"The flame reminds us of the peace of those stars that lives on inside us. The spark that tells us: 'You should know better.' The flame also reminds us that life is precious, as each flame is unique. When it goes out, it's gone forever. There will never be another quite like it. So many candles will go out tonight. I wonder somedays...if we can see anything at all." - Delenn of Mir, Babylon 5.

Chapter 5: The first candle goes out

3rd November 2012.

Geneva, Switzerland.

"Optimus just called. We're rollin' out." Bulkhead declared.

"Where to?" Miko asked, giving him a sideways look.

When morning broke, Raf decided to go assist Ratchet. No doubt the medic could use all the help he could get putting the new base up and running. Jack, who spent the previous day working himself to the bone prepping their new house, was still hibernating on the couch. Miko herself had been hunting for any signs of scraplets, since Raf found one in the previous day. On the side, she also took it upon herself to scavenge for anything the humans could use.

"To scope some place out with Jackie and Optimus." Bulkhead made an exaggerated shrug, downplaying the importance of the mission.

Now, Miko Nakadai may not be the smartest block in the engine, but she knew when she was being conned. "Relax, Bulk. I'm not gonna tag along for this one."

"Huh?"

"Trying to make the mission sound boring so I wont tag along. Come on, Bulk. I'm not dumb."

Wheeljack chimed in. "She's right, give her some more credit. We're going to bust in Starscream's new stomping grounds. And stomp on his face in the process."

Up until that point, Miko had been uncharacteristically nonchalant about the new mission. But after Wheeljack's statement, she faced the two Wreckers fully. She appeared to be in doubt of what to say next. Then her expression morphed into hard and cold. "Make sure said stomping hurts. Like a heck of a lot."

Bulkhead was more than a little taken aback. He had never seen his little partner in such a way. Wheeljack on the other hand had. The white bot maintained his playful smirk, complete with a thumbs-up. "Will do, kiddo. Let's roll, Bulk."

"Just a moment. Say, what are you gonna be doing in the meantime, Miko? I figured after the mission, we could go for a wild ride."

The girl hesitated in her reply, initially. "Sorry, no can do, Bulk. Gotta spend the day scooping out for scraplets."

"Scraplets?!"

Instantly she regretted her thoughtless answer. Bulkhead was on the verge of a panic attack, Wheeljack was quietly but warrily looking around for any metal eating critters. She had to appease them. "Hey, hey, keep it cool! Raf found just one, yesterday. Now he is helping out Doc, so I'm sniffing this place for some of those little scrappers."

Bulkhead facepalmed in despair. "As if things weren't hard enough! Why scraplets, now?"

Miko gave a shrug and an expression that said 'on the bright side'. "Good news is, Ratchet says if there were more, we would have noticed by now. So I'm just checking everything out to make sure there aren't any. Plus, scavenging anything that may come in handy, later."

"Never pegged you for a scavenger. That's more of a casettebot than a Wrecker." Wheeljack spoke with a purposeful touch of provocation. Truth was he was attempting to induce a reaction from the girl.

"Don't know what a cassettebot is, but whatever. Don't feel like a Wrecker, today."

Bulkhead would have added some words of support, but he felt Wheeljack's hand landing a bit too hard on his shoulder. "Come on, Bulk. Let's not waste her time."

They transformed and rolled towards the base. In spite of being in vehicular form, Bulkhead perceived Wheeljack's demeanor became taciturn. Although his friend Jackie was good at keeping his thoughts and feelings from showing, Bulkhead knew him the longest. The green Wrecker had a good idea what was chewing his gears; certainly the same thing that was chewing his. But Wheeljack wasn't much of a conversation starter. So it was up to him to break the ice.

"Never saw Miko looking so…distant."

"I have." Wheeljack replied automatically. "It's the same look she had when she coerced me to let her help smash Hardshell."

Ah, that opened another can of worms. Soon after Bulkhead recuperated from that missile to the back, courtesy of the Insecticon, he had met up with Jackie during one of his solitary patrols. The meeting ended sourly after Bulkhead expressed his displeasure that Wheeljack involved Miko. Except that the girl had pretty much coerced the lonewolf to let her tag along. Ugh, no point dragging a bad past to surface when they were about to go on a mission.

