Deep in the heart of Iacon, hidden behind the city's protective walls, Optimus and his crew prepared for their desperate mission. They were in the process of loading up supplies onto their space cruiser, everyone lending a servo. Massacre struggled under the weight of a particularly heavy crate, trying to get it up the ramp into the ship.
"Let me get that for you." Bulkhead offered, picking up the crate.
Massacre watched as he heaved the crate over one shoulder, carrying one of equal size on the other.
"Showoff!" she accused, making her way down for another, smaller, crate.
"It's called skill!" Bulkhead yelled back. "You have your thing, and I have mine."
"Yeah, yeah, every bot has a purpose." Massacre told him, waving a servo dismissively. "Still, I wish my thing wasn't total destruction."
"That's only true if you believe that." Prowl reminded her, slipping past her with a pair of crates in his arms. "Remember, it's the warrior inside that matters."
Massacre cracked a smile, then resumed loading up the ship.
...
Across the planet at Kaon, the Decepticons were hard at work getting the Nemesis loaded up for their journey. Entire platoons of vehicons brought crates and crates of Energon, weapons, and supplies aboard under the careful eye of Soundwave.
With the loading efforts in capable servos, Megatron was able to focus on gathering his team to accompany him on the mission. He entered Kaon's barracks, where his soldiers were gathered.
"Lord Megatron!" Lugnut, an oversized Decepticon with an even more oversized loyalty streak, called out, bowing respectfully. "To what do we owe the pleasure of your presence?"
"We are embarking on an important mission, Lugnut." Megatron told him. "I require capable warriors to carry it out. Your brutish strength and undying loyalty to our cause will be of great use to me."
"Oh, thank you Lord Megatron!" Lugnut cried out, bowing over and over again.
"Oh give it a rest, lughead!" Black Arachnia, a rare insecticon demanded. "Honestly, you make me want to blow a gasket with your tailpipe kissing."
"You best get used to it, Black Arachnia." Megatron told her. "Your services will be needed as well."
"Oh goodie." She replied dryly.
"I suppose if these two are going, then I will be as well." Blitzwing said with his purple face before switching over to his pixelated one. "After all, someone needs to keep these two from snuffing each other!"
"It's against my better judgment, but yes Blitzwing." Megatron confirmed. "Your 'unique' disposition is needed to best the Autobots."
"Lord Megatron." Starscream began. "If I may be so bold, I would gladly volunteer to stay behind and command the war efforts in your absence."
Megatron just grabbed Starscream by the wind and pulled him in close.
"If I left you in charge, I'd lose all of Cybertron before I got the chance to return!" Megatron yelled, throwing him to the ground. "You will be coming with us, so I can keep a close eye on you and make sure you won't lose any more of my warriors!"
Starscream gulped, then nodded.
"As you wish, Lord Megatron." He declared. "Then perhaps… I can offer you a suggestion for a medical officer for this journey, since you have so wisely elected to leave Shockwave here."
"Who did you have in mind?" Megatron asked.
The doors opened, and a red Decepticon walked in, followed by a blue and steel one.
"Knockout and Breakdown." Starscream declared. "I promise you that they will serve you well, my lord."
"Lord Megatron, Breakdown and I are at your service." Knockout addressed as he and Breakdown bowed.
"Very well." Megatron allowed.
About that time, the doors to the barracks opened, allowing Soundwave to enter.
"Lord Megatron, the Nemesis is loaded and ready to launch." he announced.
"Then let us depart!" Megatron ordered. "I want as little time as possible between now, and Optimus Prime's inevitable demise."
…
As the last of the cargo was loaded onto the Autobot ship, Optimus met with Ultra Magnus.
"You have nothing to worry about, sir." Magnus reassured. "I'll keep up the fight here in your absence."
"I know you will." Optimus told him. "I have faith in you, old friend."
Bumblebee came out of the ship, buzzing loudly to alert Prime that the ship was ready to depart.
"Best of luck, Prime." Magnus told him.
"And to you." Prime replied, taking off towards the ship.
Prime boarded the ship and made his way into the command deck, where the other Autobots were waiting for him.
"Are we set for launch?" Prime asked, taking his seat.
"Ready as we'll ever be." Ratchet declared grouchily.
"Oh lighten up, Ratchet." Massacre joked, elbowing the old med-bot. "You've been to Solaris-3 before. That's where we first met after all."
"Prowl, commence countdown sequence." Prime commanded.
"Take off in, 5." Prowl counted down. "4. 3. 2. 1!"
Finally, the engines fired up, and the ship took off out of the hanger, headed out into the stars.
