Wow... 1000 of you have read my story. Wow! Thank you all so much. You have no idea how much this means to me! Every time one of you favorites/follows my story, I feel like you all are giving me a pat on the back and telling me good job (that's just me, though it may sound kind of weird). And the reviews have been so kind! I can't thank you all enough!
Oh, and if y'all spot any errors in any of my chapters, please let me know. I would really appreciate it! Sometimes I can miss things and I want this story to have as little grammatical errors as possible.
The arena boss was proving to be a thorn in his side, one that would be taken care of soon. However, Vexon was a useful tool with his deep connections to the criminal underworld, which is why Megatronus had not yet extinguished his spark.
But that time was coming. The arena overlord was a greedy mech, constantly looking for a way to make profits. On more than one occasion, he had demanded that the Champion purposefully lose a few of his matches, simply because he was predictable, and the crowd knew what was going to happen. He had never indulged the overlord, nor would he ever.
Every time he asked, Megatronus killed him a hundred times in his helm. But for now, he stayed his servo, finding that the weaponry and energon that his contacts provided were invaluable in the long run for his growing cause.
Megatronus looked at Soundwave, who was silently walking alongside him. His optics met the blank visor of the spymaster.
"Soundwave," he began, "how goes your search for Vector Sigma?"
"Vector Sigma: location possibly found," the spymaster reported, his visor flickering to life with a map.
The Champion tilted his helm slightly, optics narrowing as he processed this new information. "The Sonic Canyons? That area is highly populated."
Soundwave nodded. "Entry: blocked. Solution: detonation."
Megatronus frowned, optics narrowing. That was not the news he had hoped for. The Sonic Canyons were a heavily industrialized zone, teeming with Cybertronian colonies. Blowing it up would not only destroy part of the infrastructure but also kill innocent civilians. The backlash could be catastrophic, especially for someone who was still trying to maintain his public image as a revolutionary, not a terrorist.
But he could use this to his advantage. He hadn't officially confirmed his leadership of the Decepticons to the public, nor had he had denied it. If the Decepticons were to bomb the Sonic Canyons, he could pin it on the group and distance himself from them. It would allow him to both search for Vector Sigma and maintain a clean image, one that could continue to sway the masses, especially Orion.
He needed protect Orion from the truth for as long as possible and it if meant deceiving his brother to achieve this, then so be it.
"Keep an optic on the Sonic Canyons. Follow any other leads you hear about Vector Sigma. Do nothing until I say."
Soundwave nodded.
Megatronus turned down a corridor and came to a section on the second floor of the arena that led to the catwalks overlooking the underground training pits. Below him, two mechs fought fiercely. The gladiator immediately noted that the silver mech would win.
There can't be just one bombing, he mused, leaning over the railing slightly, watching as the red gladiator threw his opponent into the pit wall. There had to be multiple, spread across their home world to create enough chaos so that no one would suspect the true purpose of the strikes.
The Sonic Canyons were rumored to house Vector Sigma, the legendary supercomputer that could lead him to the Matrix of Leadership. The Matrix was the key to the sparks and neural nets of his fellow Cybertronians. The false Prime, Sentinel, claimed leadership over Cybertron with nothing more than a fake relic and a title.
He was a pretender, a puppet of the corrupt High Council, Functionists and Senate who did nothing but prolong the inequalities of the caste system. Sentinel's rule was a mockery of what it meant to lead. True leadership came from strength, vision and one's ability to change the world. None of which Sentinel had done.
Megatronus believed himself worthy of the Matrix. He fought for Cybertron with every fiber of his being, he bled for the freedom of his fellow Cybertronians. The Champion would burn it all down to forge a new Cybertron, which was around the time he started collaborating with Orion. Though their relationship started to run deeper than mere colleagues once they got to know each other.
But one thing he knew: he and Orion shared the same vision—a world without corruption, where every Cybertron was equal.
And the Matrix would only solidify his claim. With the ancient relic in his possession, he could unite Cybertron and bring it to his side. He would break the chains that held the lower castes in place, shatter the system that kept his kind in misery. Surely, he told himself, it was a noble goal. Even if it meant leaving some destruction in his wake.
