//------------------------------// // Death From Above // Story: Transformers: Equestria's Darkest Hour // by JDPrime22 //------------------------------// -CHAPTER XVIII: DEATH FROM ABOVE- “Make deals, not war.” -Swindle INTEL: Swindle is always looking for a way to profit from the misfortune of others. Being part of the Combaticons allows Swindle the opportunity to scavenge or steal whatever he thinks he can profit from. Unlike his fellow Decepticons, Swindle doesn't really care about the fate of the universe. No, the war for Cybertron is actually a pretty good business opportunity! While he's acting as the leg of Bruticus, Swindle thinks only of what he'll get in trade for Autobot bodies he's stomping once the current battle ends. ____________________ Optimus Prime finally realized what had happened. Reaching forward, Optimus gripped where he presumed to be a leg and began to pull. Hearing a grunt of pain, Optimus opened his optics and witnessed the horror. He was flying. Looking around frantically, Optimus observed Megatron holding onto him while he was hovering above ground. Turning away, Optimus looked around to see the battle unfold from the skies. Decepticons sailed down from dropships while jets dive-bombed the crystal buildings. The smoke quickly began to rise up into the dark skies; the mixture of both ash and debris caused gray ashes to fall from the sky, the color of the sky being a dark brown. “…Megatron! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!?!” Megatron looked down and smirked at the last Prime he was holding by the shoulders. If he wanted to, Megatron could easily drop Prime, and from the height they were at, it would cause some serious damage. “Well…look who finally decided to wake-!”Megatron was saying right before he was interrupted. Optimus reared forward and grabbed Megatron’s arm, jamming it downwards. Megatron screamed in both a mixture of surprise and pain as he quickly lost his balance and plummeted towards the ground. Spinning out of control, Megatron tried his hardest to dodge the flying Decepticons in his way along with the dropships. Optimus could barely see where they were going. Jerking Megatron’s hand side to side seemed to control their flight a little, so he continued to do just that. “No one…controls…MEGATRON!!!” Megatron roared and whipped out his riot cannon. Aiming downwards, Megatron fired one blast that completely missed Optimus and struck a Decepticon dropship instead. Prime looked down to witness the dropship plummet down and crash into the street. Megatron had enough of this. At first, he just wanted to tackle Prime and finish him off quickly so he wouldn’t disturb his plans, (knowing Prime he would take any cost there was to thwart Megatron’s plans) but now it was way out of control as both leaders drove straight into the nearest castle. This unfortunately…happened to be the Crystal Castle. ____________________ King Sombra couldn’t stop smiling. It had been over a thousand years since his empire was at its peak, and now it was almost completed. As long as he kept his focus on the dark crystal infection slowly spreading throughout the empire, it would only be a few more hours until the Crystal Empire has fallen…and his reign began. At first, Sombra was a little worried to know that Queen Chrysalis, the same creature that had resurrected him, had joined forces with these extra-terrestrial life-forms in order to further their plans of an invasion, but what he saw next surprised even the great King himself. A planetary invasion, led by Megatron and his army of Decepticons. There he watched from the podium as several of these strange aliens fell from the sky and hit his empire with such brute force. He hadn’t liked it at first, but if it was to destroy the ones that Chrysalis mentioned were the Autobots, then these small losses must be necessary. Chrysalis, the Queen of the Changelings, had explained to him in full what these Autobots and Decepticons were in fact. She told them all about their war and that Megatron was the leader of the Decepticons and their newest allies. He was most intrigued by their history, especially Megatron’s. In a way…they were the same. Wanting that lust for power, wanting to put all of those who stand before them into slavery, and wanting to destroy all those who dared to defy their rule, it was almost the perfect partnership. Staring down the long streets, King Sombra smiled with his sharp teeth glistening in what little sunlight there was. Most of the sky was blocked out by clouds and starships along with the raining ashes and soon to be storm approaching from the Arctic North. He heard the clopping of hoofsteps along with the soft breathes of the Queen of the Changelings as she came to his side. Sombra looked over to her, he watched as she laid her black hoof on the railing, smiling triumphantly. “Glorious…isn’t it, my King?” Chrysalis asked with her green eyes scanning the battlegrounds. All around, she could see her Changelings taking the forms of several Decepticons, only increasing the Decepticon army along with their chances of winning. Sombra nodded and responded, “Of course. I could not have succeeded without you, Chrysalis. Thanks to you…my empire shall rise again…and revenge…will be mine.” Sombra growled with his eyes glowing red for a brief second. Chrysalis politely coughed in her hoof and looked over to the King, her eyes quickly hardening. “Don’t you mean…our empire?" Chrysalis hissed. King Sombra’s eyes hardened even stronger than Chrysalis’ did. For a brief second, he turned and glared at her. Noticing her raising eyebrow, his eyes softened and he calmly said, “…But of course…OUR empire shall rise up and conquer this entire planet. Princess Celestia and Luna will pay dearly for imprisoning me in that wretched wasteland!” “They will, my King….oh…they so-“ “No one…controls…MEGATRON!!!” Queen Chrysalis and King Sombra both lifted