Chapter 39-Conquest part 2
As soon as Dreyas gave the order, all hell broke loose. Before the espers even had a chance to disembark, the Guardians began firing upon them with their laser cannons. Dreyas scoffed at them and deflected the attacks with a magnetic field while the espers got into formation behind him.
On Magda's orders, the espers divided themselves into dozens of smaller groups. Each group contained espers with a specific set of powers. One had offensive espers, another had espers with defensive capabilities and another with healing abilities. The Decepticons would ground bridge onto the island and begin the assault with the Nemesis providing aerial cover for the army.
Just as the Guardians started to converge, the metal disk fractured into dozens of separate sections. Each section carried a group of espers out and flew them down towards the island shore below. As soon as they were in sight of the drones, they started attacking. Electrical bursts, ion pulses, seismic waves, and anything else they had on hand was unleashed in a relentless assault that disabled the handful of Guardians immediately and slowed down many more.
From the Nemesis, Dreadwing and the Seekers took flight and immediately started attacking the battleships surrounding the island. It was a trivial task that Starscream wasn't crazy about, but no one really cared what he thought so long as he did his job.
"When are we going to join in?" Jane asked eagerly, her fingertips emitting red sparks in her excitement. "I want to smash some giant robots!"
"Patience, Jane. I have something else in mind for you." Dreyas said. "You, Sue and Natasha will be heading for the nearest garrison."
"What for?" Sue asked.
"This battle is just to soften up the enemy. Our real objective is the secrets they're holding inside." Dreyas turned towards Natasha and handed her something. It was a small blue micro-cassette recorder. "I trust that you understand your role in this?"
"Yes sir." The shapeshifter nodded.
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From the Nemesis, Megatron watched the battle unfold. Normally he would've joined the fight by now to wipe out the humans who thought they could fight him off, but he was busy studying the drones that were being used against the esper army. Robots as tall as him guided by advanced AI and wielding weaponry years beyond the rest of the world. Something wasn't right here.
"Megatron," Nightshade walked up to him. "Dreyas has deployed the infiltration team to the nearest garrison."
"Perfect. I trust they'll dig deep into the heart of the enemy base and cause enough damage to give us the edge in this fight." Megatron said.
"You think this will be a difficult battle?" Nightshade asked.
"I think we'll have a lot of casualties before this battle is over. This island has secrets that I want to uncover and I can't do that if the entire island is torched from a prolonged battle." Megatron looked at Nightshade over his shoulder. "And we can't exactly conquer the world if our little esper friends are all dead now, can we?"
Taking another look at the Guardian drones on the monitor, Megatron turned and walked off the bridge. "Nightshade, command of the Nemesis is yours. Darkshadow, gather your Razors. All ground troops, to me! We'll teach these humans a lesson they'll never forget!"
Outside on the shore, a ground bridge manifested and Megatron came charging out of the portal with Keranos in hand. He wasted no time in slashing his scythe and bisecting several Guardians in one swing. Behind him, Demolishor, Rumble, Frenzy, Runabout and Runamuck, and the Razors came joining the fight too, unleashing their firepower upon the drones.
Megatron cackled as he relished the joy of slaughtering his enemies, man and machine alike, but his mirth was cut short when a laser blast hit him in the side. A sharp pain flared up unexpectedly from the attack and he turned and glared at the modified battle tanks slowly aiming at him. The vehicles looked like a more advanced version of the modern day battle tanks used by most nations, and instead of shells they fired laser blasts designed to penetrate heavy armor.
These mobile tanks were designed to only be piloted by a crew of two. One to drive the tank and another to fire the cannon. It was just as armored as the main battle tanks used by most other countries but its engine allowed it to move as fast as an APC. No one was sure exactly how such great leaps in technology was achieved by Wolfe's regime while the rest of the world was still using experimental laser weaponry, but the soldiers knew not to ask questions out of their paygrade. They wouldn't get a straight answer either way.
The tank commander leading the battalion was no fool. He knew that Megatron wouldn't go down in one hit, and that he was likely to die at that moment, but if he could weaken the Decepticon leader, then that would make his sacrifice worth it.
"All units, focus your fire on Megatron! Fire at will!" He commanded.
The tank battalion opened fire and unleashed a laser barrage on the Decepticon warlord. Megatron cursed and jumped to the side, though half of the laser beams hit his body. The force of their barrage actually pushed him back a bit before he regained his balance and fired a shot from his fusion cannon that destroyed three tanks. He raised Keranos to wipe out the rest of the battalion but one of the Guardian drones nearest to him fired a laser blast at his hand, making him drop the scythe. Seconds later three more Guardians charged at him at full force, throwing him to the ground.
'At least this fight will be somewhat of a challenge.' Megatron thought before smashing apart the head of the Guardian on top of him with a punch before throwing the other two aside. Keranos can wait. He needed to get his hands bloody.
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Wolfe was beginning to feel the pressure of the situation. The Brotherhood's army was more well-organized and cunning than he thought. Watching images being streamed from the Guardians in the field, he saw Megatron and his ground forces tearing through the robots, though the combined assault of the drones and the tank and talos battalions were keeping them in place for now. The Seekers were an annoying problem for the naval warships, particularly that teleporting purple Con. And the Karaba army was showing that they were more than just a blunt force attack. Just from their movements Wolfe could see that they had a real strategic objective. He was already getting reports from one of the garrisons that an esper strike team was carving a bloody path through their forces. He had no idea why Dreyas would send a team ahead, but Wolfe wasn't going to let that monster get any ground on him.
Then there were the Neo Knights. He wouldn't be forced to cut his forces in half like this if it weren't for them. They managed to free the prisoners and somehow forge them into a somewhat effective fighting force. Those meddling bastards had already taken out the division of Guardians and were making their way towards the coast. If they linked up with the main Karaba force, things would get even more difficult.
But this was nothing. Wolfe had plans just in case the espers proved harder to kill. Luckily, he went behind Newton's back and added a few upgrades just in case.
"Sir, the Brotherhood's forces are gaining ground. The Decepticons are close to destroying the first wave of Guardians. At this rate, half our mechanized forces will be decimated."
"Then we'll just have to make the other half count." Wolfe said grinning. "Has Protocol 116 loaded properly?"
"Yes sir. All remaining units have received their new commands." One of the technicians answered. "The second wave has also been primed for deployment."
"Protocol 116?" Newton questioned, turning to Wolfe. "What is that?"
"A little addition I included to the Guardians' programing. You'll see what it is in just a second." Wolfe said and gave the order. "Launch the second wave! We'll take out Megatron's little army and turn his troops into scrapmetal!"
