Chapter 3

Unified Year – Sept. 30 1926 – The sky above Bremen – 1 hour after the start of Operation Cul-de-Sac

"Maintain, speed and fire!" Tanya hollered as she dashed to her right, spraying the bullets of her submachine gun. Three AK mages exploded into flames and dropped towards the ocean. Serebryakov hovered behind her, her rifle spewing bullets and killing two AK mages whose weapon were pointed at the Major.

"Major, sir! More mages!" Serebryakov said after her eyes caught a sight of another battalion of Mages emerging from the fleet below them.

Tch, they're really prepared! Tanya grumbled; the enemy's number was overwhelming her force. "Rhine HQ! When's back up gonna come?!"

"In just 60 mins they will be within range. Maintain your stand, Major!"

"We can't hold much longer! We request for Rhine control to tell the main navy fleet to go faster!"

"They're already fast. Maintain your stand there, Major. May God protect you now."

God? Him again, always Him. Tanya's anger skyrocketed. As far as she knew, it must be 'Being X' who was behind this attack after all.

"Damn it! All men, continue fighting! Offer your life to protect the Empire! Slow down the armada from beach landing to our coast!"

"Sir yes sir!" 1st Lieutenant Neumann said as his company of men, howled and charged towards the swarm of AK Mages. Their bullets sang and the bloods from their wounds filled the peaceful blue sky.

No matter what happened, defend the empire! That was the only thought inside Neumann as he threw a grenade towards a group of five AK mages, bathing them with fire. He then pointed to his left and shot rapidly, killing three of them, before he dove down and delivered a kick at one of the enemy mages.

Company Commander 1st lieutenant Koenig flew rapidly in a zigzag pattern, avoiding the rain of bullets coming from the anti-air guns of the war ships. "Men, switch to AP explosive rounds and fire!" he instructed as he fired at a battleship's hull. It left a scorched mark but not holes.

"So AP spell rounds can't scratch battleship's hull-" his thoughts were cut when he suddenly swerved up, avoiding torrential bullets aimed at his company. "Switch tactics! Shoot only the battleship's decks!" he shouted and his men responded.

"Come on, when's the main fleet gonna arrive!?" he wondered aloud in fury as he threw a grenade to a battleship's deck.

Inside the RMS Bremen

"Franziska Chadwick!" 1st Lieutenant Weiss shouted across what seemed to be the ship's empty grand saloon. Where on earth is she? he cursed as the ship suddenly tilted more, making him loosed his footing for a bit. "Dammit!" he cursed again after sea water splashed over his eyes.

"1st lieutenant Weiss, any luck on your side!?" 2nd Lieutenant Glanz burst from a room behind Weiss, huffing and puffing.

"No!"

"That's the last room over there!" Glanz then pointed at the last room at the end of hallway. The two men began to walk, cursing and slipping, as the ship groaned heavily and tilted more. "This ship is done for!" Glanz spoke again as he reached the door first. He kicked it down with his right foot and shouted inside.

"Franziska Chadwick!?"

"Right here!" a small voice, a teenage girl's, answered Glanz. Weiss peered over the door and saw a girl of seventeen years old. She was wearing a golden yellow elegant gown, soaked in sea water, that matched her beautiful, but loose, blonde hair. Her green eyes, filled with dread and horror, looked straight at them.

What the-she looks familiar? Weiss wondered but he quickly dismissed his thought and asked. "Are you Franziska Chadwick?"

"That's my codename. I'm in a diplomatic peace envoy mission, you see," she reasoned weakly, showing signs that she was tired. "Where are the rescue ships!?" she suddenly asked as she took Glanz's left hand and used him for her support.

"They will be here. We're specifically ordered to extract only you."

"No, you have to call the rescue ships, people are dying out there-"

The three people were thrown suddenly back inside the room as the ship listed completely to its left side and began to sink to the ocean with its stern, first.

"Dammit!" Glanz shielded the woman with his body. Furniture started falling and sliding towards him but Weiss quickly sat behind him and activated his computation jewel.

