Chapter 21: Battleground

"Out of here, NOW!" Ironhide roared as soon as he received the warning from Optimus.

"Ground units divide in groups of two and scatter. We fliers will keep him distracted." Shockwave ordered, ignoring the chain of command, but no-one complained. After all, he was the best tactician in the team, and that strategy was the most advisable when dealing with a huge enemy like the one they were about to engage.

The ground started to shook violently, and the cybertronians in vehicle mode had barely enough time to get out of the ample square before the concrete broke apart abruptly, some fragments collapsing and falling into the underground, and others sent flying.

"Scrap!" Starscream cursed as he barreled suddenly to avoid been hit by a piece of flying debris. "This was supposed to be an easy mission!"

Eleonor held tightly to the seat belt strapped around her, and Starscream could felt the increase in her heart-rate.

She knew all too well that there was nothing she could do to help in this situation, and that frustrated her. Omega Supreme dwarfed even his own kind. He was massive, as big as the Nemesis, as Thundercracker had told her, and he was transforming and surging from under the city itself.

Even more, she was a handicap, because she needed protection, and with her inside, Starscream couldn't fly at his top speed.

"Eleonor." Starscream said, his voice deadly serious, making her snap out of her destructive spiral of thoughts. "I'm going to leave you in one of the buildings far from the battle. I'll come for you later to retrieve you."

"Okay." She nodded quickly, as the seeker accelerated, heading out of the battle.

The seeker stopped at an old building that had miraculously managed to survive almost intact through the war. In its day, the sturdy construction had been a military barrack.

"Stay here." Starscream ordered, extracting from subspace a couple of oxygen cylinders and giving them to Eleonor. He didn't know how the battle was going to end or how long it was going to take, and just in case he wanted his pet to be prepared.

Eleonor, for his part, took the gesture as a bad omen.

"Please, be careful, Sir." She said, worry written in her face.

Starscream looked back at her for a brief moment, his spark swirling with feelings he definitely should not have. Why did that tiny little face full of concern make his defenses falter? This was very uncharacteristic from him. He was a war-hardened warrior, for Primus' sake.

"It takes more than one oversized bolt bucket to stop the Air Commander." He replied with his trademark mischievous smirk, regaining his usual confident demeanor. "Do not move from here." He repeated, and recoiling a couple of steps, he jumped and transformed mid-air, taking off to the battle with a burst of his thrusters.

"Good luck..." Eleonor whispered to nobody, as she was left alone in the abandoned building, somewhere in the deserted ruins of the city of Kalis.

Flying at top speed, Starscream arrived back to the square where Omega Supreme was emerging in less than a minute.

And just as he was flying over him, looking for weak spots, a laser beam shot right beside his right wing.

::What the...:: The beige seeker growled through the comm. link, as he changed his course to engage evasive maneuvers. ::Can he shoot while he is changing forms?::

::His transformation takes almost a breem, maybe even more now that he is so low on energon. It would be silly to build the deadliest war machine and make him vulnerable during all that time when he needs to switch modes:: Ratchet explained, taking cover behind a half-crumbled wall with Ironhide. ::He can produce laser guns from almost every section of his outer armor. Be careful::

::Understood. Shockwave, are Megatron and Optimus still inside Omega?::

::Affirmative::

::Thundercracker, Skywarp, destroy that guns as they pop out. Shockwave, blast any transformation cogs that you may find unprotected. That should slow the process even more:: Starscream commanded, taking control of the situation.

With the orders sent, the airborne mechs started to carry out their strategy. Skywarp was never longer than five seconds in the same place, shooting, teleporting out of range before the guns could lock on him, and reappearing in a different place. Starscream was shooting with deadly precision as he made acrobatics at impossible speeds around the huge form of Omega Supreme, attracting most of the fire. Thundercracker did low dives to get close enough to use his sonic bursts, scrambling the signals and jamming the targeting systems. Shockwave, slower that the seekers, but with considerably more firepower, was focusing his blasts on the gaps between the armor of the structures that would later be Omega's legs.

"Can he produce infinite weapons from the walls or what?" Megatron snarled in frustration, as he and Optimus dashed up a ramp, towards the upper levels, some shots marring his left shoulder-plate.

