After the Fall

by SpenName

Set after the events of Fall of Cybertron, the Autobots have made their way through the space bridge, however not everyone is accounted for as Jetfire, Ratchet, and Ironhide, all uncover disturbing facts about their closest friends. Meanwhile, a con once thought dead takes command of the Nemesis while Thundercracker learns there is more to this enigmatic leader than meets the eye.

37. The Battle of Junk Part 2: Whimper

Wing's Journal:

'Lately, there have been protests running all over Iacon, and to be perfectly honest, I can't say I wasn't involved in some of them. There are just so, so many of us, yet we're being treated like animals, dogs, trainedto sick on anyone that gets in the Senate's way. Each day I feel my rage swell until all I can show for myself is the label they've placed on me, an animal. I know some might say that I'm just over-exaggerating, but I think there's only one viable solution for any of this. I'm going to organize a meeting and we're going to burn down one of the main senate buildings in Iacon, after that, we'll show them what we really are. I hated Guardian, but if there's one thing about him that I had to agree with, it's that we are the superior species, in time, maybe they'll be sure not to cross us anymore. Otherwise, someone has to aggress.'

---

Ratchet

The Chief Medical officer was surrounded by black as his feet gently graced the ground. He recalled the sudden events that went underway during his plummet into the depths of the planet. A pair of arms had wrapped around him, placing a rectangular metal plate of some kind on his chest. The bot that did this told him to "hold on to this", and pushed the short, unconscious body of, what he could only guess was Repugnus into his arms. Squeezing onto the Monsterbot, Ratchet felt his fuel pipe shoot up to his neck as the plate expanded into a large and wide parachute. He could see again. With, Repugnus in his arms, Ratchet slowly drifted down into the depths of the abyss. For the briefest of moments, it seemed as though Repugnus had regained conscious as for just a moment, Ratchet heard: 'Ah eww, let go man, I don't roll that way..' before shutting down once again.

Now In the pitch blackness of the very bottom of the hole, Ratchet remembered to activate his headlights, illuminating only a few scaled feet away from him. 'Hello?' he called out in the dark, 'Sideswipe? Bumbl- I mean Goldbug?' he piggy backed Repugnus, who was just small enough to accomplish.

A pair of headlights flicked on ahead of Ratchet. He quickly shielded his optics from the sudden burst of light and stepped forward, trying to get a glimpse of the figure standing before him.

'Ah- who?'

'I'll give you three guesses.'

Ratchet frowned, and slowly unshielded the light from his face, '…Kup?'

The Wrecker grinned, 'Got it in one, how're you holding up doc?'

Ratchet chuckled, upon being greeted by the familiar face, 'Kup, what are you doing here? It's been ages it's- wait, are the other Wreckers nearby?'

Kup sighed in frustration, 'I guess Silverbolt didn't tell you, it' a long story but to sum it up, we crashed, we split up, and Ultra Magnus fell down here somewhere.'

Ratchet thought about it for a moment, eyed Kup in skepticism, and nodded 'Sounds good enough to me… we'll talk about this later.'

Kup nodded back as a low groan emitted from under his arms.

'You can put us down now...'

Kup had been holding Sideswipe and Goldbug under his arms like a couple of large sleeping bags, only coming to pay them any attention when one of them spoke. He looked down at them, back up, and carelessly dropped them with a thud. Sideswipe grumbled a number of curses to himself as he massaged the back of his head.

'Be grateful that I managed to grab you when I did lad,' said Kup as he twisted the Cy-Gar in his mouth, 'in my experiences I learned never to stand on top of a flying ship without an extra parachute, especially when the pilot is a rookie.'

Sideswipe sighed, picked himself off of the cold ground and activated his headlights rendering him visible and further illuminating the ground around them. 'Alright, alright, thank you, but really, it's good to see you too Kup.'

Kup hummed, scanning the area, his optic twitched as he removed the Cy-Gar from his mouth.

'It would be helpful if we could get some more light down here.'

'It would be helpful if we could get out of here,' Sideswipe lamented, folding his arms.

'Why would we want to do that?' quizzed Kup, 'We haven't even found Ultra Magnus yet, besides, while we're down here we might as well see what this planet is all about first.'

'I could help with that,' said Goldbug quietly.

'What?' Sideswipe spun around to face the bot and let out a frustrated sigh, 'Oh, it's you, I had completely forgotten you were in the room when it collapsed.'

'Nice…' Goldbug activated his own headlights and focused them on a thick metal wall. 'Wreck-Gar took us down here when we were first born' Goldbug explained, 'he had explained how the Junkions are er… manufactured, and exactly where it takes place.' Placing his hand against the wall, the ground began to rumble as a stream of connected purple light surrounded them. The lights were patterned on a maze of walls in distinct glowing symbols, while none of them seemed to make much sense, they all pointed in a single direction. 'It happens at the core… let me take you guys there.'

Goldbug moved forward and down a –now visible- flight of stairs. Kup and Sideswipe exchanged looks for a moment, before following the golden bot.

Carrying Repugnus on his back, Ratchet followed close behind them with his head lowered, he muttered to himself in a quiet tone, 'I just hope the others are alright.'

Sideswipe jogged next to him and shook the medic by the shoulder, 'Don't worry yourself, worry about what's coming up ahead, besides, I'm sure they're fine,'

---

Swoop

'We are NOT fine!'

Swoop barrelled around the drones in his Pterodactyl mode, firing explosives where he could as he ascended. Kickback and Shrapnel on the other hand appeared to have been having the time of their lives.

'Hah, Hardshells… Hardshells… everywhere!'

The silver and black drones, seemingly based off of their former Insecticon partner leaped from either side of the passage, making futile attempts to tackle them out of the air. Kickback cackled like a maniac.

'I see them; I smell them, the ones who own this ship!' He accelerated his wing beats and ascended further, 'This way.'

Swoop and Shrapnel tailed behind him as about seven more Hardshell drones bounded after them; crawling over one another in beetle modes. The gangway had expanded into a wider area making n making it all the more difficult to see where one was going in the dark.

Out-flying the tank-like Insecticons, the three robots crossed a corner, finding a long elevator shaft that seemed to run throughout the whole of the ship.

'This should lead us to the commanders,' said Kickback, 'Swoop, fire a-.'

Before Kickback had finished, a missile had been fired from Swoop's underbelly and with a loud shatter of broken metal and cords, a hole had appeared in the center of the shaft.

'Missile,' Kickback fluttered into the shaft, paused to look up, and further ascended.

'Swoop,' he said, addressing the Dinobot behind him, 'you did not answer my question.'

'What question?'

'Whether you're willing to align yourself with us or not…'

Swoop hadn't given it any thought; the events that had occurred over the last couple of days had left his mind askew, even his sense of time had been displaced due to his long period in outer space. He had been with Decepticons for so long in fact that he couldn't even remember who the last Non-Dinobot Autobot he had spoken to was. He couldn't determine when it was either, and this presented him with a great distress, how long has it been? Weeks, months, years?! For whatever length it was, Swoop had learned more about the Decepticons in this time than he did in the years' worth of training he received in Auto-boot camp.

'What about Slug?' his voice in a soft whisper.

'He can tag along too,' Kickback assured, 'though he could very well resist, if he chooses to deny his birthright then he can go on his merry own way… once we fix him up of course.'

'Of course.'

Swoop's wings flapped at a faster pace as the question rolled in his mind like a die. He had little idea what else there was for him, As far as he knew, Grimlock and Sludge were dead, Snarl too for that matter, and he wasn't even certain if Slug could be fully healed if at all. There were the Autobots aboard the Ark, Optimus Prime, Ironhide, Jetfire, Perceptor, Ratchet... they had all disappeared through the portal, with no one on Cybertron knowing what became of them at the time. Then there was the question he was forced to ask himself, would these Decepticons even hold true to their word? What stops them from killing him the moment they eliminate the ship's commanders. He perished the thought.

'I-I need more time, how about this, I'll give you an answer once we take out whoever or whatever has been kidnapping us.'

Kickback paused; Swoop couldn't tell what was being felt by Kickback, he could only see his abdomen twitch ever so slightly.

'Very well, I can respect that.' Kickback snickered giddily, 'its funny isn't it, I think it just miiiiight be a little obvious but, I don't really get along with others very well, but with you Swoop… I feel like I'm talking to a brother.'

Swoop was heartfelt from the statement, but he knew he didn't want to indulge in the Insecticons words.

'Thank you.' He said. He could hear Shrapnel, beside him, cackling like a hyena.

'I can smell them too, they're close… really close.' Shrapnel accelerated his wing beat and shot forward, tearing through the shaft and reaching a dead end. 'Behind here… here.'

Kickback fluttered around Shrapnel and sniffed at the metal, he transformed into robot mode, landed on top of Shrapnel for support, and fixated his aim on the barrier. Leaping forward, Kickback swung a mighty kick against the metal causing it to break off its welding and slam against the ground within with a clang.

Pulling himself through, Kickback entered the command room, followed by Shrapnel, and finally Swoop. The command room was different from the rest of the ship. Instead of the cream coloured walls with emerald scriptures that lit the ship's insides, the room was red, with holographic images picturing faces and names. For the commander to see, it read:

AREA A: Swoop, Kickback, Shrapnel, Hardshell, Venom, Chop Shop, Battletrap, Flywheels

AREA B: Jetfire, Silverbolt Roadbuster, Topspin, Ironhide, Warpath, Predaking, Blitzwing, Inferno, Blades, Brawn, Perceptor, Guzzle, Seaspray, Shockwave, Astrotrain, Barrage, Groove, Streetwise, Fireflight, Skydive, Doublecross.

AREA C: Ratchet, Goldbug, Kup, Sideswipe, Repugnus, UNDEFINED-ENTITY.

And so on, and so forth.

Studying these names in the center of the command room was a being sitting in a chair, he glared at the three Cybertronians in the room and smiled, his ominous green optics glowing with delight.

---

Ratchet

Stairs: Ratchet thought.

Lots of Stairs that were on a downward slope led only further into darkness. With only their headlights and the lilac markings along the walls to guide them, Ratchet felt an ominous feeling from the whole ordeal.

'I don't trust you,' Sideswipe said offhandedly to Goldbug.

Goldbug, who was ahead of the others, groaned and turned back to address the grizzled Autobot.

