Transformers Fan Fiction ❯ Brittle ❯ Death ( Chapter 1 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: Caleigho 
The Death of Optimus Prime, and the aftermath.
Non Anime: Transformers Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 12.29.2009 | Pages: 1 | Words: 3.5K | Visits: 356 | Status: Work In Progress
The Death of Optimus Prime, and the aftermath.
Non Anime: Transformers Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 12.29.2009 | Pages: 1 | Words: 3.5K | Visits: 356 | Status: Work In Progress
“Decepticons!!!!” Megatron’s shrill bellow for help reverberated through the forest. The air was filled with the splintering of trees as Optimus wrenched a massive oak and hurled it at his brother. The ground beneath Sam’s feet shuddered, as he was showered with the splinters and debris that kept falling around him.
Megatron’s order was not ignored. Sam’s gut clenched when he saw the two Decepticons suddenly dropped to the earth, trees buckling into shards from their wings. He heard the horrible sound of metal shifting to appendages, and could only watch, dumb-struck as one of them hissed out “Here, boy…”
It was so casual and cruel the way Starscream purred out the mocking invocation as he carelessly ripped the trees out of his way. Sam swallowed hard, felt the terror slither down to his guts and grow fire as it spread to his quaking legs. When Starscream fixed that baleful glare at him, he bolted like a rabbit through the undergrowth. He heard the thundering sound of pursuit; Starscream’s stride easily outpacing his own as he twisted back into the thicker growth of trees in a blind panic. He heard the sickening clang of metal. Optimus roared as he hurled himself between them, wrapped an arm around Starscream, and flung him back to the dirt. Optimus did not stop, or even slow as he collided with his second attacker and sent him flying. Sam watched in horror as the two collided with Optimus again, and watched with disbelief at the ferocious ease that Optimus had broken at least one of them.
Megatron had taken refuge in the safe distance between him and his crumbling little armada. Sam shuddered when he heard the Decepticon’s futile attempt at reason with the enraged Autobot.
“There is a source of energon hidden on this planet. The boy can lead us to it.” Sam cowered behind the log, shuddering at the possibility that Optimus might see the merit of leaving him at the mercy of Megatron. Optimus did not even pause as he threw the battered body of Starscream into the trees.
Sam peeked out from the log, quivering in the agonized waiting. If Prime handed him over…..
There was nothing that he could do to scream out the warming. There was nothing he could do to stop the cowardly betrayal of Megatron’s crushing blow to Optimus’s face. The reverberation from the blow shuddered through the air, roared out with Sam’s shriek of Optimus’ name, and ended with the long, dredging groan of pain. Optimus took the brutal blow full force to the side of his face, his mouth guard shattering, his nose crushed and one optic wilting as he spun from the hit and nearly toppled. Sam watched as he lurched to his knees, hunched over from the sudden agony of the wounds, and rose under the onslaught. Megatron’s soldiers cheerfully went about their laborious attempt to dismantle the sole Autobot, savage and brittle as hyenas bringing down the dying animal. Sam cringed when one of them fired a direct hit to Optimus’ mid section. Optimus curled inward from the shot, but raised again, blades edged in flame and ready to kill.
There was no time. Optimus felt the icy burn of Megatron’s missile as it sliced through his protective chest place and almost tore him asunder. He saw the bright flare of sparks dancing over his exposed neural sensors. He was tossed skyward, the numbing, floating sensation disorienting as he plummeted back to the ground. The force of the blow sent him tumbling into a dead roll as he finally halted. He only felt the blinding pain and tasted the dirt in his mandibles. He spat it out, as he heard Megatron’s smug chuckle behind him, the shadow falling over him.
Sam gasped. His eyes were huge and stricken as he stared at Optimus, helpless and horrified and human. Optimus locked eyes with him.
I will keep you safe, Sam.
It was not a thought he could voice without giving Sam’s location away. The boy sucked in a sudden breath, eyes darting upward as he scrambled back behind the log.
“Is our species not worth a single human life?” Megatron’s tone was eerily reasonable as he casually lumbered over to the fallen Autobot. Optimus heard Sam’s shrill pleading, stammered out in terror.
“Get up…Optimus…Get up!” The panicked squeal resonated. Optimus slowly lurched to his feet, head bowed, and his trembling supports nearing collapse as he rose.
