Author's Note: I'm back! Though I never would have left if my hardrive didn't need to be replaced. So thus, all my work in Armageddon, Legacy of Shockblast, and all other fics was lost. But! Luckily, still has the completed chapters, so I shouldn't be too off.
And if you're gonna review, please, PLEASE type more than 'I like it! Please write more!'. I'd like to know what ya guys really think of the chapter. Hope ya enjoy the final chapter of Armageddon!
The old saying goes: 'Light our darkest hour'... Indeed, it was a very dark hour for us. Many humans were slaughtered, the Autobots were cornered… But then… there was light…
Rodimus Prime
Final Chapter: Revolution
Decepticon Lunar Base, The Moon
Warhawk stood in the regeneration chamber. When Jhiaxus learned that he left the battle without authorization… Well… Let's just say Warhawk got to know Jhiaxus' fist better. Now, he was once again left alone, with only his thoughts to keep him company during repair. These past few months with the Decepticons have shown him just how bad acting upon impulse is. Megatron was a lot more forgiving than Jhiaxus. The now-dead Decepticon leader would rarely carry out his threats, but Jhiaxus rarely didn't.
Warhawk looked over to the blinking panel inside the chamber; his repairs were complete. Flipping the switch off, he stepped out of the regeneration chamber, and stretched out his stiff joints. Taking several, slow steps forward, the Decepticon came into the hall, and made his way to his quarters.
His mind started to wander once again, this time on the Autobots. They fought for all that was right, and would die for what they believed in. Warhawk looked down at the ground as he walked. The Decepticons believed in something too: conquest. They were also willing to pay the ultimate price for it… But what about him? Was he willing to die for what he believed in?... What did he believe in? Warhawk was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't even notice Jhiaxus walking his way with his arms behind his back.
"How are you feeling?" Jhiaxus asked, almost jokingly.
Warhawk's head snapped up, and he immediately saluted. "I'm feeling fine, sir." He said dully.
"Good… I hope you've learned your lesson."
"Yes sir."
"Excellent." Jhiaxus replied. "I'm heading out to Earth. You are to head out on patrol and report back in three mega-cycles. Understood?"
"Yes sir." Warhawk repeated.
Without another word, Jhiaxus walked past Warhawk. The other Decepticon lowered his arm, but remained standing in place. The Decepticon commander peered over his shoulder while walking off… And glared at Warhawk.
Warhawk, meanwhile, was once again lost in his thoughts. Though this time, they were much simpler.
'I have to get out of here!'
Autobot Base, Earth
Jetfire sat on the table, hunched over, and arms resting on his thighs. He flinched every time Red Alert crossed a wire, tightened a bolt, etc etc. Eventually, the medic closed the panel, and grinned at the sub-commander.
"Well, Jetfire. How do you feel?" He asked.
"I feel fine and I feel well, but man, this is gonna suck like hell." Jetfire replied with his new rhyming program kicking in.
Rodimus snickered from his corner in the room. Jetfire glared hard over at him.
"Shut up you little punk! Or I'll make you wish you were a monk!"
Rodimus looked over at Jetfire oddly. "What's a monk?"
Jetfire shook his head slightly. "No one said my rhymes have to make sense. But I never would've thought a Prime could be so dense."
"Hey!"
The Amazon, Earth. One Mega-cycle later…
Jhiaxus flew above the denseness of the legendary Amazon Rainforest. Peering down, he watched as the millions upon millions of threes flew by below. Organic life was so… Strange. He knew it was out there in the Universe, he'd even been on a few organic planets. But he'd never taken the time to actually look at it.
"This place could be useful…" He uttered to himself, as he started to descend into the forest. Tree branches snapped and flew off of the trunks as Jhiaxus made his way from the treetops to the ground below. When his feet made contact with the ground, he had to run, then slow to a stop, and looked around. Never in the twenty million years of his life had he seen so much green! There were plants and animals of all kinds, all of them different from the last. There was a strange creature swinging from a tree branch. It reminded him of a human, but it was covered in hair, and had a tail. His optics zoomed in on a strange insect climbing up a tree. It was slightly fuzzy, light brown, and had eight legs. His optics zoomed back out, and he observed the natural life, before feeling something slowly wrap around his leg.
Jhiaxus looked down, and sneered at the somewhat-small form of an anaconda snake. The creature let out a loud hiss, unhinged its jaw, and sank its teeth deep into the Decepticon's leg… At least it tried to. All it got in return was a loud 'clank!' noise.
"Humph." Jhiaxus scoffed. He leaned over, wrapped his hand around the snake's 'neck', and roughly pulled it off of his leg. "You." The Decepticon said. "Your failed attempt to kill me was amusing. However, you must pay the price. What do you say to that?" Jhiaxus said, while grinning.
The snake was staring at Jhiaxus. This… had never happened before. Its victims were either paralyzed or dead by now... But not this one. And now he was at the mercy of this giant, metal man… Not good.
