CHAPTER NINE
--Cybertron--
Megatron had lost track of the time. How long had he been fighting Galvatron? Several minutes? A few hours? All day?
Regardless of how long, he had been driven to the point of exhaustion. Galvatron had as well, but the effects of the Ultra-Energon having drained from his body had taken its toll on him. Now he was relying on sheer will alone.
It was clear to him that even that would not be enough.
A blast from Galvatron's fusion cannon obliterated his battle mace and part of the hand carrying it. A second blast brought him down onto his back. Too weak to move, Megatron simply laid there as Galvatron trudged into view.
"It didn't have to end this way," the ancient warrior said gruffly. "You could have ruled by my side."
"Under your shadow?" Megatron growled. "I'd sooner die."
"Have it your way," Galvatron said as he aimed his weapon at Megatron's face. "A bit of poetic justice, though, isn't it? With you at my mercy instead of vice versa, which is how this all started. And now, it all ends."
The inside of his barrel glowed. Megatron closed his optics, bracing himself for the end.
"A fitting end for such a tragic-- argh!"
Megatron's eyes snapped open. No longer standing over him, Galvatron was on his knees, clutching his head in agony while screaming in an energon-curdling rage.
Before the Decepticon leader could figure out what was going on, Cybertron's sky went black.
--Excerpt from the Covenant of Primus, written by Alpha Trion--
Imagine, for a moment, that all of the lights had gone out. No lamps or stars, no sun or moon shone. The sky had become a featureless, infinite plane of darkness. Now imagine that, at the center of it all, was this indiscernible object, which grew bigger as it came closer towards you.
You see a sphere decked in gray and orange. A jagged ring surrounds it, connected to its hemispheres. At its epicenter is a frightening maw, a pair of pincers jutting out from its sides.
Now imagine this fearsome entity is blotting out the sky. Imagine its pincers impaling your planet on either side, pulling you towards its maw. Imagine a terrible vortex seizing the land, levitating you, your loved ones, your city, everything up into the air before throwing you into that maw, ending your life-- and those of billions in a matter of seconds.
What you have imagined so far barely scratches the surface of this entity, this devourer of worlds.
Primus forbid that any of us have to suffer the horror that is the Great Devourer.
--Gigantion--
When the lights came back on, Optimus Prime could hardly believe that the torn-open ceiling had revealed. It was little more than a dot in the sky, but the shape was unmistakeable. Regardless, he prayed that what he was seeing was not real.
"Tyrest...." His voice came out as a hoarse whisper. "What have you done?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Tyrest said, his face reflecting the opposite of what Prime was feeling. "I have initiated the final stage of the plan. I have begun the Reunification."
"You have done nothing but bring death upon us all!" Minimus Ambus exclaimed. "Do you know nothing of what the legends say about the Chaos Bringer?"
"I am fully aware of the legends, Ambus," Tyrest replied. "And now, I'm living one."
"You are insane!" Windblade cried.
"No," the Chief Justice said quietly. "I am vindicated."
"Ah, I've had enough of this guy's slag." Skids raised his gun at the former Autobot but was suddenly knocked aside by a Legislator, which had its huge sword brandished.
"Ninety sixteen," it said in its typical monotone, and soon, the Hall of Justice was in chaos as the Legislators attacked.
Optimus Prime and Skids fired their large guns to keep most of them at bay while Drift and Windblade clashed with the ones carrying swords. It wasn't long before Lockdown and his goons had joined the fight and one could not discern any one action from another.
Watching the battle, Pharma's optics darted around nervously, searching for an escape. The ceiling had been torn wide open, but he could easily be shot out of the air for fleeing. The main entrance, while also having been blown open, was blocked by the fighting combatants. Beyond that, he had no other options.
Before he could even make a choice, something hard hit him in the back of the head and consciousness abandoned him.
* * *
"Have you ever used that wrench as an actual wrench?" Riptide asked Nautica while the latter recovered her handy tool and the knocked-out Pharma.
"Sure, plenty of times," she said. "I just... like throwing it more."
At that moment, a Legislator lunged at them, swinging its massive sword. Nautica hurled her wrench at its head, though it simply bounced off without a scratch. A shot to its back from Skids prevented it from retaliating.
"These things are like oversize nano-fleas," the Autobot agent muttered. "Minimus, do you know anyway to shut them off?"
"I'm afraid not," Minimus replied, using a Legislator's own gun to blow off its head. "Tyrest made these things without my knowledge. The only one who would know how to shut them off would be Tyrest or possibly--"
"Zero."
Without warning, the Legislators ceased their assault, becoming as rigid as the statues that decorated the Hall of Justice. Lockdown and his gang stopped as well, startled by this turn of events. All heads then turned to see Star Saber striding into the hall, sword in hand and optics narrowed.
Tyrest leaned across his podium and gestured angrily with his staff. "Star Saber! What is the meaning of this?"
"You lied to me," the warrior growled. "You said it would be the Guiding Hand that we would be reawakening, not the Chaos Bringer!"
Tyrest sneered. "I never referred to the Guiding Hand or Unicron specifically. I merely--"
"You dare speak the forbidden name?!" Star Saber bellowed, pointing his blade at Tyrest. "You have sworn yourself to the god of chaos!"
"So I have!" Tyrest spread his arms out wide. "And there is nothing you can do to prevent the forthcoming apocalypse!"
With a raged yell, Star Saber leaped forward, propelled by thrusters on his feet. As he came down, he aimed his blade downward, plunging it straight into Tyrest's abdomen. The Chief Justice did nothing to fight back, instead grinning as he clenched his fist. Suddenly, his body released a flash of light, sending Star Saber flying back as Tyrest dissolved away with his podium and the five statues of the Guiding Hand.
When the spectacle was over, silence reigned over the Hall of Justice. While the Autobots stared at both Star Saber and the place where Tyrest had been in awe, Lockdown and his cronies began to shift slightly.
"Well then... I suppose payment is out of the question," the bounty hunter muttered. "If it's all the same to you, I do believe we'll be leaving--"
At least a dozen guns were instantly aimed at his face.
"--in your ship's brig."
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