"No." Optimus sliced one of the guns with his arm-blade, which was quickly replaced by another one in the opposite wall. "Just a lot of them."

"I see." Megatron chopped off the newly appeared gun. "And what happened with the crew members when Omega had to transform in a battle with mechs still inside him?" He asked, out of curiosity.

"The rooms doesn't compress. It would be silly to loose all the cargo and the equipment. They only change position and the halls and corridors disappear." Optimus replied. "So yes, we could as well be safe in one of the rooms." He added, guessing Megatron's next question.

"Safe, but trapped." The Decepticon Leader said. "And where are the emergency exits? Are they still too far away?"

"No, just in the next corridor." Optimus replied, as they turned a corner. "I can see them just ahead!"

As soon as they arrived to the nearest emergency exit, the guns mounted across the walls started to shift and disappear again behind the panels.

"It looks like Omega was also considering the probability of us telling him the truth. He only wanted to push us outside." Optimus said, as he pressed the manual open of the exit gate.

"Well, he looked very serious to me." Megatron complained, pointing to his marred shoulder-plate, where some broken circuits were sparking. Then, he approached Optimus, and helped him opening the gate, that was stuck and needed a hard shove to move aside.

"Cancelling inner dissuasive fire. Diverting all power to main core." The ship's P.A. system announced. The faction leaders wondered briefly why the ship was changing his energy priorities. "Engaging offensive measures. Initializing nucleon-pulse cannons."

Both Optimus and Megatron froze on their spots and looked back at each other, the exit gate already opened.

"No... it can't be..." Optimus murmured, optics wide.

"Didn't you say that he was very low on energon? Why is it that he is going to power up the nucleon-pulse cannons?" Megatron snarled, his patience running thin. That day, nothing was happening according to the plan.

"And he is very low. He is diverting all the power he has left to initialize the cannons. I doubt that he can fire them more than ten times with that little energon."

"And less than ten shots is all he needs to obliterate what's left of Kalis and all of us with it! Have you seen those things at work? Of course you have, but from the safe point of view!" Megatron roared, his patience evaporating.

Optimus stood, in shock, his right servo still holding the door-frame of the escape exit. Megatron had been on his best behaviour lately, but now, with his patience run out, old war grudges were resurfacing.

"Megatron..." He murmured.

"I am not loosing anyone today." Megatron said firmly, interrupting whatever Optimus was going to say. "Where is the main bridge?" He demanded to know. Optimus looked back at him, his face-plates set in a grim expression.

"I'll guide you there."

And the two faction leaders ran back inside the colossal mech, the emergency exit open and unused behind them.

::Starscream, Report!::

::We are still shooting down the defensive laser guns on Omega's armor and damaging his transformation cogs to slow the process. Skywarp and Shockwave are down, but they are fine. Ratchet and Knock Out are taking care of them. Any good news from the inside?:: The beige seeker reported.

::No. Only more bad news::

::Come on. What could be worse than this?::

::Omega is diverting all his power to initialize his nucleon-pulse cannons:: Megatron stated bluntly.

::FRAG! As soon as he finishes his transformation we are toast!::

::The cannons are his arms when he is in mech form. I don't care what you need to do, blow them up before he vaporizes us! Over and out:: Megatron ordered and cut the connection.

::All units, focus your fire on Omega's arms!:: Starscream snarled through the open comm. link.

::We are on it! Optimus warned us too!:: Bumblebee reported back.

Starscream did a nose-dive and continued his attacks on his new targets. He was shooting at the area where Omega's massive weapon capacitors were located, but the armor covering them was too thick even for his null-rays. Then, something else caught his attention.

::Bumblebee, Barricade, what the frag are you two doing?:: The Air Commander roared. The scout and the hunter were climbing and running over Omega's frame, halfway to his arms, dodging transformation twists and open gaps in the chassis.

::Can your null-rays damage Omega's armor?:: The yellow mech asked, and Starscream growled threateningly in reply, revealing the painful truth. "Ironhide has given us his thermo-grenades. It's the strongest we have, I'm sure with them we could do some real damage::

Starscream dived again and shot one of his missiles, which hit its target with deadly precision, but left only a scorch mark and a dent in the place. He looked at the general form of the colossal mech. Omega's transformation was almost complete.

