The Monster of Kaon (Transformers Si): Chapter 5

"Megatronus! To your aft!"

"I see them, Maximus."

Megatronus used his powerful Fusion Cannon to take out some of the M.T.O. units surrounding us, but it did not appear like we thinned their numbers at all.

This was not how I anticipated this day to go.

After the scandal of the M.T.O. was released to the wider public after Sentinel and his council refused to negotiate with us, I had Soundwave release the information on all channels across the planet.

What I did not anticipate was the general apathy within the majority of the population on Cybertron.

While a lot of Cybertronians had joined us after the truth was revealed, the numbers were nowhere near as large as what Megatronus and Shockwave had predicted, showing that Sentinel's corruption had already taken such a deep root within the general populace, that they were no longer even surprised by the reveal of such a monstrous act and simply went about their daily lives, having already given up hope on a brighter future.

Then, just as we were preparing for a public rally on the streets of Iacon, we received a message from none other than Alpha Trion to meet him to discuss a possible collaboration between the Ascenticons and the last of the original thirteen.

And of course, the universe decided to play me for a fool once again.

Turns out, the message was just a trap laid by Sentinel and the Council using a modified old message from Alpha Trion before he sealed himself in Vector Sigma.

I knew this because Sentinel wasted no time in gloating about this fact while the army of M.T.O. that he secretly built in a different facility from the one we raided surrounded Megatronus and me.

"We cannot take them all on our own!"

I suppressed a wince from showing on my faceplate. For this proud warrior to admit such a fact, our situation is truly dire.

However, credit where credit is due. Together, we have already trashed enough M.T.O. units to categorize us as mass murderers if it were an army of normal Cybertronians that we were facing.

Seriously, there is a literal pile of dead M.T.O. units that was nearly reaching the massive ceiling of the chamber all around us and even more M.T.O. were rushing over this literal mountain of corpses to try and kill us. Their basic programming did not allow them to even entertain the idea of abandoning this fight to live.

"I know, Megatronus. I have already sent out a distress signal. Shockwave and Soundwave should be here any minute with reinforcements-"

My words were cut off as my right side suddenly stopped responding to me.

"MAXIMUS!!"

Looking down at my body, I found the reason why the right side of my body, and slowly, the rest of my body, was not responding to my commands.

The massive hole on the right side of my torso severed both my arm and leg. But the real reason my body was starting to fail was the strange code that was starting to interfere with my internal systems.

Looking at a smug-looking Sentinel on the top floor revealed the origin of the strange code.

"I knew you two, especially you Armorbite, Oh you call yourself Maximus now right? Anyway, I knew you would not go down so easily. So I had my best scientists come up with this weapon. I had it designed specifically to counter your ability to control machines. How do you like it?"

I ignored the useless chatter and concentrated on purging the foreign code from my systems with my power while keeping myself from revealing my shock.

The weapon in the hands of this mockery of a Prime was something that I recognized.

It was the V32.CYBR Corrupt@r. A weapon that I remember from the games I played as a human. But they should not exist yet and neither should they have the raw firepower to punch through the industrial-grade Cyber-Steel that my artificial body is made of.

Then again, if Sentinel had this weapon made specifically to counter me, it would make sense for it to change from how it was originally supposed to be.

Unfortunately, I did not have much time to ponder this new revelation as the army of M.T.O. restarted their assault, forcing Megatronus to let go of his aggressive fighting style to protect my downed form.

"Hold on, Maximus. The reinforcements should arrive any moment now!"

I ignored the gladiator's words and started assessing our situation.

While I managed to purge the corruptor's code, the right side of my body has gone cold and I am leaking Energon at ridiculous speeds. I will not survive unless I receive medical attention immediately.

That means I might have to use that if we are to get out of here- hold on!

"WHAT?? WHAT IS HAPPENING??"

"MEGATRONUS! THIS IS OUR CHANCE! PUNCH IT!"

I did not need to say it twice as Megatronus immediately transformed into his flyer form while magnetically attaching my body to his underside, launching out of the air space at supersonic speeds.

All the while, the M.T.O. Units stood there in a daze, unable to move a limb due to some kind of interference.

It was only after we were a few miles away from Iacon that our communicators came to life.

"-many times do I have to tell you? I can't reach them- Hold On! Maximus! Thank Primus! We thought we lost you two!"

"Calm down Soundwave. First things first, where are our reinforcements?"

"They are inside Iacon and are nearly done planting the bombs. We were not able to reach you for the entire time you were in Iacon so we thought the worst-"

"Call them back, Soundwave. And have them disarm those bombs. We will need all the ammunition we can get our servos on in the future. But tell me one thing, how did you manage to hack into the M.T.O. unit's internal systems? I thought controlling the code of all machines was my power while yours was super auditory senses and minor telepathy?"

"…There were more M.T.Os?? no, those are problems for another time. As for your question, I have no idea what you are talking about. By Primus, you know better than anyone that I am nowhere near your prodigal talent with programming. Besides, I was busy keeping the younger and much more hot-headed bots from barging into the chambers and rushing to their deaths when we thought something happened to you two."

"..Then who stopped the army of M.T.O units?"

"That would be one of my students. Glitch."

This time, I could not keep the shock from showing on my face, followed by rage.

"Shockwave! There is a reason why I forbade the outlier children in your institute from joining the Ascenticons. Do you realize your actions today could put those children, and the rest of those that Sentinel sees as 'outside the normal' in grave danger-"

"And what else was I supposed to do? Allow you two to die? Besides, Glitch was not in any danger during that time. I had one of my closest friends keep an eye on him and allow him access to Sentinel's personal communication frequencies."

"…Come back to base. I appreciate you saving both Megatronus and me from our certain doom, we need to talk about involving younglings in our fight."

"….Understood. Also, my friend requests a meeting with you and Megatronus, although, he is much more interested in meeting Megatronus than you. I have already sent them to our base along with Glitch to talk to you two. They wish to join us while Glitch wants to learn from you."

"And who is this friend of yours that you trust so much? You don't have much in the way of those you truly call your friends. Especially since I formed our group."

"He is a young Data Clerk. He works in the Iacon Hall of Records and is someone that I have considered a close friend for a long time. His name is Orion Pax."

"….Fine, I will meet them. But first, I will need you to expedite your work on my new body. My current body is scrapped at the moment."

"Understood. I have already completed the psychic patch and ran successful test runs a few days ago. Forging your new body should not be much of a problem either."

"Good."

I cut off the communications and allowed myself to go into stasis to conserve Energon and prepare myself for this meeting.

After all, I cannot afford to make an enemy out of a future Prime and the future head of the DJD.