Transformers Regenerated: Prime Wars XIII, Chapter Nine

CHAPTER NINE

--Earth--

    "I can't say I'm all too fond of being inconvenienced like this."

    It took everything in the Fallen's power to not crush Gemma from within his tank form. Instead, he did his best to ignore her and continued to follow Shockwave and Soundwave through the Earthen plains. Fortunately, it had not taken long to locate Deathsaurus' missing troops as one of them -- Darkwing, was it? -- had managed to send out out a distress signal, leading them to the three rogue Decepticons.

    The Decepticons Nitro Zeus, Skip, and Jack-Knife were already at the cave by the time the Fallen and the others arrived, guns as the ready. Transforming to robot mode, the ancient Prime unceremoniously tossed Gemma to Soundwave as he drew his Void Scepter and stormed up to Nitro Zeus.

    "Are they all in there?" he growled, nodding to the cave.

    "Yup," Nitro grunted, cocking his arm gun. "All twelve of them."

    "Twelve?!" The Fallen's optics flashed. "I thought there were only three of them."

    "Uh..." Nitro glanced at the other two, who simply shrugged. "Well, we counted twelve...."

    "It would appear they had more operatives then we had assumed," said Shockwave, coming up behind the Fallen.

    The Prime rumbled to himself but said nothing as he stormed into the cave, the five Decepticons and Gemma close behind.

   As they trekked deeper into the cave, the Fallen began to hear voices -- all speaking in unison in some sort of chant. It took a few more steps before he could make out what they were saying.

    "--Prime. We are Nexus Prime. We are Onyx--"

    The Fallen tightened his grip over the Void Scepter. What business did these lowtechs have in chanting the names of his brethren?

    "--are Amalgamous Prime. We are Quintus Prime. We--"

    He could see a light at the end of the tunnel. Several lights, all in various colors. Up ahead he could make out a large figure basking in the twelve beams of light that its followers were generating from their chests.

    "It would appear your count was inaccurate, Nitro," Soundwave murmured. "There are thirteen of them...."

    Thirteen. The Fallen felt himself tremble with rage. Subconsciously, he readied his Requiem Blaster.

    "--Maximo. We are Megatronus. We...."

     That was when he saw it. There, in the center of Ragnarok's chest, was the Matrix of Leadership. Its core glowed brighter than the sun as the beams of light dissipated into it and the twelve bots crumpled lifelessly to the ground.

    "...are Thunderwing," Ragnarok finished as he closed his chest plates and his entire frame began to glow.

    "No." The Fallen's eyes grew wide behind his mask, watching in horror as Ragnarok's body started to reshape itself. Teal and orange became white and blue; wings sprouted from what were once treads. His visor retracted to reveal baleful scarlet optics from behind a fanged golden maw.

    The Fallen's arm shook as he raised his weapon. "It can't be...."

    "Don't." Soundwave grabbed his shoulder. "It won't do any damage. Not when he has--"

    The Fallen ignored him and fired the Requiem Blaster. The blast struck the reformatted Ragnarok square in the chest but did no damage. The new Matrix bearer shifted his gaze to him and the five Decepticons.

    "Hello, brother," Thunderwing said.

    In all his several millennia of life, Megatronus -- warrior of darkness, ruler of the Darklands -- would never attest to being considered a coward. Yet now, the most sound strategy in his mind... was to run.

*  *  *

    Overhaul had no idea why the animals were in disarray, but it provided him with the means to escape.

    Well, maybe not "escape". He still had no idea where in the blazes he was (other than the vague definition of "underground"), and the stampede of beasts getting in his way certainly didn't help matters. He would even go so far as to say that the ceiling being on the verge of caving in was also going to be a major hindrance.

    Someone somewhere let out a scream and Overhaul caught a glimpse of a half-melted lizard as it was thrown over his head. Distracted by this, he did not notice the blue pill bug charging behind him until it reared into him and he found himself riding the bug as it made for one of the escape tunnels.

    Before they could get far, an acid-colored mech came barreling towards them, slamming himself into the pill bug. Overhaul was knocked off and sent flying, landing at the feet of a gold and teal mosquito bot. The bug glanced down at him before proceeding to bark out orders.

    "Transquito! Dragonfire! Get the Autobot to the tunnels! He must be received by Ongbxly!"

    The rest of Bigmos' speech was reduced to gibberish by the harpoon that had just skewered his mouth. As the bug flailed helplessly, his chest was blown open by a gun that his purple and yellow assailant had in his other hand. After pulling out the harpoon from the dead bug's head, the mech retracted his gun and offered a hand to Overhaul.

    The old green Autobot knew who he was and yet still felt the need to ask: "Who the hell are you?"

    "We're the Wreckers," Impactor answered, giving him a wicked grin. "We're here to make things better."

TO BE CONTINUED

Transformers Regenerated: Prime Wars XIII, Chapter Eight

CHAPTER EIGHT

--England--

    "These guys just aren't letting up," Downshift grunted as he shot down two more Kickback units. "They must really want whatever it is they're after."

    "Ah, victory through persistence!" Sky Lynx said as he impaled a Bombshell model with his tail. "That was the motto of Mongo the Majestic. A charming soul. Could really belt out a good tune."

    "Did he have a swarm of bugs?" Evac asked.

    "No, but he did have a horrible case of--"

    "Wait!" Crosswise said, holding his fire. "Everyone stop!"

    Downshift glanced at him. "Are you crazy?"

    "Just do as I say!"

    Reluctantly, the others ceased fire. Just as they did, the remaining Insecticons immediately began marching away, ignoring the Autobots as if they had never been there to begin with.

    "The heck?" Downshift muttered. "Talk about a mood swing."

    "I'll say," Evac remarked, retracting his shoulder cannons. "Wonder what's gotten into them."

    "Um, guys? Some help."

    As the last Insecticon flew off, the Autobots all turned to see Jetfire and Stormshot emerge from what remained of Folgan Castle. With them were three bots hobbling on their feet, moving as if they had not used their joints in some time.

    While Evac and Downshift rushed to help them, Crosswise rubbed his chin as he studied one of them, a winged mech in blue and red. "Say, I know you. You're that bounty hunter. Devron, was it?"

    "Devcon," the bot corrected him. "Devron was a warlord. How could you confuse me with him?"

    "To be fair, you have the personality to match," said a smirking red and orange motorcycle bot.

    Devcon scowled. "Zip it, Flareup, or you'll be finding yourself back down there underneath ten tons of rubble."

    "How did you guys end up here anyway?" Downshift asked. "And who's the orange Optimus?"

    "My name is Ginrai," grunted the bot in question, who did indeed bear a striking resemblance to Optimus Prime. "And our story is... a long one. Is Dai Atlas here?"

    "The Circle of Light guy?" Evac said. "No one's heard from them in months. We can take you to Optimus Prime though."

    "Wonderful." Ginrai looked up to see Jetfire turning back to the castle. "Where are you going?"

    "There are still more bots back there," Jetfire replied. "Arcee told me that Burton had taken them in over the years."