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Dreyas maintained his stoic poise as the battle on the coast raged on. His muscles tensed as he waved his arm and tore the legs off of three Guardians and caused them to fall to the ground, where the espers ripped it apart like a swarm of ants. On the other side of the battlefield, Megatron, Demolishor and the other ground forces were making short work of the tanks and talos slowly moving in.
It was a sight he longed to see, espers joining forces and winning against their human oppressors. This show of force was exactly what espers needed to assert their dominance over those genetic leftovers who thought to beat them down. There were several casualties however but Dreyas held firm. Their sacrifices will be worth it in the long run. He wasn't stopping until this island was his for all the world to see.
Beside him, Debra stayed close, keeping her silence while occasionally using her powers to save some Karaba soldiers from a stray blast or piece of debris. Her heart wasn't fully in this and he knew this, hence why he wanted her to stay back. Lack of focus was a fatal flaw in this battle. Dreyas called up his strike team to get a progress report on their garrison attack.
"Jane, what's your status?" He asked.
"We're doing good, pops! Most of them are conscripts, so they're not even fighting back once we kill their handlers. At this rate the whole garrison should be hours within the hour."
"Keep drawing their fire long enough for Natasha and Soundwave to finish their task." He said and switched frequencies to his greatest spy and assassin. "Natasha, how much longer on your end?"
"Five minutes tops. For a guy with laser cannons and giant robots, his security systems are a fucking joke. Soundwave's making short work of his firewalls, but there's a lot to break through." Natasha said on her end. "Rewiring everything from the ground up is going to be rough, but doable. All we need is time."
"And you shall have it." Dreyas assured and clenched his fist, entrapping a nearby tank in a magnetic field and crushing it, killing the men inside. Then something unexpected happened.
The Guardians stopped attacking.
They all froze in place, even as the espers continued attacking them. But after a few seconds, the panels on their arms opened up and they took to the air on leg mounted rocket boosters.
"Whoa, what's going on?" Runabout asked perplexed.
"Did we win?" Asked Runamuck.
"Of course not you idiots!" Demolishor shouted.
At that moment, Megatron got a call from Shockblast. "Lord Megatron, all the drones across the island are flying. They don't seem to be leaving the area, but I don't know what they're doing!"
"Nothing good obviously." Megatron grumbled and yelled to his troops. "Decepticons, take down as many of these pieces of trash as you can. Don't let up for a nano-second!"
Megatron knew something was wrong, and Dreyas was concerned to. His eyes narrowed when he saw the Guardians' eyes glow brighter as their shared AI hive mind received new orders from the main computer.
"Initiating protocol 116. Beginning secondary attack." Droned the AI voices in unison.
The armor panels on their chest plates folded aside to reveal a glowing blue core that had to be their power source. The machinery inside folded outwards to form a short but powerful cannon from their chests. As more and more of the Guardians revealed these new weapons, the emboldened espers grew worried.
"Dad, what's going on?" Debra asked.
Dreyas said nothing as his gaze remained locked on the Guardians. Energy built up in their chests, channeled directly from their fusion reactor cores. After a few seconds, one of the Guardians finished charging its energy and fired a large condensed beam of particle energy right into the heart of the battlefield. The dozens of espers that had been standing there were obliterated in an instant in a fiery burst that engulfed their bodies.
"NO!" Debra cried out.
More and more of the Guardians began firing the same powerful beams down onto the battlefield, wiping out whole swaths of espers. Runabout tried to get to his brother, but to his horror he witnessed Runamuck take a direct hit from one of the beams and get his upper body vaporized by the intense beam. Megatron cursed and transformed to tank mode to escape the aerial onslaught. He drove at full speed through the battlefield, swerving every which way to avoid the deadly beams.
"Damn it all, Decepticons, take cover!" He grunted as the ground next to him exploded and he was sent flying by the shockwave. He crashed into the wreckage of a Guardian and transformed back to robot mode.
"Lord Megatron!" Demolishor ran to his aid and helped Megatron up. "Sir, we need to call in the Seekers—"
One beam from the Guardian directly overhead fired right onto them. While the beam missed Megatron, it managed to score a grazing hit on Demolishor, completely vaporizing his arm and leg. Demolishor howled in pain as Megatron pulled him aside and fired his fusion cannon up at the robot, destroying it.
"Dreadwing, forget the ships. Attack the robots before they wipe out the army!" Megatron yelled into the comm.
Dreadwing was already commanding his team to route the flying robots. The Seekers shot straight towards the Guardians and took aim with their missiles. "Seekers, fire at will!"
They released their volley and the missiles slammed into several drones. But as they fell, the Seekers attracted the attention of the second wave of Guardians emerging from the various port tunnels along the coast. These drones also took flight and focused their energy cannons at them, firing all at once on the small group of flyers.
"Evade!" Dreadwing bellowed.
Skywarp immediately teleported away from the onslaught to a higher altitude, but Thundercracker wasn't so lucky. He had to move faster than the attacking drones, which was hard considering there were so many of them. Where the hell was their advantage from before?
"Where the hell are the humans getting the time to make these stupid things?" Thundercracker grunted. He cursed when a beam hit his wing and almost knocked him off balance. As he struggled to right himself, a Guardian appeared near him and fired its beam. "Slag!"
But as the beam was about to hit him, it was deflected by an invisible barrier. Thundercracker transformed and cut the drone in two before looking down to see Debra waving up at him. He grinned and continued to fight. That girl was a lifesaver.
Starscream cursed as he weaved through the thick net of beams being shot at them. He could feel the intense heat of the lasers singing his armor and one almost took his wing off. He bobbed and weaved through the chaotic storm and cursed his luck.
"Damn you, Megatron, this isn't worth it!" Starscream howled. "You'll get us all killed!"
"Quit your whining, Starscream and destroy them!" Megatron roared from below. He raised his hand and called Keraunos back to his grip. He twisted his body and slashed Keraunos through the air, releasing an arc of lightning that destroyed several Guardians above him. But more began pouring onto the battlefield, unleashing their firepower down on the troops.
"Lord Megatron, we've got enemy reinforcements coming from below. Several of those things are firing at the Nemesis along with anti-aircraft cannons!" Darkshadow reported. She was busy trying to keep the Guardians from shooting down Shockblast.
It was pure chaos along the beach. The smell of burning flesh, warped metal and thick smoke filled the air. Screams of the wounded and dying were heard everywhere but overtaken by the sound of explosions and fighting going on in all directions.
"Oh my god," Debra gasped in horror. "Dad, we have to retreat. They're killing everyone!"
