Generation’s End: Part 2
A fanfic by Bill T. Taylor
a.k.a. RedStreak
A great wave of electromagnetic energy was rapidly enveloping the planet of junk, homeworld to the wayward Junkion Autobots. The wave swept out in all directions, making a great WHOOOSH as it blew like some strange wind. Every millisecond it gained another mile, taking another piece of this world and swiftly killing more and more of its disillusioned inhabitants.
“An electrostatic shockwave!” exclaimed Ultra Magnus.
RedStreak stepped out of his gunner’s chair, astutely suggesting to his leader “Prime, we’ve got to get off this rock!”
“No…not without the Junkions! I won’t sacrifice them for our safety!” Optimus Prime yelled. He ran from his chair to the side entrance, slamming his fist into the large red button on the wall. The hatch swung open, a ramp jutting out and stabbing into the ground at an angle. Outside Wrek-Gar and a half-dozen Junkions looked to Prime as he called to them. “Everyone onboard before the wave reaches us!” As the Junkions instinctively rushed toward Prime’s carrier, Optimus looked back to Ultra Magnus and ordered, “Fire up the thrusters! All power to engines the astrosecond everyone’s onboard!”
Perceptor, still standing at his console in a frozen stance, shook with a terrifying realization. “There’s no time,” he just said. In a bolt, he fled his station, running to the back of the bridge.
“PERCEPTOR, BACK TO YOUR POST!” Prime yelled, but the heavy doors sealed just as the scientist fled past them. “SLAG IT!” Optimus growled, shaking a fist, “I need you all at your posts!”
Wrek-Gar and his men came aboard. Per Prime’s orders, the thrusters fired, the huge carrier moving up and forward slowly. However, a single downed Decepticon drone ship caught one of the landing skids just below the bridge. As it was dragged along, it snagged against a larger, immoveable piece of equipment. The massive carrier jerked, brought to an abrupt stop as the translucent electrostatic wave grew larger on the horizon.
“We’re caught on something!” said Quickswitch, “The carrier can’t move!”
“MORE POWER TO THRUSTERS!” Optimus Prime shouted loudly. Ultra Magnus cranked the controls to maximum, the great engines at the rear of the carrier flaming white-hot with fumes blasting out hard. The carrier swayed an inch forward, but even with a hundred thousand pounds of thrust acting on it, the snagged scrap pinning it down refused to give.
Wrek-Gar and the Junkions looked on as Optimus Prime continued to yell “MORE POWER! MORE POWER!” Wrek-Gar looked to his faithful, brother Junkions and at the growing wave rapidly approaching.
“Only twenty seconds to impact!” Quickswitch warned, “We’ve got to be at least sixty clicks away from Junkion or else we’re all fried!”
Glancing out the still-open hatch, Wrek-Gar saw what was restraining the carrier below. His eyes then met with the few Junkions with him, who all nodded their heads unanimously. They made their decision…as did Wrek-Gar.
“FORWARD, AND NIGHT-OH-PENTAGOSTAL!” Wrek-Gar yelled to his comrades. All at once, half the Junkions transformed into spiky motorcycles, the other half of the group leaping on and riding back down the ramp to the surface, swerving in the litter below.
“WREK-GAR!” Prime shouted, moving toward the hatch. The Junkion chieftain saw Prime rush toward the hatch in a valiant attempt to pull them back inside. Wrek-Gar raised his throwing ax and took aim at Prime who froze in surprise.
“THEE-THEE-THAT’S ALL PRIME!” Wrek-Gar stuttered to Prime with a smirk. His ax flew, grazing the right antenna mounted to Prime’s head. To his amazement, the ax slammed into the wires linked to the hatch controls. The hatch sealed back up, Prime still trying to rush for the door.
Wrek-Gar’s men were all at work on the landing ramp, hacking with their own axes at the drone ship and cutting with laser tools. Finally, with a loud snap, the metal broke free, and like a great eagle the Autobot carrier took to the air with haste.
The Junkions gathered around Wrek-Gar, all saluting the departing spacecraft. “Till all are one!” Wrek-Gar declared as the boundless wave swept over the land. “TILL ALL ARE ONE!” the Junkions echoed, all looking up and saluting their freed brother Autobots.
The electrostatic wave engulfed them all in its relentless sweep. All the Junkions, save Wrek-Gar, were flung down to the ground, shattering like cheap plastic with their components scattering. Wrek-Gar turned dark gray, still standing like a great carved statue with his hand still upheld in a salute. Then, as a cold breeze blew by, pieces began to break off. Wrek-Gar also fell apart, his head with open optics and a smile on his bearded face still gazing up as the Junkions became one with their wasteland home.
“WREK-GAR!” Optimus cried out, banging on the door.
Ultra Magnus grabbed Prime’s fist, trying to restrain his leader. “Take it easy Prime! Wrek-Gar only….”
