Hi everyone, welcome back. Boy howdy, this is gonna be a big one! We got pretty much all hands on deck here as the Autobots and Black Knights fight for their lives to destroy the Geass Order and Thought Elevators. Unfortunately, Shockwave has anticipated their attack and placed a near-effective trap for them. Can our heroes overcome these near-impossible odds and still claim a victory? Of course, they are unaware for the moment that something much worse is coming their way. It all comes together now as the assault on the Geass Order concludes here and now.

(Note: Based on the poll, it seems the majority have ruled in favor of pairing Nunnally and Alice together. Don't worry, I plan to give it proper development and make it not feel so rushed. The poll is now closed.)

Light and Darkness

It was pure chaos all across the bridge of the Ark as all the military officers tried to get a clear reading of what was happening all across the world, trying to do something to get as much information as they can from all their active teams, but so far nothing.

"We still can't contact any of our forces!"

"All attempts to locate any Cybertronian signal have been blocked!"

"London Team has gone completely dark!"

"The Black Wyverns and the Autobots with them are off the grid!"

"Nobody in Areas 18 or 20 is responding!"

"We can't reach the Wreckers in Antarctica either!"

"Can't we get thermal imaging?!" Cecile questioned.

"Negative! All forms of communicating or imaging are being scrambled!"

"We can't lock on any specific coordinates for a Groundbridge either!"

"We can't even contact Zero or Optimus or anyone on their team!"

"How is this even possible?!" Rakshata questioned, her tone unusually nervous. "How are we so in the dark here?! We can't get any sort of reading!"

"The Thought Elevators…" Lloyd commented. "It was exactly the same on Kanime Island when Suzaku, Dreadwing, and Euphemia vanished. We couldn't establish any form of contact with them…"

"It was the same thing on our end with Zero, Optimus, and the others. We couldn't even read the Autobots' signals" Diethard added. "That is until the Thought Elevator there was destroyed."

"Shockwave has had over six months to study them." Fixit said. "So it is only natural he was able to understand how they function and they can be used against us."

"Maybe if we open Groundbridges outside these dead zones… maybe we can…" Claus was beginning to suggest until…

"No." Euphemia spoke up, causing everyone to look at her in surprise. "We can't do that…"

"What do you mean we can't do that?!" Claus questioned.

"We can't risk sending anybody out there into these traps without knowing exactly what they're getting into!" Euphemia stated. "We could also be potentially opening the doorway for Shockwave's forces to get to Horai Island, and if that happens…"

"We've lost the war." Kaguya said gravely, understanding exactly what Euphemia was saying. It was something that Fixit and everyone else came to understand in that one moment. There wasn't anything they can do to help their friends and allies right now.

"I know it's hard…" Euphemia began. "Somehow… Shockwave was ready for us. But… the fact that these 'dead zones' are still active… means they're still fighting. Zero… Optimus… Suzaku… Cornelia… all of them. They're fighting with everything they have!" Tears of fury welled up in her eyes as she tried her best to steel herself. "We have to put our faith in them! Because that's all we can do!"

"Maybe not…" All eyes turned to the side as they saw Nina running toward them with a laptop in her hands, T-AI's holographic form appearing next to her. "I think I have an idea."

Antarctica

Wheeljack swung his blades in every direction he could think of, but he couldn't land a single hit on the Red Pawn in front of him as it moved at super-speeds that made it seem like blurs. After the sixth slice, that Red Pawn delivered a kick to knock Wheeljack back across the ice. Nonette flew in her Galeschin as she fired her VARIS at the pursuing Red Pawn, but it proved too fast for her as it evaded all her shots with ease before closing the distance with a swipe to knock her back, though Nonette was able to stabilize herself and continue flying away.

Chromia used her rifle to parry a chop from another Red Pawn, but her rifle was destroyed by the attack as she was knocked down. That Red Pawn had leapt into the air to strike at her while she was down, but it was blown away by three charged shots from Ironhide's cannons as he ran to her defense, facing off against the fourth Red Pawn that landed in front of him.

Down in the water, Warpath had transformed into his tank mode to shoot at the Power Unit, but it had braced itself in the water, using its heavy armor to tank most of the blasts around it, though Dalque's unit did end up damaged from the attack.

With her distracted, Tamaki tried to move in to destroy the Thought Elevator. "Hang on… I got it…!" He spotted the mysterious and ominous looking ruin that was embedded into the ocean floor.

"Tamaki, look out!" Warpath's warning came just as the Power unit brought it's arms together to generate a shockwave-like blast that pushed back both the Wrecker Akatsuki and red Autobot.

Russian Mountains

Gino grunted as his Tristan Divider was knocked down to the mountain, skidding down the side before crashing on the ledge. The flying Red Pawn that had attacked him was about to come down for the kill, but Grindcore had tackled it right as it reached the ledge.

"Don't run off so quick!" Grindcore told the mindless drone. "I haven't given you the tour of my fists yet!" He pounded on the Red Pawn relentlessly until it was a pile of scrap in the snow.

"Damn you, hold still!" Yukiya cursed as he tried to shoot down a flying Red Pawn, but it quickly flew in to try and close the distance, forcing Yukiya to pull his Alexander back and avoid the strike. Strongarm and Ayano tried to provide covering fire, forcing the speedy Red Pawn back, but two more landed on opposite ends, causing the white-and-blue Autobot to come back-to-back with Ayano's Alexander right as they advanced on the pair.

Sideswipe tried to bring his sword down on a Red Pawn, but it caught his blade in-between its hands. "Keep em there, Swipe!" Ryo's Alexander speed along from behind in its spider mode, shooting at the Red Pawn in the back, getting a successful hit in to weaken it, and allowing Sideswipe to pull his blade back and decapitate it. However, any celebration came to an end as the last Red Pawn sped along to strike the Ryo in the side and knock his Alexander upside down.

"Ryo!" Sideswipe ran to assist him, swinging his sword and forcing the Red Pawn to fly away. "You okay, man?"

"I'm surviving." Ryo grunted as he tried to pull his Knightmare up.

Suddenly, an explosion along the roof of the nearby cave had erupted, getting everyone's attention as both Alexanders piloted by Akito and Leila respectively sped out, the Thanatos flying through the rubble right behind them before gunning straight for Akito, drawing his blade and forcing him on the defensive from the Thanatos' relentless attacks.

"Leila, please tell me that's not who I think it is." Gino was already sweating.

"It's exactly who you think it is." Leila's eyes narrowed from within her cockpit. "It's Shin."

"Aw scrap, not this guy again!" Sideswipe groaned.

"We got other problems!" Ayano warned as the four remaining Red Pawns regrouped in the sky before going on the attack once more.

Area 18

Senba gave a final scream as his Akatsuki unit was obliterated by a Red Pawn that brought its hand down for a chop through his cockpit, killing him in that instant.

"Senba!" Asahina screamed as Chiba gave a vengeful yell, charging directly at that Red Pawn to swing her sword, but it flew up and out of the way to avoid her slash.

Ashley's Dragonet had moved in close quarters to one Red Pawn as he tried to swing his sword and fire his gun at the same time, hoping to at least scratch him, but he was unable to land a single shot in. Even as Jean and Sokkia tried to shoot at the Red Pawn from a distance with the guns from their respective Knightmares, but it speedily dodged all the bullets and took to the skies to get some distance from the three.

"Damn buckets!" Ashley cursed.

The two Bradfords piloted by both Marika and Leonhart tried to get the third Red Pawn in a crossfire attack from their slash harkens, but the Red Pawn jumped into the air to avoid them.

"He's in the air!" Leonhart shouted.

"Cross spear! Now!" Marika ordered as the harkens of both their Knightmares combined together to fire a cross-attack of their Hadron Spears, two beams firing at each other in the air and crisscrossing at the Red Pawn, which was unable to dodge it while airborne. It was quickly destroyed in the attack.

Marrybell's Lancelot Trial engaged a Red Pawn in the air, slicing with its dual MVS blades, but the Red Pawn dodged each of them before delivering an airborne punch to the red Knightmare's face to knock it to the ground. But the Lancelot Grail came at the Red Pawn from the side with its own blades as Oldrin tried to attack and defend the woman she loved.

The Vincent Gram piloted by Sokkia was knocked to the ground by the sixth Red Pawn. However, Xingke's Shen Hu had fired its chest-mounted Baryon Cannon, forcing the Red Pawn to leap back as the blue Knightmare landed to protect the red one as its piloted pulled it up.

"Thank you." Sokkia said with relief.

"You're welcome." Xingke replied before a seventh Red Pawn had landed to face them.

Meanwhile, inside the cave, Drift had drawn both his katanas and crossed them like an x to protect himself from the relentless rapid blasts from the Land Headmaster Unit. Though this seemed to be a distraction as Tohdoh's Zangetsu rolled along the cavern ceiling and gunned for the Thought Elevator that the Land unit was protection.

However, Lucretia had turned her unit's upper body around a full one hundred and eighty degrees and focused its fire on Tohdoh, forcing him to leap from the roof just in time as he tried to fly in and attack the enemy Headmaster, but the Land unit crossed its large guns to block the black Knightmare's katana.

"I'm sorry." Lucretia apologized from within, causing Tohdoh's eyes to widen slightly. The tone of her voice from inside said she was emotionally torn. "It… wasn't supposed to be like this."

Area 20

Chigusa gave a yell as her Vincent was knocked back against the rocky wall, water from a waterfall splashing all over her. "Chigusa! Eject now!" She heard Prowl's voice through the comms and did just that, ejecting her Knightmare's cockpit in time as the hand thrust from one Red Pawn had pierced through her Vincent, but that Red Pawn was swiftly decapitated by the shuriken that the running Prowl had thrown its way. His weapon returned to him just as he caught Chigusa's cockpit.

"Thanks, Prowl." She smiled as her ejected cockpit opened.

"I need to put you inside for your own safety." A door opened up on the side of his chest. "It's cramped, but can you make do?"

"I'll have to." Chigusa quickly climbed in as the hatch closed. "Don't worry about me." She said as she tried to squeeze herself in tight. "Just give them hell."

"That is the plan." Prowl confirmed as he squared off with another Red Pawn.

Ultra Magnus charged as he fired his dual Ion Blasters at one Red Pawn, but it leapt and flew into the air to avoid his shots. Another was about to attack from behind, but Smokescreen had leapt from a nearby waterfall to deliver a flying kick to nail that Red Pawn and send it crashing into the shallow water, but it quickly rolled back up on its feet and faced Smokescreen.

"Let's dance, you wannabe Con." Smokescreen challenged as he raised his fists eagerly.

Cornelia sped her Vincent through the water and rocks as a Red Pawn flew above her, she tried to shoot at it while it was airborne, but it was too quick for her before it flew down to try and strike her. Cornelia was forced to draw her Vincent's blade to parry the hand-thrust of the Red Pawn. Guilford tried to provide aid, but another Red Pawn would appear before him to bar his way, much to his frustration.

Meanwhile, inside the cavern behind one waterfall, Monica's Florence Nero had clashed its own MVS claws against the curved blades of the Order unit. She tried to fly and find a way around it, but Sancia's own ability and customized unit was able to calculate Monica's direction and sliced one of its blades at her, the force of the impact sending the Florence Nero crashing and bouncing against the wall.