“You’ll never stop at one.” Sam shuddered at Optimus’s feral snarl. Optimus suddenly whirled around, his blades arching and glowing in rage. His blades seemed to be bathed in the flames of hell as he summoned them.
“I’ll take you all on!” It was a hideous promise, brutally fulfilled as Optimus hurled himself back into the tangled line of Decepticons and started hacking them to pieces with an almost pathological perfection. The wings of one were flung back to earth as the dismembered metal corpse was savagely torn apart. Sam could only watch the chaotic whirlwind of blue and red continue its destruction as Optimus thrust his blades into them, again, and again, and again. It happened so fast that Sam could not even find time to scream.
Optimus hooked his blades onto the facial sensors of one of them, and ripped it in half; left him gutted and didn’t even pause to watch him fall. Enraged, he fell like a storm over the next one, slicing through his mid section, and tore him apart. The sound of metal fragmenting under metal, the bellows of rage, and the sickening brutality of Optimus as he continued the slaughter….Sam was numb, and mercifully detached from the horror of the whole thing.
“Sam! Where are you?” The bodies had fallen, the onslaught abruptly halted as Optimus frantically pivoted, the agonized query ringing out over the sudden silence.
It was the distraction that Megatron had been gleefully waiting for. Optimus darted around, the anguish nearly breaking him when Sam did not appear or reply.
The attack from behind was so brutal, and unexpected that Optimus had no time to react. Megatron latched the parasitic grip over Optimus’ shoulder, slammed himself into the Autobot and nearly turned Optimus to face him.
It was as sudden as it was brutal. Time, like the death blow, had severed his thoughts into vicious moments, blurred by the dying. Megatron’s brittle chuckle fragmented like glass over his faltering awareness. The slide of metal against metal. Agony, searing agony. The stench of his energon and inner workings literally roasting as Megatron thrust the burning blade through his gut. Optimus saw the golden edge of it burst through his mid-section, jutting proudly as Megatron twisted it in savage glee.
Optimus recoiled backwards as the blade continued its arch skyward, felt his feet leaving the ground as Megatron impaled and lifted him upward. Optimus groped uselessly at the thing in his chest, clawing at it, trying and failing to free himself.
“You’re so weak.” It was a smug, languid purr.
“No…..” Megatron smirked at Optimus’ soft, agonized groan. It was little more than a choked breath, now.
Optimus felt the round barrel of Megatron’s weapon trailing casually, and halting at the stab wound. He heard the last snatch of the chuckle as Megatron fired.
Optimus felt his guts being ripped out from the force of the blast, the inferno of sparks flying skyward and falling down, the sudden hiss of wind through the gaping hole. He heard the sharp, slow grind of metal against metal as Megatron drew the blade from his gut. Without the blade to pin him upright, Optimus finally plummeted.
Wounded, bleeding, and dying. Those were the actions of the sentient beings he swore to protect. Those were the things of the earth, the actions of the dying, and those who had flesh. And yet, when he finally realized that he was dying, it was far too late to ponder the fear that humans had of their own endings. There just wasn’t time, now. The frantic, constricting sensations registering pain and multiple system failures pulsed down his neural pathways, the agony searing upward and through him, as his sensors twanged and his breath spilled through his vents.
He fell to the earth, felt it crumble beneath him as he was splayed out and defenseless from the onslaught of so many attacks. Somewhere inside, his automatic power system’s squealed, and roared to life, and faltered as the energon leaked out from so many deep wounds. He felt the mechanisms inside grind against themselves as the precious elixir continued to dribble down, and the gears screamed against each other. It was agonizing.
Sam felt the ground beneath his feet ripple when the giant fell to the ground, slowly toppling after a valiant and failing fight to stay standing. Sam watched in horror as Optimus swayed in surrender, the hot energon raining down on the trees as the robot plummeted. Optimus slammed into the earth on his side, his crumbled face shield gone, and his exposed mouth hideously naked and scarred. The world blurred as his failing neural stabilizers continued to pump the last reserves of his energon to all his dying systems. The various alarms of catastrophic system wide damage were firing their warnings; the last of the energon was being aligned to his spark. The sensors along his limbs flared a last registration of his injuries and went offline.
Through the roar of torpor, and the last bit of light, Optimus saw Sam, his eyes huge with loss, and disbelief, not even bother to glance at the sky, or for an enemy.