WHAM! Prime’s fist met with Ultra Magnus’ face in a punch, the city commander knocked to the floor in a moment of pure anger and distress. Optimus Prime’s arms shook for a solid minute…Prime finally calming down as his emotion circuits restabilized. “I’m sorry…Magnus. I…I lost…control,” Prime tried to apologize.
“Apologize later if we survive! We’re not out of the woods yet!” RedStreak yelled out.
Even as they cruised at maximum thrust, the electrostatic wave was expanding out from Junkion itself now…perusing the carrier in the form of a wall of gray. The result of Galvatron’s weapon detonating was upon them, gaining fast.
Quickswitch, eyeing the proximity sensors, reported, “The shockwave’s fifteen clicks and closing fast! Contact in one point two cycles!”
“We need speed Autobots!” Optimus Prime suggested.
“We can’t!” Chip spoke from RedStreak, “The ship’s going at full throttle and burning energon like a candle! This is as fast as we can fly!”
Quickswitch again reported, “Twelve clicks and still closing! Contact in one point one cycles!”
“Where the Pit is Perceptor? We need options!” Prime said in an angered tone.
Several decks away, boxes and random bits of metal were being flung about. Huffing and puffing, Perceptor was hard at work on an open capacitor box tied into the carrier’s power systems. The microscope lens slung over his right shoulder was augmented into a crude laser, welding circuits and wires and bizarre technological gizmos together.
Sweat in the form of drops of mechfluid on his brow, Perceptor gritted his teeth as he muttered, “By the spirit of science and the Matrix, may my genius be not in vain!”
“Nine clicks and closing! Point nine cycles to contact!” Quickswitch again warned.
“We’re still not at the sixty-click threshold Prime! Unless we reach it in time, this carrier’s going to be fried!” said RedStreak.
“Tell us something we don’t know!” Ultra Magnus said, returning to his station.
“Options people, options!” Prime said to his crew.
Chip finally thought of something. “I’ve got it! RedStreak’s transwarp cells! We can hotwire them to the engine core and warp out of here!”
“No time to install them properly!” Ultra Magnus said.
“Well damn it! I’m not going to let you guys get fired!” Chip declared. He transformed, separating from RedStreak. He quickly reached toward RedStreak’s rear and pulled from a slot a glowing cube.
“Hey, come back here!” RedStreak said, stumbling from his seat.
“BACK TO YOUR STATION, NOW!” Prime shouted to the small human.
“Sorry Prime, I’m not one of your Autobots to order around!” Chip countered, rushing out the exit. Optimus Prime transformed to truck mode and followed after, the rear doors slamming behind.
“Well,” the now-headless RedStreak said, “At least I won’t have to see it coming!”
With not even half-a-minute to go before certain doom, Chip and Prime were caught in a chase. The Headmaster ran frantically carrying a ‘borrowed’ transwarp cell with a large red semi-cab honking its horn at him. Quickly it caught up with the humanoid, and in a swift sequence of movements changed from truck to Autobot, a hand catching him.
“Stop it right there, Chip!” Optimus Prime bluntly said.
The next set of doors ahead opened. Prime and Chip saw Perceptor working on the capacitor, both their eyes wide. “Perceptor?” Prime blurted out in surprise. At that same moment, Perceptor was bringing two gold cables together….
The proximity alarm blurred, the electrostatic wave now overtaking them. “CONTACT!” shouted out Quickswitch.
From the rear of the ship, the transparent wave swept through all the halls. Perceptor, Prime, and Chip, all saw it coming right at them like a storm. When Perceptor connected the cables…a flash of power went through the ship. A barrier of blue energy immediately formed between Perceptor and Optimus Prime, the electrostatic wave engulfing the scientist and crashing against it.
Outside, the entire carrier produced a shimmering blue aura like magic. Like a true wave, the electrostatic forces parted around it like a great boulder against the current, impregnable. In the bridge, Quickswitch, RedStreak, and Ultra Magnus watched at the blue energy around them slowly faded just as the wave itself faded in the distance.
“All right! We survived that…whoa!” RedStreak started to cheer when he blindly tripped over his own seat.
“Yeah,” Ultra Magnus said, watching as the enigmatic blue energy vanished from the walls, “But what in the galaxy just….”
“Optimus to Ultra Magnus!” Prime’s voice suddenly blared from Ultra Magnus’ com-link, “Get down to the engineering bay! Perceptor’s damaged!”
Across the galaxy, fires lit the skies over Char. Minute by minute and one by one the golden ships of the Autobots fell from the heavens in fire and smoke from enemy fire, the fleet drawing thinner and thinner in number. Springer’s modest cruiser was among them, adorned with smoking craters, its once brilliant bronze hull a rusty brown from numerous missile explosions.
Springer gripped his controls tight, gritting his teeth as his one-man ship bucked and rocked. He launched his last missile salvo at a large Decepticon warship. The quartet of missiles soared untouched by counter-fire and defenses, flying straight at the narrow slits of the bridge, penetrating and setting off a series of internal explosions within. Lights flickered all over the massive vessel, and then the bulk of its armored bow exploded in bright orange flame, the enemy warship crippled beyond repair.
