Once more we divide

From peace we turn

The day the world died

Nothing was learned

Cybertron, Sea of Rust.

Eight billion years ago.

Earth time: 2nd November 2012 (Day of Extinction)

"I know, for I was there…"

In one fell swoop, the tide of battle had shifted again. The Decepticon had come to Cybertron in search of the Omega Lock. In possession of the Omega Keys, the devices that would activate the enormous mechanism, Megatron hoped to revitalize Cybertron in his image.

Overconfident with victory so close, he and his party were surprised to be assaulted by the Autobots. Outnumbered, but determined, the Autobots seized all four Omega Keys from their enemy and took off on a b-line for the Lock.

Upon arriving at the Omega Lock, at the center of the Sea of Rust, they were intercepted by Megatron.

"Autobots, I would strongly suggest you hand over those keys." the warlord had demanded.

When Prime challenged him, Starscream, Soundwave and Knockout came through a spacebridged, each holding Jack, Miko and Rafael hostages in sealed containers. That was Megatron's ultimatum: give up the Omega Keys or watch the children suffocate in Cybertron's toxic atmosphere.

The children were prepared to sacrifice themselves

Optimus searched in his processor and spark for a way to safe-guard both the children and the keys and found none. Therefore…

"If my decision dooms the future of the Autobot cause on Cybertron, so be it. But I will never forsake our human allies."

So it was done. One at the time, the children were exchanged by the sacred tools meant to save Cybertron. When the last switch was made, Vehicons came pouring out of another spacebridge and surrounded the Autobots.

"Now watch as a new era dawns on Cybertron." Each Decepticon, now holding a key, inserted them into the control panel. The Omega Lock lit up as the ringular structure above glowed with a liquid substance of greenish hue. "Behold the Age of the Decepticons!"

Megatron proceeded to demonstrate a fraction of the newfound power he wielded by restoring a large obelisk. It awed and terrified the Autobots and humans.

"You have what you want, Megatron. This conflict is between Autobots and Decepticons. Allow me to return the humans to Earth."

It was then that Megatron revealed the entirety of his plan and it was far more dreadful than Optimus feared. He intended to use the Omega Lock, not just to restore Cybertron into a Decepticon-ran world but also to configure Earth into a mechanical planet.

"If the Omega lock can restore Cybertron, it'll do the same to Earth, right?" Miko asked, hopeful for a positive answer.

"No. It will cyber-form your planet in favor of its new matrix. Destroying all indigenous life in the process."

::::::::::

PLANETARY CYBERFORMING PROCESS INITIATING…1%…2%…3%…

::::::::::

The beam of cybermater touched the ground but it didn't spread on the surface. No, first it would spear downwards.

Deep in the bowels of Earth lied the dormant physical form of Unicron, the primeval personification of chaos. Thanks to the power of the Matrix of Leadership, the Chaos Bringer could theoretically remain harmlessly dormant until the whole Universe withered away. Alive, but eternally dormant, comatose.

That would now change. For when the cybermatter reached the dormant titan, Unicron woke up in utter agony.

It was said that dark energon is the blood of Unicron. From that, it can be surmised that energon is the blood of Primus. And if energon is his blood, the cybermatter would be Primus' flesh. Therefore, Unicron was now receiving the equivalent of a forceful organ implant from an incompatible donor.

And. It. Hurt!

Fortunately, the pain was as short-lived as it was excruciating. The cybermatter quickly penetrated his form, from his plate armor to his anti-spark chamber.

When it was over, Unicron fell silent again. Only this time he wasn't simply comatose. Rather, the Chaos Bringer was left dormant and dying.

By cyberforming Earth, Megatron had achieved something that would make his ego inflate: he had slain a god.

"Such raw power!" Megatron marveled. "What should I call my new domain? New Kaon? Or perhaps 'Gilded Earth'." he looked over the human pets of the Autobots. Every word he had uttered was purposefully calculated to instill as much fear as possible into the organic insects. And it certainly had its intended impact.

"No!"

"Leave our planet alone!"

Oh, it made Megatron howl with laughter. And laugh he did.

Optimus Prime watched as his nemesis rejoiced in his heinous sin. Megatron, whom he had once respected, admired and even loved. Megatron, whom destroyed their home in his uncompromising quest for power and control. Megatron, who chuckled in triumph and glee as he was on the verge of destroying another world and an innocent species.

Optimus saw red. Quickly he sliced the three Vehicons aiming at him and ran for the Star Saber. With a roar, Megatron ran up to his enemy, with his own twisted version of the weapon. The two star sabers collided once more, but Optimus wasn't planning on dragging the fight. He meant to slice off Megatron's arm, the very same limb he had desecrated from a fallen Prime.

