Chapter 1: Lunar Spark Part 4
Nemesis
"Are you certain it was him?" Megatron asked his spymaster, Soundwave.
The mech silently nodded.
Megatron rubbed his chin, suppressing a silent growl. "If this data transmission is accurate, then it changes everything. We cannot employ our plan without risking the PFC," he looked back at Soundwave. "Get a signal to Shockwave."
Silently, Soundwave did as Megatron ordered. On the terminal next to Megatron, an image of Shockwave appeared. "Lord Megatron," he said. "What is the nature of your call?"
"What is the status of the device?" Megatron asked.
Shockwave stepped to the side, showing the device. "The device has been readied for deployment," Shockwave said. "On your command, I shall activate the arming sequence."
Megatron smiled, glad for the good news. "Good," he said. "However, there has been a change in plans. Secure the sit-around the device and be ready to activate it on my command."
It was then the sound of weapons fire filtered through the transmission. Shockwave looked over in the direction of the noise. "That may pose a problem," he said. "The Autobots and their allies are moving on this location. I do not believe we have forces to hold this position."
Megatron suppressed a growl. "Then we will send you more forces," he said. "But no matter what, the device must not be allowed to fall into autobot hands."
Shockwave bowed. "Understood, my lord," the image vanished as the transmission was cut off.
He looked over a nearby Vehicon. "Prepare another detachment of troops," he said. "And send them to reinforce Shockwave's position."
"But my Lord," the Vehicon said. "The majority of our forces are already deployed against the Autobot ship."
Megatron glared at the Vehicon for daring to defy him. The drone stepped back in fear. Then Megatron looked back at Soundwave. "Soundwave contact the rest of our forces," he said. "I had hoped to save them for later. But it would appear we need them sooner than expected."
Megatron turned his attention back to the battle. "Once the rest of our fleet arrives, we'll begin a forward assault on the moon," he would have his prize.
"Bumblebee, watch your back," Hotrod shouted.
Thanks to his brother's shout, the black and yellow meche turned around in time to dodge a punch from a Vehicon sneaking up behind him. Then with a couple of close-range shots from his cannons, the vehicon soldier went down.
Hotrod smiled, then his attention came back to his own fight. He transformed one of his arms cannons into a blade and stabbed it into the spark chamber of a vehicon soldier. Hotrod looked around to see if there were any more enemies to fight.
He was slightly relieved to see no more Vehicons were around and disappointed. "Area is all clear," Hotrod said.
Not far from them, Wheeljack nodded at them. "Then let's keep moving," he said, running past them. "The Decepticon position shouldn't be far from us now."
Hotrod frowned just a little bit. He was hoping for some words of praise from the wrecker. Bumblebee looked at them with an expression that told him to can it. Hotrod nodded and ran after Wheeljack, with his brother close beside him.
"We're doing well," Bee said. "Better than I expected."
Hotrod cracked a smile. "Of course we are," he said. "Between the two of us, we were already an unbeatable team. But now we're working with Team Prime nothing can stop us."
Bumblebee smiled and nodded. "Let's try not to get in over our heads here," he said. "This mission is too important for us to get big heads."
Hotrod nodded. He got the message from his brother. Don't get cocky and screw things up. He looked back behind, seeing the human marines close behind them. He was still surprised at how well they were keeping up. For all his life, he had been told that organics were primitive and inferior to Cybertronians. How squishy and weak they were compared to beings that towered over them and were made of living metal instead of flesh.
Yet, here he was, seeing a bunch of weak organics keeping pace with them. He began to wonder if organic life was inferior to Cybertronians or if humans were just an exception to that rule.
"The little guys are holding up well, too," he said to his brother.
Bumblebee looked back at the human marines. Forty-five had come with them, but now seven were missing from the group. "What would you expect?" Bee said, looking forward. "We're practically fighting on the doorstep of their homeworld."
Hotrod nodded. Then turned his attention back to the direction they were running. "Whatever the cons got planned," he said. "We have to stop them."
A moment later, the mixed force arrived at a set of hills. Well, they looked like hills to the humans, but for the bots, they made for some convenient cover to hide behind. Something the bots were quick to do as a hail of energon bolts came at them. Hotrod sat next to Wheeljack with his hands transformed into cannons.
It wasn't all that hard to notice that a lot more energon bolts were fired at them. "I think we just found where the cons were holding up," Hotrod said.
Wheeljack fired a couple of shots from his position before retaking cover. "I think you might be right," he said. "Hotrod, have a peek at what we're dealing with. Your brother and I will ensure the cons don't shoot you in the head."
Hotrod did as he was told. He looked over his cover, quickly scanning the area. The Decepticons had set up a small base in the area. Nothing major like they would have seen back on Cybertron, but that was probably because of how little time they had. But dozens of Vehicon soldiers filled the makeshift encampment. Most have taken cover behind some natural formations or behind hastily made barricades.
At the center was a raised platform with a large semi-spherical object on it. This device had an interface in its center. But the device wasn't the most eye-catching thing about the Decepticon base. That honor belongs to the large purple meche standing next to it. The meche raised his head and stared back at him with a single red optic.
Hotrod duck behind cover just as the meche raise a massive arm-mount cannon at him. "Boss, I think we got a problem," he said.
"Define the problem," Wheeljack said.
"How about dealing with the head scientist of the cons himself," Hotrod said.
"Shockwave?" Wheeljack said. "He's here?"
By then, the humans had crawled up the hill and taken firing positions. "Whose Shockwave?" Conner asked.
"See the big purple meche with the single optic. "That's Shockwave, the head scientist of the Decepticons," Hotrod said.
"Their head scientist?" Conner said.
Wheeljack nodded. "Yea, he is. Though I wouldn't call what he does science. His experiments are the stuff of nightmares."
"They used to tell us stories about him back at the care center," Hotrod said. "Told us that if sparklings didn't behave, they would be whisked away to Soundwave's lab."
Hotrod saw Conner suppress a shudder. "Reminds me of a scientist in the League," he said. Hotrod looked at him for a second. He heard mentions of a League from the humans. He wondered what this League was and why it was spoken in the same vein as the decepticons. Hotrod shook his head; questions would have to come later. First, they had to deal with whatever the cons had planned.
"So, what is this Shockwave doing here?" Conner asked. "If he's such a high-ranking individual, what is he doing here risking his neck?"
Now that was a good question. From what little he knew about Shockwave, Hotrod figured him to be the type to stay in his laboratory rather than make an appearance on the battlefield. "I don't know," Hotrod answered. "But whatever it is, you can bet it's not good for any of us."
He saw Wheeljack frown. "Let me get a closer look," he said, moving his head. "Cover me."
Hotrod nodded and fired his arm cannons at the cons. The vehicon soldiers hid behind cover as bolts of energon and plasma rained down on them. At the same time, Hotrod was trying to get a better look at the device in the center of their encampment. He didn't know why but something about it didn't sit well with the young autobot.
Next to him, he saw Wheeljack looking over the device with a critical optic. He mutters, "No, it can't be," he narrows his optics to get a better look. Then his optics widen as a look of horror spreads across his face. Wheeljack ducked back into cover. "Scrap. I can't believe they brought that here."
"Wheeljack?" Hotrod said, looking at the wrecker. "What's going on? Do you know what that thing is?"
Wheeljack held a hand out to stop Hotrod's questions. Then he activated his com unit. "Wheeljack to Optimus Prime," he said. "We got a problem. A big problem," Wheeljack fell silent as he waited for Prime's response.
Hotrod looked at his brother, both exchanging the same question. What was that device? And why did it make Wheeljack so worried?
"Sir," Wheeljack said. "The Decepticons have set up a device here, and Shockwave is overseeing its deployment," another pause. "Yes, I have identified it. Prime, you're not going to believe this. But…" Wheeljack trailed off. "Prime, it's a Sub-spatial Implosion device.
That was when Hotrod's energon turned cold.
Conner looked up at the Autobot named Wheeljack. "A what now?" he asked.
He didn't get a response, as the bot was more concerned with his conversation with Optimus Prime. "Yes, I'm certain," he said. "Trust me, there's no mistaking it."
Conner looked over the other two Autobots with them. "What is this Sub-spatial device he's talking about?"
The two autobots shared a look that unsettled him. "I don't pretend to understand the technical details," Hotrod began, "but more or less, it's a bomb."
"A bomb on a massive scale," Bumblebee added.'
Conner swallowed hard. He wasn't sure if he wanted to ask the question, afraid of the answer he would receive. "Exactly how big of a bomb are we talking about here?" He asked. "What is the blast radius?"