'You know, you're usually supposed to say things like that to someone you do trust, and in a whisper so that I can't hear it.'

Sideswipe raised his lip, 'Something you should know about me Goldberg,'

'Goldbug'

'Whatever. Something you should know about me, is that I don't care how I make you feel, naturally I'd apologize to those like Ratchet and Kup here, but with you… well so far I don't like you, so I have no need to sugar coat anything at all.'

Goldbug cast his hands out and sighed. 'Alright, I hear you, but I think you're stepping a little far since I've only been alive for a few weeks now.'

Sideswipe folded his arms as he walked, 'Still don't trust you.'

Ignoring him, Goldbug pointed down the stairwell. 'See that purple light down there, that's where the core is, we call it Nancy.'

'"Nancy"?'

'Yes Ratchet, look it was the Junkion's idea not mine, for a core that gives life to us, it makes some sense don't it?'

Sideswipe shook his head, 'Not really.'

Goldbug rolled his optics, 'Fine, fine, let's just go.'

'You'd be surprised lad.' Kup said to Sideswipe, 'There are things out there that have given names that'd make you blush if you were to say them out loud. I once knew of a galactic wrestler named "the man with a thousand breasts", now he didn't have what you think he has, not even two, but what he did have, was chicken, so much of it, that-'

'Whoa!'

Tripping, Sideswipe went on a tumble down the long stairwell, receiving pain upon contact with each of the steps edges. He landed face first at the bottom of the steps, the violet glow of the core illuminating his body.

'Sideswipe!' Ratchet jogged down the rest of the steps with Repugnus bobbing up and down on his back, regardless he carried on to the bottom and kneeled beside the fallen bot. 'Did you rupture anything, are you wounded?'

'I think I wounded my pride.' Sideswipe said into the ground.

'Oh, you're fine then.' Ratchet lifted his head, his attention drawn to the core, suddenly his optics widened as the word he was thinking of escaped his lips.

'No.'

'Ratchet!' Goldbug bellowed, 'You alright?'

Ratchet shouted again, not in response, but in reaction to the core.

'No!'

Goldbug jogged towards the surgeon in hopes of calming him down while Kup examined the large block-like object Sideswipe had tripped over.

'…Magnus?'

'Ratchet, what's wrong?'

Ratchet appeared to have been screaming in delusion at the core, 'Not you! Not again, we were done with you, you weren't supposed to come back, not when we're broken like this… you don't deserve to come back from what you've done!'

Kup struggled down the stairs, he jabbed a thumb over his shoulder at the Autobot body behind him.

'Ratchet, Sideswipe, I found- that was Magnus, he's in bad shape but I think we can… oh.'

Kup and Sideswipe traced Ratchet's view and stared into the core alongside him.

'No.'

The core room was about as wide as Cybertron's own core with a purple field of light surrounding it, inside the field of light was a single body, strung up with thick metal wires and stuck to a cross, the body was stripped of metal and was thinly connected to several metal spikes that connected him to the walls around the him. His chest glowed a bright purple and his optics a ruby red. His once shining silver plating had been reduced to a dark grey and his once bulked up and powerful body was thin from malnutrition.

The founder of the Decepticons, had been reduced to the core of a planet made entirely of scrap metal.

Megatron was reduced to a conduit.

'Do you, do you know Nancy Ratchet?' Goldbug asked nervously.

'Nancy…' Sideswipe picked himself up and off of the ground, 'That's Megatron.'

'Who?'

'The bad guy!'

'Oh!'

Goldbug entered the wide purple glow of light emitting from Megatron's chest, 'Well, come on, if another gravity pulse happens then this field will tear you apart, not unlike what happened to your friend Magnus back there.'

With a moment of pause, Ratchet and Sideswipe entered the purple field to find nearly to no difference in their frames, Kup on the other hand, turned to retrieve the stasis locked Ultra Magnus.

'Need help carrying him?' Sideswipe called.

'Nah, Goldbug's right, his body's been torn apart. So much that his frame is about the size of a slightly skinnier Ironhide rather than that of a slightly larger Optimus Prime,'

Sideswipe tilted his head to the side and grimaced, 'Alright well get back in here if you don't want the same to happen to you I guess.'

Ratchet shook his head as he stared at the body of Megatron, purple energy surging through him.

'What is this.… I have so many questions.'

'And I can answer them for you.'

'Who-?'

Ratchet's attention was drawn away from Megatron and towards the hologram that formed behind him.

'Shockwave?'

The hologram flickered as Shockwave's blank stare moved from Ratchet, to Repugnus, to Sideswipe, to Goldbug and back to Ratchet.

'It is fortunate that you made it to the core, I was afraid that you wouldn't bother with it, now then, I can explain everything to you, but first, I must ask something of you. A favor.'

Sideswipe stepped forward, transforming his arm into a burst rifle. 'And why should we do any favours for you?'

Shockwave stared at the red Autobot dully.

'First of all Autobot, I am asking a favor of Ratchet, not you, and secondly, threatening a hologram does not bode well for the image you are trying to convey.'

Sideswipe transformed his arm back and growled, 'Don't need to tell me…'

'What do you want?' Kup asked, carrying the body of Ultra Magnus over his shoulder, Magnus was far from the powerhouse he once was. His shoulder towers were gone, and his limbs were reduced to a white, spiny infrastructure crusted with oil and with metal plating overlapping itself. The only parts of his armor that was still intact were his helmet, upper chest and a small portion of his back.

The hologram didn't even flicker. 'Allow me to explain the situation, during my time on this planet, I had ordered Razorclaw inject the planet with a number of devices, while most of these shared the same purpose, one of them had the function of a three-way holographic camera that would reach the core for examination.'

'Okay, hold on.' Ratchet walked towards Razorclaw, still piggybacking Repugnus, 'before you go on, we're going to clear all of this up, right here, right now. What are these "devices" and if the one linking us is a three-way camera, then who's the third?'

'The devices…' Shockwave paused, as if to think whether it was best to say or not, 'The devices… I had manufactured them a long time ago under the radar of Prime and Megatron alike, they were to be used in the case where Cybertron needed to be destroyed.'

Sideswipe was taken aback, 'Why would you ever need to destroy Cybertron?'

He shrugged, 'I can hypothesize a few scenarios… what I did to manufacture such a tool, was by focusing research size changing technology, I had duplicated multiple nuclear warheads originally made for Megatron, but for each one I created, I created a Nano-Nuke for myself.'

'"Nano-Nuke"' Kup mused to Sideswipe, 'what did I say lad, stupid names all around.'

'This would be done by injecting the ground with a piece of equipment which would send thousands of these nukes spreading out and drilling throughout the planet's crust. When activated, they will change to their regular size and explode, devastating the entire planet in atomic explosions. I have already injected Planet Junk with multiple of these devices and with the raise of a digit I can vaporize all of you, Megatron included.'

The Autobots were struck silent, it was Goldbug who spoke up, 'But… why? What did you hope to gain from this?'

'This was originally a way to eliminate the Autobots quickly and ultimately, but it wasn't until we were already in the middle of our battle did I receive the readings… which only begs me to hurry things along. For your second question Ratchet, this message is also being broadcasted to the Wreckers own ship so that Jetfire can see.'

---

Jetfire

Jetfire's grip tightened, crushing the communicator in his hand.

'We need to leave.' He said quickly to Perceptor who had been stroking his chin in thought.

'Indeed.' He stared at Jetfire, waiting for him to make the order.

Jetfire turned to a terminal, scrambling for a new communicator; wrapping his digits around the blocky object he pressed it roughly against his audio receptor.

'Ironhide, come in, things are bad… real bad.'

On the ground, Predaking was wreaking havoc as Junkion and Autobot alike tried to stop him. The division between Autobot Decepticon and Junkion blurred and became one as the three factions fought one another face to face.

Warpath had scooped up an incapacitated Brawn as Air Raid and the other Aerialbots did aerial maneuvers, firing upon the goliath. Ironhide fought alongside Streetwise, Groove and Doublecross, the latter who proceeded to tear Junkions apart with his twin heads. Silverbolt however was slowly being crushed between Predaking's fingertips who managed to crush another retreating Junkion under his foot, laughing all the way.

'Yeah, I think I've noticed' Ironhide replied.

'No they're worse; much worse, Shockwave has injected the planet with explosives, enough to tear the planet asunder. He can make them blow at any moment and I may not make the best choices but I think it's time to get out of here.'

Ironhide unloaded one last clip into a Junkion's chest and grabbed a pistol from his waist. 'Well he did just take off again in Astrotrain with Blitzwing and the Insecticon, hell he could be in space for all I know but… you're sure he's still telling the truth?'

'Yes… no. I don't know, I just really don't want to take the chance, and really Ironhide, with that abomination in the middle of the battlefield it's hard to think that retreating wouldn't be our best option anyway.'

'Alright, fine, but how are we going to escape when you have thousands of Junkions and a Combiner on us?'

There was a pause over the comm, 'Ironhide, just get inside.'

Knowing what was being asked of him, the red Autobot transformed and rolled away from the group and into the Ship. After driving up multiple ramps, Ironhide found himself on the main bridge where Jetfire and Perceptor waited for him and transformed.

'Lemme guess, you want me to-'

'I want you to leave.' Jetfire confirmed, 'Roadbuster reported that the ship has another escape craft-'

Ironhide rolled his optics in annoyance, 'Frag these bloody escape crafts, why is it that we haven't even started using them until now? God knows where they've gotten us.'

Jetfire appeared to have shared Ironhide's annoyance, but for different reasons altogether, 'Alright, let me rephrase that, the ship has a smaller ship inside of it, happy?'

Ironhide shrugged.

'Ironhide, I'm sending you and a small group of Autobots off the planet while the rest of us distract Predaking.'

Jetfire waited for the denial, for the guilt trip, for the brashness that Ironhide usually displayed. Instead, Ironhide answered with a:

'Alright… when are the rest of you coming?'

Jetfire turned to Perceptor for support, but when none came, he forced himself to come up with an answer.

'I was going to suggest that I stay behind and fight them off so that you could escape, but considering what happened last time I tried that… We'll work something out Ironhide, but for now, I need you to take a small group of bots, and find Prime. Only he can fix this.'

Ironhide's face was a blank yet his voice still managed to carry through, 'I thought you said you didn't think Prime was alive?'

