CYBERTRON:
Bladez streaked through the air, assumed his robot form, and
dropped down beside Vamp. He glowered down at the Insecticons,
then lashed out with a clawed hand and swatted Kickback, sending
him crashing into Bombshell. Vamp looked around her, the Insecticon
swarm still buzzing around her, waiting. She rose into the air
and took wing. The mass swirled around her, weaving through the
sky like a black strip of satin. She looked about the city and
saw the DarkOre Tower, Thruster, Mangler and Smasher were engaged
with two smaller machines. Though everyone involved in that conflict
was much bigger than her, she thought of a perfect use
for her newest acquisitions. She smiled, then made her way towards
the battle.
Two Guardian Robots remained, both Quick Step creatures took
turns pulling the metal of the fallen titans from their frames.
The remaining Guardian Robots grappled with Smasher until one
was clubbed by Mangler. He took pleasure in seeing the blue and
gray robot strike the ground. He kicked it hard, delighting in
the machine’s crumpled side. Thruster approached it from
behind and brought a closed fist down on the struggling machine,
driving it back down to its knees. It managed to raise a claw
and reached for Mangler, who aimed both his forearm cannons at
the Decepticon and fired, the shot struck its head and blew it
clean off. Thruster leaned over and grabbed it by the arms from
behind, placing her foot on its back, then pressed forward until
the arms tore from their sockets, the torso slammed back down
to the ground.
Smasher threw the final Guardian Robot to the ground, it rolled
and assumed a kneeling crouch, firing off a plethora of blasts
that struck Smasher’s chest and shoulders. He aimed and
fired back, growing more angered by the machine’s refusal
to just die. A blast slammed into the Guardian’s chest and
knocked it back, it took aim again and prepared to fire when
it noticed a large, black cloud appear. It snaked through the
air, heading towards them with a frightening speed. It was buzzing.
The sound grew larger as it approached, the Guardian Robot didn’t
have time to debate whether or not it should open fire or return
to battle with the larger problem. Vamp’s Insecticon swarm
collided with the Guardian’s face plate. It rose suddenly,
swinging its clawed arm violently into the swarm. It felt Insecticons
shatter when it swung, but the tiny Decepticons were filling
its vision, jamming themselves into a solid mass across its faceplace.
It raked a clawed hand through them, leaving a thick line across
its field of vision that was immediately filled with more Insecticons.
It stood abruptly, sparks leaping from its neck and shoulders
as the Insecticon drones crawled into its joints and invaded
its interior mechanics. More of the swarm milled about, latching
on as the machine charged its cannon, unable to determine where
it should fire. The Insecticons had begun chewing apart its wiring,
shutting down its vision and basic motor functions. It continued
to charge, melting the Insecticons that had crawled into the
mouth of the cannon. Smasher watched the strange happening, uncertain
what had caused the sudden black cluster to latch onto the Guardian
Robot. But it didn’t matter. He raised his own cannons towards
the failing robot, took aim, and fired.
Bladez noticed the Renegade transport charging its weapon a moment
before he fired, and took wing immediately. He cut through the
air, grabbed Vamp around her waist and made a beeline in the
direction opposite of the Tower. She didn’t protest, only
watched as the Guardian Robot exploded, destroying almost all
of her Insecticon swarm with it. For a moment she considered
mourning the loss of the cluster, but cast the thought aside.
These weren’t even her kind, and there would be others-there
would always be others.
---------------
Soundwave raced forward and rammed Tux at full speed, heedless
of the rippling damages from the sonics radiating from both of
them. His audo was ringing, dangerously close to scrambling despite
his own specialized modifications. Glass was shattering around
them as they emitted sound and counter-sound, their frequencies
blaring and rebounding off one another, crossing through and
shredding the area around them. Tux brought a fist up and knocked
Soundwave back, aimed a single cannon and fired a concentrated
ring of sound that slashed into the wall behind him. Soundwave
caught a glimpse of the curved, precise cut Tux had made and
stood, crossed his arms, concentrating, then released a burst
of sound from his internal systems that blew Tux off his feet
and down the corridor. Tux fired as he fell, the blasts striking
the ceiling and floor before Soundwave, who leapt over the debris
and pursued. He rounded a corner and saw nothing, as if Tux had
vanished into the dark. A bright pair of lights flashed on and
blinded him momentarily, which was all Tux needed, spinning his
tires and slamming into Soundwave in his limousine form. He rammed
Soundwave through the wall at the end of the corridor, enjoying
the sound of it collapsing on the Decepticon. He rolled back
and shouted in surprise and pain. Something had stabbed into
both rear tires and cut through. He changed modes and landed
in front of Slugfest, the green stegosaurus cassette lay on his
stomach, the razor edged plates running along its back still
a blur of motion, spitting out bits of Tux’s tires. Tux’s
eyes registered a hint of annoyance, he raised a single cannon
toward the little green minion and felt something strike him
from the side. He inhaled sharply and reached a hand towards
the source of pain, feeling a horned muzzle clamped on his thigh.
Overkill snarled, his mouth full of metal as he crunched down,
intent on taking a piece of the gobot with him. The little white
and blue T-Rex dug his claws into Tux’s side and growled
again until a sudden, high pitched whine sounded. Overkill’s
left eye shattered and he screamed in pain, dropping to the floor.
Tux saw his own minibot, MP3, standing in the corridor, hands
pointed at the cassette as he got to his feet and whipped around
to face her.
“Bad dog, er, dino!” The air around her fingers became
distorted, her forearm bean to vibrate, building up another charge
of sonic energy. She aimed to fire, and the Tower itself seemed
to assault her, rumbling uncontrollably and shifting to the side.
Debris and equipment slid across the floor. MP3 bent her legs
at the knees to try to compensate when she saw Rumble, his arms
reverting from piledrivers to regular arms.
“I don’t think so toots!” He ran from the communication
room and tackled her.
“This’s no way to treat a lady!” she yelped as
they fell. Her shot went wild, slicing through a beam above Tux.