"Try the planet-shattering kind of kaboom," Wheeljack said.
Conner looked over at Wheeljack. "Planet-shattering?" He knew the others were listening even as they kept their focus on the battle.
Wheeljack nodded. "Only three of those things were ever built," he said. "Thank Primus for that. The cons built them in secret, likely as weapons of mass destruction. The first one they detonated was on the closest planet to Cybertron. It was the site of our first off-world colony before it was abandoned at the end of the golden age. I think Megatron intended it to demonstrate its destructive potential," he saw the autobot wrecker shudder.
"Let's just say it was some demonstration," Bumblebee said. "It broke the planet apart and sent a shock wave that was felt on Cybertron."
Conner felt like he had been slapped in the face. Had he heard the bots, right? A bomb that could destroy a planet. A bomb that could send out a powerful enough shockwave that could be felt on another planet. A bomb that was on Luna.
"You said there were three of these things?" Conner asked, surprised his voice came out so clearly.
Wheeljack nodded. "I just told you about the first one," he said. "The second one, we manage to destroy ourselves. We could not let the cons have that kind of power. But the third one, well." He gestured to the device surrounded by the decepticon soldiers. "You can see where it is now."
Yeah, right on Earth's doorstep. "We can't let them detonate that thing. We have to destroy that thing," ideally, without setting it off in the first place.
Wheeljack nodded. "I agree," he said. Then he reached to his side and pulled out what Conner guessed was the Cybertronian equivalent of a grenade. "Looks like we don't have much of a choice in this. We'll have to do this wrecker style. You ready for this?"
Conner looked back at the men and women under his command. He was meant with silence, but by their posture, he knew they were ready. They were Marines, and they all knew what their duty was right now. No matter the cost or how much they had to sacrifice, they had to take the Decepticon position. The fate of Earth now hung in the balance.
Conner looked back at Wheeljack and nodded. "Let's do this," he said.
Without another word, Wheeljack primed his grenade and threw it over the ridge. A moment later, the mixed force of human marines and autobots charged the Decepticons.
UNS. Armstrong:
Admiral Cartwell sat in his chair, staring at the tactical projection of the battle with a grim face. A deathly silence had fallen on the CC. Something that Cartwell could not blame the crew for.
"What can kind of people build weapons like that?" A crew member said.
"Apparently, the decepticons do," Cartwell said. A bomb that could destroy a planet, and now it was on Luna. He didn't want to think how that would affect Earth.
"But isn't destroying a planet I don't know," the crewman trailed off. "A bit overkill?"
Cartwell shrugged. "Who knows what's going through their heads," Cartwell didn't want to mention that the military was already theorizing about such weapons. "But that doesn't matter right now. We need to focus on repelling the Decepticon fleet," as far as Cartwell could tell, the battle was at a standstill. While battered, the defense line around Luna was holding up under the Decepticon assault. At the same time, the Decepticon assault fleet was still holding out at the limits of the combat zone and had thus far suffered minimum losses.
But Cartwell knew that could change at any moment. If the Megatron chose to rush their lines, Cartwell was not confident they could stop them from breaking through. It would only take one little thing to turn the tide of battle.
"For now, we'll have to trust our people on the ground," he said. "And hope they'll be able to stop the cons from detonating that thing.
Conner dived behind cover, narrowly avoiding being vaporized by an energon bolt. Taking a quick breath, he swung from cover and fired his rifle at the offending vehicon soldier. A few other marines near him added their plasma bolts to the fire burning through what remained of the con's chest plate and right into its spark chamber. The con fell over just as another took its place.
Just how many of these things were there? Conner returned to cover as the thing fired its arm cannon. Thankfully not at the Marines but at one of the autobots. Someone who could take a hit from the arm-mounted weapon.
Bumblebee dodged out of the way of the energon bolt with a speed and grace that should be impossible for what was essentially a giant robot. Getting in close to the Vehicon, he fired twin energon bolts from his cannons built into his wrist. The con went down quickly, which was then followed by another.
Conner had admitted he was impressed by the yellow and black autobot. He didn't look it, but he was a fighter, and Conner was thankful he was here helping them.
They were getting close to the device. The decepticons had not expected a full-frontal assault from such a small force. As such, they had been caught off guard and pushed back. But the assault had not come without a price.
A third of the Marine was gone now. Vaporized by decepticon weapons fire, leaving no bodies to be recovered. It stung Conner's heart. He had seen death before. He had been on the front lines fighting against the League and had seen plenty of people die on both sides. But at least then, there had been bodies to recover and send back to their families, most of the time.
But here, there was no such luxury. The families of the fallen here would have to mourn over an empty casket. Anger swelled up in Conner's chest, and he tightened his plasma rifle grip. He fired a volley of plasma bolts, taking his anger out on the nearest decepticon soldier. He would not fall here. He would not allow his family and Jack to mourn over an empty coffin.
The bolts sailed through the air, hitting a Vehicon soldier in its chest plate. More bolts landed on the con from different angles and elevations. The Con staggered back, clutching at its chest. The Autobot Hotrod took the thing down as he slashed at it with one of his arm blades.
With the death of that Vehicon, an opening was left open for them to push through. Keeping a careful eye on the remaining decepticon forces, Conner signals for his people to move. Conner and about a dozen other Marines ran out from their covers and advanced deeper into the Decepticon encampment. They were covered by Hotrod as he fired his arm cannons at any con that tried to halt the Marine advance.
They were getting there, almost within striking distance of the decepticon device. Taking cover behind a makeshift barricade, one might add, that was made for the much larger Cybertronians and activated his comm link to the rest of the unit. "Check your fire, everyone," he said. "We don't know what a stary plasma bolt could do to that thing. And I, for one, do not want to be at ground zero," he was reasonably sure there wouldn't even be a ground zero if that thing detonated.
Conner terminated the link, ignoring the replies from the others. He looked over the battlefield seeing only six decepticon soldiers between them and the device. Three took cover in front of the platform, and three on the platform where the device was.
One of them was the Decepticon, identified as Shockwave, who kept firing his arm-mounted cannon at the combined force of Marines and Autobots. Conner would admit to himself he was surprised the head scientist of the Decepticons was leading the defense himself and not bugged out at the first sign of trouble.
A human scientist would have turned tail and run or hidden somewhere in a corner. Briefly, Conner wonders if all Cybertronian scientists were like Shockwave or if he was just an exception to the rule.
Conner shook the thought away from his mind. He had other things to focus on. He took aim at the next decepticon soldier and fired. By this time, the cons had started to wise up to the danger the autobots and humans posed together. Hence, the soldier he aimed at took cover, taking a few hits to its shoulder in the process.
Conner cursed under his breath seeing the other cons doing the same. He hoped they would be a little slower to learn. But he supposed two defeats and that they were guarding a major object would be incentive enough to learn quickly. Still, the cons were on the defensive, and the combined forces of the Autobots and UNS marines were steadily pushing in on the device. They just needed to keep up the pressure.
Conner took cover as an energon blast was fired at him. This one coming from Shockwave. Dust flew over his head as more shots were fired in his direction. Damnit, someone needed to take care of that guy.
Thankfully, they had a volunteer. "I'll take mister cyclops," Wheeljack said. "While the rest of you handle the rank and file."
Without a word, Conner nodded.
"On three," Wheeljack said with a nod. "One, two," he pulled his blades out. "Three," the instant Wheeljack jumped out, Conner pulled out from his cover and fired his plasma rifle.
He wasn't aiming for any one of the cons. He was just trying to lay down cover fire for the Autobot wrecker. Without needing an order, the other remaining marines did the same, along with the Bumblebee and the Hotrod providing Wheeljack with all the cover he needed.
Looking on, Conner was amazed at how effortlessly Wheeljack avoided the bolts of energon aimed at him. It was like watching one of those action heroes one would see in a movie. Only this time, it was in real life. Conner guessed that Cybertronians had quicker reaction times than humans.
Wheeljack slammed into a vehicon. Sending to the ground with a swing of his arm. Wheeljack kept moving even as more bolts of energon were fired at him. He avoided them all, and as he got close to the platform, he jumped up. Landing on the platform, he swung one of his swords out, cutting at the chest plate of a nearby Vehicon.
The cut wasn't deep, though, only cutting at the surface of the chest plate. However, a roundhouse kick from Wheeljack sent it crashing to the ground below. Again, not slowing down, Wheeljack charges at Shockwave, who manages to get in one last shot from his arm cannon. Wheeljack easily avoided the attack and closed in on the decepticon scientists.
