The Transformers: The Movie - ALIGNED EDITION [CANCELLED]

Chapter Six: Two Moons Die

Planet: Earth

Location: Autobot City, Crown City, Oregon, USA

Date and Time: August 29, 2015, 10:49 AM

Ultra Magnus stood by with the other Autobots who managed to survive the near destruction of Autobot City, witnessing Moonracer and RoughEdge carrying the dead body of Optimus Prime in a casket, and onto Omega Supreme in rocket mode. Magnus looked down in his hands, the radiant blue jewel within the Matrix of Leadership glimmering under the late morning sun. He knew that Optimus made him the second-in-command of the Autobots when Autobot City was finished being constructed, and that should Optimus die, Magnus would become leader.

But it just didn't feel right to him. He could handle being the leader of the Wreckers, sure, but of the entire Autobot forces? He never pictured himself as the leader of the entire Autobot faction; not as Dion, and not as Ultra Magnus. He just felt like he was stealing the position held by his old friend for a long time. It just felt wrong that he was alive while Optimus wasn't, so watching Optimus's dead body being hauled out of the ruined Autobot City only felt more painful.

Nevertheless, the sense of shock was still among the survivors. And because they had to deal with the fact that Ultra Magnus was their new leader, they all felt directionless.

"So what's the plan, Magnus?" asked Saberburst, who tried to maintain a small level of professionalism.

"Honestly, Saberburst," Magnus answered, "I just don't know where to start, but our current priority is for Omega Supreme is to get our dead back to Headquarters."

After Optimus's body was loaded onto Omega Supreme's rocket mode along with the bodies of the other Autobots who fell victim to the siege, Moonracer said, "Okay, Omega. You're good to go."

"Get our comrades back to headquarters safe and sound, big guy," said RoughEdge.

"Affirmative, RoughEdge, Moonracer. Assignment accepted. Destination: Mount St. Hilary, Autobot Headquarters. ETA: fifteen cycles."

With that, the great rocket launched skyward, banked, and soared away to Mount St. Hilary, with Jetfire, the Aerialbots, and Blades accompanying Omega Supreme as an aerial escort, while the other Protectobots provided a more grounded escort back to Autobot Headquarters.

After watching Omega Supreme take off from Autobot City, Ultra Magnus inserted the Matrix of Leadership back into his chest compartment and turned to Ratchet. "So, Ratchet, how are Wheeljack and Brawn doing? Will any reformatting be necessary for them?"

"Surprisingly, no," said Ratchet. "They were very lucky to survive the ambush of the Star Talon. But Wheeljack ended up getting his transformation cog destroyed in the attack, so we'll need to try making a new one. And depending on the materials that we have, it's probably going to take a couple of hours."

"Well, that doesn't sound too bad. You go ahead and supervise Wheeljack and Brawn. I'll keep a skeleton crew here in the city so we can salvage what we can."

"But what if the Decepticons return to make another push?" asked Airazor, the Autobot-allied Maximal who could transform into a hawk. "We probably won't be ready."

"Well, Airazor," said Magnus, sure of the current condition of their situation, "seeing that Megatron got defeated in the battle, the Decepticons have taken considerable losses, too. I don't think they'll be back for a while."

And so, Ultra Magnus remained in the city with his skeleton crew of chosen Autobots, consisting of Tracks, Mirage, Chromia, Ironhide, Moonracer, RoughEdge, Perceptor, Strongarm, Blaster, Pipes, Gears, Arcee, Saberburst, Blurr, Prowl, Quickshadow, Red Alert, Cheetor, Rhinox, Airazor, Tigatron, Firestar, Hound, Bluestreak, Grapple, and Sideswipe with Russell. It was quite large for a simple skeleton crew, but it at least meant more work could be finished quicker.