::Thundercracker and I will attract the fire. You two, do your worst!::

::With pleasure:: Barricade acknowledged, a smirk in his tone.

The scout and the hunter continued their dangerous task of climbing over Omega's frame. First, they went to the left arm, setting the explosives in a seam, the weakest point they could find in the otherwise impenetrable armor. Barricade was about to left, heading again for Omega's upper arm.

"Wait, we are running out of time." Bumblebee stopped him.

"We are running out of time and you tell me to wait?" Barricade deadpanned.

But all was explained when Bumblebee rose his arm, took aim and shot a grappling hook at Omega's upper chest-plates. The police mech stared with wide optics.

"You have the worst ideas, Bug!" Barricade said, hesitating.

"Starscream said 'do your worst', remember?" The yellow scout smirked back.

No time for doubts, Barricade concluded and snarled, launching himself at Bumblebee, using his own momentum to give them a boost.

"And since when do you have a grappling hook?" The police mech yelled as they swung through the air, directly towards Omega's right arm.

"It's new! Ratchet took the opportunity to upgrade my arm when I went to the med-bay to ask him to install the new vocalizer!" Bumblebee replied, as they miraculously landed on their destiny, his feet slipping and almost falling back again.

As soon as they were stable again, Barricade proceeded to place the second set of explosives in another seam, while Bumblebee struggled to unhook himself.

"Done. Let's get out of here before this thing blows up."

"Uhh... about that, funny thing you should ask..." The yellow scout replied sheepishly. "You are not going to believe this..."

"Don't tell me you can't unhook yourself." The black and white mech hissed, glaring daggers at the Autobot who was fruitlessly tugging at the steel rope that kept him connected to the grappling hook. "For spark's sake!" He grabbed the rope and tried to help tugging at it. "Have you retracted the spikes of the hook?"

"Yes, but it's stuck in a seam! Arhg!"

And just then, a deep tremor shook Omega's whole frame, making both mechs stumble and loose their balance. Bumblebee gasped as their feet slipped from the colossal mech's arm, and they swung back.

"Frag!" Barricade spat, once the swing stopped and they were left hanging from Omega's chest, Barricade clinging to the scout for dear life, and Bumblebee still hanging from the rope, the grappling hook still stuck in place. He looked down to contemplate the idea of letting himself fall.

And quickly dismissed it.

"I know it's a silly thing to say now, but please, do not unhook." Barricade said grimly, watching the ground very, very far below them.

"Yeah, well. Starscream is going to be proud of us. We are really doing our worst here." Bumblebee said, trying to find a little humor in their serious predicament. "But look at the bright side, there is no possible way that things can go worse now."

"Omega Supreme: online." The gargantuan mech announced, his powerful voice echoing in the vastness of the derelict city.

"I honestly liked you more when you didn't speak." Barricade hissed, but there was an edge of fear in his voice.

And then, the last armor plate in Omega Supreme's transformation sequence shifted into place in his chest, smashing the grappling hook and making the steel rope snap.

"Scrap!" The scout and the hunter cried at unison, as they felt the gravity claiming them.

Megatron and Optimus had reached the main bridge of Omega Supreme without major setbacks, because the inner defense systems were no longer working.

As soon as they arrived, Optimus made a beeline to the control terminals, and tried to manually override them, only to find that they were not working.

"Manual controls are unresponsive." The Autobot Leader said, dread starting to seize his spark.

"Let me try." Megatron said, his tone grim.

Optimus turned around to face his Decepticon counterpart, and found that Megatron had extracted one of his data-transfer cables from one of his flanks.

Typically, when piloting a vessel, the pilots could connect themselves to the ship's mainframe using their data-transfer cables. This system allowed them a finer control and quicker responses if precise maneuvers were required. This option, however, was rarely used if there were enough pilots to take care of the manual controls, and definitely, was never used by only one mech. The reason was that a spaceship had hundreds of sensors and mechanisms, and the constant data feed of all of them was overwhelming for only one mech.

Bigger ships had even more sensors and sub-systems, making that task harder, even dangerous to try alone. Megatron himself had only met one mech in his long life capable of doing that. Soundwave. And even for him it had been a exhausting experience.

