I know it's a little early, but we are back everybody. Welcome to the opening act for the final arc of Beast Wars Prime. Now, I've been doing some digging in the last few months and found some extra semi forgotten goodies to throw in this story. In any case, enjoy this first chapter.
Somewhere over the Pacific, deep within the Nemesis, a somber ceremony was taking place.
"We are gathered here today to mourn the passing of our beloved leader Megatron." Galvatron began. "From his humble beginnings in the pits of Kaon, to his glorious conquest of Cybertron and his epic showdowns with Optimus Prime, he has stood as a shining example of what we all aspire to be." He continued, fighting the urge to roll his optics. In his opinion, Megatron had been a petty fool. So focused on destroying the Prime, he'd let potential opportunities slip through his fingers.
Shockwave took over. "And in his last cycles, he would choose his successor, a Decepticon who would fight as he did and achieve conquest by any means necessary. A bot who would rebuild himself into the ultimate warrior leader. Galvatron." He finished, using the lines Tarantulas programmed him to say.
"Megatron chose my foot." Starscream whispered to Knockout in the back of the room. "If Megatron indeed chose him, then I'm a Monoformer."
"Jealous?" Knockout asked.
"Hardly, I understand that being the leader paints a target on your back." He sighed. "And unlike Megatron I don't have anyone loyal enough to me to act as a shield." Starscream added giving Knockout a sidelong glance.
"Very funny." Knockout groused as he examined his glass. There was something off about the Engex inside it. It seemed to have a lite purple sheen to it that didn't seem normal. Optics widening in recognition, whispered to Starscream.
"Don't drink the Engex, it's spiked with-"
"Dark energon, I know." Starscream answered, examining his own glass. "After my past interactions with it I'll never forget how it looks." He glanced around the room and saw everyone's' attention was drawn to Shockwave and Galvatron. "I don't know what Galvatron is planning, but I don't think I want to be around for it. Place your drink down subtly and follow me." With that, the two discreetly left the room before making a break to Knockouts' lab.
As Shockwave continued his speech, Galvatron noticed Starscream and Knockout leaving. Pity that Tarantulas was still busy repairing Bludgeons' shell. 'No matter.' He thought to himself. 'I can take care of them afterwards. Now however.' He began to make his way through the crowd.
"Ah, Punch." Galvatron spoke as he came to the security Vehicon. "I've been meaning to ask, have you made any headway into finding the traitor in our midst?" Shockwave had finished speaking and now all attention was on the two of them.
"I have several candidates, lord Galvatron. I should have a definite suspect in a few cycles." He answered, trying not to convey his nervousness.
"I've been conducting my own investigation actually." Galvatron countered. "And I know exactly who the traitor is, yes." With that Galvatron grabbed Punch's wrist punched him in the T-cog, causing Punch to revert into Counterpunch before throwing him into the wall at the other side of the room. "You!"
Righting himself, Counterpunch deployed his blasters to fire on Galvatron only to be blasted back into the wall by his opponents' cannon.
"You see, Punch." Galvatron began. "I figured you might be the mole when the Autobots found the Predacon lab. The lab you were the head of security for." He rocketed forward and grabbed onto Counterpunches' arms before driving him back with a foot to the chest, ripping the spys' arms off at the shoulder in the process.
"Then Tarantulas overheard you making a report to Ultra Magnus, informing the enemy of our plans to Cyberform the Earth." Galvatron continued, dropping the arms and transforming into his dragon mode before walking up to the fallen spy. "Then you let the Autobot infiltrators through while destroying your own unit." He finished, setting a clawed foot on Counterpunches' legs.
Galvatron lowered his head to Counterpunches. "Well, I know how to handle spys, yes." With that, Galvatron sank his teeth into Counterpunches' chest, biting through it. The spy had a brief glimpse of his own spark being ripped out and crushed in Galvatrons' maw before everything went black.
"My fellow Decepticons." Galvatron began once he'd dropped his mouthful and transformed back. "Now that his betrayer is no more, I propose a toast. To our glorious, fallen leader, Megatron." With that he watched with glee as the stunned Decepticons drank the contaminated Engex to break the tension. Well, almost all of them.
