TFE
C9 Echoes of Vengeance
Copyright 2006, masterfwiffo. All rights reserved.
Honor lost must be regained. Those who seek to destroy you shall in turn be destroyed. Vengeance. The ideal was a central one to the Decepticon cause. For many days Sixshot had searched the vast information network of the humans. Seeking critical pieces of information. Location. The person responsible. Days upon days of constant, endless seeking. But now, the search had come to an end.
Megatron stared at Sixshots report, a smile creeping onto his face. The humans had made a grievous error. It would be their end. Vengeance.
The humans would pay for their insolence. The humans would die.
Vengeance. Such a simple thing.
------
To Smiths shock and near horror, he found that Omega Supreme was not at his post. Nor could he be found at first sight. It was already well-past midday, but a sudden influx of paperwork had kept him inside until then. He had assumed that someone would have told him if something had happened, but still, the thought that they had fled during the night was not one that was easy to let go of. He quickly ran to the large hanger, which was Crosswise and Jazz's favorite haunt.
To his relief, both were there, and nothing seemed amiss to either of them. Crosswise waved before turing attention back to her book, and Jazz waved in greeting, then turned his attention back to the small television he and Chris were watching. Smith didn't have time to acknowledge them - he was still in a rush to find the rest.
Hightail too was in her normal spot. That left Evac and Omega unaccounted for. Again Smith scanned the area, and to his relief, he spotted Omega at least, standing near the edge of the compound. With great haste, he made the trek across the asphalt, heading straight for the giant robot.
Omega was staring quietly at the horizon. In the distance, the mountainous ranges were lit by the sun in a blue sky. However, Smith highly doubted that Omega was admiring the view.
Smith collected himself as he approached, trying to decide how best to interrogate the giant. But to his shock, Omega acknowledged him first.
"They left." He said sullenly.
Smith quickly recovered from the surprise. "Who?" He asked, though he was fairly sure he knew the answer.
"Evac and Miss Michelle." Omega responded, looking down at him. "They went toward the mountains. I cannot see them anymore."
"When?" Smith asked.
"An hour of your time has passed."
"Why didn't you follow them?"
"I cannot leave my post." Omega answered dully.
"Will they be back?"
Omega didn't answer that question, just turned and looked back. Smith sighed. He was certain they would return, but the thought of them leaving without telling anyone unnerved him. The General wouldn't take it well.
---
"BY DAMN SMITH!"
Smith winced. General Corbet was pacing furiously now, almost turning red with anger. "If you lose one of these robots, I swear to God I'll see you hung!"
"I'm not any happier then you, General" Smith answered. "They left without telling anyone - even Jazz and Crosswise were surprised. However, I cannot see it being in Evacs character to leave without his friends. More then likely, he just wanted to do some sight-seeing, that's all."
"IN HIS CHARACTER?" The General roared. "SIGHT-SEEING? By God Smith, if you can't keep these God-Damned robots under control-"
"General," Smith interrupted, trying to keep his own temper under control, "The fact remains that these are sentient beings. We cannot 'control' them any more then I can control you. It will not help us if they feel they are trapped."
"You APPROVE of him running off like this? Damnit Smith, I-"
"I don't approve of any such thing." Smith said cooly. "But the fact of the matter is that he apparently wanted to, and we very-well couldn't have shot him down. We cannot keep them here through threats, General, only words."
"Then use words to bring him back." General Corbet hissed.
"We're already trying to locate him." Smith replied. "I will go personally once he's found."
"Good." Came the response in a guttural growl. "And then Smith, I want that damned woman locked up. We can't have her putting these ideas in that robots head."
Smith grimaced. He knew that this moment had been a long time in coming. General Corbet had never approved of Michelle even being at the base, and her time spent with Evac flew in the face of everything the General had ever been taught about military procedures. This was the final straw, and Smith knew he could not let this little battle be lost.
"I can't allow that." Smith said quietly. "To do so may wreck everything we've worked for so far."
"I don't care what you think. Get that girl out of this installation."
"General," Smith's voice began to rise, "That 'girl' is single-handedly responsible for every advancement we've made so far. Without her, Evac would never have given us much of the information we have now."
"Smith-"
"And furthermore, if we separated them now, Evac may see it as an attack on someone he cares about. If she disappears, Evac may go looking for her. And when he finds out we've taken her from him, there is no telling what he could do. General, we could lose this opportunity forever! And do you want that on your conscience? Destroy the one chance we may have against the other invaders?"
General Corbet stared at him coldly, hate in his eyes.
"Very well Smith." He growled. "But this is your last chance. Don't let this happen again."
The General turned abruptly, and left. Smith sighed with relief- it had gone slightly better then he had hoped for. Now he had to turn his attention back to finding his two wayward wanderers...
----
"They won't be happy." Michelle observed, casting a glance back at the base, only a line on the horizon now.
Evac shrugged casually. "I don't see why. We're doing nothing wrong, and we'll be back soon."
"They don't like surprises." Michelle answered, making an effort to climb over the rocky outcropping which Evac was traversing with ease.