up their heads from the direction of the shout. But when they looked up, it was almost too late for Chrysalis to teleport out of the way. King Sombra wasn’t so lucky when Optimus Prime and Megatron crashed right on top of him. ____________________ Shining Armor’s vision began to return. Slowly opening his eyes, Shining Armor rubbed the sore spot on his head from where the crystal wall had penetrated. He looked around, vision barely visible as he slowly got back to his hooves. His vision had cleared now and he began to take a step forward… …only to have a massive tremor rock through the castle. Nearly falling on his face, Shining Armor held himself in place and looked around. He could see the ashes raining from outside…along with… “What the hay…?” Shining questioned as he slowly approached the nearest window. Squinting, Shining Armor nearly gasped in horror at the battle placed before him. “How long was I out?” Shining Armor asked himself while gapping in horror as Decepticons sailed from the skies in large ships or simply fell. Once they hit the ground, the Decepticons, or what he presumed them to be considering the symbols they had, immediately charged forward at the street in front of them to attack an unknown enemy. Obviously they would be attacking Autobots. He squinted even harder, unfortunately not being able to locate any Autobot in his line of vision. The only things he saw were the Decepticons armies raining down from the skies and dive-bombing the houses. Hopefully the crystal ponies would’ve gotten to sanctuary by now. A terrible thought suddenly popped in his mind. “Twilight…” Shining Armor looked at his hooves, tears threatening to form. The last he saw of his little sister and her friends was that they were still outside the castle. They could be anywhere out there…and probably dea- Shining Armor closed his eyes, a small tear falling from his left eye. If that happened…if it was true…there was no way he could ever forgive himself. What would mom and dad think to know their only daughter was murdered by a lumbering alien? What would the PRINCESS think to know her student has perished to the Decepticons?! He silently prayed to Celestia, asking her to please protect his little sister and her friends. Interrupting his prayers, Shining opened his eyes when a soft groan reached his twitching ear. Spinning around, Shining Armor instantly ran forward towards his hurting wife. She lay on the crystal ground with silent moans of pain escaping her lips. Bending down, Shining placed a foreleg around her neck and lifted her head off the ground. “Cadance…Cadance…sweetie, can you hear me?!” Shining yelled while gently rubbing a hoof through her tattered mane. Ever so slowly, Princess Cadance opened her eyes, to where she met the face of her husband. A smile crept on her face as she silently muttered, “…Shining Armor…” He smiled…but right before he could kiss her…the wall at the end of the throne room exploded, causing Shining to hunch his shoulders and hug Cadance in a protective embrace. When the explosion died down, Shining Armor slowly turned his head back… “DIE!!!” “Give up, Megatron!” The two leaders of each faction took it out right in the throne room of the Crystal Empire. Punches were thrown and kicks were delivered as Optimus Prime and Megatron continued to go at it. Shining Armor watched, while holding Cadance tightly, as these two leaders continued to battle. Optimus punched Megatron across the face, his fist sliding perfectly across Megatron’s helmet. Megatron quickly acted back and smacked Prime’s hand away, allowing him to take control of the fight. But he didn’t have a chance to do that. Because a large shockwave resounded in the throne room. Optimus finally came to. Looking at his hands, Optimus Prime almost thought that it was all a bad stasis dream. Maybe Equestria wasn’t in danger of extinction. He could finally have some redemption since he failed to save his home planet. The death of Cybertron lay in his hands. But it wasn’t a dream. “GET UP, FOOLS!!!” Optimus Prime looked to his right, it definitely wasn’t Megatron who had shouted that, for the Decepticon leader was laying on his back in pain. Turning his head straight up, Optimus Prime was practically amazed to see a flying unicorn hovering above them. This unicorn, who Optimus believed to be the one called ‘King Sombra’, hovered above both Prime and Megatron. His eyes glowed dark red, filled with pure anger and lust for conquest as he stared them both down. His cloak was almost transparent, it gave off a misty feel above the ceiling, an almost smoky appearance. Optimus observed closer. Sombra’s chest was rising and falling quickly, an easy identification of anger. King Sombra obviously wasn’t happy that both Prime and Megatron had landed on him. Looking at both leaders, Sombra finally shouted, “Worthless aliens! I don’t care IF the Decepticons are our allies, AND I don’t care about this partnership anymore! From here on out, I, King Sombra, will rule alone!!!” Slightly trembling from the explosion, Queen Chrysalis stepped over the debris from the throne room and entered where she had heard King Sombra shout over Prime and Megatron. She couldn’t believe what she just heard. “What do you think you’re doing?!?!” Chrysalis screamed. Sombra brought his back towards her, his red eyes piercing her very essence. King Sombra bared his fangs and growled, “Exactly what you think, my Queen. You and I are no more! I shall rule this planet alone, Princess Celestia and Luna will bow before me, and the Decepticons and Autobots shall tremble at my name!!!” Chrysalis took a step back, obviously surprised, but of course frightened. She had brought King Sombra back from the grave so that he could further her plans of total conquest in Equestria, she had never thought that King Sombra would betray her and take command for himself. After all that she did for him… “B-But I-I