The Earth trembled.
In the black void beneath its crust, where no satellite or seismic probe could peer, Shepherd Fox stood in the vast hollow of the Moon-buried Terminal — "T" — a construct not of Cybertron, but older. Raw Rift energy pulsed around him in bluish veins that stretched through obsidian walls etched with glyphs no human could decipher. The air was heavy with ancient memory, like the breath of a world that had lived a thousand lives.
Alix's voice echoed through his comm-link, now fully integrated into the Rift Core in his chest. "Rift harmonics rising. The Terminal is syncing with planetary subsystems. It's not just a gate. It's a key. And the lock... is Earth."
Shepherd frowned, reaching out to place his palm on the console. The metal shifted, reacting to his touch, reading not just his body but his existence — a being stitched from another world, made dimensional by accident and now becoming inevitable.
"Earth is Unicron," Shepherd murmured. "That's what this thing was built to contain…"
"Or awaken," Alix added, her tone unusually somber. "There's another signal. Weak. Buried beneath tectonic levels. Unicron is stirring."
Above, the stars grew uneasy.
Elsewhere — Deep Orbit: Cybertron's Return
A shattered planet drifted closer.
Cybertron — colossal, dying, yet refusing death — loomed over Earth like a god descending. Shattered continents of steel hovered just beyond the moon, its gravitational presence distorting tides, and with it, came Nemesis Prime.
Once, he was the last hope of the Autobots. Now, corrupted by Quintessa, his optics glowed a sickly violet. His purpose was no longer peace.
It was annihilation.
On Earth — Abandoned Town, South Dakota
Thunder rolled across broken streets as dust choked the air.
Cade Yeager ducked behind a rusted SUV, rifle in hand. The TRF drones buzzed overhead, scanning with red beams for Autobot signatures. Near him, Izabella crouched low with Sqweeks clinging to her shoulder, barely functional.
"Another patrol," Cade muttered. "They're getting more aggressive."
"Yeah, well," Izabella said, "we're running out of places to hide."
Behind them, Bumblebee and Drift waited, cloaked by rubble. Even Autobots could feel the shift in the air. Something unnatural pressed down on the world.
Cade's wrist device blinked. It was the signal. The Rift Key Shepherd had left him months ago shimmered with renewed energy.
"Fox is back," Cade whispered.
Underground: Terminal Vault
The platform beneath Shepherd cracked, and he staggered back as the artifact before him lit up with a sphere of radiant light — a stellar map, galaxies bending like data streams.
The Rift was more than a passage. It was a network.
And Earth, the root node.
He watched as dozens of threads connected Earth to other dimensions — his world, the world of the Transformers, dozens more — but one stood out. A red cord pulsed from the Terminal toward Earth's core.
"Unicron isn't a prisoner," he said slowly. "He's the center."
A hiss of steam escaped behind him as a Rift vent activated. Alix spoke again. "Warning. Planetary-scale anomaly: Cybertron has entered Earth-magnetic proximity. Rift pressure is rising exponentially."
The platform beneath his feet unlocked and began to lower.
TRF Command — Nevada
Lieutenant Santos slammed his fist on the table.
"You're telling me Cybertron is in orbit and this—" he gestured at a swirling simulation of energy waves converging at Earth's poles "—is natural?!"
"Sir," the technician replied, "our readings match what we saw in Chicago and Mission City. This isn't just Cybertron... it's something inside Earth responding."
"Find Yeager. And that bastard Shepherd Fox. We bring them in or bring them down."
Rio de Janeiro — Shepherd's Safehouse
Returning to his hideout, Shepherd emerged from a Rift gate within a concealed garage beneath the favelas. It was crude, shielded from satellites. Outside, life continued — music, cars, kids unaware their world was waking up.
He stepped past the modified cars from his Fast Five days, their bodies covered in Rift-generated alloy. Memories surged.
Dominic Toretto. Brian. Han. All of them… family, in one world or another.
But Earth was changing. And he was changing with it.
Shepherd collapsed into the workbench chair as the Rift Core in his chest pulsed violently.
"Alix," he muttered, "run full sync. Tell me what the hell this planet is."
A shimmer of light appeared before him. Alix's avatar, now more humanoid and confident, walked out of the projection like a ghost of code and memory.
"The Terminal interfaces with the Rift because Unicron is Rift energy — corrupted, condensed. Every world you've visited is tethered to this one because this world is the anomaly. The others are linear. This one... loops."
Shepherd's head spun.
"It's the anchor."
Alix nodded. "And it's falling apart. Quintessa means to awaken Unicron fully using the Staff of Merlin. And Nemesis Prime will retrieve it."
The Knights' Ship — Scotland
Nemesis Prime landed hard on steel.
Around him, the ancient ship of the Cybertronian Knights — their final bastion — groaned beneath the weight of fate.
From the shadows, Hot Rod watched. His optics flicked to Vivian Wembley — the last descendant of Merlin. She didn't know it yet, but she held the key to the Staff. And she was the reason Nemesis had returned.
"Shepherd was right," Hot Rod muttered. "This was never about Earth. It was always about what sleeps beneath it.
Shepherd paced the garage, eyes narrowed. The Terminal map had given him coordinates — not to Merlin's Staff — but to a buried Rift spike in Stonehenge, now awakening.
If Quintessa reached it, she wouldn't just control Unicron. She'd control the multiverse.
"Time to intervene," he said.
Alix responded immediately. "Vault-3 vehicle prepped. Should I charge the Rift Blade?"
Shepherd smiled grimly. "Charge everything."
In the skies, the fragments of Cybertron began to enter Earth's atmosphere. People across the world looked up as the night lit with fire. The apocalypse had arrived.
On a war-torn battlefield near Stonehenge, Cade, Bumblebee, and the remaining Autobots prepared for a final defense. Vivian raced toward the structure, pursued by Decepticons and Quintessa's loyal forces.
Then — with a shriek of broken space — Shepherd arrived.
His vehicle burst from a Rift portal mid-air, transforming in flight into a high-speed assault platform powered by reengineered Transformium. He landed beside Cade with a thud of armored boots.
"Fox," Cade breathed, stunned.
"Nice to see you again, cowboy." Shepherd handed Cade a charged Rift pistol. "Let's stop a god.
Nemesis Prime descended, colliding with Bumblebee in a flash of metal and fury. The corrupted Autobot leader struck with precision, battering Bee across the stone ruins.
"I am Nemesis Prime," he growled.
"No," Bumblebee whispered, voice box stabilizing. "You're Optimus. Our friend."
A moment of stillness.
Then Shepherd appeared behind Nemesis — Rift Blade ignited. He didn't strike. Instead, he said quietly, "Optimus… remember family."
That word. Family.
Memories surged. Earth. Cybertron. Sam. Cade. Fox.
His optics flickered.
Quintessa screamed from above — a psychic shockwave echoed in the air. But the grip on Optimus shattered.
With a roar, Prime struck back — shoving his sword through a Decepticon drone.
"I… am… Optimus Prime!"
Vivian thrust the Staff into the ground, overriding Quintessa's control.
Cybertron halted its descent, slowly beginning to break apart, its power exhausted.
Quintessa vanished in a shimmer of energy, retreating to the shadows.
Unicron, though, stirred below Earth — its eyes now open.
Later, beneath Stonehenge, Shepherd stood alone at a hidden Rift altar.
Alix spoke beside him. "We bought time. But Unicron is still waking. The T has absorbed enough Rift energy to allow one final jump. A dimensional map is now accessible."
Shepherd stared at the swirling void before him. So many worlds. So many threats.
He turned once more to Earth.
Then he stepped forward into the Rift.