Promotional artwork: tigressa101/art/Arcee-and-the-Isle-of-the-Allspark-Cover-931607333
Optimus heard their thundering rampage through Iacon and saw them approaching to the cheers of the citizens of the city. The leaders of the various groups across Cybertron came as they were called, The Matriarch among them as she promised.
Omega Supreme was a big surprise given he was presumed to be in perma-stasis, only recently being discharged from the medical warehouse. That made the Prime smile. He could always trust Omega to pull through when he was needed. Grimlock was also a bit of a shock. The leader was brutal and even before his forced transformation into his current Dinobot state, he never really obeyed Optimus' commands. To think Rockrider's rule upset them all to break their normal loathing or uncertainty really spoke of just how bad Cybertron would become if she was still in charge any longer.
Windblade saluted to him as Ultra Magnus walked beside her. Predaking, in his robot mode, didn't seem very happy but that anger wasn't directed at any of them thankfully, and the Constructicons were proud to walk among the leaders as the high commander of the Combiners Guild. Several of them were noted to have brought reinforcements as Predacons perched on the higher buildings with Decepticon Seekers while Dinobots crowded the streets with the Combiners and the Omega Sentinels towering over them even at a distance.
Optimus noticed the citizens of Iacon were very curious of such a parade of Cybertronian variants that normally would have never been seen together. Bumblebee was the most shocked though Haywire and Scythe were nearly there. Perceptor and Shockwave stood on the side with the other Autobots.
"You're crazy, Optimus, you know that?" Bumblebee stated. "But genius."
The Prime simply nodded before addressing his newfound audience. "I am honored that you have all responded to my call to arms. Rockrider has taken our queen off world and has since taken control of Cybertron to try and revert it back to its failed caste system where we were separated by class and by race. I do not wish for anyone to be subjected to this again even if my past self among the Thirteen let it happen in the first place. I ask you to join me to fight our shared enemy and keep Cybertron anew as it has thrived as. Help me take back our planet."
Tyrus spoke up from behind and moved to stand beside him. "We will be facing an army she has hidden in Crystal City. She plans to break each city via force into submission now that she no longer has the element of surprise. People will die; the only thing we can hope to do is stop this tyranny from rising again and save everyone we possibly can. If she mobilizes before we have a chance to retaliate, we won't be able to fight her. She's been planning this for quite some time, far longer than even Arcee's reign. She wanted to overthrow Optimus, but it was Arcee who took up the title of ruler, so she had to adjust. We're facing a war again. Any help you can give us we will cherish at this moment."
The leaders all looked at each other in concern and it was Grimlock who stepped forward first. "By your lead, Optimus."
Windblade smirked, "I agree. You're the Prime; we follow you."
The Matriarch approached with the Constructicons and Predaking, both of whom seemed to show here a great deal of respect. She then said, "We're in agreement. The Decepticons and all its sub-factions are yours to lead. But don't make a fool out of me, Optimus. I'm only as lenient as I can trust someone."
Bumblebee snarled, "You know he will do what's right."
"Doesn't mean I can't tease him, scout."
"Scout. All this work to still be called 'scout?'" The Autobot leader scowled silently to Bulkhead's amusement as he patted the yellow mech on the back.
Omega Supreme with Alpha and Beta alongside him gave him a nod of agreement.
The Prime nodded, "Then, if you could, allow me to warn that once we stir Rockrider from her safe haven, we will not be able to stop."
The Matriarch laughed, "Fine by me. Bring her on!"
The Dinobots and Predacons roared in unison as the Decepticons shouted out as well. Even the citizens of Iacon joined the noise.
"Bumblebee," Optimus frowned, "prepare for infiltration. We go straight for Crystal City at dawn."
"Good to have you back in charge, Optimus," Bee smirked.
Megatron balanced on a tree that was lodged between two others at a slant before hopping down to make a splash.
"So much for your hydrophobia," mused Arcee.
"For the last time, NOT afraid of water!"
"You realize I will never not make a joke about that when I get the chance."
Suddenly, Arcee was lifted off his shoulder and with a vicious smile, Megatron dropped her a short distance into the murky water. She plopped down on her aft and sent him an aggravated look.
He merely shrugged, "Don't be like that, it's only water."
Narrowing her optics, she got up and shook any remaining droplets off before trekking forward with a scowl. Megatron laughed and followed her.
"So, the gem seems to be more west of you toward the Black Mountains. It's drifting still but it's in that area. My guess is it might be on a lilypad or something. It's light enough to not sink them," Bolt said.