"We will not run." Dreyas said firmly. After a second he actually smiled. "No, this is fortunate for us."
"What?" She asked in shock. What was he talking about?
Dreyas opened the comm-link to Natasha. "Natasha, your time window has decreased to two minutes. We still have a chance of victory, but only if you speed things up! We can still win this battle!"
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"Sumeragi, I don't know if you can hear this, but we need help now! These things are tearing us apart out here!"
Sumeragi heard Barnaby's cries as she, Nathan and Annie ran through the halls of the research facility. Heavily armored guards armed with what looked like overly large laser rifles connected to battery packs opened fired at them, slowing their progress. She used her telepathy to force them into induced sleep, but several of these men were surprisingly resilient to her powers. More intensive training from Wolfe no doubt. To that end, she let Annie and Nathan clear the way for her.
"Don't let them through!" One of the guards shouted. "Kill them where they stand!"
Annie promptly shut him up with a punishing blow from Mjolnir, smashing the man into a wall before discharging an electrical surge that violently shocked the men around him.
"Keep it up, girl! Your display is electrifying!" Nathan exclaimed, clapping his hand and emitting a blinding flash that stunned the guards.
"Don't give me any puns, Nathan, we don't need that right now!" Annie leapt onto a guard and clocked him across the jaw with a bone encased fist before blocking a round of laser fire with a large bony shield she grew from her forearm. "Sumeragi, why aren't they dropping?"
"Wolfe's training them to resist psychic attacks and probing. They have powerful mental shielding, on top of some other enhancements I don't know about."
"Can you still locate Wolfe?" Nathan asked.
"I believe so." Sumeragi said, concentrating hard. "I think he's in the main observation deck. I'll send you the directions, but we must hurry. Barnaby and the others can't withstand the assault much longer!"
"Stand clear!" Annie yelled. She recalled Mjolnir to her hand and charged the hammer up as fast as she could. When her bone shield began to crack from the force of the laser blasts, Annie tossed it aside and slammed Mjolnir into the floor, unleashing a massive shockwave that rippled through the narrow halls. Everyone caught in its path were sent flying, along with anything that wasn't nailed down. The lucky ones were knocked out by the electrical bursts on impact, but some were conscious just long enough to feel the painful burns they've gotten.
Annie couldn't care less. She led the charge down the halls via the directions telepathically sent into her mind. Any resistance they encountered was swiftly dealt with by Mjolnir's lightning. She also took note of the increasingly advanced technology that they were running into, too advanced for some small island dictatorship to achieve on their own without contact with the outside world. Filing this bit for later, she continued to demolish the security forces.
Eventually they reached the observation deck, where they encountered stiff resistance. The elite guard had set up barricades and had their gun turrets pointing in all directions. As soon as they saw the flash of lightning from around the corner, they wasted no time.
"Open fire!"
The three Knights took cover around the corner as a volley of laser fire came at them. Annie gritted her teeth. They were so close right now, they couldn't stop!
"Screw this, I'm not waiting for these assholes to run out of ammo!" She growled.
"Whoa girl, that's too much firepower even for you!" Nathan said, grabbing her arm. "You'll be torn to shreds!"
"Then it's a good thing I can heal."
Annie shook him off and sprinted around the corner, holding her bone shield in front of her, she charged at the barricade, waiting for Mjolnir to absorb as much static electricity as possible. It glowed in her hand and she felt the hum of electricity in her arm as she forced it to take in as much energy as possible. Her shield lasted only two minutes before it began to crack and chip from the force of the blasts. When Annie took a hit to her right leg and her shoulder, she fought through the pain and raised Mjolnir.
"Eat this shitheads!" She roared and threw Mjolnir and it shot through the air like a literal lightning bolt. The men were completely unprepared for the immense power of the hammer as it slammed into their barricade and completely demolished it. They were sent flying in all directions, most of them knocked out from the explosion. The few soldiers that tried to must a defense were met with a dozen bony tendrils that pierced their chest and limbs extending from Annie's back.
"Holy…" Nathan breathed as he watched the bloody display. Sumeragi pursed her lips but made no comment as she and Nathan ran over to Annie.
"Annie, are you okay?" Sumeragi asked.
Annie nodded, wincing as she waited for the burns on her shoulder and leg to heal. Mjolnir sat next to her, still humming a bit but mostly inert. It won't be dishing out an attack like that for a while on short notice.
"This door is heavily armored." Nathan said, staring at the doors. "It'll take a lot to punch through it."
"Just give me a second and I'll have Mjolnir smash through it." Annie grunted, getting to her feet with Nathan's help.
"No, Annie, you've done enough. Save your strength." Sumeragi said, staring hard at the doors. "I have an idea."
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Wolfe's smile couldn't get any bigger as he watched his Guardians massacre the esper army. All the monitors showed images of injured and dying espers, who were bravely fighting not two minutes ago. Not even the Decepticons were safe, and it brought him great satisfaction watching his mighty machines kill one Con and wound another. Even Megatron was sent running.
This moment would've made his day if it weren't for the base's alarms going off, signaling they had intruders. Security footage showed that three of the Neo Knights had gotten into his base and were making their way to the observation deck. He thought his special forces could stop them, but that girl with the hammer was ripping through them like they were nothing. As they got closer, he began to panic, but he wasn't running. This was a moment of ultimate triumph and he'll be damned if he let a bunch of idealists ruin it!
"Wolfe, we need to leave!" Newton said. "Our position is compromised!"
"I'm not running at this critical hour, Newton. We're witnessing history here!" Wolfe scoffed.
"But…"
Just keep an eye on the Guardians' readouts, Newton!" He yelled. "Guards, block the door!"
The few security guards he brought with him gathered in front of the door and pointed their rifles at it. The technicians and scientists in the room were getting nervous, but no one said a word. Wolfe didn't tolerate cowardice.
He turned back to the main screen and watched as his Guardians wiped out the Brotherhood. Espers, Decepticons, they'll all die and it'll be his name the world will scream as they realize that he destroyed the number one threat to the world!
The lights flickered, and then there was a flash as nearly every light in the room shorted out. Everybody jumped in surprise before something else came immediately after. Then the scientists, Newton included, clutched their heads as a strong telepathic wave hit them with the force of a train. Even Wolfe felt it, and he had to grip the desk to keep from falling over. Then they all passed out one by one.
"Sumeragi!" Wolfe spat hatefully. "That bitch is behind this!"
He managed to weather through the psychic attack, if just barely, but the other people weren't so lucky. Almost everyone had passed out, even most of his guards. Then, as if anything else couldn't get worse, the doors began to slide open. He turned around and saw that it was one of his security guards who did the deed. The man finished entering the code and passed out like a puppet with its strings cut.
