Thanks, as always, to Megan666, Mytical-Mist-Devil and (newly arriving) wacko12!
A black mountain at his back, family to the front.
One I want, one I must go with.
"My ladies," Lennox exclaimed, raising his arms in the air, "Anna, you're getting bigger every time I see you!"
The small child giggled. "Daddy!" she cried happily.
"Hey sweetie," Sarah, his wife, said with a smile, "What's it been now… two weeks?"
"The connection here is worse than Diego Garcia," Lennox replied, "Setting up this stuff has been a nightmare."
The webcam sat atop the laptop, two blurry pictures of Lennox's family coming through. But it was them… and that's all that mattered.
"Daddy, when are you coming home?"
Lennox's heart ached. Sarah's face lost its smile.
"It's been four months," she said miserably, "I know that's nowhere near long enough for a tour of duty… but we miss you Will. We really do."
One I want, one I must go with.
"Listen," Lennox told her, "Everyone's got a feeling that the sh… stuff is going to hit the fan any day now. And we need to be on the frontlines…"
Sarah looked down, trying not to cry. Annabelle's bottom lip wobbled.
"Girls!" Lennox cried, confused, "After this next operation, I promise I'll do all I can to see about coming home early… don't worry! The Autobots have never been stronger and better prepared… although Optimus has gone off the rails a bit…"
"Optimus? Along with Robert, he's been your best friend for the past five years!"
"I know," Lennox sighed, "And I'm going to see what I can do about him. I need to help clear his head a bit, help him remember the good old days…"
"Were they ever good?"
Lennox smiled. "Only when I was with you two."
The picture fractured, splitting apart like ripples in a pond.
"…Will…?"
"I'm losing connection," Lennox told them hurriedly, "Don't worry, I'll be home soon!"
"I love you daddy!" came Annabelle's lovely voice.
"I love you too, sweetie," Lennox said with a sad smile.
"I love you more!" And then the connection was out.
Lennox sighed, closed the laptop and looked behind him.
Across the base, the Topaz Mountain looked down on him.
One I want, one I must go with.
Family… and duty.
Episode 25: Bludgeoned to Death (Part 1)
You watch the world exploding every single night
Dancing in the sun, the new-born in the light
Say goodbye to gravity and say goodbye to death
Heaven to eternity; I live for every breath!
—The Wicker Man
Interview Session #2: The past that builds the present.
"Good evening," Gerin said as Marcus entered, "Take a seat or couch."
Marcus lay back down on the couch, the same way he had done last time. He stared up at the ceiling, déjà vu all over again.
"Now, Marcus," Gerin murmured, peering at her clipboard, "I need to make an analysis of your psyche origins. Although the death of your mother has a huge part in your psyche history, it's your life after that that determines what it will turn into."
Marcus nodded, pretending he understood.
Gerin smiled. "In other words, I need to understand as much as possible about your past."
"You mean at the orphanage?" Marcus asked, "That place was a shithole, but—"
"Watch your language!" Gerin exclaimed, "Those sort of words might be accepted outside of this room, but not in here."
Marcus hung his head in shame, but Gerin quickly rallied her sympathetic smile. "That might have been a bit harsh, and the orphanage may have been… prickly, but that—"
"'Prickly'?" Marcus echoed, "It was a pig sty!"
"Explain why."
Marcus took a deep breath and began the tale of Paradiso Orphanage.
"Right in the face!" Chao laughed.
Gibson peered over Marcus's limp body.
"Ain't that a kick in the teeth?"
"As soon as I entered, I knew it was hell on Earth," Marcus muttered, "The other kids stared at me like I was condemned. Each one seemed like he wanted to gut me and take what little stuff I had."
"And what happened in the first few days?"
"One of them tried to gut me and steal what little stuff I had," Marcus muttered bitterly, "I woke with him right on my face. I saw his knife and kicked and screamed… and he was gone. I still don't know who did it.
"Everyone shunned me, kids bullied me, but none were as bad as Gibson. A snotty, rat-faced little punk who spent every waking hour of his life trying to hound me into a grave. I know bullies are a cliché, but this was one git who just wouldn't stop. I don't even know what I did to piss him off."
"That's the problem with humans," Gerin muttered, "The problem with us; we're rather evil at heart."
"Really?" Marcus asked, shocked.
"It's much easier to lose control than it is to keep it," Gerin said sagely, "Humans… and cybertronians for that matter, are all rather narcissistic in the soul, taking joy from inflicting pain on someone else. It's nature. The strong must always prove they're strong and they can only do that in cowardice by preying on the weak. But, then again, that bully had lost his mother and father, same as you… so it's no wonder that to hide his inner loneliness, he would use it to strike out."
