Fallout: Apocalypse
Chapter 18
By Nan00k

Here comes the future, guys. The game has changed.

.

Warnings: character death, foul language, violence, disturbing imagery and discussion, religious ideological discussions, theoretical science, and original characters
Disclaimer: Transformers © Dreamworks/Hasbro. The original characters found in this story were created explicitly for this story.

.

Plumas National Park
NEST Base

As he took a shot at one of those irritating symbiotes, Thundercracker was quietly reveling in having his weapons protocols back in order, and as Jazz would have said, "just in the nick of time, too". He had been shocked at how quickly the situation at Plumas had deteriorated. Three or four Decepticons and several symbiotes had landed and begun to tear up the compound so quickly, the human NEST operatives had barely had a chance to respond before their armory had been blown, leaving them with only hand weapons and whatever amount of larger ordnance that hadn't been locked away when the attack occurred.

There were currently only six Autobots on base and, of course, none of them were front-line warriors. Of course, Ironhide and the twins had gone with Prime into battle. No one had expected an assault here, on their own home turf. That left Prowl and the scout, Bumblebee, to lead the recently-arrived scientists in a counter assault and provide as much support to the NEST soldiers as possible. As he heard Prowl directing Jolt and Hound to circle around to the south side of the compound and secure Hangar D, he privately admitted that Prowl's tactical abilities were impressive, and he was glad the mech was on "their" side. But it seemed impossible that they would stop the Decepticons without more fire power.

Fortunately, there were more than just Autobots on the base now. Thundercracker had felt better when his guns had been brought back online, courtesy of a quick code adjustment from this world's Wheeljack (having the scientist touch him to do so, though, was incredibly painful) and a load of ammunition given to him by Jolt—more ammo than he'd had in over fifty years—but that feeling of comfort had been erased when he realized who they were up against.

Soundwave—one of the fiercest and most terrifying of Megatron's inner circle—was there, along with two or three other Decepticons and his monstrous symbiotes. Thundercracker knew Soundwave was there from listening to Prowl, and had heard enough of the comm. chatter to know that at least two more full sized Decepticons had landed. He himself had dispatched one of the larger 'Cons to the Pit when it had attacked Hangar B, where his humans were, but the symbiotes were each nearly as dangerous as any larger mech. They specialized in creating havoc, sending NEST soldiers scattering with their wild fire, setting off the energon containers and nearly blowing up Hangar A. The Decepticons had done their research well, probably by using one of the symbiotes as a spy, and knew just where to hit them the hardest. The chaotic destruction they were causing was a bit too obvious, however; Thundercracker could tell the goal of the symbiotes was to distract the Autobots while Soundwave and the others obtained their objective, and that was far more alarming.

::Jazz, Soundwave is headed for Hangar A!:: Bluestreak called over the comm. channel.

::He's headed for th' security bunker. TC, get the kids outta here. Blue—yer wit' me,:: Jazz said hurriedly as he sped off, Bluestreak following closely. Jazz was clearly focused on successfully fighting back and preventing the 'Cons from getting what they wanted. Unlike Jazz, Thundercracker had never been in the security bunker, which was located underground, near Hangar A, but he suspected that the majority of the intelligence that the Autobots and NEST had gathered on Decepticon movements, as well as any valuable weapons, would be stored there.

Thundercracker was more concerned with doing his own job: getting their human companions out alive. Checking carefully to make sure none of their enemies were lurking just outside the door, he walked quickly out into the smoke-filled air, weaving a path that would safely take them past the burning container units. The humans stuck to his shadow, with Rachel and Barns bringing up the rear to watch for anything chasing them. Despite having his radar on, Thundercracker had no idea what to expect from their enemies.

Something shrieked nearby and Thundercracker ducked as low as his body would allow, taking cover behind another plane that hadn't been destroyed yet. The humans also crouched closely and looked up at the sky, waiting for something to attack. Thundercracker could feel a Cybertronian signal approaching them.

Luckily, Vortex distracted the incoming Decepticon, a small flier, by throwing a barrel of something at him. Unable to shoot anything, he flared his blades as the Decepticon shot past him, slicing off a corner of the smaller smaller Decepticon's wing, and sending it careening into the side of Hangar C. Vortex stalked off after the Decepticon, intent on destroying it, as Thundercracker led his group of humans further onto the airfield and away from the center of the base.

