Battle of Autobot City



The Battle of Autobot City refers to the protracted battle between the Autobots and Decepticons at Autobot City, the base of the Autobots on Earth, taking place in the year 2005 in one reality. By its end, the leaders of both the Autobot and Decepticon forces were dead or dying, numerous combatants on both sides had been killed, and multiple events had been set in motion that would lead to the creation of Galvatron and, eventually, the passing of the Matrix of Leadership.

"Let the slaughter begin!"

- Megatron

Prelude
The Decepticons had succeeded at driving the Autobot army off Cybertron. However, the Autobots retained staging grounds on Cyberton's two moons and were in the final phase of preparations for an assault on Cybertron itself. All that remained was the transport of a final shipment of Energon cubes from Autobot City's production facilities. Optimus Prime dispatched a shuttle to Earth for this purpose, interestingly crewed by most of his command staff.



Unfortunately for the Autobots, the Decepticon spy Laserbeak got wind of the Autobots' plans and quickly warned Megatron, ruler of the Decepticons. In a move reminiscent of the Decepticons' boarding of the Ark, Megatron led a sizable contingent of Decepticons against the small crew of Autobots on the shuttle. Taken by surprise, heavily outnumbered and outmatched, the Autobots were quickly overwhelmed. Ratchet, Ironhide, Prowl and Brawn all perished (or were at least deactivated) in this attack spearheaded by Megatron and Starscream.

Having successfully taken control of the shuttle, Megatron explained his plan to Starscream, and the rest of the accompanying Decepticons: the captured Autobot shuttle was to be used as a "Trojan Horse", allowing the Decepticons to breach the Autobot Early Warning Systems (that would announce any obvious Decepticon presence, but would not do so if the Decepticons were concealed in Autobot aircraft) and thus giving the Decepticon forces the ability to launch a preemptive surprise attack on Autobot City itself, which Megatron seemed to think would vanquish the Autobots forever. (...which is what he thought about almost all of his schemes.)


 * (Note: There is a reason Megatron thought this - the original script makes it clear that Autobot City is, in fact, a massive energy-gathering facility, so if the Decepticons manage to destroy the City, the Autobots will be without a large energy supplier, consequently crippling the Autobot's ability to sustain themselves, let alone wage a war.)

First Phase
Megatron had correctly predicted that the Autobot shuttle would not set off Autobot City's automated defenses even if it was carrying a Decepticon crew. It was merely sheer chance that a small human child observed that there was a hole in the shuttle. He alerted the young Autobot Hot Rod, who quickly realized the severity of the situation. Hot Rod opened fire on the shuttle, damaging it to the point that it began to explode. His actions also alerted other nearby Autobots, including Kup. They too realized that something was wrong.

With the shuttle's destruction now imminent and the Decepticons' cover blown, Megatron ordered his troops to debark and begin their attack immediately. A number of Decepticons transformed to alternate mode, commenced attacks on Autobot City and attempted to pick off those Autobots caught outside.



The Autobots in the City, although caught entirely off guard and outnumbered, quickly rallied to the defense. Ultra Magnus, commanding the City, ordered Blaster to contact Optimus Prime on Moonbase One to obtain reinforcements, Springer to transform Autobot City into its battle mode, and Blurr to assist in alerting other Autobots about the attack (if they weren't already clued in by the wave of Decepticons bringing the rain down on their heads.)

Springer and Arcee delayed transforming the city for as long as possible in an attempt to allow Hot Rod and Kup to reach the safety of Autobot City. Eventually, running out of time, they began the transformation. As the City transformed, massive artillery pieces and automated turrets were uncovered and readied, in an attempt to even the odds. In any case, the automated defenses of Autobot City gave the Autobots a much more sizable defense against the large Decepticon force. In the process of Autobot City's transformation, Starscream, who was attempting to strafe Springer and Arcee as they ran for shelter, became caught in the transforming parts of Autobot city, and was forced to shoot his right foot to free himself from a transforming floor. This action saved him from simply being crushed by another much larger transforming section of the city.