"Even if you could handle the data feed, Omega is not like a common vessel. He is sentient and has a will of his own." Optimus explained.

"I know."

"That connection acts as a two-way feed! He could fry your logic circuits! He will because he has more processor power!"

"I know."

"He will destroy your firewalls and access your data banks!"

"Trust me, I know. And If I don't try, you and me are going to loose our finest soldiers today." Megatron said, very seriously, locking his crimson gaze into Optimus' azure one.

Optimus did a deep in-take of air before answering.

"I really wish that you know what you are doing." The Autobot Leader sighed.

"I won't fail this time, brother." Megatron said, placing a servo on Optimus' shoulder-plate. "Take care of me." He added, as he approached the control terminal and connected his data-transfer cable in the nearest port.

And almost immediately, he gave a pained cry and fell to the floor on his knee-joints.

"Megatron!"

Barricade and Bumblebee braced themselves, prepared for the long fall and the probably lethal landing that they were going to suffer.

"Shoot the explosives on the left arm, Bug, I'll shoot the right one's. If I'm to go down, I'm doing it in a blaze of glory!" Barricade yelled. "And I'm sorry for all the times I've called you bug!"

"What a pity that it lasted so little, 'Cade..." Bumblebee replied, and took aim. "...And I'm sorry Sam and Mik." He whispered for himself, his voice downed by the wind rushing against them as they fell.

"Vhaaat? Jou are not gonna stay to vatch zhe fireworks? Vhat a pity!" Said suddenly a new giggling voice.

Bumblebee and Barricade felt how they were wrapped by two strong arms that progressively stopped their fall before pulling up, the loud roar of powerful jet engines briefly clouding their audio receptors as they soared up in the air.

"Blitzwing!" Barricade exclaimed in utter surprise." Turn around and fly back to Omega! We have to blow that cannons up!"

"I know! I know! Starscream informed me. He called me here himself! Ha, ha, ha! Isn't zhat cool?" Blitzwing exclaimed, proudly, his random personality reigning him at that moment. "By zhe way, jou two are so cute hugged together! Disgusting, vut cute at zhe same time!"

"Blitzwing, focus!"

"I know!" Blitzwing laughed as he cut the power to his thrusters, and the three of them dived again towards Omega Supreme.

The colossal mech saw them coming, and rose his left arm, aiming at them as the huge weapon capacitor emitted a low, ominous whine.

::NOW!:: Starscream roared through the comm. link.

And at the same time, Bumblebee, Barricade and Blitzwing shot at the weapon capacitor located on the inner side of Omega's left arm, at the same time that Starscream shot two missiles at that same arm's elbow joint, from the outer side.

The combined efforts made Omega miss his shot as his arm was diverted from its original angle. The thermo-grenades exploded with a violent burst that made Blitzwing stumble on his course.

But when the smoke cleared and they zoomed in their target again...

"Impossible!" Bumblebee shouted.

Omega's left arm was almost intact, with only a few cracks. And he was readying another shot.

::Keep shooting, you fools! Did I tell you to stop?:: Came the angered voice of Starscream through the comm. link. He and Thundercracker were still shooting at the weapon capacitor.

Bumblebee, Barricade and Blitzwing obeyed the orders and continued shooting.

It was then when Omega decided to fire his right arm while his left one recharged. The triple-changer had barely enough time to dodge out of the way. He risked a glance in the direction of the missed shot. Omega's nucleon-pulse cannons shot a beam of destructive energy that left almost nothing standing in its path. The ruins of the city were now crossed by an almost circular furrow of destruction, adorned at both sides by charred buildings and molten metals.

But there was no time to think about that. They continued shooting to the left arm until Starscream spoke again.

::Now, Blitzwing, it's your turn!::

Obeying Starscream's signal, Blitzwing dived again and took aim, this time shooting with two special cannons that he carried on his back. Few mechs carried a weapon like blitzwing's back cannons. They shot a special beam that slowed the movement of molecules and atoms.

In other words, they made temperature drop.

And focusing their beam at full power, Blitzwing managed to freeze Omega's left arm until its temperature reached 270 degrees below zero.

