Once all the newcomers were familiar with their surroundings and the troops and allies, everyone, Autobot and organic alike, gathered in the conference room. Optimus opened the meeting with a solemn face. “Guys, I didn’t want to tell you this, but this kind of news can’t be put off forever. Heck, my taking an hour to decide after I heard this information was probably too long. Chip, tell us what you told me about the Emeralds.”
“What’s to tell?” asked Sonic. “We used the Emeralds against Unicron when we knew him as Dark Gaia.”
“Not specifically,” corrected Chip. “Sonic, the Emeralds were only used to put Mobius back together every time Unicron tried to break out. They weren’t the ACTUAL weapons that stopped him. They only served to give us an edge.”
“But…but I beat him as Super Sonic!”
“You weakened him, yes, but it wasn’t a permanent defeat for him.”
“Then why did we hunt for the damn things in the first place?!” snarled Ultra Magnus.
“To keep them out of harm’s way,” answered Prowl. “Whoever has them will have to make sure Unicron doesn’t drain them.”
“And I spoke with the Primes,” supplied Optimus. “Unfortunately, the Allspark didn’t even scratch Unicron’s paint job when they battled him. The only thing that stopped him was a trio of Matrix-powered weapons. I presume everyone knows about the Star Saber, the Skyboom Shield, and the Requiem Blaster?”
“The Three Powers, I believe they’re named,” recalled Arcee.
“Bingo. They could channel the energy of the Matrix into something that could really bring the hurt on Unicron. The Matrix, by itself, can do that, but the Primes needed an edge. And so, with the Fallen’s intel, they figured out how to craft such an edge. Solus Prime created the Three Powers and they made an all-powerful weapon in their combined state, the Hydra Cannon.”
“Prime, didn’t you use something that looked like the Star Saber against Nemesis Prime when he made you go cuckoo?” asked Grimlock.
“That version was just a manifestation of the Star Saber’s build plans. After they beat Unicron, the Primes destroyed the Three Powers. Solus, being one of the three brains of the bunch, kept the plans hidden within the Matrix.”
“So let’s bring the plans out and build them again!” replied Jazz.
“The Three Powers,” replied Pyra Magna, “can only be constructed with the Creation Lathe and the Forge of Solus Prime, according to Camien legend.”
“Solus confirmed that little bit of legend,” supplied Optimus. “So, if we want the weapons, we need the Forge and Lathe. Prowl, be honest, can we afford another scavenger hunt?”
“Not one on the scale I calculate,” answered Prowl. “Looks like our best bet is work with the Decepti…”
“Prowl, we DON’T need the Decepticons!” snarled Ultra Magnus.
“Boy, hush up!” snapped Windblade. Everyone turned to Windblade as Ultra Magnus subsided. Optimus sighed.
“That’s what Soleanna Pax really looks like,” he explained. Everyone then yelped in surprise.
“You mean…you…your mother is a…!” stammered Pyra Magna.
“Yes, she’s a Camien.”
“…Chromia, you’re not reacting!”
“Because I was the one who hooked her up with her husband and convinced them to use a civilian name,” explained Chromia.
“Er, I hate to interrupt the exposition dump and unforeseen twists,” called Teletraan, “but Megatron’s outside!”
“What?!” yelped Windblade.
“Destroy him! We can’t…!” ordered Ultra Magnus.
“Hang on!” interrupted Optimus. “This might be a great opportunity! We can get him and the Decepticons to join us against Unicron!”
“Optimus, don’t be so…!”
“Teletraan, keep the guns trained on him if he does something funny, but don’t fire unless I give the command!”
“Optimus, for all we know, he’s aligned himself with Unicron!”
“Now you’re just making up theories! Teletraan, my orders stand!” The conference room then emptied, and everyone gathered in the command center as Optimus allowed two-way communication. He then put on a stoic face and exited the base through the front door, approaching Megatron. Megatron smirked.
“You know, this reminds me of the initial stand-off of our last encounter,” he chuckled. “If memory serves, you were desperately attempting to keep the Chaos Emerald from me and critically wound me.”
“That option remains very much in play,” replied Optimus as he pointed to the guns trained on Megatron. Megatron nodded in acknowledgement.
“I would expect nothing less from one of, no, THE greatest Prime in existence. However, I have a proposal.” He paused impressively. “…The Autobots are cordially invited to join my faction against our shared enemy, Unicron the Chaos Bringer!” At that moment, Ultra Magnus’ voice came through the external comms.
“ABSURD! Unicron is evil incarnate! If you were to take any side, why would it be ours?!”
“Because Megatron’s pride would never allow anyone other than himself to rule the universe,” replied Optimus.
“You know me all too well, Optimus!” chuckled Megatron. Bumblebee’s voice then came through.
“You’ve got Eggman to make you an army of robots to your specifications! Why come to us?!”
“Because this particular endeavor, young Bumblebee,” explained Megatron, “requires something beyond the realm of my command; the power of a Prime.”
“Then we don’t need you!” scoffed Ultra Magnus.
