With friends hugging him from all sides, Optimus almost fell over. “Okay, guys, I get you’re happy to see me, but we’ve got other priorities right now!” he called. His friends backed off.
“What’s our move here, Prime?” asked Jazz.
“I know where the Forge and Creation Lathe of Solus Prime are,” explained Optimus. “The Thirteen revealed their locations to me. They’re on Mobius right now, have been for a long time. We’re going back to the old base first, then heading to the new base.”
“New base?” asked Blackarachnia.
“Give our guys some credit, Legs. They would have most likely found a new base. The Primes also told me the new base’s location. We gotta go NOW! For all we know, Unicron sensed my return! Transform and Roll Out!” Optimus’ legs then folded and united to become his new alt-mode’s front. His whole upper torso rotated at the waist and bent down so the cab could unite with the front. The head sunk into the cab and the arms swung together while the shoulder pads formed the rear of the cab. The hands then swung into the arms and Optimus switched on his holo-form. It was still a blue hedgehog with Shadow’s quill style, but he wore a large red trench coat with blue sleeves and a white shirt underneath while wearing red pants and black shoes. Jazz and Blackarachnia then transformed, and Sonic picked up Amy.
“May I join you?” asked Sparkplug.
“Sensei Sparkplug,” replied Optimus, “we would be honored.”
“SPARKPLUG, TRANSFORM!” Sparkplug’s legs came together as his chest swung to his lower legs. His arms swung upwards and united with his back, forming the rear of the car. The whole cavalcade then sped off towards the old Autobot base.
Everyone, sans Optimus and his team, had gathered at the new base, discussing the situation. “So,” rumbled Megatron, “no one has heard from my younger brother yet. I have a feeling that we may be missing him in our fight.”
“We still have weapons,” remarked Bumblebee.
“Unicron’s got generals that can raise the dead!” argued Ravage. “I don’t know about you, but I’m not ready to die in a hopeless battle!”
“Ravage speaks logically,” agreed Shockwave. “The Terrorcons can shrug off any damage we inflict on them. I cannot see any outcome where we survive the battle.”
“I can’t argue with her in good conscience,” remarked Eggman. “Fighting won’t unbrick Orion’s connection to the Matrix.”
“…Then what WILL we fight for?” asked Bumblebee. He got up. “Listen to me! All of you! Mobius is looking to us to fight against Unicron, no matter the cost! What will they see? Frightened Scraplets in a derelict ship?! NO! They will see free people and freedom! Freedom from darkness and the terror it brings! And what Unicron and his ilk will see is the flash from our blasters and the ringing of our steel, and they will know what we can do! By the sweat on the brows of our Mobian and human allies, and the strength of the Transformers’ backs, and the courage of our hearts, Sparks, and souls…everyone…prepare for battle AND victory!”
“You all heard him!” called Megatron. “Everyone, Bumblebee and I will not ask you to give more than you can deliver, but I DO ask this; are we not warriors of light?”
“YEAH!” replied everyone in the room.
“On a mission to beat back the darkness?!”
“YEAH!”
“I do not see any fear in Bumblebee’s optics! Are we not warriors of light?!”
“YEAH!!!”
“Then, as Bumblebee put it, prepare for battle! Everyone, to their stations and haul away! Prepare to fight for a new day!” Everyone then headed off to prepare the base for battle.
“…You know, that last bit reminded me of Wheelie,” snarked Bumblebee. Megatron then glared at Bumblebee, not giving any arguments since he WAS right. He just contented himself to grunt and storm off to prepare for the fight in his own manner.
Back at Castle Unicron, the arena was finally set up. “Finally!” sighed Nemesis Prime. “It is complete! Perfectly square, a fine obsidian black, and a full ninety by nin…” he stopped when he saw a small hole in the floor. “…Are…you…friggin’…SERIOUS!”
“Let it go, Nemesis,” called Unicron. “We’ll just patch it. In the meantime, we have scrap to do. Our enemies have gathered in one place. Signal Rodimus Unicronus. Tell him to give no quarter. That should help brighten his mood for the past five months.”
“What of Josie Beller?”