Jetfire shook his head, 'I never said that, no offence Ironhide but you've come to assume a lot throughout your lifetime.'

Ironhide grinned, 'Yeah… maybe.'

'The craft is this way,' said Perceptor leading him to a room a door away from the bridge. Jetfire followed the pair of red bots with the oddest feeling that this would be the last time he'd ever see Ironhide.

'Bah!' both hands on his hips, Ironhide inspected at the grey escape craft with a furrowed brow. 'This "Ship" is no bigger than the craft Warpath and I arrived here in.' As Ironhide proceeded into the ship, Jetfire could hear his ramblings on the engineering from outside.

'It'll have to do,' Jetfire said as he turned to Perceptor, 'I want you to go with him.'

Perceptor blinked bringing his hand to his chest, 'me? Jetfire I must object, there are just to many factors to consider to properly-'

Jetfire brought a digit to his lips and frowned. 'Hush Perceptor, I need someone to watch Ironhide's back, someone I can trust, besides, we've already got one scientist here remember.'

Perceptor grinned, 'You seem to be deluded into thinking that you are on the same level as I.'

He shrugged, 'maybe, maybe not… point is, I need you to watch him for me, make sure he's out of trouble, can you do that Percy?'

Perceptor nodded, his grin fading, 'Yes, I'll do what I can.'

'You can do what?' Ironhide asked, exiting the entrance of the ship.

'Perceptor's going with you.' Jetfire explained, motioning towards the scientist

Ironhide sighed and leaned in the entrances arch, 'Jetfire I can do this alone.'

'No you can't!' Jetfire, Perceptor and Ironhide all turned their attention to the short, bruised, green and yellow bot that entered the room.

'Brawn,' Jetfire said. nodding at the bot.

'Ironhide,' Brawn ranted on, 'You realize that whoever you take with you may be the only bots that survive this. What do you think you're talking about when you say, "alone"'

Ironhide felt like a fool not to have considered it, this could have been the last time he'd talk to these bots.

'Alright, Perceptor you're in… and what about you Brawn?'

The stout bot smirked, 'you couldn't keep me away.'

'So that's it then,' Jetfire said clapping his hands together, 'the three of you are going to be what it takes to find Optimus Prime, and just maybe, keep the Autobot's alive?'

'We'll do what we can.' Ironhide said, 'but er, Jetfire.'

He held Jetfire by the shoulder turning him to face away from Brawn and Perceptor, the two Autobots nodded in understanding, and made their way into the ship.

'Look Jetfire, I know you think that what we need is Prime's leadership, but the reason I went on this little quest in the first place is not because we needed leadership… well at first yeah, but for the most part it was for the sake of finding a friend. You Jetfire, you may not be on the same level as Prime, but you will be and I honestly believe that. One of these days you'll make a decision that'll show just what makes you in charge of these bots.'

'Ironhide.' Jetfire wasn't a fan of flattery, regardless there was a gestalt outside the ship and he really, really didn't feel like arguing or being modest. Instead he nodded and saw Ironhide to the arch of the ship's entrance. He and Ironhide were never the best of friends, not to say they were enemies either. Out of the majority of high-command, Optimus Prime, Jetfire and Ironhide had made up the bulk of it, Jetfire who was in charge of the sky, Ironhide who was in charge of the ground and Optimus Prime who stood on the borderline, commanding either one.
Sure there was Prowl, Ultra Magnus, Jazz and Grimlock, but they'd either be in charge of their own teams, separate from the main Autobot army, or would disappear for long periods of time, and none of them were in a commanding position for as long as Ironhide and Jetfire had been. Either way, both shared a familiarity with their positions; though Ironhide would give the brash, offensive approach contrary to Jetfire's scientific, observatory approach, they were both advisors to the Prime, and they both respected each other to that extent.

'You know it could have been you who led us.' Jetfire said. 'We still share the same rank.'

Ironhide shook his head, 'That aint what Prime wanted.'

'I'm sure he-'

Ironhide squeezed his shoulder; he wore the same harsh look he would have when scolding a lower ranked officer, 'He told me Jetfire, he told me that he wanted you in charge, you and he were the same ranks during Zeta's rule remember? He told me he even looked up to you at one point.'

'I-' Jetfire drafted a servo over his face, 'I really don't know how I feel about that. Besides, I thought Magnus was next in line.'

'Magnus isn't here Jets, and even if we do find him, it'll be up to the Autobots to decide who'd be a better fit for the position. I'm not saying Ultra Magnus isn't a fine bot or anything, but the decision comes down to what the majority wants.'

Jetfire laughed softly. '"Majority" You're talking about politics, who are you and what did you do with Ironhide?'

Ironhide responded with a hearty guffaw, 'I aint preaching Jetfire, I'm just saying what would be best for, y'know, the greater good.'

The two stood, awkwardly and gangly with little else to say. The roar of clashing metal and gunfire prompted Jetfire to hurry things up.

'You should go.' Jetfire said.

'Yeah…' Ironhide stood in the arch of the ship, the only thing keeping him from getting the hell off of the planet, was the nagging feeling that he was leaving something behind, something important. Before he could turn to leave, a large, red figure lumbered up to him and Ironhide's face made contact with a large fist-like object. Stammering, Ironhide grabbed on to a lone console for support. His inner circuits re-stitched the burning wound located above his chin however a light scar still remained. Standing above him with both hands clenched, was Warpath.

'Warpath.' He spoke trying to hold him his rage. 'What hit me just now?'

'My fist.'

'That's what I thought, why might I ask, did you fist hit my face?'

'I don't know!'

'Oh.'

Warpath sighed and helped Ironhide to his feet, standing in the doorway behind them were Topspin, Roadbuster and Inferno, the latter two both missing their right arms whereas a twisted, mangled set of charred metal and wires replaced what was left of them. 'Jetfire… you'll need to wrap things up now.'

Jetfire nodded to Roadbuster and made his way towards them, only glancing back at Ironhide, and Warpath for a quarter of a second before exiting the room.

'Look Ironhide, I am a kid, a selfish, boastful, immature kid, and you, you're an old fart with nothing better to do than give yourself tasks so you don't die in boredom.'

Ironhide frowned, 'I really don't know where you're going with this, but I felt myself engulfed in this enraged feeling the moment you said "fart"'

If Warpath were to die right there, he would have at least had the pleasure of hearing that sentence escape Ironhide's lips.

'Look, my point is, if we're both determined about this, then we should at least be consistent about it.' He jabbed a thumb towards his faceplate, 'I'm coming with you too, you and I both started this when we left the Ark, and we're going to finish it. Together.'

Topspin was seated at his post; it was only on closer inspection that Jetfire realized that his wings were broken off. Inferno had been mending his arm with a low-wield repair ray as Roadbuster watched the battle from the surveillance. He turned to Jetfire, his visor bending into a look of shame.

'Sorry Jets, I want to keep fighting but…' he motioned to his severed arm, 'I can't fight without a gun… there's also the fact that I'm using all my power to stand but…' The Wrecker's vocalizer crackled as he roared at the ceiling. 'I hate it!'

Jetfire felt obliged to console the Wrecker, but frankly, Roadbuster scared him.

'Alright, I'll call in Silverbolt and see if I can get him to divert Predaking's attention so that Ironhide and the others can get away…'Jetfire spun towards Roadbuster in sudden anticipation, 'Crap, I forgot to ask, the battle, who's got the upper-'

Predaking's fist tore into the side of the ship directly behind Jetfire creating a loud crash from the torn wiring and metal. Jetfire had his back to the action but he needed only the looks on Topspin and Inferno's faces to define what had happened.

'We're losing aren't we?' he turned around to find himself face to face with Predaking, poking his massive head into the newly formed hole.

'Shit.' Jetfire said.

Predaking laughed and reached in, grabbing Jetfire and plucking him out of the ship leaving the three conscious Wreckers dumbstruck.

Predaking hoisted Jetfire up with one hand and lifted Silverbolt with the other. Below Jetfire could spot the stasis locked Skydive and Fireflight alongside Air Raid who's legs were mangled beyond functioning properly. Appearing to have been consumed in rage, the Aerialbot dragged himself with just his arms to advance. Airazor was on all fours, her head trembling and her fingers digging into the metal ground. She looked broken, Jetfire thought, both physically and mentally by the looks of it. Hotspot, his Protectobots and Doublecross were all that remained, stuck within a small ditch that only barely guised them from the massive combiner. Surrounding them were thousands of dead Junkions that blended in with the planet the longer he looked at them.

'Ah…' Predaking sighed in pleasure.

'Jetfire,' he said.

'Silverbolt!' Jetfire, called out to the Aerialbot adjacent from him.

'Predaking' growled Silverbolt, rage swelling inside him.

'Silverbolt' Predaking said, placing his attention on him.

'Predaking!' Jetfire shouted a faceplate and visor forming and clicking into place over his helm and a pair of long crimson shoulder cannon's emerging from out of his back.

'Burn!'

With a loud crack and boom, that nearly turned Jetfire deaf, his cannon's fired a pair of massive red lasers each that crashed through the Gestalt's visor, disintegrated his wide optics immediately.

Predaking shrieked in pain and dropped the two Autobots. He clutched at his eye sockets, fingering the empty spaces in the glass until a green liquid spilled out and over his digits.

Jetfire used the jets on his heels to hover gracefully to the ground while Silverbolt landed flat on his chest, simply because he failed to give a damn.

'Silverbolt' Jetfire called, his hearing still muffled from the use of his shoulder cannons, 'we need to keep him distracted so that-'

But before he finished, the image of the ship Ironhide was piloting had already emerged come into view above the Wrecker's own, and was flying directly into the clouds above.

'Oh you think you've won!' Predaking lumbered forward holding a finger-bitten hand over his empty socket. 'When my optics regenerate, oh then you'll pay, I'll eviscerate you from this planet Silverfire Jetbolt! Oh yesss!'

'He's crazy' stated Doublecross who hovered towards them in dragon mode. 'Silverbolt, I know this isn't the best time but I can't find Repugnus anywhere, do you know where he is?'

Silverbolt groaned as he lifted himself up, he took only a moment to acknowledge Doublecross before moving on to Jetfire.

'Look Jetfire, it's about time we made a decision.'