"Is something wrong Scrapper?" He asked, walking over to the Constructicon leader. He'd noticed that none of the team were drinking, and he needed them infected for his plans to work.
"Actually, yes." Scraper replied. "Your story. If you knew Punch was a spy, why not inform Megatron directly? Or even Soundwave before he disappeared?"
Galvatron weighed his options. Seeing that most of the assembled Decepticons had finished their spiked drinks, he decided to make his move. "Well, it would've been foolhardy of me to inform Megatron of one betrayer, when I was planning betrayal myself." He admitted, towering over the Constructicon leader.
If Scrapper was intimidated by this, he didn't show it. "Well, you overlooked a few things." He began, the six dropping their drinks. "One, I don't drink. Ever." He held up one finger. "Two, Mixmaster is a skilled enough chemist to determine the chemical makeup of whatever's in front of him at a glance." He added a second finger. "And three, not every con is willing to take you at your word." He finished with a third finger.
"Constructicons transfo-" Scrapper said before being gripped by the throat by Galvatron.
"I overlooked nothing, no." Galvatron replied. "Decepticons lock all weapons onto the Constructicons." There was a moment's hesitation. "I said lock on." With that Dark Matrix in his chest glowed and the collective Predacons, Vehicons and Decepticons trained their weapons on the six.
"H-how?" Scrapper rasped.
"With the Dark Matrix of Chaos, I have absolute control over anything with even the slightest bit of dark energon within it." Galvatron explained. "And with everyone having consumed some within the Engex, I now have absolute control over the Decepticons, Predacons, and Vehicons on this ship." He sneered. "Only a few holdouts remain now. Yes." He finished before being hit by a pair of laser blasts, forcing him to drop Scraper.
Turning to glare at his attacker, Galvatron was surprised to see Blitzwing transform from tank mode to bot mode. "You ze, 'Lord Galvatron'." His blue face began. "Ze humans have a phrase I zink would be most appropriate here." He switched to his red face. "Don't drink ze Kool Aid." With that he fired again.
Blocking the blasts with his shield, Galvatron glared at Blitzwing. "Obviously you are too much of a wild card to be kept in play." He trained his cannon on Blitzwing only nearly be knocked to his knees as the whole ship shook. "What in?" The sound of tearing metal rang out.
Turning, Galvatron saw that the Constructicons had combined into Devastator while he'd been distracted by Blitzwing and had torn open a hole in the hull of the ship. "No! Stop them!" Galvatron yelled as Devastator cannonballed out of the hole and fell out of sight. The sound of Blitzwings' laughter caused him to turn back, only to find that the triple changer had disappeared as well.
"Blast them." Galvatron growled. Galvatron turned to his remaining forces. "Search the ship for every Decepticon that isn't already here and bring them to me." He ordered, his dark matrix flashing.
He turned and glared at Shockwave. "And why, pray tell, did you not intervene?" He questioned. He knew Tarantulas' shadow play control kept him from rebelling, but it seemed to leave him without much in the way of initiative, save whatever Tarantulas, himself, and/or Megatron ordered him to do.
"Attempting to detain a combiner would have been, illogical." Shockwave answered, causing Galvatron to glare.
"Then go and prepare to initiate the backup plan." Galvatron replied. While he preferred to have Devastator, he knew the Constructicons weren't the only combining Decepticons out there.
Down in Knockouts' lab, he and Starscream were rummaging through the various storage cabinets and containers.
"Pack lite, pack lite, pack lite." Knockout was chanting to himself. Optics widening, he picked up a roto buffer. "Oh, pack smart."
On the other side of the lab, Starscream was going through storage lockers. "215, 216, ah, here it is. 217." He exclaimed as he pulled what looked like a six pack of canisters from its' locker. "Alright, I've got what we need, let's go." With that the two began to make their way to the hangar only to be met by a trio of Vehicons.
"Freeze Starscream." The middle one called training his blaster on him. His visor glowed purple. "Lord Galvatron wants a word with you and the good doctor here." Before they could make another move a barrage of laser blasts took their heads off.
"Ze mechs are losing zer heads. Ze Blitzwing Bop." Blitzwing sang as he sped past the stunned doctor and aerospace commander in tank mode.
