CHAPTER NINE
--The Voyager--
"This isn't my idea of a welcoming party."
Indeed, the sight of a thousand Decepticon ships was not what Elita had been expecting when the Voyager returned to Cybertron. She quickly maneuvered the ship to evade firepower from an Orbital Assault Carrier.
"Brainstorm, I'm going to ask something dangerous and life-risking of you," she then called to the Autobot inventor.
"When you're in my line of work, stuff like that comes natural," Brainstorm said.
"I want you to pilot the ship."
Brainstorm arched an optic ridge. "That's it?"
"And crash it."
"And?"
"And make it explode."
"And?"
Elita rolled her eyes. "And make it keep exploding until there's nothing left to explode."
Brainstorm cracked his knuckles. "Give me fifteen minutes."
--Cybertron--
"What in the name of Primus is going on?!"
No one answered Warpath's exclamation for they were just as shocked as he was. The battle had come to a standstill as the sky was torn apart by a fiery rift. As lightning struck at random around it, six figures-- large and imposing-- emerged from it.
"Someone hit me so I can wake up," Wing Saber muttered.
Kup, still reeling from the explosion Ultra Magnus had caused, shook his head. "This is no nightmare, lad. This is real."
"Rightfully so."
The six figures touched ground, while the rift closed behind them. One of them, a winged mech in violet and black, stepped forward. Kup's jaw immediately dropped.
"Galvatron?!" he exclaimed.
The ancient warrior regard him coldly. "Kup. I'm surprised to see you still functioning."
"Likewise," the veteran Autobot grunted. "We all thought you had died; you, Nova Prime, Cyclonus...."
Galvatron smirked. "Obviously, such word of our demise was... greatly exaggerated."
Abruptly, emerging from the crowd of combatants was a tan and brown Decepticon. Kup recognized him as Dropshot, whom he had encountered on Styx nearly a millennia ago. Dropshot pointed at one of the newcomers; a stocky mech in navy blue and gold.
"Lord Straxus! What are you doing here? Didn't Megatron send you and the other warlords away?"
"Megatron no longer has any authority," Straxus said coldly. "The new regime has arrived."
Dropshot roared in protest as he charged towards the former warlord. Galvatron casually raised his arm cannon and fired. The Decepticon's body disintegrated before everyone's optics, leaving behind no indication that he had ever existed in the first place.
"Should anyone here present know of any reason that this regime should not be brought to power as ordained by the Primal Pantheon," Galvatron said, "speak now or forever hold your peace."
Not a single Autobot or Decepticon dared to speak or move. Galvatron smirked in satisfaction.
"In that case, allow me to clear any uncertainty: we are the Heralds of Unicron; the harbingers of chaos; the gamemasters of war. For several millennia we have stood behind the scenes, watching events unfold while pulling the strings. Now the day of reckoning has come.
"Contrary to what you may think, we worship Primus as much we do Unicron, his long-reviled equal. But what you seemed to have forgotten is that, in the beginning, Primus and Unicron were once a single entity; order and chaos co-existing in harmony.
"Of course, such an existence was a disastrous one, and thus order and chaos were divided so that the universe could survive. But since your war, which has spread across the galaxy-- and perhaps has repercussions beyond-- has since threatened that survival, the two must become one again."
Galvatron pointed a metal finger at the gathered crowd. "You have a choice: either you pledge your allegiance to us so that we may restore eternal harmony, or you don't. And if you choose the latter, then you will all be hunted down and eliminated so as to not disrupt the plan.
"Step forward now if it is your desire to follow the will of the gods."
No one moved at first. Then, several Decepticons stepped forward, followed by a few Autobots. In moments, right before Kup's optics, enemy lines vanished as members of both factions knelt before their new, self-proclaimed overlords. In the end, most of the Decepticons had pledged their loyalty to Galvatron, while a majority of the Autobots stood by, wary of these proceedings.
Galvatron smiled heartlessly. "The people have spoken. Now then, let us--"
The ancient warrior was cut off by the roar of engines. All heads looked up to see a blue and white light freighter shooting down straight from the sky, while ten figures dropped from it.
Galvatron simply sneered at the vessel as he fired his arm cannon at it.
* * *
"Thank Primus for autopilots, 'cause there's no way I was gonna risk my life like that," Brainstorm muttered as he watched the Voyager's destruction at Galvatron's hands.
Clinging onto him while he was in jet mode were Elita-One, Nightbeat, Chromedome, and Strongarm, while Windblade carried Rewind, Glyph, Swerve, and Tailgate. The two Autobot fliers gently lowered their teammates to the ground before transforming to robot mode.
"So, now what?" Rewind asked, surveying the featureless metal planes that had once been Iacon. "Cybertron is scrapped, the 'Cons seem to have won... what are we going to do?"
Silence was all that answered him.
--The Nemesis--
"So... that's it?" Skywarp was as astonished as anyone by what had just happened. "We've won?"
"Provided that the Autobots do not attempt a futile rebellion, yes." Soundwave tilted his head to face Barricade. "Inform the fleet that the invasion has ended. Prepare to land."
While Barricade went to work, Blackout said, "But what about Lord Megatron? He can't miss out on this!"
"You will be seeing Megatron again," Soundwave replied. "He was needed elsewhere to perform work required to make this victory more... assured."
Knock Out looked skeptical about this statement. "What kind of work?"
Soundwave's visor gleamed as the sun began to emerge on the horizon; a new dawn to mark the beginning of this new age.
"You shall see the results of it soon enough."
No comments:
Post a Comment