Transformers Titan

Awakening

Chapter 1-Earthfall part 1

Circling the star Hadeen was a planet unlike anything in the heavens-Cybertron. No rock, soil or sand contributed to its bizarre geography. Its content was entirely mechanical, and it existed as a vast Saturn-sized world of labyrinthine intricacy with its origins lost to the mists of time. Here, life existed on Cybertron, but not life as we know it. Cybertron was populated by monumental mechanical beings that able to adopt a secondary vehicle or other mode for a variety of purposes. These metal giants were known as Cybertronians, but to the rest of the galaxy they were known as the Transformers.

Cybertron was once a paradise, a metallic marvel that was the prime example of just how diverse the universe could be, with its people seen by other races as evolutionary miracles, their name synonymous with culture and intellectual vigor. But what was once a glittering jewel in the cosmos was now a barren globe of scorched metal and tarnished cities littered with bodies. Civil war raged on Cybertron, a war that threatened to tear the planet asunder as it escalated to heights that no one-not even the combatants themselves-had foreseen.

It was a war started by the ruthless Megatron of Tarn, leader of the Decepticons, who spread across the planet like a plague, conquering Cybertron's many city-states and killing all who dared opposed his "rightful" destiny as the ruler of Cybertron. The only force capable of stopping the Decepticon advance was the Autobots, led by the legendary and peaceful Optimus Prime, who forged the Autobots into a counterforce dedicated to the preservation of all life, no matter what their nature was.

For thousands of years, the two armies, led by charismatic leaders, fought for control of the planet, with neither side showing any sign of giving in. But the war was starting to put a strain on Cybertron, the demand for resources was more than what the planet could provide and its people took more than it could produce. With the production of natural resources slowing down to a crawl, the warring Cybertronians looked to the stars to fuel their ever growing war, and thus the conflict spread to other worlds, many harboring life that was snuffed out by the chaos that followed the arrival of the Cybertronians.

Seeking to end the war before it can take any more lives, Optimus Prime commissioned the construction of a massive spacecraft, the Ark, which was meant to serve as a vessel for the expedition he was leading; a journey to other worlds for new energy sources that could give the Autobots enough power to end this war once and for all in one final strike. Defeat the Decepticons and perhaps find a way to stop Cybertron's slow death as well.

But like most things in life, nothing goes as planned in the grand scheme of the universe.

XXXXXX

The city of Rodion was quiet, much like the rest of Cyebrtron, or at least where there isn't any fighting going on. Rodion was once known for being one of the brightest cities on the planet, home to Cybertron's famous holo-circus that was so bright you could see the lights from the two moons if you were in the right position. It was rivaled only by Iacon in that splendor and many couldn't deny that it was a wonderful place to live, if not a bit hard on the optics.

Bumblebee would've loved to see it, what Rodion was like before the war. In fact, he would've loved to see Cybertron as it was before the war tore half its cities to pieces, and sapped the remaining settlements of their energy supplies. The little round yellow Autobot with two short horns on his head looked up at the night sky and sighed. Hearing stories from some of the older bots kept that longing at bay for a while, but somewhere down the line he drifted back to that misplaced wish of seeing a Cybertron that wasn't on fire, and seeing the sun for more than just a few minutes before having it obscured by smoke. It sucked being born in the middle of a battlefield.

"Bee!" Someone called out from the grate next to him. "A little help would be nice!"

"Oh!" Bumblebee focused on the task at hand and reached into the grate. "Sorry, Wheeljack!"

Bumblebee and his partner Wheeljack were currently raiding a refinery in Rodion, one of the few that were still able to generate power. It was a risky operation, seeing as Rodion was in Decepticon territory and there were swarms of Seekers patrolling the skies. But this mission was crucial for the Autobots, and being one of the best scouts there was in the Autobot ranks, Bumblebee was best suited for the job, along with Wheeljack.

After placing a pile of orange fuel rods down on the ground next to him, Bumblebee helped his partner up out of the small grate they made in the floor over the main engine of the refinery. Wheeljack was a head taller than Bumblebee, with white armor mixed with red and green stripes. He lacked a mouth, instead sporting a mouth plate and two extensions on the side of his head that glowed every time he spoke. As an engineer, Wheeljack knew his way around a refinery, and what to do and what not to do near volatile equipment that hasn't been used in nearly a century.

"Now is not the time to be daydreaming, Bee. We're in enemy territory." Wheeljack scolded.

"I know, I know, it's just that I've heard a lot of stories about Rodion and I was wondering what it was like before the war." Bumblebee sighed. "Sorry."

"No worries, just try to keep your head in the game. The last thing we need is Seekers firing rockets at our tailpipes." Wheeljack stood up and transformed to his vehicle mode. The conversion from bot to car was quick and precise, body parts and armor panels rearranging themselves to form an alien vehicle that had glowing power lines along the hood and trunk. "Let's load up and roll out!"

Wheeljack popped open his door and Bumblebee carefully loaded the fuel rods into the Autobot's interior. There wasn't that many, only ten in all, and they barely generated enough energy to power a turret for a day. But hopefully it was just enough to finish the project that the Autobots were working on, a project that could mean an end to the stalemate that was slowly driving both sides towards a slow death.

Once their cargo was fully loaded, Bumblebee transformed as well, his small form reconfiguring into a compact Cybertronian car that looked just as small and speedy as his robot mode. Together they drove out of the desolate refinery after making sure that the coast was clear, racing down the ravaged path and into the empty wilderness of tall metal spirals of iron and bronze.

"Looks like we're in the all clear." Bumblebee said. "You sure that was all we needed?"

"Of course I'm sure, Bee. These fuel rods were all that the refinery had in its stores. I just hope that it's enough for us to fuel the Ark, or that it's not too volatile, or this excursion of ours would've been for nothing."

"Way to be optimistic, Wheeljack." Bumblebee sighed and kept driving.

