The Lord Protector
Cybertron; the world of wonders, and cradle of the greatest and most terrible race to ever grace the stars. It's immense size, comparable to that of a low-mass main sequence star, made it an incredible sight to behold, one that mortal eyes lacked the privilege of ever seeing; for Cybertron belonged only to it's children, and had no place for anything not made sacred by Primus. Yet in this age, it's timeless glory, once standing immortal before the passage of countless eons, was slowly but surely becoming undone.
Before the war began,viewing the crown jewel of his people's empire from space had always brought a sense of calm to his processor; now all he could feel was a smoldering sense of anger as he beheld the devastation wrought by conflict that had lasted thousands upon thousands of vorns. This was not the Cybertron he had set out to forge so many eons ago, this was not the legacy he had wanted to leave for his Decepticons. There wasn't a single part of the planet that wasn't war ravaged to some degree, in the most extreme cases the ruination could be seen from orbit in the form of vast fissures in the metallic crust, glowing a dull gold, as if the very heart of the planet had been lain bare.
The observation tower was positioned towards the aft of the Nemesis' dorsal hull, it was a huge open chamber, seemingly out of place on a ship of war. But like most modern warships, the Nemesis was capable of retracting elements of it's superstructure into subspace, including this tower – which could be replaced for an additional battery of heavy shock cannons. But when not in battle, it served as his court; and as such it was decorated to suit such a role. Great black banners bearing the Decepticon insignia hung from every support strut, a great throne was placed at the raised forward section, forged entirely from the guns and blades of opponents that he himself had vanquished in personal combat.
He cursed the ones who had stolen what Cybertron should have been. Sentinel Prime, the Autobots, Orion Pax. Sentinel was long dead, he had seen to his demise personally; the Autobot rebels were scattered among the stars, regrouping and recovering, preparing to spread their disunity and destruction even further upon the Cybertronian people; Orion Pax, greatest of traitors, the False Prime, and inheritor of Sentinel's twisted legacy, had escaped justice at Iacon.
He remembered leading his warriors as they stormed the Decagon, his fusion cannon running hot as he annihilated one Autobot after another, all seven senses alive with the fury of battle.
The reunification of Cybertron, six quartexes ago
The skies over Iacon were aflame with the rage of war. The Decagon loomed over the once proud city like a great stone pillar standing out amidst a stormy sea, still standing strong where everything else had fallen to the advance of the Decepticon legions. The batteries that had not been deactivated and whose crew were still online and standing their ground were letting loose with all they had upon the invading transports. A few unlucky crafts were victims of lucky hits, and were sent crashing to the ground trailing fire and debris, but most of the shots missed. The defenses of the great Autobot fortress depended too much on the volume of fire it could deploy at its full capacity, and the automated systems guided by the Teletraan I artificial intelligence, which had been sabotaged by spies prior to the assault, and without it the panoply of defenses sat inactive or too cumbersome to bring to bear on the invaders. Add to that the loss of contact with the Capital Sector and the orbital platforms, and the Decagon along with all of Iacon was laid bare against the Decepticon assault.
Megatron and the rest of his commanders could pick up the desperate reports from all over the city. The soldiers who steadfastly remained loyal to the False Prime were still fighting, a futile gesture that was doomed to end in their destruction. Megatron spared no pity for them. They had the chance to fight for the glorious future he had promised, and sided with the true heroes of Cybertron, yet they had foolishly clung to the worthless rationales and platitudes of Optimus Prime that had spread among them like a virus. They deserved the violent end that awaited them and all other traitors.
The towering immensity that was Trypticon bellowed a ferocious warcry that shook the very air and walls of the fortress around him, in front of the mighty titan stood an equal in every measure save for it's allegiance; Metroplex surged forward on building sized pedes, his blazing optics fixed upon the roughly saurian shaped monstrosity that threatened his smaller comrades.
Beneath the clashing titans, warriors loyal to the Lord Protector diverted their path of advance around the incredible duel that would doubtlessly be told in poem and song for countless eons to come – but only if Trypticon won, Megatron did not commemorate failure – and were now probing the lines of defenses encircling the trapezoidal citadel that rose from the heart of the Decagon's mesa shapedmegastructure. Megatron advanced from the front, searing red beams projected by his fusion cannon tore through the frames of any Autobot with the misfortune to stand before his optics.
Their journey through the streets leading up to the Citadel had not been an easy one. The roads jinked left to right at sharp angles, forcing them to fight for every step forward from killzone to killzone. Megatron's silver armor was caked in ash and partially crystalized Autobot life-en, only through the assistance of Starscream's seeker cohorts were the assault forces able to advance safely as the elite fliers picked off heavy weapons teams lying in wait behind the blind corners.
They had breached the front lines at the pavilion of the now defunct High Council, the very place where Megatron had denounced the incompetence of Sentinel Prime and demanded the ancient mech step down for the good of Cybertron's people, this was where the war had truly began. Where the weak and corrupt forced the servos of the strong and the righteous. And it would be where at long last he would proclaim the victory of the new order upon the corpse of the old.
The Autobots were putting up a stern resistance, the kill counter in his peripheral vision had already ticked up to fifty by the time the pavillion was finally clear of hostiles, but here was still no sign of his true quarry.
