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Transformers vs. GoBots: Chapter 9-C

Prologue: Part 1 | Prologue: Part 2 | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 6.5 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 7.5 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9-A | Chapter 9-B

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CYBERTRON:

Bladez streaked through the air, assumed his robot form, and dropped down beside Vamp. He glowered down at the Insecticons, then lashed out with a clawed hand and swatted Kickback, sending him crashing into Bombshell. Vamp looked around her, the Insecticon swarm still buzzing around her, waiting. She rose into the air and took wing. The mass swirled around her, weaving through the sky like a black strip of satin. She looked about the city and saw the DarkOre Tower, Thruster, Mangler and Smasher were engaged with two smaller machines. Though everyone involved in that conflict was much bigger than her, she thought of a perfect use for her newest acquisitions. She smiled, then made her way towards the battle.

Two Guardian Robots remained, both Quick Step creatures took turns pulling the metal of the fallen titans from their frames. The remaining Guardian Robots grappled with Smasher until one was clubbed by Mangler. He took pleasure in seeing the blue and gray robot strike the ground. He kicked it hard, delighting in the machine’s crumpled side. Thruster approached it from behind and brought a closed fist down on the struggling machine, driving it back down to its knees. It managed to raise a claw and reached for Mangler, who aimed both his forearm cannons at the Decepticon and fired, the shot struck its head and blew it clean off. Thruster leaned over and grabbed it by the arms from behind, placing her foot on its back, then pressed forward until the arms tore from their sockets, the torso slammed back down to the ground.

Smasher threw the final Guardian Robot to the ground, it rolled and assumed a kneeling crouch, firing off a plethora of blasts that struck Smasher’s chest and shoulders. He aimed and fired back, growing more angered by the machine’s refusal to just die. A blast slammed into the Guardian’s chest and knocked it back, it took aim again and prepared to fire when it noticed a large, black cloud appear. It snaked through the air, heading towards them with a frightening speed. It was buzzing. The sound grew larger as it approached, the Guardian Robot didn’t have time to debate whether or not it should open fire or return to battle with the larger problem. Vamp’s Insecticon swarm collided with the Guardian’s face plate. It rose suddenly, swinging its clawed arm violently into the swarm. It felt Insecticons shatter when it swung, but the tiny Decepticons were filling its vision, jamming themselves into a solid mass across its faceplace. It raked a clawed hand through them, leaving a thick line across its field of vision that was immediately filled with more Insecticons. It stood abruptly, sparks leaping from its neck and shoulders as the Insecticon drones crawled into its joints and invaded its interior mechanics. More of the swarm milled about, latching on as the machine charged its cannon, unable to determine where it should fire. The Insecticons had begun chewing apart its wiring, shutting down its vision and basic motor functions. It continued to charge, melting the Insecticons that had crawled into the mouth of the cannon. Smasher watched the strange happening, uncertain what had caused the sudden black cluster to latch onto the Guardian Robot. But it didn’t matter. He raised his own cannons towards the failing robot, took aim, and fired.

Bladez noticed the Renegade transport charging its weapon a moment before he fired, and took wing immediately. He cut through the air, grabbed Vamp around her waist and made a beeline in the direction opposite of the Tower. She didn’t protest, only watched as the Guardian Robot exploded, destroying almost all of her Insecticon swarm with it. For a moment she considered mourning the loss of the cluster, but cast the thought aside. These weren’t even her kind, and there would be others-there would always be others.

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Soundwave raced forward and rammed Tux at full speed, heedless of the rippling damages from the sonics radiating from both of them. His audo was ringing, dangerously close to scrambling despite his own specialized modifications. Glass was shattering around them as they emitted sound and counter-sound, their frequencies blaring and rebounding off one another, crossing through and shredding the area around them. Tux brought a fist up and knocked Soundwave back, aimed a single cannon and fired a concentrated ring of sound that slashed into the wall behind him. Soundwave caught a glimpse of the curved, precise cut Tux had made and stood, crossed his arms, concentrating, then released a burst of sound from his internal systems that blew Tux off his feet and down the corridor. Tux fired as he fell, the blasts striking the ceiling and floor before Soundwave, who leapt over the debris and pursued. He rounded a corner and saw nothing, as if Tux had vanished into the dark. A bright pair of lights flashed on and blinded him momentarily, which was all Tux needed, spinning his tires and slamming into Soundwave in his limousine form. He rammed Soundwave through the wall at the end of the corridor, enjoying the sound of it collapsing on the Decepticon. He rolled back and shouted in surprise and pain. Something had stabbed into both rear tires and cut through. He changed modes and landed in front of Slugfest, the green stegosaurus cassette lay on his stomach, the razor edged plates running along its back still a blur of motion, spitting out bits of Tux’s tires. Tux’s eyes registered a hint of annoyance, he raised a single cannon toward the little green minion and felt something strike him from the side. He inhaled sharply and reached a hand towards the source of pain, feeling a horned muzzle clamped on his thigh. Overkill snarled, his mouth full of metal as he crunched down, intent on taking a piece of the gobot with him. The little white and blue T-Rex dug his claws into Tux’s side and growled again until a sudden, high pitched whine sounded. Overkill’s left eye shattered and he screamed in pain, dropping to the floor. Tux saw his own minibot, MP3, standing in the corridor, hands pointed at the cassette as he got to his feet and whipped around to face her.
“Bad dog, er, dino!” The air around her fingers became distorted, her forearm bean to vibrate, building up another charge of sonic energy. She aimed to fire, and the Tower itself seemed to assault her, rumbling uncontrollably and shifting to the side. Debris and equipment slid across the floor. MP3 bent her legs at the knees to try to compensate when she saw Rumble, his arms reverting from piledrivers to regular arms.
“I don’t think so toots!” He ran from the communication room and tackled her.
“This’s no way to treat a lady!” she yelped as they fell. Her shot went wild, slicing through a beam above Tux. It creaked and fell, dragging part of the ceiling with it. As Tux raised his cannons and blasted the oncoming metal, Soundwave made it back to his feet, spread his arms to the sides and opened his chest. At once Beastbox burst through the wall nearest him, his purple arms held in front of him to shield the damage and widen the hole. Squawktalk soared through the opening as well, and they both assumed cassette modes, locking themselves into Soundwave’s chest. It snapped shut and he spun them in opposite directions, a purple and blue light flickered about the cassette door opening.
Soundwave turned towards Rumble. “Rumble. Operation: Evacuation.”
Rumble threw MP3 against the wall, looked up at Soundwave, then saw Beastbox and Squawktalk grinding in his chest. “Aw slag!” he raced into the communication room, disappearing from view to warn the other cassettes. MP3 ran towards Tux, swung behind him and changed into a small, portable music player, locking herself back into place. Hat-Trick, having seen Soundwave’s cassettes leaving the vicinity, limped back to Tux and shifted, retaking his form of the Renegade’s top-hat and secured himself atop his head.
Tux glanced back and saw Racous and Lambaste run towards him as well.
“Boss needs to be Bumpin!” Racous laughed, “And thumpin’!” Lambaste added as they shifted back into dual speakers, locking themselves into place within Tux’s side cannons. They immediately began to hum and glow as Tux lowered the weapons towards Soundwave. The entire level of the tower was vibrating.

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Bruticus exploded from DarkOre Tower, screaming in rage at top volume. He locked eyes with Puzzler, took a step forward, then fell. Menasor’s sword jutted from his back on a cruel angle, it was blazing with a dark, rippling energy. Menasor emerged from the hole in the tower, looking down at Bruticus as he slowly dropped a hand to the ground and gripped the metal beneath him, then began to push himself up. Puzzler raised both arms above his head, balling them into fists and dropped down to his knees, bringing both fists crashing down on Bruticus’ head and driving it below ground level. The gestalt was still as Puzzler rose to his feet.
“You see what I see?!” Blane grabbed Galvatron’s head in his hands. “Your own people hate you, and it seems to me, that these bots were too wild, too dangerous for yer precious Deceptions! That’s why they, have, joined, ME!!”
Blane’s laughter resounded in Galvatron’s head as Menasor and Puzzler stood side by side, glaring down at the Decepticon with malice.
There was a loud rumbling coming from the Tower. Both Menasor and Puzzler craned their necks to look towards the topmost level of the structure, which almost looked distorted for a moment, then sounded an ear-splitting screech. Purple, blue and yellow lights blared from the Tower, the windows along its entire circumference blew out and broke again as they fled their holdings.

***************
EARTH:

Leader-1 made for Prime and Swoop immediately, his Super-Gobot body rose its hands and fired two wide blasts of raw energy that Prime managed to narrowly spin between. He heard them slam into the rocky crags below and sever them, heard the gritty slide of rock as it crumbled and fell. Prime arced around Leader-1, drew his gun and fired a blast that collided with the gobot’s arm, leaving a large, smoldering dent behind. Leader-1 winced, then returned fire as Prime and Swoop tore past and launched a pair of missiles that exploded against his chest. Electrical shorts lined his connection port, and he raised a protective hand to the damaged area. He saw Swoop barreling towards him at top speed, and out of instinct swung his free hand in a wide half circle. He heard a half scream, half squawk and felt the flat of his massive hand erupt in pain as it struck Swoop’s uneven back. His hand came away dented, bits of the Dinobot’s metal buried in his, smoking. He saw Swoop and Prime zigzag through the air leaving a black trail behind.

Swoop opened his beak and roared, spinning so hard Prime feared being thrown free, but he never once felt the claws locked around his shoulders loosen. Swoop fought to remain airborne, raising his head even though it pained him to do so, and pulled himself up into the wind. Smoke still drifted from his back, a section of it was almost completely collapsed, dented inward on a terrible angle.
“Swoop!” Prime called, “Are you okay?”
“Me Swoop,” he grimaced, “Fine. Stupid Gobot… hit… like fembot.”
Prime leaned to his right and felt Swoop shudder, then adjust. This was taking too long, they needed to take Leader-1 out now.
“Drop me.”
“What?! Me Swoop no… hear you right.”
“Yes, you did. I’m going to give you an opening, and when you see it, take him down.”
He could hear Leader-1 approaching, turned and saw the tremendous gray machine coming towards them. He felt Swoop hesitating, his claws relinquishing their grip slowly at first, then all at once he was falling. Leader-1 drew near, and Prime took aim with his cannon, firing repeatedly at the larger robot. His shots found their mark, striking the SuperGoBot in his chest, arms and waist. Leader-1 slowed his advance and felt another tide of shots strike his chest. A small series of explosions rippled across a network of seams and connections, he halted and doubled over as sparks sprayed across his torso. When he looked up, Swoop filled his vision. The wild dinobot screeched, almost blowing Leader-1’s audio as his wings spread and claws raised towards the Gobot’s masked face. Momentum carried Swoop forward, his claws dug into Leader-1’s face and clamped down, leaving large triangular gullies in the metal. He squawked again and beat his wings, the force drove the head back on an angle and began to tear, pulling a large, thick strip of metal away as it was pushed further back. Its arms shot up and grabbed one of Swoop’s wings, and he responded with a volley of missiles. They detonated against the arm having practically no distance to gather speed and exploded, shredding away all but the base wireframe. Its remaining hand rose and wrapped its fingers around Swoop’s throat, he fired again and growled at the wiry remains of the arm, still locked around his neck.
Swoop’s preoccupation kept him from seeing a large panel of the SuperGobot’s chest crack and snap, releasing Leader-1 from its holding. He fell, wrapped in smoke as he fought to change into either robot or jet mode. He strained, then painfully shifted and assumed his jet form, ignited his thrusters and could only watch as Swoop and his SuperGoBot body crashed to the ground.

