Chapter 7
Unified Year – Nov. 17 1926 – Hangar 51 – Imperial Airforce Base
(1 Day Before – Operation Barbarossa)
Optimus Prime woke up to a busy day. The hangar was lively and filled with sound. The scientists below him were all running or busy with their tasks and assignments. Professor Schugel had just finished constructing and filling another new container with energon. "This new tank here is my new prototype. An energon backpack tank!"
The professor proudly slapped the surface second new tank (which appeared to be smaller than the first tank) and its metal hooks on the surface.
"I see. Is it bullet proof, doctor? Energon tends to explode if a bullet hits it."
And I think its dangerous to attached such a thing to my jet pack, Optimus thought worriedly but the Imperial scientists brushed it off.
"Yes it is! After numerous failures, I finally built the prototype design," he said proudly as Major Tanya walked beside him.
"And I suppose no one died in the process, Doctor?" she asked in a normal, expecting, tone. There was always a casualty since the doctor always used unorthodox means whenever he was inventing something.
"No one! Absolutely no one!" the doctor firmly declared and the soldiers only glanced at each other, not believing what he said.
"Oh, by the way Optimus, let me introduce you to some of my Kampfgrupe leaders." Tanya turned around and signaled someone from the wide entrance of the hangar. Two men silently approached them. The man on the left possessed a medium built body with round, nervous brown eyes. His mid-thirties face was tense and his hair was clean-cut and auburn.
The man on the right, however, had a calm look about him; his face was round, as were his green eyes. His peaceful face, together with his fluffy black hair, contradicted his large body built. The left one looked tensed up while the right looked like a wrestler, Optimus thought as his blue optics followed the two.
They both saluted as Tanya shifted back to Optimus. "Optimus, allow me to introduce Captain Klaus Tospan; he leads the reinforced infantry battalion of Fallschirmjager."
The man on the left, Captain Tospan, quickly moved forward and saluted Optimus. "Go-Go-Good morning, sir Prime, at your service!" Captain Tospan shook slightly as the autobot found himself making a remembering smirk. You just sound like Smokescreen when he saw me for the first time. The memory made him feel happy.
"At ease, Captain." Optimus smiled peacefully at him, making the captain breathe out as he relaxed himself.
"Relax Captain. Optimus doesn't eat our kind." Tanya grinned judgmentally at him before she pointed at the large built man on the right. "This is Lieutenant Theobald Wusteman; he's the leader of the reserve aerial mage company and they will serve as our anvil."
Lt. Wustemann moved forward and saluted. "Good morning Sir Prime!" the soldier said as his face suddenly moved to display a wide and excited grin. "I'm your biggest fan, sir! I'm proud to work with you, sir!"
Eh? Where's the wrestler? Optimus blinked, startled that the man's demeanor had made a complete three hundred sixty turn. He now looked like an excited child who'd seen a toy for the first time.
"A-At ease, soldier."
"Ahem-of course, sir. Pardon my uncontainable excitement." Wustemann returned to his peaceful demeanor while Tanya grinned behind him.
"The Reserve Company and the Fallschirmjager will both be joining us, the 203rd Imperial Aerial Mage Battalion. Again we will be the 'scout troop'; we'll be the first one to be deployed."
"Yes Major." Optimus saluted as Major Tanya turned to the two. However, before she could talk to the two company leaders, her eyes caught a familiar figure approaching them from the hangar bay doors.
"Good morning, your Royal Highness!" Tanya saluted and the two company leaders also copied her.
"Good morning to you too, major."
Optimus paused and shifted his optics to Katherine; the young princess bowed to the major first and then her green eyes shifted to him before she smiled and waved her right hand, bidding him good morning.
"What bring you here, Your Highness?"
"I was just inspecting the troops and military infrastructures and then I happened to see this hangar and immediately remembered Optimus Prime and you, major."
You mean to say, you're only here for PR reasons; am I right? Tanya analyzed as she watched the princess greet Professor Schugel and then his team of bright scientists. The princess then turned back to the major.
"Um…Major Tanya, since I'm here, I would like to talk to Optimus Prime about something in private," the princess, in a gentle manner, asked. It made the major blink inquisitively as she absorbed the request.
"Oh, I would ask the professor and the rest to clear the hangar-"
"Um no need for that. I would like to talk to Optimus in his human form, if it's possible?"
Hmm, what's up? Tanya observed as the princess's face reddened and the girl's smile changed into an uneasy one. Her eyes shifted from right to left while she lowered her head.
"It's possible, Your Highness." Optimus said and his optics cast a blue light. The autobot's human avatar appeared and cast a tranquil smile at the princess. The princess's mouth slacked a bit before she shifted her eyes away and cleared her throat.