But Doublecross persisted further, 'Sir, I want to know whether he's here or-'

Silverbolt laughed, turning towards Doublecross with a look of solace.

'Repugnus, the idiot, I put that dog down when I had a chance.' He leaned towards the deadpanned Monsterbot, his thick lips accentuating his grin, 'And it was amazing.'

Wide-eyed, Doublecross murmured a 'Oh', before hovering away from the two.

'Jetfire,' Silverbolt continued, 'what's it going to be, you're ready to finish this bastard once and for all?'

'We need to leave Silverbolt.' Jetfire insisted, 'Shockwave planted nukes throughout this planet, enough to decimate it entirely.'

Silverbolt cast up his hands, 'Look at all the slags I give,' he pointed at the Gestalt who had been giggling to himself insecurely, 'I am sick of this monster surviving after every attempt we pull at taking him down, even if the world comes to ruin, even if Cybertron crumbles, even if the sun burns out, I swear to Primus I am going to kill this spawn of a glitch if it's the last thing I do!'

Jetfire lowered his head. 'I believe you.'

He turned away from Silverbolt and made his way back to the ship.

'Where are you going?' Silverbolt raised his index fingers, coming to an understanding, 'Oh you're not- you are! You're running away!'

Silverbolt proceeded to do a sarcastic clap that shook Jetfire to the bone,

'Bravo Jetfire. Very Prime-like of you, go ahead and run away from all your problems instead of fighting them like a Cybertronian!'

'It's called a retreat!' Jetfire called back, 'Getting away alive is a victory in its own right.'

'You dumb piece of slag, being alive isn't a victory, succeeding in what makes you as an individual happy is what decides who the winner Killing Razorclaw- Predaking whatever, killing him will make me happy, that is what victory is!'

'Oh shut up!'

Silverbolt felt himself immediately silenced by Jetfire's sharp words.

'You need to grow up Silverbolt, the victors aren't who create peace, happiness, or any of that scrap.'

Jetfire faced his friend and brought a hand to his chest, his optics burning bright blue,

'Those who survive are the ones who end up victorious.'

With that, Jetfire entered the ship's hangar and tapped at a touch-screen data pad built into the hangar wall to close the hatches behind him. He could still hear Silverbolt's muffled voice shouting at him from outside as he jogged up the staircase and throughout the halls. Jetfire realized then that he had jogged up and down the ship's corridors so often that he had basically figured out the ships schematics all on his own, of course, moving to multiple locations happened often during a battle.

He raised his communicator to his mouth, 'This is a message to all Autobots currently holding their own against Predaking, Silverbolt has volunteered to hold him off while the rest of us escape, anyone and everyone who wants to stay and help, be my guest, if not, return to the ship immediately, Jetfire out!'

Feeling confident, Jetfire sprinted to the main deck to the breach sealed with a large metal square Inferno had bolted to the surrounding wall.

'Will that hold for when we leave Junk's atmosphere?'

'I'd hope so.'

Jetfire nodded to him and turned to the surveillance monitor, 'Inferno, tell me what you see there.'

Inferno directed his attention to the flickering screen and shrugged, 'I see the Aerialbots nearly defeated, the Protectobots barely surviving behind cover, and Predaking who is- yep who is thrashing the ground in front of Silverbolt.'

'I ordered them to retreat.' Jetfire told him, 'Maybe they didn't read me,'

'I think they heard you,' said Roadbuster, a thin endoskeletal arm replacing his previously lost one, 'they're just sick of running is my guess.'

Jetfire stared at the Autobots on the Telescreen and felt a sense of failure and distraught, he wondered whether it was because of the Autobots who were willing to give up their lives for their leader to escape, or if it was simply because he didn't want Silverbolt to be right. He dismissed the thought.

'Topspin, boot up the engines, we're leaving.'

Doing as he was told, Topspin punched commands into his console and waited. The ship's engines hummed a warm hymn that Jetfire would have found relaxing any other day of the week. But here and now the ship's ascent felt as though it were in slow motion.

'C'mon you lazy bum, just wake up already.'

'Are you talking to the ship?'

'Yes I'm talking to the-'Jetfire gasped, spun around and found himself faced to Catilla who stood arms crossed and a sniper rifle strapped on to his back.

'Catilla!'

Roadbuster and Inferno appeared equally shocked to see the new face and shot each other The warrior nodded; there was a thin data pad between loosely held between his fingertips, he extended the pad away from his person. 'Did you read this?'

Jetfire snatched the data pad from Catilla's grip and held it up against the light.

Gestalt Technology: An Essay by Heave of Polyhex

He stared back at Catilla 'What is this?'

'I found this placed neatly at one of the idle consoles in this ship. I think it's our solution.' Catilla answered, tapping at the back of his neck, 'It says here that if you attack the nape of the neck, on a combiner, then they'll freeze up, if we do this and keep wailing on him, then surely he'll fall, otherwise we'll need another combiner if we want to kill him indefinitely.'

'Nape of the neck eh…' Jetfire craned his head to the monitor, and back to Catilla, 'go then, with your aim, you should be able to land on Predaking's shoulders from on top of the ship, Topspin'll keeps her steady, now go!'

Catilla did a swift nod, transformed, and sprinted out of the room.

'Jetfire…' Roadbuster motioned him over to the holographic terminal 'you should really be listening to what's going on in the core right now…'

---

Ratchet

The Medical officer massaged his head crest in disbelief; there was no way in hell he could comprehend this in one sitting, so he asked again:

'Megatron became like this how?'

Shockwave made no hesitation to repeat his explanation as thoroughly as he had moments ago.

'To start from the beginning, Megatron had infused himself with the heart of the Dark Energon mining facility back on Cybertron, this left a mark on my former master, a mark that led to this outcome.' The hologram fizzled as Shockwave fixated his footing. 'But how Megatron's transformation into a conduit for this happened, stems from the moment he made his way through the spacebridge portal.'

'Alright,' Ratchet exclaimed, snapping his fingers, 'let's start there; try explaining the spacebridge.'

Shockwave stared at the ground, he wasn't staring at the Junkion ground of course, in fact he could have very well been staring at a data pad in his study, but from Ratchet's perspective, Shockwave appeared to be filled in what could be described as shame.

'The space bridge… a design I extracted from the caverns that the ancients once called the city of 0I- ++ t32098r [ett+01], in old Cybertronian. I had all I needed to build such a marvel, the Insecticons with their ability to produce nearly unlimited malleable matter, the lake of Energon I had been stockpiling for future regeneration, there was only one ingredient to the construction of spacebridges that I didn't have in my possession, and that Ratchet, was Matrix Energy.'

Ratchet's face morphed from confusion, to shock, to disbelief as he connected the dots.

'But you couldn't have!' Sideswipe spat, 'I mean, yeah, spoiler alert, you completed the space bridge, but how did you manage to complete it if the only way to retrieve Matrix energy is by-'

'Using the Matrix itself yes,'

'You couldn't have.' Ratchet muttered, shaking his head, 'Optimus Prime had the Matrix in his chest, there was no way he'd let you get your spiny hands on it, not a chance.'

That's when Shockwave's shame showed, 'I didn't complete the Spacebridge on my own.'

Lifting his head, Shockwave stared Ratchet dead in the optic, 'I had help, from an Autobot.'

'I don't believe you.' Ratchet said aloud, 'he wouldn't do this; he wouldn't help a Decepticon, least of all you!'

'With the help of Hardshell's hacking skills, I had managed to reach Optimus Prime's private comm channel, I proposed to him an idea. A solution for the war, a solution for the survival of all Cybertronians, I told him that by finishing this space bridge, the Autobots and the Decepticons could migrate away from Cybertron to find new worlds for us to colonize, rebuild into a new golden age.
I explained to him that I had foreseen Cybertron's death decades before it occurred and for the sake of our future I launched hundreds of thousands of canisters into space programmed to find planet's and plant them with Energon seeds.
At first Optimus hesitated, but even he couldn't deny logic. He agreed and over time, we arranged multiple meetings where we would discuss future plans and work on the space bridge project. And while we discussed the war itself, we vowed not to reveal anything about either side as we concluded that the space bridge was of utmost importance.'

Sideswipe swiped at the hologram in a fit of rage, 'Liar! Prime wouldn't go behind our backs, even if he did conspire with you, he would have at least told us first.'

'Optimus Prime is no idiot,' Shockwave's hologram re-accumulated, 'if he were to announce his conspiring with one of the Decepticons head military strategists and head scientist, then the Autobots would have been thrown into disarray, he chose best to keep our meetings a secret.'

'He's telling the truth.'

Disbelieving optics darted to Ratchet, 'Prime would leave on random intervals, he never said where he was going, I just assumed he went on walks… just needed to blow off steam.'

'Okay.' Kup placed Ultra Magnus on the ground allowing his arms to rest, 'so Prime contributed the Matrix's energy to the space bridges construction, just what does this have to do with Megatron?'

'I told you that Megatron had been infused with Dark Energon correct?'

'Yes.' Ratchet confirmed, 'Everyone knows that.'

I didn't, Goldbug thought.

'And he passed through the spacebridge with no armor or ship to contain him in yes?'

Ratchet thought about it and nodded.

'Yes…' then it hit him like a brick, 'God... Oh my God!'

'What?' Sideswipe looked to Kup for support, 'I don't get it.'

Shockwave's voice seemed to boom as he spoke, 'You are aware of the 50/50 formula correct?'

'Oh… Oh! That's the thing that led to the-'

'Correct, we all know what the 50/50 formula was and what it led to.'

I don't, Goldbug thought.

'You're saying…' Sideswipe's optics scanned the strung up body of Megatron. 'You're saying that when the Dark Energon in Megatron's blood merged with that of the Matrix Energy from the spacebridge portal, it basically resulted in a 50/50 infusion that gave him the ability to… to create gravitational pulses from within a planet?'

'Close, a commendable guess for someone of your stature,'

Sideswipe was unsure to take the complement or not.

'I'm afraid that Megatron received the "bad" 50 of the formula, a "space consumer" has formed around his spark.'

Goldbug tightened his grip an d stepped forward to speak, 'Bad Fifties, Space Consumers, Dark Energon…' he looked as though he were going to throw a fit, 'You all realize that I'm left in the dark for all this right? Say, "As you know," or something, at least then I can grasp a sliver of what's going on from that.'

