-Chapter 14: The End Game-
"Evac to Optimus Prime. I'm on standby and Blaster is close at hand. Primus willing Skyburst will get here long before Megatron does." The helicopter-bot informed his commander.
"Keep me appraised of your progress, Prime out." Optimus responded, closing the transmission feed. Standing with him in the midst of a wartorn Mission City, the young Blueshift paced impatiently.
"Fastlane is dead, Salvage is dead, Trailbreaker is dead… I just hope we can do this, Optimus." He whispered worriedly. His reasoning was perfectly logical. They had all been through so much already over the past few mega-cycles. To think this long and terrible conflict was not yet over, the fate of the Allspark still in jeopardy, was enough to wear on any mech no matter their skill or stature.
"I understand your concern, young one. But we must hold onto hope. It's power is greater than anything Megatron can possess. Greater than even the Allspark." Optimus softly replied. Blueshift nodded quietly.
"Could the Allspark be used to bring them back to life?" He asked.
"It is possible. But such an experiment should be conducted after Megatron has been dealt with. Whatever form that may take." Optimus concluded.
"I know he's your brother, sir, but if you need help I'll be there for you." Blueshift readily offered. Optimus regarded him warmly and patted his shoulder. "Maybe you should use the cube for a power-up like Starscream did. If he could blast a big 'Con like Blackout to pieces, Megatron wouldn't be a problem for you."
"The Allspark's power is meant to give life, young one, not empower it. Exposure to such a divine force will erode the mind of any lesser being. It gives freely, but the gift requires a choice; accepting such power is to invite inevitable corruption and decay. We are not engineered to handle such a force." Optimus cautioned. His optics turned skyward again, as if drawn to something unseen by Blueshift. "Get to your post, soldier. Our time is near." He ordered. Blueshift nodded and quickly moved to obey, joining forces with Ratchet as they rolled out.
"Ratchet… is what Optimus said about the Allspark's power true? Can it really destroy a bot?" Blueshift queried. Ratchet thought it over for a moment.
"When this is over, ask Ironhide to tell you the story of Halonix Maximus. Maybe that'll improve your understanding." The medic responded.
Reaching the city limits of Mission City, Skyburst quickly detected fellow Autobot signatures close at hand. "Evac, that you?"
"Sure is, partner." The helicopter-bot responded, a flash of white and orange approaching from the municipal skyline. "Ready for a hand-off?"
"Coming in hot!" Skyburst answered. He was moving quickly and needed to in order to deceive Megatron properly. But as he blew past Evac, he tilted sideways and adjusted the positioning of his upper half to align with Evac's vehicle mode. Calculations were performed and mathematical equations aligned as his trajectory drew him near. His canopy opened and the ejector seat within launched the Allspark free just as Evac opened the side door of his alt mode. Shot inside, the Allspark was safely contained within and Evac broke off to return to their allies.
"Package is secure. Good luck, ro-bro." He signed off, disappearing behind Skyburst as the jet continued his course. He needed to maintain his flight path and speed, to keep Megatron believing he was running away with the Allspark in hand.
It seemed to be working. The vile energy signature behind him was rapidly closing.
Pulse blasts ripped through the air around him, causing his chassis to shudder with each near miss. Skyburst juked and rolled, attempting to break immediate line of sight. He wasn't sure how good Megatrn's targeting systems were and could only hope that his weaponry was locked in a forward-facing position.
Even so, Megatron's jet form was incredibly nimble and agile.
Breaking hard to the left in pursuit of Skyburst, twin fusion salvos erupted from the forward energy nodules that struck Skyburst with enough force to devastate his rear assembly. Tumbling out of the air with smoke and flame trailing behind him, Skyburst transformed moments before he hit the ground, crashing through vehicles and asphalt, kicking up plenty of debris to send panicked humans screaming. His back support struts were a blackened heap of molten metal, his legs a tangled mess of shredded circuitry and shorn wiring.
Megatron transformed and pounced, automorphing a sword out of his left arm that he promptly drove deep into Skyburst's abdomen, pinning him to the ground. Loosing a pained gasp, Skyburst's head was slammed back into the asphalt by Megatron's clawed hand. The Decepticon leader could no longer sense the energy of the Allspark, leading him to a simple conclusion that made him furious. "WHERE IS THE ALLSPARK?!" He roared.
"I'll never tell you." Skyburst growled defiantly. "It's safe."
