1 - The Last Days of the Transformers War

[Grand Moff Muffin]

XAARON

PART 1

"How much longer, Soundwave? Doesn't Scorponok understand? Time is running out! We have terms to discuss, plans to make! Where is he?!"

"He is busy at present. You must be... patient!"

"Ah!" This is bad, thought Optimus Prime. If Scorponok has changed his mind, all I have managed to do is hand him the simplest of victories! And yet... one way or another I must get that alliance, and get it soon! For divided, we fall! What if it's already started? What if Unicron has already reached Cybertron? If I only knew what was happening there!

Prime decided he simply had to find out what was happening on Cybertron, at any cost. But how? By attacking Soundwave, busting out of his cell and finding the Decepticons' interstellar communications hub? Or was there an easier way, literally staring him in the face?

"Soundwave. Scorponok's busy, I accept that. But I know one Decepticon who's not busy."

"Who?"

"You."

"Well?"

"Well, let's talk. Call it a warm-up session. What do you say?"

Soundwave thought for a moment. He scanned Prime's surface thoughts for signs of insincerity. He scanned his Nebulan for confirmation. Prime had been considering attacking him a few moments earlier, that much he knew. He also knew that Scorponok had assigned him to guard Prime to see if Prime would attack him. He didn't like that one little bit. But Prime's wish to negotiate with him now was genuine. And the risks of talking were minimal compared to the potential gains, which included opportunities for blackmail and self-advancement.

"All right. What do you want to talk about?"
___

Cybertron!

"Come out, Autobots!" yelled Galvatron. "Come out and die! Blood red twilight descends on your planet, and I am its harbinger! A black night of chaos and uncreation comes... and Unicron is its name!"

"Emirate Xaaron, look out!" cried Quickmix as the ceiling of Autobase crumbled above them in response to Galvatron's particle cannon blast.

The Autobots had thought the new location of Autobase 1 unknown to their Decepticon enemies, and in truth, so it was. Following Thunderwing's disappearance, the remaining Decepticon factions led by Sixshot, Skystalker and Gutcruncher had wasted enough time squabbling with each other to allow Xaaron to relocate from the Autobots' headquarters in Iacon, which had been compromised by Bludgeon's new Mayhem Attack Squad, to a long-disused outpost almost directly over the shrine to Primus discovered accidentally by Grimlock, Jazz and Bumblebee.

No Decepticon knew where they had gone. But a sleeper agent from the Cult of Unicron, posing as an Autobot recruit ever since his mind was first ensnared by a future incarnation of the Chaos-Bringer during the first Galvatron incident back in 1986... He knew, all right, and had betrayed their location... to the new Galvatron!

"Hook, Line, Sinker!" called Galvatron, as soon as Unicron's agent in Autobase had completed his radio report, which revealed that Xaaron was fleeing by an underground exit, leaving Quickmix and half a dozen other volunteers to cover his retreat. "Wipe out the rest of this rabble! I have bigger fish to fry!"
___

"No, Prime," reported Hubcap from his interstellar communications post in Autobase 2. "All's quiet here on Cybertron. There's no sign of Unicron on our long-range scanners, and the Decepticons aren't venturing far outside their strongholds while their leadership remains contested. I spoke to Xaaron over in Autobase 1 this morning, and he mentioned his having reservations about your plan to surrender to Scorponok - but it looks to me like you're making good progress."

"Yes, well, convincing Soundwave here to open a communications channel to Cybertron for me, on condition that I let him listen in on our conversation, may be progress of a sort, but we have a long way to go yet."

"OK, well, I hope this puts your mind at rest. If you keep this channel open, I'll report back the moment we get any reports of a planet-eating monster approaching. But until then, I'd say you've got a bit more time to try the diplomatic approach. Hubcap out."

Hubcap didn't really believe in Unicron.
___

Galvatron ripped open the ground above Xaaron's escape tunnel and looked down at the Autobot Resistance Leader as he climbed into his cable car. "Unicron is coming!" he yelled again, putting on a good show for his hated master. Xaaron looked up, their gazes met, and he knew that the future Decepticon would follow him, as he had hoped he would, giving his Autobots a chance to regroup and fight back against their less powerful attackers. He activated the vehicle and sped away.

Galvatron jumped down into the tunnel, transformed to tank mode and drove after his prey and, once he was sure that he was out of Unicron's sight, his potential ally.
___

Boomer finally made it to Quickmix's side.

"What's happening, pal?"

"Where the heck have you been?"

"You got a problem, take it up with the Consumer Complaint Agency. Oh no, wait, I left that behind on Nebulos. Anyway, we're all here now."

Quickmix radioed his fellow Autobots and their Nebulan partners on a coded channel, telling them to shut down their audio receptors as Boomer transformed into his sonic pulse cannon mode. Quickmix took aim at their attackers and let rip, all but blowing out their hearing sensors.

Quickmix's comrade, the former double agent, Scoop, raised his newly arrived Targetmaster partner, Holepunch, now in dual compression cannon mode, and followed up with a concentrated blast of air powerful enough to shatter plate steel, which lifted the stunned Hook, Line and Sinker off the ground and hurled them through a nearby building, which promptly collapsed on top of them.

"Roll out!" ordered Quickmix, and within seconds a motley assortment of Cybertronian and Earth vehicles carrying a handful of Nebulans was driving at full speed away from their doomed headquarters. "Landfill - try to raise Autobase 2. We need reinforcements!"

TO BE CONTINUED

[Grand Moff Muffin]

XAARON

PART 2

Galvatron blasted Xaaron's cable car suspension from the tunnel ceiling and then followed the fleeing Autobot Resistance Leader at a distance. He didn't want to catch up with his quarry yet. He wanted to know where he was heading. In the future Galvatron came from, this part of Cybertron's underground was never mapped prior to the planet's destruction.

In his tank mode, he knew he could overtake Xaaron in a minute or two should he wish it. He couldn't understand why Xaaron was still trying to escape on foot. Surely he'd move much faster if he transformed, like he had seen him do in the future he came from. Not that it had done him much good then...
___

Xaaron had a dilemma, and not just the obvious one of how to escape a crazed Decepticon from the future who had last been seen torn to shreds by a rift in the fabric of space and time. No, Xaaron's dilemma was that this tunnel only went to one place, and it was the last place he wanted to lead a supremely powerful servant of Unicron. But what choice did he have? Turn and fight and 'die like an Autobot'? He could do that, but then Galvatron would return to the surface and resume his attack upon the other Autobots. But there were also Autobots ahead of them, at the tunnel's end, and Galvatron would no doubt kill them too if he led him there.

There was only one alternative. Go sideways. The surveys carried out by the Construction Patrol whilst excavating the shrine of Primus and its antechambers had shown that there were other chambers and hallways still sealed off, and one of them was directly on the other side of the wall on the right just ahead of him. Maybe going that way would lead Galvatron somewhere he could be contained, or at least give his fellow Autobots more time to escape and regroup.

Xaaron transformed fluidly to his vehicle mode, and, thanking Primus for the Flame incident a few years earlier that had prompted him to upgrade to this pristine new golden-headed body, he smashed through the wall, transformed back to robot mode and slipped cautiously into the dark unknown.

This is more like it, thought Galvatron, and he too transformed and followed after Xaaron.
___

Hook, Line and Sinker dug themselves out of the ruined building, dusted themselves down and reviewed their orders: "Wipe out the rest of this rabble." Fairly clear instructions, those. Quickmix and his team must die!

But (unlike Xaaron) Hook, Line and Sinker couldn't transform and drive after the Autobots, and they only had short-range flight capability and limited tracking sensors.

So they decided to go back to where they had parked their ship.
___

Security Director Red Alert triggered an alarm in every Autobot currently stationed at Autobase 2. In a matter of minutes, Base Commander Overdrive had joined him and Hubcap in the control room.

"What have we got?"

"Autobase 1 has been demolished, Xaaron is missing, and the surviving Autobots are out in the open, heading south," summarised Red Alert.

"Decepticons?"

"Not our Decepticons. According to Landfill, the base was attacked by Galvatron and three unknown mechanoids."

"Galvatron? Not the Galvatron?"

"Yes, the Galvatron. And yes, everyone thought he was dead, but everyone thought I was dead for four million years, and according to Inferno I witnessed Galvatron's demise in North America at the same time as I was in Eastern Europe chasing down the Mechanic and retrieving Ratchet's stolen weapons, so let's skip the incredulity phase and move on to the what-shall-we-do-about-it phase."

"Right. Is Galvatron pursuing Landfill's group?"

"No, but something else is."

"Something?"

"Something big and airborne."

"What air support do we have in that sector?"
___

"I think we've lost them," said Zombo, and promptly exploded.

"Incoming!" cried Ricochet, not very helpfully.

"Scatter!" yelled Flintlock, yanking Landfill's steering wheel hard to the left.

High above, Line prepared to fire again.



TO BE CONTINUED

[Fortmax2020]

*bites nails*

Part 3 please!!

[Grand Moff Muffin]

XAARON

PART 3

Line hovered his finger over the firing button, savouring the anticipation as he prepared to unleash the full firepower of the Unicronian warship upon the helpless half-dozen Autobots below, when the vessel suddenly shook from multiple missile hits.

Autobots and Nebulans cheered as explosions lit up the upper decks of the attacking ship, and the Autobots' Elite Flying Corps led by Lieutenant Commander Sky Lynx split and banked to come around for another strafing run.
___

Hubcap, Red Alert and the Omnibots sat and waited for the battle reports to come in.

"So..." ventured Downshift, turning towards Red Alert. "Tell me about this Mechanic fellow."
___

Optimus Prime waited for Hubcap to call him back with news of Unicron's approach, which he hoped would give him the evidence he needed to convince Scorponok of the threat to them all, provided it didn't come too late.

