23- One Shall Fall.
"And it was written, in the Covenant of Primus, that when millions of spheres align, a perpetual conflict will culminate upon a world forged from chaos. And the weak shall perish in the shadow of a rising darkness." Optimus told as he was reading something on the screen.
"No skies raining fire?" Arcee said sarcastically.
"Goes without say. It is a doom prophecy after all." Ratchet pointed out.
"I say it's a load of hooey." Bulkhead remarked.
"I'd always assumed the ancients were referring to our home planet. But being that Cybertron has been dark for eons." Ratchet said.
"And considering what has befallen this galaxy since Megatron's arrival here." Optimus continued.
"And that's not everything." Ratchet added. "A few days ago, our scanners discovered a new mysterious planet. One that seems had appeared out of nowhere. We decided to call it…Planet X."
"Why is this new planet so interesting?" Cliff asked.
"Even if it seems no possible, it appears that this planet emerged from one of this galaxy's most mysterious and dangerous locations: The Maw." Optimus revealed.
"The enigmatic place near to Kessel: a place on space crawled with gravity wells, black holes, ion fields and whatever more dangerous things within it. Nobody knows what exactly is hidden in its depths. They are tales about space storms, weird anomalies and even strange titanic creatures. And according with our scanners, it seems that Planet X came out from there a few days ago. But that is not the strangest thing. Three days ago, the planet was located in that position, and just a few hours ago its position has changed, light years away from its previous location. It sounds something impossible, but it's almost like the planet was moving itself." Ratchet explained.
"Okay, I'm not a stellar expert, but I'm sure planets don't move by their own. But what has all this to do with this prophecy?" Cliff asked.
"Whoa whoa whoa, we've known about these superstitions for ages and never gave them a second thought." Bulkhead defended.
"Why all the ominous rumblings now?" Arcee asked.
"Because the planetary alignment to which the prophecy refers is nearly upon us. And it's not an ordinary one." Optimus answered.
"Why?" Arcee asked.
"These is the supposed trajectory that Planet X is actually having. And these is a map of the galaxy." Ratchet showed on the screen. "And as you can see, countless planets are starting to aligning from different sectors of the galaxy."
"You mean will be a galactic alignment?" Cliff asked.
"No, not like that. Much more like some kind of mega planetary alignment inside the galaxy. And it would seem its endpoint will be Planet X, if it continues its actual trajectory." Ratchet concluded.
"Uh, crazy coincidence." Bulkhead laughed nervous. "Right?"
"Too much for be a coincidence." Cliff corrected.
"How long are we talking?" Arcee asked.
"A few days, at most." Ratchet answered.
"However, unsettling this revelation may be, I am more concerned about those who might believe that the prophecy speaks to them alone." Optimus ended, referring to a certain rival of him.
Meanwhile, while it was navigating between space, at the Nemesis's bridge…
"I did not seek out the blood of Unicron to simply keep my spark aflame, but to rule undead armies and conquer worlds. And to accomplish that I require more than this mere sliver which lies within me. So, where is my dark energon?!" Megatron shouted at Knock Out.
"Out there, Lord Megatron, just waiting for you to reach out and pluck it." Knock Out answered, making Megatron to look at him with an annoyed face. "But you shouldn't push yourself so hard. You've had setbacks, you were in stasis."
Megatron grabbed him and hold him in the air. "Precisely why I must make up for lost time! I can see the future, vividly. But I must ensure its outcome."
Megatron saw himself, glowing in purple, standing above another cybertronian, with his sword ready to strike while a volcano erupted behind him.
"For I am the rising darkness of which the prophecy speaks."
Time later, the kids were now at the base, looking some pictures on the computer.
"Pass, nah-ah, kid in a costume, droid, nope. Uh, hold." Luke said when they saw a picture of a familiar Autobot vehicle form. "The camera sure loves Bee."
"What can you do? The paparazzi always get the photos they want. And if they can't, they create their own." Han opined.
"Wait. Is that Bumblebee?"
"On a conspiracy website, where users post evidence or clues about possible exogalactic life." Leia explained.
