Chapter Twenty-Five:
They had watched the beast transform, saw the technorganics encase its body and they had waited for the virus to bring it down. But it never came. The body of SHOURISHA was now inhabited by Unicron and had begun its destructive path through the city. Buildings fell fast and often around them, the dirt they threw into the Cybertronian sky blocked their optics and although Unicron was as tall as the senate building itself, the clouds of debris made him hard to find.
"Silverbolt," Suteneko Prime yelled into his wrist-comm, his sight obscured heavily by the rolling mass surrounding him, "Take Waspinator and Buzzsaw, get above the cloud. I wanna know where this bastard's heading!" The response came through static but it was clear enough; Prime could hear the roar of jet engines as the new forms of the three Maximals soared into the sky. He twisted round, "Rattrap?" He waved his hand through the dirt; an attempt to disperse it. The reply came sooner and was closer than he had expected.
"I'm right here spots," Rattrap said and a moment later, he could see him; the few beams of light that penetrated here bounced from the Maximal's body. "We need to get out of here," Prime said, "Can you find a way?" Rattrap shook his head, "Scanners are still blocked."
"What's your best guess?"
Rattrap pointed forward. "That way"
* * *
The damage that Unicron had now inflicted upon the ruins of Iacon was quite severe; he could now see the true extent of it and knew that if the monster were to reach Cybertropolis then their rebirth would have meant nothing. Wouldn't it? He was no more use now than he was bound on the chamber floor with his love.
"So what's the plan?" Black Arachnia said, she was in her newly designed beast mode and clung to the carapace of Silverbolt; who hung in the air above the clouds, his new jet form glistening in the sun. To his side were Waspinator and Buzzsaw, both jets; a strange symmetry between the three of them. "I say we attack," Buzzsaw said, her engines glowing a brilliant blue behind her. Waspinator added, "Shouldn't we wait for Suteneko Prime?" Buzzsaw sighed, loud enough for the rest of them to hear.
"I'm with Buzzsaw," Silverbolt edged forward slightly, the sound of his engines increasing, "We strike now, we have to stop him from getting to Cybertropolis." His cockpit opened with a hiss, "You'll be safer in here, my love." Black Arachnia crawled over the body of the Maximal and forced herself into the small cockpit. She transformed and carefully slid into place. It was cramped and as the covering came down, it was became even more so. "Ready?" Silverbolt asked. The other two jets responded, turning until they faced the departing Unicron. After a moment, they were in pursuit.
* * *
Towards the limits of the city, a breeze had picked up clearing the majority of the cloud in their way. The devastation ahead of them was immense but it did not matter, thought Prime as he and Rattrap made their way through. They had found Hammerstrike and Cloudburst by accident; the confusion within the cloud had caused them to pull their rifles upon each other yet luckily none of them were trigger-happy. In the distance, he could see Unicron and the pursuing jets; the Dark Lord swatted at them like flies.
"So what do we do now?" Cloudburst was the first to ask though Prime suspected the question had been on everybody's minds. Even he had asked it of himself. How were they going to defeat Unicron? The technorganics had overtaken him and Prime had taken the Light God's word for it with regards to the virus. But none of it had come to fruition. Unicron still walked, enhanced now by his technorganic body and fuelled by a deep hatred for the transformer race. What did he plan to do when he reached Cybertropolis? Was he attempting to wipe out the transformers? Was genocide in the Chaos Bringer's plans?
"We go to Cybertropolis."
"We'll never get there before that thing" Hammerstrike said, his voice deeper and more authoritative than when they'd first met. Rattrap looked to Suteneko Prime, "He's right spots." He sighed, "But what choice do we have fellas?" He stepped down from the building façade that had fallen to his feet and moved further to the edge of the city. The others followed. They stared.
"Does anybody notice anything different?"
Suteneko Prime looked over the expanse between the two hubs; he couldn't grasp what had happened. "The technorganic fields." He started, "They're gone."
* * *
Silverbolt dived one way, his form cutting through the trail left by Buzzsaw's engines and fired. His undercarriage lit brightly as the two fusion cannons affixed to his body exploded in action. The beams of light struck Unicron across the rear of his shoulder and the Dark Lord swung his arm round, narrowly missing the Maximal.
Buzzsaw nose dived, hurtling towards the floor at great speed, dodging the flames that erupted from Waspinator's blasts to the Chaos Bringer's husk. The ground rushed up quickly and at the last moment, she pulled up; two missiles dislodged themselves from her body, landing upon target. Unicron raised his smoking foot and stomped it back down, an effort to squash the Maximal that almost succeeded. Buzzsaw transformed and landed hard on her feet but running. The Dark Lord's foot came crashing down behind her and she fell to her knees. She breathed hard, each breath a big gasp and looked down to the floor. Something came up behind her, shadowing her and she twisted round to see the large foot above her. Within a second it was on top of her.