"Forcefield spell activating!"

"1st Lieutenant!? How much longer can you hold on?"

"I'll be fine. Check the woman!" Weiss commanded and growled as more weight began to pile up on his shield that would, eventually, give away.

Hurry up! When would be the rescue ship be here!? he thought angrily as the water began to rise rapidly around them.

Imperial Strategic HQ – Berun City Capital

"Sir, report from Major Tanya!"

Zettour quickly took the message from the soldier and began to read. But then he crumpled it and threw it on the floor. "The Bremen is sinking fast."

Brigadier General Rudesdorf's fist slammed the map table in anger. "Dammit! Are we too late? Our heads will be hanged for this!"

Strained and furious, Zettour only watched him without emotion. The old man stroked his chin and thought hard on the next move.

"Huh? General, sir! Rhine Control HQ had detected a large bogey with life-form signature approaching Major Tanya's current location!"

Rudesdorf darted to the solider's side. "What do you mean by that? Is it the enemy's reinforcement!?"

"No sir…the signature is the same as last night!"

Zettour's blue eyes opened again and he scoffed off.

"Zettour, why are you laughing?" the fuming and questioning face of Rudesdorf flashed at him but the old man chuckled more in delight.

"Our heads will remain in our body, friend. The angel of the Lord…is here," he said with a wild, victorious smile.

The Sky Above Bremen

"Shit!" Tanya cursed as her machine gun choked. She quickly threw the empty magazine and hit an AK mage square to his head. "Serebryakov! Status to all company?"

"Message to all company! What's your status!?"

"This is 1st Lieutenant Neumann of company 4! Seventy percent of my company is down!" Neumann reported while he threw another grenade down to a group of five AK mages; the group was immediately engulfed in fire.

"This is 1st lieutenant Koenig of company 3! We only sustained minimal damaged to the enemy warships! I've also spotted at least 33 Rusy Feds Navy Cruiser warships sir!"

Rusy Feds Navy? Then my suspicion is right. The Rusy Feds are helping the Free Republic! "Maintain in your directives! Do absolutely everything to delay this armada!" she shouted and pressed the trigger of her machine gun, spraying bullets at a group of five AK mages.

"Any word on Weiss!?" she suddenly asked Serebryakov again as the girl quickly tired to contact the 1st lieutenant. "Sir, according to the 1st company, Lieutenants Weiss and Glanz are still inside the ship!"

What are those two fools doing- the ship is already sinking fast! Tanya glanced down and saw the whole ship was now completely capsized. A thought loomed over her.

"No…don't tell me I failed retrieving her!" she growled vengefully and tightened her hands around her submachine gun. "Curse you Being X-"

"Fairy 01! This is Rhine Control. An unknown Bogey with life signature is approaching you fast- too fast! Be advised and watch out for it. Its designated code was A.O. no.1."

Tanya's anger froze after she heard the report. "Co-come again-Rhine Control?"

"I'm here, Major Tanya," a voice hacked and answered through her radio. The voice was very deep and recently familiar and Tanya growled as she looked on the sky to see a recognizable figure.

"Who-who let you out!?" she asked in anger as the cloud parted and gave way to the sun's rays. An enormous shadow cast over her and the ocean and the sight of it made everyone stop.

"M-Major, is that-" Serebryakov uttered in nervousness as she pointed at Optimus Prime.

Optimus Prime hovered above the major. The sun shone brightly and made his red and blue paint glow, somehow peacefully; the wings of his jet pack cast a large shadow over the battlefield and it made everyone, including the AK mages, stop to look at him in horror. The Cybertronian glowed immaculately as he then lowered himself to the level of Tanya.

"I'm sorry for the delay Major. General Zettour and Lieutenant Colonel Rerugen had let me go to help you."

Them! Tanya closed her eyes and lowered her head as she ran her mind. Should I trust him? He came from Being X, who knows what that shit-head is thinking right now!? she grumbled in frustration and then slowly she started to laugh. Her laugh echoed maniacally through the sky before she then stopped and looked at him with crazy eyes.

