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Re: Transformers The Movie: One Shall Stand.


***

“One, two, three!” Groaning slightly, Warpath and Grimlock lifted the armor plate out of the rubble and crabwalked sideways to the buildings edge, throwing it down into a growing pile of similar rubble. “Bam, last plate,” Warpath said with some satisfaction.

“Looks like,” Grimlock agreed, as they turned back to consider what was left of the defense tower. The remaining pieces of rubble were much smaller then the armored plate Devestator had used to tear the building apart, and the rest of the Dinobots were clearing away the debris around the half-crushed heavy missile launcher. “Should find him soon.”

Looking at the Dinobot for a moment, Warpath considered his words carefully. “Listen, Grim... Arcee was pretty sure he was ker-blammed before Devestator brought the house down,” he said softly. “She’s not exactly new at this sorta thing.”

“Me know that,” Grimlock replied. “But me Grimlock know Wheeljack too. Him still have some surprises... “ His voice trailed off as Snarls digging stopped momentarily as a hand was uncovered. Then he was moving forward, kneeling down and pulling wreckage aside along with the rest of his team, and Warpath was right next to him. It only took them a minute to reveal the body the hand belonged to.

“Windcharger,” Warpath sighed, shaking his head sadly. Brushing the last of the debris off his friends arms, he considered the damage taken. “Looks like his electromagnets went ker-zap,” he observed.

Grunting, Grimlock nodded. “Went down fighting.” With a surprising gentleness, the Dinobot picked up the broken body, passing it to Sludge before looking around. “This floor. Wheeljack near.” The group started digging again, aside from Sludge, who stood there with a look of bafflement, uncertain just what to do with the body he was carrying. Warpath found a foot a moment later, and the group began following the obvious path, quickly uncovering the parts of what looked like a Lancia Stratos Turbo built into a humanoid frame. Brushing smaller metal shards aside, Grimlock studied the metal bands that made up the lower half of his creators face.

“I’m sorry guys,” Warpath said quietly, looking at the broken frame. Next to him, Slag moaned in grief, lowering his head, and Snarl didn’t look much better off.

But Grimlock only chuckled. Then, as Warpath and the other Dinobots were staring at him in disbelief, he reached down, grabbed a hidden handle on Wheeljacks chestplate and pulled it open. Ignoring the surprised protests, he brushed his fingers over Wheeljacks laser core, then pulled his hand back as Wheeljack suddenly came back to life.

“ZOW!” Warpath exclaimed, backing up so fast he actually tripped over. Sludge nearly dropped Windcharger. Swoop stared for a moment, then began to laugh in sudden understanding.

“Geh... Decepticons?” Wheeljack asked, looking up at Grimlock.

“Gone. Dinobots take down Devestator,” the Dinobot replied with clear satisfaction, holding out a hand. Wheeljack took it gratefully, and was pulled to his feet with only minor pain.

“What the bam boom pow is going on?” Warpath demanded as he climbed to his feet. “‘Jack, you oughta be dead, no buts about it!” He gestured wildly at Wheeljacks battered body, clearly disturbed by the situation.

Laughing slightly, Wheeljack leaned against Grimlock, letting him take the weight. His legs didn’t feel up to the task of standing, let along walking. “Yeah, I should be,” he admitted. “But you see, about ten years back, Ratchet and I had an idea.” Those last six words, said in such a casual manner, made even Grimlock shudder slightly. “What we did, we reinforced our laser cores with extra shielding and an internal emergency power supply. In the event of major internal damage that could lead to spark loss, power surges, neural crashes and the like, the laser core is cut off from the rest of the system and placed in emergency stasis.”

“What.” Warpaths voice was rather disbelieving.

Laughing as well as he could given his injuries, Wheeljack flipped open a panel on his arm and checked the display. “Main energon cell took a hit. Power surges tripped my circuit breakers... yeah, I’m a mess.”

“You... you put a power cell in your laser core?!” Warpath demanded. “That’s... how’d ya even do it?”

“Oh, I didn’t do it,” the engineer replied, the tone of his voice suggesting it was obvious. “Ratchet did.” Warpath stared at him for a moment longer, then just shook his head.

“‘Jack, the fact that I’m sayin’ that’s completely ker-blammed should say somethin’,” he pointed out.

