In the Server room, Kensuke and Frenzy were typing away furiously as they rewrote line after line after line of computer code in trying to crack the security firewalls protecting the detonation program. After a while Kensuke got to thinking about the situation from a different angle.
[They usually guard this part of the program like Buckingham Palace; but sometime they forget something that seems arbitrary] he thought and went through a mental checklist
[Detonator command, timer command, arming command, remote receiving command, radio frequency…] Kensuke stopped at that last one
[Of course, I can change the receiver frequency and if not that, I can reroute it to do something else] he was on a roll.
Typing furiously and fast; Kensuke uploaded something to the server hard drive and when he found out the radio bandwidth was locked to a single one, he instead rerouted the command so it would activate something else instead. Frenzy saw what he was doing and smirked like a crazy man. This was going to be hilarious. Frenzy then had a thought of his own: he pulled a small camera from a compartment on his chest and hooked it up to his data pad and set a small program in place.
"Man, when he pushes that button, he's gonna get a whole new perspective on things that go bang" Frenzy giggled with Kensuke about their achievement and quickly went over everything to make sure they had everything done properly
"Well, all we can do now is hope that we live to see this go through" Kensuke muttered as he and Frenzy leaned back and relaxed for the first time in the last 4 hours.
Inside Unicron, Dark Eva was walking around: he and Shinji were genuinely lost as to what exactly they were meant to do. They'd walked for hours and even had a hack at some of the internals of Unicron to see what would happen: nothing ever did really. They had about given up finding their target when a large explosion rocked the area they were in.
"Welcome to my parlour, said the spider to the fly" a voice said: the voice was soft almost effeminate but male.
"Yeah, well this fly is packing spider boy, so what gives?" Dark Eva asked
The voice then allowed his form to be seen: he was a human being in outward appearance but they could tell he was nothing of the sort. His grey hair stuck up wildly and his red eyes danced with malicious mischief. Then they saw the wings: two silver wings.
"An Angel" Shinji said
"Indeed, I am Tabris, the last Angel and the last servant of Unicron" he introduced himself
Before a reply could be given, there was a great series of booms: footsteps. A large looking creature came into view: it was about the size of an Eva and even looked like one, but was unlike any that they had ever seen. Shinji then remembered that an Eva had gone missing on Earth after an experiment with a manmade S2 Engine. They said it had dropped into a dimensional void much like the 12th Angel's body.
"That's Eva unit 4 isn't it?" Shinji asked
"Yes it is: when it fell into the void I captured it, and redesigned it to fit my purposes and obey my orders: it is an avatar if you will: it has a portion of my powers and strength" the terrifying voice of Unicron filled the room
"Then it looks like we have some clues as to what must be done, Shinji: you take the fairy and I'll take the big fella" Dark Prime said to him inside the plug
"How do I fight him?" Shinji asked
"Well you fucked his cousin up pretty good last time, try that again: but here is something to help" Dark Eva then made the plug put Shinji's Exo-Suit on
The metal plates and covers connected to his plug suit until he was covered all over bar the head. Then the helmet came down: it was a simple helmet, like a samurai helmet. The visor came down and Shinji could see far better than ever before. Dark Prime then wished him luck and opened the hatch. Shinji floated out.
[Thrusters] he thought
Shinji soon guided himself to the ground and looked up at Tabris: he seemed rather serene for someone who was out to kill him. Tabris smiled and then just vanished and they reappeared right in front of Shinji. Shinji was of course startled by this and jumped back. Tabris then let loose a blast of energy from his eyes. Shinji dodged it by mere inches.
Meanwhile Dark Eva and the Avatar were facing off. Dark Eva had his sword at the ready and the Avatar had what looked like a giant mace; slowly they circled about each other. Then with a sudden lunge they connected and the fight was on. Dark Eva's tough hide made hits with the mace a little difficult for Avatar, but the sword kept missing him by inches. Dark Eva growled in frustration and threw his sword at Avatar. Avatar ducked and swung his mace down with might: Dark Eva caught Avatar's arms and pushed them up, just as his sword came spinning back.
