Transformers: Uprising

by kira444

Prequel to Titan. Before Optimus became a Prime, he fought for order. Before Megatron became a conqueror, he fought for freedom. Before they were enemies, they fought for the preservation of Cybertron's future. Before the Great War, there was...the Uprising.

12. Trigger

Chapter 12-Trigger

The Great Fire of Tarn, as the event was being called in the media, had reached every part of Cybertron in the span of just a few hours. The citizens were horrified at the sight of this powerful beast leveling a city as large as Tarn in just a single night. There were many questions, of course. Where did it come from? How did it get there despite city defenses? What did this mean in the grand scheme of things? The speculations flooded in, ranging from a prelude to an alien attack to a sign from Primus that he was unhappy with his children.

But the "truth" came in the form of leaked images; photos of a Functionist airship dropping a white ball that had transformed into the Kadesh that ravaged Tarn. Not to mention some sightings of the vessel hovering over the city around the same area where the best had begun its rampage. The response was immediate as it was violent; the Functionists had something to do with that monster. Maybe they were even directly responsible for bringing the creature into Tarn's airspace. Either way, this case of misinformation caused a lot of new problems for the Functionist Council, who ran damage control because of it.

Steelheart was furious. She knew that this was the work of Sentinel Prime and his lackies. That "soldier boy" as she dubbed him, had a chip on his shoulder against them for years, and now he was starting to act on his dream of kicking her organization in the teeth and gloating about it on the DataNet. The bastard had the bearings to go and frame them, his genetic betters, like they were some wayward politician that had rustled his circuits. She wanted nothing more than to rip out his Spark and stomp on it as the light died from his eyes. But she didn't want to start a war with the senate…yet.

'That fool has no idea who he's messing with.' Steelheart thought coldly. 'But he'll learn. I'll make him learn."

She was sitting in her personal chambers in Kalis, with Obliteration and Nightwielder watching the broadcasts with an air of unease and festering rage.

"What should we do?" Obliteration asked.

"I'm heading to Tarn to speak with Decimus and try to get Sentinel's good for nothing ass on the line. We need to salvage this mess as soon as possible." She turned her mirror-like face towards Nightwielder. "You will stay here and guard over the base with Deathpoint and Faultline. If anyone comes on our land without authorization, kill them."

Turning to Obliteration, she said, "You gather Regalia and Conflux from Nova Cronum. Ready out troops and be ready for any surprises. Heads will roll today and I doubt that I doubt that everyone will sit still long enough to hear our story. Dismissed."

Obliteration and Nightwielder bowed their heads. "All is one."

Steelheart nodded. "All is one."

XXXXX

Megatron hadn't moved from the cathedral since he entered it with Elmeth's body. An hour after Orion Pax had left him, Nightshade and Soundwave found him, along with a plasma flare they brought along. It was a device that emitted a strong plasma burst that could dissolve cybertronian bodies. It was used by gladiators to cremate warriors who had proven themselves in the arena; mechs and femmes who became legends.

Megatron had placed Elmeth's broken body on the flare and watched it burn. He didn't take his eyes off her as her metal skin slowly peeled away, her optics shattered softly from the heat, her circuits melted and internal organs welded together. He watched it all with a blank expression and didn't move from his position even as the last of her remains had been burned to ash. He sat there, in the dark, letting rain pour down on him from the hole in the roof. Nightshade and Soundwave stood to the side in mournful silence, letting the mech have his time to grieve.

It wasn't until the sun began to shine that Nightshade mustered up the courage to walk up to the still silent Megatron. "Megatron? Can you hear me?"

He said nothing, but she knew he was listening to a degree.

"Megatron, what are you going to do? This was obviously a conspiracy to attack you and the Decepticons." She said. "Soundwave and I are here to help you, but we need to know what you plan on doing next."

Megatron sat still, staring at the white feather in his hands. Then he gave her a dull look and stood up, walking past her. Soundwave knew well enough to let him walk past as he headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" She called out.

Megatron didn't pause in his stride as he neared the doors. "I'm going to the citadel to meet with the senator. And gather some friends of mine for the trip."

Nightshade was perplexed. "You're going to start a protest?"

"No." Megatron stopped at the doors and glanced back at her. "No more words."

XXXXXX

Zeta of Sistex sat at her desk reading over the many reports of Tarn's decimation at the hands of the winged beast. On the TV monitor, news reports on all the channels were also reporting on the rescue and relief effort in Tarn that were underway, looped continuously with random updates on the situation.

"This is a nightmare." Halogen of Iacon, another councilman sympathetic to Zeta's cause, groaned with his head in his hands. "To think that things could escalate this far in a single night."

"Where the beast came from and what it is, is still speculation. But there are images of a functionist airship hovering over the city around the time the creature landed in Tarn." Zeta sighed and tossed the datapad on her desk. "They really stepped in it this time."

"That's an understatement. People are calling for the Functionists' heads right now, and the other senators are fanning the flames. The people want someone to blame."

"And Sentinel is giving them one." Zeta frowned. "Halogen, we're teetering on the edge of crossroads here. The Decepticons are on the verge of tearing down the rest of Tarn in rebellion and the senate and functionists are on the verge of declaring war on each other. We need to do something now before the world commits suicide."

"Like what?" Asks Halogen. "What can we do that doesn't involve starting a war ourselves?"

"If the functionists really did set that creature on Tarn, then we must take action immediately." She stared hard at Halogen. "We must take out the Functionist Council."

"Take them out? As in kill them? Are you mad!?" Halogen exclaimed. "If what Shadowkat says about them is true, then we'll be fighting against a group of powerful outliers."

"All the more reason to eliminate them. The Council has a bigger god complex than the Seekers and the chaos in Tarn was their declaration of war against the senate. We need to stop this now before Cybertron is dragged into a war of two evils."

Halogen was about to protect her rash decision, when he heard footsteps behind him. They turned to see Orion Pax march into the room, haggard and exhausted, with a blank look in his eyes that made the usually bright, sapphire blue glow in his optics dimmer than usual. Ever since he returned to the Manganese Mountains, he had been deathly quiet, moving around the halls like a spector, rarely staying in one place for too long. Him addressing Halogen was the longest he ever spoke since his return.

"It's us or them, senator." Orion said. "We don't have a choice anymore. They need to go now before they attack another city and kill more people."

"Orion, do you have something in mind?" Zeta asked softly.

"We gain as much information on the Functionist Council. Learn everything about all of them, their bases, their operations, key locations they put stock in. Then we hit them hard." A dark look fell over his face. "And we don't stop hitting them until every one of them is dead!"

XXXXXX

'This is a disaster!'

Steelheart's thoughts reflected her worsening mood as she sat in the office of Senator Ixion of Tarn, listening to the politician read the rulebook on what he thought was a blatant act of "terrorism". Obliteration stood next to her like a silent bodyguard, even though she was just as capable of defending herself if the senator got They sat near the top of the citadel, which was one of the few places that weren't touched by the Kadesh's flames the previous night. Seeing Ixion so angry made Steelheart livid as well; a few months ago, this plebian would've been cowering in fear of her very presence. No one would've thought to raise a hand against her or the rest of the Council. But alas, their power was waning drastically, and this incident had complicated matters greatly.

But the really catch was that the rest of the senate didn't even know that it was Sentinel's actions that released the Kadesh. The Prime had been working behind the scenes of his own conspirators to lessen the chances of his plans being leaked. Ixion's anger was too genuine to be fake.

'I know all of my carriers were present and accounted for, and were in no way within Tarn's airspace. That fake Prime framed me, and had the arrogance to keep knowledge of it from most of the senate!' She thought. 'When this passes over, I'm going to have Sentinel get caught in a little "accident".'

"Are you listening to me, Steelheart?" Ixion growled, slamming his fist on his desk for dramatic effect. "Daydreaming in the middle of a private session isn't in your best interests!"

"I was waiting for you to run out of steam. Seems you have a lot of pent up aggression." She quipped.

"How dare you joke at a time like this!" Ixion stood up and leaned towards her. "You don't get to joke after your pet ravaged my city and killed-"

A low rumble from Obliteration's chest took the wind from Ixion's sails and forced him back on instinct. The guards at the door took a cautious step forward with their weapons. Steelheart had Obliteration calm down before standing up, looming over Ixion by a foot in height.

"Let me make one point very clear for that tiny brain of yours," Steelheart began. "Neither I nor my colleagues had anything to do with this…tragedy as you like to call it. Though I doubt you give a damn about these people living in this city you moronic, sad excuse of a cybertronian. And that ship is not ours, so get your facts straight!"

"Then whose ship is it?"

"You figure it out, senator. You're the one with all the answers." She replied tersely.

Ixion smirked. "But I'm not the one with something to prove."

Steelheart came dangerously close to blasting a hole through Ixion's chest and crushing his head in her hand. But before any violence could be wrought, the senator's aid came busting in through the door like Unicron was on his heels.

"What is it?" Ixion scowled. "Can't you see I'm busy?"

"I'm sorry for the interruption sir, but we have urgent news coming from the local police force. Apparently there's a massive crowd of people heading towards the citadel. A rally being led by the Decepticons!"

XXXXXX

It was the largest gathering of Decepticons since the Clampdown first began. Most of them were Tarnian Cons, but they were mixed up with bots from other cities wanting to show their support, many of them members of the middle and lower castes. No one knew how such a gathering took place without anyone noticing, but with the city in total chaos, the local militia (what was left of them) had other concerns than a few wayward Decepticons acting strangely. It was the same type of negligence that had led to the formation of the Decepticons in the first place, and it was going to bite them in the afts just like last time.

The massive crowd marched through the streets like a violent, unstoppable river. It was a collection of shouts and jeers coming from mechs and femmes from all over the city, not just Decepticons but miners, smelters, forgers, soldiers, anyone you could think of. There were even some Minicons milling about the large feet of their Bulk relatives.