"To defy Megatron is to forfeit your life!" The Decepticon snarled, his other hand clutching Skyburst's torso. Using his sword as a dividing point, Megatron's immense strength tore off the upper half of Skyburst, the Autobot loosing a shriek of agony before a clawed servo disappeared inside his chestplates and wrenched out his spark. Tossing Skyburst's metallic husk to the ground, Megatron consumed his spark and withdrew his sword. "It's mine. It belongs to me! I will have it!" He vowed with a growl, his mechanical skull turning skyward as his body moved to follow. He transformed, sprouting vast wings as cybertronic engines roared to life and propelled him skyward. Megatron opened a comms channel. "To me, my Decepticons! Soundwave! The Autobots are here with the Allspark! I want all Decepticons to hunt them down and destroy them!"
"As you command, Lord Megatron." Soundwave droned in response.
Evac dove low near the sprawling street, spotting a single red-gold Scion xB trundling along. A trembling shudder could be heard from Blaster's engine, evidently due to his missing hand causing several vehicular components to be misaligned or outright lost. "Special delivery, Blaster!" He called out.
"Right on time, Evac!" Blaster answered. Converting to robot mode, Blaster rolled to his feet and jogged underneath Evac as the copter-bot opened his side door and ejected the Allspark. Catching it with his good hand, Blaster rolled back again, his plating shifting and broadening into solid pieces as he converted back into vehicle mode. Eject and Rewind sprang to life within and took hold of the Allspark. "You ready for this party? We've got to get the Allspark to Optimus in our new safe zone." Blaster called out.
"Got it. I'll cover you." Evac affirmed, sprouting cannons from the nose of his vehicle form. "Let's show these Decepticreeps what Autobots are made of!"
The Autobots had established a perimeter ring around a downtown intersection where Optimus Prime had stationed himself. Patrolling vigilantly for signs of Decepticon activity, several were waiting impatiently for Blaster and the Allspark to make it to the safe-zone.
Their strategy, however, was swiftly proven well-founded.
Soundwave, leading the surviving Stockade and Overcast, staged an assault against Ironhide's position on the edge of town. The weapons specialist was quick to respond, but even he knew when he was outmatched. "I'm pinned down, there's Decepticons everywhere! I need backup!" Ironhide exclaimed into his comms as he opened fire on the approaching Decepticon force. Blueshift was already rolling to respond when a second voice came over the airwaves.
"Sit tight, Ironhide! I'm on my way!" Longarm promised. Two Autobots were racing to help a third, but the Decepticons were not willing to wait for even odds.
Soundwave unloaded sonic blasts in Ironhide's direction, trading salvos with the Autobot as multiple plasma rockets struck the buildings around him. Overcast unleashed brilliant green jets of flame, creating a wall of chemical fire that threaten to melt the Autobot into slag were he not careful. Stockade capitalized on the advantage and pressed in, his wrist cannons unloading heavy-duty pulse blasts. They outnumbered Ironhide and could easily finish him off.
But Ironhide was never one to go down without a fight.
His autocannon blasted away at Stockade while he attempted to avoid Soundwave's disorienting sonic attacks. Pushed to his limit, the weapons specialist kept fighting, his overshields shimmering constantly from warding off incoming fire. The Decepticons closed ranks, forcing him on the backpedal as chrome chipped, paint bubbled, and metal flaked.
Drifting around a corner, approaching from behind the Decepticons, Longarm unlatched his tow arm and let the hook tumble behind him. Juking around Overcast, his hook caught around the Decepticon's foot and tripped him up as he yanked Overcast off his pedes.
"Need a hand, old timer?" The tow-truck bot wondered as he converted to robot mode and automorphed his quagma cannon.
"Sure do, kid. These 'Cons are a real pain in my axle!" The weapons specialist responded.
Quark-gluon plasma (AKA "quagma") was a superdense and superhot matter harnessed by a displacement generator that worked on a subatomic level. As such, Longarm was able to fight fire with fire as he battled Overcast alongside Ironhide. Dense packets of molten substance slammed into the 'Con's chassis, keeping him from utilizing his flamethrowers properly. From his opposite arm, he lashed out with his wrecking hook and snared the Decepticon again, dragging him in close so he could vaporize his helm with a sustained quagma blast.
"One down and a whole mess to go." Longarm remarked.
The ground shook as a previously undetected Decepticon came rumbling around a corner. Cloaked in the persona of an M1 Abrams tank, it flattened unoccupied cars beneath its massive treads as it trundled forward. A cacophonous chattering of grinding metal drew the Autobots' attention as the tank rose up on two legs. Injured, but still in fighting shape, Quake stomped onto the scene, lifting his good arm and unleashing his quad-barreled chain gun. "Wanna dance, Ironhide?" He sneered before blasting away with high-density particle rounds.
