//------------------------------// // Prologue, Part 1 // Story: War in Equestria // by FlamingSamurai //------------------------------// The yellow and black robot with blue optics stood in a lonely corridor on board the Ark, staring out into the blackness of space. The only thing keeping the void from looking any darker than it already looked was the bright collection of stars that seemed far off in the distance. It was almost like looking up at a peaceful night sky from his home planet. He would have enjoyed the view more if not for the circumstances he was in. He was at war, running from the very monsters that had left his home in ruin. His home world, Cybertron, was once a proud world, peaceful and just. The beings who inhabited it were metallic giants, able to change their form into vehicular modes for stealth and convenience of travel. A long time ago, the people of Cybertron flourished under the reign of Zeta Prime, a wise and noble leader who wanted nothing more than the safety and welfare of his people. But this all came to an end when a young gladiator named Megatron led an uprising, killing Zeta and bringing a new age to Cybertron: the age of the Decepticons. The Decepticons ruled over Cybertron with an iron fist, crushing anyone who dared to cross them. Only those Cybertronians who were loyal to Zeta Prime were brave enough to fight back against the Decepticons. Taking the title of “Autobots”, the rebels engaged the Decepticons in centuries of civil war under the leadership of Sentinel, a powerful former gladiator and Zeta’s successor as “Prime”. But towards the end of the war, Sentinel met his end at the hands of Megatron during the battle of Iacon, the home city of the Autobots. Following this battle, a new Prime emerged in the form of Sentinel’s military protégé, a young and gentle Cybertronian named Optimus. Optimus was a former librarian who deep down did not believe in violence as a means to achieve peace, but agreed to become the Autobots’ next leader in order to save his home planet and honor his mentor’s memory. Under Optimus Prime's leadership, the Autobots managed to quash most of Megatron’s plans and help liberate cities affected by the Decepticons’ tyranny all across Cybertron. But Megatron refused to give up and what happened next, no one saw coming. He launched a plan so massive, so destructive, that the entire planet was left in mere ruin. Knowing that Cybertron could no longer support life, Optimus launched an exodus from his beloved home world in order to save the remaining neutral Cybertronians and Autobots. Now Optimus and his inner circle had left Cybertron, but they were not alone. Megatron and his own inner circle were hot on their tailpipes… “Bumblebee?” The yellow and black Autobot was torn from his flashbacks and turned around. Standing before him was a red, black, and blue Autobot, tall and muscular, and bearing two Autobot insignias, one on each shoulder. A large sword with ancient Cybertronian tattoos was being stored on his back. He himself was large, towering over Bumblebee by nearly half a normal sized Cybertronian in height and he seemed to have a concerned expression on his face. “Uh… sorry, Optimus”, Bumblebee stammered. “You need something from me?” “I noticed that you were not present during Ultra Magnus’ briefing. Are you alright?” “I… I…” Bumblebee fought to get the words out. He had always looked up to Optimus, like so many others did. But Bumblebee had a deeper connection to him. During the war, Bumblebee was a neutral courier bot, sending messages to refugees being sheltered in Iacon by the Autobots from various cities all over the planet. He even risked life and limb in Decepticon-controlled cities like Kaon and even Trypticon, the latter of which was capable of transforming into an enormous monstrosity. Bumblebee wanted to stay out of the war, believing that violence would get him no where. But then he was captured in a Decepticon-controlled city called Tyger Pax and tortured for information on the location of the refugees in Iacon by Megatron himself. Bumblebee refused to give them up and took quite a beating before Optimus himself rescued him. After that, Bumblebee was convinced that he needed to stop running in a world that was out to get bots like him and he joined the Autobots as a member of Optimus’ personal squadron, Team Prime. A young bot fresh onto the battlefield, Bumblebee desperately wanted