Knockout shook his head and followed him into the hangar. "Going my way soldier?" Knockout called, as Blitzwing transformed into his jet mode.
"I am truly flattered Knockout." Blitzwing replied. "But I just don't see you zat vay."
"Not what I meant!" Knockout exclaimed.
"And the good doctor is coming with me." Starscream added, pulling Knockout away before transforming. "Climb on."
"In front of everyone? Ave you no shame Ztarzcream?" Blitzwing ribbed as laser blasts passed overhead.
"Just shut up and take off!" Starscream yelled as Knockout clambered on. Exiting the hangar, Starscream set course for the Harbinger, thankful that Blitzwing was headed the opposite direction. Hopefully the Autobots hadn't found the supplies he'd stashed away nearby before he left it.
Back on the Nemesis, Galvatron was fuming in Shockwave and Tarantulas' now shared lab. "So, not only did we lose Devastator, but we've also lost our contingency plan for that very event?" He asked as Tarantulas finished work on Bludgeons' pretender shell.
"Sadly, yes." Tarantulas replied as he soldered some new circuits into the back of the shell. "However, my latest invention should make up for it."
"Ah yes, your DIAclones, as you called them." Galvatron answered, remembering what his scientist had called the 'Disposable Infiltration, and Assassination clones'. Tarantulas had explained that he could create his drone like clones of anyone to act as agents. Sadly, he couldn't bolster his forces with them since they couldn't hold up in full on battle.
"Yes, and the final one for this plan to work has been completed. With a 'donation' from our 'fallen leader'." Tarantulas cackled, nodding to where Megatrons now limbless form was bolted to a table. He'd taken great pleasure in amputating Megatrons' limbs after removing his vocalizer. Pity he'd fallen unconscious during the procedure. Then again, he couldn't waste supplies on little things like anesthesia.
Speaking of which, Tarantulas now turned to Counterpunches' corpse and reached into his mouth. "Your shell is ready now Bludgeon, climb in." The Mini-con gave a nod before jumping into his shells' abdominal cavity.
"What on Cybertron are you doing?" Galvatron asked as Bludgeon stood up and joined him.
"Little fun fact." Tarantulas began as he rooted around the dead spys' throat. "If you remove the vocalizer from a patient, you can replay the last hundred or so words they spoke, aha." He called, holding up a small spherical voice box. "Now that may not seem like much, but it's enough for a computer to replicate the vocal patterns." He finished with a dark chuckle.
"A grand ploy indeed." Bludgeon spoke. "Your drones shall divide our foes. Leaving them open."
"Indeed." Galvatron nodded. "Tarantulas, begin preparing your transmission. Bludgeon, prepare to lead the assault." This was too good an opportunity to miss, soon Optimus Prime and his Autobots would be dead, and the universe his for the taking.
"Good morning, June." Rung greeted his patient. "How are you doing today?"
"I'm doing alright doctor Rung." June answered from the psychiatrists' couch. "I still miss having coffee, but otherwise I'm fine."
"I'm happy to hear that June. I know your becoming a Maximal was very spur of the moment, but I'm thankful you aren't regretting it." Rung replied.
"Absolutely not, and it's not like I much of anything left in my human life anyway." June admitted. "The house and job I'd worked so hard for were snatched away by Simmons, I have no friends outside of work, and Jack is the only family I have left."
"Your only biological family?" Rung queried. He knew that June had taken over as a surrogate mother to Miko Rafael and Vince. To say nothing of her new sibling bond with Arcee. A bond that Rung believed was beneficial for both parties involved.
June smiled. "Well, yes." She looked at her psychiatrist. "I was the only child of a well to do family with controlling parents." She snorted. "I guess that's why I can relate with Miko so much. My parents were dead set on me following in their footsteps to take over their accounting firm." June explained.
"And I'm guessing that just wasn't what you wanted?" Rung asked.
"My parents, were cutthroats." June answered. "They used predatory practices to make themselves rich at the expense of others. I didn't like the idea of hurting people to get ahead."
"And instead, you set out to become a nurse." Rung supplied.
"Actually, that came after." June answered with a sigh.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Rung asked. He had a feeling this would be difficult for his patient. She surprised him, however.
