Repeating their earlier trick, the demolition team planted several high-explosive charges along the interior wall of Corridor Seven before detonating them with a thunderous roar.
The blast ripping through the ship's cramped interior carried far more destructive force than the earlier explosion on the outer hull.
It blew a gaping hole through the bulkhead and sent a violent tremor shuddering through the entire frame of the Abyssal Lord.
From the outside, a sudden burst of fire erupted near the flagship's bow.
High above in the command deck of the Nemesis, Skygnaw narrowed his optics, entirely unaware that an unwitting ally had just done him a massive favor.
The enemy warship lurked ahead, its hull tilting precariously as its forward speed dropped.
Skygnaw stroked his chin lightly, wondering why the vessel had suddenly burst into flames at the bow when none of his own salvos had landed near that forward section.
Whatever the cause, he had no intention of squandering such a perfect opening.
The heavy bombardment cannon atop the Nemesis surged with dark red light once more, discharging a searing particle beam straight through the atmosphere.
The energy shield dissolved like frost before a furnace, allowing the beam to slam dead center into the stern of the Abyssal Lord.
Boom!
Blaring alarms echoed through the main bridge of the Abyssal Lord, where Gnash scrambled wildly across the secondary consoles.
He had barely managed to stabilize the warship's tilt when the red warning lights flashed across every panel.
Gnash checked the diagnostic displays with a sinking feeling, his voice shaking as he hailed his leader. "Lord Trifang! The main propulsion array has taken critical damage! We are about to lose all forward power!"
A short distance away, Silas Trifang stood impaling a Mindborn bodyguard through the chest with his weapon.
Hearing the report, he casually flicked his wrist, tossing the dead guard aside before waving a massive claw at the surrounding Sharkborn troops.
"Finish them off!"
Without waiting to watch the outcome, Trifang turned on his heel and strode back toward the bridge.
Spurred by his command, the Sharkborn soldiers swarmed into Corridor Seven with bloodthirsty roars.
"Young Master, move!"
Ridge grabbed Wala by the arm, shoving him toward the jagged hole blown through the bulkhead. "Cover our retreat!"
One by one, the surviving bodyguards threw themselves into the path of the oncoming alien swarm, trading their lives for precious seconds.
Ridge and Wala tumbled out of the corridor into a secondary maintenance shaft, accompanied by fewer than ten surviving guards.
"Hurry!"
Wala ran like a mindless puppet, yanked forward by Ridge's iron grip.
Behind them, the sounds of horrific carnage echoed relentlessly.
Every few meters, another guard was tackled by a leaping Sharkborn or turned back willingly to hold a narrow junction, buying every second they could for their young master.
Trifang burst back into the bridge, his eyes blazing as he glared at Gnash. "What are you doing? I gave you the helm to pilot the ship, not to stand there and take a beating!"
Before Gnash could offer an excuse, a deafening metallic screech echoed through the ceiling armor.
The entire warship jolted violently to a halt, as if a wild mount running at full gallop had been yanked back by a heavy chain.
"What now?" Trifang growled, trying to keep his footing.
High above them, a colossal mechanical claw had clamped onto the upper hull of the Abyssal Lord.
A massive tow cable extended from the claw, stretching all the way up to the underbelly of the Nemesis, where a powerful tow tractor beam locked both vessels together.
Sitting upon his throne on the command deck, Skygnaw watched the target lock confirm, a cold smile curling across his face.
He had set his sights on this enemy flagship, and nothing in the cosmos was going to save it now.
"Decepticons, breach and clear!"
With the enemy flagship immobilized, the time for long-range bombardments was over.
It was time for a boarding action, a style of warfare no faction in the universe executed better than the Decepticons.
The lower ventral doors of the Nemesis slid open, and over a hundred Decepticon warriors leapt down into the void, crashing onto the upper deck of the Abyssal Lord.
The blast hole Wala's team had created earlier served as a convenient entry point, saving the boarding party the trouble of cutting through the outer armor.
Not that heavy plating would have slowed a Decepticon down for long anyway.
"Time for me to stretch my limbs," Skygnaw muttered, rising from his throne.