Sancia's systems then alerted her to Jazz as he tried to get to the Thought Elevator at the end of the cave, but she moved her unit as fast as she could to ram its shoulder into him, knocking him into the wall.

"Hey, we're trying to help you!" Jazz told her as he tried to push the Order unit back. "You're a friend of Alice's, right?! You don't wanna be Shockwave's little experiment anymore, right?! Let us trash this thing and help you!"

"I can't let that happen!" Sancia replied as Jazz slipped around and moved behind her, but she quickly turned her unit around to face him again. "Madd is watching all of us! The slightest hint of deception or treachery, he'll destroy units remotely! I'm sorry, but we don't have a choice here!"

Jazz's expression became sympathetic as he heard that. "I'm sorry too. But I got a job to do… and that's saving you and trashing that elevator-thing!" He ran to charge her again.

London

The skies lit up with multiple explosions as Silverbolt, Jetfire, and Windblade flew in their respective jet-modes, three Red Pawns flying and giving chase before the three Aerialbots flew in separate directions, forcing the Red Pawns to split up as they were locked in a dogfight. Silverbolt transformed while airborne to shoot at the incoming Red Pawn he faced, but every shot veered past it as it picked its speed to close the distance and tackle him in the air, though he was able to bring both his hands down on its head to force it to let go before transforming again to fly away, prompting the Red Pawn to chase him once more.

Jetfire remained in his jet-mode as he turned around and opened fire at the charging Red Pawn, essentially playing a game of chicken to see who would get out of the line of fire first. The Red Pawn was able to avoid most of the deadlier shots, though it did get skid along the sides to scratch it up. They got too close however as Jetfire was forced to pull up to avoid a deadly collision.

Windblade had one Red Pawn pursuing her that she couldn't shake. Though the female Aerialbot noticed that her pursuer was quickly closing the gap and thought she could use that to her advantage. However, before she got any thoughts about trying to fight back, she noticed Ohgi's Gawain Nerion was being encircled from all sides by two Red Pawns. That's when the idea came to her.

"Ohgi!" Windblade got his attention as she flew toward him, the Red Pawn flying. "Fire your Hadrons right at me!"

"Windblade, what are you…?!" Ohgi didn't understand as she saw Windblade's jet mode flying right at him.

"Just do it! Now!" She exclaimed.

No time to question it, Ohgi fired his Knightmare's shoulder-mounted Hadron Cannons at Windblade, who was able to curve her jet mode down and under, avoiding the beam that had struck the Red Pawn, causing it to explode in a fiery display. The residual force of the blast was enough to force the two Red Pawns that had been attacking him to back away slightly, with Windblade shooting at them to get them to further increase the distance.

"Thanks for the save." Windblade said as she transformed and hovered back-to-back with the Gawain Nerion.

"Thank me when we survive this." Ohgi said as those two Red Pawns returned to face them.

Meanwhile, a similar battle was taking place in the River Thames as Arcee was engaged in brutal hand-to-hand combat with one Red Pawn, though she was stuck on defense as her enemy's speed clearly surpassed hers. Even when she tried to attack with a punch, it swiftly dodged her strike and knocked her down with a more powerful punch.

"Arcee, move out of the way!" Kallen activated the Guren's energy wing system to fire multiple energy blades at the Red Pawn. Arcee quickly transformed and drove away just as the energy blades struck the ground around the Red Pawn, forcing it to try and jump, though its legs were caught in the explosion, blasting them away. With it partially immobile, Kallen launched her Surger Claw, attacked to her Guren via its cable, and grabbed onto its chest before she activated the Surger to finish off the Red Pawn in a flurry of fire.

Suzaku quickly activated the Lancelot's Blaze Luminous system to protect himself from the Dark Mordred's Hadron Cannons, but the force of the impact still knocked his Knightmare back.

"Anya! Stop this! Please!" Suzaku cried out. "I don't want to fight you!"

"Neither do I…" The sobbing Anya said within her own Knightmare. "Shockwave… he saw all of this coming… If I don't… he'll kill me… and the others…"

"Anya…" Suzaku couldn't quite see her face, but he could only imagine her torn and emotional face as he heard her cries. He remembered when they attended Ashford together. Anya seemed like such a quiet and stoic girl, but he could tell that she was a good person. So the thought of her being forced into a situation like this only made his blood boil.

'Shockwave… Megatron… just how many more lives are you going to ruin before you're satisfied!?'

Elita One had suddenly appeared on top of the Mordred, standing on its shoulders as she drew her own arm-blades to slice off the Hadron Cannons before leaping back to face her.

"Anya, I don't know you all that well… But I promise we will save you." Elita One vowed. "I swear it."

Of course, it wasn't just Elita who made that vow. Within Anya's own mind, Marianne made the same vow herself. Their plan to tip off Lelouch and everyone to the Geass Order's location and rescue them all may have failed, but there was still a chance to get out of this particular spot and destroy the Thought Elevator. In fact, what that pink Autobot just did gave her an idea.

"Anya… let me drive." Marianne told the girl. "I think I can get us out of this."

Geass Order

The outer-most area of the citadel had turned into a full-scale warzone as several buildings in the area crumbled from the explosions and clashes of metal and energy raging against one another.

What appeared to be causing the most amount of destruction was the Driller that moved up and down along the ground, burrowing its way toward Grimlock as he ran to get some distance. When the monster was about to catch up to him, Grimlock rolled along the side just as the Driller shot downward to try and crush its prey, but Grimlock plunged his sword into the Driller's side, causing the beast to growl in pain as it shot it's upper head upward, shaking itself to try and wrench Grimlock loose, which it was able to do as it sent the Dinobot crashing into a nearby building. The Driller then felt multiple explosions on its exposed underbelly, courtesy of Alice in the Pegasus as she fired her Knightmare's rifle to try and do some damage, which it seemed like she was able to do before the Driller set its sights toward her, drilling up and into a structure to gain some altitude as Alice pulled her unit back.

The Dark Fafnir rained a volley of missiles toward the incoming Agravain and Gouka Byakuen, Wizard retaliated with a series of missiles from his own Knightmare to intercept and create a large explosion, followed by a cloud of smoke. Using the smoke for cover, Orpheus shot his Byakuen forward to try and get close, going for the Dark Fafnir's left side, specifically the large cone-like device. The Gefjun Blaster built into the Byakuen's head activated and fired a surge of condensed energy into the limb-portion, causing the entire left cone to break apart and explode. However, the Dark Fafnir was able to eject the remaining portions of the left arm to avoid any further damage to the central unit before pulling back upwards, prompting Wizard and Orpheus to follow.

Cera grunted as her Akatsuki's katana collided with the sword of the Dark Queen, which went on to attack with a secondary sword in its free hand, but Cera pulled her pink Akatsuki backwards to avoid the slice and then retaliated with a series of missiles from its wrist, but the Dark Queen flew up and over the projectiles before coming back down to attack in close quarters again.

On the ground, Bumblebee drove in his vehicle mode straight for Shockwave as he was in his tank-mode, firing blast after blast at the speeding scout, but Bumblebee was able to avoid the majority of the blasts as he quickly closed the distance, transforming to jump and leap on top of Shockwave to try and pull up on his cannon, but Shockwave transformed as well to throw Bumblebee off and into the wall of a broken building. Shockwave then went on to slam the smaller Autobot further into the wall by ramming his shoulder into him. As he slumped down, Shockwave aimed his arm-cannon at Bumblebee's head.

"There is more than one way to silence an Autobot." Shockwave said as he primed his cannon, but was forced to deviate as a set of slash harkens struck his side, and a Hadron blast erupted at the ground beneath him to send him backwards, skidding on his feet as he saw the Shinkiro flying right at him.

"You may have set up a trap, but your Geass Order will fall!" Lelouch declared as the Shinkiro closed the distance to strike Shockwave across the face, but when Zero was about to fire a point-blank Hadron blast from his unit's right arm, Shockwave grabbed the bottom of the arm and forced him to fire away before slamming his cannon into the Shinkiro to knock it back slightly and fired a blast at the Knightmare's chest to knock it down even further.

"Illogical." Shockwave replied. "Your determination will not change the outcome."

Optimus Prime stood at the top of a pile of rubble as the flying Nemesis Prime gathered up a sphere of chaotic red energy from his glowing crystals and threw it at Optimus, only for the sphere to detonate against the Sky-Boom Shield as it protected Optimus with a powerful barrier. The true Prime swung the Star Saber to send a horizontal wave at his counterfeit, who quickly flew upwards to avoid the devastating slice that obliterated a series of structures behind him.

"You think that fancy sword and shield will scare me?!" Nemesis called out. "What good can any of that power do if you can't even touch me with it! My newfound energy is charged with a mix of Synthetic and Red Energon, granting me even more speed and power than you can ever hope to dream of!"

"Are you trying to impress me, Victor?" Optimus questioned. "If so, you are only failing miserably."

That earned a growl from the immortal boy inside the metallic body. "I don't want or need your praise, Prime! I just need you dead!" He threw another sphere of energy at Optimus, who retaliated with a swing of the Star Saber as it got close to cleave the attack in half.

It was a narrow escape, but the group consisting of Bulkhead, Ratchet, Rai, Nunnally, Shirley, Rivalz, Milly, Sayoko, Jeremiah, Misty, Toto, Joseph, and the remaining scientists were able to find some form of shelter deep underground in a cavern that hadn't been outfitted with Shockwave's technology, all thanks to the Phase Shifter.

"Oh, Cybertronian tech, where would we be without you?" Rivalz literally thanked the Phase Shifter attached to Bulkhead's wrist.

"Probably six feet under." Bulkhead himself replied.

"Well, this turned out to be a total bust! Shockwave was waiting for us!" Milly stated.

Ratchet scoffed in annoyance. "Of course, he was."

"I don't understand though… how…?" Joseph stuttered. "We… We planned carefully! How could we have…"

"Daddy, it… it happens." Shirley tried to say something, offering what comfort she could as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "We've learned… not to underestimate the Decepticons. But even that came back to bite us."

Despite those words, the fact that his own daughter was now directly involved in this life-or-death situation because of him only made him feel worse. What if she was killed!? It would be all his fault!

"We can still find a way out of this." Nunnally said, trying to get everyone together. "It may seem bleak, but we may find a way."

"What do you have in mind?" Toto asked.

"Jeremiah, do you know the layout of this place?" Nunnally asked the cyborg.

"More-or-less, but there is a possibility that it was changed after my supposed death back in Paris." Jeremiah replied. "As Shockwave expected this attack, he likely did what he could to ensure we'd be trapped with little-to-no hope of escape."

"What if we were to just drive straight with the Phase Shifter?" Misty suggested. "We've already used it to avoid all of Shockwave's traps so far."

"Yeah, let's just gun it straight till were out of this dump and Bridge out of here!" Rivalz was already on board.

"I was actually thinking that exact same thing." Nunnally said. "Jeremiah, you'd at least know the basic layout of this whole place, as in which direction we'd go. Ratchet, you can try and contact anyone as we move along. Even if this whole base is blocking our communications, it has to have a range, right?"

"Perhaps… though based on what we've heard… the Thought Elevator appears to be the source of our predicament." Ratchet said.

"Then maybe we destroy it ourselves." Shirley suggested. "We're already here, and it sounds like Optimus and Zero might have their hands full right now."

