Archive of Our Own ^beta

Rodimus wasn’t happy. It wasn’t due to anger or rage or anything like that. It was all due to frustration, disappointment, irritation, and it was all directed at himself. So frustrated that once he was certain the Axalon was on its way to Earth, he retired to his quarters. As he looked out the window, optics fixed on the shifting starscape outside, the chime on his door sounded and interrupted his self-loathing. “Enter.”

Arcee slowly walked into the room, her optics soon finding the cavalier. “I thought you’d be in here.” The door slid shut behind her as she walked up to him and took a seat nearby. “Care to explain what’s gotten you so down?” At his continued silence, she quickly realized, “This is about what happened on Quintessa, isn’t it?” Rodimus gave her a critical look, prompting her explanation. “I’m more than just a pretty face, Rodimus. Now, I think you’d better tell me what’s going on in your head right now, otherwise I’ll be forced to beat it out of you.”

Rodimus sighed, and leaned back in his chair. “I did something terrible, Arcee. I don’t care if anyone calls me a hero for it, but I killed the last Quintesson, and I’m not proud of it. And if I could think of a better option that would have let him live and let us get off his planet, then I’d have taken it.”

“But you didn’t have a better option to take. He stays online and connected to the planet, those Scrapmetals tear up us and our ship. He gets disconnected from the planet, he dies.” The Omnicon looked to her fellow commanding officer and pointed out, “You did what you had to do. Being proud of it isn’t required, and probably isn’t the wise thing anyway. I’m not Rung, and I know next to nothing about psychology, but I think you and I both know you’re dwelling on this far too much. You need to let go.”

The cavalier shook his head. “A lot of mechs out there would probably say that he deserved to die simply because he was a Quintesson, but that didn’t give me the right to kill him. Even given the circumstances, I don’t feel happy about it.” He then nodded and admitted, “You’re right, though. I need to move on. I’ve got a ship to run, and I can chat with Rung about this after we get back to Cybertron.”

“And he can go on at length with you about how other commanders have done the same thing and your situation isn’t much different. And hopefully, you’ll never have to go through anything exactly like it again.”

He scowled. “And that brings me to the subject of my souvenir. What was the point of giving it to me? Some convoluted scheme to get revenge? Some ticking time bomb?”

“Or simply some way to leave a positive legacy, a way to redeem his people.”

“But you and I both know that there are plenty who will argue that whatever’s in that pod should be destroyed.”

“And plenty who would argue otherwise. Including me and every other Cybertronian who remembers that the Quintessons created our first generation.” Arcee smiled. “Not all of us are believers in false logic.”

The scowl faded as Rodimus admitted, “I’m just gonna say it right now, I’m terrified of being a parent.”

“That’s why kids are supposed to have two of them. If you need my help, you’ve got it.” She paused and looked towards the window as the ship dropped out of TransWarp and back into normal space. “And it looks like we’ve reached our destination, so we’ve got other problems right now.”

Rodimus rose from his chair and looked at the blue green planet quietly spinning in the distance, its moon barely visible nearby. Classified as mostly harmless, Earth had nonetheless been closely watched, only gaining more scrutiny due to the Mini-Cons being located. “A quick visit to fill in Optimus, then another jump back to Cybertron. Nice and simple.” His comm.-link chirped, prompting him to answer. “Yeah, Tow-Line? Gotten a signal to the Ark yet?”

:“No such luck. We’re getting a message from the new Earth installation instead. It’s bad news, Rodimus.”:

The cavalier gestured for Arcee to follow him as he exited his quarters. “Fill me in once I reach the bridge.”

-

The doors to Autobase Earth’s repair bay hissed as they slid aside and allowed Scavenger entry, and optics quickly found themselves on the four waiting berths inside and the mechs laid out atop them. A small part of him was glad that Optimus was in the best shape of the four, but that didn’t say much, as the Autobot leader had been viciously beaten into less than ten kliks prior. Only moderately worse off was Jetfire, still unconscious from the battle with the upgraded Megatron, with Starscream and the rescued Demolishor easily the worst of the lot and getting the most attention from Longarm and the Emergency Team. Quietly striding up to his commanding officer, he quietly noted, “Well, you’ve seen better cycles.”

Optimus managed a pained laugh. “And worse.” His tone grew more serious. “What about everyone else?”

“Hot Shot’s team got to the two pods that were nearby. Demolishor was in one of them, along with the remaining Mini-Cons that Starscream recruited. They’re fine, no damage. Skywarp and Thundercracker are still unaccounted for. Process of elimination means their pod’s the one that crashed outside of Seattle. Red Alert and Landmine are also missing. We’ve filled in Colonel Franklin, and he’s got helicopter patrols looking for both teams. With any luck, they’ll be found in one piece.”

“And Red will be back to look over all four of you, not to mention make sure you all aren’t disturbed while you’re being repaired.” Taking on his partner’s command of medical affairs, Longarm looked up at the bulldozer. “Besides, I think you have bigger things to worry about than checking in with Optimus while he’s getting repaired, don’t you? We’ll keep you in the loop. You just try to keep our jobs from getting any bigger.”

Scavenger couldn’t make any promises, but nodded solemnly. “I’ll do what I can.”

As the old bulldozer left, Optimus turned to Longarm and asked, “So, why not simply drop me in the CR Chamber? My injuries aren’t that bad, are they?”

“We’re still having some issues getting them fully online. Besides, the damages you and Jetfire suffered might not be that extensive, but Starscream and Demolishor are in far worse shape. And from what I’ve heard, you got off lucky.”

The Autobot leader couldn’t help but think that luck had little to do with their current situation. “Better some than none, I suppose. Make sure they get more attention than me. They obviously need it more than I do.”

“Yes, but just because you’re stable doesn’t mean you’re out of the smelter.” Turning his optics towards the still-unconscious bulks, he admitted, “Still, you’ve got a point. We’ll keep on them, give your self-repair systems a chance to work. Let’s just hope they can do their job.” The doors hissed open once more, prompting the Mini-Con to prepare to berate his latest visitors, but he stopped as he recognized the new arrivals. “What are you three doing here?”

“Professor Suzuki came to visit Doctor Masters and check about the Atlantis search, and brought us along.” Quickly noticing the occupied berths along with his brother and Lori, Coby looked up. “Looks like you guys could use some help. Anything I can do?”

“Anything we can do, he means,” Lori quickly volunteered.

The Mini-Con crane laughed and pointed towards a nearby storage locker. “We’ve got some spare parts inside there. If nothing else, you can help swap in the replacements.”

-

“No offense Rhinox, but shouldn’t you be in repair bay helping to get Optimus fixed up?” Despite the heavy components in his arms, Hoist hardly looked fatigued at his efforts. “Me, Liftor and Refute can handle this easy enough, not that we don’t appreciate the help.”

Rhinox looked to the excavator and laughed as he removed one of the cooling coils from the damaged Overload unit and replaced it with a new one. “The way Longarm acts sometimes, there are times when I feel safer keeping out of repair bay when there’s serious work to be done. Besides, I’ll get called in when I’m needed. And I will be needed.”

“Besides, I think it’s safe to say we got the easy job.” Pushing an armored weapons casing on an anti-gravity unit in front of him, Armorhide halted and then lifted up the new coil for his partner to install. “This ought to finish one of the cannon units. Give us another half-cycle, and we’ll have the Overload unit back to full working order. Thank Primus for mass production of interchangeable parts.”

“Him and whoever the humans credit for making the idea popular, along with the colonel for agreeing to the idea.” Rollout looked over his armored unit, glad to see that work was continuing and equally glad that he hadn’t suffered damage along with it in the recent struggle. “Going to probably either ask Diana about who specifically got the credit. Either that, or look it up.”

“Honoré Black got the earliest credit for production of firearms with interchangeable parts in 1778. Eli Whitney popularized the idea in the United States twenty years later, and it became commonplace throughout the nineteenth century, finally reaching the apex with the assembly lines in the early twentieth century.” Heads turned as Scavenger entered. “A mech needs something to amuse himself with. How’s work progressing here?”

“At a good pace. Like Armorhide just said, we have the easy job.” Locking the remaining bit of armor into place, Rhinox then set the cannon aside so that Liftor and Refute could test its internal circuitry and make certain that everything worked before reconnecting it to the Overload unit proper. “Give the word, and it’ll be ready for Optimus or Rollout to use again. The question’s still there about how much good it’ll do against Megatron now that he’s been upgraded, however.”

“We’ll deal with that when the time comes.” His comm.-link chirped, and the bulldozer answered. “Yes Sideswipe?”

:“Got some good news, Scavenger. The Axalon’s arrived in orbit. They’re keeping distance so the Nemesis won’t pick them up, but they’re waiting. Rodimus wants to pop down and fill you in on some details. Also, Predacon’s bunch has arrived. We’ve let them in.”:

“Understood. Have Rodimus jump down and have him and Predacon waiting for me, Vector and Sentinel in the main conference room. Hopefully, we can fill everyone in all together, save us some trouble.” He cut off the comm.-line and turned to leave the machine shop. “Let me know when the job’s finished. The sooner we can prepare for whatever Megatron has in mind, the better.”

-

“My Decepticons, at last I bring you to the beginning of our new era,” Galvatron declared, bringing the attention of his gathered and repaired troops to the remainder of the energon pool he’d bathed in previously. “This liquid Energon, our salvation, shall help to fuel it.”

Notably confused, Cyclonus noted, “That’s great, boss but what are we supposed to do with it?” The others were either similarly perplexed at the sight before them, or generally disinterested like Brushguard.

The warlord laughed. “Just as I did, Cyclonus. You shall bathe in it, and thus gain greater power than you’ve ever known.”

“Meg… Er, Galvatron, sir.” A sharp look at Thrust. “While I don’t doubt your claim that this will enhance us, I don’t think there’s enough for everyone.”

Galvatron’s gaze turned back to the pool, and he soon found little reason to disagree with his lieutenant. While there was still a fair quantity remaining, much of the liquid had been drained as a result of his transformation. “Very well then. Cyclonus, Tidal Wave, as a reward for your services during Dualor’s attempted coup, the two of you shall be allowed to immerse yourselves within the pool. The rest of you will make do until we are able to procure more. An event which I have no doubt shall occur.” His tone brooked no argument in the last sentence that was directed at Soundwave.

The angular Cybertronian maintained a neutral stance, quietly answering with uncertain terms. “The source from which I retrieved this is far from empty.”

“Excellent. Then you’ll have little trouble in either procuring more from it, or leading us to it.” Galvatron turned back to his troops and asked menacingly, “Does anyone object?”

The resounding silence from his soldiers answered that question.

“Good. Now, let us begin.”

Cyclonus looked at the pool somewhat nervously, and finally jumped in after some slight hesitation. Tidal Wave had less reluctance, following shortly afterwards and letting the liquid energon engulf his frame. As the energon began its work, Soundwave turned away, silently looking forward to what was to come. While the initial plan had been slowed, there was every chance that it could still be done given enough time. Besides, why not let the pawn have a little fun in the meantime?

-

Slowly, Jetfire’s optics came online, his onboard sensors confirming that his systems were slowly being repaired. He turned his head towards his left, feeling slight pinpricks on his armor, and gave a gentle laugh. “Hey kid.”

Coby paused in his welding efforts and flipped up his facemask. “Hey yourself, big guy. How you feeling?”

“Better. Thanks for the patch work.” Automatic diagnostics went to work, going over the accumulated damage and the repairs that had been completed thus far. While he wasn’t fully up to snuff again, and probably wouldn’t be for some time, the shuttle was glad to at least be conscious again. “So, you do all this yourself or what?”

The boy laughed. “Nah. Fixing motocross bikes and helping my dad out with his cars can only get you so far. Longarm gave me a few pointers here and there.” He grinned and admitted, “Frankly, I kinda prefer working on you guys. This way, I know what I’m doing is working immediately instead of after I start up the engine.”

The shuttle couldn’t help but chuckle. “Yeah, but don’t get too excited. Us mechs are a lot more complicated than the stuff you have here on Earth. Even with help from the Mini-Cons, you could still end up in over your head.”

“However, that doesn’t stop their assistance from being any less welcome.” Optics found themselves on the marginally better Optimus, who greeted his brother with a pleased glint in his optics. “Welcome back to us, Jetfire.”

“Good to be back.” He didn’t have to turn his head to notice that they weren’t the only ones who were banged up. “Looks like Megatron’s gone and tipped the scales on us. Forgive the obvious question, but how do we fight him now?”

“Hey, don’t sweat the small stuff, Jetfire!” Pushing a large cart of replacement parts up to the edge of the berth with Lori’s assistance, Bud called out, “Every time the bad guys look like they’ve gotten the upper hand, the good guys always find some way of coming back stronger than ever! You’ll be back on your feet and kicking Megajerk’s butt in no time!”

Lori didn’t quite share the boy’s enthusiasm, but was glad to have the cart up on one of the rising platforms. As it ascended to the berth’s surface, she called, “Right now, though, you guys need to get patched up. Here are those parts you needed, Coby! The big, really heavy parts!”

As the two tried to lift one of the components off the cart, they were interrupted as Rhinox did the job for them, Armorhide dropping onto the berth near where the component was meant to go. “Easy, you two. Let us do the heavy lifting, hm?” Moving towards Jetfire’s damaged arm, he quietly reported, “The Overload unit’s back online. I figured with that done, and Longarm calmed somewhat, I’d be needed here more than elsewhere.”

“Hey, I’m not complaining.” Jetfire was definitely looking forward to having his arm and wing fully functional again, and the sooner the better. It was all but inevitable that something else would go wrong before too long, after all.

-

Not at all pleased about having been rushed out of the CR Chamber despite his repairs having finished, Slugslinger was even less pleased about the fact that Cyclonus and Tidal Wave were still submerged in the energon pool. A small part of it was due to concern. Despite not being totally fond of either mech, one was a teammate, and the other an ally. Mostly, however, it was due to not wanting to have to climb in after them. Energon or not, he didn’t quite trust liquid. “You think they’re okay? I mean, they’ve been in there for a long time. What if something happened to them?”

“I’m sure they’re alright. Meg… Galvatron wouldn’t send them in unless he knew it was safe.” Despite his words, Shortround didn’t sound certain, but did sound more genuinely concerned for his comrades.

The two were a marked difference from the other Decepticons. Aside from Galvatron’s eager gaze and Brushguard’s probable disinterest, the others looked slightly interested at the fate of their comrades. Mere nano-kliks after the two had voiced their concerns, however, the liquid began to bubble, and two unfamiliar shapes emerged. One was small but bulky, roughly the same height as Cyclonus and looking as if he had some sort of arctic-themed alternate mode, while the other was larger and leaner, with lengths of a boat’s outer hull handing behind him like a pair of long tails. Before they could begin to examine themselves, their leader laughed with triumph. “Excellent! Bear witness, my Decepticons! Cyclonus and Tidal Wave are no more! In their stead now stand new warriors, superior to their former selves! I present to you, Snowcat and Mirage!”

Not at all incensed by his newly-bestowed moniker and far more interested in his new body, Snowcat deployed two shoulder mounted cannons with obvious glee. “This is incredible! I haven’t felt this good in ages! Not as many Mini-Con ports, but after what’s happened, I don’t mind so much!” He then deployed a pair of skis and added gleefully, “And look at these! They make me wanna… I dunno, yodel or something!”

Mirage waved him off, not really impressed with either his new body or his ally’s pleasure at it. “Please, don’t. New body or no, you’re still probably tone deaf.”

Looking over both with some pleasure, Thunderblast noted, “Well, I think both of you look way more powerful than you did before! Not as powerful as Galvatron, of course, but still, a real improvement.”

The former Tidal Wave quirked an optic bar at the femme’s remark. “Really?”

Not eager to continue this, and not pleased with the residuals left from their metamorphoses, Thrust approached his commander and interrupted the commentary. “What now, Galvatron? Shall we continue our efforts in retrieving the Mini-Cons?”

“No. The Mini-Cons we have are quite sufficient. Now we shall return to the ship and retrieve them, then return to our rightful home. From there, we shall present a demonstration of our newfound power, put our house in order, and give the Autobots a short, sharp reminder in whom they face! And afterwards, we shall return and flush out the Autobots remaining on that pathetic Earth, and from there, finish what was begun vorns ago, and claim Cybertron at last!”

Very few among the gathered Decepticons saw much logic in that plan, but none was willing to argue with their leader, instead cheering him on. Thrust, however, was quick to ask, “Then shall I reactivate the Nemesis’ engines and prepare for launch?”

“That will not be necessary.” Heads turned to Soundwave, who until this point had remained silent. “I can provide you with a much faster and much less easily detected means of transport to Cybertron.” He saw little point in not volunteering further services. After all, this might work out quite well, and fostering a little more chaos certainly wouldn’t hurt.

-

Hesitant to believe what he’d heard, Predacon shook his head. “Attempting to shatter the Matrix. I never thought Megatron would stoop so low. Attempt to possess it, yes, but destroy it?” Putting that unpleasant thought aside, he turned to their apparent savior and offered a hand. “Though it seems we have you to thank for it still being in one piece. Thank you, Sentinel Maximus.”

The time traveler accepted the offered hand gratefully. He’d heard stories of Predacon, but hadn’t been fortunate enough to meet the tech-org before now, and meeting him as well as many of the other Autobots and Decepticons present on Earth was a pleasant and welcome part of his mission. He only wished that talking to him in this conference room could happen under better circumstances. “Don’t be so quick to thank me. My task is far from over, given Megatron’s still online. Still, I like to think I’ve improved our chances against him.”

“With at least four mechs minimum still online that could have been dead and another one on our side? You’ve definitely evened the odds.” While he was still a little skeptical about the mech’s story, Scavenger was nonetheless glad that he was an ally rather than an enemy. “We still have to deal with Megatron eventually however, or whatever he’s calling himself now.” He turned his attention to the Axalon’s commander and asked, “Rodimus, did you pick up any activity from the Nemesis when you arrived?”

“Not from the ship itself. From what we could see, it’s still parked on Earth’s moon.” The cavalier looked among the gathered mechs and added, “But if what we’ve been told about the mech he’s keeping company with, and what we got from Quintessa is right, it sounds like he’s gotten a little help from someone in league with Unicron.”

Vector Prime was less than pleased over the presence of Soundwave. As glad as he was to know his and Sideways’ origins, he was less than pleased to know they were connected to the Chaos Bringer, and not eager to find out how they came to be his servants. “Which means Megatron’s next attack could be here or on Cybertron. In either case, he appears to have been galvanized, so regardless of its location, an attack is a given.”

“Agreed, but he’ll definitely be coming back here sooner rather than later.” The old bulldozer quickly ran through some plans in his processor, figuring out exactly what needed to be done, aside from sending a warning back to Cybertron. “We’re well dug in here, so that’s at least one point in our favor. When he comes back, we’ll fight him.”