    Stormshot shook her head. "I'm afraid it's a lost cause. None of them were registering a spark signature to me. I think they're long gone."

    Jetfire sighed but conceded the point. Turning back around, he raised a hand to his comm. "Wheeljack? It's Jetfire. Can you open a GroundBridge for us?"

    "Hey!" Sky Lynx exclaimed. "I'm standing right here!"

    Jetfire motioned for silence. "Wheeljack? Do you copy?"

    There was no response for a minute or two. Then, after a crackling of static, Wheeljack's voice came through. "Yeah, I copy. Unfortunately, I think asking for a GroundBridge is a bit much for us at the moment."

    Jetfire frowned. "What do you mean?"

    "We've been having some... technical difficulties. Things are just now coming back online. It might be a while before we can get out our GroundBridge -- or space bridge -- up and running again."

    "No matter. We've got Sky Lynx. We'll be returning to Autobot City shortly."

    "Great. Did you guys find anything?"

    "Uh...." Jetfire looked back towards the ruins of Folgan Castle. "Somewhat. More questions than answers, really."

    "I feel ya. See you soon then."

    After ending the call, Jetfire turned back to the others. "All right, I'll take Ginrai and the others back to Autobot City. You guys keep an optic for Overhaul and those bugs -- but do not engage them. Understood?"

    The other four Autobots nodded curtly.

    "Good." Jetfire then nodded to Sky Lynx. "Let's get going."

*  *  *

    "Fascinating."

    Cogman groaned as he was prodded awake. After adjusting his optical sensors, he found himself at the mercy of a massive robot with multiple appendages hanging off of his shoulders. The creature-esque machine hung low over Cogman, poking him with a vast array of tools.

    "Cybertronian, yet... different. You have the build of a Cyberdroid, yet no Cyberdroid I know has a transformation cog that works so... extensively."

    Cogman tried to speak only to realize his vocal processor was not responding. Had his captor deactivated it? What purpose did that serve?

    After a moment, the monstrous bot ceased his examination and retracted his tools. Leaning away, he moved his gaze to someone just behind Cogman's head.

    "You may proceed."

    "I should probably mention that I've never operated on someone this... small," said the second person. "I can't guarantee he will survive the procedure."

    "He doesn't need to," the spider said. "He is merely a curiosity, nothing more."

    With that, he turned around and strode away. As he left, Cogman spied an ornately-shaped object hanging from one of the spider's limbs. His energon went cold when the realization set in.

    The Enigma of Combination.

    As his spark sank, Cogman almost did not notice the pain when the Predacon mnemosurgeon injected his needle-like fingers into his neck.

*  *  *

    Wheeljack did not recognize the two bots currently working on Metrotitan's space bridge, but he already admired their work ethic. As soon as Ragnarok had vanished, they had immediately gotten to work before even receiving any instructions.

    If only he could get that sort of attitude from Huffer....

    As he stood by and watched the pair work, Wheeljack saw the red one (Phoenix, he believed his name was) stand up and access the space bridge's controls, inputting a series of commands. Meanwhile, the gray one -- Lander -- reconnected a few wires before closing the panel he was working on.

    "Finished already?" Wheeljack asked. "That didn't take long."

    Lander glanced at him but said nothing. In a way, he looked almost... sad?

    Once Phoenix had finished his input, he sent it in and a blue portal materialized within the arch. Already Wheeljack could see a group of silhouetted figures emerging from the other end.

    "The heck?" Wheeljack adjusted his optics as the center figure became more visible. "Is that... Metalhawk?"

    Without warning, Lander lunged at the engineer and tackled him to the ground. As Wheeljack struggled against him, Metalhawk emerged from the space bridge, accompanied by six others -- a good number of them being Decepticons.

    "You had us worried, you two," the gold and blue mech said. "We had just received Dauros' signal and yet you weren't answering."

    "Ragnarok's arrival had caused some... disturbances," Phoenix said. "A minor inconvenience though. The Matrix is ours now."

    Metalhawk nodded before shifting his gaze to Wheeljack, whom Lander still had pinned. "We seem to have a witness though. That is unfortunate."

    "Allow me to rid us of him," said one of the Decepticons, drawing a sword. Metalhawk stopped him from attacking.

    "There is no need, Bludgeon. He can't do anything to stop us. None of them can." He gestured to Lander, who released Wheeljack from his grip. As the Autobot engineer got up, Metalhawk smirked at him. 

    "Go ahead and warn your 'Prime' -- if he can even be still called that anymore. The ascension is already underway. You have lost."

    With that, Metalhawk and the eight assorted bots transformed and took off, leaving Autobot City before Wheeljack could even finish his alert....

Transformers Regenerated: Prime Wars XIII, Chapter Seven

CHAPTER SEVEN

--Autobot City--

    "What did you do, Wheeljack?"

    "I didn't do anything!" the Autobot engineer protested as he cast a light on Metrotitan's systems. "Seriously, if you're going to blame anyone, blame Bulkhead. He's the one who nearly dropped a crate on where Metrotitan's actuator would be."

    Arcee sighed in exasperation as she banged her head on the wall. "Just get the door open. Prime's not answering his comm."

    "I can't get anything to do anything. It's like he's refusing to--"

    Without warning, the door flew off its hinges and went crashing into Wheeljack's monitor. Bulkhead stormed in, hands rolled into fists.

    "Is everyone all right?" he asked.

    "Yeah," Wheeljack muttered, lamenting the loss of his equipment. "Just peachy."

    "What's going on, Bulkhead?" Arcee asked. "Is Prime--"

    "You two had better come outside," Bulkhead grunted. "You guys are missing out on all the fun."

*  *  *

    "Impossible! Our laserfire is just making him stronger!"

    "Swerve! Time and place!" Ratchet snapped as he and the other Autobots returned fire to the massive Decepticon known as Ragnarok. Unfortunately, the Minibot seemed to have a point; even with two dozen Autobots firing at him, Ragnarok was showing no signs of slowing down. Even Ultra Magnus -- who was currently wearing the same armor he had used against Ragnarok before -- was failing to do any damage.

    "Your efforts are futile," Ragnarok boomed as he delivered a punch to Ultra Magnus' chest, knocking him back. "My ascension is at hand. The Matrix will be mine."

    "It's always gotta be about the Matrix," Skids remarked. "Maybe Megatron should have kept it."

    At that moment, Ratchet heard the sound of a truck honking. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Optimus Prime charging through the battle lines, towing his trailer behind him.

    "No!" Ratchet cried. "Prime, get back--!"

    His protests went unheard as Optimus advanced towards Ragnarok. Detaching from his trailer, Prime transformed to robot mode while his trailer unfolded into his Combat Deck. As Prime took control of the deck's central turret, Ragnarok set his eyes on him and grinned.

    "And so it shall be."

    Ignoring the Autobots' continued assault, Ragnarok stormed towards Optimus. With one hand he pinned the Prime to the ground, crushing the Combat Deck. While Optimus struggled against his grip, Ragnarok tore open his chest, revealing the Matrix of Leadership within.

