Chapter 86: The Fall (Part II)

The rocket artillery barrage from the northwest direction lasted for a full seven minutes before it ended.

Because Sun Cheng still had some thoughts on the 【AllSpark】, he had not flown far and had been circling near the base; when he returned, he was shocked to see that the base was already in a state of utter disarray.

There were countless craters on the ground, the high-grade concrete pavement was covered in crater-like fracture patterns caused by explosions, and one could see the burning wrecks of what were originally United States Army Humvees, infantry fighting vehicles, and even tanks.

He even discovered the corpses and severed limbs of some American soldiers who had not managed to evacuate; most were directly carbonized, while others could still barely be distinguished as they had looked before death—their ferocious expressions and hands curled as they clawed at their throats all indicated what kind of agony they had experienced not long ago.

From the explosive power and the frequency of the previous ballistic fire, Sun Cheng guessed that these strikes should have come from the M270 Multiple Launch Rocket Systems equipped by the United States Army.

This was a type of conventional army weapon with immense power; its gale-like strikes were something even strong Decepticons and Autobots could not endure.

When Sun Cheng quickly saw the Cybertronian beings still remaining in the base, his first thought was to be glad for his cautious decision to withdraw just moments before.

Because of the rain of rockets, when Sun Cheng returned to the chaotic base, the entire base, having been cleansed by artillery fire, no longer had any buildings or facilities left intact, appearing very empty.

Looking around, apart from the two Cybertronian races that had fought for countless years—Decepticons and Autobots—no other survivors could be found.

He returned just in time to see Onslaught retract the dual-barreled railgun on his back and transform from his super-heavy truck mode back into his robot mode.

The hero who ended this rain of rockets was precisely Onslaught; although it was a hasty counterattack, relying on his dual-barreled railgun, Onslaught had fired over a dozen shots toward the location of the United States Army's M270 Multiple Launch Rocket Systems in just a few minutes, which was what stopped the rocket barrage.

Even so, in just the few minutes that had just passed, the United States Army had poured at least six or seven hundred rockets into this base.

So much so that Onslaught's chassis, which even standard missiles like the Sidewinder could only leave white marks on, was now covered in terrifying cracks; clearly, being hit by that frequency of rocket fire was something even one as strong as Onslaught could not endure.

Upon seeing him, Onslaught didn't even offer a greeting and immediately chased out toward the exterior of the base, running with a limp as countless metal fragments fell continuously from his chassis.

Blackout was in an even more miserable state than Onslaught; his chassis was not as sturdy as Onslaught's to begin with, and he had clearly been hit by quite a few rockets during the previous bombardment, with not a single intact spot to be seen on his body.

What was worse, Sun Cheng actually saw a shell impact mark on his chest; his Spark, which should have been protected by his chest armor, was now exposed, and judging by the dim, flickering light of his Spark, he likely did not have long to live.

Looking at Megatron, his state was clearly much better.

His chassis strength was clearly superior to Onslaught's; even after experiencing a wave of rocket fire just now, that formidable chassis of his had only gained a dozen or so cracks and some dents.

By the time Sun Cheng arrived, the battle within this base was clearly nearing its end.

Bumblebee lay motionless in a crater, with the scarred Ratchet lying beside him; if not for the occasional twitching, Sun Cheng would have thought they had already followed in Jazz's footsteps.

As for Ironhide, he had unexpectedly disappeared, and Sun Cheng naturally would not think he had been destroyed to the point where even his wreckage could not be seen in the rocket barrage just now.

Then there was only one explanation left: he had received orders from Optimus Prime to protect the 【AllSpark】 and leave.

At the very center of the base, the battle between the Decepticon Legion from the planet Cybertron and the Autobot Leader was also nearing its end.

"... Megatron, how does it feel to be wounded by the humans you look down upon?"

The slightly mocking voice came from Optimus Prime; if he hadn't seen his current situation with his own eyes, even Sun Cheng might have thought he had the upper hand.

However, the real situation was that Optimus Prime was currently being pinned under Megatron, one arm was broken, and even a few pieces of the outer armor on his head had been torn off—he was in an extremely wretched state.

