Iacon City-state, Sector Alpha-015
Cybertronian Date: 999867.92 - 8330 - 4986 (Solar pre-zenith)
Earth date: 5 October 2070, 10:26 HOURS
Iacon was the jewel in Cybertron's crown, a city whose renown had spread across the known galaxy in the years between the end of the Great War and the beginning of the latest era of Decepticon hostilities. Sector Alpha was the heart of the city, a vast area of glittering polished domes and towers in gold and silver that shone at night like it had its own artificial sun. The sector was enclosed by a circle of golden sky-spires in which the Iaconian nobility lived in much the same way as they had since the time of Sentinel Prime. Further in, a second ring of thirteen spires enclosed the main governmental, religious and legal buildings, towering up to be lost from view kilometres overhead. This inner ring were the Sacred Spires of Iacon, one of the most recognised features of the city - next to the Great Dome at their centre in which the Council of Elders and Cybertronian Senate sat in government - and one of the oldest features on the planet. They were so old that some religious teachings held these spires to be the place from which each of the first thirteen Transformers separated from the body of Primus in Cybertron's youth.
Sub-sector Alpha-015 was outside the perimeter formed by the Sacred Spires, the skyline dominated by the multi-tower of Autobase over in Alpha-013, and was a rather bare and nondescript area of warehouses, storage silos and support structures for Autobot headquarters. As most of the area's labour was automated, it was rare that anyone actually took the time to come down to this part of the sector - especially at night - and the only sounds were the muffled noises of machinery from inside the buildings and the distant sound of the subterranean transit hub below ground-level.
Hot Rod sat alone in a shadowed trench formed by two low adjacent missile silos, his knees pulled up under his chin and his arms folded around them. He had been sitting here like this for several groons, unable to recharge because of the questions that were running around inside his head. Again! For decivorns he had felt as though he had missed his place in the universe. As if his destiny had missed him somehow over the vorns. Whatever gods still existed to govern the universe had forgotten about him after Optimus Prime had destroyed Unicron. And, if he was honest, that was when the feelings of drifting had started, and everything that had happened since had failed to negate that feeling. He had been through a lot in the intervening decivorns - becoming merged with Firebolt, accompanying Prime on a spiritual quest, discovering that he had been cloned by the Decepticon scientist Crack Brain - and it had only served to increase his confusion. Somehow he knew that he had been meant to do something more than just fight Decepticons until his spark was extinguished in battle, but what that was still eluded him. And just recently the feelings were growing worse!
Hot Rod absently played with a seedling scrap feeder that had worked its way into a crack in the trench floor at his feet, running the branching dull metal tendrils of the biomechanical plant between his fingers. He looked down at it and sighed. It was as out of place as he was. It should have been growing underground among the foundations of the city, causing headaches for the maintenance crews, but it had somehow ended up in the trench far from where it was supposed to be. He could relate. He remembered meeting the Order of the Spark during Optimus Prime's quest. Remembered one of their ascetics, Destiny, telling him that she saw a great future for him. That had been nearly two decivorns ago now, and this great future showed no sign of rearing its eminent head! He supposed that being well into his fortieth kilovorn he should have learned a little patience, but having spent most of that time in battle for his life, even a few decivorns of near-peace had took their toll on his patience. A part of him wished the Decepticons would hurry up and make a move: since conquering Polyhex they had been too busy trying to wipe out Scorponok's renegade faction to make more than a few token attacks on the Autobots.
"Here again, Hot Rod?" asked a deep warm masculine voice. Hot Rod turned to see Optimus Prime standing on top of the missile silo behind him, his imposing red form catching the light from a nearby flyway as he stood in the open. Prime was the definition of strength, his bulky robot mode towering over most of his troops. His bulky red chest was filled by the two translucent windshields of his vehicle mode. The heavy dark-blue barrels of two missile launchers ran down the back of his red shoulders. His bulky upper arms had heavy black wheels at the shoulders, and silver vehicle mode fenders and headlamps on the top. Twin silver cannons were mounted on his red forearms above dark-blue hands. A silver engine block flanked by cooling stacks ran down the centre of his abdomen, situated on the top of his bonnet in vehicle mode. His pelvis was dark-blue above silver thighs and red knees. His lower legs and feet were dark-blue, two heavy black wheels mounted on the outside of each leg below silver fuel tanks on the outside of his knees. His dark-blue cranial helmet was flanked by silver antennae rising from his audio domes. Dark-blue cheek struts and chin guard framed the silver face-mask that covered his mouth and nose below intelligent gold optics. A silver grille was embedded on the forehead of his helmet, two smaller grilles embedded in the tips of his cheek struts. A red Autobrand edged in silver stood out on either side of his abdomen.
"Optimus Prime, sir," said Hot Rod, jumping to his feet. "What brings you out here?"
"I just needed some time to clear my head," replied Optimus. "I've spent all day in briefings with the Security Corps over some troubling news from our covert operatives in Polyhex."
"Is it bad?" asked Hot Rod.
"We just don't know yet," replied Optimus, jumping down into the trench and sitting across from Hot Rod in the manner of the young cavalier. He indicated for Hot Rod to sit. "What about you?" he asked inquisitively. "As I recall, you are supposed to be on a recharge cycle right now."
"I don't know," sighed Hot Rod, slumping to the floor with a crash of metal on metal that would be audible decacubits away. "Just thinking."
"Brooding would be more accurate." Optimus looked into Hot Rod's optics with a probing stare as he spoke. "Are you still dwelling on what Destiny said when we found the Order of the Spark?"
"I guess," he sighed. "It's just, like I said before, I've felt sort of lost since the battle with Unicron. It's as if I missed something important that I was supposed to do, but I can't remember what it is."
"I see," replied Optimus pensively.
"I know you told me to look inside myself, Optimus, but I just can't do it! Whenever I try to figure out what's going on my mind starts to drift. I just don't have the discipline!"
"Discipline is learnt, Hot Rod, not inbuilt. If you want to discover where your path lies, you need to learn to quiet yourself. Remember what you learnt from Sagax and the Order. Primus may be gone, but the source can still be reached if you try."
"I know," sighed Hot Rod. He looked up at Optimus and smiled. "But does it have to be so damned hard?"
"The right way always is," Optimus told him. "To do things wrong is easy. It takes effort to do what is right."
Before Hot Rod could reply, the pre-dawn air was cut by the howling of air raid sirens. Only kliks later, Iacon's artificial lighting plunged into darkness, and ground-based searchlights began to scour the sky. "What's happening?" he asked Optimus.