A panel in Springer’s console deployed as he tried to stay focused on the battle. A video transmission from Silverbolt of the Aerialbots switched on. “Silverbolt to Springer! I’ve just lost my second and third squadrons, and my ship’s taking heavy damage! Tracking on Skylynx is gone worst of all, I think he was….”
“Just pray it’s instrument error Silverbolt!” Springer butted in, not wanting to assume the worst in an already desperate situation, “Skylynx and Blaster have their job, and we have ours! Prepare to regroup in sector three one six point….”
Suddenly off the port side of Springer’s small cruiser it came hurtling. The Decepticon missile flew too fast for either proximity sensors or his own optics to see. It flew right into his left rocket nozzle, exploding entirely. A split-second later the cruiser’s main fuel tank erupted, a brilliant yellow-orange blast radiating out as the cruiser fragmented like so much shrapnel. The Autobot never saw it coming….
As the explosion faded and the debris drifted apart, fragments of a glass cockpit, a torn green arm, and then a long emerald sword floated by. The sword of the triple-changer slowly spun in an elegant dance as it continued on into the dark of space, shimmering like a green star in the distance.
On the far side of the Decepticon stronghold, a groan echoed over the dark and battered mesas. At the edge of an elongated, still-burning crater, a red, bulky frame seemed to stir. A head with a silver helm and two antenna-like projections lifted up, arms pulling the whole forward shakily.
Blaster was battered, but alive. “Ohhhhh…man. What…what happened?” His memory circuits were blurry, but restoring themselves. As he got back to his feet, Blaster began to recall what happened before. Spinning…tumbling…Skylynx losing control…and then….
Immediately Blaster turned about…his jaws agape. In the oblong crater where a few fires still burned, huge chunks of the renowned Autobot flyer were scattered about, reduced to smoldering wreckage. In the distance he could see Skylynx’s tail/engine section, the white thruster pods warped, dirtied, and burning. Blue fragments of his extendable wings were spread out all over in disarray, and there, not far away, Skylynx’s head/cockpit lay, the lower jaw torn off entirely and his linear yellow optics/windows shattered completely, making it look like the skull of some dead eagle lost in an alien desert.
“Skylynx! Skylynx!” Blaster yelled, rushing to the back of Skylynx’s severed head. Inside much was ravaged by the crash, but miraculously a few consoles flickered with life. Blaster rushed his hands over them, hoping to reactivate what remained. “Oh man, Skylynx; tell me you’re still here, that you’re fine man!”
“Uuuuuuuuuuuuggggh…” a groan emanated from one of the damaged computers. Amazingly, power strengthened, but was still feeble. “Bla-Blaster? Oooooh…I…I fear that I…did not fare…as well as…you.”
Blaster immediately bolted to the console, smiling. “Oh Skylynx! You’re still online! I-I’ll have Rewind and Eject get working rebuilding you right away!”
A weak laugh came from Skylynx’s flickering systems, then a cough. “Heh! Please…don’t try to cheer…me up…mate. I…I don’t think...I’ll be able to…make the return trip…this…time.”
Blaster frowned. “Don’t talk like that! It’ll take a few hours but I know we can fix you up…good as new!” he said in a cracking voice.
“No Blaster!” protested Skylynx, “The mission…it…must be…fulfilled!” Suddenly, the consoles started dimming and switching off one after another. Skylynx’s voice grew duller, more bass as what remained of him faded. “Tell Prime my…only regret…was…failing…to…return…with…you.” The last active console whirled to a stand-still, Skylynx dying.
Blaster sulked, leaning over that console with his arms braced against it. His optics dimmed, the Autobot unable to believe it. Sympathetically, the two Cassetticons he carried with ejected and transformed, looking up to him with equally lamented expressions.
“He did his part Blaster, as best as he could,” Rewind said.
Eject added, patting Blaster’s side, “Yeah…he did what he could. Now it’s our turn to do what Prime ordered.” Glancing at the burning crater and Skylynx’s other remains, Eject reluctantly added, “Um…although we’re going to have one heck of a time getting back I’m afraid.”
Blaster strengthened his resolve, standing right back up. “Right, I know guys. Our friends need us, and ‘ol Blaster ‘ain’t lettn’ anyone down!” He pulled out his large rifle, cocking it. “Alright ‘bots, let’s find that place and deliver our gift to Galvatron and his con’nies.” With that, Blaster, Rewind, and Eject walked out from the head of Skylynx toward the bleak horizon due east, knowing a long walk was in store ahead.
At Iacon, Sandstorm, Blur, Arcee with Daniel, and Cerebros with Spike, stood at the command tower within Fortress Maximus in his city mode. With Optimus Prime and the greater half of Autobot forces away, every remaining Autobot was on full alert minding the planet. Fearful thoughts of a Decepticon armada arriving from transwarp loomed heavily on every transformers’ (and human’s for that matter) mind.