"Fine, help me then. If things go wrong, I will blame you," she sneered and radioed her whole battalion. "To all my men, stop fighting! Let's leave it all to our esteemed alien guest, shall we?"

"Sir yes, sir!" the men responded and took off back to the major. Some of the AK mages wanted to follow but were frozen in fear; the sight of the metal alien had made their heart skip a beat.

Optimus Prime then hacked the communications of the whole naval fleet. The radio frequencies here are easy to hack, he thought...this world's tech advancement is still lacking to some degree. He observed this and finished his hacking before he spoke.

"To all invading Naval Fleet: why are you invading this peaceful patch of ocean which belongs to the Empire!?"

From the side of the AK Mages

"What the hell is that thing? Did the Empire make that!?" an AK mage soldier said in fright and darted to his left. "What are we going to do, Colonel Marcus!?"

Colonel Marcus, the leader of the 12th Allied Kingdom's Aerial Mage Battalion, didn't answer as his brown eyes, filled with horror, stared straight at the cosmic monster in front of him.

"I—" he began to utter but stammered midway. "T-tell General de Lugo to retrea-"

"To all invading Naval Fleet: why are you invading this peaceful patch of ocean which belongs to the Empire!?"

It spoke! He winced and quickly back away. The rest of the battalion acted like sheep. They too backed away; some even flew away while others screamed after hearing the giant's voice.

Free Republic's flagship – Normandie

"What the hell was that!?" General de Lugo said as he stood up from his seat; he was inside the bridge of the Normandie and was busy looking for the final plan of his invasive landing.

"Sir, message from the leading ship! They want us to stop!" one of the soldiers said and it made the general click his tongue in irritation.

"That message was in international channel. Let's have a look outside!" Severn suggested and began to walk outside.

"Tell them this: continue sailing, speed up if you have too!" General de Lugo berated and followed Severn Vianto outside.

What on earth? When the major general walked out side of the bridge, the first thing that he saw were the AK Mages in the sky. They were all flying in many direction, as if they were spooked by something, but none of them were firing their rifles. "What are those idiots doing!"

"General…" Severn uttered as his brown eyes widened in fear and slowly pointed at something in the horizon. "What's that?" General de Lugo followed only to gasp and go still. They saw a creature, floating in the air. Its surface was made out of metal with colors of red, blue and grey.

"By God's name!" General de Lugo staggered back and leaned on the railing behind him. The creature then spread its arms and spoke in a deep booming voice.

"This sea, this sky, and the land behind me: All of it belongs to the Empire and you are all trespassing! If you really want to wage war, then do so in words! Negotiate with your enemies, give them your words instead of bullets and needless blood! I know you want your homeland back, but there's no need to send innocent men to their deaths just so you could reclaim it!" the autobot leader paused as he looked down on the fleet.

"To the country called the Free Republic! War is unnecessary; it brings forth nothing but death. You can all stop it now just by putting your guns down and let the Empire's envoy of peace to lead negotiations with you. So please…let the Empire offer a peace treaty with you."

Let the Empire offer their peace treaty? As soon as the alien finished his words, General de Lugo's eyes widened as fury seeped in his heart. "Ha…does this alien knows what he is saying!?" he moved forward and raised his right clenched fist at the alien.

"You want to hear our response!? Then hear it well! The Empire had taken everything away from us! Our land, our identity, everything! We waged war with them because they don't have the right to grow into super country in the whole European continent. They are composed of nothing but castaways and vagabonds who don't deserve a home and are menace to the society!" General de Lugo threw his arms wide and screamed more. "Which is why i'ts my duty, which I received directly from God, to eliminate the evil country called the Empire once and for all!"

He then pointed towards the bridge and barked his orders. "Severn, tell the whole fleet…to fire at this abomination!"

"Yes sir!" Severn quickly darted to the bridge and relayed the command. The soldiers saluted and began to contact each of the ships.