"Nonsense." Evac said cheerfully, bending down to pick her up. Michelle accepted his hand, and sat down into it. He hoisted her to his shoulder, and she grabbed on, seating herself beside his neck. "Besides," He said, "Would you want to miss this?" He gestured outwards.
Below him the the hills spilled outwards into a series of mountainous valleys. From their vantage point atop the highest of these small mountains, they could see every rocky outcropping and crevice, each dotted with small outcroppings of greenery, which began to run together and form a carpet of speckled white and green that ran off into the distance. Shadows of the canyons crisscrossed that carpet, brief streaks of dark against the collage of sands and greenery. Above them hung the sun, watching down from it's pure blue bed with occasional pillows of white scattered about. Evac was right, it was beautiful.
"I wanted you to see it." Evac said softly. "I flew out here last night, and I wanted you to come see it with me in the daylight."
Michelle sighed. "It's wonderful." She answered, trying and failing to sound more enthusiastic then she was.
"You... don't like it." Evac said softly, turning his eyes downward.
"No, no, I like it." Michelle said quickly, not wanting to hurt her friends feelings. "It's just that, well, we should have at least told someone." She turned to look at him, and found herself feeling incredibly guilty. Evac looked absolutely crushed.
"I'm sorry." She said quickly, laying her hands on him. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."
Evac didn't answer.
Michelle shifted uncomfortably, and sat there with him for a long, silent moment. Then she perked up.
"Look!" She said gently, pushing his head gently to get his attention. "Over there."
She saw Evacs optics narrow in a squint. "I don't see-"
At that moment, the movement aught his attention. With a leaping gate, a four-legged animal fled from some nearby brushes, moving at an incredibly fast speed across the terrain.
"What is it?" Evac marveled, his downcast demeanor gone at the new discovery.
"An antelope, I think." She said, squinting at the retreating form, making out the white patches on its otherwise tan hide.
"It's fast!" Evac said in surprise. "Lets follow it!"
"Evac, you'll terrify it!" Michelle laughed gently. "Best to watch it from a distance." Evac relented, but the sight had returned him to his normal cheerful self.
Evac got up. "Come then, lets see what else awaits us!"
Michelle cast one last glance toward the base, but said nothing of it. Instead, she looked up at him with a smile on her face. "All right. Lets go."
----
It was several hours before they were found, partially due to the fact that they had made an Northward turn after Omega Supreme had lost sight of them. However, the search vehicles were under instructions to locate them, and then leave them alone. The two were oblivious to the helicopters that circled far away and kept their distance.
To Smiths relief, the monitors showed no signs of them trying to flee, simply taking a nature walk, as silly as that seemed to him. He ordered the news brought to General Corbet via a very unfortunate aide, who would no doubt bear the brunt of his anger that it 'had taken so damn long.' That out of the way, he found one of the many off-road military jeeps, and took the wheel himself, so that he might bring them back personally. It was his obligation to do so, after-all, he was in charge of the robots. As he strapped himself in, he sighed. General Corbet would not be happy when he returned. As he turned the key and the jeep roared to life, he was already sorting out how best to handle the Generals coming rage. It would not be pleasant.
---
Evac and Michelle had stumbled upon a rare sight. Evac was carefully studying the creature with immense curiosity. Michelle watched, trying to keep Evac from getting too close. The poor Tortoise who was the subject of their examination, was making its plodding, slow progress in moving away.
"It's far closer to the Saurians I remember." Evac commented, leaning down to peer at the small creature. "But that shell is unlike anything I had seen."
"His kind has been has been around for thousands of years." Michelle said gently.
"He's certainly much smaller." Evac added. "You said it was endangered?"
"Yes."
"Why?
Michelle sighed. This was going to be one of the questions that she could never give Evac a satisfactory answer for.
"Because humans don't stop to consider the consequences of everything they do." She said finally.
"Oh." Evac answered, turning his attention back to the tortoise, who was slowly moving ever farther away. "It would be a shame to lose such a magnificent little creature."
Michelle didn't answer.
Evac paused for a long moment, as if contemplating something. "Tell me..." He said quietly. "What happened to the Saurions that I watched? Where did they go?"
Michelle glanced up at him. "Truthfully, we don't really know. I think the current theory is that an asteroid hit the planet, wiping them all out."
That troubled look crossed Evacs face. "Do you suppose..." He said quietly, "That is was put us in stasis for so long?"
Michelle shrugged. "I don't know."
Evac remained silent, brooding on this new thought. Michelle let him, and let her attention wander across the sage.
If Evac heard the noise first, he didn't show it. Michelle however did, the roar of an engine, and the sudden fleeing of several birds at the noise. She turned to see a cloud of dust following an off-road jeep. Finally Evac took notice of it, and turned to face it. His eyes narrowed for a moment, then he smiled. "It's only Smith." He said, waving him down.
"Uh-oh." Michelle muttered, quickly looking at her watch. It was far, far later then she had thought it was. A quick look at the sky verified that - the sun was rapidly approaching the mountains to the west. Evac, of course, was oblivious to this.