"But we have it under control, Ratchet." Aris reassured. "We just scrub and replace Bee with…"
Aris put a picture of a funny battle droid acting like an astronaut.
"Scout droid has to report, this is a great step for machines."
That was enough to make Ratchet laugh, which caught the children's attention. And was already late for Ratchet to pretend he didn't.
"Ratchet actually laughed?" Han asked in disbelief.
That gave Sky an idea. "Um, Optimus, you wanna see something funny?"
"No." He simply answered still looking at the screen.
"Don't take it personally, Primes are built that way." Arcee reassured.
"Never seen Optimus laugh, cry or lose his cool." Bulkhead added.
"While Optimus certainly keeps his emotions in check, I've known him far longer than any of you have. And he was different before he was made a Prime." Ratchet revealed.
"Optimus wasn't always a Prime?" Luke asked surprised.
"On Cybertron one isn't born into greatness, rather one must earn it." Ratchet explained.
"So, different how? We are talking…party animal?" Han asked.
"No no, Optimus was more like…much of you. Like Aris, Leia, Luke and Sky. In most of the matters." Ratchet said.
Suddenly, someone contacted them. It was Anakin Skywalker.
"Optimus, there has been some recent tech heists for a while. We figured it was Grievous and his droids on account of their stealth tactics, until moments ago, when a security feed at the investigation research facility on Eadu captured this. This was provided by Jyn Erso: professor Erso's daughter and captain Andor, the ones in charge of the complex." Anakin reported before showing them an image of a very familiar Decepticon.
"Soundwave." Luke recognized.
"Aris can replace that with a funny droid, dad." Leia added.
"The Decepticon spy made off with a cutting-edge base conductor. Here's a list of everything else we've confirmed stolen to date." Anakin continued before showing it to them.
"Plasma injector, neutron shield, tesseract…" Ratchet saw. "There is only one thing missing if they are intending to build…"
In the Nemesis's bridge…
"The Decepticon space bridge 2.0 is nearly ready to launch. All we require is…" Knock Out showed at the screen when Soundwave showed on his own screen an object. "What Soundwave said: an ample power source."
"This one lies within a highly fortified location: a republic military base." Airachnid continued.
"But this is no ordinary base, is the main base of the Republic, located on its capital." Knock Out pointed.
"A direct assault is inadvisable, it would catch too much attention, and it could be highly guard, by local standards. I could tunnel in." Airachnid suggested.
"The time of prophecy is nearly upon us!" Megatron shouted, alarming both Airachnid and Knock Out, who looked each other. "We can no longer afford stealth."
Sometime later, the Autobot base received another transmission.
"Prime, the Cons really stepped in it this time. They are making the craziness of assaulting our main base here at Coruscant." Anakin reported.
"Our soldiers will contain them until your team shows." Rex said.
"Master Skywalker, Captain Rex, I fear that Megatron's desperation may be at its zenith, and you know that I cannot condone even a single native casualty. Not even clones." Optimus declared.
Anakin nodded before he talked to the com-link. "This is general Skywalker, evacuate all personnel immediately."
Coruscant, Republic Military Base
The clone troopers were hidden behind some rubble, safe from the Decepticon shots as they tried to hit them with heavy guns and missile launchers.
"Commander Fox, general Skywalker has ordered everyone to get out of the base." A clone reported to him.
"He must have a plan. Everyone, retreat!"
Then, an entire squad of Decepticon guardians (the guardians from Fall of Cybertron) escorting a Decepticon titan (also from War for Cybertron, Fall of Cybertron and Rise of the Dark Spark) which was carrying the power source. The guardians were in combat mode, but seeing no enemies around changed to vigilance mode and gave the titan green light to go. But then, a ground bridge appeared and the Autobots came out, firing at them.
"Be alert. That's a Decepticon titan." Optimus warned.
"I'll be worried more about the guardians." Cliff advised.
The guardians changed back to combat mode and started to fire their energy weapons at the Autobots, protecting the titan. A squadron of air troopers also joined them, but the Autobots stood their ground. At the same time, in the Nemesis's bridge…
"Lord Megatron, package secured, but the Autobots have arrived." One of the Decepticons reported.