"Nothing to say?" Jhiaxus asked. "Very well. Off with you!" The Decepticon reared his arm back, and proceeded to swing the unfortunate snake around like a lasso. He grinned, and threw his arm forward, releasing the anaconda at the peak of his toss. The snake flew out and above the trees… And moments later, a distant 'thud' was heard.
"Alert!" The female voice of his internal computer spoke. "Energy signature detected. Vector 9-6-8."
"What's the power of the energy?" Jhiaxus asked.
"Power level…4-9-7-3."
"Impressive..." Jhiaxus said quietly. He looked around. Vector 9-6-8 was relatively close, within walking distance, at least. Taking several steps forward, the Decepticon looked in every direction and spot, but found nothing. He groaned.
"Computer. Where is it?"
"Vector 0-0-0."
Jhiaxus looked down at the ground. He then pulled out his blaster, and aimed it at the earth. "I don't have time to dig." With those words, he pulled the trigger, and unleashed several blasts at the ground. Dust kicked up into the air, but Jhiaxus didn't stop until he felt the hole was big enough. And that was now. He released the trigger, and waited for the dust to settle.
His mind couldn't help but wander. What was this thing that was underground? It had enough power to level a city! Could it be a spacecraft? A super cannon? A… box?
Jhiaxus looked down at the small crater he made, and found a half-buried box. Tilting his head at it, he kneeled down, and pulled it out from the loosened soil. Dusting the dirt off the top with his free hand, he sneered at the familiar insignia.
"Minicons." He scoffed at the three golden Minicon panels. "I should've known."
He turned around, and tossed the box over his shoulder. The box fell onto the ground, effectively knocking the three slumbering Minicons out and onto the soil. The instant they stopped moving, the panels started glowing brightly. The light reflected off of everything within a hundred feet, and it caught the Decepticon's attention. He gave a 'Hm?' after turning to face the Minicons again. The light was nearly blinding, but Jhiaxus kept his ground, staring into the brightness. Eventually, it died down, and there, floating in the air, were three Minicons.
One of them had a jet black body, with a blue head, and red waist. His feet were made up of the front of a truck, and he had a small, red cannon coming from his backside. Another was mostly white, with a red waist, and a sky blue head. His legs were seemingly made of jet thrusters, while his right arm was a nose of a jet. The last was mostly blue, with, like the other two, a red waist and blue head. His torso was strangely large, and he had a massive, for a Minicon, cannon for his right arm.
The blue Minicon stretched out his arms, and yawned deeply. "That was a good nap." He said.
"Yep." The white one replied.
"Sure was." The black one agreed.
The three proceeded to look around at their surroundings for a few moments, and then looked back to each other.
"Where are we?" The blue asked.
"Not sure." Said black.
"Dunno." Replied white.
Jhiaxus simply stared at the three Minicons. Didn't they notice that he was there? Either they were that oblivious, or they were ignoring him.
"Tch." Jhiaxus scoffed. That caught their attention.
"A Decepticon!" The blue one said.
"Heads up!"
"Look out!"
The blue Minicon looked to his companions. "Skyblast, Payload, evasive!"
"Got it, Astroscope!"
"Sure thing, Astroscope!"
Jhiaxus sighed as Skyblast dove behind a bush, Payload hid behind a boulder, and Astroscope slid behind a tree. The three of them spent more time miming each other rather than actually taking action. He turned around, and once again proceeded to walk off. The Minicons just stared at the retreating Decepticon.
"Is he leaving?!" Astroscope asked.
"Seems so." Skyblast replied.
"Looks like it." Payload said.
"Hmm…" Astroscope then proceeded to run over to the retreating Jhiaxus, and tap on his leg.
Jhiaxus stopped walking, and looked down at the Minicon. "What?" He coldly asked.
"Umm… You're A Decepticon?"
"What is the point of this?" Jhiaxus asked, getting annoyed.
"Don't you wanna capture me and my brothers?"
"You Minicons are just a waste of scrap metal. None of your kind is worth my time."
"Now why's that?"
Jhiaxus sneered. "Your kind has been nothing but a burden on all Cybertronians. You all have turned even our greatest warriors into nothing more than dependant drones. You're like a drug, and once the Autobots are finished, I'm going to see to it that the addiction is cleaned from the Decepticons."
"So you see us as just objects that are in the way?" Astroscope asked, with his anger starting to show.
"Yes." Jhiaxus replied, while keeping a straight face.
Astroscope would've grinned, had his face allowed movement. "I think you're underestimating us, Decepticon."
"That's Jhiaxus to you." The commander corrected. "And how, pray, am I underestimating you? It's not like you Minicons can form weapons."
"Funny you should say that…" Astroscope said. He looked back at Skyblast and Payload. "Payload! Skyblast! Form up!"