Although he was focused on getting off the base, he couldn't help but listen to the terse commentary from the others on comms. Jazz's training and experience as an officer and frontline warrior put him right into the thick of things, as he stepped into the role that Bumblebee just didn't have the experience to fill and began to lead the counterassault. ::Bluestreak, what do you see?:: he asked the sniper, who was out of sight, probably at a vantage point.

On the field of battle, Bluestreak lost all of his naïveté and the annoying stream of babble. ::NEST has several armored vehicles moving, and they are firing on two of the three remaining symbiotes,:: he replied. ::Arcee and 'Rider are with Jolt and they have that gray 'Con down. Soundwave—I can't see him!::

::Slag it!:: Jazz raced directly into the fire raging around Hangar B. ::TC, you get those kids t' th' forest! Hide! Blue, you keep me posted. 'Bee, where are you?::

Thundercracker did not feel like leaving his teammates to deal with the battle alone. They had to do this properly. ::Vortex, get up into the air and figure out how many we're dealing with!:: he ordered.

::My flight gear is still disabled,:: Vortex replied with a snarl. ::Arcee, you're fastest. Drive and report::

Before Arcee could comply, Wildrider interrupted. ::I am faster!:: He was already transforming. ::Little femme stay here. I vill report.::

::Stay safe, all of you!:: Jazz said, reluctant to separate anyone. Instead, he turned his focus elsewhere. ::Prowl, did ya hear all of that?::

::—Yes, and what the hell do you two think you are doing?:: Prowl shot back almost immediately. He sounded distracted, most likely doing many things all at once. ::You are not military entities. You cannot take charge of this situation as though you are still an Autobot officer!::

Prowl's apparent anger pissed Thundercracker off more than anything. He could almost hear Jazz's anger boiling over the comm. channel, the frustrations of fighting and trying to figure out how to survive this overwhelming them all.

::Excuse me? You have a Decepticon general tearin' up yer security compound, slag it!:: Jazz shouted. From a distance, Thundercracker could see him flipping through the air out of the other side of Hangar B, firing at the other flying symbiote. ::Ya got no backup, and the humans ain't got a single weapon worth usin'. You need us! What the hell else didja give us weapons back fer, if not ta help ya in a snafu like this?::

To their surprise, Prowl snarled back, ::Then get over here and DO something! Soundwave has entered the security bunker, and Hoist is down.:: He shut the line off with an audible click.

An open invitation for a lot of things, although Thundercracker knew they didn't have the time to gloat or ask for specifics. They had to help defend the base and that meant taking out Soundwave. They just had to play by NEST's rules. To survive, Thundercracker would do pretty much anything, so this was acceptable.

::You heard him. Arcee, stick with Jolt—Rider, you an' Vortex are wit' me. We'll meet up with Prowl by th' security bunker,:: Jazz said, never stopping. ::TC, why are you still here? !::

::Don't do anything stupid,:: Thundercracker warned before returning his attention to the organics crowding around his legs. He spoke out loud, "We're moving on in thirty seconds. Don't stop or go further than me. If Soundwave attacks, I'm the bigger target, so don't get caught in the cross fire."

Rachel sent him a sharp look, but said nothing. The other humans nodded and Thundercracker looked out across the airfield. They had several hundred yards of open space to get past, and while Thundercracker was certain they wouldn't have to worry about Soundwave or the other large Decepticons targeting them specifically, he worried about the last two symbiotes. They seemed to like targeting humans particularly.

"Move," he said, uncoiling from the ground and stepping out with his sensors blazing for any incoming signals. The Cybertronian entities were all on the other side of the base.

The humans, his own four and the two civilians, moved quickly, so he kept his pace up to make sure he stayed a decent amount of space ahead. He didn't need them getting hit by the remains of an attack aimed for him.

He saw several batches of NEST soldiers who were still on base running, shouting various things as they tried to collect themselves into some sort of order. Four armored vehicles raced past them, heading towards Hangar A. He was glad at least a few of the humans had been smart or lucky enough to get into the vehicles, which would provide them with both armor and armor-piercing weapons. Without them, the humans were ineffectual against the Decepticons. The idea that the unidentified sightings over the Atlantic had been a ruse just to get the Autobots away from the main base was becoming more and more believable.

Behind them, he heard a loud crashing sound and could immediately sense a large energy signature flare up on his radar. Another mech—and not friendly. He prepared to turn and give cover fire. "Get ready to run," he said to his humans, but something distracted all of them.