    Ragnarok's grin broaden. "Oh, so precious...."

    Unable to stop him, the Autobots could only watch in horror as Ragnarok ripped the Matrix from Optimus' chest before winking out of view, leaving behind a severely injured Prime. As Ratchet rushed to his aid, Skids lamented over the situation.

    "This is not what I would classify as 'good.'"

--Warworld--

    "We cannot leave."

    Both the Fallen and Deathsaurus stared at Shockwave as if he had lost his mind. The former seemed particularly irate as he tightened his grip on his newly reacquired Void Scepter.

    "What was that?" the ancient Prime intoned.

    "We cannot leave," Shockwave repeated, calm as always.

    "Why not? We have what we came for. There is nothing else of worth on this pathetic planet."

    Shockwave inclined his head in Deathsaurus' direction. "Are you not at all concerned by Dauros, Blood, and Gilmer's absence?"

    "They mean nothing," the Fallen said before Deathsaurus could speak. "Their losses will not impede on our endeavors."

    "Regardless, they are my troops," Deathsaurus said. "I can't just leave them behind."

    "You will," the Fallen growled, stepping closer to the warlord. "Or rather, you will if you value your involvement in all this."

    "Both of you are missing the larger picture," Shockwave said. "The fact that the three of them have all gone missing is no coincidence."

    The Fallen glared at him. "Do you know something we don't?"

    "A former subject of mine has come to Earth," Shockwave replied. "He goes by the name of Ragnarok."

    "And?" the Fallen growled. "What purpose does he serve?"

    "I created him after the Cataclysm as a failsafe should something like Thunderwing ever happen again. To that extent, I decided to salvage Thunderwing's remains and use them in Ragnarok's construction. Upon completion, he was initially nothing more than a tool -- no more sentient than a turbofox."

    "If that is the case, then how has he developed the intelligence to travel here?"

    Shockwave stiffened, not meeting either of their gazes. "In my... lack of foresight, I ended up salvaging more of Thunderwing than I had intended...."

    Deathsaurus frowned. "What do you mean?"

    "Not long after activation, Ragnarok began displaying characteristics that were in common with Thunderwing. As such, I quickly neutralized him and left him in Tarantulas' care. I had trusted him to ensure that Thunderwing's personality did not fully manifest in Ragnarok... it would appear he has failed."

    The Fallen crossed his arms. "I fail to see how this is cause to stay on this rock."

    "Dauros, Blood, and Gilmer were all loyal to Thunderwing during the height of his power. If they have gone missing just as Ragnarok has arrived... I am positive this is not a coincidence." Shockwave paused before saying, "I should also mention that Thunderwing has an affinity with the Matrix of Leadership."

    This got a reaction from the ancient Prime. "The Matrix? Here?"

    "It is a likelihood, yes."

    Growling to himself, the Fallen turned to Deathsaurus. "Send out all your forces. We are not leaving until this Ragnarok -- Thunderwing -- whoever is dealt with."

    "As you wish," Deathsaurus muttered before taking his leave.

--England--

    Gigatron crawled helplessly on the ground. His legs, if he even still had them, were not responding. His left arm and wing laid off to the side, beyond his reach.

    It... it can't end like this.

    Behind him, Folgan Castle laid in ruins. The swarm of Insecticons were still in the midst of their fight with the Autobots, who now had the upper-hand thanks to Jetfire's blast and Sky Lynx's arrival.

    He dug his claw into the dirt. What use was any of it now? All of his quests for power had ended in misery. Ragnarok, the Enigma... none of it had panned out to his desires. It was all for nothing.

    "Oh, woe is you."

    Gigatron gritted his teeth. Tarantulas. That was the one constant in his despair. The spider had been the one who told him Ragnarok's laser core would empower him. The spider had been the one who led him here to find the Enigma.

    The spider... was still here.

    "Where are you?!" Gigatron bellowed, pounding the ground. "Show yourself, coward!"

    "Coward? Tsk. I've been called worse than that."

    "I've had enough of your games! You've brought me nothing but misery!"

    "Oh, come now. I've brought you to this moment, haven't I? You should be grateful."

    "Grateful?!" Gigatron roared. "I would be grateful if you would reveal yourself now so that I may squash you like the bug you are!"

    "Is that all? Very well then."

    Gigatron's cranium burst open as Tarantulas grew to full size. As the Predacon spider crawled out, he transformed to robot mode before turning to the now-headless warlord.

    "Satisfied? Now then...." He moved his gaze to Folgan Castle, where the battle continued to rage. "To business."

Transformers Regenerated: Prime Wars XIII, Chapter Six

CHAPTER SIX

--Autobot City--

    "Anything yet?"

    "No," Windblade hissed, adjusting her connection to Metrotitan's brain module. "I told you I would let you know once I found anything. Now just let me work...."

    Brainstorm sighed, moving his shoulders dramatically -- which prompted an irritated grunt from Doomshot, who sat on his left shoulder. The Autobot genius then turned to Sentinel Major, who patiently stood by watching Windblade work.

    "Can you still hear him?" Brainstorm asked.

    "Yes, but nothing substantial," Sentinel replied. "Just words. Names. The same ones Doomshot's mentioned hearing."

    "Do they mean anything to you?" Doomshot asked. "You remember more about your past than I do."

    Sentinel was silent for a moment; a moment during which Brainstorm wondered if Sentinel had ever fully let on how much of his past he remembered. When the would-be Prime finally spoke, he did not meet either bots' eyes.

    "A majority of the names you've dropped belong to members of my race," Sentinel said. "When I was just Infinitus, I was what was known as a Titan Master: servants of the Primes that helped them crew their Titans. After the war, we became known as Cyberdroids, or confused with Mini-Cons. Some, such as myself, disguised our true nature by commandeering full-sized bodies. With the rise of functionism, it was the only way to get anywhere in the world...."

    "Cyberdroids, eh?" Brainstorm rubbed his chin. "Those are the bots who colonized Rebirth, I believe. Or Master. Whatever it's called now."

    "So you were a Titan Master?" Doomshot asked. "Does that make me one as well?"

    "Possibly," Sentinel murmured. "I don't recall ever meeting you on the Titan I served on."

    "And what Titan would that be?"

    Before Sentinel could answer, Windblade spoke up. "Okay, I've finally gotten him to talk. Just give me a moment while I let him open up."

    Brainstorm glanced between her and Sentinel, raising an expectant optic ridge. The former Titan Master did not meet his gaze nor did he follow up on Doomshot's query, instead waiting patiently for Windblade to continue her work.

    After a minute, the Cityspeaker said, "Okay. He's saying there's another Titan here on Earth."

    "Yeah, Fortress Maximus," Brainstorm said. "Doomshot managed to catch that bit."

    "There's more. He says there's a Prime here. One of the first Thirteen. They've found something called... a Void Scepter."

    "No," Sentinel whispered, a look of horror starting to cross his face. "That's a device of the Fallen's."