"That's way too dangerous! Shockwave will have that thing heavily guarded!" Rai stated. "I'd rather not…"

"Hello? Hello? Does anyone read me?"

Everyone looked in surprise to hear a familiar voice echoing throughout the cavern.

"What was that?" Bulkhead asked.

"That sounded like Euphemia." Toto said.

"Somebody! Please respond!"

They heard it again, but they were able to trace the sound… to Rai's prosthetic arm. He slowly raised his arm as everyone eyed it with curiosity as he spoke into it. "Um… Hello?"

"Rai! Oh, thank god…" They heard Euphemia breathe a sigh of relief on the other side. "Is Nunnally with you?! What about the others?!"

"Euphie, I'm here!" Nunnally said, looking happy to hear her voice. "Everyone's here, we're safe!"

"Oh, you have no idea how good it is to hear a familiar voice right about now!" Rivalz breathed a sigh of relief.

"How are you able to establish contact? All our communications are blocked!" Misty stated.

"It's with the Thought Elevators, right?" Nina's voice was heard this time.

"Nina…?" Ratchet didn't expect to hear her voice.

"Well, TA-I and I were able to match the communication's frequency of the communicator built into Rai's arm with the same every wavelength of the Thought Elevator." Nina explained. "Since it's wired directly into him, and Rai has a Geass, we were able to establish an effective link based on the matching thought energy waves emitted by both the Geass and Thought Elevators!"

"Um….? Can you repeat that…? With smaller words, please?" Bulkhead asked.

"I'm basically using Rai's brain as an antenna, all because he has a Geass and he's in the range of an active Thought Elevator." Nina summed up.

"Oh… well, that's cool… and kinda gross." Rai cringed.

"Wait a minute… a link to his brain?" Joseph began to think for a minute.

"Dad?" Shirley wondered what he was thinking.

"Arkeville's work has always been neuro-technology." Joseph said. "That's probably how he's controlling everything… with his brain!"

"Which means… if we can isolate the control frequency of the neural-remote link Arkveille is employing…" Ratchet followed along as he took out his scanner and began to remotely scan the general area. "I should be able to pinpoint his location!"

"And then we can jump him with the Phase Shifter and be all… Booyah!" Rivalz punched his fist into the air. "In your face!"

Despite that, the group's current situation was rather tense as they still had plenty of concerns right now.

"Can you guys track our location? Maybe call in a Groundbridge to get us out of here?" Rai asked.

"No. We can't track you, just contact you." Nina replied. "Otherwise, we would have already called in a Groundbridge!"

"What's going on with everyone else?" Milly asked. "We were lured into a trap… I'm guessing Optimus and Zero are too. What about the other teams?"

"Same thing." Euphemia reported gravely. "We've lost contact with all of them, and there are these dead zones at each of their locations, making it impossible to open a Groundbridge with any of them either."

"Likely using the Thought Elevators at each location…" Toto assumed before growling. "That damn Shockwave…!"

"Well maybe there's something we can do here, since we can contact base." Shirley hoped.

"Ah-ha!" Ratchet exclaimed enthusiastically as his scanner beeped. "Frequency isolated! I… wait a minute…" He looked at the scanner again, causing him to look more confused. "I'm picking up two locations!"

"It is most likely Madd." Jeremiah assumed.

"Yes, If Arkveille is controlling the defenses here, Madd may be responsible for what's going on at the other locations." Joseph said.

Nunnally's eyes then widened as an idea came to her. "That's it! That's how we turn this whole thing around! Ratchet, how far away are each of those two spots?"

The Autobot medic looked at his scanner again. "One location is roughly two kilometers east of here, the other is five in the northwestern direction."

"Alright, here's the plan!" Nunnally got everyone's attention. "We're going to split up into two teams. Bulkhead, you're taking Rai, Shirley, her father, Jeremiah, and Milly to the furthest one away. Use the Phase Shifter to get you straight there. Ratchet, you're taking me, Sayoko, Rivalz, Toto, Misty, and the other scientists we have to spot that's closer. We're going to do what we can to stop whatever it is. Hopefully if we get it done, we'll be able to track each other again and meet up."

Everyone looked toward each other in surprise as they let all that process in their heads. Even those that knew Nunnally the longest didn't expect her to come up with such a plan, one that had a pair of well-balanced teams that… if done right… could turn the tides of this otherwise bleak outcome! Once again, they had to silently remind themselves whose sister this was.

"Heh, look at you kiddo." Bulkhead smirked with approval. "Making complicated plans like your brother."

"You're a Zero in your own right, Nunnally." Milly said impressed, causing Nunnally to smirk just like her brother, something that caused Sayoko and Jeremiah both exchanged proud smiles with one another.

"Euphie, Nina, did you guys get all that?" Rai asked through his arm's communication device.

"We did… it might work." Nina responded. "But we don't know for sure if this is connected to the dead zones or not."

"Nunnally… are you absolutely sure about this?" Euphemia asked.

"I'm sure." She confirmed.

They heard the former princess sigh deeply on the other end of the line. "When did you grow up so fast? Alright, just be careful."

"Got it." Nunnally nodded.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Rivalz urged. "Let's take this place down and stick it to the Cons!"

With that, both Autobots transformed once again. Rai, Shirley, Joseph, Milly, and Jeremiah entered Bulkhead's jeep mode, while Nunnally, Rivalz, Toto, Misty, Sayoko, and the other scientists entered Ratchet's ambulance mode. Bulkhead activated the Phase Shifter and drove straight through the cavern walls, while Ratchet followed a more open path.

The Nemesis

Within the confines of his vault, Megatron had spent the last few moments getting the handle of his new toy. With the active Forge of Solus Prime in his hands, not only was he easily able to re-attach his Fusion Cannon to the arm of Liege Maximo that he had stolen from his corpse, he pounded a certain dark glowing substance repeatedly, and with each strike, the substance began to take a new shape as it was restructured on a near molecular level.

"Incredible…" Schneizel observed as he, Starscream, Steeljaw, Knock Out, Thundercracker, and Sky-Byte continued to watch Megatron work. "This Forge of Solus Prime can essentially create anything out of nothing? The power of the Primes is unbelievable."

"Yes, but it doesn't create anything out of nothing." Thundercracker clarified. "Matter can't simply pop into existence."

"But to create weapons from even the rawest of materials is nothing to scoff at either." Sky-Byte said.

"And in this case, said raw material, would be a big hunk of Dark Energon." Knock Out commented.

It was true. The substance that Megatron had been forging was indeed the Blood of Unicron. Even as it would take a new shape with each strike from the Forge, the dark and evil essence from the vile substance would still remain, as was Megatron's intent.

Starscream watched with unease. 'Depending on how this goes… it may hinder our plans. But I suppose we'll just have to wait and see.'

But it wasn't just Starscream who felt nervous. Hiding in a small opening within the ceiling of the vault was Hot Shot, who continued to watch Megatron work.

'This is not good. I gotta find a way to get that hammer away from him.' The rookie Wrecker thought, desperately trying to come up with a plan.

Geass Order

Nemesis Prime's body surged with red energy as he shot straight at Optimus, trying to strike him like a missile, but the true Prime brought up the Sky-Boom Shield to project a barrier to block Nemesis Prime's charge, the momentum from his attempted strike blew away much of the rubble and debris behind Optimus. As Optimus swung the Star Saber at him, Nemesis flew up to avoid the strike.

Alice flew around the Driller as it curved its way up the building, shooting every distance weapon the Pegasus had in a desperate attempt to slow it down. But one of its rotating bladed tentacles shot out and struck the Pegasus, sending it tumbling down to the wrecked roof of the very structure the Driller was on. It loomed directly over her, ready to press down and tear her to shreds. Alice closed her eyes with a frightened expression, expecting her imminent death…

Until Grimlock's Tyrannosaurs form exploded out from the rooftop, standing protectively in front of Alice as he let loose the most powerful plasma-breath attack straight into the Driller's open mouth, burning and blasting away at its insides throughout its upper body, causing it to roar in pain. It was about to slam its whole form down on the both of them in rage, but Grimlock quickly transformed back to grab the Pegasus and leap off the roof just as the Driller slammed down to collapse the entire structure.

Orpheus gave a yell as the Byakuen shot its arm-mounted electrical gun barrel device directly into the active cone on the right side of the Dark Fafnir. However, the cone fired a beam at that moment as both attacks surged against one another, creating a flash of energy and electricity that seemed to be in favor of the Dark Fafnir as the Byakuen's entire left arm, including its most powerful weapon, was blasted away, sending the white Knightmare tumbling down toward a structure.

"It's open! Now!" Orpheus called out as the Agravain appeared from directly under the Dark Fafnir, plunging both its blades into the cannon as Oiagros fired the Hadron cannons point-blank into the cannon and underbelly of the massive unit. All that power, plus the piercing of the massive under-cannon caused a chain reaction that detonated the cannon right as the Agravain pulled back. The underside of the Dark Fafnir detonated, causing it to fall out of the sky and crash through a few of the structures below before it finally exploded, destroying it once and for all.

"That's one less thing to worry about." Oiagros breathed in relief. "Orpheus, are you alright?"

"I'll live." The nephew responded. He looked at one of his monitors to find the pink Akatsuki backed into a corner as the Dark Queen kept up its ruthless onslaught. "Cera needs help."

"Then let's not keep the lady waiting." Oiagros said as the one-armed Byakuen picked itself back up and flew alongside the Agravain to help their mortal comrade.

Shockwave fired a charged shot from his cannon at the Shinkiro as Zero fired a Hadron blast from his Knightmare's right wrist, creating an explosion in between the two of them. Bumblebee then rushed through the smoke, drawing his katana as he used to slice at Shockwave's chest, creating a scratch while the Autobot scout fired a series of Energon blasts in that same spot, but Shockwave slammed his cannon into Bumblebee to knock him down. The Shinkiro then flew in to thrust an arm-blade at Shockwave, but he batted it away with his cannon and grabbed the Shinkiro by its throat to slam it down to the ground, only for Zero to fire point-blank Slash Harkens to push Shockwave back, allowing the black Knightmare to stand as Bumblebee came to his side.

"[Guess this fight isn't as easy as you'd thought it be, huh Shockwave.]" Bumblebee told him. "[One of your big guys is already down.]"

"Even if you were to achieve victory in this battle, it would only be pyrrhic at best." Shockwave replied. "Your scattered allies cannot prevail against what we have sent against them. You may win this battle, but you will lose the war."

Lelouch chuckled slightly. "Remind me again why someone so logical is making the same mistake as his master?"

"Elaborate." Shockwave replied

"You and Megatron underestimate us." Lelouch told him. "You underestimate humanity, thinking we're not as strong as the Autobots who fight beside us, but you couldn't be more wrong. When you push us into a corner, with nothing left to lose, and everything to gain, you'd be surprised at what we can accomplish."

"Come on out… where are you….?" Arkveille sang madly as he looked through the monitors, his cybernetic brain still directly hooked up to the machine, but he was unable to find any of the Autobot or Black Knight intruders throughout the entire citadel. "All this hide and seek is no fun if you don't show yourselves! Come on! Come to papa!"