Marcus considered this for all of three seconds before concluding; "He was still a real piece of work."
Gerin sighed, her lesson lost. "I suppose he was."
"Anyhow, every day at both school and at the orphanage, I was bullied. Mostly by Gibson, but others when he wasn't around. So I tried to find ways to escape… books, at first, but they were always interrupted. So I took to exploring…"
"Hey, come back! Get over here, Twist!"
Chao laughed after him, tears flying from Marcus's face, blood running from his mouth.
Unsatisfied with the damage caused, Gibson gave chase.
"The area around the orphanage was in disrepair," Marcus continued, "And I found this open manhole…"
Gerin wrinkled her nose.
"The sewers weren't that bad, once you got used to the smell. But you had to keep a close eye on the slime unless you wanted a dunking.
"I soon read by the emergency lighting in there, uninterrupted, unbothered. It was great, but when I returned I always got bullied more thanks to the smell. Gibson cut me a few times, always taking it too far…"
"That does sound like hell," Gerin muttered, rather astonished. "Wasn't there any staff to stop it?"
Marcus gave her a 'When have staff ever stopped bullying anywhere in the world?' look. It was rather complex.
"Alright, stupid question," Gerin admitted, "But did you ever escape the bullying?"
Marcus looked up at the ceiling. "Yes," he whispered dismally.
He leapt down the manhole, knowing Gibson wouldn't follow him.
"You think you can hide from me, you little fucking rat?"
Gibson followed.
"One day, things get out of hand," Marcus muttered, "I stood up to Gibson, which lost me some teeth. Another kid was there, Chao, who always laughed like a hyena. I escaped into the sewers… but for the first time, Gibson followed."
"And what happened then?"
"I'll fuck you up, you little—"
Marcus heard the splash… and the current.
"I… I don't know," Marcus whispered, "I hid in the darkness and waited for what seemed like days. When I eventually returned to the orphanage… I learned that Gibson hadn't."
"Help!" he cried, scrambling at the slimy sides as the murky current drew him away, "I can't swim, help, HELP!"
"The police interviewed me and everything and they searched everywhere… but he was never found. They went down into the sewers to find him… but they never did.
"From then on, I was never bothered again. The kids assumed I murdered him, caused him to go 'missing'. Although I was left in peace… I was lonely. I had no-one to talk to and no-one wanted to talk to me.
"And that's when Stacy arrived."
Gerin smiled.
"She was quiet when she came and was quickly bullied like I was. At the time, I honestly couldn't have cared less. As long as I wasn't a target, everything was alright…"
"But she was smart. She quickly realised that I was untouched and so came to me to read as well. At first I was nervous of her; she never spoke, not once. She just sat next to me and read. It was like that for a while, the two of us reading without exchanging a word… and then she spoke for the first time."
"What'd she say?"
"'Did you really kill Gibson?' I swear, I'll remember those words until the day I die."
"And your answer was…?"
"No, of course!" Marcus exclaimed, "I… I didn't murder him. He might still even be alive…"
He stepped out of the shadows and saw him being carried down the river of filth…
"HELP MARCUS, PLEASE! PLEASE HELP!"
"Me and Stacy were friends forever after that," Marcus said, "We read and played together, ventured into the sewers, mapped out nearly the whole of the city…"
"And then?"
"Well… war happened!"
"War?"
"Yeah!" Marcus exclaimed, "The Battle of Mission City. Autobots vs. Decepticons, round 1! I never saw it, but I sure as hell heard. We were told to lie under our beds until the fighting stopped. One of the old staff members, Mrs Cletchin, started screaming. 'Those damn commies! They're back!' I was too scared to laugh.
"After it was over, it just sort of disappeared. The news barely mentioned it, blaming a military experiment gone wrong… but we all knew different. We heard the roaring, the laughing, the explosions… we knew it was aliens."
"It was confirmed when a new member of staff came in; Ron. He quickly established himself as a big-shot with the kids, due to his ties with the criminal underworld… and the fact he had a video of Optimus and Megatron smashing each other to bits."
"Everyone watched that video half to death. We were hypnotised by it, me and Stacy. We couldn't stop thinking about these awesome giant aliens, Optimus and Megatron. The epic fight, the explosions… and we had been just a mile away!"
"And then Rob starting hiring us. The older kids were sent out to do drug deals with people around the blocks. He bought the product, gave it to the kids, spread them out, sold it and gave them a share of the profits. But he quickly realised we had potential.