An alarm went off. Arcee immediately clicked on it, identifying the source. “Teletran-3 has detected a transwarp gateway opening dead above us at coordinates zero-zero-one and twelve-nine-eight.”
Spike, within Cerebros’ head, asked out loud, “Got a conformation lock on it Arcee?” Both he and Cerebros knew if it was the worst, Fortress Maximus could be transformed in a heartbeat to shoot whatever it was out of the atmosphere that dared to enter Cybertronian space at this dangerous hour.
Arcee stared closely at the screen, behind her eyes the human youth, Daniel, watching nervously. Her optics shimmered with relief. “Got a signature lock; it’s Autobot…and not just that…it’s Prime’s carrier!”
Inside Arcee’s head, Daniel’s heart was overjoyed. “Alright! Optimus is back!”
Cerebros stepped forward, not quite as overrun with emotions like Daniel but rather with concern both he and Spike shared. “Don’t be so quick to celebrate yet, Daniel. Optimus Prime told us that he and the fleet were going to be occupied at Junkion and Char in intense battle. I doubt they could have won that battle this quickly.”
A different beep sounded, this time from Blur’s station. The speedy courier ‘bot said, “Incomingtransmission!IncomingtransmissionfromOptimusPrime’scarrier! Switchingitontovisualnow!” With the flick of a switch, Prime’s face appeared on the small monitor before Cerebros and Arcee. “It’sPrimeIt’sPrime!It’sPrime!” declared Blur.
Sandstorm spoke up, glancing an annoyed look at Blur. “We know Blur!” Turning back to the screen, he frankly spoke, “What’s up Prime? We didn’t expect to see you back so….”
“Ready the repair bay immediately! Perceptor’s been badly damaged! I’m heading in on emergency vector to Iacon!” Prime blared over the screen.
Cerebros replied over the intercom, “Perceptor hurt? We’re on it Prime!” The transmission ending, Cerebros immediately ordered, “Autobots, prepare to take wounded! I’ll take care of the auto-defenses and hanger bay…Arcee, Sandstorm, prepare the scanner beds and repair bay systems, Blur you get a loading lift and get to the hanger the nano-click Prime’s carrier arrives, stat!”
The four Autobots rushed out, leaving only Cerebros and Spike to attend the command tower. Between the two city-block spanning stretches, the compact hanger at Fortress Maximus’ center drew open. Straight from the sky Prime’s golden carrier arrived and swung down into Iacon and Fortress Maximus set roughly at its center. The mighty vessel flew right inside the hanger with ramps deployed, streaking to a halt inside.
Blur, with a hovering cart in his hands, sped toward the ramp at his accelerated rate. Before the hatch leading inside even had a chance to open, a huge red truck burst forth hauling a massive trailer, going full speed. Blur was tossed aside and his cart smashed beneath Prime’s tires as he yelled out, “EVERYONE OUT OF THE WAY! I’M TAKING PERCEPTOR TO THE MEDICAL BAY IMMEDIATELY!”
Blur got up with a grunt, not sure what to make of things. However Ultra Magnus, RedStreak, and Quickswitch followed Optimus in robotic form. Ultra Magnus glanced back at Blur, saying as he continued to persue Prime, “Come on Blur! Perceptor needs our help! Get off your skid plates and get with it!”
Blur got up with a bit of a frown on his mug. “Callmeslowwillhe? I’mthefastedthingonlinewithtwolegsandfourwheels! Whodoeshethinkhe’stalkingabout?” he grumbled, transforming and speeding after the group.
Arcee and the orange triple-changer were in the repair bay powering up the scanner bed when the door opened, Optimus Prime himself driving in and braking hard. “QUICK EVERYONE!” he yelled, transforming to robot mode. His new, heavily-armored trailer opened a ramp onto the scanner bed at the heart of the room. Perceptor was transferred via rollers onto the bed, groaning and weak.
“Oh Perceptor!” Arcee said when she laid eyes on him. His body was, for the most part, intact but sparks flickered from it, especially around his legs where open circuit panels gave off a little smoke. “I’ll activate the scanner bed, find out what’s wrong.” The female Autobot flipped a switch, a bar of light shining beneath Perceptor and passing up and down the bed, acquiring a full diagnostic scan of the injured scientist.
“What happened, Optimus?” Sandstorm humbly asked, looking to his leader.
Prime, standing beside Sandstorm and Arcee over the scanner bed, answered, “Galvatron’s work to put it simply. He set a trap on Junkion, one that cost us dearly.”
Perceptor struggled to sit upright, moaning, but was hardly able to move at all. As Cerebros, Ultra Magnus, and the others gathered, Perceptor weakly explained, “Galvatron’s…bomb…sent up…electrostatic…shockwave. Knew…we had…no chance…to outrun it. Tried…ugh….”
