With a High-Tier Spark now roaring within his chest, Nathan found it difficult to calculate the sheer power of a Commander or Pri-level core. If a Spark of this magnitude could sustain a fra indefinitely without structural decay, then ancient Seekers like Jetfire remaining functional after centuries of stasis was no longer a mystery.
Nathan initiated a full diagnostic of his secondary systems. His transformation velocity had increased by 40%, and his weapon modules had undergone a parallel evolution. While his loadout remained the sa—the heavy repeater and the multi-launcher—their output and thermal regulation were now calibrated to a Veteran standard.
The only anomaly was his physical scale.
Before the transmutation, his fra stood at roughly nine ters. Now, as a High-Tier Veteran, he had actually decreased in height to eight ters.
Mass-compaction, Nathan noted, flexed his new, reinforced servos. The terrestrial alloys had been replaced by high-density Cybertronian Steel. He was smaller, but he was significantly heavier and more durable. At eight ters, he was still a titan by human standards, standing taller than even Soundwave or Barricade. One ter of height was a small price to pay for a spark that would never fade.
He summoned his localized data-panel:
[ CLASSIFICATION: COMBAT-SPEC DECEPTICON ]
[ CHASSIS: CYBERTRONIAN STEEL (REINFORCED) ]
[ ARMANT: 12.6MM HEAVY REPEATER (R), MULTI-LAUNCHER (L) ]
[ CORE: PRIMAL SPARK (100% STABLE) ]
[ TIER: HIGH-TIER VETERAN ]
Looking at the status, Nathan felt a surge of genuine systemic pride. He had officially transcended the "disposable" bracket. He was no longer a numbered drone to be barked at by Starscream's lieutenants; he was a nad entity within the Empire.
The designation needs to go, Nathan thought, glaring at the 'T-22' header. In Cybertronian culture, nas were a mark of status. Drones were numbered; warriors were nad. He decided to purge the serial code from his public broadcast frequency.
"I am no longer an experint," he rumbled to the empty cave.
He adjusted his internal registry. He was now a High-Density Combat Interceptor. His skeletal fra was forged from the sa living tal that had conquered a thousand worlds. While it wasn't the rare "Fortified Chronos-Alloy" used by the Pris, it was light-years ahead of anything on Earth.
I need better tech, Nathan mused. But the Space Bridge technology is monopolized by the High Command. Knowledge is the ultimate leash.
He thought of the moon. He knew Sentinel Pri was currently in stasis within the wreckage of the Ark on the lunar surface, carrying a payload of Space Bridge pillars. For an average Cybertronian, the moon was an unreachable void. But for a High-Tier Seeker with the Silver Fox alt-mode, it was rely a long-distance flight.
Not yet, Nathan cautioned himself. The primary sequence is starting. If I leave for the moon now, I miss the AllSpark at Hoover Dam.
Two Days Later. The Middle East.
The three-day ultimatum had expired. Across the globe, the Decepticon vanguard finally unsheathed their claws.
[ TRANSMISSION: SOUNDWAVE ]
[ UNIT BLACKOUT: COORDINATES UPLOADED. INITIATE DATA-SIPHON. ]
[ BLACKOUT: ACKNOWLEDGED. ]
An MH-53 Pave Low heavy-lift helicopter—a craft reported lost in a sandstorm months prior—descended toward the SOCCENT Forward Operations Base in Qatar.
When the "empty" helicopter landed and reconfigured into a ten-ter-tall chanical nightmare, the base's security protocols collapsed into chaos.
"Open fire! Engage! Engage!"
The base commander's screams were drowned out by the roar of the Blackout's heavy cannons. M-1 Abrams tanks and infantry fire raked the Decepticon's legs, the rounds bouncing off his Cybertronian Steel armor like pebbles.
Blackout responded with a wide-band electromagnetic pulse, slagging the base's communication arrays instantly. He moved toward the central command hub, his massive hands tearing through the reinforced concrete to reach the server racks. He deployed Scorponok from his back-mounted winch to hunt down the fleeing special forces survivors.
He jamd his data-spikes into the human network, his optics flaring as he began a brute-force download of the "Project: Iceman" files. He was so focused on the data-siphon that he barely noticed a single human soldier hacking at a power cable with a fire axe.
Nathan received the sit-rep from Soundwave a few hours later while he was perched on an ancient ruin in the desert.
[ LORD SOUNDWAVE. THE REPORT INDICATES BLACKOUT'S DATA-SIPHON WAS INTERRUPTED? ]
Nathan phrased the query carefully. He knew exactly what had happened—the "small ant" with the axe had cut the hardline, preventing Blackout from obtaining the full coordinate-set for gatron.
The story was unfolding exactly as Nathan rembered. The Decepticons had revealed themselves to the world, and the first shot of the battle for Earth had been fired.
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