"Knowing our luck, it's probably on an alligator," Arcee retorted.
A booming roar shook the swamp's canopies and birds scattered in fear. Both bots paused trying to pinpoint if it was close by or if it was loud even from a distance. Another noise made it apparent it was not the Cybertronian Predator as the vocals sounded more mammal-based but nothing on Earth had such a powerful bellow. Grunts were then heard as movement was slowly becoming louder.
Megatron and Arcee kept close as it came closer and closer...
A wolf-like animal only reaching to Arcee's waist simply strode by undisturbed. It gave them one glance over then continued forward but it paused a few feet away to listen to the swamp.
The warlord grew amused, "Well, I'll be damned. A Chaar wonderward. The loudest small creature on Chaar. We used to go nuts hearing these things."
The wonderward on cue let out another booming howl which made both bots cover their audios until it moved on.
"Ha ha, wonderwards are certainly that. On Chaar, they are decent predators of the mallibi, the four-armed ape-like creature you told me you met once, Arcee, that usually hangs in caves underground. They aren't harmful to us because we're just not a good menu item for it, not that it can't kill us, mind you. Their biggest defense is, of course, their ear-splitting howl and what you just heard wasn't ever close to how loud they can get. A human's eardrum could rupture with the sound you just heard alone. Our audios could be shut down if it uses about its full volume. Otherwise, they aren't really a threat. That howl was probably because it found its next meal and it wanted to give itself a chase for fun by alerting the prey early. If they want to be stealthy, they can."
"Well, best not to disturb it from its hunt then," Arcee said.
They continued deeper into the swamp where the trees seemed to be getting thicker and closer together, creating a darker shade of the night and making the area harder to see. A few owls could be heard, and some swamp rats swam by to stable grass where they could clean themselves in peace.
Megatron abruptly tripped over a large root and caught himself upon a tree but slid to a half crouching position.
Arcee laughed, "Are you okay?"
He gave a cheesy smile, one with pronounced fangs to show his slight annoyance and tried to stand up until he spotted something hidden in the bend of the other roots farther to his right.
Leaning over to get a better view, he was shocked to find three eggs larger than his servo nestled in a groove among the roots. They were metallic with a glow that showed the outline of what appeared to be animal young but one of them was dull. The two glowing had the silhouettes of their occupants moving ever slightly. If he had to guess, the dull one didn't make it or wasn't fertilized.
"Arcee," he said, "take a look at this."
The queen jumped up on his shoulder again to get the best view. "Whoa, that's...maybe not a good sign. If there's a nest, I don't want to meet the mother. Bolt, what type of eggs are these?"
"Let me look from your view...oohhh, uh oh. I recognize those. Megatron, you remember on Chaar how we had sand dwellers and rock vipers?"
Megatron huffed, "I don't want to know. It's another snake or something, isn't it?"
"Chaar is mostly a wasteland so many of the species there are built for such conditions including its deserts. Snake species are the best survivalists in wastelands as evolution has proven time and again. These are the eggs of a creature very deadly known as the direfang, a relative of the sand-dweller in terms of CNA similarity. They reproduce asexually and fast. We had a problem with one of these before you came back to Chaar, Megatron. It kept stealing our Energon and we thought it was a wonderward. We confronted it one night and it killed six of our troops before we finally killed it. These suckers are mean."
Arcee frowned, jumping down to stand beside him. "But that leads to the next problem of where exactly is the direfang then?"
Picking up the dead egg, Megatron studied it. "Don't know but I don't think it'll miss this offspring."
"If you're thinking about having that as a trophy..."
"What else is it going to be good for? Also, this time we don't have to kill the direfang. We can just go on our wa-Arcee..." Megatron said before freezing, dropping his cocky attitude.
The femme scoffed, "Yeah, right. It's never that simple. There's always something we have to deal with-"
"Arcee."
"-and this direfang is probably going to show up any given-"
"Arcee!"
Arcee frowned and saw his stance shift in fear as a shadow crept up over her. Slowly, she peered back and was nearly face to face with a greyish blue metallic snake. Its forked tongue popped out briefly to taste the air around her as blood red, slit pupil optics stared down at her then shifted toward Megatron who still held its deceased egg.
Raising its neck, both bots got a good look at odd flaps wrapped around it with small barbs attached to a near invisible divide between the two. Suddenly, frills unhooked from its neck like a cobra hood and rattled as it hissed, a set of red patterns very prominent on it designed to scare prey and predator alike. Its curved fangs expanded to give it one hell of a frightening appearance.