The Champion's thoughts returned to the bombings. If there were to be multiple strikes, he would need to plan them carefully. He needed to make the actions of his followers look like a desperate group of terrorists that were unpredictable. It had to appear like the Decepticons were acting independently of him.
His optics narrowed as the silver mech below delivered a brutal punch to the red mech, sending him crashing into the arena wall—a parody of what happened a klik ago. The red one slumped, knocked into stasis.
Megatronus admitted to himself that the lives that would be lost at Sonic Canyons would be a terrible price, but their deaths would not be meaningless. They would pave the way for a better Cybertron. He knew that the path he was taking could lead down into dangerous territories, but there had to be sacrifices made. But it was all in the name of a better Cybertron.
Megatronus thoughts moved swiftly toward the bombings again as he considered a good time to execute the bombings. A thought took root and began to grow—the rally. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. It was the perfect cover.
He and Orion had spent countless cycles preparing for it. They had worked tirelessly to spread their message to the farthest reaches of Cybertron, even though they knew that Functionists kept shutting their transmissions to Cybertron as a whole down. But no more.
The Champion realized that the bombings could serve more than one purpose. If the explosions happened during the rally, it would force the enforcers to thin their forces. They would be too busy dealing with the aftermath of the attacks, scrambling to control the chaos and manage public perception, to effectively counter the growing revolution.
And in that confusion, they would be unstoppable.
Perfect.
Orion would never approve of this plan, of course. His friend's spark was noble, but too soft. He lacked the ruthlessness needed to achieve real change. That was where Megatronus came in—where he had to make the difficult choices for the greater good.
Orion made his way through Trion Square, weaving through the bustling crowd of the late afternoon. He looked up at the largest building in the sector, staring at the large screen that was playing the latest news on the FBN.
He looked at the other screens that dotted the other buildings, displaying local news and advertisements various things that Orion knew most couldn't afford. There were other smaller screens displaying propaganda and images of Sentinel Prime.
The archivist saw another ping from Ratchet being displayed on his HUD. His friend had called him for help because today was a busy day—busier than usual. Technically, Orion wasn't allowed to work there because it was above his function. But he could volunteer if one of the medics asked for help.
His optics caught sight of the massive statue of Sentinel Prime standing proudly in the center. Then he noticed the bot in front of it, crouched and holding out a servo to the plaque that rested underneath the statue's pedes.
The librarian's optics drifted closer to him, where he noticed a splash of crimson paint, scrawled across the ground as if forming words. He took a step back, able to see the word 'you' come into focus, but before he could read anything else, a deafening explosion ripped through the square.
The force of the blast threw Orion backward, sending him sprawling to the ground. A sharp ringing in his audial receptors nearly drowned out the cries and screams of the bots around them as chaos exploded into a frenzied panic. His blurry vision was able to make out bots running around, frantically pushing each other.
He groaned, struggling to sit up. His frame groaned in protest and his HUD lit up with warnings of being overheated. The archivist's cooling fans clicked to life, expelling the heat that was building too quickly inside of him.
An astro-klik later, his hearing cleared with click, allowing him to hear the chaos surrounding him clearly. There were police sirens in the distance drawing closer with every nano-klik that passed. Managing to get to his pedes, Orion focused on the object in front of him, getting his vision to clear with a whirr.
He was greeted with the sight of the statue of Sentinel Prime lying in a heap of rubble. The explosion had completely destroyed it, leaving the remains of the statue scattered across the square. Once where a golden statue proudly stood, there was only a small crater and twisted, deformed metal.
Orion's spark sank in his chassis as he saw a mangled servo stick out in between the cracks of the pile of debris. It was the bot that had been underneath the statue when it had exploded. Not wasting another klik, he made his way over to where he saw the servo, careful to avoid any sharp pieces of metal.
The archivist knew he needed to help the bot. There was a slim chance that they might be alive, and it was a chance he wouldn't waste. He moved a couple of pieces of the debris when a servo on his shoulder pulled him back, forcing him to turn and look at the bot who had touched him. Orion came faceplate to faceplate with a police officer.
This police officer was a femme, which was an uncommon sight. She was slender, having the slim frame of a femme, though slightly bulkier. She was blue and black accented, with the occasional pink highlighting her frame, most prominently on her helm crest.
