Chapter 598: Target: Optimus Prime (Seeking Subscriptions)

The Decepticon Legion, launching an all-out attack, now began to show the world their terror.

On this day, dense "meteor showers" appeared continuously over the Red Sea and the Middle East.

As many as a hundred Decepticons were launched from the Moon by Starscream to Earth, landing in the Red Sea area; the Decepticons in the region where the main force of the U. S. Fifth Fleet was located were only a part of them.

More Decepticons descended directly into the Petra Mountains region within Jordan, and among them was Starscream.

Accompanying him as he descended to Earth, besides the other main member of the Cassette Corps who had been missing for a long time—Ravage—was a hulking Decepticon Warrior whose frame was a head taller than Starscream.

"... The temple remains under our control..."

Barricade rushed over the moment Starscream and the others landed, accompanied by two members of the Constructicons.

As for the other four members of the Constructicons, Barricade had arranged for them to rotate guard duty in other regions.

Their frames were too special; once they got close, they could not help but be attracted to each other. This flaw in the replicated Warrior combination to form Devastator was too great; once combined, they could never be separated again.

Therefore, unless necessary, under normal circumstances, no Decepticon Commander would easily let them appear in one place.

Starscream waved his hand, and the sixty or seventy Decepticon Warriors who had descended with him all dispersed to patrol and keep watch nearby.

"The first batch of Decepticons to land has already attacked the human fleet over in the Red Sea. Ravage, ask your master if those vermin have been dealt with..."

Ravage, who belonged to the Cassette Corps, was one of Soundwave's most capable assistants.

That it appeared by Starscream's side was clearly because it had been sent by Soundwave to monitor him.

Soundwave had always suspected that Starscream was just going through the motions in the process of saving Megatron, and in the end, only a head of Megatron was rescued, with the body completely destroyed; it was unknown how long it would take to craft a new body for this former leader of the Decepticon Legion.

It was precisely because of this that he had sent his capable assistant Ravage to Starscream's side.

Nominally to coordinate the battle, in reality, it was to monitor Starscream.

Starscream clearly knew this, but The Fallen was already losing patience, and his attitude toward him was getting worse by the day.

So at this critical juncture, he would not stir up trouble with Soundwave again.

It was just a Ravage, after all; if Starscream really wanted to deal with it, he had plenty of methods.

Ravage raised its head slightly, and a beam of light immediately shot out from the single eye on its forehead, forming a light screen in front of the few Decepticons.

On the light screen, it displayed the battle situation over in the Red Sea.

Of the thirty-some Decepticons that had descended from the Moon to attack the main force of the U. S. Fifth Fleet, not many remained.

However, their battle results were very significant: the main force of the Fifth Fleet—the USS Truman—had caught fire, with thick black smoke billowing from the bridge; it was estimated it would need to return to the shipyard for a major overhaul for at least a year.

The two Wasp-class amphibious assault ships—the Bataan and the Boxer—were even worse off; the Bataan's waterline was seriously off, several large holes had appeared on one side of the hull and were taking in water frantically, and it was already slowly sinking.

The Boxer was no better off than it; one side of its hull was heavier than the other, and it began to tilt gradually. The original location of the command bridge had been replaced by a huge hole, with only some wires and pipes left to show what the bridge once looked like.

Although the Decepticons failed to heavily damage the other aircraft carrier, the USS Stennis, the two Ticonderoga-class cruisers in the fleet—Lake Champlain and the USS Philippine Sea—had become the main targets of the Decepticons' attacks due to their massive size.

One of them seemed to have had its missiles detonated during the battle, had already been blown into two sections, and was slowly sinking.

The other, the Lake Champlain, was no better off, billowing thick black smoke, and it looked like it would also have to return to the shipyard for a major overhaul.

In comparison, the losses of the nuclear submarines, missile frigates, and destroyers in the Fifth Fleet were negligible.

Starscream did not care about the life or death of the thirty-some Decepticon Cannon Fodder warriors. He examined the battle situation with interest and clicked his tongue in wonder: "It seems the vermin on Earth still have some strength..."

Clearly, he was not satisfied with the results achieved by the Decepticons who attacked the Fifth Fleet this time.

"Starscream, do not forget our task!"

Seeing him staring intently at the light wall projected by Ravage, the hulking Decepticon who had descended to Earth with Starscream and whose frame looked a head taller than his own, reminded him coldly.

Starscream's scarlet eyes lingered on him for a moment before he revealed a strange smile.

"Of course, I remember the orders of Lord The Fallen very clearly!"

Even though he knew that Starscream and the others had already found clues to the suspected burial site of the Matrix of Leadership, The Fallen still had no intention of setting off for Earth.

He appeared very cautious, or more accurately, he was very wary of the Autobot Leader—Optimus Prime.

For this reason, The Fallen once again issued that order to Starscream: kill Optimus Prime by any means necessary.

It was very clear that this Autobot Leader made that ancient ancestor very wary for some unknown reason.

Wanting to kill an Autobot Leader was naturally not a task that could be completed easily.

Otherwise, during the civil war, the eventually victorious Decepticon Legion would not have failed to resolve Sentinel Prime and Optimus Prime all along.

Starscream looked at Ravage again and asked coldly: "Tell Soundwave to keep a close eye on the Autobots; once Optimus Prime's location is discovered, tell us immediately!"

He then looked at the Decepticon whose frame was a head taller than his own: "The Fallen ordered us to resolve Optimus Prime, and I already have a plan regarding the task. I will mobilize manpower and bring along the last group of Constructicons on the way... Astrotrain, you must also participate in the hunt when the time comes..."

The hulking Decepticon who was a head taller than Starscream was named Astrotrain.

He was one of the Triple Changers in the Decepticon camp and one of the most elite and cruel warriors under Shockwave.

Astrotrain had just arrived on the Moon a few days ago and was one of the advance troops sent by Shockwave.

The main force led by Shockwave himself was still on the way; their scale was relatively large and they were transporting a large amount of supplies, so their speed was much slower.

However, in at most a few more months, Shockwave and the others would be able to arrive at the Moon.

So Starscream knew very well that he did not have many good days left.

The Fallen was also becoming increasingly impatient with him now, for which he needed to offer a grand gift to regain his trust.

Optimus Prime was a very good gift.

PS:

Correcting a mistake from the previous chapter; I didn't pay attention when checking the data and thought there were still two Virginia-class nuclear-powered cruisers in service in 2008, but I just saw that by the end of 1999, all U. S. nuclear-powered cruisers had been retired.