to prove to Optimus that he could make a difference in this war, but many of his fellow Autobots rarely gave him a chance to prove his worth. It was making him wonder if he had joined the Autobots for nothing. Bumblebee sighed. “I don’t know, Optimus. I joined the Autobots to save lives, lives that I risked to send messages to loved ones and the like as a neutral. Then when we evacuated Cybertron, several neutrals were left behind to be victims of whatever’s left of the Decepticons. I feel like I failed them just leaving them the way we did.” Optimus walked over to Bumblebee and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Your concern for Cybertron’s civilian population is welcome, my friend,” Optimus said. “But we had no choice. With all the damage that Megatron caused with “Operation: Devastation”, leaving our home was the only way to save those fortunate enough not to be directly part of this horrible conflict. It’s true that we were unable to evacuate all of them before Megatron arrived in Iacon, trying desperately to stop the launch of the Ark, but we left Cybertron in capable hands.” “Right.” Bumblebee looked down at the floor, in the space in between his and Optimus’ feet. “Rodimus.” He then looked up at his leader with a hint of worry on his face. “Do you really think that he’ll be able to handle Galvatron and Straxus? You know what they did to Metalhawk and the Elite Guard!” Optimus closed his eyes for a moment and bowed his head for a moment before opening them again to look at his most trusted scout. “I know,” Optimus spoke solemnly. “Metalhawk was a good friend and a loyal soldier. He and the Elite Guardsmen that he and Ultra Magnus commanded were both dedicated to saving Cybertron and possessed an undying sense of bravery. While their loss was a crippling blow to our cause, Rodimus has proven that he can withstand anything Galvatron and Straxus could ever throw at him. I know he and the Autobots who volunteered to stay behind with him will do us proud.” Bumblebee said nothing, staring at the hand Optimus had placed on his shoulder. He, too, closed his eyes for a moment and thought about the friends he had lost at the hands of the Decepticons. “I was there when it happened, you know,” Bumblebee said, not even turning his head to look at his leader. “Metalhawk and I didn’t exactly get along very well, but I still cared about him. There used to be sixteen Elite Guard soldiers, including him and Ultra Magnus. Now, there’s only three. I… I should have done something. It should have been-“ He was cut off as Optimus placed both hands on his arms. Bumblebee looked up at Optimus’ face, now in a stern expression. “Bumblebee,” Optimus began, “I know you wish you could have done more for them at Darkmount, but you cannot keep dwelling on the past. Focus all of your attention on the present circumstances and how you can use them to shape the future. Metalhawk would want you to keep fighting, no matter the cost. Do as he would want you to and only through fighting on will you avenge your friends’ memories. It is only through letting them go, but not so much as you forget why you are here, will we finally defeat the Decepticons. Only then, will we be able to find a way to restore Cybertron.” Hearing that made Bumblebee smile. Listening to Optimus’ words of wisdom always did warm his spark and strike inspiration in the soldiers working under him. Bumblebee tried to thank Optimus, but the words never left his mouth before a huge explosion rocked the ship, nearly knocking both Autobots off of their feet. Once he got his bearings, Optimus tapped his fingers to the side of his helmet and activated his comm link. “Ultra Magnus, report!” Optimus barked. On the other side of the comm channel, Ultra Magnus wasted no time in reporting what had just happened. “Sir, the Nemesis has caught up to us!” he shouted back. “They’re targeting the Ark’s fuel tanks and launched tow cables at us! We’re being boarded.” “No…” Optimus muttered. If the fuel tanks were destroyed, the Autobots would be left without a ship to escape. Megatron was really going for the gusto, now. “Ultra Magnus, send any and all fliers out to sever those tow cables! We cannot allow any Decepticons to board!” “Understood, sir!” Magnus replied. “But what about our fuel tanks?” “Do you have any visual on who’s attacking them?” Optimus asked. “According to Wheeljack, it looks like Devastator and the