Leader-1 allowed his speed to waver, scanning the area for Prime and finding nothing. He’d lost track of him during Swoop’s assault. He knew the Autobot hadn’t perished in the fall, if he had hit the bottom at all. He dipped into the canyon, flying through the rocky growths poking into the air. He took a sharp turn, using a pair of thrusters on his side to push himself in a wide arc. Prime was nowhere to be seen. That was impossible, where would he have gone? He made another pass, instruments scanning the area feverishly in an attempt to get a beat on him. Then he heard it, the distinct sound of an engine. It echoed in a distorted thrum off the rising mountains, making it impossible to pinpoint its origin.
The wall of stone beside him exploded, filling Leader-1’s vision with a brilliant glare of floodlights as Optimus Prime burst from the mountain, sped off the cliff, and plowed directly into him. It sounded like a bomb went off. The force of the collision sent them on an arc, hurtling as a single unit towards an adjacent mountain, Leader-1’s jet mode pinned flat against Prime’s steaming grill. They impacted with the force of a comet, sending a spray of rock and plumes of dust into the air.
When the last of the smoke faded, both were still and silent.

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UNECOM BASE OF OPERATIONS: FACILITY # 4189

Nick peered out from behind a large pile of concrete. He saw the Autobots wreck Staks and Defendor, the two lay in an unmoving heap only a few feet from a huge hole in the compound made by the one they called RoadBuster. He could hear more breakage coming from inside, who knew what that Autobot was doing? He waited for the choppers to leave, then raced towards Staks. He lay sprawled across Defendor’s chest, his torso slumped on an angle on the ground. Nick sighed, then stood by Staks’ head. He raised his hands, blue lines of circuitry became visible like glowing veins, spreading from his hands up his arms and across his body. His eyes gave off a bright blue glow, and he placed his hands to Staks’ head. Immediately the circuitry lining Nick shifted to orange, he grimaced as bright lines of light began to create invisible shapes around his body. The empty spaces flashed bright white, then filled with an orange metal, covering his arms and legs with robotic limbs. A helmet flashed over his head, then solidified. It felt strange, he became aware of the feeling that he wasn’t wearing a suit of armor. He landed, a small robot fusion of flesh, blood, and technology. He turned a pair of green eyes towards Stacks. His upper body thrummed with energy, and Nick watched the Guardian’s head recede into his chest, leaving an empty port. Nick didn’t question it, his body react as if it already knew what to do. He leapt into the air and felt his body shift, changing modes from robot to a new head unit for Staks. Similar to the original head, Nick’s new form sported a more pronounced set of smokestacks on the sides of the helmet, the eyes more proportionate with the head and face mask. A burst of light came when he locked into place, and Stacks immediately became active, his body raising itself up and off Boomer.
“What in tarnation?!” Nick heard the Guardian utter, as if awoken suddenly from sleep.
“It’s me!” Nick wasn’t certain, but felt for sure they were speaking to each other through a mental link.
“What’s goin’ on?! I can see n’ think, but why’re you in my head Nick?!”
“I am your head, for now. Call it a gift from the Last Engineer.”
Staks stood, the damage to his body still hurt, but not enough to keep him from changing modes and revving his engine.
“Let’s go, he’s broken into the compound.”
“You got it partner,” Staks pressed his pedal and sped into the hole Roadbuster had made earlier, “I owe him one.”

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“Round two, ya suckerpunchin’ screwbolt!”
Ironhide drove into Turbo at full force and carried them both backwards. He transformed as they fell, wrapping his legs around Turbo’s head and socked him in the eye, nose, and forehead before they crashed. He kept his legs locked, drew back and punched Turbo’s head again, smiling internally at the dent left behind. Turbo managed to get to his feet, clawing at Ironhide and attempting to remove him. He growled and wrapped his hands around Ironhide’s legs, pulling himself into a standing position. Ironhide remained on his shoulders, his fists pistons against Turbo’s face. A crack raced along Turbo’s brow, he clamped his hands onto the Autobot’s legs and lurched forward, slamming Ironhide’s back into the ground. Turbo heard him yell in anger and pain, secured his footing and swung Ironhide up, still gripping his legs. He slammed him again and heard the ground crack as metal pounded it. Still not satisfied, he jerked Ironhide up once more and brought him down a third time, letting go when he felt the Autobot’s body going limp. Ironhide tried to stand, then collapsed, vision blinking in and out as he tried to get a shaking elbow under him.
“Ain’t finished… yet.”
“Yeah you are.” Turbo reared back his leg and moved to kick a field goal when he heard a familiar, blaring siren. Inferno rumbled towards him and for a moment Turbo froze, his mind skipping back to their first encounter, the pain he endured being bent around Inferno’s grill and mashed into the Command Center’s leg. Turbo’s teeth clamped together as Inferno collided with him and lifted him off the ground, the velocity fixing Turbo to the front of his cab. “Remember me?!”
Turbo peered over his shoulder and saw a wall fast approaching. He lowered his legs to the ground and let out a yell as his feet dug into the ground and sparked. Inferno’s speed slowed slightly, but didn’t stop. Inferno had built up too much velocity and was still holding his pedal to the metal. He pushed against Turbo and without warning slammed on his breaks, the opposing force sending Turbo sailing backwards. He recovered, got to his feet and ran at Inferno, who spun his emergency ladder once to build up speed, then extended it and let it smash into Turbo’s chest when he got within striking range. The ladder exploded in a shower of metal and sparks as Turbo hurtled through the air and collided with the wall of UNECOM’s main compound. He fell and brought a large chunk of the wall with him.

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Roadbuster looked about the facility. It was barren, dark, and it was huge. For a moment he felt strange being able to move about so freely in an enclosed space without feeling cramped. His eyes swept the corridors leading to other rooms that housed who-knew-what, and he grunted.
“Secure the compound,” he grumbled, “There’s nothing to slaggin’ secure.”
He felt the ground rumble and turned, Staks ran into him at full speed and sent him crashing through a wall and spilling into a corridor. He looked up and saw Staks’ grill a moment before it cracked against his skull and knocked him down, Staks’ momentum rolled him atop Roadbuster and over. “ Payback time!” he yelled, blaring his horn.
“Yer still outta yer league GoBot!” Roadbuster grabbed the undercarriage as it thumped over him and pushed up with so much force it sent Staks end over end. The cab crashed upside down, and Staks changed modes, getting to his feet as Roadbuster ran at him. They traded blows, the sound sent a thunderous echo down the corridors and shook the walls.
“Draw, ya sidewinder!” Staks raised his arms, the tires resting on his shoulders spun and fired blue bursts of energy like a machine gun at Roadbuster, who crossed his arms in front of himself. It rattled off his armor and left a sweep of dents behind as Roadbuster took step after step towards the Guardian. He winced as the armor heated up, making it two steps in front of Staks and throwing a right hand that sent him flying. Roadbuster was on him again in seconds, rocking his head back with a left, then swung him hard enough to smash through a nearby door. Staks got to his feet and shuddered, still feeling the effects of the damage from Defendor’s detonation. He jumped and swung a hard right into Rosbuster’s face, the Autobot was knocked back, but recovered and charged forward. He hit Staks hard with his broad shoulders, lifting him up and pounding towards a nearby wall that exploded when they hit, sending them both crashing in a clatter of cement and metal. Roadbuster was on his knees, shaking his head when he saw a black and purple machine, a GoBot he presumed, engaging what looked like miniature FBI robots. “The slag?” he cocked his head and saw Transformers and Gobots duking it out.
“Heh,” he chuckled, “made it to th’ frontlines.”

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“You Skyfire ripoff!” Springer fired a spray of blasts at Raizor, the shots whizzing past the Gobot jet as he banked to the left.
“What the heck’s a skyfire?” he asked Ace, who spun and flew beside him, “That some kind of Autobot weapon?”
“I think he just insulted you.”
Raizor cut through the air and swung towards Springer, returning fire, “Yeah?” he changed modes, his robot form surprisingly large and solid for a jet. His body remained mostly white save a few slashes of black, only his head stood out, a stark, bright blue. He charged his fists and fired at Springer, who responded by transforming and flying directly at Raizor, bringing a fist down on the side of his head. Raizor countered, but felt a hot blast on his side from Sandstorm. He zipped past and plowed into Raizor with a yell, knocking him unconscious. A hail of gunfire immediately assaulted Sandstorm, his sensors showed three more Gobot jets closing in on him. Bullseye, Bolt and Fliptop targeted the Autobot and fired as one, shattering his rotor.
“GAH!” he screamed, transforming to robot mode and falling over fifty feet before Whirl managed to head him off, transform and snatch him out of his fall, his rotor straining to keep them both airborne.
Springer returned to his chopper form, trying desperately to hold off the advancing Guardians.
“At least they’re not angry sword bearing lunatics like that other guy,” he dodged one blast and felt another punch into his side, “But not by much!”
Bolt moved in to follow up on his last shot, then shouted in surprise, a line of energy ripping past and searing his left wing.
“Who?”
The Aerialbots swung towards the Guardians in tight formation, Silverbolt at point, firing mercilessly into the swerving Gobot jets.
“Need a hand?” Silverbolt radioed Springer.
“Yeah,” he responded, “ Preferably one attached to a gun.”

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Leader-1’s eyes snapped open and he started. He felt himself hauled to his feet, Prime’s face was in front of his, he could see every scratch, dent and crack racing along the metal. His eyes blazing.
“This is over!” he shouted, slamming Leader-1’s back against a crumbling wall of rock, “Enough!”
Leader-1 brought his hands up and placed them flat against Prime’s chest, his palms flashed brilliantly as he channeled a high volume of energy into a blast that sent both him and the Autobot leader flying. Leader-1 regained his balance and staggered forward, fists flickering as he came upon Prime. He lay on the ground, his chest a twisted wreck of metal. A single, crooked line of blue light was radiating from a crack in the last layer of armor. Leader-1’s eyes were wide, he knelt beside Prime, smoke still rising from the damaged area, and lowered his hands to Prime’s chest. Immediately Optimus’s own hands shot forward and wrapped around Leader-1’s wrists. His grip was weaker than before, but there was a tenacity in the struggling Autobot that Leader-1 hadn’t felt before. He took a deep breath, this was it.
Leader-1’s shield flared from his fingers and expanded, pushing Prime’s hands off his wrists. A small open section of the force field pushed forward into Prime’s chest, then sealed over the Matrix of Leadership. Optimus roared in pain, the remaining layer of armor separating the artifact from Leader-1’s hands began to crack, then shattered within the force field, revealing the matrix in its entirety. Leader-1 gasped. It remained nestled within an indentation specifically crafted within Prime, a simple orange sphere encasing a crystalline object so rich and bright he couldn’t help but stare at it. Two curved handles attached to either side, four holes set in each side to allow the bearer to grip it firmly. Prime’s hands reached out and clasped Leader-1’s upper arms once more, his eyes wide with an indescribable fury as he dug into Leader-1’s forearms. He was not trying to remove the matrix from him, was he completely insane? In response, Leader-1 stepped over Prime, planted his feet, and pulled upward with all his might.
A scream ripped through the air.