Then, it only took another missile from Thundercracker to make the armor shatter in a thousand pieces and a null-ray blast from Starscream to finally make the capacitor blow up.

Omega Supreme staggered and flailed his damaged arm at Blitzwing, who couldn't dodge it in time. His manoeuvrability while flying in mech form was lower, much less carrying another two mechs with him.

"Hold on tight!" Shouted the triple-changer. Although the blow had not hit him fully, it had been enough to sent him off-course, and the best thing he could do was slow his fall until they crash-landed on the ground. The three of them were a little beaten, but alive and not seriously damaged.

"Nucleon-pulse generator core number one inoperative. Diverting remaining power to core number two. Target priority changed." The powerful voice of Omega Supreme announced.

The three fallen mechs looked up in time to see the colossal mech lowering his right arm, the second weapon capacitor whining low as it charged up.

"Jou, oversized scrap-heap, come at me! I won't gou down without a fight!" Blitzwing snarled, his more violent personality taking hold of him and making Bumblebee and Barricade question his already dubious sanity.

But suddenly, they heard the loudest and most terrifying roar of their lives.

A shadow fell upon them and the ground shook violently as another cybertronian behemoth landed over them, in front of Omega, grabbing his right arm and pointing it towards the sky, where the shot got lost harmlessly. Then, the colossal creature spoke with a deep voice that sounded between words and growls.

"Trypticon: online."

Megatron didn't even get the chance to lower his firewalls. As soon as he was connected to the ship's mainframe, Omega became aware of the invasion and turned furiously against the Decepticon Leader. Using his superior processor power, Omega literally shattered Megatron's firewalls, invading his mind, cornering his conscience and threatening to destroy his very self.

::Decepticon warlord Megatron. You have made a grave mistake coming here. And it will be your last:: Omega's voice flooded his mind.

::That is... no longer my title...:: Megatron replied back, the mere action exhausting him as he weakly tried to encrypt more firewalls around him.

::Titles are irrelevant. Now, perish::

::May I suggest that you review my data-banks before you destroy me? You may find useful information regarding the Decepticon faction. Troops location, security codes, passwords... It could help the Autobots on their way to victory::

::That was already my intention::

"It is... He is... Primus, it can't be!" Bumblebee stuttered, still disbelieving his own optics and audio receptors.

::Blitzwing, Barricade, Bumblebee, report!:: The voice of Starscream made him snap out of his momentary trance.

::A little beaten, but fine:: Barricade quickly replied.

::Then get the hell out of under Trypticon's feet!:: The Air Commander snarled through the comm. link, making the three mechs flinch at the same time. ::Barricade, Bumblebee, take cover with the rest of the team. Blitzwing, can you still fly?::

::Yes, Sir:: Blitzwing replied, his formal, icy self taking control of him.

::Good. Because the second cannon is still a threat, so... Bring your sorry triple-changing aft up here!::

::On my way!::

Barricade and Bumblebee transformed and quickly headed for the rest of the team, as Starscream has instructed them. There wasn't anything they could do to help at that moment.

Blitzwing transformed into his jet mode and took to the sky again. He had a slightly dented wing, but that wasn't going to stop him. He had a mission to accomplish. The Air Commander had personally contacted him through his comm. link to request his assistance for this mission. And it had felt a honor. He wasn't going to let anybody down, even if it meant saving a couple of Autobot afts.

Ruling the battlefield were the two cybertronian colossus, already exchanging blows, the violence of their hits making the ground shake below them. While Omega had a more or less humanoid form, like most cybertronians, Trypticon looked like a huge monster, with a dinosaur-like head, armed with massive teeth, and a long tail that could destroy buildings with a single lash.

::What took you so long, Soundwave?:: Starscream asked the Communications Officer.

::Trypticon's transformation sequence: long:: Soundwave replied.

::Megatron and Optimus are still inside Omega Supreme. Be careful if you don't want to be early promoted to Second in Command. Hold still Omega's right arm. I'm going to dismantle his second cannon::

::Understood:: The blue and silver mech replied succinctly. ::Soundwave: still high ranking officer if Starscream seizes power?:: He added, and there was a very slight hint of amusement in his otherwise emotionless tone.