"Lord Megatron. Optimus Prime: located. Holding position at central command tower," Soundwave's voice broke through the command channel, causing Megatron's spark to pulse with excitement.
"Excellent! Press the attack Soundwave! Starscream, do not let them escape!"
"Affirmitive. Decepticons: attack!"
Megatron had immediately ditched his contingent, only taking a small force to link up with Soundwave's position. The path to the command tower was not completely clear of Autobots, and several of his guards were offlined in their haste to reach the heart of the Decagon before Optimus Prime could use it's escape pods to flee Cybertron. In his hover tank alt-mode, Megatron's afterburners were in full overdrive as he rushed towards the tower, now visible before him.
"Megatron. Escape pods are launching." Soundwave informed him. The optical sensors of Megatron's alt-form zeroed in on the tails of fire rocketing up from the top of the tower's launch pad and into the smoke choked skies above. No, not like this! Not when he was so close!
"Starscream, where in the Pit are you?!"
"I am making my attack now! Prime is still here!" Starscream assured. From his position, Megatron could see Starscream, Skywarp, and Thundercracker along with another trine fly up over the top of the tower, coming out of their alt-modes to hover over the launch pad. Streams of missiles were fired by the Seekers, streaking down under the pad and into the narrowest section of the tower, causing the structure to collapse in on itself. He spotted one last escape pod blast off from the falling tower.
"This is Ramjet, get this Prime off me!" a shrill voice screamed through the comms. Sure enough, there was Optimus Prime, riding the spinning seeker down to the latter's doom. To Megatron's satisfaction, they went down not too far from his position.
"Decepticons: surround Optimus Prime."
Megatron's alt-mode cleared a jump into the open plaza that the now ruined tower once stood in the center of. From here to scale of the Decagon's ruination was made clear, nearly all of it's fortress districts were in shambles, and energon fueled fires were overtaking the northwestern part of the complex.He quickly sighted Soundwave who was now advancing on Optimus Prime, neutron blaster in hand alongside Onslaught and his Combaticons, and two triple-changers.
"Ravage: eject!" Soundwave intoned quickly, his cassette deck flipping open to release the infamous modified cybercat, "Operation: disarmament!"
Optimus Prime raised his neutron assault rifle to take aim at the beast formed warrior, who nimbly dodged out of the line of fire and pounced onto the Prime, his powerful jaws clamping down on the mech's servo articulators and bringing Optimus down under the momentum of the attack. The weapon tumbled from the Prime's grip, but in the end a cassette even of Ravage's caliber could not hope to immobilize a living Prime for long. A backhanded blow from Optimus sent the quadrupedal assailant flying back to his guardian who came up to stand beside him.
Megatron shifted out of his alt-form in a roll as he came to stand next to Soundwave. For a split moment, both Autobot and Decepticon leaders locked gazes with one another before Megatron gave the order.
"Seize him!"
The Decepticons rushed in, converging on the Prime from all directions. But just as Optimus was about to be dogpiled, an audio shattering warhorn split the air, followed by a massive shadow that blanketed the entire plaza.
Metroplex, war beaten and covered in the ashes of Iacon's skyscrapers, landed on a trail of fire at the base of the ruined tower. His three-point landing made the ground quake beneath Megatron's pedes.His giant hand reached out towards the isolated Prime.
"Begone, Decepticon invaders!" The titan boomed, "You shall not harm the Last Prime!"
"Combaticons combine and distract! Decepticons, fall back and find cover! Trypticon, assist me!" Megatron snapped his orders through the comm. The soldiers scurried to get out of the way of the incoming servo, a few shock troopers were crushed under Metroplex's digits as they scraped forward to curl around Optimus Prime. The Combaticons quickly combined into Bruticus, the giant mech was still dwarfed by the cityformer, but did not seem fazed by the fact.
The Combiner gave an incoherent roar and rocket jumped straight towards Metroplex's helm, firing his weapon systems into the colossal mech's faceplate as he crossed the distance. Temporarily blindsided by the fusillade, Metroplex managed to interpose his other servo between Bruticus and his helm, the combiner latched onto the titan's bracer armor and began to scurry along the limb towards the massive mech's shoulder, appearing humorously like a little sparkling harassing a full grown Cybertronian. To Megatron's amazement, Bruticus was actually managing to stall the far larger mech, they only needed to do so a little longer. Trypticon was closing in.
Bruticus wasn't really doing much to damage the titan, but he was irritating Metroplex something awful. What the Combaticons combined form lacked in intellect, he more than made up for in his audacity. That wasn't to say the rest of the Decepticons weren't doing anything. The triple-changer duo had transformed into their flying alt-forms, a redspacefighter and a blue rotorcraft to join the Seekers present in an aerial attack, while Shockwave and Soundwave helped coordinate the forces present to hem in the titan as best they could.
In the end, Metroplex was unable to deal with Bruticus effectively while he held Optimus in one hand. He was firing his torso mounted weapons at the dispersed Decepticon ground forces blindly, incurring minimal casualties, but Megatron doubted that would last long, if that titan got it back together they would have no choice but to retreat. Metroplex, clearly realizing this, lowered the servo carrying the Prime to the ground behind him. Megatron spotted Optimus' distinctive red and white truck alternate mode drive off the servo and towards the open gap in the encirclement behind the titan. He was getting away!