thought…t-that you and I….w-we were supposed to rule together!” Chrysalis barely screamed, still pretty tensed up from Sombra’s fury. Sombra’s glare stayed the same, but his frown turned into a smile. “Ahh…still trapped in the thought of a partnership are we?” Sombra asked while his glowing red eyes pierced her green iris. “And even though you did resurrect me, I have no need to kill you, my Queen. Instead…I will give you and your Changelings a permanent reminder to NEVER defy me!!!” Turning back towards the leaders, Sombra’s eyes glowed bright red as he screamed into the ceiling. His head arched upwards and his shadow overcame the entire throne room. “FEEL THE POWER OF FEAR!!!!!!!!!!!” With that said, Sombra released a powerful red beam from his horn at the two leaders. Optimus Prime and Megatron shielded themselves for the blast, but they were even more surprised and scared to feel the beam penetrate their arms and go straight into their bodies. Neither Prime nor Megatron had ever felt this type of power enter their bodies before. It filled them with…fear. They never had a chance to get revenge…because both Optimus Prime and Megatron fell on their backs….completely paralyzed with their consciousness lost inside their own minds. ____________________ -IDENTITY: CONFIRMED- GOOD LUCK, SOLDIER My vision finally came back. All around me, all I could see were pieces of broken crystals lying on the ground of this torn up empire. That…and the darkness. I tried shaking my head, but that failed. I tried moving my arms, but that failed. I tried to move regardless, but of course that failed. “What the scrap is goin’ on?” I asked myself, my vocal processors in pain. Suddenly, light appeared, but not a bright light that that tech-head Perceptor said all Cybertronians see right before they die, a dull, brown light finally came into view. With the light, I could see my old friend, Ironhide, as he struggled to lift whatever was on top of me. Probably the complaint I said earlier finally let him realize where I was. Hearing several grunts, Ironhide finally lifted the large crystal on top of me. I then saw him hold out his hand in front of my vision. “Come on, Warpath, we have to move forward!” Shaking my head, successfully this time, I reached forward and gripped Ironhide’s hand in my own. I felt my body being jerked forward, suddenly realizing it was Ironhide’s immense strength doing just that. When I was finally brought out from under the debris and out into the open, I couldn’t believe my optics. It was Cybertron all over again. Several hundred explosions spread across the ground and in the air of the Crystal Empire. The sky was colored a dark brown while ashes and dust fell from the sky including the hundreds of meteors. Decepticons, big and small, strong and powerful, were laying waste to everything in their paths, if not including us in the process of their plan of total conquest of Equestria. I could see Leapers jumping in mid-air and bringing their fists down on the earth, crushing anything that was stupid enough to be fighting Leapers in the first place. The sky was infested, if not already by starships and dropships, but by Decepticon Jets. Thousands of them trailed across the open air and dive-bombed the grounds and crystal houses. There they were, my fellow Autobots, all firing into the air as if firing random shots, but I knew they were all for a purpose. Sideswipe, Ratchet, and Wheeljack stood in front of us, obviously waiting to move forward. Which finally brought me back to the real world. Ironhide slapped me in the shoulder and shouted, “Wake up, kid! We got a war to win, remember?! Move your assets forward or I’ll make ya move!!!” Shaking my head and finally getting on my two feet, I transformed my right arm into its weapon mode. I stared at my thermo rocket launcher for a few seconds before I cocked it. “Kablam…” I heard myself mutter. Ironhide nodded and pointed his neutron assault rifle forward into the heart of the apocalypse. I saw him point straight at the massive Decepticon army mobilizing and ready to kill right in front of us. I could also see the Crystal Castle about two and a half miles away from our position. I mentally chuckled, knowing the exact location of the castle was possible thanks to my brilliance of battle strategies back on Cybertron. Ironhide obviously disagreed. He slapped me in the shoulder…harder this time and screamed over the explosions, “If you lose yourself in space, son, then we’ll move on without ya! Get your head out of your muffler and MOVE FORWARD!!! We NEED to clear this street and get to the castle before it’s too late!” Nodding, I aimed my rocket launcher forward and loaded it up. “Ready, old timer. How ‘bout yourself?” I asked Ironhide. He didn’t answer and instead talked with his gun. Shooting away at the Decepticon Jets, Ironhide pushed forward with me on his trail as we arrived to the rest of our team. Ratchet hid behind the nearest debris, looked at us and shouted, “There’s way too many Decepticons for us to move up! We need an immediate airstrike from Jetfire and the Aerialbots!!!” Pushing my way past Ironhide, I lifted up my rocket launcher and shouted, “Forget about Jetfire! I got this!” Confusion was easily strewn across their faces, I quickly solved that by aiming my rocket launcher forward and firing one blast. The three missiles escaping my deadly launcher blasted forward and hit the nearest group of Decepticon soldiers. They quickly scattered across the ground with their body parts following close behind. Firing a couple more shots before I had to reload, I couldn’t help it, I laughed in amusement with the furious firepower my launcher had. I took out a Leaper, a Heavy Soldier, and another small group of soldiers. While I got to cover to reload, Wheeljack looked over from our debris and shouted, “I-I think we got a clear path now, thanks to Warpath! But we gotta hurry, those