Smith slid to a stop, wheels kicking up clouds of dust. "Thank goodness!" He called, "We've been worried about you!"
"I don't see why." Evac said casually. "We've not done anything wrong."
Smith sighed. "Yes Evac, I know. However, we would far prefer it if you would tell us before you leave. General Corbet was furious-"
Evac waved his hand. "I'm sure he'll find it himself to forgive us. I wanted to see the wildlife-"
"An idea which I heartily support." Smith quickly interrupted, "But as I said, we cannot let word of you get out just yet."
"We saw no-one else." Evac protested, beginning to sound agitated. "What were we harming?"
"Evac, calm down." Michelle quickly interrupted. Evac glanced down at her in surprise. She lay her hand on his leg. "Mr. Smith is right. We should have at least told someone before we left. We must have worried them. Their only concerned for our safety."
Evac contemplated this for a long moment, then he nodded. "I understand - and apologize." He made a slight half-bow. "Please forgive us for worrying you."
Smith waved him away. "It's all right, consider it forgiven, as far as I'm concerned. Now, lets go ahead and head back, so that-"
"Please."
Smith stopped, looking up worriedly at Evac, who had a distant look in his eyes. Evac was quiet for a moment, then he looked down with a smile on his face. "May we stay for the sunset?"
Smith pondered this for a long moment. "All right. I'll stay too." He answered, mentally calculating just how much grief the General was going to give him for this one.
"Thank you." Evac rumbled in response, taking a seat and staring up at the sky. He offered up a seat to Michelle, while Smith hurried back to his jeep to let everyone know everything was all-right.
----
High above the Earth, a lone form winked into existence. Shockwave stared at the planet below, his one eye glowing evilly. Then with a mechanical whir, his form shifted, spreading out into a satellite with a great cannon on the front. From the top, his still-visible head narrowed and expanded, the visor covering his face extending outward into a telescopic formation, lenses and sensors coming down to cover the lone eye. The antenna that adorned his head narrowed backward and spread apart, and then the great cannon split open, three prongs extending from the side, and small power-arrays opening up behind them. From the outstretched wings, another series of panels and sensors flipped open, and his transformation was complete.
Inside his new form, Shockwave dully noted Shockfleet slowly approaching from the rear- the giant assigned to give him cover which he felt he hardly needed.
He ignored the slowly approaching giant, and instead his sensors flared to life. Cross-hairs appeared within his vision, followed by instant magnification, as the Earth below turned into a great gridded map. The coordinates Sixshot gave him entered the feed, and one portion of the grid lighted up and zoomed in - and then that process was repeated another twelve times, until he could see the installation clear as day. From his databanks, a second image came, again provided by Sixshot, that overlapped with the map that showed the sprawling complex that had been mapped. There were 12 levels, and Megatron wanted them all collapsed. The subsections were crosschecked for probable stability, and a suitable target point was chosen. As tiny thrusters began the meticulous adjustments to get him into the right position, the prongs on his cannons narrowed into the precise configuration needed to provide the greatest impact to area ratio. He chanced a faint smile. He didn't take his failure to stop the missiles lightly. Vengeance was a minor matter in the grand scheme of things, but would taste sweet nonetheless.
"Shockwave to Megatron. At your Command."
----
"What's this, a robot corner gathering?" Ben asked, strolling up upon Jazz, Crosswise and Chris, who were huddled together near the installations perimeter fence.
"We're waiting for Evac." Crosswise sighed. "He shoulda been back by now."
"Omega over there is worried sick." Chris added, gesturing outside the fence. To Bens surprise, he saw the giant standing in the distance, well outside the borders.
"Does the General know he's out there?" Ben demanded.
"I hope not." Jazz chuckled.
"The last thing we need is for him to have another conniption." Chris added. "You shoulda seen him after Evac took off."
"Hoo boy was he mad." Jazz added, trying (and failing) to mask his mirth.
Ben couldn't suppress a chuckle of his own, then sat down. "Well, they're done giving me guns to shoot for the day, so I'll join you."
"Another day in weapon testing?" Crosswise asked.
"Yep. Seems like they can't stop cranking out new things for guys like me to fire."
"Sucks that you still need em at all." Jazz shrugged. "Ah well."
"Yeah..." Ben said thoughtfully, staring upwards. The sky was beginning to turn red.
---
"Thanks for letting us stay out here." Michelle said quietly to Smith. "This day has meant a lot to Evac. I'm sorry we didn't tell you, but he didn't give me a chance."
"Just don't tell the General that." Smith answered. "He was furious. Don't let Evac run off and do something like that again or..."
"I get it." Michelle sighed,
Evac didn't hear the conversation, instead enthralled on the reddening sky. Michelle looked up at his form, and released a contented sigh.
Smith smiled. There was going to be a lot of trouble over this, but seeing them happy still made him smile a bit. Unfortunate that he knew it wouldn't last forever.