"I don't know," replied the Autobot commander, his expression dark and troubled. "But I'm going to find out!" Even as he moved to stand, his body began to transform into vehicle mode. His abdomen swung forward and up, his upper arms twisting down and underneath to complete the bow of his truck form. His forearms folded up behind his shoulders forming the rear of his cab, the cannons forming dual smokestacks on either side as his head retracted from view. As his pelvis and thighs folded away beneath the cab, his lower legs folded out behind forming the rear wheelbase and trailer dock. As the ten-wheeler cab dropped onto its wheels, subspace unfolded behind it to reveal Prime's grey triple-axle 12-wheeler trailer unit, the sides detailed with red, dark-blue and silver stripes and twin Autobrands. "We need to get back to Autobase!" he told Hot Rod, his engine rumbling into life as he spoke.
"You got it, Prime!" Hot Rod replied, transforming in the blink of an eye to his own sleek low-slung Cybertronian assault racer mode. His engine growled as he revved its nanite-regulated drive motors with a mix of impatience and excitement. Beside him, the Autobot commander's imposing truck mode pulled away down the trench towards Autobase, Hot Rod tailgating him as they both accelerated.
Prime watched the young cavalier through the optic clusters in his wing mirrors. Had he been in robot mode, he would have shaken his head at the overeager young Autobot's antics. As it was, the collision sensors in his tail lights were shrieking warnings as Hot Rod almost shot under his rear axle in the confined space of the trench. "Hot Rod, get aboard!" he ordered, lowering his trailer's rear ramp. "We'll get there much quicker without you setting off my collision warnings every other klik!"
"Okay, Prime," replied Hot Rod, his tone slightly surly at having to ride back, before he accelerated up Prime's ramp and into the trailer. As the ramp lifted back into place, the trailer's interior lighting activated and he transformed. Once the ramp had locked back into position, he felt a surge of acceleration as Optimus drew on the full power of his engine systems.
As Prime accelerated towards the nearest subway access point to Autobase, thanking Primus for having been able to keep the power of his old Powermaster engine even after he and Hi-Q had been fused together, he activated his radio transceiver and scanned the airwaves for information on the alert. Automated security flooded his memory banks with information: Decepticon forces had been detected approaching sector Alpha, full appraisal of numbers still awaited. They had dropped into Autobot aerospace through a warp gate opened in Cybertron's upper atmosphere in sector Alpha-028 of Iacon. Shunting the security data to an automated processing subroutine in his unconscious circuitry, he linked up to the Autobot communications net and opened a channel to Autobase. "Optimus Prime to Autobase, I am in Alpha-015 on route to Autobase. Please respond, over!"
For a few seconds, the airwaves were undiluted chatter, before a voice broke into the surge of communications traffic. "Optimus Prime, this is Ultra Magnus in Autobase! We have detected Decepticon incursion in Alpha-028. Reports from perimeter posts in that sector indicate we have twenty wings of Sweeps supported by ten wings of Seekers and several squadrons of air transports. Polyhex must be empty!"
"Message understood, Ultra Magnus," replied Prime, his sense of urgency growing. This was bad. A battle of this scale was sheer suicide for all concerned! "Have the Elite Flying Corps deployed to engage the enemy?"
"They're scrambling now. We should intercept the Decepticons in Alpha-021. It's a mainly uninhabited sector of the city, primarily a transit nexus for Central Iacon, though there are a few civilian warehouses and factories in the sector."
"Have the civilians evacuated," Prime ordered. "And have all available Autobots report to that sub-sector to engage the enemy! I'm altering route to 021."
"Yes, sir," replied Ultra Magnus. "I'll meet you there. Autobase out." The communications channel closed, and Optimus turned his attention back to the road. As he accessed Iacon's transit maps, he altered course for the local primary transit terminal and plotted his new route. A few cycles later his imposing vehicle mode charged into a subway tunnel that connected with the transit network and headed for Alpha-021.
Iacon City-state, Sector Alpha-021
Cybertronian Date: 999867.92 - 8330 - 4994 (Solar pre-zenith)
Earth date: 5 October 2070, 11:34 HOURS
Sector Alpha-021 was as close to the Pit as Hot Rod ever intended on getting. On all sides, Autobot defenders engaged the Decepticon invasion forces in a sea of utter carnage that rivalled any battle of the last Great War. Automated defences had been activated to bolster the Autobot ranks, and antiaircraft turrets fired volleys of ordnance into the midst of the deadly agile Sweeps. The Autobot Elite Flying Corps tried their best to engage the superior Sweeps, but the Decepticon drones outmanoeuvred the less advanced Autobot aircraft at every turn. Behind the Sweeps, the Seekers fired on anything that moved on the perimeters of the battlefield, attempting to encircle the Autobots and cut off their supply lines. Amidst the smaller Cybertronian craft, waves of deadly Quintesson trident assault ships blasted Autobots out of existence wherever their weapons found targets. The ground forces also fought on amidst the growing wreckage and rubble. Where once there had been one of Central Iacon's primary transit hubs there was now a scarred crater-strewn wasteland of twisted metal pylons and roadways littered with the bodies of the injured and deactivated. Immense gestalts lumbered through the chaos, trying and failing to turn the battle in the favour of their own faction. Though Hot Rod had never fully adapted to the peace that had followed the Great War, the scale of this battle was beyond his comprehension. He had been given life after the Ark Mission, and the major battles of the war had been long past. Never again would he question Kup's stories about the height of the Great War. If it was like this, then he was surprised anyone had survived!
A short way off amidst the carnage, Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus fought side-by-side against the encroaching Decepticon ground forces. Despite their separate reformatting histories, the two Autobots' shared design lineage was still apparent. Ultra Magnus' white torso shared Optimus' translucent vehicle-mode windshields on either side of the chest above two pairs of headlamps. Silver smokestacks rose behind each of his powerful shoulders. His upper arms were as white as his upper body, though his forearms were dark-blue with the silver grilles of his truck engine radiator on the outside of each above red hands. His pelvis and thighs were silver, above dark-blue lower legs and feet. Wheels and silver fuel slugs on the outside of his calves mirrored Prime's own. His white cranial helmet shared many features with his predecessor's, silver antennae rising from the audio modules and a silver grille on his forehead at the front of the dark-blue crest than ran back across his cranial cap to the base of the helmet. His silver face was unmasked, and his face showed a strength and determination that Optimus' face-mask kept hidden. Back-to-back with Optimus, his twin dual-barrelled photon blaster-rifles smashed through the Decepticon forces while Prime held his own flank with twin atom-smasher rifles that could wreck a Decepticon with one shot.