“It work,” Grimlock replied with a laugh. “It crazy and work, it not crazy.”

Tapping a finger against his turret, Warpath considered that, and finally shrugged. “Gotta point. How’d ya know about it anyway?”

“Dinobots all have same upgrade,” the Dinobot answered.

“I knew you were paying attention,” Wheeljack chuckled as he was lead to a staircase. “How’d you do when you got here.”

“Dinobots take down Devestator. They all get away, and they hurt us, but we won.”

Wheeljack patted Grimlocks arm, chuckling lightly. “That’s my boys.”

***
7/7/2011, 9:43 am Link to this post Send Email to Matrix Dragon   Send PM to Matrix Dragon
 
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Re: Transformers The Movie: One Shall Stand.


Woot! Wheeljack Lives!

But I'm slightly curious as to what will happen to the Con's, with Starscream shot, who takes comand on the trip back to Cybertron?
7/7/2011, 6:47 pm Link to this post Send Email to Dark Seraphim   Send PM to Dark Seraphim
 
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Re: Transformers The Movie: One Shall Stand.


***

Aside from the quiet voices of the Constructicons, no one aboard Astrotrain had really spoken for hours. Instead, they only sat around, nursing their own wounds, glaring at each other, and thinking back to the earlier battle.

They’d won. The cities defenses were broken, the Autobots were fleeing... and then Optimus Prime came. In only a few minutes, he’d torn them apart, broken their charge, and left them almost defenseless against the Autobot counterattack.

Every single Decepticon that had been involved in the attack was a veteran, with millions of years of experience. They understood how such things could happen. That didn’t make it any easier to accept. Not when victory had been so close...and when the final price had been so high.

Leaning against a bulkhead, Starscream held the same bitter expression as so many others around him, but his thoughts were focused not on what ifs, but what might be. Ignoring the ache along the side of his head, he looked again in the direction of the Constructicons as they worked desperately on the broken, gun-metal grey body lying on a workbench.

Megatron. Decepticon Supreme Commander. The mech that had planned the attack on Autobot City, against Starscreams recommendations. Starscreams rather public recommendations. Everyone on the ship had heard them. At the time, they’d dismissed them as just another round of Starscream trying to undermine Megatrons authority. But now...

Now Megatron had failed, failed so painfully that he now barely clung to life, the Constructicons struggling to save him. He was weak, exposed. There was opportunity here. An opportunity he’d prepared for, a long time ago. A deal he’d made with Astrotrain. All he had to do was send the Triple-changer a signal, and if he kept the deal, he’d make an excuse Starscream could use to... lighten the ships load, as it were.

If the other Decepticon kept the deal. That was the problem. Starscreams scowl deepened as he considered that. Astrotrain hadn’t always been a loyal ally. Only twenty years ago, he’d recruited Astrotrain and Blitzwing into a coup attempt, only to have the both of them betray both Megatron and himself. It hadn’t gone well for either Triple-changer in the end, but it was an important reminder for Starscream of just how unreliable the shuttle could be.

A sudden increase of volume in the Constructicons voices caught his attention, and he looked over to see Megatrons broken form twitch violently. While nowhere near the Constructicons level of medical skill, Starscream had spent the occasional century before the war indulging in a medical career. He recognized the signs well enough. Megatron was fading.

Perhaps he wouldn’t need to trust Astrotrain after all...

Over the next few minutes, as every other Decepticon on the ship watched, the gestalt team worked desperately, replacing power cables, implementing makeshift repairs to internal circuitry, and doing anything else they could think of to try and save their commander. But in the end, there was nothing they could do to stop it. Even as Hook tried to reroute power around a half-missing fuse box, the laser core flickered, the monitor set up next to them beeping ever slower as the pulses became even rarer.

Once every two seconds... once every five... and then, there was nothing but silence. For a long moment, no one spoke, then Scrapper turned to where Soundwave was watching and shook his head slightly.

It took an incredible effort for the Decepticon Air Commander to keep his glee contained. It was almost impossible to believe. Megatron, dead. After eight million years, he was actually dead. And that meant...

He kept silent as the other Decepticons responded. Some were shocked, staring at the corpse in disbelief. Others were talking to each other, trying to disbelieve what they saw in front of them. There were some of them looking away, some bowing their heads in respect, and then there were those that worried Starscream the most. The ones that couldn’t hide their anticipation.