However, Megatron blocked the attempt with his dark blade. "Rather ruthlessly clever of you, Optimus. But not enough."

And so the battle reignited. Every second, Optimus attempted to disengage and stop the machine. Every second he knew was precious.

::::::::::

14%…PLANETARY CORE FULLY CYBERFORMED.

COMMENCING CYBERFORMING OF OUTER LAYERS...15%…16%…

::::::::::

From the inside out, Earth shifted, cracked and mutated. Earthquakes rattled all over the globe, even in places where they were never known to occur. Buildings crumbled on top of terrified, fleeing humans. Massive portions of the ground cracked open.

The Autobots all sprang into action, taking down the Vehicons and engaging the Decepticons. Arcee ordered quite vehemently for Smokescreen to keep guarding the kids before racing off to engage Soundwave who was about to sneak-attack Optimus from behind.

The two leaders exchanged blows, Optimus determined and Megatron sickly gleeful. The tyrant attempted to sent a wave of dark energy of his blade at the children, but Optimus' parried.

The Decepticon warlord could guess what his foe was going for, and wasn't about to give him any opportunity. With every second that passed, the Prime became more frantic in breaking off and going for the Lock. Megatron could see the fear of failure in Optimus. He couldn't resist taunting him for it:

"Time is running out, Optimus. You can't save Earth and your pets. One must perish if you wish to succeed. And all will perish when you fail!"

::::::::::

57%…58%...59%...

::::::::::

The wave of cybermatter reached the earth's crust. Now the real tragedy would begin as the planet would change appearance forever.

The ocean floor was lower than the continents so they were the first place to be affected. The sea water had its chemical composition radically altered, transforming into an unrefined, raw grade of energon. Energon was unfortunately corrosive to anything organic, and all sea flora and fauna met a painful demise as their own environment turned into a deadly poison.

Megatron pushed Optimus back, sword interlocked and their faces so close they could see their reflection in each other's optics.

"It's over, Optimus Prime. You lost."

"Never, Megatron!" The proximity of the dark emerging from the blade was slowly sapping Optimus' strength. But the Autobot pressed on, fueled by urgency and furry.

"Can you hear them, Optimus? All those organic pests you swore to protect. All of them, dying out. You have failed!"

::::::::::

64%…65%...66%...

::::::::::

The tidal wave of cybermatter reached the surface of the crust. The panicking children of Earth didn't get a moment of respite between the worldwide tremors and what came next.

The green translucent substance traveled from emerging points in every direction, like volcanos spontaneously erupting. Wherever it passes, people, animals, even microbes were petrified into dead metal.

Citizens all over the world cried out in hysteria, begging for help from divinity, hugging their loved ones or thinking of them before the wave of alien metal silenced them, forever.

Megatron continued his maniacal tirade.

"I should thank you, old friend. For it was you precious Iacon relics that led to this outcome. Perhaps if I feel generous enough, I will allow you and your followers to live on my new conquest."

Optimus growled in response, again trying and failing to disengage and go for the Omega Lock.

Jasper, Nevada.

"Jack! Please pick up!" June Darby called desperately for her son, but to no avail. She had tried to contact Ratchet but the old bot ignored her.

And now it felt like the whole world was going to hell. Far away in the horizon she could see a wave of green light coming closer and closer. The nurse stepped back, dread overcoming her.

"Oh my God…Jack please be safe." Those were her last words as the cybermatter washed over the town.

Indeed Jack Darby was among the safest humans in existence. And in moments he would be one of the last.

::::::::::

85%…86%...87%...

::::::::::

"So rejoice Optimus. Our race will live again, on Cybertron and on Earth. Under my rule. And all it was required was the sacrifice of a few insects."

Optimus greeted his teeth, wishing for Megatron to just shut up!

"You have lost!"

"DARN YOU, MEGATRON!" With a desperate kick, Optimus pushed Megatron back and wasted no time slicing his arm off.

Megatron, surprised and in pained shock, was then shoved aside by Optimus who made a beeline for the center of the Omega Lock.

::::::::::

91%…92%...93%...94%…95%...96%...

::::::::::

"Primus, forgive us this madness. Forgive us." With that silent prayer, the last Prime drove the Star Saber into the control panel. The ensuing explosion could be seen from miles. And felt across realities.

Place: ?

The exiled being gasped. "A familiar resonance! It's been so long, but it feels like…" it chuckled, maliciously. "Finally. This may be a good portent for me."

