CHAPTER TWELVE
Planet X
The chaos had ended just as quickly as it had begun.
Crusadercons and Monstercons alike watched as, one-by-one, their only methods of escape were snatched from them before their very eyes. It had started with the Lost Light, its explosion lighting up the battlefield and knocking some of its combatants back with the resulting wind. The Decepticon insignia-shaped Symbol Ships had followed shortly after, blowing up one after the other.
While the Autobots and Decepticons stared in horror, Tyrannicon allowed himself a satisfied smirk. He had no idea who was responsible behind this event, but he had confidence that it was all according to his masters’ plans. Now, there truly was no escape for these prisoners.
He turned to face Star Saber, leader of the Crusadercons, who was still frozen in shock at having witnessed the Lost Light’s destruction. “I do believe your surrender is due, wouldn’t you agree?”
Star Saber stared at him, his optics wide in a mix of shock and fury. “You idiot! Those ships were our only hope of survival! Now that thing is going to kill us all!”
Tyrannicon sneered at him. “Don’t pretend that you understand the depths of my masters’ plans. Nothing is ever as it seems.”
Star Saber narrowed his optics as he returned his attention to the Beast, which had just finished destroying the last of the Cybertron models. Now it turned to face Planet X, violet orbs of energy glowing like eyes from within the dark and smoky giant. It slowly moved its hands towards the planet, though not in a move to destroy it. Instead, its fingers seemed to wrap around each hemisphere carefully; gently almost.
“The Alignment has begun,” Tyrannicon said proudly. “Unicron shall be reborn!”
“Unicron?! Oh, hell no,” said Wing Saber. “We have to stop this thing, brother. We can’t let this happen!”
“Nothing can stop the Alignment,” Tyrannicon went on. “Cybertron shall fall to its dark twin, as it was always meant to—”
The rest of the Sharkticon leader’s speech was drowned out by the thunderous arrival of a titanic figure. Materializing out of thin air, the Titan landed on the ground and created a violent quake that rippled throughout the battlefield. The Sharkticons and Allicons reacted in terror and started to scurry away, ignoring Tyrannicon’s attempts to rally them. Even Liege Maximo’s Cybertronians were retreating, confused by this disruption to what they had thought to have been a straightforward operation.
It was a lot for Star Saber to process, and before he was even given a chance to, a portal opened beneath his feet and he fell in, followed shortly by his fellow Autobots.
* * *
“Oh, dear.” Maccadam stroked his chin as he stared at the large array of viewscreens placed throughout Iaconus’ command center, displaying Unicron’s assault on Planet X. “I hope I am not too late.”
A portal opened behind him and a good hundred or so Autobots (and a few Decepticons) fell in, landing unceremoniously on the floor and piling on top of one another. Maccadam didn’t pay much attention to this until a regal-looking bot in white and maroon armor appeared beside him, a grave look on his cerulean face.
“Ah, Vector!” Maccadam beamed at his fellow Prime. “It has been much too long, hasn’t it?”
“Alchemist,” Vector Prime quietly replied. “I must say that I am… surprised to see you here.”
“I’m surprised by how quickly you invited yourself in,” the Alchemist Prime cheerfully replied. “Your reflexes are as sharp as ever. And you’ve even brought guests as well!”
“There’s no time for this,” said Convoy, joining the two Primes along with Rodimus. “We need to destroy Unicron, or at least find someway to put him back into the Dead Universe.”
“Oh, I am afraid there is no chance of that happening,” Maccadam gravelly replied. “My Lenses have already given me a glimpse of what is to come.”
Vector Prime narrowed his optics. “You know that I’ve never fully trusted the insight those things give you.”
Maccadam smiled as he readjusted his spectacles. “I’ve never claimed them to be infallible. Then again, they have yet to let me down.”
“There’s a first time for everything,” said Rodimus. “So, what’s the plan then? What are your ‘lenses’ telling you to do?”
“That we must destroy Planet X,” Maccadam replied.
“I’m all for that,” piped up Whirl, raising a claw.
Rodimus Prime frowned. “But there are still all those Decepticons down there. If we destroy the planet, won’t they die in the process?”
Convoy looked at him. “Why do you care what happens to them? They’re Decepticons.”
“I know, and I don’t care for them,” Rodimus said hastily. “I just… I just don’t feel comfortable with killing them like that.”