Now one would be forgiven for thinking that Shockwave was screwed now. He only had a single giant arm cannon which would not be much good in a close-quarters fight. So that only left him only one other arm to fight with. You'd think that getting into melee would be the end of Shockwave.
Conner, however, had decided that looks could be deceiving and was not surprised that Shockwave could fight even in close quarters. Shockwave swings his arm cannon out like it was a club and smashes it against one of Wheeljack's blades. Conner, imagine if it was anyone else, they have been sent staggering back. Leaving them open to a shot from the con's arm cannon, an action that, without a doubt, would have proven to be fatal.
Wheeljack, though, managed to keep his balance and continued to press his attack on Shockwave. He swung his other blade at the con's chest plate. But the attack was parried by Shockwave with a simple flick of his free arm.
Wheeljack then brought another blade down on the con, which was blocked with an arm cannon. Wheeljack was quick and nimble, lashing out attack after attack on the con. But Shockwave proved to be a tough nut to crack as he blocked and parried every attack that came his way. Even getting in a blow or two on the Autobot wrecker. Something the Wheeljack was quick to avoid as they came at him.
But despite the seeming stalemate, it was clear that Shockwave was on the backpedal and was slowly being pushed off the platform. Shockwave took another step back as Wheeljack continued to assault him. Almost falling off the platform but quickly gained his balance. He looked back briefly to see he was on the platform's edge.
It was a mistake he wouldn't be able to make up for. Shockwave looked back at his opponent just in time to see Wheeljack coming at him with a flying kick. A foot connected with Shockwave's chestplate sending him tumbling to the ground below.
If there had been an atmosphere, Conner would have heard a loud crashing sound as Shockwave landed on the ground. Wheeljack jumped down after the con to continue his fight.
All the while this was happening, the UNS marines, aided by the Autobots Bumblebee and Hotrod, pressed their assault on the device. The vehicon soldier Wheeljack had sent to the ground moments ago had gotten a face full of plasma bolts while it was still down. Its head had been reduced to molten slag in a matter of seconds.
Seconds after Wheeljack jumped after Shockwave, another of the Vehicons went down as Bumble blasted it in the chest. That only left two decepticons to deal with.
One on the ground and one on the platform. Conner felt a sense of relief and hope building up inside him. As a veteran Marine, he should have known better than to feel that way. He knew that something could still go wrong. That disaster would only be averted once they had secured the device and let the Autobots do whatever they needed to disarm it.
But Conner couldn't help himself, with them so close to the device and the enemy reduced to so few combatants. It felt like they would succeed. Conner prayed he wasn't being naïve. It was with that thought that everything went wrong.
Hotrod rolled over, avoiding a shot from the vehicon soldier on the ground. He fired an arm cannon at the drone, hoping to score a hit at its spark chamber. But the blasted thing stepped to the side, avoiding the shot, and then took cover behind one of the platform's support beams.
Hotrod growled to himself. "Damnit, hold still," he said, firing more shots at the con who remained behind cover. Then the ground in front of his feet exploded as bolts of energon rained down on him.
Hotrod quickly stepped back, looking up to see the remaining Vehicon soldier on the platform firing at him. Hotrod growled and aimed his cannon at the attacker.
"Watch out," he heard his brother shout, in time to feel something crashing into his side. Sending him flying to the ground. Just in time to see a red bolt of energon fly past where he was.
Hotrod quickly got up, seeing that Bumblebee had been the one to tackle him to the ground. He put a hand over his chest plate, realizing that if Bee hadn't tackled him, then the bolt would have scored a hit on his chest plate. Possibly burning into his spark chamber.
"You, okay?" Bumblebee said in a concerned voice.
Hotrod nodded. "Yea," he said. "Thanks to you," both brothers quickly returned to their feet and ran into cover as bolts of energon flew at them. Once behind cover, Hotrod shot at the con on the ground, clipping its shoulder as it went back behind the support beam.
Again, Hotrod growled. "Can't these fraggers just die already?" he said. Discounting good old Shockwave, only two Decepticons were left guarding the implosion device. Both vehicons, simple drone soldiers the cons used to swell their ranks. Yet these two were giving the Autobots and human marines more trouble than they should.
"We just need to be patient," Bee said, poking from cover and firing several shots at the cons. Then went back to cover. "They'll slip up, and then we can finish them."
Hotrod sighed. He'd never been the one for patience. He preferred quick and simple solutions. Which was what he was going to go with now. He transformed his other hand into a cannon. "I say we rush them and finish this now," he said.
"Hold on, Hotrod," Bumblebee said, trying to reach out to his brother. But it was already too late.
Hotrod was already in motion, shouting back at his brother. "Don't worry about it. What could possibly go wrong?" The brash Autobot would later learn that the humans had a general rule against saying something like that.
He rushed forward, firing both of his cannons at the cons. One below the platform and the other at the one on the platform. Hotrod smiled at seeing the cons being surprised by his charge at them.
It was always fun to catch these scraps for brains off guard. The vehicon behind the support beam stepped out and fired at him. Its shots missed as the Hotrod went to the side with a twirl. He then fires a couple of bolts at the con.
One bolt flew past the vehicon, hitting a support beam behind it. But the second shot landed on the chest plate, causing the decepticon soldier to stagger back. Hotrod smiled and pressed on the opportunity. He charged at the staggering vehicon firing more shots that landed. One, two, three shots bored into the chest plate of the con, tearing into its spark chamber.
Hotrod was treated to the sight of the red glow of the vehicon's optics disappearing. As he got to the platform's base, the vehicon hit the ground, never to get back up. However, Hotrod didn't have much chance to celebrate as red bolts rained down on him.
They all missed as Hotrod danced around under the platform returning the favor by firing his cannons back up the con. The vehicon soldier disappeared as it stepped back onto the platform.
Seeing a chance, Hotrod leaped onto the platform, then aimed both arm cannons at the con. The vehicon stepped back in surprise and aimed its cannon at him, charging up a shot.
Hotrod didn't give the con a chance to fire as he fired both of his cannons with a smile spreading across his face. Twin bolts slammed into the con's chestplate. An explosion of sparks and metal erupted as the soldier staggered back, its arm cannon swinging up into the arm.
Hotrod's smile grew as he saw its optics flicker on and off rapidly. Then his smile morphed into surprise, which quickly gave way to horror.
The reason for this. The vehicon's arm cannon still had a charge in it and was now firing wildly as it staggered back.
"No. No. No. No. No." Hotrod said, transforming his cannons into hands, willing the con's weapon to stop firing. But it would prove to be a futile gesture.
The con tips back over and hits the platform floor. As it did, its arm cannon swung forward, still firing wildly. Aimed directly at the implosion device. Time seemed to slow as two, three, four red bolts of energon flew towards the device.
Time sped up as the bolts slammed into the implosion device. Two harmlessly dissipated on the armor, and a third left a scorch mark and a crack on the display. The fourth and final slammed into the control panel, sending out an explosion of sparks.
The display flicked on and off as error messages appeared. Then completely shot down for half a second. Then it came back on with a countdown timer being displayed.
"Oh, scarp," Hotrod got out as the countdown began. He should have listened to his brother.
Shockwave got the notification even as Megatron's voice rang over his com. "Shockwave," he said. "What is going on? We just detected an energy spike."
Shockwave knocked his attacker away and turned his optics to the SSID. He calmly noted that the remaining Vehicon soldiers were gone now and that the Autobots and humans were not attempting to secure the device. Focusing his attention on the device's display, noting the damage to the terminal.
If he was anyone else, he might have panicked when he saw the countdown sequence displayed or gone into a blind furry. Instead, he made a monotoned report to Megatron. "It would appear that the device has been activated."
This seems to catch both Megatron and his attacker, the one named Wheeljack, he believes. "What?" Both said, with the latter looking back at the device with a look of horror spreading across his face.
Shockwave took advantage of his opponent's distracted state and shot his leg out. The hit connected, sending the bot flying away from him. Then Shockwave jumped back, giving him the much-needed distance he preferred.
At the same time, his master demanded answers. "Explain!"
"It would appear that the SSID has sustained damage," Shockwave explained as he landed. "An error must have occurred and triggered the device's detonation sequence."
There was a short pause as his master considered what was said and its ramifications. "Is there a way to disarm the device?" Megatron asked. "Some way to stop it from destroying the lunar body? Or at least delay it for some time?"
Shockwave had already done the calculations in his head. "Negative," he answered. "Not without assessing the damage and determining the cause."
Shockwave heard a low growl emanating from his commlink to Megatron. That then turned into a roar. Again, if Shockwave was someone else. He might have cowed in fear. Instead, he noted a slight jump in his vital systems and patiently waited for his master to calm down.