“And you will not do so alone.” With surprised looks from those gathered, the Tyrannosaur elaborated, “I never approved of his actions, and I’ve never been one to resort to violence. Still, from what I’ve been told, unless we take a stand now, greater peril will befall us in the future. I cannot stand idle. My followers and I are at your disposal. We will stand with all our brethren here, techno-organic or no.”

Not wanting to be left out, Rodimus chipped in himself. “My crew and I won’t stand back either. If Megatron tries attacking Cybertron and doesn’t use the Nemesis to do it, we can always steal his ship back and cut him off.”

“Without proper access codes? I’d expect they’d be sensible enough to prevent entry for anyone without authorization, and whatever codes we could get from Starscream’s allies will be useless by the time we get them.” A small smile crossed Scavenger’s face. “Not a bad idea, Rodimus, but let’s stick with a plan with more known variables, hmm?”

The cavalier shrugged. “Okay then. I’ll send word back to the ship. Wing Saber can land it in a lake somewhere, and the crew can be orbital bounced here long before the party starts. If nothing else, you’ll have a few more boots on the ground.”

“That’ll work fine.” The bulldozer then turned back to Predacon. “When it all goes down, however, I’m going to need a senior Decepticon with me to help coordinate the base’s defense. Skywarp and Thundercracker are still missing, and Starscream’s in no condition to be issuing commands.”

“And thus, I’m the closest thing you have to what you need.” The tech-org looked less than pleased at that thought. If there was to be a battle, he’d have preferred to be alongside his followers rather than secluded away from them, but even he could see the bigger picture easily enough. While reluctant to do it, he saw few alternatives. He activated his comm.-link. “Frostbite, I’ll be helping to coordinate base defense. You and the others are to work with whomever you are assigned to.”

:“Copy that, Big Rex,”: answered the arctic wolf at the other end. :“Anything else?”:

“Yes, keep safe.” Predacon shut off the line, and promised, “If Megatron and his jackals wish for a fight, then we shall give it to him.”

The four Autobots present nodded, glad for the support. A familiar chirrup indicating an incoming line prompted Scavenger to answer his own link. “What is it, Sideswipe? News from the colonel about the third escape pod?”

:“No such luck, but we’ve got some different good news, courtesy of the Street Action Team and their kids. Apparently, they weren’t far from the command module’s crash zone when it hit. No one’s hurt, but sending a mech or two their way to look ‘em over would probably be a good idea.”:

Not happy about Rad, Carlos and Alexis getting into another dangerous situation due to their war, Scavenger shook his head. “Fine. Send Hoist to bring all of them here, including the kids.” Giving Rodimus a small glance, he added, “Don’t suppose you can spare someone with medical training?”

“Downshift isn’t much, but he’ll do in a pinch.” Crossing his arms as Scavenger ordered for information to be relayed up to the Axalon, the cavalier noted, “I’m a little surprised that humans are getting involved so fast though. What happened to us keeping them out of our squabbles?”

“Some things couldn’t be helped.” His optics flashing to nearby monitors with a number of news feeds scrolling by, the old bulldozer couldn’t help but think that the odds of them keeping this contained were only slightly better than those of a snowball in a smelting pool. He just hoped that there wouldn’t be more human involvement than necessary. As much as he appreciated the help that the kids, Diana and the colonel had brought to the table, any greater involvement with the human population could cause greater problems, and the fewer problems they had right now, the better.  

-

“What’s the big deal, Dad?” Not at all pleased about being dragged away from home so early on a Saturday, Chad Jones hardly shared his father’s enthusiasm for what he’d gathered the family to chase down. “It’s just a rock.”

“It’s not just a rock, Kicker!” Compared to his son, Dr. Jones was full of unbridled enthusiasm. “This is a meteorite we’re talking about here! It came right down out of the sky just outside of town, with no warning or explanation! This is a phenomenal find!”

Somewhat lost, the youngest member of the Jones family turned to her mother and asked, “Momma, what’s a meteorite?”

Miranda gently smiled as she looked back at her children. “It’s a big rock from space, Sally. Occasionally, they fall down onto Earth, and everyone gets excited over them.”

While dimly aware of the idea of things up in space, the little girl was fully aware of what happened when stuff fell, particularly rocks. “Do they hurt anything?”

Her mother shook her head. “No. The worst they do if they hit the ground is leave a small crater and start a couple fires, nothing more.”

Some relief was clear on Sally’s face. “Then why’s Daddy so excited?”

“Because this looks like a large meteorite, Sally, and we usually see the big ones before they crash.” Brian’s eagerness only grew as they approached the crashed object.  “The fact that this one took us off guard makes it extremely interesting.”

“To some people, anyway,” Chad muttered under his breath. As he caught sight of the ground ahead, particularly the long gash in the earth, his interest increased. As he looked upwards, however, he began to think this wasn’t just a rock from space. “Uh, Dad, I don’t think it’s a big chunk of rock.”

As their SUV slowed to a halt, Dr. Jones caught sight of their quarry, his excitement only growing. “I think you’re right, son. They normally fall straight down, but it looks like this one came in at an angle.” Far too eager to see what was going on, and in far too much of a rush, he climbed out of his vehicle and moved to investigate. While his wife and children watched, the mad scientist looked in the distance and upwards, taking in what he was seeing. It was easily several times his size, cylindrical, perhaps somewhere in the neighborhood of ten to eleven meters in diameter and easily far longer, with what he guessed to be engines and maneuvering thrusters located all around it. While he wasn’t in a rush to touch it, not certain of its origins or whether it had sufficiently cooled, it was clear to him that this wasn’t a chunk of rock. He turned back and called, “Miranda! Kids! This isn’t a meteorite! It’s some kind of space craft!”

Suddenly, a dull thud caught his attention as something hit hard against the pod from the inside. He turned back around as a hatch was pushed out and fell to the ground on a hinge, allowing a massive form to emerge. It was humanoid in shape, easily as tall as a small building, with dark blue and black armor and wings over its shoulders. As he stepped out of the pod, Thundercracker looked down and immediately noticed the humans and their transport. Not sure what else to say as the sound of helicopter rotors reached his audials, he raised a hand slowly and nervously smiled. “Hi. I come in peace?”

-

“I think I see it!” Looking at the pod from a distance through a pair of binoculars, Diana quickly pointed in its general direction. “Should be just to the right! One hulking wreck of an escape pod, complete with damage to the landscape!”

“Visual confirmed!” Glad for the rapid deployment of Iroquois helicopters from nearby McChord Field, Colonel Franklin was nonetheless still having some trouble sorting out what he’d been told by the archaeologist and her apparent nephew. As much as he liked to think of himself as open-minded, time travel was the last thing he ever expected to seriously encounter. Still, the major points could be hashed out after the current crisis was dealt with. “I’m also seeing what looks to be one intact Decepticon Type 1A Seeker, along with a civilian SUV! I thought the park service was supposed to keep people out!”

“They may not have gotten word fast enough! We’re probably lucky that it’s just the one right now!” Diana shifted her view, and promptly recognized the bearded man standing in front of the SUV. “Aw hell, you’ve gotta be kidding me! That’s my brother-in-law out there!”

“What?! What’s Dad doing down there?” Yanking his helmet off and jamming on a pair of radio headphones in its place, Kicker was genuinely surprised to hear that his father had chased down the escape pod. “I don’t remember this happening!”

“Well, you know your father! He never quite thinks things through!” She quickly caught sight of the passengers in the SUV and groaned. “And it looks like he dragged the whole family along! Wonderful! Your mother’s gonna have my hide the instant she sees me!”

“For some reason, she’s not the one I’m worried about!” Glad that his helmet was with him, the young man opted to slip it on once they landed nearby. He wasn’t quite sure what would happen if he ran into his family or his past self, but he didn’t want to take any chances. Besides, his aunt was going to have enough to explain as is.

The colonel could only guess at the family discussions that would soon follow, and was glad that he’d be staying out of it. He expected he’d have his own problems to deal with soon enough. “Airman, take us down as close as you can to the crash zone, and make certain that the soldiers with us don’t open fire on that pod! We have civilians in the area!” The less damage control he had to deal with, the better.

-

“If the transmissions from Earth and the Axalon are to be believed, then Megatron is an even greater threat than before.” Ultra Magnus was less than pleased to speak his next words, less than thrilled that Grimlock was absent, and even less thrilled that King Atlas was here to hear them, fully aware that the mech would take the first opportunity he could to say something along the lines of ‘I told you so’. “Regardless of this change in the status quo, we need to be prepared for a possible attack.”

“With all due respect, commander, what makes you think that he’d dare to attack Cybertron?” His tone smug, Atlas continued, “Even with these supposed upgrades and the support of the Eclipse Team and whatever forces he might have at his disposal, an attack here would be suicidal. We’d take him out instantly!”

“Give someone enough incentive and they’ll try just about everything,” Ratchet countered. “From the reports we’ve gotten, he’s gotten a new body, new weapons, new abilities. Not only that, but he trashed Optimus and managed to destroy a small spacecraft. Suicidally overconfident or not, he’s still more dangerous than he ever was. It wouldn’t surprise me if he’s at least considered attacking Cybertron.”

“Which is why Checkpoint isn’t here. He and his team are keeping watch throughout Iacon. If he strikes out here, we’ll send everyone we can against him short of the Omega Sentinels.” Already sensing a protest, he added, “That’s the bottom line, mechs, and it isn’t going to change. We clear?” There was a general murmur of agreement among those gathered that remained for a few short minutes before a communications line opened up. “Yes Scattorshot?”

:“Magnus, we’ve got a line coming in from Checkpoint! His team’s gettin’ word of a disturbance in the council chambers! Somethin’s goin’ down, and it’s –!”:

An explosion tore through the air, clearly audible to all present and interrupting the small mech’s report. Magnus turned about, the various senior Autobots gathering nearby, and easily caught sight of the main chamber for the Cybertron High Council ablaze. “I think we can see what’s going on, Scattorshot. Tell Checkpoint that backup is on its way.” The line closed out, and the interim Autobot leader called, “Well mechs, what are we waiting for? Wreck and rule!”

-

Rushing into their crowded hideout, Oil Slick immediately sought out Shockblast. As the other Decepticons gathered nearby, he reported, “Shockblast, we just got word! The Council Pavilions in Iacon are under attack! Members of the Eclipse Team have been spotted there!”

Even as the mech spoke, Wind Sheer gave off an excited cheer. “It’s finally happening! It’s the big moment at last! Megatron’s returned, and he’s…!” Noting the ominous silence, he asked, “Why aren’t we celebrating?”

Shockblast gave a curt nod, and Rapid Run fired off two rounds, shorting out both the small Cyberjet and Hardtop. As the two loyalists dropped to the ground and convulsed, Bludgeon stepped forward with an impressed look on his face. “Well done.” He turned to the cyclopic Decepticon with a far less pleased look and continued, “You realize of course that doing that won’t earn you any points with Megatron?”

“There is no logic in supporting him at this point.” Looking among the gathered Decepticons, he continued, “All of us realize at this point that continuing to remain under Megatron is pointless. Regardless of whatever has spurred this effort onwards, we will no longer be part of it.” He turned to Oil Slick and Rapid Run and ordered, “Get word to Sixshot, Barricade and his unit. We’re departing, now.”

Suddenly, a massive explosion rocked the entrance to their base. As Rapid Run and Oil Slick rushed out of the room, more to do their jobs than to save their lives, a massive form blasted his way inside, wreckage following in his wake. As he entered the room and took sight of the remaining Decepticons, he chuckled and said, “Bludgeon. I should have suspected from the beginning. I’ve no clue how you managed to gain Shockblast’s support, but I assure you, it will do you little good at this point.”

The old warrior’s reply was curt and unafraid. “Megatron.”

“Not anymore.” All three cannons locked onto the two Decepticons as he corrected them. “It’s Galvatron now, and there will be no more tolerance for traitors such as yourselves.”

A quick shot rocketed through the air, piercing one of Galvatron’s optics and causing the tyrant to stagger back in surprise. Both his targets turned in surprise to find Shadow Stalker in hiding, frantically gesturing for them to follow her and flee. As his optic healed itself, Galvatron watched them depart and growled in rage. “This additional treachery will not go unpunished! It shall be dealt with!”

-

His optics practically locked upon the monitor showing the unfolding carnage in Iacon, Straxus was as surprised as anyone by this turn of events, and anything but pleased with what he was seeing. “How could they have returned without being noticed? How could this be happening?”

Obsidian was truthfully curious about that himself, but wasn’t about to say no to this opportunity. “Calm yourself, Lord Straxus. Regardless of how and why, we must take action before it is too late.”

The Decepticon leader nodded, swiftly regaining his composure. “Agreed. Contact our forces and prepare them for an orbital jump to Iacon. It’s long since time this madness was ended.” Fully aware that neither mech had departed his office, he turned and asked, “Well?”

The smaller of his two advisors remained silent, leaving Tankor to speak for him. “I think that it is time we came to an understanding about what madness needs to be ended, my lord.” Both readied their weapons, the larger of the two elaborating, “When this madness is ended, there will be no dispensing of mercy. Only death. And for the sake of our true leader, Lord Megatron, we will end your reign, Pretend–!”

He was interrupted as the smaller Decepticon kicked up his desk and shoved it into them, forcing them to move aside. Straxus then drew a weapon closely resembling a pick-ax and went on the attack. While not a warrior by profession, the old mech nonetheless had some skills, and while he wasn’t sure who he could and could not trust, he knew the instant that someone picked up his weapons systems going active, someone would charge in. He only hoped they were loyal to him rather than to Megatron.

Despite his daring attack, however, Straxus was quickly overwhelmed, Tankor and Obsidian quickly recovering and opening fire with their respective weapons. While the tilt rotorcraft’s light guns barely fazed the politician, the tank’s shoulder cannon was another matter, blowing out his optics and leaving him to stagger about as Tankor charged and ripped the mech’s head off, crushing it in one hand before firing again. What remained of Straxus fell to the floor, his spark snuffed out. Looking over the corpse, the mech laughed. “Put up more of a fight than I thought he would.”

“Politicians are always craftier than they appear.” Obsidian swiftly readied his weapons. “Quickly, let’s make certain that the body is thoroughly ruined and dumped. The harder it is to find, the more likely it will be that…” The office doors opened, and the small Decepticon slipped back into his normal persona. “Friends, an assassin has slain Lord Straxus! We–!”

Brawl raised and pointed his cannon at the flier. “We know. We’re looking right at them.”

Wreckage stood by his fellow soldier’s side, arm blades deployed. “Base sensors registered Straxus activating his weapons systems. The two of you were the only ones in here, and a sniper wouldn’t give him the chance.”

A sour expression on the largest mech’s face, Tankor readied his cannon. “Then I’ll take great pleasure in saying this for the last time. TANKOR SMASH!”

Both tanks fired their cannons at the same time, a spray of missiles firing from Brawl instantaneously. Neither hit their targets, both Wreckage and Obsidian weaving out of the blast range. Both traitors, now well aware of a destroyed window behind them, took the change to jump out and attempt escape, leaving the two loyalists to watch as they slid down the tower and escaped.

“Well, not sure if them being in the wind is better than them being here, but I’ll take what I can get.” Wreckage turned to his comrade and noted, “We need to check their offices. If we’re lucky, we might find something useful to point us where they’re going.”

Brawl wasn’t about to argue, but one factor kept his attention. “What about the mess up in Iacon?”

The ivory APC looked less than pleased at his next words. “As much as the Autobots could use our help, I think we have our own problems to deal with.”

Far down at the foot of the tower, the fleeing pair were all too aware of the blaring alarms, swiftly finding their way to an underground access hatch. As Tankor tore it open and allowed Obsidian to enter first, he asked, “What now?”

As his larger partner closed the hatch behind them and they fled through the underground tunnel, the rotorcraft gestured onwards. “We find our way to our allies. As hesitant as I am to go with the idea, we’ve quite a few allies left, and at least one will let us fight insanity with insanity.”

-

“As displeased as I am about it, something tells me that’s the genuine Eclipse Team attacking Iacon.” As those Decepticons Shockblast had managed to bring to his side gathered to flee, Barricade reasoned out with the cyclopic Decepticon and Bludgeon, “More than likely they’re at the council building as a decoy while he deals with us.”

“But how did he find out?” Less worried about having joined with them and more worried about the details, Shadow Stalker asked, “I mean, you guys are smart, you covered your tracks. How could he know that Bludgeon was a spy?”

“The exact reasons may never become clear to us. For now, we have greater concerns.” Turning to face the femme, Shockblast continued, “That said, I am pleased that you decided to come with us, Shadow Stalker, and thankful for your aid.”

A nervous smile crossed the femme’s face. “Hey, you aren’t the only one with family to worry about, right?” She readied her rifle and continued, “Now come on! Let’s get out of here before he catches up with us!”

“No. We won’t all be able to escape.” While not having complete knowledge of Megatron’s enhanced firepower, Bludgeon could take at least a small guess at his increased power based on his greater bravado. “If we all flee, there’s little stopping him from catching up and destroying us all. Someone must remain as a distraction, and given I’m his primary target…”

“Bludgeon, your plan is illogical. As Galvatron, Megatron is far more powerful than before.” While not outright stating his fear for his ally’s life, Shockblast nonetheless continued, “If you remain, your life may well be forfeit.”

“Isn’t it also logical that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few? Besides, there are worse things than an honorable death.” His cannon locked and ready, the Metallikato master beckoned, “Go, all of you. I shall hold the line.”

Already blasting through the wall and not about to argue, Blight called out, “Better you than us!” and made his escape. While the other Decepticons followed, Shockblast shared one last small, thankful look to the older mech before transforming to his tank mode and departing.

Bludgeon watched them leave for a few short nano-kliks, then turned to the opposite door before calming himself and focusing his energies. He always trained his hardest, fighting superior opponents without hesitation. Such was the only way to master Metallikato. Now he would put his training to the ultimate test. As Galvatron blasted his way into the room and his optics upon the lone warrior, the old master charged and said more to himself than to his adversary, “Let the mountain hold back the wind!”

-

As explosions continued to rock the council chambers, the members of Galvatron’s small army emerged from the building, serenely walking out as flames erupted behind them. All of the gathered Decepticons and Mini-Cons, the members of the Eclipse Team especially, looked pleased to be back on their homeworld, even moreso now that the members of the government that had forced them off it had been slain. The head of one member of the council carried in his hands, Slugslinger nonchalantly tossed it away. “Now that was fun. Who’s next?”

A long range shot knocked him back, and the gathered Decepticons looked up. Far in the distance, Inferno rose into view as, much closer, members of the Autobot military gathered and opened fire from behind cover. More eager than the rest, Atlas cried out as he opened fire, “You’re next, Decepticon scrap!”

Swiftly finding cover, Thunderblast drew her cannon and locked her optics onto the familiar form of Ultra Magnus, far too large for effective cover. “Let me think about that!” A silver and blue aura forming around her body, she cried out her answer. “No!” With a flash of light, her weapon lengthened and expanded, a flashing yellow missile emerging from within, and she fired, striking the interim Autobot commander dead in his chestplate and sending him flying backwards. “Let’s slag ‘em, mechs!”

