Rad, Eostia_

"So this is how we kick the bucket?" Maia thought to herself as he decapitated an imp that had jumped at her with a dagger

It had only been several hours ago that Maia, and all those around her, received that cryptic message from the dying soldier, and now that message has come true.

They were being attacked on all sides, ground and air. Maia had prepared the city guards, the local militia, all present members of her Rose group, and any present Black Dog mercenaries, currently being lead by Hicks.

They were doing well against the regular monsters that were under Olga's sway, having reduced them by a quarter. Having some of the best mercenaries around will do that.

So why weren't they getting the job done faster?

The new monsters that accompanied the regular batch, they were something that the people of the Seven Shield Alliance have never dealt with in the history of this war.

They were as the now dead soldier described them. Large, insect-like creatures with a haunting screech, attacking the Rad from land and air, spewing some strange and powerful fire magic from their horns that even the local mages couldn't combat against.

The citizens went into panic, some trying to hide from the oncoming attack as the horde and swarm never once let up in their assault.

Maia led her Rose Company and half of Rad's militia while Hicks led the other half, along with the Black Dogs currently stationed in Rad.

Currently, Hicks and those under his command were trying to hold off any of the attackers in the streets.

Ripping his sword from the throat of an orc, Hicks gritted his teeth in frustration.

"When that dead scout said that these jackasses were made of metal..." Hicks started as he cut off the right arm of an attacking orc. "I thought he just meant they had tough skin. I didn't think he was being serious!" He yelled out as he then decapitated the orc whose arm he had cut off

Hicks and the Black Dogs had their work cut out for them. They were skilled and renowned for taking on the usual monsters of Olga's army, but these nightmarish bugs... they were a different breed of monster all together. Everything that scout had told Hicks and Maia was true. Large, hellish, metal insects that looked like rhinoceros beetles. They were a breed of beast that Hicks was sure no one on Eostia had ever seen, nor dealt with.

And the craziest thing about them? They could Transform.

These insectoid beasts were attacking from sky and land. For the ones that landed and attacked the roads and streets of Rad, every part of their bodies shifted and contorted until they stood upright, becoming metallic humanoid insects with sharp claws, spike pauldrons and red visor-esc eyes, accompanied by razor sharp teeth and two mandibles.

These new beasts that Olga had sent their way were tossing the Black Dogs like rag dolls. Only the mages seemed to deter the beasts, but that didn't mean they made dents into whatever their hides were made of.

It was a day like this that Hicks wished he had that nerd by his side, Kin, head mage of the Black Dogs and left-hand man of Volt. Hell, Hicks would have actually gone with any person powerful in magic right about now, even if that meant Celestine herself, even that recluse sorceress elf, Knoll, but nope.

It was like the world just decided to give Hicks and the Black Dogs one giant "fuck off" and left them to fend off what Hicks was starting to think were actual demons straight from Hell.

Right now, Hicks and the Black Dogs we're dealing with two of the metallic beasts who were currently in their humanoid forms. Every time someone tried to attack them, the demons would just smack them away with their clawed hands.

There were still some civilians in the area, mostly women, as some of the other monsters tried to have their way with them. Though to Hicks's, and everyone else's surprise, these new beasts of Olga either didn't get along with the other monsters, or they didn't like rape, because the moment an orc tried to tear off the clothes of a middle-aged woman, one of the metallic beasts grabbed that orc by the head, and ripped it clean off.

The other monsters growled and roared at the action, but one of those nightmarish  screeches from the two beasts told the other monsters to shut up, and that they didn't care, and it seemed to work as the other monsters cowered away from them.

However, before more fighting could continue, another of the beasts landed and transformed right in front of Hicks, though this beast was definitely different than the others.

This one was a bit more green than that of his kin, scars and scratches all over his body that kind of reminded Hicks of Volt in a way.

The beast rose his right arm, telling the other two metallic beasts behind him to halt in their tracks, as this new beast looked straight at Hicks.

"Human." The beast spoke as it pointed to Hicks. "Are you in charge of this city's militia?"

Looking a little confused at the amount of intelligence behind the beast's voice, Hicks soon steeled himself and pointed his blade at the beast. "Who's asking?"

"I am Hardshell. General of the Insecticon hive, and by decree of her majesty, we are to conquer the city of Rad. Take us to the leader of this city, so that we may discuss your surrender. This is a battle you have already lost." Hardshell said as he looked Hicks dead in the eyes.

"Listen here dickhead, I've face way uglier guys than you. If you think I'm just gonna keel over, than you've got another thing comin'!" Hicks spat back at Hardshell as his Black Dogs got ready to fight

"So be it..." Hardshell quietly said as the other two Insecticons transformed into their alt modes, their horns lighting up

Hardshell merely raised his right hand, pointing one finger in the direction of the Black Dogs and uttered one order.

"Fire."

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Kuroinu———Kuroinu

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As of now, Maia was leading her Rose Company in counteracting against a group of orcs in the courtyard by the palace of Rad.

Maia, while using her her two swords, swiftly twirled and decapitated two oncoming orcs that were charging at her with clubs.

"Incoming!!" One of her Roses called out to everyone

Maia looked up to see three of the large insect-like beasts came spiraling down towards Maia and her group, their horns lighting up with a sinister orange glow.

Widening her eyes, Maia looked toward her mercenary company.

"Take cover!!" Maia called out as the insecticons fired their horn blasts at the Mercenary Queen and her company

The women in Maia's group were able to avoid the shots in time, however the same could not be said for the men that were fighting with the Rose Company, who were not as agile as the women and were caught in the blaster fire, said attack going right through their armor, killing them as spoke poured and spilled from their mouthed and eyes as their insides became singed.

The three insecticons spiraled down towards the courtyard and transformed into their robot modes, flexing their claws in preparation for battle, one of them roaring out a screeching battle cry.

"RRRIIIIAAAEEEHHH!!!"

Maia and her group circled around each other as they soon became surrounded by the three insecticons and the rest of the orcs.

Maia gritted her teeth as she held her fighting stance, staring into the burning red visor of one of the insecticons.