Gingerly, Ultra Magnus forced Perceptor to lie back down. “Easy Perceptor, you’re in critical condition!” Looking to Arcee, he asked, “How are his life signs?” to which Arcee could only shake her head.
Perceptor continued on as Prime and Cerebros looked down at him. “I…created a…jury-rigged…force field generator…from the back-up power…systems on the ship. Prime,” Perceptor groaned, looking to his one leader, “I…I am…sorry I…abandoned my post.”
Optimus Prime came to Perceptor’s side, taking his left hand in his. “Perceptor, you did what you knew was right…and saved us. I couldn’t ask for more from any of my soldiers.”
Perceptor smiled as he looked up. He managed a slight laugh. “Ironic, isn’t it? This…time…it is…you…looking down at me…on my death bed.”
“Perceptor…” Prime tried to say.
“No Prime…I know…when my time is coming,” Perceptor managed to say, “and my only…regret…is not being there…for you…at this war’s…end.” Then, with a painful groan, Perceptor gritted his teeth, the side of his neck sparking a little.
One of the system monitors beeped. The computerized voice within the scanner bed stated robotically, “Subject’s central positronics network failing. Laser core and spark containment critical. Recommend stasis lock and initiating total positronics refit with seven percent probability of recovery.”
Optimus turned to Cerebros. “Spike, Cerebros, get to it right away….”
“NO!” Perceptor yelled, trying to bolt up but the sparking of his body only intensified, forcing him back down once more. “I…forbid it!” Perceptor bitterly insisted, “I…will not be…reduced to…a mindless blank drone!”
“Then what would you have us do?” Spike berated from within Cerebros, “Let you just short-out and die? I don’t want that on my conscience Perceptor!”
Perceptor looked at the Headmaster, Cerebros. “Nor, would I,” he replied to Spike, “But…even in my death, I still wish to…aid you all in…some way. There is…a final request…you can fulfill, Spike. One…that will…ease your conscience in my passing.”
“And what would you wish then, Perceptor?” Prime asked, his optics glassy and sad as he looked upon Perceptor.
Straining to speak, Perceptor requested, “My…memory files. Transfer them…into the holographic…matrix program…I’ve been…working…on. Through it, you shall…have access to…all my knowledge still. At least…my mind…if not my spark, will continue…to aid you…Prime.” With that Perceptor let out a gasp, his head falling back as his body went into stasic lock…from which he never awakened.
A megacycle later, a cable hooked to Perceptor’s neck was tied into a small, transparent projector device. Cerebros, Sandstorm, Arcee, RedStreak, Quickswitch, Ultra Magnus, and Optimus Prime watches as the memory transfer entered its final phase, a digital slide on the side of the device going up.
Ninety-six percent, ninety-seven percent, ninety-eight percent, ninety-nine percent. With a beep, the device finished, the slide reading: Memory transfer complete.
As Perceptor’s body faded to gray, in his final moment the projector device initiated. Within the transparent cylinder, a green-hued hologram took shape. A pair of eyes, a mouth, and finally it took the form of a floating, disembodied head…Perceptor’s head.
Optimus Prime stared at the hologram, and the hologram seemingly stared right back from within its plastic shell. “I am Perceptor2,” it stated before him, “Please state the nature of your archival request.”
Arcee stepped up and looked to the hologram in amazement. “Perceptor, is that you?”
The hologram glanced at Arcee, the head swiveling in her direction momentarily. “Negative…I am Perceptor2. Perceptor, the Autobot from which my programming and data were compiled, is no longer functioning.” The little green head then glanced at Perceptor’s body, still on the scanner bed before it. It stared for a long minute at the original Perceptor coldly, as if in quiet contemplation. “Fascinating,” Perceptor2 said in a remorseless voice.
RedStreak turned about and stormed out, fists clenched. “RedStreak!” Quickswitch shouted, following after. The pair left the repair bay, Quickswitch discovering RedStreak in the hanger with a disgusted look on his mug. “What is it?” Quickswitch asked his friend.
“I…I can’t believe they reduced Perceptor down into a cheap hologram!” RedStreak growled a little.
From within, Chip said, “Come on Red! It was his final request! What more did you expect?”
RedStreak looked down at the floor, both Quickswitch and Chip within observing him. Raising up one hand with a fist, the Autobot said, “Maybe a little justice. Wrek-Gar, Perceptor…who else now?” Looking out at the stars through the open hanger, RedStreak further said, “We need to do something….”
Beyond the scope of the war between Cybertron and Char and Autobot and Decepticon, there were goings-on elsewhere in the galaxy. On Nebulos, there was a bit of genuine tranquility. With the Hive exiled and forced into servitude of the Decepticon cause, the native Nebulons, save those eleven who allied willingly with the Autobots, were at peace. Of the eleven, two, plus one Autobot escort, were on Nebulos.