Her features were unreadable, but her blue optics, tinted purple by a thin line of light, held a hint of annoyance. "Stop right there, sir."
Orion pointed to the rubble where the bot's servo was protruding out, more obvious now. "There is a bot under there," he said urgently, knowing that every klik that passed was precious time that could be used to save them.
The femme's optics drifted over to where he was pointed. "He's dead," she said flatly, her gaze snapping back to him.
"They could still be—"
"Listen, this statue's been reduced to a pile of rubble, and it's a crime scene now. You need to leave now, sir," she informed him, though her words held a warning.
Orion wasn't about to give up. "Officer, they could still be alive."
The femme vented, placing a servo on her hipplate. "Scrap, you're stubborn," she muttered a little too loudly. "I get it. Really, I do. But unless you've got clearance I don't know about, the best way you can help is to stay clear and let us do our job."
She turned to the sound of pedes, looking at an officer painted in black and white, having a blue visor over his optics, coming up to her.
"You look like you need backup, Arcee," he nodded toward Orion.
The femme rolled her optics, smirking slightly. "I got this partner. You just worry about keeping other civilians out of the crime zone." She pointed to the bots who were hovering too close to the crime scene, looking down at the splotch of crimson Orion had spotted earlier.
"I gotcha partner," he responded, heading over to usher the civilians away.
The police officer—Arcee—turned back to him. "Sir, the last thing we need is another bot getting hurt. Leave before I am forced to move you."
Orion looked into her optics and saw that he would be unable to change her neural net. With a vent and one last glance at the bot buried underneath the rubble, he resigned to leaving, knowing that resisting would be futile and could ultimately get him thrown into prison.
Megatronus walked to the center of the arena, taking in the new details that had been added since his last match. There were now pillars, jagged metal protrusions, and pits that any careless combatant could fall into. His optics were drawn upward where he noticed hexagonal tiles floating in the air, modified with grav-lifts to allow them to hover in the air.
The gladiator knew that Vexon had rigged the battleground to try to give his opponents an advantage over him. The greedy mech always sought to level the playing field against him, under the guise of making the matches more interesting, though it didn't matter.
No scheme, no trap, no opponent had yet bested him.
He was the Champion.
He scanned the arena, watching for any signs of movement, half expecting an ambush. Allowing his optics to sweep over the crowd, he raised his servos, waving them into a greater frenzy. It was a common tactic used among the most popular gladiators. One, it got the crowd on his side, and two, it angered his opponent. Or rather in this case, opponents.
His logic was this: an angry opponent was a careless opponent, and a careless opponent was dead before the match even began. Anger blinded a mech, something that he knew all too well.
A sly grin spread across his face as he spotted a flash of silver from behind one of the pillars. He raised a fist, goading the crowd to a greater volume.
MEGATRONUS! MEGATRONUS! MEGATRONUS!
Satisfied, he turned to the seemingly empty arena and called out, "Are you going to come out, or should I root you out one by one?"
A small, spindly bot leapt from behind a jagged piece of metal debris, screeching and hissing. Megatronus had never seen anything like this creature and quickly came to the conclusion that this was another of Shockwave's creations.
This bot was thin, barely having any plating, having long limbs that ended in sharp talons. If the gladiator was to take a guess, this creature had been stripped down to its protoform, which was all the better for him.
His faceplate, if one could call it that, was twisted into what he assumed was a sneer. Megatronus's attention was quickly diverted to a lumbering brute that smashed through a metal wall, sending chunks of it scattering around.
With an angry bellow, followed by a loud string of curses, the brute swung at the Champion. He easily sidestepped, leaving his opponent to stumble forward. The mech quickly recovered, swinging his wrecking ball in a wide arc.
Megatronus ducked under the strike, retaliating with a brutal uppercut that sent the mech flying backwards. The gladiator felt a slight sting as the wiry creature from before peppered him from behind a scrap wall with blaster shots that barely bothered him.
Before he could go after it, he was punched hard in the faceplate. He staggered back, HUD lighting up with a warning, looking to see that the lug had managed to get to his pedes and had punched him. He chuckled darkly, wiping the trail of energon that leaked from his intake.
