Chapter 11

Beast Machines Universe

All over the planet Cybertron, on the surface, in the cities, even in orbit, a battle was raging on.

But at the same time, through all of the world wide chaos, one special group led by the leaders of both groups who formed the alliance of invaders, had landed on the surface, at a place close to the Maximal Capital in the sector of Iacon.

The entire rest of the battle however was in truth not much more than a distraction.

When the time came however at least the forces of the Cybertronian Empire would return in even greater force to remove the stain of the techno-organics who were occupying it from this version of their world...that was at least what they themselves were thinking. But this time had not come yet.

For now they were here because they were looking for something. It was something that the Empire...no, more precisely the Liege Maximo himself...had been looking for a long time...something that they had crossed dimensions for, many times during the last years.

Now they had found it. The precious object they had been searching for was in reach.

Besides that, the temporary alliance they had formed with the Decepticons from one of the universes they had last scouted was more of an spontanous act.

It had ultimately been the idea and the decision of alone the Liege Centurio Megatron, who had been overseeing the operation and seen an vital opportunity...and no one else.

His counterpart, the other Megatron present and leader of the Decepticons in one of the many parallel universes, was the one who had agreed to it...distrustful, but he agreed.

This group was now heading for a special location, a place deep under the surface of the planet.

They had just reached the entrance that would lead them to the underground world of Cybertron. It was one of the countless tunnels that pervaded and connected the interior of the entire planet. Most of them had been forgotten about during the course of time. Many even long before the end of the Great War and the time the Maximals and Predacons took over this world.

"So this is it?" Megatron, the leader of the Decepticon half of their alliance, stated. "I hope you are sure about you information. Remember, our agreement depends on it. I have not provided you my help just for a military adventure."

"Of course I am sure," his counterpart, the other Megatron, replied. "The source of power I have spoken of is here."

"And don´t even think about betraying me," the Decepticon leader added.

"Of course not," the other one responded. "I would never try something like that...at least not with you...You and me are the same after all," he stated.

"Yes, that is true," Megatron replied, "we are the same," he said in a quieter tone.

Together they now passed the entrance and stepped inside. The way was leading them down to the lower levels.

xxxxxxx

The fighting had long spread over the entire planet... and broken up into different areas where, sometimes entire strike-teams, small groups or even just single robots were fighting each other.

Somewhere in the central area of Iacon, the group that included the last `visitors´ from other universes, that meant Optimus, Sentinel Prime and the doppelganger of Starscream, just like the Maximals Cheetor, Silverbolt, Blackarchnia and Rattrap, was now fighting off enemies from all sides.

Despite everything what happened so far, Optimus had to admit he was surprised. He had expected the group who had originally invaded his world to come back and cause more trouble, but not something like this.

This here looked like an wide-scale invasion...and it was not only that. He could make out several enemies who were wearing the Decepticon brand, while others didn´t have a insignia at all, just like the group who had just attacked his own Cybertron a short time ago.

What did that mean? Had this strangers allied themselves with the Decepticons of his world? If this was the case it could very likely be a disaster for the Autobots.

Right next to him Sentinel´s thoughts went into a similar direction. He as well was worried about the implications of this attack. Like Optimus he recognized the robots who were responsible for the fact that they landed here in the first place. This was truly not what he had imagined his week to be. Fighting of an intrusion from an unknown force, then being stranded in another universe...one full of techno-organics...and all that together with Optimus Prime of all people.

No this was truly not his week.

The two Primes were still fighting side by side against the enemies that had surrounded them and the others, while partly taking cover behind a large piece of debris that had been blown off from the building next to them.

Beside him Optimus just fired a volley of laser-blasts at an airborne enemy fighter who had been targeting him a few moments before. In opposite to his opponent though his shots actually hit, burned through the armor into the chest and upper of the Transformer, who was flying in robot above the area, into his vital systems...and sent him falling to the ground as a burning wreck.

It had been one of the unmarked robots who had tried to invade his own Cybertron earlier, as Optimus recognized. Not too far from his now fallen opponent however, he could also see a couple of actual Decepticon seekers flying in attack formation.

Starscream, who was fighting in some distance to them, to say it bluntly was not happy, not at all. He knew this were Megatron´s troops. But it was completely new to him that his old commander had been planning an invasion to this universe here. Or that he would even consider allying himself with a faction of Decepticons. But here he was, standing right in the middle of a wide-scale invasion. He began now to understand how deeply he had been set up by Megatron.

It just wasn´t fair, a part of him thought, that his own leader would betray him like that. If at all it should have been him, the lower officer who was just looking for recognition, who would be setting a trap.

All over Iacon and the neighboring sectors, Maximals and Predacons alike were fighting off the two groups of invaders.

At one place a Maximal in a scorpion-mode was dueling a Cybertronian Empire soldier, but was shot in the back and killed by a Decepticon in tank form.

At another a Predacon was fighting a Decepticon who was several times his size, but managed to keep his opponent at bay with the use of both a blaster and a energon sword.

A few miles from that a Decepticon seeker was being hit and blown up by a shot from a laser cannon that had been a leftover of the planet´s automatic defense-system from before the Great Reformation, that was still working.

A couple of Cybertronian Empire ground-units, who had already slaughtered over a dozen unarmed natives right after their landing, were now busy hunting down two other seemingly equally defenseless techno-organics. They saw that they had just driven their `prey´ into a corner. The two native robots were standing in front of a large structure with no hope of escape.

But before they even had the chance to fire, they two `hunters´ suddenly realized that they themselves were being surrounded by 20 Maximal soldiers who now came out of hiding and had their weapons pointed at them...and were blown to pieces.

The troops of the Cybertronian Empire had thought that this world, being populated only by techno-organics, would be an easy victim. They now had to find out in the hard way that they were wrong.

Their troops had been convinced that the Maximals and Predacons, being part organic, would be therefore automatically inferior to them.

Right now some of them were paying for that assumption with their life-energon.

xxxxxxx

Cybertronian Empire Universe

After successfully raiding the outpost they had found, the combined group of Autobots and Decepticons was now moving along the edge of the giant maze that was serving as the fighting ground for this `tournament´.

It was successfull in more than just one sense. Beside the information about the location of the device that they hoped could bring them back home, they had also found various data about the Empire itself.

In the end there was more than just one reason for them to return. This was about more than their own lives.

This so called Cybertronian Empire was a threat, to all of them. They needed to return, not only for their own sakes, but also to warn their worlds that they could maybe be the next target.

All in all things were in fact going better than expected. Neither the guard forces of this area or the other teams that were forced to compete here with each other had found them so far.

But there was another problem...that one of them was just bringing up:

"How can we just leave?" Bumblebee asked. "There are still so many other captives here," he argued, "...in the other groups," he added somewhat more uneasy.

"Yes Autobot, in the same groups that are supposed to fight and kill us right now," Skywarp remarked.

"Right now they would very likely shoot you on sight if you try to approach them," Scourge pointed out. "Well, if you actually want to try to talk to them, I will not stop you. One Autobot less to worry about in the multiverse," he murmured.

"I hate to admit it, but the Decepticons have a point," Arcee stated. "The members of the different groups here have been turned against each other, Autobots and Decepticons alike. It is a wonder that even we were able to cooperate..and even that had nearly ended in a shoot out. If we try to talk to them, we would possibly be killed. We can not risk that...not now."

"But how can we just leave all of these robots behind?" Bumblebee questioned once again.

"How can we not?" Skywarp replied sarcastically. "Ever paid any attention to the situation we are in Autobot?"

"He is right. You all saw the data we have recovered," Arcee reminded Bumblebee and also the others. "This entire perverse `Game´ here is ultimately just a test-area. They want to find out about the strengths and weaknesses of our universes."

"Yes, I know that..." Sari spoke up, "but by just capturing a few small groups of fighters? that seems a bit...well..."

"I understand what you mean," the female Autobot responded. "Since you are from Earth, it makes sense for you to think like that. But remember, we are a artificial race. Every one of us is practically an assemblance of the weapon- and defense-technology of our dimensions. To that come all the information that they had been able to copy from our personal data-banks as they had captured us."

"I see," the small redheaded techno-organic answered.

"Whatever happened, we need to warn our home-worlds about this threat," Arcee stated. "I hate the thought as much as you...leaving so many Autobots behind..." She now noticed Skywarp giving her a glare. "...and also the Decepticons," she added.

This was answered with a sharky grin from the black seeker which she returned in the same manner.

"It is nice to know that you care about us," he said sarcastically.

"You are welcome," she replied.

Arcee didn´t trust this Decepticons...she didn´t trust any Decepticons, no matter which universe they came from, for good reasons. But in the time they had been here, she admitted, there had been developed some strange kind of mutual respect...at least for the most of them.

Her optics wandered to the Decepticon Shockwave, alias Longarm, who had deceived them from the beginning into thinking that he was an ally...an Autobot...from the beginning and then nearly provoked them and the Decepticons who were now with them into trying to kill each other. Not that it would have taken much to do this. She also remembered the Shockwave from her own world and what he was responsible for. No, there were some Decepticons she would certainly never trust in the slightest, she thought.

The one-eyed robot in question meanwhile had been following the conversation, silently. He himself would have a few things to add. But he also knew that at the moment none of them were feeling particular friendly to him. The stand-off that nearly led to a shoot-out between their, at that time two, groups was to a great part caused by him. At that time his priorities had been his own return to his world and...if possible...get rid of as many Autobots as possible in the process...in that order.

He knew now however, after finding the full information about this `Cybertronian Empire´, how much of a danger it truly represented, that his priorities had been wrong. So he had followed the obvious conclussion and rearranged them. Stopping this new threat from reaching his home-world had definitely a much higher importance than he originally calculated.

It was only logical. But he also knew that the others were very likely not seeing it in that way...and take his choices personally.

For that reason it was as well a logical conclusion to him, to stay out of this discussion and stay quiet, at least for the moment.

In his opinion this entire conversation right now between the others had been a waste of time. There had been said nothing that had not been obvious from the beginning. Or at least should have...if they all had been thinking logical.

Of course thinking logically was something someone like the Autobot Bumblebee seemed hardly capable of...either version of him.

Not that any of that truly mattered right now. They were now approaching the area where the device that was able to send them back was located.

Unless the others illogical behavior would turn out to do anything to threaten their current mission, there was no reason to pay much attention to it.

At least not until their actions might actually become a problem...in that case he would act.

xxxxxxx

Beast Machines Universe

Cybertron-Underground

While on the surface the fighting was still going on, the group around the two Megatron´s had continued their way through this Cybertron´s underground.

It wasn´t an easy way as they found out. The changes on the reformated planet raged, as they were finding out first hand now, far deeper than the surface. In fact the newly grown organic components were reaching down right to the core of the former metal-world.

Many of the old tunnels had been cut off, blocked or completely ripped apart. So they had to move around this sections and find another way. In the most cases, they were just burning themselves through the walls and went on in the same direction.

The reasons that they could find their way at all were only two. First was that Megatron...the one of the Cybertronian Empire...had actually learned everything that was there to know about this ancient underground tunnel system.

Of course his knowledge was far from perfect, since the tunnels were not necessarely completely identical in the different versions of Cybertron across the multiverse. Still given where he got his instructions from, his knowledge was very detailed.

The second reason was the strange device he was holding in his hand. This as well had been given to him by the Liege Maximo himself. Inside was a small spark that had been said to be taken from the life-force of all Cybertronians itself and that was reacting to the object they were searching for. Even Megatron himself was not completely sure if this was the complete truth or just a rumor. He only knew about it what The Liege had told him.

Not that it mattered where it came from, important was that the device was working. It was leading them directly to their goal.

What they hadn´t noticed was that they by now had entered a secured area...and activated the hidden sensors that alarmed the Transformers on the surface about their presence.