"We owned everything beneath the city. He saw us as being able to avoid cops and crowds and sent us out to do deals with buyers. 'My little guttersnipes,' he would always call us. I still don't know what a guttersnipe is.
"In return for our services, he told the other kids to stop being nasty to us and gave us a few crap books. But that was life… and it was manageable. We learned more of the Autobots and Decepticons after Egypt and Chicago, first contact seeming so utterly brilliant. We both had a dream; to meet with Optimus Prime and his legion of courageous Autobots."
"It looks like that dream came true," Gerin said with a heart-warming smile.
"And I thank whatever gods out there made it happen," Marcus replied, smiling, "But the next thing you know, we find a strange dude in a longcoat in the sewers, find the Allspark shard and hey presto; we're in the middle of a war!"
Gerin sighed. "I wish you weren't so excited for it. Real people are dying out here…"
"I know," Marcus said, losing his smile, "But… this is so much better. Surrounded by the soldiers who protect the whole world, while helping them with my visions. It's almost… too good."
"Sometimes people don't learn the truth until too late," Gerin said, "And then you can't go back."
"You can always go back," Marcus argued, "You just got to have courage!"
"It's not a matter of courage. It's a matter of dreams."
"Dreams?" Marcus wondered.
"One day you'll find out. But let me just ask you one last question before we conclude this interview…"
"Alright."
"In which time were you happiest; here, the orphanage or with your mother?"
Marcus frowned. He thought, long and hard.
"I… even though Stacy is wonderful and the Autobots are awesome… I would have to say with my mother."
Gerin smiled so brightly then, her teeth almost shone with radiance. "That's brilliant, Marcus!"
"How?"
"It proves you're still sane. You have nothing to be worried about!"
Marcus was stunned for a second. Then he smiled back.
And as he watched, Gideon floated away, his last cries haunting his mind to this day…
"I'm sorry, Marcus! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!
"I'm sorry…! I mean it, I'm sorry…!"
"…I'm… sorry…!"
And then he was lost beneath the rushing mire.
The advent festivities! Oh, what wonder!
Christmas was upon happy shoppers, just a couple of days away. Snow fell about everyone, in which children played and laughed. Traffic jams were in full flow, yellow cabs packed next to each other, carrying lost and confused tourists to the many hotels scattered around the city.
The Big Apple was not red. It was white.
Central Park, huge and vast, held icy lakes without a single duck upon them. Romantic walks, all covered in coats and woolly hats, while the NYPD choir belted out 'Galway Bay'. Not an inch of green grass was spared the snow. The legendary Empire State Building was packed, hundreds of people waiting in line to see the tremendous view and take it all in. Ground Zero seemed even chillier and even more haunted in the white, but many years on left the memories a simple depressing or angry stain on ignorant, blissful minds.
Malls were ablaze with lighting and Christmas songs, while cheery faced Santas gave audience to the little children. They asked to receive, greedy for presents and so happy with the laughable, false-bearded, charitable men.
December was cold, but full of cheer. But one of those two was about to disappear forever. Something to make past destruction within the city seem like a firework, compared to the firestorm about to arrive.
In silence, in eerie calm, Bludgeon climbed atop a pier on the north coast of Queens.
Behind him, Overload crawled on as well. Across Manhattan, Union City, Queens and the other districts, they climbed into the city.
"Decepticons," Bludgeon uttered, "Spare none."
The destruction of New York City began.
"I don't believe it," Fearswoop muttered, "That I'm back here."
"I wouldn't complain," Bumblebee shot back, "Optimus is on the warpath. I wouldn't be surprised if he decided to execute you."
Fearswoop suddenly shut up, preferring to glower at Bumblebee.
Bumblebee, having nothing better to do, glowered back.
Each cybertronian stared at the other, hate and hurt within each other's eyes. But whereas Bumblebee's were filled with cold fury, Fearswoop's were alight with perverse amusement.
Eventually, Fearswoop turned away and began to chuckle. Bumblebee glared.
"And what's so funny?" he asked, menacingly.
Fearswoop looked back. "You wouldn't get it."
"Try me."
Fearswoop grinned. "Space Case and Ruination," he chuckled, "Powerful beyond all measure. They told me to stick with the strongest and I would survive. Yet when I left them, I survived… and they died. Oh, irony's so beautiful!"
Bumblebee shook his head as Fearswoop chortled. "You have a sick mind, Decepticon creep."
"We all have," Fearswoop retorted, "I just choose to unleash mine."
An alarm blared out.
"A hit," Bumblebee muttered, "It seems your friends are very active."