Ultra Magnus turned slightly to his commander, keeping one optic on the enemy as he fired, and spoke. "Prime, this makes no sense! The Decepticons are losing warriors as fast as we are! At this rate, even if they do win they'll be decimated!"
"I know, Magnus," replied Prime, his optics betraying a sadness and concern behind his fierce determination. "Not even Megatron would throw his troops away to this mindless slaughter! And if I had a chance to think about it, I might be able to come up with some answers!" Even as he spoke, another Decepticon soldier was disembowelled by his close-range rifle blast. "This is futile!" he growled, angry at the waste of life. A few shots later, and a few more Decepticons added to the growing ranks of the fallen, Prime roared infuriated at the senselessness of it. "Ultra Magnus, we are wasting our time here!" he called. "We need to find out who is behind this pointless battle!"
"I'm with you, Prime," replied the younger field commander.
"Then follow me!" said Optimus. As he spoke, the missile launchers on his shoulders flipped up into firing position, and twin high-yield concussion missiles fired, blasting a path through the Decepticons. Before the enemy could recover, he transformed to truck form and accelerated deeper into the battlefield. Behind him, Ultra Magnus transformed into a white and dark-blue truck cab, subspace unfolding his own dark-blue and grey car transporter trailer behind him as he accelerated after Prime.
Ahead of the two Autobot trucks the battle grew more vicious, Decepticon gestalts smashing through everything in their way, be it Autobot or otherwise. "Where are we heading, Prime?" Magnus called over internal communications.
"The Elites have reported that the main Decepticon forces are to the north," replied Prime. "Their leader should be in that area!"
"And if he isn't?"
"Then none of us are going to escape this battlefield alive, Ultra Magnus!" Prime replied sombrely. "We need to end this at source or not at all!"
"Shall I call in reinforcements on our location?"
"Negative. The more Autobots head our way, the more likely that whoever is behind this moves to another location! We go in alone!"
Hot Rod watched Optimus and Ultra Magnus driving deeper into the battlefield even as his forearm-mounted photon cannons blasted at his own attackers. As they went, a part of him felt the urge to follow. They would be where the action was! But another part of him told him to stay and help his comrades hold the line. Stop the Decepticons spreading from the sub-sector. As he caught an attacking Sharkticon by the tail and tossed it aside, sending a few blasts from his photon cannons after it, he glanced over at Kup who was fighting nearby with the Autobot forces. As if he knew what Hot Rod was planning, the old veteran shook his head, eyes narrowed. "Prime doesn't need you, Hot Rod!" he shouted. "Stay put!"
"But-" Hot Rod didn't know what to follow his 'but' with, but he knew where he needed to be. He may be a young hothead, but Ultra Magnus and Optimus Prime were going to need all the help they could get! Breaking eye contact with his old mentor, Hot Rod made a silent apology to the old Autobot and turned to follow Prime and Magnus. As he engaged his transformation systems and shifted to vehicle mode, he heard Kup shouting after him. "Hot Rod, get your tailpipe back here now!"
"Sorry, Kup," he replied as he accelerated after Prime into the midst of the Decepticon forces. "I need to do this!"
"Hot Rod!" Kup shouted after him. The old Autobot watched him disappear, before shaking his head slowly. "Watch yourself, kid," he muttered, before turning his attention back to the task at hand.
Iacon City-state, Sector Alpha-021
Cybertronian Date: 999867.92 - 8330 - 4995 (Solar pre-zenith)
Earth date: 5 October 2070, 11:42 HOURS
Mega Galvatron waded through the battlefield, knee-deep in deactivated Autobots and Decepticons. His twin forearm cannons smoked from recent firings, their translucent barrels still glowing with the heat of their blasts. His Decepticons fought all around him, annihilating Autobots even as they too were annihilated. The sounds of weapon fire, explosions and the cries of agony filled his audio modules like the sweet sound of success. He was victorious! No Autobot could stand before him. Dozens had tried, and all had fallen. When this battle was over, there would be no more talk of Megatron or Galvatron. His predecessors would be relegated to the history files of his great and unstoppable empire. With the Autobots broken, Scorponok and Shockwave would fall at his feet and beg for his mercy. And neither would be shown it! And then the eternal rule of Mega Galvatron would sweep across this miserable universe and he would become a god among insects. Even Unicron would be as nothing to his power!
A hail of energy blasts impacted on Mega Galvatron's armoured hide with all the effectiveness of bugs against a windshield. He turned to face his attacker, and laughed at the puny Autobot germ that dared to oppose him. Its insignificance was almost below his desire to destroy, but not quite enough. As the Autobot raised his weapon to fire again, Mega Galvatron lifted an arm, the cannon mounted thereon whining with power as it charged. When the energy beam finally erupted from it, it vaporised the Autobot in less than a klik, and reduced half a kilocubit of space beyond to vapour and slag, taking Autobots and Decepticons with it. Mega Galvatron turned unpitying to find his next would-be opponent, smashing a couple of Sharkticons from his path, their exo-plating fracturing and sloughing away under the force of his impact.
"You monster!" The powerful energy blast that accompanied the enraged booming shout impacted on Mega Galvatron's relatively delicate wing module, and barely scratched the armour. The Decepticon Supreme Overlord turned to face his attacker, to find a towering behemoth of an Autobot bearing down on him. The size and strength of the giant garnered a smile from Mega Galvatron: finally an opponent that might be worthy of destruction at his hands. Memories of his component halves identified the Autobot as sub-commander Fortress Maximus. The giant continued. "You have caused enough death and destruction for one day, Decepticon! It's time you made your goodbyes!"
"Fortress Maximus, I'm glad to see you again," Mega Galvatron grinned. "However, this encounter will differ from our last confrontation on Earth!"
"Last?" asked the Autobot, puzzled, before he pulled himself back to the task at hand. "I don't recall ever facing you, Decepticon, but you're right about it differing! This time you won't be coming back!"
"My sentiments exactly!" snarled Mega Galvatron, flipping into the air and somersaulting backward. As he came back down to land, his form twisted as he transformed into a dual-barrelled artillery cannon. The cannon landed on twin lateral tractor modules formed by the missile launchers on his wings, his bat-like wing tips folded up the sides into armoured shields. His legs had folded at the rear, his feet behind what had been his chest plate on his dorsal surface, running back to the twin blades of his knees at the back of the cannon above the rear stabiliser foot formed by the nose module that had been on his shoulders. At the front, the translucent red barrels of his cannons emerged from what had been his robot mode's shoulders. As he lifted the weapons to bear on Fortress Maximus, the whine of his charging weapons rose to a screaming howl of unbelievable energy.
The twin blasts hit Fortress Maximus in the chest, tearing through his outer armour like it was paper. The impact shock threw the Autobot from his feet, and he crashed heavily to the ground, pain searing through his circuitry from the wound in his chest. As he struggled to shut off his pain centres, he triggered his transformation systems and shifted into battle station mode. Even as he did so, Gasket and Grommet emerged from inside him, combining into the robot Cog. Fortress Maximus ordered him forward, while priming his battle station's weapons systems to fire.
Mega Galvatron saw the approaching drone robot through his targeting scanners. Its woeful inadequacy for its task made it unworthy of facing the full unleashed force of his cannon mode. With a thought, he underwent a second transformation, his wings flaring out and the rear stabiliser foot shifting into a sinuous tail as he assumed the form of a huge imposing dragon. As Cog paused to assess this new threat, Mega Galvatron leapt into the air, raising immense serrated talons as he soared towards the drone. He smashed into Cog at high speed, knocking the robot from its feet and trapping it beneath its powerful talons. With a bestial roar, Mega Galvatron opened the jaws of his triple-horned dragon head to reveal multiple rows of razor-sharp teeth. Seconds later, his jaws closed down on Cog's head, and the drone stopped struggling.
Fortress Maximus felt the loss of Cog like the loss of a limb, and only his dampened pain centres spared him the sensation of his drone's final moments in the Decepticon's jaws. As his strategic centres processed the multiform nature of his opponent, calculating new tactics to defeat his opponent, his weapons systems opened fire. Mega Galvatron reared up in the midst of energy blasts, projectile impacts and mortar explosions, transforming as he did so into his robot mode. Even under Fortress Maximus' full onslaught, the Decepticon began to move towards him, weathering the storm of his arsenal as though it were nothing. "You will learn, Autobot," Mega Galvatron gloated, his voice strained under the barrage, "that there is no force in this universe that can stand against my might! I am ultimate power. Defeat is not an option - this universe will fall before me!"
"Arrogance is overconfidence, Decepticon!" he responded, his own voice straining from the energy drain of his weapons. "No enemy is unstoppable! Everything has a weakness."
"Gods have no weakness, Fortress Maximus!" Mega Galvatron laughed. "And can there be any doubt that I have achieved god-hood?"
"You are no god, Decepticon!" Fortress Maximus transformed back to robot mode before unleashing another barrage of fire at his opponent. "Delusional undoubtedly. Probably insane. But not a god!"
"You do not comprehend with whom you are dealing, you fool!" roared Mega Galvatron. "I was made to conquer everything in existence! An entire universe cowered at my feet, and so will this one! And so will you!" Mega Galvatron fired his cannons again, their energy blasts tearing through Fortress Maximus' left shoulder and sheering his arm from his body. As he fell back, warning signals flashing red in his visual field, he struggled to continue firing with his remaining weapons. The destruction of his right leg moments later triggered an involuntary shutdown of his armaments, and as he struggled to get up, Mega Galvatron stepped into view. "Do you understand now, Autobot?" he laughed. "Do you see the power that you foolishly thought to destroy? I am Mega Galvatron! I am unstoppable! Take that knowledge with you to the Matrix! Warn Primus that one day I will destroy even him!" He lifted his arms, his cannons howling with contained energy. "Warn him, Fortress Maximus, that I will accept no rivals to my god-hood! I am the one true-"
The energy blasts threw Mega Galvatron out of Fortress Maximus' field of vision. Sensing his imminent death fading, he collapsed back to the ground, struggling to avoid involuntary shutdown until he was certain that his insane opponent was destroyed. After a few seconds, an instantly familiar voice spoke to his right. "Fortress Maximus, can you hear me?" Moments later, Optimus Prime stepped into view, his optics filled with concern and the cannon doublet on his right forearm smoking. "Do you still function?"
"P-Prime," he struggled, his vocoder sputtering with all the circuit damage throughout his body. "Is he-"
"Not yet," replied Prime, his gaze moving in the direction Mega Galvatron had been thrown. "But he will be!" He turned back to Fortress Maximus. "Rest easy, old friend," he said. "There's been enough senseless slaughter for one hectobreem! It's time I finished it!" For a few moments, Fortress Maximus watched as Prime's weapons systems activated, his shoulder launchers flipping into position and his rifles emerging from subspace, and then empty darkness claimed him.
Optimus Prime turned from Fortress Maximus' fallen body towards the recovering form of Mega Galvatron. "This ends now, Decepticon!" he warned, targeting his full arsenal on the Decepticon Supreme Overlord. "This insanity ends here!" At his side, Ultra Magnus targeted his own photon rifles onto Mega Galvatron, his face filled with a determined resolve and justified anger that Prime's face-mask hid from sight.
Mega Galvatron regained his footing, his immense form bigger than either Autobot. "Insanity?" he spat, lubricant bubbling at the corner of his mouth. He dabbed it absently and looked at it, marvelling at his injury, before turning back to his attackers. "You call this insanity, Optimus Prime? And you, Ultra Magnus, do you believe me insane?"
"As crazy as a Denebrian gastroskunk, Decepticon," replied Ultra Magnus. "And in need of putting down. Terminally!"
"Oh, you Autobots and your single-minded determination to deny the truth!" laughed Mega Galvatron. "Are you incapable of understanding the glory that will be my conquest of the universes? Unable to see the genius in my optics?"
"I see only madness in your optics, Decepticon," replied Prime. "A dangerous madness that needs to be stopped here and now!"
Mega Galvatron smiled, his forearm cannons retracting to subspace as he opened his arms wide. "Then stop me, Optimus Prime," he crowed. "Save your people and the inhabitants of the universe! I dare you!"
"With pleasure!" replied Prime, pulling the triggers of his atom-smasher rifles and firing high-yield concussion missiles from his shoulders. At his side, Ultra Magnus also joined in the assault.
Mega Galvatron stumbled slightly under the assault, the tips of his cranial horns fracturing and breaking away along with some other nonessential extremities, but drawing on every ounce of his power he stepped forward, approaching his attackers as he had Fortress Maximus. "You see, Prime? Magnus?" he gloated. "I am more powerful than any mere Transformer could ever hope to be! I am unstoppable!"
"So was Unicron, Decepticon!" replied Prime, opening energon waveguides in his palms to increase the power of his rifles. Again Mega Galvatron faltered, before resuming his steady approach through their bombardment. "Unicron was nothing!" Mega Galvatron smiled. "A fool who didn't see the true nature of power!… Oh, annihilation has its own rewards, yes, but domination - conquest - these are the preserves of those who are truly powerful!"
"Of course it would be a Decepticon spouting that kind of rubbish!" grunted Ultra Magnus in disgust.
"Rubbish? I think not Ultra Magnus. Conquest is the right of superior beings. The Decepticons were the superior species in this universe. Now, it is I, Mega Galvatron, who am the pinnacle of all creation! And so all creation will fall before me!" Even as he spoke, his towering mechanical form edged inexorably closer, his arms at his sides and his chest and head completely unshielded from Prime and Magnus' barrage, and virtually unaffected.
As warning lights began to flash in Ultra Magnus' visual field at the immense energy drain of his almost continuous assault on the insane Decepticon leader, Mega Galvatron reached out a powerful hand and took hold of the barrels of one of his rifles. At this range, the sheer size of the Decepticon was revealed in all its horror. He towered over both Magnus and Prime, and coupled with his bulk he was a terrifying sight. With barely any effort, Mega Galvatron tore the weapon from Magnus' hand and crushed it effortlessly. Even as he did so, his other hand slammed into Magnus' wrist servos, triggering a cascade of failures in his hand unit that resulted in him dropping his remaining rifle. To his side, Prime's barrage had ceased, the Autobot commander unwilling to sacrifice his field commander. "Now you see, don't you Magnus?" chuckled the Decepticon, his hands deflecting the Autobot's defensive blows before his right hand closed over Magnus' face. "Do you see the sheer pointlessness of your stubborn resistance? Do you recognise that I am unstoppable?" Ultra Magnus struggled to escape the Decepticon's grip, feeling the pressure growing on his facial substructure as the thinner exo-plating began to tear, but to no avail. Disarmed and unable to free himself, he could practically feel the Matrix beckoning to him.
"Drop him, Decepticon!" Optimus Prime's voice held such a commanding tone that for a moment even Mega Galvatron turned his attention to him. Moments later, the overlord's face split into a gloating smile. "Or what, Optimus Prime?" he spat, his voice practically indistinguishable from Megatron's gravely tones. "Whatever you do, Ultra Magnus dies right here and right now!" The voice returned to the more velvety tones of Mega Galvatron as he continued. "Do you see the futility of your continued existence? Accept the oblivion I bring and it will be swift!"
"You underestimate me, Decepticon!" replied Prime, his weapons zeroing in on Mega Galvatron's imposing form. "And you underestimate the Autobots. They would all willingly lay down their lives if it meant putting an end to your madness before it destroys us all!" His optics narrowed as his fingers moved to the triggers of his rifles. "And I know for a fact that Ultra Magnus would want me to shoot you, regardless of the danger to him!"
"But the question is are you willing to sacrifice him?" smiled the Decepticon. "I know you, Optimus Prime. In two lifetimes in two universes, and in both your belief in the sanctity of life has been your downfall repeatedly!"
"Well, not this time," Optimus replied, knowing the truth in his opponent's words even as he denied it. "Drop him or I fire!" For a few moments, their optics met, and two lifetimes of Megatron looked out from the Decepticon Supreme Overlord's visual sensors at his greatest enemy. For brief moments, Mega Galvatron's fractured mind struggled for a response, before the Megatron fragment won out.
"As the fleshlings say," he snarled, tossing Ultra Magnus aside, "why waste my time with the monkey when I can have the organ grinder?" With a roar, he launched himself at Optimus Prime, deflecting the Autobot commander's opening barrage as though it were a swarm of flies. Metal crashed against metal as his immense form tackled Optimus to the floor, pinning the him down. "And there isn't a part of me that won't enjoy this, Optimus Prime!" he gloated as the tips of his clawed fingers extended into razor-sharp serrated blades. "Finally you will die, Optimus Prime!"
The missile barrage threw him from Optimus Prime's body, hitting the buckled cratered surface with a shriek of rending metal. "My resistance isn't so pointless now, is it?" Ultra Magnus allowed himself a smile as he strode towards the Decepticon, his robot mode upgraded to his trailer-combined battle mode. He was slightly taller than Mega Galvatron, his white chest and shoulders formed by the cabin of his truck mode, the forearms of his smaller robot mode folded into the bow radiator of the truck in his lower chest. The tops of his arms were dark-blue, each mounting a dual missile launcher on the outside and a rocket launcher above. Twin smoking multiple-warhead missile batteries were retracting back behind Autobrands in the front as he deactivated them. His elbows were white above red forearms, each forearm embedded with yet another missile battery above his powerful white hands. His abdomen was red above a white pelvis and red thighs. Dark-blue panels in his lower back and thighs were formed by the legs of his smaller robot mode, partially retracted wheels in the back of each thigh. His lower-legs were dark-blue, white panels in the shins formed by the cargo ramp of his trailer, and with the trailer's wheels retracted under the outside of each foot. The backs of his lower legs were grey, formed by part of his trailer's car deck, while the other grey car deck segments formed wing-shields on the back of his shoulders. His dark-blue cranial helmet was bulkier, with silver antennae and a central red crest that ran back from a silver forehead grille. A black tactical visor covered the optics of his silver face, the expression on which was currently a combination of determination and anger. "Get up, Decepticon!" he shouted. "Get up so I can knock you back down all the way to the Pit!"
"Did you think," said Mega Galvatron as he climbed to his hands and knees, his voice a strained half-grunt half-growl of rage, "that your pitiful super mode could stop me, Ultra Magnus?" He looked up at Magnus, revealing blistered and melted exo-plating on the left side of his face, his mouth twisting into a smile. "You didn't come close!" He lifted a hand, subspace disgorging a sabre into his grasp, the red blade a glowing shaft of raw crystalline energon. With a roar, he leapt to his feet and charged Magnus.
"I haven't even started!" replied Magnus, leaping back, his wing-shields shifting into a flight configuration that carried him in a gentle glide to the ground several decacubits away. As he landed, the wing-shields flared out from his shoulders as the batteries behind his Autobrands and his forearms deployed for firing. A volley of heat-seeking missiles from his upper batteries and concussion missiles from his forearms launched towards Mega Galvatron, exploding all around the charging Decepticon. As the dust cleared, the proton missile doublets on his shoulders fired, impacting on Mega Galvatron's body and managing to scratch his outer armour. His roar echoing through the air, the Decepticon launched himself at Ultra Magnus, his fists smashing into the Autobot's chest and shattering the translucent windshields therein with the force. Ultra Magnus staggered back, his hands already grabbing Mega Galvatron and using his own momentum to throw him over his head.
Mega Galvatron twisted in mid-air as Ultra Magnus turned to track his trajectory, and landed facing the Autobot field commander. "There was a time, Ultra Magnus, when I thought you might be a threat to equal Optimus Prime," he said, summoning his forearm cannons. "But I was wrong. And now even Optimus Prime is no threat! What hope do you have?"
"You can gloat all you want, Decepticon," Magnus replied. "But the humans have a saying that goes a little something like this: Don't count your chickens before they've hatched!"
"Do they?" replied Mega Galvatron, grinning madly. "How nice for them. I'll remember to have Cyclonus wipe out their insignificant species and their sayings when I'm through with you Cybertronians!" His cannons began to whine as they charged. "Just to show them that a skill for counting pre-hatched avians is not something I deem of worth to my future empire!" His cannons fired, the twin eruptions of charged particles slicing through the Cybertronian atmosphere with enough energy to split the molecules in the air. Magnus dove for cover, one of the blasts sheering the tip off one wing-shield but otherwise missing his primary systems.
As he fell, he transformed to vehicle mode and accelerated towards Mega Galvatron, ploughing into the Decepticon and ramming him to the floor. Even as his opponent fell, he transformed back to his super mode and pinned Mega Galvatron's arms out to his sides. "It's time I put you down for good, Decepticon," he stated emotionlessly, his proton missile doublets targeting Mega Galvatron's head at close range. "For the good of every living creature in this universe!"
"You don't have the power, Autobot!" Mega Galvatron shouted, oil on his lips. With a force Ultra Magnus could barely register, he tore his arm from his grip and smashed his fist into his head, toppling Ultra Magnus from him. Within kliks he was on his feet and one of his cannons was targeted on Ultra Magnus' head, the whine of charging power capacitors cutting through the air.
"No!" Optimus Prime hit Mega Galvatron in the side, tackling both of them to the ground and sending the Decepticon's cannon blast up into the sky in a stream of plasma that was visible across the battlefield. Mega Galvatron managed to throw him off and rolled to his feet, turning to face Prime as he regained his own footing. "What is it with you Autobot leaders and your super modes?" he snarled at Prime.
Prime towered over Mega Galvatron in super mode. His upper torso was formed by the cab of Prime's truck mode, the cab roof forming his chest and the bonnet with its exposed silver engine block composing the upper abdomen. Prime's smokestack doublets flanked his chest, now retaining their function as cannons. Prime's shoulders were dark-blue, formed by his robot pelvis, his arms formed by his smaller robot's legs with silver upper arms, red elbows, dark-blue forearms and red hands. Wheels were partially retracted on the back of each forearm, and silver fuel tanks on each elbow. His atom-smasher cannons were mounted on each forearm, and each hand clutched a solar-flare blaster rifle. His lower abdomen was gold above a silver pelvis and thighs. His knees were red above dark-blue lower legs and feet. The trailer's three wheels were partially retracted on the outside of each foot. The grey sides of the trailer formed armour panels on the outsides and back of his lower legs and grey wing-shields at his shoulders. A heavy missile launcher sat on each shoulder, and a double-barrelled cannon on the outside of each calf. His dark-blue cranial helmet merged with the armour over his nose, lower face and chin, where a silver respirator covered his mouth. There was a silver grille on his forehead, flanked by smaller grilles at his temples, and silver laser cannon doublets formed his lateral antennae. His golden optics shone out above his face-mask with a determination that managed to shake even Mega Galvatron's insane confidence.
"Now I end this, Decepticon!" Prime stated bluntly, his voice filled with power and authority. "We've toyed with one another for long enough!"
"I haven't even started!" snarled the Supreme Overlord, his insanity driving away even the potential for doubt. "You haven't begun to feel my power!" Without another word, he launched himself at Optimus, his claws extending and his face pulled into a rictus grin. With a clash of metal, the two giants smashed to the ground in a blur of thrashing limbs and body parts.
Hot Rod's sleek racer mode skidded to a halt on the cratered edge of a partially collapsed flyway that arced over the battlefield. Below him, Mega Galvatron and Optimus Prime were engaged in a ferocious battle, exchanging blows that would cripple a lesser Transformer between energy blasts and missile volleys that reduced their surroundings to a homogenous rubble. As he came to a halt, tyres shrieking on the battered metal road surface, he engaged his transformation systems and reverted to robot mode. His optics scanned the air for potential attackers before returning to the battle below where the Autobot and Decepticon leaders attacked with every ounce of their impressive strengths. As he witnessed firsthand the power of the Decepticon leader, he began to think that Kup may have been right. What help could he offer here? His optics drifted to Ultra Magnus who was struggling to his feet, his outer armour battered and his exo-plating cracked from the intensity of Mega Galvatron's attack. If one of the Autobots' greatest warriors had been tossed aside so easily, what hope did an average soldier like Hot Rod have? "You've done it again, Hot Rod!" he muttered to himself. "Here's another one to chalk up to reckless stupidity!"
Below, Mega Galvatron had fought his way through Prime's barrage and lifted the taller Autobot leader's super mode above his head, howling his victory like a mad dog to the firmament. Before Prime could respond, the overlord had thrown him aside, seeing him smash heavily into Ultra Magnus, knocking them both to the ground. "I am all powerful!" he roared. "My power cannot be overcome! All who try to stand against me shall fall! Even the Autobots' greatest warriors!" His lips curled into a vicious grin of victory as he targeted his forearm cannons on the fallen Autobots. "Prepare to meet your maker!" The whine of charging capacitors cut the air, growing in intensity until even the sound of the surrounding battlefield dwindled to a background white noise.
Twin blasts erupted from his particle-accelerator cannons and cut through the air with more intensity than any of his previous assaults, the air crackling with energy as the raw electrochemical force of the weapons stripped the surrounding air molecules to a cloud of charged plasma. Ultra Magnus struggled to pull Optimus Prime out of their path but was too late. Charged plasma hit them both, tearing through armour and internal systems with circuit-searing agonising force. Magnus slumped, his systems entering involuntary stasis lock as internal repair mechanisms struggled to prevent cascade failure of his life support centres. Prime struggled to remain online, managing to place himself between Mega Galvatron and Ultra Magnus before his primary motor systems shorted out. Energy discharges crackled across internal circuits and arced across his outer hull from rupture energon waveguides. Only a sheer force of will managed to prevent him shutting down, and he managed to lift his head to face his opponent, his optics filled with anger.
Mega Galvatron smiled. "So, you still function Optimus Prime," he gloated. "You're more powerful than I gave you credit for."
"P-powerful enough!" Prime's vocoder sputtered as backup circuits shorted and died. "I'm n-not done yet-t-t!"
"I beg to differ," the overlord replied. "I have found your limit, Optimus Prime, and it is nothing to my power!"
"You'll h-havvv t-t-to d-do bet-ter than you have b-b-been!" Prime struggled to reply, his motor circuitry struggling to re-route through whatever backups were still functioning. His body spasmed pitifully as he struggled to regain conscious control over his own body.
"I haven't even started to tap my resources, Optimus Prime!" Mega Galvatron drew himself to his full height as he spoke, the fire in his eyes and behind his abdominal panels growing in intensity. "Now you will witness the full power of Mega Galvatron!" His forearm cannons withdrew to subspace as he lowered his arms to his sides, his wings flaring out from his shoulders. He laughed as internal circuitry made connections to his subspace and warp systems they had never fully engaged before. Hyperspace and subspace connected him to a power beyond mortal comprehension as circuits that had resided within Megatron initiated and unfolded into patterns improved and enhanced by his fusion with Galvatron's Unicronian technology. "Behold my divinity!"
On the flyway, Hot Rod was the first to detect the rippling of the air around the Decepticon's body. As his sensors detected a power spike that overloaded them moments later, Mega Galvatron seemed to warp and distort in the ripples of the air around him as though huge variable lenses were forming around his body. For several kliks that seemed to stretch out to infinity, the power source within Mega Galvatron grew and the distortions around him expanded. The ground around the overlord's feet seemed to warp and sink, splintering and cracking as though an immense mass was bearing down upon it. Hot Rod's optics grew wide as the buckled surface around the Decepticon leader began to warp and pull in towards him, signalling the presence of a gravity well of growing intensity.
Optimus Prime watched as Cybertron's surface seemed to tear itself apart and close around Mega Galvatron's grossly distorted form. The inky black dome in the Decepticon's chest seemed to be expanding, the blackness of its depths appearing to retreat to an empty infinity of darkness that sucked in all light that struck it. The dome itself seemed to invert and fall into the growing well, drawing the atmosphere around him into a howling funnel of matter that glowed white-hot as it spiralled into depths that went beyond Mega Galvatron's internal structures. There was a dull rumble that seemed to propagate itself through Cybertron's depths as much as the air. The distortions around the Decepticon continued to grow in size and power, gravitational and magnetic stresses tearing through everything they touched. Power seemed to leach from the overlord's joints, glowing red as the sheer power growing inside him bleached his optics and abdominal panels to a blinding white light. "Do you now deny my god-hood?" he crowed, his voice deep, dark, reverberating and echoing through the space-time distortions that grew around him. "There is no power in the universe that can match me! I am the beginning and the end, the giver of life and the bringer of death, and all shall bow to me!"
Prime watched as the gravitational distortions began to flow into the empty blackness that opened through Mega Galvatron's chest, being compressed and collapsed in on itself into a force blast that would destroy everything in its path for kilocubits around. Only once had he seen this power unleashed by his old nemesis, Megatron, and had hoped never to witness it again. Only the self-serving quick-thinking of the Decepticon Ratbat had saved Cybertron from certain destruction. On this occasion he had no hope that the gravitational energy would be dissipated without annihilating everything it touched. So this was the storm that the Last Autobot had warned him of moments before the ancient's destruction. It would lay waste to Cybertron, and then the universe would be destroyed by this madmech in his quest for deification. He watched helpless, unable to make even a digit on his hand respond to his desperate motor commands. So this is how it ends, he mused. Not in the fires of Unicron, but in the death-grip of unrestrained gravity. Prime saw the last moments of Mega Galvatron's power build-up, before a gravitomagnetic shock-wave erupted from the vortex in the Decepticon's chest, eradicating everything in its path.
Hot Rod watched as Mega Galvatron's gravitomagnetic emitter assembly reached full power, space-time distortions swirling around the opening in his chest before compressing down into the gravity well within the emitter ready to unleash the destructive force of their gravitomagnetic flux. Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus would be the first fatalities of the force pulse, followed by more innocent lives in the adjacent sectors of Iacon, both in the upper sunlit levels and in the dim under-city that would be torn open with equal effortlessness. Nothing in its path would survive, and much as he wanted to try, nothing he could do would alter that fact. Mega Galvatron had sealed the fates of millions the instant he had activated the emitter, and Hot Rod shared Optimus Prime's sense of helplessness as he waited for it to come. The kliks passed, one drawing sluggishly into the next as the gravitational distortions surrounding the Decepticon dilated time around him. And yet Hot Rod felt he had to do something, however futile it might be!
Shifting into vehicle mode, Hot Rod took advantage of the time dilation around Mega Galvatron to draw back from the edge, tyres shrieking as he skidded around and accelerated back up the flyway arc. As the roadway gave way to empty space, the air rushing by his audio sensors as he plummeted towards the Decepticon leader, his rear booster rockets fired, adjusting his trajectory directly at the Supreme Overlord. Shouting his defiance at the top of his vocoder, he dropped through the air on what he knew was a suicide mission. He could practically hear Kup telling him he was being 'a turbo-revving young punk' as certain death loomed in his forward optic clusters. And in that instant, he welcomed destruction if it could deflect the emitter's shock-wave just a few degrees upward and save everyone in Iacon. "Yahoo!" he howled, his voice filled with a reckless exhilaration. "Heads up Decepti-creep! Hot Rod's here to save the day!"
At the last moment he transformed to robot mode, smashing into Mega Galvatron's torso at high speed. Gravitational distortions tore at his body, shearing entire sheets of exo-plating from the underlying substructure, but even as his body was torn apart he felt the Decepticon move, stumbling back under the force of the unexpected impact. Moments later, the emitter unleashed its energy, and Hot Rod was flung up into the air even as his body was torn to pieces. As deactivation beckoned, Hot Rod felt a surge of relief that he had done it. Cybertron and its inhabitants were safe!
"Hot Rod!" Optimus Prime's shout cut the air with a deep tone of horror and despondency as he watched the young cavalier overwhelmed in the energies of Mega Galvatron's gravitomagnetic shock-wave that passed overhead, missing Iacon and its inhabitants as it expanded out into space, its force dissipating with distance. Nothing could have survived that blast. Even attempting it was suicide, and Prime had no doubt that Hot Rod had known that fact as well as anyone. "You did well, Hot Rod," he sighed, his head lolling forward as the last of his energy dwindled. "May the peace of the Matrix await you."