It creaked and fell, dragging part of the ceiling with it. As
Tux raised his cannons and blasted the oncoming metal, Soundwave
made it back to his feet, spread his arms to the sides and opened
his chest. At once Beastbox burst through the wall nearest him,
his purple arms held in front of him to shield the damage and
widen the hole. Squawktalk soared through the opening as well,
and they both assumed cassette modes, locking themselves into
Soundwave’s chest. It snapped shut and he spun them in opposite
directions, a purple and blue light flickered about the cassette
door opening.
Soundwave turned towards Rumble. “Rumble. Operation: Evacuation.”
Rumble threw MP3 against the wall, looked up at Soundwave, then
saw Beastbox and Squawktalk grinding in his chest. “Aw slag!”
he raced into the communication room, disappearing from view
to warn the other cassettes. MP3 ran towards Tux, swung behind
him and changed into a small, portable music player, locking
herself back into place. Hat-Trick, having seen Soundwave’s
cassettes leaving the vicinity, limped back to Tux and shifted,
retaking his form of the Renegade’s top-hat and secured
himself atop his head.
Tux glanced back and saw Racous and Lambaste run towards him
as well.
“Boss needs to be Bumpin!” Racous laughed, “And
thumpin’!” Lambaste added as they shifted back into
dual speakers, locking themselves into place within Tux’s
side cannons. They immediately began to hum and glow as Tux lowered
the weapons towards Soundwave. The entire level of the tower
was vibrating.
------------------------
Bruticus exploded from DarkOre Tower, screaming in rage at top
volume. He locked eyes with Puzzler, took a step forward, then
fell. Menasor’s sword jutted from his back on a cruel angle,
it was blazing with a dark, rippling energy. Menasor emerged
from the hole in the tower, looking down at Bruticus as he slowly
dropped a hand to the ground and gripped the metal beneath him,
then began to push himself up. Puzzler raised both arms above
his head, balling them into fists and dropped down to his knees,
bringing both fists crashing down on Bruticus’ head and
driving it below ground level. The gestalt was still as Puzzler
rose to his feet.
“You see what I see?!” Blane grabbed
Galvatron’s head in his hands. “Your own people hate
you, and it seems to me, that these bots were too wild,
too dangerous for yer precious Deceptions! That’s
why they, have, joined, ME!!”
Blane’s laughter resounded in Galvatron’s head as Menasor
and Puzzler stood side by side, glaring down at the Decepticon
with malice.
There was a loud rumbling coming from the Tower. Both Menasor
and Puzzler craned their necks to look towards the topmost level
of the structure, which almost looked distorted for a moment,
then sounded an ear-splitting screech. Purple, blue and yellow
lights blared from the Tower, the windows along its entire circumference
blew out and broke again as they fled their holdings.
***************
EARTH:
Leader-1 made for Prime and Swoop immediately, his Super-Gobot
body rose its hands and fired two wide blasts of raw energy that
Prime managed to narrowly spin between. He heard them slam into
the rocky crags below and sever them, heard the gritty slide
of rock as it crumbled and fell. Prime arced around Leader-1,
drew his gun and fired a blast that collided with the gobot’s
arm, leaving a large, smoldering dent behind. Leader-1 winced,
then returned fire as Prime and Swoop tore past and launched
a pair of missiles that exploded against his chest. Electrical
shorts lined his connection port, and he raised a protective
hand to the damaged area. He saw Swoop barreling towards him
at top speed, and out of instinct swung his free hand in a wide
half circle. He heard a half scream, half squawk and felt the
flat of his massive hand erupt in pain as it struck Swoop’s
uneven back. His hand came away dented, bits of the Dinobot’s
metal buried in his, smoking. He saw Swoop and Prime zigzag through
the air leaving a black trail behind.
Swoop opened his beak and roared, spinning so hard Prime feared
being thrown free, but he never once felt the claws locked around
his shoulders loosen. Swoop fought to remain airborne, raising
his head even though it pained him to do so, and pulled himself
up into the wind. Smoke still drifted from his back, a section
of it was almost completely collapsed, dented inward on a terrible
angle.
“Swoop!” Prime called, “Are you okay?”
“Me Swoop,” he grimaced, “Fine. Stupid Gobot…
hit… like fembot.”
Prime leaned to his right and felt Swoop shudder, then adjust.
This was taking too long, they needed to take Leader-1 out now.
“Drop me.”
“What?! Me Swoop no… hear you right.”
“Yes, you did. I’m going to give you an opening, and
when you see it, take him down.”
He could hear Leader-1 approaching, turned and saw the tremendous
gray machine coming towards them. He felt Swoop hesitating, his
claws relinquishing their grip slowly at first, then all at once
he was falling. Leader-1 drew near, and Prime took aim with his
cannon, firing repeatedly at the larger robot. His shots found
their mark, striking the SuperGoBot in his chest, arms and waist.
Leader-1 slowed his advance and felt another tide of shots strike
his chest. A small series of explosions rippled across a network
of seams and connections, he halted and doubled over as sparks
sprayed across his torso. When he looked up, Swoop filled his
vision. The wild dinobot screeched, almost blowing Leader-1’s
audio as his wings spread and claws raised towards the Gobot’s
masked face. Momentum carried Swoop forward, his claws dug into
Leader-1’s face and clamped down, leaving large triangular
gullies in the metal. He squawked again and beat his wings, the
force drove the head back on an angle and began to tear, pulling
a large, thick strip of metal away as it was pushed further back.
Its arms shot up and grabbed one of Swoop’s wings, and he
responded with a volley of missiles. They detonated against the
arm having practically no distance to gather speed and exploded,
shredding away all but the base wireframe. Its remaining hand
rose and wrapped its fingers around Swoop’s throat, he fired
again and growled at the wiry remains of the arm, still locked
around his neck.
Swoop’s preoccupation kept him from seeing a large panel
of the SuperGobot’s chest crack and snap, releasing Leader-1
from its holding. He fell, wrapped in smoke as he fought to change
into either robot or jet mode. He strained, then painfully shifted
and assumed his jet form, ignited his thrusters and could only
watch as Swoop and his SuperGoBot body crashed to the ground.