Suddenly, the chamber shook, much to Arkeville's shock, especially as he saw the whole front wall break apart, along with all the monitors in front of him. He gasped to see Rai, Shirley, Milly, and Jeremiah all there, the three young Black Knights carrying rifles, and all aimed directly at him.

"Hello Arkveille." Jeremiah smirked in victory. "Revenge is quite the savory dish, wouldn't you agree?"

"I'd get off that seat if I were you!" Joseph warned as he stood by his daughter's side, his arms crossed.

The roof of the chamber, along with the machine on top was also ripped apart, tearing away many of the cables attached to his cybernetic brain, causing Arkveille to scream in pain as he looked in genuine terror to see the glaring Bulkhead holding the device in his hand.

"Unless you'd rather do this the hard way." Bulkhead stated as he crushed the machine in his enormous hand.

"Yes, my Red Pawns! Keep on fighting!" Madd proclaimed with an insane grin as he continued to watch all the fights taking place all across the world. "You fools…" He said to the enemy force, despite the fact that they couldn't hear him. "Even if you do take out a few of my creations… I can just focus more of my control on all those that remain, making my job that much easier! You can't possibly hope to…"

Madd's rant was interrupted as the ceiling of his own chamber was sliced open by a large metallic blade. He looked up in genuine surprise to see the Autobot medic that had cut open the hole to reveal himself.

"Quick and precise." Ratchet said. "Like any good doctor."

"Autobot!" Madd glared. "You will not destroy my work! You fools can't prevail against what I've created! You will not…!"

He was silenced as a kunai was suddenly thrown into his forehead with enough force to pierce his skull and into his brain. Madd's body went slump as he died right then and there.

"Quick and precise." Sayoko repeated, standing on Ratchet's shoulder. "Just as you said, doctor."

"Excellent shot, Sayoko." Misty congratulated as she, Nunnally, Toto, and Rivalz all stood underneath Ratchet.

"A bit overkill…" Rivalz commented. "Shouldn't we have taken him alive?"

"He was the one who put Alice and her friends through so much pain and suffering." Nunnally said with a glare. Though she wasn't the type of person to wish for anyone's death, she at least felt that Madd got what he deserved.

"And we just heard from Rai and everyone that Arkveille was captured." Toto added. "I don't see any room for excess baggage."

"Damn, you girls are scary." Rivalz shivered.

Just like that, with Madd dead, his control to the Red Pawns all over the world was now broken. In that one instant, they all shut down.

Antarctica

Chromia and Ironhide both looked in confusion as they saw the Red Pawn in front of them stop moving, becoming stiff like a statue.

"What the…?" The veteran Autobot questioned as he and Chromia shared concerning glances and were slightly startled as another stiff Red Pawn fell on the ice beside them, breaking apart on contact.

"What's going on?" Nonette questioned as the damaged Galeschin hovered closer to them. "They just… stopped moving."

"Somehow… they're shut down." Chromia deduced.

The recently severed head of the third and final Red Pawn rolled up to them on the ground as he decapitated body fell to reveal Wheeljack with his swords.

"I'm not complaining, and I'm not sticking around to wait for these guys to wake up." Wheeljack said.

"Good idea." Ironhide agreed as he fired his cannons to obliterate the stiff Red Pawn in front of him.

Down below in the icy water, Warpath had managed to tackle the Power Headmaster unit and pin it to the ground before ripping off it's right arm to ensure that it stayed down, despite the unit struggling underneath him.

"Sorry about this, kiddo." Warpath said. "We'll get you out of there back at base."

With Dalque secured, Tamaki's Wrecker Akatsuki had its missiles locked onto the Thought Elevator. "Suck on this Cons! LONG LIVE JAPAN!" He fired his missiles straight at the Thought Elevator, causing it to go up in a glorious explosion.

Area 18

All six Red Pawns were stiff as statues as half of them were on the ground, locked in various fighting positions such as attempting to deliver punches and kicks. The other half fell to the ground, unable to fly, and ended up greatly damaged upon impact.

All the remaining Crimson Knights and Black Dragon units, consisting of Marrybell, Xingke, Ashley, Chiba, Oldrin, Asahina, Jean, Sokkia, Makira, and Leonhardt, looked in surprise and confusion as their Knightmares were heavily damaged with several looking ready to fall apart at the seams.

"The hell…?" Ashley questioned before a relieved grin fell on his face. "Damn… guess Lady Luck's still on our side."

"I don't know about luck or fortune, but we should take advantage of this." Xingke stated as his Shen Hu fired its slash harkens to tear apart one stiff Red Pawn.

"You're right." Marrybell agreed. "Destroy them while they're depowered! Now's our chance!"

Meanwhile, within the cavern, Drift and Tohdoh both came at the sides of the Lucretia's land-units, bringing their respective blades toward her as she raised her gun-arms to block their attacks. Even with both the Autobot and Zangetsu working together, the Land unit seemed capable of holding them back.

"You can't win… I'll know your every position…" Lucretia confessed honestly and reluctantly.

"Our position, perhaps." Tohdoh commented as he grinned.

"But it seems you're focus is that like any other human. Often distracted." Drift smiled.

Lucretia's eyes widened as she turned around in shock to see the two Mini-Cons, Jetstorm and Safeguard, leaping high into the air to bring their weapons down on the Thought Elevator.

"For Master Drift, and all our friends and allies, be they Autobot or Black Knight!" Safeguard lunged his naginata multiple times into the monolithic structure.

"For Cybertron and for Earth!" Jetstorm swung his nunchucks all over the surface of the structure as well.

Their strikes were so precise and strong that the surface of the Thought Elevator began to collapse and break apart, exposing a bright red light from behind that shined out well past the cavern entrance, getting everyone's attention outside.

The flash of light also served as a distraction for Lucretia, as she was forced to close her eyes. This momentary distraction worked in favor of her opponents as Drift and the Zangetsu quickly sliced their blades to sever the arms of the Land Unit, causing it to fall to its knees.

"You are beaten, it's over." Drift declared as he pointed his blade toward the critically damaged Knightmare.

"Surrender and you'll be taken into our custody." Tohdoh added.

Despite the failure of their mission, Lucretia couldn't help but smile. Maybe… just maybe… their plan had worked. Maybe she and her friends could finally be free after all.

"I surrender."

Area 20

Ultra Magnus was quick to shoot and obliterate a stiff Red Pawn that had fallen into the shallow water below. "Make sure they are all destroyed! I do not know what has happened but use it to your advantage!" He said before shooting to destroy another that was at a distance away.

"With great pleasure, sir." Cornelia smiled as she used her Vincent to bisect one Red Pawn with Guilford sitting in the same cockpit behind her, his own Akatsuki having been destroyed during the battle.

"Kinda anti-climactic in my opinion." Smokescreen commented as he shot off the head of one Red Pawn in front of him. He heard a loud slam behind him and turned around to see a destroyed Red Pawn fall at his feet, with Prowl, and Chigusa who sat on his shoulder, giving him unamused expressions. "What?"

Behind the waterfall, Jazz had shot his Energon grappler at the Order unit, who tried to slice at it with her swords, only for the grappler to ensnare both blades and bring them together. Jazz retracted his grappler, which caused him to be shot straight at Sancia, who gasped as Jazz tackled her Knightmare, the gathered momentum was enough to push her to the ground while Jazz was on top.

"Go! Now!" Jazz ordered as the Florence Nero aimed its Hadron cannons at the Thought Elevator at the very back of the cave.

'These devices were the sole reason for our conquest… for the destruction that we laid in our wake… and I was a part of that.' Monica thought with a sad expression before steeling herself. 'But I have renounced the lies that is Britannia! Now and forever… I am a true knight of justice! And I will protect this world!' She fired her Knightmare's cannons, firing a condensed red energy blast that all but destroyed the Thought Elevator in the most explosive way possible.

Jazz gave an impressed whistle. "Talk about flashy."

Russian Mountains

All the remaining Red Pawns fell and broke apart as they slid and rolled across the side of the mountains, and would keep falling until they either reached the bottom or were destroyed beyond all hope of repair.

"What…!?" Shin questioned as he saw all his escort units literally fall apart, now he was the only one left as Akito, Leila, Sideswipe, Ryo, Yukiya, Strongarm, and Ayano surround him from all sides, their weapons aimed at the hovering Thanatos.

"I don't know what happened, but I'm loving it." Ryo grinned.

"Not so tough now without your buddies, are you?" Ayano also grinned.

"Shin Hyuga Shang, you are surrounded!" Strongarm told him. "Surrender! This will be your only warning!"

The cybernetic madman only tisked in annoyance. "My apologies, Akito." He said to his brother. "I know I said this is where we would part ways, but I'm afraid we'll have to settle this another day. I can see when the odds are not in my favor."

The Thanatos fired multiple Energon blasts from its shoulders all around, creating explosions on all sides and providing enough cover for Shin to fly straight up into the sky.

"Brother!" Akito exclaimed in frustration as he tried to shoot him down, but he was already well out of range.

"Akito, let him go!" Leila told him. "Shang is not our mission!"

"Leila's right, we have to destroy the Thought Elevator." Sideswipe said. "Let's do it now, while we're in the clear."

Yukiya gave a slight laugh. "Grindcore's already on it."

The large and green Autobot made his way towards the exposed Thought Elevator inside the cave as he eagerly pounded his fist into his palm.

"Hi Mr. Thought Elevator. Let me introduce you to my best friend… my right fist!" Grindcore punched the Thought Elevator as hard as he could, shattering it in that one attack.

London

Ohgi and the Aerialbots all watched as the Red Pawns fell into the water below. Despite not knowing what was happening, they all had a good idea of who might have been responsible.

'Optimus… Lelouch… you're always saving my ass.' Ohgi thought to himself with a relieved smile.

In the river below, the last two Red Pawns didn't even need to be shut down as they had already been destroyed by Kallen and Arcee. They just turned around to see Elita in her vehicle mode, driving straight for the Dark Mordred, who was also flying straight at her. But it wasn't Anya at the controls.

"Marianne…" Anya tried to speak to her.

"Wait… wait…" She had to time this perfectly. Once she saw that Elita was close enough, she acted. "Now!" Marianne fired a Hadron blast at the ground just in front of Elita, but this worked more to the pink Autobot's advantage as she transformed and moved in, her arm-blades drawn as she sliced and decapitated the Dark Mordred, sliding past it samurai-style as it fell to the ground.

"D-did… did she do it…?" Anya asked.

"She did it." Marianne breathed a sigh of relief. "We found the self-destruct device in the Dark Mordred's neck. By purposely creating an opening, we allowed that Autobot the chance to sever it… Shockwave can't touch us now."

"…I can see why you were called Marianne the Flash." Anya said with a laugh in her head while Marianne laughed as well. They were finally free from Shockwave and could return to the sides of the people they cared for.

"Elita… is Anya…?" Suzaku asked as the Lancelot approached them.

"She's alright." Elita confirmed with a smile. "This thing looks like it has an air-tight cockpit, so she won't drown. We'll get her to base once we're done here."

"That's a relief." Suzaku smiled as he turned his Lancelot to face the Thought Elevator as the Guren and Arcee made their way closer to him.

"Do you want this?" Arcee asked him.

"I think we've all earned it." Suzaku said confidently.