He turned his thoughts away from that, and toward the sky. The sun was nearly behind the mountains now.
---
General Corbet growled, not toward anyone in particular, but because he was really quite angry. This entire project had been a disaster from day one. And now Smith would be late because one of his giant tin-cans wanted to watch the sun go down. For a man of strict rules and procedures, this entire stay had been a nightmare. If all other branches of government were run as badly as this installation, well, he would have much rathered the US surrender to the Russians all those years ago, when that actually meant something. Such a damned nuisance...
He glanced over, and found to his annoyance, he could see the damned little motorcycle moping about in some corner. That one had almost ruined their project more then she could realize, plus her attitude toward everything was a pitiable brand of pathetic.
There was no doubt that General Corbet hated every damned one of those robots, except maybe the really big one. And that was only because the really big one hadn't yet done anything worth hating.
He sighed, looked at his watch for the fifth time in as many minutes, and then walked slowly out into the open. He scanned the sky for any sign of Smith and the Helicopter, but they failed to appear. He only briefly noted that the sun was completely behind the mountains now, before turning his attention back to scanning for them.
Then he paused. For some reason, he suddenly felt dread rising within his chest. He turned his gaze upwards toward the sky, for reasons he himself didn't comprehend. His eyes narrowed, focusing on what could have been the first star present in the fading light. He thought he saw it flash. There was a brief instant of excruciatingly loud sound, and he grasped his ears as the sound was traded for endless ringing. THe ground welled up around the blinding light in front of him, and a shockwave through him to the ground. He stared upwards into an endless column in light that was slowly consuming all around him, the very base itself disappearing in smoke and flame...
---
Jazz yelled out a warning and threw himself over Ben and Chris's form, absorbing the whole of the shockwave with his body. Crosswise was thrown to the ground, through the electrified fence which sparked and exploded around her. They all looked upward in confusion and terror at the great pillar that threatened to engulf all.
---
Even Evac lost his balance, though he remained standing while Michelle and Smith were thrown violently to the ground. Michelle looked upwards and recognized the sight instantly. She let out a terrified moan as the scene began to replay itself. Evac stared in a state of shock, his arms dropping weakly to his sides. Smith was silent at the sight, unable to conjure any word at all.
----
General Corbet stared at the thing in horror. It arrived with a beam of light, it's massive form framed by the torrent of energy behind it. Great shoulders and two spiked horns housed the glowing red eyes that penetrated straight into his soul. General Corbet fumbled for his radio but failed to grasp it. The gigantic robot stepped forward, staring down at him, it's eyes flashing. Behind it, 5 more forms appeared in their own beams of light, each as sinister and deadly as the first.
"General Roger Corbet." It spoke as with the voice of Satan himself. "How fortunate to find you first! It will spare me the trouble of hunting you down."
Corbet grabbed his sidearm, pulled and fired. The robot ignored the shots. "You took my ship." It hissed. "And I shall take so much more..."
General Corbet screamed. Its foot came up, and then slammed down. And General Roger Corbet ceased to exist.
Megatron dragged his foot along the ground, a look of mild disgust on his face. He turned to his men. "Raze the installation. Burn it to the ground. Leave none alive. The humans shall learn what we do to those who oppose us."
A loud affirmative was heard over the noise of Shockwaves energy torrent, and the Decepticons scattered. Demolisher flipped downward into a tank, gleefully blasting away at the immobile hangers and vehicles that scattered throughout the compound. Cyclonus charged into the air with a wild whoop, his blasters shooting at everything that moved. Skywarp and Starscream shot into the sky, making wide arcs and coming in for bombing runs upon any warehouses still standing.
Megatron turned to Sixshot. "Do what you need to to track all similar installations. I want no counter attack."
Sixshot saluted. "Leave it to me." He folded downward into his Cybertronian tank form, and sped off toward a still standing hanger.
Megatron chuckled, and turned his focus back to the chaos at hand. To his surprise, he saw a number humans charging towards him, their relatively small weapons in their hands. Behind them came several vehicles, a couple of jeeps and a tank. Megatron chuckled to himself. Brave. Yet foolish. He fell forward, transforming into his tank mode, and with a cannons roar, destroyed the fledging human opposition in merely two shots. Those who survived the initial blast were crushed under his treads.
Megatron laughed gleefully, noting with pleasure that Demolisher was following his lead. The human forces were defeated in an instant. This was Decepticon territory now. And they had deemed it fit for cleansing...
-----
Jazz yelled in horror, pointing toward the column of light. Chris shielded his eyes, trying make sense of the cacophony of sounds and images that assaulted his senses. He brought the sights into focus, and paled.
"Oh no..."
"It can't be." Jazz was whispering in horror. "It can't be... They can't be..."
Crosswise came to his side, shaking. "Jazz! They're like us!"
Ben and Chris exchanged worried glances, and looked up at their friends, unable to do anything but wait for their responses.
Confusion and horror crossed both their faces in waves as they sat there, unable to bring their minds to a conclusion. Jazz seemed to start toward them, then promptly withdrew, staring helplessly at Crosswise, who only stared back with the same blank look on her face.