“Optimus! Get up! Get UP!!!!” The shrill cry tore the air between them, as Optimus heaved out his last breath. Through the haze of the falling torpor, Optimus fought against the encroaching dark, the warning finally choked out. “Run, Sam…runs…”
Sam heard the dying whine of the failing mechanical system. Optimus’ face spasmed in anguish, as Sam crumbled into shocked grief. Silently, Optimus wilted into death, his head falling into the dirt, as he was still and silent.
There was only the yawning abyss of silence between the mournful trio of humans, dwarfed and overwhelmed by the towering shadows of the Autobots. Sam was still trembling, too stunned and stricken to form any attempts at speaking. Michaela gave the wrecked corpse of Optimus a long look of disbelieving grief before she swept Sam up in a desperate embrace. Sam did not know how she had come to the scene so fast, and he did not care. She was the only tether that felt solid and real after so much that had been beyond belief had already happened in such a short time.
Sam remembered heeding Optimus’ last warning, bolting like a rabbit into the undergrowth. He heard the shrieking whine of the engines almost roaring down his spine, the hideous cackle of Megatron, the bellowing demand for his death. Ironhide had answered Megatron with his own thundering cannons. Bumblebee sped into the fray and whisked him away like a yellow and black angel of deliverance. The numbing shock had anesthetized him from the grief. Once that had worn off, he was only left with the gnawing guilt that he did not know how to handle.
Michaela had cradled his head in her arms, stroking his hair and murmuring soothing nonsense as he buried his face against hers, too stricken to weep. She only held him, in shared grief, love and anguish and obligation bleeding into an ache that was almost unbearable.
Bumblebee kept his radio off, and slowed to a dull, torpid lurch as he reluctantly plowed ahead to the hangar. Optimus’ body was left where it had fallen, and grew from a mountain sized wreck to only a metal gleam in the distance.
The small band of NEST troops stood in a disbelieving cluster at the mountain of Optimus’ corpse. Epps curled a lip at the stench of burnt fuel, and leaking energon, oozing out in grotesque dark pools from Optimus’s wounds. Even the earth herself bore testimony to the battle that had taken place. Trees with trunks wide around as a man had been splintered and wrenched from the ground for a good half mile. There were deep gouges in the earth where the Autobot had been dragged through the muck. Lennox surveyed the sordid scene with a mournful shake of his head. Sighing, he walked over to Optimus’s bowed head, and surveyed the damage done.
It was clear that the Autobot had not died peacefully, nor had he gone quietly. The deathblow was probably the gaping hole that had been blasted through the chest plates. Lennox was nearly sick when he craned his neck to see through the smoking circuits and saw burnt grass on the other side. Optimus had nearly been sliced in half from Megatron’s weapon. Optimus’s metal bore furrows and scars from the fight. He was splayed out, almost as if he had twisted in agony, his fingers still clinched in the death throes.
Lennox drew a deep, steadying breath, and forced himself to look at Optimus’s brutalized face. It was clear that the Autobot had endured a crushing blow to one side. The facial plates that made up the structure of his nose and cheeks were twisted and caved in at an unnatural angle. One optic had been completely ruptured. The protective helm that Optimus wore to shield his jaw had been shattered, and his remaining “good” optic was dark and empty.
His face was contorted with unspeakable agony, the groping hand he had so desperately tried to shield Sam with still laying in its groping plea. Lennox shook his head with another heavy sigh that said what words could not.
His torpor was interrupted by the vibrating of the phone holstered in his belt. Inhaling, he flipped it open. Galloway’s irritating voice sounded as brittle as wind over stone.
“I hear that the head robot has been offlined, Corporal.” It was a terse demand for confirmation, as Lennox swallowed back rage and forced a calm answer. He did not bother to hide his venom.
“If by head robot, you mean Optimus Prime, the leader of the Autobots…..” Lennox halted, his fingers twisting over the phone. “He died defending us, Galloway. Show him some damn respect.”
Galloway gave a sigh of disgust as he snarled, “I don’t care about what you label the aliens, Lennox. I’ve given the orders to have that scrap heap removed, and the choppers are on their way. I’m ordering you to stand down in the transport. I don’t need any more headaches from these machines.”
Galloway abruptly hung up, leaving Lennox shaking with rage and grief at the man’s callous cruelty towards Optimus.
“What’s the orders?” Lennox flinched at the sudden sound of Epp’s voice. Epps was clearly troubled and seemed to regret asking such a question. Lennox gave Optimus’s corpse a mournful shake of his head, as he raised his face to the sky.