Mayhem Attack Squad! I’ll send the Wreckers out to intercept them.” “Alright,” Optimus said. “Send them after the Mayhem Attack Squad, but keep them clear of Devastator. My team and I will take care of him”. Bumblebee’s optics widened. Devastator was a gestalt, one of the five combiners the Decepticons had at their disposal. He had laid waste to several Autobots and civilians during the war for Cybertron. What chance did Team Prime have against him? “Sir…” Ultra Magnus hesitated. “If you don’t survive against him, I fear neither will the Autobot cause.” “Very well, then,” Optimus answered. “We take down Devastator or die trying. Assume command until I return, old friend. I will contact you if we are successful in defeating him.” “Uh… alright,” Magnus answered, a hint of nervousness in his voice. “Good luck to you, sir.” “And you,” Optimus said. Then the comms went dead. Optimus turned back towards Bumblebee. “Are you sure about this, Optimus?” Bumblebee asked. “If we lose against… that thing, how will the others survive? How will we-?” Optimus silenced Bumblebee by once again placing both hands firmly on his shoulders. “Trust me,” Optimus said with determination on his face. “I have a plan.” “I hope it’s a good one,” Bumblebee said back. Optimus said nothing as a mouth plate appeared on his face. “Let’s roll.” And with that, Bumblebee activated his own mouth plate as he and Optimus took off down the corridor, the blackness of space now alight with fiery explosions. ------------------------------------------------ "THIS PLACE IS CRAWLING WITH AUTOBOTS!" "OUT OF MY WAY, VERMIN!" The Wreckers, the crack commando unit of the Autobots, couldn’t believe what they were seeing. They had heard reports of these giants back on Cybertron and even witnessed one of them tearing up the ancient city of Polyhex. But these two were different. On the left, a green and purple giant with drills replacing its hands and a red visor covering its eyes. On the right, a heavily armored and dark-colored giant with helicopter blades mounted on its left arm and a mouth plate on its face. Both were heading right for the Ark’s fuel tanks and showed no signs of slowing down. In front of both gestalts, a small group of Decepticons were advancing onto them, weapons at the ready and unwelcome smirks on their faces. The Decepticons stopped several meters in front of the Wreckers. Their leader, a strange-looking Cybertronian with blue-colored armor, a tail, sharp claws, and a face only Unicron could love stepped forward. “I’d ask if you would step aside, but that would be rather pointless, now would it?” he asked. “Do you honestly think that you can stop our giant friends here and save your precious Ark?” A blue and orange Autobot stepped forward, eyes narrowed directly at the leader of the Decepticons standing before them. He simply tossed his blaster aside, almost casually, before looking at the two giants and back to the leader again. “I’m not sure if the Wreckers can stand up to your little pets,” the Autobot said. “But I do know someone who will.” Suddenly, he threw his right arm up into the void and clenched his fist. “Commandobots! Combine into Ruination!” Suddenly, two of the Autobots behind him changed form and flew into the air before aiming at the ground just a few feet in front of their leader, much to the shock of the Decepticons present. As they landed, they changed again, this time into what appeared to be legs. The leader jumped up onto the legs and morphed his body into a large torso as two more Autobots changed form and drove towards their comrades. As the leader connected with the leg components, a large head, resembling the one belonging to the heavily-armed Decepticon giant emerged. The other two Autobots transformed and jumped into the sockets on either side of the torso component, changing into large arms. The Decepticons stood in shock at what they saw, especially when the leader noticed that the remaining five Autobots behind the giant were smiling, weapons at the ready, mimicking their actions. “H-how!?” The leader stuttered, unable to comprehend what he was staring at. “Only Decepticons had access to gestalt technology! How in Primus’ name did you-?!” One of the Wreckers, a large, green and white Autobot armed to the teeth with weaponry, stepped forward in front of Ruination, his teammates right by his side. “A few of our specialists snuck into your pal Shockwave’s lab a