Transformers Titan: Escalation

Chapter 1-The Plague part 1

Megatron of Tarn, leader of the Decepticons, sat on his mighty throne of hard onyx and smooth ebony in contemplation. His large silver and black form was as still as a statue, with his only movement being the tapping of his finger against the arm rest. He had been sitting in what was left of the bridge for about an hour now, just by himself, left alone with his thoughts. The large hole in the roof was uncovered, and the morning sunlight shown down upon him, glinting off his armor. He looked like a king sitting amidst a tattered castle, plagued by his thoughts and worries. But Megatron had no worries.

Three weeks had passed since the chaotic battle against the Cardinals, powerful members of a race of god-like living statues who inhabited Terra in ancient times. The Cardinal known as Temperantia had attacked the island itself and severely damaged the Nemesis in the process. Even now, they were still repairing the ship and it wasn't going very well.

A hole had been blow near the reactor core, which was their main source of power. The ship was running on reserve power gathered from solar units planted throughout the island, and their energon storage vault was also caught in the blast. They were on the verge of a blackout, and had little to no energon. The bridge was also hit, and their communication and navigations systems were working at half power. The Decepticons had been working day and night since the battle to get their base up to working condition again, but it was a slow process. Only now did they have a sufficient energon supply and working computer systems. That said, the med bay, along with the CR chambers, were not looking very good.

Megatron had his moment to rage, shout and blast away at Sapientia's corpse to vent out his anger. Now he had to think. The Autobots seemed to have gotten out of their battle fairly unscathed. With their energon supplies low and a barely working ship, Megatron knew that if things kept going the way they were going, the Autobots could win this war and everything could go to hell. All because of those accursed Dolems. What the hell were they? Where did they come from? And what was their problem with Cybertronians? So many questions, and no one to answer them. It made Megatron angry again, but he quelled his rage. He was done having a tantrum, now he needed to get down to business.

The doors to the bridge slid open and Knockout entered the room with a datapad in hand. "Doctor in the house."

"How are the repairs going, Knockout?" Megatron asked.

"Well the ship's outer hull are holding thanks to the welding that Search and Cannon are doing on it and thanks to Starscream's Seekers and Blackout, our energon stocks are half full." Knockout reported. "But we are still running on reserve power so expect some power failures from time to time."

"What about that power source Soundwave stole from the humans?" He was referring to the reactor that Soundwave had stolen from the secret military base a few months ago. It was an experimental power source that was still in the experimental phase when the base was raided. At the moment, Megatron had Leader-1 search for the group responsible for its construction, as it was too advanced (as haphazardly made it was) to be have been engineered by human hands. Aside from the name, Skywatch, they were coming up with nothing.

At that, Knockout went quiet and fidgeted a bit. Megatron narrowed his eyes and spun his throne around to face the medic.

"Well, you see…there are some..." Knockout forced himself to give the bad news. "Complications we're having with the generator."

"What complications?" Megatron growled, slowly getting up from his throne. "You've had almost half a year to get this done! That generator is the only thing that can stop us from losing power and being left in the dark and at the mercy of the Autobots! How have you not made any progress by now!"

"Lord Megatron please. The reactor the humans were working on is an extremely unstable and volatile power source using radioactive elements. Nuclear elements. We can't extract it from the casing and use it for power without the risk of causing it to meltdown or irradiate the island. As it is, Soundwave had to sotp because he was in danger of a system-wide shutdown from the microwaves it was emitting."

Megatron glared down at him before snorting steam from his nose and sitting back down. "Fine then. Halt your experiments on the reactor until we can find a way to safely extract it. Now get out of my sight."

Knockout bowed and made his way towards the door. Megatron turned his throne around and went back to his wandering thoughts.

'How did things go so wrong? We were doing so well, and it all just goes up in flames' Megatron gripped his throne tightly and looked at the stasis field that sat next to the main computer, and the golden disk that was floating inside it. 'Project Stargate will come to fruition, and the Autobots will fall!'

XXXXXX

Three weeks after their victory after the Cardinal Temperantia, and the Autobots were making the most of the calm period they had. With the Decepticons not as active as they were, the Autobots spent their time harvesting energon and doing some mild alterations to the Ark (after Ironhide ripped off nearly half of the Ark's laser cannons to fight Temperantia). Now they were spending their free time doing something other than fighting Cons and battling cosmic horrors-talking about Jetfire.