"I made my peace with it long ago." June began. "When I was in college, I met Jacks' father. It was something of a whirlwind romance, and it blinded me to some of his faults."
She gave a heavy sigh, running a hand over her abdomen. "Not long after we met, I found out I was pregnant with Jack. My parents were furious, they tried to force me to get an abortion." June glared at the ceiling. "I should've seen Alex for what he was with how halfhearted his argument against it was."
"Like you said." Rung interjected. "You were blind to some of his faults."
"And I was angrier at my parents." June continued. "After I refused to abort Jack, they completely cut me off and out. They stopped paying my tuition and acted like I didn't exist anymore." June was silent for a few seconds before smiling. "That's when my grandpa Jackson came to my rescue."
"I'm guessing he's the one Jack's named after?" Rung asked. He knew that some names were passed down and was curious.
"My mothers' father." June nodded. "He used to insist that I stay with him on his ranch a few weeks every summer. Since my parents were hoping to inherit the property, they allowed it." She smiled. "I learned a lot from Grandpa Jack, specifically that I like helping people."
She looked at Rung. "When he found out that my parents had essentially disowned me, he sold his ranch and used the money to pay for the rest of my education and put a down payment on a house for the four of us." She swallowed. "He didn't quite approve of Alex but wanted me to be happy. He said he was honored that we'd named our son after him." She added.
June closed her eyes. "When Jack was about three, my grandpa passed away in his sleep at eighty-two." She took a deep breath. "A couple years later, Alex walked out on the both of us. He said he felt trapped in our marriage and flat our said he never wanted kids."
"I'm so sorry June." Rung whispered. He had no idea that this relatively young femme in front of him had led such a life. Then again, humans lived comparatively short lives compared to Cybertronians so this probably shouldn't surprise him.
"Don't be, I made my peace with it." June reaffirmed. "I realize now that he was as much husband material as my parents were honest people. And I found people I'm glad to call family."
Rung smiled. "Family isn't always about proximity, or blood in the case of Earthlings. The family we choose is just as important." He gave June a teasing smirk. "Besides, I think Optimus is more husband material than your ex was."
"Oh, for the love of!" June whipped the cushion from behind her head and buried her face in it. Get drunk one time and no one lets you live it down. She was going to kill Arcee.
"Before you plan to kill Arcee." Rung began, seemingly reading her mind. "I figured out you had a crush on him before you became a Maximal. Your gaze tended to linger on him a little longer than normal." He explained. "It's a behavior that Cybertronians have as well. Your little coffee bender the other day just confirmed it."
"Look." June said, uncovering her now red face. "I admit I have a crush on Optimus. When I see and talk with him, I see everything I could've wanted in both a husband and father figure for my kids." She sighed. "But I know it couldn't work. With the war going on and everything, romance is probably the last thing on his mind."
"This is true." Rung admitted. "But we may not be at war forever. And you are a techno organic hybrid now and as such will live a very long time if Ratchets' theories are correct."
He put a hand on Junes' shoulder. "Now, I don't play Amouracon. Our equivalent of Cupid." Rung explained at her confused look. "But I will give you this bit of advice. If it's going to happen, it will in its' own time."
June smiled. "Thank you doctor."
He smiled back. "Please, just call me Rung."
Topside in the Unit-E medical hangar, several of the other Maximals were being tested on their newer abilities after the raid on the Nemesis under the supervision of Rodimus and Ultra Magnus.
"Hit it, Allison!" Trailbreaker called. Allison threw her saber forward and let loose a Nucleon pulse. Trailbreaker threw up one of his force fields to block the pulse, which then rebounded off the shield and an adjacent wall. Throwing up a second field, he blocked the pulse from both sides before it fizzled out. "Not bad, you almost got me that time."
Allison was panting. "Thanks TB." She breathed. While her maximized pulse could now hit multiple targets as a chain. She found that three targets were the maximum she could get before it stopped being effective. With some concentration she found she could control the direction, though it left her winded.
Smirking a bit as she took a drink of water, Trailbreaker commented. "I'm sure it would get the Dinobot seal of approval."
"What do you mean?" She asked, trying to sound innocent.