Someone else answered for them.
Everyone looked up as a tremendous roar echoed across the complex. Over their heads soared a seemingly endless train, in Omega's yellow and blue colors. He charged forward, steaming gushing from the many vents and lifts that dotted his exterior, straight toward the column of light. As he approached he transformed, he two sections of his train mode coming together with a loud clank, and he landed with a thud that shook the Earth. But even then he did not cease moving.
His foot left the ground an instant after it had landed, and Omega Supreme threw himself into the torrent of light. As soon as he made contact, the energy beam seamed to break around him, funneling into continuous streams of light that circled around Omega's form. And Omega stared upward into the light the continued to beat down from the sky, feeding the rivers of energy that circled him. And then, with a cry that sounded as if it took all his strength, Omega gathered the energy into his hands and shot it back the way it had came, shattering the origin beam of light and sending it up into the black sky.
---
Shockwave was bored. His own energy obscured his magnified vision, so he himself could not see the devastation he was causing. The thought pleased him, but little else occupied his mind. That is, until klaxons and warning bells started going off. Shockwave shot back to life, trying to study and find some rational explanation for the frightening and strange readings his systems were telling him. But he could find no response - at least before the incoming energy bisected him.
There was a brief moment where he was aware of his own arm being separated from his body, and a briefer moment still where he saw the power cores overloading. Then overwhelming heat and pain took over before he descended into darkness.
Shock Fleet watched the explosion with muted horror. He saw a form thrown from the ball of flame, the charred remains of his fellow soldier. He grabbed them with all haste, staring grimly at what was left. Unsure of wether Shockwave was alive or dead, he decided to return to the base, in the hopes Shockwaves spark would not extinguish before he could be connected to life support.
----
Megatron stared at the titanic form in shock. Recognition flashed through his eyes, recognizing scenes from the earliest days of the war. When He still lived. The greatest warrior of Cybertron stood cloned before his eyes. It had to be him. The coloration was different, as were the hands, but his form, that weaponry... It wasn't possible. He had seen the great warrior fall. He had been present at the extinguishing of its spark. It could not be alive! And yet...
Omega Supreme roared into the night, as if calling for another challenge from the sky. One returned.
"I've got him!" Starscream screamed, diving down from the air and launching a barrage of missiles before Megatron had a chance to warn him.
Omega's eyes flashed behind its large visor, and he whirled, energy shooting from it's hand with a crack. The missiles exploded mid-air, their energy funneling into the giants arm, before it reformed and fired out as white lightening. Starscream didn't have a chance to react, as the energy surrounded him and diverted from his course, sending him careening at full speed straight into the ground. He hit with the sickening crunch and the ear-shattering squeal of bending metal, and he ceased to move.
The crash shook Megatron out of his stupor. "Skywarp! Distract him! Demolisher, Cyclonus, to my side!"
To his immense pleasure, he found that all obeyed without hesitation. Skywarp shot another couple of missiles, and narrowly evaded the retaliation. Demolisher and Cyclonus simultaneously appeared at his side a second later.
"Cross link your cannons to mine!" Megatron roared. "Small rounds only!"
They obeyed, weapons and targeting systems linking. Megatron, for a brief moment, saw through their eyes, and refocused, targeting their weapons toward the titans head.
"FIRE!" He ordered, keeping his own weapon silent as a horde of tiny streaks headed toward the titan. It saw them coming and raised his arms in defense. The first wave hit unimpeded, colliding against the armor with a thousand small explosions. The second wave disappeared into a swirling energy vortex, a thousand lights flowing continuously around the giant. Omega roared as the energy focused in his hands, preparing to shoot out toward his attackers- but one lone shot penetrated through his defenses. His head seemed to explode as Megatrons blast impacted it, and Omega stumbled backwards, before falling to the ground and becoming still.
----
As Omega fell, Crosswise and Jazz looked at each other.
"You know what we have to do." Crosswise said solemnly. Jazz nodded. They both looked down at their human friends for a brief moment, a sad smile on both of their faces, and then they transformed, charging toward the fires.
"That was it." Chris said grimly.
"Yeah." Ben answered quietly. They remained silent for a long moment.
"Wait." Ben said, pointing toward one of the few hangers that remained standing. They both saw the robotic form slip inside, it's one eye glowing.
"Thats where the larger computers are at." Chris muttered. "What-"
"It doesn't matter." Ben interrupted. "I'm not sitting this fight out. Come on."
-----
"You got him!" Cyclonus whooped.
"Excellent shot, Lord Megatron." Demolisher added. "But how-"
"Later, Demolisher. I have more pressing concerns."
Demolisher nodded then turned, before stopping and staring as his optics refocused. "Lord Megatron! Autobots!"
"Optimus!" Megatron whirled, a gleam in his eye. That might explain-
Instead he saw two unfamiliar forms charge straight past him, one tackling Demolisher and the other wrenching CYclonus off his feet.