Heedless of the danger, Megatron changed into his armored skimmer form, gunning his afterburners to quickly cut through the plaza. Metroplex, his servo now clear, reached over to his opposite shoulder, managing to get hold of Bruticus but not before the combiner had savaged the right side of his helm. Bruticus was hurled across the battlefield, his frame tumbling across the plaza and over Megatron as he sped forward with all haste, eager to overtake his nemesis.
Trypticon chose that moment to make his appearance.
The titan rolled into the battlefield in his vehicular mode, an immense slab of armored plates covered in guns and driven by treads. It was one of four modes that the titan possessed, and it was bearing straight down upon Metroplex. Trypticon changed into it's saurian form just as he was about to ram into his counterpart. Both titans clashed, their warhorns roaring in unison as their fighting raged anew. Megatron disregarded them, turning his focus on the tail of the retreating Prime.
Megatron pushed his alt-form as hard as he could, fixated on catching up with Prime's own fleeing vehicle mode. As soon as he came into weapons range, Megatron opened up with his shock cannon, the rocket propelled munition streaked towards the moving target detonation next to transformed Autobot as he turned down a ramp. Rather than take the ramp himself, Megatron simply drove off the edge next to it, allowing the anti-gravity repulsor plates fixed in the belly of his alt-form to nullify the impact of landing. Just ahead of him, Optimus was coming off the ramp.
Megatron's alt-form t-boned Optimus at maximum speed, the heavier vehicle mode toppled the truck form, causing the Prime to roll over another ledge, Megatron and reverted to his base form and clung to Optimus who was just now doing the same. Both warriors slammed down onto the roof of a building, Megatron rolled into a recovery while Optimus settled into an ungainly sprawl. The building they were now on overlooked an open plaza a tier below, which Metroplex and Trypticon were using as their chosen battleground.
Optimus regained his footing with a warrior's grace that was as far from a library dwelling cur, as Cybertron was from the edge of the Universe, his ice blue optics were fixed unwaveringly upon Megatron's own, their depths blazing with a righteous intensity that could only be kindled within those who bore the Matrix of Leadership. The Lord Protector felt his facial plates twist in disgust as he sized up the mech that had thwarted his designs time and time again throughout the eons.
"You're rebellion is finished, Orion!" Megatron boomed, "You're Autobots are scattered and broken, surrender the Matrix to me and you may keep your life!"
The Prime said nothing, a hilt dropped into the mech's right servo from subspace and immediately folded out into a golden single-edged axe, an instantly later the head of the weapon was encased in a fiery energy field as it's wielder dropped into a ready stance. Megatron in response brought out a weapon of his own, a massive double-edged sword that pulsed with a purple aura of destructive potential. The two regarded one another for a single moment before moving at the same time.
Megatron and Optimus quickly closed the distance between each other, weapons raised for the incoming clash. In spite of his peaceful origins, Optimus was superbly skilled and unpredictable in his approach to combat. Reaching striking distance, Megatron's sword lowered for a lunging thrust into his opponent's spark chamber, only for the Lord Protector to feint for his real opening attack. With speed and flexibility that belied his bulk, Megatron twisted about, his spinal mounted thrusters aiding the movement as he stepped around to the right flank of Optimus to bypass the shield the Prime had unfolded from subspace.
Megatron had caught many opponents off-guard with this trick during his time as a gladiator in the illegal fighting pits of Kaon, especially considering the speed behind the attack. But Optimus had his instincts with him, as the Last Prime twisted on his ankle servos and adjusted his shield to block the incoming slash while swinging his energon axe at Megatron's shoulder joint. Megatron snarled through his vents, Optimus had gotten faster since their last clash several vorns ago, the lord of the Decepticons barely had enough time to lean his chassis out of the way from that crackling sweeping edge. Optimus had no intention of relenting though as he followed up with a mighty shield bash, the dense cybetronium alloy crashing into the Lord Protector's chestplates and sending him back a step.
Megatron kept his footing and shifted another step back to recenter himself, while Optimus kept his distance, guard up for any sudden attacks. For a few nanoklicks the two leaders stared each other down, that one moment already having them strategize over their next moves. In the background, the Decagon burned around them, and the nearby clash of Trypticon and Metroplex shook the entire battlefield with every strike and every massive step.
Slowly both mechs circled about, their optics taking in one another's stance and weapons positions, sizing each other up for weaknesses. Optimus was well equipped for this battle. That shield he was carrying was the biggest obstacle facing Megatron; it was doubtful that his weapons could break through the reinforced plating.
In an instant, Optimus surged forward, shield held facing him in a charge before turning to Megatron's right side. Megatron, knowing better than to face the attack helm on, attempted to keep himself at a reasonable distance from the shield, but Optimus was not letting him get any breathing room. For a few nanoklicks the two traded blows, back peddling, clashing, and lunging, their stances and directions changing constantly in an attempt to gain an advantage over one another. Glancing blows left deep scratches in their armored frames, nicks delivered from exposed angles, heavy punches from Megatron and shield bashes from Optimus sent both cybertronians reeling back and forth as the melee raged on. Neither was gaining the advantage, though as more nanoklicks passed Megatron noticed that Optimus was getting his combat pattern down, the Prime was reacting faster and was flawlessly avoiding his feints. Megatron's vents blasted searing gusts in frustration, he had spent so much time retooling his style since their last fight, and Prime was already on to it. The usual approach wasn't going to cut it anymore.