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CYBERTRON:

Trypticon had barely neared the DarkOre Tower when Smasher ran towards him, fists blazing against the fires and smoke drifting from the city.
“Trypticon!” Shockwave bellowed, “Destroy them!”
Trypticon whipped his head towards Smasher in time to receive a thunderous shot against his eye. He roared, enraged and hurt, swinging his thick tail and crashing it against Smasher’s chest. The sheer savagery of the blow knocked Smasher off his feet and lifted him. He fell, destroying a number of buildings as he did so. Mangler didn’t wait for instructions, he aimed his forearm blasters and fired on the beast, twin beams of plasma erupting from his weapons. They struck Trypticon and drove him back, he dug his claws into the street to avoid being knocked over, then snarled and fired dual missiles from his throat. They sailed through the air and exploded against Mangler’s head, he cut his weapons with an echoing shout and clasped his head, smoking from the damage. Trypticon stomped forward, mindless of the two Zods that stalked towards him. One leapt, landing on his thigh and burying its teeth in his hide. Trypticon halted and roared at the sudden flash of pain, he threw himself against a nearby building, burying the assailant in the structure, then yanked himself free. The Zod still clung snarling and clawing as the second Zod sprang on Trypticon’s tail and began to scale his back, slashing and tearing at anything he could reach.
“THIS BEST GOBOTS CAN DO?! ” He growled, “NO ONE BEATS TRYPTICON! PREDACONS! ”
A large port near the base of Trypticon’s neck slid open, a towering, bestial form rose. Orange and black metal composed its form, a dark set of ebony wings splayed from its back. A red visor glared out at DarkOre Central, flashed, then took notice of the Zod, who had already seen him and was charging forward.
Predaking planted his feet and allowed the Zod to reach him, mouth agape, rows of metal teeth flashing. He clasped the upper and lower jaws when they tried to close on him, his growls matching the Renegade creature a moment before he placed a foot on Zod’s lower jaw, gripped its snout in his hands and wrenched the top of its head clear off its body. The shriek from the creature was music to his ears. He kicked the flailing body from Trypticon’s back and watched it take a nasty fall down to the street, where it erupted upon impact. He raised the top of Zod’s head in his hands and hurled it at the one still biting into Trypticon’s thigh. It struck the beast teeth first, shearing off the side of its face. Zod jerked back with an angry screech as it lost its grip and fell to the ground as well. Trypticon turned, growling as it landed on top of its fallen ally. Trypticon raised his foot, the resounding crunch of metal beneath his heel was the most satisfaction he’d felt in years.

Mangler crashed into Trypticon, bringing both fists down on his back as Thruster brought up her forearm cannons and fired on the dinosaurian fortress. Trypticon felt his knees bend, then rose to his full height and roared, thrashing back and forth trying to throw the Renegade. Mangler held fast, reared back and brought his fist down hard against the base of Trypticon’s neck. Predaking took wing, avoiding the massive hand as it made contact. Trypticon turned his head and rolled a ball of flame in his mouth, then spat it at Thruster. It struck her in the chest and sent her smashing into a nearby building. It cracked down the middle, then began to collapse. At the same time Smasher was on his feet, joining Mangler in his assault. Together they hammered Trypticon, intent on pummeling the monstrous machine into nothing. Trypticon snarled, igniting the vast arsenal of weaponry lining his body, the blasts tore into Smasher and sent him into the air, he crashed to the ground a short distance from Thruster.
Mangler’s body was riddled with holes and tears, he had gotten the worst end of the discharge from Trypticon, who hunched forward and charged him, ramming the amber spike jutting from his forehead deep into Mangler’s midsection. The Renegade screamed, the sound shaking the ground beneath them. Trypticon’s sensors registered Predaking swinging through the air, arcing his path directly towards Mangler. He flew straight towards him, bloodlust dancing in his eyes as he brought his spiked, gray fists up before himself and pulled his wings tight against his body. He shot through the air and smashed into Mangler’s eye, his path never stopping until he burst from the back of his head with a roar of his own, covered in wires and oil.
Mangler screamed again, clutching an hand to his destroyed eye. He brought his hands together and crashed them against Trypticon’s skull, who responded by jerking his head up, eviscerating Mangler. Fire immediately sprayed from the wound, and Trypticon caught a glimpse of the various rooms within Mangler, weapon caches, smaller hallways that led to other rooms with blinking computer lights. They were exploding from within, filling Mangler’s internal systems with flame and smoke. He swung at Trypticon again and the beast caught his forearm in his mouth, clamped down, then activated the powerful hydraulics in his jaws. Mangler’s cannon exploded as his limb was crushed, and Trypticon pulled back, ripping the Renegade’s arm from the socket. Mangler didn’t have time to fall backwards, Trypticon spat the dangling limb from his mouth and charged, knocking him into a trio of buildings that simply could not hold his weight. They crumpled beneath him, and Trypticon opened his maw wide, lunging and biting down on Mangler’s neck. He felt the Renegade trying to scream, but couldn’t, its voice module was shattered, as was most of its yellow neck. Trypticon found himself wondering what the thing was made from, but it didn’t matter. He pinned Mangler, using his small forearms to clamp down on its chest as he lunged forward again and crushed Mangler’s skull in his mouth. The explosion filled his throat, yellow and red light splayed from between his jaws, smoke squirted from Mangler’s body. They sprayed from every opening, every joint like an oversized kettle. Mangler’s body arched as if it was being electrocuted, then went limp, its hand dropped against Trypticon’s back and slid off, striking the ground in what would be his last act of violence.

Trypticon gave his head a final bite, then rose to his full height and stepped on Mangler’s chest. It caved in, the central core of the Renegade detonated. There was a deafening eruption, a yellow mushroomcloud of smoke and fire surrounded Trypticon as he threw his head skyward and roared in triumph.

Smasher and Thruster saw the slaughter happen too quickly for them to interfere. Smasher’s entire crimson head was alight, his yellow eyes a blinding glare. He and Thruster launched themselves into the fading yellow pillar of smoke, Trypticon visible as a stark silhouette in the midst of the destruction. Together they struck him, Thruster burying a fist into his chest, Smasher clubbed him across the bridge of his snout. Predaking flew heading into the smoke still swirling about the battling fortresses, zeroing in on Smasher, who appeared to be the more aggressive of the two. He targeted the titan’s eye, it seemed to do the most damage to them. He angled his path towards the Renegade when it whipped its head around, yellow eyes enraged, and saw Predaking coming. Smasher swung a massive fist and heard Predaking crash against the flat of his hand and rebound. The gestalt sliced through the air, consciousness flickering in and out, pain gripped his body when he plowed into nearby building on a downward angle, destroying three floors before bursting through the other side and slamming into the metal streets below.

Trypticon snarled and lashed out, striking Smasher’s forehead with his own. Thruster caught a glimpse of purple flame beginning to light Trypticon’s mouth. She exchanged a look with Smasher. They charged forward again and took hold of Trypticon, it was like trying to seize a live wire. The bestial fortress slashed at the trio, his enraged roars causing their audio to tremble horribly. They acted as one and lifted the monstrosity off his feet. He continued to thrash and they launched him backwards. Trypticon collided with the Central Tower and shattered the middle section of the structure. The various discs affixed to the side exploded into his back, eliciting an angry roar as the tower rumbled and shuddered, then collapsed on top of him.
The top portion of the tower felt like it was falling in slow motion, nothing held still, everything was vibrating as the metal walls stretched and tore free of themselves.

--------------

Tux sailed through the window and fell, unconscious, towards the ground. It was almost peaceful, he heard nothing but the wind rushing past his ears-until the sound of Trypticon smashing into the Tower jolted him from the darkness. He tried to ignite his foot boosters and couldn’t. He felt his minibots securing themselves tighter in their holdings… as if that would help when he struck the ground. He tilted his head back and closed his eyes, ready to accept his untimely demise, when he was jerked to the side, caught on something. His eyes snapped open and he found himself soaring through the air with Fitor. He was in jet form, a single arm extended from his side, curved to keep Tux from falling.
“Hey,” he said, “hurry up and fix whatever’s wrong with your boost, I can’t fly like this for long.”
“Tux saw the dents running along his cockpit. “Someone did a number of you.”
“You’re one to talk, looks like someone shifted your face three inches to the left.” Fitor replied, somewhat sharply, “And you’re welcome, by the way.”

------------------

The Decepticons stationed within the Tower fled from any available opening moments later, alarm lights were blaring along every floor moments before Thruster and Smasher assaulted Trypticon and drove him into the Tower itself. It cracked in the middle, the center segment caving in with Trypticon’s weight, the top portion folding and crashing down on itself, the discs embedded in the sides shattering as they collided with parts of the tower and other discs.
Blane watched the monstrous Tower collapse and fall to the left, debris and dust from the main entrance billowing out and spraying a mist of burnt materials from the base. The ground shook uncontrollably, it was a horrifying vision. Battles taking place across the city halted as both Decepticon and Renegade watched Trypticon’s body continue to sink into the Tower’s remains. Soundwave hung from Astrotrain’s shuttle undercarriage, his cassettes flew about him in a cloud, making sure he didn’t lose consciousness and fall.

***************
UNECOM BASE OF OPERATIONS: FACILITY # 4189

Both Leader-1 and Prime were howling at the top of their output, primal roars as a blinding blue light splayed from the matrix. Leader-1’s force field dissipated, and he immediately clutched one the matrix’s handles.
“NO! ” Prime yelled and swung a clenched fist at Leader-1. It smashed into the side of his face, drawing an angry shout from the Guardian, but his grip remained, he yanked again and Prime screamed.
The matrix shifted from its position, lifting up from its holding and inched towards Leader-1, who reared back his head and screamed in what sounded like fear. Leader-1 felt like something was being pulled from him, the matrix reaching into him and tearing something from his mind and soul.
Lead Them
He heard the voice in his head fade, drifting towards the matrix’s inviting light.
Prime snaked his hand forward and latched onto the free side of the matrix, the glow was blinding them both. When his fingers touched the cool metal, there was a white flash in his mind and he saw the world of Gobotron, ravaged and decimated by Unicron. He saw a faded image of an armada striking against their own world in an effort to drive the mad god away-and failing. Something was wrong. He saw Cy-Kill’s change, saw the Guardians change…
But something was wrong.
He felt a resentment, a chaotic anger deep within the matrix itself. A dark indigo blob of power screeching within the ancient mantle of leadership. It writhed like a coiled dragon, its anger and obsessive focus locked onto Unicron. He heard a voice drifting through his head.
Let us go
“NO!” he shouted, eyes wide as he felt, actually felt the matrix shift its movement towards Leader-1.
Dneirf ym si ymene ym fo ymene eht.
Optimus saw the face of a human he didn’t recognize, white hair blowing peacefully in a soundless wind. The human stood beside Alpha Trion, the ancient bearer of the matrix, the Autobot responsible for making Optimus Prime what he was today. They stared at Prime, both looked weary and sullen.
Dneirf ym si ymene ym fo ymene eht.
“NO!” Prime shouted again,
Let us show you
A blue pulse of energy raced through him, a shower of sparks burst from his point of contact with the matrix. Leader-1 continued to scream with Prime. Both of Leader-1’s hands were locked in a deathgrip on the matrix, which was slowly being torn free. Metal twisted, cables snapped, and with a final, skull-splitting shriek, it was wrenched from its holding.
Prime fell and landed hard on his back, blue eyes flashing dully as he tried desperately to raise himself-then fell back to the ground. He saw Leader-1 holding the matrix in both hands above his head, as if frozen in that pose while his scream dwindled and faded into nothing. His eyes were visible through his visor, wide saucers filled with blue light. Prime tried to speak; instead he fell into darkness.
The matrix rested in Leader-1’s hands, glowing contentedly as he lowered his arms, hunched forward and stared down at it, terrified. He couldn’t utter a word, it was like the object itself was trying to speak to him, as if it knew him. Leader-1 heard a clicking sound, a creaking, like a steady vibrating clack of an old car-then realized it was him. He was trembling, his circuits racing with no signs of slowing. What was he doing? How could he-
Leader-1 shook his head violently, cradling the matrix in his hands as a chill raced along his spine. He looked over at Optimus, unable to move. He felt a coppery sting in his throat and managed a single step back, then took to the air, his body still shaking badly. He strained, activating a link to the Guardians.
“This is Leader-1…” he glanced down at Prime as he rose into the air, trying desperately to force his voice to remain steady, “Everyone pull back to Guardian and Sentry. I repeat, pull back.”
“Can… do Leader-1.” Turbo’s voice came over the channel, he sounded pained, out of breath. Leader-1 nodded.
I-I’m on my way.”
“Don’t bother!” Matt’s voice crackled, “This place is a lost cause Leader-1, the compound looks like a chinashop after a dozen bulls got done with it! We’re cutting our losses and…” an uncomfortable silence, “No sense beating around the bush, we’re eradicating this facility. The guards have already removed anything we couldn’t replace.”
“Matt, I’m sorry-”
“Hey, you and I both knew this would happen if they found us. We’ll be fine. Right now we’re underground, en route to another base. This one is gone in sixty seconds from the moment we end this communication.”
“Is everyone okay?”
Nick’s voice cut in, “Other than Traks ejecting me, I’m fine.”
“Matt,” He sighed, “I’m sorry. We… we have to go.”
“We know.” It was A.J. He could hear the sadness in her voice, the disappointment. “Is it for good this time? I mean, for good, for good?”
Leader-1 felt his eyes sting, he closed them, and set his jaw. “No A.J. We’ll be back. “he opened his eyes and looked towards the sky, he could already see Guardian and Sentry approaching. “I promise you that.”
There was a click, then nothing.