::Seriously, Soundwave, of all the times, you choose now to find your sense of humor?:: Starscream shot at the grenades attached to Omega's right arm, making them explode. Then, he continued firing to overheat the armor below.

::Linking with Trypticon: exhausting. Processor stress: 85 per cent. Moral inhibitions: failing:: Soundwave replied, mild distress creeping into his tone.

Meanwhile, Blitzwing was shooting at his target with his freezing cannons.

::Hold on just a little longer, Soundwave. I am sure Optimus and Megatron are about to get control on the situation and stop Omega from the inside:: Starscream reassured him, but the truth was that he had lost contact with Megatron a while ago.

::Starscream: awful liar::

The beige seeker roared in laughter as he fired his last missile at Omega's cooled arm armor, shattering it and then Thundercracker fired another blast, making the capacitor blow and finally disarming the Autobot colossus from his most lethal weapons.

::You should definitely link with Trypticon more frequently::

Soundwave ignored Starscream's last taunt, and focused on his link with the Nemesis, now transformed into Trypticon. Just like Omega Supreme, Trypticon had a mind and a will of his own. But unlike Omega, he was almost feral and hardly ever attended to logic. That was the reason why, should the Decepticon behemoth be needed, there should always be someone connected with him, in order to keep his feral instincts in check, balancing his lust for destruction with self-control, transmitting calmness to soothe his raging conscience, providing strategy and targets to his attacks. In few words, guiding his reins.

But it was never an easy task.

::Processor stress: 95 per cent. Requesting Shockwave's assistance:: Soundwave informed through the comm. link, and for the first time, he sounded genuinely distressed.

Shockwave was with Skywarp, Ratchet, Knock Out, Breakdown, Ironhide, Bumblebee and Barricade. Before the arrival of Trypticon, the cyclops mech and the weapons specialist had been shooting a few blasts to Omega from a relatively safe distance, but now that the colossal Decepticon had arrived, their support was no longer needed.

The cyclops mech was now slightly annoyed with his situation. He had managed to do considerable damage to Omega's transformation cogs, slowing the process, but he had been shot down too soon from combat. That wouldn't have been a serious thing in a regular battle. But with the Autobot colossus as his opponent, he couldn't take the risk of remaining on the ground, where a single step of Omega could end him.

So, reluctantly, he had been forced to take cover, stopping on his way to help Skywarp to his feet. The black seeker's excess of confidence had been a grave mistake, and he had paid it with a damaged wing.

"Augh, Knock Out you are going to tear it off!"

And speaking of the black seeker, there he was. Pinned down by Breakdown as Knock Out tried to put his wing back into place.

"Stop shrieking. It's not broken. It's only out of its hinges, but I cannot put it back into place if you don't stop trashing!" The red medic yelled back.

"Didn't you shut down his pain receptors before starting to work on his wing?" Ratchet asked, out of curiosity.

"No time for that corny things on the battlefield." Knock Out replied with a shrug. "Besides, the more it hurts, the faster they learn to dodge enemy attacks, for their own sake. Isn't it, 'Warp?" A sadistic smirk crossed his face-plates as he gave a final shove at the dislocated wing, which snapped back into place with a sickening sound that made even the ground-based mechs grimace.

Skywarp let out a whimper, the pain so intense that he couldn't even cry aloud. Breakdown released him, but the seeker didn't find the strenght to pull himself up from the ground.

At that moment, the comm. link became alive with the voice of Starscream.

::Skywarp. Status.:: The Air Commanded demanded to know.

::As the humans say... like a piece of shit. I won't be flying any time soon:: The black seeker sighed miserably.

::I don't give a flying frag.:: Starscream snapped back, so harshly that made Skywarp flinch. ::Can you still teleport?::

::Yes, Sir:: Even Skywarp knew when it was the time to stop bantering around his trine-leader, who happened to be also the Decepticon Second in Command.

::Good. Because if you don't bring Shockwave to the bridge of the Nemesis like, now, we are going to have a totally-feral-and-out-of-control Trypticon on the loose::

"Slag!" The black seeker exclaimed, and got up with a jump. Shockwave was already at his side, because he had been listening to the comm. link too. "Hold on tight, Shockwave!"

