Transformers: End of the War

Prologue: Setting the Stage

Chicago, Illinois, 2013

Chicago was in ruins. The once thriving city was being laid to waste by the Decepticons in their newest attack. But it wasn't a random attack by any means. In fact, it was being planned a long time ago.

Three years have passed since the Battle of Rio de Janeiro. In the meantime, the Autobots have been helping humanity with their local conflicts. One of said conflicts saw Bumblebee, Sideswipe, Dino and Que destroy an illegal nuclear facility in the Middle East.

A few days ago, a NEST team led by Lennox, Optimus Prime and Ratchet, went on a mission to the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, where they discovered a fuel cell which had led to the power plant's disaster in 1986. They were attacked by Shockwave and the Driller, who were eventually forced to retreat by Optimus. Meanwhile, Laserbeak killed Alexi Voskhod, who had called NEST to Chernobyl and was secretly working for the Decepticons. After securing the fuel cell and identifying it as part of Sentinel Prime's Ark, Optimus was angry at the humans for not following through with their agreement of sharing all known information relating to Cybertron and it's inhabitants.

Despite this, he eventually informed his allies and Charlotte Mearing, the Director of National Intelligence and new NEST director, about the Space Bridge technology contained within the ship. Together with Ratchet, the Autobot Leader traveled to the Moon, where they found Sentinel Prime inside the ship. Retrieving him along with four Space Bridge Pillars and the Control Pillar, they returned to Earth, where Optimus used the Matrix of Leadership to reactivate his former mentor.

In Africa, Megatron met with his lieutenants Starscream and Soundwave in the Decepticons' base of operations in Namibia. Upon learning that the Autobots have recovered Sentinel and the Space Bridge Pillars, Megatron decided that all their human allies have outlived their usefullness, and ordered Soundwave and Laserbeak to terminate their "loose ends".

While all this was happening, Sam Witwicky was suffering from everyday problems. Even though President Barack Obama awarded him a medal for saving the Earth twice, Sam was having trouble finding a job. Together with his new girlfriend Carly Spencer, he also gave Wheelie and Brains a home. After a long search, he finally got a position as a mail carrier at Accuretta Systems, though it only happened because Carly's boss at Hotchkiss Gould Investments, Dylan Gould, had arranged it in the first place, much to Sam's displeasure.

From his colleague, Jerry Wang, he learned about the existence of the "Human Collaborators", and a conspiracy involving the lunar missions by the American and Soviet governments. Before Jerry could tell Sam more, however, he was killed by Laserbeak. Locked out of participating in the investigation by Mearing, Sam turned to Seymour Simmons, who had become a millionaire as a writer, for help. Simmons and his assistant, Dutch, helped Sam discover that the Soviets had taken photos of Decepticons removing hundreds of Space Bridge Pillars out of the Ark even before Apollo 11 had landed on the Moon.

Sam and Simmons concluded that the Decepticons had left Sentinel Prime behind on purpose, knowing that only he would be able to activate the Space Bridge, and only Optimus Prime could reactivate him due to the Matrix being a vessel for the AllSpark. Sam was able to warn the Autobots in time so they could protect Sentinel from the Dreads and escort him back to the NEST headquarters.

Upon arriving there, however, Sentinel Prime revealed that he made a deal with Megatron to ensure Cybertron's survival. After killing Ironhide and most of the NEST soldiers, Sentinel claimed the remaining Pillars and escaped. The other Autobots tracked him down to Washington, D.C., but before Optimus could stop him, Sentinel activated a Space Bridge to the Moon, allowing all the Decepticons who had remained hidden under the Moon's surface to reach Earth, accidentally killing Igor and forcing the Autobots to retreat.