Chapter 33-Illumination part 2
While Optimus and Ironhide were up in space, Megatron's group were waiting for Apollyon's envoy to arrive in Sioux at the designated location their visitor had already decided upon without so much as a hello before hanging up. The audacity of these bastards astounded even Megatron.
"The shuttle is cloaked from the Nemesis's sensors." Soundwave said. "I can only detect them when they're close enough to our position."
"How the hell did they manage that?" Darkshadow said. "We have the most advanced ship in the Decepticon space fleet and their little patchwork slag-show can just hide from it?"
"Who cares, Darkshadow." Nightshade said. "Let's just find them and wipe them out so we can move on with our lives."
The shuttle appeared in the sky and slowly landed on the ground. Megatron crossed his arms impatiently as the ship's entry hatch opened up and a lone figure stepped outside.
Their guest was a surprisingly large mechanoid, standing just a head taller than Megatron. They had dark purple and black armor over a broad-shouldered frame and a sleek face plate with dark violet eyes glaring down at Megatron. The Decepticons also noticed the visible reptilian claws on the newcomer's arms and legs, as well as the twin dragon heads mounted on their back.
'A beastformer.' Nightshade observed. 'No wonder they sent them to deal with Megatron.'
"It's about time you got here." Megatron said. "You are speaking with Megatron of Tarn, leader f the greatest empire in the galaxy. Who are you, Apollyon's servant?"
"My name is Exeedra." Said the warrior n a surprisingly feminine voice. The newly discovered femme kept walking until she was face to face with Megatron. Darkshadow tensed up behind Megatron, but the warlord signaled him to stand down. "I know who you are, Megatron. Your outposts like to parade your image around like some galactic pop star group. It's rather embarrassing to see."
"I didn't waste time out of my day to be insulted by the survivor of some backwater colony." Megatron said. "What do you want?"
"What I want? My goals are the same as Lord Apollyon's—the eradication of any and all cybertronians from the galaxy."
Nightshade, Darkshadow and Soundwave pointed their weapons at Exeedra, who didn't even flinch at the weapons being pointed at her. Megatron snorted and looked up at her.
"Of course you're here to kill me. What a surprise." Megatron said sarcastically. "And I take it Prime's come to the same conclusion as me?"
"The Prime will die last. Right now I'm just here to clean up the trash." Exceedra replied.
"You look strong, but it's five against one. And I'm more than enough to handle you alone." Megatron lifted his fusion cannon to point it at her head.
Exceedra's eyes glowed as she chuckled. "Who said I was alone?"
Megatron heard a sonic boom blaring from his right before he felt something slam into his body with tremendous force. Suddenly he was moving through the air at high speeds, his body being pushed through the ground by a green and red femme who was grappling him.
"You dare?!" He growled and pulled one arm free to repeatedly punch the femme in the face, trying to spin them around so that he was on top.
They smashed through a silo and kept flying until they reached a nearby town, their large bodies smashing right through the back of a building and landed in the middle of a street. Their impact had killed several people already and crushed several cars and trucks and their drivers. Not that either of them cared about that.
Megatron got to his feet, hearing the screams of the humans who weren't caught in the carnage. A gas station exploded down the street and the smell of gasoline filled the air along with thick clouds of smoke. He reached for Keranos, only to realize that he dropped his scythe when he was attacked.
"Damn it all." He cursed.
He looked around for any sign of the femme who had a death wish. "I know you're here! Come out and face me!"
He felt the air shift around him and he ducked underneath a lightning-fast punch that he sensed more than he saw coming. Megatron rammed his elbow into the femme's chest and grabbed her head, slamming her into the ground repeatedly before throwing her into a nearby car shop. He advanced towards her but a large purple energy blast slammed into his back and sent him crashing down the street, further destroying the town and killing several unfortunate humans trying to escape.
Exceedra descended upon the ravaged street in her beast mode, a three-headed dragon with a large wing span that blanketed the block in her massive shadow. She landed on the ground and two of her heads remained locked on Megatron while the third stared at her fallen comrade.
"Get up, Arcus. You shame yourself and Lord Apollyon by letting this heathen toss you around like that." The beastformer commanded in a deep, gruff voice.
Arcus stumbled out of the wreckage of the building, her armor lightly stained with the blood of the humans she crushed upon impact. She rubbed her head and glared at Megatron, who hadn't made a move against them yet.
"A dragon. Impressive beast mode, though I've killed worse creatures." Megatron rolled his shoulders and raised his fists. "Come at me!"
Arcus moved first, her body turning into a blur and leaving afterimages of light in her wake as she ran off the side of the buildings and leapt at Megatron. Megatron felt the air shift around him and he narrowly dodged a forward stab from her blade, though the tip of her blade still nicked him. He evaded most of her attacks and tried to grab her, but Arcus leapt away and Exceedra came charging at him in robot mode, slamming into him with the force of a full powered punch from Grimlock.
Megatron dug his feet into the ground, leaving deep tranches in the street as he tried to remain grounded. He traded punches with Exceedra, who was as strong as she looked, before she grabbed his neck and body-slammed him into the ground. Megatron felt his entire frame shake from the impact, but he angled his fusion cannon at her shoulder and fired. Though she tanked the blast with a growl of pain and a smoking shoulder, the force of the blast pushed her back just enough for Megatron to roll away and land a solid uppercut to her chin. Then, almost instinctively, he spun around and backhanded Arcus across the face when she tried to flank him.
Exceedra tried to grab him, but Megatron grappled against the larger femme for a minute before kneeing her in the chest. He then landed another uppercut on her chin before shooting her directly in the chest. The fusion blast was set on a higher power output than earlier in the fight, and so Exceedra was sent flying back all the way to the edge of town from that point blank blast, no doubt sporting a new wound that would take longer to shake off.