Leader-1 allowed his speed to waver, scanning the area for Prime
and finding nothing. He’d lost track of him during Swoop’s
assault. He knew the Autobot hadn’t perished in the fall,
if he had hit the bottom at all. He dipped into the canyon, flying
through the rocky growths poking into the air. He took a sharp
turn, using a pair of thrusters on his side to push himself in
a wide arc. Prime was nowhere to be seen. That was impossible,
where would he have gone? He made another pass, instruments scanning
the area feverishly in an attempt to get a beat on him. Then
he heard it, the distinct sound of an engine. It echoed in a
distorted thrum off the rising mountains, making it impossible
to pinpoint its origin.
The wall of stone beside him exploded, filling Leader-1’s
vision with a brilliant glare of floodlights as Optimus Prime
burst from the mountain, sped off the cliff, and plowed directly
into him. It sounded like a bomb went off. The force of the collision
sent them on an arc, hurtling as a single unit towards an adjacent
mountain, Leader-1’s jet mode pinned flat against Prime’s
steaming grill. They impacted with the force of a comet, sending
a spray of rock and plumes of dust into the air.
When the last of the smoke faded, both were still and silent.
**************
UNECOM BASE OF OPERATIONS: FACILITY # 4189
Nick peered out from behind a large pile of concrete. He saw
the Autobots wreck Staks and Defendor, the two lay in an unmoving
heap only a few feet from a huge hole in the compound made by
the one they called RoadBuster. He could hear more breakage coming
from inside, who knew what that Autobot was doing? He waited
for the choppers to leave, then raced towards Staks. He lay sprawled
across Defendor’s chest, his torso slumped on an angle on
the ground. Nick sighed, then stood by Staks’ head. He raised
his hands, blue lines of circuitry became visible like glowing
veins, spreading from his hands up his arms and across his body.
His eyes gave off a bright blue glow, and he placed his hands
to Staks’ head. Immediately the circuitry lining Nick shifted
to orange, he grimaced as bright lines of light began to create
invisible shapes around his body. The empty spaces flashed bright
white, then filled with an orange metal, covering his arms and
legs with robotic limbs. A helmet flashed over his head, then
solidified. It felt strange, he became aware of the feeling that
he wasn’t wearing a suit of armor. He landed, a small robot
fusion of flesh, blood, and technology. He turned a pair of green
eyes towards Stacks. His upper body thrummed with energy, and
Nick watched the Guardian’s head recede into his chest,
leaving an empty port. Nick didn’t question it, his body
react as if it already knew what to do. He leapt into the air
and felt his body shift, changing modes from robot to a new head
unit for Staks. Similar to the original head, Nick’s new
form sported a more pronounced set of smokestacks on the sides
of the helmet, the eyes more proportionate with the head and
face mask. A burst of light came when he locked into place, and
Stacks immediately became active, his body raising itself up
and off Boomer.
“What in tarnation?!” Nick heard the Guardian utter,
as if awoken suddenly from sleep.
“It’s me!” Nick wasn’t certain, but felt
for sure they were speaking to each other through a mental link.
“What’s goin’ on?! I can see n’ think, but
why’re you in my head Nick?!”
“I am your head, for now. Call it a gift from the
Last Engineer.”
Staks stood, the damage to his body still hurt, but not enough
to keep him from changing modes and revving his engine.
“Let’s go, he’s broken into the compound.”
“You got it partner,” Staks pressed his pedal and sped
into the hole Roadbuster had made earlier, “I owe him one.”
--------------
“Round two, ya suckerpunchin’ screwbolt!”
Ironhide drove into Turbo at full force and carried them both
backwards. He transformed as they fell, wrapping his legs around
Turbo’s head and socked him in the eye, nose, and forehead
before they crashed. He kept his legs locked, drew back and punched
Turbo’s head again, smiling internally at the dent left
behind. Turbo managed to get to his feet, clawing at Ironhide
and attempting to remove him. He growled and wrapped his hands
around Ironhide’s legs, pulling himself into a standing
position. Ironhide remained on his shoulders, his fists pistons
against Turbo’s face. A crack raced along Turbo’s brow,
he clamped his hands onto the Autobot’s legs and lurched
forward, slamming Ironhide’s back into the ground. Turbo
heard him yell in anger and pain, secured his footing and swung
Ironhide up, still gripping his legs. He slammed him again and
heard the ground crack as metal pounded it. Still not satisfied,
he jerked Ironhide up once more and brought him down a third
time, letting go when he felt the Autobot’s body going limp.
Ironhide tried to stand, then collapsed, vision blinking in and
out as he tried to get a shaking elbow under him.
“Ain’t finished… yet.”
“Yeah you are.” Turbo reared back his leg and moved
to kick a field goal when he heard a familiar, blaring siren.
Inferno rumbled towards him and for a moment Turbo froze, his
mind skipping back to their first encounter, the pain he endured
being bent around Inferno’s grill and mashed into the Command
Center’s leg. Turbo’s teeth clamped together as Inferno
collided with him and lifted him off the ground, the velocity
fixing Turbo to the front of his cab. “Remember me?!”
Turbo peered over his shoulder and saw a wall fast approaching.
He lowered his legs to the ground and let out a yell as his feet
dug into the ground and sparked. Inferno’s speed slowed
slightly, but didn’t stop. Inferno had built up too much
velocity and was still holding his pedal to the metal. He pushed
against Turbo and without warning slammed on his breaks, the
opposing force sending Turbo sailing backwards. He recovered,
got to his feet and ran at Inferno, who spun his emergency ladder
once to build up speed, then extended it and let it smash into
Turbo’s chest when he got within striking range. The ladder
exploded in a shower of metal and sparks as Turbo hurtled through
the air and collided with the wall of UNECOM’s main compound.
He fell and brought a large chunk of the wall with him.