The two Autobots continued on their way through an underpass near the ruins of Praxus, driving nonstop well into the morning without even a pit stop. For a moment, Bumblebee allowed himself the luxury of thinking that they might get back to Iacon without having any incidents, but then that hope was dashed when he spotted an aerial combat drone tailing them.

"We've got a hitchhiker on our tail." He told his partner.

"I see it." Wheeljack spun around so that he was driving in reverse and the armor panels near his headlights slid apart to reveal two cannons. "I can take it out with an EMP grenade. Nice and quiet without alerting the Cons."

"Then do your magic Jackie."

Wheeljack waited for the drone to fly in a little closer before firing a shell at it. The projectile flew straight and true at the drone, a feat not many can achieve while driving at the same time, but Wheeljack was an expert driver on top of being a wiz at engineering. But what he didn't count on was mixing up his shells, and instead of firing his EMP grenade, he shot an incendiary shell instead-one that had a bit of a kick to it.

"Oh slag."

"Oh slag what?" The scout asked, not liking that worried tone in Wheeljack's voice.

"I think I fragged up."

"In what way?"

"I shot an incendiary shell instead of an EMP grenade."

"And how bad will that be for us?"

At that moment, the missile hit the drone and blew it up in a fiery display that lit up the early morning sky, as well as releasing a loud boom that could be heard for miles. Not even a minute later, a squad of Decepticon flyers, Seekers, were already on their way to investigate the explosion. Had Bumblebee been in robot mode, he would've glared at Wheeljack for his screw up.

"And you wonder why only Bulkhead likes working with you on the field."

XXXXXX

Iacon, once it was a cultural center that was home to the repository of Cybertron's entire history and the planet's capital that served as the seat of the Cybertronian senate itself. Now it was the seat of the Autobot army, their fortified city and one of the few places that the Autobots could call their own, for everywhere else was either a pile of rubble or under Decepticon rule.

The city was a metropolis of towering skyscrapers and streets that crisscrossed between buildings thousands of feet off the ground. The buildings were curved and domed, like they were stylized spaceships all prepped for take-off. The gold alloy that comprised most of the buildings in Iacon had faded with time and age, left to its own devices when war broke out and people were more concerned with avoiding the next air strike instead of polishing the towers. Once it all gleamed in the sun and shined in the moons, but now everything looked dull and faded, old and worn, much like the bots who have been fighting this accursed war of attrition.

There were many important buildings in Iacon, but the most important was the Decagon, a large golden dome that acted as the place where the senate held their meetings to discuss the planet's affairs and pass laws, but now it served as the main headquarters for the Autobots when the war erupted. Just a few miles from the Decagon was the shipyard that held the Ark, a massive golden spacecraft, the largest ever built by Autobot hands, made by the best engineers and scientists that they could muster and was already in the final stages of construction.

Outside the city limits, a massive battle was going on. Autobot forces were holding off a surprise Decepticon assault that came from the north and south. The air was alight with blaster bolts and missiles, exploding flyers and gunships filling the airspace and falling down on those unlucky enough to get away. The ground was littered with the corpses of Autobots and Decepticons alike, with thousands more still fighting among their fallen brothers and sisters. It was an offensive that the Autobots did not see coming, for attacking Iacon outright was complete suicide. But the Cons were desperate. They were trying their damndest to stall the Ark's launch, or maybe (for the Cons with youthful optimism) even destroy the ship and much of the city with it.

Standing in the citadel watching the chaotic battle on multiple monitors was a tall red and blue Autobot with a strong build and broad shoulders. Bright blue eyes watched the deaths of friend and foe alike with an amount of serenity that few commanders had, though his thoughts were anything but serene, and he lacked a mouth, instead having a smooth silver mouth plate. His very presence bordered on regal and he gave an aura of a leader who demanded respect and gave it in equal measure.

"Optimus!"

Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots, looked back to the citadel's entrance to see a smaller black and white mech with a re v-shaped fin on his forehead jog over to him with a datapad in hand. He stopped before Optimus and briskly saluted him.

"What is it, Prowl?" Optimus asked in a deep but oddly soothing voice.

"Bumblebee and Wheeljack have obtained the amount of energy we need to fuel the Ark." Prowl reported. "It wasn't easy, but they've managed to complete their mission."

"That's a relief." Optimus said and looked at the datapad Prowl had with him. "How much is it?"

"About four deca-quads, according to Wheeljack." Prowl said. "They're en route to Iacon as we speak."

"That's just enough to power the Ark's weapons systems." Optimus nodded, satisfied with this development. "Is there anything else that I need to know?"

"Yes," Prowl nodded. "They're bringing some friends along for the ride home."

XXXXXXX

A few miles from Iacon, Wheeljack and Bumblebee drove at full speed through the deep canyons and jagged crevices that composed the scorch marked metal plains of Iacon's territory. The Seeker squadron they alerted was hot on their tail, firing their laser cannons down at the Autobots. Bumblebee yelped as a stray laser bolt hit him in his rear axel.

"You just had to blow something up, didn't you!" Bumblebee yelled. "We were doing so good to!"

"Lay off me Bee, it was a mistake." Wheeljack said. "How was I supposed to know that it was a bomb? I thought it was an EMP grenade."

"Then don't paint two different kinds of grenades the same color!" Bumblebee retorted.

"Well…" Wheeljack trailed off as he realized that he had no excuse for that. Hindsight was indeed a glitch. "Damn it."

Their conversation was cut short when the mini-computer on Wheelack's dashboard began to beep. The screen showed five enemies heading straight for their position.

"Bee, we've got company."

Bumblebee could already hear the sound of the supersonic jets that were flying after them. They were the Seekers, the Decepticons' aerospace corps that made up the bulk of their aerial support. A five-bot squad was chasing after the two Autobots, with the lead jet colored red and silver-the colors of the Seeker's commander, Starscream.

"How dare you steal from the Decepticons!" Starscream shouted, firing down at them with his laser cannons. "I'll rip out your Sparks with my bare hands!"