few days before the Ark launched. We were able to recreate the gestalt technology using a few of our own soldiers,” the Autobot said, almost casually. “You didn’t think we were gonna let you have an unfair advantage in this war, did you?” The Decepticon leader just scowled and turned upwards towards the green and purple Decepticon gestalt. “Devastator,” he ordered, “continue towards the fuel tanks. “Bruticus and the rest of us will take care of these scum.” Devastator looked back down at his commanding officer. “AS LONG AS I GET TO DESTROY SOMETHING,” the behemoth bellowed. He then lumbered around his comrades and towards the direction of the Autobots. He exchanged only a minor glance with Ruination as he passed by him. A white, orange, and blue Autobot reached for his blaster and prepared to fire on Devastator, but the Wrecker leader placed his hand on the weapon and lowered it. “No, Seaspray,” the Wrecker leader whispered. “Optimus told me he and his team would take care of him. Let’s focus on these losers, shall we?” Seaspray looked at his boss and then back to Devastator, who was simply ignoring them and heading right for the fuel tanks, several meters behind them. He then turned back to his boss again. “Aye, Hound,” he answered. “I think its time we taught these scurvy cyber-mutts a lesson in pain.” Hound smiled and turned towards the Decepticons and their odd-looking leader. “You always liked having the big guns doing your dirty work for you, huh Steeljaw?” he asked. “Why don’t you actually show me that you have the ball bearings to fight up close and personal like real bot?!” Steeljaw just smirked once more and cross his arms. “You aren’t the sharpest sword in the armory, aren’t you?” he asked. “It’s true that I prefer to use my wits to solve a situation and let others do the heavy lifting, but as leader of the Mayhem Attack Squad, the fiercest squadron the Decepticons have to offer, I think you’ll find that I have not evolved beyond the joys of combat. So…” He held up his hand and his troops and Bruticus assumed combat stances. The Wreckers, in turn, did the same, ready for whatever was coming at them. “Prepare to meet Primus!” Steeljaw’s smirk turned into a devilish grin. “Everything you know is at an end.” He then threw his hand down and Bruticus immediately jumped right at Ruination, catching him in a full-body tackle. The other Wreckers dove out of the way as the two gestalts came crashing to the ground. This did not faze Hound in the slightest, however, and as the Mayhem Attack Squad let out a battle cry and charged at him, Hound got up and charged, guns blazing. The other Wreckers wasted no time in following their commander’s lead. “COME AND GET SOME!” Hound shouted. “FOR CYBERTRON!” As he shouted those words, Hound never even cared about Devastator being sent to destroy the Ark’s fuel tanks. Optimus Prime had told him that he had a plan in motion to deal with the gestalt Decepticon. He just hoped he’d be able to make it work. --------------------------------------------- As he piloted his personal starship, the Jackhammer, around a series of explosions coming from every point imaginable, Wheeljack couldn’t help but smile. He was a Wrecker. Battle was what he and his teammates lived and breathed and he enjoyed every single minute of it. He and his copilot, a green-colored Wrecker named Bulkhead, had been assigned by Ultra Magnus to help the Aerialbots with severing the tow cables the Decepticons had launched onto the Ark, to prevent them from boarding. Bulkhead knew that several Decepticons had already gotten onto the ship; in particular, he could have sworn that he had seen Megatron’s communications officer, Soundwave, riding on one of the tow cables as it was being launched at the Ark. He just hoped his teammates could take care of him. But that was the least of his and Bulkhead’s problems. There were at least five tow cables launched at the Ark. They and the Aerialbots had managed to take out at least two of them with ease before the ‘Cons started firing at them. The two Wreckers had tried to destroy a third tow cable when two members of the Mayhem Attack Squad, Thundercracker and Sunstorm, came right at them, initiating a dogfight. Normally, Wheeljack was a stellar pilot, able to take out Decepticon flyers like there was no tomorrow. But Thundercracker and Sunstorm weren’t ordinary Decepticons. Those two were former members of the Seekers, an