The two mechs broke apart before once more rushing into their guards at the same time, weapons locking their opposing energies causing the air between them to shriek and ripple while Prime's shield swung forward, the Autobot insignia carved into the middle matching coordinates with Megatron's faceplate. Megatron's heavily armored left servo raised up, the reinforced framework of the limb blocking the blow even as his tactile sensors jolted his processor with pain. It was pushing Megatron's strength to the limit just to keep that axe and shield back. The Lord Protector, flexed his servos forcefully, breaking apart Optimus' guard and slamming his pede into the Prime's abdominal plating drawing out a forceful vent from the Autobot supreme commander and forcing him back.
Megatron's fusion cannon was out in a flash, aiming straight at his opponent's spark chamber. Optimus only just managed to interpose his shield between the violent discharge and his upper torso. To Megatron's surprise, the shield absorbed the beam, it's surface aglow and crackling with power. Then, suddenly, Optimus Prime swung his shield out and a wave of pure white energy which slammed into Megatron, causing the Lord Protector to stumble off balance. Optimus did not waste this opportunity. The Last Prime came charging into Megatron's guard as he tried to level his fusion cannon for another shot, firing one off just as the Prime's shield slammed the cannon and the servo aside, Megatron was wide open. The energon axe bit deep into the Decepticon's right torso, causing Megatron to bellow in pain fueled rage, but Optimus wasn't finished. The return swing cut downwards into the body of the fusion cannon, disabling the weapon, Optimus the slammed the rim on his shield into Megatron's helm. A retaliatory slash from the Lord Protector forced the Prime to turn right, catching the blade on his increasingly scratched and dented shield.
With a snort, Megatron disengaged his signature weapon, letting the wrecked fusion cannon clatter uselessly to the ground. That blow from Prime had cut down to his protoform, causing life-en to well out from the rent for a moment before crystallizing and ceasing altogether. It was not a worrying wound, he had taken worse hits than this. Megatron took a step forward, advancing swiftly on Optimus before firing his pede thrusters to propel him to the left, his blade once more seeking the Prime's shield. Optimus blocked the attack, turning his frame about to face the Lord Protector, and attempted to force his once-friend back with the flaming axe or shove him away with the shield. Megatron gave no quarter, he hammered his sword into the Prime's bulwark, forcing Optimus fully into the defensive.
Optimus held fast, his optic shutters narrowed and his battlemask drawn tight against his faceplate as the servo bearing the shield began to lower. Megatron's ceaseless assault was paying dividends, even though Prime's shield could thwart almost any attack, constant blows stressed the Prime's servomotors, and drained as he no doubt was from defending his precious capital, Optimus was feeling the pressure. The Last Prime was forced back one step then another as Megatron slammed his blade into his opponent's weakening guard left right and center, chipping and denting the face of the shield by the nanoklick. Megatron's own systems were beginning to strain and overheat, even with his unnatural fury spurring him forward. It was going to be a test of endurance between the two warring leaders.
Suddenly the battlefield was disrupted when Trypticon hurled Metroplex into the side of the building Megatron and Optimus were fighting on, the great Autobot titan's EM field washed over them causing the very air to reverberate in tune with the gargantuan mech's agony. Trypticon had one of Metroplex's servos – ripped from the cityformer's very shoulder – gripped in a serrated claw, it's blazing purple optics burning with the unrestrained desire to kill. Megatron could feel the building shudder beneath his pedes, it would not take much more of a beating before it's structural integrity failed, but so long as nothing else hit it he was safe here. Of course, the moment that thought flitted through his processor was the moment Trypticon howled and charged the stricken Metroplex, smashing his own colossal bulk into the structure. Unicron damn it.
Megatron felt the floor give out from under him as the building's bottom levels crumpled in on themselves. "Trypticon, you fool!" he bellowed as both he and Optimus Prime fell through the sagging roof.
The Lord Protector was in freefall for several seconds before he slammed hard onto a rubble pile, the dust and smoke around him cleared as Trypticon roared, blasting the thin atmosphere away and revealing the two titans whose immense forms threw a shadow over the shattered carcass of the building. Trypticon had Metroplex pinned down, it's claws buried deep into the great mech's thick torso plates.
"Trypticon; finish it!" Megatron commanded. The titan seemed to regard him with a disdainful glare before focusing back on Metroplex, tearing it's claws from the other titan and raising them upward.
"Metroplex!" He turned to see Optimus rising out from a pile of debris, shield and axe still in his grip and covered helm to pede in dust and ashes.
"Till all… are one," the giant Autobot intoned, before Trypticon's claws slammed into his upper chassis, ripping, pulling, and tearing. Both of the titans EM fields clashed as the emanations of pain, joy, fear, and rage washed over the two onlookers who watched in silence as Metroplex's frame was split open, exposing the mech's oversized spark chamber. Metroplex let loose a final roar of agony and defiance before Trypticon's elongated helm seized his foe's lifesource in it's fanged jaws before rearing back, tearing Metroplex's spark out and tossing it aside. Trypticon's victory cry shook the very foundations of the Decagon, and was heard past the outskirts of Iacon.
