Chapter 14: With Friends like these...
"Alright!" Megatron called out. "I want everyone listening closely!"
The decepticons grouped around him, in the crowded, bustling hangar bay.
Orion and his autobots stood with them, looking skeptical.
"You guys talk it out?" Prowl asked.
"Yep." Orion replied. "We're square for now. Don't worry."
"I'm worrying." Prowl replied.
"I don't believe this." Ironhide muttered. "I'd like to go on the record as uncomfortable as hell, Pax."
"Noted. Just try and relax." Pax replied. "And keep your wits about you. I'm certainly not going to ask you to trust them."
"Starscream, you will lead the seekers and coneheads in a circular attack pattern. Aim for turrets only, neutralize Citadel defenses. Now this is the important thing!" Megatron raised his hand, then turned to Orion, looking him in the optic before continuing.
"No autobots will be killed. Anyone here who kills an autobot will answer to me personally. There will only be one buried today, and that is the Prime! Are we clear?!"
The decepticons roared in approval, and began chanting Megatron's name in unison.
"Culty." Jazz muttered.
"Shh." Orion snapped.
"Astrotrain, transform!" Megatron commanded. "You will transport the first strike team, and the autobots into the Citadel. We will breach through the side windows. Again, any autobots encountered will be neutralized non lethally."
"Of course." Starscream sneered, as Astrotrain bumbled over to the center of the hangar, and changed form, expanding outward into his shuttle mode.
"Wouldn't want to upset your pet." The seeker commander added, brushing arms roughly with Orion.
Orion turned to glare at the mech.
Ironhide immediately slid in front of Pax, optics narrowed.
"Touch him again and I will blow this truce to hell just to rip out your vocalizer." He warned.
"Go ahead. My seekers are eagerly awaiting the opportunity." Starscream replied smugly, as Skywarp and Thundercracker raised their null rays, and took aim at the red autobot.
"Bet you can't drop me with those." Ironhide snarled, stepping forward a foot, and getting in Starscream's face.
"Let's find out." Starscream replied with a grin.
Then a hand reached out and grabbed Starscream's helm, yanking him back.
Megatron hurled him to the ground and drove his knee into the mech's chest, pointing his fusion cannon into the mech's face.
"You jeopardize this mission and I will turn your head into a pile of ashes. They are our allies, and they are necessary. YOU are expendable."
Starscream's optics were wide.
"Please, Megatron, it won't happen again!" The seeker pleaded. "It's just the red one, he's so damned...standoffish."
"Silence!" Megatron replied, standing up, and giving the seeker a rough kick for good measure. "Get up, seeker commander. You have a job to do."
Ultra Magnus burst into Zeta Prime's office, determination in his step, an angry look on his face.
Zeta Prime sat at his desk, and his optics widened as he saw the large mech walk in.
"Excuse me?" Zeta asked, looking at the time. "We do not have a meeting scheduled."
Ultra Magnus stood across from the mech's desk, optics narrowed.
"Show me the evidence against Pax, and the others."
Zeta sat back, and let out a scoff.
"Are you making a demand of me, Magnus?"
"Yes." Ultra Magnus replied. "As the duly appointed enforcer of the tyrest accord, I am demanding to see your evidence. And I am also demanding to see the schematics for the eastern Citadel tower."
Zeta Prime glared back at him, arching an optic ridge.
"You dare?"
"Towers don't need fueling." Magnus stated, hurling a datapad onto the table. "You're up to something. Soldiers being pulled out of Kaon, riot squads being set up. What are you doing, Prime?"
Zeta smirked.
"Ending a war, before it begins." He replied. "And you won't stop me. I'm a Prime. I carry the matrix."
"You carry a prop forged in a bay on floor 12." Ultra Magnus spat. "Your Primacy is as false as your accusations. Mirage is dead, five others on the run for their lives, because you lied."
Zeta Prime slammed his fist on the table, and stood up, the blue and gold mech walked up to Magnus.
"There are autobots and decepticons, Magnus. You may not like my methods but you damn well better fall in line. Because we're on the edge of war. And Cybertron cannot afford war. In ten minutes the eastern tower will be fueled, and with one shot, I can end all of this before it begins, so tell me...Are you an autobot? Or a decepticon?"
Ultra Magnus glared at the mech. His vents puffing angrily.
He pulled out his rifle, and let it hang at his side.