Thrust soon joined in and provided orders. “Snowcat, Mirage, provide cover! Slugslinger, with me in the air! Brushguard, Shortround, keep low and pick whatever targets you like! Decepticons, attack!”

Less than pleased about their commanding officer having been shot down so quickly, and even less glad for the boosted firepower of their opponents, Stockade called out, “You heard them, mechs! Wreck and rule!”

Even as the Decepticons opened fire, the Autobots countered, their superior forces quickly forcing their adversaries to evade and avoid further incoming fire. As the conflagration grew, Magnus was moved out of sight by Landquake. “Easy big mech. You’re gonna be alright.”

“It’s not me I’m worried about.” The damage he’d taken was superficial at best, and he’d be back in the fight soon enough. What worried Magnus was the fact that one of their biggest guns was currently unavailable. He gave a frustrated groan and asked, “Where’s Grimlock when I need him?”

-

“Grimlock to Magnus!” the Dinobot commander bellowed into his comm.-link. “Grimlock to Magnus, respond!”

“We’re still too far underground! Comm.-links only work so far below the surface!” While the crowded tunnel was far from helpful in their rush, Swoop nonetheless had little trouble keeping pace with his allies.

Grimlock cursed under his breath as he charged down the tunnel in his raptor alternate mode, suddenly wishing he had something with a bit more speed. “Landquake, you expert on energon! Why someone take small amount, leave rest back there?”

“Liquid energon is easily the most powerful variety known!” Forced to keep pace with the comparatively slow Dinobots, the lone Decepticon among the gathered group was nonetheless able to easily answer. “Besides, whoever took it may not have needed all that much! The quantity they had was easily enough to permanently alter several Cybertronians’ physical structures, perhaps as many as three or four given their original sizes!”

“That doesn’t answer the question of who took it!” Similarly slowed, Overcast nonetheless kept pace with the group. “You’re the only one who knew about that pool, and we’re the first ones you told! Someone had to siphon that stuff out!”

Grimlock didn’t see much point in worrying about that question, especially as they had a greater problem. “We worry about that later! Right now, need to get to surface, contact other Autobots!”

A sudden explosion rocked the tunnel, forcing the ten to halt and prompting Overcast and Skyfall to transform and land. As the smoke cleared, an unfamiliar voice noted, “Sorry to disappoint, but none of you are going anywhere except the void.”

Emerging from the smoke was a thin, angular mechanoid, one that Grimlock instantly recognized from what he’d seen of the footage on Earth. He transformed to robot mode and drew his sword. “And who supposed to stop us? You?”

Sideways laughed. “As a matter of fact, yes.”

Flames already gathering in his mouth, Triceratron declared, “Try your luck!” Milliseconds later, white hot flames spewed forth from the Autobot’s bestial maw as Snarl transformed to robot mode and deployed his cannon, charging up before blasting the attacker with a powerful burst of energy. The remaining Dinobots transformed to robot mode and added their own firepower into the attack, Landquake doing likewise.

Not at all pleased that their opponent was standing there and simply taking the blows like they weren’t hurting him at all, Grimlock called, “Dinobots, tear him apart!” He turned back to Overcast as he added his own fire and yelled, “Get them out of here! Get to surface, tell others about what Landquake find, about what happening now!”

More concerned for the Dinobot leader than he liked, and fully recognizing their opponent as being similar to one of the forms they’d seen attacking Nebulos, the aerospace fighter asked, “What about you?!”

“We be fine! Go!”

Realizing the futility of arguing, Overcast nodded and called to Skyfall and Landquake. “Let’s get moving!”

Landquake kicked open a hatch and beckoned them through it. “There’s a side tunnel this way!”

As the three departed, Grimlock turned back to find Sideways emerging from the flames and firepower, his injuries healing almost instantaneously. Looking forward to the challenge, he noted, “Now, where were we?”

-

Effortlessly dodging blows from Galvatron’s sword, Bludgeon deftly moved about the enclosed space, showing incredible agility despite his bulky frame. As the larger Decepticon fired off a burst from his arm cannon, the martial artist leapt and kicked, landing a foot in the larger Decepticon’s face and causing him to loosen his grip upon his blade. As his foe growled in frustration, Bludgeon snatched the sword and sliced clean through the barrel of the arm cannon, then jammed the blade into what remained. He rolled away as the remnants exploded, his opponent stumbling about as a result.

Despite his precarious position, Bludgeon couldn’t help but note the one thing in his favor. “You haven’t gotten used to that new body yet. You’ve made a serious mistake, Megatron.”

“The only one making mistakes here is you!” The tyrant opened fire with his shoulder cannons as he declared, “And I am Galvatron!”

Bludgeon leapt and dodged the strike, returning with a salvo of his own. Unfazed by the attack and his weapon already repairing itself, Galvatron responded by grabbing hold of both his opponent and said opponent’s cannon barrel and ripping it from the yellow tank’s shoulder. As he tossed it aside, his opponent kicked at his chest, forcing himself some additional clearance before landing a kick to the larger Decepticon’s face and forcing him to release him. Bludgeon landed on the floor on both feet, weakened but not defeated. He had other weapons beyond his cannon, after all. “Whatever you call yourself, you continue to attack foolishly, lashing out in every direction and not bothering with skill, only with power.”

A dark chuckle from the tyrant. “I am not as foolish as you think. I know full well that you are only delaying the inevitable. Whether it be this cycle or one in the near future, I will make certain that Shockblast pays for his betrayal, and that you pay the price for your subterfuge. You’ve no chance against me.”

A smile curled on the warrior’s face. “I am a master of Metallikato. I do not fear death, and I do not fear you.”

Galvatron’s response to his opponent’s boast was to open fire with one cannon. Bludgeon dodged, and he fired the other, narrowly missing once more. He then fired with all three of his cannons, catching the warrior with all three shots and tearing him to pieces. Instantaneously, a flash went over his body, his optics went dark, and what remained of Bludgeon seemingly disintegrated into loose, ruined parts, its coloring turning to varying shades of grey. As he stepped through the wreckage, casually crushing the warrior’s head beneath one foot, he quietly surveyed the remnants as he made his way out of the hideout. “A pity. Perhaps Shockblast will see things differently once those loyal to me catch up with him.”

-

“You left him?!” Keeping speed with the rest of his allies and staying as close to them as possible as they moved closer to open terrain, Stormcloud was less than pleased to find out that Bludgeon was left behind. “How could you just up and leave him?!”

“We had no choice, and it was illogical to attempt to dissuade him.” Shockblast was less than pleased about the decision, but he saw no other alternatives. “Right now, the best we can do is complete our escape and make certain that his sacrifice is not in vain.”

Blight was quick to comment on the situation in his own way. “Assuming of course that we don’t get scrapped along the way. Ours wasn’t the only cell, after all.”

Explosions erupted around them as the access tunnel shook, debris coming down around them and forcing them to halt their escape. The ten Decepticons slid to a halt as a feminine voice echoed through the tunnel with a sultry laugh. “Well, and here I thought I’d seen everything.” Stepping out of the dust clouds was a tall femme, the bulky ebon armor and long cannon on one arm a distinct contrast from her slight ivory body. Ruby optics sighted on the logician. “Shockblast, dear, do you know what you’ve done? You’ve made our dear one angry. Not a wise decision.” She cracked a grin and wagged a finger at him. “You’ve been naughty.”

Most of the Decepticons present kept their positions, not one even so much as readying their weapons. They knew who was standing in their path, knew what she was capable of, knew the madness that gripped at her spark. Thunderblast cooed over Megatron due to devotion and a fondness for being near mechs of power, but Terrablast was flat-out insane, and it was the rare mech who survived an encounter with her unscathed. Despite this, Shockblast aimed his cannon at her and charged it. “Allow us passage, Terrablast. Megatron would see Cybertron and all his followers destroyed to achieve his victory. His cause is lost.”

The femme tilted her head, her expression that of surprise. “Really?” After a tense beat, she raised her cannon. “Well, that’s your opinion.”

Both she and Shockblast fired simultaneously, their shots colliding and exploding dramatically. While she was temporarily incapacitated, however, a hail of bullets, energy rounds and artillery pelted the group of dissenters from all directions, forcing them to scatter. Even as they tried to find an exit, they soon found themselves pinned in by rapid-moving jets, one larger and longer and predominantly emerald, and the other smaller and colored mostly in dark grey. Fully aware that they were not in the best of positions, Shockblast pointed his weapon upwards and fired, creating a new exit for them. “We cannot afford a battle right now! We are too confined! Decepticons, retreat!”

Immediately agreeing, Barricade pelted the area with rockets. “Combaticons, cover fire!”

As the missile truck and his subordinates provided cover, Sixshot shifted to his satellite mode as Shadow Stalker and Oil Slick transformed and climbed aboard, the weapons engineer flying up the hole with his two comrades hanging tight. Shockblast followed shortly thereafter with Barricade and Rapid Run, Kickback and Blight grabbing hold of Stormcloud and Blackout and escaping while firing back at their former comrades. The confusion managed them an easy escape, prompting the two jets to transform and take the odd potshot after them.

“Woo!” Looking around at his allies gleefully, Smokejumper looked more than ready to continue with the fight. While his comrades’ expressions were mixed, his made clear desire to keep on after them. “You see that guys? We sent ‘em packing! Let’s chase after them!”

Larger and more somber than his younger and sleeker partner, not to mention far better armed with a large Gatling launcher on one shoulder, Dreadwind shook his head. “But we didn’t kill them. Not only that, but they’ve effectively escaped to Primus knows where.” He looked up the escape tunnel and dourly noted, “Lord Galvatron’s not going to be happy about that.”

“I still say you should’ve let me smash them apart,” mentioned one ochre-colored Decepticon, wielding his gun as if it were a club. “Would’ve saved us a lot of trouble.”

Their leader dismissively waved one hand. “Oh don’t fret, Swindle, We’ll have our fun soon enough. For now, let’s find those few who decided to maintain their loyalties and then make our way to a place of safety.” A cruel smile curled on her lips. “I expect the Autobots or our unenlightened fellow Decepticons won’t let that little bit of action slip, and once our lord is done with his work, well, someone will need to be ready to find the roaches as they scurry into the cracks.” She snapped her fingers and ordered, “Smokejumper, Space Case, take point. Swindle, Dreadwind, cover the rear.” The quintet transformed and made their way down the tunnel, the two fliers struggling to keep pace with their allies. As they continued, Terrablast couldn’t help but feel pleased that their lord was back on Cybertron, as it would be good to see him again after so long.

-

The cannons in his combat unit starting to visibly smoke, Quickstrike couldn’t help but feel something was amiss. “Magnus, something’s wrong here! They aren’t striking to kill, they aren’t even trying to put up a significant fight! They’re just trying to pin us down! It’s like they’re trying to distract us!”

“Any idea why?!” A shot came down from above, and Ultra Magnus soon found himself with the answer to his own question. “Never mind.”

His injuries already having healed, Galvatron swiftly laid down suppression fire from above, prompting the gathered Autobots to dive for cover all around. He then transformed and landed, his cannons at the ready. A small part of him was actually disappointed at the turnout. While the legendary Wreckers had been expected, he’d anticipated more of a presence from the Dinobots at least, if not more members of the Autobot Security Forces. Still, he was not about to complain. “Autobots, you have failed! Your government is fallen, your forces defeated, your spies exposed and annihilated! Surrender to me, and I will grant a swift death!”

A tense beat followed before Armorhide dove out of cover, flashing blue and silver as his chest piece opened and a salvo of missiles flew out, joined by several shots from his rifle. The salvo struck the tyrant hard, though didn’t force him to shift his stance. Not especially hilarious, he’d admit, but it got the point across well enough. “That enough of an answer for you?!”

Galvatron growled in response as he opened fire, his troops joining him immediately. “PLENTY!”

Rubble rained down from overhead awnings, chunks of buildings being torn and blasted away and falling to the ground around the gathered defenders. Many of the Autobots attempted to dodge, but few succeeded, most ending up buried in rubble. King Atlas was one of the few to totally escape the onslaught, opting to charge directly into Galvatron and slam him against the wall of the Council Hall. Punctuating his words with blows to the face, he railed, “I always told Prime that you needed to be destroyed, but the slagging idiot never listened! You and your followers need to be wiped out for the good of Cybertron, whatever the cost! And if you think I’m going to be impressed with your fancy new packaging, then think again! You’re still the same fragging slag-heap you’ve always been!”

Despite the blows, Galvatron was barely hurt. In fact, he was at most amused by the Autobot’s attacks. His amusement, however, swiftly faded as he caught his opponent’s fists with one hand. “Then you will have to pay for his mistakes.” He then crushed the Autobot’s hands in his before shoving him away and readying his cannons. One shot blew off one arm, the next the other, the third and final tearing clean through his spark chamber. As Atlas’ body collapsed and turned to grey, the tyrant grabbed hold and tore the remnants to shreds, scattering them throughout the battlefield.

Watching the Autobot’s head slide to a halt by his feet, Mirage shook his head, glad that it wasn’t him. “Well, that’s the last of him.” He then turned to his commander. “What now, boss mech? Meet up with our forces here on Cybertron and take the planet, or what?”

Galvatron surveyed the area around him, considering his options, and finally turned back to his subordinates. “No. I suspect this is more than adequate to remind the Autobots and our weak-willed former allies that we are still prominent, and to keep those who would dare strike against us in line. Aside from that, we’ve unfinished business on Earth. Optimus Prime is still alive, and I’ve plans to finish him once and for all.” He radioed in. “Soundwave, prepare a warp gate! We are returning to the Nemesis!”

The herald warped in far above them, a gate quickly forming and allowing them to leave Cybertron. They would settle things on Earth, and then afterwards, return and finished what they had started here.

-

In a darkened room, the power kept low for the sake of energy conservation, several monitor screens showed footage from the recent clash between Galvatron and the Autobots, the destruction of the Ark most prominent among them. All three of those viewing it did so with little pleasure, especially as the newsfeeds flashed with speculation and questions about what had been seen. No cover story had even been released, prompting fears of everything from an airliner accident to terrorism to everything in between.

“Well, we knew they were here. It was just a matter of time before they ended up exposed.” The femme looked to her comrades, her blue optics clear with concern and her tone uneasy thanks to the carnage they’d witnessed. “What do we do now?”

“I say we do to all of them what we did to the renegades ages ago.” The smaller mech raised his rifle and charged it. “We find ‘em and then we blast ‘em into scrap.”

The femme looked at her associate with shock. “We don’t know all the details here, Hightail! We can’t just start shooting them! Methius wouldn’t…!”

“Methius died twelve thousand years ago, Minerva!” the small mech snapped. “And I don’t care what’s going on or who’s on whose side, but we’ve got innocent lives in danger here! Frankly, we’re better off blasting ‘em all and letting Primus sort what’s left out!”

“Easy, both of you, please!” Their third raised his arms in an attempt to calm them down, glad that both were willing to listen. “Look, I get all of you are worried about what’s going on here. Big things have been going on since September, and they’re really hitting the fan now, no argument. Now Hightail’s right about us needing to step in, but I don’t want to do that until we get more information. What little we’ve gotten from our small friends has helped, but we really don’t know enough about what’s going on.”

“What more do we need to know? There were impacts in Colorado and Washington State, and something huge blew up in Oregon while several mechs like us were fighting among themselves!” Optics fixed on his leader, Hightail continued, “Regardless of what we know or don’t know, we need to get involved now, Evac!”

The larger mech shook his head, finally coming to a decision. “Alright. Satellites aren’t reading anything in Colorado, so let’s focus on the other two danger zones. Minerva, you head for Washington. Hightail, Oregon. Stay out of sight as much as possible, find out what you can, and then report back to me.”

Minerva looked to him in surprise and asked, “What about you?”

“Someone’s gotta stay here and guard the ship. Besides, I’m kinda hoping our two small friends will be able to give me additional information.” He waved them out of the command deck. “You two better get going. I’ll keep watch from here. If we’re lucky, there’s someone in this mess that we can be sensible with.”

Neither of his comrades opted to argue, and quietly made their way out. As the door closed behind them, Evac looked to the two smaller mechs near his feet. “So, did you recognize anyone in that footage?”

The larger of the two Mini-Cons shook his head. “One of them looked like Starscream, another looked like Optimus Prime. They’re the good guys, thankfully, but I can’t place the larger mech with the cannons sticking out of his shoulders. Odds are, however, that if he’s opposing them, he’s connected to Megatron.”

“Assuming he isn’t Megatron.” The other Mini-Con, leaner than his comrade and more darkly-colored, crossed his arms uneasily. “After all these vorns, I wouldn’t be shocked if he had an upgrade or two.”

“But odds are either way, he’s one of the bad guys.” Turning his optics back to the screen, Evac huffed. “Well, I figured we’d end up showing ourselves eventually. I just wish we’d done it under better circumstances.”

“Wouldn’t have hurt if you’d done it sooner.” The bulky white Mini-Con looked up at the large bulk. “I doubt the Autobots would’ve turned you away. Even with the risk involved with that trinket you’ve been guarding, I think it would’ve been worth it.”

A shake of the head. “Bit too late now. Let’s just hope we can get the facts straight before something else goes wrong.”

-

Skydive skid to a halt as Sludge charged, slamming Sideways against the side of the tunnel with his shield before firing point-blank shots into the ebon warrior’s head with his cannon. Barely fazed by the barrage, the herald knocked the small Cybertronian aside, his face healing slowly as he gazed over the gathered Dinobots. “You’re all putting up a marvelous fight, but this is all pointless. You’re going to die soon enough.”

Triceratron laughed, clearly unimpressed with his foe’s bravado. “You know something? You talk too much! Slapper, Fastball Special!”

The youngest Dinobot transformed to beast mode and curled up into a ball as best he could before his larger comrade picked him up with his left hand, tossing him lightly before ramming his heavy right arm into him and sending him flying into his opponent. Slapper’s club-like tail slammed into Sideways, and as the ebon mech staggered back, the young Dinobot transformed to robot mode and opened fire, soon joined by Swoop.

Sideways chuckled, then lanced out a wave of purplish energy. Slapper curled behind his heavy armor shields in time, blocking the attack from doing serious injury, but the flier was not as lucky, his fragile wings getting torn apart in the bargain. Very much amused, he called to them. “Is that all you’ve got, you pathetic primitives?”

Suddenly, a blade found itself torn right into Sideways’s chest, and as he looked upon its tip, Grimlock muttered from behind, “We much craftier than you think.”

Not at all discouraged, Sideways simply spun around, grabbed hold of Grimlock with one hand and ripped the blade from his body with the other. “Did you honestly think that you and your savage band could stand against me? I serve a much higher power than any of you could understand. None of you could possibly defeat me.” He then pressed the Dinobot leader to the tunnel wall and impaled him upon it with his own blade, deliberately missing the spark chamber. He then laughed and promised, “And for your delusions, you get to go last.” He then turned to face the other Dinobots, electricity arcing between his horns. “Who’s next?”