Ratchet connected the tips of his fingers and thumbs together forming a thick circle with his hands. 'A space consumer, Goldbug, is a tear in space caused when two opposites are fused and activated upon contact with a spark. In this case, Dark Energon and Matrix Energy, It's as easy to explain as dividing by zero, but when done properly, it can serve as a battery that enhances the spark's power and can grant the Cybertronian with evolutionary abilities. Done wrong however, the space consumer will expand it's power around the Cybertronian's spark and will slowly absorb matter as it grows; creating small pulses that tugs matter towards it. Though the chance of it being done right and wrong is about as easy to determine as with a coin flip, hence the name.'

'And Nancy… I mean Megatron here, has been given the bad half.'

'Correct,' said Shockwave, 'however I am afraid things have grown beyond bad at this point in time.'

'What do you mean?'

'What I mean Ratchet, is that there is one more note about the space bridge that I hadn't informed you about, the space bridge does more than just teleport one to a random point in space, it also teleports one to a random point in time.'

Ratchet felt himself wobble where he stood, 'This is too much…'

'Let me ask you, how long has it been since the Ark passed through the portal?'

Ratchet felt embarrassed to do so, but he counted the weeks on his digits behind his back, 'two… three months maybe? We've been drifting a whole lot since then.'

'The Nemesis had emerged from the portal seventeen months ago.'

'Impossible!' Ratchet spouted,

'He's right,' Kup said, scratching his chest, 'The Wreckers have only been travelling the Galaxy for just under a year now, last I checked, Megatron was still on Cybertron when we were forced to leave.'

Ratchet massaged the arch of his nasal passage, 'We emerged in different locations yes, but we still entered the portal at the-'

'At the same time,' Shockwave finished, 'I had momentarily stopped next to the Nemesis and scanned it's metal alloys, the amount of Matrix residue coating it was much more scarce than that of the Ark's, as unfathomable as it may sound, it explains how swiftly and successfully they managed to strategize such tactics for victory in only "two months" time for you. It also furthers my hypothesis.'

He waited for a reaction, but all four bots merely listened for what he had to say.

'The Ark and those inside it emerged from the portal two months ago, the Nemesis and its crew, one and a half years ago, and Megatron – approximately- 50,000,000 years ago.'

'Scrap!' cried Sideswipe.

'Eh…' Kup dipped his Cy-gar, 'I've heard crazier…'

'Optimus Prime on the other hand,' Shockwave shook his head, 'I am afraid that finding out where and when he might be would be impossible to determine. He could be in the future, the past, in fact, whether Cybertron itself still exists is a matter of debate.'

Sideswipe shook his head in disbelief, 'fifty-million?! Where'd you get that number from?'

'I based it off of the size of the Space Consumer around his spark, its power had grown, so large in fact that its pulses have been powerful enough to pulls entire ships towards it hence our gathering here here.'

Sideswipe rubbed his chin, 'Well, that's one mystery solved… so planet Junk is the result of fifty million years' worth of absorbed space-junk and ejected metal, and the gravitational pulses-'

'-are the pulses created via the space consumer.' Shockwave realized that he received the tiniest sliver of satisfaction in interrupting Sideswipe, '-devouring all nearby matter as you know it. The only thing keeping Megatron from devouring Junk itself appears to be massive crater the Junkions formed, allowing it to absorb dead air rather than the metal that helped form the planet.'

It was Goldbug's turn to speak, 'I think this explains the Junkions as well, every other day, Wreck-Gar would take us down here, cut a sliver of Megatron's skin, and collect his glowing blood, he'd then consume a portion and with his fingers alone, would construct a full, living Junkion.'

'Then this "Wreck-Gar" has without a doubt gained the "Good Fifty" of the equation, gifted with the ability to create life.'

'Alright, enough of this,' Ratchet stepped forward until his face was inches from Shockwave's, 'I appreciate the revelations Shockwave, everything makes perfect sense to me now, but it still doesn't answer the question that's been rolling in my head since you first appeared. Why?'

'Because we're in danger Ratchet' Shockwave answered with great prominence in his voice, 'all of us, not just the Decepticons, or the Cybertronian race as a whole. The Universe itself, the Space Consumer has been left to expand for too many years. It's teetering on the edge of going supernova. When it either grows to a certain point or collapses, it will create an explosion so large that space and time will be torn asunder. The Universe itself will be consumed by a second big bang but rather than creating new life, it will wipe all of it clean. The Universe will end not with a bang, but with a whimper.'

Everything was silent. There was no reaction, no scream, no scoff, no dream… Ratchet just didn't know what he needed, or if he was even feeling anything in that moment.

The Universe. It was something Ratchet could barely fathom. Everything that ever has, and ever will happen: Gone. He started out small, there'd be no more oil, no more Energon, no more colours, no more air, breath, Autobots, Decepticons, Life, Death, Black, White, No more Cybertron, No more Optimus Prime, No more Megatron, no more Slipstream or Starscream, No Ironhide or Jetfire, they would not only cease to exist, but with no-one left to remember them, they'd have never existed at all.

'Ratchet…' Shockwave addressed him, 'You understand this correct?'

Ratchet nodded slowly, 'I understand the situation I just don't know how to deal with it.'

'Only you and one other can save us.' Shockwave explained strictly, 'Firstly, Megatron is dying; it doesn't take Astrotrain's built in scanners to determine that. However, if Megatron's spark burns out, then the Space Consumer will destabilize and the universe will end prematurely. You Ratchet, are the most skilled Cybertronian medical officer alive, save Megatron before this happens and the timer will be slowed.'

'So then what?' Ratchet inquired, swinging his arms back and forth in agitation, 'We just wait until it expands and let it implode everything everywhere?'

'No.'

'Oh thank Primus.' Sideswipe exhaled.

'Once you stabilize Megatron's life, it will be up to one of the only survivors of the 50/50 formula experiments to properly dispose of the space consumer. It will be up to Perceptor to release it…'

The weight of the universe on your shoulders wasn't a good feeling, Ratchet realized. But he could do it couldn't he? Of course he could. Right? No. Yes. Perhaps. No.

'I… I can't.'

'You don't have a choice Ratchet.'

With nothing more to say, Shockwave's hologram dissipated.

His legs wobbling as he walked, Ratchet moved towards the body of Megatron, he grabbed the massive Cybertronian by the waist, and with a loud screech he tore the Decepticon leader from the planet's core.

---

Jetfire

'Topspin, hurry it up!'

Topspin fumbled over the blinking controls, trying to find some sort of switch or "Turbo-Boost" button to speed up their ascent.

'I can't Jetfire, what you're asking is like asking for an already falling rock to fall faster, it just can't be done.'

'ARGH!' Jetfire paced back and forth in agitation, he could have sworn the ship was moving at the speed of a vacuum lift.

'We took damage,' said Inferno who was cooling off a burning terminal with his foam, 'it's a surprise we're able to take off at all.'

Jetfire grabbed Inferno by the shoulder and pushed him into a charred wall, 'You heard what Shockwave just said yeah?'

'Yes.'

'We are in our most dire situation right now, with everything on the brink of the end, I don't know if you realize this Inferno, but we are currently experiencing our darkest hour.'

'And you believed everything Shockwave said?'

Jetfire reeled back, allowing Inferno to step away from the wall, 'It doesn't matter, for now I'll trust in Ratchet's judgement for when we reach him, but either way, we make their pickup our first priority.'

'That may be a problem,' Roadbuster sighed, 'Predaking's readying another attack, and he's preparing to fire at us.'

Outside, a pair of large cannons the shape of musket barrels had emerged from the Gestalt's back, aiming at the ship above him.

'You think you're the only one with a pair big-ass shoulder guns Jetfire?'

The cannons glowed magenta as they charged in power. 'Well guess what's up!'

As the cannons reached their peak, a small, yet familiar Cybertronian landed on his back.

'What in the- oh you-'

'Hey Razorclaw…'

With the sound of metal grinding on metal, Catilla plunged his great sword into the back of Predaking's neck causing him to stammer back. The cannons went off, firing a beam of crimson light that only barely crisped the edge of the Wreckers' ship. Before he could charge another shot, Predaking's joints began to stiffen, starting with his neck, and leading throughout each of his limbs until his body was little more than an abstract statue.

Thanks Heave of Polyhex, Catilla thought, whoever you are…

Landing gracefully on his feet upon the rough Junkion ground, Catilla activated his sniper rifle, aimed, and fired a barrage of rifle clips at the frozen Gestalt.

'You didn't expect this, did you Razorclaw,' unloading his last shot, he grabbed another clip from his belt and reloaded his rifle, 'Well maybe you did, but I bet you didn't expect me to succeed!'

Catilla grinned as deep bullet wounds formed around Predaking's chest. 'While maybe it wasn't going to go down precisely like this… it was certainly going to end with me killing y-'

Catilla felt a great heat sizzle against his ribcage as a shot had been fired into his lower torso. He stood aimlessly before wobbling and falling to his knees.

Silverbolt reloaded the Scatter-Blaster and marched over to the Ex-Decepticon. Transforming his arm back into a standard servo, Silverbolt punched his arm into Catilla's wound and pulled, tearing out multiple tubes and wires covered in purple fluids.

'Razorclaw is mine, glitch.'

Whipping Catilla's wires across his face, the Decepticon screamed yet again as it tore a good portion of his cheek off with it. Silverbolt transformed his arm again and fired at the frozen Predaking.

Catilla tried to speak, but oil clogged his throat. Instead he aimed his trembling sniper rifle and continued to take shots. I need to be the one to kill him. Catilla thought, not some Autobot that only fought him –what- twice? That wasn't r- wait.

Predaking's optic lenses blinked.

No

In one movement, Predaking did a sweep-kick with enough force that it not only ripped off Silverbolt's left arm, right leg and wings, exploding off of him and into different directions but it also sent the Aerialbot flying about a kilometer away. It wasn't until he landed did the Aerialbot realize he was still afraid of heights.

One well place shot between the eyes Catilla raised his rifle, just one shot to pierce the brain module and he's dead for good, Pull the trigger, and the madness sto-

Predaking's foot came crashing down, crushing Catilla's body into a bloody, visceral mess of limbs, tubing and crumpled metal in a coloured assortment of any possible colour of fluid a Cybertronian could possibly leak.

'Wow.'