Megatron quickly grabbed Arcee and sprinted away as the direfang chased after them enraged, swinging its head down to try and bite them. He tossed her above onto a branch among the waterfront trees to get her to safety while he dodged another attempted strike.
"Your turn to stop this thing, Arcee! I'll keep it distracted...but HURRY!"
Arcee watched Megatron pass beneath her again and so did the direfang. Seeing Megatron being followed by a giant snake was somewhat humorous, especially in water, but she understood her mission given he was larger therefore able to run better through the liquid than she could.
"Bolt," she commed, "how did you defeat the direfang last time?"
The Vehicon hummed, "I think we just shot it with the fortress cannons of the main base, to be honest."
"We don't have fortress-grade cannons now, do we?! What else can kill it?!"
"Uh uh, let me look and see...direfang, direfang...here we go. It says here 'Direfangs are malicious creatures known for their elongated fangs and powerful venom' etc, etc. 'They can be found in tunnels and underground caves. They are resilient to most forms of firepower but have fragile internal organs'...so, I'm assuming through this that the fastest way to kill it is by crushing it. Firepower can't breach the armor but placing anything with heavy pressure on it would cause the organs to squish together. Too much force and you have a pancake for a snake. Heh heh, pancake...snake."
Megatron circled around the tree again. "Don't know how long I can keep this up, Arcee!"
"I'm working on it! Bolt, do you think the trees here would be enough force to do so?"
"Probably. Venomenace, my beautiful nickname for it, is mainly a striker, an attacking animal. It might have a defense against our weapons, but the reality is its armor isn't meant to be extremely thick, so it moves quicker, and its venom is the main star of the show. Whatever you do, don't get bitten!"
Venomenace dipped away from Megatron to head him off from a different direction. It suddenly appeared from Megatron's left side and the mech twisted just out of the way of oncoming teeth. He slid to a halt when the quick dodge made him start to lose balance in the water. His pause, however, made him open for attack and the snake coiled into a striking pose. When it lunged, Megatron didn't jump away but instead ducked to lie in the water. The result of which was Venomenace hitting a tree, embedding its teeth into the wood.
"Ha! Sorry, my dear, but I do not intend to fall for you today," he sneered.
As the snake's optics opened fiercely and watched him leave, it hissed low seeing red. It pulled several times to break free until one continuous pull finally ripped bark and splinters of wood out upon its release. With a snarl, it whipped around and glided across the water in search of Megatron.
Arcee, however, saw this and noticed the damage to the tree. Narrowing her optics, she commed Megatron, "The snake is free. I need you to lure it back to the spot you were just in."
"Go back?! Now, with all due respect, I'm trying to get away from the snake, not runback to it."
Arcee smiled, "You know you can trust me. We didn't survive this long being untrustworthy to each other"
"I know...but I can't help but worry sometimes, especially when I see it right behind me again! I'll stall it. You do what you need to, but I can only hold it in this chase maybe for a few more minutes. Once that point in time hits, I'm heading straight to you whether you're ready or not."
"Perfect. Keep up the good work down there."
"Trying!"
Arcee jumped down into the water and struggled to run in it but reached the damaged tree at last. Assessing what she needed, Arcee unsheathed her arm blades and began cutting through the tree. The density of the wood and her angle didn't do much in a small timeframe, but she kept going.
"This isn't how I wanted to spend a day in the swamp but what did I expect?" She muttered to herself.
While she worked on the tree, Megatron nearly flew over several elsewhere in the swamp. The snake slammed into one and nearly toppled it trying to turn to go after him. Its frills were as wide as physically possible to Megatron's slight terror. When it got too close for comfort, he held his arm out and grabbed the trunk of the nearest tree. He swung himself around and nailed the direfang in the side of its head with his pedes, bouncing off and landing in a pose with a splash. The creature was forced against several trunks stunned.
Megatron activated his black arm cannon and aimed it right at the snake. "Is that the best you can do, python?"
He was tripped abruptly and fell on his aft. Shaking his head out of confusion, he saw its tail wrapped around his leg and a brief surprised look flashed upon his faceplates. Megatron couldn't grab ahold of anything when he was flung into a tree himself as Venomenace grumbled upon regaining its full focus.
The warlord hit the water and scowled, tired of being punted like a ragdoll. "Damn!"
"Megatron, Arcee says she's ready. I suggest you get out of there," Bolt said.
"Thanks for the tip!" He yelled angrily.
When he tried to stand, he felt his leg buckle and kneeled. Although it seemed to be merely a stagnation of functionality where his systems were just trying to restore points of his joints from a brief freeze, it made him wince. He would eventually get back his mobility within a few minutes, but he didn't have that time as he saw the snake turned around to face him.
