"Optimus! Have you uncovered any further sign of Unicron's emergence?" Ratchet asked, and his response was the many Unicrons voices on the other end of the comm-link. "Unicron is power incarnate, and you, a disciple of Primus, shall perish!" Ratchet blinked, surprised to hear the Chaos Bringers voice. "I take that as a yes. We are on our way!" he announced and turned around to make way for the ground-bridge but stopped when Optimus spoke.
"Negative! Unicron cannot be defeated by sheer force— he wants me, Ratchet." In the open air and surrounded by Unicrons mountain rock forms he activated his ion blasters. "This fight must be mine alone." he declared before cutting off his comm-link.
Lucy stared at Optimus's picture as it disappears from the screen. The sound of the ground bridge activating caught her attention and looked over her shoulder to see Bulkhead, Arcee, and Bumblebee sprinting into the vortex before it closes behind them. Ratchet made his way over to the main control panel when suddenly the many voices of Team Prime were heard through the comm-link system. Everyone in the room listened to the teams' conversation that's when Optimus tells them that Unicron can find him anywhere, so even if he hid at the base, it would only be a matter of time before the Chaos Bringer located him. Bulkhead then asks him to let them take the lead.
"Please, listen to reason! If you don't survive Optimus, I fear neither will this planet." Ratchet begged, a worrisome look across his face plates. "Very well." the primes deep voice was heard as he finally gave into Ratchets insistence.
Lucy let out a relieving sigh and the tension from her muscles relaxed. Ratchet glanced over to his right where she was sitting on an armless chair with both of her eyes closed. He extended his right arm towards her as his index finger gently touched her left shoulder. She was caught off guard by this, opening her eyes and turning her head to the side where Ratchet stared at her. His turquoise colored optics penetrated her lilac ones, and the way he stared at her was enough to make her blush. But the moment was cut short when Arcee's voice was heard. "Ratchet!"
"What is it, what happened?" he asked, but his question was answered by a familiar voice that belonged to none other than Megatron himself. "I happened!" Bulkhead exclaimed in response, "Megatron!?"
Miko somehow appeared next to Lucy, which made the poor girl jump up from her chair. "King Kong's there too?!" Ratchets grumbled, his face plates becoming distasteful by the news, "He has aligned himself with Unicron!" Arcee quickly responded "Don't be so sure. Megatron just saved Optimus's tailpipe." Ratchet's optics widen and his mouth agape half way.
Lucy shook her head after the surprising scare that Miko had done. Though, she's sure that Miko didn't mean to, not in a situation like this. Soon enough, everyone else gathered around her. Agent Fowler stood to her right and June stood on the opposite side. This was the first time she got to meet Fowler in person, yet he didn't even notice she was there. Maybe he already knew?
The comm-links system was still open and they could hear Megatron's voice, loud and clear. Where the Decepticon leader reveals the reason he's there: He wants to team up with the Autobots to destroy Unicron. This made Ratchet laugh, "Ha! Absurd! Unicron is evil incarnate. If Megatron was to take any side, why would it be ours?"
Optimus's voice spoke from the comm-link. "Because Megatron's pride would never allow anyone other than himself to rule this planet," Megatron smirked. "You know me all too well Optimus!"
"You lead an army of 'Cons! Why come to us?" Bulkhead questioned. Megatron began to point out his reason. "Because this particular endeavor requires something beyond the realm of my command. The power of a Prime!" he gestured his servo towards Optimus.
Bulkhead scoffed, "Well, I guess we don't need you." Megatron shook his helm slightly. "On the contrary, Optimus may be the only one who can defeat Unicron, but I remain the only one who can guide you to him! Unicrons lifeblood runs through me. Only I can hear his thoughts, anticipate his movements." Megatron turned his attention towards the Prime and proceeded to step forward as he now stood a foot away from him. "Optimus, our past alliances Autobot, and Decepticon, no longer matters. Not while Unicron lives."
Ratchet slammed his fist onto the control panel, which caused everyone in the room to be startled by this. "The past always matters!"
"A truce between Autobot and Decepticon," Optimus spoke his thoughts aloud before questioning Megatron. "How long do you expect us to believe that will last?", "Only if it's mutually beneficial." Optimus tilted his helm to the side in suspicion. "And... when our proposed shared mission is complete?" Megatron quickly answered without any hesitation. "I will concur this earth...my way."
"Brutal honesty from a Decepticon?" Questioned Arcee.
"Aligning with the lesser of two evils is still siding with evil!" Ratchet objected to Megatron's proposed truce.