"Got that right." Kallen agreed earnestly. "It was this because damn Geass cult thing that Britannia invaded Japan in the first place... and took so much from all of us."

"Now it's our turn to end this. Once and for all." Arcee declared.

'Megatron…' Suzaku thought with a hardened expression of anger. 'This is it. This is the beginning of the end for you, and all your heinous plans!'

Arcee fired multiple Energon blasts, the Guren's Surger claw threw a sphere of radiation, while the Lancelot fired its VARIS rifle. All three attacks struck the Thought Elevator, and quickly destroyed it.

Horai Island

Multiple signals sprang to life on the screen of the Ark's bridge as the dead zones just vanished, almost simultaneously, alerting all the military officers as they read the reports they were instantly receiving.

"The dead zones have been clear!"

"We're getting signals from all our teams!"

"Everyone's coming back online!"

"The Wreckers are reporting their mission was accomplished!"

"We have confirmation of the Thought Elevator in Area 18 being destroyed!"

"The one in Area 20 too!"

"Leila and her team are reporting the same thing!"

"The Thought Elevator in London has been destroyed!"

Euphemia and everyone else above could only look in surprise and amazement as they not only heard all the reports, but even saw the signals of most of their teams come back online.

"I… I think they did it…" Cecile said with a smile.

"Someway... somehow… they pulled it off…" Rakshata commented.

Lloyd gave his usual laugh. "Just five minutes ago, we were in the worst-case scenario… but we pulled off a victory!"

Diethard looked more than a little ecstatic while Claus slumped in relief. Euphemia was tempted to shed tears of joy as she, Kaguya, and Nina, shared emotionally relieved looks, but they couldn't celebrate just yet. The operation wasn't over.

"T-AI, commence extraction on all available away-teams! Bring them home as soon as possible!" Euphemia ordered as she wiped her eyes.

"Already on it." T-AI reported.

"Fixit, can we contact Optimus, Zero, and everyone else at the Geass Order?" Euphemia asked.

"The signal is still partially scrambled…" Fixit responded as he looked at a holographic screen of the communications network. "But with all those dead zones clear, I think I can establish contact!"

"Get to work on it as soon as possible!" Euphemia stated. "Nina, try and reach Rai, Nunnally, and their group! Get them as far away from that place as possible so we can bring them home!"

"You got it." Nina was already typing away at her laptop.

"All that's left now is for Lelouch and Optimus to finish this." Euphemia said. "And they're in the lion's den."

"Maybe so… but they're quite the 'lions' themselves." Kaguya assured. "They'll pull through."

"Especially when said 'lions' have a flipping T-rex by their side!" Lloyd commented.

"Not to mention a sword and shield with god-like abilities." Rakshata added.

The Nemesis

Megatron had just laid the finishing touches on his newfound weapon with one final pounding of the Forge of Solus Prime just as Soundwave entered the vault. Megatron and the others looked toward the silent Decepticon as he showed them all footage on his visor of the attack on the Geass Order.

"Shockwave's base is under attack!" Thundercracker exclaimed.

"And it seems Optimus is leading the charge with both the Star Saber and Sky-Boom Shield." Schneizel noted.

"I will deploy my Seeker armada and…" Starscream began.

"No, that will not be necessary." Megatron said as he laid the Forge on the ground and picked up his newest creation. What he held was a massive broadsword that was curved and twisted with spiked edges along both ends of the blade. The handle was pitch black and spiked, like something a dark knight of fiction would use, while the blade itself glowed a dark purple that emanated the same aura as the substance that was used to make it. All the Decepticons, and even Schnzeiel, looked at the newly created weapon in a mixture of awe and dread.

"I will see to this task, myself." The leader of the Decepticons proclaimed as he sheathed his newly created weapon on his back.

"Lord Megatron… are you sure that is wise?" Sky-Byte asked. "You haven't even tested your new weapon yet."

"This is the test." Megatron said as he proceeded to walk out of the vault with everyone else behind him. "What better way to test my creation, then by pitting it against the very sword it was based off of."

Once they all left the vault, the Forge of Solus Prime was once again left alone, the mallet of the hammer laying on the floor as it's handle leaned against the anvil upon which Megatron had forged his new sword.

But it wasn't quiet for long as Hot Shot slipped down from the ceiling and let himself quietly drop to the floor. He grabbed the Forge and struggled a bit before he was finally able to hoist it up and over his shoulder.

"Come on beautiful." Hot Shot said as he proceeded to make his way out. "I think it's time for both of us to get out of here."

Geass Order

Grimlock had climbed to the top of a tipped over structure with the Pegasus flying right next to him, both turned around to see the Driller was demolishing its way through everything in its path and getting closer with the intent to rip them to pieces.

"We're throwing everything we have at it and it's not slowing down!" Alice exclaimed.

Grimlock however remembered that when he fired his plasma breath down its throat, he did do some damage. So, its insides were vulnerable. The only problem was trying to deal the right amount of damage to truly destroy it. He glanced at the Pegasus as he saw it hovering, which caused him to get an idea. He remembered Swoop doing this with himself and a few of his teammates before, perhaps this could work.

"Get me up high!" Grimlock told her.

"What? What are you?" Alice questioned in confusion as the Driller wormed ever closer.

"Pick me up and fly straight up! Don't question it! Just do it!" Grimlock yelled.

Unable to think of anything else, the Pegasus grabbed Grimlock's left arm and flew straight up just as the Driller reached the spot that they were at. It saw the pair fly up, causing the Driller to worm its way into a nearby structure and curve straight up in an attempt at pursuing them.

Alice had to kick her float system to maximum power to get as high as she could, Grimlock was so large and heavy that it was honestly a miracle she was even able to lift him at all. They got to a point where they were rather high, above nearly all the other structures in the immediate area, and the Driller was nearing the top of the building that it drilled through.

"I can't get you up much higher!" Alice stated. "The strain is too much for the Pegasus!"

"You're fine now! Just drop me!" Grimlock ordered.

"What?! Are you crazy!?" Alice exclaimed.

"DROP! ME!" Grimlock yelled, his optics glowing bright red with anger, showing no room for argument.

Scared by his tone of anger, she went against every fiber of logic in her body and dropped the Dinobot. As he fell, the Driller curved its body to try, opening its mouth to catch and devour him. However, while in the air, Grimlock transformed into his T-Rex mode and unleashed his plasma breath once more, directly into the open mouth of the Driller, burning away at its insides just as Grimlock fell in.

The Driller roared in agony as it felt all its insides burn away, multiple explosions erupted from inside before its giant form was exploded near its head area, causing it to be essentially decapitated. All broken and destroyed parts of the Driller fell to the ground in a heap as the structure it drilled through collapse completely, creating a massive pile of broken metal and debris.

"Grimlock!" Alice flew the Pegasus down to try and find him, scanning to locate his signal through the rubble. "Grimlock! Where are you!?"

A blast of plasma shot up from the rubble beside her as the Dinobot's T-Rex mode burned and climbed its way to the surface. Once he was fully emerged, Grimlock gave a roar before he transformed back to normal, taking a moment to rest a bit.

Alice heard him chuckle as he turned in her direction. "I think you humans would call that… heartburn. Right?"

The girl blinked owlishly for a second before she laughed. She laughed as if she had just been told the funniest joke in the world. "You really are crazy…!"

The Agravain fired its Slash Harkens and Hadron Cannons at the Dark Queen, which sped up and around each of the blasts and projectiles shot it's way, but as it flew up, the Byakuen came in and was close enough to fire its head-mounted Gefjun blaster, but right as he did, the Dark Queen swung its blade outward. Both attacks hit their mark as the head of Orpheus' Knightmare was destroyed, and the Gefjun hit the Dark Queen, causing its systems to short-circuit and be rendered inoperable.

Both units fell from the sky, but thankfully the Agravain was able to fly in and catch the critically damaged white Knightmare.

"It's down! Get it before it recovers!" Wizard stated.

Cera's pink Akatsuki flew in, drew its katana and used it to quickly impale the Dark Queen before it even had a chance to recover. She made sure to pierce her weapon right in the central cockpit where the mutilated corpse of Marianne was. All sorts of thoughts and emotions went through Cera's head as she did that.

'Lelouch… I don't how you'll feel about this… maybe relieved at her body no longer being used like this? But would you feel if you knew what she was really like?' Cera thought sympathetically before a resolved look formed on her face. 'Once we're done here, I'll tell you and Nunnally everything. You'll know the truth. I'm done hiding.'

With a swing of her katana, Cera's Knightmare had almost completely sliced the Dark Queen in half as it's left side was completely eviscerated. It fell to the ground in a broken heap, liquid Dark Energon spilling out like blood as the Dark Queen was finally destroyed.

"No…" V.V. said aloud, within the metallic frame of Nemesis Prime, he could feel it. Everything that had happened all at once. "They're gone… all the Thought Elevators… all but this one… they're all gone!" His eyes shook with terror and rage. "Everything we worked for… what we spent years creating… all for nothing!" Nemesis Prime's body surged with as much red energy as he could, preparing one final attack as he glared at Optimus Prime who stood in front of him, both sword and shield of the Primes still glowing in his hands.

"PRIME!" Nemesis screamed. "YOU'VE DESTROYED IT ALL!" He let loose a powerful explosion of surging red energy that encompassed the whole perimeter of the area they fought in. All the ruined structures and rubble around him were blown away and destroyed.

However, Optimus brandished the Sky-Boom Shield to protect himself from the attack. The barrier projected by the shield allowed Nemesis' attack to wash over him like a river over stone. But, when all the smoke began to clear, Optimus lowered his shield to see that Nemesis Prime was no longer there. In fact, the ground where he once stood had been completely obliterated, leaving a massive hole that led underground.

Shockwave was forced to find cover behind a pile of rubble as Bumblebee and the Shinkiro kept the onslaught of energy weapons on him. Though he would find a chance to return fire with his cannon, prompting the Black Knight leader and Autobot scout to dodge and avoid the destructive blasts.

"Shockwave." Megatron made contact.

"Lord Megatron, the Geass Order has fallen." Shockwave reported. "Despite the plan I set in motion, all assets have been captured or destroyed. Zero, Prime, and their forces will find the Thought Elevator shortly."

"It no longer matters. Soundwave is sending a Groundbridge to your location. Return to the Nemesis immediately." Megatron ordered.

"As you wish." Shockwave responded as a Groundbridge portal appeared in front of him.

A Hadron blast from the Shinkiro blew away the cover that Shockwave was using, only to reveal a Groundbridge portal that had closed that very instant.

"Damn…" Lelouch cursed before contacting his allies. "Shockwave has retreated."

"V.V. is gone as well, but I suspect he is still here." Optimus said.

"All remaining enemy forces have been destroyed, Zero." Wizard reported. "But Orpehus' unit is too badly damaged to keep going!"

"I'm sorry, but I can't help anymore." Orpheus apologized.

"No thank you, you've done enough." Lelouch replied. "Wizard, escort Orpheus back to Horai Island. Get as far away from the citadel and call for a Groundbridge. The rest of us will look for V.V. and destroy the Thought Elevator."

"Understood." Wizard acknowledged.