Clearly, this young Autobot Leader had suffered quite a bit while facing the vicious and cruel Megatron.

"Shut up..."

Megatron's face was full of ferocity; although he was a selfish dictator, his confidant and beloved general Blackout was about to be lost here, which made Megatron, whose mood was already very bad, boil with a cavity of rage.

He viciously sneered at Optimus Prime: "Those vermin you try to protect chose without hesitation to bury you here. You disappoint me too much, Optimus Prime. Your cowardice makes the Autobots increasingly degenerate; if Sentinel Prime were still alive, he would certainly be as disappointed in the current you as I am."

Hearing him mention the name Sentinel Prime, not only did a flash of desolation cross Optimus Prime's eyes, but even Sun Cheng, who had just arrived, had his expression change slightly.

Sentinel Prime was the Autobot Leader who preceded Optimus Prime; legend had it that he was a descendant of some elder from the ancient era and was an extremely powerful mechanical warrior.

In Frenzy's primitive memories, Sentinel Prime was an overbearing and tyrannical Autobot Leader, much like Megatron, who was extremely cold toward the Decepticons; countless Decepticon Warriors had been tortured to death at his hands.

Tens of thousands of years ago, when the Decepticons and Autobots awoke from the Chaos Age, it was precisely Sentinel Prime who, in order to obtain more resources and regain control of the planet Cybertron, led the Autobots to fearlessly face the extortion of the Decepticon Legion, and he defiantly restarted a new civil war that lasted for ten thousand years against the Decepticons who had also awakened from their long slumber.

Legend had it that he once sent a team of the most elite Autobot warriors to steal the 【AllSpark】 from the Decepticon Legion; legend had it that he personally infiltrated the Spark Chamber to steal the 【AllSpark】; and there were even legends that he had turned a high-ranking Decepticon and obtained the 【AllSpark】 from him.

In short, on the planet Cybertron, Sentinel Prime's name appeared in almost every story about the 【AllSpark】.

It was this very formidable Autobot Leader who led the Autobots—whose strength was far inferior to the Decepticons after the last civil war—to fight for ten thousand years against the Decepticon Legion led by Megatron and Shockwave.

It could be said that if it weren't for the fact that the Autobots suddenly changed to a new leader during the great decisive battle over a hundred years ago, and Sentinel Prime also inexplicably disappeared, it would be hard to say how many more years that Cybertronian Civil War would have continued.

Sentinel Prime was Optimus Prime's teacher; upon hearing his name, Optimus Prime's reaction became intense.

"Teacher pursued peace; for the sake of peace, he even once fantasized about negotiating with you Decepticons. But you, Megatron. Your cruelty and unbridled plundering will only completely destroy Cybertron..."

Using his only remaining arm, he exerted force to knock Megatron flying, and Optimus Prime immediately stood up from the ground, supporting himself with one hand.

Megatron landed a few meters away; after steadying himself and seeing Sun Cheng, the murderous intent in his red eyes grew even thicker: "Little thing, where is the 【AllSpark】 I wanted?"

"Your Majesty, Lord Onslaught has already chased after it!"

Sun Cheng answered cautiously; from Megatron's gaze, he sensitively captured a trace of killing intent.

"Useless thing!"

Megatron let out a cold snort, suddenly summoned his weapon, aimed at Optimus Prime, and fired a shot, knocking him down and causing him to fall again.

Then, just as he was about to pounce again to finish off this old rival, a special energy fluctuation originating from the 【AllSpark】 suddenly erupted, causing Megatron to stop his movements.

His gaze lingered on Optimus Prime and Sun Cheng for a moment each, and only then did he fire two more shots at Optimus Prime before transforming back into jet mode and flying toward the direction from which the fluctuation came.

PS:

I drank at two events yesterday, both at noon and in the evening, and missed another update.

Last week I missed updates for several consecutive days, causing the debt to reach as many as thirty chapters; starting today, I will begin paying off the debt.

There will be a minimum of three chapters today; this is the first chapter, and there will be two more in a while.