Axilus Prime

Aaand here's Chapter 12. --- Lugnut's laugh was abruptly halted when the mech's arm swung around and shot him in the face. His yell of pain signaled that the cannon was aimed correctly, and several more shots followed, pushing him back and forcing his blade out. Sam whirled around, revealing a hole in the front of the cockpit where the sword had been, right next to him. His left arm dripped blood from a shallow cut. An SMG formed from the hand of the mech's left arm and shot Lugnut. Sam tracked him with it, adjusting his aim and making sure he could see where the sparks from impact flew. With his right arm, he fired his plasma cannon at Lugnut whenever he was sure of his position. Lugnut transformed, getting out of Sam's line of fire, but then realized he was being shot again. HOW?! He transformed again and fired on the mech, seeing areas on his own arms where the metal had been blasted straight through. Spilling the liquid on himself was an imperfect method of cloaking, and as such, deep enough injuries were clearly visible. Immediately, he came at Sam with his swords. Sam fired the mech's shoulder missiles, keeping Lugnut at bay while he awkwardly walked backwards. Controlling the mech was far more complicated than controlling one's own body. Suddenly, he realized he was tilting back a little too far, and swinging the mech's leg back didn't help at all. He fell, back on the ground, and saw Soundwave standing over him. "No no no no!" He fired on Soundwave with the plasma cannon, but the Decepticon jumped out of his line of fire immediately. Not a single shot hit Soundwave. He was not willing to die the same way again. He charged up his sonic cannon and shot right through the cockpit. "This is as close to avenging myself as I can get." Bent metal and broken glass fell around Sam, but none of it landed in a manner that would strap him down. As Lugnut ran forward to stab him, he forced both of the mech's feet to kick him away. A gray hand suddenly came into view in front of him, then came down. "No..." He reached to his side and pulled a boomstick off the cockpit's damaged inner wall, and thrust it into Soundwave's hand. "Aargh!" The boomstick hurt, but it would not be enough. Soundwave quickly reached for Sam again. "Perish." The mech's right arm swung inward, blocking Soundwave's arm, then pushed it to the right while angling the cannon toward his hand. "You first!" Sam yelled defiantly. The cannon fired on the boomstick, detonating it prematurely and destroying Soundwave's forearm. As Soundwave recoiled in pain, Sam got the mech back on its feet. It was easier this time, after having had to do so before. "I need help! I can't take two of them at once!" He positioned himself so he could see Soundwave and Lugnut at the same time, and pointed a gun at each of them. "You are correct." Lugnut fired a missile at the mech's damaged cockpit. "Good thing that isn't the case!" Sideswipe cut in, after shoving Soundwave into the path of the missile. Before Soundwave could fall on the mech and knock it over again, Sam reflexively kicked in his direction, and the mech followed suit. Soundwave fell forward, towards Sideswipe's sword. "No!" Lugnut rushed at Sideswipe and slashed with each sword faster than the Autobot could react. Both of his arms came crashing down, separated from his body. Sam fired both missile launchers, his machine gun, and his plasma cannon at Lugnut, driving him back to keep him from finishing Sideswipe off. He continued to advance while firing, but then realized his handheld weapons had ceased to fire. He cursed under his breath as Lugnut began to come back at him even under the missile fire. Soundwave started to get up, then fell again when Sideswipe kicked him in the face. A second time, he transformed and drove away. "Damn it!" Sideswipe saw Lugnut running at Sam and kicked, but found his leg in the Hunter's arms. "Damn YOU!" Lugnut pulled Sideswipe's leg, intending to make him fall, then found that he could not. Sam looked at both of them, trying to find an opportunity to fire. "I need a clear shot!" Sideswipe was spinning the wheel on the leg that was on the ground, using it to skate around in whatever direction Lugnut pulled him without falling. At the sound of Sam's voice, he looked at Sam, then looked at the ground. Looked at Sam, looked at the ground. Back and forth. And then it hit Sam. Something on the ground. Sideswipe saw Sam's change in expression and allowed himself to fall. When Lugnut turned his attention back to Sam, he saw the mech holding one of Sideswipe's arms and swinging it down at him. He cried out in pain as his right arm was torn from his body. A kick to the back of his leg sent him falling down. "Get him, Sam!" "This is for Bumblebee!" Sam thrust Sideswipe's arm down on Lugnut, driving the sword through his sparkchamber. He looked into Lugnut's eyes, seeing fear and anger, but no remorse. There was no real difference between Hunters and Decepticons after all. The mech swung its arms, pulling the sword up through Lugnut's sparkchamber and out through his head. Sam looked down at Sideswipe. "Dino, get Ratchet!" --- Ratchet transformed into vehicle mode and drove at Lockdown, but was shot off course by his hand cannons, and landed on his side. He groaned as he transformed back into robot mode, then yelled when his face met with Lockdown's foot. Lockdown stomped on Ratchet's left arm, holding it down so he would not use his buzzsaw. "I defeated Optimus Prime. How can his lapdog defeat me?" "You beat him only because he did not yet know how you fought...but the two of us together, when you had no element of surprise...you were outsmarted. Outclassed." Lockdown aimed his cannon at Ratchet's face. Without a word, he fired. When he moved his cannon aside, expecting to see the shattered face of a dead Autobot, he saw a mangled but functional face, held together by a repair ray that had been shooting it from right before Lockdown had fired. Angrily, he moved his leg to kick aside Ratchet's right arm, but once he had done so, Ratchet's buzzsaw was digging into his foot before he could fire again. Ratchet pushed upward with his saw, then got back up--straight into a shot from Lockdown's other hand cannon. He fell, then saw both cannons pointed at him. No! Missiles struck Lockdown from the left, throwing his aim off and even knocking him to the ground. He did not even feel anger when Ratchet took the opportunity to get back up, simply tired of this and resigned to the fact that the medic would once again manage to live a little longer. He shot both Autobots, then stood up again while they recovered. "You will both die." Dino drove at Lockdown's feet, throwing his aim off once again, though it failed to knock him down. Lockdown aimed down at Dino and fired on his roof, blowing a hole straight through it. Dino transformed, swinging around on one arm to get behind Lockdown. Lockdown did not even turn to look at him, effortlessly kicking him down with a backswing. Instead, he looked for Ratchet--and found him coming straight at his face in vehicle mode. That did knock him to the ground, and Ratchet wasted no time in transforming. "You may wish to enter stasis," Ratchet yelled while cutting one of his cannons off. "I'm performing surgery!" And with that, he cut off Lockdown's other cannon. Before he could deal a killing blow, Lockdown's forearms had transformed and once again had hands, wrapped aroung Ratchet's neck. "I am performing murder." He threw Ratchet aside, then stood and transformed his face into gun mode. Dino ran straight in front of Lockdown, aiming his sniper rifle. Recognizing that Dino was the greater threat when he was on his feet, Lockdown aimed at him first. Dino fired his sniper rifle, sending the bullet straight down the barrel of Lockdown's gun face. "Graaaaaah!" Lockdown flailed around in pain, transforming his head back to normal. His mouth was bent and warped in on itself, with parts shattered and a bent-up bullet lodged inside. "Grrr....hrrrrrr...." For a second, it seemed like he was attempting to speak. Dino, however, turned his thoughts away from such things when Lockdown transformed to Stealth Force mode. The fact that his windshield had shattered was visible when he fired on the Autobot with everything he had. Ratchet leapt straight at Lockdown, driving his saw into the back of his driver's area and swinging it around through various parts of him. Lockdown turned his aim on Ratchet, but with every gun that faced him, another ceased to function when a part vital to its operation was cut. He transformed, trying to get away, but Ratchet lunged forward, lodging his arm inside his body when he was halfway to robot mode. His arms and legs finished forming, but his chest could not fully close with Ratchet's arm inside. "No..." Ratchet pulled his buzzsaw towards himself, tearing his arm free right through Lockdown's sparkchamber. He looked down at Lockdown, unable to make out any expression on his face. Softly, hoarsely, he spoke his last words. "Megatron...has already returned. Your fate....your extinction...is...sealed." --- Optimus parried, dodged, and retreated further. He could not push thoughts for his friends and allies from his mind. As he fought, losing ground every second, he kept on glancing at the battlefield. Galvatron sent Optimus to the ground with a powerful swing. Even though he had parried it, the force behind it was too much for him to stay on his feet. "Think not for your allies, Prime. They are as doomed as you are!" With another swing, he knocked Optimus' sword from his arm. "I once told you that you lost because you fought for the weak." "I fight for those innocents you would harm, Galvatron, whether they are weak or not." Galvatron rushed at Optimus, shield in front of him, then sent him to the ground again with a hard kick to the chest. "I was wrong! You lose because you are weak!" He swung his sword at Optimus again. Optimus rolled out of the way, then transformed. He drove toward his sword, but felt a sharp pain in his rear and transformed. "Gaaaah!" Transforming brought only more pain, and he landed in robot mode with the wheels missing from his hips. Gaping, sparking holes took the place of the metal that would have held them there, and he felt pain in his back. When he looked at Galvatron, he saw him charging at him, leaving behind the rear end of his truck mode. Optimus grabbed his sword off the ground and tossed it up, then ducked under Galvatron's slash. He caught it in his wrist, then thrust up at Galvatron's chest. Galvatron jumped back and transformed, firing on Optimus and knocking him down. He flew over Optimus and transformed behind him, then activated his cannon again. "Die." His first shot sent the blue armor on Optimus' head flying off. Optimus moved with the force of the shot to get out of the way. "Hnngh!" The second shot struck him in the shoulder, sending him crashing aside. He grunted and stood again, but the next shot hit him in the chest and knocked him down, exposing his sparkchamber. Galvatron ran at Optimus, transforming his shield and cannon back inside his arms. "I will rip your spark from your body with my bare hands!" Spark... Optimus looked down at his chest, seeing his exposed spark. It brought to his thoughts again the fact that the Matrix wasn't inside him...but where was it? When Galvatron left, he returned with an army. It was...inside Galvatron. Galvatron leapt into the air, then came back down towards Optimus, roaring. He did not land. "What..." Optimus was focusing his gaze on Galvatron's chest, hand held in front of him. Blue light shone brighter and brighter until it could be seen from behind the armor in front of Galvatron's spark. He stood, keeping his hand up, and Galvatron rose higher as he got to his feet. "No...no..." Galvatron activated his thrusters, trying to escape and control his own movement. Instinctively, Optimus swung his hand down, slamming Galvatron on the ground contrary to the power of his thrusters. "Galvatron....begone!" He swung his hand around, sending Galvatron crashing into the ground over and over. He ran back toward the ghost town, leapt into the air, and swung his arm. The Matrix inside Galvatron pulled him, allowing Optimus to hurl him through a building. Galvatron grunted on impact, shaking rubble off himself angrily. How is he doing this?! Is he-- Galvatron's train of thought was broken utterly when he was pulled towards Optimus' fist. The force with which he was forced to fly into it shattered the armor on the side of his head, and when he tried to strike back he was violently swung around and through another building. Optimus swung Galvatron through the battlefield, through the lines of fire, bashing him into several Decepticons so hard his body literally tore through them. "Hyah!" He swung him at the Decepticons attacking Sam, just as the Autobots made their way to his position. Galvatron activated his cannon, aiming it at the Autobots. Optimus moved his fingers, spinning Galvatron and throwing his aim off. "Autobots, attack!" He sent Galvatron flying by Ratchet. "Cut his cannon!" Ratchet sawed off Galvatron's cannon, most of the force coming from the Decepticon leader's flight rather than Ratchet's arm. As he charged into the battlefield with Dino and Sideswipe, now with his arms reattached, Optimus slammed Galvatron through every building his gaze fell upon. "Graaah...hrrr..." Galvatron gasped and roared in pain. Smashed, bent parts of armor fell off of him, and his face was mangled nearly beyond recognition. "The Matrix!" Hastily, he opened his sparkchamber, spreading aside the plates of armor covering it, and forcibly ejected the Matrix. "Haaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Optimus charged straight at Galvatron, sword held behind him. Galvatron threw the Matrix aside, then looked up at Optimus--much too late. A single cough escaped his mouth. His gaze fell upon Optimus' sword, glowing radiantly. Its tip he could not see. Why...why can't I see it? He wondered in confusion as the world seemed to vibrate and fade in and out around him. It was then he realized that the sword was buried in his spark, slipped between the plates of armor he spread apart to remove the Matrix. Optimus glared down at Galvatron, then thrust the sword in further. A second cough escaped Galvatron when the sword came out through his back, and he dropped to his knees. Optimus looked into his enemy's eyes, and for a second heard faint sounds, attempts at words. Perhaps a final curse. Perhaps a plea for mercy. Perhaps even remorse. But it was a coward's remorse, one that he would never have felt if he were not about to die at this very moment. And it was with the light fading from his spark and eyes that he did.