"Do you think you witnessed the full power of Unicron? Those foot soldiers were nothing more than a taste. Unicron has yet to fully awaken!" he continued, "With each passing moment, the bringer of Chaos evolves. Mutating earth from the inside out. What we have witnessed until now is but a prelude of the utter devastation, his rising will wreak upon your world."
"Like your quest for power destroyed Cybertron!" Arcee barked angrily, which Megatron retorted. "Make no mistake, this time there will be a planet left for me to rule!"
"Even if we agree. Unicrons all the way down in the center of the earth. How are we supposed to get there, drive?" Bulkhead asked that's when Optimus spoke. "There is only one way."
Ratchet quickly caught onto the Primes idea to which he denied. "Absolutely not! Ground bridging into space or on a moving train is difficult enough but plotting a blind jump inside of a sentient being!" he continued "Besides, direct exposure to that much dark energon will debilitate you. You haven't built up an immunity like Megatron has!"
As the conversation went on, Optimus has agreed to Megatron's guidance to which he will provide Unicrons exact coordinates. To which they will provide the use of their ground bridge back at the base, much to Ratchet's dismay.
"Optimus, even if we survive the jump how are we supposed to stop Unicron?" Arcee asked. "With the Matrix of Leadership," Optimus replied to Arcee.
"What is that?" Agent Fowler asked, his gaze landing onto Ratchet. "A vessel of pure energy. The collected wisdom of the Primes." Jack took a step forward placing his hand onto the railing, "Do we have time for a scavenger hunt? I mean, where is Optimus supposed to find this...matrix?" Ratchet turned around to face Jack, "Optimus does not need to find it." the medic gestures his left servo onto his chest plate. "He carries it...within him."
"It was the combined power of the primes that defeated Unicron so long ago. The very reason he now seeks to destroy you..." he said. Yet, inside his thoughts, Megatron was thinking about the other possible Prime on earth, which Unicron told him when he first confronted the Bringer of Chaos.
"It would follow that unleashing the power of the matrix directly into Unicrons spark would return him into stasis," Optimus concluded.
"Hold on!" Miko spoke, which grabbed everyone in the room's attention. "If everything goes 'right', Unicrons gonna stay down there?" this caught Jack's eye. "Yeah and can't we...siphon him out somehow?" he asked. Rafael stepped forward, answering to Jack's question. "He's not in the earth's core, Jack. He is the earth's core."
"Rafael is correct. Tampering with your core could affect the magnetic poles. Trigger the very cataclysmic events we are attempting to remedy." he said before continuing. "Tragically, Unicron is your planets very seed. Always has been, and always must be," he concluded to them.
Suddenly, Optimus's deep voice boomed from the comm-link. "Ratchet, send a ground bridge!" Ratchet walked over to the earth bridge control (ground bridge control). Typing in their coordinates then activated the ground bridge.
Not long, all of Team Prime entered the base all of them had dents and scratches, especially Optimus who had suffered many scratches that were quite noticeable. Lucy, along with the other humans made their way onto the central platform. Optimus disclosed Ratchet and the humans about the details of Megatron coming to base to which Ratchet was not too fond of.
"I know desperate times calls for desperate measures but bringing Megatron here?!" Ratchet said, not believing what he had just heard.
June stepped forward placing both hands onto Rafael's shoulders. "How can you even think about letting that monster get near these children after what he did to Raf."
"He will be closely monitored and only allowed to linger long enough to send us on our journey. Not one moment more," said Optimus. Agent Fowler then began. "What's gonna stop the 'Con from calling in an airstrike if he knows where you live?"
"By ground-bridging Megatron here he will be unable to get a fix on our coordinates," Optimus said, not being all too worried about their base being discovered, though he will still be on his guard no matter what. "Optimus, what's gonna happen to you when all your matrix energy is released?" Jack asked.
Optimus turned around and walked a few steps forward. His back facing the others. "The power of the matrix has not previously been utilized in this particular manner." Jack then spoke again. "but you have an idea, don't you?" the teen wondered waiting for an answer. Optimus does not give him a direct answer but responds with. "Autobots if humankind is to be saved— " Optimus turns around to face them once again. " I have no choice but to proceed...but you do."
The atmosphere became tense and deadly silent. Lucy, Jack, Miko, and Rafael had their eyes glued onto their guardians, though Lucy had her gaze glued on two 'Bots Optimus and Ratchet. All four humans stood perfectly aligned next to each other, almost like a bar signal. This lasted for another minute or so before Bulkhead broke the silence.