Megatron raised his hand and concentrated, remaining stationary in the middle of the ravaged town. Arcus, who had been watching him from a rooftop, had no idea what he was doing. All she knew was that he was stationary, and she had a clean shot.
Extending her vibro-blade from her wrist, she planted her feet on the side of the building she stood on and pushed off, shooting at Megatron at lightning-fast speeds no normal cybertronian could achieve unaided. But as she prepared to behead Megatron in a single strike, a flash of blue light blinded her momentarily…before her body erupted in pain.
Arcus didn't see Megatron swung his scythe, which she was sure he didn't have seconds before, nor did she feel her lower body being cut from her torso until her circuits registered the pain. Her legs fell to the ground, but Megatron's hands shot out and grabbed her head, keeping her in the air as he grinned at her.
"Not so cocky now, are you? Where's all that bravado you had earlier when you ambushed me?" He taunted her.
Arcus felt the pressure increase on her head and she realized with horror that Megatron was slowly crushing her head. She struggled to get free, but couldn't break his hold on her. Arcus began punching Megatron's chest rapidly, her fists leaving sparks every time they hit his chest plate. Megatron felt his armor denting slightly, but paid it no mind as he slowly increased the pressure on her skull.
"So you're from the colonies hit by the Rust Plague are you? Come to have your revenge on Cybertron for abandoning you to die? I say who the frag cares!" Megatron growled. "No one cared about the colonies before and they didn't care about the colonies after the plague. You're all remnants of a bygone era, one in a million that don't even register as a blurred-out face in the minds of others. And you thought you and your little gang had the skills to challenge me?"
Arcus felt her skull cracking, her armor developing hairline cracks from chin to forehead. One of her optics flickered with static before painfully popping out of her head. At this point her hands were already broken as they continued to punch Megatron's dented chest plate, but still he talked as if he wasn't torturing her.
"You fools are no match for me. Hell, you're not even a match for Prime and his lackies. There's nothing special about you that warrants the mustering of my forces, and if Apollyon is hearing this now, I want him to know just hos miniscule his very existence is to me and my cause!"
Megatron slightly increased the pressure and he crushed Arcus's head in his hands in a gory explosion of metal and energon. He threw her body to the ground before tossing it aside like a wet stick, the headless body crashing into a building.
"Worthless speck of space dust." Megatron huffed. He looked around for the other femme who thought she could challenge him. "Now where's your friend hiding. I know she didn't die from that shot."
Megatron got his answer when he saw something flying at him from above. His eyes widened when he saw that it was a train, and had no time to react as it crashed into him and skidded through the ground, tearing apart the already ravaged street. Exceedra flew above the burning town in her draconic beast mode, eyes focused on the smoldering wreck of the train where Megatron was. Exceedra flew toward the spot, but was forced to avert her course when several missiles shot past her face.
"Slag!" Her three heads hissed in unison when she saw the Nemesis flying her way. She looked back to the train and saw Megatron punching his way out of the wreckage with a look of pure rage.
"Hmph. Another time then, Megatron." Exceedra said and flew away, quickly outflying the warship as it hovered over the town to retrieve Megatron.
She'll get another chance at Megatron, but right now her lord needed her. It seems that the meeting with Prime didn't go as planned.
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Apollyon stood on the bridge of the Illumination with Sarna, his chief scientist, standing next to him. Exceedra entered the bridge and approached her lord, saluting him with a hand over her chest.
"My apologies for failing to defeat Megatron, my lord." Exceedra said. "He proved to be more formidable than I thought. And I was under the impression that Phaedra and Gorem would take care of his subordinates."
"Don't try to pin your failure on us, Exceedra." Phaedra hissed. "You are the strongest of us, but you couldn't kill a mech who was supposedly weaker than you? That's on you."
"Enough, both of you." Apollyon's deep voice intoned. Exceedra and Phaedra immediately went quiet. "We waste time quarreling while the blasphemers regroup to repel us."
"Where will we attack next, my lord?" Asked Lars.
"No where they'll be expecting. We've wasted enough time already. They will come to us sooner or later. Right now it's time to focus on the next phase of our plan." Apollyon said. He turned to Sarna and asked, "Is it ready?"
"I have the machines ready for deployment, my lord. The energon-derived ore of this planet was more than enough to bring it to full power. Maybe even enhance it's performance." Said the stout blue mech, his yellow eyes gleaming with eagerness.
"Good." Apollyon nodded and looked back out the newly repaired window at the blue planet before them. "Release the World Engine."
Out in space, a massive shape emerged from the dark side of the moon, where no satellites could reach it. The massive structure was the size of a skyscraper, with steel grey armor plating and had three long legs that were folded up over a large cannon. The top of the machine was large and domed, with numerous exhaust vents along the sides. On the side of the machine was a large golden symbol that looked similar to the Autobot insignia.
The symbol of the old world—the face of the Cybertronian Empire.
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The Autobots got news of Megatron and Exceedra's destructive fight and already they were getting angry reports from several politicians. They were criticizing the lack of action on the Autobots' part to stop the destruction of the town from happening, but for once Optimus wasn't in the mood and regulated all complaints toward Barnett. He'll apologize to the man after this crisis, but right now he had more pressing issues to deal with.
A crisis that seemed to be getting worse by the minute.
"Prime, something big just entered orbit." Tomahawk announced.
Optimus looked at the monitor and saw an object slowly entering the planet's atmosphere and heading straight for the continent of Anea in the eastern audience. "Is it Apollyon's ship?"
"No, it's something bigger, but I can't get a read on it." Tomahawk said.
"How are we just detecting it now?" Prowl asked, his eyes not leaving the screen.
"It came from the dark side of the moon. Our satellites didn't discover it until it was in orbit."
Barnett chose that moment to call them, his face appearing in a corner of the screen. "Prime, the Hexagon is going def con one over here. What's going on now?"
