The arrival of the military reinforcements did more than just give a massive boost to the morale of the NEST soldiers inside the ruins. It also took an enormous amount of pressure off Lennox and the strike team who had charged out into the open desert to tie down Megatron.
Over on the northern edge of the village, Megatron managed to batter Ironhide and Bumblebee back. But just as he prepared to shift into his jet form and hunt down the human boy, a barrage of short-range tactical missiles fired from a hidden position over a hundred miles away struck him with pinpoint precision.
The massive explosions forced the Decepticon leader into a heavy stumble, his face twisting into pure rage.
He remembered this feeling. The last time he died in that human city, it was precisely because the military's conventional weapons had dealt too much damage to his armor, leaving him broken enough for Sam to find a gap and strike the final, lethal blow.
"Damned insects, burn!" Megatron roared in fury.
Seeing that the boy had already reached the cluster of buildings where Optimus Prime was hidden, Megatron leveled his fusion cannon and fired.
A massive explosion shook the ground right behind Sam as he ran. Even though it was only the secondary shockwave of the blast, the sheer kinetic force instantly hurled both him and Mikaela through the air.
Without even checking the results of his shot, Megatron rocketed straight into the sky, diving toward the human fighter jets that dared to challenge his airspace. Securing control of the sky was always the highest priority in a war zone.
He planned to swat these annoying flies first, lead the Decepticons to flatten the Autobots and the human ground forces, and then secure the boy once and for all.
---
"Sam! Sam, look at me!" Mikaela cried out, cradling the completely unconscious boy in her arms and frantically slapping his cheeks.
"What's wrong with him? Is he going to be okay?" Leo asked blankly, having just arrived at the village perimeter alongside Simmons.
After receiving the precision railgun strike from the naval fleet, Skids and Mudflap had worked together to launch a brutal counterattack, successfully putting an end to Devastator. The moment the giant fell, the twins had sprinted straight back to find Sam, leaving the mountain of scrap cooling in the quarry.
"Make way! Move it!" Lennox yelled, executing a long slide through the dirt right next to Mikaela. The moment Megatron cleared the airspace, he had ordered the remaining Autobots back to the village center, only to be met with this disaster.
"Can't we do something?" Mikaela looked up at Lennox, her eyes bright with tears. Sam looked completely intact outside of a few minor cuts and scrapes, but he remained totally unresponsive.
Bumblebee, Ironhide, and the other surviving Autobots gathered in a tight circle, their eyes locked onto the boy in silent anxiety. At this very moment, the fate of their entire race rested on the fragile chest of a human.
"Maybe Ratchet should run a medical scan?" Sideswipe suggested.
"I can do that," Ratchet agreed instantly, stepping forward. "In fact, I already have a preliminary treatment protocol. Based on my data logs of human biology, his brain has suffered a localized impact failure from the fall. My assessment suggests we should perform an immediate cranial opening to inspect the interior."
"If the damage to the tissue is extensive, I can attempt to substitute a fresh organic cerebral unit from—"
"Stop! Stop talking right now!" Mikaela screamed, cutting the medic off with a furious glare. She wasn't about to let a giant alien robot who solved every medical issue by swapping out spare parts perform brain surgery on her boyfriend.
"Medic!" Lennox yelled, pressing his ear against Sam's chest to listen for a heartbeat before turning back. "Get a corpsman over here, now!"
"On it, boss!" A field medic lugging a heavy trauma kit executed a slide through the sand that mirrored Lennox's own. "Step back, sir. Let me work." He ripped the kit open, pulling out a portable defibrillator and setting the pads.
---
*Sam, listen to my voice. I love you. I need you.*
*Please, come back to me. Wake up, Sam...*
Locked in a deep void, Sam couldn't hear the frantic cries of his friends, nor could he see Mikaela weeping over his chest. He felt as if he were trapped inside a dream, staring blankly at a surreal, shifting landscape.
Above his head, clusters of bright, multicolored light drifted through the dark, pulsing softly. Beneath his feet lay a bottomless expanse of pure shadow, completely hidden from view.
Out of the gloom, six towering, magnificent silhouettes strode toward him.
"Where am I? Am I dead?" Sam asked, looking around the empty space.
"No, child. You are not," the leading silhouette spoke. His voice was a rich, ancient rumble, carrying a profound warmth and a deep calm that felt older than the stars themselves.
"简介 You fought for Optimus Prime. He is the last of our leaders who carries the true light of justice within his heart."
"You showed bravery without regard for your own survival. Like Optimus, you possess the true spirit of a leader. That conviction is the sole reason you stand before us now."
The other five sentinels remained silent, standing like ancient statues behind their speaker.
"Through our observation, you have proven yourself worthy of our ancient secret."
"What secret?" Sam asked. He realized who they were now. These were the six ancient kings he had glimpsed within the tomb before it crumbled into dust—the original Dynasty of Primes.
"The Matrix of Leadership is not an object to be merely found. It is an honor earned through sacrifice."
"Your conviction has commanded its restoration."
"Now, return to the living world. Return to the side of Optimus Prime. Merge the essence of the Matrix into his heart. That is the destiny you were forged to fulfill."