"You don't scare us Screamy! You're all bark and no bite!" Bumblebee taunted. The best way to fight Starscream was by wounding his pride with words. He was notoriously easy to offend and had a hair trigger temper when it came to his personal image. When Starscream got angry, he got stupid. "What's the matter, can't hit two Autobots on an open road? No wonder Megatron uses you as his personal punching bag!"

Starscream yelled and fired missiles down at the two Autobots. Wheeljack and Bumblebee swerved to dodge the dead projectiles, but the area around them was peppered with explosions that could be seen hundreds of miles away. The steel archways and metal spires were destroyed and uprooted, causing them to collapse on the duo. Wheeljack spun around to avoid getting speared by a falling spire and, after almost getting smoked by a proton missile, decided to end this game of pneuma lion and scraplet right now.

"Starscream, here's a little gift from yours truly!" Wheeljack yelled.

Wheeljack spun around on his wheels so that he was driving in reverse and the panels on his hood slid opened to reveal his cannons. He took aim at Starscream and fired two shells, one was a shrapnel warhead that exploded in front of the Seekers, spraying a cloud of tiny but extremely sharp filaments at the flyers, and the other was a proton torpedo that hit Starscream in the nose. Disoriented and in pain, Starscream lost control of his flight path and crashed into one of the other Seekers, both of them crashing to the ground below.

"That'll give us some time, but not a lot. Let's put some metal into it, Bee!" Wheeljack said.

"Already on it!" Bumblebee called Autobot HQ. "Base, this is Bumblebee. Wheeljack and I are coming in hot with the payload en route to Iacon. We need someone to clear the door so we can get in with the cargo."

XXXXXX

At the gates of Iacon, the Autobot platoon holding off the Decepticon siege were also having their fair share of difficulties. This squadron of Autobots were among the most skilled of the Autobot ranks, legends in their own rights and they showed no mercy as they took out any Con dumb enough to get within shooting distance of them.

The first Autobot was white with blue and red streaks and a blue visor in place of individual eyes. He was wielding a pair of blue energy nunchucks that he used with great skill, smashing open the skulls of any Con that got too close to him with deadly blows that could shatter steel. His companion was a rather attractive femme (female), a slender pink Autobot who dual wielded two curved rapiers that she used to decapitate her enemies, and used her blaster pistol to shoot down the other Cons. They were the cyber-ninjas, Jazz and Arcee; students of Master Yoketron, the head of the School of Circuit-Su.

The other two Autobots were brothers, born from a split Spark and protoform at birth and matured into two totally different mechs. One was a bright yellow, almost gold, mech with black around his head, and the other was a dark red with checkered patterns on his chest. They were the Autobot brothers, Sunstreaker and Sideswipe.

"Hey Cee, you getting tired yet?" Jazz asked as he fired his photon rifle at a group of Cons charging at him.

"I'm still running strong, Jazz!" Arcee said. She flipped over a bruiser and slashed his upper body in two from head to crotch. "Not that I'm complaining or anything, but how long are we supposed to keep this up? I just heard that the Cons have some reinforcements coming in."

"We wait until boss-bot gives us the signal." Jazz replied. "We have to keep the doors open for Bee and Wheeljack to pass through."

"I just hope they make it here in one piece." Arcee muttered. A cloaker drone appeared behind her, poised for attack with its thin, sharp blade arms. Far from surprised, Arcee spun around to cut it in half, but a blaster bolt flew over her shoulder, dangerously close to her face, and blew the drone's head off. Arcee glared at Sunstreaker, who fired the shot.

"Watch where you're shooting! You almost shot my head off!" She yelled.

"What, no thank you for saving your tailpipe? Man, you cyber-ninjas are ungrateful." Sunstreaker smirked. "Those stories of your supposedly sweet disposition must be grossly exaggerated."

"She's probably pissed that she won't get so say goodbye to her boyfriend in the Wreckers." Sideswipe remarked. The twins gave each other a high five.

"Go frag yourselves." She muttered.

"Yeah, Cee? Could you hurry it up with the clean up here? I'm due for a wax job in an hour and I don't want that blow hard Windcharger taking my spot." Sunsreaker said rudely.

Arcee scowled at him and prepared to give him a goodbye of her own. A heavily armed bruiser nearly twice her size came rushing at her, shooting his plasma cannon at anything that didn't gave a purple badge like him. He swung a large fist at the pink Autobot, but she flipped over his arm and stabbed her rapiers into his elbow, sending him to the ground. Arcee then kneed him in the face and took off his head in a flurry of sparks and energon. In a single, graceful move, she jumped up and kicked the head, which was like an armored wrecking ball in its own right, at Sunstreaker. She grinned as the morbid projectile hit the golden Autobot square in the face and knocked him down in a daze.

"Wax that you gold plated tin can." Arcee winked.

Elsewhere, the Decepticons were meeting heavy resistance from the Autobots where they were more concentrated, at the gates of the city. These Autobots, the Elita Guard, were a hardy bunch who were trained for heavy combat operations like this, and they were giving the attacking Cons a run for their money. Leading them was a tall white and blue mech with broad shoulders hefting a shock cannon with one hand and an artillery cannon in the other.

"Ultra Magnus," Optimus's voice came through the comm-channel. "The Ark is nearly at full power and ready to depart. Wheeljack and Bumblebee are on their way, but they will need a clear path to the city. Can you have your forces cover for them?"

"We'll try to give them an opening, but it's easier said than done." Ultra Magnus, the Autobot SIC (second in command) reported. "Megatron's throwing everything except Devastator at us."

"He's desperate, Magnus. Megatron knows that once the Ark is airborne, it could spell disaster for the Decepticons. Our sabotage on the Nemesis only fuels his actions today." Optimus said. "Just buy them enough time to reach the front gates. Once they're in, Perceptor will activate the over-shield you and your team will only have a few nano-kliks to get inside."

"Roger that Prime. Magnus out." Ultra Magnus turned to his one of his men, a short, stocky Autobot with olive green armor. "Brawn, we have bots out there who need a clear path to the city. I need you to order an airstrike on the Cons in the outer and inner perimeter. Once our boys are inside, I want everyone to fall back within the city walls."