    "The Fallen?" Brainstorm asked. "I thought Nightbeat and Hardhead took care of--"

    Suddenly, Windblade let out a yell as she was sent flying across the room by an electrical blast. As she hit the wall, all of the lights went out.

    "What happened?!" Sentinel exclaimed.

    "I don't know!" Windblade replied, shakily rising to her feet. "All of a sudden I was forced out of the connection, like I was ripped away."

    "Did Metrotitan say anything before you got cut off?" Brainstorm asked.

    "Just one word," Windblade muttered. "Primacy."

--England--

    Until now, Crosswise had not realized that he had a fear of heights.

    The giant dragonfly tightened its hold on him as it took him higher and higher. The rest of the Autobots and Insecticons looked like actual bugs from here. He could almost see the entire cityscape.

    "It's a long way down," the dragonfly chuckled. "Any bets on how many pieces you'll break into once hitting the ground?"

    "I still haven't decided which part of you I'm going to blast off," Crosswise quipped. He only hoped it sounded as brave out loud as it did in his head.

    The dragonfly laughed again. "Oh, you won't have to worry about that. Save yourself the headache."

    With that, the bug released him. As he fell, Crosswise failed to even think to scream and instead simply stared straight at the ground as it rapidly got closer and closer.

    Above him, the dragonfly was reduced to an explosion of shrapnel just as a tow-hook dangled in front of Crosswise's face. He quickly grabbed onto it and allowed Evac to safely fly him down to the ground, where the others were still caught fighting the rest of the swarm.

    "There," the helicopter said once it had dropped Crosswise down. "We're even."

    "Thanks," Crosswise grunted. Recovering the gun he had dropped, he rushed to rejoin the fight.

*  *  *

    "Where is it?! Tell me, fleshling!"

    Stormshot watched the dragon as it tore Folgan Castle apart. Joining Gigatron in his rampage were several Insecticons, although they seemed to be far more interested in feeding on the old Autobots that Sir Edmund kept around.

    A well-aimed shot blasted the Shrapnel unit off of the one called Bulldog, but it did little good. The veteran Autobot was nothing more than an exoskeleton now, his armor and vital parts long since devoured. Charging ahead, Stormshot took down two Kickback models before setting her sights on Gigatron.

    The Decepticon dragon had all but reduced the castle's outer walls to rubble and was now making his way inside. From the way he was picking up cabinets and shaking them, it looked like he was searching for something. But what, Stormshot could not imagine.

    Raising her guns, she fired off two shots at the dragon. Gigatron snarled as he whirled around, eyes blazing with anger.

    "Did you really think," he rumbled, "that that would do anything?"

    "It got your attention," Stormshot replied.

    "Indeed. It has also ensured your death." With a roar, Gigatron lunged forward, both mouths open as fire spewed from his twin maws. Stormshot dove for cover, allowing the dragon to fly over her, before turning around and firing again.

    Enraged, Gigatron converted to his robot mode and draw a double-bladed sword. Twirling it in his hand, the warlord changed course and charged towards Stormshot, rage glowing in his optics.

    Before Gigatron could make his attack, Jetfire burst through the swarm and fired upon him. Distracted by the sudden assault, Gigatron had not time to defend himself as Stormshot did the same.

    "No!" Gigatron bellowed as he weathered the onslaught. "I shall not be thwarted by upstarts! I razed Rivets Field and tore the Pious Pools asunder! My destiny awaits me!"

    "As far as I'm concerned, your destiny is a scrapheap," Jetfire said, lowering his shoulder cannons. As he began to charge them up, he motioned Stormshot to move out of the way. Gigatron noticed this as Stormshot quickly scrambled for cover and he craned his head to look at Jetfire.

    The warlord sniffed. "You're a fool if you believe I can be vanquished so easily."

    "Tell you what," Jetfire replied. "If you survive this, I'll buy you a drink."

    With that, he unleashed two beams of energy and Gigatron was sent flying out of the castle.

*  *  *

    "I am sorry, sire. I have failed you."

    The late Sir Edmund Burton said nothing as soot and dust continued to fall on his ashen face. Cogman knelt beside his deceased master, head bowed in mourning.

    "Of all my masters, you were always the cruelest. Even Sir Alistair at least allowed me to decide which form of punishment he should give me. You never gave me such freedom."

    Over him, another crack began to form in the ceiling. Cogman paid it no heed as he lifted his head to the space bridge that Folgan Castle had been built over many centuries ago. Part of the ceiling had already caved in on it, rendering it inoperable.

    "There will be no escape this time," he murmured to himself. "Onyx has come for Nexus' gift."

    Rising to his feet, he held up the device that was the cause of all this. The Enigma of Combination glowed in his hands, its parts constantly shifting and reconnecting.

    Looking around, Cogman counted the number of sheltered bots that still remained in the dungeon. Three of them -- an orange truck, a red motorcycle, and a blue bomber -- were the most recent arrivals from the space bridge and in the best condition. The other two -- both rusted steam engines -- had been received sometime during the 19th century. God knew how operative they were.

    Still, it was a start.

    Holding up the Enigma to the five chosen candidates, Cogman pulled its sides apart just as the ceiling above him exploded into a storm of debris....

Star Wars Destiny Chronicles: Imperial Warlords -- Natasi Daala and the Deep Core Warlords

IMPERIAL WARLORDS, PART VI

Natasi Daala

   Heiress to a feudal family on Irmenu, Natasi Daala was only an infant when her entire family was overrun and killed by a rivaling dynasty. A member of the rival family took pity on baby Daala and smuggled her off-world to Botajef, where she was raised at an orphanage by Renatasian nuns.

    In 3 BBY, Daala was accepted into the Academy of Carida and rose to be a loyal and effective soldier of the Empire. Upon graduating, she came to serve as a protegee for Grand Moff Tarkin, who saw potential in her and helped her elevate to the rank of admiral at a young age. To keep her hidden from other Imperial leaders, Tarkin placed Daala in command of the Maw Installation, where she was forced to maintain permanent radio silence.

    While Tarkin would eventually perish, Daala would not be aware of his demise until eleven years after the Battle of Yavin, when the Maw Installation was visited by agents of the Crimson Empire. Hoping to keep the Maw Installation out of enemy hands, Darth Vorath had sent these agents to recruit Daala into his Empire, albeit keeping her unaware of the Sith's involvement due to her mistrust of Force-users.

    Seeing a chance to accumulate power, Daala agreed to join the Crimson Empire and was sent into the Deep Core to unify the warlords stationed there and unite them. This, of course, was merely a means for Vorath to clear the game board of rogue pieces, and in 12 ABY, Daala assassinated the thirteen warlords at Tsoss Beacon.

    For the next thirteen years Daala would continue to serve the Crimson Empire. In 17 ABY, she commanded another group of warlords in the Deep Core in order to distract the New Republic from the Empire's activities. In 25 ABY, she participated in the Imperial-Sith War and presumably took part in the Battle of Coruscant. Her fate following the battle is unknown, as she was not among the Imperials who dissented with Admiral Pellaeon's forces, and her ship was not among the known casualties.