As the other Dinobots prepared to contest his claims, a distant, growing rumble like that of thunder caught everyone’s attention. In the distance, a massive form surged towards them, its front end glowing an angry orange. The Dinobots moved aside as it approached, with Sideways watching and waiting, not at all afraid of what was coming. As it approached, it shifted, changed, splitting apart and then coming together again as a massive, towering Autobot and then marched towards them, blue optics beneath a tinted faceplate bearing down upon the ebon mech with righteous fury. He then extended one arm, catching Sideways in a three-pronged claw, and looked upon the herald with rage. “You are next.”

All Cybertronians knew of the Omega Sentinels, created by the Quintessons to help defeat the rebellion during the First Great War. All knew that alone among his kin to be given life and a spark was their leader, the Supreme Sentinel. All knew of him, and had heard of his power, but few had ever seen him. Now, standing before the Dinobots, was Omega Supreme. And without a second thought, he clamped down hard upon the herald and slung him about the tunnel like a rag doll, smashing him against walls and battering away at his armor. While he was able to near-instantly rejuvenate, Sideways was nonetheless being overwhelmed by the sheer ferocity of the attacks, his components barely being reconnected fast enough to keep up against the blows. As the blows continued, Omega continued to speak, not threatening, not boasting, but simply stating his words as if they were the absolute truth. “Know this, abomination. I am the Guardian of Cybertron, the engine of your destruction, the star lighting your way to oblivion. I am Omega Supreme, and you are finished.” With one last swing, Sideways was tossed aside and point-blank into the path of the massive Autobot’s arm cannon. A solid burst of energy tore into the herald, vaporizing him instantly. His foe destroyed, he turned to the Dinobots. “Are you alright?”

With a massive growl of pain, Grimlock ripped his sword out of his chest, then collapsed to the ground. “No, exact opposite of alright, but thanks for asking.”

“You are not the only one, old friend.” Swoop unconscious and cradled in his arms, Skydive approached. “We need to get you both to CR Chambers immediately.”

The Dinobot leader disagreed with a pained growl. “None close enough. Liquid energon work fine. We use it to –”

“No.” Omega’s protest prompted the attention of the gathered Dinobots. “It is here for a purpose. You will not use it for anything else.”

With the same bravado that he showed against Sideways, Triceratron looked up at the Guardian and asked, “And who’s gonna stop us? You?”

Several large cannons were aimed at the Triceratops. “If I must.”

-

“Well, I’d say we showed ‘em!” Snowcat said gleefully, rubbing his hands together as they stood on the lunar surface, a small distance from their ship. While he’d have much preferred to be back on Cybertron, picking assorted Autobots out of the rubble and finishing them off, he was not about to argue with his commanding officer. “Autobots crushed in their own home turf, one royally scrapped, and a bunch of traitors exposed! Not bad for a full cycle’s work! So, what’s next?”

Glad that his subordinate was eager to continue, Galvatron pointed towards Earth in the distance. “The Autobots remain on Earth, along with the traitors allied with Starscream. For too long, he has prevented me from doing with that world what should have been done long ago. We will finish things with our foes, and then devastate that planet and pick up what few Mini-Cons are left to be uncovered.”

“Forgive my questioning, Lord Galvatron.” He tilted his head to Thrust, giving the tactician his attention. “Finding the Autobots could take some time. Even with the destruction of their ship, we should assume that they have some auxiliary base facility, and that it has no doubt been significantly fortified. Even with our allies on Cybertron, we would need the Autobots’ location as well as significant reinforcements if we were to eliminate them.”

Galvatron grimaced and turned to Soundwave. “You have given us several advantages since your arrival here. Perhaps you can assist with this small problem?”

“So I can.” The herald turned towards the horizon. After a nano-klik, a number of Scrapmetal drones appeared. “The Autobots have built an underground installation near Longs Peak in Colorado. These drones, and hundreds more like them, are at the ready for the siege. When the time comes, they will annihilate your enemies, and end all of your problems.”

Galvatron looked at the multicolored drones before him, eager to send them into battle. One could never do without cannon fodder, and the more one had, the better. “Excellent.”

-

Scavenger solemnly turned from the monitor, not at all pleased with the message he’s just received, and cast his optics on the gathered senior Cybertronians present, a small glance going towards the lone human present. As much as Lucy was spoken highly of by Diana, he almost wished that their positions were reversed right now. “We’ve just gotten word from Cybertron. Megatron attacked the council halls. There’s no full word on casualties, but given that the Wreckers and security forces were mobilized against him, we can’t assume the best. He and his troops departed in some sort of warp gate, probably to make their way back to the Nemesis to recuperate and prepare for the final attack on us.”

Hot Shot looked to Vector Prime and asked, “Warp gates? I thought you were the only one who could generate those things.”

“All of us among the first ones were granted that ability. One of us fell, however. Through Iskaros, Unicron no doubt passed that ability on to all his subordinates. It would explain how they are able to move rapidly without difficulty or easy detection,” the ancient Prime replied, bitterness clear in his voice.

“And it wouldn’t shock me if Soundwave knows about this base too, considering.” Rodimus turned to the old bulldozer and asked, “So, what’s the plan? Do we evacuate, or what?”

Fully aware that their young allies were watching, Scavenger shook his head. “No. Optimus wouldn’t want us to abandon Earth. We’re staying, and fortifying this position. Our defense grid is already online, and we have the Omega Sentinel we found aboard the Exodus ready on standby. Between them, we should keep them out, at least for a while.” A screen activated behind him, helping to outline his general plan. “If they do gain entry, however, we need to be ready. I’ve assigned five groups for defense. Hot Shot, Rodimus and Rhinox will command the teams guarding the primary entrances and exits. Sentinel Maximus will lead a fourth team as backup and rear guard. I’ll remain here in charge of the command staff. With luck, those units we have outside the base will get back to us shortly and boost our defenses, but we’ve no guarantees.” He turned to face the professor and noted, “You’d best get the kids and get them to the shelter. I don’t want to take any chances.”

Lucy was still trying to cope with everything around her, but could easily see the mech’s point. “Alright, but the kids won’t be happy about it. Repairing the wounded aside, none of them will be glad about turning tail and hiding.”

“Better for you to hide and survive than die pointlessly.” Turning to Scavenger, Rhinox added, “Besides, we’ve done all we can for the wounded as is, replaced damaged components, and Starscream and Demolishor are still in stasis lock. Without Red or a working CR Chamber, we’re done for now.”

“So what about us?” Looking up from a console, Rollbar crossed his arms as he locked optics with his partner. “We’re a part of this too, Scavenger, whether you like it or not, and you’re going to need all the mechs you can get.”

The old bulldozer smiled. “We aren’t about to leave you out. Spread the word that any Mini-Cons willing to take part in the defense are free to do so. Frankly, the more the merrier.” He glanced over the gathered Cybertronians and called, “You’ve got your assignments, mechs. Let’s lock and load.”

The gathered mass broke up and mulled about, most heading for their appointed posts while Vector Prime silently made his own way, a plan forming in his mind.

-

“The attack on Iacon’s stopped, but there’s no word yet from Magnus.” Exiting Darkmount with Brawl at his side, Wreckage was not looking forward to disclosing the recent bad news. “Primus help us if he’s slagged too.”

The bulkier of the pair looked less than worried. “Eh, don’t grind your gears over this. Magnus hasn’t gotten where he is by being lucky. Besides, we’ve got…” His sensors chimed in warning, and he pointed his cannon at a few incomings in the distance. “Company. Coming in slow.”

The ivory APC gestured for his friend to hold his fire as their new arrivals approached, his optics narrowing as he recognized the new arrivals. His own weapons at the ready, he watched as Shockblast and his allies landed, not lowering them as the logician shifted to robot mode and raised both arms in surrender, the rest of his group doing likewise. “Better explain yourself, mech.”

Shockblast’s answer was thankfully straightforward. “We are here to surrender, Wreckage. I’d hoped to do so with the Autobots, but coming here seemed the more expedient option.”

Brawl primed his cannon, keeping it locked on the rebel’s single green optic. “And we’re supposed to believe you?”

The logician considered his answer, but was ultimately interrupted as Rapid Run spoke up. “The suns shine over Iacon, and darkness reigns over Kaon.”

A tense silence followed, before Wreckage finished the code phrase. “But that is the way of things.” He motioned for Brawl to lower his weapon as he looked at the yellow Decepticon motorcycle. “How did you know that phrase?”

“Bludgeon used it when giving updates, didn’t he?” Lowering his arms, Rapid Run elaborated, “I wasn’t spying for Straxus, but I did infiltrate for the Autobots. Check with Checkpoint, he’ll verify.”

Not quite believing the mech in front of him, but fully aware of the intelligence reports they’d gotten concerning dissenters among Megatron’s ranks, the default Decepticon leader nodded. “I will, but I’d rather talk to Bludgeon. Where is he?”

All of the ten bowed their heads, while Rapid Run explained, “Gone. He bought us time to escape, got killed by Megatron for his trouble.”

Less than happy at that news, Wreckage shook his head. “That makes two heroes lost today.” He gestured for the group to head into the fortress. “Come on, all of you. Debriefing, now.”

-

“I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time!” Stocking up on energy charges in the base’s armory, Cliffjumper confidently twirled his pistols about before storing them.  “After Quintessa, fighting off Megatron’s goons will be a breeze.”

Bulkhead considered slapping the younger mech in the back of his head for his arrogance, but opted against it. He settled for approaching and pointing out the obvious. “Best not get too confident, lad. We’ve got a lot to worry about here, and it may not be so easy.”

Not nearly as worried as his superior, the younger mech waved him off. “Chill, old mech. We’ll have it covered.”

As Bulkhead shook his head at the arrogance of youth, Rodimus silently walked over to Talon as she stocked up on grenades. “You going to be alright?”

“I should be. I’m not going to be alone this time.” The femme paused as she turned to her commander. “But promise me something Rodimus. If she gets out and starts attacking mechs on our side…”

He knew immediately what she was asking. “I’ll stop her.”

“And if he doesn’t, then I will.” Scavenger stepped inside the armory, standing just inside the door, and flashed the cavalier a telling look. As Rodimus moved away to ready himself and Talon approached, he noted quietly, “I won’t be happy about it, however. Rodimus told me about what happened to you on Quintessa. Did she do anything against the crew?”

“No, she just smashed some drones and let go after Rodimus told her to.” Talon shook her head uneasily, not at all pleased about Darkwing getting loose inside her. “I know I can’t keep her locked up forever, but what can I do about the next time? What if she suddenly starts attacking other Autobots?”

The old bulldozer laid a comforting hand on the femme’s shoulder. “Right now, there’s nothing you can do, beyond relax, keep a cool processor, and watch yourself. You can hold her in check, Talon, at least for a little while. Just focus on that. I know it, and I’m proud of how you’ve handled yourself so far.”

A brief smile crossed her face, even as she was reminded of her earlier failing. “I still panicked.”

“So do a lot of other mechs and femmes under the conditions you were in. They aren’t perfect, and neither are you.” A proud smile crossed his face as he continued, “And you don’t have to be. You still stood up and held your ground. That’s enough for me.”

Her confidence bolstered, Talon smiled and looker her mentor right in the optics. “Thank you, Scavenger.”

Towards the opposite end of the armory, Wheeljack was looking among the collected weapons before pausing and pounding a fist in the wall in frustration. “Slag it all. How could we just abandon them like this?”

“We haven’t abandoned anyone, Wheeljack.” Coming up beside his brother, Hot Shot tried his best to assure him. “Skywarp and Thundercracker are online, and odds are they’ve been found by now, but with the coming attack and the base going into lockdown, they…”

“Yeah, they can’t get in.” The black and yellow former Autobot shook his head before turning to his brother. “Déjà vu all over again, right?”

The yellow mech grinned. “Life’s funny like that.” He offered a hand. “Glad to have you here with us, bro.”

Wheeljack took the offered hand. “Good to be here, bro. I’d feel better with a weapon or two though. I ended up losing my stun batons trying to slow Megatron down back on the Nemesis. Stupid move, I know, but it bought us some time.”

“Still, you don’t want to try that again.” Interrupting the moment, Blurr approached with a pair of heavy guns in hand. “You certified for heavy pulse weapons?”

A little surprised at the reception given the last time he’d seen the Autobot sniper, Wheeljack admitted, “Not officially, no, but I’ve gotten training with them.”

“Then you’d better put it to good use.” Handing the weapons over, he added, “Missing mechs or no, we’re going to need every able fighter we can get, so you’d better make sure you use them right.”

Storing one and examining the other, the former Autobot wondered aloud, “So, does this mean you’ve let go of the anger over that mess I made a couple deca-cycles ago?”

Blurr considered his words before he answered. “Ask me that after we make it through this. Right now, I just trust you not to shoot me or Hot Shot in the back.”

Finding a compatible power cell and loading it into his weapon, the black and gold mech answered, “I think I can work with that.”

-

“You guys are gonna be okay, right?” Looking up at Overhaul with some concern as he led them towards the shelter, Lori’s concern was obvious. “I mean, I get that you’re all prepared for this, but…”

“Easy kid. Mechs like us have seen so many scraps, we know which ones are impossible and which ones aren’t.” With a grin, the Autobot brawler assured her and the others, “We’ll get through this. Might not be easy going, but we’ll get through it.”

“Exactly what I was saying earlier!” Turning to the girl with a grin, Bud admonisher her gently, “Honestly, you gotta have some faith, Lori.”

Listening to the kids talk among themselves, Lucy hoped that Bud was right, for both their sake and that of everyone else on the planet, Cybertronian and human alike. From what Diana had told her about Megatron, he didn’t seem the type to just let humanity be. Noticing some containers being moved elsewhere, however, she opted to change the subject. “Overhaul, those cartons there…”

“Eh, don’t worry about ‘em. Inside those things are scouting drones, used for energon harvesting. If worse comes to worse and we end up needing to send out the Omega Sentinel, they’ll link up with him, give him a little extra kick, but if things get that bad, well…”

Coby immediately picked up on his tone. “Worst case scenario is an understatement.” They soon reached the shelter’s entrance, and he noted, “Guess this is our stop. Good luck out there, big guy.”

“Thanks Coby.” The brawler watched the four make their way into the shelter, fully aware that they’d be able to monitor from inside. While he was ready for the fight ahead, and not at all willing to back down, he did appreciate the offer for good luck. The more they had, especially with their big leaders down for the count, the better.

-

Vector Prime silently entered the repair bay, and looked in surprise as he caught sight of the lone occupant aside from the four injured Cybertronians. “It is a bit early to be praying for their sparks, Reptilion?”

The techno-organic Decepticon looked to him and nervously laughed before giving a respectful answer. “My apologies, Vector Prime. I merely wished to keep vigil until the battle began, in case something happened.” His gaze found itself upon the vital readings of the four, with Starscream and Demolishor still the weakest and the two Autobots being only slightly in better shape. “Optimus, Starscream and Jetfire are all among the greatest of us, just as you are. And while he and I are of totally different make, Demolishor and I share an emblem, and perhaps ideals as well, given he stood beside Starscream.”

The ancient Prime stepped forward with a comforting smile on his face. “They are in the best of care, but I am certain the gesture is appreciated. However, you can do them more good in the command center than here. For now, you must have faith.”

A somber nod as the tech-org repeated the ancient’s last word. “Faith.” Reptilion rose to his feet and quietly spoke to the elder Prime. “Do you know why I joined with Predacon, Vector Prime? Most Decepticons, and even some Autobots distrust us tech-orgs. We’re considered unclean, abhorrent, a travesty against nature created by mad science. Predacon, however, viewed us as a sign from Primus, and felt that our current state would not happen without a reason. He’s been a gentle voice for acceptance for us among general society, something which so many have been more than helpful with. But I think about what has happened to us, to so many, and I cannot help but wonder.” He turned to look the ancient straight in the optics, almost afraid to do so. “I do not mean to sound ungrateful, but I must ask. How could He allow for such ill treatment in the first place, for some to be shunned by the many? How can the Creator allow for such pain?”

Vector nodded and quietly laid a comforting hand on the younger mech’s shoulder. “Primus did not bestow sparks upon us, or create me and my brothers, simply to use us as pawns. We were given free will, the chance to plot our own course and make our own decisions. What we do with them is up to us. For now, have faith that this storm, and so many others, will be weathered.” He gestured out the door. “Now go. You’ll do better to weather this storm by fighting it than simply staying here and praying. They will be fine, I promise.”

Reptilion kept his gaze upon the ancient before breaking out in an unsettling, but nonetheless thankful smile. He nodded slowly in reverence and quietly departed. Vector Prime, meanwhile, slowly turned to the prone Decepticons. “And I must do what I can for you.”

The doors slid open again, and Vector turned to find Sentinel Maximus standing before him. “I had a feeling you would be here, and I am here to help. If whatever you do can prevent my past from coming to be, I’ll do it in a nanoclick.”

A grateful smile of his own forming on his face, the elder Prime nodded. “Thank you, but you’ve done more than enough.” He then drew his sword and opened a warp gate, then quietly picked up first Starscream and then Demolishor. “Your services are better used here, however. This I must do myself.”  

Both Jetfire and Optimus turned to face Vector, the latter wondering aloud, “Where are you taking them?”

“Where they can be healed, and strengthened. I’ve my own suspicions about how Megatron was improved, and this way, we can even the odds.” The ancient gave an apologetic smile. “I would take the two of you also, but I suspect you don’t need it. For now, wish me luck.”

Neither complained, and all three watched the elder Prime depart with his charges. A part of himself wishing that he had been taken along, Jetfire wondered aloud, “So, what now?”

“For the time being, only one thing.” Sentinel Maximus approached the younger Prime and opened his chest, withdrawing the Matrix from it. “This belongs with you, Optimus Prime. May Primus stand between you and harm.” He replaced it in the Autobot leader’s open chest cavity before leaving to go back to his assigned position. Just as the doors slid shut behind him, the artifact glowed a brilliant blue, as if glad to be back in the possession of its rightful owner.

-

A hatch opening to give them a clear path, Overcast shot out onto the surface of Cybertron, Landquake carried under one arm and Skyfall following close behind. Glad to finally have clear reception again, he keyed in his comm.-link. “Scattorshot, this is Overcast! We’ve got a situation!”

:“You’ve got a situation?!”: The normally nervous techie sounded even more freaked than normal. :“What rock have you been under?! We’ve been attacked! The Council Hall’s destroyed, the council and Atlas are dead, and Checkpoint’s team and the Wreckers are buried in the rubble!”:

Both of the smaller mechs with him shared his surprise, and the aerospace fighter couldn’t help but feel like everything had gone straight to the Pit since Nebulos. “Alright, calm down, we’re en route now. Who’s going in for relief efforts?”