"Apollyon's on a warpath, Barnett. He intends to wipe out all cybertronians on the planet and turn Terra into a new Cybertron." Optimus said. "He tried to kill me and sent two soldiers after Megatron, but they clearly failed."
"He wants to turn Terra into Cybertron?" Jazz looked at Prime. "How does he intend to do that, boss bot? I thought he hated Cybertron."
"Apollyon sees Cybertron as tainted and wants to recreate a new homeworld here on Terra after wiping us all out. Whatever he has planned, he sees turning Terra into another Cybertron as cleansing this world of our sins." Optimus explained. "But I have no idea how he intends to do that."
"I think I have an idea." Ratchet said. He magnified the image on the screen, showing the barely visible image of the machine descending upon Southern Anea. "A world engine."
Optimus's eyes widened and even Ironhide and Prowl looked shocked at this new information. "Impossible." Ironhide gasped.
Barnett had no idea what had them shook, but he knew it had to be bad to garner such a reaction. "What's a world engine?"
"A world engine is what our people used to cyberform planets into miniature copies of Cybertron for our kind to live on." Ratchet explained. "They fire a conversion beam that can change organic and non-organic matter into the elemental metals that make up our planet."
"They were common during the Golden Age when Nova Prime led a massive colonization program of the galaxy. Colonial fleets would have at least two with them at all times as they colonized uninhabited worlds and cyberformed them to support cybertronian life." Optimus said. "Following the destruction of the space bridges to the colonizes during the Rust Plague, the world engines on Cybertron were decommissioned and taken apart. Apparently Apollyon had a working one in reserve this whole time."
"The machine's hovering over the Savanna." Tomahawk said. "Teletran's detecting rising energy levels radiating off it."
"If we let the world engine burrow it's way into the planet's crust, the conversion process will be too far gone and even destroying the machine won't stop the tectonic plates from turning into metal." Optimus looked at Prowl. "Recall all Autobots immediately and man battle stations! We need to destroy the world engine at once!"
"What about Apollyon and his crew? I'm sure they're waiting for us to attack them." Prowl said.
"That's unavoidable. Apollyon knows we can't let this pass and that we'll try to stop him." Optimus replied. "But rest assured, Prowl, I won't be sitting idle. When Apollyon comes for us, we'll be ready and waiting for him."
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The world engine was an instrumental piece of cybertronian history. It was used by cybertronian colonial fleets to cyberform entire worlds from the inside out into miniature Cybertrons to support cybertronian life. These worlds were then given Wells, named after the original Well of Allspark from where the first cybertronian life emerged on Cybertron. Once these Wells were constructed, they were ignited with a flame from Vector Sigma to activate it, and give them the ability to generate new life.
The world engines were instrumental in cybertronian colonization of other worlds, but when the Rust Plague hit and decimated several colonies, forcing Cybertron to destroy the space bridges to isolate the plague, the world engines fell into disuse as the colonial age came to a violent close. They served no purpose anymore and their high energy consumption meant that no one would even attempt to use them with so few resources available. At least, until now.
Apollyon's world engine descended upon the vast open plains of the Savanna in South Anea. The machine was massive, hovering over the landscape like a floating mountain that could be seen for miles, blocking out the sun. It remained stationary a few miles above the grassy plains as it began to unfold, opening up to allow a large cannon-like extension to protrude from its bottom half.
Inside the Luminary Sarna was monitoring the power levels of the world engine, checking all systems in case there were any complications that needed to be addressed. There were none. Sarna grinned and turned to Apollyon. "We are now slave to the world engine, my lord."
Apollyon nodded and looked down at the planet below him. "Fire."
Above the Savanna, the world engine gave an extremely loud, deafening hum before it suddenly fired a massive white beam into the ground. The blast released a blast wave that reverberated throughout the earth, sending dust and rocks everywhere. The beam began steadily tearing into the ground, and any earth it touched turned into metal. The conversion of Terra had begun.
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The Ark flew over the Florecio Ocean at full speed toward Anea. The starship had all its weapons primed and ready to fire. The Autobots were ready to fight.
"At the speed we're going, we'll reach the battle zone in about 20 minutes." Optimus told his team. "Barnett's managed to convince the South Anean military not to engage the world engine, but we need to move fast. Once the Ark is within range, we attack it at full power."
"What about the Luminary?" Ironhide asked.
"I'll handle Apollyon and his crew." Optimus said darkly, gripping the Star Saber.
"If you're going to shoot at that thing, target the power cells at the top of the machine. They provide the bulk of the power to the entire thing." Wheeljack said, looking over the info on his datapad. "Take them out and the whole thing will shut down and even explode."
"Then we better make it quick. Scans are showing that over a mile of land has already been converted into cybertrmatter." Lifeline said. The others looked at her shocked.
"Already?! But the thing was just turned on. How is it converting earth so fast?" Ironhide asked.
Optimus already knew the answer. "Ore-13."
"Guys, we've got incoming!" Sideswipe said.
Just as he said that, a massive white beam pierced the clouds and hit the side of the Ark. The attack tilted the ship to one side and jostled everyone inside, but its shields held up just fine.
"Get us a visual!" Optimus ordered.
The external camera feed was transmitted to the bridge and the Autobots saw the large white form of the Luminary flying right for them. Optimus called the shuttle bay for their flyers.
"Skyfire, Tomahawk, get out there and target the world engine! Armorhide focus all our weapons on the Luminary. Sideswipe, keep an eye on our shields. We can't let Apollyon slow us down!"
The Ark's laser weaponry opened fire on the Luminary and the two ships began trading weapons fire while still in motion. Within just the first couple seconds it became clear that the transport-turned-warship didn't just look pretty. It could tank a lot of firepower as well thanks to the upgrades the Luminaries did to it.
"Focus the particle cannons on the Ark. Maintain fire on a single spot in their shield array and wear it down. Destroy that blasted ship before it reaches the continent!" Apollyon commanded.
"Yes, Lord Apollyon." Lars said.