…
Onboard the Nemesis, the Decepticons were seeing their enemies soaring for the stars.
"The Autobots have launched, Megatron." Soundwave reported.
"Then so will we." Megatron let out. "Blast off! Now!"
Blitzwing immediately launched the ship. The Nemesis blasted off in pursuit of the Ark, intent on intercepting the Autobots before they got to the Space Bridge. Megatron smirked, turning to his troops.
"Once their ship is in range, cripple them." he ordered. "Then prepare a boarding party. I want to watch the light fade from Prime's optic sensors personally."
"As you command, Lord Megatron." Soundwave replied. "Operation: Interception."
...
Onboard the Ark, the Autobots were manning their stations, eager to get to the resources needed to save their planet. Massacre was particularly anxious, her metallic feet tapping lightly on the ground at her feet. Ratchet noticed her excitement and smirked.
"You seem excited." He noted.
"Of course I am." she told him. "For the first time in stellar cycles, I'm going to see the planet I'm from. I wonder how much it's changed."
"I can only imagine." Ratchet replied.
"I barely remember my life before CORD, and frankly, it would be nice to return to my old stomping grounds, so to speak." she added. "I thought you'd be excited too, Ratchet."
"I am intrigued to say the least." Ratchet admitted. "But I am also happy for you."
Massacre smiled at Ratchet, then returned to her post.
"Approaching the Space Bridge gate." Prowl reported.
"Proceed with caution." Prime warned.
Prowl began his approach, then Bumblebee stood up. He buzzed frantically, pointing at the ship's radar. The radar was beeping rhythmically, signaling that something was coming up behind them.
"He's right!" Bulkhead replied. "We got a bogey on our behind!"
"Decepticons." Prime let out. "Bulkhead, Massacre, man the weapons!"
"Yes sir!" they replied in unison, immediately running to man the guns.
...
"Lord Megatron, the Autobots have spotted us." Black Arachnia announced. "They're locking onto us."
"Maintain course and prepare to return fire!" Megatron ordered.
"As you command, Lord Megatron." Soundwave replied.
Starscream gulped, then approached Megatron nervously.
"Lord Megatron… might I ask why we're not attempting to evade their inevitable attacks?"
"If we delay, we risk Prime escape through the Space Bridge!" Megatron yelled. "And I will not allow Prime to slip through my fingers again!"
Starscream flinched hard.
"R-right, of course." he whimpered. "Forgive me."
...
Massacre adjusted her seat, lowering the reticle over her eye as she took aim. Bulkhead looked over as he pulled open the chamber and loaded the fusion battery into the guns. He looked to Massacre, then the room darkened with a flashing red light. They took their aim.
"Nemesis in sight. Broadside. Preparing to fire." Bulkhead said, before turning to Massacre, "You ready kid?"
She only nodded, her stare hardening as her thumb danced over the firing button.
"Steady…" Bulkhead said, looking for the weak spots, "Steady...and-"
"Fire!" Massacre shouted, her thumbs slamming down.
The cannon barrels lit up as electricity danced across the barrel. A loud crack echoed through space as numerous beams of green energy flew across the void, exploding across numerous decks along the Nemesis. Massacre pumped her arm as Bulkhead stood up from his chair.
"Yeah!" he cheered. "That's from the Wreckers, Megatron!"
"Don't get cocky, Bulkhead." Massacre warned as she looked down at her radar, watching as it lit up. "Darn, we've got vehicons incoming!"
Sure enough, Aerial Vehicons were pouring out of the Nemesis, closing in on the Ark. The two gunbots adjusted their grips on their guns, their optic sensors narrowing.
"Ready Bulk?" Massacre asked.
"Ready!" Bulk replied. "Switching to alternative fire."
He reached up to the switches, preparing to do just that. Massacre turned back to him in confusion.
"Alternative fire?" She questioned. "We can-"
"Bigger ain't always better, Flygirl." He argued. "The Vehicons are too small for the big guns. If we want a chance of hitting them, we need to switch to the autocannons."
"Right." She took a breath before turning off the fusion guns and switching to the autocannons. "Autocannons online!"
Just then, the ship rocked hard left, Massacre gripping hard onto her controls to keep herself steady. The light flickered violently and her console blinked red. Her optic sensors widened in horror and disbelief.
"Why aren't you firing, Flygirl!" Bulkhead said, his faceplate against the reticles as he fired. "I could use a hand or two here.
"Oh no, no, no, no..." she whispered as she tapped the screen for anything, then a large red warning came up. "No! My guns dead!"