"My boomerang comes back" Dark Eva said and kicked the armless Avatar off him. He picked up his sword and the mace
He turned to go but Avatar got up and lumbered back at him. Dark Eva dodged him as Avatar turned around; Dark Eva threw the mace at him. Like a speeding bullet, the mace went through the air and into the middle of Avatar's body. Again the beast fell to its knees struggling to live. With an irritated sigh, Dark Eva slashed its head off.
"Why can't they just die, for once, when you hurt them enough" he grouched and went to see about Shinji
Shinji and Tabris were still fighting. Shinji was using his suit as best he could but with no real experience in it, his ability to use its vast functions was limited. And Tabris had erected a huge AT Field around them so Dark Prime could not interfere. Alternatively Tabris could receive no aid from Unicron. Tabris was firing bolt of energy at Shinji.
"Surrender human, you cannot win" Tabris said
[I mustn't run away, I mustn't run away] Shinji was chanting his mantra as he dodged blast after blast
"I'll die fighting first" Shinji fired a blast at Tabris; it missed
"Your weapons are small and your body weak: time to die. Once you fall; so shall Earth" he proclaimed
Little did Tabris know that Shinji was like a dam with his emotions: he would keep the bad ones down as often as he could, which is what equated into his rare but powerful and frightening bursts of wrath. And with his enhanced state, that made his bursts even worse than usual. Shinji looked up at Tabris, his tattoos again showed up; the ones on his face alerting Tabris to the change
"What is this, humans don't do that" he said
"You. Will. Never. Hurt. Rei" Shinji's main concern was of course his lover; not Earth or most of the people on it
Shinji held his hand out and a sword of his own, formed with his tattoos that now snaked off his body appeared. It was long and black, even the blade held an obsidian hue. Possessed by forces beyond his own reckoning; Shinji lunged forward and stabbed Tabris through the chest. It did nothing.
"Hmm, all that show for nothing" Tabris mocked
"Was it?" Shinji asked and yanked the sword out by slashing to the right
Tabris felt his S2 organ be cloven in two: at first he thought the wound would heal, but it did not and he slowly fell to the ground. Shinji stood and panted: his sword gone and his tattoos again in remission. The Angel laughed condescendingly at the fatigued human.
"You cannot stop him, nothing can" were Tabris's final words before he too, joined with his dead brethren.
Dark Eva was now able to get to Shinji; he picked the boy up and carefully laid him in the entry plug. He looked in the direction that they had been heading when they were cut off beforehand. With little else to go on, he followed that same path, hoping to Primus that another clue or two would land in his lap.
Earth was in a panic: all the space observation posts the various countries had saw Unicron and they were at a loss to work out who or what he was. Optimus Prime saw all of this on the monitors in Fortress Maximus. Megatron was with him and they came to a decision: it was time to introduce the world to them. With a wry smile Megatron punched up the Holo-Comm
"People of Earth" Megatron called: his voice and picture coming through on everything capable of receiving it
"My name is Megatron" he paused as Optimus walked into shot
"And I am Optimus Prime. We are Transformers; a race of robotic entities from a distant planet known as Cybertron" Optimus continued
"The giant creature in the sky is named Unicron, more powerful than any Angel: he is here to destroy your planet, but we aren't going to let him do that without a serious fight" Optimus then gave the nod to Blaster
"Okay guys, this is Blaster blasting at ya, the big man has okayed your big solo" Blaster sent the signal
In space, between Unicron and Earth a massive rip in space appeared and out of it flew thousands of ships of all shapes and sizes. At the head were the two flagships of the respective Transformer factions: the Autobot flagship Alpha Trion and the Decepticon flagship Nemesis. This fleet of tens of thousands set up a blockade and trained their weapons on Unicron: it wouldn't stop him but it would help distract him or slow his approach to Earth.