Without wasting an astro-klik, his sword slid out over his servo, and he charged the mech, driving his right arm forward, slashing across the brute's side, drawing energon. The mech hissed in pain but quickly responded with another brutal swing that Megatronus easily dodged.
His fusion cannon hummed to life as he fired ionized energon at the mech's chassis multiple times, sending him flying into the wall nearby. A shot from above hit his shoulder, piercing his thick plating. Another warning. Megatronus looked up, seeing the barrel of a rifle sticking out.
Quaint, he thought. Briefly being distracted by the sniper, he failed to see the brute getting up and swinging his wrecking ball. The gladiator was hit in the back, sent flying through the air. He tumbled a couple of times before regaining control and landing on his pedes.
His dermas curled into a snarl. Megatronus charged at the mech quickly, avoiding the mech's wrecking ball that now had a retractable cable, swinging around in a large, devasting arc. He jumped, flipping mid-air, firing his fusion cannon at the mech, who staggered back, losing control his weapon.
As the weapon came toward him one last time, the Champion cut through the wiring that tethered the wrecking ball to the brute, making the mech scream out in pain as a part of him was severed. Megatronus hardly heard him, running at the mech and slashing across his chassis, cutting deep enough that the glow of his spark peeked through. The mech staggered back, using his arm to shield his chassis.
The Champion wasted no time, driving his sword toward the brute, who managed to block it with his only wrecking ball, pushing back. Megatronus easily batted away the second attack, and the third and relieved the mech of his arm.
With savage grin, the gladiator drove his clawed servo into the brute's chassis, digging deep into the metal and circuitry. His opponent's optics widened in horror, but he was unable to do anything as the last of his life seeped away.
He jerked his servo out, energon dripping from his talons, watching as his opponent staggered, optics flickering and sparks flying from the open wound. The gladiator raised his fusion cannon, firing and punching a hole straight through the brute's chassis, leaving a smoking, gaping hole. The giant fell to his knees, then collapsed forward, lifeless.
The crowd exploded into even louder frenzied cheers as Megatronus bent down and grabbed the wrecking ball attached to the tether-line, tossing it into the crowd, where eager servos grabbed at the prized possession.
Megatronus turned at the sound of a high-pitched screech, seeing plasma shots now raining at him. The gladiator didn't even flinch as the shots pelted against his armor. In the blink of an optic, he was by the creature, bringing his sword down on him.
It barely managed to dodge his attack and launched itself at him. He crawled around his armor, poking and pulling at sensitive cables. Megatronus attempted to pull him off, but he was too fast. The gladiator roared in rage when the creature managed to get his servo underneath his plating, pulling at one of his servo stabilizer lines that directed energon to his legs, forcing him to one knee.
The bot scrambled up his shoulders, trying to get to his neural cluster—the weakest point of any Cybertronian. Megatronus wasn't just about to let that happen. With a snarl, he managed to snag the creature by the leg, tossing it off of him.
It tried to escape, but he lunged, closing the gap in an instant. His clawed servo shot forward, seizing the smaller bot by the neck, tightening his hold as the bot sputtered and sparked. The creature struggled, clawing against him but it was no use.
One squeeze was all it took. His opponent's optics flickered once, then twice before going offline, permanently. He held the lifeless frame for a klik and then tossed it into the crowd. They caught it, tearing it apart limb by limb, each eager to have their own piece of a bot that the Megatronus defeated.
Turning around, the gladiator felt the burn of superheated energon hitting his back. His helm snapped up to one of the hexagonal tiles floating above, seeing the same rifle that had hit him earlier. The Champion raised his fusion cannon, ready to fire at the mech when movement in his peripheral vision caught his attention.
Two identical bots were sprinting towards him. He had nano-kliks to make his next move. Megatronus felt the thrill of the fight rise in his circuits. Finally, a fight that was worthy of his time, even if it would be short lived.
With a growl, he spun to face the twins, one wielding a spear and the other a sword. As the first lunged, the gladiator sidestepped and allowed the twin to continue his attack that left him open. Megatronus took advantage of the opening, swinging his servo up in a brutal uppercut, catching the bot under the chin. The impact sent the twin flying backward, crashing into his brother.