And leading this large group of bots was none other than Megatron himself. He still had the damages he obtained from Ember; the left side of his face was burned, with his eye missing an optic lens, his right arm also severely burned, deep claw marks on his shoulders and chest. A weaker bot would be teetering on the edge of death, but Megatron was strong. His expression was hard as stone and displayed only a fraction of the emotions bubbling beneath the surface. He was on a mission, and that was to meet Tarn's esteemed senator even if he had to drag the bastard out by his neck cables.

Of course, Senator Ixion was less than willing to face an angry mob head on, but he had no other options. The entire world was watching Tarn, and that meant they had eyes on him. He wanted them to see him publicly deface Steelheart and her faction. With that in mind, he had to put up a feeble façade of bravery. He briskly bade Steelheart a goodbye and exited the building with four Elite Guardsmen equipped with MK 2 fusion cannons. Taking the elevator down to ground level, Ixion stood before the large crowd of a thousand angry bots.

"Now I know you're angry and confused. So am I. what happened here last night was a tragedy of unimaginable heights." Ixion said in a loud voice. He had to cater to the bleeding hearts of these savages to avoid a riot on his hands. "But let me assure you all that we are going to find the cause of this and bring the criminals to justice!"

"That's a load of slag!" A young mech shouted at the front. "We all know that this was just a ploy to get rid of us. Let's face it, you people in the senate wouldn't hesitate to put us behind bars just for looking at you the wrong way!"

"Now see here-"

"Well we aren't having it! You can blow as much smoke out of your gasket all you want, but you aren't shutting us up. We're sick and tired of being treated like scrap by a bunch of pencil pushing gearheads that couldn't even throw a punch!"

"Yeah, you couldn't care less about us!" A femme shouted.

"You'll only provide aid to those upper caste clowns!"

"Get fragged!"

"Go to hell!"

"Burn!"

The shouts and insults grew louder, dwarfing Ixion's words as he tried to calm them down. Seeing that he wasn't going to get through to the crowd through civilized means, Ixion snapped his fingers and pointed at the mech that had sparked the shouting match in the first place. The first soldier on his right aimed his fusion cannon and blasted a hole through the mech's torso. The bot fell to the ground with a smoking hole in his gaping chest, and the whole crowd suddenly went silent.

"Are you done yet? Good," Ixion nodded. "Now as I was saying, we, the senate, are doing everything we can to bring those horrid criminals to justice. In the meantime, you all can help clean the de-"

He was interrupted by movement in the front row-from Megatron. The gladiator moved with astounding quickness, pulling out a laser pick-axe and throwing it across the few feet between him and the senator. The pick axe caught Ixion in the shoulder, nearly severing his arm at the joint, and he stumbled onto his back. His assistant, Longshot, ran over to him and looked over his sparkling wound.

"What are you waiting for?" Longshout shouted. "Shoot them!"

Fusion cannons fired up and unleashed heavy energy blasts on the crowd, causing them to scatter. The gladiators formed a defensive line in front of the civilians and rushed at the Guardsmen. Many were shot down before they could get too close, but even more managed to close the distance between them and started cutting down the soldiers. As they clashed, the wounded senator was escorted back into the citadel for medical attention. Ixion had made a gross miscalculation, one that has tarnished his public image to his people.

Back in the office several stories up, Steelheart and Obliteration watched the riot commence down below. She chuckled as she saw the pompous fool get injured by Megatron of all people. The mech made an obvious mistake that no politician worth their shanix would make and he paid the price for it. But soon she had forgotten all about the senator and focused her attention on the rest of the fighting.

Soldiers and civilians were fighting in the streets, tearing each other apart. The Guardsmen had no qualms about using lethal force to quell the mob. They deployed EMP grenades and shock bombs to bring down some mechs, and shot down others with high powered plasma rifles and fusion cannons. But they weren't unscathed. Some of the gladiators brutally beat down some soldiers and took their weapons, using them on the very bots who made them. Energy bolts and bullets streaked through the air, hitting the ground or the sides of buildings or destroying neon signs in bright showers of sparks. A frag grenade was dropped near a ruptured gas line and detonated, igniting the gas and blowing a hole in the ground, killing dozens alone. It was pure chaos, and it was so enticing to Steelheart.

Then she saw Megatron, the Decepticon father and Cybertron's bane. He was at the heart of it all, slashing and hacking away at his enemies with his broadsword. His face was a mask of rage, covered in energon and eyes glowing like fire as he sliced a Guardsman in half in one slash.

"Should we do something, Steelheart?" Obliteration asked.

"By all rights, we should let Megatron and his followers tear the army apart." She said. "But this is the perfect opportunity to get the public on our side. Go down there and apprehend Megatron. Don't kill him, but make sure he won't be able to stand up again. Now, show the world the power we wield!"

Obliteration nodded and took a couple of steps back before sprinting forward and smashing through the window. Gravity took hold of him and he fell towards the ground like an orange star.

XXXXXX

Megatron was in a blind rage, hacking and tearing away at anything that had a badge. He ducked under a plasma blast that flew over his head and stabbed his sword into a soldier's chest, gutting him straight through the Spark and slashing his torso from the chest up. He spun around and beheaded another soldier in one swipe of his blade. He took a moment to study the chaos around him and was pleased to see that his gladiators were starting to gain the upper hand against the Elite Guardsmen.

"Burn it all to the ground!" Megatron bellowed. "Tear them apart! Show them how strong we are!"

Someone grabbed him from behind and he quickly spun around, grabbing his offender by the neck and squeezing until his iron grip crushed the soldier's neck cables in a gush of light energon. As he tossed the body away, Megatron thought of how ironic this was; he spent so many years trying to avoid an all out riot like this from taking place, in hopes that his words alone could bring the Decepticons to victory. And all it took was a single hour for him to galvanize his people into beating their oppressors down to the ground. He felt a hand grab his foot and stomped on the fallen mech's head. He was done talking. If this was what the senate wanted, then so be it.

'I'll burn all of this to ash and rebuild Cybertron from the ground up if I have to!' He mentally growled.

"Incoming!" Someone shouted.

Megatron looked up and saw an orange light falling from the sky. It hit the center of the riot with great force, sending bots flying from the force of the impact. When the smoke cleared, it revealed a tall, bulky orange mech with a reflective face plate covering the majority of his head. He stood up in the crater he made and raised his hands, like a prophet addressing his acolytes.

"People of Tarn," Obliteration said, the power lines on his body glowing brightly. "Prepare to be cleansed."

He fired twin beams of orange energy from his hands in two directions and blew up large sections of the street. Everyone was sent into a frenzy as the outlier began slaughtering Decepticons and Guardsmen without discrimination. Some bots tried to blast him, but the photon beams did no damage to hi. Instead his body absorbed the energy and he channeled it into explosive beams that blew up more of the street and the buildings around him. Then he sprinted forward and crushed the heads of two gladiators in his large hands.

"Why do you all run? Why try to flee when I'm just going to hunt you down anyway?" Obliteration droned.

"Hyaa!"

Megatron jumped at him from behind and punched Obliteration in the head, causing him to stumble. Obliteration threw a punch at Megatron, who jumped back and slashed his sword across his chest. He only managed to leave a shallow cut before Obliteration fired a plasma burst at him. Megatron avoided the blast and transformed to tank mode to escape Obliteration's assault.

"You come here for retribution, but instead you play games?" Obliteration growled, his arms glowing dangerously bright at this point. "You continue to insult us no matter what."

"I don't play games," Megatron said, spinning around on his treads and leaping at the outlier. "I'm here to teach!"

He grabbed Obliteration's legs and lifted the mech off his feet, swinging him around and throwing him nearly a full city block away to hit the ground on his back. Megatron switched forms again and charged at Obliteration.

"I'm here to teach the world that you are not gods! You're all just a bunch of cowards who hide behind words and nothing else!"

He reverted to robot mode and stabbed forward with his sword, but Obliteration grabbed the blade and pulled him in close. Megatron had no time to block the punch to his chest that sent him flying back the way he came. He hit the ground hard, but rolled to the side to avoid the energy wave Obliteration fired at him. Obliteration ran at him with enhanced speed and leapt at Megatron. The gladiator deftly avoided the steel crunching punches thrown his way and tried to cut into Obliteration's neck, only to have his blade shatter in the outlier's grip and take a hard punch to the face that sent him through a window. That didn't keep Megatron down and soon he was back on his feet, charging at Obliteration and trading blows with him. The energy Obliteration had absorbed was already starting to fade, along with the enhancements it provided him, but he still had enough juice to put some power behind his punches and make them hurt. But Megatron was seeing red at this point, not even concerned with his safety, just wanting to kill this fool.

A kick to the chest sent him crashing into a lamp post, nearly toppling it. Obliteration ran at Megatron, but Megatron ducked under a punch and stabbed a piece of glass into a crease between Obliteration's armor. Obliteration only felt pain for a minute, but it was long enough for Megatron to rush in and punch him as hard as he could in the outlier's face, cracking his visor. Obliteration staggered back as Megatron unleashed a flurry of strong attacks on his body. He tried to punch, but had his arm grabbed and took a knee to his face, knocking him onto his back. Megatron jumped on him and started punching him repeatedly.

"Die, die, DIE!" Megatron shouted with each punch. He blocked out the world around him as he continued pummeling Obliteration's face until it was just a mangled mess of scraps and wires and energon. Even when the mech's head was completely smashed, he didn't stop punching. Then a bolt of energy hit him in the chest and threw him off Obliteration's body. He hit the ground face first with a sizzling hole in his chest plate and pushed himself up. He saw numerous bolts raining down on the other bots, vaporizing and blowing them to pieces.

Steelheart landed on the ground like a feather, energy radiating from her body. She swiped her hand and killed several Elite Guardsmen with an energy wave that tore open the ground and sent debris flying into the air. Megatron got back up, only to get shot in the face again and fell to the ground.