Earth generals and leaders watched in awe as the mighty ships set up their barricade to defend this planet. Optimus Prime knew in his heart that this wouldn't work very well if at all: these ships were like flies to the giant Transformer: he sighed and spoke into a radio headset.
"All ships, attack" he gave the order, he'd signed many death warrants in that sentence.
"All we can do now is wait; and hope the right path is found by those who must walk it" Optimus said
"They will find their destiny Prime, it is written" Megatron reassured his friend
"What if what was written was not true?" Optimus asked
"Then we fight, we fight till our dying breath and then keep going" Megatron orated
"Well then, what are we doing here: lets join the fleet" Prime said and stood up, feeling the will to fight once again flow through his veins
Starscream was admiring his new body, such that it was: it was red like his last one but, this one seemed more like a warrior's body: he was even told a sword was built into the left wing. It was faster, stronger and more handsome, for lack of a better verb, than his previous one. Ion Cannons, slipstream thrusters and many other useful and powerful tools.
"I have to admit Wheeljack, you and all the others have excelled yourself here" Starscream said as he appraised the body
"All it needs is its owner" Hook put in
"Does that mean I have to give up this body?" Starscream didn't successfully mask the sadness in his voice
"Well actually the beauty of this thing is; no, you don't have to give it up: since a lot of space is taken up to house your spark we were able to construct a similar interface to this like Asuka and the others have to their Evas" the mechanic grinned
"Tell me how" Starscream said
Scavenger lead Starscream over to a small room: inside was a plugsuit, much like Shinji's only in Asuka's colours. Once he had that on, and the nerve connectors, he was led to the pilot's seat of his new Transformer body. Like the Evas it was at the base of the neck. Starscream hopped in and activated the connection program. He felt a jolt go through his body and his eyes closed.
"Oh man that caned" he groaned and opened his eyes
It was then Starscream realised he was eye to eye with Wheeljack, a bit taller than him even. He looked at his hands: black metal again. He took a few careful steps forward and smiled and drew his new sword and held it in a salute. He turned to Wheeljack and the others and smiled
"Guys, thanks, this is the greatest" he said and was struck by inspiration
He put his sword back and bolted out of the room. Wheeljack and the others, aside from Thundercracker, who knew exactly what his brother was going to do, looked on with a somewhat confused look on their faces. Starscream was bolting down hallways and making sure a certain song was in his memory banks.
"Time to have a little fun" he thought as he came to Asuka's door and knocked on it
"Yes?" Asuka said looking up at this new Transformer
"Like my new bod?" Starscream asked
Asuak's heart nearly sank to her stomach: Starscream was a machine again, unable to be with her beyond that of friends yet again separated by origins. She forced a smile and said she loved it, thought it was better than his old one. Starscream saw her face fall and knew what she was thinking, so he played his trump card.
"Best thing about it though, is this" he paused as he kneeled down
"What?" Asuka was confused
Servos whirred, gears turned and the link pod came out of the spine on Starscream's new body. Asuka stared with wide and almost blank eyes as the pod opened and the young man who was the Starscream she could love stepped out with an idiotic grin on his face.
"Totally detachable from the rest of me" he joked
"You, oooooh" Asuka scrambled up the body to pummel him
"Hey, slow down sweetheart. Wanna go for a fly?" he asked
"At a time like this, are you mad?" Asuka demanded
"Acording to my friends and brothers, yes. So, about that fly" he said
Asuka considered the offer and the situation as they stood. The situation was only a few notches above hopeless and she was sitting here feeling helpless and alone. And then Starscream offered to take her flying, for the sheer hell of it and on the off chance that they may never get a chance like this again. With that in mind, Asuka nodded.