“Ms. Circuit Breaker is broken. She can’t make any coherent words. All she’s doing now is sitting and making sad noises.”
“So, worthless to our schemes. Very well. I’ll just radio Rodimus Unicronus now.”
As the Unicron Resistance prepared for battle, Teletraan 1 got something from one of his Sky Spys. “…Uh oh!” He sounded the alarm. “Heads up, everyone! Zombie army coming from the south! Rodimus Unicronus is leading!”
“Battle stations!” ordered Bumblebee. Everyone rushed and took up their positions.
“Because, of course,” grunted Megatron, “they’d strike at an area where our shields are at their weakest right now!”
“Anyone with super modes, better suit up now!” called Bumblebee.
“MEGATRON, CONQUEST MODE!”
“RODIMUS PRIME, OVERDRIVE MODE!” Rodimus’ legs extended and a set of wings attached to his back. His battle mask deployed, and he drew his rifle. Megatron then looked at Galvatron.
“Where’s yours?!” he asked.
“They used my old battle-frame to rebuild me,” replied Galvatron. Megatron groaned. The enemy army then crested the crater’s edge.
“OPEN FIRE!” shouted Bumblebee. Laser fire then erupted from the base and soldiers. But, what good is weapons fire against an undead horde? The army still made it into the crater and Rodimus Unicronus strolled leisurely behind the horde in his own super mode.
“Look at you all!” he taunted as the horde slammed themselves against the base and climbed it. “All of you, so proud of your ability to learn from light! Well, let me tell you right now, the darkness offers greater secrets!” The horde was then coming down on everyone! They had to resort to melee weapons. Ratchet then sliced one of the zombies in two and it fell to the ground. He tried again and got the same results.
“I recommend dissection!” he called on an open frequency. “The smaller the pieces, the better!”
“Understood!” replied Bumblebee. They got bladed weapons out and started cutting.
“Oh, very clever!” snarked Rodimus Unicronus. “…NOT!” He then snapped his fingers and the zombies started blocking the blows!
“Someone take him out!” shouted Tails.
“Yes, please, take me out!” laughed Rodimus Unicronus. “I know a nice little restaurant over in Station Square! A perfect place for some Italian food and drink! I, myself, have a preference to shrimp alfredo!”
“!’m afraid,” called a voice, “that you’ll have to take a raincheck on that particular date. There’s a hot one waiting for you in the Great Wildfire!” A ball of light then struck him in the chest. Everyone turned to see who threw it. It was a woman of average Mobian-height, yellow-green skin, green, leafy hair, and a rose on either side of her head. Tails gasped in delight.
“COSMO!” he called. The zombie above him then groaned, reminding him of the fight. Cosmo then threw more balls of light, then started panting.
“Really needed more sunlight!” she gasped. “Sky’s too dark!”
“Then allow me to take over!” came a voice over the radio.
“Orion?!” yelped Megatron. “Where’s that voice coming from?!”
“Look to the east!” replied the voice. Everyone turned to see six figures on the eastern edge of the crater. Three were Transformer-height, and the remaining were Mobian-sized. One of the figures then summoned a ball of light in its left hand, then a ball of darkness in the right. Rodimus Unicronus gasped, remembering a time when he was his timeline’s Unicron. He recalled that such orbs were used to initiate an attack.
“The Prime Cannon!” he whispered. The figure then thrust its hands into the orbs, then clasped its hands together above its head, then brought them towards its chest before thrusting them forward, still clasped. A brilliant stream of rainbow-colored orbs then launched at Rodimus Unicronus, pinning him to the wall and causing severe damage. The sudden shock of pain echoed throughout the zombie Transformers, giving the heroes enough time to counter-attack. Megatron then activated and optic-visor and used the zoom function to see who the figures were. The figures descended into the crater and Megatron got a better look.
“…Well, I’ll be slagged!” he muttered. Bumblebee then lowered his own optic visor and saw what Megatron saw. His face lit up as he called out the good news.
“HE’S BACK! OPTIMUS PRIME IS BACK!” Rodimus Unicronus picked himself out of the wall and charged at Optimus, roaring all the while in fury!