Kup and Hot Rod, speeding toward the city, saw that the two Insecticons Shrapnel and Kickback had been called upon to eat away the Autobot's defenses when Megatron's fusion cannon failed to penetrate an armored door. They were eating through one such armored blast door, and in the process of doing so, Kickback was separated from Shrapnel when the bridge he was standing on retracted. Using the Insecticon as a springboard, Hot Rod and Kup were able to clear the gap and enter the city (crushing Kickback's head and ramming Shrapnel out of the way in the process) moments before a second pair of armored doors closed.

Meanwhile, Blaster did manage to make brief contact with the Autobots stationed at moonbases 1 and 2, but the signal was abruptly cut off by Soundwave and the four henchmen he had with him: Rumble, Ravage, Frenzy and Ratbat. A fight ensued, and Blaster had a difficult time subduing all of Soundwave's partners. However, Blaster eventually evened the odds by putting his own quartet of counterparts into the fight: Ramhorn, Steeljaw, Rewind, and Eject.

Unable to penetrate Autobot City's formidable array of defenses by using conventional Decepticon tactics, Megatron ordered the Constructicons to merge into the gestalt Devastator. The giant robot quickly made his presence felt, crushing huge turrets in his bare hands, and quickly penetrating the first line of defenses by literally tearing them open. From the cover of a large armored bunker, Springer, Kup, Hot Rod and Arcee attempted to put him out of action with a large auto-retracting Ballista that fired rocket- assisted projectiles, but only after they recovered the bodies of Windcharger and Wheeljack. The weapon scattered the Decepticons and hit Devastator square in the back, breaking his concentration... but only for an instant. Devastator tore a massive slab of armor from the very skin of Autobot City, and hurled it into the bunker, Forcing the Autobots inside to flee, and destroying the ballista. Despite the massive amount of damage wrought by the Decepticons very early in the battle, the majority of Autobot City's defense mechanisms still remained online. In fact, the two sides were so evenly matched that the battle continued through the remainder of that day and throughout the night.

Second Phase
"One shall stand, one shall fall."

- Optimus Prime on seeing Megatron



However, despite it's formidable array of weaponry, the City could not hold out forever; by the next morning, the Autobot defenses had been broken by relentless and unending Decepticon assaults. The once proud Autobot City was reduced to a charred, mostly destroyed and burnt out warzone. Remaining Autobots were either attempting to hold off the Decepticons in vain, or hiding in the vast ruins of Autobot City. The likelihood of a mass slaughter was high. It was at this crucial point that Autobot reinforcements commanded by Optimus Prime finally arrived. The Dinobots were deployed to attack Devastator, with some success, but even they could not halt the Decepticons' advance into the depths of what remained of Autobot City.

Now, only Optimus Prime himself could prevent the Decepticon forces from completely annihilating what was left of his Autobot comrades. To achieve victory, and save his friends from the Decepticons, he would have to make a ruthless counterassault against the massed firepower of the most elite members of the Decepticon forces and win, which neither the Autobots, the Dinobots, or even the formidable defensive weapon emplacements in Autobot City could do, and he would need to do it all by himself.

And he did it.

In vehicle mode, he rapidly mowed down Thrust, and Shrapnel and in robot mode, he used his laser rifle to take care of Soundwave, Ramjet, Thundercracker, Dirge, and Kickback. In doing this, Optimus Prime singlehandedly defeated the final Decepticon attack; achieving in mere seconds what the rest of the Autobots, Dinobots and automated defenses couldn't do in the course of an entire battle. He then prepared to fight Megatron in -what he assured the Decepticon leader would be- their final battle.