"Worthless lot! Do I have to do everything around here?" Wolfe growled.
He reached down and yanked the laser rifle from the limp grasp of one of the fallen soldiers. He pointed it at the door, but before he could pull the trigger, a golden hammer shot between the doors and slammed into his chest. He was thrown back against the console, the breath knocked from his lungs and his chest aching painfully as he sank to the floor.
"Yeah, you didn't even stand a chance stupid." Annie spat as she walked into the room with Sumeragi and Nathan. The man had his glowing arms pointed at Wolfe in case he did anything.
Wolfe tried to catch his breath as he clutched his aching chest. That hammer probably broke his shoulder on impact and his chest cavity was stinging with pain. He tried to get up, but he didn't get far. With three espers within striking distance, he was outmatched and outgunned.
"You meddlesome freaks! I swear on every holy book that exists I'll rip you apart and scatter your ashes across the seven seas!"
"You're in no position to make threats, Wolfe. While I'm not a fan of using my powers like this, considering the circumstances I'm willing to make an exception. By the way, you should have done a better job of protecting your chief science officer, Edward Newton. His mind provided more than enough information for me."
Wolfe gritted his teeth in anger. There was nothing else he could do.
"This farce of a war is over, Wolfe. No more espers will suffer from your genocidal reign!" Sumeragi said.
"Genocidal?" Wolfe laughed. "You think that's what's this is about?"
"You imprisoned the island's entire esper population and prepared to execute them." Annie said. "What the hell do you think?"
"Please girl, do you honestly think that I'm that foolish? When has genocide has ever been used to benefit great empires and great leaders?"
"What do you mean?" Nathan asked. "If genocide wasn't your plan, then what was?"
"Like I'll ever tell you." He sneered.
"You don't need to. Newton's mind has provided another interesting piece of info I came upon." Sumeragi nodded to Annie, who lifted Wolfe by his shirt and reached into his ears, pulling out a pair of ear-pieces. Wolfe paled immediately, as they were his special psychic dampeners that only he wore for good measure. It was the only thing that kept him from passing from the psychic attack earlier. It was a trade secret only a handful of his trust supports were aware of, and Newton had only just learned about them.
"Don't you dare, you freak! I'm the leader of the most powerful nation on Terra and I—"
That was as far as he got before his expression went blank as soon as Sumeragi entered his mind. Annie and Nathan stood by as they waited for several tense seconds while Sumeragi probed his mind. When Sumeragi stopped her mental probe, her face darkened with an emotion that was hard to read.
"I take it that what you found wasn't good?" Annie asked.
"It wasn't." Sumeragi said darkly. "Turns out genocide really wasn't his plan. He has no more hatred for espers than we do."
"Then why start a war like this?" Nathan asked. "Why waste so much time, resources and manpower to provoke the Decepticons and Karaba?"
"Because they were just a means to an end. This whole human/esper controversy was just a tool he could use to spark a war…a war he was going to expand all over the world. The attack on the embassy, forcing the Brotherhood to rally against him, it was all to trick the world into thinking that the Guardians were the only true weapons that could keep them safe from espers and cybertronians. And if they wanted security, they would have to submit to him. Those who refused would be destroyed by the Guardians."
"But…that's insane!" Annie exclaimed.
"No, it's perfectly logical." Wolfe grunted, his head throbbing from Sumeragi's mental probe. "That idiot Newton thought he was just designing a system to fight espers, but he never once considered that the Guardians were the perfect weapon of war, the new battle tank of the modern age that surpasses tanks and talos alike!"
"So all this pain and suffering was just to increase your street cred to the world and wage war on other nations?" Annie spat. "You're no great leader. You're just a discount warlord who thought he was tough shit because of some fancy guns and robots!"
"I'm trying to unite the world, you stupid child. Humanity is too fractured, too separated to look at the big picture. Now that we have all these threats coming from the stars, mankind must be more united than ever. And I am the only one with the means to do it." Wolfe said firmly.
"But there was one critical flaw, Wolfe." Annie said. "Violence only leads to more violence. Two wrongs don't make a right. You're just making the problem worse. You can't force other people to bow to you. That's not how humans operate, and the same goes for cybertronians. Peace through tyranny is just a shallow justification to assert your will upon another person."
Wolfe narrowed his eyes at Annie but said nothing.
"But since I can see that you refuse to accept that, I won't waste my breath anymore. People like you aren't worth the time or energy."
"Well said girl!" Someone laughed behind them. Annie, Sumeragi and Nathan jumped back as a dark shape fell from the ceiling. It was a Minicon!
"Who's that?" Nathan yelled.
"It's Leader-1!" Annie said.
Leader-1 landed on the console and grabbed Wolfe by the back of his uniform. Nathan and Annie went to attack, but Sumeragi pulled them back as another Minicon landed before them—Nightracer's Minicon partner, Shakar.
"Sorry folks, but the good dictator is coming with us. He's got crimes he has to answer for!" Leader-1 said smugly.
"No, wait! Don't let them take me!" Wolfe pleaded. He knew that if Megatron caught him, his death would be very slow and very painful.
Annie tried to move, but Shakar's left arm extended outward and slammed into her chest, knocking her back into Sumeragi. She moved back over to Leader-1 and the air around them began to crackle with energy. Leader-1 gave the three espers a two-fingered salute.
"Later bitches." Leader-1 laughed before he, Shakar and the screaming Wolfe vanished in a burst of energy.
Sumeragi, Nathan and Annie stared at the empty spot in silence. They had planned to restrain Wolfe and have him answer for his crimes, but with him in Megatron's grasp, he was as good as dead.
The real punch in the gut was that this wasn't even the worst thing to happen today.
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The Brotherhood's forces were taking major losses as the Guardians continued their barrage with their energy cannons. The once concentrated army was now scattered as they tried to avoid the massacre. The Seekers and the Nemesis were busy trying to pick off the robots as they rained down death from above, but the island's remaining defenses had focused all of its anti-aircraft firepower on the Nemesis, to the point where the warship had to be on the defensive. The few espers with flight powers tried to help their Decepticon allies but they were singled out by the supporting Guardian units. The casualty numbers increased and some espers had to resort to taking cover under debris and even in the remains of downed Guardians.
Megatron, covered in numerous laser burns, did his best to rally the soldiers as he tried to weather through the storm. His Decepticons were putting up a valiant fight but they too had suffered severe injuries. What made it worse was that the Guardians had singled him out as a priority-one threat and converged on him whenever they could.