--------------
Roadbuster looked about the facility. It was barren, dark, and
it was huge. For a moment he felt strange being able to move
about so freely in an enclosed space without feeling cramped.
His eyes swept the corridors leading to other rooms that housed
who-knew-what, and he grunted.
“Secure the compound,” he grumbled, “There’s
nothing to slaggin’ secure.”
He felt the ground rumble and turned, Staks ran into him at full
speed and sent him crashing through a wall and spilling into
a corridor. He looked up and saw Staks’ grill a moment before
it cracked against his skull and knocked him down, Staks’
momentum rolled him atop Roadbuster and over. “ Payback
time!” he yelled, blaring his horn.
“Yer still outta yer league GoBot!” Roadbuster
grabbed the undercarriage as it thumped over him and pushed up
with so much force it sent Staks end over end. The cab crashed
upside down, and Staks changed modes, getting to his feet as
Roadbuster ran at him. They traded blows, the sound sent a thunderous
echo down the corridors and shook the walls.
“Draw, ya sidewinder!” Staks raised his arms,
the tires resting on his shoulders spun and fired blue bursts
of energy like a machine gun at Roadbuster, who crossed his arms
in front of himself. It rattled off his armor and left a sweep
of dents behind as Roadbuster took step after step towards the
Guardian. He winced as the armor heated up, making it two steps
in front of Staks and throwing a right hand that sent him flying.
Roadbuster was on him again in seconds, rocking his head back
with a left, then swung him hard enough to smash through a nearby
door. Staks got to his feet and shuddered, still feeling the
effects of the damage from Defendor’s detonation. He jumped
and swung a hard right into Rosbuster’s face, the Autobot
was knocked back, but recovered and charged forward. He hit Staks
hard with his broad shoulders, lifting him up and pounding towards
a nearby wall that exploded when they hit, sending them both
crashing in a clatter of cement and metal. Roadbuster was on
his knees, shaking his head when he saw a black and purple machine,
a GoBot he presumed, engaging what looked like miniature FBI
robots. “The slag?” he cocked his head and saw Transformers
and Gobots duking it out.
“Heh,” he chuckled, “made it to th’ frontlines.”
---------------
“You Skyfire ripoff!” Springer fired a spray of blasts
at Raizor, the shots whizzing past the Gobot jet as he banked
to the left.
“What the heck’s a skyfire?” he asked Ace, who
spun and flew beside him, “That some kind of Autobot weapon?”
“I think he just insulted you.”
Raizor cut through the air and swung towards Springer, returning
fire, “Yeah?” he changed modes, his robot form surprisingly
large and solid for a jet. His body remained mostly white save
a few slashes of black, only his head stood out, a stark, bright
blue. He charged his fists and fired at Springer, who responded
by transforming and flying directly at Raizor, bringing a fist
down on the side of his head. Raizor countered, but felt a hot
blast on his side from Sandstorm. He zipped past and plowed into
Raizor with a yell, knocking him unconscious. A hail of gunfire
immediately assaulted Sandstorm, his sensors showed three more
Gobot jets closing in on him. Bullseye, Bolt and Fliptop targeted
the Autobot and fired as one, shattering his rotor.
“GAH!” he screamed, transforming to robot mode and
falling over fifty feet before Whirl managed to head him off,
transform and snatch him out of his fall, his rotor straining
to keep them both airborne.
Springer returned to his chopper form, trying desperately to
hold off the advancing Guardians.
“At least they’re not angry sword bearing lunatics
like that other guy,” he dodged one blast and felt another
punch into his side, “But not by much!”
Bolt moved in to follow up on his last shot, then shouted in
surprise, a line of energy ripping past and searing his left
wing.
“Who?”
The Aerialbots swung towards the Guardians in tight formation,
Silverbolt at point, firing mercilessly into the swerving Gobot
jets.
“Need a hand?” Silverbolt radioed Springer.
“Yeah,” he responded, “ Preferably one attached
to a gun.”
*************
Leader-1’s eyes snapped open and he started. He felt himself
hauled to his feet, Prime’s face was in front of his, he
could see every scratch, dent and crack racing along the metal.
His eyes blazing.
“This is over!” he shouted, slamming
Leader-1’s back against a crumbling wall of rock, “Enough!”
Leader-1 brought his hands up and placed them flat against Prime’s
chest, his palms flashed brilliantly as he channeled a high volume
of energy into a blast that sent both him and the Autobot leader
flying. Leader-1 regained his balance and staggered forward,
fists flickering as he came upon Prime. He lay on the ground,
his chest a twisted wreck of metal. A single, crooked line of
blue light was radiating from a crack in the last layer of armor.
Leader-1’s eyes were wide, he knelt beside Prime, smoke
still rising from the damaged area, and lowered his hands to
Prime’s chest. Immediately Optimus’s own hands shot
forward and wrapped around Leader-1’s wrists. His grip was
weaker than before, but there was a tenacity in the struggling
Autobot that Leader-1 hadn’t felt before. He took a deep
breath, this was it.
Leader-1’s shield flared from his fingers and expanded,
pushing Prime’s hands off his wrists. A small open section
of the force field pushed forward into Prime’s chest, then
sealed over the Matrix of Leadership. Optimus roared in pain,
the remaining layer of armor separating the artifact from Leader-1’s
hands began to crack, then shattered within the force field,
revealing the matrix in its entirety. Leader-1 gasped. It remained
nestled within an indentation specifically crafted within Prime,
a simple orange sphere encasing a crystalline object so rich
and bright he couldn’t help but stare at it. Two curved
handles attached to either side, four holes set in each side
to allow the bearer to grip it firmly. Prime’s hands reached
out and clasped Leader-1’s upper arms once more, his eyes
wide with an indescribable fury as he dug into Leader-1’s
forearms. He was not trying to remove the matrix from
him, was he completely insane? In response, Leader-1 stepped
over Prime, planted his feet, and pulled upward with all his
might.
A scream ripped through the air.
************
CYBERTRON:
Trypticon had barely neared the DarkOre Tower when Smasher ran
towards him, fists blazing against the fires and smoke drifting
from the city.
