If Verdant had learned anything about the human race so far, it was that they were incredibly bloodthirsty and loud. Miko was excited to tell Verdant all about the many monster truck battles she had witnessed, including disturbingly descriptive graphics about their deaths.
These monster truck battles sounded like glorified alt. modes just ramming into each other until there was only one left. It honestly made Verdant's gut churn, and she tried not to imagine getting trapped in the middle of one.
Wheeljack enthusiastically aided Miko in making Verdant uncomfortable, although Verdant had suspicions that doing so was his end goal, unlike Miko, who was entirely ignorant.
She ended up trying to stay away from them, something that Bulkhead was helping with. The two of them began to discuss the state of Decepticon affairs, including what had happened on Cybertron with the Omega Lock, what had happened to their base, and everything else the two of them deemed important enough to share.
After a few hours, the sight of a familiar ship filled the sky and landed in the centre of the arena. Wheeljack didn't look happy, but Verdant could have cared less.
The ramp came down, displaying her commander's feet, and Verdant immediately felt relieved.
"Verdant, what happened?"
"Decepticons, sir," she responded. "As I went to pick these two up, my scanners indicated their approach and—"
"And she flew right over a bomb I'd planted to blow the 'cons up," Wheeljack interrupted. "Then she crashed into a ravine, manipulated some 'cons, and I got to carry her out."
Verdant glared at him. "That's omitting some important details."
Ultra Magnus shook his helm. "You will need to fill me in on the events later. I have collected the other Autobots on this planet and we've gathered in a temporary base. We need to return there and plan an assault on the Decepticon citadel."
Bulkhead perked up. "You've got everyone?"
"Sir," Ultra Magnus corrected.
"Right, sorry, sir."
Magnus nodded. "All but Optimus Prime and Smokescreen are accounted for."
He slumped. "I see... sir."
"This is clearly the Ultra Magnus dude," Miko whispered to Bulkhead. "Oof."
Magnus looked at her with a frown. "Another human?"
"The best of them," Miko winked.
"Debatable," he replied before turning away and returning to his ship.
Verdant followed close behind. "Sir, I've been able to positively identify Starscream as the second in command and Megatron is here as well."
"I'm aware. This was explained to me by Arcee," he told her. "When we reach the temporary base, I will require you to assist their medic in setting up the groundbridge and monitoring communications. They should have transported the groundbridge to the base provided by the human government by now, but it will need work."
Verdant nodded. "I will begin immediately upon arrival."
"Not after you have Team Prime's resident medic look at the wound on your arm. It looks like you were hit by a rocket."
"I was."
Wheeljack poked his helm between them as Magnus began to lift off and fly out of the stadium. "Where did you find this ship?"
"Sir."
"Sir," Wheeljack added with a roll of his optics.
"We liberated it from a Decepticon fleet somewhere around the Dahtulatagus sector."
Wheeljack drooled at the dashboard. "Well, she is fabulous. Nice choice."
"Get back into the cabin, wrecker."
Verdant facepalmed.
Once Wheeljack was gone and no longer fangirling over his vessel, Ultra Magnus glanced at her again. "I flew by your ship on the way to pick you up, and it was in terrible shape, but I used my tractor beam to collect the majority. Once things settle down, you will need to repair it."
"Yes, sir."
"Until then, plug in and get to work."
Verdant nodded and stretched her arms before leaning forward. The plates on her back shifted up, covering her shoulders, and two long tentacles withdrew. She directed them toward the dashboard and clamped down, then small feelers ejected and slithered into the circuitry.
Immediately, countless lines of data filled her vision and Verdant's optics turned from blue to white.
They widened in shock almost instantly. "Sir, look ou–"
Something slammed into the side of the ship, sending it careening to the side. Ultra Magnus grunted and pulled against his controls, pressing a few buttons. Moments later, the weight let go of the ship with a roar.
He glanced at the radar. "What is that and why didn't we see it coming!?"
"A large Decepticon?" Verdant guessed. "Whatever it was advanced so quickly that it only showed up on radar for six seconds before it made impact. It's size is–"
"What was that!?" Miko demanded as Bulkhead and Wheeljack burst out of the cabin.
"It's coming back for round two!" Verdant shouted.
Ultra Magnus gripped the controls tightly. "Brace yourselves!"
Before their attacker could reach them, the ship plummeted. Ultra Magnus's faceplates were etched with determination and focus, and he pulled up only feet above the ground. A large cloud of dust rose up after them, followed by the vibrations of their attacker slamming into the ground.