"What?!" The oversized wrecker exclaimed, just as a second explosion rocked the Ark.
...
"Lord Megatron, we've damaged their vessel!" Lugnut reported.
"Pull alongside them and prepare to board!" Megatron commanded.
The Nemesis then began approaching the Ark, quickly overtaking the ship. A grin grew on his faceplate as his fingers clenched in anticipation.
…
Bulkhead and Massacre ran through the narrow maintenance tunnel from the Gun Deck, reaching the far ladder to the bridge. Bulkhead stood beside the ladder as Massacre took lead. Bulkhead followed as Massacre opened the hatch.
"I can't believe those sons-of-glitches took out the guns!" Massacre exclaimed as she helped Bulkhead through the hatch.
Another explosion shook the Ark as the two Wreckers approached the bridge.
"They're going to try and board us!" Prowl declared.
"You two, get your weapons and meet up at the docking doors, now!" Prime commanded.
Bumblebee got to his feet, activating his stingers. Prowl pulled a pair of hubcaps off his wheels, revealing them to be throwing stars. Bulkhead activated two wrecking balls on his hands. Massacre summoned her dual machine guns. Ratchet activated his knifes. Optimus activated his blasters. The metal began glowing around the airlock door, a red hot line tracing around the hinges. Bumblebee and Massacre took to their knee, their coolant running fast.
"Here they come..." Ratchet said quietly.
Bumblebee buzzed, leaning forward slightly. Finally, the wall was blown open, and several Vehicons came pouring in, with Megatron leading the charge.
"Megatron!" Massacre let out.
"Attack!" Megatron yelled, aiming his fusion cannon and firing at the Autobots.
Prowl threw the two caps, which sailed through the narrow hall before hitting two Vehicons right in the chest plate. They fell to the ground as Prowl dashed forward, reclaiming his weapons before jumping over them, reentering the melee. Ratchet stabbed at a Vehicon with one of his knives, unfortunately missing the slippery bot. Luckily, his second knife hit true, allowing him to gut the Vehicon. He freed himself from the now offline shell before jumping over Bumblebee and slashing one to the ground.
Massacre and Bumblebee ended up back to back, their guns primed and ready to fire. The Vehicons didn't give them a chance to fire, letting off the first shots as the hallway filled with gunfire. Bumblebee and Massacre quickly dove behind separate archway doors for cover. Massacre took a deep breath as Bumblebee looked to her. He beeped loudly, doing a series of hand gestures. Massacre nodded in understanding, taking a cautious look at the hallway before taking two potshots at the Vehicons.
"Yeah, I think I can hit him from here." She responded.
Bumblebee booped and gave a thumbs up. He then rolled under the gunshots, firing wildly into the frenzy. Massacre watched him go, waiting for her moment. She smiled confidently, then emerged from the doorway and taking aim at her target.
"Long time no see, Megatron." she quipped. "Last time we met, I stole this body from you!"
"And I look forward to taking it back!" Megatron yelled, firing at her. "Piece by piece!"
One of Prowl's hubcap throwing stars embedded itself into Megatron's gun arm, severely damaging the servo.
"Accursed ninja bot!" Megatron yelled, sharp, metallic teeth grinding in pain.
Prowl quickly ran up and pulled his throwing star free before actually slicing the arm completely off. The Decepticon howled in agony, then grabbed Prowl with his remaining arm. He slammed the ninja-bot into the ground hard, then into the wall. Bumblebee screeched loudly at that, running forward with his stingers.
"Give him some cover, Flygirl!" Bulkhead told her.
Massacre laid down some cover fire with her machine guns, getting rid of vehicons who attempted to intercept the speedy yellow racer. Bumblebee dodged around the Vehicons blasts, jumping up into the air and bringing his stinger down on Megatron's neck joint. Megatron used Prowl to swat Bumblebee away before tossing the ninja bot aside, both of them landing in heaps on the ground.
"Meddlesome scrap heap!" Megatron swore, activating his other arm's hand cannon and aiming it right at Bumblebee.
Seeing this, Prime ran towards Megatron and tackled him to the ground.
"You've taken more than enough lives in this war, Megatron!" Prime declared.
Megatron quickly kicked Prime off of him, ditching the gun arm for something a bit more personal. He summoned up a mace from a sheath on his leg, grabbing it in his free hand before swinging it at Prime. Optimus ducked under it summoning his own battle axe from a sheath on his back. It extended in his hand, the blade humming with energy as it clashed with Megatron's mace.
"When I'm through with you Prime, there won't be enough pieces to sweep up!" Megatron threatened.
"Not today, Megatron." Prime shot right back.