“Trypticon!” Shockwave bellowed, “Destroy them!”
Trypticon whipped his head towards Smasher in time to receive
a thunderous shot against his eye. He roared, enraged and hurt,
swinging his thick tail and crashing it against Smasher’s
chest. The sheer savagery of the blow knocked Smasher off his
feet and lifted him. He fell, destroying a number of buildings
as he did so. Mangler didn’t wait for instructions, he aimed
his forearm blasters and fired on the beast, twin beams of plasma
erupting from his weapons. They struck Trypticon and drove him
back, he dug his claws into the street to avoid being knocked
over, then snarled and fired dual missiles from his throat. They
sailed through the air and exploded against Mangler’s head,
he cut his weapons with an echoing shout and clasped his head,
smoking from the damage. Trypticon stomped forward, mindless
of the two Zods that stalked towards him. One leapt, landing
on his thigh and burying its teeth in his hide. Trypticon halted
and roared at the sudden flash of pain, he threw himself against
a nearby building, burying the assailant in the structure, then
yanked himself free. The Zod still clung snarling and clawing
as the second Zod sprang on Trypticon’s tail and began to
scale his back, slashing and tearing at anything he could reach.
“THIS BEST GOBOTS CAN DO?! ” He growled, “NO
ONE BEATS TRYPTICON! PREDACONS! ”
A large port near the base of Trypticon’s neck slid open,
a towering, bestial form rose. Orange and black metal composed
its form, a dark set of ebony wings splayed from its back. A
red visor glared out at DarkOre Central, flashed, then took notice
of the Zod, who had already seen him and was charging forward.
Predaking planted his feet and allowed the Zod to reach him,
mouth agape, rows of metal teeth flashing. He clasped the upper
and lower jaws when they tried to close on him, his growls matching
the Renegade creature a moment before he placed a foot on Zod’s
lower jaw, gripped its snout in his hands and wrenched the top
of its head clear off its body. The shriek from the creature
was music to his ears. He kicked the flailing body from Trypticon’s
back and watched it take a nasty fall down to the street, where
it erupted upon impact. He raised the top of Zod’s head
in his hands and hurled it at the one still biting into Trypticon’s
thigh. It struck the beast teeth first, shearing off the side
of its face. Zod jerked back with an angry screech as it lost
its grip and fell to the ground as well. Trypticon turned, growling
as it landed on top of its fallen ally. Trypticon raised his
foot, the resounding crunch of metal beneath his heel was the
most satisfaction he’d felt in years.
Mangler crashed into Trypticon, bringing both fists down on his
back as Thruster brought up her forearm cannons and fired on
the dinosaurian fortress. Trypticon felt his knees bend, then
rose to his full height and roared, thrashing back and forth
trying to throw the Renegade. Mangler held fast, reared back
and brought his fist down hard against the base of Trypticon’s
neck. Predaking took wing, avoiding the massive hand as it made
contact. Trypticon turned his head and rolled a ball of flame
in his mouth, then spat it at Thruster. It struck her in the
chest and sent her smashing into a nearby building. It cracked
down the middle, then began to collapse. At the same time Smasher
was on his feet, joining Mangler in his assault. Together they
hammered Trypticon, intent on pummeling the monstrous machine
into nothing. Trypticon snarled, igniting the vast arsenal of
weaponry lining his body, the blasts tore into Smasher and sent
him into the air, he crashed to the ground a short distance from
Thruster.
Mangler’s body was riddled with holes and tears, he had
gotten the worst end of the discharge from Trypticon, who hunched
forward and charged him, ramming the amber spike jutting from
his forehead deep into Mangler’s midsection. The Renegade
screamed, the sound shaking the ground beneath them. Trypticon’s
sensors registered Predaking swinging through the air, arcing
his path directly towards Mangler. He flew straight towards him,
bloodlust dancing in his eyes as he brought his spiked, gray
fists up before himself and pulled his wings tight against his
body. He shot through the air and smashed into Mangler’s
eye, his path never stopping until he burst from the back of
his head with a roar of his own, covered in wires and oil.
Mangler screamed again, clutching an hand to his destroyed eye.
He brought his hands together and crashed them against Trypticon’s
skull, who responded by jerking his head up, eviscerating Mangler.
Fire immediately sprayed from the wound, and Trypticon caught
a glimpse of the various rooms within Mangler, weapon caches,
smaller hallways that led to other rooms with blinking computer
lights. They were exploding from within, filling Mangler’s
internal systems with flame and smoke. He swung at Trypticon
again and the beast caught his forearm in his mouth, clamped
down, then activated the powerful hydraulics in his jaws. Mangler’s
cannon exploded as his limb was crushed, and Trypticon pulled
back, ripping the Renegade’s arm from the socket. Mangler
didn’t have time to fall backwards, Trypticon spat the dangling
limb from his mouth and charged, knocking him into a trio of
buildings that simply could not hold his weight. They crumpled
beneath him, and Trypticon opened his maw wide, lunging and biting
down on Mangler’s neck. He felt the Renegade trying to scream,
but couldn’t, its voice module was shattered, as was most
of its yellow neck. Trypticon found himself wondering what the
thing was made from, but it didn’t matter. He pinned Mangler,
using his small forearms to clamp down on its chest as he lunged
forward again and crushed Mangler’s skull in his mouth.
The explosion filled his throat, yellow and red light splayed
from between his jaws, smoke squirted from Mangler’s body.
They sprayed from every opening, every joint like an oversized
kettle. Mangler’s body arched as if it was being electrocuted,
then went limp, its hand dropped against Trypticon’s back
and slid off, striking the ground in what would be his last act
of violence.
Trypticon gave his head a final bite, then rose to his full height
and stepped on Mangler’s chest. It caved in, the central
core of the Renegade detonated. There was a deafening eruption,
a yellow mushroomcloud of smoke and fire surrounded Trypticon
as he threw his head skyward and roared in triumph.
