Chapter 221: Departure

Zelan City, Zelan Shipyard.

The naming convention for the planetary production centers remained blunt and direct, with each facility simply adopting the title of its host settlement.

On this day, as the final cruiser lifted off from Zelan City, the grand starship construction campaign initiated by Skygnaw reached its official conclusion.

Hovering in the upper atmosphere, dozens of newly minted warships filled the sky. Their angular hull design mirrored the aesthetics of the Nemesis—imposing, lethal, and distinctly alien.

To any native Mindborn unaware of the situation, the sight of Decepticons moving along the outer gantries would have looked like another full-scale invasion force.

Under Skygnaw's orders, every completed vessel across the planet had converged on Zelan City days prior.

The assembled fleet comprised four heavy cruisers, twelve screening frigates, ten multi-role assault craft, and over twenty heavy troop transports.

Cruisers formed the outer perimeter along a unified horizontal vector—one leading, one trailing, and two flanking—serving as the initial line of engagement.

The twelve frigates orbited tight, defensive rings around the Nemesis, with single units positioned directly above and below the flagship's hull.

Positioned between the frigates and the cruisers, the troop transports hovered in loose formation, maintaining standard cruising positions for planetfall and long-range interstellar transit.

Standing on the primary deck of the Nemesis, Skygnaw surveyed the fleet hovering around his flagship.

From his vantage point, the array of starships stretched across the horizon under his direct command.

Between the Autobot resistance and Megatron's active forces, Skygnaw was confident neither faction currently commanded a fleet of this scale—especially with heavy Cybertronian cruisers whose firepower matched smaller battlecruisers.

Ideally, capital ships like cruisers would form the core of any permanent navy.

Yet constructing complex warships presented immense technical hurdles.

Building this single fleet had taken over two full years. Factoring in transit times and initial planetary setup, Skygnaw had spent two and a half years on Planet Kugrage.

Two and a half years was more than enough time for entire galactic campaigns to begin and end. With a completed fleet under his belt, he had no intention of delaying his departure any longer.

Far below, the native population of Zelan City cheered toward the sky. Even if they could barely make out the details of the warships, the sight filled them with genuine fervor.

The atmosphere across the lower districts felt like a major holy day.

The Mindborn observed numerous cultural holidays, but none held greater weight than the High Festival—the day following the death of their ancient founder.

Stepping to the deck's edge, Skygnaw looked down with a faint expression of amusement.

From his height, his optical sensors easily caught the ecstatic faces of the crowds below.

It was both absurd and remarkable.

Over the past two years, Skygnaw had maintained a hands-off approach, leaving local governance to the native administration.

Their overwhelming devotion to the Decepticons stemmed entirely from the High Church's restructured doctrine, which had integrated absolute obedience to Skygnaw alongside their traditional tenets of sacrifice.

While Skygnaw observed the crowds, a small shuttle cut through the cloud cover and touched down on the flight deck.

Blackarachnia stepped out from the cockpit, marching directly toward him.

"Skygnaw, I am here. What was so urgent that it couldn't wait?"

Her tone carried a hint of frustration. She had been deep in the process of cultivating her swarm, feeding on the rich bio-metallic deposits across the planet, only a step away from completing her brood when the recall order arrived.

Understanding her annoyance, Skygnaw offered a slight head tilt. "Take a look at the fleet."

Given her unique frame—with multiple compound optics lining her face and chest—ignoring her presence was impossible, making a direct redirect the simplest option.

Thanks to their history as allies who shared critical secrets, Blackarachnia had always maintained a degree of familiarity around him.

Combined with the favorable terms Skygnaw had offered her previously, the lower-ranking Decepticons viewed Blackarachnia as holding a status nearly equal to their leader.

Had the two not maintained a strictly professional dynamic, rumors would have undoubtedly spread through the ranks.

It was fortunate Skygnaw remained unaware of those occasional whispers among the aerial corps; as a high-ranking Prime-level warrior, he remained far removed from lower-tier chatter.

