Metal Sonic’s ejection from Teletraan’s systems literally threw him out of his seat. He caught himself on a control panel, his eyes blazing with hatred. “Damn you, TELETRAAN 1!” he roared.
“If you can save the ranting for one minute,” interjected Shockwave, “I presume you failed in retrieving the Ark?”
“Worse than that,” replied Metal Sonic. “Optimus, Swoop, Tails, and Ratchet undid my work! Teletraan’s fanatic about backing himself up and they used the backups as patches for the files I corrupted! With that done, he altered my programming so that I’m trapped in a single form! I’m no longer a hive mind!”
“WHAT?!” shouted Eggman’s voice over the intercom from Engineering. “But, with you reduced to a single mind, your relay functions for the Cyber-Eggs are gone! And then…!”
“Ma’am, we can’t keep this up!” called a Male Mobian Rattlesnake in purple robes.
“We don’t exactly have a choice!” hissed Aleena.
“Ma’am,” replied Wilson, her Hedgehog butler, “Mr. Michael is right. Our guns are gobbling up ammunition faster than we can resupply and the magically inclined are losing strength.”
“My children have made this world better,” declared Aleena. “I’m not about to let that work be undone!”
“Your Majesty!” shouted Sira. “The enemy forces!” Aleena looked up, and a small glimmer of hope swelled in her heart. The Cyber-Eggs were exploding!
“Did someone plant magic bombs?!” asked Aleena.
“We’re getting a transmission!” reported Abigail.
“Put it through!” ordered Knuckles. The screen then showed Optimus and Teletraan.
“This is Optimus Prime, Captain of the Autobot Vanguard class Starship Ark,” called Optimus. “May we be of assistance?”
“Any theories on why Eggman’s new Transformers are exploding?” quizzed Aleena.
“Not theories,” replied Optimus. “We offer an explanation. Teletraan, if you would be so kind?”
“It would be my pleasure, Sir,” answered Teletraan.
“Teletraan!” cheered Knuckles. “You’re all right again!”
“And I’m the one behind the Cyber-Eggs exploding,” giggled Teletraan.
“Cyber-Eggs?” quizzed Shadow. “Eggman seriously called them that?”
“And they were using Metal Sonic’s hive mind as a central processor,” continued Teletraan, “Star Trek fans would compare that to the Borg. Once I was patched up, I did some reprogramming so Metal Sonic is a single mind instead of a hive. Without his guidance and order-bringing voice, the Cyber-Eggs go insane with the cacophony of voices in their heads, causing their systems to overheat and then…BOOM!”
“Then, I think it’s best for our mages,” mused Aleena, “to keep the energy globe up.”
“Yeah, falling debris from exploding Transformers IS a good motivator,” agreed Sira.
“Master Sira?” asked Optimus. “You organized the mages of Mobius to fight?”
“This IS our planet,” answered Sira.
“I think that display of heroism on their part,” remarked Aleena, “may very well prove that magic can only be used for good.”
“Your Majesty, what are you getting at?” asked Sira.
“Grand High Witch Sira,” offered Aleena, “how would you and the rest of the magic community to be finally given the recognition you so richly deserve? A chance to rule alongside me as my equal?”
“…I’m…not a Queen,” replied Sira.
“Nor am I a Witch,” answered Aleena. “However, I’d be a fool to deny the impact magic has had on Mobius, good and ill. Once this mess is cleaned up, I believe we should work together to bring our planet that much closer to harmony. Besides, you guys easily take care of any mage of ill repute. I think we can work together.” Sira considered, then decided.
“I believe a peace conference in three days’ time would work,” she declared.
“That’s nice and all,” interjected Shadow, “but what about the ship that looks like the symbol on Shockwave’s shoulders?!”
“Oh, don’t get your quills in a twist!” assured Teletraan. “The Enigma’s in for a nasty surprise!”
“You just HAD to leave an obvious port wide open!” berated Eggman from Engineering. “thanks to you, our forces are exploding and…!” He was cut off as the ship was rocked by an explosion.
“Report!” Shockwave shouted to Alchemax.
“There has been an explosion,” answered Alchemax.
“Thanks! That’s very helpful!” snapped Metal. “Has the enemy breached our shields?!”
“Negative,” reported Alchemax. “No vessel has fired.” Another explosion rocked the ship.
“Initiating remote connection,” called Shockwave. “…The cloning tanks have been destroyed in the first explosion, caused by the self-destructing Cyber-Eggs! The aborted protoforms are contaminated! Our cloning facility is gone!”