elite group of Decepticon flyers who served directly under Megatron and had special abilities. Thundercracker was capable of creating sonic booms with his blasters while Sunstorm was capable of absorbing energy from enemy blasters and using it against his foes with devastating force. The two of them really had Wheeljack and Bulkhead on the ropes and wanted nothing more than to blast them into space dust. “You won’t escape this time, Wheeljack!” Wheeljack could hear Sunstorm shouting. “You may have been a fine warrior in the past, but your luck runs out here!” “Heh, you wish,” Wheeljack muttered to himself. He veered a hard right as he was barely able to avoid a rocket launched by Thundercracker. He then turned around and flew straight at the two ex-Seekers. “Uh, Jackie?” Bulkhead nervously asked. “You sure that’s a good – “ He suddenly yelled out in surprise as both Decepticons fired at him. But Wheeljack was ready. Pressing the red buttons on his ship’s steering wheel, he fired a volley of plasma bolts at the oncoming missiles Thundercracker and Sunstorm were furiously trying to pump into them. The resulting explosion caused both Decepticons to yell out in surprise and veer away to avoid being hit as the Jackhammer came soaring right out of the inferno. Thundercracker and Sunstorm assumed their robot forms and fired again from their arm-mounted cannons, Thundercracker firing two sonic booms and Sunstorm unleashing a volley of flame. “Wheeljack…” Bulkhead began. “I know, I know,” Wheeljack insisted. He started to fly in a circle around the two ‘Cons thinking of a good way to bring them both down. He had one that could generate sonic booms and another that could shoot flame and absorb energy. How could he possibly work his way around… and then it hit him. “Autopilot: online,” Wheeljack said. As the ship manually began to pilot itself around the furious attacks from the Decepticons, he got out of his seat and began making his way towards the rear of the ship. “Wait a minute, Jackie! Where are you going?” Bulkhead asked. “Just try and hold them off for about two minutes, will ya? I think I figured out a way around these two jokers!” Wheeljack called back. He then went through the doorway at the rear of the ship and into the weapons locker. Bulkhead turned back towards the action and fired a few missiles at the ‘Cons to counter their attacks. “I hope you know what you’re doing, buddy,” Bulkhead muttered. Fortunately for Bulkhead, Wheeljack did. Or at leased he hoped he did. In the weapons locker, he grabbed a crate labeled “spare energon grenades” and opened up a panel in the ceiling. Swinging upwards with the crate in a fast motion, Wheeljack poked out of the hole and to the vacuum of space, shutting the hatch behind him so that nothing got sucked out. The magnetic locks on his feet allowed Wheeljack to stand on the hull of the ship so that he wouldn’t get sucked out into space, either. Activating his mouth plate, Wheeljack fired directly at Sunstorm, the shots hitting him and his body beginning to glow as a sign of the energy attack being absorbed. Enraged, Sunstorm howled, changed into his jet mode, and flew directly at Wheeljack, firing bolts of electrified energy at him. Skillfully, Wheeljack unlocked the crate he was carrying and waited for the Sunstorm to get close enough. “Like I said, Wheeljack,” Sunstorm cried. “This is where your luck ends!” Right as he said that, he got close enough to where he started firing his flamethrowers, just as Wheeljack hoped for. At that moment, he threw the crate right into the line of fire and fired two blasts from his integrated plasma guns. Inside the Jackhammer, Bulkhead felt the ship rocking violently as a large explosion went off right next to him, knocking him out of his chair and jolting the ship. Moments later, he barely managed to get onto his knees as the ship began to spiral out of control. “Autopilot: offline!” Bulkhead shouted and crawled his way into the pilot’s chair, where he placed his hands on the steering wheel. “Auto guns: online”. He then felt a small jolt before he took control of this ship, putting it back on course. He was no Wheeljack when it came to flying ships, but he could still do the job nonetheless. Bulkhead then activated the ship’s comm link. “Wheeljack, what happened? Do you read me?” Silence. “Wheeljack, do you copy? Are you alright? What was that explosion just now? What happened to