"Okay, come on" Starscream said and got back in, reactivating his robot body
"Such a fool, but such a kind one" Asuka muttered and climbed onto his hand
Starscream walked briskly through the base to the outer airstrip and transformed into his plane mode and revved up his engines. With a sudden drop of his brake, Starscream flew off and started playing the song he liked to listen to as he flew, all he knew was the title of the song 'Mighty Wings'. Asuka sat in the seat, marvelling at the feeling flying so fast gave her.
[This is better than Eva piloting] she thought as Starscream did a loop-de-loop followed by a diving barrel roll.
Off to one side, Starscream saw another plane: it was a lone JSSDF fighter that had gotten lost or was on an infiltration run. With a smile gracing his unseen faces, Starscream went into whisper mode and turned on his stealth shield and flew in behind the other plane
"Let' see if we can have some fun with him" he said to Asuka
Before she could reply, Starscream inverted himself and lowered them down so there was less than a meter between the two aircraft. Asuka looked down and saw the stunned face of the pilot, so she waved to him. In return the pilot began blabbing away into his radio. Starscream did the same.
"Command this Starscream, I have found a bogey in Tokyo 3 airspace, do I have permission to fire?" he asked
"Splash him don't kill him" was the reply
Starscream reverted and slipped behind the plane again and used an EMP weapon to fry the electrics of the fighter aircraft. Its pilot was fortunate that his plane was not a new V/TOL otherwise he'd have dropped like a stone. Starscream followed the plane till it splashed down in one of the lakes; the very one Snaptrap was in. Knowing the Seacon would handle the prisoner, Starscream continued to perform some incredible stunts in the air.
"I think we've had enough fun for one day Asuka, lets get back home" Starscream said
"Yeah, lets" Asuka said, her voice soft
Rei was out in a garden with Sludge: never before in her life had she felt so hopeless and helpless. The battle that would decide fate of two races was being waged in space by those who had sworn to defend them, at the cost of their own lives, a cost already paid for by Starscream. Rei marvelled at the loyalty of the Transformers, never before had she known such devotion even though the Dinobots had never met her up until a few weeks ago. She sighed and stood up.
"Sludge; may I ask you a question?" she asked
"Rei can ask me anything, can ask any Dinobot anything" Sludge replied
"Do you believe in the prophecy Optimus Prime told us about, do you believe Shinji and Dark Prime can defeat Unicron?" Rei asked
"Yes, I know they can" the slow witted Apatosaurus replied
"How can you know that?" Rei asked
"Because, Shinji would give his life for you, and Dark Prime will sacrifice himself for Shinji" he replied
"I don't understand" Rei said
"You will" Grimlock replied from behind her
Rei thought about it, she still did not understand what they meant. A small, grim, smile grew on Rei's face: she knew what she could do to help Shinji and the others, even the odds in their favour a bit and knew it would probably kill her again, but if Dark Prime and Shinji failed: human and Transformer-kind would die anyway and she resolved not to die waiting for someone to fight when she could. Rei turned on her heel and walked away from her friends.
"Rei all right?" Swoop asked
"Yes, Swoop, I am" she replied
Rei stopped, she couldn't just walk away from them without saying goodbye. So she went up to each of the Dinobots and hugged their legs. Hugging Death Strike and Raid was easier since they were smaller. When she was finished, she stood back and looked at the bemused machines, her smile went from grim to happy.
"I love you guys, all of you" she said before bolting out of the garden
"What the…" Raid was confused
"Where so going?" Grimlock asked
"I follow" Sludge ran after Rei
The others just stood and looked at each other, each had their own thoughts as to where Rei was going, only Death Strike was correct. He knew Dark Eva had destroyed almost all of Lilith, but there was still enough to bond with Rei and give her untold powers. He let Sludge follow her though; she may need the moral support to go through with her plan.
Meanwhile up in space: the fleet of Warships, now headed by Optimus Prime and Megatron were still waiting for Unicron to come in range of their weapons. Tension was high and faiths were being tested as the large planet ominously moved forward, towards them and Earth. Optimus Prime wished he still had the Matrix with him, for comfort sake but he knew those who had it needed it more than he did.