"Megatron, I just got word from Leader-1. He's succeeded in capturing Assiah's leader." Nightshade reported.
"Really? I wasn't expecting him to get it done that fast." Megatron remarked, blasting apart two tanks that tried to flank him.
"Apparently the security forces had been defeated by a few members of the Neo Knights. One of them was the Autobots' pet human, the girl named Annie."
Megatron scowled at the name. He knew exactly who that was, remembering the audacity of the human child who tried to challenge him. "Looks like Prime couldn't help himself from interfering in even this battle. Typical."
"The prisoner is being taken to the cell block for holding. The Nemesis is doing its best to provide air support, but there's still more drones flooding out of wherever the hell these people have them stashed. And the island's defenses are no joke."
"Show no weakness in the face of the enemy, Nightshade. Kill them all!" Megatron commanded.
This was easier said than done as the espers were struggling to handle the enemy reinforcements. Wolfe's sudden radio silence didn't slow down the island's army one bit. Debra, seeing how many of her fellow espers were being slaughtered, could no longer watch and took the initiative. She leapt off the disk and hovered down onto the battlefield.
"Get down!" She yelled.
As the Karaba forces drew near her, she called upon the magnetic forces around her and swiftly tore apart the armor powers of any downed Guardian robot, talos and tank and gathered them together into one large shield she held above them. Her legs buckled under the strain of exerting her powers so strongly, but she held strong.
"Dad, we can't take any more of this!" Debra shouted up at her father. "Too many people are dying! We have to pull back!"
"There will be no retreat." Dreyas said strongly. "Natasha and Soundwave are close to completing their mission. We have to hold out as long as possible."
While Debra seethed in anger at his heartless dismissal of the situation, Dreyas called Natasha up. "Natasha, what's your status?"
"I'm in the communications room. It took longer than I expected to handle the personnel."
"Spare me the excuses. Can you override the system?"
"With Soundwave leading the charge? Of course I can. Just get into position and I'll take care of it."
"I'll be ready." Dreyas smirked.
He raised his hands and moved the metal disk over the battlefield, over the heads of his esper forces and towards the garrison. The end to this battle was close at hand.
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Inside the Assian communications center, the beautiful shapeshifter Natasha was hard at work plugging Soundwave into the island's systems. It was rough trying to deal with the security forces in such a cramped environment. Soundwave couldn't transform to full size without destroying the entire room and everything in it, and Ravage and Laserbeak could only do so much in such a small space.
Still, after killing everyone in sight, they made it to the central comm room. Natasha ran to the nearest console and placed Soundwave down, where he plugged himself in and got to work on disabling the many firewalls protecting the systems that dealt with not just communications throughout the island, but also the transmission of signals from the observation deck to the Guardians' AI.
"These systems are a joke." She muttered, watching how fast Soundwave was busting through their defenses. Yeah, he was an advanced hacker and espionage agent, but it was still laughable at how easy it was.
Soundwave managed to break through the firewalls with ease, and Natasha wasted no time as she typed in the necessary commands to channel energy to the communications system. It would overload from the massive influx of energy, but that was the point. What Dreyas was planning to do was large scale and would require a lot of power to initiate.
Upon entering the final commands, the emergency alarms started blaring. All the computer screens started flashing red warning signs, signaling a total system failure and overload. At this point, the system would have gone into emergency protocols, but Soundwave swiftly overrode those too. Now the communications equipment from every garrison on the island was linked up to the central hub.
Grinning, Natasha called it in. "It's done, Dreyas. You're free to do your magic."
XXXXXX
Upon receiving the go ahead, Dreyas descended over the garrison where his wife and daughters were clearing out the remaining soldiers and conscripts. All the Guardians in the area were already destroyed and the token resistance being put up looked to be on the verge of surrendering.
"There's the big man!" Jane grinned.
"If he's here, does that mean we're at the endgame?" Sue asked her mother.
"Yes, Sue. And it's our job to make sure no one gets in his way." Magda said, eying the Guardians nearby.
Dreyas's movements had attracted their attention and a couple broke off from the main attack force to focus on the Karaba leader. Magda engulfed her body in a fiery aura and took to the air.
"Don't let any of them get near your father!" She said, gathering energy between her hands to summon a gigantic fireball of microwave energy.
As the two Guardians got closer, she launched the fireball. It struck them at full force just as they were about to fire, disrupting their systems with a surge of microwave energy that fried their circuits on impact. Their propulsion system failed and they two massive robots plummeted towards the ground…right where the rest of the team were standing.
"Oh hell." Sue cursed.
"We've got to move!" Fauntleroy said and grabbed Sue's hand.
"I can stop them before they hit us!" Jane said and raised her glowing hands to make them explode before they could hit the ground.
What she couldn't see was that the Guardians were going critical from the energy they built up in their chests. No one else noticed this but Fauntleroy, who ran for his wife as full speed.
"Jane, get away!" He yelled and leapt at her.
The two robots exploded together in a large explosion that shook the air. Stunned by the powerful burst of flames, Jane didn't have time to move. But Fauntleroy emitted enough energy from his body to reach Jane and shielded her body with his.
"Fauntleroy, Jane!" Sue cried out and ran over to them. As the smoke cleared, she saw that Jane had made it out mostly unscathed, though she looked to be in pain and sported a couple of burns. Fauntleroy was in worst shape however. He was unconscious and was sporting serious burns along his back and legs. That wasn't even counting internal damages.
"No, no!" Sue knelt down next to her sister and husband and looked them over. They needed medical attention immediately. "Dad! Dad, big sis and Fauntleroy are hurt! They need help!"
"I…can't!" Dreyas grunted, focusing all of his power on channeling the electromagnetic energy in the area. If he stopped now, he'll never get a chance like this again. "I must finish this!"
"Dad please, they're really hurt!" Sue pleaded.
"I'm…sorry, Sue." Dreyas gritted his teeth and roared.
Sue began to cry, not knowing what else to do. Suddenly she felt a heavy thud behind her and looked back to see Thundercracker standing behind her.
"Give them here!" He said, reaching down. "I'll get them back to the Nemesis."
Sue didn't bother to ask questions. She slowly moved Jane and Fauntleroy into Thundercracker's hands and watched the blue Seeker call for a ground bridge back to the Nemesis.
Meanwhile, Dreyas was pushing his body to the limits exerting his power. An electromagnetic pulse emanated from his body and the entire garrison shook to its very foundations from his power. From deep within the structure, he extracted a large antenna array, which was the focal point of the island's communications array. Levitating it into the air, he channeled his power into it to emit a powerful magnetic pulse and raised it beside him.