In two point seven seconds, he got a response. "Shockwave, withdraw from the battle, and return to the ship."
Shockwave nodded, sensing the opening of a ground bridge behind him. He saw his attacker turn his attention back at him and scowled. Wheeljack held his blades out, ready to charge him. But Shockwave aimed his cannon at him warning him not to try anything rash. Keeping his aim on his opponent Shockwave slowly backed away, vanishing into the ground bridge.
Nemesis
The bridge of the Nemesis was absolutely silent. Broken only by mindlessly made reports on the ship's statues and the progress of the battle. None dared to do anything else, too afraid to invoke the furry of their lord and master, Megatron.
Megatron was furious, his hands griping and ungrasping in rapid succession in barely constrained rage. His prize would soon slip out of his grasp and mingle with the remains of the lunar body where it was trapped.
His plans to mold the next generation of the Cybertronians into his image had now fallen to the wayside. They would not march to the glorious cause of the Decepticons. They would not bow to his will. They would not even exist at all.
The autobots would keep their prize, but not for long. A small insane smile spread across Megatron's face. That was perhaps the only consolation to this failure. Was that the autobots would be destroyed alongside the Protoform Formation chambers.
Optimus Prime cursed his name would finally, after several millennia of war, die. If he could not control the future of the Cybertronian race, then no one would. Some of his anger ebbed away as a thought came to him.
Perhaps not all hope was lost. He would have Shockwave begin looking for a way to replicate the technology. This, of course, would come after he dispatched a suitable punishment on the decepticon head scientist.
He looked back at the projection of the battle, hatefully eyeing one of the human battleships as it exploded. The Humans would be punished as well. It was because of their interference that this was all happening. It was because of them that his prize was denied to him.
The destruction of the lunar body and their homeworld would only be the beginning. He would see to it that every member of their species suffered the consequences. He would not grant their species the mercy of extinction. They would suffer for countless generations.
Megatron did not turn away from the projection when he gave his next set of orders. "All ships begin to withdraw from the battle."
Surprise rippled through the bridge as the order sunk in. "But my lord," one very stupid vehicon started. "What about the," then he fell silent as a large bolt of energon pierced through his chest plate and came out from his back, where it continued and hit a bulkhead.
The vehicon twitched for a few seconds before falling to the ground as the spark left the body. Megatron lowered his arm-mounted cannon. "Would anyone else like to question my orders?" He growled, scanning the bridge. None dared to say anything, not after that display. "Megatron snorted. "Then we are in agreement."
"My lord," a vehicon reported. "Several space bridges are opening near our position. It is the rest of our forces."
Megatron nodded. "Order them to hold position and to keep the portals open. We will use them to withdraw from the battle. Open a channel to Starscream."
A moment later, the image of Starscream appears. "My lord," he said. "What is going on? We detect an energy spike coming from the lunar body. Has the device been triggered?"
Megatron suppressed a low growl. Why must his second-in-command ask so many questions? "Never mind that," he said. "There has been a change in plans."
Luna
"All clear," someone said.
Conner, though, couldn't be bothered to check who it was. He did give them a nod of affirmation. "Spread out and secure the site," he ordered. "We don't know if and when the enemy will return," he doubted they would, considering the circumstances. But they had already made too many assumptions today.
His gaze remained locked on the display of the decepticon device, alien script going by. He didn't know if he should be thankful or frustrated that he couldn't understand any of it.
"I-I'm sorry," Conner looked up the Autobot named Hotrod. The one responsible for this whole mess. "I didn't mean. If I'd known,"
Conner held a hand up, stopping the alien robot. "It's okay," he said. He knew it wasn't. He wanted to shout at the meche. Ask him what he was thinking about running headfirst. At the same time, Conner couldn't find it in his heart to blame him. All he was trying to do was end the battle quickly and secure the objective. Who could have guessed that it would have turned out like this?
Bumblebee laid a comforting hand on Hotrod's shoulder. "Let's not spread the blame around," he said. "The worst hasn't passed yet," he looked over at Wheeljack, working on the device's control panel.
Hotrod looked at his brother with an uncertain look. He opened his mouth to say something. But Conner cut him off. "He's right," he said curtly. "We can't go around assigning blame right now. We need to focus on finding a way out of this mess," he then gave the red and yellow autobot a sharp glare. "But when this is over, we will have words," he wouldn't let the meche get away with this one Scott free, but they did have other things to worry about. The dressing down would come later.
Hotrod gave him a nervous look but nodded. "Okay," he said. "Deal with the planet-destroying bomb now, get scolded later," not exactly something Conner thought he would ever hear. "I'm sure you have a lot to say to me."
Conner nodded, then turned and walked up beside Wheeljack. That was about when his commlink beeped. "This is Fleet Admiral Cartwell," the Admiral's voice came into his ear. "To the Commanding Officer of the marine detachment near the Decepticon device."
"This is Corporal Conner O'Neil," Conner said, activating his comm. "I'm the commanding officer here," he felt a little nervous talking to the man. He had dealt with high-ranking officers before, never as high as a Fleet Admiral, and especially not one of Cartwell's distinction.
"Corporal O'Neil," Admiral Cartwell said. "Optimus Prime informed me a while ago the impulsion device was somehow triggered. Explain."
Conner nodded, understanding why the Admiral would want to know. So, he gave him a quick rundown of the events leading to the device's activation. "Then several stray bolts struck the device damaging it. At that point, a malfunction must have triggered the detonation sequence," Conner said, finishing the report.
He heard a soft hum coming from the Admiral. "Sounds like a fine mess we've gotten into," he said. "Is there a way to disarm it?"
"I was about to ask our friends that same question," Conner said.
"Keep an open link," the Admiral ordered. "I want to hear what he has to say."
Conner nodded and did as the man said. "Wheeljack," he said, getting the meche's attention. "Is there a way to disarm the device? And Fleet Admiral Cartwell is currently listening in on this conversation."
Wheeljack, seeming, let out a frustrated sigh but kept his eyes? Optics on the display of the device. "Just what I needed two ranking officers to deal with," he muttered. "I got Prime on the link asking me for a status report," he then started to work on some controls on his arm. "Come on, I'll patch you through. Best to save time."
A moment later, a new voice rang in Conner's ears. "Prime here," the Autobot leader said. "Can you read me, Admiral?"
"Loud and clear, Prime," the Admiral said.
"Confirmed," Conner said. Then turned his attention back to Wheeljack.
"Now, about disarming this device?" Conner asked. "How is that coming along?"
Wheeljack shook his head. "As I was about to tell Prime," he began. "Not good. The controls are fried. Whenever I try to do anything, all I get are error messages. Even something as simple as bringing up a status report is getting me nowhere."
"Have you tried working around it?" Admiral Cartwell. "There must be a way around it. Maybe try hacking into the thing and shutting it down that way."
"I already tried working around that," Wheeljack said. "Even with that damage to this thing, it has some powerful firewalls. It would take me days, maybe even weeks, to do that."
"Time that we don't have," Prime said.
"I don't suppose you have a shutdown code for this thing?" The Admiral asked.
Wheeljack shook his head. "The only person that knows that is its creator, and he's back on the decepticon flagship." Wheeljack's hands curled into fists.
"And the Decepticon fleet is currently retreating from the battle through their space bridges," the Admiral added in. "I see our problem now."
Wheeljack nodded. "There's no way to stop this thing from blowing," he said. "Not with the time we have."
A thought occurred to Conner. "Okay, so we can't disarm it," he said. "So, what about moving it then?"
The three autobots around him looked at Conner in surprise. "Moving it?" Hotrod said. "How?"
"Well, don't you guys also have space bridges?" Conner asked. "Why not use one of your ground bridges to move this thing to one of your ships? Then have it space bridge to the middle of nowhere, shoot this thing out, and come back?"
"Not a bad plan," Wheeljack said, rubbing his chin. "But there's a couple of problems with it. First, in case you didn't notice, this thing gives off waves of sub-spatial distortions. It would destabilize a ground bridge the moment it entered one. And I, for one, don't want to find out what would happen to this thing if that happened."
Conner nodded, understanding what Wheeljack was getting at. He didn't like it but understood why he wouldn't risk it. "Okay, so a ground bridge is out of the question," he said, looking over the device and noting its dimensions. "So, what about a space bridge?"
That was where Wheeljack had a thoughtful expression on his face. "That could work," he said. "While ground bridges are a scaled-down version, a space bridge, from what I know, is a lot more stable. But still, there would be a risk."
"What would that be?" Conner braced himself.