"He's got the Shard!" a human soldier shouted, far away, but close enough that Thundercracker knew whom they were talking about.

Thundercracker turned completely around in shock. There was another explosion, the remains of one of the armored vehicles he thought, and he could see a massive Cybertronian form beyond the flames of another container unit. Soundwave was unmistakable from any distance. For a split second, the jet wanted to grab as many of the humans as he could and run, fearful of the havoc the Decepticon general could cause to harm them. He could take Soundwave alone, maybe, if he had the advantage of surprise. But there was no way he was going to take that chance while the humans were there with him—

Soundwave stood perfectly still and was holding his hand up. He wasn't holding a weapon. It was cupped ever so slightly, as if he were holding something fragile and small, like a rock. Thundercracker stared hard, until suddenly, he realized.

He had the All Spark fragment.

Thundercracker gaped, knowing he was wasting time—knowing he was standing out in the open like a perfect target. But the All Spark fragment was literally a hundred yards away and he was right there. Soundwave had the fragment.

He had to do something.

"Soundwave!" he roared, ignoring common sense. He could kill the other mech easily in a physical fight, but Soundwave had more than just guns at his disposal. Thundercracker didn't get closer.

They couldn't let him take the fragment, though. That was more powerful than just a piece of metal. It still had power. Thundercracker could feel it in the air. If they took it, the Decepticons, they could use it on Megatron. They could do anything and Thundercracker couldn't just stand by and let this happen. Not again.

Slowly, Soundwave turned around and acknowledged the larger flier. Thundercracker held his ground, even under the expressionless stare the communications specialist sent him. It had really only been about fifty years since Thundercracker had last seen or heard of his ex-commander, but it felt like megavorns. It was like staring down a complete stranger.

Soundwave's visor narrowed, and for a moment, he hesitated. "Designation: Thundercracker?" he said, voice more alien and mechanical than Thundercracker remembered. The question in that voice was clear.

The Decepticon probably knew the other Thundercracker, the one still in the ranks of the Seekers, still blindly following Starscream as if any of the fighting still mattered. Thundercracker's green optics narrowed, both in anger toward the Decepticons and in the realization he had to do something.

"Designate this!" he snarled and then shot rapidly at the energon container behind Soundwave.

It exploded and Thundercracker immediately regretted doing that, because only then did he remember the humans were with him. He looked down as they yelled out at the explosive force. Soundwave had been hit and nearly fell forward, but suddenly, Thundercracker realized his priorities couldn't change.

Primus help him, he had to leave. Turning, he left Soundwave in the flames and prayed he wouldn't come after them.

"Slag it—!" Thundercracker snarled. He had to keep stopping when the humans did, having to make sure they kept up and that he didn't accidently step on one. "Move! Don't stop!"

"But the All Spark—!" Sam cried, trying to turn around. Barns grabbed him and urged him to run. They couldn't do anything now.

Thundercracker spared one more glance behind him and regretted doing so. What he saw made him stop, which made the humans stop as well. Rachel, gun raised, saw it first.

"What the hell is he—?" she started to ask.

Soundwave, despite his victory and the fire around him, was no longer holding the All Spark fragment. Thundercracker's optics couldn't find it at first, and then he looked down right in front of Soundwave's feet. The shard lay on the burnt cement like a discarded piece of shrapnel, like any unimportant piece of metal.

And then, Soundwave lowered his cannon and fired—right at the fragment.

"WHOA!" Rachel yelled, just as an explosion larger than even the energon crates shot over the base.

Thundercracker's systems whined in protest as the electrical shockwave hit him first. The physical blast sent them all sprawling, though the actual explosion was more energy than fire or debris. The origins of the explosion came from below Soundwave himself, from under his smoking cannon—

Came from what was left of the All Spark.

Thundercracker stared—stared hard—but the image didn't make any sense, no matter how long he looked.

…What?

Soundwave stood back, satisfied, and retracted his cannon. He stepped back, straightening up, revealing a hole in the ground where one would have expected the decimated remains of his prize to be.

Below Thundercracker, the humans struggled to get up. When they did, they also saw what had happened. Sam made a strangled sound and stumbled forward, aghast.

"Why?" he shouted, practically screaming over the sound of the fires and nearby fighting. "WHY DID HE JUST BLOW IT UP? !"

