Lennox waited until the massive Decepticon moved a safe distance away from the alley before signaling his squad.
"Move out! Keep it tight!"
"Epps, paint his legs with the laser. We take out his mobility first, then aim for the base of the neck. Ironhide said the armor is thinnest right under the throat-seal. Don't hit anything else!"
Lennox grabbed a discarded motorcycle from the curb, kick-starting it as he waited for the roar of the engines overhead.
Command: Target is painted. Air strike inbound in twenty seconds.
Blackout, who was closing in on the duel between Megatron and Prime, suddenly felt a persistent irritation on his lower joints. He looked down to see a brilliant green laser dancing across his knee actuators.
Screee—
An F-22 Raptor shrieked over the intersection, the sound of its payload releasing cutting through the air.
"Lennox, hit it!" Epps screamed.
BOOM!
Blackout, unable to cycle his energy shield in time, took a sabot heat-round directly to his right leg. The limb buckled as the high-explosive round tore through the internal servos.
Simultaneously, Lennox twisted the throttle, his motorcycle screaming forward like a shot from a railgun. Behind him, the soldiers unleashed a wall of fire—RPG-7s, grenade launchers, and heavy machine guns—all focused on the staggering giant.
Vroom—
As he neared Blackout's towering frame, Lennox intentionally wiped out, using the bike's momentum to slide on his back directly between the giant's legs.
"Die, you bastard!"
Lennox raised his grenade launcher, firing point-blank into the soft mechanical wiring beneath Blackout's neck.
The giant recoiled, leaking blue Energon as his primary processors spasmed. But the humans weren't done. A white tow-truck roared in reverse toward the intersection, carrying the legless Bumblebee on its bed.
Mikaela leaned out the window, her knuckles white on the steering wheel as she swung the truck into position. "Take him, Bee!"
Bumblebee's plasma cannon hummed with a lethal glow. He unleashed a rapid-fire volley into Blackout's chest. The red light in Blackout's optics flickered and finally died as his massive frame crashed into the asphalt with a world-shaking thud.
Lennox lay on the ground, gasping for air as he watched the monster fall. A tired, grim smile touched his lips. "For the boys at Sanckson Base... paybacks are a bitch."
"Skygnaw! Blackout is down!"
Brawl shouted the warning through the comms. Skygnaw, currently trading fire with Ironhide and Ratchet, felt a jolt of alarm.
After Starscream and Blackout had taken to the sky, Skygnaw had become the de facto anchor for the Decepticon ground line. With Bumblebee crippled and Jazz dead, he had expected a clean sweep.
The humans are adapting, Skygnaw realized. Brawl, the tank-former he had saved earlier, was still functional but heavily damaged. In the original timeline, Brawl would have been scrap by now. Here, Skygnaw's presence had kept him alive, but the tide was turning.
"Stay focused, Brawl!"
"Skygnaw, take me to Blackout. We cannot let the Autobots secure his memory core."
Skygnaw glanced at the Autobots, then retracted his repeater. He had no intention of a final stand. He understood the "Correction" of the timeline—Blackout, who Skygnaw hadn't interfered with, had died exactly as scripted. This suggested the world's narrative was trying to reset itself despite his interference.
"Brawl, secure the chassis. Move!"
Skygnaw wasn't acting out of loyalty. Blackout was a veteran; his memory crystals contained centuries of Decepticon tactical data and secrets. If the Autobots read his core, the faction would be exposed. Protecting the body was a service to Megatron—or whoever led next.
The air over Rushville was now thick with Raptors. Starscream was being swamped by superior numbers, his F-15 frame struggling to keep up with the sheer volume of missiles being hurled by the humans.
"Dreaded gnats!" Megatron roared, his back scorched by a fresh missile strike.
If he were at full power, these attacks would be trivial. But the duel with Prime had drained him. His Energon levels were critical, and his self-repair systems were failing to keep up with the new wounds being added by the circling jets.
Megatron collapsed to his knees after a final bombardment, his optics burning with a manic, murderous red light. "The Spark... it is mine!"
He began to crawl toward Sam, his metal fingers gouging the street. "You wretched insect! I will kill you, and then I will kill everyone on this miserable rock!"
Nearby, Optimus Prime lay paralyzed, his systems red-lining. He looked at Sam, his voice a low, distorted rasp. "Sam... get over here. Put the Spark... into my chest."
Optimus had fought with 200% of his capacity, yet he had still fallen before Megatron's raw fury. He was ready to die to save the world.
"No! I'm not doing that, Optimus!"
Sam looked at the dying Prime, then at the approaching Megatron. He remembered Optimus saying the Spark would destroy whatever heart it was shoved into. He turned and sprinted toward the Decepticon Leader.
"No, Sam!" Optimus cried out, his chest plates already opening to reveal his glowing blue Spark.
Sam ignored him. He reached Megatron's underside and lunged forward, thrusting the humming Cube directly into the hole in Megatron's chest where his armor had been shattered.
"Try this on for size!"
VROOOOM!
The AllSpark reacted instantly to Megatron's dark Spark. Like a puzzle box exploding in reverse, the Cube's cosmic energy found its outlet. It disintegrated into a thousand brilliant shards, a torrential flood of raw power screaming into Megatron's core.
Megatron's frame buckled. He was seized by a violent, electrical convulsion, his optics flashing a blinding, pained white. He was frozen in place, a conduit for an energy he couldn't contain.
Then, the light went out.
THUD.
Megatron's massive silver body slumped to the pavement. Three small fragments of the AllSpark spun away from the point of impact, skittering across the asphalt.
Skygnaw, who had been watching from the shadows of a nearby building, moved instantly. Before Sam could even process that he had won, Skygnaw lunged forward, scooped up a glowing fragment, and shoved it into a secure compartment in his chest.
He didn't wait for the other two. A Peterbilt and a Hummer H2 were already roaring toward the intersection. High above, a shriek echoed through the sky.
[I am Starscream. Megatron is dead! All Decepticons, RETREAT!]
Starscream didn't even use a title for Megatron anymore. The king was dead; the Seeker was already looking to the next cycle.
"Time to go," Skygnaw muttered, shifting into his Pave Hawk form and banking hard away from the city center.
Ratchet and Ironhide reached Optimus a moment later. Ratchet immediately deployed his medical tools, his repair beams bathing Prime's battered frame. Optimus hadn't seen Skygnaw's theft; he was too busy staring at the body of his "brother" on the ground.
"You left me no choice, brother," Optimus whispered.
It was the first time he had called Megatron 'brother' since the war began.
Sam, however, had seen Skygnaw take something. Curious, he looked down and saw one remaining fragment near his foot. He picked it up and slipped it into his pocket.
As Ratchet's repairs took hold, Optimus stood, taking the remains of Jazz from Ironhide's arms.
"We have lost a great comrade today," Optimus said, his voice resonant with grief and pride. "But we have gained new allies. Sam, on behalf of the Autobots, you have my deepest gratitude. You saved us all."