"What are these bastards? They look like demons and fight like berserkers. There's no way in Hell that even Olga could tame these guys. They're too brutal and violent, even for the likes of those under her employ." Maia though to herself as she and her Rose Company got ready to continue their fight

However, just as a few of the orcs began to charge at Maia and her company, a voice broke through the air.

"Halt!!" A voice boomed throughout the courtyard, prompting everyone to find the source of the voice

Hearing the familiar beating of wings, Maia looked up, her eyes widening a bit as she saw a roughed up Hicks in the grasp of one of the insect creatures they were fighting.

Hicks was tossed towards the group by the large insect, yelling a bit as he thrown towards Maia and her group, hitting the ground next the group of women.

A few of her girls helped Hicks up as Maia looked towards the insecticon that threw Hicks as it transformed into a humanoid creature like the rest, the key difference with this one being that he was much greener, and had a lot more scars, heavily noticeable, Maia might add.

"Now who the Hell are you?" Maia asked the scared insecticon as she got into a fighting stance

"I am Hardshell. General of the Insecticon hive, leader of this assault." Hardshell told the Shield Princess as he looked her in the eye

"So, apparently you guys have names. That fun to know." Maia said as she tried to size up Hardshell, getting a sense that he knows more of battle than that of his kin. "Though I gotta say, it's not like someone to halt a battle in the middle of a siege without good reason. So what'd ya want?"

"Observant you are. Are you Maia, Shield Princess knight of the fortress city Rad; The Mercenary Queen?" Hardshell asked

"That's right..." Maia trailed off as she could see a two other insecticons flying overhead towards them

"Your ally has told me of your skill and stubbornness." Hardshell started as he pointed to Hicks. "Against a regular attack of orcs, you would most likely be victorious."

"As much as I like all this flower talk, how about you just get to the point." Maia said as she narrowed her eyes at Hardshell

"Very well. By decree of her majesty, we are to take the fortress city of Rad. But know that we are not without mercy. Surrender, and the needless deaths of those within this city shall cease." Hardshell informed Maia

"I gotta say, Olga's got a lot of balls if she thinks she can send out a new batch of goons to take down a major city of the Seven Shield Alliance." Maia retorted

"My brothers only work with Olga Discordia. It is with our Queen, Misery Stentrem, that we hold undying fealty to." Hardshell said as the other insecticons growled in agreement

"So it's the witch who's responsible for these guys.... gotta say, she's outdone herself this time." Maia thought to herself

"What makes you think we'll surrender just like that?" One of the women from the Rose Company asked Hardshell

"This is a losing battle. I commemorate your valiant efforts, but the victor of this day has already been decided." Hardshell elaborated as he moves his left arm, his palm open as he pointed to the all of the destruction in the area

"Oh please. Don't think we don't know what will happen if we do surrender. I know what the monsters of Garan do to women and children." Maia spat out to the Insecticon General

"What these orcs and imps want have no importance within the hive. You have our word that these cretans will not lay a single touch upon your people." Hardshell replied, however, this got the ire of all the orcs that were present in the courtyard

"What does bug man talk about?!" One of the orcs called out to Hardshell

"Hold your tongue abomination!" One of the other Insecticons replied back

"We here to kill men and use women to make stronger brood. If bugs deny us women, then we kill bugs." A large grey orc, nearly the size of Hardshell said as he walked towards the Insecticon General, a large spiked club in hand

"Is that right?" Hardshell asked lowly as he flexed his claws

The nearby Insecticons and orcs started to growl at each other as the orcs brandished their weapons.

"You will obey, or you will learn the consequences." Hardshell growled at the grey orc

"No! You learn!" The grey yelled out as he raised his spiked club

The orc swung, hitting Hardshell in the head, forcing the Insecticon to faulted only by an inch.

The grey orc pulled back a bit, wondering why his strength didn't allow him to knock the head off of Hardshell.

"Let me show you how it's done." Hardshell growled as he rose back up, suddenly seeming taller than he was before

Before the grey orc could even move, Hardshell swung his right arm at the orc's head, claws bared. The moment Hardshell struck, an audience slicing sound could be heard throughout the courtyard, soon accompanied by a thump.

Maia and her company, all the orcs, and all the Insecticons peered at Hardshell, the claws on his right hand soaked in blood as the grey orc's lifeless body was on the ground, blood spilling from a neck that was missing a head, said head having landed a few feet away from the corpse.

Seeing one of their kin killed before them, the other orcs roared at the Insecticons and charged them.

Hardshell roared, prompting the other nearby Insecticons to roar as well as they charged the orcs, all the them ignoring Maia and her group.

Maia, Hicks, and the Rose Company watched as the Insecticons and orcs started infighting with each other, though more so the Insecticons tearing into the orcs and ripping them to threads.

Maia looked towards the damaged Hicks as he was trying to hold his footing.

"What happened?" Maia asked

"That one-hngh, Hardshell. He's a monster. Tore right through the boys without much effort. We can't take him, we need to evacuate." Hicks grunts in pain as one of the girls held Hicks over her shoulder

Maia looked at how easily Hardshell and his few Insecticons were ripping through the large amount of orcs, something that required a large battalion of soldiers or Black Dogs in order to accomplish.

Maia cursed to herself as she knew their odds were very slim. Looking to her girls and Hicks, she knew what they needed to do, and that they needed to do it fast.

"*sigh* Right, we need to get out of here, quickly. Those orcs aren't going to distract the big guys long enough." Maia whispered to her group. "We get to the inner city, regroup, save as many people as we can, and try to figure out a way to deal with the bugs."

Hicks and the Rose Company nodded as they all started to try and quietly escape from the courtyard, though since they needed to help an injured Hicks, it hampered their chances.

While this was happening, half of the orcs in the area were now slaughtered at the hands of the Insecticons, and the numbers continued to grow, something that even the dim witted orcs started to notice.

Hardshell grabbed an orc by the throat and lifted him in the air, brandishing his claws as he prepared to strike, a low growl escaping his slightly agape maw.