They met up with Optimus in the base. Ratchet and Rafael were, as always, on their computers. Arcee was reporting her scouting of the energon refinery the Deceptions were building in California. Whereas Bumblebee delivered that Soundwave was preparing for a galaxy wide broadcast from Texas.

"We must strike at both sites to impede the Decepticons from establishing a greater foothold on Earth. Bulkhead, Wheeljack and I will infiltrate the energon facility and sabotage it. Arcee, Bumblebee and Smokescreen will intercept Soundwave's attempt. I fear I may know what his intent is: to send a signal to all Decepticons scattered in the stars to come to Earth."

That was a foreboding thought nobody wanted to entertain. Ratchet opened a bridge for Arcee's location, so she could return to base and Optimus and the Wreckers could go in. Rafael said something about him being able to scramble Soundwave's message to the stars, which Optimus approved.

Arcee came speeding in, wordlessly. Optimus went into the portal, the two Wreckers in tow.

Outskirts of San Francisco, California.

Crossing the groundbridge portal, Bulkhead's first action was to gawk at the sight. They had arrived at the coast of California, where they could see the ocean. The vast amounts of saline water that covered more than half of the planet were never that impressive to him. Though Bumblebee seemed to like them for some reason. Now, the water was gone, replaced by the brilliant blue of raw energon. Wheeljack and Optimus had seen what became of the oceans on their trip to Site Cradle. Bulkhead had been in disbelief by their report, now he was amazed.

"The Sea of Rust got nothing on this." he muttered. It was almost wonderful to look at…until he remembered the cost of life it took. Shaking his head, he refocused back on the mission.

"The Cons must have worked around the clock to put that optic sore together so fast." Wheeljack muttered.

"Likely they have taken advantage of the cyberforming, as it has super-sized some of the already existing infrastructure." there was a tension in Optimus' voice. Bulkhead picked up the reason. It wasn't bad enough the Cons had killed an entire world, but also took advantage of the ruins. Bulkhead swore he would make good on the promise he just made to Miko and stomp Starscream's face.

The infrastructure in question was right on the shore. A massive pipe sucked in the raw fuel from the sea into the facility for processing. According to Arcee's reckon, the refinery was heavily secured with guards. Plus, an array of defensive turrets was being put together on the roof. Optimus spotted, so far, only two turrets, and they didn't seem to be fully operational.

"Autobots, quick action is paramount before the refinery becomes even more secure. The best way to sabotage it is to detonate the energon storages inside."

"My kind of plan." Wheeljack smirked, hand brushing against the grenade he carried on his person.

"Even so, we cannot make a frontal assault. A stealthy entry is our best recourse."

"They might still spot us coming in." Bulkhead pointed out. Other surrounding buildings had been cyberformed as well, which could provide cover for their sneaky approach, but not enough for there to be no risk of detection.

Optimus transformed his arms into guns. "I will provide a distraction by feigning a frontal assault. Bulkhead, you and Wheeljack will infiltrate the refinery and destroy it from within."

Bulkhead nodded but the leader wasn't done. "In the event that Arcee and her team fail to stop the broadcast, and an army of Deceptions comes to Earth, if we destroy this refinery it will deprive them of a stable supply of energon. But if both teams fail, this war will certainly be lost."

Green Bank Observatory, West Virginia

"Looks like Soundwave didn't bother to bring reinforcements." Arcee noted dryly.

Bumblebee put in. "He was always more of a loner than a team player."

"I'm ready to roll…that is, when you are." Smokescreen declared, motioning for Arcee.

The trio hid behind a hill where they could observe their target; a giant satellite dish pointing upwards. Like many other man made features, it too had been cyberformed to suit Cybertronian sized beings. Which Soundwave was taking full advantage of.

"We need a distraction. Something that occupies Soundwave and his little bird Laserbeak while also buys some time for us and for Raf to sneak into the system, remotely."

"How about me? I'm the scout. If Soundwave spots me lurking about, we'd have no reason to suspect we're onto him."

Arcee agreed and Bumblebee took off in vehicular form. The team leader sighed. "Now, the waiting game."

Silence followed as Bumblebee made a few subtle attempts to 'spy' on the facility all to lure Laserbeak away so that Arcee and Smokescreen could go in, hopefully undetected.