"Well then, let's seek some privacy first." The princess jittered for a bit and rubbed her hands tensely, her eyes beginning to fill with anxiety and look everywhere. Tanya and Optimus glanced at each other, puzzled at the princess's edgy expressions.
Hangar 51 – Men's Locker Room
The locker room was silent as Optimus Prime and the princess entered it. The door closed behind him and the girl stood by the lockers, looking more agitated than before. The autobot leader noticed this and he turned to her.
"What's wrong, Your Highness-"
"Please call me Katherine here, Optimus." Katherine said and blew out the air that must've built up inside her chest.
"Very well. Katherine. What's wrong?" Optimus asked again in a composed way.
Katherine stopped rubbing her hands and then cast her green eyes again at him; this time they were showing with worry. "The treaty of Parisii... it failed, miserably. I should have contacted the Allied Kingdom of Albion first," she reasoned with woe and stared at Optimus, who only nodded and made a soft disappointed grunt.
"I'm sorry. I should've been careful." Katherine paced deeper into the locker room. "I—wasn't careful-"
"It wasn't your fault, Katherine. We tried our best." But it's not good enough, Optimus thought and finally knew what the princess was feeling right now. The letdown in her voice was saddening for him. "But don't worry; we'll just try more. There might be men in the Allied Kingdom who will acknowledge the Empire as a peaceful country."
An encouraging smile formed in Optimus's human avatar face. His eyes shifted into a hopeful one and it made Katherine feel relieved.
"Never stop moving forward. Katherine, the story isn't finished and the ending isn't written yet." The Autobot moved closer to her and held her right hand. "Don't lose hope, Katherine; believe in yourself just as you believe in your people's innocence."
Katherine understood his words and it moved her heart. Peace and tranquility had surrounded her and she didn't want it to disappear. She moved her face closer to him and then planted her lips on Optimus's human avatar's.
Wh—what…?! Optimus froze. He felt his spark chamber flare a little, as his system skip a cycle. Sensations, feelings that are too alien to him, spread down like electricity throughout his body; the temperature inside of his body raised a little. And it stopped after Katherine moved away; the girl's eyes were too wide in shock. The princess couldn't believe what she had just done.
"Um-th—that wasn't really my intention!" Katherine panicked and shakily back away. Optimus did the same, his right hand rubbed his lips softly trying to feel if the sensation was still there. " Ye—Yes, Katherine…" Frag…what was that? What's that feeling? Humans called it kiss but- The autobot's face reddened and the princess moved towards the door.
"Th-thank you, Optimus-for the advice-but please, it was really not my intention to kiss you."
Katherine looked like she was about to explode in embarrassment. Optimus didn't reply and only watched the girl exit the room, her head hung low as she took off quickly.
"What the frag!" So that was a kiss…I've never been kissed before. The autobot, still bewildered and unnerved at the astonishing event, only stood in his spot and silently pondered on the sensations he felt earlier.
Unified Year – Nov. 17 1926 – People's Apartment Complex B –
(1 day before Operation Firefly Trap Jar)
Joel silently opened his eyes and looked at the white ceiling. Birds sang beautifully and loudly outside his window and the clock on his bedside table rang a softly mellow alarm tune after its hands struck seven 'o' clock. "Time to move."
He softly turned to his right and glanced down at a woman who was naked and still sleeping beside him.
"Hey, it's seven already. What time are you planning to wake up, Mei Mei?" the Akutsushimanian woman purred softly and opened her cute and innocent black eyes at Joel.
"I'm planning to sleep for a minute," she said as Joel sat on his bed. "Early riser aren't you, defense secretary? Last night was the best night I ever had." Mei Mei smiled in a satisfied manner, and the man smirked pridefully. Last night was intense, with what the two people sharing such passionate actions with each other.
"Of course, sweet dumpling."
Mei Mei silent sat upright and then ran her left hand over his muscular naked tattooed chest while her right hand caressed over his abs and then move downward more to his growing member underneath the sheets. "You've got morning wood, comrade. Can you spare a few minutes so I can… 'chop it down'?" the mid-twenty's woman flirted and Joel turned to her and grinned malevolently.
"Mei Mei, I would love to…but before that would you listen to me first?"
Mei Mei stopped and looked at him with inquiring eyes. "Today was the last day for the evacuation. This city will become a warzone soon. There's a ship in the docks called the Hatsune Miki and its destination was the Akutsushima Dominion."
The girl tilted her head, questioning his words. "What are you saying?"
"I want you to evacuate." Joel stood up to open the desk drawer and take out something. The woman only sat silence, puzzled with his actions still. "Last night, you told me that you have family in that country and you were sold as a 'slave' here to the Russy Feds many years ago."
The man was writing on a paper while he spoke; he ripped it free and showed to Mei Mei. It was a withdrawal bank check and the girl couldn't believe the numbers written on the surface.
"It's all I got. Withdraw it all and live your life to the fullest back in your home land."