So they didn't listen… a grave frown formed on the gray face of Optimus before he then heard a chuckle near his left ear.

"Nice speech. Sadly, it's wasted," Tanya whispered evilly at him. "So what's your next action, bogey?"

Optimus cast his optics at her and then a long, sad, and heavy sigh escaped his lips.

"Major. Please stand back," he commanded with his gentle voice. Tanya, clueless, only shrugged at floated back to her troops. "I'm sorry." Optimus whispered in a regretful way. He watched as the invading fleet pointed their cannons at him and then threw a salvo.

The bullets whooshed passed him but he didn't move from his position. The autobot leader moved his right hand and held the pommel of his Star Saber; he slowly pulled it out and pointed it to the sky.

"What the hell is he doing? You don't bring a sword to a gunfight!" Tanya harshly commented as Optimus calmly breathed and began to pray.

"Lord, almighty. If I stained my sword with blood, it will only be the blood of the sinners."

The Matrix of Leadership began to glow, gold light poured out from its cracks. His sword also began to glow with blue but it was much brighter than that in his chest.

"Lord, almighty. Forgive the sinners…for they do not know what they're doing."

The golden light then flashed more, covering his entire body with it, and bathed the sky with its angelic hue. General de Lugo froze in his spot again as the light shone brightly like a star in a day.

"This light…no!"

His life that was filled with happiness and sadness flashed before him and it made his heart break. He was so happy back then, when Francois Republic was still free, compare to where he was now.

"This—light-!" he held his hands as tears ran from his eyes; he wanted to grasp and reclaim the lost life that he had before the hellish endless way broke out.

"General, get back!" He heard Severn, but he ignored him. He wasn't seeing what he was seeing.

"Please-" he pleaded more and as soon as he did, Optimus Prime finished his prayer.

"AMEN"

The autobot leader swung his Star Saber down. A large and harsh beam of blue light hit the Normandie first and then he curved his sword to the right. The heavenly blue light ate the ships- from their superstructures up to their last bolt. Some of the crew who saw the crawling deadly beam tried to jump on the water, only to turn into dust.

Tanya and the rest of 203rd mage battalion stared in shock as they watched Optimus softly swayed his sword to the left, disintegrating the fleet there.

A—amazing…it was Tanya who reacted first. She let out a small stifled nervous laugh and then she commented: "Its—a bit overkill but I think it will do."

She smiled in tensed manner and slowly hovered back in fear; the rest of the battalion followed her. And then, as fast as it started, the blue light stopped. The sky returned to normal and the ocean below them became silent.

"I'm sorry, the One would greet you all." Optimus bowed in in apology but in the process he made an eye contact with AK Mage's Aerial mage battalion leader: Marcus, whose face stuck on a revolting horrified scream.

"Wh—what the hell-!?" he reacted in terror as he stared down at the remains of the fleet. All fifty ships had just turned into a sinking wreck; the cries of the remaining, surviving, crew reverberated in his ears. And then the air suddenly went dark around him. He slowly looked up and came face to face again with metal alien; this time their faces were inches apart.

"Please…order your men to retreat," the alien said to him in pleading manner but the colonel interpret it wrong. He screamed as he turned his flying device around and shoot away. The rest of the men also hollered and followed their retreating leader. Optimus watch them scramble away until they disappeared in the horizon.

"Whoa, you really did scare them all huh?" Tanya said in a appraising attitude while she looked through her binoculars. Optimus Prime turned to her and reminded the major: "My intention isn't to frighten them."

"Tell that to your hunky body."

The major put down her binoculars and then glanced at Optimus; her eyes, however, was thoughtful and innocent like. Perhaps I have to admit that me and this alien got off on the wrong foot, she thought in a candid manner; but then she heard Serebryakov gasped beside her.

"Major, the ship!"

And with that, Tanya remembered the mission. She darted below her and saw that the ship was now taking its final plunge. "Oh shit, that light show had me forgot about the extraction mission!"