I said water effects, not graphics. The water doesn't have super detailed splash effects or waves in any Halo game. You might get a few splashes out of it, but that's all. I agree on the graphics thing.

Chapter 11. --- Optimus grabbed his sword and gun off the ground, then looked back at Lockdown. He was on the ground, with a circle of Autobots around him, standing over him. Ratchet raised his buzzsaw to finish him off. "Wait, Ratchet!" Lockdown began to laugh louder than anyone had heard him laugh in a long time. "Is this repentance, Prime? You think we will spare you simply because here and now, you give up killing?" Optimus walked up to Lockdown and pointed his gun at his head. "No, Lockdown. The act of killing does not make you evil. The act of killing innocents does. And you are far from innocent." Ignoring Lockdown's sudden look of rage and disgust, Optimus slammed the barrel of his gun into Lockdown's remaining eye. "Where is MEGATRON?!" The Autobots looked at Optimus in shock, though they had no time to ask any questions. Optimus yelled out in pain as metal in the back of his neck tore. He quickly moved his gun to shoot behind him, knocking Lugnut off his back. When he turned, he saw no one there. A thick green liquid sloshed in from Optimus' left and splashed onto the area where Lugnut should have been. Some of it got on his face, upper body, and right shoulder, sinking into the cracks and crevices all over his body, revealing his form. "NO!" Optimus looked to the right and saw Sam, holding a bucket with bits of green paint still inside. Immediately he knew what was coming next, and kicked the area between Sam and Lugnut. As expected, Lugnut ran straight into the kick and fell over. "Autobots, take him down!" He turned to face Lockdown. "Where is Megatron?!" Lockdown simply laughed, his eye clearly on something. Optimus looked in the direction Lockdown was looking in while the Autobots chased after the fleeing Lugnut. "Belay that order! Defensive positions!" He turned again to shoot Lockdown, only to find he was no longer there. "Huh?" The question Sam was about to ask was answered when he looked to the sky. Countless Decepticons were soaring towards the ghost town. Leading them was a jet of clearly Cybertronian design. Dino rolled away from an incoming missile, then got behind a small building. From his cover, he fired two sniper rounds. One shattered the cockpit of an incoming jet, the second set off an explosion inside it and sent it crashing down. Sideswipe drove in and transformed. His body was burned, dented, and sparking. "I'm here to help!" Ratchet opened his mouth to speak, then stopped at the look Sideswipe gave him. "All right...where is Sam?" As all the Autobots took up positions with cover and started shooting the incoming Decepticons out of the sky, Ratchet transformed, drove up to Sam, and opened his door. "Get in. There's a way you can help." Topspin saw a tank and some construction vehicles driving towards them at full speed. "Incoming, on the ground!" He threw a grenade into the crowd of approaching Decepticons. A shining gray Mercedes SLS-AMG drove to the front of the crowd and transformed in a spinning motion, kicking the grenade back at Topspin. It blew up in his face, knocking him to the ground. "Soundwave superior, Autobots inferior." Optimus shot two jets out of the sky. "Topspin, Sideswipe, fight the ground teams! Roadbuster, Dino, target the fliers!" He fired a few shots at the Cybertronian jet, but as expected, they did little to his archenemy. --- Ratchet drove past the fallen Trypticon and stopped at the wrecked military base. "Let's hope some things are still intact!" He opened the door for Sam to get out, then transformed. "Wait here." He shoved rubble aside, ignoring the flames that licked at his arms to no end. "What are you looking for?" Sam approached the building, intending to help, then stopped when he realized he couldn't exactly move any of the rubble himself, much less withstand the fires. "In the labs, there were some scientists working on a project. I helped them, and I think it will work." Bumblebee? "You mean...you saved him?" "Hm?" Ratchet shoved aside a particularly large chunk of rubble, then realized what Sam meant. "No. There wasn't enough of his body intact to put together the basic parts that sustain Cybertronian life." Sam closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and sighed. "Ok. What is it, then?" --- Sideswipe spun, cutting off the arms of Constructicons while firing his shoulder machine gun at anything that tried to aim at him. A tank Decepticon fired at him, so he jumped and flipped over the shot, landing on the head of a large Decepticon bearing the parts of a garbage truck. He crossed his swords on the Decepticon's neck and pulled them back, severing its head. A large blast made seemingly of nothing hit him and knocked him off. When he looked up, he saw Soundwave with his sonic cannons both pointed at him. Instead of firing on him, he turned and shot the tank Decepticon with his shotgun. Soundwave fired twice, but each shot missed when he was wrenched from his position by two large claws. He transformed and spun around, in Stealth Force mode, then fired machine guns at Topspin. "Now that's not fair!" Topspin spun behind cover, then came back out as a car bristling with weapons. "To you!" He fired on Soundwave, vastly outmatching him until the Decepticon started firing grenade launchers. A series of explosions flipped Topspin and sent him into a convenience store. "They're coming down on us!" Dino shot one more Decepticon out of the sky, then realized he needed to reload his sniper rifle. "Damn. Too late." As the armada transformed in midair and landed in various positions around the Autobots, Dino switched to his submachine gun and shot apart all the armor on the chest of one Decepticon. Roadbuster ran in and tore out its spark, then fired missiles on two more Decepticons. "It's all ground fighting now, Prime!" Before he could fire again, a missile hit him from above and flipped him. He landed on his head. "Don't be a fool!" Dino yelled as he pulled a Decepticon towards him using his wrist blade and cord, shooting him with his SMG all the way until he got up close, at which point there was so little of him left he simply fell off the blade. "They won't completely give up their air assets!" "Stay in close quarters!" Optimus commanded. "Make sure any airstrikes they conduct hit some of their own!" From above Optimus, Galvatron transformed and shot downward. This time, however, Optimus was ready, and dashed to the side, rolling and getting back on his feet. "Megatron!" He shot Galvatron in the face. Galvatron turned to the side. Even to one of his power, a shot to the face tends to hurt a little. "I am...Galvatron!" His next shot hit Optimus, sending him crashing into Sideswipe. "Come back here, Prime! One shall stand, and one shall fall!" Optimus swung his sword and cleaved the tank Decepticon in two. "Sideswipe, keep them off me!" He transformed into Stealth Force mode, dodging Galvatron's next cannon shot by moving to the side. When the barrel of his cannon flashed again, he thrust his wheels downward with pistons, propelling himself upward and over the shot. He transformed into robot mode and swung his sword. "Hyaaaaaah!" Galvatron ducked under the slash, then rushed at Optimus, tackling him through a building. He grabbed Optimus' sword and threw it aside, then split open his cannon. It shifted its parts, covering his forearm. Finally, his forearm lurched forward, straightening out all the parts into a gigantic sword. "Where are the humans you hold so dearly, Prime?!" He raised his sword. "Where are those you have fought so hard to protect?!" A plasma cannon shot Galvatron in the face, momentarily blinding him. "Right here!" Optimus shoved Galvatron off, then shot him repeatedly while running backward to his sword. While doing so, he saw the source of the plasma cannon--a black and yellow mech very much resembling Bumblebee. In place of the fallen scout's torso, however, was a cockpit, through which Sam was vaguely visible. "Sam...you've saved me again." He picked up his sword, but then saw a gray and black Freightliner Argosy driving up behind Sam. Immediately he hurled his sword at it. The blade smashed through the windshield and impaled what was behind. Lockdown roared in pain just as Sam turned, in his mech armor, to face him. Sam immediately fired on him, but his shots did little damage. Lockdown transformed fully into vehicle mode and rammed the mech's legs, sending it to the ground. He slowly, painfully transformed, pulling the sword out of himself when his arms formed. The sword slipped from his hand while he was completing the transformation. Optimus rushed at Lockdown from behind and grabbed the sword, but before he could attack, he was rammed full speed by Galvatron in jet mode. "Aaaaaaigh!" Galvatron transformed and grabbed Optimus, hovering on his foot and back thrusters, then tossed him up and transformed again. When he rammed him again, it was in such a manner that he was held up by Galvatron's jet form, allowing him to fly him to the outskirts of the ghost town. Finally, he transformed again into robot mode, hovering, and kicked Optimus away before landing firmly on the ground. "Now, there will be no more interference." --- Sam was still trying to get up off the ground, helpless to defend himself against Lockdown. "No no no no no no..." Ratchet drove up to Lockdown, transformed, and tackled him to the ground. "Sam! Fight someone else! Lockdown is too strong!" He swung his saw at Lockdown's face. Lockdown grabbed Ratchet's arm, holding the saw away from himself. "I am too strong for you as well, medic." With one arm, he threw Ratchet aside. Ratchet fired his machine gun at Lockdown to slow him down so they would get back to their feet at the same speed. "Stay off him!" Lockdown activated both hand cannons and shot Ratchet, knocking him back and halting the fire. With his other hand