Decepticons are movin’ in fast!” “Then let’s roll for it!” Ironhide bellowed and jumped over the debris, we followed behind him and shot from our only weapons we had in all directions. I could barely make out the scene of this mighty warfare placed before us. It wasn’t very long before the Decepticons pinned us down again, forcing our small team to find more cover behind a fallen crystal skyscraper. Ironhide and the others covered their heads when more and more bullets kept raining above us. Ratchet managed a few shots from his burst rifle before screaming, “Any other ideas, Ironhide?!” Ironhide managed a few grunts before he finally reloaded his assault rifle. He began to stand up and charge forward…but a red ball flew over our debris and landed right by his feet. It only took a few seconds for us to finally realize what it was. “Grenade!!!” I shouted right before it exploded, sending all five of us to blow through our debris and into the open. Quickly rolling onto my stomach, I lifted my head up to see three Decepticon Vehicons fly up from a makeshift ramp and transform in mid-air. For a moment when I saw their robot modes…it almost reminded me of all the old Decepticon soldiers. Most of the Decepticons during the end of days had a newer design to them, to upgrade the Decepticon army. That’s because they WERE old Decepticon soldiers, straight from Cybertron’s archives. I saw as their right arms transformed into older versions of the neutron assault rifle, quickly aiming at us and firing. “Make room for Sideswipe!” I heard Wheeljack shout. I looked left, mentally gasping when I saw Sideswipe jump over all of us with two red swords in his grasp. The Vehicons couldn’t react when that nimble, little Autobot charged forward and drove his blades into each one. Easily tearing through each Decepticon, Sideswipe turned towards us with a valiant smile. “Damn, I’m good!” Sideswipe congratulated himself at a job well done, clearing the streets I mean. When we all finally got to our feet, the explosion of the grenade slightly causing me to shake, we all made our way down the road and closer to the Crystal Castle. But of course, to my surprise actually, a Decepticon dropship crashed right in front of us, blocking the street. Ironhide blocked the intense heat of fire coming from the deceased dropship and shouted in anger, “Who the scrap took out that dropship?! We don’t have control of the skies yet!” I was mad too. Not only didn’t we have support from our Aerialbots, but now things kept getting worse when another dropship swooped down and opened up right above the ground in front of us. And for a brief moment, I actually thought I saw something crash into the Crystal Castle. That was forgotten when the Decepticon flyers quickly piled out of the dropship. “SNIPERS!!!” I screamed and fired my rocket launcher upwards, forgetting to aim and completely wasting precious ammunition. The Decepticon Snipers flew off into the air, some of them landing on crystal buildings and looking down at us as if we were the targets. Oh yeah… “Elimination of Autobots in progress.” One of the snipers coldly said as his flat face lit up and aimed a blue beam at us. The beam searched until it finally landed on Ratchet, charging up and firing. Ratchet quickly dodged out of the way before the sharp-pointed bullet could go straight through his chest. He aimed upwards with his burst rifle and killed the sniper with only a few shots. The snipers quickly realized that they couldn’t stay in one place for too long, so they flew off to land somewhere safer and try to shoot us again. “Let’s take ‘em all out!” Ironhide screamed and ran forward, shooting at the snipers. We followed his lead, our small but strong group of Autobots unstoppable to these grunt Decepticons. The snipers were all dead but more and more kept raining from the skies. Right before I could lock onto the nearest target, another Decepticon dropship swooped down with something large connected to its belly. The large object broke off from the dropship and landed right in front of us, blocking our path yet again. “Son of rust bucket,” I cursed, “Can’t we get a break for once?!” Wheeljack shook his head quickly, obviously terrified as the rest of us were, and said, “We’re not gettin’ any breaks anytime soon, Warpath.” Before our optics, the massive object transformed into an even larger scale-sized Decepticon. Its red visor glowed bright in the ashes and attached to its right arm was a massive mini-gun with two large barrels. The Decepticon had to reach a size of at least an Autobot titan…maybe even bigger. I quickly realized what it was… “DESTROYER!!!” I heard the Decepticon titan chuckle and rev up his mini-gun while growling, “LET’S CLEAR THE STREETS OF THESE AUTOBUGS!” Suddenly, the massive chain gun exploded and sent several thousand bullets towards our position. Quickly ducking and taking cover, I looked over the damaged crystal housing to see that lumbering titan laying waste to the crystal buildings, obviously searching for us. A new thought popped in my head, I quickly hid behind the debris, looked at Ratchet and asked, “I thought these things weren’t being constructed anymore! I thought they all were put into stasis after the infection of Dark Energon!” Ratchet only grunted when more and more bullets kept hitting our debris. He reloaded his burst rifle and shouted, “Don’t question it, Warpath, JUST KILL IT!!!” That was all I needed to hear. Rolling out into the open, I quickly got the titan’s attention by firing several missiles at him with my rocket launcher. The Tanker slowly stomped my way, his chain gun cooling down for a brief moment. Even though it was powerful, not even my rocket launcher could take down this behemoth. We needed help… …I needed help. A small static came from my comm link along with that familiar blunt accent. “Autobots, this is Perceptor on all frequencies! I am informing