"Verdant, take the weapons!"
"Yo, Bulkhead, she's like Soundwave!"
Verdant growled and expanded her range of motion, pulling in data from the weapons systems and rerouting the electrical grid to obey her command. Ultra Magnus swung the ship in a loop, causing the wreckers to stumble sideways. Their attacker was displayed on the main screen, but Verdant could only see her data now. A large red blip lit up the radar and she released fire at it.
"The 'cons got a dragon!?" Miko exclaimed. "Really!?"
"What's a dragon?" Ultra Magnus, Wheeljack, and Bulkhead all questioned simultaneously.
"Big flying lizard that breathes fire!"
"Well," Bulkhead grabbed the back of Verdant's chair for support as Ultra Magnus flew in wild evasive maneuvers, "at least it can't breathe fire."
The so-called dragon made a beeline for the clouds and Magnus followed, letting Verdant fire wildly into the fray. It roared before stretching it's wings and swiveling around, mouth hanging on and glowing red.
"Oh, frag."
Fire raced from the creature's mouth and straight at their ship in a condensed beam of flames. Ultra Magnus veered sharply to the left, but failed to entirely avoid the blast as it clipped one of the engine blocks. The ship shook violently.
"Sir, damage to thruster one is minimal, but–"
"Not now!" Magnus barked, his servos flying across the dashboard before the ship plummeted.
Miko covered her mouth with her hands and gagged, her face turning green.
"Open the hatch," Wheeljack suggested. "I'll throw a grenade back at it and start firing."
"Is there even an ounce of common sense in your processor?" Verdant demanded.
Ultra Magnus glanced at her, confused, and then decided to focus on flying them through a ravine and potentially avoid the dragon.
"Why not?" Wheeljack asked, a tad bit offended.
"If you throw a grenade out there, already ready to blow, the force of the dragon's wings wil– Sir, it's on top of us!"
"I know!" Magnus grabbed the controls and yanked upward, slamming into the creature.
In turn, it clung onto the ship, burying its claws into the metal and roaring loudly. Verdant's spark lept to her throat. If it shot fire at them from this proximity, they'd be dead before the ship hit the ground.
She rotated the weapons turrents and attempted aiming sideways at it, but the angle was too steep and this ship wasn't primed for suicide.
The ship swung upside down and Magnus leaned forward, his optics narrowed, and just as they were exiting the ravine, he twisted the controls again, bringing the top of their ship dangerously close to a hanging precipice. The entire ship shook as the dragon was rammed into the rocks and ripped off of the ship.
Ultra Magnus continued flying for a moment in silence before he relaxed. "I do not believe that this will be one of those peaceful planets."
"Ha," Wheeljack laughed weakly before falling over.
"Jackie!" Bulkhead swiveled around to look down at his unconscious friend in surprise and concern.
Ultra Magnus glanced back at them. "Verdant, unplug and give Wheeljack medical aid. He's just went offline."
"He's what?" Verdant muttered quietly as she pulled her tentacles from the control systems and her optics turned blue again.
She quickly got out of her chair and knelt down by Wheeljack, servos brushing over his frame. One servo slide down between his arm and his side, grazing over his shoulderblades, and Verdant pulled back. Her digits were wet with a shiny blue coating.
Verdant swiftly stood up and kicked him onto his stomach. "Bulkhead, why is he injured?"
The wrecker's optics widened. "How did I not realize?"
"Bulkhead!"
"He was taken prisoner by the Decepticons when our base was destroyed. He tried to fight them off while we escaped and... That's how we knew those vehicons were coming and rigged the river to blow. Wheeljack said they planted a tracker in his chassis. They must've done more than that."
Verdant stood up and ran across the ship, grabbing a medical toolbox and setting it down at the white wrecker's side.
"Is he going to be okay?" Miko asked quietly.
Verdant looked at the human, noting her wide eyes and pale complexion. Then she focused on her task.
"He'll be fine, the wound is shallow and only managed to nick an energon tube. Slow leakage is the reason he's lasted this long and the reason he won't have any excuse for his spark to go dark."
The ship lurched again and Verdant's helm shot up. "Sir, is the dragon back?"
"No," Ultra Magnus stood up. "We've reached the new Autobot base."
Wheeljack's optics onlined. "Good, because I'd rather Ratchet rummage around in my gears."
Verdant truly considered knocking him back into stasis.