"Let's talk some more," said Soundwave. "Tell me how you got Grimlock to relinquish his crown."

"All right. If you tell me how you managed to get yourself repaired so quickly after the Underbase affair."

Soundwave shrugged. "Frenzy and Rumble stole the Steelhaven, travelled to the Grand Central Space Station disguised as Firebugs and traded Fortress Maximus's original body to the Mecannibals for the microchips needed to bring me back."

Prime stared at him.

"Well, that explains a few things."
___

Galvatron reckoned that he and Xaaron were now deep enough inside Cybertron to be shielded from Unicron's observation, but he had lost track of his quarry in the dark and unfamiliar labyrinth of passageways. He considered it essential that he have a private conference with the Autobot elder, in order to discover some way to defeat the Chaos-Bringer and free himself to conquer first this planet and then the Galaxy. But where was he hiding? Perhaps, Galvatron thought, he should follow Xaaron's example right now and start smashing his way through a few walls.

Not far away, Xaaron was wondering whether he should risk doubling back to warn the Autobots guarding the shrine of Primus of the danger they were in, or whether it would be better to lead Galvatron deeper into unchartered territories.
___

In his suborbital jet fighter mode, Quickswitch fired his twin photon blasters, taking out the Unicronian warship's starboard missile battery, while Whirl's incendiary-shell cannons destroyed its rear stabilisers, causing it to waver and lose altitude. Sky Lynx and the Autobot Air Patrol dove in formation, sensing that victory was at hand.

Hook spoke an order into the ship's intercom:

"Deploy the Sharkticons!"
___

"He was terrified of me at first, when he mistook me for a police car."

"I thought you were a police car," said Camshaft.

"No, I'm not."

"What are you, then?"

"Hey," interrupted Hubcap. "I wonder if I should tell Prime about this Galvatron thing. Landfill did say he was yelling that Unicron was coming."
___

"Galvatron?" whispered a worried Optimus Prime.

"Didn't you see him torn apart by the rift in space and time?"

"Yes, didn't you?"

"No, that was a different Soundwave, from the future, and in any case he had left by then. But I met Galvatron the first time he came to Earth."

"And?"

"I couldn't scan him deeply, but I sensed he was telling the truth when he said he was from the future."

"He told Jazz he was a future incarnation of Megatron."

"Ravage met him, and assures me that Galvatron and Megatron are one and the same. Ravage is never wrong about these things." (Soundwave wished he knew where Ravage was now.)

"And now Galvatron says Unicron is coming. Isn't that proof enough for you?"

"Except the Galvatron we knew was destroyed. Scorponok was there. He'll never believe this."

"I'll just have to make him listen. Our time has run out."

"Scorponok is busy."

Optimus Prime sighed, and before Soundwave could pick up his intentions he punched him into the cell wall, ripped the doors open and set off to find Scorponok.
___

ShockSentry was torn limb from limb by the Sharkticons before the Autobots on the ground could take up defensive positions, but a sweeping proton beam from Silencer and twin ion blasts from Tracer destroyed the Sharkticon vanguard, and Ricochet's metal-piercing, titanium-tipped bullets ripped through the second wave.

The battle had entered its third phase.

TO BE CONTINUED

[Grand Moff Muffin]

XAARON

PART 4

(Optimus Prime was hoping to find someone reliable like his right-hand man, Jazz, but the cell he came to first contained only the rash Hot Rod and argumentative Kup. He supposed they would have to do...)
___

Somewhere on Cybertron's Terbium Plains sat Trypticon in base mode, pondering whether he should make a bid for the Decepticon leadership himself. Manning his communications centre, the Decepticon Clone, Pounce, scanned a series of incoming messages.

"Boss! Wingspan reports a major battle under way in the eastern sector of this quadrant."

"What? Which Decepticons have launched an attack in my jurisdiction and neglected to invite me?"

"There don't seem to be any Decepticons involved in this particular battle. An unidentified off-world faction is fighting a contingent of Autobots."

"Unacceptable! Do we have any airborne troops in that area?"

"Flattop, Roughstuff and the Duocons are within range."

"Well, tell them to join up with Wingspan and get stuck in this instant, or they'll have me to answer to!"
___

"I am running out of time!" Galvatron told Xaaron, having caught up with him at long last. "Soon Unicron will send Hook, Line and Sinker to find out what I am doing! So quickly, tell me if there is anything besides the Creation Matrix that could hurt Unicron."

"Very well," said Xaaron, surprised to find himself still alive and with a most unexpected ally. "Millions of years ago, Autobots created a plague of tiny robot-eaters called Scraplets, deadly to Transformers but also potentially able to consume Unicron. But they can be neutralised by water..."

"...and Unicron is capable of flooding any part of his body with water, thereby instantly destroying any Scraplets that his enemies might infect him with. What else?"

"The Matrix Flame still burns, but it burns red, suggesting that the Matrix is still out there, but has been corrupted by its contact with the Decepticon, Thunderwing. No-one dares approach the moon where his body is thought to lie. Strange creatures are said to lurk there."

"Speak not to me of the Matrix. Unicron knows its condition and does not fear it. What else?"

"Properly directed, the Underbase could potentially have destroyed Unicron. According to the Triggerbots, Starscream was still united with the Underbase when his body was salvaged by the Decepticon Powermasters, Darkwing and Dreadwind, but the Underbase's energies were then extracted and absorbed by two Nebulans, Hi-Test and Throttle, in order to subdue him and take him to Megatron on Cybertron."

"Our greatest store of knowledge, absorbed by two humans? Impossible!"

"Don't forget, a human once carried the Creation Matrix itself."

"Have the Nebulans exhibited any Underbase-like superpowers?"

"Not to my knowledge. But they come and go with their Decepticon partners. No-one knows what that foursome get up to for much of the time."

"What else, Xaaron? What else does Unicron fear? Speak!"

Desperately, Xaaron came up with one final thought, Optimus Prime's hope, and told Galvatron of the legend that said if all Primus's children were gathered together, united as one, they could defeat Unicron.

"Indeed?" said Galvatron. "Then what we need is a being capable of bringing the scattered Autobots and Decepticons here to Cybertron... Primus!"

"But... Primus sleeps."

"Primus woke up. That's how Unicron learnt of Cybertron's current location, and why I was plucked from my own time and brought here."

"Yes, but he's asleep again now."

"How can you be so sure of that?"

Xaaron pondered for a minute. The Decepticon seemed genuinely to wish for Unicron's defeat, and could be the Transformers' most powerful warrior if it came to a battle with the planet-eater.

"Come with me. I'll show you."
___

The Unicronian warship slowly crashed into the surface of Cybertron, and Hook, Line and Sinker disembarked and prepared to renew their assault on Quickmix and his band, being careful to protect their audio receptors this time around. Sky Lynx and Quickswitch had transformed to their animal modes in order to fight the remaining Sharkticons. Hook and his team ignored them, and also ignored the other aerial Autobots, who were now engaged in combat with a group of flying Decepticons. Hook's orders were simply to wipe out the surviving Autobots from Autobase 1, who were now running dangerously low on ammunition.
___

"Please, let me go in first," Xaaron begged Galvatron. "There are Autobots guarding the chamber of Primus who may react badly to your sudden appearance."

"Nonsense," said Galvatron, pushing past him and barging through the great double doors. "What care I how your precious Autobots react to the sight of me? Galvatron is power incarnate!"

"Galvatron!" gasped Ultra Magnus, recognising the voice from his nightmares.

"Who are you, and how do you know my name?" inquired Galvatron of the Cybertronian Autobots' greatest warrior.

TO BE CONCLUDED

[Grand Moff Muffin]

XAARON

PART 5

"Stand down, Ultra Magnus - that's an order!"

"Ultra Magnus?" pondered Galvatron. "Oh, yes, I've heard about you! Didn't you help Impactor kill the Insecticons during that ridiculous little uprising you called Operation: Volcano? It caused Megatron great annoyance as I recall, as it thwarted his plans to use Bombshell to tap into the Creation Matrix and create a new army of combining Decepticons on Earth."

"What are you talking about, monster? If you're trying to confuse me, I'll-"

"He's a different Galvatron, Magnus, not from our universe. Trailbreaker - deactivate the force-field and let us enter."

Galvatron and Emirate Xaaron stepped into the first antechamber to the shrine of Primus. Galvatron ignored the hostile, frightened stares of Ultra Magnus and the Sparkabots, amused by their reactions. As far as he knew, their paths had never crossed before, either as Galvatron or as Megatron, but his reputation nevertheless appeared to have preceded him. He was more interested in the ancient, arcane diagrams on the chamber's walls.

"So far we've only deciphered a few of them," Xaaron told him. "A number of priests lived here in isolation prior to Primus's recent awakening, but all have fled, we know not where."

"Pity," said Galvatron. "They could have been very useful."

"I know. Shall we?" Xaaron gestured towards the next chamber, which contained a vertical lift shaft. It would be the fifth he had taken Galvatron down since agreeing to escort him to the face of Primus. "We're almost there."

Trailbreaker - an Autobot Galvatron did recall meeting as Megatron - stood behind a control console and summoned the lift that would take them to their final destination.

"Tell Skater, Grapple, Huffer and the Powerdashers to cease their work in the Primal Chamber and join you up here," Xaaron told Trailbreaker. "Then I want all of you to head up to the surface as quickly as you can and make your way to Autobase 2. Autobase 1 has been demolished and I want you all as far away from here as possible when we awaken Primus. His cry shook the surface of Cybertron last time he awoke, and I don't know what will happen this time."