With a loud crack of displaced air and a flash of purple, Skywarp and Shockwave appeared on the main bridge of the Nemesis and took in the scene before them.

Soundwave was linked to the main frame and if his slightly haunched stance, dimmed visor and servos gripping the desk were anything to go by, the Third in Command looked like he could use some help. Alpha Trion was with him, but could do little to help, because despite been a powerful mech, he didn't knew how to operate the Decepticon vessel.

Without a second thought, Shockwave strode to his terminal, and extracting his own data-transfer cables, he connected to the ship. Immediately, he felt the backlash of been connected to such powerful being. The constant data stream from his sensor net, informing in live-time about the status of fuel, ammunition, damages and mechanical stress flooded his HUD. He re-routed those reports to himself, relieving Soundwave from the most distressing task.

::Soundwave: grateful:: Came the voice of the Third in Command from somewhere on the other end of the link. Now, he could fully focus in guiding Trypticon in his battle.

Omega Supreme was badly damaged, but was still a very powerful opponent.

Inside Omega's main bridge, things weren't going any better.

Optimus was sitting on the floor holding tight to two things. The first one, to a column, so that he didn't roll with the violent movements. After all, the colossal mech was still fighting out there. The Autobot Leader could only hope that no one had been severely harmed in the fight. The second one he was holding to, was Megatron. He had fallen unconscious almost immediately after connecting with Omega's main frame, and he feared the worst.

"Come on, Megatron. You were never the one to do crazy, irresponsible things. Your plans were always meticulously devised." Optimus whispered. "I know you don't trust things to chance, brother."

Trapped within his own body, Megatron felt with painful clarity Omega's invasion. How the huge mech's essence invaded his mind, forcing open his data-banks, retrieving audio and video files. And the Decepticon Leader could do nothing to stop him, because his enemy's processor's were far more powerful. Omega didn't even bother in shielding his own emotions, and Megatron could also feel his raw, unmasked hate for the Decepticon faction and his Leader.

But Megatron wasn't going to sit down and watch idly while his mind was forced open and scrutinized from beginning to end.

::You want to know my secrets, Omega?:: Megatron snarled, taunting the invader in his mind. ::Take them! Taken them all, because I am honestly tired of holding them inside!::

And instead of letting Omega extract the data files himself, Megatron started to voluntarily send him the files. The difference was that on this last case, Megatron could at least choose which files he wanted to send first.

Outside, Trypticon and Omega Supreme were still fighting, exchanging devastating blows, making the ground tremble with each hit.

Spinning around himself, the Decepticon behemoth lashed out at his enemy with his tail, effectively sending the Autobot to the ground.

Omega Supreme dragged himself up to a standing position, took a step in Trypticon's direction, and suddenly stopped.

And just stood there, frozen. Not moving. Not advancing. Not recoiling.

Trypticon snarled furiously, his mighty roar making the ground shake, and crouched, poised for the next attack. But he felt the soothing pulses from Soundwave and Shockwave, persuading him to remain calm, to wait for Omega's attack, to defend himself but not make the first move.

The Decepticon behemoth reduced his roars to a deep, low growl, and waited.

And the Autobot just remained on his spot, apparently doing nothing.

"The have stopped fighting." Ironhide murmured, still disbelieving his optics.

Starscream, now reunited with the rest of the team on the ground, stared intently at the two unmoving colossus, his optics narrowing.

Omega stopped suddenly, confused and slightly startled by the Decepticon Leader's actions. Surely it had to be some kind of trick. Maybe he had some pernicious code embedded in the data files he was sending him.

Nonsense, very few things could harm him that way, and certainly not something created by the mech he was connected to. With a mental shrug, he continued reviewing the files. They were useful information, nonetheless.

But what he saw after a while left him shocked. Shocked and confused.

Now more intrigued, he continued to analyze the files. And the things he discovered...

Megatron had been speaking the truth. He had a ceasefire with Optimus. But there were even more important things in his mind. The Covenant of Primus. The things they had discovered on it. Alpha Trion. The great menace that hanged over them. The last visit to Earth, where the Decepticons had been trying their best to behave. Megatron planning strategies with Optimus.