Superior General Delvardus

Lord High Admiral Harrsk

The Brothers Teradoc

Transformers Regenerated: Prime Wars XIII, Chapter Five

CHAPTER FIVE

--Deathsaurus' Warworld--

    "Dauros isn't responding," Jallguar reported from his station. "Neither is Blood."

    Deathsaurus frowned as he continued pacing on the bridge. "What about the rest of their units?" he asked. "Can you get in touch with Dreadwind or Blue Bacchus?"

    Jallguar shook his head. "No luck with with either of them."

    The Decepticon warlord growled to himself. "What about those Monstercons the Fallen brought on board? Anything from them?"

    "Last report I got from Steel Jaw was that he and his Pack had spotted a gathering of what appeared to be Cybertronian animals near the Scottish Highlands. Nothing since then."

    As Deathsaurus grunted in frustration, Guyhawk turned around with an uncertain look on his face. "Uh, boss? Nitro Zeus' unit has returned."

    Running a hand down his face, Deathsaurus glanced at the magenta bot. "Who?"

    "Nitro Zeus. Big bot with wings and guns. One eye. Drillhorn and Killbison were talking about him earlier."

    Deathsaurus still had no idea who he was referring to but he waved a flippant hand. "Whatever. Have they brought anything with them?"

    "Um, yes." Guyhawk shuddered slightly before saying. "They've brought... a human."

    Several on the bridge reacted in disgust. Deathsaurus maintained his composure as he said, "Are they in the hangar bay?"

    "Yes, sir."

    "Tell the Fallen to meet me there," Deathsaurus said, already turning to leave the bridge.

*  *  *

    Nitro was beginning to wonder if he had done the right thing.

    The mask which the Fallen wore made it difficult to tell if the Prime was staring at him or Gemma. He also couldn't tell if the Fallen was even satisfied with the explanation he had given him. Of course, if the Fallen was anything like Nitro's past bosses, the answer was probably "unlikely".

    After a long bout of tense silence, the Fallen inclined his head in Gemma's direction. The human, seated on Nitro's shoulder, did not so much as flinch.

    "If you are not the heir of Merlin," the ancient Prime said darkly, "what use have I for you?"

    "Because without me, you'd be wasting the rest of your life," Gemma said with a grin to match her patronizing tone. "After all, you're working under the erroneous assumption that you need an heir of Merlin to use the staff."

    "Are you saying any human can use it?" the Fallen asked skeptically.

    "No," Gemma said, her smile bright and wide. "Only those encoded to Quintessa's signature."

    This brought a reaction out of the Fallen. He shifted closer to Gemma -- and by extension, Nitro, making the Decepticon feel even more uncomfortable.

    "Did you say Quintessa?" the Fallen growled.

    "You might know her better as Quintus Prime," Gemma went on. "As I understand it, she took your little trinket way back when in the olden days."

    By now the Fallen was shaking in anger. Nitro wanted to step away but figured it would be wiser to remain put. Still, he couldn't help but feel uneasy as the Fallen raised a finger at Gemma.

    "You are just a human," he rumbled. "How could you possibly know about any of that?"

    "My master told me everything before sending me here," Gemma said. "She tasked me with locating the staff and gave me this human form encoded with her signature to bypass the locks she had already put in place. Unfortunately, she didn't know where her knights hid it, so I've wasted an entire month searching for what you found in a day."

    "You mean this staff?" The Fallen produced the wooden stick that was the subject of conversation. "Quintus sent you to retrieve this? Why?"

    "Well, I mean, it is her's--"

    "The Void Scepter belongs to me!" the Fallen roared, startling Nitro. "I alone crafted it in the pits of Trypticon so that I may control the Titan! Quintus has no right in claiming it as her own!"

    Gemma smirked. "Well, it's taken you this long to reclaim it. I mean, how long ago was that? Eight thousand years?"

    Without warning, the Fallen snatched Gemma from Nitro's shoulder and held her in his massive hand. To Nitro's surprise, the human did not explode into a pulp within the Prime's grip.

    "What is Quintus planning?" the Fallen demanded. "Tell me or I shall reduce you to a pile of blood and bone!"

    "Well, right now, her plan doesn't go much further than 'get out of the Dead Universe,'" Gemma muttered. "I was hoping to get her out with a space bridge the Heralds of Unicron helped me built, but... a certain namesake of yours put a cap on that plan."

    The Fallen tightened his grip. "My patience is waning. How does my Scepter come into play?"

    "There is... another space bridge... said to be tied to the Dead Universe." Gemma winced as the Fallen's hold on her strengthened. "Trypticon's."

    "Trypticon is gone," the Fallen snarled. "Replaced by a shell of a replica by my so-called namesake."

    "Oh, please." Gemma chuckled. "You really think the Decepticons built their Trypticon from scratch?"

    At this, the Fallen lessened his grip. "You mean...?"

    "Of course, they never knew about the space bridge. Even if they had, they couldn't use it without the Void Scepter." Gemma tilted her head. "Who knows; it might still work on him."

    The Fallen was silent for a moment. Then, returning her to Nitro's shoulder, he said, "Fine. Here's the deal: Return the Void Scepter to its original state, and I shall help you free Quintus. Once I do so however, both of you will be indebted to my service. You will help me in my conquest until or unless I no longer need you, in which case both of you will be destroyed."

    In Nitro's mind, that didn't sound like much of a good deal. Regardless, Gemma wasted no time in accepting. "Deal," she said.

    With a content grunt, the Fallen handed Gemma the stick. Upon entering her grip, it instantly morphed into a long metal beam, terminating with a glowing clawed tip. The Fallen quickly took the Void Scepter back and held it up high, almost as if he was admiring it.

    "Deathsaurus," he spoke to the Decepticon warlord, who had been observing everything from afar. "Recall your forces. We have what we came for."

*  *  *

    "Deathsaurus just called again. We're leaving."

    Dauros shook his head, hunched over his work. "We can't leave now. We still have work to do."

    "They're going to come looking for us," Blood muttered. "Or, if not us, then Dreadwind and the others."

    "They'll find them," Dauros growled. "They won't remember us doing anything to them."

    "And the others? I mean, Deathsaurus' army numbers in the hundreds. We are only three."

    "Stop being a worryspark," Gilmer said, sneering. "We have Ragnarok. They won't be of any concern."

    Blood blinked. "You mean he's here? Ragnarok?"

    "Yes. He is in the process of retrieving the prime source," Dauros said. "Right now, let's focus on bringing the others here."

    "Right." Blood took a step back and looked up at the transmitter Dauros was operating on. "I sure hope you know what you're doing."

    "Of course I do," Dauros grunted. "After all, failure is not an option."

Transformers Regenerated: Prime Wars XIII, Chapter Four

CHAPTER FOUR

    "Bugs. Why did it have to be bugs?"

    Crosswise watched on as the swarm marched through the streets of London. People fled in terror but the Insecticons made no move to pursue or do them any harm. At most, some of the stag beetle units would snack on an automobile or two but otherwise did not terrorize any of the humans.

