Chapter 19
The Autobots had arrived on the Earth trabant. Two shuttles were landing at the Moon´s surface.
They were only in a few miles distance to the Decepticon´s location.
Their strike force consisted of some of the best Autobots that were left. The rests of the Arc-crew and of the Wreckers, the Dinobots and with the Protectobots the last of their combiner teams.
All of them were departing the shuttles and getting prepared for the coming fight.
They were all aware that Megatron probably already knew they were here.
It didn´t really matter. Since they have lost Bumblebee and Hound the Decepticons would be warned that they were coming.
"Autobots", Optimus Prime ordered, "transform."
Their convoy was driving in the direction they knew the Decepticons would be, probably awaiting them.
xxx
Megatron´s troops had assembled in front of the pyramid, in some distance. He didn´t want his prized new item to be damaged in the coming fight.
Beside the Decepticon leader himself it were Soundwave, Skywarp, Blitzwing, Rumble, Frenzy, Ravage, Cyclonus, Scourge, Darkwing, Dreadwind, the Constructicons and the Combaticons, Runabout, Runamuck, Battletrap, Flywheels, Krok, Slugslinger, Triggerhappy, Misfire and two other seekers, some of the few remaining of their once giant army.
But even that would play no role anymore if their plan would succeed.
They had prepared the ambush and their enemies would walk right into it, because they had simply no other choice.
At the horizon, on the barren landscape before them, they could see the incoming formation of Autobots.
"Decepticons", Megatron shouted the command, "fire."
xxx
As the first laser blasts started to hit the ground between their wheels the Autobots began to transform into robot-mode.
They had drawn their guns. Some of them were trying to get cover behind some of the larger rocks. Others were still attempting to lower the distance between them and the Decepticons.
The battle had started, the one that they all had known was unavoidable.
Getaway, Joyride and Slapdash were holding a line against their enemies.
Darkwing and Dreadwind were closing up on them in jet form.
In front of the Autobots Rumble and Frenzy caused a miniature earthquake that broke off their lines.
xxx
The Combaticons and the Constructicons merged to form Bruticus and Devastator. In opposite to them the Protectobots did the same thing.
The one Autobot gestalt was standing against the two Decepticons, but Defensor was being backed up by a number of regular sized fighters.
xxx
The trio of Slugslinger, Triggerhappy and Misfire was one of the strangest air-groups in existence.
While his two partners were experienced veterans and dangerous fighters Misfire had barely made it through the academy. His given name was to be taken literally. The only reason he was even accepted into the army was the need for soldiers.
Still they were fighting as a team now and in jet-mode targeting robots on the ground.
Slugslinger and Triggerhappy had cornered the two Autobots Blurr and Pipes.
xxx
At the other end of the battlefield Blitzwing rolled in his tank form in the direction of a small crowd of Autobots, firing his main cannon at them.
One of his blasts hit the Autobot Hubcap into the head that exploded into a burst of shrapnel.
As the dead mech fell however his comrades returned fire and concentrated it on the triple changer who was forced to transform back into robot mode.
"Blitzwing." He heard somebody yell his name. Instantly he recognized his new opponent, Roadbuster.
The large robot was one of the strongest Autobots in existence and a very dangerous warrior.
Roadbuster smashed his fists into his chest plate and shattered it. But Blitzwing wasn´t a harmless cybertronian either and fought back.
He draw his hand blaster and fired, but only managed to blow a part out of his opponent´s shoulder.
Only a moment later however Roadbuster repeatedly shot his own weapon. The blasts pierced through his already weakened armor into his spark chamber and killed the Decepticon triple-changer.
xxx
Grimlock, Sludge and Snarl were shooting their way through the enemy troops. They were all what was left of the Dinobots, Slag and Swoop having been lost in the battle against Unicron.
The Dinobot leader placed a shot at a Decepticon in front of them before their group simultaneously transformed into their dinosaur-modes.
One seeker was heading for them and firing missiles. The three Dinobots however opened their mouths and fired burning plasma at the attacking Decepticon who exploded in mid-air.
xxx
Skywarp teleported across the lines of the Autobots and took aim. His blasts hit between a group of three robots consisting of Seaspray, Hoist and Ratchet and forcing them backwards.
A second later he teleported again, out of the range of his enemies.
xxx
Scourge and Cyclonus were roaming over the area like two predators, watching for the most promising Autobot to attack. As they saw a fitting target they struck.
They robot they had chosen as their prey was the Autobot scout Outback. Cyclonus fired and struck the robot in the shoulder. A second blast from Scourge finished what he started and killed the damaged fighter.