:“I’m on my way with Ratchet, but we can’t tell anything specific with satellite coverage. All we know is, the attackers are gone.”: Already anticipating the next question, Scattorshot continued, :“It was a bunch of Decepticons, a few from the Eclipse Team plus a couple others in Megatron’s bunch. The ringleader was this big mech, sounded like Megatron but called himself ‘Galvatron’ or somethin’.”:

The lone Decepticon among them frowned. “It sounds as if we have an explanation for the missing energon.”

“The start of one, anyway.” Rapidly approaching his destination, Overcast continued with his earlier message. “Scattorshot, listen close. Grimlock’s team is pinned down in the subsurface tunnels, being attacked by that Sideways mech from Earth. They need help.”

:“Omega Supreme’s already reported in on that. He’s on his way in to help last we checked, so don’t worry yourself on their account.”:

“Good. Hopefully he’ll get there soon enough to…” His optics found themselves on the trashed Council Pavilions, and the veteran mech found himself almost speechless. “Great Primus…!”

The three landed just outside the pavilion grounds, looking up and around themselves at the ruins. Fires were still ongoing even as automated response units worked to put them out, smoke gently billowing from them. Numerous buildings were damaged, thankfully not decimated and no doubt easily repaired with enough time and resources, but the rubble itself was strewn about the pavilion grounds, piled over a number of unconscious or deactivated mechs and femmes. The trio quickly started lifting up and moving away the wreckage as Scattorshot and Ratchet arrived and transformed. The medic immediately went to the first of the wounded to be found while the techie assisted in moving away further rubble, calling for more assistance as he did so. “Easy Prowl. You alright?”

The police racer looked over his black frame, internal diagnostics going as he shook his head to get the static out of his optics. “Dinged up a little, but nothing major, doc-bot. What about everyone else?”

Ratchet glanced over towards the continued efforts with the rubble. “Atlas is dead. We’re still…” Further rubble was knocked aside, the larger of the two Landquakes and Roulette emerging from underneath. “…working on the rest. You two alright?”

While the femme simply flashed a thumbs-up, the larger mech nodded. “I’m good.”

As the wreckage was cleared away, more and more mechs emerged from it, beaten up slightly but otherwise fine, Ratchet clearing them before letting them get to work on the rest of the rubble. As one piece was cleared away, Air Raid was fished out, looking less than pleased about the situation he was in. “If only I’d been a little bit faster.”

“If only we’d slagged those ‘Cons while we had the chance.” Surveying the incredibly light damage to his exostructure, Sunstreaker was less than pleased. “Megatron’s going to pay for these scratches the next time I see him.”

“Consider yourself lucky, ‘Streaker.” Swerve found King Atlas’ head among the rubble and lifted it up with reverence. “Not all of us got out of this in one piece.”

“Worry about the dead later!” Stockade called out, still hard at work on the rubble. “We’re still a mech down here! Magnus is…!” He paused as he cleared away the last of the wreckage, finding the one he was looking for. “No…”

Buried underneath the rubble, one leg torn off at the knee and an arm disconnected at the elbow, was Ultra Magnus. As Ratchet approached and examined the wounds, the interim Autobot leader’s optics flashed back online, leaving many of the gathered mechs to relax in relief. “Any reports of my demise are mostly exaggerated.” He sat up as best he could and looked over his injuries. “One of the few advantages of modular construction. Lose a piece here and there, and you can keep going.”

Whirl smiled despite himself. “You still had us worried there, boss-mech. Glad you’re okay.”

Magnus smiled in reply, then turned to Ratchet. “Status report.”

The medic gave the area a small glance before answering. “The council building’s a wreck, but Roadblock should be able to patch it up easily enough. Atlas is dead, slain by Megatron or Galvatron or whatever he calls himself now. Odds are the council’s in similar shape. Bumblebee and his staff on-hand are keeping watch from the Decagon, but it looks like Megatron’s forces have left. Thankfully, you took the brunt of the damage from this attack. Everyone else just has scrapes and scratches, but I’d feel safer giving all of you a proper examination back in repair bay.” Medical tools deploying from his back, he continued, “Right now though, let’s see about giving you a patch job. It won’t be much, but you’ll be able to walk again at least.”

Magnus nodded. “Get to work. Let’s just hope this is all the excitement we’ve had this cycle.” A loud chirrup sounded, prompting him to turn towards the communications tech. “You going to answer that?”

Scattorshot gave a nervous chuckle as he pulled a communicube from his storage unit, the screens activating and projecting Wreckage’s visage. :“Magnus. Looks like things didn’t go too well for you.”:

“We’ve had better cycles.” Prompting Ratchet to keep up his work, the interim Autobot leader continued, “Is there a reason why I’m hearing from you and not Straxus?”

:“Straxus is dead. Seems Tankor and Obsidian have been working for Megatron this whole time. They saw the attack on Iacon, decided to take a chance, and slagged him. Good news is we caught it all on the security feeds, but the bad news is they got away. Probably went underground. On a slightly better note, they aren’t the only ones who decided to revolt.”:

“Shockblast.”

:“Exactly. He and nine more of Megatron’s bunch decided to turn themselves in. Thing is, he and a few that came with him want to talk with you.”:

Not surprised, but not exactly trusting, Magnus nodded. “Alright. Have them jump out here, escorted. They want a face-to-face, I’ll give it to them.”

-

“Whoa, what are you talking about?” Shocked and amazed at the sight of the legendary Omega Supreme but just as freaked out that he was pointing his guns at his comrades, Slapper immediately stepped between the glaring duo with raised arms in an attempt at negotiation. “We’re all Autobots here, aren’t we? Grimlock and Swoop need healing, and that liquid energon’s the closest stuff that can do the job. Why won’t you let us use it?”

Omega kept his weapons upon the Dinobots, but quietly answered the young mech’s question. “There is a larger picture here. The liquid energon is meant for a task far greater than healing two warriors. I have failed my mandate to protect it once already, and I will not do so again.”

Snarl growled as he readied his cannon. “Well we’re not about to take some attitude from a mismatched Omega Sentinel with a fancy paint job! We say that you let us use liquid energon now!”

The larger mech’s answer was just as adamant. “For the sake of Cybertron and its future, I will not allow it. If you attempt it, you will suffer the same fate as the invader. Leave, now.”

As the Dinobots tensed for a fight, a green portal appeared and Vector Prime stepped through with two forms slung over his shoulders. He looked up at the large mech. “Stand down, Omega Supreme. We’ve far greater concerns.”

As the Sentinel powered down his weapons, Skydive quietly stepped past his fellow Dinobots and spoke in a quiet, respectful tone. “Vector Prime, we have a terrible problem. Grimlock and Swoop are injured, and we need to…”

“Heal them, yes. They are not the only ones in need of treatment.” The ancient Prime looked to Omega. “Their use of the liquid energon is allowed. Quickly, assist us with the wounded. There is much to be done, and little time to do it.”

Omega looked upon the Prime with shock. “Vector Prime, you are allowing the reservoir’s use? But it is…”

“It is only important so long as it is not wasted, and saving four lives is anything but a waste.”

The Sentinel stood down and shifted back to his train-like alternate mode, Vector quietly laying Starscream and Demolishor upon it as Slapper approached. “With all do respect, what in Primus’s name is going on here? And why so much trouble over that energon reservoir?”

Vector’s answer was swift. “That reservoir is the future. Energon, especially in its liquid state, is the very life blood of Primus, and scattered throughout these tunnels are similar reserves. Their combined power is enough to forge a star from a black hole, or remake a world as He sees fit. When the final battle comes, Primus will call upon it and use it to unleash his full power against the Chaos Bringer. That is why it is so important, and why Omega Supreme is guarding it at my request.”

“Unfortunately, I’ve failed. Some is gone, taken without my knowledge. I have no idea who, or where, or for what purpose, only that it is an outside force.”

Gesturing for Grimlock and the unconscious Swoop to be loaded onboard as well, Vector gave Omega a reassuring glance. “I suspected as much, old friend. Do not worry over it.” He looked among the Dinobots and elaborated, “Much has happened. I will do my best to explain the details to all of you on the way, but we must make haste.”

As Swoop was gently placed upon the Sentinel for transport, Grimlock was seated upon him, still maintaining consciousness despite his injuries. “Me hope explanation quick, Vector Prime. Me not exactly in mood for long story.”

The elder Prime shook his head as he led them back down towards the reservoir. “Unfortunately, it is a very long story.”

-

Looking over the wreckage, Carlos couldn’t help but be scared. He’d thought the Autobots all but invincible before now, but seeing the Ark in shambles made him incredibly worried. “Man… they trashed the ship! All the stuff we brought in for the Mini-Cons…”

“Already got moved to the new base facility, thankfully, along with most of the cargo we had onboard.” None the worse for wear after the module’s crash, Landmine pushed some of the wreckage into place as a temporary shelter. “Just shows why you need to wear a seatbelt.”

“And it also shows that we made a wise choice in building those communicators.” In similarly good shape was Red Alert, who quickly turned his gaze upon their three human allies. “Still, I’m surprised the three of you were out here so fast. Don’t tell me you were already in the area.”

“We weren’t too far out of the way.” Opting against explaining further due to slightly larger problems, Alexis looked up and asked, “You guys mentioned Starscream was here, fighting off Megatron. What happened to him?”

“Probably back at base already, given everything that’s happened.” Kneeling down beside her, Landmine gently assured her, “I wouldn’t worry about him though. Screamer’s been through more in his lifetime than anyone could guess. He’s okay.”

Somewhat nervous now that the Seeker had been mentioned, Rad quietly added while trying to be supportive, “Yeah, so, don’t worry much. He’s probably just fine.”

The girl flashed her friend a surprised glance, before suddenly turning coy. “Do I detect a hint of something in your tone, Rad?” At the boy’s surprised look, she grinned. “You think I have a crush on him or something, don’t you?” At his flabbergasted response, she laughed, prompting a bewildered expression from the two watching Autobots.

The moment was interrupted as Perceptor rolled back towards them from his post. “We have company coming in on the ground from the southeast. Two units, Hoist and one other that I didn’t recognize, white with green and red.”

“Sounds like they’ve come for you guys.” The brief moment of relief was enough to temporarily distract Rad from his interrogation, though the boy managed to ask Alexis in a hushed tone just before Hoist and Downshift arrived, “So, you don’t have one on him, right?”

Alexis managed a laugh as Hoist arrived and transformed. “And here I thought you guys’d be in worse shape. Any major damage?”

“Nothing a hot oil bath wouldn’t cure.” Turning to the new arrival, he asked, “Where’d you come from?”

“The Axalon, sir. Name’s Downshift. I came along in case Hoist needed help patching you two up.” Noticing the human children and the Mini-Con combiner, he asked, “Should they still be here?”

“What little damage we have our auto-repair systems can handle, but we appreciate the concern.” Red Alert turned from the younger mech to the humans and continued, “But the three of you should definitely get out of here while you can. I don’t want you caught in the beam-out. There’s no telling what will happen…”

An odd rumble sounded through the skies as the gathered Autobots and their allies looked up. A large, purple warp formed in space, slowly opening like a tear in the universe itself. Suddenly getting rightfully scared, Carlos asked, “What the heck is that?!”

“Something we don’t want to be under!” Red shifted back to vehicle mode and opened up his doors. “Kids, get in! Autobots, roll out!”

The kids did as asked, Perceptor separating into his component parts and linking up with the medic while Landmine, Hoist and Downshift transformed and followed him as he made his way towards the nearby road, leading the group away from the portal as scores of Scrapmetals began pouring out. As the drones landed, they started marching along after the group, their cannons firing after them. Looking at the rear-view mirror, Carlos watched the drones approach and asked, “What are those things?!”

Fully aware of what they were dealing with, Downshift was the only one to answer. “Trouble!”

-

Miranda looked at her sister in disbelief, trying her best to grasp what she’d been told. “You’re saying these things, these… Transformers… have been here? Some for months, others for millions of years?”

Diana gave a slow nod. “They aren’t things, sis, but yes. Most of them have been happy to keep out of the public eye, but now, obviously, things are different.”

Looking towards Skywarp and Thundercracker as they conversed with the colonel outside their escape pod, the geologist gave a sad sigh. “So I’ve noticed.” She looked at her sister, shocked that she’d kept this secret. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

A shrug. “What was I supposed to say? That I’d been hanging out with alien robots for several months, that they were involved in a secret war over their lost brethren here on Earth? I couldn’t figure out an easy way to do it, not without violating non-disclosure agreements and jeopardizing national security. Odds are there’s a lot Dad couldn’t tell us for the same reasons. And even if I had told you, would you have believed me? Would you be happy about all of this?”

The elder sister looked to the younger one, thinking over her own answer. While the idea would have been fascinating at first, had she believed her sibling and given it more thought, she’d no doubt have been terrified of the news. Miranda shook her head, and finally answered, “No. And we’ll be lucky if the kids aren’t terrified over this.” She looked up at them and asked, “So, who else knows about them?”

“A few lucky civilians here and there, assorted government officials here and abroad, the President, and now you guys.” She sighed and admitted, “For what it’s worth, I wish I had been able to let you in on the secret before now. But they didn’t want more people to know than absolutely necessary. The fewer people aware of the secret the better, after all.”

Miranda sighed and gave a small, forgiving smile. “You always did tend to take after Dad about keeping secrets, sis.” She looked to her sibling and admitted, “If I’d found out about this, I don’t know if I’d be able to cope.”

Diana flashed a smile of her own. “I don’t know. You’re handling this pretty well.” She glanced at Kicker and Sally, both still inside the SUV. While her niece was looking up at the two Decepticons with astonishment, her nephew appeared terrified, if not because of the giant robots or the soldiers than perhaps because of both. “We gotta explain all this to the kids though. I don’t want either of them getting nightmares.”

“No. Sally’s causes enough trouble for me every night.” One last question on her mind, she looked to her sister and asked, “So, is there anything else you haven’t told me about?”

Diana’s expression turned nervous as she admitted, “There is one other thing.”

While one sister attempted to explain things to the other, the colonel was having a hard time keeping a conversation going with Brian Jones. It wasn’t because the scientist was being belligerent, it was more due to him being distracted by the two Cybertronians. For the umpteenth time, Franklin regained his attention and continued, “Dr. Jones, I’m afraid you aren’t understanding me. It’s imperative that the information concerning the Cybertronians remain out of the public eye.”

“I understand perfectly colonel, really!” Even as he glanced back at the Air Force officer, however, he couldn’t help but look up at the two Seekers. “Still, this is incredible! Living extraterrestrial machines, the products of…!”

“Please, let’s not use that word, doctor.” Being described as a product of anything was hardly something any Cybertronian enjoyed, though Skywarp was nonetheless able to keep a civil tone about it. “You’ll get full disclosure soon enough, but right now, we have bigger problems.” He turned to the colonel and continued, “We need to get to the Autobot base, and quickly, if only to check on our comrades’ status. And as much as it pains me to suggest it, we need to take the civilians with us.”

“Which immediately rules out an orbital jump, considering its effects on organics.” Glancing over at the helicopters, Thundercracker noted. “Here’s hoping those things have enough fuel to get us where we need to go.”

“If they don’t, we can easily refuel back at McChord. I’ll…” An odd sound filtered through the air, interrupting the colonel and prompting him to look skyward. Noticing the odd disturbance, and prompting everyone else to look up along with him, he took off his sunglasses and asked, “My God. What is that?”

Skywarp immediately recognized what he was seeing. “It’s a warp gate. We’re about to have company. Start evacuating everyone. We’ll hold them off.”

Not about to question that suggestion, the colonel radioed in orders to his troops. “Get the choppers going! We are in full evac! I say again, we are in full evac!”

As the cry went out to evacuate, groups of Scrapmetals emerged from the portal, swarming down as the two Decepticons took flight and surged skywards, their blades at the ready.

-

“Confirmed on satellites.” Manning one of the consoles inside of Autobase Earth’s command center, Tow-Line turned and reported. “Three warp gates have been detected; one in Washington, one in Oregon, and one right on top of us.”

So this was how it would begin. Fully aware that he couldn’t hold off any further, Scavenger called out, “Signal battle stations!” As the alarm klaxons went off, he turned to Predacon. “You ready?”

The Decepticon looked less than pleased at the question. “Not entirely, but there’s nothing I can do, is there?”

“Nothing except stand firm, and last I checked, you were good at that.” With a pleased smile from Predacon, he returned his attention to the coming battle and declared, “Defense grid online! Lock and engage autoguns!”

“Let Primus aid us,” Predacon said softly to himself under his breath as Reptilion, Sideswipe, Ironhide and Tow-Line took up their positions and tactical screens came online.

-

Far above Rocky Mountain National Park, a portal matching those seen near Seattle and Portland came into existence, swarms of Scrapmetals drifting outwards and falling to the ground below. Amidst the swarm came Galvatron and his remaining forces, hovering a fair distance away from the Autobot base and gazing over the area. Their Mini-Con allies had been left behind, ready to launch the Nemesis and attack the planet once their main means of defense was gone. “All this time, hidden under a rock. Decepticons, it is long past time that we dug them out!”

As the Scrapmetals continued to descended, panels opened within the Earth’s surface, the telltale barrels of autoguns emerging and opening fire. Several of the drones were torn apart in the initial barrage, the gathered Decepticons barely dodging fire.

Snowcat held under one arm and Brushguard under the other, Mirage gazed over the area and quickly took in the array of defenses. “Looks like the Autobots were ready for us.”

Unencumbered, Slugslinger readied his shoulder cannon with a slight chuckle. “What’s it gonna matter? We’ll still scrap ‘em!”

The tyrant grinned, eager for the challenge. “Indeed! Decepticons, breach their defenses!”

“Easily done!” Thunderblast leveled her rocket launcher and activated her Cyber Key ability, Shortround doing the same while compensating for the recoil with his hoverfans. The remaining Decepticons swiftly joined in, targeting exposed autoguns and blasting them apart as best they could. While some of their shots were met in mid-air, others managed to hit their marks, damaging or destroying several of the autoguns as the numerous Scrapmetal drones continued pouring in, those that had gotten through the barrage already eating through the outer layers of rock, looking for the areas where it was weakest.

-

:“…as of yet we have no verified information concerning the unusual atmospheric phenomena appearing in the skies near Seattle, Portland or Boulder. CNN will have further information as this situation develops so please…”:

Stella muted her television, scared of what was going on and worried for her Mini-Con friends. Granted, she’d managed to keep in touch with Redline and Combusta and each member of their team since their departure a couple months ago, but that hadn’t stopped her from worrying. This mess, however, had left her outright terrified. She curled up in her easy chair, hugging a pillow tight against her chest and wishing she could be there and actively help. “Please be okay you guys…”

-

“So what are we supposed to do?” Slapper asked as the gathered group of Autobots arrived at the well of liquid energon. “Drop them in?”

“Exactly.” Vector Prime then carefully picked up Starscream, quietly easing the unconscious Decepticon into the pool. Sludge quickly did likewise for Swoop, Triceratron doing so reluctantly for Demolishor. Grimlock stubbornly brushed aside Skydive’s assistance as he climbed off Omega Supreme and slowly staggered to the edge of the pool, finally collapsing into it head first.