Mei Mei looked up to him, her eyes were teary and wide in shock. "What—why are you doing this?"
"Because you're no slave…you're human and you've a family waiting in Akutsushima."
Mei Mei understood his words and wiped the tears from her eyes. Joel moved away towards the bathroom but then he stopped after the girl called him again.
"Will…I see you again?"
The man turned and flashed an excited grin.
"Of course."
But not like this. Joel turned around to walk inside his bathroom and prepare himself for today's fiasco.
People's Community Park – In front of the People's Palace
"We shall kill those Imperian Bastards in cold-blood!" Comrade Josef spoke with disdain at a tall elevated platform that overlooked the People's Community Park. The park was jam-packed by the Russy Feds's high ranking military officials and soldiers who are all eager to bring down the invading Empire. Joel sat in front beside Loria, who was grinning from ear to ear on his right. The speech of the secretary had lit everyone's hearts on fire except the Cybertronian man.
And another load of bullscrap. Joel bored his eyes at Josef as the secretary bowed and finished his speech.
"That was inspiring!" Loria commented and clapped his hands with gusto. "And you look very radiant today, comrade Joel. The girl I sent to you last night, she really did rock your world huh?"
Joel cast a beamingly radiant smile at Loria.
"Yes, comrade, she really knocked my head off." And now she's free from the likes of you, the man thought grimly and took out his reading glasses.
"And now, a message from our new comrade and defense secretary, Joel Miller!" Josef called and Joel stood up from his chair. He calmly walked up the platform and stood on the dais. The face of Russy's soldiers glared at him; most of them must've heard his origin and they were still doubting him.
Huh…hated still, wait till you hear this! "My fellow Russy's…some of you may have hated me, for my birth country is the Unified States- but I assure I am a Russy just like all of you. I fell in love with the ideology of this country and I deemed that this country should lead the world's progress."
He paused and shifted his reading glasses over his eyes.
"So I ask of you, as your defense secretary and from the very bottom of my heart…NOT TO THINK YOURSELF AS HUMANS TODAY!" he shouted with vicious arrogant tone and his words echoed, resoundingly, through the open park. The soldiers below gasped in confusion and bewilderment but the man only continued.
"REMEMBER, THOSE IMPERIAL BASTARDS WANT TO GET OUR BELOVED MOTHERLAND. THEY WANT TO SPREAD THEIR FILTHY MONARCHICAL IMPERIAL RULE AND SMEAR OUR BELOVED IDEOLOGY! THEY WILL GET OUR CHILDREN AND OUR CHILDREN'S CHILDREN AND FILL THEM UP WITH ANARCHY, CHAOS AND DISORDER!"
Joel took his glasses off and threw it on the ground, shattering it to many pieces.
"AND NOT ONLY THAT, THEY WILL TAKE OUR JOBS, OUR DREAMS AND OUR IDENTITY! DO YOU WANT THAT?! NO! SO I IMPLORE ALL OF YOU…TO LET GO OF YOUR HUMANITY AND BECOME ANIMALS! TONIGHT, YOU WILL ATTACK THE ENEMY LIKE ANIMALS! TONIGHT YOU WILL FIGHT THE ENEMY LIKE ANIMALS! AND ALWAYS REMEMBER, YOU FIGHT FOR YOUR HOME AND FOR YOUR CHILDREN! SO ATTACK THEM WITH ALL YOUR MIGHT, WITHOUT REGRET AND WITHOUT RESENTMENT!" the Cybertronian man raised his right fist to the air and howled. "HUZZAH!"
"HUZZAH! HUZZAH! HUZZAH!" Joel's speech had triggered a tsunami of fighting shouts. The soldiers were now riled up and the high ranking officials howled and threw their right fists to the air. The whole park had become like a wild chaotic zoo; they were all moved to the man's words. Heh piece of cake. I'm just glad Shockwave kept a copy of Stalin's speech!
Back on previous Earth, Shockwave had downloaded every historical information regarding humans. Joel's favorite part was the ideologies of world leaders during world war and he had recalled it all today. The man smirked as he threw both of his arms on the air, rallying the soldiers more.
He observed below and saw Loria, crying and looking at him like he was some kind of a god while Comrade Secretary Josef was grinning madly at him. Hmm, so sad that in 12 hours from now all of this would become nothing, he thought and shifted his hazel eyes to the sky; there, he saw a single flash of white light.
Laserbeak had just witnessed everything; his camera was pointed at him and it was broadcasting his speech, live, to the Nemesis.
St. Northusburg – Naval Pier
"Absolutely splendid!" Loria shouted in delight and patted Joel's back excitedly. The old man let out a short laugh.
"Thank you comrade, I thought I wouldn't pull it off." Joel said as Loria grinned smugly.
"Of course you can, if someone doubted you they would be sent to Ligeria."