Landing in a heap, the twins managed to untangle themselves within nano-kliks. The second twin took a chance to strike, jabbing at him with his spear. The gladiator blocked the strikes with his sword, viciously grinning. He slashed multiple times at the twin, who attempted to block the attacks with his weapon, until he managed to cut his spear into two pieces.
Megatronus took advantage of the twin, who was stunned, and smashed his fist into the mech's chassis, driving him back. The sniper fired at him, this time catching him in between his plating, scorching some of his sensitive cables. Scowling, he once again raised his fusion cannon to fire at the sniper when the twins attacked again.
One of the pair lunged low this time, aiming to take out his legs while the other went high, blade angled for a killing strike. Megatronus saw their attack coming and calculated where they would land. He moved just out of reach, throwing the duo off.
The Champion attacked, sweeping out in a wide arc with his sword, removing one of the twin's helms and leaving a gash on the other one's chassis, who had barely managed to move out of the way in time. Megatronus, ready to finish off his opponent, was sniped again by the bot above.
Turning his attention to them, he raised his fusion cannon at the floating tile. A bolt of crackling energy soared through the air and struck the tile, shattering it into fragments and sending the sniper plummeting down.
Megatronus was already moving even before the sniper hit the ground. One of the twins knelt over his brother, rage seething in his optics as he looked up at him. The gladiator wasted no time; he lunged forward, catching the kneeling twin by the shoulder and hauling him up.
He drove his other clawed servo through the twin's midsection, twisting it inside, evoking a scream from the mech. His optics flickered, frame convulsing violently as he tried to resist one last time. With a grunt, Megatronus twisted his arm, tearing through the internal mechanisms before letting the lifeless frame, fading to grey, fall to the ground.
He straightened, raising his arms to the rouse the crowd to the maxed frenzied state, before casually walking toward the fallen sniper, who was struggling to rise. Megatronus shot him in the back, causing him to collapse, though he continued to try and escape.
The Champion slammed a pede down on the mech's spinal strut, trapping him underneath, even as he continued to squirm. His fusion cannon hummed to life, and he fired, shooting the mech through the helm.
Megatronus watched as Shockwave's single optic spiraled, grabbing the scanner that rested on the counter nearby.
"I trust the damage is cosmetic," the gladiator said flatly.
"Indeed," the scientist replied, scanning him with his red optic. He lifted the scanner, moving the beam of light once more over his frame. "Minor structural damage. It will not impede your performance."
The Champion nodded, extracting himself off the slab and walking out of the medbay. Soundwave was waiting by the door, having something to alert him of, no doubt. Almost immediately, the spymaster's visor blinked to life, showing footage of Trion Square.
Megatronus stopped, watching in interest as the camera panned over the destroyed statue of Sentinel Prime, before taking another view from above, showing the crimson words scrawled on the ground.
YOU ARE BEING DECEIVED.
The gladiator immediately knew that this was the work of his Decepticons. But he had not ordered them to do anything, nor had he encouraged them to vandalize anything, though he had given them freedom to do what they desired, so long as it didn't harm Orion.
"Today, the statue of Sentinel Prime was destroyed by an unknown assailant. One bot was tragically crushed in the process." The camera showed a grey frame being extracted from the ruins of what used to be a statue.
Then, blurry footage was shown. There was a familiar red and blue frame standing by the statue, looking down at something of interest. An explosion rang out, throwing Orion off his pedes and onto the ground nearby while everybot around him ran around, screaming.
"Authorities are calling for their immediate capture…"
Megatronus felt anger rise from his spark. He had been very clear with his followers and had emphasized that Orion was not to be harmed under any circumstances. He was a valuable asset, and even more valuable as a friend.
If any harm had come to Orion because of their carelessness, if any scratch marred his frame…
He would make sure those responsible paid dearly.
"Soundwave," Megatronus growled. "Explain to me what happened."
"Report: Decepticon agents infiltrated Trion Square at Cycle 1630. Primary objective: send a message to Cybertron."
"Then why," he demanded, furiously, "was Orion Pax on the scene? I told you he was not to be involved. Not. To be. Touched." He paused, letting hot air out of his vents. "And what of the agents responsible?"
Soundwave's visor flickered again, the image changing to footage of two mech's in an alley, looking out at the statue of Sentinel Prime, bickering over something inconsequential.
"Inform them that they will reporting to me. Personally."