Chapter 4 Capture of Agent Fowler Part 2

Three hours earlier

Optimus and Ratchet left the GroundBridge portal. They found themselves in a huge canyon, which was for some reason familiar to Optimus but not so much to Ratchet. After about twenty minutes of walking and observing the strange and unfamiliar terrain , Ratchet finally asked Optimus a question that had been bothering him since he found himself in these rocky areas :

" Optimus, what would you like to find here? "

" The site of the greatest Cybertronian battlefield in this galaxy," replied Optimus

" Here... on the Earth? . You've got to be kidding me ". - said a astonished Ratchet, not convinced by Optimus' words.

" Do you remember the time at the end of the war when both sides started hiding their energon supplies in the afterlife? " - Optimus asked him.

" Of course," Ratchet confirmed, "That's why energon reserves exist on planets like this one."

Optimus nodded at the correct answer and continued :"This is also why battles were fought on planets like this one.

I'm afraid Megatron's memory goes back as far as this story."

For some time Optimus and Ratchet explored the area .

At the same time, Megatron and Darkscream were still halfway to their destination . Darkscream for some reason was concerned . Some of the areas upfront they passed were quite familiar to her but some of them later not so much . Even now the sky was completely covered with dark clouds, but there was no rain at all. She was plagued by questions, so she decided to break the silence:

" Lord Megatron. Which place are we actually going to? " Darkscream asked

" To a place, I know well."

" Meaning? " - She asked, trying to get more clues

" You'll know when we get there " -Megatron responded simply by snarling ." Stop talking and focus on flying"

Darkscream was offended at Megatron for not answering such a simple question and telling her to be quiet yet. She sighed to herself and kept on flying without saying a word.

Back to Optimus and Ratchet

Observation of the grounds took some time. When they turned left, their eyes saw a cemetery full of extinct cybertronians, both autobots and decepticons . Ratchet was both amazed and disappointed that Optimus' theory was correct. They watched all this for a few minutes, when suddenly they heard the whirring of engines above them . Above them flew Megatron and the accompanying Darkscream . They both transformed ( including Darkscream doing an additional flip ) and stood on a tall stone pillar , wide enough to accommodate them both . Optimus and Ratchet hadn't even guessed that there wasn't even Starscream standing next to Megatron.

Darkscream was surprised after seeing this sight but she wasn't going to show it , lest she spoil her cover , so she just stared . Darkscream was surprised by this sight, but she wasn't going to show it so as not to give away her identity. Megatron watched Darkscream from the corner of his eye to see if she was up to something. He watched her for a moment before speaking to the approaching autobots.

" Optimus, what's up? I see you brought your faithful dog with you. I was sure he was resting in the junkyard by now," said Megatron, also taunting Ratchet.

At these words Ratchet was annoyed and immediately said : " Maybe you can invite him here for a chat . I see that even you are not alone since Starscream is with you," he replied, pointing at Darkscream.

" I'll demonstrate it to you right away," said Darkscream in an identical tone of voice to Starscream , ready to face the medic one-on-one.

" Show me what you got," Ratchet said.

- Grrrr ! - she growled at him and wanted to get down but Megatron's hand blocked her.

Megatron pulled her closer and said a few words that apparently scared her. After a while they moved away and you could hear Optimus talking to them.

" Megatron !"- He called out ." I know why you are here ."

" No wonder Optimus, after all you and I have been at this for a long time but your time is up "

After these words, Megatron pulled out a shard of dark energon that glowed with a strong purple light and quickly threw it into the ground. After a while , the shard slid into the ground , and purple cracks charged with the power of dark energon began to appear from the ground . Even Megatron's chest as well as optics began to strongly glow showing his power of dark energon . Optimus , Ratchet and Darkscream looked on in disbelief at what was happening at the moment . All the undead Cybertronians began to emerge from the ground and head towards Optimus and of them were unarmed but some had strange looking swords ending in spikes and some were limbless.