Megatron regarded the offlined enemy titan with satisfaction, "A worthy kill." Optimus was still staring, an aggrieved look in his optics before Megatron addressed him. "Metroplex was weak Orion! He was weak because he served a weak cause which has no other end beyond it's own destruction. You were a lowly records clerk when I found you, how does it feel old friend, to be reduced to a footnote in history?"
Optimus' optics blazed with a furious resolve as he stared down the approaching Decepticon leader, "After fifty-thousand vorns of pointless conflict I finally see the truth, Megatron."
"And what might that be, Orion?" Megatron sneered, his sword reigniting it's destructive sheath of energy.
"That our war, will only leave one survivor between us!" The Prime's energon axe rekindled it's own fiery aura, The Prime's shield fell to the ground with a dull clatter. "One shall stand, one shall fall!"
"I agree!" Megatron roared, taking a thruster assisted leap into the air towards the Prime. His sword raised high in one servo, while in the other, his subspace wrist port deposited a hilt which immediately expanded into the form of his other iconic weapon; the energon mace. Both weapons swung in a deadly arc as he touched down in front of Optimus, forcing the mech to step backward, using both his sword and a wrist blade to fend off the twin attack. The Lord Protector was constantly flowing into one sweeping attack after another, weapons moving in a slashing and smashing cross pattern and occasionally in one direction for unstoppable dual heavy blows. However, Optimus was not backing down, and was matching the former gladiator champion as he blocked and parried, making full use of that wrist blade. It was a formidable tradeoff for his reduced defenses and was far greater threat than the shield it replaced.
One klick passed, then another as the two legends battled, their strategies honed by eons of unremitting war being as equally matched as before. That was not to say that it was a complete standstill, from Megatron cutting a deep gouge into Optimus' left shoulder plate or the Last Prime managing to get a quick stab into the Lord Protector's side with that wrist blade. The Prime's armor was being rent apart by his blade and mace chipping down on it. There was no respite, no hesitation in the Autobot leader's optics, he was driven to finish this long enmity once and for all. The damage to their frames was minor, yet it was stacking up more and more as both warriors fought with greater aggression and their bodies expended more of their energy reserves. Megatron had been in countless drawn out battles before this one, and so had Prime, it was unclear whose strength would begin to fade first.
Then it began to happen. Prime was starting to slow down and was beginning to turn his focus away from parrying and blocking and towards evading the attacks Megatron assailed him with. His cold cerulean gaze maintained the same fierceness it had assumed from the start of the fight, showing that his will remained unwavering despite the odds turning against him.
"You have fought well Orion! But now it ends!" Megatron shouted, his aggression peaking at the sight of his hated enemy weakening before his optics. Optimus was venting heavily now, the heat cycling from his coolant systems rippled the air between them like a mirage; it was almost over. Optimus clearly knew that as well, but stood his ground as Megatron's mace swung down towards his helm while his sword jabbed towards his midsection, aiming to perforate his tank. Optimus was forced to redirect the high strike with his axe while parrying the sword with his wrist blade. Megatron grinned, now he had him! Roaring like a motorbull, Megatron pressed forward, slamming into the Prime.
Optimus was sent reeling backward, but before he could react Megatron's mace was already in motion. Optimus Prime roared out in surprised pain as the massive spiked head slammed straight into his chest, shattering the Prime's windshield panels in a cascade of glittering pieces of crysteel as the large mech was sent flying off his pedes, twisting in the air before landing face down on the rubble.
Megatron advanced upon the downed mech, his optics brimming with cruel intent. How long he had simulated this moment in his recharge, to finally bring an end to this accursed nuisance he had once called brother. Optimus was trying to get up, to raise his wrist blade in defense, but Megatron's pede thwarted him, smashing the blade back down and snapping it at the base. With his axe having been knocked from his grasp by the mace strike, Prime was now unarmed. Megatron tossed his blade aside and gripped the mace in both servos, harshly kicking the once mighty Autobot in the side to turn him over on his back.
"I will tear the Matrix from your spark core, Orion. Die knowing that Cybertron will rise again under my rule."Megatron rose the mace over his head, preparing to crush the helm of his adversary.
"Even if you destroy me Megatron, others will rise to defeat your tyranny." Optimus countered, his optics still bright with defiance.
"They will fail as you have failed, goodbye 'Brother'!"
Suddenly, Trypticon screamed. Megatron's gaze turned to see a blooming fireball erupt on the side of the titan's head, causing it to tip over to the side. An assault shuttle with Autobot markings was diving towards the battlefield, it's front boarding ramp open with a large mech standing in the squad bay, with an equally large ion displacer in his servos. Megatron was forced to dive aside as Bulkhead opened up on him with the heavy weapon, a storm of hard-light projectiles tore through the loose cover with ease, forcing the Lord Protector to seek more substantial shelter behind the massive graying hulk of Metroplex. He gazed over the cover to see Optimus Prime staggering upward and making his way to the idling shuttle.
"Starscream!" Megatron snapped into the command comm, "Optimus Prime is escaping! Stop him at once!"
"Apologies my Lord, my Seekers have been dismissed from the field, I fear it is out of my hands!" Starscream's beating was going to be especially brutal this time.