"I'm reasonably sure it would be a one-way trip," Wheeljack said. "The sub-spatial distortions would still destabilize the space bridge preventing the ship from making another one. Whoever goes through won't be coming back."
Conner swallowed hard. That was a lot to ask of anyone, let alone total strangers. "Can't they switch to their other drive," the Admiral asked over the come. Conner's eyes lit up at the idea. He had forgotten the cybertronians had other forms of FTL.
"That transistor drive, right?" Conner said. "Would they be able to use that?"
Wheeljack sighed and shook his head. "Unfortunately, no," he said. "The transistor drive would be even more vulnerable to the distortions. It wouldn't be able to form a stable bubble."
Conner hid his disappointment well. "I see," he said. "Admiral, did you get that?"
"Yes, I did," Admiral Cartwell said somberly. "Optimus, I know this is a lot to ask of you,"
Optimus cut him off. "I know Admiral Cartwell," he said. "But many sacrifices have already been made, if another needs to be made, then so be it," there was a sad note in the Autobot leader's voice. Something that didn't sit well with Conner. How many sacrifices had the autobots made against the Decepticons? How much had they lost because of the ambitions of one man, meche? "Besides, if your moon were to be destroyed, the Ark would go with it."
"And with it, any hope of future your people might have," Admiral Cartwell said. "All right, then, it's the best plan we have so far."
"Uhh, one question," Hotrod said, who had remained silent until now. "How are we going to get it to one of our ships? Wheeljack said it himself, we can't use a ground bridge."
Conner heard a hum in his ear. "Corporal," the Admiral said. "I assume you have any idea. Otherwise, you wouldn't have brought this up."
Conner nodded and looked at the device. He carefully examined the thing, taking note of its dimensions. He carefully did the calculations in his head before he spoke. "We can use one of our shuttlecrafts," he said. "I believe the device will fit in. But it will be a tight squeeze."
Wheeljack looked at the device thoughtfully, seemingly doing the same calculations. "That could work," he said. "Granted, like the kid said. It will be a tight squeeze. I doubt anyone will be able to fit in there."
Conner shrugged. "The others can always use one of the other shuttles," he said.
"Very well then," Admiral Cartwell said. "Again, Prime, I am sorry to have asked this of you. I know your people have lost enough already."
"It is all right, Admiral," Prime said. "It pains my spark. But one last sacrifice to ensure our future. Both of our futures are a price worth paying. The lives lost here will be remembered as heroes."
"Then let us hope the cons won't try to stop us," Admiral said. "They may be in retreat. But once they detect their little bomb being moved. They could try to stop us."
"I doubt it," Wheeljack said. "Not if they already have their space bridges open. Those things can only stay open for so long. Not to mention they would be risking their own metals."
Conner didn't hear anything else. "Not if they already have their space bridges open," the statement echoed in his head, and refused to leave.
"Admiral," Conner said calmly. "Do the decepticons have their spacebridges open?"
"Yes, they do." the Admiral said. "We detected them a short while ago. However, we detected none of the usual energy build-ups from any of their ships. We assume that another ship outside our system did it."
"I see," Connor said. "Prime," he addressed the autobot leader. He took a moment to prepare himself. He knew what his decision would be if Prime confirmed his suspicions. "Spacebridges work in two ways, corrected? Like if ship projects one, they can through it, right?"
"Correct," Prime said.
"What about the other?" Conner asked. "What if a ship on the other side wanted to come through? Could they?"
For what felt like an eternity, the Autobot leader remained silent. "Yes, that is possible," he said. "I assume you have something in mind?" It was like he was asking him another question. Asking him if, he was sure.
Conner was. "I do," he said.
The shuttle landed near the captured Decepticon encampment. Its bay door swung down. A moment later, the pilots walked out. "We're ready, sir," one said as both saluted Conner.
Conner nodded and returned the gesture. "At ease," he said, letting the two relax. "Just have the shuttle ready for launch when we load the device.
Both pilots nodded. Then they looked at each other, exchanging a silent conversation. After a moment, one nodded and walked off. While the other went back into the shuttle.
Conner took a deep breath and was about to step after the pilot. "You sure you want to do this?" Conner almost jumped when he heard the voice over his link. He saw a shadow come over him.
He turned over, seeing Wheeljack giving him a questioning look. "What do you mean?" he asked.
Wheeljack frowned. It was funny how humanlike their body language was. Even their faces showed the same range of emotions as a human would. "You know what I mean," he said in an even tone. "What I'm asking is, are you sure you want to go through with this?"
Conner remained silent as he thought over Wheeljack's question. Could he really do this? Could he do this to Jack? He wrapped his hands into fists. "It has to be done," he said. There was a part of him that didn't want to do it. He wanted someone else to do what he was thinking. But he had to.
Wheeljack stared at him for a moment. "What about Jack?" He asked. "Won't he be affected?"
Conner smiled, but it was anything but happy. "He'll understand," he said as a comfort to himself.
Wheeljack looked like he wanted to say something more but refrained from doing it. "Then, in that case," he said. He stood up straight and saluted him. "It may have been a short time. But it has been an honor."
For a moment, Conner was taken aback by the gesture from the Autobot. He recovered quickly and returned the salute. "Thank you," he said.
Wheeljack broke the salute and nodded. "I guess I'll be seeing you around," he said.
"I guess," Conner replied. Then turned around and walked into the shuttle. He entered the cockpit seeing the shuttlecraft pilot at work. "Is the shuttle ready to launch?"
The shuttle pilot didn't look away from his station when he nodded. "Yes, sir," he said. "All we need to do is load the Decepticon device in the back, and I'm ready to go."
Conner nodded. "Good," he said. "You're relieved," he took the seat next to the pilot and activated the controls.
The pilot looked over at him, surprised. "Sir?" he questioned.
"You heard me, pilot," he said. "You're relieved I'm taking over for this mission."
The pilot continued to stare at him. "But, sir," he protested.
Conner cut him off. "If it is my skills as a pilot you're worried about," he said. "Don't. I have my piloting license and have logged over three hundred hours flying shuttles like this. Now, will you leave, or do I need someone to drag you out?"
The pilot opened his mouth to protest, then shut it and nodded. "Understood, sir," he said. He stood up and saluted. "Requesting permission to disembark."
Conner saluted the man. "Permission granted," he said. "You're dismissed."
The pilot nodded and left. With the man gone, Conner turned his attention back to the controls. Making sure that everything was in order, he activated the comm link.
"This is shuttlecraft SV-305," he said. "Is the device ready to load?"
"Ready, sir," a voice said. "We're just waiting for your order."
Conner nodded. "Granted," he said. "Load it in."
A moment later, he felt the shuttle shake as something heavy was loaded into the bay door. Which was then followed by more shakes before finally ending with a soft thud.
"The device has been loaded," Bumblebee's voice said.
Conner nodded. "Good," he said. "I'll take the rest from here," he terminated the link and took a deep breath. He flicked a switch that closed the shuttle door. There was no going back now. He activated a link to the Admiral. "Admiral, we're ready to go."
"Understood," the Admiral said. "Tell the pilot to launch now, and Godspeed."
Conner smiled. "Understood, sir," he said. Without a moment to hesitate, he took the shuttle into the air. Looking out the cockpit, he saw his unit and the bots watching him take to the skies. He caught eyes with Hotrod, who had a guilty expression. Conner supposed he wouldn't be giving him a piece of his mind later. So instead, he gave the autobot a thumbs up, getting a surprised look from the bot.
He recovered and, with a determined smile, nodded at him. Conner turned his attention to the controls and took the shuttle away from Luna's surface. He set a destination for the decepticon spacebridges.
He opened an open link to the fleet. "This is shuttle SV-305," he said. "The package is away and approaching the destination."
Jack took his craft into a sharp turn avoiding decepticon weapons fire. In the same motion, he spun his craft to face his attacker. A burst from his plasma cannons took the con out of the fighting.
He was about to fly off when his comm came to life. "This is shuttle SV-305," he heard Conner's voice. Jack's eyes widened. What was Conner doing out here? "The package is away and approaching the destination," package?
"This is Fleet Admiral Cartwell," another voice said. "The decepticons have activated a weapon of mass destruction, capable of cracking a planet," Jack's breath hitched. Their enemy had that kind of capability? "Shuttle SV-305 is carrying that weapon. We intend to return the enemy's gift to them via one of their space bridges. All available units are to cover that shuttle craft at all costs. We cannot allow the weapon to detonate over our skies."
Without thinking, Jack activated a private link to the shuttle. "Conner?" he asked with a barely restrained tremble.
"Jack?" Conner's voice rang in Jack's ears, confirming his suspicions.