If he had a choice, he’d wait a few minutes. Give the other Decepticons time to get their balance back. Not entirely, as if that would even be possible for quite a while, but just enough to get their minds working again, enough to listen to him properly. But if others made a play for power first, the Insecticons, or Ramjet if he was in one of his thicker moments...

“My fellow Decepticons,” he said, not quite yelling, but speaking loudly enough to get everyones attention. “I realize that this is a difficult moment, for all of us. But we can not deny what has just happened. Megatron... Megatron is gone.” The hesitation in his voice was not intentional. Odd, how it was so difficult to say. He hadn’t expected that.

“Given the situation with the Autobots, we can not afford for his death, our loss, to overcome us now. We must maintain order in the Decepticon ranks. For that reason,” he declared, his voice gaining strength, “I nominate myself as the new Decepticon leader!”

“Not a chance Screamer!” Blitzwing replied, almost before he finished. “You’ve been trying to take down Megatron for eight million years, and you never managed to pull it off! Why would we follow you?”

“Maybe we could follow you?” Thundercracker responded, leaning against a bulkhead and smirking. “Going to try some human sports plays again?”

Laughter broke out around the room, and Blitzwing glared at the Seeker. “That’s not the point! He’s been trying on a near daily basis, and he’s never gotten anywhere! He’s not worth following!”

“You’ve tried a few times, and been punished so badly it took millions of years for you to work up the courage to try again,” Starscream smirked. “Me? I kept trying. I never gave up the fight, no matter what Megatron did to punish me. And I’m still here. Tell me,” he continued, looking around the room. “Who would you prefer? Someone that keeps trying, that never gives up on their ambition, or someone that needs to spend a few million years to buff out his dents?”

Blitzwing actually snarled at that, and Starscream was expecting the Triple-changer to try and charge him. He might have, if someone else hadn’t decided to add their opinion. “The Constructicons form Devastator, the most powerful Decepticon!” Scrapper called out. “We should rule!”

Several Decepticons turned to look at him in disbelief. Sure, the giant was powerful, but he was also incredibly stupid. The idea of that thing in command... “Devastator couldn’t lead a parade!” Ramjet yelled out.

Growling, Scrapper turned towards his team. “Constructicons, uni-” Which was when Skywarp, most likely bored of all the debating, decided to get things moving and punched Scrapper in the face. Long Haul tried to tackle the Seeker, only to be hit by Ravage, Hook dived at Soundwave, who threw him into Ramjet, and then the brawl broke out.

Moving away from the fight slightly, Thundercracker watched as the other ‘cons had a nice, relaxing fight. No one broke out weapons or special abilities, he was relieved to note. It was just a simple brawl to work off the stress, which meant that he could sit back and mostly relax. “You’re not joining in?” Astrotrain asked from a nearby speaker.

“Nah. I’ve had enough action for one day. Besides, me, Decepticon Supreme Commander?” he snorted. “Too much work, too many people gunning for me. Let Screamer try for the glory. I’m staying off to the side.” He watched the fight for a moment, then snorted again as he saw Starscream manage to avoid the worst of the fight and move off to the side. “Bets he null rays whoever wins the fight?”

“No bet,” Astrotrain replied as Thundercracker watched Blitzwing drive a knee into Thrusts stomach hard enough to make the conehead double over. Chuckling, the blue-armored Seeker got comfortable and opened a book reader program on his HUD.

***
7/10/2011, 3:55 am Link to this post Send Email to Matrix Dragon   Send PM to Matrix Dragon
 
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Re: Transformers The Movie: One Shall Stand.


Beautiful.

Loved that twist with Wheeljack (obviously)...

..also the use of Warpath just makes me think... did Michael Bay use Warpath in any of the films? if he hasn't that's kinda crazy given Bay's penchant for explosions over exposition (or dialogue... or plot... or characterisations...).

Interesting spin on the powerplay's inside Astrotrain (and a nod to the idea that "we'll never make it to back..." being a bit of a nonsense argument to make).

the only downside is we may've missed out on the great "Noone would follow an uncharismatic bore like you!" and "who are you calling un-crazimatic?" exchange.

but I'm loving it.
7/10/2011, 8:35 am Link to this post Send Email to ArjaytheGuy   Send PM to ArjaytheGuy
 
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Re: Transformers The Movie: One Shall Stand.