However, the orc dropped his weapon and rose in hands in surrender, fear written on his face as he tried to speak with his windpipes being blocked

"Wait! Gah-wait! Give! Give!" The orc cried in a hoarse voice, causing Hardshell to halt himself

The other orcs in the area spouted similar things as they saw that they were loosing badly, several them about to be skewered by a few of the insecticons as they pleaded for their lives.

Hardshell brought the orc to his face, his red visor blaring into the orcs skull.

"You take orders from me, no questions, no complaints. Am I understood?" Hardshell asked in a low yet deadly voice

The orc just nodded repeatedly in fear as Hardshell just let him go, the orc falling to the ground on his back.

The other Insecticons let up and let go of the remaining orcs in the courtyard that were still alive and breathing.

However, this prompted Hardshell to turn his head back to Maia and her group, only to see them trying to sneak out of the courtyard, something Maia spotted.

"Shit." Maia muttered as her eyes locked with Hardshell's visor.

"After them!!" Hardshell ordered as the nearby Insecticons , transforming into their insect modes as they started to begin their chase, the rest of the orcs quickly getting up, grabbing their weapons as they did the same

"Shit, this is going to get bad." Maia said as she brandished her two swords

"We're dead." Hicks said with a look of fear as he held onto his sword

"Hold fast!" Maia yelled to her girls as they prepared fo the inevitable battle

However, just as one of the Insecticons went in to strike at Maia, a loud howl could be heard coming from the right of them.

The Insecticon has little time to react before he was intercepted by a large, white, metallic wolf with teal, black, and purple ascents to it.

The robotic wolf mauled and batted at the insecticon, grabbing him in its jaws, shaking violently before tossing him back at the rest of the dumbfounded Insecticons.

"What?!" Hardshell yelled as he looked at the robotic white wolf.

The large robotic wolf growled at the Insecticons before charging again.

A few of the orcs tried to intercept the wolf, but were instead met by the claws of the wolf, slashing through the orcs like melted butter.

The wolf continued its charge at the Insections, aiming for the one that charged right him with his claws bare.

The Insecticon jumped at the robotic wolf, ready to tear at him with his claws, only for the wolf to duck and slide from underneath the lunging Insecticon. The Insecticon turned back to roar at the wolf, but the wolf was quick enough to pounce at the Insecticon, pinning him on the ground.

As this was going on, both groups looked at the display in shock. Hardshell and his Insecticons looked at the white wolf in shock and confusion because they had never seen anything like it on Selenus before, even before the Great Cataclysm. They wondered if this wolf was perhaps a byproduct of one of the old forging pits before everything went dark, or if the wolf was a disciple of 'Him'.

Meanwhile, Maia and her group were shocked at what they were seeing because before now, none of them could damage the Insecticons whatsoever, but lo and behold, this metallic white wolf was knocking them around like rag dolls.

As Maia watched on, she couldn't help but stare at the white wolf, thoughts forming in her head of just what it was.

"It definitely isn't one of those Insecticon guys." Maia thought to herself. "And it definitely doesn't look like it's with them either. However, that begs the question of if it's with us." Maia thought as she watched the ongoing fight with everyone else

The Insecticon tried to keep the chomping jaws of the wolf from getting at him. Just then, another Insecticon transformed into his insect mode and flew at the wolf, knocking the wolf off of his comrade with and audible clang of metal. His horn could not tear through the metal of the wolf, so the Insecticon went for another approach.

The wolf was found himself within the grasp of the flying Insecticon, being carried high in the air, most likely to be dropped from higher heights in order to be incapacitated. However, Sixshot had other ideas.

Chomping at the Insecticon's legs, the Insecticon's grasp on Sixshot was loosened a bit, allowing for Sixshot to push himself away from the Insecticon's grasp.

He started to fall back to the courtyard, only to do something that confused Maia, and shock Hardshell and his Insecticons.

He soon transformed into his starship mode, thrusters activating as he soon flew through the air, flying higher than the Insecticon had gone, before soon nosediving back down towards the Insecticon that was in the air.

"Impossible. A Cybertronain? Here?" Hardshell said to himself as he saw the alt mode the wolf took before looking to his brothers. "Take to the skies. Bring him down!"

Heading Hardshell's orders, three of the Insecticons transformed into their insect modes and gunned for the nosediving Sixshot.

"Now we're talking." Sixshot said to himself as he activated his weapons system

He fired down on the incoming Insecticons, hitting the wings of the one that carried him into the air, and hitting the sides of the three that were gunning for him.

Sixshot then transformed into his robot mode, pulling out his katana as he awaited for the combatants to come to him.

One of the Insecticon went for Sixshot, but was met with a blade being plunged into his back as Sixshot stabbed into the Insecticon and held onto him.

The Insecticon screeched in pain as Sixshot plunged his blade deeper into the hide of the Insecticon, using his spare hand to grab onto the Insecticon's horn, twisting it to the right and directing it to one of the other three airborne Insecticons.

The Insecticon that Sixshot was heading for saw him coming towards him, his sword plunged into the back of one of his brethren as Sixshot directed the other Insecticon in his direction.

The Insecticon tried to swerve away from the other Insecticon, but Sixshot had made sure that the Insecticon he was on was going fast enough, mainly by twisting his blade in its back.

The other Insecticon didn't get to move enough in time, allowing for Sixshot to drive the horn of the other Insecticon into its spark chamber, killing it.

Sixshot withdrew his blade from the other Insecticon before pulling out one of his blasters. Aiming the end of the blaster at the head of the Insecticon he was riding, he fired several time as smoke came from the Insecticon's head, its eyes becoming pitch-black as it died.

The two Insecticon husks fell to the earth, Sixshot backflipping off the one he was on as he looked up at the other two Insecticons, both of them nosediving towards him from above.

Seeing this, Hardshell's jaw became ajar in shock. This was no ordinary warrior, and was more skill than his Insecticon brethren. Hardshell tightened his claws in anger at what he was seeing, but soon remembered his purpose in Rad.

Hardshell looked towards Maia and her group, seeing that they were watching the spectacle of the white Cybertronian defeat the Insecticon with swiftness and ease.