Brainstorm stood in robotic mode with Arcana in his head as High-Q in his exosuit searched for something in his old hidden laboratory. “Sorry if I sound impatient, High-Q, but we should get going soon. With the battle on Char still raging, I’m more than betting Prime will call on the Headmasters soon too for help.”
High-Q, somewhat distanced both physically and mentally, uttered in response as he looked through some blueprints on his inactive command console, “Yes, yes…I imagined as much. However, I have as much duty to my people and planet as I have to your little war and Prime. We’ll be returning soon enough, Autobot…once I get some of these to Byzantum. The city needs much repair even two months after Prime’s and my battle with Zarak.”
Brainstorm looked out at the open cave exit, the Nebulon city of Byzantum just visible. “Yeah, you made quit a pair with Prime. No doubt Scorpinok is no more,” said the Headmaster Autobot.
Just a few miles away, not at Byzantum but rather its outskirts lay a mass of metal nearly as great as it city itself in size. From a distance it could have been mistaken for an extension of the mountains, but it was nothing less than the remains of Scorpinok itself. Lifelessly it lay there, vines and moss growing around its base, the still gaping battle scars slowly accumulating rust in disrepair.
Within the fallen behemoth, little had changed since Zarak’s, as well as the Decepticons’ defeat. The central core had grown cold and dead, all the surrounding circuits, wires, and conduits nothing more than elaborate decorations in a perpetually dark, artificial cave.
Prime….
Suddenly, in one of the chambers near what was once the base of Scorpinok’s head, a large console had sat offline for quite some time seemed to stir. Prime, a ghostly voice echoed through the numerous halls and vacant cabins. On the bulky console, a single blue light flickered back on. A second, red light joined it, then another…and another. In a flash, the whole room came alive, the whirl of circuits powering up filling the air.
At the heart of Scorpinok, the giant central core began to glow dull green.
Surrounding generators spun up on their own, more lights, more mechanisms
starting to switch back on of their own accord. Everything was coming alive!
Prime, that voice again echoed, now booming louder, Prime! Prime…vengeance! Prime!
Outside, the hum of Scorpinok’s systems was muffled, going unheard largely. A few Nebulon animals shrieked and paused, four-winged birds taking flight as a horned blue stag bounded away. From the right shoulder of Scorpinok, a great grinding of metal sounded. The clawed arm as long as four city blocks started to move, the vines and shrubs that had grown around it snapping away. With a tremor, the whole monstrocity began to rise up.
PRIME! VENGENCE! DESTROY…PRIME! Scorpinok’s voice radiated out from the severed neck. VENGENCE!
A shadow was cast over the city, screams already filling the air. One woman looked up and screamed “AHH! SCORPINOK RISES! ZARAK STILL LIVES! AHH!”
Brainstorm’s audio receptors managed to register something. Arcana, at his console inside him, noted it. “Brainstorm, did you just hear something?” Arcana asked.
“Yeah…I think I did,” Brainstorm replied, “Whatever it is…I think it’s coming from the city.”
“From the city?” High-Q paused in his work, looking to the Autobot and then the cave entrance. He hesitated a moment, thinking. “Come,” he finally said to the Headmaster, “We must find out what it is.”
Not even four steps out of the cave and the trio gasped with eyes drawn to a chilling site. The body of Scorpinok, in dark silhouette with the late morning sun at his back, loomed over all in sight, a dark memory not forgotten for long enough…now reborn in corroded iron and alloy.
“It can’t be! Scorpinok!” Brainstorm uttered fearfully.
High-Q stared, equally confused and in disbelief…but his resolution did not fade. Boldly the suited Nebulon stepped forward and drew his laser pistol. “You should have stayed dead, Zarak!” he shouted, firing a shot.
“No High-Q!” Arcana begged, Brainstorm bending down to stop him too late.
The single shot pinged off the headless Scorpinok’s left shoulder. The great mass shifted in a mechanical motion. Even without sight, it deduced the presence of its enemies as diminuitive they were. Raising up its pillar legs, the seemingly resurrected transformer marched with wide strides, and once over High-Q’s base, it raised a giant foot up…and then sent it careening back down.
Brainstorm yanked High-Q in his arms and jumped. He rolled in the dust just as giga-tons of metallic might smashed into the side of the mountain, carving out a new sharp cliff. High-Q struggled, but Brainstorm desperately tried to stop him. “Are you crazy? The three of us can’t take him on by ourselves, not like this!”
High-Q protested. “NO! IT’S ZARAK, I KNOW IT! HE HAS TO BE STOPPED NOW!”
Strangely, High-Q and Brainstorm did not remain in what remained of Scorpinok’s mind for long. The reckless mass paused, either in contemplation or in a stupor one could not tell or even guess. Then, still standing in place, Scorpinok started to transform, shaking the ground further, entire rows of boulders overtaking Brainstorm. Scorpinok shifted to city mode, and from beneath engines long since unused burst alive with blue flames, lifting the monster up.