"Oh please, I'm the head of security here and by extension, observant." Trailbreaker answered. "You and Slash have been making goo-goo optics at each other since the Dinobots arrived."
"Can you please drop it TB." Allison replied, red faced. "It's not often I find a girl that's interested in me. And I don't want anything to scare her off."
Trailbreaker snorted. "Okay, one." He held up a finger. "Dinobots don't get scared off by much, and definitely not a lovesick femme." He began, ignoring her look of annoyance. "Two, I'm your partner and friend, I'm supposed to tease you a little bit." He continued with a second finger. "And three, I support you in becoming Endura with her, Conjunx or otherwise."
Allison smiled and hugged Trailbreaker. "Thanks breaker." She whispered, before getting an impish smile. Patting his leg a bit she let loose a low power nucleon pulse that made him jump a foot in the air, a trick that she called the 'Joy Buzzer'. "Gotcha." She laughed.
"Very funny."
Across the base, Vince and Sierra were testing their enhanced abilities.
"Alright Siri, let's see what you can grow." Vince encouraged. They'd been testing her ability to make plant life spring forward at will. However, Vinces' words caused a snort.
"Careful Vinnie, you're starting to sound like a certain space witch." She giggled.
"That'd be a thought. Growing a plant to bot sized to fight for us." Vince snorted back. "But seriously, what've you got?"
Sierra focused on the ground around her. Sometimes she could cause a plant to bloom into life from a seed. Other times however, she seemed to create new types of plants with her powers. Two of the former, ended up being taken for study after she created them.
Vince watched in fascination as a pod on a stalk erupted from the Earth. Frowning a bit, he poked at the new plant. "Huh, that's a bit of a-." He was cut off as the plant seemingly flung a spiked seed from its' pod at him. Ducking to the side he heard a sharp yelp. Turning, he saw that the wayward seed had hit Ultra Magnus in the center of his back.
Sierra and Vince covered their mouths to stifle their laughter. Rodimus however burst out laughing at Ultra Magnus' attempts to remove the seed. "Got you in the one spot you can't reach, didn't it?" Rodimus laughed as he picked it off Magnus' back. Dropping it, he was surprised that it split and germinated into a new plant almost immediately.
As Magnus marched up to the two of them, Vince decided to test his new ability on the irate Autobot. "We are not the ones you are looking for." He spoke using the same tone he used to control the Vehicons. Why his first thought was to paraphrase Obi-Wan Kenobi was beyond him, although it was worth it to hear Sierra bust out laughing.
Ultra Magnus gave Vince a flat look. "Nice try." He began in a deadpan voice. "Your power works but my willpower is too strong for it to take hold. And please try to keep from attacking others during the testing phase."
"No matter how funny it may be." Rodimus quipped, earning a hard glare from Magnus and continued laughter from the Maximals.
A couple of buildings over, Miko was having the limits of her teleportation ability retested.
"Okay Miko." Perceptor said as Miko put the cup she just teleported to her down on the table. Apparently, her outlier ability had been upgraded by Vector Sigma to the point where not only could she teleport herself and others, but she could also teleport things to her or where she wanted them. "Now, how about you bring something larger to you."
Thinking for a second, Miko got an impish smile. Concentrating, she focused on what she wanted to bring to her. A second later, Jack appeared in a burst of burgundy light. He blinked confusedly for a moment. A second ago, he'd been brushing his teeth before his testing, now he was topside?
"Darn." Miko giggled. "I was hoping to catch you in the shower."
Jack spat out his mouthful of toothpaste and glared at his girlfriend. "Very funny pretty bird. How would you like it if I snuck up on you like that?"
"I don't think I'd mind Mr. Darby, are you offering?" She replied coyly with a seductive look, trying not to laugh while Jacks' face turned red.
"Okay." Perceptor interrupted forcefully. "Now that we've established that you can bring something your size, how about something bigger?" He thought for a second. "Try to teleport Bulkhead to you, but if it's too much, don't push it."
"Alright." Miko replied. "One Bulkhead, over easy." She joked, making Jack roll his eyes at the attempted line cook lingo.
