Transformers: Survival of Defective Products

After the joint meeting began, the communication systems at the temporary judicial liaison point became somewhat congested.

On the Autobots' side, Alita, Ratchet, Ultra Magnus, Jazz, Arcee, Bumblebee, Block, Smokescreen, Wheeljack, and Cliffjumper connected to the communication.

The Decepticons' side was even more lively.

As soon as Red Spider came in, he glanced at the list of attendees; sound waves and shock waves were used to test the security and stability of the communication, respectively.

After being knocked down, it even greeted everyone, and then Roadblock, Deadfire, Chaos, and Thunderclap appeared one after another.

On the judicial front, the Crystal Prism was still en route to Earth, while BICk0 was remotely overseeing Cybertron headquarters, and AZ and 97 remained with the Graviton.

Chongyunxiao materialized, taking over the position next to the gravity vector in robot form.

The miniature Titans came along on their own.

Rumble and Confusion moved two small stools themselves, the mechanical dog lay on the edge of the table, and the circular saw bird used her head as a foothold.

"You're listening too?" In the end, the vector didn't chase them away.

Rumble, unusually serious, replied without a grin: "After all, he's the Cosmic Emperor."

He nodded in confusion: "We're on Earth too."

The mechanical dog rested its head on its front paws, whimpered, and stared at her longingly.

The round-saw bird stomped on her head, trying to find a comfortable position: "I need to know."

Humans were the last to connect. Fuller sat in the human command center, with people constantly walking back and forth behind him, presumably processing the increasing number of disaster reports.

He saw a group of huge mechanical lifeforms suddenly appear on the screen, remained silent for two seconds, and then scrolled through the bottom of the page in disbelief, flipping through several pages before finally seeing the end.

"This is the expanded meeting you were talking about?"

Vector: "Almost."

Fuller: "You've called them all!"

-

At the start of the meeting, the leading vector first released the currently known information.

"The Cosmic Emperor is awakening, located on Earth. Global natural disasters and abnormal underground energy activity are highly likely related to this awakening process."

"Furthermore, he is not an ordinary life that can be ended simply by destroying the machine."

The background noise in the conference channel decreased significantly in an instant.

Shockwaves are categorized based on known conditions: "Based on existing data, the Cosmic Emperor is temporarily divided into two levels, one of which is the material form."

In the model, one layer represents matter, while the other layer, because it cannot be simulated using existing forms, can only be represented by a blackish-purple outline.

The vector pointed to the second layer: "Another form is close to consciousness, anti-fire, or the energy entity."

Red Spider's wings stood on end, and it hissed in alarm several times: "So if you only destroy his hull, he can still survive?"

"In theory."

"And the reverse?" "The same."

The Red Spider's wings quickly pressed down.

"That's really good news," Knockdown said slowly and sarcastically. "At least he doesn't have a third form."

-

After listening for a while, Fuller finally spoke: "I have a question."

All machines turned to the human channel.

"You keep saying Unicron is like some kind of god," Fuller struggled to find the right words, "but is 'god' a way of describing someone as powerful and capable of many things, or is it just a literal meaning?"

This time, Optimus Prime answered: "Literal meaning."

Fuller's expression slowly stiffened, as if his soul had floated out of his mouth.

Optimus Prime continued, "Unicron and Primus are ancient beings of the same level."

"And who is Pu Shen?"

"The creator of Cybertron".

Fuller fell completely backward, and Vector glanced at him worriedly, hesitating whether to put his soul back in.

"So there's a dark god on Earth, on par with your creator, awakening right here on Earth?"

"Yes."

Fuller picked up the glass of water and tried to take a sip, but his hand was shaking so badly that the water in the glass seemed about to spill.

-

After a while, the meeting reached its most crucial part.

"A question," Ultra Magnus spoke, "Can Unicron be killed?"

Optimus Prime silently retrieved a few fragments of the Covenant he had once obtained from Alpha Triton. They were just a few scattered pages, and the contents were sparse, but they contained some crucial information.

The source is marked with the words "The Holy Covenant".

Seeing those words, I get a headache.

Now she has developed a conditioned reflex to everything left by the ancestor, whether it's a riddle or a major event, sometimes both.

Optimus Prime said slowly, "The Covenant does not record a method to completely kill Unicron, but it does describe another one."

After the characters were translated, a few relatively clear words remained.

Chaos endures forever. Sleep is not death.

The entire room fell silent.

Combining the information revealed by the Primordial Ancestor in the void, the vector frantically activated the brain module.

Primus failed to destroy Unicron, and Unicron failed to kill Primus.

All they can ever do is put the other person to sleep and render them incapable of acting.

Red Spider was the first to lose patience with the silence: "So what's the conclusion?"

Optimus Prime sighed and cut to the chase: "Unicron cannot be killed permanently."