"A good shot", Cyclonus commented.
"Thank you", Scourge replied, grinning.
The two unicronians turned around, they had already made out another target.
xxx
Pipes fell under Slugslinger´s and Triggerhappy´s combined fire. Blurr however was just too quick for them and evaded their shots. He was the fastest cybertronian in existence and that for a reason.
All his reflexes had been far augmented during his creation, that however had the side-effect that all his functions seemed to be permanently being in fast mode, something that often had the effect to disturb his ability to work with others on a daily basis.
Misfire used this chance for his own attack. But of course like his more skilled and experienced comrades, he failed.
His laser missed Blurr´s head by more than a meter and gave the Autobot racer every chance to counterattack.
Before he had the chance to this however Blurr was hit into the side by a shot from someone else.
Scourge was one of the best trackers ever been created. His sensors were so advanced that he literally could see people walking around on another planet, so he was able to follow the movements of the super-fast Autobot easily and his blast threw Blurr to the ground.
As the injured robot struggled to get up he was looking right into the guns of Slugslinger and Triggerhappy.
"Going somewhere Autobot?" one of them asked.
In the moment the two Decepticons fired their weapons he knew he had no chance.
As they turned away from the fallen Autobot they were already under attack themselves again.
It had turned quickly into the most brutal battle for a long time. But that was no real surprise, given what was at stake.
xxx
Optimus was standing in the middle of the battlefield. Both forces were nearly evenly matched.
He knew what he had to do. His part was to get to Megatron, to confront him.
He remembered the last conversation he had with Ultra Magnus.
xxx
"Tell me one thing Magnus", he asked, "do you think I have failed?
"Failed? How can you say that? You have been our leader for a hundred thousand vorn, you have done more for us than anybody else."
"Please Magnus, you are not one of these so blinded by their loyalty that they don´t longer see what is right before their eyes.
Tell me, where exactly have I not failed?
I wasn´t able to prevent Cybertron´s destruction,
I wasn´t able to prevent the destruction of these cities on Earth
and I hadn´t been able to stop Megatron for millions of years.
What about Cronus? Had I been able to see through his deception Elita could still be alive. How many others had died because I let him infiltrate the Autobots?"
"Don´t beat yourself up about the past Optimus. It wasn´t your fault, you had not known."
"That is easy to say Magnus. Fact is it was my duty but I was not able to stop even a single one of this disasters from happening. That means I have failed. But I won´t again. I will do now that I should have years ago.
We both know there is a good chance that I will not come back alive Magnus. You and me, we both have a good idea what he is planning and that he needs to be stopped. Goodbye old friend", Optimus said.
"Goodbye Orion", Ultra Magnus answered.
xxx
Optimus knew what he had to do. He began to fight his way to the Decepticon leader.
One Decepticon, he recognized him as the triple-changer Battletrap, draw a gun at him but he was quicker. Two shots from his gun burned into the robots spark chamber and through his body.
Another life lost, a part of him thought silently. But he couldn´t change it. This was a war and he was about to end it.
Optimus continued to shoot his way through every Decepticon who stood between him and Megatron.
xxxxxxx
Autobot-city Earth
Hotrod had arrived. He was just rolling down the final road that led to the Autobot headquarters on Earth.
Once again he saw at the first look that things were absolutely not right. The city showed battle damage and the walls signs of laser fire. But he knew that it had not been attacked in the last five years.
As he had reached the ramp that led to the main entrance, he transformed into and took a closer look.
As he was walking inside he was greeted by a voice he knew all too well.
"Ultra Magnus", he said with barely concealed excitement, "it is good to see a known face."
"Hotrod", Magnus greeted him, remembering the version of the robot from their time-line.
"I hope you can tell me what is going on here." He had a uneasy feeling that this was not the Ultra Magnus he was knowing, but at least he had found another Autobot.
"Yes, I think I have a good idea", Magnus replied as he was leading the younger Autobot inside.
xxxxxxx
Moon surface
At the same time on the moon, the battle was continuing.
Cyclonus was locked into close combat with the Dinobot leader Grimlock, the destroyed chassis of Sludge was lying next to them.
Close to them Springer was fighting Scourge. The triple-changer attacked the Decepticon with his sword but the tracker managed to keep him at distance.
During the struggle Springer was suddenly attacked from the side. Ravage, he recognized the metallic jaguar. The predator had bitten into his arm and caused a deeper wound.
But he managed to throw the cassette off and killed Soundwave´s feline minion with a blast into the head.
