While hovering high above, William not only gave orders to Kingsman but also dialed a call to General Ross, who was still reeling from his recent close brush with death.
When Ross learned that the mastermind behind the attack on his base—The Fallen—was now cornered by William in Egypt, his first response wasn't about revenge. Instead, he asked, "Is the alien ship still intact?"
"It should be," William replied, fully aware of what Ross was really after. But William would rather destroy the ship than hand it over to the Americans.
Still, he doubted they'd pass up the opportunity to snatch it.
"The intel's been passed to you. Whether you take revenge or not is your call."
Half an hour later, even before the four Kun-class transports from London arrived, Sunday reported that a U.S. base more than 200 kilometers away had scrambled a dozen jets of various types.
During this time, seven or eight aerial-type Decepticons had already reached the battlefield under The Fallen's command and begun fortifying the area around the pyramid.
When the U.S. fighters arrived, combat erupted immediately.
Four F-15s, upon spotting the Decepticons around the pyramid, confirmed William's earlier warnings and launched four missiles straight toward the structure.
Just as the missiles launched, the cloaked Kun-class transports descended, doors sliding open to deploy Optimus Prime, the five other Autobots, and over a hundred Kingsman rapid-response operatives clad in Devonshire Mark II armor.
From inside the temple, The Fallen, witnessing missiles target the pyramid, roared in fury and smashed a column with his fist.
He instantly teleported to the top of the pyramid, raised his massive staff, and activated a magnetic field, stopping the four missiles in midair.
Then, his deafening roar echoed across the battlefield: "Decepticons, attack!"
The six Constructicons at the base of the pyramid transformed into various combat vehicles and launched into the air, engaging the American jets in a chaotic aerial dogfight.
Meanwhile, Optimus and his allies charged forward. Challenger transformed into his tank form and immediately fired a shell toward The Fallen.
Whooosh— The shell screamed through the air. The Fallen barely had time to react. He flipped aside to dodge, but the explosion still sent him tumbling down the side of the pyramid.
From a nearby dune, Wesley seized the opportunity. He fired a high-caliber sniper rifle with armor-piercing explosive rounds, modified for increased muzzle velocity.
BOOM! The shot landed squarely in The Fallen's chest, causing energon to spew wildly.
Infuriated, The Fallen teleported to Wesley's sniper position, smashed the rifle aside with his staff, and lunged forward to kill him.
But just then, another shell from Optimus forced him to twist away. The Fallen's eyes narrowed, and he called out to Optimus, "Help me win this war, and I'll tell you where the Matrix of Leadership is!"
Optimus hesitated for a moment.
The Matrix was the symbol of Autobot leadership. Without its recognition, Optimus wasn't truly their chosen leader.
But then he snapped out of it. If anyone else had said that—maybe even Megatron—he might've considered it.
But from the mouth of the one who started the civil war on Cybertron?
There was only one answer.
Optimus raised his modified rapid-fire cannon and fired directly at The Fallen.
Dodging again, The Fallen was enraged but still couldn't risk killing Optimus—he needed him alive to activate the Sun Harvester.
Furious, he gave Wesley one last glare and teleported back to the pyramid's summit.
But just as he landed—WHOOOSH—a sonic boom echoed above. The Anti-Transformer armor was barreling straight toward him.
Standing atop the Harvester itself, The Fallen couldn't risk teleporting. Instead, he roared and thrust his massive staff toward the incoming battle armor.
CRACK! The staff pierced straight through the armor's chest—but The Fallen was tackled and driven off the pyramid, crashing all the way down into the ruins below.
Rolling to his feet in the temple ruins, The Fallen grinned at the sight of the sparking, chest-penetrated armor.
He laughed wildly, teleporting to the downed armor, grabbing the embedded staff, and kicking it over before yanking the weapon free.
"HAHAHA!" he howled, thrilled at having seemingly killed William.
He stomped onto the armor's chest, raised his staff high above his head, and drove it down—straight into the helmet.
"Die…!"
The staff stabbed deep into the armor's head. The Fallen pulled it back out, lifted it high with a triumphant howl. "I am the—"
THUMP!
His victory cry cut off mid-sentence.
Frozen in disbelief, The Fallen looked down at the glowing fist that had punched clean through his chest.
Turning his head with effort, he saw a second Anti-Transformer battle suit—identical to the one he'd just destroyed.
"You… you can teleport too…"
That was all he managed to say before the staff was yanked from his grip.
A voice echoed behind him, calm and sharp: "You're the one who's finished."
CRACK! The stolen staff smashed into his head, shattering it instantly.
William ripped the energon core from The Fallen's chest.
The sight of both of them—William and The Fallen—crashing into the temple had already caught the attention of everyone on the battlefield.
Everyone assumed the armor with the staff in its chest—William's armor—was down for the count.
No one expected the figure who emerged from the temple ruins to be William himself, one hand holding the staff, the other gripping the energon core.
"Devonshire forever!"
The Kingsman soldiers erupted in cheers, shouting William's name at the top of their lungs.
One shouted "Hurrah!" and soon the entire army joined in. "Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!"
The remaining Decepticons either fled in terror or dropped their weapons and dropped to their knees, allowing themselves to be shackled with heavy chains by Kingsman troops.
Hovering midair, William saw that the battle was under control. He ramped up the thrusters on the Anti-Transformer armor's feet and back, soaring back up toward the top of the pyramid.
Knowing that each stone block in the pyramid weighed about 2.5 tons, he was about to try lifting one with telekinesis when the staff in his hand glowed faintly and sent a wave of energy into his consciousness.
Understanding its intent, William exited the armor. Clad in his Sentinel-based Mark III suit, he floated midair and gripped the massive staff.
In his mind, he thought: Shrink.
To his surprise, the staff began shrinking—just as he had imagined.
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