The Luminary continued its bombardment on the Ark, and every particle blast that landed on the ship rocked the larger vessel violently. It was quite the sight to see two ships of such large size dogfighting in the air at high speeds. Smoke and flames trailed behind them as they shot at each other, and it seemed the two ships were evenly matched.
"I just detected two Autobots leaving the Ark." Sarna reported.
"Lars, Phaedra, stop them." Apollyon said. "Sarna, continue your assault on the Ark. Do not let up on them!"
Unfortunately for Apollyon, another player had entered the game. A volley of missiles slammed into the rear thrusters of the Luminary, rocking the ship. Gorem brought up the external cameras and revealed a large purple ship quickly approaching them from behind.
"It's the Nemesis!" Gorem exclaimed.
"Megatron!" Apollyon growled, his grip on his staff tightening. "Exceedra, you know what to do."
"That I do, my lord." Exceedra replied, grinning darkly as she stepped out of the bridge. It was time for round two, and this time she was going to make sure her hands were stained with Decepticon energon!
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Skyfire and Tomahawk flew as fast as they could toward the world engine. The skies had been covered by thick black clouds from the huge amounts of exhaust coming from the machine. The closer they got to it, the more intense the atmosphere became as they neared the conversion beam. Tomahawk looked down and saw that several miles of land had already been cyberformed and towering metal spires were starting to form from the geological shifts occurring.
"Come on, Skyfire. We don't have much time!"
"What the hell do you think I'm doing?" Skyfire yelled over the deafening hum of the world engine's beam.
They flew towards their target, and as they got closer, they felt the enormous amount of power that it was giving off. The continuous beam it was firing into the ground was so loud that they couldn't even hear their own thrusters, and the air vibrated every time the world engine released a pulse wave to increase the beam's power. Any closer and their flight systems might be effected.
Tomahawk circled the world engine and fired a few heat seekers at the exhaust vents on the side. Only two hit, while the other three were diverted by the growing pulsewaves the world engine was giving off. It was emitting so much power that the gravity around it was causing the missiles to fly off course.
"Slag! We need to get closer!" Tomahawk said.
"How much closer? We'll be dragged into the gravity well!" Skyfire said.
"Close enough so our missiles will hit their mark. We have to take the risk." Tomahawk then detected something on her radar. "We've got incoming!"
It was Lars and Phaedra. The green mech fired several missiles from her wings and the two Autobots scattered to avoid them. Skyfire transformed and fired upon them with her plasma cannons, but Tomahawk stopped her.
"Go, Skyfire. Take it out!" She told her. Skyfire nodded and changed forms, flying away to destroy the world engine. Tomahawk focused on the two bots facing her and fired several heat seekers at them. Lars and Phaedra dodged them, but two missiles scored a hit on Phaedra's right wing, staggering him.
"Kill the other one before she gets to the world engine." He ordered. "This one's mine."
Lars said nothing, as she flew after Skyfire. Tomahawk tried to shoot her down, but she was too fast. Phaedra rushed at her and Tomahawk flew back to keep some distance between them.
"Your fight is with me, coward." Phaedra growled.
"You're gonna wish it wasn't." Tomahawk remarked.
She shot forward and transformed, her robot mode barely complete as she slammed a fist into Phaedra's beak. Kicking him in the head, Tomahawk swiftly took out her booster shot of Ore-13 and injected it into her arm. Within seconds she felt a surge of power rush through her circuits and her blue eyes turned magenta as the energon's power fully suffused through her. Phaedra transformed but he was pummeled repeatedly by Tomahawk's ore-13 enhanced punches. She only had a few minutes before it wore off and she was going to make it count.
"Skyfire, on your six." Comettor said.
"I see the bitch." Skyfire growled. "Hang on, little guy. It's gonna be rough."
Skyfire warped out of Lars' sights and reappeared behind her. Lars transformed in the literal blink of an eye and sent a kick at Skyfire's head. Skyfire blocked the kick and tried to shoot her down, but Lars was faster than her and landed a solid punch to her chest that knocked her back. Lars took out her sword and shot at Skyfire, slashing wildly at her.
'This is gonna take a while.' Skyfire thought as she dueled with Lars in the air.
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Exceedra flew at the Nemesis at full speed. The ship had already fired several missiles at her, but it was nothing a quick sweep of fire breath from her three dragon heads couldn't handle. Despite her large size, she was as swift in the air as she was on land, and she easily bypassed the Nemesis's automated systems.
Though that might be because the warship was still focusing the bulk of its firepower on the Luminary. This gave her a window of entry, though it was small.
She had her two heads deliver a continuous fire stream at the missile launchers along the starboard side of the Nemesis that destroyed several missile pods and laser cannons. That was enough to get their attention as the remaining cannons focused on her.
"That's right. Focus on me, you bastards." She hissed.
Exceedra swooped down underneath the laser fire and transformed, landing on the top deck. Deciding to be petty, she transformed her arm into a heat cannon and began unleashing hell on the ship, blasting holes in the hull and tearing off the gun turrets when they tried to shoot her.
As she predicted, it didn't take long for the Cons to come running. As soon as the elevator opened up, a fusion blast was fired from the lift and hit Exceedra in the arm, throwing her back. Despite the pain Exceedra smiled, knowing that she was going to get her rematch.
"There you are." She growled. "Ready for round two?"
"There wasn't even a round one." Megatron spat and nodded to Nightshade, who pointed Gandiva at her.
Exceedra charged forward, taking three arrows to her raised arm as she barreled into Nightshade. Megatron fired a fusion blast at her head, but she dodged it and punched him in the nose. Nightshade drew her swords and slashed at her face, almost beheading her. Exceedra used her arms to defend against the blades before backhanding Nightshade to the ground.
"Attacking a warship all by yourself. Apollyon must think very low of me to do such a foolish thing." Megatron said, swinging Keranos at her. Exceedra leaned back to avoid the blade, but she still felt the static electricity surge through the air.