you that thanks to I, Hound, and Blaster, we have successfully acquired contact with the Aerialbots. Lay down some coordinates for them and they’ll prepare an airstrike!” Letting loose a chuckle, I muttered, “Good work, tech-head.” ____________________ Finding the perfect building was difficult for the three Autobots, especially during the end of days. Dodging Decepticon firefights, Perceptor, Hound, and Blaster made their way throughout the empire and finally found it… “Ah…perfect location as always…founded by I, Perceptor, of course.” The Autobot scientist congratulated himself. Hound and Blaster merely groaned in annoyance. Ignoring them, Perceptor began to climb up the sides of the large crystal building with Hound and Blaster on his trail. Considering their size, they made it up in only a few seconds flat. Perceptor wiped off his chest and stood proudly on top of the roof of this large crystal building. From the Intel he acquired from the crystal ponies (unfortunately he had to actually knock on one of their doors and ask where the largest building was) they quickly pointed and told him that the library was pretty big. He never had a chance to thank them…because they slammed the door on his massive face. Standing on top of the flat library top, Perceptor watched the battle unfold before his optics. “So uncivilized…” Perceptor muttered as the dropships began to lower to the ground to drop off both Decepticon and tanks alike. He realized that Optimus and the others couldn’t hold off that massive armada for much longer. Turning around, Perceptor pointed at Blaster and ordered, “Blaster, transform into contact mode! We must acquire contact with Jetfire as soon as possible.” Smiling, Blaster transformed into boom-box mode and shouted, “I’m here all day, ladies and gentlebots! Don’t go anywhere because Blaster’s gonna pull out all the sweet tunes!” With Blaster in position, Perceptor walked forward and began working on the boom-box for contact. After a few seconds of waiting, Hound tapping his foot impatiently, Perceptor flipped a small switch and Blaster came to life. Perceptor backed away as Blaster sent airwaves throughout the sky. Soon enough, Jetfire’s voice came from the radio. “….*static* Perceptor! *static* ready for the airstrike?! We have loaded missiles! Ready for action!” Nodding, Perceptor pressed his comms link and sent out the message to all Autobots in the Crystal Empire. ____________________ I flew backwards as the Decepticon titan shot at the ground, causing a massive shockwave to send us all on our backs. I looked over to my left to see Ironhide quickly rush over to my position, picking me up while shouting at my face. The deafness I felt in my already damaged hearing processors was too intense. During the war for Cybertron, I had almost lost all hearing thanks to my constant cannon fire. If I finally went deaf…I was going to be so- “….KID! KID, GET UP!!!” Ironhide screamed as the sounds of explosions quickly arrived. Thanking Primus, I stood up with Ironhide’s help and watched as the Decepticon tank demolished the buildings and shot at Sideswipe. The sounds of static came back, but not from me. I looked over to Ironhide, who was fidgeting with his comms link. After tapping his head a few times, I heard Jetfire’s voice roar out the comms link. “Ironhide, how ‘bout callin’ in an airstrike?!” It only took a quick second for Ironhide to find his target. Pressing his comms link again, Ironhide shouted, “Jetfire, this is Ironhide, take out the Decepticon titan in our area!” “Got it!” Jetfire screamed back. Reloading, I followed Ironhide to the nearest debris and took cover under it. It wasn’t long before Sideswipe, Ratchet, and Wheeljack joined us. I could hear the Decepticon titan out there…searching for us. “What’s the hold up?!” Sideswipe screamed, obvious anger present. Ironhide was about to answer but never got the chance to, because the loud super-sonic jet sound came from above. We all looked up to see none other than Jetfire leading the team of Aerialbots through the skies. I was amazed to see several missiles shoot out of them and hit the Decepticon titan with immense force. Running out from the debris, we all watched as the titan crumbled before the power of the missiles, slowly falling apart and hitting the ground. I couldn’t help but cheer at this, as did the other Autobots. We stopped cheering when several more titans stomped their way towards us. “Oh you are KIDDING ME!!!” Ironhide screamed as the titans moved forward, causing the ground to rumble. It didn’t stop there. Above the crystal houses, several Decepticon soldiers with missile launchers attached to their shoulders glared us down and prepared to fire. Out of the sky, Decepticon Leapers and Heavy Soldiers hit the ground and began to move in on us. The Heavy Soldiers cocked their ion displacer turrets and growled while the Leapers simply chuckled at the uneven odds this battle had. We were surrounded. But if we went down…we went out in a blaze of glory. Pressing my comms link, I screamed, “Jetfire, immediate air assistance now!!!” None of the Decepticons or the Autobots was prepared for what I did next. I charged forward, my rocket launcher pointed forward, and my head dead center on the Decepticon army. “Stupid Auto-!” One of the Heavy Soldiers was saying…right before a missile came from above and killed him in an instant. I continued to run, nothing stopping me as Jetfire, Air Raid, Silverbolt, Slingshot, Skydive, and Fireflight provided all the help I needed to move up. Even though I was probably several hundred feet away from them, I heard Ironhide yell, “Alright, Autobots follow Warpath!!!” Nothing stood in my way. I didn’t even have to fire…the Aerialbots took care of everything. All around me, all I could see were the Decepticon soldiers, Leapers, Heavy Soldiers, and titans crumble in a firery explosion as more and more missiles rained