"Yes sir, I already have the Aerialbots on the job as we speak." Just as Brawn said this, a team of five Cybertronian jets flew over head, raining down a hail of missiles on the unsuspecting Cons. Brawn then hefted a large rocket launcher almost as big as him onto his shoulder and grinned. "Come on, guys, let's give our flyboys some cover fire!"

Ultra Magnus, Brawn and the others were laying down heavy fire on the Cons who were distracted with trying to shoot down the Aerialbots. The joint attacks from the ground and sky started to put pressure on the invaders and slowly the Elita Guard was able to push them back. Just in time to, because Wheeljack and Bumblebee were already on their way with a squad of Seekers on their tail. Starscream was in the lead, trying to mow them down with his cannons.

"Pathetic fools!" Starscream roared. "There's no escape!"

Noticing the infamous Seeker commander, Brawn grinned and aimed his thermo-rocket launcher at the Con. Getting a lock on the mech, he pulled the trigger and released three rockets that homed in on Starscream's heat signature. Starscream was so preoccupied that he didn't notice the rockets until they were right on him. One hit him in the nose, while the other two caught him in the underbelly and his wing. He was blasted off balance and sent crashing to the ground smack dab in the middle of a ground unit retreating.

"Ha! That felt great." Brawn laughed.

Wheeljack and Bumblebee zoomed past their fellow Autobots and raced into the city. Once they were in, Ultra Magnus gave the order for his forces to retreat.

"Fall back!" He ordered. "Everyone back into the city!"

The Autoots obeyed without question, disengaging and running back into the city. The Decepticons tried to shoot them down, but the Aerialbots took them down from the air with missile fire. But this didn't deter the Decepticons, whose battle lust was reignited when they saw their enemies making a retreat and chased after them. This made their surprise all the more sweet when Ultra Magnus saw the over-shield come down on the borders of the city. The barrier was already on the ground when the last Autobot was inside. Half of the Decepticon army was blocked from entering, while the poor Cons on the inside had no way out, and were mowed down by the Elite Guard.

External weaponry on top of the fortifications took aim at the rest of the army and rained down a hellish bombardment of plasma fire, killing even more Cons. This sudden assault was enough to make the surviving Cons retreat. Starscream, who had transformed to his robot mode after crashing, saw his platoon retreating and was enraged.

"What the hell are you doing?!" He screamed. "Don't run away! Attack!"

"STARSCREAM!"

The aerospace commander flinched at the sound of a raspy voice blaring in his audio sensors. That was the voice of the warlord who was known and feared by friend and foe alike. He hoped that if he didn't answer, the mech on the other line would think that his communications array was shorted out.

"Starscream, answer me you fool!"

Well a mech could dream, couldn't he? "W-what is it, Megatron? I'm busy!"

"Busy, you say? Doing what? Getting our forces massacred?"

"How did you-"

"You forget that I can see the whole battle from Laserbeak's eyes."

Starscream looked up at the sky and saw a red and black bird circling above him. Laserbeak, the Decepticons' prime recon Minicon, was looking down at him with a small camera extended from his forehead, yellow eyes narrowing in spite at the Seeker down below.

'Of course Soundwave's pet would be slinking around here.' Starscream growled internally. "You haven't told me what you want, Megatron."

Withdraw our forces from the field at once." Megatron ordered. "This battle is doing nothing but wasting what little energon we have."

"What? Are you insane?" Starscream yelled, appalled at the very idea of running like a coward. "The Autobots have nowhere to run and you're just-"

"DO NOT ARGUE WITH ME YOU DOLT!" Megatron roared, quickly silencing Starscream. "Just do as I say! Iacon is of no importance to us anymore now that we've lost access to the city, and your stupidity just cost us a third of our western ground forces. You are in no position to be disobeying me! Now shut up and get back to Styx!"

"…As you command, Megatron." Starscream spat. He took a deep breath and called his forces. "All units, retreat back to Styx."

A signal flare was shot into the air and the Decepticons immediately started to mobilize out of the area. Inside Iacon, the tired and battered Autobots cheered as they saw the Cons running away from Iacon. It was a small victory in the grand scheme of things, but it was a welcome victory. Seeing as they were fighting on all cylinders 25 hours a day, it was worth it.

XXXXXX

Optimus stood in the Stellar Galleries, a large domed building composed of varying silver alloy that was used in the past as a place where Iacon's greatest thinkers would sit and contemplate their place in the universe and the state of cybertronian affairs. Now it served as a wartime meeting area where Optimus would spend most of his free time alone with his thoughts. Leading an army was hard, and private moments like this were far too few for his liking, but it made them all the more important to him in the long run.

Hanging above him was a holo-display of the Hadeen star system, named after their sun. His gaze was locked on Cybertron, or what it used to look like before the war. The planet was a gleaming silver and blue, looking like a spherical jigsaw puzzle that defied evolution and science in the known universe. He wondered what the planet looked like now, if it still had that gleaming luster from orbit, or if the various explosions and fires made the planet look like some warped, burnt piece of metal that screamed death and chaos. Heaven knows that's how things looked to the rest of the galaxy that once revered them.

He heard the door creak open (it was an old school door that wasn't automatic and had to be pushed open) and large metal footsteps echo throughout the galleries. He turned his head to give Ultra Magnus a greeting nod, which the commander returned stiffly.

"Mission accomplished sir. Wheeljack and Bumblebee are back within the city limits, and are awaiting you in the Ark. The fuel rods they brought with them are giving us the power we need to fully operate the last of the Ark's offensive systems." Ultra Magnus reported. "The Decepticons have retreated to Styx, but there's a massive gathering near the Hydrax spaceport."

"That's troubling news. Megatron must already be planning on launching the Nemesis if he's assembling his force at the Hydrax Plateau." Optimus muttered. "But at least Wheeljack and Bumblebee are still in one piece. They had me worried there for a second."