"Trypticon! Destroy them!" Megatron roared to the still recovering cityformer. But it was too late, he could see Bulkhead and the Autobot SIC, Prowl, hauling the damaged Prime onto the ramp and the shuttle immediately ascending. Megatron's dentes crushed together as he could only watch as Optimus Prime made his escape from Cybertron, and from him.
The war should have ended that orn. The Matrix had escaped his grasp, along with it's unworthy bearer; and with both unaccounted for the rebellion endured, and Cybertron's core grew dimmer with every passing groon. In the end, the final battle of Iacon had become a costly and hollow victory for his cause; if the Autobots managed to regroup and reorganize, Megatron would once more find himself where he started – fighting an endless war which was slowly but surely destroying Cybertron.
As he ruminated, his audios picked up the telltale sound of the lift at the center of the vast chamber climbing up the tower, bearing a single passenger. The mech standing atop the circular conveyance platform was a fair bit taller than average, but the top of his helm would barely come up to Megatron's upper torso plates if they were to stand side by side. The mech possessed a wide-bodied framework similar to his own to accommodate a transparent faced hatch, marking him as a very rare breed of warrior known as a Summoner. His faceplate was completely concealed by a glowing red straight-band visor and a wedge-shaped battlemask, completely concealing any form of expression beyond subtle tells of body language. His only obvious armament besides the cassettes he concealed inside his torso deck was a rotary pulse blaster mounted over his right shoulder. Though he did not look like much at first glance, anyone that knew of his reputation would be on guard. He was Soundwave, Megatron's personal Communication's Officer and unofficial spymaster.
Soundwave was one of his most reliable instruments, and had rarely ever failed him. He was thorough, calculating, merciless, and above all else he was loyal; Megatron would be hard pressed to find another quite so proficient as his Communications Officer. As much as Starscream preened and ranted, everyone else in Megatron's high command knew who truly had the Lord Protector's confidence, something the vainglorious Seeker has not – and never will – attained.
"Megatron; Soundwave reporting as commanded." The mech addressed in his eerie sonorous monotone. Rumors abounded as to the origin behind the communication officer's unusual speech pattern, whether it was intentional or the result of trauma from before the war. Megatron had always attributed it as a side effect to the mysterious enhancements to his Outlier programming that endowed Soundwave with his unusual abilities, enhancements that – to Megatron's knowledge – were completely unique to him.
"Give me an update Soundwave, what is the status of our operations on the surface?" In an earlier time, Megatron could have gotten status reports directly from his commanders with nary a concern for malfeasance and deception. But in this current era, the list of honest and reliable command officers has grown distressingly short. Onslaught, Scrapper, and Motormaster were among the few that Megatron could depend on to see his will through without reservation, and even then the Lord Protector did not dare to trust their intentions completely, that road led only to treachery and death. If he really wished to know what his warriors were doing, it would have to be through the only mech he did trust, although grudgingly.
"Satisfactory; The pacification efforts in Iacon and Gygax are proceeding as planned. Surviving Autobot forces have retreated to the outskirts and underworks of both states. Insecticons; dispatched into sub-levels to eradicate survivors. Seekers; patrolling Sea of Rust to eradicate survivors."
Megatron almost pitied the Autobots facing the Insecticons; almost. The Insecticons were introduced to offset the strain Autobot prisoners of war placed upon his operations, the prisoners were mindwiped, aggressively reconfigured into near-perfect killing machines, and set loose upon their erstwhile comrades. What made them a true terror was the way they fed, their energy processing systems were reverse engineered from those of the ever-feared Scraplets, endowing the Insecticons with a voracious hunger for living metal. They were typically kept in stasis between deployments, due in part to their eating habits but mostly because his Decepticons held a near universal disgust for them, leading to several Insecticons 'dying heroically for the cause' suspiciously far from enemy lines.
The Seekers were a strange bunch that toed the line between military unit and a cult. They were comprised entirely of jet-form Cybertronians that were initially drawn from the vicious airborne gangs that used to plague the skies over the city-state of Vos; they were hyper-grade addled anarchists who had refashioned their alt-modes into slender and deadly forms that emphasized speed and maneuverability. When Megatron conquered Vos early in his initial uprising, he brought the violent anarchists into his service by having Sunstorm – Starscream's predecessor – eliminate their previous Alpha-jet in an air duel, thereby taking leadership of the combined gangs. Since then the Seekers have proven their use time and again as scouts, assassins, and dogfighters, and had established themselves as a powerful military clique that held themselves above lesser fliers and so-called groundlings. Like the Insecticons, the Seekers were not too popular with the rest of the Decepticons.
"Autobot survivors: regrouping. Leader: identified. Special Operations Commander Elita-1." Soundwave pressed a panel on top of his box shaped torso plate, a holoprojector flicked up and produced the life-sized image of an unusually tall femme with a lithe build with white armor decorated with crimson and magenta accents. Her faceplate possessed a hard, angular beauty, much like a finely crafted sword, and her cerulean blue optics shone with fierce determination. When she spoke it was with a no-nonsense low-Iaconese accent.