* * *
Waspinator watched as the huge foot was brought down upon his ally, a horrid sensation burst in his stomach and the fear of their deaths crept into his mind. This was a one-way trip, Primus had told them. He was used to being blown apart and his body broken, the Beast Wars had seen to his conquest of that fear but it had never felt real then. Back on ancient Earth, there never seemed to be a danger, he never felt truly threatened by the missions that he was assigned. But this. . .
This was different. He felt a real fear here. Transformers had died and they were not coming back, and it could simply have been the case for him. This was his last chance to prove that he had grown, that he had become something more than anyone could have hoped, he had become something better. And he didn't want it to end. The thoughts ran through his head so fast that he let his concentration slip and never saw the two hands reaching for him.
Silverbolt watched as Unicron reached out and oh-so quickly clapped his hands together, squishing Waspinator as if he were nothing but a nuisance fly. Silverbolt saw Waspinator drop from the sky and hit the ground hard.
Buzzsaw opened her optics and saw nothing but clear sky above her. She didn't understand, shouldn't she be dead? She stood her legs shaky beneath her and looked at the footprint around her. She breathed a sigh of relief and began to laugh. Luck was on her side she gathered and crawled out from the hole she found herself in. Her laughter ceased as she saw Waspinator hit the ground.
* * *
"What happened to the fields?" Rattrap asked. Cloudburst shrugged his shoulders and moved forward slinging his rifle over his shoulder. Hammerstrike followed him, his nimble legs stepping carefully over the debris there. Prime looked to Rattrap.
"There was no need for them anymore." He began, "We don't have to believe it was the way that it should have been." He moved forward, Rattrap following. "You seem saddened," the Maximal said. Prime sighed, "All those times we fought Megatron because we believed that Cybertron was technorganic, all those lives sacrificed because of a lie."
"It's ironic isn't it?" Rattrap said a smile across his face. Prime looked to him as they walked, "The lie was?"
Rattrap shook his head, "No. That old Megs was right. Rhinox made the right decision. We were wrong." Prime stopped as the others continued. Megatron was right. The planet was and has always been purely technological. All this could have been avoided had they listened to Megatron in the first place. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
They had watched the beast transform, saw the technorganics encase its body and they had waited for the virus to bring it down. But it never came. The body of SHOURISHA was now inhabited by Unicron and had begun its destructive path through the city. Buildings fell fast and often around them, the dirt they threw into the Cybertronian sky blocked their optics and although Unicron was as tall as the senate building itself, the clouds of debris made him hard to find.
"Silverbolt," Suteneko Prime yelled into his wrist-comm, his sight obscured heavily by the rolling mass surrounding him, "Take Waspinator and Buzzsaw, get above the cloud. I wanna know where this bastard's heading!" The response came through static but it was clear enough; Prime could hear the roar of jet engines as the new forms of the three Maximals soared into the sky. He twisted round, "Rattrap?" He waved his hand through the dirt; an attempt to disperse it. The reply came sooner and was closer than he had expected.
"I'm right here spots," Rattrap said and a moment later, he could see him; the few beams of light that penetrated here bounced from the Maximal's body. "We need to get out of here," Prime said, "Can you find a way?" Rattrap shook his head, "Scanners are still blocked."
"What's your best guess?"
Rattrap pointed forward. "That way"
* * *
The damage that Unicron had now inflicted upon the ruins of Iacon was quite severe; he could now see the true extent of it and knew that if the monster were to reach Cybertropolis then their rebirth would have meant nothing. Wouldn't it? He was no more use now than he was bound on the chamber floor with his love.
"So what's the plan?" Black Arachnia said, she was in her newly designed beast mode and clung to the carapace of Silverbolt; who hung in the air above the clouds, his new jet form glistening in the sun. To his side were Waspinator and Buzzsaw, both jets; a strange symmetry between the three of them. "I say we attack," Buzzsaw said, her engines glowing a brilliant blue behind her. Waspinator added, "Shouldn't we wait for Suteneko Prime?" Buzzsaw sighed, loud enough for the rest of them to hear.
"I'm with Buzzsaw," Silverbolt edged forward slightly, the sound of his engines increasing, "We strike now, we have to stop him from getting to Cybertropolis." His cockpit opened with a hiss, "You'll be safer in here, my love." Black Arachnia crawled over the body of the Maximal and forced herself into the small cockpit. She transformed and carefully slid into place. It was cramped and as the covering came down, it was became even more so. "Ready?" Silverbolt asked. The other two jets responded, turning until they faced the departing Unicron. After a moment, they were in pursuit.