cannon, he blasted apart Ratchet's machine gun. "I will kill you, medic, and the rest will follow just the same." Parts of his upper arms slid up, locked together, then pointed forward again as shoulder cannons. He fired repeatedly, sending Ratchet through the front and back walls of a small building. Ratchet stumbled back, getting hit again every time he tried to stand. Parts of him bent out of shape, exploded, and fell. "Aaaaargh!" He ran behind another building, then transformed his right arm into his repair ray and used it on himself. Some parts of his body moved back into place, and some dents evened out. When Lockdown came around the next corner, he was met with a buzzsaw to the stomach. --- Roadbuster and Dino fought back to back. Roadbuster fired on jet Decepticons, keeping them from getting too close. Dino pulled any that tried to get to cover back into Roadbuster's line of fire with his blade and cord, while sniping any too far for Roadbuster to hit accurately with his machine guns. "There's a big one, focus fire on it!" Dino sent his blade into a large helicopter Decepticon, then pulled him in. Before even getting halfway there, the Decepticon cut the cord with his back rotors, in the form of a saw. "Merde! I'm down both blades!" Roadbuster whirled around and fired missiles at the Decepticon, who was forced to take a few steps back when they hit. "Keep them off my arse, this one will take some time!" Dino transformed into Stealth Force mode, firing missiles at Decepticons both near and far. One ran in from the side, picked him up, and threw him through a building. When he got up, the Decepticon was firing wrist missiles at the building, which collapsed on Dino's head. His yell was muffled by the rubble. --- Sideswipe slid across the ground on his wheel-feet, extending his legs out and balancing his upper body on his sword. Sparks flew up from his sword as he tripped Decepticons, who were then shot in the head by Sam. Soundwave transformed to robot mode and shot Topspin repeatedly, sending guns flying right off his vehicle mode. "My accuracy is one hundred percent." Topspin reversed, only to be stepped on by a Mixmaster-class Decepticon. The Decepticon slid his foot, sending Topspin out from under it into a kick from Soundwave. Topspin transformed and dodged a shot from the Mixmaster, who was now in stationary cannon mode. "Help me out, ya ninnies!" Shots from Soundwave constantly struck him until his body collapsed and fell apart. Soundwave laughed slowly, until a familiar plasma cannon shot him in the back repeatedly. Knowing a shot to the face would follow if he turned around, he transformed first, then drove at the mech's feet. Bumblebee?! Sam jumped over Soundwave, then turned around. He saw Soundwave, already transformed, firing on him. Though he could feel no pain from the shots, he had to keep backing up his mech's feet to stay balanced. He was unskilled, slow, and awkward in his movements, though finally he managed to send a volley of lock-on missiles at Soundwave. Soundwave transformed his sonic cannon into a machine gun and shot most of the missiles before they could hit. "You are no Bumblebee." As Sideswipe shot down Decepticons, they continued to get replaced by new ones coming down from above. Realizing they could not use effective airstrikes when the Autobots and Decepticons were grouped so close together, the entire Decepticon armada landed. Sideswipe's shotgun flew out of his hand. He turned and saw barrel flashes coming from an invisible foe. Lugnut no longer had green paint on him, and was once again on the attack. DAMN IT! DAMN IT ALL TO HELL! Boomsticks flew in and immediately detonated, evidently 'cooked' before being thrown. Decepticons were knocked to the ground all around Sideswipe, and Soundwave was cut short of a punch that would have shattered Sam's cockpit. Sam looked up while getting back to his feet and saw hundreds of soldiers flying in with wingsuits. Leading them was Lennox, who hurled a second boomstick at Soundwave, then spread his arms and legs wide again to catch the air on his suit's 'wings'. Sideswipe stabbed and decapitated Decepticons as they fell. "You guys are here?" The soldiers landed with their parachutes, then removed the flight gear. "You've saved us countless times. Now it's time for us to save you." Lennox told him. Decepticons transformed and took to the skies. Above the battlefield, C-17 planes were dropping more and more soldiers to assist the Autobots. Missiles blasted apart the planes, while machine guns shot soldiers right out of the sky. Sideswipe suppressed the urge to curse. "All right, we need to regroup with the other Autobots and whatever soldiers are helping them out!" He transformed into Stealth Force mode. Sam fired on Soundwave, but could not keep up with him when he transformed and drove away. "I think he's trying to regroup with help too." "Don't chase him," Lennox ordered, "wherever he went, that's where we'll kill him." --- Soldiers fired on Lockdown from all sides, but they did little damage. Ratchet was heavily damaged on the ground, trying to push his lower leg back into his upper leg. "Fall back, he'll kill you!" The soldiers ignored Ratchet, firing grenades and high-heat rounds in an effort to keep Lockdown from killing him. Lockdown, naturally, welcomed this. He killed several soldiers with a single shot from his shoulder cannon, and though the shots knocked him around, it became easier and easier to maintain balance the more soldiers he killed. "Rrrrngh!" Ratchet pulled on his leg as hard as he could, positioning it properly again, then stood. "Stay off them!" He punched Lockdown in the face, then pulled him by the shoulder and cut off both cannons with his buzzsaw. He was forced to let go when Lockdown kicked him back. Lockdown grabbed Ratchet's head and pulled it down, bashing his face into his knee. "End this pretense of being a protector!" He threw Ratchet aside, then finished off the rest of the soldiers in the area with his hand cannons. --- Optimus swung his sword at Galvatron, who parried easily with his huge blade. "You Autobots will all die on this day, alone!" He shoved Optimus back with his sword, then transformed his left arm into a shield once again. Optimus saw the soldiers airdropping in the distance. "No, Galvatron. The Autobots are never alone!" He shot Galvatron in the face repeatedly, then got in close and kicked him in the stomach. "Hyah!" He swung his sword at Galvatron's face. "Rrrngh!" Galvatron ducked, then bashed Optimus to the ground with his shield. "Then they will die with you! Join them in extinction!" He slashed down at Optimus. Optimus shut off the heating on his sword and turned the flat side towards Galvatron, holding the tip of the sword up with his other hand, pushing up on the flat side. Galvatron's sword slammed into his, pressuring him even more than he had prepared for. "Rrrraaaah!" He pushed up with all his strength, but it was not enough. He transformed and drove full speed into Galvatron's legs, tripping him, but leaving his sword behind. He transformed again, spinning, and kicked Galvatron in the back as he got back up. "The Decepticons were the ones who faced extinction before, Galvatron!" He punched Galvatron in the face when he turned around, then picked up his sword. "And now, they will be again!" he yelled as he slashed. His sword struck Galvatron in the face, knocking him down and leaving a shallow cut. Galvatron transformed his right arm back into a cannon and took aim, but Optimus slammed the wheel on his ankle on Galvatron's face and spun it full speed. Galvatron flailed his arms in pain, missing constantly, then finally transformed and flew out from under Optimus, causing him to fall. When Galvatron transformed again, Optimus turned around and saw him hovering with parts of his face mangled and shredded. Galvatron roared and fired his cannon, knocking Optimus down. Though Optimus kept a grip on his weapons this time, Galvatron didn't stop. He fired again, and again, and again, sending Optimus flying. Optimus' gun exploded in his hand, leaving him without one. He transformed and drove aside, boosting to speeds no ordinary truck could reach. He swerved around harshly and transformed while jumping, sending himself flying at Galvatron. His sword was mounted on the wrist of his handless arm, and he slashed... ...at nothing, as Galvatron's next shot hit Optimus square in the chest and sent him crashing to the ground. --- Roadbuster fired on a police car Decepticon known as Barricade in vehicle mode, chasing him around a corner. When Barricade turned the corner, boom sticks were planted in his feet and he was punched in the face by something resembling Bumblebee. "Yellow pest!" he bellowed. Barricade got to his feet, but with the next two explosions, he no longer had any. His face landed on Sam's plasma cannon as he fell, and his head was blasted apart before he could even realize that Bumblebee as he knew him no longer existed. Decepticons all around them fell to slashes from Sideswipe, sniping by Dino, and ceaseless machine gun fire from Roadbuster. Soldiers flanked the Decepticons, hammering them with grenades and gunfire. Lugnut approached the battlefield, hidden. He noticed nothing at all, preoccupied with shooting Decepticons and keeping them off the soldiers and Autobots. It was perfect. No one could hear his footsteps, or even the creaking of his movements caused by the late Topspin's attack on him. Not with all the gunfire raging through the ghost town. But who to attack? Every Autobot could easily be stabbed in the back. None seemed distinctive...until he saw the body of the Autobot he first killed, walking around and fighting. That was simply an insult to Lugnut. To him, it was as if his work had been made worthless, as if the one Autobot he personally killed was now once again alive. What penance is that?! Angrily, he extended his blade and drove it through the back of Sam's mech...laughing and laughing at the sound of Sam's scream.