With the arrival of the Cybertronian, Hardshell may not be able to take Rad, but he would make sure that he captured the Shield Princess in the name of his Queen.

"Bring me the Mercenary Queen!" Hardshell barked his order, getting everyone's attention

Hearing this, several of the Insecticons, and the remaining orcs in the courtyard, gunned for Maia, something Maia took quick notice of.

"Everyone, fall back! Retreat to the inner city!" Maia ordered to her group as they continued on with their initial plan.

From above, Sixshot heard Hardshell's order as well, looking down to see the Insecticons and the orcs charging for Maia and her group. He saw that Insecticons were faster than Maia and her group, already starting to grasp onto them and trying to take them captive.

"Not on my watch." Sixshot said narrowing his eyes before looking back to the other two airborne Insecticons gunning form him.

Sixshot fired at the Insecticons, hitting one in the wings, sending it smoking just below Sixshot as it soon spiraled down towards the courtyard and into several of the Insecticons that were grasping for Maia and her group, knocking several of them back.

This gave the group the group more time to make their way to the inner city gates, which would lead them to the the city fortress/palace.

However, this wasn't the only thing Sixshot did.

Sixshot seemed to phase out a bit before he glowed a white hue, and from his person, spawned 5 white wolves that were similar in size and shape to that of his wolf mode.

They descended upon the other Insecticons and started to battle with them, preventing them from getting to Maia and her group.

Maia looked up at the metallic, white warrior, shocked at what he just did, but was also innerly thanking him for buying them some time.

However as the Insecticons were battling with the white wolves, the orcs started were still on their way to get to Maia and her group, and seeing as how Hicks was still injured and now being carried by two of her girls, she knew that they couldn't just run without losing a few members along the way.

They would need to run and gun if they were going to make sure everyone got through the gates.

Gritting her teeth, Maia looked back to several of her Rose Company and gave out her orders. "Brea! Marigold! Sarah! Maria!" Maia called out to several of her girls, one having white hair, one having blonde hair, the third one having brown hair, and the other one having black hair. "With me! We're going to buy the others some time!"

Hearing this, the four girls nodded, but another of the Company, Roxanne, a girl with blue hair, called back to her leader

"But what about you?!" Roxanne called back to Maia

"Don't worry about us! Tell the guards to close the gates, and activate the wards for the dome barrier! I'll try and hold them off!" Maia yelled back to Roxanne "Don't worry, we'll be right behind you!" Maia told her with a reassuring smirk.

Looking back to the oncoming orcs, Maia and the members of her Company that were staying with her got ready for the oncoming attack. "Now go!" Maia ordered to Roxanne who begrudgingly nodded

The rest of the Rose Company got closer to the gates, some already starting to get through them, though there were still some that were still on their way, most notably Hicks and the two that were carrying him to the gates.

Roxanne ran as fast as she could, yelling out to the guards that controlled the gates.

"Close the gates! Activate the barrier!" Roxanne yelled out to the guards, hoping that they would hear her

The messaged was apparently heard, because soon enough, the gates started to close. As this was going on, bright wards started to activate on the walls of the inner city, glowing a brilliant vermillion. As they glowed, a magical red barrier started to form a dome over the inner city and palace. This would hopefully prevent any of the Insecticons from getting into the inner city

Maia and the four girls army were with her watched as the gate slowly closed, the barrier forming above the inner city.

"Thank you Kaguya and Celestine." Maia thought to herself. "If only we could have had this done to the entire city." Maia thought grimly to herself as she looked back at the oncoming orcs, gripping her fingers around her two swords.

"Let's show these bastards why you don't mess with the Rose Company." Maia told to her girls as the orcs got closer. "Cause ya' get the thorns!" Maia yelled as she charged at one of the orcs, something mimicked by the four women that stayed behind with her.

Back with Sixshot, the fourth Insecticon grabbed onto him, but that did not deter the ex-six phaser. He used his katana to slice of a few of the legs of the Insecticon, freeing him up to place his blaster away and grab onto the Insecticon's horn with his now free hand.

He used the horn to hop onto the Insecticon, forcefully aiming the horn down towards the courtyard, adding his weight to the Insecticon's back.

The Insecticon spiraled down towards the courtyard with Sixshot on its back, the other Insecticon having already crash landed down below.

The Insecticon got closer to the ground, and when they were close enough, Sixshot used his sword to slice off one of the Insecticon's wings, causing the Insecticon to screech in pain.

Sixshot, still holding onto the Insecticon's horn, hoped up and off the Insecticon, but not before quickly twirling right with his sword in hand and aimed it at the Insecticon's neck.

His katana made its mark, and Sixshot watched as the head of the Insecticon was flung from his body, leaving a smoking area of decapitation on the body, flames starting to ignite as Sixshot landed on the ground.

The headless body of the Insecticon crash landed into the ground of the courtyard, exploding on impact as its head landed and bounced away a bit, landing right somewhere off to the side.

Sixshot landed back into the courtyard with his sword buried in the dirt, sitting in a kneeled position before rising up and swiftly yanking his sword from the ground, flinging any excess dirt from it as he looked towards the ongoing battle.

He wolf clones were having a stalemate matchup against the Insecticons, something Sixshot held nothing but pride for.

However, with that said, Sixshot didn't want to be left out of the fight. He looked around the courtyard, trying to find someone worthy enough to go up against.

Looking further beyond, more towards the section of the courtyard that led to the inner city, Sixshot looked spotted several humans, females from the looks of it, fending off against those fat, large, green-skinned organics.

Sixshot had to hand it to the women, they definitely seemed good in a fight. Not on his level of good, but good nonetheless.

There was one woman out of the five that seemed to pique Sixshot's interest. The woman had red hair and blue eyes, wearing a headband over her hair. Her clothing—the upper garments, or shirt, as Sixshot remembered, was more red, while her lower garments, pants, were a more dark blue color—definitely seemed more open for what humans usually wear, but who was he to judge? It's not like Transformers wear clothes.

However, he seemed almost... attracted to the sight of her for some reason. Sixshot couldn't really explain what it was that he found interesting about her, especially for a human. Sure she seemed the more skilled of the five women, but Sixshot felt as if there was more to it.