"No way!" protested Ultra Magnus. "I'm not leaving you with this lunatic. You don't know him like I do!"
___

Earth. Washington D.C.

"The word, Mr President?"

"Read my lips, General. The word is no. They're too close to Manhattan for the military thing. It just wouldn't be prudent at this juncture. There is, however, another option. This is a job for superheroes. Get me the Avengers!"

"They're fighting a nuclear-powered menace in another part of the city. And we're just in the process of cancelling the Avengers' Charter, so now might not be the best time..."

"The Fantastic Four?"

"Recovering after an adventure in time and space. Something to do with dinosaurs, I believe."

"X-Factor, then."

"We've just sent them into Genosha."

"All right, then. Get me Blackrock..."
___

Deep within the Transformers' home planet of Cybertron, a monster raged!

"Hurry up!" yelled Galvatron, frustrated at Xaaron's lack of progress in waking Primus.

"It has to be done gradually," the Autobot elder protested. "The mental prods slowly nudging his vast consciousness towards wakefulness..."

"What's the matter, Galvatron?" muttered Ultra Magnus. "I've never seen you look scared before..."
___

As Hook slashed open Landfill's shoulder, Sinker swung his mighty fist within inches of Quickmix's face. They were very close now to fulfilling their orders, when suddenly the voice of Unicron sounded in their minds, rescinding those orders and giving them new ones.

"Hook - leave the Autobots. Find Galvatron, bring him to my sight!"

"Line, Sinker - we go."

With those words, the trio abandoned their ruined ship and launched themselves into a tunnel that would lead them back towards Autobase 1 and, from there, the underground path taken by Galvatron and Xaaron.
___

"Hiya, Optimus. It is you, isn't it? Long time no see! So what brings you to the Big Apple? I thought you Autobots were West Coast guys."

They thought they'd seen it all! First - two groups of robots laying into each other in the New Jersey Swamps. Then - two more in Manhattan itself, their battle tearing through the financial district into Battery Park! And finally - a talking truck! And Spider-Man, swinging down to exchange words with the talking truck just as if they were old friends, followed by somewhat less friendly words with the two large robots, then a cheery wave to his old playmates, Jazz, Bumblebee, Soundwave and Ravage, before swinging off again into the city on his webbing. Yep, they thought they'd seen it all. But then, as any New Yorker will tell you, in this city, you've never seen it all!

"That's right, robot - we're the Neo-Knights!"
___

"Galvatron! You try our master's patience!"

Hook was the first to fly into the Primal Chamber, and Galvatron wasted no time in punching him hard into the floor. Sinker got in the next blow, sending Galvatron reeling with a double punch to the face.

Hook rose and turned to attack again, but Ultra Magnus interposed himself between him and Galvatron, wrestling the mechanoid's lethal arms upwards so that they pointed harmlessly at the ceiling. Line, meanwhile, sprang at the downed Galvatron, only to be disarmed by a particle cannon blast and then knocked senseless by an upward kick.

Hook head-butted Ultra Magnus, but the Autobot refused to relinquish his grip and returned the head-butt with one of his own.

By now, Sinker had circled the chamber and was coming back for another strike, but just as he brought his spherical fists together, Galvatron inserted the unconscious Line's head between them, and before he could stop himself Sinker had shattered his comrade's cranium.

Hook tucked his legs up between himself and Ultra Magnus's body, and pushed the Autobot away with his feet before somersaulting back and away from him, just as Galvatron transformed to tank mode, and while Sinker hesitated over Line's body, blew him into a thousand pieces.

Hook spun and fired his harpoon, piercing Galvatron's back mid-transformation and yanking him off his feet. As Hook's hook descended towards Galvatron's neural cluster, it was Ultra Magnus's turn to hesitate for a fraction of a second, but then the Autobot fired his shoulder missile and Hook exploded, showering Galvatron with shrapnel.

A dazzling bright light came from across the chamber, causing both Ultra Magnus and Galvatron to turn and stare.

"What? Who? Xaaron? No - Primus!"

The eyes and mouth on the face of Primus were open, as if it was trying to speak, but it was the hovering, shining form of the Autobot elder who replied to Galvatron's entreaties.

"Yes, I see the time is right. We are one. I shall summon all my children for the coming battle with Unicron."

"Wait a minute!" protested Magnus. "What have you done with Emirate Xaaron?"

"He is safe. We have need of this vessel now."

"But-"

"Ignore this one, Lord Primus," interrupted Galvatron. "You must prepare your armies."

"Yes. Let us go!"

Magnus hung back uncertainly as Galvatron stepped towards the glowing figure. With a gesture, Primus in Xaaron's body and Galvatron were gone.
___

Guided by Galvatron, Xaaron/Primus scanned Earth for Cybertronian and Nebulan technology and transported all the active robot life-forms so identified to Cybertron. This approach was far from perfect. Nightbeat was in contact with the Neo-Knights' helicopter at the time, and so they came along for the ride, while Transformers built from Earth materials were missed out. Of the 'Survivors' team, Skids was left standing alone, while the Constructicons, Combaticons and Protectobots were neglected completely.

Skids, the Constructicons and the Protectobots were nowhere near New York at the time of Primus's great summoning, but half an hour after it happened, the Combaticons dug themselves out of Scorponok's ruined headquarters, to find the surface swarming with armed humans.

"This area needs to be sterilised at once," decided Onslaught.

"No, wait," cautioned Swindle. "They haven't noticed us yet. Let's wait until nightfall and then slip away quietly. There's a human present wearing a cape."

"So?"

"Transformers don't fare well with humans wearing capes. They're not all feeble like Robot-Master, you see."

"Really?"

"I know they hushed it up, but didn't you hear about the Menasor-Magneto incident? And the reason why nobody ever mentions Reflector's name any more?"

"Pah! It's just a human with a cape. A cape and a hammer. Combaticons, combine!"
___

"M-magnus..." the voice trickled weakly from the face of Primus.

"Xaaron, is that you?"

"H-help meee..."

"Don't worry, I'll get you out of this mess."

Ultra Magnus turned on the spot, taking in the remains of Hook, Line and Sinker, a dormant Guardian battle droid standing in a corner awaiting instructions, Huffer's work bench, the Powerdashers' charging apparatus, the open panels in the wall dangling cables, where Grapple had been trying to interface with Primus by technological means, and the five aerial Decepticons standing in the open doorway with blasters levelled at him.

He turned back to Primus/Xaaron.

"I've got an idea."

THE END

[Fortmax2020]

HOW CAN THAT BE THE END???

[Fortmax2020]

It's only just begun!!

[Fortmax2020]

More.. please..

[Grand Moff Muffin]

But it's the Michael Caine Italian Job ending...

Martin

[Fortmax2020]

It also might be one of the reasons I do not like that film.

[Grand Moff Muffin]

Continuity note:

The events in 'Xaaron' Parts 1-5 occur in the margins of Marvel Transformers US #71-73, and are only intended to be read by people familiar with those issues. It will make no sense otherwise.

The universe is the original Marvel TF present-day story universe - no G2, no Cybertronian Empire, and the stories set in the future are all parallel timelines averted by present-day events. The last official TF story in this universe is 'Another Time and Place'.

The tie-ins to Marvel superhero comics in early issues of the TF US comic are taken at face value, meaning it is assumed that Marvel's main superhero titles are part of this universe, and interactions between TF characters and other Marvel characters are few and far between through chance, geography and other important stuff happening.

If you liked 'Xaaron', you may also like 'Escort Duty', which is set during TF US #79:

SPOILER: Click to show

Cybertron, once home to millions of Transformers. Current population – six humans. Oh, and one mechanoid bounty-hunter, trapped inside the Decepticons’ computer network.

ESCORT DUTY

“Death’s Head – I have a job for you, if you’re not too busy at the moment.”

“Don’t try to be funny. I don’t have a sense of humour. Do I need to ask the obvious questions?”

“Like who am I, and what’s happened to you?”

“No, like who do you want me to kill, and how much are you willing to pay.”

“I don’t want you to kill anyone.”

“That’ll cost you extra.”

“Now who’s trying to be funny?”

“All right, let’s pretend I asked your questions.”

“Very good. My name is Optimus Prime.”

“You’re a liar.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Because my mind appears to be stuck inside a computer, and Optimus Prime is a robot, yes? He wouldn’t be communicating with someone trapped inside a computer by tapping on a keyboard. He’d have interfaced directly, and our negotiations would have been over five minutes ago.”

“You’re clever. That’s good. Nevertheless, I am Optimus Prime. Unfortunately, my mind is also trapped… in my case, in the body of a carbon-based alien life-form. It’s a long story.”

“Skip it. I doubt I’d believe you any more after you’d told it. Knowing the true identity of my employer isn’t a prerequisite to doing business, but it would have helped move things along. I have all the time in the world, yes?”

“No, you don’t. Do you know what planet we’re on?”

“I thought I was on Cybertron, but Cybertron is supposed to be populated only by mechanical life-forms, so now I’m not so sure.”

“We are on Cybertron, but all the mechanical life-forms have left the planet. The Transformers won their battle with Unicron, but the price was high. Thinking that the planet was dying from its wounds, they have fled, searching for a new home. I and five other humans stayed behind, and now other races have begun arriving to scavenge what they can before Cybertron collapses.”

“Who’s Unicron?”

“I hope for your sake you never find out. Unicron is, for our current purposes, irrelevant.”

“You want me to protect you from the raiders and get you safely off-planet, yes?”

“Yes to the first part, no to the second. We stayed behind on purpose, because I know what’s happening to Cybertron. It needn’t die – we can save it. But I need your help.”

“Interesting. Why me?”