Astroscope leapt up into the air, arms stretched outwards. His torso seemingly split in half, and slid down to his hips, as his head flipped backwards. Skyblast came up from his hiding place, and launched himself up next to Astroscope. His arms extended outwards, as his legs came up, and wrapped around his left arm. His head slid to the side, as the nose of his alternate mode came outwards. Payload came out last, and joined the other two. His arms, and chest, hooked together, and rose above his head, as his waist twisted around, and his legs bent upwards. The three Minicons all linked in specific places, and the legend was formed. It lowered down, and Jhiaxus found himself staring down the barrel of the Requium Blaster.
"So what are you going to do?" Jhiaxus asked. "Shoot me?"
"We can if we want." All three replied, with their voices in unison. "You are at the mercy of the most powerful weapon in the Universe."
Jhiaxus scoffed. "All I see is a multi-colored gun. Prove it that you're so powerful."
"Alrighty." They replied. Almost immediately, small particles of what appeared to be energy drew towards the tip of the barrel, as a ball of power formed in the center. The Minicons chuckled, and unleashed the fury of the Requium Blaster.
Jhiaxus had next to no time to duck away from the discharge, and barely succeeded. The top of his head module armor was smoking, and was scorched from the blast. He twirled around, and watched as the blast tore through anything and everything along its path in the distance. The Decepticon slowly rose to his feet, optics threatening to go wide from the devastation before him. Slowly turning to the still-floating Requium Blaster, he pondered.
"… What else can you do?" He asked.
"We can do a lot of things." The three replied.
"Show me." Jhiaxus said.
"Hold it!" The weapon exclaimed. "Disengage!" The three Minicons then split apart, and landed in robot modes.
Astroscope stepped forward. "What makes you think we're all buddy-buddy now?"
"Yeah." Payload said.
"Exactly." Skyblast chimed.
"Mm…" Jhiaxus thought. "I want you three to come with me, and show me exactly how powerful you are."
"So you want us to just tag along and do as told? I don't think so." Astroscope said. "We'll go with you on one condition."
"Only one." Skyblast said.
"No more, no less." Payload replied.
"Very well… What is it?"
"We get a say in how things are run."
"Hhhnn…" Jhiaxus pondered. Never had he thought he'd be making a deal with Minicons, of all beings! But these three were power incarnate… "…Deal."
Astroscope audibly laughed. "Now just show a little enthusiasm, and we'll be all set!"
"You test my patients, Minicon." Jhiaxus said lowly. "Now show me what you can do!"
"… It's a start." Astroscope muttered. "Alright! Payload! Skyblast! Link up!" As he exclaimed that, the three Minicons once again merged, and formed the Requium Blaster. It hovered in the air for a brief moment, before turning around, and drifting into Jhiaxus' hand.
The said Decepticon grasped the handle, and grinned. "Now… Let's see what you can do…" He said, as he proceeded to open up his comlink.
The Moon, Lunar Base
Thrust leaned back in his seat, with his feet propped up on the consol, and his hands behind his head. Monitor duty was so boring; they didn't even have any games on this! The blue and brown jet stifled a yawn, but let it all out soon after. Just then, Jhiaxus's face appeared on the screen.
"Thrust!" He called, causing the conehead to cry out from surprise, and fall over backwards in his seat.
The said Decepticon climbed to his feet, and respectfully saluted after dusting himself off. "Sir!" He replied.
"Assemble all available Decepticon personnel, and have them converge on my coordinates immediately." Jhiaxus commanded.
"Yes sir." Thrust said.
"Good. Jhiaxus out."
Static suddenly covered the screen, and Thrust immediately growled. "Yes, Jhiaxus, sir!" He said mockingly. "Please bend over so I may have the privilege of kissing your ass! Bleh!" He spat on the ground, and turned back to the monitor. Typing in several keys and looking up to the monitor, the image of Sideways came up.
"Report." Sideways calmly said.
"The Decepticons are preparing for an attack of sorts... I'm not sure what or who it's on, though."
"Come on, Thrust." Sideways said. "I know you're not that stupid. Now I want a record of what happens in this battle. Report back once you're alone. Sideways out." The monitor once again turned to static.
Earth, Outskirts of Los Angeles. Two mega-cycles later…
Jhiaxus stood on the ground, a good distance away from the highways leading in and out of the city, holding the Requium Blaster in his right hand. The other Decepticons had long-since warped there, but they all waited for their commander to address them; however, he had not said a word since the last of them arrived. He stared deep into the legendary human settlement, and a scowl slowly crept along his lips. He turned to face his troops.
"Decepticons," He addressed. "Today will be a day to remember. Today, lives will be lost, and the Decepticon title will be known to another planet. Today, we draw the Autobots from their base, and confront them for the final time."
"How are we gonna do that?" asked Demolishor.
Jhiaxus responded by pointing at Los Angeles. "The Autobots will have to reveal themselves to the humans if they don't want any innocence slaughtered. But no matter how fast they get here," Jhiaxus paused to grin. "It will still be too late."