“Galloway, being the prick he is, has already arranged for Optimus’ body to be removed. The choppers are on their way.” It was a snarl.
Epps gave a long whistle, as he tilted his head towards the massive corpse. “That ain’t right. He” Epps jabbed a finger at Optimus in emphasis, “deserves better than this. They all do.”
Lennox did not answer for a long moment, before he bitterly curled a lip at the distant thwak of the gliding helicopters. Wearily, he turned to Epps. “I’ll be back. The Autobots need to know what they’re going to do to Prime.”
Epps chuckled, sadly. “Hopefully, they do somethin’ to Galloway. That man deserves a taste of their firepower.”
Lennox muttered darkly as he dialed his cell phone, “Don’t give me any ideas, Epps.”
The Autobots had followed their leader’s last order admirably. Bumblebee had spirited Sam away, not halting in his mad dash until there was enough distance between them and the horror that had happened. With a sinking heart, the Autobot knew that there was no distance he could drive to span what had happened. Sam had been silent, still stunned and disbelieving all the way back to the Hangar,his hand helplessly weaving over Bumblebee’s interior in anguish.
Ironhide, black and huge against the oncoming night, had brought up the mournful parade, not halting until they were all safely in the shelter of the Autobot headquarters. Sam had been quickly assessed by a discrete scan. Aside from his erratic breathing, triggered by emotional stress, Sam had emerged physically unscathed. He was sweaty and cut, and shaking, but Ironhide had no answers as to how to answer the guilt.
Bumblebee wheeled around Sam like a protective lap dog, as if to shield him from the heavy stare of Optimus’s comrads. The silence was overwhelming, and the tension was almost electric when Sam met Ironhide’s searing stare, clearly demanding an answer.
“The last transmission from Optimus was an order to get you to safety. When we finally arrived, Optimus was dead, and the Decepticons fleeing like rats. Can you tell us what happened, Sam?”
Ironhide’s tone was gentle as he waited for Sam’s answer. Sam swallowed down the sudden boulder that seemed lodged in his throat, the words and the explanation suddenly choking.
“Optimus died because of me, alright?! He saved me from Megatron, and Megatron killed him. What else is there to tell?” Sam’s voice trailed off into despair as he hitched his shoulders in helpless agitation.
Bumblebee chirped and bumped against him, in an attempt to comfort him. Sam stiffened and backed away.
“I don’t deserve that, Bee. Optimus is dead because of me.” There was another mournful chirp from Bumblebee, as Ironhide shook his head with a heavy, resigned sigh.
“Sam.” It was gentle and patient. “Optimus died because Megatron killed him. You are not responsible for his death. He would not want you to blame yourself. *We* do not blame you.”
Sam shuddered back the grief, unable to answer.
Lennox and Epps watched as the military choppers came gliding down like a flock of carrion birds. They lighted over the fallen Optimus. Men shouted orders as the long tethers were slung down, and pelting Optimus like strings of rain. One, by one, the helicopters hovered as they slowly landed. Lennox felt the backshot of wind smacking him in the face as the propellers slowly stopped their spins. Officers quickly scurried out of each of the 7 choppers, They threaded the tethers underneath the Autobot’s twisted limbs, wove them like nooses over his torso. The anchors were quickly snapped into place, as Galloway triumphantly emerged from the gaudiest chopper, so smug and so cruel. He disdainfully shook his head as he eyed the massive Autobot.
“I want this scrap heap gone!” He bellowed out the order as the officers continued the grim task of securing Optimus’s corpse in the network of tethers to be transported.
Lennox could barely hold back his shaking rage at the callousness of the situation. Epps carefully siddled up to his side, lay a placating hand over the trembling shoulder. “He ain’t worth it, man. “
The quiet words seemed to penetrate the rage as Lennox sucked in a long, steadying breath. Epps said nothing more, but lingered at his side to prevent him from doing anything rash.
Galloway said nothing more, but only maintained that satisfied smirk as he stared down at Optimus’s body. Satisfied, he spun on his heel and clambered aboard a chopper.
There was no eulogy spoken for Optimus Prime, except the languid creaking of his wounds as his battered shell was slowly hoisted into the air. His limbs dangled, his head lulled as the tethers nearly buckled under the strain. Lennox waited, tersely hoping that the Autobot would at least be spared the indignity of having his body flung back to the ground like trash.