Loria then shifted his eyes to someone behind Joel. "Oh, by the way, have I introduced you to the volunteer mages?" Loria pointed and Joel looked behind him. Two people were approaching them; one was man in his mid-thirties and a young girl of no more than age fifteen. The two were sporting a blue uniform; the uniform of the Unified Volunteer mage.
"Splendid speech, sir Joel." The mid-thirties man saluted Joel.
Loria snorted at the two and then cast a cautious glance at Joel. "Comrade Joel, I'll leave these to you. I just can't stand mages, you see." The old man bowed and the head of NKVD walked away without batting an eye to the two newcomers.
"Sorry about that. Who are you again?" Joel asked as he shook hands with the mid-thirties man.
"Lt. Col. William Drake…comrade Joel."
"Nope, just call me Joel."
Drake huh? Joel smiled inquiringly at him before he shifted his eyes to the young girl.
"Second Lieutenant Mary Sioux, Joel." Mary said with a plain tone and expressionless face. The old man studied her and he observed that the girl was emitting a strong demeanor. Hmm, strange, Joel thought and shifted back to Drake.
"I do hope the accommodations are well, Sir Drake. Unlike last time, I made sure your battalion will be well fed and prepared for battle."
"It is. We are all ready. Though it's peculiar to see a former Unifidian citizen speaking in front of Russy's about Communism." Sir Drake smiled in a friendly manner, but Joel could see the soldier's disgust and disappointment through his facade smile. The old man smirked at him.
"Well. Couldn't help it, I love the ideology of communism here…unlike your democratic freedom and chaotic country," Joel returned back with a soft mocking sneer, making Sir Drake frown at his words. You talk scrap, I'll talk back with more scrap, he thought smugly but then the young girl raised her right hand.
"Sir Joel, I have a question though. Why aren't we to be deployed to the frontlines? I heard it was thinned to fifteen divisions," she said in an empty tone. Joel studied her face again before he smiled and answered.
"It's classified but…" he was cut off, however, when a warship blew its horn from the distance. "We received a word from our spies that the Empire's ace battalion, the 203rd mage battalion, would charged directly here."
For the first time, Joel saw a reaction on the girls face. Mary's eyes lit up after she heard about the ace battalion; a small excited smile spread on her lips.
"Why would they charge here?" Sir Drake asked as Joel turned to the bay.
"Do you know Optimus Prime? The so called Alien Automata captured by the Empire? Apparently, there's a connection between him and that thing." The old man pointed and the named mage followed the gesture. Sir Drake's mouth slackened a bit after his black eyes landed on a huge and towering cube that was standing on a barge being dragged by small tugboats.
"What is that-?" Sir Drake, in disbelief asked, but Mary butted in. "It's the bait."
Her smile grew into a menacing one as she realized what would happen on the battlefield tonight. Joel made a side-glance her way; he felt an ominous aura emitting from the girl and it made him nervously smirk. You two are interesting bunch…sadly all of you will die later, Joel thought simply and spoke again. "Sirs, its not my place to speak but I would like to say good luck to you two and your battalion."
The two turned to him and saluted. "If we kill the ace battalion and their…Optimus Prime...We will win this war."
Unified Year – November 18 1926 – Russy Federation – Above lake Valkan
(12 hours later – the Start of Operation Barbarossa)
Optimus Prime opened his external cameras. He woke up from his meditation after the plane he was riding jolted for a bit.
"2 hours after the start of Operation Barbarossa," he murmured in his alt form and watched as a soldier emerged from the cockpit and saluted him.
"Sir Prime, Major Tanya is on the comms."
"Thank you, soldier." Optimus radioed in; the familiar grunting sound of the major filled his comm.
"Tanya to Optimus Prime. What's your status?"
"I am fine, major. Energon is still full; secondary tank isn't leaking."
"That's good. We just passed through the Lake Valkan and we're near the Ilkan Mountain range passageway."
That means we're near St. Northusburg. Optimus summoned the Relic Scan Mode again. The relic was near; the beeping was already rapid. "Major, we're near to the relic," Optimus reported as Tanya radioed in again.
"Good. By the way, can I ask what the princess said to you yesterday?"
Scrap! Optimus gulped down; the strange sensation from yesterday returned and the autobot jittered.
"Optimus?" Tanya called again, still waiting for answers.
"We-well…um…she just wanted to say good luck to us," Optimus lied, hoping it would stop the major from questioning him. Unfortunately, Tanya saw it through. A deep disappointing sigh poured out from her end.
"I thought we found a common ground, Optimus," she began and her tone was low and threatening. The autobot gulped down again and let out a defeated grumbling.
"We went to the boy's locker room and in there…she kissed me."
There was a silence on the other end before a big resounding 'EH!' poured out of the comms, coming from all of the company leaders.