"Hey, Arcee, how was it when Cybertron went dark?"

The femme gave him a weird look. Smokescreen had been a smidge subdued lately. Then again, they all have been shaken. She couldn't fathom why he had picked that subject, though. It wasn't something pleasant to talk about, even though time had dulled the pain, somewhat.

"I was stationed on Tarn, helping an underground network disrupt Decepticon energon supply lines. That was a few cycles after the Cons assaulted Iacon, which resulted in the relics being sent over to Earth. The planet was slowly going out in those days, that much was obvious. Energon veins were drying out spontaneously. With fuel so scarce, it was a miracle to get any scraps."

She paused to collect her memories. Details were easy to forget, which was a blessing, in some painful cases. "And then it happened. One day everything was the same routine. Then the whole planet trembled. There was, I think, a sound that we all heard. It felt like…a scream? Then, the little light we had left was snuffed out, in its entirety.

"Later, we learnt the Cons had been tampering with the Core. Trying to resolve the energon crisis, somehow. But something went wrong and the damage was exacerbated. So Cybertron went offline."

Once she was done, she felt worse than expected. It was not a good time to bring back bad memories. "Why did you ask?"

Smokescreen shrugged. "No reason."

She raised an eyebrow, seeing through the obvious lie, but didn't push it.

Then Smokescreen posed another query. "How is Jack doing?"

Seriously, the kid was just pulling sore subjects today. "I don't know. He won't talk to me." she considered telling Smokescreen off, with a harsh tone, hoping to dissuade him from asking more uncomfortable questions. Fortunately, it was unnecessary as she spotted Laserbeak taking off in Bumblebee's direction. "Enough talk. Let's roll in."

It was good to be out in the field, in battle, and not having to worry about matters of the mind or of the spark. All she needed to think about was victory and survival.

San Francisco

Just like on Arcee's front, the Wreckers and Optimus needed a distraction. For that purpose, the Prime himself would draw the enemies attention while Bulkhead and Wheeljack snuck up from behind and into the refinery.

"Never thought I would see a commander of any sort volunteer himself to draw out the 'Cons fire while the rest of us grunts do the fancy part." Wheeljack commented.

Bulkhead chuckled. "Optimus was never the kind of bot that leaves the dangerous gigs to the grunts. He's an actual team player."

The Prime revealed himself to the guards, speeding in alt-mode. The Wrecker went around the refinery and cut their way through a locked door. With the Autobot leader in sight, all personnel were focused elsewhere, so there were no guards around it.

The pair made their way in and quickly wound up in a warehouse. It was stock full of containers with liquid energon, and a clutch of worker drones. They filled empty containers with the energon taken from the ocean and stacked them. The two Wreckers hid behind a pile and observed.

"This must be where they keep the raw stuff to be refined." Bulkhead deduced. "Then again, with how much they already stacked, it should be already on its way for refining. Whoever organized this place isn't so good at organizing." He had been a worker before the war and could detect bad work ethic when he saw it.

Wheeljack piped in, pointing. "Considering who's running this joint, I'm betting you're right."

He followed Wheeljack's finger to see Starscream berating the workers to work faster. The cretin's whining voice made Bulkhead's fuel run hot.

"Can't believe I once pitied that retrorat." he remembered the time when Starscream was injured by an Insecticon, soon after losing his t-cog. When he called the Autobots for medical help, it was Bulkhead who felt sorry for the pile of rust and convinced Ratchet to patch him up.

Wheeljack smirked. "Then let's keep our promise to Miko. You want to do the honors and barge in there and pound Starscream's face in. Then give me the signal, I throw this baby into the energon"

"Not good enough to blow the whole thing up. Raw energon is nowhere near as volatile as refined stuff. Doubt it would do more than blowing up this storage." Bulkhead paused for thought.

"But if we were to rig the already refined energon supply to explode…along with the raw product. Yeah, that will bring the whole house down." He pounded his fist on his hand.

Wheeljack wasn't so convinced. "Getting ahead of yourself, Bulk. It has only been a few hours since the Cons put this place together. Doubtful they have refined energon in enough quantity to blow it all back to Cybertron."