Slowly, Optimus Prime’s corpse became airborne, eerily floating into the azure haze of the sky. It made Lennox nearly sick with fury, as he shook his head and snarled out, his hand lingering longingly on his automatic.
“Optimus deserves better than this.”
Epps clapped a mournful, steadying hand over his shoulder. “I know, buddy. I know.”
Megatron’s order was not ignored. Sam’s gut clenched when he saw the two Decepticons suddenly dropped to the earth, trees buckling into shards from their wings. He heard the horrible sound of metal shifting to appendages, and could only watch, dumb-struck as one of them hissed out “Here, boy…”
It was so casual and cruel the way Starscream purred out the mocking invocation as he carelessly ripped the trees out of his way. Sam swallowed hard, felt the terror slither down to his guts and grow fire as it spread to his quaking legs. When Starscream fixed that baleful glare at him, he bolted like a rabbit through the undergrowth. He heard the thundering sound of pursuit; Starscream’s stride easily outpacing his own as he twisted back into the thicker growth of trees in a blind panic. He heard the sickening clang of metal. Optimus roared as he hurled himself between them, wrapped an arm around Starscream, and flung him back to the dirt. Optimus did not stop, or even slow as he collided with his second attacker and sent him flying. Sam watched in horror as the two collided with Optimus again, and watched with disbelief at the ferocious ease that Optimus had broken at least one of them.
Megatron had taken refuge in the safe distance between him and his crumbling little armada. Sam shuddered when he heard the Decepticon’s futile attempt at reason with the enraged Autobot.
“There is a source of energon hidden on this planet. The boy can lead us to it.” Sam cowered behind the log, shuddering at the possibility that Optimus might see the merit of leaving him at the mercy of Megatron. Optimus did not even pause as he threw the battered body of Starscream into the trees.
Sam peeked out from the log, quivering in the agonized waiting. If Prime handed him over…..
There was nothing that he could do to scream out the warming. There was nothing he could do to stop the cowardly betrayal of Megatron’s crushing blow to Optimus’s face. The reverberation from the blow shuddered through the air, roared out with Sam’s shriek of Optimus’ name, and ended with the long, dredging groan of pain. Optimus took the brutal blow full force to the side of his face, his mouth guard shattering, his nose crushed and one optic wilting as he spun from the hit and nearly toppled. Sam watched as he lurched to his knees, hunched over from the sudden agony of the wounds, and rose under the onslaught. Megatron’s soldiers cheerfully went about their laborious attempt to dismantle the sole Autobot, savage and brittle as hyenas bringing down the dying animal. Sam cringed when one of them fired a direct hit to Optimus’ mid section. Optimus curled inward from the shot, but raised again, blades edged in flame and ready to kill.
There was no time. Optimus felt the icy burn of Megatron’s missile as it sliced through his protective chest place and almost tore him asunder. He saw the bright flare of sparks dancing over his exposed neural sensors. He was tossed skyward, the numbing, floating sensation disorienting as he plummeted back to the ground. The force of the blow sent him tumbling into a dead roll as he finally halted. He only felt the blinding pain and tasted the dirt in his mandibles. He spat it out, as he heard Megatron’s smug chuckle behind him, the shadow falling over him.
Sam gasped. His eyes were huge and stricken as he stared at Optimus, helpless and horrified and human. Optimus locked eyes with him.
I will keep you safe, Sam.
It was not a thought he could voice without giving Sam’s location away. The boy sucked in a sudden breath, eyes darting upward as he scrambled back behind the log.
“Is our species not worth a single human life?” Megatron’s tone was eerily reasonable as he casually lumbered over to the fallen Autobot. Optimus heard Sam’s shrill pleading, stammered out in terror.
“Get up…Optimus…Get up!” The panicked squeal resonated. Optimus slowly lurched to his feet, head bowed, and his trembling supports nearing collapse as he rose.
“You’ll never stop at one.” Sam shuddered at Optimus’s feral snarl. Optimus suddenly whirled around, his blades arching and glowing in rage. His blades seemed to be bathed in the flames of hell as he summoned them.
“I’ll take you all on!” It was a hideous promise, brutally fulfilled as Optimus hurled himself back into the tangled line of Decepticons and started hacking them to pieces with an almost pathological perfection. The wings of one were flung back to earth as the dismembered metal corpse was savagely torn apart. Sam could only watch the chaotic whirlwind of blue and red continue its destruction as Optimus thrust his blades into them, again, and again, and again. It happened so fast that Sam could not even find time to scream.