"Megatron of Tarn," Steelheart said as she glided over to the damaged gladiator. "You've caused a lot of people problems, myself included."

"Go…to..zzt…hell…" He growled, his voice jumbled from static. The energy discharge was causing a massive shutdown was threatened to bring him into stasis lock.

"I'm already in it." She hissed. She leaned over him, his face reflected in her visor. "People like you, filthy blasphemers who think they can go against the natural laws, do not have a place here on this world. My world. If I kill you, they'll worship you as a martyr, but I can send you off this world to a place where you will die alone, knowing how you failed you so-called people."

Steelheart's body began to glow and she slashed her hands away from her. Bolts of energy were thrown everywhere, tearing apart unlucky bots, ripping apart the streets, destroying large sections of the buildings. She didn't care who died in this assault, and she made a show of it. And through it all, she was laughing like a psychopath, her visor a glow with the orange flames rising into the air.

Megatron tried to get up, but his damages were too great for his body to take and he fell back down, falling into stasis lock for auto-repairs.

XXXXXX

Orion Pax at alone in the strategy room going over a holo-display of the target he was planning to raid-a functionist base. Zeta and a reluctant Halogen agreed to back his plan on assassinating the Functionist Council members, but fir they needed to do some damage; take away the pneuma-lion's fangs per se. and that involved crippling them to the point that all they have at their disposal is their Enforcers, who could be easily matched by the SOC personnel.

He was already in the midst of planning the operation's most crucial stage when Elita-1 entered the room. The lights were off and she could see Orion's form outlined by the glow of the display. She sighed and shut the door behind her.

"Orion?" She said softly. "Zeta wants you to take a break. She noticed that you've been in here all day and wanted you to rest up before you drop."

Orion said nothing. He simply stared down at the hologram, running his stylus along the thin glass to draw essential routes of entry and escape. Elita-1 frowned and walked closer to him, placing a dainty hand on his back. The stylus in his hand stopped moving.

"Orion, please speak to me." She pressed. "Are you…alright?"

He still had his back to her, but then she heard a quiet whisper come from his lips.

"What was that?"

He glanced back at her, his once vibrant blue eyes dull and lifeless. Elita-1 was unsettled by how dead his gaze looked, how this once lively mech had this aura of depression that could make an empty feel sorry for him. She knew that what he was forced to do still haunt him, and probably would for a long time. It was scary to see a bot so despondent like this.

"You were right," He muttered in a shaky voice. "You were right about it all. I should've stopped while I was ahead, before I got too deep into this. I should've…damn it, I should've cut myself of from all of this scrap! All the fighting I did, all the people I saved. I've saved so many people, but I couldn't save the one person who needed my help the most. And all I get from this slag is pain!"

Elita-1 hugged him from behind and waited until he was calmer. Cybertronians did not cry, and back in the age before the Quintessons, they never had the biological urge to do so. Contact with organic aliens had made them adopt unconscious habits such as crying dry tears or adopting gender roles to their asexual species. Elita-1 never knew what crying felt like, but she could relate to that soul crushing sadness she felt when she thought that one of her closest friends was possibly dead. That tightness in her chest could only be described as the closest thing to crying for their kind.

"No Elita, I'm not alright." He breathed, and slammed his hands on the table. "I'm never going to be alright until I wipe those bastards out for good. No more people will suffer from this farce of a power play! I swear this on the Allspark!"

She could see the rage in his eyes. He was serious. Vengeance was a dangerous emotion, but Orion had a duty to prevent something like the Great Fire from happening again. She didn't want him to get killed in this conflict, and she resolved to help him this time as his equal.

"I'm with you, Orion. And so are your friends. We're all with you, our Autobot leader." Elita-1 promised.

Orion cracked a little smile. "Thank you, Elita. For not dumping me when I became too much to handle."

Elita-1 shrugged. "Don't thank me. I'm just doing what I want for once. Because this is my life now and no one else's." she hugged him again and looked away as she said her next words. "Besides, people do stupid things for the ones they love."

Silence.

"…Wait, what?"

XXXXXX

Megatron woke up to a metallic smell filling his senses, like he was swimming in a sea of mercury. With a grunt, his eyes opened and a quick look around told him that he was sitting inside a prison ship. His arms were enclosed within stasis cuffs that mode locked his T-cog so he couldn't change forms and he was sitting on an overcrowded bench with a whole lot of other prisoners; survivors of the massacre in Tarn's city-square. The memories came rushing back to him; how he led a riot on the citadel, killing Obliteration with his bare hands and Steelheart spitting in his face. His body was still a little stiff from the two hits he took to the chest, but his repair systems were taking care of that. So long as he didn't get into another fight, he should be back to normal.

'Another fight.' He thought. He never thought that he'd gather a large crowd like that for the sole purpose of causing chaos and inflicting pain. He killed in the arena sure, but killing outside the boundaries of the Pit, where there were no rules, no trophies, and no audience was different. it was savage, primal even.

He lashed out in a fit of anger and sadness, a need to deal out his pain back at the people who took away everything from him. This had all been mere hours after cremating Elmeth under the shadow of Mortilus at the desolate church. He wasn't thinking when he led the crowd or when he threw that pick-axe at Ixion. All he cared about was hurting someone, anyone.

'And now it's all falling apart.' Megatron gritted his teeth. Tarn was in ruins, his Decepticons slaughtered and leaderless, and the only person he loved murdered by the mech he once thought of as a brother. His whole world was falling to pieces and there was little he could do at this point.

"Hey."

Someone tapped his waist and he looked down to see two Minicons looking up at him. One was red and black, and the other was blue and black with large, heavily armored arms that looked like pile drivers with claws at the end. Megatron never thought highly of Minicons, but he decided to see what the hell they wanted.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"Name's Rumble." The blue mech said.

"And I'm Frenzy," Said the red one. "Look big guy, we need your help. We both saw what you're capable of, how you beat the slag out of that freak with the wonky hands."

"And look where it got me." Megatron scowled.

"Come on, we're tryin' to set you free here. Our boss, Soundwave wants you back planet side leading the revolution that you've started." Frenzy said.

"Soundwave?" Megatron sat up straighter. The twins nodded, both sporting grins. Megatron hummed and leaned in. "What's your plan?"

"I get the guard's attention, he busts the restraints," Frenzy said. "Either way, we have to roll now. Rumble, do your thing."

Rumble focused his internal vibrations through his body and his little form started shaking hard enough for the vibrations to shatter his bonds. Frenzy smirked and whistled at a passing guard.

"Hey bozo!" He called out.

The guard glanced back and stepped over to him, glaring down at the Minicon. "Whaddya want squirt?"

"Oh, just your attention." Frenzy smirked.

Rumble leapt up behind the guard and slammed his pile drivers into his back, the blow strong enough to make the larger mech stumble to his knees. "You little brat!"

As the guard whirled around angrily on Rumble, Frenzy jumped on him from behind, scratching at the guard's optical visor. It didn't do much other than piss him off, and the Minicon was thrown to the floor.

"Nice try, little slagheap." The guard growled.

Frenzy smiled nervously and said, "Behind you?"

"I'm not falling for that." The guard said.

Unfortunately he failed to notice the now free Megatron standing behind him, cracking his knuckles.

XXXXXX

"And you cannot get a hold of Steelheart?" Ixion asked Longshot as he worked on fixing his damaged shoulder.

"No sir, she had left the area with Obliteration's body after taking out the riot. They're not responding to any calls." Longshot said.

"Of course," Ixion sighed. Sentinel Prime is going to be infuriated.

At the helm, the pilot was trying to communicate with a prison ship that the surviving rioters had been taken to. They tried to make contact with the ship, but got no response.

"What's wrong?" Asked Ixion impatiently.

"The prisoner transport shuttle is leaving its designated course, senator."

Ixion sat up straighter, trying not to let the worry show on his face. "And doing what?"

"Coming about, sir!"

Ixion looked out the window and saw the transport ship flying next to his personal shuttle. He cursed when he saw its cannons take aim at them, and then heard a familiar voice speak over the comms.

"Ixion," Megatron's deep voice growled through the speakers. "Cybertron and its people thank you for your contribution and sacrifice."

The cannons opened fired on the shuttle, tearing into its hull with ease. Being a non-military transport shuttle, the vessel didn't last long against the barrage of plasma fire and a hole was torn into the outer hull near the bridge. It was only by coincidence that Senator Ixion was near the breach in the hull and was sucked out into the air, where he was promptly destroyed in the short trade off of plasma blasts hitting his former shuttle.

Once the prison ship did its thing, it flew back down into Cybertron's atmosphere and into the Badlands region, passing over the black scorch mark that was Tarn and heading towards the neighboring city…Kaon.

XXXXXX

Inside the Decagon, inside the weapons testing range, Sentinel Prime was busy testing a newly developed long barreled solar agitator sent to him from Nova Cronum. He heard about Steelheart's little killing spree and couldn't help but smile a little at the news. The Functionists were backed into a corner and all he needed was the senate's approval for military action against the council. Honestly he wasn't surprised to hear that she and Obliteration were outliers. They were freaks through and through and this only confirmed it. At least he won't get in trouble for shooting them dead on sight.

"Sentinel Prime, sir," Prowl walked in with a datapad in hand. "We've just gotten a report of a beta-grade incident in Kaon airspace. We've lost contact with a shuttle and another is down…"

"Don't waste my time, Prowl." Sentinel said, pointing his large weapon at the target, his mouth plate in place. "You know protocol better than anyone. So follow it."

Prowl frowned as Sentinel pulled the trigger and unleashed a continuous beam of plasma energy almost 10, 000 degrees hot. Prowl knew that working with Sentinel would be hard, but having to deal with his attitude was grating even on his steel patience.