"He does not think highly of any of you cybertronians. You're a plague that should've been cleansed ages ago. We're just the only ones with the bearings to do it!" Exceedra roared.
She tilted her head to the side just as a silver arrow flew past her head. Nightshade lunged at Exceedra's back, but the femme transformed to beast mode and one of her heads quickly snatched Nightshade around the waist in its jaws. She threw Nightshade to the ground, but took a fusion blast to the face from Megatron.
"You're strong, but I've taken harder hits from that oaf Grimlock." Megatron remarked.
"Big talk for a mech who hides behind his fusion cannon!" Exceedra charged at Megatron, and she transformed to robot mode just before slamming into him, wrapping her large arms around his torso and squeezing tightly. Megatron delivered several powerful blows to her head before she was force to let go to avoid getting her skull bashed in.
Megatron landed on the floor and pointed his fusion cannon right at Exceedra, who knocked his arm aside and diverted the blast. The traded several punches while the Nemesis continued its attack on the Luminary, the air filled with the deafening cacophony of explosions. Exceedra changed to dragon form and her left head snapped at Megatron, but he jumped aside and grappled with it, wrapping his arms around its jaws and wrestling with it. Exceedra struggled to shake him off, but Megatron dug his feet into the metal hull of his ship and grounded himself.
"I find it insulting that you wayward fools think you were important enough to even think you're capable of ending this war. You blame others for your own misfortune and then try to hide behind some religious dogma like a filthy organic!" Megatron snarled. "There's nothing special about you Luminaries. You're all just a bunch of people who should've died with the rest of the colonies in the rust plague. Leave the fighting to those who actually know how to wage a war!"
Megatron heaved and put all of his strength into his arms. Exceedra howled as her left head was brutally torn off, the shared neural link she had with it channeling the intense waves of pain that sparked from where her head used to be. She transformed and uppercutted Megatron in the chest, throwing him off his feet before landing another strong punch to his chest that sent him crashing into one of the Nemesis's spikes.
Megatron ducked under another punch and landed a palm strike to her knee before grabbing her arm and throwing him over his shoulder. Exceedra landed hard on her back but she spun her body around and landed a sweeping kick to Megatron's torso that nearly threw him off the ship.
Coughing up energon, Megatron pointed his fusion cannon at her just as she aimed her own plasma cannon in his direction. They fired at the same time, and the colliding energy blasts created an explosion strong enough to blast them apart from each other.
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Apollyon watched the dueling bots with growing impatience. He thought that he could at least count on Exceedra to kill the warlord, but apparently even that was too much for ask for.
"It looks like I'll have to do the job myself." Apollyon growled and rose to his feet, grabbing his staff and head for the doors.
"Lord Apollyon?" Sarna asked. "Whare are you going?"
"To do my job." Apollyon replied.
Apollyon took the lift to the upper deck of the Luminary and raise his staff. The orb at the top of the staff began to glow, first softly but then grew in intensity. Apollyon raised his staff high above his head and channeled its power into the orb, pointing it at the Nemesis.
"Show the world your brilliance, glorious Sol." Apollyon chanted. "Illuminate the black hearts of these sinners and show them the light!"
The staff was blindingly bright at this point, but Apollyon did not take his eyes off the Nemesis. Focusing on a certain point on the ship, Apollyon thrust his staff forwards and fired a massive beam of pure light that completely pierced through the Nemesis's shields and tore through the side of the ship. The attack destroyed several of the ship's cannons and actually blew a hole in the lower deck of the warship, damaging a fuel line and causing several fires to break out.
At the same moment, Megatron, Nightshade and Exceedra were almost thrown off the ship as Apollyon's attack tore through the ship, the powerful blast almost catching the two fighters in the crossfire.
"What the hell was that?!" Megatron roared.
"That was Apollyon trying to take us out." Nightshade grimaced at the damage. How the hell was Apollyon able to do that?
Exceedra looked back at the Luminary. "Lord Apollyon, what is the meaning of this?" She demanded. "I had it under control."
"If you had it under control, Megatron would be dead by now. We're too close to victory to leave it to chance anymore. If you cannot escape that ship alive then you are no longer worthy of embracing the new future with me."
"Lord—"
Megatron lunged at her with Keranos, but Exceedra ducked under his slash and began pummeling his front with several punches that threw him over to the smoking hole Apollyon had left in his ship. Snarling angrily, Exceedra charged at him, claws raised to rip him to shreds. Nightshade leapt forward, firing an arrow into the side of Exceedra's head, this time managing to blow out one of her eyes. As the beastformer stumbled due to the surprise attack, Megatron grabbed her arms and threw her over his head and down into the hole. Exceedra grabbed the ledge near one of the exposed fuel lines just as Megatron aimed her fusion cannon at her.
"You better hope that whatever god you worship is real, because you'll be meeting him soon!" Megatron taunted.
"Megatron, wait!" Nightshade tried to stop him, but it was too late.
Megatron fired his fusion cannon and the blast caught Exceedra right in the face. She was blasted into the fuel line behind her, igniting the exposed liquid energon and both Exceedra and a large chunk of the hall was engulfed in flames. The explosion was strong enough that Megatron and Nightshade were blown right off their feet and their auditory sensors were filled with white noise and static for several seconds.
Nightshade cursed as her head was filled with a loud ringing, and it took a while for her to regain her hearing. Seeing Megatron rise to his feet, she called the bridge. "Bridge, this is Nightshade. How's the ship."
"Not good. Whatever the hell you two did up there caused almost as much damage as that attack. We can remain airborne for a while but we lost a good chunk of weapons on our starboard side and we have a serious hull breach. Fires are breaking out and Soundwave's trying to keep it from reaching the energon. If you want to keep fighting now, you're doing it half-cocked." Knockout said.