I WAS going to include the Soundwave/Constructicon line, and might still somewhere else, but didn't want to copy the movie too much. Besides, there was always going to be a brawl, and Skywarp was getting bored.

Where abouts are you calling home these days?
7/10/2011, 8:51 am Link to this post Send Email to Matrix Dragon   Send PM to Matrix Dragon
 
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Re: Transformers The Movie: One Shall Stand.


***

“Tailspin.” A hand clamped down on the Decepticon Sky Soldiers shoulder, and the the grey, somewhat poorly maintained mech tried not to flinch. “Have you been avoiding me?” the owner of the hand asked, in a pleasant voice. “Because I’ve been looking for you. I’ve left messages, checked all your usual bars, and no one’s seen you. It’s almost enough to make me think you don’t have my energon.”

The grip on his shoulder tightened painfully, and Tailspin winced. “It’s not what you think. I’ve been really busy,” he explained, his voice wavering slightly. “Starscreams had the entire air force bouncing all over the planet. This is the first time I’ve made it back to Polyhex in months.” There was a pause, and then he was spun around to face a dark blue ground warrior with an Earth car alt-mode. “It’s true Counterpunch. This is my first time off in ages.”

“Off duty you say? As in, you’re not part of the welcome home parade old one-eye’s no doubt planning for the boss? Why then, you should be able to find the time to call me, let me know you’re on the way to pay your bills, shouldn't you?” The ground warriors anger slipped into his voice as his optics blazed.

Already bracing for the violence that was about to ensue, Tailspin blinked as a new voice, much more amused and friendly, entered the conversation. “Morning Counterpunch. You planning violence against my wingman?”

Turning away from Tailspin, Counterpunch studied the Sky Soldier in jungle green camo. “I’m hardly planning it,” he replied. “I’m seconds away from carrying it out if he doesn’t explain where my energon is.”

Sighing, the new arrival shook his head. “Spin, man, we’ve talked about this...”

“I know Acid, it’s just that, well, I needed the energon real bad, and I’ve been meaning to pay him back...” Tailspin managed.

Rubbing at an optic ridge with his hand, Acid Storm looked at the ground warrior. “What’s he owe you?”

“Twenty cubes. I’d like to think I’ve been patient about it, but I can only wait so long.” The grip on Tailspins shoulder tightened again, and the Decepticon gasped in pain.

“I can’t let you trash my wingman CP. I do need him intact,” Acid Storm said, keeping his voice carefully level, his arm cannons locked down. Counterpunch studied him, his own body tensing in readiness. “What if he goes and gets the energon right now?” he offered.

Head tilting to the side, Counterpunch considered it. “Well, if you’re sure he’s good for it,” he replied, not mentioning the consequences to Acid if the other Sky Soldier was unable to pay.

“I’m sure he will be.”

There was a moments silence, then the hand on Tailspins shoulder released him. “You’re lucky to have a partner that values your hide,” Counterpunch told him. “Go get it. Now.”

Nodding, Tailspin backed away nervously. “Right, got it, thank you, I’ll go and get-”

“GO!” the ground warrior yelled. The Sky Soldier made a terrified noise and fled, leaping off the walkway and flying away as fast as he could. Counterpunch watched him go, waiting until he was out of range before turning back to Acid Storm. “Thanks for letting me know you were back in town,” he commented.

“Hey, you get your energon, and I get at least a month of him doing his job out of gratitude. Two if I’m lucky,” Acid replied with a laugh, the tension vanishing from his body language.

“Why the heck haven’t you gotten him replaced yet?” Counterpunch wondered as the pair made their way along the walkway towards the observation platform.

“Eh, he’s more useful then you’d think, assuming he actually does his job.” Stopping to consider that, the Sky Soldier shrugged. “And if you keep him away from the gambling.”

Looking at his friend, Counterpunch chuckled. “But that’s how he’s useful to me,” he protested, before changing the subject. “So, the Combaticons and Stunticons got back a few hours ago, and I just happened to see Motormaster.” Acids expression shifted to curious, and he snickered. “The brat got his cab kicked in by Omega. He’s hobbling around with practically no feet.”