-------------------------

Blaster stopped short, Jazz almost ran into him.
“Hey man, what’s the word?”
Blaster turned to him, his eyes wide. “Just intercepted a convo between Leader-1 and his human chums. This place is rigged to blow!”
“What?!” Jazz looked around, “When?”
“We got one minute to peel out!” He transformed along with Jazz, landing in his front seat and hooking himself into Jazz’s stereo.
“Listen up Autobots, we just laid a serious smackdown on the Guardians, and they are blowin this joint-literally! Fifty-one second countdown starting now! Go Go Go!”
“They’re retreatin’?” Roadbuster backed away from the piles of rubble shaking around him, “That mean we won?”
“Not if we get blown to kingdom come!” Springer yelled over his com, joining Whirl and Slingshot as they bolted from the area.
“Move, move!” Hound rolled alongside Mirage and Hot Rod as they motored through the remains of the compound, the sound of something powering up coming from all directions. They skirted the hole in the wall before the entrance and kept going, trying to put as much space between themselves and the compound as possible.
Omega felt Skylynx land on his shoulder and gritted his teeth. He’d been hit there a number of times by Guardian-it hurt.
“Looks like I provided enough distraction to guarantee you’d be able to hold your own, eh Omega?”
He glanced at Skylynx “Bravado, distracting. Silence, preferred.” He backed away from the remains of the compound, which was beginning to glow in the center, a rising sphere of light.

“Twenty seconds!” Blaster called over their communicators, “This countdown’s wrappin’ up!”
Jazz saw Blurr and Elita-1 whiz past, Silverbolt soared overhead, and Jazz noticed Ultra Magnus swung from an improvised gurney beneath him. Warpath kicked up dirt, laughing with a merry contentment that bothered both Jazz and Blaster.

----------------------

“Everyone here?”
Turbo held a hand to his head, standing in Guardian’s main control room. His eyes swept the room, taking in Guardians in various states of disrepair.
“My achin’ axels…” Staks slumped in a chair near a monitor, a hand clamped to his neck, “Who won that fight?”
“If it was us,” Turbo grumbled, then winced, “I sure don’t feel like much’ve a winner.”

Sentry opened a communication with Thruster. “Attention, our mission on Earth is complete. We are returning to Gobotron. ”
“Sentry,” Guardian was already rising into the air, “Our inventory is the same now as it was when we arrived, correct?”
“Leader-1 in sight. His boarding completes our arrival numbers.”
SmallFoot brought a hand to her ear, a grimace on her face from the loud speech of the transports. “Wait,” she said, “Shouldn’t there be plus one? What about PathFinder?”
She stood abruptly and wished she hadn’t, she shot a hand to her back. “Has anyone seen her?

************
CYBERTRON:

“Blane, I am receiving word from the Guardians. Their task on Earth is complete.”
“Good t’hear.” Blane stood over Galvatron, “So’s mine.” He knelt, his knee crunching debris as he leaned in close to Galvatron’s face. The Energon slivers still poked through the Decepticon’s hands, he could barely feel his arms.
“You took some’ve mine…” Blane whispered, “…so I’m takin some’ve yours.” He let the words linger, then his whisper became fierce, “Fer the record, Galvy… you thought these last coupla beatings I gave you was bad? You ain’t seen me cut loose, punk. You ain’t seen nothin’.” Blane opened his hands and let Galvatron’s head drop, his smile was gone. “I ain’t playin’ no more. Get in my face again, see what happens.” He stood, glancing skyward. DarkOre Central was still ablaze with conflict.
“Renegades.” Thruster channeled Blane’s voice, it boomed in the ears of the surviving fighters, “Back it up, we’re pullin’ out.”
Like a swarm of locusts full off their devastation, the Renegades broke off their encounters, taking flight and converging upon the remaining two Thrusters.

Smasher opened a number of ports along his arms and legs, allowing the Renegades access amidst a flurry of Decepticon gunfire that popped and ricocheted off his armored skin. Thruster did the same, though internally growled as the Stunticons entered behind Crasher and Destroyer. She scanned the area, Smasher doing the same.
“My numbers are off, I do not have the same number of Renegades as I did when we arrived.”
Smasher finished his inventory. “You are not incorrect. We have lost some of our people.” Thruster could sense his anger. “There are platoons of Decepticon warships en route. With only the two of use remaining, it would be unwise to remain. They will be upon us in full force, we need to leave.”

“RAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!! ” Trypticon reared up from the wreckage of the DarkOre Tower and roared at the ascending Thrusters. “COWARDS!!!! NO RUN FROM TRYPTICON!!! ”

“Coward?” Smasher glared down at the beast, who was still shrugging off large, broken plates of crystal and metal. Smasher’s eyes narrowed, Mangler’s death still raw in his thoughts. “I should-”
“No, we need to protect those within us.” Thruster continued to rise, watching the two Quick-Step beasts snarl at Trypticon and launch themselves at him. He caught one by its through, squeezing down with his claws, ignoring the second Quick-Step as it buried its fangs in his midsection. The creature gripped in his claws struggle, roaring defiantly and snapping at him. The second its jaws closed, Tyrpticon yanked the monster forward and crammed its head in his mouth, then bit down. The Quick Step convulsed wildly, then hung limp, the torso sliding free with a deep curved portion missing. Oil dripped from Trypticon’s mouth, he turned towards the second Quick-Step and brought his jaws down on is purple back, pinching a large chunk of metal when he bit into the now screeching beast. He stood, raising the thing in his mouth, then shook it violently, letting it go with a snarl and watched it smash through the top half of a nearby building. It crashed halfway through the structure, then lay still.
Trypticon trumpeted a chilling roar of rage, trying desperately to fire up his boosters but got only a crackling, fiery refusal from his jets. The damage they suffered from the impact of being put through DarkOre Tower, and the dents that disfigured them were a ghastly sight, but it only enraged him further. He stomped his foot and shook the ground, infuriated, only able to watch as the Renegade Transports became enveloped in their cloaking fields, vanishing from sight and disappearing into space.

***************
UNECOM BASE OF OPERATIONS: FACILITY # 4189

Pathfinder hovered, watching the Autobots race from the growing bulb of energy about to erupt. She sighed, then glanced up at Guardian and Sentry, both about to clear the atmosphere and jump into lightspeed. Her eyes turned towards the direction of Metroplex, and she activated her telescopic vision. The edges of her sight blurred as she zoomed in on the Autobot city, hoping she could catch one last look at-
“Cosmos?!” she gasped, almost shutting down the zoom. He was standing atop a damaged tower, the highest peak on Metroplex.
And he was looking at her.
She saw him raise a finger, a dot of light lit the tip as he swung it around, leaving trails in the dark only a machine with their vision could see. He finished and lowered his hand, standing beside a thinly glowing message that read:
I’M SORRY

Pathfinder felt her throat tighten. She raised her own finger, a blue glow raced through it as she wrote a short sentence in script:
SO AM I

They stared at each other a moment longer, then Pathfinder changed modes and raced to catch up with Guardian and Sentry.

The compound exploded, a deafening blast that was heard in cities miles from the conflict. A brilliant mushroom of light blossomed from ground zero, stretching towards the sky.

************
CYBERTRON:

“Mighty Galvatron…” Cyclonus’ hand rested on Galvatron’s shoulder. He felt more hands take hold of him, the Sweeps gathered and helped Cyclonus pull him to his feet. Galvatron stared out at the destruction, the Decepticons nearest the tower were beginning to move towards him.
Most were angry. They were insulted, they were ready to take the fight directly to the Renegades. He could see it in their eyes, every one of them hungry for battle, even those who suffered damage in the attack stood tall, side by side with their fellow Decepticon. But there were other looks in the sea of faces forming. Doubt. Confusion. Why hadn’t Galvatron, their leader, simply crushed this intruding braggart? Why wasn’t he the dominant beast of a warrior they had all come to respect-and fear?
He looked down at his hands, eyes blank, an empty, unreadable expression on his face. He tried to curl his fingers into fists, closed his eyes when the pain threatened to make him scream and continued to curl them. Then stopped. He lowered his hands, let his arms fall to his sides, his cannon feeling heavy-a burden. He looked out at them, his Decepticons, and saw in them everything he was lacking. Shockwave approached, the slash in his back still giving off an errant spark.
“Galvatron, the Tower may have been lost, but it’s only a minor setback. Trypticon can be repaired in mere cycles and we can pursue-”
Galvatron could barely hear him, his words faded in his audio. His mind lingered on the resentment in Motormaster’s face, how close it was to some of the looks he was getting now. They wanted a leader. He blinked, “Decepticons, I-” he paused, the words caught in his throat. Motormaster’s words blared in his head
YOU betrayed US!!
Blane was right. (I’m lookin’ for Galvatron. Seen him?) He couldn’t do this… not like this.
Cyclonus stared at Galvatron, worry etched in his face. “Galvatron?”
A sudden geyser of energy streamed from Galvatron’s cannon, lifting him into the air. His head hung, a dark shadow cast over his face as he looked down at himself in resentment. He tried to ignore the confused shouts from below, the calls from his people. Galvatron ignited his boosters and rocketed into the sky, leaving the Decepticons behind.

to be continued…

Description
Transformers vs. GoBots: Chapter 9-C

Prologue: Part 1 | Prologue: Part 2 | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 6.5 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 7.5 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9-A | Chapter 9-B

Or, you can visit the website by clicking here .