"Soldiers of the Autobots; I, Elita-1, address you this orn not as a superior officer, nor as sparkmate of a Prime, but as a sister in arms prepared to lay down my spark to protect the ideals of our people. Though Optimus Prime no longer stands among us, he has not abandoned us! Even now our comrades gather in the depths of space, preparing to reengage the murderous beasts who now hunt us in the ashes of our cities. But until they return, we have our own part to play. We have a duty to our people stand against the weight of tyranny, and throw off our oppressors. When I look upon our world I do not see a planet of smoldering ruins ruled over by a deluded tyrant… no I see the hope for a better future… a better future for our children yet to be sparked. I stand before you now to reaffirm my commitment to our struggle, and I call upon those left undecided to take up arms and cast down the Decepticon invaders, Megatron may have taken Iacon, but he will Never. Take. Our. Freedom!"
The holoclip finished, Soundwave retracted the holoprojector into his chassis, giving no outward reaction to Elita-1's impassioned diatribe against his cause.
"What a rousing little speech," Megatron mused at last, "Unfortunately, there will be no help coming for her. When was this made?"
"Creation date: unknown. Holoclip copied from original broadcast. Distributed in Neutral polities: three-thousand four-hundred twenty-one copies found in Protihex alone, and counting."
Megatron frowned. Even to this day, there were still Neutral enclaves on Cybertron, with the destitute slums of Protihex being the largest. While the city had officially pledged it's allegiance to the Decepticon Alliance, the majority of it's citizenry wanted nothing to do with either side.
"I want anyone found in possession of this holoclip detained and questioned. Anyone found distributing it I want interrogated and permanently deactivated. No exceptions." He glared intently into Soundwave's crimson visor, "In addition, I want that femme found. Bring Elita-1 to me alive. She knows where Optimus Prime is hiding, and she is going to tell me; even if it means I must tear the secret from her living spark."
"Understood Megatron." Soundwave acquiesced dutifully.
"Are there any updates on Shockwave's activities?"
With the war for Cybertron as good as finished, other threats that had once been dormant were starting to stir; namely his own followers, particularly Starscream and Shockwave. It was no secret that Starscream coveted Megatron's throne, and his loyalty in the past eons had been shaky at best. Megatron kept Starscream around because he was actually proficient in his current duties, and also because his clumsy plotting drew out the better hidden traitors in his ranks. Although, his uses in both roles was running dry lately, perhaps the time to retire the megalomaniac was drawing near? Shockwave was a different story; Megatron did not buy the twisted mech's feigned loyalty for an instant, but at the same time – unlike Starscream – Shockwave was irreplaceable. He was the single greatest scientific mind left to the cybertronian people, and his value as an intellectual resource could not be understated, especially now with Cybertron's core weakening, and a solution yet to be discovered. But at the same time, he knew in his darkened spark that the logic-bound scientist was up to something.
"Science Commander Shockwave is currently performing unspecified experimental enhancements upon members of an Autobot splinter cell codenamed: Lightning Strike Coalition. Rebels soldiers Grimlock, Slag, Sludge, Slash, Snarl, and Swoop are confirmed as active test subjects." Soundwave reported without visible emotion.
"He has Grimlock," Megatron mused. Grimlock was the only mech other than Optimus Prime to have ever faced him in single combat more than once and lived, and the only one to have ever matched him in contests of sheer strength, he was without a doubt one of the most powerful warriors he had ever fought. A magnificent fighter like that was worth killing personally, preferably in a gladiatorial arena, and not on Shockwave's operating table.
But why Grimlock and his whole team? What was Shockwave up to that he needed not only one of the deadliest warriors in the Universe but his entire team who were themselves fairly dangerous adversaries? The first answer to pop into Megatron's processor was subjugation. If Shockwave managed to artificially acquire Grimlock's loyalty, and enhanced the mech to the right degree… Megatron felt a mixture of apprehension and excitement course through his circuits. Unicron's blood! What a fight that would be!
"Shockwave can continue his little side project… for now. I cannot afford to chase off my best scientist at this juncture, I still have work for him to do. And until that role is expended, I will not permit any overt action against him. Do you have anything further to report?"
"Affirmative. Sub-commander Shatter, First-lieutenant Blitzwing, Master Sergeant Dropkick; missing. Probability of Autobot interference: significant."
Megatron frowned, "I know these designations… what has happened to them?"
"First-lieutenant Blitzwing: seeker class. Dispatched to Sector Gamma seven-six-seven-eight-one-five-zero following the conclusion of operations in Iacon City. Mission objective: Locate, pursue, eliminate, and report on Autobot forces in hiding. Triple-changers Shatter and Dropkick reported to medical officer Deadlift in response to spark stress imparted through their trine-class bond with First-lieutenant Blitzwing. Sub-commander Shatter and Master Sergeant Dropkick failed to report at their assigned posts the following megacycle, both are officially flagged as Away Without Leave. Their departure has been logged at space-bridge station Valtecon-four at the far edge of the system, they were bridged to the Cylo system and from there presumably they took one of the many pirate bridges to Blitzwing's last known position."
Sub-commander Shatter, he knew of her. Kaonese, formerly part of the upper class officer-caste of Kaon's security enforcers, an unusual supporter for his cause. Megatron kept an optic out for up and comers in the ranks of his soldiers, those who had the wit, skill, and drive needed to carry out his orders and see his will made manifest in the vast canvas of the Universe. Shatter's designation was on the Red List, an unofficial roll of mechs and femmes that were marked down by their superiors as being eligible for promotion to full Commander, and Shatter had been a highly capable field officer since the first orns of the Revolution so many eons ago, and had stood firm and unwavering in her support for the cause since then. He had first been introduced to her through Shockwave after the ingenious mech had converted her into a Triple Changer, where she had been chosen to showcase her new abilities before the Lord Protector. Since then he had kept the femme on his radar.