As the four sank within it, the elder Prime turned to the Sentinel as he shifted back to his robotic form. “The situation here on Cybertron is resolved for the time being. For now, the situation on Earth is of much greater importance. As soon as they are healed, we must go to Earth.”

“Without us?” The ancient turned to Skydive as the tech-org approached. “If what you’ve said is true, and our salvation is on Earth rather than here, then you will require all the aid that can be mustered. Besides that, ‘tis better for us to fight and die, than stay, live, and never try.”

Vector refrained from commenting on the awkward verse, but shook his head. “Your offer is welcome, but I am in no position to give you orders. I cannot ask this of you.”

“You don’t need to ask. We volunteered the instant that Sideways guy showed up.” Triceratron slammed the snout of his dino-arm into his fist for emphasis. “So when do we leave?”

Before Vector Prime could answer, bubbling issued forth from the energon pool as two forms emerged, one landing on the edge of the pool and the second climbing out under his own power. Both appeared wholly mechanical, most of their armor silvery-grey and black, though one had accents of yellow and blue and the other had large amounts of red and yellow mixed into his coloring. One noted with a familiar growl, “Only Grimlock command Dinobots, Triceratron. And me not big believer in mystical mumbo-jumbo, but me know valid threat when see one. We go.”

A grin curled on Swoop’s face as he looked to his comrades, testing his new joints. “And as they say in those parts, we’ll give them hell.”

Further bubbles issued forth from the pit, leading those gathered to watch as another pair emerged, one climbing out in a state of near-shock, the other flying out majestically. The first was bulky, predominately dark emerald and purple with some black and bronze. The other was mostly a light grey, with blue and red and a black helm. Slapper and Vector Prime quickly took hold of the first and helped him from the pool, the ancient gently assuring him. “Do not worry yourself, Demolishor, you are quite safe.”

The reformatted Demolishor looked to his savior in surprise, recognizing him immediately. “Vector Prime? What’s going on? Where am I?” He noticed the group of Autobots and asked with some fear, “And why are the Dinobots here?”

Landing softly beside them, Starscream reasoned with a grin, “They’re here so that we can back them up.” Glancing at the pool, the now-smaller Seeker turned to the ancient. “You have a lot of explaining to do, old mech. But odds are, it can wait.” He turned to Grimlock and noted, “I didn’t expect to see you.”

The Dinobot commander continued to eye the Decepticon warily. “Me just glad you on our side. And still out of same weight class as me.” He then turned to the elder Prime and asked, “What now?”

“We gather reinforcements.” The ancient drew his sword, glad that they weren’t so far below Cybertron’s surface that he could not generate a portal. “And the more that are gathered, the better.”

-

“Optimus… Optimus…”

Surprised by the words, Optimus looked about, finding himself in a void. He then looked down upon his body, the damage done earlier seemingly undone. Suddenly reminded of the vision that Hot Shot had experienced, he looked about and asked, “Who’s there? What is this?”

“A vision of the past.” Before him appeared a tall Cybertronian, similar in design to Vector Prime though with golden armor and clearly a different alternate mode, a long staff tipped in flame carried in one hand. “As well as a gift for the future.” The ancient held up his free hand, brilliant blue light shining forth from it and all over the Autobot leader.

At first, the Autobot leader didn’t believe what he was seeing. What he’d been told about Hot Shot’s vision, and what he saw before him, was enough to make him realize that what he was seeing was no mere illusion. “Methius Prime.”

The ancient’s smile gave all the answer he needed. “You carry wisdom, Optimus Prime. Use it well.”

-

As gathered human forces departed from the area, advancing Apache helicopters from nearby Ft. Lewis opened fire on the attacking Scrapmetals to cover their withdrawal. Glad that they’d apparently been marked as friendly by the US Army, Skywarp sliced through one drone, tearing off its cannon and smashing it into another. Thundercracker, meanwhile, took hold of two, using their cannons to blast the oncoming hordes before he was blasted out of the sky and crashed down hard into the ground. His fellow Seeker soon joined him, his flight systems hit by a stray blast and his sword knocked from his hand in the process. Both Seekers recovered themselves, but ended up at the mercy of the gathering drones. Not at all pleased about the odds, the purple Seeker opted to quote a film he’d discovered during his short stay near Earth. “For a moment there, I thought we were actually in trouble.”

The blue Seeker turned to his comrade in disbelief. “You’re quoting that movie?!”

-

As Downshift opened fire with his guns and Hoist and Landmine began tearing through the approaching Scrapmetals, Red Alert slowly tried to stand with Perceptor’s help, several chunks of his armor torn off as a result of their attack. None of the five was in particularly good shape, but they remained standing, and kept up their fight nonetheless.

Finding themselves stuck in the relative safety of tall rocks, and hoping that the drones would leave them be, Rad nonetheless couldn’t accept what he was seeing. “It can’t end like this!”

-

Autobase Earth had been designed with four specialized launch mechanisms, each one allowing for a specific method of deployment. One was a bridge, which would rise up from a nearby river connect to an opening in the base, allowing for the egress of ground-based Cybertronians. A second was an electromagnetic launch catapult, intended for the rapid deployment of aerial forces. A third was a launch bay, built for use by either Jetfire or Vector Prime. The fourth would allow for ingress and egress, essentially being an elevator for incoming or outgoing VTOL-capable craft like helicopters. All four launch systems, however, tied back to a central point, and as the rock and metal were torn away from one, the drones were able to gather and march.

But the good thing about having four paths leading to one central point was that you could have forces at the ready at that single area, a choke point ready to go. As he caught the sound of the oncoming invaders, Hot Shot called to the gathered defenders, “Here they come! Powerlink, lock and load!”

Jolt linked up with his partner’s gun as Incinerator and the Street Speed Team linked up with Blurr. Anti-Blaze shifted to his weapon mode and connected to Beachcomber’s lone port as Scythe and Flat-Out did the same with Sharkticon, Windsheer, Redline and Servo with Wheeljack, and Checkpoint transformed into his weapon mode for use by Overhaul. Crosswise went without a Mini-Con boost, but didn’t need one.

At last, the Scrapmetals broke through, and the gathered seven Cybertronians opened fire. Many drones were downed with the first salvo, their fellows attempting to climb over their scrapped comrades even as further fire took them out.

-

Elsewhere in the base, more drones broke through the primary exit point. They were quickly met by fire from another team, Rodimus waiting for them.

“Scrap ‘em, ‘bots!” Supported by the Hazard and Emergency Team-boosted Overload, the seven-mech unit opened fire. With the Exploration Team split between Rodimus, Bulkhead and Cliffjumper, their firepower was boosted even further as they, Talon, Lugnutz and Mudflap sent round after round against the approaching drones. A blue flash, and both Decepticons’ Cyber Keys were activated, adding further firepower.

-

The third entry point was also breached, its defenders opening fire once they laid optic on their opponents. Twin Gatling guns at the ready and Armorhide and Tankor linked up, Rhinox stood firm behind cover, Airazor and Cheetor beside him with their respective partners and the rest of the Sky Defense Team linked up. Armed with an impressive rifle and with Ironhide, Nightcruz and Roadhandler linked to his other ports was Terrorsaur, not pleased about being beside the Autobots but not eager to die either. The remaining four tech-orgs in the defense team kept up as much fire as they could, Frostbite and Longhorn using energy weapons while Crystal Widow and Magna Stampede made do with projectile-based ones.

The arctic wolf had little trouble noticing that the drones were scrambling into the opening available to them, their destroyed comrades only jamming up the entrance further. “Is it just me, or do these things not have much in terms of intelligence?!”

Batting away one loose piece of debris with his axe, the equine tech-org countered, “We should consider that a small relief!”

As much as he was glad for the calm spirits, their commander wasn’t eager for a distraction. “We can save the banter for after we’ve beaten these things off! Keep it up!”

-

Screens flashing warnings, Sideswipe reported, “Scrapmetals have broken through at all entrances. Most of the swarm is moving towards them now. Teams are holding ground.”

As glad as he was for that small bit of good news, Scavenger knew full well that it may not last. “Let’s hope they can keep it up.”

-

:“Wait, Vector Prime took them back to Cybertron?!”: His shock clear on the monitor screen, Bud cried out the obvious question, :“Why didn’t he take all of you back, make two trips?!”:

“Hey, they needed a lot more patching up than we did.” Still weak thanks to the slow-going of his self-repair systems, Jetfire nonetheless managed to sit up on his berth. “Granted, we aren’t much better off, but…”

:“Still, he shouldn’t have just abandoned you guys! And there’s gotta be more we can do!”: Looking to her friend, Lori pleaded, :“Come on, Coby, back me up here!”:

The teen shook his head, groaning in frustration. :“We did all we could back in the repair bay, Lori. Anything more we could do might not even make much of a difference.”:

Trying to be comforting, the professor calmly said, :“We’ve done all we can. Right now…”:

:“Right now, Optimus and Jetfire are seriously damaged, the base is under attack, and we could all get killed by those drone things! It’s practically hopeless!”:

“No.” Regaining consciousness as the Matrix glowed within his chest, Optimus turned to the monitor and fixed his golden optics upon them. “It’s never hopeless.” His optics dimmed as the Matrix glowed a brilliant blue. Before the four could even begin to ask what was going on, the glow from the Matrix washed all over the Autobot leader’s body as he continued to speak. “Your people have a legend about a woman named Pandora. She opened a box given onto her by the gods, and unleashed terrors upon the world. Pain, death, greed, everything that tears at human and Cybertronian alike were all set loose . But one last thing came out before she could close it. Hope. Even the darkest of nights ends with the dawn of a new day. This is a new day, and it’s time it was ushered in.”

With the Matrix inside him, Optimus could feel the presence of the Omega Lock elsewhere in the base. He could also feel, not too far away, the presence of the Key of Wisdom. He knew of the connection between the Artifacts, knew the energies linking them, and he knew that if seven of them could defeat a god, then perhaps three of them could heal not only himself, but his comrades as well.

He could already feel their effects, energy coursing through his frame, reforming his armor and reformatting his body. His voice growing stronger, he turned to his sibling, noticed the shocked expression upon his face, and assured him. “Rest easy, Jetfire. We aren’t through yet.”

-

One quick orbital jump and Wreckage found himself in Iacon with a few choice prisoners in tow. Shockblast, Shadow Stalker and Barricade all wore restraints, stasis cuffs as well as an inhibitor brace on the largest Decepticon, while Rapid Run went without. The group was quickly escorted inside of the Decagon, flanked by Prowl and Sunstreaker, and quietly made their way into repair bay. Quickly noticing the interim Autobot leader as he was being repaired, immediate staff and the remains of the recovered dead on separate berths, the APC noted, “Seems like you had a more difficult time than we did.”

His arm having been reattached and his leg currently being worked on by Ratchet, Magnus nodded. “We did.”

As the two temporary commanders discussed matters, their subordinates stood and waited. While trying her best not to let her vision linger in one direction too long, the lone Decepticon femme among them couldn’t help but steal odd glances, wondering if her sibling was here. As much that she hoped that Roulette was not present, however, she couldn’t help but wonder…

“Shadow?” Surprised optics turned to find the Autobot Viper standing near one berth, dinged up but otherwise in good shape. “Is that you, sis?”

Not sure what she should do, or what she could do, she nonetheless nodded and flashed a nervous smile. “Hi sis. Miss me?”

Roulette’s smile was far more joyful. “Only every cycle.” More than a little nervous herself, she stepped forward, mindful of both mechs guarding the prisoners. “Sis, listen… I’m…”

“I’m sorry.” Fixing her optics upon those of her sibling, Shadow continued, “I thought I was doing the right thing, y’know? I thought that I could make a difference, make things better. Guess I screwed that up, huh?”

The Autobot femme tilted her head slightly. “Yeah, but I screwed up by not looking out for you like I should’ve. The good news is, we’ve both got a second chance to make things right.”

Sunstreaker rolled his optics in disgust at the maudlin display. “Femmes. Honestly, do you have to be this slagging emotional?” Both glared at him, and he shook his head. “Fine, make with the hugging or whatever, don’t mind me.”

Despite himself, Prowl managed a chuckle, Barricade taking on an approving smile of his own as he watched the display. No doubt it was a long time coming, and could have easily been under better circumstances, but he was more than pleased to see the two siblings reunite.

The reunion was interrupted as the repair bay doors slid open, Starscream and Vector Prime entering with Grimlock close behind. As heads turned to face them, the Seeker held up his arms and said, “Everyone please, hold your fire, I…”

“You were an infiltrator for Straxus.” Turning to face him, Wreckage explained, “The file was sent to me shortly after his passing.”

“And Optimus made sure to fill me in before he returned to Earth with his reinforcements.” A brief glance to the medic, who answered with a nod, and the Autobot leader got off his berth. “Why are you suddenly a Type 3, however?”

“A necessary upgrade, one that I’m glad won’t need to be repeated.” Looking to the two interim commanders, the elder Prime explained, “As we speak, Megatron is no doubt engaging in an assault upon the new base facility on Earth. That assault needs to be stopped, for all our sakes, and we need as many able mechs as can be spared, regardless of faction.”

“Dinobots already set to go along with Omega. Overcast and friends also volunteered.” One optic ridge quirked, the Dinobot commander added, “Still, me think it smart to have a little more firepower along.”

Magnus knew full well that Vector Prime didn’t make such statements without reason, and that he wouldn’t have easily convinced Grimlock. Testing his reconnected limbs and repaired components, he nodded. “We’re there.”

“Hold on one nano-klik!” Ratchet sharply looked at his superior, not pleased by the sudden rush into combat. “You’ve been wounded, Magnus. Your parts may be patched up, but you at least need a stay in the CR Chamber.”

“And the last time I checked, we had a set of Decepticons here that had surrendered themselves.” Checkpoint nudged his head towards the three prisoners present. “Granted, Shadow Striker’s crimes are small in comparison to the others and we could use the Combaticons’ help, but I wouldn’t want any of them escaping confinement until after they’ve had a proper hearing.”

“Then may I suggest a compromise?” Heads turned as Shockblast continued, “I will remain behind, in custody. I suspect there are several among my forces willing to do the same.”

“And you said yourselves that my unit would be an asset.” Turning to Vector and Starscream, Barricade asked, “We’re at your disposal. You can even consider it community service if you want.”

Optics turned to Rapid Run, who smiled. “They won’t run. Neither will Shadow Striker, or me.” He shot the Seeker a small glance and explained, “Hey, you’re not the only one with a partner on Earth.”

Glancing towards Magnus and fully aware of his own partner, Ratchet shook his head and pulled a nanotech injection unit from a storage panel before injecting Magnus with it. “That won’t be much, but it’ll help speed repairs.”

“Thanks, Ratchet.” Retrieving his weapon, Magnus turned to Checkpoint. “Gather the troops. Tell Bumblebee he’s in command until one of us returns.”

“We’ll need a few kliks to free the other Combaticons, but I doubt they’ll complain.” Unlocking the cuffs on both volunteers, Wreckage continued, “Brawl will, but he’ll get over it soon enough, especially if you return with Megatron in chains or scrapped.” Glancing at the femme, he asked, “Can you handle being under Starscream’s command, Shadow Stalker?”

“Yes, but the name isn’t ‘Shadow Stalker’.” With a small glance to her sibling, the femme corrected the Decepticon, “It’s Shadow Striker, like Rapid Run said. The way it should be.”

-

Far away, deep beneath the surface of the Atlantic Ocean, a light briefly flashed. The flash repeated once, twice, thrice, as rhythmically as a heartbeat, until beams of light lanced upwards.

Keeping watch on the artifact in his care, Evac couldn’t help but wonder what had caused it to activate. He quickly activated the ship’s sensors, tracking its transmissions right to where the attacks were taking place, where his siblings were en route. “Minerva, Hightail, something’s going on with the Key! Can you see anything?!”

-

Holographic rider activated, Hightail sped towards the disturbance in Colorado, quickly catching sight of the drone army surrounding the unknown mechs as well as the children hiding away among them. That gave him a little pause, and made him wonder why these new mechs were bothering to protect the humans. The renegades had certainly never bothered with it, opting instead to conquer and control them, either to inspire terror and panic or to be worshiped as gods. Evac’s message distracted him, and he quickly answered, “No sign of anything… Hang on, I’ve got incoming on the sensors and–!”

Overhead, a beam lanced through the air, shattering the warp gate above and making contact with the five Cybertronians below. While the drones froze in their tracks, most of the ones falling from the sky either exploding due to proximity to the portal or crashing and damaging themselves as they hit the ground below. His hologram fading away, the red motorcycle transformed and started picking away at the drones, a quick blue flash activating his own Cyber Key ability to add to the attack.

As the beam faded, the kids looked up in amazement at the altered Cybertronians before them. Surprised as all get out, Carlos looked up. “Red? How did you get smaller?!”

Red Alert looked over his reformatted body to find that he was indeed smaller than before, his alternate mode being closer to a station wagon than the SUV he had before. He glanced over his comrades, finding that they’d been similarly changed. Even Perceptor was different, larger and more bulky than he was before. He quickly noticed the disabled drones and the lack of a portal above, followed shortly thereafter by the mech who had opened fire on them, and noted, “We’ll worry about that later! Autobots, let’s settle this!”

-

“I’m picking it up too, some kind of energy beam and–!” Keeping to the water as much as possible, Minerva’s sensors traced the beam to her intended destination. “It’s heading for the downed pod!” Opting that speed was more important than maintaining the masquerade, she transformed and kicked off her engines, rocketing skyward past the departing helicopters.

Far below was a repeat performance of what had happened in Oregon, the portal vanishing and the drones being momentarily disabled. Not sure what was going on, but aware that their own weapons had been left unaffected, the Army helicopters kept up the assault, swiftly taking out the remaining drones. The beam, meanwhile, struck Skywarp and Thundercracker, almost instantaneously healing their injuries and reformatting their bodies. As the light dissipated, the blue Seeker looked over himself and asked in amazement, “Skywarp, since when were we Type 4 Seekers?”

“Since now, apparently.” Taking notice of the characteristic long cannon mounted on their left arms in place of hands, the purple Seeker used his right to check his head. He gave a disappointed sigh. “Wonderful. I liked that fin.”

Glancing at the cannon on his left arm, Thundercracker added, “And I liked being a southpaw.” With a shrug, he added, “Still, we can adjust after we get out of this, right?”

Their radios chirped as one, the familiar voice of the colonel coming in loud and clear. :“Are the two of you alright? What was that flash all about, and why do we have another Cybertronian approaching matching Thunderblast’s silhouette?”:

The newcomer landing before them, Skywarp answered, “We’ll get back to you, colonel, just hold your positions and your fire.” Looking over the femme and surprised by her similar design to Thunderblast, albeit with a far different color scheme, he stepped forward and asked, “You didn’t happen to have anything to do with that beam, did you?”