Megatron looked at the warriors in shock. "These aren't Optimus's men." He growled, charging forward.
Demolisher lay on the ground, trying in vain to ward off the white Transformers fists. Megatron interceded for him, his massive fist enclosing Jazz's entire head and crushing it. Jazz let out a cry as his visor shattered, and his body hung limp from Megatrons hand.
Megatron turned in time to see Crosswise grab Cyclonus's head, and twist it unnaturally. Cyclonus let out a cry and stopped moving. The black Transformer pushed herself away from Cyclonus body and stood up. She only had a moment to realize what had happened before Megatron flung Jazz's body at her. Their two forms mingled and ended together in heap, which Megatron firmly exploded with a shot from his cannon. Two cries went out, then were silenced as another column of fire added itself to the already blood-red sky.
---
Sixshot had been stunned by the sight of what he thought to be Omega Protectorate. He had not been present at its final demise, though Decepticon literature was rife with the greatest battle the Decepticons had ever won. The capture and eventual death of Omega Protectorate, legendary guardian of Cybertron was a crushing defeat for the Autobots. But how he could still be alive... on Earth... impossible. He would take note to look at the body after the battle was over.
But for now, his task was more simple. He pushed his way through the clutter, eyeing the various boxes with some small degree of suspicion. He didn't know what the humans needed all this useless junk for, nor did he care. His focus was for something that could connect him to their network...
With a holler, he found his target. A large computer system tied into the wall. He leaned down, his cannon arm opening up, and a series of small wires finding and plugging themselves into as many open sockets as they could. Instantly, he was inside, searching through the vast network of information, scanning for everything relevant to the location of other, similar installations.
Their network was incredibly easy to access. Few traps awaited him, and were easily shut down. The human computer structure was so simple, that Sixshot had it deconstructed in moments. Every piece of information was at his disposal.
"I get all the easy missions." He muttered to himself, before continuing.
---
"What's he doing?" Chris whispered.
"No idea." Ben's eyes narrowed. "But we have to stop him."
"How would you propose we do that?"
Ben paused for a second before his eyes lit up. "This is where they were storing it!"
"What?
Ben didn't answer, merely handed Chris a gun. Chris stared dumbly at the weapon. "Where did you get that, and what am I supposed to do with it?"
"Pulled it off a dead guy." Ben said casually. Chris shuddered. "Listen," Ben continued. "All you need to do is distract him."
"With this?"
"Do I need to make it plainer?" Ben asked, then ducked inside.
"Oh hell." Chris moaned.
----
Megatron probed the two burning bodies with his foot. "Still alive." He muttered, mentally calculating wether or not it would be worth the trouble to take them hostage. Their presence disturbed him.
"Skywarp." He motioned toward his lieutenant, "Autobots, do you think?"
"Hard to tell." Skywarp growled. "No Autobot symbols on them."
"If they aren't Autobots, then who the slagging pit are they?" Megatron asked, more to himself then anyone else.
"Beats me." Demolisher commented, looking up from Cyclonus's unmoving form. "But they did a number on Cyclonus."
"Send him home." Megatron ordered. "Skywarp, go salvage Starscream and send him back as well."
"We're retreating?" Demolisher gaped.
"No. We're sending our injured back. I swore I would raze this installation, and I plan to follow through with that. Besides, Sixshots not yet completed his mission."
Demolisher saluted, and hurried off. Megatron turned his attention back toward the two bodies. He kicked one, hoping for a response, but None came. With a grunt, he deemed he would finish his grim mission, and decide what to do later. But before he could fire again, something caught his eye, hiding in the smoke between two smoking hangers. His eyes narrowed, and he started toward the target.
----
Though Sixshot appeared to remain motionless, he was working busily and faithfully at his task. Information from a thousand sources scrolled through his mind, looking and cataloging as much relevant information as he could.
But the numbers and locations in his head promptly vanished with what would have been a deadly blow to a human, but a mild annoyance to him. His head pitched forward, more out of surprise then force, and he reflexively disconnected himself, whirling back to life, looking for his assailant.
Another burst of gunfire hit him in his shoulder, and he whirled, turning to face the small human. His lone optic narrowed. "Annoying germ." He muttered, bringing his powerful cannon to bear.
The small human gave a yelp, and disappeared, well before Sixshots blast left his cannon. Sixshot grunted, and returned to his work, before a sound caught his attention. He turned, scanning the storage containers and equipment, and he spotted some movement. A spotlight flashed out from his eye, and pinpointed the human in a halo of light.
To his shock, the human did not run, or hide. It turned and faced him, no hint of fear in his eyes.
"Don't tell me you wish to challenge me." Sixshot scoffed.
"Not really." The human answered, and in one swift movement, heaved his massive gun and fired.
The shot hit its intended target. Sixshots face exploded, and he cried out in pain and anger, falling backwards and clawing at his the smoldering wound that engulfed his lone eye. Sixshots cannon arm came to life, a single massive laser cutting through the storage boxes and the walls themselves.