"Well, I don't know about humankind, but I'm willing to do it...for Miko" He turns his helm around to face his human companion, along with Arcee, Bumblebee, and Ratchet. "For Jack," Arcee said and Bumblebee beeped Raf's name, which everyone else understood.
Ratchet's gaze landed onto Lucy who was staring right back at him. A smile spread its way onto her lips and knew all too well on what he wanted to say. She was almost certain that being the conservative Bot he is would never openly admit it, but the way he looked at her was enough to make her feel all fuzzy inside.
It wasn't long before Optimus contacted Megatron to which the leader of the decepticon would be arriving at their base through the ground bridge. Ratchet told the six humans to head inside the corridor where they could be hidden from Megatron's line of sight. Though, this caused Miko to complain. Lucy tried to drag her inside the hallway and failed, but to her relief, she was pushed back by Ratchets servo.
"Ugh! No fair! I've never seen him!" Miko turned around to face Ratchet. "Why do we get to hide?" she argued. "Because I said so," he concluded, now standing upright as he watches Miko walk away in defeat. His optics landed onto Lucy who was in front of him. "Don't make me push you over there too." he warned her, to which she simply raised both her hands in defense, "Alright, alright! no need to fret." she said in a playful tone before walking away.
As he watched her enter the hallway, the ground bridge suddenly lit up. He turned his helm to the direction of the ground bridge was before walking over to the rest of the team. All of Team Prime were huddled together staring at the vortex intently. Optimus took a few steps forward where he basically stood right in front of the entrance of it. That was when Megatron appear from the swirling green vortex walking casually, yet intimidating nonetheless. Bulkhead, Bumblebee, and Arcee activated their blasters where they did not plan to let their guard down. Megatron halted, as he now stood in front of Optimus. His piercing purple optics look around the room with curiosity.
"So, this is where the magic happens. Quaint." Commented Megatron.
Lucy and the rest of them watched from the corner of a wall. All eyes were on Megatron who stood before bots with confidence. The stories were true then. He did look quite menacing; the gray spikes across his armor, sharp fingers, and a single cannon located on his right forearm.
Yet, somehow there was something about him that caught Lucy's attention, but before she knew it, Rafael ran out of the corner to which everyone called out his name in a loud whisper. Jack, Miko, Lucy and the other two followed behind the boy which caught Megatron's attention as looked over to his left. Jack managed to reach Raf, holding onto his shoulders. Conveniently, they all stood a foot away from Ratchets pedes. Lucy could have sworn she saw him tense up almost immediately.
Megatron exclaimed with a slight delight. Arcee was now blocking Megatron from the humans with both her blasters pointing directly at him, yet he didn't seem to be bothered by this. "Ahh, I see you're looking much better than the last time we met, little one." Megatron briefly glanced over to Optimus. "Humans. Resilient."
Jack pulled Raf away. "Come on, Raf. He isn't worth it." Jack said, leading Raf away where his mother then took him away. As Jack began to walk away Megatron spoke, which directed at him. "And you, I never forget a face even that of a human." Jack looked over his shoulders at Megatron before walking away.
As Megatron simply watches him walk away, something on the corner of his optics caught his attention. It was another human, but this human he had never seen before. It was young looking femme with the longest hair length her had ever laid optics on, but what caught his interest were her eyes. Those eyes looked exactly like his. Never had he seen a human with those color of eyes...they looked rather attractive on her. He quickly noticed that the femme just stood there in the exact same spot when she first stepped out of the hallway. There was no fear plastered across her features, no... she just stared at him unblinking.
He chuckled, and this caused everyone in the room to grow tense, including Optimus, who has been observing Megatron looking down at Lucy.
"Of all my time being on this planet, never have I seen a human not show any traces of fear, and being so close to an enemy, " Megatron said with an amusing smile as he glanced over to Optimus. "Intriguing. From the looks of things, she is a new addition for you to protect, and yet..." he turned attention to Lucy. "None of my soldiers reported another human ally. Quite mysterious, isn't it?" he commented.
His piercing optics was studying her like a prey observing its meal from afar before striking. Lucy didn't faze to what he said, and without warning, she turned around and walked the opposite way, much to Megatron's disappointment which he expressed by curling his lips down. At that moment, Miko stepped forward and began to mindlessly threaten the gladiator before she was grabbed by Agent Fowler and dragged away. Megatron glares down at her, seemingly unfazed by her empty threat.