7. I'm in again.

Yes. In ROTF he was rebuilt with parts from a weaker Decepticon, and in DOTM he was very injured (and also tired from the events of DOTM the game, which is a prequel to the movie). Now he is stronger than in his original form, and even though Optimus is a more skilled fighter now than he was in TF1, he is still gravely outmatched.

Chapter 10. Short chapter this time. --- It was too late. Optimus could only watch in horror as the black and purple body on the ground began to produce the whirring, clicking sounds of life. Its red eyes flashed, and it--now he--rose upward. He did not rise to his feet, instead hovering slightly above the ground, lifted by thrusters in his back and feet. Megatron was alive. "NO!" Optimus had only one possible reaction. He furiously fired his machine guns and rockets. He ignored his gauntlets heating up, even when they began to burn his hands. Megatron growled and faced Optimus, then simply grinned. He held up his left arm. Parts of it extended outward and bent towards his elbow, connecting together as he spun in midair. As he came back around, facing Optimus again, he slammed the shield into the rockets, brushing aside the force and flames. From behind his shield, Optimus saw his right arm, now a deadly amalgamation of Shockwave's cannon and his old fusion shotgun, coming up to shoot him. A thunderous scraping noise intertwined with a deeper, more forceful version of the familiar fusion shot's sound followed. The shot hit instantly, sending Optimus tumbling through the air and into a building. "Gaaaaaah!" He threw rubble off of himself, then saw Megatron on his feet, charging straight at him. "Here!" He did the first thing that came to mind, throwing a large chunk of rubble at Megatron. Megatron leapt forward and spun with a speed and force Optimus had not seen in him since the days he was at his full power. His foot tore through the rubble as though it were a liquid, and he landed in front of the shocked Autobot leader. Optimus fired his machine guns, though only one round met its mark, the rest of the fire suddenly halted by shots from Lockdown. Three-shot volleys knocked his arms aside, hammering away until his gauntlets had fallen off entirely. "Hnngh!" Optimus pulled out his smaller gun, but before he could fire, a shield was pressed against it. "You didn't think it would be so easy, did you, Prime?" Megatron's face came into Optimus' view, right in front of him. The next thing he felt was a staggering blow to the stomach. "Tell me, who did you become without me?!" He grabbed Optimus by the neck with his right hand and slammed his left fist into his face, shattering his faceplate and driving shards of it into his cheek. "Tell me! Are you better off now?!" He slammed him into the ground. Shocking pain went through every inch of Optimus' body. He swung his arm to aim at Megatron, then felt helplessness when his gun slipped from his fingers, on account of no additional blow, but simply of the daze he was in. He groaned and extended his sword from his wrist, straight at Megatron's face. Megatron simply tilted his head to his right, avoiding the sword entirely. "Beg, Prime. Beg me for a truce! I will show you the kindness you showed me!" Optimus could barely feel the world around him, his entire being dominated by pain. "You....would have shot me...in the back." He activated his jetpack, full thrust, relying on the fact that it was an external device with its own strength, one that would operate regardless of his. Together, he and Megatron were pulled backward, through a building... ...and into Lugnut's sword. Or at least, Optimus was. Megatron was standing near the place he had been when Optimus had activated his jetpack. The jetpack spun out of control and shut off, no longer attached to Optimus' back. He cut it off! Optimus slashed at Lugnut. His blade collided with Lugnut's, but he was able to knock him aside. When he heard Megatron firing again, he fell to the ground. Lockdown came around, behind Optimus, and took aim. "See what your hypocrisy has earned, Optimus Prime. Your greatest enemy lives again, and you have given him his power!" Ignoring Lockdown's words, Optimus looked at his detached jetpack, lying on the ground. His eyes flashed, and the jetpack roared to life. When Lugnut stood, he was immediately hit by the jetpack, knocking him down again and rupturing his pipes. It was then Lockdown realized that Optimus had fallen not because he was shot, but of his own will, to avoid the shot and have it pass harmlessly over him. He fired on the jetpack, knocking a wing from it, but it turned a corner and got behind a building. Lockdown looked to his right, expecting the jetpack to come around the corner he had approached from. He was exactly right, and shot it down with his hand cannon as soon as it came into view. "Hyaaaah!" Optimus launched his sword out of his wrist, sending it flying straight at Lockdown. The blade drove itself into his shoulder. "Gaah!" Lockdown pulled the blade out and threw it back at Optimus, who rolled aside to avoid it. It was then that Optimus' thoughts drifted back to Lockdown's words, which this time actually registered in his mind. "What do you mean...that I gave him his power?" Lockdown slowly walked towards Optimus. He extended his whip and brandished it, speaking as he approached. "After the battle in Egypt, Megatron contacted me. He told me of your actions, of how even now you killed just as he did, and yet claimed you were better than he was! You fought without the slightest mercy, and your justification was freedom! At that point, you had disgusted me, and I agreed to aid him simply to put you in your place. We formulated a contingency plan in the event he was ever killed...and you did kill him. And now, Prime, you have granted freedom as you sought to for so many eons! We now are free...to kill you." Lockdown swung his whip. The reflected light of the sun flashed on a black metal blade as it sliced through the whip, forcibly halting the attack. The blade landed in a building, and the cord attached to it traced all the way back to a red Autobot standing in the middle of the road. "Just like we're free to save him!" Dino reeled himself in on the cord, coming towards Lockdown with his feet outstretched. Lockdown took aim, but missiles from Roadbuster struck him from behind and threw his aim off. Machine gun fire followed, distracting him from what was in plain view in front of him. Dino's feet slammed into his face, knocking him to the ground. Lugnut got to his feet. Parts of him fell off, forcibly detached from his body when the jetpack hit. He transformed into Stealth Force mode and locked on to Dino, only to have a blue Autobot jump on him from a rooftop. What the hell?! Topspin's claws dug into Lugnut's separated hood. "Got a thing fer killin' red Autobots now, do ya?!" He ripped metal plates and guns from Lugnut, then pulled out his engine and crushed it. "Now I got a thing fer killin' YOU!" Lugnut transformed and threw Topspin off, then pumped blue liquid through his pipes. It gushed out through the holes formed when the jetpack had hit him, but it spilled all over him sufficiently to render him fully invisible. Optimus got to his feet as Dino, Sideswipe, Ratchet, and Roadbuster hammered away at Lockdown from all sides with every weapon they had. He looked around. "No..." Where did Megatron go? --- Megatron stepped into the hole in Trypticon's leg, then walked through the now-still halls and found himself in the repair room. A battle had damaged it beyond use, but that was not what he was here for. He came to a locked door and fired his cannon, blasting it open with a single shot. Before him was the Decepticon army, suspended on the walls, still in pristine condition. Among the sea of identical Decepticon troopers who had not scanned vehicle modes were a few familiar faces. Blackout, Bonecrusher, some Rampage-class and Mixmaster-class Decepticons...the list went on. "Perfect." His chest spread open, exposing his sparkchamber. The Matrix of Leadership floated out of it, still in its casing. He walked to the body of Soundwave. The first of my reborn army. He placed the Matrix into his chest. Soundwave's eyes flashed, followed by the blue circles on his forearms and chest. "Impossible. I live again?" "In order to serve me, Soundwave." He pulled a lever above Soundwave's head, releasing the harness that held him to the wall. "All hail Megatron." Soundwave stood, only then taking note of his leader's new form, then of the Matrix in his hand. "I see that you not only have been restored, but...galvanized." He got down on one knee. "All...hail....Galvatron." Megatron raised an eye-ridge, then grinned. He levitated the Matrix in front of himself, then spread his hands outward, causing the Matrix to open at the middle. Its glowing blue core floated, then sent tendrils of energy into the sparkchamber of every corpse in the room. He closed the Matrix around the core and looked around, seeing all the Decepticons return to life in confusion. Their shocked chattering filled the room, but was soon silenced by his yell. "All hail Galvatron!" The Decepticons marched out of Trypticon's corpse, following their leader. Galvatron spotted a jet in the military base still in mostly intact condition. "Decepticons," he roared, "Transform and rise up!" All the protoforms in his army scanned the jet and transformed, rising into the air. "Now, my armada...attack!" Galvatron leapt into the air, transforming into a Cybertronian jet somewhat resembling his original alternate mode. He soared towards the ghost town the Autobots were in, followed by all the Decepticons, whether airborne or not.

If I'm in the middle of another fight, I won't change targets to get a yoink. But if I am just walking around looking for enemies and happen to see an opportunity, I have no issue with yoinking. Plus, my older bro and I do it to each other to no end.