"So you worked with Starscream?" Darren asked.

"Yup. We were tight like that," Jetfire bragged, though it wasn't something that he should be doing in association to Starscream. "I was THE fastest bot in the Cybertronian air force, and he was the second. Rose up through the ranks as a badass, and I even scored with Starscream's sister, the Seeker commander before him."

"Starscream has a sister?" Annie blanched. As if one wasn't bad enough.

"No, HAD a sister." Jetfire corrected her. "She died before the Cons took over Vos. Damn shame to, she was pretty cool to hang out with."

"Wasn't Deadscream a total psychopath?" Arcee asked.

"I said cool, not safe."

The children were hanging out with Jetfire, Arcee, Ratchet and Bulkhead in the recreation room. The humans were sitting on the massive table while the Bots shared a drink with each other. They were talking about pre-war careers and had just gotten done listening to Bulkhead's story as a construction worker.

"I thought the Seekers were all Decepticons." Annie said.

"Actually, the Seekers made up the bulk of Cybertron's aerospace force." Gina said. "Most of the Seekers joined the Decepticons with Starscream, but a few defected to the Autobots."

"But those guys are few and far in between." Jetfire said. "Where'd you learn all that four-eyes?"

"Ratchet," Gina chirped and smiled up at the medic. "He teaches me everything he can teach me about Cybertron, even your language."

"Oh really?" Jazz smirked. Ratchet elbowed him in the torso and kept drinking his energon.

"So Jetfire was Seeker ace, Bulkhead was a construction worker, but what about you Arcee?" Darren asked, looking up at the pink femme. "You do anything special before the war?"

"I wasn't anything that special or outlandish like a pilot or a builder." Arcee smiled and twirled her straw in her drink. "I lived in Ky-Alexia, a coastal city. I worked at a security detail for the senator. It was an easy job, since nothing happened in Ky-Alexia. Honestly, it was pretty boring."

"And while Cee was chillin' by the sea, I was travelin' all over Cybertron as a cultural investigator." Jazz smiled. "It was my job to search the planet or new elements of Cybertronian culture. Sort of like a journalist."

"Considering how you've assimilated Terran culture, I'm not surprised." Gina said.

"With that being said, does anyone know what Optimus was like?" Annie asked, thoroughly invested in the conversation. "Was he the big bot living it large over Cybertron?"

"Nope. He was a cop." Jazz said.

"Say what?" All three children said in shock.

"Yup, before Optimus became a Prime, he was a police officer in the Rodion police department."

"So Optimus wasn't always a Prime?" Gina inquired, making note of that.

"One does not simply become a Prime. It is something you earn." Ratchet explained. "A Prime is someone who symbolizes our race as a whole in the eyes of our god Primus. They are chosen to embody the core ideals of the Cybertronian race and represent the people."

"Tell that to Sentinel and Zeta." Bulkhead muttered.

"So Optimus was a member of the fuzz," Annie smirked. "How good was he?"

"Back in the day, they used to call him the supercop." Jazz told them. "He was one of the best and had a habit of jumping down on criminals from above."

"Wow," Darren breathed. "So Optimus has been helping people before the war even started."

"Yes, you could say that." Ratchet replied, giving a wistful smile. "You could say that it's all he knows what to do these days."

XXXXX

Another week passed by and there was still no Decepticon or Minicon activity. Optimus was now starting to get worried. Megatron never stayed quiet for this long unless they were spending their time working on a special project that required their attention. The only question was…what was it?

The answer came to him in pieces. A series of thefts began occurring all over the country. Science and research centers were robbed of certain pieces of high tech components, and any witnesses were mercilessly cut down. Evidence suggested that it was terrorism, caused by Karaba agents. It was a misleading cover used by the real thieves.

"Optimus, we got another one." Ratchet said as Optimus walked into the computer hub.

"Another theft?"

"Yes. Though this one isn't as covert as the others." Ratchet brought up a video feed showing a large, blue form crouched inside the middle of a lab.

"Soundwave," Optimus's eyes narrowed. "What did he steal?"

"A phase conductor." Ratchet answered. "This makes the fourth theft in a week. What is Megatron planning?"

"Bring up a list of what was stolen so far?"