Sixshot continued to claw at his eye, trying to get his bearing back together. The weapon was a projectile based explosive, and had it hit anywhere else, the wound would have been a mere scratch. He ceased to move, rationality returning. He sat and waited.
Another shot hit his shoulder. The blast stung, but didn't stop Sixshots arm from lashing out. It caught something, and he heard the human cry out, and a thud as he hit the wall. A clattering and another shot confirmed that the weapon was out of the humans hand.
Sixshot attempted to follow the sound with his mind, trying to get a bearing on the humans position. "I'll kill you for this." He hissed. "I'll kill you..."
---
Chris saw the robot hit Ben, and his friends body sailed through the air, slamming against the wall, and ceasing to move. Bens fancy big gun hit the ground, fired at nothing, then lay still. He had paled at the sight, and now stood shaking as the robot advanced on his friends unmoving body. As it got closer, something within Chris's mind snapped, and without thinking, he charged into the room, yelling wildly.
The robot whirled on him, and Chris instantly realized he had made a mistake. Even though its face smoked, it was still capable of killing him. Chris ran as another blast ripped apart the ground where he was standing before. Chris returned fire with the gun Ben had given him, but the bullets merely bounced off his armor. The massive robot turned again firing wildly.
But the blasts from the cannon were getting closer. Chris's mind was in the grip of panic and adrenaline, He fired again, all while constantly moving, and the robot responded in kind. Blast after blast narrowly missed Chris's body. He could feel the heat and the inherent energy caused every hair on his body to stand straight. Then, he felt his leg give way, and he fell, snagged by a wire.
The robot towered above him, but didn't fire, looking around wildly. Chris held his breath as the face seemed to stare right at him, but moved on. It couldn't see him after all! But then it spoke.
"I know you're in here! You cannot hide forever!" It roared, it's voice booming inside his head. He grasped his hands over his ears. and didn't move. Only prayed, silently.
----
Megatron peered through the smoke, trying to identify the figure. It was too large to be human, but... He stopped as the smoke cleared, and a Cybertronian stood before him. Immediately his weapon was at his side, aimed at the form. But then, he stopped
She was quaking. Her small face was filled with fear, but in her hand was a small weapon, which she could seem to barely hold. Megatron narrowed his eyes, and made a single step closer. With a cry, the small figure dropped the gun and shrank away, falling to the ground and shaking. But her eyes told a different story- fear and terror were in them, yes, but a strange sort of respect met Megatrons gaze.
Megatron halted his approach, staring at the figure, unsure of what to do - one of the few times in his life that presence of thought had occurred. He stared quietly. Finally, he deemed her no threat. With a deliberate and obvious action, he returned his weapon to its normal position behind his back. He stared at her a moment longer, then turned away. He made a quick glance back, and saw her still sitting, still staring. He nodded, and turned back - just in time to see Demolishers fall.
---
The robot had given up looking for Chris, and had simply begun firing randomly. Chris remained still, silent, only praying that he would get out of this alive.
His prayers were answered. A second sound joined the din, and loud roaring that caught even the robots attention. The robot whirled, firing toward the sound but completely missing the military jeep that charged straight toward him. The robot didn't see the human jump out of the drivers seat, but it felt the impact as it crashed straight into his leg. Unable to see, and caught off-guard, the robot fell forward.
Chris looked up, staring in shock at Andrew Smith. "Shoot the jeep!" Smith yelled frantically. Chris, for once in his life, didn't answer, merely fired.
The bullets ricocheted off the jeeps shattered hood for a minute, before hitting something sensitive. The robot heard the hissing and looked toward it, just in time for the jeep to explode in his face. The explosion, combined with the gasoline inside, lit the robot on fire. Shrieking in pain, the robot attempted to crawl toward the exit, clawing at his burns in pain. Finally he hit something, and the robot teleported away into the night.
Chris stared at the empty space where the robot had been in shock, before glancing at Smith and grinning weakly. "Good idea, sir."
Smith nodded. "Come on. Wake Ben. We'll have to see this."
---
Demolisher had a chance to scream before he fell, his back torn open by a cleaving blade. His hands scrambled toward his Decepticon symbol, hitting it and teleporting away, leaving Megatron to face his assailant.
He stood there, his yellow hull seemingly crimson with the surrounding flames. A strange staff was in his hands, two parallel blades on each end, connected by a sphere in the middle. The blue eyes stared back at him, seemingly to flash red.
Then with a battle roar, he charged, leaping into the air and propelling himself forward with an explosion of energy. Megatron braced himself, but was still unprepared for the force of the blow, which sent him backwards into one of the hangers, collapsing it around him. He pushed himself up as the newcomer launched himself again.
"LORD MEGATRON!"
A loud clash rang out, as Skywarp stood now between the newcomer and Megatron, their blades locked together. But Skywarp was shaking. His intervention left him in a bad defensive position, and his opponent was far, far stronger. Skywarps leg buckled and he went down on knee, his sword still blocking his opponents. Then, the newcomer moved swiftly, his blades disconnecting and slamming against Skywarps side. Skywarp flew to the side.
Megatron took the opportunity to counterattack, bringing himself up and forward in one swift movement. He threw his full weight against the newcomer, who fell backwards with the force. Megatron brought his fists down, but the newcomer was quick, bringing his feet up and slamming them into Megatrons chest. Megatron grunted and moved back, as the newcomer did a backflip to his feet, and charged again, swinging his bladed staff wildly. Megatron artfully dodged each swing, and smashed his fist into his opponents chest, His opponent stumbled backwards.
At that instant, another explosion caught Megatrons attention, and he glanced at one of the hangers in time to see Sixshot stumble out of it ablaze, before teleporting away.
He grunted, returning his focus to his own fight in time to see his opponent leap into the air, intending to bring the blades down on his head. Megatron reacted like lightning, bellying his bulk with a quick movement that brought his gun to bare. The explosion knocked his opponent out of the sky, but he landed on his feet, wounded but still ready to fight.
Megatron grinned inwardly. He hadn't seen this much spirit since he fought Optimus. He turned to his opponent, and stood his ground. "Who are you, and who do you fight for?" Megatrons voice boomed, echoing across the ruined compound.
His enemy rose to his full height, weapon braced and ready. But his response surprised Megatron. "How dare you..."
Megatron cocked his head.
"All those lives... all this death... HOW DARE YOU!"
"Do not presume to tell me what I can and cannot do." Megatron scoffed. "I am Megatron, third Grand General of the Decepticons. This planet is subject to Decepticon rule, and I will do as I please."
With a roar his opponent charged again. Megatron caught his weapon this time, ignoring the pain as the blade cut into his hand. His own fist came up in a swift uppercut, sending his enemy flying backwards. His foot came quickly down into the fallen robots chest, crushing the chest-plate inwards.
"Tell me your name before I kill you." Megatron hissed.
His opponents eyes narrowed. "I am Evac. And I fight for Earth!"
Then, with a burst of strength that sent Megatron sprawling, Evacs pushed Megatrons leg off him and threw the Decepticon to the ground. Even as Megatron attempted to regain his footing, Evacs rear engines ignited and he took into the sky, flying straight up then diving down, bringing his face right into Megatrons face. Megatron took the hit in the face and fell backwards again. Evac yelled out another battle-cry and continued his assault, feet and fist striking at every opportunity. Megatron took every painful hit, armor cracking under the strain. But so caught up was Evac in his offensive, that he didn't notice Megatrons gun coming to bare. Evac exploded as the shot hit him at point blank range, and he was thrown backwards, still smoking.
Megatron climbed back to his feet. Fluid was leaking from multiple cracks in his armor, but the Decepticon General ignored that and the pain, standing at as straight as he could manage.
"It was a good fight." Megatron said, in-taking air in large gasps to cool his systems, "You fought well. But here you fall, as does Earth."
But that was not to be.
A light flashed, followed by a cracking whoosh as a new opponent came from nowhere, charging downward and transforming with a cackling laugh, his double-edged sword cutting straight through the Megatrons side and back. Megatron gave a cry and sank to his knees, as sparks and minor explosions continued throughout his frame.
The slim form landed, and turned, orange face-mask glowing evilly as it aimed its arm-mounted cannon at Megatrons head.
"You..." Megatron hissed, feeling his systems grow weaker with each passing second.
Evac was back on his feet, blades pointed at Megatron. "It's over."
Megatron stared at him for a long moment. "It will never be over." He hissed. "Not while one of us lives. And for now..."
The word hurt to pronounce, but he coughed it out anyway. "Retreat." Megatron and his sole remaining Decepticon flickered, and disappeared in columns of light.
Evac sunk to his knees as exhaustion and relief took over. To his comfort, he soon found Michelle at his side. "I'm so proud of you." She said softly. "You saved us."
"No." Evac choked. "No..." He stared at the burning buildings and the hundreds of bodies that littered the field, including three of his own. "No... I saved nothing... All of them... everyone..."
"For what it's worth," The mysterious newcomer spoke, standing at his whole height, "You just stood toe-to-toe with one of the toughest, meanest bots on Cybertron."
Evac stared blankly at him. "Who-"
The newcomer bowed. "Back on Cybertron, they called me Sideways. I guess you might call me a bit of a drifter. Long story."
"Thank you..." Evac said softly. "But all of them, even Jazz, Crosswise and Omega-"
"I wouldn't worry bout them." Sideways inputed, not unkindly. "They're still alive - we can fix em up, no problem."
"That's good..." Evac said quietly, "I'm... glad..." His eyes flickered and burned out, and he collapsed into stasis. Michelle cried out. Smith walked over to observe the proceedings, and glanced back at Chris, who was supporting Ben on his shoulder. Over the horizon, he could spot other survivors making their way to the center. Dozens... of the hundreds who were stationed here, only dozens survived. He sighed.
Their happy world had come to a violent end. But in the end, their warriors had proved their worth. He only hoped now that they would live to fight another day.
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