Sergeant Major Delta's feet thudded against the ground hard, as the machine gun strapped on his back kept gouging into his skin with each hit. Ignoring the sensations, he cut off the pain receptors to his lower back. ‘Damn, am I glad R&D came up with selective pain centers,’ he mused. Continuing to run, he kept pace with the remains of his platoon. As soon as they burst out of the final group of forest, the sight of the Eradicator Deathdroid and large hill which represented their dust-off point greeted them. The landing zone was clear at the moment which was not surprising to the Sgt., considering that the Deathdroid had been guarding it.

The 11 Cybertronic troops ran up to the hill and stopped, all of them breathing hard. Delta noticed that the one woman of the group, Dr. Diana, seemed near exhaustion. Yet, she held her ground, regained her composure, and began checking the troops for damage. Delta turned and glared at the Captain, who was scanning the area with his sniper rifle’s scope. He stowed away his rifle and turned to address the squad.

"Secure LZ, chopper will be here in 5. Stow all loose items on you. It’ll be a combat pick-up."

"My squad knows what’s what," Delta muttered under his breath.

"What’s that, Sergeant Major," snapped the Cpt.

Delta looked straight on at the Cpt., his eyes not concealing any of the dislike he had for him at this moment, "Nothing, sir."

"Good. Hop to."

"Yes, sir," Delta replied, and proceeded to tie down all of his loose items. Combat pick-up meant that only wires with hand and footholds would be used. The troops would be secured to the cables and flown out. It was dangerous, but the quickest way and the only available method for retrieving the Deathdroid as well, which would be attached to a specially strengthened cable and airlifted like the rest of them. Delta finished tying off his equipment and put on his secure-hold gloves.

As he finished, the distinctive sounds of a large ho rea. Glancing around, he finally caught sight of it, coming over the east horizon. Breathing a hard sigh, Delta cracked his knuckles and waited patiently for the chopper.
It would take it a good minute or 2 to reach them.
After about another 15 seconds, he noticed a small white trail coming from the forest behind it. It only took a second before Delta recognized what it was, but by then it was too late.
The missile slammed into the chopper’s left side, causing its fuel tank to erupt, igniting a secondary explosion. In a matter of seconds, the flaming wreck of the chopper plummeted to the ground, crashing about a mile away.

Delta pursed his lips, his patience all but gone with the present situation.

"Mount up, we got to move out before unfriendlies bog us down," he commanded.

"Belay that order," the Captain retorted.

"Excuse me, sir," Delta replied, turning to look at him with befuddlement.

"We can’t leave the LZ."

"Maybe you didn’t notice... Sir, but the chopper just got wasted. The only thing that’s going to be picking us up will be Dark Legion bioscopes..., and soon!"

"Our recon has directive 010110, highest priority. Another chopper will be sent. Dig in and prepare to repel attackers if necessary."

"This recon was your baby, sir. Your baby got almost my entire platoon wasted! Last I recall, all of us would have been dead if you hadn’t let me place the heavies at the rear," yelled Delta.

"Your garnering insubordination Sergeant Major! I suggest you get a grip and FOLLOW orders," said the Captain, low and maliciously.

The remnants of the platoon stood still, waiting to see how the small power struggle turned out. Delta stood there, glaring at him for a minute. Finally, he glanced over to the soldiers and promptly commanded, "Dig in."

The troops broke up getting out their earthing material and started digging into the top of the hill. Dr. Diana ran down to the Deathdroid and started programming it for fortification defense. Delta returned his gaze to the Captain iefly, before returning to the others, unsecuring his HMG as he went.

__________________________________________________________

A full seventeen hours had passed, and the Cybertronic troops were ready. The Deathdroid used its gigantic chainripper to cut into the ground and allowed the augmented muscles of the troopers to take over, moving large blocks of earth. The Captain had moved out about half a mile away and set up tripwires and flares. Delta had strung out thorn bushes all down along the hill they were on. He also arranged several tree logs that the Deathdroid had cut down for barricades around the LZ.

Now, all the troopers were hunkered down and waiting. Sanderson and Phillips had set up the tripods on their HMGs, just as Delta had done. The Captain was in a corner, scanning the forest through the high powered laser sight on his sniper rifle.

’12 troops. 11 guys and one doc against who knows how many servants of Algeroth,’ he lamented.

Delta yawned, his mouth opening wide. He hadn’t slept for over 2 days, but he didn’t mind. The small device located around his lungs had deposited a bronchial dilator into his bloodstream, artificially increasing his energy and activity level. Still, the signs of weariness could not be hidden.

Suddenly, the pre-dawn darkness was lit up by a flare in the distance. The collective troops cocked into position, their safeties switching off. Low thuds and roars began to emanate from the forest. Delta’s skin tingled as he felt the small strands of the Dark Symmetry wisp through the air like smoke.

Then it started.

Tracers lit up the sky as he began firing at a movement of something large off to his right. The Captain topped off a few shots from his sniper rifle and Delta though he heard a scream from the wooded area.

Glancing movement off to his left, he spied Karnophages frothing at the mouth and racing for their position, their glistening claws outstretched. Delta and Sanderson down all six of them in seconds.

The Deathdroid roared to life as it strode out of the hill from the right and moved towards the woods before it, scanning for a target. Its Titan Megablaster started shooting at something in the woods, cutting up the trees in its path.

Suddenly, a very loud machine gun, which could only be a Nazgaroth, began shooting from the woods, its shells slamming into the Deathdroid. From the flashes of its gun, Delta saw the muscular form of a Razide. He opened up on it, his fire tearing into the chest of the Razide, sending it spiraling to the ground. At the same time, he heard a huge metallic CLANK and saw that the Deathdroid had fallen over, sparks crackling from its body. The Doc jumped into action, running down the back of the hill, attempting to reach the large robot.