"Major, Weiss and Glanz are still inside!" Serebryakov said as Major Tanya growled. "Serebryakov, contact the rescue boats: tell them to get here pronto-"

"Perhaps I shall offer again my assistance, Major Tanya." She turned to Optimus but the giant had dived already. He hit the water and began to swim. The ship was on his right and he could see that it was about to descend to the ocean bed, fast. He quickly swam towards the hull and put both of his hands on its surface.

Ships weight looks ok…maybe I can do it. "Lord, give my body, strength, so that I could praise you more and spread your teaching and words." The matrix of leadership glowed in gold again as Optimus activated his jet pack which then began to pushed the ship upwards.

Inside the Bremen

"Please pull your head up, Miss Chadwick." Glanz reminded calmly as the teenage girl name Franziska Chadwick obeyed him.

"I'm—telling you-sir, Chadwick-not my real name," she shivered in cold as the water continue to rose. The three of them had already reached the ceiling; their faces were now scrubbing along the surface.

"Don't worry. I'll use the grenade to create a hole." Weiss said in an assuring manner in an attempt to calm down the teenage girl. "If Chadwick is your code name, what's your real name?" the 1st lieutenant added as the teenage girl made a strained smile at him.

Before she could answer, the ship made a loud groan and jolted upward. The three of them looked around, confused as to what was happening. The water began to rescind and they felt the whole ship move up.

"Are we…moving up?" the girl asked as the two soldiers glanced at each other, clueless to what was happening now.

"Whoa…really now!" Tanya and her battalion watched in amazement as Optimus slowly lifted the ship from the water and carried it with both of his hands. He looked at them and then asked: "Where's the nearest beach here, Major Tanya?"

"Impressive! That would be Brest Beach."

Optimus nodded and then looked to the horizon. Tanya was puzzled, for the Autobot wasn't moving yet. Then she realized something. "Oh right, I forgot you don't know where is former Francois Republic is."

"Yes, major. I am in need of navigation."

Tanya shrugged and then called everyone. "We're going to land on Brest Beach; make sure to ready yourself to assist the survivors!"

"Sir, yes sir."

"Follow me, Optimus Prime," Tanya said as she flew away. Optimus noticed her tone slowly changing to a recognizable one but he put it at the back of his mind and began to follow the battalion.

Imperial Strategic HQ – Berun Capital City

"Sir, reporting from Rhine. The Armada…had disappeared on the radar," the soldier reported as Rudesdorf calmly looked down on the map.

"Disappeared but how?" he asked in a startled tone but he heard a low impressive chuckle from Zettour. Zettour, you're laughing again. Irritated already from his weird mood today, he bluntly asked him: "What's wrong with you today? And what the hell is A.O. No.1?"

Zettour stopped and flashed his blue sharp eyes at his friend. He seemed to be relishing the brigadier general's angry face.

"A.O. no 1 was the bogey that reconnaissance HQ had detected. Major Tanya intercepted and captured it. It's 22 foot alien made entirely out of metal. He's also sentient."

He? It has a gender? Rudesdorf couldn't believe what he was hearing right now. An alien in the empire? How absurd it sounded to him. "And where is it, Zettour?"

"It just took down the armada, Rudesdorf. Shouldn't you be thankful to him?"

You let him go!? He could be a spy! Rudesdorf grumbled, disagreeing with his friend, but Zettour quickly responded to him with an assuring grin: "He's not a spy. In fact, why don't we meet him later? After all, he was with her."

Rudesdorf only stood in silence and in dark after the suggestion.

Brest Beach – Empire Occupied – Francois Republic

The coastline of Brest Beach, Francois Republic, was mostly composed of small fishing village and white sandy beaches that were very popular to both locals and other folks. However, since it was September and winter was near, the beaches lay silent and dormant. Only fishermen from the local seaside town walked along the beach.

Right now, a group of five fishermen were pulling their boat form the sea. One of them looked over to horizon, only to spot something moving towards them.