"I'm an autobot." He finally stated. "I'm also the duly appointed enforcer of the tyrest accord, and as such I hereby place you under..."
He trailed off as a siren wailed outside. Prime and Magnus both turned to look out the main window, at the balcony.
"Teletraan?" Zeta asked, seeing objects approaching in the distance.
"Decepticon squadron inbound." Teletraan replied. "A dozen seekers, and a shuttlecraft."
Zeta turned back to Magnus.
"This can wait." He stated, mild relief in his voice. "We will continue, but now you need to defend the Citadel, that's an order."
Magnus glared at him but nodded.
"Yes, Prime. But I'll be back for you when I'm done." He warned.
The seekers came swooping in, peppering the surface turrets with laser fire.
Astrotrain lumbered across the sky behind them.
"Alright, Ironhide, Prowl, you go with the decepticons. Make sure that they don't kill anyone." Orion commanded. "Jazz, Hound, you'll lead Blitzwing and Brawl to the cannon, and lay the charges."
Megatron smirked.
"Look at you." He remarked, with proud optics.
Orion looked over at him, as the shuttle door slid open, and wind began to whip around the cabin. "Any disagreements?"
"It's your plan, Orion. But you and I will take on Zeta." Megatron said, gesturing to him.
Hound, Jazz, Blitzwing and Brawl ran to the door, and looked down at the tower.
"How we gonna get down there?" Brawl asked nervously.
"Jump, ya big green sissy." Jazz replied, sprinting ahead and jumping out of the door before anyone could reply.
"Do as the mech says." Hound added, shoving Brawl out of the door, before jumping down himself.
"Morons." Blitzwing remarked, changing into jet form, and swooping down after them.
Ironhide and Prowl grabbed their guns, and headed for the door next.
Runabout, Runamuck, Motormaster, and Octane grouped behind them.
They looked back and stole a glance at the quartet of intimidating looking decepticons.
"Take out the windows first." Prowl said, as Ironhide steadied his rifle for a shot, and Astrotrain evened out his descent
"For the record Prowl, I don't need to be told what to shoot. Ever." Ironhide replied, firing a series of precise shots that shattered a section of windows. "Let's go."
The group jumped out of Astrotrain, and smashed through the broken windows, rolling into the halls of the Citadel.
"They'll hold off reinforcements." Megatron stated, watching them enter the downward curved face of the Citadel. "Take us to the balcony, Astrotrain."
Orion held his rifle close.
"May Primus be with us." He muttered as quietly as he could manage.
Megatron chuckled, turning to look at him with amusement.
"Never thought of you as the religious type."
"I'm not." Pax replied. "Just at times like this."
"We'll be fine. Just stay focused." Megatron said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "We can take him together."
Orion nodded, taking a deep vent.
"Alright. Let's do it."
Megatron smirked confidently, and the two mechs jumped, dropping out of Astrotrain as laserfire went off all around them.
They landed on the balcony and rolled, before coming to a stop and standing up.
The balcony was quiet. Peaceful. Almost disconnected from the gunfire that sounded around them.
"Are you sure he's here?" Megatron asked, looking at the door that led to the balcony.
"I rarely see him anywhere else." Orion replied confidently. "I suppose he could be in the..."
Then there was an audio shattering blast.
The glass in front of them exploded, sending shards and flame billowing outward.
Orion flinched, and shielded his optics. Megatron tightened his stance, his optics narrowing.
Zeta Prime, dressed in ancient, white and gold primal armor, strode out of his office, hatred in his optics.
"...armory." Pax finished, optics analyzing the Prime's new battle armor.
"Look at you both." Zeta hissed. "Look at how far you've fallen."
"Not as far as you, Zeta." Orion replied, regaining his composure and raising his rifle. "Stand down. Now."
Zeta shook his helm.
"Oh no, Pax. Even after everything I've done for you, you've chosen the wrong side. And now you're going to be punished for it."
"There are no sides!" Pax shouted. "There's right and wrong. You've chosen mass murder." He said, walking forward, with Megatron. "You have to see how wrong this is!"
Zeta's arm morphed into a cannon, and began to glow.
"I'm not the one standing beside a terrorist, Pax." He hissed. "I'll put you both down."
Megatron let out a dry chuckle.
"You're welcome to try." He said, a darkness to his voice, as he charged his fusion cannon.