The battle between the two leaders was brief and intense. Initially, Megatron tackled Optimus Prime to the ground, but Optimus Prime quickly threw Megatron off, sending Megatron flying backwards, and into a wall. Megatron then spied a sharp piece of debris lying next to him, and he hurled it at Optimus Prime. The debris flew through the air and became lodged in Optimus Prime's body. Optimus Prime, however, quickly regained his composure and dodged an incoming blast from Megatron's fusion cannon. Optimus Prime then ran to Megatron and punched him to the ground with a fierce melee attack. Prime, having been separated from his laser rifle when Megatron tackled him at the beginning of the fight, ripped out the sword- like piece of debris that had been lodged in him, and used it as a weapon instead. Megatron drew an energy- based melee weapon, and the two then engaged in ferocious close quarters combat. Megatron gashed Optimus Prime with his energy sword in the area of Optimus' torso that had already been hit. Megatron then leaped into the air to deliver a deadly final blow, but Optimus Prime counterattacked, and -with a swift punch- Megatron was once again knocked to the ground. After a few more intense blows, the two ended up in an arm-to-arm struggle, each trying to gain the upper hand. Megatron began to overpower Optimus Prime, and attempted to gouge his optic circuits, but the Autobot leader then quickly broke Megatron's hold, and hurled the Decepticon through the air. Megatron simply couldn't endure any more punishment. Separated from any weapon that could save him, Megatron lay sprawled out on the ground; nearly destroyed. It seemed as if the Autobots would finally see the end of the infamous Decepticon leader.

Kup, who had been watching the fight, encouraged Optimus Prime to kill Megatron now that they had the chance. Suddenly however, Megatron spotted a gun laying only a few yards in front of him, and it was obscured from Optimus Primes' view by a pile of rubble. (The gun was only exposed at the angle that Megatron was facing.) Right before Optimus Prime pulled the trigger on his recovered laser rifle, Megatron began pleading for mercy in an attempt to stall Optimus Prime, as he slowly crawled his way towards the gun.

Optimus Prime being the kind, merciful Autobot he was, (and also not knowing Megatron had found a gun) heard Megatron's pleas and did not immediately shoot his downed foe (but whether or not he later intended to is subject to debate. After all, this was his mortal enemy, here.) Megatron stalled Optimus Prime with his false cries for mercy long enough for him to come within arm's length of the gun, but right as he grabbed it to fire on Optimus Prime, Hot Rod attempted to save Optimus Prime by lunging at Megatron. However, Megatron easily overpowered the young and comparatively weak Autobot, and used him as a shield. Optimus Prime couldn't fire on Megatron as a result, lest he shoot Hot Rod instead. Megatron aimed at Optimus' most severe wounds -the ones in his torso- and fired four to five times. Optimus Prime, now severely damaged, fell to the ground.

Tossing aside Hot Rod, it was Megatron who now prepared to finish off Optimus Prime. Optimus Prime, however, managed to gather up enough strength to deal a double-handed haymaker punch with such power and force that Megatron was knocked clean off of a ledge. Megatron then fell many yards to the ground. This deleterious final blow would prove to be nearly fatal to the already severely damaged Decepticon.

The defeat of Megatron at the hands of Optimus Prime would be the decisive turning point of the battle. Seeing their leader so conclusively defeated in this way completely broke the Decepticons' morale. Starscream, taking interim command, ordered Astrotrain to transform, and ferry the Decepticons away in a strategic withdrawal. Unsurprisingly, Starscream appeared ready to leave the barely functional Megatron to die, but Soundwave carried him to Astrotrain, whilst Rumble followed with his fusion cannon. Gathering up their wounded, the Decepticons retreated from the ruined city, leaving the Autobots to similarly assess their own casualties.

Aftermath
Large numbers of Autobots and Decepticons had either been terminated or wounded as a result of the battle. Windcharger, Wheeljack, and (possibly) Huffer were among the casualties, and even the mighty Optimus Prime soon succumbed to his wounds and perished, but not before passing the Matrix of Leadership to Ultra Magnus as his successor, unaware that the Matrix had already chosen Hot Rod to become the new Autobot leader.



The most heavily wounded Decepticons - including the Insecticons, Skywarp, Thundercracker, and Megatron - were thrown out of Astrotrain to lighten the load. (Megatron would be thrown out by none other than Starscream, who afterwards elected himself as the new Decepticon leader.) Megatron and the other destroyed Decepticons would aimlessly float around in space until they are discovered by the planet eating Lord of Chaos known asUnicron. He would re-engineer these Decepticons into Galvatron, Scourge, Cyclonus, and the Sweeps.