The Decepticon commander slowly floated into the air, still grinning. Slowly rotating in mid-air, he fully faced the prospecting city. Floating higher, and higher, he soon found himself a clear shot of one of the thousands of intersections of Los Angeles. He slowly raised the Requium Blaster, and took aim.
"Humans…" Jhiaxus stated. "You think you're so omnipotent, like you control your destiny." He gently squeezed the trigger, making the cannon charge up. "Your fate is my choice, and no one else's."
He sighed; traffic was so backed up! The man loosened his tie slightly; he wouldn't need to straighten it up for a while, at this rate. Shifting gears into park, his leaned back in his car seat, and rested his hand on his slightly bald forehead. He peered ahead again; there had been an accident, and from this view, it wasn't looking so good. For the victim, anyways. Two cars were flipped onto their sides, both badly damaged. The driver of one of the vehicles only had a few scratches, but the other wasn't so lucky. The paramedics had out those electric heart paddles, and with the victim's light blue shirt open.
"Clear!" one of the paramedics exclaimed, and jammed the panel onto the man's chest. His torso jumped into the air, and plopped back onto the ground. The paramedic rubbed the paddles together. "Clear!" he repeated. Once again, he slammed the panels on the man's chest, and once again, his chest rose into the air. However, the victim showed something new. He coughed. He coughed once again, and his eyes snapped open.
"Easy, son." The slightly aged EMU said with a smile. "You're gonna be alright."
The victim smiled weakly, while lying back down on his back. He looked to the paramedic. "Thank you…" He faintly said.
The man in his car smiled slightly. Yes, he may be late for work, but at least that lucky soul was allowed to return home today. He leaned back in his seat again as applauding from the other prisoners of traffic sounded. He peered up at the sky, and squinted. The sun was really bright at this hour… Wait. He looked down at the clock in his car radio. 8:33am. The sun shouldn't be this high up… He looked up at the electronic compass in his rear-view mirror. He was facing South. But the sun always rises from the East… He once again looked up at the 'Sun', only to find it much, much closer. He squinted hard at it, and could barely make out motion from it…
That was when the Requium Blaster hit. The blast tore through the ground, and everything on it, like a hot knife through butter. The entire city block, and all the people on it, didn't register any pain when they were disintegrated into dust.
"What the?!" Thousands of people questioned at the same time. All heads pointed towards the massive explosion, and some even ran towards it for fear of their loved ones.
Loud engines sounded. Several people turned around to see a sleek, jet black sports car with a deep cut in the hood zoom by. Its doors opened up, Return to the Future-style, and unleashed twin missiles into the nearest street corner, effectively ending a few more lives, and harming dozens more.
Those who managed to get past Wheeljack's drive-by were, unfortunately, crushed under Demolishor's massive tank treads. He chuckled as the pavement cracked and crumbled under his treads, effectively leaving a trail. His turret rotated a bit, and he fired off quad-missiles into a building's lobby. A burst of fire crashed through the open doors, and the explosion knocked the building off of its foundation.
"HOOHAHAHAHAAA!!!" Cyclonus laughed as he soared between the buildings, and his rotor blades sliced through the close-quarter buildings, and anything inside of them. He passed a building, and quickly slammed his hand through the brick wall, and pulled it out with a woman's head peeking through his middle and index fingers. She shrieked loudly as Cyclonus quickly flew up, above the buildings. The Decepticon giggled a Cyclonus-y giggle, and released his pinky finger on the woman. She once again shrieked, and clung to the two fingers around her head.
"Wanna play a game?" He asked, while chuckling to himself. The woman looked over to him, half glaring, and half trembling. "Good!" Cyclonus replied, while lifting up his middle finger. In return, the woman screamed as loud as her lungs could, and she tightly wrapped both arms around his index finger. "The game is called Acrophobia. This is how it works. I drop you, and you scream like the little piece of meat you are until you splat onto the pavement below. And now, its time for my favorite part!" Cyclonus happily said, as he grabbed the woman around her waist, and pulled her off of his finger. "Start screaming!" He exclaimed, as he released his grip on the woman, allowing her to fall to her untimely death.
Skywarp soared through the skies, blasters blazing at the innocent humans below. Swooping down into the halted streets below, he fired off his machine guns into the jammed traffic zooming past below. The shots traveled through many things, windshields, dashboards, chests, heads… and engines. One car exploded. The force caused another to explode, and another. Soon, a whole domino effect of exploding cars erupted through that section of the city.
Jhiaxus smirked evilly, and floated over to the next section of the city. Taking aim, he pulled the trigger, and sent off another blast from the Requium Blaster. It, much like his last several blasts, totally leveled everything near it. The mushroom cloud elevating from the new death zone caused Jhiaxus to chuckle, and float on to another, unharmed section of the city.
All the Decepticons were off terrorizing the innocent inhabitants of Los Angeles. All but Thrust and Warhawk. The two said Decepticons were doing very different things; Thrust was observing Jhiaxus from a hidden location, and Warhawk was watching all the carnage in awe.