Everything is set for them to leave. Lucy and Jack were behind the others as they entered the hallway, but before they went any further, Optimus meets privately with Jack and Lucy. The prime spoke to Jack first, and he expresses how impressed he is with how much Jack has grown since they first met. Optimus entrusts him with an odd-looking key. Lucy was a little suspicious when Optimus claimed that it was to the Ground Bridge power supply. Jack gave the two some privacy and walked away to join the others who were hiding. Optimus then glanced down over to Lucy.
"Optimus, uhm...you're staring," Lucy said shyly. Optimus averted his optics away with a hint of embarrassment. "My apologies, I did not mean to stare." his optics once again stared down at her. "But there is something I want you to have before my departure." Lucy had a look of confusion written across her face.
Out of nowhere, Optimus pulled out a small white box and handed it over to Lucy, who took it from his servos. She stared at it before raising her gaze at Optimus, who simply replied with a curt nod. Curiously, Lucy opened the lid which revealed a leather bracelet with two chain clasps on either side of which it held a silver Autobot insignia. A surprised, yet gentle gasp escaped her lips.
"...This is...I-I don't know what to say." a large smile formed on her lips, and looked up at Optimus. "Thank you!" He held out his servo to which she hugged his index finger. A small smile formed on his faceplates. "Keep it close to you at all times." she looked up at him and nodded. "I will."
Optimus stood up, taking one last glance at Lucy before walking away into the main room. The ground bridge was open and Megatron was the first to enter, prior to Arcee's offer of him going first. Before the Team entered the swirling vortex all of them turned their heads around their shoulder pads to take one last glance at their human friends. The six of them now stood near the stairs as they watched Arcee, Bulkhead, Bumblebee, and Optimus walk towards the vortex. Yet, Optimus abruptly stopped to turn and face them one last time before walking behind the rest of his team. Ratchet stood behind the humans and watched the leader disappear through the vortex as it finally shuts off.
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"More than sixty volcanoes are erupting worldwide, and downtown Honolulu is under six inches of snow!" the male broadcaster said in alarm. "Scientist continue to devise theories connecting these unprecedented natural disasters with the planetary alignment which — " the broadcast was suddenly cut off and the sounds of a piercing beep filled the silent air before it died.
June turns to face the four children trying to lighten up the mood. "So, who wants to play a game?" the four of them stared at her. The silence is the only thing that responded.
Agent Fowler suddenly had enough and exclaimed. "That tears it!" June turned around to watch him walk away. "Where are, you going?" he stopped and turned around to face June "I can't just on my hands while the world spins out of control." Ratchet immediately responded. "And what exactly is it that you intend to do?", "Anything! Hook up with my boys at the Pentagon figure out a way to bury that monster for good,"
"In the event, Optimus can't." Ratchet said, furrowing his brow-ridges slightly. "Don't you mean Optimus and Megatron?" Agent Fowler stared at the autobot medic with a look of displeasure on his face. "No one here is thrilled about this arrangement, Agent Fowler, myself included. But with Optimus and Megatron together again— " Jack interrupted him. "Whoa, what, wait, again?"
"Megatron was an Autobot?" Raf asked, to which Miko joined in on the confusion. "Optimus was a 'Con?!" Lucy chuckled at this, which meant all eyes—er optics were on her now. "I highly doubt that Optimus and Megatron switched roles like that," she said with a smile. "Lucy is right."
"But, there was a time - back on Cybertron - in the twilight hours of the Golden Age, where Optimus and Megatron were not sworn enemies." he said and began to explain them a tale, "Do you recall when I mentioned that Optimus wasn't always a Prime? Well, he wasn't always Optimus either. He was once a clerk in the Iacon Hall of Records named Orion Pax. But as he learned more about Cybertron's past, he grew increasingly concerned about the present corruption in high places and inequality among the masses. Orion became inspired by the words and ideas of the gladiator, one who had named himself after one of the thirteen original Primes - Megatronus. Megatronus vowed to challenge Cybertron's leadership and demanded that all Cybertronians be treated as equals. The gladiator turned revolutionary rapidly gained a loyal following. Soundwave, chief among them. Orion began corresponding with Megatronus, who came to be something of a mentor to him. As Megatronus left the gladiatorial ring for the political, he saw fit to shorten his name. Before long, Megatron appeared before the High Council to propose his vision for a just society. And it was here that he began to reveal his true colors. Proclaiming to overthrow the old guard with force and arrogantly demanding to be named the next Prime. But Orion did not believe in violence as a means of achieving justice. The sparks and minds of the Council were moved by Orion's words. Here... for the first time since Cybertron's Golden Age...stood someone worthy of being a Prime. But that honor could only be achieved by earning the legendary Matrix of Leadership. His ambitions thwarted, Megatron spitefully severed all ties with Orion and the Council, and came to wage war on all who opposed him through his growing army of followers which he named Decepticons. He vowed to claim the Matrix for himself wherever it may lie. In time, warfare consumed Cybertron, poisoning the planet to its core. Orion journeyed there, hoping to reverse the ill effects and found himself before the very spark of our life giver, Primus himself. The ailing Primus sensed the innate ability within Orion and bestowed the Matrix upon him. It was thus that a surprised and humbled Orion Pax came to be Optimus, the last of the Primes." Ratchet finished looking back at the children.