Megatron groaned mad. "Prepare the warship for rendezvous, the package will be ready for pickup."
"But my liege, the planet is fully protected by a blockade of a huge Republic fleet. If we try to approach the warship, they will try to destroy us!" Knock Out argued.
"Then redirect all power to the engines! We'll use the same tactic we used long ago on Starscream's space station. That will force the fleet to step aside, or our warship will destroy them." Megatron said exiting the bridge.
"Well, seeing it in that way. Besides, our ship is bigger than anyone of theirs." Knock Out agreed.
As the ship was getting ready to approach the Republic's capital, Megatron exited the ship and flew right at the planet in vehicle form. He flew so fast that no one detected him, or because they were more concerned about the giant warship that was approaching them so fast. In a route without people, Bumblebee was with the twins.
"Bumblebee, the team may require backup. They're 3 clicks north from your current position, just on the highway. If you drop Leia and Luke at the exit ramp, I can bridge them back to base from there." Ratchet reported.
"(I'm sorry pals, but the duty calls me.)"
"It's okay Bee. We'll go racing another time." Luke reassured.
"Go and help the team and stop those Cons." Leia added.
Megatron continued his way to the objective, but right below him he spotted Bumblebee going at the same direction.
"Well well, a foolish scout astray from the ranks."
Megatron started to fire at him. Bumblebee managed to dodge the shots, except one, who stunned Bee with purple electricity. But Bee seemed unharmed, and Megatron continued his way.
"(That was close. Are you okay?)" Bee asked, but he only saw their hands falling to the floor.
Meanwhile, the other Autobots finished with the last Decepticons, except with the titan, who handle the power source with one hand and used his free hand and changed it for a nucleon shock cannon. He tried to shot at the Autobots, but Arcee and Cliffjumper managed to drag his attention, allowing Optimus and Bulkhead to shot him down with their vehicle forms' weapons. Right in that moment, Megatron arrived and transformed, landing in front of his rival.
"Optimus."
"Megatron, do you not see the folly in trying to force a prophecy to fruition?"
"Why leave matters to fate if one can forge one's own destiny? Ah, speaking of fate."
Everyone saw behind to see Bumblebee coming with both Leia and Luke on his hands with their eyes closed, but they were not looking good. He showed sad eyes, begging for help from his team. Even Optimus was shocked by seeing the two little ones in bad condition.
"Luke!" Cliff said taking him.
"Leia!" Arcee said taking her. "They're breathing, barely."
"Ah, it would seem I swatted a bee and squashed two bugs." Megatron mocked with an evil smile.
That angered Bee, who pulled out his weapons.
"(You're going to pay for that, Megatron!)"
"Bee, no!" Bulkhead said holding him.
Optimus looked back at Megatron, who challenged him with his look as he stood next to the power source.
"Ratchet, bridge us back now!" Optimus ordered.
"We must have an Autobot down. BB-8, activate the bridge." Ratchet called.
The little droid nodded as he connected himself to the terminal and did it.
"Arcee, attend to the Skywalker twins, and Bumblebee." Optimus instructed.
The two Autobots went through the ground bridge. In that moment, the Nemesis appeared and descended really fast. When Megatron looked back again, Optimus, Bulkhead and Cliffjumper were gone and the ground bridge closed, so he simply went to the elevator, with the power source. Meanwhile, Ratchet waited for the injured one at base, but he saw Bumblebee and Arcee carrying the Skywalker twins on their hands, which made BB-8 ran to check his friends.
"Luke?" Aris said.
"Leia?" Sky said.
"No." Han said.
"What happened?" Ratchet asked.
"Megatron." Arcee answered.
"Quickly, into my laboratory."
As the Nemesis started to leave Coruscant as fast as it arrived to evade the Republic ships, Optimus, Cliffjumper and Bulkhead managed to climb on one of its wings. In base, Luke and Leia laid on medical berths, with everyone very worried and wondering what to do.