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CYBERTRON:

Bladez streaked through the air, assumed his robot form, and dropped down beside Vamp. He glowered down at the Insecticons, then lashed out with a clawed hand and swatted Kickback, sending him crashing into Bombshell. Vamp looked around her, the Insecticon swarm still buzzing around her, waiting. She rose into the air and took wing. The mass swirled around her, weaving through the sky like a black strip of satin. She looked about the city and saw the DarkOre Tower, Thruster, Mangler and Smasher were engaged with two smaller machines. Though everyone involved in that conflict was much bigger than her, she thought of a perfect use for her newest acquisitions. She smiled, then made her way towards the battle.

Two Guardian Robots remained, both Quick Step creatures took turns pulling the metal of the fallen titans from their frames. The remaining Guardian Robots grappled with Smasher until one was clubbed by Mangler. He took pleasure in seeing the blue and gray robot strike the ground. He kicked it hard, delighting in the machine’s crumpled side. Thruster approached it from behind and brought a closed fist down on the struggling machine, driving it back down to its knees. It managed to raise a claw and reached for Mangler, who aimed both his forearm cannons at the Decepticon and fired, the shot struck its head and blew it clean off. Thruster leaned over and grabbed it by the arms from behind, placing her foot on its back, then pressed forward until the arms tore from their sockets, the torso slammed back down to the ground.

Smasher threw the final Guardian Robot to the ground, it rolled and assumed a kneeling crouch, firing off a plethora of blasts that struck Smasher’s chest and shoulders. He aimed and fired back, growing more angered by the machine’s refusal to just die. A blast slammed into the Guardian’s chest and knocked it back, it took aim again and prepared to fire when it noticed a large, black cloud appear. It snaked through the air, heading towards them with a frightening speed. It was buzzing. The sound grew larger as it approached, the Guardian Robot didn’t have time to debate whether or not it should open fire or return to battle with the larger problem. Vamp’s Insecticon swarm collided with the Guardian’s face plate. It rose suddenly, swinging its clawed arm violently into the swarm. It felt Insecticons shatter when it swung, but the tiny Decepticons were filling its vision, jamming themselves into a solid mass across its faceplace. It raked a clawed hand through them, leaving a thick line across its field of vision that was immediately filled with more Insecticons. It stood abruptly, sparks leaping from its neck and shoulders as the Insecticon drones crawled into its joints and invaded its interior mechanics. More of the swarm milled about, latching on as the machine charged its cannon, unable to determine where it should fire. The Insecticons had begun chewing apart its wiring, shutting down its vision and basic motor functions. It continued to charge, melting the Insecticons that had crawled into the mouth of the cannon. Smasher watched the strange happening, uncertain what had caused the sudden black cluster to latch onto the Guardian Robot. But it didn’t matter. He raised his own cannons towards the failing robot, took aim, and fired.

Bladez noticed the Renegade transport charging its weapon a moment before he fired, and took wing immediately. He cut through the air, grabbed Vamp around her waist and made a beeline in the direction opposite of the Tower. She didn’t protest, only watched as the Guardian Robot exploded, destroying almost all of her Insecticon swarm with it. For a moment she considered mourning the loss of the cluster, but cast the thought aside. These weren’t even her kind, and there would be others-there would always be others.

---------------

Soundwave raced forward and rammed Tux at full speed, heedless of the rippling damages from the sonics radiating from both of them. His audo was ringing, dangerously close to scrambling despite his own specialized modifications. Glass was shattering around them as they emitted sound and counter-sound, their frequencies blaring and rebounding off one another, crossing through and shredding the area around them. Tux brought a fist up and knocked Soundwave back, aimed a single cannon and fired a concentrated ring of sound that slashed into the wall behind him. Soundwave caught a glimpse of the curved, precise cut Tux had made and stood, crossed his arms, concentrating, then released a burst of sound from his internal systems that blew Tux off his feet and down the corridor. Tux fired as he fell, the blasts striking the ceiling and floor before Soundwave, who leapt over the debris and pursued. He rounded a corner and saw nothing, as if Tux had vanished into the dark. A bright pair of lights flashed on and blinded him momentarily, which was all Tux needed, spinning his tires and slamming into Soundwave in his limousine form. He rammed Soundwave through the wall at the end of the corridor, enjoying the sound of it collapsing on the Decepticon. He rolled back and shouted in surprise and pain. Something had stabbed into both rear tires and cut through. He changed modes and landed in front of Slugfest, the green stegosaurus cassette lay on his stomach, the razor edged plates running along its back still a blur of motion, spitting out bits of Tux’s tires. Tux’s eyes registered a hint of annoyance, he raised a single cannon toward the little green minion and felt something strike him from the side. He inhaled sharply and reached a hand towards the source of pain, feeling a horned muzzle clamped on his thigh. Overkill snarled, his mouth full of metal as he crunched down, intent on taking a piece of the gobot with him. The little white and blue T-Rex dug his claws into Tux’s side and growled again until a sudden, high pitched whine sounded. Overkill’s left eye shattered and he screamed in pain, dropping to the floor. Tux saw his own minibot, MP3, standing in the corridor, hands pointed at the cassette as he got to his feet and whipped around to face her.
“Bad dog, er, dino!” The air around her fingers became distorted, her forearm bean to vibrate, building up another charge of sonic energy. She aimed to fire, and the Tower itself seemed to assault her, rumbling uncontrollably and shifting to the side. Debris and equipment slid across the floor. MP3 bent her legs at the knees to try to compensate when she saw Rumble, his arms reverting from piledrivers to regular arms.
“I don’t think so toots!” He ran from the communication room and tackled her.
“This’s no way to treat a lady!” she yelped as they fell. Her shot went wild, slicing through a beam above Tux. It creaked and fell, dragging part of the ceiling with it. As Tux raised his cannons and blasted the oncoming metal, Soundwave made it back to his feet, spread his arms to the sides and opened his chest. At once Beastbox burst through the wall nearest him, his purple arms held in front of him to shield the damage and widen the hole. Squawktalk soared through the opening as well, and they both assumed cassette modes, locking themselves into Soundwave’s chest. It snapped shut and he spun them in opposite directions, a purple and blue light flickered about the cassette door opening.
Soundwave turned towards Rumble. “Rumble. Operation: Evacuation.”
Rumble threw MP3 against the wall, looked up at Soundwave, then saw Beastbox and Squawktalk grinding in his chest. “Aw slag!” he raced into the communication room, disappearing from view to warn the other cassettes. MP3 ran towards Tux, swung behind him and changed into a small, portable music player, locking herself back into place. Hat-Trick, having seen Soundwave’s cassettes leaving the vicinity, limped back to Tux and shifted, retaking his form of the Renegade’s top-hat and secured himself atop his head.
Tux glanced back and saw Racous and Lambaste run towards him as well.
“Boss needs to be Bumpin!” Racous laughed, “And thumpin’!” Lambaste added as they shifted back into dual speakers, locking themselves into place within Tux’s side cannons. They immediately began to hum and glow as Tux lowered the weapons towards Soundwave. The entire level of the tower was vibrating.

------------------------

Bruticus exploded from DarkOre Tower, screaming in rage at top volume. He locked eyes with Puzzler, took a step forward, then fell. Menasor’s sword jutted from his back on a cruel angle, it was blazing with a dark, rippling energy. Menasor emerged from the hole in the tower, looking down at Bruticus as he slowly dropped a hand to the ground and gripped the metal beneath him, then began to push himself up. Puzzler raised both arms above his head, balling them into fists and dropped down to his knees, bringing both fists crashing down on Bruticus’ head and driving it below ground level. The gestalt was still as Puzzler rose to his feet.
“You see what I see?!” Blane grabbed Galvatron’s head in his hands. “Your own people hate you, and it seems to me, that these bots were too wild, too dangerous for yer precious Deceptions! That’s why they, have, joined, ME!!”
Blane’s laughter resounded in Galvatron’s head as Menasor and Puzzler stood side by side, glaring down at the Decepticon with malice.
There was a loud rumbling coming from the Tower. Both Menasor and Puzzler craned their necks to look towards the topmost level of the structure, which almost looked distorted for a moment, then sounded an ear-splitting screech. Purple, blue and yellow lights blared from the Tower, the windows along its entire circumference blew out and broke again as they fled their holdings.

***************
EARTH:

Leader-1 made for Prime and Swoop immediately, his Super-Gobot body rose its hands and fired two wide blasts of raw energy that Prime managed to narrowly spin between. He heard them slam into the rocky crags below and sever them, heard the gritty slide of rock as it crumbled and fell. Prime arced around Leader-1, drew his gun and fired a blast that collided with the gobot’s arm, leaving a large, smoldering dent behind. Leader-1 winced, then returned fire as Prime and Swoop tore past and launched a pair of missiles that exploded against his chest. Electrical shorts lined his connection port, and he raised a protective hand to the damaged area. He saw Swoop barreling towards him at top speed, and out of instinct swung his free hand in a wide half circle. He heard a half scream, half squawk and felt the flat of his massive hand erupt in pain as it struck Swoop’s uneven back. His hand came away dented, bits of the Dinobot’s metal buried in his, smoking. He saw Swoop and Prime zigzag through the air leaving a black trail behind.

Swoop opened his beak and roared, spinning so hard Prime feared being thrown free, but he never once felt the claws locked around his shoulders loosen. Swoop fought to remain airborne, raising his head even though it pained him to do so, and pulled himself up into the wind. Smoke still drifted from his back, a section of it was almost completely collapsed, dented inward on a terrible angle.
“Swoop!” Prime called, “Are you okay?”
“Me Swoop,” he grimaced, “Fine. Stupid Gobot… hit… like fembot.”
Prime leaned to his right and felt Swoop shudder, then adjust. This was taking too long, they needed to take Leader-1 out now.
“Drop me.”
“What?! Me Swoop no… hear you right.”
“Yes, you did. I’m going to give you an opening, and when you see it, take him down.”
He could hear Leader-1 approaching, turned and saw the tremendous gray machine coming towards them. He felt Swoop hesitating, his claws relinquishing their grip slowly at first, then all at once he was falling. Leader-1 drew near, and Prime took aim with his cannon, firing repeatedly at the larger robot. His shots found their mark, striking the SuperGoBot in his chest, arms and waist. Leader-1 slowed his advance and felt another tide of shots strike his chest. A small series of explosions rippled across a network of seams and connections, he halted and doubled over as sparks sprayed across his torso. When he looked up, Swoop filled his vision. The wild dinobot screeched, almost blowing Leader-1’s audio as his wings spread and claws raised towards the Gobot’s masked face. Momentum carried Swoop forward, his claws dug into Leader-1’s face and clamped down, leaving large triangular gullies in the metal. He squawked again and beat his wings, the force drove the head back on an angle and began to tear, pulling a large, thick strip of metal away as it was pushed further back. Its arms shot up and grabbed one of Swoop’s wings, and he responded with a volley of missiles. They detonated against the arm having practically no distance to gather speed and exploded, shredding away all but the base wireframe. Its remaining hand rose and wrapped its fingers around Swoop’s throat, he fired again and growled at the wiry remains of the arm, still locked around his neck.
Swoop’s preoccupation kept him from seeing a large panel of the SuperGobot’s chest crack and snap, releasing Leader-1 from its holding. He fell, wrapped in smoke as he fought to change into either robot or jet mode. He strained, then painfully shifted and assumed his jet form, ignited his thrusters and could only watch as Swoop and his SuperGoBot body crashed to the ground.