“Cybertron is big. We are small. I need to find a sleeping Transformer somewhere on this planet. I don’t know where he is, and even if I did, it would take us years – possibly decades – to travel the distance on foot. We have but days.”

“Do you have my body?”

“No. We are in the Ibex quadrant, accessing the Decepticons’ planetary network from the central spaceport control room. Your body is in a storage facility in Tyrest, along with those of all the other alien mechanoids they’ve captured over the years – Chromites, Deathbringers, Mecannibals, Sharkticons, and so on. I can instruct the computer to upload your mind back into your body, and then you can come for us. We are running low on the food and clean water we require to survive, and need you to bring us supplies from the off-world botanical repository in Eocra before we die of hunger and thirst. But before I reintegrate you with your body, you must search Cybertron from within the Decepticons’ computer network, and find an energy signature matching the one I am going to give you. It will point the way to the Last Autobot’s resting place, and you can take us there.”

“That’s quite a lengthy shopping list for a humble mercenary such as myself, yes?”

“Don’t think of yourself as a mercenary today, if you encounter thieves and pirates plundering Cybertron. Think of yourself as a freelance peace-keeping agent.”

“Freelance peace-keeping agent – I like the sound of that. But let’s talk seriously now. What’s in it for me?”

“Name your price.”

“Suppose I do. What’s to stop me taking it from Cybertron the moment you return me to my body, and abandoning you to your fate?”

“Your reputation as a mechanoid of your word.”

“No-one will ever know.”

“Your sense of honour, then.”

“Let me put it another way. What will you do with me if I refuse your offer?”

“…”

“The clock is ticking, yes?”

“I will return you to your body just the same, and you will be free to join the looters. If Cybertron is doomed, I can’t leave you to die when I have it in my power to save your life. I freed the Chromites, Deathbringers, Mecannibals and Sharkticons before this conversation began.”

“Well, then. That makes all the difference. Perhaps you really are who you say you are. I accept the job. But when it comes to payment, I want something from you that I could not get through loot and plunder of a dying world.”

“What’s that?”

“A reference. Something that will bring me the choicest clients in the Galaxy. Business from those who won’t trust a freelance peace-keeping agent based solely on his list of successful hits. I want something no other mercenary has. A recommendation from Optimus Prime.”
___

“Mission 81 – log tape commences. Despite my doubts, I have decided to work on the assumption that my mysterious client is who he says he is. The potential rewards make the contract a risk worth taking. Besides, I think Cybertron owes me a break after what it’s put me through these last few years. Lured here under false pretences by a pair of Decepticons I’d never heard of but who appeared to bear me some kind of personal grudge, I suffered the indignity of capture and incarceration in this computer facility. I should by rights have been able to beat them when they ambushed me, but they knew all my attacks and defences as if they’d fought me before. One of them was purple with a V-shaped head, the other blue with a fibre-optic moustache and beard and pink nail varnish. They seemed unsure about whether or not to kill me, as if they had much to gain and much to lose by both my survival and my death, and were weighing up the options. To my chagrin, the computer informs me that both Cyclonus and Scourge are now dead, so I shan’t ever have a chance of settling that particular score. At least I can take solace in the fact that their hopes and fears concerning me likewise came to nought.

“I convinced ‘Optimus Prime’ to return me to my body before sending me off on my search of cyberspace, in order to download from my personal database some specialist mind-hacking software suitable for the job at hand. For his part, he uploaded to me a copy of an ancient Cybertronian text entitled ‘The Ultimate Warrior’, and Chapters 3 and 4 of something called ‘The Eleven Portals of the Cybertriton Mainframe’. I did not press him for the complete text of the latter. Business comes first, yes?

“Now as a fully armed and armoured virtual avatar, and with my client’s texts to show me the way, I have returned to the Decepticons’ computer network to search for any records of energy signatures that may lead me to the resting place of the legendary ‘Last Autobot’.”
___

“Mission 81 – log tape continues. At least part of my client’s tale is true, though ‘The Ultimate Warrior’ has been no help whatsoever. A search of the Decepticons’ planetary network for the energy signature in question failed to turn up any leads, but in the late Lord Straxus’s encrypted files I found mention of an older network, isolated from the Decepticons’ system. I exited the Decepticon network in the city-state of Polyhex, uploading myself into a dormant harvester unit, which vessel transported my consciousness to the base of the Smelting Pool, and an ancient computer terminal left behind by a long-forgotten civilisation. Chapter 3 of ‘The Eleven Portals’ instructed me in the language protocols of this older system, and with some trepidation I entered the network.

“There are numerous intelligent life-forms within this system. Hard to say how many, as they split and merge freely. In conversing with them, I was unable to establish whether they had once inhabited physical mechanoid bodies or had always lived in cyberspace. They appeared for the most part benign, though I fear their memories have been corrupted over the millennia.

“Chapter 4 showed me the way to a second level, of which the inhabitants of the first were ignorant. There were no conventional virtual life-forms down here that I could discern, though I could feel what can only be described as an electronic whisper on the periphery of my consciousness. Haunted by ghosts, yes? The computer network criss-crosses the entire planet, and by harnessing its software I am able to see what is going on in the ‘real’ world.

“The alien looters are currently confined to the planet’s surface. I guess they don’t want to risk finding themselves underground when the planet collapses. A crew of space pirates has landed quite close to the facility in Tyrest in which my body, weapons and ship are impounded, lending my mission added urgency. Simply thinking of Optimus Prime brings up a camera angle showing me six small carbon-based life-forms doing their best to hide from the raiders and shelter from the storms wracking a dying world. They are unlikely to survive much longer without me to look after them.

“But first, I will attempt to use the power of this computer system to search the planet for a trace of the ‘Last Autobot’.”
___

“We’re no closer to finding this ‘Last Autobot’ than we were two days ago. If it exists, where is it? Face it, HiQ, Prime, whoever you are, we’re all going to die for a planet that’s not even ours!”

“Please, I-”

HiQ’s words were drowned out by the sound of rocket engines, as Death’s Head’s ship descended through the storm clouds and landed close to where the six humans cowered. They stared wide-eyed with concern as the entrance ramp lowered, and a giant cloaked mechanoid with a horned, skull-like head and protruding lower jaw stepped out to tower over them menacingly.

“Which one of you calls himself Optimus Prime?”

“He does,” came four instant replies.

“The name’s Death’s Head. I found something you were looking for, yes?”

“I hope you brought food,” said HiQ. “I’m starving.”
___

After the continuous noise of recent days, the humans were struck by the silence within Death’s Head’s ship as it flew high above the rain storm. The starscape visible through the reinforced windows added to the sense of tranquillity.

“Did you run into any trouble?” HiQ enquired of their protector between mouthfuls. The Nebulan didn’t care what he was eating, just so long as there was plenty of it.

“None worth mentioning. I abided by your request not to kill anyone, but was obliged to separate the heads of several alien mechanoids from their bodies, and non-fatally maim a couple of organic raiders who were trying to access my ship. They’ll live, at least until the planet self-destructs.”

“That’s not going to happen.”

“So you say. I’m not convinced. All that your energy trace led me to was an ancient ruined temple eighteen levels beneath the surface of Cybertron. I didn’t spot any sleeping Autobot, and even supposing he is down there, how could one robot heal an entire planet?”

“He’s there all right, and I believe that Hector here will be able to sense his presence and awaken him when we arrive. As for healing the planet, you saw for yourself how every part of Cybertron is connected and alive. It’s simply a question of guiding it back to full health.”

“If you say so. Now hold on, we’re going in, yes?”

The ship darted down into the stormy atmosphere, plunged into the Rust Sea and descended for hundreds of kilometres before levelling off and entering an underwater tunnel. Their course twisted and turned through a veritable maze of shafts, gradually rising again until they were once more in air above sea level, somewhere beneath the Manganese Mountains. They crossed a vast underground cavern, then dived vertically down into a bottomless crevasse.
___

“AAAAAA! It… it’s near!”

“Dynamo…? Hector, what?”

“Stay back!” HiQ left his fifteenth course and rushed to the side of the shining Neo-Knight. “Somehow, in trying to tap Cybertron’s energies, he has established a rapport with it! The Last Autobot calls to us through you, my friend. Don’t fight it, let it guide you!”

“Here! It’s… here.”

“Where?” demanded the industrialist. “There’s nothing here, just some old ruins!”

“No, Blackrock” replied HiQ. “He’s right! Primus’s presence is strong here, the remains of his aura fill this place! The Last Autobot is near! Dynamo – call to him! Rouse him from his eternal sleep! Now, finally, it is time for him to fulfil his destiny!”

“Too late!” cried Lee Gruber as the roof caved in. “It’s going – the planet’s breaking up!”

“It’s not the planet!” argued HiQ. “Look – he rises, the ultimate protector, the final guardian…” But before they could see that to which he referred, a towering demon several times larger than a Transformer smashed through a wall and roared its primal fury at the intruders.

Death’s Head stepped in front of the six humans. “I can kill something for you now, yes?”
___

Badly damaged and with his cloak on fire in several places, Death’s Head crawled back away from his relentless opponent. He glanced to check on the condition of his clients, and did a double-take. With death imminent, HiQ was still eating. At least the others had tried to help, however futile their efforts. (They nearly got perforated by one of Death’s Head’s splinter grenades.) But ‘Optimus Prime’ seemed to care more about filling his belly.

Turning his attention back to the demon that dwarfed even him, Death’s Head assessed his chances of victory as slim to none. A strategic withdrawal was in order, yes?

“No!” objected HiQ. “If we leave, Cybertron is doomed.”

“But how can we stay?” demanded the mechanoid mercenary. “That thing seems to feed off my firepower and grow stronger, while my energy levels are dwindling. It’s draining my life reserves. I don’t think I can take many more of those flame bursts.”