Earth. Outpost Omega-One.

"What the scrap is going on?!" Ratchet frantically tried to recalibrate his instruments. For the last few minutes the ground shook and the massive energy readings rendered him without communications. Now the energy source appeared to have ceased completely, but he could still not raise his comrades. Had Ratchet been paying attention to the worldwide communications, he would notice how odd it was that they had gone silent.

Through the static, he heard Optimus' voice. His old friend sounded weary. "Ratchet…please open a space bridge."

He diligently did so. His friends and teammates walked through, all looking exhausted and despondent. Yet what confused Ratchet the most was whom they brought back.

"The children! What happened?" nobody answered. "Somebody say something!"

After placing miko safely on the ground, Bulkhead replied with great reluctance. Like he was swallowing contaminated energon.

"Optimus…destroyed the Omega Lock."

Time froze for the old medic. A coldness invaded his frame, from his limbs to his torso and finally his voicebox. He turned to his friend and leader and stammered. "W-what?! You did…"

"What was necessary. There was no time for another prolonged battle. Not with Earth in imminent danger."

The medic grabbed the console behind him for support, in fear he could collapse at any moment. "So you destroyed the only device in any universe capable of restoring our home? Optimus, we needed that."

Smokescren stepped up to defend the Bot he so much respected. "You weren't there, Doc. And it's not your place to second-guess a battlefield decision."

Of all the…this rookie has the ballbearings! "It most certainly is! There had to be another way!"

"I-It wasn't that simple, Ratchet." Jack intervened.

"Megatron was using the Omega lock to attack the Earth." Raf explained.

"Optimus saved our planet." Miko restated, definitely.

Ratchet turned his furry on the children. "What about our planet?! All of our struggles and Energon spilled and countless sacrifices for nothing?!"

"Right decision or wrong, what's done is done." Arcee retorted, glaring down. Clearly she held the same sentiments as the medic, but was not about to vocalize them. "But we have another problem here in this world. The Cons just changed the rules when they put Jack, Miko, and Raf into play."

Ratchet was on the verge of a fit. "And how did the Decepticons find them in the first…"

An alarm went off and multiple windows opened on the mainframe. Instinctively, the medic went for his station. "We have a spacebridge opening in the vicinity!"

"Where exactly?" Optimus asked.

"Right on top of us."

"Ratchet, watch the children." Optimus' tone left no room for argument. "And try to raise Agent Fowler."

The rest of the Autobots went outside via the rising platform. And they came to see a world completely transformed. The sky remained blue, but the few clouds visible carried a faint blue, glowing hue. Almost like energon. The landscape all around had become metal. The rock, sand and dirt that made the ground had changed into solid, all-too-familiar metal. Out in the distance were a collection of buildings and structures of roughly Cybertronian architecture where Jasper was supposed to be.

Yet, what caught everyone's optic was the humongous obelisk standing just a few hundred meters in front of their base. Also of Cybertronian architecture, the malevolent looking spire was easily three times the height of the plateau in which the Outpost Omega One was built in.

"Megatron…has succeeded in his plan to cyberform Earth." Optimus spoke every word with difficulty, like he feared making it an irrevocable truth by saying it.

"But why build a replica of his eyesore citadel right here, of all places?" Bulkhead frowned.

Sure enough, the Decepticon warship Nemesis, the source of the spacebridge the sensors had just detected, descended from the sky and into their view.

"Because the Decepticons have discovered the location of our base."

Megatron was not at his best. His arm was missing and he walked with a limp after Optimus shoved him into the pillar of the Lock. One would think he wasn't fit to lead a battle. Despite the pain - and the dark energon in his system already healing the wounds - the old champion of Kaon refused to miss this historical moment for anything. Especially not if he still had the opportunity to make it even more legend worthy.

"Our opportunity to revive Cybertron has been lost due to the treachery of Optimus Prime! But from our fortress of New Kaon, we will instead colonize our new world!"

And make this day more legendary he would, by eliminating his enemies once and for all and winning this war.

"Decepticons, transform and rise up!"

With an ecstatic Starscream at the lead, the armada of Vehicons - some of which were the gray-schemed upgraded model - took off and fired a barrage at the Autobots. The Insecticons followed suit, their monstrous shrieks a call for battle.

The Autobots shot back against the onslaught, but they were too outnumbered for traditional weapons to be of any help. Though a wave from the Starsaber cut the assault force in half, it only granted them a short reprieve. In great disadvantage, the Autobots retreated back inside.