Predaking stared at what was left of his former lieutenant, he wasn't disgusted by it, what he was feeling was a sense of shock from the mess, and pride from being capable of such a power. He said it again.

'Wow.'

Turning his body, Predaking came to realize that his leg wouldn't move, one of the bullets appeared to have disabled his connection to one of the Predacons that made up his leg… now which one was it, Headstrong? Tantrum? One of those two definitely, he could tell.

'Now then… where are the rest of you? Come out, come out wherever you are!'

Unlike Air Raid and Airazor who were playing dead alongside the stasis locked Sky Dive and Fireflight, hiding under a mountain of Junkion bodies were the five Protectobots and Doublecross.

'Hotspot,' First Aid sounded sick, his usual peppy voice having morphed into a tone more akin to that of Kup or Roadbuster's. He felt hollow, both emotionally and physically in the sense that even the simplest jab could make him crumble to dust. 'I am sorry.'

'I know.' Hotspot was missing three fingers on his right hand and his left foot had been blasted off altogether. 'And if this is the end… well I think we already made our choice didn't we?'

'Which is why I propose we…' he paused, 'you're all staring at me.' He shook his head in disbelief, 'Are you all really surprised to hear me propose this, after- after everything?'

Blades had been missing his rotor leaving him as a complete wreck while Groove and Streetwise had lost both their lower legs. The three of them looked idly and soberly to one another, flinching with each booming footstep of the nearing Predaking.

Hotspot's voice croaked in response, 'You were afraid of this… that this would happen.'

'I was.'

'I'm sorry.'

First Aid shook his head, this time in denial. 'No… but at this point we can try it and buy Jetfire more time, or we can stay here and wait to be killed.'

'I don't get it.' The five turned their attention to Doublecross whose head was lightly rubbing against the kneecap of a dead Junkion above him. 'What are you all going on …' but he himself lacked the energy to finish his sentence.

'Just stand back,' Hotspot ordered, 'you'll be fine… us on the other hand.'

First Aid grinned, 'Were we ever fine to begin with?'

Hotspot reflected the expression, and the five huddled together.

Predaking growled.

'Seriously? I could have sworn… no I'm certain there were more of you.' He sighed and spotted the bodies of the four Aerialbots, 'Eh, maybe I'll just beat on your corpses, make me feel better.'

Before he could ready his next hit, the figure of Doublecross scurried out from the corner of his optic

'Ah, one more!' Predaking turned activating his shoulder cannons to finish off the remaining Autobot, only for the ground in front of him to shatter before him.

A massive blue and white Gestalt punched itself free of the Junkion ground, flinging chunks of brown and copper alloys in all directions. Bringing itself to its feet, the titan let out an ear shattering roar that caused even Predaking to flinch. Leaping into the air, the giant roundhouse kicked the combiner in the chest sending the Predacon's lumbering body tumbling to the ground.

'Wow.'

The gestalt let out a low grunt as it craned its neck to Doublecross.

'Man, I didn't know you guys could combine! Why didn't you sa-'

Before the Monsterbot finished, the massive Protectobots jaw opened to its fullest and a second roar, louder than the first, emitted sending vibrations throughout Doublecross's body. Dropping to all fours, the Gestalt pinned Doublecross down with one hand, and proceeded to tear off the Monsterbot's arm and chest with his large teeth.

'Sweet Primus!'

Airazor sat up and watched in horror as the newly entered combiner mauled Doublecross.

'What the hell is that thing?'

'Defensor,' Air Raid answered weakly. 'He was an experiment that the likes of Wheeljack, Perceptor, Gearchange and- well there were a lot of scientists that assisted on the project. It happened a long while ago, when Bruticus had only recently been realized. We needed something to counter it and with Omega Supreme shut down, we would have needed to come up with a combiner of our own. We had our volunteers but the experiment failed, badly. They managed to merge alright, but their conflicting minds came to be too much and the Gestalt went insane. It resulted in the deaths of 40,000 Autobots and the loss of Polyhex, some call it the destruction of a nation but ah…' Air Raid lowered his head. 'That's something of an exaggeration I think.'

'All that death… how'd you stop it?' Airazor asked,

'With guns' Air Raid said matter-of-factly. 'That, and by making sure those five were never in the same squadron again. I guess we failed on that part… but either way, attempting this?'

Predaking leaped forward, grappling on to Defensor's back and gripping on to the Protectobots lower jaw. Snarling and growling, Defensor bit down, ripping off and swallowing the Predacon's fingertips. The two Gestalts fell back and commenced their fight of scratches and bites. Rolling onto his feet, Defensor roared and slugged the standing Predaking in the chest, knocking him onto the ground with a loud crash. Activating his shoulder cannons, Predaking fired a quick laser burst that clipped a portion of Defensor's helm and cheek before grabbing him by the arm and throwing his massive body to the ground behind him. They picked themselves up again and repeated the process.

'…they must be placing all their cards on the table.'

---

Ratchet

'Pull… Pull!'

Kup, Sideswipe and Ratchet dragged along the bodies of Ultra Magnus, Repugnus and Megatron up the large staircase respectfully. Goldbug on the other hand spectated, unsure how to approach in helping them.

Kup paused to break, panting with either hand shaking against his aged knees. 'Ratchet, we ah, we should rest, these aren't the lightest bots we're dragging along here you know?'

Ratchet paused, shot Kup a cold glare, and continued on his path up the dark staircase. 'I think we're beyond the points of break here Kup, and from you of all bots? If I asked Sideswipe right now how many breaks you allowed troops in boot-camp how many would I-'

'None' Sideswipe confirmed.

'None! Is this hypocrisy Kup, or are you just having trouble comprehending the situation right now?'

'Well I- hmm…' Kup's Cy-gar bobbed in his mouth as he thought, 'I guess it's the latter, but I'm not asking to break for me, I'm asking to break for you doc, lookit you, you're lugging one of the biggest Decepticons alive, and your hands look like they're about to break off from your wrists.'

Ratchet was already shaking his head 'I don't care, they don't work right anyway.'

Kup sighed, and continued to lug the broad-shouldered body of Ultra Magnus along, 'You're much scarier than I remember Doc.'

'Yeah well, we all change over time.'

For a moment, the only sound that could be heard was that of metal scraping against metal as the three stasis locked bots were hefted up the staircase.

'I really can't believe it' Kup said, 'I've come to accept many oddities in life, I can comprehend subspace technology, mass displacement, attention deflectors, beings with thousands of limbs and living colours but when it comes to all of it just being wiped away it's just... really difficult, especially for someone like myself.'

Sideswipe looked up and into the murky darkness that blanketed them, 'I think that's the case with all of us Kup, maybe we really should be more frantic about this but… Oh!'

'What is it?' Ratchet stopped, taking the moment to massage his wrists in the dark.

Sideswipe pointed upward, 'That light, I could be wrong but that looks like.'

Ratchet, Kup and Goldbug all followed Sideswipe's line of sight to find a bright light growing larger as the whirr of ship engines echoed loud throughout the caverns.

'Hey!' Ratchet waved his free hand signalling their position. Flashing its lights in acknowledgement, the ship landed in front of the four followed by the hangar doors unfolding-open. Jetfire and Roadbuster rushed out, both in a panic.

Roadbuster ran to assist Kup in carrying Ultra Magnus as Jetfire helped Ratchet with Megatron.

'Oh Primus…' Jetfire murmured.

'I know.' Ratchet tried to sound assuring to little avail, 'Megatron had me at gunpoint once. Seeing him unconscious doesn't make him any less terrifying than he was then.'

'I can see it Ratchet, the space consumer… I actually expected it to be bigger but the mirage around his chest...'

As the last to enter, Jetfire nodded to Inferno to close the hangar doors and yell at Topspin to take off again.

'When Shockwave described it, he meant he meant its size in power, otherwise it has a diameter at about the size of a Cyber Ant. Either way we need to save him, the sooner the better.'

Jerking upwards as it took off, the ship's liftoff caused Jetfire to tumble backwards, dropping the Decepticon overlord on his head and falling on his aft.

'Careful!' Ratchet scolded and did a quick examination of Megatron's skull.

'Sorry! I'm sorry.'

Ratchet sighed and extended a hand to Jetfire who pulled himself up.

'We'll be picking up Trailbreaker, Scattorshot and the others next, knowing the Technobots there's a chance that they'll uh… shoot Megatron on sight, so you want to…?'

'Place him somewhere inconspicuous first? Definitely.'

---

Swoop

'You're… you're a Cybertronian?'

The large silver and violet robot nodded and stood up and out of his chair.

'Yeah, what, this actually surprises you?'

Swoop shot a quick glance to Kickback before readying his rifle, 'Alright, spill, what's the deal with you, who do you work for, what do you hope to accomplish in capturing us and why shouldn't I shoot you right now?'

The bot stepped forward, revealing just how large he really was in contrast to the Dinobot. He bowed politely and addressed himself with a wave of his hand.

'My designation: Snapdragon. I will try and explain as much as I can without hindering the Masters plans. I am a part of a faction of Cybertronians that has existed since the age of Nova Prime. We were the original creators of the Autobots, nearly rendered extinct by the Decepticons during their rise to power.'

Kickback observed Snapdragon with great awe, 'I haven't heard a thing about you…'

'Oh I am sure you have Kickback, our faction is currently named after the faction of great warriors that fought in a war even the Novacons creation, for now you may call us The Masters-'

'Of the Universe?' Kickback spouted hopefully.

Snapdragon looked annoyed, 'No, though that's not a bad subtitle… oh right, our current faction name is The Masters, but you may otherwise know us better as the Neo-Senate.'

Swoop brought the palm of his hand to his forehead, 'Oh for the love of- you people are still around? I thought you all died in the Senate Massacre when Megatron allowed himself to be captured that one time.'

Snapdragon's optics squinted as he grinned beneath his faceplate, 'We left the Autobots and Decepticons behind long ago to squabble on a lost planet while we expanded in space, working on creating the perfect Cybertronians while placing the rest into their rightful places.'

'"Perfect Cybertronians"…' Shrapnel said, massaging his chin, 'What defines one as such a thing?'

Snapdragon unfolded a digit as he listed the factors, 'Techno-organic material, Dark Energon, Multiple personalities, Multiple alternate forms, Beast Modes, Gestalt abilities, 50/50 subjects… we calls these materials the pieces of God, and when we finally result in creating a Cybertronian with all of these abilities well… I'll leave that for you to guess what happens.'

