CHAPTER EIGHT
--Luna 1--
A dead silence reigned over the chamber as a small tremor shook the ground. The Quintesson had immediately ceased speaking, exchanging its doubtful face for a grimacing one.
"Something isn't right. We weren't supposed to start moving until after the trial...."
As the Quintesson pondered to itself, a loud bang sounded at the door. The Overcharges immediately swung their weapons to the door as it shuddered again, harder this time. The Quintesson spun to an enraged face.
"No! This is impossible! How can anyone--"
He was silenced as the doors came down and an army of sword-wielding bots charged in. The Overcharges fired upon them only to be instantly skewered by blades and claws.
"Did someone order a cavalry?"
Elita and her party all looked up to see a large red jet fly towards their cage, carrying a familiar red minibot. Large guns brought down the pillars that surrounded them while Swerve, Ariel, Tailgate and Rewind jumped down to undo their bonds.
"You guys never fail to surprise," Elita said with a smile as she shook off the energy net.
"Where's Chromedome?" Rewind asked. "Isn't he with you?"
Before Elita could answer, a portal suddenly materialized behind the Quintesson on the platform above. Emerging from it were three figures, all of them being instantly recognizable as Skids, Chromedome, and -- much to some of the Autobots' surprise -- Dion.
"Well, there's your answer," Ratchet said.
As the trio stormed up to the Quintesson, the tentacle alien switched to its grinning face. "You will accomplish nothing in killing me!" it laughed. "The plan is already underway!"
Skids smirked. "Who said anything about killing you?"
On cue, Dion raised his arm and launched an energy net from it, ensnaring the Quintesson. As the five-faced squid struggled in vain, the Overcharges set their sights on the three Autobots and began to advance towards them, oblivious to Dai Atlas and the others' attempts to stop them.
Skids glanced at Dion. "Any more bright ideas?"
"Allow me."
From the portal behind them emerged a tall bot in white and gold, carrying a large sword. Raising his blade, Vector Prime closed the portal and opened a new one between himself and the oncoming Overcharges. Their limited intelligence prevented them from changing course in time and the Terrorbots all charged into the awaiting void. Once the chamber had been cleared, Vector Prime closed the portal and all was at peace.
That is, until the ground began to shake again, more violently than before....
* * *
Delta Magnus stepped into Luna 1's control room, Void Scepter in hand. She had yet to hear from Sevax regarding the results of the trial, but her master had sent her to get things moving anyway. The results of Sevax's mock jury would've hardly made a difference anyway.
However, upon arriving into the chamber, she was surprised to find that Luna 1 had already been set on a course for Cybertron. She was even more surprised to find the one called Depth Charge sitting on the floor, idly picking apart some corpse.
"I'm sorry," Delta Magnus said. "Am I interrupting?"
"Not dead," Depth Charge murmured, disassembling the poor sod's t-cog. "He's still alive. I can still hear him laughing. I have to take him apart, piece by piece."
Delta shifted her gaze to Rampage's disembodied head, now crushed into an indistinguishable heap of scrap. She then turned back to Depth Charge and raised the scepter to his head.
"Yeah, I think you're done here."
"My work is never done," Depth Charge grunted.
"Sure." The tip of the scepter flashed and Depth Charge crumpled lifelessly to the floor. Shaking her head, Delta Magnus stepped over the two bodies and sat herself at the moon's controls, patiently waiting for the destination ahead.
* * *
"What are you doing?" Liege Maximo growled.
"Making a call," the Fallen replied.
"A call? To who? You didn't tell us you had any heralds."
"I don't," the Fallen growled, staring at his wrist comm as it continued to ring. "She probably won't even pick up...."
At that moment, a portal materialized before the four Primes and Vector Prime emerged from it once more, carrying the ensnared Quintesson and followed by dozens of Autobots and Decepticons. Several of them reacted in alarm upon seeing Onyx Prime and the others, but Vector managed to pacify them.
"Relax, we're all on the same side." Vector glanced pointedly at Onyx. "Aren't we?"
"Seeing how your theory was correct, I suppose we are," Onyx grunted. "Unless anyone else has any objections?"
Liege Maximo harrumphed but said nothing. The Fallen remained silent while Nexus Prime nodded eagerly.
"We are a stronger force than we are apart," the combiner said. "An alliance would be beneficial for all of us."
"Glad to hear it," said Skids. "So how exactly are we supposed to get off this moon? The Lost Light isn't exactly big enough to fit combiners...."
"We can't leave without Optimus and Megatron," Elita said. She turned to Brainstorm. "Did you guys not see them in the brig?"
Brainstorm shook his head. "We would've freed them if we had. They might not even be at Metroplex...."
Suddenly, the captive Quintesson began to laugh from each of its faces. "You fools...."
Suddenly, the ground began to shake. In the sky above, the stars began to stretch into streaks of light.
"You have accomplished nothing."
In an instant, Luna 1 jumped to lightspeed and all on its surface were sent flying into the resulting maelstrom....
--Elsewhere--
"An alliance?"
"Er, yes." Krok rubbed the back of his head, surprised with himself for having even made the suggestion. "I mean, it would be beneficial for all of us."
Esmeral pursed his lips, crossing her legs as she sat in the Warworld's command chair. "Explain."
"Well, you say you're in need of troops. We have that. We're in need of fuel. You have that." Krok balanced the two statements visually with his hands. "It's a win-win."
"Maybe for you two, but not for me," Spacewarp said. "I need transportation for all these Mini-Cons, but there's no way in hell am I working with these... losers."
Krok glanced at her. "If transportation's all you need, then you won't need to stay for long. Or you could just let us take the Mini-Cons--"
"Do you think I'm stupid?" Spacewarp growled.
"No, actually. I find you to be a rather intelligent individual."
"Precisely." Spacewarp jabbed a finger in Krok's chest. "So don't think for a single nanoklik that I'm going to let you take all these Mini-Cons and--"
She abruptly cut herself off, freezing in place as her optics went wide. Both Krok and Esmeral stared at her in confusion.
"Are you all right?" the former asked.
But Spacewarp was no longer listening to him, instead marveling at the words currently flashing across her HUD; words she had not expected to read together ever again.
Incoming call from Omega Trion.
* * *
Light-years away, deep beneath the surface of Luna 1, a large serpentine figure admired the spark that was now in his possession, glowing bright and green. It had been so long since he had seen a Cybertronian au nautaire; had he been organic enough, he might've shed a tear.
The Alpha Quintesson had felt the death of its sister body at the hands of Megatronus. Both of them had been prepared for such an event, being well aware of their brother Prime's nature. Still, his heart continued to ache for her; he was forever incomplete without her.
But she would be avenged. The plan was finally coming to fruition, after over nine millennia of preparation. He almost hated to enact it, wondering if he should continue to savor the moment.
But no. He had waited long enough. Cybertron would at last be reborn and become what it had always been made to be.
Before him, the small chamber door spiraled open and the Alpha Quintesson inserted the Dark Energon shard he had been carrying in one of his auxiliary arms. The shard had essentially served as Megatron's heart ever since his return from the Dead Universe... but now it would fulfill a different and far more important purpose.
The door closed and the Alpha Quintesson took the spark with him as he retreated back into his alcove, promising it that it would soon find its own home....
TO BE CONTINUED
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