With that however he had opened himself to Scourge who dealt a hard blow to him.
xxx
Getaway and the Duocon Flywheels were firing at each other from a short distance. The truth was both of them would have rather been somewhere else.
Both of them had in their own way long lost their faith in the sense of this war. Their home-world Cybertron was gone and only a few of both sides were still alive. They had seen entire worlds destroyed and billions die, but had reached nothing in the process.
But they were still here because of the fact that they had nothing else, combined with a sense of loyalty and that caused them to fight each other now.
Both of them draw their guns and fired.
Getaway was the one who was quicker. His first blast hit Flywheels in the chest and he continued to shoot until the Decepticon sank down.
His eyes met the smoking body for a short moment. He knew this could as easily been his own and that the other warrior had not been thinking so differently from him.
But suddenly, before he could do anything, he himself was hit by a blast in the back ad fell next to his destroyed opponent.
xxx
Darkwing and Dreadwind had merged into their combined jet-mode and were concentrating their full fire-power on the two Autobots Slapdash and Joyride who had taken cover behind a larger rock formation and were themselves trying to bring shots on.
They finally succeeded in breaking the combiner jet apart, but the two Decepticons were now attacking them independently again.
xxx
Optimus was standing before a group of Decepticons consisting of Runabout, Runamuck and Krok who were blocking his way. Against three robots at once he knew, it was even for him a hard fight.
He fired his weapon and hit Runamuck what caused his partner to attack him angrily. But before his opponent reached him the Decepticon was himself hit by a missile. The Autobot leader saw that it was Wheeljack who was backing him up.
"I will do this Prime", the Autobot scientist said as he confronted Krok.
Optimus nodded before the transformed in his truck-mode and drove further in full speed.
xxx
Slugslinger, Triggerhappy and Misfire were now fighting with the Autobots Hoist, Ratchet and Inferno.
While Misfire was caught by a head-shot and destroyed, Ratchet was at the same time hit by several blasts from Triggerhappy and went down too. Both robots were dead before they touched the ground.
This caused their comrades only to go against each other even harder.
xxx
The gestalt warriors Defensor and Bruticus were still struggling with each other. Both had already taken significant damage, were however still evenly matched.
In the end Defensor was able to bring on a shot from his gun that hit Bruticus right arm that was formed by the Combaticon Blast-Off and broke through the weakened armor.
The resulting explosion ripped the arm off, killing the single Decepticon in the process.
Through Blast Off´s loss however, a chain reaction was caused in the combined system of the Combaticons that brought the gestalt to fall apart.
But only seconds later the damaged Defensor was struck by Devastator and broke apart too.
xxx
The Decepticon leader was involved in a fight with a group of Autobots.
Ironhide, Roadbuster and Seaspray had him circled and were trying to find a opening. Their shots caused barely even minor damage.
"We will get you Megatron", Ironhide yelled.
"Too overconfident as always Autobot", the Decepticon responded casually. He just raised his fusion cannon and fired.
The blast hit Roadbuster, ripped through and destroyed his upper body and killed him.
Ironhide and Seaspray were suddenly under fire from the side. Darkwing and Dreadwind were charging at the two Autobots.
The Deception leader only laughed as he saw the out-breaking fight that rid him of two opponents.
"Megatron", he heard a well known voice addressing him and turned around.
"Prime", he greeted the Autobot Commander, "how good to see you." He smirked.
"I am here to stop you Megatron. You have gone too far."
"Don´t you see Optimus?", the Decepticon leader replied. "I can bring Cybertron back to us. I can negate all the damage that had been made."
"To what price? Your rule over the universe? Terror and destruction for everyone else? I have seen what you are capable of. For the longest time Megatron, you had been a warlord, striving for conquest and your idea of glory. But in the last years you have turned into something else, something far worse. This ends here and now."
"What I have done will sell out in the end, but you will not longer be there to see it", he answered.
He fired his weapon again, this time aiming at Optimus.
The Autobot leader could dodge the shot, but it gazed his shoulder. Then he used his own gun and fired back. The first of Optimus shots missed, the second only hit Megatron in the side.
In the next moment the Decepticon had bridged the distance between them and they switched to hand to hand combat. The two warriors exchanged heavy blows that left dents and bruises in their armor and metallic skin.
xxx
Seaspray´s body literally exploded under the concentrated fire of the two Decepticons. That caused Ironhide to counter-attack angrily. Several of his shots hit Dreadwind and send him crashing down.