"They're as much my friends as they are yours."
Ratchet came running in and checked a huge console in the side of the hangar.
"Four… five… twelve… by Primus, there's near a hundred!" he exclaimed.
Bumblebee leapt to his feet. "They don't have a hundred!" he argued, "Your machine must be broken…"
"Drones!" Ratchet exclaimed, "I didn't realise they had built a drone army…"
"We'll destroy them anyway."
Optimus stood in the doorway, optics ablaze.
"Where are they?" he continued.
"…Optimus, it's New York."
Bumblebee grimaced but Fearswoop laughed.
"There'll be more casualties then you can count on an abacus!" he guffawed.
Optimus strode towards his forcefield. Fearswoop realised too late the mistake he'd made.
The forcefield dropped and Fearswoop scrambled up against the wall. Optimus drew a keyblade.
"No, no, please," Fearswoop begged, "It was just a joke… just a harmless little joke…"
"This'll just be a cut," Optimus promised in return, "A harmless little cut."
With a downward stroke, Optimus sliced off Fearswoop's right arm, causing him to scream in pain.
"OPTIMUS!"
The two Autobots turned.
Colonel Lennox stood in the hangar doorway.
"What's the meaning of this?" he thundered.
Optimus drew away the keyblade. He bowed his head in shame.
"I… I was not thinking straight…"
"Not thinking straight?" Lennox almost laughed with the sheer ridiculousness of the defence, "You've chopped his bloody arm off! You attacked a defenceless prisoner!"
Optimus glowered at him. "I'll deal with my prisoners how I want… you'll deal with yours. But I believe we should discuss this matter another time; we have work to do."
Lennox stared at Optimus in disbelief. "Fine then. Let's wrap this thing up in New York, then we'll talk…"
Optimus nodded, but Lennox only glared and walked out.
"Ratchet!" Lennox shouted, "Get the Pillars ready!"
And the Topaz Mountain saw it all. Cunningham licked his lips.
The small, dirty plane slowed to a halt on the dusty airstrip. The sun laughed down on HARP Thailand, beating every living creature into submission with the near unbearable humidity. But this didn't stop Randall Irving, who stepped down into the sauna, casting his hand over his face to protect his eyes.
"Sir!" a young private called, coming up to meet him. Irving almost laughed. He had never been called 'sir' before; he didn't even have a rank.
"I need to speak with your commander," Irving told him at once, "About Timothy Dalton."
The private looked at Irving, quite confused.
"Sir…" the private said, "Timothy Dalton is the base commander."
That stopped Irving in his tracks. Out of all the things he expected, hearing that was the least of it.
"When was the last time he was in the base?" Irving asked hurriedly.
And then the private said something that changed everything.
"He's here now, sir. In the hospital to be exact."
Irving was stunned. And then a growing uneasiness took over him.
"Why?"
"He had a terrible accident this morning… the doctors say that his sight will never recover. In the meantime, Major Deng is in charge…"
But Irving had pushed past him and was striding towards the large building with a red cross.
Timothy Dalton… we will meet at last.
It's time to discover who Harbinger really is.
"Optimus!" Mason cried, "We're getting a lot of traffic from New York! There's blood running in the streets!"
"The Pillars will be up in five minutes!" Ratchet called back.
Orders were swapped around, as soldiers loaded up on gear and ammo. Computers buzzed and whirred as Ratchet and Kaminari Ishihara worked to their fullest to get the Pillars up and running. Most of the soldiers stood by, waiting nervously.
"Their first taste of action," Ryder sighed, "Shame they won't survive it."
"Have you ever said anything nice in your life?" Marcus asked.
"Once. The guy I said it to thought I was mocking him; he attacked me. I stopped saying nice things after that."
"Why not keep quiet for once?"
"Have you seen me? I look as stoic as a jumping bean. You going with them?"
"I'd rather not get caught up in a fully-fledged battle again," Marcus muttered, "My spear isn't exactly a Decepticon killing tool."
"I am," Ryder replied, "But I owe some guys money in New York. I'd rather not meet them again."
"They're probably no longer alive…"
"Now look who's speaking negatively," Stacy pointed out, "Why is everyone such a misery guts?"
"Because people keep dying," Ryder said, "Shame, that."
Marcus yawned and rubbed his eyes.
"I swear you're not getting enough sleep, Marcus," Stacy sighed, "Is it those nightmares again?"
"Sort of," he muttered.
"Hehehe," Allheart chuckled, a hundred razor-sharp teeth flashing in the dark.
Marcus yawned again.
Suddenly, the hangar was bathed in blue light.