Teletran -1 brought up a list of the items that the Decepticons had stolen. Optimus and Ratchet looked at the list closely for any clues as to what Megatron was planning to do with them. All they knew was that based on the components stolen, he was trying to build something using human technology, probably augmented by Cybertronian alterations.

"Plasma injector, neutron shield, tessaract, and more recently the phase conductor." Ratchet rubbed his chin in thought. "I don't get what he's trying to do."

"Neither do I, but it does not put me at ease knowing that one of the components Megatron is in possession of has the power to create a singularity."

XXXXXX

"So you going to tell me what we're doing here or am I going to be stuck out in the cold paying charades?" Knockout asked impatiently.

Soundwave merely glanced back at him before continuing forward. Soundwave had ground bridged himself and Knockout to a forest in central Europa without telling the medic why they were here in the first place. At the spymaster's silence, Knockout grunted in annoyance and followed the Con and his Minicons.

'How did I get stuck playing scavenger hunt with the universe's most unresponsive mime?" Knockout thought.

"Don't take it personally," Rumble said. "The boss is always like this. You'll get used to it."

"No, I won't. And I'm not very keen on having my paint job corroded by all this damn humidity because you won't tell me why we're wasting our time here!" Knockout shouted.

"Relax, Knockout. You know the boss never does anything without a reason." Frenzy grinned up at him.

Knockout silently told himself to keep his temper in check and followed the group. Whatever it was, it better be worth the wear his paint job was taking.

Soundwave continued forward until he made it to the edge of the forest, where a small glade was located. Laserbeak, his avian recon Minicon, jumped off the branch he was sitting on and landed on Soundwave's shoulder, squawking all the while. Contrary to what many people thought, Laserbeak and Ravage did speak proper Cybertronian, but their speech was mostly broken sentences, thanks to their animalistic natures. Most of the time, they stayed silent, communicating to Soundwave via their mental link.

"What did the little birdy say?" Knockout asked.

"Laserbeak has found what we are looking for." Soundwave said and pointed to a spot not too far from them. "Rumble, Frenzy, excavate the site."

Rumble stood over the spot of land that Laserbeak indicated and used his pile drivers to pound the ground, shattering the earth with his vibrations and turning the rock to dust. Frenzy followed up by drilling through the tough soil, burring deeper into the ground. After a few minutes he stopped when his drills hit something metal and pushed the dirt away. Soundwave and Knockout walked to the hole and looked inside. The spymaster's face was his usual stoic self, but Knockout's expression went from bored to shocked in seconds. Then he smirked.

"Lord Megatron is going to love this."

XXXXXX

"Optimus, I got signal." Optimus and Prowl looked up from the report they were reading and went over to Ratchet's side.

"What is it, Ratchet?" prowl asked.

"A locator beacon of Decepticon origin. But it's old. Very old."

Ratchet relayed some commands and Teletran-1 searched its databanks based on the signal it detected. It took a few minutes, but the computer determined a solid match. When the three Autobots saw the results, they were both shocked and worried at the implications that arose from this discovery. The signal matched a name that none of them thought they would see again since the early days of the war.

"N-17"

All over the Ark, the rest of the team, the Minicons and even the humans were surprised when the klaxon alarm went off and Optimus's voice ordered all personnel on deck to assemble in the command center. They wasted no time, extremely worried at the urgency in Optimus's voice. The grim expressions that he and Prowl wore didn't set their fears at ease at all.

"What's the situation, Prime?" Ironhide asked.

"Teletran-1 just located a Decepticon signal beacon." Optimus said. "It's an old signal that hasn't been detected in thousands of years until now. The signal is coming from a cache of N-17."

That caught the Autobots off guard. Most of them and the Minicons, save for Bumblebee and the kids sported horrified looks at this information.

"N-17? What's that?" Gina asked.

"I never heard of it." Bumblebee admitted.

"N-17, also known as the Hate Plague, was a chemical weapon created by the Decepticon Biological Warfare program." Prowl explained. "This all occurred before you were forged, Bumblebee. It was deployed during the early stages of the War for Cybertron, during the trench wars going on in the Orbital Torus States."

"The Hate Plague was designed to increase the infected victim's brainwaves to dangerous levels and induce artificially increased aggression." Ratchet said. "They were stricken with an uncontrollable rage that caused them to attack anything and everything in sight, even one's own reflection."