"Normally I wouldn't intrude sir, but this involves a life-threatening attack on a senator, its policy…" He trailed off when Sentinel continued to fire his weapon without pause. "Sir? The senate…"

Sentinel stopped shooting and sighed. Those senators were so week it disgusted him. Scratch them once and they start crying foul. "Life-threatening…as in fatal?"

Prowl nodded. "All we have at this time is a distress beacon. Just prior there were reports of a riot in Tarn's city square."

Sentinel snorted. "Fine then, you take it. I don't have the struts to deal with another whining senator. If those morons gave me what I need rather than told me how to-"

"I'll have a report ASAP sir," Prowl cur the Prime off for the sake of keeping on his tight schedule. He was getting tired of listening to Prime rant about his situation. "And I'll make sure the senate is kept up to date."

"And out of my way." Sentinel growled. "Whatever it is, I'm sure it's nothing compared to what the Functionists are dealing with."

XXXXXX

Shadowkat crawled through the rusty old aqueduct in her beast mode, trying to ignore the smell of oil and mercury contaminating yr water she was wadding through. The end of the aqueduct released water into a large valley that separated the pipes from the facility across the gorge. Elita-1, who was sitting near the edge of the pipe checking her weapons, greeted her with a smile that Shadowkat returned in full. They had grown close somewhat, probably out of moral support for each other in an alien environment neither femme was comfortable living in. They were partners on this op along with Orion Pax and Perceptor.

This was the first of hopefully many missions to give them information to fully combat the Functionists. This mission was simple; a four-bot team would infiltrate the private estate of one a member of the Functionist Council, a mech named Fortuity. According to Halogen's sources, Fortuity was a mech who liked to indulge himself in lavish parties and gatherings with elites who were loyal to the Functionists. It seemed that recent events failed to dampen the outlier's party spirit. With this serving as a distraction, they were given an ample opportunity to get what they came for.

"Pax, we're in position." Shadowkat reported.

"Grapple onto the cliff just north of your position." Orion said. "We're in a cave overlooking the estate."

They fired their grappling hooks and pulled themselves across the valley and latched onto the other side, clinging to the rock wall where they tracked their friend's signals. Orion and Perceptor were sitting at the mouth of a small cave behind a waterfall that was just a few miles away from the mansion. Shadowkat took a look at the multicolored lights flashing from the courtyard and frowned at the sight of all those lavish, well polished bots mingling amongst themselves.

"So this is Fortuity's crib, huh?" Shadowkat grunted. "It's certainly flashy. I'm sure you can see the lights from orbit."

Elita-1 scowled at the sight of it all. "So this is what thousands of dead bodies will buy you."

Shadowkat patted her on the shoulder. "So what's the play, Pax?"

Perceptor handed a datapad to Orion, who brought up a schematic of the grounds and its perimeter. "Before we do anything, we need to take control of the security systems so that we know what the hell we're looking for. Once we've hacked into their network, we will know where Fortuity is."

He pointed at a spot near the perimeter of the estate. "Right here is the control computer that not only monitors the security cameras but also deploys sky spies at regular intervals. Connect a data slug into the port and we'll have eyes on the inside."

"Say no more, I'm already on it." Shadowkat took the data slug and sprinted over the wall, shifting to beast mode mid-jump. Much like the cat she transformed into, Shadowkat was light on her feet and she was already hiding within the bronze and copper extensions that dotted the area near the supply shed. She waited for a guard to get close enough before firing a grapple hook at his face and dragging him towards her, snapping his neck and moving from her cover.

She quickly made her way to the security center, phasing through another guard and tearing out both his voice box and Spark core as she passed through him like a ghost. She didn't even stop in her sprint as she reached the building and jumped onto the roof, going to robot mode and snapping open the ventilation duct and slipping an EMP charge into the center. A quick flash was all she needed as she leapt inside and quickly made her way to the large terminal where the security screens were connected. She had to wait for it to reboot before plugging in the data slug and connecting Perceptor to the system.

"Step on it, Kat. The spy spies are almost back online." Perceptor warned her.

It only took a second or two for the virus to download into the computer. Once it was done, she snatched the data slug up and ran back to the opening she made. The dormant Sky Spies were already flickering online when she climbed back outside and replaced the hatch. A second later, she got the confirmation from Perceptor.

"We're patched in. I have eyes on everything now."

"Good work, Kat. Preceptor, search the grounds for Fortuity. Kat, meet me in his private office. Elita-1, you're on overwatch." Orion directed.

This was the second phase of the mission; sneak inside and get as much info as possible. Anything that could be of value for them to work on in the future. Shadowkat grinned and jumped off the roof, sprinting across the courtyard towards the main building where Orion was sneaking into right now. Honestly it was child's play getting g past those dumb grunts and mindless drones. She was quiet like a shadow, and quick like an overcharged turbofox. Unless they were actively looking for her, they'd never notice she was here in the first place.

She entered the mansion through the side entrance and was greeted by a lavish interior that was full of glass sculptures of Fortuity himself and digital portraits of the narcissistic bastard. Shadowkat withheld the urge to topple the sculptures and made her way through the side hall towards the study. She made it to the upper floor and jumped when Orion burst through the door to her left, shoving a knife into a mech's head before tossing the body away.

"Solid work, Kat." Orion jogged over to the computer table near the fireplace and got to work on plugging a data slug into the console. "Perceptor, did you find Fortuity yet?"

"Yes, he's meeting with someone down on the sub-level basement, where he stores his energon containers." Perceptor said.

"Why do you want to know where Fortuity is?" Shadowkat asked.

"You'll know what we find him." He replied.

Frowning at his evasive answer, Shadowkat stood guard as Orion quickly searched through the files for anything important. He wasn't too picky, especially when he came across what appeared to be maps and files on prototype weapons in development. He only managed to get about seven files before he was locked out of the system and an alarm started to sound in the mansion.

"Slag, I got locked out!" Orion pulled the data slug out and stored it in his hip compartment as he walked around the desk. "Perceptor, show me where Fortuity is, we need to find him before we leave!"

"What? Pax, we've already completed the mission! Let's go before we're swarmed." She yelled.

Orion ignored her as he ran towards the doors. Two mechs ran into the room, only to be shot down by Pax as he ran past them and down the stairs. Preceptor sent him data for an elevator shaft that went to the basement level and Orion quickly stopped in front of the shaft. Shadowkat begrudgingly phased them both through the metal doors and they fell down the shaft to the lower level, where they ran down a tunnel that led to the hanger bay.

There were three armored convoys driving from the basement storage area outside, possibly carrying Enforcers to further fortify the estate after their cover was blown. Shadowkat was still questioning Orion as they entered the storage area, where there were numerous containers of processed and distilled energon, drinks that were worth more than Orion's salary as a police officer, and other containers that were carrying a more mysterious element that were being handle with noticeably more care.

Orion and Shodowkat grappled onto the metal grates and snuck along the top until they reached the far end of the basement, where they saw a bunch of workers hauling the containers onto the convoys. And standing there was Fotuity, who was speaking with a sandy brown femme with a humanoid upper body, but a long, coiled tail for a lower body. Her head and shoulders were sitting inside the open mouth of a cobra that acted like a hard shield for her head, which was arrow shaped with yellow eyes and a grey face plate.

Fortuity was a dark emerald green mech who was small and lithe, with two wheels on his back that signaled his alt form as a motorcycle. His face was like that of his fellow Functionist councilmen, a smooth mirror in place of facial features.

"I knew you were many things, Fortuity, but a coward?" They heard the brown snake-femme hiss. "A true warrior never turns tail and runs at the first sign of danger!"

"Watch your mouth, Copperhead. I'm not running, I'm relocating." Fortuity replied. "Steelheart's orders are absolute. You of all people know better than to disobey her, and me, Copperhead."

Copperhead's mouth plate retracted to reveal a mouth full of tiny, needle sharp teeth coated in acidic venom. She rose on her tail, hissing in his face.

"Save your chomps for our intruders. And watch that tail! If any of those containers are breached, Steelheart will kill me on the spot!" He growled. He had no face, but the agitation was clear in his voice.

"Somehow, that's not such a bad fate for you." She chuckled.

"And need I remind you that I am the only reason you're still alive? If I die, the other Functionists will have an open season hunting you down like the animal you are!"

"I might just be willing to take the chance!"

Shadowkat was recording the conversation, particularly the little tidbit about the dangers of a breach in their special cargo. It was clear that these containers weren't holding vintage energon cocktails, but she was afraid of knowing what they really held. She glanced over at Orion and her eyes went wide upon seeing him assembling a sniper rifle in place.

"What the hell are you doing?" She whispered.

"Taking down a major threat." He said, pulling out a cord from the rifle and plugging it into the back of his neck.

"That's not our mission."

"No, it's not your mission," Orion connected his optical vision to the laser site. "It's mine."

Once he had an aim on Fortuity's head, he pulled the trigger and let the bullet fly. The silencer cancelled out most of the noise and the bullet moved too fast for a bot to see with the naked eye. But just as the bullet was a few inches from the councilman's head, Fortuity vanished in a quick burst, like his whole body was sucked into an invisible whirlpool in the span of a millisecond.

"What?!" Orion yelled.

Shadowkat was just as surprised. "Where did he-whoa!"

She jumped back as Fortuity reappeared in front of them, a pair of short swords in his hands that were heading straight towards Pax's face. Shadowkat grabbed Orion and the swords passed right through his body.

"Intruders!" Copperhead roared and coiled her tail up like a spring. She shot herself forward towards the stands, jaws wide open. She crashed into the stand and sent the structure toppling over, separating the two Autobots as they fell. The guards standing watch opened fire on Orion as he hit the ground and jumped away from Fortuity's swords. Copperhead was already preoccupied with Shadowkat.

"Orion Pax, the fearless Autobot! How nice to have you here!" Fortuity howled, slashing his blades at Orion's head. The sharp blades missed him by a few inches and Orion kicked him away before standing up. "I'm the last person you should be trying to kill you rebellious cur!"

"I make a career out of shattering expectations." Orion drew his blaster and fired at Fortuity, but just like before, the bot vanished before the bolts could touch him and he reappeared right in front of Orion.

Fortuity grabbed his head and threw him into a pile of containers, thankfully not the biohazard ones. The Enforcers fired upon him, but he quickly shot down two guards before rolling away from a downward strike from Fortuity.

"I told you," Fortuity laughed. "You can't kill me!"

Shadowkat was kept on her feet as she ran around dodging Copperhead's large tail as it slammed into the floor. She was in her beast mode, a large cobra with fangs as long as the Autobot's arm. Shadowkat easily avoided getting snatched up in her coils, noting how Copperhead's size did little to slow her down.

'She's strong, but crazy,' Shadowkat thought. 'And that makes her stupid.'

It was almost insultingly easy to goad Copperhead into attacking her own soldiers. The female cobra fired jets of acidic venom from her mouth that melted the armor off the Enforcer's steel bones, eating away at them in a horrifically slow pace. Copperhead had already realized that she was being duped and it only made her angrier.

"Sit still you little glitch so I can kill you!" Copperhead snarled.

"No thanks!" Shadowkat leapt over Copperhead's tail and kicked her in the face, the claws on her feet leaving deep scratches on her reptilian face.

"Kraaa!" Copperhead transformed and punched Shadowkat in the face, knocking her into the smoking remains of the melted Enforcers.

"Ow," Shadowkat rubbed her cheek. "That stung you glitch!"

"And so will this!" Copperhead went back into beast mode and lunged at Shadowkat like a whip. Shadowkat had no time to think as she grabbed an Enforcer's fusion cannon and fired it at Copperhead's face. The purple beam hit its target and the upper half of Copperhead's beast head was vaporized.

The large snake fell to the floor, knocked off line by the relapse she suffered from losing her "second" head. She wasn't dead, as the snake head wasn't Copperhead's real head, but the shock from taking a hit from the fusion cannon would be enough to keep her down for a few hours. Shadowkat let out a sharp exhale but jumped when Orion and Fortuity crashed through another stack of containers.

Fortuity leapt at Pax, but Shadowkat fired her blaster at him, causing him to teleport in front of her instead. She ducked under his sword strike and shot at him again, only for him to teleport behind her and kicked her in the tail.

"Frag off!" She growled.

"Haha! Can't catch me kitty?" Fortuity taunted.

Orion jumped at Fortuity from behind and slashed at his head with his battle axe. The outlier vanished once more before the axe could touch him, but Orion rolled onto the ground before Fortuity could stab him in the back. Shadowkat ran over to him and they stood back to back.

"Kat, I need you to follow my lead." He said.

"You lead? You got us into this mess!"

"Just do it. Fire when I fire okay? You'll know when."

Shadowkat cursed and charged at Fortuity, firing a fusion blast at him. He reappeared behind her, swords raised to cut her down. Orion pointed his blaster at Fortuity's back and yelled "now!" and they both fired their weapons at him simultaneously. Though normally Fortuity would've teleported by now, he was surprised to see that he couldn't warp away, and was instead held in place by some invisible force pulling him in two directions.

Fortuity's power was that he could immediately teleport at the first sign of danger against him, reappearing near the source of the danger. The teleportation was involuntary and he had no control over where he appeared. It was why he avoided fighting on the front lines, because he didn't want to be screwed over by his power's unpredictable nature. But when attacks from two people in two different directions come at him at once, his body would try to teleport to those two locations and would get stuck in place, unable to move to either location. This single folly in his powers led to the death of Fortuity of the Functionist Council, who exploded as the two energy blasts hit him at the same time, taken out by his own powers.

XXXXXX

The mission was a success in a broad sense. They got the info they needed and also killed a Functionist member, but at the cost of compromising themselves and nearly getting killed in the process. Orion and Shadowkat left the crime scene and made their exit the hard way; shooting their way through a platoon of Enforcers and busting through the outer gates before jumping into the valley below, landing in the stream at the bottom. They were swimming in the cold waters for nearly an hour before Perceptor and Elita-1 picked them up.

The flight back was quiet and tense, with most of the tension coming from Shadowkat and Orion. Just when Elita-1 finally worked up the courage to say something, Shadowkat decided to speak her mind.

"What the hell were you thinking?" She snapped. "You almost got us killed!"

"I was eliminating a threat." Orion said.

"That's a load of scrap! You tried to kill him on the spot and screwed up, nearly causing us to fail the mission. You were lucky I was there or he would be mounting your head on his wall by now!"

Orion glared at her. "How was I supposed to know he could do that?"

"You don't, you moron!" She shouted. "That's why you can't take chances with outliers. They're unpredictable. How do you think I was able to kick your ass back in Iacon?"

"You mean before I smacked you to the ground with my baton?" He huffed.

Shadowkat threw a punch at his face, but Elita-1 stopped her with her powers. "We just complete a difficult mission, Kat. Can we please not spoil our victory by arguing like this?"

Shadowkat grunted but backed down. When the feline was settled in her seat, Elita-1 turned to Orion. "And you. I know you want to kill them all for what they did to Tarn, but don't act rashly at the expense of your allies. Please be careful in the future."

Orion nodded and gave a quiet apology and slumped in his seat, looking out the window. It was raining now, and the world was once again dark and foggy. To him, it was as if Cybertron herself was crying. Crying in pain, or for her people, he didn't know. But Orion knew that it had been raining a lot lately. It made him feel worse about endangering himself and Shadowkat earlier, but at least he accomplished two things tonight; he got the info they needed and they killed a Functionist leader. It was his one step closer to killing Steelheart and ending this conflict before it could begin.

XXXXXX

Kaon was a different city that Tarn. Whereas Tarn was more of an industrial city under a cloud of smog and fumes, Kaon was more militaristic. Something about the jagged, curved aesthetic of its architecture and the inherent "might makes right" attitude present in the general population made it feel like Kaon was a call back to the age of the barbarian warlords and marauders of the Badlands before civilization truly arose. This led to the common scene of a Kaonian looking down on the Tarnian "ash-eaters" that slaved away in the refineries and smelters.

Whereas Megatron's name was akin to that of a prophet in Tarn, in Kaon, actions were needed to back up his words. The burning of Tarn had decimated his Decepticon followers in the eastern Badlands, so Megatron decided to get to work on rebuilding his forces. When he was free, and still riding on the high of taking those pot shots at Senator Ixion, Megatron chose to enter Kaon's gladiator circuit to rebuild his reputation. Nightshade wasn't happy about it, but he didn't care. He wanted to kill something, and what better way to vent out his frustrations on the fighters who never had a real challenge in their lives? But even in terms of Pit fighting, Kaon and Tarn were still different.

For one, Kaon's underground was control by the criminal syndicate, who repurposed the Pits into something more refined and organized. With the manufacturing, mining and factory castes being so under the general public's radar and notice, regarded as something lower than a thought, it gave the criminal syndicate freedom to do their thing, profiting off the bets placed on gladiator matches. It's left unsaid that they also took an active hand in the manipulation of the results of the circuit.

Megatron chafed under their rule for quite some time. He didn't escape the clutches of death, the senate and that psychopath Ember to end up under the heel of some mob boss with a chip on his shoulder. Things came to a head when they came to him one day offering a deal.

'You're the finest gladiator we've ever seen,' They said. 'A real immortal. But the stands aren't as full. They won't be as long as everyone knows you're going to win.'

At that point, Megatron already knew what was coming. They'd say they needed someone else to win. Not every time. But once or twice. Starting the next time he went into the arena. It was one of those crucial moments in one's life. The moment when you decide whether you were going to surrender control to someone else…or fight to the death to keep it.

Guess what he chose.

There in that room, away from the prying eyes of the slum dogs and drug abusers, Megatron and Soundwave, who was the least threatening person in the room at that time, single handedly slaughtered the bosses and their strongarm bodyguards, all save one. Megatron sent him out to spread the word: the gladiator pits were under new management.

Elmeth's warning of taking control rang in his mind. Become a leader of your own volition, not by accident, lest you become a mere puppet to the eyes of the people. So this was what he was doing. Taking control. He failed his people in Tarn, and he was not going to make that same mistake in Kaon. He'll rebuild this sorry society from the ground up, make it into an empire and from there he will show the world that the people of Cybertron will not be treated like slaves. He will bring Cybertron back to that glorious golden age…even if he had to burn it all to the ground to start from scratch.

XXXXXX

"Agh!"

Cy-kill choked as Megatron shoved his spear through his chest after the latter dodged his hammer strike. Megatron grinned and twisted the spear deeper into his chest.

"And that's game." He said.

Cy-kill gasped in pain and looked like he was about to die…then he gave a mocking laugh and kicked Megatron in the chest, knocking him down. "Psych!"

He rushed at Megatron with the spear still sticking out of his chest and brought his hammer down on Megatron's head. Megatron quickly rolled away to avoid getting his face smashed in. Cy-Kill grinned and pulled the spear from his chest. It helped to have his Spark core located on the left side of his chest instead of the center. Luring bots in close for an unexpected kill was a great way to get wins.

"Dumb glitch," he laughed. "Might as well give up. You've got no weapons."

Megatron snorted. "But I can always become one."

He charged at Cy-kill and transformed to his tank mode. His heavy form slammed hard into his opponent and he ran over Cy-kill's body, digging his spiked treads into his chest. The treads started ripping the metal from his chest plate, sending bits of metal and sparks flying into Cy-kill's face. His weight made it worse for the poor mech and Megatron didn't stop until he had nearly worn away Cy-kill's torso armor. Then he transformed and stood over the groaning warrior.