Optimus hooked his blades onto the facial sensors of one of them, and ripped it in half; left him gutted and didn’t even pause to watch him fall. Enraged, he fell like a storm over the next one, slicing through his mid section, and tore him apart. The sound of metal fragmenting under metal, the bellows of rage, and the sickening brutality of Optimus as he continued the slaughter….Sam was numb, and mercifully detached from the horror of the whole thing.
“Sam! Where are you?” The bodies had fallen, the onslaught abruptly halted as Optimus frantically pivoted, the agonized query ringing out over the sudden silence.
It was the distraction that Megatron had been gleefully waiting for. Optimus darted around, the anguish nearly breaking him when Sam did not appear or reply.
The attack from behind was so brutal, and unexpected that Optimus had no time to react. Megatron latched the parasitic grip over Optimus’ shoulder, slammed himself into the Autobot and nearly turned Optimus to face him.
It was as sudden as it was brutal. Time, like the death blow, had severed his thoughts into vicious moments, blurred by the dying. Megatron’s brittle chuckle fragmented like glass over his faltering awareness. The slide of metal against metal. Agony, searing agony. The stench of his energon and inner workings literally roasting as Megatron thrust the burning blade through his gut. Optimus saw the golden edge of it burst through his mid-section, jutting proudly as Megatron twisted it in savage glee.
Optimus recoiled backwards as the blade continued its arch skyward, felt his feet leaving the ground as Megatron impaled and lifted him upward. Optimus groped uselessly at the thing in his chest, clawing at it, trying and failing to free himself.
“You’re so weak.” It was a smug, languid purr.
“No…..” Megatron smirked at Optimus’ soft, agonized groan. It was little more than a choked breath, now.
Optimus felt the round barrel of Megatron’s weapon trailing casually, and halting at the stab wound. He heard the last snatch of the chuckle as Megatron fired.
Optimus felt his guts being ripped out from the force of the blast, the inferno of sparks flying skyward and falling down, the sudden hiss of wind through the gaping hole. He heard the sharp, slow grind of metal against metal as Megatron drew the blade from his gut. Without the blade to pin him upright, Optimus finally plummeted.
Wounded, bleeding, and dying. Those were the actions of the sentient beings he swore to protect. Those were the things of the earth, the actions of the dying, and those who had flesh. And yet, when he finally realized that he was dying, it was far too late to ponder the fear that humans had of their own endings. There just wasn’t time, now. The frantic, constricting sensations registering pain and multiple system failures pulsed down his neural pathways, the agony searing upward and through him, as his sensors twanged and his breath spilled through his vents.
He fell to the earth, felt it crumble beneath him as he was splayed out and defenseless from the onslaught of so many attacks. Somewhere inside, his automatic power system’s squealed, and roared to life, and faltered as the energon leaked out from so many deep wounds. He felt the mechanisms inside grind against themselves as the precious elixir continued to dribble down, and the gears screamed against each other. It was agonizing.
Sam felt the ground beneath his feet ripple when the giant fell to the ground, slowly toppling after a valiant and failing fight to stay standing. Sam watched in horror as Optimus swayed in surrender, the hot energon raining down on the trees as the robot plummeted. Optimus slammed into the earth on his side, his crumbled face shield gone, and his exposed mouth hideously naked and scarred. The world blurred as his failing neural stabilizers continued to pump the last reserves of his energon to all his dying systems. The various alarms of catastrophic system wide damage were firing their warnings; the last of the energon was being aligned to his spark. The sensors along his limbs flared a last registration of his injuries and went offline.
Through the roar of torpor, and the last bit of light, Optimus saw Sam, his eyes huge with loss, and disbelief, not even bother to glance at the sky, or for an enemy.
“Optimus! Get up! Get UP!!!!” The shrill cry tore the air between them, as Optimus heaved out his last breath. Through the haze of the falling torpor, Optimus fought against the encroaching dark, the warning finally choked out. “Run, Sam…runs…”
Sam heard the dying whine of the failing mechanical system. Optimus’ face spasmed in anguish, as Sam crumbled into shocked grief. Silently, Optimus wilted into death, his head falling into the dirt, as he was still and silent.