“You know what is at stake, don’t you? Sometimes, sacrifices must be made—”
“Don’t give me that scrap about sacrifices!” Rodimus snapped. “What gives us any right to dictate who gets to be sacrificed and who doesn’t? If those were Autobots down there, would you still be wanting to sacrifice them?”
Convoy did not have an immediate response to that. Not waiting for one, Rodimus turned to look at Vector.
“Can you create a dimension portal to send them somewhere?”
Vector raised an optic ridge. “And where would you like me to send them to?”
“I don’t know, just… somewhere where they can’t cause too much trouble. We can always track them down and round them up later.”
Vector Prime considered this for a moment before drawing his sword. “I can’t guarantee this will work, but I will try.”
Rodimus nodded curtly. “Thank you.”
Convoy rolled his optics. “Better make it quick, ‘cause I don’t think Unicron is going to wait around for us to do good deeds.”
Using a visual of the Decepticons down below on Iaconus’ viewscreens as a reference point, Vector Prime created a dimension gate remotely from his sword. While the ancient Prime worked, Rodimus looked at one of the other viewscreens and saw that another Titan had materialized on Planet X, not far from their location.
“I see that you didn’t come alone,” he remarked to Maccadam. “That’s Fortress Maximus, isn’t it?”
Maccadam glanced at the viewscreen. “Ah,” he said, sounding slightly upset. “I was afraid he would find his way to us.”
Rodimus gave him a confused look. “Uh, isn’t that a good thing?”
Maccadam didn’t answer him as Fortress Maximus deployed his weapons and fired upon Iaconus.
* * *
“Oh god oh god oh god this was a mistake.”
Wipe-Out moved frantically across the abandoned battlefield as all around him Decepticons fell through portals and Sharkticons scurried in a mad frenzy. He had hoped to make it to one of the Symbol Ships in the midst of all the confusion, but then someone thought it would be a good idea to blow up every single one. Then the Titan showed up and all hell had broken loose.
He drove blindly through the sea of Cybertronians and Sharkticons, desperately hoping to find some alternative means of escape. He was momentarily interrupted from his search when another Titan teleported in front of him and landed, creating a shockwave that sent him flying through the air.
He crashed into something large and hard before falling onto the ground. He transformed into his robot mode and looked up to see a large green and purple figure looming over him.
“S-Scorponok!” he exclaimed. “I, uh, I wasn’t expecting to see you here!”
Scorponok did not appear to be paying attention to him, instead staring at the gray and blue Titan that had just arrived. Without a word, he started to walk towards it, nearly stepping on Wipe-Out had the smaller bot not gotten out of the way.
“Whoa, hey!” Wipe-Out scrambled to his feet and ran after him. “You can’t just leave me here!”
“I can and I will,” Scorponok rumbled, never slowing in his stride.
“But-but we both serve the Grand Architect, don’t we? W-we need to… stick together….”
It did not take long for Wipe-Out to realize how weak his argument was. This was further solidified when Scorponok kept on walking, making his way towards the Titan’s leg. Wipe-Out did not even try to stop or follow him; he knew that it would only end poorly for him.
Things ended poorly for him anyway as a centaur-like being galloped past him and drove a spear straight through his chest, piercing his spark chamber. Wipe-Out’s body spasmed before going limp and the Destructon Psychokhan promptly tossed his body aside. A few stray Sharkticons would eventually come by and devour the hapless Decepticon’s remains while the rest of the universe moved on without him.
Fortress Maximus
“Um… Sovereign?”
“I see it, Convex,” Sovereign said quietly, his eyes locked on the viewscreens. “Keep your focus on Iaconus.”
“But… but that’s Unicron!” said the Titan Master Blunderbuss. “Surely that’s a greater threat than even Iaconus.”
Sovereign shuttered his optics, clenching his fists. “Just fire on Iaconus. We all know that he is just as much a threat as that… thing.”
“Perhaps we’ve been hasty in our judgment,” suggested Infinitus, standing beside Sovereign. “After all, I’m sure Alchemist Prime has brought Iaconus here for a reason.”
Sovereign glared at him. “Is that supposed to make me feel better? You know how I feel about Primes.”
“I do. But Alchemist has never been like the other Primes of old, like Onyx or Megatronus. He has never been one to crave power or savor destruction… he simply wanted whatever was best for Cybertron.”