"Time to intercept?" he asked the young helmsman
"Ten minutes sir" he replied
"Okay; Optimus to all ships, heat them up, time on target and fire as soon as he's in range" Optimus got on his comm-unit
"This is Megatron in the Decepticon battle groop; we are also going into battle stations
Alert lights and klaxons blared from the halls of all the ships as they went to battle stations. Firing solutions for every weapon on the battleships were activated. Pilots got into their fighters: Thunderbirds for the Autobots and Hellkites for the Decepticons, and all the seekers reported for battle. Then, the targeting systems registered good tone.
"FIRE!" Optimus yelled
"Launch all fighters and seekers" Kup ordered
Waves of fighters emerged from the battle group towards Unicron. Unicron responded by launching his own drone fighters, something that was a new tactic for him. Then volley after volley of laser, plasma and missile fire thundered towards the planetoid. It was merciless combat as Drones and Transformers met in combat. Unicron's body was pocketed and cratered by the blasts from the larger ships.
"Fools. Your weapons cannot harm me" Unicron said to himself
Unicron fired one of his own mounted weapons from within his mouth at one of the ships: it was totally destroyed. Megatron ordered the battle fleet to break up and attack to avoid mass destruction from those blasts. They broke and continued to fire. Onboard the Alpha Trion and the Nemesis, Optimus and Megatron both held the same thought in mind
[Come on you two, you have to succeed]
Then to the horror of all those watching, Unicron's body began to move and twist. Arms and legs appeared and a body took shape in space. Its ribs were transparent and red, glowing with energy and death. And a head, with large horns of a devil and blood red eyes appeared. Unicron had transformed
Sludge followed Rei all the way to Terminal Dogma; he'd heard of this place, rumours and hearsay and outright lies all came from it. He also heard from Death Strike and Raid that the place was one of untold horror at one point for Rei. As far as he was concerned, the place was evil. So when Rei entered, it took a lot of courage for Sludge to do the same. He did it though.
"Rei, wait for Sludge" he called out, he wasn't really in need of her slowing down, but he wanted to talk with her
"Sludge; what are you doing here?" she asked, turning to face him
"Following orders, protecting Rei" he answered
"I know, but I need you to stay with the other Dinobots, what I'm about to do, I must do alone" she said and turned away
"Why you want be alone?" Sludge asked, louder than normal
"I must be for this" she insisted
"Me know you love Shinji, but me Sludge won't let you be alone while he gone" Sludge said, a message lay between the lines
"Thank you, but still, this is one thing I must do alone" Rei continued on, less sure than before
"NO! You should never be alone, it hurt, here" Sludge pointed to his chest plate, roughly where a human's heart would be
"Yes Sludge, loneliness does hurt, but to be alone and to do something alone are quite different" Rei explained
"Me no care. Until Shinji back, Rei never alone, Sludge always be with her" Sludge stomped his foot defiantly
Rei's eyes widened as she saw moisture trickle down Sludge's face: tears. She watched the drop of water trail down and hit somewhere on Sludge's body. Rei knew now she had a true friend, she may drift apart from Shinji but Sludge would never drift from her. Again Rei hugged her friend's leg tightly.
"Come on then, this way" Rei said and continued to run to her destination: the jetty
"No need for boat" Sludge picked her up and flew her across to the small island that held the giant red crucifix
Rei saw what she was looking for in the LCL, a large part of the Angel that once hung to the cross by nails as Jesus had on the hill of Golgotha. Stripping to her underwear, Rei swam out to the large piece and although nervous, she reached out and touched it. Suddenly the whole room lit up with bright ashen light and sent alarms ringing everywhere.
"Wow" Sludge watched as Rei's body grew and transformed to one of solid light with great wings
"Sludge this is Ultra Magnus, Unicron has transformed!" this came from a radio in Sludge's head
"Its okay Ultra Magnus, Rei transformed too" he said