Leader-1 allowed his speed to waver, scanning the area for Prime and finding nothing. He’d lost track of him during Swoop’s assault. He knew the Autobot hadn’t perished in the fall, if he had hit the bottom at all. He dipped into the canyon, flying through the rocky growths poking into the air. He took a sharp turn, using a pair of thrusters on his side to push himself in a wide arc. Prime was nowhere to be seen. That was impossible, where would he have gone? He made another pass, instruments scanning the area feverishly in an attempt to get a beat on him. Then he heard it, the distinct sound of an engine. It echoed in a distorted thrum off the rising mountains, making it impossible to pinpoint its origin.
The wall of stone beside him exploded, filling Leader-1’s vision with a brilliant glare of floodlights as Optimus Prime burst from the mountain, sped off the cliff, and plowed directly into him. It sounded like a bomb went off. The force of the collision sent them on an arc, hurtling as a single unit towards an adjacent mountain, Leader-1’s jet mode pinned flat against Prime’s steaming grill. They impacted with the force of a comet, sending a spray of rock and plumes of dust into the air.
When the last of the smoke faded, both were still and silent.

**************
UNECOM BASE OF OPERATIONS: FACILITY # 4189

Nick peered out from behind a large pile of concrete. He saw the Autobots wreck Staks and Defendor, the two lay in an unmoving heap only a few feet from a huge hole in the compound made by the one they called RoadBuster. He could hear more breakage coming from inside, who knew what that Autobot was doing? He waited for the choppers to leave, then raced towards Staks. He lay sprawled across Defendor’s chest, his torso slumped on an angle on the ground. Nick sighed, then stood by Staks’ head. He raised his hands, blue lines of circuitry became visible like glowing veins, spreading from his hands up his arms and across his body. His eyes gave off a bright blue glow, and he placed his hands to Staks’ head. Immediately the circuitry lining Nick shifted to orange, he grimaced as bright lines of light began to create invisible shapes around his body. The empty spaces flashed bright white, then filled with an orange metal, covering his arms and legs with robotic limbs. A helmet flashed over his head, then solidified. It felt strange, he became aware of the feeling that he wasn’t wearing a suit of armor. He landed, a small robot fusion of flesh, blood, and technology. He turned a pair of green eyes towards Stacks. His upper body thrummed with energy, and Nick watched the Guardian’s head recede into his chest, leaving an empty port. Nick didn’t question it, his body react as if it already knew what to do. He leapt into the air and felt his body shift, changing modes from robot to a new head unit for Staks. Similar to the original head, Nick’s new form sported a more pronounced set of smokestacks on the sides of the helmet, the eyes more proportionate with the head and face mask. A burst of light came when he locked into place, and Stacks immediately became active, his body raising itself up and off Boomer.
“What in tarnation?!” Nick heard the Guardian utter, as if awoken suddenly from sleep.
“It’s me!” Nick wasn’t certain, but felt for sure they were speaking to each other through a mental link.
“What’s goin’ on?! I can see n’ think, but why’re you in my head Nick?!”
“I am your head, for now. Call it a gift from the Last Engineer.”
Staks stood, the damage to his body still hurt, but not enough to keep him from changing modes and revving his engine.
“Let’s go, he’s broken into the compound.”
“You got it partner,” Staks pressed his pedal and sped into the hole Roadbuster had made earlier, “I owe him one.”

--------------

“Round two, ya suckerpunchin’ screwbolt!”
Ironhide drove into Turbo at full force and carried them both backwards. He transformed as they fell, wrapping his legs around Turbo’s head and socked him in the eye, nose, and forehead before they crashed. He kept his legs locked, drew back and punched Turbo’s head again, smiling internally at the dent left behind. Turbo managed to get to his feet, clawing at Ironhide and attempting to remove him. He growled and wrapped his hands around Ironhide’s legs, pulling himself into a standing position. Ironhide remained on his shoulders, his fists pistons against Turbo’s face. A crack raced along Turbo’s brow, he clamped his hands onto the Autobot’s legs and lurched forward, slamming Ironhide’s back into the ground. Turbo heard him yell in anger and pain, secured his footing and swung Ironhide up, still gripping his legs. He slammed him again and heard the ground crack as metal pounded it. Still not satisfied, he jerked Ironhide up once more and brought him down a third time, letting go when he felt the Autobot’s body going limp. Ironhide tried to stand, then collapsed, vision blinking in and out as he tried to get a shaking elbow under him.
“Ain’t finished… yet.”
“Yeah you are.” Turbo reared back his leg and moved to kick a field goal when he heard a familiar, blaring siren. Inferno rumbled towards him and for a moment Turbo froze, his mind skipping back to their first encounter, the pain he endured being bent around Inferno’s grill and mashed into the Command Center’s leg. Turbo’s teeth clamped together as Inferno collided with him and lifted him off the ground, the velocity fixing Turbo to the front of his cab. “Remember me?!”
Turbo peered over his shoulder and saw a wall fast approaching. He lowered his legs to the ground and let out a yell as his feet dug into the ground and sparked. Inferno’s speed slowed slightly, but didn’t stop. Inferno had built up too much velocity and was still holding his pedal to the metal. He pushed against Turbo and without warning slammed on his breaks, the opposing force sending Turbo sailing backwards. He recovered, got to his feet and ran at Inferno, who spun his emergency ladder once to build up speed, then extended it and let it smash into Turbo’s chest when he got within striking range. The ladder exploded in a shower of metal and sparks as Turbo hurtled through the air and collided with the wall of UNECOM’s main compound. He fell and brought a large chunk of the wall with him.

--------------

Roadbuster looked about the facility. It was barren, dark, and it was huge. For a moment he felt strange being able to move about so freely in an enclosed space without feeling cramped. His eyes swept the corridors leading to other rooms that housed who-knew-what, and he grunted.
“Secure the compound,” he grumbled, “There’s nothing to slaggin’ secure.”
He felt the ground rumble and turned, Staks ran into him at full speed and sent him crashing through a wall and spilling into a corridor. He looked up and saw Staks’ grill a moment before it cracked against his skull and knocked him down, Staks’ momentum rolled him atop Roadbuster and over. “ Payback time!” he yelled, blaring his horn.
“Yer still outta yer league GoBot!” Roadbuster grabbed the undercarriage as it thumped over him and pushed up with so much force it sent Staks end over end. The cab crashed upside down, and Staks changed modes, getting to his feet as Roadbuster ran at him. They traded blows, the sound sent a thunderous echo down the corridors and shook the walls.
“Draw, ya sidewinder!” Staks raised his arms, the tires resting on his shoulders spun and fired blue bursts of energy like a machine gun at Roadbuster, who crossed his arms in front of himself. It rattled off his armor and left a sweep of dents behind as Roadbuster took step after step towards the Guardian. He winced as the armor heated up, making it two steps in front of Staks and throwing a right hand that sent him flying. Roadbuster was on him again in seconds, rocking his head back with a left, then swung him hard enough to smash through a nearby door. Staks got to his feet and shuddered, still feeling the effects of the damage from Defendor’s detonation. He jumped and swung a hard right into Rosbuster’s face, the Autobot was knocked back, but recovered and charged forward. He hit Staks hard with his broad shoulders, lifting him up and pounding towards a nearby wall that exploded when they hit, sending them both crashing in a clatter of cement and metal. Roadbuster was on his knees, shaking his head when he saw a black and purple machine, a GoBot he presumed, engaging what looked like miniature FBI robots. “The slag?” he cocked his head and saw Transformers and Gobots duking it out.
“Heh,” he chuckled, “made it to th’ frontlines.”

---------------

“You Skyfire ripoff!” Springer fired a spray of blasts at Raizor, the shots whizzing past the Gobot jet as he banked to the left.
“What the heck’s a skyfire?” he asked Ace, who spun and flew beside him, “That some kind of Autobot weapon?”
“I think he just insulted you.”
Raizor cut through the air and swung towards Springer, returning fire, “Yeah?” he changed modes, his robot form surprisingly large and solid for a jet. His body remained mostly white save a few slashes of black, only his head stood out, a stark, bright blue. He charged his fists and fired at Springer, who responded by transforming and flying directly at Raizor, bringing a fist down on the side of his head. Raizor countered, but felt a hot blast on his side from Sandstorm. He zipped past and plowed into Raizor with a yell, knocking him unconscious. A hail of gunfire immediately assaulted Sandstorm, his sensors showed three more Gobot jets closing in on him. Bullseye, Bolt and Fliptop targeted the Autobot and fired as one, shattering his rotor.
“GAH!” he screamed, transforming to robot mode and falling over fifty feet before Whirl managed to head him off, transform and snatch him out of his fall, his rotor straining to keep them both airborne.
Springer returned to his chopper form, trying desperately to hold off the advancing Guardians.
“At least they’re not angry sword bearing lunatics like that other guy,” he dodged one blast and felt another punch into his side, “But not by much!”
Bolt moved in to follow up on his last shot, then shouted in surprise, a line of energy ripping past and searing his left wing.
“Who?”
The Aerialbots swung towards the Guardians in tight formation, Silverbolt at point, firing mercilessly into the swerving Gobot jets.
“Need a hand?” Silverbolt radioed Springer.
“Yeah,” he responded, “ Preferably one attached to a gun.”

*************

Leader-1’s eyes snapped open and he started. He felt himself hauled to his feet, Prime’s face was in front of his, he could see every scratch, dent and crack racing along the metal. His eyes blazing.
“This is over!” he shouted, slamming Leader-1’s back against a crumbling wall of rock, “Enough!”
Leader-1 brought his hands up and placed them flat against Prime’s chest, his palms flashed brilliantly as he channeled a high volume of energy into a blast that sent both him and the Autobot leader flying. Leader-1 regained his balance and staggered forward, fists flickering as he came upon Prime. He lay on the ground, his chest a twisted wreck of metal. A single, crooked line of blue light was radiating from a crack in the last layer of armor. Leader-1’s eyes were wide, he knelt beside Prime, smoke still rising from the damaged area, and lowered his hands to Prime’s chest. Immediately Optimus’s own hands shot forward and wrapped around Leader-1’s wrists. His grip was weaker than before, but there was a tenacity in the struggling Autobot that Leader-1 hadn’t felt before. He took a deep breath, this was it.
Leader-1’s shield flared from his fingers and expanded, pushing Prime’s hands off his wrists. A small open section of the force field pushed forward into Prime’s chest, then sealed over the Matrix of Leadership. Optimus roared in pain, the remaining layer of armor separating the artifact from Leader-1’s hands began to crack, then shattered within the force field, revealing the matrix in its entirety. Leader-1 gasped. It remained nestled within an indentation specifically crafted within Prime, a simple orange sphere encasing a crystalline object so rich and bright he couldn’t help but stare at it. Two curved handles attached to either side, four holes set in each side to allow the bearer to grip it firmly. Prime’s hands reached out and clasped Leader-1’s upper arms once more, his eyes wide with an indescribable fury as he dug into Leader-1’s forearms. He was not trying to remove the matrix from him, was he completely insane? In response, Leader-1 stepped over Prime, planted his feet, and pulled upward with all his might.
A scream ripped through the air.