“The creature absorbs energy,” said HiQ, finishing his last bite. “It and I have a lot in common in that respect. But thanks to the food you provided, I am at full power now. Join with me, Death’s Head. Let me use my Powermaster abilities to recharge your batteries, and you will have the strength to prevail.”
___

Death’s Head felt more energised, more alive than ever before as he swung around the demon’s upper arm, avoiding its white-hot breath, and sank his axe into the back of its neck. Clutching onto its spiky shoulder-blades, he hacked away until its head was severed from its body, and the massive frame crashed to the floor of the underground chamber. Death’s Head was thrown off and rolled away, coming up on one knee near to HiQ. He deftly switched his axe hand for a plasma blaster, but his defeated foe lay still. It was over.

HiQ looked at the tin he had been eating from. Part of the label was missing, but it had apparently contained a leafy green Earth vegetable called ‘PINAC’.
___

Complex mechanical parts formed themselves from simple slabs of metal. Circuits took shape in the air as nanobots coalesced. The energy of the Creation Matrix coursed through the elemental fabric of the planet, converging between the Last Autobot and HiQ, manifesting itself once more in a single point. All the component parts merged fluidly around the hovering Nebulan, encasing him, transforming him, filling him with the power of the Matrix, until the puny organic life-form was gone, and there was only… him.

Death’s Head watched from the shadows, impressed. Perhaps this was a planet he could do business with after all…

Or 'Top Secret' and 'The Reckoning', which act as a coda to 'Another Time and Place':

SPOILER: Click to show

TOP SECRET

SECDEF/02136/91

DATE: November 15th 1991

TO: Secretary of Defense

FROM: Walter Barnett, Director, Intelligence and Information Institute

CC LIST: Special Advisor G.B. Blackrock
General Clayton Abernathy
SHIELD Director Nick Fury

SUBJECT

1. Ongoing liaison with Autobots.

TIMING

2. Routine.

ISSUE

3. Working arrangements for long-term co-operation with and monitoring of Autobots still at large on US soil.

RECOMMENDATION

4. That you authorize the final working arrangements at Annex B.

BACKGROUND

5. In SECDEF/01892/91 you noted that:

5.1 NATO special forces had completed dismantling and transporting the modified Autobot asteroid-clearing vessel “Ark” from the crash site in Northern Canada to various secure locations for safe-keeping and reverse-engineering;

5.2 the Ark, not having been stripped by its creators, and having been constructed in large part on the Transformers’ homeworld, was a much richer find than previous quasi-Cybertronian artifacts secured and reverse-engineered by NATO (notably the abandoned Autobot outposts at Mount St Hilary and Churchill, Canada, and the abandoned Decepticon bases in Oregon, Eastern Wyoming, New Jersey and the Louisiana Bayous);

5.3 the Ark had been found to contain the corpses of two Decepticons well-known to the US Government, namely Shockwave and Starscream, and of the Autobot medic Ratchet; and

5.4 Mr Witwicky had handed over to the Canadian military the bodies of the Decepticon Galvatron (short-circuited by immersion in water following injuries sustained in the crash) and the still functioning Autobot Fortress Maximus, to whom Mr Witwicky had been bonded.

6. Following the advice of Mr Witwicky and an initial survey which confirmed that there was little to be gained in technological terms by doing otherwise, you agreed to our holding the body of Ratchet intact for return to his fellow Autobots, should the opportunity arise.

7. In SECDEF/01979/91 you noted that:

7.1 the Autobot group known as “Protectobots” had made contact with the Institute, seeking information on the whereabouts of the Ark and its contents; and

7.2 Mr Witwicky had advised that these Autobots differed from those that had vanished in December of last year in that they had been conceived by a human (his brother, apparently) and constructed and programmed on Earth using Earth materials, and that this might be the reason why they were neglected by whatever power removed the others from Earth.

8. You agreed that in line with our current Memorandum of Understanding, signed with the Autobot Sky Lynx by your predecessor in October 1988 (following the safe return to Earth of the children Allan Silver, Samuel Wainwright and Jed and Robin Lindley and our subsequent return to the Autobots of the brain modules of the five “Throttlebots”), the Institute should:

8.1 refuse the Protectobots’ request for access to the Ark’s remains and the bodies of the Decepticons, these now being NATO property;

8.2 make no attempt to detain the Protectobots against their will; and

8.3 hand over to the Protectobots the body of the Autobot Ratchet.

9. You agreed furthermore that we should retain custody of the Autobot Fortress Maximus, this being considered the former property of Mr Witwicky which he signed over voluntarily to NATO for the express purpose of using it to develop Earth’s defenses against future incursions by Decepticons. Mr Witwicky stated that this was in line with the wishes of the residual intelligence of Fortress Maximus himself.

10. You also agreed for health and safety reasons to allow the Protectobot First Aid to supervise our dismantling and analysis of the nuclear/antimatter power plants of the Decepticons Shockwave and Galvatron.

11. On August 12th of this year the UN Security Council met in closed session, attended by G.B. Blackrock and Autobot Commander Optimus Prime, both newly arrived on Earth following an eight-month absence. The minutes of this meeting (also classified as top secret) are appended to this briefing at Annex A. The topic of the meeting was the security of Earth against future Decepticon incursions. The Council noted that:

11.1 while most of the Autobots previously on Earth wished to return to their home planet of Cybertron, those created on Earth from Earth materials and programmed with loyalty first and foremost to this planet rather than to Cybertron (Jetfire, Omega Supreme, the Aerialbots and the Protectobots), belonged on Earth;

11.2 a number of Autobots from Cybertron also wished to return peacefully to Earth at some point, having developed attachments here, those named being Beachcomber, Brawn, Bumblebee, Hound, Jazz, Seaspray, Skids, Tracks, Ultra Magnus and the Micromaster Off Road and Race Car Patrols;

11.3 some Decepticons created on Earth with Earthen disguise modes remained unaccounted for, notably the Constructicons and the Combaticons;

11.4 a dozen or so Decepticons under their leader Bludgeon had escaped into space;

11.5 the Decepticons had previously viewed Earth as a resource-rich planet ripe for plunder, and, when the majority of them left last year, they did not do so by choice; and

11.6 the Transformers’ comings and goings have put Earth “on the Galactic map”, so that it has already been visited by a number of other space-faring races, including humans from the planet Nebulos, bounty-hunters, the “Cosmic Carnival”, a fugitive “Firebug” and at least one “Deathbringer”.

12. The Council agreed that:

12.1 “the genie could not be put back in the bottle” and Earth should be prepared to respond to future incursions;

12.2 those Autobots of Earthen origin whose primary programming was to defend the Earth would be welcome to remain here, subject to the provisions of a treaty to be drawn up and signed stipulating the global sharing of certain types of technology (to be confirmed, but to certainly include all means of detecting the presence of Cybertronian technology on or near Earth), the right to decline to share certain others (to be confirmed) and the absolute prohibition of proliferating certain others to those nations not already possessing them (to be confirmed, but to certainly include all weapons nuclear, chemical or biological in nature);

12.3 a limited number of Autobots who had done service in the past in defense of the Earth would also be permitted to remain indefinitely, unsupervised and unarmed on US soil;

12.4 there should be a limited-time amnesty for any Decepticons hiding on Earth who wished to surrender their arms and return peacefully to Cybertron; and

12.5 UN funding would be allocated to support a defense program that includes the mass production of Centurion units, the training of Circuit-Breaker soldiers and Road-Jammer operatives and the global roll-out of Mr Zachary’s protocols for detecting, blocking and neutralizing unauthorized Cybertronian brain patterns on the World Wide Web.

ADVICE

13. Following the public announcement of the Security Council’s resolution, the Constructicons and the Combaticons have surrendered and, in accordance with the conditions of their surrender, been deported back to Cybertron. They are being conveyed there by three of the Aerialbots, who have also requested temporary leave of absence to help the Autobot Prowl follow up a lead as to the whereabouts of Bludgeon’s group of missing Decepticons.

14. Further excavation of the Decepticons’ subterranean base at New Jersey has yielded 16 more robot corpses, which have been identified as Buzzsaw, Laserbeak, Ratbat, Skywarp, Thundercracker, the Seacons and the Terrorcons. Together with Galvatron, Shockwave, Starscream, Octane (blown up last year on a US army testing range), Wildrider (recovered from the Louisiana Bayous site), four more Stunticons (incarcerated at the Autobot Earthbase in Churchill, Canada) and the Air Strike Patrol (disabled by one of Mr Blackrock’s associates in July 1990), this brings the number of Decepticons so far decommissioned by NATO to 29.

15. The procedures for ongoing joint working with the Autobots on Earth who remain classed as military rather than civilian (and so remain under arms) have been drafted and are attached at Annex B for your consideration.

16. We recommend that you authorize these final working arrangements as drafted. Subject to your agreement, they will then be passed on for counter-signing by duly designated representatives of the other member states on the UN Security Council and Jetfire, leader of the Earthen Autobot defense forces.

17. A separate briefing will follow outlining proposed terms of reference for the task force assigned to explore the possibility of establishing bilateral diplomatic relations with the planet Nebulos, and the preliminary findings of the initial debriefing sessions held with the handful of Nebulans formerly allied to the Autobots who survived the traumatic events of the past year and have now sought temporary asylum here on Earth, particularly with regard to the likely Earthen origins of the small human colony founded on that planet some ten thousand years ago (DNA analysis pending).

CLEARANCE

18. This advice has been approved by General Clayton Abernathy of G.I. Joe and Nick Fury of SHIELD.

SPOILER: Click to show

THE RECKONING

“You’re free.”