Thundercracker looked at the smoldering crater, which was all that was left of the All Spark. Just dust and smoke.

Why did he just blow it up—? !

Inwardly, Thundercracker realized that something was wrong. Something was incredibly wrong.

Soundwave turned, disregarding him and the humans, and looked upward. He was going to leave. Was that the only thing they had come to do? Just—just destroy the one relic left that could have changed the course of the war in either direction?

"We never had a shard," Jazz had told Lennox in debriefing. "Not in our timeline, at least. Th' 'Cons never needed it."

Thundercracker shuddered.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw more mechs showing up. Jolt, looking like he had taken at least one missile to the chest plates at some point, opened fire on Soundwave. The larger Decepticon fired back, but was forced to duck for cover when Bumblebee and Hound appeared and attacked as well. Thundercracker was yanked out of his reverie and realized they still had to move.

With Soundwave being herded away by the Autobots, Thundercracker was surprised to see Bumblebee suddenly turn and dash back toward their group.

"GO!" the yellow 'Bot shouted, voice fritzing from the effort. "Get them out of here!"

Thundercracker threw his arm out, motioning for the scout to go. "Everyone, follow me, we're going!" he said. He looked back at Bumblebee. "Autobot, you take yours!"

Bumblebee, for all of his Autobot-ways, wasn't stupid. "Yes! Go!" he called back, transforming. Sam and Mikaela threw themselves inside and he took off for the gate.

If only he could do the same. Even if he could fly, Thundercracker could only take one person, due to the ineffectiveness of the human aircraft he had modeled himself after ages ago. Instead of transforming, he continued on foot, making sure Barns, Kass, Danny and Rachel were still with him. They moved as quickly as ever, as if they were still on Europe's soil and this was just another day with drones chasing them down.

This wasn't right, Thundercracker thought in despair, as if the universe cared about being fair after all of this time. All the signs had indicated this world would be safer—that it would be a better place to live than the one they had left behind fifty years in the future. But it wasn't. It was the same, with the same dangers. And it was worse, because it had appeared to be so promising, had given them such hope that it would be different this time.

Finally, they made it to the edge of the forest. Thundercracker broke through the trees, unaccustomed to seeing such full branches. It was darker and far greener than the ones they had left across the ocean, but all at once, he felt more at home than he had since they had come to the NEST base. He knew how to defend himself and his family on the soil, felt far more comfortable there than on the cement pad of the airfield. He could still hear and sense the explosions and the warring NEST and Decepticon forces. He prayed Jazz and the remaining members of their group would keep their heads down and meet them eventually.

He let the humans decide the path to take, Rachel barreling ahead furiously. She skidded to a stop after several minutes and spun around. All of the humans stopped then, breathing heavily, as they stood shaking in the dense woods. Thundercracker looked around warily. His path was obvious to follow, with all of the broken trees practically pointing an arrow their way. Perhaps he should have branched off in the opposite direction for a bit, to lead any enemies away from the humans.

For now, they would wait. No Cybertronian signals had followed them or were anywhere near by, even the Autobots. Thundercracker strained his sensors to their limits, trying to pick out just where their enemies were. It seemed like most of the fighting was being dragged out further away, but he couldn't trust anything. They could still clearly hear the echoing sounds of gunfire and missiles being fired.

Kass, trembling visibly, gasped for air. "What's going on?" she asked, horrified.

Thundercracker shook his helm and kept his optics toward the base, waiting for the sounds of violence to stop. "I don't know. I don't know," he said, processors reeling. "Oh, Primus…"

Why had Soundwave destroyed the fragment?

Back on the base, the sirens continued to wail.

0000

Onboard NEST-1
CFS St. John's, Newfoundland

The moment they had landed in St. John's, Lennox felt the sudden urge to just run. He wanted to run across the wide expanse of ocean in front of them and just—just do his job. He couldn't. He couldn't do anything but bark orders to soldiers who were just as frustrated and helpless as he was. He had to watch the Autobots crowd the edge of the base's beach boundaries, looking out at the water with equal despair.

They couldn't do one damn thing.

"We have five Raptors inbound to the site," Epps called out from his communications table. They had forgone dragging their equipment to the inside of the air base. And Lennox felt better standing with the Autobots. None of them cared about being seen now, anyway; they had higher priorities.