The two continued to clash weapons repeatedly, neither one of them willing to relent to the other. As they clashed again, Prime wrapped the maces chain around his axe, pulling Megatron in close so he could head-butt him.
Meanwhile, the vehicons continued their assault on the other Autobots, Bulkhead, Massacre and Ratchet having to cover for their downed crewmen.
"We're outnumbered, outgunned, and two bots down." Massacre noted.
"Just like back in Altihex, huh?" Bulkhead replied.
"Oh yeah." she shot back.
The two quickly moved out from their cover and began firing at the vehicons, mowing them down. This allowed Ratchet to move in on the downed Autobots and check on them. Prowl got his attention first, since the ninja-bot had taken a rather severe beating.
"Hold still, Prowl." Ratchet told him.
Prowl let out a grunt.
"I doubt… I can do much else." he let out painfully.
As Ratchet worked on Prowl, Bumblebee began to come to, buzzing slightly as he rubbed his head. As his optic sensors regained focus, he noticed a Vehicon closed in on Ratchet. Knowing time was against him, the yellow speedster aimed his blaster at him. He squeezed the trigger, his arm weakening as the gun fired off round after round in the hopes of hitting it. The Vehicon was struck in the front and spiraled down, slamming into the control panel. Suddenly, a third explosion rocked the ship. The lights died and the gravity seemed less. The ship began to lean to one side.
"Scrap!" Massacre swore. "The ship's dead in the air!"
"We need to adjust course before we miss the Space Bridge!" Prowl declared. "Or this mission will have been for nothing!"
"How do we do that?" Bulkhead snapped. "In case you haven't noticed, the ship is fried!"
"Someone's going to have to do it manually!" Ratchet told them.
Massacre perked up, turning to Ratchet.
"Leave that to me." she told him. "I just need some cover!"
"You got it!" Bulkhead replied, blasting away at the vehicons.
Massacre took the opening and bolted out of the ship, jumping through the hole Megatron had made. The second she hit open space, she flew under the ship's hull, grabbing onto it. Once she had a solid grip, she activated her thrusters, manually dragging the ship back on course.
"Ratchet! Activate the Space Bridge!" Massacre yelled.
Ratchet started making his way towards the controls when Megatron took notice of him. His optic sensors widened as he realized what the med-bot was doing. He tried swinging his mace at him, but Prime grabbed the chain and pulled the Decepticon towards him, punching him in the face. After crashing into the wall, Megatron pulled his mace free and swung at Prime, nailing him in the face.
Ratchet was able to hit a button on the control panel, activating the Space Bridge. Across from the Ark, a large circular gateway sparked to life, creating a portal to their intended destination: Earth.
"Portal's operational!" Ratchet yelled on comms. "Massacre, get back in here!"
"I can't!" she informed him. "I'm the only thing keeping this ship moving! I have to get it through the Space Bridge!"
...
Back on the Nemesis, Starscream saw the Space Bridge powering up and immediately took aim at the Ark.
"If that ship makes it to through the Space Bridge, then we might as well hand all of Cybertron over to those accursed Autobots." he snarled. "Fire on my command!"
"Negative." Soundwave responded.
"What?!" Starscream snapped, turning to Soundwave in fury. "You would let our most hated enemy escape?!"
"Lord Megatron is still on board." Soundwave reasoned.
Starscream growled, unable to come up with a good argument against Soundwave's declaration.
"Fine..." he let out. "Then follow that ship through the Space Bridge. We must make sure Lord Megatron is… extracted from the ship as soon as possible."
"Affirmative." Soundwave agreed.
The Nemesis took off after the Ark, following it through the Space Bridge.
...
On the other side of the swirling portal, the Ark emerged into the open space on the dark side of Earth's moon. Once they were through, Massacre began to power down, letting go of the hull and drifting towards the opening in the side of the ship. Ratchet saw this and tried reaching out to her. He managed to grab her arm, pulling her into the ship with a hearty tug.
"I gotcha." he told her.
Megatron and Optimus continued to clash, the latter finally managing to disarm his foe, sending both the axe and the mace flying out of the ship. Optimus held Megatron up over the hole, turning to Ratchet.
"Ratchet, activate Massacre's Ion cannon!" he ordered.
Ratchet looked down at the exhausted Massacre, who was forcing herself to sit up so she was facing Megatron.
"Do it." she insisted.