"This is wrong…" He whispered. The ex-human slowly floated into the air, and looked over at his commander, Jhiaxus. He was just blasting everything and everyone as if they didn't matter… This had to stop... No matter the cost. But he'll need help… Warhawk raised his arm chest-level, and opened up a transmission to Autobot HQ…
Earth, Autobot HQ
"Optimus?" Red Alert asked.
"What is it?" The commander asked, looking over at the medic.
"We have an incoming transmission… From Warhawk."
"…Open up a link."
Red Alert punched in several keys, and an image of Warhawk came up on the main monitor.
"Warhawk…" Optimus said. "What do you want?"
"Optimus?" Warhawk asked. "… Heh, it's good that you're back. I can use your help now more than ever."
"Why do you need our help?"
"Because, the Decepticons are attacking Los Angeles, and I can't stop them on my own."
A few Autobots in the room gasped, and a silence passed, before Optimus looked back up to the monitor. "Why should we believe you?"
"Actions speak louder than words, Optimus." Warhawk replied, while twisting the small monitor towards the ravaged City of Los Angeles. The sky was turning an ominous shade of red, and black smoke rose from several demolished buildings. People screamed and ran for their lives, but several screams were silenced with a shot of a Decepticon's blaster.
"You see?" Warhawk asked as he turned the screen back towards himself. "Get here as soon as you can Optimus, or more lives will be lost."
With that, Warhawk ended the transmission, and the screen went blank.
Optimus slowly looked to each of the Autobots around the command center, before exclaiming: "Autobots… Transform and roll out!"
Earth, Los Angeles
Jhiaxus grinned as another city block was leveled, and he drifted over towards the next, unharmed section. Needless to say, a lot of people have evacuated, but many more were unfortunately still in the city. He raised the Requium Blaster once again; its target: The legendary Hollywood letters on the hillside. He gently squeezed the trigger, allowing the cannon to charge up its power. He grinned, and fully squeezed the trigger. But not before something unseen pushed the blaster off to the side, causing it to miss its target.
"What?!" Jhiaxus exclaimed. He looked over, and glared at what had made his shot miss… Warhawk.
"Explain yourself immediately!" Jhiaxus ordered.
"I won't stand for what you're doing." Warhawk replied. "I won't let you take any more lives."
Jhiaxus growled as he and Warhawk started drifting towards the ground. "How dare you disobey my orders! I'll make sure you're hung by your innards, Warhawk!" By this point in time, the two had landed, and the other Decepticons had stopped to observe the argument.
The Decepticon commander looked to his troops. "Decepticons…" He motioned towards Warhawk. "Kill him."
"With pleasure!" Said Demolishor. His arms bent backwards, and folded over themselves, forming his powerful turrets. Suddenly unleashing a torrent of blasts, the Decepticon quickly followed Warhawk's fleeing trail. Skywarp followed suit, as his shoulder cannons swung forward, and fired off twin blasts simultaneously. Warhawk grinned, and ran between the two Decepticons. As expected, Demolishor and Skywarp both continued to fire off their shots, unaware of the other. Unfortunately for them, Warhawk zipped past them, and Skywarp's blasts hit Demolishor, and vice versa.
Running through the street, Warhawk jumped up into the air, transforming. He elevated into the air, and searched for the fellow aerial Decepticons. The insane laughter of Cyclonus sounded from behind, and the ex-Human spun around, weapons armed.
"Come get some!" Cyclonus howled, as he shot himself forward, and Warhawk followed suit.
The two Decepticons fired off countless rounds at each other as they quickly neared the other. For a brief moment, it looked as if the two would collide, but that proved wrong, as both swerved to their right at the last second.
"Transform!" Both shouted concurrently. Warhawk and Cyclonus transformed in mid-air, and floated high above the city streets. Cyclonus smirked, as he suddenly launched blasts at Warhawk wildly, causing the Decepticon to shield his face with his arm.
"UGH!" Warhawk coughed, as Cyclonus quickly closed the gap between them, and roughly grabbed him around his waist. The two plummeted towards the ground at a blazing speed, and when they hit, everything within a mile felt it.
Warhawk was in a somewhat-deep crater outlining his prone frame. His optics flickered slightly, and he groaned; he tried to sit up, but an orange hand slammed down on his chest, forcing him back down. Cyclonus chuckled, as he kneeled over Warhawk's chest, and aimed his wrist blaster at the Decepticon's face.
"Once an Autobot, always an Autobot!" He said, grinning like a madman.
Warhawk tensed. He had to think of something fast, or his CPU was gonna be in pieces all over the ground! His optics darted around, before settling on something behind Cyclonus. He gasped slightly, and tensed further.
"Eh?" Cyclonus pondered. Warhawk's attention wasn't on him… But it should be! What else could be more important than his own death! The Decepticon peered around his shoulder, and found…
Nothing.
"What the pit…" Cyclonus uttered. "There's nothing there…" He looked down at Warhawk, only to find the Decepticon's fist slamming into his face.