Minerva shrugged. “Not really, but I know where it came from. But before we get any further, the name’s Minerva. Now, what the hell is going on here?”

-

Weaving his way around the destroyed drones, Hightail kept his rifle aimed at the five Cybertronians. “Now, I’m going to ask once and only once. Who are all of you, and what are you doing here?”

“Hold on one second.” Holding up his arms and glad for the reformatting, the former Hoist negotiated, “Now, we aren’t interested in a fight, but we’ve got you outnumbered regardless. You tell us who you are, and we’ll do the same.”

A tense beat followed before Hightail lowered his rifle. As much as he didn’t like it, the newcomer was right. “Fine. The name’s Hightail.”

As Perceptor separated back into his component parts, the red and blue Autobot gestured to each of his allies in turn, starting with the medic. “That’s Red Alert.” Where had once been an alien earth-moving vehicle was now a bulldozer, thankfully easily recognized thanks to his colors and head. “That’s Landmine.” The engineer from the Axalon, formerly a white sports car with bits of red and green, was now a muscle car straight out of the seventies, mostly green and black. “He’s Downshift, and I’m Smokescreen.” He gestured to the Mini-Cons and finished. “They’re High Wire, Grindor and Sureshock. Mini-Cons.” Noticing something familiar in Hightail’s design, he asked, “Ever met a mech named Lugnutz?”

“Name doesn’t ring a bell, but I’m more worried about where the lot of you…” The connection being made in his processor, the red motorcycle asked, “Wait, did you say they were Mini-Cons?” Glancing down at the Street Action Team, he elaborated, “From Cybertron?”

High Wire looked up at the mech in surprise even as the kids came out of hiding, surprised both by her new frame and by his questions. “Yes. You act like you’ve seen us before.”

Stowing his weapon, the Earth-born mech nodded. “I have. You know Knock Out and Nightscream?”

Suddenly confused by the newcomer’s question, Rad stepped forward and asked, “Wait, how could you have met them? Knock-Out’s been up on the moon, and Nightscream’s–!

“I think he means different Mini-Cons, Rad.” Alexis stepped forward and reasoned, “You found one of the escape pods.”

“Roswell, July 1947.” Taking quick notice of the emblems on each of them, Hightail reasoned further, “All of you are Autobots, all the way from Cybertron. I thought it was some crazy story from those two tiny mechs, but…”

“Wait, you’re not from Cybertron?” Realization dawning on him, Red Alert reasoned aloud, “You were one of the mechs given life here on Earth by Methius Prime!” Before Hightail could press him on how he knew, he explained, “We found an outpost in Egypt last month, and had no trouble playing or recording the information left behind. You wouldn’t believe how long we’ve been looking for you and Atlantis. How many more are you?”

Still not quite believing what he was seeing, the motorcycle nonetheless answered. “Just the three of us, not including your two tiny friends.” Remembering something he’d been told long ago, he asked, “Vector Prime, is he…?”

“Still online, and still carrying the ChronoSaber.” The medic continued, “We’ve gotten another Prime since then, Optimus. Both are here on Earth.”

“And odds are, both are under attack along with everyone else at our base.”

“In Colorado.” Smokescreen turned to Hightail as he explained, “This isn’t the only place that had to deal with all these drones. Hang on.” He activated his communicator, trying his best to not sound too excited. “Minerva, you reading me? I’ve got Autobots and Mini-Cons.”

:“I can do you one better! I’ve got a pair of Decepticons out here, along with an Air Force colonel who knows all about us! And it sounds like they could use our help! I’ve sent word back to Evac, and he’s on his way to Colorado now!”:

“Good, we can meet him there.” Closing out his line, the small mech looked to Red and asked, “Don’t suppose you’ve got a quick way of getting to Colorado, do you? It isn’t exactly a quick jaunt from here.”

“I think I might have a faster transit method.” Keying up a link to the Axalon, Downshift added, “The kids and the Mini-Cons will probably need to stay behind, but an orbital bounce should get us right where we need to go. Probably pick up the units out near Seattle too. It’ll just take me a couple kliks to get linked up with the ship.”

“Wait, how are we supposed to explain what happened to High Wire and the others?” Glancing over the Mini-Cons’ new forms, Carlos rightly pointed out, “I mean, no way does Grindor still turn into a skateboard.”

Red Alert looked over the children, considering their options. A small part of him wanted to suggest having them climb inside him in his vehicle mode while taking part in the jump, hoping that he would protect them like a Faraday cage, but that would risk significant damage to himself. No other options seemed forthcoming until a line came in on his comm.-link. “Yes doctor?”

:“Red! Thank God I reached you!”: Relief was clear in Diana’s voice as she continued. :“We were evacuated to Fort Lewis! Col. Franklin’s contacted some friends, and arrangements are being made for pickup back to Longs Peak! You guys need a lift?!”:

The medic glanced down at the kids before reporting, “No, but if you could get the colonel to send a helicopter out for the kids, they’d no doubt appreciate it.”

-

Having little trouble noticing that the warp gate far above them was dissipating or that the Scrapmetal drones and their mysterious benefactor were seizing up and halting, Thrust turned to his leader. “Lord Galvatron, something has happened! If we are to take this installation with the forces we have, we need to do so immediately and storm this base!”

Galvatron grimaced, watching as Soundwave rebooted himself and the Scrapmetals continued on the warpath. He had been hoping for an inexhaustible supply, but clearly, that would no longer be an option. “Very well!” His sensors quickly went over the rock face, trying desperately to find a weak point to attack and exploit. Just as he was about to pick a random spot, he received a narrow band signal, a transmission from inside. Someone among the traitors apparently still thought themselves worthy of his cause, and had pointed out a potential weak point. He would address this issue momentarily, after the Autobots’ defeat. He locked his weapons on the designated target and called, “Decepticons, lock weapons on this point and open fire!”

A barrage went off from his three cannons, his allies immediately following up on the attack and bombarding the designated point, a bit of earth much the same as every other. The barrage continued, rock and stone being blown away and metal being exposed below.

-

As the explosions echoed throughout the base, Sentinel Maximus looked up. “They’re getting closer.”

Wing Saber looked up at the ceiling nervously, not exactly thrilled about what he was hearing. Trying to get his processor off that topic, he started talking. “So you’re from the future. Bet you know how this’ll turn out, right?”

The time traveler shook his head as he faced the aerial Autobot. “Knowledge of the future is only useful if it remains the future. My presence in this part of the timeline has changed history. What I remembered may no longer be what will be written.”

“Which means we’ve got no way for certain to know how all of this will end,” Arcee reasoned, her fellow Omnicons growing nervous at the thought.

“Not entirely.” Astroscope spoke up from below with the assembled Mini-Cons. “History has changed. That means that the timeline that Sentinel Maximus knew is no longer valid. Granted, we don’t know the full extent, but nonetheless, it has changed, and the future with it. We still have hope.”

“And that’s all the reason we need to not give up.” Looking among the gathered mechs, Sparkplug assured them, “Optimus wouldn’t want it any other way.”

A deafening thud rang through the small access room, prompting the gathered Autobots and Mini-Cons to ready themselves as the armored ceiling above them was torn open by an explosion, sunlight beginning to pour in along with Galvatron’s voice. “We have an opening! Let the slaughter begin!”

“We’ll see about that!” Missile banks activating, Sentinel Maximus opened fire through the narrow opening. While he couldn’t see what he was hitting, he nonetheless had clear success, marked by a yelp of pain from Snowcat.

-

“They’ve breached just outside!” Tow-Line reported.

Predacon grimaced as he drew his tail weapon and charged it. “Then we must give them a proper reception.”

Scavenger nodded and gestured to his troops. “Ironhide, Sideswipe, go with him.” As the two Autobots got to their feet and readied their weapons, a comm.-channel opened. “Coby, now’s not a good time.”

:“You’ll need to make time!”: came the excited response from the other end. :“Optimus and Jetfire are –!”:

The line broke off with a static hiss and Reptilion had to report with a worried tone. “Internal communications are down!”

Scavenger growled. As glad as he was for the minor miracle of the warp gate fading, he doubted they’d be able to hold off Megatron’s thugs at this point. “Where’s a miracle when you need one?”

-

As Predacon, Ironhide and Sideswipe entered the access room and joined the battle, the gathered team, most boosted by Mini-Cons where possible, was fending off the invading forces. While mostly made up of Scrapmetals that had diverted their attention away from the access ports, one stand out was present, his optics swiftly turning towards the new arrivals and lighting with recognition. “Well, look who we’ve got here! My old cellmate, a rookie, and an old friend.” Had he a mouth, Mirage would have grinned. “Hello Ironhide. Miss me?”

The form was different, but the voice and tone were exactly the same. The architect’s response was to quickly activate his massive light bank, temporarily blinding the Decepticon before he opened fire. “That answer your question, Tidal Wave?!”

As the two began their clash, Predacon smiled and quickly leapt in to tend to Wing Saber, confident that the two could handle themselves easily enough. Sideswipe, however, was unprepared for what he was seeing. His optics darted around beneath his visor as he tried to figure out what to do.

“What are you doing?!” He looked down as Nightbeat sped towards him and linked into his back. “Shoot, mech, shoot!”

As the techie opened fire and started blasting drones, Ironhide let up his fire enough to charge upon his old foe and start pummeling him viciously. “I owe you a lot for what you did! Get ready for some well-deserved payback!”

Mirage caught one thrown punch and laughed. “Didn’t get the message, did you?! The name’s Mirage now, kid!” He then knocked the architect aside. “Might be smaller, but I’m just as tough as I used to be! And if you’re gonna raise a fuss over what I did before, you’d better get ready for a new one!” He then deployed his shoulder cannons and opened fire, pounding Ironhide against a wall. “And no mech’s gonna help you this time!”

The Decepticon was proven wrong as he was blown back by weapons fire. Several drones being destroyed by weapons fire meant an easier fight for the gathered mechs, the Decepticon battleship looking down the hall as his attacker approached. He looked different, smaller and with a changed build and armaments, but the voice was exactly the same. “Sorry big guy, but you missed the house-warming party! But since you came all this way, why not have a little fun?!”

The mechs gathered turned in shock. As different as he looked, they knew that attitude anywhere. Jetfire was back online. And if he was in working order again, then it bode well for all of them.

-

A smile crossed Tow-Line’s face as he reported the good news. “Internal communications are back online!”

Relieved, Scavenger reactivated his comm.-link. “You were saying, Coby?”

:“I was saying that Optimus and Jetfire are back online! I don’t know how it happened, but the Matrix started glowing one minute and the next their bodies were rebuilt and different and–!”:

“Slow down, we’ve gotten the news.” Pleasantly surprised but not complaining, the old bulldozer turned to the monitors, finding the rebuilt Jetfire with Sentinel Maximus’ team. “Where’s Optimus now?”

:“He said something about going on the offensive and taking his new body for a test drive, and then he made off for the storage bays!”:

Catching a little bit of Reptilion’s thankful prayers, Scavenger smiled. “Then it sounds like the tide’s turned.” He cut the line and called, “Report to all teams! Optimus is back online!”

-

Not at all eager to keep up the fight, Mirage shot his way out of the same hole he entered the base from, the few remaining Scrapmetals swiftly destroyed. The various mechs looking at him in surprise, Jetfire leaned down over the damaged Ironhide and helped him back to his feet. “Easy there, big guy. You’ve done enough damage for one cycle.”

Despite the pounding he’d taken, the architect couldn’t help but smile. “I showed him, didn’t I?”

“You did indeed.” Predacon carefully helped the Autobot to stand, giving him a shoulder to lean on. Sideswipe gave Ironhide another as the tech-org assured the aerospace fighter, “We’ll get him to safety. Welcome back, Jetfire.”

“Yeah, nice going.” Still amazed at what he was seeing, Wing Saber knew they had other issues to contend with. “Where’s Optimus?”

“Getting something special together,” the Autobot vice commander explained. “Wing Saber, you’re with me. Sentinel, Arcee, watch our backs.”

“Think you could stand a little help?” Runway asked as his team and a few others stepped forward.

A laugh from the former shuttle. “Easily.”

-

As soon as he saw Mirage emerge from the opened hole, Galvatron growled and bellowed in rage, “What are you doing?! Our victory is all but assured!”

Surprise in his optics, the Decepticon turned to his leader and explained, “Lord Galvatron, we’ve got a problem! Jetfire is back online and reformatted, and if he’s back then Optimus Prime is–!”

The tyrant growled in rage. “It doesn’t matter! Soon, the Autobots and Optimus Prime will be nothing more than a memory, and I and the true Decepticons will reign supreme!”

A roar sounded from the rock face, panels opening as the familiar components of an Omega Sentinel emerged from spaces wide enough for a semi to drive through. The Sentinel assembled as a quartet of explorer drones were deployed after it. Two, resembling a submersible and a helicopter, shifted into what could be called boots and linked up with ports on the massive drone’s legs, while a third resembling a drill tank linked with the arm and the fourth, a fire engine, connected on one shoulder. Standing atop it, his body reformatted but his face and voice easily recognized, Optimus Prime defiantly declared, “I’m afraid your celebration will have to wait, Megatron!”

The tyrant’s optics widened in surprise before his anger returned. “Prime!”

His chest opening to reveal the Matrix embedded within, as if to taunt his old adversary, the Autobot leader declared, “You’ve failed, Megatron! Just as you always have, and just as you always will! Every time you come up with some clever trick to throw at me, I’ll be able to counter it, better than before! And I’ll never stop as long as mechs like you are there!”

Shooting out of the hole made by their opponents, Jetfire and Wing Saber appeared, respectively armed with the Requiem Blaster and the Skyboom Shield, while the members of the Air Defense and Energon Teams shot out behind them. “And neither will we!”

The combined attack from the two fliers and the Sentinel was enough to force the gathered Decepticons to scatter, those being carried ending up unceremoniously dropped on the ground below while Galvatron railed against his old foe. “This is far from over, Prime! I am Galvatron now, and I –!”

“Oh, stuff it down your exhaust port!” As their counterparts in the Energon Team did likewise, the members of the Air Defense Team combined and shot straight at the Decepticon leader. Both swords dug into his palms, forcing his arms to stretch out to each side as their hilts pressed against the sides of his knees.

Surprised by the brazen attack, Galvatron struggled against his bonds, barely aware as the explorer drones disconnected from the Omega Sentinel and reconnected to Optimus, the drill tank and helicopter forming over his arms while the fire engine and submersible did the same over his legs.  As his chest opened to reveal the Matrix, a secondary helmet flipped over his head and completed the combination. The drill ending his right arm spinning, the Autobot leader charged.

Finally catching sight of his foe, the Decepticon leader barely moved an inch, instead opting to laugh. “Do you honestly think you can hold your own against me, Prime! I broke you before, and I will do it again! I am GALVA–!”

His tirade was interrupted as Optimus’ drill dug into his face, tearing and grinding away at his mouth components and optics, ripping armor and joints apart with each rotation. “I don’t care what you call yourself, Megatron! The only thing breaking here is you!”

Despite his head being torn apart, Galvatron managed enough energy to fire his engines and shoot away from the Prime, dislodging the two swords in the process. His head and face reconstructed themselves, ruby optics glowing with rage as he watched the Autobot leader swap the drill arm for the fire engine, now using two hands to wield his two Mini-Con blades. Drawing his own sword, he cried out in rage and charged. If Optimus wanted to test his new form, fine, then he would oblige him, and make him pay for this affront to his dignity.

-

Swiftly climbing high into the atmosphere and escaping the battle, Soundwave watched from above, his sensors detecting not only incoming reinforcements but also the rapidly diminishing drones. This mission was a failure it seemed, but as he transformed and shot skyward, vanishing as he went, he reflected on the fact that there was always another day.

Far below, Brushguard found himself with similar thoughts, transforming to his vehicle mode and escaping in the confusion. It was clear that Megatron or Galvatron or whatever he wished to be addressed as was no longer worth maintaining as a leader. Perhaps he could find better use for his skills elsewhere.

-

Laughing out loud as he caught word of the battle outside, Hot Shot called out to the other mechs in his team as they continued fire, “Guys, Optimus and Jetfire are back online!”

“You’re kidding!” His weapons still firing at the few drones that managed to get through the piles of their fallen comrades, Wheeljack looked up and asked, “Not to complain, but didn’t you and Hoist need Red to patch you up?!”

“Hey, better this than nothing!” Piling on the fire, he called out, “Come on, mechs! Let’s finish this up!”

Similar calls were made inside the base as Rodimus and Rhinox pressed their teams forward, holding back the thinning swarms. Just knowing that their leader was back, and that he’d paid his old nemesis back in full for their battle earlier, was enough to inspire them to keep fighting a little harder. After all, if Optimus could come back from near death and fight like this, the least they could do was smash some drones.

-

As the battle continued, beams shot down from above, depositing the gathered Cybertronians from the battles near Seattle and Portland just on the edge. As she recovered from the jump, Minerva shook her head. “Whoa. That was new.”

“You get used to ‘em.” Several of the remaining drones quickly noticing their arrival, Skywarp readied his weapon and called out, “Looks like we haven’t missed out on the fight here! Let’s finish this, mechs!”

Auras of blue and silver energy formed around the gathered Autobots and Decepticons, their Cyber Key abilities activating for the first time. As surprised as he was by this being part of the upgrade, Red Alert wasn’t about to complain as two cannons found themselves mounted over his shoulders. Without a second thought, he locked onto the approaching drones and opened fire as the two Seekers did likewise. Gale force winds surged from Landmine, blowing away several approaching drones right into range of Smokescreen’s missiles, with one unfortunate drone landing right between the pieces of the claw in Downshift’s chest, its forward section crushed without a second thought as he opened fire with his two rifles. At their feet, the Street Action Team recombined into Perceptor and charged into the fray, punching and kicking drones apart with the odd laser burst in between blows.

High above, having managed to avoid some of the fire coming from below, Thunderblast managed a confident laugh. “Ah, mechs! They’re good for nothing, and they can’t hit a thing! Especially little old –!”

BLAM!

The Decepticon spun in the air as far below, prepping her Energon bow for another shot, Arcee smiled, having caught the tail end of her words. “Lucky thing I’m not a mech.”

Thunderblast slowly descended, Mirage catching her after she barely started falling. The larger mech held her close as he yelled to his leader, “Galvatron, we’re losing! The drones are all but gone and the Autobots are on the offensive! We need to pull out, now!”

“No!” Still in the midst of his duel with Optimus, Galvatron bellowed back to his subordinate. “We’ve lost nothing!”

Galvatron’s words were quickly countermanded as a massive warp gate opened above them. Within seconds came the Wreckers, Dinobots and Combaticons, Vector Prime and Starscream at the lead with Demolishor, Rapid Run, Shadow Striker and Omega Supreme in the rear. Those limited to the ground had their descent slowed by the massive Sentinel, force fields allowing them to reach the ground safely. Looking at the battle taking place, Grimlock laughed and called, “Looks like we made it to party just in time! Dinobots, kick aft!”