What he didn´t see was Cyclonus flying behind him and taking aim.
xxx
Soundwave was standing far behind in the battle-lines and was guarding the entrance of the base. The wreck of an Autobot who had been coming too close was lying next to him.
From here he was overseeing the battle. So far no side had gained a real advantage. But he knew that for the success of Megatron´s plan it was enough when the Autobots were stopped from taking the machine, even if every other Decepticon died, not that he was happy about it.
Still he had however felt the death of Ravage that was a personal loss.
He realized that Scourge had approached and was landing right next to him.
"Purpose for your presence?" Soundwave asked him monotonously, not showing his distaste for the unicronian in any way.
"I wanted to report that the battle is going in our favor", Scourge said.
xxx
"You have destroyed too much, you have killed too many Megatron, this needs to end now", Optimus told him.
"Whoever I kill, whatever I destroy will play no role when I have succeeded. Everything that happened will cease to be then."
"Yes, I know what you are planning and I cannot allow this."
"You won´t have a choice", Megatron said as he gained the upper hand for a moment and smashed the Autobot leader down.
Then something happened that nobody had anticipated.
Megatron was struck by a blast in his back. Optimus saw Cyclonus floating above them who had discharged his gun and was now firing again.
xxx
Soundwave barely registered the blast that hit him until he sank to his knees. Scourge, he realized, Scourge had shot him.
He had anticipated some sort of betrayal by the unicronians, but not something like this.
Soundwave was unable to read the thoughts of a Unicron creation, he knew this. That was his weakness, he was so used to knowing the thoughts of others that this had caught him completely off-guard. He thought this just before Scourge fired again.
xxx
Optimus saw his old enemy falling down under a number of blasts. This, he had to admit, took him completely by surprise.
He saw the lights in Megatron´s eyes becoming dark.
xxxxxxx
Autobot city Earth
Hotrod and Ultra Magnus were now inside the control center of Autobot city, the same room where Optimus had instructed his warriors for the battle only a few hours earlier.
"Tell me Hotrod, how is the world you came from?" he asked.
"So you know," he stated. "Well, not like this one, I can tell you that."
"I guessed. You are the time traveller who we have met these years ago. I know perfectly that you are not the Hotrod from this reality because I knew him and I saw him die."
"How?"
"He saved Optimus from an assassination attempt but was caught himself in the process."
"I understand." It was pure irony, he thought, remembering how he had once failed to do the same thing.
"Can you tell me what you think had happened?" the younger Autobot asked.
"It is a long story, very long indeed. First you should know Cybertron is gone. It was destroyed six years ago by Unicron."
"This is not the way it is in my world. Unicron was stopped before he could devour our planet. Two years later the Decepticons agreed to a truce and we are living for five years more or less in peace."
"That sounds too good to be true." Ultra Magnus laughed bitter. "We also had five years of peace you know? After we had finally managed to put a stop to Unicron the Decepticons had practically disappeared.
But around one year ago they suddenly came back and began to destroy everything in their wake, one Earth city after the other. Our species is now nearly extinct. There are only a few dozen cybertronians left and before this day is over maybe not even that."
"By the Matrix", Hotrod murmured.
"Tell me", Magnus asked him, "do you know when we had first met the Decepticon called Galvatron?"
"At least in my world it had been in the Earth year 2005", Hotrod answered. "After the engagement that became known as the battle of Autobot city. He is leading the Cons in my time."
"As I thought", Ultra Magnus replied. "What would you say when I told you that I first met Galvatron, Cyclonus and Scourge 9 million years ago on Cybertron?"
Hotrod looked for a moment visible surprised before he caught himself.
Despite everything Ultra Magnus had to suppress a smile when he saw the young Autobot´s face.
"I would ask you to tell me more", Hotrod finally answered.
Ultra Magnus nodded.
"It was shortly after the beginning of the Great War that this three Decepticons first appeared", he began to explain. "Nobody knew what they wanted or even knew their names.
The strangest part was that Galvatron actually had a hand in my creation. He, Cyclonus and Scourge rescued my personality core from a Decepticon prison transport and brought me to Alpha Trion.
And if that wasn´t enough, Cyclonus had saved Elita One from being accidentally destroyed during the first battle of Kalis.
On they other hand they destroyed other Autobots without a second thought. It was nearly as if they knew who had to live and who not."
"To preserve the time-line", Hotrod remarked.
"Indeed", Magnus replied. "After the Kalis battle Galvatron and his followers had vanished. They were not seen again until 9 million years later.