Sunstorm?” No answer. Did that explosion…? “Oh, no,” Bulkhead thought. “Jackie… this can’t be how it ends. It just can’t!” He was brought back to reality as a screaming Thundercracker flew right at the ship, smashing through the glass and ripping Bulkhead out of the Jackhammer and into the cold vacuum of space by the throat. With a look of pure anger, Thundercracker tightened the grip he had made on Bulkhead’s throat and brought one his blasters to his chest, preparing another sonic boom. Rather than firing it at Bulkhead, though, he instead hesitated for a moment before he opened fire on the Jackhammer, obliterating the ship in an instant. “You Autobot fools think you’re so smart, don’t you?” he ranted through gritted teeth. “Your little friend actually managed to bring down Sunstorm, but he didn’t stop to think about what the explosion did to him!” “J-Jackie…?” Bulkhead managed to cough out. “Oh, he’s alive, I assure you,” Thundercracker said in a low voice. “But not for long. That explosion he made overrided Sunstorm’s ability to absorb energy and mostly incinerated him. Your friend got knocked away by the explosion and from what I could tell, he was out cold.” He then prepared to fire another sonic boom into Bulkhead’s chest. “Once I’m done with you, I’ll bring him straight to Lord Megatron and make sure he pays for what he’s done! But not before I offline your worthless shell! Power to the Decepticons forever – “ Suddenly, his face turned from an insane look of triumph to one of utter shock. As his breathing became heavy and rapid, Bulkhead looked down and saw a blade sticking right out of Thundercracker’s chest and then looked up over his shoulder to see who had done it. Much to his surprise, Wheeljack was there, his face and torso showing signs of burning from the explosion he had endured. In addition, his armor was cracked, his mouth plate was shattered, and there was a small hole in his midsection leaking energon. He was holding one of the two swords he had stored on his back, the blade having pierced the Decepticon’s spark. “Yeah, you might wanna put a ‘dot, dot, dot’ after that, pal,” Wheeljack groggily replied as he ripped the blade out and moved to his left as Bulkhead’s left hand became a large ball, which he used to knock Thundercracker’s dying form away into the blackness of space. Wheeljack put his sword away and Bulkhead managed to bring his wounded form over his shoulder, the rocket thrusters Wheeljack had on the back of his shoulders disengaging. “You kinda cut that one a little close, don’t ya think?” Bulkhead asked. “Hey, it worked, didn’t it?” Wheeljack replied. “I figured I could use Sunstorm’s ability to absorb energy against him, make it so that he absorbed too much of it and went kaboom. Probably should have just let his flamethrowers do the work, though. Firing at those grenades myself probably made the explosion bigger than I though it would be.” He then looked around and saw several bits of debris, realizing that his personal starship was no more. “So,” he continued, looking back at his longtime partner and friend, “how do we get back to the ship?” “Why don’t we ask him?” Bulkhead said as he pointed to something coming up in front of him. Wheeljack turned to where Bulkhead was pointing and his mouth dropped. An abnormally large, white and red Autobot flew up to them, a red visor covering his eyes and his helmet as black as night. “I don’t believe it,” Wheeljack gasped. “Superion! It works! The gestalt technology worked for us!” “INDEED. THANK YOU, WHEELJACK,” Superion, the Autobot gestalt, boomed. “YOUR CONTRIBUTION SERVES US WELL. THE TOW CABLES ARE SEVERED AND I HAVE MANAGED TO DEFEAT THE CONSTRUCTICONS. BUT THE REST OF THE AUTOBOTS ARE STILL IN DANGER. WE MUST REACH THEM BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.” “Then let’s not keep them waiting!” Wheeljack managed to cough out. “We don’t want them to have all the fun, now do we?” Superion took the two Wreckers into his hands and flew as fast as he could towards the Ark. It wasn’t until a few moments before they arrived before Bulkhead and Wheeljack noticed something else. The Decepticon warship had been devastated, like someone had cut through it with a large blade. “Uh,” Bulkhead started. “What happened to the Decepticon’s warship?” Not looking down, Superion gave his answer. “I happened. Along with Ruination.” Wheeljack couldn’t help but smile a second time.