Nemesis Prime weakly limped underground, leaning his side against the wall as he slowly made his way toward his intended destination. Having exhausted a large majority of his own Energon supply in that attack, the movements of the Nemesis Prime body had slowed considerably. Considering that the entire metallic frame, including the flow of Enegron, was now connected directly to his nervous system… it meant his own body had suffered immensely. Despite his immortality, it would take a considerably long time for him to recover, but that was only his organic form. The metallic body of Nemesis Prime couldn't regenerate, so he was literally dragging the near-drained body like a ball and chain.

"Optimus… Lelouch…! Damn you all…!" V.V. growled as his metallic frame tripped and fell on the ground. "Kaizaren…!" He could sense his former Contractor even, but not only that… being so close to the only remaining Thought Elevator, he could even sense the presence of someone else. Someone he worked so hard to cripple all just to spite that wretched Marianne. "Even Nunnally?! I… I worked so hard to… tear it all down…! How dare they… build themselves back up…!"

Nemesis Prime crawled on the ground, trying desperately to get to where he needed to. And before long, he found what he was looking for. The only remaining Thought Elevator, embedded in the wall, and so close to his position.

"Only one…. I only need this one…!" V.V. strained as he continued to crawl toward it. "C.C. is here…! If I can get to it… I can… use my power to… to make them all suffer! I'll send them all into a mental trap… then I'll grab C.C…. and force Ragnarök to activate!" A child-like look of joy and relief fell on his human face as he thought of that. "Charles… wait for me… I'm coming… we'll have our perfect world… we can still have it…! And everyone else… this wretched world that Prime and Lelouch have tried to save… it can burn in Hell!"

However, just before he could get to it, a Groundbridge portal opened in front of him. Stepping out was the one that V.V. had wished he would never ever see again. Just the mere sight of him caused all joy and relief to fade away with terror.

"Why am I not surprised?" Megatron mused as he literally looked down on Nemesis, the Groundbridge closing behind him. "Crawling on the ground like the insect that you are."

"M-Megatron…! Quickly…! Prime and Zero…! They're on their way here! They'll be here any minute! Please! Help me!" V.V. pleaded.

"I'm aware." Megatron dismissed. "I have no intent of letting on letting them have their way, nor you yours. You wanted to jumpstart Ragnarök, didn't you?" That guess caused V.V. to gasp. Megatron sighed as he shook his head. "I've grown rather tired of this, Victor. Truly, I never actually believed you were even capable of defeating Optimus or Lelouch, even with your newfound body. The fact is, despite all your treacheries and failures, I've allowed you to carry on this long because I took… a certain delight in watching you constantly fall from the pedestal that you've placed yourself on. But you've finally become tiresome. Predictable."

Megatron reached down to pick up the Nemesis body by the head and lift it up this level, right before he used his free hand to tear open the chest and expose the frightened immortal boy inside.

"You've hit rock bottom." The leader of the Decepticons told him. "However, there is still but one more thing I need from you. "

Ratchet's vehicle mode continued to drive underground, while still carrying Nunnally, Rivalz, Toto, Sayoko, Misty, and all the remaining scientists inside.

"Bulkhead, what is your status?" Ratchet asked.

"We're just about out of the citadel. Nice to have communications back up." Bulkhead said. "Guess whatever we did to wreck their systems did the trick."

"The second you establish contact with base, call a Groundbridge." Ratchet instructed. "We're nearing the surface ourselves, so we shouldn't be that far behind."

"Over and out, Doc." Bulkhead responded.

Rivalz sighed in relief as he slumped back in his seat. "I'm glad this whole thing is over."

"Let's not celebrate until we're out of here." Toto said, though she couldn't help but feel a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. The Geass Order is all but finished at this point, and she had a part to play. She can finally put it all behind her. And once this war was all done, she could spend the rest of her life with Oldrin and their family.

"We should be getting to the surface by now…" Misty said as they saw an open cavern up ahead. "Let's try and…"

However, the second Ratchet's ambulance mode entered the cavern, he saw something that made him suddenly skid to a halt, causing everyone inside to jerk and almost get flung forward. Sayoko even had to hold out her arm to keep Nunnally from flying, despite that she had a seatbelt on.

"Ugh! Jeeze Ratchet the heck did you do that for…" Rivalz glanced out the window and was rendered silent.

And the others weren't far behind either. Misty, Toto, Sayoko, and even Nunnally, all their eyes became wide like dinner plates, their mouths hanging open, and all the color drained from their faces.

Standing in front of them, his glowing purple optics glancing upon them at their arrival with the gaze of the devil, with the broken and damaged form of Nemesis Prime lying flat on the ground behind him, and the sole surviving Thought Elevator on the wall near his side, was the one responsible for all of this. The one who sent this world spiraling into chaos, and responsible for so much death and destruction. It was the Lord and Master of all Decepticons.

Megatron did not expect this arrival, but it seemed more like a pleasant surprise than anything else by the smirk on his face.

"Hello Doctor." He recognized the vehicle mode of Ratchet. "It's been quite some time."

"Megatron…!" Ratchet growled, but he didn't dare move without risk of endangering the humans inside, but he was ready to pull a full reverse at a moment's notice.

"I see you have company." Megatron could see the humans. "Children by the looks of it and…" There was one that stuck out the most, and one he recognized instantly. "Oh, well this is a pleasant surprise. Nunnally Vi Britannia."

She almost felt her heart stop when he said her name. She had faced Decepticons before, and even a handful of deranged madmen. But this…. This experience was something else. The dark and evil look in Megatron's optics was unlike anything she felt before. Just starting at him felt like she was looking at the devil himself. This was the same monster who not only killed so many innocent people, but also caused her brother so much pain and turmoil. She hated him with every fiber in her being, but right now, all she could feel was fear.

"You look so much like your mother." Megatron continued. "But do not worry, I have no plans for you whatsoever, but I do have a request." He drew his dark and glowing saber that he had brought with him, making sure to have their full and undivided attention.

"What in the name of Primus…?" Ratchet muttered.

"Communications with your party should be restored by now, at the very least you should be able to contact your allies here." Megatron went on. "Do me a favor and call your brother. He, Optimus, and I have a score to settle. Tell them where I am and that I'm waiting. Run along now, little one." He stepped to the side in a sense of false politeness, encouraging them to leave.

Seeing a chance to flee, Ratchet wasted no time in gunning it. He sped as fast as he can, carrying all the frightened passengers as he fled down the underground tunnel that Nemesis Prime had crawled.

"Ratchet to base! We need an immediate Groundbridge to our location now!" The Autobot medic demanded.

"L-Lelouch…" Nunnally stuttered as she tried to contact her brother. "L-Lelouch are… are you there…?"

"Nunnally? What's going on? Where are you?"

"Master Lelouch, Megatron is here!" Sayoko stated, placing a firm but comforting hand on Nunnally's to try and ease the terror she was feeling.

"WHAT!?" Lelouch practically screamed on the other end. The very thought of his beloved sister being anywhere near that monster was probably giving him a heart-attack.

"He's guarding the Thought Elevator, and he appears to have a new weapon, one that bears a striking resemblance to the Star Saber!" Sayoko informed. "He's waiting for you and Optimus!"

"You all get out of there! Right now!" Lelouch exclaimed.

"Don't have to tell us twice, we're already booking it!" Rivalz stated just as a Groundbridge portal opened up in front of them. It seemed that Ratchet was indeed able to contact base, much to the relief of everyone else as they drove inside and to safety.

The Nemesis

Hot Shot had crawled through the ventilation system and had successfully made his way to the loading dock that would load and unload crates of Energon. He also dragged the Forge of Solus Prime with him and was lucky enough to avoid getting caught. Megatron probably said the vault where it was stored was off-limits, so nobody would dare enter or else face his wrath. A part of Hot Shot wished he could see the look on Megatron's face when he sees what happened, but now it was time to get out before he pressed his luck any further.

The rookie Wrecker saw at the center of the chamber was the massive hole that the extraction port would deploy from, he could see the clouds of the Earth sky. But when he pressed his foot, he felt him step on a shield, no doubt to keep any stray Energon crates from falling out. Looking around, Ratchet spotted a tube connected to the hole and up the wall to the ceiling, likely the Energon fuel line. If were disrupted, he'd be able to get out. But that would likely alert the Warship. Yet, it was his only option now.

"If they still call me a rookie after this, I'm gonna lose it." Hot Shot said as he activated his Energon blaster and shot at the fuel line, causing a small explosion that short circuited and deactivated the shield over the hole.

Without wasting a second, Hot Shot grabbed the Forge and jumped, entering free fall.

"Hot Shot to base! Please tell me that somebody can read me!" The falling Hot Shot accessed his comms.

"I have your signal, Hot Shot!" T-AI responded. "Your telemetry data doesn't appear to be making sense though..."

"Probably because I jumped out of the Cons' ship and now falling from the sky!" Hot Shot exclaimed. "I need a Groundbridge now, and I got some precious cargo with me!"

"I'm opening a Groundbridge directly below you! Brace yourself!"

A portal had opened up, one that the rookie Autobot and his 'precious cargo' had now fallen into.

Geass Order

Optimus, the Shinkiro, Bumblebee, the pink Akatsuki, Grimlock, and the Pegasus had gone underground and were prepared to enter a massive cavern, one big enough to hold a small city.

"[Just got word back from base.]" Bumblebee reported. "[Nunnally and everyone made it back to Horai Island.]"

"Thank god." Lelouch breathed a sigh of relief along with Alice.

"[Everyone else did their job too. All the Thought Elevators have been destroyed]" Bumblebee added.

"All except this one." Alice stated.

"Then let's finish this." Grimlock said.

"You can certainly try."

The group came to a stop as they saw their opponent walk towards them, the path that led to the Thought Elevator was behind him and he had no intent of letting them pass.

"Look at his arm…" Lelouch said as his Knightmare's screens zoomed in Megatron's new appendage, something the others noticed as well.

"By the Allspark, Megatron… what have you done?!" Optimus exclaimed.

"This?" The Decepticon leader showed his new arm. "I find it affords me certain advantages. Such as the use of the Forge of Solus Prime!"

'He cut off the arm of a deceased Prime so he could use the Forge!?' Cera thought with a glare. 'Considering he raised an army of the undead, I shouldn't be surprised. Yet he still finds ways to disgust me.'

Megatron then drew his dark and glowing blade and showed it everyone. "My first creation, fashioned from the very Blood of Unicron! I call it the Dark Star Saber! Slayer of Primes, if you will." He proclaimed before charging forward with a yell.

Optimus glared as he drew the Star Saber and Sky-Boom Shield. "All of you, stay back! I will handle this!" He ordered his comrades as he charged forward.

Without needing to be told twice, the group, including Grimlock, spread out across the massive cavern as they watched the battle ensue.

Megatron swung the Dark Star Saber and, just like the blade it was based off of, it generated a powerful wave of dark purple energy as opposed to the bright blue the original carried. Optimus however quickly brandished the Sky-Boom Shield to protect himself, the dark wave washing over the bright barrier, while the remnants of the wave spread out blew away the much of the cavern wall around Optimus, much to the surprise of everyone present.

Now it was Optimus' turn, he swung the Star Saber to send a horizontal energy wave of his own straight towards Megatron, who lifted the Dark Star Saber up and brought it down to slice the wave of light in half, both halves veering past him to blast through the cavern walls that were behind Megatron.