He meant that. It was hard to find good bots that were as handy with machines like Wheeljack, and Bumblebee was a long time friend who was a breath of fresh air in this grim conflict.

"It was a close call, but nothing the Elite Guard couldn't handle." Ultra Magnus said. "So, when are we launching the Ark?"

Optimus's expression fell. He knew that what he had planned for Magnus wasn't going to sit well with the commander, but it had to be done. "Magnus, there's something you should know."

"Yes, Prime?"

"I want you to stay on Cybertron and lead the Autobots in my stead." Optimus ordered, though it sounded more like a request from a friend.

Ultra Magnus stared at his superior in a rare look of unrestrained shock. "W-what? But why?"

"Listen Magnus, this is a dangerous mission. One that may last for Primus knows how long. During that time the Autobots will be without a proper leader, and will need someone to guide them. And protocol dictates that, that task falls to you."

"But sir, you'll need all the help you can get. Surely someone like Thunderclash or Warden is more suited for the job." Ultra Magnus said.

"Thunderclash and Warden are skilled warriors, but they lack the discipline and experience that comes with leadership, something you have in spades. I believe you have the wit and grit to lead our band of misfits." Optimus chuckled. "And you are certainly more experienced than me when it comes to leading an army. You will be a fine leader, Ultra Magnus, perhaps even greater than I."

"I'm just a soldier, sir. I'm not worthy." Ultra Magnus replied.

"Nor was I. But I have learned that one's true calling is discovered in times of great need. Our survival depends on sacrifices; one in the stars, and one back on the homefront. We will return, Ultra Magnus. Until that day, keep fighting the noblest of fights."

"Yes sir." Ultra Magnus smiled and held out a hand. Optimus shook it gratefully. "Till all are one, Prime."

"Till all are one."

XXXXXX

The Hydrax Plateau was a smooth stretch of land near Cybertron's equator that was home to the planet's larges spaceport. Before the war, ships would come and go from the spaceport, and was the only legal way to properly arrive on the planet without being shot down or deemed an enemy. When the war started to kick up, the Decepticons had mowed down any opposition in the Orbital Torus states, and captured the Hyrdax Spaceport, allowing them control over travel to and from the planet as well as gaining them a vast amount of territory.

The city itself was composed of factories and refineries as well as landing areas for ships entering. The Decepticons used many of Hydrax's facilities to build and repair their warships during their conquest of the planet, but lately technicians were overworked as the war dragged on longer than they had thought. Metal and molten slag were plentiful, but energon, the very lifeblood of all cybertronians and their technology, was in short supply. Hence why the Decepticons were so urgent in the maintenance of one warship in particular.

It was the grandest ship in the Decepticon army, and one that was destined to lead their numbers across the galaxy as they conquered entire worlds. The ship was long and angular, like a multibladed spear that was painted Decepticon purple and looked like it came from an architect's nightmare. This ship had won many battles in the war, and was now being refueled and fixed for possibly its most important mission ever. This was the Nemesis.

As the Decepticons worked in the hangar, deep inside the main citadel was a thrown, and on that throne sat the warlord who started the war overlooking the maintenance of his warship. He was the powerful warlord, Megatron.

Megatron's silver and black armor was smooth, but far from flawless. His large body was layered with thousands of scars and dents from past battles, and on his arm sat a long black fusion cannon, his signature weapon and a symbol of his power over the Decepticons. His hard angled face stared hard at his ship and his blazing red eyes burned behind their optic lens in anticipation for what he believed to be his total victory.

Next to Megatron's throne stood his first lieutenant, Nightshade. If Megatron was large and brutish, then she was lithe and slender. Dark and beautiful, she was a dark purple, almost black coloration with streaks of silver alone her shoulders and thighs, and her head was narrow, with a smooth gray face plate, violet optics and purple painted lips. Unlike her subordinates, Nightshade was an uncommon breed of cybertronian, one who transformed not into a machine or vehicle, but an animal. The most evident of her nature was the slender black bird's head sitting on her chest and the large black feathered wings on her back.

The large door to the throne room opened and the Seekers, the Decepticons aerospace corp, walked in. Nightshade looked them over and frowned. She hated how they all looked like Starscream, but with a different color scheme, even the fragging femmes. Whether this was because of protoform molding or some quirk of genetics common to bots born in Vos, Nightshade thought it was a bit strange.

They assembled in front of their leader and saluted with a fist across the chest…all save Starscream. It was no secret he had a huge disdain for Megatron's rule, and coveted the warlord's position for himself, he wouldn't shut up about it, but he neither had the power or the influence to confront Megatron openly and thus was forced to watch time go by until he had a chance at making his move. Until such an opportunity arose, he had to force himself to deal with Megatron's rule a little while longer. But it didn't stop him from testing Megatron's patience.

"Tell me Starscream," Megatron began as he tapped his finger on his throne's arm rest. "Why is it that you must rush in without a plan and ignore my orders? There was a time when you followed me without question."

"That was before we found ourselves at war with a faction of idealists, scientists and engineers led by a cop turned Prime." Starscream replied, not in the mood for Megatron's slag. "We haven't made much progress in creating your so-called Decepticon Empire when he popped up fearless leader."

In an instant, Megatron was out of his throne in a flash and in front of Starscream before he knew it, and the Seeker earned himself a strong backhand that knocked him to the ground.

"You arrogant fool! If I didn't have need of your services, then I would've killed you on the spot!" Megatron roared, his eyes flashing angrily. "Don't ever challenge my authority again, Starscream. When I say retreat, you retreat! Do you understand that or do I need Thundercracker to draw you a picture?"

The other Seekers in Starscream's entourage laughed at their commander's suffering, they had no pity for him as he gave them a lot of crap on a daily basis because things never went his way half the time. Seeing him get punched around by the mech with the real power was a sight to see. Wiping the energon bleeding from his lip, Starscream stood up straight and glared at Megatron. He wanted to kill the Decepticon leader so badly, but he knew that Nightshade would strike him down before he could even lift his arm to attack. The Seeker commander swallowed his pride and bowed his head in submission.