Based on the intelligence provided by Ratbat and Emperor Yinm, a Sharkborn legion chief possessed combat strength far beyond standard troops.
Their supreme leader would be even more formidable, easily outclassing any low-tier Decepticon soldier.
Even a tiger used its full strength when hunting a rabbit, and Skygnaw preferred to eliminate variables personally.
He strode out of the command tower, where the Decepticons assigned to defend the flagship bowed respectfully as he passed.
"Hold your posts," Skygnaw instructed smoothly. "No one enters this ship without my explicit command. The only exception is Blackarachnia."
"Understood, Lord Skygnaw!"
Stepping up to the edge of the open ramp, Skygnaw glanced at the dark starry void overhead before looking down at the massive, smoke-billowing warship pinned beneath them.
Without a moment's hesitation, he stepped off the ledge and plummeted toward the enemy deck.
The Abyssal Lord had come to a complete standstill, its thrusters extinguished and its secondary systems dead in the water.
Inside the corridors, the invading Decepticons clashed with the surviving Sharkborn garrison.
Relying on superior physical mass and heavy weaponry, the Cybertronians turned the hallway combat into an absolute one-sided slaughter.
Though standard Sharkborn soldiers matched low-tier Decepticon infantry in basic brute force, their combat instincts were no better than drone units.
A Sharkborn soldier raised his mace-spear to fire a corrosive laser, hitting a Decepticon, only to have his head neatly severed by another warrior wielding a heavy energon blade.
The massive shark head spun several meters through the air before crashing to the deck.
A passing Decepticon stepped on it without looking, crushing it into a sickening splatter of red and green fluid.
Unbothered by the mess, the warrior shook off his boots and charged forward in search of his next target.
Red optics gleamed through the dim, smoke-filled halls as the Decepticons rampaged through the ship.
After spending nearly a month cooped up aboard the Nemesis, the warriors were eager to unleash their violent instincts.
Seeing that the rank-and-file enemies posed no threat to his troops, Skygnaw ignored the scattered skirmishes and marched directly toward the bridge.
Any Sharkborn that crossed his path was instantly torn to pieces by the eager warriors trailing behind him.
Meanwhile, deeper within the ship, Ridge and Wala cowered inside a dark maintenance room.
The gunfire behind them had ceased, replaced by the sounds of heavy metallic footsteps and tearing metal echoing from every direction.
Every member of the personal guard was dead, leaving Ridge as the sole survivor beside the young master.
"Could it be... our reinforcements?" Wala asked in a hopeful whisper.
He looked a complete mess, his ornate combat armor torn to shreds, his helmet gone, and his pulse rifle lost somewhere in the corridors.
His only stroke of fortune was that despite his pathetic state, he had suffered no serious physical injuries.
Regret gnawed at his heart, making him curse his own arrogance for ever embarking on this foolish mission.
"I doubt it, Young Master," Ridge replied quietly after a brief hesitation.
He hated to crush the young noble's last ray of hope, but he could not bring himself to offer false comfort.
They had launched this strike without authorization, and General Silae would never send troops to rescue them even if he knew where they were.
"Stay hidden here, Young Master. I will step outside to check the situation."
"No!" Wala shook his head frantically, clutching Ridge's sleeve. "What am I supposed to do if you leave?"
The young noble who had set out to win glory was now consumed by pure terror, desperate only to survive.
"Young Master, please..."
Thud!
Before Ridge could finish his sentence, a heavy impact rattled the room's outer hatch.
Ridge clamped his mouth shut instantly, pulling his remaining blade.
A second later, the hatch caved inward as a dead Sharkborn soldier was violently thrown through the metal door, crashing onto the floor in a heap.
Before the two Mindborn could recover from their shock, a towering metallic giant stepped through the ruined doorway.
"Well, well. What do we have here? Two little bugs?"
The Decepticon warrior grinned cruelly, raising his arm cannon before pausing as a thought crossed his mind.
He lowered his weapon slightly and glared down at them. "You two Mindborn, step out into the open! Right now!"
Terrified out of his mind, Wala instinctively raised both hands in surrender.
Ridge looked at the young noble, let out a weary sigh, and slowly raised his han
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