Jack tried hard to conceal the tremble in his voice. "What's going on here?" He asked. "I heard something about a weapon of mass destruction. Planet cracking capability?"
There was a short pause before Jack got an answer. "Yes," Conner said. "The enemy deployed a device that would have shattered Luna and Earth. The device is loaded onto my shuttle. The plan is to take it through one of the con's space bridges, where it can detonate safely away from Luna and Earth. Ideal it'll take whatever con warships are on the other side."
Jack swallowed his breath. "Okay, so," he said. "All you need to do is pass through their space bridge. Drop off the device and come back, right?" This time Jack couldn't contain the tremble in his voice.
There was another pause, this feeling like it dragged on into eternity. The only thing Jack heard was the beating of his heart. "I'm afraid I won't be coming back."
Jack felt like someone had just stabbed him. "Conner, you can't," Jack said.
"I have to, Jack," Conner said calmly. But Jack could hear the emotion behind it. "Lives are at stake. This weapon cannot be allowed to detonate anywhere near Luna or Earth."
"Then let somebody else do it," Jack argued. He only felt partially guilty at his own words. He was asking for someone else to die. But this was Conner he was thinking about, the man he loved. The person that mattered more to him than anyone else.
"There's no time for that," Conner said. "We don't know when this thing is going to go off. But from that, the bots can guess it's soon. Plus, you know I couldn't ask anyone else."
Jack swallowed his saliva. He knew his boyfriend well enough to understand what kind of man he was. He heard the stories from Conner and read the after-action reports. Conner wasn't the kind of man to ask others to do what he wouldn't.
Jack knew Conner well enough that he couldn't talk him out of it. But at least he had to try. "Please, Conner," he said, trying to keep a sob from escaping his throat. "You don't have to do this."
Jack was met with silence. But somehow, he knew Conner was smiling at him. "Jack, these last few years with you have been some of the best in my life. You know I had several relationships before you. At first, I thought you would be some other guy that I would have a night or two with. But you were someone special, someone I wanted to know more about. With each day we had, I thought it would be enough, but the more I had with you, the more I wanted to have. You enraptured me, and before I knew it, I fell in love with you."
"Conner," Jack said in a trembling voice. "Please," he could feel hot tears streaming down his cheeks.
"Jack, I have to do this," Conner said. "But I'm not just doing it for the UNS, Luna, or even Earth. I'm doing it for you. If this thing goes off, you'll disappear from this universe. And that is something I can't think about. So please, Jack, let me do this."
Jack couldn't think. Couldn't breathe. The universe around him seemed to fade away as one thought passed through his head over and over again. He was going to lose Conner, and he could do nothing about it.
A voice dragged him back to reality. "Is there something wrong?" The voice belonged to the Fleet Admiral. His tone was steely, but there was a soft edge to it.
Jack only needed a second to think and reach a conclusion. He tightened his grip around the controls of his fighter. "Negative, sir," he said in as calm of a voice as he could manage. "Red-Seven moving in to protect the package."
"Thank you, Jack," Conner said. "I-I'm sorry," then the transmission was cut. In the silence of his cockpit, Jack bit back a sob. He would get through this. He had to.
Nemesis
Megatron didn't know why, but he was growing more concerned. He couldn't understand why he was feeling this way. Aside from the fact he was about to lose his prize, everything was going well.
They were slowly withdrawing from the battle and heading for the space bridges. Even if the Human fleet made withdrawing from the battle difficult. Starscream was still holding position, and the fleet around the human home world was occupied.
Everything was going smoothly, but Megatron's instincts told him something was wrong. He had learned to trust his instincts in the gladiatorial pits of Kaon. Megatron scans the projection of the battle with a critical optic.
He was looking for something amiss, anything that could be setting his instincts off. "My lord," a vehicon said. "We got something."
"Show me," Megatron barked. The projection shifted, showing a cluster of contacts.
"They appear to be human strike craft," the Vehicon said. "Their heading directly for us,"
"Not a threat," Megatron thought to himself. The human Stirkcraft didn't have the ordinance to take on his fleet. Sure, they might deal some damage. But from what he had seen, these were designed to fight other strike craft. Megatron had no doubt in his mind they had craft meant to inflict severe damage to capital ships, but he wasn't seeing anything like that.
But something in him told Megatron to look closer at the cluster. Looking at them, he noticed that they were gathered around something. A slower-moving object that was giving unusual sub-spatial distortions.
He pointed to the object. "Scan this object here," he said. "Tell me what it is."
A moment later, he got a response. "A human vessel," the vehicon said. "It's not a starship, but it is much larger than the human strike craft. I think it might be a transport of some kind."
"A human transport?" Megatron questioned. What were they thinking?
"Yes, my lord," the drone said. "Hold on, I'm picking up on something," a moment of silence passed. Megatron was about to demand an answer when the Vehicon spoke again. "Confirmed. My lord, we're detecting the Sub-Spatial Implosion device on the transport."
Alarm bells were sounding off in Megatron's mind. What good would it do the humans to take the SSID off the lunar surface? They couldn't get it far enough to save their moon or their homeworld.
Maybe they were trying to use it against his fleet? Megatron discarded that thought immediately. The device wouldn't be a threat to them. Not once they got through the. Megatron's optics widen.
"Soldier," he said. "Confirm their trajectory."
"My lord?" The soldier questioned.
"Confirm their trajectory, now!" Megatron roared. "Then show me," A moment later, a line indicating where the shuttle and its escorts predicted flight path appeared. It showed they were flying right for their fleet.
"Flight path confirmed," the Vehicon said. "They're heading for the fleet."
"No, they're not," Megatron said. "Show me their predicted flight path if they fly past the fleet," a moment later, the line went past the fleet and directly toward the space bridges.
Megatron slammed his hand on his console. "Get me Skyquake, now!"
Space
Skyquake sent another of the human pilots to their maker with a burst of his energon cannons. He was just slightly disappointed to know it wasn't the one designated Red-Seven. He had picked up the Human on his sensors several times throughout the battle but had yet to get him in his sights again.
The humans were proving to be worthy foes. More worthy than he had thought possible. He was about to set sights on another human strike craft when Megatron's voice rang in his head. "Skyquake."
"Yes, my lord," Skyquake said. "What is thy bidding?"
"Skyquake, I have an important mission for you," Megatron said. "Did you pick up a cluster of contacts heading for the fleet?"
"Yes, my lord," Skyquake answered. He had seen them and discarded them as a threat. They were no match for the fleet of warships; if they wanted to perish so badly, he would let them.
"There is a shuttlecraft at their center," Megatron explained. "You are to destroy it no matter what. It cannot be allowed to reach its destination."
Skyquake would not question his lord and master's orders. If Megatron saw a threat in them, he would eliminate them. "Yes, my lord. It shall be done," then the link was terminated. He made a sharp turn and flew off toward the human shuttlecraft.
The tone of the battle had shifted. While most felt it, few could place why. Only a sense of urgency was dominating both sides. Somehow, they thought that the next few moments would determine the battle's outcome and change history.
Only a small handful knew that all hope rested on one small shuttlecraft. On whether or not it could reach its destination and deliver its package. Its pilot, Corporal Connor O'Neil, flew the craft, knowing full well what was at stake.
The shuttle flew on, seeming to head directly to the Decepticon fleet. The decepticons saw no threat in them for a moment and wondered why a cluster of human strike craft was trying to make an attack run on them.
Then came the order from Megatron for the shuttle to be destroyed at all costs. The decepticons obeyed their leader and sent waves of vehicon fliers after the shuttle. A few of their warships fired their weapons at it.
The shuttle avoided the weapons fire from the larger warships while its fighter escorts fought off the decepticon strike craft. It was a desperate push for both sides. With the humans and their newfound autobot allies, they were trying to get rid of the Decepticon weapon by sending it through one of the space bridges they opened. With the Decepticons, they didn't want their active weapon to go with them through their space bridges.
More decepticon fighters came at the shuttle as it drew closer to the Decepticon fleet, and more of its ship turned their guns on it. But no matter their efforts, the shuttle kept its course. Wave after wave came after it, and wave after wave was stalled by the efforts of the UNS fighter corps.
Then, when the shuttle seemed like it would succeed, a new player entered the field. Skyquake, one of the top lieutenants of the Decepticon cause, swept passed the fighter screen protecting the shuttle. Sending many pilots to their deaths or waiting for rescue in the cold void of space.
Conner O'Neil noticed the approaching Decepticon and flew his craft into a series of sharp maneuvers. This happened just as Skyquake fired his cannons, avoiding his shots. But Skyquake was not about to let him go.