Ultra Magnus added his own call to the mix shortly afterwards. “Wreck and rule!”

Even as the odds against her grew, Thunderblast shoved her way out of her rescuers’ arms. “Galvatron’s right! Besides, these Autobots are going to pay! How dare they strike –!”

A falcon’s cry interrupted her as Rhinox’s team managed to break through the hordes of drones, a stray shot from Airazor’s shoulder cannons hitting her from below.

Moving aside and crying out in frustration, Thunderblast glared at the raptor in irritation. “How dare they strike –!”

A small explosion, and Rodimus’ team followed. A mess of glue soon found itself all over the femme’s form as Talon chuckled to herself from below, a grenade launcher over one shoulder.

The glue burned away as she struggled to rip the sticky material off of her form. “How dare you strike –!”

A flurry of bullets struck all around her, the Sonic Assault Team swarming all around the Decepticon femme like angry wasps. Gleeful at being able to strike back, Falcia laughed and called out, “Take that, you Decepticon ruggine-benna!”

“Quit it!” Thunderblast barely batted the trio away before her sensors alerted her to another incoming strike. “Oh slag!” She turned to face it as both Roulette and Shadow Striker opened fire on her from below.

That final blow knocked her unconscious, Mirage once more diving in to assist her before flying out to avoid further fire.

Galvatron growled at the departures and arrivals, but refused to give in. He had triumph right within his grasp, and he would not let it slip away. “This won’t end until I say so!” Locking optics and once more locking swords with his nemesis, he continued, “You hear that, Prime?! You haven’t defeated me yet!”

“Then maybe he needs a little help!” Both combatants turned as a single helicopter, orange and white with black rotors, approached with amazing speed, swiftly transformed and took on a brilliant blue glow before firing a pair of missiles from what had apparently been booster engines before. Both rockets lanced forward and slammed into Galvatron, knocking him away and sending him straight into the ground.

Finally forced to acknowledge defeat, the tyrant keyed in his communicator and slowly stood upright. “Decepticons… retreat.” His troops picked up the few allies they had that they could find and he led them skyward, far out of range of the Autobot-allied forces and on their way out of the atmosphere.

Optimus slowly landed as he watched them depart, the two Mini-Con teams that had aided him separating into their proper selves. As he landed, he turned to face the newcomer and offered a hand in gratitude. “Whoever you are, thank you. I’m…”

“Optimus Prime.” Evac smiled and accepted the hand. “I’ve heard a lot about you. Name’s Evac. I think you and me have a lot to talk about.”

-

Returning from whence he’d come was easy enough, as Soundwave strode through the darkened halls of his master’s innards. He even took some small satisfaction in taking the hard way back rather than the easy one, as his comrades had done. So much that, as he heard Sideways laugh, he was unperturbed.

“Well, look at you.” Striding up out of the shadows, the black and orange herald looked over his comrade with some amusement. “Didn’t think you’d come back through the front door. I was thinking you’d end up respawning back here, same as the rest of us. Instead you ran with your tail between your legs.”

“With your mission a failure.” Emerging from the shadows himself, Nemesis Prime regarded the two heralds with dissatisfaction. “Optimus Prime still lives, and the Matrix remains intact. Empowering Megatron has given us nothing.”

“Are you so certain?” His optics met those of his fellow heralds, satisfaction clear in his voice. “We retain agents on Earth, so we still have some chance of making strides there. Starscream and those loyal to him have been exposed, albeit to a degree we didn’t quite expect, but even that has benefits. Megatron, now Galvatron, has been granted a taste of greater power than he’d even known from the Mini-Cons, and he will only seek greater sources as time goes on. And eventually, he can find something that he thinks he can exploit.”

“Only to be exploited himself.” The doppelganger chuckled. “Be it tomorrow or long afterwards, we have victory in our grasp, and our master is one step closer towards defeating his sibling once and for all.”

-

Galvatron seethed within the Nemesis’ command deck as he looked over his gathered troops. “Our ally has left us, our supporters grow thin, and the Autobots continue to match us in combat through sheer luck. How?”

Hoping that his leader’s query wasn’t rhetorical, Thrust suggested, “The Autobots must have known about these abilities that were granted to Thunderblast and Shortround. I expect that the reason we weren’t aware of them in Mudflap, or any of the Autobots, was because of Starscream.”

As his leader growled in frustration, Slugslinger spoke up. “Come on, boss, this isn’t the end of the universe! I say we all get boosted up, power up the ship and…”

“Engage in orbital bombardment?” As much as he liked the idea, the tyrant found himself turning it down. “We’ve no assurances that Starscream or Brushguard or anyone else hasn’t planted something in the computers to keep us from doing so. Besides, we have no way of finding additional liquid energon. And even if we managed to attack, moving our ship would give away our position, and there is literally nothing stopping Optimus from sending an entire fleet to annihilate us now.” Settling into his throne, he considered the one option he hated most, but found little alternative to it. “To your stations. Disconnect the solar array and prepare for departure. We will go to ground, remain hidden and learn what we can. When we are ready, we strike back against them.” Noticing that none of them had moved from their positions, he prompted them into movement. “Now!”

-

Following the battle, transport to Autobase Earth for the various civilians caught in the assorted conflagrations was arranged. Some were escorted to private areas for debriefing and discussion, the colonel heading to talk about the recent attacks with the senior Cybertronians. A few, however, found themselves entertaining different thoughts.

“Y’know, a lot of these guys could be salvaged.” Having met up with their counterparts from Oregon and started looking over the damaged Scrapmetals, Coby turned to Carlos and noted. “There’s more than enough parts here. A little time and some help, and we might be able to put some back together, maybe make something out of them.”

“We might even be able to pilot these!” Growing excited at the thought, the younger of the two mechanically-inclined kids rushed over to the forward section of one of the drones. “I mean, look at it! There’s enough space here to put in a cockpit, easy!”

Rad’s eyes lit up almost immediately as he heard them speak. “You mean we could have our own giant robots to pilot?! Sweet!”

“Whoa, don’t get excited over this.” Quickly trying to put a damper on the younger boy’s enthusiasm, the teen explained, “We’d have to go over each of these guys, fish out the parts that are still operable and figure out how everything goes together! Then we’d have to clear what space we can for a cockpit and figure out the piloting software and…”

“Who cares about all of that, bro?!” Bud was just as excited as Rad at the thought of piloting his own mecha. “C’mon Coby, you’re a wiz with mechanics! You’ll figure it out in no time!”

Alexis and Lori groaned at the boys’ enthusiasm, shaking their heads in unison with both frustration and amusement. Still, they had to admit, the idea sounded really cool, and they hoped that the drones could become piloted vehicles. Whether it would happen, however, was far out of their hands.

-

Elsewhere in the base’s lounge, Brian Jones was excitably looking over the schematics and information pertaining to the base, the Cybertronians and their technology, astonishment and childlike glee on his face as he considered the possibilities. He barely noticed as the door opened, but immediately recognized his wife’s voice. “Here you are. What are you up to?”

“Looking over these databases!” Barely looking at his spouse, the scientist kept his eyes fixed on the flat screen monitor. “Look at this, Miranda, all this technology! These Cybertronians, their power source, energon! They’ve found some here on Earth! Properly distributed, it could power an entire city for years, maybe even a decade! And best of all, it can be artificially generated with methods here on Earth, like solar panels and hydroelectric turbines! This is amazing!”

“That’s nice dear, but…”

Not noticing his wife’s tone and too wrapped up in what he had discovered, Brian continued, “We need to find some way of locating it and start mining it! It could solve the energy crisis once and…!”

“Brian, honey.” Miranda’s tone was one that wouldn’t allow any argument. He turned away from the monitor and looked up to find Diana and the armored soldier standing behind her. “All of that can wait until later. We have something more important to talk about, right now.”

Not about to get interrupted as he was thinking out all the possible applications of his discoveries, Brian quickly chided his wife. “Miranda, this isn’t the time! This information, these discoveries, will change the world as we know it!”

“It’s already changed, in more ways than you know.” His in-law’s tone was exactly the same as her sister’s. She approached, the armored man keeping just behind her. “The Autobots have plenty of ways of finding energon, and I’m sure that once they’ve sorted things out, they’ll be happy to share them with us. But we’ve found something important out. Apparently, due to genetic mutation, some humans have a degree of sensitivity to energon radiation, allowing them to find it.”

Only more elated at this news, Brian quickly continued, “Well we need to find them! There can’t be too many, given we haven’t heard about it before…!”

“There aren’t, but one’s right here.” He removed his helmet, revealing a familiar face with brown hair and brown eyes, an uneasy though frustrated expression upon it.

Brian looked at the young man in shock, seeing an easy resemblance but not quite believing what he was thinking. “Miranda, Diana, who is…”

Not quite believing it herself, but having had far more time to swallow it, Miranda quietly laid a hand on her time-displaced son’s shoulder. “He’s our son, Brian.” She turned back to her husband and reiterated. “He’s Kicker.”

Keeping his voice restrained, but fully aware of the shock on his father’s face, the boy kept a neutral expression. “Hi Dad. Surprise.”

-

:“…As information continues to come in concerning the unexplained reports of giant robots engaged in warfare in Oregon, Washington and Colorado, these questions remain. Where did they come from, and what reaction will the government take concerning these unusual events?”:

“That’s a question I’m asking myself, among others.” Optimus muted the news report and turned to face his gathered allies. “Anyone willing to start laying out the facts?”

With a small shrug, Rodimus decided to start, having the most information on the drones. “We all know by now that the Quintessons created the Scrapmetal drones, along with what ended up becoming Sideways and Soundwave, as part of a plan to retake Cybertron. It failed, Quintesson was all but destroyed, the Quintessons left practically extinct, and they left in a vessel designed as a planet killer.” He held up the data chip he’d obtained from the Alpha Quintesson. “We’ve got all the stats right here.”

“And somewhere down the line, they ended up working with Unicron, and have since been used by him to attack Cybertron and manipulate things so that the Mini-Cons ended up in self-imposed exile.” Almost amused by what he was thinking of, Starscream noted, “One failed plan being taken on and used as part of another. Creative.”

“Not entirely. Unicron cannot create, merely replicate or make use of what has already been made and twist it to his own ends.” Looking among those gathered, Vector noted, “Still, regardless of how much involvement he had in the beginnings of this conflict, it is clear that his endgame is approaching. Nebulos’ destruction is only the first step, a means of creating panic. We’ve foiled his second step, but there is nothing stopping him from trying again.”

“But why have Soundwave set things up so that we couldn’t call for help?” Genuinely distressed at that thought, Sparkplug looked about and asked, “I mean, what’s the point in waiting that long?”

“Get Megatron more desperate. Receiving that signal when he did probably seemed like a minor miracle to him.” Standing alongside the Mini-Cons on the conference table, Franklin nonetheless shook his head at the idea. “But I doubt that anyone would trust to a contrived coincidence like that just to set that big of a plan in motion. Besides that, he’d know that Megatron would be followed here, and that he’d be fought at every turn, if not by the Autobots then by the infiltrators or the people here on Earth. We’d put up the worst fight, but still, we wouldn’t give up easily.”

Looking among the gathered Cybertronians, Evac couldn’t help but feel a little lost. He knew who Unicron was, the Quintessons and Megatron, but a destroyed planet was entirely new to him, as well as a little daunting. Still, he knew he had a part of the picture that they didn’t. “That signal being broadcasted back in September may not have been the plan.” Heads turning towards him, he explained, “The way you guys are talking, the plan wasn’t so much to get you here now, but get you here to Earth at a point where you’d cause even more trouble. The only reason all of this isn’t flying right over my head is because I met a pair of Mini-Cons from one of these escape pods back in 1947.”

The colonel looked up at the helicopter in surprise. “I have it on good authority that the debris found at Roswell was a weather balloon. Are you saying otherwise?”

“Nah, just that the balloon didn’t pop on its own.” Evac continued, “We’ve had minimum power on Atlantis for a long time, but not nearly enough to cut off long range sensors. We picked up something entering the atmosphere on July 7th and landing in that area, detected it departing hours later, and we went and investigated. Half-dug out of the earth was one of those pods, a couple confused Mini-Cons left inside. Someone had to know where they were.”

“That means we’ve got four Mini-Cons missing.” Hot Shot looked less than happy at that idea. “No telling where they’ve ended up.”

“Or who they ended up with for now,” Scavenger agreed. “Still, that doesn’t change how things happened. The way things turned out, Megatron still had a fight every step of the way. Starscream stopped an orbital bombardment, and we fought him on the ground, both with and without help. Every victory prompted him forward, and every loss made him more desperate.”

“Desperate enough to take a dip in liquid energon from a mech he didn’t even know. End result, he ends up with a power boost, and gets sent off to slag Prime and crush the Matrix.” Overcast shook his head in astonishment as Grimlock laughed in realization. “If it weren’t for a trio of meddling explorers, the theft would’ve been overlooked.”

“And had it not been for timely intervention, all would have been lost.” Turning to Sentinel Maximus, the elder Prime showed a grateful smile. “Today has been a victory.”

“Though how much of one?” As much as it pained him to bring up the downside, Predacon swiftly reminded them, “Megatron still has some of his forces left to him, and he remains desperate now that he’s lost his liquid energon source. He’s been backed into a corner, and I don’t think the Axalon can fight the Nemesis. Also, there’s nothing stopping Unicron’s minions from returning.”

Optimus nodded solemnly. “One problem at a time.” He then turned to their newest arrival and asked, “Now, Evac. I already know some of the details about your story, about Methius creating you and about the division that eventually grew, and from what I’ve been told, you and your two friends are the only ones left. I’m sorry to hear that. These past few millennia must have been hard on you.”

“For a while, yeah.” A smile formed on the helicopter’s face. “Still, we ended up doing a lot more good than harm. We’ve stayed out of major human events, but we’ve tried to help out here and there, save the odd life or two in the face of natural disasters. That mess in New Orleans back in September was just the most recent thing we tried to help out in. We didn’t help much, I’ll admit, but I like to think we made some difference.”

“You no doubt did.” His optics turned to the colonel as he looked up and smiled. “When I was a boy, I’d go fishing with my father at the Green River in North Carolina. One time I fell in, and would have drowned in the rapids if something hadn’t saved me. My mother thought it was an angel. I thought it was a man who turned into a helicopter. It sounds like I wasn’t the first.”

Evac looked closely at the colonel, systems working on everything from biometrics to facial recognition as his memory banks went over the various rescues he’d made over the years at that specific river. Finally making the connection, he laughed. “And you weren’t the last! Look at you! You grew up!”

“And if he hadn’t, we could very well be in different circumstances right now.” Sentinel Maximus couldn’t help but feel amazed at the newcomer’s actions, though a little jealous. What he had done had been planned, with full awareness of what would happen if he failed, while Evac had simply acted altruistically, with no idea that he’d make a difference beyond saving a single life. Nonetheless, he couldn’t help but be impressed. “We may well have you to thank for what goodwill has been formed between us and humanity.”

“Which might be a good thing, given all the slag we’ve fallen into.” Gesturing towards the still-muted monitors, Jetfire continued, “I don’t know about you guys, but I’ve got no idea how this mess is going to be explained.”

The colonel, as glad as he was to have his own personal mystery solved, couldn’t help but agree. “Too many people have seen all of this. Even if we could come up with a cover story, no one would be convinced. They’ve seen the warp gates, and there are enough Scrapmetal parts that we’ll be spending weeks trying to clean them up. But it can’t just be ignored.”

Optimus remained silent for a moment, considering his options, before coming to a decision. “Then perhaps its time we stopped trying to be ignored.” Those gathered looked to him in shock as he explained, “The immediate danger to Earth is gone, and most of the Mini-Con pods have been retrieved. While I’d hoped it would be under better circumstances, I’d always hoped that we’d reveal ourselves to humanity one day. Perhaps now is our best chance.”

None of the Cybertronians present looked thrilled with that idea, and the sentiment was shared by their lone human ally. “That may not be the wisest option, Optimus. I was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt, but there are many who wouldn’t.”

“I’m with Michael.” Evac looked to the Autobot leader and continued, “I’ve been watching over humanity for thousands of years. They’ve got a lot of potential, for good or bad, but they aren’t perfect. Some will panic once they find out about us, get scared, and maybe even try to destroy us because they blame us for one thing or another, and Primus help us if they knew about Atlantis or the threat from Unicron.”

“Then we won’t tell them everything.” Optimus looked to the colonel as he continued, “My government keeps secrets from the general population of Cybertron, just as your government does your people. As much as I’m against the idea, I know full well that there are things that the public can do without knowing for their own safety.” He looked over his gathered allies and continued, “We can tell them general details, where we came from and how we came to be, our origins and histories. Unless absolutely necessary, however, we won’t tell them about Unicron’s confirmed existence. Some may put two and two together based on what we’ve discovered, but if that happens, we’ll deal with it. Right now, however, I see little alternative.”

Franklin shook his head, trying to think of an alternative himself. “No one’s going to be happy with this idea, but I don’t see too many other options myself. I’ll contact the President and the Joint Chiefs, consult with them on the matter. It could work, but we’d have to be very careful.”

The Autobot leader nodded. “I never said we shouldn’t be, only that we walk a very dangerous tightrope. I only hope that we can weather the aftermath as well as we did the storm.”

“As well as the one to come.” Vector turned to Evac and explained, “From what we know, Methius granted you and your kin life through the use of the Key of Wisdom. We need it to fight Unicron.”

“Yeah, he mentioned it’d be important. Figured someone might come after it eventually, too.” A panel opened in the Earth-born mech’s left leg, and he quietly removed the object in question. Deep blue with gold detailing, the symbol of a sunrise over an unknown world prominent upon it, Evac held it up for all to see. “Odds are this had something to do with all the reformatting that went on today, along with the Matrix and the Omega Lock. I figured leaving it in Atlantis was a little too dangerous, so I brought it with me.”

“The Key of Wisdom.” The ancient Cybertronian smiled as he looked upon it. “Safe and sound after all this time. Thank the Allspark.”

“We’re probably going to need it to help power the ship and get it back to Cybertron, but once that’s done, I don’t see any problem reuniting it with the Omega Lock.” At the surprised looks from the others, Evac explained, “Hey, she’ll still fly. Repairs might take a while, but I figure she’ll be a big help when the time comes.”

Beneath his faceplate, Optimus smiled, glad for one more thing going in their favor. “If she’s anything like her crew, she will indeed.”

-

Hours later, many news slots found themselves with the same announcement, each of them receiving it simultaneously. While the specifics varied from network to network, the message was generally the same. Many of those in charge of their respective news networks immediately began making plans to adjust schedules with the broadcast stations, even if it required some browbeating on the more stubborn managers and IT technicians on making sure the servers weren’t going to crash from the potential avalanche.

:“…this just in. The President has scheduled a press conference tomorrow at the White House at noon EST in relation to today’s events. A press release has stated that the American people, and the world at large, will be given disclosure on today’s events. Again, that conference is scheduled for tomorrow, December 20th 2005, at noon EST…”: