I know, I know, it's been a long time between updates for this story. May I recommend never trying to write three stories simultaneously? Some things get neglected in favor of others, and craziness happens. Oh well, as we say in my family, "It is what it is."
Picking up with part 2 of "Darkness Rising, part 4"
HEY, SO: UPDATE FROM YEARS LATER. I wrote this a long time ago and some of what I wrote was just...not accurate to how trauma works. It is embarrassing, and I am sorry for it. So a lot of this chapter and all that comes after has changed, because I am not going to mess around with things that I don't understand, and risk hurting a reader. Not happening. I have a responsibility as an author to choose my words wisely, and the Ardent Aspen of some years ago didn't choose wisely enough. I am deeply sorry for that, and so I'm fixing it. The character in question will now react to their situation more akin to the way I've handled shocking things in the past, with elements of what I do know.
That's all, I guess.
From his perch on the canyon wall, Optimus watched dispassionately as his Terrorcons pulled his old nemesis down, hiding him from view.
More gathered to pile on top of their fellows, further burying the Decepticons, yet the Autobot neither moved nor spoke. He was waiting.
As it happened, he did not have to wait for long, for with a cry of rage-infused adrenalin, a blade pierced the topmost undead warrior. Shots were fired, knocking Terrorcons left and right back from their holds as Megatron broke free.
He caught one of the diseased creatures by the helm, wrenching its head from its body with a twist of his hand and using it as a club to loosen another's grip on his shoulder guards. The Decepticon stormed across the battlefield and seized the Terrorcons attempting to feed on Knock Out. They were slammed into each other, then tossed aside for scrap.
Megatron pulled the younger mech to his feet easily, and they turned to face their opponent. Optimus Prime's frightening optics glared down at them.
"After all these years, I am pleased to see you have not lost your skills, Megatron. It would be...disappointing, were you to become a Terrorcon too easily." Beneath his battle mask, he gave a predatory smile and stretched out his hand.
"Finish them."
The Autotroopers of Data Center .012 were bored beyond belief.
Cliffjumper was off interrogating some prisoner or other, and the other Troopers all got to go fight Autobots. And what did they get to do? Sit in a dark room with lit screens and stare at equations. Hurrah.
The only real excitement came when someone started pounding urgently at the door. Groaning as if being pulled from his screen was a terrible inconvenience, one drone shuffled slowly to answer. The plates slid apart and a blast of blue fire flew through the space they had once occupied, slamming into the chestplates of the unfortunate soldier. He was thrown backward onto the deck, and his comrades jumped up, startled. By that time, three Decepticons had darted into the room and dealt with them quickly and efficiently.
And the Autotroopers could have counted that as some excitement, had they not been so busy being dead at the moment.
"All clear," Airachnid hissed to Soundwave, who took Miko once more from his scout chamber and placed her on the floor with Jack and Sierra.
"Wait in here," the femme told them.
Glyphs of surprise and protest flickered across Soundwave's visor as he rapidly motioned from the children to the vast room.
Starscream shook his helm. "They're slowing us down, and they're easy targets. They'll be safe enough, provided they actually stay here."
As the three exited the room, Airachnid paused and turned to look at Jack. "Oh, and Pax, if you disobey me again?" When the boy met her gaze, she drew one servo across her throat.
He gulped. "Yes ma'am."
The 'Cons sprinted out and the door snapped shut behind them, leaving the children on their own.
"...that...was intense." Sierra managed after a few moments.
Jack nodded morosely.
"Yeah, well it's my fault we're stuck in this intensity. I'm sorry, guys."
He let out a heavy sigh and pulled a hand down his face. "You really should've stayed on the Nemesis, Sierra. At least then only one of us would be in trouble."
The girl crossed her arms. "Well excuse me for actually being concerned about you and Miko! It's not like you had to go either!" He winced and she looked away. "Sorry, that wasn't fair."
Jack crossed his arms and shifted his weight to his other foot. "No, no you're right. And if we all survive today, you and I have a fair amount to answer for back home. Sooner or later, Megatron's going to find out what happened. He'll go easy on you since you just moved in with us, but me..."
Miko gave him a sympathetic look. He expects more of you because you've lived with them your whole life? she guessed.
The worst part about disobeying Megatron was that he always made the perpetrator explain precisely what he had done, why he had done it, and why he was wrong. Given his love of mathematics, he usually made the unfortunate soul calculate every possible consequence to his actions.
As if the look of disappointment in Megatron's optics wasn't awful enough.
Jack sank to the floor with a groan, dreading having to face his family after this debacle. At least the girls were safe: that was why he'd come in the first place, after all. Miko flopped down next to him and pulled her knees to her chest. She looked so small, surrounded by all this Autobot tech.
I'm kinda scared, she said in small, quiet gestures.
Sierra hurriedly knelt on her other side and wrapped her arms around the younger girl.
Hey, it's going to be fine, Miko. Jack signed back, Rani and 'Wave and 'Scream will come back for us!
Miko rubbed at her eyes and looked away. When her gaze refocused in the direction she had turned, her eyes narrowed, then widened. She began tugging Jack and Sierra's arms and pointed up at one of the display screens on the walls.
Whoa! What do you make of that?
Jack followed her gaze and jolted. With a grunt, he stood and hopped down to the lower part of the floor, dodging a Trooper corpse to stare up at the readouts. "It's important," he said grimly, "Really important."
Jenner had only seconds to react, leaning forward in the confined space and grabbing his commanding officer's shoulders, restraining him. Silas was about to jump straight through the vent and into the lab, completely disregarding the Autobot standing there!
"Sir! Sir, get ahold of yourself!" the man hissed, "You're no use to her dead!"
Silas shook off the restraining hands with a grunt. "Shut up, Jenner."
He could hear the laser blasts echoing through the pipes: the Decepticons were coming.
"Weapons up, everyone, we're going in!" he whispered harshly, then kicked the hatch open just as Violet's eyes rolled back into her head.
Liaison Darby dropped her in his surprise, leaving the girl to fall limply back against the canister she'd been propped up against. A powerful right cross sent Darby reeling as the head of MECH came between the Autobot agent and his adopted daughter. He recovered quickly and dodged the next punch, trapping Silas's arm beneath his own. An open-palm blow to the face dazed the MECH agent, and Darby followed with a brutal headbutt.
Silas fell to one knee, groaning. The Liaison released his arm and bent down to examine the weakened man, only for him to return the previous favor with a headbutt that smashed the corrupt man's nose.
"Come near her again and I will kill you," Silas growled.
Darby laughed dully. "An interesting statement, Colonel Bishop. Can you kill a man who's already dead?"
He stood and wiped blood from his mustache. "Still, only a fool stays to fight when he is outmatched." Ignoring Cliffjumper, who was gagging, spitting out bullets, and attempting to shield himself from a veritable storm of gunfire, Liaison Darby made a powerful leap from the table to the catwalk and disappeared through the door.
Silas turned to where Jenner and their medic, Blackwell, were tending to Agent Woodlock. "How is she?" he barked.
Blackwell answered that she was alive, though barely. "That energon prod left some serious burns on about 30% of her body—if we treat them quickly enough, the scarring will be minimal, but there may be some nerve damage. We'll have to assess it as we go. Her arm will need extensive repairs: they were very thorough. Apparently, Cliffjumper stripped down the prosthetic until its structural integrity was about 10% of what it should have been, then put her in shackles meant for an adult. All the weight went to her shoulders, they're both dislocated. The bruising on her throat will take some time to heal as well. Emotionally, we'll have to wait and see."
Silas turned at the sound of the door splintering open, and the MECH agents raised their weapons. Airachnid and Soundwave stood in the doorway, blasters at the ready.
Cliffjumper leaped backward and equipped his cannons in a panicky gesture, pointing them at the humans. "I wouldn't!" he snarled.
Something tapped his helm, and he looked up. Starscream crouched like a bird of prey atop a stack of crates. "Oh," he crooned, "But I might!"
The wide screen flickered with shapes and glyphs, sending a pinkish hue to the floor where the children stood.
Jack gulped. "We've got to get this to Lord Megatron!" he decided.
Miko tilted her head. They just looked like a circle, a triangle, and a bunch of wavy lines to her.
How do you know it's important? What if it's just somebody's art project or something?
Jack shook his head. "No, I know math when I see it. And that is one serious equation!"
Sierra bit her lip as she looked up at the display. "Well...can we download it or something?"
Miko made a face. With what? This tech makes Apple look like Playskool!
A metallic clanking echoed through the room and the humans froze. Autotrooper AR_52 stared around the room, his mission of collecting a status update all but forgotten. While he was not surprised to find that his fellow drones were, once again, not working, he had not expected the reason to be that their body parts were scattered across the chamber like children's toys. His optic band flashed balefully as he examined the corpse at his pedes.
Jack seized the girls' hands and bolted for the shadows, dragging them behind him. There was a metallic clack as Sierra's cell phone slipped from the pouch on her belt and fell to the steel floor.
Miko's eyes widened and she let go of Jack's hand. He made a grab for her, but missed as the little girl darted out into the open, snatching up the phone. If the 'Bot saw it, he'd know for sure he wasn't alone. She didn't hear the hum of a photon blaster warming up behind her, but she felt the vibrations in the floor. She looked up into the horrified eyes of Sierra and Jack and realized that she had just made a very grave mistake.
Airachnid sauntered forward slowly, drawing Cliffjumper's attention.
"Now, are we gonna do this the easy way, or the hard way? Easy way, you surrender, we walk out of here with the humans and a hostage. Hard way...well, that's Starscream's department."
The young Seeker leaned down and kneaded his talons into the Autobot's helm like a cat. "She was non-specific, you'll notice."
The femme grinned. "Now 'Scream, we only need to scare him!"
Starscream made an innocent face. "What? Pain is scary!" (a/n: couldn't resist one more Firefly quote)
There was one thing they hadn't counted on, even with their superior numbers: Cliffjumper was a coward. He was a coward, and he had a terrible fear of the sight of his own energon. Therefore, when backed into a corner, the Autobot was at his most dangerous.
He reached up and grabbed Starscream's wings. The Decepticon let out a shriek as Cliffjumper tightened his grip on the sensitive plating and used it as leverage to toss Starscream into Soundwave and Airachnid, using the moment to transform and speed out of the laboratory as quickly as he could. Soundwave helped his friend to his feet, an unspoken question in his posture.
"Yes, I'm fine," Starscream growled. He hissed through clenched teeth as Airachnid ran a servo over the scratches on his wings.
"I can't patch these now or you'll have trouble flying," she said grimly.
"I'm fine!" he repeated, "Let's go, I don't like the idea of leaving the kids alone for so long!"
Jenner blinked. "Kids...plural?"
"Long story," the Decepticons said together.
Miko turned slowly and looked up, trembling. AR_52 glared down at her and brought his blaster to bear on her tiny figure. With a shriek, the child broke into a run, knowing full well that someone her size didn't have much of a chance of getting out of the way in time.
Jack and Sierra moved instantly. Jack reached the younger girl first and scooped her up without breaking stride. Sierra took the phone from her as they dodged the blasts.
Take a picture! Miko ordered, now that her hands were free.
"Are you kidding me?!" Sierra yelled, glancing over her shoulder as the trio tried to find cover.
No, not of that! Miko pointed at the display screen.
"Good thinking, Miko," Jack panted, sliding under a console.
Sierra gulped. Okay, you can do this, she told herself. Steeling her nerves, she left their hiding place long enough to snap a photo of the equation, then slipped back under the desk.
"We can't stay in here forever!" she hissed.
Jack grimaced. "Alright, we're almost to the door. We'll keep to the perimeter. If he keeps following us, his weight will set off the motion sensors and the door will open. It's risky, but I think that's the only chance we've got right now."
For a moment the three friends clasped hands: a show of camaraderie, should their escape attempt end badly. Then they were off, quietly sneaking towards the door, and as predicted, AR_52 followed them. The door slid open and the children pelted out into the hallway, closely pursued by the Autobot.
"Go, go, go!" Jack shouted, pushing Sierra and Miko in front of him.
The drone raised his arm, intent on finishing the little invaders once and for all. The weapon primed and...jammed. AR_52's optic band flickered as he brought the appendage back towards his faceplate. A mass of webbing covered the barrel, and lights blinked wildly, warning him of iminent overload.
"Oh scra-" the explosion knocked his helm off, and it went bouncing down the hall.
Airachnid slowly lowered her arm and glared down at her grandson as Starscream, Soundwave, and the other humans joined them.
"What happened to stay put?!" she demanded.
"We did!" Jack explained, "But then that guy came in after us!"
Silas motioned his team to keep going. "Back into the vents, everyone! We don't have time to stick around!"
Miko tiptoed to look at the unconscious girl in the large man's arms. You found Violet! Rock on! she grinned and pumped a fist into the air.
"Let's go!" a sound clip played from her guardian's visor as he scooped her up and deposited her into his scout chamber.
Starscream held out a hand for Sierra, who gratefully hopped up. Airachnid grabbed Jack as the Decepticons and MECH blasted their way out of the Autobot base.
"Rani, I take full responsibility for this mess," the boy muttered, shamefaced, as they left the mesa far behind.
"Yeah, you better," she snarled. When he flinched, the seatbelts relaxed their grip slightly. "You scared me, sweetspark. And I don't like being scared. Now, you get to tell Lord Megatron what happened, but between you and me," she sighed. "Well, your grandfather is probably going to be pretty proud of what you did. But I can't speak for your mother."
Jack nodded and hunched his shoulders. June was going to kill him for this.
The tide of the undead began to ebb, falling back before the lord of the Decepticons.
"Can you hold them, friend?" he asked Knock Out. A grim nod was all he needed. Launching himself off the helm of a charging Terrorcon, Megatron transformed and took to the air, headed directly for the usurper Prime.
"Bravo, old friend," the Autobot sneered, "You do not disappoint! Yet this was but a prelude. You may wish to save your strength for the main event!"
He stepped back calmly as Megatron opened fire. "You will not prevail, Optimus Prime! Not while energon flows through my veins!" the silver fightercraft rained fire down upon his adversary.
"Fitting," the dark one almost-cooed, "For it is Dark energon which flows through mine!" With a low chuckle, he transformed and sped into a Bridge that opened only feet away.
Megatron landed in bipedal form, firing uselessly after him until the portal closed. He hissed with disgust and turned to find Knock Out halfway up the cliff face.
"I got bored." he quipped as the warlord reached down to haul him the rest of the way up. They stood together, looking out over the desolation of Optimus's experiment. The deactivated corpses of the undead littered the valley like a grisly snowfall.
"If this wasn't Prime's endgame," the medic murmured, holding his mangled arm and wincing, "What is?"
Knock Out bit back a curse and screwed up his faceplate in pain as Megatron cauterized a split cable under his shoulder guard.
"Be still," the older mech warned him as he set the arm in a temporary bracing frame. June balanced precariously on Megatron's forearm, leaning over the wounds with the disinfectant cloth and liquid mesh patches. The other Decepticons watched with somber expressions as the repair work was completed and their doctor made a wobbly effort at standing.
"What happened to you guys, anyway?" Sierra asked softly.
"We had a little meet'n'greet with an army of undead Cybertronian warriors," Knock Out snapped. Then his optics glazed. "Although, I think the politically-correct term is revenant."
June hopped off of Megatron's arm and onto Knock Out's shoulder. "You need to sit down. Right now." she ordered.
Breakdown stumped over and pushed his friend down onto the medical berth. The humans looked vaguely stunned.
"Zombies? Zombie robots? That's a thing?" Sierra began to twitch slightly.
Megatron locked his hands behind his back and strode over to stare sternly down at them all. "Pax Minor, you exercised very poor judgment today, both in disobeying Airachnid and in allowing Sierra to accompany you."
The boy hung his head. "I know, sir. It won't happen again." As expected, Megatron quietly asked him if he had any idea what could have happened. "Yes sir," Pax barely squeaked.
"It wasn't his fault!" Sierra burst out, "He tried to stop me from coming!"
And neither of them would have come at all if I hadn't fallen asleep in Soundwave's scout chamber! Miko signed, quick to come to her friends' defense.
Soundwave flinched at the reminder and replayed the clip of the man in the pinstripe suit. "And I'm sorry...I'm so, so sorry."
Megatron appeared to consider this for a moment. "As we are at war, and may have need of everyone, for the moment I shall allow an understanding of wrongdoing to suffice. Be sure that it does not happen again." A touch of concern entered the cerulean optics. "I believe that what you experienced today was likely punishment enough."
Just then, Sierra remembered something. "Oh! Um...M-Megatron, sir? We found this in the Autobot base."
She queued up the picture of the equation on her phone and held it up for the Decepticons to see. Megatron squinted at it for a moment and rumbled thoughtfully.
"Starscream, examine this. It may be of importance to Optimus Prime."
The scientifically-minded Seeker delicately took the instrument from his charge's hands and began studying the picture.
"W-wait! Optimus Prime is back?" Pax gasped, face pale. A sudden memory of Soundwave lying on the deck, bleeding and battered, came to the forefront of his mind and he quickly pushed it away.
June was furious with her son, but there were other things on her mind. "Knock Out," she whispered to her old friend, "We need to do something for Miko."
Having regained most of his lucidity, the CMO tilted his helm. "Like what?"
June gestured to where the child now sat on Soundwave's shoulder, trying to assure him that she wasn't upset about being accidentally taken into battle.
"She needs a way to know when Cybertronians are coming from out of her sight range. Sensors, goggles with a heads-up display. Something. All the kids are at risk, but accommodations are important."
Knock Out knew she was right. The girl had been in the States for an operation that was supposed to help with that, but the resource rationing and priority of wealthy patients had continuously delayed it. And for 'Cons without mouthplates who hadn't downloaded sign language, it was probably a little irritating for Miko to have to get someone to translate. She didn't have much trouble avoiding machinery or things like that, the ship was huge and humans were small: it was easy to know where moving parts were without looking. But for Miko's sake, anything they could do to make things easier for her was worth looking into.
Soundwave had mentioned that she could hear low-frequency sounds. Well, that was a start. The medic began sending silent, internal instructions to several groups of nanites he kept strictly for human medical care. Perhaps they could do something about the little girl's eardrums, or perhaps a set of goggles with a heads-up display and sensors, like June had mentioned, would be an idea. In the meantime, he had some healing to do, and there was no way that Starscream was getting out of it this time!
The submarine cut through the Atlantic like a vast shark, on its way once more, now that the away team had been safely Warp-Gate'd back aboard. In the war room and the mess hall, pictures and layouts of the Autobot base were circulating amongst the soldiers. The 'Bots would change the interior soon, as they did once every so often out of paranoia, but even outdated information could save lives in the long run.
Jenner sat dead-eyed on his bunk, field-stripping his rifle.
"Hey, are you alright, brother?" He glanced up at his roommate, a friendly fellow from Scotland who couldn't seem to stick with one nickname for his friends.
"We got Vi back," Jenner rasped, running a cleaning brush down the barrel.
Ramsey raised his woolly eyebrows. "Well that's good, isn't it?"
The other set the pieces of the gun down. "Yeah. Good. Except we couldn't get there before they interrogated her, and we lost Anderson and Miels on the way out."
He sighed and ran his hands through his hair, leaving streaks of black powder and rem oil. "It wasn't as bad as the first time we found her in there, at least. Still, she's going to need a lot of support when she wakes up."
Ramsey grimaced and slid a crate over to sit in front of his friend's bunk, picking up the bracket mount and swabbing the cleaning oil over it. "So much for the earlier counseling," he grunted. They settled into silence, remembering friends they'd lost to Autobot experiments, and each was quietly grateful that they hadn't lost this one more.
In the medical wing, Violet stared, unseeing, at the ceiling as antibiotics and fluids dripped through an IV into her arm to chase out the residual energon. Her prosthetic had been completely removed in order to be repaired and bandages covered most of her body. She acted as if she neither saw nor heard the doctors bustling about her bed. It required too much energy to deal with all that at present. And they would ask what happened. She did not want to talk about that. She had shut herself away into a tiny corner of her mind where she could find peace. It usually worked for a while before her mind started getting distracting again, in any case.
Silas's eyes when I accidentally call him 'dad'. Mama's smile. Flowers after rain. Silas's eyes when I accidentally call him 'dad'. Mama's smile. Flowers after rain.
The mantra soothed her as Blackwell injected a sedative into her shoulder.
"For the nightmares," he said softly, brushing chestnut hair out of her face. He turned and left the ward, touching Silas's shoulder in sympathy as he left.
The big man sat on a plastic chair next to the cot that seemed too small for his frame. He held Violet's scarred and chafed wrist gently in his hand, running his thumb over her scabbed knuckles.
"It's over now, sweetheart," he murmured. "Forgive me, I should not have allowed you to leave the base. I promise, you will not be in harm's way again; even if you hate me for it, I'm gonna protect you."
The leader of MECH stood and bent over the fragile frame, planting a gentle kiss on her brow. "Dormez en paix, ma pauvre fille. Je serai là." he whispered, then settled back into the chair to wait until she woke.
"Please, Prime, I didn't mean any-" the plea was curtailed by a cry of pain as a blow sent Cliffjumper skidding across the floor of the central command chamber.
"Enough." the deep tones seethed with barely controlled anger as another backhand left the smaller Autobot collapsed on the deck.
"I told you to await my command, yet your mindless agenda led to the infiltration and sabotage of my base by Decepticons and the delay of my plan!"
Panicked, Cliffjumper scrabbled backwards in an attempt to escape the wrathful Prime. "M-my intentions were pure, I assure you! I just wanted to take out Megatron for you!"