" LOOK! " - shouted Megatron with all his might – " THIS IS THE POWER ... DARK ... ENERGON ! "

More and more corpses emerged from the ground and slowly began to approach Ratchet and Optimus.

" Megatron has desecrated the resting place of our slain ancestors and his own," said Ratchet, preparing for battle

"Even the dead are not free from his war conspiracies," confirmed Optimus, also preparing himself

Darkscream, looked at her master who was enjoying the energy flowing through his body . She heard his clear giggles of satisfaction until he finally said: " Finally ... a symbiosis….. I can feel it…. I have complete control of my army"

Darkscream listened to what Megatron said until Megatron raised his hand and gave the order to his new army.

" KILL THEM ! " - Megatron ordered loudly, and then the army of undead began to move closer and closer to the Autobot leader and medic.

Optimus didn't wait any longer, he started shooting at them. Unfortunately, shooting had a short-lived effect, because after stunning one zombie, the same one would rise again. Optimus saw this and ordered Ratchet to retreat and return to base, but the medic ignored this and remained by his side. When Ratchet cut off the limbs of several zombies with his blades, he noticed that they were dying. He relayed this information to Optimus, who turned his blasters into blades and also began cutting down everyone one by one. Optimus looked at Megatron, who started talking again: "I have mastered the dark energon. When you die, Optimus, you will join my army."

" I'd love to see that." - replied Darkscream. As you can see for yourself Optimus, your end is near. And with it, your only medic.

" You can dream Starscream," Ratchet said to Darkscream. " We will never give up."

Optimus agreed with Ratchet and they both began charging at the undead Cybetronians.

Meanwhile, at the location of the decepticon ship

Raf and Jack emerged from the GroundBridge and were spotted by guards guarding the ship from above. The guards started shooting at them, and the guys had to do dodges and try to hide somehow.

Just as Raf and Jack were about to be hit, Bulkhead appeared just in time to take all three of them as far away from the ship as possible. As they disembarked, he ordered them to stay where they were and not try to interfere again.

Bulkhead quickly left the place where he had left the children and headed toward the ship. It wasn't hard to get on board, as Bulkhead got the idea to try and grab onto one of the outliers of the ship after gaining speed, driving to the top and making the transformation. When he stood on the deck the fight immediately began. After defeating the last soldier, Bulkhead looked at where the men were hiding and was surprised that Miko wasn't with them. He didn't think long about where she might be as he felt something tapping against his armor. After opening his armor, he saw a girl coming out, moaning and holding her head. The girl being inside Bulkhead was completely unaware of what was going on around her when Bulkhead was fighting the decepticons, and she certainly threw herself to different sides whenever he hit or knocked some decepticon to the floor. Bulkhead was surprised to see her, and she confessed that she had vomited on his rugs and still wanted to but was holding back. After Bulkhead planted her on the ground, one of the decepticons jumped on his back and tried to hurt him, but Bulkhead rendered him unconscious at the last moment. Even more venicons appeared and began firing at both him and Miko. Bulkhead took Miko on his hand and shielded her with his other, also running towards the open hatch from which the decepticons had emerged a few minutes ago. Bulkhead closed the trapdoor in front of them and ran down the corridor straight trying to find Fowler. He didn't know that Raf and Jack had been captured by two decepticons who were walking towards the detention center where Fowler was currently being held. Luckily, Bumblebee and Arcee showed up just in time to take care of them. They didn't have to wait long to meet Bulkhead, as he was right around the corner with Miko.

The Autobots found out from Jack and Raf where Fowler was being held and headed for the site. Getting there was difficult due to the constant presence of many venicons but that wasn't a problem for the Autobots. They easily defeated them one by one. They attacked until they managed to reach the command room where they had left the kids.

While Jack , Raf and Miko there arguing or doing unknown things . The Autobots finally arrived on the scene, thanks to information obtained from one of the decepticons. When Starscream heard a knock on the door , he looked away from Fowler , who was only delirious and saw the soldier standing there

" What do you want? "- he asked angrily

" This," said a voice from behind the venicon .