“VENGENCE…PRIME…DESTROY!” it uttered mindless words of rage. Scorpinok soared back into the heavens, drawn by unknown forces and unknown desires still buried somewhere in that possessed collection of mainframes and firepower.
Brainstorm blinked. “What was that about?”
High-Q spoke his thoughts readily. “I do not know how, but I know Zarak is directing that weapon of destruction.” Softly, he added under his breath, “Zarak…or some darker shade.”
Arcana deduced, “Optimus Prime must be his target them…if his ranting is any indication. Brainstorm, High-Q, we must reach Prime and warn him of this!”
Onboard one of the remaining sizeable battleships, Silverbolt and Skydive manned the cockpit, Silverbolt grappling the controls as best he could as extreme firepower battered the ship. “Ugh…slag! We’re getting pounded to dust!”
From the rear a door slid open, Slingshot staggering out. “Silverbolt, we just lost one of the shield generators! Fireflight and Airraid are trying to patch it back up, but I dunno how much more punishment they can take!”
“Great!” groaned the Aerialbot commander, “Skydive, what’s our status!”
“Between the shields and our overheated guns, we’re losing power fast Silverbolt,” Skydive frankly said, “Missiles are all used up and we’re flying by the welding of our skidplates!”
“Terrific!” Silverbolt shouted, losing his normally ‘cool’ persona, “No armaments, no blasters…Springer and most of our ships gone and here the five of us are in the worst…ugh!” He refocused himself. “Skydive, get our brother ‘bots regrouped. I don’t care if Prime demotes me for this…we’re moving to higher orbit with what’s left of the fleet. We’ll engage the Decepticons from a distance; those orbital defenses are too strong to break with what we’ve got, coupled with their starships! Send out the call to the fleet Skydive.”
“Roger Silverbolt,” Skydive complied without complaint, dialing in buttons, “Sending out withdraw order to all ships…ordering to regroup at coordinates three-one…what the?”
Slingshot rushed over, looking at Skydive’s monitor. “Whoa! Something huge is coming through transwarp…fast too!”
Silverbolt turned in his fellow Aerialbots’ direction. “Is it one of our guys?”
Skydive accessed sensors, but was befuddled by what he detected. “I can’t tell. Between the power fluctuations and the shields, I-I can’t make head or tails of it!”
“What’s it’s heading?” Silverbolt insisted upon knowing, leaning closer to Skydive with a serious mug.
The Aerialbot strategist analyzed further. “Transwarp entry point at eight-one-seven by eight-eight-five. Calculating vector…by Primus.” Skydive swiveled his seat, looking square at Silverbolt and Slingshot. “It’s coming at us from behind!”
“Slag!” Silverbolt again cursed, “Bring the ship around! I want full shields in two cycles!”
Something emerged from the transwarp portal…or rather not emerge…but explode out at the speed it rushed forward. Transwarp energy befuddled its outline, instead making it appear to be some swirling comet of blue and purple, rapidly fading as it flew further and further from the portal of its origin. As the transwarp particles peeled away…a red Autobot insignia was revealed.
Optimus Prime sat at the bridge of his refitted carrier, back from Cybertron. Glaring with eyes forward, he said, “All guns…FIRE!”
The mighty carrier flew threw the chaos of the Autobot fleet headstrong, all turrets, blasters, and missile ports ablaze with fury. Two Decepticons ships that lay in its path were obliterated in twin explosions, the carrier soaring through them.
Onboard the Kaon’s bridge, Galvatron arose from his throne with eyes lit bright red. “WHAT?!” As he swiftly stood upright with optics glued to the numerous images of Prime on the multiple monitors before him his left arm lashed out, slapping Cyclonus and toppling him to the floor. With a sweep, Galvatron’s gold cannon was in his lieutenant’s face. “You TOLD me Prime was terminated on the planet of junk! You ASSURED me he would not live to fight in this battle!”
“But…Galvatron,” Cyclonus begged.
Galvatron’s squashed his foot into Cyclonus’ face uncaringly. Casting an eye on Mindwipe, Snapdragon, and Skullcrusher at the bridge, Galvatron ordered the trio of Headmasters, “Headmasters, take the Kaon directly against Optimus Prime’s carrier! If he’s aboard that damn ship…I want to have the privilege of blowing it away!”
One large orbital platform zeroed-in on the Autobot carrier ship. Turrets arced high up and fired one after another. One after another, each also exploded as bolts of plasma shot down at them. Finally, one last shot, aimed dead center on a crack running down the platform’s middle, fired into it. With one fatal blow, the platform burst into flames, going nova like a star.
Onboard Silverbolt’s battleship, the Aerialbots cheered as the blast shined like a yellow star over Char, lighting all the Autobots’ hopes once more. “Hooray! Prime’s back for us!” Slingshot exclaimed loudly, slapping Skydive on the back hard.