from the sky and hit them without remorse. The ground shook as the titans fell back and died on the spot. The fire in my spark had ignited. I was unstoppable. Putting my rocket launcher away, I pulled out my red blade that replaced my right hand, quickly slicing away at the weak Decepticon soldiers that survived the airstrike. They didn’t stand a chance against me. I looked up to see the Crystal Castle growing nearer as I ran forward, more and more dropships falling to the earth in a bright explosion as Jetfire and his team continued the assault. Soon enough, the chaos ended and the Decepticons retreated from the streets, probably to find something else to destroy. I mentally cursed when we hadn’t even reached the castle yet, we were still too far away. Jetfire and his team zoomed across the sky leaving several streaks in their paths. I looked forward at the Crystal Castle and noticed the large hole at the top. Several Decepticon Guardians and Marauders guarded the entrance. Not even an airstrike could take out that heavy artillery. Dropping low under some crystal debris, I looked over to see the rest of our team arrive shortly, each of them with their weapons red hot at the end. Ironhide patted me on the shoulder and said, “Good job, kid…there might be hope for you after all.” I couldn’t help a small chuckle from that. When that was done, Ironhide looked over the debris and grumbled, “Scrap! Decepticon Guardians! If we get caught by those things, we can run but we’ll die from their locaters,” He looked down at all of us…his blue optics shimmering dread. He sighed heavily before saying, “Alright, Autobots….it looks like we have no choice but….” He looked out into the torn-up empire, his shoulders lowering even more. Turning around, he looked at us and shouted, “All of you, split up into the Crystal Empire! We NEED to find a way around so we can meet Jazz and the others at the castle!” Ratchet looked at him, hope completely leaving his face as he muttered, “Ironhide…if we split up…the chances of any of us reaching our destination are very slim…we may end of dying out there in that Primus forsaken battle-zone.” Sighing, Ironhide looked at the ground and quietly said, “That’s a sacrifice…that I’m willing to make.” We all looked at the ground, lost in thought; my thoughts on how much my worn-out body could take on this never-ending warfare for millions of years and still continue. But Sideswipe obviously didn’t think the same. “I’ll go it alone, Ironhide,” Sideswipe said, standing up and walking away, “I’ll meet you all at the Crystal Castle…but first I gotta find a way to take down those Maruaders.” Ironhide nodded and said, “Good luck, Sideswipe.” We all watched as that small bot transformed and drove off deeper into the empire. Watching his blazing trail almost made me miss Wheeljack’s departure into the war. Looking over, I saw as Wheeljack activated his subsonic repeater and turned towards us, his optics filled with fear. I heard him stutter, “I-I…I-I-I think I’ll go it alone too. Hey, we don’t live forever right?” Wheeljack chuckled nervously. “Not entirely true, we can live for many millions of vorns but the thought of actually-,” Ratchet began to explain only to be interrupted by none other than myself. He looked over to me as I slowly shook my head. “Don’t start, Ratchet.” I said. Ratchet grumbled a bit before bringing up his gaze towards our departing Autobot brother. Ironhide and Wheeljack shook hands as the white Autobot transformed and took off down the road to find another way around. Ironhide sighed again and walked over to Ratchet. The medic stood up while Ironhide pulled him into a hug. I watched from where I was sitting as Ironhide whispered, “Good luck, brother.” Ratchet whispered the same words back as he transformed as did Wheeljack and Sideswipe. Ironhide didn’t leave just yet and watched as Ratchet drove away to find refugee. Turning his gaze towards me, Ironhide nodded. “So this is it, huh?” I grumbled and kicked at the gravel. Ironhide shifted his optics towards the castle, and then back to me. He gave me a supporting smile and said, “You wanna blow up some stuff, kid? I bet those Guardians wanna meet the end of your cannon there.” I didn’t answer and continued to stare at the ground. When another far off explosion caught Ironhide’s attention, he looked at me one last time and quietly said, “Good luck, Warpath.” That was the last I ever saw of Ironhide as he drove away. Sitting here on top of this crystal debris, I cracked my knuckles over and over again. Wanting the lust to crush Decepticon heads, I wanted to stand up…but couldn’t. All I really wanted to do was to sit here and enjoy the apocalypse. ____________________ END TRANSMISSION -IDENTITY: UNRECOGNIZED- Busting open the crystal wall, Slug let the six ponies go in the makeshift entrance first with the other Autobots following close behind. Right before the shadow from above the skies could find him; Slug darted inside the large crystal housing. It was quite dark inside this crystal house, despite Twilight’s horn giving off a faint purple glow that bathed the area, several sharp, jagged ends pointed out from all directions, obviously black crystals from King Sombra’s infection. Jazz, Bumblebee, and Cliffjumper sat down with their backs clanging against the crystal wall. The three Dinobots simply continued to stand; the house was tall enough to let them stand straight up. Jazz looked around as the six mares got themselves comfortable; Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash all sitting down in the middle of the room while Rarity took a seat next to Cliffjumper, Fluttershy sat next to Bumblebee (slightly holding Bumblebee’s hand with her hooves), and Pinkie Pie right next to Jazz’s legs. It was silent for a long time before Twilight’s suspicions rose up. “So….” Twilight said, her gaze turned towards Jazz, “do you mind trying to tell