The crow was going wild, hooting and hollering like animals, urging him to kill Cy-kill. But Megatron could only stare down at his broken body, flashes of his brutal massacre of Obliteration and the prison guards running across his mind. Cy-kill's body looked like it had been dragged under a magna-train and his chest stank of putrid fumes and burnt rubber.

"It's not over," The referee tossed Megatron an axe. "The match isn't over until someone dies. So finish it."

"Yeah!"

"Go for it!"

"Kill them all!"

So many cries for blood coming at him at once. Megatron had heard it all and raised the axe over his head. Soon the individual shouts merged into a single phrase that echoed in his mind.

Till all are one!

Till all are one!

Till all are one!

TILL ALL ARE ONE!

WHAM!

Cy-kill's head was smashed apart in a gory mess as the axe blade cut his brain in two. The audience roared and stomped their feet so loudly that you could hear the thumping from Vector Sigma itself. the referee took Megatron's hand and held it up in the air to show his victory.

"Here is out champion!" He cheered, his booming voice hyping up the crowd even more. "Our gladiator king, Megatron!"

Megatron! Megatron! Megatron! MEGATRON! MEGATRON! MEGATRON!

Megatron closed his eyes and took off his helmet, revealing the retracted fins on the sides and top of his cranium. He unfolded the extensions and leaned his head back to let the light shine on his face. He basked in their praise, reveled in the glory of a proper kill. Drew strength from their love for him. Him, Megatron of Tarn, who fought for freedom. Yes, he was Megatron, and this was his city.

For the first time since watching Elmeth burn, he smiled. This was his home now, and he was here to stay. And it was time that the senate realized that fact.

XXXXXX

"Circle formation!"

Tonight it was another popular variation of gladiator matches, team match-ups. Random bots shoved together on a team and forced to fight for their survival against beasts imported from off-world or against other teams, usually veterans. Megatron was on the same team as Soundwave's Minicons, Rumble and Frenzy. The team's designated leader, Korada, tried to get his team together but communication between members wasn't going very well.

"I said circle formation!" Korada yelled. "Bronzor, get-frag it!"

Bronzor, their team's heavy hitter and tank, had is head melted into his torso by an acid spray from a femme on the other team. Since Bronzor was at the core of Korada's plan, he knew everything went to slag as soon as his body hit the floor. Korada's nerves were getting the better of him. They were outnumbered and outgunned. Not good odds in a battle royale.

"Bronzor's toast!" Rumble said. "Korada, what do we do?"

"I…I don't know!" Korada stuttered. Then someone grabbed him from behind and shoved him in the past of an energo-sword that stabbed into his chest.

"Thanks for the assist." Megatron quipped as he pushed Koarad aside and jammed his spear into the head of the bot with the sword. "Congratulations, nameless warrior. You've just speared the mighty Korada. Here's your reward!"

Megatron pulled his spear free and spun it around to hit the femme with the acid spray in the face. When she made to transform he snatched her acid gun and sprayed a jet of acid on her half-morphed form melting her from the inside out before she could even form her alt mode. He grinned, and felt a hand on his ankle. Looking down he saw that it was Korada, still clinging to life.

"Korada, why don't you take five?" Megatron skewered Korada's head with his spear and kicked the body aside. "I can handle it from here."

"Savage." Frenzy grinned.

"Hardcore!" Rumble agreed.

Megatron picked up a sword and regrouped with his surviving teammates. "Now…circle formation!"

/Pause/

"Descriptively, it's his callousness towards victims encouraging aggressive attitudes and taking pleasure in pain. Legally, it's either serious assault or murder depending on how it's edited. They call it a sport." Prowl tapped his pointer on Megatron's frozen image. "And this would be where he promoted himself to team captain."

Prowl stood at the front of the giving the Elite Guard a thorough rundown of their latest target, the Decepticon faction leader, Megatron. Since killing Senator Ixion, he had become a high profile target in Kaon, taking over most of the city's gladiator circuit. Because of this, the senate had pressured Sentinel into switching his focus from the Functionists to the Decepticons, intent on snuffing out this revolution at the source.

Despite this, he left Prowl in charge of field operations for the time being. Thus, it was a chore trying to get these gun toting "elites" to follow his orders without any backtalk or snooty comebacks. He was trying to catch one of the planet's most wanted bots and some of these mechs wouldn't even keep their eyes open during a debriefing. And these were the Elite Guards? He got more respect from Chromedome, Primus bless his Spark.

"So far, we've been able to secure at least sixteen volumes containing "Arena" video assets. All of them are illegal combat. Most of them have at least some material featuring this team. We can conclude these disks are netting someone a fortune." Prowl continued. "Inexpensive to produce with approximately four hundred thousand of this volume alone in distribution, so-"

One of bots in attendance, a flyer named Lightspeed, cut Prowl off with an annoyed groan. "Look, the response team just needs to know one thing. Where he is and when do we strike…"

"Prime on deck!" Prowl exclaimed as the door slid open to reveal the large form of Sentinel Prime. Everyone stood up and gave him a sharp salute as he passed by them towards the podium. Sentinel nodded to Prowl and faced the assembled team.

"Be seated." Sentinel said. As soon as everyone was sitting down with their full attention on him, he got to work. "You all know how I work. And you know how serious it is that I'm here. I don't play games. This is how it's going to go down."

He scanned the faces of his team, bots he personally chose and trained to combat any threat to planetary security. "I will have eight tactical recon teams on permanent postings at probable future venues in Kaon. There will be a core strike team-hammer. It will respond when the net is triggered. They're evasive, but they're far from invisible. We wait for them to move en masse and when they trip out net, we go in and take them down. We have video across the city, bulk real time data processing thanks to our telecluster and security control is ready. Individual teams will disperse as designated. Call sign is Panorama. We will crack down on this false revolution," Sentinel pointed a finger at Megatron's face. "And that one will hang."

XXXXXX

A few days later the recon teams were assigned their postings. Bumper and Fastback were assigned to a small, rundown sector on the outskirts of Kaon, where the gladiators would most likely group up for the underground matches. That part of Kaon, known as Copper Town, was relatively uninhabited and half finished, with most buildings lacking proper framework and covering. Much of the area was pretty much untouched for decades. Bumper was less than pleased at getting stuck in the boonies while some of his drinking buddies were hanging out in the inner city.

"Panorama 3 to monitor-what makes anyone think there'd be anyone other than rust going down in a dive like this?" Bumper asked.

"Bumper is right, Prowl. Even pit fighters wouldn't be slumming it out here in this mess." Fastback grunted.

"Panorama 3, you know the drill-mouths shut, eyes open. Maintain radio silence until an alpha target is spotted or field team is compromised. Over and out."

Bumper signed and got on his stomach, sitting under a support beam hanging over his head. "Eighteen days of this is enough to make even my vision glitch."

And so recon team Panorama 3 waited at their little hideout for their murderous quarry, like a pair of hunters searching for rabid turbofoxes. They took turns for lookout, while the other recharged or fueled up on energon. When they weren't doing that, they were watching the Empties and circuit freaks wander the streets like ghosts. They made a little game out of who would drop dead on the spot or how long it would take until they shorted out.

For seven days they remained on standby, slowing losing their minds from boredom, and were just seconds away from calling Prowl for a sit-rep when they got some company. A group of five green and purple construction vehicles rolled down the rusty streets and into a large courtyard behind the remains of a church. A quick glimpse into the database showed that these mechs were the Constructicons, a group of bots from Mytharc that defected following the introduction of the Clampdown. Bumper and Fastback watched in awe as they transformed to robot mode and started collecting pieces of scrap and debris around them.

"Fastback, you getting this?" Bumper whispered into the radio. "No wonder we can't track them between venues. They don't ship the arena components to the venue, they build it on site!"

One of the Constructicons, Mixmaster, went to his alt mode for his comrades to start loading the materials into his alt mode's mixer. He increased its temperature and heated the metal to melting point, churning the materials together before pouring it into molds laid out for him. Scavenger and Long Haul dragged a half dead empty over to the molten pool and casually dumped the poor bot into the slag, unable to even scream in his state of mind. They didn't even wait for him to melt completely before continuing their work.

One could look at the Constructicons and would be hard pressed to say that they weren't masters of their trade. They worked diligently for a few hours without rest. By sundown, they already got started on the framework of the building and setting up the circular stands around the arena. That was when their guest of honor arrived.

Megatron himself appeared in tank mode, rolling through the open gap where they were setting up the front doors. He transformed to robot mode in a fluid motion without even breaking his stride. He looked brand new now, his smooth, stainless steel grey armor glinting in the half installed lights, with red and black patterns on his arms and his brow. Nightshade, who was reported to be by his side nearly every time he appeared in public, walked next to him, carefully surveying the area. Bumper shivered as her narrow eyes roamed over his hiding spot.

"We're a little early." Nightshade pointed out. She was always one for arriving early for front row seats, but this was a bit much.

"Megatron, Nigtshade." Soundwave arrived through the side entrance with Rumble and Frenzy, transforming from his vehicle mode.

"Where have you been Soundwave?" Megatron asked.

"A few days ago we were contacted by an anonymous messenger requesting that he help us in our revolution." Nightshade said. "I sent Soundwave to meet with them to ascertain if this person's intentions were true. So Soundwave, how did it go?"

"Before inquiry is made, this arena location was revealed in advance in direct relation to financial offerings." Soundwave informed them.

Megatron frowned. "Bribes? I see. The Kaonian arena was always a poorly kept secret, and this proves it. And these people talk smack about the Pits in Tarn." He crossed his arms. "About this benefactor of yours. Who is he?"

"Someone from the upper castes who supports our cause." The spymaster answered. He was careful not to go into any specifics until they were in private. "He has recently made an offer to give us weapons, both modular and built-in implants."

"And the price for these gifts?" She asked.

"Only that we use them as we see fit."