“And the second?!” asked Metal.
“Same reason. Near Engineering,” answered Shockwave.
“Warning,” called Alchemax. “Attitude control systems are fluctuating.”
“Bypass,” ordered Shockwave.
“Unable to comply,” replied Alchemax. “Warning. Impulse engines are now fluctuating. I can no longer keep the Enigma in a stable orbit. Mobius’ gravitational pull is overpowering the ship.”
“Get us away from the planet,” commanded Shockwave.
“Confirmed,” replied Alchemax. They got away from Mobius at Warp 0.25. The ship was shaking violently. The crew was being tossed around.
“What’s going on?!” shouted Shockwave as she gripped the Captain’s chair.
“We don’t have complete control over the engines!” answered Metal. “They’re firing at random propulsion settings from different emitters! Without attitude control, we can’t stabilize anything!”
“Shockwave, what’s going on up there?!” asked a SWATbot on the intercom.
“Standby!” ordered Shockwave.
“Trust me, no one’s doing any standing right now!” snarked the SWATbot.
“Engineering to Bridge!” called Eggman. “Whatever Teletraan did through Metal is starting an overload in the core!”
“Shut it down!” shouted Shockwave.
“If we do that,” argued Eggman, “we won’t have power to stabilize anything!”
“And, if we don’t, we explode!” countered Shockwave. “Shut the core down now!”
“Very well!” sighed Eggman. After a few seconds, Alchemax reported in.
“Primary power is offline,” she reported. “Emergency power is now active. Warning, I am unable restore stability.”
“Working on it!” called Eggman. “I…” the ship stopped rocking.
“…Alchemax, did you fix the engines?” asked Shockwave.
“Negative,” replied Alchemax. “Inertial systems have not managed to return to full power. We have stabilized due to entering the gravitational pull of a celestial body. Engines are offline.”
“Onscreen,” ordered Shockwave. The “celestial body” turned out to be Mobius’ moon. The journey from the planet at that distance took three minutes. They had two minutes left until impact.
“Um, are we supposed to be getting closer?” asked an Egg-pawn on the bridge.
“Alchemax, put us into the moon’s orbit,” commanded Shockwave.
“Unable to comply,” reported Alchemax. “Engine power is offline.”
“Use emergency power,” directed Shockwave.
“Emergency power,” replied Alchemax, “is insufficient to break out of the gravitational pull.”
“Engineering to Bridge!” called Eggman. “That explosion took out several key circuits with it! The engine core isn’t coming back online!”
“What the Hell does any of that mean?!” yelped the Egg-pawn.
“Warning,” Alchemax cut in, “thruster control circuits are not responding.”
“It means we’re screwed!” explained Metal.
“Attempting to level our descent,” reported Alchemax.
“Level our WHAT?!” screamed the Egg-pawn. “What on Mobius is happening?!”
“Er, guys?!” asked the SWATbot. “Why are we getting closer to the moon?!”
“We no longer have power to the shields!” answered Eggman. “I can’t get anything online down here!”
“Alchemax, disconnect from the Enigma’s systems and transfer your core processor to the Bridge,” ordered Shockwave. The screen went dead and Alchemax’s brain popped out of a tube. Shockwave then took a briefcase and opened it.
“Shockwave, what’s going on?!” asked Eggman over her comms. Shockwave switched the call to general broadcast.
“Abandon ship,” she ordered.
“WHAT?!” shouted Metal.
“All survivors, to the Escape Shuttle,” commanded Shockwave as she put Alchemax’s brain into the briefcase. “The Enigma is going to crash. Abandon ship.” Everyone was astonished at what Shockwave commanded. Still, they wanted to live, so the survivors got to the Escape Shuttle. Shockwave performed the pre-flight checks quickly. All systems were good. Since there was no longer any available power to open the hangar doors, Shockwave used the guns on the shuttle to blast open an escape hole. With skill, she used the sudden vacuum of air to her advantage to let the shuttle out. The shuttle broke free of the moon’s gravity and started its hour-long journey. Eggman and Metal looked out the rear window to see the Enigma bounce on the moon’s surface before sliding to a stop. The once-proud P-6 Model D-Class Worldsweeper was now a smoldering wreck on the moon’s surface. “…I underestimated the alliance between Mobius and the Autobots,” muttered Shockwave as she piloted the shuttle.