For long seconds, the eleven Decepticons didn’t grasp Prowl’s meaning.

“I don’t understand,” ventured Onslaught at last.

“I’m turning you loose. I don’t like it, but Optimus was very insistent on this. I have nothing to charge you with, so I have to let you go.”

Still they hadn’t moved. Prowl began to wonder if getting them out of his holding facility in Iacon was going to be harder than getting them into it. There was nothing for it but to spell it out for them.

“Blast Off. Matrixed by tapping into the Creation Matrix in 1987. Profile says, and I quote, ‘He is cruelly efficient at raining destruction down on the world below.’ But according to our records, you have never actually done so. Battles known to have participated in, six. Confirmed kills, Autobot and human combined, zero.

“Mixmaster. Profile says, ‘Nothing is safe from Mixmaster’s seething cauldron. He will use any material necessary, whether unliving rock or living robot, in the making of some new material.’ Tell me, how many living robots have you used as raw material in your seething cauldron in your seven-year lifetime?”

“Er… Soundwave may have exaggerated when he wrote that bit. He was very enthusiastic in mentoring us new combiner teams and selling us to our leaders.”

“Scrapper. Profile talks about ‘overcoming an enemy Autobot and secreting his body in the foundation or structural skeleton of one of his buildings’. Ever actually done that?”

“It was on my to-do list.”

“What, overcoming an enemy Autobot? I have your score down as battles, eight, enemies defeated, zero. I’m not sure you’ve actually even spoken to an Autobot before today.”

“I have actually sold oil to an Arab sheikh,” said Swindle, pointing proudly at his own profile. “And I would have killed that used-car dealer if Blaster hadn’t thrown off my aim.”

“I blew up a human tank one time,” interjected Brawl.

“I did mention that to Optimus,” Prowl nodded morosely. “But he pointed out that the tank fired first. You’re a sorry bunch of Decepticons, really. Bruticus and Devastator, both apparently capable of pulverising a suspension bridge with a single punch. Never actually got round to doing it. It’s no good. You just weren’t in the war long enough. You’ll have to go.”

Onslaught transformed and Prowl stepped to one side to let him depart through the wide-open door. The Combaticon paused. “Aren’t you taking a risk, though? I heard you let Bludgeon get away, and he came back and almost succeeded in reviving Megatron.”

“Megatron’s dead. Bludgeon’s dead. So are all those who foolishly followed him – Soundwave, Ravage, Krok, Treadshot, the Duocons, the Firecons, the Powermasters, the Triggercons, the surviving Decepticon Headmasters, Targetmasters and Pretenders. They were all war criminals, guilty of genocide on Cybertron and on Klo – some of them also guilty of killing civilians on Nebulos, Earth and Hydrus Four. Even if we hadn’t got them, even if they’d brought Megatron back to life, their luck would have run out. They had simply clocked up too many enemies.”

“Unlike us.”

“Yeah, unlike you. Don’t get me wrong, I know you’ve been programmed as Decepticons – albeit not all of you as warriors. But we can’t punish you for things you haven’t done. There are some programmed as Autobots who turn out bad – the converse may also be true.”

“That’s Prime talking, not you.”

“OK, this is me talking now: Onslaught, I know you’re not an idiot. We’re on a restored Cybertron, ‘Saturn-sized’ by the humans’ reckoning, a planet that four million years ago was home to billions of Autobots. The war is over, and a few hundred of us survived. You can walk out that door and start declaring everything you see as Decepticon territory. No-one will care. The planet’s too big. You can stake a claim to a piece the size of Earth and nobody will notice. There are creatures from the Underworld to look out for, mind you, and a whole host of alien races seeking plunder. I’d avoid them if I were you.”

“Our weapons?”

“You might as well take them. You’d find new ones soon enough if I kept them.”

“So, unconditional freedom, then.”

“No, there are two conditions. When in Autobot-held parts of Cybertron, you will obey Autobot laws or be subject to punishment proportionate to your transgressions, and if you come within a light-year of Earth, your planet of birth, ever again, your right to continued existence is forfeit. Other than that, knock yourselves out.”

“I understand. Let’s go.”

Onslaught hadn’t phrased it as a command, Prowl realised. The Decepticon army had been disbanded, and he was no longer their commanding officer. “Wait,” he said.

“What?”

“Trypticon has been sighted in Kalis, sheltering Pounce, Wingspan and the Sports Car Patrol. The aliens have steered clear of him so far. He might offer you some protection.”

They left. And that was that.

Prowl looked up at the rotating three-dimensional, translucent holographic map of the planet Cybertron. Iacon and its suburbs were highlighted in red. That was as much territory as the Autobots could ever find a use for or hope to hold, even if, with the aid of the Last Autobot, they repaired all their injured comrades whose brain modules remained intact. Much larger parts of the planet were being claimed by the Quintessons, the Tyroxians and a dozen other space-faring races. And why not? The surviving Transformers had no use for a planet this big. Why had they stopped Unicron from devouring it, if not for it to be repopulated by somebody?

He wondered what would become of the Combaticons and Constructicons. Most likely, they’d get into a fight with aliens and be overwhelmed by sheer numbers. Then again, Onslaught had a brain, and Swindle had negotiating skills. Perhaps they’d make it to Kalis.

He looked down his list. There were worse Decepticons still at large, Decepticons who had spent millions of years clocking up charges of cold-blooded serial murder. Macabre and Octane were dead, but eight members of the original Mayhem Attack Squad were still unaccounted for. So were the Predacons, Sixshot and a few non-entities like Frenzy, Rumble, Overkill, Slugfest and Reflector.

They might be on Cybertron, or they might be halfway across the Galaxy by now.

In the unlikely event that they showed up again in his jurisdiction, they would be dealt with as Bludgeon had been dealt with. Like Onslaught, Prowl was no longer an officer in an army. But he would always be a policeman.

The continuity is intentionally a bit hazy in the last two stories because they assume that the events in the Earthforce saga also occurred somewhere during the last ten TF US issues but don't establish exactly when or how.

Martin

[Fortmax2020]

This is why Martin must never stop writing.

[Andy Turnbull]

Excellent!

Nice to see some fiction from you again Martin.

Love your post Marvel work, it's a rich setting, again I love G2 - but I wish they'd made G2 further in the future, it would have been nice to reintroduce Transformers to an Earth that had learned to defend itself.

Andy

[Grand Moff Muffin]

UNICRON

PART 1

"Where is everyone?" wondered Grimlock. "It like they got in Earth orbit, cloaked the ship from all detection devices... and vanished! If not for homing beacon in shuttle, we never find Ark at all. Be still floating aimlessly in space!"

"And it's not just the Ark that's been abandoned, Grimlock," said Snarl. "I've scanned the whole planet and found only one Transformer life-signal. Even that's a strange one. It seems to be in not one, but two parts!"

"Who?"

"Bruticus. He's in two parts, at the bottom of the Hudson River."

"Keep trying, Snarl," said Grimlock. "Me not come halfway across Galaxy from Hydrus Four just to find one Transformer."

"All right, boss, but if there are any more Transfomers down there, they must be in disguise mode and so shielded from the Ark's sensors. Oh no, wait! I've got one more. Skids has just radioed in, requesting a pick-up."

"Skids is slacker. Claimed he trapped in Limbo dimension all the time me Autobot Leader. Me find story highly suspicious. Still, send pod to pick him up."

"I reckon I've cracked it, Grimlock," announced Swoop. "Should be able to pilot the Ark alone. Where should I head, once Skids is aboard?"

"Cybertron, Swoop. Wherever Prime and others are, threat of Unicron still exist. That where battle be!" He activated the Ark's intercom. "Sludge, come in. How long till other Autobots activated?"

"Not long at all. But... erm, don't you think we should check on who we're reviving before we start pumping Nucleon into the life-support pods?"

"They all Autobots, so what problem?" Grimlock retorted. "Just get on with it!"

"You heard the boss, Slag. Hit the switch!"

"No, wait!"

"What is it, Grimlock?"

"Don't reactivate Galvatron."

"What?"

"You know, Galvatron. Future version of Megatron, nearly beaten by Dinobots couple of times, then sucked up into rift in sky before Dinobots could finish job."

"I know who Galvatron is, Grimlock, but he was sucked up into a rift in the sky."

"Yes, then come back and snuck on Ark, revived Prowl and others with some mind-bug thing, got knocked out by own mind-bug and put in life-support pod."

"If you say it happened, boss, then it happened, but... There is a pod labelled Galvatron, but it's empty."

"What?!"

On the bridge, Grimlock did a double-take and spun around as if expecting the future Decepticon to be standing right behind him. He listened in silence for a minute. Nothing.

"Okay, then. Revive other Autobots quickly, and keep optics peeled for Galvatron."

Sludge shrugged and gave Slag the nod. "Hit it!"

As the Nucleon flowed into the pods, Slag scanned down the latest patient roster compiled by Fixit. "Monsterbots, blown apart by the Decepticons' flying island. Beachcomber, mauled by Mindwipe. Powerglide, strafed by Slugslinger. Autobots deactivated with us in battle with Starscream: Blaster, Bluestreak, Brawn, Gears, Hoist, Hound, Jetfire, Mirage, Omega Supreme, Perceptor, Technobots, Throttlebots. More recent injuries: Seaspray, sunk by Submarauder. Landmine, zapped by a Matrix-wielding Thunderwing. Ironhide, stomped on by Devastator. Autobots undergoing treatment for injuries sustained during a mission to the Acid Wastes that brought them into conflict with some Decepticon called Megadeath: Prowl, Silverbolt, Sunstreaker, Wheeljack."