Bumper grinned. Megatron, Nightshade and Soundwave, all in one place with little protection. He quickly called his partner on their encrypted comm channel. "Fastback, you getting this? We just hit the jackpot! Fastback?"

He tried calling his partner a few times but got no response back. A sinking feeling rose in his Spark as he looked over at Fastback's position across the yard and saw that he was being assaulted by two bird shaped Minicons. Bumper cursed. "Bail, bail, we have to clear the site. This is op team Panorama 3 requesting response team on hostile encounter. I repeat, Panorama 3 calling for urgent response team, confirm."

He couldn't wait for a reply as he stood up and gathered his equipment. He chanced a look into the building and jumped as he saw Megatron glaring up at him. "Scrap!"

Bumper spun around to jump back onto the street, but he was caught by surprise as the black form of Ravage lunged at him and knocked him flat on his back with a swipe of his claws to his face.

XXXXXX

"Get him back online. I want him to see this."

Bumper's optics switched on and he almost closed them again when the bright light nearly blinded him. As his vision returned, he noticed that Rumble and Frenzy holding his arms still and Megatron standing above Fastback, who looked like he was beaten to hell and back. And Megatron didn't look very happy either.

"You awake? Good." Megatron growled. "I want you to watch."

Megatron grabbed Fastback's head and threw him to the ground. Fastback scrambled back on his hands trying to get away. "Wa-wait!"

Megatron stomped hard on Fastback's chasis, his large foot crushing the smaller bot like a trash compactor. Bumper watched in horror as his friend's body was smashed to pieces, smoke and flames expelling from his exhaust ports. Soundwave looked at the corpse.

"What is the purpose of terminating the prisoner?" Soundwave asked. It wasn't asked out of anger, just curiosity.

"Showing him what happens if he doesn't tell me what I want to know!"

"Cram it in your vent ya psychopath!" Bumper shouted.

Megatron backhanded him against the face and sent Bumper bouncing across the floor nearly foot away before coming to a stop. Megatron went to finish him off, but Nightshade stopped him.

"Hold your servos Megatron. We still need him alive for the time being." She said.

"For what?! That bastard could've called in a strike unit by now!" Megatron yelled.

"Upon detection, subject's communications were jammed. We are not in immediate danger." Soundwave said. "Suggested course of action-employ a specialist."

Soundwave deployed Laserbeak, who flew onto Bumper's chest. The avian Minicon shown a red light onto Bumper's face, once again rousing the mech from his slumber. The beam also scrambled his brainwaves so that it would be easier for Soundwave to scan his thought impulses. The silent Con knelt down over Bumper and held his head still.

"What is he doing?" Megatron asked.

"Soundwave is an outlier. He has enhanced senses that allow him to detect sounds, sights and smells on a more intimate level than us. He can also sense a person's electrical impulses within someone's brain and process them." Nightshade explained. "It's very useful in dealing with people who don't talk."

After a few seconds, Soundwave began to relay what he saw. "Subject's mind indicates a broad net cast to snare arena fighters. They did not know you were coming here. Subject's knowledge also indicates you are one of foremost members of a global "Most Wanted" list alongside Nightshade and myself." He looked up at his partners. "Conclusion-subject is neither immediate threat nor useful tool."

"Then you're finished?" Megatron said.

Soundwave nodded. "Affirmative."

"Hmph," Megatron grunted. "Scrapper, this site is compromised. Leave everything."

Scrapper sighed and rubbed the back of his head. He hated leaving a job unfinished, but them's the break when you're running an illegal business. "Roger that."

"Soundwave, tell our benefactor that I think we can do business-once I've met him." Megatron said and glared down at Bumper. "And this one…he's mine."

Soundwave and Laserbeak stepped back from Bumper as Megatron walked towards him. Bumper's last images were his own reflection in the lens of Megatron's red optics, and the grin the Decepticon leader gave him.

"Now then…what did you call me?" Megatron stomped his foot down on Bumper's legs, crushing them instantly. "A psychopath?"

Needless to say, Bumper's execution wasn't a slow one.

XXXXXX

Preceptor and the rest of the tech head in the SOC science department had worked tirelessly to properly analyze the data acquired. It was a treasure trove of information, none of it good and all of it dangerously foreboding.

According to the data found, Fortuity had been secretly shipping supplies and weapons to an isolated Functionist base in the Lemuria region near Kalis. It was a base developed in secret under the cover of an expansion project to give people homes after the Cog crashed into the city, but for far, only Enforcers had access to the area. But aside from that, it was also a munitions plant that developed most of the weapons for the Functionist Council's military. The position of the facility alone provided them a strategic staging point to launch an attack anywhere on the planet.

But the worst part about this was that the data described plans for the production and deployment of k-bombs, weapons of mass destruction that could crack the planet in half if enough are detonated at the same time, and biological weapons, namely those based on studies of the Rust Plague. This news was deeply unsettling for everyone.

"Dear Primus," Elita-1 whispered in horror as she and the other Autobots were debriefed on this. "Those maniacs are willing to unleash a rust infection on the populace? Don't they know what damage that can do to the planet's environment? Or how much damage it could do to Vector Sigma?"

"They're probably last resort weapons, but the fact that they're making them in the first place is unsettling." Zeta pointed at the monitor behind her. "Apparently they've been stocking WMDs since Nominus Prime's assassination. Our esteemed outliers were gearing up for war before the Clampdown was even a thought."

"Where are they storing them?" Roller asked.

"In a munitions plant in the Lemuria region. The base is connected to the rest of Kalis, created after the Cog crashed into the city as a rapid response base. They probably made the plant so close to a civilian population center to deter the senate from taking military action in fear of killing a lot of people." Zeta explained. "I don't need to remind you just how dangerous this mission could be. Those K-bombs could cause massive amounts of damage from detonation alone, and those rust agents…we can't let them be deployed onto the field. Your mission is simple: find the plant and torch it before those megalomaniacs get the change to kill more innocent people."

They mobilized at once without hesitation. It was a strike team consisting of Orion, Elita-1, Glitch and Shadowkat. Stealth was key, as they were outnumbered on all sides in enemy territory. This was a hit and run mission; their job was simple, find the munitions, torch them, and leave the area at once. They were going to be hitting the Functionists directly this time, and if everything went well, Steelheart would be on the war path.

Orion and Elita-1 were taking a dropship towards the southern end of Kalis, while Shadowkat and Glitch took and entry point from the north, under the cover of the city's electromagnetic disturbance to mask their approach. Neither of them said anything as the ship flew over the steel landscape, soon following the deep trench made by the Cog as it crashed to the ground, which was still sitting in Kalis' city square. Their target was in the general area, which was closed off to the public. The Functionists were essentially using the Cog as the heart of their territory to throw potential infiltrators off.

Elita-1 was holding Orion's hand, tapping her index finger on the back of his hand as she looked out the window. Orion noticed her worry and squeezed her hand.

"You're going to overheat if you keep stressing yourself out." He said.

Elita-1 sighed. "How can I not be worried, Orion? I just learned that a group of religious fanatics are developing biological weapons and were planning to drop said weapons on some poor city."

"That's why we're doing this. To make sure that what happened in Tarn won't happen again." Orion took a deep breath. "Nothing will be the same after this. We work quickly and quietly, and by the time they realize what happened, they we'll be long gone. Just stay close to me. I'll keep you safe."

Elita-1 smirked. "Well, I can't let you take up slack for the both of us. I'm just going to have to keep you safe from the bad guys."

"I wouldn't think any less of you for trying." He replied.

Their little moment was cut short when their dropship was hit by a quick flash of light and started to violently jerk and shake in the air. Orion and Elita-1 were nearly thrown from their seats, and she noticed that they were stuck in a death spiral.

"We're falling!" She yelled.

"What's going on?" Orion asked.

"EMP!" The pilot said. "We're going down fast and everything's dead. You two need to bail out!"

"Scrap!" Orion grabbed Elita-1's hand and slid open the entry hatch. "Jump!"

They jumped out of the falling dropship and descended into the empty streets of factory district of Kalis. They were in the middle of enemy territory now, and at the mercy of a small army.

XXXXXX

Orion and Elita-1 barely made it out of the failing dropship as it crashed into the ground just a mile away from them. They landed on the roof of a nearby building and made their way to the ground just as Enforcer convoys started rolling in on their position by now.

"Slag," Orion muttered. He didn't think they had anti-air defenses like that. The Functionists must be really careful if they're willing to shoot down any mysterious object. "We need to meet up with Kat and Glitch. They're probably at the RV site by now."

They transformed to alt form and discreetly drove through the empty streets, which were quickly being filled by enemy patrols heading towards the crash site. The two Autobots stayed to the shadows, switching modes to decrease travel time. When they reached the borders of the operation zone, they almost ran into a trio of large, white humanoid drones with arm-mounted particle cannons and cold, dead faces that scanned the area in front of them.

'Overcharge drones?' Orion thought. Elita-1 swallowed a yelp as one of the massive mechs stomped past their hiding place in the alleyway. 'I thought the CDF decommissioned those things!'

Overcharge drones were military combat drones built for urban combat. They were supposed to replace the large, overbearing Omega Sentinels that protected the 13 city-states for civil defense, and with their huge loadout they certainly lived up to their duty. But they also lived up to their names, using more energon than their employers could provide. In an era where energon was in short supply, this made the Overcharge drones a bit of a failed success.

'The Functionists probably have dozens of these things in storage for their own personal use. It's just like them to use secret weapons behind everyone's backs.' He grimaced. He motioned Elita-1 to follow him and crept through the shadows away from the overpowered machines.

It took them almost 20 minutes to reach the rendezvous point, which was near the plant they were targeting. The factory making the weapons was basically a repurposed munitions plant that used to make equipment for the state militia. Shadowkat and Glitch were already standing on the ledge overlooking the facility.