“Couldn’t have happened to a more annoying little punk,” the Sky Soldier laughed as they stepped onto the platform. “I don’t suppose you heard anything about Autobot City while laughing at Motormaster?”

“Yes, actually,” he replied, leaning against the railing and looking out over Polyhex. Twenty years of energon supplies and resources hadn’t been enough to remove all the scars of millions of years of war and gradual starvation, but the lights were on again, and there were actually Decepticons moving around. “Apparently Optimus Prime reached the city around the same time the Ark team pulled out. Megatron left Autobot City ten, twenty minutes later.” He shook his head. “Kinda embarrassing, I suppose, but not surprising. I mean, the whole plan was ‘sneak in under the defenses, then just keep hitting until it breaks.’”

“Bold, daring, utterly devastating when done right,” Acid said. “But it does leave one a little exposed when reinforcements show up.” He watched a collection of repair drones work on the highway below them and added, “Not that I’d ever tell Megatron that. I like my head attached.”

Snickering, Counterpunch looked up at the sky, optics zooming in as he looked for signs of Megatrons return. “Still, Autobot City in ruins, their safe haven ripped open... it’s a good day to be a Decepticon. Skywarp is gonna have a hell of a party going tonight.”

“Energon, the hottest femmes on the planet, the best entertainers on the planet...” Acid Storm was grinning widely as he joined his friend in searching the skyline. “Why do you think I arranged to get back here today?”

Laughing, the ground warrior shook his head. “Good time to be a ‘con,” he repeated, then began searching the sky again. “Aha!” he said at last, pointing. “Found Astrotrain.”

Following his friends raised arm, Acid Storm caught sight of the purple and grey space shuttle as it made its way towards the city. “All hail the homecoming heroes,” he noted with a smirk.
7/17/2011, 8:53 am Link to this post Send Email to Matrix Dragon   Send PM to Matrix Dragon
 
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Re: Transformers The Movie: One Shall Stand.



Both Decepticons watched as Astrotrain glided towards the cities central tower, which Megatron had made his base of operations since returning two decades ago. As he came in to land, more Decepticons began to appear on walkways and at windows, ready to cheer and welcome their lord and master home. It was an almost instinctive safety measure by this point. Making it clear how much you loved Megatron made it less likely he’d decide to deal with mechs he’d decided were a bit too ambitious.

The cheering began the moment Astrotrains wheels touched the landing strip, the roar spreading out from the surrounding towers like a wave. It continued as the Triple-change came to a halt, and Shockwave emerged from the towers main entrance, someone managing to kick off a chant of “Megatron, Megatron!” that at least several hundred Transformers joined in on.

But when Astrotrains side hatch opened and the first soldiers began to emerge, the cheering began to fade away, first in the buildings closer to the landing strip, then spreading further out, to be replaced by confused whispers and loud denials. Confused, Counterpunch increased the magnification on his optics to maximum, and then the universe stopped making sense.

“Impossible,” he whispered, taking in the sight of Starscream walking down the ramp, with Megatrons body in his arms. The rest of Megatrons elite guard following behind the Seeker in various states of injury went unnoticed, as all his attention was locked on the shattered, gunmetal grey form. “That’s just not possible.”

“Well, unless the entire city’s gone crazy, I think we’re seeing the real thing,” Acid Storm said, his gaze shifting from Starscream to Shockwave. For the first time he could remember, Cybertrons chief administrator was actually showing emotion, body language shifting from stiff and formal to obvious shock, his arms hanging limp, his head shaking very slightly in clear denial. “Four million years gone, and we only get him back for twenty years.” Shrugging, he unzoomed his vision and looked at Counterpunch. “Seems a bit unfair.”

“Yeah...” he agreed, as Starscream stopped several feet away from Shockwave. At this distance, without some more specialised equipment, he had no way of knowing what the Seeker was saying, and he at least had lips. Shockwaves response would be completely impossible to work out. “I wonder,” he said, before pausing to gather his thoughts. “I wonder what happened.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about.” Noticing the look the ground warrior gave him, he shrugged. “Hey, I was only online for about thirty thousand years before he went and got buried on Earth. Don’t think I ever even spoke to him. But I remember what happened last time.” Counterpunch tilted his head to the side, then winced as the memory came back to him. “Yeah. All the ‘cons that thought they’d run things better then Shocky, the ‘bots getting stubborn even with Prime gone...”