"We're up and running!" Kaminari called, "We've got a location in East Harlem!"
"Let's go!" Lennox cried, and the soldiers of HARP charged towards the blue light.
Optimus strode forward as well, followed by Bumblebee, Sideswipe, Mirage, Arcee and Sixshot.
"And now," Ryder muttered, "The Battle for New York begins."
Bloodbath. Nothing more than a bloodbath. You could literally bathe in the fluids that coated the streets.
Burnt and blackened bodies littered the northern part of 2nd Avenue, wrecked cars and rubble covering the rest. They were red. Red and black; not a shade of grey was visible. It was more akin to ruins in a third world country; not the soul of the United States of America.
"Why?" Epps muttered as he looked around the destroyed street, "Why here…?"
"To send a message," Optimus muttered, "To call us out."
"Well, it worked," Lennox whispered, accidentally crushing an ashen skull underfoot.
"Megatron will pay for this," Mirage muttered.
"If it is Megatron," Bumblebee hissed, "It could well have been Shockwave."
"We'll find out when we blow his head off," Lennox interrupted, pulling out a street map, "Now, we're here, in East Harlem. The largest reports of Decepticon activity are coming from Manhattan, down here… so we're heading south."
"Don't we get any support, sir?" asked an FNG by the name of Lieutenant Henderson.
"Rangers are moving up from Elizabeth in Jersey," Lennox answered, "While the Sixth Armoured is coming down from Mount Vernon."
"Vernon?" Epps asked incredulously, "That's behind us! And Elizabeth may as well be in China!"
"Then we best get moving," Optimus growled, "Autobots… roll out."
"Move out!" Lennox ordered, and the soldiers followed suit.
They headed south on 2nd Avenue, the traffic gone for good.
As soon as Randall Irving sat down beside the bed, he felt his thesis crash down around him.
Timothy Dalton lay on the bed, a bandage around his eyes, his heartbeat a simple blip, blip, blip…
"Lieutenant-Colonel Dalton?" Irving asked.
The blind figure moved slightly. "Who's there?" he croaked through a throat that was dry and ragged.
"What's Harbinger?"
The man flinched, as if struck. The blips came faster.
And then, to Irving's shock, Dalton began to sob. But without eyes, he would never shed another tear.
"T-The… Decepticons…"
Irving then understood how Dalton had come to lose his eyes. The Decepticons had beaten him here.
"Whatever you told the Decepticons, you must tell me," Irving said urgently, "Whatever Harbinger is, I believe it's penetrated the highest echelons of Earth's security. You need to tell me everything you know about it."
Why is he still alive? Irving thought, If the Decepticons got everything out of him, why let him live to spread the tale?
And that's when it hit Irving. He stared, dumbfounded, at Timothy Dalton.
The man himself confirmed it.
"I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!" Dalton screamed, "LEAVE ME ALONE!"
Nurses and doctors ran in to calm him down, ushering Irving from the room, as Dalton screamed in fear and pain.
Irving stepped outside a took a deep breath.
Dalton never had anything to do with it. He knows nothing. It was someone else all along, masquerading as him…
But he knew what to get next.
I need some pictures.
As the Autobots and soldiers hurried down the street, someone watched from above.
"Hehehe…" Mindwipe chuckled, tracking them from roofs far above, "Run, little mice, to your little traps…"
"We're being tracked," Sixshot informed them. They all stopped immediately. Mindwipe ducked behind a roof.
"Where?" Optimus asked, eyeing Sixshot suspiciously.
"There," Sixshot replied, pointing to the building that Mindwipe was on.
Uh-oh.
He quickly leapt off the building, falling with an audible smash on the next avenue over.
"Autobots!" Optimus shouted, "Get him!"
Mirage, Sideswipe and Bumblebee raced down an alleyway towards the other side of the building. Mindwipe looked up from the painful ground to find two blasters and a sword pointing at his face.
"I surrender!" he grovelled.
The smoke bomb exploded.
The entire street was filled with impenetrable smoke, causing the soldiers to cover their noses and mouths, and blocking the Autobots' optics.
"Where is he?" Bumblebee cried.
"That little shit…" Mirage muttered.
Sideswipe kept his swords in front of him, trying to peer through the impenetrable smoke.
"It's a light ion cloud!" he called, "Visibility should return short—"
Mindwipe grappled him to the floor, flying out of the smoke, and placed a hand over his mouth.
"See my eyes," he whispered, "Don't believe their lies…"
Sideswipe tried to struggle… and then looked into Mindwipe's optics.