Swoop brought a servo to his chin, Bruticus' cogs, Battletrap's multiple personalities, Venom and Chop Shop's beast modes, Brawl's dark Energon.

'Alright,' Kickback clapped his hands together, 'So I take it you have these… abilities yourself?

Snapdragon straightened his back, standing with pride, 'Well, personally I'm a triple changer, I have a beast mode, dual personality, techno-organic materials and technically, I'm a Gestalt.'

'I don't see any organic materials…' said Shrapnel, 'or combining components.'

Snapdragon snapped his fingers, 'Right! Hold on.' Grabbing his head, Snapdragon pulled and with a grunt, popped it off of his neck.

'What.' Swoop and Kickback said simultaneously,

To their surprise, Snapdragon's head transformed into that of a small robot that, on closer inspection, had an organic face.

'Hello.' Said the alien.

'Hello.' Replied Kickback.

'The name's Krunk.'

'Ah'

Snapdragon's main body transformed into a large, silver and violet, wingless dragon completed with large rows of dagger-like teeth aligning his mouth.

'Relax' his mouth remained still as he spoke, 'Krunk and I have merged our minds in order to further our goals of superiority within the galaxy, it has been pretty common among us ever since the Neo-Senate joined forces with the Nebulans two decades ago.'

'Well this is all nice and all…' Kickback stepped forward, charging his sub-machine gun, 'but the last orders I received from Shockwave was to kill this ship's captain so uh…' he aimed his gun at the dragon, 'die now.' Firing a barrage of bullets in his direction, a mind controlled Chopshop leaped in the way blocking the shot meant for Snapdragon.

A low cackle emitted from behind Swoop prompting the Dinobot to spin around on the balls of his feet

'Hardshell.'

The bulky Insecticon stood between the lobotomized Venom and Flywheels, both with holes in their heads where cerebro shells had been injected. Hardshell rubbed his servos together like a fly as he giggled.

'You seem to forget that I am in control here, and in time I too shall be rewarded with the gifts that Snapdragon has, but for now,' he faced the Dragon who stood eyeing the Decepticon. 'Shall we eliminate them?'

'No, we'll be retreating in 3… 2…'

In a loud crash, the screaming Battletrap burst from under the metal floor-boards, landing in front of Snapdragon.

'Oh! My timing's off, no matter, Hardshell!'

Transforming into beetle-mode, Hardshell aimed and fired a cerebro shell bullet that whizzed past Swoop and Shrapnel and hit Battletrap dead centered in the back of his head, sending Energon splattering out the other side. The Duocon stammered before crumbling to his knees and falling into stasis-lock.

'No!' Swoop screamed, but he was stopped short as a dark shadow blanketed the ship.

Snapdragon grinned smugly behind his faceplate, 'They're here. Good.'

'Who is?' demanded Kickback.

Snapdragon transformed and combined with Krunk, 'My lift. This ship is dead, your Bruticus has succeeded in demolishing our drones, and while I'd love to take you on, I'm admittedly lazy so I think I'll just take my leave.'

A loud clunk echoed from above and in time, the entire ceiling of the ship was peeled off by a pair of massive clawed tentacles capable of dismantling Metroplex. They were connected to another green ship like that of Snapdragons. Though it wasn't alone, along-side it were two more all as massive and intimidating as the first.

Using the talons on his feet to keep his body from floating off into space, Swoop nearly missed seeing Battletrap rise to his feet. Fully indoctrinated by the cerebro cell leeching off his brain, Battletrap activated his thrusters and joined the transformed Venom, Flywheels, Chopshop and Hardshell into entering the newly arrived dreadnoughts. Snapdragon spoke a final, 'Toodloo' before transforming into a Cybertronian jet and blasting off after them. The trio of ships roared in rotation until all three of them were facing a single direction and as sudden as they appeared, they were gone.

Filled with a sense of defeat, Swoop fell to his knees. He turned idly to Kickback and Shrapnel who hovered in place in their insect modes.

'What?' Swoop spat, 'we lost yeah? They got away with Battletrap and Flywheels and all we gained from this experience is the knowledge that there is a third faction out there, harvesting Cybertronians with special prowess's and doing Primus knows what else.'

'Well…' Kickback transformed into robot mode, 'what's done is done, and we did find the Combaticons, fortunately, Shockwave has become aware of the situation and will no doubt solve this problem himself.'

Swoop blinked, 'How-'

'We share a mental connection.' He explained, tapping the side of his helm, 'It's why I passed out back on the ship see? Shockers had a bit of a breakdown which ah… affected me too in a way.'

Swoop stared at his lap, deciding to get on with the inevitable, 'I can guess what you want from me now, you want to know whether I'll join you or not.'

Kickback crossed his arms and tilted his head to the side, 'You did promise.'

Swoop sighed, his hand holding up his chin as he sat. 'It's not an easy decision.'

Kickback jumped 'Oh but of course, just remember your options, the Dinobots are dead, the Autobots don't accept you like we do, and don't forget Battletrap's words, Autobots and Decepticons are just as brutal, so really when it comes down to it, the question is who you are willing to spend the rest of your days with.'

'I don't…' Swoop paused to stand up, rising to the same height as Kickback, 'I don't think that's what Battletrap meant. We are different, we share different views and beliefs, different levels of violence, but neither Autobot nor Decepticon can be considered good or evil. Megatron's arguably a bad guy, so is Starscream, Soundwave, Strika, but then there's Battletrap, Onslaught and Flywheels who care about those close to them and fight not out of pleasure, but for duty.' Swoop smiled, 'I'm sorry Kickback, but I still have to decline your offer…'

He offered a handshake to the Insecticon, 'Maybe in the future something will work itself out, but for now, despite being on different sides… let's at least try to stay friends.'

Kickback hesitated but succumbed to Swoop's offer and shook his hand.

'Maybe…'

Kickback froze for a moment and reeled back his free arm.

'Or maybe not.'

Thrusting his arm forward, Kickback pierced his hand into and out the back of Swoop's neck causing the Dinobot to grab onto him in shock.

'Idiot!' Kickback taunted as he twisted his arm and ripped out Swoop's vocal processor.

'Moron!' Kickback then transformed his arm into a saber and dug it deep into Swoop's stomach, cutting himopen and exposing the Dinobot's inner wires and tubing.

'Duh, Mass!'

Emerging from the elevator shaft, Onslaught and the Combaticons rushed, bearing witness to the carnage laying waste in front of them.

'Kickback!' Onslaught shouted, extending his arm out to him, 'What are you doing?!'

'Relax!' Kickback assured, 'Shockwave told me that I could do anything I wanted to him as long as I didn't kill him…' He roared in laughter and snapped the paralyzed Swoop's arm back, 'Now let's see how imaginative I can be!'

'Guys…?' Swindle was examining the holographic data being projected above the command table, but more specifically, the names that were listed, 'What does: "CURRENT TARGET Area B: Silverbolt, Predaking, Catilla, Defensor…" mean?'

Swoop couldn't even scream.

---

Trailbreaker

'Keep it up Autobots!' Trailbreaker shouted atop a higher platform looking out at the battlefield taking place throughout the camp, next to Crosshairs and Gears. 'We've nearly wiped the camp clear of Junkions!'

'Trailbreaker' his comm rang.

The black Autobot pressed his forefinger against the side of his helm and listened in, 'I read you Jetfire.'

'Trailbreaker, It's a long story, but the most important thing for you to know is that the planet is about to blow in a number of minutes and-'

'I can't shield the planet with a force-field if that's what you're wondering jets.'

'Trailbreaker this is serious, I need you to gather everyone up and shield them. We can see you from here.'

Trailbreaker looked up to see the incoming ship, its massive guns trained on the camp,'Got it, Autobots, tight formation!'

Gathering together and supporting one another with covering fire, the Autobots huddled beneath Trailbreaker's platform, fending off the aggressing Junkions. Certain that they were close enough, the black Autobot activated his force field, covering the twenty to thirty Autobots in a glowing orange dome of light.

'Now!'

The ship's guns went off, firing a barrage of laser and missile fire that leveled both the base-camp, and the remaining Junkions altogether.

Hovering just under Trailbreaker's platform, the ship's hangar doors opened once again, inviting the dozens of Autobots to scramble inside.

Taking off and leaving the ravaged remains of the Ark's medibay behind, Jetfire wasted no time in barking orders to the crew, 'Powerglide, assist Topspin in flight controls, Hubcap, Huffer, try to locate a signal for us to track, anything that isn't a Decepticon will do, Scattorshot, get to the helm, and Tailgate, whatever you do don't open that closet.'

Trailbreaker hummed as he scanned the crusted innards of the aircraft, 'I expected the Xantium to be bigger…'

'This isn't the Xantium,' Jetfire said 'but Trailbreaker, I have a job for you.' He passed the black Autobot a metal cube, 'I need you to gather the others like you did just now, and have them watch this holographic recording, this will explain the situation we're in.'

Taking the peculiar cube, Trailbreaker nodded and went on to fulfill his job. The moment he was out of sight, Ratchet had jogged to Jetfire, 'This isn't good, we need these people out of here, if even one of them catches sight of M- of you know who before being debriefed, then it could result in the end of everything as we know it.'

'You think I don't know that Ratchet? The minute Trailbreaker is done wi- Oh Scrap!'

Looming behind Ratchet, the bloody, skeletal body of Wreck-Gar stood. In order to keep regenerating, (and to stay alive at all), Wreck-Gar stabbed his fingertips into his chest with one hand and used his other to swing an axe into Ratchet's right shoulder.

Yelping in pain, Ratchet fell to his knees prompting Jetfire to activate his shoulder cannons. 'No!' Ratchet yelled, extending his hand out in desperation, 'Shoot and you'll blow a hole into the side of the ship!'

Conflicted, Jetfire could only watch as the Junkion readied his axe for another attack.

Before the blow could connect, a blast of blue light erupted and exploded against Wreck-Gar's torso, pinning the Junkion to the ground.

'NO!' Wreck-Gar screeched, his now limbless body splashing and wriggling in place, 'I was the one, even after being cast out for just being myself, I was the one who found Nancy, I was the one who was granted the power of eternal life! I am Wreck-Gar! I am the Harvester, the King, I am a HERO!'