    Not that it improved the situation any.

    "You know, we can't just stand here and let them go on through," said Downshift, parked right next to him. "The humans are still in danger."

    "Yeah, but if we provoke them now, it would put them in even more danger," Crosswise replied. "Besides, we have to know where they're headed."

    "Do we?" Downshift revved his engine impatiently. "What good would that even do?"

    Before Crosswise could answer, the roar of jet engines heralded the arrival of Stormshot. The jet bot transformed and landed in front of the other two Autobots. Drawing both of her guns, she aimed them at the swarm.

    "Don't!" Crosswise transformed and grabbed Stormshot by the shoulder. "You'll provoke them!"

    She stared at him as if he had lost his mind. "Um, hello? They're terrorizing the city."

    "Yes, but they're not hurting anyone. They seem to be on a set path."

    "So? They still need to be stopped. Seriously, isn't that what we Autobots do? Stop the bad guys?" She looked over to Downshift, now in robot mode as well. "Help me out here. I could have sworn I had this Autobot gig down."

    Downshift sighed. "I'll try radioing Jetfire. He and Evac are still searching for Overhaul."

    "If you want to make yourself useful, Stormshot, then go scout ahead and try to determine their destination," Crosswise said to the ex-Decepticon. "Just don't do anything stupid."

    Stormshot glared at him. "Okay, sure. And while I do that, how about you make yourself useful and shove your self-righteous scrap right up your--"

    "Both of you, shut up!" Downshift snapped. He then raised a hand to his comm. "Say that again, Jetfire?"

    "I said there's a two-headed dragon heading towards you."

    "Right. Thought so."

*  *  *

    "You know, this takes me back to Eltar, Cycle 9319. Countless armies of metal animals swarming the Temple of--"

    "Sky Lynx!" Jetfire cried as he fired his guns at the twin-headed black and purple dragon. "Focus! Now is not the time for--"

    He was cut off by a stream of fire coming his way, scorching his white armor. Before he could retaliate, the dragon deployed a pair of guns from its back and shot him in the chest.

    "I don't have time for either of you," the beast snarled.

    Sky Lynx shot forward and swung his tail, knocking the dragon back. "Tell me, Gigatron, how is that leg of yours mending? I recall giving it a rather good looking gash back at Venom Point of Huizenga. How long ago was that? 450 years ago? Plenty of time for it to heal, I'd say."

    The dragon gnashed both sets of teeth as it oriented itself. "You made a mistake in defecting, Sky Lynx. The Decepticons could have easily won the war had you been with us at Iacon."

    Sky Lynx sniffed. "Please. You were undeserving of my magnificence."

    With a roar, Gigatron shot at the massive Autobot, breathing fire from both mouths. At that moment, Jetfire had recovered and deployed a set of shoulder cannons from his booster pack. He unloaded on Gigatron, taking out the dragon's wings and sending him plummeting toward. The ground, falling from thousands of feet up in the air.

    As he watched the Decepticon's descent, Sky Lynx took the time to calculate where he was going to land. He then looked to Jetfire with a worried look. "He's going to land--"

    "In the city," Jetfire finished, already in jet mode and flying after the dragon.

*  *  *

    Join me, Deathsaurus had said. An alliance would be beneficial for both of us, he had said.

    So far, Gigatron was failing to see the benefits in coming to this wretched organic planet.

    At the time, Gigatron had seen Deathsaurus' offer as the only wise course of action. With the return of Megatron and the disarray the Secret Order had brought, Gigatron had been unable to lay the foundations for a new empire. The Chimeracons had abandoned him, save for the three imbeciles that had been under his command for as long as he could remember.

    The united forces of Deathsaurus and the D.J.D. were indeed the only active Decepticon power base. If he was to get anywhere with his plans for conquest, an alliance would indeed by beneficial for him.

    Now, he was beginning to have second thoughts....

    Gigatron groaned as he forcibly transformed and rose up. Asphalt fell around him as he crawled out of the building he had crashed into. He couldn't help but snort in derision; Earth craftsmanship was clearly inferior to Cybertronian.

    Looking up, he was greeted with the sight of an entire swarm of bug-like robots marching past him, paying him little to no heed. Among them, he spotted countless Insecticons -- inventions of the spider witch Airachnid -- as well as what appeared to be Eukarian-born insects.

    "Hurry, hurry, Gigatron! Wouldn't want to miss the ascension now, would we?"

    Gigatron stiffened at the familiar cackle of Tarantulas. He scanned the swarm but found no sign of the purple arachnid. Rising fully to his feet, he was about to follow the swarm when he noticed five Autobots pointing guns at him.

    "Gig is up, Gigatron," Jetfire said, part of his white armor still charred black. "Hands where I can see them."

    Gigatron broke into a wicked grin. "As you wish."

    With that, he shot up in the air and transformed into a giant hand. Splaying all five 'fingers', he came back down like a rock and flattened himself into the ground, creating a blast that sent all five Autobots flying.

    Converting back into his dragon mode, Gigatron was about to attack again when he heard Tarantulas speak again.

    "Leave them. There are more important matters to attend to."

    Gigatron snarled. "Where are you, you loathsome arachnid?"

    "Follow my voice."

    With a guttural growl, Gigatron turned in the same direction as the swarm and went after them.

*  *  *

    "How is your tea, sir?"

    Sir Edmund Burton only grunted as he continued to peruse the newspaper. Cogman bowed in respect as he dutifully stood by, hands clapsed in front of him.

    Outside, Bulldog fired from his turret. Probably a bird, Cogman thought.

    A few minutes of silence ticked by. Burton turned the page of his paper and proceeded to read the editorials.

    "Sir," Cogman began, careful not to startle his sire. "About those Autobots that visited us last night."

    "What about them?" Burton snapped, sipping from his tea.

    Outside, Bulldog fired again.

    "Do you think, perhaps, maybe you should have told them about...." Cogman shifted slightly. "Your recent acquisition?"

    Burton scowled at him. "You mean the artifact from Blackrock? As if! I won it fair and square! No chance in hell am I giving it up now!"

    "Yes, but, sir--"

    Outside, Bulldog fired again.

    "--I feel that it might be of interest to them."

    "So is Madame Dent, yet you don't see me trying to wrest her from Graham."

    Outside, Bulldog fired again. And again.

    "Good heavens!" Burton exclaimed, throwing his newspaper down. "Can't those bloody rascals take a doggone hint?"

    "Sir," Cogman said quietly. "I think they're here for the artifact."

    Realization seemed to dawn on Burton just as a giant hand tore the roof asunder, revealing a massive swarm of insects as they descended upon Folgan Castle...

Transformers Regenerated: Prime Wars XIII, Chapter Three

CHAPTER THREE

--Earth--

    "So what do we do now, sir?"

    It took Nitro Zeus a few seconds to realize he was being spoken to. Breaking his gaze from the rising sun, he looked down at the purple Decepticon who called himself Skip. The smaller mech immediately shrunk under his gaze, tapping his fingers as he looked away.