They were far-seeing and filled with infinite knowledge. Small, yet expansive. Narrow, yet huge. Evil… yet brilliant.
"Don't try to fight…" Mindwipe whispered, his voice permeating Sideswipe's mind, "Or you'll never see the light. You are now a creature of mine… and you will awake at my sign…"
His optics began to spin and whirl within Sideswipe's head, twisting his mind around like an elastic band. He saw… loyalty… betrayal…
"Pray for yourself, for you're running out of time…" Mindwipe chuckled, "But beware the one who means you harm; the Prime."
And then Mindwipe disappeared into the smoke, leaving behind only an echo of his cackle.
The smoke then cleared as well, leaving the three confused Autobots to wallow in their failure.
"Where'd he go?" Mirage asked, enraged.
"I don't know," Bumblebee replied, "Sideswipe, did you see where he went?"
Sideswipe shook his head of the metaphorical cobwebs. "N-No… I didn't see him."
Mirage kicked a wrecked car in frustration. "They're gonna hit and run us all the way down to Chinatown!" he spat, "And we're gonna have to take it."
"If we survive that far," Sideswipe muttered gloomily.
As the three of them moved back towards the street to report their failure, Mindwipe watched from another rooftop.
"Go now, my pretty little pawn," he cackled, "Let misery be your shadow, and discord be your blade."
They travelled down the next few blocks in utter silence. No Decepticons were visible on the rooftops, no drones came out to fight them… no birds whistled overhead. It was dead silence. And then, most disturbingly, the bodies began to disappear.
The streets still ran red, but with no more corpses. Not a wasted soul was in sight.
"Optimus," Lennox muttered.
"I know," Optimus replied, "They've been moved."
"But where?"
That question brooded on their minds all the way to Central Park.
But when they reached the winter wonderland, they saw.
They saw it all.
For dead bodies don't bleed.
The snow was perfect white. Not a red blemish lay upon it, not a footprint was recorded. It was snowing, a little fall of frozen water descending over the silent city. It caught in the dead trees and put out the last fires of war.
And it covered the bodies.
They hung from huge shards of metal, crudely stabbed into the ground. Each one was impaled on a curved tip that hung them lazily in the air. They filled the park, covered it, like an open graveyard. Their mouths hung open in a silent scream, each one a morally destructive crucifix.
Several of the soldiers threw up. Epps fell to his knees. The Autobots stared with their mouths hanging open.
Optimus just stared coldly, his face expressionless.
Lennox spat on the snow.
"This is why we fight," he announced, "This is why we must triumph. The Decepticons… this is all their work. This is their fight. This is their—"
"Legacy."
A figure walked out of the snow, standing among the crucifixes. He was hulking, huge and powerful, each footstep like a thunderstrike. In one hand he held a huge flail, covered with buzzing blades, twisting with hunger for a victim. In his other, a katana blazed with blue fire that rippled along the blade and shone brighter than the snow. It was sharper than obsidian and stronger than titanium.
"This is our legacy," Bludgeon uttered, indicating the bodies all around him, "This is what one fights for. Our lasting proclamation to the galaxy; the will to do what must be done to achieve victory."
"Victory?" Optimus growled, "This is victory? This is genocide."
"It is a step forward," Bludgeon replied, "It is the beginning of a new age. The age of iron and fire, in which the last of these insects is exterminated and the cybertronians can be born once again."
"Simple as that, is it?" Bumblebee snarled, "Then why not find another planet, start again there?"
Bludgeon grinned, his hideous skull-mask leering. "Of course, single-minded revenge may be a part of it."
"Revenge is correct," Optimus uttered, drawing his keyblade, "And revenge is what fuels us now."
But figures began to appear among the crucifixes. Overload scuttled to his master's side, while Fracture appeared from out of the snow. Skywarp dropped down from above, flanked by Overcast and another Seeker named Crashdive. Drones approached, stepping through the snow in monotonous, emotionless paces.
"The trap is shut," Bludgeon muttered, "Now you will die."
The drones charged forward.
Optimus roared and met them, swinging his blade around.
Lennox roared as well, charging, launcher raised.
The rest of HARP followed suit. One after another, they charged into battle as a mist gathered.
The dead watched from above.
The advent bloodletting! Oh, how it stirs the soul!
Optimus carved upwards, splitting a drone in half, as Bumblebee blew another away. A third drone fell beneath Sixshot's blasters, exploding into pieces. Four and five fell to Mirage's and Sideswipe's blades, while the humans launched a full scale attack into the middle of it. Missiles smashed apart the drones, sending burning debris across the battlefield.
Then the real Decepticons joined in.