“And yet here he is with a Titan who is known only for destruction….”
“Well, maybe some things need to be destroyed.” Infinitus gestured at one of the screens, which displayed Unicron’s shadowy form closing in on Planet X. “Wouldn’t you agree?”
Sovereign cursed under his breath. The only thing he hated more than people questioning his beliefs and motives was the realization that they were right. It always made him question himself on top of feeling like a fool. And, in this moment, he was feeling extremely foolish.
“Fine,” he muttered. “Convex, Blunderbuss, redirect all firepower to Unicron… or whatever that thing is. Twin Cast, see if you can establish communications with Iaconus’ crew.”
While the three Titan Masters got to work, a fourth one turned around from their station. “Sir, there’s been a breach in the lower sectors,” said Teslor.
“A breach?” Sovereign asked. “What do you mean?”
“Someone’s punched a hole in our foot.”
“Give me a visual.”
Teslor did so and the results he presented caused Sovereign’s energon to run cold. On a screen which showed one of the corridors down in Fortress Maximus’ lower levels, a monstrous machine in purple and green was tearing its way through a wave of Cog units, ripping them limb from limb as their firepower bounced off of its armor plating.
“Scorponok….” Sovereign spoke the name in a whisper, like it was a forbidden curse. As far as he was concerned, it might as well have been. “What… what is he doing here?”
“Does it matter?” asked Ginrai, already drawing a gun to load it. “Someone needs to go down and stop him. Those Weaponizers won’t hold him off for long.”
“Take as many bots with you as you can,” Sovereign said, his voice still quiet and shaky. “Don’t… don’t let him anywhere near here.”
“We will do what we can, Sovereign,” Infinitus told him reassuringly. “Have faith in us.”
Sovereign did have faith in them. More faith than he had ever had in something before.
He simply did not think it would be enough.
Iaconus
Throughout the command center, Iaconus’ angered rumble could be heard and felt by all. Maccadam acted frantically to calm the Titan as it slowly moved to face the attacking Fortress Maximus.
“Calm yourself, my friend! Fortress Maximus is not the enemy! You must focus on the Chaos Bringer!”
Iaconus growled in protest but eventually came to a halt. To Maccadam’s relief, Fortress Maximus ceased his attack as well; no doubt the other Titan had finally taken notice of Unicron’s shadowy form looming over them.
“Good,” Maccadam said calmly. “Perhaps now we can—”
Suddenly, the command center shook again, although this time it was not because Iaconus was moving. Turning to the viewscreens, Maccadam saw the visual of three monstrous beings attacking the Titan from down below, striking with clubs, swords, and guns. Despite their small size, their weapons were packing quite a punch and clearly doing damage to Iaconus’ armor plating.
“It’s the Destructons,” muttered Star Saber. “Clearly we must be doing something right if we’ve already managed to upset them this much.”
Rodimus Prime glanced at Maccadam. “Are you able to take care of these guys?”
“Possibly,” Maccadam replied. “As I understand it, these Destructons are stronger than the average Cybertronian… not to mention more cunning as well.”
“Well, I’ve just finished sending the Decepticons on their way,” Vector Prime said, lowering his sword. “Whatever you plan to do, Alchemist, now is the time to do it.”
At Maccadam’s behest, Iaconus started to move once more and drew a massive sword of his own from behind his back. Down below, the Destructons continued to throw their attacks at him, with Bruton dealing the most damage with his spiked club.
“Iaconus,” Maccadam spoke to the Titan, “once you have delivered the blow, teleport as quickly as you can back to Cybertron. This isn’t going to be pretty.”
Iaconus rumbled in acknowledgment and his sword began to glow with blue energy. The nearby Fortress Maximus remained stationary, causing some of the Autobots to ponder why the other Titan was not moving or doing anything to help Iaconus.
A light started to blink on one of the monitors and the Crusadercon comm officer Signal Flare pointed it out. “Someone’s trying to call us.”
Maccadam shook his head. “There is no time. Iaconus will be ready to strike at any minute.”
In the sky above, the shadowy form of Unicron was drawing closer towards Planet X, his cloudy body practically blanketing the northern hemisphere.
“Should we do something about Fort Max?” asked Rodimus.
“His fate is in none of our hands,” Maccadam grimly replied. “Only our own.”
Iaconus drove his sword into the ground and the entire world went white.
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