Eh, who knows. Maybe some of his internal wiring was messed up when they crossed dimensions. He'll have to have Tarantulas do an internal scan of his systems latter on.

That being said, Sixshot remembered on what Soundwave said about him doing the talking, and while Sixshot was fine with his new boss doing the negotiations, he kinda wanted to make and acquaintance with the red-headed human female.

That is if she didn't end up being afraid of him like the majority of Autobots and Decepticons usually were when he was around any of them.

As Sixshot watched the ongoing fight, he noticed one of the Insecticons—the one with the scars running along his entire person—starting to stalk his way over to the red-headed woman and her group.

Tightening his grip on his blade, and smirking underneath his face-plate, he placed both hands on the hilt of his katana, activating its dual function. The blade was soon split into two twin katanas, excellent for sword play against multiply enemies.

Back with Maia and her girls, they just finished off the last of the orcs that attacked them in the courtyard—the ones that weren't killed by Hardshell and the Insecticons for insubordination. Yanking her sword from the throat of one of the orcs, Maia wiped a bit of sweat from her brow due to the exhaustion of battle.

Looking back towards the closing gates, she smiled as she saw that the rest of her Rose Company, along with the injured Hicks, had made it through to the inner city.

That being said, Maia and the four women with her were going to have to book it if they were going to make through the closing gates.

"Alright, ladies, let's get moving! Those gates aren't gonna wait on us." Maia said to the four women of her Rose Company, all of them nodding as the five women started to sprint towards the gates.

The five women started to run towards the gates, however just as they got closer to the closing gates, Maia found herself being halted by an arm that grasped onto her shoulder.

"GAaAhH!!" Maia screamed in pain as sharp, metal claws dig into her shoulder, soon being slammed into the ground, gasping in pain.

"MAIA!!" The four women screamed as they tried to help her, however they froze slightly at who was the culprit behind attacking Maia.

Lo and behold, it was Hardshell, his red visor blaring like the sun as he growled.

Maia groaned as she held onto her shoulder in pain. She looked up at Hardshell, gritting her teeth in pain, anger, and fear as she saw the Insecticon General looking down at her.

"With the Cybertronian's appearance, I may not be able to take this city." Hardshell spoke as he grabbed Maia by her head, causing her to gasp in pain as his claws squeezed against her skull. "But I will see to it that I bring you before Olga and my Queen."

However, just as Hardshell turned around, he was met face to face with the edge of a blade. He noticed just in time to avoid death, but he didn't avoid it in time in order to avoid pain.

Hardshell screeched in pain as his left mandible was sliced from his face, causing him to stumble back a bit and prompting him to drop Maia from his grasp.

Maia fell to the ground, crawling back a bit as her girls went to pick her up. The Mercenary Queen looked to see who attacked Hardshell, widening her eyes a bit as she saw the white-clad warrior that actually put a dent into the Insecticons advances.

"An organic against a metal bug?" Sixshot asked as he tailed his katanas a bit, walking in front of Maia and the four women with her. "Doesn't seem all that fair." He said as he pointed his right katana at Hardshell. "Why don't you actually fight someone who's more to your skill set?"

Hardshell put a claw to his face, looking down to the side to see his sliced mandible on the ground.

Looking back up at the ex-six phaser, Hardshell growled at Sixshot before letting out an ear-piercing roar.

"RRRIIIIAAAEEEHHH!!"

Hardshell charged at Sixshot in blind rage, only for Sixshot to take on one of his other alternate modes, that of his laser pistol mode, and firing a concentrated blast at the Insecticons.

It wasn't powerful enough to blast through Hardshell, but it was strong enough to send the Insecticon General flying back with smoke emitting from his outer-shell.

Once again, Maia and her girls were shocked at what they saw. They've thus only seen the Insecticon switch from bugs to monster-like humanoids. But this white warrior that had only just recently joined the battle; he was able to transform into more than just two forms, seeing as how he had a humanoid form, a wolf form, a form that seemed to be something that can fly, and something that looked like an oddly shaped cannon—if what just happened was anything to go by.

Sixshot switched back to his robot mode, his swords in his hands as he looked at where Hardshell landed.

Before he could go back to fighting Hardshell, him—along with Maia and the four women with her—turned back as they heard the sound of the gates closing.

"Shit." Maia cursed to herself as she continued to hold her shoulder that was slightly bleeding.

"Well..." Sixshot started, getting the attention of the five women. "I take it that was your only escape?"

"Uh... kinda." Maia said in slight pain as her girl helped her up. "W-who are you?" She asked as the five women looked at Sixshot

"Names Sixshot." Sixshot I introduced himself by pointing his blade his face before pointing it at Maia and the women with her. "You are?"

"M-Maia." Maia answered in pain

"Well Maia..." Sixshot said as he looked back at Hardshell, who was now getting up. "If the small amount of damage that you and your group did to these guys is anything to go on, you might want to stay behind me."

"Usually I would feel insulted by a comment like that..." Maia said as she too watched Hardshell get up. "But I guess you're right in this case."

"Hmph. I can tell this is the start of an interesting friendship." Sixshot said as he looked at the fuming Hardshell.

Hardshell scrunched his claws into fists before raising his voice in anger.

"INSECTICONS ATTACK!!" Hardshell screeched to his breatheren.

This in turn caused all Insecticons within Rad—the ones that weren't battling Sixshot's wolf clones—to fly into the area and behind Hardshell.

The Insecticon General just raised his left hand and pointed In Sixshot's direction, all the Insecticons starting to screech as they charged at Sixshot.

"Unless you still want to fight, I suggest you find cover." Sixshot said to Maia and her women. "It's show time." Sixshot said as his right sword was in a hanging stance, his left sword in a back stance.

Sixshot then sprinted at the oncoming Insecticons, more than prepared to clash his blades with Insecticon claws.

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Kuroinu———Transformers

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Earlier_

"This place has clearly seen better days." Laserbeak telepathically spoke to Soundwave as they neared Rad

"Right. Sixshot, you'll take towards the center of the city, eliminate any threats within that area." Soundwave gave his order to the ex-six phaser. "I—along with Ravage, Laserbeak, and Buzzsaw—will tend to the threats in the outer sections of the city."

"Roger." Was all Sixshot said in his wolf mode as he sprinted at a faster pace, soon climbing over the walls of Rad and hopping into the fray of battle.

Soundwave drove up to the walls of Rad, transforming into his robot mode as he observed the outer destruction brought upon Rad from the attack.

"Laserbeak, eject. Operation: Surveillance." Soundwave gave the order to his red and black falcon mini-con.

Following through with the order, Soundwave's chest opened up, allowing Laserbeak to shoot out and transform into his falcon-based mode.

Flying over the walls of Rad, Laserbeak observed the destruction that the Insecticons and Olga's monsters had befell upon the city.

Flying back to Soundwave, Laserbeak landed on Soundwave's right arm.

"The destruction is severe. Insecticons have done a number on this place, though when it comes to the barring of good news? Insecticons are fewer in number than that of those orcs and imps that Gaea told us about." Laserbeak gave his report to Soundwave.

Nodding in acknowledgment, Soundwave looked at the walls of Rad before facing Laserbeak.

"Fly overhead. Terminate as many as you can. Should the Insecticons take notice and try to overrun you, I shall send you my coordinates, and you are to return immediately." Soundwave relayed his order to Laserbeak, who nodded in return.

Flying off of Soundwave's arm, Laserbeak took back to the skies, activating his weapons systems as he searched for any would-be targets.

As Laserbeak went to fulfill his mission, Soundwave looked back to walls before him.

Taking a few steps back, Soundwave soon started to run towards the walls of Rad as fast as he could. When he got close enough, he jumped at the walls, gaining a holding thanks to his claw-like fingers—if he was still his original size, the trip over the walls would be very shorter, but since he was now nearly the size of a human in his robot mode, he had to make due with what he had.

Soundwave scaled the walls, climbing to the top as he got a better view of the destruction Laserbeak spoke of. There was fire, smoke, and destruction everywhere. Channeling in on his outlier capabilities, Soundwave could hear all the screams of fear and pain.

Soundwave honed in on the closet the of those screams, soon hearing the yelling voice of a women.

"[Get inside the church, children. Quickly, hide!]"

Soundwave turned his head northeast of him, locating the area from which the voice came from.

Soon hopping down from the walls that he should atop of, Soundwave decided to have his other two mini-cons join in the fray. Ejecting from Soundwave's chest, Buzzsaw and Ravage transformed into their respective alternate modes.

Ravage observed the damaged city, scowling a bit as memories of the Cybertronian war resurfaced.

"What's the plan?" Buzzsaw asked as he circled around Soundwave.

"You will take on the same task as Laserbeak. Takes to the skies and eliminate any threats from above." Soundwave gave his order to Buzzsaw. "Return should events become too difficult for you to handle alone."

"Got it." Buzzsaw said as he flew off, already sending off some blaster fire in the nearby area.

"So, that just leaves you and me, huh?" Ravage asked as he walked towards Soundwave. "Where do we start?"

"Follow me." Soundwave said as he started to run in the direction of the female voice he heard, Ravage following quickly and close behind him.

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Transformers———Kuroinu

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"Hurry, this way!"

As the battle raged on, the citizens of Rad either tried to take shelter or try their best to take up arms against the monsters of Garan and the new Insecticon threat.

However, not everyone was lucky in avoiding battle.

As of now, a young, blue-haired nun by the name of Madelyn was trying to hurry a group of children from the orphanage into a hidden bunker underneath the church.

"Get inside the church children. Quickly, hide!" Madelyn told the group of children as she ushered them into the church, all the while keeping a lookout for any orcs or imps, praying that she wouldn't be found by an Insecticon.

Madelyn has just got the children inside and was about to enter herself, only for her eyes to widen in shock and fear as she spotted seven imps and two orcs headed their way.

Making haste, Madelyn quickly entered through the church doors, causing it to slam while doing so as she locked the doors from inside.

"I think I heard something!" The voice of an imp said as Madelyn could hear footsteps hurrying over to the door.

Spotting the children who cowered in fear at the battle that was waging on, Madelyn rushed over to them.

"Quickly, over here, children." Madelyn said as she opened up a locked iron-hatch door right below the alter.

One by one, the children started to rush their way into the cellar below the alter, however as they were doing so, banging could be heard coming from the church doors.

"Quickly now!" Madelyn whisper-yelled to the children as they started to get frightened at what was to come.

Just as the last child entered into the hidden cellar, Madelyn and the children jumped when they heard the sound of wood being smashed into splinters.

Madelyn didn't even need to turn her head to see what had happened as she heard the gruff and weasley voices of the orcs and imps bleeding into the church.

"There's a nun in there!" An imp called out

"I want a piece of her!" Rang the voice of another imp.

"Break door down faster!" Cried the gruff voice of one of the orcs that were breaking down the doors to the church.

Deciding that there wouldn't be enough time for her to hide with the children without having the horrid beasts notice them, Madelyn decided that she would instead use herself as bait to draw the monsters' attention away.

Madelyn started to close and lock the hatch to the secret cellar before on of the children, a young boy with blonde hair, spoke to her.

"What about you, sister?" The boy asked in a scared tone.

Madelyn put on a sad smile, but did her best to reassure the child. "Everything will be alright child. The Goddess is watching over you." And with that, she closed the door and locked the hatch, placing the keys back in her pocket.

Just as she did so, the orcs and imps had gotten through, causing Madelyn to turn around, scared by their presence, but trying to save face all the same as she looked at the face of evil.

One of the two orcs, who held a spiked club in his hand, stepped forward, ogling at the nun before him as he licked his lips in lust.

"Lookie, lookie, boys. We have a new toy for us to bring back to Garan." The orc spoke, clearly more intelligent than most orcs, but feral nonetheless.

"What we waiting for?! Let's pin her now!" The second, dumber and more eager orc who wielded a large axe roared out in uncontrolled lust, wanting nothing more then to stuff his large member into Madelyn's womb, little care for if it'd actually fit inside of her.

"Yeah!!" Two of the imps agreed with the other orc, the other five imps howling and nodding in agreement with their brethren.

The monsters were about to attack Madelyn, but stopped a halted when Madelyn pulled out a dagger and held it to her own throat.

"I'd rather die then become some plaything time any of you." Madelyn said in defiance

This caused the imps and the second orc to jeer and howl at Madelyn, but halted when the orc with the spiked club raised his fist, signaling them to shut up.

"Where are they?" The orc asked as he lowered his fist, watching as Madelyn still held the dagger to her throat.

"I don't know what you're talking about, unholy beast." Madelyn retorted in slight fear as she stood her ground, hoping that the orc wouldn't catch onto the fact that the children were hidden in the church.

"I know you're hiding them somewhere. The children." The orc spoke with a wicked smirk as Madelyn accidentally flinched when he mentioned the kids. "I smelt them in the way into this place." The orc stated.

"T-there aren't any children here." Madelyn said as she still had the dagger in her hands.

At this, the orc just scoffed. "Go ahead and kill yourself. Me any my boys won't leave this church until we find the children. I know well that girls will make more brood faster than older women, and the boys will go right well in a stew." The orc stated, his friends catching onto what he was trying to do.

"No!!" Madelyn said in horror at the orcs words, now aiming the dagger in the direction the orc. "You can't!!"

"Is that so?" The orc asked, looking over to his kin and t he imps who just cackled in delight. The orc then decided to face back to Madelyn with an evil smile. "Then may-haps we can trade?" The orc suggested

"A t-trade?" Madelyn asked in fear.

"We have your way with you, and we won't look for the children." The orc answered for Madelyn. "All you have to do is throw away the dagger."

Madelyn didn't know what to do at this point. On the one hand, she could just end herself and hope that the monsters won't discover the children. On the other, she could prevent them from looking for the children if she gave herself up to these beasts. It was an ultimatum that would end bad for her either way, but either way might lead to the children's safety.

After waiting around a minute, the orc with a club shrugged at the nun. "Suit yourself." The orc said as he looked towards the imps. "Go find the—." The orc started but what soon stopped in his sentence.

"Wait!" Madelyn interrupted the orc before she let out a saddened sigh as she tosses the dagger away. "You can have your way with me. Just leave the children alone." Madelyn spoke dejectedly.

"See? Was that so hard?" The orc asked as he grinned evilly at Madelyn. "Now... why don't you lift your tunic up, eh?"

Madelyn flinched when the orc made his request, but did so nonetheless—no matter how reluctant she was.

Madelyn slowly lifted her tunic, eyes the lustful gazes of the monsters as the ever slowly neared their prize.

However, just as she was about to reveal her undergarments for the monsters to see—and most likely tear off—a new voice brought through the air.

"That's far enough." A deep, dark, and almost distorted sounding voice that spoke as if it belonged to Death itself, prompted the monsters, and Madelyn, to look at who the voice belonged to.

Looking back at the broken down entrance to the church, Madelyn and the monsters saw spotted two figures standing there, both metallic in appearance.

The first was tall, nearing the size of the orcs as he was dark blue in color, thighs and arms grey with red rims going around his arms. He had spiky blue pauldrons with what appeared to be wheels of some embedded inside of them. His chest was broad with a golden lines that surrounded a broad glass component at the center of his chest, said component bearing a crowned, purple symbol upon it. His hands were clawed, kneecaps spiked as his boots where pointed. His head was adorned with a blue helm that had grey vents on each side of it, his face covered by metallic mask and a large red visor as his helm was topped off with a blue, four-pronged crown that glowed purple. Upon his right shoulder rested an almost cylindrical blue object with a red ring around it, at its center it glowed a bright red.

The other person, or rather the next thing they saw was what appeared to be a large metallic cat of sorts, a jaguar perhaps, that had red eyes, silver thighs, sharp claws, and two black cylindrical objects—each resting above its hind legs. The last thing everyone noticed was that it's tail ended with a fork-like blade.

They did not know who or what they were, but their names would soon be known to all of Selenus as Soundwave and Ravage.

"Who are you?!" The orc with the axe yelled at Soundwave.

"It's more of those metal walkers." One of the imps spoke out.

"But they don't look like the ones with us." Another imp replied

Soundwave and Ravage just slowly walked over to the monster group.

"Hey! We found this bitch first. If you got a pro—ArRRgH!!" One of the imps started to speak towards Soundwave but was swiftly interrupted when one of Soundwave's cables shot out of from the side of his chest, moving in a drilling motion as it shot through the mouth of the imp, and through his neck, killing him.

Everyone else stared in shock at why just happened as Soundwave withdrew his cable, causing the imp's body to fall limp—Soundwave flinging the blood of his cable as it receded back into his body.

"Who ever said we where friends?" Ravage spoke rhetorically, getting into his fighting stance.

"RAARRGGHH!!" The axe wielding orc let out a feral roar as he charged at Soundwave.

He raised his axe and swung down on the blue Decepticon, only to blink in confusion as his axe was blocked by Soundwave's forearm.

"What?!" The axe wielding orc asked in shock and anger as he went for more swings at Soundwave.

With each swing of his axe, whether it be left or right, Soundwave kept blocking each blow until the blue Decepticon had enough.

After ducking under the axe as the orc attempted to hack at his head, Soundwave performed a roundhouse kick on the orc, sending him flying, and crashing into the alter.

The other orc and imps looked gobsmacked at what just happened, but that confusion slowly rose into anger as the orc with the spiked club growled at Soundwave.

"Alright, you asked for it. Get them!!" The orc shouted as the remaining six imps charged at Soundwave, all of them having daggers out.

"They're all yours." Soundwave spoke to Ravage as he watched the imps charge at the both of them.

Letting out a growl, Ravage charged at the group of imps with swiftness and finesse.

Ravage sank his fangs into the legs of one of the imps, thrashing him about as before flinging him to the left and sending his head into the walls of the church, smashing it on impact. A second imp tried to stab at Ravage, only to find that his dagger just bounced off the back of the mini-con. Seeing this, Ravage moved his head back, Jawa open as he bit into the torso of imp, swinging him left and right before slamming him to the ground, promptly swiping his sharp claws at the imp's throat to make sure the red demon was dead.

A third imp charged at Ravage with a war cry, only for Ravage to swiftly swing his tail at the imp, impaling him with the fork blade at the end of his tail, killing the imp.

Ravage just carelessly flung the corpse from his tail, looking back as the other five imps surrounded him.

As this was going on, Soundwave heard a charging motion coming towards his direction, turning his head to see the orc with the spiked club getting ready to swing a high strike at Soundwave's head.

The blue Decepticon went to intercept the spiked club with his right forearm, but as he did so, his arm transformed without him knowing.

A buzzing sound was heard, and a swift squelching noise came right after it.

"AArRgGHH!!" The orc cries out in pain as his left arm was nothing more then a stump spurting out gallons of blood.

Soundwave saw that his severed hand—the one that held the club—was now laying on the floor. He looked to see how this happened and found that his right hand had transformed into a form of plasma chainsaw.

Soundwave brought the chainsaw up to his face, inspecting it as the orcs blood seemed to evaporate due to the saw's plasma effects.

Swiftly moving it to the side, Soundwave revved up the chainsaw, its constant buzzing echoing throughout the church.

Soundwave halted the chainsaw's movements as he looked at the cowering orc.

"W-what are you?" The orc whimpered as he backed away from the approaching Decepticon, trying to use his other hand to cover the bloody stump that was his left arm.

Soundwave continued to walk over to the cowering orc as Ravage has just finished off the rest of the imps, spitting out a severed arm as he walked with the blue Decepticon.

Just when Soundwave's shadow loomed over the orc, the orc heard something that he would forever remember, even in the afterlife.

"Soundwave superior. Orcs Inferior." Soundwave spoke.

Right after that, Soundwave plunged his chainsaw through the orc, piercing through his chest. The orc screamed in pain and agony, only for his screams to rise louder as Soundwave revved his chainsaw through the rest of the orc.

Blood and smoke spurted from the screaming as Soundwave raised his chainsaw all the way through the orcs skull, silencing the brute as he soon pulled back his weapon, transforming it back into his hand.

Soundwave and Ravage watched as the two halves of the cleaved orc fell on his knees, both sides soon falling in the opposite directions of each other, no blood or organs having spilled out as the plasma chainsaw had cauterized the body as it cleaved through the orc.

Madelyn, who had taken cover earlier when the axe wielding orc was thrown back against the alter, watched with slight intrigue and horror as Soundwave and Ravage tore threw the monsters like they were paper. She was currently hiding behind some of the chairs in the room, breathing heavily as she watched the one-sided massacre.

" You can come out now." Soundwave spoke to Madelyn, shocking her as he turned his head towards the area she was hiding in. "We won't hurt you."

Madelyn hesitated for a few seconds before coming out of her hiding spot, slowly walking towards Soundwave and Ravage until she was nearly four feet in front of them.

"W-who... who are you two?" Madelyn asked with a hint of fear in her voice, yet was grateful for what the two Decepticons had done.

"Well, I'm Ravage." Ravage spoke to her, pointing a paw at himself before pointing his tail at Soundwave. "That's Soundwave." Ravage continued in his explanation to the nun. "And, were the good guys."

"We are here to assist." Soundwave elaborated to Madelyn.

Madelyn just dumbly nodded, not real knowing what to make of the two.

Just then, Soundwave turned his head to look at the secret hatch below the alter that to the hidden cellar.

"Go to them." Soundwave spoke to Madelyn.

"W-what?" Madelyn asked, fear still having its sway over her.

"The children. I can hear their whispers. They are afraid." Soundwave explained to Madelyn as he pointed his finger at the secret hatch. "Go to them."

Madelyn, after turning her head towards the hatch, the blue-haired nun soon realized that she still had the orphans down there. "R-right! Of course!" Madelyn said as she went towards the hatch.

However, just as she did so, all three of them heard groaning and looked back at the damaged alter to see that the axe wielding orc was starting to rise up.

"Looks like we missed one." Ravage commented to Soundwave.

Soundwave just revved his shoulder cannon as he saw the orc rise up.

The moment the orc looked back at Soundwave, he widened his eyes in shock as the turret upon Soundwave's shoulder spun swiftly, soon released powerful red bolts that blasted through the orc, biting holes through the orcs chest.

Soundwave eventually halted in firing off the rounds in his shoulder cannon, watching at the axe wielding orc—now filled with smoking holes—let out one last groan as he fell to the floor, dead.

Soundwave looked down to Ravage after the orc corpse fell. "No we didn't." Soundwave said as he started to leave, his mini-con following after him.

Madelyn looked at the corpse in shock as Soundwave and Ravage started to leave the church.

However, before the two Decepticons could exit the place of worship, the halted in their tracks as Madelyn spoke to them.

"Thank you! Sir Sounndwave. Sir Ravage." Madelyn said as she went over to the hatch, unlocking it so that she could check up on the children.

Soundwave nodded to the nun. "We'll come back to check upon your status, and the status of the children with you, when this battle is over." Soundwave told her as the two Decepticons started to walks off.

As Soundwave and Ravage exited the church, Madelyn couldn't help but look at their retreating figures with awe and slight admiration, wondering if this was the answer to the prayers of Rad's people, and by extension, the prayers of all the good in Eostia.

As Soundwave and Ravage started to looked around the battling city, Ravage spoke his mind to his leader.

"You know... after everything we've done, all the good, all the mistakes... I gotta admit, it's nice to get a thank you." Ravage said to Soundwave.

"This battle isn't over yet. It has only just begun." Soundwave spoke to Ravage as he activated his plasma chainsaw, turning his head to look at a group of orcs that were trying to have their way with two young women.

"Just like old times." Ravage said as he got into a pouncing position.

And with that, Soundwave and Ravage charged at the orcs, claws sharp, chainsaws at the ready as the threw themselves into the fray of battle.

End chapter.

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