"Kat, we're here." Orion said.

"'Bout fragging time." Shadowkat grumbled. "I thought you guys were slagged."

"We almost were. They have overcharge drones roaming the streets and we had to drop a few of their guys along the way." Elita-1 explained. "It's going to be a riot when they find the bodies."

"Then the mission's compromised. They already know we're here." Glitch sighed. They didn't even get inside the building and things were already going to hell.

"It doesn't matter. We finish the mission no matter what." Orion told them, with a tone that garnered no arguments. Shadowkat didn't get that memo.

"Pax, the mission was over before it began. We've lost the element of surprise." She said. "We should jump ship and come back another day."

"There won't be another day!" He growled. "We do this here and now. Feel free to run if you want, but I'm not leaving this to chance."

They stared hard at each other for a few seconds, neither backing down. Then Shadowkat begrudgingly relented and stepped back. "If this goes south, it's on you, Pax."

"It's always on me."

Orion and Glitch attached their lines and slid down the rope, with Elita-1 and Shadowkat following behind.

"He's a tough bastard, I'll give him that." Shadowkat grumbled. Elita-1 smiled and followed her friend down.

The team lowered themselves to the ground and made their way to one of the side entrances where two guards were posted. On signal, Elita-1 and Shadowkat took out the guards with headshots (Elita-1 had been taking shooting lessons from Shadowkat) and they ran towards the door. Glitch shorted out the locking mechanism on the door and as soon as it slid open, Orion tossed in an EMP grenade at the bots inside. Once they were stunned, Shadowkat mowed them down with quick kill shots, allowing them entry into the room.

Once inside, they initiated phase 2 of the plan: Elita-1 and Shadowkat would head towards the server room and acquire the saved data files from the main computer. Orion and Glitch would hunt down the Rust bombs and destroy the cache they have stored there. They split up in two directions at the fork in the hallway and ran towards their respective targets.

The femmes got to their destination with relative ease. No alarms had been tripped yet, so they had no opposition as they made it to the server room. Once inside, Shadowkat got to work on downloading as much information as possible from the storage tanks.

"Rip this place apart, Elita. Get your hands on anything you can see. Drives, disks, data tracks." She waited for the data slug to be at full capacity before pulling it out and smashing the terminal with her gun. "With all this, we could have enough evidence to bury the Functionists and possibly the senate for life."

Elita-1 was also done on her end and planted a phase charge on the monitors. They cleared the room and detonated the shape charge, destroying most of the servers in the explosion. Then the alarms started ringing and the sound of footsteps could be heard heading towards them.

"And here comes the noise." Shadowkat grinned, drawing her neutron rifle.

At the other end of the plant, Orion and Glitch followed the directory towards the room where the crates of biological agents were being stored. Glitch shorted out the cameras to mask their approach, but they still ran into some Enforcer guards. Orion took care of them swiftly with a combination of his plasma rifle and his battle axe. Glitch wondered where Pax learned how to wield such a long axe with such grace. It certainly wasn't from the police academy.

"Here it is." Glitch said as they entered the air tight room near the main production line where the projectile weapons were being made. There were nearly three dozen crates sporting the biohazard symbol-a decaying cybertronian skull. Glitch ran his scanner over one of the crates and nodded. "This is it. The rust agents. This stuff is highly condensed as well, probably so they can fit them into warheads."

"Well then, let's take out their little investment shall we?" Orion took out a few phase charges and planted them on five crates. That was enough explosives to take out the entire room and the surrounding factory as well. Once they were planted, Orion heard the soldiers running through the halls, shouting and shooting. "Looks like they found the girls."

There was an explosion and the doors were blown in, revealing Shadowkat and Elita-1, covered in dust and oil. Orion set the timer and followed Glitch out the doors. The team ran towards the rear of the base where the hanger bay was located. Glitch opened the mode-locked doors, but yelped as he almost ran into an Overcharge drone standing right behind the door. Shadowkat phased through his body and unloaded an entire clip into the drone's face, not stopping until it fell to the ground with a smoldering heap above its shoulders.

"Could you at least try to be vigilant?" Shadowkat huffed. "This is some orchestral ballet you moron. You're embarrassing to look at in a firefight."

"Well excuse me, queen rage. I didn't mean to insult your honor!" Glitch sneered.

"Not now, people!" Elita-1 said.

"Frag out!" Orion shouted and all four of them tossed their frag grenades out into the bay. The gathering Enforcers were blown to pieces by the four grenades, and that was when the Autobots rushed for the hangar doors under the cover of smoke. Laser bolts flew over their heads and they fired back at their attackers as they made their way to freedom. Shadowkat had all four of them grab hold of each other and slipped through the door like ghosts, jumping out into the cold night air.

"We're free!" Glitch laughed, letting out a shaky breath. He thought they weren't going to make it there!

"Pax to Zeta, we've destroyed the weapons and the plant is set to explode soon. We need an immediate exfil!"

"I hear you Pax, but the primary LZ is too hot right now. There's a secondary LZ just a few kliks from your position. Get their as fast as you can!"

"Roger that." Orion turned to his team. "We've our ride incoming, but we need to get to the landing point before the Enforcers converge on our loca-"

The hangar doors exploded behind them as a shockwave rippled through the ground. The Autobots were thrown off their feet as the ground was broken into large slabs of metal and rock that jutted up from the ground. The entire facility started to shake like an earthquake and it was hard for them to regain their footing.

"For Primus' sake, what now?" Shadowkat groaned.

Orion and Glitch, who were the closest to the hangar turned back to see a large figure walking through the smoke with a squad of Enforcers following them. It was a femme, dirty brown with a hard, bulky frame with wheels on the back of her shoulders and forelegs. Her face plate was a smooth mirror that hid the enraged expression that could practically be heard in her growling voice.

"A group of Autobots trying to sabotage my base. That's a dumb move on your part, Orion Pax." Faultline said, clenching her large fists. They started to emit a low hum as they started vibrating wildly.

Glitch raised his gun, but Orion pushed it down and pulled him along. "We don't have time. Just run!"

"No you don't!" Faultline jumped into the air and came down on them like a meteor. Orion and Glitch jumped apart as she slammed her fists on the ground, sending a powerful wave rippling throughout the already ravaged ground.

Orion landed on his back, but flipped away when Faultline came charging at him like a mad Dibison. He ducked and jumped over her punches and swung his axe at her head. She blocked the axe blade with her armored forearms and kicked him in the chest, knocking him a foot into the air before hitting a boulder head first. He snatched up his axe and held it defensively as she stalked towards him.

"Steelheart will be pleased to have your head, Pax." Faultline chuckled. "She may not have Megatron, but you'll be a great substitute."

Orion spat at her feet. "Go to hell."

Faultline slammed her fists together and rushed at him, but Glitch jumped onto her back and started firing EMP rounds into the back of her head. She fell to her knees as her audio and visual sensors started going dark, making her blind and deaf. With her disoriented, Glitch grabbed Orion's arm and pulled him along. Faultline growled a curse and forced her systems to reboot.

"I'll…kill…you…!"

But things went from bad to worse with her as the munitions plant suddenly exploded in a tower of flames. The explosion could be heard from miles, and the blast wave sent Faultline flying into an upturned piece of rock, shattering it with her bulk. She hit the ground and formed a crater from her impact, then sat up and watched the bright flames rise into the air along with nearly millions of shnix worth of weapons they spent a year stockpiling.

"Oh slag," Faultline groaned. "I'm in so much trouble."

Orion and Glitch drove as fast as they could towards the LZ point where they ride out was sitting. They could see the dropship ready to take off, along with their two friends. The aircraft was already hovering off the ground when they reached the top of the hill.

"Pax, Glitch, hurry up!" Shadowkat yelled.

"Just a little more, Glitch, hang in there!" Orion urged his friend.

They were only a mile away from their escort when Faultline appeared behind them, having shifted into her alt mode-an all terrain monster truck-to catch up to them. Increasing her speed, she jumped forward and slammed her fists into the ground, breaking apart the smooth road beneath them. These tremors followed the two Autobots as they reached the top of the hill. Orion was fast enough to jump off the cliff onto the docking bay of the ship, but Glitch wasn't so lucky.

"NO!" Orion watched horrified as Glitch's tank mode flew into the air in the opposite direction. Faultline jumped at him, caught him in the air, and slammed Glitch into the ground. Orion tried to jump back out, but Shadowkat held him back. "Let me go! We have to save him!"

"We can't Pax, we're out of time. We've got enemies heading our way!" She said.

Faultline lifted a boulder and threw it at the ship. Elita-1 tore the giant slab of metallic ore apart with her powers and yelled at the pilot to take them out. Orion continued to struggle, but the girls held him inside.

"We can't leave him! They'll kill Glitch!" He shouted.

Shadowkat gave him a sad look before shaking her head. "I'm sorry, Pax. He's lost to us now."

He cursed and watched as Glitch and Faultine grew smaller as they flew away from Kalis, vowing to find his friend and bring him back home. "I'm sorry, Glitch."

XXXXXX

Faultline sighed as she saw the transport fly away. She thought, or rather hoped, that they would stay and try to save their friend, long enough to allow Enforcer air forces to reach them, but they were apparently smarter than that. Looking at the still burning wreckage of their production facility, she shook her head.

"Steelheart's gonna crucify me." She muttered. Not only did she let an enemy ship go free, but their secret weapon against the senate was now ash and dust. A failure on her part, and Steelheart did not accept failure among their kind.

"Still, at least I have you." Faultline glanced down at Glitch's half buried form. "Steelheart's gonna make you wish you had undergone shaowplay instead, you little freak."

---

This is the beginning of the end. That was the first part of this story's finale, next chapter Orion and Megatron's fight against the senate and the Functionists reaches its climax and then we finally reach the end of Uprising. Thank you all for reading, and stay tuned for the next chapter: No More Words.