    "Did you...." Nitro's optical sensor clicked as it blinked. "Did you just call me 'sir?'"

    "Of course!" The response came from Jack-Knife, who stood nearby with a scanner in-hand. "You told us how you attained the rank of general after cyber-forming Shimazu Nine into New Tesarus."

    "Did I?" Nitro rubbed his helm, searching his memory banks for when he had told that story. By the looks of it, it had been one of the first tales he had regaled them with. Now that was attention to detail.

    "Oh. Right." He quickly recomposed himself, standing tall and proud. "General Nitro Zeus. Of Helex. That's me. The one and only."

    Jack-Knife beamed at him. "So what now, general? How do you suggest we proceed in locating the heir of Merlin?"

    Nitro had no idea what those words meant. He hadn't even realized he had been roped into this until Deathsaurus had started barking orders at the lot of them. He didn't even know what a Merlin was, let alone what an heir of it would even be or look like.

    Still, he had a reputation to maintain. No way was he going to lose it to some nonsensical words.

    "Well," he started, trying to sound like he knew what he was saying. "Let's look at what we know about the heir of Murlan."

    Skip nodded. "Right. Well, we know Merlin was a human."

    Nitro had not known that. He didn't even know Merlin was a person. "Okay. So naturally his heir must be human as well."

    "Except there's a lot of humans on this planet," Jack-Knife said, frowning at his scanner. "Just in that village down below, I detect at least fifty of them. It would take forever to find Merlin's heir and I don't think the Fallen has that kind of patience."

    "Well, what else do we know? He's a human and--"

    "If only you guys knew how much time you were wasting."

    Nitro let out a yell as he spun around and deployed his arm gun. Sitting on a rock behind them was a human female with long silvery hair, a wicked gleam in her blue eyes. Upon seeing her, Skip and Jack-Knife immediately recoiled in disgust.

    "Ew! They're even worse up close!" Jack-Knife said. "Please tell me someone packed pesticide...."

    "Who are you?" Nitro growled at the fleshling, keeping his gun trained on the disgusting creature. "What do you want from us?"

    "Funny. I was going to ask the same of you." She cocked her head to the side; a bit too far to the side for Nitro's liking. Did humans even bend that way? "But, since you asked first, I will answer first. My name is Gemma. And as for what I want... call it morbid curiosity, but I was just wondering what a trio of giant robots were doing on a planet like Earth."

    "That is none of your business," Nitro snarled. "Now run along -- I might let you have a head start before I turn you to ash."

    "Wait, sir!" Skip hissed, grabbing Nitro's arm. "What if she's Merlin's heir?"

    "Merlin?" Gemma's eyebrows shot up. "You know who Merlin is?"

    "Shut up! I said it's none of your business!" Nitro snapped. He then looked at Skip. "You think so? Wouldn't that be too... I dunno, convenient?"

    "She clearly knows who Merlin is," Jack-Knife murmured. "It wouldn't hurt to check."

    Nitro considered the other 'Con had a point. After all, he wanted to get this tiresome search over with as quickly as possible.

    Returning his gaze to a bemused Gemma, Nitro said, "You know who Merlin is?"

    "Yes," she replied carefully, her eyebrows kneaded in confusion. "How do you know of him?"

    Nitro hesitated only for a moment to give her the full story. He figured it was the best way to get answers -- and if she wasn't Melvin's heir, then he could obliterate her without a second thought.

    "We have his staff," he said to her, still holding his weapon arm up. "Except it's not actually his but our boss'. And the only way our boss can use it is if the heir of Melren can activate it for him."

    He then watched Gemma closely as he waited for her response. He actually wasn't that good at reading expressions, but he figured if he stared at her intently enough it would scare her into telling the truth.

    After a moment, the human asked, "Who is this boss of yours?"

    "He calls himself the Fallen. I think his real name is, like, forbidden or something."

    "Oh." Gemma cracked a huge grin at that, which unsettled Nitro even more than he already was. "I know all about that."

    She rose from where she sat on the rock. Nitro quickly readjusted his arm as she took a step forward.

    "Anyway, I believe I can be of service to you?"

    "Are you Merlin's heir?" Jack-Knife asked.

    "No," Gemma said, and Nitro was just about to fire his gun when she quickly added, "But I might know an... alternative means to activating the staff."

    "An alternative?" Nitro said. "You mean this whole time we didn't need Marvin's heir?"

    "Well, I can't guarantee that. But it wouldn't hurt to try, yes?"

    Nitro considered this before finally lowering his gun. "All right," he grunted, crossing his arms. "I'm listening."

*  *  *

    Dreadwind loathed his life.

    That in of itself was hardly a new or even recent development. But today so far had only served to strengthen his feelings in regards to that subject.

    For the past few months, things had been going fine for him (relatively speaking). After Magnificus' operations were busted by the Wreckers, Dreadwind had tailed out as fast as he could. After tracing his brother Darkwing's signature, he ended up joining the crew of the Decepticon warlord Deathsaurus.

    He had been hesitant at first, knowing that the D.J.D. were also on board, but Darkwing had assured him that everyone on the Warworld had been pardoned in exchanged for their services. As long as he kept a low profile, Dreadwind had nothing to worry about.

    Until today, that promise had held true. But now, he had come to the conclusion that joining Deathsaurus was the second-worst decision he had ever made (the first having been built in the first place).

    In all fairness, he owed it all to one bot. If he had never met them, he wouldn't be wallowing in self-pity, or at least not more than usual. As it stood, he was convinced that they were deliberately doing everything under their power to make him stand here and wait for so doggone long.

    "What," he said for the fourth time in as many hours, "the hell are you doing?"

    Dauros continued to say nothing as he dragged his knife along the cave wall. What he was making, Dreadwind couldn't tell; from where he was standing, it looked like a bunch of random, indecipherable scribbles.

    He glanced at Darkwing, who stood next to him with a remarkably patient, if somewhat bemused expression. If Dreadwind knew his brother, he was probably just as irritated as he was. Darkwing just had a better way of hiding it.

    Dreadwind, on the other hand, had had enough.

    "I'm gonna kill him," he said, drawing his gun.

    "Don't," Darkwing said. "Deathsaurus won't like that."

    "Screw Deathsaurus. I've had enough of this loser."

    "Come on, bro. Just grin and bear it. We're trying to be productive--"

    "If it bothers you that much, then we can make it look like an accident. Maybe if I--"

    Suddenly, Dauros whirled on him, red eyes flaring from his maroon face. Dreadwind seized up, caught in the other Decepticon's gaze.

    "You're right," Dauros said, raising his knife above his head. "Let's make it look like an accident."

    Dauros then lunged forward to end the life Dreadwind so desperately loathed.

Transformers Regenerated: Prime Wars XIII, Chapter Two

CHAPTER TWO

--Autobot City--

    "Thank you for coming on such short notice."

    "It's the least I could do," Sentinel Major said as he shook hands with Optimus Prime. "I have four thousand years to make up for my... indisposition. I'm willing to do anything you ask of me."