Standing triumphantly above him with a smoking riot cannon in hand, was Goldbug.

'Not today.'

---

Airazor

'RrrrrRAAAAAGHHH!'

With a sickening crunch, Predaking ripped Defensor's head from his shoulders and held it in the air triumphantly, the rest of the Gestalt's body fell to the floor, limp.

'No…' Airazor dipped her head as oil formed around her optics, 'did he- did they die?'

Air Raid was shaking his head, 'I-I don't know… He shouldn't- maybe, maybe just Hotspot.'

'Maybe?'

'I don't know okay!' Air Raid snapped, 'I never studied combiner tech, I have no idea how any of the scrap works anyway!' he sobbed. 'Just… just shut up and let our final moments be worth something.'

Airazor spoke without a sliver of emotion present, either she lost the ability to, or she just didn't know how to feel at that time.

'I don't want to die…'

'Who does?' Air Raid sighed, 'Sideswipe's going to be pissed when I don't come back… that's what I'm most worried about.'

'At least you'll be remembered for something.'

'Maybe.'

They shut their optics.

It was the greatest day of Razorclaw's life. Wait, he thought, he wasn't Razorclaw anymore, Predaking, right. It was the greatest day of Predaking's life, he crushed Catilla, defeated the legendary monster: Defensor and sent the Autobots running. 'Yes!' he screamed, 'There is nothing left that can defeat me! I am the alpha and the omega! I am Predaking, the Ultimate Cybertronian life form!'

Before he could finish his last sentence, the three, green, Neo-Senate ships warped directly above the Gestalt.

Inside, Snapdragon cleared his throat and spoke into a large speaker that would echo throughout the planet.

'Want to bet?'

The middle ship's tractor beam activated and with little difficulty, Predaking was lifted off of the ground.

'NO!' he thrashed and screamed and from the ground, Airazor could have sworn he resembled a whining toddler.

Not long after, Airazor, Air Raid, Skydive and Fireflight felt their bodies being lifted off the ground as well.

'Aw… scrap.' Air Raid cursed, he turned to Airazor who was being beamed upside down, smiled, and said: 'Looks like Primus isn't done with us quite yet.'

Airazor tried to smile back, but before she could, the ship already consumed her into its belly. Next was Doublecross, who lacked either dragon head and had a large bite mark in his torso from Defensor, next was Defensor himself, whose headless body rose from the ground like a massive rag-doll. A kilometer away, missing an arm, a leg, and a pair of wings, Silverbolt watched the event unfold.

'You, monsters…' he pulled himself forward with his single arm, ' you think this surprises me!? You think that any of this scares me!? I don't care what any of this means, Primus just do what you want with me and get it over with! If you're trying to test me further then don't bother because nothing, nothing, comes as a surprise to me!'

A single digit tapped Silverbolt on his shoulder. With difficulty, the Aerialbot spun himself around and felt his jaw drop.

Standing before him was a familiar mech. A flier with a black and purple colour scheme, and an immature grin plastered on his face, he had both of his hands politely placed behind his back. Silverbolt was surprised.

'Skywarp?!'

The Seeker raised both his index fingers as if to conduct a musical,

'That's right bud, it's me, Skywarp, now I just need you to stay exactly where you are, see that's good, stay distracted just long enough for-'

A hard metal plank cracked against the back of Silverbolt's helm knocking him unconscious immediately.

'-for Needlenose to knock you out.'

The Novacon tossed the plank away and hoisted Silverbolt up and over his shoulder.

'Hey thanks Skywarp, you know, for a captive you are really helpful.'

Skywarp shrugged, 'Eh, if it means I get snack privileges then I'll do what I can.' The Seeker's attention however, was fixated on the massive ship's that hovered over the battlefield.

'So… do you guys have any idea what the hell those things are?'

Needlenose narrowed his optics at the dreadnoughts and turned his gaze away,

'…our mortal enemies… here's Spinister now.'

The medi-craft descended from the harsh clouds and landed beside Needlenose and Skywarp. Skywarp had started jogging in the moment the hatch opened for a chance to nab a bag of Energon goodies but paused, poking his head out momentarily to see what Needlenose was up to.

'Hey, Needles, is everything alright?'

The Novacon was peering into a ditch where the whimpering forms of Snarler, Octopunch, Stranglehold and Carnivac sat, kneeling and flinching at the gaps between their fingers.

'Hey.'

They looked up at him.

'So uh… you guys here to die or… do you want to come with us and become Novacons?'

Octopunch, Stranglehold and Snarler looked to one another and nodded vigorously.

'Awesome,' he waved them to the craft as the sound of thunder bellowed in the clouds above, 'C'mon in.'

While the three bots didn't hesitate to follow Needlenose into the craft, Carnivac on the other hand, spotted Catilla's disembowelled body rising from the ground and transformed into his wolf mode.

'Where's he going?' Needlenose asked as the hatched closed behind him. Getting no response, the Novacon shrugged, tossed Silverbolt on to the floor of the craft and called rapped a fist against the wall signalling Spinister to take off.

Sprinting at high speeds, Carnivac leaped forward and into the green tractor beam. Transforming back, Carnivac grabbed on to Catilla's body as it was pulled into the dreadnought.

---

Jetfire

The ship, which Jetfire had only then learned was called, The Broadside, had exited Junkion's atmosphere putting him at a temporary peace of mind. However with the Autobots now fully informed, panic rioted throughout the ships corridors.

Ratchet and Fixit had no choice but to operate on Megatron in the hangar where, if Jetfire were to ask anyone, Ratchet was going crazy. His fingers trembled as oil leaked in all corners of his face, his optics releasing surges of light that only worsened his condition.

'His spark's red. First Aid… what did he do on Repugnus, he- ah right, he removed his T-Cog but… his T-Cog isn't even in the way of anything! Oh Primus, what the hell do I do?!'

'Ratchet,' Fixit place a warm hand on his lower arm, 'you need to calm down.'

'Get away from me!' Ratchet screamed, his servos were failing once again.

Jetfire made his way down the stairs, skipping every other step to save time,

'Ratchet!'

The surgeon was breathing three times faster than he was supposed to, and Jetfire didn't have to have a medical degree to see that this was a bad thing.

'Ratchet, I think you're having an attack, you won't be able to save anyone if you don't calm down.'

Pausing between breaths, Ratchet managed to make out a sentence, 'Per- Perceptor, Shockwave said that- that only Perceptor knows how to fully dispose of the Space Consumer' he swallowed, suddenly calming at the boost of hope, 'get him here and maybe he'll find a way to eliminate it before Megatron expires… Jetfire?'

The Autobot Leader stood; face forward, hands clenched, and spirit broken.

'I-'

'Jetfire?' Ratchet shook him by the shoulder, 'Jetfire where's Perceptor?'

'He- I'

'Jetfire?'

'I…'

Jetfire cleared his throat, and reported what he did.

'I sent Perceptor away. With Ironhide. To find Optimus Prime.'

Ratchet shook his head in disbelief.

'You what?' before he got an answer, Ratchet fell to the floor, passing out and into involuntary stasis lock.

As Fixit nursed the surgeon, Jetfire ran, he ran up the stairs, past a worried Roadbuster, past Sideswipe and Kup, past Goldbug and Trailbreaker, past Rollbar and Inferno and past Huffer who tried to tell him that they had made contact with Jazz and the others. He stopped in front of Gears.

'Gears!'

The blue and red mini-bot had been guarding the now fully regenerated Wreck-Gar, who stood staring at the planet Junk through a wide, plexiglass window.

Gears placed his focus on the commander, while keeping his shotgun trained on the Junkion.

Jetfire's servos waved back and forth, trying to form the proper words.

'On Junk did you bring any notes? Any of Perceptor's notes, see he had a hypothesis, and only now do I realize that it was actually right, they'd probably be in the trash so if you-'

'Jetfire,' Gears spoke calmly but unhappily, 'We threw the trash away, and even if we didn't, it would have been decimated when the Broadside's guns ripped apart the rest of the camp.'

Jetfire's vocalizer crackled as he yelled, 'Okay, okay, what about Audio logs! Perceptor showed me a bunch that were made by this scientist named Wing, do you have any-'

'They would have been decimated Jetfire.' Gears repeated, firmly.

'Well maybe not! Maybe if we turn back now we can-'

Shockwave's seeds activated, and with the sound of cracking thunder, the planet Junk had been consumed in a massive fireball.

'Well… huh.' Jetfire remained motionless. He was stuck, stuck in a mess of tangled webs and emotions that bonded him from head to toe

'I can make things better,' Wreck-Gar whispered. 'Just hand me your gun and everything will be better.'

Jetfire nodded and Gears handed his shotgun to Wreck-Gar. Wreck-Gar placed the barrel under his own chin, whispered what he was for one last time, and with the only objection being the sound of Jetfire screaming out his name, Wreck-Gar pulled the trigger, ending his own life.

He was Wreck-Gar, and he was alone.

---

AN: So this concludes the Junkion story arc... though we still have the epilogue to go.

Some things I'll confirm about the story at this moment. One: We are at the half-way point of After the Fall. (Though I am certainly certain the story won't end when After the Fall does, it will just drastically change.) Two: I am going to tone down the tragedy a tad since I feel the story is both a comedy as much as it is a tragedy and lately I've focused on one more so than the other. And Three: As I've already said, I'm going to take a break once I finish the Junk epilogue, the longest I imagine it to take is a month in a half tops. But then again with the winter break coming up I might just start again sooner. I know for sure that I'm going to keep going over the earlier chapters and polish them up a bit though. They really need it...

Lastly, I need to ask a favor. Feedback. Not words of encouragement, but just your thoughts. There are some things that make me wonder whether I'm on the right track or not. Length is one, and if there is one thing that After the Fall stands out in, it's length. So I've got to wonder, coming from you: readers who enjoyed the story enough to read this far, how do you feel about the length? Is it too much, Do you like the amount of content per chapter, or do you prefer shorter chapters at more frequent intervals. There are other things I'd like to ask about, character amount, whether things make sense, certain character developments, but really anything you have an opinion on I'd like to hear. If you could then hopefully I can further improve.

Anyways, thanks again for reading and I'll be posting the next chapter up as soon as I can.