Omega stopped his crushing grip on the Decepticon Leader's mind, allowing him a small relief. 'If this is true...', he thought, leaving the end of the sentence hanging in the air. He had to find out, as displeasing as it could be.

Megatron's relief was short lived, because Omega's mind came back, this time peering into the decepticon's most intimate files. The ones belonging to emotions and feelings. And his astonishment only grew even more when he experienced what his enemy had inside his mind.

Painful amounts of pain and regrets.

It seemed impossible, but it was the truth. Megatron was full of remorse. Not that he would ever admit it in his life, of course not. But that was what was inside of him. Megatron knew that he was too far beyond forgiveness. The things he had done while under the influence of The Fallen had been atrocious. There was nothing he could do to fix any of them. He honestly thought that he should have died for them.

But death didn't solve anything either.

So, the Decepticon Leader had arrived to a conclusion, and with it, to a single purpose.

He was determined to make things better from that point. And he had been honestly trying to do it. Little by little, during the past few years, he had been working to save his planet and to give his faction a new way of life. He knew that diplomatic relations with the Autobots would always be awkward, but he had been keeping the hostilities to a minimum, working for the greater good.

If he couldn't achieve forgiveness, he was determined to gain redemption.

And all of this, Omega knew, was true. Because when connected to someone in that way, one could not hide the truth.

The Decepticon warlord - no, the Lord High Protector, he corrected himself - had truly changed his ways.

As gently as he could, Omega's conscience recoiled from Megatron's mind. He had reached a decision.

::You have a second chance:: Was his verdict. ::Do not waste it::

Megatron groaned slightly as he regained control of his own mind and body.

::I won't:: He replied, still a little weak from the assault, but with infinite determination. ::And do not speak of what you have seen inside me... Please:: He added, and he didn't need to specify what he was referring to.

::You have my word, Lord High Protector:: He replied, before disappearing from his mind. The Decepticon Leader allowed himself a mental smirk.

Megatron's crimson optics flickered on-line and was greeted with the sight of Optimus crouched over him, concern written all over his face-plates.

"Whasgoinon." He mumbled, a little incoherently, hating to be lying on the floor. It was undignified for him. His systems finished their reboot and the memory of the last events caught up with him. "What happened!" He demanded to know, almost jumping to his feet, startling Optimus.

"Omega has stopped. And I guess it was you who convinced him." The Autobot Leader informed him, raising an optic ridge. "And I guess it is futile to ask how, isn't it?"

"Believe me, you don't want to know." The Decepticon replied, his voice sounding genuinely tired as he staggered slightly.

::Megatron! What happened?:: The voice of Starscream interrupted through the comm. link, making his Leader almost wince.

::We are fine here. And the rest of the team?::

::Minor damage. But we are fine too:: The seeker reported back.

::Excellent. We are heading out once we recover the Key::

A few minutes later, the faction leaders were stepping out of Omega, with their mission finally accomplished.

"Primus above!" Optimus exclaimed, as he caught sight of the Decepticon Behemoth, crouched and waiting, his gaze still fixated on Omega, but not moving. "This was your plan B?" He asked to Megatron.

"How else did you expect me to stop Omega?" Megatron shrugged as he took in the devastation around him, the cybertronian colossus' battleground. A couple of shots from Omega's nucleon-pulse cannons had reached the city ruins, leaving long gashes across the buildings.

"You had us very worried." Ratchet said, approaching his Leader and scanning him for damage. "It has been one hell of a battle out here."

"Inside Omega things weren't nice either." Optimus agreed. "And how is Eleonor?" He asked, not seen her anywhere.

"I left her hidden in the ruins before things got tricky." Starscream replied.

"Woohooo, zhe zmall nurse? Vhere is she?" Blitzwing replied, bouncing enthusiastically, his random personality taking hold of him.

"About five microquads in that..." He turned to face the location where he had left his human and trailed off. "...direction." His vents hitched.

That was precisely the path where one of Omega's missed shots had left a trail of devastation and scorched ruins.

[A/N]: At least some real action after so much fluff! How did it go? I have left some ideas unused, but I think it turned out quite well. And yay, cliffhanger! And a cookie for Nightshade-Prime who guessed what plan B was. And half cookie for Megan666. On a second thought, who cares? Cookies for everyone who reviewed!