Yes. Dual Wielding was well balanced in Halo 3, no reason to take it out. Plus it was cool.

Time for Chapter 9. --- Sam looked back, trying to see as much of the battle as possible. The base went up in flames, obscuring his view. The sound of the ship's turrets filled the air. Pieces of the base came down to the ground as the flames sunk, but now smoke from said flames was obscuring his view. "Gah..." He turned and faced forward. Dino saw a shot from one of the turrets sent both Wreckers flying through the air. Must be the one they called Lugnut firing those. He flipped out his wrist blades and launched them at the ship's underside, keeping them tethered to his arms. One, to his great surprise, was actually shot off by one of the turrets--but the other hit its mark. He reeled himself in, grabbing onto the ship's underside. "It's safe here!" From there, he started firing his wrist rifle at turrets to knock them off. A well placed shot spared Roadbuster the pain of another shot. "Yer all right, Italian!" He fired off a series of missiles from his shoulders, which took out some turrets too large for Dino's rifle to knock down. A loud yell pierced the air as Optimus flew directly under the ship and pushed up the front end. "Hit the engines!" He grunted and strained, turning the ship upwards slightly. Turrets turned to aim at him, knocking him off. "Gaaaah!" He spiraled back in midair, then stabilized himself with a burst of his jetpack. "I need cover fire!" He fired his machine guns, destroying several turrets, but more just came to replace them. He kept at it, instead providing cover for the others when he had requested it himself. Topspin drove behind the ship and fired his machine guns at the engines, to no avail. "It's NOT working! What the hell kind of plan is that?!" Before he could drive back to his previous position, the engines flared up brightly and unleashed jets of concentrated flame. The resulting explosion was momentarily blinding to the other Autobots. "Topspin!" Ratchet drove around towards him. "Not another one!" He transformed while rolling forward, avoiding a direct hit from a turret. The shockwave from the impact on the ground knocked him forward--but in his intended direction. "Just a scratch!" Topspin transformed and stood, blackened and missing some pieces of armor, then shot a turret that was aiming for Dino. "Help me up, damn it!" Dino launched the cable from his now-bladeless left arm to Topspin, but the ship turned and sent it off course. "Merde! They can see down here?!" "No," Ratchet answered as he fixed Topspin's minor injuries with his healing ray, "look!" Optimus was flying towards the engines, with them already in sight, and the ship was desperately trying to avoid him. He bombarded the engines with rockets, slowing the ship with every hit and making it easier to land subsequent hits. "Now!" Roadbusted transformed and drove to the back of the ship, firing his remaining missiles at the engines. The entire ship quaked. Optimus stopped firing when most of the flames coming from the rear of the ship were not engine exhaust, then flew under the ship. "Dino, get down from there!" Dino pulled his blade out from the ship's underside and landed on his hand, spinning and landing on his feet. As soon as he looked up, he heard Ratchet telling everyone to clear out. It was fairly obvious why. "Hyaaaah!" Without the full thrust of the ship's engines working against him, Optimus was once again pushing the front of the ship up. Occasional turrets flipped out to shoot him, to which he responded with machine gun fire. The ship was now tilting upwards severely. Tanks drove in and shot the ship, helping keep the turrets off Optimus. With a loud yell, he pushed the ship even further back, flipping it over and slamming it into the ground. The entire ship shook violently as parts of it went up in flames. Optimus flew up, shooting down at the ship as he went. --- Lockdown growled as he got up off the ground...or rather, the ceiling. He pushed wires and metal off of himself, then stood up. He stepped forward violently, ripping some pipes off his legs. "The fool continues on...Cyclonus! Divert to Trypticon Protocol!" Cyclonus looked up from the ground with a confused expression on his face. "Against five Autobots?! The ship will run out of Energon!" Lockdown grabbed Cyclonus by the neck and pulled him out of the wreckage, ignoring his grunts of pain at having the metal scraping against him. "The ship is compromised already! Besides...this will allow for me to make use of our special ammunition." Lugnut got himself out of the wreckage promptly after that. "I will move the dust and the body off the ship then...unseen." --- "Yeah! That's what happens when you mess with us, wankers!" Roadbuster kicked the ship and laughed. "We need to move inside and end this. We cannot rest until all the Hunters are stopped...permanently. I cannot allow Megatron's return." Before he could attempt to enter the ship, parts of it lurched forward and swung around. "No..." Lennox continued to fire on it from inside one of the tanks. "The ship is doing that now. Of course..." The ship's side panels moved down and split while the center moved up. It rose up on legs and feet, and a circular structure on the front of the ship moved to the top. The center of it glowed red. "I really don't like big, one-eyed Decepticons." Dino aimed his rifle at its eye and fired promptly before the ship-robot even moved. He doubted the wisdom of that decisions when it looked at him showing no signs of pain. With astounding speed, it swung its foot forward and sent him flying into the wreckage of one of the buildings. Optimus flew up to its head and fired repeatedly, but it simply swung its arm too fast for him to dodge and knocked him to the ground. He rolled, tearing up the road as he went, and narrowly missed crashing into Ratchet. The ship-robot ignored the Wreckers firing on it pointlessly, and crouched. Pistons in its legs came up then slammed down with incredible force. At the same time, it pushed itself up on its legs. It went up so fast Ratchet couldn't see where it had gone at first. Naturally, he looked up, and he did in fact find it there--hundreds of feet in the air. A cannon was forming in its hand. It fired, sending a large bullet across the sky, too fast to dodge but slow enough to see flying through the air. Before anyone could figure out what that was for, it came down again and swung its foot at both of the Wreckers, sending both of them flying. Tanks bombarded it, but they did little to its nearly impenetrable armor. It ran towards them with extreme speed in its leg movements. Coupled with enormous strides this got it to them faster than Optimus could have flown--further evidenced by the fact that he was flying towards it from behind. "Back up!" Lennox fired on its eye to keep it from seeing them as the driver of his tank reversed as fast as possible. The other tank drivers got the message through the radio, and all those that weren't turned into flying, burning pieces of metal followed suit. The ship-robot was firing nonstop from its hand cannon, with normal shots this time. Most of the shots didn't hit, but a few tanks went up in flames. "Why don't we have weapons strong enough not to aim with?!" Roadbuster stopped firing, realizing that he was doing nothing to the colossal Hunter. Optimus pushed the Hunter in the back, causing it to rush forward with ease. When he looked down, however, he realized that was only because it was stepping forward on a tank. When he looked back up, he saw that it had rotated its entire torso around on its waist, and a gigantic fist was headed towards him. "Hnngh!" He