Despair and helplessness flashed across many faces. Tong Tianxiao stared at the strategic terminal in deep thought, while the wings on the Bumblebee's door froze.

After a moment, Smokescreen asked in a low voice, "So what are we going to fight?"

If an enemy can never truly die no matter how hard you fight, then the war is never over.

Jazz leaned back in his chair, and even through his goggles, his worry was palpable: "I can't just wait until he wakes up and then politely ask him if he wants to go back to sleep."

"We can try to force it into hibernation," Shockwave said.

"How do I do it?"

"Destroy the currently active core of matter."

"The material level is fine." The vector tapped the first layer, then pointed more forcefully to the second layer. "This is the real problem."

They can't even accurately name that part of the universe right now.

"What about the energy harvester?" Arcee suddenly asked.

The energy harvester itself is a high-specification ancient device that can extract energy from the target's interior.

If the other form of the Cosmic Unicron is essentially still energy...

The shockwave simulation begins, a few seconds later.

Unable to build a valid model.

"Why?" Yanmu, who didn't like meetings to begin with, covered his head.

"The level difference is too great. The Energy Harvester is designed for conventional Cybertronian life and regional energy systems. Unicron is not within its scope of application."

Jack: "How about zooming in?"

Shockwave: "Theoretically, the energy harvester needs to be expanded to a scale approaching that of a planetary scale."

The jack thought about it seriously.

Vector: "Cannot be done."

-

Then everyone brought up a few more sacred objects.

Locking staff, no.

Phase shifter, it doesn't matter.

The spark extractor sounded promising, until the ambulance pointed out: "Unicron didn't let you stand there and press a button to extract a regular spark."

The Supreme Divine Armor can only defend.

The Star Sword can theoretically harm the material manifestation of the Cosmic Emperor, but it cannot deal with the consciousness itself.

The ultimate lock hasn't been found yet, and that thing is mainly used for restarting the Cybertronian life environment, so it can't be used as Unicron's bear trap.

As the discussion progressed, even the index vector started to feel the CPU getting hot.

"Is there anything that can directly lock it up?"

She knew that expression all too well: "What are you thinking about?"

He seemed to be confirming the memories in his brain module, then slowly said, "If we can't destroy his ideology, perhaps we can seal it away."

Megatron: "With what?"

"Tinder Source Container"

The entire meeting was focused on Optimus Prime; some looked troubled, some seemed thoughtful, and some were full of disapproval.

The vector pointer sat up straight: "Are you sure?"

"It was originally designed to preserve pure life energy."

Optimus Prime retrieved some of the last remaining ancient data.

The source of the spark is itself a highly purified and immeasurably vast collection of life energy.

It cannot be supported by ordinary isolation equipment.

The Titanium Master personally participated in the creation of the container, ensuring that it is the strongest known object to date.

"Can it really act like a cosmic emperor?" Vector looked at the data hesitantly.

"We can't be sure," Optimus Prime said frankly, "but it's the closest container we can find to meet the requirements."

Shock waves and sound waves have already been simulated using data in sync.

A few minutes later, both machines gave the same result.

The theory is feasible.

The red spider readily replied, "Then bring it here."

Then, the meeting room fell silent again.

They needed an empty container for the AllSpark, but now it still contains the AllSpark, drifting in the unknown depths of the universe.

Red Spider realized he had said something stupid, and shut his mouth with a dark expression.

-

"Can we move the ignition source somewhere else first?" Smokescreen asked.

The ambulance driver shook his head: "It's not like you can just find any big bucket to put it in."

Shockwave provided supporting data: "The Spark is a high-purity, large-scale source of life energy. Among all known devices on Cybertron and Earth, there is no other container that can guarantee long-term stable storage."

Suddenly, Vector realized something and looked at Optimus Prime: "The Hammer of the Heavenly Pride!"

Jack grinned too: "That's right, we have a hammer and a leader!"

The more he thought about it, the more sense it made: "Why don't we just build a new spark source container?"

The ambulance driver hesitated: "Theoretically... it's feasible."

All the soldiers perked up, and even the smokescreen seemed ready to erupt in cheers, when the ambulance continued its descent:

"But we don't have the specific raw materials."

All machines: "..."

Can you please stop talking so haltingly? We've finally gotten a glimmer of hope!

The hope on the face of the vector was fleeting.

The ambulance driver also looked unwell: "Ordinary Cybertronian materials cannot support the modified energy structure; the minimum standard is primordial-level materials."

Where can I find it?

"Nothing is known."

Yin Xiang remained expressionless, but inside, a little devil was kneeling on the ground, howling in agony to the heavens.

Undeterred, the jack asked, "Isn't there anything else?"

Optimus Prime then remembered another sacred object: "The Anvil of Creation".

