The Monster of Kaon (Transformers Si): Chapter 58

It was just a short while after Maximus left the base that Windblade finally made her presence known again.

“You are all idiots. Literally idiots.”

“Excuse me-!?”

“Shush! The adults are talking now.”

Those words left the younger Autobots stunned and speechless while the Camian glared down at them.

“I understand that you don’t want to have someone else command you, especially when you have only ever known a Prime as your leader ever since your birth, but the way you went about expressing that? That was stupid beyond belief.”

“I don’t think-“

“Shut it!”

Once again, Windblade cut off Arcee’s words, making Jack stare between her, an enraged Cliffjumper, and Windblade.

“Do you even know just what he went through before he finally managed to get here? Five thousand years, that is how long he spent lost in his own world during his time on Caminus. Ever since his pod crashed on my home world, he had isolated himself completely from everyone else, simply existing without doing anything ever since he learned the news of what happened on Cybertron in his absence. Mourning the probable death of all of his friends, family, and planet. And now, after all these years, he gets the chance to reunite with them, and you idiots ruin it completely with your hierarchy problems-“

“And how is that our problem?”

The sudden shout from Cliffjumper silenced Windblade. But the way her face shifted and showed true anger, and the way Megatron suddenly got up from his leaning position, making the others go alert, showed just how poor his choice of words was.

But being the bullheaded bot he was, Cliffjumper did not care one bit about all of this. Instead, he continued speaking.

“Look, I get that you care for that guy. But I don’t see how any of his problems are related to us. All I am getting from your words is the image of a bot that gave and decided to do nothing when his people were fighting for their planet. No matter what you say, I don’t think such an incompetent bot deserves to lead-“

“And what would you know of real struggle? Autobot?”

Chills suddenly went down the bodies of everyone present in the chamber as Megatron's flaring purple optics glared down at Cliffjumper.

Optimus stood in front of the younger bot and glared up at his former brother-in-arms.

“Megatron-“

“How long do you and the other idiots plan to keep those arrogant younglings in the dark? Prime?  How long are you going to let them live in the delusion that they know what true war is like?”

Cliffjumper and even Arcee could not help but snort and glare at Megatron.

“We know true war, Megatron. Thanks to you and your Decepticons-“

“You know war? Then tell me, what is the body count on your side aside from the MTO?”

This time, Bumblebee was the one who glared at the older Con.

“5000 Bots! And you killed most of them-“

“And what is the body count on my side? Care to tell them? My friend?”

The Autobots went stock still as a Space Bridge suddenly opened up beside Megatron from which most of the Decepticon old guard walked out, making the Autobots prepare themselves for battle, only for the Decepticons to do nothing but stand by their master’s side.

The answer to Megatron’s question came from none other than Soundwave, whose voice sent shock across most of the younger bots who had never heard him speak and made the older Autobots feel relief but also discomfort for hearing his voice for the first time in thousands of years.

“8000 Decepticons. Most of the dead are from the younger generation who were killed by their fellow younger generation from the Autobot side.”

Arcee simply glared at the Decepticons and spoke with gritted teeth.

“And what does this prove-?”

“You want to know the true nature of a war? Ratchet, tell them the death count during the Quintesson War, or even our skirmishes against Sentinel Prime on Cybertron during the CRDF days and Ascenticon movement.”

The old medic hesitated, but he finally relented, knowing that it was better to rip this particular band-aid at once.

“20,000 bots during the initial campaign. More than a million bots in total by the end of the Ascenticon movement. Most of those deaths were the direct result of Sentinel Prime and his strategies.”

“And how many deaths did Maximus prevent with his own strategies and direct interventions?”

“Nearly triple the number. Sentinel Prime was a peerless strategist and politician. So it was no surprise that despite being younger than us, he gave Maximus a run for his credit most of the time, but Maximus’s experience allowed him to mitigate the damage to a minimum most of the time.”

At the ridiculously large number of lives supposedly lost, the younger Autobots could not help but stare in shock and horror, not able to comprehend how someone could be so cruel as to take so many lives.

But Megatron was not yet done.