Backed by drones, Fracture literally leapt into the fray, screeching a manic laugh. She kicked back Mirage, before drawing her sniper rifle off her back. A shot blew Mirage into the next street, while she landed a kick on Sideswipe's cheek. He spun away, rallied, and smashed a fist into her mouth. Before she could recover, Arcee was on her.
"BITCH!" she roared.
"SLAG!" Fracture replied, and their brawl began.
Lieutenant Skywarp launched a missile right into the middle of them all, blowing apart drone and Autobot alike. They were all flung back, as the three Seekers dropped right into the thick of it.
"Alright," Skywarp snarled with a savage grin, "Who's first?"
Mirage charged forward and was beaten back by both Jetstorm and Crashdive, who began to circle him. But Bumblebee was having none of it, crashing into Crashdive and smashing him through several crucifixes. Mirage leapt into the air and spun a kick into Overcast's head, sending him flying into a frozen lake. But then a missile slammed into Mirage's back and Skywarp followed it up with a punch in the spine.
"Thirty-twos!" Epps roared, "FIRE AWAY!"
Four missiles sped from launchers and smashed into Skywarp, causing him to roar in pain and stumble back, firing a machinegun wildly. Bullets smashed into the ground and tore apart a couple of soldiers, but the fire was never-ceasing.
Optimus smashed two drones with a punch, before blowing apart another with his blaster. He kicked another to the ground and stomped his head. Sixshot and Bumblebee fought back-to-back, blowing apart more drones.
And then Bludgeon joined the battle.
Actually, he didn't 'join' it. He dominated it.
He knocked Skywarp out of the way, sending him out of the park and smashing him into a hotel.
Mirage then leapt at him, duelling with blades of his own, slamming them onto Bludgeon's katana. More drones entered the fray, as Bludgeon kicked Mirage away, swinging his flail in a wide arc that smashed into Mirage with the force of a meteor strike. Mirage was sent into the sky, where he fell and crashed into frozen lake.
Optimus brought his keyblade down, which Bludgeon blocked with his own sword.
"You fool," Bludgeon chuckled darkly, "You should have run as soon as you saw the crucifixes…"
"You should never have come here!" Optimus cried, kicking out. But Bludgeon simply nutted him and continued his assault.
"At least your… 'soldiers' have more sense than you," Bludgeon taunted.
Optimus turned his head and saw them.
The HARP soldiers were routed. No, they were broken. Despite Lennox's and Epps' attempts to get them back in line, they were running from the field of battle; the crucifixes and the large number of Decepticons had done it for them.
"Come back!" Epps roared, "You idiots!"
Bludgeon smashed a hook into Optimus's face, send shards of metal everywhere. Another strike smashed an optic to pieces.
"I expected more, Prime," Bludgeon hissed.
Arcee stabbed her blade through Fracture's knee. With a spin, she kicked Fracture into stasis lock, before turning around to leap at Bludgeon.
"No, ARCEE!" Optimus roared.
Arcee stabbed her blade through Bludgeon's arm, who grunted in annoyance and transformed. Arcee was thrown from him as his tank form was presented, the blade flying as well.
With a shot, he smashed Optimus backwards, sending him soaring into several frosty trees. He smashed into the ground with painful slam. The drones pressed forward as Arcee, seeing all was lost, transformed and shot off.
Optimus tried to feel the ground, but he felt as if he was floating on air. He tried to look around him, but found that he could not see. He tried to scramble… and did not feel a thing.
And then, a silvery vision came into sight on the snow.
"Sideswipe!" he croaked, "Help…"
Sideswipe stared down at his leader, his comrade. The 'bot he had followed all his life.
"Help me…"
"What have you done…?" Sideswipe muttered in an expressionless voice, "Your men abandon you…"
Optimus looked up and saw darkness within Sideswipe's optics.
"No…" he whispered.
Sideswipe smashed a foot into Optimus's chest, sending him sprawling further into the snow. Optimus gasped in shock and pain, looking up at one of his most loyal soldiers.
"YOU ARE NO PRIME!" Sideswipe roared, "YOU ARE A LIAR AND A FOOL'S IDOL!"
Another savage kick. Optimus groaned and spat out metal.
Sideswipe looked at Optimus with cold hatred.
"What have you done?" he muttered.
"The question you should ask," came a voice from behind, "Is what have you both done?"
Sideswipe turned and saw Mindwipe approaching out of the mist, flanked by Tankor and the scuttling Reverb.
"You have done well my little pawn," Mindwipe giggled, "You have given me Optimus Prime as a prisoner… and now, you've outlived your usefulness."