"That's surely enough to be getting on with," said Sludge. "Keep the juice flowing, and we'll have most of that lot back on their feet by the time we get to Cybertron."
___

Cybertron.

Battletrap made his way back down to the Primal Chamber.

"Did you lot hear all that down here?"

"Hear all what?" asked Ultra Magnus, without looking up from his work.

"Xaaron/Primus, holding forth on cocoons of absolute nothingness, and savage irony, and mental links, and the universe being doomed if we don't beat Unicron. And he's made Optimus Prime Leader of Everybody."

"Uh-huh. How does Everybody feel about that?"

"Depends who you ask."

"Uh-huh. Well, I'm more concerned with Primus/Xaaron than with Xaaron/Primus just now. Has Unicron arrived yet?"

"No."

"Well, we've still got time. Flywheels - are you ready for me to turn the power back on?"

At that moment, the chamber shook and Wingspan flew in past Battletrap, squawking:

"Unicron's here!"

"Damn."

TO BE CONTINUED

[Fortmax2020]

IT NEVER ENDS.

Right..?

[Andy Turnbull]

A missing Galvatron?

Ooooh..,

Andy

[Grand Moff Muffin]

Jun 4, 2018 22:28:55 GMT Andy Turnbull said:

A missing Galvatron?

But we know he's been busy on Cybertron.

Unless there are three Galvatrons...

Hey, what a great title for a follow-up to 'Two Megatrons'...

Martin

[Andy Turnbull]

If we have the Marvel UK continuity there are three Galvatrons (strictly speaking four if you count the post Time Wars future Galvatron).

1 - Target: 2006 Galvatron.
2 - Aspects of Evil Galvatron
3 - Rhythms of Darkness Galvatron.

[Philip Ayres]

THERE ARE FOUR GALVATRONS!!!!

[Grand Moff Muffin]

But I'm not sure if we ever had two Galvatrons in the same time - just Galvatron and Megatron together, or two Megatrons. But if the 'Perchance to Dream' Galvatron is not the 'Rhythms of Darkness' Galvatron...

Martin

[Andy Turnbull]

He really shouldn't be, unless there is some major handwaving involved.

Rhythms Galvatron doesn't really need any Autobot help, he's won - sort of. The P2D Galvatron seemed to have some agenda that had been interrupted of which we don't know anything, and the fact he was back in time and working surreptiously suggests whatever timeframe he is from he is not in the ascendancy.

Andy

[Grand Moff Muffin]

It's an interesting thought. I'd always assumed they were one and the same, but I guess I'll leave it ambiguous in my story. All I've established is that 'Perchance to Dream' and 'The Magnificent Six' occurred at some point before 'Surrender' in this continuity.

I suppose Galvatron's nightmare of a monstrous Rodimus Prime with a massive sword backs up your thought that he comes from a future that is less pleasant for him than the 'Rhythms' one.

Martin

[Andy Turnbull]

It also allows for more story potential.

How did this Galvatron get back in time? Was it using a Time Jump device and if so who has been mass-substituted in his place?

We've seen Unicron use his own method of Time Travel, was it similar?

Is there anyone hunting this Galvatron?

Andy

[Fortmax2020]

A Rodimus Prime with less doubt and more aggression from the looks of things. The Rodimus Prime that carries a Unicron-possessed Matrix perhaps?

Galvatron could easily be the hero here trying to stop such a dangerous being...

[Grand Moff Muffin]

UNICRON

PART 2

(Note: I have renamed the Xaaron bonus chapter as Unicron Part 1.)

Then:

Lunar dawn was approaching as the Autobots and neutralists reached the site once, long ago, occupied by the data store known as Underbase. "Let's get on with it, Autobots," said Silverbolt. "We've still got a mission to finish, you know. So let's move like we've got a purpose!"

"Six we may be," said Jazz, his eyes - though still full of hurt and remorse - beginning to clear, "but not magnificent!"

Now:

Prowl, Silverbolt, Sunstreaker and Wheeljack stood before Grimlock on the Ark, speeding towards Cybertron.

"Let me get straight," grumbled the Dinobot Commander. "Some time after Galvatron accidentally revive you four and Ironhide from Underbase-induced comas, Prime send you with Inferno and Jazz to Acid Wastes to try find Matrix substitute at original Underbase site - without telling me, Grimlock, your commanding officer. And you say you succeed."

"Not exactly," said Prowl. "We went looking for a new source of power to destroy Unicron, but all we found was remnants of the Underbase data store - including a detailed blueprint of Unicron's body."

"So show blueprint."

"We can't," explained Wheeljack. "Like all Underbase knowledge, it was too much for any one mind to possess without causing madness or death. The only way we could get it out was by splitting it into six parts and recording a part of it in each of our minds. Individually, the six parts are incomprehensible, but connecting us together will generate a complete picture of Unicron in both modes, inside and out... in theory."

"It could make the difference between extinction and victory in the coming battle," added Sunstreaker.

"Trouble is, we suffered serious damage from the environment and inhabitants of the Acid Wastes before we finally made it out, so that when the other Aerialbots picked us up, only Inferno with his tough skin and Jazz with his Pretender shell were still functional. The four of us have been inoperative ever since, until you revived us with Nucleon," concluded Silverbolt. "But if we can find Inferno and Jazz when we get to Cybertron, it may not be too late to link us up and find Unicron's weak points."

"Pah!" snorted Grimlock. "Too many ifs, buts and maybes. When we get Cybertron, we fight and defeat Unicron by combined might, not combined brains." And with that he stormed out.

"I'll keep trying," Prowl told his three exasperated comrades.
___

On Earth, Smokescreen had been leading Cliffjumper, Sideswipe and Windcharger on a deep cover mission to shadow the Decepticon mercenary known as Dealer in an attempt to expose his alleged Autobot disguise mode, when suddenly the three red warriors and the missile trailer they were following vanished in a flash of light, leaving Smokescreen all alone.

Being undercover at the time, the four Autobots had ignored Optimus Prime's general summons to surrender to Scorponok, but when everyone else suddenly disappeared, Smokescreen headed to New York at top speed, and approached the Decepticons' base. Night had fallen by the time he arrived, and the humans had all gone home, but Smokescreen could make out the silhouette of the Constructicon Hook in vehicle mode, raising something that looked like half a giant robot out of the Hudson.

Smokescreen began to roll in for a closer look when deep in the shadows a motorcycle started up and moved to bar his way, keeping its lights switched off. The woman riding the bike removed her helmet and Smokescreen recognised her as Scarlett, an operative of 'G.I. Joe - The Action Force' who had befriended the Protectobot Blades in London a few years earlier. And the bike she was riding was the Protectobot Groove.

"I'd keep away if I were you," said Scarlett. "We've got Constructicons and Combaticons in the area, no doubt thinking the Autobots are responsible for the sudden disappearance of all the other active Decepticons. And given our proximity to the city, the top brass don't want any more fighting here."

"So the Decepticons aren't responsible?" came the reply from Smokescreen's facsimile construct driver.

"Not as far as we can make out," spoke up Groove. "Autobot and Decepticon alike have been spirited away, and the Ark has left Earth orbit. We're stranded!"

"All right. Maintaining deep cover it is, then. Will the Joes help us?"

"We've been through a lot together, and we take care of our friends," said Scarlett. "Let's go quickly."
___

Unicron approached Cybertron from out of the tail gases of a passing comet, and he approached from the opposite side from where Xaaron/Primus was gathering his forces. He drifted in on autopilot, but his massive bulk was nonetheless detected by the Decepticon stronghold on that side of the planet.

Decepticon war-lord Gutcruncher was sitting on his Stratotronic Jet Throne, hovering over the beast pits where the bounty-hunter Axer had gathered a wild array of semi-sentient Cybertronian creatures, going by such unlikely names as Catgut, Firebeast, Fistfight, Gatoraider, Glitch, Lionizer, Needler, Push-Button, Razor-Sharp, Scorpulator, Screech, Sights, Top-Heavy, Tyrannitron and Wingthing, and he was in the midst of wondering how best to sell them to the Junkions for maximum profit when his henchmen, Krok, Banzai-Tron, Charger, Slicer, Take-Off and Treadshot, burst in with the news.

"Call Scorponok at once!" panicked Gutcruncher. "What's the point of him consolidating our forces on the wrong side of the planet?"

"Can't get through to him," shrugged Krok. "Unicron is jamming all communications with static, including all our satellites."

"Then we must evacuate at once!"

But his fears were groundless, for Unicron began to orbit Cybertron, moving away from their position. He passed over Autobase 6, commanded by the strategist Jackpot. After an hour or so he overtook a convoy of tanks - Big Shot, Flak, Grand Slam, Sidetrack and Warpath - heading in the same direction in response to Prime's summons. It would all be over by the time they arrived. A while later he passed over Trypticon in battle station mode, carrying his fellow Decepticon Pounce and the Autobots Outback, Pipes and Tailgate. They would also arrive far too late. As he approached his destination, he detected the aerial Autobots Cloudraker, Dogfight, Doubleheader, Gunrunner, Raindance and Sunrunner flying in formation with their sworn enemies, the Decepticons Darkwing, Dirge, Dreadwind, Ramjet, Thrust and Windsweeper. And finally he saw the beast-like Transformers, Beastbox, Carnivac, Chainclaw, Overkill, Ramhorn, Ravage, Slugfest, Squawktalk and Steeljaw, hunting down and destroying the last members of the Cult of Unicron, who had evidently failed in their one simple task of eliminating the leader of the combined Cybertronian forces.

And as Unicron orbited Cybertron, he slowly transformed to robot mode.

TO BE CONTINUED

[Grand Moff Muffin]

UNICRON

PART 3

If Unicron had attacked Cybertron at the height of the war, before the Ark left Cybertron, he would have faced a force of several hundred thousand Transformers, who would most likely have been able to destroy him with conventional firepower.