"I'm guessing since Megs isn't using it on us, it didn't go too well?" Bumblebee noted.

"The Hate Plague was indiscriminate in who it infected and Megatron was forced to decommission the project after losing a good portion of his forces to it in the torus states. I had medical teams collect what they could of the virus and jettison it into space, away from Cybertron so that no one could use it again." Optimus shook his head. "I never thought it would end up on Terra of all places."

"This planet is just a magnet for trouble, huh?" Jetfire muttered and got a elbow to the chest by Arcee. "What? It's true!"

"We need to get to it before Megatron," Prowl said. "If he gets a hold of the plague, then the situation on this planet will deteriorate very quickly."

"He could unleash it on the planet and have humanity tear itself apart." Darren gasped. Annie snorted.

"Like we weren't doing that already." She quipped.

"Autobots, this is a Code: Red emergency. I know that you all are still recovering from our battle against the Dolem, but if Megatron gets the N-17 container, then he will have the means to tear this planet apart without needing to enact the infiltration procedure. And that is something we cannot let happen." Optimus said. "Which is why we will be staging an all-out assault, hard and heavy."

"Yes! Finally, some action!" Annie cheered and ran to get her Talos, but Bulkhead stopped her.

"You kids are staying here." Bulkhead told them, gaining disappointed groans from the kids.

"Are you serious? We can help to. Have you not seen how much ass we kick?" Annie asked.

"This is different, Annie. A lot is at stake and we don't have room for error here." Prowl said and knelt down to them. "No one is questioning you ability to help. But we're dealing with highly dangerous chemical weapons that can prove detrimental to humans and Cybertronians alike."

"But our Talos can protect us." Gina said, but Optimus shook his head.

"We need you to stay here for now, Gina. You and the Minicons need to stay behind in case…" He trailed off and sighed. "Just remain on standby for now until we require you aid. Please, know that this is a delicate situation."

The way he said that caused the children's protests die before they could be said. They knew that Optimus didn't like them fighting in their war, even with the added protection and firepower given to them by their Talos. But they understood what he was saying now; if things went wrong and the Autobots were taken out of commission, it was up to them to protect the Ark and the Minicons. They were the last line of defense.

"Autobots, get your weapons and assemble in the shuttle bay." Optimus ordered. "We're going in hard."

XXXXXX

"Gina, a word please."

Gina stopped in her tracks and looked up at the towering Autobot leader. Darren caught Prime's glance and pulled Annie away, leaving them alone in the hallway.

"Yes, Optimus?"

Optimus took a look around to make sure that they were truly alone before kneeling down to her level, though he was still a few feet taller than her. He reached into his hip compartment and took out a small, flat device. It was golden and Gina thought it looked like some kind of high-tech key card, but it looked way to intricate to be just that.

"I want you to have this, Gina. Take care of it for me until my return." Optimus said.

"What is it?" She asked softly.

"It's…a memento from my teacher, Alpha Trion. He gave this to me not long after I became a Prime, and I want you to keep it safe."

"You're giving something this important to me? But, it seems like a task that Jazz or Ironhide are more suited for." Gina said, trying to wrap her mind around it all. "They're more suited to keeping it safe than I am."

"Gina, over the past year, I have watch you and your friends grow into exceptional people. You are a curious but responsible girl who has an appreciation for things that have passed, the things that made us what we are today. Your efforts to help us have been greatly welcome to us all, even Prowl, though he chooses not to show it." Optimus held the device to Gina. "You placed your trust in me to keep you children safe and now I'm placing my trust in you."

Gina didn't know what to say. She was touched that Optimus was willing to entrust such an important thing to her. She never thought that any of the Autobots thought of her as anything more than a brainiac with a big mouth that would pester tem for information on their race and their world (it was always a secret fear of hers that they'd get tired of her and just tell her to shut up). She swallowed audibly and nodded, reaching out to the key card. As soon as her fingers touched the smooth metal, the card began to fold into itself, shifting its size until it was small enough to fit in her hand. She took it from Prime's fingers and studied it.

"I'll take good care of it, Optimus. I promise." She said seriously.

"I know you will." Optimus said fondly.

They shared one final glance at each other, having said what they needed to without saying anything. Optimus gave her a parting nod before standing back up and walking away. Gina watched the Autobot leader walk away and thought she didn't voice her concerns, she was afraid that all this talk about trust and the dangerous mission coming up, it felt like that he wasn't coming back.