"I understand, Megatron." He growled.

"Good, just like the obedient dog like you are." Megatron smiled. "Now we can move on to more important matters."

Soundwave, the Decepticon communications officer, walked through the doors with his Minicon servant Laserbeak sitting on his shoulder. He was the best saboteur and espionage agent that the Decepticons had on their roster, but no one could really tell what he was thinking thanks to his lack of significant facial features save for a red visor and white mouth plate. His body was blue and white, tall and bulky, with a cannon on his right shoulder. All the same, Megatron trusted him and Nightshade more than nearly anyone else in the Decepticon army, and they've been with him since the very beginning.

"Soundwave, what do you have to report?" Megatron asked.

Soundwave nodded towards Laserbeak. The Minicon nodded before hopping off his shoulder and transforming into a data-disk, flying into Soundwave's open chest cavity. The front of Soundwave's chest glowed before displaying a hologram of a blue planet.

"The Autobots are planning on taking the space bridge to this planet. According to their data tracks, the planet is located deep within the uncharted region and is populated by primitive life forms." Soundwave droned.

"The space bridge? But that's been left rusting for eons." Nightshade noted.

"They have been rebuilding it under the direction of Alpha Trion." He told her. "They want to save as much fuel as possible for the return trip."

Megatron nodded and looked at Nightshade. "Nightshade, clear up some loose ends and meet me in the hangar."

"Yes, Megatron." She said and walked over to the assembled Seekers. "All right, listen up! Since Starscream is coming with us on the Nemesis, a new leader will be appointed to command the Seekers here on Cybertron in his absence. Slipstream, step forward."

With a grin eerily similar to Starscream's, Slipstream stepped forward before her superior. Much like her Seeker brothers, she looked like a different colored version of Starscream, but with a more slender body frame and armor a lighter shade of purple than Skywarp's mixed with turquoise. She was the only one of Starscream's inner circle who was like him in terms of ambition; namely when it came to seizing power. Starscream liked her drive and determination, but he was always careful when dealing with her. If she was similar to him in other ways, then she wouldn't hesitate to have him killed and make it look like an accident just to obtain his position. The same thing he would do to Megtron, but with a significantly higher success rate.

"Yes, my lady?" Slipstream said in a sickly sweet voice that almost made Starscream gag.

"Due to you position as Starscream's lieutenant, I'm appointing you as designated commander of the Seekers until we return." Nightshade informed her.

Slipstream's lips upturned in a smile. "I'm honored, ma'am. Thank you."

"Now wait just a minute!" Starscream shouted.

"Here we go." Thundercracker sighed. Beside him, Skywarp chuckled.

"Who said you could appoint her as the commander? I'm the only one with the authority to do such a thing!" He growled. Nightshade gave him a dull look.

"I just did. She is the only one qualified to take your place." She said. "Who else would you choose? That big oaf Sunstorm or that moronic sociopath Ramjet?"

"You can't do that!"

"I just did."

Starscream growled and sent a death stare Slipstream's way. She only gave him a cocky smirk in return, and that pissed him off even more. That purple glitch was going to rub this in his face in the future and she was going to be impossible to live with now.

As Nightshade organized things, Megatron stood off to the side with another one of his trusted soldiers. He was conversing with a light violet mech with a large cannon on his right arm and a hexagonal shaped head with a single yellow eye composing his facial features. He was Shockwave, the Decepticon chief scientist.

"Shockwave, I have a task for you."

"What is it you command, lord Megatron?" Shockwave asked in a dark, but robotic voice.

"I am placing you in command of the Decepticons until my return." Megatron said. "Be sure that the Autobots do not gain any ground in my absence."

"Worry not, lord Megatron. Cybertron will be as you've left it."

"See to it that it does not, Shockwave. When I return, I expect any and all Autobots to be dead and Cybertron firmly under Decepticon control. Understood?"

"Yes, my lord." Shockwave nodded. Megatron smirked.

"I knew I could trust you, Shockwave. Unlike some of my other warriors, you never fail me." As he said that, he glared at Starscream, who was still arguing with Slipstream.

Eventually things were settled and it was time to board the Nemesis for the launch and prepare for the long mission ahead. Megatron, Nightshade and Soundwave walked through the dim halls towards the bridge connected to the ship's docking bay. Megatron couldn't help but feel proud at this marvel of Decepticon engineering. The Nemesis had been deployed in few battlefield situations, but when it was set upon the enemy, it pierced Autobot defenses like the tip of a spear. That was its purpose; to act as a siege engine, barreling into enemy territory and dropping troops while laying down heavy fire on the poor souls in its sights.

Once they were in the ship, the trio made their way through the dark, violet lit halls towards the main bridge where their team were stationed waiting for deployment.

"I hope you realize that the Autobots won't just roll over and die when Prime is gone." Nightshade pointed out. "They'll keep fighting and Ultra Magnus is no pushover."

"Which is exactly why I assigned Strika to handle military affairs. Considering her past history with Magnus, she's the right femme for the job of combating him and his accursed Wreckers." Megatron explained.

And she would also keep Shockwave grounded in what's going on outside of his lab. Megatron knew from working with Shockwave that, while loyal, the scientist was someone who spent days, if not weeks, confined within his lab working on whatever hellish creature he created from his dark mind. Shockwave cared only for the pursuit of knowledge, and that was what kept him interested in the war effort at large, and Megarton intended for it to remain that way. Hopefully, Strika could keep him focused on the tasks assigned to him.

"Sicking Magnus' ex on him. Good plan." Nightshade nodded in approval. "So we now have our affairs in order. But that won't mean anything if the Autobots continue to resist us. Someone's got to give, and when that happens, all it takes is one misstep to end the war."

"That's the beauty of it, Nightshade. By leaving in the Ark, Prime separates himself from his forces, his army who worship the very ground he stands upon. Once we kill Prime and his team out in the cold darkness of space, far from Cybertron's embrace, the forces on the surface will despair. They will fight for a little while longer, but soon the depression will set and the hopelessness of their no-win situation will force them to either surrender or kill themselves out of shame." Megatron grinned. "If you can't beat an enemy with brute force, then you must shatter their mind, spread the seed of doubt through their thoughts like a disease. Prime is their light, and once we snuff that light out, nothing can stop us."