Cyclonus' optics spun around, and he could've sworn he saw stars spinning around his head. Swaying in the air slightly, the nutty 'Con fell onto his side, and off of Warhawk.
The said Decepticon sat up, then stood up, dusting himself off, and panting slightly. "Once a dumbass, always a dumbass."
Warhawk suddenly stumbled forward, clutching his chest, and panting more. "Diagnostic." He panted. His optics flickered as data flew past them.
Exterior Diagnostic: ...
Decepticon Forces: 50 Percent
Civilian Casualties: 33 Percent
Land Damage: 74 Percent
Interior Diagnostic: ...
Damage: 15 Percent
Energon Reserves: 65 Percent
Weapons: 87 Percent Charged
He sighed. He was running on almost half his full energy, and his weapons weren't ready yet. Peering around, Warhawk looked around for Thrust, and Wheeljack. He didn't need to look for Jhiaxus, as he was standing right in front of him, scowling.
Wheeljack stepped out from behind Warhawk, weapons drawn. Broken glass crunched under his feet, and the sound pierced the silence. The ex-human whirled around, and found himself staring down the barrel of Wheeljack's weapon. Tense moments passed, and the two stared each other down. The ex-Autobot kept a straight face on, but inside, he was twisting and turning. Was this right? Should he gun down his only friend? Is there any other way out? What-
"Well?" Jhiaxus asked. "What are you waiting for? Kill him!"
"I… I…" Wheeljack stuttered. Fortunately, he didn't have to think, as familiar engine sounds hummed in the distance.
"Stop right there, Jhiaxus!" Optimus commanded as he transformed, the other Autobots following suit.
"Who's going to stop me?" Jhiaxus asked. "You?" The Decepticon commander turned to Wheeljack and Warhawk, only to find Wheeljack in the process of being tripped by Warhawk. The ex-human looked down at the ex-Autobot, and gave him a brief, apologetic look. He then ran off, and Jhiaxus growled audibly.
Nearby...
A bit outside of the battlefield, on a hillside, Smokescreen was sitting in a kneeling position. Optimus had assigned him the sniper position, and he was going to do his absolute best. His shoulder crane extended forward, and a gun barrel swung out of it. Flipping open a panel on the side of the gun, Smokescreen then pulled out a magazine of sniper bullets from his subspace pocket, and loaded it into his mounted weapon. He disengaged the safety, pressed a button on the side, and a small piece of glass slid out, and over his right optic. On the glass were crosshairs, with digital numbers constantly changing in all four corners.
Smokescreen situated his kneeling position. He switched sitting on his right knee to his left, and he grinned. Much better. Moving the sniper rifle around a bit, the back of Jhiaxus' head came into view in the crosshairs. Shuffling his left foot around for better leverage, he placed his finger on the trigger, and took aim once more. He applied slight pressure to the trigger, when he felt something bump his foot. Something… Metal.
Smokescreen gave a 'Hm?' before turning around to see what he bumped into. Had he been able to, the Autobot would've turned a ghastly shade of white, as he was staring at the severed leg of Megatron.
"What in the Holy name of Primus is Megatron's leg doing here?!" Smokescreen audibly exclaimed.
"Thank you, Autobot." A forgotten voice from behind said. "We were looking for that."
Smokescreen turned back around, and gasped. "Starscream!"
An extremely large, green hand wrapped itself around Smokescreen's mounted rifle, and lifted him up off of the ground. Smokescreen found himself staring into dark, golden optics.
"And Tidal Wave." The giant replied, grinning.
Smokescreen frowned, while dangling high in the air. Starscream floated up between the two mechs, facing Smokescreen, arms crossed, and smirking.
"We've been looking for that leg for quite some time." Starscream said. "My colleague can't remember every little thing he does, so we had a tough time finding it."
"That pesky memory." Tidal Wave joked. "You never know when it'll start acting up."
"Well, I congratulate you on your find." Smokescreen sarcastically replied.
"Thank you." Starscream replied.
He unfolded his arms, and held out his right hand, opening it up. A dark green sword, crackling with energy, materialized in it. He tossed it over into his left hand, and waved his fingers at Smokescreen. His hand glowed, and Starscream grinned as he touched the left side of Smokescreen's chest armor, and then clutched it. He dug his fingers into the metal, and the Autobot cried out. Energon drained from Smokescreen's body, and into Starscream's eagerly awaiting hand. It pulsated, as more and more of Smokescreen's energy left him, and entered the Decepticon. He was starting to feel weak, and he was getting weaker.
"Allow me to show you our gratitude!" Starscream exclaimed. He gripped both Smokescreen, and his sword hard, and reared back his left hand.
Smokescreen cried out in pure agony when Starscream rammed his sword through his abdomen. His hands almost magnetically clutched to the Decepticon's sword, trying to prevent it from going in any further. His fingers and his stomach wound bled heavily, dripping onto the ground frequently, and he ground his teeth trying not to cry out.