flew up, but the fist smacked him in the feet and caused him to spin out of control. "Aaaaaaaargh!" He slammed his sword into its back and hung onto it as best he could. Clearly intending to crush him, the ship-robot fell over backwards. Optimus pulled his blade out and flew out from under it to make it crash pointlessly, but it rotated its torso around again and caught itself. It then proceeded to flip over and continue to fire. --- Sideswipe veered to the right, crashing into a streetlight and knocking it down. A huge bullet crashed down next to him, but didn't explode or even crack. Sam coughed, then looked through the dust at the bullet. He looked to find its source and saw a giant robot with parts he recognized from Lockdown's ship on it. "Oh no. No no no no no. Are you serious." The bullet split open before he could think of how to defeat a robot that size. "NONONONONO!" Lockdown stepped out from the bullet, then kicked Sideswipe. "The boy. NOW." Sideswipe transformed and caught Sam, then set him down. Immediately he was knocked through a wall by Lockdown's shoulder cannons and gun face. "Sam," yelled a garbled voice barely recognizable as his, "run!" Sam had no time to do so. Before he could even move, right at the instant he realized what Sideswipe said, Lockdown had grabbed him. "Will you fire on me now, Autobot? You who so easily kill those who stand against you...yet won't hurt one ally for the sake of any mission!" Each emphasized word was coupled with a stomp on Sideswipe's chest. "Such hypocrisy!" He transformed into Stealth Force mode, placing Sam inside himself, and aimed at Sideswipe. I can't shoot him without hurting Sam...all I can do is survive. Sideswipe fired on the ceiling in front of him with a small burst-fire gun on his shoulder, knocking down enough debris to provide cover. He weakly lifted his arm, putting two fingers on the side of his head. "Optimus...Lockdown has Sam!" Lockdown heard him speaking through the rubble. "Graaah!" He turned around, transformed fully into vehicle mode, and drove off. --- Optimus received the transmission just as the ship-robot started firing. "Understood!" He started intercepting shots with rockets from his gauntlets, looking for a weak spot. With none visible, he fired on the face, chest, and stomach with his machine guns. Everywhere he shot caused the same reaction: none whatsoever. Finally, the ship-robot stopped its random firing and grabbed Optimus, then threw him down. He stopped himself from crashing into the ground with a huge burst from his jetpack, but the resulting strain hurt. He grunted audibly, but from his new, lower altitude, he saw where the starboard side of the ship had gone--and with it, the hull breach. Immediately, he flew in. With Optimus inside, the ship-robot turned its attention to the other Autobots. It caught Ratchet attending to Dino's injuries and fired on him. Both Autobots jumped and transformed into Stealth Force mode, dodging in opposite directions. "Block its view," Ratchet yelled as he fired missiles at its eye. Dino soon did the same. Meanwhile, Optimus navigated the ship's new interior layout, trying to move upward. With each of the robot's movements, the hallways changed. A piston slammed one of the wings on his jetpack against the wall, crushing it. "Argh!" He angled the wings back to reduce the chance of being hit, but then the room he was in spun violently and caused him to miss the exit. He crashed into the wall, then bounced downward. "Autobots," he transmitted, "I will need some time! Try to find Sam, before it's too late!" "Dino, Wreckers, search the city!" Ratchet drove towards the tanks and transmitted to them. "Lead that thing away from the others!" The tanks turned around and drove in the opposite direction full speed, while their turrets rotated to face the ship-robot and shot it in the eye. Optimus flew into a room that was oddly still. I must be in the torso. He flew up into another room, passing the repair room. The next room, however, was filled with the bodies of Decepticons mounted to the walls, all in pristine condition. "No..." Before he could fire on them, something flew in from above and knocked him into the previous room. "Gaaaah!" When he crashed, the door to the room full of Decepticons shut itself. "I don't have time for you!" He threw the Hunter he identified as Cyclonus aside and shot him, then flew down an alternate hallway. In the chest area, he found an energy ball. "The sparkchamber." He fired, but as with all the other attacks on the colossal robot, that did nothing. Jet noise from the hallway he came through met his ears. He's back. When Cyclonus flew in, Optimus grabbed him by the wings. "Burn!" He threw him into the energy ball. All the missiles under Cyclonus' wings detonated. He stayed in vehicle mode, trying to use the more compact armor to survive. Paint burned off of him and metal melted while the ship-robot's spark grew increasingly unstable. Ratchet fired two missiles at the ship-robot's eye, then heard a clicking sound instead of firing. "I'm out!" He looked to the tanks, only to realize they had run out long before he had. The ship-robot was now running straight towards them, with a cracked but still functional eye. It grabbed Ratchet off the ground. "Put me down, scrapheap!" Ratchet transformed into robot mode and struggled, but then was squeezed tightly. "My name...is...Trypticon!" At that, however, an explosion tore apart the robot's chest and sent its head flying off. Its grip loosened as it fell to the ground. Optimus flew out from the hole created by the explosion. "Optimus!" Ratchet was now falling rapidly towards the ground. Optimus, just as before, caught Ratchet. He set him down, then flew up to get a view of everything. "Sam...where are you?" --- Lockdown transformed seemingly at random, still holding Sam in his hand. "Lugnut...let's begin." Lugnut appeared out of thin air, followed by a huge body lying on the ground. It was black with purple accents, in thick armor of spikes and plates. Sharp teeth were visible in its open mouth, and its hands were claws. Sam noticed none of this, seeing only the Hunter who killed Bumblebee. "You," he bellowed, "I'm gonna KILL you!" Both of the Hunters present simply laughed. "The dust, Lugnut!" Lugnut held up a Matrix-shaped metal casing and opened it, spilling dust onto the ground. Sam struggled in Lockdown's hand, but was helpless to prevent him from crouching down and touching him to the dust. "Oh no." The dust, just as it had done years ago in Egypt, re-formed into the Matrix of Leadership. Lockdown stood to his full height and levitated it. "The casing." Lugnut carefully slid the top and bottom halves of the casing on the Matrix, closing them around it. Lockdown then took it in his hand. "Dispose of the human." He tossed Sam to Lugnut, who eagerly, maliciously, caught him. "No!" Optimus flew in and grabbed Lugnut, pulling him hundreds of feet up. Lugnut responded by dropping Sam. "Go! Save your pet, Prime!" Optimus threw Lugnut aside and flew after Sam, catching him in his hands. "Lockdown! Help me!" Lockdown threw the Matrix at Lugnut, who caught it in his hand. He then levitated the Matrix to make it descend at the fastest speed possible without harming Lugnut. "The casing proves its worth even before its intended use!" Casing? Optimus set Sam down and turned to see Lugnut holding onto the Matrix without it turning into dust. "No!" He fired on Lugnut again, sending him back, but Lockdown quickly pulled the Matrix toward himself as Lugnut released it in pain. Optimus turned, but all he saw was Lockdown placing the Matrix in the body's chest. "Now, Prime...I give you your extinction."