Of course, it was Bulkhead and Bumblebee who also got rid of the two other venicons staying with Starscream in the room. Starscream activated his rifle in his right hand and aimed it at the agent. He didn't realize there was an Arcee above him, aiming for his head, and it wasn't until she tapped him on the head that he looked up. Each waited for the other to move until Agent Fowler suddenly shouted some strange unintelligible words distracting Starscream from the Autobots. Bumblebee took advantage of the Commander's inattention and began firing first at his cannon, pushing it away, then at Starscream, as did Arcee and Bulkhead.

Starscream tried to dodge every shot, but there was no way he could face three Autobots at once, so he quickly transformed in mid-air and ran away from there.

Meanwhile , Jack, Raf and Miko were staring at a complicated scheme on a monitor that Raf thought might be very useful to the autobots. Just then one of the soldiers came into the room who was surprised to see his dead colleagues and started to look around looking for any enemies. Jack and Miko quickly ducked, but Raf was unfortunately spotted by him as he left his backpack behind. Raf started to run away and the Decepticon shot at him. Jack pushed Raf away at the last minute before he was hit and told Miko to take a picture. She smiled and said it was a good idea, she just didn't understand what picture Jack wanted and she started to take a picture of the decepticon when Jack yelled at her to take a picture of what was on the monitor. The children quickly left the room, careful to avoid every shot fired by the venicon in their direction. The Autobots managed to get everyone out and off the Nemesis deck. Fortunately, no one chased them and they returned safely to their destination.

About an hour earlier in the canyon

Optimus and Ratchet kept attacking. The dark energon was affecting them as well and they were losing strength. More dead warriors kept arriving, but still they fought on.

" Optimus's defeat is getting closer," Darkscream said looking at Megatron with a smile and a narrowed gaze.

" Don't get excited yet Darkscream . " – said Megatron

Things were starting to get rough on the battlefield when several zombies jumped on Optimus and surrounded him, beating him, scratching him, and even trying to bite him. Ratchet, seeing this, tried to run towards him, but he was also surrounded by them. In addition, one of them bit his hand hard, causing the energon to leak out.

Seeing this, both Megatron and Darkscream laughed at the sight of the Autobots falling. The moment didn't last long, as Optimus struggled to get out of the trap and quickly rushed to the aid of his medic. After destroying two zombies, Optimus helped Ratchet up. Unfortunately Ratchet's right hand was damaged so he couldn't move it or attack enemies but fortunately it wasn't leaking any more energy.

" ( reaction of disappointment ) as you can see they are still in pretty good shape," said Darkscream disappointedly , entwining the servos.

" It's not over yet," ' he said first to Darkscream and then turned to Optimus : " Optimus, even though it's been so many years, you're still in great shape." Again, the optics as well as Megatron's chest began to glow purple.

" Finish them off!" Megatron has ordered

Ratchet and Optimus continued to eliminate the undead. They attacked until the last zombie was dead.

" Bravo Optimus , though this is only a prelude . You should save your strength for the main event," Megatron said with apparent concern .

Optimus, upon reaching the end, transformed his blades into servos and began climbing up to Megatron and Darkscream.

" You cannot win, Megatron. As long as energon flows through my veins." - Optimus said, climbing up.

Megatron leaned over Optimus, who had almost reached the top. " You say that? There's a dark energon running through my veins"

Optimus tried to attack him, but Megatron jumped over him and transformed flying away as did Darkscream, who also said to Optimus: " Maybe next time Prime , I will be the one to face you . After those words she jumped to the side behind before Optimus caught her and flew after Megatron. Optimus tried to hit Megatron or Darkscream but they were too far away. Although Darkscream took off a little later she caught up to Megatron without a problem .