Lelouch's eyes widened as he saw that. 'The Star Saber could cleave a mountain in half and might have blown the Nemesis out of the sky with just one hit… but Megatron was able to counter it! Did… Did he truly make his own weapon that's just as powerful…?! Is this the power of the Forge?!'

Megatron gave a yell as he swung the Dark Star Saber again, sending another dark wave toward Optimus, who sliced through that one with the Star Saber. Megatron then brought the Dark Star Saber down to send a vertical dark wave, which Optimus countered by bringing up the Sky-Boom Shield and charged right through, barreling through the destructive attack as he was unphased, but more of the cave around them was beginning to break apart.

Optimus was close to Megatron to get him with the Star Saber itself as he swung his bright blue sword at his friend-turned-enemy, who countered by blocking it with the Dark Star Saber. The second both blades clashed with one another, a powerful surge of light and dark energy surrounded the pair, one so powerful, that Bumblebee and even Grimlock were pushed back slightly by the resulting Shockwave. Even Lelouch and Alice struggled to keep their respective Knightmares in the air as they kept as far a distance as possible.

When they broke apart, the wave around Optimus and Megatron vanished, but Megatron was quick to attack again, swinging the Dark Star Saber at Optimus, who blocked it with the Sky-Boom Shield. Their collision was somewhat different than the swords as a bright barrier formed in front of Optimus, emitted by the Shield, while a backlash of dark energy was emanated backwards from the Dark Star Saber. However, Megatron pulled back and tried to swing at Optimus' side, who blocked it with the Star Saber, creating another clash of conflicting energy. Optimus swung the Star Saber downward, which Megatron blocked with the Dark Star Saber, creating yet another clash. Megatron tried to lunge his evil sword at Optimus, who blocked it again with the Shield of the Primes, creating a backlash of dark energy from the thrust that split and went to opposite ends of the cave behind them. With each clash of their weapons, the city-sized cavern began to shake, so much so that it felt like the entire citadel above was hit by a magnitude nine earthquake, already much of the ruined Geass Order citadel above was beginning to collapse.

"W-What kind of battle is this…?" Alice shook with fear as they continued to watch the Star Saber and Dark Star Saber clash again and lock together, creating another surge of conflicting energies that rocked the whole cavern as multiple rocks fell to the ground around all of them.

For one of the few times in his whole life, Grimlock was actually nervous. His fists clenched as his arms shook, trying hard to push back his nerves.

'I hate to admit… but… I don't think I can win a fight like this…!' The Dinobot thought.

As their swords locked, Megatron looked like he was having the time of his life as he grinned wildly and his purple optics only shined brighter. "At last, we take our rightful places Optimus… As gods! Wielding the power of the cosmos!"

Megatron broke off their lock and seized Optimus by the throat with his free hand before pushing him up and pinning him against a massive boulder that had fallen from the cave ceiling from their clash.

Optimus grunted before replying. "I am but a soldier, Megatron. And you… are a prisoner of your own twisted delusions!" He activated the Sky-Boom Shield to bring up a large barrier, the force of it was enough to knock Megatron back and push him to the ground, allowing Optimus to stand upright. But Megatron swung the Dark Star Saber again to create another vertical wave of dark energy, but Optimus kept the Shield's barrier up to protect himself as the wave broke apart around him and completely obliterated the wall behind him, causing it to collapse even more.

"[Lelouch, this fight is crazy!]" Bumblebee communicated with his friend via their comms channel so Megatron couldn't hear. "[If they keep this up, the whole place is gonna cave in!]"

"I think Optimus already knows, but I doubt Megatron is going to let up because of that…!" Lelouch said with a growl.

However, Cera began to think. Something Megatron had said that had got her attentions. 'Gods, hmm?' Her eyes happen to glance in the direction of the cavern that Megatron had exited from, the one that led directly to the Thought Elevator. She gasped as she was struck with an epiphany.

"Keep Megatron busy!" Cera told everyone via their comms. "I have an idea… just keep him occupied as long as you can!"

"What… Cera!" Lelouch tried to protest, but he already saw her Knightmare flying along the side of the cavern to avoid the clash and straight towards her intended destination. He didn't know what exactly she was doing, but he trusted her judgement. "You heard her! Keep that monster occupied!"

Optimus and Megatron clashed their respective Sabers again, creating another surge of chaotic energy. When Megatron attacked again and Optimus blocked it with the Sky-Boom Shield, it created a very brief opening, one that Lelouch took full advantage over as he fired the Shinkiro's Hadron at Megatron's side, blasting him away from Optimus and causing him to roll on the ground. He got up to glare at the black Knightmare.

"Be patient, boy. My Dark Star Saber will taste your blood soon enough."

"Taste this!" He looked to see Grimlock's charging T-Rex form as he let loose a stream of plasma from his mouth. Megatron brought the Dark Star Saber forward to block the attack, but this left him open for Bumblebee and the Pegasus to come at him from behind with the former firing his Energon blasters at Megatron's back, causing him to grunt and leave him open for Alice to speed her Knightmare at him, slashing him repeatedly, but he reached out with his free hand to grab the Pegasus by the throat and throw it at Bumblebee knocking them both down.

Grimlock, still in his T-Rex mode, charged forward to deliver a powerful headbutt to Megatron before thrusting upward to send him up and crashing to the ground. Grimlock then tried to stomp on Megatron while he was down, but he rolled out of the way and swung the Dark Star Saber, forcing Grimlock to transform back as the dark energy wave passed over him. With him so close, Megatron swung the Dark Star Saber at his large enemy, who instinctively brought out his own massive broadsword to try and block it…

Only for the Dark Star Saber to shatter it into a million pieces on contact, much to Grimlock's shock.

Megatron sneered as he swung his Dark Star Saber again to send another dark wave, which Grimlock tried to protect himself with his shield, but that too was shattered as the force of the wave sent Grimlock flying and crashing to the other side of the chamber.

The Shinkiro appeared directly in front of Megatron as Lelouch fired the Knightmare's chest-mounted cannon, sending a condensed and powerful beam at his enemy. But Megatron blocked it using the flat of the Dark Star Saber, the force of the attack did push Megatron back slightly, but Megatron was able to angle the Dark Star Saber so that the beam was reflected straight upwards, and it carved through the cavern ceiling.

The attack stopped and Megatron immediately swung the Dark Star Saber to send a dark wave at the Shinkiro, but Optimus had appeared and used the Star Saber to slash through that wave so that it veered around him and Lelouch's Knightmare. The pair glared at the smirking Decepticon leader.

However, it seems that Megatron hadn't even noticed Cera's Akatsuki approaching the Thought Elevator at the end of the chamber. Cera noticed the stiff form of Nemesis Prime that was off to the side, but decided to focus more on the task at hand for the time being.

"Please… let this work…" Cera hoped as she focused her own powers. Her hair waved upwards slightly to reveal the Geass emblem on her forehead as it glowed a bright red, along with all the runes on the Thought Elevator.

In a flash of light, Cera and her Knightmare both suddenly vanished.

The Sword of Akasha. One could consider this the entrance way to Heaven, given that the surrounding environment appeared to be an endless golden sky with clouds and a bright light shining behind it. All that contradicted the cold and metallic framework of the hovering structure in the middle of it all. It was a large and metallic platform with a series of metal pillars at each corner of the platform that went straight upwards into the clouds, connecting to something hidden within that could not be seen.

The pink Akatsuki suddenly appeared within this mysterious realm, with the pilot inside taking a brief second to look at the changed environment around her.

"Megatron did some remodeling." Cera said to herself, remembering how when she, Charles, V.V. and Marianne would come here and the structure they'd enter appeared to be an ancient temple. "So, he can enter this place now too? Well, it doesn't matter. There is only one Thought Elevator left, and that's all we need."

Cera activated her Knightmare's communications systems, hoping to reach home base. "Cera to base, come in!" There appeared to be static on the other end at the moment. "Oh please… somebody! Anyone on Horai Island please respond!" She pleaded. "Does anybody read me!?"

"Just barely, but I read you." T-AI responded on the other end of the line, albeit with static.

The immortal breathed a huge sigh of relief. "Oh T-AI… thank you. Can you lock onto my coordinates?"

"Hang on…" T-AI paused before responding. "This is… unusual. Your Knightmare's signal is still coming from the Geass Order but… it's fluctuating, it's coming in and out… like you're rapidly transiting from one spot to another. When you vanish for a second, I can't locate you."

"Can you open a Groundbridge to my location?" Cera asked.

"I don't know…"

"Try it!" Cera insisted.

"One moment…" The wait was torturous as each passing second felt like an eternity to the immortal. This had to work. It may be their only hope to not only end the threat of Geass once and for all, but even stop Megatron for good.

Just then, a Groundbridge portal opened right next to her Knightmare.

"Yes! I have successfully activated a portal!" T-AI reported triumphantly. "Although, I don't know for sure if it will lead you back at base…"

"That doesn't matter." Cera stated. "This is enough."

"Enough for what?"

"T-AI… I need you to pay very close attention."

Back at the Geass Order, the cavern was a complete and total wreck, shaken up by another energy shockwave as Optimus and Megatron clashed their respective Sabers again, but with this clash, most of the ceiling had been completely obliterated, exposing the sunlight that shined down on the both of them as Optimus had leapt backwards from Megatron, allowing the Shinkiro and Pegasus to come up at his rear from above as they fired their long ranged weapons to catch Megatron in an explosion, but both Knightmares cleared the way as a horizontal wave of dark energy was sent out from the smoke and struck the ceiling, cleaving away more of it.

Bumblebee drove up from behind Megatron as fast as he could before transforming and leaping onto his back, wrapping his right arm around Megatron's neck while pounding at his face with his left fist. Megatron however was able to wrench him off with his own free hand and toss him to the side. But once he was tossed, Grimlock charged forward to grab Megatron and continue his charge and slam him into the wall. Grimlock grabbed Megatron's new arm that held the Dark Star Saber to keep him from using it as he pounded Megatron repeatedly. However, Megatron was able to headbutt Grimlock, which was enough to loosen his grip and allow Megatron to slash at Grimlock's chest with the Dark Star Saber, knocking him down. Though a wave attack hadn't been unleashed, the slash left a deep gash across Grimlock's chest that caused a great deal of damage.

Megatron raised his Dark Star Saber to try and finish off the Dinobot while he was down, but Optimus quickly came in with the Sky-Boom Shield to protect him.

"We're throwing everything we have at him, but this monster won't stay down!" Alice exclaimed.

Lelouch tried desperately to think of any kind of strategy to end this fight here and now. If Megatron escapes from here with the Dark Star Saber, he could easily destroy the Autobot-Black Knight alliance all by himself! Earth would be his for the taking!

"Lelouch! Optimus!" Cera contacted them.

"Cera, what is it?" Lelouch asked.

"I need you two to lure Megatron to the Thought Elevator!" Cera stated. "Bumblebee, Alice, Grimlock, you three get back to base! We can handle it!"

"Hold on Cera, what are you…?" Lelouch tried.

"No time to explain! Just trust me!"

Seeing no other ideas, Lelouch decided to trust her once more. He fired the Shinkiro's Hadron cannons at the cavern wall above and behind Megatron, causing it to collapse as Optimus and Megatron locked their respective sabers. Optimus noticed the incoming rockslide and kicked at Megatron's feet to trip him up before jumping backwards just as the rocks fell and pilled over the downed Megatron.

