.

"Vulture!"

She recognized who the opponent was at once; that was a Decepticon scout, a type of mechanical bird-like Decepticon resembling a vulture.

Clearly, the bird in the sky had already discovered her, which was why it kept circling above her.

After discovering this, she hurriedly turned her car around on the highway and began to rush toward Optimus Prime and the others, while sending them a warning.

"Decepticon detected, prepare for combat!"

PS:

There is only one update today; I need to think about the plot ahead.