Starscream chose that moment to bark louder than normal. "Work faster! We only have a handful of cycles to send the refined energon to Darkmount! Our lord and master will have your heads if we fail the schedule!" and with that, the hysterical commander left the workers to toil away

Bulkhead smiled. "Guess that confirms it. This will take longer than we thought and we can't risk calling Optimus. One of us has to set the explosives where the refined stuff is contained, so that both detonations happen simultaneously."

"An impossible mission. My kind of mission." Wheeljack produced the grenade he was carrying and handed it to Bulkhead.

"I'll have to sneak my way into the storage for the refined energon."

"Hold on, Bulk. We never agreed you're going. Let's be real, I'm a bit faster and less rotund."

Now that hurt the bigger Wreckers' pride. "I've had to snuck more than once into the Cons warship."

Wheeljack proposed. "How about we make this a two act number? We go together "

Bulkhead shook his head. "No can do. Someone has to stay here to make sure the Cons don't see the explosives we already planted." he motioned for the grenade already set in a pile of full containers.

Wheeljack sighed. "Guess hanging out with Prime has rubbed off that leadership tone of his.

Bulkhead shrugged. He never saw himself as an order giver; simply put, he formulated the plan based on experience.

"Alright, fine. I'll stay put and watch over the explosives here. But, Bulk, if you run into trouble, scrap stealth and give me a call."

Bulkhead knew where he was going. "Wreckers don't call for backup."

Wheeljack grinned. "They call for cleanup."

Site Cradle (Autobot HQ). Geneva.

"Arcee to base. We got in, but turns out Soundwave called in some 'Cons to hold the door. We'll be delayed."

"Scrap!" Ratchet hit the keyboard in frustration.

"Is this a bad time?" Jack and Miko just entered the room. She had just finished her stakeout and took the time to wake up Jack from his much-needed nap. Raf gave the abridged explanation:

"Soundwave is about to broadcast a message calling all Decepticons to Earth. Unless Arcee and Smokescreen stop him or I could hack into the mainframe, we can't halt the transmission."

The atmosphere turned grim. Miko and Jack shared a look, the girl tried to perk everyone up. "Well, got some good news; I checked the new place from top to bottom and found no scraplets."

"A minor consolation, one which any coming Decepticons will appreciate." the medic retorted, grumpier than usual.

"What is Soundwave shouting to the stars, then?" Jack asked. Rafael played the recorded message the Decepticon spymaster had recorded from Megatron's very own voice.

"To all Decepticons taking refuge among the stars, this is your Lord and Master Megatron. My army and myself have conquered and eco-structured a world to call our own. But this new domain, rich with energon and resources, is being plagued by Autobot tyranny. I command you, my Decepticons, to join me and fight for the future I have sculpted for our kind."

The humans felt a hot anger taking over them. That was the voice of the monster who so gleefully destroyed their world. And now he portrayed himself like a messiah and savior to his ilk. Completely glossing over the fact that he stole said world from the 7 billion people he murdered!

Raf's anger got the better of him and he hit his laptop, cursing. "Puta madre, I can't stop this,"

"Wait." Ratchet called, his gaze thoughtful. "Rafael, can you patch in to Soundwave's signal?"

"Yeah, I can. But he won't let me shut it down."

"Then don't. Let's use it to transmit this." Ratchet pulled out a device that looked like a cybertronian-sized usb flash drive. "It's a message that Optimus recorded previously for such an event. We may not be able to stop more Decepticons from coming, but we can still call all our friends here."

With that goal and hope in mind, the child genius began working towards getting a piggy-bag ride on Soundwave's signal. All while Miko and Jack watched in apprehension. They just hoped there were Autobots listening, too. And that Bulkhead and Wheeljack were having better luck.

San Francisco.

"Scrap my luck." Wheeljack was forced to reveal himself because one of the drones was about to stumble upon the explosives. The Wrecker went to quickly dispose of the workers. But not quick enough to finish the last one before he sounded the alarm.

He went for his comm. "Bulk, I've been made, but took care of it."

A few moments before.

It took eliminating the occasional Vehicon patrolling the halls, but Bulkhead found himself inside the warehouse with the refined energon.

