I'll be posting the epilogue later today.
CHAPTER NINE
-Approx. an hour ago-
"I don't think I'm meant for this, Chief Justice. I'm a doctor, not a soldier."
As the crew of the Enforcer boarded the newly-prepared ship, Chief Justice Tyrest turned to Ultra Magnus who, a very short time ago, was a mere medic named Suture.
"You agreed to this, Suture," Tyrest said. "I thought that this was what you wanted; to be more than just a doctor."
Ultra Magnus frowned. "Yes, but you're thrusting me head-first into a battle. I was expecting to get a bit of training first."
Tyrest smiled. "This is your training. Anything else any instructor would throw at you would be too easy. Trust me; the moment you touch ground, you will know what to do."
He then placed a hand on his Duly Appointed Officer's shoulder. "I have faith in you, Suture, just like we all had faith in the original Ultra Magnus. You must bring back that faith. You must become the legend he was. You must become Ultra Magnus."
"And if I fail."
Tyrest's smiled wavered, but only briefly. "Then the legend will go on, carried by someone else. Even if you die, you will at the same time become immortal."
He moved his hand away from his protege's shoulder and began to walk away.
"Both Delta and Ultra Magnus left behind a legacy, Suture. You must do your best to uphold it."
-Now-
Sandstorm could not help but simply watch with a mixture of aw and envy as Ultra Magnus tore his way through hordes of Vehicons and Predators, a team of Elite Guardsmen following in his wake.
Wow, talk about your epic comebacks, Sandstorm thought as he joined in the fighting. Even Sentinel Prime would be jealous.
Before long, the tables had been turned; a sea of Vehicon parts caked the ground and the surviving Predators were on their knees with Autobot guns trained on them. The Battle of Vehicon was over. As Decepticon prisoners were led onto the Vis Vitalias and the Enforcer, Thunderclash walked up to the Elite Guard leader and shook hands with him.
"Consider myself humbled," Thunderclash said with a smile. "I thought I could handle this by myself, but-"
Ultra Magnus raised a hand to silence him, smiling as well. "You did what you could, and that's all anyone could ask for."
Thunderclash nodded. "Thanks for the rescue all the same."
"Speaking of rescue, we seem to be down one Autobot."
The two Elite Guardsmen turned to see the young Autobot Flash walking up to them, dragging the deactivated body of Scorch behind him.
"I found Scorch's body here," Flash said sadly. "But the last time I saw him, he was with Orion Pax, but I didn't find any sign of him at all."
Thunderclash frowned and turned to Ultra Magnus. The Elite Guard commander's gaze was on Scorch's body at first before switching to the Decepticons' factory. Thunderclash followed his gaze and then gave him a concerned look.
"You don't think-?"
'I don't," Ultra Magnus said sharply. "I know."
* * *
Stalker, Skydive, and a team of Decepticon scientists had been on their way to the Foundry, carrying the comatose forms of Orion Pax and Skydive's own subject, the Ammonite combiner Paddox, when Sixshot suddenly intercepted their trajectory.
"You must leave Vehicon," the Warrior Elite said.
Stalker gave him a baffled look. "What do you mean? Did Skyquake give this order?"
"No, but there's no use in arguing the point. Almost all of the Predators and Vehicons are dead or captured; in fact, those present here, along with Skyquake and Snare, are probably the only ones left."
"Is that right?" Skydive said. "Well then, at least we won't have to tolerate that idiot Talon-"
"Shut up," Stalker hissed. Turning back to Sixshot, he said, "So what do you suppose we do?"
"There's a ship waiting in docking bay fifty-one. If I were you, I'd get onto that ship and get the Pit out of here."
"Are you coming with us?" asked Rossum, a member of Skydive's science crew.
"I will hold them off," Sixshot said. "Buy you and Commander Skyquake some time."
Stalker tilted his head. "Loyal to the cause to the last. I respect that in a Decepticon."
"Shut up and get our manifolds out of here."
As Stalker and the other Decepticons hurried off, the Predator couldn't help but smile behind his mouth-plate. If Orion Pax was supposed to be better in every way than Sixshot, then the Autobots had a lot to reckon with.
* * *
Ultra Magnus brought down the factory's doors with such force that Sandstorm though he would bring the whole building down onto their heads. The Elite Guardsman then signaled him and the other Autobots to follow him.
They had barely made it halfway down the first hallway when trouble came: a large tank colored in purple, white, and green, firing its twin barrels. Sandstorm ducked to move out of the tank's line of fire and fired his rifle. The blast barely made a dent and did nothing to stall the Decepticon; in fact, it only irritated it further.
The tank came to a stop and started to shift its parts. However, instead of converting into a robot, it turned into a large, four-legged beast, razor-sharp fangs jutting out of its upper lip. It lunged at Ultra Magnus, who moved with sharp reflexes. He grabbed the beast's front legs, causing the both of them to fall to the floor. The beast clawed at him viciously and with much veracity, carving a groove into his chest plate.
With the beast's attention on Magnus, Thunderclash moved behind it and grabbed the animal by the back of its neck, pulling it away from Ultra Magnus. He then instantly let go as the beast reared up on its hinds legs and converted into an armored buggy, driving back down the way it had arrived as a tank.
"By Adaptus, how many modes does this guy have?" Rotorstorm exclaimed. "And to think, I was jealous of Sandstorm."
Suddenly, the buggy performed a U-turn and transformed once again, this time into a giant, hovering blaster cannon.
"Get down!" Ultra Magnus bellowed.
As the Autobots dropped to the floor, the floating cannon unleashed a blast of energy, just barely grazing the fallen Autobots. The moment the attack had stopped, Ultra Magnus instantly got back to his feet and charged towards the cannon, guns ablaze.
The giant weapon transformed for the fourth time, this time into a large, green and purple robot- the same who had viciously oppressed Thunderclash and his men. Pulling out a pair of blasters, Sixshot unleashed a volley of fire at the Autobot veteran, who managed to shrug it off and fire two rocket launchers on his shoulders. The missiles hit Sixshot square in the chest and sent him flying onto his back.
For a moment, everything was still. The Decepticon was unmoving and no Autobot dared to move a single strut, lest it cause the giant to stir. The silence was finally broken when Sixshot spoke.
"I had underestimated you, Ultra Magnus. I had thought you outdated; yesterday's model. But I was wrong." Sixshot rose to his feet and the Autobots readied themselves for action, but the Decepticon did not attack. "Consider myself humbled."
With that, he blasted an opening into the roof with one of his blasters and converted into a jet, blasting off into the sky.
Silence followed for a bit before Whirl said, "So how many modes is that?"
Rotorstorm started counting on his fingers before sighing. "Six. Well, consider me jealous as heck, Decepti-creep."
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