"Luke and Leia aren't responding. We must run diagnostics of their assemblage…eh, vital statistics. Arg, my tools, they're all wrong!" Ratchet exclaimed throwing his tools.
"(This is all my fault.)" Bee said while Arcee put a hand on his shoulder.
"We need to call their parents." Aris said taking out her com-device.
"Their parents are a senator and a Jedi master. Does they know anything about the effects of energon on the human body?" Ratchet asked.
"Do you know anything about the human body?!" Han retorted him, shocking him.
"BB-8, call R2 and 3PO so they can warn them. And tell them it's urgent." Sky suggested, earning a nod from the little droid.
"The weak will perish." Ratchet recited at looking at the two kids. "Be strong, little ones."
Meanwhile, the mysterious Planet X continued its way, slowly but constantly. At the same time, back to the Nemesis, which managed to return to deep space without serious damage…
"The power source will be rigged in no time, Lord Megatron. We are nearly at the construction site. And we managed to get out unharmed from our skirmish on Coruscant." Knock Out informed.
"Nearly isn't good enough. The spheres are aligning, I must not miss my moment to…" Megatron was saying, until he had a vision.
On his vision, he saw a weird planet, also a cybertronian face with purple eyes and an active volcano, turning purple. Also, his eyes turned purple.
"Lord Megatron, are you alright?" Knock Out asked.
"Yet again, it is as if I can hear Unicron's thoughts." Megatron proclaimed.
"Unicron, the Chaos Bringer?" Airachnid asked confused.
"They said dark energon is his blood." Knock Out told in a spooky way. "He, whatever."
"Complete the space bridge. There is something I must attend to." Megatron said leaving the bridge.
"Does he seem to be losing it?" Knock Out asked.
"A bit." Airachnid agreed.
Moments later, the Autobot ground bridge opened two times: the first brought both Anakin and R2-D2, and the second brought his wife: Padmé Amidala, and C-3PO.
"Ani, how are they?" She asked her husband worried.
"I don't know, but I can feel they're not well. They're hurt, in some way." He said examining them.
"According to R2 scanners, it seems their vitals are slowly getting worse." 3PO translated.
Ratchet was also scanning them. "Measuring the extent of the absorption should determine the proper course of treatment."
"If we don't get them stabilized now, they will not leave this table alive, and I'm not going to let that happen. Do you understand me?!" Anakin remind him.
Despite being reunited with his good friends, BB-8 was worried too about Leia and Luke. But the one most worried was Bee, who punched the wall hard with his fist in anger.
"(Curse you, Megatron!)"
Arcee reacted grabbing him by the shoulders and shoving him against the wall. "Bee, listen. You think I don't know how it feels to watch a partner, harmed? Revenge won't help Luke and Leia right now. You need to keep your emotions in check."
Bee looked at them before he clutched his head. "(Scrap.)"
Inside the cargo vault of the Nemesis, a couple of guards were guarding the power source, until they heard a clanging noise. Then, Bulkhead came down and hit one with his wrecking ball, other tried to attack him, but Cliffjumper tackled him. Optimus jumped above other and finished him with his sword, before shot at the last one, who fell out of the platform.
"Ratchet, how are the twins?" Optimus called to base.
"It is too soon to know. Their parents are here."
"They are in good hands."
"Not mine, Optimus. Curse my cybertronian pride, we've accepted these natives into our lives yet I bother to learn so little of their science or medicine."
"Pull yourself together, old friend. Luke and Leia needs you."
"And we have grown to need all of them."
"Lock on to my coordinates and activate the ground bridge." Optimus instructed as he saw Bulkhead and Cliffjumper carrying the power source.
"Ready." Cliff signaled before the portal appeared next to them.
"Bulkhead, Cliffjumper, return to base. There is something I must do." Optimus said.
"Uh, serious?" Bulkhead asked confused.
"I have been foolish not to see what history has proven, over and over again: that Autobots and Decepticons will never mend their ways. If there can be no diplomatic solution to this perpetual conflict, then I must not allow more darkness to fall upon this or any galaxy. Megatron must be destroyed." Optimus declared.