Ratchet sighed, opening up his arm panel and typing the code. She slowly raised her arms and pressed them together, hinges connected the two and her hands folded down revealing one large gun barrel. Her optics flickered in and out of power as she focused on Megatron. Optimus quickly threw himself out of the way, the energy erupted from the Ion cannon. Megatron screamed out in rage and disbelief as the energy collided with him violently. He was thrown back into the cold darkness of space as the blast continued to travel towards the moon.
…
The Nemesis escaped the space bridge, its sides torn open from the previous firefight, molten slag still bubbling from the energy weapons. Starscream looked upon the bridge, the entire console flashing red as the systems were forced to rely on one or two reactors.
"Good." Starscream mused. "The landing may be a bit rough, but we can still give chase to the Ark."
He looked over at the Ark as it drifted, planning his next move. Then, he saw the white light coming out of the side. His optics narrowed at the sight, recognizing the blast instantly.
"Massacre…" He murmured.
As the bolt of light continued its path through the endless vacuum of space, a large bot was shoved out as well, descending towards the moon. Starscream grinned at that, knowing exactly who the bot was, and that there was nothing to stay Soundwave's hand any further.
"Aim at the Ark!" He ordered. "Megatron isn't on board! We can get them!"
The lone streak of energy passed the floating bot of Megatron, crackling through the void of space as it headed for the moon. It's rough, rocky surface littered with cold stone and craters. The beam seemed intent to hit the moon and stop, forming a new crater and ending there. A lone mirror, with the initials " - 1969" sat among other dust covered mirrors. The ion beam struck it, angling itself straight for the Nemesis. Dancing through the void once more, it entered through one of the deeper cuts on the outer hull, passed the cooling systems, and through the energy couplings and slammed, straight on, into the reactor core.
The reactor exploded violently, the whole ship shook and the lights died one by one all along the vessel. The engines began to wind down and it drifted towards the moon."
"Uh, Starscream…" One of the gunners turned. "I think we lost power."
"Scrap!" Starscream shrieked. "How could this have happened?!"
"Soundwave, can't you stabilize this thing?" Black Arachnia demanded.
"Negative." Soundwave replied. "Reactor core: Offline. Stabilizers: Offline. Status of the Nemesis: Failing"
"Lord Megatron!" Lugnut exclaimed. "Where is Lord Megatron?!"
Blitzwing's face swung until it settled on his red one as he pointed at the large bot flying towards the moon.
"He's in better shape than we are right now!" he shouted. "The Autobot scum jettisoned him from their ship!"
"Pursuing Lord Megatron." Soundwave announced, steering the ship as best he could towards the moon.
...
Optimus pulled himself away from the hole in the hull, turning to the rest of his team. Massacre was basically unconscious, her hands returning to normal. Bumblebee got to his feet, running over to the control panel to try and steer the ship, forgetting that it was destroyed. He buzzed and beeped frantically, pointing at the controls and at the rapidly approaching planet. Already, the ship was beginning to catch fire due to entering the planet's atmosphere.
"Prime..." Bulkhead let out. "We got trouble!"
Prime ran to the controls, cursing as he saw their damaged state. He looked out the window, seeing the lights of civilizations growing ever closer.
"Everyone, get to the stasis pods!" he ordered.
Ratchet got under Massacre, helping her to her feet, the others followed after them, waiting as Ratchet slammed his fist on a large button on the wall, revealing a row of stasis pods. Bulkhead squeezed himself into his, Bumblebee climbing into one next to him. Prowl slipped into a third as Ratchet arranged Massacre in hers.
"Optimus, hurry!" the old med-bot insisted, preparing to climb into his own pod.
"I have to try and steer us away from this populated sector." Prime insisted.
As the pods closed around the five Autobots, Prime grabbed the steering mechanism, praying to Primus that it was still connected. Luckily for him, it was. He yanked back on it hard, leveling out the Ark just long enough for the ship to pass over several tall buildings. It clipped an antennae here and there, but aside from that, no damage was done. Unfortunately, that's when steering gave out, leaving the ark on a collision course with a large, flat-topped mountain.
"OPTIMUS!" Ratchet screamed.
Prime ditched the wheel, running towards his pod. He got in quickly, the pod sealing around him just as the ship collided violently with the side of the mountain. The ship shook hard as sirens went off in the ship.
"Warning: Critical damage to Ark." Teletraan One, the ship's onboard AI reported. "Initiating Emergency Stasis Mode."
Prime turned and watched as Ratchet got into his pod, the door slamming shut and a pneumatic hiss echoing. Optimus sighed in relief as he leaned back in his pod, the ship rocked as small explosions echoed through the wreck. His receptors slowly closing as the pod began to slowly fog, and ice crystalized. The last thing he heard was a loud, cacophonous boom just before he powered down.