Mastermind, from his hidden position, watched the city. At one time, it was known as Saigon and was the capital of the southern half of this nation; when the southern half fell, it was renamed Ho Chi Minh City. Yet again, the town would know another round of violence.

During what people were now calling World War Five, a group of anti-government activists started causing problems - major problems. The Earth Defense Forces had sent a team in to keep the peace, as they called it. From what he could find out, the initial orders were to act as a police force; however, when a rogue commander attempted to blow the city apart, the EDF forces instead wound up as a garrison force protecting both sides from each other.

What bothered him, however, was that compared to other similar garrisons this garrison, at least as far as combat vehicles went, appeared to be smaller in number than normal. It was well within the realm of possibility that there was simply a shortage of combat vehicles; this, to him, made the most sense. If this was indeed the case, then what they had planned for today would be all the easier.

A task force from the Vietnamese military had been assigned the job of destroying the garrison. The logic was that if a third-rate military could dislodge or even destroy an EDF garrison, then that would not only deprive them of the garrison but also a significant amount of prestige. If the Vietnamese military failed, then he would have his clone minions attack; the Decepticons would get the blame, not the PEACE. And if his clones failed, then he knew eight Decepticons ready and willing to try their luck. It was just a matter of time.

*****

Mastermind awoke from his slumber. It was almost time for the attack. The decision had been made to perform a night-time raid, in the hopes of catching the garrison off-guard. Quickly, he scanned the scene. A unit of combat vessels and infantry carriers would come up into the harbor, while a mixed group of fighter planes and helicopters worked the city from the air. Once that was accomplished, the ground forces (which were waiting at a distance) would be deployed. It would be easy.

Mastermind had no idea who Murphy was or why his statement was now a law. All he knew was that somebody had to abide by it. That somebody was one of the Vietnamese fighter pilots. As he listened into the comm intercepts, Mastermind heard the radio conversation between one of the advance pilots and one of the EDF garrison pilots. The EDF pilot had issued a challenge, and the Vietnamese pilot was responding by acting hostile. "This is the last thing we need," Mastermind muttered. Just as he said that, the Vietnamese pilot fired off a shot towards where he thought the EDF aircraft was. In retaliation, the aircraft shot the Vietnamese fighter down. The entire city lit up as alert sirens sounded out. From the distance, he could see aircraft scrambling for the skies.

He knew that by now an alert had been sent to the EDF officials elsewhere; reinforcements would be arriving shortly. They had to do this and do it quickly. Either that, or they had to level the entire city.....

He watched as fighter met fighter. The EDF fighters were handily shooting down their Vietnamese opponents, and now some were scouting out places where the ground forces might be hiding. While this was going on, their VTOL assets were making runs against the incoming naval vessels. Bright flashes told him that some of the vessels were being sunk by the runs. Quickly, he did the math; at the rate the helicopters were going, less than 45% of the naval element would make it into the harbor.

Artillery fire told him that the fighters had spotted the ground units and that the units were now engaged. Those fighters not busy with the incoming Vietnamese aircraft were strafing the Vietnamese artillery emplacements that had been arranged outside of the city. A handful of EDF tanks appeared from their positions and opened fire, leveling the incoming vehicles with their accuracy. Infantry and commandos were picking off those opposing infantry that dared.

In the glow, he saw one of the EDF fighter craft as it shot down two Vietnamese Mirage fighter craft in a row. The initial appearance registered in his warbook as a TR-3A. He paused, hoping that it was a glitch; the TR-3A was a recon aircraft that never officially existed. Yet here one was, shooting down all comers. Either his warbook was wrong, or he was; either way, it didn't bode well.

He also found himself wondering about where the rest of the ground forces were. Most likely, he figured, they had used the cover of the air battle and were now attempting a flank assault against the remaining ground forces. At least, he hoped that this was all that was going on.

His radar systems told him that a flight of aircraft were incoming from the Phillippines; there were four of them and they read the same as the mystery craft he spotted. The only way that they could be going that fast was Cybertronian technology.

It finally dawned on him what was going on. The EDF knew that they couldn't use quantity in guarding the city, so they used quality. Cybertronian quality. They had been fooled. With a shriek, he ordered his clones into action. Hastily, the clone soldiers emerged from their hiding places and made for the city. All the sudden, a surprise batch of firepower began to drop his clones left and right. Not only that, but these strange weapons also began attacking the naval and ground elements. In horror, he eagerly scanned for one of these weapons. He spotted one tank as it put a round through three clones at the same time. His warbook wanted to tag it as both an M1A1 Abrams and a Merkava; he knew that there was no way it could be both. Whatever they were, however, they were cutting both his clones and the Vietnamese units apart. It wasn't a battle; it was a massacre.