Starscream grinned, and with all his might, pushed his sword into Smokescreen. The Autobots optics narrowed dangerously as the tip of the blade came out his backside. Mech fluid started dripping from his lips, in addition to his hands, front side, and now backside. Pink Energon rivers flowed down his legs, and dripped off of Smokescreen's feet.
Tidal Wave grinned, and let go of the Autobot's rifle, causing him to yelp, and support himself on Starscream's sword. Smokescreen grinded his bloody teeth, and shut his optics tight. His pain sensors were blazing madly, and his energy was still being drained. Starscream grinned, and pushed the sword in deeper, causing Smokescreen to cry out even more.
"Goodbye, Autobot." Starscream said softly, as he let go of his sword, and of Smokescreen, allowing him to plummet towards the ground. Unfortunately for Smokescreen, he slowly turned in the air, and landed on the ground… On his front side, effectively pushing the sword still embedded in his stomach almost all the way through.
Smokescreen made no sound when he hit the ground, only the dull 'thud' was heard. Starscream slowly drifted towards the ground, and calmly walked over towards the leg of Megatron. Picking it up, and tucking it under his arm, the Decepticon paused to look at the fallen Autobot. He had not moved since he hit the ground, and the sword was still deep within him. The Decepticon stepped on Smokescreen's back, rather hard at that, and with his free hand, yanked his sword free from the Autobot.
"Let's get going, Tidal Wave." He said. "We got what we came here for."
Tidal Wave nodded, and the two Decepticons flew into the air, leaving Smokescreen in a small pool of his own mech fluid.
Jhiaxus looked around. There were several Autobots, one traitor, one missing Decepticon, and him all alone. He glared hard at Optimus, who was frowning at him in return. He was outnumbered once again, and had to cut his losses and return to base… But not before one more thing …He gently squeezed the trigger of the Requium Blaster, to which he was still holding on.
"I tolerate several things…" Jhiaxus began. "However, there are a few things I do not tolerate… One of them… Is treachery!" With that, the Decepticon commander whipped around, and aimed the charged Requium Blaster at Warhawk. He pulled the trigger.
Time seemed to stop for Warhawk. All that existed was himself, and the blaster's discharge. It came at him slowly; there was plenty of time to move out of the way! But… he couldn't move. It was like his feet were attached to the ground. No matter how much he tried to free them, they wouldn't budge! The blast drew nearer and nearer, until… It hit. And it tore through his stomach easily, leaving a clean, circular, gaping hole in him. Warhawk slowly dropped to his knees, and shakily looked down at his fatal wound. It bled heavily, and he winced when he gently touched a part of it. The discharge continued to soar, until it struck a building, causing a massive explosion.
Thick pieces of rubble and twisted metal flew from the building in all directions, and unfortunately, one of the larger pieces flew at Warhawk, and struck the back of his helmet. Pain shot through every inch of his body, as the feeling from his arms and legs left him. He fully fell forward, landing face first into the heavily damaged street.
"Warhawk!" Optimus cried out.
Jhiaxus chuckled. "Well Autobots, I'm off. Have fun cleaning up." Optimus ignored Jhiaxus' taunts, as he, and the other Autobots, rushed over to Warhawk's side.
The Decepticon commander grinned, and he turned around, only to have his hand shot, effectively causing him to drop the Requium Blaster.
"Who dares?!" He called out. No answer. Jhiaxus growled, as he peered around, looking for the culprit. Putting his sensors on high, he looked and listened carefully…
…
There was a slightly rustling noise by his feet. Quickly picking up his right foot, he slammed it back down on the ground, and then shot a glance down there. There was Thrust, rolling away from the attack, Requium Blaster in hand.
"I dare!" Thrust replied, while holding the legendary weapon above his head triumphantly.
"Just what do you think you're doing!" Jhiaxus exclaimed.
"Why betraying you, of course!" Thrust answered. "I claim the Requium Blaster in the name of Unicron!"
"Who the slagging pit is Unicron?!" Jhiaxus demanded. Clearly he was in pissed off mode, perhaps due to the loss of the Requium Blaster.
"He is the lord of eternal night; the devourer of worlds! Every dark deed, the sum of all fears!" Thrust exclaimed.
"What…?"
"He is your every sin remembered, Jhiaxus. And I will laugh when he devours you like he has so many others!" Thrust then proceeded to laugh maniacally, and warp away to unknown parts. Jhiaxus growled audibly, but followed suit to the Decepticon Lunar Base.
Optimus was kneeled down by Warhawk's left, and the other Autobots formed a sloppy circle around the fallen mech. His optics were off completely, and mech fluid seeped from the corner of his slightly separated lips. He was still as stone, unmoving even as a breeze blew by.
Optimus' optics softened at the sight. He gently rested his hand on Warhawk's helmet, and the other Autobots watched on.
"There's gotta be something we can do…" Sideswipe said silently.
