Chapter 600: Hunting (Please Subscribe)

More than seven thousand meters above the sky, the F-22 Fighter Jet transformed by Starscream stopped firing after launching six missiles.

Not far from him, ten thousand meters higher in the sky, a behemoth even more terrifying than the F-22 transformed by Starscream was continuously dropping seemingly inexhaustible aerial bombs from its bomb bay.

If a military enthusiast were here, they might recognize at a glance that this behemoth, which looked several times larger than an F-22, was none other than the B-1B Lancer, a supersonic variable-sweep wing long-range strategic bomber from the United States Air Force.

Unfortunately, although it looked exactly like a B-1B bomber and was doing the same thing,

this bomber did not come from the U. S. military, because it was merely one of the transformation modes of Astrotrain, a Triple Changer who had arrived on Earth only a short time ago.

Yes, this behemoth was none other than Astrotrain.

Astrotrain was among the first batch of Advanced Warriors in the Decepticon Legion to be modified into Triple Changers by Shockwave.

He possessed combat power not inferior to any Elite Warrior, and his transformation speed between his three modes was nearly twice that of an Ordinary Warrior.

During the Cybertronian Civil War, relying on his powerful land and air transformation modes, Astrotrain was invincible, and even most of the Autobots' Triple Changers were no match for him.

This makes it easy to explain why Shockwave sent him over as part of the advance team.

Having dropped all the hundreds of aerial bombs he was carrying in one go, the bombing range completely covered the main force of the Autobots currently advancing on the highway below.

After finishing all this, Astrotrain sent a transmission to ask Starscream.

"Starscream, the bombs have been dropped... what should we do next?"

Having just arrived on Earth, the target of the first task Astrotrain participated in was to hunt down the Leader of the Autobots—Optimus Prime.

Facing such a task, even Soundwave, who did not get along with Starscream, gave an order to Ravage, telling it to temporarily obey Starscream's arrangements.

Astrotrain naturally had to follow his orders as well, because with the slightest negligence, returning empty-handed would be a best-case scenario; they might even suffer losses of troops and equipment because of it.

Starscream had already established a communication command channel, in which he was issuing orders in an orderly manner.

"Barricade, you lead the Constructicon team, command all the clones, and hold back the main force of the Autobots; if necessary, you can let the Constructicons combine... The Terrorcons will assist Barricade; if you discover any Autobots attempting to break away and preparing to support Optimus Prime, immediately go up and entangle them."

"Astrotrain, Brawl, and the Rogue Group, you four come with me and take charge of hunting Optimus Prime... Ravage will stay on the side and look for opportunities to ambush..."

The Rogue Group was a Decepticon squad that had arrived on Earth shortly before, along with Astrotrain.

This was a two-man Decepticon squad composed of two Decepticons with nasty personalities, Nomad and Vagabond; their bodies had both been modified by Shockwave, making them harder and faster than the average Decepticon.

During the civil war, this two-Decepticon squad had always served in the role of assault warriors.

Relying on their high-strength bodies and speed, they unscrupulously intercepted highways, rammed into Autobot transport convoys from the side, and ambushed Autobot civilians, finding amusement in killing them, deliberately destroying the Autobots' remains, spreading fear, and causing sabotage.

With one Commander, one Elite Warrior, and four Advanced Warriors—six Decepticons in total—surrounding and killing Optimus Prime, none of the Decepticons felt there was anything the least bit inappropriate about it.

The power of a Leader had been fully demonstrated during the civil war; whether it was Megatron, Sentinel Prime, or Optimus Prime, all had faced assassination attempts by the other side, but the results were always failures.

No Decepticon questioned Starscream's arrangement; in their view, this was the most effective plan they could come up with at the moment.

"Then, let's begin the operation!"

Following the order, by Highway 17, Barricade, who had been leading the non-flying Decepticon Cannon Fodder warriors and waiting there for a long time, immediately began to issue the order: "Decepticons, attack!"

The batch of Cannon Fodder warriors cultivated by Starscream mostly had low intelligence.

Sensing the fluctuations of the Autobots, they had long been unable to restrain themselves.

Now that Barricade, who was in charge of command, had given the order, the Decepticons, totaling nearly a hundred in number, could no longer hold back; vehicles of various models and styles quickly rushed toward the section of the road where the Autobots were located, several kilometers away.

"Sam... Mikaela..."

In a daze, it seemed someone was calling his name; Sam slowly woke up from his unconscious state.

Opening his eyes, his consciousness was not yet very clear, and everything he saw in his line of sight was distorted and shaking.

"Where am I, what happened..."

Muttering to himself, Sam felt his head aching; he subconsciously touched his forehead and found it wet to the touch—it was blood.

"Sam... Sam..."

Bumblebee's calls kept ringing in his ears; as his consciousness gradually recovered, the tinnitus affecting Sam's hearing also gradually faded away.

Sam, who quickly remembered what had happened, had his eyes suddenly freeze.

He subconsciously looked at Mikaela in the passenger seat next to him; the sexy girl's head was currently hanging powerlessly in front of her chest.

On her forehead, just like Sam's, there was a crimson spot that was still continuously seeping blood.

"Mikaela..."

Sam pushed her in a panic, and seeing that she did not react, he reached out and tested under her nose, only then letting out a sigh of relief.

"Still breathing, she must just be unconscious!"

Bumblebee's voice rang out again at this moment: "Sam, hurry and wake Mikaela up... We have been attacked by the Decepticons, the battle is about to begin, you two be careful to protect yourselves..."

Sam was stunned upon hearing this, and his memories began to recover bit by bit.

That was right, a few minutes ago, following a roar of "Enemy attack," overwhelming bombs fell from the sky, as dense as a rainstorm.

Although Bumblebee relied on his agile movements and was not hit by a single aerial bomb,

there were simply too many bombs falling from the sky; Bumblebee was repeatedly flipped and blown over by the shockwaves of nearby explosions, and Sam and Mikaela, sitting inside the car, were jolted dizzy more than once, even hitting their heads on the steering wheel and other parts of the car, both passing out.

"Quick, Sam..."

Bumblebee urged again, his voice having become very urgent and nervous.

His urging brought Sam, who was recalling what he had just experienced, back to his senses; noticing that Bumblebee had started moving again, Sam subconsciously glanced forward.

It was this glance that made his eyes widen sharply.

As far as his sight could reach, at most a few hundred meters away, rows of vehicles continuing to drive forward looked as if a sandstorm had formed in the desert.

The black and white police car in the lead immediately awakened a memory deep in Sam's mind that he had almost forgotten.

Barricade!

PS:

Astrotrain in the animated version can transform into a Rockwell Space Shuttle and a Japanese National Railways D51 steam locomotive; the B-1 bomber also comes from the North American Aviation division under Rockwell, so this is a joke.

Vertex