There was only the yawning abyss of silence between the mournful trio of humans, dwarfed and overwhelmed by the towering shadows of the Autobots. Sam was still trembling, too stunned and stricken to form any attempts at speaking. Michaela gave the wrecked corpse of Optimus a long look of disbelieving grief before she swept Sam up in a desperate embrace. Sam did not know how she had come to the scene so fast, and he did not care. She was the only tether that felt solid and real after so much that had been beyond belief had already happened in such a short time.
Sam remembered heeding Optimus’ last warning, bolting like a rabbit into the undergrowth. He heard the shrieking whine of the engines almost roaring down his spine, the hideous cackle of Megatron, the bellowing demand for his death. Ironhide had answered Megatron with his own thundering cannons. Bumblebee sped into the fray and whisked him away like a yellow and black angel of deliverance. The numbing shock had anesthetized him from the grief. Once that had worn off, he was only left with the gnawing guilt that he did not know how to handle.
Michaela had cradled his head in her arms, stroking his hair and murmuring soothing nonsense as he buried his face against hers, too stricken to weep. She only held him, in shared grief, love and anguish and obligation bleeding into an ache that was almost unbearable.
Bumblebee kept his radio off, and slowed to a dull, torpid lurch as he reluctantly plowed ahead to the hangar. Optimus’ body was left where it had fallen, and grew from a mountain sized wreck to only a metal gleam in the distance.
The small band of NEST troops stood in a disbelieving cluster at the mountain of Optimus’ corpse. Epps curled a lip at the stench of burnt fuel, and leaking energon, oozing out in grotesque dark pools from Optimus’s wounds. Even the earth herself bore testimony to the battle that had taken place. Trees with trunks wide around as a man had been splintered and wrenched from the ground for a good half mile. There were deep gouges in the earth where the Autobot had been dragged through the muck. Lennox surveyed the sordid scene with a mournful shake of his head. Sighing, he walked over to Optimus’s bowed head, and surveyed the damage done.
It was clear that the Autobot had not died peacefully, nor had he gone quietly. The deathblow was probably the gaping hole that had been blasted through the chest plates. Lennox was nearly sick when he craned his neck to see through the smoking circuits and saw burnt grass on the other side. Optimus had nearly been sliced in half from Megatron’s weapon. Optimus’s metal bore furrows and scars from the fight. He was splayed out, almost as if he had twisted in agony, his fingers still clinched in the death throes.
Lennox drew a deep, steadying breath, and forced himself to look at Optimus’s brutalized face. It was clear that the Autobot had endured a crushing blow to one side. The facial plates that made up the structure of his nose and cheeks were twisted and caved in at an unnatural angle. One optic had been completely ruptured. The protective helm that Optimus wore to shield his jaw had been shattered, and his remaining “good” optic was dark and empty.
His face was contorted with unspeakable agony, the groping hand he had so desperately tried to shield Sam with still laying in its groping plea. Lennox shook his head with another heavy sigh that said what words could not.
His torpor was interrupted by the vibrating of the phone holstered in his belt. Inhaling, he flipped it open. Galloway’s irritating voice sounded as brittle as wind over stone.
“I hear that the head robot has been offlined, Corporal.” It was a terse demand for confirmation, as Lennox swallowed back rage and forced a calm answer. He did not bother to hide his venom.
“If by head robot, you mean Optimus Prime, the leader of the Autobots…..” Lennox halted, his fingers twisting over the phone. “He died defending us, Galloway. Show him some damn respect.”
Galloway gave a sigh of disgust as he snarled, “I don’t care about what you label the aliens, Lennox. I’ve given the orders to have that scrap heap removed, and the choppers are on their way. I’m ordering you to stand down in the transport. I don’t need any more headaches from these machines.”
Galloway abruptly hung up, leaving Lennox shaking with rage and grief at the man’s callous cruelty towards Optimus.
“What’s the orders?” Lennox flinched at the sudden sound of Epp’s voice. Epps was clearly troubled and seemed to regret asking such a question. Lennox gave Optimus’s corpse a mournful shake of his head, as he raised his face to the sky.
“Galloway, being the prick he is, has already arranged for Optimus’ body to be removed. The choppers are on their way.” It was a snarl.
Epps gave a long whistle, as he tilted his head towards the massive corpse. “That ain’t right. He” Epps jabbed a finger at Optimus in emphasis, “deserves better than this. They all do.”