Radio intercepts told him that the Vietnamese heavy bomber units had been called in with the hopes of clearing some of the heavy nests out; he knew full well that they'd never make it to their targets. This had turned into a cluster foul-up and fast.

It was time, and he knew it. He signaled, activating his reserves. A new series of blips on his radar scopes told him that he had even more problems to worry about - Autobots. Autobots with humans in tow. Enraged, he snuck back into the shadows to hide. He didn't want to see anything else.

*****

Ginrai silently cursed as he gunned down yet another clone. It seemed like there was no end to them. A quick glance into the harbor told him that Skybyte was at it, but was busy. Too busy. "Sideswipe, Daytonus; go give Skybyte a hand!"

"We're currently engaged!" Sideswipe shouted over the sounds of his lasers firing.

"Too many targets of our own!" Daytonus yelled back.

"Ranger! Lightfoot!"

"Occupied!" Ranger yelled back.

"No can do," Lightfoot responded.

Ginrai cursed again. Rotorbolt was busy intercepting the bombers, and Cab was needed in the city itself. On the plus side, the human reinforcements that they brought with them were making short work of the Vietnamese forces that were present. If they were lucky, then those same forces could start on the clones.

The sounds of revving engines got his attention. He dodged in just enough time to have two motorcycles blow right on past him. They skidded to a halt, transforming in the process. New Decepticons.

"Time to die, Autobot," one of them said, grinning.

"Not today!" Ginrai said as he transformed into his fire truck mode. He barreled right at them, catching the one who spoke off guard. The damaged Decepticon flew through the air, landing with a crash into a clump of trees.

"I'll get you for that!" the other Decepticon said, only to take a series of laser blasts to the back as Icecap burst through the clearing.

"Reinforcements have arrived," Icecap said cooly to Ginrai. "Dodger's in town with Cab, and the humans are mixing it up good."

"Less talking," Ginrai said as he transformed, "more fighting!"

A massive barrage of firepower knocked the four off of their feet as six vehicles - three jets, a buggy, and two tanks - rushed at them along with six mechanical animals. First on his feet, Ginrai popped off a series of shots, shattering the animals. But the Decepticons kept on coming.

That is, until Rotorbolt arrived. Firing off his rockets as fast as he could, Rotorbolt forced the three aircraft to break formation and to try and group on him. Distracted by this, the three ground units didn't see Ranger and Lightfoot break through the woods to open fire on them. The buggy screamed as his rear wheels were blown off and he was forced to transform. The two tanks halted their advance and transformed in order to provide cover fire for their downed comerade.

"The Vietnamese are in full retreat!" Ranger yelled as he fired. "We've got some humans going after them, but the rest have turned on the Decepticons! It's a total rout! Not only that, but word is that a lot more anti-government groups are getting in on it!"

"Finally some good news!" Ginrai yelled as he traded shots with the five ground-based Decepticons. "Let's hope that it keeps coming!"

"Unlikely!" the lead aircraft shouted. "Decepticons - merge and form Overkill!" At the command, the three jets and the three ground units merged into a massive, although noticebly unsteady, gestalt. In response, Road King merged and began to fight.

Road King noted that the unit looked unsteady, as if the components had never merged before. They knew full well how to use their weapons, but the physical movements were awkward and jerky. Although the unit looked like it could take the damage to begin with, Road King was able to make far too many shots connect. Not only that, but a human tank platoon had joined in. Finally, the combined damage was too much and the gestalt broke apart, its individual members fleeing along with the Decepticon motorcycles and the surviving clones. It was now down to the mop-up, but the battle was over.

*****

Alan cursed when he heard the reports. Instead of crushing the EDF, the EDF had crushed the government. A full surrender appeared to be imminent; when that happened, odds were that the government would be replaced by one a lot more friendly to the EDF. Yet another major tactical blunder.

Then there were his Decepticons. The gestalt team hadn't had enough practice in merged operations, and it showed. They should have been able to go much faster than what they had done; instead, they had taken so much damage that they were forcibly thrown apart. Things were not looking good. Not good at all. To make matters worse, the EDF was fielding some new vehicles that clearly posessed Cybertronian technology. All in all, they had lost far more than they had won.

*****

Adam read over the reports stoically. The new units had proven themselves admirably in battle, even against Decepticons. Plus, the government of Vietnam had all but collapsed and would be replaced by one more favorable to their forces. Granted, some more new Decepticons appeared; however, those had been forcibly dealt with. Overall, a clear win.