The planets were almost completely aligned, and Planet X was almost at the end point, with a solar eclipse almost formed at his position. Moments later, Optimus was walking through the Nemesis's corridors, encountering lots of Decepticon soldiers on his way.
"I have come for Megatron, and him alone." Optimus said pulling out his cannons. "Stand down and be spared."
But the Decepticons didn't listened and fired at him, so Optimus had no choice but to eliminate all foes he found on his way.
Planet X
Megatron arrived to the surface of the new planet, transforming and landing near to an active volcano.
"The flaming mountain in my visions. As if it summoned me here, guided me! This is where I am to position my space bridge, the place from whence I am to harvest dark energon."
"Megatron! I am here, on your ship! Come and face me!" Optimus called, using the com-link of a dead Vehicon.
"The place at which I am to defeat the last of the Primes." Megatron said before he opened his com-link. "Hear this! Any Decepticon who lays a hand at Optimus Prime will answer to me! Soundwave, lock on to my coordinates, and lead my opponent to his destiny."
Back at the Autobot base, Bulkhead and Cliffjumper returned with the rest, and it seemed that the droids were right: Luke and Leia's vitals were starting to get worse.
"Kids, help us get Luke and Leia to the speeder. They're going to the emergency room." Padmé decided.
"A reasonable choice, my lady." 3PO agreed.
"Senator Amidala, your doctors won't be able to comprehend what's afflicting your children. Not without a decade of study." Ratchet objected.
"We don't have time to argue." Padmé simply said.
"The effects of an energon blast on an Autobot can be devastating enough, but these are humans. I'm not getting any readings." Ratchet analyzed again.
"Then what is affecting them?" Sky asked.
"I don't know, but whatever it is, I can sense is something sinister. Something…dark." Anakin deduced.
"What do you mean, Ani? Is the dark side?" Padmé asked worried.
"No. The dark side of the Force doesn't show this presence. This is something related, but unknown for me." Anakin concreted.
"Related with the dark side?" Then Ratchet finally understood. "How could I not have seen this? The twins have been infected with dark energon."
That shocked everyone. At the same time, Optimus traveled by ground bridge to Planet X to encounter Megatron, waiting for him.
"Megatron, today you answer for your crimes against Cybertron, the Galactic Republic, the Jedi Order and all the people of this galaxy. One shall stand…"
"…and one shall fall. You, Optimus Prime!"
And both rivals let out battle cries as they charged to each other, ready to start the fight. Meanwhile, at base, Ratchet was scanning the Skywalker twins again.
"If dark energon is devouring Luke and Leia from the inside out, we must expel it, and fast. The only possible way I know. I need energon!" Ratchet said grabbing an empty energon canister.
"Wait. You said energon was devastating to organic life forms." Aris reminded.
"Under normal circumstances quite. But I am relying upon the dark matter currently invading their bodies to meet it head-on." Ratchet theorized.
"I don't know if this is a good idea. Perhaps we should take them to the hospital, to buy them some time until we are sure about this." 3PO reasoned.
"We don't have much time, they're dying! Ratchet, are you sure your idea might work?" Anakin asked.
"I'm certain."
Back to Planet X, both rivals hit each other's face. After falling backwards, Optimus charged at Megatron again, as he fired his fusion cannon, but Optimus pushed it aside to evade the shot and tried to shot at Megatron with his own, but Megatron did the same. They continued doing the same until both weapons faced each other and fired. The shockwave sent them backwards across the battlefield. Optimus charged at Megatron again, who fired at him again, but this time Optimus used his sword to deflect the shots until he jumped at him, but Megatron blocked him with his own sword.
"Your defeat here was foreseen by the ancients. What was it they wrote? The weak shall perish?" Megatron provoked.
"Do not believe everything you read." Optimus replied.
Both rivals started a sword duel, blocking the other's attacks and try to strike when they could. At base, the children's vital were now at critical level, but Ratchet was already extracting energon from Bumblebee's arm, who offered himself as a donor. Once it was done, he connected the canister to the medical chamber.