Ratchet walked up to Optimus, motioning to talk quietly. "Optimus, I couldn't get in touch with Agent Fowler. Furthermore, I'm not picking up any of the usual human transmissions."

The Autobots grew apprehensive, some casting worried glances at the children. For their part, the youngsters were preoccupied in reaching their families by phone, but with no success.

The ceiling shook, raining streams of dust. Optimus knew this was not the time to mourn, or even time to fight. "Ratchet, prepare to bridge everyone out of here."

"We're abandoning the base?"

"The base is lost. We will rend…"

Suddenly, a voice sounded over the intercom. "You didn't think I was gonna let team Prime have all the fun, did you?"

"It's Jackie!" Bulkhead's spirit lifted for the first time in the day.

"I picked up a strange energy surge. Hope you don't mind the company. I'll hold them off while you get ready to scrap them."

Optimus walked over to the console. "Negative, Wheeljack. We are evacuating the base. Meet me at these coordinates." the Prime commanded and the Wrecker's reply was slow but positive, sounding clearly reluctant.

"Understood, boss-bot. Hope you have a good plan. Jackie out."

"Ratchet, you and the rest of the Team will groundbridge to Site Cradle."

"Site Cradle?" Jack asked, having paused in his attempt to reach his mother.

Ratchet took Optimus' meaning. "What about you?"

"I will meet with Wheeljack. If we are to establish a new base, we will require every resource available before the Decepticon can secure them. We shall proceed to Site Cradle, afterwards."

"Optimus, can't we at least call our parents? Tell them we're leaving before my mom blows her top." Jack almost pleaded. Optimus couldn't reply to that without lying. So he turned to Ratchet, giving him a silent order. The medic went for the groundbridge controls.

Then he addressed Bulkhead. "Do we possess any leftover grenades in the armory?"

"Yes. I've been refilling them."

Optimus commanded the former Wrecker to fetch as many as possible and distribute them all over the groundbridge controls and the mainframe. They would be set to detonate after they all departed, thus destroying any possibility that the Decepticons could follow their trail.

Hasty preparations were made. Each bot had brought as many relics as they could grab following the chaotic battle. In the midst of that Jack looked in the distance to Raf, who was addressing his partner.

"Bee, how long will communications be down?"

The yellow bot's reply was a series of blurs that as usual Jack couldn't make out. From Bee's gestures and Raf's replies, the yellow bot was being evasive.

Looking over Miko, she was frantically trying to make calls while Bulkhead was busy setting up the grenades. The girl paced around, cell phone in her ear, occasionally muttering something in japanese. The dark-haired boy knew his friend was a bomb ready to detonate. And detonate she did when she walked up to her partner and interrupted his work.

"Bulk, when are we gonna get out of here and deliver some pain to the 'Cons?"

"...Miko, this is over." The green 'Bot didn't turn to her, preferring to continue his work. "We're not fighting. We're running."

That set the girl off. She exclaimed that was not how Wreckers roll. That Wheeljack would certainly join in if they fought back. And still, the more the girl protested and berated him, the more fixated Bulkhead became in preparing the explosives.

Just what was going on?

Arcee pulled over next to him. "You ready to go?"

Jack didn't beat around the bush. "There's something you're not telling us. Arcee, what is going on?"

"Jack…"

"You saw something up there, didn't you? Why can't we call anyone?" Jack was this close to raise his voice.

Arcee's reply wasn't instant. "Jack, I know you're nervous, but we have to go now, or none of us will survive. I promise, everything will be alright." the last part came without any conviction on her part. The human could tell she was holding something in. He wanted to demand what it was, right then and there. But he recognized it was not the time, so he didn't push her.

The ceiling trembled again. "We must make haste." Optimus urged and everyone picked up the pace.

Ratchet opened the groundbridge. Smokescreen went over first, followed by Bulkhead, Bumblebee and Arcee, each carrying their partner. As he walked to the vortex, Ratchet casted look of resignation to Optimus.

"I…never imagined it would end like this." and he crossed over, the bridge closing in afterwards.

"Many things ended today, old friend. But not this war." Optimus quickly reopened the bridge to the coordinates he sent to Wheeljack and departed.

Less than a minute later, the grenades detonated, destroying any records to where the Autobots evacuated. Then the whole mountain came crashing in on the base, bombarded by the warship Nemesis.

Many things ended on that day. Any hope for a restored Cybertron was no more. A young world died forever, also.

But the Autobot-Decepticon war would be reignited and burn like a wild fire until it consumed all remaining life. And then, even the war would die with a last whimpering breath. Then, finally, only silence and darkness.