************
CYBERTRON:

Trypticon had barely neared the DarkOre Tower when Smasher ran towards him, fists blazing against the fires and smoke drifting from the city.
“Trypticon!” Shockwave bellowed, “Destroy them!”
Trypticon whipped his head towards Smasher in time to receive a thunderous shot against his eye. He roared, enraged and hurt, swinging his thick tail and crashing it against Smasher’s chest. The sheer savagery of the blow knocked Smasher off his feet and lifted him. He fell, destroying a number of buildings as he did so. Mangler didn’t wait for instructions, he aimed his forearm blasters and fired on the beast, twin beams of plasma erupting from his weapons. They struck Trypticon and drove him back, he dug his claws into the street to avoid being knocked over, then snarled and fired dual missiles from his throat. They sailed through the air and exploded against Mangler’s head, he cut his weapons with an echoing shout and clasped his head, smoking from the damage. Trypticon stomped forward, mindless of the two Zods that stalked towards him. One leapt, landing on his thigh and burying its teeth in his hide. Trypticon halted and roared at the sudden flash of pain, he threw himself against a nearby building, burying the assailant in the structure, then yanked himself free. The Zod still clung snarling and clawing as the second Zod sprang on Trypticon’s tail and began to scale his back, slashing and tearing at anything he could reach.
“THIS BEST GOBOTS CAN DO?! ” He growled, “NO ONE BEATS TRYPTICON! PREDACONS! ”
A large port near the base of Trypticon’s neck slid open, a towering, bestial form rose. Orange and black metal composed its form, a dark set of ebony wings splayed from its back. A red visor glared out at DarkOre Central, flashed, then took notice of the Zod, who had already seen him and was charging forward.
Predaking planted his feet and allowed the Zod to reach him, mouth agape, rows of metal teeth flashing. He clasped the upper and lower jaws when they tried to close on him, his growls matching the Renegade creature a moment before he placed a foot on Zod’s lower jaw, gripped its snout in his hands and wrenched the top of its head clear off its body. The shriek from the creature was music to his ears. He kicked the flailing body from Trypticon’s back and watched it take a nasty fall down to the street, where it erupted upon impact. He raised the top of Zod’s head in his hands and hurled it at the one still biting into Trypticon’s thigh. It struck the beast teeth first, shearing off the side of its face. Zod jerked back with an angry screech as it lost its grip and fell to the ground as well. Trypticon turned, growling as it landed on top of its fallen ally. Trypticon raised his foot, the resounding crunch of metal beneath his heel was the most satisfaction he’d felt in years.

Mangler crashed into Trypticon, bringing both fists down on his back as Thruster brought up her forearm cannons and fired on the dinosaurian fortress. Trypticon felt his knees bend, then rose to his full height and roared, thrashing back and forth trying to throw the Renegade. Mangler held fast, reared back and brought his fist down hard against the base of Trypticon’s neck. Predaking took wing, avoiding the massive hand as it made contact. Trypticon turned his head and rolled a ball of flame in his mouth, then spat it at Thruster. It struck her in the chest and sent her smashing into a nearby building. It cracked down the middle, then began to collapse. At the same time Smasher was on his feet, joining Mangler in his assault. Together they hammered Trypticon, intent on pummeling the monstrous machine into nothing. Trypticon snarled, igniting the vast arsenal of weaponry lining his body, the blasts tore into Smasher and sent him into the air, he crashed to the ground a short distance from Thruster.
Mangler’s body was riddled with holes and tears, he had gotten the worst end of the discharge from Trypticon, who hunched forward and charged him, ramming the amber spike jutting from his forehead deep into Mangler’s midsection. The Renegade screamed, the sound shaking the ground beneath them. Trypticon’s sensors registered Predaking swinging through the air, arcing his path directly towards Mangler. He flew straight towards him, bloodlust dancing in his eyes as he brought his spiked, gray fists up before himself and pulled his wings tight against his body. He shot through the air and smashed into Mangler’s eye, his path never stopping until he burst from the back of his head with a roar of his own, covered in wires and oil.
Mangler screamed again, clutching an hand to his destroyed eye. He brought his hands together and crashed them against Trypticon’s skull, who responded by jerking his head up, eviscerating Mangler. Fire immediately sprayed from the wound, and Trypticon caught a glimpse of the various rooms within Mangler, weapon caches, smaller hallways that led to other rooms with blinking computer lights. They were exploding from within, filling Mangler’s internal systems with flame and smoke. He swung at Trypticon again and the beast caught his forearm in his mouth, clamped down, then activated the powerful hydraulics in his jaws. Mangler’s cannon exploded as his limb was crushed, and Trypticon pulled back, ripping the Renegade’s arm from the socket. Mangler didn’t have time to fall backwards, Trypticon spat the dangling limb from his mouth and charged, knocking him into a trio of buildings that simply could not hold his weight. They crumpled beneath him, and Trypticon opened his maw wide, lunging and biting down on Mangler’s neck. He felt the Renegade trying to scream, but couldn’t, its voice module was shattered, as was most of its yellow neck. Trypticon found himself wondering what the thing was made from, but it didn’t matter. He pinned Mangler, using his small forearms to clamp down on its chest as he lunged forward again and crushed Mangler’s skull in his mouth. The explosion filled his throat, yellow and red light splayed from between his jaws, smoke squirted from Mangler’s body. They sprayed from every opening, every joint like an oversized kettle. Mangler’s body arched as if it was being electrocuted, then went limp, its hand dropped against Trypticon’s back and slid off, striking the ground in what would be his last act of violence.

Trypticon gave his head a final bite, then rose to his full height and stepped on Mangler’s chest. It caved in, the central core of the Renegade detonated. There was a deafening eruption, a yellow mushroomcloud of smoke and fire surrounded Trypticon as he threw his head skyward and roared in triumph.

Smasher and Thruster saw the slaughter happen too quickly for them to interfere. Smasher’s entire crimson head was alight, his yellow eyes a blinding glare. He and Thruster launched themselves into the fading yellow pillar of smoke, Trypticon visible as a stark silhouette in the midst of the destruction. Together they struck him, Thruster burying a fist into his chest, Smasher clubbed him across the bridge of his snout. Predaking flew heading into the smoke still swirling about the battling fortresses, zeroing in on Smasher, who appeared to be the more aggressive of the two. He targeted the titan’s eye, it seemed to do the most damage to them. He angled his path towards the Renegade when it whipped its head around, yellow eyes enraged, and saw Predaking coming. Smasher swung a massive fist and heard Predaking crash against the flat of his hand and rebound. The gestalt sliced through the air, consciousness flickering in and out, pain gripped his body when he plowed into nearby building on a downward angle, destroying three floors before bursting through the other side and slamming into the metal streets below.

Trypticon snarled and lashed out, striking Smasher’s forehead with his own. Thruster caught a glimpse of purple flame beginning to light Trypticon’s mouth. She exchanged a look with Smasher. They charged forward again and took hold of Trypticon, it was like trying to seize a live wire. The bestial fortress slashed at the trio, his enraged roars causing their audio to tremble horribly. They acted as one and lifted the monstrosity off his feet. He continued to thrash and they launched him backwards. Trypticon collided with the Central Tower and shattered the middle section of the structure. The various discs affixed to the side exploded into his back, eliciting an angry roar as the tower rumbled and shuddered, then collapsed on top of him.
The top portion of the tower felt like it was falling in slow motion, nothing held still, everything was vibrating as the metal walls stretched and tore free of themselves.

--------------

Tux sailed through the window and fell, unconscious, towards the ground. It was almost peaceful, he heard nothing but the wind rushing past his ears-until the sound of Trypticon smashing into the Tower jolted him from the darkness. He tried to ignite his foot boosters and couldn’t. He felt his minibots securing themselves tighter in their holdings… as if that would help when he struck the ground. He tilted his head back and closed his eyes, ready to accept his untimely demise, when he was jerked to the side, caught on something. His eyes snapped open and he found himself soaring through the air with Fitor. He was in jet form, a single arm extended from his side, curved to keep Tux from falling.
“Hey,” he said, “hurry up and fix whatever’s wrong with your boost, I can’t fly like this for long.”
“Tux saw the dents running along his cockpit. “Someone did a number of you.”
“You’re one to talk, looks like someone shifted your face three inches to the left.” Fitor replied, somewhat sharply, “And you’re welcome, by the way.”

------------------

The Decepticons stationed within the Tower fled from any available opening moments later, alarm lights were blaring along every floor moments before Thruster and Smasher assaulted Trypticon and drove him into the Tower itself. It cracked in the middle, the center segment caving in with Trypticon’s weight, the top portion folding and crashing down on itself, the discs embedded in the sides shattering as they collided with parts of the tower and other discs.
Blane watched the monstrous Tower collapse and fall to the left, debris and dust from the main entrance billowing out and spraying a mist of burnt materials from the base. The ground shook uncontrollably, it was a horrifying vision. Battles taking place across the city halted as both Decepticon and Renegade watched Trypticon’s body continue to sink into the Tower’s remains. Soundwave hung from Astrotrain’s shuttle undercarriage, his cassettes flew about him in a cloud, making sure he didn’t lose consciousness and fall.

