Cunning Shockwave

"Boom boom boom!"

"Rat-a-tat-tat!"

No one knew whether Shockwave had been too slow to flee or simply couldn't be bothered to dodge. He stood there stupidly, letting more than a dozen ordinary Autobot soldiers, each roughly three meters tall, fire at him continuously. Yet Shockwave seemed completely unharmed. Their ordinary bullets were utterly blocked by his outer armor.

"Hahaha! Are you lot Boy Scouts? Are those legendary toy guns you're holding? They don't have any power at all!"

As the Autobots continued their assault, Shockwave's arrogant voice rang out from the smoke. He was equipped with Type-3 Heavy Armor, practically the tank-class equipment of the new generation of Decepticons. Aside from weapons wielded by elite Autobots, nothing could directly damage this kind of armor. Ordinary attacks were nothing more than scratching an itch through a boot.

"How is that possible? We hit him so many times in a row. Why is he—Aah..."

This was an Autobot whose alternate form was a small truck. As a civilian soldier, he could never have imagined that the armor worn by the Decepticon warrior called Shockwave was so vastly superior to his own. Shockwave's armor was made from the legendary Fifth-Generation Alloy, cutting-edge super-equipment across all of Cybertron. Meanwhile, the Autobots generally used second- and third-generation armor. Compared to it, theirs really was little more than a pile of aluminum-alloy sheet metal.

But this pitiful Autobot would never learn the answer. The first thing Shockwave did after stepping out of the barrage was fire a shot at him, shattering his chest clutch, core chip, and, most crucially, his Spark. Before long, the poor Autobot's electronic eyes slowly dimmed. A broken tire seemed to trace an arc across the ground before he finally collapsed unwillingly.

"You foolish Autobots! Trying to stand against us Decepticons without fourth-generation armor or better is nothing but a dream! It seems this world truly ought to follow the law of survival of the fittest. Look at the trash you're wearing—even the guards among us Decepticons use entry-level fourth-generation equipment. It seems that aside from Optimus Prime and Ironhide, none of you can possibly be my match!"

The advantage in weapons and equipment left Shockwave exhilarated. At that moment, he was like a burly giant bullying a group of children, able to crush them one by one carelessly and with a grin. For some reason, whenever he saw the despair in the Autobots' eyes, Shockwave felt wave after wave of fluctuations course through his core circuits. This was the emotion Decepticons understood as excitement.

Yet their excitement was built upon the suffering of other Transformers. It was an inexplicably tragic thing.

"Damn that Shockwave! He's slaughtering our Autobot civilians at will. We have to stop him, or even more people will die!"

Ironhide could no longer stand it. But just as he was about to show himself, a fierce whistling sound suddenly came from behind him. Fortunately, Optimus Prime shoved his old friend aside in time, or Ironhide would have been in serious trouble.

"Boom!"

It was a volley of tank shells, fired by the armored vehicle troops under Megatron's command. They had been waiting for someone in the opposing Autobot trenches to lose patience and stick their head out, so they could blast them to pieces.

This was also a tactic the Decepticons often used. They called it fishing—using the Autobots' concern for one another to lure them step by step into the abyss, then brutally ravage them.

Shockwave was clearly well versed in this tactic. He had deliberately caused chaos among the Autobot civilians behind the lines in order to draw Optimus Prime and the others' attention, creating an opportunity for his comrades on the perimeter to strike.

And if some truly powerful opponent came after him, this cunning bastard would quickly burrow underground. He was the very definition of someone who bullied the weak and feared the strong.

"Damn Decepticons! Cunning Shockwave! One day, I'll smash that bastard's skull to pieces with these iron fists of mine! I'll rip out every integrated circuit in his chest and reinstall them backward! Damn it!"

Seeing the craters all around him, Ironhide could not help feeling a lingering chill of fear. If Optimus Prime had moved even a little slower, half of Ironhide's body would probably have been blown apart. Though Ironhide was also equipped with fifth-generation armor, even he could not withstand such relentless bombardment.

"Ironhide, conserve your strength. This is only a probe by the Decepticons. When they launch their full assault later, we must hold this position. Otherwise, a great many civilians will meet with disaster!"

Optimus Prime truly deserved to be the supreme commander. At a time like this, only he could steady everyone's hearts. Still, watching Shockwave attack Autobot civilians with impunity in the distance made Ironhide feel sick inside.

"But are we really just going to ignore those poor people? I can't stand watching this. Those Decepticons are damned!"

"Don't worry. I've sent Bumblebee to interfere with him. That little guy may not be able to defeat such a powerful Decepticon warrior, but he can definitely make him very uncomfortable. You know what he's capable of, don't you?"

As Optimus Prime spoke, a yellow Autobot warrior in the form of a miniature Beetle sped toward the rampaging Shockwave in the distance. This was Bumblebee, Optimus Prime's good brother. Although he too wore fourth-generation armor, with his skills, he would not be at a disadvantage even against Megatron, because he was arguably the most agile of all the Autobots.

As long as Bumblebee had enough room to move, he could carve out a path with nothing more than the little pistol in his hand.

The Decepticon called Shockwave had clearly never experienced Bumblebee's prowess. When he saw a little Beetle racing toward him, he did not even spare it a proper glance. He probably took Bumblebee for some young Autobot fleeing in panic.

"Bumblebee, transform!"

"Clank clank clank!"

It was an incredibly flashy transformation. Unlike the other Autobots, who transformed with their feet firmly on the ground, Bumblebee made a spectacular entrance, completing his transformation while tumbling through the air. Before he had even landed, Bumblebee raised the laser cannon in his hand and blasted Shockwave straight in the forehead.