Miko focused on her partner and concentrated. This time however, her power fought her a little. Screwing up her face in concentration, Bulkhead appeared in a much larger flash of burgundy light. Miko promptly collapsed to her knees.
"Perceptor? How'd I get up her-. Miko!" Bulkhead exclaimed when he saw his Maximal friend and partner being helped up by her boyfriend.
"We were testing the upper limits of the Maximals 'maximized' abilities. Apparently Miko can teleport things to and away from her as well as teleport herself." Perceptor explained. "However, anything bigger than her seems to strain her powers."
He looked at Jack. "Take her back to the den to lay down. Then come here so we can test your new abilities Leobolt." Perceptor ordered.
"I don't think that'll take long." Jack answered, hoisting Miko up a bit. "From what I can tell I didn't get any new abilities." This was true. While the other Maximals got new or enhanced abilities, Jack didn't receive any.
"What are you talking about?" Miko asked. "You sliced that one Vehicon with your whip no problem."
"I've always been able to do that." Jack answered. "I just don't like to take lives if I can help it."
"Hard to believe Vector Sigma left you high and dry in the power category." Miko groused. "I know you've been practicing with Drift but outside of your whip you don't have-."
"I think my link to Vector Sigman counts in this case even if I can't fully utilize it, and I can make do with what I have Miko." Jack cut her off before smiling. "And right now, I have a girlfriend who needs to recover from overtaxing herself."
Miko nuzzled him a bit. "Only if I can use my favorite purr pillow." She teased.
"All bots, Maximals and personnel report to the Lost Light." Came Fowlers' voice on the base PA system. "We are in crisis mode."
"Damn it."
Moments later aboard the Lost Light. The entirety of the bases' forces was assembled. Not just Autobots and Maximals, but the solders of Unit-E as well. Fowler stood alongside Optimus, Ultra Magnus, and Rodimus.
"Alright everyone, listen up." The recently minted Maximal began. "The Decepticons have officially changed the rules. Care to explain Prime."
Optimus nodded. "We recently received an emergency message from our spy onboard the Nemesis. With the Omega Lock gone, Megatron now plans to conquer Earth and most likely force its' populace into slavery to rebuild Cybertron." He paused a moment to let that fact sink in. "Moments ago, we received these images." Stepping aside, Optimus allowed the collective to see three ongoing attacks.
"We have coordinated attacks at three different locations." Ultra Magnus continued. "The first is in what the humans call 'Silicon Valley'. Soundwave seems to be leading a Predacon assault there. We believe that they are attempting either disrupt communications for the country or turn them against us."
"How'd they get him out of the shadow zone?" Sparkstalker wondered.
"The second attack is in New York City." Rodimus continued. "We just received confirmation from a human informant that the Constructicons have begun an assault there as well." He said indicating an image of Devastator blasting a hole through the Chrysler building while a squad of Vehicons fired at other buildings randomly
"And finally, Megatron and Starscream are leading a march of Vehicons towards Pennsylvania Avenue. The president has been evacuated, but I don't need to tell you what losing our nations' capitol means." Fowler finished.
Bumblebee spoke up. "How do we know the humans won't fire on us when we go to help them? They might think we're Decepticon reinforcements."
"We know." Optimus began. "The Decepticons have unfortunately caused our existence to become publicly known. However, we believe we can mitigate the damage by allowing ourselves to be seen fighting them alongside this country's' armed forces." He declared.
"How do we explain our existence to the humans?" Ratchet asked.
"We shall have to cross that bridge when we come to it old friend." Optimus replied. "For now, we must divide our forces to meet the enemy."
"Dinobots, Blaster, you're with me." Ultra Magnus began. "We're going to head off Soundwave and the Predacons." Blaster stepped forward while Grimlock gave a stiff nod.
Rodimus spoke next. "Protectobots, you're coming with me. We're going to New York to stop Devastator. Skidz, Depthcharge Velocity, you are too."
"And that leaves the Wreckers and I going to Washington D.C. to stop Megatron." Optimus concluded. "Jetfire, Hound, considering your alternate modes are connected to G.I. Joe I want you to join us to further cement our position as allies."
"What about us Optimus?" Jack asked.