me what that thing was back there?” Jazz frowned, obviously stuck between a rock and a hard place. Thanks to Fluttershy, she pointed out where the Nemesis was right before it attacked them. Jazz had never seen so much fear placed on those pony’s faces when that flagship bombarded them. They literally had to run away from the Nemesis, not even their weapons could take down that ship. Which brought back the one question Jazz had in mind: How? How had the Nemesis managed to survive a crash like that? Forget that, how had TRYPTICON managed to take control of the entire Nemesis and use its intense power to destroy relentlessly. Sighing, Jazz answered her question with a question, “Do ya remember when we first left your world?” The six mares all brought their attentions to the white Autobot, obviously intrigued as to why he would mention that terrible day. Even Cliffjumper, Bumblebee, and the Dinobots turned their gazes toward Jazz. With the silence falling in quickly, Jazz continued, “And…right after we left…did any of you manage to catch that massive dark ship following Omega Supreme along with the Ark?” Thinking heavily, Twilight placed a hoof on her chin and thought about that day and everything that had happened. She successfully blocked out all those sad memories from her mind so it was hard trying to remember it. Her eyes went wide and she gasped, “That was the Nemesis?!” Jazz simply nodded and continued to stare into space, his blue visor glowing in the darkness. Twilight had remembered the Nemesis all right, she had seen it during the Autobots’ departure of Equestria and when they returned. Perceptor had explained everything, especially when the Nemesis had left Earth to chase down Megatron. Another question popped in her mind. “Why did the Nemesis chase us if it’s going after Megatron?” Twilight asked, her head looking at each Autobot. Jazz didn’t answer…but Cliffjumper did. Shrugging his shoulders, Cliffjumper answered, “Probably because we were the closest Autobots around. And if I’m not mistaken, I am pretty sure I heard Trypticon’s voice when I was in that ship.” “Wait…WHAT?!” Twilight practically screamed before biting her foreleg, almost forgetting that there were Decepticons outside just waiting to hear a cry so they could find it…and kill it. Bumblebee petted Fluttershy for a few more moments before he looked at the unicorn, “What do you mean, Twilight?” Celestia’s student thought long and hard for a few more tense moments. She had heard that name before…Trypticon…but where? She opened her eyes, completely filled with dread and horror. She remembered the name all right…in her nightmare where Shockwave had murdered her and her closest friends. Twilight had heard Shockwave say that the Nemesis was actually called Trypticon while in her dream. But why would he say that? A new thought arrived to Twilight’s brain. “Do you think…that…the Nemesis…is actually…you know…Trypticon?” She asked while wincing at all the stares she received from both her friends and the small team of Autobots. Slug shook his head and spoke in that deep voice of his, “Highly unlikely, Trypticon’s remains are back on Cybertron and under guard where they should be. The thought of Trypticon being a ship is ridiculous…. Trypticon is dead.” “Yeah,” Swoop added in while staring at Twilight, “that lumbering beast died on Cybertron where we harvested his Energon for the Autobots. Trypticon IS dead.” “Noooot exactly…” Jazz said with his voice high. Every single head turned towards Jazz, surprised and shocked at the same time. Jazz looked at Slug with a nervous grin and explained, “Ya see…ummm….well…right before you guys took out the Space Bridge, Megatron…well…attacked the remains of Iacon and where we kept Trypticon’s power core. All I know is that when Megatron got there, Trypticon and all his body parts….were gone.” Snarl, Slug, and Swoop opened their mouths in shock, as did the six ponies. Twilight obviously didn’t know anything about the final days of Cybertron, but it was still pretty interesting to hear it from the Autobots themselves. Jumping in surprise, the mares looked at Slug who had already begun to yell. “Are you kidding me, Jazz?!” Slug bellowed, “If the Nemesis is REALLY Trypticon, do you know what kind of damage that thing is going to cause if he transforms?!” Cliffjumper put a finger to his lips and whispered sharply, “Shhhhh! Slug, be quiet! We don’t know what’s out there waiting to-!” A long, green beam entered the room. Everyone froze as the beam began to move up and down and back and forth. The equines kept their attention on the bright beam of energy going across the room. Slug shut his mouth and backed up against the wall as the beam was mere inches from his face. Cliffjumper almost screamed when Twilight reached out her hoof to touch the beam. “Twilight, no!” Cliffjumper quietly screamed and grabbed the small unicorn in his hand, pulling her back into his embrace. A small yelp escaped from her lips from the sudden maneuver, causing the red Autobot to place his large finger over her mouth. Rainbow Dash and Applejack got the idea as they all slowly crawled away from the green line of energy and next to the wall. Everyone stayed still, completely frozen in fear, and from the ponies, confusion as the beam swept through the room. Once the beam disappeared, a cold, robotic voice came from outside. “This area is clear. No signs of Autobots.” A few footsteps from outside began to get quieter, thus allowing Cliffjumper to release the small unicorn. Twilight tumbled out onto the crystal floor and turned around in an instance. She eyed Jazz and asked, “What was that all about?” Jazz shushed her and move towards a small gap in the wall. He pressed his head against the gap and gasped quietly on what was on the outside. “What’s goin’ on?” Applejack asked, fully expecting to not get a response as she, Rainbow Dash, Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy all approached the opening Slug had made for them once they got inside this house. Poking their heads out only slightly, the small ponies watched in horror as a relatively large group of Decepticons were piled on the outside, five of them they actually remembered. The tall, blue one was no doubt Onslaught, the tan and red one was Vortex, the dull yellow one was Swindle, the dark green one was Brawl, and the brown one was Blast Off. The other Decepticons were unrecognizable grunts or soldiers. But what amazed them was the slimmer Decepticons, especially Twilight. They had white armor and long legs, short arms protruding out of their bodies. Their heads were very odd, shaped in an oval type formation with one glowing purple eye. Together, the Combaticons and the Decepticons all centered on Onslaught as he typed away at his wrist. Suddenly, Onslaught’s wrist lit up and a large image of the cyclopean Decepticon appeared above the Decepticons. Twilight recognized that face immediately. “Shockwave…” The violet unicorn muttered, immediately flinching right after the Decepticons started speaking. “Lord Shockwave, sir,” One of the soldiers saluted, “We have the area surrounded. The Guardians are searching the empire as we speak for the target ponies!” Shockwave clenched his good right hand and shouted, “Find them at all costs!” “Yes, sir, but we-!” The soldier was saying right before Shockwave interrupted him. “No excuses! Those wretched equines are in the Crystal Empire somewhere, and if we don’t find them it will be catastrophic.” Shockwave’s eye continued to flicker. The soldiers looked at each other before one of them got the courage to ask, “Ummm…they’re just ponies, sir, I’m pretty sure we can handle that.” Shockwave shook his head and coldly explained, “No…there is more to them than meets the eye. Even though they don’t look it, they are extremely powerful with the utmost importance of keeping peace in this world. That is why you must find them; they cannot break our plans any further. If you find them…bring them to me….and they must be alive.” Onslaught lowered his wrist causing Shockwave’s hologram to disappear. He turned towards the Decepticons and watched as they quickly acted. “Come on! You heard Shockwave!” One of the soldiers shouted and took off with several more behind him. Brawl looked up into the sky and motioned the nearest dropship to come down. “That’s it! Lower yourself down here now! That’s good, now drop it!” Brawl screamed as the dropship lowered down and released the tank attached to the bottom of it. Onslaught turned towards a small group of Decepticon soldiers and pointed at them, “You six, follow Brawl with the tanks and clear a path throughout the empire,” He turned towards a group of Decepticon Jets all in robot mode and shouted, “You all follow Blast Off and Vortex into the skies, search high and low for those ponies and if you find them, contact me at once!” With their orders given, the soldiers were about to move out when an over-excited soldier ran forward and screamed, “No mercy! Shockwave will be greatly displeased if we don’t find those ponies!” Swindle came next to Onslaught’s side, who had his hand pressed against his temples, and chuckled, “Really? Because I thought we could let those ponies run freely throughout this empire. In fact, when we find, let’s just protect them and lead them to the Crystal Castle where they can spoil our plans!” The soldier titled his head in confusion. “Uhhh…I don’t get it.” Swindle chuckled again, “Yeah, I didn’t think you would.” With the Decepticon rubbing his head, Onslaught turned towards Swindle and ordered, “Okay, Swindle, since these soldiers are WAY too stupid to understand simple orders, I want you to lead the Decepticon Guardians throughout the Crystal Empire. If you find the ponies, capture them and contact me at once.” “You got it!” Swindle nodded and made his way towards the group of seven Guardians. He lifted up his fist and shouted, “Alright, guys, let’s move out!” Swindle led the way as the Guardians followed closely behind him, their green beams scanning the area. Watching Blast Off, Vortex, and the jets take flight, Onslaught took one last look around the area until he walked away with Brawl and the Decepticon tanks rolling down the streets. “Scrap!” The six mares brought their heads out of the opening and into the house where they saw Jazz walking back inside, his anger boiling. Jazz looked onwards towards the opening in the house and shouted, “We got Decepticon Guardians patrolling the area along with eyes in the sky! How are we supposed to get to the castle now?!” Twilight wanted to help him, she really did, but right now she didn’t have a clue as to what to do in this situation. They needed years of training to be able to sneak across this battlefield, all the while fighting for their lives against endless waves of Decepticons, the skills that they obviously didn’t have. Right before she could tell Jazz about their predicament, Pinkie Pie hopped forward to the white Autobot and exclaimed, “We can go in there!” She pointed a pink hoof over to Slug’s makeshift entrance. Jazz stepped forward and followed her hoof outside. Once there, Jazz finally saw what Pinkie Pie was pointing at. A large crystal skyscraper stood only a mile away from where he was standing. It was tall, probably the tallest building in all of the Crystal Empire, it would be a perfect place to move forward to. Cliffjumper, Bumblebee, the three Dinobots, and the six mares all made their way out of the crystal house, Rarity sighing with relief once out of that horrid debris. There they all stared at the massive building where Pinkie had pointed out. Fluttershy gulped and nervously inquired, “T-that’s the tallest skyscraper in the Crystal Empire.” Turning his head back, Jazz flashed a grin and activated his scatter blaster shotgun. “I guess we’re goin’ up.”