“And this time, we’ve got Starscream here.” Tapping his fingers against the handrail thoughtfully, he was clearly using business to pull himself out of his own shock. “He’ll be making a move. Pit, he already is. Look at him. Straxus, Thunderwing, Bludgeon, Soundwave, anyone with more weapons then logic circuits, they’ll all be wanting the throne.”

Nodding, Acid Storm smiled slightly. “There’s going to be a lot of fighting. Shifting sides, politics, some old grudges settled.” The smile grew wider, threatening to turn into a smirk. “I smell opportunity.”

Looking at him for a moment, Counterpunch began to snicker. “Oh yeah. Let Screamer and the like try for the crown. We are going to make a fortune,” he laughed, patting Acid Storm on the shoulder.

***
7/17/2011, 8:54 am Link to this post Send Email to Matrix Dragon   Send PM to Matrix Dragon
 
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Re: Transformers The Movie: One Shall Stand.


Good stuff.. looking forward to the next installment

...did you get those PM's I tried to send?
7/29/2011, 3:33 am Link to this post Send Email to ArjaytheGuy   Send PM to ArjaytheGuy
 
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Re: Transformers The Movie: One Shall Stand.


... nope. Hmm.
7/29/2011, 5:13 am Link to this post Send Email to Matrix Dragon   Send PM to Matrix Dragon
 
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Re: Transformers The Movie: One Shall Stand.


***

“It’s going to take weeks before the defense grid back up to a level that would keep even a small Decepticon raiding party out,” Grapple reported, shaking his head slightly. “Most of the outer weapons are still there, but the systems that would have controlled them have been reduced to scrap.”

“And Metroplex?” Ultra Magnus asked, trying very hard not to scowl at the expected news.

“His laser core is intact,” Wheeljack replied, shifting slightly in his chair. He’d only spent long enough in the infirmary to make certain he wasn’t going to pass out or fall over dead before getting back to work, claiming there was far too much to be done to lie around. Smokescreen had a small pool going on which of the medical staff was going to work up the nerve to drag him back in for more serious repairs. “There’s damage to the limb components, nothing too serious, but the real problem is the damage to the transformation systems. We were already struggling to meet the schedule for getting him fully operational, and this... well, I’ve got some ideas, but I can’t make any promises.”

Tapping his fingers against his leg, Optimus Prime considered the report. “As much as I’d like for Metroplex to be fully operational on time, right now we have to focus on short-term options. Do what you can to get the defence grid operational again. With luck, once we launch tonight, the Decepticons are going to be suitably distracted from here any-”

The sudden screech of radio static interrupted Prime, and all attention turned towards the source. Blaster met the gazes with a surprised expression of his own, looking down at the lights on his chest as they flickered in time with the static. Before he could comment, the static shifted into a familiar voice. “Roger me, wilco me, hello hello Earth!” Jazz called out, his voice clearly excited.

“Signal’s coming in faint,” Blaster reported, climbing from his chair. With the familiar harmonic, he transformed into his boombox altmode, landing on the table, then deploying an interface cable into the tables built-in computer terminal. For a moment, the only noise in the room was his tape spindles spinning as he tried to properly lock onto the signal.

One of the wall monitors changed from the image of a rotating Autobot symbol to a slightly fuzzy image of Jazz and Cliffjumper in Moonbase One’s main control room. “Jazz, this is Optmus Prime at Autobot City. What’s your situation?”

“Our situation is completely crazy Prime,” Jazz responded, grinning wildly. “The whole planet’s gone round the bend! Your last message said you chased Meggy off Earth, but you did even more then that. You got him!”

Primes optics widened as Cliffjumper continued the explanation. “Screamer carried his scrapmetal carcass off Astrotrain a little while ago. Showed off the body for the whole city to see, then told everyone he was taking over. He’s gonna have a big ceremony in a few hours. Music, speeches, all that nonsense,” he snorted.

Optimus stared at the screen for a long moment, almost oblivious to the excited whispers behind him. “You’re certain of this?” he asked at last. His voice was quiet, almost disbelieving.

“I can hardly believe it myself Prime,” Jazz answered, “but it sure looked like the real deal. And Cybertron is buzzing about it. Doubt they all believe it, but you know the ‘Cons. They dig trouble that might give them a career boost.”