XXXXXX

"Ngh! Why is this thing so heavy?" Knockout grunted as he and Soundwave lifted the large container out of the ground. "Couldn't you have called Blackout for this you mute oil hole?"

"Don't be callin' the boss names because you're too weak to get your peds dirty." Rumble said. He was helping them lift the container from underneath with his strong arms. "A little heavy lifting will do you some good."

"And I think a little facial make-over from my drill will be just as beneficial to you-gah!"

Knockout took an ion blast to the chest and was sent falling into the pond. Soundwave and his Minicons looked up to see Optimus and his team standing there, with their ground bridge fading away behind him. They all had their weapons pointed at them as they advanced on their position.

"Soundwave, take your proxies and step away from the container. That is Autobot property." Optimus ordered.

"Typical of Prime to lay claim to something that is not theirs." Megatron and his group appeared out of the ground bridge in front of Soundwave. Megatron leveled his fusion cannon at Optimus's head.

"The only you own here is the container that holds the virus. The hate plague is mine to do with as I see fit." Megatron growled.

The field was deathly quiet as both teams face each other in a stand-off. Weapons were powering up, but no one fired a shot without the order of their leaders. Both sides were well aware that a stray bolt could breach the container and endanger everyone present. It was up to the commanders to give the word. Then…

"Autobots/Decepticons, attack!"

XXXXXX

"Annie could you stop pacing? You're making me nervous." Darren said.

"We should be out there, Gina. We could help. The Autobots know that." Annie said, not stopping her pacing at all.

The children were waiting in the west wing of the Ark where the Mincons had designated as their own area along with the children. As was the norm in situations like these, things were tense, and the children found it hard to keep their anxiety down. Sureshock got up and put a hand on Annie's shoulder.

"Annie, Optimus knows what he's doing?" She said. "Have faith in him."

"Even Optimus can make mistakes." Annie said, throwing the Minicon's hands off her. "We'd have a better chance of winning if we fight together."

"I agree, this isn't the time to be sitting on the sidelines." Grindor said. "We've got a chemical weapon in the hands of despots here!"

"It's because there's chemical weapons that Optimus doesn't want us involved." High Wire said. "A million things can go wrong if that container is breached. There was no cure for the Hate Plague and if any of you got infected, Primus knows how things could turn out."

"I know, but…"Annie sighed and sat back down. Darren put an arm around his sister. "What if something happens? I know they're trained soldiers and all that, but after Temperantia…"

"No one will die." Darren said. "The Autobots have been fighting the Cons longer than Terra has even existed. They know what they're doing. Compared to fighting Temperantia, this is nothing."

"I guess so." She shrugged.

Gina, while not visible showing it, was also worried about her friends. Her earlier conversation with Optimus rang through her mind as she fingered the key-card in her pocket.

XXXXXX

It was chaos. Total war. The glade and the surrounding forest had become a war torn battleground with smoking craters and burning trees. Autobots and Decepticons were engaged in long range firefights with blaster bolts flying through the air or were fighting each other at close range.

The skies were no different. Jetfire, powerlinked with Comettor, was fighting the three Seekers in a three on one dogfight that even the Aerialbots would find outstanding. Starscream tried to shoot Jetfire down with his null ray, but Jetfire easily dodged his attacks and shot at him with a few rounds from his particle cannon. Starscream dodged and transformed, flying after him with Thundercracker. Jetfire let them chase after him for a while, then cut his engines off and switched to robot mode, letting the two Seekers fly right under him and fired his particle cannon. He missed Starscream, but caught Thundercracker in the wing.

"Skywarp, flank him!" Starscream ordered and pointed his null ray at Jetfire. At the same time, Skywarp appeared behind Jetfire with his cannons pointed at his back.

Jetfire shook his head and cut his boosters off, allowing gravity to take hold of him just as the two Cons opened fire on the spot he was just flying in. Starscream got a face full of incendiary bullets and Skywarp took a null blast to the chest, knocked offline and fell to the ground. Jetfire laughed at the stupidity of his former flight partners, but saw Thundercracker come at him from behind and angle his feet at his back. There was a deafening boom as Thundercracker released a localized sonic boom at Jetfire that sent the white Autobot crashing into the trees and hitting the ground.