"This bites." Ironhide grumbled. Priming his cannons, he stood off against Stockade and Quake, unleashing rocket-propelled plasma shells in every direction as the Decepticons stormed in.
Screeching around one last corner, Blueshift found himself back on the periphery of the ongoing melee—and behind Quake. In front of the tank he could see Ironhide and Longarm under fire from Soundwave and Stockade. Periodically they would fire in the direction of the wounded tank, and the Decepticon responded by unleashing periodic pulse blasts in their direction. Quake gave no indication that he was aware of the presence behind him. Aligning himself, Blueshift floored the accelerator, blasting ahead between abandoned cars snapping off doors as he gathered speed. Transforming as he drew closer, Blueshift grit his dents as he readied an arm cannon. Quake loomed larger and larger in front of him.
A war cry was drowned out as a precisely aligned shot from his automorphed proton cannon streaked through the air. It was followed closely by a second. Both blasts slammed into the rear of the transformed Quake, splintering the air intake while lifting the back of the tank completely off the ground. Blueshift pounced on him, delivering a point-blank barrage of proton rounds that chewed through exploded plating until they snuffed his spark with a final blast. The Decepticon landed, ruined and smoking, in the street and Blueshift rolled off his corpse. "Betcha didn't see that coming!" He declared, joining the fight.
Calculating the odds of success with two Decepticons down, Soundwave made to act. "Rumble! Frenzy! Eject!" His chestplates parted and his twin Minicon minions emerged from within. "Operation: destruction." He commanded and the two scrambled to obey, homing in on Longarm. Despite the thunderous plasma rounds and sizzling quagma blasts that erupted around them, the two Minicons moved with speed and agility. Rumble automorphed his arms into seismic piledrivers.
"First we crack the shell," he announced, driving twin metallic columns into Longarm's leg, "then we crack the nut inside!" Shattering the exterior chassis, Frenzy quickly fired his electro blaster and shorted the exposed circuits. Longarm stumbled to his knees with a cry, just long enough for Stockade to pounce on him and sink a blade between his shoulder struts.
"Longarm!" Ironhide shouted, moving to intervene as Stockade moved to attack.
"I love the way you Autobots die." The 'Con hissed.
"Your death'll be slow." Ironhide growled, unloading combined plasma shells and autocannon salvos simultaneously. Stockade moved to avoid the blow, only to be caught by Blueshift's incendiary warheads fired from his shoulder launchers.
"Ratchet! Longarm's down! We need help!" He cried out into his comms.
"I'm on my way!" The medic responded.
Blueshift opened fire on Soundwave, proton blasts erupting around the Decepticon as he dove out of the line of fire. He retorted with sonic energy salvos, forcing Blueshift to contend with a threefold assault as his Minicons attacked his legs like rabid attack dogs.
Luckily for the young Autobot, Ironhide's vicious assault on Stockade ended in victory when he blasted the Decepticon with a volley of plasma shells that hollowed out his chassis. Planting his autocannon within, a staccato burst of live ammunition evaporated the 'Con's head in a shower of mechfluid and energon. Ironhide promptly chucked his mechanical carcass away and turned on Soundwave, unloading another furious storm of autocannon rounds and plasma shells. "Rumble. Frenzy. Return." Soundwave ordered, prompting his minions to return to his chestplates while he laid down a withering cover fire of high-frequency sonic rounds. Once his Minicons were securely away, the communicator unleashed a deafening blast of ultrasonics that disorientated the two Autobots long enough for him to get a bead with his sonic disruptor…
That is, until, the squeal of sirens and the flash of emergency lights, heralded the arrival of Ratchet.
Ambulance rose up on two legs and rushed onto the scene, his right arm automorphed into his multi-beam gun that peppered Soundwave's overshields with rapid-fire pulse blasts. "Don't think I'll go easy on you because I'm a medic!" Ratchet announced, switching chambers and firing a spreadshot of sticky mines across the wall behind Soundwave. The detonation blew Soundwave off his pedes and clear of the ensuing hail of debris that rained down on him. Transforming to SUV mode, the Decepticon sped away from the Autobot trio. Ratchet collapsed his weapon and looked to his comrades. "Where's Longarm?"
"Took a bad hit from behind." Blueshift hurriedly explained as Ratchet gingerly rolled him over. A percursory scan of his optic lenses quickly revealed the gravity of the situation.
"Lost a lot of energon, too many conduits severed. His spark is fading." He stated grimly, deploying all manner of laser scalpels and infusers from the toolkit on his arm. "I might be able to save him if I can get him stabilized." The medic quickly went to work as Ironhide and Blueshift stood guard, eyeing the Decepticon corpses and thinking they'd weathered the worst.