Megatron had no choice but to fire his cannon and limp jog through the trees with the water movement giving away his position. Venomenace crashed through a cramped line of trees which Megatron found he was able to navigate a bit easier in comparison to the snake because of his smaller size. He jumped out of said line near a dead end and continued where he last had the direfang tricked into biting bark.
"Arcee, I'm coming to you!"
"Still chopping away at this thing!"
That made Megatron scream, "WHAT?! Bolt said you were done with the trap?!"
"I said I was just about! I need like a minute left! Miscommunication but it's fine! Just lure it here!" She replied fast.
"You're sure?" He asked.
"No," she said, "but that's never stopped any of my plans before!"
He had some doubts about that, but he was not willing to argue when the snake broke a tree trying to snap at him again. The shock of it made him stumble and briefly crawl in the water before running once more.
Venomenace zigzagged, dead set on him. Megatron could see in its optics it meant business. Firing another shot back, the blast hit part of its upper frill, taking a chunk out but did nothing to slow it down. He turned a corner to his left and slipped forward, skidding on the water right into a rock. It took some wind out of him, but he was still able to face the snake.
Venomenace slithered amused at Megatron limping to back against the rock once realizing he was cornered. Its tongue flickered out in anticipation. Megatron knew what it was thinking. Easy prey; no more games. Its frills were tucked away as it kept half itself submerged like a crocodile stalking. All he was focused on was its haunting red optics seemingly growing brighter the closer it got. Opening its jaws, fangs took over the view and even Megatron, the fearsome warlord, was afraid.
"Eat this!" Arcee shouted out of the blue.
Cre-eak...
The sound of wood splitting as a tree to the right began to twist and lean just as the direfang was in striking range. As it lunged, the tree smashed down right on its body, stopping its jaws from reaching Megatron by mere inches. The mech had both optics closed and only opened them to hear snapping but felt no bite.
Venomenace was desperately trying to reach him, needing to. Even as its movements slowed and the sound it was making was wheezing instead of hissing, it was still trying. Megatron gave it a smirk as the snake sank back into the water, occasionally snapping out of instinct until its lower jaw went limp and its snout went underwater.
"Cutting it a bit close, don't you think?" Megatron panted, still staring at the dying, if not already dead, snake.
Arcee smiled cheerfully, "Hmph, where would you be without me?"
"Probably not here...but I'd rather be here with you than maybe, I don't know, the likes of Starscream," he smirked. He then brought out the dead egg from his subspace. "I think we'll let the rest of its babies live but this little darling is coming with us."
When Megatron handed her their new trophy, Arcee laughed, "Never thought I'd be holding eggs. Bolt, we killed the snake."
"Well, ain't you two special?" Bolt asked amused. "I shouldn't be surprised anymore...but I find myself always. It took Chaar's Decepticon fortress to take out a full grown direfang and here you just killed it like it's no big deal. You're bringing me back something from it, right? Pretty please?!"
"Of course! We're bringing you a nice, big baby direfang!"
"...You're what?" He stated deadpanned.
It had been quite some time since any bot had seen a mobilization of forces. The leaders, their armies, and the several thousand citizens who rallied behind Optimus all stomping through the outskirts of Crystal City. By some forms of smoke seen, the residents of the city itself were either less than pleased by Rockrider or Rockrider had already used the palace's defense systems against the residents.
Tyrus kept by Optimus' side and said, "She already knows."
"Then we're just going to have to take advantage of the brief window we have before she unleashes her army to counter us."
Shockwave mused, "Perceptor and Scythe are both capable of getting behind enemy lines. I can cover them with the Decepticon leader, and they can disrupt the cannons to make this a bit more of a fair fight."
Bumblebee nodded, "I agree with Shockwave. We need to disable those defenses or we're going to be pinned down. Army or no, Rockrider has that palace...and we can always rebuild it."
Haywire laughed, "And thankfully, we have just the bot for that."
He stopped as the others continued and gestured to Omega Supreme to halt. The Sentinel obeyed and peered down at him as he spoke. "Alright, big guy, it's your time! Crush them!"
With a mighty roar, Omega Supreme began walking faster, outpacing all the mechs on the ground. As he got to Crystal City's limits, he made a beeline for the palace. He didn't stop when the cannons appeared to try and neutralize him. The hits barely registered and he managed to swing on one, sending the cannon flying out. Alpha and Beta Supreme followed suit and charged in as the rest of the Autobots and other factions awaited Optimus' orders.