    Optimus nodded. "Good to know. However, I'm not the one who requires your assistance." He stepped aside to gesture at Brainstorm, who stood to the side along with the Cityspeaker Windblade. "Brainstorm here believes he's reached a breakthrough in his investigation of Doomshot's origins."

    "Possibly," Brainstorm added. "I'm not much of an expert on 'Titanspeak' so it could very well be nothing. Which is why Windy is here to help us."

    "Windblade," the Camien tersely corrected. "And I can't guarantee that I'll be of much help. Some Titans refuse to speak with anyone but a Prime."

    "Well then, it's a good thing we have two, eh?"

    "I'm not a Prime," Sentinel said morosely. "Even if Galvatron hadn't intervened, I wouldn't have carried the real Matrix. Optimus is the true Prime."

    "Well then, it's a good thing we have him, eh?"

    Optimus rested a hand on Sentinel's shoulder. "Don't concern yourself with that, my friend. Prime is just a name, a title. Matrix or not, it does not put one above others. I am as much your equal than I am your superior."

    Sentinel nodded back to him. "Thank you, Optimus. I still hope to live up to your expectations."

    "You can start living up to my expectations by helping me figure out this Titan malarkey," Brainstorm said, motioning Sentinel to follow him.

    "And just what is it about Doomshot that you need me to help solve?" Sentinel asked as he followed.

    "He says this Titan -- Metrotitan, Autobot City -- is speaking to him."

    "Ah." Sentinel sounded far too casual in Brainstorm's opinion considering his next words: "So that's what I've been hearing since coming here."

*  *  *

    "I know you're expecting me to give you good news, but the fact is: I don't have any."

    Rodimus did not so much as glance at Ratchet as he continued to watch through the window. Inside the medbay, Rewind was playing footage for a stoic Chromedome. Despite the countless amount of familiar imagery, nothing seemed to be triggering an emotion in the mnemosurgeon.

    "I mean, you could try asking Highbrow or someone, but... I don't see anything working," the medic went on. "Shadowplay is not... I mean, if it was reversible, I'm sure someone would have discovered so by now. And even if we did know how to reverse it, we don't have any mnemosurgeons on hand to carry out the operation."

    Rodimus said nothing as he turned away from the window and began walking away. Frowning, Ratchet went after him.

    "You don't have anything to say?" the doctor asked.

    "What is there to say, Ratchet?" Rodimus snapped. "You said so yourself: it can't be reversed. Unless anything I say can somehow magically cure Chromedome, what's the point?"

    "Yes, but--"

    "I get it, Ratchet!" Rodimus whirled on the medic. "I get it! I've failed Chromedome, just like I've failed all of you! Cyclonus, Ambulon, Ariel, Powerflash... I should've known better than to think I could've captained a ship all on my own. Prowl and Elita were right to doubt me."

    "Rodimus," Ratchet started even as Rodimus transformed. "You can't... this is a hardship all leaders must face--"

    "Yeah, and guess what?" Rodimus revved his engine loudly. "I'm not a leader. Leaders -- good leaders -- can overcome those hardships. I can't."

    Before Ratchet could protest, Rodimus roared down the hallway, his tires squealing as he sharply turned the corner and vanished from view.

--Somewhere in England--

    As the first rays of sunlight peeked from behind Scafell Pike, Overhaul drove like hell.

    Jetfire had warned him not to stray too far. Of course, being the kind of bot he was, Overhaul had no desire to listen to some jet-lagged wingnut. Maybe he was old-fashioned, but he simply could not bring himself to trust fliers. After all, Ulchtar and his caliber had been among Trannis' earliest recruits and were what really bolstered the Decepticons' numbers in its nascent days.

    It also didn't help that Jetfire had once been a Decepticon himself. Sure, that was nearly a thousand years ago, but the passage of time did little to affect Overhaul's stubborn, contrarian mindset. He had been with the Autobots since Trannis gave his speech at Nova Point. Centuries passed like days for him.

    He could still hear the loud buzzing of the swarm pursuing him. He couldn't help but think back to that time when he and Scattorshot fell into a nest of Waspix drones on Quatros. Envisioning the younger Autobot's armor plating being dotted with scorch marks drew out a humorous rumble from the SUV's engine.

    Overhaul was immediately brought back to reality when a giant black robo-beetle descended from the sky and latched onto him, steering him off course.

    "Hey! Get off you lousy--!"

    Overhaul's tires tore through grass and dirt as he desperately swung himself around, narrowly avoiding a rushing river. Kicking on his accelerator, he practically flew up the mountainside, his chassis bouncing as he ascended.

    When the bug still did not budge and began to drive its appendages into his sides, Overhaul screeched to a halt and transformed. Arms springing out from underneath his doors, he immediately dug his claws into the bug before he had even finished converting. The bug shrieked in pain and was soon weak enough for Overhaul to toss to the side.

    Once he had oriented himself, Overhaul looked up to see that the swarm of robot bugs were coming from over the mountains. Flying types buzzed over his head while land ones marched in his direction. Transforming back to his vehicle mode, Overhaul drove for a small hill that was just out of the swarm's path, allowing him to observe them without trouble.

    What he saw was nothing worth smiling about.

    They had to at least number in the hundreds, if not thousands. Most of them were duplicates of each other, bearing the same black, purple, and yellow color scheme. This made Overhaul think of the Insecticons Scattorshot had mentioned dealing with on Styx early on in the war. They had been spotted sporadically since then but had all but vanished by the time of the Cataclysm.

    Then there were the other, more unique types. They were more organic in nature, carrying a closer resemblance to the insects here on Earth than their Insecticon counterparts. None of them paid Overhaul any heed as they passed through, though that was the least of his concerns.

    As much as he hated to admit it, he knew he had to make the call.

    "Overhaul to Jetfire," he spoke into his comm. "You read me, kid?"

    "There you are," Jetfire responded. "What did I say about--"

    "Kid, I'm looking at nearly a thousand robot bugs making their way towards civilization. Now, I don't know about you, but that is not what I would consider good."

    "Robot bugs? You mean Insecticons?"

    "Whatever," Overhaul grunted. "Point is: What in Primus' name are we gonna do?"

    "Send me your coordinates. Sky Lynx and I will fly by to see what--"

    Before Overhaul could hear the rest of Jetfire's response, he suddenly found himself being tacked by a giant praying mantis. The green bug dug each of its fore-claws on either side of his head as it lowered its face to meet his.

    "Sufficient." The mantis' mandibles clicked together, nearly grazing Overhaul's faceplate. "Viable."

    "Flattering, but I'm not interested." Overhaul was about to kick the mantis off him when another bug -- a red fire ant -- crawled up behind him.

    "He must be taken to the colony!" it declared. "The queen will know what to do with him!"

    "Queen? Colony? What are you--?" Any protests Overhaul had fell on deaf audio sensors as he found himself being lifted up onto the fire ant's back and carried away. He attempted to alert Jetfire again, but nothing went through as the ant dug up a hole in the ground and burrowed through....