He kept on the shuttle's tail, firing his cannons whenever he got a clear shot. But to his frustration and maybe a little respect, the shuttle would always veer off in time to avoid the shots.
But the shuttle wasn't a fighter craft. Compared to them, it was large, lumbering, and slow-moving. It was not designed for dog fights against other strike craft and certainly never expected to go up against a Decepticon Seeker.
The shuttle narrowly avoids another shot from Skyquake. But only narrowly, as the bolts scrapped by the shuttle's hull, leaving scorch marks. Then two more bolts flew past the shuttle. The shuttle flew into the Deception fleet.
It was almost there. Just a little more, and it would be through. If only it could avoid Skyquake for a little longer.
Then a bolt of energon clipped the wing of the shuttle. Almost sending it spiraling out of control. In the cockpit, Conner cursed and quickly regained control of his craft's flight path. The shuttle flew off to avoid another burst of bolts from Skyquake.
Skyquake was smiling in his alternate form. He had clipped the wings of this Human, and now he would soon finish them. A valiant effort from them, he acknowledged, but it would not be enough. He locked his cannons on the human shuttlecraft, ready to end the pilot's life.
That was when he took himself into a sharp turn, avoiding a barge of plasma bolts. Then another and another. His prey from before, Red-Seven, had come back to fight.
In his Cockpit, Jack was at the center of a maelstrom of emotions. Sadness, grief, and heartache swirled around him and inside of him. Motivated by the fact that he would soon lose the person he loved the most. But overriding all this was anger. Pure anger that Jack had never felt before in his life.
The source of his anger was the Decepticons. It was because of them that he was about to lose Conner. They had attacked Luna when they could have given up on pursuing the Autobot ship. It was they who had deployed a weapon of mass destruction to the surface of Luna. Now they were trying to kill Conner, even as he attempted to sacrifice himself.
Jack knew regardless of what he did here, he would lose the man he loved. But his anger kept him focused away from this thought. He was going to make sure that his boyfriend would not die at the hands of the Decepticons.
Jack sent his fighter into a sharp dive, firing his plasma cannons at the con that came too close to turning Conner's shuttle into space dust. A con that Jack recognized as the one that had been hounding him across the battle.
The Decepticon took a sharp turn avoiding the plasma fire. But Jack wasn't about to let up on the con. He mirrored the action coming behind him. Conner tailed the deception and kept firing his plasma cannons. In his mind, it was time to end this.
The battle between the Decepticon Seeker Skyquake and the UNS pilot Jack Witwicky could be described as a dance of death. Both opponents were determined to carry out their mission. One to protect the shuttlecraft, the other to destroy it. Standing in their way was the other.
So, the only conclusion they came to was that one or both had to die. So, their dance of death continued for what felt like forever. They weaved through the emptiness of space, trying to get weapons to lock. Plasma and energon bolts were exchanged as opportunities were taken. But the other would also turn away, avoiding destruction.
They had even glided across the hulls of the various decepticon warships that hung around them. Hoping to limit the maneuverability of the other but frustratingly found that their opposition was still a nimble foe.
But frustration was building up in Skyquake. The longer he chased the human strike craft, the more time he gave the shuttle to reach its destination. But he could not simply ignore this Red-seven as he knew the human fighter pilot. Not simply because of his pride and ego. But because he knew they would continue to interfere if he didn't end them here and now.
For Jack, it was a little different. He did feel an increasing sense of urgency as the shuttlecraft piloted by Conner drew closer to the spacebridges. He knew the longer he kept the con occupied, the better chances Conner had. At the same time was just as determined to end this battle and come out alive.
Both were waiting for the moment they needed. A moment that would come soon enough.
Jack's body lurched forward as he felt his fighter shudder. Warning indicators flashed across his screens. He had been hit badly.
He looked at his screens to determine what the damage was. The fact that he could do this told him he was still alive, and his fighter was still mostly intact. For how long that remained true would be left up in the air. He repressed a shudder when he saw the damage reports.
One of his wings was damaged, and an engine was down to two-thirds power. The structural integrity of the fighter was holding but looked like it failed at any moment. It could all be summed up simply like this. He was in trouble.
Jack took his craft into a sharp turn avoiding another barrage of energon fire. His craft shuddered under the weight of the maneuver. He knew it couldn't take much more than this, and he was surprised that he didn't simply break when he did it.
He took another turn, and more shuddering followed. Warning alarms sounded in his ears. His fighter couldn't take much more than this. He had to do something, or else he was dead. Then Conner would die, and all of this would have been for nothing.
Jack tightens his grip on the controls. He refused to let that happen. He looked outside his cockpit, looking for anything that could help him, and thought of everything he could do to end this right there and then.
Something flashed across his eyes as a thought came into his mind. Jack lurched his fighter to the side. This would be his chance. He only hoped it would work and his craft wouldn't fall apart around him.
Skyquake smiled to himself, seeing his wounded prey run from him. He had finally gotten a hit in on the human fighter pilot, not that they had made it easy. Even now, they fought for their life, making Skyquake work for his kill.
But Skyquake would have his kill. A worthy opponent indeed, this Red-Seven was. If only they had been born as a Cybertronian. A part of Skyquake regretted never knowing the name of his prey, only being able to know them by their call sign.
It was thought that Skyquake would push down as he relentlessly pursued his quarry. He would kill this Red-seven and then go on to finish his mission.
As the two glided along the surface of a Decepticon warship, he saw the strike craft make a sharp turn and fly towards the edge of the warship. Sky quake realized the Human was about to pull off a familiar maneuver.
Skyquake's smile grew. This time he would not be caught unawares again. The human strike craft vanished as it took a sharp dive right off the edge of the warship. Skyquake flew past the edge, ready to turn after the human pilot.
Jack took a deep breath as his fighter took a dive off the edge of the Decepticon warship. For a moment, he allowed his mind to room free. To let his being stretch out into his fighter. He could feel the cold touch of space on the hull like it was his skin. He felt the burns in his wing.
He could feel every arch and shudder, his fighter felt like it was his own body. To him, this was what being a pilot was. It was more than just pressing some buttons or pulling at the control to fly the craft.
To him, it was about merging his being with his craft. To feel as it felt. He and the fighter were one. When he moved, it moved. When it felt pain, he felt pain. Flying always came naturally to him, and the void of space called to him like a mother to her child.
This was where he belonged, and right now, he could feel his craft's growing sense of desperation. And what needed to be done.
He exhaled, swinging his fighter around. He counted the seconds, then pressed his fingers down on the triggers. Bolts of plasma streaked towards the edge of the warship, where he hoped they would find their mark.
"I got you now," Skyquake thought as he flew out from the edge of the warship. He had his cannons ready as he started to turn downward.
That was when his instincts screamed at him to move. Confused for a moment, Skyquake acted on them. But too late, searing pain tore through his body, once, twice, three times.
In the depths of space, the Seeker let out a scream of pain that would not be heard.
Jack didn't let himself have time to enjoy himself. His enemy was wounded, and he wasn't about to let up. He pushed his fighter forward at full speed and fired his last missile.
Skyquake felt his body drifting aimlessly through the depths of space and the pain from his wounds. He knew what had happened. He knew that he had fallen for the Human's ruse.
He knew he would die even before he saw the missile come. In his alternate form, Skyquake smiled bitterly. Done in by an organic flying an emulation of an alternate form. Unthinkable. It should be impossible. Yet here he was, soon to be one with the all-spark.
Skyquake knew he should have been enraged by this. He should be cursing the Human for besting him like this. He should be spending his final moments damning the Autobots for leading them here to this place.
But strangely, Skyquake felt an odd sense of calm. He had been beaten by a worthy foe, even if they were not made of a body of metal and energon. What a sad day for Cybertron that he was not born of their world.
That was something he could accept. The missile hit.
As he flew past the Decepticon's remains, Jack let out a breath he did not know he was holding. He didn't realize it then, but he had just killed one of the Decepticon's top lieutenants.
At the moment, he was just content to know he had beaten his enemy. Flying on, Jack looked at his radar. He felt his heart grow heavy when he saw Conner's shuttle nearing the spacebridges opened by the Decepticon.
Conner knew that he was going to die. He knew the moment he stepped into the shuttle and took off with it. Now more than ever, just moments away from one of the green vortexes, he knew that death was standing behind him.
But he was calm, even accepting of that. He didn't want to die. No one did. But he knew he had to do this. Lives would be saved because of his sacrifice, and a new generation of an alien race would be able to live on. That made this moment worth it.
He would die with only one regret. Leaving Jack alone. He looked at his monitor and was relieved to see that his boyfriend's fighter was still flying around.