“Alright! Now we’ve got a chance at this! Set a course for the carrier…where Prime goes, we all follow!” Silverbolt stated.
On Prime’s carrier, Ultra Magnus was at the helm with Sandstorm, RedStreak, and Quickswitch at the turret stations. “We’ve broken through Prime! Autobot ships are gathering at our position,” cheered Ultra Magnus.
“This battle’s a distraction, remember that Magnus,” Prime said from his command chair, “If I know Galvatron, a blatant display like that will draw him like magnet.”
The proximity alarm went off, the image of a large Decepticon warship on it. Quickswitch was already on its stats. “Optimus, sensors confirm it as the Decepticon flagship Kaon. Moving in fast at high vector.”
“As I said,” Prime repeated, looking to the Kaon’s image, “I know Galvatron.”
The Kaon sped fast into the battle zone, dead-set for Prime’s carrier itself. Its mighty guns were fixed forward and firing at full blast. The carrier, slow to turn about, was broadsided, its shields taking much of the damage but several burn scars were etched deep into the armor. Inside, its crew was shaken by the rage of Galvatron, no doubt a mere sampling of what the enraged Decepticon would soon be dishing out.
RedStreak was knocked to one side of his console, nearly out of his seat. Inside his head Chip was strewn over his console, moaning. “Man Prime,” he said aloud to the Autobot commander, “If you know Galvatron…you must know he’s pretty pissed about now!”
Grunting, sitting back upright in his chair, Optimus Prime commented, “Trust me, five million years of battle tends to leave a ‘bot that way. Return fire immediately!” Glancing at the limb of the planet Char on the screen, Prime softly muttered to himself, “Damn it Blaster…you should have been done by now. What’s happening down there?”
Another blast, even bigger than before, struck the Autobot carrier. Quickswitch was thrown loose from his seat, smacking right into Sandstorm and knocking him from his own seat. Ultra Magnus, still at the helm position, grunted and checked his readings. “Kaon struck out rear portside thruster port! Maneuverability is down sir!” he said to Prime.
Another blast struck. Ultra Magnus’ station short-circuited, electrocuting the Autobot who yelled in pain. As Ultra Magnus’ body fell backwards, Prime rushed from his chair to the station, ripping out the faulty circuit and taking over for the downed Autobot. “Status report people!”
“Losing system power! We’re hitting Galvatron but apparently not hard enough!” RedStreak immediately reported.
Prime was still determined. “I’m not giving up just yet, prepare to….”
“Sir! Incoming ships from out stern! AUTOBOT SHIPS!” RedStreak shouted with glee.
Seven small cruisers flung themselves selflessly at the Kaon, firing simultaneously on the larger Decepticon flagship. A battleship of the Autobot fleet pulled itself alongside the partially damaged carrier. It too fired on the Kaon from afar, drawing its attention away from the carrier.
Silverbolt’s image appeared on one screen on Prime’s bridge. “Aerialbot commander Silverbolt reporting in, Prime!” he dutifully radioed in, “The fleet is strong and still holding up! We’re always here for you sir!”
Prime looked to the commander’s face thankfully. “Good to know I still carry the faith of my troops with me,” Optimus Prime stated, “Thanks, Silverbolt. Now let’s kick some Decepticon tail!”
Onboard Galvatron’s ship, the Decepticon was growing more and more enraged as what remained of the Autobot fleet seemed focused on obliterating the Kaon. “DAMN YOU PRIME!” he blatantly yelled, “DAMN YOU FROM THE PITS OF THE INFERNO!”
Mindwipe glanced to his bitter leader. “Galvatron…we’re losing critical power fast! Our shields are failing as well!”
“THEN DO SOMETHING ABOUT THEM!” Galvatron bellowed, standing before his throne, “I WILL NOT BE EXTINGUISHED BY ANY AUTOBOT!”
Suddenly, Galvatron was flung back into his throne. Outside, the starboard nacelle of the Kaon ruptured, fiery red-violet plasma exploding out. The great Decepticon ship was now crippled and pinned down by rampant Autobot fire.
“Damn you Prime,” Galvatron growled as he sat upright, “Damn you….”
A great shadow then appeared from behind the Kaon, one vast and huge. Galvatron’s eyes glanced back at the screen…growing wide with disbelief. “What? How can…this be? It’s…it’s….”
From both Prime’s carrier and Silverbolt’s battleship they saw it too. A great floating black mass drifting in from behind Galvatron. Near its tower-like apex a pair of Decepticon crests were visible, battered but intact. However it was not the icons that brought fear into the heart of the Autobots….
“Scorpinok!” Prime uttered, gazing at the Hive super-mechanoid.
Scorpinok took position with the crippled Kaon and the Autobot fleet before it like so many scattered toys. The greatest and most despised creation of Zarak uttered with a thunderous voice, “PRIME…DESTROY. AUTOBOTS...DESTROY. PRIME…VENGENCE!”
To Be Continued…