***************
UNECOM BASE OF OPERATIONS: FACILITY # 4189

Both Leader-1 and Prime were howling at the top of their output, primal roars as a blinding blue light splayed from the matrix. Leader-1’s force field dissipated, and he immediately clutched one the matrix’s handles.
“NO! ” Prime yelled and swung a clenched fist at Leader-1. It smashed into the side of his face, drawing an angry shout from the Guardian, but his grip remained, he yanked again and Prime screamed.
The matrix shifted from its position, lifting up from its holding and inched towards Leader-1, who reared back his head and screamed in what sounded like fear. Leader-1 felt like something was being pulled from him, the matrix reaching into him and tearing something from his mind and soul.
Lead Them
He heard the voice in his head fade, drifting towards the matrix’s inviting light.
Prime snaked his hand forward and latched onto the free side of the matrix, the glow was blinding them both. When his fingers touched the cool metal, there was a white flash in his mind and he saw the world of Gobotron, ravaged and decimated by Unicron. He saw a faded image of an armada striking against their own world in an effort to drive the mad god away-and failing. Something was wrong. He saw Cy-Kill’s change, saw the Guardians change…
But something was wrong.
He felt a resentment, a chaotic anger deep within the matrix itself. A dark indigo blob of power screeching within the ancient mantle of leadership. It writhed like a coiled dragon, its anger and obsessive focus locked onto Unicron. He heard a voice drifting through his head.
Let us go
“NO!” he shouted, eyes wide as he felt, actually felt the matrix shift its movement towards Leader-1.
Dneirf ym si ymene ym fo ymene eht.
Optimus saw the face of a human he didn’t recognize, white hair blowing peacefully in a soundless wind. The human stood beside Alpha Trion, the ancient bearer of the matrix, the Autobot responsible for making Optimus Prime what he was today. They stared at Prime, both looked weary and sullen.
Dneirf ym si ymene ym fo ymene eht.
“NO!” Prime shouted again,
Let us show you
A blue pulse of energy raced through him, a shower of sparks burst from his point of contact with the matrix. Leader-1 continued to scream with Prime. Both of Leader-1’s hands were locked in a deathgrip on the matrix, which was slowly being torn free. Metal twisted, cables snapped, and with a final, skull-splitting shriek, it was wrenched from its holding.
Prime fell and landed hard on his back, blue eyes flashing dully as he tried desperately to raise himself-then fell back to the ground. He saw Leader-1 holding the matrix in both hands above his head, as if frozen in that pose while his scream dwindled and faded into nothing. His eyes were visible through his visor, wide saucers filled with blue light. Prime tried to speak; instead he fell into darkness.
The matrix rested in Leader-1’s hands, glowing contentedly as he lowered his arms, hunched forward and stared down at it, terrified. He couldn’t utter a word, it was like the object itself was trying to speak to him, as if it knew him. Leader-1 heard a clicking sound, a creaking, like a steady vibrating clack of an old car-then realized it was him. He was trembling, his circuits racing with no signs of slowing. What was he doing? How could he-
Leader-1 shook his head violently, cradling the matrix in his hands as a chill raced along his spine. He looked over at Optimus, unable to move. He felt a coppery sting in his throat and managed a single step back, then took to the air, his body still shaking badly. He strained, activating a link to the Guardians.
“This is Leader-1…” he glanced down at Prime as he rose into the air, trying desperately to force his voice to remain steady, “Everyone pull back to Guardian and Sentry. I repeat, pull back.”
“Can… do Leader-1.” Turbo’s voice came over the channel, he sounded pained, out of breath. Leader-1 nodded.
I-I’m on my way.”
“Don’t bother!” Matt’s voice crackled, “This place is a lost cause Leader-1, the compound looks like a chinashop after a dozen bulls got done with it! We’re cutting our losses and…” an uncomfortable silence, “No sense beating around the bush, we’re eradicating this facility. The guards have already removed anything we couldn’t replace.”
“Matt, I’m sorry-”
“Hey, you and I both knew this would happen if they found us. We’ll be fine. Right now we’re underground, en route to another base. This one is gone in sixty seconds from the moment we end this communication.”
“Is everyone okay?”
Nick’s voice cut in, “Other than Traks ejecting me, I’m fine.”
“Matt,” He sighed, “I’m sorry. We… we have to go.”
“We know.” It was A.J. He could hear the sadness in her voice, the disappointment. “Is it for good this time? I mean, for good, for good?”
Leader-1 felt his eyes sting, he closed them, and set his jaw. “No A.J. We’ll be back. “he opened his eyes and looked towards the sky, he could already see Guardian and Sentry approaching. “I promise you that.”
There was a click, then nothing.

-------------------------

Blaster stopped short, Jazz almost ran into him.
“Hey man, what’s the word?”
Blaster turned to him, his eyes wide. “Just intercepted a convo between Leader-1 and his human chums. This place is rigged to blow!”
“What?!” Jazz looked around, “When?”
“We got one minute to peel out!” He transformed along with Jazz, landing in his front seat and hooking himself into Jazz’s stereo.
“Listen up Autobots, we just laid a serious smackdown on the Guardians, and they are blowin this joint-literally! Fifty-one second countdown starting now! Go Go Go!”
“They’re retreatin’?” Roadbuster backed away from the piles of rubble shaking around him, “That mean we won?”
“Not if we get blown to kingdom come!” Springer yelled over his com, joining Whirl and Slingshot as they bolted from the area.
“Move, move!” Hound rolled alongside Mirage and Hot Rod as they motored through the remains of the compound, the sound of something powering up coming from all directions. They skirted the hole in the wall before the entrance and kept going, trying to put as much space between themselves and the compound as possible.
Omega felt Skylynx land on his shoulder and gritted his teeth. He’d been hit there a number of times by Guardian-it hurt.
“Looks like I provided enough distraction to guarantee you’d be able to hold your own, eh Omega?”
He glanced at Skylynx “Bravado, distracting. Silence, preferred.” He backed away from the remains of the compound, which was beginning to glow in the center, a rising sphere of light.

“Twenty seconds!” Blaster called over their communicators, “This countdown’s wrappin’ up!”
Jazz saw Blurr and Elita-1 whiz past, Silverbolt soared overhead, and Jazz noticed Ultra Magnus swung from an improvised gurney beneath him. Warpath kicked up dirt, laughing with a merry contentment that bothered both Jazz and Blaster.

----------------------

“Everyone here?”
Turbo held a hand to his head, standing in Guardian’s main control room. His eyes swept the room, taking in Guardians in various states of disrepair.
“My achin’ axels…” Staks slumped in a chair near a monitor, a hand clamped to his neck, “Who won that fight?”
“If it was us,” Turbo grumbled, then winced, “I sure don’t feel like much’ve a winner.”

Sentry opened a communication with Thruster. “Attention, our mission on Earth is complete. We are returning to Gobotron. ”
“Sentry,” Guardian was already rising into the air, “Our inventory is the same now as it was when we arrived, correct?”
“Leader-1 in sight. His boarding completes our arrival numbers.”
SmallFoot brought a hand to her ear, a grimace on her face from the loud speech of the transports. “Wait,” she said, “Shouldn’t there be plus one? What about PathFinder?”
She stood abruptly and wished she hadn’t, she shot a hand to her back. “Has anyone seen her?

************
CYBERTRON:

“Blane, I am receiving word from the Guardians. Their task on Earth is complete.”
“Good t’hear.” Blane stood over Galvatron, “So’s mine.” He knelt, his knee crunching debris as he leaned in close to Galvatron’s face. The Energon slivers still poked through the Decepticon’s hands, he could barely feel his arms.
“You took some’ve mine…” Blane whispered, “…so I’m takin some’ve yours.” He let the words linger, then his whisper became fierce, “Fer the record, Galvy… you thought these last coupla beatings I gave you was bad? You ain’t seen me cut loose, punk. You ain’t seen nothin’.” Blane opened his hands and let Galvatron’s head drop, his smile was gone. “I ain’t playin’ no more. Get in my face again, see what happens.” He stood, glancing skyward. DarkOre Central was still ablaze with conflict.
“Renegades.” Thruster channeled Blane’s voice, it boomed in the ears of the surviving fighters, “Back it up, we’re pullin’ out.”
Like a swarm of locusts full off their devastation, the Renegades broke off their encounters, taking flight and converging upon the remaining two Thrusters.

Smasher opened a number of ports along his arms and legs, allowing the Renegades access amidst a flurry of Decepticon gunfire that popped and ricocheted off his armored skin. Thruster did the same, though internally growled as the Stunticons entered behind Crasher and Destroyer. She scanned the area, Smasher doing the same.
“My numbers are off, I do not have the same number of Renegades as I did when we arrived.”
Smasher finished his inventory. “You are not incorrect. We have lost some of our people.” Thruster could sense his anger. “There are platoons of Decepticon warships en route. With only the two of use remaining, it would be unwise to remain. They will be upon us in full force, we need to leave.”

“RAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!! ” Trypticon reared up from the wreckage of the DarkOre Tower and roared at the ascending Thrusters. “COWARDS!!!! NO RUN FROM TRYPTICON!!! ”

“Coward?” Smasher glared down at the beast, who was still shrugging off large, broken plates of crystal and metal. Smasher’s eyes narrowed, Mangler’s death still raw in his thoughts. “I should-”
“No, we need to protect those within us.” Thruster continued to rise, watching the two Quick-Step beasts snarl at Trypticon and launch themselves at him. He caught one by its through, squeezing down with his claws, ignoring the second Quick-Step as it buried its fangs in his midsection. The creature gripped in his claws struggle, roaring defiantly and snapping at him. The second its jaws closed, Tyrpticon yanked the monster forward and crammed its head in his mouth, then bit down. The Quick Step convulsed wildly, then hung limp, the torso sliding free with a deep curved portion missing. Oil dripped from Trypticon’s mouth, he turned towards the second Quick-Step and brought his jaws down on is purple back, pinching a large chunk of metal when he bit into the now screeching beast. He stood, raising the thing in his mouth, then shook it violently, letting it go with a snarl and watched it smash through the top half of a nearby building. It crashed halfway through the structure, then lay still.
Trypticon trumpeted a chilling roar of rage, trying desperately to fire up his boosters but got only a crackling, fiery refusal from his jets. The damage they suffered from the impact of being put through DarkOre Tower, and the dents that disfigured them were a ghastly sight, but it only enraged him further. He stomped his foot and shook the ground, infuriated, only able to watch as the Renegade Transports became enveloped in their cloaking fields, vanishing from sight and disappearing into space.

***************
UNECOM BASE OF OPERATIONS: FACILITY # 4189

Pathfinder hovered, watching the Autobots race from the growing bulb of energy about to erupt. She sighed, then glanced up at Guardian and Sentry, both about to clear the atmosphere and jump into lightspeed. Her eyes turned towards the direction of Metroplex, and she activated her telescopic vision. The edges of her sight blurred as she zoomed in on the Autobot city, hoping she could catch one last look at-
“Cosmos?!” she gasped, almost shutting down the zoom. He was standing atop a damaged tower, the highest peak on Metroplex.
And he was looking at her.
She saw him raise a finger, a dot of light lit the tip as he swung it around, leaving trails in the dark only a machine with their vision could see. He finished and lowered his hand, standing beside a thinly glowing message that read:
I’M SORRY

Pathfinder felt her throat tighten. She raised her own finger, a blue glow raced through it as she wrote a short sentence in script:
SO AM I

They stared at each other a moment longer, then Pathfinder changed modes and raced to catch up with Guardian and Sentry.

The compound exploded, a deafening blast that was heard in cities miles from the conflict. A brilliant mushroom of light blossomed from ground zero, stretching towards the sky.

************
CYBERTRON:

“Mighty Galvatron…” Cyclonus’ hand rested on Galvatron’s shoulder. He felt more hands take hold of him, the Sweeps gathered and helped Cyclonus pull him to his feet. Galvatron stared out at the destruction, the Decepticons nearest the tower were beginning to move towards him.
Most were angry. They were insulted, they were ready to take the fight directly to the Renegades. He could see it in their eyes, every one of them hungry for battle, even those who suffered damage in the attack stood tall, side by side with their fellow Decepticon. But there were other looks in the sea of faces forming. Doubt. Confusion. Why hadn’t Galvatron, their leader, simply crushed this intruding braggart? Why wasn’t he the dominant beast of a warrior they had all come to respect-and fear?
He looked down at his hands, eyes blank, an empty, unreadable expression on his face. He tried to curl his fingers into fists, closed his eyes when the pain threatened to make him scream and continued to curl them. Then stopped. He lowered his hands, let his arms fall to his sides, his cannon feeling heavy-a burden. He looked out at them, his Decepticons, and saw in them everything he was lacking. Shockwave approached, the slash in his back still giving off an errant spark.
“Galvatron, the Tower may have been lost, but it’s only a minor setback. Trypticon can be repaired in mere cycles and we can pursue-”
Galvatron could barely hear him, his words faded in his audio. His mind lingered on the resentment in Motormaster’s face, how close it was to some of the looks he was getting now. They wanted a leader. He blinked, “Decepticons, I-” he paused, the words caught in his throat. Motormaster’s words blared in his head
YOU betrayed US!!
Blane was right. (I’m lookin’ for Galvatron. Seen him?) He couldn’t do this… not like this.
Cyclonus stared at Galvatron, worry etched in his face. “Galvatron?”
A sudden geyser of energy streamed from Galvatron’s cannon, lifting him into the air. His head hung, a dark shadow cast over his face as he looked down at himself in resentment. He tried to ignore the confused shouts from below, the calls from his people. Galvatron ignited his boosters and rocketed into the sky, leaving the Decepticons behind.

to be continued…