His hand wanted for the comm. "Jack," he said. He was seconds away from the vortex.
"Conner?" Jack's voice came in.
Conner smiled to himself. He had just one last thing to say. "I'm sorry," he said. "And I love you."
Had he maintained the link just a second or two longer. He would have heard Jack's cry. His shuttle went through the vortex.
Unknown
In the void of space, a fleet of Decepticon warships stood ready to receive their retreating comrades. They did not expect a single craft of unknown design to emerge from a space bridge. Or for that space bridge to suddenly collapse.
They scanned the craft, thinking it might be another Cybertronian with a new alternate form. But they could not get precise readings as they picked what looked like a massive build-up of energy. Energy that was incredibly unstable and nearing critical overload.
Panic swept through the Decepticon fleet as they realized what the build-up was and how little time they had. With little time to react, the fleet of warships activated their FTL drives in the hopes of escaping their destruction.
The craft vanished in a blinding flash of light as the energy build-up suddenly spiked. A shockwave with enough force to shatter a planet was sent out in all directions.
The shockwave reached the fleet of Decepticon warships just as half of them managed to jump out. The rest were destroyed instantly, including two of the three ships that could make space bridges.
Nemesis
Megatron looked on in shock and horror as all three spacebridges vanished. In likelihood, the Decepticon fleet on the other side had been obliterated by the SSID.
A weapon made by the Decepticons used against them. He might have laughed at the bitter irony if this had been any other situation.
"Get us out of here," Megatron ordered calmly. "Activate the space bridge and get us out of this Primus-forsaken system."
"My lord, more space bridges are opening. Autobot ships are coming in."
With the arrival of the rest of the Autobot fleet, the momentum of the battle shifted. The allied fleet surged forward after the fleeing Decepticon warships. Several would die before a new set of green vortexes appeared.
New spacebridges, this time created by the ships in the Sol system, for the Decepticons to flee through. More of their ships were cut apart by fusion and energon beams before any of them could reach the spacebridges. One of them, the Shadow of the Fallen, one of the few ships able to make space bridges, was destroyed, closing its spacebridge leaving only two left.
The Nemesis reached its space bridge, and it seemed that it would escape. If it were not for the beam of energon that struck its engines, sending the massive warship wildly into the green vortex, destabilizing it. The vortex closed, engulfing Megatron's warship and several others.
At the same time, the defense fleet around Earth saw their chance and charged at the fleet under Starscream's command.
Blood of Unicorn
The Blood of Unicorn shook and shuddered as it took weapons fire from the Human fleet. Starscream growled, wanting to fight the human fleet and show them the folly of opposing him.
But he knew he was in no position to fight. Not with the arrival of the Autobot fleet and Megatron's fleet in full retreat. If he stood and fought, he would be caught between two enemy fleets.
Starscream always believed that discretion was the better part of valor. "Gets us out of here," Starscream shouted. "Form a spacebridge and quickly."
"Where to lord Starscream?" A Vehicon asked.
Starscream growled as he saw the human fleet bearing down on them. "Anywhere but here," he screamed.
"But my lord," the vehicon protested. "Without a proper set of cord."
Starscream growled, tempted to blast the thing for questioning his orders. "To the edge of this star system," he said the first thing that came to mind. "Set the space bridge for the edge of this star system. We'll regroup there. Then we'll figure out where to go. Just get us out of here."
Wisely the vehicon went back to his work. "Yes, lord Starscream."
Ark
Optimus Prime watched as the last of the Decepticon warships fled the system. While he should have been relieved, all the Autobot leader could feel was a heavy weight on his spark. The battle had been won, but at what cost?
So many lives have been lost today, Autobot and Human. The human lives weighed more heavily on his mind. They were strangers, and yet they were willing to fight alongside them against the Decepticons, and they had paid for it in the lives of their people. Sometimes Optimus wondered if it would have been better if they had stayed on Cybertron.
"Incoming transmission from Fleet Admiral Cartwell," someone said.
Optimus nodded. "Put him through," he said. A moment later, the image of the human Admiral appeared on a monitor close to Optimus. The expression on the man's face was victorious but, at the same time, tired and wary. Human faces were strangely easy to read.
"The Decepticons have retreated from the battle," he said. "The battle is won."
Optimus nodded. "It would appear so," he said. "How were your losses?"
The Admiral's face softened. "Not as bad as they could have been," he said somberly. "We'll go over an overview of causalities soon enough. But we both know that a lot of good people have lost their lives today. I pray that it was worth it."
Optimus nodded, agreeing with the man. "Whatever deity you humans believe in; I hope they welcome them with open arms."
Admiral Cartwell nodded. "So, what will you do now?" he asked. "The Decepticons are gone. But as far as you've told us, you're stuck here."
What would they do, indeed? With the Ark unable to fly, its contents, the Proto-form Formation Chamber was stuck on the lunar body of the human homeworld. What would they do?
Optimus was surprised when he realized he had some small idea.
Cybertron is dead. Ten millennia of warfare have left our homeworld dark and lifeless. Its people are now scattered to the stars. When we attempted to flee our world, we had hoped to find a new home, we found something else. In a distant corner of the galaxy, we found new allies. Though they may be small in body, they are big in spirit, and like us, there is more to them than meets the eye.
I am Optimus Prime, and I send this message out to all surviving Autobots. Cybertron is dead. But we have found new allies. We have found a new home. We have found hope.
Thus, we finish the first episode of the Sol Wars. I hope everyone enjoyed the first episode of this story; there is more to come. So, for this story, I was inspired by other fics done in other fandoms, such as Mass Effect, Star Trek, and Babylon Five, where the other races encountered a more advanced humanity—typically resulting in a curbside stomp in favor of Humanity or at least a more even fight. So, I wanted to create one for the Transformers fandom.
To be clear, this will not be an HFY story, as fun as those can be. In this story, Humanity will be a more active participant in the war between the Autobots and the Decepticons instead of being the helpless observers or the plucky underdogs, sort of like what Michael Bay did with his first three movies, but without simping over the US military.
As for the state of the two Cybertronian factions, they are, in essence at their breaking point by the start of this story. Their homeworld is dead, their population is devastated almost to the point that they may never recover, and their military strength is all but spent. Because of these factors and others, Humanity is a game changer for the war. Not an overwhelming force that will swing the scales of the war, mind you, but capable enough to shift the momentum. Furthermore, the Autobots will not be the only ones getting help from the Human factor. After all, humanity is hardly a monolithic species, and I have already hinted that not everyone agrees with UNS.
For the format of this series, I'm going for a more episodic approach. I'm thinking that each episode will be split into two parts or two chapters. Like what I did with this first episode, except I did this one into four since it's the two-hour special. As for how long this series will last, I'm planning around four seasons of about twelve or thirteen episodes. I got an over-arcing view of what each season should be like and even a few ideas for some of the episodes, including a possible Shattered Glass story arc. But that won't be for a long while.
Now, with all that out of the way, I hope everyone will enjoy this series. Until all are one, see you in the next update.
I hope everyone enjoyed the first episode of this story; there is more to come. So, for this story, I was inspired by other fics done in other fandoms, such as Mass Effect, Star Trek, and Babylon Five, where the other races encountered a more advanced humanity—typically resulting in a curbside stomp in favor of Humanity or at least a more even fight. So, I wanted to create one for the Transformers fandom.
To be clear, this will not be an HFY story, as fun as those can be. In this story, Humanity will be a more active participant in the war between the Autobots and the Decepticons instead of being the helpless observers or the plucky underdogs, sort of like what Michael Bay did with his first three movies, but without simping over the US military.
As for the state of the two Cybertronian factions, they are, in essence at their breaking point by the start of this story. Their homeworld is dead, their population is devastated almost to the point that they may never recover, and their military strength is all but spent. Because of these factors and others, Humanity is a game changer for the war. Not an overwhelming force that will swing the scales of the war, mind you, but capable enough to shift the momentum. Furthermore, the Autobots will not be the only ones getting help from the Human factor. After all, humanity is hardly a monolithic species, and I have already hinted that not everyone agrees with UNS.
For the format of this series, I'm going for a more episodic approach. I'm thinking that each episode will be split into two parts or two chapters. Like what I did with this first episode, except I did this one into four since it's the two-hour special. As for how long this series will last, I'm planning around four seasons of about twelve or thirteen episodes. I got an over-arcing view of what each season should be like and even a few ideas for some of the episodes, including a possible Shattered Glass story arc. But that won't be for a long while.
Now, with all that out of the way, I hope everyone will enjoy this series. Until all are one, see you in the next update.