Silence.

‘This is the worst part,’ Delta thought. ‘Waiting for the eye of the storm to pass and for the other shoe to drop.’

A loud roar echoed through the clearing and he heard more things moving in the forest. Delta sighed thankfully, as the first light of dawn started coming up.

All at once, more Karnophages erupted from the left as Undead Legionnaire emerged from the right. Delta concentrated on the Karnophages, cutting them down, as Phillips started shooting at the rust-encased bodies of the Legionnaires. A loud servo screamed to life, and the Deathdroid slowly rose again, as Dr. Diana came jumping back into the fortification, smiling to herself.

The huge robot promptly began firing missiles into the forests, splattering Legionnaires. Some of the troopers even gave out a small cheer as the Deathdroid continued firing its rocket launcher.

Suddenly, another Nazgaroth began firing, and a bullet caught Sanderson in the chest, throwing his body back into the other side of the fortification, his blood mingling with the dirt. Delta spied an Immaculate Fury aiming its gun at him, and he fell back behind the wall, the bullets barely being contained by the dir pped, Delta popped back over the hill and began drilling shots into the Fury, sending it, screaming its high-pitched wail, to the ground. Looking around, the Sergeant Major saw that other than Sanderson, there had been no other casualties.

‘We might even make it through this.’

He put his attention to the forest again, as the constant whine of missiles continued to pelt the Legionnaires shambling forwards from the right flank.

More ground shaking footsteps rumbled from the front, and Delta prepared himself, as well as Phillips. Even the Captain aimed his sniper rifle towards the woods.

None of them were prepared for what they saw.

A gigantic beast, almost 2 times taller than the Deathdroid, ran out. Four arms sprout from its shoulders, one set of arms holding a monstrous gun and the other held a obscenely large Azogar. Delta began firing immediately at it as well as Phillips. All of their shots bounced off of its heavy plate amour and failed to even cut its skin.

It ran up to the base of the hill, covering the distance in a heartbeat and began firing its machine gun at them. Almost everyone hit the ground as dirt kicked up from the creature’s shots. Phillips and the other trooper next to him got up ready to return fire, but instead all color drained from their faces.

The giant stood over them and swung its Azogar in a huge arc. Phillips managed to bring his gun up in time as the Azogar sliced through it. The chainweapon continued its sweep slicing clean through the trooper next to Phillips and the Sgt. standing next to Delta. Their blood sprayed out covering the ground, turning the dirt into a thick red mud. The red abomination returned its sweep with impossible speed, knocking Phillips to the ground with the blunt end, but failing to injure him.

Phillips pulled out his P1000 and began shooting the creature. He succeeded in grazing it on one of its arms. The Behemoth roared and promptly brought the Azogar down, ripping Phillips in ha t of the creature’s sweep range, and he fell into the pit towards the back of the fortification. From out of nowhere, the huge metal form of the Deathdroid was seen, and it swung its chainsword at the Behemoth, ripping into its side.

The Behemoth screamed and drove its Azogar into the Deathdroid, its whirring teeth ripping up it’s delicate circuitry. The Deathdroid fell over and slid down the back of the hill. Roaring, the red creature charged the Doc and the Captain, swinging its Azogar in big waves. The first swing decapitated Dr.Diana sending her head rolling down the hill.

The Captain ducked under one blow and was caught in the arm for the second. His CMU swiftly staved off the blood flow and kept his body moving. For over thirty seconds, the creature and the captain, looking like David and Goliath, continued until the Captain could no longer go on and was spitted on the end of its Azogar.

Delta, gritting his teeth, opened full auto on the Behemoth. The rounds poured into its bulk, but this time, were getting through its damaged armor. The creature kept trying to take steps forward to him, only to be driven back by the hail of bullets. With a final cry, the Behemoth crashed backwards, its body crushing the earth underneath it.

Regaining his senses, Delta got up and looked at what was left.
A trooper on the left flank was firing into oncoming Karnophages, downing them all. An unknown Nazgaroth shot erupted and plunged into the trooper’s head. It was too much for the two remaining troopers and they ran over the back of the hill.

Delta scowled but seeing a horde of Karnophages running for the hill, he figured it couldn’t be that bad of an idea.

Swiftly, he ran back over and took up position right behind the other troopers.

"Get your wits, I need both of you," he scolded.

The sergeant gave a slap to the trooper beside him and they stood side by side, their backs to Delta. He turned and watched from the other direction. In the distance, a hovercopter could be heard and a nearly dropped his gun in relief.

Shooting erupted from behind him. Delta spun and saw a Razide emerging from the side of the hill, bringing its gun to bear. Both troopers began shooting at it, as Delta opened up on it. The Razide fell back from the HMG fire, its chest chewed up with heavy caliber bullets.

Looking up, Delta saw the hovercopter dropping down it’s lift wires.

"Don’t bother securing! Get on," screamed Delta. The remaining trooper and sergeant grabbed hold of the first two wires as the Sergeant Major got the last one. Their feet lifted from the ground as the chopper gained altitude.

As they lifted off, twelve Karnophages came snarling around into the LZ, one diving for Delta. He kicked it in the head, and the chopper swiftly rose them out of shooting range. He called up the hovercopter on his throatmike.

"Coordinates are 13.760, 234.167, 9.123. The bombers can begin their run."

This was an actual scenario played out. Yes, the Behemoth was used and died as such. Some details were omitted due mainly to length. But this is most of what happened.