Chương 49: LOG-045.

The aftermath of successfully defeating and containing a quite literally mythical being (even the oldest of our kind's records contained mention of Unicron) was... mildly disappointing. For those that allowed themselves to feel disappointment anyway. Hm. I... may have been a little heavy handed in the debriefing that followed afterwards, but in my defence I wanted to be quite literally anywhere else at the time.

Even if resolving that particular situation had burned through some of my bridges, I still couldn't quite bring myself to overly care at this point, to be entirely honest.

The bridge of the Nemesis was full. Very full, considering all the varied bots currently in attendance. Although the edges of the large chamber were still occupied by the usual Vehicon workers, the central walkway remained dominated by Decepticons, Autobots, and Predacons alike. Even if the vast majority of our numbers remained within the lower depths of the vessel, the ones currently present were already enough to make the place feel just a little more crowded than usual.

I myself stood slightly off to the side, flanked by Indomina and Ser-Ket respectively. All optics remained glued to the red and blue mech currently gesturing to the command console that would dictate the ship's new destination. Additionally, there was the rest of our Decepticon contingent. Dreadwing. Soundwave. Knockout. Alongside a few other Vehicons that I'd granted roles of command, their new authority symbolised by their green frames. Not quite full Zakus, but certainly not grunts either.

And finally, directly opposite the ship's owners were the visiting Autobots. Optimus. With Ultra Magnus and Ratchet at his side, as a matter of course.

"With Unicron safely stored within the Reliquary and the threat of his full awakening dealt with, our purpose here on Earth is resolved. Our following course of action should be focused entirely on Cybertron's restoration." A perfectly reasonable, and logical, suggestion. Thank you, Optimus. One that was met with an unfortunate level of refusal as Dreadwing stepped forward, servos clenching into fists. The grudging sense of respect in his tone at least proved he wasn't outright hostile...

but he didn't exactly seem all too cooperative either.

"Indeed. We will be leaving to revive our homeworld. You, on the other hand, will remain here, Prime." Ah. Lovely. I supposed we weren't quite past this yet. The Decepticon's declaration earned an immediate scoff from Ratchet, the medic stepping forward and glaring up at the taller mech.

"Remain here and leave it to you? Bah! And I suppose we should also sit idly by as you proclaim Megatron its new ruler?!" The large Seeker audibly growled back at the Autobot, even as our resident Prime raised his servos placatingly.

"Surely we can attempt to put our differences aside for the sake of-" If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Knockout bullrushed over the taller bot's words, smirking with his arms crossed.

"We worked together for a bit, temporary alliance and all that. But the big bad evil's been sealed away. That means the whole 'buddy buddy' thing we had going is officially over, big rig." The next few moments consisted of ever increasing levels of hostility as the two sides argued. Magnus and Dreadwing in particular, who had worked so well together just less than a few hours ago, came near helm to helm, just about ready to scrap each other. Optimus just looked...

crestfallen, as the conflict began to spark up once more. The expression... hurt to see, which prompted a bit of modification done to the back of my processor. And to think, the Shadowplay treatment had once been my punishment. Nasty emotions dealt with, I gave them another minute or so to try and resolve things before interceding. Soundwave stayed silent throughout the entire conversation, merely observing.

His thoughts and opinions on the whole thing remained just as concealed as his faceplate, though his helm was one of the first to turn to watch me as I closed off a small HUD window displaying some of the preliminary data sent to me by Brawl, beginning to approach the conversation turned argument. Indomina and Ser-ket glanced at each other once, before the Predacon femmes began to follow as well.

"We will not allow you to turn this into a shared victory! It was us that brought together the Omega Keys! Us who found the Lock! And it will be us that restore Cybertron back to its former glory! Decepticons! Not Autobots!" Knockout glanced at me in confusion as I continued forward, only getting a chance to let out a small "woah!" as I laid a servo against his chest and shoved him out of the way. Dreadwing's snarled statement nearly triggered a rebuttal from a fuming Ultra Magnus. Nearly.

Both mechs suddenly had far more pressing matters to attend to, considering the ominous hum emanating from my AstroMag cannon's barrel. Which was pointed at them, by the way. Kind of important, that. A moment of silence passed, the two (alongside what was likely the rest of the chamber's occupants) staring at me in either shock, confusion, or anger. I allowed that silence to hold just a little longer, even as I formulated what I wanted to say. Then? I spoke.

Even as I silently sent a private command to several parties.

"We are going to Cybertron." Dreadwing opened his mouth. Said mouth promptly clacked shut as I shifted the barrel to point at his helm.

"All of us. Allow me to be extremely clear, to all of you." Out of the corner of my vision, I noticed Optimus staring at me. I ignored it, focusing on the task at hand.

"We... are on the cusp of breathing life back into our home. Of reversing the effects of the idiotic war our species has trapped itself in for eons." I leaned forward slightly, the crimson glow of my optic shedding some of its light onto them.

"I will not allow anyone to stop this from happening. Not Megatron. Not Optimus Prime. Not Unicron. And most certainly not you two." Pausing for a second at the sound of multiple blasters being brought out and aimed, the sound echoing slightly throughout the entire bridge, I tilted my helm. The fact that said blasters belonged to Indomina, Ser-Ket and most of the attending Vehicons made sure that pause didn't last very long, however.

I ignored (I was doing that to a lot of things, lately) the look of betrayal on Dreadwing's faceplate, instead stepping back and lowering my weapon. Quietly, I repeated my original command. Soundwave remained silent, as per usual. Knockout nervously raised his taloned servos slightly as a pair of Vehicons aimed their weapons at the red medic.

"We are going to Cybertron. Autobots and Decepticons. Then we are going to activate the Omega Lock, and we are going to return the Allspark to its rightful place, within Primus' core." Glancing up, I allowed my normally emotionless tone to shift slightly. Cold logic went away. Replaced with a burning sense of steel." Then, we can figure out what to do with ourselves afterwards. If you all want to continue killing each other over goals and ideals that nearly all of us have forgotten, that's perfectly fine."

Once more, I caught Optimus expression just out of the corner of my optic. This time, the mech was smiling. Even if said smile was somewhat strained thanks to a nearby green Vehicon aiming a gun at his faceplate. Hmph. Ever the optimist.

"I, on the other servo, am very, very tired of dealing with all of you, and would much rather retreat to a secluded laboratory to continue work on some of my other projects. Now, behave. Before I have you both thrown in the fragging brig." I allowed a small burst of amusement to bubble past the Shadowplay as both Autobot and Decepticon blinked their optics at my use of a curse word. Telling, that out of everything I said and did, it was my swearing that threw all of them for a loop.... Fragging slaghelms.