"Remember, our goal is to get to Rockrider no matter what the cost! Cybertronians, roll out!"
Grimlock roared alongside Optimus before sprinting with his group with a growl. Predaking transformed into beast mode and took to the skies, his Predacons taking his lead. Both Autobots and Decepticons ran straight into the city just as the palace's gates lowered.
Bumblebee stopped alongside Shockwave and a few others as they saw bronze-colored army flood through to meet them. "Well, Rockrider has her army painted in her image. Her ego must be larger than we give her credit. I guess we knew it would happen sooner or later. How fast can you get Perceptor and Scythe into the palace do you think?"
"Estimated, if everything goes smoothly, about an hour."
"And if it doesn't?"
"About two hours."
Bee didn't like that, but he knew they had no choice. "I'll be your secondary plan. Have fun and let me know if anything goes wrong. Let's bring the heat."
Shockwave chuckled, "Just like old times. Perceptor, Scythe, Matriarch and I will break through and give you a window."
Scythe cracked his knuckles, "Take your time. I say I deserve a bit of payback for the embarrassment of being locked up."
"Don't get caught though, guardsman," Perceptor snickered.
Omega Supreme took down five cannons when he was suddenly hit by the tallest tower's hidden ion cannon and staggered back. Grunted, he scowled at the audacity and activated his own weapons. Aiming at the ion cannon, he shot at it, but the blast ricocheted off.
"Optimus Prime, the ion cannon has shielding," he reported through the comm line.
Optimus yelled, "Get out of its range and try attacking the northern wall! It will be blind to the other towers!"
"Understood," the Sentinel relayed, falling back to get out of the cannon's range before it fired again.
The army ran straight at the ground forces and clashed with all the opposing factions. Several soldiers tried to spear the likes of Slug and Grimlock only for them to realize the Dinobots were of thicker metal. Instead, they only infuriated Grimlock and the Tyrannosaurus mech spewed flames right in their faces in response. Immediately after, blasts from above came down on the army like asteroids, some of which sent soldiers flying in all sorts of directions. Grimlock smirked upon seeing the Predacons shooting fireballs similar to his own ability and gave a pleased bellow as Predaking swooped down and torched a row of flame directly in front of him to isolate the army. The dragon-esque leader answered back with his own call as he circled overhead.
Windblade sliced through two soldiers before one collided blades with her. At first, she sneered at them but then she noticed behind them and pointed smugly. The soldier peered back and was instantly slugged with the Forge of Solus Prime wielded by Ultra Magnus. Windblade thanked and followed him deeper into the battle.
Scythe had his staff ready and jumped right on a soldier, impaling them in the spark before ripping out his weapon and throwing it into the throat of another.
"Watch it!"
He turned to see another soldier just about to stab him when a three-clawed shot right through the opponent's chest from the backside. Dragging the spine out, Scythe smiled when The Matriarch threw the body down before deflecting an oncoming soldier behind her with a roundhouse kick, smashing their faceplates.
As everything settled enough to talk, she huffed, "Imbeciles, all of them."
"No kidding," the green bot chuckled.
Above them in the palace, things weren't as peachy. As Crystal City turned into a warzone, Rockrider and Wrathzone looked down upon the chaos with disbelief and anger.
"They're here to dethrone me?! Send everything we have...and have our new weapon prepared!"
Wrathzone grabbed her arm when she turned away and asked, "What do we do if they get into the palace? Taking Optimus out of the picture won't stop them. They are all capable of leading this rebellion."
The bronze femme thought about it and then grinned, "Then we'll take the leaders one by one. With no leaders, my forces will overwhelm theirs. Send my weapon to Optimus, then send it to Arcee on Earth. We'll trap as many of those leaders as possible and then moved them to Darkmount."
"Megatron's old citadel?"
"Yes. If things don't go our way, at least we can have some place to retreat where they wouldn't think to look, and the smelting pits are still very active there. If our dear leaders were to slip in our care..."
The faded gold mech growled pleasantly, "That could be arranged. Very well then."
AN: AN: Now I think I mentioned this before but Omega Supreme survived the events of the War for Cybertron games (canon to the Aligned Universe). So, just to clear that out of the way, that's why he's present and I decided to add the other Supremes from the Animated Universe as well just to add some flare.
Chaar is the land of snakes and desert beasts given it is a barren planet but it's theorized life can survive anything under the right circumstances and we don't know what else lies beyond our galaxy or even our solar system...
Featured Monsters:
Venomenace the Direfang (Chaar)