"Damn it, Megatron." Nightshade hissed at him. Megatron ignored her as he stood up and glared at the Luminary.
"Maintain our course and don't let that ship out of your sight!" Megatron called Keranos to his hand. "I'll deal with Apollyon myself!"
He swung Keranos and unleashed a curved lightning bolt at the opposing ship. Apollyon waved his staff and a barrier of light manifested around him, diffusing the bolt. Megatron released several more bolts, and they all bombarded the Luminary with immense power.
"All that famed cunning and intellect goes right out the window when you're angry. I can see why Prime as been able to best you so far." Apollyon remarked, heedless of the damage his ship was taking. "But you will die along with him all the same. I will cleanse the universe of your factions and bring true peace to the cosmos. And no one will stop this mighty crusade!"
Apollyon fired another beam that hit the nose of the warship, causing even more damage. Apollyon then dragged the beam alongside the ship, leaving a smoking gash in the hull that sounded like two gears grinding together at high speed.
"Damn you!" Megatron sent another lightning bolt at the Luminary, scoring a direct hit on the ship's thrusters and causing a large explosion that blew a hole in the lower deck.
"Megatron, the ship can't take another hit like that." Soundwave said.
Still angered at his ship being taken out of the fight, Megatron was nonetheless satisfied that he dealt just as much damage to that ivory eyesore. But that didn't mean he couldn't get back at Apollyon another way.
"Nightshade," He said, turning his attention to the dueling flyers above the world engine. "I have a task for you."
XXXXXX
Skyfire and Tomahawk were still fighting Phaedra and Lars. Skyfire was still trying to shake Lars, who continued to hound her even after she warped several times. It was putting a strain on her energy reserves and she couldn't handle it much longer. Tomahawk was still holding off Phaedra and the Ark was still locked in combat with the Luminary.
"This bitch is really getting on my nerves!" Skyfire growled, shooting several plasma blasts at Lars, who generated a hard-light shield around her body as she evaded the attacks, letting them bounce off her. "For frag's sake!"
"Skyfire, Tomahawk, get to it! The world engine's power levels are rising and we're nearing the point of no return!" Prowl said.
"What the hell do you think we're trying to do?" Skyfire yelled back, dodging another volley of photon blasts from Lars. "We're stalled thanks to these assholes!"
Tomahawk continued to dogfight Phaedra, who's beast mode was far more maneuverable than her alt mode. She tried to keep up with his constant volleys of missiles, which he seemed to have an endless supply of, but he weaved through her attacks and put the pressure on her. Thanks to the Ore-13 running through her circuits, she was able to tank his hits, but she needed to finish this fight soon or she'll crash. Not the kind of thing she wanted while flying several feet above the ground with the death machine going off behind her.
"Prowl, I don't think we're going to make it. Apollyon's flyers are too much for us!" Tomahawk said, grunting as Phaedra landed a kick to her chest, but grabbed his leg and pulled him in for a punch to his jaw.
As they fought in the sky, the terrain below them was radically different from the flat savanna plains it used to be. Not only was a large swath of land now transmuted into metal, there were several towering spires and hills that were growing out of the landscape. All while the conversion beam burrowed deeper and deeper into the earth. Any deeper and the cyberforming process will continue to spread even without the world engine powering it, and the entire planet will be lost.
It was a stressful situation and Tomahawk felt powerless as she was deadlocked against Phaedra. Skyfire and Lars were still playing cat and mouse, the Ark was struggling against the Luminary. Everyone was stalled while the earth turned to solid metal.
Just when Tomahawk was planning to do something drastic, a flash of light came out of the corner of her eye and suddenly Phaedra's entire right side exploded in a flash of silver light. He howled in pain and stalled in the air, energy spewing from ruptured fuel lines. Tomahawk looked up and saw a large black shape heading right for them—it was Nightshade!
"Eat this!" Nightshade flew in and swung her twin swords down Phaedra's body, dragging them agonizingly slowly across his chest, carving him up grotesquely. She grabbed his head and spun him around several times before throwing him into the world engine's beam.
Tomahawk saw Phaedra's body vanish in the bright light, either completely vaporized or turned into an assortment of different metals before being crushed by the immense gravitational pressure. Whatever his fate, it was a grim one that she didn't want to think about. Tomahawk turned back to Nightshade, who glared at her.
"You're welcome." Nightshade spat.
XXXXXX
"Uh, Prime? Something weird just happened." Tomahawk said over the comm.
"What happened?" Optimus asked.
"Nightshade just swooped in and killed Phaedra for me." She said, much to the surprise of the Autobots on the bridge. "And now she's off to fight Vindicator."
"That's impossible." Prowl muttered. "Why would Nightshade…?"
"Probably on orders from Megatron." Optimus said. "To get back at Apollyon."
"Prime, the Nemesis is pulling back from the Luminary." Lifeline reported. "It's sustained heavy damages, but so did the Luminary."
Optimus was silent for a moment, a look of contemplation on his face, and Prowl glanced suspiciously at him. "What are you planning, Prime?"
"Something reckless and stupid." He said before jumping up and running for the door. "Sideswipe, I need your jetpack."
XXXXXX
"We've lost contact with Phaedra, my lord." Gorem reported. "It was Nightshade!"
"Damn you, Megatron!" Apollyon snarled, slamming a fist into the wall. "Focus all your firepower on the Ark. Make sure that ship goes down!"
The Luminary continued pummeling the Ark's shielding, but their firepower wasn't as devastating thanks to the Nemesis's previous assault. The ship was moving slower, and the Ark was beginning to break free from them.
"What are you doing? Increase our speed!" Apollyon shouted.
"Our thrusters are operating at half their capacity, my lord." Sarna said. "We risk damaging them further if we push them past their limits."
"Then redirect all power from non-essential systems to the propulsion systems and hold fire on the cannons." Apollyon commanded, not taking his eyes off the Ark. "If can't shoot the Ark down, then we'll ram it before blasting a hole straight through it. I'll deal the finishing blow."
