Chapter 80: Brutal

Clearly, Sun Cheng and the others had arrived just in time.

Not long after the sounds of explosions began to ring out within the base, a squadron of Pave Lows—a variant of the UH-60 Black Hawk—came whistling in from afar.

"Whoosh, whoosh..."

Before that squadron of Pave Lows had even drawn near, they had already locked onto Sun Cheng and Megatron—especially the latter—and fired over a dozen sets of Hellfire anti-tank missiles, which came roaring toward them.

"Disgusting insects..."

Megatron impatiently raised the weapon in his hand and, with a flick of his arm, blew one of the Pave Lows into an aerial explosion. He rampaged through the base; no defenders or weapons could halt his advance, and it wasn't long before he spotted a group of familiar faces—none other than the escort team from Sector 7 carrying the AllSpark.

"You've finally let me find you..."

Megatron grinned, revealing a ferocious smile.

Looking down from his height, he saw that team of American soldiers, alert and uneasy, protecting a young man and woman in their midst. The young boy among them was clutching a tiny cube in his arms; judging by its shape, it was none other than the AllSpark.

Yet, for reasons unknown, the AllSpark seemed as if it had been set to a sleep program; it was not emitting a single trace of energy fluctuation at that moment. No wonder Sun Cheng and the others had lost their ability to sense it the moment they entered the borders of Las Vegas.

After dodging a few Hellfire missiles, Sun Cheng transformed into a Reaper Drone and leaped into the sky, heading straight for those Pave Lows that had flown in from who knows where.

His desperate battle against that F-16 squadron earlier had granted him quite a bit of air combat experience. Now, dealing with these helicopters, which were far less agile than an F-16, didn't cost him much effort at all, and soon, many flashes of fire ignited in the sky.

"Lord Megatron, I just received a transmission from Lord Blackout. On his way here, he encountered Lord Brawl, who was fighting the Autobots. The Autobots have already retreated. He and Brawl tangled with Optimus Prime for a while but couldn't keep him there. Calculating the time, they should be arriving here soon as well..."

Landing beside Megatron, Sun Cheng reported the situation to him.

"Blackout? He has come to Earth as well..."

Upon hearing the name Blackout, Sun Cheng was surprised to feel that Megatron's tone had softened considerably. Clearly, he was very satisfied with this subordinate who had always been loyal.

Yet, the next second, he saw Megatron look up toward a certain direction in the sky, as if inadvertently, and his eyes were soon filled with wariness, irritation, and murderous intent.

Sun Cheng followed his gaze, but the sky there was empty and vast; nothing could be seen.

Comparing this with the data in his memory, Sun Cheng found no record of any nation's satellite passing through that area, and his heart could not help but fill with suspicion again. "There is nothing there. What exactly is this guy looking at? What could make even Megatron look so wary..."

Suddenly, his heart stirred.

"Wait, that direction is... the Moon... Could it be that the one Megatron is wary of is Starscream?"

Just as Sun Cheng was utterly bewildered, Megatron had already returned to his cold indifference. He walked quickly toward Sam and the others and threatened them in the Earth language: "Hand over the AllSpark, boy, or everyone here will die..."

"Boom..."

A laser blast suddenly struck Megatron; the explosion caused his chassis to become unstable, and he fell two meters away.

"It's the Autobots..."

Sun Cheng, who had been somewhat distracted, only then noticed a yellow Autobot holding a Laser Cannon and charging toward Megatron from dozens of meters away.

And behind him, a silver Pontiac sports car was also charging toward Megatron—it was none other than Jazz.

Just as the Vanguard had informed them earlier, Jazz was clearly suffering from severe injuries. His chassis was now covered in numerous cracks, some thin and small, others long and thick; it was evident they must have gone through a bitter struggle earlier.

"Get lost, scum..."

After taking a hit, Megatron stood firm and immediately caught sight of Bumblebee, who was rushing toward him at high speed, his eyes burning with even greater malice.

After summoning his steel-spike-like weapon, he somehow managed to make it behave like a steel whip. He lashed out fiercely at a human Humvee nearby; the terrifying force instantly sent it flying, crashing toward Bumblebee.

Bumblebee did not dodge, or rather, he dared not dodge at all. Because after seeing him arrive, the humans escorting the AllSpark had already moved quickly toward him. It could be said that if he dared to dodge, that Humvee sent flying by Megatron would inevitably harm the humans.

Megatron looked at Bumblebee, who indeed had not dodged, with mockery in his eyes. Clearly, he had dealt with the Autobots too many times and knew the personalities of his old rivals all too well.

"Boom..."

Bumblebee raised his arm and fired a shot from his Laser Cannon, shattering the Humvee, and then stood firmly in front of the humans to shield them, letting the flying debris constantly batter his chassis.

The crisis had not been resolved; even more terrifying was Megatron.

This guy never let up when he had the advantage, let alone when his opponent was an Autobot.

Sun Cheng saw him take advantage of Bumblebee's movements to protect the humans, closing in with his steel whip, and then he saw him swing that whip viciously, lashing it cruelly against his body.

"Crack..."

Accompanied by a peculiar sound of metal fracturing, Bumblebee was sent flying high into the air, crashing more than ten meters away.

"Such a high-quality planet, yet occupied by these tiny, crawling human insects..." He sneered, turning his steel whip back into a cannon muzzle, aiming it at Bumblebee's head, and prepared to finish him off with one shot: "Since you are willing to debase yourselves to fight for these lowly insects, then go die with them..."

"Don't you dare..."

Jazz roared, hurriedly transformed back into his human-like form, and regardless of his own severely wounded state, he slammed violently into Megatron.

"Bang..."

Taking that full-force collision, Megatron's hand shook, and the muzzle tilted downward slightly. Although that shot still fired and struck Bumblebee's lower body, blowing off his entire leg at the root, it at least saved his life.

However, Jazz was not so lucky.

An irritated Megatron retracted his cannon and heavily stomped Jazz, who was only as tall as his thigh, under his foot.

"Is that all you've got? Megatron..."

Even though he was pinned under Megatron's foot and unable to move, Jazz still chattered on, mocking him.

"Come here, little mongrel, how do you want to die?"

Megatron sneered, bent down to grab Jazz, and lifted him up in front of his face to ask.

"I think you will be killed by Optimus Prime..."

No sooner had Jazz broken free from his foot than he immediately summoned his Solar Photon Gun and fired several consecutive shots at his cheek and head.

This action clearly enraged Megatron. He angrily slammed him hard onto the ground, then immediately grabbed one of his arms with one hand and gripped Jazz's thigh with the other, lifting him up before his face.

"You will never live to see that day..."

Accompanied by this cold, heartless sentence, he pulled with a sudden, violent force. With a 'crack' of snapping metal, the light in Jazz's eyes suddenly dimmed.

Autobot Warrior, Jazz, killed in action!

PS:

This chapter makes up for yesterday's. Just as I said the night before last, handling this plotline at the end of Transformers 1 makes it very difficult for me to write.