The image split in two, leaving Jazz and Cliffjumper on one side of the screen, and revealing Bumblebee and Spike Witwicky on the other. “I think Jazz might be on to something Optimus,” Bee commented. “Moonbase Two managed to get a look down at Darkmount twenty minutes ago. I can’t be sure without sending some probes down for a closer look, but it looks like Straxus might be getting his armies ready to move.”

“I guess the idea of working for Starscream doesn’t appeal to him,” Spike said. “And I’ll bet a years pay that there’s a lot of other ‘cons thinking the same thing.”

Optimus was silent for almost a minute, optics locked onto thin air as he considered the situation. He’d expected Megatron to take time to recover, and the usual Decepticon politics would give the Autobots the advantage in the initial stages of the invasion. But if Megatron was actually, finally dead, then...

“Do we wait?” Ultra Magnus asked quietly. “If the Decepticons do turn on each other, we could be looking at the sort of internal conflict that tore them apart after the Ark mission. Let them take it out on each other. They’ll rip apart their defenses, drop their numbers...”

“For how long?” Optimus interrupted, turning back towards him. “Even if some ambitious Decepticons make their move immediately, it could take years before it turns into a Decepticon civil war. Decades perhaps. Transformers can take quite some time to get to the point,” he added dryly, drawing a faint laugh from the other Autobots. “Decades in which we’ll have to try to control the orbitals, keep the Decepticons from getting off Cybertron and going after anyone else to try and prove their worth as Supreme Commander.”

Scowling, Magnus leaned back in his chair. “Good point. This isn’t like when we thought we lost you four million years ago. The Decepticons have a fleet. Any that get past our orbital defenses could endanger entire planets.” He shook his head reluctantly. “Waiting them out has too much chance of collateral damage.”

“Then there’s Cybertron,” Wheeljack added. “We’ve all seen what state it’s in. Even if we take the ‘cons out completely, it’s going to take centuries to rebuild. If they start tearing at each other, I don’t want to think about how much worse it’ll get. Most of the western hemisphere is already uninhabitable. A Decepticon civil war could push the rest of the planet over the edge.”

Nodding, Optimus turned back to the comm screen. “We’ll be leaving on schedule. Jazz, Bumblebee, I want you to monitor Decepticon movements as well as you can. If you detect any of them trying to leave Cybertron, do what you have to do to stop them.” He didn’t need to mention the fact that a Decepticon team had already managed to escape Cybertron undetected this week. Everyone in the room was already thinking it.

“We’ll do what we can Optimus,” Bumblebee responded.

“‘Cons try and climb up, we’ll knock ‘em back down,” Cliff smirked. “Moonbases out.”

Transforming back to robot mode as the call ended, Blaster looked around the room. “Well, there’s the news broadcast of the century,” he commented. “You want me to plug in, spread the good word to the city?” he added, glancing at Optimus.

Turning away, Optimus stepped over to the window, looking out at the city beyond. “I’ll make the announcement myself in a few minutes,” he said after a moment. “I think it’ll be best if they hear it from me.”

“Fair ‘nuff,” Blaster shrugged.

After studying the city for a moment, Optimus turned back to the group. “As I was saying Grapple, do what you can to rebuild the defense grid. If the Decepticons do turn on each other ahead of us pressing the advantage, their attention should be elsewhere, but I’d rather not take chances.”

“I’ll see to it,” the architect nodded.

“Now then, if there’s nothing else, I think I’ll end this meeting a little early. It seems I have an announcement to make.”

The other Autobots stood up and made their way out, Wheeljack hesitating at the doorway. “You okay Optimus?” he asked after a moment.

“I’m not sure,” Prime admitted. “It’s just a shock, I suppose.” He shook his head. “Don’t worry about me Wheeljack. I’ll be fine.”

Nodding slightly, the engineer turned and left, leaving Prime alone with his thoughts. It didn’t seem possible. In fact, he couldn’t really believe it, despite what the moonbases were reporting. Experience had taught him to doubt such things. How many times had he faced Megatron in battle, leaving the Decepticon commander near-death? How many times had Megatron done the same to him?

Sighing, he flipped open a panel on his arm and connected to Autobot Citys communications grid. Might as well get this over with.

***
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