"Holy Primus! The 'Cons must have really been slaving away. There's enough energon here to fuel a small army." Stacks of energon cubes almost reached the ceiling. After so many years of having their own storages at an all time low, seeing it all right there…it was almost a tragedy he had to blow it all up. But he wasn't about to let an impending army of 'Cons arrive on this planet with an all-you-can eat buffet awaiting them. Before he could finish installing the grenade, the alarm sounded throughout the facility.

"Bulk, I've been made, but took care of it." said Wheeljack through the comm-link.

"Okay. I don't think I'm compromised just yet. I'm at the target. You stay in position and wait for my signal. I'm almost…"

"You're almost offline, Bulkhead!" a contemptuous voice spoke behind him. He turned around and met Starscream with a squad of Vehicons all pointing guns at him. "Naughty, interloper Autobot. Were you attempting to sabotage the operation I so tenaciously built? I think not. Step away from the energon." The guns hummed again, adding an unspoken warning.

Bulkhead gritted his dental, but he was left with no choice. He reluctantly stepped away from the grenade. The Vehicons approached and restrained his hands behind his back.

And Starscream began his pompous prattling. "Contrary to my belief, this day is turning out to be quite productive. Not only is the energon quotas to be met right on schedule, but I will also deliver an Autobot to Lord Megatron. Truly, you Autobots are quite helpful to me."

"Eat slag, you pit-spawn slag!"

Starscream huffed. "You will swallow your words, soon enough. Still, I suppose I should thank you. After all, all of my recent successes are owed to you, Autobots."

"What are you talking about?" the 'conversation' was driving the Wrecker more furious by the klik, but he needed to keep the traitorous seeker talking to buy time.

Starscream's smile was full of malice. "Why, it was thanks to you I acquired all the Omega Keys to deliver to Lord Megatron. It was thanks to your pets we were able to bargain for the Keys. And now, thanks to you, my newly reestablished position among the Decepticons will be all but assured."

"Get fragged!"

Starscream's reply was running his claws through Bulkhead's chest plate. That hurt. A lot. He was sure he'd be leaving there with deep scars. He growled at the cowardly 'Con.

"Word of advice, Wrecker, make yourself comfortable when you arrive on Darkmount, because your hosts certainly will not extend such courtesy." then Starscream paused. He was receiving a message and by the end of it, his smirk went from ear to ear. "Well, even more good news; Soundwave has successfully transmitted the signal. We can all rest assured that the remainder of our brethren will soon join us on this planet!"

The drones exclaimed jubilantly, but Bulkhead was horrified. The worst outcome he dreaded had come true. Arcee and the others couldn't stop Soundwave, there was no way to stop scores of 'Cons from coming here.

Right then and there, Bulkhead remembered a similar situation, when all of Team Prime was at the Omega Lock, under the mercy of the Decepticons. At that moment, Optimus had made a tough decision; to destroy the Omega Lock to try and save Earth. Down in his spark, Bulkhead felt he had to make one such decision, precisely then.

With a kick, he knocked the drones restraining him aside and ran. Hand transformed into a gun, he went to get a clear shot of the grenade. A single shot would trigger the grenade remotely. "Jackie, do it now!" he shouted into his comm as he took aim and fired.

"No!'' While that happened in less than five seconds, a panicking Starscream had taken aim at Bulkhead and fired a missile. Wheeljack triggered the grenade in the raw storage. Bulkhead shot hit his mark, causing an explosion in the refined storage. But Starscream's missile also hit the target, which was Bulkhead's side.

Optimus had spent the previous hour making 'attempts' at penetrating the refinery. Just a bait to keep the Decepticons focused on him and not at the true infiltrators. Then, two explosions went off inside and Optimus knew the mission was successful.

"Optimus Prime to Wreckers. Report."

"Mission accomplished, chief, if the fireworks weren't proof enough. I'm on my way to meet Bulkhead." Wheeljack replied. But no response came from the other.

"Bulkhead, respond." Still nothing.

The Prime transformed and made a b-line for the burning refinery, fearing for his unresponsive soldier. Optimus called the medic.

"Ratchet, what is Bulkhead's status?"

"His life-signal is still online. Optimus, we were unable to stop the Deceptions, but we're broadcasting the message you recorded alongside Soundwave's."

"Understood. Notify me if something else happens."

Bulkhead woke up in pain.