The vector now didn't know whether to hope for a resurgence or remain ashes for now: "What is that?"

"Sai Tianjiao's other divine artifact is usually used in conjunction with Sai Tianjiao's Hammer. You can think of the hammer as being used for designing and polishing, while the Creation Anvil assists in shaping complex structures."

The hope of the vector was rekindled, albeit reluctantly: "Where is it?"

"Missing."

The vector collapsed and stopped talking.

Why have all the divine artifacts from the Yuanzu era disappeared without a trace?

-

The final conclusion is that there are currently no conditions to forge a new container.

The only realistic solution is to retrieve the source of the fire.

Megatron spoke first: "We have no choice but to go and get it."

"Where is it?" Alita asked.

All the machines looked at Optimus Prime.

Optimus Prime placed his hand on the location of the Leadership Module on his chest: "The Leadership Module can sense the AllSpark, but I don't know its exact coordinates yet."

Sound wave: "A direction tracking model will be established."

Jack raised his hand with one click: "I'll come along. Jack Hammer isn't an ordinary transport ship; it's more suited to complex star systems, and I've been to quite a few weird places, so I have some experience."

Ambulance: "That's true."

Jack: "When are you going to properly praise the machine?"

The vector control operator requested permission for the long-distance voyage: "Just the two of you?"

Optimus Prime: "The more personnel we have, the slower we'll cross star systems, and both Cybertron and Earth need combat power right now."

For some reason, Yin Vector felt uneasy, but he had no reason to keep him.

"Once found, prioritize sending it back to the Cybertronian AllSpark Well," Vector instructed. "Although we haven't found the Ultimate Lock yet, Cybertron can still hold the AllSpark. Then the container will be freed up, and we can use it to deal with Unicron."

Optimus Prime: "Agreed."

-

After the meeting, the joint wartime channel will remain open to ensure everyone can communicate at any time.

The Autobots assigned Earth's defense zones, while the Decepticons were responsible for orbital monitoring and high-altitude support.

The judicial center conducts cross-faction coordination, rescue, and risk control.

The colossal reinforcements are on standby.

Human governments then expanded the disaster evacuation area.

Everything seemed to have been suddenly put on accelerator, being dragged forward.

Optimus Prime and Jack completed their departure preparations in the shortest possible time.

When the vector arrived at the Autobot base, Jack did a final check on the spaceship's thrusters and smiled when he saw her.

"The ambulance gave me so many medical kits that it was like they wanted me to open a clinic."

The ambulance's audio receiver worked, and after hearing it, a voice came from afar: "So you don't come back missing an limb!"

Optimus Prime stood near the spaceship entrance, talking to Jack, who had been specially summoned.

She just happened to see him hand a small metal key to Jack.

"The backup power key for the Land Bridge." Optimus Prime answered naturally in the face of Jack's questioning gaze, though his eyes couldn't help but flicker slightly.

Jack gripped the key tightly: "Why are you giving it to me?"

"In case of an emergency at the base, I trust you can keep it safe."

Although Jack didn't quite understand, he nodded earnestly: "I will."

Optimus Prime then stood up, and paused as he passed by Graviton.

"I left a key for Jack." "I see."

"If any special circumstances arise later, you can ask him for it."

The vector was baffled: "What special case?"

Optimus Prime was silent for a brief moment: "It's nothing."

She felt something was off, but there were urgent matters to attend to everywhere, and she didn't have the energy to study a key.

-

Before boarding the ship, the vector control engineer repeatedly reminded him of the operational requirements:

"Do not touch any abnormal energy sources."

"Unidentified ancient devices are not allowed to be brought back."

"When encountering a planet with life, one must not act rashly—"

Jack couldn't take it anymore: "We're going to retrieve the AllSpark, not for a space vacation!"

"I need to plug the loopholes in advance."

The ambulance driver pressed the throbbing module in his head, which was also throbbing slightly: "Who on earth left you with such severe psychological trauma?"

Both the vector and the jack looked at Megatron, who was silently listening in on the remote communication.

Megatron: "...?"

Vector turned his head nonchalantly: "Anyway, come back as soon as possible."

Jack smiled and waved his hand: "Don't worry."

Optimus Prime didn't board the ship immediately. Instead, he came to Graviton and gently took her hand: "Earth is yours."

That sounds familiar; BICk0 said the same thing just a few hours ago.

Yin Xiang grasped his hand and gently squeezed his fingers: "Just bring the things back, you don't need to worry about anything else."

"If the situation worsens, do not act alone."

"Fine, fine, fine." She pushed his arm away. "Let's go."

Optimus Prime finally turned around and boarded the spaceship.

Soon after, the spaceship departed Earth and headed into deep space.

The vectoring force stood outside the base, watching the spaceship turn into a small black dot and finally disappear into the horizon.