"Have the Decepticons surfaced yet?" Optimus asked, having just stopped pacing. Ironhide did enough of that for the both of them, however. Even Ratchet looked ready to start blowing miscellaneous things up in his impatience.

"Not yet, not from what I'm seeing," Epps replied. He was keeping an eye on the monitor feeds from the Predators they'd had circling the area for the last twenty minutes. "Drones are keeping eyes on the Abyss and the wreckage from the Stennis. No movement yet."

Lennox ran a heavy hand over his face. "Great…" He felt as though the waiting would kill them long before the Decepticons would. Until they saw something in the water, there was literally nothing even the Air Force could do. At least they had the Raptors now, plus the Canadian Air Force was three minutes out.

"Hey!" Epps yelled out, surprising the rest of them. He was hunched further over the monitor display. "We got a disturbance!"

"The USS Virginia just cleared Nova Scotia," one of the tactics officers announced, glancing back at Lennox. She shook her head in disappointment. "They're not going to make it in time, sir."

Epps stood up completely, startling the humans standing nearby. "We got mechs!" he said. He grabbed his head-mic and shouted, "Raptors, open fire with sabot rounds!"

Lennox spun around, hoping to see something—anything—over the ocean, but the gray horizon remained blank. Turning, he rushed back to the desk and Epps slid over to let him look at the video feed. His heart pounded furiously as he desperately tried to see what their fate was.

At first, the grainy image from the Predators showed nothing but waves and the remains of the Stennis: burning pieces of debris, chunks of metal, bodies. Then, suddenly, he saw dark shadows appearing beneath the surface of the water. Gripping the table ledge tightly, Lennox said a quick prayer as two of the Raptors fired. The explosions sent water flying and only revealed what had to be metal. Mechs.

But then, to Lennox's dismay, it all fell apart.

The two Raptors were hit and torn in half when two mechs suddenly surfaced, shooting up out of the water, weapons firing as they emerged. These mechs had been equipped with some sort of propulsion system for traveling through the water, ascending and descending rapidly, and they could apparently launch themselves into the sky right from the water. Lennox swore violently, cries of dismay rising up from several of his soldiers as the remaining Raptor pilots reported back the loss of the two aircraft, plus how the water obscured their targets.

"What's happening, Will?" Ironhide demanded, frustrated.

"Just lost two Raptors," he said, gritting his teeth. He kept his eyes glued to the screen. "God help us."

He prayed—prayed—that the Decepticons would come to shore. If they did, they could finally fight them like NEST had been designed to do. This was a poor display of what they were capable of doing, that was for sure. The Canadian Navy was within a few miles of the location of the Stennis, but they were being told to hold their position until the fighting was over. They would be unable to fight these mechs, and there was no point in losing more ships, more men.

"Where is the body? Do they have it with them?" Epps asked, scouring the video feed intensely.

"I can't see them carrying anything," Lennox replied, watching as the water kept being tossed upward as more mechs shot up, out of the water. The drone's camera zoomed in, but the white surf blocked most of the details. He couldn't even count the mechs leaving. It was definitely more than four.

The Raptors took off in pursuit of the fliers, but Lennox knew that wouldn't help for long. He peered closer as all but one of the drones were reassigned to follow the unnaturally fast alien craft, who were moving northward in close formation, but Lennox managed to look at each of them, counting at least five now. None of them were on fire, but that didn't mean the Fallen wasn't with them in some way.

The build on one of them was uncommon for the Seekers—and yet was definitely something Lennox had seen before. His heart leaped up to his throat yet again as he managed to put a name to the mech flying away.

"…He's…" Epps began, clearly noticing it as well.

Lennox spun around and called out, "Optimus!" He stumbled, his legs feeling weak, as he tried to get closer to the Autobot. He gestured out at the water, mind racing. "He's alive! I saw him!"

Optimus flinched. "Who?"

It didn't make sense. It didn't make sense. It wasn't fair—

"Megatron!" Lennox said. He grasped his head with his right hand, trying to keep calm. Nothing that was happening made any damn sense. "I saw—I saw him moving! He's whole! His whole body is back together!"

All of the Autobots gawked. "That's impossible!" Ratchet said loudly. He looked between Prime and Ironhide, attempting to find reason with them, maybe. "They don't have the All Spark fragment! Even if they had gotten it from the base, they could not have gotten it here so quickly!"

Lennox felt part of the Earth cave beneath him. "Is that the only thing that could resurrect him?" he asked. He sounded pathetically desperate.