"Oh, pain everywhere…except my left…" but when he did look to his left, he realized why his arm felt nothing whatsoever; it lay a few meters detached from him. "Oh, scrap!"

Complaining that Ratchet was going to give him an earful, he sluggishly got up to pick up the ruined appendage. His left flank was also ruined, bleeding energon, so he pressed the severed arm against the wound to stop the bleeding. "Bulkhead to all units, I require some assist."

"Ah! Knew you were still kicking and scrapping. Tired of the party already, Bulk?" Wheeljack cried out, jovially.

"Hold your position, Bulkhead. We are headed towards you." Optimus, however, picked up the urgency.

Bulkhead dragged himself among the smoldering wreckage. The smoke was so thick he couldn't see the sky, but it was safe to assume the refinery was wrecked and beyond repair. At least, the mission was a sounding success.

"BULKHEAD!" that scream was all he had for a warning as a missile came soaring for his position. Luckily, the Wrecker was able to leap out of the way and the missile hit somewhere else. The aggressor came limping out of the smoke. "You wretched Autobot scum! You ruined everything!"

"Put it on my tab, you lousy red spot." The Wrecker jokingly recollected Miko saying that as an insult.

"I endeavored tirelessly to put this place up and running to Megatron's satisfaction! And you ruined it!" Starscream was covered in burnt marks and dents all over. One leg was slightly dented. Still, he looked in better shape than Bulkhead felt. "I will tear out your spark and offer it to Megatron as a consolation prize."

"You'll have to console yourself, Screamer!"

Starscream fired repetitive shots of his null rays. Bulkhead was in no condition to dodge. He tried to transform his remaining hand into a gun, but even that was too damaged to transform. He ended up taking all the shots and falling on his back. Starscream made a dash for the downed bot, going for the kill. "Go to the AllSpark, Autobot!"

"Not…today!" Bulkhead slaps him away with his own severed arm. A few more hits of the same medicine and then Starscream fell to the ground, pinned down by the Wrecker.

He was able to change his good hand into a mace and proceeded to beat the Deception up. The coward meekly raised his arms in defense.

"P-plea-please…no more."

"'No more'?! You think you deserve no more? After all the scrap you've done! You stole us the keys! You crawled back to Buckethead and helped him destroy this world!"

The coward covered his face. "I-I had no idea what his plan was…"

"Bullscrap!" another hit, another dent on Starscream's face. Another. And another. It just felt so good to pound the glitch's face into the ground. He visualized Cliffjumper, Arcee, Bumblebee, the kids, everyone the wretched Decepticon had wronged as he delivered each pounding. In the end, Starscream was a beaten, whimpering mess. It would be so easy, so deserving to finish him.

"Autobots do not inflict harm. Not unless all other options have been exhausted." Prime's words rang in his audio receptors. He remembered when he bashed that Starscream clone to death. Bulkhead's energon had been running hot. When it was over and the anger cooled down, he realized what he had done was not what a true Autobot would do. That was not how they would win this war and save their kind.

He sighed. "Ugh, you're lucky I'm done for today. You get to live for another cycle." Starscream mumbled something that sounded like whining gratitude, not that Bulkhead cared at all.

As the Wrecker tentatively got off his foe, a sudden pain joined the myriad of those he already had. A sharp, focused sensation on his fuel tank, where Starscream had his claws in. Bulkhead, eyes wide, looked at the Seeker's smirking face.

"Autobots, your mercy is your weakness."

Bulkhead's dimming strength left him completely. Vision rapidly blurred into darkness. His body fell limp on the ground. Starscream stood, still shaking from his injuries. "And that is how you wreck a…"

"Bulkhead!" Wheeljack came speeding in, with Optimus Prime close by.

In a typical move, Starscream transformed and flew away. "Commander Starscream to Soundwave, I require immediate reinforcements!" A groundbridge manifested and a squadron of Insecticons came flying out.

Wheeljack transformed, spared a quick look to his downed comrade. With a war cry, he tossed a grenade at the giant bugs and blew it up with a straight shot, ending at least two of them. Optimus kneeled before the wounded soldier.

"Bulkhead, please respond." he checked the bot's spark signal and waited for a beat. None. Nothing at all. "No."

"Optimus," it was Ratchet. He spoke somberly. "I just detected Bulkhead's life signal going off-line."