"Wh—why!?" Weiss made a horrified exclaimed first.
"What happened next!?" Neumann berated and asked.
"What does it feel like? What did you do next!?" Koenig butted in.
"Sir Prime! Kissing is an act of PDA-" Wustemann shouted but then he was cut by Captain Tospan.
"But it occurred in the boy's locker room so…I think he's safe?"
"Enough all of you!?" Major Tanya shouted and the rest went still. A heavy bewildered and disbelieving grunt poured from the comms. "Ok, then, I apologize for interrogating you, Optimus. I just learned that we're nearing the Ilkan Mountain range Passageway."
Optimus noted as the soldier from earlier came out from cockpit. "Sir Prime, ejection will be in 10 min!"
"Noted, soldier." The autobot leader took a hard breath.
This is it: Operation Barbarossa officially starts now! Operation Barbarossa, if it was successful, would be the largest land invasion done by the Empire and it would certainly put the country in both history and the map. However, if it doesn't, it would be remembered as the conflict with the greatest number of casualties and the Empire would be vulnerable to Russy's retaliation.
"The One, I pray to you…let this invasion be successful." Optimus Prime prayed as the door of his plane opened. Tanya's voice echoed again from his comms.
"We're now dropping in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, drop! Drop! Drop!"
A heavy jolt resounded and the autobot quickly skidded along the pathway. Cold air suddenly blew over Optimus's back as he transformed to his bipedal mode. The soldiers with Tanya, her aerial mage battalion and the Fallschirmjager, dropped and glided beside him.
Optimus looked down and saw the snow covered Ilkan Mountain pass wedged between two huge mountains. In the distance, he could see the lights of St. Northusburg glowing like a predator fish floating in the dark, cold, night, waiting for its prey.
Outskirts of St. Northusburg – Ilkan Mountain range Passageway
It took them thirty minutes to drop to the ground and another fifteen minutes to rendezvous to the designated point. Major Tanya and Optimus stood along the white, snow covered trees. They both looked down towards the city of St. Northusburg. The lights shimmered as if it was still filled with people. However, they all noticed something odd.
The wind howled eerily along their ears and missing within it were the sounds of city life.
"I already sent Neumann to scout the city's entrance. Status check everyone!"
"2nd company, Weiss here! All of us are complete!" Weiss glanced and counted his company men.
"3rd company here! All of us are complete!" Koenig reported and looked over his shoulder.
"Reserve company here! We're all set!" Wustemann cocked his rifle ready; the rest of his company copied him.
"Fallschirmjagger here! We're good to go!" Captain Tospan looked over his 50 battalion men. All of them were ready and set.
"Captain Tospan, I believe this will be your first engagement isn't it?" Major Tanya suddenly asked and the man gulped down; his rifle began to shook as nervousness crept inside him.
"Here's my advice: don't think, just shoot. No matter what happens, trust your battalion and your second in command," she added and the captain nodded in agreement. "Yes sir!" he saluted and felt a tug behind him.
"Get it together cap! We'll always be right behind you," his second in command, a brown haired soldier with black eyes named Rocc, said with excitement. Confidence returned to Tospan's face
"Optimus status report." Tanya looked up to Optimus, who summoned the Relic Scan mode map again.
"Everything is fine, though I have to warn you that we cybertronians are susceptible to cold."
"I know, which is why you've to watch over yourself," the major said as she readied her submachine gun. The radio crackled in her ears and the voice of 1st lieutenant Neumann spoke through.
"Sir, we'd just finished scouting the city's entrance…no one's here."
What? Tanya tilted her head, puzzled at the report.
"What do you mean by that?" she asked again and the soldier, repeated: "No infantry or even artillery! I didn't even see an AA defense!"
That's impossible! Did they just leave their decentralized capital unguarded!?
"Optimus, where's the relic?" Tanya darted to the autobot.
"It's still beeping…and it hasn't left its place yet."
Something's odd…very odd. Tanya grumbled and thought of her next move but she already knew what will it be. "To all units, we will now enter the city. Be vigilant!"
"Yes sir!"
Tanya and Optimus took off to the sky. They watched as the city grew and, just as they neared the city, the feeling of dread and uneasiness inside their chest also increased.
"Optimus-"
"I know, major. I too feel something is wrong."
I hope the One is watching. May the One always protect us. Optimus gulped down and produced more thrust.
St. Northusburg – Battleship cruiser Virov – Temporary Advance Unit HQ
Battleship Virov, a twin stacker and four guns in twin mounted turrets, lay still in the middle of the Russy Feds blockade fleet. Inside, the tension was high among the sailors- for the most important politicians of the Russy Feds were sitting and waiting inside the ship's mess hall.
Radios and other communication machines were lined up on the table and the wires snaked the floor below them. Joel was standing near the bulkhead door; his keen and predator eyes watched the soldiers move and work. He shifted his gaze to Loria and Secretary Josef, who were both looking down on the map reviewing the attack plans again.