He yelped as a heavy pede pinned his head to the ground and slowly began to exert pressure. Warning sensors began pinging in his processor as his helm plating began to screech under the strain. Something cracked, sending a stab of pain through his neural net.
The back of his helm began to buckle and every sensor in him shrieked the need for relief and escape as Optimus leaned down and whispered, "No one takes the life of Megatronus. As it seems that I have neglected to make this sufficiently clear before, I repeat myself now: there is a claim on Megatron's blood. Only I may kill him. Am I understood, Cliffjumper?"
Mercifully, the pressure receded as Prime removed his pede from Cliffjumper's dented helm.
"Yes, Prime," the blue mech practically sobbed, lying flat on the deck. Optimus turned away in contempt.
"You, at least, have not failed me," he observed, acknowledging Liaison Darby, "Have you had any success in your private venture?"
The man stood tall, despite his injuries, and saluted. "I have, Prime. Again, thank you for allowing me to look into the matter myself."
The dark helm nodded and he glanced over his shoulder at the still-recovering Cliffjumper. "I see no reason why you should not continue as you see fit, Liaison. You have proved that you can be trusted when I am away."
Cliffjumper did not miss the barb, and gulped. "Please, Optimus, I can make it up to you! I know a way to put your plan back on track!" He gagged as blunt servos wrapped around his neck cables, hoisting him off the ground.
"Explain," the Prime growled, "Quickly."
A series of soft tones filled the small work chamber as Starscream hovered at a console, servos flying over dual keyboards. He had transferred the photo Sierra had taken to his private kiosk for further perusal.
"Sierra, green vials go in the black box!" he called over his shoulder without missing a keystroke.
"Yeah yeah, I got it!" she grumbled. She wasn't sure when exactly she'd become the Igor to his Frankenstein, but somehow she'd found herself playing lab-assistant while he examined the equation from the Autobot base.
Suddenly, his wings flared up in surprise, then drooped. "It can't be!" he whispered, then winced. The quick movements had agitated the scratches down the length of his wings.
Despite Knock Out's best intentions, Starscream had given him the slip once again—a decision he was beginning to regret. The Seeker slammed his fist down on the console.
"Sierra! Comm!" he yelled, unable to tear his optics from the screen.
"Shipwide, or personal?" she asked, annoyed. Why didn't he use his own comm?
"Megatron's not answering his private comm," he replied, barely keeping from snapping, "So if you please, this is very important!"
The girl took a running start from the desk and vaulted onto a small ledge beneath the comm, installed by Breakdown for June and Pax's personal use.
"Um...Starscream? Shipwide is the purple switch, right?" she asked, staring at the alien symbols on the pad.
"Yes, but don't push it until the blue light is on, or we'll be talking to ourselves," her guardian answered. As soon as the speakers were on, Starscream requested Megatron's
immediate attention in his lab. It took twenty minutes for the Decepticon leader to arrive.
"What is it, Starscream?" he sounded concerned. The younger mech stepped away from the screen, inviting his elder to look over it.
"These are engineering schematics for a space/time vortex generator!"
From her perch by the comm, Sierra frowned. It sounded like something from Doctor Who...and it probably wasn't a good thing.
Her suspicions were confirmed when Megatron's brows furrowed. "Optimus is building a Space Bridge...if he has not completed it already."
A snort from the doorway startled them all. "The sooner he leaves, the better!" Breakdown leaned on the frame while Knock Out marched in full of righteous indignation.
"Ever hear of knocking?" Starscream deadpanned.
"Ever hear of common sense?" the medic returned, "We're fixing your wings right now!"
As the protesting Seeker was forced to sit still and be attended to, Megatron answered Breakdown's statement.
"Breakdown, a Space Bridge operates in two directions. Optimus may not be leaving Earth...he may be using it to bring through a conquering army."
Knock Out cursed softly as he set his tools aside, having finished the minor repairs. "The "main event" Optimus referred to? But there's only one place in the universe he could possibly recruit that...many...fallen..." he trailed off as a horrified look of realization eclipsed his features.
"Precisely," Megatron answered in a low rumble.
Every movement stilled as the implications dawned on them all. Though the War had spanned countless constellations and ranged across multiple solar systems, there truly were only two places with a vast concentration of the dead. The one was Earth, the strange, humble world that had become their home. The second...The Decepticon warlord turned his gaze to the ceiling as if his optics alone could pierce the shielded metal and see beyond stars, beyond planets, beyond moons and asteroids to what was his greatest joy and his greatest sorrow.
"Cybertron."
To be continued...