His aesthetic preferences remained tied to his previous life. While Blackarachnia possessed an undeniable, dangerous grace, his interest in her began and ended with her combat capability.

"Skygnaw... you built all these ships using the native labor force?"

Blackarachnia's optics widened in genuine surprise. She knew he was constructing a navy, but she had not expected full completion so quickly.

Two years?

During her time on Earth, her operational downtime inside stasis units had lasted far longer than two years.

To long-lived Cybertronians, two years felt like a brief moment.

Noticing her reaction, Skygnaw waited for her to process the scale of the fleet before changing the topic.

"How is the insecticon swarm progressing?"

"Exceptionally well," Blackarachnia replied, her tone shifting to business. "Fully evolved combat units have surpassed eight thousand. Reaching ten thousand is only a matter of..."

Skygnaw nodded slowly.

He had personally selected her breeding grounds, well aware of the area's resource potential.

Given enough time, Blackarachnia could easily produce a swarm outnumbering the entire native population.

Though achieving fully evolved combat status was a different matter.

Eight thousand fully developed insecticons, each matching the combat output of a standard Decepticon soldier, was enough to give any high commander pause—though to a Prime-level combatant, raw numbers remained manageable.

"I am returning to Cybertron," Skygnaw stated calmly.

"Leaving?" Blackarachnia blinked, hesitation flashing across her face. "When do we depart?"

Skygnaw read her expression instantly.

She had no desire to abandon a world so rich in raw materials, which aligned cleanly with his upcoming deployment plan.

"The fleet is ready. We can launch immediately."

Pausing, Skygnaw met her gaze directly, his tone dropping into a serious register. "Blackarachnia, I need you to remain behind and hold Planet Kugrage."

"You understand the value of this world. Dirge and a detachment from the aerial corps will stay behind to assist you..."

Cybertron's resource collapse remained a fresh memory. Skygnaw had no intention of abandoning Planet Kugrage or its native industrial base.

He needed a trusted officer to secure the system in his absence.

Blackarachnia possessed both the individual strength and the operational standing to manage the theater.

Should time and distance lead her to entertain independent ambitions, Dirge's unit would ensure communications remained secure.

Over the past two years, numerous Decepticon outposts and deep-space comm relays had been established across the system, making cross-galaxy transmissions routine.

Counting the timeline, Skygnaw had been away from Earth for nearly three years.

Based on his knowledge of the local timeline, the Autobots were likely close to discovering the remains of the ancient Cybertronian vessel hidden on Earth's moon.

Before leaving Cybertron, his initial directives from Megatron had long since been completed.

Perhaps recognizing that Skygnaw's ascension to Prime status placed him far beyond ordinary rank structures, Megatron had issued no further commands, leaving him to operate independently across the sector.

Facing Megatron again in the near future brought a quiet, calculating focus to Skygnaw's mind.

Blackarachnia, meanwhile, appeared entirely unbothered by high-level factional politics, content to manage her territory.

"I will leave Planet Kugrage in your hands," Skygnaw added. "Unless Wala specifically requests guidance, you do not need to interfere in his daily governance."

If possible, Skygnaw preferred to keep native civil matters separate from Decepticon operations.

Whatever Wala's private thoughts might be, his public posture over the past two years had been impeccably submissive, ensuring every imperial decree prioritized Decepticon interests.

A reliable puppet ruler.

Whether that served the native population well was irrelevant; for Skygnaw, it guaranteed total industrial compliance.

"Understood, Skygnaw. I will handle things here."

With her agreement set, they finalized the local defense protocols before Blackarachnia departed the Nemesis to return to her breeding grounds.

Following her departure, word of Skygnaw's return to Cybertron spread through the Decepticon ranks.

To lower-tier soldiers, location mattered little; they moved wherever their commanders dictated.

Yet few anticipated how swiftly the transition would occur.

By the following morning, the massive armada hovering over Zelan City had vanished into deep space.

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