'Megatron certainly has a way with words. Good to see that hasn't wasted away.' She thought.

"And once they've reached their limit, we will grant them a merciful death." He finished.

"Then we've won the war?"

The door slid open to reveal the massive room at the very front of the large warship, the bridge, were their team was assembled at their battle stations. There was Starscream and his Seekers, Skywarp and Thundercracker, along with a few new faces chosen for the expedition: Lugnut, a tall and burly mech with a single red eye and large three pronged hands that could crush a bot's head with ease. Barricade, the black and white warrior with a mouth who was a skilled infiltrator and fighter. Blackout, a dark, steel gray Con who was adept at aerial combat. Knockout, a deep red mech who was the team's medic with a huge narcissistic streak. And then there were Rumble and Frenzy, twin Minicons who were apart of Soundwave's proxies.

Megatron sat in his command chair, which was shaped like a throne, and gave the order to prepare the ship for take-off.

"Yes, Nightshade, the war will be over." Megatron smiled at the view of the Hyrax Plateau. "And Cybertron will be remade in our image."

XXXXXX

The launch site of the Ark was silent save for the sound of klaxons and metal boots running across the base as the launch time neared. The area was cleared of any equipment and personnel once the final pre-flight checks were made along with any last minute adjustments.

Optimus Prime was walking along the catwalk to the Ark's docking bay, talking with one of his most trusted officers, Ironhide. Ironhide was an old war hawk (but not as old as Kup) who knew the ins and outs of warfare thanks to his experience fighting Quintessons and rouge factions during the second cybertronian war. He was bright red, and heavily armored enough to take on a tank-former head on with minor damages. Not that he would need to with the two cannons on his forearms.

"So everything has been cleared?" Optimus asked.

"Yup. Wheeljack is double-checking the Ark's energon levels and the transwarp drive as we speak." Ironhide confirmed.

"Again?"

"He wants to make sure everything's runnin' fine. He says he wants to make sure we have a safe trip, but it's just the nerves getting to him." Ironhide replied with a shrug. "Anyway, I'm gonna need you to check out our supplies and munitions to see…Prime? Prime, you hearin' me?"

Optimus wasn't listening, as his attention was drawn to the figure standing on the catwalk in front of them. Ironhide followed his line of sight, and mouthed a silent "oh" in realization.

Elita-1 was standing in front of the Ark like a lone stone statue sitting amongst a city of steel and bronze. She was a rose colored femme who had a larger and taller frame than femmes usually had, with matrix-blue eyes and soft pink lips turned down in a visible frowned. Like Optimus, she had a strong, almost regal aura about her that gravitated people to her like starving people to the sun. Elita-1 was Optimus's conjux endura-his spouse and life partner-and was the leader of the all-female Autobot strike team, the Valkyries.

Seeing that he was in the middle of a very tense silent exchange, Ironhide cleared his throat and quickly made his way towards the entry hatch. "I'm just gonna check on the kids. See ya on the bridge, Prime."

Ironhide was quick to go out of sight, not wanting to witness a possibly stressful parting between lovers. Not to mention that he didn't want to be reminded of the femme he was also leaving behind in the process. No one was leaving this planet without regrets, it would seem.

Now they were alone. Neither Optimus nor Elita-1 made to say anything, and just let the silence wash over them in an uncomfortable wave. After a minute or two, Elita-1 decided to be the first to fire the opening salvo.

"So you're leaving." Elita-1 said.

"Yes." Optimus nodded. It was all he could say to that, and he knew she was hurting as much as he was.

"Without me." It wasn't a question.

"I didn't want to do this, Elita, but it had to be done."

"No it doesn't. Let me come along! I can help, and so can my Valkyries!" She exclaimed.

"Elita," Optimus walked over to her until they were about a foot apart. "Our war is killing Cybertron, and now it's spreading to other worlds. Thousands of lives, both organic and mechanical have been lost and it can't go on like this anymore."

"But-"

"Ultra Magnus is in charge in my absence, and your place is here on Cybertron with your Valkyries. There is a reason my team is small, Elita, and that's because I don't want to take anymore Autobots from the real war effort on this planet." He explained. "And I doubt Chromia is willing to accept you leaving your team behind without warning to come with us."

Elita-1 said nothing. She knew deep down she couldn't really leave her Valkyries. She knew he was right, but that didn't mean she had to like it. She looked at her feet, not looking at Optimus as he walked past her, but she jumped when she felt his large hand take hold of hers.

"I will come back, Elita. I promise." He said softly. "I swear upon the Allspark that when I return, I will end this war one way or another."

Elita-1 remained silent, but she gripped his hand tighter until it fell from her grasp as he walked away from her.

'I promise.'

XXXXXX

Optimus walked onto the bridge of the Ark, which was bright and gold just like the gold alloy that dominated Iaconian architecture. His Autobots were all sitting at their stations as he wearily sat down into the chair and stared out the window at the wall of stars hanging above them. How many of those stars had worlds orbiting them? How many of those worlds were dragged kicking and screaming into their war? He really hoped that the number was low. This war had taken enough lives already.

His crew consisted of a small, but capable team of Autobots that he had the pleasure of meeting. The young but skilled yellow scout, Bumblebee. The stylish silver mech Jazz and his pink and white student, the cyber-ninja Arcee. His good friend and bodyguard, Ironhide and Ratchet, their resident medic. Wheeljack the team's mechanical engineer and Bulkhead, a former wrecker transferred over from Springer's command. Then finally his second in command on the team, Prowl, ever vigilant, ever stoic. All of them were capable warriors and soldiers fighting for the preservation of their home and society. Altogether, they weren't much, but Optimus knew that quality was better than quantity.

Ironhide looked back at Optimus and nodded. He then began the final countdown on the launch sequence.