"He's too far gone…" Red Alert replied. "Even fore stasis lock…"
Warhawk weakly groaned, and slowly turned on his optics, while looking up at the figures around him. There they were… The ones he betrayed. The Autobots.
"Well fought, Warhawk." Optimus solemnly said. "You stopped Jhiaxus… You saved the survivors of the city."
Warhawk smiled weakly. "I'm only sorry… I didn't stop him sooner…" He whispered.
"You did what you could… And all of us are grateful for it." Optimus replied.
The fallen Decepticon gave a slightly crooked grin. "Glad it wasn't… for nothing, then." All of the Transformers there were completely unaware of the small crowd of humans forming around them, watching the scene unfold.
"Hey…" Warhawk murmured. Optimus looked down at him with a questioning gaze. "… I'm sorry."
"Huh?" Optimus asked. "What for?"
"I'm sorry… I betrayed you." He winced as he shifted slightly; every little movement hurt like the pit!
"It's alright, Warh-" Optimus was interrupted.
"No… It's not." The Decepticon said. "… I won't make any excuses… All I want…" He panted slightly as his energy continued to drain. "Is your forgiveness… "
Optimus slowly nodded. He once again rested his palm on Warhawk's helmet. "Rest easy, Warhawk…"
"Please…" Warhawk asked. "…Call me by my name… My real name…"
Optimus nodded again. "Of course… Tim."
Warhawk smiled as his original identity returned to him once again. He was who he should've been this whole time… Tim…
"You will always be remembered, Tim." Optimus said softly, finally accepting his friend's fate.
Tim flashed one, final grin. "I don't know… If that's good… Or bad…" He joked.
His optics dimmed slightly, and his grin lessened. Both slowly faded simultaneously, never to be seen again. His head fell limply to the side, and the wind blew by, picking up light objects, and carrying them away.
Optimus slowly lowered his head, in both respect, and sorrow. He slowly arose to his feet, and the Autobots all looked to him. The Autobot commander slowly raised his right arm, extended out all his fingers, and put it near his forehead, saluting. The other Autobots followed suit.
"He lived a human… And died a Cybertronian." Optimus stated, choking back his sorrow. "May his heart join his loved ones, and his spark join the Matrix… With the greatest of Cybertron…"
The Autobot commander slowly lowered his arm, and looked to Red Alert. "See to it that he makes it safely back to the base." Red Alert nodded in response. Optimus raised his arm up to his chest, and opened up a small panel. "Smokescreen, come in." He said.
No answer.
"Smokescreen?" Optimus asked again. "Smokescreen! Please respond!"
Elsewhere…
"Smokescreen! Please respond!"
The said Autobot's comlink was on, but Smokescreen wouldn't answer. He had not moved an inch since he had fallen, and the ground around him had been stained with the steadily growing pool of mech fluid…
"I repeat, answer me, Smokescreen!... Hot Shot, head to Smokescreen's position and report back to me on the double!"
Elsewhere, meanwhile…
They were very close… Very very close to their destination. They could see it… Earth. They had been traveling to it for quite some time, and now, finally, they were here. It was time to make themselves known.
A single lightning bolt struck high in the sky. Then another. And another. Soon, it was a storm of lightning in a single area, as the bolts grew brighter and brighter, until a whole circle of light was in the sky. All eyes, and optics, looked up, and were either shocked, or amazed. Then something came out from the light. It was orange, and pointy, like a mandible. Then another parallel to it came out. The two grew larger and thicker the more they came out, until they both stopped at opposite ends of a large mouth. It had twin set of jaws on both sides, and between them an empty blackness. It continued to come out, and around the mouth, was an orange ring, and outside of that, a thick, purple shell. Its undercarriage was made of two huge, grey panels. After that came a massive, silver ring surrounding it, and on the top-rear part, eight, country-sized spikes resided on the top.
"Earthings… Cybertronians…." A world-shattering voice echoed. It came from the giant… Thing in the sky.
"Oh my God…" Some humans murmured.
"Dear Primus…" The Autobots whispered.
"…Bear witness to the emergence of Unicron!"
The End…?
Author's Note: I am so proud of myself! I finished a fic that's actually worth something in less than a year! Go meee! Go meee! Go! Go! Go!
Ok, that was a lame-ass chant. ; I'll stop now. But seriously, I really am proud of myself. I sure hope you guys liked reading this, because I really had fun writing it!
Now… For all of you guys, I have a special prize for you! I'm gonna give you a few teasers as to what to expect in the next fic! There will be five of them, and I will not answer any guesses you guys have.
1. Sideswipe's brother returns… As a Decepticon!
2. An old comrade of Demolishor's returns, with forgotten memories for the Decepticon!
3. Megatron's resurrection… But his mind has been altered by Unicron!
4. The ultimate betrayal, from someone you'd never suspect!
5. The fight to end all fights!
There we are… I sure hope you all enjoyed reading Armageddon! Be sure to look for Armageddon: The Unicron Wars to come out soon!