"This battle ends now!" He declared.
In a dazzling display of power, Dreyas channeled electromagnetic energy through the antenna to amplify the pulse. Through this method, he could channel his power through every interconnected computer system through the entire island. His will was spread far and wide, and his power caused every Guardian activated to freeze in place and short circuit.
From his spot on the coast, Megatron watched as every Guardian finally stopped attacking and hovered in place, overwhelmed by the alternative signal Dreyas was delivering via the island's communications system.
"It's about damn time." He grunted.
Starscream landed next to him, exhausted and in pain but still in one piece, unfortunately. "Megatron, what's going on?"
"The final blow to Wolfe's so-called final solution. Altering their systems so that they'll accept commands from an outside source courtesy of Soundwave turning the entire island into one giant interconnected transmission system to channel Dreyas's power." Megatron revealed, a smile growing on his face. "Right now, he's taking control of every Guardian on the island. Wolfe's robot army is now our army."
Dreyas's power overrode any emergency failsafes installed to negate interference from external sources, making the drones heeds his commands. Using the antennas across the island as a medium, he gave them a new set of orders, turning them from the ultimate anti-esper weapon into a weapon used against the very people who made them.
He raised his hands and every Guardian on the island flew high into the sky. From their spot in the dome, the Neo Knights and the prisoners in the dome watched in awe and surprise as the Guardians now swarmed around Dreyas.
After a moment of silence, the esper army gave a deafening cheer as soon as it hit home that they had finally won the battle. The island was there's and they had gotten a robot army as a consolation prize. Dreyas smiled and tapped into every speaker system on the island, connecting them with the life video feed capabilities of the Guardians.
"Attention brothers and sisters of Karaba. This is your leader Dreyas speaking. We have won. The island is hours and the tyrant Johnathan Wolfe has been captured. His forces are decimated, his army is ours, and his armaments ours to control." Dreyas declared. "And to the rest of the world watching this, your days are numbered. This is only the beginning of our rise to power. I won't spoil the surprise, but one of you is next! Tremble in fear, for destiny has arrived, and it cannot be stopped!"
XXXXXX
"Well…shit." Annie said after the broadcast ended. "I think we're screwed."
Sumeragi said nothing, biting her lip as she thought on their next course of action. She wasn't expecting Dreyas to take the time to hijack the Guardians to be used by Karaba. No doubt he had the Decepticons' help with this. This only made the situation worse in the long run.
"So what do we do now?" Nathan asked softly. "We lost Wolfe, and the Brotherhood is stronger than ever right now. Do we regroup with the others and make a go for Dreyas?"
"Yeah, let's not do that. He'll destroy us in seconds." Annie sighed, rubbing the back of her neck. "Not to mention that as soon as Megatron learns that I'm here, he might chase us all over the island out of spite."
"What did you do to piss him off?" Nathan asked curiously.
"I took him on by myself and clocked him in the jaw before he almost killed me." Annie said. At Nathan's confused look, she smiled sheepishly and shrugged. "It's a long story, but I wasn't in the right headspace back then."
"Annie," Sumeragi said, getting her attention. "I think it's best that we call the Autobots for a ground bridge out of Assian airspace. There's…nothing more we can do here without starting a fight."
Annie nodded and followed the woman out of the room. The atmosphere given off by the three of them wasn't one of total defeat, but it certainly wasn't one of victory. They stopped one dictator from starting a war at the cost of allowing another to gain ground.
XXXXXX
When the excitement of winning the battle died down, the espers of Karaba got to work in securing the island and taking stock of their dead and injured. The Guardians' aerial assault had decimated at least a third of their overall forces, and several more were seriously injured. If they didn't have the Decepticons and the Nemesis backing them, then the death toll probably would've been higher.
Speaking of the Decepticons, they too were mending their wounds. During the assault, they only lost Runamuck, a loss that deeply affected his twin brother, though Darkshadow, Demolishor, Shockblast, and Wreckage took heavy damages. Megatron himself wasn't looking squeaky clean either.
"What a fragging mess." Thundercracker grumbled as he sat on the medical slab watching Knockout weld a deep cut on his thigh closed.
"What's a mess? The obscenely gruesome battle or the amount of damage the Nemesis took during it? Because the ship looks like Omega Supreme sucker punched it full force." Knockout said dryly.
Thundercracker didn't bother responding to Knockout. He wasn't in the mood for the doctor's dry wit right now. He glanced over a secluded corner of the medibay and asked, "How are they?"
Knockout glanced back at the two espers the Seeker had brought back for urgent medical aid. "They'll live, though they'll be sporting some serious burns that will take time to heal. Those fleshies are lucky a few bruises and burns are all they got, because if they were any closer they would have suffered some serious concussions, maybe even brain damage."
"Let's keep that to ourselves, okay, Knockout?" Thundercracker said.
Knockout looked up at Thundercracker with a raised brow. "I couldn't help but notice that you seem pretty close to one of Dreyas's children. His youngest daughter, right?"
Thundercracker narrowed his eyes at him. "What about it?"
"Just curious." Knockout said, raising his hands to show he didn't mean anything by it. "You didn't seem to care all that much about the humans before is all."
Thundercracker shrugged. "Debra's good company."
"Is that so?"
'Slag.' Thundercracker scowled and turned to the doorway to see Starscream standing there, his violet eyes glowing in the dim light of the room. The former Seeker commander walked into the room like he owned it and approached his Seeker brother.
"What is it, Starscream?" He asked annoyed. "I like to recover from my wounds in peace."
"I just want to understand why you've been spending time mulling about with the lesser creatures." Starscream said, not taking his eyes off Thundercracker's face. "As Knockout said, you have been spending a lot of time with one of them."
"And that's a crime? We're allied with them, Starscream. Kinda makes it hard to avoid them like the fragging plague." Thundercracker replied.
"They are not our allies. They're assets. A means to an end. Get too attached to them and you'll be forced to divide your loyalties between us and them." Starscream said, not raising his voice though his tone was anything but calm. "And we can't have anyone playing two teams this late into the game, Thundercracker."
Thundercracker slowly stood up off the medical slab, not taking his eyes off Starscream's face. The two Seekers squared off and the air around them became tense.
"You shouldn't be preaching to me about treachery, Starscream after all the slag you pulled." Thundercracker spat. "My loyalty is to the Decepticons first and foremost, and what I do in my downtime is my damn business. So you need to frag off before I send your head to Slipstream as a forge day gift."
"That's enough." Nightshade entered the room and made her way to the two Seekers. "No fighting in the medibay, no matter how bitchy Starscream is being." She said and pushed Starscream aside. "Megatron wants to talk to you. Get to the bridge, Starscream."