"Yes!" Ratchet said. Lennox could hear a tremor in his voice though. None of them had any answers now. "The only thing! Anything else—it's impossible!"

Optimus just stared down at Lennox and then looked back out at the ocean, silent and grim.

"Where'd the Fallen go?" Sideswipe asked. He looked serious, which was never a good sign.

"After his attack on the Stennis, we lost sight of him. Never saw him again," Epps said, regretfully. He glanced over at the Autobots. "Can you pick anything up on your radars?"

Optimus frowned deeply, though they all dutifully turned back toward the water. "We're too far," he said. "They aren't approaching."

"The drones are picking them leaving by air, the fliers. Megatron included. They're headed north, back towards the Pole," Epps added, earning their attention. He kept his eyes on his monitor, shaking his head slowly. "The Fallen's gone. I didn't see him." It was like they were hunting a ghost.

"What about the grounders?" Optimus asked.

"There's only two. They're…" Epps trailed off. He slammed his fist down on the table and turned. "Great, we lost them."

"Probably hiding amongst the wreckage, the cowards," Ironhide spat.

Lennox nodded. "Or using that propulsion mechanism to travel under the surface of the water. Probably how they got here in the first place, since we only tracked the two to this location. Tell the Canadians to fire on the debris, take no chances!" he called out to tactics. He turned to Epps. "Keep an eye on the sky. If they get close—"

"I will blast them the fuck out of the air, believe me!" Sideswipe interrupted, angry. He held a transformed cannon up at the sky, threatening. "Those fraggers!" Several human NEST members glared upwards in agreement.

"We must get back to base," Ratchet added. He looked down at Lennox, grim. "We lost contact an hour ago, Lennox. There's no telling what's happened."

They had their priorities; now that Megatron was confirmed in enemy hands, they had to go to the next thing on their list, which was the NEST compound and the shard.

Turning, Lennox stared out at the open water, mind reeling. "I can't believe this happened… and we couldn't stop it," he whispered, mostly to himself. "This wasn't how this was supposed to go."

How were they supposed to explain this to Keller? To anyone? How was the most advanced, alien, task force on Earth incapable of stopping something this horrendous? Their greatest enemy was once again alive and they… had been forced to stand by and let it happen. It was like a nightmare. A real, never-ending nightmare.

Behind him, he heard one of the mechs walk closer. When he looked up, he saw Optimus peering down at him with sorrowful optics. "It was not your fault, nor anyone's here," he said, severe. "We will find them and defeat them, the Fallen included. Don't lose faith, Lennox."

It was easy to say that. Lennox had faith in himself as a leader, in Epps and the Autobots to be their best and better—but how could they have faith in themselves after this?

"We're heading back to Plumas," he said loudly. He caught Epps' eye and shook his head. "Move out."

0000

Plumas National Park
NEST Base

It could have been worse, Jazz kept telling himself. It could have been so much worse.

When they had finally gotten to the bunker, Soundwave had vanished along with the All Spark fragment. They had found Prowl pinned down behind the remains of an APC, defending Wheeljack and Hoist from a vicious Decepticon warrior. Jazz and Wildrider drove the 'Con off, Wildrider working with Hound and Jolt to continue the pursuit. By that point, Prowl and Wheeljack had stabilized Hoist and moved him to the medical hangar, leaving Jazz, Bluestreak and Vortex to work on fire suppression, redirecting a water line that had been exposed within the cement. They had just put out the fires closest to the security bunker, and all of the sensitive computers inside of it, when the last remaining Decepticon showed up.

The way the unfamiliar mech tore up a line of human soldiers with a spray of bullets reawakened a dark feeling in Jazz's spark. He had seen violence done to humans by the drones, but he hadn't seen a real Decepticon since… well… Blitzwing. To see one hurt a human, any human, was enough to make him sick.

Vortex, apparently thinking the same thing, reacted in a similar way he had to Blitzwing. He attacked the unfriendly mech viciously, tearing through his limbs with his blades before ripping the mech apart with his hands. He didn't need guns to kill. Jazz knew none of them would comment later on how violent Vortex had been with one of his own ex-teammates. Maybe they had known each other, maybe not. But it didn't matter to Vortex now, apparently. All Jazz could think of when he saw the dead humans was, what if that had been one of ours? Most likely, that was what Vortex, and Wildrider, had thought as well.