...whoa. Ranger is the sniper? all the wat. but then who's that other guy. but but how two snipers? (falls over) You have thoroughly confused me...therefore I congratulate you.

Banned for also abandoning the purple.

Not sure how you can get lost on The Oracle...it's not like the Library with all the similar looking hallways. And at least there are no areas with infinite Flood spawning, so the easiest solution is: kill them all. I found Cairo Station the easiest level by far. Probably because I consider all use of glitches and map design flaws to be cheating and therefore not winning the level at all. (As you can imagine, I don't get along that well with Mythic Tyrant's walkthroughs...though a few things he does have merit, the things that involve no cheating)

Marines don't just decide they want to be ODSTs, they have to qualify. ODSTs changing to Spartan-IV's is a matter of choice though.

The enemies being too predictable. The AI (both allied and friendly) being unintelligent (to the point of attempting to go through walls and never changing direction during this attempt even when shot, this is frequent with Banshees) The grenades doing too little damage (I saw some people say they do too much damage, but they actually do much less than in Halo 3 and Reach) The armory is atrocious and the color palette is more so. The graphics are inferior in terms of realism (Lighting effects for example) and the textures are so cheap, they look pixelated at any range you could score a one hit kill with a shotgun. With the UNSC vehicles, the textures are so cheap they look pixelated at a range you'd want a scope to shoot players from. General design aesthetic.

That would just like and unlike a post repeatedly. Anyway...I do like the idea of a Shotgun Needler. I also think the idea of a Gravity Gun-like weapon might work, if a secondary ability was added to the Gravity Hammer resembling that of the Fist of Rukt.

Probably the large numbers of Sentinel Majors and Enforcers without a vehicle to use against them. I always found that the hardest part of the level was that round gondola thing that transports you into this place with an Enforcer, several Sentinels of both Minor and Major rank, a huge number of Flood, and eight Sentinel Launchers.

A glitch...not entirely sure what that means in this context, but then again if I was I guess that would defeat the purpose of making this suspenseful. Good work.