Hmph. No matter how much you review it, the outcome of today's battle is certain. Joel smirked triumphantly, but then a soldier shouted and announced a report.
"Report from spy unit 1! A battalion of mages and infantry has been spotted entering the city's sky zone!"
Joel grinned and Loria chuckled in delight and raised his hands in the air. "Finally, they're here! My heart isn't wrong, she's here!"
Tch, disgusting. Joel mentally frowned and glanced down at his watch.
"Welcome, Optimus…to my last arena," he whispered softly as if the autobot leader was already standing in front of him.
"Tell this to the underground unit," the defense secretary ordered and his eyes hardened before he added: "Release the Tox-En!"
The soldier quickly dove into his comms and began to report. Josef raised his right brow and looked over at Joel.
"Comrade Joel, would you kindly tell me what Tox-En is?"
The defense secretary fixed his glasses and gladly explained. "It was another alien artifact that was found together with this cube. It is a very poisonous gas and very deadly to both humans…and probably to the Empire's Optimus Prime."
"How sure are you?" Josef asked again as Joel slowly made a deadly smirk.
"A hunch, Comrade Secretary."
"And his hunch has a basis!" Loria butted in and joyfully explained the rest. "We used this 'Tox-En' on the captured Imperial Spy ring men, back in Ligeria. It's so effective! What's more, it could've come from the same planet as Optimus Prime…which means this could be deadly to him!" Loria chuckled in a boastful manner at the secretary. They didn't however notice that Joel slowly moved towards the door and gave a very deadly glare at the two before he walked away.
He walked and climbed up the stairs and onto the decks of the cruiser. Once he was out he quickly hid behind a lifeboat and pressed his watch.
"Joel to Starscream."
"I'm here, Joel. Optimus Prime's signature was spotted entering the city. What's your next command?"
Starscream and Joel both wore triumphant smiles.
"Launch the Nemesis!"
Today's victor…is already certain. The old cybertronian man looked to the city and started to whisper a prayer.
"Heavenly God, in your hands…I commit my spirit. May my faith be enough to move mountains. May my will be stronger than a million armies!"
Abandoned Scrapyard Pier
On the abandoned pier, a strong of gust of wind howled along its red brick walls. Just then, the constructicons emerged from their illusive camouflage; their headlights starts to blink as they all came to life. On the end of the warehouse, the wall that hid Megatron suddenly let out a sharp short circuit and disappeared.
The tyrant, exposed to the world, lay still for a moment before his right servos twitched. His foot scraped loudly against the dirty floor as his chest began to glow in golden light.
The Matrix of Leadership, inside Megatron's chest, whirled to life and bathed his body in golden, radiant light, and- after a second of processing- the tyrant's red optics opened to the world.
Inside the Nemesis
"This is it! To battle stations!" Starscream commanded and the red blaring alarm sounded throughout the Nemesis. The second in command, together with Shockwave and Soundwave, entered the massive bridge.
"This is Grimlock. Everything is ready here in the engines!" the hologram screen trailed beside Starscream reported.
"Thanks, Grim. Now buckle up."
"Second in command on the bridge!" Shockwave shouted and the vehicons stationed on the bridge saluted and watched as Starscream walked to the wheel console, the main controls of the ship. The snow globe angel was sitting on top of it and its blue eyes slowly moved to his red optics.
"Ready when you are. You know what to do," it whispered to Starscream, who only nodded and closed his eyes. He touched the console and began to pray.
"God, may we sail straight today towards our destination, unharmed and undisturbed. May our hull be strong as our faith and may our cannons aim be true just like our intention."
The Nemesis began to shake, the engines below glowed in golden light. Slowly, the ship rose from the dead moon's surface and began to sail towards the planet.
"Alright then gentlemechs…destination: the Russy Federation!" Starscream shouted in excitement as the ship's rockets roared and pushed them all on.
St. Northusburg – City Proper
"What the hell?" Tanya stared in disbelief as her eyes scanned below her. The city was still bathed in light coming from the buildings inside. However, even after they'd entered the city proper, they hadn't seen a single citizen yet. "Weird."
"Major, I'm detecting the relic. It's near!' Optimus reported as the map on his left forearm popped out. The relic was already fifty meters away from them.
"To all units, what's your status sit-rep!?" Tanya radioed and all of her units answered.
"This is 3rd and Fourth Company! We're in the west side of city proper, no citizens' detected yet!" Koenig reported followed by Weiss. "This 2nd Company and Fallschirmjager. We're on the east side…no citizen's reported yet!"
Tanya clicked her tongue; the uneasiness in her chest bothered her more. "Where's the relic, Prime?" she darted to Optimus, who then stopped gliding in the air
"There."