Galvatron, Cyclonus and Scourge appeared again in the year 1987. They attacked us multiple times and tried to take over the Decepticons."
"1987", Hotrod murmured tone-less. That was just one year after the time he just came from.
"It was then when we found out what they were. They claimed to be time-travelers from the future, from the Earth year 2005 and they said that they were trying to prepare us for a coming threat."
"Unicron."
"Yes, strangely none of them showed any sign that they remembered our meetings in the past", Ultra Magnus explained to him, letting the implications of what he said hanging in the air.
"Six years ago we then found then out what exactly Cyclonus and Scourge truly were."
"Reformated Transformers, by Unicron from already existing Decepticons", Hotrod answered for him.
"Yes, in the year 2005 Unicron found a patrol of Decepticons and formed them into Cyclonus, Scourge and a few others shortly before his attack on our planet, only Galvatron was missing. Galvatron, he is Megatron isn´t he?"
"He was", Hotrod replied, giving his confirmation.
"We have already thought that, this explains a lot. This world here Hotrod is not the one where Galvatron came from and it is not yours and it is certainly not the universe as it should be.
If you hadn´t appeared in 1987, if Galvatron had not tried to manipulate the past several times, our world had been influenced by time-travel more times than I can count."
"There is something else you need to know about. Optimus had told you about the creature named Cabal", Ultra Magnus reminded him.
"Yes", Hotrod answered, "and I have already met him. He offered me the usual thing, power, revenge on my enemies."
"You have? Then you should know this. The first time we met this creature was about 100 years after the beginning of the war and our first confrontation with Galvatron.
At this time Cybertron crossed the space of another planet and we and the Decepticons both tried to investigate it. The world that we found was dead and most soldiers who had set foot on it didn´t come back."
"What happened?"
"The natives of this planet, as we found out, had performed an experiment that had opened a gate to another dimension and something from there came through to our world.
We didn´t knew back then what kind of a creature had entered our universe. It was a being of pure energy, it was able to manipulate the minds of living beings, reform matter by it´s design and even influence the structure of our reality.
It lived and existed only to manipulate and destroy and it wanted to use us to get to other worlds to spread it´s influence to the rest of the galaxy.
We have given this entity the name Cabal. In the end we were able to escape and we left the creature behind on the planet. We had hoped that he would be staying trapped on the world he had destroyed, but later it seems he was able to escape from there."
"And now he is back?" Hotrod asked him.
"Yes, a short time after you were send to this future, he appeared again. Since then however, he had not been seen again."
"What is this `Cabal´ up to? What does he want now? Why has he not gotten active?"
"We are not sure. You in every case should be careful. The way you described your meeting with him, it is the usual way he manipulates somebody, he makes promises, gives you what you want, shows you what you fear, all to get into your head."
"Okay, thank you for the warning", Hotrod replied.
"Cronus told us that Cabal was after the time-travel technology that you had brought into the year 1987", Magnus pointed out.
"We have only Cronus word for this and as we know now he had only been the cover identity for one of Unicron´s heralds all along, not exactly a trustworthy source and why would a creature like that need a time-machine anyway?"
"That may be but there is one more thing you should know about the time-travel device that you have brought into the past.
Stored in it where the plans for a second, similar machine, a far larger one and far more powerful."
"The pyramid", Hotrod realized, remembering the large construct that had suddenly appeared in space in his year 2011.
"We believe it is a machine that can control time and space itself."
"And Megatron has the plans for it", Hotrod said.
"Worse", Ultra Magnus told him, "he had built it."
"Yes Hotrod, this is the way the world is," he heard another voice addressing him, a human one.
He looked to the source of the sound.
"Spike," he greeted him.
He saw that their oldest human friend had just entered the room. Despite everything what was going on here, Hotrod was glad to see him. Or more precisely, he was happy that he was still alive.
"All that because Megatron got his hands on the technology that you had brought with you when you travelled to the past," the human told him.
The accusation, that he was obviously trying to keep out of his voice, was still easy to hear for him.
"I have never intended to travel through time," he stated. "It was an accident."
"Yes I am aware of that," Spike responded grimly. "My world has been ruined. Earth is nearly in a worse state when Cybertron had once been during the war. Cybertron itself doesn´t exist anymore and all that, as you say, because of a giant mistake." The bitterness and despair in his words was more than obvious.
"This is our chance now to correct this mistake. Whatever will happen in the next hours, I wish you good luck," Spike said to him.
Author´s note: Ultra Magnus is describing the events that had happened in the story "Nightmare" during the last part of this chapter.