Lennox did not answer for a long moment, before he bitterly curled a lip at the distant thwak of the gliding helicopters. Wearily, he turned to Epps. “I’ll be back. The Autobots need to know what they’re going to do to Prime.”
Epps chuckled, sadly. “Hopefully, they do somethin’ to Galloway. That man deserves a taste of their firepower.”
Lennox muttered darkly as he dialed his cell phone, “Don’t give me any ideas, Epps.”
The Autobots had followed their leader’s last order admirably. Bumblebee had spirited Sam away, not halting in his mad dash until there was enough distance between them and the horror that had happened. With a sinking heart, the Autobot knew that there was no distance he could drive to span what had happened. Sam had been silent, still stunned and disbelieving all the way back to the Hangar,his hand helplessly weaving over Bumblebee’s interior in anguish.
Ironhide, black and huge against the oncoming night, had brought up the mournful parade, not halting until they were all safely in the shelter of the Autobot headquarters. Sam had been quickly assessed by a discrete scan. Aside from his erratic breathing, triggered by emotional stress, Sam had emerged physically unscathed. He was sweaty and cut, and shaking, but Ironhide had no answers as to how to answer the guilt.
Bumblebee wheeled around Sam like a protective lap dog, as if to shield him from the heavy stare of Optimus’s comrads. The silence was overwhelming, and the tension was almost electric when Sam met Ironhide’s searing stare, clearly demanding an answer.
“The last transmission from Optimus was an order to get you to safety. When we finally arrived, Optimus was dead, and the Decepticons fleeing like rats. Can you tell us what happened, Sam?”
Ironhide’s tone was gentle as he waited for Sam’s answer. Sam swallowed down the sudden boulder that seemed lodged in his throat, the words and the explanation suddenly choking.
“Optimus died because of me, alright?! He saved me from Megatron, and Megatron killed him. What else is there to tell?” Sam’s voice trailed off into despair as he hitched his shoulders in helpless agitation.
Bumblebee chirped and bumped against him, in an attempt to comfort him. Sam stiffened and backed away.
“I don’t deserve that, Bee. Optimus is dead because of me.” There was another mournful chirp from Bumblebee, as Ironhide shook his head with a heavy, resigned sigh.
“Sam.” It was gentle and patient. “Optimus died because Megatron killed him. You are not responsible for his death. He would not want you to blame yourself. *We* do not blame you.”
Sam shuddered back the grief, unable to answer.
Lennox and Epps watched as the military choppers came gliding down like a flock of carrion birds. They lighted over the fallen Optimus. Men shouted orders as the long tethers were slung down, and pelting Optimus like strings of rain. One, by one, the helicopters hovered as they slowly landed. Lennox felt the backshot of wind smacking him in the face as the propellers slowly stopped their spins. Officers quickly scurried out of each of the 7 choppers, They threaded the tethers underneath the Autobot’s twisted limbs, wove them like nooses over his torso. The anchors were quickly snapped into place, as Galloway triumphantly emerged from the gaudiest chopper, so smug and so cruel. He disdainfully shook his head as he eyed the massive Autobot.
“I want this scrap heap gone!” He bellowed out the order as the officers continued the grim task of securing Optimus’s corpse in the network of tethers to be transported.
Lennox could barely hold back his shaking rage at the callousness of the situation. Epps carefully siddled up to his side, lay a placating hand over the trembling shoulder. “He ain’t worth it, man. “
The quiet words seemed to penetrate the rage as Lennox sucked in a long, steadying breath. Epps said nothing more, but lingered at his side to prevent him from doing anything rash.
Galloway said nothing more, but only maintained that satisfied smirk as he stared down at Optimus’s body. Satisfied, he spun on his heel and clambered aboard a chopper.
There was no eulogy spoken for Optimus Prime, except the languid creaking of his wounds as his battered shell was slowly hoisted into the air. His limbs dangled, his head lulled as the tethers nearly buckled under the strain. Lennox waited, tersely hoping that the Autobot would at least be spared the indignity of having his body flung back to the ground like trash.
Slowly, Optimus Prime’s corpse became airborne, eerily floating into the azure haze of the sky. It made Lennox nearly sick with fury, as he shook his head and snarled out, his hand lingering longingly on his automatic.
“Optimus deserves better than this.”
Epps clapped a mournful, steadying hand over his shoulder. “I know, buddy. I know.”