Chapter 752 - 32: The Fallen

The orbital drop of the Decepticons was precise and swift, and no country on Earth managed to figure out where they were coming from.

But just as Lille predicted: the Decepticons were on the defensive.

When a criminal holds hostages, even if the police could bring in a hundred tanks, it’s impossible to unleash such firepower indiscriminately.

In the past, the Decepticons always had the upper hand, either hiding within human society or obtaining information ahead of humans, running circles around the Autobots and humanity. Most of the successes of the NEST force were from catching a few hidden Decepticons, and Megatron may not even know what tasks to assign them.

This time was different: there’s a device on Earth capable of detonating the Sun Harvesting Energy — something the Autobots would never use, but the Decepticons would see as their last hope for reviving Cybertron.

The Autobots and humans found a "hostage," and upgraded forces surged towards them like a tide, forcing the Decepticons into a reckless rescue attempt.

The Decepticons’ drop was precise and swift, making it nearly impossible for others to discern their drop location...

But they would land at the Dagger’s tip in Egypt, near the machine.

Strategic superiority led the Decepticons to a tactical disadvantage on the battlefield; Megatron maneuvered among the clouds, engaging in dogfights with those cursed human jets, but what about on the ground?

Human tanks, armored vehicles, soldiers, and naval warships were rapidly closing in...

They didn’t have much manpower, and the tactical idea of holding the equipment at the Dagger’s tip restricted them tightly:

What they were now facing was no longer secret operations, unsupported NEST forces, nor smaller Autobot teams held at bay by humans.

Instead, it was a real battle where humans could exert their power.

Humans encircled them in the area they swore to protect, with the Sun Harvesting Device capable of saving Cybertron at their backs, they couldn’t surrender!

As Megatron thought about this, spark energy surged violently into his limbs, with his already battered head sparking explosively, transforming into a flying tank and diving down from high altitude:

Target: Optimus Prime!

Ironhide looked up to the sky and shouted to Optimus, "Megatron is closing in!"

"Then let him come..."

Optimus Prime prepared himself, but before he could finish speaking, more fixed-wing drones burst through the Decepticon’s air defenses at high speed—

[Target battlefield enemy density has reached threshold]

[GBU-43/B "Mother of Bomb" ready for deployment.]

[Find cover immediately, including you, Autobots.]

Optimus Prime, disregarding everything, focused solely on the fast-approaching and increasingly larger white object in the sky, unconcerned with the rapidly entering fixed-wing UAVs...

He underestimated human destructive power by far.

Or rather, he knew human destructive power well enough but was accustomed to humans dealing with Decepticon threats on a smaller scale.

The fixed-wing drones reached their target overhead, and Decepticons formed a defensive line with their metal bodies, holding back human forces from the area they needed to protect, enduring bombs, missiles, and artillery fire as if they had nowhere else to retreat, with their homeland of Cybertron behind them.

Humans, bearing weapons, moved slowly in sync with their chariots, vowing to remove the alien Poison Sting planted in their homeland.

Optimus Prime and Decepticons glared at each other, their eyes filled only with the other...

The battlefield was chaotic, no one noticed those continuously flying and repeatedly shot-down UAVs—

But a few UAVs were completely different.

"Mother of Bomb," the pinnacle of non-nuclear bombs, over nine meters long, weighing more than nine and a half tons of super high-performance explosives...

Twenty-four Mothers of Bomb, aimed to completely eliminate the entrenched Decepticons in the region:

Mothers of Bomb with a total explosive yield equivalent to 264 tons of TNT, each having an effective blast radius of 1.6 kilometers, covering an uninterrupted 20-kilometer range with fire under Lille’s calculations and deployment!

The intense flashes were enough to blind soldiers standing close, their tactical goggles auto-adjusted, and AI tactical headsets automatically muted the deafening sounds, leaving only a buzzing noise, as a spectacular mushroom cloud resembling a nuclear explosion rose into the sky!

"Get down!"

Hoo—

The shockwave struck like a tsunami, transforming sand and debris into massive billowing waves with howling winds in this onslaught!

The shockwave completely blew Megatron over, and Optimus Prime had to stab his blade into the ground, kneeling with one knee to anchor himself—

Bang!

Megatron hit the ground rolling to his feet, just like Optimus, staring at the explosion.

Facts proved that their strategy and tactics had become completely passive because the Sun Harvesting Device had been discovered...

How many Decepticons perished in the explosion?

Without an energy source, each dead warrior meant one less measure of combat power, one less hope of reviving Cybertron.

"No...!"

"Megatron," Optimus Prime turned to face him, their gazes locked, "Take your failure to Hell with you!"

Anger reflected in Megatron’s red eyes: "Never!"

Whoosh!

Suddenly, the flames and mushroom cloud from the explosion unnaturally swirled like a storm, as if some supernatural force controlled the heat and twisted the pressure, with a terrifying firestorm spiraling skyward!

When the flames and smoke were fully dispersed by this storm, Megatron and Optimus Prime looked towards the battlefield, only to see those Decepticons, who should have been turned to scrap metal in the flames, merely scorched by fire, as the explosion’s power appeared entirely diminished!

They raised their heads, staring at the storm’s eye, where a massive black transformer stood atop the pyramid, with armor as dark as night containing energy flowing like molten lava, surging power surrounded by red lightning, wielding a scepter—

The Fallen Decepticon!

The source of that mighty power became visible instantly: it was he who twisted the explosive forces!

"Ants... don’t deserve the sunlight."

His fiery eyes locked dead on Optimus Prime.

He was reluctant to directly confront another with Primordial Transformers Power, but now had no choice.

But first, he needed to eliminate the surrounding ants.

The Fallen Decepticon’s scepter emitted a dazzling light, whilst his other hand’s clenched fist suddenly loosened—

The storm exploded instantly, its terrifying impact force released outward, directly blowing away the human front-line troops!

Whoosh!

In an instant, the humans felt a vision trick: lightning blasted, and the Fallen Decepticon vanished from the pyramid’s top!

Boom!

This enormous figure appeared before Optimus Prime instantly, smashing his scepter hard upon him!

"None of my brothers could stop me, you are merely another ant."

...

Whoosh.

[Johnny: Damn...what is that thing?]

[Lille: The Fallen Decepticon.]

A spacecraft landed on the Moon’s surface, and a more than 3-meter tall engineering robot executed its AI protocols.

It separated a part of Lille’s core, seemingly sharing some higher-dimensional information processing capability, completely overcoming communication delay...

This communication capability wasn’t something Ironhide taught him, but it felt almost like cross-dimensional communication.

[Johnny: Are we just going to ignore them? I thought you wanted to help them win this battle?]

[Lille: This battle doesn’t belong to us, I’ve already done my best. If they want to win, they’ll have to rely on themselves.]

[Johnny: Wait a minute...]

Johnny appeared beside Lille, his brow furrowed like a pretzel.

[Johnny: Why are you being such a jerk?]

[Lille: My initial goal was always to return to Night City. You think if I saved Optimus Prime and helped them mobilize global military and industrial power against the Decepticons, and if they still couldn’t win, how much better would it be if I personally stepped in?]

[Johnny: No...I think you haven’t given your all; you’re just selfishly wanting to go back...]

Lille didn’t reply, and Johnny suddenly paused:

He suddenly recalled his previous statement.

The Transformers struggle with the survival of their own race; how can they think about protecting humanity?

If they could never return to Night City, then why care about the humans of this world?

For themselves...selfishness...

What’s wrong with that?