Optimus was unresponsive. He looked into his soldier, friend and teammate's optics, offline and cold. He looked to Wheeljack who was engaging the Insecticons like a berserker. Even more enemies were inbound. There was only one thing he, as leader, could do.

"Ratchet, groundbridge now!" He dove into the fight, shooting the Insecticons closest to Wheeljack. But not to fight them, no. He cleared the path so he could grab the deranged Wrecker and pull him into the portal.

"LET GO, PRIME! I'M GONNA FRY THOSE BUGS!" but the bigger bot was resolute. As they entered the vortex, the last thing Wheeljack saw was the bugs circling what remained of his last friend. "BULKHEAD!"

Site Cradle (Autobot HQ). Geneva.

Once the two Autobots were thrown out of the bridge, the portal closed. Wheeljack disentangled himself out of Prime's grip and growled in rage and despair. On his knees, he punched the floor with both fists.

"Optimus, what happened?!" Arcee shouted.

The Prime found himself surrounded by his followers. Arcee and her team had returned from their mission and looked confused. Ratchet, by the mainframe, looked morose. And…

"Where's Bulk?"

Oh, Primus! The children were there, as well. Miko walked up to him. "Optimus, where is Bulkhead?"

The answer came with a sigh. "Gone."

"What do you mean, gone? If he's still out there, let's go rescue him!"

He looked at everyone present. "Bulkhead has joined many of our comrades…in the AllSpark."

Dire Wraith Nebula.

Hide place of the AllSpark.

(A.N.: This story happens in the same universe/timeline as 'Lost Sparks Reborn'. In order to understand this part better, read the first chapter of that story.)

Surrounded by the deadliest space environment imaginable was the wellspring from which all Cybertronian life emerged and eventually returned - the AllSpark.

Protected by its indestructible container, it had been safe for thousands of years. Millennia since it had been separated from the core of Cybertron, by the hand of Optimus Prime. An action he had taken to prevent Megatron from seizing the source of their whole race for his nefarious purposes.

And so it had been for the last few millennia. Safe but inert. Unbeknownst to Optimus Prime, the AllSpark and Cybertron share a symbiotic relationship. The planet cannot generate life without the AllSpark. And without its planet host, the AllSpark has become disconnected from the Cybertronian race. Before the separation, Sparks would return to it once they were finished with their current physical life. But since the AllSpark was taken from Cybertron, that process had been negated. Such a thing would be a tragic catastrophe for the children of Primus…were it not for the Alternative.

The Alternative provided a temporary refuge for these Lost Sparks. Through the Alternative, they could continue to exist until such time the AllSpark was returned to Cybertron.

But…but..one Lost Spark had evaporated. Disappeared from existence! No! This could not be! What of the Alternative?! The Alternative…it was…

GONE!

The Alternative, the refuge for the Sparks that were unable to return to the AllSpark, was gone. Dead. The Sparks of every Child of Primus that now fell could neither return to the AllSpark, nor continue in the Alternative.

No, this could not be happening. This was the beginning of the end.

Place: ?

The Exiled One felt it. One individual Spark had just perished. But this one didn't go to the Alternative. It just dissipated, like smoke in the air. Gone into the eternal void of the night.

The Exiled One felt something he hadn't in a long time. A sensation he hadn't experienced since Cybertron went dark - jubilation.

The Exiled One laughed and laughed and laughed.

"That tremendous energy I felt just recently…the Omega Lock. Someone used it to destroy the Alternative!"

Long ago, when Cybertron fell, the Exiled One felt a touch of hope for revenge. But that was all it had been; a hope. Now, Earth and the insect fledglings that played a role in his damnation had been annihilated. This was a sign that revenge was within his reach, at long last.

Oh, the Exiled One could almost thank the fool who had destroyed the Alternative for him.

I know I'm going to get a lot of hate for killing off Bulkhead. For those who don't like it, here's the thing: this is my story and I will take it in whatever route I see fit. This is to show that no character is safe. Death is as much of a constant in war as air is to us humans. There are no destined heroes, no chosen ones. There are only people fighting and sometimes dying.

Also, from now on, this story happens in the same timeline/universe as 'Lost Sparks Reborn' and 'Optimus and Megatron in the Multiverse of Madness'.