When he actually attacked, in 1991, four million years had passed, and the Cybertronian Autobots and Decepticons numbered several hundred, with the Decepticons outnumbering the Autobots two-to-one, not counting an unknown number of neutrals in hiding, many of whom had never been engineered to transform, let alone fight.

Landfill, Quickmix, Scoop, Backstreet and Swerve, survivors of Autobase 1, met up with Overdrive's contingent from Autobase 2, consisting of Red Alert, Hubcap, Camshaft, Downshift, Fastlane, Override, Pincher and the Construction Patrol. They were joined on the ground by Sky Lynx, Quickswitch, Whirl, the Air Patrol and the rest of the Elite Flying Corps, while Trailbreaker emerged cautiously from underground with Skater, the Sparkabots and the Powerdashers in tow, followed by the Decepticons Flattop and Roughstuff.

Skystalker approached from the east with an army of over a hundred Decepticon Micromasters, while Sixshot arrived from the south-west with the Pretender Monsters and a platoon of Firecons. Both Decepticon factions were minded to attack the Autobots on sight until Galvatron had a 'quiet word' with the two leaders, which caused them to quieten down somewhat.

Xaaron/Primus teleported around a hundred Transformers from Earth to Cybertron, with Autobots and Decepticons in roughly equal numbers. Optimus Prime's Autobots included seven Headmasters, six Targetmasters, seven Pretenders (including Jazz and Bumblebee), four Powermasters and twelve Micromasters. Among Scorponok's Decepticons were nine Headmasters, three Targetmasters, ten Pretenders (counting Starscream), three Insecticons and two Battlechargers.

Other Autobots and Decepticons were arriving on the scene in smaller groups. Unicron sensed fewer than five hundred armed warriors in total in his primary target area, which centred on Xaaron/Primus, Optimus Prime and Scorponok.

Easy meat, he thought.
___

Unicron's first mouthful contained three unfortunate Micromaster bases and their crews, while his second consisted solely of Brainstorm and his Nebulan partner, Arcana. The Transformers fled in disarray. Unicron's third morsel amounted to a few buildings, population unknown. He took his time initially, savouring the terror of his victims, but soon grew impatient and cut loose with his eye beams, destroying many such as Apeface, Spasma, Hosehead, Lug, Sureshot, Spoilsport and Runamuck.

Ultra Magnus's Duocon friends returned to the surface with Wingspan to join Astrotrain, Blitzwing, Bludgeon and the other survivors from the last three generations of the Mayhem Attack Squad in their stand against Unicron. Ultra Magnus followed minutes later with the Guardian unit into which they had transferred the consciousness that spoke with the voice of Emirate Xaaron, previously trapped in the face of Primus. Magnus ordered Grapple and Huffer to return to the Primal Chamber, disconnect the cables and secure the room from any further outside interference.

Shockwave and Starscream transformed and flew away at top speed, while G.B. Blackrock and the Neo-Knights sought for cover.

"We're going to get annihilated if this carries on!" shouted Kickback to his fellow Insecticons. "The Transformers have to fight back, somehow."

"Get me connected to the planetary power grid and I'll give Unicron a planet-sized power surge," suggested Shrapnel.

"That won't stop him," argued Bombshell. "But I've got something that might do the job if I could only get hooked up to a terminal linked to his brain."

"What are you talking about?" wondered Tracks.

"I have a copy of the Creation Matrix's life program stored in my memory banks, hacked from Optimus Prime when I briefly got a cerebro shell inside him. I used it at the time to give life to the Stunticons and Combaticons, but I told nobody that I'd managed to retain a copy, which I used covertly years later to restore our friends, Astrotrain, Blitzwing and Octane, after the Underbase incident."

"If you've got the Matrix, can't you just blast Unicron with it?" demanded Sideswipe.

"It's just the software, not the full Matrix energy. I can't just zap him with it. I have to upload it into his computer systems directly."

"That's not going to happen," decided Kickback. "Come on, all of you - let's try to put Shrapnel's plan into operation."
___

In the shrine of Primus, Grapple and Huffer were just tidying up when the face of Primus spoke.

"Huf-fer..."

"What the-? Xaaron!" gasped Huffer. "Are you still inside that thing?"

"Then who's in that Guardian unit that left with Ultra Magnus?" wondered Grapple.
___

"A good deception, Primus," said Unicron. "You almost had me convinced! But you should have pressed your advantage when you had it! With Unicron - there are no second chances!"

With that, the Chaos-Bringer's eye beams vaporised Xaaron/Primus.

The Guardian unit, standing and watching beside Ultra Magnus, lit up with Matrix energy and levitated off the ground.

"My turn now," it said.

TO BE CONTINUED

[Andy Turnbull]

Excellent stuff.

Hope you don't mind but I've done an accompanying image for the Xaaron tale, the first of a few as I have Primus move to wakefulness.

[Grand Moff Muffin]

Wahey! Thank you, Andy!

Martin

[Grand Moff Muffin]

UNICRON

PART 4

"We are... not alone," Xaaron told Grapple and Huffer. "This face of Primus is just one of many hidden access terminals scattered around the planet."

"What do they give access to?" asked Grapple.

"The great, lost mainframe of Cybertron. Call it the mind of Primus if you like, but there are many sentient minds in here with me, and they all tell slightly different versions of our origin story..."
___

Galvatron shot Unicron in the face and got smacked through a city suburb for his trouble. But this very visible display of defiance gave the Transformers the courage to turn and fight, and Unicron found himself on the receiving end of the full firepower of the combined Autobot and Decepticon armies.

It wasn't enough.

Highbrow, Gort, Cloudburst, Finback, Misfire, Aimless, Hardhead, Duros and Bomb-Burst died in the first few minutes alone.

"Yess! This is more like it!" crowed Unicron as his eye beams tore through Skystalker's mobile Micromaster city, blasting bases, battle stations and combiner transports into oblivion. He descended to one knee to better perceive the havoc he was wreaking, and his displacement of the air caused gale-force winds that snuffed out the flames of the surviving Firecons.

Thrust's powerful acceleration created a shock-wave that knocked Unicron's head sideways, and the Chaos-Bringer paused, suddenly worried that perhaps he had made a terrible mistake in coming to Cybertron. He rose to his full height, his head now above Cybertron's atmosphere where he could no longer hear the fear-inducing sound of Dirge's engines, and his confidence returned.

"His foot!" cried Optimus Prime. "Waverider, Quake, Joyride - concentrate your fire on one foot!"

They did, creating a hole large enough for a Transformer to enter Unicron, but the eye beams lashed downwards, utterly obliterating Waverider, Joyride and Hotwire and lifting Optimus Prime off his feet to come crashing down several miles away.

Quake transformed to robot mode, wondering why he was still alive, and Trailbreaker shut down his hastily erected force-field. "Why?" demanded Quake.

"I had no time to think," the Autobot replied. "Only time to save one. You had two Nebulans, Joyride only one. Maybe if I'd had a second longer I'd have chosen differently."

Scorponok watched in horror as another blast from those awful eye beams ended the lives of Beastbox, Roadgrabber, Skyhopper, Squawktalk and fifteen more Cybertronian Decepticons. Ground Forces Commander Roadblock rallied his surviving troops and led them in through the hole in Unicron's foot, but their bravery led to their death as they had no idea where to go once inside, and were soon cut to pieces by Unicron's razor-clawed antibodies.

In despair, Scorponok tore away at Unicron's metal skin with his bare hands and was hit by a blast of superheated plasma fired from Unicron's robot mouth.

Unicron decided it was time to turn the slaughter up a notch, and released his life-destroying gas, lethal to the touch, which spread out like a mist from around his ankles, annihilating any who came into contact with it. The Pretender Monsters found themselves surrounded and fired all their weapons in desperation, but were soon destroyed. The Cybertronian Decepticon army was taking enormous casualties.

Then Primus - or something pretending to be Primus - was there in the form of the shining Guardian unit. With a gesture, Guardian/Primus connected himself to Cybertron's weather-control network and enhanced its capabilities, summoning in a matter of seconds a bewildering array of atmospheric vortices, precisely calculated to whip Unicron's death mist harmlessly into the upper atmosphere where it dispersed into space.

Unicron snarled at the sight of his greatest weapon being neutralised.

"Pathetic," he began to say, but was cut short when the Ark struck him a blow to the jaw as it dropped out of hyperspace, knocking him off-balance.

"Now we kick Unicron's tail across universe!" announced Grimlock, bailing out with his fellow Dinobots after Prowl and Wheeljack. "Autobots, attack!"

Wheeljack activated the solid-fuel rockets in his arms, caught up with Prowl and grabbed him before he could crash into the ground. Silverbolt followed, carrying Sunstreaker, who in turn carried the last of Grimlock's Nucleon. "I've picked up traces of Inferno and Jazz," said Wheeljack. "Their sky-sleds have been shot down. Come on - we'll need that Nucleon if we're to get them back on their feet and get those plans of Unicron's interior."

Three shuttlecraft set down and the Autobots arriving on the Ark disembarked. Jetfire led the aerial reinforcements to the aid of the dwindling Cybertronian air force, Omega Supreme launched his rocket module into space to join Astrotrain, Countdown, Cosmos, Skyhammer and the Astro Squad in their attack on Unicron from above. And on the ground, cries of "Monsterbots, destroy," "Technobots, combine," and "Throttlebots, roll," gave heart to the exhausted resistance.

For the first time in four million years, the Autobots were now the dominant force on Cybertron. And they would fight alongside their sworn enemies to save their lost planet.

TO BE CONCLUDED