Bumblebee and Wheeljack were fighting Barricade and Knockout, the ground team of the Decepticons. Barricade fought off the yellow scout with his spinning gyro blades that could cut through Cybertronian armor like butter. Bumblebee had his electric stingers, new additions to his arsenal thanks to Wheeljack, and was shooting small but painful bolts of electricity at Barricade. The Con grunted and snarled like an animal every time Bumblebee would dance out of his reach and shoot at his legs or chest with those accursed stinger blasters of his. It made fighting the Autobot absolutely infuriating.

"Stop playing around and fight me like a warrior!" Barricade shouted.

"But I'm not a warrior," Bumblebee smirked. "I'm just a scout." He threw some dirt in Barricade's face and lunged at him, punching him in the face.

Knockout was having a worse time than his partner in fighting Wheeljack. He only had his drill and saw as his weapons, along with an energon prod, the only real weapon that he knew how to use. Knockout, knowing full well how unpredictable Wheeljack was in a fight, kept him at a distance with a blaster rifle that he picked up from the armory. It wasn't a particularly dangerous weapon, but it did the job of keeping Wheeljack away from him.

"What's the matter, Knockout? Afraid that you'll damage that tacky finish of yours?" Wheeljack taunted.

"No, I'm just not dumb enough to fight you within striking distance." Knockout replied and fired his rifle. Wheeljack took cover behind a tree and pulled out two grenades.

"That's another mistake you made, Knockout. One of many!" Wheeljack yelled and threw a flash grenade at the medic. Knockout yelped as he was blinded by the intense flash and his optical sensors tried to deal with the sudden change in light. Wheeljack used this chance to run out of cover and charge at him.

Though blinded, Knockout heard Wheeljack's footsteps and spun his prod around his back, catching the engineer in the chest and electrocuted him violently. Wheeljack stumbled back and Knockout jumped on him, shifting his right hand into a drill and tried to gore the Autobot's head. Wheeljack kept him at bay, but also had to use one arm to keep the prod away from his face. Knockout grinned as the drill and prod neared Wheeljack's body, but just as both weapons almost reached the mech, Knockout was shot in the back by Bulkhead, who then proceeded to land a dozen hard punches to his face before kicking him away.

"You okay, Jackie?" Bulkhead asked, helping Wheeljack up.

"Yeah, thanks Bulk. He almost got me there." Wheeljack said.

"Don't let your guard down, Jackie. This battle is far from over." Bulkhead looked to his left and saw Rumble and Frenzy charging at them. "You got more of those missile shells on you?"

"Just tell me what you need and I'll shoot 'em." Wheeljack said and together with Bulkhead they charged at the powerful Minicons.

Flamewar, who had stayed back near the container, was facing off against Arcee and Jazz. Upon seeing the silver Autobot, Flamewar grinned at her sister.

"How sweet, you brought another partner for me to snuff." Flamewar said and brought out her blades. "I've been waiting for a chance to get you both back for last time."

"You can try baby sis." Arcee replied. She smirked at the annoyed look on Flamewar's face.

Flamewar leapt at Arcee, but was forced to perform a difficult maneuver in the air when Jazz also jumped at her and almost caught her in the face with a downward kick. She landed on the ground and tried to cut him with her blades, but he took out his Bo staff and blocked her strikes with ease, following up with a few blows to her chest and legs. Arcee jumped into the fight and swept Flamewar's legs from under her, punching her in the chest to knock her back. Flamewar rolled across the ground and transformed to her alt mode, driving across the ground at high speeds.

When she was close enough, she leapt into the air and returned to her humanoid configuration and kicked Jazz in the chest before slashing at Arcee, who leaned her head back and ran at her. Flamewar saw Arcee and Jazz running at her from both sides and she raised her arms to block her sister's sword and Jazz's staff before they could hit her from the top and bottom.

Near the container, Ironhide and Prowl stood in front of Nightshade, who brandished her swords, awaiting their move.

"So how are we going to do this?" Ironhide asked.

"Hit her from both angles." Prowl replied. "I'll rush in and take her on at close range."

"And I'll keep her on her toes with my guns." Ironhide grinned and pointed his cannons at her. "I can work with that."

