Chapter 745: The Battle on the Dark Side of the Moon (Part 1) (Patreon)

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"This surprise attack operation has failed!"

Ironhide gently laid down an Autobot warrior with a blade piercing his abdomen.

As he looked around the relatively safe crater, where more than thirty Autobot soldiers lay, his expression grew somber.

"It's my negligence," Optimus Prime sighed, summoning the [Leadership Module] once more to begin treating the wounded warrior. He added with a tinge of guilt, "Over a century of peace after the war has made me almost forget how cruel war can be."

As the victors of the Civil War, the Skytiger Legion had always held the upper hand over the Autobots.

A little over a year ago, Optimus Prime and a portion of the Autobots arrived on Earth. With the help of the humans, they had managed to defeat Megatron and subsequently deal with many Decepticons.

However, upon closer examination, most of the Decepticons who fell to the Autobots, aside from Megatron and Blackout, were mere Vehicons. The two Hercules they encountered were only defeated after their Spark energy had been depleted through prolonged combat.

Being too successful was not necessarily a good omen, especially when the Autobots learned that Optimus Prime's [Leadership Module] had the power to heal or resurrect them.

As Optimus Prime engaged in self-reflection, Ironhide and others also noticed that some Autobots who should not have been injured by the Skytiger Legion's Vehicons ended up wounded, and some even perished.

The reason? They knew the [Leadership Module] could heal or revive them.

Just as Optimus Prime was lost in thought, a communications officer lying in one corner of the crater suddenly spoke up, "Leader, the Aerialbots are once again inquiring if they can combine into Defensor."

Whether Autobot or Decepticon, transforming into the giant Devastator was not without its consequences.

When the First Generation Hercules appeared, the technology was still immature and even resulted in the Trencher Team becoming irreversibly fused once they combined.

By the time Predaking and Defensor were born, combining technology had become relatively mature, with no risk of irreversible fusion. However, some issues remained unsolved.

Ironhide looked at Optimus Prime and said, "Leader, with the current stalemate in the battle, our surprise attack operation has essentially failed. Why not let Defensor give it a try? Maybe they can break through the Decepticon encirclement. We're less than sixty kilometers away from their base on the Moon."

Optimus Prime furrowed his brow, pondering the pros and cons. As the Autobot leader, he was more aware of the drawbacks of giant Devastators than ordinary officers.

For example, Defensor, formed by the Aerialbots combining, was indeed terrifying in power, but its energy consumption was equally terrifying. Once combined, it could only be sustained for a few hours at most, even less in high-intensity combat.

If the energy within Spark fell below a certain threshold, it would trigger Defensor's forced separation mechanism.

However, after the separation, the Aerialbots would enter a period of exhaustion due to the energy expenditure during the combination. They needed to replenish their energy and rest for a while before they could engage in further combat.

Optimus Prime had not anticipated that there would be so many Decepticons on the dark side of the Moon.

One Vehicon was not a formidable opponent, but when a hundred, a thousand, or even more Vehicons assembled, led by Starscream, who had trained them to be fearless, these beasts didn't care about sacrificing a dozen or even dozens of their own lives to take down a senior or even elite Autobot warrior.

Before combining, each of the Aerialbots was an elite warrior. However, once combined and if they failed to achieve satisfactory results during the combination, they would be completely incapacitated after the combination period ended.

When the time came, the Autobots would not only lose several Elite Warriors but also their most crucial aerial power.

The dreadful consequences of losing air superiority were clear to Optimus Prime.

During the two Cybertron Civil Wars, one significant reason for the Autobots' defeat in many crucial battles was the overwhelming strength of the Decepticon's air forces.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Optimus Prime eventually nodded.

"Inform them, allow the Aerialbots to combine into Defensor!"

Ultimately, he couldn't let go of his loyalty to his mentor and Bumblebee. Moreover, the frontlines had already pushed within dozens of kilometers of the Decepticon's Moon Base. It would be strange for Optimus Prime to give up now.

Dozens of kilometers away, inside the Moon Base.

Starscream stood before a shimmering wall, a look of keen interest on his face as he watched the battlefield displayed on the wall. His face, which always bore a sinister, constant smirk, now seemed even colder.

"The Autobots can't break through our defenses, but they caught us off guard! It's really irritating. Our hidden trump card has been exposed!"

With a twisted grin and razor-sharp, shark-like teeth, Starscream appeared even more vicious and menacing than usual.

Barricade had not entered the battlefield; he stood several meters behind Starscream, also gazing at the sky on the screen.

There, a few Autobot warriors were engaged in combat with Decepticon aircraft.

"Isn't this what you expected? When Prowl brought Bumblebee to the base, you knew this day would come sooner or later!"

Starscream chuckled, but there was no warmth in his laughter.

"Just a Moon Base that's been running for a century. How many soldiers are inside the base?"

Starscream had never given up on overthrowing Megatron and seizing command of the Skytiger Legion.

The two failed rebellions had kept him relatively low-key for millions of years, but secretly, he had been accumulating more trump cards, waiting for the day to reveal them and astonish all his opponents.

As he had said, it was just a Moon Base, with a history of over a hundred years. Time meant nothing to Starscream, a being with extraordinary patience. He could flatter even himself for millions of years if it served his purpose, so this small passage of time was insignificant to him.

The soldiers were high-ranking members of the Skytiger Legion, referred to as Vehicons. They had many derogatory terms for them, such as "Cannon Fodder."

Barricade remained silent for a moment, as if communicating with something.

After about ten seconds, he finally replied, "There are over seventeen hundred!"

However, Barricade noticed that Starscream was not listening; he was drawn to the live wall displaying the frontline situation.

Following his gaze, Barricade saw that on the real-time feedback screen of the battlefield dozens of kilometers away, several Autobots were rapidly approaching and glowing with dazzling light all over their bodies.

"Defensor!"

A low murmur echoed, followed by a sinister laugh.

"According to the plan, let Hercules mobilize and lead the Autobots towards Sentinal Prime's spaceship!"

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Next Chapter >>Chapter 746: The Battle on the Moon's Dark Side (Part II)