They had handled that 'Con quickly and Jazz scouted out the airfield for their remaining enemies. The symbiotes had fled with Soundwave and, for a brief time, Jazz was almost panicked by the thought that they had allowed their enemies to take the All Spark fragment with them. But then Thundercracker had comm'ed him with the truth.

::He didn't take it,:: Thundercracker replied. He sounded anguished. ::Jazz, he destroyed it.::

That had made all the energon in him seem to suddenly run cold. ::What? !::

::Soundwave… he destroyed the All Spark fragment,:: Thundercracker replied, weary.

Jazz didn't believe it at first; he just couldn't. Why? Why would Soundwave deliberately destroy the All Spark? Was it a trap or a ruse? That made no sense. It didn't make any sense at all.

::I saw it too,:: Bumblebee broke in. ::He dropped it on the ground and just… blasted it.:: The scout sounded both depressed and horrified. ::There was nothing left.::

After what seemed like ages, the explosions stopped. Jazz heard over the radio that the soldiers, along with Hound, Jolt and Wildrider, finished off the last Decepticon, who had actually made it off base before they had chased him down. The air was still full of smoke and fires continued to burn all over the place, thankfully in small clumps. Jazz, after getting a status report from his people to make sure everyone was alright, sought out the only Autobot commander left on base. It wasn't hard to find him, even as he had to navigate past injured NEST soldiers and ruined equipment. He found the Praxian standing by what had to be the remains of a cargo truck.

"Prowl!" he called out. Prowl turned and seemed surprised to see the saboteur. Jazz walked up briskly. "What's goin' on?"

Prowl, despite having been calm during the attack, was looking far more jittery now as he started walking away from the remains of the truck. "We've killed three of the Decepticons who landed. Soundwave—have you seen him?" he asked, distracted.

"He's gone. 'Bee saw him take off." Jazz hesitated. "Prowl—TC said—," he began, trying to stay calm himself. It was the worst feeling, having to be the one to say this. "He said Soundwave destroyed th' fragment."

The black-and-white mech in front of him stopped and turned around. He stared down at Jazz with large blue optics. "Impossible," he said. "Soundwave killed two humans and nearly decapitated Hoist getting into the bunker to get it." He stopped, struggling. "Thundercracker must have been mistaken."

"'Bee saw it, too," Jazz pointed out, grim.

Prowl stopped and shook his helm. "It's impossible. It's…" All at once, Prowl seemed to twitch and his optics blinked. To Jazz, it was a familiar sight. "It cannot be destroyed. That is—that is not—" the Autobot officer started to say, his vocalizer glitching with static.

Jazz grabbed the Autobot by the shoulders and held him firmly at arms length. "Prowl!" he snapped. They could not fall apart now, and Prowl most definitely could not have a system failure in the middle of a disaster like this, over-worked logic core be damned. "Focus! Don't freeze up. Ya gotta keep yer head t'gether, ya got people countin' on ya."

Stiff under his hands, Prowl's optics stopped flashing and the mech seemed to collect himself. "D-did any of yours…?" he began to ask.

"No, we're good. Vortex got some shrapnel damage, an' Arcee got burned earlier, but they'll live," Jazz replied, shaking his helm. He stood back and put a good amount of distance between them again. "Did Prime call yet?"

Prowl stood back further. His momentary showing of his logic center glitch was gone now. "There has been no contact with NEST-1. I can only presume Soundwave's interference is causing this," he replied. He looked out at the airfield. "Where are your four humans and Thundercracker now?"

"In th' forest, with Bee, an' Sam an' 'Kaela," Jazz said, sighing. He glanced out at the forest once before looking back at Prowl, severe. "Tell me what t' do an' we'll do it, Prowl. We got yer back."

For all of the bad feelings between them, Jazz trusted Prowl. At his core, he was still the same mech, with the same ethical base and clear devotion to Autobot principles. He knew they could trust the tactician to do his best to protect those under his command. What was more, Jazz knew Prowl needed their help now, too, if he would allow it. Jazz prayed the Autobot SIC would be strong enough to accept it.

It took him a moment, but Prowl slowly nodded. "…For now, we must tend to the wounded and bring our security back up. Whether Soundwave took the All Spark or destroyed it doesn't matter right now. He escaped regardless." Prowl met Jazz with a neutral stare. "Get your people back together."