Nightshade sneered and charged at them. Prowl met her halfway and took out his batons, swinging them at her with enough force to shatter steel. Nightshade blocked them with her blades and they quickly got into a fast weapons only fight combined with a series of difficult kicks to knock each other off balance. Ironhide took aim at her from his position, but before he could take the shot, he was hit by a missile from behind. He fell face first into a dirty puddle and spat out water as he glared up at his attacker. Soundwave stood a few feet from him with his concussion rifle pointed at the red Autobot.

"For the love of all that's holy!" Ironhide growled and leapt at Soundwave, firing his cannons. Sounwave fire a few rockets from his shoulder launcher and shot down the missiles and fission blasts that were fired his way. Ironhdie took out his short bladed axe and swung at Soundwave, who ducked under his strike and punched him hard in the chest. "You're gonna have to do better than that!"

Soundwave's right hand shifted into a radio dish and emitted a powerful blast of sound that hit Ironhide in the chest and sent him flying across the area into a tree. The sonic blast had dented his torso plate and jumbled his audio sensors, but he stood up and growled at the spymaster.

"All right, you did better." Ironhide grunted and motioned for Soundwave to come at him. "Can you do that again?"

While their respective teams fought around them, Optimus and Megatron were locked in an intense duel. Every clash of their blades sent sparks flying, and they locked gazes as axe and sword fought against each other.

"Why do you continue to fight, Prime?" Megatron asked, pushing against Optimus. "Why fight for a species that would kill you on sight?"

"If you don't know the answer by now Megatron then there is no point in telling you!" Optimus said.

He kicked Megatron back and spun his axe around to bring it down on his in an arc. Megatron rolled to the side and stabbed forward, almost scratching Prime's window panes before his arm was knocked away and Optimus punched him in the jaw. Megatron stumbled back and glared at his nemesis, spitting out energon.

"We are gods, Optimus. Gods with the power to rule this planet and every other world in the cosmos." He said. "Together we could achieve so much more, including the restoration of our planet. Is the salvation of our people not worth a single world?"

"You'll never stop at one!" Opitmus ran at Megatron, spinning around his blade arm and slicing the heated blade of his axe into Megatron's shoulder. "The humans and Terra are under my protection!"

"Then you will die with them!"

In a surprising move, Megatron grabbed the axe and tore it from his shoulder, before slugging Optimus in the face. He then slashed his blade across Prime's chest and punched him again with enough force to send him crashing to the ground two feet from him.

"Join them in extinction!" Megatron roared and pointed his fusion cannon at Prime's head.

Bumblebee turned just in time to see Megatron punch Optimus to the ground. When he saw the warlord raise his cannon, he wasted no time in charging for them, hoping to reach Optimus in time.

It felt like time slowed down for Optimus. Megatron fired a blast from his fusion cannon and he saw the plasma beam shoot out of the barrel straight for his head. Then he saw Bumblebee jump in front of him.

"Bumblebee!"

The beam hit the yellow Autobot dead center in his body, hitting him in the waist and blew the mech in two. The entire battlefield froze as Bumblebee's body was bisected, his legs destroyed along with his lower torso and his upper body crashed to the ground, sparks flying from where he was hit. Bumblebee was already in stasis lock before he even hit the dirt. Optimus felt his body go numb, then he ran at Megatron in a blind rage.

"MEGATRON!"

Optimus rammed his body in Megatron with the force of a train, sending them both to the ground. He then started to pummel Megatron's face and body with powerful blows, not giving the warlord any opening to fight back. Nightshade saw her leader getting beaten by Prime and cursed. She took out Gandiva and fired an arrow at his back.

The arrow hit Prime, but he only flinched for a minute, long enough for Starscream to hit him with a null ray that paralyzed him further. Another arrow from Nightshade blasted him on his back, and sent Optimus into stasis lock from his hindered systems. Seeing his opportunity, Megatron pulled himself up and looked at Blackout, who was hovering near by above the area.

"Blackout, cover fire!"

The Con transformed and linked with Cannon, slamming his fist into the ground and sending out a large sonic wave that hit every one within his vicinity. While the Decepticons had taken cover, the Autobots weren't so lucky and they were hit full force. Soundwave and Barricade used the distraction to grab the container and rush over to the ground bridge sent to them. Megatron grabbed Optimus and looked at the Autobots.

"As much as I'd like to stay and kill you all, Autobots, I have work to do. But know that your contribution to my cause will not be forgotten." He said, smirking victoriously. "Soundwave, send us to the construction site. And to our victory!"