"…With pleasure." Starscream huffed and marched away to the door.
Once Starscream was gone, Nightshade turned to Thundercracker. "What was that about?"
"Just Starscream being his usual self, that's all. Nothing to worry about." He said.
"Good. We need all hands on deck for making sure any and all resistance on the island is fully quelled. Dreadwing and Skywarp are waiting in the control center for new orders. You should join them."
Thundercracker nodded and walked past her to the door. But before he left, Nightshade gave him some parting words.
"The girl is fine." She said, making him pause. "She's a bit exhausted, but has sustained any serious wounds. So you can stop worrying."
Thundercracker stood there for a moment before continuing into the hallway, the doors closing behind him.
XXXXXX
When Annie, Sumeragi and Nathan made it back to the former prison dome, they were greeted by the exhausted but relieved smiles of their friends. Barnaby was lying on the ground nursing a serious headache from overexerting his powers protecting the prisoners from the Guardians' assault, Karina and Hua were still recovering from fighting nonstop and Kotetsu…well, aside from looking slightly out of breath and his costume torn to shreds, he was mostly intact. The benefits of having a superhuman physiology.
The Neo Knights were swarmed by the freed prisoners, who gave them their sincerest gratitude for saving them. There were plenty of tears and thank yous, and the Knights took it all in stride, but due to the circumstances they needed to leave as soon as possible.
"I'm sorry we can't stay to help you all with the recovery process, but my Knights and I must be going." Sumeragi said to the people. "I'm sure you all know that we aren't exactly on the best terms with the Decepticons or Karaba and we are in no shape to fight. We will be departing the island via a portal called a ground bridge provided by the Autobots. If any of you want to leave Assiah, I'll be happy to provide free food and medical care at the Providence Institute in New York."
Sumeragi wasn't expecting anybody to go jumping at the chance to take a ride back to Osea, but she was a bit disappointed that no one took her offer.
"Thanks for the help. Seriously, we all owe you our lives." Said Rictor. "But…Osea isn't a safe place for espers anymore. I don't think you'll be doing your people any favors by having us as extra baggage."
"But we have the resources to keep you safe!" Karina said. "We have connections with the Autobots, and—"
"Karina, stop." Annie said wearily. "We can't force them to come, and I don't blame them. Osea is a mess right now and things aren't getting any better." She turned to the prisoners. "But will you all be fine staying here? After today, Assiah's going to be global enemy number one. The next few months are going to be rough."
"I think with the Cons and Karaba backing us, we'll be fine." Russel said shrugging. "I'm not a fan of the Cons, but I'm not turning away any help we can get at this point."
Sumeragi took a deep breath and nodded. "Very well. I hope you all can recover from what you went through. Goodbye everyone."
The Neo Knights boarded their airship and gave their final goodbyes to the grateful espers, who promised not to tell of their involvement in their escape. Once everyone was buckled in, Annie called for a ground bridge from the Ark, and a green portal appeared in front of the ship. Sumeragi flew the ship into the portal and began their journey home.
"Sumeragi." Annie said.
"Yes, Annie?"
"Now that Karaba and the Decepticons have the island, what now?" Annie asked. "What happens next?"
Sumeragi was silent for a long time, and no one else bothered to say anything, though everyone knew the answer. After today, with this major victory for Karaba, the other nations of the world will declare them enemies of humanity and seek to either subjugate or destroy the island and everyone in it, Decepticons included. Hostilities would flare up and the world might be looking at a serious conflict. With that in mind, Sumeragi said only one thing that summed it all up in one answer.
"War."
XXXXXX
Now that the bulk of the fighting had stopped, securing the rest of the island was a breeze. The other detachments of soldiers in the other parts of the island were quick to (reluctantly) surrender after seeing their own Guardians point their weapons at them. The few groups of soldiers who resisted were swiftly destroyed by the Decepticons. They were the lucky ones. Woe behold anyone who tried fighting back against the Karaba strike teams. They didn't get a quick death.
There was also the number of esper prisoners either forced into the army as conscripts or kept in labor camps underground. They were liberated and given immediate medical care. It was still startling to see so many espers treated like slaves despite the initial reports of their treatment by Wolfe's regime, and it only increased the brutal treatment of the human soldiers who followed Wolfe's orders.
It was sundown when the Karaba army assembled in the city-square, awaiting the appearance of Megatron and Dreyas. Many people were tired, hurt and just wanted to rest, but they were also still riding high on the fact that they just conquered an island sporting more weapons than the Osean military.
After a few minutes of waiting, a ground bridge appeared in the middle of the square and from it came the leaders of the esper revolution—Megatron and Dreyas. Upon their entry, the soldiers of Karaba gave a deafening cheer that rattled the entire area and could be heard from all over the island. Their cheers were one of absolute adoration and praise, the symbol of an army that had great faith in their leaders. Those soldiers who weren't attending the rally were watching through their video monitors in the garrisons across the island. This was something they wouldn't miss.
Megatron grinned as he heard the praise of the espers around him. Never would he have thought that there would be a bunch of terrans celebrating the Decepticons as heroes. The universe works in mysterious ways.
"Espers of Karaba!" Dreyas bellowed, his voice booming over the crowd as they settled down. "Today marks a historical day in Karaba's history. Thanks to your hard work, we have conquered Assiah and gained a land of our own to call home. From now on, Assiah shall be the homeland of the esper race on Terra, and will be the seat of our empire as we destroy our enemies and achieve true freedom!"
The crowd roared again, praising their mighty leader and celebrating their great victory. Dreyas smirked and continued his speech.
"Let us not forget the sacrifices of those noble soldiers who gave their lives for us to make it this far. The men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for the cause." He said. "I know many of you have lost friends and loved ones to today's harrowing battle, and I want you to never forget them, for they are the reason we are here today."
Everyone went silent at the thought of how many members they lost today. They were still counting their dead and seeing who died in the secondary assault of the Guardians. Dreyas let the square mourn in silence for a moment.
"This will not be the last time we lose members. As we continue to fight, more and more people will die. I cannot promise that anyone here will live to see the end of this year, but if we work together, if we remain united, then perhaps we can avoid losing anymore beloved warriors of Karaba. Keep that in mind for the future. " Dreyas said seriously. He turned to Megatron, who stepped forward. "Now that I have said my peace, I'll let Megatron have the floor."