Smasher and Thruster saw the slaughter happen too quickly for
them to interfere. Smasher’s entire crimson head was alight,
his yellow eyes a blinding glare. He and Thruster launched themselves
into the fading yellow pillar of smoke, Trypticon visible as
a stark silhouette in the midst of the destruction. Together
they struck him, Thruster burying a fist into his chest, Smasher
clubbed him across the bridge of his snout. Predaking flew heading
into the smoke still swirling about the battling fortresses,
zeroing in on Smasher, who appeared to be the more aggressive
of the two. He targeted the titan’s eye, it seemed to do
the most damage to them. He angled his path towards the Renegade
when it whipped its head around, yellow eyes enraged, and saw
Predaking coming. Smasher swung a massive fist and heard Predaking
crash against the flat of his hand and rebound. The gestalt sliced
through the air, consciousness flickering in and out, pain gripped
his body when he plowed into nearby building on a downward angle,
destroying three floors before bursting through the other side
and slamming into the metal streets below.
Trypticon snarled and lashed out, striking Smasher’s forehead
with his own. Thruster caught a glimpse of purple flame beginning
to light Trypticon’s mouth. She exchanged a look with Smasher.
They charged forward again and took hold of Trypticon, it was
like trying to seize a live wire. The bestial fortress slashed
at the trio, his enraged roars causing their audio to tremble
horribly. They acted as one and lifted the monstrosity off his
feet. He continued to thrash and they launched him backwards.
Trypticon collided with the Central Tower and shattered the middle
section of the structure. The various discs affixed to the side
exploded into his back, eliciting an angry roar as the tower
rumbled and shuddered, then collapsed on top of him.
The top portion of the tower felt like it was falling in slow
motion, nothing held still, everything was vibrating as the metal
walls stretched and tore free of themselves.
--------------
Tux sailed through the window and fell, unconscious, towards
the ground. It was almost peaceful, he heard nothing but the
wind rushing past his ears-until the sound of Trypticon smashing
into the Tower jolted him from the darkness. He tried to ignite
his foot boosters and couldn’t. He felt his minibots securing
themselves tighter in their holdings… as if that would help
when he struck the ground. He tilted his head back and closed
his eyes, ready to accept his untimely demise, when he was jerked
to the side, caught on something. His eyes snapped open and he
found himself soaring through the air with Fitor. He was in jet
form, a single arm extended from his side, curved to keep Tux
from falling.
“Hey,” he said, “hurry up and fix whatever’s
wrong with your boost, I can’t fly like this for long.”
“Tux saw the dents running along his cockpit. “Someone
did a number of you.”
“You’re one to talk, looks like someone shifted your
face three inches to the left.” Fitor replied, somewhat
sharply, “And you’re welcome, by the way.”
------------------
The Decepticons stationed within the Tower fled from any available
opening moments later, alarm lights were blaring along every
floor moments before Thruster and Smasher assaulted Trypticon
and drove him into the Tower itself. It cracked in the middle,
the center segment caving in with Trypticon’s weight, the
top portion folding and crashing down on itself, the discs embedded
in the sides shattering as they collided with parts of the tower
and other discs.
Blane watched the monstrous Tower collapse and fall to the left,
debris and dust from the main entrance billowing out and spraying
a mist of burnt materials from the base. The ground shook uncontrollably,
it was a horrifying vision. Battles taking place across the city
halted as both Decepticon and Renegade watched Trypticon’s
body continue to sink into the Tower’s remains. Soundwave
hung from Astrotrain’s shuttle undercarriage, his cassettes
flew about him in a cloud, making sure he didn’t lose consciousness
and fall.
***************
UNECOM BASE OF OPERATIONS: FACILITY # 4189
Both Leader-1 and Prime were howling at the top of their output,
primal roars as a blinding blue light splayed from the matrix.
Leader-1’s force field dissipated, and he immediately clutched
one the matrix’s handles.
“NO! ” Prime yelled and swung a clenched
fist at Leader-1. It smashed into the side of his face, drawing
an angry shout from the Guardian, but his grip remained, he yanked
again and Prime screamed.
The matrix shifted from its position, lifting up from its holding
and inched towards Leader-1, who reared back his head and screamed
in what sounded like fear. Leader-1 felt like something was being
pulled from him, the matrix reaching into him and tearing something
from his mind and soul.
Lead Them
He heard the voice in his head fade, drifting towards the matrix’s
inviting light.
Prime snaked his hand forward and latched onto the free side
of the matrix, the glow was blinding them both. When his fingers
touched the cool metal, there was a white flash in his mind and
he saw the world of Gobotron, ravaged and decimated by Unicron.
He saw a faded image of an armada striking against their own
world in an effort to drive the mad god away-and failing. Something
was wrong. He saw Cy-Kill’s change, saw the Guardians change…
But something was wrong.
He felt a resentment, a chaotic anger deep within the matrix
itself. A dark indigo blob of power screeching within the ancient
mantle of leadership. It writhed like a coiled dragon, its anger
and obsessive focus locked onto Unicron. He heard a voice drifting
through his head.
Let us go
“NO!” he shouted, eyes wide as he felt, actually felt
the matrix shift its movement towards Leader-1.
Dneirf ym si ymene ym fo ymene eht.
Optimus saw the face of a human he didn’t recognize, white
hair blowing peacefully in a soundless wind. The human stood
beside Alpha Trion, the ancient bearer of the matrix, the Autobot
responsible for making Optimus Prime what he was today. They
stared at Prime, both looked weary and sullen.
Dneirf ym si ymene ym fo ymene eht.
“NO!” Prime shouted again,
Let us show you
A blue pulse of energy raced through him, a shower of sparks
burst from his point of contact with the matrix. Leader-1 continued
to scream with Prime. Both of Leader-1’s hands were locked
in a deathgrip on the matrix, which was slowly being torn free.
Metal twisted, cables snapped, and with a final, skull-splitting
shriek, it was wrenched from its holding.