Jazz glanced back at the forest again. "Kass was trained t'help out wit' emergency field repairs, an' all th'kids know first aid. But d'ya think it's safe bringin' 'em back t' th' compound?" Radar was showing clear skies, but that didn't mean anything. They couldn't not expect a second assault.

Prowl frowned. "We'll have to take that risk. There is no sense scattering into the woods like animals." Jazz frowned, not commenting on how not too long ago, they were running around the woods like that. Prowl continued, sighing, "I—."

And then he stopped short.

The flicker of his optics told Jazz that he was getting some sort of transmission, and judging from the fact Jazz wasn't picking up anything coming from people nearby, it had to have been-off base. Jazz prayed desperately for good news.

After a long minute, Prowl frowned and seemed to cut the connection. "…NEST-1 has landed in CFS St. Johns," he said in a clipped voice.

"Then they're safe," Jazz said, relieved. At least Prime was still with them. "No 'Cons tried t' take 'em out?"

"No." Prowl physically trembled and all at once Jazz knew something else was wrong. Prowl slowly shook his head. "They had another target. The Abyss was the real target. The aircraft carrier guarding it, the USS John C. Stennis, was partially capsized during the assault."

The name was eerily familiar. Jazz stared at Prowl, processors reeling. He had heard this before. A long, long time ago.

Prowl watched Jazz warily before looking out at the airfield again. His doorwings quivered.

"…The Fallen is here," he said at long last, confirming the spark-wrenching fear Jazz felt. "Or so they believe. He did it."

Jazz started to shake. "…What?" he asked. To his audio receptors, he sounded far, far away, even to himself.

"Jazz…" Prowl offlined his optics, bracing himself. "They took the body. What Prime said was brief, but they believe the Decepticons have taken Megatron's remains, or they have reactivated them. They aren't sure."

His words were met with silence. Jazz just stared at the other mech, praying he had misunderstood. Prowl's words echoed across his processors mercilessly.

"No… that's not…" Jazz tried to say. Words seemed like an impossible concept. Part of his mind started to scream. "You said it was safe," he said, not caring if he sounded accusing.

Prowl turned and glared. "I also thought it implausible that Soundwave could have been on Earth, let alone attack our own base!"

He started to walk away, presumably to get back to fixing the mess the Decepticons had left them. But Jazz was still standing there on weak joints and still silently begging to have misheard.

"No, you don't get it. Oh, God. Oh, Primus, you don't get it. Prowl!" he called out. He reached out, the gesturing causing Prowl to slow. "Please, tell me yer lyin'. Please! Th' Fallen can't be here!"

The look Prowl gave him wasn't condescension, but it wasn't sympathetic. It was the look all officers gave their soldiers in times where the worst-case scenario had happened, when there were no answers they wanted to hear. Just… cold truth they had to deal with.

Prowl turned around again and Jazz stumbled back. He wanted to hear the other mech say he was lying, or that it wasn't true. But Prowl just kept walking.

Jazz stepped forward. "HE CAN'T!" he screamed. Prowl kept walking away and Jazz felt part of his sanity leave with him. "Prowl!"

He was left standing there, alone, and even the distant sounds of humans yelling orders, and fires being put out seemed a million miles away. Jazz stared blindly, speechless.

It couldn't be true, he tried to reason.

Because if the fragment was gone—

Because if the Fallen had arrived—

That meant… that meant that this world… was the same.

The same horrors that had torn Jazz's world to shreds, the same devastation that had brought mankind to its knees prematurely, the same violence that had taken away everything he had known as home and kin—

It was all the same.

"No…" he managed again, turning slowly, visor wide. He couldn't—there was no way he could accept that. Not again.

Oh, Primus.

Jazz felt, piece by piece, their world crumble beneath him.

It was happening. All of it. The Fallen, Galvatron, the return of the Decepticons—

It was happening again… and that meant the world they had done everything to leave behind, the world Wheeljack had died getting them out of, was about to become a reality, their sacrifices be damned.

Oh, Primus, no.

.

End Chapter 18.

.

A/Ns:
-Yup. Bye-bye, fragment!
-USS Virginia is a submarine in the United States Navy; its home port is in Connecticut.
-And this, ladies and gents, is why it was so freaking stupid for ROTF to have the Autobot base on an island. LMFAO THEY'RE ALL GROUNDERS, thus useless in marine/aerial battles! Jeeeez.