Orion falls back, collapsing down to his knees when Megatron lets go of his throat. His hands are shaking around the handle of the Forge, and his spark is pulsing tightly in his chest. He's scared, and more than anything, Megatron's words hurt. Even if he should have already known.

Something about the way they are said now just makes it seem so much more inevitable.

His body creaks with injury as he tries to right himself, but gradually stops as his optics fall on the sight of the Matrix laid out on its sacrificial stone in front of him. The thing that holds everything about himself that he's lost, and his only chance to take back control.

He can't do this.