“On the contrary, Optimus may be the only one to defeat Unicron, but I remain the only one who can guide you to him. Unicron’s life-blood runs through me. I learned this ability last night. Only I can hear his thoughts, anticipate his movements! Optimus, our past alliances, Autobot, Decepticon, no longer matter! Not while Unicron lives!”
“THE PAST ALWAYS MATTERS!” roared Ultra Magnus.
“A truce between Autobot and Decepticon,” mused Optimus. “…You know, we were just entertaining that notion. I don’t suppose you know about the effectiveness of the Allspark and Chaos Emeralds against the Chaos-Bringer.”
“As I said, I learned how to access his thoughts,” answered Megatron. “He’s frighteningly unconcerned about them.”
“With that in mind, how long do you expect us to believe our alliance will last?”
“Only as long as is mutually beneficial.”
“And when our proposed shared mission is complete?”
“I will conquer this world…my way!”
“…Brutal honesty from a Decepticon,” came Windblade’s voice, causing Megatron’s optics to widen. “I just never thought that Decepticon would be my own son!”
“…Mother?!”
“Like you, I got some new troops,” explained Optimus.
“But…our MOTHER?!”
“She knew.”
“Aligning with the lesser of two evils,” growled Ultra Magnus, returning the discussion to its original point, “is STILL siding with evil!”
“Besides, I’ve faced Unicron before when he was just Dark Gaia!” called Sonic.
“My dear hero of Mobius,” scoffed Megatron, “do you think you’ve witnessed the full power of Unicron when he just had Dark Gaia Monsters?! Those foot soldiers were nothing more than a taste! Unicron has yet to fully awaken! With each passing moment, the Bringer of Chaos evolves, calling followers to his fold, raw materials for his body, and mutating Mobius from the inside-out! What the Terrorcons have shown us during our encounters with them is nothing more than a prelude of the utter devastation his rising will wreak upon this world!”
“Like the Decepticons did with Cybertron all those millions of years ago?!” shouted Hot Rod.
“Make no mistake, my Velocitronian friend! With me at the helm, there WILL be a planet for the Decepticons to rule!”
“Even if we agree,” remarked Shadow, “Unicron’s all the way down at the center of the planet! How are we supposed to get there, drive?!”
“Shadow, you possess one means of transport,” replied Optimus, “then there’s the Ground Bridge…”
“ABSOLUTELY NOT!” cut in Ratchet.
“Ratchet’s right!” agreed Tails. “Ground-bridging near a Space Bridge apparatus and Chaos Controlling inside a moving trailer’s bad enough…but plotting a blind jump near a Hyper-energy organism of that caliber?!”
“Besides, direct exposure to that much Dark Energon will debilitate you!” continued Ratchet. “You haven’t built up an immunity like Megatron appears to have!”
“Yet another strong argument for soliciting my guidance,” replied Megatron. Optimus raised an eyebrow.
“…You can provide Unicron’s exact coordinates?”
“If you transport us to this planet’s core, I can lead you directly into Unicron’s Anti-spark, the very heart of his darkness!”
“Optimus, even if we survive the trip,” interrupted Rouge, “you said so yourself that the Three Powers are gone! All you have is the Matrix!” Optimus appeared to consider his options.
“…Perhaps that’s all we need,” he surmised. “The Three Powers were meant to damage his body and the Matrix was designed to hurt his Anti-spark. The way I see it, without a physical body of his own, Unicron’s actually more vulnerable.”
“It WAS the combined power of the Primes that defeated Unicron so long ago,” confirmed Megatron, “the very reason he would seek to destroy you.”
“It would follow that unleashing the power of the Matrix directly into Unicron’s Anti-spark would return him to stasis.”
“Hold on,” interrupted Amy, “if everything goes right, Unicron’s just gonna stay down there?!”
“Yeah, can’t we syphon him out or something?” asked Sonic.
“If we tried, then my creator, the original Gaia, would have to let herself succumb to darkness in order to keep balance,” explained Chip. “I can’t die or lose my power…outside of external interference, so Gaia would have to be the new Dark Gaia instead of the master of both light AND dark as she was. Unicron’s now a part of Mobius. Always has been and always must be.”
“I still say allying with Megatron is a bad idea!” growled Ultra Magnus.
“Look, if I surrendered and let myself be your prisoner,” asked Megatron as he took out his mace and Cyber-key, “would you consider my offer?” He then let them and the fusion cannon fall to the ground. Optimus looked at Megatron, highly perplexed, then made his decision.
“Prowl, get a pair of stasis cuffs out here. Megatron is our prisoner.” Megatron smirked. He got them.
“You can always be relied upon to listen to reason, Optimus.” There was a silence before Prowl stepped outside and approached the two. Megatron held his hands out and Prowl slapped the cuffs onto him. The two Autobots then led Megatron into the base and he got a good look at everyone. “So, you people make the magic happen. …Quaint.”
“I believe there’s a maximum-security cell with your name on it,” remarked Prowl. He led the Decepticon Lord towards the brig.
“You’re being played!” growled Ultra Magnus.
“Perhaps, but we need to defeat Unicron,” answered Optimus. “Besides, he’s still our brother.” Ultra Magnus snarled before leaving. The command center emptied, leaving only Optimus by the main monitor.