"I need them over here! Now!" Ratchet instructed.
Anakin and Padmé pushed their children's medical berth into the chamber while Ratchet prepared it. Once it was ready, Ratchet pulled the lever. The chamber started to shine, more and more until it flashed and covered the entire room, forcing everyone to cover their eyes. Once it ended, everyone got inside to check how they were. Finally, they started to open their eyes.
"Their pulse rate is stabilizing. Thanks the Maker." 3PO informed happy.
"Mom?" Leia asked.
"Dad?" Luke added.
"My little ones." Their mother said dropping tears of happiness as she hug them both.
"(I'm glad you're okay.)"
"You've saved them." Anakin told Bumblebee before joining the family hug.
The other kids cheered happy, the same as the droids, which beeped happy.
"Optimus, we did it." Ratchet informed him.
Optimus heard that during his fight with Megatron, and that gave him strength to fight with more determination on winning this battle. He pushed back Megatron with more strength, and although he received a punch on the face followed by a kick, he landed well on the ground before changing to vehicle form and charge against his rival. Megatron try to fire at him, but Optimus hit him first with his vehicle's cannons, allowing him to approach Megatron until he smashed him, throwing him off a cliff. Next, he returned to robot form and landed above him, pressing his tires against his face, making him roar in pain. Megatron pushed Optimus aside, but he recovered immediately while Megatron had now an ugly mark on his face, making him unable to see. Optimus took the chance and punched him hard constantly on the face, making him leak dark energon with each hit. Optimus let out a battle cry as he hit Megatron with an uppercut, sending him to the ground hard. Now Megatron was too weak to fight, even to stand up. Optimus advanced at him, with his sword ready.
"My destiny." Megatron said, trying to get back on his feet, but Optimus pushed him against the ground with his foot. "This isn't how it's supposed to end."
"On the contrary, Megatron." Optimus said, as he readied his sword for the final strike. "I could not have allowed this to end otherwise."
Now Megatron was truly shocked in fear, not believing that this was going to be his end. But then, in that moment, the same as Optimus was going to end it once and for all, the volcano started to erupt, in purple color. Surprisingly, Megatron managed to grab Optimus's sword with both hands before he could reach his head. Megatron opened his eyes, revealing that they were glowing purple, the same as some parts of his body. Meanwhile, at base…
"Guys, you let Optimus face Megatron alone?" Arcee asked.
"We didn't have a choice." Cliff defended.
"It could be a trap. We need to get a fix on his location." Ratchet said.
Back with Optimus, Megatron roared as he slowly got up and pushed Optimus back.
"How was it that you put it, Optimus? I could not have allowed this to end otherwise?"
Then Megatron broke Optimus's sword off and stabbed it on his shoulder. Before Optimus could strike again, Megatron punched him first and hard. Optimus managed to hit him, but this time it didn't made much of a thing. Megatron continued punching him a couple of times before finishing with a strong uppercut that sent Optimus to the ground. While he was down, Optimus could see a solar eclipse above him and the volcano getting more activity. As lighting appeared, Megatron's eyes glowed at the same time. Optimus managed to tear off the piece of sword he had incrusted, but this time Megatron pinned him to the ground. At base…
"I'm locked onto Optimus's signal." Ratchet located on his computer. But what he saw gave him a shock. "He's on Planet X? Wait. How is this possible?"
"What? What is it?" Cliff asked.
"We need to get Optimus out of there, now!"
But the worst was yet to come: the volcano started to erupt, but it wasn't ordinary lava what came out from the volcano. Besides, it launched lots of volcanic bombs, made of dark energon. Also, the volcano and its surrounding started to glow in purple too, revealing that the entire volcano and the earth was also made of dark energon.
Megatron laughed maniacally. "Well well, it seems the blood of Unicron I've been seeking is not out there, but rather right here."
"Dark energon erupting from the depths of Planet X?" Optimus asked in disbelief.
With Optimus at his feet, Megatron prepared his sword for his moment of triumph. His vision was fulfilled.
To be continued…