Sarna nodded and got to work on increasing the ship's speed. But as he did that, Gorem detected another unwanted surprise happening right in front of them. "Lord Apollyon, I'm detecting a ground bridge manifesting…right in front of us!"
"What?!" Apollyon roared.
A ground bridge materialized before the Luminary as it flew right towards it, but only one person emerged from the portal—Optimus Prime! Using Sideswipe's jetpack, he flew right at the ship, the Star Saber in his hands and glowing as he prepared for a frontal assault. Apollyon realized what he was going to do and leapt out of his chair.
"Evade! EVADE!" He shouted.
But it was too late to make any sort of evasive maneuver as Optimus sliced through the front windshield of the Luminary and crashed into the bridge. Optimus tucked into a roll to break his fall and spun around, firing his ion rifle into Sarna's head, completely destroying him with several ion blasts. Gorem tried to lunge for him, but Optimus swung the Star Saber and cut him in two diagonally, letting her two halves drop to the floor twitching sporadically.
"You will not take this away from me, Prime!" Apollyon howled and ran at Optimus.
Optimus turned around and quickly pushed the ignition lever up all the way, increasing the ship's speed to full power and directed the ship to fly right for the world engine. Apollyon stabbed forward with his staff, but Optimus kicked him in the face and stabbed the sword into the console panel.
"NO!" Apollyon roared.
With the ship not locked in its flight path, Optimus jumped out of the window and flew away from the Luminary. His jetpack sputtered a bit, causing him to crash into a metal spire before crash landing on the metallic ground, rolling to a stop amidst metal debris. He looked up and saw the ship flying right for the world engine without any control, with its hundreds of passengers still inside.
XXXXXX
Lars looked back and saw the Luminary heading for the world engine. "Lord Apollyon!" She cried out and kicked Skyfire away, turning to vehicle mode and flying for the out of control ship.
Nightshade descended upon her from above, throwing her sword and stabbing Lars through the abdomen. She slashed her blade and tore open Lars's side before grabbing her head and throwing her back to Skyfire. "She's all yours, Autobot!" She called out.
Skyfire grabbed Lars from behind in a headlock and warped close to the world engine. She spun around and threw Lars right into the path of the descending Luminary, wincing as the white femme was hit by the speeding ship with enough force to decapitate her body from the impact alone.
"Hawk, we better bounce!" Skyfire said, flying over to Tomahawk and teleporting away just as the Luminary crashed nose first into the fuel tanks of the world engine.
There was a massive groan of the ship deforming against the side of the machine, the momentum causing the ship to completely crumple up at the front like a can before the ore-13 laden fuel tanks detonated. What followed was a tremendous explosion of purple flames as the entire world engine was engulfed in a massive ball of fire. The Ark was thrown off balance by the blast wave that erupted from the explosion.
"Is everyone alright?" Prowl asked. He got a series of affirmations that everyone was alive and well.
"I'll answer that as soon as my audials stop ringing." Skyfire said over the comm.
"Tomahawk, do you have eyes on Prime?" Arcee asked.
"No, and I can't find him on radar. That explosion's released a lot of residual energy into the air and its screwing up my sensors."
"All right people, let's scout the immediate are for boss bot's signal." Jazz said. "We need to find him before one of the hundreds of other baddies in the area do."
XXXXXX
Optimus pushed his way out of the pile of rubble with a groan, getting to his feet and picked up the Star Saber. He had the honor of witnessing the world engine's destruction first hand and was blown back several feet from the sheer force of the explosion, skidding across the landscape of the altered terrain like a discarded child's toy.
He saw the Luminary go up in flames with the world engine, and relief flooded his body. The real crisis had been averted. Optimus got to one knee and stood up…only to have a beam of light slam into the ground near him and blast him off his feet. Optimus crashed to the ground a few meters away and landed on his back, groaning. He gripped the Star Saber and looked up to see the bright red form of Apollyon flying down in vehicle mode, transforming and crashing into the metallic ground nose first.
'How did he make it out?' Optimus thought, cautiously approaching the downed mech. Apollyon transformed and got to his knees, clutching his staff tightly.
"Look around you, Prime. This is what your people bring to the universe. Not hope, not faith, only death. I've seen what happens to the worlds unfortunate enough to bear the weight of your war. They're either burned to cinders by the Decepticons or abandoned by you Autobots." Apollyon whispered, his eyes wide and crazed as he got to his feet. "How long would it have taken before this world would've met the same fate as all the others? A year? Two years? You've already thrown its native population into a race war!"
Apollyon pointed his staff at Optimus, who remained silent in the midst of his rant. "Look at you standing so tall and proud. Just like Nova Prime and his accursed Senate. Those spoon-fed lackluster fools who saw the colonies only as spare commodities that could be discarded at a moment's notice. Nova too busy with his dreams of conquest to worry about the people behind his own borders. That coward Sentinel Prime who played in a pond bigger than he could swim in. You're all the same!"
"You demonize me for cyberforming this planet, but I'm sparing its people the long, drawn-out death they would've suffered from your war! I'm saving them from your plague of a war and the hypocrisy of placing their misguided faith in you. The deaths of the Autobots and Decepticons would have been a mercy that the universe would have rewarded me for!"
Apollyon threw his staff and Optimus raised his sword to block it. The staff's point hit the flat of his blade and the impact knocked him back a few feet. Optimus grunted and remained standing, glaring at Apollyon. The red and gold mech stalked towards Prime, pure hatred visible in his eyes.
"I will not stand around and watch while our species dies at the hands of you sinners. Primus will have his dew one way or another. And if I need to crack this planet in half to save our people, then so be it!"
