The moment the AllSpark Fragment touched the Commander-Class Spark, it was like a drop of water hitting a vat of boiling oil. Both vibrated violently, but as the resonance stabilized, the violet-red sphere deepened in color, its glow intensifying until it blazed with solar brilliance.
Before Skygnaw's unblinking optics, the remaining cosmic energy within the fragment surged into the Spark in a single, final torrent.
"This energy..." Skygnaw raised the vessel. He could feel it. The Spark was no longer just "recharged"; it had been fundamentally augmented. Its upper limit had effectively doubled. The AllSpark Fragment, meanwhile, had withered into a dull, grey husk—a common pebble with no trace of its divine origin.
"Pestilence. It's ready." Skygnaw handed the glowing vessel to his medic.
"Master, rest assured!" Pestilence accepted the Spark with reverence. "I will complete the migration at maximum efficiency."
While Pestilence prepped the surgical tools, Skygnaw moved to a corner of the lab to set up a fallback plan. He arranged six Energon Pillars—solid-state energy crystals—into a hexagonal array. As they hummed to life, a vertical, rectangular aperture flickered into existence between them. It was a pitch-black void, crackling with static: a Ground Bridge.
Running a Ground Bridge for the duration of a surgery was an staggering waste of resources—one pillar alone was worth a thousand Energon cubes. But Skygnaw didn't care about the cost. This was his escape hatch. If NEST or a rival faction breached the base during his vulnerable state, Pestilence was ordered to take his neural module through that gate to a pre-calculated safe zone.
With the "lifeboat" ready, Skygnaw climbed onto the massive 13.3-meter frame. He took one last look at his surroundings before initiating emergency stasis.
"Begin, Pestilence."
Konnas Canyon. Simultaneously.
The air shimmered with heat haze before a massive Ground Bridge portal tore open at the canyon floor. A squad of Decepticons stepped through.
At the lead were the survivors of the Rainmakers: Skywarp, Acid Storm, and Sunstorm.
"Ah... that familiar stench of ozone and failure!" Acid Storm hissed, his optics scanning the scorched earth where they had once been routed. "The Autobots think they won. They have no idea we've returned."
After fleeing Earth, the trio had reached a hidden outpost on Mars to report to Starscream. Having repaired their chassis, they were now back on the Seeker's business—and they had brought reinforcements. Behind them stood a dozen "Generic" Seekers, clone-types grown from protoforms, identical in silhouette to the trio.
"Focus, Acid Storm," Skywarp snapped. "Starscream wants results. According to the data we extracted from Onslaught's logs, the drone named Skygnaw is operating in the northern wilderness."
Skywarp projected a set of coordinates. "It's not far. At cruising speed, we'll be on top of him in two hours. Move out!"
Inside the Dream.
Skygnaw drifted. He saw a massive, metallic world screaming in silence. It felt like a mother calling for a lost child—a voice filled with ancient pain and terrifying warmth.
A planet with a consciousness? Preposterous, Skygnaw thought. But the voice persisted, shifting from a plea to a warning.
"******"
"What? Speak up!" Skygnaw strained his internal processors.
"Watch your back... watch your back..."
Skygnaw turned around in the void. A black planet, bristling with four massive antennae, was drifting toward him through the stars.
"Master! Master!"
Pestilence's voice was frantic. He stared at the massive new chassis. The Spark was seated, the neural lines were purged, yet there was no startup sequence. "It shouldn't be like this... the logic gates are green... Master! Wake up!"
"Stop screaming. I'm online."
Skygnaw's voice rumbled—deeper, more resonant, vibrating the very floor of the lab. His auditory sensors had just patched into his processors, and Pestilence's panicked bleeping was giving him a digital headache. He ran a self-diagnostic, familiarizing himself with the sheer power of the Commander-Class systems, before opening his optics.
"What's the emergency, Pestilence?"
"Master, we're under attack! Carnage and the others are barely holding the line!"
Skygnaw's optics flared red. NEST? Did Clarice betray me already? "Is it the Autobots?"
"No, Master," Pestilence shook his head. "It's Decepticons. Seekers."
Seekers? Starscream's lot? Skygnaw didn't waste another second. He collapsed the Ground Bridge, securing the pillars, and grabbed his new longsword. "Lead the way. I want to see who's bold enough to knock on my door."
The Tundra. Outside Base One.
CRASH!
Carnage was sent tumbling across the permafrost, his armor sparking from a direct hit by Skywarp.
"Pathetic," Skywarp sneered, twirling a curved vibro-blade as he stalked toward the downed warrior. "You still won't tell me where that coward Skygnaw is hiding?"
Nearby, Famine and Catastrophe were pinned down under the boots of Acid Storm and Sunstorm, surrounded by a ring of Seeker clones. The Horsemen had fought like demons, but as High-Class warriors, they were simply outmatched by the Elite-Class Seekers and their sheer numbers.
"He... he will melt your sparks for this..." Carnage coughed, struggling to find his footing.
Skywarp lost his patience. The Cybertronian race hadn't seen new sparks in eons; seeing these unfamiliar, high-tier warriors confirmed Starscream's suspicion: Skygnaw was hoarding secrets.
"I'm done asking," Skywarp raised his blade, the edge gleaming in the cold Alaskan sun. "I'll just carve the answer out of your memory crystal!"
He brought the blade down.
CLANG—!!
The vibro-blade didn't hit Carnage. It hit a wall of black, reinforced Orion Live-Metal. A massive hand caught Skywarp's wrist, squeezing until the servos began to pop and scream.
A shadow loomed over Skywarp, blotted out the sun. A 13.3-meter titan stood there, his red optics burning like twin dying stars.
"You're looking for me, Skywarp?" Skygnaw's voice was a low-frequency growl that made the Seekers' internal sensors spike in alarm. "I hope you brought more than just toothpicks."
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