"So, Optimus got the Matrix from Cybertron's core and now he's gonna give it to earth?" Miko asked, then Jack began "What's to stop Megatron from claiming the matrix for himself this time around." Ratchet turned to glance at Jack. "Only his greater desire to save this planet so that he may, in turn, concur it, as he so compellingly argued provided the Lord of the Decepticons can ever be fully trusted."
As the minutes flew by, and the world was still erupting in chaos. The loss of all communications was expected but it was unnerving to not know what was currently happening down in the core of the earth. Their signals were not on the screens, which meant they cannot tell for certain if they are alive or simply...offline. Just the thought of them being deceased shook them to the very bone.
"Doesn't that mean...?" Rafael hesitated to finish but he was glad that he didn't, as Ratchet responded. "Usually, but a more likely explanation would be the severe interference caused by these electromagnetic anomalies"
"So, if we can't track them and they can't contact us." Raf's sentence was finished by Miko "How are we gonna know when they're ready for pick up?"
Ratchet was prevented from responding to the sound of Jack tapping the 'Ground Bridge' key against a railing. "Where did you get that?" Jack holds out the key to Ratchet. "Optimus. Honestly, I don't know why he gave me the key to the ground bridge power supply." Ratchet shook his helm. "Jack, there no key to the ground bridge."
Jacks' eyes widen and held up the key in front of him. "Well, then...what is this?" Ratchet hunches slightly forward to be on Jacks' eye-level and began to reveal what the key was. "That is the key to Vector Sigma." Jack was stumped. "The what?"
"You are holding one of Cybertron's most important relics," he said, as Jack stepped away from the railing and held up the key for Ratchet to take. "I shouldn't have this." Ratchet straighten himself and gestured his right servo at Jack. "Optimus entrusted it to you, Jack.", "But, that doesn't make any sense— oh, why?" Jack asked.
"Because he doesn't plan on coming back." Ratchet declared, looking away from them.
The silence was thick and no one dared to speak. It felt like an hour had passed by and there was no news from the others. All communications were still down and the earth was still in disarray. Then suddenly, the volcano outside erupts violently, and the ground enclosing the Autobot base begins to quake. The massive quake caught them off-guard and Ratchet tells the humans to take cover, and he moves to shield them from falling debris. It wasn't certain how long the earthquake lasted, but the volcano, along with all the Earth's other natural phenomena, subsidies back to normality. Ratchet and the humans watch as the monitors flicker online.
"Do you think?" Jack looked at Ratchet who intern replied. "I do."
The team's life signals appear on the screen and are all safely re-established. They all cheered. Lucy placed both hands on her chest sighing in relief. She looked over at Ratchet who was looking her way with a slight smile. Not long, he activated the ground bridge where Arcee, Bulkhead, and Bumblebee were the ones who entered but there were no signs of Optimus.
"Arcee!" Jack now stood in front of the two-wheeler who had a look of distraught of her face plates, yet she wasn't the only one. "I was worried, Bulk," Miko said in relief. "Y-you alright, bee?" Rafael asked with concern.
A deep frown was written on Lucy's face. She clutched the railing with both hands. Optimus wasn't present and this made her anxious. Ratchet too noticed this and proceeded to ask the others. "And Optimus is he..."
"Dead? no." Arcee shifted her gaze away from them. "But he looked right at us without recognizing us. Didn't even know his own name." Bulkhead added in which the humans, except for Lucy, exchanged looks to one another.
Ratchet emanated a soft hum through his voice box, realizing something that only he and possibly Lucy knew as well. "When Optimus surrendered the matrix of leadership. He lost more than the collected wisdom of the primes. He lost his own memories."
To Be Continued...