Tankor slammed a huge fist into Sideswipe's gut, before smashing a knee into his face. Then two Autobots were left on the snowy ground, with three Decepticons staring down.
"Let me dissect him!" Reverb cackled.
Mindwipe raised a metaphorical eyebrow. "I did not realise that you were a 'con of science, Reverb."
"Science? Screw science; I want to see what he looks like inside!"
"What 'bout this one?" Tankor bellowed, pointing down at Sideswipe.
"Execute him," Mindwipe chuckled, "Or play with him. I couldn't care less…"
As Reverb moved to try and drag the huge Optimus Prime, Tankor pulled a blaster out of his leg and pointed it at Sideswipe's head…
"SHOOT THOSE MOTHERFUCKERS!" Epps near screamed, as several missiles sped over the Autobots and smashed into the Decepticons, sending them stumbling backwards.
"FIRE FIRE FIRE!" Lennox roared, a missile speeding from his shoulder smashing into Reverb's throat.
"We got Decepticons incoming!" Epps roared at the two Autobots, as several HARP soldiers took up defensive positions. Dazed and confused, both Optimus Prime and Sideswipe looked around, bewildered.
"What have I done…?" Sideswipe muttered, his panic rising.
"GO!" Lennox bellowed, "GET OUT OF HERE!"
Transforming, both Optimus and Sideswipe sped out of the park, as the HARP soldiers stood guard. Mindwipe, Tankor and Reverb fled into the mist.
"Alright then," Epps shouted, "A guarded retreat, back four blocks—"
"We'd never get away in time," Lennox muttered, and they all knew it to be true. The Autobots had abandoned them and they were too few to fight off any Decepticon assault.
One I want, one I must go with.
Epps stared at his commander. "Then what…?"
Lennox looked around him. Faces, new and fresh and terrified, stared back at him.
"I…" he muttered.
One I want, one I must go with.
"We hold!" Epps cried, "We stay in line and we hold this position! We ain't moving back, not one step!"
Most of the men gulped. Others gave resigned faces and checked their ammo.
"Epps," Lennox whispered.
"What is it, Bill?"
"Remember why we fight."
And then, to the utmost shock of everyone within eyesight, Colonel Lennox slammed the butt of his sabot launcher into Staff-Sergeant Epps's face. He was knocked out cold on impact, falling back into the snow.
"All of you," Lennox ordered, "Retreat; take the Staff-Sergeant with you."
There was silence. No-one moved.
"Get out of here!" Lennox shouted, "Take him!"
Without a word, the men began to depart, four of them carrying Epps by a limb each. They fell into the mist, vanishing from sight.
William was all alone. He sighed, and hefted his launcher into position.
One I want, one I must go with.
But, then again, it was always going to end like this, wasn't it?
The ground began to shake.
For the good of all of us. One man, to give other men the time they need.
The shaking stopped. Lennox looked up.
Bludgeon, titanic and imposing, stared down at him.
"You have been abandoned, human," Bludgeon uttered.
Lennox smiled. His last smile.
"You shall not pass," he quoted.
"I shall," Bludgeon replied, "And you shall move."
"You're offering me a chance to live?" Lennox asked, surprised.
"I rule by a code of honour," Bludgeon informed him, "And if you were just another body on the line, then you would be dispatched without hesitation. But what you are doing now is foolish. Fall back or fight; one will lead to your death later, one will lead to your death now."
Lennox stared up at him. This huge Decepticon that worked by honour… it had been a long time since Lennox had fought an enemy he didn't hate.
And he was being offered a chance to live.
"I. Am. A. Soldier."
Bludgeon frowned.
"I have killed people," Lennox continued, "I have killed both human and Autobot in my life, directly and indirectly. I have served on every continent on Earth, fought creatures like you… creatures beyond my wildest imagination. And I have beaten them. Read. My. Lips. I am Colonel William Lennox, commander in the Human/Autobot Resistance Pact and You. Shall. Not. Pass."
There was silence. There was no movement.
Bludgeon let out a small grunt.
Lennox stared him down. His fingers flexed around the trigger of his launcher.
Bludgeon gripped his flail.
"As you wish," he growled.
…
…
…
Lennox flipped his launcher up and fired, three shots in quick succession, each one slamming into Bludgeon as the huge Decepticon raised his flail and brought it down.
Lennox realised with dismal sadness that he hadn't even fazed him.
The flail came down.
Sarah. Annabelle. I will watch you from above.
And, with a huge crash, William Lennox was smashed under the flail.
In one strike, he was bludgeoned to death.