He turned towards Optimus and sneered.

“As our resident Data Clerk of Iacon Hall of Records, I hope you studied the Quintesson War thoroughly. If so, can you tell me how many lives were lost during that campaign?”

“…..More than ten thousand lives on a daily basis, with most of the deaths being on the side of Cybertron, while the Quintessons barely lost anything important for a long time, until-”

“Until Maximus, then known as Armorbite, was born and sabotaged their automated systems from within, destroying most of their drone systems and infrastructure permanently and dealing a decisive blow from which they never recovered. Which ultimately led to their defeat.”

This time, Megatron glared down at all the Autobots.

“But his hard-won victory was thrown aside because a Prime wanted to be the center of attention, claiming credit for deeds that he never did. Nova Prime stole the credit for dealing the decisive blow to the Quintessons, and the only reward my sire got for his unparalleled contribution in the war was to be made the head of the Programming Cast when he should have rightfully become the leader of our race.”

“Then, Nova Prime killed his best friend, scattering her remains in the Rust Sea to be eaten by the Rust Worms, simply because she had the audacity to speak out against the atrocities being committed by a Prime!”

“But after Nova, another unworthy Prime came about and eradicated an entire race of organics simply because he and his corrupt council wanted that world for themselves. The fall of Antilla became another regret for my sire, because of the actions of a Prime.”

“Then came Sentinel Prime, the worst of the lot.”

By this point, the younger bots were already shaking in anger, nervousness, and uncertainty as they looked to the older Autobots, hoping to see them deny these accusations leveled towards the revered line of the Primes, but found nothing but downcast expressions on their faces.

As Megatron towered over the younger bots, his purple optics filled them with fear despite spotting Optimus standing behind the Decepticon leader with his sword extended and ready for combat.

“Do you know what it feels like to be a slave? To be nothing more than a number? A designation? A nameless drone doing what you are told simply because of the Alt-Mode and the Spark strength you are born with?”

“Do you know what it feels like to be persecuted simply because you are different from the others? Because you are born a Minicon, a Beastformer, an Outlier, or any other denomination of our diverse race, a diversity blessed onto us by the original Thirteen themselves?”

“Do you know what it feels like to live like a prisoner in your own body as your emotions are completely taken away and your head, arms, legs, and T-Cog are taken away and replaced by generic machine parts simply because you chose to speak out against the Prime and his council?”

“Do you know what it feels like to be punished simply for being born different?”

Megatron simply let the silence linger before he walked back towards his Decepticons, his comrades, his brothers and sisters in arms, as his optics turned from purple to red.

“You younglings know nothing of what a real war, a real struggle for survival, is like, because we did not want you to know it. But I will not stand by and watch you insult the only bot who ever dared to fight against all this injustice despite knowing what fate awaited him.”

“You all owe your very existence to Maximus. Because if it were not for the CRDF, and later on, the Ascenticons, you would never even have the freedom to choose what you wanted.”

“A scout? A fighter? An Autobot? What a joke. Most of you would be nothing more than nameless mining bots in the Underworld of Cybertron or on Luna-1 if it were not for Maximus and the old guard that stood by his side.”

With his piece said, Megatron turned towards the exit of the base, making the Autobots tense while Optimus spoke with a cautious but hopeful tone.

“And where are you going?”

Once again, purple bled into the optics of the Decepticon.

“I am the Lord of Decepticons by right, Prime. But that right is now in jeopardy as my predecessor and Sire has shown himself again. That means there is only one thing to do.”

“To face him in combat and win back my birthright to lead, as was our tradition in the Ascenticons. A tradition that you chose to forget the moment you accepted that Matrix of yours from Primus.”

With that, Megatron transformed into his Alt-Mode and took off, leaving Soundwave and the others to keep an eye on the Autobots.

Leaving behind a group of confused and terrified humans who had been watching the confrontation with terror in their hearts.

Except for Agent Fowler, who held a grim expression on his face after hearing the many revelations spoken out by both sides.

‘Maybe it really is the time to wake the Pentagon up. We can’t afford to be passive anymore if this is the kind of carnage these guys are capable of.’