He pointed and Tanya followed it. The relic, the perfect shape of an eleven story high cube, was sitting on the middle of the city's square, unmoved and unguarded. Tanya's eyes widened more in shock. Whoa…it's fucking huge. Her eyes darted everywhere. "Why is it unguarded?"
"Major, sir." Wustemann hovered behind her. "May I propose to scout the city from high above?"
"Negative, you're to stay here. Be our anvil." Tanya answered and glared at the cube below. There's no defense but why…? She thought hard, but the more she thought, the more tense she felt.
St. Northusburg – East side
The east side of Northusburg houses the city's prime museums (that were only dedicated to the history of communism) and an amusement park. The place was creepy and scary as Weiss and Tospan hovered above it.
"There's no people here." Glanz observed while looking through his binoculars. "Permission to inspect the ground, sir!"
"Go then, Tospan." Weiss said as Captain Tospan and his infantry battalion landed down on the city's ground. The museum and amusement building towered them and the newbie captain gulped down; the place was very nauseating for him.
"Hmm, they'd evacuated?" Rocc said after he looked at the doors of the shops and restaurants on their right. The doors were all ajar. The wind blew hard and the fog came in from the corner, enveloping them.
"Nothing here. I guess we should go up." Captain Tospan said but only silence and a loud coughing sound answered him. "lt. Rocc, what's wrong-" Tospan turned but he let out a scream as he saw that his second in command's face was now all bloody and he was coughing up hard. Then he saw the rest of his men; most of their faces were either melting or excreting blood which came out of their mouth, ears, nose and eyes.
"Rocc no!"
"Tospan, what happened!?" Weiss landed and he almost screamed to the bloody sight. Tospan fell to the ground and tried to crawl away while the 1st Lieutenant looked everywhere and noticed something weird. The fog was colored in sickly green…and it was pouring out from the canal gutter on the side of the street. He was realized what was happening. "Shit, gas attack!"
Weiss picked up Tospan and he put him on the roof of the museum. "Glanz help me retrieve the others!" Weiss commanded before he dived down and shouted. "It's a gas attack! Climb up! Climb up!"
Some of the Fallschirmjager began to fly, only to fall down and die after their computation jewel short circuited; the fog was corrupting the jewels. Others were successful and landed on the roof of the museum beside them.
"To all units! Be advised, the enemy is using a gas coming from the canal gutter underneath, heavy casualties confirmed!"
St. Northusburg – West Side
Compared to the east side, the west side only showed shops and restaurants and the People's apartment complex. Neumann and his company landed softly on the ground and began to look everywhere for the enemy's presence.
"They left this city really unguarded, hmm," he said as his company walked along the street, not noticing the vile green fog whisking its way out of canal gutter.
"Concentrate, Neumann," Lt. Koenig said while he and his company trailed the city skyline from above. Just then, static from his radio loudly filled his ears and it was followed by the panicking voice of Weiss. "To all units! Be advised the enemy is using gas coming from the canal gutter underneath, heavy casualties confirmed! I repeat, heavy casualties confirmed!"
What? "Lt. Weiss can you repeat what you-"
"Sir! Lt. Neumann!" the soldier beside him quickly pointed and Koenig looked down. Neumann and the company were now lying on the ground; fear struck the 1st lieutenant and he immediately realized what Weiss was saying.
"Get them! Put them on the roof!" Koenig and his company dove and each of them took the injured soldiers on the ground. They landed on a rooftop on a building on their left.
"What the hell!?" Koenig said as Neumann coughed and vomited blood. "Fuck-green—fog-canal gutter- report to Major-!"
"I'll do it, now don't move!" Koenig radioed in and began to report. "This is 1st lieutenant Koenig, we're in trouble. 4th company is invalid!"
Neumann watched as his friend talked to the comms and shifted his eyes on the five mountains looming over the city. He began to chuckle after he saw something odd.
"Oi, what wrong with you-!?" Koenig noticed his weird reaction.
"It's funny-the mountain's side is opening up!" Neumann weakly pointed and Koenig immediately darted over and his eyes widened in shock. The five mountains that surrounded the city were changing; their sides slowly slid and opened up, revealing their hollow insides and a group of large railway artillery guns, TM-3-12, slowly skidded out.
"Shit—shit!" Koenig only cursed as he realized what was now happening.
City Proper
Optimus Prime slowly approached the cube and touched the surface on the right side with his right hand. The cube pulsated a blue color and the autobot felt its mechanism inside whirling to life.
"Any idea what it could be?" Tanya asked impatiently, trying to get the odd feeling out of her chest.
"I'll check, Major-hmm?" Optimus paused after a holographic screen appeared and a message ran across his optics.
'Welcome to Maccadam's Experimental Multipurpose Prototype All-spark Fragment Matter Converter and Energon Manufacturing Generator.'