But then…
"Calling any Autobots in the area, this is Jazz! Request assistance!"
The sudden cry from the second lieutenant over comms startled the pair. Ironhide responded quickly. "Blueshift, you better go help him, you'll get there faster. We can take it from here."
"I'm on it!" Blueshift responded, converting to Saturn Sky form and peeling rubber down a clean street, his geosynch-radar already tracking Jazz.
The second lieutenant was close, but far enough away to make Blueshift long for a straight road instead of one turn after another. His stark-whit robotic appearance was waiting for the rookie by the time he arrived. They conversed once Blueshift had changed form.
"You got here just in time. Blaster's reporting the Allspark's getting agitated from all the moving around. It's transforming human machinery into mindless drones. They're trying to destroy the city." Jazz quickly explained. Blueshift tilted his head.
"What kind of machinery? All machinery?" He asked.
"More like the Sector Seven vehicle pool that Soundwave took control of." Jazz explained and Blueshift loosed a huff from his intakes.
"The ones using Cybertronian technology… great."
"Buck up, rookie. Autobots never surrender!" Jazz stated as he automorphed his crescent cannon. "Cover my six. I'll lead the way." Blueshift did just that as Jazz took off down a side street, in pursuit of faint radiation signatures flickering across his HUD.
A couple of small-armed Sector 7 vehicles charged at the Autobot pair, firing their mounted weapons. They were both driverless. Pulse blasts erupted from the two heroic soldiers. Both charging vehicles were hit, knocked engine-over-exhaust, to explode when they hit the ground.
A small fleet of Black Hawk helicopters lumbered in from overhead, converting to spry sentient mechanoid forms as they brandished crude weaponry to attack. They were craving energon, seeking to devour what they could from the two Autobots in their midst.
Jazz and Blueshift wouldn't let them get close.
The second lieutenant blitzed them with rapid-fire particle rounds from his cannon, shredding their wiry bodies before they could even take a step. Blueshift followed up with twin incendiary rounds, warheads exploding within the group to clear out what remained. "Indiscriminate things, aren't they?" He remarked.
"Ain't that the half of it." Jazz replied. Adjusting the lock on his cannon, the shields folded forward as his energy capacitors spooled up to engage a pair of transformed SUV's that bore an eerie resemblance to the recently-deceased Stockade. Jazz ripped into them with energized disc salvos, the unstable ammunition detonating on impact to blow the feral drones to pieces. Behind him, a pair of sports cars rose up in bipedal shape to conjure up abdominal cannons, raining their weapons on the Autobot lieutenant. They never got the chance to use them, both quickly gunned down by Blueshift's red-hot proton cannon…
Meanwhile…
Unharmed and unscathed, Blaster and Evac managed to rendezvous with Optimus Prime in the heart of Mission City. Despite the calamitous chaos unfolding around them, there was a modicum of peace to be found in the knowledge that the Allspark was still safe. Both mechs transformed to greet their leader. "Optimus, sir… were you able to find Megatron?" Evac questioned. The Prime shook his head.
"Negative. Do you still have the Allspark?" Blaster nodded and held out the cube with his surviving hand.
All of a sudden, a pair of thunderous fusion blasts, seemingly from out of nowhere, struck the trio and blew them off their feet. Blaster was flung back, the Allspark catapaulted high into the air. Optimus managed to shake off the concussive force and look up just in time to see a single hand reaching for the cube, clawed fingers tightening around its geometric shape as the Allspark glowed in response. Power began to flow and Optimus Prime's worst fears were realized.
"It's mine… It's finally mine! Now I possess the ultimate power!" Megatron rejoiced, loosing a triumphant, bellowing laugh. His cackling died down as he fixed Optimus with a malevolent look. The Prime did not back down, showing no fear, but hesitate to make any move. With Allspark power coursing through him, Megatron was twice as deadly. A single blast from his fusion cannon could kill them all. "You are no longer a threat to me, brother. I could easily kill you, but I want you to watch me turn this planet into a wasteland. The first of many I assure you." He announced. Taking flight, Megatron transformed and took off like a shot, the sound barrier shattered by his roaring afterburners. Optimus watched him go, loosing a growl of frustration. He realized what needed to be done.
A distraught Evac looked up, understanding the gravity of their circumstances while also knowing the look in his commader's optics. "Prime, you need help."
"Negative. Stay here with Blaster. That's an order." Optimus ordered. His gaze turned after the distant form of his rival… his brother. Whatever came next, however it happened, he knew he needed to commit to a singular course of action. One goal. No alternatives.
"Megatron must be stopped. No matter the cost."