"Thank you, Dreyas." Megatron looked to the crowd of espers. "Warriors of Karaba, you have all fought valiantly today. Do not let the deaths of your brothers and sisters hold you back. Let their sacrifice drive you forward, draw upon your feelings of grief and pain to drive you forward to eliminate your enemies and ensure that no one will hurt you again."
"But most of all," He continued, his red eyes staring at the men and women staring up at him. "Never forget the faces of the people who hurt you. Don't you ever forget the pain they've inflicted upon you, for that pain will make you fight harder. For if you fight hard enough, you might have the chance to make them hurt just as much as they hurt you. For example…"
Megatron held up his hand, which was clenched at his side the entire time, and opened it. Everybody gasped when they saw that it was the beaten and bruised form of Johnathan Wolfe, the man who ruled Assiah with an iron fist and subjugated the island's esper population under intensive slave labor. Almost immediately the crowd starting booing and throwing nasty insults and jeers at the man, and Megatron grinned at the sheer hatred they had for the man.
"What I have here is someone I'm sure you all know about. Johnathan Wolfe, a man who sought to use the human/esper conflict as a means to wage war on the rest of the world using his Guardian robots as weapons to dominate those countries that would no submit to him. He thought himself a modern day Alexander the Great or Napoleon. As some god king who will rule the world. Funny how he barely lasted a year into his so-called conquest."
Wolfe sat in Megatron's palm scared and frightened. Here he was in the palm of the alien who could crush him into a bloody pulp in front of an entire army of espers who wanted to rip him to pieces. There was nowhere he could run. He was screwed ten ways from Sunday and there wasn't a thing he could do about it.
"Yes, I know you all want to kill him, make him pay for the horrid treatment he invited upon your esper brethren. Which brings me to the main topic of this show." Megatron held Wolfe higher up so everyone could see him. "Here is the punishment he shall suffer: every esper he's imprisoned on this island will take a knife, or at least something sharp, and carve out a small piece of his flesh. The pieces must be small and you can't hit anything vital. He must live as long as possible for everyone to get their share of his flesh. This will be his punishment, and though he will beg for death he will not get it quickly!"
Wolfe was a sobbing mess right now and he tried to jump out of Megatron's hand to fall to his death below. Megatron didn't give him the chance, as he grabbed Wolfe in his hand. The espers of Karaba and the former prisoners howled together in praise of the idea, every man and woman there calling for blood. His blood.
By the time the sun fully set, Wolfe had been stripped naked and tied spread out on a stone slab as every man, woman and child carved out small pieces of his flesh one by one. First on the front, then on the back. Unknown to the populace, Megatron had an esper with healing powers subtly heal Wolfe just enough so that he didn't die from the extreme pain he was experiencing, but only lengthened his suffering.
Wolfe's suffering continued well into the night, and even when he screamed his throat raw they didn't stop. What was even more messed up was that the entire thing was being streamed live online by Soundwave, unmitigated and uncensored, despite the best efforts of local authorities the world over. By morning Wolfe would die when one lucky esper would carve his heart into several tiny pieces, unable to scream or even whimper. When he finally died, they hung his body from the highest tower on Assiah as a gruesome reminder of what was in store for the tormentors of espers everywhere.
They wanted the whole world to know what was coming for them. Revenge and retribution.
XXXXXX
Onboard the Enlightenment, Shockwave was at his computer studying some very interesting data that Megatron had acquired for him after their raid on Skywatch HQ. With all the commotion started by Nova Prime and the invasion of Assiah afterwards, he barely had time to work on the upcoming project. But now that things had calmed down somewhat, he could get back to work.
"Shockwave," Megatron walked into his lab, silent as a cyber-lion despite his massive size. "How goes things in the land of nightmares and opportunities?"
"Things are well, Lord Megatron. Though perhaps not as exciting as things have been with you." Shockwave remarked. "How were the space pillars?"
"They performed wonderfully, though using only two pillars for a one-sided transportation take a bit longer than having pillars at the destination." Megatron said.
"It's still a work in progress, but just to be safe, stick to the ground bridge if you want to get somewhere fast. The space pillars are better used for…shock and awe." He said.
"I'll keep that in mind." Megatron said. "So what have you uncovered about OZ's little science project?"
Shockwave looked down at the body of the Barricade headmaster used by OZ to assault Decepticon Island a year ago. It was a good thing Knockout kept a few bodies for study, because he was very interested in what these things had to offer.
"I cannot tell you how OZ came to acquire information of this caliber without outside assistance, but I can say that this…headmaster is an almost fluid fusion of human biology and cybertronian technology on the mental and physical level." Shockwave explained. "Has Knockout informed you of the mental connection between the human pilot and the cybertronian brain?"
"He has, but he wasn't able to make much of it."
"Understandable, considering this technology uses the biology of real headmasters as a baseline. I assume the reason OZ stole Barricade's body was to use his mind as a central hub through which the pilots were able to control their headmaster bodies. And from what I have heard…the Autobots encountered the same problem with one of their own."
"The Autobot Sunstreaker. That arrogant bastard Pisces has files on their dissection of him for their headmaster program." Megatron said. "They used Skyquake's killer, one of the Autobots' human pets, as a test subject."
"Is he still alive?" Shockwave asked suddenly. Megatron quirked a brow at him.
"Pardon?"
"Is the boy who was the headmaster of Autobot Sunstreaker still alive?" The scientist repeated.
"Yes he is," Megatron answered, getting curious. "Why?"
"Through their connection into Barricade's mind, OZ was able to discern the location of Decepticon Island, though their information was shoddy because they were working off a dead cybertronian brain. They most likely used the same process on the Autobot, but the main difference is that he was still alive when they hooked him to their database. They got a glimpse into his mind, and by extension his memories." Shockwave stared at Megatron with his bright yellow eye, his voice stoic as ever but now holding a faint hint of eagerness. "And there is only one headmaster alive with a connection to the Autobot."
Megatron understood perfectly at what Shockwave was getting at, and there was already a plan cooking up in his mind at that moment.
"Looks like Starscream's little plan might be worth something after all." He said to himself.
It's the beginning of the end as the Brotherhood's got some new digs and the Cons are gearing up to put an end to the Terra Wars once and for all. Next chapter is when things kick off as the Cons make their first move in their final play. Be sure to check out the official Transformers Titan website on WordPress. Thanks for reading, please leave a review and stay safe. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go work on my RWBY rewrite fic to negate the feelings of dread from the V8 finale.
Edit: Yeah, this chap's a bit late thanks to my computer crashing. Lost all my files save the ones I have saved here and on AO. It's going to take a while to get all my shit together, so this and the next chapter are all you're going to get for a while until I can salvage this mess. Only lost one chapter for this story though, so that's good.