After the decepticons disappeared behind the clouds, Ratchet is almost done climbing despite the difficulty of his broken arm. Optimus helped him climb to the top and they both looked down at the severed remains of the undead . Megatron's words made them think hard about the next step their enemy would take. After about 10 minutes, Optimus used the link to contact the base and request the GroundBridge.

At the base, Agent Fowler lay unconscious on a stretcher while Optimus helped Ratchet tend to his broken limb. They put a special metal brace on his arm and approached the others.

" What exactly happened to you," asked Miko

" We fought an army of undead Cybertron warriors." - Ratcht replied.

" Zombies ? There were zombies and I didn't see one ?!"

" Bulkhead . You have been extremely irresponsible in allowing people to accompany you," said Optimus.

" It won't happen again, Optimus. I promise." Bulkhead apologized.

" It wasn't his fault," Miko interjected.

" Miko, please"

" And look what I have for you," she said, proudly showing her phone with a photo

" Mmm , Ratchet take a look at this . This could be important to Megatron," said Optimus after looking at the photo.

" Megatron is back? . That's bad news, right? "

As soon as Ratchet leaned in to see the photo, he didn't quite understand its meaning. It turned out that the photo jumped to another one and this one showed the decepticon that attacked Raf. When Miko bragged about Bulkhead's fight with the venicon in the photo, Jack had enough and started telling her to stop treating everything like it was some kind of computer game. With a sigh, Jack immediately said that he wanted to live a normal life without contact with the aliens. Optimus tried to explain to Jack that even if he wanted to forget everything it wouldn't change anything, but he respected their decision to leave if they wanted to. After these words Ratchet opened the GroundBridge and Jack without further objection moved towards him disappearing behind him.

Meanwhile, on the decepticon ship

" Please Lord Megatron, I didn't mean ..." - Starscream tried to somehow calm his ruler down, but was punched in the face

" I told you to wait for orders," Megatron said angrily, then struck him again, sending him several meters from his position, knocking him to the ground. Sparks were popping out of various parts of his body, which could tell that Megatron's blows were really strong. Darkscream couldn't do anything as she had a clear order from Megatron not to interfere.

As Megatron approached Starscream , the latter began to quickly retreat to a sitting position away from him.

" Instead, your inconsiderate antics have not only damaged the ship but also delayed my plans," Megatron continued furiously

" My intentions were pure, my master. I just wanted to get rid of Optimus," Starscream tried to explain and was nailed to the floor by Megatron's huge foot.

Megatron stepped on his face with his foot and also partially on his chest. Darkscream could no longer stand still and wanted to step in, but she was prevented from doing so by Soundwave, who grabbed her arms from behind with his own, also wrapping one of his tentacles around her blocking any movement, and with his other tentacle blocking her mouth making only moans come out. Darkscream tried to break free, but Soundwave was stronger than her.

" No one but me has the right to get rid of Optimus. You understand me! YOU UNDERSTAND! " - growled Megatron , trampling Starscream even harder until more sparks flew from him .

" ( grunting from the weight ) L.. Lord ...Megatron ... I ... I will fix everything... I swear," Starscream said with difficulty through the growing pressure that could have easily crushed his face. I know how to set your plans in the right direction .

After those words, Megatron finally took his foot off him, but instead grabbed him by the neck and lifted him up to the height of his head.

" Explain Strascream ... Quickly " - demanded Megatron somewhat reassured but was not gentle with him . He held him in the air so that he didn't touch the floor . Strascream's neck hurt from this and he had to grab onto Megatron's hand to try and say anything .

When Starscream explained his plan , then only Megatron let him go . He landed with a clang on the ground , he lay like that for a moment before picking himself up , rubbing his own neck . Megatron turned towards Soundwave still holding Darkscream.

" You can let her go Soundwave " . Megatron said and Soundwave obeyed the order

" ( relief reaction ) Soundwave, you have a pretty strong grip ". - said Darkscream rubbing her wrists

Soundwave did not respond to her comment and simply walked over to the console.