"The remainder of the Maximals shall remain here for the time being." Upon seeing their surprised and outraged look, Optimus explained. "Between your now enhanced abilities not being fully tested and lack of a potential cover story, I believe you would be best kept in reserve in case backup is needed or a fourth attack is waged." This seemed to calm them down some.
"That said." Optimus continued, turning to the men and women of Unit-E. "I need at least two human platoons for each Autobot team. Roll out!"
Crossing through the space bridge in vehicle mode, Optimus quickly homed in on Megatron. Not wasting time with words, he hit the accelerator and transformed. Using the momentum, Optimus swung his fist forward, sending it through the Decepticon leaders' skull? Optics wide, Optimus watched as "Megatron" seemingly came apart. Looking down he saw all that remained of his opponent was limbs and scrap parts, there wasn't so much of a trace of a brain or a spark chamber.
"We've been had." Optimus muttered to himself. Around him, the other Autobots were making the same discovery.
"Scrap."
"Springs."
"Junk."
His comms beeped. "Sir." Ultra Magnus called in. "You are not going to believe this."
"The Decepticon attackers were little more than drones." Optimus replied.
"So, we're three for three then, Rodimus just reported Devastator falling apart after a human soldier hit him with a rocket launcher." Magnus confirmed.
The comms beeped again. "Optimus, Ultra Magnus, anybody! This is Cosmos!"
"Cosmos, what is happening?" Optimus replied, dread welling up in his spark.
"I am under attack. The Nemesis is pursuing me. I don't think." The line cut out.
"Cosmos?" Optimus called. "Cosmos, can you hear me? Lightbright, try to get a signal on Cosmos."
There were a few moments of silence. "I, I'm sorry Optimus. Cosmos' bio signal is offline." Lightbright replied. "He, he's gone."
Optimus hung his head. Another good solder lost in this war. "Lock onto his last broadcast coordinates. The Decepticons may well be attempting to attack another target while we are scattered."
"Looking now." She replied. "Okay, last coordinates for Cosmos were zero, zero." There was a moment of silence. "Zero." Lightbright finished with a whisper.
"They've found our base" Optimus whispered; fear welling in his spark. "Lightbright, Ratchet, use both space bridges to recall all away teams!" He called.
"Gha, too late." Lightbright replied in a panic. "They're jamming the bridges." She reported causing Optimus' optics to widen as he heard laser fire in the background. "We have Decepticons in the ship!"
"No." He whispered. Rapidly deploying his flight pack, Optimus took to the air, a loud boom moments later signaled that he'd broken the sound barrier. Upon reaching his maximum flight speed of Mach 4, Optimus prayed to Primus any other god that might be listening that the others could hold the Decepticons off until help could arrive.
Meanwhile, aboard the Nemesis, Galvatron was looking down at the Autobots' secret base. From less than a thousand feet he could make out the various bots and Maximals staring up at him. Grinning, he turned to Tarantulas. "Thier space bridges are being jammed?" He asked.
Tarantulas nodded. "Yes, it's difficult without Soundwave, but doable. We even found a way to use our space bridge while jamming theirs. And our ploy with the DIAclones worked perfectly." Luring the Autobot 'heavy hitters' away from the base had been a masterstroke. Fortunately, they'd found the bases' location using Mindwipes' last known coordinates.
"Then let us not stand on ceremony." Galvatron shook his head. Looking down he pointed at the base.
"Decepticons, transform and attack!"
A/N: Ohh, cliffhanger. Well, fun fact, when I sat down to write this chapter, I realized I had way too much going on and the end result was over 23,000 words and almost 50 pages. Therefore, I broke it up into four chapters that I will be uploading every other week from today until they're all posted. Afterwards I'll go back to my original update schedule of every month or so.
In regard to my Galvatrons' personality, I tried to combine the cunning and drama of Beast Wars Megatron and the savage insanity of G1 Galvatron. Throw in some extra arrogance and voila. And yes the Decepticon deserters will all return in future chapters. Some in very big ways.
Coincidentally, the Diaclone reference (one of the toy lines the transformers were originally adapted from in the 80's for those who don't know) was just a fun way to slip the name in. I couldn't help myself.
I'll see you all in two weeks. Until then, please, fave follow and comment. Thank you.