Ultra Magnus, Elita-1 and the rest of the Autobot army all watched from the Decagon as the Ark's thrusters flared up brightly and the ship started to rise into the air in a spectacular display of fire and smoke. They kept their gaze on the ship for as long as they could see it flying into the planet's upper atmosphere. Soon, the ship was just a glittering light in the night sky.

"All systems are functional, Prime." Prowl announced. "We've broken free of the planet's atmosphere."

"Good. Ironhide, set us on a course for the space bridge." Optimus ordered.

"Hold up, we're using that old thing?" Bumblebee asked. "But I thought all the space bridges were destroyed?"

"There is one space bridge that's still operational near Solomus. I had it rebuilt in secret by Wheeljack's team, and it's been programmed to bring us to our destination." Optimus said. "The less energy we use from the transwarp drive, the better."

He looked out the window at the area of space near Cybertron's second moon, Solomus. There was a ring of debris orbiting the planet, the remains of space bridges; intergalactic gateways used by their people long ago to travel great distances within minutes. Most were little more than clusters of debris, and some were warped rings of burnt, twisted metal. The one that Optimus marked at operational still retained its shape, but the sight of it didn't inspire confidence.

"Almost there," Optimus muttered, clenching his hands. "Come on."

Then the klaxon alarms started going off and everyone became alert, checking Teletran-1 for abnormal readings.

"What is it?" Optimus asked calmly, though he was inwardly cursing the fates for this downturn of luck.

"We've got company, boss-bot." Jazz announced and pointed at the main monitor. On the large screen was the looming maw of the Nemesis warship that could give the Decepticons' Thanatos-class battleships a run for its money, flying towards them at high speeds. Optimus narrowed his eyes.

'So Megatron, even though Cybertron is yours, you'd throw it all away to pursue me to the far corners of the universe.' He thought. 'So be it. If Cybertron's preservation means you following me to the ends of this galaxy, then that is a price I'm willing to pay.'

"Prowl, will they catch us before we reach the space bridge?" Optimus asked.

Prowl did the calculations in his mind and shook his head. "It's too close to call, Prime."

Not the least perturbed by the results, Optimus ordered Ironhide to increase powers to the main thrusters. "We need to go faster."

The Ark's engines let out a low hum as their output was increased gradually. The ship sped towards the ancient gateway, with the Nemesis also increasing its velocity to reach the Ark, but not enough to match its speed. A raid on the ship's energon supplies earlier that year by Jazz and his saboteur team could be credited to that.

"Faster!" Megatron slammed his fist on the arm of his throne. "I said faster damn you!"

"Megatron, our engines are not at full capacity for such a drastic fuel increase." Soundwave reported, but Megatron was having none of this.

"Shut up, Soundwave! Redirect power from our weapons if you must! Just get us closer!" He shouted.

Soundwave did as he was told, redirecting power from the ship's secondary weapons towards the main engines. Soon both ships were in a race for the space bridge and the outcome was not going to be pretty for both ships.

When Optimus would look back on these events, which happened in a short measure of time, it would go like this; the space bridge, unused for more centuries than anyone could remember functioned-for a moment. Its light enveloped the Ark in its luminous embrace for a few short seconds. Then the Nemesis rammed into the Ark before the space bridge could fully process the ship, causing the bridge to collapse and disintegrate within an impossibly small unit of time. This caused the bridge to release enough energy to momentarily tear the fabric of time and through that tear fell the Ark and Nemesis.

Then all that was left in their wake was…nothing.

XXXXXX

They would emerge light years away from Cybertron into the orbit of a blue planet, the target destination the Ark was supposed to arrive to. A large green portal opened up in the planet's upper atmosphere and from this ripple in space flew the two ships, flung violently into real space with great force. Unable to slow their descent or even maneuver their ships correctly, the vessels were caught in the planet's gravitational pull and began their descent towards the planet.

"No, no, no!" Megatron roared as he saw the Ark drifting away from them. "Bring us in closer!"

"We can't! Our ship's in freefall! Nothing is responding, not even the nav computer or the maneuvering thrusters!" Nightshade said.

Starscream held on to the dashboard for dear life and tried not to scream like a newborn protoform. That little bit of restraint soon vanished upon seeing that they were falling towards one of the planet's large oceans.

"We're going to crash!"

"Brace yourselves!"

The Nemesis crashed nose first into the ocean, the tremendous impact being strong enough to rip the armor from the ship's outer hull an warp the spiked, curved front of the warship in on itself. A hole was blasted in the cargo bay and water flooded in like a tsunami, causing the ship to sink faster. Within minutes, the Nemesis was buried beneath the waves in a towering geyser of water, never to be seen again.

Meanwhile the Ark was falling towards one of the northwestern continents in a fiery ball of destruction. Prowl and Ironhide were trying to gain control of the ship but nothing was going for them, and Teletran-1 wasn't responding to any commands.

"Prowl, pull us up!" Bumblebee yelled.

"It's no use. Nothing is working." Prowl grunted.

"I only have controlled of the rear thrusters. The most I can do is a controlled crash!" Ironhide said.

"Do it!" Optimus shouted.

The Ark's maneuvering thrusters flared up for a moment, giving the ship enough thrust to get out of its nose dive, but they were still falling. Now they weren't going to crash into the ground, but they were heading straight towards a mountain.

"Prepare for impact!" Optimus yelled.

The Ark soared over a forest, smashing apart the treetops and sending the local wildlife running in fear. The ship uprooted a small quarter of the forest before it finally crashed into the side of the mountain with great force, sending pieces of metal and rocks flying everywhere. It hit the mountain so hard that half the ship was buried in the rock.

Inside, the Autobots were thrown violently from their seats. Optimus hit the console in front of him before crashing back into his seat, hitting his head on the back of the chair. Before he went offline, Optimus felt a warm feeling emanating from his chest as the Matrix of Leadership started to glow within his chest cavity. He felt his whole body grow warm before stasis fell upon him. Then all went dark.