The pain had faded. Where for a few brief seconds it had torn through every fibre of his being, it was now gone. All the pain and doubt had been washed away. So this was death, he mused. It was not what he had expected. And he was not alone. "Awaken, child, your time has come!" The myriad voices filled him with a sense of being at home. It was as if everything he had done in life had been for this one moment. It was a shame that purpose had waited until he was dead to find him! "Dead, child? The Matrix does not beckon you to death. We beckon you to life!" The words did not bring the confusion they would have. The voices filled him with their wisdom and knowledge. He felt their power coursing through his spark, flowing outward into his… body? "Arise, child. Your time has come. Cybertron requires a Guardian in these dark times. Darkness and chaos gather. Now is the time for you to awaken!"
Optimus Prime felt a familiar power growing around him. Even in his weakened state, it gave him strength. Creation Matrix filled the area, its energies coalescing somewhere above him. He felt his life-force grow stronger, sustaining him despite his injuries, and he lifted his head. The power of Creation Matrix hung in space overhead, its pure unsullied essence bathing all in its range with life and vitality. It swirled overhead, its blue and green energies coalescing within the dissipating power of Mega Galvatron's weapon blast and surrounding within them a growing form. Its energies coursed over and through the being they cradled, feeding it with its life-giving energies until the being moved and the power swirled into its open chest cavity forming a glowing blue orb.
"Hot Rod?" Even as Optimus Prime said the name, he knew the being before him was not the young hothead cavalier any more. He had met this Autobot before over a vorn previous. Optimus heard the voices of Creation Matrix speak inside his mind even as its orb was sealed within its bearer's chest. "Arise, Rodimus Prime!"
Rodimus Prime's optics glowed a brilliant azure blue as they came online. His body was that of Hot Rod's, but bigger and stronger, changed and reshaped by Creation Matrix into a fitting Guardian of Cybertron. Blue lights glowed on either side of the red cowl at his collar above his flame-detailed orange breastplate. Blue vehicle mode headlamps glowed in his red mid-abdomen. Struts rose from the top of his red arms with air intake vents in the front and partially retracted wheels behind his shoulders. Silver cannon triplets were mounted on his forearms above orange wrist sockets with black hands. His lower abdomen was black above his red pelvis. His thighs and knees were orange above red lower legs with twin wheels partially retracted on the outside of each calf and black feet. Gold wing-shields rose from his shoulders on either side of a tinted vehicle canopy in his upper back. His red cranial helmet was similar to Hot Rod's, though with blue lights in the cheek struts and at the front of the crest that ran back from his forehead. His silver face was still that of Hot Rod's, but older and more mature in appearance.
Mega Galvatron looked up at the robot who hovered overhead and his red optics flashed scarlet, his face twisting into a snarl of utter hatred as the Galvatron part of his mind recognised the Autobot leader who had defied him even in death. "Rodimus Prime!" he howled. "But you're dead! I killed you!"
Rodimus' blue optics turned to him, and he smiled. "This is the end of the road, Decepticon!" he warned, pointing at Mega Galvatron. Without another word, he launched himself at the Decepticon Supreme Overlord. His fist connected with the Decepticon's face at full force, whipping Mega Galvatron's head back and shattering what remained of his facial exo-plating. The overlord stumbled back, the Galvatron part of him still failing to come to terms with the presence of his long-dead nemesis. Rodimus Prime capitalised on his opponent's distraction, his fists smashing into his armour again and again, buckling exo-plating and cracking armour. Mega Galvatron continued to fall back, unable to respond to the attacks of a mechanism he had killed with his own hands. Rodimus spoke. "You have done enough damage for one day, Decepticon!" He grabbed his opponent under the arms and lifted him over his head. "Now get going!" Drawing on all the power the Matrix was flooding into his body, Rodimus Prime threw his adversary up into the air. Moments later, blasts of fusion plasma shot after him from Rodimus' forearm triplets.
Mega Galvatron struggled to rest control of his fractured mind from the Galvatron portion as he began to plummet back to the ground, his armour scorched by Rodimus' weapon fire. With a roar of defiance, he regained unified control of himself. He engaged his transformation systems, his body folding into yet another of his alternate modes. The advanced black aerospace fighter engaged silver engine nacelles under the bat-like wings at the rear of its fuselage, the bifurcated red cockpit at the tip of its elongated nose module turning in the direction of Polyhex. With a roar of thrusters, he accelerated away from the battlefield, relaying the order to retreat to his senior officers. A few kliks later, he engaged warp engines and disappeared into a blur of spatial distortions that led into hyperspace, leaving his troops to make their own escape.
Rodimus Prime watched the Decepticon leader vanish from sensors before turning to Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus. He crouched by Optimus and spoke. "Optimus, sir, are you going to be okay?"
"A few days in the repair bay and I'll be fully functional," replied Optimus, sensing the energy of Creation Matrix that his young protégé was feeding into his damaged systems. "Ultra Magnus needs urgent help," he told Rodimus. "He took the full force of one of Mega Galvatron's cannons."
"It's okay, sir," replied Rodimus. "The Matrix should keep him stable until medical teams arrive." As he spoke, he rested his hands onto Ultra Magnus' chest and felt the energy of Creation Matrix channelling through him and into the crippled field commander. As he allowed the Matrix to do its work unhindered, he turned to Optimus. "Sir, the Decepticon leader. Where did he come from?"
"I have my suspicions," replied Optimus. "And if I'm right about this 'Mega Galvatron' then we're all in trouble. Your existence attests to the danger he represents."
"Me?"
"You are Rodimus Prime, Guardian of Cybertron," replied Optimus. "I met another version of you from a parallel timeline a vorn ago." He smiled, his optics shining a bright gold. "You see, Hot Rod? There was a destiny awaiting you. All you had to do was wait for it to arrive."
"I know," replied Rodimus, touching a hand to his chest. "The Creation Matrix-"
"Has returned to the place it was intended to be," Optimus told him. "You are meant to carry it. It should have passed to you almost a vorn ago, but I believe Galvatron's time travel disrupted the timeline."
"But Optimus, surely you should bear the Matrix…"
"No, Rodimus. The Matrix chooses its bearer, the bearer does not choose the Matrix. It resides where it is supposed to reside."
"Then may I, as Rodimus Prime, swear my loyalty to your command, Optimus Prime? I could never match your skills."
"Never say never," Optimus smiled. "One day you will be called upon to lead the Autobots. I can't live forever." Rodimus' blue optics met Optimus' warm golden gaze. Optimus had so much trust in him. He supposed that he would need to have the same trust in himself in return. He was Guardian of Cybertron, and it was a task that he had been built for. He wouldn't fail.
He couldn't!