Apollyon charged forward, and Optimus met his charge head on. When the two mechs swung their weapons at each other, their weapons created a shockwave that blew them apart, but Apollyon pressed his assault, swinging his staff and releasing powerful arcs of light that cut through the metallic earth with ease. Optimus cut through them with the glowing Star Saber and tried to attack Apollyon directly.
"I'm going to kill them all, Optimus. Autobots, Decepticons, any trace of Cybertron's scourge I will tear down one by one!" Apollyon snarled.
"And that justifies committing genocide on a species that has done nothing to you?!" Optimus growled.
"This planet is just the first of many I must cleanse to purify of your cybertronian taint. Other worlds will follow. It's regrettable, but you have no one but yourselves to blame!"
Optimus gave a howl of rage and lunged at Apollyon. The red mech dodged Prime's first slash, but Optimus slammed his fist into the side of his head before slashing at his torso. Apollyon dodged the blade just enough to avoid death, but the tip of the sword still managed to leave a gash in his side. Apollyon stumbled back and jammed the tip of his ornate staff into Prime's chest, firing a beam that sent the Autobot leader flying back into a metal spire rising from the ground.
Optimus crashed to the ground, his chest smoking and sporting a black scorch mark from the attack. He looked up and saw Apollyon flying toward him. Optimus used the Star Saber to lift himself off the ground and leapt over Apollyon's back, letting him slam face first into the crater. He stabbed forward at Apollyon's chest, but Apollyon deflected the blade by a few inches, letting the tip stab into the right side of his chest. Then, to Optimus's surprise, he grabbed Optimus's arm and pulled him forward to glare into his eyes.
"Not close enough, Prime!" Apollyon channeled the power of his staff into his body and punched Optimus in the face. Prime's vision turned white as the punch sent him tumbling along the ground and into another spire. Apollyon was hot on his tail, the staff in his hand glowing like the sun.
Optimus dodged another light blast punched Apollyon in the middle of his face. He got another punch in before Apollyon smacked him across the face with his staff and uppercutted his chin, sending Prime into the air. Optimus activated his jet back and righted himself in the air.
"This only ends one way, Prime!" Apollyon yelled at him. "Either you die, or I do."
Apollyon's boosters flared up and he shot into the air at full speed, moving fast enough to rival a Seeker. Optimus raised the Star Saber and the blade glowed a bluish-white aura.
"Matrix of Leadership, grant me your power!" Optimus chanted and swung the Star Saber, releasing a powerful energy wave that illuminated the entire area.
Apollyon saw the oncoming wave and flew out of its path. The energy wave crashed into the ground and erupted in a huge explosion that made the ground tremble like a powerful earthquake. Apollyon skidded to a halt, but as soon as he did Optimus came in with a punch to his jaw that knocked him down.
Apollyon spun through the air, but corrected himself and raised his staff just in time to block a slash from the Star Saber. The two mechs dueled in the air, their clashing weapons leaving sparks in their wake as they tried to overpower one another. Apollyon deflected Prime's strike and punched Optimus away, grabbing his head and spinning around several times before releasing him. Optimus crashed through several metallic formations and just barely held onto the Star Saber.
Apollyon threw his staff at Optimus and Prime was able to dodge the fast-moving weapon by mere inches. Not giving the chance for Apollyon to retrieve his weapon, Optimus flew at him and slammed his shoulder into Apollyon's chest. Optimus increased the power to his jet back, mentally apologizing to Sideswipe for how hard he was pushing the thing.
The two mechs fell from the air like a meteor. Apollyon tried to break free, but Optimus held onto him tightly. When he saw that they were nearing the ground, he struggled harder. He thought Prime planned to have them both hit the ground at terminal velocity, but he was wrong.
Apollyon's golden staff was still flying after them at its master's command. It was moving almost as fast as they were. So as they neared the ground, Optimus stopped their descent and spun around, pushing Apollyon forward into the path of his own weapon. A sickening crunch filled the air as Apollyon was impaled by his own staff right through the chest. His eyes were wide, his expression confused, pained and furious. Optimus then circled around and brought his sword down on the staff.
As soon as the blade cut the staff in two, an explosive burst of energy slammed into Optimus with the force of a full-on collision from a freight train. Optimus was sent flying back uncontrollably until he hit the ground. Stars filled his vision and everything ached, including his pounding head. When his optics finally recovered from the surprise flash, he scanned the area for any sign of Apollyon.
Optimus would finally locate Apollyon lying at the base of a pillar not far from where he fell. The mech's chest was blown open, and his legs were broken beyond repair. He was still conscious and he was wheezing painfully as his staff lied in pieces around him, with some shards piercing his internal mechanisms. When Apollyon saw Optimus walking up to him, he took out a gun and shakily pointed it at him.
"It's over, Apollyon. Surrender peacefully and no one else has to get hurt." Optimus said, pointing the Star Saber at him.
"Even in victory you're still a fool, Prime. As long as you cybertronians are still alive, many more people will get hurt, whether you want it to happen or not. That's all you people know how to do properly: hurt one another and other species." Apollyon groaned.
"This world…could have been saved. But not it's future is lost. Its people will die slowly as you filthy animals fight your wars." Apollyon's eyes began to dim. "I…I cannot bear to live in a universe that continues to suffer by your hand. Let Cybertron remain a lifeless husk as a testament to the holy judgement cast upon you by Primus. He will ensure that you people burn eternally in Unicron's furnace."
"And as for me," Apollyon slowly pointed the gun at his own head and pressed a finger to the trigger. "I refuse to die by your hand. I will not give you the satisfaction!"
"Apollyon, no!" Optimus ran forward just as Apollyon pulled the trigger.
The gunshot could be heard for about a mile over the quiet cyberformed landscape. Optimus froze when he saw Apollyon's head vanish in a burst of light, splattering across the ground in a display of gore and energon. The headless corpse's arm sagged to its side, and all was quiet once again.
So ended the final chapter of the forgotten colonies overtaken by the Rust Plague.