Prime fell and landed hard on his back, blue eyes flashing dully
as he tried desperately to raise himself-then fell back to the
ground. He saw Leader-1 holding the matrix in both hands above
his head, as if frozen in that pose while his scream dwindled
and faded into nothing. His eyes were visible through his visor,
wide saucers filled with blue light. Prime tried to speak; instead
he fell into darkness.
The matrix rested in Leader-1’s hands, glowing contentedly
as he lowered his arms, hunched forward and stared down at it,
terrified. He couldn’t utter a word, it was like the object
itself was trying to speak to him, as if it knew him. Leader-1
heard a clicking sound, a creaking, like a steady vibrating clack
of an old car-then realized it was him. He was trembling, his
circuits racing with no signs of slowing. What was he doing?
How could he-
Leader-1 shook his head violently, cradling the matrix in his
hands as a chill raced along his spine. He looked over at Optimus,
unable to move. He felt a coppery sting in his throat and managed
a single step back, then took to the air, his body still shaking
badly. He strained, activating a link to the Guardians.
“This is Leader-1…” he glanced down at Prime as
he rose into the air, trying desperately to force his voice to
remain steady, “Everyone pull back to Guardian and Sentry.
I repeat, pull back.”
“Can… do Leader-1.” Turbo’s voice came over
the channel, he sounded pained, out of breath. Leader-1 nodded.
I-I’m on my way.”
“Don’t bother!” Matt’s voice crackled, “This
place is a lost cause Leader-1, the compound looks like a chinashop
after a dozen bulls got done with it! We’re cutting our
losses and…” an uncomfortable silence, “No sense
beating around the bush, we’re eradicating this facility.
The guards have already removed anything we couldn’t replace.”
“Matt, I’m sorry-”
“Hey, you and I both knew this would happen if they found
us. We’ll be fine. Right now we’re underground, en
route to another base. This one is gone in sixty seconds from
the moment we end this communication.”
“Is everyone okay?”
Nick’s voice cut in, “Other than Traks ejecting me,
I’m fine.”
“Matt,” He sighed, “I’m sorry. We… we
have to go.”
“We know.” It was A.J. He could hear the sadness in
her voice, the disappointment. “Is it for good this time?
I mean, for good, for good?”
Leader-1 felt his eyes sting, he closed them, and set his jaw.
“No A.J. We’ll be back. “he opened his eyes and
looked towards the sky, he could already see Guardian and Sentry
approaching. “I promise you that.”
There was a click, then nothing.
-------------------------
Blaster stopped short, Jazz almost ran into him.
“Hey man, what’s the word?”
Blaster turned to him, his eyes wide. “Just intercepted
a convo between Leader-1 and his human chums. This place is rigged
to blow!”
“What?!” Jazz looked around, “When?”
“We got one minute to peel out!” He transformed along
with Jazz, landing in his front seat and hooking himself into
Jazz’s stereo.
“Listen up Autobots, we just laid a serious smackdown on
the Guardians, and they are blowin this joint-literally!
Fifty-one second countdown starting now! Go Go Go!”
“They’re retreatin’?” Roadbuster backed away
from the piles of rubble shaking around him, “That mean
we won?”
“Not if we get blown to kingdom come!” Springer yelled
over his com, joining Whirl and Slingshot as they bolted from
the area.
“Move, move!” Hound rolled alongside Mirage and Hot
Rod as they motored through the remains of the compound, the
sound of something powering up coming from all directions. They
skirted the hole in the wall before the entrance and kept going,
trying to put as much space between themselves and the compound
as possible.
Omega felt Skylynx land on his shoulder and gritted his teeth.
He’d been hit there a number of times by Guardian-it hurt.
“Looks like I provided enough distraction to guarantee you’d
be able to hold your own, eh Omega?”
He glanced at Skylynx “Bravado, distracting. Silence,
preferred.” He backed away from the remains of the compound,
which was beginning to glow in the center, a rising sphere of
light.
“Twenty seconds!” Blaster called over their communicators,
“This countdown’s wrappin’ up!”
Jazz saw Blurr and Elita-1 whiz past, Silverbolt soared overhead,
and Jazz noticed Ultra Magnus swung from an improvised gurney
beneath him. Warpath kicked up dirt, laughing with a merry contentment
that bothered both Jazz and Blaster.
----------------------
“Everyone here?”
Turbo held a hand to his head, standing in Guardian’s main
control room. His eyes swept the room, taking in Guardians in
various states of disrepair.
“My achin’ axels…” Staks slumped in a chair
near a monitor, a hand clamped to his neck, “Who won
that fight?”
“If it was us,” Turbo grumbled, then winced, “I
sure don’t feel like much’ve a winner.”
Sentry opened a communication with Thruster. “Attention,
our mission on Earth is complete. We are returning to Gobotron.
”
“Sentry,” Guardian was already rising into the
air, “Our inventory is the same now as it was when we
arrived, correct?”
“Leader-1 in sight. His boarding completes our arrival
numbers.”
SmallFoot brought a hand to her ear, a grimace on her face from
the loud speech of the transports. “Wait,” she said,
“Shouldn’t there be plus one? What about PathFinder?”
She stood abruptly and wished she hadn’t, she shot a hand
to her back. “Has anyone seen her?
************
CYBERTRON:
“Blane, I am receiving word from the Guardians. Their
task on Earth is complete.”
“Good t’hear.” Blane stood over Galvatron, “So’s
mine.” He knelt, his knee crunching debris as he leaned
in close to Galvatron’s face. The Energon slivers still
poked through the Decepticon’s hands, he could barely feel
his arms.
“You took some’ve mine…” Blane whispered,
“…so I’m takin some’ve yours.”
He let the words linger, then his whisper became fierce, “Fer
the record, Galvy… you thought these last coupla
beatings I gave you was bad? You ain’t seen
me cut loose, punk. You ain’t seen nothin’.”
Blane opened his hands and let Galvatron’s head drop, his
smile was gone. “I ain’t playin’ no more. Get
in my face again, see what happens.” He stood, glancing
skyward. DarkOre Central was still ablaze with conflict.
