Above the Iron Citadel, the Decepticon transport reached its designated altitude and banked toward Cybertron's primary moon.
As Cybertron's natural resources neared total exhaustion, the Decepticons frequently dispatched haulers to scavenge the moons and nearby asteroids. To maintain secrecy and avoid tipping off the Autobot resistance, the task force—comprising the Combaticons, Constructicons, and Seekers—was hidden within a standard heavy-lift transport ship.
Below the launch trajectory, Shockwave stood alone atop the Decagon. His singular, crimson optic tracked the receding vessel until it became a mere speck against the dark sky.
The Decagon, once the seat of the Cybertronian Central Government, had been converted into a military fortress by the Autobots during the war, only to be reclaimed by the Decepticons after the fall of Kaon. Now, it served as the Decepticon High Command.
Despite their victory in the Civil War, the Decepticons presided over a graveyard. Beyond the illuminated central district of the Iron Citadel and the Great Archives, the planet was a lightless void. Resources were so scarce that after the armistice, many low-tier clone units were "recycled"—their sparks extinguished so their energon could be rationed to higher-tier warriors.
Shockwave's form finally faded into the shadows as the ship breached the atmosphere. The news of Megatron's death remained under a total communications blackout by his direct order. If the word spread, the fragile stability he had enforced would shatter into factional anarchy. Shockwave was a creature of logic and perfection; he would allow no variables to disrupt his tenure as regent.
Once the transport reached the moon's gravity well, the automated navigation engaged the hyper-space jump. In a flash of distorted light, it was gone.
However, across the rusted span of half the planet, another group had been watching.
The City of the Unconquered—a sector once held by Decepticons but abandoned as the energy crisis deepened—now served as a hidden Autobot cell.
"Ultra Magnus, they've engaged the jump drive. We've lost the signature."
Inside a subterranean bunker, a bot no larger than a human television set reported from a glowing console. This was Blaster, the Autobot Communications Officer. Alongside his mini-cassette team—Steeljaw, Ramhorn, and the others—he formed the backbone of the Autobot intelligence network, the long-standing rivals to Soundwave's spy corps.
The Decepticon mobilization had not gone unnoticed. A small Autobot detachment on Cybertron's third moon had spotted the unusual activity and relayed the data back to the surface.
Standing beside Blaster was the second-in-command of the Autobot cause: Ultra Magnus.
Standing nearly ten meters tall, Ultra Magnus was a titan of blue and white armor. His frame was broader and more heavily reinforced than even Optimus Prime's, particularly at the shoulders and stabilizers. He looked less like a scout and more like a walking fortress. His face was a mask of stoic, ancient gravity—older even than Ratchet's.
"Blaster," Ultra Magnus rumbled, his voice like grinding tectonic plates. "Can you isolate the power signatures within that transport?"
"Working on it, Magnus. Give me a nanoklick."
A transport ship was little more than an unshielded metal box. It took Blaster only moments to slice through the basic encryption.
"Fourteen distinct signals. Three Elite-Class signatures... eleven High-Class." Blaster paused, his fans whirring in surprise. "That's a heavy-hitter roster. The Decepticons are planning something big."
"Wait," Blaster corrected himself, his head tilting. "They're using a standard hauler. If they were just going for an energon run, they wouldn't waste three Elites on security duty. Something is wrong."
"I agree," a silver-grey bot standing nearby interjected.
He stepped toward the console, looking at Ultra Magnus. This was Sideswipe, a CQC specialist who preferred his twin arm-blades over long-range ballistics. Trained by Ironhide, Sideswipe was currently Magnus's right hand and a frequent collaborator with the Wreckers.
"Magnus, let me take Impactor and the boys to the Iron Citadel. We'll kick in some doors and see what Shockwave is hiding. I guarantee I'll bring back enough high-tier heads to get the truth out of one of them."
Sideswipe was a creature of impulse. He drew his alloy blades, spinning them with practiced lethality. "One klick. That's all I need to slice a Decepticon in half. Clean and simple."
Ultra Magnus shook his head. "The Citadel is not what it used to be, Sideswipe. It is the heart of the swarm now. Shockwave is there, and his pet, the Driller, has made the tunnels a deathtrap. It is too high a risk for a scouting mission."
Shockwave was widely considered the most dangerous of the three Decepticon Commanders, a being of pure, cold intellect.
"A month ago, they abandoned Kaon because Soundwave left the planet," Magnus mused. "Now, this massive departure... it mirrors the first."
"Wait, I just remembered!" Sideswipe barked, tapping his headplate. "Didn't we intercept a localized transmission from Optimus a few cycles back?"
"We did," Blaster confirmed. "I've decoded the burst. It's a set of coordinates."
Cybertronians lacked the power for real-time intergalactic chat without a bridge, but they could broadcast "black box" pings across the stars.
"That's it!" Sideswipe cheered. "I have a plan. I'll take a ship, find Optimus, and tell him what's happening here!"
Ultra Magnus looked at him sadly. "Sideswipe, we have no ships capable of interstellar flight left. The Ark is still undergoing deep-system repairs."
"Don't worry about the Ark!" Sideswipe waved a hand dismissively. "What about the Wreckers' ship? The Xanthium?"
The Wreckers were the Autobots' "Dirty Dozen"—a group of elite commandos including Roadbuster, Topspin, and Leadfoot. Their shuttle, the Xanthium, was a high-speed orbital jumper built for rapid deployment.
Blaster looked at Ultra Magnus. After a long moment, the Commander gave a slow, deliberate nod.
"Alright, Sideswipe. Here are the coordinates," Blaster said, transferring the data. "Good luck convincing Impactor to let you borrow his baby."
The Xanthium was the Wreckers' most prized possession. Sideswipe grinned and turned to leave the bunker. He didn't need to borrow it; he knew the Wreckers were just as bored as he was.
While the galaxy prepared to descend on Earth, Skygnaw was blissfully unaware of the approaching storm.
After weeks of flight through the vacuum, the moon loomed large in his cockpit. The dark, cratered surface expanded until it filled his vision. Skygnaw adjusted his trajectory, banking toward the side of the moon that never faced Earth.
The Dark Side of the Moon.
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