The words faded, and the six silhouettes began to dissolve into a shimmering mist. A blinding, crystalline light filled Sam's vision, forcing his eyes open.
---
Back in the dirt, the medic was about to clear the paddles for another shock when the boy's eyes snapped open. The corpsman let out a triumphant laugh. "Boss, he's back! Told you I had it under control!"
"Kid, focus! Talk to me!" Lennox urged.
"Sam, are you okay?" Mikaela sobbed.
Sam blinked against the harsh glare, finding a circle of faces hovering above him. He ignored the frantic questions, reaching inside his jacket and pulling a heavy object from the cloth sack.
The fine metallic sand had completely vanished. Resting in his palm was the Matrix of Leadership, perfectly whole, its core pulsing with a deep, mesmerizing blue radiance.
"The Matrix... how did it put itself back together?" Mikaela gasped.
There was no time for an explanation. Sam grabbed Lennox's tactical vest with a tight grip. "Where is Optimus?"
"Take me to him, right now! I can bring him back!"
Lennox's eyes locked onto Epps, a sudden spark of hope igniting in his chest. "Epps! Keep those Decepticons off our grid! Maintain the air strikes and give us an absolute perimeter!"
Turning back, Lennox hauled Sam to his feet. "With me, kid. Move!"
---
By now, the Decepticon advance had closed within a hundred yards of the village core. At that range, the energy yield of their heavy blasters made standard stone walls completely useless.
A massive explosion tore through a human machine-gun nest, throwing several operators through the air as a towering Decepticon anchored his heavy mortar array into the sand.
Just as the monster adjusted his targeting array to level another structure, a massive shape dropped out of the sky like a falling meteor, heading straight for him.
"Incredible landing!"
The ancient black spy plane smashed into the sand right beside the Decepticon, shifting into its warrior form mid-stride and swinging a colossal, short-handled battle axe through the dust.
"Behold the eternal glory of Jetfire!"
The cane Jetfire carried wasn't merely a mobility aid. When the fight demanded it, it transformed into a massive, dual-bladed battle axe—a terrifying implement of close-quarters slaughter.
With a single, sweeping strike, Jetfire severed the enemy's torso clean in two. He hoisted the thrashing upper half of the machine into the air, his old vocal arrays roaring in triumph. "Now, let me demonstrate how a proper warrior executes the enemy!"
With a brutal twist of his metal fingers, he ripped the robot's head off its mounting links. Several human soldiers, who had reflexively tracked their rifles onto the newcomer, lowered their barrels in stunned silence.
Mikaela, who had just watched Sam sprint toward the hidden hangar, ran forward to intercept the line. "Hold your fire! Don't shoot! His name is Jetfire, he's on our side!"
"Well, that gave me a heart attack," a soldier muttered, lowering his weapon.
"Vile Decepticon scum," Jetfire growled, tossing the crushed skull aside. His hunched frame creaked as he turned a look of pure loathing toward the advancing enemy line.
After hours of brutal conflict, the western perimeter was a graveyard of smoldering Decepticon chassis, balanced by a trail of shattered human armor and burning tank hulls inside the village.
Just as Jetfire raised his axe to cleave another target sprinting toward his position, the sand dune directly behind him erupted. A massive, metallic scorpion vaulted into the air, its serrated claws locking tight around the old warrior's waist.
"Splendid strike, Scorponok."
Accompanied by a smooth, chilling commendation, a sleek assault craft dropped out of the clouds with terrifying speed, hovering directly above Jetfire.
Skygnaw, having bided his time at the rear, had finally stepped into the arena.
"Ah! Disgusting vermin! Get off me!" Jetfire thrashed violently, trying to tear Scorponok from his armor, completely oblivious to the threat descending from above. Or rather, his processors had flagged the approach, but his ancient joints couldn't react in time.
A long greatsword hummed as it cleared its sheath, a streak of crimson and black cutting through the dust. A clean, singular arc severed Jetfire's entire right arm at the shoulder joint, sending the massive limb crashing into the sand.
Jetfire let out a scream of agony, his mechanical body shuddering as blue fluid sprayed from the ruptured fuel lines. With a burst of desperate strength, he tore Scorponok off his back, smashed the mechanical scorpion into the dirt, and crushed its head beneath his heavy heel.
Hobbling backward on his cane, he glared up at the hovering craft. "Cowardly Decepticon trickster! You dare strike from the shadows!"
"If I were a fraction younger, I would have torn your heart out for that..."
In the theater of war, survival was the only metric that mattered. Honor was a concept for the dead.
Ignoring the old warrior's curses, Skygnaw drifted lower and claimed the severed right arm from the sand, a cold smile touching his face.
While stationed atop the pyramid, his sensors had been locked onto Jetfire's unique structural composition. He knew from historical logs that the ancient Seeker possessed the rare capability to open spatial bridges bare-handed. Upon closer inspection, his tracking subroutines confirmed it was a specialized hardware weapon module rather than a mystical trait.
As long as it was a standard weapon module and not some unreplicable anomaly, his internal systems could adapt it. He had every intention of making it his own.
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