“Renegades.” Thruster channeled Blane’s
voice, it boomed in the ears of the surviving fighters, “Back
it up, we’re pullin’ out.”
Like a swarm of locusts full off their devastation, the Renegades
broke off their encounters, taking flight and converging upon
the remaining two Thrusters.
Smasher opened a number of ports along his arms and legs, allowing
the Renegades access amidst a flurry of Decepticon gunfire that
popped and ricocheted off his armored skin. Thruster did the
same, though internally growled as the Stunticons entered behind
Crasher and Destroyer. She scanned the area, Smasher doing the
same.
“My numbers are off, I do not have the same number of
Renegades as I did when we arrived.”
Smasher finished his inventory. “You are not incorrect.
We have lost some of our people.” Thruster could
sense his anger. “There are platoons of Decepticon
warships en route. With only the two of use remaining, it would
be unwise to remain. They will be upon us in full force, we need
to leave.”
“RAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!! ” Trypticon reared up from
the wreckage of the DarkOre Tower and roared at the ascending
Thrusters. “COWARDS!!!! NO RUN FROM TRYPTICON!!! ”
“Coward?” Smasher glared down at the
beast, who was still shrugging off large, broken plates of crystal
and metal. Smasher’s eyes narrowed, Mangler’s death
still raw in his thoughts. “I should-”
“No, we need to protect those within us.” Thruster
continued to rise, watching the two Quick-Step beasts snarl at
Trypticon and launch themselves at him. He caught one by its
through, squeezing down with his claws, ignoring the second Quick-Step
as it buried its fangs in his midsection. The creature gripped
in his claws struggle, roaring defiantly and snapping at him.
The second its jaws closed, Tyrpticon yanked the monster forward
and crammed its head in his mouth, then bit down. The Quick Step
convulsed wildly, then hung limp, the torso sliding free with
a deep curved portion missing. Oil dripped from Trypticon’s
mouth, he turned towards the second Quick-Step and brought his
jaws down on is purple back, pinching a large chunk of metal
when he bit into the now screeching beast. He stood, raising
the thing in his mouth, then shook it violently, letting it go
with a snarl and watched it smash through the top half of a nearby
building. It crashed halfway through the structure, then lay
still.
Trypticon trumpeted a chilling roar of rage, trying desperately
to fire up his boosters but got only a crackling, fiery refusal
from his jets. The damage they suffered from the impact of being
put through DarkOre Tower, and the dents that disfigured them
were a ghastly sight, but it only enraged him further. He stomped
his foot and shook the ground, infuriated, only able to watch
as the Renegade Transports became enveloped in their cloaking
fields, vanishing from sight and disappearing into space.
***************
UNECOM BASE OF OPERATIONS: FACILITY # 4189
Pathfinder hovered, watching the Autobots race from the growing
bulb of energy about to erupt. She sighed, then glanced up at
Guardian and Sentry, both about to clear the atmosphere and jump
into lightspeed. Her eyes turned towards the direction of Metroplex,
and she activated her telescopic vision. The edges of her sight
blurred as she zoomed in on the Autobot city, hoping she could
catch one last look at-
“Cosmos?!” she gasped, almost shutting down the zoom.
He was standing atop a damaged tower, the highest peak on Metroplex.
And he was looking at her.
She saw him raise a finger, a dot of light lit the tip as he
swung it around, leaving trails in the dark only a machine with
their vision could see. He finished and lowered his hand, standing
beside a thinly glowing message that read:
I’M SORRY
Pathfinder felt her throat tighten. She raised her own finger,
a blue glow raced through it as she wrote a short sentence in
script:
SO AM I
They stared at each other a moment longer, then Pathfinder changed
modes and raced to catch up with Guardian and Sentry.
The compound exploded, a deafening blast that was heard in cities
miles from the conflict. A brilliant mushroom of light blossomed
from ground zero, stretching towards the sky.
************
CYBERTRON:
“Mighty Galvatron…” Cyclonus’ hand rested
on Galvatron’s shoulder. He felt more hands take hold of
him, the Sweeps gathered and helped Cyclonus pull him to his
feet. Galvatron stared out at the destruction, the Decepticons
nearest the tower were beginning to move towards him.
Most were angry. They were insulted, they were ready to take
the fight directly to the Renegades. He could see it in their
eyes, every one of them hungry for battle, even those who suffered
damage in the attack stood tall, side by side with their fellow
Decepticon. But there were other looks in the sea of faces forming.
Doubt. Confusion. Why hadn’t Galvatron, their leader, simply
crushed this intruding braggart? Why wasn’t he the dominant
beast of a warrior they had all come to respect-and fear?
He looked down at his hands, eyes blank, an empty, unreadable
expression on his face. He tried to curl his fingers into fists,
closed his eyes when the pain threatened to make him scream and
continued to curl them. Then stopped. He lowered his hands, let
his arms fall to his sides, his cannon feeling heavy-a burden.
He looked out at them, his Decepticons, and saw in them everything
he was lacking. Shockwave approached, the slash in his back still
giving off an errant spark.
“Galvatron, the Tower may have been lost, but it’s
only a minor setback. Trypticon can be repaired in mere cycles
and we can pursue-”
Galvatron could barely hear him, his words faded in his audio.
His mind lingered on the resentment in Motormaster’s face,
how close it was to some of the looks he was getting now. They
wanted a leader. He blinked, “Decepticons, I-” he paused,
the words caught in his throat. Motormaster’s words blared
in his head
YOU betrayed US!!
Blane was right. (I’m lookin’ for Galvatron. Seen
him?) He couldn’t do this… not like this.
Cyclonus stared at Galvatron, worry etched in his face. “Galvatron?”
A sudden geyser of energy streamed from Galvatron’s cannon,
lifting him into the air. His head hung, a dark shadow cast over
his face as he looked down at himself in resentment. He tried
to ignore the confused shouts from below, the calls from his
people. Galvatron ignited his boosters and rocketed into the
sky, leaving the Decepticons behind.
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