Megatron and his group entered the ground bridge, and the portal closed, leaving the Autobots alone in the ravaged forest. Prowl and Jazz ran over to Bumblebee's broken body and checked him over, with Prowl calling the Ark.

"Ratchet, we need an immediate med evac!" Prowl ordered. "Bumblebee's in critical condition!"

This was a bad day for the Autobots. They just lost two of their own and the Decepticons have the Hate Plague. They lost this battle and possibly the only chance of saving Terra from a violent death.

XXXXXX

The command center was quiet. No one said a word as they stood around the meeting table with Optimus's battle axe sitting on it in front of them. They were waiting on news of Bumblebee's condition. Ratchet and Longarm were working hard on stabilizing the scout. Darren and Annie escorted the teary eyed Gina into the room along with their Minicons.

"Wheeljack, have you located Prime's signal yet?" Prowl asked.

"Not yet," Wheeljack was working at the Teletran-1 terminal trying to find his leader's energon signal. "I haven't found a trace of him yet. The Cons must be shielding his signal."

"Then try harder! You're the mechanical engineer, you should have no problem getting over something like this!" Prowl growled.

"Lay off him Prowl. He's doing the best he can!" Arcee said.

"If you want to start, Arcee, then why don't you use some of your cyber-ninja skills to locate Prime?" He snapped. "If you don't have anything helpful to say then stay quiet."

"Your bullshit isn't helping, Prowl." Annie said.

"That's swell coming from a loose cannon."

"Don't talk to her like that!" Darren yelled. "None of this is helping anyone. If we keep fighting each other, then we'll lose."

"Don't even start, Darren. Despite whatever slag Prime may have said, you have no place dealing in Autobot matters." Prowl said coldly. "We never should've let you humans get involved in something that has nothing to do with you."

"Why don't you make us stay out?" Darren sneered. "You like to talk big but can you back that shit up?"

He stomped his foot and a large piece of metal tore itself from the floor and hit Prowl in the face. Not hard enough to do serious damage, but just enough to leave a small cut under Prowl's eye. The tactician glared down at Darren and stepped forward, but Jazz got in front of him and pushed him back.

"You two need to cool off." Jazz said, his face dead serious. "This is not the time for that. We need to focus on how to find Optimus, not trying to kill each other."

"Kinda hard considering we don't have a damn clue to where Prime is!" Ironhide growled. "How the hell are we going to find the Nemesis?"

"He's not at the Nemesis." Bulkhead said. "Remember what Megatron said? Something about a construction site."

"Yeah he did mention that." Wheeljack said. "Perhaps that has something to do with all those stolen parts."

"Bucket-head probably took Optimus to where he's building his science project."

"A very large project no doubt." Ironhide pointed out.

"One that will need a lot of energon to power." Arcee said.

"I'll have Teletran search for large energon deposits. If Megatron is building something big, then he'll need a raw fuel supply in close proximity." Wheeljack said.

"Get on it," Prowl said and turned his back on his weary team. "As for the rest of you, heal up and remain on standby. Once we find Optimus, we're mobilizing with all our assets at our disposal."

XXXXXX

Optimus groaned as he regained consciousness. His optics came back online, though his vision was a bit blurry. His body felt stiff and he realized that he couldn't move his limbs.

"Optimus, glad to have you with us again."

Megatron stepped into his view, smirking. Optimus noted, with a bit of satisfaction, that the Decepticon leader's face was still sporting dents and cuts from his earlier assault.

"Megatron."

"Come now, Optimus, cheer up. You're about to witness my victory in this farce of a war."

"Even with the Hate Plague, you don't have the resources to maintain a long term assault. And you certainly don't have enough of it to infect the entire planet by itself."

"Must you always think so small? The plague itself is not my trump card. It's my new project."

"Project?"

Megatron smiled and backed away. Optimus now had a clear view of what was before him. He could tell that the sight before him was old. He was trapped to a boulder outside a collection of ancient stones arranged in some strange patter, covered in runes. Cables were hooked up to the stones and he saw Soundwave and Knockout working with a medium sized sphere that was emitting a steady amount of heat. It took Optimus a moment to realize why this place was so familiar.

This was Stonehenge, and the Decepticons were repurposing it into a space bridge.