Optimus had also heard Cera's request and decided to trust her as well. "Bumblebee, Grimlock, Alice, return to base! We will deal with Megatron!"

"[You heard him, big guy.]" Bumblebee said as he and the Pegasus helped the injured Grimlock to stand on his feet. "[Let's get out of here.]"

"Damn it all…" Grimlock growled as he limped away with his escorts. "Don't think this means I owe you, Optimus!" Grimlock called out to him.

"Let's go." Lelouch said to Optimus, who nodded in response as they quickly made their way toward the Thought Elevator just as Megatron emerged from the rock pile. He noticed the pair of his enemies head in that direction as well before running in pursuit of them.

Optimus and the Shinkiro made it toward the Thought Elevator where the pink Akatsuki was waiting for them. They noticed Nemesis Prime lying flat on the ground as well.

"What about…?" Lelouch was about to ask.

"We'll worry about that later." Cera quickly said.

"I trust you have a plan." Optimus said to Cera as he took notice of his weapons. "The Star Saber may not be able to handle much more, and the Sky-Boom Shield won't be far behind either."

"I know, and I do." Cera confirmed as they saw Megatron enter the chamber. The second he was within range, Cera activated her powers again. The Geass emblem on her forehead glowed once more, followed by the ruins on the Thought Elevator, right before all four of them vanished in that one instant.

Optimus Prime, Lelouch in the Shinkiro, Cera in her Akatsuki, and even Megatron all appeared within the Sword of Akasha. This sudden change in location took all of them, excluding Cera, by surprise as they each looked around for a brief moment.

"Wh-wha… what…?" Lelouch stuttered in shock. "What is this?"

"Where are we?" Optimus questioned.

"The Sword of Akasha." Megatron noted as he faced them all, the Dark Star Saber glowing in his hand. "A pocket dimension only accessible via Thought Elevators. It's origins are still largely unknown, but it will serve its purpose for me." He glanced at the pink Akatsuki as its cockpit opened up, allowing Cera to stand up straight as she faced Megatron directly. "C.C. By bringing me here, you've only hastened my plans. In fact, Neo Ragnarök can begin right now." He said with a sneer.

"'Neo Ragnarök?'" Lelouch questioned.

Even Optimus looked with narrowed optics. He heard from Cera about the Ragnarök Connection that Charles and V.V. had planned, and it seems that Megatron was indeed using it to his own advantage.

"No, Megatron." Cera said with an iron-clad expression and a fiery look in her eyes. "This is where the influence of Geass ends all together. Here… in your eternal tomb." She quickly turned on her communications again. "T-AI NOW!"

Suddenly, a Groundbridge portal opened on Megatron's left side, causing him to look in minor confusion. He had expected an attack to come at him from this portal, readying the Dark Star Saber for whatever may emerge.

But… he did not expect a second Groundbridge to open up behind him on his right side, with the Decepticon leader himself being caught in-between.

'Two Groundbridges… but why…?' Lelouch's eyes widened in surprise as he understood right then and there what Cera's intent was.

"If we can't stop him, we can at least trap him!" Cera stated. "Optimus…!"

"I understand." The last of the Primes knew as well what was about to happen as he saw streams of energy leaking from the edges of each of each Groundbridge portal and connecting to one another, creating a vortex with Megatron caught in the middle. Optimus quickly activated the Sky-Boom Shield again and projected a barrier around himself and his two human friends to brace for the inevitable result.

Megatron felt his body being pulled in two separate directions and unable to move. He couldn't even swing his arm to use the Dark Star Saber in his hand. He struggled as hard as he could, but he was unable to break free of this predicament. He glared at Cera, who narrowed her own eyes at him.

No! He would not let it end like this! He couldn't jumpstart Neo Ragnarök unless he made physical contact with her! But he can at least make her suffer! With all the rage and hatred that he could muster, Megatron's already purple optics shined even brighter. But as they shined, Cera noticed a dark purple glow coming from Megatron's hand. Specifically, from the palm of the stolen hand of Liege Maximo that held the Dark Star Saber. She couldn't see what it was, but she felt an odd and familiar sensation from it.

"What is…?" Suddenly, the Geass emblem on her forehead began to glow dark purple as well before she screamed in agony.

"Cera!" Lelouch exclaimed just as his Geass and that of Optimus both activated, but not of their own volition.

In that one instant, Optimus, Megatron, Lelouch, and Cera all their minds bombarded with a series of images.

They saw ancient civilizations of both Earth and Cybertron, both planets circling around the very center of the galaxy as it spun rapidly like a spiral of light. A flash of blue light showed thirteen Cybertronian figures standing tall as the one in the middle wielded the Star Saber in his hand. A flash of dark purple light showed wars and battlefields of fire and blood where humans slaughtered each other left and right, with the image of a transparent skull with a Geass emblem on its forehead floating above the warzone, laughing. They saw an image of humanoid beings covered in shadows weakly walking in one direction, toward a flash of light of which sparks of multiple colors flew out to encompass all of them.

Finally, there was a face. A face made entirely out of stone. Its features were barely visible, save for two curved horns on its head, and the glowing purple eyes that look as if they could destroy your very soul with just one glance.

*FLASH!*

An explosion erupted in-between the active Groundbridge vortex that appeared to encompass everything and everyone standing on the platform.

Megatron shook his head, rubbed his hand on his face as he tried to steady himself, his vision slowly returning as he stopped seeing spots. He looked around to see that he was still in the exact same spot as before, standing on the platform in the Sword of Akasha, the Dark Star Saber still in hand… and his enemies right in front of him.

Optimus had lowered the Sky-Boom Shield as the Shinkiro's cockpit opened up, to reveal Lelouch as he and Optimus both turned their attention to Cera, who had fallen back to the seat in her cockpit in unconsciousness.

Megatron chuckled as he saw his enemies were vulnerable and ripe for the killing. He stepped forward and spoke. "I do not know what that was, but it seems you failed. Now… it ends!" He raised the Dark Star Saber and tried to bring it down on Optimus…

Only for the evil sword to phase right through him.

"WHAT!?" Megatron screamed, his optics widened in clear shock. The Dark Star Saber went right through Optimus like he wasn't even there. He frantically looked towards Lelouch and slashed the Dark Star Saber at his Knightmare, but just like with Optimus, the sword went right through like he was slashing through air.

"How can this be?!" Megatron questioned as he tried to grab Cera directly with his free hand, only for his hand to phase through both her and her Knightmare.

He watched as Lelouch leapt from his cockpit and into Cera's via his Zero armor and checked her. "She's still breathing, just unconscious." He said to Optimus, both of them appearing to ignore the Decepticon that was right in front of them.

"I do not see Megatron." Optimus revealed, much to Megatron's own shock. "I believe it worked."

"What worked?" Megatron himself questioned. He tried to reach to Optimus again with his hand, but it phased through once more.

"Megatron…!" Lelouch spoke out, getting his attention as the young human wasn't even looking in his direction. "Allow me to welcome you to the Shadowzone! For it is here where you will be spending the rest of eternity!"

"'Shadowzone'?" Megatron wondered.

"Goodbye, Megatron." Optimus spoke out as well. "I wish you had chosen a different path."

In a flash of light, just like how they all entered, Optimus Prime, the Shinkiro and Lelouch, along with Cera and her own Knightmare, all vanished from the Sword of Akasha. Leaving Megatron completely alone, the only thing still with him being the Dark Star Saber, and nothing more.

Anger boiling inside him once more, Megatron clenched the Dark Star Saber in his hands before he let loose a scream of rage that would echo throughout the entire pocket dimension.

The second they returned to the Geass Order, Optimus Prime thrusted the Star Saber into the Thought Elevator, destroying it right then and there as he pulled it out. Lelouch held Cera in his arms, both out of their respective Knightmares, breathed a sigh of relief as he saw it happen.

"T-AI, the Thought Elevator within the Geass Order has been destroyed. Can you confirm the same for the others?" Optimus requested.

"All away teams have returned to Horai Island and report the same thing, Optimus." T-AI responded. "All the Thought Elevators at each of the locations have been destroyed."

"That's it then… that's all of them." Lelouch felt a huge weight off his shoulders, not just at the success of their mission, but something he didn't think they could accomplish so soon. "And that means… Megatron is trapped in the Shadowzone… within in a different dimension. He... I… I think he's gone for good."

"Let us not state that with certainty, just yet." Optimus advised.

"But how did we get out of there?" Lelouch wondered. "I didn't even know about that place until now, and neither did you. Do… Do you think that…" He looked to the still-unresponsive Cera in his arms. "…She somehow did it."

"She was the one who brought us there, it stands to reason she had pulled us out as well." Optimus said.

Lelouch glanced the unconscious Cera briefly with concern before turning to the stiff frame of Nemesis Prime that remained where it was since they found it. "What about him?"

Optimus walked over to the metallic frame that greatly resembled himself. Once he was close enough, he saw the chest had been torn open, with V.V., still hooked up to multiple devices and machines inside, laying completely still and unresponsive. Was he dead? If so, he may not be for much longer.

"We will take him to Horai Island, where he'll be put into stasis until we find a more permanent solution." Optimus said to Lelouch.

A weak groan got their attention as Lelouch looked to see Cera's eyes fluttering slightly. "Cera…" Her eyes opened and she gave a slight gasp once she saw him. "It's alright, it's over. Megatron's trapped. We did it."

"W-who… Who are you… sir?" Cera asked as she sat up.

"What? Cera, it's me. It's Lelouch." He said looking surprised and confused.

She backed away nervously and out of his arms. "A-Are you my new master? I-I can clean… and help prepare food for cooking…I can also fetch water and…" She heard large footsteps coming her way, drawing her attention toward Optimus. The second she saw him, she screamed and covered herself with her arms, holding herself in tightly. "W-What is that thing?! Please! Whatever you are, don't hurt me!"

Lelouch and Optimus both looked towards each other in genuine shock. They don't know how or why it happened… but someway… somehow… Cera had lost her memories.

Done.

See? Told you this would be a big one.

Despite the huge uphill battles that they all faced, the Autobots and Black Knights were able to persevere and accomplish a decisive victory by the skin of their teeth. All of the Thought Elevators, including the Geass Order itself, have been destroyed. Alice's friends in the Headmasters have been rescued, along with Anya (and Marianne), Joseph, and many others. Madd has been killed, and Arkveille captured, the Dark Fafnir and Driller have also been destroyed. Though Shockwave and Shang have escaped.

But Hot Shot has also managed to escape the Nemesis and get the Forge of Solus Prime for Optimus! So that's a huge victory!

Not only that, but they've managed to even trap Megatron in the Shadowzone within the Sword of Akasha, with the Dark Star Saber! That's like being locked in an air-tight vault and having said vault dropped into the middle of the ocean!

But this story isn't over yet. Cera has lost her memories, and what happened with V.V.? (I'm sure you can take a guess if you look at some of the details here).

Two more arcs remain for Code Prime R2, with an estimate of nine more chapters total, including an epilogue. This story is nearing its end, but the battles are going to get bigger from this point forward.

Up next, we have the official formation of the United Federation of Nations!

Until then, stay safe and stay healthy out there. Thanks for all your support, and see you soon with the next update.