'Warning: Do not Touch or you're banned from my bar, permanently!'
By the all-spark! "Major Tanya, I finally know what this relic is!" Optimus thought and pointed at the holo-screen. Tanya hovered and her company moved also and read the lines.
That's a long name. Whoever wrote this needs a PR assistant! "And what is it?" Tanya asked, still clueless to the Cybertronian relic.
"It makes energon for all cybertronians and it was only used whenever we had to colonize a planet!" Optimus explained and then Tanya finally realized what it was.
"Wait, that means you can have all the energon you want- no more mining!"
"Indeed and that's not all. This cube also contains a lot off-"
Their comms suddenly crackled and the panicking voice of Weiss echoed from them loudly: "To all units! Be advised the enemy is using gas, coming from the canal underneath! Heavy casualties confirmed! I repeat heavy casualties confirmed!"
Tanya's eyes widened in alertness. "Lt. Weiss, what's happening!?"
"Gas, sir! They've taken out most of Falschirmjager!"
What!? Tanya was aghast at what she heard. The Falschirmjager, the infantry battalion...most of them now dead.
"Major, sir! It's the gas!" Serebryakov called beside her and then pointed at something. The green fog crept out of canal gutter and crawled along the ground, encircling Tanya's company and her anvil.
"Sir, your orders!" Wustemann shouted and the major quickly commanded: "Go up! Don't ever go down or else you're all dead!"
What is that thing!? Tanya screamed as her company gained altitude. Optimus looked in front and his optics scanned the fog; a warning holo-window appeared and he gasped in fright.
"No! Why would it be here!?" Optimus shouted and activated his boosters. Tanya heard his reaction and it gave her an idea that the autobot knew what it was.
"Optimus, what the fuck is that!?"
"It's Tox-en! It's deadly to cybertronians and to other life forms. It's a chemical weapon!"
Another cybertronian weapon!? Tanya grumbled angrily.
"Did it come from the box?" Serebryakov asked in a frightened tone as Optimus shook his head.
"No…but it's possible that the Russy Feds might've found another relic and they'd successfully used it."
"Oh that's just great!" Damn it-! Tanya couldn't believe that the Russy were now using an alien tech to kill them all. Just then, an incoming message spoke through their comms the voice of 1st lieutenant Koenig screamed through.
"Major, sir! This is lt. Koenig. We're on the west side! Large Russy infantry soldiers detected, they're all wearing gas masks!"
What, there are soldiers now? Tanya blinked in confusion as the lieutenant spoke again. "Sir, the sides of the mountains are opening up, large artillery caliber detected!"
"What-!?" Tanya looked through the mountains and she gasped in horror. The side of the five mountains that surrounded the city were now lit up and was displaying hollow insides; the large artillery guns were jutting out and all of them were pointed at the city and to them. Guns! Cannons! And then Tanya finally realized what was happening- everything had clicked into place.
"Th—this is a trap and we've waltzed in like fools!" Tanya shouted in anger.
Optimus turned to her and transformed his left servo into an ion cannon. "Major, I'm going to take out the gun-Ack!"
He howled in pain as a violet colored bullet hit the second energon tank and his jet pack behind him. "Optimus!" Tanya shouted and the autobot crash-landed on top of the cube. The major darted above her and froze.
The Unified Volunteer Mages Battalion was hovering several meters above them.
"Whe-when did they-" Tanya stared at them with angry eyes and then she stopped after she recognized a face from before. The woman on the right of the battalion slowly put her glowing violet rifle down and her golden eyes cast at Tanya and Optimus Prime. Her brown hair waved as a scowl formed on her face.
"Major Tanya von Degurechaff and her unholy follower, Optimus Prime! I, Mary Sioux, in the name of God, shall end both of your lives here!"
Optimus groaned and looked up only to feel a large, and powerful force, emitting from her. Who's that…and why do I feel the same power of the One coming from her? The autobot watched and noticed Tanya slowly backing away.
"Of all the soldiers-" Tanya muttered, her voice wavered, "-why the fuck are you here!?"
HUZZAH! New chapter! I would like to thank for the readers who leave reviews after reading my fanfic. So! A cliff hanger! I know some people don't like it but...I still need to prepare for the upcoming event! So now we know the relic, an All-spark generator that converts any matter into Energon! It was invented by Maccadam who's one of my favorite characters from Transformers Cyberverse! Really like him, his so funny!
Looks like Joel and Megatron is on the move too! How do you think the two will pair up on this battle? Whose side is going to win!? And who is the new character called Mary Sioux!? Why is she angry with Tanya and Optimus Prime? Stay Tuned for more!
Special thanks to drop-out ninja for beta-reading!
Dislcaimer: I do not own the characters of Transformers Prime cartoons and the anime Youjo Senki. All names and places are purely fictional, if some exist in real life, then its just a coincidence.