"Hmm…what's that?"

"Hey. Isn't that a ship-oh my-!" their jaws fall in astonishment as huge 22 foot figure loomed over them. It was carrying a huge, battered ocean liner that was vomiting tons of water from its damaged hull. They all gasped in amazement and terror as the metal creature landed softly on the beach and slowly, but gently, rested the ship on the sand.

"Good day, sirs."

The fishermen flinched in shock as Optimus spoke to them.

"Optimus, you do know that people in this era aren't yet used to seeing a 22 foot alien robot talking them?"

They yelped in terror again as Tanya landed beside them.

"Oh good day sirs, sorry to disturb your neighborhood. We'll be fast here," the major said to the fishermen while casting a very calm and friendly smile at them.

Did she just change her whole attitude in a flash? Optmius was bothered by Tanya's action as the major began to contact Rhine Control. "Rhine Control, extraction is successful and we've landed here on Brest Beach. Requesting further assistance for the extraction of other passengers," she finished and then glanced at Optimus Prime; her thoughtful eyes ran up the Autobot leader. "And also, please remind Strategic HQ that A.O. No.1 is here."

1 hour later

An hour later, the whole beach was suddenly filled with military personnel. The remaining passengers from the ship were huddled together in makeshift first aid tents or mess hall. However. all of them were either amazed or terrified by the sight of Optimus Prime, who was now standing beside the ship.

Tanya was hovering besides Optimus and was giving instruction to him on which part of the hull to cut. "Life form signature here," Tanya dictated as he softly poked the hull with his right index servo and ripped it apart. The familiar faces of Glanz and Weiss popped out; both were grasping for breath.

"Major, sir!"

"We found Franziska Chadwick!"

Glanz and Weiss saluted and then slowly shifted their eyes to Optimus.

"Good work you two…now where is she?" Tanya looked around and the two soldiers parted; the young girl emerged from the dark, only to shortly gasp in shock at the sight of the autobot leader.

Tanya then immediately landed in the room and kneeled. "We apologized for our delay in our rescuing you, your Royal Highness," she said with firm voice. The two men blinked in confusion and then the revelation hit them hard. Weiss and Glanz quickly turned and kneeled with their major.

"We apologize, princess, for our imperfect rescue earlier!"

"We promise you that we'll do better next time!"

Optimus watched all three with confusion. "Princess…oh I never thought Franziska Chadwick is the Empire's princess. My apology." He bent his head down as the woman smiled at them; his gentle voice had calmed her down.

"Soldiers, please; there's no need for such actions now. And my name, my dear large sir, is Katherine von Hildenburg Cravarette of house Hildenburg and Cravarette. And I thank you for rescuing us," the princess bowed elegantly at Optimus and cast her tranquil smile at him again. She then shifted her eyes to the beach below; a worried look formed on her face. "Large sir, may I know your name?" she glanced back at the autobot leader.

"My name, Your Highness, is Optimus Prime," he answered as the princess spoke again.

"Optimus…it sounds very foreign and god-like."

"I am no God," the autobot leader reminded as the princess laughed heartily. "Then, Optimus, would you put me down to the beach?"

"Certainly," Optimus extended and opened his right servos and the Princess slowly climbed up to his metal palm; just as she stood there, a photographer from the Military news watching the whole scenario took a picture of them both. The picture that he took would become the most iconic photo ever; it would be posted in the next day's newspaper. The existence of Optimus Prime was guaranteed to spread like wildfire to the streets of the Empire and beyond its wartorn borders.

Hello guys! Welcome to my latest chapter! So how was Optimus's Grand Debut? and not only that, he certainly met the Empire's most important person ever! He took down an armada with a swing of his sword, now how will the other countries react to his involvement? Now how would they attack the Empire when it has a new, unknown life-form, protecting it? Stay Tuned for more!

Special thanks to dropout-ninja for beta reading this fanfic!

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers Prime cartoon and the anime Youjo Senki!