And now for Chapter 8. --- Sam was once again pacing around the base, anxiously awaiting the next bit of news. The lack of news seemed somewhat ominous to him. "Witwicky. Turn around and go back." Sam turned his head to the source of the voice: the same armed guard who stopped him from leaving the base earlier. "What?" He realized shortly afterward that he had wandered back towards the exit. "Oh, oh, yeah, I was just...looking around." He walked back, thinking of a variety of insults to describe the guard with as he went. Only a few steps away from where he had been, he stopped and turned around again. "Can I see the Autobots?" The guard rolled his eyes. --- Lockdown yelled in rage, then walked back the way he came, picking up the shoulder cannon Optimus had dropped. He entered the first door to his right, repairing his injuries from the fight. The spare parts mounted on the wall were in shorter and shorter supply. Only two more pieces for the assembly of legs remained, and they were not suited for a robot larger than a car. Mechanical arms moved, straightening out Lockdown's parts. Four more arms came down from the ceiling, grabbed small spare parts from the wall, and placed them into Lockdown's body. An arm grabbed at air near the wall, evidently reaching for a part that was not in supply, then moved to the spot on Lockdown's face where his other eye should have been. Larger arms on the ground with a variety of tools on them picked up Lockdown's severed cannon and hand, aligned all the parts together, and fused them back onto Lockdown's body. When all the arms returned to their standby positions, Lockdown left the room and returned to the room from which Optimus and Ratchet had escaped. The Autobot leader had left behind many weapons. A large gun, an axe, knuckle-blades, and a variety of machine guns and missiles clearly meant for use in Stealth Force mode. The axe, in particular, caught his gaze. When he approached it, he heard the clinking of metal dust under his foot. Lockdown bent down, taking some of the dust in his hand. He spilled it back onto the ground, rubbing his fingers together to get the last of it off. At that moment, he got a call from Lugnut. "Lockdown! We met with some resistance, Cyclonus will need his limbs fused back on properly." Lockdown pounded the ground. "You mean you failed?!" A harsh, grating laugh came through the comm link. "Not at all. The bodies are secured. Megatron will need some repairs, so we're bringing Shockwave as well. One Autobot was guarding the bodies." "And he is dead." Lockdown seemed more like he was making a demand, more like he was saying that he must be dead, than asking a question. "Yes," Lugnut answered. "We just need some pickup. Do you have the Matrix?" Lockdown did not answer for a few seconds. I should have had it! "No," he finally answered, "Optimus Prime and the medic escaped." Lugnut simply snorted in disgust. "Awaiting pickup." --- Sam walked into a hangar. Four Autobots were inside, each in vehicle mode and missing some parts. Most of these parts were lying in piles in the back of the room, but there were bound to be a few that just weren't there. "Uh...so...how's everything?" Sam had scarcely finished his sentence when Roadbuster violently swung his panels around and stuck his head out. His torso took a few visible, jerky movments to fully form properly, then he got up on his legs. His arms clicked into position a few seconds later. "How do ya think, ya wee little--" "At ease!" Sideswipe transformed facing away from Sam and towards Roadbuster, mostly smoothly, but took extra care when flipping his chest parts forward. Sam saw why when he turned around--a gaping hole in his chest showing his sparkchamber. "We're not doing too good. My parts are over there, but without the doc...wouldn't risk a sensitive operation." Sam nodded as Sideswipe pointed at his spark, as if it wasn't obvious already. "How..." He tried to think of the most polite way to ask the question. "We tried a rescue op, but the doc got captured. Haven't heard from him or the big guy ever since. Starting to think they might be dead." Sam shook his head. "No, they need Optimus to give them the Matrix. That's why Stratosphere's guarding the base with the Decepticon bodies--" "No, human." Dino walked over to Sam, having transformed entirely unnoticed. A large strip from which metal had been violently torn away was visible across his chest and stomach. "We got word just earlier that he died guarding that base." Sam's expression changed to one of shock. They were able to take him down too? "Don't be so surprised," Roadbuster said. "He lost to Starscream!" Dino smacked Roadbuster in the back of the head, rather hard judging by the sound. Sam barely paid attention to the sound, however. Then...it's not impossible that they already got the Matrix, and killed him, then took the bodies to revive them. "What if Megatron is alive right now?" At that, Topspin transformed and looked at Sam. The other Autobots had expressions of mixed fear and shock. "The worst case scenario," Sideswipe said, "would be that Optimus is dead and we're all the Autobots we've got, the doc is dead so our condition will keep on worsening until we die, and...." "And that Megatron is alive, and they've already won," Sam finished for him. "The Hunters have not won, Sam. And Megatron remains dead, whether they have his body or not." Sam turned to the familiar voice. "Optimus!" --- Lockdown held Megatron's head in his hands. "We will need more than these bodies to revive him." He dropped the head and let it roll on the ground. "When Cyclonus finishes his repairs, put these in the repair room and let the systems sort out what parts should be used and where." Lugnut was playing with Shockwave's eye, swinging it in a circular motion by the wires attached to it. "And how exactly do you plan to recapture Optimus Prime? He clearly once again possesses supplementary weapons, and with their medic returned to them, the Autobots will soon be back to full strength. At least...the surviving ones will." "We do not need to recapture Optimus Prime. When Megatron told me of the events that had transpired on this planet after his defeat in Egypt, he spoke of a human boy who also came to be...accepted...by the Matrix." Lockdown projected a hologram of that boy from his hand. Cyclonus stepped into the room. "The device I planted on the satellite has yielded that boy's current location. He is in a human military facility, with their pathetic soldiers and four Autobots." Lugnut looked at Cyclonus. "Perfect. We can go after him now and restore the Matrix." "You think it will be as easy as killing the Autobot guarding those bodies?" Lockdown threateningly approached Lugnut. "Given recent events, we are to assume that the medic has fully repaired all the Autobots...and that Optimus Prime is once again armed and at full power. We will attack them...but not in a manner so easily stopped." Lockdown left the room, motioning for them to follow. "Lugnut, gather the Matrix dust." "And you?" Lugnut asked sharply. "I am going to the ship's bridge." --- "And that's the last of it." Ratchet held down a piece of metal on Roadbuster's back, re-attaching it with his repair ray. "You're all combat-ready now." "What about the weapons?" Dino looked at Optimus, though the question had been directed to Ratchet. "You said he left them behind." "He can get Stealth Force weapons from the labs, made from recycled Decepticons. As for robot mode..." He looked at Optimus, who was still wearing his jetpack and once again had two arms. "He has all the weapons he needs." Optimus sighed. "So he's dead." Sideswipe nodded his head. "And they took almost all the bodies. They didn't bother with Starscream, probably figured if he was killed by an 'insect', in their terms, he deserved to stay dead. They left Sentinel too, for...obvious reasons." Optimus' face darkened at the mention of his former mentor's name. "We must prepare for attack. If they have these bodies, then all they need to do is restore the Matrix. I fear they will not rest until they have it...or until they are all dead." Sam nodded in agreement. "Obvious choice which one to allow then." A thunderous explosion outside caused the building they were in to quake. Dino ran to the door, weapons out, and stuck his head out. "Looks like they didn't want to wait." His voice seemed much more surprised than usual. "No rest for the weary..." Sideswipe pulled out his shotgun, then skated on his wheel-feet outside. "Whoa!" Optimus reached for his back and pulled out two gauntlets, which slid down over his forearms and pushed out machine guns. "Sideswipe, wait. Get Sam to safety." Sam looked at Optimus in surprise. "What?!" "I understand your eagerness to fight, but if they are truly here to restore the Matrix, they will be looking to capture you!" Sam didn't move for a while, clearly angry. "Right...of course. Sorry." Sideswipe skated up next to Sam and transformed, then opened his door. "Get inside!" Sam rushed into the passenger seat as the Wreckers and Optimus went outside. As they drove out, Sam looked back and saw what had surprised the Autobots so much. They were not under attack by Lockdown or his Hunters, but by his ship.

Now that's interesting. Legitimately banned people...it's like being thrown weaponless into a room full of psychopaths.

What's a filler?