He knew less about Shatter's companion, master sergeant Dropkick. One of the few Praxians in service with the Decpticons. He had been a gangster and part-time gladiator, the type of mech that his forces had been teeming with when the war had swung in full force. The mech continued to serve in relative obscurity until one fateful orn where he brutally assaulted a superior officer who tried to flaunt his rank too forcefully over the short-tempered shock trooper; Dropkick was unceremoniously arrested and put on trial where he was found guilty. The mech's punishment was to be handed over to Shockwave for live experimentation, a fate that many saw as worse than death. Through sheer belligerence and stubbornness, Dropkick managed to not only survive Shockwave's merciless attentions, but had been the first to successfully integrate the Triple Changer modifications, the mech was then pardoned and re-embraced by the cause. But the experience had made the mech's temperament even more volatile.
Now that he thought about it, every Triple Changer besides Shatter had developed a bewildering array of eccentricities and anti-social behaviors, it was the primary reason why so few soldiers had undergone the augmentation process before Megatron had the project shut down. While he appreciated the effect an elite band of life-en thirsty, cackling maniacs had on Autobot morale; the very idea of having more cretins like Sixshot and Astrotrain mucking about gave him a helmache – there were too many unproductive madmechs in his service to begin with.
That left Blitzwing, the Seeker. Compared to the other two, Blitzwing was fairly unremarkable; the members of his original trine were all offlined at the thirteenth Battle of Tyger Pax, after surviving the strain the loss levied upon his spark, the Seeker became something of an outcast among his kind. Perhaps it was this ostracization that compelled Blitzwing to surrender himself to Shockwave's knife, but in either event the Science Commander deemed the Seeker unfit for augmentation, but kept him around to aid in training the triple-changers in the ways of flight. It was there that he apparently became acquainted with Dropkick and Shatter, and stayed with them long enough to somehow establish a trine bond with the former ground pounders. The other seekers were less than thrilled with that development.
It was not unheard of for Decepticons from the more unruly units to go AWOL for whatever personal reasons (most of them being for material gain or power plays). Bonded warriors often did so when one of their own had been separated from the pack, this was especially the case with trined seekers. When they felt their wing-brother's distress, they would have been compelled to rush to his aid, regardless of how many pedes they would be stepping on. He remembered that one time when Dreadwing abandoned his post for three deca-vorns to search for his missing brother Skyquake, and that mech was among the most loyal of his followers. Even Shatter's professional decorum would have done little to hold her and Dropkick back from this insubordinate action. The femme had bearings, he would give her that, but she and her brutish partner would still be held to account for their dereliction of duty.
The disappearance of Blitzwing could be brushed off, the mech was a weakling after all and Megatron would not be surprised if the seeker had crashed into an asteroid and offlined himself. But his two stronger and more competent trine mates too? And both going missing in the same region of space? That spoke of something more complicated, such as foulplay within the ranks. But who could have done it? And for what reason? There was Dropkick's old CO, who had never gotten over the fact that the mech had gotten away scot-free with pounding his helm into the dirt. Shatter and Starscream did have an intense enmity for one another before the latter had been promoted to Air Commander – his probes into the vainglorious seeker's past had revealed that much. Megatron would not put it beyond him to even some old score with the femme now that the war on Cybertron was winding down; Megatron had a feeling that this wasn't the case, but it remained a possibility. The other obvious conclusion was that they had all been either killed or captured by the Autobots, a scenario whose mere probability necessitated quick and decisive action.
"Send the word to Starscream, have his Seekers concentrate their search on that region of the galaxy. Also, be certain to make mention of our missing soldiers," Megatron commanded. The knowledge that an old rival is possibly alone and vulnerable would entice the seeker commander to be all the more thorough in the hunt, either to humiliate or eliminate her was anyone's guess. Although, if those three did survive, and led him to the Autobots, then perhaps they could be spared punishment. Perhaps he could entice the femme, Shatter, to work for him as a spy against Shockwave, her dossier did make mention of her loyalty to the cause itself before the dictates of her superiors; that was assuming however that she wasn't already offlined permanently by now. At the very least he wouldn't have to deal with Starscream's treacherous antics for a while.
"Affirmitive; Lord Megatron," The telepath responded, "Soundwave; will pursue objectives immediately."
"You are dismissed," Megatron confirmed, waving him off. Soundwave turned about without further ceremony and plodded back towards the lift in silence. Megatron turned back to the massive viewing portal next to his throne and beheld the glory of his newly reunited planet, and thought back upon Elita-1's proclaimation and scoffed internally.
Freedom would not restore Cybertron to glory.
For Cybertron to rise beyond it's former greatness it needed firm leadership, his leadership.
From his leadership there would be order, from order there will be unity, and from unity comes strength.
Cybertron's future may not be 'free', but it would be strong.
He would make it so.
Author's Note: This chapter took a little longer to get right. Fleshing out action sequences are difficult for me, especially when the setting is a warzone the scale of Cybertron. I may or may not return to this chapter to revise it a little. Please leave reviews!