* * *
Towards the limits of the city, a breeze had picked up clearing the majority of the cloud in their way. The devastation ahead of them was immense but it did not matter, thought Prime as he and Rattrap made their way through. They had found Hammerstrike and Cloudburst by accident; the confusion within the cloud had caused them to pull their rifles upon each other yet luckily none of them were trigger-happy. In the distance, he could see Unicron and the pursuing jets; the Dark Lord swatted at them like flies.
"So what do we do now?" Cloudburst was the first to ask though Prime suspected the question had been on everybody's minds. Even he had asked it of himself. How were they going to defeat Unicron? The technorganics had overtaken him and Prime had taken the Light God's word for it with regards to the virus. But none of it had come to fruition. Unicron still walked, enhanced now by his technorganic body and fuelled by a deep hatred for the transformer race. What did he plan to do when he reached Cybertropolis? Was he attempting to wipe out the transformers? Was genocide in the Chaos Bringer's plans?
"We go to Cybertropolis."
"We'll never get there before that thing" Hammerstrike said, his voice deeper and more authoritative than when they'd first met. Rattrap looked to Suteneko Prime, "He's right spots." He sighed, "But what choice do we have fellas?" He stepped down from the building façade that had fallen to his feet and moved further to the edge of the city. The others followed. They stared.
"Does anybody notice anything different?"
Suteneko Prime looked over the expanse between the two hubs; he couldn't grasp what had happened. "The technorganic fields." He started, "They're gone."
* * *
Silverbolt dived one way, his form cutting through the trail left by Buzzsaw's engines and fired. His undercarriage lit brightly as the two fusion cannons affixed to his body exploded in action. The beams of light struck Unicron across the rear of his shoulder and the Dark Lord swung his arm round, narrowly missing the Maximal.
Buzzsaw nose dived, hurtling towards the floor at great speed, dodging the flames that erupted from Waspinator's blasts to the Chaos Bringer's husk. The ground rushed up quickly and at the last moment, she pulled up; two missiles dislodged themselves from her body, landing upon target. Unicron raised his smoking foot and stomped it back down, an effort to squash the Maximal that almost succeeded. Buzzsaw transformed and landed hard on her feet but running. The Dark Lord's foot came crashing down behind her and she fell to her knees. She breathed hard, each breath a big gasp and looked down to the floor. Something came up behind her, shadowing her and she twisted round to see the large foot above her. Within a second it was on top of her.
* * *
Waspinator watched as the huge foot was brought down upon his ally, a horrid sensation burst in his stomach and the fear of their deaths crept into his mind. This was a one-way trip, Primus had told them. He was used to being blown apart and his body broken, the Beast Wars had seen to his conquest of that fear but it had never felt real then. Back on ancient Earth, there never seemed to be a danger, he never felt truly threatened by the missions that he was assigned. But this. . .
This was different. He felt a real fear here. Transformers had died and they were not coming back, and it could simply have been the case for him. This was his last chance to prove that he had grown, that he had become something more than anyone could have hoped, he had become something better. And he didn't want it to end. The thoughts ran through his head so fast that he let his concentration slip and never saw the two hands reaching for him.
Silverbolt watched as Unicron reached out and oh-so quickly clapped his hands together, squishing Waspinator as if he were nothing but a nuisance fly. Silverbolt saw Waspinator drop from the sky and hit the ground hard.
Buzzsaw opened her optics and saw nothing but clear sky above her. She didn't understand, shouldn't she be dead? She stood her legs shaky beneath her and looked at the footprint around her. She breathed a sigh of relief and began to laugh. Luck was on her side she gathered and crawled out from the hole she found herself in. Her laughter ceased as she saw Waspinator hit the ground.
* * *
"What happened to the fields?" Rattrap asked. Cloudburst shrugged his shoulders and moved forward slinging his rifle over his shoulder. Hammerstrike followed him, his nimble legs stepping carefully over the debris there. Prime looked to Rattrap.
"There was no need for them anymore." He began, "We don't have to believe it was the way that it should have been." He moved forward, Rattrap following. "You seem saddened," the Maximal said. Prime sighed, "All those times we fought Megatron because we believed that Cybertron was technorganic, all those lives sacrificed because of a lie."
"It's ironic isn't it?" Rattrap said a smile across his face. Prime looked to him as they walked, "The lie was?"
Rattrap shook his head, "No. That old Megs was right. Rhinox made the right decision. We were wrong." Prime stopped as the others continued. Megatron was right. The planet was and has always been purely technological. All this could have been avoided had they listened to Megatron in the first place. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry.